Smiley Tank

Below are things that fix bad moods:

Little Kid and Lobsters

Smart Bears

Post-Its

Guy Photographs Himself Everyday for 17 Years

Green Landing

Lil’ Jukebox Hero

30,000 Dominoes

Hurricane Bear

Office Meltdown

Awareness Test

 

NoiseTrade, Khrusty Brothers

 

 

I found three things this week: the updated version of site I am very fond of, great music from said site and the time to blog about them both.

1. NoiseTrade

I heard about Derek Webb starting this thing some time ago but never saw it fully come to life until recently. And it is fantastic. In the spirt of what others have done to make music more accessible without breaking laws or dishing out $15, this allows the listener to preview a collection of artists and download the album by either telling three friends about it – or – paying what you like for it.

Check it out here.

2. The Khrusty Brothers

This is Don Chaffer’s little side project that I like very much and tried to plug below with the widget to get a hold of it, but I can’t get it to work. Not for everyone; I find it to be refreshing disgruntled Christian music without needing the label of such. Can be found on NoiseTrade along with several other good things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Squash

 

Northeastern Hospitality

Today is day one of my two weeks in New Jersey & New York. If I’m lucky, I may find an opportunity to go do some exploring in these first six days, but I am here on business attending meetings in West Orange, so we’ll see what happens. My flight left Houston at 8:46 am and landed in Newark around 1:20 est. It was after 3pm when I was finally able to check in to the hotel. Got to know the cab driver pretty well as we put our heads together searching for an ATM after he told me that he didn’t accept credit cards. I got very little sleep last night and didn’t have it in me to venture out into the city, so I laid low, ate Jersey-Mex and saw a flick.

Anyhoo, obviously not a lot happened so far. But I am once again intrigued by how much you really can’t know about the culture of an area, regardless of size, region or pre-conceived notions, until you go there and interact with the people. A few things I’ve noticed:

• In the first half hour, I caught on to what I originally thought about the NE: no one says hello to each other on the street. I have been told and have seen first hand that it is normal in Texas to greet and start up conversations with total strangers and then not-so-much for the rest of the country (of course, this can’t be entirely true). With the exception of business transactions, this has been true for half a day in this little suburb. But please note that no one has been even remotely rude yet.
• Everyone that I have had a reciprical interaction with has been extremely cordial. I am very pleasantly surprised about this and am feeling rather convicted of any kind of prejudice I had about the area (but again, this is the Garden State burbs – haven’t even been to NYC yet). Nonetheless, everyone that has taken my order, poured me a drink, given me a ride or checked me in has been as nice as anyone I’ve seen in Texas.
• I assumed this already but the mexican food here… not so mexican. But not too bad either – weird. It was interesting that the girl who took my order at this mexican restaurant was a pregnant Asian and the guy who made my burrito plate was a black dude. Not a mexican in sight. But they had a salsa bar. I don’t care how mexican you’re not, I love a salsa bar.
• Okay, finally, if you want to accuse me of being a racist, please feel free, but while you’re at it, you can go ahead and kiss my butt because this observation is quite the opposite. While this is certainly not universal in any part of the country, in most areas my white arse wonders into as the vast minority, there is a slight sense of contention. I could go on with what I mean here but would no doubt negate my first comment. The point is that just about everyone that I have observed, regardless of race (which is quite diverse of at least 10 nationalities that I noticed today), people here carry themselves better than I have ever seen in such a setting. Groups of people, patrons, or even drivers (again, not in NYC yet), have all treated each other with respect, spoke kindly and were courteous to those around them.  Sorry to say, I am unable to ignore the opposite in the wonderful land that is Houston.

Okay, so anyway, I’ve been here 8 hours. That’s a lot of conclusions to draw in a short time in the “melting pot” of the world. But as far as this little town of West Orange, NJ goes – I am quite impressed.

* Nice vegetation, too.

- Squash

 

Some Music

These are tunes I’ve been listening to the past few days:

Tilly & The Wall – listen/download free tracks here. Here is a video:

Elvis Perkins – listen/download to “While You Were Sleeping” here. Watch that video:

Beirut – listen/download a few here. Video for “Elephant Gun” and live performance of “Postcards From Italy”:

Grizzly Bear – listen here. Watch here. Watch one right now:

- Squash

 

Guide to catching a solar eclipse

Solar eclipses happen more often than I thought and people get to see them all the time. Turns out it’s not that simple and you probably won’t get there unless you are in the right place at the right time or you follow around a guy like this. NASA is kind enough to help us realize we’ll probably miss the next one with their page on the subject. WIRED helps put it into perspective. China will be getting a good one on Aug 1st – if you’re in the area then, go check it out and let me know if it’s worth it.

If you’re like me, you don’t have a lot of time to venture out to remote areas nowhere near your house, so let’s just watch a video of the 2006 Turkey sighting and pretend we’re there. I’m sure it does justice:

 

- Squash

 

Really Fat Monkeys

Yep. Fat monkeys. Apparently, our Japanese friends are ignoring the signs that tell them to not feed them. Now they are grotesquely overweight.

Story here.

 

 

 

Video here:

 

 

-Squash

 

Because this would change everything for California…

from laist.com:

“There is an initiative in the works that could end up on the November ballot that allows for marijuana to be sold to anyone, and anywhere that already sells alcohol. Its being called The Inalienable Rights Enforcement Initiative. From the full text of the measure:

This initiative will amend the Constitution of California to defend and safeguard the inalienable rights of the People against infringement by governments and corporations, providing for the lawful growth, sale, and possession of marijuana. Marijuana will be taxed through a system of stamps and licenses–a $5 stamp will be required for the sale of an eighth ounce of marijuana and a $50 annual license will be required for the growth of one marijuana plant. To protect participants and encourage participation in the system, such licenses and stamps will be available anonymously in stores where marijuana is sold.”

 

Theoretically, this could help stimulate the economy by providing jobs for people who would be selling pot. Not my first thought on how to make us more productive but, whatever.

Since you brought it up, here’s another interesting story:

- Squash

 

Uncontacted Amazon Indians

Perhaps a bit of old news, but still intriguing, especially when put into perspective from the photos of this unknown Amazon tribe. Apparently, the Brazilian government has known about them for a while, but decided to release information on the Envira to let the world know they exist and are in danger as illegal logging ensues.

See all the photos here.

Full story here.

 

 

 

- Squash
squash@bolognaandsquash.com

 

 

German Bunker Discovered In Garden

I just came across this story about a guy who discovered a German bunker in his garden. Hard to believe it has gone unnoticed for so long, but lots of pieces come together as this guy (I think his name is Conrad) starts digging further into the mystery. Apparently he was told that there may be a bunker of some sort, but was unconfirmed. So naturally, one thing leads to another and serious cash is dished out to bring in excavation and the whole works. Creepy at times, but a history buff’s delight.

BBC Report on Garden Bunker:

This is his blog, but start from the beginning of the story here and try to follow the chain of events.

————————————-

* Another of my favorite blog-thread-stories is this bike journey across Angola. Very long (will take about an hour to get through), but is addicting and kind of moving in parts. Found from Bread & Circuses.

- Squash
squash@bolognaandsquash.com

 

Cooling & Heating

 

-Squash
squash@bolognaandsquash.com