He has been recalling himself as a younger bird, trying to understand what brought him to this spot in life. He cringes when he thinks of how seriously he took himself when he was younger. After his first molting he became admired for his ability to carry a mating song, a watch-out-cat song, a back-away-from-the-nest song. But he looked down his beak at the more popular forms and even began to read John Cage. He read Silence many times, in a bird-sized edition, carrying it around under his wing with the spine out so that the other birds would be impressed. He once flew into the rafters of a performance of Four Walls and when the soprano sang about a nightingale tiny tears fell from his eyesx and sopped his feathers.
Ftrain.com is AMAZING…
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well at leat I “meow”…er…that isn’t great consolation
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Overview article on Geoghan and his evil ilk.
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Atlantic on the kids who killed the two professors from Dartmouth.
That an explosion in serious juvenile crime has occurred in Vermont is undeniable. Data gathered by the Vermont Department of Corrections in 1999 revealed that the number of jail inmates aged sixteen to twenty-one had jumped by more than 77 percent in three years.
I have issues with this article, but it’s still worth your time.
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NYT on Tokyo fashion maniacs
Tokyo is the capital of fashion because, from the cheapest pair of jeans to the most overpriced, misunderstood designer masterpiece, it inspires otaku in the population. Otaku is the best word to learn first before going to Tokyo. Otaku was once a derogatory term used to describe someone who is so consumed by a subject that he risks becoming a shut-in. But now otaku means ”deep passion.” About anything.

The AP is carrying an article on underage drinking, which is staggering when you stop to think about it.

Nearly a third of high school students say they binge drink at least once a month, according to a report that says underage drinkers now account for 25 percent of the alcohol consumed in this country.
–Eighty-seven percent of adults who drink had their first drink before age 21.
–The gender gap for drinking is disappearing. Female ninth-graders were just as likely to be drinkers as male ninth-graders.
–Eighty-one percent of high school students have consumed alcohol, compared with 70 percent who have smoked cigarettes and 47 percent who have used marijuana.
–Most teens who experiment with alcohol continue using it. Among high school seniors who had tried alcohol, 91.3 percent still were drinking in the 12th grade.
–The percentage of teens who drink on binges — 31 percent among high school students
When I was in high school 15 years ago, this was the pattern among my friends. I, luckily, ended up with an allergy to alcohol, so I didn’t consume as my friends did, but nothing in this survey surprises me, sadly. Of course my friends and I grew up in New York City and in that environment I think we were exposed to drugs & alcohol at an earlier age than most.
Here again I wonder about the commercial interests of the alcohol manufacturers. If 25% of the market for alcohol is consumed illegally, and that 25% went away through enforcement or whatever, all of those businesses would suffer significant losses. Are we, as a capitalistic society willing to let Anheiser Busch lose 25% of it’s market share and 25% of it’s market value in order to ensure that our children don’t become alcoholics or kill each other and others in drunk driving accidents?
Is this the price we pay for a capitalistic democracy?
This is cool though…
The report includes a landmark survey of 900 adults which reveals that Americans overwhelmingly support cracking down on underage drinking:

76 percent believe parents should be held legally responsible for teen drinking.

86 percent call for restrictions on home delivery of alcohol.

74 percent support restrictions on alcohol advertising.

54 percent support increasing taxes on alcohol.

On Sunday, George took us (John, Andre, myself) on a pizza tour of Brooklyn, where he works as a firefighter with the NYFD. Sunday was a beautiful day in the mid 50′s and between the 4 of us we had 3 different models of BMW GS motorcycles (R1100GS, R100GS, F650GS Dakar) which was pretty cool.
We stopped first at L&B Spumoni Gardens (2725 86th St., Brooklyn, NY, 11223) where the only thing worth eating is their Sicilian pizza- sauce on top of the cheese here. You order it as a “corner,” “side,” or “middle” and certainly not by the “slice.”
Next we went to Totonno’s in Coney Island. Totonno’s sold the name of the original restaurant and now there is a second store in NYC on the upper East side. But regulars know that the only place to get the real thing is out on Coney Island. Amazing thin crust brick oven pizza.
Click for more reviews…

I am ZOE.

I’m in love with love.


Which Sesame Street Character Are You?

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NYT: Enlisting Ice as an Ally of Skiers and Aircraft
Victor F. Petrenko, a professor at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, proposes using the electrical principle that makes ice so difficult to remove from sidewalks to create electronic brakes to slow skiers or snowboarders automatically before they get into trouble. The technology can also be used to improve the grip of snow tires or, when applied in reverse, cause ice to burst off windshields, road surfaces or airplane wings at the push of a button.
…
Ice is one of the unusual semiconductors in which electrical charges are conducted by moving protons instead of electrons. It was that property of ice that particularly intrigued Dr. Petrenko.
“I thought that if you exchange very light particles such as electrons with protons, it must have some significant consequences,” he said. “It seemed that if we could somehow change the electrical properties of ice, we should be able to change its mechanical properties Û and vice versa.”
…
Dr. Petrenko found that the electrical charge on the surface of ice, including snow crystals, creates an opposite electrical charge on the surface of anything the ice contacts. Those opposite charges attract, forming an electrical bond. By varying the electrical charge, he discovered, it is possible to increase or decrease the strength of the bond. “One theory is that ice is pulled into regions where the electrical field is strong,” he said. “The ice tries to fill the void.”
Go Dartmouth!
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Not a good day for organized religion….
NYT: Former Priest Sentenced for Molestation
Geoghan, 66, was convicted of indecent assault and battery last month in the first of three criminal cases against him. He could be eligible for parole in six years, and the judge ordered strict monitoring after any later release.
Since 1995, more than 130 people have claimed Geoghan fondled or raped them during the three decades he served in Boston-area parishes. He also is named in more than 80 civil suits.

NYT: Cantor at Temple Emanu-El Is Accused of Molesting Nephew
The affidavit goes much further, though, in meticulously describing a pattern of violent sexual abuse in two generations of the family. It said both Lawrence Nevison, 55, and the boy’s father, Henry Nevison, 47, told the police that their older brother Howard had sexually abused them as children. Henry Nevison said he became willing to report the incidents only after his son revealed his own abuse. And the cousin convicted in the abuse, Stewart Nevison, said he himself had been sexually abused by his father, Lawrence, according to the affidavit.

LAT: Study Finds Utah Leads Nation in Antidepressant Use
“In Mormondom, there is a social expectation–particularly among the females–to put on a mask, say ‘Yes’ to everything that comes at her and hide the misery and pain. I call it the ‘Mother of Zion’ syndrome. You are supposed to be perfect because Mrs. Smith across the street can do it and she has three more kids than you and her hair is always in place. I think the cultural issue is very real. There is the expectation that you should be happy, and if you’re not happy, you’re failing.”
Ah…Utah. Love-hate relationship…love the natural places, hate the cities.
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It’s almost comical to see the number of companies who’ve joined the non-Microsoft identification standard “Liberty Alliance.” It’s almost like in grade school when the small kids join up to beat up the one bully.