Sneakeasy's Joint

PC World Announces 100 Favorite Blogs

.... and no, I ain't one of them. ;-D

Here are our favorite stops in the blogosphere, covering everything from high tech to low comedy and all manner of pursuits in between.

Ah, well, such is life. ;-D

Bees Brought to Knees?

Quick! Someone tell Algore!

A mysterious decimation of bee populations has German beekeepers worried, while a similar phenomenon in the United States is gradually assuming catastrophic proportions. The consequences for agriculture and the economy could be enormous.

Maybe the guy behind the recent Oscar Winning Documisinformation can figure this one out, too! ;-D

Check out the full story at Spiegel Online: Are GM Crops Killing Bees?

Christmas in the Trenches

A year ago I wrote the following poem as a tribute to the Troops:

A Visit to Baghdad.

I came across a fellow member of Stumble Upon, yesterday, who also is a writer, and so much more, and a rather lengthy post of his deserves a mention in this post, and also deserves to be read by anyone interested in the history of Warfare:

"It is thought possible that the enemy may
be contemplating an attack during
Xmas or New Year.
Special vigilance will be maintained
during these periods."

From General Headquarters at St. Omer - to all units
24 December 1914.

John Fenzel shares 2 lengthy items, and some tidbits, and links of interest, including to an interview with the author of the 2nd piece below:

1. A letter from an unknown British soldier that records events and incidents with the Germans..."The Christmas Truce," describing "the most memorable Christmas I've ever spent."

2. The Christmas Truce by Henry Williamson.

Spend some time this coming week reading, and listening to, this fascinating material.

I have no doubt that the soldiers seen in the photo above are not the 1st to have ever rode a Bicycle on, or near, the front lines of war, and won't be the last.

Whether serious, or in jest, the notion of the Bicycle being pedaled off to war brings a smile to my face. [ Re-imagine, if you will, The Charge of the Light Brigade, with the poor, brave, sods riding Mountain Bikes!  On 2nd thought, maybe not.... ;-D ]

As you celebrate Christmas, this weekend, remember those who have served in our military in the past, and think good thoughts for those who are serving it today.

I was also sent the following, this afternoon, by friend, and frequent commentor Jaspar, who had found some related material:

The Christmas Truce - 1914

On Christmas Day, 1914, in the first year of World
War I, German, British, and French soldiers
disobeyed their superiors and fraternized with "the
enemy" along two-thirds of the Western Front. German
troops held Christmas trees up out of the trenches
with signs, "Merry Christmas." "You no shoot, we no
shoot."

Thousands of troops streamed across a no-man's
land strewn with rotting corpses. They sang Christmas
carols, exchanged photographs of loved ones back home,
shared rations, played football, even roasted some
pigs.

Soldiers embraced men they had been trying to kill
a few short hours before. They agreed to warn each
other if the top brass forced them to fire their
weapons, and to aim high.

A shudder ran through the high command on either
side. Here was disaster in the making: soldiers
declaring their brotherhood with each other and
refusing to fight.

Generals on both sides declared this spontaneous
peacemaking to be treasonous and subject to court
martial.

By March, 1915 the fraternization movement had been
eradicated and the killing machine put back in full
operation. By the time of the armistice in 1918,
fifteen million would be slaughtered.

Not many people have heard the story of the
Christmas Truce. Military leaders have not gone out
of their way to publicize it.

On Christmas Day, 1988, a story in the Boston Globe
mentioned that a local FM radio host played "Christmas
in the Trenches," a ballad about the
Christmas Truce, several times and was startled by the
effect. The song became the most requested recording
during the holidays in Boston on several FM stations.

"Even more startling than the number of requests I
get is the reaction to the ballad afterward by callers
who hadn't heard it before," said the radiohost. "They
telephone me deeply moved, sometimes in tears, asking,
`What the hell did I just hear?'"

I think I know why the callers were in tears. The
Christmas Truce story goes against most of what we
have been taught about people. It gives us a glimpse
of the world as we wish it could be and says, "This
really happened once." It reminds us of those thoughts
we keep hidden away, out of range of the TV and
newspaper stories that tell us how trivial and mean
human life is. It is like hearing that our deepest
wishes really are true: the world really could be
different.

Excerpted from David G. Stratman, We CAN Change the
World: The Real Meaning of Everyday Life (New
Democracy Books, 1991). Available for $3.00 from New
Democracy Books, P.O. Box 427, Boston, MA 02130.

Christmas In The Trenches -- Words and Music By John McCutcheon

Download the Mp3.

This song will truly move you, trust me.

There is a movie about the event described here that was made last year.

Here is the trailer.

Change, it Does a Body Good

You've Changed 56% in 10 Years

You've done a good job changing with the times, but deep down, you're still the same person. You're clothes, job, and friends may have changed some - but it hasn't changed you.

