Well, folks, it's "drop and roll" time, according to the feds:

"In a remarkable speech over the weekend, Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt recommended that Americans start storing canned tuna and powdered milk under their beds as the prospect of a deadly bird flu outbreak approaches the United States." Read the whole thing here.

And if that's not enough, it seems Al Qaeda has raised the bar on threatening us again: "This will not be a single operation", the report added,"but two; one bigger than the other, but we will begin with the big one and postpone the bigger one, in order to see [how] diligent the American people is [in preserving] its life. If it chooses life, [it must] carry out the demands of the Muslims, and if it chooses death, then we are its best perpetrators."" More here.

And what has happened to the collective mind of the Borg Google management? After banning a crudload of sites from Chinese users, now they're after US sites and blogs. Check this one and this one.

I've had enough of Google's shenanigans. I am trying to dump every Google app I've ever used, as well as making a conscious effort not to use the Google search engine. I'm also going to try to get this blog off of Blogger. It's time to bring this beast down. There are a lot of other choices out there, including MSN, Yahoo, and a newcomer on the block, Accoona.

Lastly, I just finished installing a weather station at Olson's Resort in Sekiu. It's an uber-cool gadget, and feeds live data to the internet every three seconds. You can check it out here ... and maybe bookmark it for future reference? It is a Flash based app, so those of you with dial-up, give it a few minutes to load.

Let me know what you think. In the meantime, I've got a lot of canned tuna and powdered milk to get stored.

Instead of singing "Baa baa, black sheep" as generations of children have learnt to do, toddlers in Oxfordshire are being taught to sing "Baa baa, rainbow sheep."

...In keeping with the new approach, teachers at the nurseries have reportedly also changed the ending of Humpty Dumpty so as not to upset the children and dropped the seven dwarfs from the title of Snow White.

The entire article is here.

Well dang!! I go to update my blog with some new stuff and I find out I've been cut short because it might be considered a "spammer blog" Why? Because I happen to sell my work?? What??

Grrrr...I guess my content just isn't quite good enough. I was thinking about putting together a tips and techniques section, blah blah blah ad nauseum blah, but wow! Now I have to be reviewed to see if I'm a spammer. What a world.

I needed to vent, can you tell?

Dan!! I love those photos and have been putting together some sketches I'll show you here soon. Thanks so much for those! It was wonderful to meet you and thanks so much for sharing. I really appreciate it!

Ok, I reckon I'd better go have some more coffee at this late hour to unjangle my jangled nerves. Thanks for "listening" to my fussing.

Chris

There are a lot of great blogs out there, and there are some truly great writers posting on them every day. But once in a while you run across something brilliant.Perfect. A parody so clever that you simply can't believe it's a parody, even though you know it is. Or is it?

And so it was that I encountered Songun Blog.


Not content with just stealing their oil, the criminal Bush clique of US imperialist oil-thirsty human rights abusers are now stealing the Iraqi childrens' puppies.

Go check it out. Really. It's that good.

I dunno. Were they good? Bad? So so?

I haven't made up my mind yet. I really thought the Oscars were gonna be horrific, but it seems there were a few bright spots. And of course, the fashion sense of a few was, shall we say, out of this world?


And personally, I thought Jon Stewart did an OK job. In fact, a few of his zingers were hilarious! The bit with Billy Crystal at the beginning was great, as were the fake "PAC" ads. And I didn't get to do my regular "Sign of the Apocalypse" segment because Brokeback Mountain didn't win. Darn.


So anyway, I dunno. I just don't. Reaction from just about anywhere seems to be about the same. I dunno. Just sayin'...

I guess I should have known better. Below is my original post, complete with links... but thanks to Agora, it becomes quite apparent that this story has evolved in an entirely different way. There is a lot more here, here and here.

And so I stand corrected. Feel free to check out the links above, and realize there are hundreds more out there covering this story. I haven't decided yet just who is at fault here, but the whole thing seems a bit screwy.



Just when I thought the Islamic death cult religion could not possibly sink any lower into the sewer, the ROPers outdo themselves yet again.

Read this carefully: "The daughter of one of the artists behind one of the controversial newspaper caricatures of the prophet Mohammed was sought out at her school by twelve Muslim men."

Twelve men!

I'm thinking if that were my daughter, how would I feel about now?

Then I'm thinking; is there anything more sinister and savage a "person" could do then try to harm the child of an artist because of that person's art?

Noticeably absent: the outrage of "moderate Muslims" condemning this outrage. Ahem. Hello? Any moderate Muslims out there? Hello?

(sound of crickets chirping)

More here, and here and here.

In the spirit of art, thought I'd share what I actually accomplished today. Not a landscape and not quite as colorful as my works typically are. This is about as subdued as I get.

And unlike Mardi Gras...these beads are real :-) Citrine, Jade, Pearls, Amythst, Smokey Quartz...that sort of thing.

Enjoy! Chris

1. Toward Dusk She Moves
2. Dancing Waters
3. Eternal Return
4. This Part of the Journey

Heather Sky Studio Gallery

I had quite forgotten this. Side-splitting. And very topical. And as I recall, no embassies were burned in the making of that scene.