» In Amsterdam, Angelique Houtkamp has been making paintings and mixed media objects inspired by many images she also uses in her work as a tattoo artist.
Link via Sugar 'n' Spicy

» Bono is planning a massive concert to ease Third World debt on the 20th anniversary of LIVE AID, according to reports. more »
Bob Geldof is not participating this time around. more »

» Talk about your Super Ping - See Ping-O-Matic. link

» {On This Date}May 31, 1996 - Timothy Leary's Dead or is he just outside looking in? Theories, memorials and more »

» May 31, 2003 - Burma's pro-democracy activists are marking the one-year anniversary of the house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. more »

The No Carb Diet
C - Cheney
A - Ashcroft
R - Rumsfeld
B - Bush

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{I'm Just Saying}

"We will stay the course," declares George Bush.
The crowd goes wild. Whooping & hollering; furiously waving their flags.

"We will not be deterred in our efforts."
More wild, roaring crowd noises

Do you really think Bush would have this kind of reception if his speaking engagements were held in some place other than a military base or war room?


saturday morning me//
drinking dbl espresso/smoking g-blondes/
typing with my nose?/flip-flops/
navy-green batik long dress/
making plans to make some plans/
listening: daughter darling/
and riding the menopause express/
so how about you?/

What time should I bring the potato salad? Stay safe and enjoy your weekend.

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{Queen Bringdown and The Buzzkills Revisits The Arabian Nights}

"Sinbad, step aside. Aladdin and Ali Baba, off with your tawdry tales so we can hear a truly fantastic story from the land of the Arabian Nights."

"You would have thought by this stage of this United States presidency, that there was little left to shock. But this is the news from Washington - the CIA has asked the FBI to investigate allegations that the Iraqi exile who almost single-handedly drove the American invasion of Iraq has all the time been a double agent for neighbouring Iran, which was secretly manipulating the US to topple its arch foe, Saddam Hussein."

This begins the Chalabi Baba and the 40 Thieves article by Paul McGeough I read @ Counterpunch.

Interesting theory. But isn't picking a fall guy to blame this war game on just a little too convenient? Honestly and humbly I say that it continues to be hard for me to sift out any truths as I stand back and weigh all the information I can reasonably absorb. Sigh...

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Here's my avatar. I've seen some really nice ones at Chapel-Perilous. The last avatars we talked about looked more like aliens but hese are more human looking. Psssst, I left out the wrinkles. Can you believe you really do have that option?

Have a very freaky Friday.

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{Morning Blog Trail}
»David Sedaris interview offers insight into his strange leetle world, and he explains what a gynocolumnist is. Great word. Link

»ExxonMobil ReHash Theatre presents: Oval Office Space - The Director's Cut which was found on a good site, George Must Go.

»Portrait Illustrator Maker - Make an original icon. Another fun face maker. I'm still working on mine, Bsti. via: Chapel PerilousLink

»For my pagan friends: MysticWicks looks like a friendly and busy online Pagan Community.

»The city is all atwitter about the upcoming Naked Bike Ride here in Asheville on June 12. It happens to be the only one in the southeast so we're getting riders from Atlanta, Knoxville, Charlotte and other areas. Think: naked breezy bike riding and strategically applied body paint. Link

»Today's Quote - He who know he has enough is rich. ~Tao Te Ching
I like these simple truths. The ones that usually take me years and years to realize.

