More Yard Work and Podcasts

Today was a carbon copy of yesterday but I actually finished doing yard work, every weed or at least all the ones I could find have been pulled or cut down. Our next big project is preventing weeds from growing. We can't spray because we drink the ground water so Harry and I were thinking of digging up all of our rock roads and laying down plastic (weed barrier) and then placing the rock back over it.. that way water can get through and into the ground but weeds can not grow. It will take a while to do all our roads but in the end it will be well worth the effort and time.

I also finished another podcast KOTG CompanionCast S4E3 which is due to be released on Wednesday August 4th. Would really like to get up to Episode 6 done by the end of the week. Just hope I have enough material to make some good podcasts.

Size Matters Not

Finally got the autobiography of Warwick Davis; Size Matters Not. This came out a few months ago in England but not in the States (at least I haven't been able to find it). So I went to his website and he was selling them and you could have them personally signed as well, which I did of course. And a few weeks later it arrived.

If you don't know who Warwick Davis is, his big roles were Wicket in Star Wars, Willow in Willow and Professor Flitwick in Harry Potter among many other cool movies and tv shows. I've been a big fan of his ever since Willow, for it's one of my all time favorite fantasy movies.

I can't wait to sit down and start reading about his very interesting life.

I Am...

Read this on a Facebook group called "Homosexuality is NOT a choice, but homophobia is."had to share it with you all.

• I am the boy who never finished high school, because I got called a fag every day.

• I am the girl kicked out of her home because I confided in my mother that I am a lesbian.

• I am the guy that lives on the streets because I am scared to go home.

• I am the prostitute working the streets because I can't find anybody who will hire a transsexual woman.

• I am the sister who holds her gay brother tight through the painful, tear-filled nights.

• We are the parents who buried our daughter long before her time.

• I am the man who died alone in the hospital because they would not let my partner of twenty-seven years into the room.

• I am the foster child who wakes up with nightmares of being taken away from the two fathers who are the only loving family I have ever had. I wish they could adopt me.

• I am one of the lucky ones, I guess. I survived the attack that left me in a coma for three weeks, and in another year I will probably be able to walk again.

• I am not one of the lucky ones. I killed myself just weeks before graduating high school. It was simply too much to bear.

• I am the child that dreams of seeing my mum again. The courts won’t let me because she lives with another woman.

• I am the man who fears that I will never be able to be myself, to be free of this secret because I won’t risk loosing my family and friends.

• We are the couple who had the realtor hang up on us when she found out we wanted to rent a one-bedroom for two men.

• I am the mother who is not allowed to even visit the children I bore, nursed, and raised. The court says I am an unfit mother because I now live with another woman.

• I am the domestic-violence survivor who found the support system grow suddenly cold and distant when they found out my abusive partner is also a woman.

• I am the brother that gets called a fag just because my brother isn’t ashamed of who he is.

• I am the father who has never hugged his son because I grew up afraid to show affection to other men.

• I am the girl that was raped behind my school because some stranger wanted to teach me to be a “real woman”.

• I am the guy down the street that can’t get a disability pension because my partner is a man.

• I am the woman who died when the paramedics stopped treating me because they found out I didn't have a female body.

• I am the man that is afraid of losing his job, for expressing his true identity.

• I am the mother that sees my son come home from school every day in tears because the other kids call him a girl.

• I am the celebrity that wishes I could tell the world who I am, but I'm too scared.

• I am the domestic-violence survivor who has no support system to turn to because I am male.

• I am the person who feels guilty because I think I could be a much better person if I didn’t have to always deal with society hating me.

• I am the Youth Worker that sees hundreds of kids thrown out of home because they were honest with their families.

• I am the girl that struggles to get up in the morning because school is so cruel to me.

• I am the footballer scared to come out because I might lose my contract.

• I am the boy that always wanted a Barbie, but no one would let me have one.

• I am the person who has to hide what this world needs most: love.

• I am the person ashamed to tell my own friends I’m a lesbian, because they constantly make fun of them.

• I am the boy tied to a fence, beaten to a bloody pulp and left to die because two straight men wanted to “teach me a lesson”.

We are all around you. We are the millions that want the hate to end.

