Coalition Against Election Fraud (call to action)

Help Us Stop the Certification of the Election on January 6

We can still have an impact on the course of this election.

We are a group of citizens concerned about the 2004 Presidential election. There were 57,000 complaints of voting violations delivered to the House Judiciary Democrats (http://tinyurl.com/4ykbt). When hundreds of thousands of voters are affected by machine problems and acts of voter suppression, it calls our American Democracy into question.

On January 6th, Congress meets to certify the Presidential election. If even one House member and one Senator object to the electoral votes of any state, this objection will be recorded: the vote will not be automatically approved. This has happened only once before -- in 1877. Its occurrence once again would draw historic attention to our shattered democracy and lead to an outcome that none of us can know.

In 2000, no Senator would join the Representatives from the Congressional
Black Caucus to challenge the electoral vote. (view clip from Fahrenheit 9/11)

Therefore, in 2004, we are asking you to contact as many as you can of the key Senators, listed below, as well as your own Senators, if you think you can reach them on this issue. Tell them not to certify the election on January 6, 2005.

Contact these Senators at 1-800-839-5276 or 1-877-762-8762 connecting all offices.

* Barbara Boxer CA-D
* Robert Byrd WV-D
* Mark Dayton MN-D
* Thomas Harkin IA-D
* Jim Jeffords VT-I
* Edward Kennedy MA-D
* Patrick Leahy VT-D
* Carl Levin MI-D
* Joseph Lieberman CT-D
* Barbara Mikulski MD-D
* Barack Obama IL-D
* Olympia Snowe ME-R
* Charles Schumer NY-D

If you live in the same state as any of the Senators on our list, email us at caef@caef.us to share information about activist efforts in your area or to get involved in organizing. If you want to start something yourself, we have experienced organizers who can give you guidance. We want to know any information you gather on the potential of a specific Senator to object to certification of the vote.

via Common Dreams and American Samizdat

Whales Weep Not

By D. H. Lawrence


They say the sea is cold, but the sea contains
the hottest blood of all, and the wildest, the most urgent.

All the whales in the wider deeps, hot are they, as they urge
on and on, and dive beneath the icebergs.
The right whales, the sperm-whales, the hammer-heads,
the killers there they blow, there they blow,
hot wild white breath out of the sea!

And they rock, and they rock, through the sensual
ageless ages on the depths of the seven seas,
and through the salt they reel with drunk delight
and in the tropics tremble they with love
and roll with massive, strong desire, like gods.

Then the great bull lies up against his bride in the blue deep bed of the sea,
as mountain pressing on mountain, in the zest of life:
and out of the inward roaring of the inner red ocean of whale-blood
the long tip reaches strong, intense, like the maelstrom-tip, and comes to rest
in the clasp and the soft, wild clutch of a she-whales's fathomless body.

And over the bridge of the whale's strong phallus, linking the wonder of whales
the burning archangels under the sea keep passing, back and forth,
keep passing, archangels of bliss
from him to her, from her to him, great Cherubim
that wait on whales in mid-ocean, suspended in the waves of the sea
great heaven of whales in the waters, old hierarchies.

And enormous mother whales lie dreaming suckling their whale-tender young
and dreaming with strange whale eyes wide open in the waters of the beginning and the end.
And bull-whales gather their women and whale-calves in a ring
when danger threatens, on the surface of the ceaseless flood
and range themselves like great fierce Seraphim facing the threat
encircling their huddled monsters of love.
And all this happens in the sea, in the salt
where God is also love, but without words:
and Aphrodite is the wife of whales
most happy, happy she!

And Venus among the fishes skips and is a she-dolphin
she is the gay, delighted porpoise sporting with love and the sea
she is the female tunny-fish, round and happy among the males
and dense with happy blood, dark rainbow bliss in the sea.

Sri Lanka: Gateway to Other Worlds?

Scientists re-examine legends of Serendip

Instantaneous transport between worlds, once the stuff of science fiction and long a favorite theme of lore and legend would ever dare to imagine, according to a growing consensus of researchers in the rapidly-emerging field of parallel universe theory. Now scientific interest appears to be focusing upon Sri Lanka’s living tradition of cosmography or sacred geography the understanding of which could lead to discoveries that are literally out of this world.