How Much Have You Changed in 10 Years?

Take this little quiz, and you might be surprised by the results. ;-D

Another Blogger Tells Tale of Cataract Surgery

In March I wrote about my Cataract Surgery.

I have just learned of an extensive essay by Jon Maloney, the writer of Orts Blog, that goes into extensive detail about all that he experienced, before, during, and after, his own surgery.

I have recently had cataract surgery. I am 52 years old and have lived with growing cataracts for at least eighteen years. Before the surgery I tried to research several types of details on the Internet -- details I was unable to find. I wanted to know simple things like: How many doctor's appointments will be required? What will be the purpose of each appointment? What procedures will be performed at each appointment? How much will everything cost? In this post I will answer those questions and more based on my experiences. I will simply show the charges listed on my insurance forms, rather than the amounts I paid. I'm sure your charges will differ based on your region, your doctor, and your insurance (or lack of insurance). My surgery was in Anderson, South Carolina, USA.

The report is outstanding, and informative, and highly recommended for anyone contemplating having the procedure.

I have just gone thru a 2nd series of tests that have finalized the prescription for Bifocals so i can better read a computer screen, and my books, and magazines as well.

I will still use my current glasses for distance vision, and watching TV.

Carnival of the Vanities 212 to 215 Make for Good Reading

Looking for great Blogging?

Check out Silflay Hraka for the latest in the Carnival of the Vanities.

In #212 Kehaar continues his thoughts on the direction of the Carnival before getting to the good stuff.

#213 is here.

#214 is here.

#215 came out yesterday.

The essay on Voting, by Nikita, was accepted in the latest edition! ;-D

VOTE or the Cat Gets it!

Nikita was quite pleased despite having to leave a comment explaining that HE, not I, wrote the piece, and issued the ultimatum. ;-D

As regular readers know Nikita is an occasional contributor around here. ;-D

Carnival of the Vanities 211: Questions of Belonging

Kehaar, of Silflay Hraka, brings us CoTV #211, and more on his editorial direction, and this leads me to ponder what, and when, will be my next contribution ( See Below. ):

Some people might say that everything submitted should be posted but I think that's part of what's been ailing the Carnival for a while now. People have been submitting anything and everything and, since the Carny has been sans editor, the average quality of the posts dropped to the point at which the Carnival was becoming irrelevant.

All this begs the question as to what makes a good CoTV post and what doesn't? I think the answer lies in the original concept of the Carnival.

He quotes a portion of the origin essay, and continues:

It's about exposing your best stuff to the rest of the blogosphere. With that in mind, the editorial clipping for the Carnival shouldn't begin with me. It should begin with you. I only have to edit the Carnival if and when people fail to edit themselves. It's pretty easy to tell who is using the Carnival to drive traffic to their blog and who is using the Carnival to provide exposure to truly good writing. The people who do the first, while claiming to support CoTV, have slowly been poisoning it instead. Readers don't have the time to separate the wheat from the chaff and assume most of what appears in the Carnival is poor.

He goes on to suggest the potential submitter ask himself/herself/itself/huself a few questions.

After some more thoughts this weeks recommended reading is presented.

I like the way he thinks, and am hopeful to soon submit some worthy entries from my Bikeblog.

I am about to begin 2 investigative series related to Bicycling Safety, and have hopes of engaging folks in the wider Blogosphere in the discussion, and not just cyclists, but motorists as well.

This is new teritory for me, and may cause a stir, and I'm unsure how to spread the word to a Community that seems unaware of my particular niche of the Blogosphere, and thus might not take it seriously, even after several appearances in the Carnival over the years.

CoTV Version 3 Debuts with Thoughts on the Future

Kehaar, of Silflay Hraka, brings us Carnival of the Vanities #210, and with it some thoughts about the future direction, and viabilty of the Granddaddy of all Carnivals.

I especially like his thoughts on Traffic.

Whereas I value a good traffic spike as much as the next blogger, I realize that the value of those spikes is fleeting. Most of those readers will never visit your blog again. They aren't really fans of great writing as they are followers of fashion, following whatever link Instapundit might decide to throw up next. To me, those readers hold less value than the one that comes back every week or every day or even every hour. Those readers, the ones that are fans of your writing, will find you if you are patient and keep writing every day. If your vanity is well-founded and your writing actually does deserve the recognition you think it does, readers will come. It may not happen overnight and it may not be as rewarding as heavy volume, but the value is still there.

Exactly.

If you look at my Sitemeter Stats for both my blogs you will probably wonder why I continue to do this.

My overall numbers reflect a carry over from a stat tracker I once had that tracks more than Sitemeter does, and the lead my older blog has over the other, more popular blog, on Cycling, reflects the results of 2 months of traffic to 1 long ago post on the death of Nick Berg, that included a link to the video.

