The way my customers see me

Or at least one of them does!

Dead Air Church: Gotta Serve Somebody

Okay, I've got three versions, so choose the one you want!

The first one is the best, musically speaking--a live version by Booker T and the MGs, from the Bob Dylan: 30th Anniversary Celebration at Madison Square Garden. (Steve Cropper on guitar! And one of the greatest musicians ever, fabulous Jim Keltner on drums.) The second rendition is by Judy Collins, from Judy sings Dylan... Just like a Woman.

And finally, the original, from the now-legendary Slow Train Coming.

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Booker T and the MGs



Judy Collins



Bob Dylan (original)

Gorilla briefly escapes Riverbanks Zoo enclosure

One of the three gorillas at Riverbanks Zoo, a place I have been many times.

Photo from Shout about South Carolina.

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Gorilla injures 1 during brief escape at zoo
Riverbanks ape knocks down pizza vendor, then goes home

The Associated Press • June 13, 2009

COLUMBIA — A 390-pound gorilla grabbed some low-hanging bamboo Friday to scale a wall at Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens, escaping his enclosure and tackling a worker before returning to his pen about five minutes later.

The gorilla ran into a pizza-stand employee who curled up and played dead to try to avoid further injuries, officials said. The man, who works for Aramark Corp., was taken to a hospital and released a short time later with cuts and bruises.

Zoo executive director Satch Krantz said the worker heard a strange sound, saw the gorilla outside the enclosure and turned to run.

“Then the gorilla did what gorillas do,” he said.

The animal quickly closed the 30-foot gap between them and knocked the worker down. Two minutes later, the gorilla went over another wall and back into his enclosure.

“By then, the gorilla realized he was probably somewhere he shouldn't have been and wanted to go home,” Krantz said.

Officials believe a powerful rainstorm Thursday night swept a clump of bamboo over the top of the enclosure wall. Krantz showed reporters photos of a zoo worker using the slim bamboo reed to climb the wall and images of gorilla footprints on the wall.

“We learned something today,” he said.

The culprit is believed to be a 16-year-old western lowland gorilla named Mike, though zoo officials said they didn't know for certain. Three gorillas are in the exhibit.

Krantz praised the worker for doing the right thing. Neither he nor the company would identify the man.

Zoo officials said they were alerted to the escape by a bird-keeper who heard the commotion and the gorilla pounding on his own chest. About 340 people were ushered to indoor exhibits or outside the gates for about 45 minutes after the gorilla escaped, zoo officials said.

Krantz said employees reacted by the book and “it was an excellent job of preventing a more serious situation.”

The gorilla got out about a half-hour after the zoo's 9 a.m. opening. He returned to the gated sleeping area connected to his outdoor enclosure, which is separated from the public by different barriers in different spots, including mesh and plexiglass.

Animal keepers patrol each enclosure every morning before opening the zoo and nothing looked out of the ordinary in the exhibit, Krantz said.

Krantz said zoo officials will check vegetation around exhibits to prevent further escapes. He said he thought the gorillas would be kept penned up and not allowed into their outside enclosure until at least next week.

Would the offending gorilla face punishment?

“We might not give him his snack tonight,” Krantz said.

I hope if I'm ever attacked by a gorilla or bear, I can remember to play dead and not holler or scream. I'm so impressed when people are cool enough to remember that stuff!

Odds and Sods: 2nd Bloggiversary edition

Buddha statue at DIVINE CONNECTION, Black Mountain, NC.

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I totally forgot about my own Bloggiversary--Dead Air is now officially two years old! Here is what I wrote last year, which really hasn't changed too much.

I am still amazed an old broad like me is doing this, and actually keeping it up. Two years? You gotta be kidding! :P


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Required reading for your Thursday--

Kikipotamus the Hobo writes about her Buddhist retreat:

Every thing in the universe is transient. Each of us rises, stands for a while, then passes away. Ajahn Chuen rose, stood in this life for a time, then passed away. The same with thoughts. When you are meditating, a thought will come. Maybe a thought from the past, a memory. Maybe a good memory or a bad memory. Know that you are thinking. Thinking, thinking, thinking. Then back to the breath. Let the thought go. Some thought might come about the future. Know that you are thinking. Thinking, thinking, thinking. And let the thought go. Everything in life is like this. You let it arise, stand, and pass away.

Politico tattles on Senators' pricey airfare, paid for by guess who?:

Sens. John Cornyn and Chuck Schumer each spent more than $140,000 in taxpayer money on travel in the first half of the fiscal year — roughly 10 times as much as some of their thriftier colleagues.

Cornyn, a Republican, racked up the highest travel bill in the Senate by spending more than $38,000 on a St. Michaels, Md., retreat for 59 staffers and by taking expensive, multicity charter flights throughout his home state of Texas.

