F & I

Once, not that long ago, there was a little bull and his name was Ferdinand. Ferdinand loved, of all things, the beach. He only knew it because Florinda, the farmer's daughter spoke so lovingly of the beach on her cell phone when she fed them hay every afternoon. Pretending to focus only on his salt lick, he would listen intently to her rave about the South Pacific's beautiful islands and their perfect beaches. And he adored these stories. He longed to stroll along these beaches. Not just any beach, though. The one he longed to see the most was the famed midnight blue sands of the South Pacific island of Calovella. Oddly enough, Ferdinand's lover was Isabella. Both of them had grand plans to sail to the island, claim it as their own and make it a cattle-only island (no humans allowed). They managed to escape their small rural village of Basque country. An unguarded pleasure yacht (and Ferdinand's ability to unfasten nautical knots with his hooves) was the key to their escape. Isabella had a way with machines and managed to sail them to Calovella in only 9 hours. (Ferdinand had figured it would take them 12 and had even carried some hay and a little wine for their journey.) When they arrived, the first thing Isabella wanted to do was tan on the beach. So they did. They lolled around languidly, until Ferdinand asked Isabella for a milkshake. After she produced some, he smiled and put his hoof in hers. They smiled at their accomplishment -- no cattle had ever devised such a cunning escape. And they had even pulled it off! The sunset before them was astounding -- red and gold fire on the calm but mercurial South Pacific waters. F & I were happy.

Note: This story is based on an Exquisite Corpse from Busboys and Poets.

'shrooms

What a pleasant surprise to see Wakayama mentioned online! I love the fact that their yummy mushrooms are getting some love from the blogworld. Roll it out and eat it up -- those glow-in-the-dark 'shrooms look so delicious.

I recall talking about mushrooms with my students and they told me, "Oh, yeah, my family owns a mushroom mountain. That's where we go mushroom picking." Their parents jobs were mushroom agriculture. Amazing.

So can you eat these super mushrooms? I have no idea. But it takes me back to a happy time, in a tiny village, with wonderful people and delicious mushrooms.



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Now playing on iTunes: Andy Williams - It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (A Shrift Remix)

This is Umerica

Worlds Most Lazy Lawn Mower
Originally uploaded by B-S

I thought I was lazy until I saw this. Yeah, she can walk. She just can't be bothered. After all, this is Umerica. Bless her heart!

ass man

Ass Man at the Horse Races
Originally uploaded by gastonfernandez

OMG. I really would have loved to have seen this when I was in Japan. This is one of those lovely Engrish shirts that just stops you in your tracks and makes you appreciate life.

You've got to admire it when guys let you know their proclivities in such an upfront way. Takes a real man to do that!

prefuse

Melange-ilicious. Prefuse 73 has some amazing skillz. Loving the mashup sensibility with the lyrical sensitivity. Also, great running music.



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Now playing on iTunes: Prefuse 73 - Prepared As It Was

parking garage chic

Library Parking Garage
Originally uploaded by jonathan_moreau

I hereby nominate this as the coolest parking garage. EVER. I want to park up inside some Dickins. Why not? I think that's a perfect place to be. Go, Kansas City, for making good use of ugly parking garages. You rock.


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Now playing on iTunes: DJ Bitman - El Diablo (feat. Jimmy Fernandez)

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Now playing on iTunes: DJ Bitman - El Diablo (feat. Jimmy Fernandez)

army 10 miler

Running DC IMG_0576
Originally uploaded by Ian Dowling

I put myself though another 10-miler. This one was great -- no stress and very little strain. My pace was a strong: 9:27 per mile. I whipped through the course in 1:34. That was just four minutes over my goal, so I was psyched. Cheers to Ian, whom I've never met, but who ran the same race and just married my friend, Tiff. Loved this picture, dude.

Here are a few more pics of the race. Thanks, uber-handy Apple Grab app, for saving me mad $$$ on the pricy downloads! P.S. Don't rat me out to the copyright overlords, please.



Slideshow of this and my other pics.









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Now playing on iTunes: Midival Punditz featuring Vishal Vaid - Khayaal

running wounded

Ran the Army 10-miler yesterday and I had a strange experience. It was a very emotional day for me. I think it might have been the endorphins playing crazy with my melon, but I'm not sure. It was 8 AM when the four apache helicopters flew just a hundred feet above us. We were lined up on the highway, hopping, stretching and rolling our heads around.

They zoomed over, raising the hairs on the back of my neck and giving me chills to be near so much power. The chaplain on the PA announced the start of the race for the "wounded warriors." These were the guys who ran with their prosthetic limbs and wounded hearts. They struggled with each step because their bodies had been torn apart by this war. I passed a few by mile marker one. And my heart just broke for them. Tearing up a bit, I wiped salty tears from my eyes and wondered what it must be like to run on these plastic and silicon replacements parts. One of them had a T-shirt that read, "The Bionic Man." He got a lot of cheers. Good for him -- take a sad song and make it better, like the Beatles instructed.

He bounced along on oddly shaped, springy half moons of composite material. He reminded me of a satyr or some such creature because of the odd shape of the synthetic feet. This year's race had a record number of them. I cheered them on because I can't begin to put myself in their place. Could you imagine what it must be like to experience something like that?

This morning, I ran across a gif image of an IED roadside bomb and I could visualize what some of these guys might have experienced during the last few seconds of wholeness. How horrific. An unbelievable mushroom of earth and fire. Force created to destroy. To tear apart limb from limb. Drawn and quartered by detonation.





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Now playing on iTunes: Delphinium Blue - Dupont Circle 4am

exhausted, but healing.

Ragged and red, I'm recovering from Piga's annual rafting trip and mobile alcohol binge. It's Anywhere Goes. It was a small but friendly group this year and I wish I would've been perkier after the long busride, because I forgot to get business cards so that I could connect with folks. But I might run into them somewhere and reconnect.

Phil and I shared a raft and I was a bit surprised that we got flipped. I guess even veteran river rats can get tossed, now and then. It's been at least a year since I gulped up river water. Hope I don't get the beaver fever. Ick.

I got to know a few movie night friends better and I even met two new Louisiana escapees. Scott, a graphic design professor at Gallaudet, lost his family home to Katrina. But he still managed to win "best smile," despite all of that. He *did* have a nice smile, too.

Jonathan, a former teacher from Boston, shared with me his stories of teaching math in an inner city Edison charter school. Amazing. And he had nice Japanese tattoos, too.

I also met a cool veterinarian from Pennsylvania, Marc. He has the auspicious sound-alike that brings to mind Obi Wan Kenobi.

Just got an amazing massage from Julia. She has magic hands. Wish I could afford to have her over more than twice a month! She brought green bean casserole with fried onion topping. Yum. That alone is worth a happy dance. Combine it with the afterglow of the massage, the pink cheeks of my only sunburn of the season and I'm positively glowing right now.

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Now playing on iTunes: JUDY AND MARY - Sobakasu

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Now playing on iTunes: T.M.Revolution - Invoke

this can't end well.

Yep, we've all had moments like this. Ouch. Normally, this happens to me verbally. I open up my piehole and blabber on and on about something, only to realize that I've just completely said the wrong thing. Stand-up comics at least have the dignity of a spotlight and a microphone. And quite often, they have a classy brick wall background. But when I'm standing there and somebody's face is contorting into complete rage over something I said, I have just left my airborne bike and I'm heading for the pavement!