My daily numbers reflect what to the Traffic obsessed would be a horror. ;-D

For most Bloggers our Blogs are a way to share our life, thoughts, and interests, with the wider world we all live in.

How many people read our stuff, find our links useful, e-mail us, leave comments, or trackbacks because they are doing us the honor of spreading the word about something we have written, on a regular, or semi-regular basis, is not as important as the fact that there are people doing so at all.

Carnival of Vanities is finally a Pre-Schooler!

The new home of the Granddaddy of all Carnivals celebrates that The Carnival of the Vanities turns 4 this week, and that means it's officially of pre-school age. ;-D

Being a Blog that's a few months older than the COTV, I am honored to welcome the newbie into the classroom! ( The class is open to Blogs, and Carnivals, hee, hee! ) ;-D

Four years ago, something happened that was to change the face of blogging: CotV #1 appeared. The very first edition of the Carnival of the Vanities featured 15 participants. Of those, I’m aware of 9 who are still blogging. That’s three-fifths! Yowee!

In recognition of how freaking amazing it is that they’re still blogging after all these years, here are some of their recent posts. Call it editor’s choice, call it anniversary madness, call it what you will: here’s your tribute to the original bloggers of the CotV...

Check out #208.

The Name Game

What's in a name?

K	Kinky
I	Influential
R	Relaxing
I	Inspirational
L	Luscious
K	Kind
U	Useful
N	Normal
D	Delicate
U	Unreal
R	Responsible
A	Appealing
Z	Zippy
I	Insane
E	Exquisite
F	Friendly
F	Feminine

Name / Username:

Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com

Okaaayyy.... ;-D

Duck, Duck, Carnival!

Carnival of the Vanities 206 is up at Lil' Duck, Duck Blog!

The Duck theme is a fun way to present it, and I particularly enjoyed the way an image of the book Duck on a Bike was used in relation to my contribution from my BikeBlog, The Cycling Dude. ;-D

Carnival of the Vanities 204 is up

The 204th Carnival of the Vanities is up at Spooky Action, and it is the last edition before new guidelines apply.

Check it out, and check out the new Home of the Granpappy of all Carnivals, and its archives!

I'll be writing more about the new developements soon.

The Watcher's Council Votes!

The Council of Bloggers behind the Watcher of Weasels and the Watcher's Council, rendered its verdicts this morning....

My submission got a vote!!!

I was tied for 3rd, and listed 4th ( Don't know the meaning of that, if anything, and it don't matter anywhoo ) out of 14 nominees. ;-D

This collection of nominees includes a handfull of my favorite big name Bloggers, and so it means a lot to get the recognition of even just 1 vote..

Very cool, indeed. ;-D

Check out the Watcher's Council

As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher's Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around... per the Watcher's instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.
Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.

A Blog Truly for the Birds

Actually, thanks to a comment left at my other blog, I found an interesting new Blog about Birds, and Bird Watching. ;-D

Ryan Kulla is a young man, living in San Bernardino, CA., after a lifetime in the OC, who began rkbirding in January.

His blog is full of interesting writing, and wonderful photos of the birds he has seen, and the places where they were seen.

One post showcased over 20 different birds!

Another has pics of Common Ravens attacking a Red-tailed Hawk and an American Kestrel.

Technorati Tags: Birds, Birding

Gettiing your Noctilucent on

Nature can be so damn cool.

"Noctilucent clouds are a mystery. They float through the outer reaches of Earth's atmosphere at the very edge of space. Some scientists think the clouds are seeded by space dust and fed by rocket exhaust. Others suspect they're a sign of global warming.

Want to see them yourself? Look west after sunset for sinuous, blue-glowing ripples in the sky."

So say the folks at a website mentioned in a piece by the OC Register's Sciencedude, with a really cool photo of the phenomenon.

Another thing I learned while visiting this Blog is that Earth has its own "planetary protection officer"....

And it ain't AlGore! ;-D

Happy Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia Day!

It's gonna be a hell of a day...

Good, or bad...

For all of us, which ever way ya look at it.

So... in those immortal words...

What? ME worry?? ;-D

Now go to the polls and VOTE! It's Election Day! ;-D

Fear of the numbers 666.

If you look hard enough, you start seeing 666s everywhere. In bar codes at the supermarket — mark of the beast? In product logos. Encoded in the names of the famous and the infamous. And, of course, on the calendar.

June 6, 2006. Sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of this century. Spooky, no?

No.

2 Carnivals for your reading pleasure

I submitted posts to 2 recent Blog Carnivals that I highly recommend you regularly seek out for reading, and viewing, pleasure:

Animal Family hosted 109th edition of The Carnival of the Cats.

The Skwib hosted the 190th edition of the Grand Pappy of all Carnivals, The Carnival of the Vanities.

