Screen caps blatantly snatched from the San Diego Zoo's latest panda blog video. Yes, he does have all of his toes.
The lil' guy's eyes aren't even open yet.
The information from the zoo's latest entries tells us that the black coloring is actually skin pigmentation; what little fur the lil' guy has is still all white.
Who's a boy? Why, he whose baby pictures I have been posting incessantly, making this blog all bears, all the time.... He also weighs nearly 3 pounds at age 4 weeks, and is nearly 15 inches long. Big growth spurt there, from the size of a stick of butter when he was hatched 4 weeks ago....
In other news, I'm home, I'm fried, I'm going straight to sleep. Concerts were both fabulous. There may or may not be pictures later. Don't hold your breath.
Not in that order, though.
Got up yesterday at 4 a.m. Took a taxi, took a plane, took another plane, took a bus, took another bus, took a train, took another train--and here I am at the Westin Hotel in downtown Dallas. This is the place with an ice rink in the atrium. It's hot and muggy here. I wonder if they'd let me go roll around on the ice....
(Actually, I'm at the Corner Bakery where they have spotty-but-free wi-fi, as opposed to the not-so-spotty-but-pricey hotel wi-fi.)
Tonight the Moody Blues play the first show of a double-header with the Dallas Symphony. Bob arranged a fan gathering in the restaurant at the symphony center before tomorrow night's show; we're expecting at least 50 people there, from all over the country and maybe folks from other places as well.
Did I mention we have front row seats? I have some great friends.... :)
You can lead a horse to water.
Dealing with the other end of the horse can be a bit more problematic, not to mention messy.
And if the horseshoe fits, you know what to do.
If I weren't up and working at oh-dark-hundred, I wouldn't see this out my window.
Zoom lenses are your friend. Here's the view without the zoom:
I didn't even have to get out of my chair for this.
Now that's what I call an honest and open debating tactic.
Somebody just said that to me on a public (allegedly) professional bulletin board when I challenged their premise.
Way to make your point, o nameless one.
Speaking of lizards... Geico has gone back to live with Jennifer, his original mommy, as of yesterday. I shall miss the lil' rotter. Somewhat. He actually bit me yesterday before he left, after a long dry spell of many months. What's up with that?
So long, my boneheaded buddy.
Several years ago I started getting e-mailed jokes from someone I didn't know. The jokes were actually pretty good, compared to the dreck that usually makes the rounds of the in-boxes.
I finally e-mailed the joker back--and it turned out she thought she was e-mailing a co-worker. The co-worker must have an e-mail address very close to mine. (But I am the one, the only original CrankyBeach. Never forget that.)
Not too long after that, I got an e-mail that contained some pretty privileged information. It had to do with that lady's cell phone account.
I called her provider, told them they were e-mailing the wrong person, and never heard anything again.
Earlier this evening I was telling this story to some friends. So imagine my surprise when I got home, to find a confirmation of my DirecTV order. Addressed to the other lady, at my e-mail address.
So I called DirecTV to tell them they had the wrong person--and the very nice phone rep told me their computer system is undergoing maintenance until 6 a.m. eastern time, so I'll have to call back in the morning.
Do you know what I could DO with the information I've collected over the years on this lady, were I the larcenous type?? (No, I haven't saved any of it, and don't intend to, and I'll be deleting the DirecTV message just as soon as I straighten them out. And no, I don't have her correct e-mail address, or I'd just straighten her out myself.)
Let this be a lesson to you. Be very, very careful when giving your e-mail address to companies you do business with, that you have them read it back to you and make sure they have it exactly right.
No such luck. Still watching the bears.
That baby gets cuter (and fatter) every day. I wish the zoo would post some updates on how much s/he has grown....
A concert reviewer who gets it.
For those who don't feel like clicking on the link, or in case the link is broken by the time you read this... it's Dan Aquilante of the New York Post, reviewing last week's sold-out Moody Blues show at Radio City Music Hall. The money quote:
... why hasn't the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the Moody Blues? It doesn't make sense given the band's contribution to rock and its continuing performance excellence. On second thought, forget the feeble Hall of Fame; the Moody Blues are still a rock band -- not a museum piece.
Baby was all alone for a few minutes while Mama left the den on business of her own.
Lots and lots of squirming, but no real crawling yet.
Then Mama came back and scooped up the lil' rascal.
... baby poses adorably for the world-wide-web public.
Shall I roll over now, so you can see my other side?
Oof. Made it. That was hard!
Time to rest now. I'm exhausted.
Fortunately, I hadn't dished enough details to identify the guilty, or named any names, on the theory of not gossiping.
Good thing, because I just found out by Googling for another reason entirely that a new acquaintance of mine knows somebody who knows somebody who . . . well. That's all I'm going to stay.
