Christian Concern For Our Nation

Christian Concern For Our Nation is a group of Christian lawyers in the UK dedicated to protecting freedom for Christians in their country. The group was formed in 2004 to lobby members of Parliament.

The group is a bit controversial.

I have nothing against concern for our nation. And, of course, I have nothing against Christian. But when you put them together as Christian Concern for Our Nation, I start to wonder if maybe they're going to start telling us how we should act and what we should believe and who or what we should have sex with and when.

And I don't like that. I think reasonable people should be able to do what they want.


Concern.
Photo: mgaffney via Flickr (CC)

Siergiej Muchanow

Siergiej Muchanow was a Russian official in the 1800s.

My Grandpa Eddie was born in Russia. I have mentioned this before in Wikibloogia. Grandpa Eddie came to the United States in the early 20th century when he was just a boy; a non-grandpa.

Siergiej's wife was a pianist.


Russians garnish their buildings with giant onions.
Photo: ** Maurice ** via Flickr (CC)

Brian Cox

Brian Cox is a Scottish actor. He has won Emmy awards.

There was also a football player named Brian Cox. He played in the NFL. But he was a different Brian Cox. And he spelled his name with a Y, as in Bryan Cox. So really he wasn't Brian Cox. He was Bryan Cox.

Also, if two people have the same name, it doesn't mean they're the same person. However, if two people are the same person, they probably have the same name.


This guy is also Brian Cox.
Photo: Stephanie Booth via Flickr (CC)

The Visible Men

The Visible Men is a band from Oregon that formed in 2002. It seems this band is either disbanded or on hiatus. They are not visible men at the moment.

Tonight is Christmas Eve. This means that Santa Claus is coming to town. Some people don't think Santa Claus is really a visible man. I don't know anyone who has actually seen the real Santa Claus in person. I only know people who have seen people pretending to be Santa Claus.

And then there's Jesus. There is also great debate about whether Jesus is a visible man. Some claim to have seen him in times of need or in a piece of toast. Tomorrow is his birthday. I know that a lot of people will be celebrating. But mostly I wonder how Jesus himself will celebrate.


A collection of visible men.
Photo: freeparking via Flickr (CC)

Mud Island, Memphis

Mud Island, Memphis is a small peninsula in Memphis encircled by the Mississippi River and the Wolf River Harbor. It has a museum, restaurants and an amphitheater. One way to get there is by monorail.

Mud can be a lot of fun. I enjoy mud soccer.


Sometimes mud makes people grab other people's big boobs.
Photo: Stinkie Pinkie via Flickr (CC)

Oto Horvat

Oto Horvat is a poet. He was born in Serbia in 1967.

Oto is a palindrome. Not many names are. Bob is.

I once went to summer camp with a girl whose last name was Horvat. I wonder if she was related to Oto. I will never know.


Oto Horvat writes non-magnetic poetry.
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Royal Palm Hotel (Miami)

Royal Palm Hotel (Miami) was a large resort hotel that opened in 1897. It was a grand hotel. A grand hotel for grand times.

The hotel was five stories tall and had Miami's first electric lights, elevators and swimming pool. In 1926 the hotel was severely damaged by a hurricane. It was also infested with termites. It was condemned and torn down in 1930.

And the fun was over.

Damn termites.


Careful. They eat hotels.
Photo: Velo Steve via Flickr (CC)

Robert Ludvigovich Bartini

Robert Ludvigovich Bartini was an aircraft designer and scientist born in 1897 in Austria-Hungary (in present-day Croatia). Robert became a member of the Italian Communist Party in 1921 and eventually lived undercover in the USSR.

In the field of aerodynamics there is something called the "Effect of Bartini."

Someday I would like an effect named after me.


Someday I would like a neon sign named after me.
Photo: Editor B via Flickr (CC)

Welcome (film)

Welcome (film) is a 2007 Hindi movie. It's about three notorious dons. It was extremely successful at the box office in India.

The film starred Akshay Kumar as Rajiv Saxena, Katrina Kaif as Sanjana Shetty, Anil Kapoor as Sagar Singh, and Ruslaan Mumtaz as himself.


Welcome (mat)
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La Mano Ajena

La Mano Ajena is a Chilean band. Their music combines many different styles. Here's a video for their song "Wewo": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfK--JKESO0. You might listen to it while you read on.

La Mano Ajena formed in 2002. Last month they opened for Gogol Bordello at a concert in Chile.

I speak a little Spanish, and with some help from a translator I found on the internet, I have decided that La Mano Ajena means Other People's Hand.

You can learn a lot from other people's hands. Where they've been, where they're going. Whether their hands smell.


Other people's sand hand.
Photo: hanaan via Flickr (CC)

My Favorite Husband

My Favorite Husband was a radio show and network television series in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The radio show co-starred Lucille Ball and eventually evolved into I Love Lucy.

With today's internet, you can listen to some of the original radio episodes. For instance, here's one called "Is There a Baby in the House?".