What is YOUR Blog Worth?

Not sure how he comes up with this figure, but I found it interesting. ;-D

My blog is worth $19,758.90.
How much is your blog worth?

Okaay... If he says so. ;-D

A Rebuke to the Islamic World

.... that it CAN do better.

This is the premise of a thought provoking bit of Alternate History written by Stephen Green, of Vodkapundit.

What if the founder of Modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal ( Kemal Ataturk ) had died at Galipoli, in WW1?

After reading his piece, and even the thoughts, in some folks comments, about other possibiilities, my 1st thought is about how all this might have affected the life of my Father in Macedonia ( A future part of Yugoslavia, and influenced by Bulgaria and Serbia until the end of WW2 ) who was born in 1923.

Would he have even had to leave his homeland?

Would this Blog now be written by a Middle-aged Macedonian worker, instead of the Mad Maceyugoserbulgarigreekadonian-American you all have grown to know and love? ;-D

Read Alternate History.

A Tip of the Hat to Instapundit.

Technorati Tags: Alternate, History, Turkey

I May have a Leg up in this Contest

Heh, heh...

I propose a change in blogging. I challenge every blogger to post links to new blogs, unknown blogs and blogs not in the Technorati’s Top 100. And I’ll pay out a total of $10,000 to those who participate.

All I ask is that you announce on your own blog your intentions to blog about newer, less known blogs, and post your blog URL here in the comments.

There is more to this, and why John Scott has made the offer, and you can read about it here.

Why, you ask, do I think I have a Leg up?

I can think of at least 47 reasons. ;-D

Sneaks Wide World of Blogging 1 thru 47 ( Begun Sept. 2004 ).

Now that I'm fully recovered from my Cataract Surgery I will return to the series beginning with #48 by this time tomorrow. ;-D

Oh, and I forgot!

On my OTHER Blog, The Cycling Dude, i've been telling people about obscure Blogs for 3 years now, and recently begun a monthly Carnival called The Tour de Bicycling Blogs, to boot! ;-D

Seriously, though... I think it's cool that he is encouraging others to do what I've been doing for quite some time.

Technorati Tags: Blogs, Blogger, Blogging

Water and the Citizens of Baghdad

I'm joining Gribbit, of Stop the ACLU, in spreading the news of this story:

K Marsala has sent me an email of a good news story out of Baghdad.  It is important that we stress to our readers, that our troops are doing good work with the people of Iraq in order to counter the Doom and Gloom crowd and the culture of death.  So spread the word.

Gribbit

Here is the Feb. 10th letter titled "Water For Baghdad: Water… A Simple Comfort for the Citizens of Baghdad.":

Clean refreshing water, dispensed directly from the tap into our waiting glass… free from deadly contaminations… something we enjoy here daily without reflection. Our government values her citizens and they uphold the highest standards as they provide us daily, via a state of the art water system, safe drinking water. We all conduct ourselves with a matter of indifference as we turn on our faucets, run our dishwashers, load our washing machines and water our farmlands… that the water pouring forth is free from diseases that cause life-threatening incidences. How blessed we are to live in a land that believes in caring for its citizens, and how often we forget that many do not have such privileges, nor governments that provide for the common good of all her citizens.

During the tyrannical era of Saddam's rule, the structure of water supply for the neighboring cities of Baghdad was permitted to decay. This forced 300,00 residents to get their water from nearby canals. A practice that was dangerous, for not only health reasons, i.e. filthy water in the canals caused severe intestinal outbreaks, but also those who went to the canals were in constant danger of being shot at by the insurgents.

The Iraqi government took the directive in planning and organizing these projects, proving how far they have come in terms of having the ability to lead their towns, cities and ultimately their own nation. The local leaders in cooperation with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division engineer project office made the restoration of water a priority. A top priority that brought with it the good news, which is now pouring, forth from this region, and due to the recent drop in insurgent activity it allowed such projects like this one to be completed ahead of schedule.

Super Bowl Commercials 2006

After spending the morning, and early afternoon, at The Crystal Cathedral I came home to worship at the alter of the Super Bowl.

I couldn't have cared less who won the game.

I was interested in the Commercials. ;-D

Aretha got things off to a shabby start with her terrible rendition of the National Anthem.

Both the Robert Schullers, alone, or together, would have ran circles around this once great lady if allowed to warble the song. ;-D

The halftime show was okay, if you like the Stones.

As for the Commercials:

I assume any readers saw them as well so my shorthand will be understandable. ;-D

This article is full of Shit

One reason I have Wonkette in one of my lists of links is that she finds some of the most interesting articles.

Today, though, it was the nose of her fill-in for the day, Chris Geidner, which sniffed out a doozie. ;-D

In community meetings and on neighborhood message boards, there are few hotter topics than poop. While talk of dog-curbing dominates the discourse, plenty are eager to identify varmints in or around their homes by examining the stool samples they leave behind. Turns out, though, most of us don’t know crap...

