He got transported back in time to Ancient Rome!

Today’s Old Picture of the Day illustrates that even back in 1938, when gas was at 20 cents a gallon, people complained enough that one gas station owner decided he had to explain how the cost was derived.

Apparently, some research has been conducted

(And I am not as late on learning of this as I was on learning about TWINKIES)

‘After the birth of a child there’s always the temptation to say ‘Yes, it’s cute, but what can it do?’

(I’m not sure of the reliability of this news source…)

Bill Gates and family held and robbed in family home
Oprah Winfrey announces marriage
Oprah hurt in freak highway accident
Drug-related shooting leaves 2 NFL stars fighting for their lives
Trump declares bankruptcy, attempts suicide

Source: My spam folder

[Note: It’s unclear whether Oprah was in the accident before or after her announcement, or whether any of the other news stories are interconnected in some fashion.]

Update: More Breaking News from my spam folder

Tobey Maguire breaks 2 bones in leg after freak hit and run
Intel announces merger with AMD
More tapes of Scarlett Johansson surface
Britney falls during rock-climbing, injures back and arm

(I think the tapes of Scarlett are of her reporting the Intel/AMD merger news.)

The Academy Award winning short film, West Bank Story will be on the Sundance Channel this Friday, July 18th twice - at 7:30 am and 4:35 pm (Central Time)

It’s probably been there before, but I just got AT&T UVerse free for a month, along with a DVR, so I’ve been searching for interesting things to record. This will definitely be stored on my DVR so I can watch it whenever I want. (Yeah, I own the DVD, my cousin stars in it, of course I own the DVD, but I’m sure there will be times I’m too lazy to get up and walk to the DVD cabinet.)

Bob is closer to Easy Street than I am. He even posted a picture of it today.

I will admit I couldn’t have told you that Czechoslovakia was now two countries, Slovakia and The Czech Republic.

However, in January of 1993, when the split happened, I wasn’t beginning my second term as US Senator. And I haven’t been in the US Senate since then, either. I’m not running for President. I really don’t need to know these things.

Hopefully McCain knows that Europe’s most populous city isn’t Constantinople.

According to my gmail account, I am currently using 1789 mb of space in my account.

I have no idea what significance that number might have.

Oh, btw, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity!

My method of predicting the all-star game is slightly different from my method of predicting other major sporting events. The numbers the players have on their jerseys is irrelevant.

If I watch the game: the National League has a chance of winning
If I don’t (like I haven’t post-1996): The American League will win.

Bet on the American League. My weekly writer’s group still meets on Tuesdays.

This may sound like old news. Really old news.

I remember when I first started working in the IT department of AG Edwards and Sons back in 1998 and was shocked to learn they were still using 3.11. That was 10 years ago. I no longer work there. AG Edwards no longer exists. (They’re now Wachovia, though all the advertising placards say “AG Edwards is now *with* Wachovia” as if to suggest AG Edwards still exists as a partner.)

But while 3.11 hasn’t been available for years in Retail, non-Retail Original Equipment Manufacters (OEMs) apparently could still embed it.

Windows for Workgroups 3.11 will no longer be licensed to any OEMs as of November 1st.

Here’s a link to the Wikipage for those who want to see the ‘real’ one.

of course **someone** did, predictably, attempt to make a change this morning. It didn’t last.

The ‘in popular culture’ sections of wiki entries can get rather trivial at times.

“When she went back on her word, I was literally beside myself with anger,” Becky said.
“So, like David Banner turns into The Hulk when he gets angry, when you get angry you clone yourself into dupes?” Tom asked.
“Hunh?”
“You said you were literally beside yourself.”
“It’s a metaphor.”
“No. ‘Beside yourself,’ is the metaphor. You added ‘literally’ to it, which means, you’re no longer using it as a metaphor.”
“It can also be used for emphasis.”
“If ‘literally’ is used to emphasize the non-literal, how will we know when ‘literally’ literally means ‘literally?”
“I’m confused.”
“Literally?”

Here’s a basic love poem.

What I tell you three times is true.

to any Canadians who happen to be reading this blog.

I have several Canadian ancestors, though the ancestors of these ancestors were pre-Americans who backed the wrong side in a certain war, the anniversary of which occurs in a few days.

Anyone who has an interest in reading a complete listing of all my known ancestors who immigrated to America - when and from where they came - should read this post on my genealogy blog.

spell your own words

This week’s Unshelved Book Club has hooked me. “A novel in verse about werewolves.” I need to check this out.

