CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-24 21:54:35 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Yeah, there's an app for that--

2013-05-24 21:49:09 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Today's Google Play Free Song of the Day is Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" from their 1997 album, "Nimrod."

2013-05-24 21:21:04 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 9 +1s)

While I showered--

Leo dragged an unopened cube of Diet Pepsi into the living room, chewed it open and chewed into three cans of soda causing a flood of Diet Pepsi onto the living room floor.

That is it Leo!  We buy Coke products from now on!

2013-05-24 19:06:29 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Osambie!  See, it's Osama (as in bin Laden) and zombie, mashed up.  

Get it?

I know, right?!

2013-05-24 18:51:21 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

What was that that William Burroughs said about not getting in the middle of a boy-and-girl fight?  

Right.  Don't do it.

Extend that to not getting in the middle of social network fights among any genders or pseudo-genders.  Just keep hearing the comments in funny Monty Python lady voices, smile and move on.

2013-05-24 18:05:45 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

"Do you thank the Lord?" is going to be my go-to conclusion for any conversation, any subject, any time.

Thank you, Wolf Blitzer.  Thank you, CNN.

2013-05-24 13:58:47 (6 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

Dog and man: a 30,000 year friendship #fidofriday  

2013-05-24 11:17:03 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

A great price for The Doors.  Looking to get The Doors represented in your music playlists.  For a limited time, Google Play has you covered.  $6.99 for twenty of The Doors hits.

(I was going to do a slew of door-type puns, but when you're rolling your own eyes, best to delete and play it straight.)

2013-05-24 01:13:19 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 8 +1s)

Lament for Ur

For the gods have abandoned us
like migrating birds they have gone
Ur is destroyed, bitter is its lament
The country's blood now fills its holes like hot bronze in a mould
Bodies dissolve like fat in the sun. Our temple is destroyed
Smoke lies on our city like a shroud.
blood flows as the river does
the lamenting of men and women
sadness abounds
Ur is no more

Written circa 2000 BCE.  The text is in the voice of the goddess of the city of Ur.  The Lament (which consists of more than these few lines) marks the end of native Sumerian leadership in the ancient world and the rise of new powers: Elam, Babylon, and others.

The Lament's style and pathos will be picked up by later authors.  The Hebrews, for example, who drew heavily from Sumerian history and lore, as did almost all of their contemporaryci... more »

2013-05-23 23:57:28 (9 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

Here's a trick that might be worth knowing.  Somebody puts up a posting that is either blatantly false, or it misses something essential in its points.  You lean in, poised to bang out your brilliant comment--

Hold up there, partner.

Even if you're well intended, is it necessary to post this as a comment under somebody else's posting?  If the answer can be no, at all, then turn your big ol' brain toward creating your own posting.

Don't be crass and name or oppose another Plus citizen. Just make your point, under your name, in your words.

There.  Balance restored, and nobody got (frak I hate this word, but all you kids are using it) butthurt over it.

Yeah, the picture has nothing to do with the posting.  It made me chuckle, so I threw it on here.

2013-05-23 23:32:57 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

Happy Halfway to Halloween, everybody.

Tonight, as spring causes creatures to join in the rush of new life,  look in the mirror and see the skull beneath the skin.  

Muah-ha-ha!

(Seriously, enjoy your life.  It ends.  Your enjoyment of it is limited only by you.  And find at least a few reasons every year to go "Muah-ha-ha!"  That's fun too.)

Bauhaus
"She's in Parties"

2013-05-23 22:31:45 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Next up, "Iron Sky."  Nazis have a moon base, and a Sarah Palin look-alike is moving and talking, like the real Sarah Palin.

Chilling!

2013-05-23 21:55:22 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

HAPPY HALFWAY TO HALLOWEEN

Won't be long now.

2013-05-23 20:13:21 (6 comments, 2 reshares, 6 +1s)

This movie sounds insane and I want to see it.

"Osombie" (2012)

From the IMDB write up:
The story follows Dusty, a yoga instructor from Colorado, who is on a desperate rescue mission to save her crazy brother Derek, a conspiracy theorist who is convinced Osama bin Laden is still alive, despite having been buried at sea. In Afghanistan, Dusty falls in with a team of NATO special forces on a secret assignment. Turns out Derek is not so crazy after all, and that Osama has returned from his watery grave and is making an army of zombie terrorists. When the group crashes headlong into the growing zombie apocalypse, Dusty and the troops must find and destroy the root of the zombie insurgency before it infests the rest of the world 

2013-05-23 17:19:40 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

While I raked out the garden rows I listened to a new (to me) podcast:  "The Podcast History of Our World."  The host does a fine job of presenting history from Stone Age to at the least story of Sargon the Great, which is where I've stopped for now.  I recommend it.  If nothing else, try episode 6 where he does a fine job of paraphrasing and dramatically reciting the Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest story in human history.

Podcast downloads available at the attached URL and via iTunes.

Gonna just Plus +Anthony Zul and +Eric Johnson  because they seem to like these history pods too.

