Random June

From The Harlot’s Twitter feed, the US launches drone planes to “stem the flow of drugs, migrants and terrorists” and although I agree with Steph’s “really??” statement, what captured me was this quote: “"Essentially, we're supplying high-grade marijuana through this one small rural county of 50,000 people, thanks to the border, to all of the northeast," said Derek Champagne, district attorney of Franklin County, N.Y., and head of the area's border and narcotics task force.” Well, if the DA of Franklin Country’s doing it, why are they monitoring us?


The latest random thing found in my travels around the neighbourhood that have made me apoplectic. A Banana Slicer. Which costs $6 in the kitchen store over at the Market and is it just me or is that completely ridiculous? USE A KNIFE! By the time you get this contraption out of the drawer, squeeze the banana through (and never mind that not all bananas are this exact shape) and wash it again - just imagine getting all those little slats free of bananas slime - you could have sliced five bananas with a paring knife. Fer fuckssake…


From mor, a link to the Newseum. Put your mouse on a city and the newspaper headlines pop up. If you double click, the page gets larger and apparently, if you click in the right place (I'm still a little iffy on where that is) you can read the entire paper on some of them. It's a wonder I'm getting any work done… Mor also sent me a link to an impromptu concert in the atrium of the Mayo Clinic. I want to be like that when I'm 90.


A random collection within a random post: a cat with aspirations to become a boxer. I've just discovered the Engrish department of the LOL collection and given that tortured English translations are one of the surefire ways to get me giggling, whatever time I didn't spend in the Newseum got spent here. When I was complaining about the cold, JudithNYC sent me a link to this nose warmer, which I think is a brilliant idea and Carrie posted a link to a chocolate anus which is so wrong it's right. Almost. And while we are in the nether regions, remember the awesome Durex commercial? Turns out it has outtakes.


More generous contributions from other people include Trevor sending me an article about how scientists have discovered the ingredients in witch repelling brew and a new way to resolve disputes in baseball which doesn't quite qualify as a brawl. DavidG was positively prolific in the past month, sending another great article about multiculturalism, art made from old tapes and film, my favourite saying about fuzzy days ever - not only do I intend to print it out and place it prominently next to my desk, but have been using it liberally - and this one. About cattle combustion and I know it's not funny (oh yes, it is), but that bull in the upper right-hand corner with his legs straight up in the air started me laughing and when they got to the line about the hedgehog, I just lost it.


On New Year's Eve in Denmark (and apparently, also in Germany), it is tradition to gather in front of the television and watch Dinner for One. For a very long time after we moved to Canada, we felt there was something wrong with New Year's Eve because we were missing this. And now it's on YouTube - enjoy! And speaking of being homesick, it's just been Midsummer's Eve or Sankt Hans as is known in my own country and for a couple of days, I've been humming this song, by the quintessential Danish band Shubidua, celebrating Denmark and especially the night of the bonfires. Lots of lovely pictures of Denmark to make me and a few people I know even more homesick.


And lastly, got this link from Gill Stannard’s excellent newsletter – Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia) muses about the artistic process and the strange things we expect from artists. Thanks Gill – this one gave me lots to think about.


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