Right Now Meditation

This is a nice and relaxing Powerpoint meditation from Ralph Marston.

Virgo

The astrological forecast for us Virgos -

MSN Astrology

and

The Onion | Horoscopes

Blocking Flash Popups in Firefox

petebevin.com has a fix for those annoying Flash popups that have started to appear for those of us using Firefox.

RadioParadise.com

I recommend checking out Radio Paradise, for those times when you need to listen to the radio on your computer. You may like Radio Paradise better than conventional radio.

They stream commercial free/pop-up free music from a huge variety of musicians.

Thumbsucker

Thumbsucker opens September 16th.

Directed by Mike Mills, and starring Tilda Swinton, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D'Onofrio, Keanu Reeves, Benjamin Bratt and Kelli Garner.

From the Sony pictures movie site -

"Thumbsucker is an honest and funny look at the struggles of people who feel deeply flawed, both those in youth and middle age. They yearn to be anything but their real selves with their real fears and doubts. Instead, they want to be “normal.” They look for magic answers to fix themselves – only to realize that they can’t be someone else, that “normal” does not exist, and that their flaws are what make them human and loveable."

Leatherman, Maglite and Google

Playing Maria in the Sound of Music, Julie Andrews sings of her favorite things, raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, snowflakes, crisp apple streudels and well you know the song.

These are a few of my favorite things.

Leatherman

Maglite

Google

Functional, well designed and not easily breakable. I like it...

StumbleUpon.com

Is the web a little "stale" for you?

Tired of clicking the Next-Blog button and finding yourself in a mixed up ad mess?


StumbleUpon is great for finding things you will be interested in on the web.

The concept is that users answer a series of questions about their interests, personality, likes, dislikes and then the tool takes you to pages recommended by people like you. You can vote on each page, leave comments or just Stumble! around.

Warning - This tool is very useful for finding things you might be interested in, the downside is you start creating a backlog of things to read/look at as you use it....and for those of us who may spend a tad too much time on the internet as it is, that might not be so good.

At least it's an efficient way to find interesting things, so maybe you (I) won't waste as much time aimlessly wandering around the information super highway.

Mr-Smartypants's Reviews

StumbleUpon.com is a fun way to find new pages on the web.

As you stumble through the web, you give webpages a thumbs up or thumbs down, write reviews or comments and get to see pages recommended by people with similar interests to your own.

"I'm hooked on the thing, and rate it as the second most useful web browsing tool after Google itself" - PcPro Magazine

I downloaded the StumbleUpon extension from Mozilla to use with Firefox and now have my very own -

Mr-Smartypants's reviews

The ONE Campaign

Poverty

thinking about people
in other places

how much we have (own?)
how little they.

or could it be
the other way
around?

those with the
least
have the most

and we who
own the most
have the least

Jack

"If you put your clothes in a closet and your food in a refrigerator, you are richer than 75% of the world's population."

The Miniature Earth

_________________________________

I believe there is no correlation between material wealth and happiness, unless it's an inverse relationship between how much we have vs. how happy we are.

My point is that looking at someone who appears "poor" and thinking how unhappy they must be is incredibly egotistical. Assuming that material wealth would be just the ticket for some happy aborigine is silly. The Gods Must Be Crazy indeed.

We aren't talking about getting people 50 inch plasma TV's or shiny new cars here.

The ONE Campaign is about sharing basic necessities of life with those living in extreme poverty. Providing the basic needs of food, water, medical care, education and caring for orphans.

Dave Matthews at The Gorge

Going to the Gorge Amphitheatre tonight to see The Dave Matthews Band.

It's a beautiful place for a concert, in the desert of Eastern Washington, with a natural stage backdrop of the sun going down over the ancient gorge carved out by the Columbia River.

Last time I went was 2002. It was great.


CD Cover From 2002 Concert


I'm sure this year will be super too.

Pre-Playa Playing Planning

Practice Camp



Tibetan Prayer Flag and Tripods



I'm Living in the Backyard



Getting Out the Old Camping Gear



My Walking Stick



Cost $1



I Love The Way You Hold Your Pens and Pencils



Planning



Playa is a Spanish word for a beach or the flat-floored bottom of an undrained desert basin that becomes at times a shallow lake.

I thought it was a made up word meaning a place to playa round.

Burning Man Art

Oh my.

The art of Burning Man sounds wonderously wonderful -


Theme Art

Funded Art

Playa Art

Least Likely to Burn

A Pastor on the Playa?

I really liked this story by a Cinncinnati pastor who attends Burning Man.

"I go to Burning Man because I have something to offer...a fresh perspective of an old institution. An image of the church rising from the ashes of hypocrisy to prove itself relevant to the age...an image of a church made of servants, in the model of Jesus, caring for people and loving God."

Bubble Fun

The Funny T-Shirt Store

Tire Swing Fun?

Sure it looks fun.

I've never quite understood the fun factor of a tire swing.

