9.25   it's still so important to pay attention...
MATA? do you know what that is? Take a look.
more timely linky goodness: wartimeliberty.com
~ ~ ~
fun with kevin the penguin...
#1 on the Daypop Top 40 today:
spaced penguin
~ ~ ~
ten fun things to do before you die...
stumbled upon earlier today, while visiting here
& why'd they have to bring up the 10 commandants?
~ ~ ~
thunder & lightning last evening,
the air richly redolent with the sweet scent of rain...
some brief mention of a few things here & now,
possibly more later.
~ ~ ~
taking a chance, then taking the heat;
you might accuse us of seeking some reassurance, yes,
you are absolutely correct, undoubtedly so...
and then again, maybe i am just a sucker for a cheap trick

9.24   quiet 'round here for a bit...
it rained today, just a little, but it was welcome.
we're in prep for our departing on holiday, so our activity
here be at a minimum, mostly in the early Am hours anyway...
thanks to Mark @ wood s lot for sharing this link
because it made us laugh, you know, genuinely laugh...
& Jonathan seeks your assistance at KYTV: Life During Wartime
~ ~ ~
yessss, there is a portal of sorts for the alliance
mostly conscripts, but a few volunteers,
thanks to those who've written & requested inclusion...
~ ~ ~
a slightly different take on something seen in other places:

~ ~ ~
goshdarnitall, almos' forgot...
Happy B-day, 'Trane
back in July, we posted these in memory of John Coltrane

9.22   hmmmm... maybe a free t-shirt or something...
howdy grrlz & boyz, it is early again (2:15 Am-ish) and the quiet of this time of day certainly makes it easier to collect ones thoughts, particularly those like mine that go rambling off alloverthegoddamplace... i felt it was important and honest to be upfront about something we did here the other day, largely for reasons of clarity, but mainly to be upfront and honest about our own reasons for doing things.
events of the last couple of weeks have made it tough for us to laugh, and here i include many of you in that little combo of two letters. ourowndamnself has made attempts at levity with our Spotted Dick & Balls of Thunder announcement; the relating of our dream involving the Material Girl (moment of clarification here: jp is really not any kind of Madonna fan, okay, so you all can stop sending me Ms. Guy Richie stuff like this) and as we are fortunate enough (well, it is a mixed blessing, again to be truthful) to work in an environment that allows me much opportunity to mine the web for nuggets of linky goodness and make mention of same on our dumbmonkey page, well, we were actually just a little bored on thursday afternoon, and the furthering of the juggernauts momentum by christening same "infinite justice" (what-ever!), well, our initial reaction has been something that has escaped our lips quite often (and likely similiar to some favorite epithet of your own) "awww SHIT! and out of that particular moment's boredom we initially thought up something like AWSHIT (alliance of webloggers standing huddled in terror), and yah, that sucked in a big way, didn't it, 'cause shortly after i'd typed it up (posted it too, so to some of you who may have seen it that way, no, thou wast not hallucinating) we thought to ourselves, WHAT, i not be standing huddled in terror of GWB & his minions (although some of that shit they be responsible for is goddam scary!), so we huddled together (schizoid behavior is a positive thing at times), decided to extend the awww part and truly examined what it is we admire about many of the other folks doing this weblogging thing, constrained, of course, by the fact that we still wanted to keep that essential connection/similiarity to that all purpose epithet, and the first and most obvious was INTELLIGENCE, the evidence of fine mind at work and critical thought. Honesty is certainly evident hither and yon in weblogdom but ourowndamnself has to work hard at that sometimes, so we thought perhaps HONOR, as in being true to oneself, to those around one that one loves and respects, and as many of have enlarged our circle of aquaintences through habitual cross linking, that we do this all TOGETHER in a very real sense. Now as a silverback, i carry the weight of many years (MANY!--- hey, you-- yah, you out there in N.C., you know who you are) experience and every wrinkle on yourstruly's face is indicative of WORLDWEARINESS, and some of that same character/aspect is evident in much of what i come across in the work of my fellow blogsters, young and not-so.
H U Z Z Z A H H !, we shouted, and the
Alliance of World Weary Webloggers Standing Honourably & Intelligently Together
was birthed (and boy was that ever an effort to force out of the birth canal, whew!) okayokayokay, alliance my ass...
no seriously, i hadn't been intending very much more than something some of you might come across in your daily perusals of webloggers efforts, perhaps something that would bring a smile to your face, some kind of "hohoho, that dumbmonkey fellah sure be funny sometimes..." response, and then yesterday, 'cause i was feeling kinda blue and not interested in posting much, we simply added the same list of weblogs/webloggers that we had posted twice before this month, largely because of their perceptive, intelligent, creative and honest responses to the events of recent history. i used the word conscripted as it is a word that is about to re-enter common usage hereabouts, don't imagine for a moment that GWB et al will be depending solely upon those already in the military and assorted reservists, and i have lived thru those days of not-so-fucking-long-ago. If anyone on that list happens to be less than pleased of being conscripted in that sense, well, all you got to do is drop me a note and i will remove you from it, but i really hope that everyone doesn't mind and actually kind of likes the idea, matter of fact i received requests from a few other folks who hadn't been in those earlier groupings posted and liked the idea and asked to be included (what is that old Groucho Marx line, something like "I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.") what i am getting at is that we did this thing on a lark, but the idea grows more attractive to me (damn, why else would i be sitting here attempting to justify it at 3am otherwise, eh?) but i also thought i wanted to come clean and be sure to let you know that there will likely not be any ID cards or tattoos to wear (hmmmmm, maybe i be too quick on that tattoo idea...) and it is highly unlikely i be creating any clever little icon to utilize and indicate who is part of the "club" and who isn't, as that really isn't what we want to be doing.
perhaps, what we are intending, is the recognition of effort in terms of time & consideration that i perceive many webloggers put into their endeavour, and want to acknowledge all of them in some particular way, and to remind us, perhaps somewhat perversely (and if anybody knows anything about perversion, it is yourstruly), each time something happens out there in the world that makes us go AWWW SHIT, well, enough said, at least for now, i think it's time to return to our warm cozy spot between flannel sheets in a cool dark bedroom, to sleep, perchance to dream of a better world...