Soulmates

I turned on the News and the show Bones was just finishing up and the leads were having a discussion on Soulmates and Bones quoted where the word Soulmates came from and I always liked the idea of being split in two and having "another" half out there (guess it's the romantic in me) but never knew where it came from so I looked it up.

Got this from Wiki : One story about soulmates, presented by Aristophanes in Plato's Symposium, is that humans originally consisted of four arms, four legs, and a single head made of two faces, but Zeus feared their power and split them all in half, condemning them to spend their lives searching for the other half to complete them:

[Primeval man] could walk upright as men now do, backwards or forwards as he pleased, and he could also roll over and over at a great pace, turning on his four hands and four feet, eight in all, like tumblers going over and over with their legs in the air; this was when he wanted to run fast …Terrible was their might and strength, and the thoughts of their hearts were great, and they made an attack upon the gods ... Doubt reigned in the celestial councils. Should they kill them and annihilate the race with thunderbolts, as they had done the giants, then there would be an end of the sacrifices and worship which men offered to them; but, on the other hand, the gods could not suffer their insolence to be unrestrained. At last, after a good deal of reflection, Zeus discovered a way. He said: 'I have a plan which will humble their pride and improve their manners; men shall continue to exist, but I will cut them in two and then they will be diminished in strength and increased in numbers; this will have the advantage of making them more profitable to us. They shall walk upright on two legs, and if they continue insolent and will not be quiet, I will split them again and they shall hop about on a single leg.'

—Aristophanes, Plato’s Symposium,

Yard Work and Podcasts

Today I went back and forth with doing yard work and working on several podcasts.

Started the day with working on some Knights of the Guild business, emails, donations etc... I started to work on several Podcasts (Microcast 20 - Quest for SDCC, CompanionCasts 3,4,5, and 6) but as I started Avid I decided to head outside to get some yard work done. I have been putting it off since I got back from vacation and it really needs to be done. Though I was ready to edit podcasts today a spark of motivation got me outside for the next two hour pulling weeds and trimming trees.

Once I was back in I went and got lunch for Harry and I. Once that was over I sat down to record the intro and outro for Microcast 20. Also did an audio comment on The Temple of Doom for a friends podcast, Treks in Sci Fi.

I finally started to edit Microcast 20 and a few hours later it was done. I started the conversion process, which can take hours so in between processes I went back out several times and did more yard work until it was too dark to see. I did manage to get 2/3's of the yard work done and I will finish it tomorrow for sure. Also I finished Microcast 20 but haven't even started any of the CompanionCasts which bummed me out as I was really hoping to get more of them done by now.. oh well I always have tomorrow where it looks like I'll be doing the same thing.. yard work and podcasting.

Be Naked

Clothes are great, makeup is even greater.

But style is about how you feel in your body.

No makeup, no clothes

Just you and your lovely skin-

free and feeling.

"And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet

and the winds long to play with your hair"

- Khalil Gibran

<3

Claire

p.s. i love freckles

10 Craziest Tattoos

Tattoos have always been a tradition method of self-expression. But sometimes that self-expression expresses just a little too much and many times you just have to wonder what people were thinking when they decided to get these tattoos.
10.

To Do List Tattoo

Now this is an interesting tattoo but I think that eventually it may become a tattoo that they will regret. As someone who has a wrist tattoo having something that you are going to see almost constantly every day it really has to be something important and personal. But just maybe this tattoo will keep it’s novelty and be cool to the person who has it. At least I really hope so.

9. Six Pack Tattoo

I suppose if you know that you’re never going to get in shape then this might be a good idea seeing as it will be the closest thing you will ever get to a six pack. Though I think it also gives new meaning to the phrase “beer gut.” Sometimes you got to think about the reason people get tattoos because like other tattoos this is only funny the first time you see it.

8. I See You Tattoo

This is another unique tattoo that really I cannot understand why someone would get it. Sure I mean you do it once and it is kinda funny and it will definitely catch you off guard. But after that it gets old rather quick, so I think that the goal of this tattoo is to constantly keep meeting new people. Once again I think I can respect it but I think in the long run this could be a rather silly tattoo.

