Posted 7:24 PM by robert d

Done in By/Bye/Buy an Angel

My sister is one of the best pastry chefs in the world. This Thanksgiving she did not disappoint. She made a chocolate tort.



Chocolate Bliss.

You can't tell from the pixs but there is cream on top and then chocolate. The chocolate is layered. Down into the bliss. The magic of this creation is that the further you go down the more chocolate you get. The chocolate in the middle makes you get down, get down on your hands and knees, and be thankful.

© big box industries

Posted 8:15 AM by robert d

Pot Head Revisited

This snap was suppose to accompany the Happy Thanksgiving Blog below, but I was rushed for time and couldn't find it yesterday.



Pot Head Revisited


I tried Google - advanced search - my url and pot head. No entries came up. I tried rooting around in the always incomplete archives but I gave up after several futile attempts.

This morning with a little extra time I went to Photoshop Elements first and hunted around in my pixs files. I have a folder for each month. I found The Pot Head snap in the 08/pot head breakfast st jude folder. This told me that the blog entry I was looking for was in the August archives. I then went to the August archives, where two weeks are mysteriously missing, and continued my search. No luck. I then went to edit your blog and searched around in the remaining August entries. Eureka!!!

© 2002 big box industries

Posted 8:09 AM by robert d

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

In a little bit, I am going over to Plum's daughter's house for the first of two Thanksgiving celebrations. Later in the afternoon Plum and I are going over to my sister's and hanging out with my clan for awhile. It's a beautiful day. The sun is glitter sparkling high in the clear blue bur sky and all the trees are flush with fall. Home and Hearth - I have been blessed in a zillion ways and I am very thankful.

Robert "d" will be out there doing a lot of snapping today. The snap below is of my Dad at last year's Thanksgiving celebration at my brother's place. When I reviewed this snap last year in the LCD, I noticed the hanging pot in the way. "Look Dad is a pot head."



Pot Head

My brother's four year old kid, aka KR, thought this was the funniest thing and he chortled over and over. "Grandpap is a pot head. Grandpap pot head."

Must be in the genes. What makes that even more apropos, is that bless his heart, my Dad's name is Gene.

Bird it out to the bone.

To you and yours - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

© 2002 big box industries

Posted 10:29 AM by robert d

And In The Beginning

Where did Cain get his wife?

Have you ever been asked where Cain got his wife, plus all the people to build and occupy his city? The truth is that people lived to be about 900 years old, a fact supported in writings other than the Bible. Furthermore, the last 10 years have produced scientific evidence on the effects of the Vela supernova to explain how these life spans may have been possible.
Given
the 900-year life spans
a reproductive rate of one child every five years per couple
a reproductive period of 600 years per couple,
there could have been 6,000 people on the earth by the time Adam reached age 350. By his 900th birthday there could have been 4.5 billion! Hence, Cain would have had no problem finding a wife or people to populate his city. Obviously, Cain or one of his brothers must have married a sister.
These types of unions were not genetic problems, since genetic weaknesses from intermarriage would not appear until after several generations. Neither are they morally problematic, for the command against marrying close relatives did not appear until Moses' day. Abraham, you may recall, was married to his half-sister. --Information from Reasons to Believe, P.O. Box 5978, Pasadena, CA 91117.


Transgenerational

Jumella & Aclima

Everyone has a nodding acquaintance with Cain & Abel. Cain was the first issue of Adam and Eve, and shortly after the birth of Cain, let's say, nine months after the birth of Cain, Abel was born. Cain and Abel grow up. Cain becomes a tiller of the soil, a farmer. Abel herds sheep. Cain and Abel offer the fruits of their labor up to God in sacrifice. For reasons that are never very satisfying, the all mighty and merciful God, likes Abel's offering but finds Cain's fruit unsatisfactory. Cain gets pissed off and kills Abel with a rock.

