Abstruse Goose

Here's a new comic to follow. You can find it over at www.abstrusegoose.com. The XKCD influence is evident, and I'm not sure yet how often a new cartoon is posted. But it has a science/math bent, and that's always a good thing.

Why I'm An Activist

"Gangs of South African men are raping lesbians in the belief it will "cure" the women's sexual orientation, an aid agency said Friday." See MSNBC's story on it here. And don't try to tell me this is because people are so much more ignorant in South Africa. There's a whole bunch of Bible Belt Americans that think the same way. And believe that beating up or killing a gay person is less of a crime than beating up or killing a hetero.

Putting the "fun" back in dysfunctional

It turns out Bristol "baby-maker" Palin and Levi "TPT" Johnston won't be getting hitched after all. Yeah, like I'm real surprised. . Hey, Bristol, here's a tip. Be very, very nice to Levi, and give him lots of money. Otherwise, he's gonna write a tell-all book about you and your dysfunctional family. That could get quite embarrassing around 2012 or so.

Oh, and Grandma Sarah, I just have one question, you sanctimonious twerp. Where are your Family Values now?

And Levi, I'm thinking Playboy Interview.

Divorcing The Bachelor

Liz is part of an immense horde of people who got hooked on the reality show The Bachelor, then got totally p*ssed-off at the show's lame finale, where "I've got to follow my heart" Jason picked Melissa over Molly, then dumped the Mel like a sack of potatoes to go chasing after Mol. . I have never had any urge to watch any of the oxymoronic-named "Reality Shows"; and neither had Liz until this one jumped out and snagged her around the "20 GF's to go" stage. After that, she was a devoted watcher for two hours every Monday night. . I'm completely convinced that all Reality Shows are scripted, except possibly one or two in the very first season, where the audience could vote people off. OTOH, I know for a fact that WWE professional wrestling is entirely real, and that Edge really is married to (the late) Eddie Guerrero's mom.

XKCD fix for the week

Did I mention that The Princess Bride is in my "Top 10 Greatest Movies of All Time" list? It has almost as many memorable lines as Monty Python's In Search Of The Holy Grail.

I'm a twit...

... cuz I'm on Twitter. And frankly, I don't see what all the hooha is about.

If only it was this easy...

Although I did recently mate someone in a tournament game, in only eight moves. With a queen sacrifice, and a lone bishop delivering the coup de grace.

Sexting

This is Jesse Logan. The late Jesse Logan. Who last year opted to take nude pictures of herself with her cell phone and send them to her boyfriend. Which is called "sexting". When they broke up, the scumbag BF decided to forward those pics to a bunch of classmates. Who in turn had more than a few snide remarks to make to Jesse. . In July of 2008, Jesse hung herself. Her mom, Cynthia, is understandably distraught. And wants to sue the High School for not stopping the students from badgering her daughter, literally to death. You can read MSNBC's report on it here. Why they waited until this week to run the story 7 months after Jesse's death is beyond me. . Okay, Jesse's death is a tragedy. Kids were cruel and nasty when I was in high school; I'm sure they're much crueler and nastier nowadays. The loss of a life with so much potential cannot be understated. However... . Jesse's mom uses these words to describe her daughter : "vivacious", "fun"; "artistic"; "compassionate"; "a good kid". Well, I'm sure that's the personality she presented to you, Mom. But the fact that she sends nude pics of herself to her BF tells me she has another side that's anything but shy, sweet, and innocent. And a good portion of the blame and responsibility is yours for being totally clueless about your daughter's activities and character. There's not a lot the high school can do when your own daughter is the initiator of the pics. . Mumsy also has the lawyers looking into the possibility of filing child pornography charges, since Jesse was under-18 when she sexted those pics. Ironically, the criminality belongs first-and-foremost to the photo-taker, Jesse. Of course, she's dead so obviously they won't be serving her a warrant. One wonders if Mom would be so anxious to pursue this route if Jesse was still alive. . Bottom line - while the ex-BF is a total douche, and I hope the high school classmates suffer a lifetime of guilt for what they did; if there is any criminal negligence here, it falls on the head of the Mom, not the school. And Cynthia, if you really want to prevent this from happening again, I'd focus on the unbelievably stupid, self-destructive practice of sexting, not on the meanness of your daughter's classmates.

