…eventually. The directions to get here, and to the hotel, were not all that could have been desired*. Non-Euclidian dimensions belong in Call of Cthulhu, not the map.
There. I feel much better now. See you all Sunday…
Moe Lane
Joseph Michael Straczynski, don’t tease us with this.
Don’t you dare. You either, Bryce Zabel. (Via OTB and Poliblog)
Generic Geekpuzzle title.
The trick behind this is fairly obvious, once you figure it out, but watching other people scratch their heads until they get it ought to have its own amusement value. There’s a strong possibility that this might be my last post until after Origins, so everybody have a good weekend. (Via Michael Totten)
That last post took way longer…
…than I expected. So much so that the “Is the Iranian government outright INSANE?” post is now the “I guess that it isn’t, at that.” Which is a good thing, as the optimal result here would be a Velvet Revolution leading to an essentially violence-free regime change, and UK/US rescue missions into Iranian territory (however … Read more
An open letter to the financial backers of Air America.
I have noted with some interest the details of the ongoing money sink that is Air America. I suppose that I could lie and say that this gives me no enjoyment, but that would be quite dishonest of me: I am enjoying the sight immensely, mostly because I was skeptical about the notion from the start. Admittedly, none of you bothered to listen to me, given that I’m some guy on the Internet with a blog, but you do have to admit that I’ve turned out to have frittered away a lot less of your hard-earned money than you have, so possibly you should have taken the time to look me up.
But, strange as it may sound, I’m not suggesting that we spend our time together in bitter recriminations: I’m here to help you out. No, really. We can turn this thing around for you.
In another world…
…a world where the Ninja is cruising towards a easy nomination at the Democratic National Convention, the upcoming resignation of Connecticut Governor John G Rowland is white-hot news. There are all sorts of questions being asked about whether he’d stay in office long enough to appoint a new Senator to take Lieberman’s place, the Lt. … Read more
Waiting.
The South Korean government has announced that it will continue to send troops to the Middle East… which means that hostage Kim Sun-il is dead. We’re just waiting for the confirmatory footage, that’s all. My prayers for him and my sympathies to his family and his country. Let us make no mistake: the terrorists who … Read more
Inch by painful inch…
…we crawl out of the Playpen. Will this be a step, or just the beginning of another stumble? Time will tell… but still, well done, Mr. Melvill. Well done. Now go do it again.
If you were having problems with access…
…past the main page, it wasn’t you, it was TypePad – and it seems to have fixed itself.
No, I am not happy about this.
I admit to a serious dislike of Michael Moore’s past work and present politics (to put it mildly), which I intend to express by not seeing his next film – which I feel is a proper response (and before you ask, I’ve given Moore enough fair chances already; I see no reason why I should give him another). Those who wish to may go watch it a billion times for all I care, as I doubt that the mere viewing of it will destroy Western society as we know it, or even convince a significant number of people who weren’t predisposed to be convinced, so as both a concerned American and a partisan Republican it’s not my problem.
So understood? Good.
Lane Demographic Update.
The all important Lane Family Demographic Update has taken place, again, and just like every other damn poll out there it’s all over the map. Pop Lane is now planning to vote for Senator Kerry*, while Mom Lane has switched support away from the presumptive Democratic nominee and is now officially undecided, albeit wistful about Senator McCain. None of the Sister Lanes were available for polling, thus skewing the results of the poll further. As a result, the Presidential election has been officially redesignated as being Too Close To Call. Further polling will probably take place in September.
In other news, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church is still polling abysmally among Lane Family members, with the highest negative numbers going towards the bishops and cardinals and the lowest towards the Pope, although the theory that he’s been dead for a decade was floated; there was a sharp split on the legacy of former President Reagan; the economy is being rated as generally improved, although the general strength of the dollar vis a vis the Euro is generally viewed negatively; Europe’s (particularly France’s) positive numbers remain essentially unchanged from their generally high levels; and my interest in attending the Republican National Convention was greeted with the usual weeps and wails and protestations of where my long-suffering parents went wrong, although it was cut short this time by the sudden appearance of the Miracle DVD.
