Al Gore's Latest on TED

Al Gore's Latest on TED:

C'est la vie

My second Folk Life Festival :)

Ska music is funny....

This is a riot!

Wordless Wednesday: I'm too tired to suck on my fingers...

...you do it, Princess Leah!

I'm gonna get you, baby ducks

Mammalia

Sometimes, when out on a ninja mission, a fellow traveler queries my reason for not eating mammals.

My reasons are plentiful but I'll try to summarize them concisely here. But first, it would help to begin with an answer to the question, what is a mammal?

You might be surprised to hear (though maybe not all of you) that often, when presented with the information that I don't dig on mammals, people frequently counter with, "Oh, so you don't eat chicken?" Of course, my reply is always a puzzled look of wonderment, followed by a slow and careful, "Chickens... are... not... mammals..."

"Mammals (formally Mammalia) are a class of vertebrate animals whose females are characterized by the possession of mammary glands while both males and females are characterized by sweat glands, hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex region in the brain."
- Wikipedia: Mammal

You may be surprised to find as well that live birth is not a requirement for the class of Mammal. The Platypus is a mammal. It happens to fall in a sub class called Monotreme (mammals that lay eggs), of which there are 4 other known species. But there are several things in the classification of mammal that I find non-appetizing, aside from the fact that I am myself a freaking mammal:

1. Being allergic to milk protein, whey, cheese, and any other derivative of mammary glad secretion, cultivation and marketing, I'm wary of all female mammals.
2. Sweat glands... nuff said.
3. Hair... as a theoretical compound, I'm not entirely against it, but in practice... ew.
4. A neocortex... (see below)

I don't care about the 3 middle ear bones, but the last number there, a neocortex, is very important:

It is involved in higher functions such as sensory perception, generation of motor commands, spatial reasoning, conscious thought and, in humans, language.
- Wikipedia: Neocort

Although the Wikipedia page specifically identifies 'in humans' for language, recent studies are showing that Dolphins, Prairie Dogs and several other animals have and use languages. I wouldn't feel right about eating anything intelligent enough to be able to tell me verbally to stop eating it. A chicken, lizzard or a fish may fight, but it won't look me in the eye and verbally communicate it's conscious desire to not be eaten.
For this reason, I also wouldn't eat a Parrot. I also refrain (for the most part) from eating Octopuses but that's just because they are not that tasty, fairly chewy, very intelligent and freaking bad-ass (YouTube).

Wordless Wednesday: Straws?

We don't need no stinkin straws

Code Name Alice: 1 Year

That's right. Today, she turned 1 year.

The day started out a little rough. She woke up on the wrong side of the crib:

But once she realized it was her birthday... or maybe she just realized it was Awesomeday! (that's the day daddy gets to hang with her for a few hours while mama tutors...

Later in the evening, there was a freak thunderstorm--but when we finished dinner and walked outside, we found a smile in the sky:

"I got a rainbow for my birthday!"

Aaand... We need tomato sauce

Ninja Parade

Sorry for my absence; I had to take leave to join the ninja parade. We went through more than just Modesto, CA but they were the only group who lined up to try to spot us. Once again, we paraded through completely undetected--except for that schmuck at the end, but he wasn't a real ninja. I think that was just a local trying to get some fame:

The Ninja Parade (via YouTube)

Wordless Wednesday: Swings rule \m/

100 Word Challenge: Epiphany

The molecules in my head just exploded into a sunshine effigy of memory and lightning epiphanies. I'm all aflutter with toxic exhaust, bleeding forth from my inner thoughts. I'm approaching the center of centrifugal force; it's pulling me in and around it, a whirlwind tidal wave Buckminsterfullerene, caging me with solidity. The weak forces of gravity have no hold on me, I'm floating like flying inside this cavity. My head is all spun up like a jackhammer wind up. I'm singing to myself in this déjà vu voice, looping tones in memory. Insanity or synchrony? This cage can't keep me.

The Most Tolerant Cat in the World

Improvisational Dance!

Flying Shoe Stance:

The Fall of Man:

Quick, the guard is on to our plan

Swine Pooh

Ninja stands behind a tree, blowing pepper from his palm, awaiting the imminent arrival of bacon material.

Wordless Wednesday: I want to drink it from the cup

Haiku: Spring

This Spring brings strong winds.
Harmony under attack;
Zombies ate my cat.

Would you care for a rock?

They're pretty tasty!

I'm not sposda eat rocks?