Ganges River Band at Slim's

A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything. - Nietzsche

Scientists have identified four new species of brain-controlling fungi that turn ants into zombies that do the parasite's bidding, before it kills them.  The original zombie-ant fungus, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, was first identified in 1865, and it seems to exist around the world. 

Once it infects an ant, the fungus uses as-yet-unidentified chemicals to control the ant's behavior.  At solar noon, it "directs" the ant to leave its colony and bite down on the underside of a leaf — the ant's soon-to-be resting place and the place most ideally suited for the survival of the fungus. Once it is killed by the fungus, the ant remains anchored in place, thanks to its death grip on the leaf.

Ultimately, the fungus produces a long stalk that protrudes from the ant's head, shooting spores out in the hopes of infecting other ants. Two of the four newly discovered species also sprout smaller stalks elsewhere, including from the victim's feet and lower leg joints – the equivalent of knees.

The man who says "the best things in life are free"
doesn't know what he has paid for.

Imperial, indeed

Love this quote from a recent Seattlest post:

Belltown's an urban neighborhood, an inner-city neighborhood filled with bars and drunks and loudmouths and musicians and edgy designers and locals who aren't afraid to share the sidewalk with hoodlums and hookers. You don't like it, don't live here...

Dissatisfied, and uncomfortable, and -- what would it signify to me, being coarse and common, if nobody had told me so!

- Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

Bret Eason Ellis review

To say that an Ellis novel is an indictment of the modern world is pretty much beside the point: the modern world is its own indictment, and doesn’t need any help from novelists to communicate its moral, historical, and psychological vacuity. No, an Ellis novel is an indictment of the notion that literature can do anything about that situation. It’s an indictment of us, in other words—of readers and writers and reviewers and editors and all the other people sustaining fiction’s greatest fiction: that fiction has value outside of the context in which it’s written, published, and read. 

- Dale Peck, "The Bret East Ellis review Out was afraid to run..."

Needle, Blush and Gallery

Needle, Blush and Gallery, originally uploaded by TheCharmedLife.

The Park and Harbor Islands

The Park and Harbor Islands, originally uploaded by TheCharmedLife.

Sculpture Park and Bay II

Sculpture Park and Bay II, originally uploaded by TheCharmedLife.

All My Friends

Week in Review

Photo courtesy: artdatabank.blogspot.com

Touchstone, one of the Seattle area's busiest developers, has acquired another South Lake Union block, dominated by the Troy Laundry building, a former commercial laundry built in 1927 and used mostly for storage since The Seattle Times bought it in 1985.  The building's brick and terra-cotta façade is a historic landmark and must be integrated into any new development.  Nearby, Vulcan Development, the company of Microsoft founder and sci-fi fan Paul Allen, announced that it has partnered with ECOtality to bring 24 electric vehicle charging stations to the neighborhood.   Mayor McGinn said of charging stations: "We'll do all we can to make sure Seattle is eco-ready."  Meanwhile, the US Energy Information Administration was reporting that the top two sources of electricity in the US are coal and gas.


Washington state was reported to lead the nation in parents opting out of vaccinating their children.  A cat in Prineville, OR was diagnosed with bubonic plague, the fourth case reported in Oregon among people and animals since January of last year.  In northeastern Washington, Authorities were trying to track a pack of dogs that has killed about 100 animals in nighttime forays - attacks that have claimed goats and a llama and raised alarm that people could be targeted.  Crows were reported to be attacking cops in the parking lot of the Everett Police Department's north precinct station. Tippi Hedren, the actress attacked by birds in the phone booth in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, appeared for fans at a Sheraton in New Jersey.

Thanks for stopping by

Reblogged from http://thisisnthappiness.com

Friendly Fires blew up Neumos last night.  I have not been so enthusiastic
about a band after a show in a long time.  I liked these guys before, I am in
awe of them now.  Ed MacFarlane engulfed the stage with his presence.
My compliments.

Forget your past
This is your last chance now
And we can break the rules
Like nothing will last
-James Murphy