Sandy is our Golden Retriever. She lives with my parents at my parents' house. The Hedgehog is the one living on our street, traveling through the yards.
It all started a few weeks ago, when the spring started and all the night-time hedgehog activity ensued. Sandy, which spends her nights in a kennel in the yard so she doesn't go mad, started barking. Like mad. My mom eventually went outside to see what the bark it's all about, and discovered a hedgehog, in the, um....hedge. Sandy was protesting the uninvited trespassing of her yard. My mother, electing not to deal the small prickly creature, brought Sandy into the house, where she sat with her nose pressed against the door for the rest of the night. Admittedly, she might have dozed off at some point - nobody stayed up to watch her.
Sandy had spent the next few days sniffing out the little creature with no success.
One night, as I walked her, I met a neighbor, another late-night walker, and we stood and chatted for a bit. Sandy stretched her lead as far as it would go, and stuck her nose under the hedge of my parent's next door neighbor's' yard. She stood there, her faced fixed for almost two minutes. Now, Goldens do not stay focused for entire two minutes. Certainly not Sandy. It only occurred to me after those two minutes, that Sandy was looking at something very intently. Going around her, I saw her nose pressed as close as she dared to a curled up hedgehog. Hedgehog was rolled in a ball, thinking "take a bite...I dare you!" as hedgehogs do. Sandy was thinking "....???...." as Goldens do.
Two nights later, at a completely different part of the street, Sandy was pulling hard to the right, toward a fence. The little hedgehog was walking along happily. Out of curiosity, I let her get close. She again stuck her nose as close as she dared and sniffed. The hedgehog curled a bit, then decided it was not worth the trouble, stretched out, and walked on, Sandy at foot. We had to break off our slow pursuit finally. This really brings into question the whole survival instincts issue, but never mind.
Then, last night, I was pulling out - for those who wander what I'm doing at my parents' house so often it is because I was house-sitting for the last week, and they live very close anyway, and mom-food beats pizza-warming any time! Anyway, I was pulling out into the street, where a small black-gray-dotted-white thing walked across by headlights. The hedgehog was on the move again. He paused, looked my way, thought about it, and turned back, choosing not to stare down my car into submission. As I looked back in my rear-view mirror, I could see him taking a shot at crossing again.
The really cool thing about this whole affair is this: If I ever get a rock-and-roll band together, I have a great name!
Sandy and the Hedgehog.
Rock on.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Friday, May 19, 2006
The cloths you wear
The power of music amazes me each time.
It is a large part of many people's lives. At a certain range of ages it is downright the defining element of their lives.
For many many years fashion and attitude was an inseparable part of one's musical preferences. The hippies and yuppies. Are you a punk? are you a rocker? rapper?
Today you can be Indie, or Emo; or are you Goth?
People dress, wear their hair and makeup, and speak the part of the musical fan of their particular genre of choice.
A girl asked me the other day: what do I consider myself. It took me a while to understand what she meant, and then I realized that she still thinks I'm young enough to care.
Eclectic Punk, I told her, and as far as I know I'm the only one in the world. In fact, the moment anyone, anywhere, will say that they, too, are eclectic punks I will automatically cease to be one.
But what does that mean, she asked.
Well, I said, eclectic because I like many many types of music. I like garage punk. I like some of the indie bands that pop up every now and then. I enjoy the big bands like U2 and REM. There is a host of 80s music that I love. I love Garbage. I like that new song by Rihanna (SOS Rescue Me with the Tainted Love base line). I'm addicted to Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Queens of the Stone Age. I'll hurt anyone who says anything bad about Fiona Apple.
Punk is because I will kick the ass of anyone who tries to put in me in a box because of the music I listen to!
I hate that. I was into heavy metal in high-school. Nobody could understand why I wear my hair short. I was into grunge in uni, and everybody wondered why I don't have any plaid flannel shirts.
Now I jump from side to side in my respectable, adult car listening to the new Metric CD I got (which is great, by the way) and look at me funny, like I shouldn't, being my age.
I ought to wear a three piece suit for the next rock concert I go to, just to make a point.
Although I probably wont.
I just don't own one.
It is a large part of many people's lives. At a certain range of ages it is downright the defining element of their lives.
For many many years fashion and attitude was an inseparable part of one's musical preferences. The hippies and yuppies. Are you a punk? are you a rocker? rapper?
Today you can be Indie, or Emo; or are you Goth?
People dress, wear their hair and makeup, and speak the part of the musical fan of their particular genre of choice.
A girl asked me the other day: what do I consider myself. It took me a while to understand what she meant, and then I realized that she still thinks I'm young enough to care.
Eclectic Punk, I told her, and as far as I know I'm the only one in the world. In fact, the moment anyone, anywhere, will say that they, too, are eclectic punks I will automatically cease to be one.