Theoretical physicists, backed by recent findings in the field of radio astronomy, are suggesting that the visible universe as we see it may in fact consist of multiple overlapping universes that are dependently inter-related in some yet unknown way. They point, for instance, to recent calculations indicating that nine-tenths of the universe’s postulated mass may consist of 'dark matter' that is yet undetected and unaccounted for -- a disturbing fact to astrophysicists that is neatly explainable in terms of parallel universe theory.

Not only is the universe more complex than we ever thought. It is far more mysterious and magical than we ever believed," argues Dr. Fred Alan Wolf, theoretical physicist and author of Parallel Universes: The Search for Other Worlds, adding that I now see the universe as a gigantic magical mystery tour, far in excess of the Beatles’ verses. MORE...

Animals have a sixth sense...

Where are all the dead animals? Sri Lanka asks

COLOMBO, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan wildlife officials are stunned -- the worst tsunami in memory has killed around 22,000 people along the Indian Ocean island's coast, but they can't find any dead animals.

Giant waves washed floodwaters up to 3 km (2 miles) inland at Yala National Park in the ravaged southeast, Sri Lanka's biggest wildlife reserve and home to hundreds of wild elephants and several leopards.

"The strange thing is we haven't recorded any dead animals," H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director of the national Wildlife Department, told Reuters on Wednesday.

"No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit," he added. "I think animals can sense disaster. They have a sixth sense. They know when things are happening."

At least 40 tourists, including nine Japanese, were drowned.

The tsunami was triggered by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, which sent waves up to 5-metres (15-feet) high crashing onto Sri Lanka's southern, eastern and northern seaboard, flooding whole towns and villages, destroying hotels and causing widespread destruction.

Quake shook Earth to core, say scientists

via The Independent
December 30, 2004

The quake that set off the devastating tsunami literally shook the Earth to its core, scientists believe, accelerating its rotation and shortening days by a fraction of a second. It may be necessary to add a "leap second" in years to come in order to correct the change.

Meanwhile, experts said the quake, which measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, may have shifted some small islands in the region by more than 30 metres.

Richard Gross, a geophysicist with Nasa's jet propulsion laboratory in California, said he believed a shift of mass towards the Earth's centre caused the planet to spin three microseconds - one millionth of a second - faster. It also caused the planet to tilt around 2.5cm on its axis.

"[The forcing of one tectonic plate beneath the edge of another] had the effect of making the Earth more compact and spinning faster," he said, saying that the changes were too slight to be detected by global positioning satellite networks.

Mr Gross said the circular path of the Earth's poles normally varied by up to 10 metres. As a result, an added wobble of a few centimetres was unlikely to have any long-term effects. "The rotation is not actually that precise. The Earth does slow down and change its rate of rotation," he said. When the tiny variations accumulate, planetary scientists must add a "leap second" to the end of a year, something that has not been done in many years.

Geologists said changes on the Earth's surface were more noticeable, shifting the island of Sumatra 36 metres to the south-west. Ken Hudnutt of the US Geological Survey said: "Some of the smaller islands off the south-west coast of Sumatra may have moved to the south-west by about 20 metres."

The Emperor Norton Bridge

This might just make it worth the toll increase...

Emperor Norton's name may yet span the bay
S.F. supervisors endorse plan to rechristen Bay Bridge after 19th century eccentric

Why name a bridge after him? In 1872, Norton ordered San Francisco and Oakland citizens to build a suspension bridge across the bay.

So there.

Winter Pixie

Hello again. I'm still awake, how about u?

Thought I'd grab a few more pics while I still felt zippy enuff (my evening cup of Earl Gray hasn't worn off yet so I'm still bouncing around with my camera).

Johannes Ayres (the one who does those fabulous Metaversal Reports) brought me that lil pixie in my gloved hand one day when he stopped by and visited me at the day job. I've been meaning to pose with her in a pic, so there it is. She watches over me whilst I surf around the world via my box and she has a cute little nub at the base of her little behind that you can push to make her wings flutter.