Friday Night Art Appreciation

And I'm way overdue on posting something Daliesque.

Back in town...

...after two days in Fresno. Or more exactly, Clovis. Nice town, nice weather, successful business, a great steak, and a ringside seat to a bunch of Asians getting into a fight at the restaurant, followed by being thrown out on their a$$es. Still, it'll be nice to sleep in my own bed tonight.

Zits

Attaboy, Pierce! I think NAACP stands for Naturally Accepting Attitude of Colorful People.

Proposition 8 going to the courts

As expected, California's hate-fueled, anti-gay Proposition 8 is heading for a court hearing. MSNBC's article about it is here. I love the logic of the anti-gay forces : "But it's the will of the people." . Hey, you self-righteous hypocrites! Just because you throw a ton of money at an initiative, and snow a bunch of voters about it, doesn't make it right and doesn't make it constitutional. . Proposition 8 denies a protected minority group of their civil rights. There's no way around that fact. So take your prejudice, go back to your temples and churches, cry about it to Rush, and send your fellow dittoheads tons of hate-filled e-mail. Heck, blame Hillary if you want. . But most of all - just go away. And try not to leave a trail of slime behind you.

RIP - Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey

b. : 04 September 1918

d. : 28 February 2009

. If ever there was a voice made for radio, it was Paul Harvey's. I used to love to listen to his five-minute news recaps as a kid; and enjoyed his "Rest of The Story" tales in the 70's and 80's. . Harvey's politics were definitely right-wing, but he wasn't a idiotic dittohead like Limbaugh and Hannity. I do remember listening to him during the Nixon Watergate era, and he wasn't shy about his disgust for Tricky Dicky and the antics of the Reublican party. . In short, he was a true Conservative - much closer to Barry Goldwater and William F. Buckley than chicken-hawks like Reagan and Dubnutz. I didn't agree with Harvey's political views, but I did respect the man. Sadly, we've reached the point where the following sign-off will no longer be heard... . Paul Harvey...........GOOD DAY!!

The Ten Commandments

The US Supreme Court achieved a rarity this past week - a unaminous decision. The case involved a religious group called Summum, who are sufficiently wacko to merit a separate posting here in the near future. They sued the city of Pleasant Grove City (Utah) to be allowed to put up their own monument next to one showing the Ten Commandments. You can read MSNBC's account of the case here. . The gist of Summum's claim was that the 10 Commandments monument was a religious promotion, and since we are guaranteed religious freedom, they had the right to erect an equivalent monument at the courthouse, listing their "Seven Aphorisms". SCOTUS disagreed, claiming the 10 Commandments are the bedrock of the US Judicial system. But are they really? Let's see just how much our laws are influenced by the 10 Commandments. We'll rate each of them Yes/No according to whether they are covered by laws or not. . 01.) Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Well, that one doesn't apply, due to the aforementioned Freedom of Religion. Worship whoever and whatever you want. Just don't erect a monument to He/She/It on the courthouse lawn. Verdict : No. . 02.) Thou shalt not make idols. You can make all the idols you want. Verdict : No. . 03.) Thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain. Although it's generally bad strategy to cuss out the judge and jury, there's no law against it. Verdict : No. . 04.) Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Well, courthouses are closed on Sundays. But that's because they can't find anyone willing to give up their weekends to serve on a jury. Heck, most of us prefer going to work over jury duty. Verdict : No. . 05.) Honor thy father and mother. Curiously, Arizona just settled a case where an (at the time) 8-year-old boy ambushed and blew away his dad and the dad's companion as they returned home from work. The boy was allowed to plead guilty to one count of negligent homicide (shooting the companion), and all charges involving him killing his Dad were dropped. The boy will serve no time in juvenile, but must submit to periodic psychological testing. Verdict : No. . 06.) Thou shalt not kill. Murder still generally gets you thrown in jail, provided of course, you are more than eight years old. Verdict : Yes. . 07.) Thou shalt not commit adultery. Having an affair will usually (and rightfully) get you divorced, but you won't be hauled off to jail unless you're a polygamist or the "other" was underage. Or both. Verdict : No. . 08.) Thou shalt not steal. Yeah, there are laws against theft. Unless you're a banker, a CEO, or contribute to the Republican party. Verdict : Yes. . 09.) Thou shalt not bear false witness. There's no law against lying, except in court. That's called perjury. And it has Barry Bonds' and Roger Clemens' shriveled up testicles sweating up a storm. Verdict : No. . 10.) Thou shalt not covet. Covet away. That's what most advertising is all about. Verdict : No. So there you have it. The grand influence the Ten Commandments have on our legal system is telling us not to steal and not to murder. Come to think of it, all other religions and philosophies tell us that also. So maybe Summum has a point. Or maybe we should admit the hypocrisy about those 10 Commandments monuments and pull them down.

