04.20.07 :: universality of grief...universality of hope
Hope, strength, peace, and comfort from this Terp to all Hokies.
03.25.07 :: hiatus edition
Yes, snoggees, the time has come. Loba needs to take a hiatus. It's a several-pronged reason: I'm swamped at work; I'm partaking in freelance fun; I'm in a mental dead zone when it comes to politics; and I'm working on redecorating schematics for the lair.
I can't say when I'll be back; this is by no means a permanent bow-out, so don't give up on visiting me. Plus, when I do come back, it's going to be with a whole new look. I hope you'll enjoy it.
Take care, keep aware, and in the infamous words of Stu Macher, "I'll be right back!"
03.21.07 :: wonderful electric edition
I'm in love with a strict machine. Actually, I'm in love with the video for Goldfrapp's song, "Strict Machine." I've probably watched it more frequently this week than I've read the paper. Now that's saying a lot. The song itself is typically techno, but the video is creative in that funky/freaky way when videos used to be fun...you know, when MTV was new and musicians viewed it as an untapped medium, a blank slate...before it became the playground for pouty anorexics with pretty faces and dull, souless eyes.
So below is the YouTube posting for the video. Sadly, things keep disappearing from YouTube, so play it now, snoggees. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
03.09.07 :: enemy reading edition
Sometimes I go to Ann Coulter's Web site and read her columns. I guess it's for the same reason that sometimes I visit Pat Robertson's and Jerry Falwell's Web sites. Know your enemy. As far as I'm concerned, these three are my enemy - not because they are Republican. Not because they are "Christian" (in the most dangerously fundamental sense of the word). It's because they operate under a modus operandi that I find frightening and abhorrent. They make claims like they invented the question mark and provide no basis for this claim other than standard scare tactics (two with the "Power of Christ compels you...to believe everything I say" and the other with the dull blade of her factually deficient eviscerations).
If you question what they say, you're either condemned to hell or maliciously slandered. Either way, it's a personal attack against you rather than an intelligent rebuttal. Don't get me wrong: Democrats are equally guilty of this sort of attack. I admit to hitting below the belt at times; I am the one, after all, who used to refer to Bush as "MonkeyBone." And for full disclosure, I did treat Ms. Coulter to one of my infamous PhotoShop manipulations (it remains one of my favorites). Just because I don't stoop to the depths of the more vituperative mudslingers, I am not above reproach.
One thing that I do try to do, that I have yet to see any of these people do, is listen to the other side. I mean listen. Not work on your own personal attack while your adversary is speaking. Because whether you're telling your opponent that they're going to go to hell for their beliefs or you're insinuating that your opponent is a faggot (by the way, that's another disgusting trait often practiced by the upper echelon of this current regime: The "come to the edge and then back away" dance of maligning your opponent; I can't think of many more cowardly things), you're not doing anything constructive. You're just mud-slinging for the sake of its puerile joy. Plus, your constituents don't have to think to understand what you're saying...because contrary to Ms. Coulter's claim (on Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes"...because if you're going to make wildly unfounded claims, it's best to do so among friends) that the word faggot "isn't offensive to gays, it has nothing to do with gays. It's a schoolyard taunt," everyone knows what faggot means, as well as the hurt and threat that it carries when uttered.
(Although acknowledging it as a "schoolyard taunt" does lend credence to my supposition that when people like Coulter are faced with making an intellectual argument, they cannot rise to the challenge and must instead malign their opponent to the glee of their Springer-fed constituents.)
There is hope in the fact that three newspapers dropped Coulter's column after her comments. I'm sure that she won't feel the impact of this. Contrary to her attempts to villify Democrats in one of her latest columns, "Let Them Eat Tofu!," for being pampered elitists, I'm just going to take a wild guess that she's not living in a barrio or ghetto.
By the way, it was this column that really set me off this morning. She makes such sweeping assumptions and provides no fact. I mean, come on, it's not that difficult to link to your source to prove your statement that "There are more reputable scientists defending astrology than defending 'global warming'"...unless, of course, that was just something you made up.
I think, though, what really rubbed me the wrong way was her claim that "Liberals haven't the foggiest idea how the industrial world works." Calls for more responsible industrial standards suddenly mean a complete lack of understanding of how the industrial world works? Pretty bold statement coming from someone who represents a party supported by donations from major industries that would be adversely affected by stricter laws. But nice way to make it out that liberals are tofu-jocking debutantes who live in the disconnected ether of their pretty mansions and have it in for the little people.
That's still the popular Democrat-bashing line to toe, isn't it? When really, it has nothing to do with money. After all, there are plenty of rich Republicans. Plenty.
No, it's not the wealth factor. It's the fact that the Democratic party is the party of questioners. And it's difficult to get questioners to swallow your line if your bait has no substance. So you depend on the people who don't question, and you paint those who do question in the most hateful colors, knowing full well that you never need provide proof...because the ones who support your cause will never call you on your claims.
03.07.07 :: inmate number 28882-016 edition
Tip of the paw to A2 for this one. Want to write your local, jailed representative? Don't have one of your own? Then you can write currently incarcerated Ohio Rep. Bob Ney at his new Morgantown, West Viginia, digs.
The thing that really floors me about this e-mail (other than the absolute lack of grammatical respect) is that he quotes Garth Brooks' "The Dance" at the end of his e-mail. Wha? Are you surprised how this ended, Bobby? I'm sure you are, since you probably felt all indestructable under the now-crumbling dome of Republican inscrutability. But it's all right. Maybe you'll be joined by Scooter soon and you can compare dance cards. Won't that be fun?
03.07.07 :: pointless pillory edition
Scooter snagged!
Libby, why lie?
Another scapegoat for Old MacDonald's regime.
Do I care that Lewis Libby was found guilty? Not really. It's about as satisfying as Michael Brown being removed as head of FEMA after Katrina, or George Tenet resigning as CIA director over the "incorrect information" on the WMD situation in Iraq. These are just empty victories. They are symptoms of the greater disease from which we suffer.
Libby's conviction is merely palliative. The cancer still rests comfortably beyond the scope of Fitgerald's - or anyone's scalpel.
03.05.07 :: limousine liberals edition
You know, I was going to comment on the Discovery Channel documentary I (and probably many millions) watched last night on the possibility that the tomb of Jesus and his family was discovered 27 years ago. First, though, I decided I wanted to read what the bloviators had to say about the documentary. So I checked out Pat Robertson's Web site. Nothing. Then I checked out Jerry Falwell's site. Nothing again...at least not on the documentary.
There is, however, quite a disturbing essay from Mr. Falwell on "global warming hocus pocus." How can someone who has made a living hocking what could be considered the greatest bit of hocus pocus lay such claims against global warming? I'm at a loss and greatly disturbed that there are those who will listen to someone like Mr. Falwell and believe what he says.
I think the only time since I reached the age of reasoning that I have heard a preacher say something that I immediately respected was the preacher who chastised us in chapel once for taking him for his word. He told us, "Never just take someone's word as truth. Always look for yourself; always make sure that what you're being told is right." That has stuck with me for now nearly 15 years. It was the one and only time that I heard a preacher say something like that.
