I have some planks wrestled from a snake-home pile once the woodshed. What shall I make from them?

Shall we pool our funds to buy back the farm from Ted & Jen? Something I've entertained for awhile. Silliness, I know. Folly.

I've got $3.70 burning a hole in my pocket.

Really, I don't think it's silly. I like the idea - it's something I've thought about too (and the cheese factory as well). I didn't even know the farm was sold until long after it was... though I was no more in a position to buy it then than I am now. I wonder how much they'd want?

'Bout them planks - whyn'tcha nail some clogs to 'em?

Maybe I will do it.

Then again...

do the damn book

Money is good, but to earn it while you have your soul chipped away and discarded might not be...

But money is good.

...'cuz if you get money, you can use it to buy someone else's soul to replace yours.

(Can you tell I'm struggling with finishing a freelance project which started in March and has suddenly become 'hot' and needs to be finished today? 'I can buy another soul, I can buy another soul', I keep repeating to myself.)

buy the damned soul

redeem it, damn it, remuneration, redemption.

'A Roky thing.' You rock! Er, Rok!

I'm afraid I have no idea about wireless providers, but it would sure be keen if you nutty kids could drop by on your way out west...

J.

connectivity sucks

Everyone is my superior in that I might learn from them.

Interesting how a Bush was in office during the Gulf War, and a Bush is in office at a time when there may be another Middle Eastern war...

Great balls of burning Bushes.

I worked across the street from WTC and was on Broadway and Wall Street when the second plane hit. I usually get off on Fulton, but the train bypassed that stop without any explanation. We all walked off the train, out of the station and into terror attacks. No one told us not to exit or where to go or what had just happened with the first plane. I just walked into it all.

There was dust, debris, shoes, paper, hats, purses, all kinds of stuff on the ground. Very few people were on the streets, but whoever was there was either crying or just out of it. Lost.

Then there was a loud noise like a plane flying really low. It's weird I thought of a plane because I had no idea it was a plane that caused the flames I could see coming from the first tower. From Broadway you can't see the hole in the building clearly, you can only see the flames and smoke.

Once the plane was in sight, I said to myself "there is no way that plane is going to hit that building." Just as I finished that sentence, people began screaming and pointing, and it did just that.

Everyone took cover anywhere they could. People ran into vestibules, stores, and like I did, under cars. A Chinese woman and I were under a car, side by side. I could hear screams and things hitting the ground and the car I was under. There were cars crashing and glass breaking. Then there was silence. I'm not sure if anyone else heard the silence, but I know I did.

Then someone close by says "Oh my god." I'm not sure how long I was under the car, but a man came over to the Chinese woman and myself and pulled both of us out from under the car. My clothes were dirty, there was all kinds of stuff in my hair and I only had on one sandal.

When I looked up I was astonished. The streets were covered with more dirt and debris. It seemed like it had snowed. When I looked up at the tower... I don't know how to express it in words. I can describe the sight but I can never fully describe the feeling.

There were people falling from the windows, there were bodies hanging out and parts on the floor. I couldn't breathe... I couldn't think... A cop began screaming for us to run. I started to run but I couldn't keep my eyes off the towers.

When I got to Fulton Street, I saw all the people standing around and pointing. When I turned around to see what they were pointing at, I finally saw all of the damage. The hole in the first tower. I still didn't know it was a plane in the first building, my brain couldn't comprehend all my eyes were seeing.

I'm only 21. I've never seen a dead body other than on TV. It looked like a movie. The cops were trying to clear the area. I just kept running but I felt like I wasn't getting any further from it. It felt like a bad dream when no matter how hard you scream no one can hear you.

I knew my mom would be hysterical but cells didn't work and there were lines for phones. People on one line let me skip ahead and I finally called her, I was on about Houston by now. She couldn't believe it was me. She said she was going to prepare herself for the worst. She calmed me a bit. She said to just get home any way possible. But I couldn't function. I didn't know which way I should be walking or how far my house actually was (I live in the Bronx).

A police officer came over to me and began hugging me and dusting me off. I had blood in my hair, but I wasn't injured. He hailed me a cab and I got in along with two other people. I was in shock and said nothing the entire way. The driver had the radio on and I finally found out what happened. Traffic was crazy.

The further we got the less people knew. They were looking at me like I was some type of freak. They would just stare. At about 42nd Street, the radio person said the towers had collapsed. First one, then the second. I could still see the smoke.

I don't remember anything else from then until the driver was poking me. The man was gone and we were at the girl's house. I told him where I was going and he got me there. What seemed like my entire family was in my mother's house. Some were outside waiting for me. I collapsed into their arms.

I woke up in my mother's bed. My hair was clean and I had on new clothes. I was home. Thousands of people were still struggling to get to their loved ones. Thousands of others would never get home.

I have accepted what happened but I am nowhere near moving on. I just started sleeping at my own home, but not yet through the night. I have a little girl to take care of, so I need to get it together. I'm trying. I know people are hurt by this, but no one can truly understand how I feel unless they went through what I did. We will move on.

you made it. you are as safe as you ever were. we have little time on this planet. use it well. find comfort in the youth of your child.

where were the rescue helicopters on 911????

