THE HOLLOW EARTH

No, not the real one(!?). The Hollow Earth by Rudy Rucker: An odd book from the late 1800s or early 1900s about an expedition to the inside of the Earth, along the line of Pellucidar, At the Earth's Core, Journey To the Center Of the Earth, and others of that ilk. The only problem is, this was published in 1990, not 1890. It even has the conceit of being a 'found manuscript' of true events, etc,etc. While this was new in the 1890s, by now this type of story is dated and not

really for the reader over the age of 10 or so who may not have come across Jules Verne or E.R.Burroughs. A shame really, because it's the first fiction book I've come across that has Edgar Allan Poe as one of the main characters.

Though the cover says "A Science Fiction Novel", it is neither Science nor particularly novel.

It may pass as a juvenile novel, but there is some light nudity and implied sex, and the racial stereotypes fit the 1800s better than the 2000s, or even the latter 1900s.

So remember...'CAVEAT LECTOR' and be forewarned...

LOST IN SPACE?

Oh wait, that's a different show - hahaha. But I see in the paper that the remains of Gene Roddenberry & his wife have been shot into space, never to return. Pretty cool, actually, a definite improvement to being stuck in the ground. And of course, absolutely appropriate for the creator of Star Trek.

So Gene and his wife (Majel Barrett - also on Star Trek) will now fly through space forever...

...and wouldn't it be funny if a thousand years from now one of our future spaceships came across the flying tomb?

Yeah, that would be so cool...

RIP: BILLY POWELL

  Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player Billy Powell has died at the age of 56 of a suspected heart attack in Florida. Powell, who played on hits including Sweet Home Alabama, called police saying he was having trouble breathing.
 Emergency services tried to resuscitate the musician but he was pronounced dead an hour later, police said. Powell joined the band in 1972 after working as their roadie and survived a 1977 plane crash which killed six people, including three band members.
 Powell, who had a history of heart problems, had missed an appointment with a doctor on Tuesday.
 A statement on the Lynyrd Skynyrd website said: "Beloved pianist for the Lynyrd Skynyrd Band, Billy Powell, passed away last night. "The family and band request your respect and understanding during this difficult time." In 1987, the band, including Powell, reformed with a new line-up.
 Johnny Van Zant, who replaced his brother Donnie as lead singer, said: "Maybe it is just the destiny of Lynyrd Skynyrd. "We've played before millions and millions of people and it's been a wonderful ride and a bumpy one too."
 Van Zant said the band had recorded songs for an upcoming album. US shows on Friday and Saturday night have been cancelled. The band are due to tour Europe, including concerts in London and Manchester, in May and June.
(w/thanks to The  Rock Doctor)

And so another  bit of Lynyrd Skynyrd joins the band in Rock&Roll heaven...

I guess by now there's two Lynyrd Skynyrds!

Rock on Billy, rock on...

TOYOTAS

...And that's a reasonable fascimile of my first Toyota, the model was called CORONA. More of a family sedan than the Corolla's were back in the 70s. Had a Corolla after that, it was probably not much larger than the Echo I drive now. Corolla's have got quite a bit larger than they used to be.

And now I see in the news that Toyota has overtaken GM as the world's largest selling auto manufacturer. 8.9 million vehicles (that's vee-hicles) as opposed to 8.3 million. And you sure see Toyotas all over the place now; back when I got my first one (replacing a '64 Volkswagen Beetle) Toyotas and other Japanese cars were quite rare. I remember a guy at my workplace (Norwalk Company -r.i.p.) bought the first Honda Civic CVCC that I ever saw, it looked like a car that had been put in a car crusher!

At one time in the early 80s, we had to buy a Renault because there was a quota put on Japanese cars and you couldn't find any to buy. You had to put $500 down and the dealers would put you on a list and call you when cars came in; if you didn't want any of the few they had got, bottom of the list you went!! And yet the "Big 3" never learnt the lesson that bigger isn't better, and now we have to spend our hard-earned money to keep them in business...what a world!

Thanks big 3, I love spending money for cars I don't even like...

FOUR GREAT RELIGIOUS TRUTHS

 Four Great Religious Truths

 During these serious times, people of all faiths should remember these four great religious truths:

 

1. Muslims do not recognize Jews as God's chosen people.
2. Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
3. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the
   Christian world.
4. Baptists do not recognize each other at Hooters.

IF WE ALL DO IT...

...No one will look stupid. Or maybe we'll all look stupid. So my wife & I bought our son Corey tix for Vicki Lawrence as he's always been a fan of Mama's Family (the TV show). So the big plan was for us to watch Ryley while him and Jami went to the show last night. Well, everything went smooth until they got to the Lakeland Center and the parking attendant asked them if they were there for the square dancing!! Turns out the show isn't until next Thursday...hahaha...

Of course, we'd seen the ad in the paper almost every day, and Corey lives near the Center and sees their electronic billboard every day! And the picture above he'd taken a few days earlier and emailed to me yesterday at 4:30.

WOW...I guess we've been living in Poke County a little too long...

UMMM...YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE...

 Apparently not getting the post-partisan memo, Republicans legislators are become more and more adamant in their opposition to President Obama's stimulus package with some complaining they've been shut out of drafting the legislation. Complaints include that there aren't enough tax cuts in the package and that the plan comes with too high a price tag and too much government spending. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi seems willing to play bad cop to Obama's good cop to get her version of the bill through the House largely untouched by the GOP. "Yes, we wrote the bill. Yes, we won the election," she told reporters yesterday.

