Reposted from previous boodle:

Friends, thanks for all the thoughtful posts in the past week.

I was struck that Saddam ended his life with the "Palestine is Arab" line, given that in his life (correct me if I'm wrong) he was hardly interested in anything other than his own power and the privileges that came with it. He spent much of his time devising ways to kill Arabs, not to mention Persians (Iranians) and Kurds. His defiant posturing at the end reminds me of Tim McVeigh, who also went to his death convinced that he was a political prisoner and not a criminal. LindaLoo, thanks for posting that historical info re: the cozy relationship betwixt Saddam and the U.S. back in the day. And Nelson, thanks for the comment on the TV coverage, I haven't been watching it but am sure that it's been full-throttle excess, complete with instructions on how to tie a noose.

We should have a contest on the best analysis that cogently and briefly ties together the lives and deeds of James Brown, Gerald Ford and Saddam. My own thought -- and there's actually a seed of truth here -- is that James Brown played a key role in the civil rights movement that also incited the white (primarily Southern) backlash that helped bring the known trickster Nixon to power and ultimately led to the accidental Ford presidency, a feckless affair that, combined with the post-Vietnam, post-Watergate disillusionment with American government and Pax Americana made it all the more likely that dictators like Saddam would rise and have free rein (reign?? heeeeeeelp meeeeeee) to do their mad deeds.

That would be an example of a losing entry in said contest.

You know, Joel, I think you're right about the connections from James Brown to Nixon to Ford to Saddamn. I've just seen The History Boys and they're right: History is just one fording thing after another.

(A really good movie, BTW).

You know, Joel, I think you're right about the connections from James Brown to Nixon to Ford to Saddamn. I've just seen The History Boys and they're right: History is just one fording thing after another.

(A really good movie, BTW).

I liked that so much that I posted it twice.
Sorry.

James Bond? Please. Everybody knows the truly cool character is Q.

Contest? Drumming fingers on office desk, thinking how in the heck do I tie in the life of James Brown to the Shah of Iran...the other two, Ford and Saddam, are EASY...

(How very odd that you should use the word "Persian," Joel, as I have personal connections to Iran, in rather oblique ways.)

Joel writes, "This is, in short, a real man, someone with scabs, moles, warts, barnacles, dandruff, ear hair and various forms of crust."

Barnacles, you say? I can only think of the normally handsome Swede Stellan Skarsgard as "Bootstrap" Bill Turner in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," one of four DVDs we rented last weekend. The film was just horrible, bloated and unbelievable, and this was the film that saved Hollywood from having a lackluster year?

I think one of the funniest pieces of journalism I read this past year is the following graf from the movie review about this Disney sequel by NYT film critic A.O. Scott last summer:

For the second time this summer, then, my colleagues and I must face a frequently -- and not always politely -- asked question: What is wrong with you people? I will, for now, suppress the impulse to turn the question on the moviegoing public, which persists in paying good money to see bad movies that I see free. I don't for a minute believe that financial success contradicts negative critical judgment; $500 million from now, ''Dead Man's Chest'' will still be, in my estimation, occasionally amusing, frequently tedious and entirely too long. But the discrepancy between what critics think and how the public behaves is of perennial interest because it throws into relief some basic questions about taste, economics and the nature of popular entertainment, as well as the more vexing issue of what, exactly, critics are for.

This "Pirates" DVD we rented was one of hubby's picks. The second was just as bad, but in a completely different way--"World Trade Center."

I picked a real loser myself, picked it because of Oscar buzz, "Little Miss Sunshine." Talked up by ABC's Joel Siegel as a wonderful ensemble cast and other critics as a marvelous comedy, it features a dysfuntional family whose pathos borders on tragedy. Oscar schmozker for this dud.

The DVD of the four we took home that I liked best for its originality--although one actress annoying played three different generations of women (I haven't seen multiple generational role deal since Ralph Fiennes pulled the same schtick in "Sonnenschein"), was the Brazilian "House of Sand." Subtitled, because the language in the film is Portuguese, the film is gorgeous, the plot has twists, and the feeling throughout was fresh. And did I forget to mention, it's about women, real women--women with real problems?

Everyone has great gadgets now, they show up in Xmas stockings.

But after watching all but the last episode of Captain Scarlet, I suggest being indestructible would be pretty handy.

>And did I forget to mention, it's about women, real women--women with real problems?

Linda, maybe you should try Captain Scarlet - at least the fighter pilots are all women. :-)

I don't know what kind of problems women puppets have. I do have female groundhog puppets though, so I'm trying to learn.

And I definitely recommend "Prehistoric Women":
http://www.archive.org/details/prehistoric-1950

They beat up the guys, make them climb into trees and do their hair. Really.

I liked Little Miss Sunshine - at least it was original. I thought Steve Carell was good - very toned down - and I didn't realise he was in it before I started watching it. I really didn't know what the movie was about going in, other than something about a beauty pageant.

I also liked Prairie Home Companion - watched it twice because I missed a lot of what was going on the first time. There are some very funny bits. And I liked M. Night Shyamalan's Lady in the Water, which has turned up on some "worst of 2006" lists. Again, it has some originality and some good performances - but it's very awkward at times too.

I read all the Bond books when I was a kid and saw the Sean Connery movies - but it's not top of my list now.

The older I get, the more squeamish I am about violence, of any kind. I couldn't even watch the depiction of the battle where George Washington had to take over from the slain General Braddock during the French and Indian War, at Mount Vernon the other day. So no James Bond for me, or Saddam on CNN either. I'll just read about it, briefly, thankyouverymuch.

I think becoming a mother was the origin of my squeamishness, and a career in the fire service didn't diminish it. There is enough violence in the world without our having to watch it endlessly, disguised as entertainment. I'm not entertained, so I'll pass.

I'll buy the theory that the backlash to civil rights was what brought Nixon to power and started us down this path. But the real question is, what can we do to diminish the violence in the world? Can we have a contest to come up with ways to eliminate violence?

I know. Pie in the sky. But I do think that outlawing capital punishment is a start.

Maybe we should put women in charge of everything and see if that makes a difference.

Chris Hitchens at Slate, Dec. 29:

To enlarge on the points that I touched upon above: Bob Woodward has gone into print this week with the news that Ford opposed the Bush administration's intervention in Iraq. But Ford's own interference in the life of that country has gone unmentioned. During his tenure, and while Henry Kissinger was secretary of state, the United States secretly armed and financed a Kurdish rebellion against Saddam Hussein. This was done in collusion with the Shah of Iran, who was then considered in Washington a man who could do no wrong. So that when the shah signed a separate peace with Saddam in 1975, and abandoned his opportunist support for the Kurds, the United States shamefacedly followed his lead and knifed the Kurds in the back. The congressional inquiry led by Rep. Otis Pike was later to describe this betrayal as one of the most cynical acts of statecraft on record.

