A Just-For-Fun Post (More or Less)

(Note to family and friends: The most recent update on Mr. AOW is here)

With a hat tip to Cube of The BLOG...

Check out this innovation with envelopes: bacon flavor!

Additional information below the fold:

Technology has given us a lot lately. The car. TV. X-rays. The refrigerator. The Internet. Heck, we even cured polio. But what have our envelopes tasted like for the last 4,000 years? Armpit, that’s what.

[...]

So, after thousands of years and kajillions of horrible tasting envelopes licked, we’re happy to report that J&D’s Bacon-Flavored Mmmvelopes™ are here to save the day. No longer will envelopes taste like the underside of your car. You can enjoy the taste of delicious bacon instead.

That’s right, bacon. It’s not real bacon, mind you, so you won’t have to start storing your envelopes in the refrigerator. But it really does taste like bacon....

The only good reason for an infidel to buy an Eid stamp. Heh.

Now, how long before some Moslem working for the post office complains?

Turn the page ....

Musical Interlude For Halloween Weekend

Note to family and friends: Updates on Mr. AOW are being added to this post, last updated on October 28.



Two more below the fold:

Turn the page ....

Weekend Video: Men In Film

Note to readers: If you must read a political post, please scroll down to the two posts below this one.

Hat tip to Maggie's Notebook for the video below:



I got most of the early film idols correct. One of the advantages of age!

Answers below the fold. No cheating, please.
Answers:

Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, James Cagney, Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Errol Flynn, Fred Astaire, Clark Gable, Laurence Olivier, Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, James Stewart, Tyrone Power, Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Gene Kelly, Burt Lancaster, William Holden, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Rock Hudson, Montgomery Clift, Anthony Quinn, Gregory Peck, Richard Burton, Jack Lemmon, Sean Connery, Sidney Poitier, Charlton Heston, Steve McQueen, Peter O'Toole, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Roy Scheider, Warren Beatty, Dennis Hopper, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Harrison Ford, Kevin Kline, Kevin Costner, Michael Douglas, Christopher Walken, Mel Gibson, Sean Penn, John Travolta, Antonio Banderas, Tim Robbins, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, George Clooney

Too bad that Dean Martin and Raul Julia weren't included, however.

Turn the page ....

Musical Interlude

From back in the day, James Cagney (1942), with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland toward the conclusion of the video:



And another, this one (1955) featuring James Cagney and Bob Hope:

Turn the page ....

Student's Work: Poetry

The following poem, a tribute and not an assignment, was written by eighth grade, homeschooled student MJD and read expressively by the student at the end-of-the-year program. MJD is describing the two-hour block class British Literature and Expository Writing.



The Longest Two Hours

Awaiting the hour in which we will start,
The sipping of coffee, the sketching of art.
A most nervous chatter we all do resume —
Till the cause of our worry stands up in the room.

She searches her suitcase filled with grammar and papers,
Which we all hope we'll pass on — sooner or later.
We cringe at the squeaks coming from the white board
As the sharpie writes down the words sooooo abhorred.

“Test first today. Hope you studied. “NO NOTES!”
The latter of which was all capitals and quotes.
But the ominous squeaking continued to rant,
Like an eerie, unearthly, and hair-raising chant.

Adjusting her glasses, eyes fixed on the board,
She read it out loud piercing word by piercing word.
“At 11:30, a timed essay. But, before then,
Even though it may kill me, commas. Again!”

From obvious to strenuous the questions did vary,
From King Lear by Shakespeare to Beowulf by Heaney.
But she doesn't stop there, to our humiliation.
Mumbling each grade out, we hold in our frustration.

But the class ends not here. It resumes in an instant!
We study our commas till she thinks we're proficient.
And then comes the break, which even she needed.
But the break was soon over and we were reseated.

The timed essay subject was studied with groaning.
This subject (to some) was simply mystifying.
How could one explain this impossible subject?
But from the large desktop, the orange bell was plangent.

