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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384Tue, 23 May 2017 19:30:13 +0000linkee-pooCrazy ThoughtsPoliticsWritingprocrastination bloggingHomePhoto Journalingstory boneNovel UpThe Day ThingOther WritersWriting AdviceCool ThingsTotal LamenessThings That Make Me SqueeRebootThings That Make Me Sadvideo postingcon-eliciousRejectionranting in the rainBlood BoilingSubmissionThings That Make Me GiggleCurse of the Brown CowSCIENCEBloggingEconomicsVillage StuffShoes for IndustryMeme TagPoetrysnarkhealthOh Great Internet BrainFreelanceFamilyView from the BottomCurse of HistoryThings that go "Duh" in the night.Things that go Duh in the nightCthulhuStories We Tell OurselvesOpen CallsAmishReader-a-ramaThe HorrorThe MuseLangaugeSaleSearchingTypographyGreat Troll WarsLIFESenior whatwasit?politi Story Bones The secret is to bang the rocks together, guys.http://storybones.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)Blogger4214125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-4142375344310551011Tue, 23 May 2017 13:49:00 +00002017-05-23T09:49:14.197-04:00Photo JournalingFlower pornWell, somebody likes this weather.
http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/05/flower-porn.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-7049412788725098664Sun, 21 May 2017 17:13:00 +00002017-05-21T13:13:09.760-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo meet you anytime you want at our Italian Restaurant "Basically, how do we even know what reality IS any more?" The Note to Self podcast on the election, living in different realities, the power of substitute world views, and the reinforcing values of social media (and the dark side of disparate groups finding home and support through long distance connections). :: waives "hi" from our shared delusion ::

 "As the debate over health care continues in Washington, one thing not in dispute is that health care industry employment has been going up steadily over the past decade. In Ohio, health care industry jobs now outnumber those in manufacturing. The jobs are good news to state and local economies, but some analysts also say it's a reflection of the high costs and complexity of health care." Okay, yes, it's true that healthcare has some baggage, but it's not at the bottom. It's at the top. The number of VPs at a hospital is in direct proportion to their cost and in inverse proportion to the quality of care. You want to cut people out of the system? Great. Two words. Single. Payer. So many of those jobs in "administration" are there to handle health insurance coding, payments, wrangling, and pre-certification. Get to 1 form, 1 unified coding system (ICD-10 for instance), and standardize the scope of care and you can eliminate about 25% of jobs and increase the quality of care. As for the people involved with directly caring for patients, yeah, we need to up those numbers. Look at every quality of care survey and you'll find the thing everyone gets dinged on is not having enough staff to handle all the jobs. That and "call button wait times", which, again, is a staffing issue. In x-ray, our base mark is 10 minutes or less per exam (note, this is general x-ray, not CT and definitely not MRI). Why? Because we have too many people to x-ray and if we take longer, we push back all the appointment times.

 The 10 ways the GOP has been sabotaging Obamacare. Note, most of the horror stories are from states that didn't expand Medicaid and had leadership in government actively trying to sabotage Obamacare. In the rest of the country, things aren't all that bad. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

 While it appears that since 2015 people who have switched parties is roughly even (percentage wise) between GOP and Democratic Parties, there's a trend among younger voters to switch from GOP to Democrat and remain there. Not really unexpected (hell, that's when I left the GOP). But there are more young people switching from the GOP to Democrat than there are old Democrats switching to the GOP. And as the data shows, the older one gets, the less likely they will switch parties.

 "Many I spoke with said they had made a fundamental mistake of viewing Trump primarily as an ideologue with whom they disagreed rather than what he increasingly appears to be: an ill-prepared newcomer to the world stage, with uninformed views and a largely untested team that will now be sorely tried by a 9-day, 5-stop world tour that would be wildly ambitious even for a seasoned global leader." Our European allies are increasing viewing Trump as incompetent and a clown. Ever see a clown get angry? (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/05/linkee-poo-meet-you-anytime-you-want-at.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-7682117878320308789Wed, 17 May 2017 00:55:00 +00002017-05-16T20:55:01.255-04:00SorrySorry for the lack of posting as it appears the center will no longer hold. It isn't for not seeing materials, but for having been caught in the firehose stream of it all and not being able to fight back to the edge. Plus lots and lots of personal stuff. I feel like I'm letting you all down. But really, it's hard to keep up with it all.

I'll just state for the record again, 1) this is what happens when you reward incompetence and can't distinguish between actual success and the ability to keep from crashing into the ground. And 2) Trump is a nightmare, but Pence was so far to the right that there was no way he would have won in the primaries. Pence is a deep "social" conservative. He's disciplined, and experienced. While it might stop this ongoing foot shooting, the results may be worse (you know, except for accidentally starting a nuclear war, or doing it because he's feeling pissy).

Hang on folks. This merry-go-round is losing the brakes.

 http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/05/sorry.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-2862359213033318251Mon, 15 May 2017 01:26:00 +00002017-05-14T21:26:24.772-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo on a Sunday"But after reaching a peak in 2014, sales of e-readers and ebooks have slowed and hardback sales have surged. The latest figures from the Publishing Association showed ebook sales falling 17% in 2016, with an 8% rise in their physical counterparts. At the same time, publishers’ production values have soared and bookshops have begun to fill up with books with covers of jewel-like beauty, often with gorgeously textured pages." Don't get cocky. Quality is the hallmark. It's possible for ebooks to gain quality, but it most certainly won't be in the current direction. That doesn't mean ebooks are dead. It's often easy to say one side or the other. From here on out, it'll be a mix.

 So you want to be a writer.

 So there was a lot of talk about illegal immigration, the bad hombres, and specifically linking them to the rise of MS-13 during Obama's tenure. Well, all of that was shit. MS-13 was founded in the US in the late 80s, by US citizens, and grew most during Clinton and GW Bush's tenures (it's actually been in decline for the last 6 years). But, hey, let's have ICE go after them. "Though the effort was led by ICE, the focus was not exclusively on immigrants. Of the arrests, 933 were US citizens and 445 were foreign nationals, with 384 in the country illegally." Now MS-13 is a dangerous gang, don't get me wrong here. But you can't defeat it by telling lies about them (to continue to knock the first African-American President) and pretending they are something they are not.

 (Map) "Republicans always say 1000 counties with I insurer. They don't tell you that most r in a handful of R-led states where they sabotaged ACA" Not all, but yes, that.

 Note to Self podcast on the rise of our Bot Overlords. "Bot armies are taking over Twitter. But they’re not necessarily trying to advance a point of view, according to Phil Howard, a bot researcher. They’re aiming to sow chaos and make dialogue impossible. At the extreme, the goal is to destabilize our very sense of reality." Sowing chaos and making dialog impossible is a good shorthand and distinguishing marker for the Russian propaganda campaigns.

 The FBI Director, having outlived his usefulness, is now out. Who is really surprised? I am. I figured this would have been in February. March at the latest.

 "In his recent testimony about his decision to send the notorious October 2016 letter to Clinton Congress, FBI Director James Comey painted a dramatic picture of the facts of the case and Huma Abedin’s actions. Altogether it was meant to demonstrate that Comey had little choice but to take action and ultimately send his public letter to Congress… But it turns out what Comey said wasn’t true and the FBI knows it."

 "Federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas to associates of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn seeking business records, as part of the ongoing probe of Russian meddling in last year's election, according to people familiar with the matter. CNN learned of the subpoenas hours before President Donald Trump fired FBI director James Comey." I'm sure it's just a coinkydink. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)

 The Washington Post on why Trump won't be impeached any time soon. Wildly unpopular with the general public, he's still pretty popular within the GOP. A large survey result article with lots of data on the divide in America.

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/05/linkee-poo-on-sunday_14.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-4622062263097196705Sun, 07 May 2017 20:58:00 +00002017-05-07T16:58:47.195-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo on a SundayLafayette, we are here.

 Like reading? Hate fascists? Have at least $20 a month burning a hole in your pocket? Well, here's the Fireside Fiction Antifascist Fiction Club just for you. And they have cool pin. (Grokked from DongWon Song)

 John Scalzi talks about the Brain Eater. You think he may be getting a little too whimsical here, but he isn't. I've met that Brain Eater, and it's a tempting offer. It's never your fault, it's everybody else's fault. That's a seductive place to get into. And I've seen my peers all get farther along (in the writing career). Well, friends, it's a harder road to suck it up and tell the Brain Eater to get lost. My friends are my friends, and I'm stoked they're doing well. They're a bunch of great people. And, yes, it's my own fault. I spend too much time here (what little time I have available these days) or trying to mentally recover. I've been working on this writer thing for far too long to not have many successes. But I'm still working at it when I can. Life doesn't get any easier. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.

 A large online collection of public domain comics. (Grokked from Wil Wheaton)

 Ah, those peaceful times of our dawn of man ancestors. "An ancient pit filled with severed human arms, hands and fingers has been unearthed in France." Nope, still pretty brutal and violent. (Grokked from Jason Sanford)

 "Researchers at the University of Oxford may now have overcome this latter challenge (of the effectiveness of analgesic dosages in infants), however. They report May 3 in Science Translational Medicine having identified a pain-related brain wave signal that responds to analgesics, and could be used to measure the drugs’ efficacy." I did a paper for school using fMRI to find the same thing. If it can be done with a simple EEG, that would be amazing. No more, "on this scale, rate your pain" guessing and game playing.

