metal bat ban in NYC

the metal bat ban by the NYC council has been upheld by a NY court. The council passed the ban over Mayor Blumsberg's veto. The reason metal bats are used by non pro teams is because they are lighter and make the ball go farther and faster. There have been serious injuries to pitchers because of this. MLB pitchers know that when pitching to someone with a metal bat the ball comes back much quicker - MLB pitchers think metal bats are dangerous. The judge said although there is a lack of empirical evidence, the will of the council to protect the safety of children cannot be overthrown by a court. There IS empirical evidence - only the bat manufacturers want people to believe that there is not. A lot of money is at stake. Once NYC bans metal bats, other cities and states will. Ari Fleischer (Bush former Press Secretary) is the lobbyist for the metal bat industry - kind of like Nick Nailer is the spokesperson for Big Tobacco in the movie Thank you for smoking

close call

What a movie! About a korean sixteen year old girl who rebels against her mom and her absent dad. She gets caught up in drugs and the whole underworld scene of dealing and addicts. Her dad returns from Korea to rescue her, only to find her mom has told her all sorts of crazy stuff about him. Beautiful Annie Lee stars in the film - what an actor! Amazing performance, very very intense. I enjoyed the ending - for a while thought it would be very tragic. I like films with hopeful endings.

Karl Rove: Dr. Evil

the biography of Karl Rove is truly bizarre. Abandoned by her husband, and Karl's father, his mom remarried and step dad became the real dad. Until he revealed he was gay, when karl was a young man. After his now "step dad" left his mom, he finds out that step dad was not his biological dad. Then his mom kills herself in las vegas. young Karl goes in and out of college, keeping his student deferrment from the draft even though he flunked out dropped out several times. He was finally declared I - A, draftable, but by then Vietnam was over and the draft ended. He ran for President of the College Republicans, campaigning (yes, you campaign for that) for 5 months, living out of his car. the election was a deadlock, delegates were challenged, eventually he appealed to the Republican national Committee and Richard Nixon to decide. He campaigned for Nixon in 1972 - joked about going through garbage cans to get info on opponents. Was questioned by special prosecutor during watergate for dirty tricks. Emerged as campaign director in the 70's - invented push pull surveys during campaign against Ann Richards in Texas - telephone calls surveyed the public, focused on Ann Richards' supporters (filter questions) and asked, "Would you be more supportive or less supportive of Ann Richards if you knew she appointed Lesbians in key positions?" So, if she appoints lesbians, then she must know lesbians, and how would she know them? She is a lesbian herself! Brilliant Karl. In 2000 presidential primary came up with the push pull poll question: "would you be more supportive or less supportive of John McCain if you knew he fathered an illegitimate black child?" Fact: john and cindy mccain adopted an Indian child, who was illegitimate, John is now the father, the child is "black" so I guess you could say (if you were evil) that john maccain is fathering an illegitimate black child. Again, brilliant Karl! he was also behind the swift boating of john kerry, and the outing of Valerie Plame (CIA agent married to Joseph Wilson, the guy who blew the whistle on the phoney radioactive material Saddam was supposedly buying from Africa) and let his buddy scooter libby go to jail for it. He also sued Richard Thornbough after Rove blew the race for Senate in PA to Wofford, and won - he said richard owed him money. Most of his money comes from Bush campaigns - and from working for the tobacco and oil lobbies. He represents the ruthlessness of campaigning - win by smear, win by making phoney issues (god, guns, gays) or win by making the election a moral battle (the elite Kerry against the average texas rancher modest and humble george bush). he is gone from the Bush administration - but not forgotten. he still is involved in politics. At least they didn't give him the going away party they gave Rumsfeld...

You need permission to be reincarnated in Tibet!

In one of history's more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is "an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation." But beyond the irony lies China's true motive: to cut off the influence of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual and political leader, and to quell the region's Buddhist religious establishment more than 50 years after China invaded the small Himalayan country. By barring any Buddhist monk living outside China from seeking reincarnation, the law effectively gives Chinese authorities the power to choose the next Dalai Lama, whose soul, by tradition, is reborn as a new human to continue the work of relieving suffering.

Isn't it incredible to be so fearful of one religious man? I am convinced if Dalai Lama was allowed back to Tibet, and could travel freely in China, Buddhism would sweep across China in a religious revival. That is how spritually empty china is - I wonder to what extent Maoism was more anti western ultra nationalism than real communism.

Mon Meilleur ami

Catherine (Julie Gayet) and François (Daniel Auteuil - who also starred in Apres Vous - see blog below) are partners in a Paris antique business. He has just paid so much at auction for a large Greek vase--itself a symbol of a friend's loyalty--that he's put the firm at risk. Catherine, who accuses François of having no friends, makes him accept a bet. Within ten days he must either come up with a "best friend" or forfeit the vase. François's self esteem now being as much at risk as the firm's finances, he bends to the task.

In the course of telling its story this film glances at some searching questions about friendship. What IS a friend? How many TRUE friends does anyone have? But as a comedy—certainly a very dry one—it ends by being neither revelatory nor funny. Sometimes it doesn't even feel like a comedy, and director Patrice Lecante and his writers may not have quite made up their minds what they were doing in the first place.

