A blast from the past

Battle of the Planets/G-Force



Robotech

These are great, via YKWIA

This Australian comedian's video is for all those of you who have been woken up on a Saturday morning by Mormons...

Door to Door Atheists Bother Mormons



but even better, John Safran interviews an official from the KKK in a compound, asking if he could join--and he's Jewish. I must say, the man has balls. I must also say the Grand Dragon took things fairly well.



He also takes on Scientology (YKWIA this is a different one than we watched)



Actually he seems pretty equal-opportunity in the various religious skits, so no one should feel left out.

Today's Radioplay: 'The Man with a Twisted Lip'

Baby goats!

I know, it's random, but they're so cute...YKWIA will enjoy this. :)

I missed the news story

that showed the possible unearthing of the two missing Romanov children this summer.

I first heard of Anna Anderson also on 'In Search Of...' The DNA evidence is very much against her claim to be Anastasia, the daughter of the last Tsar of Russia. These two bodies, a boy and a girl, if they prove to be Romanovs, will lay any remaining doubt aside. I do think Anna Anderson herself did believe herself to be Anastasia, and not Franziska Schanzkowska, a Polish factory worker.

Like cryptozoology?

I have been since the days of 'In Search Of...' and before. :)

Check out Nick Redfern's "There's Something in the Woods..."

Ever heard of the blue people of Kentucky?

Today's radioplay: 'The Tell Tale Pigeon Feather'

You probably have; it's fairly common in high school biology nowadays, although when I was in school it was still considered one of those 'oddities' you found in books on the unexplained. Check it out. There's:

Blue People of Kentucky

Methemoglobinemia

The Blue People of Troublesome Creek (this has a painting, I think from the Science article that is listed in the first link).

And this is cool beyond words

YKWIA showed me this, too. This blows Macs out of the water...it's a true virtual lightbox and more. I give you surface computing from Microsoft.



For more information go to Popular Mechanics' article on surface computing.

This is neat

An interactive LED light-up coffee table



Simple, yet fun, and built because they can.

Yesterday's Radioplay: 'The Guileless Gypsy'
Today's Radioplay: 'The Uneasy Easy Chair'

Years ago a friend of mine

stepped down on my foot accidentally. Yes, the one that is broken now. It's possible it fractured then; I never went to see about it because I didn't have any insurance at the time. We think that the bones were weak and then between my weight and standing at the cash register, they broke again.

So it's kind of funny that when I've been thinking of him (and not in the kindest of ways), Bill sent me the Irish version of a song I've only heard in English, but love: 'I am Stretched on Your Grave'. He's apparently doing well and his wife and he are moving to Massachusetts soon as part of an effort to eventually head to Maine or Nova Scotia. I wish them well. In the meantime, here are the words, primarily for my benefit, although I'll have to go back and review how the devil they're pronounced and what them mean. He posted them on a blog entry for his blog, Ríocht na nGael. (It's all gibberish if you don't read Irish, by the way, although I found an excellent translator online at Irish Dictionary Online). Irish has so many mutations it's hard to program online dictionaries that can recognise the various changes. But I'm glad I found it because the only thing I really recognised in his post were the words 'agus' ('and') and Eilís (my name). I am beyond rusty. I'll follow the Irish with an English version of the song.

Cé Sin ar mo Thuama?

Ise
Cé sin ar mo thuama
nó an buachaill den tír tú?

Eisean
Dá mbeadh barr do dhá lámh agam
ní scarfainn leat choíche.

Ise
A áilleáin agus a ansacht,
ní ham duitse luí liom–
tá boladh fuar na cré orm
dath na gréine is na gaoithe.

Eisean
Tá an clog ar mo chroí istigh,
atá líonta le gra duit,
lionndubh taobh thíos duit,
chomh ciardhubh le hairne.

Ise
Má bhaineann aon ní duit
is go gcloífeadh an bás tú,
beadsa im shí gaoithe
romhat thíos ar na bánta.

Eisean
Nuair is dóigh le mo mhuintir
go mbímse ar mo leaba,
ar do thuama a bhím sínte
ó oíche go maidin,
ag cur síos mo chrutain
is ag crua-ghol go daingean,
trí mo chailín ciúin stuama
do luadh liom ‘na leanbh.

Ise
An cuimhin leat an oíche úd
a bhíos-sa agus tusa
ag bun na chrainn droighnigh
is an oíche ag cur cuisne?
Céad moladh le hÍosa
nach ndearnamar na milleadh
is go bhfuil mo choróin mhaighdeanais
na crann soilse os mo choinne

Eisean
Tá na sagairt is na bráithe
gach lá liom i bhfearg
de chionn a bheith i ngrá leat,
a Mháire, is tú marbh.
Dheanfainn foscadh ar an ngaoith duit
is díon duit ón bhfearrthainn,
agus cumha géar mo chroí-se
tú a bheith thíos is an talamh.

Tabhair do mhallacht dod mháithrín
is áirighse t’athair,
is a maireann ded ghaolta
go léireach ‘na seasamh,
nár lig dom tú a phósadh
is tú beo agam id bheatha
is ná hiarrainn mar spré leat
ach mo léintín a ghealadh.

'I am Stretched on Your Grave' (as I learnt it)

I am stretched on your grave
And will lie there forever
If your hands were in mine
I'd be sure they'd not sever
My apple tree, my brightness
It's time we were together
For I smell of the earth
And am worn by the weather

When my family think
That I'm safe in my bed
From night until morning
I am stretched at your head
Calling out to the air
With tears hot and wild
As I grieve for the girl
That I loved as a child

Do you remember the night we were lost
In the shade of the blackthorn
And the chill of the frost
And thanks be to Jesus
We did all that was right
And your maidenhead still
Is your pillar of light

Oh, the priests and the friars
Approach me in dread
Because I love still love you
My life and you're dead
I still would be your shelter
Through rain and through storm
And with you in your cold grave
I cannot sleep warm

So I am stretched on your grave
And will lie there forever
If your hands were in mine
I'd be sure they'd notsever
My apple tree, my brightness
It's time we were together
For I smell of the earth
And am worn by the weather

Here's a version different from what I've posted before, Paul Knight of "Four for Naught" performing at the Into the Bean coffee shop in Mesa, Arizona on 8/15/2007, playing a bodhrán (Irish drum).



Today's radioplay: 'The Murder at the Casbah'

Puts my troubles in perspective

You won't be able to read this link freely past the 4th or 5th of October because the Herald-Leader, our local paper, charges for such archived articles, but this story caught my eye. So, I will 'sum up'. Remember the doctor who back in 1999 was stationed at Antarctica and discovered she had breast cancer? I had wondered what happened to her. She'd performed a biopsy on herself with just ice to dull the pain and they made a drop of materials for the slides so she could be sure of the diagnosis and and chemotherapy drugs to treat her. After her return she had a lumpectomy (the cancer had miraculously not spread to the lymph nodes, apparently) and then later a mastectomy due to an infection. She wrote a book (Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole) about her experiences and that was the last I'd heard of her .

Jerri Nielsen was in the area recently giving a talk to raise awareness about breast cancer and she's had further difficulties since then. In 2006 she found out she had bone and liver cancer. A tumour coming out of her skull pushed into her eye socket. She was in Turkey and she went blind. She is now fighting the aggressive form of cancer with chemotherapy, but still tours and practices medicine.

She's an amazing woman. Remember October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Be sure to do regular self-examinations, get clincial exams as recommended, and have a mammogramme done especially if you're over forty.