jesus in tree

jesus in tree
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

Pilgrims are "flocking" (like sheep, or lemmings) to a cut tree in Bosnia that has an "image" of Jesus in the cut. I figured this must have happened before, so I search the web for jesus in tree pictures, and I found one. Turns out, there is a hidden image behind Jesus! So go to the link, click the picture of the tree and keep going until you "see" Jesus holding a lamb and the picture of Dr. Evil behind him. There is also the case of Jesus on the flour tortilla, Jesus' mother Mary on an underpass wall on the Kennedy expressway in Chicago. The people of Bosnia need all the blessings they can get, so I hope this brings God closer to them.

Ghost town in BC sold!

kitsault1985
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

Someone bought an abandoned mining town in british columbia for $5.7 million. The town has over 300 acres, 7 apartment buildings, 92 single family homes, additional mobile home hook ups, a marina, a hospital - enough for 1,200 people to live very well. The guy who bought it has all sorts of plans for it: movie set, vacation package, conference center. Currently it is occupied by a caretaker and his wife: two people. I thought this was a goofy story, but then I started thinking: $5.7 million is a steal!

Superfly

superfly
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

The most popular blaxploitation film is probably Shaft, and I must admit it is a good movie: Richard Roundtree kicks ass, the score by Isaac Hayes is great. But over looked is Superfly, a grittier film, with no honor or heroism, that presents the desperate street life of a drug dealer, Youngblood Priest. the music is written by Curtis Mayfield, and I think the music is much better than that in Shaft. Mayfield composed many songs for the movie, of course, Superfly is the cover, but Freddie's Dead, I'm Your Pusher, Move on Up, Ghetto Child are all great too (esp Freddie's Dead). There are great costumes too: fur coats, hats, boots. And the Pimpmobile supplied by KC, a real life pimp, who gets to appear in the film. Anyway, Superfly is scheduled for week two of Political Film - should be a hit.

lebowski lunch radio hour

lebowski lunch radio hour
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

The most recent Lebowski Fest in Louisville resulted in the local public radio station playing 1 hour of lebowski music, live, by local musicians. You can listen to it by this link. It opens just fine in winamp. These guys are amazing!

alice wu

alice wu
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

Wow! Watch for more films from Alice Wu! Her first film was Saving Face, about a young woman who painfully confronts her homosexuality, at the same time her mother is shunned by her family for becoming pregnant (she is single). The mom moves in with the daughter, causing conflict, and slowly the movies explores the daughter's love for her childhood girlfriend, the mothers attempt to find a husband (to please her family). The ending is great: big mix up at the mothers wedding, a surprise ending, but a happy one. Described by the movie reviewers as a "chick on chick flick," this film was funny and moving. BTW, the characters are Chinese, so the film is half in english, half in Chinese. Takes place in New York, and Flushing (suburb of NY). Loved it!

forbes.field

forbes.field
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

So I'm sitting in Silky's sports bar in Squirrel Hill, discussing the movie Saving Face, and I notice a picture of Bill Mazeroski running toward Home Base in the 1960 World Series. He of course hit a homer out of Forbes Field in Shenley park to win the series for the Bucs (as they are called in the 'burgh). What true sports bar wouldn't have a picture of the Maz on the wall? I have seen videos of the old Forbes field in WQED documentaries: a ball park in the middle of a residential, commercial area - in Oakland. Fans could eat at diners across the street, then stroll in the field when the game started: a neighborhood ball park. Quite a change from the new PNC park, which is a corporate development all to its own. But here is a link to a story about park of the outfield wall that still stands in Shenley park. I have never seen it, but will search for it next time I am in Oakland.

shahara Islam identified

shahara
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

Shahara Islam was identified as a victim of the bus bombing in London. She boarded the bus and crossed paths with the 18 yr old terrorist, Hasib Hussain. Ironically, Hussain's mother reported him missing, thinking he might have been a victim. Imagine his mothers response when police told her he was a suspect, that he blew up the bus, killing others, killing himself. We humans certainly know how to create a living nightmare of existence. This is just beyond sad. (see related story below).