I'm willing to bet Mr. Falwell would never tell his congregation something so honest. I'm also willing to bet that Mr. Falwell would never admit to not being 100 percent in stone right about everything he's ever said. Perhaps there should be an amendment to the Kyoto Protocol that requires countries to curb the useless expenditure of gas from bloviators such as is so abundant in the religious sections of the world. That might cut back on all this global warming hocus pocus real fast.
03.02.07 :: trust and confidence edition
Ever since the beginning of the war, we've had the Bush regime pretty much screaming in our faces that if we go against the call for war, we're going against the soldiers who are fighting it...we're unpatriotic...we're the lowest of lifeforms on the planet.
So what does that make all the people who knew about the squalid conditions that wounded soldiers were enduring at Walter Reed? Yes, they've fired the hospital's commander and they're implementing a four-point plan to improve the treatment and living conditions for these brave men and women who literally gave pieces of themselves for their country. What I want to know, though, is how long would these soldiers have gone ignored had the stories of squalor not been revealed?
People had to know what Building 18 was like. It couldn't have been a secret with its moldy walls and rats. People had to know. Yet they said nothing. Even worse, they did nothing. Many within the "rank and vile" are accusing the reports of being biased and not telling the truth (of course, this begs the question of, if the reports are biased and not really correct, why fire the commander?). Hmm. So why don't they tell the truth about the mold and rats? That's an explanation I would love to hear.
So I ask again (as I hope many, many others will ask as well), if the Washington Post hadn't reported on the conditions at Walter Reed, how long would they have been allowed to persist?
02.26.07 :: birds of a feather edition
I guess it's amusing when I read editorial pieces that pretty much mirror my own contemplations, such as E.J. Dionne's op-ed on the Libby trial, complete with question about why Republicans once so hell-bent on retribution against a lying president are now crying foul against Patrick Fitzgerald for bringing the same questions to the door of the current lying president.
02.26.07 :: simple things edition
I love the time I spend in the lair, but I've noticed that I hardly ever visit on the weekends anymore. It's not that I don't go online on the weekends...although admittedly, I don't go online with much frequency on my days off. I guess I just prefer to live life rather than write about it. Not like I'm skydiving and globe-trotting...but just getting out there.
My dad and I actually talked last night about how I used to stay up all night, online. It became such a frequent occurrence that he wouldn't even flinch when he would get up at 5:30 in the morning and see the sliver of light from my desk lamp shining from under my door. He'd just knock when the coffee was ready and say goodbye when he was leaving for work. How I not only never missed any of my morning classes but never arrived late for any, I still don't understand. I was such a chat whore back then. I was also quite the supporter of afternoon naps.
Anyway, now I hardly ever visit the lair on the weekends...so now it's time for a weekend summary. The big news was snow most of Sunday. Actual snow this time instead of the crapacious "wintry mix" we so often get. Nice, heavy snowball snow. Pretty, cling-to-the-bare-tree-limbs, shimmer-in-the-streetlight kind of snow. It was even nice to look at as I was driving to work this morning. It was especially nice driving Sammy to work after his trip to the dealership on Saturday for his oil change and tire rotation. He also got a chassis lube, new windshield wipers, and some new side marker bulbs. It'd be hella cheaper to take him to a Jiffy Lube or something like that, but I'm so paranoid about going to places like that ever since my Merchant's screw job...so I go to the dealership for everything. I figure, yeah it costs more, but if THEY screw up, at least there's a better chance they'll have the parts on hand to fix the screw-up. I kind of like that (possibly false) sense of security since I travel long miles to visit family.
Other than that, and a trip to the mall plus some errands, all else was quiet on the Loba front. See, I told you it wasn't skydiving...but it's lovely in itself.
02.23.07 :: state of contempt edition
I've been hacking my way through the latest Bob Woodward book on the war. I'm not going to be able to finish it in the 7-day express time frame...but I already know the ending, so that's all right.
It's hard to believe that Woodward was one of the reporters who helped bring down Nixon. Was he a better investigative reporter back then than he is now? Or is the fact that this country doesn't seem to give a good goddamn about the highly impeachable acts of Bush and his regime somehow feed in to my previous contemplations on violence and sex in this country? Seriously, think about what got Clinton impeached. Now think about all that Bush has done in office. For example, consider this: according to Woodward's book, the Pentagon provided to soldiers deployed to Iraq to find WMDs a list of possible locations for the weapons. The list contained 946 possible sites. 946.
Now I could understand being completely wrong if the list was 9 sites...I could almost still understand if the list was 90 sites. But more than 900? Seems to me like those 946 sites were just pulled out of someone's orifice indiscriminately. Sounds to me like someone very high up on the chain of command didn't really care whether or not anything was found at those sites...just put some list together to make it seem like we're really looking for something.
Now, back to what I was saying: We got our knickers in a knot because of the "definition of is" bull-shiggidy that Clinton threw at us when he was caught lying about Lewinsky. Why, then, were we completely all right when Bush and his regime shifted the focus of our invasion from "We know without a doubt that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction that he WILL use on us!!!" to "Freedom is on the march!"? We just seemed to collectively shrug our shoulders at all the deaths that had been incurred under the guise of this massive weapons search as if the deaths were as incidental as a paper cut...but a knob job in the Oval Office! Good gods, that MUST be punished to fullest extent.
Sigh.
Another interesting aspect of the Woodward book is how Bush Senior viewed his son's decisions. He didn't agree with them and even voiced his concerns over what the little moron was pulling this country into. But he never said anything to his son because of some ridiculous "father-son competition" thing. That's a great reason to condemn this country to a war mire. Actually, that's a great reason to establish a Constitutional amendment banning sons from running for president as long as their former president father is still alive.
Strikes me as very reminiscent of Proverbs 17:21 (King James Version, of course; the weapon of choice for good fundamentalists): "He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy."
And the country of a fool hath no joy either.
02.22.07 :: q-rious edition
I discovered the most wonderful library on Saturday. It's right around the corner, and it's just so beautiful. Not large, and in no way ostentatious...but it's bright and airy with a room for private reading and studying, computers, thoughtfully organized reading sections, and an amazing CD library. It is a holy place for the English-degreed. I checked out a stack of books and an even larger stack of CDs, including the soundtrack to Avenue Q.
I've been listening to the soundtrack the past couple of days. It's like Sesame Street via Dr. Demento, teaching us valuable adult lessons such as "The Internet is For Porn," the song in which a Cookie Monster-sounding knock-off named Trekkie Monster delivers the classic line, "Me up all night honking me horn to porn, porn, porn!" Such wit.
The creative team does earn points for their song all about one of my favorite German words: "Schadenfreude." However, they don't earn as many points as they would have if they didn't have the song "What Do You Do With a B.A. in English," which is a somewhat tired lament to those who have already found the answer to this question they heard repeatedly during and immediately after their English studies.
I guess I would have to see this to understand why it won Best Musical in 2004 instead of Wicked. Both are plays with fantastical characters that bring to the audience real world messages wrapped in song and dance. Perhaps the judges preferred the cruder messages of the puppets over the more treacly messages brought to us by witches and flying monkeys. And there is definitely a certain skill level required of those in Avenue Q that is not required of other musicals: They need to be not only actors but puppeteers. And from this Tony clip the original cast members were pretty good at it.