But what does that mean, she asked.
Well, I said, eclectic because I like many many types of music. I like garage punk. I like some of the indie bands that pop up every now and then. I enjoy the big bands like U2 and REM. There is a host of 80s music that I love. I love Garbage. I like that new song by Rihanna (SOS Rescue Me with the Tainted Love base line). I'm addicted to Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Queens of the Stone Age. I'll hurt anyone who says anything bad about Fiona Apple.
Punk is because I will kick the ass of anyone who tries to put in me in a box because of the music I listen to!
I hate that. I was into heavy metal in high-school. Nobody could understand why I wear my hair short. I was into grunge in uni, and everybody wondered why I don't have any plaid flannel shirts.
Now I jump from side to side in my respectable, adult car listening to the new Metric CD I got (which is great, by the way) and look at me funny, like I shouldn't, being my age.
I ought to wear a three piece suit for the next rock concert I go to, just to make a point.
Although I probably wont.
I just don't own one.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
"Money...It's a gas
...Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash."
So say the lyrics of "Money" by Pink Floyd.
A few weeks ago, Roger Waters has announced that he is canceling his upcoming performance in Israel, citing the treatment of the Palestinians by Israel as the reason. He canceled the show because of Palestinian pressure that told him that performing in Israel is a clear statement in favor of the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian Territories and Oppression of the Palestinian People.
The peace loving, humane, justice-hound Waters has promptly canceled his show.
The show was then reinstated after the venue was moved from the Yarkon park, the largest, most convenient park in Israel for any sort of gathering, especially for concerts of any kind, to Neve Shalom, a remote village somewhere in Israel. Neve Shalom is a small village west of Jerusalem. It is an experimental agricultural community where Arabs and Jews live together, and somebody, I guess, liked the symbolism of it. To host the show, huge tracks of agricultural land will have to be steam-rolled and tractored over to make room for a stage, a viewing area, camping ground, and a parking lot for thousands of fans. Crops laid to waste right before the harvest for the benefit of mass entertainment. Between you and me, with the current state of agricultural economy in Israel being what it is, the farmers are better off this way, by that's besides the point.
all the cost coming out of the promoter's pocket, of course. It wasn't some onward-peace gesture by Waters. He'll still get his money from this. The only reason the crowds aren't paying for this shift is that most of the tickets were already sold. I'm sure that parking prices will be high to try and recoup some of the lost.
If Waters really cared about peace, really wanted to make a stand, really wanted to boycott Israel, than he wouldn't let his music be sold here or played here. We can buy his CD's but we can't see him perform? As long as the money glides in, source unbeknownst to him, all is well, but when he is in the stage light, he feels he must suddenly make a stand?
I have to admit, that I was never a huge Pink Floyd or Roger Waters fan. Their music never spoke to me. Never understood the allure. Sure, I like a few of the songs specifically - Money, Wish You Were Here, and others - but if I ever get the urge to have some of them handy, you can bet your ass I'll find them elsewhere than a record store.
None of my money to Waters.
So say the lyrics of "Money" by Pink Floyd.
A few weeks ago, Roger Waters has announced that he is canceling his upcoming performance in Israel, citing the treatment of the Palestinians by Israel as the reason. He canceled the show because of Palestinian pressure that told him that performing in Israel is a clear statement in favor of the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian Territories and Oppression of the Palestinian People.
The peace loving, humane, justice-hound Waters has promptly canceled his show.
The show was then reinstated after the venue was moved from the Yarkon park, the largest, most convenient park in Israel for any sort of gathering, especially for concerts of any kind, to Neve Shalom, a remote village somewhere in Israel. Neve Shalom is a small village west of Jerusalem. It is an experimental agricultural community where Arabs and Jews live together, and somebody, I guess, liked the symbolism of it. To host the show, huge tracks of agricultural land will have to be steam-rolled and tractored over to make room for a stage, a viewing area, camping ground, and a parking lot for thousands of fans. Crops laid to waste right before the harvest for the benefit of mass entertainment. Between you and me, with the current state of agricultural economy in Israel being what it is, the farmers are better off this way, by that's besides the point.
all the cost coming out of the promoter's pocket, of course. It wasn't some onward-peace gesture by Waters. He'll still get his money from this. The only reason the crowds aren't paying for this shift is that most of the tickets were already sold. I'm sure that parking prices will be high to try and recoup some of the lost.
If Waters really cared about peace, really wanted to make a stand, really wanted to boycott Israel, than he wouldn't let his music be sold here or played here. We can buy his CD's but we can't see him perform? As long as the money glides in, source unbeknownst to him, all is well, but when he is in the stage light, he feels he must suddenly make a stand?
