server error

Going to shut this one down for awhile.

If you know me, you'll know where to find me.


--------------------------
The emperor, who was a devout Buddhist, invited a great Zen master to the Palace in order to ask him questions about Buddhism. "What is the highest truth of the holy Buddhist doctrine?" the emperor inquired.

"Vast emptiness... and not a trace of holiness," the master replied.

"If there is no holiness," the emperor said, "then who or what are you?"

"I do not know," the master replied.

GIANT SHARK WATCH: False Bay, South Africa

The great White shark tagged off Bailey's Cottage between St James and Muizenberg on Saturday, spent much of yesterday morning cruising slowly in circles off Muizenberg beach.

But at other times during the 24-hour period after its tagging, the 4.3-metre predator moved quite quickly several times between Bailey's Cottage and Sunrise Beach, researchers reported.

[looking for a mid-morning snack]

"The main objectives of this study are to investigate if white sharks are permanent or seasonal residents in False Bay, if there are any preferred areas where they occur, if they form social groups, if they prey in the bay and if they do, where and on what," said Environmental Affairs spokeswoman Carol Moses.

"It will further explore if there are any times of the day that the sharks prefer to be inshore and the importance of Seal Island to the white sharks, if there are any possible stimuli that increase shark aggression that could lead to an attack on humans, the abundance of sharks, if there are seasonal trends in the number of sharks in the bay, and general behaviour of white sharks."

A genetic study is also under way with the University of Aberdeen in Scotland to determine if there is only a single population of white sharks in the southern hemisphere.

The larger study has indicated that the "South African" white shark moves widely - they tracked one, named Nicole, from Gansbaai to Australia and back - and is under threat on the high seas and in countries which do not protect them.

Cape Argus - Warning to bathers as sharks hit False Bay in large numbers

images by Jack Lord

SPAM WATCH

BARRISTER PHILIP OKON & CHAMBERS
Solicitors & Advocates
(Notary Public)
Of The Supreme Court of Nigeria
Our Ref: TOB/AT LAW/1717/2005
ADDRESS: N0 35 Saint Street Aguda Lagos Nigeria

DEAR BENEFICIARY

RE: Notification of Bequest
With gratitude to God to a life well spent and on behalf of my late client Rev. Dr. JOHN OKONKWO, I write to notify you that my late client made you a beneficiary to the bequest sum of SEVEN Hundred Thousand United States Dollars (USD 700,000.00) in the last codicil to his last WILL and testament of the year 2003.

Late Rev. Dr. JOHN OKONKWO died of high blood pressure on the 2nd February 2004. Until his death, late Rev. Dr. JOHN OKONKWO was a regional director in Nigeria with United Nations Refugees and humanitarian commission.

A renowned PHILANTHROPIST, who has widely travelled and very good Christian of the Christian fellowship of Nigeria. A non denominational society.

According to him he is giving you this amount because of your active involvement in the upliftment of Christian activities with its ministries and making better the world’s situation for the acceptance of Christian religion in Christ Jesus as the son of God.

We the executors and trustees of this WILL wish to inform you that the WILL was read at the High Court probate Division on the 5th June 2004 as the law provides in section (52) sub-section 3&4 of the Nigeria constitution and is ready for execution.You are therefore required by this notification to confirm your ownership to this legacy by forwarding to us immediately via e-mail, your current telephone, e-mail and fax number (private) for easy communication and prompt payment without delay. Your contact address (private) is also required for verification and authentication of the WILL as the law stipulated. A photocopy of your international passport number or drivers licence if available shall be required from you on the day of your payment. This is to avoid paying to a wrong beneficiary. We shall detail you on the procedure involved in executing this will upon the receipt of your prompt e-mail response.

We are sorry for not notifying you by posted mail due to the urgency required in this matter and also your e-mail contact was given to us by the wife of my late client.

Thanks and God bless.
HON.BARRISTER PHILIP OKON
Head of Chamber.