Pork the Other White Meat

I am a vegetarian. As such I advocate that the consumption of any meat damages the health of the body. I do know and Understand that there are various degrees to managing the health of one's physical. When I speak on the process of moving from a meat centered diet to a vegetable centered diet the first thing that I always mention is pork. This meat has been deemed unclean by religious peoples such as the Jews and Muslims since antiquity. Pork specifically has a high fat ratio. Fat is where toxins take root. The digestion of pork overtaxes the kidneys, liver, and clogs arteries/intestines. Historically it has been identified with outbreaks of Trichinosis. Yet what I am going to Build on is the history of the restriction against eating pork.

When Musa went into the caves of West Asia (Europe) he went to civilize the Caucasians whom had lost all knowledge of themselves and were living a beast way of life, a Stone Age type of existence (You can also see Musa as the interaction of Egypt teaching the Proto-Greecians). Musa was educated at the best part of the planet (including the whole Fertile Crescent; Egypt and Arabia via his Father in law Jethro). One of the major rules that he gave the first out of the caves (the Jewish Peoples) is recorded in the book of Law (Leviticus 11:7). This is the restriction against eating swine.

Musa, being educated in Egypt, knew of the restriction against eating pork amongst the Egyptians. Herodotus, the Greek Father of History, mentions that the Egyptians consider the pig to be unclean therefore they will not eat it. From records though we know that there was a separate class of swine herders in Egypt. This wouldn't be unusual if there was some other portion of the pig that was useable. In this region of the world though the pig was not used for its hide, it gave no wool, and it was not used for milk. So the question is "Why was the pig bred at all?"

The roots of the domestication (grafting) of the pig began in China circa 8,000 BC. It is here that the isolation of certain traits started to take place from the boar (for example, lack of extreme body hair). It is important to note that the boar/pig at this time had a diet of primarily roots, tubers, and fruits as it was a forest animal.

The next major development of the pig happens in the Fertile Crescent where it arrives around 3,000 BC. Pliny (another Greek historian) mentions that "absence" of pork in the diet Pre-Muhammad Arabia. Sozomenus (another Greek historian) mentions that there were various groups of Arabians who abstained from eating pork in the 5th century. This is all due to a conscious transformation of the boar/pig via domestication into an animal NOT utilized for food.

At the time that the pig was arriving into the Fertile Crescent we are dealing with an arid environment and city-states. The traditional food source and environment (forests) of the pig wasn't present. Therefore his source of food had to be altered. This was done in the Fertile Crescent.

When the pig was first brought into the Fertile Crescent it was in competition with man in two ways. First if it was allowed to eat the "roots" of the grass then the cattle would have nothing to feed on and it would actually destroy fields for sometime. Therefore it was not wise to allow swine herders access to this resource (the cattle herders are the more ancient group in the Fertile Crescent). Secondly, the next food source was in direct competition to man. This was grain. A pig eats several times the amount of grain that a man does. Therefore it became expensive to raise swine for meat. The final conclusion is that the pig was not to be raised outside of the city gates. They had to be raised within or on the fringes of the city.

The boar/pig is unique amongst the major five ancient domesticated mammals (sheep, goat, cattle, pig, horse) in that it is an omnivore (eats plant matter and animal matter) instead of a herbivore (eats strictly plant matter). Also a ability to eat spoiled food and waste. When this particle was isolated the pig became regulated to the outskirts of city-states. It was transformed into a living GARBAGE DISPOSAL. Now some say that chickens and goats (whom eat dung also) are just as nasty as the pig. They are nasty when raised in those types of environments (tight, closed, shut off, etc...) yet at this time in the Fertile Crescent the goats and fowl were allowed to roam. Similar to how they are allowed to roam in farms down south these days. The cattle at that time roamed free. The pig, during that time, was the only domesticated animal restrained in a small area. This was true in Arabia as well as in Egypt were the swine herders were placed in direct proximity to deposits of waste.

It is during that era that you can see the development of the genetic structure of the pig starting to reflect being a garbage disposal unit, adapting to this lifestyle. Most noticeable is the gland at the end of its legs that continually leak puss. Also the high fat content that I mentioned (in order to store toxins that would be detrimental to it's own system) is increased during this time. In this day and time it is illegal to feed a pig raw garbage yet it is legal to feed it COOKED garbage. A pig's diet increasingly has consisted of a greater quantity of dead animal flesh, manure, and other decaying filth. As a result bacteria and worms that are in these dead carcasses are transmitted to the pig.

This brings us back full circle to Musa. In some extant literature and degrees it is said that the cave environment of the Caucasian was so filthy that he had to go back to the best part of the planet and be taught how to graft (domesticate) a pig in order to even get into the caves. Musa is recorded in various texts to have existed around 2,000 BC. This corresponds to the transformation of the pig, in the Fertile Crescent, into an animal utilized for waste disposal. Don't eat it.

