Female Monkey Bottoms

I just wanted an excuse to say female monkey bottoms; wouldn't Female Monkey Bottoms be a great name for a band? Of course my thoughts of Female Monkey Bottoms was inspired by this fantastic research out of Duke University. It is good to know that us human males aren't the only perverts in the animal kingdom.

Monkeys Pay to See Female Monkey Bottoms

Bad, Bad Corporations

Typically if I see one of these lists of immoral corporations I would say you should avoid using their products, but as I read through this list I realized how difficult that would be. Three of America's major pharmacuetical companies are on the list. I take two different prescriptions daily and my wife is on several other prescriptions---what are we supposed to do, stop taking our meds? I don't think so. As a result of our nation's patent laws, the drug companies have us over a barrel. So what am I left with, calling them names?

Coca-Cola was one of the companies on the list this year also. I have to say I know they are a horrible corporation, but I do love their sweet tasty carbonated caffeine beverage. Trust me I try to stop drinking the stuff every few months. I'm in the middle of one of my Coke detoxing efforts right now (I'm down to about one 8 oz. can a day). Don't tell me to switch to Pepsi, because that stuff is revolting. And I especially don't want to hear from any of you coffee drinkers out there complaining about me drinking Coke----unless you want to get into a big discussion about the environmental effects of the coffee bean growing process and about the use of child labor in its harvesting (these are things that I've seen first hand with my own eyes, not that I've read in some book or on some blog).

What's my point? Sometimes like I feel like the corporations have already won. I don't know what to do other than complain or close my eyes and ignore everything.

AlterNet: The 10 Worst Corporations of 2004

What's Your Secret?

A very twisted, funny, and depressing project from Artomatic in Washington, DC.

Thoughts After One Week At The New Job

I started a job at the local library on Monday. These are a few of my thoughts about this job and working in general.

1. I didn't realize how much I had gotten used to living life as a pseudo-bum. As a substitute teacher, I usually had 3 days of work each week (and that was a busy week). Each day was about 7 hours of work. So now I'm working 8 hours a day (plus an extra hour because they force us all to take an hour for lunch), 5 days of week. Needless to say my body and my mind are missing their down time.

2. A new job certainly brings out one's paranoid test. I feel like everyone has been testing me all week at work. Let's see how much the new guy really knows. Let's see how much stuff we can dump on the new guy before his brain implodes.

3. People seemed a little surprised that I came back for a second (3rd, 4th, and 5th also) day. There has been nothing about this job nearly as stressful as a day of subbing. If you ever think your job sucks, I suggest you try substitute teaching for a week in an urban school district. It will really put things into perspective.

4. Sometimes it is a good thing to be wearing a Trainee badge, people expect much less of you.

5. I actually had a patron ask me to stop reading to children today. He was sick of the repetitive nature of the book. I continued reading the book. Why? Because the kids were loving the story (and so were the parents).

6. It doesn't take a lot for me to have a good day. A mother told me today that her child had never sat through someone reading him an entire book until I read to him. I was on cloud 9 the rest of the day.

Yet Another Health Benefit Of Drinking

Can you imagine the stench of this guy's car at the moment?

Ananova - Man peed way out of avalanche

Contented Turtle? Never! (1st Draft)

So my friend the Red Roach asked if my days as a Discontented Turtle were over given my new employment status. Not a chance!

Do I think my new job is cool? Yes, I get to work with books, I get to play on computers most of the day, I get to help people (and helping in a more satisfying way than saying "would you like fries with that?"), and I get to work with like-minded people whose first concern is not chasing the almighty dollar.

With all that said, why do I think I will remain discontented (though ideally maybe a slight bit less discontented)? Because it is still a job. There is no way that you can have a job and not lose freedom and control over your life when you have a job. You can skip having the job to regain some control and freedom, but unfortunately in our capitalist society the lack of money can affects one control over life and their freedom as well.