Just remember, when you live in a small town, that six degrees of separation is a vast overstatement. Thus, be very careful what you say.
Words to the wise.
Baby gets a bath from mama's great big tongue:
Baby takes a peek at the outside world:
And escapes custody, but only for a moment. You can see the distinctive panda coloration just starting to come in.
Just look at those great big claws on mama bear:
And nary a scratch on the little one.
What? Bath time again ALREADY??
C'mon, mama! Lemme outa here!
Fine. I'll just suck my thumb.
And now I'll play peek-a-boo.
Whoops! Now I faw down go boom!
Hey, you mean I'm really supposed to eat this stuff when I grow up? Later. My teeth don't work so good yet.
So much more comfy back in mama's embrace, nose to chin....
Hey, mister cameraman, I'm ready for my close-up now.
Even with 3 or 4 popup blockers running, some sites still managed to feed me pop-under ad windows. One of the worst offenders has been Snopes.com, a site I like to check fairly often to see what's new in the world of urban legends. But every time, I would get 2 or 3 very annoying pop-under ad windows which I would then have to manually close. Very annoying.
If this problem plagues you too... try this. But only if you're using Firefox. (And if you're not... why not??)
(No, they did not pay me to advertise their product, and I don't see that they charge for it anyway.)
You can actually see quite a bit of the baby in this one, head and front paw, and the still-unopened (I presume) eyes....
Listening to the Vintage Rock channel on Boomer Radio, I am hearing about "a warm San Franciscan night."
Based on the usual temperatures in that geographical area, I can only conclude that anyone experiencing a warm San Franciscan night must have been smoking some pretty wacky tobaccy.
As you were.
This is the most I've seen yet of the baby when mama is also in the picture.
Another shot, just a few minutes later:
From the position of the baby's legs, I think it must be lying on its back, with its head pointed towards the top of the picture.
... another picture of mama bear and baby panda bear. See that tiny little paw peeking out, just below mama's great big snout?
I have NO idea how that great big mama bear keeps from squashing that tiny little baby bear... but this is her fifth cub, so apparently she knows what to do.
You can blame faithful reader Bum for this one. He directed me to the San Diego zoo's pandacam--where they have a brand-new baby panda, fresh out of the oven.
Their pandacam apparently is not in color, and most of the time you can't see the baby because mama is curled protectively around it--but she just left the nest to do some undisclosed business of her own, and left the baby visible for just a few minutes:
The accompanying information says that the baby was about the size of a stick of butter when it was born.
... on camera 1, we have a snacker:
Meanwhile, over on camera 2, we have a snoozer:
If you want to get anything else done, that is.
Just a word of warning, to the wise.
Check out the national zoo's pandacams.
Camera 1
Camera 2
The best time to see them outdoors is the morning; in the evening, they are indoors, sometimes snoozing, sometimes chowing down on bamboo, or just wandering around. There is a live operator running the cameras, and they follow the pandas around to make sure they are in view as much as possible.
Viewing time is limited to 15 minutes per session.
I could not screen-capture an image of the cam so this is an actual photograph of my computer screen. Sorry about the wiggly lines.
I wasn't going to go, because it was right after I got back from my big trip... but the Moody Blues played relatively nearby Thursday evening. I had said (facetiously) that I wasn't going to go unless somebody gave me tickets.
Then Wednesday morning Pam e-mailed and said she had some extras; did I want them? Yeah, I did.
No cameras were allowed in the venue, but we got this shot with Pam's phone, and I am shamelessly stealing it to post here. That's me, Pam, and Cheryl, before the concert.
The concert was fabulous, as always. They dropped 3 songs from last year's setlist and added in 4 new ones, all of which went over very well. Two out of the 3 dropped songs I was happy to do without, but I did miss the former opener, "Lovely to see you." Now they're opening with "The voice," which is a good song too, but it's not nearly as "Lovely," and that's just my not-so-humble opinion.
Back then, while attending college as part of my second midlife crisis, in the English composition and critical thinking class, we were to read certain essays (including one by Gates) and then answer some questions. Here is what I wrote in February of 1999 for this assignment:
According to Henry Louis Gates, Jr., multiculturalism is thought to be “a pretty name for ethnic chauvinism” and “the mindless celebration of difference.” He then declares the debate “miscast from the beginning,” stating “I don’t think that is what multiculturalism . . . ought to be.” Substituting a definition of his own, “ . . . truly humane learning, unblinkered by . . . narrow ethnocentrism,” he gives examples to support multiculturalism as he defines it, using “cultural pluralism” synonymously. Writings that oppose his view he dismisses as “jeremiad.” (My dictionary defines this to mean “mournful and lamenting.”)
