Hi, Boodle. Hi, Martooni. Hi, Cassandra.

This tag team posting format is causing confusion. I hit refresh four times looking for the comment I know I had posted before realizing that "Snake in the Bathroom" was an entirely different kit from "Snake in the Grass."

And the Landers daughters were worse than imaginable. Pitch correction software has gotten much better than the synth-robot stuff used in that video. Not that it would have helped.

One of my sons was like that, and two of my granddaughters.

SCC: "He would poop any time you picked him up"

One of my sons was like that, and two of my granddaughters.

[I had put carets >< around the quoted phrase, and the entire sentence disappeared.]

I wonder how much Joel will have to pay these two young ladies to stick around and be more successful at Kitting than he?

Hehehe

Caitlin, I laughed out loud at the image of your dad and his vocabulary.

yellojkt noted in the last Boodle that if the once-young Landers sisters (2nd generation) have 10 times the talent of their forebears, they would still be awful. This is true; however, I think that 'talent' is not the inherited property that these 'ladies' were attempting to use to obtain a career in 'entertainment.' I couldn't help but notice (being a male guy person) the extraordinary attention lavished upon cleavage by their chosen costumes and by the camera work. In this department, they were not deficient. It can only make up for so much deficiency, however.

There is a television tradition of turning an episode of a successful TV show into a pilot for a newer series. Give these girls a new blog.

College Correctian, wasn't it Wednesday Addams, not Tuesday, or did I miss something in my sleepiness?

Um, I have a question about the Landers video. Were both sisters "singing"? It seemed to me that I was hearing only one voice.

As RD notes, it may be *entertaining* but it's not good.

Heaven forbid the second generation of Landers are now old enough to have progeny of their own. We could be due for a third generation of talentless underclothed wannabes. They would be like the Barrymores of bad acting and singing.

Just FYI, Talentless Underclothed Wannabe is available as a Boodle handle.

From the official Landers Inc. website:

" You just might get lost in "2 Girlz'" mesmerizing eyes.... and you also may be wondering why they look remarkably familiar. Dead ringers for their gorgeous mother and aunt --The Landers Sisters (Audrey and Judy Landers were the "hottest sisters" in Hollywood in the 80s). "2 Girlz", Kristy and Lindsey Landers, are veritable Hollywood royalty -- dad, Tom Niedenfuer, was a Los Angeles Dodger baseball player who pitched his way to winning a World Series.

"Hard work and discipline are values that were instilled in them from their parents' work ethic. Kristy and Lindsey Landers attend a school for gifted children where they both will be graduating early so they can concentrate full time on their music. Their hobbies are playing beach volleyball, dancing, and flying the trapeze- (Lindsey is a state champion volleyball player and Kristy is an avid trapeze flyer/gymnast).

""2 Girls" are currently recording an original song for the new Adam Sandler film."

http://www.landersproductionz.com/Lindsey&Kristy_Landers.html

Pretty much says it all.

Reposted from Previous Boodling:

Aaak!

Was assaulted with a surprise all day meeting (aka "Close Workplace Encounters of the Wrong Kind"), but slipped out from the Enforced Togetherness Lunch to have a peek at the Boodle.

Slyness, that link is great, thank you.

The Carlos Santana Magnums are, er, fantasitc.

bc

PS I do have some good snake stories to share later.

bc

If you notice on the Landers' website the big poster is from their Japanese release. Why, you ask? Because Japan is the only place in the world where songstresses of their caliber are fully appreciated.

You can listen to more of 2Girlz fine song stylings via their myspace page:

http://www.myspace.com/2GirlsMusic

Now I must get back to work while I still have a few brain cells to rub together.

Howdy. I'm in and out, hither and yon, but must express my deep appreciation for TWO CONSECUTIVE snake Kits! Splendid! Congratulations all around. I'm proud of Rachel for controlling her urge to snakicide, and admire Caitlin's snake-filled upbringing. You too, kbertocci, that was a lovely pencil box and picture, and are you still in Tulsa? Enjoying the rain, I hope?

Yes, I'm very fond of snakes. When I see a snake in the garden my brain says SNAKE!!! but with excitement, then I peer more closely from a safe distance.

I was incorrect to say they were "once-young"; I took too literally the description of their video as looking like it was recorded in 1988. It has that degree of technical sophistication, but I guess it is 2 decades younger than that.

If they can improve their acting abilities a bit, I expect that those two ladies could have a big future in the adult entertainment industry. So long as they are barred from recording the soundtrack.

I've run across a few snakes over the years. Yes, the fight-or-flight reflex hits first, but usually only for a couple of seconds. I used to live in the 'boonies (when Montgomery
County still had "boonies") and came across the occasional garter snake or black snake. I lived in the house my grandfather moved into when he retired. It had a back basement entry under the back porch, and he had kept a stack of firewood there for the wood stove in the basement. I finally got around to clearing out the wood, and of course discovered a young King snake living in there. He beat a swift retreat while I tried avoiding dropping a couple of logs on my toes. Now back in the 'burbs, haven't seen any of slitherys. Have to be content with the deer, racoons, foxes, chipmunks, and some of the semi-feral neighborhood felines.

bc, I'm not sure those particular shoes are right for you...you wouldn't want to be chasing down your opponent, sword drawn, only to trip like a ditz in a horror movie. (I could probably run 10 city blocks in them, but why would I?)

Hello from off the coast of California. We're off cruising again, and this is the first chance I've been able to get on the Internet. Hope no one is offended, but my first two stops were to Lisa de Moraes to get the American Idol recap and to ABC.com to find out who got whacked on Dancing With the Stars.

Hope you're all having a great week. I'm off for TV Theme Song Trivia. If singing is required, could Ivansmom fax me a song or two?

