Bing and Bowie

I love this song! I’m not sure how I found it on YouTube initially, but here it is…

Further News from DC

Also on Thistle and Shamrock today was Oor Hamlet… by Adam McNaughton.

This was a “poetry” version of Hamlet, and OMG, it was hysterical!!! It went on about Hamlet’s (mis)adventures, including a refrain, and ended something along these lines:

That’s all the Hamlet
You’re getting today
If you thought that was boring
Read the play!

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be available anywhere.

Live From DC - Introducing Dougie MacLean

(On today’s Thistle and Shamrock on WFYI, Indy’s NPR station (I was driving around Greenwood, IN, catching up with laundry and such)).

Well, introducing him to me, at any rate. Of course I’d heard of him; just never got around to listening to him.

His contribution today was a live, acoustic version of All Together, from Live from the Ends of the Earth.

What a darned shame I hadn’t gotten my round tuit in order before…

It took me a while to find the CD, and in the meantime, I ran across another version of All Together, on The Best of the Thistle & Shamrock, Vol. 1. I can’t decide which version I like better.

Good Eats

On the spine of this month’s Real Simple:

I don’t like gourmet cooking or “this” cooking or “that” cooking. I like good cooking.

-James Beard

Comfort (and Joy)

On the spine of this month’s Real Simple:

There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.

-Jane Austen

Imagination vs Knowledge

From the binding of this month’s issue of Real Simple:

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

-Albert Einstein

----------------
Now playing: Blue Mitchell, Gene Taylor, Horace Silver, Junior Cook & Louis Hayes - Sister Sadie
via FoxyTunes

Kitty Cat Trees a Black Bear

Here Kitty Kitty!:

“Another example of a photo really adding to a story. From {This Is} True’s 25 June 2006 issue…”

Person vs Train: People Who Use Their Brains Know Who Wins That One

From mercurynews.com today:
Finding trouble by the tracks

“…What needs to change, Caltrain officials said, is the public’s attitude toward the train.…”

No; really??? How could that possibly be?

What Judgement??

From ABC News:
Steelers QB Stable, but Questions About His Judgment Remain:

“…‘If it was the law, I’d definitely have one on every time I rode, but it’s not the law, and I know I don’t have to and you’re just more free when you’re out there with no helmet on,’ he told ESPN.…”

Hmmmm… 24 years old, male, riding without a helmet even though he knows better… OTOH, he’s obviously not using the head that wears the helmet to think, so maybe it doesn’t matter?

Eeeeeewwwww! That’s Gross! But Cool, Too!!

From mercurynews.com today:
Out of the past crawls leggiest bug:

REDISCOVERED IN SAN BENITO COUNTY
By Julie Sevrens Lyons
Mercury News

“San Benito County has a new claim to fame: the world’s leggiest animal.

“No joke. After an 80-year hiatus, a millipede no wider than fishing line was rediscovered in a remote part of the fertile region just southeast of Santa Clara County.

”Called Illacme plenipes, Latin for “plentiful feet,” the little critter has been found nowhere else on the planet. Even though researchers know it’s long, lean and extremely hairy, there is still much to be learned about the millipede that comes closest to having the mythical 1,000 gams.…”

From the Immigration Trenches

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Politics (Border Patrol):
“Border Patrol

“Claim: E-mail reproduces letter from retired U.S. Border Patrol agent to Senator Bill Frist.

“Status: True.

“Example: [Collected via e-mail, 2006]

“Dear Senator Frist:

“There is a huge amount of propaganda and myths circulating about illegal aliens, particularly illegal Mexican, Salvadorian, Guatemalan and Honduran aliens.

“1. Illegal aliens generally do NOT want U.S. citizenship. Americans are very vain thinking that everybody in the world wants to be a U.S. citizen. Mexicans, and other nationalities want to remain citizens of their home countries while obtaining the benefits offered by the United States such as employment, medical care, in-state tuition, government subsidized housing and free education for their offspring. Their main attraction is employment and their loyalty usually remains at home. They want benefits earned and subsidized by middle class Americans. What illegal aliens want are benefits of American residence without paying the price.…”

No, Charlie Daniels Does NOT Need Sensitivity Lessons

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Politics (Mexican Standoff):
“Mexican Standoff

“Claim: Country singer Charlie Daniels wrote an editorial about illegal immigration.

