ants, pt 2

I noticed an ant twitching today. While I don't like to see any
living creature in pain, I am relieved that the ant poison I have put
down seems to be working.

I don't see any ants tonight as I go into the kitchen. I'm sure I'll
see some more soon enough but this may be a sign that the ant poison
is working. (I did just see an ant by the computer. What they are
doing there I have no idea.)

killing ants

Ants have reappeared in my kitchen and bathroom, and the occasional
one is seen near or on me as I sit in my chair. It's one of the signs
of spring.

I had a bad infestation of ants last year. Lasted from spring through
most of the summer. I laid barriers of baking soda by my kitchen
sink, the counter-tops all around and the baseboards. It worked well
by the baseboards. After pouring it all along the baseboards, the
ants stopped finding the cat food. That wasn't the case on the
counter-tops. They bothered me all summer there.

And that is what I am faced with now. My current technique to deal
with them is to wet a sponge, sweep them up with that and then rinse
the sponge under the faucet. This usually makes the ants fall into
the running water although sometimes I have to squeeze the sponge to
get them all out. The ants get washed down the drain in theory (out
of sight, out of mind being the rationale behind that) but many climb
back up out of the sink. I sweep them with a sponge again. And lately
I am thinking that my squeezing the sponge hard enough might kill
them or injure them. The temperature of the water too should be
considered. Too hot or cold will kill them,

It bothers me as I kill them. My heart feels a little ache each time
I do anything about it. I am intentionally killing them all. I don't
like that. When more come back again and again (different ants,
probably not the same ones) I get aggravated and sweep them up with
anger, feeling less guilty. But here I am, killing many live
creatures. The Jains don't like to kill germs. I don't like to kill
ants.

I probably will get some real toxic commercial spray since other
approaches haven't worked for me. I'll have to be careful it doesn't
harm the cat.

I guess I prefer to wash them down the drain because I am not
actually killing them then and there with that action. I am not
squishing each one. I am moving them somewhere else where, it
happens, they probably die. Some escape. Most die by drowning. Others
due to the temperature of the water. Others from whatever nastiness
is in the drain (chemicals, waste although ants can deal with some of
that stuff in their normal encounters in life.)

They don't scream. They do run away, sometimes. When I stand by the
sink or shower, at least when this started, they run away. Later on
in the summer, at least last summer, they didn't respond when I made
my presence known. I wonder why.

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Stevie Wonder, A Night of Wonder, was on VH-1 Classics. Very good
show. Great sound. Good songs. Too bad it was only an hour with
commercials.

The drummer played a rock beat throughout, not a funky soul beat. I
wonder why. Not very ornamented. It sure could have been.

Movies full of lessons for life

Have seen two movies in the past few days that I'd seen years back,
in college. Both are full of life instructions: A Thousand Clowns and
Harold and Maude. A Thousand Clowns didn't have as much of an impact
on me this time around but it's full of bon mots. Harold and Maude,
besides being side splitting funny at times, also has the music of
Cat Stevens in it which sounds as good now as it did then.

I also saw, again but in full this time, Human Nature. Also laden
with messages about the meaning of life but nowhere near as rich
overall.

Carpe diem is the message.

ah, spring

Time for the quiet of the winter to be repeatedly shattered by loud
motorcycles, loud car stereos, more cars honking their horns because
the car in front of them at the light isn't starting up fast enough
and so on.

It has started already.

Indian Point siren tests today

They tested the Indian Point sirens three times this morning.

At 10:35, as I was outside getting the morning paper, I heard a
steady tone, not too loud, heard from towards where the Rt 306 old
siren is/was, possibly one in the other direction. A short test,
faded to nothing without changing tone.

The second test was at 11am. The tone is not very loud inside the
house and it varies! There is no wind ot speak of. (For the first one
too.)

The third test, at 11:30. Longer but barely audible. Sounds like it
is coming from more due east...

Not very impressive. I live just outside the 10 mile zone, maybe a
tenth of a mile if that. I can barely hear the sirens. I think they
need to be A LOT LOUDER!!

