PS

So...I chased that "women looking for sex in Portales" Google-search link (immediately below) and found this. Scroll down to the bottom of the page (the site is work-safe) and check out the eight women pictured there.

If those women are from Portales, or anywhere near Portales (and that includes, Pep, Clovis, etc.), then I'm the Pope.

Bless you, My Child.

Thursday, Part Deux

Laundromat AAR: The laundry bag is empty, the clothes are put away, and if it weren’t so danged early I’d pop a beer and try to recover from the traumatic experience that is the laundromat. I’ve only occasionally run into folks with whom I can have a pleasant conversation with while doing laundry; today wasn’t one of those days. Nope…today was Morbidly Obese Women’s Day at the local washateria. Not plump, not large, but morbidly obese… as in 300 pounds or so. Four of ‘em. Complete with Ritalin-deprived children pushing those little wire baskets on wheels all over the place while giving their lungs some serious exercise. Continuously, for the first 20 minutes I was there. Then they left.

Thank God for small favors. I was left wondering just exactly who would mate with such women. They couldn't have possibly gained all that weight in only four years or so, which was the approximate ages of the little monsters playing with the laundry carts. A mystery, that.

I frickin’ HATE laundromats. Have I mentioned that before? I think I might have.

Now this is Way-COOL!

You’ve heard of air pollution and noise pollution? Don’t look now, but another depressing form of toxicity is taking the fun out of life: ad pollution. That’s the creeping commercial crud that has sapped the pleasure out of TV, faxes, e-mail and, of course, radio. These days, it seems as though AM radio has 52 minutes of ads an hour.

But you have an alternative. Internet radio stations offer an endless smorgasbord of audio entertainment. Some of it is a simultaneous broadcast of what’s on from NPR, ESPN, the BBC and so on; others are Internet-only stations that serve both mainstream and niche tastes. The variety is staggering, all of it is free, and it is largely uncluttered by ads.

Trouble is, to listen to Internet radio, you pretty much have to sit at your computer all day. Why doesn’t somebody invent a physical radio that can tune in all of this streaming goodness? Not a stereo component or computer peripheral, but a true-blue old-time tabletop console, with a row of preset buttons and built-in speakers?

Somebody finally has. Several somebodies, actually. Companies like Roku, Com One, Revo, Terratec and Tivoli have all produced tabletop or bookshelf radios that are freaky hybrids of the old and new. You tune into radio shows just as you have for decades, but the radios’ antennas are internal Wi-Fi receivers that connect to a wireless home network. Talk about good reception: these radios can pull in any of 10,000 Internet radio stations from all over the world, without a single pop of static.

I won’t buy one. Well, not until I resume a conventional sort of life, anyway. As it stands I can listen to Radio Paradise …and do… from anywhere within El Casa Móvil De Pennington, and often when I’m outside, if the windows and door are open. All I have to do is turn it up. While my ‘puter doesn’t provide the sound quality (or the sheer volume) my stereo does, it’s perfectly adequate. Just ask my neighbors. But an internet radio that isn’t a computer IS a way-cool idea.

Pictured is the Phoenix radio (one of five boxes featured in the article), about which the NYT sez: “(Com One, $250). This model is made to move, thanks to its small size and weight (just over two pounds) and its ability to run on four AA batteries. Indeed, it’s the only portable stereo Internet radio here; the others are all monaural.”

Dang. I wish I had been here last night, instead of in P-Ville:

Mr. King was headlining his own tour, the B. B. King Blues Festival, which made a local stop at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden (formerly known as the Theater at Madison Square Garden). So it’s his party, but he makes a lot more of these in-between monologues than the average concertgoer might want. Maybe it’s just that he knows his physical limits. (It’s no joke to be 81, with diabetes and one-nighters scheduled into the foreseeable future.)

[…]

Etta James was to be on the tour but canceled two weeks ago; she is recovering from complications after abdominal surgery. This left more time to the third performer on the bill, Al Green: about an hour and a quarter of magnificence.

In a tuxedo with cummerbund, gold star of David hanging from his necklace, and chewing gum, the Rev. Al Green spent the first 10 minutes laughing, singing a few newer songs, and delivering red roses to the audience. Then, with two synchronized male dancers working around him, he began a row of hits from the early 1970s: “Let’s Get Married,” “Let’s Stay Together,” “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” “Tired of Being Alone.”

I’ve seen Etta James…several times. But I’ve never seen Al Green. And The Reverend Green and B. B. King on the same bill? Priceless. I’m gonna go dig out an Al Green CD now…

Dang. Just DANG!

Today’s “imagine the disappointment” moment…is a tie. First:

Location:
State: New Mexico
City: Portales
Time of Visit: Aug 9 2007 11:26:38 am
Visit Length: 58 seconds
Referring URL: http://www.google.co...s&btnG=Google Search
Search Words: women looking for sex in portales
Out Click: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaBarG7avGTv5GabzDBe4882yTHqIQNeuKcLNMJw3s7y-iWISn23ZqYptZpbrdzPCZQt6j-3RXBCzwX0mC1LYkllzrydDQ8sOzCZxdu9TO55tS62ofZIhbeydyTNdEI0pKtcSpSA/s200/Father and Friend.jpg

That was interesting, especially the out-click… but this?

Location:
Country: United Kingdom
State/Region: Norfolk
City: Saint James
Time of Visit: Aug 9 2007 10:43:06 am
Referring URL: http://www.google.co...ear old boys&spell=1
Search Words: pictures of a good looking 14 year old boys
Visit Entry Page: http://exileinportal...looking-kids-eh.html
Visit Exit Page: http://exileinportal...looking-kids-eh.html

Just weird.

