The evil bastard in me wants to see you copy this and start playing with it at events.

The sensible adult in me still wants you to do this but doesn't want to be any where near you when your playing with it.

"Everett Bradford's 'Prometheus Device' is a hand-mounted appliance that shoots fire.


The step by step how to make it here
http://picasaweb.google.com/Everett.Bradford/Prometheus#

Was made of steam-powered awesomeness! A huge thankyou to all my panelists, contestants, and general eye-candy. I kept hearing over and over "OMG I've never seen so many amazing costumes".

Of course, pics will be dribbling in in the days and weeks to come but here is a sample to get you started

( Clickity-clack )

My brain hurts:/

Trying to put some new energy into cooking, and wrangling ding0 in the mix. For this week I've got chicken drumsticks and roasted butternut squash tonight, maybe veggie chili tomorrow, beef stew and roasted potatoes for Tuesday. Also, I have some cooked chicken to turn into chicken salad for lunches. Later in the week things thin out. I've suggested to J that we should sit down with our cookbooks each week and plan one dinner to cook together, as he won't get better in the kitchen without experience and some guidance. Also? We're dragging out the crock pot.

http://www.birdchick.com/wp/2009/11/doubled-my-birding-doubled-my-pleasure-2/

So, I tell my dear sweet husband, I’m finished with my blog vacation, I have material, I have renewed enthusiasm…and then life hits. We have the best mechanic–we go to Amigo (I chose them because of they had bird houses and a bird calendar in their waiting area–you can trust mechanics who watch birds, plus they have good trusty worthy names like Todd and Pete). Anyway, the boys have been warning NBB and I that we need a new car and once it started making a very loud noise, Pete informed me that it’s a repair and it would be better to put that money towards a new car rather than investing in this one. Ah, it was nice not having a car payment while it lasted. Now, I have to look for a new car (blah) and time for blogging goes toward car research and a car broker.

In the meantime, birding has been fabulous. Last time I was at Carpenter Nature Center, we had a great day. Cedar waxwings were still out in force–although the dogwoods that been bursting with berries that were ravenously devoured by bluebirds and lurking native sparrows are now bare and quiet.

The flocks were mix of hatch year and adult birds–the birds with vertical stripes on their belly where hatched this year. They hung out in the trees and periodically flew out for the few insects that were out or down to the pond for sip and a quick bathe. The insects are taking advantage of the rare November warm weather we have going on right now (what a change from the three inches of snow we had a month previous).

We had quite the nuthatch day! Earlier in the season when I was at Frank Taylor’s blind in northern MN, the trees sounded like they were dripping with red-breasted nuthatches. It was great to see some arriving in big numbers in and around the Twin Cities. We had a fun comparison with a male white-breasted nuthatch and a female red-breasted nuthatch. The male has a dark cap, the female has a lighter cap.

Here’s another comparison–this time of two red-breasted nuthatches. A make (again with the dark cap) and a female (again with the light cap).

We also had the joy of two male ruby-crowned kinglets hitting the nets at the same time. Love the double ruby crowns! They will be just about gone here soon. Sigh.

The other thing that has gotten in the way of my blogging this week is that I’m rehearsing a show with NBB’s new theater project: Theatre Arlo (they do whatever the Guthrie is doing but on a $50 budget). After over a 5 year hiatus, I’m returning to the stage as an actor! When Bill and his partner Matthew Foster announced that they were going to produce A Christmas Carol in the style of a Golden Girls episode (yes, that Golden Girls), I said, “I’m not traveling much this fall, I’d like to audition.”

Next thing I know, Matthew said, “You can be Sophia’s sister!”

And there it is, I’m kind of like the “special guest star” or the Nancy Walker of the show (which make me incredibly happy). It’s a hilarious show and the cast for the main four leads is hilarious. If you’re in the Twin Cities and love the Golden Girls, come see us at the Bryant Lake Bowl. NBB has a part in it too, so you can see us both act. Yes, all my friends who have met NBB and noted how quiet he is…he can be chatty and funny on stage.

