GIANT CATFISH!

Maybe the worlds largest fresh water fish has been caught. The Mekong giant catfish was 9 feet long weighed a massive 646 pounds. It was caught in the Mekong river in Thailand on May. 1st by a group of fishermen who fought the giant for more than an hour before they haul it in. The fishermen indicated they tried to keep the catfish alive but failed and it was later eaten by local villagers.
According to officials with the World Conservation Union, the Mekong giant catfish species is listed as critically endangered. This indicates it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild. This rare specimen, captured in Chiang Khong district of the country, was the largest one recorded since Thailand began keeping records in 1981. The National Geographic web site indicates the fishwas as large as a grizzly bear. source

I've seen this joke elsewhere, that one of the groups trying to negotiate the release of this Giant Mekong Catfish was these guys. Har har. Personally I'd suggest this instead. Yum.







One big fish
Thai men hook 646-lb. catfish, may be world's largest
Posted: Thursday June 30, 2005 10:57AM; Updated: Thursday June 30, 2005 12:54PM

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Thai fishermen caught a 293-kilogram (646-pound) catfish that may have been the world's largest freshwater fish, wildlife conservation groups said.

( Read more... )

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The Heavens Are Weeping.

Shock. Denial. Anger. Depression. Acceptance.

What is this?! I go out to walkabout nature, and what happens??? (Yes I know a lot of you have already posted about this, but I didn't see anyone with the NPR article coverage yet.) And just yesterday I bought a T-shirt on Cafe Press put together by someone that had a quote of her dissent on the KELO case. ::sigh::

Is it the end of the world as we know it?!





A Letter of Resignation

The text of Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement letter to President Bush:

Dear President Bush:

This is to inform you of my decision to retire from my position as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
effective upon the nomination and confirmation of my successor. It has been a great privilege, indeed, to have served as a member of the court for 24 terms. I will leave it with enormous respect for the integrity of the court and its role under our constitutional structure.


Sincerely,

Sandra Day O'Connor


( Click here for MUCH more about SDOC, articles, pictures, links to listen to interviews, etc... )

Logan's Run, running commentary and analysis...

Watching Logan's Run... I had to get away from some dismal thoughts (see previous post) with an interesting science fiction story. I was going to watch Soylent Green which, by the way, I had NEVER seen. Unfortunately, not knowing of my ignorance, crabbyolbastard told me the crux of the story. The meaning behind the phrase Soylent Green is people that a Frank Black on Millennium had to use as a voice recognition password. GAH! That man.

One is terminated, one is born. That is the way it has always been. The time of renewal. Perfect.

Sandmen = Executioners/Hunters/Bounty Hunters? Gives a whole new meaning to The Big Sleep. It's been a long time since I've seen this. I've decided to give a running commentary. ::sticks tongue out::

I find it interesting that the Death March of all those people's "Last Day" is called carrousel. Circular shaped amphitheater, is it going to spin around the "lucky few" in the center, the one's to die? Interesting that they are robed/hooded/masked individuals. IT'S SPINNING! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

FLAME ON! (referring to the outfits they have on under the robes.) Dancing around as they start floating up into the air, like one of those null-gravity ballets. Dance of the flaming and exploding ghouls. The crowd chanting "Renew! Renew!"

OHHH! Instant decay foam spray! That's neat. Get me some for Christmas.

Putting yourself on the circuit... Interesting. Definitely a completely bisexual society. Apparently they must decant infants but then grow them much faster... Jessica, the woman he (Logan) claims to only be six. Wonder what their education is like - sleep modules?

QUESTION (the supercomputer, AI?) almost seems to be encouraging him to seek out the 1056 unaccounted for runners. She tells him of the Ankh, and Sanctuary, and that no one reaches Renewal. Authorized to search outside the seals of the city dome, seek out and destroy... He's set up (Retrogram) where she makes his crystal blink so that his cover (as a runner). DAMN! He's originally set up to be a Mole!

The Wilds, born of Breeders, running wild in the Cathedrals... What is that all about? Violent delinquents at the Cathedral Station, authorized personnel only. So it isn't a prefect society under the dome. Interesting. Well, it threw off my decanted and grown to adulthood theory, Jessica asked the little girl they encounter why she isn't with her "Nest Group." There's definitely no set nuclear parental units.

Haha! The little girl escaped the Cathedrals. And now, for the Farrah Fawcett Super Plastic Surgery Salon. Completely automated. The head plastic surgeon "doctor" is one of the conspiratists. OH! What a way to die! Sliced to ribbons by your own surgical machine! Oh! I just noticed, people must be wearing the same colors as their crystal shows, maybe the one is controlled by the other.

Now they're in a SEX HOUSE! OMG! Naked People! There must be something in the air, and there are all these aim and "shoot" devices that give you orgasms, or something. DAMN!

The place they're in now makes me think that they are between the walls of the rest of the facility. Kind of like a set of secret passages. Light topped spears with pain-fog releasing tips. Instructions from Sanctuary Conspiracy Leader: "Follow the conduit with the pipes overhead, there will be a lock with a message (airlock!) and after that there is no turning back." Heh.