Oh, and I don't want to forget to mention that I'm loving my baby pink angora arm-warmers so much now that the weather is chilly enough to really appreciate them (you can see at least one of my gloved hands in the above shot). I got them from Sock Dreams back at the end of the summer season and had to wait until recently to really start wearing them. Those and the black fuzzy angora toesocks have made my coldest wintery days a lot more pleasurable.

Fuzzy Baby Pix (eeeew!)

That didn't sound quite right and looks even weirder in print. Oh well, no better way to describe these pics of Graymalkin, our one-and-only feline familiar at La Casa de Los Pixies. I've shared a pic or two in the past but never really properly introduced him here at Olla. So, without further ado...

Everyone, this is Graymalkin.

There are a couple more pics here in this photobucket.

His name comes from Shakespeare's Macbeth (Act I, Scene I) the scene with the witches calling for their familiars. Graymalkin is the familiar of the first witch in the scene and I've always loved the name. He has a lot of gray in his fur all throughout but is mainly a black cat. Part of the reason I chose his name was in honor of his predecessor Taz, who was a beautiful gray tabby whom I loved very much and who spent a good long portion of life with me and went on many psychedelic journeys at my side.

I found GM (or more like he found me) while I was out at the local pet store picking up supplies for our other pets-- they were in the middle of cat adoptions. I had lost Taz to kitty-leukemia only a few months before and did not think that I was ready to even look at a new face let alone adopt one. I did a quick walk through and petted a few who looked like they needed it, but when I got to the very last cage, there he was-- a tiny little thing, bogies caked in his nose, eyes puffy, sniffling something terrible. This was a sick little kitty but as soon as I even thought about moving away, out came one little paw and then this little "beep" of a voice. My heart was his forever.

I asked the adoption crew what was up with him and they said he had been found in a dumpster, scratched himself nearly bald from the fleas and had ended up with a very bad respiratory infection but that he had been on meds and was fully-recovered. I argued that he looked like he was still sick and they promised me it was just the end of a "bad kitty cold". When I got to the vet the next day he wasted no time in phoning the adoption crew up and scolding them for putting a sick cat out too soon. Apparently my vet and the woman from the adoption center were on a first-name-basis because according to the vet, she had done this with several other hard-luck cases in the past.

So, GM ended up with a new set of eye and ear drops and a new antibiotic and within a week he was right-as-rain. As soon as he was ready to check out our backyard I let him out to explore. Wouldn't you know the first place he went to sniff around was the Egyptian obelisk I placed in the garden in honor of Taz when she passed away. He went right up to it, walked in a circle and let out a few short "meep's". I knew what his name would be at that moment.

Mal's been with us now for around three years or so and we've been enjoying every minute of it. He's a real character and a warm soul. He'll kiss just about anyone and is very chatty. He rarely sits still for pictures and almost every shot has been blurry, so I feel pretty fortunate that I was able to grab a few good ones here.

Massive 8.9 Quake Kills Thousands in Asia

This is very sad, shocking news.

The loss of life being so many thousands of humans is a difficult reality to swallow but as I think about it I realize how puny we are in the hands of Nature even more than ever before.

link from Dr. Hyatt.net blog

Straight male seeks Bush supporter...

via Andrea's Photo Blog

Too bad I missed seeing this while it was posted at Craig's list-- my nextdoor neighbor (who we refer to as "Bubba") would have been an excellent candidate to answer this ad. I would have gladly left it taped to the windshield of his SUV. I'd love to get him back for sneaking behind my car and chiseling off my "Keep Abortion Legal" bumpersticker every few months, and something like this woulda been just perfect, oh well...

Bush Kills More Trees...

Remember that scene in Lord of the Rings where Treebeard and the Hobbits look down from above and sees the Orks killing masses and masses of trees? Orks give me nightmares. I can smell their breath while I read this:

Logging fears as Bush eases forestry laws

(24 December 2004)

President George Bush's administration has issued new rules for a looser, more corporate-style management of US forests, something critics say will lead to more logging and other economic activity, and weaken protection for dozens of already endangered species.

