DownSyn Forum Forum Index -> Blogs -> Random Thinking
Users browsing this blog: None
|
A new blog
November 27 2006, 11:21 PM
This blog has served me well but I am moving on to a WordPress blog that I have installed on my server. In some ways it is better but in other ways it is less functional. The good part is that I can combine all my blog entries into one blog in one place. That is the real reason for theove.
The new blog: http://www.downsyn.com/wordpress/
Posted By: Tom 0 Comments (Post your comment)
Trackbacks (8540) Permalink
|
Group scraps attempt to smoke biggest joint
November 22 2006, 11:58 AM
[ Category: In the News ]
So the plan was to roll and smoke a joint that contained a pound of marijuana but...
| Quote: | A plan to roll and smoke the world's largest joint was cancelled at short notice in Amsterdam when the organizers realized they could be breaking the law.
"We have now read the small print and realize there could be problems," Thijs Verheij, one of the organizers, was quoted as saying by ANP news agency after consulting Dutch drugs laws. |
I bet this idea really sounded good to them while they were high. 
Posted By: Tom 0 Comments (Post your comment)
Trackbacks (6870) Permalink
|
Canadian 'blacks only' gym gets OK to bar white man
November 22 2006, 11:52 AM
[ Category: In the News ]
| Quote: | VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov 21 (Reuters Life!) - A blacks only fitness gym was cleared on Tuesday of charges that it illegally discriminated against a white man by barring him from becoming a customer.
A British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal said Ralph Stopps was not unfairly hurt by being refused membership in Just Blacks Fitness, which markets itself to blacks who do not want to use mixed race facilities.
"In the circumstances of this case, treating Mr. Stopps the same as these black people would actually result in an adverse consequences for these black people," the tribunal wrote, saying that Stopps had the option of using other mixed race gyms.
Stopps said he tried to join the gym because it was near his home in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby, but the tribunal said there was a mixed race facility that was actually closer.
The gym is part of a fitness chain that has 40,000 black members. Of its 300 employees only four are white -- one of whom is the company's president and founder. |
Whoops! Got that mixed up. It was a women's gym refusing a man. Never mind.
Read the article
Posted By: Tom 0 Comments (Post your comment)
Trackbacks (13978) Permalink
|
Life Imitates Comedy
November 21 2006, 2:37 PM
[ Category: In the News ]
What do you say when the satirical magazine, The Onion, has an article that imitates real life?
I read this article in the Onion a few weeks back. It is about a new line of disgusting flavored products from Frito-Lay.
| Quote: | "Here," said Frito-Lay CEO Al Carey as he disgustedly tossed a bag of the company's new Flat Earth-brand snack crisps onto the lectern during a meeting with shareholders and members of the press. "Here's some s**t that's made from beets. I hope you're all happy now that you have your precious beet chips with the recommended daily serving of fruit, or vegetables, or whatever the hell a 'beet' is."
"Mmm, dehydrated bulb things," Carey added. "Sounds delicious." |
So today I was looking through the news and found this article about pea flavored soda.
| Quote: | After introducing the world to new soda flavors like fish taco and salmon, Seattle specialty beverage maker Jones Soda Co. is offering a new flavor: Green pea.
"Why people buy it is beyond me. I can't drink a bottle of this stuff," said Peter van Stolk, chief executive of Jones Soda. |
Life imitates art, I guess. The best line from the real article was this comment by the CEO of Jones Soda: "We have the market share leader in turkey-flavored beverages." And I bet he holds that for a long time!
Posted By: Tom 0 Comments (Post your comment)
Trackbacks (16167) Permalink
|
Simpson Book/TV Program Cancelled
November 20 2006, 5:38 PM
[ Category: In the News ] [  Mood: Happy ]
I was going to blog about what we should do about the O.J. Simpson TV program that was scheduled to be shown on the Fox Network (I was going to suggest boycotts of the sponsors) but apparently that won't be necessary. They have both been cancelled, probably because of all the heat that was put on Fox by an outraged public and not because they suddenly came to their senses. I just find it amazing that anyone ever thought this was a good thing.
Posted By: Tom 2 Comments (Post your comment)
Trackbacks (2038) Permalink
|
Pinto Alegre
November 20 2006, 10:38 AM
[ Category: In the News ] [  Mood: Amused ] [  Currently: Working ]
A town in Brazil has started distributing Viagra to its senior citizens. "Since we started the free distribution of sexual stimulants, our elderly population changed. They're much happier," said the mayor, in what is perhaps one of the understatments of the year.