So, to help local residents better figure out exactly which animals are scampering, scurrying, and, of course, shitting in their backyards, the Washington City Paper has assembled a team of experts to describe, in detail, the droppings of creatures most commonly sighted in the Washington area.

Washington City Paper = THE ORIGIN OF FECES: An Urban Naturalist's Guide to Crap. ( Lots of cool Poo illustrations, too! )

A Tip of the Hat to Wonkette's fill-in for the day.

Latest Bonfire of the Vanities Stinks up the Blogosphere

What is the Bonfire of the Vanities?

Let Jim, this weeks host, explain:

A collection of blog posts self-identified by their authors as the worst or lamest thing they’ve written.  Think of it as the exact opposite of that Eric Roberts movie.  This is the Best of the Worst, and the Korean team isn’t going to respect you when it’s over.

And MY contribution gets the show off to a poetically disgusting start. ;-D

Bonfire #134 is up at Right Thoughts.

Two new carnivals are up.

Morgaine, of The Goddess, claims to be a Republican's Worst Nightmare, but I think, deep down, she's just a harmless little fuzzball, even if she IS "a Witch, with a Capital W." ;-D

She hosted this weeks editon of the Carnival God or Not.

Carnival of the Vanities #169 is up at Multiple Mentality.

Good to see the Best of Me Symphony going strong

The Owner's Manual,  continues to host the popular Best of Me Symphony, and the 107th edition appeared this week, and includes entries from both my Blogs.

Give it look for some of the best of peoples archived posts.

Blog Ecosystem founder indeed human

In a major developement that augers well for the continued good health, and sanity, of a good man, N. Z. Bear has issued a call for assistance in running The Ecosystem, and streamlining its various innards.

Learn more here.

The New Carnival of Poetry is up

The newest edition of The Carnival of Poets is up, over at Matt's Carnival of the Poets Blog.

A very interesting, and thought provoking batch of poems, including one about a Bullet, and one about the immigration issues affecting Britain, and Europe.

Beware the Splog

My 1st reaction when I saw the mention on Instapundit was... What the hell?

Then I followed the links:

At first glance, it seems like a regular blog. But look closer and you'll see there's something very odd about the blog's content: It's very familiar. Too familiar.

That's because you wrote it, six months ago, on your own blog. The rest of the content doesn't make sense: The same word repeated over and over again. There are ads all over the sidebar for products like Viagra and mortgage loans.

This, you realize, is a splog, and you're the victim.

"Splogs," or spam blogs, are the latest way for spammers to manipulate the blogosphere for profit. The phenomenon hit an all-time high recently, when Google's blog-hosting service, Blogger, was inundated with more than 13,000 fake blogs spawned by a script (all have since been taken down).

Splog topics are often so nonsensical and wide-ranging they can be hard to pinpoint. Scott Beale of Laughing Squid said some really strange splogs have shown up on his watch list, everything from "Phish Rocks, Dude" to "Geeks Meet Greeks."

But why do sploggers do it? How do you know if you've been splogged? And what can you do to stop it?

The article goes on to discuss that question.

WIRED NEWS: How to fight those surging Splogs by Nicole Lee

My 1st question after reading this was: Could this be happening to little ol' me?

I mean, Jaysus H. Kee-rist, the number of daily visitors to both my blogs combined is so insignificant, compared to Glen, and so many other Uber-Bloggers it ain't even funny.

If Glen, and other Uber Bloggers, barely, or don't, know you exist, and are doing some interesting writing worth noticing on occasion, then why would spammers notice?

Then I went looking...

Joining Technorati

Today I took the plunge, and joined Technorati!

I'm currently ranked # 4,160. ;-D

***NOTE***

Late this evening I tip-toed out of the water.

After looking around and seeing the hoops one has to jump thru everytime you post just to make sure the system notices you, I decided I was having too much fun to be bogged down by that, and changed my mind.

***END NOTE***

Feets don't fail me now! Carnival Edition

The 15th edition of The Carnival of the Walkers is up over at Wendy Bumgartner's Walking Blog.

The stories presented are worht a look. ;-D

Carnival of Vanities is up and running

Mosey on over to Techno Gypsy for the Carnival of the Vanities #159.

Lots of good reading to occupy your week, organized into nice neat categories.

A community-edited, searchable, visual world history timeline

Can you say "Oh, no, not another Wiki!"

I new you could! ;-D

Actually, this one's pretty cool.

It's called the WikiTimeline.

This site was created to be a visual reference of historical world events. Like other wikis, it is up to the public to develop this into a useful resource. Thank you for visiting!

This is an easily editable timeline of any type of history anyone decides to submit. Anyone can edit the timeline, and anyone can revise old entries. A history of past entries is stored.