SHIT! He betrayed them! Of course, the signaled them before he realized that this/they were not Sanctuary. What a bastard. Of course, he is only doing his duty, the Sacrificial Pig. I never realized. Damn it's been a long time since I watched this. The Ankh is the Key. Hrm. Aquaculture raceways! Neat! Must be the inner workings of the dome system. OH! An ancient elevator! I wonder... Yep, all the way outside, (or rather to the ice cave that I DO remember that leads them outside) and it's winter! I'm guessing they've never seen snow. Hrm, and ice carving of a walrus with skins left below them. And a machine to serve them?! Or just to baffle them? AGH! He froze a bunch of them, as food?! It is the refrigerator - called BOX (as in icebox?) - and he's got a cold sense of humor! HAHAHAHA!

Ahn regular caverns, with melting ice - they escape, and see their first sunrise!

"What is it?"
"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's warm."
"We must be outside!"

::cue waterfall cameo scene::

First night, in the woods... will there be SEX?! Heh. Damn, no sex their first night. But there is some skinny dipping second day, and their crystals go clear!

Subject of sex comes up during skinny dip, and she says, purposefully:

"The choice is still mine." ... with a slight hesitant question in her eyes and voice. "Of course." ... no hesitation but there is a hint of something, like he is considering it...

Oh! I totally forgot that it was Washington DC that they stumble upon in their quest for Sanctuary. Hrm. Wow. The Lincoln Memorial covered in vines. Ohhhhhh. Very impressive. Their very first encounter - in stone - of the look of being old. First encountering gravestones, confusion and wondering what the terms "husband" and "wife" mean.

Light and noise coming from a building - the Senate building - and lots of CATS! Yes! An old old man - who was an escaped runner from the city long ago. Jessica wants to touch the cracks in his face. He has no crystal in his hand - he was born outside of the dome. The last time I saw the Senate floor was when I was watching Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

"The naming of cats is a difficult manner. They have three names, their third name is known only to the cat."

Uh oh! Psycho Sandman... He's found them! And snatched Jessica while they weren't looking. Men reduced to scrabbling animals, fighting, to the death. Must. Kill. Defend. Self from Other. Kill.

"Logan... You're renewed!" First grave experience for those two. Primitive mating bond has taken hold of them, possessiveness. Journey back, bring the old man, who talks non-stop along the way... Neat. and he loves to put together rhymes, like Fezzik (Andre the Giant of WWF fame) from The Princess Bride. Old man explains marriage to them. They stay together, in love, having children, beloved husband, beloved wife, always dearly remembered. GAH! They're water for the power system are a tidal hydropower station. And what an interesting design! Hrm... So they jump in the pool... (minus the old guy who Logan tells to wait outside while they go in and try to get the people to come out to him) to try and get through and back into the city, having to remove grating gates. And they MAKE IT! Yay!

Back to the carrousel. "NOOOO! Don't go in there! No one has to die! You can live! Live and grow old! Look! Look! (holds up hand and crystal) It's clear! There's another world out there! Carrousel is a lie! There is no renewal!"

Back to QUESTION. Begin Surrogation. What is that? ... Surrogates engaged, INTERROGATE. Oh, interesting. QUESTION finds the answers Unacceptable. Input contrary... Unacceptable... Does not compute... QUESTION short circuits... Major fire-fight with the Sandmen... Destruction, Chaos, Explosions, Panic!! People trying to escape but not knowing where to go, running down inoperable escalators... How the HELL do they get outside?! Where the heck did the door appear??! They all see the old man... and approach him slowly... ::insert damn sappy music here::

Welcome to the wild world of old age and infirmity children... No more paradise, no more living with all your needs seen to by an automated bevy of machines... Uh... Yeah, that's a Happy Ending if I've ever seen one. Back to women being beholden to their reproductive systems, the "bonds" of matrimony, no laws, no technology of any kind and no way to produce any in the near future, even if they can find books about anything. What a DISMAL ending. I wonder how many will die when the first winter hits. Then there is disease, predators, etc. Well, at least they'll have pet cats...


Next on the hit-parade... SOYLENT GREEN.

Local Folks, Pay attention now... Never Mind.

( the following announcement is no longer valid. I was sent an email refusing my choice of dates, which might not be working out for me anyhow... There was an insistence to hold the event on next weekend (7/8-710) so that they could get another ACTION organized in the near future after that. Ah well. Better luck next time. Maybe I'll just start up a Progressive Movie Night of my own, on my own, thank you very much! )

Funny thing is, we already own most of the films mentioned. Whatever we don't have we can get from NetFlix right quick. There will be snacks and drinks, some of them maybe provided by you. There will be music, background, when the film isn't playing. I'm assuming there will be discussion afterwards, I'm not sure if there is any "guided questions" of any sort sponsored by MoveOn. I'm still waiting for the full information package to arrive in my email. Okay, that's all set, I'll check it all out tomorrow.

Let's do this people! MYAH!