Actually, I was thinking more of Kermit Roosevelt in linking the Shah and Ford. The history of our ugly involvement actually goes back to the Truman and particularly the Eisenhower administrations. So Joel, please avert your eyes, you're just too young. FYI, I haven't even begun to touch "back in the day."

Mostlylurking - My wife and I watched "Prarie Home Companion" last night. I enjoyed it, but my wife thought it lacked a coherent plot. She never has much been into Altman films. Coincidentally, we had recently watched "The Devil Wears Prada," another film with Meryl Streep. Seeing such diverse performances back-to-back makes me think that maybe there is a good reason she keeps getting all those awards.

"Mudgeon. Cur Mudgeon."

No, somehow it just doesn't have that Bondian ring to it. Let me try to buff it up a little:

"I'll have a mojito, bartender. Crush the mint leaves, don't bruise them."

No, the mojito mojo just ain't working tonight, like the Redskins. Kinda sad to think that bc is sitting over there at Fedex on the 50-yardline with his head in his hands.

The thing about Q and his toys is, I always got the feeling that Brookstone merged with Sharper Image and SkyMall, and the resulting consortium went to work for the British Secret Service as some sort of R&D tax shelter. And how come Q got to decide which toys to give Bond? Why didn't Bond tell Q, "Look, this is what I'm doing; I'll need mountainclimbing gear, a fountain pen tractor beam, and two dozens condoms."

And where are all the real world's supervillains? Kim Jong Il? Don't make me laugh. The only one I know who could even REMOTELY fit into the Blofeld/Goldfinger class is Karl Rove. AT least I can see him ghosting around the West Wing with a blue persian cat cradled in his arms as he delivers instructions to a quaking Tony Snow.

No, check that last; I can also see Cheney in his bunker at an undisclosed location pressing a buttonin a giant modernistic conference room, and then steel shutters cover all the windows and a diarama of Fort Knox rises up in the middle of the room as he begins to brief a slew of Halliburton-uniformed henchpersons on their next big heist. When one of the henchpersons raises an embarrassing question, Cheney shoots him in the face with a shotgun. "I'm sorry, Mr. Quail, did you have a question?" he sneers, racking the spend shell out of the shotgun.

Then Cheney and Rove sit in a room with other "associates" as Jack Abramowitz, Mark Foley and Tom Delay come in to give a report on which one of them screwed up the 2006 election. They appear to decided it was Abramowitz, but as veteran Bond movie watchers, we know otherwise. Suddenly the trap door under all three gives way and they are plunged into a pool below filled with rare blue-ringed octopi, which proceed to poison and devour them as the camera closes in on the face of the persian cat licking its chops.

Closing punchline: after the trapdoor closes, Cheney turns to Rove and says, "OK, now show in Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Bremer."

I saw The Devil Wears Prada the other day, too. Meryl Streep really is amazing - the contrast between those two parts could not be greater, and she's fabulous in both. Definitely liked Prairie Home Companion more overall - Kevin Kline cracked me up, as did the cowboys, and Garrison Keillor trying to explain why his dumb penguin joke is funny - I loved it.

I'm going to watch The Da Vinci Code tonight - I can't help myself. At some point I want to see The Good Shepard, Babel, Volver, The Departed (which probably has too much violence for me, as does Blood Diamond).

Oh, my only movie report is I watched the DVD of "Inside Man" last night, and liked it very much, with one proviso: the whole subplot with Jodie Foster was laughably stupid and pointless, but the rest of the movie still works OK without it. Denzel Washington was cool, as was Clive Owen. And the mechanics of the bank robbery were pretty cool. And I especially liked the non-ending (can't say more; it'd ruin it. But suffice it to say it was very different from any other heist flick ending.)

It's been a LONG day. This boodle just made me feel a lot better about being offline all day while completing my move. If we're re-enacting 19th century entertainment on TV and internet, it was definitely the day to unplug everything.

Wilbrodog is busy learning about fenced yards and the joys of burying bones in actual dirt right now. His education continues.

I anticipate some doggy culture shock about the concepts of dogs not sharing yards in common, unlike in apartment complexes.

I'm on a dinky connection right now. Gnome may beat machine at this rate. I have nothing whatsoever to say about anything newsworthy.

However, I can definitely say that in '007, it is not my goal to be tied naked (or clothed) to a chair and whipped/beaten on ANY portion of my anatomy whatsoever. But each to their own, including our Fearless Leader.

I would like to be Q though. (QT is always good too).

