I’m moving house soon so everything has been rather stressful lately. Honestly, I thank god for porn some days, it’s the ultimate stress-reliever. Better than those squishy ball things. But anyway, times move on and so I’m offski to pastures new.
One of my mates is trying to convince me to have a house-warming party but I’m not too sure how my new flatmates would feel about it. I know it sounds a bit lame but I actually really like fancy dress parties. When I was little we had this Sainsbury’s cookbook for children’s parties that I always used to look through when I was bored. There was one recipe that was a pirate ship birthday cake made out of wafer biscuits. I think I slightly resented my parents that I never had a pirate themed birthday.
Now I’m a bit more grown-up and pirate-themed birthdays are out of the question, yet I still want fancy dress, I have to come out with something a tad more adult. Which is why I think masquerade would be perfect. Everyone is dressed up the nines, the girls are looking hot, and you can’t see anyone’s faces! It’s this combined with alcohol that is bound to cause everyone to lose his or her inhibitions. It this exact environment that will ensure all kinds of naughty things happen. Which is perfect for a house-warming. You want the kind of party that will have everyone talking about for the rest of the month. Some proper water-cooler moments. People romping under the coats in a quiet, dark bedroom, 3 or 4 people coming out the bathroom at once, couples breaking up in spectacular gossip-worthy fights, cases of drunken mistaken identity. Oh it would be glorious! Thinking about it quite makes me want to go watch Maskerade with JJ, Michelle B and Jay Snake. I do love a good bit of DP in the morning ;)

• Q #1:
  

I've heard that long-haul truckers can get really zoned out behind the wheel late at night and it's dangerous to be anywhere near them on the highway late at night/early in the morning. Is this really true or just a myth?

• A:
  

It can be true, but not a rule. Also such concerns shouldn't be limited to late night and early morning, because we don't know the driver's sleeping schedule. The same could go for a driver at high noon.

The fact of the matter is if you don't have to drive near a big rig, don't. Don't hang out behind them, because they can't see you all the time. Don't hang out beside them, because they have a lot of blind spots, and their view is further impaired when going around curves due to the fact that the truck bends in the middle.

That's the honest answer. Stay away if you can. If you find yourself next to a truck in traffic, speed up or slow down, and get a safe distance from them. Normally there's nothing to worry about, but accidents happen, and when a big rig is involved, the bigger the accident will be. These areas around a truck are sometimes called "The No Zone" and for good reason. ;) In the illustration I included the truck has four cars around it, and quite possibly can't see any of them. :neutral: Something to think about. ;)

• Q #2:

When you're carrying valuable cargo do you have to worry about being "ambushed" or anything strange like that? In my industry, I know the guys who drive the big Harley-Davidson delivery trucks cross country are always on the lookout for such weird happenings and I've wondered about other truckers.

• A:
  

Yes, land pirates are a real threat. There are special precautions that you have to take when under certain loads, but drivers should always stay aware of their surroundings. You just never know when the unthinkable might happen.

There are even specific locations that trucking companies don't want you stopping at, or in some cases even driving through. Along with that there are hot spots where they want you to use extreme caution. Every now and then we will get warnings from dispatch of fowl play and precautions to take. We personally have not run into any such problems, but we may be able to attribute that to the fact that we heed all of the warnings. ;)

Do you have a question you’d like to ask a trucker? If so, click here. If you’d like to read Q & A’s already asked of a trucker, click here.

The "Candy Bats" are there. "Jawbreaker Bats" and "The Cupcake House" are there also.

This is the zombie/medical section.

YARR!!! Thar be a pirate section!

The kids are there too.

Everything is for sale except Scallywag. I'm not ready to part with him yet. If you are interested in one of the pieces email me at JinxedArt.com

Stop by and check it out (and maybe get pierced)

Somatic Body Piercing

3406 E. Broadway

Long Beach, CA 90803

Hours:

Sunday-Friday 12-8pm

Saturday 12-10pm

Peter Pan began life in 1938 as an adult play by the Scot James M. Barrie. Later Walt Disney animated the story. More recently Peter Pan went back to the stage as a musical.

In Barrie’s story, Peter Pan coaxes the three Darling children, Wendy, John, and Michael, to fly off with him to Neverland. There they join Peter’s band of lost boys for adventures with pirates, Indians, and the famous ticking crocodile.

The children eventually go home to grow up, but Peter refuses to grow up. He returns to Neverland.

Peter Pan is both more serious and more funny than Disney or musicals make it appear. Barrie uses his whimsical story to ridicule childishness in all its forms.