I'm just not sure, though, if this is enough to garner the top honor. But, of course, I'm completely biased because I've loved Wicked ever since I read the book. So, there you go.
02.21.07 :: draw down edition
Like I said before, the British are leaving! The British are leaving.
02.19.07 :: religious fire(d) edition
Fascinating man, Don Larsen. His experience further supports my belief that faith is a wonderful thing; religion, however, is just one big Jedi mind trick.
02.15.07 :: truth of the matter edition
Jonah Goldberg thinks that a Democrat should win the presidential election in 2008. That's pretty much the only thing on which he and I agree. Everything else from his L.A. Times editorial is nothing more than incendiary piffle, including why he thinks a Democrat should take the presidency. See, he thinks that the Democrats don't understand the severity of the religious war we are waging.
I wouldn't dare speak for the majority of Democrats, but I can speak for myself. I absolutely understand what is going on. I also understand that Bible-thumping Bush waging war against "Islamic extremists" is about as logical as whiskey-drinking alcoholics waging war against vodka-drinking alcoholics - just a different version of the same dangerous insanity.
I understand that we had no cause to go into Iraq. I understand that Sadam Hussein, though intrinsically evil, was not - and never should have been - our focus after September 11. We may never know the true reasons behind the Bush regime's burning desire to remove Hussein from power, but we have since learned the one benefit of having Hussein in control in Iraq: he was a stopper that was keeping in check all varieties of evil genies that, thanks to Bush, have now been released. And we, of course, have absolutely no game plan on how to put them back in the bottle. In fact, we've blown the bottle to bits.
Goldberg goes on to state that Democrats should be allowed back in the White House because "...the Democrats have been such irresponsible backseat drivers that they have to be forced to take the wheel to grasp how treacherous the road ahead is."
See, there are two problems with this analogy: one is that backseat drivers have no power at all for which they should be responsible. Great Aunt Myrtle can hem and haw all she wants in the back seat of my car, and the only thing it's really going to do is irritate me. And then I'm going to ignore her (kind of like how Bush ignored the Democratic party for the past 6 years). Until I mess up and crash the car...then, if I'm a really terrible niece, I'm going to blame her "irresponsible" nagging on my own mistakes. Get the idea?
The second problem is that we all get the fact that the road ahead is treacherous. But it's as treacherous as it is because of the decisions that the Bush regime has made. We didn't have to invade Iraq (have I mentioned that enough here?). Bush took us into the hornets' nest and he, just like Goldberg, wants to pass on the responsibility of getting us out to the next president. I'm sure that even Bush would love it if his predecessor was a Democrat, because he's fully aware that whoever comes after him is going to be cast in incompetent colors, no matter what they do...and wouldn't it be better if it were the Democrats viewed in this light than the more-than-deserving Republicans?
Democrats are by no means spotless. Their complacency toward the original call for war was only in part due to Bush's obfuscation of his true intentions. The other part was their lack of fortitude to rage against the roar of the war machine being revved (the machine whose back seat they would all become so intimately familiar with). Very few are willing to take an unpopular stand, especially if that stand might cost them their job. But not taking that stand has cost us and the Iraqi people the price of our own blood...and that can never be paid back.
Quick solution? For at least one of the Democratic senators who are planning to run for president to step up and just say it plain and simple: Yes, I voted for the resolution to go to war. No, I'm not going to waste your time making excuses. I am sorry for my decision; I understand now that I should have stood firmly with my gut response. I am one of the reasons that Bush was able to drag us into this mire. I made a mistake, but I swear to each of you that I will do whatever is necessary to redeem myself in your eyes and to redeem us in the eyes of the free world.
Wouldn't that be a great dose of honesty?
02.15.07 :: hidden gem edition
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Oh, Tex gets the Loba 4-paw salute for this one. Hidden within this odd little Bette Davis mix...beginning at 1 minute 45 seconds to be precise...a piece of the fabled Jan Hooks "Bette Davis video will" sketch from SNL. The "You get NOTHING!" piece. One of funniest SNL sketches EVER! Why, oh why can't they release a "Best of Jan Hooks" DVD with this sketch on it? I would flat out buy a copy first day of release. "...and I want you to have a BAD LIFE!!" Dammit, that's funny. |
02.15.07 :: slick edition
I figured out what makes snow in this area so exponentially worse than in other areas (well, except the places hit by Great Lake-effect snow plops...that just sucks to the nth degree). We hardly ever get JUST snow. Oh no. We get a snow/ice/sleet parfait...and contrary to what Donkey tells Shrek, some people DON'T like parfait, especially when you have to shovel it. Do you KNOW how heavy icy, slushy snow IS? This morning, my muscles most definitely know.
The nice thing about this latest wintry storm is that my company closed down yesterday. The president is kick-ass cool and he was more concerned with the safety of his employees rather than his profit margins. My old company should take a page from his playbook. Then again, I guess that's why they're my OLD company. Happy Valentine's Day to us, no?
02.13.07 :: fajita round-up edition
I can't believe someone FINALLY posted this on YouTube. I have been checking for the better part of a year. By far, one of the best music-themed SNL sketches ever. Lucy Lawless really nails her impersonation of Stevie Nicks and she has great comedic timing; who knew? Now if someone could just post the Bette Davis video will sketch that Jan Hooks did...
02.13.07 :: wintry mix edition
I see a red door and I want it painted black - no colors anymore; I want them to turn black. That's one of my favorite Stones songs (even if, for years, I thought it was a Doors song). That and "Jumpin' Jack Flash." Of course, I love that one because of the Whoopi movie. Such a funny movie.
This morning began with snow and the announcement that North Korea has agreed to disarm. The snow I can do without; the disarmament...that's actually the first bit of good U.S.-involved international news I've heard in many moons. It's also the first political news that I've actually wanted to acknowledge in a while.
It's not as though I've suddenly stopped following all the other stories in the news right now. I'm still reading about what's going on in Iraq. I still see that Bush keeps pulling Iran deeper and deeper into the mix. I'm greatly disturbed by that...even moreso than the continued push for this utterly ridiculous troop surge.
The Lewis Libby trial is well underway and I view it as nothing more than a huge waste of taxpayer money. What, like all of a sudden the law is finally going to catch up with the current regime? Give me a break. This regime is literally getting away with murder, so if anyone thinks that justice will find its way through all the bloody red tape, you must be high on something. Please, by all means, exhale.
This is the United States of Amurhka. You'll be impeached over a blowjob, but you can get away with causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Any wonder we can give PG-13 ratings to massive violence but male frontal nudity warrants an NC-17? Female nudity, however, does not warrant the same rating. Of course, that's just because it's fine to watch the prowess of a strong American male blowing away the bad guys of whatever is the current designated evil ethnicity, and then being rewarded with a naked woman (it's not just the jihadists who get their 40 virgins, is it?)...but sort of takes away from that prowess myth when you see what's beneath the camouflage. Ooh, have I let the tiny kitty out of the bag now?
Hmm. Now this is definitely a wintry mix.
02.12.07 :: ha-ha edition
Dixie Chicks rule. Say that five times fast.
02.08.07 :: whatha? edition
Anna Nicole Smith died. I don't even know why I'm posting this; everything is just so bizarre about her life...and now her death.