 Stands and salutes. You, sir, are the wind beneath my wings. (Grokked from Cheri Priest)

 Stephen Blackmore's twitter rant on just what hospital ERs are required to do. Working in a hospital, yep. Look, you come in and we're going to do our best for you. Come in with shit that could be handled outpatient, and you're getting a low-priority slot. If you have insurance you're about to pay about 20x what you would have if you had gone to a GP… and we'll still say you have to go see your GP to get the actual treatment you need. Come in with stupid shit, and I'm sorry, but yes we are judging you. Because we had to come x-ray your sprained ankle which took time away from the person in STEMI two doors down. We are happy to x-ray your ankle in the department on an outpatient basis… which will also cost you a hellalot less. And we can prioritize you lower than the person with their heart attack. And I hate saying this because then there's the other people who are all, "Gee, I really don't want to bother you with this" who have an "OMFG, we got get this person to surgery NOW!" And yes, some of them don't realize it. And sometimes you could say, "Oh, I'm just having a bad day" when it's actually something Very Serious™. (Grokked from Kelly Swails)

 "High-risk pools are not new -- they existed in 35 states prior to the ACA. History shows they represent an incredibly flawed approach to providing coverage for the most vulnerable because they are chronically underfunded, outrageously expensive, and they provide insufficient access to care." Including Ohio. To say it was a cluster-fuck it being generous. For some people it was cheaper to go private pay, and then declare bankruptcy.

 So, one of the reasons the conservative ran so fast to pass the updated TrumpCare was they were afraid to go back to their districts and face the ire of their constituents who expected them to do something. So how'd that work out? "Reed, whose district in upstate New York includes the cities of Ithaca and Corning, held three town hall meetings where the overwhelming majority of attendees had questions about health care. The congressman was met with boos and jeers throughout the forums, with people repeatedly chanting 'Shame!' and 'Vote him out!'" Hell of a job, Brownies. But here is the less we're all about to relearn, as long as their financial supporters are with them, representatives don't really care about your objections. As long as their fundraising is still coming in, that's their measure of "popularity."

 "The email from '[White Oak] Digital Display' sent on Wednesday, May 3, was sent to inform the researchers of the 'reason for the change from CNN to Fox.' White Oak is the name of the FDA's campus… The email goes on to inform employees that the decision came from the Trump administration… 'The reason for the change is that a decision from the current administration administrative officials has requested that all monitors, under our control, on the White Oak Campus, display FOX news,' the email reads." And then there's the inevitable denial. The first victims of propaganda are the government employees. If this is actually the case, I recommend any of the "universal 'off' remotes" available. (Grokked from Katheryn Cramer)

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/05/linkee-poo-on-sunday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-1461404288573117130Sat, 06 May 2017 01:35:00 +00002017-05-05T21:35:32.291-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo pushes it out late Friday nightHeinous fuckery most foul.

 McMansion Hell. (Grokked from Joshua Parker)

 "A conservative group that wants to see the US government address climate change is trying to reach the president through his favorite medium: TV." Well, it ain't perfect, but it's a start. (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)

 "Why Some People Are Born to Worry… How do early-life traumas get under our skin? A researcher details his quest for the stress-causing mechanism." As I've said before, I come from small, worried-people stock.

 "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told an audience of Wall Street managers that they could thank him for financial deregulation." Tell me again about Clinton's speeches. Jesus, all these people need are top-hats and monocles. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

 Hey, remember the UK Embassy that posted a blog entry on Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort? Yeah, wasn't a mistake. "Government-funded news agency Voice Of America has posted a story about first daughter Ivanka Trump's new book… The agency also tweeted a link to the story, written by The Associated Press, from its official Twitter account." (Grokked from Jim Wright)

 So when they tell you that Obamacare is broken and driving people into debt, know they are lying. "As legislators and the executive branch renew their efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act this week, they might want to keep in mind a little-known financial consequence of the ACA: Since its adoption, far fewer Americans have taken the extreme step of filing for personal bankruptcy… Filings have dropped about 50 percent…" For honesty's sake, "The many experts we interviewed also pointed to two other contributing factors: an improving economy and changes to bankruptcy laws in 2005 that made it more difficult and costly to file. However, they almost all agreed that expanded health coverage played a major role in the marked, recent decline." (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

 "A Code Pink activist who was arrested during Jeff Sessions’ confirmation hearing after laughing during introductory comments is now being prosecuted by a Justice Department run by Jeff Sessions." Conservatives, they put the special in the snowflake. Also, you may have noticed my frequent references to deploying the most devastating of political retorts… laughing. They're deathly afraid of being laughed at. (Grokked from Katheryn Cramer)

 And speaking of prosecutions for laughing, "Late night talk show host Stephen Colbert’s controversial joke about President Trump drew the attention of the Federal Communications Commission. The agency received 'a number' of complaints about Colbert’s commentary earlier in the week, according to the FCC’s chief." (Grokked from Jim Wright)

 "How to: avenge yourself on the Republicans who voted to nuke your healthcare." The bastards. And why did it pass? Because they new it would never survive the Senate, but they needed something to go home with. Now, I wouldn't get complacent about the Senate either sinking or majorly altering the bill, but that's where I'd put my money (mostly on the "sinking" part). It goes to the earlier psychology of "let's pass a repeal… of which we're safe of the consequences because Obama will veto it." But then Mitch McConnell is a grade A asshole, so I wouldn't put down the pitchforks just yet. Now, as to conservatives loosing the House in 2018, let me show you a map of the gerrymandered districts the GOP Majority control. Sure, they're going to lose a handful. Maybe 20 seats. Currently the House is divided 238 to 193. The Democrats would need to pick up all of those, plus 3 more, and not lose any.

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/05/linkee-poo-pushes-it-out-late-friday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-8669775883659909595Sun, 30 Apr 2017 01:32:00 +00002017-04-29T21:32:03.124-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo weekendThe Fyre Festival all the kids are talking about.

 "Female dragonflies use an extreme tactic to get rid of unwanted suitors: they drop out the sky and then pretend to be dead." Yeah, I've seen that at parties.

 I wrote a story (unpublished) about a congressional hearing where the person testifies with a beaker of cloudy water (microbes) talking about how we've changed the environment and by doing so irrevocably alters some of the bacteria at the base of our food change so within a few decades the entire ecosystem was going to collapse. "The question of how Trichodesmium cyanobacteria are reacting to the changing ocean makes a big difference in predicting how other marine life, from whales to mere specks of floating plankton, will react, too." Yeah, that'll do it.

 So a little while ago I followed Snopes on twitter because I thought it would be a hoot. Except it's actually damn depressing realizing what stupid shit people would need to have disproved. But then there are things like this, "The former executive director for the Foundation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is to be appointed 1 May 2017 to serve as the ombudsman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services department. Julie Kirchner headed the controversial anti-immigration group for a decade before this appointment, ProPublica reports." Yea, not everything snoops covers turns out to be false.

 On the new NYT columnist that's causing some waves. "Stephens seems to be arguing that, because a person he knows, who is a climate change activist, just had a baby, it somehow disproves climate science." Stellar logic there, Buzz. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

 "Twenty state attorneys general and the District of Columbia this week sent a letter criticizing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for revoking federal protections for student borrowers." No level of consumer protections are too small to be ignored by this administration.

 (Reposted because I apparently forgot to include the link a few days ago. Not sure it's the same article, but there you go) "'You say you pay for me to do this? That’s bullcrap," (Rep. Markwayne Mullin - R-Okla.) said at the town hall in Jay, Okla.… 'I pay for myself. I paid enough taxes before I got here and continue to through my company to pay my own salary. This is a service. No one here pays me to go.'" Do you bank the check Rep. Mullin? If so, your constituents (and everyone who pays federal taxes in the US) pay your salary. Taxes aren't a bank account, and you don't get to direct where your money goes (no matter what conservatives say). That's not how they work. As a representative and business owner you are wildly ignorant of the work you're doing. I suggest you retire back to your businesses. (Grokked from Jim Wright)

 Well, at least he realized he actually had to sign it before going off to his weekend.

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/04/linkee-poo-weekend.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-5340741259310899882Thu, 27 Apr 2017 01:26:00 +00002017-04-26T21:26:06.553-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo three make a postI keep hearing Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and Trump talk about getting GDP growth over 4% and how "it hasn't happened for the past 10 years." Nope, it's been much longer than that. "Since 1980, Clinton's years came the closest, but they were just shy of the 4 percent mark on average — closer to 3.8 percent, to be exact. Reagan was next at about 3.5 percent growth, followed by George H.W. Bush, who was slightly above 2 percent. Obama comes in just below 2 percent, and George W. Bush is behind him, at around 1.7 percent." That's from an article from the campaign when Jeb! was talking about getting over 4%. Basically, since we've entered the era of "trickle-down economics" and "tax cuts" we have not had sustained 4% GDP growth. Ever. Hell, I remember Reagan saying that 2% GDP was the new normal. So when they say "10 years", they're lying to you and attempting to frame the argument that Democratic economic principles are bad for the economy.

 So a long time ago Congress decided that Medicare couldn't reform itself and rid the system of fraud, so they outsourced the billing processing. How are they doing? "While these improper claims now comprise 11 percent of all Part A and B claims, as recently as 10 years ago, it was only 4 percent. In short, there are more bad actors today." And they cost more. Privatization never reduces cost or increases efficiency of government. Never.

