Dark Bilious Vapors

Sunday Trivia Answer

1) Ivy Baker Priest was Treasurer of the United States from 1953-1961, and then served as Treasurer of the State of California from 1966-1974. What is her connection with the classic TV sitcom, The Munsters?
Her daughter, Pat Priest, played Marilyn Munster, the "unusual looking" member of the family in The Munsters for most of the series's run.

2) If you take the ratio of box office gross to cost of production as your measure, what is the most successful film of all time?
Deep Throat

3) The 1966 proto-garage-rock hit "96 Tears", by ? and the Mysterians, was originally written with what working title? What suggestive title did the song then pick up before finally acquiring the title under which ? and the Mysterians rode it to the top o'the pops?
Originally, it was titled "Too Many Teardrops", which then changed to "69 Tears". That was deemed too suggestive, so the numerals were reversed to form the release title, "96 Tears".

4) What is the connection, if any, between the movie Caddyshack and the TV series Flipper?
The vocalizations of the gopher which is Carl Spackler's (Bill Murray) nemesis in Caddyshack are the vocalizations of a dolphin; the actual sound effects used are the same ones used in the series Flipper.

5) Who was the Mike Nelson who didn't have a bunch of robots as friends, and who played him?
The skin diving lead character of the TV series Sea Hunt, played by Lloyd Bridges from 1958-61.

Len on 02.28.05 @ 09:16 PM CST [link] [ | ]

VolokhWatch

My former co-blogger at Signifying Nothing, Prof. Chris Lawrence, rolls his eyes at Volokh Conspirator Prof. David Bernstein for plumbing new depths of pure blog-whoredom. (More blog-whoring for GMU Law School here.)

In another post at the VC, Prof. Volokh solicits suggestions for designs for VC-themed T-shirts and coffee mugs. In honor of Volokh Conspirators Prof. David Bernstein and Prof. Randy Barnett, I suggest selling merchandise covered in the words "Buy my book! Buy my book!" repeated over and over.

Brock on 02.28.05 @ 06:52 PM CST [link] [ | ]

FlashBlock extension for Firefox

If you're like me, you find blinky things on web pages distracting and annoying. Unfortunately, a great deal of web advertising is blinky, and therefore distracting and annoying. (It also eats up a lot of CPU time on this old 200 MHz machine I use for web surfing.) Much of this annoying blinky advertising is written in Macromedia Flash. But there's a lot of good web content written in Flash as well.

So you face a dilemma: If you uninstall the Flash plug-in, you don't see the annoying blinky advertising, but you miss the good content; if you want the good content, you have to put up with the annoying blinky advertising.

Enter the FlashBlock extension for Firefox. With this extension installed, Flash content is not loaded in your browser. A placeholder is put in its place, which you can click on to view the content if you so desire.

Trust me, it makes the Commercial Appeal site much more viewable.

Brock on 02.28.05 @ 06:31 PM CST [link] [ | ]

I'll see your Prof. Ward Churchill and raise you a Rep. Sam Johnson

In the latest salvo of the left vs. right "Your Nutjobs are Nuttier Than Our Nutjobs" battle, Matthew Yglesias, Kevin Drum, and others take note of remarks by Representative Sam Johnson (R - TX):

Speaking at a veterans' celebration at Suncreek United Methodist Church in Allen, Texas, on Feb. 19, Johnson told the crowd that he explained his theory to President Bush and Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) on the porch of the White House one night.

Johnson said he told the president that night, "Syria is the problem. Syria is where those weapons of mass destruction are, in my view. You know, I can fly an F-15, put two nukes on 'em and I'll make one pass. We won't have to worry about Syria anymore."

The crowd roared with applause.

Yes, it's a stupid game, but at this point the left is winning.

Brock on 02.28.05 @ 06:11 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Is Princess in First or Third?

US News Wire reports that The American Kennel Club (AKC) announced today the "Top 10" most popular AKC registered dogs in Miami in 2004. Here's a look at the city's statistics as they compare to the rest of the country:

MIAMI 2004

1. German Shepherd Dog; 2. Labrador Retriever; 3. Yorkshire Terrier; 4. Boxer; 5. Maltese; 6. Rottweiler; 7. Shih Tzu; 8. Golden Retriever; 9. Bulldog; 10. Chihuahua

NATIONWIDE 2004

1. Labrador Retriever; 2. Golden Retriever; 3. German Shepherd Dog; 4. Beagle; 5. Yorkshire Terrier; 6. Dachshund; 7. Boxer; 8. Poodle; 9. Shih Tzu; 10. Chihuahua


Karen on 02.28.05 @ 05:30 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Ok Abby....

I bought my "Decline Insanity" coffee mug in honor of your completing your dissertating. Let me know when you'll buy me my cup of coffee.

:-)

[Congrats again!]

Len on 02.28.05 @ 08:08 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Gem o'the Day:

Blog is such a ridiculous word. It always makes me think of something you might do after a night of hard drinking ("I really hit it off with this girl at the party, but then I blogged all over her sweater"). To make it worse, the word has mutated into other forms with equally nauseous connotations: blogroll (something you might find in the deli next to the head cheese), blogosphere (a geeky euphemism for a toilet bowl), and my favorite, moblogging. It's twice as much blogging! It's blogging with guys named Mo! Say it fast enough and you can't help thinking of the old "Homeboy Shopping Network" skits on In Living Color with Damon and Keenan Ivory Wayans.
--Matt Wood at Quixtar Blog

Len on 02.28.05 @ 08:01 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Ahead of the curve?

They’ll all be doing it soon. I’m just ahead of the curve.
--St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Reggie Sanders

The "it" that Sanders is referring to is working out--using Russian kettleballs. The description in the Post-Dispatch article calls them "cannonballs", but they also describe the balls as weighing 70 pounds. I was unaware that there was cannon shot that was that big, though I suppose some of the bigger siege guns might have taken shot that large. I'll defer to the expertise of any readers who know their artillery.

And Reggie just may be ahead of the curve; last year he was pioneering a 'do-rag with the Cardinals logo on it:

Sharp-eyed fans may have noticed that Detroit outfielder Dmitri Young wore a Tigers-branded do-rag under his cap last year. It isn't clear if any other players were similarly attired—if so, Uni Watch didn't spot them—but at least one player has joined in during this season's spring training: Reggie Sanders of the Cards. Traditionalists might disapprove, but the mere thought of Bud Selig being presented with a set of do-rag prototypes for his approval (and maybe trying them on!) is entertaining enough to justify this item's existence.
--Paul Lukas

Len on 02.28.05 @ 07:35 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Karen's Trivia Q Answer

Q: In the annals of the Observer Sport Monthly...this mishap which occurred in 1999 counts as number 8 in the top TEN "worst mishaps in the history of sports." What was this and who was involved in this disaster?

I watched this disaster event from the final round of the 1999 British Open on TV. It became one of the worst golf-nuclear melt downs of a "Title Certainty" to "Loser of the Year" awards EVER. (Greg "The Shark" Norman's "always the Bridesmaid, never the Bride" self-destructions in Golf Legendom nothwithstanding.) This 1999 debacle made the list of The Observer Sport Monthy Magazine's Ten Worst Mishaps in the History of Sport.

"Disaster # 8: Jean Van de Velde's final hole disaster at the 1999 open. Jean Van de Velde looked invincible as he stood on the final tee at Carnoustie holding a three-shot lead. A few minutes later, the 33-year-old Frenchman was rolling up his trousers to wade in to Barry Burn where his ball lay under water. That was after his first shot landed on the 17th fairway and his second, having struck a stand and a rock, ended in heavy rough. His third plopped in to the burn, his fourth was a drop, his fifth disappeared in to a bunker, his sixth rolled on to the green and his seventh, a putt from seven feet, found the centre of the hole. Van de Velde then finished last in a three-way play-off for the title with winner Paul Lawrie and Justin Leonard."

We argued endlessly about...If you'd been his Caddy...would you have handed him that "wood" when he asked for it to "go for the green"...or would you have first broken that club in half, then, smiling, asked him for his second choice of club instead. Merde!

To see the entire list click on the link above.

Karen on 02.28.05 @ 07:31 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Probably sexist, but too funny not to post.

Courtesy of Men's Health Magazine, an Online Eye Chart showing you how a number of vision problems present themselves to the patient. Make sure you don't miss the last line....

Len on 02.28.05 @ 06:46 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Master of Horror

It's called Torture by Bob Herbert (NY Times) is as chilling a tale as anything dreamed up by those Masters of Horror...Philip K. Dick, Stephen King, Clive Barker or Stephen J. Cannell. It's a true tale designed by a real Horror Master: George W. Bush:

"...Mr. Arar, a Canadian citizen with a wife and two young children, had his life flipped upside down in the fall of 2002 when John Ashcroft's Justice Department, acting at least in part on bad information supplied by the Canadian government, decided it would be a good idea to abduct Mr. Arar and ship him off to Syria, an outlaw nation that the Justice Department honchos well knew was addicted to torture.Mr. Arar was not charged with anything, and yet he was deprived not only of his liberty, but of all legal and human rights. He was handed over in shackles to the Syrian government and, to no one's surprise, promptly brutalized. A year later he emerged, and still no charges were lodged against him. His torturers said they were unable to elicit any link between Mr. Arar and terrorism. He was sent back to Canada to face the torment of a life in ruins.