We shopped late last night for a rifle. We fully intend to commit murder.

My husband has been out in the yard all morning aligning the scope. (He has today and tomorrow off.) Yesterday afternoon, returned the pistol we had bought on the weekend because it didn't have enough fire power and he had discovered, in his initial atempt to commit the deed, that it misfired several times.

Several days ago, he practiced on clay targers with the pistol, then moved to the actual targets themselves. Once the scope is funtioning as he would like it, he'll practice with his new air rifle on the clay targets he already lined up along the fence earlier this morning.

Mentally, I am beyond the point of no return. I no longer have sympathy for our intended victims. I am exhausted from assuming the Sisyphus role with our yard's rodents. They dig the dirt out of my large planted pots, I sweep it up and replace it, only to find the same piles of dirt, sometimes larger and sometimes smaller, on the patio bricks the next morning, or as little time as several hours later.

I did waiver for several days in my death wish for these perpetrators of misdeeds, acknowledging that they *are* cute. But yesterday, they tore the plants from the wrought-iron planters that hang from the fence. When I found my maturing, colorful begonias, wilted and shriveled at the base of the fence, my reluctance about their demise evaporated faster than any trace of dew in Death Valley.

Last year, we finally relented and bought an electric bug zapper. There is a hint in our backyard that our property once was farmland--some barbed wire that was wrapped around a tree trunk, partially embedded, has now almost completely disappeared from sight. Beyond our fence, during the last several years, the city has encroached on us in the directions that were formally wild.

So, good-bye to squirrels and country-like living. Hello to more sanitized environment and peace of mind.

My brother was scared by a frog in the bathroom once. The entire family was awoken one night by a blood-curdling scream. We all ran to the source of the scream, a bathroom. My little brother had gotten up to go pee, entered the bathroom and turned on the light. Seeing what he thought was an unflushed turd in the commode, he let loose with a stream. When the turd started kicking and flailing, he let loose with a scream. Funny thing was, we lived on the second floor of an apartment building, and I have no idea how the frog got there. But we figured he could find his way back home, so goodbye froggy, flush you go!

Wow, so much firepower for a few offending squirrels. Why don't you just get a dog?

Loomis - skvirrels can be tricky varmints to take out. They seem to have an uncanny sense of murderous intent directed at them. They taunt and tease you with their destructive antics when you are unarmed, yet the moment you have a weapon to bear, they disappear faster than water in the desert. Best of luck in bringing an end to their Reign Of Terror!

Easy mistake to make PlainTim. The video style and recording techniques were dated when "Physical" was topping the charts.

One LandersDot is a year older than my son and the other is a year younger. Very frightening on many, many levels.

And I think you sorely underestimate the thespianic abilities required to be a successful adult film star. These girls are going to have to stick to direct to cable Skinamax "erotic thrillers".

Good afternoon, boodle! What's shakin'?

http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1930&from=rss_home

LiT, "ditz?"

*sigh*

I'm guilty as charged.

More later.
Let me put this sword back in my scabbard, first.

Ow!

Dag, I didn't have a scabbard, but I do now. Anyone have a needle and thread?
And some paper towels?

And some duct tape?

bc

Scaly serpents and teen bimbo-ology -- can we talk about something else, like military aircraft or doilies or recipes or something? Curling? Hockey? The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram? Carburetor adjustments? Dressage? Jane Austen? Politics? Varmint executions? Dennis Kucinich? Obscure Canadian Even Loomis's forebearers? I'm trying to be flexible here but after a couple days of this stuff I'm thoroughly snake-and-Landersed-out.

Hey, Raysmom: what cruise line? Where ya going? Details, woman, we need details!

SCC: Obscure Canadian members of Parliament

I'd be happy to expound on the H-R Diagram, but I'd probably kill the boodle.

I've had an uneventful life with snakes. Locally, yards are guarded against rodents by nearly invisible Black Racers.

I was amazed to find that garter snakes are abundant on Oregon's Pacific coast. It's a marvel that the critters can warm themselves enough to do whatever they do.

Mudge: Perhaps its time to repair to the bunker and retrieve the good stuff hidden behind the hall tree.

Ok. This is for the small cadre of VW owners/boodlees. I just did this a couple of weeks ago. My vehicle still runs, so I did something right.

How To Adjust Your Solex PICT31/32 Model Carburetor:

1. There are two screws on the left side of the carburetor. The upper screw is the fast idle screw and the lower screw is the mixture adjusting screw. Start the vehicle and back out the lower screw until the mixture is rich enough to cause the engine to idle roughly. The mixture is too rich at this point.
2. Reverse direction and thread the screw back into the carburetor body until the engine begins to be starved of fuel. the engine will begin to quit for lack of fuel. Back the screw out again about 2-3 turns.
3. Adjust the fast idle screw until the engine revs at about 800 rpm.
4. DLH.

ebtnut, that's the best suggestion I've heard in a long while.

*faxing bc a giant stiptic pencil, a femine hygiene product (for absortion; ignore the wings), 3 rolls of painter's masking tape, and a staple gun*

*oh, and a pint of O negative, in case you need a refill*

I have a question for the gardening boodlers. We have two long-neglected rose "bushes," which I've trimmed some dead bits off but otherwise left alone. They were long-neglected before I got here, by the way, so their condition is not entirely my fault. I'm very impressed with them that they still produce roses, but indeed they do. One of them is basically one long thorny stalk with a few leaves and flowers at the end. Keeping in mind that we're putting the house on the market in a few weeks, what should I do with it for the maximum happiness of both the "bush" and potential home buyers? Leave it alone? Cut it off so it magically begins branching and flowering in a more compact way? Advice is appreciated!

jack... you forgot the part about burning incense and making a sacrifice to St. John Muir, author of the ultimate air-cooled VW owner's bible "How To Keep Your Volkswagen Alive": http://www.amazon.com/Keep-Volkswagen-Alive-Step-Step/dp/1566913101

I can't even begin to count how many times that book saved my butt (and my bus, too).

