Pribek

A watch designed by Yvan Arpa for Artya. This copy is from an actual Artya press release…

Coprolite: This dial is shit, isn’t it? Yes, indeed it is

Stunning transmutations fuelled by boundless creativity embody Artya’s signature. Always brimful of ideas and thoroughly steeped in contemporary art, Yvan Arpa launches a new venture out of the blue, and presents an horological creation crowned with a dinosaur’s coprolite dial.

Coprolite is dinosaur dung.

The watch goes for around 12 Gs.

I saw this story about the debate over what should be the New Hampshire state drink.

Apples are getting some competition from cows in the debate over what New Hampshire’s state drink should be—cider or milk.

The House will weigh in this week when it votes on a bill designating apple cider as the state drink.

A lawmaker introduced the bill after Jaffrey Grade School students contacted her. Later, Gilford Elementary School students lobbied for milk.

The House Environment and Agriculture Committee is split. Some members support cider while others propose killing the bill.

I never heard of a state drink before. Not all states have them. Missouri doesn’t. Here’s a list of state drinks/beverages I found at StateMaster.

Alabama Conecuh Ridge Whiskey (State Spirit)
Arkansas Milk
California Wine
Delaware Milk
Florida Orange juice
Indiana Water
Kentucky Milk
Louisiana Milk
Maine Moxie
Maryland Milk
Massachusetts Cranberry Juice
Minnesota Milk
Mississippi Milk
Nebraska Milk, Kool-Aid
New York Milk
North Carolina Milk
North Dakota Milk
Ohio Tomato Juice
Oklahoma Milk
Oregon Milk
Pennsylvania Milk
Rhode Island Coffee milk
South Carolina Milk, South Carolina Grown Tea
South Dakota Milk
Utah Hot cocoa
Virginia Milk
Wisconsin Beer, Milk

Milk seems to be the P.C. choice.

I live at the end of a gravel road you know. One day last week, I was coming home and there was a late model Chevy truck headed towards my place. Now, we don’t get many folks coming down the road, especially Okies so, I was pretty curious. Turns out, it was a guy delivering the census form.

Now, a couple of weeks before, I was traveling and listening to some radio call-in show where the host and the callers were yakking about how the census was going to have personal questions, the bureau was compiling personal data and that was unconstitutional and there should be protest etc. So, I was kind of curious about that too.

Anyway, I filled the thing out this morning. Big black letters on the envelope say…

YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW

Pretty ominous and serious, no? Ironically, the first question is; How many people were living in your household as of April 1, 2010?

Since it’s only March, I could say anything and it wouldn’t hold up in a court of LAW.

On the personal data, they want your name, phone number (in case they have a question about your answers…hunh!!??) and race.

A little creepy and intrusive but, I’m pretty transparent. I give my name and number to strangers all the time. I’m not trying to be evasive about being a white guy. No big deal.

But, there are a few more things I’m curious about…like…

Why do they send some guy from Oklahoma and pay mileage when there are drummers I know, right here in Stone County, that have taken the test and applied for that very job?

…and…

Why is tax payer $ being spent on sponsoring a stock car?

From the Census Bureau…

The U.S. Census Bureau today officially announced an agreement with Roush Fenway Racing to serve as the primary sponsor of the No. 16 Ford Fusion driven by Greg Biffle for three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

The agreement will see the No. 16 carry a special 2010 Census paint job in Sprint Cup races at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 7; Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 21; and Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, March 28. To increase awareness and encourage participation among hard-to-count populations living in rural parts of the country in the upcoming 2010 Census, the three-race sponsorship schedule lines up with key census mail-out and mail-back dates.

Oh yeah, those pesky backwoods rural folks and the old “increase awareness” scam.

Which, brings up another curiosity. At the bureau site, I learned that on the last census, 72% of the population responded.

If they didn’t count everybody then, how do they know that?