Chilling

I was watching YouTube videos of Ike & Tina Turner doing "Proud Mary" the other night. YouTube has at least a half-dozen different videos of this; I guess I don't have a full appreciation of just how many gazillions of clips they have in their database. . This is a nice version - pieces from at least three different concerts spliced seamlessly together, the last one in the early 70's. It's the ending to this one that gives me the chills. By now, Ike is merely background - Tina and her dancers are the whole show. Nevertheless, the clip ends with her acknowledging Ike. Unfortunately, the audience is chanting "Tina! Tina! Tina!". . The look Ike gives the audience could freeze boiling water. See if you agree. . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_MqvP3VL74

Baseball is here!

And this season, the chemists are favored to beat the 'roid-sters. Look for a lot of older players to look... well... very old. There will also be some incredible shrinking men. And a lot of former all-stars that will suddenly be unable to catch up with younger pitchers' fastballs. . Of course, this could all change in a heartbeat. It's only a matter of time before a chemist for the steroids manufacturers figures out a way to beat the detection test. You'll know when that happens though. Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds will be demanding to play again. Hell, Lance Armstrong will probably want to DH. . And no, I don't buy any of A-Roid's phony apology and story. You cheated, dude. And lied, too. Deal with it.

Another place...

...I'd like to visit sometime. The Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. These shots were taken by a colleague of mine. Lucky dog.

Daily Dilbert

Today's Dilbert was somewhat timely since I've just finished reading Cormac McCarthy's The Road, where some of the desperate remnants of humanity resort to... um... yeah... a rather unspeakable food source.

The Oscars

Nice to see that Queen Victoria and I have the same opinion of the exciting Oscars show.

Working On A Dream

Artist : Bruce Springsteen

Album Title : Working On A Dream (2009)

Genre : Rock

Rating : ***** *** (out of 10*)

. More good stuff from The Boss, and IMHO, a step above his previous release, Magic, which you can read about here. The song-writing is better, and there are a bunch of catchy tunes : Outlaw Pete, Working On A Dream, Queen Of The Supermarket, and Surprise, Surprise, to name a few. . The band is still top-notch, and I'm sure these songs sound awesome at his concerts. My main gripe is that the heart-pounding rock-&-roll that gained him prominence on albums like The Wild, The Innocent & The East Street Shuffle, Born To Run, and Born InThe USA is still MIA. I have a feeling it's gone forever. . Rolling Stone went into ecstasy over this album; RYM gave it the lowest BS rating since the mid-90's tripe of Human Touch/Lucky Town. The truth is somewhere in between. Eight stars.