9.21   ahhhhh... i miss my little dog...
in a dream last night i stepped down from my front porch,
and looking to my right, there in a neighbor's yard
under the shade of two large trees were four dogs.
all in poses familiar to me from many years of sharing
my life with hers: one sitting, simply "checking things out";
another at the base of a tree, standing on her hind legs,
her front paws on the trunk, observing the squirrel in the
branches; another simply laying down in her rather regal pose,
and one other, on her back, rubbing and scratching herself
against the grass of the earth, pausing and sniffing/snorting
then beginning anew. When first observing them (in the dream)
i thought "oh, four dogs out here" and it took a few moments of
dream time to realize they were all the same little blue dog...
~ ~ ~
this item from slate, and Auden's poem here
stay close to the ones you love this weekend, if possible
~ ~ ~
conscripted into A.W.W.W.S.H.I.T.:
(Alliance of World Weary Webloggers Standing Honorably & Intelligently Together)
Craig's BookNotes;
tonypierce.com;
ethel the blog;
wood s lot;
The Bellona Times;
(AKA: the Hotsy Totsy Club)
environy;
riley dog;
Dr. Menlo;
abuddhas memes;
fray: missing pieces;
sad rhino;
alamut;
entropy;
forty-two;
kytv: life during wartime;
kottke.org;
mood indigo;
haha - no serious;
paul ford/ftrain;
the nutlog;
ferociousthings;
World New York;
open brackets;
david chess;
Scripting News;
first blush;
bifurcated rivets;
brainstorms & raves;
randomwalks;
barbelith;
urbangruv;
likeks.com-bleats;
infolibre;
asian bastard;
More Like This;
synthetic zero;
ghost rocket;
linkmachinego;
medley;
time's shadow;
looka;
goodshit;
caught in between;
eccentric flower;
dangerousmeta;
brushstroke;
ghost in the machine;
ctrl-alt-ego;
calamondin;
Q;
rebecca's pocket;
jessamyn;