As the Nation begins the business of laying President Gerald R. Ford to rest and giving him the honors of a State Funeral that will take him from California to Washington, D.C. and finally to his Library in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in his honor I would like to give this Son of Our State a small memorial, taken from Melvilles, "White Jacket, the Chapter titled "The Gunner Under Hatches."
"...Indeed, there were several parts of the ship under hatches shrouded in mystery, and completely inaccessible to the sailor. Wonderous old doors, barred and bolted in dingy bulkheads, must have opened into regions full of interest to a successful explorer. They looked like the gloomy entrances to family vaults of buried dead; and when I chanced to see some unknown functionary insert his key, and enter these inexplicable apartments with a battle-lantern, as if on solemn official business, I almost quaked to dive in with him, and satisfy myself whether these vaults indeed contained the mouldering relics of bygone old commodores and post-captains. But the habitations of the living commodore and captain-their spacious and curtained cabins-were themselves almost as sealed volumes, and I passed them in hopeless wonderment, like a peasant before a prince's palace. Night and day armed sentries guarded their sacred portals, cutlass in hand; and had I dared to cross their path I would infallibly have been cut down,as if in battle. Thus, though for a period of more than a year I was an inmate of this floating box of live-oak, yet there were numberless things in it that, to the last, remained wrapped in obscurity, or concerning which I could only lose myself in vague speculations. I was as a Roman Jew of the Middle Ages, confined to the Jews' quarter of the town, and forbidden to stray beyond my limits. Or I was as a modern traveller in the same famous city, forced to quit it at last without gaining ingress to the most mysterious haunts-the innermost shrine of the Pope, and the dungeons and cells of the Inquisition. But among all the persons and things on board that puzzled me, and filled me most with strange emotions of doubt, misgivings, and mystery, was the gunner-a short, square, grim man, his hair and beard grizzled and singed, as if with gunpowder. His skin was of a flecky brown, like the stained barrel of a fowling piece, and his hollow eyes burned in his head like blue lights. He it was who had access to many of those mysterious vaults I have spoken of. Often he might be seen groping his way into them, followed by his subalterns, the old quarter-gunners, as if intent upon laying a train of powder to blow up the ship. I remembered Guy Fawkes and the Parliament House, and made earnest inquiry whether this gunner was a Roman Catholic. I felt relieved when informed that he was not. A little circumstance which one of his mates once told me heightened the gloomy interest with which I regarded his chief. He told me that, at periodical intervals, his master the gunner,accompanied by his phalanx, entered into the great magazine under the gun-room, of which he had sole custody and kept the key, nearly as big as the key of the Bastille, and provided with lanterns, something like Sir Humphry Davy's safety-lamp for coal mines, proceeded to turn, end for end, all the kegs of powder and packages of cartridges stored in this innermost exlposive vault, lined throughout with sheets of copper. In the vestibule of the magazine, against the panelling, were several pegs for slippers, and before penetrating further than that vestibule, every man of the gunner's-gang silently removed his shoes, for fear that the nails in their heels might possibly create a spark by striking against the coppered floor within. Then,with slippered feet and with hushed whispers, they stole into the heart of the place. This turning of the powder was to preserve it's inflammability. And surely it was a business full of direful interest, to be buried so deep below the sun, handling whole barrels of powde, any one of which, touched by the smallest spark, was powerful enough to blow up a whole street of warehouses.
The gunner went by the name of Old Combustibles, though I thought this an undignified name for so momentous a personage, who had all our lives in his hand. While we lay in Callao, we received from shore several barrels of powder. So soon as the launch came alongside with them, orders were given to extinguish all lights and all fires in the ship:and the master-at-arms and his corporals inspected every deck, to see that this order was obeyed: a very prudent precaution,no doubt, but not observed at all in the Turkish Navy. The Turkish sailors will sit on their gun-carriages, tranquilly smoking, while kegs of powder are being rolled under their ingited pipe-bowls. This shows the great comfort there is in the doctrine of these Fatalists, and how such a doctrine, in some things at least, relieves men from nervous anxieties. But we are all Fatalists at bottom. Nor need we so much marvel at the heroism of that army officer who challenged his personal foe to bestride a barrel of powder with him-the match to be placed between them-and be blown up in good company, for it is pretty certain that the whole earth is a vast hogshead, full of inflammable materials,and which we are always bestriding: at the same time, that all good Christions believe that at any minute the last day may come, and the terrible combustion of the entire planet ensue. As if impressed with a befitting sense of the awfulness of his calling, our gunner always wore a fixed expression of solemnity, which was heightened by his grizzled hair and beard. But what imparted such a sinister look to him, and what wrought so upon my imagination concerning this man, was a frightful scar crossing his left cheek and forehead, He had been almost mortally wounded, they said, with a sabre cut, during a frigate engagement in the last war with Britain.
He was the most methodical, exact, and punctual of all the forward officers. Among his other duties, it pertained to him, while in harbour, to see that at certain hour in the evening one of the great guns was discharged from the forecastle, a ceremony only observed in a flagship. And always at the precise moment you might behold him blowing his match, then applying it; and with that booming thunder in his ear, and the smell of the powder in his hair, he retired to his hammock for the night. What dreams he must have had! The same precision was observed when ordered to fire a gun to bring to some ship at sea; for, true to their name, and preserving its applicability, even in times of peace, all men-of-war are great bullies on the high seas. They domineer over the poor merchantmen, and with a hissing hot ball sent bowling across the ocean, compel them to stop their headway at pleasure. It was enough to make you a man of method for life to see the gunner superintending his subalterns, when preparing the main-deck batteries for a great national salute. While lying in harbour, intelligence reached us of the lamentable casualty that befell certain high officers of state, including the acting Secretary of the Navy himself, some other member of the Presidents cabinet, a commodore, and others, all engaged in experimenting upon a new-fangled engine of war. At the same time with the receipt of this sad news, orders arrived to fire minute-guns for the deceased head of the naval department. Upon this occasion the gunner was more than usaully ceremonious, in seeing that the long twenty fours were thoroughly loaded and rammed down, and then accurately marked with chalk, so as to be discharged in undeviating rotation, first from the larboard side, and then from the starboard. But as my ears hummed, and all my bones danced in me with the reverberating din, and my eyes and nostrils were almost suffocated with the smoke, and when I saw this grim old gunner firing away so solemnly, I thought it a strange mode of honouring a man's memory who had himself been slaughtered by a cannon. Only the smoke, that, after rolling in at the port-hole, rapidly drifted away to leeward, and was lost to view, seemed truly emblematical touching the personage thus honoured, since that great non-combatant, the Bible, assures us that our life is but a vapour that quickly passeth away.

President Ford may have been "the accidental President" and Lord knows he added to his own "mystique" through a trip here and a stumble there which but only grew the legend...still...he led with a resolve of decency, duty and righteousness second to none and a capacity for putting the welfare of the country first and foremost. The accidental aura foisted upon President Ford may have had some merit, but the over-riding sentiment and legacy was that he stemmed the tide and was at the helm of our "squallish" Country at it's "watershed" and defining moment.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/30/mosque.pig.ap/index.html

Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but the man's can't back down even though he's gone too far and it being interpreted as "Texas spririted" explains some things.

I really liked Lindsay Lohan's version of Frankie & Johnnie in A Prairie Home Companion. Liked The Devil Wears Prada too, but had read that M. Streep's hair & wardrobe, from a fashion perspective, was totally wrong.

2007 is going to be my year where I don't volunteer. It's about time I tried it. However, the end days of 2006 are tripping me up, and on 1/06 I'll be picking up a foster dog for a total of 3 black labs. If I start having trouble telling them apart, somebody's going to be wearing a bandanna.

You can't smell them apart, dbG? Why don't you use some of those human scent aids? Preferably not citronella, of course.

I saw Daniel Craig's last movie, "Layer Cake" and figured it must be why he got the Bond job. Finally confirmed that impression by watching "Casino Royale" last night.

Unfortunately, Wilbrodog, I'm not as talented as you and they in that sense.

Maybe if I painted some white spots on Emma. . .

Wouldn't that be gilding the lab?

True, she is practically perfect. This guy looks far more like her than Cutter, though.

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=7419365

Hmm, short n stout lab type, likely field strain. They always look like 6 month old pups to me, even if they don't smell like pups. It gets confusing because they look like they should be all about playing and instead they usually snap at me because I'm taller. Or something.

How is he fearful of the leash? Is it too tall for him?

Bond is cool and all, and I'd love to outfit Stella with some hidden lasers (trippy light show lasers, not the kind that hurt) and maybe a jet engine, but suave ain't my bag so I doubt I'll be very 007ish this year even if I get them.

Actually, my goal for the new year is pretty simple -- instead of just playing the part of "hippie" for my neighbors' amusement, I'm going to actually put my time and money where my big liberal mouth is.

Don't know if any of you are "Vicar of Dibley" fans, but our local PBS station has brought it back -- YES! -- and tonight's episode was hysterical as expected. But it also made this grown man cry.

They showed some footage from the "MakePovertyHistory.org" website of two little African kids whose mother had died of AIDS and whose father was in the process of dying from it. Both kids started out as strong little troopers, describing how they get by on nearly nothing, how they took care of their mother before she died, how they are taking care of their father... then they both broke down in uncontrollable sobbing, holding on to each other because each other is all they have. In the meantime, I'm sitting there with a sleeping Bean on my lap, next to a Christmas tree with already forgotten toys under it...

All I can say is that I was moved in a very big way.