Guess who!?

Something quick, as we're heading out tonight to eat at one of my favorite restaurants - The Cork & Cleaver.

Just because...

...I haven't picked on the Repugnicans for a while. What a bunch of losers.

Amreica : Wher Ouality iz Jobb Wun

When I was a kid, the hottest topic for discussion (well, next to "Mary Ann or Ginger?") was "Ford or Chevy?" Except in our house, where my non-conformist Dad was a firm believer in the Slant-6 engine found in Dodges and Plymouths. .. Nowadays, there is an inane movement to try to guilt everyone to "Buy American". Alas, according to a 2008 Consumer Reports article, the 10 most reliable cars were : 01. Toyota Prius 02. Lexus LS 03. Toyota Highlander 04. Lexus IS 05. Toyota RAV-4 (4-cyl) 06. Honda Civic 07. Honda Accord (4-cyl) 08. Toyota Corolla 09. Mazda MX-5 Miata 10. Honda CR-V . And the 10 least-reliable cars were : 01. Buick Terraza 02. Chevrolet Uplander 03. Saturn Relay 04. Land Rover Discovery & LR3 05. Volkswagen Touareg 06. Pontiac Aztek 07. Nissan Armada (4-WD) 08. Chevrolet S-10 (4-WD) 09. GMC S-15 (4-WD) 10. Chevrolet Blazer . Any questions why ours has been a Toyota house for 25 years?

Books We Want To Read

I'm not a big fan of classic literature, but this one has promise. Yes, it is a legitimate book, about to be made into a movie. For more details, see the NYT article here. OTOH, I might just wait for Ghouliver's Travels.

He's a Southpaw !!

No wonder he's so smart. All left-handers are geniuses, you know.

Young Love

Meet Alfie Patten. At 13 years old, he's the proud papa of a bouncing baby girl. Mom's all the way 15 years old. They were 12- and 14-years-old when the baby was conceived.

Today, there was a wrinkle to the story. Two other teenagers have come forth claiming that they might be the father. It seems Mama got around.

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Kids. They grow up so fast nowadays. When I was 12, I was in 7th grade, and was still adjusting to the fact that girls no longer had cooties.

XKCD fix for the week.

A clever take-off on the old "gullible" gag.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We heard a Fry's Grocery Store radio ad earlier this week that began something like this : "In honor of Valentine's Day, fresh asparagus is on sale for only..." . I suggested to Liz that it might be more appropriate for me to make her an asparagus-&-lettuce arrangement (with maybe some radishes or carrots to add a dash of color) instead of spending money on the traditional red roses. She didn't buy into it at all.

I just finished...

This is one I probably won't review at the book-blog. And to all you Darwinists out there, I'd like you to explain why we "evolved" to where nose hairs and ear hairs only proliferate once we hit middle age. . BTW, Happy slightly-belated Birthday to Mr. Darwin himself, who yesterday turned a spry 200. The same day as Ray Manzarek, undoubtedly the business guru of The Doors, turned 70. (Sighs) I have always been a Doors fan. Jim Morrison would be 65 now. One wonders what he would've been like had he lived to experience geezerdom.

Photo of the Month

If this doesn't make you go, "Awwwwww", there's something wrong. And now you're telling me someone deliberately set these fires? . FWIW, Arizona went through something like this a couple years ago. Devastating, arson-caused fires when all our forests were tinder-dry. Hundreds of houses destroyed. They caught the jerk that set the fires - it turns out he was a local forest firefighter and did it to earn some money.

Ché Tribute

This is for "Ernesto", who commented in yesterday's post that Jason bears a striking resemblance to Ché. . I have a T-shirt with Ché on it. Same picture as shown above, only red-on-black. I rarely wear it, for fear that someone will be offended. Silly me. The most common remark I get is, "Who's the hippie?" Sheesh. Sic gloria transit mundi.

Happy Birthday, Jason!