“Status: True.

“Example: [Collected via e-mail, 2006]

“MEXICAN STANDOFF

“I don’t know how everybody else feels about it, but to me I think Hispanic people in this country, legally or illegally, made a huge public relations mistake with their recent demonstrations.

“I don’t blame anybody in the world for wanting to come to the United States of America, as it is a truly wonderful place. But when the first thing you do when you set foot on American soil is illegal it is flat out wrong and I don’t care how many lala land left heads come out of the woodwork and start trying to give me sensitivity lessons.

[Rest of article here.]…”

Il Papa’s Rose

GardenMessenger:



“Another important rose launched recently in the United States, just before I started this blog, is named for the late Pope John Paul II. It was raised by Jackson and Perkins, Medford, Oregon, who this year are celebrating 130 years in the nursery business. The rose, which was especially selected by the Vatican to honour the late pontiff, is a luminous white with refreshing, somewhat citrus-like fragrance. Ten percent of the net proceeds from the sale of each rose will be put at the disposal of the Vatican, who have indicated that it will be used for charitable work amongst the poor in Sub-Saharan Africa. This first year there are a limited number of 2,500 bushes available.”

----------------
Now playing: Led Zeppelin - Hot Dog
via FoxyTunes

Not at all Politically Correct, Is He?

The Lazy Half S Ranch: Capitulate now

Or as my mom used to say, “The happy child is the child who shares.”

How *Does* CDDB Know All That Stuff About My CDs??

The Geomblog: Inadvertent Hashing and CDDB

Interesting…

What They Really Need Is a Good, Swift Kick in the Shorts

From mercurynews.com today:
Lakers like Jackson’s spin; coach says pressure might be on Suns:

“In the moments after the Los Angeles Lakers lost again Thursday night to ensure a Game 7 showcase would be set up Saturday night, a backstage pass indicated they were nowhere near ready to assume the spotlight again.

“In the quiet locker room, Kwame Brown described the scene this way: ‘A lot of guys are moping around.’ Luke Walton’s words of bewilderment were more befitting a confessional: ‘We just got mentally weak after that 3-1 lead. We stopped throwing it down, pounding it inside and talking on defense. We stopped working as hard.’

“Part of the profound dismay was that even Kobe Bryant had gotten rattled. That last shot in regulation fell so weakly short because Bryant ‘forgot’ Shawn Marion was guarding him.…”

(Kennedy) Politics as Usual?

From mercurynews.com this morning:
Police say they were prevented from giving Kennedy a sobriety test:

“WASHINGTON - Rep. Patrick Kennedy wrecked his car in an early morning accident on Capitol Hill Thursday, and police say supervisors stopped them from giving him a sobriety test.

“Two police union officials, who were not at the scene, complained that the Rhode Island congressman and son of Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., looked like he’d been drinking after crashing into a barrier near the Capitol building at 2:45 a.m.

“‘The driver exited the vehicle and he was observed to be staggering,’ Officer Greg Baird, the acting head of the Capitol police union, wrote in a letter to his boss, according to the newspaper Roll Call.

“Lou Cannon, president of the Washington chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, said Kennedy looked intoxicated.…”

They’re So Close. Keep Your Fingers Crossed…

From The Australian’s Web site tomorrow:
Back to basics in final push to rescue pair:

“The last few hours of the Beaconsfield mine rescue will be an intimate, claustrophobic and almost archaic affair.

“Most likely armed with no more than a pick or small hand-held drill, a single miner working in a hole only 1m in diameter will have the job of safely breaking through the final metre of earth and rock separating him from his entombed workmates, Todd Russell and Brant Webb.…”

Saved the Whale

Found on snopes.com today:
Urban Legends Reference Pages: Critters (Saved the Whale):

Claim: Newspaper article describes an ensnared whale who seemingly thanked her rescuers.

Status: True.

Example: [Collected via e-mail, 2006]

“If you read the front page story of the SF Chronicle on Thursday, Dec 14, 2005, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat.…”

Vertical Integration Sissy Girl?