Mr. Arar's is the case we know about. How many other individuals have disappeared at the hands of the Bush administration? How many have been sent, like the victims of a lynch mob, to overseas torture centers? How many people are being held in the C.I.A.'s highly secret offshore prisons? Who are they and how are they being treated? Have any been wrongly accused? If so, what recourse do they have?

President Bush spent much of last week lecturing other nations about freedom, democracy and the rule of law. It was a breathtaking display of chutzpah. He seemed to me like a judge who starves his children and then sits on the bench to hear child abuse cases. In Brussels Mr. Bush said he planned to remind Russian President Vladimir Putin that democracies are based on, among other things, "the rule of law and the respect for human rights and human dignity."

Someone should tell that to Maher Arar and his family.

Mr. Arar was the victim of an American policy that is known as extraordinary rendition. That's a euphemism. What it means is that the United States seizes individuals, presumably terror suspects, and sends them off without even a nod in the direction of due process to countries known to practice torture...."

So, do I think (in the back of my mind) about where our Government is taking our Country, perverting our most cherished ideals, freedoms and legal rights under the guise of "keeping us safe" ...you betcha' cause these are true stories of horror like no fiction I could dream up. (PS....Len... I'd keep that Law Degree...if I was you...never knowing when one may need things to protect oneself.)

Karen on 02.28.05 @ 06:39 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Thought for the Day:

As NYPD Blue leaves the air next Tuesday, the 12-year-old cop show will be laureled with words like "gritty" and "uncompromising." That feels half-right. NYPD Blue was uncompromising, all right, but only when it came to love scenes. The brainchild of David Milch and Steven Bochco, Blue was one of network television's great erotic experiments. Its nudity will linger long after its gumshoeing fades. Such brazen sexuality takes a certain degree of skill when one of your romantic leads (Dennis Franz) looks like a lightly medicated version of Captain Kangaroo.
--Bryan Curtis

Len on 02.28.05 @ 06:25 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Sunshiny Dreams of Golf...

I will be winging my way via United Airlines to West Palm Beach for a week of visiting In-Laws and Relatives (Ode-to-Joy to Clan Mac); R&R (much needed) and Golfing (much loved & enjoyed). Don't cha' just love all them free travel miles. *wink* This begins our official season of Round-Robin Men's Golf Invitationals for the Mac family at their respective Golf clubs. I get to relax, go beachy-keany, golf and shop with my sister-in-law. Charlie gets to golf an golf an golf to his heart's content.

However, as to fulfilling my weekly Bloggerie desires...my bro'-in-law has only a single phone line, no DSL. Could make it impossible to do much DBV posting. I will try. But there's stiff competition for use of said phone line for business modem dial-ups, work related e-mailing and daily usage as a Phone.

Ah...Just think of what I'll have saved up by then tho' for future postings. LOL And there is always the occasional Great Golf Story or Joke that I can throw yer way. So..until Sunday the 6th...I'm off to Floooooridaaaa. Hip-hip-hooray!!!

Now, even if you're not a Golfer...I can still make you sea-sick-green-envious about this trip by further detailing just what's the fun about these Golf Invitationals for us non-golfing-invitees or even social non-golfers: Click on the "more" button to read this...but only At Your Own Risk...

Karen on 02.28.05 @ 05:59 AM CST [more..] [ | ]

The Ways and Means of February

Since I am one of the Secretaries of the Ways and Means* Committee... I get advanced copies of these special reports.

{*Ways and Means is not to be confused with the Means and Ways folks who are soooo Means and use their wily Ways to promote Anarchy, Social Straight-Jackets and other Un-American things.}

Despite the Vicious Rumors by Puxatawny Phil of Six More Weeks of Winter --- and our suspicions this is another case of a journalist on the Government Propaganda Payroll --- the Committee members over at Ways and Means finally made it in for their February meeting and posted their Minutes of the Meeting:

Madam Chairperson: The February 2005 Meeting of The Ways & Means Committee is called to order. -gavel-
MC: Is Roberts Rules present?
Committee Of The Hole: Robert has been unable to attend, Madam Chair.
MC: Really, Bob's Never missed a meeting yet…what gives?
COTH: He's been dismembered by those rules-breaking Meanies…as we feared. But we shall enforce the rules as necessary. All in favor say "eye."
Committee: EYE!
MC: First on our agenda: February Biziness. Has everyone made it back from the Love Won Out™ event? Sheesh..these chastity belts do give ya a wedgie...{Tug and Adjust}
COTH: Well, we lost Maya Keyes at the Love Won Out™ Festival. She took a hard Left-Turn and ended up at a Pro-Gay rally instead. Sen. Keyes and his wife were given emergency resuscitation measures at hearing of this defection. It's all copasetic now. Not to Worry.
MC: Thank you COTH. On to February Biziness. Continue with the Report…
COTH: Thank you Madam Chair. This month Ways and Means is proud to continue with our efforts in these areas:

Ways to stop unauthorized cloning of pets and Ann Coulter. {One of her is more than enough for any Democracy.}
Ways to prevent Bill Frist from using Taser-Stun Guns on those Cats he is Herding in Congress. {Ouch!}
Ways to improve the Signage at the outer reached of Pluto and Charon…too many Vector and Black Hole collisions were reported there this month alone.
Ways to prevent hotmilitarystud™ wanting to meetlocalmen™ from so easily getting to be face2face™ with the Commander in Chief™. {a.k.a. Jeff Gannon.}
Ways to honor those The Invisible Men of Honor {with posters, websites and study guides, and presentation of awards to U.S. Army veterans and the National Buffalo Soldiers.} Once we can find them that is…they are after all, Invisible.

MC: Thank you Committee Of The Hole. Next the Committee Of The ½:
COT1½: Exciting developments to report Madam Chair. We plan to join Jose Canseco's search for more "Road Beef" to prevent those opening baseball season "Slump Busters" by keying in on every baseball players' superstitions. We will provide a helping hand to those Players who are struggling…by getting them "the ugliest girl we can find for them to have sex with."
MC: Do tell…
COT½: Mr. Canseco nobly points out in book, "Juiced", that while he never stooped to this tactic… "I'd rather go 0-for-40," he protested. But he tattled that many of his fellow athletes did seek out "slump busters."
MC: Facinating…I can't wait to read his book.
COT½: Mr. Canseco said that Golden Boy, Mark Grace, the former Chicago Cubs first baseman, who seems like the kind of nice guy and good sport you'd want to bring home to mom, defined a slump buster as making out with the "fattest, gnarliest chick you can uncover."
MC: WOW! Should we really be contributing to this service?
COT½: Anything for Baseball.
Committee: (Hip-Hip hooray!!)
MC: Thank you for that report Committee Of The ½. That concludes our meeting. I make a motion to adjourn.
COTH: I second the motion.
MC: All in favor say "eye."
Committee: EYE!
MC: Meeting adjourned. -gavel-

Karen on 02.28.05 @ 05:37 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Nuptial Engagements

I'll be best man Charles, I've done the speech by Giles Coren (London Times) is worth the read:

"I SEE THAT the Prince of Wales is planning to get married without a best man. I can’t believe it. I’d already written my speech. It was a corker...

To read more of this Coren speech, click on the "more" button.

Karen on 02.28.05 @ 05:20 AM CST [more..] [ | ]

Sunday Trivia

1) Ivy Baker Priest was Treasurer of the United States from 1953-1961, and then served as Treasurer of the State of California from 1966-1974. What is her connection with the classic TV sitcom, The Munsters?

2) If you take the ratio of box office gross to cost of production as your measure, what is the most successful film of all time?

3) The 1966 proto-garage-rock hit "96 Tears", by ? and the Mysterians, was originally written with what working title? What suggestive title did the song then pick up before finally acquiring the title under which ? and the Mysterians rode it to the top o'the pops?

4) What is the connection, if any, between the movie Caddyshack and the TV series Flipper?

5) Who was the Mike Nelson who didn't have a bunch of robots as friends, and who played him?

Len on 02.27.05 @ 10:09 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Karen's Trivia Question of the Week

In honor of my upcoming Holiday to warmer climes and lots 'o' golf...I have this sports related trivia question:

In the annals of the Observer Sport Monthly...this mishap which occurred in 1999 counts as number 8 in the top 10 "worst mishaps in the history of sports." What was this mishap and who was involved in this disaster?

Karen on 02.27.05 @ 05:20 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Why I wish I was a Canadian.....

This is from a mailing list I'm on. The person who posted this is, of course, a Canadian:

From a fellow Canadian, about the US's recent reaction to Canada saying, "We don't want anything to do with your missile defense system":

"Why would you want to give up sovereignty?" (US Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci) said. "We don't get it. We think Canada would want to be in the room deciding what to do about an incoming missile that might be heading toward Canada."

That was the response after Canada said, "Fuck you," to the United States' fruitbar plan to line the shores of North America with missiles. So the following is my message directly to Paul Cellucci. Here are ten reasons, sir:

Number one, Canada has missile defense already. It's a pretty cunning plan, and it's absolutely free. See, there's this country just south of us, you might have heard of it, that has painted a huge bullseye on itself over the last few years. What we do is just sit there and twiddle our thumbs and looks harmless. As a result, chances are any missiles heading to North America aren't heading to Canada, but to our southern decoy. Cool plan, huh? Perhaps there is this one branch of guys in North Korea that's thinking, "Hey, you know who has the power to topple our government at the drop of a hat? Canada." I'm willing to take the risk that they'll be aiming elsewhere, though. (But really, a stiff breeze has the power to topple North Korea's government.)