 "In this morning’s edition of Mike Allen’s not-Playbook from Axios he introduces what seems to be Ivanka Trump setting up something that sounds a lot like the Clinton Foundation, only in this case run from within the White House by a top presidential aide who is also the President’s daughter, who also runs her own large international company and who also has two brothers who are currently running the President/Father’s company and trying to rake in as much money as possible on the fame and power of the presidency. Also, let’s be honest, the Trumps are a notoriously corrupt family, especially when it comes to running foundations." (Grokked from Jim Wright)

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/04/linkee-poo-three-make-post.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-3551957572040853051Wed, 26 Apr 2017 00:38:00 +00002017-04-25T20:38:34.184-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo is all about the QualityAuthor of the seminal Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M Pirsig has died. ZAMM is one of the few books I've read several times. Each time I've gotten something different out of it. Although I've only read Lila once (and wasn't as wowed, but it's still an interesting exercise). And so it goes.

 "Britain went a full day without using coal to generate power, reports the BBC. It's the first 24-hour period of inactivity there since 1882, when the world's first public coal-fired power plant was stoked at Holborn Viaduct in London." Sounds nice, but isn't the full reality. See, coal plants don't shut down except for yearly maintenance. It takes several hours (sometimes days) to get a coal plant up to temperature to efficiently generate electricity. Electricity is bought second by second. While natural gas can be turned on and off quickly (which is one of the reasons it's replaced coal plants), coal plants have to keep running to be able to generate electricity to feed the grid. So while the grid didn't buy from any coal plants, those plants were still running.

 And in the US, solar power, once considered a joke, is becoming more of a problem to central generators. Point-source, wave of the future.

 "'Ten times Trump asked [German chancellor Angela Merkel] if he could negotiate a trade deal with Germany. Every time she replied, "You can’t do a trade deal with Germany, only the EU,"' the official said." Slow dogs learn faster than that. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)

 Sure Republicans aren't mean and only what what is best for people. And yet, "In comments that were first reported by Shareblue, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) told a woman at his recent town hall event that her Medicaid expansion-eligible son’s 'skills' were the reason he is at risk for losing his health care under the Republican repeal plan, and that health care is something to be earned." Republicanism, the Dickensian dystopia plan. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

 "In a dramatic response to a power-grab by Republicans in the North Carolina legislature, a Republican judge resigned today to circumvent efforts to strip power from the Democratic governor." Pointed to as an example that not all conservatives are rapacious dick weasels, some of them are actually concerned about the character of the nation. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)

 "Given Trump’s erratic temperament, his war-mongering comments on nuclear weapons and his interest in increasing the nuclear arsenal have alarmed experts. But there is a longer-term, quieter threat, one that was hurting Americans well before Trump came to power: the threat of environmental devastation." Teen Vogue goes there again. (Grokked from Katheryn Cramer)

 "An article on a State Department website about President Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort has been removed after criticism that it was an inappropriate use of taxpayer funds."

 So remember when Mike Flynn was outed as having failing to register as a foreign agent and we were all "whew, it was Turkey. At least it wasn't Russia." Well, yep, it actually was Russia or near enough to not make a difference. (Grokked from Katheryn Cramer)

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/04/linkee-poo-is-all-about-quality.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-5338384858089238894Sun, 23 Apr 2017 16:48:00 +00002017-04-23T12:48:39.609-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo eeks out another oneSo you may be wondering how the new job is going? Well, we're a month in and I'm told that we've never been busier and I am (somewhat) keeping up to pace. The hard part, of course, is all the things that are deep tribal knowledge that everyone just accepts as "the way it's done." Well, no. Before everyone knew their parts from years of doing it and negotiating their actions. This is like the night job were we have plenty of "this is the way we do it… except in this case (note 5 different cases, some of which involve knowing the specialties of many local doctors)." Of course, none of it is spelled out in any consistent format to refer to. But, over all, the new job is going well. Unfortunately there is no time at work for recreational surfing. So as you can tell the Linkee-poos have been suffering. Add to that some personal family health issues and there's just been no time to catch up in the evenings. There has been some small progression on the secret projects, but not enough of note. Also add in that the universe has decided to throw in some expensive repair jobs on the home as well as having to be on COBRA for 3 months and it's also been a very expensive start of the year.

 Story telling through the use of Rube Goldberg devices. (Grokked from John)

 No, you shouldn't eat moldy bread even if you "take the mold off."

 "Physicists have created a fluid with 'negative mass', which accelerates towards you when pushed." Well, technically, they've created a few atoms that act like that. (Grokked from John)

 "It turns out that escaped pet birds, namely parrots and cockatoos, have begun teaching their wild bird counterparts a bit of the language they picked up from their time in captivity -- and, according to witnesses, that includes more than a few expletives." How we influence our environment in ways we don't understand. (Grokked from Dan)

 Wag the Dog or Pysch? Oh, and whatever it was, it didn't stop them from attempting two launches.

 "There is no virtue in ignorance." Jim Wright on why having an incompetent in office is a Bad Idea™. I'll also offer a story about Pres. Carter. He was pained as weak and fearful. Did you know that in 1952, Lt. Carter was part of the team at Chalk River that brought there failed nuclear reactor under control and in the rotation of the men lowered into the reactor to try and get the control rods back into the pile? And that experience directly helped formed his views of nuclear power and weapons. Yeah, I also didn't learn about that until later in life.

 Stephen Colbert releases the White House visitor's log. (Grokked from Dan)

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/04/linkee-poo-eeks-out-another-one.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-7486883644135615580Wed, 19 Apr 2017 02:22:00 +00002017-04-18T22:22:02.943-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo is lateYes, he killed himself once he realized he wouldn't get away. Who could have seen that coming?

 John Scalzi on the performance side of writing. Ann Leckie also has some input on this subject. This is something I learned from Scalzi early on during a koffeeklatch at Confusion a long time ago as I was getting serious about being a writer. It also came up during a panel at the last Confusion were I was asked directly by the moderator if I was giving a performance. Yes is the answer. If I'm in front of a crowd (different from being in a group in the bar) I am "on." If you've come to a convention and paid money at the door, or if I ever do a book tour you've come out and possibly have purchased my book, you damn well bet I'm going to make it worth your while. You should damn well expect it. Am I lying? In a sense, yes that I'm being "false." But not in the sense that I'm going to tell you something untrue or violate my core self. John calls this his "public face." And as I said on the panel, "Writer Steve" is 97% the real me, but with different aspects emphasized. That remaining 3% are things about me I'm not going to share with a crowd (note, this percentage may increase in the future as some projects head to launch). There's also probably about 15-20% of me you won't get to know unless we're friends. I expect you're also the same with people whom you barely know (and this is where there is a difference, some people will tell lies directly to your face if they don't know you, not everyone, but you know what I'm talking about. I won't do that, those lies will always be exposed and frankly I don't have enough energy or memory space to keep track of such lies). Now, if you ask me a direct question about that 15-20%, there's a chance I might tell you. However, that 3% is mine. The people who know those things about me can be counted on my fingers with room to spare. (Grokked from John Scalzi)

 "'If you'd just answer my question, I'd be grateful,' (newly seated Supreme Court Judge) Gorsuch said, flashing frustration." I think I can speak for a lot of people here, Judge, but we also wished the same thing of you. (Grokked from Lisa Morton)

 Hey, remember during the 2016 election (I have to specify since the current president has already formed his campaign committee and is holding campaign events for 2020) how Trump supporters, despite obvious signs and symptoms, claimed their support of Trump wasn't about being racist? "In short, our analysis indicates that Donald Trump successfully leveraged existing resentment towards African Americans in combination with emerging fears of increased racial diversity in America to reshape the presidential electorate, strongly attracting nativists towards Trump and pushing some more affluent and highly educated people with more cosmopolitan views to support Hillary Clinton. Racial identity and attitudes have further displaced class as the central battleground of American politics." Yeah, the majority of analysis is coming up racists. Racial anxiety is a soft form of racism. These are the people "who don't hate anybody", but their scared of people who don't look like them and they're also scared of losing their perceived privileged position. Add in religious people who want to roll back societal openness (sexual revolution and breakdown of class and racial barriers) and the upper class longing for "tax relief" and there you have his political coalition. But it was mostly racism (that was the most reliable predictor). (Grokked from John Scalzi)

 "(Trump's) bargaining chip is the government subsidies paid to insurance companies so they can reduce deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for low-income consumers — seven million people this year… In an interview with The Wall Street Journal this week, Mr. Trump threatened to withhold the subsidy payments as a way to induce the Democrats to bargain with him." So basically this president is taking the country hostage and saying if he doesn't get his demands, he's going to shoot us all.

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/04/linkee-poo-is-late.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-4763067705514203340Fri, 14 Apr 2017 00:58:00 +00002017-04-26T21:28:39.817-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo had a supperA photo of all the Dr. Pepper knockoffs. I know a few others they're missing. Noted because before my diagnosis, I was a staunch Dr. Pepper fan (still am, pissed they stopped making the real sugar version available at the local market, yes, I know about Texas). (Grokked from Dan)

 Apparently the sculptor of the "Charging Bull"/Wall Street statue is upset with NYC for allowing "Fearless Girl" to remain. One, you argument of "artistic copyright" is bullshit. Dude, seriously, when you release your art into the wild people will respond to it (and reinterpret it) in ways you can't control or imagine. And then there's this part, "Di Modica had installed the massive bronze in front of the New York Stock Exchange after the 1987 stock market crash, without a permit, in the middle of the night — as a symbol of America's financial resilience. The city eventually responded to the public clamor for the artwork to be allowed to remain in the Financial District, steps from Wall Street." As one artist to another, fuck your protest and drop the uber-macho dream in your head. It's not helping you. (Grokked from Dan)

 Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee. Next up for the political oubliette swan dive, Steve Bannon. Go for gold, buddy, go for gold. (Grokked from John)

 "'You say you pay for me to do this? That’s bullcrap," (Rep. Markwayne Mullin - R-Okla.) said at the town hall in Jay, Okla.… 'I pay for myself. I paid enough taxes before I got here and continue to through my company to pay my own salary. This is a service. No one here pays me to go.'" Do you bank the check Rep. Mullin? If so, your constituents (and everyone who pays federal taxes in the US) pay your salary. Taxes aren't a bank account, and you don't get to direct where your money goes (no matter what conservatives say). That's not how they work. As a representative and business owner you are wildly ignorant of the work you're doing. I suggest you retire back to your businesses. (Grokked from Jim Wright)

 Trump is now threatening a first strike if North Korea continues to work toward another nuclear test. I'm sure this will turn out well.

