Songdog.net

Two weeks ago I posted an item on Percy the Dog's election bid for Congress in Florida. It is with great sadness that I inform you that Percy will not be allowed to run. Her owner, Wayne Genthner, will run in her place, but I suspect it will be Percy who will lead the way down the campaign trail.

Percy barked loudly when veteran elections official Ed Kast told the dog's owner, Wayne Genthner, his dog didn't meet the state's elections requirements.

Thanks, Mom!

The quote is from the wire story at the NY Times (you can use "songdog.net" as username and password for this NY Times story).

The photo is by AP photographer Phile Coale, and was found at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune's HeraldTribune.com.

Posted by Songdog at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Steve sent me this tasty recipe, which has received over a hundred reviews at Epicurious; it's interesting what people have to say ...

Thanks, Steve!

Posted by Songdog at 09:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Only in New Jersey would someone steal a car to drive to his sentencing for car theft.

Posted by Songdog at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Estonians Anna Zilberberg and her husband Meelis Tammre won the world wife-carrying title last Saturday, defeating thirty-five other couples at an event attended by thousands. Competiting to win her weight in beer, Zelberberg rode upside-down on Tammre's back over a challenging 254 meter steeplechase with his head gripped between her thighs. "Estonians win because they have thin and beautiful women," she said.

The Moscow Times had this photo, taken by Tommi Korpihalla of Reuters. Tammre and Zilberberg are on the left. And here's some more info on the event itself.

Steve found this on The Rat and sent it along. Thanks, Steve!

Posted by Songdog at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm long overdue for another Aortal link, so here we go:

A new New York institution, nyc bloggers provides a collection of weblogs united by their realspace blogging locations in New York City. All of the sites must be non-commercial, and they're organized by -- get this -- subway stop. Now, that's New York!

Although nyc bloggers is not a ring, and though they don't require it, I'm putting their logo in my Rings section -- that seems to be the best place. My place? The Bryant Park stop on the F train, of course.

I discovered nyc bloggers through Leslie, who sent me the link. Steve too, I think. Thanks, Leslie and Steve!

Sadly, my previous Aortal link, Rebeca Delgado's wonderful weblog, is no more. Rebeca has suspended this site indefinitely to focus on other things. She has been regularly updating her knitting site, fluffa!, as well as her main page at mybluehouse, though, so watch those spaces. And a belated thanks, Rebeca, for making Songdog.net your own Aortal link! I am honored :)

Posted by Songdog at 02:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The networking equipment at my office is on a different floor from mine, and it's a good thing, because a leaky battery is rendering that floor toxic. They've shut down the network and evacuated the floor. Since I couldn't stay online from my desk, I've temporarily relocated to lovely nearby Bryant Park. I'm sitting in my favorite area over by the carousel. There are more kids today than I usually see (really cute kids, too), and instead of Edith Piaf they're playing a recording of traditional carousel fare: mechanized merry-go-round reeds and bells playing polkas and marches.

This ain't so bad. Thanks, leaky battery! I do hope everybody is ok, though ...

Posted by Songdog at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I just upgraded Songdog.net to Movable Type version 2.21. If anyone out there experiences any new problems with the site, please let me know. Actually, I'd like to know about old problems as well :)

Posted by Songdog at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ulk Buck, an alleged clairvoyant, reads peoples' naked backsides the way others read palms. "The bottom is much more intense," says Buck.

Posted by Songdog at 09:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you need to reach me quickly and don't mind being public, please post a comment here.

Update: It's working again.

Posted by Songdog at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Residents of Washington DC do not having voting representation in Congress. They've only been able to vote in presidential elections since the 60s, and in local and mayoral elections since the 70s. And so a local group is asking Queen Elizabeth to take over the city.

Via MeFi

Posted by Songdog at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the early seventies, Richard Nixon made ninety-two official gifts of moon rocks. One of them went to the government of Honduras. Over that last twenty years, the Honduran government has gone through a few changes, and their moon rock has ended up in the hands of one Alan Rosen, of Broward County, Florida (yes, Broward county, again). NASA considers the rock to be stolen goods, and is trying to return it to Honduras. It all makes quite a story.

Image from CNN.com's version of this piece.

Posted by Songdog at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The sun has been very active lately: a major solar flare burst from the sun earlier this morning, just two days after a particularly large solar prominence was observed. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) got a spectacular picture of the latter event.

Flare information and SOHO picture found at SpaceWeather.com, after I heard of the news on the Stellarvue mailing list.

Posted by Songdog at 09:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jason Begay wrote a nice piece in the Times on last week's debut of free wireless Internet access in Bryant Park (you can use "songdog.net" as username and password if you don't have your own). I was there, and was interviewed for this story, but I was not quoted.

Posted by Songdog at 08:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Many of you already know about Booklend, Mark Anderson's free online lending library. Well, today I read an interesting SFGate article about BookCrossing, which I heartily recommend that you check out!

The idea is to share books, for free, with complete strangers. But the people who are doing it are treating the sharing like an art form. Books are left in intriguing places, with numbered labels on them describing the project. Readers can go to the website and update the current locations of books.

BookCrossing has been operating for a while now, but I just heard about it, so I decided to spread the word. By the way, I heard about it on Slashdot.

Posted by Songdog at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Percy is my favorite in the Florida Republican primary.

Thanks, Mom!

The NY Times is also covering this (you can use "songdog.net" as username and password).

Photo from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune's HeraldTribune.com

Posted by Songdog at 09:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)