Certainly the raw material of comedy is here. All François' bustling efforts to dredge up any real chums, let alone a "best friend," are ludicrous failures. He has a daughter, Louise (Julie Durand), and business associates: no friends there. A high school classmate he thinks was a pal despises him. Everyone says he's an odious fellow, a "con"—an asshole. Along the way François meets a companionable and chatty taxi driver named Bruno (Dany Boon) who takes him around, keeps him company, and gives him tips. Bruno comes up with a "three-S" rule for "friend"-making: be Sociable, Smiling and Sincere. The trouble is that for all his chattiness—he's a wannabe quiz show contestant who compulsively feeds factoids to his fares—Bruno is a misfit with no friends himself. His sociability and smile don't mean he knows how to relate to people: the trivia recitations get in the way of that. As for François, he's clearly a person too wrapped up in himself ever to have connected with others. He goes to a lecture by the author of a self-help book on friendship, but the homely myopic man who befriends him afterward, he quickly abandons.

the great thing about this movie was the theater manager who waited at the door as we left and wished us a good night and farewell in french (Bonne nuit and au revoir). Very funny movie even with the subtitles I could get the humor. One line was about Elvis Presley's last words: "I think I will read on the toilet." Bruno is an expert at facts, he knows many things from quiz shows, but he is always throwing out facts that no one wants to know. So he is on this quiz show and panics and asks the host: do you know what Elvis Presley's last words were? Very funny - unexpected.

Big Lebowski Phonetic Alphabet

Here it is - lots of fun.

Video clip library

Some great video clips from movies, including Deerhunter, Do the Right Thing, and Dr. Strangelove, RealPlayer works best. Click to download, then open.

Here is the Dick Cheney Quagmire

Here is Cheney in 1994 explaining why we did not invade Iraq in the first gulf war. What an idiot...How was 2003 different than 1994? JC Watts was on news last night explaining how 911 changed everything, and that 2003 was different than 1994. So....Iraq was involved with 911? Bush has admitted that Iraq did not attack the us on 911 (he said that in the debates) so why keep parading 911 out when anyone questions why we invaded Iraq?

Farfour, the Hamas mickey mouse

Hamas television network in Gaza broadcast what it said was the last episode of a weekly children's show featuring "Farfour," a Mickey Mouse look-alike who had made worldwide headlines for preaching Islamic domination and armed struggle to youngsters.

In the final skit, (and this is the best part) Farfour was beaten to death by an actor posing as an Israeli official trying to buy Farfour's land. At one point, Farfour called the Israeli a "terrorist."

"Farfour was martyred while defending his land," said Sara, the teen presenter. He was killed "by the killers of children," she added.

The weekly show, featuring a giant black-and-white rodent with a high-pitched voice, had attracted worldwide attention because the character urged Palestinian children to fight Israel. It was broadcast on Hamas-affiliated Al-Aksa TV.

There was a recent interview with Sara, the teen presenter, she said she wants to either become a doctor, or a martyr. She says she is prepared to die in order to kill "jewish terrorists."

At the Holocaust museum in DC (some blogs below) part of the exhibition is to expose propaganda, and how Nazi Germany preached hatred to school children. This is no different. I know the people in Gaza are living under brutal conditions, and I know they blame Israel, but teaching children hatred is just not right regardless of the circumstances.

Vikings in Ireland

These guys sailed 1000 mile in an open boat to recreate Vikings invading Ireland.

A reconstructed Viking ship pulled into Dublin on Tuesday nearly 1,000 years after the original sank off Denmark's coast, with its crew retracing the gruelling voyages made by marauding Nordic raiders to Ireland.
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The Sea Stallion's weather-beaten, 65-member team set sail from Roskilde in Denmark on July 1 using oar and sail power, journeying over 1,000 nautical miles and aiming to address unanswered questions about Viking ship-building and travel.

Church bells rang out and a flotilla of sailing boats greeted the ship's entry into Dublin's port on Tuesday.

And the, the Viking seamen leaped on shore, to kill, rapine, and pillage at will....

My obsession with Big Joe and the Phantom 309

Below (two blogs below) are some links to Tom Waits. I was thinking why I am so blown away by his performance on Big Joe and the Phantom 309 - it was an old Red Sovine song, a country western songwriter who specialized in writing "stories" songs. He wrote Teddy Bear, a song about a diabled child's relationship with a trucker over the CB (citizens band radio - you used to need a license to operate one) radio, Little Joe a song about a blind truckdriver and his dog, and If Jesus Came to Your House a song about what you would do if Jesus came to live with you (hide magazines, say grace at every meal...), and the famous Bringing Mary Home So his songs are really hokey, appealing to the classic country western crowd (he even recorded a record of him reciting the Pledge of Allegiance). Anyway, I think its Tom Waits interpretation that makes Big Joe and the Phantom 309 so good - his scratchy voice makes you believe he is down on his luck, hitching a ride home. The song establishes at the beginning that the narrator is down on his luck, trying to make a buck, he failed, and now he is returning home, a failure, hitching rides. But Big Joe doesn't judge the hitch hiker - shakes his hand, throws him a dime for some coffee, "I have to make a turn up ahead..." Big Joe is a decent guy, who would sacrifice his life for you if he had to. No matter how down on your luck you may be, there is always a Big Joe to give you a hand, throw you a dime. And Big Joe isn't rich or famous, he is a truck driver, driving a 10 speed Mack truck (not the cadillac of trucks - the Peterbilts) known for their slow speed (only 10 gears, the Peterbilts and Kenworths have 18 speeds). But I guess its Tom Waits that makes the song come alive.

Just saw La Mome, or La Vie en Rose

Tom Waits performs on Fernwood tonight (and Letterman show)

Here is Tom Waits on Letterman show, great performance. But here is Tom Waits on the classic TV show "Fernwood Tonight." Here are the words to Tom Waits' "Big Joe and the Phantom 309" (which is a Red Sovine song.)

Fernwood Tonight was a TV show in the 70's starring Martin Mull (called Barth Gimble) and Fred Willard - set in Fernwood, Ohio, it was a "cable" show that mocked the tonight show. It was based on Martin Mull's comedy show Martin Mull and his Furniture. Absolutely so funny - great show. They had ridiculous guests, like the guy in the iron lung who could play the piano upside down, Tom Waits (see above). The music was supplied by Happy Kine and his Mirthmakers, complete with accordian and plaid suit. Very funny. More fernwood hereand here and more here and finally here.