I don't have Bill Gates' billions to work with, but I got a hell of a lot more than those kids do. I don't have any delusions of single-handedly saving the world, but dangitt... I'm going to do something more significant than dropping a few bucks in the Salvation Army's kettle (which is still a very good thing to do, no matter what).

I've been blinded to the real troubles in the world by my insignificant personal ones, many of my own making. The video of those kids.... damn. It's time for the dang hippie to roll up his sleeves and put his hippie powers of peace, love and understanding in action (and maybe his programming and construction skills, too).

So... my New Year's Eve Eve resolution is to be more like Cassandra and make Stella proud of her driver.

Peace Out my friends... hope you all find and spread a little love this next year.

He's about 65#, which puts him at a size with my guys. They think he was abused. Tries to get away, is terrorized by someone coming near him with a leash/strap type thing.

They'd also indicated the pictures weren't at a good angle, so he may be taller than he looks.

A great Bond-Cheney take-off, Mudge.

Sounds like a challenge.

Maybe abuse, maybe just one of those owners who only leash their dogs when their dogs are being bad with attendant negativity and thus train their dogs to be terrified of the leash because then the owner gets angry because the dog won't come and so on. It can be compounded by the fact most dogs see a bending person as threatening until they learn better and even then, its not their favorite posture to see.

If so, hopefully training the dog to obey offleash and then introducing the leash as a source of fun and treats will do the trick, as well as NICE human behavior 101, and this lab will be on his way to finding a good home with people who know how to treat him right.

Wilbrodog and I were talking to a waitress who spoke of her neutered male lab, and how fortunate that I was to have a lab since labs are so smart and have so much personality.

I had to break it to her he wasn't pure lab, but certainly is still a significant personality (and he's up there in brains.).

Good morning,friends. I'm getting ready for Sunday school and church. Won't you join me?

JA, is someone agreeing with my thinking about race in this country? When I read your comment, I thought is he saying James Brown is responsible for all the bad stuff these white dudes did?

And when I read your kit, I laughed out loud. I've never been a James Bond fan, too slick for me, and not even realistic. I know it all fairytale, but at least give me one that has some reality to it.

Slyness, I agree with your thought, could the women do any worse than the men? I think there just might be a chance at that peace that seems so elusive now.

The gentleman that wrote the editorial in our local paper about a woman's place is still getting burned in the paper. I just wonder what that man's wife is saying to him, if he's married. Would love to be a fly on the wall in that home.

It's time for a woman in the White House, past time. You know the idea is to move forward, not back, and not sitting still.

Have a good day folks. I'm running late this morning. At least I only have myself to get ready, it would be a mess if the g-girl were here. I miss her so much, but grandma needs the rest. She was just too, too, much. Besides she's with mommy, and that is where her heart is, as it should be. I look forward to my Sunday school lesson this morning, it is the only thing I ususally hear at church.

I know and believe with everything that is within me that God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Martooni,
Thank you for your reminder about resolving to think of others in the New Year.

Cassandra, remind us of your book and tutoring program.

I did something a bit unusual this year, but it did get others going on my block and corner. In a fit of gentle madness, I ordered (at 75% off) scads of tiny species crocus bulbs. I put at least half in my yard, but the off hand remark of a neighbor made me conspire with her husband thusly:

I helped him buy grape hyacinth bulbs, the ones that look like jaunty mini grape clusters. Using his auger and drill, we lined her front path with them, ending with clumps of daffodils. She does not know we did this.

Another neighbor asked me, a bit territorially, what I was doing in "not-my-yard." When I explained, he asked me to order bulbs for his yard. When his wife went off to yet another sporting event with children, he stayed home to drill holes in his yard. He kept asking me to confirm the up end from the down end. We marked them with a Sharpie pen.

A person walking on the path inquired....you get the drill. This last person is the worst offender of doggy piles. Wilbrod: his dog is of average size but the piles are gargantuan!

Anywhoooo, the Crap-man planted a bunch of bulbs on the walking path. Do bulbs cancel out scat?

I drilled holes near a Cornealian Cherry tree on the path, placing the rest of my crocus bulbs. If God is kind, the squirrels will only upend 10% and the rest will bloom in concert with the pale yellow Cherry tree blossoms.

I am not sure, but I do feel less hostility toward him.

KB, I believe, posted the story about an Iraqi gardener who tries to place plants near violent-scenes. What a gentle and wise fool. We should all aim at a bit of strategic foolishness.

---
Martooni, let Little Bean learn that the specific charity is not as important as the spirit of the giver. Bulbs, tutoring, time, talent -- even drywalling! -- all can build up the broken world.

Thanks, Wilbrod & Wilbrodog.

I'll use your play first and gradual introduction as a fallback. I hadn't thought of that.

They told me he's bonded with 1 person and several dogs at the vet's. I think he'll learn more from Cutter & Emma than he will from me.

Cutter had been badly abused prior to ending up in the shelter, and was terrorized by leashes. He trusted Lucie, who loved walks, so I coaxed (okay, pushed) him to go out with us. After a few nights, he was as excited about it as she was. Not that everything was that quick, but if he learns to trust us, everything will work eventually.

Happy New Year, everyone!

I think I will end 006 in bond-like fashion by having my Bloody Mary this morning"shakened not stirred"

I also have this reoccurring dream that I have a motorcycle that folds up into a brief case

Only have time for Boodleskimming today, as I'll be travelling up to PA for New Year's.

I can relate to Bond's 75 cuts and scrapes from shaving, and can raise him a half-dozen ingrown hairs (I'm a curly haired guy, what can I say?).

You'd think that if Q could make a Hummer that fits into the front pocket of a pair of pants (vacuum-packed, natch), he could find a way to just give him a plain old-fashioned Styptic Pencil. Given their age, you'd think they'd know about such things. Sheesh.

Allright, enough of *that*.

I'll briefly try to tackle the Achenbach Challenge:

James Brown sang, "It's a Man's Man's Man's World", and Saddam Hussein claimed it as his personal theme song (see previous boodling, and feel free to Google the Lyrics).

The US secretly moderated the Iran Iraq treaty negotiations regarding the Shatt al Arab waterway in 1975; the US delegation was led by Donald Rumsfeld. Hussein fell in love with Rumsfeld's confident manner during the negotiations, and confessed his feelings towards him (somehow thinking of him as "the woman" in his theme song). Unsure of what to do, Rumsfeld reported this to Henry Kissinger and President Ford. Kissinger initially gave the go-ahead to Rummy, thinking that it would be a way to secure leverage, but Ford overruled the move, saying that the White House had already been responsible for enough backdoor shenannigans over the paast few years. An open relationship would be fine, but a secret one simply for the purposes of manipulating Hussein was not palatable. Rumsfeld told Hussein the truth, and the two agreed to remain friends, but Hussein secrety seethed at the US Presidency for denying him True Love. A seething that grew more corrosive over time. Hussein became more insistent and possessive, and finally confronted Rumsfeld at their famous meeting in December of '83, saying that the unfulfilled relationship was tearing his his heart to pieces. The two quarreled and finally parted furious at each other.