Each event on the timeline can store details about that event, a sub-timeline of events, and relevant links to other sources of information.

A pretty cool idea, but like all such efforts prone to problems if not closely monitored.

When it comes to history one persons great event is another persons utter disaster so I envision the re-writing of almost everything as the listings become agenda driven entries. :-D

Another problem crops up if you use Internet Explorer: Single day events might not appear on your screen.

I found the site interesting, regardless.

It so far covers, mostly US, events, issues, and personalities, from 1776 to the present, in categories such as US President, US Military, US Civil Rights, World Stage, International, Economics, Judicial, and Scientific.

So far there are 8 contributors of over 100 entries.

Go take a look.

And let the havoc begin! ;-D

Actual combat footage

As  I sat here watching the Hurricane coverage, on TV, a  bright flash, and the loud report of a gun going off has just happend along the row of parking garages across from my 2nd floor apartment.

I beat Nikita to cautiously peek out the window ( He just layed on the floor, and yawned ), but didn't see anyone in the dark.

I returned to my computer and decided to check out the blog of my friend Delftsman, the Emigre with a Digital Cluebat, and was struck by the serindipity of his most recent post.

Seeing folks actually pulling the trigger on another human may not be your cup of tea.

War can be a brutal event. We tend to sit back in our living rooms, and view the barrage of information that comes across our television. We can easily become desensitized to the real gravity and danger of the battle front. Lives may be ended or altered forever during the heat of battle.

When I first saw this photo, my heart was instantly brought face to face with "cold" reality. Yet at the same time, it made me realize that like any soldier, I'm just a guy, too. This moment of conflict, on some distant shore, truly captures the results of what can happen when an enemy is totally exposed.

As he writes this graphic image is not for everyone, and may turn some folks stomach.

War is brutal.

I thank each and every one of our brave men and women in the Armed Services for putting their lives on the line every day, in The War Against Terror, and wish them a safe return to their families.

The image.

My niece the Blogger

My niece, Michelle, is all of 13 3/4 yrs. old, and is, in many ways, your typical, 8th grade teen, with typical teen interests, whose parents, and assorted other relatives, all love her dearly and encourage her along every step of her life's journey.

She is a very bright young lady whose occassional slips in her grades mask the fact that there is an intelligent mind  hidden in that head that is just waiting for the right moment, and/or interest,  to break loose and develope to its full, Adult, potential.

I've always known she likes getting on the computer, but I recently was made aware of the fact that she has taken the 1st steps toward entering the more involving, and personally expressive, side of the internet:

A Personal ( sort of ) webpage, and a Blog ( sort of ).

60th Anniversary: Japanese Bombings of US Mainland

Discovered an interesting Blog tonite, and learned a little history in the process.

Did you know that Japan launched a balloon-bomb raid on the US in 1944-45?

Neither did I.

From Perry Peterson, a fellow Alliance of Free Blogs member ( I really have been remiss in checking on my fellow Alliance members in the past year ), whose Blog is called Cave News:

The Japanese launched over 9,000 balloons carrying incendiary bombs. Fewer than 300 were discovered in the United States. The others may have wandered off course or could have landed in the sea before reaching land. Many were shot down as they crossed the Aleutian Islands.

The few fu-go (fire bombs) that did land in this country were not highly publicized. The military did not want Japan to know about balloon-bomb landings in the hope the Japanese would think the balloon campaign was a failure. The Japanese balloon-bomb offensive was one of the best kept secrets of World War II.

There was one incident that did get some regional publicity. It was a fu-go that inflicted the only real serious damage after it landed....

Imagine that?  Sending forth 32ft., hydrogen filled balloons, carting bombs hither and yon, only hoping they'd land in enemy territory.

To learn about the incident mentioned above, and see some pictures, read Japan Bombed Colorado 60 years today.

But it's my favorite!

Kids across America are gonna be in for a terrible disappointment soon.

No amount of foot stamping whines of "But, I waaaannnt it!!" will get them anything, however.

I understand that in certain parts of the country the idea for this particular treat makes perfect sense, but still...

They should have known the Animal Rights folks would get worked up over it.

Love mooves in mysterious ways

Boy...

Talk about being desperate.

Or maybe he was just trying to recapture the glory days of his youth.

Who the hell knows?

All I know is that this dude is 1 SICK sob.

Then again... there is probably some lawyer out there who would just jump at the chance to get this guy off.

Or help Henrieta Heifer, and friends, sue for severe emotional distress.

What am I talking about?

Avert the kiddies eyes, and read on...

He Coulda Been a Contendah

Well, he could have!

This news came from the AP today:

Zippy Chippy, the sad sack 13 yr. old Gelding who lost all 100 races he entered, has been retired.

Wassup with that?