Apres Vous revisited

Here is the animated intro to the film Apres Vous Click the homepage and you can see other animated shorts. great site.

Virgin Air comes to america!

Finally, an airline that is customer friendly! Join Virgin America here. Their LA to NYC route is attractive - the only way to fly coast to coast. the other airlines suck.

Here it is: the meaning of life......

Commie disguise kit

I bought two commie disguise kits while in Dallas. I haven't figured out what to do with them yet, but they would be great prizes for some kinda political science dept competition. they will come in handy.

Nagasaki anniversary

Its been 62 years since the bombing of Nagasaki. There are still textbooks written stating that Truman was right to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that it saved American lives, that it prevented an invasion of Japan. None of that is true. The Japanese were trying to surrender for several months. Their Island nation could not defend itself from B29 bombing raids. In discussing the incendiary raids that killed hundred of thousands of Japanese civilians, General LeMay stated that if the US ever lost the war, he would be tried as a war criminal. The greatest irony of WWII is that once the war ended, we liked the Japanese and Germans more than any of our allies: more than we liked the British, French or Russians. The great Irony is that our war with Japan was characterized by racism ("Japs") while our war with Germany was not - the propaganda against the japanese was fierce - the slant eyed, inscrutable asians, who don't fight fair, and so forth. And once the Japanese surrendered, the propaganda ended and we started a close alliance with Japan against the commies in Korea and China (and USSR). Japan became an important base in the China Sea in our fight against world communist menace.

Nancy Grace and suicide

Here's a story about Nancy Grace grilling someone on her show, and the person then kills herself. Sometimes Nancy Grace is on the TV at the fitness center, and I have to see her image - I turn away, ignore her, but her image is so compelling (like trying not to look at Satan if her appeared in front of you) that I end up feeling suicidal myself. She is a lawyer and former prosecutor (for a short time) who turned to broadcast "journalism" after the murder of her finance (which was tragic but she really distorts the facts surrounding that). She interviews "guests" (victims) in a way never allowed in court - she presumes everyone is guilty until they prove they are innocent to her. Why anyone would appear on her show is beyond me. Here is the story:

Lawyers for CNN and Nancy Grace have asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses the TV host of pushing the mother of a missing toddler to suicide through aggressive questioning. CNN and Grace say the wrongful death lawsuit brought by Melinda Duckett's family would "severely chill" journalists' coverage of missing-persons cases, according to federal court documents filed Friday.
"The law does not permit people to recover money from reporters who ask routine questions while covering ongoing stories of national significance to the public," lawyer Judith Mercier wrote. Kara Skorupa, a lawyer for Duckett's estate, said a response would be filed by next week. Duckett, 21, was on Grace's show a year ago after her son Trenton went missing from her apartment. Grace grilled the woman, accusing her of hiding something because Duckett did not take a lie-detector test and answered vaguely regarding her whereabouts. Police later named Duckett the prime suspect in the boy's disappearance. Duckett shot and killed herself the day the taped interview was scheduled to broadcast. The lawsuit blames Grace for severe emotional distress that led to the suicide. Trenton, who would turn 3 on Friday, has not been found.

Venus: the movie

Peter O'Toole is absolutely great in this film. Its about an old actor, Maurice, who falls in love with a unhappy young girl, Jessie, who is convinced she is worthless and unattractive. He sees her beauty, and also understands that she has been wounded by life. She tells him that her mother told her that her birth "ruined her life." Later Maurice tells her the most beautiful thing a man will ever see is a naked woman, and she asks, what is the most beautiful thing a woman sees? He answers, her first born child. She cries. Later Maurice finds out she was pregnant but mommy dearest made her get an abortion. Maurice takes Jessie to a museum, and they see a picture of Venus, nude. He starts calling her Venus. When she tells him of her unhappy childhood, he recites Shakespeare to her: shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Of course the end is near, but Jessie manages to provide Maurice with a happy death. O'Toole is absolutely brilliant: the scene where he is standing on a bucket trying to view Jessie who is posing nude for an art class, and the door opens with him hanging on it, he falls down upturning easels - physical comedy, well done, and at his age of 74! I can't believe he never received an Oscar - some acting polls rank his performance in Lawrence of Arabia as the best film performance ever.

Toilet seat on airplane!

I just got back from flying to Dallas. On the way there I was seated all the way in the back, across from the toilet. I was in the window seat, and a grad student from Pitt was sitting in the aisle seat. She joked about sitting next to the toilet, and I told her about the infamous "Seat 29A" internet letter from a man trapped next to the toilet on an airplane. She laughed, said her friend emailed her the letter, then called her friend and told him she is sitting next to the toilet, and she laughed and laughed. I volunteered to change seats with her, but she said it was ok (short flight to cincinatti). Then in Dallas I watched a woman lose it completely - a baggage handler walked out of a door she had opened for herself, and she started yelling at him, then threw two punches at him knocking off his hat. "I am NOT your DOOR OPENER!" she screamed. She obviously was a very important person who was not going to tolerate a minority race baggage handler to walk through a door she had opened. Good Grief. She probably IS important, some big corporate job, and treats everyone below her like shite.