Today’s Pic: Pelicans…yes, pelicans…on a mirror-calm lake somewhere in Yellowstone. I was up, out, and about quite early in the morning, if memory serves, and stopped by this lake to take in the sheer beauty of these graceful birds feeding on the lake. The picture just doesn’t adequately capture the moment, Gentle Reader. But it’s close.

May, 2000.

How Could I Forget?

On this day in 1974… I woke up in a field about 100 yards behind a gas station in Vacaville, California. I had spent the previous day hitchhiking north from Lompoc, California on my way back to Klamath Falls, Oregon, where I was stationed at the time. My hitchhiking luck pretty much ran out around midnight the previous day; cars were so few and far between on the on-ramp where my last ride had let me out that I decided to call it a day. I picked out a nice comfy spot in the aforementioned field, put my head down on my backpack, covered myself with a light jacket and fell asleep…sorta. One doesn’t sleep all that well out in the open, ya know. I probably woke up every fifteen minutes or so, but even fitful sleep beats the Hell out of standing on a freeway on-ramp at 0200, waiting for cars that never come.

So. I woke up for the final time at first light, brushed myself off, collected my things, walked a short distance to that gas station and cleaned up as best I could…using cold water…in their rest room. From there I went to a coffee shop about a quarter of a mile away, bought a paper, ordered coffee and began to read. I was both shocked and supremely gratified to read that Nixon had announced his resignation the previous day and that Gerald Ford was to be sworn in as president at noon Eastern Time today…August 9, 1974.

I finished breakfast and walked back down the street to the I-505 on-ramp and resumed my hitchhiking trip back home. The rides came easily the rest of that day, the sun seemed a little brighter, and I was back “home” in the barracks at Kingsley Field late that evening, full of cheer and good will toward men. My Buds and I got roaring drunk and partied like there was no tomorrow...celebrating Nixon's Fall. It was that much of an occasion, Gentle Reader.

I was a moonbat.

More later on today, but first I have to get my stuff together and go to the frickin’ laundromat. I’m absolutely, positively out of clean clothes. Completely, as in: “I did it AGAIN.” And I want to get in and out of the laundromat before the temperature gets to “broil” today.

Congrats!

Glenn Reynolds has been blogging for six years today. We all owe Mr. Reynolds a huge debt, because he IS the Blogfather. And he has a “The Way We Were” post up to let readers know just what Insty was talking about in those halcyon days Before It All Changed. I went and looked. And saw this:

MARIJUANA ON THE RIGHT: If you want still more evidence that the old left/right distinctions are obsolete, look no farther than the National Review Online where a pot-legalization debate has raged. Today Richard Cowan makes the case for legalization by noting the harm that the Drug War has done. And he's right. Compared to the damage done by a few befuddled potheads, the Drug War with its militarization of law enforcement, bloated and corrupt bureaucracy, and gradual erosion of constitutional protections against search and seizure, and even speech, has been a national disaster. The benefits, if any, have been tiny. What's funny is that only the right-wingers seem to have the courage to argue for legalization. The Clinton Administration -- presumably because of the "I didn't inhale" nonsense -- never had the guts to buck the Drug War in even the smallest way.

Posted 8/9/2001 10:01:50 AM by Glenn Reynolds

Congrats, Glenn. You frickin’ hippie. I knew there was more than one reason I liked you…a lot…aside from the fact you’re a blogger nonpareil.

I'd Say So...

According to The Times (UK), this is Number One out of the “10 most embarrassing pop moments of the Noughties:”

The horror! The cheek-warming, teeth-gritting horror! Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie, aka Stacey Ferguson, lived the ultimate nightmare when she wet her pants on stage in San Diego. Worse, a wily photographer caught the moment on camera. Red-faced, mortified Fergie was thus given a raft of nicknames, including The Urinator, The Whizzing Bandit and The Leaky Bladder and The Trouser Golden Showerer. (This list is by no means exhaustive.)

Earlier this month the singer told Heat magazine: "The most embarrassing moment of my life was when I had my 'accident' live on stage in San Diego. That's one picture I'll never live down.” We think she might be right.

Word.

Spare Me.

I’ve just about had it with The Weather Channel. As I’m sure you’ve heard, or perhaps even seen, Newsweek’s cover story this week is all about the massive climate-change-denial cabal, which is led (of course) by those money-grubbing, mega-profiteering, polluting, polar-bear killing, super-nasty meanies at Big Oil, supported by scientists who’ve sold their very souls to the Masters in Houston and Dallas, among other places. And… true to form… ClimateChangeExpertDoctor Heidi Cullen (which is exactly the way she’s introduced…and refers to herself…every frickin’ time) was just bubbling over with joy at the news last night. The good ClimateChangeExpertDoctor featured Newsweek’s cover in her daily “Forecast Earth” segment yesterday, which, by the way, was complete with a gratuitous inclusion of The Goracle denouncing Exxon-Mobil, as Young Heidi notes, by name. Oooh. Gosh, I’ll bet that stung.

If there was an alternative to The WX Channel…and there is NOT…I would be SO gone. One can get a local forecast off the ‘net, and I do. But one cannot get a three minute weather briefing for the entire country off the ‘net, not without a lot of surfing. So, I’ll just grin and bear it, I suppose. But ClimateChangeExpertDoctor Heidi Cullen? Just another penguin in The Goreacle’s Army.