We scribbled our writing till the paper was smoking.
When we thought there was time left, “Five minute warning!”
With a yell of dismay — and a groan — and a sob —
We looked at our papers: a Terrible Job.

The teacher looked round from student to student,
From bright-shining faces, to those of great disappointment.
Standing up and collecting, her faced turned to gray.
Someone hadn't disposed of his gum yet today.

She whirled round quickly, staring at the offender,
With a quiet voice filled with much suppressed anger:
“Next week you'll lose the gum. I will not forget!”
Then a student whispered, “Lunch?” “No, not yet!”

Homework slips were quickly retrieved from her bag.
It felt much lighter once from it they were snagged.
The large homework paper was black with the ink
Of words that described what we must get done this week.

“Now off to lunch with all of you,” she said.
“Fix up your commas. Ow! My poor head!
"Or else I'll might read your timed essay grades aloud!”
Then we scurried to lunch — a stampeding crowd.

As we share lots of laughs over previous classes,
The fond memories build, and we know they will last.
Typing assignments at 1:00 A.M. on the computer,
The teacher who led was a wonderful tutor.

— Contribued by MJD.

Turn the page ....

Quiz: Could You Survive Another Great Depression?

The quiz is HERE (hat tip to Raven).

My results below the fold.

You Are 61% Likely to Survive Another Great Depression

Even though you may not be expecting the worst, you're the type of person who prepares for the worst. You live a relatively modest life. You don't overspend, and you aren't very materialistic. You are also quite self sufficient and independent. You have many useful skills. You can take care of yourself and those you love... which is crucial to surviving another Great Depression.

Could You Survive Another Great Depression?

Turn the page ....

If Only

Every week, the Washington Post has a little contest called "The Style Invitational." A few weeks back, the Invitational was "If Only!" — a one liner explaining how the world would be different had some event not occurred.

The printed results for "If Only!" are below the fold (emphases mine, all a matter of personal preference):

REPORT FROM WEEK 790
in which we asked you to tell us what would be different had some event not taken place: We acknowledge that some of these effects might not withstand the most rigorous logic....

4. If the chairs had been bolted down on the Titanic's deck, we would have been spared one overused cliche. (Chuck Smith, Woodbridge)

3. If Watergate hadn't happened, reporters would be coining each new scandal "Something-pot Dome." (Larry Yungk, Arlington; Russell Beland, Fairfax)

2.the winner of the Potty Elmo: If newspapers hadn't been invented, we'd be shouting crossword puzzle answers at the town crier. (Stephen Langer, Chevy Chase)

And the Winner of the Inker

If Napoleon to had been exiled to Egypt, instead of the palindrome "Able was I ere I saw Elba," we'd have "Zeus was I ere I saw Suez." (Chris Doyle, Ponder, Tex.)
What Might Has-Beens: Honorable Mentions

If Shakespeare hadn't written "Hamlet," an infinite number of monkeys would be looking for jobs. (Beverley Sharp, Washington)

If Ralph Nader had not run for the presidency in 2000, Uday Hussein still would be the chief motivator of the Iraqi soccer team. (Howard Walderman, Columbia)

If her father had owned a more down-market lodging chain, Paris Hilton might have been named Indianapolis Motel 6. She'd still be just as talented, though. (Andy Bassett, New Plymouth, New Zealand)

If Noah hadn't been so OCD about getting two of every last animal, I'd be able to sit on my deck without lighting all those citronella torches. (Kevin Dopart, Washington)

If God hadn't given the Ten Commandments to Moses, Judge Roy Moore would have been ordered to remove the statue of Baal from the courthouse. (Mike Turniansky, Pikesville, Md.)

If Abraham Lincoln had not been assassinated, then Andrew Johnson would never have been president and, uh, well, lots would have changed. Like, instead of "Bush 41" and "Bush 43" we'd have had "Bush 40" and "Bush 42." (Zack and Russell Beland)

If Philo T. Farnsworth hadn't invented the TV, guys would have to sit on the couch all weekend reading the football newspapers. (Kevin Dopart)

If Herman Melville hadn't written "Omoo," countless crossword puzzle constructors would have been ruined and might have turned to a life of 34 Down: Illegal act. (John Shea, Lansdowne, Pa.)