9.20   To Anacreon in Heaven

once upon a time, a fine old drinking song
so, raise your glass and your voice
& let's savor our moments together
war, war, war, war, war;
peace?
war resisters league
~ ~ ~
le marquis d'monkey's actively soliciting
memberships in the newly formed collective:
A.W.W.W.S.H.I.T.
Alliance of World Weary Webloggers Standing Honorably & Intelligently Together
yeahhhh, datz da ticket...     email address off over to the LEFT there...
~ ~ ~
holy boy! some sick muthas out dere...
don't know about the rest of you, but we are getting
some strange stuff in our official record of visitors,
like this google search;
another google search result list;
now, come on,
there is absolutely nothing funny 'bout that guy, ok?
~ ~ ~
our apologies
for not mentioning this sooner-
some good stuff here,
from Global Exchange
~ ~ ~
may you live in interesting times...
yahhh, okey, maybe it should be "may you live through interesting times";
ourowndamnselves received a couple of phone calls yesterday evening, mainly folks checking to see how we holding up in light of recent events, personal and otherwise, and mention was made of the content of yesterday's post, which was interesting, as i had discussed it a bit with a co-worker, and in that conversation (which started out very flatteringly by the way, as this individual was of the opinion that yourstruly should be doing this for the fishwrap, or at the very least, the on-line counterpart--- awwwww, shucks...) it came to me that if the monkeyfellah had been writing this for anybody else but hisowndamnselfishassself, some editor might have come along and said something like "hey, uhhhh, this is good but maybe we should rethink that Nuremberg reference, what do you think?"
yaaaah, okay, as if that was gonna stop me...
for your amusement and (perhaps) edification,
some miscellaneous linkage:
positive atheism;
quotations on jihad & the crusades;
& before he became the resident, GWB said these things
and for now, we'll leave you with Talking Heads & Listening Wind

~ ~ ~
g o s h d a r n i t a l l !
a lecture we'd love to attend
yahhh, beam us up, Scotty, and SOON...

9.19   very possibly the flag for the times...

ah, well, in the U.S. of A at least.
more about the rattlesnake flag via google;
Mr. Morford has a way with words
hey! at least he's smart enought not to bring up Nuremberg...
another addition to our list of media related links,
from San Francisco State Univ., News Watch,
shared w/ you all after being introduced to the site via
Dan Fost's S.F. Chronicle column
~ ~ ~
oh oh- i should have known better...
a portion of one response received this morning:
I confess that I don't have much patience for those (and we have more of them in the Bay Area than anywhere else in the country, apparently) whose reaction to these events was to counsel Americans to look inward and contemplate their own moral culpability in bringing about these attacks. Flag-waving reminds you of a Nuremberg rally? Well, such comments remind me of Neville Chamberlin and Munich. I have no sympathy for the grievances of terrorists.
oh my, may be the last time we post at 2Am....
well, while we're at it, be sure to visit tompaine.com;
& stop by marginalia, in particular for this;
and then, by all means, S. Baum's Ethel
as well as BookNotes, particularly for this link
~ ~ ~
i'd much rather be sleeping right now...
but since i cannot, thought that perhaps i might get something done here.

there's is something terribly disquieting, personally speaking, about seeing so much
of the red, white & blue displayed since this time last week. There was a picture i
saw yesterday, an immense flag held by probably more than a hundred people as they
stood on the field at a baseball game, the picture taken from somewhere in the stands with many individuals visible also holding flags of various sizes & dimensions.

i almost hesitate in saying this, but it reminded me of pictures of the Nuremberg rally,
it brought to mind all the images of countries where nationalism reigned rampant, usually places ruled by despots rather than any kind of democracy, even an imperfect one like ours. Please don't mistake what i am saying here as any sort of refusal to recognize the innocent who have died, the terrible grief of those who mourn them, or any lack of empathy & respect for those working so tirelessly in the search & rescue efforts.