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/04/linkee-poo-had-supper.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-3218974839328997503Thu, 13 Apr 2017 02:27:00 +00002017-04-12T22:27:33.124-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo still crazy tired and running like a mad manMary Robinette Kowal explains clearly the fuck-up at OdysseyCon.

 Scientist suppress the genes in a bird embryo that controls beak development and winds us with a toothed bird. I'm sure it's perfectly fine. What could possibly go wrong? (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)

 "The FBI obtained a secret court order last summer to monitor the communications of (Carter Page) adviser to presidential candidate Donald Trump, part of an investigation into possible links between Russia and the campaign, law enforcement and other U.S. officials said." Well, in truth, few FISA requests are denied. But yeah, thats kinda big. (Grokked from Wes Chu)

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/04/linkee-poo-still-crazy-tired-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-5185800431992114109Sun, 09 Apr 2017 22:04:00 +00002017-04-09T18:04:55.927-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo why waste your breath moaning at the crowdsSo passes Don Rickles. A master of the insult form, Don showed it was possible to get laughs by punching down (although he punched up a lot). It's because people accepted it as an act, and not personal. The rumors were if Don picked on you during his show, he'd buy you dinner afterward.

 A dead bat found in prepackaged salad. I don't remember that on the ingredient list. As someone who eats a lot of salad, I'm more worried about bacterial contamination. Also noted in the "sure we don't need regulations" category.

 "Winkler was involved in a survey that found that people do want the government to help farmers adapt to climate change, especially when asked during record hot weather." The that cherry crop is being affected, but the farmers (as a whole) don't want to talk about it.

 "Today, when the question of loyalty of immigrants has again become contentious, what happened a century ago has special relevance. World War I inspired an outbreak of nativism and xenophobia that targeted German immigrants, Americans of German descent and even the German language." During WWII my grandfather had to be careful to not be recognized as German (the Marpes were silver smiths from the Alsace-Lorraine area, so for a time we were French).

 Speaking of Nazis, "… (Richard) Spencer said what happened was that Antifa (anti-facists) disallowed him to get in his 'getaway' car and the police instructed him to get in a cab. Once he was in one the cab driver (who Spencer mocked for being of Indian origin) got out of the cab, frightened of the ensuing protesters, and Spencer had to take off running." Brilliant. Okay, I'm not really okay with incitements to violence, but not being able to make a getaway because he mocked the cab driver for being foreign is just fucking hilarious. Seriously, dude, maybe tamp down the racism to save your own ass… nope, gotta make fun of the cab driver. Also, fuck nazis. (Grokked from Cherie Priest)

 Now that Trump has shown his unstable side by launching a cruise missile attack in Syria, (which may have not be legal and there's no word if even the Gang of 8 had been informed) every move the military makes is subjected to scrutiny for more signs of attacks. In this case, a carrier group repositioned into the Western Pacific near the Korean Peninsula. If we had our lifelong staffers in the State Department, or political appointees running some Pentagon offices, they might inform the president that playing crazy with crazy is not a good formula. Also, just because it needs saying, war (or warlike actions) don't bolster foreign policy and diplomacy. They're the fail state of such.

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/04/linkee-poo-why-waste-your-breath.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-8987978166349132160Fri, 07 Apr 2017 02:15:00 +00002017-04-06T22:15:35.634-04:00Life has a waySorry. Day thing, night thing, and family all conspiring to keep me offline. Will resume irregular schedule when we can. Expect maybe sometime next weekish. Sorry for the interruption.

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/04/life-has-way.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-4285456403308573639Sat, 01 Apr 2017 00:14:00 +00002017-03-31T20:14:30.587-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo plows into the weekendI'd expect next week to be similar to this week, but for different reasons.

 "Batgirl… is getting her own standalone movie from filmmaker Joss Whedon." (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

 "Thylacines cynocephalus may still be out there." Okay, that could be interesting. But then there are many extinct animals who are "sighted" in the wild.

 "SpaceX launched a communications satellite from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida using a rocket stage that had already been to space and back. SpaceX is betting that this kind of recycling will lower its costs and revolutionize space flight" And they stuck the landing.

 "Trolls dominate online discourse, according to Pew Internet research, and there may not be much we can do about it. To come to this conclusion, Pew asked one key question of 1,537 tech experts, academics, government leaders, and so on. It appears to have avoided talking to the trolls themselves — understandable but a bit of a shame." And what did you do in the Great Troll Wars? :: waves to my friends in Russia :: (Grokked from John)

 "Transportation officials in Georgia are scrambling to cope with a crisis, after a huge fire caused a bridge on Interstate 85 to collapse in Atlanta on Thursday night."

 "Are you an urban police force thinking about how to control your fellow humans? Look no farther! Your pals at Bozena have an all-new RIOT system, a crowd-control killdozer for all your protest-suppressing needs!"

 "Most of his interactions are with an insular circle of political aides who are new to the State Department. Many career diplomats say they still have not met him, and some have been instructed not to speak to him directly — or even make eye contact." That can't be good. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

 "North Carolina has repealed portions of the state's controversial 'bathroom bill,' including the requirement that trans people use the bathroom that matches their birth certificate, member station WUNC reports." Not enough. But I understand the politics of it. If I were a state legislator, I would probably vote for it. If I were a local politician I would be lobbying against it. If I were the NAACP, I'd still impose the boycott because this repeal isn't very much of a repeal.

 "I'm sure Pence would say that he's just being careful. But I wonder if he realizes the discriminatory consequences of his rule. Over his career, he has had many colleagues and employees. With the men, he can have complex relationships that traverse work and social contexts, build trust, and eventually help their careers. A woman who hoped Pence would be a mentor to her, on the other hand, wouldn't be able to avail herself of those opportunities, since he can't even have lunch with her." Yep. It also doesn't say much for his maturity and self-control (the former helps with the problems of the lack of the later). (Grokked from John)

 Rep Nunes story keeps getting more and more amateur hourish. The kind of amateur hour that makes community theater look like Broadway by comparison. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

 The president walks out of his own executive order ceremony without signing the order. I'm sure whatever he said to Pence made absolute sense. (Grokked from Jim Wright)

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/03/linkee-poo-plows-into-weekend.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-4966063762788213990Thu, 30 Mar 2017 23:37:00 +00002017-03-30T19:37:17.392-04:00Crazy ThoughtsThree things makes a postSo, apparently Michael Flynn has offered to testify… as long as he gets immunity first. Whenever I hear of someone "willing to talk with the committee" I often think, "I wonder if they're getting immunity first?" So far no one has accepted that offer, with good reason. Flynn is swimming in the deep end at the moment looking at not just being disgraced, but real jail time. And he's looking for any ladder to get his ass out.

 Chairman Nunes' story keeps getting weirder. So apparently he had to "emergency" brief the president on information he learned from a White House source. At least it was a short trip after learning the info. But, the call is coming from inside the house.

 And Mike Pence keeps getting stranger and stranger. Beginning to think the white hair is related to Geert Wilders' and Julian Asange's white hair.

 Been very busy between the new day job, the night thing, and the family thing. So, sorry, no link-poo for a while.

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/03/three-things-makes-post.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-3378680682695491816Tue, 28 Mar 2017 01:08:00 +00002017-03-27T21:08:41.748-04:00Photo JournalingSprung!http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/03/sprung.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-4906079558297137940Tue, 28 Mar 2017 01:02:00 +00002017-03-27T21:02:58.010-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo AWOL"The US Senate has voted to overturn Internet privacy rules introduced last year by the FCC – and to prevent the FCC from passing any further such rules in the future." Tell me that there is no difference between the parties again. That one never gets old. (Grokked form Dan)

 "'It seems to be, and correct me if I’m wrong here, but virtually every case of voter fraud I can remember in my lifetime was committed by Democrats,' (Steven Curtis the former chairman of the Colorado Republican Party) told KLZ 560." Are you going to be surprised that he's the only one being prosecuted in Colorado for voter fraud during the 2016 election? If so, you haven't been paying attention. (Grokked from Fred Clark)

 "In his second hastily called press briefing on Wednesday, House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-CA) did little to quell a storm of speculation he kicked up hours earlier by divulging that the intelligence community 'incidentally collected' information about President Donald Trump and his staff during the transition… Nunes did offer a few new concrete specifics to reporters gathered outside the White House, where he had just briefed the President. These included a firm assertion that Trump’s own communications were caught up in intelligence community reports that were 'widely disseminated' among intelligence agencies—a claim he hedged on earlier this afternoon." Read that line about briefing the president. He hadn't even shared this with his committee first. Separation of powers my ass. That's straight up ass kissing in an attempt to curry favor. Jesus, people, there's an entire press corps in Washington DC watching what you do. Well, I guess he figured he couldn't just call the president, as that would probably be recorded. Oh, and our intelligence agencies acting on FISA warrants investigating foreign intelligence operations intercepted (legally) "Trump’s own communications." There's a whole shitload of dots to connect there.

