The Passion in Chocolate

Well, Easter is coming, and you know what that means! Candy! Candy! Candy! And attempts to creatively put christianity into the traditional celebrations have brought about "Chocolate Jesus" items. The pic here shows a censored version of Cosimo Cavallaro's "My Sweet Lord", which is a 6-foot anatomically correct chocolate sculpture (you will need to click here for uncensored pic, along with the nutritional values... providing you were going to eat it... and if you did, what part would you break off first? In this case, I don't think it would be the ears.

Ha haaa!! Had you going!!! Arms, of course! Maybe toes? [Another link for this story]

Here is a more traditional take on a life-sized version, although it looks less tasty, and here's another traditional version that has been featured on "Jesus of the Week." If you can't handle the chocolate Jesus in edible form, there is a book by Stephen Jaramillo, or this song by Tom Waits, which is probably the most famous form of the "Chocolate Jesus"

Lyrics:
Dont go to church on sunday
Dont get on my knees to pray
Dont memorize the books of the bible
I got my own special way
Bit I know jesus loves me
Maybe just a little bit more

I fall on my knees every sunday
At zerelda lees candy store

Well its got to be a chocolate jesus
Make me feel good inside
Got to be a chocolate jesus
Keep me satisfied

Well I dont want no anna zabba
Dont want no almond joy
There aint nothing better
Suitable for this boy
Well its the only thing
That can pick me up
Better than a cup of gold
See only a chocolate jesus
Can satisfy my soul

(solo)
When the weather gets rough
And its whiskey in the shade
Its best to wrap your savior
Up in cellophane
He flows like the big muddy
But thats ok
Pour him over ice cream
For a nice parfait

Well its got to be a chocolate jesus
Good enough for me
Got to be a chocolate jesus
Good enough for me

Well its got to be a chocolate jesus
Make me feel good inside
Got to be a chocolate jesus
Keep me satisfied

...and finally, the worst-tasting, and at the same time, most tasteless version (please note: I am not equating "tasteless" with "bad") is the slang term "Sweet chocolate Jesus" (x-rated) as defined by Urban Dictionary. (Kids, don't click that, please ...and I'm not sure you should even be reading this blog)

Now I need some candy.

Tags: Waits - Jesus - chocolate - Easter - chocolate Jesus

Happy Birthday to God

Eric Clapton was born on March 30, 1945. He is one of my favorite rock guitarists. He has reinvented himself numerous times in his career and survived the pitfalls of being a legendary rock star, not just musically, but personally. I've seen him quite a few times, but got to see him up close (all day!) a few years back at the Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas. That was an awesome day.

Clapton wiki

Catblogging - Henry's least favorite place

In his carrier.

He's getting a general checkup. Since he's 15 I wanted to get bloodwork done, which turned out just fine! It's so nice to have those results! I was worried about his middle feeling lumpy and the doctor said he's lost some weight and his fat shifted around. Doesn't sound attractive, I know, but on Henry it all looks good.

Best cat I've ever met. No contest, he wins. EDIT April 5: This is Henry's April Fool pic over on this week's Carnival of the Cats. He says that thing tickles, but won't interfere with his 20-hour nap.

Tags and links: Friday Ark - Carnival of the Cats - This week's carnival is at IMAO - Cats - Catblogging -

Something on a Stick

Today, March 28, is "Something on a Stick Day". That's what it says on my 2007 "Naked" calendar, and after independant verification I think it should be widely announced! Actually it caught my eye because it was part of one of my mother's very colorful expressions. If someone thought they were a little better than you, kind of high-falutey, posh, conceited, vain, or overly prissy, she would say "Boy! She really thinks she is something on a stick!!"

Who can tell exactly where certain slang comes from, but my mother, having been born in 1919, lived through the time when the ice cream cone was a new thing... and a Kewpie doll was a real prize... so if the item was already pretty special, and then you sell it on a stick (or in a cone or a bun, etc.)... then WOW!