If Wham! hadn't come along, Andrew Ridgeley would be practically unknown today. (John Shea)

Had the Anglo-Saxons not named their goddess of spring Eostre, then that place in Polynesia with the big heads that look like John Kerry would be called Passover Island. (Roy Ashley, Washington)

Had guns never been invented, the Washington Wizards would still be known as the Washington Poison-Tipped Arrows. (David Garratt, Glenn Dale)

If Eve had never tasted the apple, you'd be reading this naked. (David Garratt)

If Alexander Graham Bell hadn't invented the telephone, Superman would have to change in port-a-potties. (Randy Lee, Burke)

If the endoscope had not been invented, we would have ended up relying completely on space aliens for anal probes. (Larry Yungk)

If McDonald's hadn't been founded, American cuisine would be unknown to the rest of the world. (Russ Taylor, Vienna)

If the South had won the Civil War, Virginia would have named every school and road after a Southern general -- in other words, three more than there are now. (Larry Yungk)

If Hope and Crosby had never stopped making those "road" films together, well, it would be kind of creepy trying to make a movie with two dead stars. (Russell Beland)

If the Albany Perforated Wrapping Paper Co. had not invented toilet paper in 1877, for the last 130 years pranksters would have had to litter front yards with corncobs. (Larry Yungk)

If The Style Invitational had never been created, I would have seen the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked. (Ira Allen Ginsberg, Bethesda)

If Barack Hitler Obama hadn't changed his middle name, he might not have gotten elected. (Chuck Smith)

[source]

Readers, care to play? Political entries not required. Be serious or not, as is your wont. You may submit more than one entry — in the comments section here, of course. No prizes given. however.

(An excerpt from the above was crossposted to THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS)

Turn the page ....

Your Sunday Funny

Proof that all the billions we’ve spent on education have been wasted:





Hat-tip to my dear friend Mustang, who emailed me the above.

Turn the page ....

The Simplicity Of Obama's Message (Bumped)

URL



Even a birdbrain understands Obama's message. LOL.

(Crossposted to THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS)

Turn the page ....

What To Do If The Lawnmower Won't Start

Weekends here at our house typically bring the odious task of mowing the lawn. This fellow (not Mr. AOW) decided that the mower had better start — or else!

A Milwaukee man was accused of shooting his lawn mower because it wouldn't start. Keith Walendowski, 56, was charged with felony possession of a short-barreled shotgun or rifle and misdemeanor disorderly conduct while armed.

According to the criminal complaint, Walendowski said he was angry because his Lawn Boy wouldn't start Wednesday morning. He told police quote, "I can do that, it's my lawn mower and my yard so I can shoot it if I want."

Check out the legal penalty he's facing: an $11,000 fine and over six years in jail.

Pastorius has named Mr. Walendowski "IBA Man of the Year."

Turn the page ....

Dancing Pig

Nothing like a little haram for an end-of-the-week, infidel smile:



YouTube Link

Turn the page ....

Six Word Memoir

(Scroll down for more serious postings)

Two of my blog friends, Raven and Kevin, tagged me with the following meme:

The Rules:

1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to the original post if possible so we can track it as travels across the blogosphere.
4. Tag at least five more blogs with links.
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.

Here's my six word memoir:

Grammar police — red pen in hand.

I even have a badge, albeit with different words:



I hereby tag the following blog friends:

Seth, Dinah, David, Gayle, and Benning.

Turn the page ....

Now, For Some Comic Relief

Happy April Fool's Day!

Warning! Set down your beverage before continuing on.
---------
Turn up your speakers. Enjoy!



[Hat-tip to Mr. Beamish for calling my attention to the above video]

Turn the page ....

Just In Time For Halloween

[Hat-tip to Raven, via email]

Now for a little diversion, a lighter moment....