My newer car

The mitsubishi diamante has been traded in...I now drive a 2003 toyota corolla. I found the car on the internet, in Fairfax VA, sold by an internet dealer Car Spectrum. They don't have a car lot; instead, they operate out of an office, and I had to make an appt to see the car (they drove it from their warehouse to the office space). I also got financing on the internet (they don't deal with banks, rather E- Loan). I combined a business trip to DC with the trade in. I wanted a 5 speed which is hard to find, and the optional power package (includes cruise). I am getting 37 mpg with the 5 speed. I am trying for 40 plus - I think its possible with the correct shifting. Its nice to once again have air conditioning, a working radio, a CD player that ejects without me holding onto the front cover, and no burglar alarm going off in the middle of the night.

"Crucifixion is ttttttoo gggggood for him..."

Great quote from film The Life of Brian. Anyway here is a story about a christian theme park in florida - jesus gets crucified six days a week. Same actor? What a gig. His parents probably sent him to Julliard in NYC, he tried Broadway, waited tables, no big break. Then he gets a phone call from his agent...a gig in florida...steady work...
Jesus Christ is crucified and resurrected here six days a week. Snarling Roman soldiers whip and drag him, and somber audience members watch. Some quietly weep at a pageant bloody and cruel. It is the grand finale at the Holy Land Experience, and not the attraction most tourists envision in an Orlando vacation.It is often referred to as a “Christian theme park,” but the park offers lectures, not rides, making it feel more like a trip to church. Its officers prefer to call it a “living Biblical museum” and until last month, the nonprofit operation was troubled. Management changed hands, its founder left and attendance was flat. But suddenly, a savior appeared. Trinity Broadcasting Network, a California-based Christian empire with 12,500 worldwide TV and cable affiliates, took over Holy Land and its estimated $8 million mortgage. Both are nonprofit organizations, so Trinity describes the deal as a “marriage” rather than a purchase, saying little money changed hands. Already, ticket sales are up 25 percent, owing to mentions on the new parent’s broadcasts, and an expansion is planned. It will include new shows, a general freshening and a new Trinity television studio, where movies and TV shows will be filmed and furnish even more publicity.

US Holocaust Museum

the Holocaust museum is a must see in DC. It explores the reasons for the holocaust (racism, hate propagada), the early pogroms against jews in Germany, and the "final solution." No one can possibly deny the holocaust after visiting the museum. You need a ticket to see the permanent exhibit - that way children do not accidently get admitted. There is a childrens exhibit on the first floor, no ticket is needed. Very moving. I especially was touched by the exhibit of the shtetl of Eisiskes, a jewish village exterminated by the SS. A photo exhibit shows the villages residents, displayed on a three story wall. The village existed for 900 years, then then one afternoon everyone was killed, shot to death. This may have been the inspiration for Jonathon Safron Foer's book, Everything is Illuminated, and the village of Trachimbrod. I kept thinking about the movie while at the museum: everything must be illuminated, for us to understand ourselves. The holocaust must be illuminated, for the survivors and their families, and for all of humanity. It shows us who we are, what we are capable of. There was also a display on the Sudan, a place where human holocaust continues. (Jonathon Safron Foer has a new novel, Extremly Close and Incredibly Loud)

Restaurant: Cuba Libre Cafe, Dallas

Great restaurant - google and get address. the featured drink is the Mojito.A rum drink starting with crushed spearment leaves on bottom of glass, ice, lime, sugar, rum, and a little club soda (the less the better). The food was great too: I finally had a fish taco, made with grilled mahi mahi, and all sorts of great veggies in a soft taco. The black beans and rice also very good.

General David Petraeus

A high ranking source has informed me about a 1 hour and 15 minute presentation by General Petraus to senior officers about Iraq. He said our troops need to be more culturally aware, need more interaction with citizens, and need to be diplomat-leaders. He said the war will be won by sergeants, not officers. He said the worst violence is sectarian not terrorist (the exact opposite of what Pres Bush says). He said Al Quada is small but is the primary focus of the Army (lets review that, sectarian violence is the worst, but the Army is focused on a small terrorist unit). Munitions are coming from Iran. The big Iraqi 5 (the main 5 leaders) are having a summit soon - could be reconciliation. The average Iraqis are tiring of the violence - maybe that will lead to reconciliation? He is big supporter of walls - gated community to stop the sectarian violence, however, Iraqis don't like his idea of walls. Problems he identified: need to secure population, maybe with walls, gated communities; Iraqi security is uneven, infiltrated by militias; surge needs more time; troops need language training, even the least amount of arabic helps; time constraints of the forthcoming 2008 election - Nov 2008 is the absolute end of the war; reconciliation is needed between sunni and shiites; finally, the Army needs to report reality. (Now if we can only get Pres Bush to report reality!)One question he didn't answer was about how the American people are detached from military - he didn't answer, but the question is puzzling - my source explained that many career military officers are concerned that American do not realize we are at war - The career army guys know we are, but American public is detached from the all volunteer army. Its not a question of supporting troops, but being unaware of the war. How does the Iraq war affect most Americans? Some of our students have been killed - one young woman (freshman) had her dad killed in a suicide bombing - she dropped out of college, didn't return (I don't blame her - how can a 18yr old woman come to terms with her father burning to death in war, a suicide attack?!) But go to the mall - you see a war? Go shopping - any evidence of us being at war? One of our ROTC officers on campus said he flew back from Afghanistan to Alabama, and he was home the next day - he said it was strange, coming home, everything normal, no evidence of a country at war. His worst memory was some farmers who were blown up in a mine field - he didn't want to talk about it.

