SUN 27 AUG 2000

Thought for the Day
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect, had intended for us to forgo their use."
-- Galileo

Thought for the Day
"Oh drat these computers -- they're so naughty and complex."
--Marvin the Martian

Apocalypse Now!

Jesus said he'd be back someday. But some people just can't wait. The Second Coming Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing about the return of Jesus Christ by December 25, 2001. Steven Speilberg, take note.

Just No Pleasing Some People
At a time when pureyors of erotica are under increasing pressure from pro-censorship groups to clean up their act, the owner of a sex shop in York, England, faces charges that the "hardcore" videos he's selling aren't "hardcore" enough. Meanwhile, a Senator from Swaziland (who caused something of a flap last month when he suggested that his country's AIDS problem could be improved by banning schoolgirls from wearing miniskirts) has opined that the local condom shortage is a "punishment from the gods" for young people having too much sex. And they wonder why there's so little respect for authority these days....

Cat and Mouse
Our 5-month-old kitten Mojo, who is quite large for his age, brought a fat brown mouse into the house this morning and let it go. It looked like the one I saw in the shed a while back. It ran under the furniture and appeared to vanish completely. It's still somewhere in the house. We can't find it. Bad kitty.

Thought for the Day
"The higher we soar, the smaller we seem to those who cannot fly."
--Friedrich Nietzsche

Show Me the Money!

Washington obverse on dollar planchet

An awful lot of coinage errors have come out of the U.S. Mint over the past year, including an SBA dollar struck on a Sackie planchet (and vice-versa) and more recently a dollar coin with a state quarter obverse that sold on eBay for over $40,000. While a few errors are to be expected, especially with the Mint running at full production capacity, there have been so many and so many kinds of them that some people began to suspect something fishy was going on. Turns out there was.

Disappointing Finale
Last night I broke down and watched part of the final episode of CBS's much touted "Survivor" series. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I'd seen some of the previous episodes, but frankly I was disappointed. No one fought to the death. How can you call a show "Survivor" if no one fights to the death?

Thought for the Day
"The future exists first in Imagination, then in Will, then in Reality."
--Eve Hubbard

Could I Get Extra Buds with That?

Move over, Dominos. Heads up, Poppa John's. A start-up company in Amsterdam called iToke has something new on the delivery menu -- marijuana. Yet another way to save yourself some legwork while at the same time avoiding the annoyance of direct personal interaction. Combine this with standard pizza delivery services, high-speed internet access, and battery-operated sex toys, and there's really no reason to leave the house ever again.

Heavenly Sex Questions
Why does God need gender?

There's a lot of insistence from the religious right that God must be male. They get really upset with goddess-based religions like Wicca especially. They often say "Father God" rather than just "God" in order to emphasize their deity's inherent masculinity.

Now, what makes a male a male? Right -- a penis. So the unspoken assumption here is that God has a penis.

This raises some interesting questions. If God is eternal, as well as the only god in existence (as He claims), why does He need a reproductive organ? Does He get erections? If so, why? What about jock itch? And if He does indeed sport a divine male organ, how many angels can dance on the head of it?

You're Living in Your Own Private Idaho
At last, the truth can be told -- Idaho does not exist! Don't let the government or the media tell you otherwise. The evidence is plain for all to see -- given the right selection of "facts" presented in just the right way, it's possible to "prove" nearly anything. Keep this in mind as the election season gets into full swing... or if you happen to run into a Creationist....

Thought for the Day
"Every old man complains of the growing depravity of the world, of the petulance and insolence of the rising generation. He recounts the decency and regularity of former times, and celebrates the discipline and sobriety of the age in which his youth was passed; a happy age which is now no more to be expected, since confusion has broken in upon the world, and thrown down all boundaries of civility and reverence."
--Dr. Samuel Johnson in The Rambler
(Issue No. 50, Saturday, September 8, 1750)

What Is "Natural", Anyway?
Have you ever noticed that a lot of fundies criticize people for being both "unnatural" and "behaving like animals"? Isn't this a contradiction of some kind? If animals aren't natural, what is? Are computers natural? Are box-girder bridges natural? Is processed cheese spread natural? Is celibacy natural?

Pagans Gear Up for Election

With the religious right knee-deep in partisan politics and the Democratic VP an orthodox Jew, it's really only fair that alternative religions make their views known as well. And they are. Creative Dynamix supports their actions, and urges all Americans -- regardless of faith, creed, or belief system -- to vote this November for the pre-selected business-friendly centrist of their choice.

Beatles to Release New Album
Never thought I'd see a headline like that again, but apparently it's true. The fab four are finally reuniting for that long-awaited reunion LP (or CD, as the case may be), including John, who will perform via satellite link from the Astral Plane. Or at least that's our speculation. The article is tantalizingly short on details.

I bet they still won't use this cover.

Thought for the Day
"Verbing weirds language."
--Calvin & Hobbes

Walking Through a Vanishing Landscape
When Ruthie and I take our evening walk, we usually end up passing through scenery that may not be around much longer -- tobacco fields, stretching in row on converging row to the barns and woods beyond. The broad green leaves are slightly sticky to the touch, and the flowering tops bear delicate pink-and-white blooms that have no smell. The crop is a little yellow this year because we've had a lot of rain.

Just off Tobacco Road

Vacation in Mineral City

As noted briefly below, Ruthie and I took off for the weekend to a little bed & breakfast in Spruce Pine, NC, also known as "The Mineral City". We got the best room in the house and treated ourselves to a bubble bath in the jaccuzi, accompanied by glasses of icy champagne. We discovered that turning on the jets in the tub makes lots and lots of bubbles very very fast.

Our room in Spruce Pine

Spruce Pine gets its nickname from the abundance of mineral deposits in the area. The big money (such as it is) comes from mining quartz, mica, and talc for industrial purposes, but running through the rocks is a small vein of quartz- and beryl-related gemstones -- amethyst, citrine, garnet, topaz, aquamarine, emerald, ruby, sapphire. There aren't enough high-quality gemstones to make commercial mining profitable, so they sell buckets of dirt and rock from the gemstone vein to tourists and let people keep what they find. They'll also cut and mount the stones for you (for a fee, of course).

Amethyst crystal

Ruthie and I spent a couple of hours panning and made several good finds, including a nice clear aquamarine that they're going to cut for us. The amethyst tends to be high-quality as well, and we've had a couple of those cut, too. The more "precious" stones are often of a somewhat lower quality -- the emeralds can be cloudy, the rubies a cranberry pink color, the sapphires black and opaque. But there's usually at least half a dozen good gems in every bucket. It's great fun, and it made for a very enjoyable birthday outing.

Escape
For this year's birthday festivities, Ruthie and I decided to escape to a cozy bed & breakfast in the mountains of western North Carolina. We found pretty rocks. Details to follow.

Thought for the Day
"You can't have everything. Where would you put it?"
--Steven Wright