wordless wednesday #194: hole in the wall

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my world tuesday #89: haw river, saxapahaw, nc

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Featured on Fine Art Photoblog

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This shot has been making the rounds. It first appeared here as a Thursday Challenge post. Based on the response it got here, I sent it to Indie Ink where the editors apparently liked it just as well as my own visitors because they published it on August 3. Around that same time I submitted it to Fine Art Photoblog, and today (after a technical glitch delayed it and others for a few days) they've published it as their feature photo of the day.

The work on display at Fine Art Photoblog is -- putting it mildly -- phenomenal and I'm deeply honored and humbled to be included there.

 Featured on Fine Art Photoblog
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thematic photographic 112: flowers - filter effect provided by 90% humidity

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 Hosted by Written Inc.
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summer stock sunday #29

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 Graciously Hosted by Robin at Around the Island
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privatizing the english language: when social networking gets too big for its britches

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Or: Wherein F*c*book screws the pooch... again

In what I'm calling the "WTF of the Week", Chicago Breaking Business reports that F*c*book (you know who you are) has filed suit against a networking site for teachers and educators that goes by the name "Teachbook". The social maven of the internet claims that by adding "book" to any word the 2-employee, 20-member networking site is infringing on its trademark. Apparently half a billion subscribers isn't enough of a market share and 20 teachers in Northbrook, IL pose a grave threat to F*c*book's financial strength and stability. In it's report Chicago Breaking said

Facebook®, which was founded in 2004 and has more than 500 million users, filed its trademark infringement lawsuit in U.S. district court in San Jose last week, asserting that the "book" part of its name is "highly distinctive in the context of online communities and networking websites."

"If others could freely use 'generic plus BOOK' marks for online networking services targeted to that particular generic category of individuals, the suffix BOOK could become a generic term for 'online community/networking services' or 'social networking services'", Facebook® argued in the lawsuit. "That would dilute the distinctiveness of the Facebook® Marks." (Ed: Emphasis on "stink"?)

Okay, first: Never mind that "generic category of individuals" has got to be the biggest oxymoron this side of the movie Idiocracy. How many people do you suppose would have even known about Teachbook if F*c*book hadn't stuck their collective headbook up their assbook? Apparently Mark Zuckerberg® subscribes to the theory that "any publicity is good publicity". Mark, I'm afraid I must respectfully disagree. Based on comments left on the Chicago Breaking story, I'd guess that F*c*book just cost itself as many users as Teachbook has with this latest bit of boneheaded litigation. And that was only the reaction to one article. Hardly a representative sample, and there's no way of knowing how many of the commenters actually will terminate their accounts. But the cost in good will alone might make potential customers and advertisers think twice before getting in bed with them. I figure based on relative size, Teachbook has diluted the market by... about 0.000004% (20/500,000,000 * 100). Less than that if any of Teachbook's 20 or so users are also F*c*book users. Why the Wall Street analysts must be quaking in their Gucci's at the very idea of such a juggernaut. Three words: Get. F*c*ing. Real.

Second: According to MoreWords.com there are no fewer than 42 words ending in "book", and I came up with a few of my own to add to the list. (I thought it interesting that "facebook" was nowhere in the list.) Of the 46 unique words my minutes of research uncovered, at least 32 of them can be turned into a "live" URL by adding ".com". (This excludes the ones that only take you to a basic link page that doesn't really belong to anyone). In an incredibly ironic twist, one of these is Casebook.com a professional networking site for lawyers and legal professionals. I can't help but wonder why F*c*book didn't try tangling with these guys. What a circus that'd be, yeah? go ahead Zuck... I double-dog dare ya.

And then I wonder what the good folks at Redbook or Quickbooks, or Apple Computer -- makers of the MacBook -- think of F*c*book infringing their trademarks? Surely they must have heard about this by now. I've actually seen with my own eyes cookbooks dating back to the 19th century. And I know that I had notebooks I took to school back in the 60's. Is Mead aware of this egregious assault on their financial viability? I've found my way around with guidebooks, and -- before the computer took over the task -- kept appointments in a datebook. I had a passbook (also known as a bankbook) and a checkbook from the bank, made entries in logbooks in the army, used matchbooks (without closing cover before striking even!) when my lighter gave out, and studied playbooks when I played sports. I've been on flights that were overbooked, been taught from textbooks and had it commemorated in yearbooks. I've sung Kumbaya around the campfire from a songbook and pasted news clippings and photos in scrapbooks. And my friend Georgianne, who owns the top-ranked Appaloosa in the country has pored over studbooks trying to decide if breeding her champion mare was too rich for her pocketbook. Perhaps a class-action suit is in order here?

Or maybe F*c*book just needs to get over itself.