Ward Churchill - fired Colorado Professor

This guy is "so full of shit, he is about to float away." (quote from movie The Deerhunter). First of all, he is the prof who was fired from Univ of Colorado for labeling the 911 victims as "little Eichmans," comparing them to Adolph Eichman, the Lt. Col who was responsible for scheduling the transportation of jews and other victims to concentration camps in the Nazi era. He fled to Argentina, was captured by Mossad (Israeli CIA) taken to Israel, tried and executed. Eichman did not oppose his capture - he was convinced he would be set free, since he didn't actually "kill" anyone. He was oblivious to his part in an insanely evil, but rational, killing machine. He said he was following orders. He invoked some kind of crazy philosophy about the fuhrer being rational authority - I can't remember it, but Hannah Arendt in her book Eichman in Jerusalem goes into detail about his strange logic. Anyway, Hannah Arendt's book was subtitled, "the banality of evil," meaning that this jerk was an ordinary man, kinda accountant (that gives accountants a bad name) and he wasn't EVIL but just evil. Like the guy who drove the truck that had exhaust piped into the back killing jewss...he didnt actually kill them, he didnt design the truck, he didnt put them in the truck, he was ordered to drive the truck, thats all. Anyway, Churchill gives a speech after 911 calling the victims of TWC "little Eichmans" since they are in some way responsible for the world economy that supports sweatshops in Vietnam, oil dictators in the middle east, sex slaves in eastern europe and so forth. His argument is stupid - it has nothing to do with Arendt's concept of guilt of bureaucrats. the victims of 911 were not transporting jews to the gas chambers - stock brokers are not responsible for sweat shops in China. Stupid argument. then churchill was told that restaurant workers were among the victims (the restaurant on "top of the world" in TWC) and he said, oh yeah, they shouldn't be included as Eichmans, only the stock brokers. What a lame ass. Here are the facts: Churchill was speaking at some New york liberal arts college, because he was a "native american" professor from Colorado, and these students should be exposed to native american "scholars." Well, Ward Churchill is NOT native american, but only claims he is (good way of getting a job in academia, lie about being black, disabled, spanish latino, or that you are a woman). He was confronted by this, and truthfully said yes, he is not native american, but is spiritually linked to native americans (get out the hip boots, the bullshit is really getting deep). He also has claimed publications that don't exist, you know, "books" with no ISBN number (the old trick, it's the equivalent of a book, or it was "desktopped" published, which means it's not a book). This guy is full of it - a fraud. He pretends to be a native american, gets a special appointment because of it, then hires himself out as a speaker to politically correct NY liberal arts colleges, and not only gets a salary, but speakers fees! This guy shouldn't be fired, he should be prosecuted for fraud - I mean it - this guy should be prosecuted by the State of colorado. And he is claiming 1st amendment and academic freedom - he should be selling canal front property in new orleans!

Nick Drake

Just bought his album Bryter Layter. Turns out its his most "commericial" album. Supposedly Pink Moon sounds more like him. Here is his grave - ashes buried under an oak tree. His history of mental illness is remarkable - he was much sicker than anyone grasped. Sounded like adolescent schizophrenia - matured into psychosis.

What we all expected...

Why don't we get better candidates? Money. The Clinton's have the money wrapped up. Its all about fundraising. If she gets the nomination, the general election will be a let down. She is not like her husband, doesn't have the personality or insight. The Demo's think they have the 2008 election won, that the primary will decide who is next president. They are wrong - all the Repubs have to do is not lose the states they have won the last two elections. My prediction: Fred Thompson will win in 2008.

My favorite picture of Ann Coulter

This is from some guy's blog who touches up pictures of famous people and makes them look like K-Mart shoppers. This is the Ann Coulter I know..

top ten battles for Iraq

Did you know there were nine other attempts to conquer Iraq? Here is the top ten list.

near death experiences

Here is a link to a Newsweek article on near death experiences. Click the "crossing over gallery" to see pictures drawn by people of their NDE. Really fascinating. One woman recalls when she was an infant that she died in her father's arms, and left her body, looking over her father's shoulder at him grieving - he was so sad, she re entered her infant body. Amazing. So look at the gallery.

Seat 29A - man's complaint letter to Continental Airlines

This is TOO funny!!! This guy is trapped on an airplane in seat 29A, across from the toilet, and he writes this amazingly funny letter, full of anger, outrage, and humor...

Bobby - the movie

"Few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events...Each time a man stands up for an ideal...he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." Robert F. Kennedy

Great movie - its about some of the people present at the RFK assassination. Its not really about RFK, but about American during the summer of 1968.

The really sad part was the end...Bobby's voice, some quotes from his best speeches. A friend from South Africa once told me, after RFK's death, it seems politics went to hell in America. I couldn't agree more. We have NEVER had a political leader like RFK since his death - he was greater than his brother John.

Man smokes outside UPMC

Here is a man smoking prior to back surgery outside UPMC - not only is he in a hospital gown, but he is hooked up to an IV!

from steve jobs: the I Rack! funny video

thanks sharon for this great video on Apple's new product, the "I" Rack.

soprano's end

So the Soprano's is over - disappointment! At least I was right - Tony doesn't die. I had AJ killing Phil, but that didn't happen. I liked the episode before, when Tony breaks the guy's jaw who threatened his daughter, then goes to therapy with his suicidal son, only to notice the guy's tooth in the cuff of his pants! I loved it! The writers for that show are great! Here is the restaurant that the shows ends with - family place, not a place for an assassination, so I think Tony's safe, at least for that final night. Noah: You and Chika should eat there! Tony says they have great onion rings!

scooter Libby love letters

I love this! Character letters of reference for Scooter Libby, sent to the judge who sentenced him. How would you like Donald Rumsfeld to write a letter of support for you (war criminal)? Or Henry Kissigner (war criminal)? Or paul wolfowitz? The wolf man says he wonders how scooter libby's life would have been different if scooter never met him....how would all our lives be different if NONE of us every heard of you Paul? You should have stayed at Yale as a law prof...think of all the lives in Iraq that would have been saved if you stayed on campus!?

cat camera

Here is a guy who put a camera on his cat, and now he can see the world as his cat sees it....

talk like a pirate day

Wednesday Sept 19th is Talk like a Pirate Day: here are some expressions to get you going:

"Arrrgh-Bring me a servin' wench to bid me me pleasures!"
"Argh-lad, is that Lee Elliott over there - or am I as mad as a salted herring?"
"Bast yer eyes upon me?"