7. Cow Tattoo

Now there are a number of tattoos that utilize holes in the body in order to add another dimension to their tattoo. Many of the more disturbing and unique ones, use holes that well I was not comfortable sharing pictures of. Turning the belly button into an anus has become a… shall I say “popular” bizarre tattoo as I have seen it done with a few different animals. This is possibly the best of the worst but many of them I have seen with cats.

6 Alien Tattoo

This is a truly impressive tattoo and this would really make anyone double take when you walked by. This is a bizarre but really cool tattoo and unlike some of the others on this list I really don’t think there is too much to complain about. I would really like to hear the story behind this tattoo though and I would also like to see people’s first reactions when they see him walking by.

5. Zombie Boy Tattoo

This is a tattoo that I can respect because it takes a great deal of dedication (and apparently more than 24 hours and thousands of dollars) to turn yourself into a zombie. Now I personally do have a passion for something great enough to tattoo my entire body with it, so I think it is impressive that this guy does. But then again he might be a poster child for being overly obsessive about something…either way this is one really bizarre tattoo.

6 Baby on Board Tattoo

This tattoo is really bizarre on so many levels. First I don’t think getting a tattoo while pregnant is the best idea. Second, do they realize that eventually the baby will come out and that the tattoo won’t make sense anymore. Though I truly believe that having a child and being pregnant is something that is perfectly inspiration for a child, I would hope that it would have a bit more meaning and something more personal that this one

2. Legs Tattoo

Here is a tattoo that gets props for being creative but I’m not sure this is the type of creativity that is going to make him very popular with the ladies. After all who wants to date a man that has turned his armpit into a… well a… you know. I wonder if all of his guy friends thought this was brilliant or stupid because I could see a guy going either way on this one, a girl on the other hand…not so much.

2. Breakfast Anyone? Tattoo

Now you have to really love your eggs over easy with bacon and hashbrowns in order to get this tattoo. Bald heads are great places to get unique tattoos and I have seen plenty cool and unique ones. I will grant that this one is unique, but I really think that it is unique for a reason… Honestly I can’t understand the justification for a tattoo like this and I would really like to hear it.

1. Digit Tattoo

This tattoo is perhaps the most disturbing that I have ever seen and I’m not even sure why. I mean to make your arm look like a giant finger is undoubtedly creative, and if we’re being honest people are probably going to stare anyway, so why not give them something to really look at. But still I find this tattoo as creepy as it is creative.
If you decide to get your own tattoo make sure it is something that you can truly see yourself appreciating for the rest of your life. If you don’t like tattoos remember that not all tattoos are just to look silly or strange, some of them are very important and personal to the people who get them and that is something that should be respected. In the meantime enjoy the art!

Amazing 3D Tattoos

A tattoo artist Lane Jensen, 30, came up a creative idea to give silicone breast implants to his cowgirl tattoo in order to make “her” looks shapely. Unfortunately two weeks later, his body rejected them.

“My body just rejected it. I guess my girl wasn’t meant to have 3D breasts,” he said. “I thought it would make for good promotion. Augmenting tattoos with implants is becoming very popular,” said Jensen.

Lane Jensen, who is the co-owner of Dragon FX tattoo and body piercing shop at Kingsway Garden Mall, has more than 20 tattoos on his body and the sexy cowgirl tattoo on his left leg was done three years ago.

A friend of Jensen, Brian Decker, who is also a New York-based micro-dermal surgeon, performed the implant procedure on him. But two weeks later, the sutures split and lymphatic fluid drained from Jensen’s leg.

Jensen said, “there was so much fluid in there. I went back to the studio and pushed on it gently – the implant shot right out. The surgery was done in ideal conditions and Decker did a perfect job. It just goes to show you some people’s bodies won’t tolerate foreign objects.

“The body rejects 20% of them, no matter what kind of implant it is, how safely it’s done, or how skilled the surgeon or artist is. A lot of places won’t tell you rejection rates before you buy $10,000 implants to stuff inside your body.

Oxfords? With Flowers? And Sequins?

Kinda feeling these crazy oxfords from Forever21... what do you guys think?!