---

Copyright © November 15, 2009 by Sharon Stiteler
The original post is here
(Digital Fingerprint:
abc96a9d9852a09719efcca3f5735525 (208.93.0.128) )

For anyone in the Brisbane Australia districts, or hell even if you're from anywhere else. I'm trekkin from Sydney for this affair cos its just too cool to miss! Brisbane's Premier Steampunk nightclub is having its first birthday! Can you believe its already been a year??



And what a night we have in store for you!

Club 320 will be transformed into dual rooms of sensory overload featuring the talents of:

No Standing Cello Quartet
Opalesque Bellydance Troupe
Burlesque by Red Devotchkin
Roving Performance by Elke Pixie
The PB Audio Corps

The icing on the cake? Voodoo Lulu Alternative Clothing struts the boards with a fashion preview of visual magnificence.

Are you reeling? A little hot under those crisp collars and tight-laced corsets? We certainly are. And that isn't all.

Prometheus Bound plays host to a celebration of Razorjack, the "hard-boiled SF noir" from the embarrassingly talented John Higgins; better known for his work on Judge Dredd, 2000AD, Hellblazer, The Hills Have Eyes, Batman: The Killing Joke, and Watchmen.

PB will be partying on an international scale, with Com.X holding a sister party in the UK. To celebrate (and possibly tear holes in the fabric of reality), anyone showing up in a Twist Bitch costume gets discounted entry. Want to know more? Download the 22 page teaser here; then visit your friendly purveyors of comic-y glory at Ace Comics Brisbane City for the trade collection.

On top of that we are running a raffle. Not your usual pay-some-money-to-possibly-win-something-you-really-don't-want kind of raffle.

We have Prize packs galore! Full of fantabulous goodies from Wondermark by David Malki (yes THAT Wondermark, the comic strip of Victorian glee), Dr. Steel, Com.X comics, PB's own bits and pieces and an assortment of other deliciousness.

Have no fear, for we will still be running our patented brand of audience participatory freebie giveaways. But be warned, the trivia will be harder and we are introducing charades.

Doors shall be opening one hour early, 7pm to be precise, so that we may get through all of the above.

For now we must depart in search of tea. It will be a pleasure to see you on Saturday, 21st November at Club 320!

--The PB Crew

When: Saturday 21st November 2009 -- From 7PM

Where: Club 320, Basement Entrance, Cnr Leichhardt & Boundary Sts Spring Hill.

Cost: $15/$8conc (conc = Student/HCC/Pension/4ZzZ Sub Card Holders, Toy Soldiers, Twist Bitches & Other event stamped or ticketed peoples)

Hope to see a whole bunch of steamy people there ready to PARTY!

The End.

I moved recently and while unpacking I picked up an old paper journal and took a look at it a bit ago. I start reading and see so many of the issues I still deal with. Its not the same, but it has echoes.

6-3-03

I've been thinking a lot, Sometimes about what I'm not sure. Infinity -- I suppose, but really about God if there is a god, or not a god. [I wonder if this was the first time I named god this way?]

I've been engaged in a monologue of sorts. In this monologue I keep looking for realitly -- image of long hall w/many doors ala Matrix ala Hesse. [not sure what I was thinking calling this a monologue, except that it was an internal conversation.]

Each room has some new view on reality. Each view a partial take on truth. Each truth incomplete.

I keep seeing hat self-reference always introduces paradox! Self-reference and infinity.

I wonder if Gödel first understood the problem of self-reference in human relations terms before applying it to sets?



This is was profound time for me, when my world view started braking down.


The world is full of holes.
My life and my being is full of holes.
I despair about the pain of loss.

My daughter cries because her knee hurts where she scraped it and because the band aid is big and ugly and makes its presence felt so that she can't really forget it.