believe me, i know that to liken the display at the baseball park to the Nazi rally is going to tee some folks off, & although it may be an analogy broadly drawn, it is necessary to make the point of the dangers of unrestrained nationalist fervor. No, not that i imagine that we'll all stand proudly and goosestep our way across Afghanistan wreaking havoc and revenge, but i am not blind to the actions of the miserably ignorant and willfully moronic who take it upon themselves to determine who is and who isn't "Truly American" at this time in the crisis. Goddamit, enough blood has already spilled.

i am frightened and the feelings of insecurity increase daily. When i read that the majority of people polled in this country are in favor of immediate military reprisal i am dismayed and disheartened. It isn't that i bear no wish to see murderous criminals brought to the light of day and that punishment be meted out, would that it could be possible to punish all who've been responsible for great and horrible massacres of millions of souls, American and otherwise. i think i want to be part of a country that is capable of grieving for the many lives lost and in honor of them begin the arduous task of leading the way in showing the peoples of the world that we must be united against those utilizing tools of terror. It isn't enough that our government and present administration strike the pose of vengeful superpower, they must also admit culpability in the creation of many of the monsters and malevolent entities that spread their poison amongst the disaffected and poverty stricken. All the developed and economically advantaged nations of this planet must find ways to eliminate famine, widespread disease and the absolute misery that affects so many billions of souls.

i know you all see the same headlines i do, the same news reports, that is unless you have reached the point where emotionally & spiritually you can no longer bear to witness what is going on here. What about those idiots out there who are actively persecuting innocent peoples because of their appearance, because they happen to look like that "other" out there, be it Palestinian, Iraqi, Afghani, Yemenese, anyone appearing like that enemy being pointed out to us, the "ungodly", the un-christian. Who's next?

i apologize, it is late (early- 2:32 Am at this writing) and i am weary, hoping that upon return to the comfort of my bed that perhaps slumber will find me and allow me a couple of hours of rest before rising to meet another day. While laying in bed earlier, unable to sleep, i was wondering what flag i would want to fly, what flag i feel i could be represented by, other than Old Glory. i thought it would have many colors in it, representative of the earth, the verdant greens of the planet's forests, the blues of the various ocean depths, white for the purity of the ice caps, many other colors for every shade of human being and animal that shares residence upon this sphere, and certainly red, the color of that which we all have in common, the color of our blood.

9.18   yessss, we're avoiding the subject...
trying to "maintain an even strain"...
couple of items from Esquire.com to pass along:
by David Sedaris, The Man Upstairs
MAN? damn, well that explains it...
& from the Feb. '99 Esquire
Greetings America, My name is Osama bin Laden
~ ~ ~
hohoho, jp & the material girl...
yah, it has been tough to find any kind of reason to smile, even laugh,
we mean genuinely laugh, not one of those sarcastic, bitter, sardonic
kinds of noises that might be interpreted as laughter, but last night i had a dream...
yourstruly was married (that, for some of you who know us a little better than most is
pretty damn funny in itself) ennnyway, myowndamnself & lovely wife were sitting on deck in the sunshine and having discussion about something she had become aware of from tv news: it seems Madonna (yah, Ms. Guy Richie herself) and the monkeyfellah had become an item & the wifey, being the true-blue kinda gal she was in this dream, wasn't particularly happy with the news. Then Ms. Thing herowndamnself shows up, and the three of us are there on the deck, drinking mimosas and chatting away, no name-calling cat-fight, but the material girl is putting together a convincing argument about how her hubby being "involved" with pop icon like herself can only be good for her (wifey) as her many friends and family can commiserate with her, provide support in this time of inconsiderate mate off frolicking with married popstar... not certain how my brother Dan ended up on deck with us, but there he was, his old silent self, while the discussion goes on and Ms. M and myself sitting there holding hands, flirting w/one another, stroking each others hair, generally being solicitous of one another and then when Ms M. says something that makes everybody laugh, even brother Dan,
it turns out I'm laughing, and laughed myself right out of that dream.
funny details that remain after a dream sometimes, like Madonna needing a pedicure,
toenails getting kinda long & dangerous, maybe a little bit dirty, not grotty,
but cute toesies nevertheless & y'all know how fond we are of toesies, cute & otherwise...
~ ~ ~
you can never go wrong...
by visiting wood s lot &
be aware of the changes at The Bellona Times,
better recognized as Ray D.'s HTC
and once again, something from Jon Carroll
oh, and by the way,
we're going to be hearing a lot more about this kind of thing;
Give Peace a Chance?
HELL yeah!
you better be payin' attention...