So. Apple announced a new iMac yesterday, and it’s a pretty cool looking machine with impressive specs. I was gonna include an image of their new box in this post, until I clicked on the image and got this:

Usage Agreement:

Subject to the terms of this Agreement, you may use the Image solely in whole for editorial use by press and/or industry analysts. This right to use is personal to you and is not transferable by you to another party. The Image cannot be used to promote or sell any product or technology (such as on advertising, brochures, book-covers, stock photos, t-shirts, or other promotional merchandise). You may not alter, or modify the Image, in whole or in part, for any reason.

As between you and Apple, Apple is and shall remain the sole and exclusive owner of the Image. You will not delete, alter, or obfuscate any proprietary legends relating to the Image, and each use will be accompanied by the applicable proprietary attribution shown next to the Image.

The Image is provided by Apple on an ‘as is’ basis, without warranty of any kind, including non-infringement or ownership. You, not Apple, are responsible for your use of the Image. Any misuse of the Image or breach of this Agreement will cause Apple irreparable harm. Apple is either an owner or licensee of the image, not an agent for the owner. We understand that you will give our company a credit line as follows: “Courtesy of Apple” and also credit the photographer if noted.

And of course, you can either click on “Agree” and download the image…or not. I elected to “not.” Apple may make cool computers, but they obviously have too damned many lawyers. Screw that.

Didja know you have a Birth Tree, among other things, Gentle Reader? I never knew that. Birthstone, yes. Tree, no. My Birth Tree is the Hazelnut tree:

Hazelnut Tree, the Extraordinary

Charming, undemanding, very understanding, knows how to make an impression, active fighter for social cause, popular, moody and capricious lover, honest and tolerant partner, precise sense of judgment.

Aside from the fact that a tree simply cannot be an “active fighter for social cause,” does anyone else see a contradiction in “moody and capricious lover” and “honest and tolerant partner?” Is this a serial thing…as in the capricious lover turns into a tolerant partner, or do the traits exist in a sorta yin-yang relationship? Dang. This is way too deep for me.

(h/t: Becky)

Today’s Pic(s): How I Used to Make Money. I’d have used “Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine” as the title for these pics, but that title’s already taken here at EIP...five times. (This is an oh-so-blatant teaser to get you to read some of my...uh..."creative" writing, Gentle Reader. I'm not ALL about politics and such.)

Anyway. Three scenes from a life of unending PPTs, irrelevant off-site meetings (with entertainment!), and the thing that made it all worthwhile (aside from that paycheck and the paltry residuals that come in every month these days)… shooting pool at the bar after one of those irrelevant off-sites.

Life is SO much better these days...

Rochester, NY. Different occasions circa 1999.

It's HOT!

Well, the Dog Days of Summer are upon us. This term has always fascinated me from the time I first heard it in the way, way back. The etymology of the term is here…and says, in part:

Popularly believed to be an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies" (from Brady’s Clavis Calendarium, 1813).

The Dog Days originally were the days when Sirius, the Dog Star, rose just before or at the same time as sunrise, which is no longer true owing to precession of the equinoxes. The ancients sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of the Dog Days to appease the rage of Sirius, believing that that star was the cause of the hot, sultry weather.

While I’m not into sacrificing innocent animals, I’m sure there are more than a few people in other places that would be willing to give it a shot. I feel particularly bad for those folks, and their numbers are legion, that suffer from the oppressive combo of heat and humidity. As for YrHmblScrb, well…not so much. It’s 90 degrees as I peck this out, but the heat index is “only” 89, a function of our relatively low humidity (currently 35%).

This sort of weather always makes me wonder how folks survived prior to air conditioning, particularly in places like N’Awlins…and the entire Gulf Coast, for that matter. I still have painful and vivid memories of long, hot, sleepless nights spent sweltering in the UN-air conditioned barracks at Keesler AFB (near beautiful Biloxi-By-The-Sea) in the summer of 1964.

I’m reminded of this American Standard TeeVee ad for their AC…maybe it’s TOO comfortable (and us, too).



This could be good news, if it’s true. Well, sorta. If it IS true, it’s definitely a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I’ll be able to read David Brooks again. On the other, that skank Dowd and her male counterpart, Krugman, will be unleashed upon the American public again. Maybe the NYT ought to keep TimesSelect. It’s two-to-one FOR keeping it, in my book.

Captain Ed has a similar thought:

Two years ago, the New York Times provided on-line readers with a strong disincentive to read their columnists. TimesSelect, which I called the Firewall of Sanity, charged $50 per year for people who just couldn't get enough of Maureen Dowd, Paul Krugman, Bob Herbert, and Frank Rich. Now the New York Post reports that Pinch Sulzberger has finally realized that he has marginalized his own columnists in an on-line universe.

To quote another Big Dog: Heh.

Today’s “imagine the disappointment” moment:

Time of Visit: Aug 7 2007 10:01:35 am
Page Views: 1
Referring URLhttp://images.google...1%26hl%3Des%26sa%3DN
Search Engine: images.google.es
Search Words: ladies viagra

Sometimes I really don’t understand why folks click thru. This is an image search, Gentle Reader. And the Ladies of Deuce Four (click the search link, if you’re interested) certainly get a lot of hits…but not for reasons one would expect.

 

Today’s Pic: Apropos of nothing…Granddaughter Anastasia captured celebrating the Fourth in Birmingham, MI (a suburb of Detroit) at my great good friend Kim’s house. A good time was had by all. As always.

July, 2000.

I Need Some...

Yep..."Senile Agitation 'R' Us." I think single-malt scotch works just as well, though. For me, anyway.