He was so damn close to making history, and FINALLY  accomplishing something in his racing life, and is stopped just short of the finish line.

The record for futility by a horse was set by a wonder named THRUST, in the 1950's, at 105.

Life just ain't fair I tell tell you!

Zippy came so far, and got so close, and for what?

I understand that a movie could be in the works, and they didn't want to risk an injury putting a sad ending to the story, but what could be sadder than not setting the all time record when you had the chance?

I mean, with an injury he'd at least be put down doing what he loved best in all the world.

That's a happy ending in my book!

Police Destroy Home. Family Uprooted

In interviews with local media a distraught couple expressed deep dismay over the un-announced arrival of Sheriff's Deputies who proceeded to dismantle their recently built, and expensive Condominium.

Mr. B: We came home from a shopping trip with the kids to find there was no home anymore. It was devastating!

After all the hard work we put in to finding just the right materials, and then getting the place built, only to see it all torn down, and carted off.

Mrs. B: The hardest part was explaining to the kids why this was done. We understand that the Sheriffs had a job to do, but they should have contacted us first, and we would have worked out something with them so as to keep our home, if not intact, then at least partially so until we found alternative materials.

Have You Kissed Your Toilet Today

Or, at least given the little darling a good hug?

In case you have been way too busy watching the Presidential Debates, and the VP Debate, you should know that October is National Toilet Repair Month.

Yes, the lowly Loo has its special time of year where its stoicism in dealing with all the crap it takes from us, uncomplaining, day after day, year after year, is shown the respect, and gratitude it so richly deserves, and piss on those who scoff at such a spectacle.

I can hear you now:

"Oh, SHIT!" You say, "I didn't know that!"

Google Alert is My Friend

One of the neat things the folks over at Google offer its users is something called Google Alert..

The idea is that you can choose to have daily, or weekly e-mails sent to you with links to news, or web articles, and whatnot, related to search terms of your choice.

I thought this would be a cool way to help me search out articles to Blog about over at THE CYCLING DUDE, and so chose the search words Bicycling, Bicyclist, Cycling, and Cyclist.

My first collection of links have produced maybe 10 stories of interest, and so I've begun to write about them for my readers over there.

I love Google Alert! :-)

Statistically Speaking: Sept. 2004, the Last Webalizer Round-up

The end of an era. :-)

I loved seeing the large numbers that such a detailed tracker provided, over the past year, but as I move my Blogs onto better things a change is neccessary, and so I will bid a fond farewell with this entry.

***NOTE-- 1am: 10/15/04***

I am flattered by the posted, and e-mailed, cries of concern from old, and new, readers who have read the above, but apparently are in a panic despite what it says. :-)

Thank you all for caring! :-)

NO! I ain't packing it in!

It's just that something big is in the works at both blogs, that I'm not ready to announce just yet.

Almost ready though. :-)

Let's just say that Growth, and Change, is good. :-)

***END OF NOTE***

TOTAL VISITS= 24,451
DAILY AVERAGE= 815
High Day= 1,320

Number of times over 1000= 5
Number of times 800-999= 9
Number of times 600-799= 14

TOP 10 ARTICLES and CATEGORIES:

Again, the list is remarkably similar to April, and May. A lot of interest in the Nick Berg Story, and a Naked Cyling piece I wrote.

TOP 10 REFERRERS FROM THE BLOGGERVERSE:

1. Backcountry Conservative.

2. Pete Holiday.

3. The 11 Day Empire.

4. Absinthe & Cookies.

5. Blogo Slovo.

6. Blogs for Bush.

7. She's a Flight Risk.

8. Bikezilla. ( RE: Cycling Dude )

9. Wizbang.

10. The Pirate's Blog.

HONORARY MENTION: Every freakin' Search Engine from A to Z!

Statistically Speaking: August

TOTAL VISITS= 21,987
DAILY AVERAGE= 709
High Day= 1032

Number of times over 1000= 2
Number of times 800-999= 4
Number of times 600-799= 20

TOP 10 ARTICLES and CATEGORIES:

Again, the list is remarkably similar to April, and May. A lot of interest in the Nick Berg Story, and a Naked Cyling piece I wrote.

TOP 10 REFERRERS FROM THE BLOGGERVERSE:

1. Backcountry Conservative.

2. Tango Aqui en Margen.

3. The Continental Pedal. ( RE: Cycling Dude )

4. Blogs for Bush.

5. She's a Flight Risk.

6. Bicycle and Beach. ( RE: Cycling Dude )

7. Bicycling Commuting Now. ( RE: Cycling Dude )

8. Wizbang

9. Paul Dorn's Bike Commuting Tips. ( RE: Cycling Dude )

10. Feste... A Fool's Blog.

HONORARY MENTION: Every freakin' Search Engine from A to Z!