OK, so it’s anecdotal data. At least you know I’m not making sh*t up.
Moe
Father’s Day Weekend…
…best wishes for all that qualify*; I’ll be in transit for most of it, thus doing my part to lighten the mood around here. In the meantime, Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball is going up under reference (along with a few others: thanks, Jon) as soon as I have the time. If you haven’t checked it … Read more
Damn them.
Damn them to hell. And before anyone asks, I specifically limit my curse to the people who did this.
Little bit grumpy tonight…
…so I’ll turn this into an open geek thread and be done with it. Fun geekstuff information always good for making Moe less grumpy. Moe PS: Firefox loads sites up fast. PPS: Anybody going to Origins?
I grow old, I grow old…
How do I know this? Because one of the iconic sex objects of my adolescence and youth – a woman that successfully reinvented herself a dozen times to fit a rapidly-changing market – has apparently decided that adopting the name Esther will fill some inner need for her*. It gets worse, folks: until the Post … Read more
Cleaning the blogroll…
…over the next couple of days. I’ll be removing dead links, reassessing mine, resorting existing ones and giving Edward his own sidebar. So, if you know of a site that links to us (and thus needs a Backscratch link) or you’re a Regular with a site to link to, or you’ve got a suggestion for … Read more
Twenty quatloos that this becomes an issue.
It’s got all the hallmarks, really. It’s important enough to be adequately symbolic and obscure enough to be safely abandoned by either side, if necessary: the parties that choose to get involved will have plenty of opportunities to safely exhibit their real feelings about Reagan/their opponents; and, of course, either way the Unitarians probably end … Read more
Stephen Green says something that I’d rather not hear.
He thinks that Paul Johnson is already dead. I wish that I disagreed with Stephen, but I don’t. I don’t think that Mr. Johnson’s alive, either; his captors already have what they need for their immediate purposes and they know full well that there is no possible way that the Saudi government is going to … Read more
Open Primaries in CA?
Rick Heller of Centerfield is linking to a John Fund article regarding the possibility of California becoming an open primary state. Short version: Fund is profoundly leery of any voting system that could easily reproduce results like the 1991 Louisiana Senate or the 2002 French presidential races. It’s hard to blame him, although I would note that in both cases the electorate did not end up electing the lunatic. Still, Rick wants to give it a shot, seeing as he’s even less worried about kooks getting elected and he’s tired of not having enough centrists* in office.
I’d be much happier with gerrymander-proof Congressional districts, but that’s just me. At any rate, I doubt that this will make it past the courts. Granted, Louisiana’s did, butthen Louisiana doesn’t have 55 Electoral votes. I know that this is cynical of me, but honestly, the existing political parties in CA are happy enough with the status quo – they ought to be; they designed it that way – and thus not in the mood to rock boats. I also believe that this proposal would make Californian elections a bit more complicated, yes? I seem to recall hearing people complain about that sort of thing already, although I could be misremembering…
Moe
It’s like having an inner ear problem…
…I switched over to Mozilla Firefox* (I decided that it’d be superior to my other alternative, which was to ram a wooden stake through the CPU); it seems fairly nifty, but all my reflexes are off. This tab thing, frex; really really useful and I keep forgetting how to use it. And let’s not even … Read more
Who was the guy on the xylaphone?
Maybe I am sicker than I thought, because I think that normally I would be outraged. OTOH, my long-suffering girlfriend vetted it, and although she looked dubiously at the Alzheimer’s references she generally jueged it as funny. I report, you decide. Just don’t drink any soda while doing it, one way or the other. (Via … Read more
What’s next? Delay/Pelosi slash fiction from the NYT?