Another of her "stick" expressions was "You can't beat that with a stick." Probably not the same stick. These are expressions from very low-tech times when folks had more face time and didn't text each other.

The Wrath for God

[LINK]

This is a study to see if people (students, actually) would increase aggression if they thought it was being done "for God"... and they did. They did the study at Brigham Young University (99% believers in both God and the Bible) and at Vrije University in Amsterdam (half believers in God, one-fourth believers in the Bible). It might be surprising and interesting to note that even the non-believers showed more aggression when religion was a part of the game.

It seems very logical to me that if someone is regarded as a higher-up, and ruler, a father or mother-figure, or the object of great affection, admiration or fear, that one will try harder to please them, and do things that they might not personally agree with deep down. It's a little governing voice that you've heard before and in your heart you are hearing again, a voice that says "because I said so" and "prove that you love me". Why did many of the non-believers react the same way? Who can say? The participants would have to explain their actions and they did not include first-person accounts in the article. The top researcher theorizes that perhaps they were believers deep down in their hearts. I think that's because he is a professed believer... and that's what believers do. Their belief is so strong that non-belief seems impossible to them. The truth is that we don't know the answer.

Is this study really conclusive and does it explain anything? I doubt it (but then I'm a skeptic) [grin]

Tags: god - aggression

Delete this post

Poignant, Pointy, and Pretty things

Seen on a bench at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

All of the benches in the Wildflower Center seem to be dedicated to someone. Most just said something like "In Memory of [dearly beloved]. 1941-1995", but those were really not as memorable as the ones that had the little quotes on them.

Plenty of blooms out now, and lots of yellow.


This is why a lot of people wear boots. Not a very friendly landscape for your bare toesies, and that is before you add the fire ants.

I love this shot! He is standing on the rain drainage grate on the observation deck of a stone tower that has a spiraling staircase (picture a short Tower of Babel). Each landing had a round grate in the middle so the water washes all the way through and undoubtedly collected, as the Wildflower Center has a pretty cool aquaduct system for rainwater collection and redistribution.

We've had extra rain lately, so the hills are covered in bluebonnets. For the past couple of years it's been dry which has caused Indian paintbrush (red) to predominate, but this year Central Texas is more blue than red!

Seasoning

Crossvine blooming

When you live in a subtropical place, the changing seasons provide quite a different experience then in places more temperate. I've lived in lots of places, but spent, whether I like it or not, a majority of it in the Midwest (30+ years, all told). It's an area with four seasons: hot humid Summer (3 months), Winter with freezing temps, lots of ice, very gray skies, and several shovel-worthy snow events (5 months), then 2 months each of beautiful, crisp conditions, chilly-to-warm air, and either popping Spring blooms or beautiful Autumn leaves. It's a cycle to be appreciated -- but it's not for everyone. I hate that winter. I hate ice. Snow is alright in pictures but if I have to shovel it, there's too much of it. It's true that winter gets rid of the bugs. It also gets rid of most plants... flowers? fugetahboudit. The extra darkness and one gray day after the next -- damp, cold, bundled up, nose running, fingers aching -- that would drive me batty. Depressing, and seemingly never-ending. That's why there's "Spring-fever"! The first day you get 60 degrees with sunshine... whooo!! Stand back world!!

I've spent another 20+ years in places that don't have that cycle -- that's why I don't miss it. Here in Central Texas I would say that there are 3 seasons. These are just my opinions based on my perspective.

The natives here would undoubtedly disagree (ever see people wearing their heaviest coats, scarves and gloves when it's 50 out?), but there is not really Winter. If you think there is Winter here, then you don't really know what Winter is. I will stand by that statement. Typically there is maybe about a week (added up) that could measure up to any typical Winter day further north (and that's not allowing for freak weather which can happen anywhere anytime... like that ice we had that lasted several days. Freak.) -- so it's not actually a season in my mind.