2013-05-23 17:02:17 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 14 +1s)

Bantam corn. An heirloom variety.

2013-05-23 17:00:02 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

The planting stick. Apple wood wand.

2013-05-23 16:52:49 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

The rows are never straight. But then, neither am I.

2013-05-23 14:37:14 (7 comments, 1 reshares, 12 +1s)

(Sigh)

Did I mention that dogs enjoy digging?

Leo--!

2013-05-23 14:32:17 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Bother, I can't leave the door open any more.  All this rain and not-freezing has finally produced mosquitoes.  Ugh.  (Swat!)

2013-05-23 14:22:09 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Maple leaves. Feels like yesterday branches were bare and I was moving snow.

2013-05-23 14:20:12 (10 comments, 1 reshares, 15 +1s)

Dogs enjoy planting. It involves digging.

2013-05-23 14:30:04 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

Time to plant the morning glory seeds.

2013-05-23 14:01:01 (3 comments, 2 reshares, 8 +1s)

All better, dial tone restored. Now resuming planned chores.

2013-05-23 13:52:03 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Oh, bother. Friends, you don't want weed whack the phone line, as I've done here. Now I'll replace the line. (Sigh)

2013-05-23 13:14:04 (11 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

From the private stash. But, which one crack for post-breakfast smackerel--

2013-05-23 12:49:17 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

Yes, it's true, many people have it much worse.

But, many people have it much better.

Gratitude need not equal complacence, and striving need not equal greed.

Image found at http://kjherstin.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=0.  Some very good stuff there.  

2013-05-23 12:00:57 (9 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

Him:  How did you know he was lying about his age?

Me:  Easy.  He's never been in the military, but he has a smallpox vaccination scar on his upper arm.

The USA stopped routine smallpox vaccination in 1972.  The only Americans who currently might get a smallpox vaccination are select groups in the US military.

2013-05-23 11:10:42 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Two men attacked and killed another man, and then started making political statements.

This is now a terrorist act that has caused meetings at the highest level. 

This, to me, is a problem.

Where were the COBRA meetings when Malakai Mckenzie ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-22612728 ) was shot in the head? 

Where were the COBRA meetings when an eleven year old girl was repeatedly raped ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-22626994 )?

Either hold COBRA meetings for all heinous crimes, or hold them for NATIONAL threats.

Especially when the two so-called terrorists have already been shot, caught, and are in custody while being treated for their injuries.

I'm sick and tired of being told to remain afraid by the media, and by my government.

2013-05-23 09:42:58 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

The title track is the oddball in this rocking bluesy soundtrack to the 1980 movie.  The album is a musical throwback to a brief time when Pop music was about being young, talented, loud and dangerous.  When the journey counted more, fear happened to other people, and dollars were expected, but they were not the reason for showing up or the measure of the values.

And, yes, it has that saccharine title track, which is why most people love "The Rose."  : )

2013-05-23 08:51:49 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

2013-05-23 08:44:44 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Daaawwww. One of them's a Family Man.

That's nice.

2013-05-23 08:39:29 (23 comments, 2 reshares, 12 +1s)

Sometimes I +1 people even though I don't care about the thing that they posted, and sometimes I might not even wholeheartedly agree with what they posted.  I know, right away to some of you that makes me wrong and fake and (insert judgmental noun).

Unclench.  Nobody is getting hurt here.

I hit the little white box because I like the passion of the person making the posting.  It matters less that I care or agree, it matters much more that the poster cares so danged much.

Not everything requires our judgement or editorial comment.  Sometimes, for instance, you laugh at the joke not because you found it particularly funny, but because life feels better when you're laughing alongside the one who told the joke.

2013-05-22 20:57:56 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

Jon Benjamin is wonderfully deadpan, and Kristen Schaal is wonderfully mad.  Meet a few of the cast of "Bob's Burgers" recording as their characters and riffing on working on the show.

2013-05-22 19:19:19 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

It's so gray and damp in Maine today.  Like it was yesterday and probably will be tomorrow.  I have a bunch of chores lined up, but they can wait for now.  It's my first day off.  I'm gonna be a little lazy now.  

I'm clean again, pizza is in the oven.  Civilization V about to be fired up.

2013-05-22 18:58:21 (9 comments, 0 reshares, 12 +1s)

The Swamp. Cattails and other grasses grow in there. See that spruce almost center shot? In a few weeks or so it will be covered in pale pink wild climbing rose flowers. I'll try to remember to get a picture.

2013-05-22 18:54:52 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

I just annoyed a hummingbird by barging in on her apple blossoms.

2013-05-22 18:52:45 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

The grape vines, waking up.

2013-05-22 18:01:25 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

Leo inspects my not-post hole. Getting dug the holes along the fence in preparation for sowing the partner's morning glory seeds. Much easier than digging down three feet for posts.

2013-05-22 17:46:29 (8 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

Happiness is a freshly sharpened lawn mower blade.