There were, like, a lot of actual things happening in the last few days, folks. I just want to know: what story did you spike to make room for a piece about how Paramount Photoshopped Condi Rice’s and Hillary Clinton’s faces on cheesecake shots for a movie trailer? (pause) Oh, it’s part of a column. … Read more
There was a rumor
I have listened to Kinky Friedman’s music precisely once. I was 24 at the time, and was over a friend’s house – well, there were a bunch of us, and we didn’t have anywhere to go that weekend, and there was a neighborhood bar right next door, just in case we got tired of drinking … Read more
Time for another installment…
… That’s Just Silly. Yes, that fun game where you look the stuff that your own side does and shake your head in disbelief. OK, so it’s sort of the first installment, although we’ve played games like this before. They say that confession’s good for the soul – albeit rarely on public property, these days – so we’re probably overdue for a good bout of painful admissions and confessions.
The rules are simple: go find something done by somebody on your side that’s so goofy it makes you roll your eyes, confess it here (with appropriate links) and walk away feeling better. This is explicitly a game for admitting to silly stuff done by your side, not the Other’s; attempts to score points against political opponents are forbidden in this thread, and will probably be deleted, although the temptation to mockingly edit them is a strong one. Best not to force a decision, there.
So, to show willing, I give you… “W” Ketchup! Ollie North’s crowd came up with this winner* – how shocking, huh – and they’re touting it as an alternative to ‘Democratic’ ketchup. Umm, right. I’m struck now with this image of Ollie North somebody to be determined doing the remake of The Manchurian Candidate, pounding the podium with one hand and holding a Heinz bottle in the other, all the while shouting about the Commies.
Sheesh.
(Via Boi from Troy)
Moe
UPDATE: A call to the charity – which, by the way, seems decent enough – has indicated that they haven’t gotten a donation from these guys yet; they’ll look into it and let me know one way or the other. I still retain the right to mock this as a Right-wing goof, until such time as it’s been shown to be otherwise.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Got an email from the charity; the group making this is an actual company who will be donating to said charity, which argues against a satire site. The mocking of W Ketchup may now resume.
I am clearly looked upon with suspicion by my masters.
I mean, I didn’t get an invitation to blog from the GOP convention, unlike some people I know; I still haven’t seen one thin dime of the Right-wing blood money that’s supposed to be falling from the sky in a veritable torrent for all us “warbloggers”; and now I find out that apparently I’m not … Read more
Oh.
I’m surprised that I missed this – well, actually, no: I was on a bit of a self-enforced hiatus last week* – but I’d like to offered my (belated) sympathies to Matthew Yglesias about the health of his mom. I used to regularly read his site, before the vagaries of webblocking software made it impossible … Read more
An open letter to the Media…
…That’d be the so-called ‘conservative’ media, the so-called ‘liberal’ media or whoever the hell’s supposed to be pulling your strings this week. Please direct your attention to what Senator McCain said – again – about him being the Veep candidate for Senator Kerry: he said “no“. It’s not confirmed that Senator Kerry even asked; frankly, … Read more
Bilateral Social Gathering Geez, it was just dinner.
A useful corrective took place yesterday: to wit, my girlfriend and I had dinner with Rivka (of Respectful of Otters) and her Significant Otter*. This would be considered to be quite the accomplishment: Rivka’s a Dean Democrat, I’m a Bush Republican, so of course it was tense…
…well, actually, it wasn’t tense at all. Rivka’s a sweetie, not to mention sound on Lois McMaster Bujold and the Rocky Horror Muppet Show, so we sat in the back yard, drank beer, demolished a cheese and crackers plate, had some very good grilled salmon – and some better Denver pudding – and finished the night playing the I’ve Got A Stranger Song Than THAT game (if I had only known, I would have brought in the big guns instead of relying on my girlfriend’s Ipod selections). She wrote about it herself here; I’m glad that they had as good a time as we did. One of the major problems with political blogging is that it’s really, really easy to forget that there’s a difference between a person’s policy positions and their personality; lots of us spend lots of time – too much time – in wars to the virtual knives. Spending a pleasant afternoon in the pleasant company of someone whose vote you’re likely to cancel out in November is an excellent corrective; I wholeheartedly endorse the practice.
As for the ‘cuddly’ bit… well. I am hardly in a position to either confirm or deny that description.