There is Autumn. Sometime in October it starts to cool down. It will still be in the 80s and 90s, and window-open weather at night. Some leaves turn colors, then fall, but there's plenty of foliage left, including flowers, that stays year round. Eventually there are a few freezing nights, occasionally dusty white stuff (but not every year), but mostly it's very pleasant, like in the 50s to 70s generally through March. Various things (like trees) go into their "spring thing" around January which hits people with allergies pretty hard. My tree allergy is American Elm, which does its thing in February. Cedar Fever has not yet developed, but I'm told that it will. It just takes time.

End of March, early April is when wildflowers are in their peak, and it is soooo beautiful everywhere. It makes me want to get out in the garden and be constructive or helpful, but I will never learn the lesson that gardening makes me bleed, not to mention itch. This little scratch is not bad enough to make Quentin Tarantino proud, but it should be enough to keep me on the porch for awhile. (Agave are not that people-friendly, and I'm glad that someone else has the job of making the tequila, as all I was trying to do was trim off a few leaves)

Summer is coming soon. It's long (5-6 months), and although I don't dread it (except for the return of mosquitoes) I will really miss this time of year, full-on Spring.

I love YouTube!

I watched this show live Wednesday before last. It's Pete Townshend making his surprise appearance at the Austin Music Awards. I was pretty close to the stage as you can see. Glad someone was composed enough to take a video, although it looks like someone who's on stage and probably not supposed to be doing it!

Catblogging - My chair has 9 legs

... and a head ... and a tail.

This is one of Jax's weird habits, he likes to cuddle up on the legs of this office chair. These are older pics, but he has taken up this habit again lately. Nothing like having a chair with wheels that you can't use. Usually he will do it when I'm all snuggged up close to the desk... then I can't push the chair back to get up. The sight of me turning into a contortionist trying to get out of the chair without disturbing him is as funny as what he's doing. Good things cats don't have cameras.
This is soooooo comfortable, I can't even tell you!

Tags and links: Friday Ark - Carnival of the Cats - This week's carnival is at Scribblings - Cats - Catblogging

Please don't kill me

I am not a "giant mosquito"!!! I am not a mosquito at all, I am a Crane Fly. I am a sign of Spring, and should be a welcome sight. Lot's of people call me a "Mosquito Hawk" and they think I eat mosquitoes. I don't! I don't eat mosquitoes, I don't vant to drink your blahd, I don't bite, sting or hurt people, and in fact, after I become an adult I don't eat at all (and you were probably wondering how I stay so slender)! I live only long enough to mate, so take pity on this poor awkward, gangly fly and let me do my business and enjoy my short little life. Here in Central Texas I am out looking for love right now, but by the time the real mosquitoes show up, I will be a decomposed memory. You can swat those mosquitoes all you want.

[ TAMU info ]
[ Crane Fly wiki ]
[ More linkage ]

How about a sane idea? Anyone? Please?

[LINK]

Using technology to reduce carbon dioxide levels in the air is a worthy cause, right? Worthy of investing some $$ into. Most reasonable and rational people wouldn’t argue with that. But look at some of the insane and frightening things that people have come up with by using those mega-bucks. There’s the space mirrors and smoke that I blogged about previously, and now the space sun shade that will create a cloud of “Frisbees” to deflect the sun’s rays (maybe these are essentially the same project, and equally frightening and crazy).

How about seeding the ocean with iron to create plankton to eat up the CO2? They’ve already started this venture with 50-tons of iron dust. Yes… it’s underway, and this is following the same experiment on a smaller scale. The CEO of the company involved claims there will be no ill effects on climate or marine life. I’m convinced, aren’t you? They are pitching themselves as “green”. That’s not surprising.

Then there’s the idea for making a fake volcano to inject tons of sulfur into the air to cool things down. It won’t remove any CO2, but… hey… cooler is cooler, right? How about installing fake “trees”, or rather a bunch of ugly devices to gather up the CO2 so it can be shipped elsewhere… you know… over to the CO2 dump. Yes, that’s part two of the problem… they will have to put it somewhere.

See the link at the top for more in-depth coverage, including relevant links to some of these projects.