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Honest Bloggers Quiz
1. Which political party do you typically agree with? Democrats.
2. Which political party do you typically vote for? Democrats
3. List the last five presidents that you voted for. Al Gore 2000, Bill Clinton 1996, Bill Clinton 1992, Mike Dukakis 1988, Walter Mondale 1984.
4. Which party do you think is smarter about the economy?Democrats
5. Which party do you think is smarter about domestic affairs? Democrats
6. Do you think we should keep our troops in Iraq or pull them out? Set an agreed upon date, pull out all military and contractors. Give Iraq their country back in full control; not pseudo control. If it runs in the ditch, it's theirs to fix. If it flies, great.
7. Who, or what country, do you think is most responsible for 9/11? We've always been hated and it was almost inevitable, but international relations were worked on diligently to keep us safe. Most helpful? I think Carter and Clinton. Most destructive? Bushes 41 & 43.
8. Do you think we will find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Let me consult my 8-Ball. It says, "Fat chance, motherfucker."
9. Yes or no, should the U.S. legalize marijuana? Yes.
10. Do you think the Republicans stole the last presidental election? Yes.
11. Do you think Bill Clinton should have been impeached because of what he did with Monica Lewinski? No.
12. Do you think Hillary Clinton would make a good president? I'd have to hear more about her plans.
13. Name a current Democrat who would make a great president: Bill Clinton
14. Name a current Republican who would make a great president. I don't think there is one.
15. Do you think that women should have the right to have an abortion? Yes.
16. What religion are you? Currently a practicing Buddhist.
17. Have you read the Bible all the way through? No.
18. What's your favorite book? Even Cowgirl's Get The Blues, Tom Robbins.
19. Who is your favorite band? Rolling Stones.
20. Who do you think you'll vote for president in the next election? Kerry.
21. What website did you see this on first? Post Human Blues

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FBI Abducts Artist, Seizes Art
»Feds Unable to Distinguish Art from Bioterrorism
»Grieving Artist Denied Access to Deceased Wife's Body

Steve Kurtz was already suffering from one tragedy when he called 911 early in the morning to tell them his wife had suffered a cardiac arrest and died in her sleep. The police arrived and, cranked up on the rhetoric of the "War on Terror," decided Kurtz's art supplies were actually bioterrorism weapons.

Thus began an Orwellian stream of events in which FBI agents abducted Kurtz without charges, sealed off his entire block, and confiscated his computers, manuscripts, art supplies... and even his wife's body.

Like the case of Brandon Mayfield, the Muslim lawyer from Portland imprisoned for two weeks on the flimsiest of false evidence, Kurtz's case amply demonstrates the dangers posed by the USA PATRIOT Act coupled with government-nurtured terrorism hysteria. Kurtz's case is ongoing, and, on top of everything else, Kurtz is facing a mountain of legal fees. To make donations to his legal defense, see CAE Denfense
Link

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"Dee Rimbaud is the Siddhartha of the Chemical Generation. 'Dropping Ecstasy With The Angels' is a testament to those who have taken the narrow path through the highest mountains: to those who fell off; and to those who flew away with the angels." (Poetry collection)

'Stealing Heaven From The Lips Of God' which should be released around September 2004, is Dee Rimbaud's first novel. It's a drug-fuelled, roller coaster ride through heaven and hell, a modern-day love story, and a fairy tale for people who don't believe in fairy tales. While you wait, you can read it online. Click on the book graphic. Stroll through her site for her artwork and much more from her. Link

via: Stew Albert

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One of President Bush's most effective tactics has been to portray those of us who oppose his policies as a small minority of the American public. But poll after poll shows that a large and increasing majority of American citizens disagree with his policies and don't like the direction he's leading our country in.

That's why we're launching a campaign to demonstrate how popular opposition to George Bush really is. To participate, all you need to do is request a free bumper sticker and stick it on your car or in some other highly visible place. You can bet I will.
Link

Quote :: Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little. ~Edmund Burke (This really speaks to voting apathy. Why would you not vote?)

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May 24,1941- Bob Dylan's 63rd Birthday. Someone's even gone to the trouble of making a 'How To Celebrate Bob Dylan's Birthday' site. ~May you stay forever young.
Link.

Cartoonist Garry B. Trudeau will publish the names of more than 700 U.S. military personnel killed during the war in Iraq as part of his Doonesbury comic next Sunday, on Memorial Day weekend.
Link

Election 2004 - Storming the Polls: How to Vote Your Views and Change the Rules. Youth in Pursuit of the Dirty Truth. Multicultural Youth Vote news. (Site is a project of Alternet ) Link

Crossing the Bridge for Marriage Equality - held a Say "I Do" celebration yesterday. via ~ Margaret Cho Also see her Marriage Equality Resource Site - Link

Update on Philip K. Dick's surreal SF novel A Scanner Darkly.