---

So here's a snake story...

My grandparents had a fairly large garden back in the day. Grandma was out there weeding one afternoon when she saw a snake and ran screaming back to the house for Grandpa. So he goes up to the garden with shovel in hand (that's where I learned of proper snake dispatching tools) to appease Grandma by ridding the garden of the beast.

Anyway, he gets up there and can't find a snake anywhere, so he calls her over to point out where she last saw it. She peeks around him and points at the ground and screams "There! There! Don't you see it? It's right there!". He looks and looks but still sees no snake.

What he *did* see was an old yellow broom handle with red stripes around one end.

So he makes a big deal out of getting her to a safe distance, then sneaks up on the "snake" with his shovel and proceeds to whack it a few times, even pretending to dodge snake strikes, then finally reaches down and grabs it. Holding the old broom stick triumphantly over his head, he declared "Hah! That's what you get for scarin' my wife, you damn broom snake!"

Hence the legend of the "broom snake" was born and has been told and retold every gardening season.

jack,

What's shaking is Japan, more so than Virginia. The 6.8 magnitude quake there was breaking news about 12:50 Texas time on our ABC-affiliate newscast. Don't see any mention of it at the Washington Post homepage. Joel is close to big international headlines--the typhoon in Myanmar, now the Japanese quake:

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- A magnitude 6.8 earthquake off the Japanese coast rattled Tokyo early Wednesday, seismologists and national television said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, though the quake woke up some residents of the capital, public broadcaster NHK said. No tsunami warning had been issued, it added.

The epicenter of the quake that struck at 01:45 (16:45 GMT) was offshore, 160 kilometers (100 miles) northeast of Tokyo and at a depth of 40 kilometers underwater, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Despite my current trapped-in-a-departure-terminal status, I will NOT suggest the obvious next Kit in this sequence.

:-)

bia... we had such a rose bush in our yard that I didn't really know was a rose bush until I cut it all the way back and in a few short weeks saw SCADS of beautiful roses. I'd say hack away and hope for the best.

jack... both my kids felt that earthquake. Son was at work and thought a heavy truck had rumbled by; daughter was at school and when I told her about it she pinpointed exactly the time the paper said it had happened, so it wasn't just the power of suggestion. She said someone in class commented about hearing thunder on such a sunny day.

I work far enough away that I didn't feel a thing. Drat. That would have been cool.

[Did you notice I said "the paper" when I really meant "the Internet?" What I really meant I guess was WaPo.com.]

How To Restart A 1973 Pumpkin Orange VW SuperBeetle That Has Run Out Of Gas Because Of A Faulty Gas Gauge And Negligence On The Part Of A Broke High School Student.

1. Beg a ride to a gas station from a classmate or family member. (Remember, cell phones did not exist in 1981.) Buy one gallon of gasoline and dispense into portable slightly rusted gas can.

2. Return to shoulder of road where VW has been left. Fill tank with one-half gallon of gas from portable container.

3a. Wait eight hours for gas to siphon through fuel system.

OR

3b. Have fellow student or family member crank starter while liberally splashing gasoline into carburetor. Step back once engine has started.

4. Pour remaining gasoline into fuel tank while engine idles.

5. Proceed to gas station. Pump five dollars or five gallons of gas, whichever is greater, into car.

6. Note odometer reading. Make mental note to buy an additional five dollars of gas within 100 miles.

This is a time tested proven effective method. Note that occupancy of a VW Beetle by six or more people for any distance further than the student parking lot to the nearest fast food restaurant is not recommended.

bia -- what TBG said. Cut them way back. You will at least have tidy shrubs with fresh green leaves. If there is enough time before your house goes on the market, there will be buds and flowers.

Omni - enjoyed the flower photos and remember the turtles from last year.

Noticed your surprise at the blueness of one of the vase photos. This has to do with the "white balance" (which has nothing to do with the current primaries) being drastically mal-adjusted. Normally the auto settings (auto-white balance) deal with this to an acceptable degree but they can be fooled. Several things can cause the problem, but a best guess in this case is that the flash (lots of blue)was triggered while the white balance was still set to compensate for an incandescent (lots of red) light source. Or it got confused.

Easy fixes: If you notice the problem in the preview after taking the photo, just re-shoot it. Cheap and easy in a digital camera. Or if it is too late to re-shoot the photo or the white balance won't compensate (see: many snow scenes) just about any competent photo editor can adjust the white balance. The photo editor built into Windows XP will do the trick. I'll bet that Macs can do it to. Try it. You will like the results.

DLD

My '73 Superbeetle's odometer only clicked by .2 miles in the ten years I owned it, all with about two dozen NoVA to Texas road trips under its belt. Never ran out of gas, but the throttle cable broke a few times. I second Martooni's evocation of the spirit of John Muir and his VW Bible. That was a fun car.

Bang, bang, bang! Die, boodle, die!

Hey Gomer! How is the little one? Sleeping through the night yet?

One could of course kill the snake and plant it near the rose bush - or the strawberries - as fertilizer. This is not my path, but I suspect Martooni is up for it. Then again, if I tried it the roses and strawberries would fall over and die. Or then again, maybe the dead snake would fend off the lagomorphs raiding my strawberries.

jumper... I'd be happy to whack any pesky snakes for ya -- have shovel, will travel.

On a side note... after the "broom snake" incident, Grandpa cut up an old garden hose and placed loops of it strategically around the garden -- and made sure to point them out to Grandma to prevent any further false alarms.