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/03/linkee-poo-awol.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-5974859080292467626Thu, 23 Mar 2017 00:41:00 +00002017-03-22T20:41:21.769-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo hits Wednesday Apple is being held ransom because of hacks of their Apple ID accounts. Good time to reset the password. (Grokked from Dan)

 The art of pre-suasion. Or how you don't realize you're being manipulated. Note, works for marketing and politics (and oddly enough, writing). I got 78%.

 "The silicon-based cells that make up a solar panel have a theoretical efficiency limit of 29 percent, but so far that number has proven elusive. Practical efficiency rates in the low-20-percent range have been considered very good for commercial solar panels. But researchers… have built a solar cell with a photo conversion rate of 26.3 percent, breaking the previous record of 25.6 percent." Zing. And the clincher, "… the company will continue to work with NEDO to bring the levelized cost of solar cells down to $0.06 per kilowatt-hour by 2030." (Grokked from John)

 Why am I progressive? Reason number #3, I'm all for reducing government spending. But I know how to actually do that. "A full-day preschool program with all this staff doesn’t come cheap. For a typically developing child, it’s $252 a week. For a child with special needs who requires more staffing, it’s $387… And 90 percent of the families in this neighborhood need financial help. Many pay based on what they can afford. But research shows the return on that investment is high. Every $1 spent on early education returns $13 in savings down the road." So, not only do we help kids, help parents, help the neighborhoods they live in, create jobs, and improve the lives of those around us (and, incidentally, our own lives as those kids eventually enter the workforce), we save a shitload of money. But, this is spending money upfront, which conservatives don't want to do even though it costs them more in the long run and generates misery all around.

 Just like yesterday's story about treating people with opioid addiction. It's significantly cheaper to help them get off opioids with treatment programs (that aren't 300-500% overbooked) and community economic intervention (which often curbs drug use) that paying out half a million to replace someone's heart valve (and that's not the only expensive complications from drug use). It helps people live "better" lives, it helps them be self-reliant, and it costs significantly less.

 "But farmers need to get their crops in, and they expect to be able to go on fixing, tuning and modifying their (John Deere) tractors as they've done since tractors were invented, and so they are turning to the Ukrainian black market." Don't worry, I'm sure EULAs will be hitting the car market soon. So we're all going to need to know how to hack our own equipment. (Grokked from John)

 Why Mussolini's fascism is a more apt simile for Trump's (advisors) version. And there's a healthy dose of crow in their for all us progressives. (Grokked from Sheila)

 "After the president issued a budget last week slashing and burning environmental, labor and educational programs, the guy responsible for the thing, Mick Mulvaney, contended those financial massacres are the heart’s desire of the 'steelworker in Ohio, the coal-mining family in West Virginia, the mother of two in Detroit.'" Turns out he was completely wrong about that. And people are now telling him exactly that. To bad, Micky, but it was a self-inflicted wound. Unfortunately for the rest of us, that wasn't the real reason for cutting off funds to many of those programs. (Grokked from Kelly Link)

 The Trump Budget explained in a video. Yep. Good if you're the military, sucks if you're below middle income. Notice how many blocks are transferred to the Pentagon come from programs that help the poor, elderly, and disenfranchised people. Much of what is being cut I use daily, I know people who are dependent on those programs, and gosh darn it I'd like to see medical and basic research continue (even at the reduced levels they are currently), because that means life and progress in the future. Cutting such programs may save a few pennies, but they'll cost us significant fractions of the GDP in the future. Don't believe it? Okay how about this article that highlights other programs being cut and the benefit we all get from them. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. (Grokked from Sheila)

 In politics, there are lots of forms of currency. The most potent is reputation. And, yes, you spend it like any other currency. The current president is squandering his. And some people are trying to tell him to knock it off. Because at some point, our lives may depend on it. (Grokked from John)

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/03/linkee-poo-hits-wednesday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-5963845886050756181Wed, 22 Mar 2017 01:37:00 +00002017-03-21T21:37:58.582-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo is not in the swingFerret Steinmetz would "like to hire someone who is wheelchair-enabled who can tell me whether I’m making any obvious insults and/or errors to wheelchair-enabled users." See post for details.

 "Over the past few months, Black Twitter has noticed an increase in the number of white trolls creating fake Twitter accounts." Yes, Virginia, there are poser trolls out there. They're organized and have a mission. And it's not just Black Twitter.

 "Cementing her role as a powerful White House influence, Ivanka Trump is working out of a West Wing office and will get access to classified information, though she is not technically serving as a government employee, according to an attorney for the first daughter." Note Ivanka Trump has not really divested or handed off her responsibilities in the Trump Organization (although there appears to be more light between her and the organization than her father). Although, in truth, this is the role of the First Lady. And someone has got to keep an eye on Daddy so nobody else realizes he has emotional and memory problems. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)

 "According to the rules newly issued by President Trump's administration, passengers must check most electronic devices — including laptops, cameras and tablets — into their checked baggage. Travelers will still be allowed to carry their mobile phones in their hand luggage." I guess we've forgotten about altitude and pressure triggers.

 The problems with false attribution mostly stem from an ignorance of people. "Among the people who enrolled in Medicaid under the expansion, about 13 percent might be considered able bodied but not working right now. Of those, the great majority said the reason they weren't working was because they were taking care of family members. If you look across the nation, it might be millions of individuals who receive Medicaid benefits at the moment but potentially could be required to work under the rules Congress is considering."

 America's opioid problem is more economically widespread than most people think. "Milford had endocarditis, which is essentially an abscess on one of his heart valves. He spent seven weeks in the hospital on intravenous antibiotics. Eventually, he went back home. But he kept injecting drugs, and he got endocarditis two more times." A hospital considers the ethics of treating patients with drug addictions. This is why insurance needs to be more than catastrophic care. If we had a robust addiction therapy response, we would save millions. Note, the patient above had to have heart valve replacement three times at a cost of about a half-million a throw (and that's not the only health issues these people have). By treating drug addiction as only a criminal offense, and making a paltry effort to show compassion and get these patients the treatments they need, we are costing ourselves billions more than running needle exchanges and getting more facilities and doctors in the drug rehabilitation field.

 "At an hours-long public hearing on Monday, FBI Director James Comey confirmed that his agency is investigating possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia, and he pushed back against President Trump's allegations that he was wiretapped by former President Barack Obama." Imagine how different the world would be if that was the letter Comey sent to Congress the weekend before the election.

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/03/linkee-poo-is-not-in-swing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-4008791117880268971Mon, 20 Mar 2017 01:21:00 +00002017-03-19T21:21:08.201-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo for SundayChuck Berry has gone on. And so it goes. Do you like Rock and Roll? You owe a debt to Chuck. Like a song with "power chords"? Chuck Berry. Rock stage performers dancing while playing? Chuck.

 "According to a report in The Siberian Times, a team led by archaeologist Andrey Gusev of the Scientific Research Center of the Arctic has uncovered plates of armor made from reindeer antlers at the Ust-Polui site in northwestern Siberia. The armor dates to between the first century B.C. and the first century A.D." (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

 "The Trump administration has gone to court to try to bring the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under its control. The bureau is an executive branch entity, but the president doesn't have direct control over the six-year-old agency." Screwing the little-guy. That's what he campaigned one, wasn't it?

 Alles klar, Herr Kommissar? "Most members of President Trump’s Cabinet do not yet have leadership teams in place or even nominees for top deputies. But they do have an influential coterie of senior aides installed by the White House who are charged — above all — with monitoring the secretaries’ loyalty, according to eight officials in and outside the administration." (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

 "The former Texas Republican was jailed on Thursday and accused in federal court on Friday of conspiring with two former employees to violate federal election laws." I'm so glad the conservatives were hell-bent on investigating election fraud. Without that, we wouldn't know how corrupt the GOP and conservatives are when it comes to election law. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/03/linkee-poo-for-sunday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-8524860497070366939Thu, 16 Mar 2017 02:01:00 +00002017-03-15T22:01:42.809-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo asks for help, still gets the shaftSo long and thanks for all the fish. "Humpback whales are normally pretty solitary—scientists used to call groups of 10 to 20 'large.' Now they’re congregating in groups of 20 to 200 off the coast of South Africa." (Grokked from Kelly Link)

 "A culture of paranoia is consuming the Trump administration, with staffers increasingly preoccupied with perceived enemies — inside their own government… In interviews, nearly a dozen White House aides and federal agency staffers described a litany of suspicions: that rival factions in the administration are trying to embarrass them, that civil servants opposed to President Donald Trump are trying to undermine him, and even that a “deep state” of career military and intelligence officials is out to destroy them… Aides are going to great lengths to protect themselves. They’re turning off work-issued smartphones and putting them in drawers when they arrive home from work out of fear that they could be used to eavesdrop. They’re staying mum in meetings out of concern that their comments could be leaked to the press by foes." You calls may be monitored and recorded for quality control. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)

 "The Republican plan would block $178 million in Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood in 2017." Well, if PP is named (or specifically outlined) in the bill, that's a cause for legal action (the Federal Government can neither endorse or prohibit an individual company by law - regulation and implementation however is another thing).

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/03/linkee-poo-asks-for-help-still-gets.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-5706915458646952317Wed, 15 Mar 2017 01:30:00 +00002017-03-14T21:30:56.088-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo becomes the night owlSome conservatives say income inequality isn't a thing in developed nations, or at least doesn't cause any issues. "Girls in the UK are missing school because they cannot afford sanitary protection, a charity has said… Freedom4Girls was contacted by a school in Leeds after it became concerned about teenage girls' attendance… The group provides sanitary products to women in Kenya - but is now doing the same in West Yorkshire." Yeah, they're wrong. (Grokked from Kelly Link)

 "The Senate on Tuesday sent President Donald Trump a measure to expand the number of applicants for jobless benefits who can be drug-tested." Well, I'm sure that will work out well.