From the Washington Post today:
Everyone's in a Stew Over 'South Park' Chef:

“Even more mysterious, Hayes did not quit the show when Comedy Central first ran the episode, called ‘Trapped in the Closet,’ last November.

In the episode, fourth-grader Stan scores so high on a Scientology test that followers decide he is the reincarnation of its founder, sci-fi writer L. Ron Hubbard.

Scientologists show up at Stan’s house in droves. Stan finds celebrity Scientologist Tom Cruise in his bedroom; Cruise asks Stan what he thinks of Cruise’s acting work. Stan pronounces him not as good as Leonardo DiCaprio, Gene Hackman or ‘that guy who played Napoleon Dynamite.’ Cruise, crushed, hides in Stan’s closet. John Travolta, another celeb Scientologist, and R&B artist R. Kelly each try to get Cruise to come out of the closet. For the rest of the episode, ‘Tom Cruise’ and ‘come out of the closet’ are said in the same sentence. Like 39 times.…”

Goodness!! Another Hypocrite Appears in the Blog

From Guardian Unlimited, tomorrow:
Isaac Hayes quits South Park after it satirises Scientology:

“…But the singer, previously best known for the soundtrack to the 1971 movie Shaft, drew the line at an episode in which a central character, Stan, is hailed as the successor to L Ron Hubbard, who started the cult in 1952. The episode was pulled in the UK. ‘There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends, and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins,’ Mr Hayes said in a statement. ‘As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices.’

“‘This has nothing to do with intolerance and bigotry and everything to do with the fact that Isaac Hayes is a Scientologist and that we recently featured Scientology in an episode of South Park,’ said Matt Stone, who created the series with Trey Parker. ‘In 10 years and more than 150 episodes Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslims, Mormons and Jews. He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show. To bring the civil rights struggle into this is just a non sequitur. Of course, we will release Isaac from his contract and we wish him well.…’”

It doesn’t seem Mr Hayes’ civil rights sensibilities were disturbed by this episode: “…in which Stan and friends try to build a ladder to heaven, where the US government suspects that Saddam Hussein (subsequently depicted having a gay relationship with Satan in hell) is manufacturing weapons.” Why would that be, do you suppose?

And then there’s the UK, pulling the episode?? Um, why that one, I wonder…


The Merc had a further comment from Matt Stone yesterday:

“…Stone told the AP he and co-creator Trey Parker “never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin.”


The Pitt News won’t be shy tomorrow, either:

“EDITORIAL - Isaac Hayes: Scientologist, hypocrite

“Isaac Hayes, you’re damn wrong.…

“There are a few things wrong here. If Hayes is so sensitive to religious issues, he should never have signed on to the show, which admittedly requires a bit of a thick skin to enjoy, in the first place. He did sign on, though, and has been dishing out various forms of satire for years — if Hayes can’t take it himself, he’s either a hypocrite, someone who isn’t completely comfortable with his beliefs or both.

Hayes also said that the show contributes to a “growing insensitivity toward personal spiritual beliefs” and cited the controversy over the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad as another example of this insensitivity. This is not only faulty logic, it’s offensive to anyone who was offended by the Mohammad cartoons.…

“Hayes’ Chef was a fantastic character; it’s a shame that he couldn’t stand the heat in the kitchen.…”

Miss Piggy!?!?!?

How did this happen? Did I get someone else’s results by mistake? Did someone else take the quiz for me?

You Are Miss Piggy

A total princess and diva, you’re totally in charge - even if people don’t know it. You want to be loved, adored, and worshiped. And you won’t settle for anything less. You’re going to be a total star, and you won’t let any of the “little people” get in your way. Just remember, piggy, never eat more than you can lift!

The Muppet Personality Test

----------------
Listening to: Frank Leister - Where Have You Gone?
via FoxyTunes

Somehow, I Don’t Feel Stupid For Not Getting It

From the Oxford Press today:
Three students held in church fires:

“After five tense weeks charged by a random series of nine backwoods church burnings, investigators Wednesday arrested three Birmingham college students, including two aspiring actors known around campus as pranksters, who allegedly set the first fire as ‘a joke.’