In any case, it worked very well to scare off the lagomorphs. Kinda like a scarecrow for ground critters who might think you planted those leafy veggies just for them.

Loomis, toss a few moth balls in your flower pots, voila, no critters.

Today I was driving along thinking about Obama's speech, and how I was in love with the promise of this country, and I thought probably this is the last time. But love is funny, and at the time it seems like a good idea to go around the dance floor one more time, so I will. And I know my heart will break one more time before it's over. I just don't care, now.

So it was odd that David Byrne's song "Miss America" came on the music box a minute or so later.

worst commute ever. went to Alero for a pit stop on the way home to settle nerves from to much caffeine and the ruff housing shouting teens that often ride my train giving me a headache. Alero Margarita's are good medicine for this. Halfway through a group of about twenty people came in with no advance notice to the restaurant and hang out behind me making an awful racket while constantly bumping into the back of my chair. Nerves are settled but the headache returned. Paid tab and split. Waiting for the bus, which is late I spy an ex-girlfriend. One of the reasons we no longer hang out, even though we get along is that I avoid her. She has this annoying habit of prattling on endlessly about the most uninteresting things. On a number of occasions I felt so bored I just wanted cry. Seriously. Fortunately I saw her first and skedaddled before she saw me. One good thing. Another was the next bus was early and almost empty so I got a choice seat.

OK, so maybe it wasn't the worst ever.

Am now enjoying a Guinness and will slowly put it all behind me while watching another episode of B5.

All right, the rose bushes have been hacked, as instructed. I told them that I now had great expectations for them and gave them a drink to help them on their way. Thanks, TBG & nellie!

Mm oh yeah,what a night

Oh yes it's laundry night
And the feeling's right
Oh yes it's laundry night
Oh what a night (oh what a night)
(*Repeat)

Socks, y'all got one
A night that's special everywhere
From New York to Hollywood
It's laundry night and socks
the feeling's good

(*Repeat 2 times)

Romantic Laundry , single load
Mm sophisticated washer
Come on you disco soaper, yeah
Stay with me tonight , dryer ,yeah

If you hear any noise
It ain't the boys , it's laundry night , uh huh

Gonna step out laundry night
Steppin' out laundry night
Gonna step out laundry night
Steppin' out laundry night

(Repeat *)

On disco lights your name will be seen
You can fullfill all your dreams
Party here, party there, everywhere
This is your night, laundry
You've got to be there

This is your night
Tonight , everything is gonna be alright (repeat)

Come on let's all celebrate(repeat)

Oh laundry night and the feeling's right
Come on let's all celebrate
Lovely washer, dryer, I love you

Pants, y'all got one (what?)
A night that's special everywhere
You dance, you smile, the clothes go wild
So chic so fine you all looks so divine

*humming mindlessly*

Yo' mama's a platypus.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/07/AR2008050702048.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Just finished helping a Ph.D. student out the door. Phew. Much joy and sadness. She's moving to Bethesda (maybe I'll get another shot at a BPH :-)

Hey Bia, this is my third one, and my nagging skills are improving with practice (she finished writing in a couple of months!), so let me know if you need a nag and I'll toss one your way.

Hahaha that's on topic....Nag is snake in Hindi...I'll go and get some sleep now.

Oh I did have something more on topic, connecting snakes and squirrels and birds and Australia!

http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080507/full/453138a.html

Hmmm. Go away for a week or so, and kill the boodle in two fell swoops. *digging through the toy box for the defibrillator*

Hahaha...that's two bills for a platypus...um, really must get some sleep now.

one-a-my legs is shorter than the other
an' both-a-my feet's too long

(so says the long-haired leaping gnome as he dances his fool self back out to the shop to sand, sand, and sand some more, then maybe spill a little wine and dream he's the star of a Hollywood movie)

I'm a dancin' foo-oo-oo-oooo-oo-oo-ool...

(God I hope this doesn't end up on YouTube)

Just hope they don't start puttin' snakes in the sky too...http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004397565_apadvertisinginclouds.html

Looks like you can make clouds in any shape now.

Sorry, I messed that up.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004397565_apadvertisinginclouds.html

jack, I replaced the Solex on my pumpkin orange '72 Super Beetle with twin DellOrtos. Tuning them was a PITA, but since I had the heads done and added a Bosch dizzy and a stinger exhaust to it, it burned air and fuel much more easily.

Harder to tune, louder, and had no interior heat whatsoever (not that the original heat was anything to cheer about), but it was a much cooler ride. Oh, and when my brother drove it, it ate clutches, too.

Might write a snake story or two here.

bc

That inventor ought to be shot.

John Stewart's show last night (just re-run a few minutes ago) was hilarious.

This just in

Mrs. Lovett's meat pies is people. It's people. Mrs. Lovett's pies is made out of people. They're making our food out of people. Next thing they'll be breeding us like cattle for food. You've gotta tell them. You've gotta tell them!

Meant to ask earlier:
When's Samuel L. Jackson going to show up to do the "Snakes on a Blog" guest Kit?

A snake story:
When I was a young man, my brothers and I had a Californa King snake. It stayed in my brothers' room, in a converted fishtank (with a screen lid, naturally). Sometimes it would go walkabout and then find a nice sunny spot on the living room floor to sleep. Mom didn't mind, and we were between dogs at the time.

We fed it live mice, but as the snake aged, it took longer and longer for it to catch the mice and consume them. When it became apparent that the snake was no longer up to catching his food, we had to step in and, er, ready the mice for consumption. There was much discussion of how to do this: One of our relatives was a research PhD who used lab mice for research, and was used to handling them. Had a neat, quick, practiced method of dispatching mice seemingly painlessly, which he showed us. Unfortunately, as young boys we were unable to duplicate said dispatch. I essentually threw up my hands and said that if the snake couldn't catch and eat prey in a tank, much less in the wild, it was probably time for him to go. Let nature take its course. My brothers decided to use brute force methods on mice and deliver them to the snake posthaste, so that said serpent would be able to have a warm meal, as it were.