02.08.07 :: running edition
Augusten Burroughs must be drinking again. That's the only reason I can come up with as to why he greenlighted the horrific movie adaptation of his memoir, Running With Scissors. I have to say, the book is fantastic. I read almost the entire book in one sitting; I just could not put it down. And when I was finished, my jaw ached for days from equal parts laughter and jaw-dropping disbelief. True or not, it is an awesome read.
The movie...no freakin' way. It's not even half as good as the cover art for the book. I still don't understand why Annette Bening would sign on for this piffle. I do understand, however, why Gwyneth Paltrow was here: It's because the movie wanted so badly to be a "We put the 'fun' in 'dysfunction'" kind of movie a la Royal Tenenbaums (in which Ms. Paltrow played a somewhat similar character minus the religiosity and cat fetish).
The problem with aspiring to be like The Royal Tenenbaums is that you enter into a "copy-of-a-copy" pattern similar to the deterioration seen in Multiplicity. Remember how the copies of Michael Keaton's character made a copy of a copy and he turned out...special? ("You know how when you make a copy of a copy, it's not as sharp as... well...the original.") Well, the problem with wanting to copy the Tenenbaums is that the Tenenbaums wanted desperately to be the Berrys from The Hotel New Hampshire. Now that's how to make a great movie about family dysfunction! Plus, it was a great movie based on a great book written by John Irving. A rare moment when Hollywood got the book-to-movie transition right. Definitely not something I can say about Running With Scissors.
02.07.07 :: snow blow edition
We are such snow sissies in the D.C. area. There's like 2 inches of powdery snow outside and most of the school systems in Maryland closed for the day. It's not even snowball snow. It's "sneeze too hard and it all blows away" snow. Granted, it's freezing cold outside: 18 degrees according to my Netscape WeatherBug. That's enough to stay inside...but not enough to close schools. (Get ready for it...my "I'm getting old moment") They NEVER closed school for a little piss-ass amount of snow like this when I was a kid!
Hmm. Oh, and to the total and complete ass-munch who thought he was going to keep me from merging by speeding up to fill in the space between him and the car in front of him the second he saw my turn signal...a) you're an ass-munch; b) even if it wasn't a major snow storm, you still shouldn't drive like an ass-munch when the roads are potentially slippery; c) you and your little sissy honks didn't really succeed in stopping me, did you?; d) be glad I was more concerned with merging from behind the stopped 18-wheeler blocking my lane because if that hadn't been the case, I would have gladly taught you a few choice word combinations that I'm sure your momma knows very well.
Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be better if I traveled by Metro.
02.06.07 :: psychological edition
Oy, today was busy. The Internet was a joke all day at work...I couldn't get my news-on...I couldn't even visit the lair. I did pull off some fancy-shmancy coding tricks for my contract's Web site. I wish I could share that link with you loverly snoggees. But I am a Garbo kinda wolf about these things. Privacy privacy privacy. I can say I was able to add a very nice looking vertical dropdown menu trick that matches our color scheme and doesn't overwhelm the visitor. I might make it a little more complex later on, but I'm happy with it for now.
And then I hop into Sammy for my Beltway boogie home and hear about this total nutcase NASA chick who drove from Houston to Orlando in diapers to pepper-spray and mallet her "competition." Um. Doesn't NASA have some sort of psychological vetting process whereby they avoid hiring people like this? Could you imagine if she had snapped like this up in space? That'd definitely be a Lieutenant Worf security situation.
You know what our crazy little astronaut needs? She needs a few sessions with Dr. SBAITSO! Anyone out there remember this program? I thought it was the coolest thing in the world when I first discovered the good doctor. SBAITSO stood for "Sound Blaster Acting Intelligent Text to Speech Operator" and all it really did was show off the voice skills of the Sound Blaster brand sound card. But it was fun, in a computer geek kinda way. If you're interested, you can download Dr. SBAITSO from Home of the Underdogs. It's a DOS-based program, but I'm sure that it wouldn't take a whole lot of trying to get it to work. I might just give it a try...or even better, I might download it at work and let the good doctor diagnose my coworkers. I'm pretty sure none of them is wearing adult diapers to the office...
02.05.07 :: kick in the head edition
Here I am again, 170 steps up to my office. It felt good this morning, though...got my slushy-cold blood pumping a little faster. It's cold, snoggees. Damn cold. Even Sammy was balking at how cold it was...so I drove him extra carefully until he was warmed up. Now I'm still waiting for me to warm up.
So know one of the reasons why I love the Internet? It saves me from having to hear about all the great Super Bowl commercials without being able to see them...now I just have to go online and watch them. Problem solved (because you know I'm not about to waste one second watching a football game; I'd rather pluck all my arm hairs out one at a time).
This year's commercials, though, were pretty lame. I think I got as far as the Robert Goulet nut commercial and I was spent. Funny David Letterman commercial, though. Probably the best of all the ones that I saw. Oh and the Coca-Cola "Grand Theft Auto" commercial was pretty clever. You can take a look at all of them on iFilm's site.
Of course, though, you know that Loba's favorite was the lucky little dog who got his own parade, thanks to Budweiser and a little mud. So of course, that's the one that I gladly show here...ain't that a kick in the head?
02.02.07 :: whatev edition
I'm feeling rambly this morning. It's so blah outside - cold, foggy, sleety, slippy, blah. I'm enveloped in a cocoon of warmth in my office, thanks to a contraband space heater (if you're going to skimp me on "approved" heat, dammit, I'm going to go black market on you).
I'm ecstatic that the weekend is mere hours away from beginning, not just for the two days of workless freedom, but also for the two days of no stairs. I made a stupid resolution with myself last November (not a New Year's resolution; I find those trite) that I would walk up the stairs to my office every morning. I'm on the 11th floor. I climb 170 steps every morning. I count them every morning. It keeps my mind off the fact that I'm climbing 11 flights of stairs. Okay, not really...but it gives me something to focus on other than the way the stairs seem to get steeper every floor I climb. Besides, it's the most movement I see all day at work. I'm a techie/design geek. We're not exactly known for our sprinter-lithe movements.
Speaking of techie hoo-ha, my Netscape browser is going a little glitchy this morning. I hate that. Of course, I'm justifying my slow start on work on this glitch, so it's always good.
I see that Maya Angelou has written a lovely tribute to her friend and ours (of the liberal persuasion, at least), Molly Ivins. She was probably the best thing to come out of Texas in a long time (mainstream, of course; no offense, Tex). One of her last columns is now being widely quoted in practically every appreciation piece I read. Best part?
We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush's proposed surge. If you can, go to the peace march in Washington on Jan. 27. We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, "Stop it, now!"
We are the deciders. Again, I quote one of my recent favorites films when I say, "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."
I also heard that Al Gore has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on global warming awareness. Perfect to coincide with today's report from the UN that confirms what all the intelligent people already know: that we're really fucking up the environment with our (AS)SUVs and pollution. Of course I'm sure the report will do nothing to change the tiny mind of Bush the Oil Bitch. He still thinks "climate change" is a theory. Kind of like evolution. I'm just happy that my hindsight provides me with the clear conscience of knowing that I never wasted a vote on the warmongering little twit now in office.
