<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364</id><updated>2011-04-21T20:07:44.751-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Benign Lives</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>34</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-7583851946118682407</id><published>2009-05-20T19:10:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-05-20T19:19:31.561-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Aubrey vs The Carinas</title><content type='html'>&lt;object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-bbbe850fe9e7e58f" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" 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bgcolor="#FFFFFF"flashvars="flvurl=http://v3.nonxt5.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3Dbbbe850fe9e7e58f%26itag%3D5%26app%3Dblogger%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1331482195%26sparams%3Did,itag,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D6E8E73074F267429514BBEE3D32F652F990D92D.33BF330D3D0CD5070705649BF63E6639F4F9F47F%26key%3Dck1&amp;iurl=http://video.google.com/ThumbnailServer2?app%3Dblogger%26contentid%3Dbbbe850fe9e7e58f%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw160%26sigh%3DKFcjPmrd8pqGbMKG2iWa0WbuiRM&amp;autoplay=0&amp;ps=blogger"allowFullScreen="true" /&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-7583851946118682407?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='enclosure' type='video/mp4' href='http://www.blogger.com/video-play.mp4?contentId=bbbe850fe9e7e58f&amp;type=video%2Fmp4' length='0'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/7583851946118682407/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=7583851946118682407' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/7583851946118682407'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/7583851946118682407'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2009/05/aubrey-vs-carinas.html' title='Aubrey vs The Carinas'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-8441898518844248880</id><published>2008-07-22T21:36:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-07-23T15:31:28.936-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Where's Adam West?</title><content type='html'>We're about to see a movie tomorrow night. Something about an owlish vigilante. Perhaps you've heard a murmur or two about it?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The deafening wall of media hype over Heath Ledger's performance is like a ring of airhorns surrounding a macabre piece of art—you want to cringe, turn your back, &amp;amp; wait for it to stop. Or if you can pick your way within the ring, there is something to be enjoyed by all accounts. However, the very enjoyment of it has now become something macabre in itself.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is all part of the mental preparation that needs to take place in order to not be disappointed by a movie like this. It's what my friend Steve calls &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Managing Your Expectations&lt;/span&gt;. This is not going to be a fun summer explodaganza. It's a grim, ponderous, brooding affair, wrought with heavy political allegory. We're a long way from the glib indifference of Tony Stark. This is a tortured character who swallows up otherwise charismatic leading men and, in the words of Stephen Metcalf, turns them "into inert hunks of titanium-carbon-fiber weave."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a way, the Batman franchise's somber reboot offers a morning-after counterpoint to Superman's flag-waiving for the American Way. (In the hands of several of The Batman's better writers, not the least of which is Frank Miller, Batman was at odds with Superman for being a strongarmed facist.) If Batman is America, and The Joker is this unpredictable new enemy that we don't understand, the message of this post-9/11 movie seems to be &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;You're Doing It Wrong.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If this is the case, then my message to Chris Nolan would be &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;you're doing it right.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-8441898518844248880?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/8441898518844248880/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=8441898518844248880' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/8441898518844248880'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/8441898518844248880'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/07/be-prepared.html' title='Where&apos;s Adam West?'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-6398318597560524779</id><published>2008-06-09T20:03:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-06-09T20:17:40.949-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Yummy Pt.2</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SE3ySH8p3UI/AAAAAAAAAhY/qe4iWISRYao/s1600-h/bottle.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SE3ySH8p3UI/AAAAAAAAAhY/qe4iWISRYao/s400/bottle.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210086737122549058" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SE3vM752fTI/AAAAAAAAAhI/L5-iHo93ibM/s1600-h/bottle.jpg"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-6398318597560524779?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/6398318597560524779/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=6398318597560524779' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/6398318597560524779'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/6398318597560524779'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/06/yummy-pt2.html' title='Yummy Pt.2'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SE3ySH8p3UI/AAAAAAAAAhY/qe4iWISRYao/s72-c/bottle.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-7972660233783522397</id><published>2008-06-09T20:01:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-06-09T20:03:23.732-07:00</updated><title type='text'>DOOK DOOK DOOK!</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;mmm, yummy!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SE3uuj8tUyI/AAAAAAAAAhA/hzvXkFhcJNk/s1600-h/4-pack.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SE3uuj8tUyI/AAAAAAAAAhA/hzvXkFhcJNk/s400/4-pack.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210082827628794658" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-7972660233783522397?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/7972660233783522397/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=7972660233783522397' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/7972660233783522397'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/7972660233783522397'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/06/dook-dook-dook.html' title='DOOK DOOK DOOK!'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SE3uuj8tUyI/AAAAAAAAAhA/hzvXkFhcJNk/s72-c/4-pack.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-3898558176163987907</id><published>2008-04-24T09:53:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-25T17:02:12.741-07:00</updated><title type='text'>HOORAY!</title><content type='html'>This post is in honor of the newly self-employed, His Holiness Baron Brownbottum.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;CONGRATULATIONS!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SBJw9xgIOjI/AAAAAAAAAeo/oEtydGn4Hx4/s1600-h/Take%2Bthis%2Bjob%2Band%2Bshove%2Bit.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SBJw9xgIOjI/AAAAAAAAAeo/oEtydGn4Hx4/s200/Take%2Bthis%2Bjob%2Band%2Bshove%2Bit.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5193337526874028594" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SBC7fRgIOiI/AAAAAAAAAeg/K3uP89Qqueg/s1600-h/Take+this+job+and+shove+it.jpg"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-3898558176163987907?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/3898558176163987907/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=3898558176163987907' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/3898558176163987907'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/3898558176163987907'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/hooray.html' title='HOORAY!'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SBJw9xgIOjI/AAAAAAAAAeo/oEtydGn4Hx4/s72-c/Take%2Bthis%2Bjob%2Band%2Bshove%2Bit.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-7694160799593229942</id><published>2008-04-20T21:34:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-21T19:32:08.279-07:00</updated><title type='text'>The Horrors of Nerd-Prom</title><content type='html'>My buddy Lonny &amp;amp; I went to the NYC Comicon this weekend. We managed to get into a packed Q&amp;amp;A session with Grant Morrison, which was pretty great. Naturally, I took pictures of the costumed freakery for you people. Enjoy:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwaOhMAQvI/AAAAAAAAAck/IzgR3pMFaxA/s1600-h/lolita.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwaOhMAQvI/AAAAAAAAAck/IzgR3pMFaxA/s400/lolita.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191553307180548850" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" &gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;The panel discussion to use room E08 after the VERTIGO panel we sat in on was about &lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Gothic Lolita" costumes. It's not nineteenth century Jon Benet-itus. It's called "Gothic." "Lolita."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwa-hMAQ2I/AAAAAAAAAdc/sCjMofPp_L0/s1600-h/rayray.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwa-hMAQ2I/AAAAAAAAAdc/sCjMofPp_L0/s400/rayray.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191554131814269794" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" &gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;Ray and Catwoman, together at last&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" &gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwahBMAQyI/AAAAAAAAAc8/Ism-4XyEz6w/s1600-h/batman.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwahBMAQyI/AAAAAAAAAc8/Ism-4XyEz6w/s400/batman.