One morning after a feeding, the snake had shuffled off this mortal coil. When we went to bury him in the backyard (with full honors), we pulled him out of the tank and discovered the nature of King's demise: A pair of mouse forelegs protruding from the snake's midsection.

Nature can be very unforgiving.

bc

Ohh, snakes! Sure, they're cute in pictures and close-ups, they can be rather startling when you don't expect them.

I've never been afraid of snakes, but once when hiking, saw a sudden slither and I found my cerebellum/spinal cord launching me 2 feet in the air and backwards with the savoir-faire of a spooked cat before I even consciously processed "snake". Better than a cup of coffee in the morning, I say. That inner monkey is a real surprise when it takes over.

Thank goodness Mr. Gibson(?) had the forethought to take the towel with him when he reacted. I'm not so sure I would have.

Cassandra, I liked your comments on the North Carolina vote a couple kits ago, and the oft-repeated wisdom that humans aren't always so nice to humans either.

Yesterday I heard a friend of mine nearly died over the weekend as a result of malpractice by a doctor that I refused to see twice myself. (Being dumped to take x-rays without a word as to WHY tends to make you pretty pissed off).

What happened was not the fault of the system, but personal irresponsibility, as she described it. However she is OK now, and she found a better doctor too.

It's a little disquieting that we haven't discussed the cyclone wiping out thousands of people in Burma. I can only pray that best aid is made, but the government there is a military dictatorship and they are concerned that they will be resistant to help of their citizens. That is just too sad, isn't it?

Slyness, thanks for the wuzzy-fuzzy foal picture.

Mudge, I'm sorry I missed that Stewart show.

but I like soylent green.

Hope you can find those needles, omni without too much trouble. I'd loan you a set, but the fax machine didn't like it last time I tried it.

You think that's bad. In "The Man Who Sold The Moon" they were going to put the 6+ logo on the moon.

There's just nothing I can say about Burma. It's too horrifying. I have been discussing it with ScienceKid#1.

Jack, great article. This makes the platypus sound more and more like an genetic engineering experiment by aliens.

Mammal-like reptiles were extant before dinosaurs ruled, let alone evolved into birds. That's a really long time for evolution to occur.
I bet the Echidna is quite different from both the platypus and other mammals as well.

Yeah, same reason why I wasn't mentioning it either, SciTim, but I guess I will be checking the NOAA hurricane forecast for this year again; they did predict a heavy year after Hurricane Katrina that never did happen.

Maybe we need to start thinking about how to build against hurricanes striking coastal cities; I don't know how New Orleans is going.

Yes, SciTim, the best outcome for Burma would be the fall of the dictatorship, so that the people have a chance to start over, politically. Bet that won't happen. I sent funds to the Red Cross after the Christmas tsunami and would do so for the current crisis, if given the opportunity. The Burmese certainly need our support and our prayers.

Mudge... John Stewart just simply rawks. I've been making a concerted effort to stay awake so I can catch his show. Colbert is funny too, especially his "W0rd" segments, but Stewart is definitely the master of making monkeys out of everyone.

He spares no cow... not even a heifer or a calf.

I can't wait to see his take on yesterday's primaries -- or better yet, the media's reactions to the media's interpretations and analyses (or is that analysii?) of yesterday's primaries. What I caught today on various "news" programs was that Hillary shouldn't be forced to back out. But if she insists to keep her hat in the ring until the end, she needs to quit being such a party pooper and play nice with Obama because 1) she doesn't stand a mathematical chance of winning, and 2) whatever she throws at Obama will be picked up and thrown again at him by the Rovian branch of Republicans, thereby allowing McCain to stay above the fray but still enjoy the show and maybe win.

Why do I suddenly have the mental image of a bunch of monkeys at the zoo throwing poo not just at each other, but also at the animal rights activists trying to free them?

Welcome To The Monkey House

When I was about 16, a friend of mine bought this '64 Beetle that was in such bad shape that the fenders had to be attached to the vehicle with aluminum strips and pop rivets. He built the mess out of the engine: DP heads, 1750 cylinder kit, cam, competition clutch, lightened flywheel, Edelbrock manifold and a Holley carb. I want to say that it was a two barrel, but I reaching back into a foggy file. It'd do 30 in first and make this incredible grind into second if you missed the speed shift. He'd take it to the local dragway, take our the seats, install the stinger and do pretty well. Fun car.

My daughter, four or five at the time, found a baby copperhead at the base of the dogwood in our side yard. Fortunately, she came to get me and didn't pick it up to check it out.
I grad school, I always wore long pants and over-the-ankle-hiking boots when I'd go out plant collecting to decrease the chances of having a bad encounter with the rattlers that frequent the SNP.

Speaking of snakes...snakes are reptiles and make venom. What is the only mammal that makes venom?

You might want to read Rick Weiss' fascinating article here at washingtonpost.com about the platypus genome. You don't think Joel put Weiss up to this great bit of science reporting about this Down Under critter, do you?

Our local weatherman set me straight about naming conventions for whirling balls of water packing a walloping force. What hit Myanmar was a cyclone, not a typhoon.

Kerric, your post disheartened me. My husband has gotten up before sunrise to sit out in the yard and ambush the squirrels, as well as has sat there at sundown with the same goal. Of the five sqirrels we're aware of that inhabit our tree space, all are currently survivors. If CB is right about moth balls in the pots preventing sqirrels from digging, well, I would owe CB BIG time.