In essence the regulations - the most sweeping overhaul of forest management in almost three decades - will give local forest supervisors more freedom to react to events. They could range from fire problems and invasive new species, to requests for logging or recreation permits. Supporters claim the new system will speed up decision-making, cut costs, and bring the US into line with much of the rest of the developed world. It will make sure some of America's most beautiful wilderness areas are run by people on the spot who know them best, they argue, rather than by a cumbersome, remote bureaucracy.

But environmentalists complain that the scheme is yet another example of the White House pandering to big business. "This rips the guts out of national forest management plans," a spokesman for the Natural Resources Defence Council said. "It doesn't ensure the necessary resources."

The 155 US national forests cover some 300,000 sq miles, more than three times the area of the UK. Largely concentrated in the Rocky Mountains and the west, they are governed by the 1976 National Forest Management Act.

That measure put the priority on preserving the ecological health of forests and protecting endangered species. It set the stage for confrontations such as the decades-long controversy over the northern spotted owl, pitting conservationists against the lumber industry in the Pacific north-west.

In recent years, competing pressures on forests have - if anything - increased. Not only does the timber industry want greater access. The forests are a growing tourist attraction, with the number of visitors doubling in the past eight years. On the other hand, a quarter of all US species facing extinction live in national forests, according to the NatureServe conservationist group.

The new rules extend to environmental management, a system that has gained favour in industry, and has the enthusiastic support of this Republican White House. Instead of conforming to rigid and centralised environmental rules, companies are encouraged to set their own standards. The results are judged by outside auditors.

In this case the outside judges could be officials of the National Forest Service, or outside environmentalist or economic groups. But it is not clear what powers they would have, or even what standards would be enforced.

The new policy has enraged environmentalists, not least because of the timing of the announcement, just two days before Christmas when Congress is not in session, and news coverage will be scant.

Democrats expressed outrage too. "These regulations cut the public out of the forest planning process," Congressman Tom Udall of New Mexico declared. "They will just inspire lawsuits and provide less protection for wildlife."

Tom Harkin, a senior Democrat, said the new policy threatened to "derail decades of progress" in preserving America's forests.

I am not that tough of a person, well, not as tough as I thought I was anyway. Killing animals and trees to me is worse than soldiers dying in a fake war. Dealing with Death is hard enough to do. Please. Stop. Bush.

"The first drink out of a cocktube..."

But now what I really wanna know is what's inside...?

More Fun Than A Barrel-O-Monkeys

I think I remember surfing over to Monkeyfilter once before but for some reason I didn't realize then that it was chock full-o-hilarity. It is. There is some funny stuff in there. I'm glad I clicked on the 'via' while reading Fenderson's post about the Bush bulge scenario earlier or I might have missed it altogether.

For instance, you probably all know that Google changes their logo every once and so often, for the holidaze and such, right?

I know, I know, it's just their way of being cute. Fine, fine.
Here's what Monkeyfilter had to say about it:

Is it just me or does todays Google look a little kinky?

Go read the comments in there, it's pretty amusing, especially this last one:

You may think they're cute now, but those critters are just one sacrificed rabbit away from a full-on blood orgy.

Hehehe.... Ok, don't sue me if I'm laffin'. I must laff. Laffin's good for ya. To me, it's like a good orgasm (is there such thing as a bad one?) -- necessary and fun. Do it everyday.

Monkeyfilter, I'm blogrollin' yo ass.

The Mystery of Bush's Bulge Explained

Rev. Fenderson posted this over at American Samisdat yesterday and I feel compelled to re-air it over here because this sorta shit just needs to keep being questioned or we all might as well just shut up and become mindless drones. That's just what "they" want us to do. But I for one have a hard time keeping my mind off the ever-increasing bullshit that pervades what would/could otherwise be known as world peace on this planet.

Oh that smirky bastard of a fake president. I just want to kick him you-know-where...

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Death?

Tra-la-la-la-laaa......

Hailed by some viewers as a "life-transformational film" and "an absolute 'must-see' given this precarious age," Flight from Death explores the ways in which our day-to-day behaviors are affected by the awareness of our own mortality. Through stunning visuals and insightful interviews, this multi award-winning film, narrated by Gabriel Byrne, explores human beings' innate and subconscious fear of death and portrays the impacts of that fear on our behavior, specifically in regard to violence.