Let's go kick Monday's ass. You with me?

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It's Stu's (not his real name) birthday. My husband. So I offer up birthday greetings to him today. I shouldn't say how old he is, but add five years to Wal-Mart greeter and you're in the ballpark. Since he asked me long ago not to use his real name and it starts with an "S", it's always an "S"-driven pseudonym. Long-time readers will remember the tales of Stan, Schlomo, Sylvester, etc.

Nice color palette creator I found at Joe's, or one of his many fine sites and he found it at ETC, a nice links blog slap full of Mozilla and Movable Type goodies.

{What The Font?}
I saw a font I liked but couldn't identify it. Happens frequently. After some investigation, I found this Font Identifier. You just type in the URL where you find the font. Works great.

{Local News}
Because of sentencing guidelines, a sexual predator convicted for his third time Thursday of fondling a 6 year old girl this trial, will only serve a 2-3 year sentence. On his third conviction. Our community is outraged. Heard on local news, can't find a link

{Do-Over}
The Faeries Oracle - Ask the faeries for an online reading. Link

saturday morning me//
iced tea (housewine of the south)/cheerios/
desk fan humming, stirring the thick warm air/
barrett ink pen holding up my hair/
oversized white gauzy dress/bare feet/
sky's going to a party/& we're staying home/
so how's about you?/

Have you crashed your Windows today?

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Levitra is a prescription medicine that is used to treat erectile dysfunction (ED). And curing limp d*cks is a very competitive market now. One of the side effects they claim for Levitra on television says, "If you get an erection that lasts more than 4 hours, get medical help right away." More than four hours? That's not a fucking side effect, that's an impressive selling point, isn't it?
Link

My Left Arm for a Gmail Account
What's an invitation for a Gmail account worth? Although I'm not quite blown away with Gmail, I'm not ready to put it up on Ebay yet either.
Link

The deadline's been extended for voting on the t-shirt designs at Designs On The Whitehouse until Memorial Day weekend. Go take a look and vote your favorites. There are really some nice designs. Link

"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." ~The Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso
Go spread it far and wide.

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Joe Coleman is giving a special performance tonight at Virgin Megastore Union Square (NYC). And celebrating the launch of his controversial DVD R.I.P. Rest in Pieces, with added clips, directed by Robert-Adrian Pejo and featuring Jim Jarmusch, Hasil Adkins & Asia Argento.

R.I.P. Rest In Pieces is director Robert-Adrian Pejo's intimate portrait of painter Joe Coleman, who is known around the world as a shamanic, moral voice diagnosing the ills of 21st century America.

Link

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The Day After Tomorrow
is too late. Global Exchange, Rainforest Action Network Bring Movie-Goers Back To Reality; Activists Spoof 'The Day After Tomorrow' at Theaters Nationwide. This Memorial Day weekend, environmental and human rights activists will give away tens of thousands of eye-catching postcards to audiences of Hollywood's first climate change blockbuster, "The Day After Tomorrow." Link
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I want God, I want poetry,
I want danger, I want freedom,
I want goodnes, I want sin.
~Aldous Huxley

Please remain seated until this ride has come to a complete stop.

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War Pimps no longer hustling for the Bush Machine. They're coming back. Albeit slowly, and after careful consideration, but they're coming back.

"I was wrong," Bill O'Reilly told ABC in February. "I think every American should be very concerned" that weapons of mass destruction have not been found.

"I supported the war and now I feel foolish," says CNN's Tucker Carlson.

"A year and a half late and 30,000 lives short, supporters of the war in Iraq finally admit that they were wrong", says Ted Rall, "The pro-war pundits got the biggest story of their careers dead wrong. Now a lot of people are wrongly dead.
Link

Besides the pundits and journalists, many nice, normal people have thought twice about supporting Bush since the Iraq War. And people aren't chastised anymore for speaking out against the it like they were in the days of the Dixie Chicks fiasco when war fever was at it's peak. Lots of minds are changing, hopefully all the way to the polls this November.

