Zappa Plays Zappa...

I just got home from seeing ZPZ at the Birchmere in Alexandria. My goodness was that a tasty treat, or what!?! Dweezil is astounding. And, he smiles the whole time.

Fangs Up! in the green room...

some Good News for a change!...

I cannot even imagine the destructive scope of this project. Thank goodness the EPA struck this down. Read this piece from Grist:

Yazoo Keeper
EPA puts kibosh on wetland-destructive Army Corps project

The U.S. EPA has vetoed a giant, expensive plan to build the world's largest water pump in the Mississippi River delta. The so-called Yazoo Pump flood-control project would have sucked 6 million gallons of water a minute from 67,000 acres of wetlands along the Yazoo River. The scheme, proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and first authorized by Congress in 1941, would have cost $220 million. The EPA concluded that maybe, just maybe, sucking all that wet out of the wetlands would have been damaging to fish, wildlife, and migratory birds. "The EPA truly deserves our thanks for killing this unnecessary and economically wasteful Corps of Engineers project," says the Sierra Club's Ed Hopkins. "The natural, and free, flood protections offered by these wetlands are far more effective than an expensive pumping project." The veto was only the 12th time since 1972 that the EPA has put the kibosh on a Corps project; the last was in 1990.

[ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ]

sources: Associated Press, National Audubon Society, U.S. EPA, Sierra Club
get the backstory, in Grist: EPA set to kibosh Mississippi Delta boondoggle
see also, in Grist: A special series on the Army Corps and the Mississippi River

Orangealicious...

Buddy is just so adorable.

two "work" dreams...

i am at work and getting ready to set up a display...in the back room i find a large white cardboard display box, and go ask dax if i should use that for the display set-up...he says, "no! i told you to use that", and points to a deflated inflatable pool...i say, "oh yeah! that's right", and get it from off the floor...(later) dax, todd & i are in the office drinking beer...todd starts to twist open a bottle top, but i snatch it away from him and use my bottle opener...

dax & i are done working for the day, he gives me a ride to his house, but i am so tired that i fall asleep in the car, he goes on inside...later when i awaken i too go into their house...i realize that i need to get ready to go to work, but i'm wearing yesterday's clothes & have no way to get home to change unless dax drives me there...he is unconcerned about this, and goes into another part of the house...they have a new dog, a mastiff & as i am standing talking to valerie, the dog pees on my left pants leg...this is bad because now i really need some clean clothes! i ask valerie if she has a pair of "fat pants" that i could borrow...she looks but doesn't find anything, then says she will give me her credit card...as i am about to leave, she says wait, i'll take you to the store...so we get in her car and go to the mall...

dream from 11/18/1977...Moon in Pisces...

james, frederick, thomas & i are swimming in the ocean. thomas becomes very angry at me for something about a penis (this involves him and an extra and/or lost penis). we get out of the water onto a pier-like structure. thomas is complaining to me. he is going up the ladder before me.

james & i are less than enthusiastic members of some mafia-esque group. we are in underground rooms, a basement. james & i have witnessed a murder and we try to tell/show the leader about it. there is a screen where we watch a "replay" of the murder. the killing involved a woman who was shot in the middle of her forehead. (the picture shows lines like this: ---- going to her forehead) then, she shoots someone. the leader does not come over and look at the screen. he is talking to some men who are other members of the group. after james & i have viewed the "replay", we decide not to show it to the "don", and he does not recall us mentioning the problem, so we all walk into other rooms. the don tacks a note up on a bulletin board as he passes it by. i read the message. it is a note to "sandi & james" reminding us to think up some ideas for some project the group is doing. i lie, telling the don, "yeah, i've been trying to think of that all day. it's hard." he understands. all over men are working on the project, using different mediums. there are some paper mache things hanging form the ceiling. some cloth, stuffed things... i comment on how nice all the stuff is.