9.17   s'gonna be the death of yourstruly...
wrestling with ignorant fools & their closed minds,
our man J.C. hears from a few
& also, from the pages of our beloved local fishwrap
Matier & Ross on Ms. Lee's vote
would like to think ourowndarnself could be that courageous...
also worth sharing, so pass this around,
from scripting.com, by way of environy
~ ~ ~
autumn's a mere week away...
there's a new moon tonight & sundown brings Rosh Hashanah.
a few things that yourstruly ran across this weekend,
(even with the kids & family around, it is all too great a habit
to sit by one of the computers and begin perusing sundry items)
like this one re Carnivore, located at Hack the Planet.
Late last week one of the major networks ran a story which feartured some
statistics re the rubble pile, its composition of various amounts of particular
items (sheetrock, marble, steel, etc.) by approximate weight. The numbers were
astounding, made even more so by the near-vaporization of what had been,
only moments earlier, pretty damn substantial N.Y. skyscraper, and in trying to
locate those or similiar numbers (oh damn, don't ask why, not sure myself) we
discovered this interview which led us to New York's WTC: A Living Archive.
The acres of rubble left behind is also the subject of this Washington Post item.
ourowndamnself returned home last yesterday Pm, & we avoided tv news altogether,
watched instead a favorite film, Jane Campion's The Piano, then went to bed.
I am aware this Am of some degree of trepidation re checking out the usual news sites
regularly viewed while enjoying my first cuppa, but think I'll avoid that until arriving
at the j-o-b, where, in some sense, it cannot be avoided. For now though,
we'll remind you of the many reasons why it is good to recycle.
~ ~ ~
we're all bozos on this bus...
daily bleed for 9.17
Firesign Theatre

9.16   worth sharing...
thanks, Tony P.
~ ~ ~
Craig's BookNotes;
ferociousthings;
Dr. Menlo;
tonypierce.com;
fray: missing pieces;
sad rhino;
alamut;
entropy;
forty-two;
kottke.org;
mood indigo;
haha - no serious;
paul ford/ftrain;
environy;
World New York;
open brackets;
david chess;
Scripting News;
first blush;
bifurcated rivets;
brainstorms & raves;
barbelith;
urbangruv;
likeks.com-bleats;
asian bastard;
More Like This;
linkmachinego;
medley;
ethel the blog;
wood s lot;
time's shadow;
looka;
caught in between;
eccentric flower;
dangerousmeta;
brushstroke;
hotsy totsy club;
ghost in the machine;
ctrl-alt-ego;
calamondin;
Q;
rebecca's pocket;
jessamyn;

