Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)




Fri, Oct 07 2005

One Hare-Brained Post

A few days ago I mentioned an article from the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Cathy Smith had reported on a stand-off between local police in Boulder Creek and a pig named Kate. Cathy followed up her story today with word that Kate was tranquilzed and successfully removed from the property. Kate's temporarily being put up at a local SPCA shelter.

Another animal, Carly, was taken from the same property and also placed in a shelter. Carly's plight has no true relationship to another recent story about her kind, but I thought it might be best to avoid any mention of her particular species, due to the recent agitation over the new Wallace & Gromit film. Let's just say Kate's one of those "furry things".

Eastertime must be particularly stressful for folks on the British island of Portland, what with all those animal-tryouts for Easter Bunny on the Cadbury commercials. Maybe they just don't allow those commercials to be shown on Portland.

I guess Elmer Fudd would be acceptable because Elmer only mentions "wabbits". But fellow LooneyToons character, Yosemite Sam, must surely be banned.

Halloween gatherings surely include showings of the stewed-bunny scene from Fatal Attraction and all those giant furry things towering over homesteads in Night of the Lupus.

Please note: The animated characters and film titles mentioned in this post are owned by their respective trademark or copyright holders. No mean-spiritedness, libel or owner infringement is intended. I'm also sure the good people on Portland will take my post in the lighthearted spirit in which it is written. I'd hate to think one among their community might sneak up on me in anger and deliver a well placed bunny punch.

posted at: 14:37 | category: /Playing | link to this entry



Slow Packets And Back Door Vandals

We don't know which came first--the general slowdown due to some ISP troubles in the greater system out there--or the attempts to do a denial of service attack on our web server. It's possible that the two came at the same time by coincidence. Or it's possible that the offending party knew about the difficulty in packet loss in our particular geographical area and decided to use his or her brain activity in one of those socially unacceptable ways that doesn't require actually having to look another human in the eye. In any event, we've been in touch with the technical people at the ISP. The other offending vandal's machine has been banned from the firewall. If other action is needed later we'll deal with that. In the meantime, we'll attempt to get on with life.

I suppose in the overall scheme of things denial of service attacks on small domains are a relatively mild way for these folks to vent their feelings and flesh out their lives a bit with a little excitement. It's better than having them take down big business sites, charitable pages or government domains. But it does make one wonder a bit. Was our domain chosen at random or did we do something specific that they twitched at? Either idea seems sad. I guess I just don't get the point of vandalism in any form. And since most of those who do this sort of thing are often young people it seems doubly sad.

Every generation seems to have its share of vandals. I'm glad every generation also has its share of hard-working heroes. I do wish they got a whole lot more attention than the vandals do.

posted at: 09:48 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry



Quote Of The Moment
In the hope of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet.
--Albert Schweitzer
Categories
Arts and Entertainment
Food
Health and Fitness
Miscellaneous
Playing
Politics
Religious and Spiritual
Science
Writing Life
Some of the Blogs I Like
Adrian's Science Fiction Starter
Angelahoy.com
angelweave
annecentral
Big Stupid Tommy
Blog Catalog
Christina Waters
Detectives Beyond Borders
Faith in Fiction
The Fire Ant Gazette
Jay Michael Rivera
Keystone Military News
Orange Crate Art
PI Buzz
Rabid Librarian's Ravings in the Wind
San Diego Soliloquies
TED Blog
Blog Resources and Blog Tools
The Ageless Project
Blogarama
BlogPulse
BlogShares
BlogSweet
Listed in LS Blogs
Kmax
The Blog Herald
Listed on Blogwise
Ping-o-Matic!
Some of my other web pages
Deb's Monthly Review
Stories
Deb's Writer Cam

Writer Links
Writers' Resources
Hatch's Plot Bank
Instant Muse Story Starter
The Memes List
General Store
Stetson Hats
Levi Strauss & Co.
Jaxonbilt Hat Co.
River Junction Trade Co.
Head 'N Home
Archives
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
Hang Hat Here
Write Lightning button       RSS         email Deb

Follow me on Twitter


Stealin' copy is as bad as horse-thievin'
and cattle rustlin'! Lightning may strike
such varmints when they least expect it!