james & i are running around a suburban home/wooded area. we are playing. james finds a kite string buried under some sand behind one house. he digs it up. we run on...then james & i are sitting at a long table, like at school. there are other tables and a lot of other people sitting around. at one table there is a girl who knows us, i go over to talk to her. she tells me to say "hello" to james for her. (still in "school") i am sitting at a desk with a lot of other people ( all women, i think) around. one girl & i start to sing. we start out with 'Joy of Cooking' songs. i do not know all the words, but watching her closely i can do it. i look up and see a girl across the room lift her head and sing with us a bit. good feeling! the teacher (female) comes over- the girl i am singing with starts another song, sounding like the instrumental part. the teacher motions me to start singing the words. but i do not/cannot. this is o.k. we go on and sing together some more. i am pleased with my voice. ever so often i really belt the song out. on another song i know the words very well, and sing with such energy! we are waiting for school to let out, for the buses to arrive. we are in the lobby of the building, there are glass doors opening to the street. the streets/the city is very busy. some of us go stand outside by the side of the building to wait. as i stood there waiting, two women walk by with huge cowrie shells for earrings. i am amazed and excited and say, "cowrie shells!!!" out loud. a few of the people in this group suddenly run over to the church across the street. the rest of us chase after them. this is a game, and we're having fun. we get to the church, and the others who ran there first jump up from fake graves they've been hiding in to scare us! we go inside the church. it is old, falling apart and musty. across the street at the school, kids are getting in trouble for standing outside on the sidewalks to wait. authorities herd them back inside. at first i peek around the corner of the church, hoping to not be seen, so that i can watch. then we all go back and mingle with the crowd. school is finally let out. the girl (who knew james & i) and i are going to leave together, but the bus does not come. so we decide to walk home. after we cross some highway, we get separated. i try to get home to james on my own, but cannot because i do not know the way from here, she knew...i am then flying in what is understood/supposed to be a private plane, but it is a big round cushion on which i can reline . i look down as i fly, soon realizing that i am flying over NYC! i am lost, and the sun is going down. the moon is in the sky. after a while, i decide to turn around. as i am going back, i encounter some people who help me. we work out the direction i need to go on a calculator which also has a little picture screen. i calculate back to the highway, and see what number i need to get me there...

Postscript: looking through a copy of the 'National Geographic' later, i come across a photo page which contains quite a few cowrie shells, and it sparks a segment of dream memory. i tore the page out, and tucked it in my dream diary...

Eve Ensler on Palin...

My friend Kitty (thanks!!!) just sent me this article titled "Drill, Drill, Drill" by Eve Ensler. It's on the Huffington Post blog. And I say, "Wow". Ms. Ensler pretty much nails it as far as I'm concerned.

And while you're at it, read this little gem about white privilege vis- a- vis McCain & Palin from Tim Wise on AlterNet.

a nice word o'the day...

Merriam Webster's "Word of the Day" is euphony. Similar to another favorite word of mine: mellifluous. Enjoy, and may your day be euphonic!

no sleep for me last night...

So, I get an e-mail from my daughter's language arts teacher alerting me to the fact that my daughter has an "F" in the class right now. This being the 10th day of the school year, mind you. Two of the reasons are from assignments not turned in. There is a zero tolerance policy on homework/assignments not turned in on time. This I understand. ( "It's in my locker.", is not an excuse. ) What I don't get, and what was driven home to us at "Back-to-School Night" last Tuesday; is that THIS year they have changed the grading system to "match" the high school grading system so that we don't stress out our ninth graders next year when they hit high school, and their grades show up on their transcripts which will be looked at when being considered for college. O.k., let us take a breath here, and look at this more closely: instead of just having a grading scale which remains the same through all 12 years of school, we apparently now have a separate one for high schoolers...and we are worried about stressing the new 9th graders out with this...so we deal with that instead by stressing out our 8th graders with this new high school grading system NOW, because we don't want to screw up our 9th graders chances of getting into college by having crappy grades from all the stress...SO: we are stressing out our 8th graders about something that is FIVE YEARS IN THE FUTURE...you know, instead of just instilling a love of learning in them NOW...and of course the deeply personal irony for me here is that I believe in public education...

dream sequence...