Following the work of the late cultural anthropologist and social theorist, Ernest Becker, and his Pulitzer Prize-winning book Denial of Death, this is the first documentary film ever to examine the manifestations of death anxiety on spiritual, cultural, and psychological levels.

Flight from Death is the culmination of many years of research and shooting all over the world in locations such as Egypt, Israel, Thailand, Guyana, Greece, Afghanistan, Mexico and China. It features interviews with leading scholars, philosophers, researchers and authors such as Sam Keen, Robert Jay Lifton, Sheldon Solomon, and Irvin Yalom, culminating in the most comprehensive, multidisciplinary, and mind-blowing investigation of humankind's relationship with death ever captured on video.

View Trailer

New Dr. Who BBC-1 Series (teaser)

See it first here.

BBC One's Winter Highlights presentation includes the first glimpse of the new series of Doctor Who - due on screen sometime next year.

Reassuringly, the new series of Doctor Who has been included in the press pack for the BBC's Winter highlights. While there is no new information, it's lovely to see it in print.

"Acclaimed actor Christopher Eccleston plays Doctor Who in a new series for BBC One next year.

Billie Piper, who made her acting debut in the critically acclaimed Canterbury Tales - The Miller's Tale, stars alongside Eccleston as the Doctor's companion, Rose Tyler.

Travelling through time and space, the Doctor and Rose come face to face with a number of new and exciting monsters - as well as battling with the Doctor's arch-enemy, the Daleks.

The series, which promises to surprise and entertain a new generation, also features Penelope Wilton, Noel Clarke, Annette Badland, Camille Coduri and John Barrowman, Bruno Langley and celebrated theatre, film and television actor Simon Callow.

Filming in Cardiff until 2005 for transmission on BBC One, Doctor Who is written by Russell T Davies, Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, Paul Cornell and Robert Shearman."

Meet the New Doctor Who (Christopher Eccleston)

He's been a policeman, an accountant and the messiah. Now he's looking forward to saving the universe.

Sonata Plastica

With the exception of the wire strings, this instrument is entirely constructed out of LEGO parts--the keyboard, jacks, jack rack, jack rail, plectra, soundboard, bridge, hitch pins, tuning pins, wrestplank, nut, case, legs, lid, lid stick, and music stand are all built out of interlocking ABS (Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene) plastic bricks and related pieces.

And is playable. (mp3)

Specifications include a 1 x 8' disposition (single choir (one string per note), middle C corresponds to middle C on other instruments), single manual (one keyboard), 61 note range (5 octaves, C-c'''', A415), 6 x 3 ft. dimension, approximate 150 lbs. weight, and an estimated 100,000 LEGO piece count.

via monochrom

I Don't Like This Universe Sometimes...

Here's just one example of why.

Monochrom blog

monochrom is an art-technology-philosophy group of basket weaving enthusiasts and theory do-it-yourselfers having its seat in Vienna and Zeta Draconis.

monochrom is the super-affirmation of the globalization trap. monochrom has existed in this (and every other) form since 1993.

Bunch of cool stuff posted in there. Gonna go fishing tomorrow and call it a night.

z-z-z-z-zzzzzzzzzzzz..........

No Other Radio Network: Solstice Special (mp3 archive)

An MP3 Archive of last night's Winter Solstice Special (Tuesday, December 21st, 2004) is now available:

http://209.81.10.18/data/20041222-Wed0000.mp3

Also snapped a few pics...
(wish there were more, but we were all so bizzy doin' the show...)



Kerri and Jesse create some "Solstice Dragons" outside the KPFA studio...

(told ya there would be sparklers...)

Winter Solstice is here...

Wrote this little bit of Winter Solstice poetry earlier this morning while riding into work on the bus. Just wanted to share it here along with wishes to all for a joyous and peaceful season...


Rejoice
the act of life.
(you are alive, aren't you?)

The darkness
of the unknown
has an edge to it,
a certain mystery.

When your eyes are
opened to the sun
dance in the knowing
that the days ahead
will warm you and
feed you...