Ramble, ramble, ramble. If I don't close this now, I might never stop. See you on the flip side.
02.01.07 :: hairy potter edition
Is it just me, or did January seem to last forever? Maybe it's just me...
So, finally. J.K. Rowling has announced on her Web site the release date for the final Harry Potter book: July 21. While I am more than thrilled at the set release date, I actually feel sad for Rowling. I know, I know: poor little rich girl, right? Richer than the bloody queen. But money aside, I can only imagine how bereft she must feel at finally ending the world in which she has lived for, I would guess, 15 or more years.
My writing attempts, amateur at best in comparison, have always left me feeling a deep sense of sadness at their completion. These characters become real; you give them life and then live in their world...you HAVE to live in their world to understand how they would react to situations you are creating for them. If you don't live with them, they are flat and unconvincing...and who wants to read something like that? Often, during those more successful writing streaks, you spend more time with those characters than you do with real people. It's very hard to finally let go of "people" you spend so much time with. So again I say, I actually feel sad for Rowling. She's losing some of her best mates.
Meanwhile, Daniel Radcliffe is apparently putting the "Hairy" in Harry Potter. He's going to be stripping on the West End in a revival of the play "Equus." He will play a horse fetishist. I respect that he wants to prove he can be more than a boy wizard. I'm not seeing him naked with horses, so I really don't care one way or the other; I wish him luck and I'll still see the next HP movie coming out in July.
I have to say, though, from a graphic design viewpoint, the poster artwork for "Equus" is just fantastically disturbing. Has a Cronenberg quality to it, don't you think?
01.30.07 :: unacceptable edition
Five years after the fact, and they still wait for help. Sell off their livelihood to live? And then what? Gift of the Magi predicament, to be sure. Apparently, those who bear their ills in silence are rewarded only with the emptiness that silence fills.
Hopefully, this article will help make the squeaks that require financial oiling.
01.29.07 :: beautiful barbaro edition
Fragile creature, massive muscles atop gossamer legs.
Sentience without voice does not equal complacency with the course.
Break and run. Stop.
Healing, in the end, impossible - like sewing breaking waves.
Beautiful Barbaro, out to stud. Free of fees.
01.26.07 :: ironical edition
"I'm the decision-maker." What a f-idiot. And he's talking about Iran again. Even worse, he's saying that he has no plans to move the fight beyond Iraq's borders. Yeah, that's never good when he says something like that, because as the thinking people have learned, we now live in Bizarro-land.
It's a shame the irony of this little gem of a quote is completely lost to his royal dullness:
My problem is with the government that takes actions that end up isolating their people and ends up denying the Iranian people their true place in the world.
Right. Because that's only happening to the Iranian people.
01.26.07 :: rated edition
First off, to those slightly put off by my suggestion yesterday about irate hunters, might I direct you to my friend, Jonathan Swift's modest proposal. Satire is really what is mightier than the sword.
Now, a documentary plug: This Film Is Not Yet Rated. Fantabulous look at the Motion Picture Association of America's (MPAA's) highly secretive film rating system. It wanders off course a few times, but maintains a relatively smooth and very provocative pace. Plus, it touches upon something that I have often questioned, which is how this country will allow the most violent of imagery to pass with often benign ratings, but sex will always evoke the harshest of ratings. In Europe, it's pretty much the exact opposite. Tangentially, no European leaders have declared any unnecessary wars lately.
Of course, the documentary is rated: NC-17. Personally, I feel it received this rating because the raters were shitting bricks over the fact that the director, Kirby Dick, has finally exposed who they are. Kirby did go through the appeals process, which he also placed in his documentary. Did you know that representatives from the Catholic and Episcopal churches sit in on the appeals process? Explain that one.
01.25.07 :: in my sights edition
I would like to place intelligence on the endangered species list in Idaho. Because I'm forced to ponder how intelligent a state's population can be when they vote in as their governor someone like "Butch" Otter. First off, there is no such thing as a butch otter. So perhaps Governor Otter is trying overcompensate when he says things like what he said at a recent anti-wolf rally (ah, there's the rub! Loba does get her hackles riled when anti and wolf are combined). At this rally, according to the Boise Weekly, the governor declared to the group of protesting hunters, "I'm prepared to bid for the first ticket to shoot a wolf myself."
The reason for this testosterone-soaked bravado? Hunters are pissed that the wolves are eating elk that the hunters would like to kill. Yeah, my jaw dropped too, snoggees. They want to kill the wolves because the wolves are preventing them from killing elk. Apparently, their need to shoot something is greater than the natural survival of a living creature.
Pardon my French, but fuck that. It's not like we're in the "hunter/gatherer" days and these guys need the elk to survive. The article doesn't in any way mention that these hunters and their families are starving, so I'm going to assume that they're getting by just fine with the food they have at their disposal. Oh that wolves had it so easy as to go to the local McDonald's for an elk burger. So, since the hunters want to shoot something so badly, might I suggest that they shoot each other. That way, we can thin out our own unnecessary herd of selfish assholes.
01.25.07 :: retooled edition
I'm very disappointed. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip went on hiatus for almost 2 months. It came back this past Monday. It has been retooled. Instead of the focus on what goes on to put on a weekly live show, it now seems to focus on the personal machinations of the people putting on this show.
I hate that. I want something plot-driven that allows character development to blossom naturally, like a flower in the woods. Not something that crams character development down my throat, forcing its development like a hothouse tomato. CSI used to be predominantly plot-driven. The machine of that show was always the story, with character revelations surfacing based on how the revelation played in with the story. Now they seem to be making the same mistake concerning their focus, although not on the same great scale as the most recent episode of Studio 60. And that show does it with such little frequency that it's almost forgivable. This retooling for Studio 60 is not.
Has reality television degraded our intellect so much that we are unable to care about a great story? We instead need the bland pabulum of character conflict made popular by scions of intellectual devolution such as Jerry Springer?
Amanda Peet's character on Studio 60 hates reality television. She calls it "illiterate programming" in a play on its station moniker of "alternative programming." What grand irony that a character should detest the very programming that is making it impossible for a smartly written show (like what Studio 60 promised to be) to succeed in today's viewing market.
01.24.07 :: american idiot, part 6 edition
Reader's Digest version of the State of the Union:
Blah, blah, blah...ass-kiss to Pelosi...Madame Speaker...blah...her father proud...blah blah...congratulate the goddamned Democrats...don't smirk, don't smirk...blah blah...I've ignored major domestic issues practically my entire time in office to pursue a wrongful war (which I have yet to mention even though in almost all my previous SOTU speeches, I can hardly make it 5 minutes before pulling 9/11 out of my ass)...now pretending to give a damn about this country...propose things in the final stretch of my presidency that I should have been focused on from the beginning...talk about balancing the budget my administration butchered in the first place...don't mention that we're doing this by gutting social programs that my party deems unnecessary...chastise Congress about earmarks...entitlement...blah...No Child Left Behind works for me...healthcare...hope none of the proles figure out that this will cost them more money...blah...immigration reform...kick em out to bring em back legally...alternative fuels...biodiesel, ethanol...addicted to oil...don't giggle...don't make eye contact with Dick...he'll make me laugh if I do...blah blah blah...mention "global climate change" theory once...okay, enough of that tree-hugging shit...push for approval of my agenda-toting bitch judges...uh-oh, only half applauded...blah blah blah...and here comes the money shot, baby...9/11! (whew, I waited a long time for that)...terrorism...Iraq...Al-Qaida...Sunni extremists...Iran...blah...nukular...Iran...blah blah...bombings...did I mention Iran?...blah...sending more troops whether you bitches approve or not...thank you...God bless the ones who vote GOP.