The rest is history.

bc

BTW, Rumsfeld's theme song just might be, "You Give Love a Bad Name."

bc

So, Jumper, they used to ask me, how about the mirror-on-the-bedroom-ceiling thing for you?

No, I said, that would just interfere.

With what?

With my idea that I am Bond - James Bond.

Here's a story of British Intelligence or lack of it within MI6, but some background first.

William Safire was on NBC Tim Russert's "Meet the Press" this morning, comparing Bush to Harry Truman--Bush himself would is eager for and seeks the favorable comparison.

However, Washington Post's Kaiser disagrees with the Truman-Bush comparison. I tried to find via Google Kaiser's remarkss about Truman. I found the tame reply (I thought I remembered a more strongly worded one in yet another chat) in one of Kaiser's chats, below:

Annandale, Va.: Hey Mr. Kaiser, Didn't Harry Truman have awful low popularity rates and still get elected in '48? Because he fought like heck to get reelected? You don't see Bush as a fighter? Have you seen him lose an election yet? Watch and see.

Robert G. Kaiser: Truman ran in '48 against the "Do Nothing" Republican Congress, which proved a good gambit. Having written a book partly about Truman and actually lived (as a lad) through the Truman presidency, I do not see the parallel between Harry and W myself. But thanks for the post!

Part of the answer to why the Middle East hates us so much (several years ago, you may recall, comedian Bill Maher famously asked this question) can be framed around the the story of Iran and its leader Mohammed Mossadeg. In fact, the leader of this growing nationalistic and democratic movement was named Time magazine's Person of the Year in 1951 (He oiled the wheels of chaos, the cover reads, deceptively), the year I was born.

http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19520107,00.html

Time's 1951 cover story here:
http://www.time.com/time/web/cm/inter_holi_dnr3.html?

I had a tall, attractive, bearded Persian lover while I was at San Jose State. We were both older students, we met by accident in the school's library one Saturday. It was a short-lived affair, but after settling into each others arms in my bed after lovemaking, he spoke at some length about what it was like growing up and living in Iran. Now, more than 30 years later, I fervently wish I had taped our conversation, or taken notes as reporters do. For me, the one remaining memory or passion that evening of his was his intense hatred of the Shah.

I also had a Persian co-worker at Tymware in Palo Alto. He would somehow find the plumpest, sweetest Moroccan Medjool dates downtown on his lunch hour and bring them into the office, where he often shared them with me. He was shorter than my lover, more handsome even, with a spark of life and charming devilishness in his eye.

So for you, Mehdi and Jafar, I tell this story.

The story begins with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, principally owned by the British government, a single corporation, that since 1901, held a monopoly on the extraction, refining, and sale of Iranian oil. Of course, the benefits of such an arrangement to Britain were tremendous: it enabled Britain to project military power, fuel its industries, and give its citizens a high standard of living.

The terms of the arrangement were grossly unfair to Iraqis, however. Thanks to negotiations with a corrupt monarch, just 16 percent of the profits Anglo-Iranian accrued went back to Iran, but even that number is very squishy and the true numbers were never fully revealed because no outsider was ever permitted to audit the corporation's accounts.

Iran, like countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, was caught up in the spirit of nationslism and anticolonialism after WWII. The aristocratic, European-educated Mohammad Mossadeg was swept on this wave of reform into power in Iraq in the spring of 1951. He embodied the cause that had become his country's obsession: to expel the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, nationalize the oil industry, and use the money it generated to develop Iran. This surge of democratic fervor meant concentrating political power in the elected parliament and prime minister, rather than in the monarch, Mohammad Reza Shah. The goal of nationalizing the country's oil resources turned Britain into an enemy, and with the latter political move, Mossadeg alienated the Shah. That same spring of 1951, both houses of Iran's parliament voted unanimously to nationalize the oil industry.

Britain considered the challenge its power and rule to be dire and grave. It rejected suggestions that they split their porfits with Iran on a 50-50 basis as Americans were doing in nearby countries. The Brits considered their options: bribing Mossadeg, assassinating him, and launching a military invasion of Iran. This may have become England's course of action but for the fact that Secretary of State Dean Acheson and President Harry Truman learned of it and became apoplectic. London, however, ordered their agents in Tehran to set a plot in motion, but Mossadeg discovered their covert plan, shut down the British embassy, and ordered all British officials out of the country.

In January 1952, Time named Mossadeg its man of the year, selecting him rather than other contenders Winston Churchill, Douglas MacArthur, Harry Truman, and Dwight Eisenhower. (Queen Elizabeth was named Time's Person of the year in 1952.) In the article, Time called him an "obstinate opportunist" but also "the Iranian George Washington."

Two weeks after Mossadeg shuttered the British embassy, Eisenhower was elected president, bringing with him a new team to the White House, including John Foster Dulles as Secretary of State. Stepping to the fore of this shifting story and cast of players were Kermit Roosevelt, grandson of President Teddy Rossevelt and chief of operations in the Middle East and Montague Woodhouse, one of Britain's top intelligence agents.

I am being called away. I must stop here for awhile.

Dang---I bleeped away my whole previous post. Said I thought Daniel Craig was, uh , pretty watchable in his small role in "Munich," which we just gave our son and wife for Christmas.

Fun to see, now and then, the BPH photos. I can only identify a couple people, some from their personal blogs. I know who Pat is.

I think it was Dooley (hope I'm not wrong!) who also posted a great photo of his son who accompanied him on an expedition...the boy wore a red
shirt standing behind a donkey loaded with wood...so anyway, I would enter that in the SMithsonian photo contest...unless you work for them. Very memorable picture.

Cassandra: a good year to you. You have mentioned several times hearing problems, which also my husband endures. Go have your hearing evaluated and see if a hearing aid would help. At first I was rather annoyed at your relgious posts...I see now they are sincere, and admire you for that. We have just recently met our first and only grandaughter..another story for another time. She is 17.

Belated good mornings, my imaginary boodle buds...

I think maybe one of Wilbrodog's cat friends slipped into my house last night and umm... deposited some guano in my mouth. My natural reaction would be to reach for a little hair of the dog, but then PETA would come in and throw Bloody Mary mix on me. Mrs. Martooni would be none too pleased either. But the moderation experiment is working -- even moderates go a little overboard and have to pay for it in the morning.

In any case, I stand by my late-night altruistic post. Super Dang Hippie is motivated (if a little queasy) and has already recruited Little Bean to join him in his as yet undefined mission to make the world a little bit better.

"What's that!? Backfiring down the road at 35mph! Higher than a kite, more mellow than yellow, overfed and yet still able to leap leaping gnomes with a single bound (and much giggling)! It's not Aqualung! It's not Jerry Garcia! It's... It's... (give him a minute, Stella's not that fast and her carburetor is choking on something)... It's SUPER DANG HIPPIE!"