Love and be loved.

Tonite: KPFA 'No Other Radio' ::: Solstice Special

Tune in at 11:59pm (PST) ::: RADIO: 94.1 FM / Berkeley CA
Tune in and listen kpfa.org (live internet stream)

:::: NO OTHER RADIO NETWORK ::::
.... w i n t e r ... s o l s t i c e ... s p e c i a l ....

MP3 Archives NOW AVAILABLE (in case you can't listen live)

Special Guests Tonite!
(and there will be sparklers!!)

dAS will be your host, and I'll be there along with special and possibly some rather "mysterious" guests (plus a few surprises)...

Station call line: (510) 848-4425

Since 1981, No Other Radio Network has pioneered and provided a forum for underground, noise, electronic, industrial, psycho acoustic and many other genres of music, in addition to featuring live interviews and performance over the airwaves.

We welcome artists to send us their works.

Archived playlists from all ubuibi-hosted N.O.R. shows are available at ubuibi

Matylda the House Spider

Let me introduce you to a very good friend of mine-- everyone, this is Matylda...

(click for larger)

the guardian spider who watches over my house and hangs out (literally) in a corner of my kitchen window on the outside. I've watched her grow up for many months now and weave many webs-- always coming back to this spot even after the rains have washed away all of her beautiful and laborious weavings.

We've communed for many hours hanging out like that-- me drinking my tea and daydreaming while looking through her onto the backyard jasmine vines crawling up the fence and beyond to the Oakland hills. Her name just came to me one day. Who knows why-- I really don't consider myself the type to name every living thing that comes into my path, but somehow, she just is Matylda.

I felt compelled to look up the meaning behind the name Matylda and found:

Matylda means powerful battler. (The English form is Mathilda.)

I feel quite fortunate to have her watching over me (or so it seems to be)...

Big City Orchestra Archive (updated)

Some new scans added to the BCO archive pile including rare old show posters and out-of-print cassette covers...

Prayer Wheels (audio)

{{{ l i s t e n }}}

Living Prayer Wheels, from Sounds of Global Harmony CD

"Sounds of Global Harmony" was recorded during the monks' Sounds of Global Harmony tour in 1999-2000, and launched in January 2001. The CD features the unique harmonic chanting of the monks, along with the beautiful sounds of world-reknowned Australian cellist, Sarah Hopkins, shakuhachi player, Anne Norman and didjeridoo player, Chris Neville.

Just keep playing these on repeat for a while and see what happens. I bet you anything you'll catch a nice buzz off the vibrations...

Cernunnos

Gearing up for Winter Solstice and checking in with a few key figures, myths and stories along the way as we edge ever closer to the pivotal point where darkness entwines once again with light...

"The Horned One" is a Celtic god of fertility, life, animals, wealth, and the underworld. He was worshipped all over Gaul, and his cult spread into Britain as well. Cernunnos is depicted with the antlers of a stag, sometimes carries a purse filled with coin.

The Horned God is born at the winter solstice, marries the goddess at Beltane, and dies at the summer solstice. He alternates with the goddess of the moon in ruling over life and death, continuing the cycle of death, rebirth and reincarnation.

Paleolithic cave paintings found in France that depict a stag standing upright or a man dressed in stag costume seem to indicate that Cernunnos' origins date to those times. Romans sometimes portrayed him with three cranes flying above his head. Known to the Druids as Hu Gadarn. God of the underworld and astral planes.

The consort of the great goddess. He was often depicted holding a bag of money, or accompanied by a ram-headed serpent and a stag. Most notably is the famous Gundestrup cauldron discovered in Denmark.

Description and photo via Encyclopedia Mythica

Zim's Crack Creme

Apparently this is a "real" product.

GIR: "Aaaah maaaaaade it maaaaah-self!"

