Painting: The collonades at the Ephesus, Turkey ruins

click to enlarge

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My song of the week: Split Enz I Got You (and lyrics)

As often happens, my song of the week falls in the pop zone...and as often happens, it is a song I have heard over the years, and suddenly get lit up on. I passed up opportunities to see Split Enz, and now, nearly 30 years later...I decide I like this song. I like a lot of other Neil Finn (and Crowded House and Finn Brothers) tunes too...

This is a very nice live version:



I Got You
By Neil Finn

I got you - that's all I want
I won't forget - that's a whole lot
I don't go out - now that you're in
Sometimes we shout - but that's no problem

I don't know why sometimes I get frightened
You can see my eyes, you can tell that I'm not lyin'

Look at you - you're a pageant
You're everything - that I've imagined
Something's wrong - I feel uneasy
You show me - tell me you're not teasin'

I don't know why sometimes I get frightened
You can see my eyes, you can tell that I'm not lyin'

There's no doubt - not when I'm with you
When I'm without - I stay in my room
Where do you go - I get no answer
You're always out - it gets on my nerves

I don't know why sometimes I get frightened
You can see my eyes you can tell that I'm not lying
I don't know why sometimes I get frightened
You can see my eyes, you can tell that I'm not lyin'
I don't know why sometimes I get frightened
You can see my eyes, you can tell that I'm not lying
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Drunk shaming photographs

You may have seen the aftermath of drunk shaming. Usually, the inebriated/passed out victim has Sharpie slogans and figures drawn on him. Sometimes in NYC, we heard stories of drunk shaming occurring when the star of a bachelor party was left chained naked to a fire hydrant somewhere in the Village. These shamed drunks, however, have to live with their ignominy much longer. After they've been shamed, their bro's upload the photos to the Internet where they linger on for....well, who knows how long. Here are a few recent drunk shaming photos, and one of two children thrown in for good measure...

Click the photos to enlarge...

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Two of the seven wonders of the [ancient] world: The Colossus of Rhodes and The Temple of Artemic

On our trip to Turkey, and Greece, we visited the sites of two of the "wonders of the ancient world [1]." The first, was the Colossus of Rhodes, and the second, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.

The Colossus of Rhodes was a colossal statue of the Greek god Helios, built on the Greek island of Rhodes between 292 and 280 BC. Before its destruction, the Colossus of Rhodes stood over 107 feet high, which made it one of, if not the tallest, statues in the world. The statue stood for only 54 years until Rhodes was hit by an earthquake in 226 BC. Ptolemy III offered to pay to rebuild it, but the Delphic oracle made the Rhodians believe they had offended Helios, and they never restored the statue. The bronze scrap from the statue was sold off eventually, possibly in the 7th century by invading Arabs. By the time we stood on its site, there was nothing left but the legends.

The temple of Artemis has a little more to show for itself, but not much. The column you see in this photo I took is it. The site of the temple was rediscovered in 1869 by an expedition sponsored by the British Museum. A few further fragments of sculpture were found during the 1904-06 excavations and were assembled and displayed in the "Ephesus Room" of the British Museum. The single remaining column is constructed of dissociated fragments discovered on the site.

Colossus of Rhodes, from a 16th-century engraving by Martin Heemskerck, part of his series of the Seven Wonders of the World. This is a fanciful depiction, based on only the loosest of historical descriptions.

[1] The wonders of the ancient world are:

Great Pyramid of Giza
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus
Colossus of Rhodes
Lighthouse of Alexandria

Wonders of the medieval world (I've seen two - The colosseum in Rome, and the Tower of Pisa):

Stonehenge
Colosseum
Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
Great Wall of China
Porcelain Tower of Nanjing
Hagia Sophia
Leaning Tower of Pisa

USA Today's "new" seven wonders (plus a viewer voted for eighth). Of these wonders, well, I've used the internet, and flown over the North Pole three times in the last three months:

1
Potala Palace
Lhasa, Tibet, China
2
Old City of Jerusalem
Jerusalem
3
Polar ice caps
Polar regions
4
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
Hawaii, United States
5
Internet
N/A
6
Mayan ruins
Yucatán Peninsula, México
7
Great Migration of Serengeti and Masai Mara
Tanzania and Kenya
8
Grand Canyon (viewer-chosen eighth wonder)
Arizona, United States
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They don't use guns in Canada: Decapitation on a bus

Police charged a suspect on Friday with murder over a stabbing, beheading and evisceration of a bus passenger returning home from a carnival in Western Canada.

