...And Another Thing....

This is maybe a little personal for me, but EVERYTIME i hear someone talk about Obama being some smug elite, i want to ask them to name for me that last President (Hell, i'll take a contender!) that was SOOO rich and elite that he had to take out student loans to go to school! I live as part of a generation that spends at LEAST a decade or two paying off the sheep skin that gets us 'through the door" and have a hard time listening to the well off cry and moan about the out-of-touch-snobby-power-elite BLACK guys going to school on STUDENT LOANS! Maybe somone in a past election wanted a President that they would like to have a beer with...I like the idea of one that knows what its like to pay the bills of going to school a decade after the degree is done.

If you EVER Hear Anyone Talking About Obama Being a Flip-Flopper...

Keep this handy little list at the ready! Provided by Steve Benen:

• McCain was against the repeal of Roe v. Wade before he was for it.
• McCain was against torture before he was for it. Really for it.
• McCain was against crazy right-wing preachers like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson before he was for them.
• McCain was against Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy before he was for them.
• McCain was against shady Bush “Pioneer” Texas billionaire swift-boat financiers before he was for them.
• McCain was for the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law before he was against it and began breaking it.
• McCain was against Grover Norquist, whom he called “corrupt, a shill for dictators“ before he was for him.
• McCain was against BJU because of its “hateful,” “racist and cruel” policies before he was for it.
• McCain was against ethanol before he was for ethanol and then he was against it again.
• McCain was against a Martin Luther King holiday before he was for it. …

Chris McMillian, My Favorite Bartender in the World

Mr. McMillan used to be the Bartender of the Library Lounge in the Ritz Carlton. Now, I understand he's at the Renaissance Pere Marquette Hotel just off Canal St. in New Orleans. He's the sort of bartender that knows more drink recipes than you can name and knows their histories and stories. Many times he's kept the bar open way past closing for me just to chat about drinks or politics (his mother was an old-line union organizer) or the city. Not that I'm anything special, he's just a nice guy. the kind of person you would want to see at a cocktail lounge. watch the video. seeing him work is nothing short of watching someone craft their art.

[More at the link up top]

And the Lord Said, 'Let there be Eames'

I've always admired Eames design and I was lucky enough to have a little brother that FOUND a vintage leather Eames chair in a dumpster!

The Week for You...From Harper's

I like the use of "conquest" to describe the actions of the Iguanas in South Florida.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
HARPER'S WEEKLY

Oil reached a record $139.89 a barrel. Four Western
companies met with Iraq's Oil Ministry to finalize no-bid
contracts to tap Iraqi oil fields, and the Nigerian
government distributed billions of dollars of windfall to
corrupt state officials. Thirty-five countries and 25 oil
companies met in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to try to fix
global oil prices, which have caused strikes, riots, and
inflation around the world. Many OPEC countries blamed
speculators for the price increase, as did some
representatives of oil companies and oil-dependent
industries. United States Energy Secretary Sam Bodman
blamed supply and demand, as did lobbyists for Goldman
Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and the International Swaps and
Derivatives Association. Drivers in the Gaza Strip, where
Israel limits fuel supplies and black market gas costs $27
per gallon, used vegetable oil and turpentine as fuel,
producing toxic fumes that result in diarrhea and stomach
pain. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
cancelled four global-warming research expeditions, citing
the cost of fuel. American cowboys could not afford to
drive their horses to rodeos, and those who lived near the
border were filling their tanks in Mexico, where gas is
subsidized. Giant iguanas continued their conquest of
South Florida, surrounding Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commissioner Bob Kanjian at a golf course in Lake
Worth. "I had 25 to 30 iguanas," he said, "staring at me
while I was playing."

Breaking an earlier vow, Senator Barack Obama announced
that he will opt out of the public campaign-finance
system, in order to be able to spend unlimited amounts of
money in the last two months of his presidential campaign,
rather than merely $84 million, the amount to which
Senator John McCain will be limited under public-funding
laws. "It'll be like George Steinbrenner's Yankees in the
90s," Democratic consultant Chris Lehane said of Obama's
campaign, which could spend as much as $500 million,
"against the 90s Kansas City Royals." Al Gore endorsed
Obama, as did Donatella Versace, whose spring-summer 2009
men's line, which includes slim pants with a "slick
techno-fabric sheen," is dedicated to the
candidate. Ex-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
declined to endorse McCain, who has called him "one of
the worst secretaries of defense in history," and Air
Force veteran, comedian, and self-described "old fuck"
George Carlin died at 71.