And there you have it: the State of the Union.
I think what was even more amusing was watching Pelosi and Cheney in the background. Why couldn't Pelosi stop blinking so damned much? Were the lights that bright? Of course, her blinking was even more noticeable when contrasted against the practically unblinking monolithic curmudgeon sitting next to her. Could Cheney have looked more surly? He looked borderline postal at times...except for the part where he started to, I guess, smile when Bush started talking about energy conservation and oil addiction...what the hell was that about? I wonder...
So here's my take on what was going on between those two while Bush was talking:
Cheney: I can't believe there's a girl up here.
Pelosi: (blink blink blink)
Cheney: Now I guess I'm going to have to keep from farting so I don't offend her delicate girliness.
Pelosi: (blink blink blink)
Cheney: Damn, I miss Hastert. He was great at dropping silent stink bombs that always used to make Georgie fumble his words...well, fumble more than usual.
Pelosi: I wonder how I look on camera. Did I have any food in my teeth (running tongue over front teeth with mouth closed) No, doesn't feel like it. (blink blink blink)
Cheney: Goddamned girl. Girls aren't politicians. Girls are what you sleep with after the State of the Union, not what you sit next to during the State of the Union.
Pelosi: Jesus, these lights are hot. (sniff sniff, blink blink) And what is that smell?
Cheney: Heh. Smell that, Nance? That was just for you. (sneaks a candy in his mouth) And know what? I'm not sharing my candy with you.
Pelosi: Like I'd want candy from you anyway. Besides, I have to keep my smile bright and white. (blink blink) Is there any food in my teeth? (running tongue over teeth under pursed lips) Nope, still good.
Cheney: Goddamned girl.
Anyway, you get the idea. All in all, it was a relatively benign speech. Gone were the bluster and bravado of previous SOTUs. I have to say, Bush seemed sincere and subdued through most of the speech. If it weren't for the 6 years of asshole that we've all been victimized by, one could almost believe that things will be different. But I've seen enough Lifetime movies to be fooled by this "I swear, baby, I'm gonna change and this time will be different" act. Unh-unh. Fool me once, shame on - shame on you; fool me...you can't get fooled again.
01.23.07 :: circular pattern edition
Okay, so don't even get me started on how intrinsically moronic it is to make a movie based on a musical that's based on a movie. Fhat the wuck? Who in Hollywood missed that integral point that the musical is based on an already existing movie...so they don't really need to redo the movie? DUH! Yet they still did it with The Producers.
Now they're doing it with Hairspray. How in name all things holy do they think that this is going to be anywhere near as universally over-the-top-freaky-great as the John Waters original? Especially directed by the guy who brought us such classics as The Wedding Planner and The Pacifier. Divine is rolling in his grave even as I type...especially after seeing this photo (and Quentin Tarantino thought the talking baby movies were horrible). Again I say, FHAT THE WUCK?
01.23.07 :: smorgasbord-orgasbord edition
What better way to start the day than a little duet between Endora and Uncle Arthur...er, I mean the Goose and Templeton?
01.23.07 :: vista edition
Usually I'm about as excited about a new Microsoft release as I am about a staff meeting. Both are excruciating wastes of time with limited new information and a lot of bluster.
This time, though, I have to say I'm a teensy-weensy bit excited about the impending release of Microsoft Vista. I doubt I'll be jumping on the Vista wagon right away...always wait for Microsoft to shake out the bugs in new software. But this Slate.com article shows off some of the more intriguing features and gives the OS a pretty good rating.
The article, however, does not improve my opinion of staff meetings.
01.22.07 :: to the rescue edition
I so want a personalized action figure! How cool?! I want to e-mail them to find out how much...but I'm sure it's not cheap at all...
And for the record, I wouldn't be a super hero. I'd be a black-leather-clad avenger of all things intellectual, environmental, and democratic. Either that or Dr. Crusher...
01.22.07 :: scoreless edition
Fecking troglodytes. The woes of WGMS ("Washington's Good Music Station") have ended, not with a classical huzzah...but with an intellect-bashing air horn and the dimwitted cry of "DeFENSE! DeFENSE!" Today, the station that has played classical music for almost 60 years will drop its listener IQ by 100 points to become "Score 104," a local sports station (see DCRTV.com's entry, "B'ville To Start Score 104, WETA-FM To Go Classical ").
Thankfully, WETA, the local public radio station, is changing over to become the new home for WGMS, classical music and all. The new place to find classical music will be 90.9 FM.
I will be reprogramming my station preset buttons accordingly.
01.22.07 :: foot bridge edition
I watched them work for the better part of a year on a foot bridge that would overpass Georgia Avenue. Not long after construction ended, graffiti showed up and I had a sinking suspicion that bad things were going to ensue. Bad things always ensue in an area where you can't even have something new for more than a month without some useless sack of crap defiling it.
Suspicions of the jaded are rarely wrong. What kind of scum hangs around robbing the working as they try to travel to and from the Metro? Even better, what kind of stupid designer calls for a foot bridge to have a dark tunnel running under the Beltway? Next time just put up a big neon sign that flashes "Crime Cave."
01.22.07 :: pondering edition
Visits to the lair are becoming few and far between lately, no? I'm in that anticlimactic period post-Democratic takeover of Congress. That was great. Now I'm watching everyone lining up for the 2008 battle. I like Obama...I've liked him since his DNC speech in 2004. I learned with John Edwards, though, that voting for a newbie is a wasted primary vote. Obama needs more experience before he's ready to be president, especially in these war-mired times.
I don't know if I like Hillary either. I guess that's because I'm not really sure if I liked her husband when he was president. I thought I did...but I've been re-evaluating some of his biggest decisions when he was president...and I'm beginning to better understand why so many people refer to him as "the best Republican president we've ever had." I guess he understood that he needed to be more centrist to get the Southern votes that he needed to win...but at what expense to the Democratic base? If Hillary is going to run on the same centrist platform, I don't know if I would vote for her.
But it's still way too early in the game, contrary to the pundits. So in the meantime, I've been withdrawing from the politics game...which leaves me at an impasse regarding the lair. Do I turn more toward personal talk? I did that on a previous Web site (my very first, in fact...awww) and I ended up learning quickly that personal information is best not shared with the virtual world...because sometimes the virtual and reality meet...and it's not happy.
One could argue that I do discuss personal things here...but not really. Yes, I shared with you all the horrible experience of losing my best friend to canine cancer...as well as happier moments like my awesome trips to Dublin and London. And I drop hints here and there of things that I've done or places that I've gone. Maybe I can start doing that with more frequency...but that begs the question, who cares what I did this weekend? Although I guess I could also ask, who cares what I think about politics?