2013-05-22 14:18:48 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

Grill-Off!  Butter vs. Refined Coconut Oil: The Grilled Cheese Sandwich Challege

I decided to do butter and refined coconut oil side-by-side on the griddle.  That would give me a good real-time comparison.  And I get two grilled cheese sammitches.

Both grilled in about the same time.  The coconut oil appears to slightly more heat sensitive, so keep a closer eye on it on the heat, perhaps.  

Taking a bite:  Naturally, the butter-toasted bread offered that satisfying crunch against one's teeth, the moist warmth of the bread interior and the savory yeasty goodness on the tongue.  The coconut oil compared very favorably!  A little more oily feeling on the lips than the butter-toasted bread, but otherwise also offering the combination of crunch and moistness.

All in all, I'd say that if you want to use coconut oil on your bread for your grilledcheese ... more »

2013-05-22 13:54:12 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Has anybody ever tried making a grilled cheese sammitch using coconut oil instead of butter or margarine?  I'm gonna try it right now.  I'll report back--

2013-05-22 12:48:33 (8 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

I'm not in love (but I still think she's better than your god, old man.)

When I was nine years old, the band 10cc released one of its greater hits, "I'm Not In Love."  The song is a man desperately denying the truth that he is, in fact, in love.  Shortly after two minutes into the song a woman's voice coos, "Be quiet, big boys don't cry--big boys don't cry . . ."  

As we played in my house with the song playing on the radio, a childhood friend asked, "Who is she?" referring to the female voice that jumps in on the extended break.  Without thinking, and having been poisoned by stories of Greek myths, I casually replied, "She's the goddess."  That earned me a surprise attack backhand from my Christian fundamentalist (and three drinks in, I'd wager) father.

Fast forward a few months and Daddy isout ... more »

2013-05-22 12:10:50 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

Relevant to Whom, Google?

A farmer rode into town on Sunday and stopped at the church.  The pastor greeted the farmer.  "I'd usually be giving my sermon right now," said the pastor, "but you're the only one here."  The farmer replied, "Well, sir.  I have twenty cows.  I reckon if I only had one, I'd still feed it."  The pastor smiled and walked to the pulpit and began a sermon that lasted almost two hours.

At the end of the sermon, the pastor stepped down from the pulpit and rejoined the farmer.  "Well, what did you think?" asked the pastor.  The farmer stood and shook the pastor's hand.  "Well, sir.  I would feed even the one cow, but I wouldn't make her eat enough for twenty."  The farmer drew on his hat, left the church and went home.

EDIT:  Just realized, it might appear as though Imade up tha... more »

2013-05-22 11:23:12 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

PSA
I'm No Longer Female aka How To Make What's Hot More Interesting Sans Banal Platitudes

A few weeks ago, two posters highlighted a very bizarre finding on Google Plus. That your profile's gender specification (Male, Female, Other) influenced the content you saw in the former Explore and What's Hot tabs respectively.

Google's Chief Architect offered feedback that the  Explore tab was using an older, more gender sensitive algorithm, however the What's Hot tab had been modernised, with gender as a factor, but not a big one. If anyone wants to know, what you see in What's Hot is supposed to take into account "properties inherent to the post and the viewer, which includes profile information," he said. A subsequent update mentioned that the algorithm had since been updated and all should be well in Feministaland. I decided to test... more »

2013-05-22 01:20:38 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 14 +1s)

You can waste a lot of life waiting for somebody to do the right thing.

Why not do the right thing yourself?  Find somewhere else to be, among people you're not waiting for.

2013-05-21 23:43:17 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

Today's Google Play Free Song of the Day is Janet Jackson's "All For You" from her 2001 album of the same name.  This is Janet at her Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis freest, most playful and sexy since the early 90s.  

"All For You"
All my girls at the party
Look at that body
Shakin' that thing like you never did see
Got a nice package alright
'Cause I'm gonna have to ride it tonight

All my girls at the party
Look at that body
Shakin' that thing like you never did see
Got a nice package alright
Edit four, three, two, one

It's all for you
If you really want it
It's all for you
If you say you need it
It's all for you
If you gotta have it
It's all for you if you make a move
It's all for you

I see you staring out the cornero... more »

2013-05-21 23:24:34 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

For the bacon fetishists:  Seen at my local music and video store, Bull Moose Music.  

http://www.bullmoose.com/

2013-05-21 23:24:59 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

How can I pass up a Halfway to Halloween sign at my local music and video store, Bull Moose Music, without picking up a little something?  Got me a used DVD of "War of the Dead" (2011).  Here's a YouTube trailer for it:  War of the Dead New trailer 2012 HD 720p  

I've already seen some zombie Nazis in the Norwegian movie, "Dead Snow" (2009), but how can you pass up any movie with good guys fighting zombie Nazis??

http://www.bullmoose.com/

2013-05-21 14:27:55 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 12 +1s)

Ulysses S. Grant had a beard.
Ulysses S. Grant won the Civil War.

Coincidence?
Beardincidence.