"...we’re going to take out 7 countries in 5 years..."

I found this interview excerpt via POAC, but the whole interview resides on Democracy Now! Here is the excerpt:

AMY GOODMAN: Do you see a replay in what happened in the lead-up to the war with Iraq — the allegations of the weapons of mass destruction, the media leaping onto the bandwagon?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK: Well, in a way. But, you know, history doesn’t repeat itself exactly twice. What I did warn about when I testified in front of Congress in 2002, I said if you want to worry about a state, it shouldn’t be Iraq, it should be Iran. But this government, our administration, wanted to worry about Iraq, not Iran.

I knew why, because I had been through the Pentagon right after 9/11. About ten days after 9/11, I went through the Pentagon and I saw Secretary Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz. I went downstairs just to say hello to some of the people on the Joint Staff who used to work for me, and one of the generals called me in. He said, “Sir, you’ve got to come in and talk to me a second.” I said, “Well, you’re too busy.” He said, “No, no.” He says, “We’ve made the decision we’re going to war with Iraq.” This was on or about the 20th of September. I said, “We’re going to war with Iraq? Why?” He said, “I don’t know.” He said, “I guess they don’t know what else to do.” So I said, “Well, did they find some information connecting Saddam to al-Qaeda?” He said, “No, no.” He says, “There’s nothing new that way. They just made the decision to go to war with Iraq.” He said, “I guess it’s like we don’t know what to do about terrorists, but we’ve got a good military and we can take down governments.” And he said, “I guess if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem has to look like a nail.”

So I came back to see him a few weeks later, and by that time we were bombing in Afghanistan. I said, “Are we still going to war with Iraq?” And he said, “Oh, it’s worse than that.” He reached over on his desk. He picked up a piece of paper. And he said, “I just got this down from upstairs” — meaning the Secretary of Defense’s office — “today.” And he said, “This is a memo that describes how we’re going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran.” I said, “Is it classified?” He said, “Yes, sir.” I said, “Well, don’t show it to me.” And I saw him a year or so ago, and I said, “You remember that?” He said, “Sir, I didn’t show you that memo! I didn’t show it to you!”

AMY GOODMAN: I’m sorry. What did you say his name was?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK: I’m not going to give you his name.

AMY GOODMAN: So, go through the countries again.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK: Well, starting with Iraq, then Syria and Lebanon, then Libya, then Somalia and Sudan, and back to Iran. So when you look at Iran, you say, “Is it a replay?” It’s not exactly a replay…

The whole interview is also available at the link in audio and video formats.

It's so green, its eyes are brown

If they ever want to replace the flooring in the White House, the Texas Legislature, or the Kansas School Board... here is the perfect material to use. Check it out at the link.

EDIT: also found on Inhabitat.com, a late addition:

Perfect Republican stationery!!

A bit ambiguous

I took this quiz called "Are You Gay?". I'm sure I clicked the box that said female, but it still tested me as a male. So now I am a slightly gay male. Either that, or I used to be female and was cured by Ted Haggard's therapists.

Here are your results.
You scored a -27.5%
Slightly Gay.
So, you are a little more in touch with your feminine side than most guys. You also have a keen sense of fashion, style and love to clean. This could either mean that you are in the closet about your true self or you're just one super nice stylish dude!

Well, this is a hoot. They didn't exactly give me a good choice of magazines or favorite sports or "reasons to go to a bar". [snort]

If you take any of their quizzes, it will ask you at the end for some bogus info, like address and phone number.

SXSW, a fond memory (where are my notes?)

Sorry no post since Thursday (and haven't been visiting around the blogosphere as much as I like) but we have been just a TAD busy with this little music festival. Much more laid-back for us this year, intentionally. We generally started out around noon each day and got home between 10:00 pm and midnight. I am sorting out all the pictures and will do my big writeup on my regular website, SXSW being the exception to the rule that this blog is more chatty than the website. The link will be either here or in the comments as soon as I can get the stuff posted. Above is one of the best shirts I saw all week! (if it's hard to read, it says "I'M WITH THE BAND")

EDIT: I have the journals posted on my website here, if you want the whole massacree with the 8x10s with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one (explaining what each one is). At the moment, it's the second link down on the left sidebar.