Number two, that missile defense shield is insane paranoia from the people who brought you "Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq!" and "No, Really, There's Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq!" Canada has always tried to maintain a policy of not doing things that don't make any sense. Oh, except Alberta. And British Columbia for the entire decade of the 90s, come to think of it. And you never can tell about Newfoundland...

Number three, Canada decided that its money was better spent fortifying its existing military. This must seem like a bizarre concept to a country whose military penis is so big it thinks other countries have military vaginas, designed to be penetrated with little resistance, and indeed with lubrication, so the seeds of FREEDOM! can be planted within. "Canada with its own military?" you say, "That's adorable." Well, you can feel free to chalk it up to weird Canadian nonsense like free health care for everyone and restrictions on private gun ownership, I guess.

Number four, sovereignty means being able to make your own decisions. It does not mean sucking America's dick. I had hoped you would have learned that after that whole "Hey United Nations, how about we erase Iraq from the map?" thing back in 2003, when the governments of other countries decided to vote for what they thought was right instead of voting for what America thought was right (and America turned out to be wrong, by the way). I do realize that one of those countries was France, so I guess you can mentally delete this number if you want. You racist cock.

Number five, related to number four, I find it amusing that you think Canada is leaving its fate completely in America's hands here, and is now relying on America's goodwill to keep it alive when - when, not if - the commies decide to rain missles down on Saskatoon. Canada's been around for 137 years, and you know what? Not one of those years was spent with American missiles protecting it. Come to think of it, America's been around for 229 years without American missiles protecting it, too. Still, I guess you never know when Osama bin Laden will become cabable of launching transcontinental projectiles from his Himalayan cave. The legacy of 9/11 lives on.

Numbers six through ten, George W. Bush is on the shield's side, so it's a pretty safe bet that being on the opposite side is the correct move. You can pretty much live your life by not doing whatever Bush thinks you should do. I used to apply that logic to my relations with an aquaintance before he went completely nuts, and it worked wonders for me. So now that he's gone so insane that doing the opposite of what he thinks you should do consists of simply being a normal, decent human being, my anti-role-model is Bush.

So in closing, Mr. Cellucci, go irrigate your colon with Clorox.

-- Mat Sherer

Can't argue with logic like that. Though Gawd only knows, the neocon death cult occupying the District of Columbia will try.

Len on 02.27.05 @ 11:09 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Out of the Mommy Trap and On to Utopia

I see Len has skipped all the philosophical musings about "Women Running The World" and gone right to humor...but, this article, the Mommy Trap investigates some of the myths and perceptions surrounding that most delicate of female decisions to be an "at home mother" or "a career woman" in today's modern society.

I, of course, perfer my own solutions and added touches of humor for every societal and daily home issue that arises. (See my Mom On Strike article and What If Women Ran The World musings.)

For more about this "Mommy trap" either read some snippets below hit the "more " button or click on the article link above.


Karen on 02.27.05 @ 09:45 AM CST [more..] [ | ]

Blog Meme o'the Day....

At least in the baseball blogosphere. From Throws like a girl via The Birdwatch, we ask the earth shaking question: "Say you're a big league closer; what song do you pick for them to play on the stadium sound system as you're making your entrance from the bullpen?"

Personally, I'm torn right now, but for me it'd be one of either Warren Zevon's "Lawyers, Guns and Money", or The Animals' "We've Got To Get Out Of This Place".

Len on 02.27.05 @ 09:44 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Grave Secrets

This Daily Herald article: You can take it with you by Robert McCoppin (Daily Herald Staff Writer) explores the stuff people want to....Well....to take to their grave...

"A fishing pole, a cell phone - even a snack. More families are burying prized possessions with loved ones. When Steve New's father died five years ago, he knew how he wanted to honor their time together. In his father's casket, next to the body, New put some of his father's favorite lures, a reel and photos of father and son fishing and hunting together. His friends, who'd also grown up fishing with his dad, brought their own photographs to drop in the casket.

Burying objects with the dead is nothing new. Ancient Egyptians interred food and everyday objects, even furniture, to use in the afterlife. An ancient Chinese emperor had an army of 6,000 terra cotta soldiers buried with him for protection in the hereafter.

The modern popularity of memorial mementos continues a trend toward personalizing funeral services, from wake to eulogy to burial. Preachers say it helps families and friends remember their loved ones' happiness and humor, not just their deaths.

Funeral directors have seen just about everything tucked into a casket at one time or another. Golfers go to rest with balls and clubs. Gamblers might take dice and a winning hand. One man, who was rarely without his phone, was buried with his cell. And some people are reunited with body parts they'd long since lost. Bibles and beyond..."

So...leave your comment here...to tell me: What would YOU like to take to your Grave?

Karen on 02.27.05 @ 09:04 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Thought for the Day:

Apropos of Karen's several posts mentioning "what if women ruled the world", I'll share something a friend recently forwarded to me:

If Men Ruled The World

Any fake phone number a girl gave you would automatically forward your call to her real number.

Nodding and looking at your watch would be deemed an acceptable response to "I love you."

Hallmark would make "Sorry, what was your name again?" cards.

When your girlfriend really needed to talk to you during the game, she'd appear in a little box in the corner of the screen during a time-out.

Breaking up would be a lot easier. A smack to the ass and a "Nice hustle, you'll get 'em next time" would pretty much do it.

Birth control would come in ale or lager.

Each year, your raise would be pegged to the fortunes of the NFL team of your choice.

The funniest guy in the office would get to be CEO.

"Sorry I'm late, but I got really wasted last night" would be an acceptable excuse for tardiness.

At the end of the workday, a whistle would blow and you'd jump out your window and slide down the tail of a brontosaurus and right into your car like Fred Flintstone.

It'd be considered harmless fun to gather 30 friends, put on horned helmets, and go pillage a nearby town.

Lifeguards could remove citizens from beaches for violating the "public ugliness" ordinance.

Tanks would be far easier to rent.

Garbage would take itself out.

Instead of beer belly, you'd get "beer biceps."

Instead of an expensive engagement ring, you could present your wife-to-be with a giant foam hand that said, "You're #1!"

Valentine's Day would be moved to February 29th so it would only occur in leap years.

On Groundhog Day, if you saw your shadow, you'd get the day off to go drinking.

St. Patrick's Day, however, would remain exactly the same. But it would be celebrated every month.

"Cops" would be broadcast live, and you could phone in advice to the pursuing cops Or to the crooks.

Two words: Ally McNaked.

Regis and Kathie Lee would be chained to a cement mixer and pushed off the Golden Gate Bridge for the most lucrative pay-per-view event in world history.

The only show opposite "Monday Night Football" would be "Monday Night Football From A Different Camera Angle."

It would be perfectly legal to steal a sports car, as long as you returned it the following day with a full tank of gas.

Every man would get four real "Get Out of Jail Free" cards per year.

Faucets would run "Hot," "Cold," and "100 proof."

Daisy Duke shorts would never again go out of style.

Telephones would automatically cut off after 30 seconds of conversation.

Actually, I feel compelled to comment on one of these items: "Ally McNaked"... WTF? Somebody actually thinks that Calista Flockhart is attractive (well, someone besides Harrison Ford, who I'm convinced has gone senile)? Is there really a subculture of American men who'd get into concentration camp victim porno? Scary....

Len on 02.27.05 @ 09:00 AM CST [link] [ | ]

The Cat Herders

The Washington Post had this Gem of an article about our very own Dennis Hastert (We, residing at Dennis Hastert Corner, are always interested in all things "Denny") and Bill Frist:

"GOP Odd Couple Reflect Chambers They Lead: Their Cohesion Could Greatly Affect Bush Agenda.

....House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (Ill.) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (Tenn.) share many goals and, by most accounts, genuinely like each other. But in style, ambition and operating methods, they could hardly be more different....

...Republicans dominate the House, where Hastert has moved quietly but aggressively to consolidate his power, rarely bothering to explain his rationale or involve Democrats in making decisions. In the Senate, Democrats still hold enough seats to block Republicans on most issues, sometimes by using the filibuster. Their strength forces Frist to cajole, explain and persuade almost constantly, either before television cameras or secluded in his office with a handful of fellow senators.

Frist's job is "like herding cats," said James A. Thurber, director of American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies. Mainly because of half a dozen moderate GOP senators, he said, "it's very hard to keep the caucus together in the Senate."

As for Hastert and his lieutenants, Thurber said, "it's brilliant in the House how they've centralized power."

A comparison of the two men, and the current state of the institutions they lead, suggests both the power and the limits of one-party rule...."

To read more, go to the article link above.

Karen on 02.27.05 @ 05:17 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Hopeful Cracks Appear

An Opening on Social Security, a Washington Post Editorial on Feb 26th, had this to say about Bush's beginning recognition that saying he's "open to good ideas" on how to really fix the Social Security financial shortfall might just include options he's previously excluded...why...because they are Good Ideas and might actually be the solutions we need.

"ONLY IN THE context of the glacial political minuet over Social Security could President Bush's comments last week that he might, perhaps, be open to the notion of raising the Social Security earnings cap be considered bold. Mr. Bush cracked that door open the tiniest bit, repeating his previous insistence that the 12.4 percent payroll tax could not be budged, but noting that "all the other issues are on the table." Asked specifically whether he would consider increasing the amount of earnings subject to the tax, Mr. Bush added, "I've been asked this question a lot, and the answer is, I'm interested in good ideas."