 "The CIA has reportedly been given the power by President Trump to launch drone strikes against suspected terrorists." Oh for fuck's sake. The CIA has proved how incredibly crappy they are at running that program (actually on directing any, any military action). But the one thing the CIA has over the Pentagon, the CIA doesn't have lawyers making sure all operations follow relevant laws, including international treaties. They also don't have to report shit to anyone and have no compunction against lying about it. (Grokked from Jim Wright)

 "State safety inspectors wouldn’t inspect West Virginia’s coal mines anymore. They would conduct 'compliance visits and education.'… Violations of health and safety standards wouldn’t produce state citations and fines, either. Mine operators would receive 'compliance assistance visit notices.'" Wow, and it only took one col executive being sent to (very minimum security) jail to get a complete capitulation of government. But, in truth, the operators rarely pay fines and treat the regulations as "suggestions" anyway. The good news is that there's still the federal rules… which are treated with the same contempt as the state rules. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)

 "At a town hall last week, Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) told an attendee to 'shut up' after the crowd took issue with his response to a question about legislation protecting women from violence."

 "'There are things we can do to tailor the tax credit in a way to make it more attractive to people and more helpful to people on the lower end, with a phaseout that's a little less steeper than what the House has,' Sen. John Thune (R-SD) told reporters Tuesday." So it'll take longer to screw you over, but it'll still screw you over in the long run.

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/03/linkee-poo-becomes-night-owl.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19111384.post-1070698387890049614Tue, 14 Mar 2017 01:13:00 +00002017-03-13T21:13:52.134-04:00linkee-pooLinkee-poo first day"White men are an 'endangered species' in British boardrooms, says Tesco boss… Mr Allan is one of nine white men on Tesco's board of directors." Side-eye. Uh yeah, John. Sure. He then goes on to say white guys will have to work twice as hard. Dear asshole, you're on the board of a company and are paid a significant amount, you should be working 6x as hard as the rest of your employees. Get a grip. (Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)

 Rep. Steve King drops the mask and goes full-bore white supremacist.

 "The AHCA would increase the uninsured population by about 24 million people — which is more people than live in New York state. But the raw numbers obscure the cruelty of the choices. The policy is particularly bad for the old, the sick, and the poor. It is particularly good for the rich, the young, and the healthy." More people will be pushed out of the healthcare market than were added under Obamacare. It will screw over a lot of people with employer based healthcare. And if you're on Medicaid, you're screwed. How screwed, it's $800B in cuts to Medicaid to return only $340B savings over 10 years. (Grokked from Fred Clark)

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2017/03/linkee-poo-first-day.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Steve Buchheit)0


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[NEWS] Event Notice EM Lillimu's second storytelling

Discussion in 'UO Pacific' started by Lyconis, Jun 27, 2009.

  1. Lyconis

    Lyconis Sage
    Stratics Veteran

    May 20, 2008
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    EM Lillimu's second storytelling will be held Saturday, at 8:00pm PST on June 27th. Meet at the Britannia Counselor's Hall in Trammel. Gates will be provided to the the Fairgrounds just south of Luna!

    The Rules are as follow:
    1. Stories must be rated PG-13, and preferrably germane to the world of Britannia.
    2. Each story must be under five minutes long.
    3. One entry per person.
    4. Poems and ballads are permitted.
    5. EM Lillimu will be the judge, and rates the stories at her own discretion.
    6. Rewards for the top three stories shall be in the form of items displayed at the Reward Hall.

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Sunday, October 21, 2012

San Pedro Calungsod: The Vague Saint

Today, October 21, 2012, at around 3:54 pm, Manila Time, Pedro Calungsod was canonized as the second Filipino saint.

With all the news about San Pedro Calungsod, I would like to discuss one characteristic of the new saint.

Perhaps, in the modern era, after the renaissance, no saint has as vague a personal circumstance as San Pedro Calungsod, who was canonized today.

That's why I call him San Pedro Calungsod, the vague saint.

Pedro Calungsod's personal circumstances are so vague that even the postulator of his sainthood could only rely on probability and common sense instead of evidentiary documents.

(to be continued)


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Saturday, October 12, 2013

Herriman Saturday

Thursday, April 30 1908 -- In the wake of the smash hit opera The Merry Widow, in which the subject of the title wears a very large and highly adorned chapeau, ladies all over are donning their own versions of the  giant lid. A stage manager with the Temple Opera Company has had enough of the fad and banned the monstrosities from the theatre during rehearsals.

In the news story attending this cartoon, the anonymous scribe, perhaps our own Garge himself, has a bon mot I must pass on. The writer says of the ladies reaction, "the language that the ladies used was chaste, but vigorous." Ah, you just don't get reporting like that anymore...

After Herriman's yeoman service churning out multiple daily cartoons during fleet week, he seems to have been offered a rest, as for the next week he's off the sports page, contributing only one of these light items per day.

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Friday, October 11, 2013

Sci-Friday starring Adam Chase

Adam Chase (c) renewed 2013 by Russ Morgan. All rights reserved.

Adam Chase strip #42, originally published March 19 1967. For background on the strip and creator, refer to this post.

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Thursday, October 10, 2013

Ink-Slinger Profiles: William Sherb

William Charles Sherb was born in Cleveland, Ohio on June 8, 1915. His full name was found in a Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 8, 1988, death notice for his mother; his birthplace was noted in the 1920 U.S. Federal Census; and his birth date was recorded in the Social Security Death Index. However, the Michigan Death Index has his birth as June 7. In the census he was the oldest of two sons born to John and Pauline, both emigrants; their marriage license said he was born in Austria and she in Roumania. They lived in Cleveland, Ohio at 1312 West 58th Street. His father was a barber.

Sherb has not been found in the 1930 census. The Plain Dealer, August 18, 1933, published a photo of him with the following caption: “William Sherb, 18, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Sherb, 5704 Detroit Avenue N.W., painted a portrait of President Roosevelt. The gift was acknowledged by the president. Sherb is a student at Gordon Barrick Studio, 5605 Detroit.” According to the New York Times, January 11, 1942, Barrick “was a director of the former Cleveland Academy of Fine Arts” and “director of The Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial art department.” The Cleveland City Directory 1934 listed him as an artist residing at 5709 Detroit Avenue. In 1939 Sherb produced the yet-to-be-found Masked Invaders strip and the holiday strip A Christmas Fantasy, which can be read in its entirety in five parts: 1 2 3 4 5

In the 1940 census he was married to Margaret and had an infant daughter, Judith. They resided in Cleveland at 1431 West 57 Street. He and his wife had four years of high school education. His occupation was an artist for the Works Project Administration. The Plain Dealer, April 8, 1945, said he was inducted into the navy.

At this time, his next known work appeared decades later, when he provided 30 illustrations for the 1976 book, Weather Wisdom: Facts and Folklore of Weather Prediction. The Catalog of Copyright Entries, Third Series, Volume 30, Part 1, Number 2, Section 2, Books and Pamphlets, etc., July-December 1976, had this entry:

Weather wisdom; being an illustrated practical volume wherein is contained unique compilation and analysis of the facts and folklore of natural weather prediction. By Albert Lee, with 30 edifying illuminations executed by William C. Sherb. 180 p. © Albert Lee; 1Oct76; A783265.
Sherb passed away March 13, 1993, in Westland, Michigan, according to the Social Security Death Index.

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Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Obscurity of the Day: Jellybean Jones

Here is a feature that gives us an excellent opportunity to discuss some of the qualities that separate the blockbuster features from the duds. Jellybean Jones, a panel series about a mischievous kid, pre-dates the very similar Dennis the Menace by five years. It began on March 4 1946, never took hold at many papers, and was cancelled after almost four years on January 14 1950.

Dennis the Menace, on the other hand,  hit newspapers one year after Jellybean Jones expired, took the newspaper world by storm and never looked back. The feature turned into a multimedia empire practically on a par with Peanuts.

Both panels are about a mischievous kid. So where did Jellybean Jones creator Frank Walter go wrong; what did he not do that Hank Ketcham did so very, very right?

The easy answer, of course, is that Ketcham was a genius, while Frank Walter was a mere mortal. Okay, fair enough -- that's a given. But what in particular attracted people to Dennis the Menace and not to Jellybean Jones, and what might the aspiring newspaper cartoonist  take away as lessons (assuming there are some left with that perhaps outmoded dream).

Here are a few of what I consider the glaring errors in the way that the Jellybean Jones feature was constructed. I think these should all have been dealt with before the feature was ever accepted for syndication, and I am frankly shocked that King Features was so blind as to not recognize the problems:

1. Character Design -- the star of the show seems to be pretty much right out of the "How to Cartoon" handbook. While Dennis is visually arresting and memorable, Jellybean Jones seems like a generic kid. The kid's design just screams 'I'm a cartoon kid, not different than the thousands of others you've seen.' Walter seems to have put as much thought into Jellybean's look as if he were drawing a one-off gag cartoon for a secondary market magazine. You can't look at Dennis, especially the early version of the design, and not recognize him as a little hell-raising bastard instantly. He doesn't look like any other cartoon kid ever before created, but there is some indefinable 'truth' in his design -- he seems real.