The Darlings’ calculations of whether they can afford children, the explanation of how mothers put their children’s minds in order each night, the story of how the Darlings acquired a dog as a nurse for their children — these are delights beyond the thrills of flying and killing pirates.

Most libraries carry a novelized version of Barrie’s play in their children’s collection. Find a copy and some children to share it with. You’ll enjoy reading it and the kids won’t know it wasn’t written for them.

© 2007 Linda Gorton Aragoni

But the Harvard viewbook is very long.

So I was making the transition from "reading every word" to "reading the stuff in big colored letters and looking at the pictures," and feeling my eyes starting to glaze over, and thinking I should maybe start on my second AP Lit essay now that I know for sure I'll be able to take the class-- when I reached the section on extracurriculars and the following statement, in plain black type, caught my eye:

There are pirates, too.

!

Except what it actually said was

There are parties, too.

Which is just boring, and probably not something that Harvard needs to advertise.

I'm not even sure how my brain managed to swap the "r" and the "a" and shunt the "i" all the way to the beginning, but then again I'm not sure how my brain does all sorts of things.

If I end up at Harvard, I will start a pirates club.  It will be some kind of underground organization that buries "treasure" (like a chest full of paper clips) in random places and leaves treasure maps around so people could find them.  And we would occasionally interrupt class by saying "ARR" for no reason at all.  It'll be a very exclusive club.  Everyone will be clamoring to get in.

Um, so anyway.

Pernahkah Anda melihat ulang hubungan Anda dengan dia? Cinta sesungguh-sungguhnyakah? Atau Anda sulit berpaling darinya yang begitu seksi dan menggetarkan all the time? Dua pendekatan ini akan punya ujung yang berbeda.

1 . Momen apa yang menurut Anda paling membahagiakan ketika bersamanya?
a. Ketika dia menyatakan cintanya, dengan tatapan penuh perasaan.
b. Ketika dia sangat mengerti keinginanku yang terdalam. Dia seperti memujaku begitu rupa.
c. Ketika aku bisa memeluknya dengan erat, mengusap punggungnya mesra, saat dia sedang down berat.

2. Seberapa ingin Anda menikah dengannya? Mengapa?
a. Ingin sekali. Sangat ingin. Aku seperti layangan putus tanpanya.
b. Ingin sekali. Dia begitu hangat dan penuh cinta. Membuat "kupu-kupu di perutku" beterbangan selalu.
c. Mau! Karena hanya dia yang bisa mengerti aku, tanpa aku perlu bicara banyak.

3. Dia sedang sibuk berat dan Anda tidak bisa bertemu dengannya dalam waktu yang cukup lama. Berapa lama Anda bisa menahan diri untuk tidak menghubunginya?
a. Cukup lama. Kalau dia membutuhkanku, dia akan meneleponku. Lagipula, mestinya dia mengerti kalau aku kangen sekali padanya.
b. Tidak terlalu lama, mungkin. Kangen sekali. Telepon-telepon pendek dan SMS lumayan menyembuhkan.
c. Tidak terlalu lama. Apa jadinya aku tanpa dia? Perasaanku sering meloncat-loncat tanpanya. Kangen sekali.

4. Apa yang paling ingin Anda katakan padanya saat ini?
a. I love you. Miss you!
b. I love you. I miss you so much!
c. I love you. Semoga kamu baik-baik saja hari ini.

5. Hal apa yang paling mengingatkan Anda padanya?
a. Aromanya yang khas. Dia tidak akan bisa mengaku sebagai orang lain karena aku begitu hapal baunya.
b. Apa, ya? Suaranya, mungkin. Karena dia selalu bisa melontarkan kata-kata manis yang luar biasa untukku.
c. Duh pertanyaan yang sulit. Aku akan selalu teringat padanya setiap kali ada masalah ataupun ketika punya kabar gembira.

6. Anda paling senang melihatnya tampil seperti apa?
a. Seperti ketika aku pertama kali mengenalnya.
b. Dia punya beberapa gaya tampilan tertentu yang membuatku deg-degan.
c. Tampil ganteng, karena akan membuatku bangga jalan di sebelahnya.

7. Saat berdua saja dengannya, aktivitas apa yang menurut Anda paling nyaman?
a. Berpelukan hingga tertidur di dadanya.
b. Ketika dia membelai rambut dan menatapku dengan pandangan penuh cinta.
c. Ketika dia merangkul pinggangku dengan getaran yang luar biasa.

