The Selfish One

Trying to keep things together, the cold breeze flows heavy bringing back memories of a dark past subsided deep below the events that currently take over all feelings.

Not able to move quickly, the breeze gets stronger and fierce. Feeling this, unable to continue on forward without being pushed where the wind wills me to go. The boat begins to pick up momentum and the current gets stronger.

Unable to control rudder, a rock hits the starboard side of the front hull. Ripping through the wood like a hot knife through butter.

Slowly the sinking the ship gets engulfed by the water and the boat starts to tip. As the crew hits the rapids, the opportunity rises and you take it. Grabbing the closet floatation device avaliable, you hit the cold water as the ship nearly is ripped apart behind you. Tossing and turning through the water, trying to ditch as many rocks as possible. Unaware of what exactly happened, breathing in and out steadily with water constantly hitting your face. Not but thirty seconds after the ship went down, the rain begins to fall. Slicing through the air. Hitting the river hard, filling it faster. As the current takes you miles and miles further from your crashsite, you become incohernent with your surroundings. Wondering when this will end, if you will live through this or die drowning. Anything is possible at this point. As the branch comes closer, you ready your arms. Lifting them as high as possible, it whips into your hands piercing the skin and causing your hands to bleed purfusely. Trying as hard as possible, just barely being able to pull your weakened body from the rapids, you manage to get to the rock just above. Laying there for a moment, trying not to pass out you start to hear a person calling for help in the distance. Trying to stand on the rock, unable to see two feet in front of you. Trying to find your way to land, the slippery rock doesn't help much. Stumbling up the rock to the edge the river bank by feeling every peice of dirt, just barely able to hit the land you pass out from exhaustion.

As the light begins to touch your moist cheecks, the warmth of the sun begins to overwhelm your face. Waking up slowly, you finally get to your feet after numerous trys. Feeling up the tree trunk, pulling your torso up towards the tree you begin to grasp your perception of reality again. Looking along the overfilled river, debree from the ship is everywhere. Crates of fruit, clothing and other priceless merchandise hit the banks of the river. The crew is gone. No sign on anyone, anywhere. Somewhere in the Amazon, the fruitfull forest behind you loud and alive begins to engulf your hearing. Birds chirping loudly. Filling the air with their native language. While walking along the bank of the river, you start to see a few bodies. Mangled by the crocs, what shreds of tissue and muscle barely attached to the bone are strueded about the rocks. Picking up the biggest peice of wood you can find, continuing along down the river trying to find any sort of friendly life signs. This didn't turn out anything like you hoped. The crew was suppose to die, but you weren't suppose to be stuck like this. Where is she at? Thinking about your lovely slave of a women you stole from the last city you plundered. Amazonian pirates, the locals call you. Going from one city to another stealing, raping, killing as many people as possible. No regard for human life. No regard for feelings. With what little food you are able to find along the river, a nice fire sounds nice. Nothing to use produce flame is anywhere to be seen. The situation isn't getting any better at this point.

After miles and miles of walking, every crew member has been accounted for and have perished in the river. After picking up the sword of your first mate, you start to slash and hack through the jungle. Following the sun for guidance. As it begins to go down, sleeping in the moonlight starts feel less and less appealing.

Struggling on to find the village, a huge croc comes out of the river. Before panic begins to set in, you begin to remember the last time this happened you had a gun. Running as fast as possible the croc starts to chase you through the bayou. Pounding the grass as hard as you can, running in wavy format the croc starts to back off. Not realizing it, you turn to look behind for it and fall right of the edge. Falling fast, the site below is terrible. Hitting hard, the head nearly explodes on the sharp rocks below. As the blood pushes through the scalp, the warmth hits your face once again. Is this it? I'm not giving up this easy. Trying to sit up, ripping the shirt of your back you wrap it around your head to stop the bleeding. Just off in the distance is a small village. A dock with a fishing boat just nearby begins to look very appealing to the eyes. Trying to swim over, the nausia sets in from the slight concusion that had just hit hard. Climbing up the dock, an old man begins to grab your blooded hands. Helping you into his home, passing out yet again the man starts to tend to the wounds. Weeks pass by before your able to even move. Not knowing your intentions, the man cares for you like his own son. One day, working on the boat....the man comes in contact with the fully healed version of your old self. Stabbing him repeatidely, he goes down fast. Dumping the body just a few miles from his last breathe, hitting the river hard again. Starting over for the fifth time this year with nothing but a stolen boat, a rusty sword, and a thurst for blood.

To be continued.....

Imported Beers

So yeah I love Heineken. It goes down soooo smooth. Also, it really goes well with hamburgers. One of my favorites though, New Castle. Fantastic dark beer that slips down the with ease, nearly as easy as breathing. Goes great with hamburgers too. Just thought I'd let you know.

Que Pasa

Hate to complain but it's a damn shame. Que Pasa, what's happening right? What's happening here is exactly what I was thinking. What's happening, is everyone is freaking deaf. While attempting to walk towards our booth, we were set all the way across the restaurant all by ourselves. Usually in most cases, this would be cool to be alone in a quaint area of the restaurant. Except for the fact that we didn't have enough silverware, drinks were warm, beer was hardly even cold, I got the wrong burrito, the food was bland, we had to repeat every single thing we said at least three times. This became very annoying. So it's my decision, loving mexican food and mexicans :).....that I give Que Pasa 1 star out of 5. Horrible is all I can say, I didn't even want to take it home with me.

Willy and Jose's on the other hand, I give 5 out of 5 stars. This is located in Sam's Town of Las Vegas. Fantastic service, super fresh food, chips are great, even fresh dip.