Some anonymous poster wants to hear more about my forbears and those on the family tree? Same ol', same ol'--a family member blinding a brother, a poisoning here and there, power struggles, young teen brides bartered for political purposes.

A good commentary on some who focus on exploiting tragedy for their agendas.

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/05/peta-gallops-fray-and-gets-it-wrong-again

Because I know you've all been on the edge of your seats about this.... I just received a reply from UPS about my previously used tracking numbers. I basically wrote (read: copied and pasted) what I put in the previous Boodle at 10:20 this morning. Apparently they don't care...


Thank you for your inquiry regarding tracking number 1ZF103Y80360XXXXXX. I have checked the status of your shipment in our tracking system. Our records show that this particular tracking number was used previously. Information about the previous shipment will remain in our system for 18 months.

Our records show that your particular shipment was delivered on 04/28/08 at 3:42 PM to the following address:

xxxx xxxxxx xxx
FAIRFAX VA

The shipment was released to the following location:

FRONT DOOR

Regarding tracking number 1ZA7228W0388XXXXXX. Our records show that this particular tracking number was used previously. Information about the previous shipment will remain in our system for 18 months.

Our records show that your particular shipment is in transit and is scheduled for delivery on 05/08/08, by the end of day.

I apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

Please contact us if you need any additional assistance.

Quoth the platypus:

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am not large, but I contain multitudes.)

excerpt from *Song of Myself*, by Walt "The Platypus Man" Whitman, from rare copy of *Leaves of Grass* (Queensland edition).

Loomis... A double-barrel 12-gauge loaded with duck-shot aimed in the general vicinity of a squirrel will usually do the job.

Of course, it might also alarm the neighbors and attract the police, but it works.

A less ballistic alternative would be to employ a dog, but (no offense to Wilbrodog) dogs have a tendency to only chase squirrels and never catch them. (I think they're secretly in cahoots and possibly working with the Canadians on taking over the US)

I know I might be sounding like someone who cares nothing for wildlife, but I have a garden and I'd like it to remain unmolested or otherwise ravaged by varmints. That said, I did go out of my way to *save* a young bunny the other day from becoming fodder for my lawnmower. Little Bean even got to pet it before it shot poop pellets all over us out of fright and I dropped it and let it scurry under the fence to the neighbor's yard.

I highly doubt the neighbor's dog got it.

But I think the lagomorphs may be in on the conspiracy with the dogs and squirrels and Canadians to undermine Homeland Security and have turkey dinners at Thanksgiving replaced with poutine. Just a "heads up" there, RD.

Five minutes to "The Daily Show", then sleep (I hope).

See you all on the flip side...

Hey, I almost caught that squirrel one time on the national mall! I swear, that tail twitched 2 inches from my nose.

By the way, the gnome says there once was a lab that spent his full day making sure an 1/2 acre backyard with 30 trees was squirrel-free.

He ran continually in a route checking every tree for hours and hours upon end, barking, snapping. Not one squirrel dared lay foot on the ground in that yard while he was there. He was tireless, so thin his ribs showed, but sheer muscle from nose to tail, in his hours and hours and hours of running as the tyrant and terror of rodents in his terrain.

And oh, he also bit people. Apparently he saw squirrels everywhere, even on stranger's arms.

That's when I understood that chasing squirrels really does make you nuts.

Best of luck to Loomispouse and his squirrel-chasing; I'm sure he'll lose much needed weight and never sit and relax again as long as there are wascally wodents woaming his tewwowity.

If he wants a dog to wun with him:
http://www.squirrel-dogs.com/

Snake stories, personal: stepped on a garter snake with bare feet, age 13. Shrieked.

Retrieved cat with delusions of grandeur from backyard after it had *punctured* a 6 foot long black (descriptive, don't know actual name) snake - when I returned 5 minutes later to check on snake it had vamoosed.

While canoeing with 3 tweeners we were surprised by a snake coming at us over the stream. Much screaming. I decided to re-direct said snake with my paddle, thinking it would go elsewhere. It righted itself and headed back toward us. Much more screaming. Splashes in its direction did nothing. It was headed towards canoe of lone 13 year old. Feeling parental and figuring the chances of its being poisonous were almost nil, I *got out of my canoe to go help.* I grabbed 13 yo's canoe and pulled it away from snake, which went on its way. Later, on Mr. Internet, found out said snake was indubitably a cottonmouth, very poisonous. Of course, we were far away from cell phone reception and civilization - tweeners would have been, literally, up a creek if I had been bitten.

And thus there is an end to my memorable snake encounters. So far.

Good night.

That reminds me, for all your future snake needs, please remember to enlist the services of this bunny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHdTMwtPuA0

I understand that his business card reads Monty "Python Killer" Rabbit.

I don't have new snake stories to tell, and I'm glad I don't.

Went to the vet clinic to get some medicine for my dog, yesterday and over heard the vet speaking to his fellow countrymen that he didn't know the fate of his parents because he couldn't contact them. We have a labourer who is from Myanmar. Through his cousin's family in Myanmar who has a mobile phone, he learned that the roof of his house was blown away, and fortunately, nobody was hurt. Every year the cyclone hits Bangladesh, and not Myanmar. But this year, the cyclone changed its mind and hit Myanmar instead, so the government is caught unprepared.

dr, congratulations on your new job. Nothing like doing something you love.

suecris... that is why I believe all snakes in the wild should be whacked repeatedly with a shovel as soon as they are spotted.

And then stomped on.

