Return to hobbit island

More discoveries of Hobbit remains discovered, and apparently they rode not ponies, but tiny elephants.

Playing on XM: Midnight Oil

Neighborhood charm

Okay, today was my "late day" at work...I volunteer in my son's classroom in the morning, and leave home around 11:00 to go to work. So, as I walked out to my car at 11:00, I hear the distinct *thwack* of a whip (or maybe a punch/slap) followed by a male voice crying out "uh!" I was taken aback, to say the least. I paused on the sidewalk, swivelling my canine ears to localize the sound. Sure enough there was another *thwack* followed by the same outcry. This time I had it pegged.

The sounds were coming from a house across the street next door to a dentist's office. This house is already marked as "odd" in my book. Just a few weeks ago, I came out one morning (at normal commuting hours) just as several police cars, a fire truck, and an ambulance all arrived in that area. I watched as two newly "on scene" police officers approach the house. Soon, paramedics led three people from the house - all walking and seemingly coherent - to the ambulance. I had no idea what the sitch was, but guessed either domestic violence or drug-related acitivity. This was a hard-core turnout of authority for our small town.

So anyway, back to today. My instincts were screaming for me to return to my front porch and pretend to read, whilst listening to the ambient sounds to hear how they progressed. I mean, how often to do you get to observe such things? Instead, I climbed into my car and proceeded to work, opportunity missed. But before I pulled away, I heard a third repeat of the noise, but this time there were multiple *thwacks* and I wondered again if they weren't punches. They were followed by the same "uh!" of the victim. I could see no open windows, through which the noises might issue and no one in the back yard...I thought perhaps it's just a couple of people sparring in some sort of fighting practice. But these sounds were too regular and one-sided for that to be the case. Very measured. And the "victim's" cries didn't carry a note of protest or fear.

So I'm left wondering, my wild imagination running rampant, what the hell was going on? It didn't help that I'd just watched an episode of "Night Stalker" on SciFi, so my mind was in 'dark horrors of the macabre' mode. If you're familiar with this old 70's show, you know the main character (the role that made Darren McGavin famous long before A Christmas Story) is an investigative reporter who's wild hunches are usually right on the mark. It was only natural that my own reaction followed a similar vein. That's pretty much how I react to any strange situation anyway, regardless of what I've been watching on TV.

Was this just a friendly sex game (which I can certainly appreciate) or could there be something darker at work here...? Perhaps someone in that house being tortured to feed some blasphemous horror's thirst for psychic pain? And is there a difference? The curious mind reels. Or, mine does at least.

Weirdness abounds. As Alice Cooper said, 'welcome to my nightmare,' neighbor.

What do you think it was?


Playing on XM: Johnny Cash/Kris Kristofferson

The man said it's a disgrace to the badge

But he didn't realize he was talking about himself.

You will absolutely not believe this. Recently some New Jersey policemen were returning home from a 14-day aid trip to New Orleans. They were traveling in a convoy of about a dozen police cruisers, heading up I-81 here in Virginia.

At 95 MPH.

With their lights flashing, which just happens to be illegal in Virginia (and most states) unless they are responding to an emergency.

And they were a little upset when Virginia police pulled them over and gave them a warning.

Here's the news article

And here’s the transcript from the deputy's telephone call

Playing on XM: not listening right now

Eddie Spaghetti feeds the soul

Just thought I'd bring this to everyone's attention: Devil's Food, the latest release from those fun-loving music-makers, the Supersuckers. Devil's Food is a collection of singles and hard-t0-find rare tracks. And I'm glad they put them all together in one place for us.

If you don't know the Supersuckers, they're a rowdy, hard-rockin' Seattle group who span the musical spectrum with guitar-whippin' punk sounds just as easily as they twang a bent note.

The disc is good from start to finish, but I want to highlight some of the gems. First and foremost is their cover of Rubber biscuit, which even Elwood Blues would have to say, "Damn boys, that's a good cover!" I've been listening to this track repeatedly.

The next one is a cover of Jerry Reed's Eastbound & down. You may remember this one as the theme from the movie Smokey and the Bandit. Yeah, it takes you back a ways. Again, they've done a nice job of making someone else's song sound distinctly their own, while at the same time, keeping true to the original. And it's a fun song.