Moe
Caretaker Post…
…I was planning to have a post here, but that was before the [bleep]ing virii started propogating themselves through my computer system – and now I’m literally on my way out the door to The Chronicles of Riddick. So, to the two people that would know what the hell I’m talking about: don’t worry, there’ll … Read more
Things I meant to blog about #2
Are you looking for cinema reviews- with a twist?
Then pop on down to Maoist International Movement’s Maoist Movie Reviews! Sure, we’ve all wondered what a hardcore totalitarian would think of such classics as Small Soldiers and Gladiator; well, we can wonder no more. These folks will be more than happy to bend, twist, spindle, mutilate, crumple, squeeze and even liquify their target movies into Chairman Mao’s paradigm; the results of this can be best expressed by the fact that they sort of liked Episode Two*.
And they even solicit reviews! Not that I’m encouraging anybody to spoof them, of course. Why on earth anyone would think that I would ever suggest that a bunch of would-be dictators and censors be inundiated with subtly mocking movie reviews is beyond me completely**…
(Via Amygdala)
Moe
While doing site maintenance…
…I ran across Constant Reader Double-Plus-Ungood’s commentary on male urinal etiquette. I contest none of his rules (save for the fact that it is in fact permitted to stare straight ahead, eyes focused on a spot of the wall directly in front of you), but it’s bemusing to realize that nobody ever told me them, … Read more
Things I meant to blog about #1
Uninvited Artist Posts Work at 4 Museums NEW YORK (AP) – Paintings of President Bush and former President Clinton, accompanied by messages referring to the artist’s bodily fluids, mysteriously appeared last week on the walls of two major city museums and reportedly at two other museums in Philadelphia and Washington. Harold Holzer, a spokesman for … Read more
In praise of Killer B’s.
B movies, that is. Given my current mood OK, nobody probably gives a flying leap about my mood, except if I flip out and go rob a train, which would make said mood entertaining – and so I shall talk about Bubba Ho-Tep, which I sat down and watched for the first time tonight. I … Read more
Well, I’m back…
…having (hopefully) gotten a handle on whatever it is that keeps me from shouting instead of commenting and ranting instead of debating. Regular blogging – well, by me, at least; the others more than covered the slack while I was reacquiring equilibrium – will resume some time after Bubba Ho-Tep has been watched. Moe PS: … Read more
Zoning, was it? Less of a surprise, then.
No, actually, I’m not being entirely facetious. 99%, perhaps, but that last 1% is a different story. I am referring, of course, to the armor-plated bulldozer (complete with .50 caliber machine gun) that tore up a Colorado town yesterday:
GRANBY — A 52-year-old welder nursing a grudge against the town fathers and driving a bulldozer converted into a war machine ripped the heart of this high-country ranching town from its foundations Friday.
Among the structures destroyed or heavily damaged in a relentless 90-minute rampage were Granby’s town hall and library, a bank, the town’s newspaper, an electric cooperative building, Gambles Store, an excavating business and a house owned by the town’s former mayor, as well as a concrete plant adjacent to the business of the man believed responsible for the bizarre assault.
It’s not really funny: although the, well, rampage somehow didn’t hurt anyone being attacked, the guy responsible shot himself afterwards. For that matter, I don’t particularly think that driving around town with what’s essentially a homemade armored car and shooting at things is an example of what one would call reasonable behavior; Jim Henley aside*, I suspect that a tumor or recent change in brain chemistry was what set this guy off.
That being said, I’m not surprised that a zoning violation was the apparent cause: it’s amazing how much sheer emotional energy and contention get generated by the simple application of rules about who can build what and where. I’m also struck by these two lines:
“He said, ‘By God, I am going to bulldoze those businesses,’ the businesses of all the people who’d done this to him,” Brown recalled.
“People knew he was building the armored bulldozer, but they didn’t know why he was building it,” said Nelson. He said Heemeyer welded one-inch armor plate around the bulldozer.
Because, of course, there are so many possible reasons why a man would need a homemade armored bulldozer. A pity that Ms. Brown and Mr. Nelson never compared notes…
Moe