Catblogging - Duncan's haircut

We like to call it a "reverse vertical mohawk". Actually Duncan has the same haircut on the other side. They do this at the vet when they take fluids from his lungs, so he is getting used to being shaved regularly. He's not even embarrassed about it anymore, and he knows that we think he's adorable no matter what kind of haircut he has.

Looks like he's playing Superman without a cape (deriving his powers from catnip), but he's just lounging in the tub. Who doesn't enjoy that once in a while? Cats just prefer doing it without the water. EDIT: Monday morning. Duncan thanks Sonnybob for the cape. Of course he will look good in it. He looks good in everything!

Tags and links: Friday Ark - Carnival of the Cats - This week's carnival is at Pet's Garden Blog - Cats - Catblogging

Here's one for Hill Country Gal

Who Played?

For a $15 ticket to the Austin Music Awards, we saw a fantastic show, and look at the special surprise guest! Yup. It's Pete Townshend! Awesome! He sat in with Ian MacLagen for a few.

The entire show was great. Will have go into more detail later. Our young friend Sarah Jarosz won "Best Kid Band", and the South Austin Jug Band took the award for "Best Bluegrass"!! More winners -- Del Castillo, Mother Truckers, The Band of Heathens, Grupo Fantasma, Patrice Pike -- lots more.

Tags: Music - Austin - Texas - Texas Music - SXSW

18 to 24-year-old supporters of the war

In the midst of all the "support the troops" rhubarb I thought I'd post the This Modern World [archives] from this past January -- amazing what you can communicate through a cartoon. Click to enlarge if needed.

Inspired in part by Undeniable Liberal's post on sending wounded soldiers back into battle. If you support and believe in this war and don't think it's unjust and illegal, why aren't you in there fighting it? Too busy calling other people "coward"?

Design your own magnetic ribbon.

The Ides of March

We've been soaking in music vibes for a week now, but the real party started today as we are not setting the alarm clock for 5:00 a.m. anymore this week (as though I actually have to set it. I have a cat who's been making sure I got up to feed him every morning at 4:00. Luckily he does not observe Daylight Savings, so he's been allowing me to sleep until it's nearly time for the 5:00 alarm).

Let's see... last Tuesday was The Greencards' CD release at Waterloo Records. That was a great little show followed by a "real" show at Threadgill's on Saturday where it was sold out, with a big line of people waiting to get in. A great show! The following day we had the treat of going to Mandolin Mayhem, which was pretty crowded too but very laid-back. Here's Dennis Ludiker, Kym Warner, and that's young Sarah Jarosz playing behind her head! What a bunch of fantastic players. I never get enough mandolin music these days. Warren Hood also sat in for a few, and also Alex Rueb of the Grassy Knoll Boys (now if THAT's not a great bluegrass band name, I don't know what is).

Tonight (Tuesday) was our first night of SXSW. I do more extensive coverage later on when it's over. For now, I am keeping scratchy notes to help me remember all the people I see. In 5 hours we saw about 9 artists. Kara Grainger, Sonny Throckmorton and Brett Dennen are my highlights. Kara Grainger is a name to watch, I believe. She's an Aussie but she said she might move here!

Tomorrow we will start around 2:00 p.m. and maybe go until midnight (with kitty-cat-care breaks I'm sure). Off to bed now. More on this madness soon.

Tags: Music - Austin - Texas - SXSW

Origin of Species

This song has really funny lyrics, it pokes fun at creationism, intelligent design, and all that stuff. The artist, Chris Smither, will be in town next week, but I kind of doubt that we will end up seeing him with our crazy schedule.