Invasion of the body snatchers

body snatchers
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

Great film! Dr. Bennell returns home from a medical convention (on a long train - 1956) and somehow people in his small town are changing. They look the same, but there "self" is gone. His girlfriend Becky and he discover that alien pods are giving birth to exact replicas of humans. Devoid of emotion, devoid of any differences of opinions, these aliens live in a communal type of society where there is no pain, no love, no god. He and becky try to escape, but they must stay awake: if they sleep, the aliens take over their bodies! Obviously, this is a 50's allegory of the international communist conspiracy, the godless, totalitarianism of the old USSR and China. Lots of fun. Becky's busom is prominently displayed, kinda like Madonna's busom when she wore those Brunhilda looking bras/ Everyone is drinking all the time, hard liquor, martinis. And those cars! No suspension, boucing around, swaying, sliding across the drivers seat and exiting out of the passenger side...I love it! The studio felt that the ending was too scarey, so they put a phoney beginning on the front of it, and a happy ending on the back of it. The original lacked the "psychiatrist" interview at the beginning, and the happy ending (the police believe his story and stop the invasion).

shahara.islam

shahara.islam
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

This is the young woman who is still missing in the london underground bombings. She is arabic, born in london, a british citizen, yet in the name of fundmentalism she was killed. Arabs killing arabs - it makes no sense. She worked in a bank, she was 20 yrs old. As a father I don't know how I could go on living losing a daughter. These terrorists accomplished nothing with those bombings - the islamic community in london certainly opposes these bombings: they are potential targets.

Mysteries of the bog: Mummies

bog.mummy
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

What a fantastic exhibit at the Carnegie Museum! For thousands of years, Europeans deposited valuable objects, including people, in the bogs as sacrifices to the pagan gods. the museum has hundreds of objects on display, including Roman coins, bronze pots, jewelry, clothes and seven mummies. It looks like some of the mummified remains were murdered or sacrificed. During the bronze age, horns were deposited: I have never seen anything like this. It is like an alien civilization. One of the most amazing exhibits I have ever seen! Until now the coolest thing I have seen is Abraham Lincoln's top hat a the Chicago Field Museum in Lincoln Park, a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution . But this bog exhibit is amazing: it was on display in Europe, and is presented in both French and English.

apres vous

apres vous
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

What a cute film! I laughed hard, and long, four times, and I entered the theater in one of my dark, tense, anxious moods. So if this movie can make me laugh, it must be a good comedy. Antoine is a Sommelier, or a waiter who is also a wine expert and helps customers select wine. He sees Louis commiting suicide in a park, saves him, takes him home, and tries to help him recover from losing his girlfriend. Antoine secretly contacts the girlfriend, but, you guessed it, Antoine falls in love with her. Antoine also gets Louis a job at his restaurant as a Sommelier, with funny results. There is a happy ending. The music is fantastic: check out Papa Tango Charly, by Camille Bazbaz (find it with LimeWire). Great song! Infectious! I wish I could speak french. There is also great scenes of Paris, and a trip to a small village next to the ocean - beautiful. I must get to Paris. I have been there twice and loved it - I felt at home even though I didnt know the language. I would order Vin Ruse and fromage and baguette - rose wine and cheese and bread. I was a college student so I could survive on that: the bread and cheese fit nicely in a backpack!

Cindy Sheehan: mother of Casey, soldier KIA 4-4-04

Here is an essay by Cindy Sheehan, a member of Gold Star Families for Peace (gold star family is one who has lost a child in military action). She wrote the essay, "Still Not Worth It," after hearing Pres. Bush's speech on Iraq. Here is an exerpt:

The thing that struck me when I was watching that vacuous man giving his hollow speech was the fact that he could have always replaced the word "terrorists" with the phrase: "my moronic and callous foreign policies" For example, when he said that terrorists spread death and destruction on the streets of Baghdad and kill innocent people, he could have just as easily said: "My moronic and callous foreign policies spread death and destruction on the streets of Baghdad and kill innocent people." When he said that we need to stop terrorists from toppling governments in the region, he could have just as easily said: "We need to stop my moronic and callous foreign policies from toppling governments in the region." People have characterized the speech-lite in many ways, but if I had to pick a few words to describe it, I would say: "Hypocritical, manipulative, condescending, meaningless drivel."