2. Lack of Focus -- in our five examples above, two of them focus specifically on the parents. That would be fine and dandy if the name of the strip were The Jones Family. But it isn't. The star of the show is Jellybean Jones, and he should never be a completely unnecessary extra character, just looking on from a corner of the panel. I would wager that in all the thousands upon thousands of Dennis the Menace panels that Ketcham did, a gag exclusively related to the adults appeared less than ten times. And I bet every one of those was submitted on deadline and out of desperation lacking a better idea.

3. Everyone is a Comedian -- this problem is exhibited by many features, and I don't understand why it is so commonly accepted in new features. It seems to me that you need a straight man in any feature -- someone who has their head screwed on right, someone with whom the reader can identify. Henry and Alice Mitchell are perfectly reasonable people who react like we would to Dennis' shenanigans (apart from whaling the tar out of the little brat). We can identify with them. The entire Jones family, on the other hand, is out there flinging one-liners like Henny Youngman, and there's nobody around to take the pie in the face, or get that wonderfully stormy and rueful "What did I ever do to deserve this" look of Henry Mitchell's. Worse yet, in Jellybean Jones the pie-thrower one day can be the straight man the next, and then switch off again the next day. Characters with consistent personalities are the bedrock on which gags are built.

Well, this post is turning out to be rather long, but unfortunately for you I'm not quite done yet. Before I close we must consider this person 'Frank Walter'. Everything about Jellybean Jones, from the art style to the gags, points to this being a production of the husband and wife team of Jerry and Linda Walter (creators of Susie Q. Smith, also from King Features). I dutifully did some web searching looking for a cartoonist by the name of Frank Walter with no luck, but I did find this newspaper article about Jerry Walter which states rather matter-of-factly that he and wife Linda created Jellybean Jones. Why they chose a pen-name for this second feature is unknown to me.

Well-written Allan, thanks!
An interesting entry, to be sure. However, as a parent myself in today's world, I can find humor and identify with the characters and the jokes quite well. I think, given the right venue, this could be a big hit today!
Great analysis. I am reposting it in my Dutch comic artists group.
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Tuesday, October 08, 2013

Ink-Slinger Profiles: Raymond C. Ewer

Raymond Crawford “Ray” Ewer was born in Napa County, California, in October 1888. The birthplace was determined by his father’s name in the 1888 Napa County, California Voter Register. The 1900 U.S. Federal Census had the birth date information. According to the census, he was the second of three children born to Fred and Adella. His father was a “wine grower”. They lived in Hot Springs, California. In the Polk-Husted Directory Co.’s Napa City, St. Helena and Calistoga Directory, 1908, his father was the president of the St. Helena Bottling and Cold Storage Company, and they lived in St. Helena on “Kearney off Pine”.

Detailed information on Ewer’s education and art training has not been found. At this time, what is known is that he attended St. Helena Grammar School. Photographs of the school and his classroom were published in St. Helena (2010).

During most of 1907, he was a staff cartoonist on the San Francisco Call; his first cartoon appeared January 1 and the last on December 13. And he wrote at least one sports article, “Gallagherites Defeat the Mahonyites”.
On a few occasions he contributed to the Sunday Call: February 10, “The Gentle Forefathers of the Native Son”; February 24, “Things Are Not What They Seem” featured back-to-back pages to be held up to light to see the overlapping images (here and here); and September 29, “Labor, Trade and Capital”, by O. Henry whose earlier stories in the Call were illustrated by H.C. Greening. (A list of his cartoons and illustrations in the Call follows this profile.) He also contributed drawings to the San Francisco-based magazine Sunset in its May 1908 issue.

Around September 1908 he made his way to New York City. He sent several postcards to his friends, notably Ralph “Pot” Yardley, in the art department of the Call. A postcard mailed October 3, 1908 said in part: “At last I’m in N’York. Whoopee! Wow!…”. A May 4, 1909 card was about his upcoming trip to Europe:

Dear Butch: I leave for Europe the 29 of this month, on the steamship Minneapolis. Am being sent all expenses paid by Frank Munsey. Will go to London, Scotland, Paris and Berlin, also Holland. Am going mainly to do theatre sketches, but will get a lot of misselleanous [sic] stuff to [sic].

I have been up to my neck in work since the first month I landed, for the last month have kept the income at 100 a week and some times more, but I have to hustle to do it. Have you seen the Scrap Book—it is full of my stuff.

Good-bye, regards Ewer

It’s not clear if he went to Europe. A passport application has not been found and his name does not appear on any passenger lists at

In 1909, he produced two Sunday newspaper features and kid’s activity page. Things as They Ought to Be ran from January 17 to April 18, 1909; he started Those Ridiculous Questions January 24 and stopped June 20, 1909; Kid Cut Ups Puzzle had the longest run of the trio, from January 17 to August 8, 1909.

 Duluth News-Tribune 3/28/1909

Duluth News-Tribune 3/28/1909

The 1910 census recorded him and his wife, Ruth, in Manhattan, New York City at 514 West 122 Street. His occupation was magazine illustrator but he continued producing comics.  Brown—City Farmer, also known as Brown—Would Be Farmer, ran from May 15 to November 6, 1910.

Belleville News-Democrat 5/28/1910

He took over Slim Jim and the Force, from George Frink, beginning January 8, 1911 and ending three years later on January 11, 1914. He also busy contributing art to Judge, The MassesPuck and Vanity Fair. (Nemo, December 1984, has seven pages devoted to Ewer and his art in Judge.)

 Judge 11/16/1912

 Judge 12/7/1912

Puck 11/28/1914

Puck 4/3/1915

Ewer passed away June 22, 1915. His death was reported in the Dobbs Ferry Register (New York) on Friday, June 25:

Raymond Crawford Ewer, a resident of Circle Driveway, Riverview Manor, Hastings-on-Hudson, died on Tuesday [June 22], after a short illness. Mr. Ewer was 26 years of age and leaves a wife and infant daughter. The funeral services were held from his late home on Thursday morning at 10 o’clock. His body was taken to Fresh Pond Long Island for incineration. The ashes will be taken to his former home in St. Helena, Napa county, Cal.

He was buried at the St. Helena Public Cemetery.

Raymond C. Ewer artwork in the San Francisco Call at Chronicling America

January 1907
1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14a, 14b, 16, 17 (unsigned), 18, 20 (spot drawings), 21, 24, 26

February 1907
2, 4 (Buster Brown), 6, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18a, 18b, 19, 21, 22, 24a, 24b, 24c, 25

March 1907
3, 4a, 4b, 9, 10, 12a, 12b, 13, 17a, 17b, 18, 19, 22, 24, 26, 27, 30, 31

April 1907
1, 3, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14a, 14b, 15, 21, 23, 28, 29, 30

May 1907
5a, 5b, 13, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 28, 31

June 1907
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23a, 23b, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30a, 30b

July 1907
1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11a, 11b, 14, 15a, 15b, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

August 1907
1, 2, 3, 4, 5a, 5b, 6, 7a, 7b, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15 (unsigned), 16, 19a, 19b, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26a (unsigned), 26b, 27, 28, 29, 30

September 1907
1, 2, 3, 5, 6a, 6b (unsigned), 8a, 8b, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23a, 23b, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 (O. Henry story), 30a, 30b

October 1907
1, 2, 3, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8, 9a, 9b, 10, 12a, 12b, 13, 14a, 14b, 15, 16, 20a, 20b, 20c, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

November 1907
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 11a, 11b, 12, 16, 18a, 18b, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25a, 25b, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

December 1907
2, 6, 7, 8 (Dargie caricature reused 14, 16, 18), 9, 10, 11, 13

Allan and Alex-- thank you. These past two days are the perfect example of why Stripper's guide is one of the best sites out in the ether. That Ye Olden Christmas page is pure magic! I can't thank you enough!!!
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Monday, October 07, 2013

Obscurity of the Day: Those Ridiculous Questions

Long before Rube Goldberg became synonymous with crazy inventions, he was already the man behind another craze. He came up with a cute little bit he called Foolish Questions, and it caught on big.

The idea was simplicity itself -- an oblivious idiot asks a really dumb question, and his victim, rather than just rolling his eyes and answering the question, shoots back a totally off-the-wall bizarre answer drenched in fresh steaming sarcasm.

In Goldberg's very capable hands the concept was a goldmine of comedy. And it wasn't long before others realized that the form was relatively easy to imitate. Not necessarily imitate well, of course, as there is an art to making a really funny answer. But if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Goldberg was flattered all to hell and back.

Here is Raymond Crawford Ewer's *ahem* homage to Foolish Questions, stealthily titled Those Ridiculous Questions to throw us off the scent. Most of Ewer's answers are on the klunky side, but it's possible to forgive him as the drawings, on the other hand, are quite delightful. Ewer was just starting in the art game at this time, but it wouldn't be long before his work was snapped up by major magazines. Alex Jay will tell us what became of Ewer tomorrow in an Ink-Slinger Profile.

Those Ridiculous Questions ran in the McClure/Otis F. Wood preprint Sunday section starting on January 24 1909. Ewer's stint on the feature came to an end on June 20 of that year. After a several month layoff, the feature was resurrected, this time with William F. Marriner at the helm. Marriner drew the feature from September 26 to October 31. One final episode was published on November 7, which was unsigned and not by either of these cartoonists.

Thanks to Cole Johnson for the samples!

And of course more recently we had Al Jaffee's Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions in Mad magazine:
It drives me crazy how the balloons are in backward order, so the punch line comes first. Sort of like Jeopardy...what is the straight line for this payoff?
I wonder when it became standardized that dialogue in comic strips had to be placed so that it would always read left to right, unlike what this cartoonist did.
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Sunday, October 06, 2013

Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics

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Monday, December 31, 2012

Tracing History

From Helsinki, I took the train north to Oulu. Visiting this city was the primary purpose of my trip because it was the region that my family originally lived.  I took a train out of Helsinki and about 3/4 of the way we switched to bus.