Water gushed down the Mississippi from last week's floods
in Iowa and Illinois, overflowing at least 20 levees above
Saint Louis, and the Flood Museum in Fort Madison, Iowa,
remained under water. The federal government warned that
climate change will make rainstorms less frequent but more
intense in years to come. A polar bear named Ofeig ("He
Who Should Not Die"), recently arrived in Iceland after
traveling via ice floe from Greenland, was shot and killed
by the police after he panicked and threatened to attack
some journalists. A left human foot wearing a running shoe
was found in the ocean near Vancouver. Police were
checking to see if it was related to any of four right
human feet found in the area since August. "This might
take a long time," said Sharlene Brooks of the Delta
Police Department. "This is not C.S.I." A forensic
pathologist and an anthropologist studying what appeared
to be a sixth human foot concluded that it was an animal
paw and some seaweed stuffed into a sock. Kermit Scott, a
former philosophy professor who inspired Jim Henson's
puppet Kermit the Frog, died. A sweeping revision of
surveillance law, extending the NSA's domestic wiretapping
program and granting immunity to telecom companies that
have helped them spy on Americans, passed the House and
was expected to pass in the Senate. The bill, explained
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.), "abandons the
Constitution's protections and insulates lawless behavior
from legal scrutiny." It was revealed that the Veterans
Affairs Department had tested an anti-smoking drug on
veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder but failed to
warn them that possible side effects included psychotic
behavior and suicide. A bomb in a Kia truck exploded in a
market in Baghdad, killing at least 65 people. "I feel
very tired and sad," said clothing merchant Salam Hashim,
who lost three friends in the attack. "I just want to
smoke."

-- Sam Stark

* * * * * * * * *
NOTICE

EVERY HARPER'S MAGAZINE ever published is now online and
free to all subscribers. Subscribe and gain instant access
at:
https://harpers.org/subscribe/order.php

Just Dreadful

I'm getting pretty sick of my insomnia. I went to bed a little after 3am twice in the last week. those were the "full" night's sleep. every other time was well after 4am. It's 7am now and i'm pretty sure my Sunday is now shot.

great.

Martian Umpire...

...finally starts to clean off home plate!

Mascot/Ump throwdown

We had an additional mascot today at the game today. He was pretty good. We're ahead 1-0 in the 3rd.

Separated at Birth?

For years now, i've thought that Tom Collichio (famous chef and judge on the Top Chef TV show) looks JUST LIKE Baseball hall of famer Cal Ripken Jr.

How Do You Get to ...?

Wow! this was a pretty good version of Superstition by Stevie Wonder...ON SESAME STREET! Check out the kinds in the background totally freaking out.

A Delta Boy Who's Awfully Proud of Himself

I bought a copy of Delta Magazine (about the MS Delta) Saturday. It is pretty much one of those magazines dedicated to cheerleading the region/state/city it's about. I'm not the biggest fan of this type of magazine, but sometimes they can be a great mirror back to the place you live. highlights of wonderful treasures you never knew were right under your nose. I still find myself shocked at the places i've never been (or even heard of!) after living in New Orleans for several years (and living a, let's say, active social life).

So, this issue has a picture of a BBQ sandwich on the cover. It has a GREAT map/guide of stops to make on a trip through the Delta (Hwy 49 or Hwy 61, your pick!). I've been to about 60% of the places and the rest seem like discoveries waiting to be made! now back to the picture. What finally hooked me to buy the magazine was that sandwich. i knew what it was. i knew what was on it. I knew when the restaurant was opened. i even knew the plate. When i saw that sandwich I got a warm feeling and had to buy the magazine.

Now i'm hungry for no good reason.

Don't Knock Over My Paperwork

this is perhaps the most angry i've ever seen someone get at work. as it starts out, you can see the guy in the middle of the screen (accidentally) knocks over the other guys paperwork. he starts to help pick it up, but evidently our man in the cubicle didn't care for his tone.


http://view.break.com/513310 - Watch more free videos

RIP Bo Diddley, RIP

McComb, MS native Bo Diddley died today. He was easily one of the most influential musicians in the history of Rock 'N Roll, creating THE rhythm for the genre. An era is slipping away...

AP:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Bo Diddley, a founding father of rock 'n' roll whose distinctive "shave and a haircut, two bits" rhythm and innovative guitar effects inspired legions of other musicians, died Monday after months of ill health. He was 79.

Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla., spokeswoman Susan Clary said. He had suffered a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation.

Here's a bonus clip with The Dutchess!

I was thinking...

This was one of my favorite commercials in recent years.

Burn After Reading

I can't wait to see the new Cohen Brothers movie. it looks great.