289

i wonder if, when somebody outside of the seattle area can’t figure out where something is supposed to be mailed in washington state, whether seattle isn’t the default place for it to go, regardless of whether it is actually appropriate or not?

i’ve had the same PO box in seattle for over 10 years now. i originally rented it when i first moved back to seattle from bellingham in 1995. recently, like within the past 6 months or so, i’ve started getting mail at that box for “G. ‘Skip’ Downing” who is an architect, and for “FRANCISCO PINA CASTELLANO”. the mail for “G. ‘Skip'” has been things like building permits and stuff that i’ve been able to “return to sender – addressee unknown”, for the most part, because they’ve been in stamped, postmarked envelopes, but there’s been a few things that i couldn’t return because they’re presorted, which means there’s no postmark, which means that the post office, instead of returning them, just throws them away (regardless of what they tell you)… so i looked up “G ‘Skip'” on internet, and lo and behold, i found him… in GREEN BANK! (it’s not marked on the map because it’s a really small town, but it’s around lake hancock on the map) which is 56 miles north of seattle, and a different enough place that i can’t figure out how they got the two confused… but i was able to get in touch with the guy, and at this point if i get any more mail for him, i simply call him and we get things straightened out.

FRANCISCO PINA CASTELLANO, on the other hand, is a different matter. the most recent item of mail that i recieved that was addressed to him was from bank of america, and it was presorted, and i know from past experience that frequently items from banks that are presorted are commonly advertising, so i opened the envelope… and i was shocked to discover that i was holding a credit card statement. so i went into “find FRANCISCO” mode, and completely struck out… which didn’t surprise me too much, since a number of the charges on the statement were in alaska and idaho, and the farther away from seattle (or anywhere, i suppose) you get, the more difficult it is to find one person with any accuracy. so i immediately called bank of america, and their recommendation was to write “return to sender – addressee unknown” on the envelope… but that won’t work because the mail is presorted and it won’t get “returned to sender,” and i’ll have exactly the same problem next month, besides FRANCISCO PINA CASTELLANO not getting regular credit card statements will (hopefully) make him suspicious… and apart from all that (although i didn’t mention this to the bank of america customer service drone, there were other bits of information that i gave him that i couldn’t have gotten without opening the envelope) i had already opened the envelope anyway, so writing on it and sticking it back in the mail would be kind of pointless. basically i told them to note on his account that the address they had was incorrect, and contact him as soon as possible to get things straightened out, but that doesn’t mean that i won’t get other mail for FRANCISCO, and i’ll be right back where i started from.

in other news, we’re going to portland on saturday and coming back monday… which is about as much time as i think i can stand staying with monique’s mother… besides which, her “roommate” (i’ve always wondered about their actual relationship) just had a stroke recently, and, even though she’s a nurse and would, theoretically, know these things, my personal experience with brain trauma combined with what i know of ann, generally, seems to indicate that things are probably a lot worse than she’s letting on.

the solstice feast went off without a hitch, from the point of view of the fremont philharmonic anyway, i don’t know about anyone else… and i like it that way. this year the fremont solstice feast was in georgetown (not fremont, surprisingly enough), in a manufacturing warehouse on airport way, which is a lot smaller than the old safeway in ballard, which is where it was held for the past two years. advantages were that it had a backstage area (they called it the “green room,” although it was simply backstage) that was separated from the rest of the feast procedings, where i was able to keep my tuba. i didn’t see any disadvantages apart from the fact that it was on the opposite end of town from fremont, but i didn’t stay that long. my past experience with the feast is that it is put on by a group of people (the fremont arts council?) but apart from getting everything together, it’s really not anywhere near as organised as a community event needs to be, and it’s been that way for long enough that i get the impression that as long as something happens, they don’t really care that much. we were expected to play, but we got no notification that we were going to play, they said that we wouldn’t be able to get in between 4:00 and 6:00, but the place was wide open during that time (in fact, the doors were supposed to open at 6:00, but they didn’t actually open until almost 6:45), they had a scissor lift and a forklift in the space at 6:00, and they had lost the key to the scissor lift so they couldn’t actually move it… more “hippy ineptitude factor” going on here. moe couldn’t be there (she has to work) so i just showed up, played (in the dark, there were no stage lights until after we were done performing), ate dinner and left.

thanks to
Incipit gestis Rudolphi rangifer tarandus

Hwæt, Hrodulf readnosa hrandeor —
Næfde þæt nieten unsciende næsðyrlas!
Glitenode and gladode godlice nosgrisele.
Ða hofberendas mid huscwordum hine gehefigodon;
Nolden þa geneatas Hrodulf næftig
To gomene hraniscum geador ætsomne.
Þa in Cristesmæsseæfne stormigum clommum,
Halga Claus þæt gemunde to him maðelode:
“Neahfreond nihteage nosubeorhtende!
Min hroden hrædwæn gelæd ðu, Hrodulf!”
Ða gelufodon hira laddeor þa lyftflogan —
Wæs glædnes and gliwdream; hornede sum gegieddode
“Hwæt, Hrodulf readnosa hrandeor,
Brad springð þin blæd: breme eart þu!”