Oh p.s., they're 25 bucks. ;)

-B

Style Profile: Max & Gavia

Living in the Northwest practically endows its residents with a quirky sense of style

(okay, that's a gross exaggeration/stereotype, but it has some truth).

I went to high school with a lovely lady named Gavia who you will see in the the following pictures. Gavia has one of the most distinctive styles of any human being living on this planet. Her clothes are a lovely mix of old and new, with styles spanning more decades than she has been alive. I have always respected her quiet confidence, one that allows her to humbly pull off basically anything she chooses.

Her beau mister Max Reikosky is a male mirror image of Gavia.

Let's just say he's got a cool Northwest steez goin for him.

We had a little photoshoot yesterday because I'd like to share with all our readers (all 5? 10 of you? we love you :D) some styles that both stand out and are understatedly cool. Enjoy!

On Gavia: gifted dress; gifted boots; leather hair-band.

On Max: Vintage Reebok tank from The Patch in Victoria, CA; cut off Levi's; Black H&M beach shoes; gifted sunnies.

On Gavia: top stolen from Mrs. Angell; pants from Buffalo Exchange; Jacket borrowed from sister; shoes from Buffalo Exchange.

On Max: t-shirt from Value Village; jeans from H&M; pea coat from H&M; blue sneakers.

On Gavia: lace tank from Goodwill; pants from H&M; Doc Martins from Buffalo Exchange; sweater from local consignment shop.

On Max: flannel from Old Navy; Imaginary Foundation t-shirt; Levi's jeans; Sperry Topsiders boat shoes.

-B

Wild Fires Everywhere

Stange Body Modification and Body Piercings From Around the World

People get piercings for every reason, from tradition all the way to rebellion. Different kinds of piercings can be found all around the world, but one thing that we can be sure of is that piercings from some countries are unique and very bizarre.

The woman shown above is Brazilian lady Elaine Davidson, who currently holds the world record for being the most pierced woman in the world. She has 720 piercings and counting. She currently lives in Scotland

Rather than getting piercings that excel in quantity, sometimes the bizarre factor is accentuated in quality. The Vegetarian Festival in Phuket, Thailand involves the extreme piercing of Ma Song or religious devotees to the festivals, who stick everything from swords to bikes in their cheeks. They do this so they can shift evil from the community onto themselves.


Luis Aguero from Havana, Cuba was previously the most pierced man in the world. He has 230 piercings, and 175 are on his face alone!


In Africa, earlobe stretching is a custom within the Maasai tribe, located in Kenya and Northern Tanzania. This kind of stretching is more common amongst the women than the men of the tribe. They often use stones, thorns, and twigs to create these piercings, and to begin the stretching.


In northwest India, the Meghwal women show their status with their nose piercings. Married women often wear gold nose rings, and the size of the nose ring shows their status in society. The bigger the nose ring is, the more important they are in their society.

In the United States, piercings are mostly used for simply aesthetic purposes rather than for tradition or custom. The girl above has vertical labret piercings, and a nose piercing. As piercings are becoming more and more acceptable in society, and the professional environment, more and more Americans are getting piercings. Although it may look bizarre to some, to the people who choose this path, it is a way of life, and what they believe. To them piercings mean more than just holes in their bodies filled with metal - they symbolise tradition, decoration, and custom.

Clash of the Titans Review

Both Harry and I wanted to see this movie when it came out this summer but because of vacations and schedules we weren't able to.. so when I read that it was coming out on DVD this week I knew I had to pick it up. Last night with our friend Thomas from Ireland we watched it and again I have to ask, as I did with The Last Airbender, why was there so much negative feedback for this movie. Now I know folks complained about the 3D as this was one of those films that was changed to 3D afterwards but if I did see this in the theater I wouldn't have seen it in 3D anyways.

I thought the SFX were cool, the story was the same as the original with a few tweaks and additional characters. The action scenes were fun and entertaining.I really enjoyed the 3 witch scene the make up was awesome, and the Medusa scene was well done. They even had a cameo of my favorite metal owl Bubo. I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It was one of those fun entertaining roller coaster popcorn summer movie and I'm glad I got it on Blu-ray so I can watch it again and again in the future.