I have to admit, that I was never a huge Pink Floyd or Roger Waters fan. Their music never spoke to me. Never understood the allure. Sure, I like a few of the songs specifically - Money, Wish You Were Here, and others - but if I ever get the urge to have some of them handy, you can bet your ass I'll find them elsewhere than a record store.
None of my money to Waters.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
High Volume
I've had a little bitch-slap because apparently some of my friends do read this and I have not posted in a very long time. There are several reasons for not posting anything. It's not because I had nothing to say, it's just that there were three categories of things I might have written about in the past while. The first category of things - every day life - I was too lazy to write about. The second category of things - things that piss me off - I was too disgusted with to write about. The third categories - thoughts and muses - I was too blank to write about. So I didn't write anything.
However, my meager audience demands something, so here it is.
I've read an article the other day about blogs. Some woman in a national newspaper was putting down personal, general purpose blogs as being pretty stupid. Most, she pointed out, are by people who lose interest very quickly, and their few pearls of dumbness just collect bit-wise dust somewhere on a hard-drive. She said she did not want to start off something she knows there is a 99% chance she'll abandon in a month. Anything important she has to say, she claims, she will tell her family and friends directly, and not blast it over the void.
I'd like to comment on both her remarks. First, we all like to try new things and see if we like them. Sometimes it's a new restaurant and you blow of a little bit of money tasting new things. Sometimes you buy a guitar which rots away after a couple of months. Sometimes we take sky-diving lessons for a whole lot of change, only to discover that it's the farthest thing for what may be described as "for us". Luckily, the Internet and the good folks at dozens of sites, including Blogger, will let us experiment for free. So why not? Maybe we will like it. Maybe we will write things forever. So if this appeals to you even a little bit, and you feel like you might have something that you would like to write or show and tell about, go ahead. You might find that you have a taste for it. Or at least you will know for sure it's not for you.
The second point is this: how often do we really have long hard chats with our friends? I know that if I do have the occasional "heart to heart" conversation where I can be emotional or philosophical or anything else, it's usually with a single friend. Maybe two. Sometimes I would like to convey a message for everyone, and I want to do now, as the muse strikes me. I could e-mail something, but this is so much better. It doesn't feel like it's aimed at anybody in particular, while an e-mail is so directed.
The only problem is that you can't bitch about one friend to another. You bitch to everyone about anyone - somebody out there is saying "I lost more friends that way..." - or you can keep your mouth shut.
I'm thinking of creating another entity and bitch there. Yey Internet and virtual anonymity (nobody believes that we are truly anonymous anymore, do they?).
By the way, "bit-wise dust" is my own invention. Like it? I'm starting to use it for any piece of electronically existing thing that is shelved and never touched. I've also came up with "bugware", but apparently it's already widely used. I guess I'm not as creative as I thought I was.
However, my meager audience demands something, so here it is.
I've read an article the other day about blogs. Some woman in a national newspaper was putting down personal, general purpose blogs as being pretty stupid. Most, she pointed out, are by people who lose interest very quickly, and their few pearls of dumbness just collect bit-wise dust somewhere on a hard-drive. She said she did not want to start off something she knows there is a 99% chance she'll abandon in a month. Anything important she has to say, she claims, she will tell her family and friends directly, and not blast it over the void.
I'd like to comment on both her remarks. First, we all like to try new things and see if we like them. Sometimes it's a new restaurant and you blow of a little bit of money tasting new things. Sometimes you buy a guitar which rots away after a couple of months. Sometimes we take sky-diving lessons for a whole lot of change, only to discover that it's the farthest thing for what may be described as "for us". Luckily, the Internet and the good folks at dozens of sites, including Blogger, will let us experiment for free. So why not? Maybe we will like it. Maybe we will write things forever. So if this appeals to you even a little bit, and you feel like you might have something that you would like to write or show and tell about, go ahead. You might find that you have a taste for it. Or at least you will know for sure it's not for you.
The second point is this: how often do we really have long hard chats with our friends? I know that if I do have the occasional "heart to heart" conversation where I can be emotional or philosophical or anything else, it's usually with a single friend. Maybe two. Sometimes I would like to convey a message for everyone, and I want to do now, as the muse strikes me. I could e-mail something, but this is so much better. It doesn't feel like it's aimed at anybody in particular, while an e-mail is so directed.
The only problem is that you can't bitch about one friend to another. You bitch to everyone about anyone - somebody out there is saying "I lost more friends that way..." - or you can keep your mouth shut.
I'm thinking of creating another entity and bitch there. Yey Internet and virtual anonymity (nobody believes that we are truly anonymous anymore, do they?).