Gates would have served his readers better if he had made it clearer throughout that the “multiculturalism” he supports is not what most people, by his admission, think of when they hear that word. In the third paragraph he more or less wishes away the commonly held definition of the term and substitutes his own. He then argues in favor of his version of “multiculturalism,” neglecting to mention that opponents of multiculturalism do not in fact oppose that which he supports. I find such sophistry highly annoying. When commentators can only make their point by knocking down a “straw dog,” I can only conclude that their argument lacks substance. Who but the most rabid Eurocentrist could argue against “multiculturalism” as Gates defines it? Recent news events have clearly shown that attempting to re-define words to suit one’s own wishes brings only ridicule and loss of credibility.
We could give Gates the benefit of the doubt and applaud his attempt to reclaim the word and assign to it the meaning he thinks it should have. However, for maximum impact, one must speak the language of one’s audience. Gates would be much more credible if he had found a new way to describe his vision of “truly humane learning” without using a word that has come to mean something entirely different in popular usage.
As I write this, I have been stranded in Phoenix since last night, due to freaky storms. What is it with airline pilots, anyway, that they don't want to land their planes sideways in the thick of the lightning, cross-winds, monsoons and dust devils? Huh? What's up with that?
Hopefully I will get out of here and get home tonight. I actually have confirmed seats--but then again, I had confirmed seats last night too, and a whole lot of good THAT did me. Had to spend last night in a hotel; it was either that or try to sack out in the airport, and last time I did that, I was MUCH younger.... And because it was a weather problem, and thus not the airline's fault, they did not issue free room (or free meal) vouchers. Oh well. I was the bottom of the standby heap this morning, and did not get on that flight, although my suitcase did. So my suitcase will be back in the ol' home town before me. At least I won't have to wait for baggage claim... but I may have to wait for the lone gate agent to appear from wherever they hide between flights to get my suitcase out of the lock-up.
No, I am not sitting in the swanky "club" lounge with the free coffee. I had a free pass for the outbound flight 11 days ago, when I had a 3-hour layover, but this trip, customer service assured me they are not able to issue complementary club passes, and I am not paying 40 bucks for a day pass. 40 bucks does not a free cup of coffee make....
Meanwhile, I have just a couple of photos from the adventure at the National Zoo. No those are not stuffed animals, despite their appearance.
More or less, anyway.
There will be pictures later, I promise... but as I write this, I am in the Amtrak departure lounge in Washington, D.C., just leaving the national writers' conference behind for another year.
This morning we went to the national zoo and the giant pandas were out for a terrific photo op. Took LOTS of pictures--but the camera and its card are buried deep in my backpack now, and I am not digging them out again, so you'll have to wait for the pictures. Don't be holding your breath either; I won't be home until Monday night, because we're riding the train from D.C. to Chicago, arriving tomorrow morning, then to Milwaukee, and I fly home from Milwaukee tomorrow evening.
Last Tuesday we did all three branches of government in one day; the White House at 7:30 a.m. (we didn't see very much of it, and the East Room is MUCH smaller than I thought), then we switched hotels, then we went to the Capitol (with a brief stop at the Library of Congress while we waited for our Capitol appointment) and lastly, the Supreme Court, where we had lunch in the basement cafeteria. We ate at the Supreme Court. Go figure.
We also managed visits to the Washington Monument, the World War II and Vietnam memorials, the Lincoln Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery (where we were fortunate enough to witness a changing of the guard ceremony), and the Air and Space Museum.
Yes, our feet hurt. Thank you for asking.
Oh, and somewhere in the midst of all that, we attended the annual national writers' conference.
If you aren't listening, why not??
For my fellow old farts, I have been compiling a partial list of artists who appear on the Vintage Rock channel. Look interesting? Then for heaven's sakes, TUNE IN!