Knights of the Guild Ep 18 pt2

Show Notes:

Here it is Episode 18 part 2 of Knights of the Guild. We hope you enjoy it.

Today’s show features:

• * First up we have a Classic Vorkism
• * We are recording this weeks podcast live on set of The Guild’s “GAME ON” music video
• * We discuss Behind the Scenes of Season 3 Episode 6 - Newbtastic
• * We have another great fan interview with Ben Terrill (Fan, Extra, Volunteer)

• * We have another installment of Guild Something with Sean Becker
• * Listener Feedback
• * We thank our donors.
• * Then Business Time (We continue to use contest submissions, Thanks Higlet, Mike, Jennifer, Osiroman, David, Donica, Jerod, and Nas)
• * Then our Good byes

Thank you again for all your support, we do this podcast because we are fans and more importantly for the fans.

Kenny & Jenni

Other Important Links

• Knights of the Guild Feeds/Downloads http://knightsoftheguild.com
• Knights of the Guild Daily Blog http://knightsoftheguildpodcast.blogspot.com/

Vasquez Rocks, Islands and Titans

Today a friend of mine from Ireland came over to visit. I meet Thomas at Comic Con last year and continued to talk through out the year. This year at Comic Con we got to hang out alot more and had some really good times. He came back up to Los Angeles for a few days before heading back home and today he spent it with Harry and I.

We took him to Vasquez Rock for a mild hike, then to Islands for some yummy burgers. We got back to our place and I interviewed him for my Knights of the Guild podcast for the fan portion of it. We then had some delicious cupcakes that he bought for us and finally we sat down to watch Clash of the Titan's which I just purchased on Blu-ray.

It was a fun night, we got to know Thomas a little better and we are happy he spent his last "full" day here in LA with us. Safe travels Thomas.. see you soon.

Crazy Photos of a Baby Sleeping

Wonderful photo series by Adele Enersen, a copywriter on a maternity leave, features pictures of her sleeping baby girl dressed up in cute outfits. Enjoy!

Space Odyssey 2010

Bookworm

Superbaby

Surfer Girl

Rain of Roses

Elephant Rider

Circus

Nirvana

Top 10 Most strange Accidents in History

Throughout history, humans have always been prone to accidents. Some, such as the exotic car crashes seen on this page, can be very expensive. But that's trivial compared to the truly expensive accidents. An accident is defined as "an undesirable or unfortunate happening that occurs unintentionally and usually results in harm, injury, damage, or loss". Our aim is to list the top 10 most expensive accidents in the history of the world as measured in dollars. This includes property damage and expenses incurred related to the accident such as cleanup and industry losses. Many of these accidents involve casualties which obviously cannot be measured in dollar terms. Each life lost is priceless and is not factored into the equation. Deliberate actions such as war or terrorism and natural disasters do not qualify as accidents and therefore are not included in this list.
10. Titanic - $150 Million

The sinking of the Titanic is possibly the most famous accident in the world. But it barely makes our list of top 10 most expensive. On April 15, 1912, the Titanic sank on its maiden voyage and was considered to be the most luxurious ocean liner ever built. Over 1,500 people lost their lives when the ship ran into an iceberg and sunk in frigid waters. The ship cost $7 million to build ($150 million in today's dollars).

9. Tanker Truck vs Bridge - $358 Million

On August 26, 2004, a car collided with a tanker truck containing 32,000 liters of fuel on the Wiehltal Bridge in Germany. The tanker crashed through the guardrail and fell 90 feet off the A4 Autobahn resulting in a huge explosion and fire which destroyed the load-bearing ability of the bridge. Temporary repairs cost $40 million and the cost to replace the bridge is estimated at $318 Million.
8. MetroLink Crash - $500 Million

On September 12, 2008, in what was one of the worst train crashes in California history, 25 people were killed when a Metrolink commuter train crashed head-on into a Union Pacific freight train in Los Angeles. It is thought that the Metrolink train may have run through a red signal while the conductor was busy text messaging. Wrongful death lawsuits are expected to cause $500 million in losses for Metrolink.