What about the rest of life beyond work? That is probably the biggest source of discontentment these days. My pessimism about the state of the world and our country is at an all time high. I know I will not have my big five year trip this year (that is part of the freedom that I gave up with this job, but the trip would have been given up anyway because of a lack of money due to the poor pay of my previous job and being burdened by stupid credit cards).

Basically I can always find a reason to be discontented, work is just not the biggest source of discontentment these days.

I hear what you are saying about how job searching is a soul killing process. Sometimes the discontentment from the current job outweighs the possible discontentment of the search, and that is when you must make your move. Other times the discontentment from both sources is in perfect balance and it freezes you in place----talk about feeling maximum discontentment! All I can say is hang in there Red Roach!

New Career for the New Year

I've been trying to get out of the teaching thing for well over a year now, and today I officially have a non-teaching career. I officially started a permanent full time library assistant position today. I think even I have lost track of my career tally at this point. I don't count pre-college jobs because those were strictly to earn a buck to make the next move.

1. Psychology/Social Science Researcher (research assistant, teaching assistant, research consultant) 1990-1995
2. Administrative Assistant 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000 (who knew that high school typing class would pay off so well)
3. Salesman (why can't I get back those 2 years of my life?) 1995-1997
4. Meeting/Convention Planner (one of those glamour jobs that everyone should like, guess what I didn't like it) 1997-1999
5. Teacher (hmmm, I'm sure there is something smart-alecky I could say about teaching, but I will behave myself today) 2000-2005
6. Library Assistant 2005

I really do think this is the career for me. Hopefully any future job changes will just be due to climbing the library ladder. Stay tuned.

Cool things about my job after 1 day
1. Casual dress and comfortable shoes are encouraged. NO DAMN TIES!
2. No more library fines.

Weird thing about starting a new job
Wanting to work, but not having a clue what to do.
The fact that I can't remember new names for more than five minutes.

What A Waste Of Money

I was watching the inaugural parade this afternoon. It was great to see the protesters drowning out the Bush supporters. ABC's coverage was humorous because even conservative George Will thought the presidential motorcade was ridiculous. I can't remember his exact words but that it looked like a military operation in some South American dictatorship. He also referred to the limousines as "civilian tanks".

Here's another good post about what all of the money could have been used for instead:
AlterNet: Lifestyles of the Rich and Heartless

Hear Ani DiFranco's new album Knuckle Down

VH1.com is streaming Ani's new album, Knuckle Down, in its entirety (I'm not sure how long the stream will stay up). I've listened to it once and its pretty good, it sounds a little bit closer to some of her older stuff. The last few albums had seemed a little too jazzy and over-produced for my tastes. The interesting thing about this new album is for the first time she is actually working with a producer. Sometimes that can be a good thing, we all need someone sometimes to help keep us a little more focused.

Happy listening.

VH1.com : Ani DiFranco : Hear Music First

Board Games Warp The Mind

Mr. Sun has written a hilarious piece about how board games have completely warped him. It gives you plenty to think about before you reach for a board game on that next cold winter night. Speaking of cold nights Mr. Sun also provides some very useful (ok, maybe not useful but they are funny) tips for dealing with winter. And as if that was not enough Mr. Sun has also shared his six-point plan on seducing Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island.

How come I keep finding all these great blogs to read? Don't these bloggers know that I need to get some other stuff done with my life?

Who re-elected this guy?

Seriously, who voted for this guy? Take a list of this screw-ups over the last four years. Either Bush and the Republicans are incompetent or just plain evil? Which one is it?

Show your disgust on inauguration day (that's tomorrow) by supporting Not One Damn Dime Day.

Salon.com News | The scandal sheet

Interesting article about how copyright law is hurting culture

The Globe and Mail: How copyright could be killing culture

Talk About A Jury Of One's Peers

Remind me to try and avoid going to trial in Tennessee. And if I recall from the election, wasn't Tennessee one of those "moral" red states? Hmmmmm.

CNN.com - Attorney meets the 'jury pool from hell' - Jan 18, 2005

Should the U.S change its election primary system?

Another great piece on AlterNet about what a possible change to our election primary system.