Seriously, though... I checked out the website I mentioned from last night's post (http://www.makepovertyhistory.org) and they have the video on there that I described. It appears that they were organized mainly to try influencing the G8 conference attendees last year, but it looks like they're also trying to make sure that the message and mission carries on -- wiping out poverty in "third world" nations.

To be honest, I really do feel for those trapped by poverty and famine and war the world over -- but I think Super Dang Hippie's powers can be put to better use on a more local scale (which could then maybe inspire more global actions):

1. Building and filling bookshelves at the community centers in the "not so nice" parts of town (and getting the local kids involved so they just might get turned onto the joys of using power tools instead of stealing them). I've even put a call in to the restaurant chain I'm building display units for to turn those units over to these centers for use as bookshelves once they're done using them to sell spaghetti sauce.

2. Using a portion of our monthly food budget to buy cases of canned goods to pass on to the local food bank (this may also help to reduce Super Dang Hippie's waistline).

3. Fishing with children (and not using them as bait or flotation devices). I'm always looking for an excuse to fall into the creek. If the fish aren't biting, they can count on "catching" me.

4. Neighborhood woodshop. Kinda ties into #1, but I've been hearing that a lot of schools have eliminated the "trade" classes due to budget restrictions and hoity-toity parents who can't imagine their kids doing anything other than brain surgery or arguing cases in front of the Supremes. I can fit 4 to 6 kids at a time in my workshop (if they're very small). I think that every kid should have a chance to learn enough about tools and home improvement that they'll start a project and know when it's time to call an "expert" after they get in over their heads.

5. Websites. Have HTML/PHP/MySQL and cross-platform compatibility tendencies, can travel.

I think that's enough for even a "super hippie" to chew on for now.

In the meantime, I'm off to Remodeling Land. Gotta hang more drywall...

Super Dang Hippie, my hat's off to ya. And good luck with the moderation. Every now and again we get reminded of why we're trying to be moderate.

As for the poverty clips, regrettably what comes to my mind when they do the "This is Rachel, she doesn't have shoes or anything to eat" is...

"HEY YOU! YES, YOU FAT MAN! YOU'RE THERE, NOW. GIVE HER YOUR FREAKIN' ITALIAN LOAFERS, THEY'LL FIT EVENTUALLY.

AND YOU BEHIND THE CAMERA. THERE ARE TWO ROAST BEEF HOAGIES IN YOUR BAG. HAND 'EM TO THE LITTLE GIRL."

Ahem. Sorry.

CP, love the subversive gardening. We used to be the only ones in our neighborhood without a lawn in front - but we've seen gardens spreading lately. I try to plant things in front that people walking by will enjoy. I love the small, species crocus because they bloom so early here (any day now, I hope). And I always forget where I've planted bulbs so they're a constant source of surprise to me.

You danghippy, the Make Poverty History campaign was championed by Bono, among others - the organization in the States is the One Campaign -
http://www.one.org/
which is probably doing good things - but your "acting locally" ideas are good too.

BTW, a VW bus plays a prominent part in the movie Little Miss Sunshine.

Martooni, I hope you don't mind. I'm plagiarizing your new year's resolution.

I see everyone is out partying already. The boodle has come to a complete stop. The alphabet family has a movie night in the works. We are watching the old Willy Wonka with the kids. They *think* they'll stay up until midnight, but six and four are not good ages for that.

Will I be more like 007 in '007? I am too short and don't have enough muscles. Still, I'd like to be able to drive like that and not get pulled over.

I do like Mr. Craig. Found him incredibly sexy in Munich, despite his violence.

MO, here is a joke for you. And for anyone else who knows enough Colombian and Panamanian slang to get it.

Did you know James Bond has a brother?

His name is Bond, Guev Bond.

(the U is not silent, but I couldn't figure out how to get the correct character into this window)

My daughter came over today to show us some new exercises we can do with free weights and the weight machine. In between each set of exercises she has us doing one of a number of different sit-ups. We may not be as flashy and have the cool gadgets of 007, but if we follow my daughter's plan for us, we'll be nicely toned and we'll be able to bounce quarters off our rock-hard abs (if such a thing is possible).

Of course this all starts tomorrow, tonight we are having a couple of nice 2 lb. lobsters and then some serious DVD watching. Happy New Year to all.

My New Year's Resolutions, both personal and professional, are as follows:

1. While shopping with my wife, resist the temptation to point to some obscure food product and say something like, "So, Dear, how's our supply of Bavarian Spiced Herring holding up?"

2. Learn the names of all the people who can fire me.

3. While watching Giada, actually notice what food is being prepared.

4. Re-organize my secret files.

5. Remember that when running the dishwasher, it is important to add the detergent.

6. Figure out where I left that post-it note with Osama Bin Laden's geocoordinates on it.

7. Figure out what that that "traction assist" button in my car means and if it should be on or not.

8. Check out that strange unearthly humming noise that seems to be coming from the sub-basement.

9. Figure out what video enhancement software they use on "CSI," and buy a copy.

10. Finally, and most importantly: Get A Life.

Happy New Year everyone.

Oh my... made the mistake of jumping into the "On Faith" fray. I thought I was being a voice of reason, but damn... maybe I accidentaly ended up on the Hugh Hewitt show or something. ;-)

One thing I posted there made me think of the Boodle, and then Johnny Carson's "Karmac" bit, and then Soylent Green... but I'm weird.

All I was trying to do was explain that agnostics (like me) should not be confused with atheists. Of course, in "On Faith", they make the Mommy Blog look like a walk through Heaven's finer neighborhoods and will argue with you even if they agree with you.

But the thing I posted made sense in context there and would make sense in or out of context here, so her it is:

"Just like you can't be a "little bit pregnant", you can't be an atheist and say that there's a possibiliy there might be a God, and you can't be a theist and believe there's a chance the opposite might be true. That's where agnostics come in. We can get away with being a little bit pregnant, a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll."

So to really stretch (and turn my assignment in on time, even if not complet)...

the little bit rock and roll: James Brown
the little bit country: Gerald Ford
the little bit pregnant (well, a permanent pause now): Saddam

the little bit hammered: ME :-) hey... it's a holiday and I did the drywall bit... even super hippies need a little recreational ummm... MY EYES ARE ALL CLOUDY! QUICK! HAND ME MY GLAUCOMA MEDS... AND A MATCH!... ahhhh.... i'm melting... so nice.

But what are those duck-billed platypuses doing (or is that platypi?) (or did I spell both wrong?) marching across the ceiling with tubas towing a mailman in a pink tutu strapped to a Radio Flyer wagon? And why are they laughing at me and singing Beatles tunes?

And what do I have to do to make them stop singing "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"... please...

Padouk,
Isn't it interesting that Bissell, the same family that arrived with the Loomises back in 1638, played such an important role in the early history of the CIA?

Just popping in momentarily, and I do hope to continue my tale tomorrow or the day after.

>Bissell
And here I thought they just made great vacuum cleaners.

martooni, jah love mon.

Happy New Year's to all!