9.15   very briefly now...
yourstruly hitting the road soon, heading north to visit Bro K
& family, perhaps find some restoration of self & smile more easily.
there's this word that I consciously try to keep out of my mouth,
and not just recently, it's been an ongoing effort on my part for
some time now, as it is a habit easily acquired, difficult to curtail,
and that is the use of the word hate, evincing hatred, as in:
"I hate those N.Y. Yankees" or "Shaq Suck, I hate that fucker." or,
well, nevermind, I think you get the idea, and particularly now, some of us
are prone to giving in to our baser impulses and spitting out hatred without
pausing first and gathering some of our wits about us, and considering what
it is we are really thinking and feeling...
This week certainly has been hellish, horrendous, horrible, and yes, you could
use hateful somewhere in there with a few other H-words, but for me, this month
has been fucked (sorry...) from the get-go, and having already been on shaky
emotional ground, you can imagine just how easily tears begin to form in my eyes.
It doesn't take much, I'll tell you, and probably pretty similiar circumstances
for others of you out there. I'm weary of it, so, SO exhausted. I am scheduled to
leave for a little holiday in another week or so, and intend to spend some of it
in the arms of my Momz & Popz, and feel fortunate that I am able to do that.
I also intend to spend a little time in some places where I can escape the barrage
of news reporting and listen instead to the wind in tall trees, the waters that gurgle
and sing in mountain creeks & brooks, watch clouds sail overhead and stars fill
the night sky with their distant & seemingly eternal fire.
Before we head out today, just a couple of brief items, links, as usual:
The Power of Hatred;
a thread from the Greenpeace Cyberactivist Community re Hatred:
yesss, we know it is old & out of date, so?
poisoning the web from ADL
the Dalai Lama on China, Hatred & Optimism, an interview from MoJo
&, as we believe in equal time for alternate POVs: this

9.14   g o o d n i g h t . . .

~ ~ ~
i am grateful to all of my friends
and intend to spend this weekend near my family...
this from my "little zen calendar":
"Think only what is right there,
what is right under your nose to do.
It's such a simple thing - -
that's why people can't do it."
attributed to Henry Miller
& jessferdahalibut,
we want to share this again,
Oh an' wotdahell,
be sure to check out J.C.'s column too...
~ ~ ~
this quote attributed to H.L. Mencken
Penetrating so many secrets,
we cease to believe in the unknowable.
But there it sits nevertheless,
calmly licking its chops.
that provided here after being inspired by our
visit to the esteemed S. Baum's Ethel the Blog

9.13   the juggernaut gains momentum...
CIA's Covert War on Bin Ladin
by Woodard & Loeb for the Washington Post
~ ~ ~
shitshitshitshitshit
Ms. E is one of the first webloggers who acknowledged
our paltry existence in weblogdom, seems like a long time ago,
and all because we used the word fuck in something we wrote...
she's gonna be missed & we not be surprised if there are
a number of others making a similiar life choice,
including ourowndamself...
Bon Chance, mon cher ami Elise  
~ ~ ~
  quiet in the back please...
we have this brief announcement to make,
I'll be reading directly from the press release:
le marquis d'monkey is retiring from his weblogging efforts
in preparation for the upcoming concert tour with the recently
reformed (& How!) musical ensemble known far & wide as
Spotted Dick and His Balls of Thunder
to celebrate the upcoming release of their hit single to be
It Ain't the Meat, It's the Motion
we apologize, but we won't be answering any questions at this time,
we now return you to whatever flavor of unfortunate reality you're living in...
(& we ask, which reality would you prefer?)
& btw, if you're new around these parts, be sure to
visit all the folks you find listed below & those that
they link to, most of them updating on a regular basis...

9.12   thou should'st hie thyself elsewhere:
you know we're a fan of Jon Carroll
&, Hey, Mark Morford ain't bad either...
Craig's BookNotes;
ferociousthings;
Dr. Menlo;
tonypierce.com;
fray: missing pieces;
sad rhino;
alamut;
entropy;
forty-two;
kottke.org;
mood indigo;
haha - no serious;
paul ford/ftrain;
environy;
World New York;
open brackets;
david chess;
Scripting News;
first blush;
bifurcated rivets;
brainstorms & raves;
barbelith;
urbangruv;
likeks.com-bleats;
asian bastard;
More Like This;
linkmachinego;
medley;
ethel the blog;
wood s lot;
time's shadow;
looka;
caught in between;
eccentric flower;
dangerousmeta;
brushstroke;
hotsy totsy club;
ghost in the machine;
ctrl-alt-ego;
calamondin;
Q;
rebecca's pocket;
jessamyn;
and just a few more things,
this alongside this;
this will not be the last place you'll see reference to the tower
pour me a glass of fine whiskey,
and let me listen to this again...