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friday time-sink: do you love life?

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If you remember the show The Kids In The Hall, you probably remember the Chicken Lady. (Some things, once seen, haunt you forever.) This is probably what Pat Robertson was afraid of -- not Sex With Ducks, but Breeding With Chickens. And if you don't remember The Kids In The Hall, you might want to skip this video because you'll be sucked into the vortex that is... (cue dramatic music) The Chicken Lady. This was a classic sketch from the show. Enjoy!

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P.S.: Remember last week's edition that featured the now (in?)famous "Double Rainbow Song"? Well it seems that this video has become so virulent that it's found a way to cross the species barrier into other media. Witness:

see more Lol Celebs

And of course, this was bound to happen sooner or later...

see more Lolcats and funny pictures
But Wait! There's More!

Or is you prefer to just cut to the chase, visit Ben & Jerry's homepage. Wait a second or two for the page to load and then stare in astonishment.

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55 flash fiction friday #86: my son's new apartment

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...on the third floor
"I really appreciate you two helping out. Sorry I got stuck with a 3rd floor apartment."

"Oh, it's okay... everything we do together is fun. Even moving furniture up three flights of stairs."

"You two are just too cute. I want to vomit."

"Yeah, ain't it great?"

"No, you don't understand. I want to vomit."

 Graciously hosted by G-Man.

Note: An actual conversation. My son the college boy did, in fact, move into a 3rd floor apartment on the hottest day he could have picked. And my absolutely awesome girlfriend did, in fact, make it fun. And he did actually say this... verbatim. Well the vomit part is verbatim anyway. But. This is not his apartment. No, his stairway wasn't this wide. Or air conditioned.

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sky watch friday #97: sunset over maple view farm

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thursday challenge #76 fun

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wordless wednesday #193: unspoken votivation

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 Featured on Indie Ink
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my world tuesday #88: nostalgia under glass

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summer stock sunday #28

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 Graciously Hosted by Robin at Around the Island
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friday time-sink: it's the little things

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I have to wonder if the guy who made the video that inspired this song had any idea what he was getting into when he put it on YouTube. Then again, after listening to him practically weep over light passing through water vapor I have to wonder if he even realizes that he did put it on YouTube. I guess everything looks bright and vivid when yo're on 'shrooms. Or whatever. Enjoy!

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55 flash fiction friday #85: listening to your inner self

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...two days later...
"Is it okay for you to do that? I mean with the surgery and all?"

"Your body will tell you when you're overdoing it."

"Yeah I know that, but will you listen when it does?"

"Well of course! I am a guy after all, and as such I'm well-accustomed to taking orders from my crotch."

 Graciously hosted by G-Man.

Note: No, that's not me dressed as a 70's porn star. Actually it's not me at all. That is the inimitable Farrago, taken at Tiff-o-we'en 2008 (an annual event hosted by the ever-gracious Tiff of No Accent Yet fame). If you like the shirt, you should've seen the shoes. (And for you PETA types, the goldfish weren't real.)
The story, however, is true. *wink*

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sky watch friday #96: more beach carnival

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thursday challenge #75: "creativity"

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This Election Brought To You By...

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In case you hadn't heard, Target (tar-ZHAY) stuck its retail giant toe in the waters stirred up by the Roberts Court with its unfathomable decision in Citizens United v. FEC early this year. It seems the corporation spent $150,000 -- of corporate funds -- on advertising for a pretty outspoken anti-gay, anti-worker candidate in the Minnesota gubernatorial race. What's that mean to you or me? It means that if left unchecked, this decision will turn our electoral system into the next College Bowl or NASCAR Series. Remember when the Sugar Bowl was the Sugar Bowl -- not the USF&G Sugar Bowl? Or before the Southern 500 became the Mountain Dew Southern 500? Well here we have the Target Minnesota Gubernatorial Election. Sure. The people of Minnesota are free to vote for whomever they choose. Realistically? They'll vote for the name that's in their face the most often with the most spin. But setting that aside for a moment, even those who do support the candidate in question lose in this deal. Because guess who's going to ultimately pay for those ads. (Hint: it won't be Target's President, CEO or Board of Directors.) Target's shareholders aren't going to care much for their dividends being cut into like this, so the money's going to have to be made up somewhere. Guess where.

Congress has one avenue left to them to control the damage done by the Citizens United decision. A Constitutional Amendment. They haven't managed to get together on one yet, and given the glacier-like speed at which governments move I wouldn't expect one to surface soon. Happily, there's still one recourse left to the public at large. We can speak directly to the corporations themselves -- and in their native language. We can vote with our feet... and dollars. Like these guys.

But maybe without the singing.

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wordless wednesday 192: votivational pattern

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my world tuesday #87: the talented mr. ripley

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