The reasons given that God in his infinite wisdom prefers Abel's offering to Cain's are at best obscure. Biblical scholars try to skirt over this issue by asserting that God just didn't like Cain's attitude. And wow, Abel wins and ends up dead. You just have to be a little suspicious that something is missing here?

There is another story that is much more intellectually satisfying. According to the received doctrine of this tradition, both Cain & Abel had twin sisters. Jumella was Cain's twin sister. Aclima was Abel's twin sister.

Around the time that the children were about ten or twelve, God again, in his infinite wisdom, decreed that Cain should marry Abel's twin sister, Aclima, and that Abel should marry Cain's twin sister Jumella. By this Cain could not abide. He found his twin sister, Jumella, to be the fairer of the two girls, and had very strong ties to Jumella in other ways.

Adam suggests to the boys that they make a sacrifice to God and endeavor his council. Both make sacrificial offering. God stands by his original decree and finds in favor of Abel. Cain kills Abel with a rock and marries his twin sister, Jumella.

Thus spoke Zaratustra

© big box industries

Posted 7:44 PM by robert d

Well Hung Revisited


She's done a lot of gigs. She has done it about 52,000,000,008 times, and she is getting ready to do it again. It is a big display and lots of people are going to be watching. But there is no dress rehearsal for this kind of thing. She just puts it out and lets it hang.

Tuesday, November 19th, the moon will be full.

Current theory holds that the moon was once part of the Earth. I got the 52,000,000,008, in the above, by assuming that this separation occurred a bit less than 4 1/2 billion years ago and then added eight for phun.

© 2002 box industries

Posted 10:01 AM by robert d

D&S 24X7

I'm into D&S and just don't seem to be able to stop myself. I am dumb and stupid. I have no control over it. I can D&S anywhere, any place, at any time. Take today for example.

The day started off ok. I got up. That's always a good thing. And since I am in between maids, I attended to some domestic chores. After do some dishes, and laundry (no metal hangers), and going through papers, and getting the garbage ready to take to the dumpster, and watering some plants, and checking out my investments on the web, and figuring out I had blown out one of my stereo speakers, and checking email, and about a zillion other things - I made an executive decision. This was going to be a Be Good to Bob Day. It was time to go shopping.

Today was an Edenic (Hey maybe I'm not that D&S, I just made that word up.) kind of day, absolutely beautiful. Beam me up Scottie. I rolled the windows down in my car and cranked up Keith & friends. I was 102%, beyond a shadow of a doubt, cock sure, that I was the coolest dude doing the day. I did some 180's and barked second and put the fear of God in everyone on the road. And just when I was going to do something in my mind that no one had ever done before, I got the D&S smack down. Hanging out in the back seat of the rough turbo was the trash I was suppose to drop off at the dumpster. But I had been there and done that before, so it really wasn't that big a deal.

I went to Walmart. I got some sets of small scented candles - gardenia and french vanilla, mouth wash - blue, 2 pillows - standard, extra stuffed, 13 plastic hangers – blue, and some car junk. I also looked for shelf speakers, but Walmart didn't seem to have any.

Next, I hit Circuit City. I was on a roll. I did Circuit City with impunity. I came, I saw, I was ready to spend. It took me about 3 minutes to decide on a pair of Sony 100 watt shelf speakers - $28.99 each.

I found a sales assistance to ring me up. I was minding my own business, watching the guy scan and push buttons when it happened. Another D&S smack down.

"How come my total is so low? Those speakers should be much more than that?"

There was a pair of speakers in the box, but the stereo dude had only rung up one speaker. Part of me couldn't believe how stupid I had been. Another part of me was pleased to recognize that I was an honest man.


With two smack downs in about and hour, you might imagine that I walk around black and blue. But sometimes I can go for hours and hours without being D&S.

It took about 6 hours for my next D&S attack to occur. I was over at my brother’s, DBA – The Smudge Man – AKA – The Bean. We were having an All Hail To The Good Life Celebration, thick steaks and seafood and several bottles of wine. It was all GTG – good to go.