9.11   and tooozedeyz jus' as bad...
holy crapola, sumbuddy get me some happy pillz, puhllezzzee...
at firstposting5am, yourstruly had NO clue, like most of you,
what kind of fucked-up day this would turn out to be...
leaving Fishwrap Central we are amazed to see blue skies, a sunny day, perhaps just a few less people in the neighborhood than usual, seemingly just another fine SF
afternoon. On the train home as it exits the tunnel towards MacArthur station, peering out the window at the tall buildings of downtown Oak-town, no similiarity at all to the monument of commerce, finance & architecture that Manhattan is, this pitiable d'monkey cannot begin to imagine what it must have been like to see a jumbo jet, NO, Wait, TWO of them, head directly into the hellish conflagration that occurs when screaming jet metal meets unbending New York skyscraper.
Me? oh hell, I'm going home alone to quiet chez yourstruly, not even my ol' furry companion there to greet me with unbending devotion & joy at my return, just the quiet sanctity of my little house in Albany where I'm gonna pour myself the first of (likely) many glasses of wine, begin watching some of the news, maybe not very much though there's no getting round the fact of its unavoidability. I don't have children though, I say to myself, as I think of my brother, and how in the hell do you try to explain the totally fucked up reality of the day to kids, even smart ones.
so any of you stopping by, particularly those who do so on any kind of regular basis,
I send you an embrace, I commiserate in our mutual agony and heartache at living in a world that offers so much opportunity for joy & bliss, but seems to deliver the opposite more often than any of us deserve. To Craig, I am glad your wife is safe in Atlanta, and heading home; to the gang at World New York, goddamn, thanks for sharing, no matter how painful some of it must be; to Steve & Stumpy, et al; ahhh shit, you know who the rest of you are. My family, well, you'll hear from me personally, just to reach out and touch you all, and hear your voices and know that you're out there and that if
I wanted to I could hie myowndamnselfishlazyass out there and see you anytime
I wanted, so maybe I will, before too much more time passes, definitely 'fore it's
too goddamn late...
~ ~ ~
fucking incredible day & the repercussions to come
are terrifying to contemplate.
some stuff we found to pass along to you:
attempting to comprehend that which defies comprehension:
Understanding Terrorism, an excerpted chapter
from J.M. Gates' "The U.S. Army & Irregular Warfare";
from Project Ploughshares, "Responding to Terrorism";
Terrorism, from usembassy.state.gov;
from the U.S. Dept. of State;
from the Terrorism Research Center;
FEMA Response Plan;
from the Center for Nonproliferation Studies;
from usembassy.org.uk;
from disastercenter.com;
from Nat'l Center for Policy Analysis;
Counter-terrorism response page from the NRT;
Google Web Directory on Counter-Terrorism;
DMOZ Counter-terrorism page;
USIP Terrorism/Counter-terrorism web links;
Executive Session on Domestic Preparedness;
Univ of Minnesota Human Rights Library links;
web resources re terrorism from oclc.org;
Terrorism related links from Plebius;
another site w/links re terrorism;
the pic on that page is purely co-incidental in light of the day's events
more as we come across items of merit & interest...
~ ~ ~
just a coupla' fast & dirty items to kick it in gear:
horror films stink in general, so here's some tips
what is it about scary movies anyway?
isn't real life scary enough for most of us?, huh?
Nuclear Booty!, yah, gimme some of that hotstuff!
damn! imagine my disappointment...
don't know how we missed this the first time around
so we include it here just in case you missed it too...