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191553625008128802" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:85%;" &gt;You might be surprised how often The Batman has need of a mini-Maglite&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwa3BMAQ1I/AAAAAAAAAdU/3IENn__Lm0s/s1600-h/pistolo.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwa3BMAQ1I/AAAAAAAAAdU/3IENn__Lm0s/s400/pistolo.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191554002965250898" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" &gt;Who doesn't need a really sweet steampunk pistol?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwaWRMAQwI/AAAAAAAAAcs/Z3sTVCmD8f0/s1600-h/leia.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwaWRMAQwI/AAAAAAAAAcs/Z3sTVCmD8f0/s400/leia.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191553440324535042" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:85%;" &gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;They managed to replicate in resin how our generation *remembers* Carrie Fischer&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwabBMAQxI/AAAAAAAAAc0/5YbHileH1WY/s1600-h/wolverine.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwabBMAQxI/AAAAAAAAAc0/5YbHileH1WY/s400/wolverine.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191553521928913682" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;Adamantium skeleton and super-healing,&lt;br /&gt;completely un-manned by a purple merch bag&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwbExMAQ3I/AAAAAAAAAdk/q8dn8W1f1Ks/s1600-h/sith.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwbExMAQ3I/AAAAAAAAAdk/q8dn8W1f1Ks/s400/sith.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191554239188452210" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;"&gt;No, I haven't seen any Bothan spies around here, please turn that thing off&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwc8xMAQ4I/AAAAAAAAAds/ZVgBcbhvgrM/s1600-h/indy.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwc8xMAQ4I/AAAAAAAAAds/ZVgBcbhvgrM/s400/indy.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191556300772754306" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;"&gt;Dr. Jones knows the difference between leprosy and really, really bad psoriasis&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwaohMAQzI/AAAAAAAAAdE/07S_aZIrMaE/s1600-h/lonny.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwaohMAQzI/AAAAAAAAAdE/07S_aZIrMaE/s400/lonny.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191553753857147698" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;"&gt;Somehow Lonny sensed the mortal danger he was in&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwavhMAQ0I/AAAAAAAAAdM/Q0clNqTw5nE/s1600-h/harley.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwavhMAQ0I/AAAAAAAAAdM/Q0clNqTw5nE/s400/harley.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191553874116232002" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;"&gt;Before the NYC Comicon, wearing skin-tight leather in public&lt;br /&gt;usually was an indicator of your  promiscuity. Within the&lt;br /&gt;confines of the Javitt Center, skin-tight leather and promiscuity&lt;br /&gt;enjoy no correlation whatsoever&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-7694160799593229942?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/7694160799593229942/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=7694160799593229942' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/7694160799593229942'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/7694160799593229942'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/nerd-prom.html' title='The Horrors of Nerd-Prom'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SAwaOhMAQvI/AAAAAAAAAck/IzgR3pMFaxA/s72-c/lolita.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-1383226347520803176</id><published>2008-04-17T20:23:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T22:59:48.619-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Embiggen Your Wordability</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;" &gt;This post is in honor of my friend Steve Broberg, who first turned me on to use of this word:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R_mNIYmpVaI/AAAAAAAAAcA/_Q0i_RE8Nrw/s1600-h/Picture+1.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R_mNIYmpVaI/AAAAAAAAAcA/_Q0i_RE8Nrw/s400/Picture+1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5186331621076850082" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-1383226347520803176?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/1383226347520803176/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=1383226347520803176' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1383226347520803176'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1383226347520803176'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/embiggen-your-wordability.html' title='Embiggen Your Wordability'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R_mNIYmpVaI/AAAAAAAAAcA/_Q0i_RE8Nrw/s72-c/Picture+1.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-3887113326036594651</id><published>2008-04-17T20:22:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-21T19:33:23.966-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Despachos de Paraíso - Day 5</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Monday, March 18, 2008&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 153, 0);"&gt;Thursday March 13&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;The Last Bitter Morsel&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"&gt;Suddenly it's Thursday, and we are leaving tomorrow. Our time here has been endless hardship, a blur of violent struggle. If they were to make a movie out of this ordeal, it would have to be called "True Grit." Our story would be known as "True Grit," and any other movie that happened to share the same name would be called "That Pussy Version with John Wayne, the Mincing Faery-boy." We have battled against drowsy-making weather, seductive ocean sounds, and impossible restaurant choices. Few have resisted the temptation of an after-breakfast nap for as many long minutes&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R-Gb7ompVMI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/wnwMxx_yKgQ/s1600-h/teetotaling.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R-Gb7ompVMI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/wnwMxx_yKgQ/s320/teetotaling.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179592495266878658" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"&gt;as we have. Why, yesterday? We walked four kilometers before we called a taxi, and not all of it was in the shade. Would that drawling ponce John Wayne has lasted half as long? Few could credibly suggest it. And take today: we walked around the block twice in search of an elusive ice cream shop. Would John Wayne, that blue-suited Nancy, have so long endured on behalf of mint-chocolate? The answer can only be "No."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R-Gc0ImpVNI/AAAAAAAAAaY/ysamhVwXkvM/s1600-h/bread_choc.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R-Gc0ImpVNI/AAAAAAAAAaY/ysamhVwXkvM/s320/bread_choc.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179593465929487570" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:85%;" &gt;typical breakfast fare for Ticos is *sigh* rice and beans. but my baby &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:85%;" &gt;needs WAFFLES! Bread &amp;amp; Chocolate was our favorite breakfast joint&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And so it is that tomorrow we will pack up our electronics, our lotions, and our many travel pillows. We will carefully stow our brownies and take leave of this raw outpost of humanity. And to our midnight chatterers, the kinkajous: we bid you adieu. We loved you more than was healthy for us.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-3887113326036594651?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/3887113326036594651/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=3887113326036594651' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/3887113326036594651'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/3887113326036594651'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/despachos-de-paraso-day-5.html' title='Despachos de Paraíso - Day 5'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R-Gb7ompVMI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/wnwMxx_yKgQ/s72-c/teetotaling.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-934009310196341235</id><published>2008-04-17T20:19:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-20T22:07:55.968-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Despachos de Paraíso - Day 3</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Monday, March 18, 2008&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 0); font-weight: bold;"&gt;Tuesday March 11&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 0); font-style: italic;"&gt;Greek Gods Will Shit on Your 401k&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"&gt;Carla is sleeping upstairs. I've had too much coffee, so I'm up with lappie and my TUC Radio (Time of Useful Consciousness) mp3's, which for me is like a glass of warm milk. Tonight I'm listening to Gray Brechin's conversation with Chalmers Johnson—and jungle sounds, naturally. In 2007 Johnson was stumping in support of his new book. I say "stumping," but really his footfalls were pretty soft. With a title like &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"&gt;"Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic,"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"&gt; he was pretty much relegated to coverage by channels like C-SPAN 12: Apocalyptic Book Reviews.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R-ClmGFsx5I/AAAAAAAAAZo/OK5k8jKFb2I/s1600-h/sun-clouds.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R-ClmGFsx5I/AAAAAAAAAZo/OK5k8jKFb2I/s320/sun-clouds.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179321645364201362" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" &gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;purty sky things over the Playa Negra&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"&gt;Nemesis is the greek goddess of revenge, the attacker of hubris &amp;amp; arrogance. She is classically portrayed as a bright young woman with a whip in one hand and a scale in the other, but Renaissance artists seemed to like her with a sword. The Greeks have, as only the Greeks can, given us the image of someone with a score to settle. She is often shown astride the wheel of fortune, or the head of some punk-ass who had it coming. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"&gt;Astride&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"&gt; it, literally: she rode the Wheel of Fortune around like a unicycle. She wasn't some some fucking messenger-boy like that fruit Hermes, either. Nemesis was a high-class broad. Her sister was Eroto, the goddess of love poetry. See? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"&gt;High-class.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R-Cl9mFsx6I/AAAAAAAAAZw/o8eICE6ClqE/s1600-h/nemesis.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R-Cl9mFsx6I/AAAAAAAAAZw/o8eICE6ClqE/s320/nemesis.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179322049091127202" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" &gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;vengeful and patient: Nemesis waits for her moment&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;" &gt;Chalmers contends that Nemesis is "in the house," that she is in-country, biding her time, waiting to attack those who have shown incredible hubris.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;" &gt;The essential argument of Johnson's book is this: History shows us that there is no more unstable configuration that the United States today — that is, an internal democracy and an external empire. You can do one, or you can do the other, but you can't do both. These two enterprises are fundamentally in conflict with each other. Examples he sites of civilizations that have attempted this are the Roman Republic (which is important to us because so many of our Constitutional provisions are adapted from the Romans) and former British empire.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R-Cmp2Fsx7I/AAAAAAAAAZ4/eTjUL8C8tP0/s1600-h/orange.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R-Cmp2Fsx7I/AAAAAAAAAZ4/eTjUL8C8tP0/s320/orange.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179322809300338610" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" &gt;orange explosions!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 102, 0);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;" &gt;After the assassination of Julius Cesar and the rise of Octavian, the Roman experiment succumbed to military dictatorship and democracy did not return for at least a thousand years. In short: the Romans chose to keep their empire and in the process, lost their democracy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the other hand, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;" &gt;the British had the question put to them pointedly by India. They realized that to keep the jewel in the crown of their empire, they would have to resort to administrative massacres, which in order to carry out, Britain would have had to transform herself into a tyranny. So &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;" &gt;the British chose to keep their democracy, and in so doing let go of their empire. Johnson suggests that this was relatively easy for the British to do, since the United States was waiting in the wings.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R-CnBWFsx8I/AAAAAAAAAaA/47qk7An6aJ0/s1600-h/sras_perezoso.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R-CnBWFsx8I/AAAAAAAAAaA/47qk7An6aJ0/s320/sras_perezoso.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179323213027264450" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" &gt;mrs sloth demurely presents us with her privates&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"&gt;That brings us to America. With a current total of 737 military bases in over 130 different countries, its almost impossible to deny that we have an external empire. And the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 notwithstanding, we have an internal democracy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"&gt;So Nemesis is in search of those who commit hubris. Stupidity, arrogance, things of that sort. Examples that Johnson offers which suggest that we are defying Nemesis to visit us with her whip: the Marine Corps spray-painting "Semper FI" onto the side of the ziggurat at Ur (and then guarding it with troops so that journalists could not photograph it), the destruction of the main gate at Nebuchadnezzer's palace, rolling tanks over tiles that were laid down by Alexander the Great, putting up two 10,000-foot runways next to the ziggurats at Ur, as well as a Burger King (the aroma of which is said to make our troops feel "more at home"). Not to mention Abu Grahaib, etc. These are the sort of things that will come back to haunt us.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R-CnYGFsx9I/AAAAAAAAAaI/4QkD6mHTN5g/s1600-h/trees.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R-CnYGFsx9I/AAAAAAAAAaI/4QkD6mHTN5g/s320/trees.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179323603869288402" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" &gt;pretty trees&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"&gt;Johnson suggests that there are only two possible outcomes for America: we lose our empire or we become a military dictatorship. What he considers to be the most likely is a financial whimper instead of a nuclear bang. "If you have a few thousand saved up, it's time to think about a down payment on that condo in Vancouver." &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"&gt;Ha ha ha!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"&gt;  Good times.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-934009310196341235?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/934009310196341235/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=934009310196341235' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/934009310196341235'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/934009310196341235'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/despachos-de-paraso-day-3.html' title='Despachos de Paraíso - Day 3'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R-ClmGFsx5I/AAAAAAAAAZo/OK5k8jKFb2I/s72-c/sun-clouds.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-3009699615503668695</id><published>2008-04-17T20:17:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-20T09:35:27.936-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Despachos de Paraíso - Day 2</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Monday, March 18, 2008&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 153, 0);"&gt;Monday March 10&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 0);"&gt;Paradise: Noisy as Fuck-All&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;"&gt;Sunday we both woke up in the middle of the night and could barely hear each other laughing. The din was somewhere between the decibel level of a noisy classroom and a jet engine. I no longer wonder what it would sound like if Jim Hensen was in charge of Mardi Gras. I will attempt to lay down the tracks for you:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R98ZeWFsx1I/AAAAAAAAAZI/s4SwpvlccHY/s1600-h/banyan.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R98ZeWFsx1I/AAAAAAAAAZI/s4SwpvlccHY/s320/banyan.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178886105615615826" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" &gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Hola, Ban-yan&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;"&gt;There are two constant sounds above and below everything else. To start with, there is the steady metallic ringing of the katydids. Imagine crickets with a cheap Peavey amp, except these crickets are made out of titanium. Then there is the surf, which sounds like 9/11 coming out of a seashell. We're at least half mile from the shore, but part-way up a large hill, so the ocean sound carries to us incredibly well. Call me sheltered, but all the oceans I've ever heard (17) have made gentle shushy sounds at night. The ocean here sounds like a 26-lane highway (not the reedy tenor of those elevated highways, either), punctuated by controlled demolitions under a gigantic woolen pancake.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R98Z3GFsx2I/AAAAAAAAAZQ/oVv2cvfNuZE/s1600-h/rock.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R98Z3GFsx2I/AAAAAAAAAZQ/oVv2cvfNuZE/s320/rock.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178886530817378146" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" &gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;A jutty-thing on the way to Punta Uva&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;"&gt;Then there are about 600 kinds of intermittent shrieks, chirps, cackles, hoots, barks, beeps, howls, caws, rustles, thumps, crashes, and squawks from the various jungle creatures, which include but are not limited to dogs, geckos, frogs, all manner of insects&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R98aF2Fsx3I/AAAAAAAAAZY/ky7RZBhnVMI/s1600-h/monkey.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R98aF2Fsx3I/AAAAAAAAAZY/ky7RZBhnVMI/s320/monkey.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178886784220448626" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" &gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"Be-ware the White-Face Monkey!"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;" &gt;and birds, kinkajous, not to mention our "neighbors" — a camp of Nicaraguans who for some reason seem to extremely happy to no longer be in Nicaragua.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R98aSWFsx4I/AAAAAAAAAZg/V9FjPqscsoo/s1600-h/el_cristo.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R98aSWFsx4I/AAAAAAAAAZg/V9FjPqscsoo/s320/el_cristo.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178886998968813442" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" &gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;That's RIGHT, motherfuckers! Jesus was pure WHITE! And don't you forget it!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-3009699615503668695?