Republicans, who are not truly interested in "Good Ideas"...only "Political Ideas"...had this response:

"The reaction from certain quarters of the Republican Party to this welcome sign of presidential flexibility was as predictable as it was depressing. "We're not going to do that," House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) said. "That's a tax increase." Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) was only slightly less dismissive. Conservative interest groups, meanwhile, treated Mr. Bush's comments as heresy on a par with his father's move to break his "no new taxes" pledge. "President Bush needs to close that door to higher taxes, or risk losing the centerpiece of his domestic policy agenda," said former Republican congressman Pat Toomey, who is now president of the Club for Growth."

Some where...in the middle of all the Rhetoric IS the solution the Nation needs. But it's how to get there from here.

Karen on 02.27.05 @ 05:14 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Butterflies Aren't Free

Monarch Butterflys may be heading the way of the Platypus and other extinct creatures as the natives of Mexico consider the value of the "wintering home of trees" versus the "cash crop for timber" between "North America's most spectacular natural wonders and trees that could be sawed down and sold for $300 each."

"We can contemplate the butterflies," said Cruz, a lawyer. "Or we can send our children to school and feed our families" with the cash from the cut trees. "It's a tough choice."

The winter migration of monarch butterflies to Mexico, a stunning sight that draws vast numbers of tourists to mountain forests 100 miles west of Mexico City, has been devastated this year. One of the chief causes is logging that destroys butterfly sanctuaries, according to Mexican and U.S. environmentalists."

Karen on 02.27.05 @ 05:05 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Thought for the Day:

“Date Doctor” Alex Hitchens (Will Smith) is sort of the A-Team of male romantic problems: when a guy is at the end of his rope regarding the fairer sex, they call Hitch. He, in turn, coaches them through the process of wooing and winning the girl of their dreams. His success rate is such that he lives a life of relative prosperity and has even achieved a sort of urban legend status among the single women of New York City.

Hitch’s latest remodeling job is one Albert Brennaman (Kevin James), a shy, doughy accountant with an unrequited crush on his firm’s marquee client, heiress Allegra Cole (Amber Valletta). Desperate to show Allegra the depth of his feelings but utterly unable to express them, he seeks out Hitch. After an initial consultation, Hitch agrees to the project, confident in Albert’s prospects no matter how hopeless they may appear, especially to those of us in the real world who know chubby dorks rarely land the beauty queen.

But we’re talking about The Movies here, where the impossible can happen, dreams always come true, and the love of your life will always see the inner beauty lurking beneath your 44-inch waist.
--Pete Vonder Haar [on the film Hitch]

Len on 02.26.05 @ 09:56 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Are You Bullshitting Me??

Only from the PC of Ben Macintyre (London Times) could this stunner leap from the page in This column is Great, Trust Me

"We all think we can identify it in others, we know we sometimes lapse into it. But what is bullshit?

THE WRONG sort of snow finally pushed Yuri Luzhkov, the Mayor of Moscow, over the edge. Enraged with Russia’s hopeless weather forecasters, he has vowed to fine them for any more inaccurate, misleading or unreliable predictions. As reported in yesterday’s Times, he admonished them in the following, memorable terms: “You are giving us bullshit.”

On the other side of the world, Harry G. Frankfurt, the moral philosopher and professor emeritus at Princeton University, would have smiled sagely at that remark. After decades of exploration in the thorniest thickets of philosophy, he has just published a slim treatise entitled On Bullshit (Princeton University Press), an earnest intellectual inquiry into this most pungent and slippery of philosophical concepts. His short theory of bullshit is a testament for our times.

We all think we can identify bullshit. We know when we are talking bullshit ourselves, and we have all been guilty of it at times, in the pub or the pulpit, though some of us produce more than others. Politics thrives on bullshit, while lawyers, advertisers, public relations consultants and talk show hosts produce the stuff in its purest form. Very occasionally, columnists have been known to lapse into it. Every language in the world has a word for it.

But what is bullshit? The concept is universally recognised, yet as Professor Frankfurt writes, “the most basic and preliminary questions about bullshit remain, after all, not only unanswered but unasked.” He begins, like all good philosophers, by defining what bullshit is not. Bullshit is dishonest, yet it is not necessarily mendacious. The bullshit artist may not tell you the truth (though he may do so inadvertently), but he is not deliberately lying. This is because bullshit cares nothing for truth or falsehood, accuracy or error, and that is its force and danger...."

Click on the article link to read more...it reeeally is GREAT.

Karen on 02.26.05 @ 07:37 AM CST [link] [ | ]

A Babbling Brook of Profundity

Much as I deride David Brooks (NY Times)...and he most certainly and often deserves it...he does have an intellect. Sometimes he even uses these brain powers to stray from the scripted path of Administrative Apologist and Lap Doggerie he's been so well trained to "heel" to all these years. He actually lets his own "Inner Gonzo" loose and says something quite profound. So, here it is today....David Brooks being Profound:

"This is the most powerful question in the world today: Why not here? People in Eastern Europe looked at people in Western Europe and asked, Why not here? People in Ukraine looked at people in Georgia and asked, Why not here? People around the Arab world look at voters in Iraq and ask, Why not here?...

....The head of the Syrian Press Syndicate told The Times on Thursday: "There's a new world out there and a new reality. You can no longer have business as usual."...

...It's amazing in retrospect to think of how much psychological resistance there is to asking this breakthrough question: Why not here? We are all stuck in our traditions and have trouble imagining the world beyond. As Claus Christian Malzahn reminded us in Der Spiegel online this week, German politicians ridiculed Ronald Reagan's "tear down this wall" speech in 1987. They "couldn't imagine that there might be an alternative to a divided Germany."

But if there is one soft-power gift America does possess, it is this tendency to imagine new worlds. As Malzahn goes on to note, "In a country of immigrants like the United States, one actually pushes for change. ... We Europeans always want to have the world from yesterday, whereas the Americans strive for the world of tomorrow."....

...Not all weeks will be as happy as this one. Despite the suicide bombings in Israel and Iraq, the thought contagion is spreading. Why not here?"

Karen on 02.26.05 @ 07:00 AM CST [link] [ | ]

It Ain't Funny & It Ain't True

US News Wire is reporting about Actress Neve Campbell, whose younger brother, Damien, has Tourette Syndrome, joining in the Association's new awareness efforts against the exploitation of Tourette Syndrome (TS) for laughs in the media and the Tourette Syndrome Association (TSA) is mounting a vigorous campaign to halt distortions of this much misunderstood neurological disorder.

""By reducing the stigma and misunderstanding associated to Tourette Syndrome, and educating people about its more common symptoms, this campaign will help foster acceptance and hopefully bring an end to discrimination for those living with TS," said Campbell.

A print public service announcement, "It Ain't Funny & It Ain't True; Exploiting Tourette Syndrome for Laughs" has already appeared in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, and is now being provided to thousands of national newspapers, magazines and entertainment industry publications. Outreach to professional organizations of film and television producers as well as entertainment writers is also a high priority.

"Growing public awareness of a formerly little known condition has brought about a number of recent films and television program references which sensationalize and distort symptoms, said Judit Ungar, President, TSA. "These hurtful references and films are created to grab audience attention, and not to portray the disorder as it really is."

As for the potential damage of highly inaccurate, negative references to the disorder, the association charges that these encourage a climate of discrimination in such vital areas as employment, education and social acceptance.

On the positive side, Ungar notes that the entertainment industry deserves credit for spreading the word about the very existence of TS. Many a youngster and adult has been troubled by its symptoms without even being able to name the cause. In fact it has been said that more cases have been diagnosed by viewing or reading information from the media than in a doctor's office.

Neve is currently developing and producing a film, "A Private War," from a screenplay written by her friend, stuntman Peter Antico about his own struggle with Tourette Syndrome.

"I am truly excited about being able to make a movie that will depict Tourette Syndrome in a realistic and compelling way and really open people's eyes about what TS is and what it isn't," said Neve."

Karen on 02.26.05 @ 06:39 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Battle Politico Volley & Serve

Sometimes...when he's not being a Conservative jerk, a GOP sell-out Moron and a Shill for that Empty Suit of a President... Pat Buchanan has some interesting points to make in the royale battle of the politicos and pundits.

In this one : The Anti-Conservatives : "Who convinced the president that our democracy depends on a worldwide crusade?" He writes:

"That George W. Bush would seek to embed the Iraq War in the higher cause of global democracy was to be expected. That is the way of wartime presidents.....But Bush has gone Wilson one better. He is not only going to make the world safe for democracy, he is going to make the world democratic. Where Lincoln abolished slavery in the South, Bush is going to abolish tyranny from the earth: “So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.

Who and what converted a president who came to office with no knowledge of the world to the idea that only a global crusade for democracy could keep us secure?

Answer: 9/11—and the neoconservatives...America “goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy,” said John Quincy Adams, “She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.” Under the tutelage of Jacobins who call themselves idealists, Bush has repudiated this wise core doctrine of U.S. foreign policy to embrace Wilsonian interventionism in the internal affairs of every autocratic regime on earth. We are going to democratize the world and abolish tyranny. Giddy with excitement, the neocons are falling all over one another to hail the president. They are not conservatives at all. They are anti-conservatives, and their crusade for democracy will end as did Wilson’s, in disillusionment for the president and tragedy for this country."