Billboard Watch

OK, it's an ad but still a clever concept.

Counter Counterfeit Commission
"At the CCC, we're dedicated to putting an end to the victimization associated with purchasing a counterfeit MINI Cooper. We cooperate with MINI and international law enforcement to pursue criminals. But there's one other crucial partner we need to recruit: YOU. We can't do this without YOU. Educate yourself about the problem. Learn how to detect a fake. Know when you're being hoodwinked. Together, we can put an end to this appalling injustice. Together, we can make our streets genuine once again."

Also spotted on my streets:

"TRUST US... SHE DOESN'T WANT PAJAMAS"

(billboard for a diamond store)

Envisat Fishes Up Facts Behind Chilean Giant Squid Invasion

The headline is a bit of a misnomer. These are not GIANT SQUID (Architeuthis), these are JUMBO FLYING SQUID (Dosidicus gigas). Everyone knows that, right? However, what a headline if GIANT SQUID really did invade Chile! Make a great B-MOVIE...


Envisat Fishes Up Facts Behind Chilean Giant Squid Invasion
Masses of large ocean-going squid have inundated the shores of Southern Chile, alarming local fishermen who fear these carnivorous invaders could threaten fish stocks. Envisat has helped account for their otherwise mysterious arrival.

These jumbo flying squid – Dosidicus gigas is their Latin name – are some of the largest known squids on the planet: the ones here measure between 70 to 150 centimetres in length, although specimens have been known to reach more than three metres. Making their home in the open ocean, they rise to the surface at night to aggressively feed on small fish using barbed suckers.

hammer

break free

let go

fall apart

GIANT SHARK WATCH: Half Moon Bay, California USA

Tim West, a 25-year-old veteran surfer, narrowly escaped his Nov. 2 encounter with what was almost certainly a great white shark.
[snip]
Sean Van Sommeran, a veteran shark researcher from the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation, said there have been more shark sightings in Northern California this year than any year since he began his research in 1990.

He estimates the shark that attacked West was between 12 and 14 feet long and weighed about a ton.
Half Moon Bay Review

As Half Moon Bay surfers Tim West and Chris Loeswick headed toward the water to surf Maverick’s late Wednesday afternoon, they looked out at the empty, gray, inconsistent lineup and had the same thought: shark.

West tried to laugh it off. “Watch out for strangers,” he told Loeswick, but the toothy vibe persisted through the long paddle, and kept them nervous even after they’d each ridden a wave. Loeswick sat with his legs up on the deck of his board between sets, and West began to wonder: Had they made a mistake trying to surf Maverick’s by themselves on a day when the shark aura was so heavy and the lulls were so long?

Um, yes.

The waves were 10 to 15 feet on the faces, not quite big enough for real Maverick’s, so the pair sat far inside, just beyond the gnarled inside double-up known as Phlegm Balls. On the way back out after his first ride, West saw an outside wave break on the main peak, and he paddled past Loeswick toward it, hoping to dial into at least one legitimate Mav’s drop before dark. He was on his belly, maybe 20 feet from the primary lineup, when the shark slammed into his 10’ 1” Neptune gun from beneath and launched him into the air. He estimates that he flew about 2 feet above the water and 5 feet to his left.

“At first I thought it was a seal or some seaweed or a boil,” West, 25, shaken but otherwise unscathed, said the next day in an interview at his home about a mile from Maverick’s. “Then I saw this gray thing just thrashing by my board. I swam away, to the end of my leash, and all of the sudden the thing disappeared and everything just stopped. It went dead calm. I reeled in my board and just paddled straight toward the reef. I didn’t even care about waves – just get me into the whitewater.”

Loeswick, sitting inside, saw the strike. “I glance up and his board gets shot out of the water, and there’s all this splashing,” Loeswick, 20, said. “It was surreal. I just freaked out and started calling his name: ‘Wwwweeeesssstttt!’ I was stoked to see that he was OK. We both paddled as hard as we could toward the rocks. He was maybe 100 feet farther out than I was, but he was so pumped on adrenalin that he just blew right by me.”