I can't help myself. I just have to post this one: "Rep. Dennis Kucinich Saw UFO, Shirley MacLaine Writes":

Did Congressman Dennis Kucinich see a U.F.O.?

A new book soon to be released says he did.

The book is written by one of Kucinich's closest friends, actress Shirley MacLaine, who attended his wedding in Cleveland in 2005.

The book titled "Sage-ing while Age-ing" is all about MacLaine's life experiences.

One of those experiences was in the '80's when Dennis Kucinich visited her at her Washignton State home.

In the book, MacLaine says "He saw a gigantic triangular craft, silent, and observing him. It hovered for about ten minutes or so, and sped away with a speed he couldn't comprehend. He felt a connection in his heart and heard directions in his mind."

A spokesperson for Congressman Kucinich tells Fox 8 News Kucinich has no comment.

Beth Hervanec of Lakewood say what is written in the book does not change her opinion of the congressman.

"I haven't heard it out of his mouth, you can't really speculate, she might be putting it in there just for noteworthy reasons to sell her book, you never know." said Hervanec.

The book goes on sale November 6th.

Maybe Kucinich really is under the influence of extra-terrestrial forces? As good an explanation as any.

Turn the page ....

FEATURED QUESTION: Just for Fun

Note: Now that classes have resumed for the new term, I've decided to go to FEATURED QUESTION instead of QUESTION OF THE WEEK. Featured Questions will appear at intervals of my own choosing, no more than once a week and probably more infrequently.

(Each "Featured Question," an idea which I gleaned from A Republic If You Can Keep It, will remain toward the top of the blog until the next question appears. The previous Questions are HERE and HERE. Please scroll down for recent postings)

I'm a sucker for those silly, online quizzes. HERE is another one: "How Scary Are You?" My results are in the continuation of this post:

You Are Scary

You even scare scary people sometimes!

How Scary Are You?

FEATURED QUESTION: How did you rate on this silly quiz?

Turn the page ....

FEATURED QUESTION: Just For Fun

Note: Now that classes have resumed for the new term, I've decided to go to FEATURED QUESTION instead of QUESTION OF THE WEEK. Featured Questions will appear at intervals of my own choosing, no more than once a week and probably more infrequently.

(Each "Featured Question," an idea which I gleaned from A Republic If You Can Keep It, will remain toward the top of the blog until the next question appears. The previous Questions are HERE and HERE. Please scroll down for recent postings)

Except for my seasonal allergies to goldenrod and to mold, I love this time of year. The cerulean-blue sky, the nip in the air, the fall flowers, the changing colors of the leaves, the chorus of crickets before the first hard freeze, the availability of fresh apples — everything autumn except the traffic congestion heading west for Skyline Drive.


Now for a little, albeit unscientific, quiz about the fall season and your personality. CLICK HERE to take the quiz. My results are below in the continuation of this posting.

You Are Apple Cider

Smooth and comforting. But downright nasty when cold.

What Part of Fall Are You?

Well, I DO love apple cider with cinnamon. Maybe there's some accuracy to the quiz after all!

Turn the page ....

The Nice Matters Award

While I was away, Vorzheva of Spanish Pundit nominated me for the Nice Matters Award. I don't know that I'm always nice, but I do try to be civil.

Having received the award, it is my duty to nominate seven lady bloggers to receive the Nice Matters Award. Like "beauty," "nice" is a nebulous word; the meaning in the eye of the beholder.

I couldn't narrow my list down to seven, so I've chosen ten lady bloggers whose blogs I love to visit. Here are my awards, in no particular order:

Cube of The BLog

Eyes

Monica of Grizzly Mama

Gayle of Dragon's Lady Den and Liberal Lunacy

My two sisters, The Merry Widow and Nanc of Long Range and It's Curtains for You...

Jungle Mom of The Jungle Hut

Brooke of Neoconcommand Center

Wild Thing of PC Free Zone

Mountain Mama

Kat of CatHouse Chat

I saw that Angel had already been named, so she's not included in the above list. But she's definitely on my list of nice lady bloggers. I'd also have named Raven, but she's on vacation.