Explicit

AVP strip 159

cutting off penis
this guy is getting ready because in 3 to 6 weeks you will have received well over 50,000 inches of penis… fun, huh? 8)

poo


Hussein: White House ‘No. 1 liar in the world’
After day of outbursts, the trial adjourns until January

Thursday, December 22, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — The trial of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, which has fallen into a pattern of grim testimony interrupted by theatrical outbursts, adjourned Thursday for more than a month. The trial resumes on January 24.

On Thursday, as in previous days, testimony about brutal treatment was interrupted by courtroom tirades by Hussein and his half brother.

Hussein charged Thursday that the Bush administration lied when it claimed there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, just at it lied by disputing his claims of being beaten.

“The White House lies once more,” Hussein said, “the No. 1 liar in the world. They said in Iraq, there is chemicals, and there is a relation to terrorism, and they announced later we couldn’t find any of that in Iraq.

“Also, they said that what Saddam Hussein (said) was not true,” he continued in an apparent reference to his claims Wednesday that he and all seven of his codefendants were beaten and tortured by their American captors.

Hussein: ‘We don’t lie’
“I have documented the injuries I had before three American medical teams,” he said.

Hussein later appeared to waver, saying the medical teams numbered “two, for sure, unequivocally.” He began to heal after eight months, he said, but bruises remain three years later.

“We don’t lie,” he said. “The White House lies.”

The U.S. State Department and a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said Hussein’s claims of beatings and torture were untrue.

Meanwhile, defense attorneys requested that the testimony of prosecution witnesses not be broadcast until all the witnesses have testified, saying they are watching each other’s testimonies and repeating them. The court said it would consider that request.

A day of disruptions
Hussein and seven codefendants are charged with crimes against humanity, including the killings of 140 men and boys in the town of Dujail following a failed 1982 assassination attempt against Hussein there.

The trial went into a closed session Thursday at the end of an eventful day in which Hussein and his half brother, Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti repeatedly disrupted the proceedings.

The judge closed the session after Hassan, the former chief of intelligence, asked to speak to him in private. On Wednesday, Hassan said he wanted time to talk to the judge about his health.

Earlier in the day, Hassan launched into long political diatribes, hurling insults at prosecutors, complaining about the conditions of their detention and challenging the legitimacy of the court.

Ranting about the food he is being served, Hassan said a New York Times magazine column mentioned that his ribs are showing because of weight loss.

Hassan also accused prosecutors of being former Baath Party members, implying they should not be leveling accusations against him. The attorneys threatened to walk out and resign from the case.

“This is not justice,” Hassan declared. “This is not democracy.” Asked to stop by prosecutors, Hassan said, “My talk is strengthening the court, and will give it credibility.”

Courtroom fracas
At one point, a fracas erupted among Hassan, Hussein and prosecutors, prompted by Hussein’s claim that a guard had been rude to him. “He acted without your orders, so he should be disciplined,” Hussein said. “He is a small employee.” The guard was removed from the courtroom.

Hussein also challenged the validity of a witness, the first of two to testify Thursday from behind a curtain to protect his identity. The witness said he was 8 years old at the time of the Dujail killings, but testified his father, his three uncles and his grandmother were arrested and imprisoned.

“She complained to us about what had happened to her,” he said of his grandmother, who was released after four years. “They used to torture her before her children and they would torture her children before her. She said, ‘They tortured us, and we did not know for what reason.’ ”

Defense attorneys and Hussein complained about the witness because he was a child at the time, was not arrested and did not see any torture or killings personally.

“His testimony is documented and accepted, and he’s underage (at the time)?” Hussein asked. “This is something I would like to understand. Is this allowed? Is this permissible?”

Hussein claims he was beaten
On Wednesday, Hussein said his American captors beat him “on every part of my body and marks are still on top of my body and that was done by Americans,” Hussein said. “Yes, we were beaten by the Americans, and we were tortured, everyone of us.”

Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Mousawi said he had visited the defendants in their cells and saw no signs of torture.

Christopher Reid, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, said none of the defendants has been tortured or beaten.

Also on Wednesday, witness Ali Haj Hussein al-Haydari described more than four years of captivity and torture, and the execution of family members, including several brothers. His brother Hassan, who was among those killed, was one of six men who plotted unsuccessfully to assassinate Hussein.

More than 40 of members of his family were taken into custody by government agents. Al-Haydari also talked of “walking through dead bodies” at the headquarters of the Baath Party, the ruling party during Hussein’s regime.

Another witness said he was tortured three times with electric shocks during the initial 17-day period and beaten with cables during the time at Abu Ghraib.

“Even children were beaten with cables,” he said. “Children died at Abu Ghraib.”