"Avast! A Team Builders meeting off our schedule's port bow! Scuttle yer productivity, mateys, and prepare to be bored-ed!"
"No increase in me pay? Arrr, boss, let me tell ye where ye can store that hook!"
"Hold that elevator, ye whoreson bilge rat!"
"Ye bent my ear with yer lubberly questions WITHOUT tryin a reboot first? Arrr! It's the plank for you, ye mangy cur... and thank ye for calling Microsoft Tech Support!"
"Avast, ya scurvy knave! Brave be ye, for certain, but arrr ye willin' ta die fer that parking spot?"
"Aye, if it's a large treasure chest and amazin' booty ye seek, fix yer gaze upon the receptionist."
"Boss, I'll be borrowin' a coupla doubloons from petty cash fer some Ho Ho's and a bottle of rum."
"Aaaarrrrrghhh! Who among us floated the air mead?"
"Avast, ye demon copy machine! Taste the wrath of my arse!"

eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

My cable finally got connected, and I can now get HBO premium movies - free! (nothing is really free....) anyway I saw this movie again, and it is truly great. here is the IMDB link sign up and and you can read the message boards. "I've been Clementined!" one user explains. He dated a woman at work, fell in love, then she dumped him for another guy, and now acts like nothing ever happened between them, and he has to see her 40 hrs a week 50 weeks a year, and the poor guy's heart is broken! He warns readers not to date someone at work , at least not fall in love with the person I guess.

Related (unrelated) story: When I was at Oklahoma state the story was that the head of the English dept had a running conflict with two faculty members, who were married to each other: they voted against him together, argued against him together at dept meetings, generally made his life miserable. Then they went through a terrible divorce - lawsuits, recriminations, restraining orders - the whole disaster (as Zorba the Greek would say - "I was married once, wife, children, house, the whole disaster!") at any rate after the divorce the Dept Head would torture these two people by assigning them offices next to each other and ALWAYS putting them on the same committees so they would have to work together! Funny story. Life as hell. La vie est un naufrange!

The Iceman; murdered

Here is the final word on how the Iceman, the bronze age man found in switzerland, was killed. I have often expressed that this man should be buried, perhaps replicating what we think his tribe would have provided for him as a burial ritual. Most people think that's nuts...but doesnt he deserve some dignity in death? They researched him enough, now please bury the man, say a pagan prayer and lay him to rest....

A prehistoric hunter known as Oetzi whose well-preserved body was found on a snow-covered mountain in the Alps died more than 5,000 years ago after being struck in the back by an arrow, scientists said in an article published Wednesday.


Researchers from Switzerland and Italy used newly developed medical scanners to examine the hunter's frozen corpse to determine that the arrow had torn a hole in an artery beneath his left collarbone, leading to a massive loss of blood.

That, in turn, caused Oetzi to go into shock and suffer a heart attack, according to the article published online in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Even today, the chances of surviving such an injury long enough to receive hospital treatment are only 40 percent, according to the article.

Vote Caging - disenfranchisement of voters

Monica Goodling, the lawyer from the Attorney General's office testifying about the Federal Prosecutors' firings, mentioned the term "vote caging," and the Senators didn't follow through with questions. What is vote caging? Here is an example from the 2000 Florida Campaign:

The Bush-Cheney operatives sent hundreds of thousands of letters marked "Do not forward" to voters' homes. Letters returned ("caged") were used as evidence to block these voters' right to cast a ballot on grounds they were registered at phony addresses. Who were the evil fakers? Homeless men, students on vacation and—you got to love this—American soldiers. Oh yeah: most of them are Black voters.

Why weren't these African-American voters home when the Republican letters arrived? The homeless men were on park benches, the students were on vacation—and the soldiers were overseas.

So vote caging is a why of disenfranchising voters. Yea America! We hold elections in Afghanistan and Iraq, but our President's own party tries to disenfranchise voters at home, some of who are soldiers on active duty!

Larry Flynt - defender of our First Amendment!

Here is a story about Larry Flynt, defender of our civil liberties and free speech. He already has the goods on a number of politicians and he uses it as leverage for his own political agenda. Remember when he confronted Rep Henry Hyde, 80 yrs old, with information that Hyde had an affair forty years earlier during his first marriage? Hyde said, "I am not going to apologize for my reckless youth." Reckless youth! He was middle aged at the time! But I guess when you are 80yrs old looking back at age 40 seems like childhood!

Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt offered $1 million Sunday to anyone who could provide proof of an illicit sexual encounter with a high-ranking government official.


In a full-page advertisement in The Washington Post, Flynt asked for "documented evidence of illicit sexual or intimate relations with a Congressperson, Senator or other prominent officeholder." He said he would pay up to $1 million for material that could be verified and published in Hustler.

Flynt ran a similar ad in October 1998, during the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal that led to the impeachment of
President Clinton.

The publisher took credit for the demise of Rep. Bob Livingston, R-La., who admitted he had had extramarital affairs after word got out that Flynt was investigating him. Livingston announced his resignation in December 1998, days before he had been expected to become speaker of the House.

"Flyboys" film

I rented Flyboys, was really disappointed. Very long film, 2 hrs 20 min. the flying scenes were mostly computer generated. only the scenes on the ground were authentic. The plot and characters were predictable. Why did the film cost so much? There were some great sets and costumes, but a large part of the film was computer scenes.

vote for Hillary's campaign song!

