Zelda fun; Moblin aka Molblin

Zelda mock movie trailer (we wish!)
http://movies.ign.com/dor/articles/863515/legend-of-zelda-movie-trailer/videos/legendofzelda_filmtrailer_040108.html
http://movies.ign.com/dor/articles/863515/legend-of-zelda-movie-trailer/videos/legendofzelda_filmtrailer_040108.html

no moblins?! I'm crushed!

Some very good if crude/irreverent editorials
http://www.legendofzelda.com/editorials/alphablue-09/is-aint-and-ought/

A very creative (if gratuitous in the South Park way)
http://sexysexybicycle.deviantart.com/art/Zelda-A-Heart-for-the-Hero-56884667


http://www.zeldauniverse.net/zelda-news/legend-of-zelda-fan-art-showcase/
http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/artwork/103429-my-artwork-image-heavy.html

Many of this artist's renderings I consider superior to what has appeared in the more recent games.
My favorite:
His Moblin
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs51/f/2009/318/8/a/Legend_of_Zelda__Molblin_by_Deimos_Remus.jpg
Ocarina's Moblin:
http://www.freewebs.com/rezegen-3/Changes%20over%207%20years/hit.jpg

some other cool things I found...
http://www.derekyu.com/?p=101
http://www.blogcdn.com/nintendo.joystiq.com/media/2008/07/secret070908.png
http://www.zeldac.com/2009/09/legend-of-zelda-moblins-magic-spear-video/

How to Make Your Own Electric Pickle

I bet you thought I was joking, didn't you.
http://web.archive.org/web/20080506214913/http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/periodictable.html

11
Na
Sodium
22.9898
Electric Pickles
Try it yourself: in a dim room, impale a kosher dill pickle on two prongs, each of which is attached to one wire from an electric cord. Then (observing all possible safety precautions) plug it in.

Briefly, little happens. You hear a hum. You smell a stench. A wisp of smoke floats upward from the tormented pickle.

And then—what's this? One end of the pickle lights up! It sheds a lovely flickering yellow glow. In the darkened room, the effect is entrancing.

It's a moment of wonder and magic.

Here's the explanation: the atoms of NaCl salt in the pickle's brine exist as free-floating sodium and chlorine ions within the watery interstices of its cells. When electricity is pumped through the system, the sodium ions rush to one pole of your homemade device to seize an electron and make themselves complete. The ion rises one quantum level up and is made temporarily complete.

Like a not-fully-competent juggler, however, the sodium ion can seize the extra electron but cannot hold it. The ion falls from the higher energy quantum to the lower, releasing a packet of light in the process. Thus the lovely yellow glow.

Shakespeare was an electric pickle, and so was Virginia Woolf when she wrote A Room of One's Own. They were hooked into the psychic electricity of their times. They took in more energy than one person can hold. They went up a quantum. They fell back down. They shed light.

Try it yourself: plug into the Zeitgeist. Feel the power. Now create a work of art. Shed the light.

See how easy it is? I told you so.

The pickle, unfortunately, is not much good for anything after this exercise. Throw it out.

Positive sandwich

just a quick note:

During my recent NCI training (North Carolina Interventions) I learned many valuable things, but I want to list one in particular that I wish more people knew about.

The "positive-sandwich" is where you place a negative statement of criticism between to positive statements of encouragement.
It allows a person to speak in a more civil way to other people, in any walk of life. Particularly, NCI applied to the mental health field, but anytime a person is dealing with the public, or even friends and family, I think it's a great thing to keep in mind.

For instance:
"Those pants don't look good on you; please don't wear them again in my sight"
becomes:
"I really like your shirt today...
... but those pants don't really suit you...
... as your friend, I just wanted you to know."




NCI focused on deescalation techniques and also some self-defence and/or restraint techniques for cases where escalation wasn't preventable.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

I'm currently reading the above title. I started it years ago, but just barely got into the scholarly introduction and never got around to finishing it. It was a mistake, but one I can live with. There are just so very many, many books worth reading. It's just something we have to learn to accept.

Anyway, I'm only part way into the opening chapter, but it's already a great read. Right now, it's just describing little Benjamin's colonial upbringing near Boston.
Yes, he is known as a man of Philadelphia, but he was raised in Boston.

Did you know Benjamin Franklin tried being a vegetarian for a while, around age 15? Odd what seems worth knowing.

Well, I will have to let you know a bit more. And now I want to look up a copy of Dr. Cotton Mather's Essays on Doing Good. You see, the vast majority of the books I have read weren't even written in Franklin's time. Even what I would consider historic works were usually written later, like Mark Twain or Emerson or even Les Miserables. Franklin's reading comments give me a whole new set of works to look into. The skeptical works of the Earl of Shaftesbury and Anthony Collins would be among those. And he also reminded me that I still haven't read any Locke.

