http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com Opinions are like assholes. This one's mine. Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:29:20 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en http://youtube.com/watch?v=XrT0gAbRqyw http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2008/03/best-travel-song-ever/ The following joke is making the rounds. Here it is in translation from Spanish: Hugo Chavez and his chauffeur were going down the highway when suddenly a pig crossed the road, right in front of them. The chauffeur slammed on the brakes but was unable to stop in time, and killed ... http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2008/02/chavezs-chauffeur/ Here's a look at a traditional dance from southern Colombia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNC3wKmz0C8 Most city folk would laugh that this is hopelessly out of date, but some aerobics classes use the music and steps to burn fat, and the dance is still practiced in the countryside (especially near the town of Huila, after which ... http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2008/02/sanjuanero-huilense/ The British government is claiming up to 1500 white people have converted to Islam and are now part of al-Qaeda. To the people of Britain: Soon it won't be just "those dodgy brown people" getting locked up without charge and tortured. This is the next logical step towards the creation of ... http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2008/01/how-fascism-begins/ Bizarre story of a Perth girl invited to spend Christmas in Colombia and winds up getting kidnapped. Could be true. The paramilitary protection racket in Santa Marta makes productive employment fairly pointless, leaving thuggery the most profitable way to get ahead. http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2008/01/perth-model-kidnapped-at-rodadero/ Both are mosquito prophylactics. http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2007/12/rocking-chairs-and-incense-sticks/ An excellent question, your highness. http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2007/11/porque-no-te-callas/ This is a great idea. Type in your details and it will automatically generate the form letters you need to request your FBI file under the Freedom Of Information Act. They can also provide you will letters for the NSA, CIA, DIA, etc. The FOIC exists as a form of public redress ... http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2007/10/get-your-fbi-file/ There is a particularly annoying form of flea present in the mountains of Colombia, and, I presume, elsewhere in the Andes. It jumps onto you from the surrounding brush and burrows just under the outer layer of your skin. None of my guidebooks make any mention of it. I take my ... http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2007/10/drowning-fleas/ What happens when you put a frog in boiling water? Let's find out. http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2007/10/when-metaphors-go-bad/ Check it out. The students should have risen up and torn those officers limb from limb and scattered their bleeding arms and legs across the campus green. Here's some more footage, close up. Check out the smile on the cop's face after tasering the guy. America is over. Go home. http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2007/09/democracy-in-america/ Dear Department of Homeland Security, I am a threat to the security of America. I am writing to you to request that, for the safety of America and its citizens, you add to me to your No-Fly List. I am a terrorist you see. I believe in America. I believe in freedom. ... http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2007/09/dear-dhs-please-add-me-to-your-no-fly-list/ Half an hour ago at around 21:10 local time a tremor shook, or rather gently wiggled, most of Cali for twenty seconds or so. Can't find any news reports about it yet, but I expect it's a continued regional aftershock of the much larger earthquake last month in Peru. http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2007/09/earthquake/ Well if you're still a slave to the Microsoft Empire (close ally to the Starbucks Empire -- yes, the world really is ruled from Seattle) then you're stuck using Microsoft Word. I'm sorry. Really I am. Tummy rub? Back up, better plan -- Sun Microsystem's ODF plugin for Microsoft Office. Microsoft Office uses ... http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2007/09/odf-plugin-for-microsoft-word/ I don't follow American football much these days. Eight years after I left the U.S. those funny helmets, walking meaty chemistry experiments, not to mention a stupid plot line, all make me want to laugh. I find it hard to care anymore. Now it's in the news that some guy I've ... http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2007/08/what-a-bunch-of-touchy-feely-bullshit/ Today's word for the day is "zancudo." Zancudo is the Spanish word for the stripey tiger mosquito, the one that carries dengue. The news today here in Cali is that the dengue previously confined to the fringes of the metropolitian area is now making serious inroads into the city itself. The ... http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2007/08/flight-of-the-zancudos/ Here's a travel trip for adventurers in Panama and Colombia. According to a British traveller I met on the street here in Cali the other day, firehouses in these two countries will happily give you a free bed and a hot meal if you're an overland walker or biker. http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2007/08/the-bombero-trail/ Backpackers up and down the Gringo Trail in South America have invariably heard of, if not read, Rusty Young's Marching Powder. It's the story of his friendship with a British inmate in Bolivia's San Pedro Prison, where inmates buy their cells, and some of the best cocaine in the country ... http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2007/08/the-fruit-palace/ The truly successful politician has his finger not only on the pulse of popular opinion, but on the throbbing pulse of History. He can sense Destiny. He is not so much creative as an opportunist who knows what History demands, and provides it. To Fulfill Destiny you must first know ... http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2007/07/the-end-of-thinking/ Today is Independence Day in Colombia. No big deal, really; no fireworks, no general jubilation, just a few military parades, and that's about it. Of course an Independence Day for a country that is essentially a regional puppet for the US government is never going to really fly. Independence? What independence? ... http://www.shrapnelfromaloosecannon.com/2007/07/independence-day-colombian-style/