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Ohio Residents? The Ohio State Legislature has said they will start using machines with paper trails in 2006. This is not enough. The Ohio Vote matters in 2004. Sign the Petition.

I'm Just Saying - Many bloggers have either suspended spring/summer blogging or slowed down to a crawl. Or is it just pure apathy? I've not been able to find the time like I usually do, due to warmer weather and outdoor activities, mixed with a healthy dose of apathy, I must admit. I have noticed over the years how blogging is busier in the winter months. Has your blog-ass been dragging lately? (Love to find a graphic for that.)

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POSTER ART

(Left) From Scrojo, poster art and more.


(Right) After visiting the RBlack Gallery, it lead me on a webtrail to these other sites. Very nice graphics. Poster art, album covers, t-shirts. Via ~ weirdpixie



(Right, bottom) FreakShowArt - Thorough gallery of gig posters, urban art, apparel. I spend far too much time cruising through design gallerys, high brow or low.

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World Naked Bike Ride
I spoke about it in March and now Asheville's got a group for the global celebration on June 12.

Monday, May 10, a call from Asheville City attorney's office said if people were totally naked the police will make arrests..."

Can't have all the townsfolk freaking out again.

{Quote For Today}
Where is the justice of political powere if it executes the murderer and jails the plunderer, and then itself marches upon neighboring lands, killing thousands and pillaging the very hills? ~Kahlil Gibran

Am I up very late or up very early?

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Administration's Most Wanted. Tell Bush and Ashcroft to Prosecute Illegal Loggers, Not Greenpeace. For the first time ever, the US government has decided to prosecute an entire organization (Greenpeace) for exercising its right to free speech through non-violent protest. The trial begins on May 17th, and results from a protest against an illegal shipment of mahogany headed for the Port of Miami in Florida two years ago. [link] and Sign Petition

{URLS Gone Wild}
:: National Day of Solidarity on May 17, 2004. via~axis of logic

:: "People spotting aliens down Mexico way? Payback's a bitch, isn't it, compadré?" I heard Dennis Miller say last night (during one very brief moment while channel surfing-- you've heard the Miller rant before). [link]

:: Breakfast Beefcake - [link]

:: Vagina Warriors - V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. Stop in to see what you can do to help. via ~ Fishbucket

:: To find the cheapest gas station in your area (Canada & US), visit GasBuddy.

saturday morning me//
cappucino #2/deathpuff #2/
pineapple chunx/huge strawberries/need a bib/
indian print blouse/jeans/barefoot/
sky's hair is dyed shiny tomato red/
am thinking of doing the same?/
listening: kexp radio online/
so hows about you?/

Worse to come, says Dante.

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:: iSerenity - You choose a sound and a visual to relax or work by. Bubbling Brook, Rain, Crackling Fire, Roaring Ocean, and more. Soothing... via~Infomaniac

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Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal Constitution. US = Cicadas. I guess that's an annoying, yet fair comparison.

:: Here are the protest photos over the Iraqi prison fiasco. Anti-war group re-enacts the abuse photos to drive the point home. In front of the home of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld May 13, 2004, no less. (Ripped off from everyone's favorite marsupial, skippy.)

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{Clock Of The Long Now}
Some of you know about Stewart Brand's Clock Of The Long Now. If not, you may want to see what this visionary has been up to lately.

Brian Eno recently released a cd of bells sounds he designed for the 10,000 Year Clock and profits will go to the Long Now Foundation. You can hear the cd here.

Also initiated by the Long Now Foundation, The Rosetta Project is a global collaboration of language specialists and native speakers working to develop a contemporary counterpart of the historic Rosetta Stone.

He does everything in such grand fashion.