Chupacabra captured alive in Claremore, Okla.? scientific answer

http://www.paranormalmagazine.co.uk/2010/03/08/chupacabra-captured-alive/

I found this link via the blog Cryptozoology Online:

http://forteanzoology.blogspot.com/2010/03/max-blake-chupacabra-footage.html

New Mexico Jaguar Preserve Needed Badly -- help?

http://action.biologicaldiversity.org/p/dia/action/public/index.sjs?action_KEY=1680

AMERICAN JAGUARS NEED YOUR HELP TO SURVIVE

In May, the last known U.S. jaguar -- Macho B -- was unnecessarily, tragically killed by government agencies. This heartbreaking loss to the species, and to us, demands swift action to preserve habitat for Macho B’s majestic relatives.

If jaguars are to rebound, as wolves and grizzlies have, they need a federal recovery plan, reintroduction from Mexico into the United States, and protection for their essential living space.

The Center for Biological Diversity’s lawsuit to stop the killing of jaguars has entered a critical phase. Earlier this year, the Center won a court case requiring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop a recovery plan and designate critical habitat for jaguars. But instead of complying with the law, the agency is delaying by appealing the ruling.

Jaguars don't have time to wait. Sign the petition urging the Service to comply with Endangered Species Act requirements to save and recover the American jaguar.

JHW: Human Excrement for Burger King Wages

Job Hunt Woes:

It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it. Changing adult diapers, I mean. Bathing people. Dealing with some clients choose to masturbate whenever and wherever they please. But why do Burger King employees make higher wages? That's what I don't get. I mean, I know the reason: politics and government budgets and private company needs. But still.

My hope and expectation, though, is that after a while I will make a higher salary than Burger King due to the massive hours that are encouraged/required at group homes. If I don't, we will revisit this issue ;-)

I have finished by brief stint of paid training, and I start the actual job tonight, 11 pm to 9 am. Oy.

Such is life. I'm grateful for having a job, and I will deal. But that doesn't mean I can't bemoan the bad points.

"PREPARE FOR RAMMING SPEED!"

The Worf Maneuver
"Most Badass Attack Move Against The Borg"

I found this page via bad aim in an internet search, but I'm glad I did. It's a bit of a hoot.
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Worf

I want to point that a few headless aliens would probably disagree with the whole "owning" thing.

I changed my title for this blog from "Prepare for Ramming Speed!" to all caps because it seems to fit the vocalization a bit better, don't you think?

I'm reminded of a bit of banter from Stargate SG:1 (as memory serves)
"You're going to get yourself killed going up there alone."
"Look at it this way, they'll never see it coming."
"Yes, one of the advantages of the totally insane idea."
"Yes, where'd I learn that from?"

Zelda ringtone!

I've brought a little extra joy to my life this week.

This time, it's not related to cleavage, nor food, nor drink, nor natural history, nor kaiju, nor sci-fi.

I finally, after many years of cellphone use, added my first custom ringtone (here I just mean custom referring to a chosen download, rather than a company preset option; I did NOT make anything myself; i don't have the equipment, for one thing)

Years ago, when i first considered a cellphone, I already knew that a Zelda ringtone (from the classic version of the video game) was what i wanted. I could here it in my mind.

But sadly, my phone at the time did not support non-preset ringtones, so I let it be. It wasn't worth the extra money at that time.

I knew i had the capability for internet access on my new phone, but it hadn't really occurred to me in any urgent way that I could use the internet capability for free ringtones. I had too much else to worry about, being unemployed and all.

Anyway, friend at work => phonezoo.com => searches => experiemting => http://www.phonezoo.com/ringtone/11422109/zelda.htm

The above Link (haha! Link! Get it!) was better sounding than most versions I found on that site. Almost symphonic is clarity. I wonder where/how it was produced.

Now I learn that it *is* symphonic! If I understood right, it's taken from here: Zelda Medley
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3890842110820589203#

and now I find this, too:
http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Zelda-Ocarina-Time-Symphony/dp/B000Q3E656

JHW: I value the rising sun

In my current Job Hunt Woes series.
(since my job hunt is temporarily resolved, perhaps this title is anticlimatical. Still, it works)

I value living my life, and so my current job in group homes/mental health (to simplify) is probably not for me.
I do care about the clients we help and serve, but not enough to sacrifice my whole quality of life for no other compensation.
I am very very glad to have a job, very glad. And even low pay is enough for a wise person to live off of. Barely.