Al Kooper
Al Stewart
Alice Cooper
Allman Brothers Band
American Dream
Animals
Argent
Arlo Guthrie
Beatles
Big Brother & The Holding Company
Blind Faith
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blue Cheer
Blues Magoos
Blues Project
Boz Scaggs
Brian Auger & The Trinity
Bruce Springsteen
Bubble Puppy
Buddy Miles
Buffalo Springfield
Byrds
Canned Heat
Cat Stevens
Chambers Brothers
Chicago
Circus Maximus
Colin Blunstone
Colosseum
Compost
Country Joe and The Fish
Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
Cream
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Crosby, Stills, Nash
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Cryan Shames
Danny O'Keefe
Dave Mason
David Allan & The Arrows
David Crosby
Deep Purple
Delaney and Bonnie & Friends
Derek & The Dominoes
Donovan
Doors
Dr. John, The Night Tripper
Eagles
Earth Opera
Edgar Winter Group
Edison Electric Band
Electric Flag
Electric Prunes
Elton John
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Eric Clapton
Everything is Everything
Fairport Convention
Fever Tree
Fleetwood Mac
Flying Burrito Brothers
Focus
Frank Zappa
Free
Frijid Pink
George Harrison
Graham Nash
Grand Funk Railroad
Grass Roots
Grateful Dead
Greg Allman
Harry Nilsson
Hollies
Hookfoot
Hot Tuna
Ides Of March
Iron Butterfly
It's A Beautiful Day
Jack Bruce
Jackie Lomax
James Gang
Janis Joplin
Jeff Beck
Jefferson Airplane
Jesse Winchester
Jethro Tull
Jimi Hendrix
Jimmie Spheeris
Jo Jo Gunne
Joan Baez
Joe Cocker
John Lennon
John Mayall
John Renbourn
John Sebastian
Joni Mitchell
Judy Collins
Julie Driscoll And Brian Auger & The Trinity
KAK
King Crimson
Kinks
Laura Nyro
Led Zeppelin
Lee Michaels
Leon Russell
Leonard Cohen
Lighthouse
Lindisfarne
Lou Reed
Love
Lovin' Spoonful
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Mark-Almond
Max Frost & The Troopers
MC5
Melanie
Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper & Stephen Stills
Moby Grape
Moody Blues
Mothers Of Invention
Mott The Hoople
Nazz
Neil Young
New Riders Of The Purple Sage
Norman Greenbaum
Orpheus
Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Pentangle
People
Phil Ochs
Pink Floyd
Poco
Procol Harum
Queen
Quicksilver Messenger Service
Redbone
Rhinoceros
Richie Havens
Rolling Stones
Santana
Savoy Brown
Seatrain
Simon & Garfunkel
Sly & The Family Stone
Small Faces
Smith
Spencer Davis Group
Spirit
Spooky Tooth
Status Quo
Stephen Stills
Steppenwolf
Steve Miller Band
Strawbs
T. Rex
Taj Mahal
Teegarden & Van Winkle
Ten Wheel Drive
Ten Years After
The Band
Them
Thunderclap Newman
Tim Hardin
Tom Rush
Traffic
Van Morrison
Vanilla Fudge
Who, The
Yardbirds
Yes
Youngbloods
Zombies
ZZ Top
Daily Dose of Caffeine May Cure Alzheimer's, Scientists Find
I am still not sure how they define a "cup," though. Since my favorite coffee mug is about the size of a large bucket, I have always had to make adjustments when I hear about how many "cups" of coffee per day will do this or that.
Excuse me. I have to go pour another dose of anti-brain-rot medicine now.
(Hat tip: Sarahk, via Twitter)
Remember the incident where my credit card number was compromised, and I started receiving all kinds of interesting "products" in the mail?
In spite of the comic relief and blog-fodder achieved through that incident, it's been one big headache, because despite multiple promises and assurances, the credit card issuer, as of yesterday, had STILL not actually closed my account (I was assured it was closed back on November 11, 2008) and even allowed more fraudulent charges to get through after the card had been canceled. Then they charged an annual fee on the dead credit card, and started slapping me with late fees and finance charges. Apparently my closed account even went to collection.
After yet another a lengthy time on the phone yesterday (they should be paying me for my time, methinks) I am assured once again that the account has been closed and all charges have been reversed. I will believe that when I see it. (Hint: I am not holding my breath.)
At the end of the call, I informed the very nice phone representative that while of course I did not hold her personally responsible for the mess, she needed to pass the word upstairs that I would never, EVER do business with their company again. She was sorry to hear it--but said she completely understood where I was coming from.
Oh, you want to hear who messed up so badly? Well, I won't mention their name directly, but their initials are B of A....
Not quite the baby she was when I got her, though....
Here's a view you don't see too often. Observe the adorable belly-markings, and the "fingers." Just to the right of the "fingers" you can see a couple of her back toes wrapped around the branch.
She was in predator mode, ready to leap for the front of the cage and eat whatever she saw moving. Unfortunately for her, what she saw moving was just my shadow. No live prey for the baby. She had to make do with gecko-goo. How boring.
(That's Firefly, for those who are keeping score.)
Do not mix decolorized iodine with hydrogen peroxide. You will be sorry. Guaranteed.
Saw an item in the paper about using white or decolorized iodine on the nails to strengthen them. Actually managed to find the stuff at the local specialty pharmacy, and started using it.
Unfortunately, I had not seen this item before I used hydrogen peroxide on something else today, and now my right thumbnail looks just like I soaked it in Betadine. Yuck.
I wonder how long it'll take to wear off....