So I might start talking more about my life...with healthy doses of political contemplations interspersed, of course. I hope you all still feel the lair is worth visiting...and I hope to continue hearing from you all!
01.16.07 :: fear the woolf edition
No, that's not a typo. The "Woolf" in question is Virginia Woolf, as in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," which we saw this weekend at the Kennedy Center. Kathleen Turner plays Martha and Bill Irwin plays George (David Furr and Kathleen Early round out the ensemble as Nick and Honey). I'll refer you all to this lovely review from the Post rather than blather on about my thoughts on this remarkable cast and performance. I will say, though, I haven't laughed that much in a very long time (yes, I said laugh). Irwin and Turner are perfect in their roles...perfect enough that, if I didn't think Hollywood terminally sucked, I would love to see them in a movie version (a version better than the adequate-until-you-see-the-play 1966 movie). However, I don't think this kind of sizzle can be caught on celluloid anyway. Sometimes live is just the only way to see a story.
01.11.07 :: unimaginable scale edition
I can't listen to Bush speak anymore. His voice triggers this horrible Pavlovian anger within me. I can literally feel the very tips of my ears burn from the increase in my blood pressure. I'm quite bothered by the effect and don't like when it occurs. Therefore, I find it better to read the transcripts from his speeches rather than suffer through his speechifying. Besides, reading his lies has less of an enfuriating effect for some reason.
Last night, he did what most figured he would: He announced he wants to send more than 20,000 more troops into Iraq. Because that will fix the problems we've caused over there. He claims that if we don't, massacres of an unimaginable scale will occur. Um. Isn't that what's already happening now? Personally, I never would have imagined that this country would have condemned thousands of our soldiers and hundreds of thousands of another country's innocent civilians to the horrible deaths that have already occurred.
I'm so disgusted by his call to send more troops into Iraq. I'm so disgusted by him. I can't wait until he becomes nothing more than a massive failure recorded in the pages of our history. A failure that, I can only hope, will never again be seen in this country. I have to believe that we as a nation can't possibly be stupid enough to ever vote for someone like him again.
01.10.07 :: mockingbird lane edition
Lily Munster is back with Herman and Grandpa.
01.10.07 :: surging edition
So the Republicans lost their hold on Congress in part because the American people think the war in Iraq is going horribly...and they want a way to end it. So Bush's answer is that he wants to send 20,000 more troops over there. He'll be making this announcement tonight in a special address to the nation. I heard it explained yesterday on WTOP that this surge will be used to do a controlled takeover of a problem area, like Baghdad. American soldiers will come in, contain the violence and get everything settled down...and then turn the area over to the Iraqi police so they can move on to the next problem area and repeat this tactic.
The major concern I have with this is Saba al-Bor. You can get a first-hand idea of what American soldiers did in this section through the eyes of Lt. Adam. Or you can read this Post essay on the lieutenant/lawyer. Here's where my problem with Bush's plan stems from. Lt. Adam and other American soldiers went into Saba al-Bor, stabilized it, and then turned it over to Iraqi police. A quoted USA Today article explains what happened after American soldiers left:
Saba al-Bor was so peaceful last summer, the article said, that the American troops left, handing the Alamo over to Iraqi police in a ceremony on Sept. 20. "Fifteen days later, on Oct. 5, U.S. troops had to return to Saba al-Bor to restore order," the story continued. "Most of the town's police had fled, Sunni and Shiite residents were at war with each other, and sectarian death squads roamed the town. The progress built over months had evaporated."
We can surge our troop numbers, we can invest effort, muscle, artillery and, in the worst end, lives (like the 3,000+ already lost), to bringing peace to these areas...but what happens once we turn the areas over to the Iraqis? How in the hell are we supposed to bring peace to a place that is violently divided on its most basic levels?
We are in so far over our heads...and so Bush's solution is to dig us in even deeper. I guess that's an easy decision for him to make since he has nothing of value invested into this war. Again, I say, it's time to ship the Twins over there. It's time the little warrior had a better understanding of what he's doing to hard-working American families every time he makes another stupid declaration about what will inevitably be documented by history as a winless war.
01.10.07 :: uncertain edition
You'd think that something as basic as wanting to raise the minimum wage for the first time in a decade would be a no-brainer. But this is an interesting piece on the ripple effect that such a raise would have on communities fueled by minimum-wage workers and small businesses. It's downright scary and frustrating that a minimum wage increase could potentially mean small businesses might have to cut their employees' hours (or cut some employees) or else face going out of business...and some employees might actually lose their places of residence because they would lose financial assistance...all because they would suddenly earn less than $2 more an hour.
You'd think this would be a black-and-white decision...but it's all different shades of gray.
01.09.07 :: childhood designs edition
Scooby-Doo is the greatest cartoon character ever. And now his creator has died. Iwao Takamoto passed away exactly three weeks after the death of Joseph Barbera. Bill Hanna died in 2001. Don Messick, the original voice of the cowardly canine, died in 1997.
Scooby-Doo will live on in their honor...
01.09.07 :: dirty river edition
Okay, so this piece on the Anacostia River is just bile-inducing. Worst paragraph, hands-down?
Another problem is the District's sewer system, designed more than a century ago to dump out raw sewage during moderate rainstorms. It still does. At last count, the system dumped 2.14 billion gallons of mixed rainwater and waste into the Anacostia. The river's count of fecal coliform bacteria has been found to be 21 times the EPA's limit. (emphasis mine)
The Washington Nationals stadium is being built right on the shores of this slow-flow toilet river. Not only will they have to figure out how to get rid of the shit stink, but they'll also have to figure out how to stop the massive chemical run-off that's causing all the fish to look like the three-eyed blinkers from The Simpsons, as well as teach the residents near the river to stop throwing their trash in the water. That's the part that I really can't stand: people who are so lacking in pride and respect that they just dump their junk wherever they feel like dumping it. We're supposed to be top of the food chain, but even wild animals know better than to soil their living space.
There are some who are holding out hope that all the new river development will lead to an environmental miracle for the Anacostia. Right. Don't hold your breath...actually, maybe you should. Especially if you're going to be attending a baseball game downwind from the river after a heavy rain...
01.09.07 :: unknown symbol edition
So the weather button on my handy-dandy Netscape browser (I heart Netscape) is showing this symbol that I just don't know how to read. A snowflake? Are you kidding me? It was 73 degrees on Saturday. SEVENTY-THREE. We donned short-sleeved T-shirts and went hiking along the C&O Canal. In January. In the D.C. area. And now, 3 days later, there's a snowflake on my weather button? Whatha? |
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01.05.07 :: fair warning edition
The Donkeys are now officially in power. I'm cautiously ecstatic. I've read a few articles already outlining the churlish behavior of the once omnipotent Republicans. Whatever.
I do have to say, though, that one of the most poignant comments from yesterday's events can be attributed to a Republican. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), during the passing of the gavel to new speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California), stated, "If there is one lesson that stands out from our party's time in the majority, it is this: A congressional majority is simply a means to an end. The value of a majority lies not in the chance to wield great power but in the chance to do great things."
Do great things, Donkeys. Please.
01.04.07 :: putrid edition
Okay, some things are just so gross that you think no one would ever really do something like that...you know, something like climbing into an outhouse's tank to get a really close view of women using the bathroom.