AlterNet: Primary Colors

Happy Birthday Dr. King

"Don't let anybody make you think that God chose America as His divine messianic force to be -- a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with judgment, and it seems that I can hear God saying to America: “You are too arrogant! If you don't change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power"

Interesting how his words are just as timely 38 years later.

Check out more quotes of Dr. King at the Institute for Public Accuracy (including mp3 files).
IPA News Release: Martin Luther King and War

Civil Rights, Brought To You By... Republicans?

The people at AlterNet brought this to my attention. If you thought the Department of Education paying off Armstrong Williams was offensive you've seen nothing yet. The Policy Committee of the House of Representatives have come out with a new calendar highlighting the civil rights accomplishments of the Republican Party while denigrating the Democratic Party. Guess who is paying for this new piece of propaganda? That's right you and me.

Do the Republicans have any sense of decency left? They claim they are the party of morality.....but what do lies and deceit have to do with morality?

AlterNet: Civil Rights, Brought To You By... Republicans?

Review: In Good Company

I will get my disclaimer out of the way. I was given free passes for this movie, with the marketing company's hope that I might give some positive feedback about the movie, In Good Company. Well their plan worked, I saw the movie and I loved it. This is a movie about work, relationships, and family and how they are all mixed together. I found myself thinking throughout the movie about how few movies there are that examine the world of work. Most of us spend at least eight hours a day working, but rarely do we address it in our movies and literature. In a way that isn't surprising, most of us want to spend as little time thinking about work (especially when we aren't at work).

I loved the way this film acknowledged how work has a way of messing up our lives and our families. This is the film about a young man, Carter Duryear (played fantastically by That 70's show's, Topher Grace) who has devoted all of his life's energy to climbing the corporate ladder and gaining more power and status. His rise to the top has given Carter the distinction for being the first divorced member of his high school class because he has put zero energy into his relationship with his wife.

The film is also about a middle aged man, Dan Foreman (played wonderfully by Dennis Quaid), who barely clings to his job because he wants to provide for his family. He believes in what he does for a living, but he also knows it is only a job--it is his family that matters.

The paths of Carter and Dan cross when Carter becomes Dan's boss. There is the problem of Dan working for someone who is 30 years his junior. It is only complicated when Carter becomes romantically involved with Dan's daughter, Alex (played fantastically by the beautifully large lipped, Scarlett Johannson).

Both my wife and I were in cranky moods before we went into the movie, and both of us left smiling. That's a pretty good statement for a movie don't you think?

Did the movie have any faults, not many other than the fact that Scarlett Johannson should have been in every scene, but then that would have taken away from the great chemistry between Quaid and Grace. The movie wraps itself up a little too neatly at the end, but that's ok because sometimes a happy ending is a good thing (especially when its not the overly predictable happy ending).

Go see this movie! You will be glad you did.

Why is productivity always the first concern?

There is an interesting article in the New York Times about how Spain is considering abandoning the afternoon siesta and working a "western-style" 9 to 5 day. How boring!

I spent a month in Barcelona in 1995, and one of the things I loved about the country was spending 3 hours on lunch. How about instead of Spain changing to meet our schedules, we all change our schedules and start having a daily siesta? I know it won't happen, but I can dream.

The New York Times > International > Europe > Letter From Europe: Spaniards Dare to Question the Way the Day Is Ordered: "'These Spanish lunches of two to three hours are very pleasant, but they are not very productive.'"

Great Quote for all of us bloggers to keep in mind

Being Noor Javed: "'Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. ~ Cyril Connolly (1903 - 1974)"

This quote on Noor's blog really puts why we blog into perspective. I discovered it while doing some random blog hopping.

The writer of this blog, who happens to be a Pakistani born in Canada also has written an interesting piece about arranged versus love based marriages.

"The Motorcycle Diaries" and Big Trips

I went and saw "The Motorcycle Diaries" with my wife tonight. It is a wonderful story filled with gorgeous scenery. Don't go into the movie with preconceived notions about Che Guevera and his politics. This is the story of two 20-somethings and their road trip through 1950's South America. This movie reminded me everything that I love about travel....the adventure of it and its ability to transform us in unexpected ways.