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/3009699615503668695/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=3009699615503668695' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/3009699615503668695'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/3009699615503668695'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/despachos-de-paraso-day-2.html' title='Despachos de Paraíso - Day 2'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R98ZeWFsx1I/AAAAAAAAAZI/s4SwpvlccHY/s72-c/banyan.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-1218614759707425868</id><published>2008-04-17T20:15:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-20T09:44:53.274-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Despachos de Paraíso - Extra</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Monday, March 18, 2008&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 0); font-weight: bold;"&gt;The Mysterious 'Honey Bear'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 0);font-size:85%;" &gt;(Or, "What the Hell is a Kinkajou?")&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;"&gt;I've always found arboreal mammals to be fascinating, especially in the topics. I'm just an armchair critterologist, but my observation is this: it's not that there is necessarily so much for a mid-sized mammal to eat in the canopy, but it's a great place to not be eaten. So if you can learn a certain proficiency with the daytime trapeze, you can have your way with the fallen fruit &amp;amp; nut buffet at night.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R95mimFsxzI/AAAAAAAAAY4/fR0ghe4vm9Q/s1600-h/800px-Kinkajou.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R95mimFsxzI/AAAAAAAAAY4/fR0ghe4vm9Q/s400/800px-Kinkajou.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178689366048687922" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-size:78%;" &gt;&lt;i&gt;Potos flavus: when you're really weird, you get your own genus&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;" &gt;There are a lot of ways to describe the same naturally selective dynamics: "form follows function" is one. "The job makes the man" is another. In filling the arboreal niches, nature isn't choosy that you belong to any particular family. It doesn't matter if the applicant is a graduate of Primate U or the College of Applied Raccoonomics, after a couple thousand years on the job, successful candidates will inevitably take on a certain clingy look.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R95mvmFsx0I/AAAAAAAAAZA/O40ySSAqpUE/s1600-h/paris-hilton-is-bit-by-pet-kinkajou-baby-luv-02N.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R95mvmFsx0I/AAAAAAAAAZA/O40ySSAqpUE/s320/paris-hilton-is-bit-by-pet-kinkajou-baby-luv-02N.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178689589386987330" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-size:78%;" &gt;In 2006, Paris Hilton's pet Kinkajou "Baby Luv" did what&lt;br /&gt;most alleged primates would do if given the chance (it bit her)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"&gt;Kinkajous look like they would be a little out of place at almost any family reunion. I think their closest relatives are the raccoons, and since raccoons are already sort of a taxonomic "gay uncle," that is like saying your parents are part Gypsy and part Martian. If you put a monkey face on a raccoon and then injected 350 cc's of lemur, you're getting pretty close.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-1218614759707425868?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/1218614759707425868/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=1218614759707425868' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1218614759707425868'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1218614759707425868'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/despachos-de-paraso-extra.html' title='Despachos de Paraíso - Extra'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R95mimFsxzI/AAAAAAAAAY4/fR0ghe4vm9Q/s72-c/800px-Kinkajou.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-3776631750055113480</id><published>2008-04-17T20:12:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-20T09:57:23.165-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Despachos de Paraíso - Day 1</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Monday, March 17, 2008&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(153, 153, 0);"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 153, 0);"&gt;Sunday March 9&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 0);"&gt;Every Guava Looks Ripe to the Short Man&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R9366WFsxyI/AAAAAAAAAYw/qilLrPhCI90/s1600-h/Picture+3.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R9366WFsxyI/AAAAAAAAAYw/qilLrPhCI90/s400/Picture+3.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178571026814781218" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" &gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"&gt;Thanks, US Airways&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are too many things to describe. The fact that we are almost the last people we know to get here relieves me the burden of painting an accurate picture. Suffice it to say that Costa Rica is like paradise, sprinkled with as many Americans as paradise could sustain and still be paradise. When you walk around an area that is as competitively photosynthetic as Costa Rica, you wonder how it got that way. The truth is this: basically the Planet said to itself, "I wonder how much chlorophyll I can cram into a space the size of West Virginia." Another less-successful self-challenge the Planet tried was "I wonder how much coal and chewing tobacco I can cram into a space the size of West Virginia." (This of course, became known as what we call "West Virginia.")&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R931D2FsxuI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/iTG5B7wbaGk/s1600-h/cashew.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R931D2FsxuI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/iTG5B7wbaGk/s320/cashew.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178564592953771746" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" &gt;Erich &amp;amp; Wendy's Jungle Lounge/Command Center&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"&gt;We're staying at Cashew Hill Lodge in Puerto Viejo on the southeast coast. We're on the Caribbean side, so there is more African influence. Even here, the souvenir footprint of Bob Marley can be seen, and jerk chicken. Cashew Hill is a gorgeous resort, run by a pair of ex-pat Americans named Erich and Wendy. There are only seven lodges, and we're in Kinkajou Lodge, which is undeniably the best lodge, because the kinkajous love to climb in the tree that is right outside our bedroom window.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R931QmFsxvI/AAAAAAAAAYY/YOrBfM8GFww/s1600-h/k-lodge.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R931QmFsxvI/AAAAAAAAAYY/YOrBfM8GFww/s400/k-lodge.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178564811997103858" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"&gt;Kinkajou Cabin&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R933u2FsxxI/AAAAAAAAAYo/WcaqAI1l774/s1600-h/k-lodge_deck.png"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-3776631750055113480?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/3776631750055113480/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=3776631750055113480' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/3776631750055113480'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/3776631750055113480'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/despachos-de-paraso-day-1.html' title='Despachos de Paraíso - Day 1'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R9366WFsxyI/AAAAAAAAAYw/qilLrPhCI90/s72-c/Picture+3.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-1213701787110631435</id><published>2008-04-17T20:11:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T20:31:38.506-07:00</updated><title type='text'>You = Thirsty!</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-weight: normal;" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Tuesday, March 4, 2008&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:100%;" &gt;Here is a recent freelance job I finished. Sprecher is in Glendale, WI where my high school buddy Tim lives &amp;amp; works. It's going to have Door County cherry juice (that lighthouse is the Cana Island lighthouse), and it may have real cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup! Top image is a comp of the bottle label and the bottom image is the side panel of a 4-pack carton.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R81GAng0DII/AAAAAAAAAW4/Bi8A1paHDEA/s1600-h/Bottle_Label.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R81GAng0DII/AAAAAAAAAW4/Bi8A1paHDEA/s400/Bottle_Label.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5173868523339123842" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R81F2ng0DHI/AAAAAAAAAWw/aYT-IBbSPRQ/s1600-h/Panel_Front.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R81F2ng0DHI/AAAAAAAAAWw/aYT-IBbSPRQ/s400/Panel_Front.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5173868351540431986" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-1213701787110631435?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/1213701787110631435/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=1213701787110631435' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1213701787110631435'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1213701787110631435'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/you-thirsty.html' title='You = Thirsty!'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R81GAng0DII/AAAAAAAAAW4/Bi8A1paHDEA/s72-c/Bottle_Label.