Each you named above is supposed to choose seven lady bloggers to receive The Nice Matters Award. Happy nominating, should you choose to participate!

Addendum: Raven is back home! Take a look at the pictures she has posted.

Turn the page ....

On The Lighter Side

Unless you happen to live there, that is.


There is quite a mess in some of the residential areas surrounding Capitol Hill. The mess is so bad that the mail isn't delivered on some days. The complete story from the front page of the Metro section in the August 26, 2007 Washington Post:

Life Is Pure Hitchcock On Block of Capitol Hill
Annual Starling Invasion Leaves Neighborhood Awash in Filth, Residents Flush With Frustration

By now, the nets were to be shrouding the trees, blocking the birds -- and stopping the bird bombs.

Granted, this was a hopeful deadline. But for Capitol Hill residents on this old, elegant block near Congressional Cemetery, it's been a long summer of starlings -- "rats with wings," as Jennifer Smira calls them -- roosting in the tall, stately trees along the 1600 block of Potomac Avenue SE.

Not only have the birds been dropping a constant whitewash and turning the street and sidewalks into a slippery stinkfest, but the birds' "fecal matter" -- as the District Department of Health indelicately terms it -- makes nearly every parked car on the block look like an ambushed victim from a paintball war. Bird guano clumps trash can lids and handles. It has polka-dotted Nicole Shank's rose garden. It has meant that every time Smira walks her dog, she ends the outing by cleaning Meisha's paws with baby wipes.

Even the U.S. Postal Service has days when it won't deliver the mail.

"It's sort of like the snow, only a different thing entirely," says Postal Service spokesman Deborah Yackley. "Our carriers do have the right to determine that a location is unsafe or hazardous for them to deliver. The mess extends all the way across the sidewalk and into the street, so it's impossible for them to get to the mailbox without going through it. The customers have tried to clean it up, but it comes back overnight. . . . It's slippery. It's hazardous."

The starlings' return to the same block, year after year, is routine bird behavior. Ornithologists call it "site fidelity." Once a few birds start roosting in one place, the offspring hatched there are genetically imprinted to regard the site as home, said Cecilia Riley, president of the Association of Field Ornithologists.

Capitol Hill is not the only place besieged by birds. Huge flocks of crows have settled at various times in Fredericksburg, Hagerstown, Md., and White Flint Mall.

Dislodging them is incredibly difficult. In some places, people have built nests to attract peregrine falcons, hawks and owls; the predators can take out a few of the targeted birds but are of little use against masses. People have tried air horns and recordings of hawks screeching to scare away starlings, to virtually no avail.

"The trouble with starlings is they're incredibly smart," said Terri Coppersmith, operator of Diamonds in the Rough, a wildlife rehabilitation center in Westminster, Md. "They're precocious, and they catch on quickly that it's a fake."

For the past two weeks, staff members from the office of D.C. Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) have been pinballing from city agency to city agency, looking for solutions.

Wells's chief of staff, Charles Allen, has the telephone demeanor of a very serious man with a very serious job, but who finds himself, these days, repeating the word "poop" with increasing frequency. He's been to the Department of Health -- whose staff could assure him only that the block-long smear of bird droppings is, according to spokesman Phillippa Mezile, "a nuisance, and it could pose a health hazard."

He went to the Department of Public Works, whose staff could promise only, he said, to "get out there by the end of business Thursday [and] clean the street, clean the sidewalk."

He hit the Department of Transportation, where staff misunderstood the whole situation and believed it to involve only one tree. A possible solution, suggested spokesman Erik Linden, would be "procuring a sizable net to throw over the tree." The net would keep out the birds, the birds would go elsewhere and voila! The guano would be gone.

Then Linden actually visited the 1600 block of Potomac Avenue.