Schumer, a Democrat, ran up the second-highest bill by routinely flying private charters to cities in New York served by commercial airlines.

[...]

Cornyn spokesman Kevin McLaughlin said his boss’s Texas-size airfare tab stems from the size of Texas itself.

“It has to do with travel around Texas ... the realistic ability to use commercial flights to get him where he needs to be, when he needs to be there,” said McLaughlin. “I’ve driven from Austin to El Paso, which is easily an eight-hour drive. It’s unbelievable how far it is.”

But other big-state senators manage to get around much more cheaply. Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison spent about $88,000 on travel in the first half of the fiscal year; Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski spent about $65,000 on transportation — less than half of what Cornyn spent.

I am happy to report that Dead Air's highest number of hits this year on any one image is my Aum/Om tattoo, which I assume means other people are copying it. I am flattered and very pleased! The color has held up remarkably well.

My advice to anyone getting tattoos is: choose very vivid, bright colors, because the sun washes them out and they fade over time. (They won't always be technicolor!) Mine have faded but remain bright; this is also because I am neon-white and unable to tan, so I guess there is a bright side to pallor, haha.

I love the black-and-white photographs of kitties featured today at Magic Lantern Show, especially the kitties asleep on cars!

I briefly considered introducing Wordle as a fancy new feature here at Dead Air for my Bloggiversary, but I like my tried-and-true tag cloud better. Still, Wordle is cool, so you might want one of your own!

I watched the breaking news-coverage of the Holocaust Museum shooting whilst sitting in the doctor's office yesterday, if you can believe it. (The entire waiting room was stunned.)

Media Matters reports that Fox News is still divided on whether the shooting validates the recent Department of Homeland Security report about an increase in rightwing extremism:

Fox News commentators disagreed about whether the shooting validates a recent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report alerting law enforcement to an increased threat from "rightwing extremists," including "white supremacists." Fox News strategic analyst Ralph Peters rejected the notion "this tragic incident at the Holocaust museum somehow validates the disgraceful report from the Department of Homeland Security," saying: "It had nothing to do with the Department of Homeland Security report. What it did have to do with is this: We're seeing a very dangerous convergence between the extreme haters on the right and the extreme haters on the left -- those on the extreme right who have always been anti-Semites, and now the anti-Zionism sentiment on the left." Additionally, after referring to the DHS report, Fox News host Glenn Beck said: "This is not the work of right-wing conservatives. This is the work of somebody today who is racist, crazy, or most likely both. Common sense tells you there are very hateful people on the right and the left."

By contrast, after reading a message from a viewer saying, "Shame on you and [Fox News correspondent] Catherine Herridge for perpetrating the obscene Department of Homeland Security report on military extremists," anchor Shepard Smith stated: "[T]his is a former military guy and he's gone extremist. They were warning us for a reason -- not about something political or social or anything else -- except they see signs that this sort of thing is bubbling up. They saw the signs, and now it has begun." Smith later said of the DHS report: "It was a warning to us all. And it appears now that they were right." Later that evening, Herridge said of the DHS report: "[Y]ou have to see those reports or assessments in a somewhat different light. I know from having interviewed every person who's been the secretary of Homeland Security since 2001 and also the FBI director that it's this type of lone wolf attack, which frightens the most, because of course it's a conspiracy of just one."

And speaking of rightwing extremism, Renee reports that a preacher prayed for Obama's death on Fox News.

No wonder they don't notice it, they ARE it.

And even more extremism: What do you think of publishing private information (on a blog) about scientists doing research on animals? (A little too similar to publishing the name of Dr Tiller's church?)

The brawl continues at Feministe, as the person publishing the information defends her rights to do so. The thread is aptly titled Dear animal rights activists, please stop taking your cues from the anti-choice movement. (170 comments as of this writing!)

I recently complained that women delete their blogs, but men don't. (This piece was linked in several places, so I am not the only one who noticed!) And Kim musta heard me, because she's BAAACK! I am so happy to see one of our best bloggers has returned to Blogdonia.

Kimsies, how about you stay here this time, pleeeeease?

PS: The Bitten Apple, a Christian feminist blog I particularly enjoyed, is also gone now. (((frownie))) (While the guy-bloggers just keep nattering on!)

For this reason (sheer stubbornness), I will stick around a bit longer. Certainly it ain't due to my astounding popularity as of late.

And simple addiction of course. I love yall!

*Here's hoping I can manage a whole nother year.*

Wordless Wednesday: Stained glass

Stained glass windows from St Mary's in Greenville, SC.



Below, in order:

Christ stills the tempest
Jesus carries His cross
Our Lady of Sorrows
Acts 1:3 - He showed himself alive
Our Lady of Good Counsel


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