Statistically Speaking: July

TOTAL VISITS= 21,642
DAILY AVERAGE= 698
High Day= 1014

Number of times over 1000= 1
Number of times 800-999= 4
Number of times 600-799= 20

TOP 10 ARTICLES, AND CATEGORIES:

Again, the list is remarkably similar to April, and May. A lot of interest in the Nick Berg Story, and a Naked Cyling piece I wrote.

TOP 10 REFERRERS FROM THE BLOGGERVERSE:

1. Backcountry Conservative.

2. James Raia's Website. ( RE: Cycling Dude )

3. Democrats Give Conservatives Indigestion.

4. Bicycle Commuting Now. (RE: Cycling Dude )

5. Quasi in Rem.

6. Blogs for Bush.

7. Bicycle and Beach. ( RE: Cycling Dude )

8. Jack's Cycling Pages. ( RE: Cycling Dude )

9. Martino's Bike Lane Diary. ( RE: Cycling Dude )

10. International Atomic Energy Agency. ( ??? )

HONORARY MENTION: Every freakin' Search Engine from A to Z!

Statistically Speaking: June

I have been so pre-occupied the last 4 months that I forgot to take a look at my stats, and, as with May, now with 2 blogs working on this website, June was interesting reading to say the least. :-)

The looks I'm sharing for the last 4 months are gonna be a little abbreviated becasue I haven't had the time to do as much research as in the past, and since Sept. will be the last full month of Webalizer usage.

You see, more, positive, change is in the wind around here and I'll be reporting on that soon.

TOTAL VISITS= 24,953
DAILY AVERAGE= 831
High Day= 1211

Number of times over 1000= 4
Number of times 800-999= 10
Number of times 600-799= 16

TOP 10 ARTICLES and CATEGORIES:

No list, here, since it would pretty much match that of April, and May. A lot of interest in the Nick Berg Story, and a Naked Cyling piece I wrote.

The Latest COTV and BestofMe Symphony

Looking for more fine writing along the lines of what I found in my last entry?

Then wander over to these 2 fine establishments, and dig in. :-)

Carnival of the Vanities #105 is up at Eleven Day Empire.

Best Of Me Symphony #42 is up at Gipsy's Musings.

Proud 2 B A Blogger

You may have noticed a new addition, banner-wise around here today.

Well, with our humble little Bloggerverse coming into its own it we should all proclaim our membership in it loudly and Proudly, I say. :-)

I discovered the banner while paying a long overdue visit to the Blog of Mama Montezz.

She is spreading the word about this wonderful way for us all to say I'M A BLOGGER AND I'M PROUD!. :-)

Dorothy Parker CoHosts Symphony 40

Who's Dorothy Parker you may ask?

Here's a good place to learn about her.

The big news is that she is co-hosting the 40th edition of The Best of Me Symphony over at The Owner's Manual. :-)

Enjoy! :-)

Carnival of the Vanities Celebrates 100

100! :-)

Has it been that many?

And the 2yr. Anniversary is coming up next month!

It has been awesome to watch as the Carnival of the Vanities has taken on its wonderful, nomadic, life, & become the phenomenon that it has.

Maybe one of these days I'll be able to find an opportunity to host the event like I've done The Best of Me Symphony. :-)

Jeremiah Lewis, of Fringe Blog, has the honor of presenting this Landmark edition, & its is a well done effort from top to bottom.

It has been a priviledge to have been able to have contributed my own writing to this, and so many of the previous editions.

100th Carnival of the Vanities-- Celebracion!

Looking Charley in the Eye

Here in Sunny Southern California we deal with the occasional nasty EarthQuake, the yearly Fire Season that sometimes gets out of hand ( remember last year? ), REALLY heavy rains that cause repeated flooding every year or so, and the rare weirdness that comes from Mother Nature forgetting that she's not supposed to plop down Tornadoes in Orange County ( yes, it HAS happened, though they were tame ones ), and snow storms in West & South Central Los Angeles ( was that bizarre, or what? ).

Then there's that freak summer rain, & hail, Thunderstorm that hung out for a few hours today from Eastern LA County into Western San Bernardino County, and out to the desert communities around Victorville to Barstow.

It dropped water at the rate of an inch an hour, & hail as big as marbles. :-)

But what often happens, almost every year, along the Coast, from Texas to Maine, if/when Hurricanes pay a visit, or further inland during massive rain & snow storms, makes what we go through here look like an easy to deal with walk in the park.

Take Charley's stroll thru Florida, & South Carolina, for instance:

Statistically Speaking May 2004

I have been so pre-occupied the last couple of months that I forgot to take a look at my stats, and, as with April, now with 2 blogs working on this website, it was interesting reading to say the least. :-)

May was an astonishing month, statistically, for many in the Bloggerverse, and what follows is the record of how it affected Sneake