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-1229076948849230235</id><published>2008-04-17T20:10:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-20T09:59:17.581-07:00</updated><title type='text'>He Came, He Spake</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Monday, March 3, 2008&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:100%;" &gt;They say 'You Snooze You Lose,' well I guess I snost &amp;amp; lost. We had a viewing of the casa (more on that later) so I was only able to get there early enough to be one of the first 2,000 or so to &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;not&lt;/span&gt; get in. (They say the RIC auditorium holds 5,000 and that there were 10,000 there.) I talked to a RIC prof who left early &amp;amp; said it was uncomfortably crowded and hot inside the auditorium. Sort of ironic because we were fucking freezing outside. Barack briefly did address the cold &amp;amp; wets before going in. Here are some pics of the crowd outside:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R8v4QP3pyBI/AAAAAAAAAWo/SToPn6mwEmw/s1600-h/Picture+4.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R8v4QP3pyBI/AAAAAAAAAWo/SToPn6mwEmw/s400/Picture+4.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5173501554986698770" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R8v4Dv3pyAI/AAAAAAAAAWg/bNo0uCKArIs/s1600-h/Picture+5.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R8v4Dv3pyAI/AAAAAAAAAWg/bNo0uCKArIs/s400/Picture+5.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5173501340238333954" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R8v37P3px_I/AAAAAAAAAWY/bS1K89itG8E/s1600-h/Picture+6.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R8v37P3px_I/AAAAAAAAAWY/bS1K89itG8E/s400/Picture+6.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5173501194209445874" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-1229076948849230235?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/1229076948849230235/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=1229076948849230235' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1229076948849230235'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1229076948849230235'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/he-came-he-spake.html' title='He Came, He Spake'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R8v4QP3pyBI/AAAAAAAAAWo/SToPn6mwEmw/s72-c/Picture+4.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-1971988059428302129</id><published>2008-04-17T20:07:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T20:08:40.073-07:00</updated><title type='text'>I Have Been Instantaneously Been Made To Feel Extremely Old</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Friday, February 29, 2008&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:85%;" &gt;Not by MTV, by the @#$# &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;supermarket!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R8WiY5cM4NI/AAAAAAAAAWA/XOre2EDoGJI/s1600-h/Picture+4.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R8WiY5cM4NI/AAAAAAAAAWA/XOre2EDoGJI/s400/Picture+4.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171718295724548306" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-1971988059428302129?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/1971988059428302129/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=1971988059428302129' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1971988059428302129'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1971988059428302129'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/i-have-been-instantaneously-been-made.html' title='I Have Been Instantaneously Been Made To Feel Extremely Old'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R8WiY5cM4NI/AAAAAAAAAWA/XOre2EDoGJI/s72-c/Picture+4.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-5585677304607822900</id><published>2008-04-17T20:05:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T20:06:39.665-07:00</updated><title type='text'>I'm Mopping the Floor &amp; It's Boring</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Sunday, February 10, 2008&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:100%;" &gt;Okay, so one of the podcasts I religiously frequent is called the &lt;a href="http://ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/browserRedirect?url=itms%253A%252F%252Fax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net%252FWebObjects%252FMZStore.woa%252Fwa%252FviewPodcast%253Fid%253D158004641"&gt;Slate Political Gabfest.&lt;/a&gt; It's put on every Friday by Slate Magazine, and it consists of the mocking curmudgeon David Plotz, the bubbly Emily Bazelon, and the wonkiest wonkmeister John Dickerson. The three of them make fun of each other, dish about politics as though it were a soap opera, and make fun of each other a little more. Somewhere in in the midst of their snorting they make more insightful commentary than you would hear in a hundred thousand years on planet tv-land.&lt;br /&gt;So this weekend David made what I think is the most awesomest analogy about the state of the two party's nomination races.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;On the Republican side&lt;/span&gt; you have John McCain, who is a child weathering the awful divorce of his parents three-way marriage. (presumably the neocons, the theocons, and the anti-tax crowd, although I call it a four-way marriage and name one of the co-spouses "single-issue xenophobes")&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Meanwhile the Democrats&lt;/span&gt; have these two really hot girlfriends (or boyfriends) and they can't decide which one is hotter.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-5585677304607822900?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/5585677304607822900/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=5585677304607822900' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/5585677304607822900'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/5585677304607822900'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/im-mopping-floor-its-boring.html' title='I&apos;m Mopping the Floor &amp; It&apos;s Boring'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-3912188551634679815</id><published>2008-04-17T20:04:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-20T09:58:28.769-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Open Letter to Jacob Weisberg</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Sunday, February 10, 2008&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:100%;" &gt;Dear Mr. Weisberg&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I wanted to take a moment to applaud you for your January 24 interview with Terri Gross. The Hater in me was thrilled at your article &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;The Misunderestimated Man&lt;/span&gt;, which seems to have been the germ that grew into &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;The Bush Tragedy&lt;/span&gt;. Deeper examination of President Bush's life has drawn you to surprisingly sympathetic conclusions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a political climate where the Democratic party is often characterized as complaining or being mindlessly "anti," your reasonable, even compassionate perspective is refreshing. Thank you for that. Not to sound high-minded or anything -- I am contemptuous of this presidency and its dogged supporters, I just feel that your tone plays better in the same arena where the phrase "blame game" can be coughed as a serious response to the pursuit of accountability.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I also wanted to make a comment regarding your remarks last summer as a member of the Summer "B" team on the Gabfest.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You said &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"the liberal and Democratic loathing of Karl Rove is almost completely explained by envy,&lt;/span&gt;" and how &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"they go on and on about how terrible he is, how ruthless, how dishonest he is, what they are really saying is&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;'we want our own Karl Rove'."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I believe that you are correct when you name him most meticulous skillful tactictian of our political era. However, your comments step beyond your own astute political senses and into a realm of speculation regarding people that you appear to have little understanding of.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Managed microtargeting and segmenting the electorate and voter turnout is one aspect of Rove's tactical brilliance, and perhaps one that played the most important role in Bush's re-election campaign -- but it's not the legacy he will be remembered for. When you say "Rovian Tactics," what people think of is an argument that attempts to purport virtue as weakness. (or just shitty &amp;amp; deliberate deception.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Certainly there are Democrats who have shown themselves to be perfectly willing to operate on this level, and I suppose the recent Clinton campaign attacks on Barack Obama are the best example of this. Perhaps I am being naive here, but I like to think that there is a sizable hunk of quietly chaffing progressives who believe in the principles of the Liberal Enlightenment, and also believe that distortion attacks are beneath these principles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's hard to argue that Rove has not had a tragic impact on our political discourse. While I do not desire for the Democrats to continue down this path, I just wish you had made a distinction between Democrats and Liberals.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Keep doing great work, Mr. Weisberg.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Best Regards,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Carl Mitsch&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;postscript&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Some equate Rove’s strategy of attacking opponents’ strengths to political genius. I equate it to a level of underhandedness never seen before in American politics. This strategy blindsided McCain during the primary race for the 2000 election when the Rove machine inferred that McCain’s POW experience left him mentally impaired and again in the 2004 election when Kerry’s heroism was swift boated. Let’s hope this strategy has outgrown its usefulness, for we can expect the Rove machine to attack the strengths of whoever wins the Democratic primary. You might think that impugning one’s presidential metal because of their race or gender is too politically incorrect not to back fire, but I bet that Rove doesn’t."