At the bottom of her essay is a link to her achives: good reading. Well written.

mosshop: FAQ's about japan!

mosshop
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan. >Here is a link to a site that answers frequently asked questions about Japan (or Nippon or Niphon). Amazing site! Good Questions! Good answeres!

london bus

london bus
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

Airports can be made safe, the Israelis have proved that. However, once you leave the airport in Israel, you may end up riding the buses: and they can be bombed. Israel has all sorts of precautions on their public transport, but buses are still vunerable. Bus bombs I think undermine terrorists: they kill muslims, school children, people who are so innocent. In Israel bus bombs kill arab palestinians who are Israeli citizens - that makes no sense. A young woman, Shahara Islam, was believed to be killed in London (she is missing) - a london born citizen of Britain, who is of Arab ancestry. She is the new face of muslim England: young, beautiful, well educated, very british. I am looking for her picture on the net: her family has put up search ads with her picture: however, she rode the tube to her bank job, and it appears she is a victim. The bodies are so badly injured, that DNA is being used for indentification. The tube lines are as much as 100 feet below the surface: london underground has subways stacked on top of each other, and some are very, very deep.

The New USS Harriet Lane

new.uss lane
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

Here is a picture of the coast guard cutter Harriet Lane, named in honor of Pres. Buchanan's niece and first lady of the united states, Harriet Lane, and after the civil war era frigate of the same name. See below for more info about Harriet Lane.

USS Harriet Lane

uss.lane
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

This was a Civil War frigate named after James Buchanan's niece, Harriet Lane. It saw action during the war, was very successful, but was eventually captured.

harriet lane, Pres. Buchanan's First Lady

harriet lane
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

Pres. Buchanan's first lady was his niece, Harriet Lane. She was very young when he asked her to be first lady. Buchanan was single, a notorious flirt, who nonetheless remained single his entire life. Harriet put up with her Uncle, who was often described as "fussy" and interfering with other's personal lives. She married when she was 36 years old, a Baltimore banker, and soon lost her husband and children (two sons) to illness. In her grief, she established a children's hospital at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and today it is the Harriet Lane Children's Hospital. I have read much about her, and she was an extraordinary woman.

buchanan birth home

buchanan.house
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

Here is the log house where James Buchanan was born. It was moved from Cove Gap to Mercersberg PA for display and preservation. I think it should be moved back to Cove Gap now that a park is there to honor Buchanan's family.

Stony Batter State Park - Pres. Buchanan

Stony Batter State Park - Pres. Buchanan
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

I drove the long way home from harrisburg last friday, and visited Stony Batter State Park, the birthplace of James Buchanan. He was a child here, his mom tied a bell around him so he wouldn't get lost in the forest. Turns out, there is a gap in the Tuscarora Mountains, called Cove Gap, and wagons used to pass over the mountain using it. It was a Indian path, then a bridle path (horses) and finally wagons made their way over it. James Buchanan senior had a blacksmith shop and inn located there along with a hardware store. Kinda of like a last minute stop before going over the mountain. Buchanan later moved to Mercersberg, about 25 miles away, an established city. His mom and dad were illiterate, but wanted James Jr. to be a successful gentleman: he went to Dickinson College where he had a lot of behavioral problems (drinking at pubs). He was a wilderness young man expected to be a disciplined student, and it took awhile for him to catch on. He was expelled at one point, but his father someone intervened. The faculty liked him too because he was very intelligent. The stream that runs through the park is amazing: so pure, and the sound so relaxing. A very beautiful place.

memin pinguin

memin121g
Originally uploaded by recyclingfan.

Here is the cartoon character that is much loved in Mexico, and the character that the controversial stamp is made after. I think its ironic the Bush's press secretary makes an announcement that Bush finds the stamp offensive: this is the president who refused to address the NAACP. Finally, the Bush administration has found something to object to regarding racism! What Scott McClellan doesn't get, is that Mexico has many races, is very racially diverse. Of course, the more Spanish you are, the better off you would be in Mexico. Their elites are Spanish, and then you go down the food chain, mixed races, native races. Mexico doesn't have the history of legal racism we have in this country. I'm glad that the Bush administration has finally found something offensive about racism!