My personal favorite from the track list is what I'm pretty sure is the first Satanic country song I've ever heard. It's a devil-worshipping romp called Born with a tail. On the jacket, they warn you parenthetically that this one is a country song, just to brace you for the musical change. Man, that's thoughtful of them.

This is the Supersucker's first "studio" album since 2003's release, Motherfuckers Be Trippin', which included my all time favorites Bubblegum and beer and Pretty fucked up. With such poetry as "She used to be pretty, now she's just pretty fucked up," what's not to like? Next month you can look for an all-new release from the group's front man, Eddie Spaghetti. His second solo album, it's appropriately titled Old No. 2 and it promises to be good.

In the meantime, check out Devil's Food.

Playing on XM: Aqueduct

Taste the sensation

On Wednesday mornings, I volunteer in my son's kindergarten classroom to help with activities. They've been studying the five senses and this week's sense is taste. I was charged with conducting the scientific experiment in which the kinderlings taste different foods and record either a happy face if they liked the flavor or a frowny face (the anti-happy face) if they did not like the flavor.

They were tasting, in order, the following flavors: sour (gummy candy), salty (chips), bitter (baking chocolate), and sweet (Hershey Kisses). I knew the baking chocolate was very bitter (there's no sugar in it), so I gave the first group tiny chunks of it, smaller than a chocolate chip. They ate it and of course, all of them hated it and identified it on their score sheets with a “Mr. Yuck” poison symbol (you’ve probably seen this…it look like a frowny face, only more intense). One of them nearly threw up on me... I staved off his spasms by suggesting he go get a drink of water. But let me tell you I was really worried as I sat there in the floor with this 3-foot tall person on eye-level with me while he was making the puke-face at me.

After that, the other groups all got very tiny shavings which was still more than enough to get the flavor. And I immediately sent them all to the water fountain to chase away the taste. By the time I finished with the last group of miniature thugs, I was actually enjoying the third step of the experiment, relishing their “Oh my god, that’s NASTY!” faces once the severity of the baking chocolate’s flavor hit. And that one little boy who always annoys me by being loud and not listening to my instructions…oh yeah, you bet yer sweet patootie he got a bigger piece than everyone else.

Playing on XM: Flying Burrito Brothers

Killer Coffee

That naughty bean tried to poison me this morning. Today is the roughest of Monday mornings I've seen in quite some time. In the final 5 minutes before rushing out the door, I brewed a quick pot to take with me. I didn't get to taste it until well on my way to work. Apparently my spoons had been heaped quite savagely because there needed to be two or three times the amount of water over what I used. It was so bitterly strong I nearly died as it hit my stomach lining. Of course, I had to take 3 or 4 more test sips to confirm this. They all corroborated the first taste, and thus intensified the bean-venom.

Luckily there were donuts at work this morning to counteract the poison. Upon arriving at work, I dumped out half of it and refilled my cup with hot water. Now I have a cup of intensely strong, but drinkable coffee. This is why I don't drink coffee very often and when I do, I prefer to have it made by a professional.

Playing on XM: Hank Williams III

"Black Canary said a buzzsaw arrow was self-indulgent."

That's the quote from tonight's Justice League Unlimited. It was spoken by Green Arrow (obviously) after he cut himself free from a villain's mega-snare. Most of the characters are perfectly rendered on this show, with the exception being Hawkman, who made his debut last week. He came off as a goofy Hawkgirl-fanboy/hero wannabe. One of the best things about the series is that Lex Luthor is voiced by Clancy Brown. You remember Clancy, don't you? Perhaps you know him by his other name: The Kurgan.

That's all the geek speak for tonight. I was just itching for a reason to post today and GA rescued me with that wonderful quote. The day was spent on the homefront doing some fall cleaning. Good stuff. Dragged some major junk out of the basement for the dump, waxed a vehicle and played with the kids. Major project: cleaning out and organizing the linen closet.

I don't get Inuyasha. I just don't.

Playing on XM: Neil Young - "Love to Burn" Sweet.