"It is more than one tree," he said, sounding almost defeated. Suddenly, the netting solution had become a whole lot more expensive -- and extensive. "This is going to take a deeper investigation than we first thought," Linden said. The only solution he could outright discuss was: "We don't want to cut down the trees."

Meanwhile, the residents of Potomac Avenue are getting antsier and angrier.

The bird droppings, said James Rychner, 45, who works at the University of Maryland as director of development for the Division of Student Affairs, are "very unhealthy and quite a disgusting situation." He has lived on the block for more than five years and calls this year's starling infestation "by far the worst I have lived through." For more than three years, he added, "I have tried . . . to get D.C. government to take some action, and it has always turned into 'pass the buck' between the Department of Health, Public Works, transportation services -- each pointing to the other agencies with no action."

Shank, who four years ago bought her first house on Potomac Avenue and has unfulfilled visions of gardening in the front yard, expects that city agencies will dither long enough for the birds to fly elsewhere, as they've done every year in the past, for the fall and winter.

Late summer is prime time for great flocks of blackbirds and starlings. "The population is huge right now," says Scott Sillett, a research wildlife biologist at the National Zoo, "because you have all the adults, plus all the young who were produced who are now independent."

So even before this season ends, residents such as Shank have given up on this year and are worrying about next year. "The city needs to do something before they nest and have their babies," said the 44-year-old Department of State employee. "Because once that happens, they won't be going anywhere."

And once that happens, the residents will, again, be enduring a similar summer to this one. A summer in which the problem gets so bad -- so acrid that the stench clings to their clothes, their skin and the small hairs lining their noses -- that it will, once again, resist any short-term solutions.

Take the Public Works "flusher" truck that sluiced down Potomac Avenue midmorning on Thursday.

"Now, see?" asked retiree Betty Perkins, glaring at the orange water truck. She has lived on the street for 43 years and has watched the bird situation get worse and worse in the past few years. "What's he washing? The curb." She sounded disgusted, as if all that clumped-up, caked-on mess of fecal matter was way too copious for some quick, drive-by spray to accomplish anything.

"He washes that, and tonight, it'll be messed up again," intoned her brother, James Perkins, rocking on the front porch and looking unimpressed at the splash that did almost nothing about the feathers, feces and swarms of flies coating the sidewalk.

"Have you ever seen 'The Birds'?" asked Betty Perkins, envisioning the dark thunderclouds that hover in the sky when the starlings return to roost each evening. "That's what it's like."

Except that "The Birds," the 1963 film, is Hitchcock horror that ends with the final credits. The birds of Potomac Avenue? That's a recurring horror.

About the only silver lining is this: Bird poop, they say, brings good luck.

No wonder that Congress goes out of town at this time of year.

Here's hoping that tourists to the Capitol Hill area are carrying umbrellas, even on sunny days.

Turn the page ....

Tagged! Blogger Reflection Awards

The Merry Widow tagged me, and Beak mentioned me as well. Due to a road trip to upstate New York, the resulting decompression after the trip, and my having to struggle as to which bloggers to name and which to leave out (**sigh**), I'm a bit delayed in posting my Blogger Refection Awards. Below are the rules and my list of awardees, along with some honorable mentions (by no means an exhaustive list):



Here are the rules:

1. Copy this post (meaning the rules).
2. Reflect on five bloggers and write a least a paragraph about each one.
3. Make sure you link this post so others can read it and the rules.
4. Go leave your chosen bloggers a comment and let them know they’ve been given the award.
5. Put the award icon on your site.

"This award should make you reflect on five bloggers who have been an encouragement, a source of love, impacted you in some way, and have been a Godly example to you. Five Bloggers who when you reflect on them you get a sense of pride and joy . . . of knowing them and being blessed by them.”

I hereby award each of the following bloggers the Blogger Reflection Award:

1. Jason of Liberty and Culture: Over two years ago, when I first started blogging at the invitation of Northern Virginiastan, I had a limited range of acquaintances, most of whom I met at Jihad Watch. Jason had declared his atheism in a comment there, but in that same comment he showed that he recognized the threat of Islam. I hopped over to his site and read his essay "Is Islam Evil?" Then I returned to the thread at Jihad Watch, declared my faith in Christ, and announced that I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with any who recognize the enemy. I'm proud to count Jason as a friend, a blessing, and a teacher.