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Colin McEnroe&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-3912188551634679815?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/3912188551634679815/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=3912188551634679815' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/3912188551634679815'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/3912188551634679815'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/open-letter-to-jacob-weisberg.html' title='Open Letter to Jacob Weisberg'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-8679949731815473402</id><published>2008-04-17T20:02:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T20:03:36.249-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Eternally Cool</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Tuesday, February 12, 2008&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;On Febr 11th Roman Candles were on eternallycool.net (&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" href="http://www.eternallycool.net/"&gt;link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;) so I guess that makes ME "eternally cool."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;Right? Or is it just for that day?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;They were ALSO on notcot.org &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" href="http://www.notcot.org/"&gt;(link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;). yay!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-8679949731815473402?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/8679949731815473402/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=8679949731815473402' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/8679949731815473402'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/8679949731815473402'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/eternally-cool.html' title='Eternally Cool'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-2420455894379237449</id><published>2008-04-17T20:01:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T20:02:43.005-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Ripplin' Thru The Blogosphere</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Thursday, February 14, 2008&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;Roman Candles reviewed by Roadside Scholar. (&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" href="http://www.roadsidescholar.com/2008/02/13/roman-candles-for-your-cake/"&gt;link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;)  Lots of nice comments!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-2420455894379237449?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/2420455894379237449/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=2420455894379237449' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/2420455894379237449'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/2420455894379237449'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/ripplin-thru-blogosphere.html' title='Ripplin&apos; Thru The Blogosphere'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-6590044327392814878</id><published>2008-04-17T19:58:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T20:01:08.119-07:00</updated><title type='text'>daily blather</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Tuesday, February 5, 2008&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;This evening NPR interviewed the guy who writes for a blog/forum called "Tech President." (&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" href="http://www.techpresident.com/"&gt;link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;) It charts the (changing) use of techmology in presidential campaigns. Nifty little descriptions of viral marketing by supporters of Hillary &amp;amp; Obama: a thrilling mash-up of (gorgeous) celebrities sing-speaking in unison with Obama's post-New Hampshire "Yes We Can" speech (&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fZHou18Cdk"&gt;link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;), an MTV style interview with 'ex-band members' called "Hillary &amp;amp; The Band" (&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyUUx3no_gs"&gt;link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;), tella-novellas in spanish for Obama, ringtones, etc.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;Interesting. What about the Republicans? Are they doing any of this kind of stuff?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;(dude says)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;"The Republicans are terrified by grassroots politics. They are rigidly clinging to a top-down model."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;Just like the Ariens, clinging to the power-structure of their dying age. We're witnessing the first green chutes of Aquarius &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;right now. Yay!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-6590044327392814878?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/6590044327392814878/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=6590044327392814878' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/6590044327392814878'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/6590044327392814878'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/daily-blather.html' title='daily blather'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-1246189240244816427</id><published>2008-04-17T19:56:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T19:57:40.584-07:00</updated><title type='text'>MEA CULPA</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;On a certain covert-present run to the Morgantown House of Ping-Pong Tables (&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" href="http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/home/index.jsp"&gt;http://www.DICKS.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;) I was giving my dear friend Angelpie a hard time for her &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;alleged&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt; man-phobia. I was doing this because she described her reluctance to go see &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen"&gt;The Boss&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt; in concert.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;My appreciation for Bruce is tremendous, but it is based on about 1/3 or less of his work (&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;Nebraska, Tunnel of Love, Lucky Town, Human Touch, The Ghost of Tom Joad, The Rising, Devils and Dust&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;). Sometimes I forget about the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;other&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt; Bruce (ALL of that E-street band shit, "Born to Run," "10th Avenue Freezeout," &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;Born in the USA&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;, etc etc).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;I was recently talking to some Springsteen fans and I realized that the one time I saw Springsteen in concert (&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;Ghost of Tom Joad&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt; -- a solo acoustic tour) was totally atypical of what his concerts were like. Fans of the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;Other Bruce&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt; describe it as "that tour where he asked everyone to be quiet during the show."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;My favorite album is Tunnel of Love, which is tender, reflective, and a little somber. Fans of all that New Jersey saxaphone wankery describe it as "totally depressing."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;So, Angelpie was right &amp;amp; I was wrong. I don't think I would have enjoyed myself at all during that show either. Down with men!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-1246189240244816427?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/1246189240244816427/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=1246189240244816427' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1246189240244816427'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1246189240244816427'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/mea-culpa.html' title='MEA CULPA'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-6442758075846807021</id><published>2008-04-17T19:54:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T19:55:37.054-07:00</updated><title type='text'>GAME TIME!</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Sunday, January 13, 2008&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;So this article appeared in the most recent &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;Wired&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt; (thx btw, Angelpie, I love it &amp;amp; just renewed) that had the coolest "8-bit" illustrations of famous musical acts. I haven't read the article yet, but we've had a lot of fun trying to identify the musicians based on their weensy little icons.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;Let's see if we can get them all!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;(click for larger image)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R4rG3wMu81I/AAAAAAAAAPI/d1T3mWgqF88/s1600-h/music.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R4rG3wMu81I/AAAAAAAAAPI/d1T3mWgqF88/s320/music.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5155151384612369234" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;When you're ready to pool answers, here are &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" href="http://www.deptofworks.com/music_answers.jpg"&gt;the ones we think we know&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-6442758075846807021?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/6442758075846807021/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=6442758075846807021' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/6442758075846807021'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/6442758075846807021'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/game-time.html' title='GAME TIME!'