I’ve added to my blogroll on the left a list of comics I read in my feed reader

* Indexed
* My Life in a Cube
* Penny Arcade
* Questionable Content
* This Modern World
* Unshelved
* Wondermark
* XKCD

Any recommendations for other comics with available feeds I might enjoy reading? I’m particularly interested in those comics that don’t appear in newspapers, though I realize This Modern World does.

Over food tonight a group of writers were discussing what the modern version of the pocket protector might be. (One suggested a 4gb USB memory watch might qualify. I argued since it masqueraded as a normal watch, it really didn’t meet the comparison.)

This might fit the definition, though.

While not wearable, this is certainly a useful product every office should have. Seriously.

This, on the other hand, isn’t terribly useful. It’s modeled after the most useless eating implement ever invented. But still…titanium!

ThinkGeek is a dangerous website. A very dangerous website.

For results, Google is still supreme in my mind, but SearchMe, which is in Beta, certainly provides a unique new twist to search engine results.

I’m not going to attempt to describe it. You have to see it.

20% of all self-described atheists also say they believe in G-d. (and other fascinating results from a recent study)

Interesting article on Why Obama may actually have more relevant experience than McCain. (Why state-level legislators actually do more work, and spend more time learning about the issues, than US Senators.)

The author doesn’t state that he thinks Obama has more experience, just that his 8 years of experience as a state legislator should not be ignored.

Categorized under, “Why did this take so long?”

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council affirmed Thursday that rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, and called for measures to combat such attacks.

LA Times - June 20, 2008

We’re hairy and horny and ready to shack
We don’t care if you’re yellow or black
Just take off your clothes and lie down on your back
‘Cause we’re the Cops of the World, boys
We’re the Cops of the World

- Phil Ochs, Cops of the World, 1966

Blair blogs about Google’s Gmail Web Clips that become Spam recipes or recycling tips, if you visit the spam folder or trash bin.

I received a ‘recycling fact’ today that I feel is not a fact at all. Or, at most, is an inaccurate fact.

There is no limit to the number of times you can recycle an aluminum can?

I’d like to see someone recycle an aluminum can less than 0 times. That’s the lower limit.
And when you recycle the can as a place to store hazardous waste, that’s the upper limit.

Slacktivist embeds two videos of Obama and McCain talking about Religion and the Separation of Church and State.

I agree 100% with his comments about their differences. Not only do I agree with his conclusions, Obama clearly has given the issues in the relevant section of the first amendment more thought than McCain has. (Note: This is an interview of McCain by Beliefnet…I am certain McCain was given ample time to prepare.)

Israeli humor at Holy Virals

and from KetaKeta

Ordering Pizza in 2010

Direct link to video

Lincoln may or may not have written the Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope.

I’ve written poems on pieces of scratch paper - anything I can get my hands on when the muse strikes.

Shane Johnson, who draws the cartoon My Life in a Cube similarly uses whatever is lying around. And this tends to reflect the theme of his cartoon (post it notes, lined paper, envelopes). You can also occasionally spot liquid paper applied artistically.

Hopefully he gets work done - whatever his work may be.

Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that I purchased something recently that arrived in the mail over the weekend, and that I promised to blog about it.

I bought a wristwatch. I haven’t worn a wristwatch for about a decade. I’ve used pocket watches and cell phones, but I stopped wearing a wristwatch because it was so accessible I was looking at my wrist more often than necessary. (Like 10 seconds after I last did so.) One doesn’t want their friends or colleagues to know how bored they are.

So why did I risk buying a wristwatch?

Well…it’s not just a wristwatch.

It has a USB port. And 4gb of storage space. The idea of carrying 4 gb of backup on my wrist is appealing. If I find my old annoying habit returns, I can wear it in my pocket.

“A Roman Glass Gaming Die - Circa 2nd Century A.D. Deep blue-green in color, the large twenty-sided die incised with a distinct symbol on each of its faces.”

I’d love to throw this D20 - if it weren’t valued at $18,000.

View it at Christie’s

(Who knew there were ancient Roman geeks?”

For those who don’t know Latin and are freaking out with the subject header…
1) Think of the English word “incarceration”
2) You should be able to find the English translation of Draco in any good Harry Potter lexicon, or on Wikipedia
3) Once you’ve figured that out, the meaning of Quod should be obvious.

My height is 33 AA batteries end to end…or 1.3 Alaskan Moose Antler Spans.

My weight is 17 average domestic house cats, or 5.1 CRT computer monitors.

(I’d like to lose two house cats, or .6 of a computer monitor, and if I did, I would also weigh the same as 47 average physics text books.)

I’m not sure how sensible these units are, but they are certainly different.

I know there is a question on the minds of at least one or two readers:

Did a time traveler show up at the Time Travel BBQ that was thrown on Saturday? (see previous entry)

That’s a problematic question. You see, if I answer that question, it could create a paradox.