SKOR ANDA:
1. a:6 b: 4 c: 2
2. a: 2 b: 6 c: 4
3. a: 4 b: 2 c: 6
4. a: 4 b: 6 c: 2
5. a: 6 b: 4 c: 2
6. a: 2 b: 6 c: 4
7. a: 2 b: 4 c: 6

YOU HAVE:
18 - 29: TRUE LOVE
Anda sudah betul-betul jatuh cinta padanya. Sudah tidak lagi menggebu-gebu. Perasaan yang dalam dan penuh sayang.Anda akan dengan senang hati dan ketulusan penuh menemaninya ketika dia sedang susah. Bisa menghibur, mengusap punggungnya, atau membuatkannya teh manis hangat untuk mengurangi flunya, adalah anugerah terindah yang pernah ada. Rasa cinta yang malah itu terpancar dari mata Anda.

30 - 41: TRUE YOU
Anda mencintainya karena dia begitu mengerti Anda. Dia tahu bagaimana memanjakan Anda, memperlakukan Anda dengan begitu luar biasa. Dan selama itu semua tidak berubah, dia mau melakukan apa pun untuk Anda, maka Anda akan terus terpikat padanya.
Tampaknya dia bahagia bisa membahagiakan Anda. Dan sudah saatnya Anda melakukan hal yang sama terhadapnya. Jika Anda merasa keberatan atau tidak nyaman melakukannya, maka sudah waktunya Anda melihat kembali hubungan ini. Jangan-jangan selama ini dia bukanlah kekasih Anda, melainkan bodyguard yang lembut hati.

42 - 54: TRUE LUST
Aih, dia betul-betul menggemaskan Anda. Caranya bicara, berjalan, berpakaian, bersikap, dan berperilaku, sungguh membuat Anda tak berkutik. Perut terasa terus-terusan bergejolak setiap kaii mengingatnya. Apalagi membayangkan tangannya yang kokoh dan pelukan hangat itu. Duh. Ya, cinta pun begitu bentuknya.Tinggal pandai-pandai Anda memilah, seberapa besar beda love dan lust pada diri Anda terhadapnya. Gejolak itu pertanda cinta ketika Anda rela tak berciuman sedikit pun, walau sedang berdua saja, di saat dia sedang dilanda perasaan malang (atau sariawan).

(www.kompas.com)

"The Pirate Bay, the world's most notorious and illicit torrent-tracking service allowing millions of users to download copyrighted movies, software, games and other works for free, has tentatively renamed itself The Beijing Bay. The name change was in protest to the International Olympic Committee seeking Sweden's assistance in stopping the site from tracking footage of the ongoing Olympics in Beijing. The Pirate Bay has no intention of blocking Olympic footage."

Maya is sick and tired of life on a boat with her marine biologist parents, her brother, and her baby sister. She's sick of not having any privacy, of not having any friends, even of listening to her dad's story of a fantastical island and the giants, mermaids, and the like who live there. She doesn't care anymore about the Red Coral Project her parents are working for, or the strange bioluminescent sea creatures they keep finding. She wants to go live with her grandmother on land and go to school like a normal person.

Instead, she and her family get caught in a nasty storm, in which her parents - and the rowboat - go missing and the GPS, radio, and even the compass, get broken. The nearest land is a mysterious island on which vines grow like snakes and fish actually fly... you see where this is going.

It gets there. Its outright flaws - for instance, the level of technology available on Tamarind¹ - can be dealt with. Unfortunately, even ignoring the flaws, it just fails to be particularly memorable.

October 2008

_______________________________
¹Generally cut off from the outside world, modern navigation and communication technology doesn't work there, the ships are all sail-driven (I think), and the naval battles revolve around cannons. We have pirates and the women are all in dresses. Baths involve large metal tubs and water heated over a stove (how the stove is heated is not specified). We seem pretty firmly in a Peter Pan-esque technology set.

And then there are cars. Modern ones. They are few and mostly in the possession of the very rich, and gas does seem to be a problem. Now, I will grant, and happily, that in much of the world the very rich have cars and everyone else lives in dirt-floored shacks with no running water. There are two three reasons that I am not content to consider Tamarind in the same situation:

1. In most places, if the rulers have access to modern technology, some of that will be investigated in their armed forces. Cannons and sailboats.

2. Where did they come from? Aside from a few people who manage to cross between Tamarind and the Outside, there's no contact. There is certainly no trade. On the island, we hear of one factory, processing sugarcane. The towns are small, and even the one or two cities aren't very large. There just doesn't seem to be either the technology or the economy of scale needed to make vehicle manufacturing productive.