According to Australia's news.com, "Vince Weiguang Li, 40, of Edmonton faces a charge of second-degree murder, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. The victim was 22 years old, police said. Friends identified him as Tim McLean, a happy-go-lucky young man who was returning home to Winnipeg from a job as a carnival worker in Edmonton. "

34 passengers and the driver were jolted by "blood-curdling screams" and fled the bus, witness Garnet Caton told public broadcaster CBC. "He must have stabbed him 50 times or 60 times," said Caton. Passengers scrambled over one another, according to witnesses cited by Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper. When passengers returned to check on the victim, they saw the attacker "cutting the guy's head off and gutting him". "While we were watching ... he calmly walked up to the front (of the bus) with the head in his hand and the knife and just calmly stared at us and dropped the head right in front of us."

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Designer Vagina Alert

Judy Chicago's "O'Keefe plate" from The Dinner Party (Keelin and Jack saw this show at the Brooklyn Art Museum in the late 70's). Click to enlarge.


According to the AFP, Australian doctors (e.g., The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists) are concerned about clinics offering vaginal cosmetic surgery, and believe the the trend towards "designer vaginas" exploits vulnerable women.

New procedures being offered include

• vaginal rejuvenation
• revirgination
• designer vaginoplasty
• G-spot amplification

"What is involved in these procedures is often unclear since recognised clinical nomenclature is not being used." The college labelled the procedures dangerous, expensive and unwarranted. "The real risks of potential complications such as scarring, permanent disfigurement, infection, dyspareunia and altered sexual sensations should be discussed in detail with women seeking such treatments," it said.

The O & G College said women should understand that there are "a large number of variations in the appearance of normal female genitalia." It's probably too subjective or qualitative for such an empirical body, but the college did neglect to mention that they're all beautiful.
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Jimmy Hoffa - still missing, presumed dead

Yesterday was the 33rd anniversary of the disappearance labor leader Jimmy Hoffa, former president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union representing truck drivers and warehouse employees, as well as workers in almost every occupation imaginable, according to their website.

Hoffa became the Teamster's president in 1957 when the prior president was convicted of bribery and sent to prison. Hoffa himself was convicted of jury tampering and fraud seven years later, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. After serving only about half his time, however, President Nixon granted him a pardon on the condition that he not engage in direct or indirect management of any labor organization until at least 1980. However, at the time of his disappearance, Hoffa was actively engaged in an effort to recapture the leadership of the Teamsters.

On July 30, 1975, Hoffa's schedule listed a lunchtime meeting with mobster Anthony Giacolone and New Jersey Teamster official Anthony Provenzano at the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, about 25 miles northwest of downtown Detroit. Hoffa left for the meeting and was never seen again.

Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance, and speculation on where his body might be found (most common speculation: in the concrete at The Meadowlands), fueled a constant supply of newspaper stories and television coverage for many years to come. His body was never found, and he was declared legally dead in 1982.

Click here to download Tom Lee's Ballad of Jimmy Hoffa from the WFMU website.

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Alien Lore No. 136::::::Water found!::::::Is there/was there life on Mars?

In a release yesterday by Dwayne Brown (NASA HQ), Guy Webster (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), and Sara Hammond (University of Arizona), NASA has confirmed finding water on the Planet Mars. The full release follows below.

July 31, 2008 - NASA Spacecraft Confirms Martian Water, Mission Extended

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Laboratory tests aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander's robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples.

"We have water," said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. "We've seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted."

With enticing results so far and the spacecraft in good shape, NASA also announced operational funding for the mission will extend through Sept. 30. The original prime mission of three months ends in late August. The mission extension adds five weeks to the 90 days of the prime mission.

"Phoenix is healthy and the projections for solar power look good, so we want to take full advantage of having this resource in one of the most interesting locations on Mars," said Michael Meyer, chief scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

The soil sample came from a trench approximately 2 inches deep. When the robotic arm first reached that depth, it hit a hard layer of frozen soil. Two attempts to deliver samples of icy soil on days when fresh material was exposed were foiled when the samples became stuck inside the scoop. Most of the material in Wednesday's sample had been exposed to the air for two days, letting some of the water in the sample vaporize away and making the soil easier to handle.

"Mars is giving us some surprises," said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona. "We're excited because surprises are where discoveries come from. One surprise is how the soil is behaving. The ice-rich layers stick to the scoop when poised in the sun above the deck, different from what we expected from all the Mars simulation testing we've done. That has presented challenges for delivering samples, but we're finding ways to work with it and we're gathering lots of information to help us understand this soil."

Since landing on May 25, Phoenix has been studying soil with a chemistry lab, TEGA, a microscope, a conductivity probe and cameras. Besides confirming the 2002 finding from orbit of water ice near the surface and deciphering the newly observed stickiness, the science team is trying to determine whether the water ice ever thaws enough to be available for biology and if carbon-containing chemicals and other raw materials for life are present.

The mission is examining the sky as well as the ground. A Canadian instrument is using a laser beam to study dust and clouds overhead.

"It's a 30-watt light bulb giving us a laser show on Mars," said Victoria Hipkin of the Canadian Space Agency.

A full-circle, color panorama of Phoenix's surroundings also has been completed by the spacecraft.