West: “Every stroke, I was thinking my life was over.”

[snip]
Some people are cut out for shark-bite stardom; Tim West is not one of them.

“I don’t want to be known as ‘shark attack guy,’” he said. “I just want to surf Maverick’s.”

If, however, West can manage to make a little money from the mishap, he’s open to suggestions. “If there’s someone who wants to cough up a bunch of cash for an interview or something, I’m down. I’ve got bills to pay.”

He’s also thinking about selling the board, with tooth intact. “I’m thinking eBay. Dude, I might do that. At first I wanted to just fix it and ride it again, but if I could sell for it two grand, I could get like four new boards.”

Surfer Attacked By Great White Shark At Mavericks

STREAKER WATCH: Weymouth, U.K.

Times Online
Taylor strikes twice to save flailing Forest from further torment
By Rick Broadbent
Weymouth Town 0 Nottingham Forest 2

NOTTINGHAM Forest realised that this was a different sort of experience when a rogue streaker breached the last line of defence armed with only an inflatable dolphin, but they managed to salvage some dignity for themselves in this FA Cup first-round replay thanks to a brace of second-half goals from Gareth Taylor.

Staatsbibliothek Watch

 

STREAKER WATCH: Murfreesboro, Tennessee

The Daily News Journal - www.dnj.com -:
"The real performance going on was the streaker who ran across the field in all his glory while his own school band was playing. This, of course, was accompanied by the inevitable police chase, which, of course, was accompanied by a large group (45 or so) of students who were screaming, 'Oakland Power!' as the shivering perpetrator was loaded into the 'paddy wagon.' It's hard not to laugh at the absurdity of that situation."

"Two giant cranes lower a Baldwin steam locomotive weighing 418,000 pounds to the tracks Monday on the Tacoma Tideflats."

Reading 2100 Locomotive

Built: 1923 by the Baldwin Co.; rebuilt in 1945 for the Reading Railroad

Weight: 950 tons when ready to run

Water: 20,000 gallons in main tender, another 23,000 in auxiliary tender

Fuel oil to fire boiler: 5,000 gallons

Last home: Elgin County Railway Museum, Saint Thomas, Ontario

Former owner: Richard Kughn of the Lionel model train company. Kughn reportedly sank $1 million into the 2100 before donating it to an Ohio railroad.

TheNewsTribune.com

INTO THE WILD WATCH

MARYLAND

Florida Boater Is Rescued in Atlantic

ANAPOLIS -- Two Maryland boaters rescued a 49-year-old Florida man whose boat capsized in rough seas about eight miles off Boca Raton.

Rogers Washington said he had been treading water for six hours Tuesday. During that time, he watched his friend succumb to an apparent heart attack, he was approached by a shark, and two other boaters waved at him but refused to pick him up, apparently thinking he was an illegal immigrant.

[nice]

When David Pensky of Annapolis approached Washington after spotting him frantically waving his arms in 7-foot seas, Washington shouted: "I'm an American! I'm an American!" Moments later, Pensky and Richard Holden, 63, of St. Mary's County, noticed the waterlogged fisherman, orange whistle to his lips, floating with the aid of a cooler lid and a small life vest shoved under his arm.

Florida Boater Is Rescued in Atlantic theledger.com

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

RIP MIX BURN

 

GIANT SHARK WATCH

Shark Estimated At 18 Feet In California Attack

A shark that attacked a California surfer off the Sonoma County coast three weeks ago has been estimated by a shark expert to be an 18 foot great white, weighing in the neighborhood of two tons. If one were to place an automotive comparison on the shark it would be the equivalent of a Chevy Suburban. Ralph Collier, a shark expert with the Shark Research Committe estimated the shark’s size based on the bite marks on Megan Halavais, 20, who nearly lost her leg in the attack, but is now recovering nicely outside of hospital.