Since we are all so memento, I decided to snap out a couple of pixs. After checking lighting, and playing around with the in and out zoom, and making people move in closer, and smile, the legendary gonzo digital photographer, Robert “d” Snaps, was ready to do his thing.

I was feeling rather swank until my brother, DBA – The Smudge Man – AKA – The Bean, asked, “Aren’t you suppose to have the lens cap off?”

© 2002 big box industries

Posted 3:27 PM by robert d

Getting Ready

Plum and I are getting ready to have dinner over at my brother's, dba The Smudge Man, aka The Bean.

Bean went out to California last month and visited a winery. He has one bottle of the good stuff left. We are going to celebrate the last of the best.

Clue - steak early, chicken late. If I remember I will explain (t+1).

Also have some D&S - 24x7 coming your way. I am working on it.

To you and your's - All Hail To The Life.

© 2002 big box industries

Posted 6:54 AM by robert d

Achtung Baby

With the Republicans' blitzkrieg of the November 5th elections, the Grand Old Party can now act with impunity. Already the sabers are rattling and the wolves are licking their lips. Achtung Baby! Welcome to the Neo Nazi Police State.

I am not a bleeding heart liberal, but I am adamantly opposed to the current Homeland Security legislation and am also unconvinced of the need for our impending confrontation with Iraq.

Government has always used times of crisis to enact legislation that usurps the rights, liberties, and freedoms, of its citizens. The usurping of individual rights is a reoccurring pattern of all governments. Temporary emergency powers are granted a bureaucratic body and once these powers are obtained they are never relinquished. Note that in any and all Homeland Security legislation, there is no delineation of when or upon what conditions, these powers would be voided.

It is the nature of The Beast, it is the nature of The Leviathan, that once manifest, it can not be banished. Those that beckon are forever doomed to grovel in the belly of The Beast.

If you have a site counter that tells you who has been visiting your site, try this out. Do a little blog, without getting to carried away, that contains some of these key words - Suddam Hussein, Iraq, terrorists, NSA…Within minutes you will get some hits from some very obscure URL's.

Who's listening? I don't know. But you better lay low.

© 2002 big box industries

Posted 10:15 PM by robert d

Vulpine Rouge

Last Thursday, I went to a little walking park off Roswell Rd., a hop, skip, and a jump away from the hustle and bustle of the suburbs. It was a beautiful day and I was enchanted by the tranquillity, and the gurgling streams, and the flickers of the sunbeams as they danced and played among the trees.



While I was there, I saw a creature stealthing down the path. At first I thought is was a large cat but it quickly came to me that it was a red fox. I was pleased and honored. It was as if The Earth Mother was sharing one of her gifts with me, a proud Mother and this one of her children.

But I fucked up. The legendary gonzo digital photographer - Robert "d" Snaps - was not ever vigilant and at the ready. Before I could get my camera out of my camera bag and my lens cap off, my special blessing had slipped away. First from sight and in time to slip again, for we are all so memento, from my mind.

© 2002 big box industries

Posted 8:26 PM by robert d

Bag Man

I'm a bag man. Everybody seems to know. Well it is kinda hard to hide.

When I want to get a lot of attention I wear a paper bag over my head. I am partial to Kroger paper sacks. I have tried lots of others but a Kroger paper bag fits just right and has a unique fragrance.

"Paper or plastic? Oh paper. You can see through plastic."

I cheat a little when I go Krogering. I roll up the end of the bag so I can just see the ends of my feet. That way I can slowly get around without causing to much damage. But driving is still a bitch.

I don't have car insurance anymore. Yeah, I have had a few accidents. I thought I had it worked out. Only bag on the expressway. You don't have to worry about turning or lights or anything. You can't bag and listen to music too loud. It helps to roll the windows all the way down. If you hear disparate car horns honking from the left - veer right. If you hear a bewildering sound from the right - try easing to the left. But as I found out last time, if you hear horns everywhere you are fucked.