• If a time traveler did show up, and I proclaimed “Hey a time traveler showed up! Here’s a photograph of him! (or her, or it)” Then, 100, 200, 1000 years from now when that Time Traveler is born, they’ll learn they are destined to make the trip to our bbq. They might decide, ‘heck no, I won’t go!” And then they won’t go. Oops! Paradox!

So I can’t say. However, I can say that all appearances indicated that those in attendance, of all species, and of all time periods, had fun.

And at 9:10:11 pm, the moment where a message of some sort was supposed to be delivered by those in the future, at a specific set of GPS coordinate, those in attendance were watching those coordinates.

Copied from the host’s blog

Coordinates are as follows:

38.727110, -90.410170

584.11 FEET elevation, or 178.036728 meters

Planet Earth, Sol system

Starting at the time and date of 3 PM (15:00 hours) Central time (GMT -6) Saturday, June 7th 2008 there will be a barbeque (an outdoor cooking and dining event) in celebration and honor of Time Travelers. Vegetarian dishes will be the primary food grilled, if there is anyone who wishes to consume a dead animal, please bring said dead animal to be grilled, and some to share with others.

If time travel is ever proved to be possible, we wish that a time traveler would please send proof to mankind at the coordinates listed above on June 7, 2008 (06/07/08) at 9:10:11 pm Central Time. (GMT -6) Please send this message in such a way that no one will be harmed in its receipt. We here on earth will be waiting for your signal, and will welcome it with open arms.

Time travelers themselves are welcome to join the feast any time after 3 PM and before 11:59 PM. However, there is a STRICT NO PARADOX POLICY ENFORCED. Ok, only minor paradoxes. Little pet paradoxes. Travelers from other planets, alternate dimensions or alternate universes also welcome - bring a dish.

Events to be had are:
The great sport of Frisbee
Cooking and eating traditional “turn-of-the-century” delights
Automobile Show of traditional “turn-of-the-century” modes of transport
The consumption of fermented beverages
Games of chance and skill

*All events subject to weather and time constraints

No particular dress code enforced, other than please wear clothing. Those from our current time should RSVP before attending. Please spread the word now and for the next several years.

Original idea for the party.

Canadians eliminated from national spelling bee- (Seems they were unable to spell ‘color’ correctly.)

69 years ago today, in Detective Comics #27, a hero was introduced to the world.

Happy Birthday, Batman!

To honor his birthday, you should make an effort to endanger the life of a young child today. Either that, or take the law into your own hands and capture a criminal for the police. Your choice.

aka Icarus

Click on image for rest of story

Below are the top 15 search strings that have led people to my website so far this month (meaning today). Some of the items on this list are constants. They’ve been there for years. Others (such as Vampire Pickles) are relatively new. (My Website = a combination of gavroche.org and transylvaniandutch.com)

1 6 9.23% drew barrymore
2 6 9.23% drew barrymore nude
3 4 6.15% drew barrymore playboy
4 4 6.15% victor hugo
5 3 4.62% nude drew barrymore
6 2 3.08% -
7 2 3.08% drew barrymore naked
8 2 3.08% drew barrymore sexy photos
9 2 3.08% emily dickinson for kids
10 2 3.08% esmeralda
11 2 3.08% fantasy planets
12 2 3.08% naked drew barrymore
13 2 3.08% planets
14 2 3.08% swiss flag
15 2 3.08% vampire pickles

You doubt the accuracy of this? Proof. Any arguments? I thought not.

No, I won’t post something every day honoring the life of the great poet, novelist, artist, and politician.

However, to begin the month, since few know he was an artist as well as a writer, I will share one of his paintings.

As well as a link to a poem of his that was an exhibit in the Chicago Haymarket Square Trial - Because today is also May Day/Labor Day for most of the world.

And for those who want to learn more about this great man, I recommend the website Victor Hugo Central.

The true story of Casey Jones (and how he died, April 30, 1900)

Albert Hoffman, inventor of LSD, dies age 102

The Butterfly
Pavel Friedman, April 6, 1942

The last, the very last,
So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow.
Perhaps if the sun's tears would sing
     against a white stone. . . . 

Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly 'way up high.
It went away I'm sure because it wished to
     kiss the world good-bye. 

For seven weeks I've lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto.
But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.
Only I never saw another butterfly. 

That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don't live in here,
     in the ghetto.

National Poetry Month comes to an end….You can certainly expect to see poetry on this blog in months besides April, but a little bit more spread out. I hope you’ve seen and enjoyed one or two poems/poets that you weren’t familiar with previously.