By the way, "bit-wise dust" is my own invention. Like it? I'm starting to use it for any piece of electronically existing thing that is shelved and never touched. I've also came up with "bugware", but apparently it's already widely used. I guess I'm not as creative as I thought I was.
High Volume
I've had a little bitch-slap because apparently some of my friends do read this and I have not posted in a very long time. There are several reasons for not posting anything. It's not because I had nothing to say, it's just that there were three categories of things I might have written about in the past while. The first category of things - every day life - I was too lazy to write about. The second category of things - things that piss me off - I was too disgusted with to write about. The third categories - thoughts and muses - I was too blank to write about. So I didn't write anything.
However, my meager audience demands something, so here it is.
I've read an article the other day about blogs. Some woman in a national newspaper was putting down personal, general purpose blogs as being pretty stupid. Most, she pointed out, are by people who lose interest very quickly, and their few pearls of dumbness just collect bit-wise dust somewhere on a hard-drive. She said she did not want to start off something she knows there is a 99% chance she'll abandon in a month. Anything important she has to say, she claims, she will tell her family and friends directly, and not blast it over the void.
I'd like to comment on both her remarks. First, we all like to try new things and see if we like them. Sometimes it's a new restaurant and you blow of a little bit of money tasting new things. Sometimes you buy a guitar which rots away after a couple of months. Sometimes we take sky-diving lessons for a whole lot of change, only to discover that it's the farthest thing for what may be described as "for us". Luckily, the Internet and the good folks at dozens of sites, including Blogger, will let us experiment for free. So why not? Maybe we will like it. Maybe we will write things forever. So if this appeals to you even a little bit, and you feel like you might have something that you would like to write or show and tell about, go ahead. You might find that you have a taste for it. Or at least you will know for sure it's not for you.
The second point is this: how often do we really have long hard chats with our friends? I know that if I do have the occasional "heart to heart" conversation where I can be emotional or philosophical or anything else, it's usually with a single friend. Maybe two. Sometimes I would like to convey a message for everyone, and I want to do now, as the muse strikes me. I could e-mail something, but this is so much better. It doesn't feel like it's aimed at anybody in particular, while an e-mail is so directed.
The only problem is that you can't bitch about one friend to another. You bitch to everyone about anyone - somebody out there is saying "I lost more friends that way..." - or you can keep your mouth shut.
I'm thinking of creating another entity and bitch there. Yey Internet and virtual anonymity (nobody believes that we are truly anonymous anymore, do they?).
By the way, "bit-wise dust" is my own invention. Like it? I'm starting to use it for any piece of electronically existing thing that is shelved and never touched. I've also came up with "bugware", but apparently it's already widely used. I guess I'm not as creative as I thought I was.
However, my meager audience demands something, so here it is.
I've read an article the other day about blogs. Some woman in a national newspaper was putting down personal, general purpose blogs as being pretty stupid. Most, she pointed out, are by people who lose interest very quickly, and their few pearls of dumbness just collect bit-wise dust somewhere on a hard-drive. She said she did not want to start off something she knows there is a 99% chance she'll abandon in a month. Anything important she has to say, she claims, she will tell her family and friends directly, and not blast it over the void.
I'd like to comment on both her remarks. First, we all like to try new things and see if we like them. Sometimes it's a new restaurant and you blow of a little bit of money tasting new things. Sometimes you buy a guitar which rots away after a couple of months. Sometimes we take sky-diving lessons for a whole lot of change, only to discover that it's the farthest thing for what may be described as "for us". Luckily, the Internet and the good folks at dozens of sites, including Blogger, will let us experiment for free. So why not? Maybe we will like it. Maybe we will write things forever. So if this appeals to you even a little bit, and you feel like you might have something that you would like to write or show and tell about, go ahead. You might find that you have a taste for it. Or at least you will know for sure it's not for you.
The second point is this: how often do we really have long hard chats with our friends? I know that if I do have the occasional "heart to heart" conversation where I can be emotional or philosophical or anything else, it's usually with a single friend. Maybe two. Sometimes I would like to convey a message for everyone, and I want to do now, as the muse strikes me. I could e-mail something, but this is so much better. It doesn't feel like it's aimed at anybody in particular, while an e-mail is so directed.
The only problem is that you can't bitch about one friend to another. You bitch to everyone about anyone - somebody out there is saying "I lost more friends that way..." - or you can keep your mouth shut.
I'm thinking of creating another entity and bitch there. Yey Internet and virtual anonymity (nobody believes that we are truly anonymous anymore, do they?).
By the way, "bit-wise dust" is my own invention. Like it? I'm starting to use it for any piece of electronically existing thing that is shelved and never touched. I've also came up with "bugware", but apparently it's already widely used. I guess I'm not as creative as I thought I was.
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