But as I attempt to remain hopeful, I have come to realize this is probably a very bad line of work for me to be in, because I value my life away from work. I value my sleep. I value the arts. I value my family. I value the rise of the run, the natural arch of the day, and the dusk. This is the type of job that you can very realistically work 7 to 3, go home, get called back for an emergency at 3:45, right when you've gotten home, and then finally go home at 8 (after missing a family reunion) just to be woken up at 3 am with another crisis and have to go back to work. That's just not a sane way for a human to live, unless it's wartime or something.

Even with that said, I'm not sure how often that will happen. I *think* most times you take on that responsibility voluntarily. But I know not always.

I know the hazards of mental health are nothing different than what many nurses or police officers endure, but that doesn't mean it's a pleasant life.

I am trying to remain positive about the whole thing.

JHW: "Buyer Beware"

I blame what I would term the "Buyer Beware" mentality (especially in economics) for much of what is wrong in America.
It is far from the single cause, but it seems certain to me that is is a contributing factor. And it's much more far-reaching than simply abusing customers. Businesses treat their employees and societies often even worse. And this extends to how people relate to their neighbors, and then how governments relate to international peoples.

To me, the story of APR seems to highlight so very much of this. That's as in APR Financing. Annual Percentage Rate, and how and why it came to be.

Edgar S. Fraley says:
"Outside a few social scientists, there does not appear to be an awareness that there is anything wrong. In many parts of the world, the natives are not aware that there is any connection between their malaria and the mosquito--or their typhoid and a polluted water supply. And although our addicts, delinquents, criminals, and insane cost us billions annually, it has never occurred to us that these "diseases" grow out of our polluted social soil. Need we be surprised at the criminal and delinquent who steals and robs, when cheating and lying and misrepresentation are all but universal in the respectable business community?"

"We have the knowledge, if not the desire, to correct the conditions that produce wrecks out of potentially productive, creative people. And the cost of producing creative productive...

I can understand people who are passionate about less government interference in all aspects of life, including business. Ideally, there is no need. But sadly, oversight is obviously needed, as the irresponsible actions of businessmen leading to our current crisis attest most eloquently.

JHW: "Fragments and Splinters"

my current indeterminate series Job Hunt Woes continues:

I've been reading a good book by Edgar S. Fraley recently, and I thought I'd share
some of his more pointed observations and quotes of the philosophy of economics.
The book is titled "Fragments and Splinters" published in 1975 by a homegrown Appalachian
free-thinking self-styled philosopher who grew up in a share-cropping
family too primitive to even have an outhouse. His story begins in the mountains near the
border of Virginia and North Carolina.
This book is mostly a compilation of his many efforts at journalism and various essays and poems,
written over the span of many years.
I am not too keen of his conceptions of many topics, including the paranormal, evolution, religion,
and especially his idea that the chief joy for EVERY person is expanding awareness through learning
and new ideas. However, I have been very impressed with his wordcraft concerning economic oppression
and the sad state of human global affairs.

Anyway, I should get to the point: He says:
"Money isn't worth what it costs"
"We cannot have a government of, for, and by the people unless we have an economy of, for, and by the people."
"the purpose of schools should not be primarily to train recruits for industry and business, but to qualify members of the human race who will act as a civilizing leaven in a competing world of inhumanity and violence."
"Why does one's loyalties and affection for his fellow men stop at national boundaries?"
"Is a man morally justified in engaging in any kind of economic activity that makes him richer if it makes another man poorer?"
"What is to become of the tens of millions of people who can't qualify for the technical, managerial, and creative jobs--for soon there will be no other kind."
"Criminality is spread by contagion from the business world. There is no qualitative difference between cheating and stealing."
"To a considerable extent man has asserted his control over all nature--but his own."
"An optimist--one who believes this is the best of all possible worlds. A pessimist--one who is very much afraid he is right."
"Civil rights; Access to an education; opportunity for personal growth; the right to a job, housing, recreation."
"Twenty-three billion dollars are spent annually by business men for advertising in a cold war trying to take business away from one another -- which is a net loss to society."
"Only a minority of the people participate on equal terms in the benefits of "free enterprise." "
"Goodwill, kind words and deeds cost nothing, would provide more security than hydrogen bombs and spying planes that cost 50 billion."
and finally
"Which one of us is not corrupted without being aware of it by the social climate in which he lives?"

JHW: First Callback/Interview in 4 months

Something is very very wrong in the world.

And yet, I am thankful for what meager droppings are left me from the gluttony of capitalism.

I do not know exactly what this job is, but I find out tomorrow. And if I guess right, it's a good job.
But, even if it's a good job, the chances are not in my favor for being the chosen supplicant...er, applicant.

I have had quite a few other things that could be called interviews, but they don't count as far as I am concerned.
Being "processed" by a mechanized HR doesn't count, nor does "asking to speak to the manager."

Ugh. And yet, yay!