7. B-2 Bomber Crash - $1.4 Billion

Here we have our first billion dollar accident (and we're only #7 on the list). This B-2 stealth bomber crashed shortly after taking off from an air base in Guam on February 23, 2008. Investigators blamed distorted data in the flight control computers caused by moisture in the system. This resulted in the aircraft making a sudden nose-up move which made the B-2 stall and crash. This was 1 of only 21 ever built and was the most expensive aviation accident in history. Both pilots were able to eject to safety.
The crash was captured on video. It shows one B-2 Bomber successfully taking off followed by the B-2 Bomber which crashes. The crash starts at 2:00
6. Exxon Valdez - $2.5 Billion

The Exxon Valdez oil spill was not a large one in relation to the world's biggest oil spills, but it was a costly one due to the remote location of Prince William Sound (accessible only by helicopter and boat). On March 24, 1989, 10.8 million gallons of oil was spilled when the ship's master, Joseph Hazelwood, left the controls and the ship crashed into a Reef. The cleanup cost Exxon $2.5 billion.



5. Piper Alpha Oil Rig - $3.4 Billion

The world's worst off-shore oil disaster. At one time, it was the world's single largest oil producer, spewing out 317,000 barrels of oil per day. On July 6, 1988, as part of routine maintenance, technicians removed and checked safety valves which were essential in preventing dangerous build-up of liquid gas. There were 100 identical safety valves which were checked. Unfortunately, the technicians made a mistake and forgot to replace one of them. At 10 PM that same night, a technician pressed a start button for the liquid gas pumps and the world's most expensive oil rig accident was set in motion.

Within 2 hours, the 300 foot platform was engulfed in flames. It eventually collapsed, killing 167 workers and resulting in $3.4 Billion in damages.
4. Challenger Explosion - $5.5 Billion

The Space Shuttle Challenger was destroyed 73 seconds after takeoff due on January 28, 1986 due to a faulty O-ring. It failed to seal one of the joints, allowing pressurized gas to reach the outside. This in turn caused the external tank to dump its payload of liquid hydrogen causing a massive explosion. The cost of replacing the Space Shuttle was $2 billion in 1986 ($4.5 billion in today's dollars). The cost of investigation, problem correction, and replacement of lost equipment cost $450 million from 1986-1987 ($1 Billion in today's dollars).
3. Prestige Oil Spill - $12 Billion

On November 13, 2002, the Prestige oil tanker was carrying 77,000 tons of heavy fuel oil when one of its twelve tanks burst during a storm off Galicia, Spain. Fearing that the ship would sink, the captain called for help from Spanish rescue workers, expecting them to take the ship into harbour. However, pressure from local authorities forced the captain to steer the ship away from the coast. The captain tried to get help from the French and Portuguese authorities, but they too ordered the ship away from their shores. The storm eventually took its toll on the ship resulting in the tanker splitting in half and releasing 20 million gallons oil into the sea.

According to a report by the Pontevedra Economist Board, the total cleanup cost $12 billion.
2. Space Shuttle Columbia - $13 Billion

The Space Shuttle Columbia was the first space worthy shuttle in NASA's orbital fleet. It was destroyed during re-entry over Texas on February 1, 2003 after a hole was punctured in one of the wings during launch 16 days earlier. The original cost of the shuttle was $2 Billion in 1978. That comes out to $6.3 Billion in today's dollars. $500 million was spent on the investigation, making it the costliest aircraft accident investigation in history. The search and recovery of debris cost $300 million.

In the end, the total cost of the accident (not including replacement of the shuttle) came out to $13 Billion according to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
1. Chernobyl - $200 Billion

On April 26, 1986, the world witnessed the costliest accident in history. The Chernobyl disaster has been called the biggest socio-economic catastrophe in peacetime history. 50% of the area of Ukraine is in some way contaminated. Over 200,000 people had to be evacuated and resettled while 1.7 million people were directly affected by the disaster. The death toll attributed to Chernobyl, including people who died from cancer years later, is estimated at 125,000. The total costs including cleanup, resettlement, and compensation to victims has been estimated to be roughly $200 Billion. The cost of a new steel shelter for the Chernobyl nuclear plant will cost $2 billion alone. The accident was officially attributed to power plant operators who violated plant procedures and were ignorant of the safety requirements needed.