2. Beak of The Beak Speaks: I met Beak via Jason's site. I was drawn to Beak after I discovered that he was present in NYC for WTC 93 and 9/11. After I had posted a few comments at his site, Beak invited me to meet other bloggers who frequented the site by introducing me at the electronic bar, one of the features of his blog at the time. Newbie and upstart that I was, I inquired as to the rules of etiquette; that ignorance brought a few laughs but no ridicule. Like most bloggers, Beak at first assumed I was a man, and it was at Beak's site that I revealed that I am a woman. I count Beak and his longtime friends, especially Warren and Mr. Beamish, as my cyberfamily. No matter how far I roam, I always return to Beak's site.

3. Mustang of Social Sense: This inactive Marine, whom I met at Beak's site, is my first and best cyberfriend. Back in my ignorant days of the dangers of the Internet, I revealed to him my name and telephone number — right off the bat! I had thought that with the name "Mustang," he must have a Ford Mustang. Soon he disabused me of that notion and explained that in the Marines a mustang is an enlistee who rose to the position of officer by coming up through the ranks. Mustang helped me to customize my sidebar, to enable links in postings, to work in HTML, and several other of the blogging ins-and-outs. Early on, at his instigation, we co-wrote "Our Own Gullibity," an essay which appeared on several web sites. Mustang has been such a blessing to me that I cannot possibly enumerate all the details, which go beyond mere blogging! Once again, I want to thank him publicly for being my dear and wise friend.

4. Warren of Long Range: My "adopted" big brother and voluntary designer of my avatar, Warren is one special gentlemen whose soul reflects the light of the Holy Spirit. Way back when, Beak referred to Warren as "everyone's best friend"; I didn't understand that moniker at the time, but I do now. I've learned that to know Warren is to love him — provided you're not a leftist or a troll. I'm proud and blest to count Warren as my team blogger, though he doesn't post often at this site. I can't possibly thank Warren enough for all that he's done and continues to do for me. He has the passwords to all my Internet accounts and sites so as to unball the messes I occasionally create with HTML. Mr. AOW and I are going to get to know Warren better and face-to-face when we travel to Warren's home for our end-of-summer vacation.

5. Pastorius of CUANAS (Citizens United Against the New Anti-Semisitm) and Infidel Bloggers Alliance: Fellow Christian and outspoken counter-jihadist whom I originally found at Jihad Watch, Pastorius posts a variety of items and articles at his main site. Along with other bloggers, he co-started Infidel Bloggers Alliance and Maverick News Media, both of which are sites which carry stories and analyses which the mainstream news and dhimmis are afraid to disseminate. Pastorius can be acerbic and humorous (both of which traits I love) as he fearlessly wages counter-jihad and takes a stand for Western civilization. Most importantly, he is strong in his commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ. For example, take a look at one of his recent postings: "Is the Christian Church Producing Atheists Because Of A Lack Df Substantive Teaching?"

I also have to mention Mr. Beamish (satirist supreme, who conspired with Warren to design my avatar), WC (who has given me the opportunity of co-hosting a radio show and who is the author of the excellent e-book on my right sidebar) Angel (always on my blog rounds), Mark Alexander (whose web site and book are excellent and a must-read, and whose speaking voice is a natural for Books on Tape), American Crusader (who is fearless in his on-spot analyses), Shah Alexander (who has taught me a lot about Asian affairs) Steve (friend of Andrew Whitehead of Anti-CAIR and with whom Mr. AOW and I attended A Gathering of Eagles on March 17), EB (with whom my phone conversations are so uplifting and who is ever in my prayers) Cubed (See this, this, and this), Farmer (philosopher and deep thinker with whom I've had several interesting discussions about brain matters and music), Nanc (my "adopted" sister who helped me to start my pig collection), and The Merry Widow (my "adopted" sister who puts current events into Christian perspective, sends me care packages. and prays for me daily).