Stolen from Weirdomatic, by way of The Anchoress. And there are many, many more, including some quite amazing cigarette ads from the 40s and 50s...which go a LONG way towards explaining why so many of us in the generation exposed to such ads got hooked. Well, sorta. It's an excuse for making bad personal choices, and not a particularly good one. But it's the best I can come up with at the moment.

Bits and Pieces, Some of Which Are Found On the Side of the Road

Further on Hiroshima…from The Guardian (UK) (Terrible, but not a crime). Excerpts:

Today is Hiroshima day, the anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb. As the wartime generation passes on, our sense of gratitude is increasingly mixed with unease regarding one theatre of the second world war. There is a widespread conviction that, at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, America committed acts that were not only terrible but also wrong.

Disarmament campaigners are not slow to advance further charges. Greenpeace maintains that a different American approach might have prevented the cold war, and argues that new research on the Hiroshima decision "should give us pause for thought about the wisdom of current US and UK nuclear weapons developments, strategies, operational policies and deployments".

This alternative history is devoid of merit. New historical research in fact lends powerful support to the traditionalist interpretation of the decision to drop the bomb. This conclusion may surprise Guardian readers. The so-called revisionist interpretation of the bomb made headway from the 1960s to the 1990s. It argued that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were less the concluding acts of the Pacific war than the opening acts of the cold war. Japan was already on the verge of surrender; the decision to drop the bomb was taken primarily to gain diplomatic advantage against the Soviet Union.

[…]

Hiroshima and Nagasaki are often used as a shorthand term for war crimes. That is not how they were judged at the time. Our side did terrible things to avoid a more terrible outcome. The bomb was a deliverance for American troops, for prisoners and slave labourers, for those dying of hunger and maltreatment throughout the Japanese empire - and for Japan itself.

I’m not a constant reader of The Guardian these days (would you believe I was a subscriber, once upon a time? S’true, that.), but I must admit I was shocked at the deviation from Liberal Cant found in this editorial. Gratified, too. I’ll bet the comments section will be incendiary supremely stupid in content, for the most part. Well, yes:

August 6, 2007 8:32 AM

this is a truly disgusting article by a truly disgusting war monger who has now become famous for constantly suggesting war and violence against brown, black and yellow people - Lebanon, Iraq and now a justification of nuclear weapons against Japanese,

next we will get an Oliver Kamm article that says drop a nuke on Bahghdad for the sake of the Iraqis and to save American casualities,

{sigh}

You may think my earlier post on Hiroshima was lacking in sensitivity, Gentle Reader. And you’d be somewhat correct in your assumption. I have a total lack of sympathy for our enemies, especially when it was they who initiated the hostilities, any hostilities. And I do not believe in “kinder, gentler” warfare, either. Just sayin’.

"They were really bold and quick, it took them only 10 minutes. I can't find the right words to describe what they did -- it was just an exceptionnal (sic) heist!" This from a deputy curator of a Nice, France art museum. The thieves got away with a Monet, a Sisley, and two Bruegels…in broad daylight. Amazing chutzpah.

In today’s WSJ: Domestic Terror in Iran; Iran has just carried out the largest wave of executions since 1984.

It is early dawn as seven young men are led to the gallows amid shouts of "Allah Akbar" (Allah is the greatest) from a crowd of bearded men as a handful of women, all in hijab, ululate to a high pitch. A few minutes later, the seven are hanged as a mullah shouts: "Alhamd li-Allah" (Praise be to Allah).

The scene was Wednesday in Mashad, Iran's second most populous city, where a crackdown against "anti-Islam hooligans" has been under way for weeks.

The Mashad hangings, broadcast live on local television, are among a series of public executions ordered by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last month as part of a campaign to terrorize an increasingly restive population. Over the past six weeks, at least 118 people have been executed, including four who were stoned to death. According to Saeed Mortazavi, the chief Islamic prosecutor, at least 150 more people, including five women, are scheduled to be hanged or stoned to death in the coming weeks.

[…]

According to Gen. Ismail Muqaddam, commander of the Islamic Police, a total of 430,000 men and women have been arrested on charges related to drug use since April. A further 4,209 men and women, mostly aged between 15 and 30, have been arrested for "hooliganism" in Tehran alone. The largest number of arrests, totaling almost a million men and women according to Mr. Muqaddam, were related to the enforcement of the new Islamic Dress Code, passed by the Islamic Majlis (parliament) in May 2006.

The Revolution just can’t be far away; you simply cannot oppress that many people for long without suffering a similar fate. As for me, I find the concept of stoning people to death simply mind-boggling… at any time, actually… but most especially in the 21^st century. But these are the type of deranged madmen we’re up against.

Market research? I gotta hand it to Hershey’s…this is the second hit I’ve had from their domain with the search term “cacao reserve,” or a variant on same. They’re obviously using New Media to find out what folks are saying about their product, and good on ‘em for that. But check the out-click:

ISP: Hershey Chocolate U.S.A.
Referring URL: http://blogsearch.go...ey%27s&sa=N&start=10
Search Words: cacao reserve by hershey's
Visit Entry Page: http://exileinportal...tsa-links-today.html
Visit Exit Page: http://exileinportal...tsa-links-today.html
Out Click: Police Cars from Around the World
http://www.gadling.c...om-around-the-world/

Well, I guess it's OK to mix bidniz with pleasure. Once in a while.

Today’s Pic: As Lynyrd Skynyrd once said: “One More From the Road.” This time I’m on I-80, truckin’ west at obscene speeds (for an RV, anyway) towards my new job and the two-year sojourn in the Greater San Francisco Soviet Socialist Republic. This very large sculpture…which I estimate is at least 40 feet high… sits all alone by the roadside in the middle of the salt flats surrounding the Great Salt Lake, about 50 miles (or so: I’m guessing) west of SLC. It’s a startling sight, and one I just had to grab. I shoulda stopped, but once again, I had someplace to be and was running just a little bit late.