I'm trying to cut back on bagging, especially the driving part, but it's hard. There's something about the crinkle/crackling of new paper as I bag up that still has a hold on me.

© 2002 big box industries

Posted 7:59 PM by robert d

I Am A Voyeur

I am watching the election results and I feel very bad. I did not vote. I was not aware of the issues. I did not participate. The world spun and I stood still.

© 2002 big box industries

Posted 10:06 PM by robert d

Recent Stock Market Rally

Do you think that the recent stock market rally has anything to do with the elections tomorrow? You bet. I did.

The stock market will hold its gains through tomorrow.


Please Don't Feed The Bears

On Wednesday, The Federal Open Market Committee, meets to vote on what to do about the discount rate. Wall Street widely anticipates that the The Fed will vote to lower the discount rate by 25 basis points. But whatever The Fed decides, the stock market will tank following Wednesday's announcement.

Theoretically, The Fed can decide to raise, leave unchanged, or lower the discount rate. Given the current state of the economy let's just forget about a raise. I know for the last two years I have. The Fed could adopt a conservative approach and vote to leave the discount rate unchanged. That would cause an instant sell off because the market is expecting The Fed to actual lower the discount rate. The Fed could lower the discount rate as anticipated and that may initially generate a sucker rally, but The Smart Money will be selling into this rally because by the end of the day the word on the street will be, "If The Fed is lowering the discount rate, the economy must be in worse shape than we know."

Whatever The Fed does, Wednesday is a down day. Expect Thursday and Friday to be more of the same. Hope you haven't been feeding The Bear.

© 2002 big box industries

Posted 2:15 PM by robert d

The Colors of Fall

I know that everyone thinks that the leaves change their colors in the Fall, but that is not exactly right.



What Was Once Verdant, Now To Yellow and Red

What is actually happening is that the chemical composition of the leaves change. This change in the chemical composition of the leaves changes their surface structure. The change in the surface structure causes light beams to be refracted at higher frequencies. We perceive these refractions of light at higher frequency as different colors.

© 2002 big box industries

Posted 1:47 PM by robert d

Just for Me

A cool
and a nip
and the puffs and billows
ran across the sky
like armies on the move
or freight trains in a rush.

A spin, a swirl, a scurrying,
everything had somewhere to go
but me.
I was just hanging,
waiting for The Fall.

And I felt alive.
Already the ladies
where changing the colors
of their dresses
lazy yellows, and reds, and oranges.

And I picked one
and held it in my hand,
sweet the smell
soft the touch.
I peeled back the skin
and sucked

The sweet juice
ran down my chin,
and I thought
that perhaps
it was all there,
just for me.


Just for Me

© 2002 big box industries

Posted 7:01 AM by robert d

Everything Revisited


He looked up at the wolf calendar neatly tacked to the wall near the shadeless lamp on his night stand - November 2002 - a bête noire. It was Saturday - the 2, 9, 16, 23 - the 1st Saturday - the second - November 2, 2002.


Loupe

He looked to the right and squinted a bit to decipher the time on the white Sony dream machine on the dresser up against the wall opposite the bed - 11:32. night stand - bed, let's go with 11:32 pm.

Brandon was doing it again. Brandon was writing about nothing and having a good time of it. Brandon was having such a good time writing about nothing because in the back of his quirky little brain lurked a secret.

Sure he was writing about nothing but then things can change. Things can undergo a transformation, like the one-to-one correspondence mapping of fish into not fish. And Brandon knew that the one-to-one correspondence mapping of nothing into not nothing was everything.

So on November 2, 2002, a bit before midnight, watched over by a wolf, Brandon wrote about everything. As he wrote though, he wondered that if he was really writing about everything how come he was leaving so much out?

© 2002 big box industries