That just makes me want to charf on so many levels.
01.04.07 :: classic rock edition
So a few days ago, I went to check The Hawk's radio station Web site. You know, the new home of my favorite HFS DJ, Gina Crash (are we sensing a theme this morning?). The Hawk was gone. Whatha!
So I did a frantic search...and I'm happy to report that Gina Crash is still on the air...and now she's with a station that broadcasts their radio feed online! So now I can listen to her show again! Well, kinda. My company doesn't really like us to clog up our bandwidth with streaming audio, so I sneak little listens every now and then. But it's so nice to hear her again.
01.04.07 :: transitional transmissions edition
D.C. radio sucks. You all know that I am STILL sulking over the death of WHFS. Well, it didn't completely die. It's now on 105.7 FM, transmitting out of Towson. It's sort of an HFS hybrid, but it's not a strong enough signal to reach me, so it might as well be dead (yes, sometimes the world does revolve around Loba, dammit). But Wikipedia provides a pretty good history on the great station as it once was and as it is now. Check it out if you'd like a lesson.
So like I was saying, D.C. radio sucks. Most of the stations are owned by Clear Channel, so everything is generic. And one of the few stations that brings a little speck of class to the area might be a Dead Station Walking.
WGMS, the local classical music station, had a pretty shitty year in 2006. Their incredibly strong signal was taken away from them when the local news station, WTOP, moved from AM to the FM band. Their AM home was then taken over by Washington Post radio, which I have yet to listen to. And WGMS was bumped over to 104.1, which used to be home to one of those cookie-cutter "We play something for everyone" stations, which are bland and boring and deserve to die. Needless to say, the 104.1 signal sucks. Now WGMS is crackly, popply (yes, I said popply), and makes listening to classical music most unpleasant.
Now, though, Dan Snyder, the owner of the Washington Racists...er, Redskins, wants to buy WGMS to turn it into another sports-centric station. Oh joy. That deal might fall through, though...but apparently, WGMS is still thinking about switching formats to sports anyway. WETA has already stated that they are willing to switch back to their classical music format to fill the loss...but there's just something so intrinsically wrong about losing WGMS, which has broadcast classical music for 60 years.
D.C. radio sucks.
Return to 01.22.07 contemplation.
01.03.07 :: resolution edition
The British are leaving! The British are leaving! Well...that's what they want to do...in Iraq. And can anyone fault them for this desire? As of today, 3,329 American soldiers have been killed, including 2,975 killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom. That's officially 2 more than the 2,973 people assumed killed in the terrorist attacks enacted on American soil on September 11, 2001. (It is interesting to note that only 354 soldiers have been killed in Operation Enduring Freedom, which is the code name for our "war" in Afghanistan...you know, that place where that forgotten dude, Osama Something-Er-Other is supposed to be.)
The Brits have lost 127 of their soldiers in Iraq. They don't want to lose any more. I'm sure there are a great number of Amurhakins who would call them cowardly. I call them rational. This Guardian commentary substantiates my call. It is a discussion of what should happen once PM Blair is out of the picture (because even we stupid Yanks know that Blair is quite the Bush lap dog, or as this commentary calls it, "Britain's cringe-making role as poodle to the most disastrous US president of modern times"). It is no secret that the British are tired of their PM's cuddly relationship with our dimwitted leader:
Our needs and policies often march beside those of the US, which is welcome. But never again should we join a Washington administration in supporting actions directly inimical to the interests of the British people....Today, thanks to Blair's identification with Bush, we find ourselves facing enemies whom we do not wish to fight, and associated with causes in which we have no belief.
Actually, this whole commentary is absolutely worth reading, snoggees. An outside-view-in of our president's stupidity and our one ally's attempts to flee the scene before they are snared by the black hole suction of our inevitable implosion. And there is no doubt regarding the disdain and disgust the English feel toward our government and our chimpish leader:
If this country had declined to participate in the original 2003 invasion, there would have been some sulks in Washington. Sooner or later, however - especially when it became plain that the occupation was a failure - most Americans would have forgiven the British, just as they had to forgive us for refusing troops for Vietnam. Today, however, when we stand shoulder to shoulder beside them in the manure heap, it is a different story. If the British army abandons its Iraq one day before the US troops quit, many Americans will be angry.
This is what makes our predicament so humiliating. We are joined hip and thigh to the US administration, despite the fact that even Blair thinks its Middle East policies woefully mistaken. Bush's presidency still has two years to run. It is unlikely that he will preside over any dramatic foreign policy U-turn while he remains in the White House. His inner circle continues to urge him to remain true to himself and his convictions, whatever polls and doomsayers demand. They want to ensure that his successor, and not George W, is the president who goes down in history as having "lost" Iraq.
Although most smart military people oppose any attempt to destroy Iran's nuclear programme by air attack, the bombing option remains prominent on the Oval Office agenda. This is the problem about dealing with a US leader who takes his cues from God. Bush will remain capable of almost anything until the day he leaves office, which is likely to be after the next British election.
I'll refrain from quoting the whole article here...but by all means, read it. It's well worth your time.
01.03.07 :: warming edition
I love taking photos of sunrises and sunsets. I know it's silly to think that it's a great skill; after all, how much skill is involved at pointing and clicking at a daily natural event? I just happened to be lucky enough to have my camera with me when this particular sunrise occurred. Isn't it gorgeous?
I distinctly remember sunrises like this happening all the time during the winter months. I would pull into the parking lot at my former job and this is what I would see as I looked out over the still empty lot (I have always preferred to be an early worker bee). I'm sure that there's some sort of scientific, meteorological reason why the sunrises are so rich and deep in the winter as opposed to the light, fluffy rococo sunrises of spring and summer. All I know is that winter sunrises have always been my favorite part of this season.
I have yet to see such a sunrise this winter. All I see every morning are either overcast gray skies or rococo spring sunrises with wispy salmon clouds. The winter chemistry just isn't there this year.
I assure you, I am not personally mourning the lack of cold weather and snow. Like every other jaded D.C. driver, I detest snow. It reduces everyone's driving skill by about 100 points and just sucks all the way around. And now that my little snowbunny Jodie girl is gone, I have absolutely no reason to like the damn stuff. But when I read things like:
Global warming might be to blame for tough times for polar bear cubs.
A study said that only 43 percent of cubs in Alaska's Beaufort Sea now survive their first year of life. That's down from 65 percent in the 1980s and 1990s.
Researchers think that melting sea ice means the bears have fewer places to hunt for food. Steven Amstrup, the polar bear project leader, said he's not certain the deaths are related to changes in the sea ice, but "we don't know what else it could be."
Well, let's just say, I see the picture beyond me enjoying mild weather in January and it's really ugly...and very chilling.
01.02.07 :: odd numbers edition
Happy 2007, snoggees! I'm not here for long right now...I'm a multi-tasking kinda wolf this afternoon, so I have a few other pots to watch, but I wanted to let you all know that I was thinking about you. I'm looking forward to another year of contemplating. I'm not so sure about 2007 though...I find that even-numbered years seem to be the most successful for Loba. You'd think it would be the other way around since I am such an odd wolf.
Oh well. To another year!