In 1990, I road Amtrak around the eastern United States for several weeks. In 1995, I spent 3 months backpacking around Europe. In 2000, I spent three months living in Guatemala and Honduras. I had vowed that every 5 years I would make another one of these "BIG" trips. Well it is now officially 2005, and its looking like I am about to break my vow to myself. Why am I telling you that, because it was a thought that was running through my head as I watched this movie.

Why do I think I won't be traveling this year?

1. Hopefully I will be starting a new job within the next month, so that will mean I can't run away for three months.
2. There is always the financial aspect--I can't say that I am rolling in extra cash at the moment. Not to mention the way that the dollar's value has tanked under Bush's presidency.
3. I got married last year, so taking off for 3 months involves someone else's life now also.
4. I'm not sure where to go. I know that is a lame excuse, but if you are going away for three months you really need to pick the right place for the right reasons. Asia and the Middle East are definitely off the list of possible destinations thanks to Mother Nature and Bush.
   

Maybe this just means that my 2010 trip will have to be a spectacular year-long trip around the world. Or maybe I will somehow have to squeeze out a little trip for 2005 and call it a big trip.

Long Haired Hippies Attempting to Takeover North Korea

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | N Korea wages war on long hair: "'People who wear other's style of dress and live in other's style will become fools and that nation will come to ruin,' it says."

Lawn Mower Drag Races and National Security

Some how the state of Texas thinks Lawn Mower Drag Races are related to National Security. We can't afford to check every ship that enters our nation's ports, but we can find the money to support Lawn Mower Drag Races. How about during our next election we vote to give Texas back to Mexico? My guess is that they wouldn't want it either.

Yahoo! News - Audit: Texas Improperly Spent Terror Funds

Ken Blackwell Screws Up Again

Yahoo! News - Ohio Letter Seeks Illegal Contributions

Bundt Pan's Inventor Dies

The inventor of the Bundt pan gets his own full obituary in the New York Times. Can you believe that? Well way to go H. David Dalquist. It says that he died in Minnesota. Minnesota funeral services are typically followed by a large "lunch" including a whole lot of fabulous desserts. I can just imagine the dessert spread that they are going to have for Mr. Dalquist. I would how many of those Tunnel of Fudge cakes will be served?

Interested in going to the movies for free?

Universal Pictures and Grace Hill Media is offering bloggers free tickets to see IN GOOD COMPANY; sign up at info@gracehillmedia.com.

Sorry for the advertisement, but I'm a sucker for free movie tickets.

He'd yodel just about anywhere

I could only hope that my obituary would start with such a great line.
The Seattle Times: Obituaries: Othello P. Dickert was avid climber, longtime employee at Boeing: "He'd yodel just about anywhere;"

Why Did Kerry Lose Ohio?

Because the top election official is a Republican who is more concerned about Bush and the rest of the right wing wackos than he is about Ohio or the United States.

Blackwell needs to be stopped before he becomes Ohio Govenor and climbs another rung on the Republican power ladder.

I certainly hope one of the Democratic Senators comes forward to help the house protest the way the vote was handled in Ohio.....

Gotta Get My Stuff Done

A fitting film for all of those people who are still thinking about there New Year's Resolution. Well time to go, I gotta get my stuff done.

Beatles mashup mixes 40 different tracks, and still manages to sound pretty cool

I've been spending a lot of time listening to a variety of music on the internet the past few weeks....I guess I have too much free time with it being vacation time. But check out this Beatle mash-up. I'll try and post some other cool music links that I have been playing with the last few days also.

My New Year's Resolution---at least according to this dorky quiz

Your New Years Resolution Should Be: Get rid of your "computer butt"

You've got more than "back" - you've got a big, fat ass. And it's probably because you count multiple IM sessions as exercise So, get yourself on the Hacker's Diet, stat... And then you can stop pretending that you're a hot chick in chat rooms.

What Should Your New Year's Resolution Be?