"It is not unusual for us to see an animal this large cruising near the beach, looking for prey. Surfers would look but not see. They were more interested in seeing the set of waves. Now if they see a shadow moving, they will stop and look at it. You have a higher sensitivity."

Collier attributes the increase of shark attacks largely to the growing number of people playing in California waters and to an increase in the overall shark population since great whites were placed on the protected list 11 years ago. There have been four shark attacks on surfers in California waters this year, two of which occurred in the last three weeks. Collier contends that most attacks are “exploratory” in nature, a chance for “the man in the gray suit” to experiment with non-traditional prey. He says that if a shark were confident that surfers were a solid snack, they would probably be killed instantly on first strike.

FAULT LINE - BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB

I've been waitin' on the fault line
Let the needle take me on
I'll be standing with my dyin' bell
If you care to come along
Racin' with the risin' tide to my father's door
Racin' with the risin' tide to my father's door

I've been lyin' in the bright lights
See my shadow from below
Never wanted from another man
Never wanted from my own
Drownin' in the risin' tide in my father's door
Drownin' in the risin' tide in my father's door

Through a window to the last mile
Little picture on the wall
From the banks on the far side
See the lights come ashore
Racin' from the risin' tide to my father's door
Racin' from the risin' tide to my father's door
Racin' with the risin' tide to my father's door

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

"At the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death, a handful of writers attempt to tell us something we don't already know about the Fab Four."
Salon.com Books Meet the Beatles (again)
"The Beatles were unique in that they managed to inspire such innocent fervor while being genuinely innovative, the equivalent of the Backstreet Boys morphing into Radiohead."

Staatsbibliothek Watch

From Publishers Weekly
This gallery of surreal images by Billout (Number 24) does not follow any narrative. Instead, each high-definition graphic presents an independent scene from nature or a sharp architectural rendering in which "something's not quite right." A page labeled "Dune" pictures a smooth white mountain against a blue sky; a person in robes climbs one side, suggesting desert sand, while a figure in a parka climbs the other, suggesting drifted snow. In "Secession," Billout neatly bisects all the bridges that cross the Seine River, allowing Paris's Ile de la Cit‚ to float free; in "Skyscraper," he pictures a pointy steeple scratching a blue line across the face of the full moon. New York's Flatiron Building features in two panels, forcing its way through a snowy crust ("Ice Age") and poised on the brink of a sand-colored abyss where Broadway and Fifth Avenue used to intersect ("Canyon"). Billout's dark humor comes through in images like "Probabilities," which pictures a zebra whose stripes form a bull's-eye pattern and, in the foreground, the silhouette of a hunter and a rifle's barrel; he has a more whimsical touch in "Attack," which pictures a military general's statue, a solitary pedestrian recoiling in shock, and a snowball which seems to have come out of nowhere.

RIP MIX BURN

Blues folk psychedelia.
Ignore any pretentious reviews out there.
Just Listen.

OK... I confess.
I haven't listened to this record.
I haven't a clue as to what it might sound like.

WTF

So you are getting divorced? What to do with that silverplated serveware engraved with your names and wedding date? Remember Aunt Martha and Uncle Magoo?
AH HA!
Turn it into a cat's serving tray! Fine feline living!

Presented in FULL-SPECTRUM-FLIP-O-VISION!
Just print, cut and paste!
Starting Duncan, the Orange Narcissus:

RIP MIX BURN

What I'm listening to (really really f%&king loud):





Surfing and reading:
Infiltration "The zine about going places you're not supposed to go, like tunnels, abandoned buildings, rooftops, hotel pools and more."



A View on Cities: Chicago "...the birthplace of the modern skyscraper"

Chicago Landmarks Home Page "The City of Chicago presents photographs and histories of landmark buildings, accessed via clickable maps or an alphabetical list"