This is from her internet site. You can actually vote for her campaign song. There are lots of songs she left off, like my favorite Kinky Friedman song, "Get your biscuits in the oven and your buns in the bed..." Great song. Hillary probably doesnt like it! (The song is satire...not serious...supposed to be funny).

My favorite airplane: 1916 Curtis Jenny

I have many favorite airplanes, but this is number one. The picture is of perhaps the only restored Jenny flying today.

Don't Blame me, I voted for Carter!

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Former President Carter says
President Bush's administration is "the worst in history" in international relations, taking aim at the White House's policy of pre-emptive war and its Middle East diplomacy.

The criticism from Carter, which a biographer says is unprecedented for the 39th president, also took aim at Bush's environmental policies and the administration's "quite disturbing" faith-based initiative funding.

"I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history," Carter told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in a story that appeared in the newspaper's Saturday editions. "The overt reversal of America's basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including those of George H.W. Bush and
Ronald Reagan and
Richard Nixon and others, has been the most disturbing to me."

Carter spokeswoman Deanna Congileo confirmed his comments to The Associated Press on Saturday and declined to elaborate. He spoke while promoting his new audiobook series, "Sunday Mornings in Plains," a collection of weekly Bible lessons from his hometown of Plains, Ga.

"Apparently, Sunday mornings in Plains for former President Carter includes hurling reckless accusations at your fellow man," said Amber Wilkerson,
Republican National Committee spokeswoman. She said it was hard to take Carter seriously because he also "challenged Ronald Reagan's strategy for the Cold War."

Carter came down hard on the
Iraq war.

"We now have endorsed the concept of pre-emptive war where we go to war with another nation militarily, even though our own security is not directly threatened, if we want to change the regime there or if we fear that some time in the future our security might be endangered," he said. "But that's been a radical departure from all previous administration policies."

Carter, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, criticized Bush for having "zero peace talks" in
Israel. Carter also said the administration "abandoned or directly refuted" every negotiated nuclear arms agreement, as well as environmental efforts by other presidents.

Carter also offered a harsh assessment for the White House's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which helped religious charities receive $2.15 billion in federal grants in fiscal year 2005 alone.

"The policy from the White House has been to allocate funds to religious institutions, even those that channel those funds exclusively to their own particular group of believers in a particular religion," Carter said. "As a traditional Baptist, I've always believed in separation of church and state and honored that premise when I was president, and so have all other presidents, I might say, except this one."

Douglas Brinkley, a Tulane University presidential historian and Carter biographer, described Carter's comments as unprecedented.

"This is the most forceful denunciation President Carter has ever made about an American president," Brinkley said. "When you call somebody the worst president, that's volatile. Those are fighting words."

Carter also lashed out Saturday at British prime minister
Tony Blair. Asked how he would judge Blair's support of Bush, the former president said: "Abominable. Loyal. Blind. Apparently subservient."

"And I think the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world," Carter told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Billions of dollars fly by....

Final flight of F 14's before they are mothballed in the Arizona desert. Hard to believe they are no longer needed. I think they are not as fuel efficient as newer jets, and not needed to protect carrier groups as they were during Cold War.

jackie kennedy speaks spanish

Here is Jackie Kennedy speaking spanish during her husband's campaign. Why can't George W. speak spanish like this? (Why can't he speak english?) Jackie was best known for her fluent French.

I'm not necessary.

Great movie, was shown recently on FX cable channel. I think its best to see "Sideways" at least twice. Some viewers complain that its boring, that the humor is too obscure. But the acting is fantastic - the four main characters each give great performances. Miles is a middle school english teacher, in love with his wife, who divorced him, who didnt want to have children with him. He lives in a depressing apartment. His only friend is Jack, his roommate from his freshman year in college (only his freshman year, Jack must have ditched him after that). Miles and Jack go on a roadtrip to wine country in California before Jack's wedding. Miles is an expert on wine: he has nothing else in his life. His knowledge of wine makes up for an unhappy childhood, an unhappy adult life. Jack is superficial, a fraud and fake. At the end, Miles is in class, and a student is reading the end of Finnegan's wake (which I confess I have never read - is this passage from Finnegan's Wake? It mentions Boston? perhaps not) in a monotone voice, and the expression on Jack's face is that his life is passing before him.
"I did not cry then or ever about
Finny. I did not cry even when I
stood watching him being lowered
into his family's straight-laced
burial ground outside of Boston. I
could not escape a feeling that this
was my own funeral, and you do not
cry in that case."
Of course Miles has written the Great American Novel, which no publisher will publish. Miles would like to kill himself, only he has to get published first (he jokes). There is a lot of humor in the movie (Charles Bukowsky was a 1950's beat writer known for his "obscene" writing).

Miles: Well, the world doesn't give a shit what I have to say. I'm not necessary. Had. I'm so insignificant I can't even kill myself.
Jack: Miles, what the hell is that supposed to mean?
Miles Raymond: Come on, man. You know. Hemingway, Sexton, Plath, Woolf. You can't kill yourself before you're even published.
Jack: What about the guy who wrote Confederacy of Dunces? He killed himself before he was published. Look how famous he is.
Miles Raymond: Thanks.
Jack: Just don't give up, alright? You're gonna make it.
Miles Raymond: Half my life is over and I have nothing to show for it. Nothing. I'am thumbprint on the window of a skyscraper. I'm a smudge of excrement on a tissue surging out to sea with a million tons of raw sewage.
Jack: See? Right there. Just what you just said. That is beautiful. 'A smudge of excrement... surging out to sea.'
Miles Raymond: Yeah.
Jack: I could never write that.
Miles Raymond: Neither could I, actually. I think it's Bukowsky.