My cousin is appearing in the upcoming movie Iron Man. Released this coming weekend, I will be attending a sneak preview tonight courtesy of a co-worker who was unable to use a ticket he received.

My cousin, apparently, will be Press Reporter #4. At the current moment, I know nothing more than that.

This gives him a Stan Lee Number of 1, since Stan Lee is of course making his usual cameo in Marvel Universe movies.

He already had a Kevin Bacon Number of 1 (if you count television appearances, since he apepared on the same episode of Will and Grace as KB…the final episode)

Now the time is here
for Iron Man to spread fear
Vengeance from the grave
Kills the people he once saved

[Movie Trivia Note: Gwyneth Paltrow is the godsister of Drew Barrymore. I’m not sure that term is used very often, but they apparently share the same godfather - Steven Spielberg]

Everywhere We Go
(all lines are repeated in leader/team fashion)

Everywhere we go
People want to know
Who we are
Where we come from
So we tell them
We’re from _____
Mighty Mighty _____
And if they can’t hear us
We’ll sing a little louder

Inspired by SarahLynn

Rome never looks where she treads.
Always her heavy hooves fall,
On our stomachs, our hearts or our heads;
And Rome never heeds when we bawl.
Her sentries pass on—that is all,
And we gather behind them in hordes,
And plot to reconquer the Wall,
With only our tongues for our swords.
We are the Little Folk—we!
Too little to love or to hate.
Leave us alone and you’ll see
How we can drag down the State!
We are the worm in the wood!
We are the rot at the root!
We are the taint in the blood!
We are the thorn in the foot!

Mistletoe killing an oak—
Rats gnawing cables in two—
Moths making holes in a cloak—
How they must love what they do!
Yes—and we Little Folk too,
We are busy as they—
Working our works out of view—
Watch, and you’ll see it some day!

No indeed! We are not strong,
But we know Peoples that are.
Yes, and we’ll guide them along,
To smash and destroy you in War!
We shall be slaves just the same?
Yes, we have always been slaves,
But you—you will die of the shame,
And then we shall dance on your graves!

We are the Little Folk—we!
Too little to love or to hate.
Leave us alone and you’ll see
How we can drag down the State!
We are the worm in the wood!
We are the rot at the root!
We are the taint in the blood!
We are the thorn in the foot

Take the Picasso Inkblot Test

These poems today are in honor of the birthday of McGregory Van Every, my fifth-great grandfather, who is 285 years old today. He was born on April 27th, 1723.

It’s also partially in honor of May 1st…since it is upcoming…and it is Loyalty Day. My fifth great grandfather was loyal.

Centennial Hymn
John Greenleaf Whittier (1876)

OUR fathers’ God! from out whose hand
The centuries fall like grains of sand,
We meet to-day, united, free,
And loyal to our land and Thee,
To thank Thee for the era done,
And trust Thee for the opening one.

Here, where of old, by Thy design,
The fathers spake that word of Thine
Whose echo is the glad refrain
Of rended bolt and falling chain,
To grace our festal time, from all
The zones of earth our guests we call.

Be with us while the New World greets
The Old World thronging all its streets,
Unveiling all the triumphs won
By art or toil beneath the sun;
And unto common good ordain
This rivalship of hand and brain.

Thou, who hast here in concord furled
The war flags of a gathered world,
Beneath our Western skies fulfil
The Orient’s mission of good-will,
And, freighted with love’s Golden Fleece,
Send back its Argonauts of peace.

For art and labor met in truce,
For beauty made the bride of use,
We thank Thee; but, withal, we crave
The austere virtues strong to save,
The honor proof to place or gold,
The manhood never bought nor sold!

Oh make Thou us, through centuries long,
In peace secure, in justice strong;
Around our gift of freedom draw
The safeguards of thy righteous law:
And, cast in some diviner mould,
Let the new cycle shame the old!

The following poem I wrote several years ago. It has appeared here before, but during the month of July.

Loyal
John Newmark

In history class I was taught
in order to be good Americans
we must seek to address our grievances
by working within the system.

If there are problems with the system,
the system, too, can be changed
from within.

I have ancestors who agreed completely
with this philosophy;
however, in this same history class
I was taught my ancestors
were wrong. They were loyalists,
and sought to address their grievances
within the system — The British system.

Their neighbors believed in Revolution.
It wasn’t Marxist,
but still it was a revolution,
and today our teachers tell us
revolutions aren’t necessary.

That’s what my ancestors tried to tell their neighbors.
Their neighbors didn’t listen.
Should we?

——
For those who like to interpret the poet’s beliefs from their poems (even though “The doll and the maker are never identical” - see April 20th entry) note that the question in the last line goes unanswered.