Karen on 02.26.05 @ 06:38 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Universal Success

After my outing to Pluto...I finally located, at the library, that back issue of Natural History Magazine (April 2004) with the article about the "particle viewer" and the Digital /Virtual Universe which allows a virtual roam around the galaxies and beyond.

This Digital Universe was created by NASA's supported Digital Universe Atlas and the Hayden Planetarium of the American Museum of Natural History. You can download this program at the Download site and take a tour of this Universe in 3-dimensions. Out to edges of our Solar Sytem, to the Milky Way and beyond to the most distant objects known in the Universe.

But the caveat is: "as you move among the stars in the vicinity of our Sun, you may find that it is all too easy to get lost." Try this program out and then you, too, can see how easy it is to lose your way out by Pluto and Charon. (Crappy signage out there in the boondocks of the Universe.) Plus, there won't be any Sassy Black Holes for you to have to deal with either.

It's a really entertaining program.

Karen on 02.25.05 @ 03:36 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Eyeing that six-pack for this weekend? Think again, guys.

As a plain text item, this has been making the rounds in email for a while. Kudos to the genius who thought of making a faux news article out of it.

Credit: an associate who has better sense than to want his name publicly linked with mine. :-)

Len on 02.25.05 @ 01:03 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Where I'm not going to find...

the next ex-Mrs. Len Cleavelin: Hannidate. Think of it as match.com for conservatives.

Frankly, any woman who has the bad taste to listen to Sean Hannity isn't going to get anywhere near me. Not that she'd want to.

Credit: SKBubba, who's also tooting his horn over his recent mention in Slate [in the same Josh Levin piece about bloggers and rappers that featured a mention of MadKane]. But check the picture of SKBubba in the "tooting his horn" hyperlink. Priceless.

OK, then. (™ SKB)

Len on 02.25.05 @ 12:56 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Memphis News: The Week In Review

The Statutory Disclaimer: The Memphis Community's Daily Fishwrap requires a free registration, or bypass it using BugMeNot.

2/18: Memphis news isn't quite All Senator John Ford All The Time, but you'd be forgiven for concluding that it was. Senator Ford's legal woes keep piling up. Disclosures from his recent Juvenile Court child support case piqued the interest of the State Senate Ethics Committee, which went so far as to subpoena Ford's Juvenile Court case file, which includes such juicy tidbits as the Senator's income tax returns. It may also make Tennessee legal history; while the Tennessee Constitution gives legislative committees subpoena power, this is the first time that any Legislature watchers can recall any legislative committee issuing a subpoena. Not as impressive as being the butt of a Jay Leno monologue, granted, but there's little that can top that. Later in the week, we learned that Senator Ford initially fought the enactment of an ethics law requiring disclosure by state legislators and officials of money received for "consulting services" performed for any entity doing business with the state, though eventually Ford wound up voting for the law (which ultimately failed anyway, when the legislative session ended before the House and Senate could iron out differences in their bills). By Wednesday, Ford was beginning his counteroffensive by charging that a local television reporter was harassing him, but this was only a mere distraction from intensifying interest in possible connections between Ford and a consultant doing work for TennCare, an allegation which, if true, could be a major violation of state law. Though the news for Senator Ford isn't completely bad; vagueness in the wording of the statutes governing residency in Tennessee may mean that he'll get a break on charges that he doesn't reside in the district he represents.

2/19: The city (through City Administrator Keith McGee) announces budget cuts will require the layoff of 2,100 city employees, including close to 200 full-time employees. Meanwhile the Memphis blogosphere (both sides of the aisle, you may note here) makes extended comment on the most noteworthy feature of the announcement: why did it come from the lips of City Administrator McGee, instead of those of Mayor Herenton? Steve Steffens weighed in on LeftWingCracker:

Remember, we can't start collecting signatures for a recall petition until 75 days prior to the filing deadline for the May 2006 election. However, I assure you, we WILL get this on the ballot because 2007 just isn't soon enough to get him out of there.

In addition to the layoffs, some city services are being cut back, including the imminent closing of the local planetarium and major cutbacks in the local museums (which receive significant funding from the city).

2/25: In legal news, a Shelby County Circuit Court jury awarded damages of over $50 million (if I'm adding correctly) to the family of two women killed when an SUV hit their Dodge Caravan head on. The award included $48.8 million punitive damages against Daimler-Chrysler, the manufacturer of the Caravan. And a federal jury begins deliberations today to decide whether former Shelby County Medical Examiner O.C. Smith lied to federal investigators about the unusual incident where he was found bound and gagged with barbed wire and attached to a bomb.

Len on 02.25.05 @ 08:51 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Vixen of Vipertude

The Darling of the GOP Vixens of Vipertude, Ann Coulter, is spewing forth her drachenfutter: Ire usually reserved for that errant hubby she apparently doesn't have - don't know - reeeeeally don't care neither.

So, who's the Vixen breathing her raging fire at the cave door to today? Why, as always, "LIBERALS", of course...Ann is LIKE SO BORING and one track minded she can't see those tree for that forest she's got rammed up there...plugging her _! But this time, in defense of the indefensible...Jeff Gannon, aka James Guckert, Ann is off with her hot breath and fumes with this tripe and mish-mashed hackery:

"...Are we supposed to like gay people now, or hate them? Is there a Web site where I can go to and find out how the Democrats want me to feel about gay people on a moment-to-moment basis?...

...Gannon got one (a White House Secret Service approved Press Pass), even though he writes for a Web site that no one has ever heard of -- but still big enough to be a target of liberal hatred! (By the way, if writing for a news organization with no viewers is grounds for being denied a press pass, why do MSNBC reporters have them?)....

...Finally, liberals expressed shock and dismay that Gannon's real name is "James Guckert." On MSNBC's "Hardball," Chris Matthews introduced the Gannon scandal this way: "Coming up, how did a fake news reporter from a right-wing Web site get inside the White House press briefings and presidential news conferences?" Reporter David Shuster then gave a report on "the phony alias Guckert used to play journalist" -- as opposed to the real name Shuster uses to play journalist. (You can tell Schuster is a crackerjack journalist because he uses phrases like "phony alias.") With all the subtlety of a gay-bashing skinhead, Matthews spent the rest of the segment seeing how many times he could smear Gannon by mentioning "HotMilitaryStuds.com" and laughing....

....Democrats in Congress actually demanded that an independent prosecutor investigate how Gannon got into White House press conferences while writing under an invented name. How did Gary Hartpence, Billy Blythe and John Kohn (Gary Hart, Bill Clinton and John Kerry) run for president under invented names? Admittedly, these men were not reporters for the prestigious "Talon News" service; they were merely Democrats running for president."

Needless to say, This trashy excuse for a journalistic hack of a Vixen is NOT on my list of women EVER allowed to Run the World.

Karen on 02.25.05 @ 08:34 AM CST [link] [ | ]

One of my guilty blogospheric pleasures...

is Query Letters I Love. I don't know exactly what these persons' jobs are, but it involves reading a lot of query letters pitching potential film projects. And some of them are seriously demented.

Like this one, which sounds like Shrek's Donkey meets the New Testament. We can only wonder which one will survive (though the schmaltzy ending wouldn't give me much hope).

Len on 02.25.05 @ 07:41 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Thought for the Day:

Jazz used to be popular music. People would go out to clubs, listen to the music, go home, and get laid. Simple as that.
--Steven Bernstein [Sex Mob slide trumpeter]

Len on 02.25.05 @ 06:02 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Political Shopping Salvos

Thomas Friedman (NY Times) is a SCREAM with this one called Honey, I Shrunk the Dollar and this opening salvo to the Bushies:

"I have just one question about President Bush's trip to Europe: Did he and Laura go shopping?"

Karen on 02.25.05 @ 05:55 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Sorcerers

Speaking of Dental Work Sorcerers'...as I am about to enter another $$$$ month with more dental, ortho and oral surgery for my two teenaged daughters in my most immediate future...

US News Wire reports The Chicago Dental Society (CDS) will host their annual Midwinter Meeting on Friday, and high-tech and patient-friendly dental products, including treatments that could eventually make the drill extinct, will be on display:

"As we countdown to CDS's annual Midwinter Meeting, one of the largest displays of dental products in North America, here are a few of the exciting products to be highlighted on the exhibit floor.

Fruit and candy flavors for floss and toothpaste. Johnson & Johnson adds cherry, bubblegum, citrus and berry flavors to their floss line-up. Radius has released a cranberry-flavored floss made with silk, and Nature's Gate offers licorice and green tea flavors. Crest debuts Vanilla toothpaste.

Sonicare two-in-one toothbrush. Sonicare reveals a new electric toothbrush that includes a built-in liquid toothpaste dispenser. This new toothbrush releases toothpaste while you brush.

Improving cavity treatment. One dental tool gives patients more options than the standard drill by using air to drill through tooth decay. Another new innovation uses a small digital camera that takes a photograph inside the mouth and uses a special light to detect early decay on the tooth."

Where were these cool things and most equipped Sorcerers when I was growing up? And had to see the dentist...endlessly...for all them cavities, crowns, caps, root canals and stuff?


Karen on 02.25.05 @ 05:50 AM CST [link] [ | ]

We Are Asking and We Are Telling Update

"Congressional lawmakers today announced legislation to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the military's ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual personnel." US News Wire reports. The report also states:

"Announcement of the bill follows release of a new Government Accounting Office (GAO) report analyzing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The GAO report conservatively estimates the gay ban has cost at least $191 million since its inception in 1993.