July, 2000.

Hiroshima Day

Hiroshima Day… 62 years ago today. Click for larger to see the August 7^th front page of the NYT. And now…a non-politically-correct war story, of sorts. (Full disclosure: originally left as a comment at SJS’ Place.)

As most of you frequent readers know, the last company I worked for was a small IT start-up in SFO, staffed primarily by stereotypical flaming, politically-correct SFO liberals, and I do NOT jest. By my count there were three conservatives in the whole company, which, at its high-water mark, had a total of 300+ folks.

Anyway... We got the usual complement of Federal and State holidays, five sick days, and one "Diversity Day," which one could use to celebrate an occasion of personal importance. But you had to designate the day in advance. I informed my superiors that I intended to take August 6^th as my "DD." When asked what the occasion was... I replied "Hiroshima Day. It's a celebration of American Power." And I did take it, too, to the delight of the other two conservatives and the shock of the PC Brigade. Speaking of which (the PC-Brigade), I suppose I confirmed their cherished and heart-felt views about Rethuglicans. Not that I give a shit.

The pervs are still with us (me)… From yesterday:

Time of Visit: Aug 5 2007 4:26:51 pm
Last Page View: Aug 5 2007 4:28:02 pm
Visit Length: 1 minute 11 seconds
Page Views: 1
Referring URL: http://images.google...0%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX
Search Engine: images.google.co.uk
Search Words: "petticoat punishment"
Visit Entry Page: http://exileinportal...6_12_01_archive.html
Visit Exit Page: http://exileinportal...6_12_01_archive.html
Out Click: petticoat discipline december 2006
http://www.google.co...ember%202006&spell=1

This guy was more imaginative than most. Notice his “Out Click”… “Well, if MY search terms ain’t working, let’s try this one…”

I also think this guy was up to no good, as well:

Time of Visit: Aug 5 2007 3:09:39 pm
Last Page View: Aug 5 2007 3:09:39 pm
Referring URL: http://search.yahoo....args=0&pstart=1&b=21
Search Engine: search.yahoo.com
Search Words: alexandra steele movies

I could be wrong, Gentle Reader. But I think not.

And yeah, last week’s post with the questionable title finally found a googler…or a googler found it, I should say:

Time of Visit: Aug 6 2007 5:40:34 am
Last Page View: Aug 6 2007 5:40:34 am
Page Views: 1
Referring URL: http://www.google.co...?hl=en&q=old titties
Search Words: old titties
Visit Entry Page: http://exileinportal...-things-of-note.html

The first and only, so far. I suppose the subject matter is of interest to a very limited demographic.

Back in a bit…

Hejira, circa 2000

I'm traveling in some vehicle
I'm sitting in some cafe
A defector from the petty wars
Until love sucks me back that way

—Joni Mitchell from Hejira (the song)

On US 2...somewhere. June, 2000.

In Yellowstone. May, 2000.

In El Casa Móvil De Pennington. Could be anywhere, but the month is June, 2000. And you can see the road reflected in my glasses... Which, of course, goes on forever (and the party never ends).

Teh Funny

My Buddy Ed in Florida sent along, via e-mail, the results of the WaPo’s latest 2005 annual neologism contest. Well, I googled the subject to see if I could find a link rather than post Ed’s e-mail in its entirety, since it was pretty funny. Sure enough…here’s the link. My faves:

12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by
proctologists.
13. Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.

It’s just coincidence, Gentle Reader, that the subject in both cases is proctology.

(Updated when I found out [by actually reading the link...] that this has been around for a bit. Like two years.)

Painfully Slow, It Is...

I really like that new widget I put in a week ago… the hit counter that shows visits from different countries. One strange thing about it, though. The widget has been in place for eight days now, and not a single hit from the Peoples Republic of China. Not all that strange, I suppose: I’m still banned in the PRC. But not, as yet, in the Peoples Republic of Greater San Francisco Bay Area Soviet Socialist Republic, though. Lotsa hits from that space…

I’m told we have a few conservative operatives still left remaining there, although it’s getting harder and harder to stay. It’s also pretty hard to maintain a good, plausible cover story while operating amongst some of the most dedicated socialists in the world, too. I know from experience.

All y’all may have heard or seen parts and pieces of the brouhaha that happened in the House night before last…the one that Charles Krauthammer likened to legislative-body spectacles we’ve seen in Third World legislatures, like Taiwan and South Korea (during last night’s “Special Report w/Brit Hume;” transcript not posted on FNC’s site as yet). You know, fist fights, brawls, and various other melees. While our Good Congresscritters didn’t actually come to blows Thusday night, it was danged close. Congressional Quarterly has the whole story, and it’s a doozy. I saw video of the House floor right after the vote was declared a failure, and I AM surprised a brawl didn’t develop. Passions are running pretty high right now, on both sides.

Another ray of hope…in today’s Telegraph (UK):

It is worth reminding ourselves why the Anglo-American alliance matters. Many Europeans, and some Britons, believe that we are approximating our policy unconditionally to America's: that we have decided, in a dangerous world, to stick to the mightiest power, right or wrong. But this misunderstands the nature of our compact. It is true that America has an unrivalled military capability, with air- and sea-lift, advanced communications satellites and nuclear capacity. It is true, too, that our Armed Forces enjoy a degree of technical and even nuclear collaboration with the Americans that is unique between two sovereign states. And there is no dishonour in admitting that it is better to be with the world's leading power than against it.