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R4rG3wMu81I/AAAAAAAAAPI/d1T3mWgqF88/s72-c/music.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-3126315804943964175</id><published>2008-04-17T19:50:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T19:54:27.809-07:00</updated><title type='text'>NSFW RadioLab episode</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2007/06/01"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:85%;" &gt;http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2007/06/01&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R47V3gMu83I/AAAAAAAAAPY/xyo53qAepOI/s1600-h/jaguar1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R47V3gMu83I/AAAAAAAAAPY/xyo53qAepOI/s200/jaguar1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5156293772898661234" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-3126315804943964175?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/3126315804943964175/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=3126315804943964175' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/3126315804943964175'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/3126315804943964175'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/nsfw-radiolab-episode.html' title='NSFW RadioLab episode'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R47V3gMu83I/AAAAAAAAAPY/xyo53qAepOI/s72-c/jaguar1.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-3683733288934916592</id><published>2008-04-17T19:49:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T19:50:04.318-07:00</updated><title type='text'>*FWUMP*</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Friday, December 14, 2007&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R2KNNQMu8SI/AAAAAAAAAKw/biXK3tW0oMY/s1600-h/Picture+1.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R2KNNQMu8SI/AAAAAAAAAKw/biXK3tW0oMY/s400/Picture+1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5143828983236718882" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-3683733288934916592?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/3683733288934916592/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=3683733288934916592' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/3683733288934916592'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/3683733288934916592'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/fwump.html' title='*FWUMP*'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R2KNNQMu8SI/AAAAAAAAAKw/biXK3tW0oMY/s72-c/Picture+1.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-6774798676301336317</id><published>2008-04-17T19:47:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T19:47:54.393-07:00</updated><title type='text'>SAVAGE LOVE!!!</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal;" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Thursday, December 6, 2007&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;Carla is got a co-worker, Eleanor. Eleanor is got a father. Eleanor's father used to paint covers for romance novels. He had hundreds of them, and gave one to Carla's boss Paul, who was kind enough to loan it to us for the HGTV shoot. Direct from the bedroom wall, here is: "Savage Love." It's a bodice-rippa!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R1f7zoq6pxI/AAAAAAAAAJk/B-sVKiCOM9Q/s1600-h/Savage_Love.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R1f7zoq6pxI/AAAAAAAAAJk/B-sVKiCOM9Q/s400/Savage_Love.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5140854364176033554" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-6774798676301336317?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/6774798676301336317/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=6774798676301336317' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/6774798676301336317'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/6774798676301336317'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/savage-love.html' title='SAVAGE LOVE!!!'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R1f7zoq6pxI/AAAAAAAAAJk/B-sVKiCOM9Q/s72-c/Savage_Love.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-1983374790713634359</id><published>2008-04-17T19:45:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T19:46:58.865-07:00</updated><title type='text'>HGTV</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Thursday, December 6, 2007&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;HGTV wanted to capture the grim struggle to survive in Providence. They wanted lives in the balance! They wanted Ortoleva drive.&lt;br /&gt;Here are some pics of the shoot. They use these fill lights that are like the surface of the sun! I would have taken more, but I had my head in my ass!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R1f5o4q6pvI/AAAAAAAAAJU/f74SjPxlk0c/s1600-h/kitchen.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R1f5o4q6pvI/AAAAAAAAAJU/f74SjPxlk0c/s400/kitchen.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5140851980469184242" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R1f5_4q6pwI/AAAAAAAAAJc/FNX_2VrzCEc/s1600-h/bathroom.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R1f5_4q6pwI/AAAAAAAAAJc/FNX_2VrzCEc/s400/bathroom.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5140852375606175490" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-1983374790713634359?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/1983374790713634359/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=1983374790713634359' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1983374790713634359'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1983374790713634359'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/hgtv.html' title='HGTV'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R1f5o4q6pvI/AAAAAAAAAJU/f74SjPxlk0c/s72-c/kitchen.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-4208924955099564333</id><published>2008-04-17T19:43:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T19:44:26.032-07:00</updated><title type='text'>How I Spent My...WEEK?</title><content type='html'>&lt;h3 class="post-title entry-title"&gt; &lt;/h3&gt;&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Saturday, November 17, 2007&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;h3 class="post-title entry-title"&gt; &lt;/h3&gt;   &lt;p style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;Y'all are probably dying to know what the coarser half of Casa Del Gato has been doing lately. Right, just &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;dying&lt;/span&gt;?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Replacing a pedestal sink...sounds easy enough. Lots of tools. Home Depot isn't far away. I have all my limbs, opposable thumbs, can follow directions reasonably well. The military code name for this endeavor, I learned afterward, is Operation: MOTHERFUCKER. Instead of "Private Benjamin," it was more like "Saving Private Ryan." It was &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;total&lt;/span&gt; Saving Private Ryan. It's almost done now. Pictures soon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-4208924955099564333?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/4208924955099564333/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=4208924955099564333' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/4208924955099564333'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/4208924955099564333'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/how-i-spent-myweek.html' title='How I Spent My...WEEK?'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-5358596984897462554</id><published>2008-04-17T19:40:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T19:42:15.011-07:00</updated><title type='text'>BZANG!</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Sunday, November 18, 2007&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;What's not pictured: shots of me weeping, wailing, &amp;amp; a dozen trips to Home Depot.&lt;br /&gt;Before:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R0CpooJMEoI/AAAAAAAAAHk/_EV-WCJDjSM/s1600-h/bathroom_before.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R0CpooJMEoI/AAAAAAAAAHk/_EV-WCJDjSM/s400/bathroom_before.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134290090638185090" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 0);"&gt;During:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R0CpxoJMEpI/AAAAAAAAAHs/wtQ2lMkMb4E/s1600-h/bathroom_during.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R0CpxoJMEpI/AAAAAAAAAHs/wtQ2lMkMb4E/s400/bathroom_during.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134290245257007762" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 0);"&gt;Voila!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R0CqBYJMEqI/AAAAAAAAAH0/v4BaoMRyP-A/s1600-h/bathroom_after.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R0CqBYJMEqI/AAAAAAAAAH0/v4BaoMRyP-A/s400/bathroom_after.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134290515839947426" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-5358596984897462554?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/5358596984897462554/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=5358596984897462554' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/5358596984897462554'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/5358596984897462554'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/bzang.html' title='BZANG!'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/R0CpooJMEoI/AAAAAAAAAHk/_EV-WCJDjSM/s72-c/bathroom_before.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-7797993897503489957</id><published>2008-04-17T19:39:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T19:40:08.843-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Sunday, Day of NOTREST: part 2</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Tuesday, October 30, 2007&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/Rycq19Qzx6I/AAAAAAAAAEw/rYUg7gyDu68/s1600-h/before2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/Rycq19Qzx6I/AAAAAAAAAEw/rYUg7gyDu68/s400/before2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5127113807251097506" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/RycqvtQzx5I/AAAAAAAAAEo/FWVy43pE0PY/s1600-h/after2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/RycqvtQzx5I/AAAAAAAAAEo/FWVy43pE0PY/s400/after2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5127113699876915090" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-7797993897503489957?