(With thanks to The Daily Beast)

 

Yeah, you had your 8 years of running the country, and where was the bi-partisanship then?

 

And of course, we wouldn't need stimulus packages if you

hadn't run the country into the ground...

 

48 YEARS

48 years after the dawn of Camelot(and going downhill ever since); the U.S. now has a chance for a new beginning; hopefully the dawn of a new era of peace, prosperity, etc, without regard to race, creed, or political affiliation.

Yeah, let's keep our fingers crossed for the dawning of...

Bamalot (well, why not?)

AND TODAY IS...

Happy National Hat Day, today's the day to wear a hat - even if you don't normally wear one. Hey, even a baseball cap counts, so put one on now.

Maybe just for fun, wear two (at once)!!

And this one, my personal favorite, a Tilley hat Aussie-style that my Mom bought me; don't wear it a lot, but love Aussie-brim hats.



G'day Mate!

FOOD...NOT FOOD...?

Hmmmm...is this good to eat?

It sure looks tasty...

DON'T IT PISS YOU OFF?

Well, it pisses me off. Did you notice that now when people forward emails warning of viruses that now many of them say "Verified by Snopes" or some such wording? Which is all to the good if the warning was actually verified at Snopes (which I do on a regular basis before I forward email warnings). But, most of the time, when you click on the Snopes link that is conveniently placed on the page, the virus warning IS either bogus or from 3-4 years ago!! Too bad the people
actually forwarding the emails don't check Snopes for themselves and perhaps not clutter up my inbox with bullshit. I'd prefer to be warned about valid concerns, not spend my time looking up warnings to find out if they're valid.
And you're not getting free donuts, gift cards or checks from Bill Gates either, so give it a rest, alright?!

AND TODAY IS...

...International Skeptics Day!
(But I don't believe it...)

RIP: RON ASHETON

Guitarist's body undiscovered at home 'for several days' say police.

Ron Asheton, the guitarist and bassist with The Stooges, has been found dead yesterday (January 6). He was 60.
Asheton was found at his home in Ann Arbor this morning, according to police. A cause of death is yet to be confirmed, although initial reports suggest that Asheton died of a heart attack.
Detective Sgt Jim Stephenson told local paper Ann Arbor News that foul play is not suspected. He added that Asheton's body was found on a living-room sofa, and that he appeared to have been dead for at least several days.
Asheton was a founder member of The Stooges, along with his brother (and drummer) Scott Asheton, Dave Alexander (bass) and frontman Iggy Pop.
Ranked as Number 29 on Rolling Stone's '100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time', Asheton played the seminal riffs on Stooges' classics including 'No Fun', 'Down On The Street', and 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'. He switched to the bass guitar for The Stooges third album, 'Raw Power' (1973).
After the commercial failure of 'Raw Power', Asheton left The Stooges and played in a series of bands including The New Order (not to be confused with the UK band of the same name), and Destroy All Monsters.
In 2000, Asheton, along with his brother Scott and the aforementioned Mike Watt, began playing shows together. The band were dubbed 'The New Stooges' by fans, and after Iggy Pop saw them perform, the four decided to reform The Stooges properly.
The Stooges played their first reunited show in 2003, and went on to release an album of new material ('The Weirdness') in 2007, with Asheton restored to lead guitar duties. Touring heavily, The Stooges played a memorable set at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival which ended with a mass stage invasion. They also played last year's Isle Of Wight Festival.

And so another joins the band...

NO BEER FOR YOU

Well, not at Busch Gardens/Seaworld, at least not for free. Yup, they're stopping the free sample giveout at the theme parks, thought they'll be happy to sell you overpriced ones all you want. Besides the fact of getting free beer, it's a shame because they often had beer that was being test-marketed and couldn't be found in stores. And really, for the price of the tickets, how much could it have cost them at 2 beers per person (ahem)? Ah well, as a (fairly)local who bought season passes in the past, probably won't be buying them again for a long time to come.

Don't care for the rides, and there's just so many times you can go back for animals and shops, the beer at least gave you a little something extra to look forward to.

But once again, selfishness from those who can afford it have taken a little more pleasure from our poor miserable lives...

WHO?

What I want to know is...

Who gets to decide if the cherries are cordial or not???

(And how can you tell the difference?)

A BOOK(S)

Say what? Yes, a books, since it's an Ace Double from 1966...hahaha...
A Planet Of Your Own by John Brunner b/w The Beasts Of Kohl by John Rackham:

These Ace Doubles were big in the 60s; I'd actually owned quite a few - wish I'd kept them. But every so often I find one here and there and pick them up to (re-)read and keep. And the novels, well some are actually novelets, they were pretty good in the 60s when I discovered SF and read pretty much anything. (I actually belonged to the SF Book Club back when the hardcover books were 99 cents!). But there's a reason John Brunner is still well known to readers of SF, and John Rackham isn't. One of the reasons in this instance is that the Brunner takes place off-Earth, and the Rackham doesn't, which ages it immediately. But Brunner is also a better writer in any case, whose books are still reprinted today (Go find Stand On Zanzibar or The Sheep Look Up, both written in the 60s but still relevant today - and probably still in print).

But as a nostalgic read, the books are worth a read, if only to take one back to "the good old days".