Four Eyes, No Hands

The perfect thing for all those near-sighted neo-tribalists out there, James Sooy designed a pair of piercing-mounted eyeglasses that attach to that hunk of metal you hopefully already have spiked through the bridge of your nose. Also a good option for anyone without ears, but who needs glasses and doesn’t want to have to resort to wearing something as barbaric as goggles.

via bTang reBlog

Yeow. I hardly think this trend will catch on. I mean, it's really a lotta work for a pair of glasses that, let's face it, aren't even slightly cool-looking for all of the pain one must go through to attach them to one's--umm-- face. While I'm full of facial piercings myself, I just want to scream looking at this invention.

Attaching cumbersome objects to your piercings is just asking for an opportunity for ripped flesh. But hey, if you're into that sorta thing...

Metaversal Sun Signs for December

brought to you by Johannes Ayres...

(My apologies for posting this a little late in the month, but since I was moving the blog I figured I'd wait and put it up when the new place was built, enjoy!)

SUN SIGN ASTROLOGY
for Lunar Cycle 11, Sun in Sagittarius/Capricorn December 2004
If you know your natal Moon sign and your rising sign, read those too.

ARIES
This is a month for you to show your stuff, Aries-to meet your challenges, to push for your goals. You have an extraordinary amount of power now, and at the same time doors are opening for you. You're receiving many benefits from relationships, and the more you can cooperate, the more help you will get. There's nothing wrong with putting your lover on a pedestal, but fastening them there with nails, adhesives, and bulky straps tends to ruin the look.

TAURUS
A new contract in partnership is in the cards for you, Taurus. It will be long lasting, strong, and creative. It may relate to speaking, publishing, or an Internet project. In some way you are re-aligning the way you speak up in the world. Much action, and transformation, occurs in the area of others' money, and others' resources, and how they impact you. No, baboons do not understand human speech. You may just have happened to run across an angry one who can read your snotty body language.

GEMINI
You believe great things are right around the corner, but they might be more accurately described as great big things hurtling out of control.Partners may do a number on you, Gemini-one that is both difficult and loving. It is relationships which occupy your attention. With Mercury retrograde, you may find yourself involved in unfinished business with others. You will energize your work and health circumstances, and it may include a cleaning-out of toxins from your body and from your workplace. This is a time of great uncertainty for you, but maybe you should stop going around saying you're uncertain how all the sailors wound up in your bed.

CANCER
Your creativity comes on strong this month. You're willing to work hard to manifest it, and you do. You're pushing hard to do a lot, and you are successful at it. Remember to take time out to relax, and enjoy your family. You transform your working environment, perhaps to make room for a partner or family member. Remember, it's not how hard you beat the goat, but whether the goat you're beating is on fire. It's up to you to spread the word.

LEO
You are moving! Can't stop you this month. You're starting to think that if men had been meant to swim through solid rock as if it were water, they would have been born with fulminating lava ducts.You come forth with all kinds of creations, and finish things that have been in the works for a long time. You are caught between a strong need to have time alone, and yet it's very enjoyable to be with associates, friends, family, and partner. They can all help you with ideas and suggestions as you speed along your creative path.

VIRGO
Emotions flow freely for you this month. Every person with whom you come in contact touches you deeply. Do you feel like you're becoming Father or Mother Confessor to the world? Somehow you're able to develop faith in your financial picture, and it works very well for you. With my hands I can build a home, I can do my work, I can touch the world in a way which would be impossible without my awesome opposable thumbs. In your work and in your home you possess an exceptional skill for producing expanded dividends with those beautiful hands of yours. This cycle's keywords: career, grid, enhance

LIBRA
Communication, communication, communication. Your days will be busy, and you will be exchanging deep, significant, important ideas with others. Money will come and go through your work. You have much attraction power this month, so intense visualization work will be especially useful-in attracting money and whatever else you really want. You know nothing about racquetball and you feel especially uncomfortable playing in the Sistine Chapel, but you play anyway. What Michelangelo has rendered here is beautiful indeed, but it is a mere cartoon, graffiti if you will, as to what truly Is. Create your own inner foundations based on what truly Is... Love is the Law. This cycle's keywords: congenital, penumbra, Chabuya

SCORPIO
You've got a date with destiny and it looks like she may order the Lobster. When the check comes, you must strike quickly, with all your limbs. Yoga has many limbs too, like the octopus who plays the drums at midnightSexy Scorpio was never more true than it is this month! Use your charisma to attract your wants and needs. You do, in fact, undergo a regeneration of your resources now. Perhaps new ways of earning a living come to you. Spirit is your greatest ally, and developing faith in the ever-present supply is perhaps your greatest challenge. You grow personally.