The report's financial estimate, however, includes only costs associated with recruiting and training enlistees to replace those discharged under the ban. The GAO analysis does not include costs associated with discharging officers or the nearly 800 specialists with critical skills who have been fired because of their sexual orientation. Administrative costs associated with discharges are also not included in the GAO analysis.

"Our homeland is more secure when every qualified, capable American who wants to serve is allowed to do so," said C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). "The choice we now face is clear: Spend $191 million on firing patriotic Americans or spend the same amount on a dozen Blackhawk helicopters or 800 sidewinder missiles. Our priority should always be defense and security. The Military Readiness Enhancement Act is the best proposal to do just that."According to GAO, the Pentagon has fired 322 language specialists who "had…skills in a foreign language that DoD had considered to be especially important.'"

SLDN reported in 2004 that at least three dozen of those linguists spoke Arabic, Farsi or Korean, language the Pentagon acknowledges are understaffed. Nearly 800 specialists, including intelligence analysts, divers and combat controllers, were fired despite having "some training in an occupation identified…as 'critical.'" Since 1993, more than 10,000 service members have been fired under the gay ban. During that same time period, many of the United States' closest military allies, including Great Britain and Canada, repealed their prohibitions on gay service personnel."

Karen on 02.25.05 @ 05:36 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Kennel Club Doggie News

We have counted down to this Final-Fret-Free-Friday-in-February. Have to think up something else for next month. *wink*

More in the Kennel Club & Doggie News Department: Canines compete to be top dog in Chicago
by Elisabeth Mistretta (Daily Herald Staff Writer).

This weekend Chicago plays host to the Blackhawk Kennel Club and The International Kennel Club dog show for over 150 breeds of pooches.

The Daily Herald even has a Learning the Lingo of doggie show terminology to help spectators enjoy the show. Details of show available.

In the ring:

Standard: Written traits and physical characteristics of each breed set and maintained by each breed's national club.

Conformation: Judges compare dogs to written breed standards, not to each other.

Gait: A sound and balanced movement indicates proper conformation and structure.

Stack: Positioning the dog in a specific stance.

Down and back: Usually a slight trot required on a diagonal from one corner of the ring to the other. Judges see the dogs front and rear movement.

Gay tail: Twisted or bent tail.Stripping: Thinning the dog's coat to enhance texture.

X-ing: Taking a dog for a potty break in a collapsible metal exercise pen with wood shavings in the center.

Snood: Fabric hood worn on the head and ears of long-coated breeds like the afghan hound and cocker spaniel to protect them from dirt.

About the shows:

Benched show: Dogs must remain in assigned areas, or "benches," when not competing so spectators can talk with breeders, owners and handlers.

Unbenched show: Owners and dogs can leave once their competitions are over.

Karen on 02.25.05 @ 05:30 AM CST [link] [ | ]

If you're looking for a new and different twist in your resume...

Pete at A Perfectly Cromulent Blog informs us that Troma Entertainment, cinematic home of New Jersey's only superhero (The Toxic Avenger and sequels) and preeminent producers of low-grade classic bad films, is looking for people to fill important production positions for their soon to be filmed next classic: Poultrygeist: Attack of the Chicken Zombies. Unpaid positions, so you better be able to live off your trust fund income for a bit, but you'll get a screen credit certifying your contribution to the enrichment of American Cinema:

Poultrygeist, a fromage to Takashi Miike, is the next planned offering in Troma Entertainment's thirty-plus-years-long tradition of wildly successful low-budget, high-concept, one-of-a-kind cinematic creations designed to satisfy the hunger for reel entertainment.

When the American Chicken Bunker, a military-themed fried-chicken chain, builds a restaurant on the site of an ancient Indian burial ground, local protestors aren't the only ones crying fowl! The previous tenants, fueled by a supernatural force, take "possession" of the food and those who eat it, and the survivors discover that they must band together before they themselves become the other white meat!

Film lovers have been starved for sustenance. The relentless diet of predictability and pretense Hollywood has been serving up just doesn't cut it. Poultrygeist is hearty food for thought.
In Poultrygeist, Troma takes on the the fast-food industry-skewering the soulless restaurateurs-in the world's first horror-comedy film to feature zombie chickens, American Indians and a bit of singing and dancing!

It's Poultrygeist!

Len on 02.24.05 @ 01:11 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Gem o'the Day...

(or, Why I Don't Take The Blogosphere Seriously):

But rappers' and bloggers' self-importance also has something to do with the supremely annoying righteousness that rides along with those who believe they're overturned the archaic forms of expression favored by The Man--that is, whitey and/or the mainstream media. Ninety percent of rap lyrics are self-congratulatory rhymes about how great the rapper is at rapping, the towering difficulties of succeeding in the rap game, or the lameness of wanksta rivals. Blogging is a circle jerk that never stops circling: links to posts by other bloggers, following links to newspaper stories about bloggers, following wonderment at the corruptions and complacency of old-fashioned, credentialed journalism.
--Josh Levin

Len on 02.24.05 @ 07:08 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Journalistic Illusions

Don Wycliff (Public Editor of Chicago Tribune) and I have exchanged many e-mails over this "Journalistic Privileges & Shield" laws regarding the Valerie Plame outing by Robert Novak (Chicago Sun Times columnist and CNN commentator) and the Judith Miller & Matt Cooper requirement to testify and/or reveal their government sources. Don is one of the first of many serious and respected news paper media people who immediately recognized the underlying issues and problems in asserting some "generic, wholesale privilege to all journalist" in cases such as the Plame matter.

Today's column, Shield laws offer illusory protection is a "home run" effort to further that discussion.

Don writes:

"...I yield to no one in my abhorrence of government by secrecy. Almost from Day One the Bush administration has been a particularly egregious offender in this regard. Indeed, I think it is only in a Justice Department made in the image of John Ashcroft that a hunt for leakers at the White House could have become a Javert-like pursuit of two reporters.

That said, I have to confess my doubts about the proposed federal shield law. I wonder whether in supporting such legislation we may be trading our birthright--the splendid informational anarchy fostered by the 1st Amendment guarantee of press freedom--for a mess of pottage. I wonder whether we may not be trading occasional outrages like the Miller-Cooper case for the everyday certainty of uncertainty that goes with being licensed by the government.

You see, if the government gives journalists the right to be exempt from the normal obligations of citizenship, the government, ultimately, will get to decide who is a journalist. Of course nobody will admit that this is the case. They'll contrive some body of journalistic wise men and women, a college of cardinals, who will set standards and thresholds and regulations and such. But somebody will have to appoint those cardinals and, in the end, it will be the government that's in charge....

...If you think it was just by accident that Jeff Gannon, a.k.a. James Dale Guckert, got cleared to attend White House news briefings and a presidential news conference that you or I would have had to endure probing up to a body-cavity search to be cleared for, then you probably would welcome having a government Ministry of Truth deciding who gets licensed as a news gatherer.

If you think bloggers have been more an annoyance than anything else and that the journalistic universe ought to be limited to newspapers and three TV network news departments, you may like the idea of a government overseer licensing the respectable and keeping the riffraff out.

I hope I'm wrong about all this. But I've never been one who believes you can have your cake and eat it too."

Thanks for saying it so well and following up on the earlier columns and thoughts by Clarence Page and Steve Chapman...Great Job, again, Chicago Tribune!

Karen on 02.24.05 @ 07:00 AM CST [link] [ | ]

My favorite recovering woman lawyer....

the lovely and multitalented MadKane, is pleased that she got a mention in yesterday's "Culturebox" section of Slate [Levin's thesis: bloggers and rappers are basically very similar types of individuals]. Interestingly, she makes no comment on Josh Levin's brief mention of the phenomenon she talks about just the day before: the seeming dearth of influential female political bloggers [Levin's observation: it seems that women aren't taken seriously in either the raposphere (™ Len Cleavelin) or the blogosphere unless they raunch up their acts--data points being Lil' Kim and Wonkette]. That latter post of Mad's is especially recommended for Mad's poetic takedown of Kevin Drum for some comments he made at Political Animal not very long ago. As a public service, Mad links to a number of responses to Drum's post if you're interested in following the debate.

Len on 02.24.05 @ 06:32 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Thought for the Day:

Lance: OK, you're giving her an injection of adrenaline straight to her heart. But she's got breastplates. You've gotta pierce through that. So what you gotta do is, you gotta bring the needle down in a stabbing motion. [Makes multiple stabbing motions]
Vincent: I gotta stab her three times?
Lance: No, you don't gotta fucking stab her three times! You gotta stab her once, but it's gotta be hard enough to get through her breastplate into her heart, all right? And then once you do that, you press down on the plunger.
Vincent: OK, then what happens?
Lance: I'm curious about that myself.
--Pulp Fiction

Len on 02.24.05 @ 06:17 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Swift Boat Weenies For Bush

Swifites Slime Again is Maureen Dowd's (NY Times) column today. And hoo-boy...I just HATE those Swift Boat Weenies and Liars for Bush.

Maureen writes:

"...USA Next, which has spent millions on Republican policy fights, has pledged to spend as much as $10 million on ads and other tactics to "dynamite" AARP and get Americans to rip up Social Security. It's hiring some of the same consultants who helped the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, who dynamited John Kerry, a war hero, by sliming him as a war criminal.

... Bush supporters in 2000, Swift Boat assassins can rid the president of any meddlesome adversaries now....