Nice, eh? Unfortunately, the bozos in the bakery left a sheet of paper between the cake and the frosting. How the heck can you miss that? . When Liz called to get a refund, the manager's response was, "Are you sure it wasn't edible paper?" Yeah right, buddy. Nice try. Now give us our flippin' money back. Which they did.

But I digress. Here's Jason just as he realizes he blew out all of the candles but one. Happy Birthday, Jason !!

Busy Weekend

There was a lot happening in our little corner of the asylum this weekend. Some dear friends came over from San Diego. Jason's birthday was on Saturday. And Friday night, we went to the Rhythm Room to see and hear this lady and her band put out some great blues. You can read the Wiki article about her here. BTW, Candye, one of the San Diego friends and I all share the same birthday.

Another mystery solved

How did Escher come up with those incredible images? Ah. Just as I suspected.

Happy Waitangi Day !!

I really need to get me a Maori alter-ego. Dimension-traveling to New Zealand would be more fun if I knew people there, even if I had to chrono-hop as well.

A psychic link to PBS

I recently posted about the wonderful game of Risk here. And I just finished posting a review of a book featuring the Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse (Death, War, Famine, and Pollution. Pestilence retired when penicillin was discovered) here. So imagine my surprise when that excellent comic strip, Pearls Before Swine incorporated them both into this week's storyline.

Coincidence? I think not.

Arizona Cardinals Win SuperBowl 43 !!!

The Arizona Cardinals stunned the heavily-favored Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday 23-20, in a game shortened to 58 minutes so the NFL could donate two minutes-worth of Super Bowl electricity to the storm-ravaged, out-of-power residents of Kentucky. SuperBowl MVP Larry Fitzgerald scored the winning TD with 37 seconds remaining. . Interviewed after the game, Fitzgerald said, "That play was open the whole fourth quarter. We knew we just had to have patience, and only run it when there wouldn't be enough time for the Steelers to stage a last-minute comeback. Now I'm going to finally get a raise".

Winning quarterback Kurt Warner had this to say : "I knew we were going to win. God told me this when He and I had breakfast this morning. He said He favored us because we have a 'churchy' name, "The Cardinals", and that glorifies Him. Now I'm going to Dollywood."

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Losing quarterback Ben Roethlisberger responded, "Of course I'm disappointed we only had 37 seconds left at the end. It would have been nice to have those 59th and 60th minutes. I'm also bummed that God was pulling for Arizona. Now I'm going to hie me to a nunnery".

NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell defended the power-donating decision, saying, "I don't regret it at all. The NFL cares about the community and I'm proud in knowing that we met our social responsibilities. Besides, the way Arizona was playing, Pittsburgh didn't have a chance. Now I'm going to sleep." . Finally, Cardinals owner Bill Bidwell had this announcement, "I'm giving the entire Arizona Cardinals roster its unconditional release. I'll be (bleeped) if I'm going to give them all raises for this. I never asked them to make the playoffs, let alone win the SuperBowl. I'm going to field a team of high school all-stars next year. It'll be a great experience for the kids, and I don't have to pay them a dime. They need to keep their amateur status in order to play college ball. It's a win-win situation. Now I'm going to the bank to count my money"

Hey London and Paris !!

We had a high of 82°F today! With low humidity and not a cloud in the sky.

Come to think of it, it's gonna be this way for the rest of the week.

And no, we don't want to discuss the weather when June rolls around.

Superbowl NAQV

Queen Victoria on Superbowl XLIII. My own delusion about it to follow soon - maybe tomorrow night; more likely on Wednesday.

WTFWHT?

I don't know which is sadder - the fact that Michael Phelps allowed someone to snap a picture of him taking a hit off a bong, or the fact that we continue to make role models out of sports personalities whose lives frankly don't measure up. . You'd think Phelps would've at least considered the ramifications of what this picture does to his endorsement career. What the flip was he thinking?