Maybe it's just that I haven't spent enough time on (or in?) one, although if I am to be a late blooming tire swing lover it's going to have to be a tractor tire swing to accomodate my largesse, or as they say in France my âne énorme.

Jimmy Buffett sings, "life is just a tire swing" and waxes nostalgic for the good old days. Family Fun says, "The backyard tire swing has been entertaining kids pretty much since backyards were invented."

Look closer at that picture. Notice the smile on the little freckled faced boy's face? That's not a smile, it's a grimace. Unless he has an oddly deformed body, that tire swing is not ergonomically designed. The tire is forcing his head forward and holding his arms back, like a school yard bully. Damn you tire swing, leave that boy alone.

Notice also that the chain is strategically placed to rub either the front or the back of his head. The seat of a tire swing does not conform to most young folks flat backsides. Maybe that rounded shape works better for bubble-butts; but you still have a hard steel cord on the tire bead to contend with (ouch).

I think part of the problem for me is that I tend to think of a tire swing with the tire hung vertically rather than horizontally. (I'm referring to how the tire is attached to the rope or chains rather than how it swings.)

The vertical tire swing shown at the top of this post is the type I am most familiar with, although I have swung in multiple dimensions at various times in the past. Where I grew up we only had the vertical hanging tire type, since the horizontal model requires eye-bolts and hardware that would cost money and require a trip to a hardware store (which might be quite a drive).

Okay a tire swing can be some fun. You can stand on one. It's an easy swing to make. First you get yourself an old tire, then you get yourself a rope, then you tie it to a big ole tree. For some neatnik-types, old tires in the yard may be in short supply. Big ole trees are a little hard to come by too.

I'm going to put my vote in for the old two rope board-seat swing. You can wind it up and spin. Stand on it and pump. Jump out of it easily. Just make sure you get a non-splintering board.

Wishing you a swinging day you Wild and Crazy Guys!

_________________________________

Postscript: I had a heck of a time describing how a tire is hung on a rope without confusing how it is hung, with how it swings. I'm thinking about a Cartesian coordinate system x = horizontal and y = vertical. A tire swinging on a TV screen is moving in 2 dimensions. A tire painted on a piece of paper is depicted in two dimensions. If we add the z = longitudinal axis, then a sculpture of a tire swing is 3D...a real tire swing with a boy or girl on it is moving in 3D..and probably more. Send me an email if you'd like a 10 page single-spaced essay on "hanging a tire swing in other dimensions".

I Want To Ride My Bicycle

Interlude thought of the day -

Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.

H. G. Wells

Fits right in with the Bicycle Reflections meditation of the week.

__________________________________

"Bicycle Race" from Queen's Greatest Hits


Bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

You say black I say white
You say bark I say bite
You say shark I say hey man
Jaws was never my scene
And I don't like Star Wars
You say Rolls I say Royce
You say God give me a choice
You say Lord I say Christ
I don't believe in Peter Pan
Frankenstein or Superman
All I wanna do is

Bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my
Bicycle races are coming your way
So forget all your duties all year!
Fat bottomed girls
They'll be riding today
So look out for those beauties oh yeah
On your marks get set go
Bicycle race bicycle race bicycle race
Bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle
Bicycle bicycle bicycle bicycle
Bicycle race

You say coke I say caine
You say John I say Wayne
Hot dog I say cool it man
I don't wanna be the President of America
You say smile I say cheese
Cartier I say please
Income tax I say Jesus
I don't wanna be a candidate for
Vietnam or Watergate
Cause all I wanna do is

Bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

The Burning Man Project :: Welcome Home

"I'd like to go sometime" he thought to himself...while pondering a comparison to his life and the life of Walter Mitty

"I wonder if I could go in a nicely appointed motor home?"

"Preferably with a driver so I don't have to worry about any potential desert related chemical imbalances effecting my navigational capability."

"Satellite TV and high speed internet, in case I get overly stimulated or bored."

"Air conditioning and a nice comfy bed."

"A good lawyer and bail money if things get too wild in Reno."

It's that time of year again, nearing the end of summer, getting close to Labor Day and time for me to daydream about going to Burning Man.

Gerlach is a little over 600 miles for me. I have two weeks from today to think about travel plans. I'll more than likely just read about the festival on the web; but you never know. I can only imagine what it might be like to be there.

I'll more than likely, once again this year, experience Burning Man by looking at the web. Even though I like to watch, as much as the next person, there's nothing like Being There.

Sorry for the odd juxtaposition...but Walty Mitty and Chance The Gardener stick together in my mind as two ordinary seeming people with inner lives far from the day to day world most of us are familiar with. Dreams and Naivete, Walter and Chance, Fantasy and Innocence, might be what Burning Man is about.

I'll never know until I go. In the meantime here's a cool Burning Man photo gallery from wdydwyd.com

New Bicycle

"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized that the Lord doesn't work that way, so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me."

Emo Philips

This quote and lots of good things to read and think about can be found at -

Interlude - An Internet Retreat

wdydwyd?

wdydwyd?

Utne.com

Utne.com is a good place to find some fresh ideas. Their magazine is great too.