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/7797993897503489957/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=7797993897503489957' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/7797993897503489957'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/7797993897503489957'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/sunday-day-of-notrest-part-2.html' title='Sunday, Day of NOTREST: part 2'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/Rycq19Qzx6I/AAAAAAAAAEw/rYUg7gyDu68/s72-c/before2.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-8948275964923627847</id><published>2008-04-17T19:38:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T19:38:59.482-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Sunday, Day of NOTREST: part 1</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Tuesday, October 30, 2007&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/RycqVdQzx3I/AAAAAAAAAEY/eR1pUDhjptM/s1600-h/before1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/RycqVdQzx3I/AAAAAAAAAEY/eR1pUDhjptM/s400/before1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5127113248905348978" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/Rycqb9Qzx4I/AAAAAAAAAEg/jqtRKpgpgss/s1600-h/after1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/Rycqb9Qzx4I/AAAAAAAAAEg/jqtRKpgpgss/s400/after1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5127113360574498690" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-8948275964923627847?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/8948275964923627847/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=8948275964923627847' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/8948275964923627847'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/8948275964923627847'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/sunday-day-of-notrest-part-1.html' title='Sunday, Day of NOTREST: part 1'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/RycqVdQzx3I/AAAAAAAAAEY/eR1pUDhjptM/s72-c/before1.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-1042643157915912866</id><published>2008-04-17T19:35:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T19:37:46.216-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Building a Wall to Keep the Hate Out</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal;" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Monday, October 22, 2007&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;2nd Shift crew cashed in around 9pm tonight. (lazy 2nd-shifters didn't start until at least 7pm) Here's the latest updates:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/Rx1rFFVwM7I/AAAAAAAAADE/nVXNISps3VM/s1600-h/wall2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/Rx1rFFVwM7I/AAAAAAAAADE/nVXNISps3VM/s400/wall2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124369686094427058" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"&gt;The new stone is on the bottom. The old stone (previously buried under the slope) is the top layer, which is very hard to see in the original picture. The drawn on version shows the new height of the wall better.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/Rx1rfFVwM9I/AAAAAAAAADU/b5j2OnFZ_QY/s1600-h/wall3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/Rx1rfFVwM9I/AAAAAAAAADU/b5j2OnFZ_QY/s400/wall3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124370132771025874" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-1042643157915912866?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/1042643157915912866/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=1042643157915912866' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1042643157915912866'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1042643157915912866'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/building-wall-to-keep-hate-out.html' title='Building a Wall to Keep the Hate Out'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/Rx1rFFVwM7I/AAAAAAAAADE/nVXNISps3VM/s72-c/wall2.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-5298761742105954049</id><published>2008-04-17T19:31:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T19:34:30.279-07:00</updated><title type='text'>How To Tire Yourself Out For No Good Reason</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Sunday, October 21, 2007&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" &gt;Here is my Sunday update. I was hoping to finish this project by sundown tonight, but I just didn't have the juice. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/RxvmzFVwMzI/AAAAAAAAACM/YzMoP14Sy10/s1600-h/pile2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/RxvmzFVwMzI/AAAAAAAAACM/YzMoP14Sy10/s320/pile2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123942766345204530" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;"&gt;The Pile is gone!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;    &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 0);"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/RxvnA1VwM0I/AAAAAAAAACU/sLABt6EBHP8/s1600-h/progress.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/RxvnA1VwM0I/AAAAAAAAACU/sLABt6EBHP8/s320/progress.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123943002568405826" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" &gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 0);"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;Here it is! What the hell is going on? Why did I start this??&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-5298761742105954049?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/5298761742105954049/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=5298761742105954049' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/5298761742105954049'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/5298761742105954049'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/how-to-tire-yourself-out-for-no-good.html' title='How To Tire Yourself Out For No Good Reason'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/RxvmzFVwMzI/AAAAAAAAACM/YzMoP14Sy10/s72-c/pile2.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-5150477526472398413</id><published>2008-04-17T17:37:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T19:30:32.281-07:00</updated><title type='text'>How I Am Spending My Weekend</title><content type='html'>&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="date-header"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Sunday, October 21, 2007&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;  &lt;a name="7799120555529194809"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 0);font-size:130%;" &gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;AKA "How to Test the Patience of Your Wife, Part VII"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 0);"&gt;Step 1:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;Have a literal metric shit-ton of rip-rap dropped in the driveway.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 102, 0);"&gt;Step 2:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt; Insist upon rebuilding a dilapidated terrace between your yard and the neighbor's empty lot, which you claim is an ugly eyesore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:85%;" &gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"&gt;Start with Ground Zero, AKA "The Pile"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/Rxra6lVwMpI/AAAAAAAAAA8/8bCZjeEu48w/s1600-h/pile.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/Rxra6lVwMpI/AAAAAAAAAA8/8bCZjeEu48w/s320/pile.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123648226077979282" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 255, 51);font-size:85%;" &gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"&gt;Witness: "The Slope"&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/RxrbF1VwMqI/AAAAAAAAABE/AcINE_tEkv0/s1600-h/before.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/RxrbF1VwMqI/AAAAAAAAABE/AcINE_tEkv0/s320/before.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123648419351507618" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-5150477526472398413?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/5150477526472398413/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=5150477526472398413' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/5150477526472398413'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/5150477526472398413'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/how-i-am-spending-my-weekend.html' title='How I Am Spending My Weekend'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/Rxra6lVwMpI/AAAAAAAAAA8/8bCZjeEu48w/s72-c/pile.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7317707368825580364.post-1262913165668713381</id><published>2008-04-13T07:11:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-13T07:15:33.859-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Innaugural Post</title><content type='html'>Yes we can.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7317707368825580364-1262913165668713381?l=benignlives.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/feeds/1262913165668713381/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7317707368825580364&amp;postID=1262913165668713381' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1262913165668713381'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7317707368825580364/posts/default/1262913165668713381'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benignlives.blogspot.com/2008/04/innaugural-post.html' title='Innaugural Post'/><author><name>Bandersnatch</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06845994800502335415</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='26' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fFmzjxHzzdw/SSJE9QBqOdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/IvlS2WIqXeg/S220/bsnatch.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