Indietro Tutta found on YouTube!

Here is a short bit of the intro.



A wonderful show. I understood very little of it (I don't speak Italian) but found it hilarious and intriguing. I hope to see more!! I might put what I have taped on YouTube too.

Polyphonic Spree (at SXSW on DirecTV)

I'm watching the Polyphonic Spree (live) at SXSW on DirecTV. I've
seen them on Austin City Limits before this. They crack me up, give
me joy... The music is awful but I love to watch the choir. They look
like a bunch of Moonies all swinging and twisting their heads in
unison. I wonder how many get neck injuries. And they never have to
dry their hair. All that tossing around will do it for them. They
definitely have the market cornered for the
women-all-dressed-the-same-head-twisting-in-unison dance form.

And there's a new girl in the front row center, at least since I saw
them on ACL, who's got the best head flip, very sexy. (Is one of the
requirements to be in the choir to have black hair?)

I think it's the Addicted To Love look to it all that I like about them...

(PS. I realized I had spelled cornered as corned. Apparently Blogger's spell check thinks that "corned" is a word that doesn't need to corrected. Interesting. Corned...)

2 good music events on tv this week

I taped the documentary on IFC called Tom Dowd: The Language of
Music. Very worthwhile. Lots of behind the scenes stuff, we see my ex
boss- Phil Ramone. I never met Tom but he sounds like a real nice guy
and smart. Worked on the Manhattan Project!

Also caught the Summerstage 7/16/06 show of Daby Toure. I thought it
might be good and it was excellent. He is the son of one of Toure
Kunda, one of my favorite afro-pop bands ever. Same high pitched
voice, great singing, great percussive and light acoustic gtr! Wish I
was there. Apparently it was a HOT day, about 100.

I also taped the Richard Thompson at Sierra Center Stage that I'd had
on the DVR for awhile. Excellent, although for some reason the DVR
cut off the last 15 minutes or so. I could have sworn it was ok the
first time I saw it.

First signs of spring!

The first signs of spring seen today: an ant in the shower and some
croci outside. I've also heard some bird songs that are probably from
birds passing through. Haven't seen any that are harbingers yet.

I will also have the mellifluous sounds of a house being constructed
nearby all spring and summer and who knows how much longer than that
to look forward to.

Some pics recently taken



The sun setting from inside the house with the tv's scan lines being caught.

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Midnight. More loud music from the Orthodox Jews nearby. Obnoxious
but perfectly legit since it is their holiday. (To hell with
everybody else.)

So it's Purim. The Jewish people in my neighborhood don't mind
playing loud music late at night. They're disturbing the peace. It's
ok because the majority of people around here are Jewish. It is still
obnoxious. And the music isn't very good. Tacky. Just loud.

Washington Week In Review weirdness

During the intro, the voiceover sound was tinny or out of phase, the
roll-ins were fine. During the show, the studio sound was fine, the
roll-ins were tinny or out of phase.

During the intro, the studio video was horrendously saturated. In the
studio, all cameras except Gwen's looked fine.

What was going on?

I watch via DirecTV.

A geranium blooms in February

The last time I checked this geranium I'm wintering in my garage with no heat, it had flowers on it! Here it is today with fewer flowers but seemingly happy. Amazing. It's in the 20s outside and it is flowering and has lots of leaves.

Oh, and I water it about once a month!

Breaking News on Fox

Breaking news on Fox today:

'Anna Nicole's mother wasn't on the best of terms with her.'

hahahahahahahha

Go Fox. THAT's news!

My Orthodox Jewish neighbors are playing some really loud music right now. It is intentionally being blasted outside. Why? I have my windows closed and it is very loud. Their house is maybe a hundred yards away. They are intentionally disturbing the peace with their music. That's rude. (And not the first time it has happened.)

Some video taken 7/15/95 at my old house in Greenwich.

My late cat Bluto, my car, my gardens. No, it wasn't 105 degrees out then. That thermometer wasn't very accurate in its later years.