...It began with an almost comically hyperbolic Internet ad that briefly ran on The American Spectator's Web site, painting AARP as pro-gay sex - even though it's tough to think of AARP and steamy lust in the same hot breath - and anti-soldier. It showed a soldier with a red X across him, and two gay men kissing at their nuptuals, with the headline "The REAL AARP Agenda."..."

As I am soon to join that 50+ crowd of Baby-Boomer AARP'er's we'll just have to see about them Swift Boatie Weenie Liars...I'd like to Dynamite those jerks myself. LOL

To see what I said about them Swift Boat Weenies last fall... click on the "more" button.

Karen on 02.24.05 @ 05:50 AM CST [more..] [ | ]

H2O for People

Water For People (WFP), an international humanitarian organization, today announced the successful launch of its Phase II "Water For Africa" partnership with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of International Activities and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The partnership was formed to help bring safe and sustainable drinking water to the urban poor in African cities.

Water For People is currently hosting and facilitating an Eastern and Central African Peri-urban Project (ECAPP) workshop this week in Kampala, Uganda. Thirty participants, including heads of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia will share, learn and determine how to build on the success of the three-year "Water For Africa" Phase I, which focused on building local competencies and hygiene awareness. The initial approach aimed at filling the knowledge gap that exists between organizations trying to address water and sanitation issues related to the urban poor. Phase II is designed to stimulate thinking, to minimize the duplication of efforts and to deepen the relationships between Northern and Southern NGOs. Phase II also provides for more tangible pieces including some hardware.

One of the top priorities for the representatives from WFP is to examine how a Northern NGO becomes a real partner with a Southern NGO. The workshop will provide opportunities for participants to collaborate and explore interests and needs up front before the actual work is implemented in hopes that this higher level of partnership will generate positive, sustainable outcomes.

With the urban poor increasing at an alarming rate in absolute and relative terms, for approaches to achieve success, they must reach beyond the mere transfer of resources. Unlike rural work, the scope of urban projects encompasses the complexities of tenuous relationships, tremendous population density and a serious strain on local governments and infrastructure.

In PHASE II, WFP decided to hire an African evaluator to ensure representation and observation from a southern perspective. In developed western countries the purpose of education is to inform people about environmental issues as they relate to water and waste management. In the developing world, education is still connected to public health issues.

----US News Wire

Karen on 02.24.05 @ 05:28 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Journalistic Malpractice

Journalistic Malpractice By Robert J. Samuelson (Washington Post) has this to say about the "news coverage" of the Social Security debate:

"It's always necessary to do the math. By this I mean that journalists need to measure politicians' promises against underlying realities, as represented by numbers. But many reporters detest math. This math phobia partly explains why the media did such an abysmal job covering the debate over the Medicare drug benefit -- ignoring the program's long-term costs -- and why they're committing a similar blunder with President Bush's Social Security plan. They're missing the obvious: The plan doesn't address baby boomers' retirement costs.

Our central budget problem,...is the coming spending explosion in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, driven by aging baby boomers and rising health spending. In 2004 these programs cost $965 billion...The Congressional Budget Office projects that by 2030 their costs will rise to 14 percent of GDP, or more than $1.6 trillion in today's dollars. Avoiding a (nearly) $700 billion annual increase in taxes or deficits would require comparable spending cuts in other government programs. It won't happen. The projected increase in retirement spending nearly equals all federal "discretionary spending" .... We're not going to eliminate all these programs....

Once you've done this math, you recognize that benefit cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are inevitable. They're the only other way to limit massive tax increases or immense budget deficits. Moreover, the benefit cuts have to affect baby boomers, because they will be the people on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid...

Judged by this arithmetic, Bush's Social Security program is a hoax. He's claiming to make Social Security sustainable. In 40 to 50 years, Bush's approach might work. But in the next 25 years -- when the real budget problem occurs -- it does little. Bush wants it both ways: He wants to appeal to younger voters by offering personal accounts; and he doesn't want to offend older voters (including baby boomers) by cutting their benefits. This may be smart politics, but it's lousy policy....

But the mainstream media mainly ignored the long-term costs...Call this journalistic malpractice....The malpractice continues. The disagreeable reality is that the baby boom's sheer weight will sooner or later force cuts in Social Security and Medicare. We ought to be debating them now and giving people warning. But almost everyone has a stake in denial, and the media are complicit. Personal accounts -- like them or not -- don't solve the real problem. If journalists were doing their jobs, everyone would know that."

Karen on 02.24.05 @ 05:24 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Animals Gone Wild

This is a US News Wire addendum to Len's "Tiger" post:

"One day after a California court wisely found John Weinhart guilty on 56 of 61 charges stemming from one of the most heinous animal cruelty discoveries- 58 frozen tiger cub carcasses and the decomposing remains of more than 30 other big cats-authorities shot and killed a 600 pound tiger loose in the hills of Southern California.

While the shooting of an escaped tiger today is tragic, it is also preventable. Sadly, violent, often fatal, incidents involving privately owned big cats are occurring at an alarming rate across the country.

The Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition (CWAPC), representing 20 leading animal protection organizations, zoos, and sanctuaries, believes keeping wild animals as pets is dangerous for people and inhumane for animals. CWAPC tracks and reports on incidents involving captive wild animals and warns that the rate of human injury and death from privately owned big cats and other wild animals is increasing. In 2004, there were at least:

4 human adult fatalities

27 human adult injuries

13 human child injuries

307 animal fatalities

81 animal escapes, and

608 confiscated or displaced captive wild animals

In 2003, there were at least 33 incidents involving captive big cats. Of these incidents, 3 were human fatalities, 14 human injuries; hundreds more either escaped or were confiscated.

When animals escape the public is put in great danger, tremendous resources are tapped, and ultimately the animal often ends up shot and killed. It is estimated that there are between 10,000 and 20,000 big cats in private ownership in the U.S.-many more than remain in the wild-and there are no federal regulations banning this practice. And while big cats such as tigers are often in the headlines, other exotic animals including primates, bears, and reptiles can be equally dangerous and are kept in private hands in backyards nationwide. Tragic incidents will continue unless we end the private ownership of dangerous wild animals. In 2003, Congress enacted legislation to end the interstate commerce in big cats as pets. If future injuries and deaths are to be avoided, local and state governments must also bar the keeping of these animals, and ensure adequate enforcement of existing laws."

Karen on 02.23.05 @ 05:54 PM CST [link] [ | ]

How to read a wingnut

In the midst of a long post regarding the submission process at academic philosophy journals, John Holbo suggests a novel way of reading the wingnuts at Powerline.

Hey, did you read that nutty stuff over at Powerline today? And every day? Here's my advice. When you find yourself reading something by Hindrocket, some rant about how irrational and traitorous the left is, or the MSM; just sort of pretend you are reading a Spider-Man comic, and Hindrocket is J. Jonah Jameson yelling at Betty Brant, or Robbie. Or Peter. About Spider-Man. Because why does he hate on Spidey so? Spidey is so obviously not a menace. He's good. It's too bad we all know who Atrios is now. Otherwise we could imagine: what if Atrios is really, like, Hindrocket's secretary? I realize it is really a quite serious matter than the right-wingers have gone around the bend and apparently aren't coming back. Still, you've got to find a way to read their stuff with a sunny heart.

Brock on 02.23.05 @ 05:32 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Apparently, it was a tiger...

Earlier, we mentioned the big cat's paw prints found near the Reagan Library. California fish and game officials have just announced that USDA Wildlife Services officers have shot and killed a 400-600 pound tiger near Moorpark, CA. It is still unknown where the tiger came from.

Len on 02.23.05 @ 01:15 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Hmmmmmm.....

Take a look at this picture. If this sub-compact Eurobox is trying to channel The General Lee, I don't think it's working. (Is it just me, or is it missing the Confederate flag on top? And so close to the Heart o'Dixie, too.)

Credit: Mr. Roboto. And while visiting TNF, go read Captain T's rant about Microsoft's ever-expanding hegemony in the Digital Rights Management area.

Frankly, once you've bought music legally, you should be able to do whatever the f*ck you want to do with it that's legal, and transferring it onto a different device for your personal enjoyment is legal, last I looked.

Damn the RIAA. Pretty soon they'll be hitting you up for royalties for the songs you sing during your morning shower. They're working on the technology even as we speak...



Len on 02.23.05 @ 08:59 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Old Mac Milt

As an Update to my ongoing kevetch about those Wormy, Diseased Apple Guys...

Yesterday the internal power supply part for the Performa 6300 MAC came via the U.S. mail. (Though supposedly Len's Tape is still MIA as far as I know...$#@%$ Post Office.) And with this part, Olde Mac Milt (the e-bay seller) sent DIRECTIONS about HOW to open this Chinese Puzzle of a hunk-o-junk. What a GUY...I have to give him an excellent e-bay rating and send him many Thanks!!

My Teenage Computer Geek (Lauren's boyfriend- Garrison), Lauren and I followed these directions flawlessly. We were able to swapped out that faulty internal power supply and Voila...Bob is my Haamsta (one of three)...it powered up that MAC.

The kids had a scream, laughing at what's on this virtual, computer scrapbook of memories from 1995-1997. A frozen section of time...like those time capsules...for us to review. It is Tooooooo Funny. It even has the girls toddler - preschool voices recorded telling stories. Now, if I can keep them out of Busy Town, Lode Runner and such...maybe I'll get to see what is there too. :-)

Problem is...we can access the Children's files without a Password. But, in these intervening 9 years, I no longer remember what our password would have been. Nor, apparently, did I write it down in anticipation of EVER being able to use this computer 9 years later.