All these considerations, however, are secondary and contingent. The Atlantic alliance rests, as we argued on Monday, on shared assumptions, prejudices and interests. Faced with the same problem, Britain and America - and, indeed, the other free English-speaking nations - tend to react the same way. Our shared heritage gives us a common belief in freedom and free trade, a common indignation at injustice, a common scepticism toward Utopian schemes.

Gordon Brown evidently agrees. Hence his evocation, quoting Churchill, of "the great principles of freedom and the rights of man that are the joint inheritance of the English-speaking world and which through Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, Habeas Corpus, trial by jury and English common law find their most famous expression in the American Declaration of Independence". It was these principles that led the Anglosphere nations to fight against the enemies of freedom in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and, now, in the jihadist training camps.

The whole thing is worth the read, but I get the feeling the Telegraph is preaching to a choir of rather limited size, given the rather astounding number of horror stories emanating from the UK of late (some of which turn out well, in spite of, well, everything). Still, it’s good to see there are still candles in the wind, eh?

Lordy, but surfing has been painful today. My ‘net connection has been erratic as all Hell, slow at times and disappearing altogether at others. I’ve rebooted the modem several times today, and things get better for a while before going back to sh!t. And it’s Saturday, so if there are issues with the local infrastructure they will most likely persist all frickin’ weekend.

I hate it when this happens…

Today’s Pic: Another in what could be a long, long, line of windshield pics.

“Rumour spreadin' a-'round in that Texas town
'bout that shack outside La Grange
and you know what I'm talkin' about.
Just let me know if you wanna go
to that home out on the range.
They gotta lotta nice girls ah.

Have mercy.
A haw, haw, haw, haw, a haw.
A haw, haw, haw.”

I had to snap this, Gentle Reader. I just simply HAD to do it. But did I GO? Nope. Had someplace else to be...

Near that famous lil town in Texas. April, 2000.

This is Disturbing!

I found this in RP's "comments" to Aretha Franklin's Chain of Fools, about three minutes ago. On the one hand, it's funny. On the other it's pretty danged disturbing.

You need to chase the link, scroll down the page, and view the original image to get the full effect. This is an animated gif, and apparently blogger doesn't "do" animation all that well. Not at all, in fact.

I Brake for Cherries!

Do you like plane pr0n? (“Who doesn’t?” is the appropriate answer, in case you’re wondering.) If so, get on over to Steeljaw Scribe’s place, coz he’s posted a ten minute home video, transferred from 8mm film, of USN carrier operations in the 1954-1955 timeframe, and it’s great…not good, but great…stuff.

Elton John, self-confessed Luddite. You can’t make this stuff up, ya know. I’m talking about stuff like this:

“I do think it would be an incredible experiment to shut down the whole internet for five years and see what sort of art is produced over that span.

“There’s too much technology available."

“Rocket Man,” indeed. Put a sock in it, Sir Elton.

(h/t: Gerard)

Also via Gerard, an excellent essay in the Claremont Institute’s blog, “Recruiting for Element R.” Excerpts:

But in the simplistic polarization between Republicans and Democrats, I believe something is missing - the noble virtue called responsibility. We have a party of the right that prioritizes freedom and the individual viewpoint, competing against a party of the left that prioritizes equality and the communal viewpoint. Seldom asked amid the struggle is the question, "Why? Equality or freedom for what?"

America's democratic conversation occurs in a moral vacuum as to the ultimate ends of human life, even when the air is thick with moral and spiritual rhetoric. Victory may seesaw between the two parties, yet duty steadily loses ground to selfishness, faith to skepticism, prudence to expediency, temperance to excess, higher to lower. The responsibility deficit worsens among us, no matter which side wins.

It’s a short little essay with a Big Point, one that I agree with. The Democrats are really, really big these days on “accountability.” That’s the raison d’être for all these frickin’ witch hunts …er…investigations… no, that’s not right, either… fishing expeditions (got it!) into such things as firing politically-appointed federal prosecutors and the Plame Game. When there just might be real work to be done, like appropriation bills for the upcoming fiscal year. In which case, Gentle Reader, they’ve abdicated their responsibilities in favor of…what? Political point-scoring? You’ll note the essay takes both parties to task, and rightly so. But the Republicans got their comeuppance last November. The Dems are likely to suffer the same fate next November if they continue to disregard their responsibilities.

Just sayin’.

Today’s Pic: While I may not have as many pics of RV parks as I thought I did (see yesterday’s first post), I have literally HUNDREDS of windshield shots I took from the driver’s perch in El Casa Móvil De Pennington at various times during my travels hither and yon. This pic was taken somewhere in Washington state, just west of the Cascades. I failed to see the humor in it originally…my intent was to grab a shot of the road with the spectacular mountain scenery in the background. What I got, inadvertently, was visible evidence…quite visible…of a potential bumper sticker, to wit: “I Brake for CHERRIES!”

June, 2000.

More and More About Less and Less

Maybe my irrational fears about driving across bridges aren’t so irrational, after all.

Age and heavy use are by no means isolated conditions. According to a report card released in 2005 by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 160,570 bridges, or just over one-quarter of the nation’s 590,750-bridge inventory, were rated structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

This from an op-ed in Popular Mechanics. (ed: An op-ed in Popular Mechanics? Who’d a thunk it?) The piece goes on to say, in part:

The fact is that Americans have been squandering the infrastructure legacy bequeathed to us by earlier generations. Like the spoiled offspring of well-off parents, we behave as though we have no idea what is required to sustain the quality of our daily lives. Our electricity comes to us via a decades-old system of power generators, transformers and transmission lines—a system that has utility executives holding their collective breath on every hot day in July and August. We once had a transportation system that was the envy of the world. Now we are better known for our congested highways, second-rate ports, third-rate passenger trains and a primitive air traffic control system. Many of the great public works projects of the 20th century—dams and canal locks, bridges and tunnels, aquifers and aqueducts, and even the Eisenhower interstate highway system—are at or beyond their designed life span.

