next!

Last night I was reading yet another absurd anti-Obama complaint at Saur's site, and I was halfway through writing a rebuttal of sorts, but I just stopped in the middle of it, and left the page. I'm just tired of it. I dont want to play the game anymore, and as long as "conservatives" continue to act like children denied "their" candy (and as long as America recognizes this childishness at the polls), I dont have to. It's one thing to rail against idiotic behavior by the GOP when they are in charge of things, but they aren't now.
Someday they'll be back, and while it'd be nice if they learn a lesson or two between now and then, they probably wont have. Until then, I may have to find something new to blog about, because I'm tired of beating up on the loser (despite the beating being well deserved).

This does not include the War Crimes of the Bush Administration, by the way. Or any other crimes, for that matter. Those are issues that now fall to the Obama administration to correct, and if they do not adhere to the Rule of Law in those cases, then they are no better than those who committed the crimes in the first place.

a video for thursday

Here's a lovely video. The makers of the song, Over.i and Ida Maidstone, dont seem to have anything downloadable as of yet, but they should be watched for the day they do. In the meantime, enjoy them at their music at their Myspace pages, 'cause that's all you got right now.

a note

to my relatives who may read this: Mom knows nothing about my current marriage woes, so please dont spill the beans. I'll let her know when things... well, when it's time to let her know.

For reasons I cannot explain

Theres some part of me wants to see
Graceland
And I may be obliged to defend
Every love, every ending
Or maybe there's no obligations now
Maybe I've a reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland



The wife and I went to Memphis this weekend. She wanted to see Graceland and the Mississippi (she'd never been east of Arkansas), and I wanted to go with her. So we did.
Was anything resolved? No, not really.
It boils down to this: she's unhappy, and doesnt really know why. She says she loves me, she says she doesnt want a divorce. I believe her. She also says she needs to learn to do things on her own, and that I need to do things on my own. I believe that, too.
So call this a sabatical, perhaps.

Anyway, everything since Friday was pre-programmed, which is how I could look like I was still around, even though I was on the road and deliberately without a computer.
Now I'm back.

Tuesday learning experience

Pew Research identifies the Four Middle Classes. And you thought there was only one, didnt you?

for my anniversary

“Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater.

If you give her sperm, she’ll give you a baby.

If you give her a house, she’ll give you a home.

If you give her groceries, she’ll give you a meal.

If you give her a smile, she’ll give you her heart.

She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her.

So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit.”


stolen from Bits&Pieces

Friday Night Show

Not long after I moved to Austin, Texas in 1985, I went to a show at some bar whose name I dont remember (it became the Crown And Anchor later on). There this wierd guy came out and sang a strange little song about the Moon, then literally ran away. That guy was Daniel Johnston, and the song, odd as it was, has stuck with me for over two decades.
There's a reason for that: Daniel Johnston is a genius. It shows best not in his own recordings, but in the recordings of those who cover him. Give these versions of his song "True Love Will Find You In The End" a try, then run out and buy Kathy McCarty's album "Dead Dog's Eyeball", an album (now discontinued) of Johnston's songs. You'll love it, and you'll understand what I mean.











props to Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands. Check out some of the other cover collections there, also. The "Such Great Heights" one is especially fine, but the whole series is terrific.

happy birthday, lydia

quote for the day

"The only resource that's uniquely rooted in a national economy is its people -- their skills, insights, capacities to collaborate, and the transportation and communication systems that link them together. Everything else -- including capital, technology, designs, even plant and equipment -- can move around the globe with increasing ease."

Robert Reich

And they have, havent they?

Also, here's a question for the Free Market crowd: If the underlying reason that the market system works is "self interest", what makes any of you think that leaving the market unregulated wouldnt, by your own definition, lead to greed and unscrupulous behavior, which certainly falls under the heading of "self interest"? I mean, shouldnt self-interest be the reason for regulation?

just read this

10 Myths About Sustainability.

I'd talk about it, but I havent got the time, and it'd just be redundant, anyway.

Via Gerry Canavan

so, what is necessary?

So Andrew Card thinks that health care is a "want" rather than a "need" (no, he doesnt say that directly, but I'm pretty sure that's what he means - but he left himself denial space). Well, I'd say that Wall Street and its horse-race mentality is a "want" rather than a "need" also. Maybe I'm wrong?
Oh, and Mr Wamp? It's no more a "privilege" than cheap gas is.

Addendum:

The more I look at the sentence "It's no more a "privilege" than cheap gas is", the more I think there's something wrong with it. I think I got something backwards there (but this is not to say that I'm agreeing with Wamp, just that my example is wrong).

Additional Addendum:

I think maybe what I should have said was that health care is no more a "privilege" than education is: both lead to a more productive society, which ought to make those whose wealth comes from exploitation of that productivity very happy.

quote for the day

"Pain level...Shatnerian... in intensity"




Addendum:

I should probably point out that I posted this in advance back in December or something. It does not refer to any current event, I just thought it was a funny line at the time. Actually, I still do.

from Questionable Content no.746

Tuesday learning experience

Census Data on Google Earth!

quote for the day

"I'm the tail-gunner for a Budwieser truck!"




Punchline to a joke. I dont really think you need the rest of the joke, do you? Just the mental image itself is enough to generate dozens of stories.

question (w/ history bonus)

Wait, who's the chairman of the GOP again?


At first, I was kind of wondering if Rush was gearing up to try a run for the presidency. But then I thought, why would he do that? He's already got plenty of power, a shit-ton of money, and, best of all, when ideas he supports go awry, he is held virtually without responsibility in the matter. Why give that up just to be called "Mr. President"?



Where the original image came from, sort of.

Tuesday learning experience

The Illustrated Human Body!

tagged!

Yes, yes, I'm all about not tagging, but for some reason Facebook is a bit different, and that's where this came from. Unfortunately, I've yet to figure out how to mix up text images and links like I can on Blogger, so the tag is carried on here instead. As usual, I request no one to join in my madness, unless you'd really like to. Here's the formula to generate a random album cover:

1. Go to this random wikipedia page - The first article title on the page is the name of your band.

2. Go here - Click "New Random Quotations" at the bottom of the page, The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

3. Visit this random flicker page - The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4. Use your graphics program of choice to throw them together, and post the result. This was mine:


Ixora raivavaensis is a French Polynesian plant, the quote words came from Frank Zappa, and, much to my shame, I didnt notice whose image I took to make this, which is probably because I wasnt excited by it.

No, that's not true, I just didnt notice whose it was. I was just being snarky.

Sorry.