3. It just doesn't feel right.

So, I'll promise you this much: I will try my hardest to post at least twice a week and more if I have the time. most weeks though from now on I'll try to get at least 3 posts up a week and a minimum of 2 posts a week unless something urgent comes up.

don't you hate it when real life gets in the way of blogging...I just hate when that happens!

onwards and upwards! right? right!

the cards had a nice little road trip didn't they? it got off to a bad start because they dropped two of three to the cubs. then, it got much better when they went to florida and took three out of four from the fish. a griffey and dunn-less cincy team did not seem like they were too tough; cards take two out of three from them.

so, cards come home after a 6 and 5 trip. now, they are home for 7 games; two against pittsburgh, two against milwaukee and three versus atlanta.

a bit off topic here; if I can make one conclusion about slick rick as a hitter is that he cannot hit in pressure situations with men in scoring position. case and point: sunday's game against the reds. he had two real good chances to get the cards closer or even tie the game but he struck out once with the bases loaded and then struck out again in the 6th inning with two men on.

off to another topic, mr. wainwright. what in the world is tony and/or dunc thinking? off course adam is more valuable as a starter because he has the possibility of giving you a lot more quality innings than he would once every two days as a closer.

besides, perez has been doing pretty damn good as the closer, but tlr doesnt want to annoint him as the closer and "mess him up" because he might be handle it because he is a newbie. newsflash tony, perez closed throughout the minor leagues and he was the closer on his college team which was the very famous university of miami baseball team. to me, it does not matter what carpenter's health status is, you cannot get a chance to save the game if your shitty starter already gave the game away.

so, in conclusion, wainright=starter and perez=closer.

ludwick is a beast! is that news to you? well, it should not be. this man is the real deal and the cardinals have found their new cleanup hitter from now and for the foreseeable future. sign this man to a long term deal please Mo. besides, ludwick has the pleasure of being on my fantasy team and because of him, I'm doing pretty well thanks to mr. ludwick.

now, let's talk about the upcoming series which is against the pirates.

tuesday night's game will feature looper who has been really good lately against snell who has not been very good this season.

for wednesday night's game, wellemeyer will face davis, a righty. davis has only really made two previous starts for the pirates and he was pretty good in both. he has faced both philly and the mets. he gave up no runs in 6 innings pitched against the phillies; also, he went 7 innings and only gave up two runs against the mets. those are two pretty damn good offensive teams, but maybe the cards can figure him out.

let's the check the standings shall we? the cards are 7.5 games behind the cubs in the central so they are out of that picture. the wild card on the other hand is a different story. the cardinals have clawed their way back to 2 games behind the brew crew. let's keep clawing boys and maybe the beermen falter and a spot in the playoffs becomes up for grabs because philly an arizona are not that far back considering the types of teams they both have assembled and what they can do if they put if together for a couple of weeks.

Somewhere in the midst of this conversation, your friend casually tosses out a rather controversial statement, assuming (incorrectly) that you share her opinion on a divisive issue.

“Of course pirates are totally cooler than ninjas. You know how it is, right?”

Tread carefully here, Reader! Do not fall into the trap of the rhetorical “you know how it is, right?” This is not an invitation for you to explain that actually, you have no idea how it is, and in fact, you disagree entirely with everything she’s just said. The only socially acceptable answer to a rhetorical “you know how it is, right?” is a nod of the head and an “mmm hmmm” or possibly an “Amen, Sistah!” should you choose to agree in a more emphatic manner.

You don’t want to get into a whole debate about the relative merits of pirates and ninjas with your friend; you just want to escape from this conversational minefield with your loyalty to ninjas intact. However, you also don’t want to give your friend the impression that you totally agree that pirates are “totally cooler than ninjas.” This could lead to further awkwardness when your friend invites you to “Pirates of the Caribbean 4: Johnny Depp Wears Even More Eyeliner, Savy?” and you have to awkwardly decline. So, what do you do?

The solution: When you don’t want to agree with someone and are too lazy to have the debate that will inevitably follow from your disagreement, the best thing to do is this: Change the topic with a smooth conversational segue into a piece of pop culture trivia.

“Ah, speaking of ninjas, did you know that the voice of Shredder in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoons was done by the actor who played Uncle Phil on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air?”

Now, not only are you out of conversational hot water, your friend will admire your vast knowledge of early 90s television trivia.

Words above and video below posted by AlJazeeraEnglish

Part 1

Part 2