The author indulges in just a little bit of hyperbole in the last paragraph; our ATC system isn’t “primitive,” and who cares about passenger trains, these days? Trains are a great idea and a wonderful thing in Europe, but NOT in the US of A. But the thrust of the op-ed is true enough, particularly the bits about the nation’s electrical grid. If you live in Cally-fhorn-eeya you know exactly from whence I speak, e.g., rolling black-outs and brown-outs. Our aging infrastructure is a bona fide problem. How many more crises must we endure before we act?

OTOH, we have Lefties moaning (coz it’s what they do best) about the lack of higher taxes to fund infrastructure:

It's tempting to attack the Republicans for this, and indeed, I will; the GOP in my state, led by Tim Pawlenty, has cheerfully put off funding roads and transit in order to avoid having to raise taxes. And obviously we've poured a ton of money into Iraq with little to show for it. But the truth is that the Democrats haven't been much better; they've been far too willing to meekly agree that taxes are always inherently evil, and to avoid fully-funding our nation's infrastructure because...well, I mean, who notices if a bridge is a little bit old?

Dang. I didn’t realize Pawlenty was sending Minnesotans’ hard-earned state tax money to Iraq instead of repairing old bridges! The author at Shakespeare’s Sister has every right to be p!ssed. Doesn’t he? OTOOH (that would be: on the other, other hand…), why don’t we abolish a few useless federal agencies (the Department of Education and the DEA come immediately to mind) and use their budgets to fund infrastructure projects? That would be a real win-win.

Good ‘un, Dubya! Editor and Publisher reports:

NEW YORK At a recent press conference at Camp David, President George Bush insulted BBC political editor Nick Robinson, the Daily Mirror reports.

Robinson, who has asked Bush pointed questions in the past such as whetherthe president was “in denial” over the Iraq war, posed a question to Bush about whether he could trust visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown not to “cut and run” from Iraq.

Bush replied with a dismissal: “Are you still hanging around?”

Later on, Bush poked fun at the bare-pate of Robinson, joking, “You’d better cover up your bald head, it’s getting hot out.”

The respected British reporter shot back, “I didn’t know you cared.”

Bush responded with a cool, “I don’t.” The Mirror reports that Bush then “snorted disdainfully” and “walked away to laughter.”

The Prez has done a lot of stuff to p!ss me off lately, but like the little girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead… “when he’s good, he’s very, very good.” You can finish the rest at your leisure.

Also from E&P:

NEW YORK At least 170 subscribers to the Wall Street Journal have canceled their orders since word emerged that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. will soon take over the newspaper.

The paper does have 1.7 million print subscribers left.

::snerk:: 1.7 million subscribers, not bad. Better than, say, that fishwrap in the Big Apple.

There’s more “inside tee-ball” stuff on the News Corp – Dow Jones deal there, too. If you’re interested.

A Request and the Usual Placeholder

I received a nice note from a guy named Lane Barnholtz yesterday, and he had a simple request:

I thought your readers might be interested in Charity for Charities: http://www.vajoe.com/charity/. Bag Blog made a post about it.

VAJoe.com will be donating $2,000 to military charities. People come to VAJoe and vote for their favorite military charities. They can nominate charities, also. The charities with the most votes and one randomly selected charity share the $2,000.

I was hoping you would mention this in your blog.

Done, Lane.

I checked out the list of charities one can vote for (voting begins next week) and was pleased to see Valour-IT and Soldiers’ Angels are on the list, as are various department-centric charities, e.g., Air Force Aid Society, Air Force Enlisted Village, Army Emergency Relief, and so on. And, as Lane notes, if your favorite charity isn’t on the list you can nominate it. Easy as that. So: go. Please!

I’m posting late again, as usual these days. Last night I was up into the wee small hours watching the drama unfold in Minneapolis. I don’t know about you, Gentle Reader, but I nearly always have this twinge of dread and apprehension when crossing a particularly long or high bridge…the Golden Gate, the Oakland Bay Bridge, the Mackinac Bridge, yadda, yadda. It’s irrational, I know. Yet the nightmare came true yesterday during rush hour in Minneapolis.

Just as an aside: I’ve been across that bridge in Minneapolis…sideways at 70 mph or so around 0300 in the morning in the waning days of December, 1977. I hit a patch of ice on the bridge’s approach and lost it, quite literally. Even though I just knew I was gonna go for a swim (or bounce off the Mississippi river ice), I managed to straighten the car out, somehow, and proceeded on my way... to the next available off-ramp for coffee and a change of underwear. The change of underwear being metaphorical, of course.

Today’s Pic: Another paved RV park (Jenny!), this time in Houston. Well, it’s not completely paved, as was the Reno park. Close enough, though. I stayed here for two days until I found another park with a lil more elbow room…and better rates. This one was quite expensive, as RV parks go, IIRC. Nice facilities, well-kept, good location, but expensive.

I don't have as many park-pics as I thought I did. In fact I'm missing a lot of the more "colorful" places I stayed at during my first year on the road, and more's the pity. Some of those places made me laugh the following morning when I got up and looked around. This, of course, is in reference to a bad habit of mine, early on. I'd drive way too long before looking for a place to stay...and it's hard to judge a park in the dark. But almost any park is better than a rest area, and I "stayed" (shorthand for taking an extended nap) in a few of those when push came to shove.