However, the program was perhaps too succesful, with some men looking for women other than their wives in order to have extra-marital affairs. The Reuters article tells us that to, "discourage illicit canoodling, the Viagra is now handed out to the wives instead of the husbands". Which leads to this telephone conversation... "I'm sorry I can't see you tonight... my wife hid the Viagra!"
The name of this blog entry, "Pinto Alegre," is the name of the legislation passed to hand out the Viagra. The translation? "Happy Penis," of course! 
Posted By: Tom 2 Comments (Post your comment)
Trackbacks (5619) Permalink
|
Five Things
November 19 2006, 10:15 PM
[ Category: Random Life Events ]
Susan at In Over My Head tagged me a few weeks ago with the five things meme. I have been trying to forget about it but I have finally broken down and decided to respond to the challenge. Apparently this is supposed to be inspiration for writers who need something to make their characters seem more real.
The following is a statement which is supposed to be included with individual memes:
| Quote: | PLEASE LEAVE THE FOLLOWING IN ALL ‘PEOPLE COLLECTION’ POSTS
Remember that it isn’t always the sensational stuff that writers are looking for, it can just as easily be something that you take for granted like having raised twins or knowing how to grow beetroot. Mind you, if you know how to fly a helicopter or have worked as a film extra, do feel free to let the rest of us know about it  |
Five Things About Me That Are Generally Not Known:
1) I have tinnitus (ringing in the ears). It is mostly an annoying condition. I can't stand when things are quiet because then the ringing is most noticeable. At night I like to have on some music or the nature sounds generator that Michel bought for me. She really is thoughtful!
2) I have passed out a dozen times or so since 1990. The first time was on the train on my way home from work on New Year's Eve (no I wasn't drinking), but every other time has been at work. I have broken some ribs, got black eyes, broke my glasses, and have a scar over my left eye from passing out over the years. Although doctors have given it various names (vasovagal syncope, neuro-cardiogenic syncope) I don't have a firm diagnosis or a cure.
3) I have never lived more than 5 miles away from the place I was born. I have lived at four different addresses (not including the hospital where I was born) in my life. I live about a-quarter of a mile from where I was raised. I think it is mostly because I like the area rather than being afraid of new experiences.
4) Like Charles Bukowski, I worked for the Post Office at one time. If I had stayed at the job as long as Bukowski had (2-1/2 years) I would have ended up with another trait in common with Bukowski... I would have become a drunk. We worked nights so our "night" was the morning... so we would go drinking at 8 AM. Which is a really bad idea no matter what hours you work.
5) I had measles when I was in kindergarten (this was before measles vaccinations). I remember being very feverish and wrapping myself up in my blankets but I also remember some kind of warm, inner glow - probably from the feverish hallucinations. But the strangest thing was the hallucinations (perhaps some type of seizure) of everything moving very fast, as if the world was on fast forward. I remember my grandmother, who was very frail in her old age, speeding around the room like Speedy Gonzalez on amphetamines. Those hallucinations would come and go for about a month. I never told anyone about them because I thought they were normal.
So now I am supposed to pick three victims to post their five things but instead I will just suggest that anyone with a blog who hasn't done this should try it.
Posted By: Tom 0 Comments (Post your comment)
Trackbacks (23951) Permalink
|
My Czech Ancestry
November 19 2006, 2:28 AM
The image above (click the image for full view) is from a book that has been in my family for over 200 years. My family on my father's side is originally from what is now the Czech Republic but at the time they left (late 1860's) it was Bohemia, a part of the Austria-Hungary Empire. The book itself is in the possesion of my brother (the first-born child). The image is taken from a copy of the book.
The book is a notebook with unruled pages (although some of the pages were manually ruled at some point). The cover was made by apparently re-using old paper by glueing the sheets together and covering with a dark brown paper. The cover is splitting at some of the edges revealing the paper underneath, which looks like some kind of handwritten bookkeeping sheets.
The book is a family history. The book lists the births and deaths of various members of our family going back to 1794. The earliest entries are in Czech and the later entries are in English. The existence of the book itself is surprising since literacy was not that common in the late 1700's but apparently someone in my family could read and write.
The image is from the first page of the book. The handwriting makes it difficult to read but I am in the process of trying to get it translated. The last person in my family who could read Czech died in the 1970's. Fortunately I do know some people from Brno in the Czech Republic so I am hoping they will be able to help.
Do you have a book like this in your family? How far back can you trace your ancestors?
Update: I spoke to one of my friends in Brno, Czech Republic and she told me that she thinks this is an old dialect of German and not Czech. It was not unusual for educated people in Bohemia to read and write German because the Emperor was Austrian. So I do not have a translation yet.
Posted By: Tom 3 Comments (Post your comment)
Trackbacks (2455) Permalink
|
|
|
|
