A little something for the fashionable history buff

The Deputy Director sent out a link to this GQ article the other day about a JPAC (Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command) recovery mission on Palau. Turns out that the remains from the crash site were pretty much all recently ID'd with the help of AFDIL. Jimmie Doyle, the main focus of the article, was returned to his family and buried just this past weekend. No mention at all of AFDIL in the articles, but we certainly did do DNA work on these remains... guess DNA analysts and their labs just aren't as glamorous as those forensic anthropologists and their crazy recovery missions. *sigh*

Ayn Rand for the New Generation

I was surprised to see Garrett's AIM greeting when I signed on today:

I am a simple man with a simple dream. To create a PERFECT UNDERSEA CITY in which SUPERHUMANS could practice OBJECTIVISM!

Garrett can always surprise me and teach me something. Turns out this particular quote comes from a NSFG (Not Safe for Grandma) online comic. But, looking into it further, it may be more of a reference to a game called Bioshock than it is to Ayn Rand.

BioShock, published by 2K Games, runs on Windows-based desktop computers or the Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming console. It's yet another shoot-'em-up set in a crumbling post-apocalyptic world, but what a world. The place is called Rapture, a marvel of skyscrapers and supper clubs set on the ocean floor. No, it doesn't make architectural sense to rebuild Times Square under a thousand feet of seawater, but it sure looks cool. And that's one reason why billionaire Andrew Ryan built it there. Besides, creating Rapture in international waters put his personal utopia beyond the reach of the institutions Ryan hates above all others -- governments and religions. Rapture is the complete Randian utopia, with no taxmen to confiscate wealth, no popes and pastors to urge charity to the poor. Just total freedom to invent, to create, to enjoy.

Sounds like fun. So what's with all the mangled corpses and kill-crazy mutants? It seems some of Ryan's genetic experiments got a little out of hand. He's discovered ways to give humans extraordinary new powers, but at a terrible price. You'll need to use some of those powers to get out of Rapture alive. You can get all you want by killing giant armored beasts called Big Daddies, guardians of the bio-engineered chemical called Adam. Just one problem -- the Adam is contained in the bodies of Little Sisters, glowing-eyed, lovely little girls. To get a little Adam, be nice to the Little Sisters. To get a lot of it, kill them. You choose.

Maybe Alan Greenspan is a Bioshock fan.

Nepenthe News

Now that Mom has had a roasted artichoke overlooking the Big Sur coastline at Nepenthe, I knew she would want to read this article about it that showed up in this morning's SJMercury. The article is really about the family and the owner's cabin that is back behind the restaurant.

But just above the terrace is a humble but intriguing dwelling hiding in plain sight from guests awed by the captivating view.

Behind a brick facade is a structure of logs and adobe cement that Hollywood legend Orson Welles and his wife, Rita Hayworth, bought on a romantic whim in 1944.

Wells and Hayworth never moved in, but the family who did move in and eventually built Nepenthe had to evict Henry Miller from the cabin. It's a fascinating story.

Extreme Collective Bargaining

You have to love the French. When they're really unhappy about the way things are going at work, they turn to bossnapping.

A senior manager of 3M has become the latest executive to be kidnapped in France after he was barricaded into an office by staff angry about redundancy payments following cost cuts at the industrial conglomerate.

Luc Rousselet, the industrial director of 3M in France, was held overnight at Pithiviers in central France as a "bargaining chip", according to unions.

He was released in the early hours of this morning to boos from staff, after a deal had been signed offering more favourable treatment for the 110 employees who face losing their jobs.

I heard once that in the U.S., the people are afraid of the government; but, in France, the government is afraid of the people. Guess that goes for management, too.

You Love Me! I Love Me!

I have to add my two cents to this red letter day of Harris blogging, especially after being absent for a while.

I heard an interview of Jean Twenge on the radio on the way home. She's co-author of a book called the The Narcissism Epidemic. Surprise! Who would have known there is a epidemic going on, quoth the blogger. She cited the Internet (e.g., Facebook and Twitter), parents, and celebrity culture as causes. But one thing she said really made my ears perk up.

It is now possible to hire fake paparazzi to follow you around snapping your photograph when you go out at night — you can even take home a faux celebrity magazine cover featuring the pictures.

Wow. If Keith is up for it, I would think about springing for some paparazzi coverage of him attending the Annual Grouseland Dinner.

Goats!

Here are our annual pictures of California Organic Lawnmowers.

Overkill?

A lovely red Peony to prove our garden has plants other than Irises.

My garden help killing an iris or two.


And of course, since Emily missed so many of my beauties I couldn't resist posting a few pictures of the most gorgeous irises.

Francesca's 1st Bday

Well here she is - in all her 1st year glory.

Last Sunday was Francesca's 1st birthday party. She proved herself worthy of her "Queen for a Day" title when she shoved her thumb into the center of her cupcake like it was a painter's palette and began both consuming and shredding at the same time. It was a lovely mess with crumbs artfully strewn everywhere.

Francesca will be the bell of any ball she attends this season as she got ooooooodddlles of cute dresses and even a new dolly. (Let's hope she doesn't pull its head off.)

The Big Screen Comes To Life

Sorry, I just had to post this for the reality tv fans. And anyone else who's watching.

The Next Wii Fit Exercise

When Mom was here, she said how popular the tai-chi class was there at Arbor Trace. So, I thought maybe she would consider pushing doga, yoga with your dog.

Doga combines massage and meditation with gentle stretching for dogs and their human partners. In chaturanga, dogs sit with their front paws in the air while their human partners provide support. In an “upward-paw pose,” or sun salutation, owners lift dogs onto their hind legs. In a resting pose, the person reclines, with legs slightly bent over the dog’s torso, bolster-style, to relieve pressure on the spine.

Not everyone is a fan, though, as one student explained.

“A stuffed animal — but not even a dog-shaped stuffed animal — was used by the instructor,” she said. Owners struggled to get their very real dogs to replicate the stuffed-animal poses, she said, and bags of treats were used to get the dogs to change positions. “It was lunacy,” Ms. Apro recalled. “Peanuts, my retired racer greyhound, didn’t participate at all. Instead, I did downward-facing dog while he ate the most treats he’s ever had in a 60-minute period.”

We have some spare dogs if anyone is looking for a doga partner.

Pelican on our Pier

Hey Everyone,
So long since I've blogged anything. There's been so much to blog and I just haven't done it so... when this guy showed up the other day I decided I'd try to join in the fun.

Though this may not seem like much to the Floridian in the crowd, we have NEVER seen a pelican here. There is supposed to be a colony of brown pelican's on the Eastern Shore in the mid-lower bay area. I do a LOT of bird watching here and have never seen one here. Neither has anyone else we know.

When I saw him and did a cheesy-movie-double-take. I walked past the window looking at all the birds on the pilings and pier thinking, "Cormrant, Cormrant, Seagull, Segull, Pelican, Mallard...PELICAN!! What's he doing here?" Then I proceeded to call the neighbors, who took this great photo, and Mike.

Garden Tour

I think the Pacific Coast Irises are close to their peak, but the bearded ones are just barely starting. And we have wisteria climbing our porch, planted last year! Here is a virtual tour of the flowers out there today.