March, 2000.

Back in a bit…

I'm Late...Didja Start Without Me?

Frequent readers of EIP know I’m a hockey fan, or more specifically a Detroit Red Wings fan. Being a hockey fan isn’t easy. Our sport is probably the most misunderstood and least appreciated of all the major professional sports in the US of A, sucking hind teat, as it were, to the NFL, the NBA, and MLB. Hockey is marginally more popular than, say, soccer, but that’s subject to change since Beckham came to the US. I just think we’re misunderstood, all other criticisms aside. So, Gentle Reader, it’s in the spirit of understanding that I give you Hockey 101. Excerpts:

Stereotypical fan

When it comes to NHL fans, they tend to be fairly vocal and quite particular about how they view the sport, especially if they are fans of one of the Original Six who tend to have something of a superiority complex when it comes to expansion teams.

However, fans of the various national teams are rabidly patriotic. For many of the more prestigious nations – Russia, the Czech Republic and Sweden, to name but three – ice hockey rivals football as the most popular national sport.

In Canada, ice hockey outweighs every other pastime as the most popular, and as such Canadian NHL fans tend to be the most patriotic and outspoken of all.

[…]

Why should I watch/play it?

The sport is fast and furious and while a live game may make it difficult to follow the puck at times, the action is unbelievable up close.

There is nothing quite like the sound of skates scraping against the ice as player twist and turn at break-neck speed and the atmosphere inside the arenas of the NHL is unlike any other sport in north America, especially when it is one of the well-worn rivalries in Canada or the northern states. (ed: Like Detroit and Colorado. Go watch…and understand. Full story here.)

Still, if you get the chance to catch a live game on TV, it is still worth a watch and since the rule changes in the NHL last season the game is more exciting than ever – marrying the speed and excitement of the skating with the raw power, brute force and sometimes down-right passion that comes when players get a little too hot under the colour (sic) and start trading blows.

It’s all true. Read the whole thing to glean an understanding and…hopefully…a better appreciation of the greatest sport in the entire freakin’ world. Bar none.

Speaking as an Original Six fan, of course.

So. Rupert Murdoch is gonna own what might rightly be called the Crown Jewel of American Journalism…the Wall Street Journal. (And please don’t go talking about The Gray Lady’s former glories. Past is past.)

Rupert Murdoch's courtship of the Bancroft family appears to have triumphed, with enough shares pledged to make News Corp. the owner of the newspaper whose Web site you are now reading. Readers are naturally asking how this will change the journalism we practice. Our sincere answer is that we intend to stand for the same principles and standards we have for more than a hundred years.

[…]

The Journal has had to adapt many times over the years to changing technology and reading habits. In the past five years alone, we have redesigned the U.S. Journal twice and the foreign editions once, while adding a Saturday paper and investing in online publishing. To the extent that News Corp. can provide capital for further innovation, the Journal's future as a business should be enhanced. And make no mistake: Business success is vital to editorial independence, precisely because it provides the resources to report and comment in ways that might offend advertisers or governments.

I came to the WSJ rather late in life, back in 1981. A former commander of mine (in England) turned me on to what I previously perceived to be a rather stuffy, totally business-oriented rag read only by Fat Cats. I was wrong. And I became a subscriber shortly after the revelation, halting my subscription only when the Journal couldn’t come to me in a timely manner. (The WSJ is delivered by US Mail here in the hinterlands, arriving a day late. Who wants to read yesterday’s news?) The WSJ was part of my morning coffee ritual for well over 20 years, closer to 30, actually. I still read it occasionally (at the library) and always read the freebies posted on Opinion Journal. But, Lordy, do I ever miss the paper…the physical paper. Reading on-line just ain’t the same, and that’s why I’ve never sprung for the on-line pay version of the WSJ.

Let us pray nothing much changes…in the all-important editorial and hard news areas…when Rupert assumes control.

NewsBusters has more, including lots and lots of “media reaction,” and it’s pretty good stuff.

You can take this with a grain of salt, but it’s interesting:

"The cease-fire acted as a life jacket for the organization [at the end of the Second Lebanon War]," a Hizbullah officer said in an interview aired by Channel 10 on Tuesday.

In the interview, the unnamed officer said Hizbullah gunmen would have surrendered if the fighting last summer had continued for another 10 days.

Unnamed or not, I wouldn’t give a plug nickel for this guy’s chances, given the organization he’s a member of and the fact he’s directly contradicting his CinC. Unless, of course, it’s more makara.

Today’s Pic(s): In direct contrast to yesterday’s pic of El Casa Móvil De Pennington outstanding in its field, here we have cheek-to-jowl parking in an urban RV park, specifically in Reno, NV. I never stayed in these sort of parks for very long, given the crowded nature of the accommodations, and the associated fact that I need a little more space and a LOT more distance from those extraneous “noises in the night” that emanate from folks’ homes…fixed OR mobile. But especially mobile.

And about those flags… the owner of the flags was a minor cause célébré in the local media just before I arrived on the scene. Briefly: The RV Park owner delivered a “cease and desist or MOVE” letter to the owner of this RV about those flags. Not willing to take the “lose ‘em or move ‘em” alternative he was given, the owner went directly…not passing Go…to a local TV station who did a human interest piece on the flags. The resulting outpouring of mail and negative comments to the park owner got him to back down, and the flags remained flying. The Little Guy won one…

May, 2000.