I sat on the bus looking out the window as we drove through the pine forest.  It was clear to me how my relatives ended up in Minnesota. We drove by a car parked on the edge of the woods.  People picking blueberries. We honestly could have been in northern Minnesota.

We arrived in Oulu and I went to my hotel. My room: 1) had a sauna in it; and 2) was above a karaoke bar.  The plan was to spend the next two days holed up at the Finnish National Archives finding out whatever I could about my great grandmother and grandfather.  It was a tall order because I only knew their names, birth year and the fact that they may or may not have come from Oulu (which is a region, as well as a city). I sat in my sauna and then was lulled to sleep my Finns singing songs in the bar below me.

The next day I woke up at the crack of dawn (ok, 9:00 am), ate a lovely breakfast and then went off to find the Archives. Bless the hearts of the ladies working at the Archives who took me under wing, showed me the ropes of researching the church records, and patiently helped me translate the old Swedish records into Finnish and then English.  When it was all said and done, I was able to work my way back three generations. And yes, my grandparents lived in the downtown area of Oulu. One of the coolest things I was able to do is match addresses for both families from an 1900 census to a current location on a map and go visit the actual location of their houses (long since gone). They lived a couple of blocks apart and probably grew up together.

On my third day in the city I started walking around and visiting the sights. Holy cow.  My family is lucky that I was not the one that lived there back in the 1900's.  Russian occupation aside, I'm pretty sure I would have never left.

I found myself looking at the dates of buildings to determine if they were standing when my grandparents were walking those streets. This was my first introduction to the 19th century wooden worker's houses.

Government building

The doors. Swoon.  Also, notice the blue gray color - if you did your homework, this should look familiar.

These buildings were in the main market square. My grandparents would have walked by them often.

More yellow

Had I seen this overhang before I had my copper one made, things would be different.

You know you are an old house owner, when 1) you photo things like this; and 2) you know how to strip paint off of them.

This Cathedral would have been the closest church to where my grandparents lived.

I'm pretty sure I could live on cardamom rolls and coffee

Corner of an old log building.

The main market. My grandparents would have walked down these same aisles.

I want to live in this one. Pink!

My afternoon coffee spot.

I take photos of my food. I know, odd.

A sculpture in tribute to the generations that helped build the country through the years.

Do the colors look familiar?

Does it get any better?

Bonus points to anyone that can tell me what I ate that day and point me to a recipe. Yum.

An old ship factory turned restaurant.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas!

Wow, the timing of this could not have been better. One of my stops in Finland was the Arctic Circle (aka The North Pole).

Merry Christmas to all of StuccoHouse's readers!

My reindeer dinner.  I tried hard not to like it, but it was delicious.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Little Pink Houses

After I had spent a few days in Helsinki, I decided to take the ferry over to the Fortress of Suomenlinna.  It's a UNESCO world heritage site. My "bucket list" includes visiting as many of them as I can.

So, I got off the ferry and started to walk in to see the sights on the island. The main attraction was supposed to me the military architecture. But, I found myself totally smitten with the vintage houses. Charming.

Metal roof. The front doors are spectacular. And the trim around the windows. And the yellow paint.

Check out the details on the barge board and also the diamond design where the porch roof meets the wall. The windows are great too.

That top little window. The front doors, All of the trim. And, of course, the stair rails.

Pink and white. And those wonderful stair rails.

Also, check out the gray paint. Look familiar?

Look at the topc of the gutters on this one. And the window trim.

Oh yea, and there is a fort there too :)

Stunning scenery.

More details. More shades of yellow.

Lace curtains  Storms that swing out with interior windows swing in. Figurines in the top part of window.

Part of the Fortress.

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Monday, March 7, 2011

Some Thoughts on My Life... Cuz It's Been a While....

Hey folks. It has been a while, and I apologize. Life has been busy, so I will update you guys on my life.

1. I am spanking my welding class, I am so good at it. I have done stuff in a month that takes most people 3 months to complete. Oh yeah!

2. The other day I made up my mind of what I will probably do with my future. I am planning as of right now to become a chef. Yup, you heard me right, I am going to major in Culinary Arts(I think that is what the major is called). Wa-Bam! Yup.

3. Yearbook is an awesome class, and I am glad that I randomly showed up one day, and ended up joining. Shweet!

4. I am so excited for upcoming events that will happen soon: Miriam Bay is taking me to MORP, which will be way awesome! My Brother and I will be going to the Space Simulator this week for anyone that knows what that is, and it will be awesome as well! And just cool stuff like that that is coming up.

5. Backstage Jazz Night was way awesome! We had a fantastic turnout, which was really cool. The jazz bands were fantastic, and everyone was dancing and having a good time, which it is always a party when you get together with your friends and put on some jazz music.

Yup, that is what is on my mind right now... well that is what I am willing to write that is on my mind right now... maybe I will have a girl post sometime soon. :) Be excited.

You guys are awesome! Thanks for reading!
Love Matt or Cakes, you decide. ;)

  1. I will take you up on your challenge for a girl post. guy post. and whether you are a chef or a welder you had better still take me to brazil and the bahamas and disney land. aaaaand now you can cook for me! sweet.

  2. Haha! Kaela, I will be both a welder and a chef, so it is great for you either way. :) And yes, I will do a girl post if you do a guy post.... yup. :)

    Miriam, you are awesome.... yup

  3. Dearest Matt,
    Make me a feast? Please?
    Love Kate


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Wednesday, 29 April 2015

"Love your curves", but where are the curves? Sonakshi Sinha as the cover girl for Vogue

It is good to see high fashion magazines celebrating and embracing diverse images of the female body, especially curves. In its May issue, Vogue India features Sonakshi, with a cover that screams “Love your curves”, thus sending a powerful message of accepting oneself, regardless of size. We all know, the girl loves her curves and flaunts and endorse it like no one else does. That definitely makes her a perfect ambassador for the cover story.

However, looking at the first two initial images of Sonakshi, released by the fashion glossy, i am not too convinced. I feel, instead of accentuating the curves of Ms. Sinha, the magazine is more focussed on hiding her curves - to make her look slim. The question is – has she slimmed down or is it the magic of photoshop? I don’t think the images truly communicate or justify the wonderful idea behind the cover story.

For now i am just waiting to lay my hands on the print version of the magazine to see all the images.And, i hope i am proved wrong; as i would love see Sonakshi in her actual curvaceous self rather than in a photoshopped avatar.

(Image Credit:Vogue India)

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March 7, 2008

The Weekend is (almost) upon us...

No drinking this weekend I swear!

UK singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner will release his debut album Hand Built By Robots on April 29 in the US, and as an appetizer a 3 song iTunes exclusive EP is now available including the gorgeous Dream Catch Me. When I mentioned the song for the first time earlier this year, I borrowed the quote “that was one sensitive guy with at guitar” and listening to that track again, I clearly recall why I thought the quote was spot on. More interestingly the album (which spent two weeks at no. 1 in the UK album chart back in August last year) will be out in Denmark on April 7 – the day after he plays a concert at Vega in Copenhagen.
+ Dream Catch Me

US psychedelic pop band Midnight Movies will release a digital EP called Nights on Tuesday (March 11) on New Line Records. The promo track Should Have Known leaves a fairly OK impression.
+ Should Have Known

Swedish indie rock band Emerald Park is giving away a new track called A Higher Loss and despite the band claiming that it's noisier than usual, it still very much bears that typical Emerald Park/Moonbabies Ola sound.
+ A Higher Loss

A brand new edition of Støj på Frekvensen is up.

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Saturday, October 09, 2010

Lithium Drive: VW Group Electric Cars Paris motor show 2010 TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, LIT, TSLA, LI.v, WLC.v, CLQ.v,,, BYYDF, RNO, F, GM,

  "We saw the future and it is electric...Renault is the most aggressive one in speed to the market and pricing: Fluence will go at 22k euro after 5k euro state rebate and with lease for battery at 79 euro per month. The idea is that after state rebate in France this full size family sedan EV will be priced similar to "thermal one" - as they call it. No hassle with the battery - it belongs to Renault. At recent gas prices in Europe, running cost for lease of the battery and electricity will be the same as for CE car for average usage. Actual total ownership cost will be lower, when you take into account the after sale service. Situation will change dramatically with higher gas prices. We think that it is the game changer for EV mass market acceptance."
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Sunday, March 9, 2008

CLICK Photo Contest - March - Metal

Contest Entry

Here's my very first submission for the monthly CLICK food photography contest. This month's theme is METAL. You'll find more info about the contest here:

This is a shot of my new spice rack. I thought is would be a good subject for this month because of the way the colors of the spices contrast with the metal of the rack.

I took it using my Nikon D50 DSLR and the 18-55mm Nikkor lens.

The photo below is just another shot that I thought was pretty neat. It shows the spice rack in motion...

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50% Off Your Second Room at Ayana and Rimba Bali

Families can now enjoy Bali’s largest integrated resort spread out on 90-hectares of land for less. AYANA Resort and Spa Bali and RIMBA Jimbaran Bali by AYANA resorts are offering 50% off your second room with promo code FAMILY* for stays until 23 December 2017.

The integrated resort offers great activities for the whole family including cooking classes, 12 swimming pools, a wide array of restaurants and a full itinerary of activities catering to all ages. Best of all, it’s also home to the popular Rock Bar that visitors from all over the island flock to.

Read Full Details and Get Rates

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