So....All you Computer Geeks...anyone got any ideas how to bypass this password...or reset it without remembering what it was?? Looking for HELP from all you serious Wizards out there.

Karen on 02.23.05 @ 07:37 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Skyway

I was taking a detour around some Spring Construction and Repairs going on here at Dennis Hastert Corner and ended up negotiating my way via the Outer orbit of Puto. Sheesh...musta lost my way cause I got caught orbiting that frozen rock from Hell and it's itty bitty little moon. And there I was...all by myself..not a soul in sight. Just lots 'o' radiation dust and other competing Black Holes. I'm mostly made of Black Hole material too---Stuff from all over the Universe fall inside of me, but most if it never makes it out to see the light of day again. But these were sassy Black Holes from the Universe of Beyond......they were jealous of me and my abilities to commune with Earth and Nature and Understand Stuff because I think therefore I am.

I tried to get them to Buzz off, but No Dice. Luckily I'd brought my CD's along with me, so I set those pesky Black Holes to dancing the night away. So if any of you felt the disturbance of those stars an heels being kicked up...I was just me keeping them Black Holes out of my face. Though our Full Moon might have lent me a hand but was too distracted by all the Crazees back here on Earth.

I wouldn't have been stuck so long in that vicious Orbiting Traffic jam of Vectors and Black holes, except I've lost my Navigational Star Mapping program. It's a downloadable Universe and you can navigate around inside of and visit other Galaxies. But, watch out, it does need lots of kilobytes of hard drive space and a kick-ass computer to run it. But now I've lost it. I will try to find it again (I think it was from those Scientific American folks from last year) and post where to download this amazing program. Though, I did find some very nice Road Side Assistance from Joe Rao at Skyway.

Oh, but "there's no place like Home."

Karen on 02.23.05 @ 06:58 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Music Trivia Answer

The question was: Name the artist and title of the musical composition which is used as the theme music to the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction?

Karen made a valiant try, though it looks like she looked in the IMDB soundtrack listing for Pulp Fiction and named every piece there. So the correct answer (sorta) was there, but I wanted it with a little more specificity.

The answer I was looking for was: "Miserlou", performed by the legendary Dick Dale ("King of the Surf Guitar") and His Del-Tones.

Len on 02.23.05 @ 06:51 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Thought for the Day:

Genius round the world stands hand in hand, and one shock of recognition runs the whole circle round.

Herman Melville said that in the winter of 1914, and Murray is keenly aware of it. Only a madman would call a legend of Bill Murray's stature at 3:33 a.m. for no good reason at all. It would be a career-ending move, and also profoundly rude.

But my reason was better than good...

* * * * *

BILL: "Hello?"

HST: "Hi, Bill, it's Hunter."

BILL: "Hi, Hunter."

HST: "Are you ready for a powerful idea? I want to ask you about golf in Japan. I understand they're building vertical driving ranges on top of each other."

BILL (sounding strangely alert): "Yes, they have them outdoors, under roofs ..."

HST: "I've seen pictures. I thought they looked like bowling alleys stacked on top of each other."

BILL: (Laughs.)

HST: "I'm working on a profoundly goofy story here. It's wonderful. I've invented a new sport. It's called Shotgun Golf. We will rule the world with this thing."

BILL: "Mmhmm."

HST: "I've called you for some consulting advice on how to launch it. We've actually already launched it. Last spring, the Sheriff and I played a game outside in the yard here. He had my Ping Beryllium 9-iron, and I had his shotgun, and about 100 yards away, we had a linoleum green and a flag set up. He was pitching toward the green. And I was standing about 10 feet away from him, with the alley-sweeper. And my objective was to blow his ball off course, like a clay pigeon."

BILL: (Laughs.)

HST: "It didn't work at first. The birdshot I was using was too small. But double-aught buck finally worked for sure. And it was fun."

BILL: (Chuckles.)

HST: "OK, I didn't want to wake you up, but I knew you'd want to be in on the ground floor of this thing."

BILL: (Silence.)

HST: "Do you want to discuss this tomorrow?"

BILL: "Sure."

HST: "Excellent."

BILL: "I think I might have a queer dream about it now, but ..." (Laughs.)

HST: "This sport has a HUGE future. Golf in America will soon come to this."

BILL: "It will bring a whole new meaning to the words 'Driving Range'."

HST: "Especially when you stack them on top of each other. I've seen it in Japan."

BILL: "They definitely have multi-level driving ranges. Yes."

HST: (Laughs.) "How does that work? Do they have extremely high ceilings?"

BILL: "No. The roof above your tee only projects out about 10 feet, and they have another range right above you. It's like they took the façade off a building. People would be hanging out of their offices."
--Hunter S. Thompson [from his last ESPN.com column]

Len on 02.23.05 @ 06:32 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Puppy Dog's Tails?

Paul Krugman (NY Times) Has a an excellent piece Wag-The Dog Protection about the utter lack of seriousness and efforts of this Administration to do what is necessary, spend what is necessary, block all leaks, fill all gaps, cover all holes in our National Security flaws.

Krugman writes:
"Consider, for example, the case of chemical plants.

Just days after 9/11, many analysts identified sites that store toxic chemicals as a major terror risk, and called for new safety rules. But as The New York Times reported last fall, "after the oil and chemical industries met with Karl Rove ... the White House quietly blocked those efforts."

Nearly three and a half years after 9/11, those chemical plants are still unprotected.

Other major risks identified within days of the attack included the possibility of terrorist attacks on major ports or nuclear plants. But in the months after 9/11, the administration flatly refused to allocate the sums that members of the House and Senate from both parties thought necessary to secure these sites.

And when the administration does spend money protecting possible terrorist targets, politics, not national security, dictates where the money goes. Remember the "first responders" program that ended up spending seven times as much protecting each resident of Wyoming as it spent protecting each resident of New York?

Well, it's still happening. An audit of the Homeland Security Department's (greatly inadequate) program to protect ports found that much of the money went to unlikely locations, including six sites in landlocked Arkansas, where the department's recently resigned chief of border and transportation security is reported to be considering a run for governor."

Karen on 02.23.05 @ 06:23 AM CST [link] [ | ]

Trivia Answers

The answers to this week's trivia questions:

1. Charles Schulz, creator of Peanuts, was known to family and friends by a childhood nickname. What was this nickname, and what was its origin?
   
   "Sparky." His uncle gave him the nickname, after the horse "Spark Plug" in the comic strip Barney Google.
   
   
2. Charles Schulz always hated the title "Peanuts," which was given to the strip by United Features Syndicate. What was the strip originally called?
   
   His strip originally ran in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, where it was entitled "Li'l Folks."
   
   
3. What does Charlie Brown's father do for a living?
   
   Charlie Brown's father is a barber, as was Schulz's own father.
   
   
4. Prior to its destruction in a doghouse-fire, Snoopy owned a painting by a famous artist. What artist was this?
   
   Snoopy owned a Van Gogh.
   
   
5. Where was Snoopy born?
   
   The Daisy Hill Puppy Farm.
   

Len correctly answered questions 1, 3, and 5. Bryan at Why Now? answered 2 and 4, and mentioned that Snoopy replaced the Van Gogh after the doghouse fire, something I did not recall.

Brock on 02.22.05 @ 05:52 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Going out in style:

Via TalkLeft, we get Hunter S. Thompson's last wish: the gonzo journo wanted to be cremated, then have his ashes blown across his ranch by a cannon.

And for what it's worth, an article in the Boston Globe gives Thompson's attorney's take on the situation: in retrospect, the suicide makes sense.

If one of Hunter S. Thompson's last wishes comes true, the body of the late maverick journalist will be cremated this week and his ashes blasted from a cannon across his sprawling ranch in Woody Creek, Colo.

That will be the extent of Thompson's funeral, as he told friends and family, said George Tobia Jr., a Boston-based entertainment lawyer who has represented the author for the past 15 years. Tobia said he has spent a few hours every week, often in the wee hours of the day, fielding requests from and chatting up the man who created gonzo journalism.

In a phone interview yesterday, Tobia said only in retrospect does it makes sense that the 67-year-old author sat in his kitchen Sunday afternoon, stuck a .45-caliber handgun in his mouth, and killed himself while his wife listened on the phone and his son and daughter-in-law were in another room of his house. His wife had no idea what had happened until she returned home later.

In his last days, though it appears that Thompson was concerned with the disposition of his literary estate:

The one clue, in retrospect, that something changed recently was Thompson's decision that it wasn't so important that his papers and archives be sold to the highest bidder, money that would help him in later years. Last week Thompson told friends and Tobia -- one of the trustees of his estate -- that it was more important his archives not be sold piecemeal and that they find the proper home, such as at a university.

Len on 02.22.05 @ 12:20 PM CST [link] [ | ]

Ok, I'm an addict. So deal with it..... (or, I need to get out one trivia question...)

I let Brock do the weekly quiz this week (and a pretty good one it was, and not just because I knew the answers to three of the five questions right off the bat, and I think I have an idea of what the answer to question 2 is, but I'm letting someone else have that one), but I do have a question that's been burning a hole in my brain, so I'm just going to let it out:

Name the artist and title of the musical composition which is used as the theme music to the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction?<