Anyway great film, sad and beautiful.

Pakistanis in Glasgow

"A Fond Kiss" is a movie about a Pakistani man, Casim, in love with one of his sister's scottish friends, Roisin. Casim's father wants the family to remain traditional, but Casim and his younger sister want to be modern, independent. His younger sister wants to go to the University of Edinbourgh, but her father doesn't want her to live outside the house (she is not married! She can leave only when her arranged husband and her wed!) Meanwhile, his other sister wants a traditional marriage, but can't have one, because the family is dishonored by Casim who is living with Roisin. On top of that, Roisin is fired from her job at a Catholic school because her Priest won't sign off on her being a Catholic, because she is "living in sin with a heathen." Then Casim's father tries to arrange a marriage for Casim, his older sister drives Roisin over to watch the surprise meeting of Casim and his "finacee" from Pakistan, and Roisin runs off horrified. In the end, Casim and Roisin stay together, but obviously there is much conflict within the family. Great film - it shows what happens when empires collapse, and the empire refugees immigrate to the colonial country. Millions of people were displaced when England and France ended their overseas empires, and now England/Scotland and France face problems is immigration. In England its mostly Indian and Pakistani immigrants, and France Arab immigrants. Even after a new generation is born in England and France, they are still perceived as foreigners. We also have the same problem, only with Mexico - we created a coast to coast nation at the expense of Mexico, and for generations have treated Mexicans as third class people. Now Mexicans feel that the US is their land - they once owned part of what is now US land, and they helped build the southwest, and are now an indispensible part of our economy. The problem is racism, and the desire by European whites in the US to feel superior to other races (African Americans and Hispanic Latinos). In Scotland, this Pakistani family is foreign and has a difficult (impossible) task of truly integrating into Scottish society.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

This version of the book came out in 2004, and William Hurt and Donald Sutherland play cameo roles. The movie is very accurate to the book by mary shelley. The "monster" is portrayed as a confused being, questioning his existence, learning about the world, and quickly realizing that there is a God. He senses that he is a freak, an abomination, and wants Frankenstein (a young student in this film) to create him a mate, so they can go away and live alone, perhaps have children. The monster ends up killing a child (oops) then turns on his creater (his "father"). The movie starts as a flashback: an ice bound ship in the artic notices two men on dog sleds. One struggles and is rescued - Frankenstein - and he tells the story of how he arrived in the artic - chasing his monster to destroy it. The movie is very long, over 3 hrs, and could have been edited better. Some of the scenes jump as though the editing job was rough. Great sets and period costumes.

Nice hat.

What gets me is the spin the White House puts on the white tie dinner with the Queen - that Laura Bush had to twist George's arm to wear a tuxedo with tails. Its the old "class war" spin from the 2000 and 2004 elections: Bush is a regular down to earth guy, a rancher from Texas, likes bologna and cheese sandwiches on white bread, simple plain talking guy, "I'm not into nuance" he once said.

His opponents are the wealthy, the elite, the guys who look down on blue collar america, the people who eat sushi and dont buy clothes at K-mart.

But Bush led an elite, ivy league life where he got a free pass for everything, from getting admission to Yale (C student), to Harvard (MBA) to getting into Air National Guard in 1968 - to getting loans from his dad's rich friends to start bullshit businesses that always failed, to getting elected Gov of Texas with no campaign issues (Karl Rove made them up - crime is up, delinquents are ruining our state, education is poor - none of that was true), to getting the election rigged in 2000 and 2004. And he is sooo common that his wife has to force him to get dressed up for the Queen.....and the press buys this crap. No reporter challenges it - they report the spin.

And what's with the hats?

"La vie est un naufrage"

"Life is a shipwreck." What an incredible French line. Fascinating french film about a group of eccentric guests at a Parisian boarding house in 1913 (or 1912 and one, as they superstitiously say). Julie leaves her young son and travels to Paris to be a chambermaid at a run down boarding house. She soon has an affair with a German writer, who is complete jerk, gets her pregnant, tells her he can't stand her in order to force her to have an abortion, then runs off with a rich American woman. Its Europe on the edge of WWI - a fascinating time. No one forsees the devastation about to happen. The smugness of the rich, the endurance of the poor, no one connected to one another, the inherent human phoniness - all a backdrop for the impending Great War. Julie is single because....her husband was killed on the Titanic, traveling to America to begin a new life for them. "La vie est un naufrage" she says, "Life is a shipwreck." Qui. I managed to get about 20 foreign films, mostly from France, at church last sunday, someone works at a video store, and they received promotional DVD's for foreign films (which they dont buy). I am watching some great films - set in Glasgow, Barcelona - all over Europe.

Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson - classic monty python

This is really funny...I am selling my house, so instead of Mark "One Shed" Daniels, I will be Mark "no sheds" daniels....

The classic monty python Hitler sketch

very funny Hitler is disguised as Mr. Hilter, who lives at an english boarding house. "I am not a racialist, but...and this is a big but..." Take off on a right wing british politician who opposed the multicultural immigration policies of the 1970's.

Axe commercial: every man's fantasy!

Here is a great Axe commercial - can't figure out where it ran. I have never seen it on tv.

Republicans who don't believe in evolution

Three of the republican candidates for Pres do not believe in evolution: Brownback (nut case from Kansas) Huckabee (babdist from Arkansas, thats how they pronounce Baptist there) and Tancredo (who?). Just when you thought the dumbest guy in the world is Pres, we find dumber guys who want the job. Americans get the President they deserve....

Americans' knowledge of the world - an Australian perspective

Here is a Australian video report on Americans' knowledge of the world, forwarded to me by one of my students. Thanks Dan Snyder!