Park Land Pot Gardens

It's About Time
Yesterday Morning Edition did a short piece about the marijuana gardens being grown on our public lands, which you can listen to now here. This story is at least three years old, so it's about time NPR covered it because no one else seems to want to. I first learned about the multi-billion dollar cartel sponsored farms in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks from an Outdoor Life Channel documentary that Ashley and I watched in a motel room in Natchez, Mississippi. I was a tad outraged that I'd never heard about it before then. The statistics are staggering. The cartels are destroying tens of thousands of acres of pristine wilderness every year to cultivate the pot and reaping billions in profit for their efforts! The Park Service entirely lacks the funding to fight this problem effectively, despite a congressional hearing on the matter last November, a story which got a quick nod from some major news outlets at the time. Isn't there some sort of war that our government likes to spend money on? Besides Iraq I mean. Like a drug war or something? I forget. I guess it's just too expensive letting poppy production in Afghanistan reach an all time high.

If you're interested, the two best articles I've read about this are both from 2003; one from The Christian Science Monitor, and the second from National Geographic. And here's what the Park Service has to say as of last March.

Also, check out this amazing map of government spending: Death & Taxes

Get Illuminated

In addition to boingboingboing, the creators of the boing bring us "Get Illuminated,"a podcast feautring interviews with "creative people in fringe culture." I had the pleasure of listening to the first episode during today's commute, and I highly recommend it. Their guest was
Douglas Rushkoff, the writer behind the Frontline Documentaries The Merchants of Cool and The Persuaders, the author of numerous books which I haven't read but aspire to, the creator of the comic series "Testament," and a new columnist at Discovery Magazine. He has some marvelous things to say about the nature of reality, the relevance of the bible, and the implications of ubiquitous surveillance, and he admits that he's not quite convinced that Ken Lay is dead. Listen to it now here, or go to boingboing and scroll down to the post to subscribe to the podacst.

Miracle

From all over the intraweb and reddit specifically:
"Angus and his Sacred Derriere Extraordinaire"

Angus MacDougall is a three-year-old terrier mix that has recently been blessed with the revered and holy image of Jesus Christ on his hindquarters. Is this manifestation of The Prince of Peace a coincidence or a bona fide miracle? One thing is certain, this apparition of the Son of God is sure to inspire controversy. Not much if any true scientific or theological inquiry has been made into the nature of this sign to date, but "seeing is believing" as little Angus' terrier-tush is obviously marked by the likeness of Christ. Link.

Dawkins is no Sagan
In a related story, boingboing reminded me today that Richard Dawkins has a new book out. Dawkins' atheism has been inspirational to me at times, but recently I've been turned off by his rabidness. Though I have deep respect for his ideas and work, I find his impatience with religion to be obnoxious. His self-righteousness is as thick as that of those he dismisses, which does little to forward his worthy agenda. For a good example of his brilliance coupled with an inability to empathize with believers, watch his BBC special "The Root of all Evil" in two parts on Google Video here and here. Also, you can watch a short interview about the new book here.

Meiji

Chocolate Coated Mushroom Shaped Cookies
It's true, the chocolate cap does compliment the cookie stem just right. It's a mushroom shaped cookie. It tastes good. It makes me happy.
Cookies!!!

My New Pencil Case

At least I think it's a pencil case. I guess you could keep your weed in there if you wanted. The point is that no one has been able to explain to me why a Japanese school kid would want a 'U.S. Star' pencil case/weed holder at all. What's the fanscination there? English characters and words seem to carry status; they enrich a product by their mere presence, but why? T-shirts emblazened with wonderfully strange slogans like 'UCLA Yankee Cola,' or 'Time is Parachute Joyous Sweat of Life,' are great, don't get me wrong. In fact, if there is actually a t-shirt that reads 'Time is Parachute Joyous Sweat of Life' I'd really like to have it. What I want explained is why exactly does a pencil case like this exist. Perhaps as a westerner it's so far out of context that it's impossible for me to understand. I guess I'd just like to be refreshed on a global scale, you know. I mean, impression. Continuous new discoveries.

Thanks to Ashuri for the weed holder.

What I Want For Christmas

Or Chanukah, whatever. From boingboing, this French Canadian guy built a RC airplane which is piloted using virtual reality goggles! Not bad, especially with the Titanic score (nod to robotmessiah).

Ashley's Hanko

Ashuri Sensei says:

My official signature, this is what I use to sign things. It says, "Nisu" in katakana.

I say I want one. Is it edible? Because it looks like it would taste like a creamsicle.
You can view Ashuri's other pics here.

Arnold Laughs Madly in Japanese Ad

From CRACKED, the 5 Most Ridiculous Celebrity Cameos in Japanese Ads:

The Star: Arnold Schwarzenegger, displaying the same subtle, nuanced acting style that he brought to his critically lauded role as Mr. Freeze.

The Product: “Vfuyy,” which appears be to be some sort of energy drink/medicinal supplement/horse steroid.

The Japanese Director’s Pitch: (loosely translated) “You are finding victory in gambling but no–you are accused of much cheating! You fear retributions! So you run! And you ingest Vfuyy! Suddenly, your face peels away! You harness power of flight! Your suit shines of decadent gold! Naturally, your accuser becomes buried beneath a downpour of French fries and you enjoy much endless laughter. Vfuyy!”

It's #5, but it's my favorite. Good lookin out, tobesimply.

For more ads from Japan starring Schwar-chan try here, here, here, and definitely here.

And for the best reason of all to hate on California's governor, watch this.

Strandbeest

In his own English: Since about ten years Theo Jansen is occupied with the making of a new nature. Not pollen or seeds but plastic yellow tubes are used as the basic matierial of this new nature. He makes skeletons which are able to walk on the wind. Eventualy he wants to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives. Link. Click on films to watch them walk.



Watch the BMW add.

Aren't these marvelous? They just wind up and go.

In Memoriam

Youtube Table Tennis

If you have time and interest, why not indulge in some youtube table tennis? There's the classic cartwheel , full match highlights from the '05 championship , a nice quick strong point , nearly 50 vollies, and a bit of showing off for the crowd . Of course there's many more, but I've pointed you in the right direction.