“The arrests relieved and perplexed churchgoers throughout Alabama’s rolling Black Belt, leaving them to wonder why three young men from upscale Birmingham suburbs would want to torch churches for kicks.

“‘We’re just relieved. It means this round of church burnings has shut down,’ said Jim Parker, pastor of the leveled Ashby Baptist Church, in Brierfield, a tiny community about 50 miles southwest of Birmingham. ‘But it’s inexplicable to me. You look at what they left, and the hurt done to a lot of hearts, and you wonder, ‘Why?’… ’”

Why Doesn't the Media Have the Balls…

…to say it like it is: Our boy here hijacked thousands of Intel- and Intel-derived-processor-based personal computers running various versions of the Windows operating system and used them to send out spam??

American owns up to hijacking PCs:
“Hundreds of thousands of computers were infected

“A 20-year-old American has admitted hijacking thousands of computers and using them to send out spam.

“Jeanson James Ancheta pleaded guilty in a Los Angeles court to charges of conspiring to violate anti-spam and computer misuse laws, and fraud.

“Prosecutors said the case was the first to target so-called botnets.

“These are networks of computers that are infected with malicious software and then used to send spam and attack websites.

“‘Mr Ancheta was responsible for a particularly insidious string of crimes,’ said a spokesman for the US attorney’s office in Los Angeles, Thom Mrozek.

“‘He hijacked somewhere in the area of half a million computer systems. This not only affected computers like the one in your home, but it allowed him and others to orchestrate large-scale attacks.’…”

I’m a Heretic! And What a Heretic to Be!!

You scored as Pelagianism. You are a Pelagian. You reject ideas about man's fallen human nature and believe that as a result we are able to fully obey God. You are the first Briton to contribute significantly to Christian thought, but you're still excommunicated in 417. Pelagianism 92% Chalcedon compliant 67% Monophysitism 33% Docetism 0% Arianism 0% Apollanarian 0% Adoptionist 0% Donatism 0% Gnosticism 0% Monarchianism 0% Nestorianism 0% Albigensianism 0% Modalism 0% Socinianism 0% Are you a heretic? created with QuizFarm.com

----------------
Listening to: The San Gabriel Valley Choral Company - Shenandoah
via FoxyTunes

And He’s a Hypocrite, Besides

From the Washington Post Web site this morning:
Calif. Inmate, 76, Faces Execution Tonight

“By DAVID KRAVETS
“The Associated Press
“Monday, January 16, 2006; 2:23 PM

“SAN FRANCISCO -- A 76-year-old convicted killer - legally blind, nearly deaf and in a wheelchair - tried to stave off execution early Tuesday by arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court that it would be cruel and unusual punishment to put a feeble old man to death.

“Clarence Ray Allen, whose birthday was Monday, was set to die by lethal injection just after midnight. He stood to become the oldest person executed in California - and the second-oldest put to death nationally - since the Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume in 1976.

“Allen raised two claims never before endorsed by the high court: that executing a frail old man would violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, and that the 23 years he spent on death row were unconstitutionally cruel as well.

“He was condemned in 1982 for ordering a hit from prison that left three people dead.…”

He was in prison in the first place for having had his son’s girlfriend murdered, just in case she might tell police about a grocery store robbery.

“…The Supreme Court has never set an upper age limit for executions or created an exception for physical illness. But some justices have expressed interest in deciding whether a long stay on death row is indeed unconstitutionally cruel.

“In 20002, Justice Stephen Breyer said in the case of a Florida inmate who spent 27 years in prison: ‘It is fairly asked whether such punishment is both unusual and cruel.’

“Justice Clarence Thomas disagreed, writing that the inmate ‘could long ago have ended his anxieties and uncertainties by submitting to what the people of Florida have deemed him to deserve: execution.…’”

How is execution more cruel and unusual for an old man than for a younger person? And this piece of logic coming from someone whose extended stay on death row was certainly, as is the case in most death row residents, due to his, and his lawyers’, own efforts to obtain just that result.

You can’t have it both ways, Clarence Ray; it’s time to reap the benefits of all of your past efforts. You did ask for it, after all.