I have 2 periwinkle plants. One is in a pot. The pot initially was planted with another plant. One day, a periwinkle came from nowhere and forced itself into the other plant's space. Later, the plant died (probably out of anger and frustration) and the periwinkle just took over the pot. The other one grew out of a crack in the drain. It grew to quite big. One afternoon, I saw it full of leaves and flowers. By evening it was bald. Clinging to a twig was a slug. I was so tempted to commit slugicide. I should have because after a couple of days, the plant started to have new leaves but after a few hours, all the new leaves were gone. Slug no where insight. The plant is bald, again.

Hard to boodle with eyes averted. kb, I'd love to look at your pencil box, but will have to imagine what it looks like. It's so sweet your dad still has it.

rainforest, thanks for the connection to the Myanmar catastrophe. It's hard to imagine such destruction, such a huge loss of life.

Again...

good morning Cassandra...
good morning Mudge...
Good morning Scotty...

yawn.nmhy6o8.snore...zzzzzzzzzzz

Huh, what

'Morning, Boodle. omni, you're up early; welcome to the Dawn Patrol. I 'spect Cassandra and Scotty will be along any time now.

Not much to report. It's Conservative Columnist Day over on the op-ed page, what with Novak and G. Will. I may read the Broder column, but that's about it.

On with the day!

Morning, Mudge, hey, omni. Slow start today, where is everybody?

I woke up to rain, so no morning walk for me! There's more in Tennessee, coming this way, so I may not get the yard mowed this afternoon. That means the grass will be high tomorrow! Oh well, I'll struggle on.

*back-in-the-office-but-rather-less-caffeinated-that-would-seem-proper-at-this-point Grover waves*

:-)

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Morning, morning, friends. Yes, I'm running late, but decided to wait just a little before I posted in case the kit changed. I see the subject is still snakes. Ugh.

Wilbrod, I too, thought it kind of odd that no one mentioned the cyclone and the loss of so much life. I hope some of the lost can be found, and found alive. And they get the much needed help.

We had a big voter turnout here in my county. One of the races is still being counted, only ninety two votes between the two candidates.

Morning, Mudge, Martooni, Slyness, Scotty, and all. *waving*

Good morning, daiwanlan.

I'm not a fan of snakes, but I don't think they should all be killed.
Loomis, good luck with whatever you're trying to get rid of, and please, be careful with that gun. Do you have neighbors nearby?

TBG, I have a rose bush or rather there was one here when I moved, and it looks just awful. It started out good this year, but now it looks like something is sucking the life out of it. There is the occasional bloom, but it looks bad. Would your advice work for this situation also? I have some of that food that one can buy for rose bushes, but when I tried that last year it didn't help much. A green thumb I do not have.

Have a great day, folks. It looks like rain here. We need it.

Bia, about your rose: check at the base of the plant carefully, rooting around in the dirt or humus. You may find a metal tag stamped with the variety.

Barring that, step back and tell me the generally shape of the anemic lady. If rather upright, then you probably have a hybrid tea rose. (Fussy gals but they do like Texas, apparently.)

If the shape is rangier or straggly or long-wanded, tell me the color of the feeble bloom. Perhaps you have some weakened rambler or climber. Also, you may have a wilding of some sort, who was given a chance. Dog rose, Cherokee rose, wild rose, ramblin' rose.....etc.

What year was your house built? Do neighbors have a rose of a similar color?

Remind me to tell you -- after you report -- about the rootstock many commercial roses are grafted on....sometimes that rose re-emergers when the grafted rose dies...or yield to the bolder genetics of the root portion.

Reading and laughing, saying hi....so absolutely behind that I would appreciate a hoist up out of my dug-deep grave I clamber out of each morning....no snakes, though, just mountains of work.

Forgot to say, I think the kit is funny. I like the kit, just don't care for snakes.

Hope everything is going well, JA. Be careful.

In complete defiance of Rule 6, I expanded my boodle of 3:59 yesterday into a full blog post.

http://livebythefoma.blogspot.com/2008/05/impractical-auto-advice.html

I did it mostly to show off my prowess with nest ordered list tags. Chicks dig that stuff.

Thanks DLD. The camera is still so new I haven't recharged the battery yet.

Meanwhile I have a snake story... there will probably be a new Kit by the time I get around to it.

The story of my boodling...

SCC: "nested ordered list tags"

Gotta get that stuff right or you lose all respect as an HTML master.

I also want to direct your early morning attention to a particularly heinous Gerson column from yesterday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/06/AR2008050602446.html

In clear violation of Goodwin's Rule, in the thirteenth paragraph he equates pre-natal testing with...

It's just too awful to describe.

I'm starting to like this herpetology blog. Snakes in Florida, snakes in the garden and snakes in the bathroom. Snakes everywhere.
One thing I don't like; this Martooni caracter who seems to think that every snake issues may be resolved with a shovel. I'm writing his name and description (short long haired bearded gnome, may be associated with a Bean) at the back of my little black book.
I happen to know that Eastern water snakes of Ohio have noted with glee that the martooni in question likes fishing. Like on the banks of rivers and lakes where they live.
Nothing personal, we just have to stand for the gender.

That Gerson article is so full of horse manure and straw men, I'm not surprised it has turned into biogas.

Who bothers to read Gerson's columns anymore? Reading the entrails of fish is more informative.

Oh and there was a wee dead baby snake at my front door this morning :-(
Was there a short long haired bearded gnome, associated with a Bean and a shovel, on the prowl last night? I haven't seen any fairy door teleports in the neighborhood...

Walked to school in warm rain and a faint smell of lilacs---happiness!

I'm posting this without any desire to restart the diamond debate, but if you've purchased one you may be due a refund.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SmartSpending/ConsumerActionGuide/BuyADiamondGetARefund.aspx

It'll be a while before I can watch the whole lecture, but the article is very moving. It's about a 47 year old man who received a terminal prognosis last August, and how he's lived since then.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120951287174854465.html?mod=null_topbox

Here in Philadelphia, a little rainy and dull. I'm hoping my raised-bed gardens come today or tomorrow so I can get everything planted. Then forage in the cucumbers without much fear of unexpected snakitivity.