I just listened to some of it. Radio shows are weird. Disembodied voices. I think I see the charm of it, but I prefer our modern-day embodied voices.


I love Lucy murals on garage doors.
Photo: DominusVobiscum via Flickr (CC)

Sensory system

Sensory system is the part of the nervous system that allows us to sense things. Most human beings are limited to five senses. Some people, like Haley Joel Osment, have six senses. Also, some people have malfunctions of their sensory systems. People like Helen Keller, Ray Charles and Beethoven. Only famous people have malfunctioning sensory systems.

Our senses are how we experience reality. Your senses and my senses are different from each other. Thus, you and I experience different realities. In fact, some people think there is no reality, only senses. Please think of that the next time you punch someone in the face.


Combining touch and smell.
Photo: quinnums via Flickr (CC)

Nature's Great Events

Nature's Great Events was a wildlife documentary broadcast on the BBC in February 2009. It had episodes with names like "The Great Melt" and "The Great Feast" and "The Great Salmon Run." It got rave reviews. One reviewer said you can cradle your jaw in your lap while watching it.

In the United States, the program was shown with the title "Nature's Most Amazing Events." This means one of two things:

1. The American English equivalent of the British "great" is "most amazing" (and vice versa).

or

2. Americans think that great things aren't such a big deal; only things that are the most amazing of that kind of thing are worth paying attention to.

Last night I had some great pizza and the most amazing fried chicken.


Nature's most amazing urinating chimpanzee.
Photo: rofanator via Flickr (CC)

Oldenburg T 5.1

Oldenburg T 5.1 was a German steam locomotive designed in the early 20th century. It had a defect that resulted in bad riding quality at high speeds. In this way, the Oldenburg T 5.1 is like my 1999 Toyota Camry.

The Oldenburg T 5.1 was retired in 1930.


The first Oldenburgs connected by magnets.
Photo: drcorneilus via Flickr (CC)

Fake IPL Player

Fake IPL Player is a blog that became very popular for a couple months earlier in 2009. It was an anonymous blogger who may or may not be a player on a well-known Indian cricket team.

The blog became a cult following. Hundreds of thousands of people visited it. In this respect, it is very different from my blog Wikibloogia. You are the only person who read my blog today.


My kind of cricket.
Photo: spunqueegrrl via Flickr (CC)

Siobhain McDonagh

Siobhain McDonagh is a member of the British Parliament, and she has been since 1997.

Have you ever watched the Prime Minister's Questions on CSPAN? It's one of the greatest half hours on television. A taping airs every Sunday night at 9:oo PM EST. I highly recommend it. The Prime Minister fields questions from the Members of Parliament, and they all insult each other and stand up and sit down a lot and make funny old-timey British noises at each other. It's good comedy. Here's a taste.


Look kids. Big Ben. Parliament.
Photo: ** Maurice ** via Flickr (CC)

Stearns (automobile)

Stearns (automobile) was a luxury car manufacturing company based in Cleveland. It's formal name was F. B. Stearns and Company. The company is now defunct. My formal name is Adam Jonathan Shonkoff. I still funct.

Frank Stearns was a pioneer in auto building back at the turn of the 20th century. He built his first car when he was a student in 1896. It was old-timey. But not at the time. At the time it was very new-timey.

I've never built a car. I often think how it would be cool to build myself a complex machine from scratch, and then use it. Like a car or a computer. But I've never done it. That's the difference between me and Frank Stearns. Also, he never blogged.


The 1929 Stearns-Knight had optional blood-soaked rims.
Photo: Mr. T in DC via Flickr (CC)

Takashi Inukai

Takashi Inukai was a professor of Japanese literature at Osaka University. His students really liked him. He won many honors, including Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon.

When I was a young boy, I watched the movie Revenge of the Nerds. There is one scene in which the Nerds watch the sorority girls in their dorm via secret cameras. One of the Nerds is named Takashi. While they watch one girl lying in bed on her stomach, one of the Nerds says, "How could you ever get tired of that ass, Takashi?" But I always misunderstood and thought the Nerd was saying "How could you ever get tired of that asstakasher?"

I thought 'asstakasher' was another word for bum. And it was my understanding that Betty Childs had an awesome asstakasher.

It's funny being a young kid, with the little ways you misunderstand the world around you. I'm always reminded of this when I see the name Takashi.


Horse's asstakasher.
Photo: freeparking via Flickr (CC)

A4130 road

A4130 road is a road in England. There have been a few roads in Wikibloogia. Some might think a road is a boring topic for Wikibloogia, but I love roads. I especially love open roads.

We should enjoy roads while we have them. They won't always be there.


Misuse of a road.
Photo: Hamed Saber via Flickr (CC)

Everglades

The Everglades are subtropical wetlands in Florida. I like Florida.

Wikipedia has all kinds of interesting things to say about the Everglades. Once, people wanted to drain the Everglades. Then I think people wanted to save them. When I think of the Everglades I think of alligators.

Right now as I write this I'm eating cheese.


This would make me poop my pants again.
Photo: Bill Swindaman via Flickr (CC)