She cries for me to stay or take her, but I leave her at school in despair because I don't really know what else to do! I am feee and so it does not pain me -- I don't need to deny it but still I don't know how to comfort her. She fears loss -- like we all fear loss.

"We are all in denial about the pain of childhood I tell L." This after she tells me "childhood is suppose to be a great time, but ..."


I turned into to a poem. [I have a feeling I transcribed this poem once before, but who knows and the past in LJ is mostly lost.]


I cried this morning

My daughter cried this morning.
Not tears but torrents.
It came in squalls and screams.
Real despair -- band aids are uncomfortable
Uncomfortable and Ugly.
My sons would not have this problem.
A shield of honor -- real pride.
It was Devistation really -- a complete failure
A failure of the parent.
Her perfect faith in me eroded
The tears a flood down some
ravine of the soul.
Washing away the illusion
the illusion that we are safe
that daddy can always protect
and fix
and make right

I left her to cry --
oh I comforted --
but
There is no band aid to cover this wound.

-- I cried this morning.

Some spillage about things going poorly with the one that is now the X. A bunch really. This is when we should have ended but we went on for four more years.

OK one more poem from June 2003. This one about spiritual epiphany.

Perfect compassion, Buddha filling the jug.
   Perfect compassion
      Filling a bottle of water.

Unknowing
   Unknowing if it will fill.
Acceptance
   Acceptance, perfectly.

Each seeks the joy.
   The joy of being held perfectly.

I know safety.

The lid comes off.
   I fill.

"Oh look!  See your bottle was full!"
"You just needed to take the lid off."

my daughter has taken to calling me "brother," like a brother in the hood. I tell her I'm not her "brother," but it has little affect.

Peace out.

I discovered LunarCast by accident. I just happened to be in the area and fell onto it!

Haven't been to a live set yet, but I do enjoy the mix that one can listen to at the archive. I seem to have developed a taste for ambient and mixed online music. Must go to a session sometime in SL.

 

 

A friend of mine sent me a link to an online copy of a Victorian book called Fancy Dresses Described; or, What to Wear at Fancy Balls.

It is mostly for women, but there is a short section talking about men's wear. There's pictures and descriptions for the rest, and I thought some people here might find some interesting inspiration :) Seeing as it is a Victorian book, there are some horrible racial stereotypes, though -_-

My girlfriend and I went to a flea market this afternoon and found these:


Tesla pins! The red one in the middle is my favourite.
( Among other things )

I stumbled upon these two vintage Edwardian patterns today, very lovely and lacy. Imagine either one of these in the softest of wool lace yarn, or possibly silk...

http://www.vintage123.com/?p=1091

I know that most of you are disappointed that you either aren't a member of a Pure Land Buddhist school/transmission, or that you can't be due to other factors. The Pure Land Buddhists are taken to the Western Paradise after death by the power of Amitabha Buddha's compassion, where, after an indeterminate amount of "time", living in paradisal conditions and learning Dharma, they gain enlightenment. Taking a rebirth in the Pure Land or the Western Paradise is, then, the second-to-last step to full liberation. It is the best possible rebirth after a human rebirth in a Dharma-rich environment.

Fortunately for all of you poor souls, you have an alternative. Your "Pure Land Kit" comprises of two components that you will have to put in place before your rebirth reservations are complete:

1. The Three Characteristics of the Five Aggregates
2. The Brahmavihāras themselves


The Three Characteristics of the Five Aggregates are Suffering, Impermanence, and Non-self. All compounded phenomenon (that's all phenomenon, by the way) are marked by these three Characteristics. All phenomenon are unreliable and will lead to dis-satisfaction if you attach yourself to them or read a bunch of malarkey into them (which we all do); all phenomenon are temporary, and all phenomenon lack any trace of an eternal, "stand-alone" self, apart from everything else. Simple as pie. Look at everything you experience in this way, and you won't be building many attachments.

Once you have that, you only need the practices of the Brahmavihāras.

