Wow. The articles today reveal that the NSA is pretty much collecting data on every American’s online activity, based upon a story posted by The Washington Post. There is too much stuff to go into right now. I will later, but for now, here is a collection of articles I’ve been finding. U.S., British intelligence mining data from nine U.S. Internet companies in broad secret program, The Washington Post, Friday June 7, 2013....
Continue reading...2013
Government surveillance of Verizon’s customers
If you haven’t heard, the NSA obtained a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) court allowing them to collect data every day from Verizon cell phone customers. This data can include phone numbers, IP addresses, location data, unique identifiers, etc., but supposedly not the content of calls. The British news source The Guardian has some of the best coverage of this case: The document shows for the first time that under the...
Continue reading...Jennifer’s ride on Lucy at Classic Dressage show
This weekend, Jennifer (friend from the barn) and Polly took Lucy to a four-day dressage show at the Hunt Horse Complex at the NC Fair Grounds. Lucy is a beautiful bay warmblood. She is a lovely mare and has amazing gaits. Match those gaits with a very sane disposition and you have one lovely girl. Related Images:
Continue reading...1895 catalog of Epona artifacts available at BNF
When I’m doing heavy research, I use JSTOR, Library of Congress, and the Bibliotheque Nationale de France (BNF). The BNF is a great resource. If you haven’t been to the library’s site, go visit. Imagine my surprise (and great delight!) to discover that they have an electronic copy of Salomon Reinach’s Epona, La Deesse Gauloise des Chevaux. Not only is the whole book available online, you can embed a copy of if on...
Continue reading...Rajiyyah returns
The Grey Wonder Mare has been here a few weeks now and has settled in. We’re riding now with a sparkly new dressage saddle (yay clearance sale rooms at tack shops!), a brand new Collegiate Jessica Dressage saddle. Very comfy and fits her well. It’s interesting riding a mare I had five or six years ago. I’m a light rider with quiet hands and good leg position. The first time I got on...
Continue reading...Game of Thrones theme on cellos
This is awesome. I hadn’t heard about the group Break of Reality until a post on Jezebel featured a video of them playing a cover of the Game of Thrones’ theme. Three cellos and a drummer playing is just about perfect. Related Images:
Continue reading...Agility training for cats!
A young man has taught his cats how to do agility. He has a series of videos on YouTube about how to teach your cats to do agility (like dog agility classes). My poor cat has no idea what can of worms I’m going to open tonight! Related Images:
Continue reading...Grey Wonder Mare returns
Tomorrow, the Grey Wonder Mare™ returns after a six year absence. I’m going to babysit her for a few months for my Mom, who is in the process of moving. I have Rajiyyah’s old bridle and halter (but not her bit, which Mom is bringing). My current dressage and all purpose saddles have been fitted to Kasane, so they won’t work on Rajiyyah. Mom is bringing my old Ashley and Clark all purpose...
Continue reading...My car loves my mechanic
My mechanic has seen my car more than I have this week. Last weekend, I noticed that the check engine light came on. I had the error read at Auto Zone and it turned out to be a major flow problem in the emissions system. Also, when I turned the steering wheel to the right, I heard a clicking noise. Not every time, but often enough that I wasn’t going to let it...
Continue reading...Best view in the world
First time I had these two pictures side by side, I was struck by how similar my two Bay Wonder Mares(tm) looked from the back. Same expression of the ears: listening, attentive and relaxed. The bright copper bay ears and neck belong to Isis. I took this picture when we were out on a trail ride around the farm’s perimeter. And then this picture, taken at the end of a ride on Kasane....
Continue reading...Saddles and shoes
Since Kasane has been undersaddle, we’ve gradually discovered and corrected several problems. We did a saddle fitting and discovered that my Courbette Magic dressage saddle didn’t fit her at all. Got a new saddle which made a huge difference. Over this past winter, I’ve noticed Kasane moving oddly on her back legs. For example, her stride when trotting looked uneven like the paces were not the same between one side and the other....
Continue reading...Brahm Queen’s first ride
The people at my barn are trying out a very sweet off-the-track Thoroughbred. She’s a big bay mare with a lot of heart. Fascinating to learn about the differences with Thoroughbreds who have raced and what that means they are used to (like someone mounting and then walking off immediately). A barn name hasn’t been decided upon, so she’s tentatively nicknamed Lullaby or Lulu. (Apparently at the track she was called Drama Queen.)...
Continue reading...Stress management soundtrack
When I am stressed, I use a particular set of songs as anger or stress management help. I like dancing to goth or industrial music when I’m in these moods. Nothing better for getting rid of stuff like that than physical exercise. Here is a sampling… Related Images:
Continue reading...Less writing underway
I kept up with the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood’s Winter Writing Festival for about three weeks. I was on target and felt great about being productive (without writing in tech writer voice for fiction). Unfortunately, Stress hit from various things. And writing screeched to a halt because all I wanted to do after work was either ride, play games, or vegetate. So. I made good progress on the short story about Isis but haven’t...
Continue reading...Death of Superman
Probably one of the best fan-made videos deconstructing a comic I’ve ever seen. Excellent review of the WTF moments in the Superman comic, Death of Superman. Related Images:
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