Bulbs can be considerable fun. When living in Portland, Oregon, the church where I belonged had a sloping bare area under a big red oak. Mud was washing into the parking lot below. So I worked on improving water infiltration (loads of peat, vermiculite, gypsum, sand, and whatnot). Seeing that the improved site might support life, cheap bulbs came in. The resident squirrel never figured out that species crocuses are edible. The small species narcissuses didn't produce those massive daffodil-type harvests of inedible hay. Success.

Thinking back to Bond, while doing the bulbs, I watched a Toyota SUV park in the lot. Guy with skateboard gets out, hikes off uphill. Quite a while later, he comes sailing back (must have ascended to the summit of Mt Tabor, Portland's favorite urban volcano). He and a car nearly collided--the car nipped the board. Both parties apologized profusely, then went on their ways.

I just don't see the current Bond into sports other than approved toff stuff. Skiing (no snowboard), certainly no wakeboard, absolutely no surfing, tennis maybe--but he'd need some training, no golf, personal watercraft perhaps. Powerboats better. A chase scene involving rowing shells? Too silly. No bicycles. Perhaps shooting ducks or quails--ending in a face shot.

Is there a call for volunteers to fill up the National Cathedral for President Ford's service? It seems they held a service at the Capitol and no one much came.

I can lift three hundred and forty three pounds over my head, and still, nobody likes me.

Happy New Year!

>It seems they held a service at the Capitol and no one much came.

Dave, there's a CNN link that says "Many pay tribute for Ford"... not exactly over the top. I haven't really been following it, but my first thought is most people are probably wondering if Ford Motor Company has lost their chairman, explaining the year-end sale.

I have a last mystery for the boodle minds at the end of the year. Here are the facts, as they say: Two weeks ago I was in the utility room, not much changed in the 7 years I've been here. I noticed a plastic "holster" for a long lost hand-held vacuum hanging on the wall, about 3.5 ft off the ground. It was filled with pretzel nuggets. Go ahead, read that last sentence again, I am not kidding. Doubting my own mental state I just kept going. I put it down to a joker at an ancient party and made a mental note to clean it out in a year or two.

Yesterday while taking leave of my beloved Hammond M3 as it went off to a good home the guys moving it heard a crunch. We looked underneath and there was a large cache of pretzel nuggets, like half a bag. (We were not in the bag at the time.)

I made no attempt in either case to determine the freshness of said nuggets, but I have bought a couple of bags of these things lately.

I went back to the other nugget stash and found half of them gone.

What kind of force am I up against here?

I can lift...

umm...

what?

Damn!

wait-awaita-wait-a sec i got it... okay

so... anybody seen Dave?

;-)

Dave's not here man.

Oh wait, there's Dave... Of the Coonties!

Public Service Announcement: there's a Marx Bros marathon on Turner Classic Movies. Looks like I'm set for the night.

(bang-bang-bang-bang)

Dude!

It's me, Dave... open da door!

Who?

-----

Not that I've ever found myself in this exact predicament, but I've been involved in a few that were a wee bit similar. Of course there were no illegal substances involved and the passed-out stripper was already there, but...

-----

C'MON MAN! IT'S ME... DAVE!

OPEN DA DAMN DOOR!

-----

What's crazy is that I'm still posting to "On Faith" and trying to maintain my civil demeanor. So far, so good, but I think I just called someone a name.

Nope. Just swore at the screen and posted something respectable. (and even cogent)

Makes me glad the Boodle is here. It's like I can go off and bop an idiot on the head on some other blog and come back here to catch my breath before bopping the next one.

As long as the technocrats in charge of WaPo don't chase me from one blog to the next, should be okay.

And just so the technocrats know... I purchased the WaPo's Crossword Omnibus, Volume 3 (200 Sunday puzzles) -- with real money, mind you -- so if I accidentally tick off some non-revenue-generating yahoo on one of the "other" blogs... :-)

Of course, the print and online divisions aren't really connected (other than through some convoluted LLC based in Tuvalu), so I guess buying a dead tree WaPo title doesn't benefit the digital WaPo, so I guess it don't matter.

But hey... it's the thought that counts.

Right?

Right?

ahem...

nevermind

The Unseen Playmate
From Child's Garden of Verses
RL Stevenson
When children are playing alone on the green,
In comes the playmate that never was seen.
When children are happy and lonely and good,
The Friend of the Children comes out of the wood.

Nobody heard him, and nobody saw,
His is a picture you never could draw,
But he's sure to be present, abroad or at home,
When children are happy and playing alone.

He lies in the laurels, he runs on the grass,
He sings when you tinkle the musical glass;
Whene'er you are happy and cannot tell why,
The Friend of the Children is sure to be by!

He loves to be little, he hates to be big,
'T is he that inhabits the caves that you dig;
'T is he when you play with your soldiers of tin
That sides with the Frenchmen and never can win.

'T is he, when at night you go off to your bed,
Bids you go to sleep and not trouble your head;
For wherever they're lying, in cupboard or shelf,
'T is he will take care of your playthings himself!

I read the WaPo article that said a lot of prominent folks who were invited to Ford's service Sat night didn't show up. I didn't see Rumsfeld or James Baker in the crowd (I watched it on C-SPAN). I suppose a lot of those types will be at the service Tuesday. Lots of regular people paid their respects today, and Jack Ford was there to greet people for awhile, which I thought was nice.

Since I don't get TCM, I'll be watching a broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion on PBS from 10 to midnight. I'm a night owl, but usually on New Year's Eve, I have a hard time staying up. Especially since so many places have already celebrated by the time it gets here.

Squirrels, EF, squirrels.

>Squirrels, EF, squirrels.
yeah, I thought of that but I've never seen any *inside*. I did dispatch something like 9 mice this year though. One of which was on top of the microwave eating my very large Hershey's Almond bar. Some things you just can't forgive.

Did I mention I keep the pretzel nuggets on top of the 'frig???

So, '999', ya think it's.... Harvey?

Mostly, Error, I'll keep you company for the Prairie Home Companion Show.

I'm keeping company with a Guinness and a very nice Montechristo, left on the front porch under a used commandante cap.

Maybe it's payment for the pretzel nuggets.

I've got a $10 Cohiba cheroot I brought back from Mexico, Error, but I have to smoke it out on the porch. Goes passingly well with a tall caipirinha.

'Mudge, you're a man of fine taste and resources. Enjoy!

Oh, and the Iggles won. How 'bout that?

Happy birthday to the ego MANiac ... '007 of course.

Yes, that was some Iggles game. But the real thrill for me was Detroit beating Dallas, which defaulted the Iggles into the League Championship. Detroit, Jeez. A 2-13 team this morning, and they beat Dallas in Dallas (and stopped Romo on the two yard line with 12 seconds to go on a fourth down. Wow). There were four big upsets today (though I think a couple teams don't care and don't weant to risk their best players, like Chicago currently getting thrashed by Green Bay, which should otherwise never happen).

Oooh. Dobro and steel guitar. When's Emmylou gonna play?

