Walt Kelly and his friends Pogo and Porkypine still say it best:

 

"Y'know, it seems to be me this is all backwards....

We, Ever'body, ought to keep our big mouths shut all the

whole year long so's we'd have time to think of two minutes worth of

somethin' to say on the eleventh day of November."

 

 

 

 to all veterans and their families, thank you.

It's been around since 2002 (I think) but it never gets old.....

 

before he became a caricature in Meet the parents and Meet the parents II, Robert DeNiro was actually very funny in the 'comedic thriller' Midnight Run.  (NOTE: how do you know you are old? old old? when a movie you watched when first release is touted as a classic. teh ouch.  if Midnight Run were a college students it'd be finally drinking legally)

whatever a 'comedic thriller' is supposed to be, this movie was it. cant' think of any other movie that qualifies.

and to think it almost became a-for-sure-train-wreck.  check it

"one of the studio (Paramount)  proposals for the role of Jonathan Mardukas was Robin Williams*, who agreed to audition  <shudders> meanwhile, the director, Martin Brest, had auditioned and cast Charles Grodin in the role, which lead Paramount to drop out of the production and sell the rights to Universal."

The mongoose lives in southern Asia, Africa, and southern Europe. They also live in some Caribbean and  Hawaiian islands, although as an introduced species. Speaking of species, there are more than 30 species of mongoose and they can range from one to four feet long (think squirrel-sized to cat-sized). That's a lot of mongoose!

Daisy, you'll like this part: Mongooses mostly feed on insects, crabs, earthworms, LIZARDS, snakes, chickens, and rodents. They will also eat eggs and carrion.

Some mongoose species can be taught tricks, which of course made people want to domesticate them and keep them as pets, usually to keep down the population of vermin. They are, however, pretty destructive. This has been shown to be the case in the Hawaiian islands where they were brought in and now are responsible for having a significant negative effect on native fauna.

More interesting mongoose facts:

 - Some species, such as the Indian mongoose, are popularly used to fight and kill venomous snakes, including cobras. They are capable of doing this because of their agility and cunning, and their thick coat.
 - The helogale pervula (common dwarf mongoose) has the phylogenic background that relates them closely to the family Hyeanidae (hyenas), Viverridae (civets), and Felidae (lions).
 - The mongoose emits a high pitched noise, commonly known as giggling, when it mates. The giggling is also a form of courtship when this animal is choosing a mate.

I can't top that last fact, so I'll just leave you with pictures.

Wow, its been a few days, huh?

I suppose that's just fine and dandy as I never promised I would write daily, at least I didn't promise it to you guys. I only promised myself that I would try to write more often if for nothing else than to try to keep my sanity. So here I am. Hi! *waving*

At times, these things are likely boring to you, but I need to keep track of them and I like to look back at my blog down the road to see what was going on back in the day. :-)

With their fifth consecutive win, the Pittsburgh Steelers take the Denver Broncos....and stuff them mile high. Great game. Thank you, gentlemen.

The countdown continues. It's a mere 16 days until my first 5K. I already did my registration and everything. I just have to pick up my packet in a couple of weeks. I am hoping against all hope that Ida will be long gone tomorrow morning. She caused a little havoc yesterday morning as I TRIED to run. But, when the wind is blowing at about 15mph with gusts up to 30, it's a little tough.

Next on the agenda is vacation! I can't believe there are only 45 more days! We have most of the big stuff handled like flights, house, and equipment so now we only have lessons, food choices and the ever-important spa day for scheduling. I picked up some sweet Under Armour that I really hope does a good job. I hate being all bulky on the mountain!

Holy smokes, shortly after vacation finishes, 36 days to be exact, is graduation! It took me a while, but I'm proud to say I'm finally getting that paper. The question becomes what will I do with this elusive piece of paper and will it mean anything to anyone of importance? These answers and many more on the next episode of Soap.

Do you think that's enough to worry about? You're right, it probably is, but I'm not being me if I'm not overloading my plate with things to do. As such, the short list of the rest of it is below. The first bullet deserves its own paragraph or entire post, but that's for a later date.

• Hi, wedding. I guess you're not gonna plan yourself although I have thankfully little to do to plan you. But every time I think about it, I remember something else. Aargh.
  
• Group fitness instructor training - Yes, I ordered all your stuff today. I hope to be certified by the end of January. That's certified, not certifiable, which I already am.
• Social networking - It's more than just talking to you guys! :-D And I told my chiro that I'd see what I could do for him. Is it weird that I would only be able to do the whole social networking thing for someone I know/something I believe in?
• Business plan - So I've got this idea. I just need to gather materials, put in some labor, create a website, register a domain name. OMG I have a lot of crap to do! As I'm getting closer with this idea, I'll share. I promise.

I suppose that's enough brain dumping for now. Thanks for listening/reading. I may get back to normal blogging without countdowns soon!

William Kamkwamba was only 14 years old when he built a windmill that could power 4 light bulbs and a radio in his village in Malawi.  Watch his story here.

 

Recycling Extreme Art

Flatbed Scanner Mod a Work of Art

Learn How to Make the Chewbacca Noise

Back to the Future Anniversary

The Worlds Cleanest Keyboard

Random Geekiness

a lot can go down between thursday and saturday..

the first time I saw Friday, one of the reasons it made me laugh is because Ice Cube's character, Craig, looked and had expressions exactly like my brother.  by now neither mr. Cube nor more brother look much like each other or their younger selves.
set in one of the same neighborhoods that three years earlier had been the site of riots made this light coming-of-age comedy feel hopeful.

the characters of  Friday :Craig, Smokey, Deebo, Debbie, are the best thing about it.  as memorable, as, say,those of  Fast Times at...

the time frame of the movie is the "Friday" of the title. Craig, who still lives at home (much to the dismay of his parents), has just lost his job. as he figures what comes next he becomes involved with his friend Smokey's schemes and troubles.  most of the action takes place in and about the front porch of Craig's home

trailer

"you are fuckin' the rotation!"  Smokey schools Craig on the etiquette of joint-sharing

Friday's soundtrack feature the biggest hip-hop starts of the mid-1990s.  the 'theme' song by Ice Cube

the outstanding track, Dr Dre's Keep their heads ringin

'

there are two movies follow up to Friday:  Next Friday, with most of the same actors and crew, and Friday After Next, without.  I haven't seen either, but I've heard that Friday After Next is worth watching.

 

Today, I'm going with Daisy's pick of: Lizards! There are quite a few lizards that live in Florida, which is where Daisy and Harley live. You can learn about what lizards live in Florida here.

I hope Daisy doesn't mind (let me know if you do, Daisy), but I'm going to use a few of her posts about lizards to help talk about them. We won't mention the alligators that live near her, though, so as not to scare anybody!.

If you read about lizards and decide you want to get a more personal experience, you can try capturing one. Here is Daisy (with a special appearance by her sister Pixie, who is, sadly, no longer with us) to give you some tips and hints. Once you catch a lizard, and maybe name him George, or even Snack, you can set up your own little observation station to do all sorts of scientific-y watching and stuff. Here are some of the surprising things you may learn.

To finish off today's post about lizards, I will leave you with a PSA from Daisy and Harley about being careful what you wish for when it comes to lizards.

Thanks again, Professor Daisy!

p.s to all Daisy and Harley fans - they are now selling a 2010 calendar!