Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Absolut Pandemonium

A couple of hectic weeks here in BlackSky Country. We welcomed a litter of 10 Lab pups on the 8th, which has cut into our sleeping time. (There's a puppy slide show at the bottom of the linked page...) We have a houseguest, which requires us to be sociable. I've been laying the groundwork for a new business venture (more on which coming soon). And to top things off, I recently learned that an upcoming murder case, which I thought would be resolved by a plea, might go to trial after all. Yeah, that won't occupy much of my time.

So anyway, I've been a little slack here at the blog, and in my correspondence. I've also been trying to push to the back of my mind a scheme that has been bubbling up lately, inspired by some unrelated, but contemporaneous, posts on various blogs of our mutual acquaintance.

In broad strokes, I'm talking about conversation, recreation and al fresco gustation. In other words, an old-fashioned, wood-burning, mosquito-slapping cookout/campout, sometime this summer, somewhere on the Cleveburg/NoVa axis. (Ohiopyle State Park in PA has nice facilities, rafting, fishing, swimming and tubing, and tours of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, just to pose one possible location.)

Folding chairs, adult beverages, campfire cooking, tons o' fun for the whole fam damily! Any interest?

Sunday, January 14, 2007

I have a dream.........


No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Washington, DC, August 28, 1963

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Pick 3

Here's a little audience participation number. Pick 3 invites you to give not one, not two, but THREE opinions on the topic at hand. The topic will vary: three best switch-hitting American League shortstops, three best cookie recipes, three most vapid celebrities. You never know what you're gonna get, but you're gonna get a chance to make your picks and make your case.

To start things off, list the three greatest guitar riffs in rock music history. Not great guitarists, not smoking polyrhythmic Mahavishnu John McLaughlin solos. Just riffs.

I'll get the ball rolling with my faves:

1. Aqualung (those first six notes)
2. Smoke on the Water (need I say more?)
3. The All-Purpose Chuck Berry riff. (You know the one I mean.)

OK, that leaves about a million others for you to divvy up amongst yourselves. And after you post your 3, I promise you'll think of 30 more, but there's a three riff per post limit.

And while we're on the subject of threes, I refer you to three additions to the blogroll. Lance Mannion and Jason Chervokas should have been on there ages ago, and I have no excuse other than that I am a filthy hippie slacker. These two worthies, along with blogroll stalwart Tom Watson, have a new blogging venture called newcritics, self described as "Web-based criticism in literature, music, film, theater and art from a diverse group of writers." Great look, great content, great writing. It's slick as snot on a glass doorknob, and as cool as the other side of the pillow. Check 'em out!

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

The surge. Another great idea from Bushco!

Some more great ideas:


Y'see, I'll jes' surge into the nice, soft water.




















You go up the ramp...we call it "ramping up"...and then you surge to a graceful landing...Mission Accomplished!


















Jes' squeeze down a leetle with your teeth for a surge of delicious amphibian flavor!














It's a surge of energy that you only get from a power plant fired with genuine Iraqi oil!


















And then, once you get the fucker twisted off, just surge it up your ass! Hey, Dick! How about a little help here?






















The surge! Bushco tested, (Gold Star)Mother approved!

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Seasons will pass you by......

More than a few folks here in the Eastern US have been lamenting the absence of winter. "Boo-hoo! Where's the snow?" Answer: In Colorado. Get on I-70 West and drive until a helicopter drops a bale of hay on your car. The other day, I saw a robin outside my office building. It was dead. I know there's a big-ass metaphor to be drawn from this observation, but it would inevitably involve a discussion of global warming, which would just depress me to no end, so I'll leave the metaphorin' to others so inclined. We were warned back in 1972: Seasons will pass us by. So it was written, so it came to be.

Tom Watson has a nice post up regarding the lack of blog mojo that affects all of us from time to time. Ping-ponging electrons back 'n' forth through the blogoshpere (sic) does take on a masturbatory quality on occasion. I guess we need to remind ourselves that masturbation is both healthy and fun, which is what attracted most of us to the practice in the first place.

Lieutenant Ehren Watada of the United States Army isn't jerking off; he's fully engaged. (Photo by televiseus.) He believes that the invasion and occupation of Iraq is a criminal act, and he has declined orders to participate in said occupation. See, e.g., Nuremburg. Quoting from the linked article by Lawrence Mosqueda at Counterpunch:
As Hamilton Action for Social Change has noted "Under the Nuremberg Principles, you have an obligation NOT to follow the orders of leaders who are preparing crimes against peace and crimes against humanity. We are all bound by what U.S. Chief Prosecutor Robert K. Jackson declared in 1948: [T]he very essence of the [Nuremberg] Charter is that individuals have intentional duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience imposed by the individual state." At the Tokyo War Crimes trial, it was further declared "[A]nyone with knowledge of illegal activity and an opportunity to do something about it is a potential criminal under international law unless the person takes affirmative measures to prevent commission of the crimes."


Lt. Watada's court martial is scheduled to begin February 5, 2007. His friends and family have a website where you can learn more, sign a petition, etc.

Fred Wickham at Bullseye Rooster has tagged me with the meme requiring me to grab the nearest book, turn to page 123, and reveal sentences 6-8. OK, here goes. The book is "Three From the 87th", a collection of police procedural novellas by Ed McBain. And the sentences are:

"Do you have a lot of black silk blouses bought at a store called the Monkey Wrench?"

"Well, no, but a person could get confused about her clothes. I mean, it's a black silk blouse, it could be any black silk blouse."

Fred is about to have an operation, so you might stop by and wish him well.

And for what it's worth, my wild-card round predictions are: Indy over KC, Seattle over Dallas, NE over NYJ, and The Iggles over the Jints. Feel free to disagree, or just feel free. And while you're feeling free, feel free to visit Silly Humansand Calm Before the Sand, the latest adds to the blogroll.....