"The four Brahmavihāras are a series of virtues and Buddhist meditation practices designed to cultivate those virtues. Brahmavihāra is a term in Pāli and Sanskrit meaning “Brahma abidings”, or "Sublime attitudes." They are also known as the Four Immeasurables (Sanskrit: apramana).

THEY ARE:

1. Metta/Maitri: loving-kindness towards all; the hope that a person will be well; loving kindness is "the wish that all sentient beings, without any exception, be happy."

2. Karuna: compassion; the hope that a person's sufferings will diminish; compassion is the "wish for all sentient beings to be free from suffering."

3. Mudita: altruistic joy in the accomplishments of a person, oneself or other; sympathetic joy, "is the wholesome attitude of rejoicing in the happiness and virtues of all sentient beings."

4. Upekkha/Upeksha: equanimity, or learning to accept both loss and gain, praise and blame, success and failure with detachment, equally, for oneself and for others; equanimity means "not to distinguish between friend, enemy or stranger, but regard every sentient being as equal. It is a clear-minded tranquil state of mind - not being overpowered by delusions, mental dullness or agitation."


Now, Buddha gives you the piece of operative, practical advice to turn these two things into your own Pure Realm. Ready?

In the two "Metta Suttas" of the Anguttara Nikaya (AN 4.125, AN 4.126), the Buddha states that one who practices radiating the brahmaviharas in this life is destined for rebirth in a heavenly realm in their next life. In addition, if such a person is a Buddhist disciple (Pali: sāvaka) and thus realizes the three characteristics of the five aggregates, then after his heavenly life, this disciple will reach nibbana. However, if one is not a disciple, then after the heavenly life, they may still be reborn in a hell realm or as an animal or as a hungry ghost.

There you go. Enjoy the rest of your lives, and enjoy your Pure Land. And enjoy Nirvana, even though "enjoyment" really can't be used to perfectly or accurately describe that state.

MUDGIRLS build cob houses. Hobbit homes were made of cob, with green roofs.

We are a network of women who build natural structures for ourselves and each other, as well as helping others build their own. We specialize in building with cob, as well as other natural material such as strawbale, driftwood, adobe, cordwood and recycled materials like glass, car tires, glass bottles and more.

( Cob? What the heck is Cob? )

One of the highlights of FaerieCon was bullying the lead singer of Faun (amazing band you should totally check out) into giving my friend Marie(not pictured), a nyckelharpa lesson.


(the guy in the top hat was waiting patiently for Oliver to sign his cds)

There is something liberating about being painted green and wearing a long nose mask. Plus Marie is such a sweetheart but terribly shy. She didn't know how to ask him to help her with her bowing technique. Nyckelharpa players are far and few between, I couldn't let this opportunity pass her by. I want MORE Nyckelharpa players. :-)

He was signing cds, being all pretty, and Wedji tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around, and put his hands up and stepped back in (mock?) alarm. The conversation went something like this:
Wedji: you played good music up there on the stage. I liked it. good job.
Oliver: Thank you.
Wedji: see that lady over there? she's really nice. not like me. I have no tact. she plays the nyckelharpa too.
Oliver: really?
Wedji: you should find her tomorrow and show her some stuff.
Oliver: ok.
Wedji: I don't want to have to come and find you.....
Oliver: ok.
then I gave him a wedji button and made him confess his love for wedji.

wedji is a class act, all the way.


The next day, I was walking around the merchant area and I saw him. I walked right up to him (past the adoring fangirls...he really is a pretty boy) and pointed at him. He stepped back and put his hands up again (is it mock or is wedji really that scary looking?).
Wedji: did you find my friend????
Oliver: yes! yes! I helped her out! she plays very nicely! and see? I'm wearing the button!
Wedji: good. thanks. see ya later!

walked off.
Stay classy, Wedji. Stay classy.

PS. here is a picture of Marie getting her lesson. look how freaking happy she is!

Wish I was there to throw candles at you. (You know, like a wedding. Which you recently had. UNlit candles, of course!)

xoxo