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Help Save Asheville's Urban Forest!
UNCA may clearcut part of the highest quality urban forest in Asheville to build a parking lot. Are you going to let that happen? Sign the online petition here. {anyone hearing big yellow taxi about now?}

Blogger now has my individual permalinks straightened out. Yippee! It's currently in the *time* at the bottom of each post. I'm liking you better and better, new, improved Blogger.

Today's Quote
"Walk gently, breathe peacefully, laugh hysterically."
- - Nelson Mandela (1994 Inaugural Speech)
via ~ Rhino's Blog

Dr Omed keeps a growing list of T-shirt Designs that he invites us to steal. Creative, smart and fun.

Life was so much easier when your clothes didn't match and boys had cooties.

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Iraqi Female Prisoners Face Future of Shame -- or Death
--Tracy Wilkinson, LATimes

One woman told her attorney that she was forced to disrobe in front of male prison guards. After much coaxing, another woman described how she was raped by U.S. soldiers. Then she fainted.

Talking about her rape by a US soldier and then she fainted. Removing a woman's headscarf is traumatic enough. But rape? We normally embrace victims here in the US, but the culture's so much different in Iraq.

A woman who is raped brings shame on her family in the Islamic world. In many cases, rape victims have been killed by their relatives to salvage family honor, although there is no evidence this has happened to women who have been prisoners in Iraq.

As the administration decides when or if to publish more prison abuse photos, let's hope the identity of all the victims remain anonymous. I wish we didn't know the identity of the first prisoners photographed. The stigma is unbearable, and they're already emotionally sentenced to a lifetime of humiliation and disgrace.
[more»»]

This war has us all so fragile and emotionally drained, and still we keep getting slapped in the face with case after case of abuse and despair.
cross-posted on BlogSisters

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Pot Stickers via Grow-A-Brain.

:: The Wisdom's Child site has a nice daily meditation theme to click on which are quotations from the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan.

:: {weekend update}
We kayaked during a thunderstorm and spousal unit played guitar and mandolin with friends. Skye got bee-stung while swimming; and we all got sunburned. I later sang a few tunes with Malcombe and Joey at the bonfire. Good ganja, good blavod, good food, good sounds, good times.

::{US To Open Probe Of Emmett Till Slaying} [link]
Dylan and others have called for it for decades.
I saw the morning papers but I could not bear to see
The smiling brothers walkin' down the courthouse stairs.
For the jury found them innocent and the brothers they went free,
While Emmett's body floats the foam of a Jim Crow southern sea.
~Bob Dylan, 1963 [more»»]

Sag. You're it.

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TRANSFORMUS - The Southeast Regional Burn. July 30 - Aug 1, Deerfields, NC. Be There. Great. Something else I'll have to check out. Southeast's version of Burning Man.

:: Looking good, new Blogger! Anyone have an opinion on the new, improved Blogger? I do love the new look, but am still fumbling around with the innards. You know, the gibblets. (the editing, the template, the settings, congifuration, etc)

:: 57th Cannes Film Festival to begin Wednesday, May 12- 23. Approximately 20 films in contention for the prestigous Palme d'Or. Fahrenheit 911, directed by Michael Moore is one. The Ladykillers, directed by the Coen brothers is another. Contenders; [Cannes link]

:: A Wrinkle In Time to air tonight on ABC. [link]

:: Compassionate Conservatism aka The Child Bush Left Behind.

Bush stimulating economy with magic dildo.

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{Happy Mother's Day. Happy Women's Day.}

As we pause to celebrate Mother's Day today, let's also remember those very special women in our lives who happen to not be Mothers. Through their own choice or for whatever reason. A Good Mother is indeed something to celebrate and I'm not diminishing it's honor and significance, but in addition, Great Women on this planet, having children or not, are worth celebrating and being thankful for every single day.

So Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers and Happy Women's Day to us all!

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saturday morning me//
faithful folgers cup #2, too Robert/
wheat bagel & brie/nasty marlboro #3/
husband's large grey tee/barefoot/
frightnin' site under hemp wrap on head/
gathering snacks, swimsuits, etc, for the leaf/
and how about you?/

Don't Be Sexist - Bitches Hate That.

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