"The details and patterns we see in the ground show an ice-dominated terrain as far as the eye can see," said Mark Lemmon of Texas A&M University, lead scientist for Phoenix's Surface Stereo Imager camera. "They help us plan measurements we're making within reach of the robotic arm and interpret those measurements on a wider scale."

The Phoenix mission is led by Smith at the University of Arizona with project management at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and development partnership at Lockheed Martin in Denver. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus in Denmark; the Max Planck Institute in Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

For more about Phoenix, click here.
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John McCain erupts at advance man over somnambulant crowd

By Pablo Fanque,
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

Following his less than successful town hall meeting yesterday in Sparks, John McCain gave a rousing speech today in Altoona, Pennsylvania. However, a fair number of people in the audience appeared to be sleeping. Senator McCain greatly abbreviated his prepared remarks and left early for his next campaign stop. A fellow reporter heard the Senator call his advance man on the carpet as he walked to a waiting limousine: "I flew back here from f***ing Nevada to be greeted by this crowd? Where did you round these ***holes up? At the narcolepsy treatment center?!"
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John McCain: Maverick or Redneck? The Republicans are not quite sure.

By Pablo Fanque,
All This Is That National Affairs Editor


At a town hall meeting yesterday in Sparks, Nevada, Republican presidential candidate John McCain attempted to maintain the precarious equilibrium between the independence he boasts of and his purported conservatism. Was the audience buying it? Not so much.

"As many of you know, I've been called a maverick, someone who marches to the beat of his own drum," McCain said proudly before being assaulted with questions on offshore oil, taxes and stem cell research from a mostly Republican audience.

McCain swore he would not raise taxes if elected president and promised to appoint judges like Bush nominees Samuel Alito and John Roberts.

"Anything you can tax he wants to tax it more," McCain said of his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama.

But McCain then told a disabled woman facing home foreclosure that he would step up enforcement of the Americans With Disabilities Act. He told a cancer survivor that he supported stem cell research, which pushed a local, Doug Englekirk, to tell McCain that he and other conservatives weren't happy to be supporting the Arizona senator. "There's a lot of us voting against Obama more than anything else," Englekirk said to McCain. "There are a lot of issues I've disagreed with you about, and I would like to know how do you assure me and other conservatives that you will hold to our values and give me something to be excited about?"
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National Enquirer new claim: Rielle Hunter is receiving $15,000 a month hush money/child support from John Edwards' pal

John Edwards with his "other" family?

In an "exclusive," [ed's note: of course anything fictional would be exclusive] the NATIONAL ENQUIRER claims that John Edwards’ purported girfriend and mother of his “love child,” Rielle Hunter, is secretly receiv­ing $15,000 a month "as part of an elaborate cover-up orchestrated by the former presidential contender."



The money is purportedly funneled to Rielle Hunter by a wealthy colleague who was involved in the Edwards’ campaign. "This same man is also shoveling cash to Edwards’ pal and former aide Andrew Young – who tried to take the heat off the ex-Senator by claiming he is the father of Rielle’s baby."
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Music, video and lyrics: Ben Lee's Catch My Disease (a/k/a The TBTL Theme song)

This is my favorite song this week.







This is a fan video of a TV show called House (I think) set to Catch My Disease. The link may not have long to live. No other version on YouTube would allow you to embed, and virtually all fan versions were pulled, (in short, Ben has some vigilant people combing the internets for copyrightviolations).

Not only is this a wonderful song, it's the theme song for my favorite radio show, TBTL, which you really need to hear (live in Seattle, on iTunes, and KIRO always has one week of downloadable shows).

My head is a box full of nothing
and that's the way I like it
My garden's a secret compartment
and that's the way I like it
and that's the way I like it
Your body's a dream that turns violent
and that's the way I like it
and that's the way I like it
The winter is long in the city
and that's the way I like it

So please
baby please
Open your heart
Catch my disease

I was backstage in Pomona
and that's the way I like it
She drank beer with coca-cola
and that's the way I like it
and that's the way I like it
She told me about the winds from Santa Anna
and that's the way I like it
and that's the way I like it
She told me she loved me like fireworks
and that's the way I like it

So please
baby please
Open your eyes
Catch my disease

So please (PLEASE!)
baby please
Come on
Catch my disease
Catch it

Na na na na na na na na na

They play Good Charlotte on the radio
and that's the way I like it
They play Sleepy Jackson on the radio
and that's the way I like it
and that's the way I like it
I hear Beyonce on the radio
and that's the way I like it
cos that's the way I like it
and they play me on the radio (whoo!)
and that's the way I like it

So please
baby please
Open your heart
and catch my disease
So please
baby please
Come on
Catch my disease
(catch my disease)
nanananananananana
(catch my disease)
nanananananananana
(catch my disease)
nanananananananana
(catch my disease)
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