Two of several reasons I have an unhealthy addiction to reading the Westender each week.
1) In this week's Curious Times...
We're Just Following Orders: Alien abductee researcher Preston Dennett has compiled a list of things that aliens sometimes say 
to their abductees. Dennett admits that face-to-face encounters with aliens are by far the rarest type of UFO experience, and extraterrestrials are very reluctant to talk to their abductees. However, in 20 years of research he has found a handful of cases in which aliens have actually spoken. Generally, he says, aliens don't speak, and when they do speak, they often repeat themselves, saying the same few phrases to all of their abductees. Here then, are some of the top alien phrases: "Do not be afraid, we won't hurt you"; "You won't remember this"; "We need babies"; "Our emotions are different than yours"; "We are from a place you don't know about yet"; "We've been here a long, long time"; and "It is very important we do this." (Llewellyn Journal) 
2) Click that pic ---->
Where was I when I heard the big news? I was on my way to the Richmond Night Market. L&G mentioned offhand something about us getting Luongo. Wha?? was my response. As if on cue, the radio personality then confirmed it; Luongo was coming here, Auld and Allen were headed to FLA. It wasn't til the next time the radio reported it that I heard that Bertuzzi was part of the deal too, and that we also got a defenseman, Krajicek. Wowzers, quite the multi-player deal by the 'Nucks.. I'm happy Bert's gone, but feel sorry for Clouts. It seems I'm one of a select few who was a fan of his. I liked his feistiness. Having said that, I'm verrrrry excited, possibly even titillated, that Luongo is coming to town. Read the NHL.com story here.
After typing that last sentence, I went searching for online news stories about the trade, and came across another news story. According to National Post: Theodore dumped over Hilton tryst (never mind that he's "Mr. Theordore" at one point in the story). Yowzers, Theodore used to be a fave of mine, having helped my 
fantasy team when I picked him up mid-to-late-season a few seasons back, and he promptly had a phenomenal run into the playoffs. Since then, enh, not so much. And now Paris? C'mon Jose, father to a 3-month-old with your girlfriend of 8 years, and you do this? Is this called gossiping? Am I gossiping? Look at me, I'm gossiping! But seriously, this is not something hockey players do, especially not Canadian hockey players. Jose, I don't even know who you are anymore.
Beddie-byes. Germany plays Sweden in a knock-out match in just over seven hours. It's gonna be good.(*** I have a cool pic of the Night Market to go with the first paragraph, but frickin' blogger is being stupid and won't let me post it, or any other pic either. GD. ***)
This post is to inform y'all of an update to the Strange Strangers post of a week and a half ago. To read the update and see a couple of pics, click them red words in the previous sentence. As you may or may not know by now, anything on my blog written in red is a link. Cheers.
This isn't going to turn into a mostly-videos blog, but this one I can't pass up. I first watched it about a week after Mother's Day, and have finally gotten around to posting it. Father's Day seemed appropriate enough.
Click the image, and, once again, have your speakers on.Sleep time; Australia vs Brazil starts in seven hours.
Grandma, carrying a toy, approaches mom and son at a shopping cart.Mom: Oh great. So when he's older and asking for a car are you gonna buy him one?--Superstore, Rupert and GrandviewOverheard by: me(I don't think I've mentioned the most recent additions to my cool sites, which aren't that recent anymore. Overheard in New York and Overheard in the Office are fun reads and updated frequently - weekdays only for the latter site.Also, the link for the bottom cool sites image has been changed. Have your speakers on, click on it, and enjoy.)
Late Tuesday afternoon, Biscotti arrived home and went to let the dogs out into the backyard. Just before opening the door, she spotted someone in the yard. 
Our private fenced in yard. He was shaking one of our fruit trees pretty hard. Hard enough to do damage; ie. decrease our fruit production. Contemplating swinging the door open and having the dogs run out there, she opened the door and said, "excuse me, can I help you?", with a tone that you would expect given the circumstances. He looked up at her and explained that his kid had thrown a cat toy into our yard, and it had gotten stuck in the tree. He couldn't see it, so was hoping to shake it down. Now, this wasn't a neighbor of ours, but Biscotti slowly recognized him as a frequent visitor to our neighbor's place. Biscotti asked him not to shake the trees any
more, citing the possible damage, and he explained that he had hoped to be out of our yard before we got home, so as not to startle us. Well gee, thanks. Biscotti told him that she was glad to have spotted him before she let the dogs outside (implying that our dogs would have decreased his fruit production, if you know what I mean). He then jumped back over the 6ft fence to console his tantruming kid. The cat toy has not been spotted. We haven't looked for it.Update: A week after this post, we discovered, and took photographic evidence of, the damage that this strange stranger inflicted upon our tree. Click the pics to enlarge them. What possesses someone to enter someone else's private backyard and shake a tree branch so hard as to cause the type of damage you can see in the pics? That ain't no weak-ass branch, that is a thick-ass branch that holds (held) a lot of fruit; plums to be specific. Should we sue? For a lifetime's worth of fresh plums? WTF?
to their abductees. Dennett admits that face-to-face encounters with aliens are by far the rarest type of UFO experience, and extraterrestrials are very reluctant to talk to their abductees. However, in 20 years of research he has found a handful of cases in which aliens have actually spoken. Generally, he says, aliens don't speak, and when they do speak, they often repeat themselves, saying the same few phrases to all of their abductees. Here then, are some of the top alien phrases: "Do not be afraid, we won't hurt you"; "You won't remember this"; "We need babies"; "Our emotions are different than yours"; "We are from a place you don't know about yet"; "We've been here a long, long time"; and "It is very important we do this." (Llewellyn Journal) 