i am riding a subway train , and as we near my stop i walk up front to pay my fare...the Asian male driver sits at the controls and waits as i go through my money to get the correct fare amount; i have a dollar bill, some coins, and a twenty...he just takes the twenty... when i ask for my change he says that drivers don't carry change! but the he will take the twenty because he trusts me...i get off the train and go into the big metro hub, ride up the escalator and then get a bike to ride...as i am pedalling i realize that i never did get my change, so i stop and go back into the transportaion hub to find that driver and get my change...i ride this escalator and that escalator, trying to find the one that will take me back to the platform for that train...i find two lower floors dedicated to gambling, a floor with shops, and quite a few other floors, riding up and down these escalators, and walking the steps; but no train platform...there are many people there, and i stop to ask one man who is wearing a station uniform about my predicament; he basically says my search is futile, that i won't get my change back from that driver even if i were able to find him...all the while i've been searching i knew this, but kept looking anyway, feeling rather foolish for having allowed him to take that $20 to begin with!

Organically Farmed Since 1974...

It's almost 9 o'clock in the green room...

Reading Update...

• Marching Toward Hell by Michael Scheuer, 2008...Scheuer is angry, but seriously; he does have a right to be...this book is intense, and informative; if you can get past some of the vitriol, you will learn a great deal about the way our country is still not truly dealing with the Osama bin Laden/radical Islam jihad question, and our government's stupid misconceptions about Islam in general...

• Nixonland by Rick Perlstein, 2008...grew up in this era, but of course this book taught me a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff that I never knew as a young person...what a well-written book! with a dry humor and sarcastic bite that fits perfectly...

• The Family by Jeff Sharlet, 2008...a nice expose of one of the more extreme christian groups in this country...I laughed, I gagged, I got angry...

• A Russian Diary by Anna Politkovskaya, 2007...Anna was an amazing journalist...if you don't know much about the way life is in Putin's Russia, you must read this book, quite an eye-opener...

• Duma Key by Stephen King, 2008...another good one from King...

• Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand, 2007...punk photography & a mystery in Maine! what more could you ask for? great stuff once again from Ms. Hand...

Good Times.....

RAIN (by Rusted Root)
Hit upon ‘em Joe,
Raise the barn yourself
Hit upon ‘em Joe,
Raise the barn yourself
Rain’s gonna fall,
Rain’s gonna fall.
Rain’s gonna fall,
Rain’s gonna fall.
Rain, rain
Gonna fall, down on your head
Rain, rain,
Gonna fall.
Rain, rain
Gonna fall, down on your head
Rain, rain,
Gonna fall.
Don’t get out.
Hit upon ‘em joe,
You can raise the barn yourself
As you’re kickin’ in the sun, yeah
Hit upon ‘em joe,
You can raise the barn yourself,
As you’re kickin’ in the sun yeah.
Rain, gonna fall.
Rain, gonna fall.
Rain, gonna fall.
Rain, gonna fall.
Rain, rain
Gonna fall, down on your head
Rain, rain,
Gonna fall.
Rain, rain
Gonna fall, down on your head
Rain, rain,
Gonna fall.

(c) 2002 Island Def Jam MusicShredder says, "Just remember; if you're at the VCU campus, check out the fabulous burritos to be had from my Mom's cart!"

Feel It

another quality photograph by Melian...

"Copulating Bunnies"...

Joonie gets caught up on her alternative press reading...

Mantis Update...

Remember the Mantis babies born back in the Spring? Well, here is one of them grown to quite the young lady this past July. She has made this Zinnia plant hers, and catches lots of delicious comestibles from this locale. Alas, that does include quite a few butterflies...

Melian took this wonderful shot of some discarded wings:

Harper's Ferry, WVA

my swim suit still smells like the Potomac, let's go tubing again!!! but this time without drowning the Coolpix...

7/31/2008...

My face feels sideways, like I am a painting by Picasso.

deer dream...

Chuck and I are out behind our house in the woods working on something. As we walk over to one area, we flush a deer. I laugh and point this out to him. Then we see that it is actually a fairly good-sized herd of deer. As I watch them tail up and scamper off, I notice something odd, and say, "Look! That deer has a pair of work gloves in his back pocket!". Chuck stops what he is doing and watches as the herd moves off. The "work glove" deer seems to be the leader of sorts, he turns into a cowboy/trail-rider sort of character, on a horse! I say to him, " I love you!" and he replies something to the effect that he finds friendship everywhere. Chuck and I laugh at this, but I worry did Chuck think that I really "love" this deer/guy?