And, believe it or not, I have to mention Duck, the inveterate leftist dissenter who, over the course of more than two years, has argued with me and ridiculed me, thus teaching me patience. How many times I have wanted to fire off an ugly comment directed at Duck! Instead, I have tried to remember and to personify how my God and my Lord teaches me to measure my words. Yes, Duck is a blessing to me, even though we rarely agree.

Note: Apologies to all the friends I've omitted! If I were to continue here, I'd max out my bandwidth.

Turn the page ....

Wiezie: A Pig Story

Regular readers here know how inordinately fond I am of pigs. See this previous posting.

Now comes a pig story from the Washington Post!

Picture caption from this June 12, 2007 article in the Washington Post:

This is Wiezie, a Vietnamese potbellied pig who spent some time under a porch at 13th and G streets NE. (By Timothy Moyer -- Washington Humane Society)

Full article below:

One morning last month, Elizabeth Perry walked past a house at 13th and G streets NE and said to herself, "That has got to be the ugliest dog I've ever seen."

But it wasn't a dog sprawled out underneath the house's front porch. It was a pig. A big pig.

There was a time when pigs were common in Washington, but those bucolic days are long gone, and Elizabeth decided that now wasn't the time to resurrect them. Besides, the pig didn't look healthy. Its belly was an avalanche of avoirdupois; its facial features were lost in folds of fat. It resembled a bloated, porcine Shar-Pei: a Shar-Pig.

Elizabeth called animal control and reported a pig under a porch.

"She was like, 'Ma'am are you drunk?' " said Elizabeth, 35, a Foreign Service officer who lives nearby. "It was 7 in the morning. I wasn't drunk. I said, 'I don't think it's legal to take a pig into the District, and if it is legal, it's not being kept in a humane way.' "

The pig was there when Elizabeth got off work that afternoon. And it was there the next day. And the next day. And the day after that.

The pig became the talk of the neighborhood. The house already was. The collection of young roommates living there seemed not to show the kind of pride in their rented home that others in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood wished they would.

And now there was a pig.

Elizabeth wondered what was taking the city so long to remove it. During one of her phone calls, a humane society representative told her the people in the house were watching the pig for someone else.

"You mean pig-sitting is okay?" she asked.

Mitchell Battle of the Washington Humane Society said his people went to the house to speak to the people tending the Vietnamese potbellied pig.

"They said the owners were out of town and they were keeping the pig for them," Officer Battle told me. Officer Battle gave them 10 days to relocate the pig. "When we went back, they'd returned it. It was gone."

Chris Babor, 28, a bartender, lives in the pig house. He said the pig belongs to his bartender friend Janet Hamric, 38.

"When I brought her here, I didn't know they were illegal in D.C.," Janet said. She and her pig, Wiezie (named after golfer Michelle Wie), had been living in a condo in Rockville. Neighbors complained, and the pig had to go. The G Street porch was like a porcine refugee camp.

"I've never seen so many funny reactions from so many different people," Janet said. "Granted it's not the most common thing. I didn't think it was that out there. Then again, who knows? Maybe it is too out there."

Janet disputes that Wiezie is grotesquely overweight. "She's just stout," she said.

She does regret not leash-training the pig. "Getting her around is difficult," she said. To get Wiezie from Rockville, Chris and Janet put the pig on a blanket and carried her to a rented U-Haul truck.

Chris said Wiezie bestowed temporary celebrity status on him and his four roommates. Many police officers visited them. "They just wanted to see the pig," he said.

Janet is currently house-hunting, searching for lodging that will accommodate her, Wiezie and her dog, Chuck. "Something will come up," she said. "It always does."

Until then, Wiezie is residing temporarily in Prince George's County.

"She's got an acre to roam around on," Janet said. "Granted, she uses about 10 square feet."

Oink! Oink! Souey!

Turn the page ....