Junker

Art cars usually have a theme of some kind, whether it's Legos, Barbie dolls, golf, giant bugs, action figures, or a beautiful hellbeast of a motorcyle emerging from the depths of the sea.I spotted this car near my day job parking lot. Not sure if maybe it's not finished, the theme has not yet emerged, or it's there and I don't know what it is. To me, it looks like it was ejected from the back of a garbage truck and a bunch of stuff got stuck to it. Not that there's anything wrong with that... and art car is a vehicle of expression. Usually more extreme.

My visual DNA

I have beach envy. This is a great town and I love it more than anyplace I've lived (and that's lots of places) but there's no beach, no surf, no waves... and with these sick furbabies we can't even spare the time to go there... so near yet so far (and of course Texas beaches are not in the same league with some others... but it doesn't even matter because we can't go). Going to the beach is put up there as something I like to do. It's also something I never do. I have vacation envy of all you folks who actually have free time. I have zero. By free time I mean time with nothing on the schedule. Nothing. I would love to just sit there and look at my sandy feet sometime.

As for the grossness, why do these women puff up their lips? It makes you look like a fish... NOT Angelina Jolie. Hers are real. Even beauties like Priscilla Presley and Cher have ruined their looks with this damned process. Just my worthless opinion.

Beergas could be your friend

I spotted this on a truck going down the road, and noticed that this company called "Beergas" has a MySpace instead of a website (and I have to mention that it has one of the ugliest animated backgrounds you will ever encounter). Seemed a little odd. I mean, do you want to put Beergas in your Top 24 friends? Well, they do have a few friends (mostly bars, duh!), and they also have a blog! Who-da-thunk-it? Here's a repost of something on their blog.

FUN BEER FACTS FOR SAINT PATTY'S DAY
Current mood: cheerful

About 4000 years ago, it was the accepted practice in Babylonia that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calender was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know to day as the "Honey moon"

Before invention of the thermometer, brewers used to check the temperature by dipping their thumb, to find whether appropriate for adding Yeast. Too hot, the yeast would die. This is where we get the phrase " The Rule of the Thumb"

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender used to yell at themto mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. From where we get "mind your own P's and Q's".

After consuming a vibrant brew called Aul or Ale, the Vikings would go fearlessly to the battlefield, without their armour, or even their shirts. The "Berserk" means "bear shirt" in norse, and eventually to the meaning of wild battles.

Way down in 1740, the Admiral Veron of the British fleet decided to water down the navy's rum, which naturally, the sailors weren't pleased with. They nicknamed the Admiral Old Grog, after the still stiff grogram coats he used to wear. The term grog soon began to mean the watered down drink itself. When you are drunk on this this grog, you are "groggy", a word still in use.

Long ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim of their beer mugs or ceremic/glass cups. The whistle was used to order services. Thus we get the phrase, "wet your whistle".

The phrase "Rule of Thumb" might come from the English Common Law which deemed it a man's right to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than the diameter of his thumb... or its use as a carpenter's measure (kind of like "foot") Here's a whole discussion about these and the Wiki on Rule of Thumb goes over all the popular theories on its origin.

Ps and Qs is also an interesting one. I think it's likely that it originated from the Celtic languages: P-Celtic and Q-Celtic [LINK 1][LINK 2][Wiki Celtic languages ].
To quote from this page:

The Godelic languages are often referred to as "Q-Celtic" because they use a "Q" sound, usually represented by a C or K, where the Brythonic or "P-Celtic" languages use P. For instance, Irish and Scottish Gaelic for "head" is ceann, or sometimes kin. Brythonic langauges, P-Celtic Welsh and Cornish, use pen. There's a place on the coast of Cornwall called Pentire, and one on the coast of Scotland called Kintyre. Both mean "head of the land." There are hundreds of similar P and C initial words that indicate the relationship between P-Celtic and Q-Celtic languages. In Celtic linguistics, it really pays to "mind your Ps and Qs."

..or... it could be "Pints and Quarts". At any rate, St. Patrick's Day is hardly noticeable in this town, as it happens during SXSW, so the town will have already been in full maxed-out party mode for at least a week previous. I am sure we are going to hear some fine Irish-style music that day, along with a lot more.