9.10    yeeeesssh... monday...
so, was your weekend a good one? have some fun, enjoy yourself?
hope so, really, our weekend was, well, unmemorable, but I think
that I'd like to make events of the last week as unmemorable as possible.
(not bloody likely boychick...)
catching up on perusing some bloggos favoritos & while at G.L.G.L.,
got a heads up for the Newsweek cover story,
but, uuhhh, the damage is done, isn't it...
(oh no, no no, boychick, you ain't seen nuttin' yet...)
some interesting stuff in the Sunday NYT magazine,
on one of yourstruly's favorite subjects;
also, this story on some new indy women's magazines,
you can peruse the Bust web edition here;
(ahhh hell, now we just more confused than ever...)
ourowndarnself was driving a bit over the weekend, & had NPR on,
caught a bit of a story that made us smile (& boy have we needed that)
regarding well-known Brit dessert known as Spotted Dick,
& as the NPR site has an archived link to story, we point you to the following:
from the CBC, circa 8.28, Clever Dicks...;
Can you say "I'd like a bit of that spotted dick there, please..."?
the NPR piece included an interview w/someone from the Pudding Club
regarding origin of the names of spotted dick & other delights.
gives new meaning to the phrase
"can't get enough dick"
ahhhh, spotted, that is...
(sinking low there boychick, resorting to dick jokes...)
whilst at NPR on-line, check out the Fatboy Slim stuff
okayokayokay, some of y'all gotta get to work,
so we catch up with you later, hope the week is a good one,
and that goes for both of us, okay?
(btw, Mendo-town is a nice place, stay in Ft. Bragg tho,
& drive up for the day/whatever, s'nice to be by the ocean...)

9.7    poetry today, jessferdahalibut...
nice one, at Poetry Today;
three from Li-Young Lee;
several lovely ones here from Emily D;
from Richard Bear, inspired by Hyakunin isshu;
If I Were Her Lover;
oldpoets.com;
yourstruly will wager it has likely been a while since you've taken
time from the routine & ritual in your life to sit quietly, open a book of poetry,
slowly & patiently peruse same, & have other worlds revealed to you...
~ ~ ~
& your day'd not be complete
if you didn't stop at wood s lot
and a resounding "amen, brother" to the
9.6 post of Jared's @ entropy
the weekend awaits me, the first without my long trusted little friend
perhaps someone will come along & save me from myself...

9.6    the kindness of strangers,
the sweet concern of friends...
thanks to everybody who has written, both E & snail-wise,
it's only a few days since, & you can imagine how quiet
it is around chez d'monkey these days...
this sent to me by esteemed colleague to cheer us up:
physics humor
~ ~ ~
some things of beauty here...
this gal is much more talented than she lets on,
some lovely glass beads by Lisa D.
~ ~ ~
it is supposed to be
"government by the people & for the people"
isn't it?
more current administration follies
~ ~ ~
  "stop it now, you'll only encourage them..."
ackkhhh- now my right click is busted, crapola...
mo' chewy linky goodness from far & wide
riley dog
gmt+9
shikencho
no, you don'need no japanese character support to appreciate,
& oh boy, if this site isn't a ripe target for parody.
*ahhh, don't ask, grief has addled our brain...*
surprise goes zen

9.5   light & intermittent activity hereabouts...
and thanks for stopping by, but you might hie thyselves to:
summer of tony pierce
summer vacation w/David Chess
the chewy goodness of The Nutlog
let Craig be your musical guide while keeping you informed
and you know there are so many more out there worth a visit...
oh, & jessferdahalibut, two more from Gillian Welch,
the album is entitled Time (The Revelator),
I Dream a Highway;
Revelator
extra-bonus linky goodness,
interview w/Gillian Welch from SFBG
more about Gillian
some more? try going here

9.4   it's very quiet at chez dumbmonkey...

the best dog in the world breathed her last on Sunday night,
she departed this vale of tears in the arms of her human.
there are no words to describe how bereft I am,
my best friend and a loving companion, no mere pet she,
a wise and tough wee beastie who remains closely embraced in my heart...
this from Gillian Welch, as it's something that has assuaged my pain
and so perhaps you'll allow me to share it with you, too,
along w/this poem by Robinson Jeffers