SAGITTARIUS
You have been undergoing much transformation these last several years, Sagittarius. This month it comes to a head. You are finally able to feel, "Indeed I am a new person, with new authority." But how will you use this new power? That is your question of the month. You have a lot of big ideas (as usual), and friends can help you sort them out. Legends have it that the statue of Lincoln on the National Mall will stand up for an honest man, but they give no clue as to why it would show up in your driveway and take a nine-iron to your car.

CAPRICORN
What a long identity change process you have been involved in, Capricorn. And how steady your partner has been. As usual, you have a lot happening behind the scenes, unseen even by you. These undercurrents are transforming you at a very deep level, and this month you will be more conscious of those hidden forces. Focus on your ideals.

AQUARIUS
Friends are always special allies for you, Aquarius, and this month they give you a great deal, particularly in the realm of fellowship and exchange of ideas-one of your favorite pastimes, anyway. You may be rethinking your associations, and opting only for those which deepen your life. You are re-aligning your modus operandi in regard to your work.

PISCES
Your work, Pisces! That is the big issue this month. You make a drastic change in your goals. This is also a great month for travel. Money works well, perhaps coming in through unseen sources. Trust your intuition now. Luck and growth are always part of your pathway, but this month, hard work also plays a large role. You are aligning with your ideals. Psychic empathy promotes emotional literacy this lunar cycle, and oh yeah...Know thyself...This cycle's keywords: French bread, blare, spiral stair.

Family announcement...

My brother Adam was out here visiting the bay area last month with his girl Anne and proposed to her while they were out wandering around SF's Golden Gate Park at the Japanese Tea Garden where this photograph was taken (just moments after she said "yes"). I saw this pic while it was still on their camera and it made tears well up in my eyes.

They've both been so bizzy lately so hadn't had time to send me a copy of it yet, but turns out my dad had just gotten one from them, so he sent it and I wanted to post it here because it is such a great expression of pure bliss and I had to share it.

I just want to take this moment to congratulate Adam and Anne again on their engagement! Love you guys, and am soooo happy for you both!

Kisses,
xoxox
Pixie-Sis

Someone get me a microscope!

"Mr. President, I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you. You've had an -- um, well-- an adverse reaction to the Viagra and, well-- it's-- well sir, how can I put this? It seems that your willy has shrunk to the size of a very small pea..."

via Chardman Land

Olla Archive

Just wanted to say that I will be moving the old Olla archives soon, but it involves a bit of link updating and such. In case anyone missed them or never got too see them.

I Do Believe We Have Liftoff...

Hmmmnnn... Now let's see, where did we leave off?

Right. I had to move the entire Ollapodrida domain and rebuild from scratch because my Movable Type files got all scrinched-up somehow. Well, the transition took about a week, all-told, and with a little help from some verrrrrrry late nights behind the wheel, tinkering and cursing at the same time, it's finally done. It's so nice to have Olla again.

Anyway, things are a bit of a blur at the moment due to my still-overwhelming pace at the dayjob. I now have a really bad callous on my right middle finger from all the data entry I've been doing. Yes, I used my middle finger to hit the 'enter' key when I use Access to do data entry, who knows how or why that started, but now I've got this damned uncomfortable callous and I really hope life slows down a little soon so I can get rid of it. Callouses suck and typing with them causes pain. I don't recommend typing 85wpm doing data-entry for 8 hours a day. Oh where is that adorable little web job I once had? The one before the other one that had me working 12-14 hour days ...?

I promise the next time my sore little middle finger hits the enter key around here it'll be to post some content that's a lot more enticing than just me bitching. I know, I'm entitled to bitch once and a while, but I kinda like saving those moments up for more worthwhile causes like ranting against buttheaded politics and fake presidents.

Meanwhile, hope you enjoy the new digs...

Style Test for Links

Just testing again here. Almost finished. I can't believe it, but I think I like it.