For sushi I recommend the famous Makino located in the outlets mall or on Decatur and Flamingo. The food is freshly prepared right before the doors open at 11:30am, then closes at 2:30pm so that they can clear all the food out and prepare again for dinner. At $14.95, the lunch is perfect. Dinner though is $21.95 and only includes a few more entree's than lunch. I give lunch 5 out of 5 stars for sure!

some shots i obtained

WILSON!

Starting from a ball of masking tape, this orange head slowly morphed into th computer tech version of WILSON. Representing the United States and ready to take phone calls.

"Oh shit son" he says......oh shit son is right.

Seeing the reflection of the tree that hang tall over me brought a smile to my face.



Seeing this, incorporating myself into such a beautiful backdrop would be utter bliss.

Another article I found...

www.abc.net.au/.../2006/1718575.htm?ancient



A new paper has inflamed the debate over the hobbit's origins, with one researcher criticising the scientific journal that published the research.

A paper in today's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) is the second this year to conclude that the hobbit is just a sick human.

Indonesian researcher Professor Teuku Jacob, from Gadjah Mada University, and an international team argue that the hobbit is a microcephalic pygmy rather than a new species of hominid.

"All the odd things about it aren't things which indicate another species," says co-author and anatomist Dr Alan Thorne, a visiting fellow at the Australian National University.

"It happens to be an individual [human] with major, probably genetic, deformities."

Thorne says the team reached its conclusions by comparing 140 anatomical features of the hobbit specimens with those of human specimens.

He says none of these features were outside the normal range for humans, in particular Australomelanesians, which is his research speciality.

Thorne says previous comparisons of the hobbit had been with inappropriate western European populations.

Study and journal criticised

But two of the original Australian discoverers of the hobbit, Professor Peter Brown and Professor Mike Morwood from the University of New England, have lashed out at the researchers, rejecting arguments put forward in the latest paper.

Brown also criticises the journal itself for publishing the research.

Brown says the paper's conclusions are "unsupported by any published evidence" and that the paper makes "misleading comments" about previously published papers.

Australian National University taxonomist Professor Colin Groves, who was not involved in the research, also rejects the PNAS paper.

"Most of their claims of pathology are not substantial," says Groves, who has a paper due out in the Journal of Human Evolution rejecting the microcephaly theory.

Unethical conduct?



Brown says putting aside the scientific argument itself, PNAS should not have published the research because of what he says is the research team's "unethical scientific practice", a claim the authors reject.


Peter Brown with a replica of the hobbit skull (Image: Anna Salleh)
One of the sticking points is whether correct permission was obtained to study the precious hobbit bones.

The PNAS article states that the researchers were permitted to study the hobbit materials in accordance with a research agreement between the Indonesian National Research Centre of Archaeology and the University of New England.

But Brown and Morwood say the researchers breached the agreement by removing the material from the archaeology centre in Jakarta before the Australian researchers had managed to complete their analysis.

It was removed without the agreement of both parties and without any conditions for proper credit, says Morwood.

Brown is also critical that Thorne had a flight to Indonesia paid for by an Australian TV company to examine the material.

But Thorne says there's nothing improper about this.

"The fact that my fares were paid by a television company is simply a function of the fact that I'm now retired and someone wants to pay my airfares I'm not going to knock it back," he says.

Brown also says the material was damaged beyond repair while being studied.

Thorne says he didn't see the material after it was returned from Jacob's lab but when he saw it, it was in fine condition.

Scientists behaving badly or a misunderstanding?

Overall, Brown thinks the conduct of the PNAS authors amounts to bad behaviour.

"I can't think of a more extreme example of unethical scientific practice," says Brown, "For PNAS to reward their behaviour casts aspersions on the journal."

Thorne says he doesn't understand the claim. He says he was invited to look at the material by Jacob, whom Thorne had met many times over his decades of research in Indonesia.

"There was nothing unethical about that at all," he says, adding that the PNAS paper had five referees, including experts in anatomy, pathology, growth and development.

Journal stands by its paper

A spokesperson for the journal confirms the article was peer-reviewed prior to submission and also by a member of the PNAS editorial board before being accepted for publication.

PNAS declined to comment on Brown's allegations, instead referring ABC Science Online's questions to the study authors.

London’s Lewdest Etchings

April 5, 2006

Number 27: Window of the Albert Tavern

http://www.londonist.com




This charming little boozer can be found at 52 Victoria Street. Or should that be Victoria’s treat? For if you look closely at the frosted windows, you’ll notice a blatant representation of what we presume is the late consort’s penis. The august member is artfully depicted at the moment of discharge, with a stream of manspatter tastefully woven into a delicate melange of foliage and woodland scenery. The lithographic loins of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha also bear a couple of ambiguous circular marks – perhaps symbolising the eponymous, though probably apocryphal, Prince Albert piercing. The royal family’s blood might not be blue, but its windows certainly are.

Posted by M@ in Food and Drink , Local London | Link | Comments (1) | Recommend this! | [+]

Argument leads to gutting, death, prison term

Look what I found!

http://www.londonist.com

July 19, 2006


A DRUNKEN chef who left his colleague's guts hanging out after stabbing him in the stomach has been jailed for nine years... Thiyagarajah Thirukkamaran had been drinking heavily when he plunged a 12in carving knife into 32-year-old Thavarasa Nallathamby's stomach, the Old Bailey heard. Mr Nallathamby died after suffering massive blood loss and a heart attack two days after a drunken fight between the two men.
The chef was on his second bottle of brandy when the argument erupted.

As it turns out high on the list of things you don't want to say to a drunk wielding a 12" carving knife is "If you want to stab, stab, let's see." - not unless the next thing you want to be saying is "My gut is hanging out."

Posted by Mike in Food and Drink , London news | Link | Comments (0) | Recommend this! | [+]

:)