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July 10th, 2009


01:08 pm - Baha'is on trial in Iran
This weekend a group of Baha'is in Iran are going on trial for basically not being Muslim. I wonder if international pressure will have any impact on their situation.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/07/10/iran.bahais.jail.trial/

I know a lot of Iranian Baha'is who have become US citizens under the refugee system, they are definitely not given ""all the facilities offered to other Iranian citizens" -- unless you count the facilities offered to the "green" protestors.

Incidentally, as a non-partisans the Bahai's are not supposed to become involved with political matters like the current protests in Iran, except to address human rights issues. This can be really hard for some. I've certainly said comments about past US presidents that were partisan, even though I know I'm not supposed to.

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July 7th, 2009


10:40 pm - Mary Poppins
A friend of mine was taking down a patio table umbrella and I told her she reminded me of Mary Poppins, flying off in the wind. She had never seen that movie and didn't know what I was talking about. (She *did* grow up in Iran, but still -- it's Disney. Ok, I'm joking about that.)

Has anyone here not seen Mary Poppins?

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July 1st, 2009


11:01 pm - for your information
I discovered that the abbreviation "FYI" sounds ok but if you abbreviate it to "F your I" it sounds kind of mean. Theoretically they should be equivalent.

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June 28th, 2009


09:55 pm - bulbous
A couple weeks ago I'd go outside for five minutes to water the tomatoes and I'd be sneezing for the next half-hour. Truly. This week is much better, I was able to plant bulbs all day. SO MANY BULBS. And still a few more to plant. But I have several beds of them now and I have accomplished something.
Allergies did finally catch up to me though, right now my nose is just for show. It'll get better though.

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June 24th, 2009


02:25 pm - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Whoa, you can listen to their whole album online:

http://www.robertplantalisonkrauss.com/site.php

(link at the top left)

Why haven't they put out a second one?
Current Music: Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson

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June 23rd, 2009


10:37 pm - Is it like excavated?
The word "extirpated" comes to mind but I don't know what it means. And I don't care.

No wait, now I care. Merriam Webster says:
1 a: to destroy completely : wipe out
b: to pull up by the root

2: to cut out by surgery


Ok, that's a pretty good one.

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May 30th, 2009


11:21 pm - Raveonettes - Dead Sound
I can't stop listening to this song. Their other songs online wash right past me but I seem to resonate at the same frequency as this song. This week at least.

http://www.vicerecords.com/raveonettes/Raveonettes-Dead_Sound-edit.mov

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May 22nd, 2009


12:37 pm - Beautiful day for a walk

Beautiful day for a walk
Originally uploaded by vespid_interest

-Ben


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May 10th, 2009


09:26 pm - slugs
slugs as big as my hand... or at least the small part of my hand.

I bought a GPS unit this week and hit the trails to collect some data for it. Apparently a couple slugs had the same idea.
I also saw a rabbit but it was photo shy. A bad hare day, I figure.


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May 8th, 2009


11:52 pm - Star Trek
I was not prepared to like this movie, but I was wrong. As a Star Trek fan I thought it was excellent. (Though I don't remember much about the original series.)
My friend Jenny isn't a fan but she does like action movies, and she liked it too.

And happy birthday Bob!

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April 27th, 2009


10:19 pm - simulated cow
Today Katie brought me some ice cream. Japanese ice cream, packaged in a strong balloon of a sort. You snip off the tip and soon after the ice cream starts oozing out. You have to keep up with it because as the ice cream warms it escapes faster and faster.


It's sort of uddery, and sucking on it made me vaguely uncomfortable at work. But it was fascinating and fun.



The very last bit shoots out really fast so you have to be ready.

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April 22nd, 2009


09:03 am - compucius says
I got an error message today that seems to come straight from the fortune cookie industry:
"an unnamed file contains an invalid path."

This makes me think I need to start adding "in bed" to the end of all my error messages. They won't make more sense but it could lighten up an otherwise irritating moment.

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April 14th, 2009


01:02 pm - mouseketeers
I feel that "hey there" and "hi there" are pretty good greetings, but "ho there" seems entirely inappropriate.

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April 6th, 2009


10:07 am - help the police
NWA's song turned G-rated, from a BBC show I haven't heard of:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8qjdUXBexA

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April 4th, 2009


11:04 pm - things I did today
- Surprise pick-up and drop-off of my cousin at the airport
- went to comic book convention
- went to big company party

I am tired!

The company party had something really cool though: karaoke with a live band. They play the standard songs, you sing. On a stage, no less. Way classier than a set of speakers.

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March 24th, 2009


10:45 pm - So mote it be.
I am not going to eat clammy cucumbers. I simply refuse!

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March 22nd, 2009


09:28 pm - MST3k live, sort of
Last weekend some friends and sister and also [info]mediumthin went to see a live show by Cinematic Titanic, the original cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000. They don't own the name or characters any more so they go as themselves. They projected a movie on the back of a stage and they stood off to the sides with microphones for their wisecracks. The movie was _Dynamite_Brothers_, a 1974 kung-fu movie (sort of) that starts in San Francisco with a black man handcuffed to a Chinese man looking for his brother. Awful adventure ensues. With the side-commentary it was really good though, better than most MST3k shows since they have done it multiple times in front of a live audience and can presumably replace jokes that don't work.
It was expensive to go -- $44 -- but was pretty great.

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March 10th, 2009


11:03 pm - one hundred pushups, again
I stopped doing push-ups at the end of December when I was shoveling snow for hours every day. Then I went on vacation and the habit was genuinely broken. But I restarted this month and am getting caught up again. I'm not up to my max of 67 in a row, but I did just do 175 over 9 minutes. And right now I may DIE FOREVER. Actually I think work gives me life insurance that would cover my arms if they fall off. Crisis averted!

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March 6th, 2009


08:44 pm - YouTube, remixed
Someone has mixed a bunch of different YouTube performances together into something new -- they're neat. This one is my favorite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO-Mx0FHm4w

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March 4th, 2009


06:49 pm - The mystery of dessert
I am sooooo full.

Welp -- time to eat a cookie. My coworker Molly says chocolate goes in a different stomach, I think she's right.

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