The Pig's Resume

NAME:

Pig, hog, also listed as suines/swine gilt, sow, boar and shoot. Family Suidae, Mammals

FROM:

West Asia, the caves and hills of Europe.

CAN BE REACHED:

On farms, in scientific laboratories and in some homes being used as pets.

AGE:

On the planet for a little over 4,000 years.

WEIGHT:

100 to 500 pounds adult weigh/ready for slaughter.

HEIGHT:

6" to 5' tall, up to 6' in length.

RACE/COLOR:

White, black or brown outer skin, pale pink flesh, turns gray after death, covered with brown or black thorny bristles 1" to 6" long. Amount of hair varies with climate.

LANGUAGE:

Oinks, squeaks, snorts, screeches and growls.

PHYSICAL:

Short legs, cloven hooves, cartilaginous snout (nose) smal beady eyes, pointed floopy ears, sharp pointed teeth. Pock marked acne skin.

CONDITION:

snout (nose) small beady eyes, pointed floppy ears, sharp pointed teeth. pock marked acne skin.

AVAILABILITY:

In supermarkets, bars, school cafeterias, hospitals, test food chains, restaurants and private home kitchens.

HISTORY:

Known to contain the Trichina (pork worm) throughout its entire body which is transferred to humans through the eating of its flesh.

EXPERIENCE:

Every part of its body is either eaten or used to make medications, cosmetics, toiletries and personal household items.

ALLERGIES:

NONE. Able to eat anything rotten garbage, human refuse; can swallow lye or bitten by a poisonous snake and will not die.

CERTIFICATIONS:

Approved for human use gumption by the United State Department of Agriculture and the Drug Administration.

HANDICAPS:

Has a tube like opening in its forelegs (similar to a sewer line) which oozes. Pus is a yellowish sticky formed in infected tissue. It consists of cellular debris which make. Flesh sticky, greasy and slimy, especially after cooking.

SOCIAL IMPURITY NUMBER:

There are some 87 breed, in existence.

AVOCATIONAL INTERESTS:

Enjoys eating and rooting the ground looking for foodstuffs, loves to Swallow in mud (water or own urine) eating anything within reach nailed down.

CRIMINAL RECORD:

Previously charged with causing and contributing to high blood heart disease, stiff and sore muscles, obesity and Trichinosis (pork worm poisoning). Found Guilty.

FUTURE ASPIRATIONS:

Desires to be eaten and admired Homo-sapien on earth.

MOST RECENTACCOMPLISHMENT:

Has managed to convince the public ignore the existence of the parasite Trichinae worm in it flesh, disregard debilitating symptoms humans from eating it, and accept its presence as a natural part of the American diet.

Hey!

You & Jeremy have some kick-ass websites. (Yours especially).

I thought I'd drop in and say hello, applaud you on your wonderful site, wish you the best on your up and coming marriage, and write my quick life summary of the last few years.

I'll have been happily wed two years this November. We got married way up north at Lutsen Lodge and honeymooned in London/Edinburgh. BTW - My wife Ursula rules! (sometimes I get to wear pants too...). We have a 4-5 month old daughter and a six year old dog and live in a small duplex in Uptown. Ursula's brothers (both MCAD grads) live upstairs. I have been working continuously and obsessively for the last three years developing stuff in Microsoft VB and digging it most of the time. I've done almost no music whatsoever. I did one show with a few dudes at the Terminal Bar after 2 practices which was pretty fun. Based on that, actually rented a space for a few months, but the energy fizzled out... Not to much else going on.

Sincerely,

Dave

PS: Wedding advice... Tell the band not to play ANY rendition of 'You Ain't Going Nowhere' (Byrds/Dylan) and make sure all Fire Extinguishers are securely fastened to the wall. Seriously, have a ball! You've picked a great location.

I oughta point out that Mr. Randall was a partner in crime there in Skeleton Ed (hi Dave!), and missed playing at another of Mark's weddings because - unlike Rodney and I - he and John the bass player showed up late. As for choosing 'You Ain't Going Nowhere', well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. It's a good thing, though, that Mark invited some REAL musicians to play later...

Did Dave play at your last wedding with Jeremy and I? I think there were three of us. Please advise.

Rodney, I think you and I were asked to start playing without the then absent John-and-Dave, then when they showed up, Dave sat in with us. I could be wrong. If I wasn't drunk, I wanted to be (especially after we played).

Hey, I was Skeleton Ed's "self-proclaimed biggest fan" back in the day!! It's good to know that Dave and Rodney are still around but what's up with John and Nis? I tried to get hold of Pat a while back without any luck. I heard he was in sunny California but it wasn't a reliable source.
Anyways, hey to everyone!!

Brian

D'oh! Of course! You could use those links on the sides as permalinks. Never mind me, I'm that drooling idiot in the corner, idly singing to myself as I ear the daisies... la la LA LA la la...

If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your ear.

No, I meant to say I EAT the daisies...