Love that metaphor, DNAGirl. I'm going to steal it for sure.

Speaking of produce, are we having a tomato competition at the October BPH?

I have white heirloom, Brandywine, Early Girl and a few others.

Mornin' all...

slyness... please don't mention tall grass. I'm still smarting from mowing the grass over at my mother-in-law's rental house three days ago. I unintentionally skipped a week's cutting (still getting used to the new spring schedule) and ended up dealing with grass anywhere from twelve to sixteen inches high.

I fought the lawn
And the lawn won

It didn't actually win... yet. I did get it cut down to a reasonable height, but it's like fighting a hydra -- cut one head off, two more come back. So I won the battle, but the war goes on.

So it grows.

Peace out :-)

A tomato competition is a great idea! Please place three samples of each kind you grow in a paper bag marked 'TBG.'

Please also include a red onion, a cucumber, a hunk of feta cheese and some oil and vinegar. A nice bagette or loaf of French bread would be nice, too.

My family and I will let you all know which tomato we think is the best tasting.

I met a Snake once a long time ago. He said I should try this round red fruit. I of course said no because it was forbidden by Father. The Snake kept talking about how sweet and delicious it was and I finally succumbed to the Snakes charm. I then immediately ran off to find my husband to tell about this delicious wondrous fruit. He at first balked, but he his no match for my wily charming ways. He loved this fruit as much as did, and we ate so much more that are bellies started to ache. Then Father found out and made us leave the Garden. And the rest as they say is history.

Stupid Snake. I only wish we had invented shovels back in those days.

Hmmmmmmmmm. *vaguely suspicious of TBG's motive in volunteering to judge the tomato contest. And there is something fishy about the rules, but I can't quite put my finger on it...*

*faxing Eve some fig leaves*

Any calamata olives with that TBG?

*smacking forehead*

Of course, shrieking... pitted, please. It really helps with the judging. Want to be fair, of course.

Good morning. I daresay all our local snakes are in our attic or shop or some other suitably dry place. A full day of heavy rain was topped off last night by a round of almost-tornadoes. That's when the radar shows circulations and people see funnels but nothing is proved to touch the ground. This was all right over our part of the city, but fortunately the funnel sightings were north. At one point I was watching the TV radar (I've mentioned our superior weather technology, which pinpoints streets and blocks as well as direction), then I'd go to a window and look out, then back to the radar which was more informative than the sky. We finally went to my cousin's (he has a basement) for about half an hour when they just started popping up everywhere. The odd thing was that, although there'd been thunderstorms during the day, it was cool. Not what you think of as tornado weather.

Loomis, while it may be satisfying in some atavistic sense, a gun is a really poor solution to marauding squirrels. As others have said, they're really hard to hit unless you use a shotgun. The shotgun pellets will probably shred those plants you're trying to protect. If the mothballs or other discouraging chemicals don't work, and you really want to kill them, use poison. And be prepared to do it all again with the next round of squirrels. Or try putting wire around the plants. This may not be aesthetically pleasing but it will discourage the squirrels.

Eve and her husband send their thanks Mudge. teehee.

{* faxing eve a "Girls Gone Wild: Garden Edition" model release form *}

On to the tomato competition! And may the person with the best EVOO win!

I think, to be fair, we really need more than one judge for the tomato contest. TBG has come up with some great rules. We all know my impartial and objective nature. Purely in a spirit of selfless sacrifice, I'll volunteer to join TBS in comparative tomato tasting. Just mark my bag "Ivansmom".

I'd recommend a Crossman 360. When I was a teen I could dot the i on a bottle label at fifty paces without a scope. Amazed friends would say they couldn't even the i at that distance. I said neither could I. I just remember where it is and aim for that.

Ivansmom, if you show up for that BPH you can have every tomato in my garden!

Last post was my squirrel solution

SCC: couldn't even SEE the i

Not so good as a snake solution. Definately recommend shovel with long handle.

We have put wire mesh around and above the plants for several years now and it's tiresome. My husband can't shoot at the squirrels if he catches them on the pots because handpainted (each unique) Talavera pots from Mexico aren't cheap. Can't use poison because our dog might get it, or if we put poison (pellets?) on the top crossbar or timber of the fence, it could conceivably fall on the street side of the fence and people, including kids and animals, use the sidewalk. He can't shoot toward the neighbors' yards for obvious reasons. Can't shoot when the dog is in the yard--my rule; however, it's easy enough to keep the pooch inside. He can shoot his air rifle toward the overhead limbs of our gigantic oak trees. Time is on our side--and perhaps the moth ball solution will work and the squrrel family including the crop of this year's young-uns will survive?

It's not as though he's inexperienced with firearms--but it's been awhile. He frequently used to hunt squirrels as a teen in Missour-ah, and handled an M1 in the Army.

As for the much needed weight Wilbrod thinks my husband needs to lose, well, that struck me as funny. For a fella who will turn 64 in August, he is in terrific shape. Works out now several times a week at the Y, walks the dog with me, eats reasonably, appears tall and lean and attractive, and is not too far from his Weight Watchers goal weight.

New Kit!

Maybe a pea-shooter loaded with poisonous darts would do the trick.

Or set up one of those critter capture cages with a bag of acorns inside it as bait. Though now that I think of it, squirrels are squirrely and would probably figure out a way to not just escape from the cage, but steal your car and credit cards too.

There's always the "nuclear" option. Cut down all the trees, destroy all food sources and introduce a few bobcats to the environs.

Nature can be a real pain in the arse, eh?

Testing.

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