...and I'll have another Guinness.

Catblogging - Duncan and his really big brother

Duncan and Henry -- bestest buddies! Henry loves Duncan because he makes a good snuggly pillow, and because Henry gets to snag leftovers from Duncan. We switched him to canned food (and he needs "hungry pills" to eat it since he is feeling poorly) a few months ago... and I understand that canned food is supposed to be better for kitties in general. So while Duncan tries to improve his appetite, Henry is more than happy to help clean the plate. In the above picture, it looks like Henry has grown into a big furry balloon.

Tags and links: Friday Ark - Carnival of the Cats - This week's carnival is at Carnival of the Cats Home on Sunday - Cats - Catblogging

Not that tough to be awesome!

You know the Bible 87%!

Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses - you know it all! You are fantastic!

Ultimate Bible Quiz

Hey, not bad for a godless heathen, huh?

Mandolin Mayhem. My favorite kind.

Here's an event happening in Austin this Sunday at 2:00 pm, Mother Egan's. Click the poster to enlarge and read more details.

Sarah Jarosz is a 15 year old mando phenom. She has a MySpace now so you can give her a listen there. Kym Warner is with The Greencards and Dennis Ludiker is with the South Austin Jug Band. He's also a champion fiddler, and here's his MySpace for a quick listen.

Tags: Music - Austin - Texas - Texas Music

Bad News Bear

"Nay" Bear

[LINK] Here's the story of a 91 year old woman and State Farm policy holder whose roof collapsed during Hurricane Katrina. Her claim was denied because they claimed that her damage was due to flooding and not wind. Definitely not an isolated case by any means, there are hundreds of stories like this one, but the real corker in this case was that the insurance company sent over a small teddy bear like this one, saying it would be comforting to "hug the little fellow" in her time of need.

"We try to manage in a way that is thoughtful and considerate, and I apologize if the customer took it somehow in some other way," he said.

According to this collector's page, the bear is worth $11.99.

One puff piece after another

Found this pic over on Fark, they were asking for captions. Blogging here at Texas Oasis might be sporadic or just light and fluffy for a couple of weeks due to my workload -- everybody trying to get ready for South-by-Southwest (SXSW), and then me personally trying to get ready. I have spreadsheets to fill out! Plus people are asking ME for advice on stuff going on and I am no authority on that. The Greencards have a CD release on Tuesday, and I need to gush about their new album... it's amazing. Everybody needs things updated before the big shebang, and Duncan will need another vet visit if they can fit him in. It was a busy weekend with a great bluegrass show Friday night, and my friend celebrated turning 50 on Saturday. That "turning 50" business is going around.

I will be visiting my usual haunts and leaving a comment here and there (Beep Beep, I tried to join the discussion on your bone thread but my comments must have burnt up in fire and brimstone as they never appeared -- sniffle--).

Catblogging - Alex would like to speak to you

Alex would like your undivided attention immediately. He needs to know if you are planning on feeding him now and cleaning the litter pan. He would rather you didn't try to give him any pills either. Alex has switched to a new prescription food called Royal Canin Intestinal, and he loves it. No measurable weight gained yet, but we are hoping to put a few more ounces on him at least. He loves eating new stuff, but his belly usually disagrees. A couple of the other recent food experiments did not go so well, and he is trying to recover from that. It helps to have a little porch time in the sun.


Tags and links: Friday Ark - Carnival of the Cats - This week's carnival is at TacJammer - Cats - Catblogging

Darin Layne - guitarist

Well, after that last post on Falwell, I think the blog needs something to get the nasty taste out, so here's a video of an Austin guitarist I just discovered on the radio this morning! Amazing! He plays in lots of styles, very, very pretty stuff in many flavors. Do check out his MySpace for a nice sampling. Chris Maresh is the bass player in his Trio.

Tags: Music - Austin - Texas - Texas Music