the “Empire State” entered the union 220 years ago today
as the 11th state of the U.S.A.
its capital is Albany & its motto is “Excelsior”
Monthly Archives: July 2008
New York
The Fires Of Paratime
by L.E. Modessit Jr.
a book I borrowed from somebody & read a couple years ago
Chapter XX
page 204
“Life is too easy to face the hard decisions, and so we plan, and watch, and wait, and hope, and are the compliant victims of the schemers and the madmen.” [Sammis to Loki]
page 207
“… and no man or god would know his place while blew the wild winds of time.”
page 211
“The universe has no gods and while some have the power of gods, those who thought they were indeed were mad.”
page 214
“The histories, the might-have-beens, the was and the were, the is and the are, warred upon each other. Through the black windows of time hung in front of us, battles never fought were fought, all at once, all together, and the new turning points of history and parahistory, of space and para-space, were hammered out in the fires of para-time.”
Revolution Day
in Egypt today, it is that country’s national holiday
Egypt (officially) speaks Arabic, spends Egyptian Pounds, & its capital is Cairo
Hjemkomst Center
in Moorhead, Minnesota, U.S.A.
it shelters a ship, Robert Asp’s ship
& is home to the Scandinavian Hjemkomst Festival in early summer, I was there three years ago, took in some food, music, etc. & still treasure a necklace & a wrap around skirt that I bought there
as far as I know, the celebrations have been held annually for over thirty years now, http://www.scandinavianhjemkomstfestival.org/
V For Vendetta
a 2006 movie with Natalie Portman & Hugo Weaving, I went to the theater to watch it when it came out, a great film
set in a futuristic society of control by fear, the rebel V moves to start a worthy revolution, & Evey joins his side
Fight Club
a 1996 book by Chuck Palahniuk, that I read about a year and a half ago
somewhat perverse, somewhat clever, somewhat entertaining,
its the warped world of Tyler Durden & company
Pop vs. Soda
a contest/election of sorts going on at Kum & Go stations here in the U.S.A., in some states (Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, & Arkansas)
I usually call it pop, but soda is alright too, I suppose
I was on a trans-Atlantic flight once, & asked what I would like to drink, & when I responded “pop” the server/steward said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what that is” *shrugs*
useful Alt codes
on an American/English keyboard, though not necessarily all American/English keyboards
¡ = Alt + 0161 ¿ = Alt + 0191
Ç = Alt + 0199 ç = Alt + 0231
ß = Alt + 0223 ü = Alt + 0252
Ø = Alt + 0216 ø = Alt + 0248
Å = Alt + 0197 å = Alt + 0229
Æ = Alt + 0198 æ = Alt + 0230
É = Alt + 0201 é = Alt + 0233
à = Alt + 0224 í = Alt + 0237
Ñ = Alt + 0209 ñ = Alt + 0241
° = Alt + 0176 ÷ = Alt + 0247
© = Alt + 0169 ™ = Alt + 0153
Ä = Alt + 0196 ä = Alt + 0228
Ú = Alt + 0218 ú = Alt + 0250
it has been suggested that one should rather go to insert & symbol instead of use the Alt code for these characters so as to increase the chance that it will display correctly on other viewers’ computers, however, I’m usually not up for doing that based mostly on the frequency I use some of these characters, I prefer using Alt codes, for ease & speed
Mount Rushmore
in western South Dakota, U.S.A. , depicting four U.S.A. presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, & Abraham Lincoln, I was there last summer & saw it
Thank You For Smoking
a 2006 movie which I’ve watched some time ago, a clever, though somewhat sad, satire, with actor Aaron Eckhart as the main character, Nick Naylor, who is all about “winning” the argument, no matter what side he’s on
Stardust Musings And Thoughts For The Freethinker
http://thoughtsfortheopenminded.blogspot.com/
a blog I’ve visited occassionally for some time, contains interesting posts, some of which bring up points I hadn’t considered, things I didn’t quite realized, snacks for thought, I’d say, a blog that also serves as the freethinker author’s commentary on religion, politics, etc.
MyDeathSpace
posting & archiving news of deaths of the MySpacers, which has been running for about two and a half years by now (MyDeathSpace, that is, not MySpace), a little morbidly interesting perhaps, yet also making the online community feel more like an online community, & to read about all the shit that happens to people ought to make us aspire to be better people ourselves, life is too short for crap, it’s just too damn short, we should get with it
Sitting Bull Falls
beautiful place located in the Lincoln National Forest, in New Mexico, U.S.A.
was there this past weekend, for an afternoon
Franz Kafka
born 125 years ago today, here’s to him
“Life’s splendor forever lies in wait about each one of us in all its fullness, but veiled from view, deep down, not reluctant, not deaf, if you summon it by the right word, by its right name, it will come.”
Human Rights Campaign
working for gay, lesbian, bisexual, & transgender (GLBT) equal rights
I discovered them this past weekend as I was at the annual “Pride On The Plaza” downtown in Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A., & wrote them a check, though not for much, since I’m really low on money these days, I still felt their ideals were worth supporting though
Canada Day
it is today, or Fête du Canada, the national holiday for this country, a day formerly known as Dominion Day
Canada (officially) speaks English & French, spends Canadian Dollars, & its capital is Ottawa.
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