And, Gunde, you would be who? to be annoyed by Cassandra, who is much beloved.

Hey - this evening I managed to get the family out of the house! Maybe a real life is on its way! We went to First Night Fairfax and had a wonderful time. We actually saw The Great Zucchini in person.
It was quite the thrill.

Anyway - although I relate much more to Johnny English than James Bond, I'm hoping for a right smashing '007.

Happy New Year, all. Love love, Yoki.

RD, you saw the Great Zuchini? The very one our Gene wrote about?

>The Great Zucchini

Is he related to The Great Pumpkin???

Only greener

Yoki - yep, the very one. I was surprised that he would do a public show given his reported insistence on controlling the environment. Perhaps he has mellowed. Or maybe Fairfax just met his price. In any case, he certainly was charismatic.

(Did I mention I love my Presario laptop? I can sit here and be sociable to my wife and still not have to pay attention to the television. It's like, a dream come true.)

RD,

Can you assign my pretzel nugget problem to one of your gazillion-processor systems from the Presario?

I think if we can understand how pretzel nuggets migrate from a Hammond organ to a plastic wall thingie we'd know a lot more about the universe.

EF - The Presario might not be up to it, bit at work - well, let's just say the sky's the limit.

Well, time to lock up the computer and crack open the champagne. Remember - if you drink, don't boodle. And if you boodle, don't drink.

At least not too much.

Catch you all on the other side.

Yeah, I figured you might be able to remote it... I mean, surely you have simulations which involve woodland creatures, conspiracy, and snack foods.

Must be off-the-shelf stuff by now.

If it helps I have video of the squirrels, groundhogs and bunnies, meeting furtively by the downed apple tree.

Happy New Years to all of our east coast Imaginary friends.

Here I sit at work until our New year arrives. Then I get to say Happy New Years to my coworkers quickly followed by "let's get the H E L L outta here"

Happy New Year!

EF -- how did you find a new home for the Hammond? My aunt has a really nice Kimbal and has tried to donate it to a church, asked to church to help, etc. She just thinks someone would have fun with it, and she does not play. Any ideas? We don't really want to put an ad in the paper saying "free -- "

And did Mo go to New York? I could swear I saw her in Times Square.

Happy New Year to all of us!

Happy New Year my friends. Guess who is here asleep in my bed? The g-girl. Her mother is somewhere partying I suspect. They surprised me after church, and even took me to dinner. It has been an enjoyable day. I hope yours was too.

I sat outside on the porch for about an hour just thanking God for this year, and asking for blessings in the coming year for all. It was sad and there were moments of joy too. Those moments of joy come when one realizes that we have control of absolutely nothing in this life. And we accept Christ and his great love for us, and find our joy and peace in Him.

Guande, thanks for the information concerning the hearing aide, but I have one. My hearing-impairment is quite severe, so many times even the hearing aide doesn't help much. I hope my comments concerning religion help, not offend.

Members of the Achenblog, and Joel, may this year be full of joy, peace, and above all else, love for each and every one of you. Thanks for being a good friend.

God does love us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Happy New Years Boodlers!

I have been on a DVD binge in the past week and Meryl Streep is delightful in Prarie Home Companion. The rest of the movie is flabby and seems much longer than it really is. I listened to the director's commentary and Altman was yawning at the one hour mark.

Happy New Years!

nellie, I put a ad on craigslist.org. Found a guy who's playing in a small jazz group who had one back in the day and appreciated the real thing. And I sold it cheap. Square footage-wise it was expensive for me to keep, and I figured if it broke it'd cost more than it's worth to fix.

It was worth the $$$ just for the cabinet. I'm sure the Kimball would be great for a lot of people, they're just a hard sell these days. I decided I can live with the organ sounds in my digital piano and Mac. They're not the same, but they're good enough. And much easier to move!

Mrdr is watching Heavens Gate which he says is surprisingly good, just not like other movies, more like a series of vignettes. It moves a little slowly for tonite, for sure.

We broke out the bubbly, and we have taken care of it and it's beddie bye time for me (I have not made it to midnite more than once in 15 years), so to one and all I wish the boodle a very Happy new Year from the R household.

New Weingarten.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/27/AR2006122701737.html

Happy New Year indeed!

I survived 2006 and all I got is... well, a lot, actually.

Little Bean loves me.

Mrs. Martooni puts up with me.

I still have a job. A house. Two vehicles that run.

I've acquired more power tools and actually used them.

I also see that I have two nickles, but I'm reluctant to rub them together (wouldn't want to scratch the finish).

And we bought a pot! A pot, I tell you! None of us has "used" it, if you know what I mean, but I'll sleep better knowing we have one if the "need" arises.

Life is good.

Happy 2007, Boodle!

And remember... Super Dang Hippie sez: "Spread the love, man... Spread the love!"

Happy new year, everybody!

2006 was a very good year here, so my wish is that 2007 will be just as good, if not better. My girls happy with great guys, a new car, the mountain place, RETIREMENT!

One of the very nice things about retirement is that I will have time to boodle as much as I like! This is a good thing...I may even have time to check out On Faith, though that sounds somewhat risky, based on what Martooni says...

TBG, hope you're feeling okay now!

Cassandra, enjoy the g-girl!

Martooni, I'm spreading the looove best I can...

My neighbor Eastcoastkid (yes - THAT ONE -from the crazy website) and I like to argue about the Bonds. I pay Roger Moore far less respect than ECK does. ECK seems to want to go so far as saying Sean Connery and Roger Moore are somehow almost tied in first place.

Ptah! It is no contest! Sean Connery IS James Bond. Second place goes to any of the other posers; I don't care. Perhaps the new one.

Ian Fleming tells us that Bond is half Scot on his father's side and his mother Swiss. Bond is solidly middle-class and had no inclination towards social snobbery and poses of class such as Moore always seemed to manifest. Connery had the brogue - who else?

When Bond had to kill, he didn't make a big joke of it: he took some pleasure in it. Connery is intrinsically a serious guy.

I resolve to start calling the receptionist where I work "Moneypenny" again. I can tell she likes it. If there was only a hatrack in there...

Happy New Year! Although it could be argued that the most appropriate way to begin '007 would be a hearty breakfast of green figs and yogurt, I'm opting for peanut butter toast instead. And coffee. Lots and lots of nice, hot, coffee. I am also reading, as is the custom of forward looking Americans everywhere, Hank Steuver's annual column: "The List."

I have done this for many years now. What disturbs me is that the interval between these lists seems to be getting shorter and shorter. Further, the number of items on the list that make sense to me is getting smaller and smaller.

Happy New Year everyone! Happy New Year Joel!

... since Casino Royale is not yet available at the video store, for New Year's Eve, we opted for "Undercover Brother"... a bond-like spoof. VERY funny and entertaining... imagine a chase scene with golf carts. Ironically, James Brown plays an interesting part. Definitely entertaining movie especially on the 100 inch screen. All that was missing was the manfood barbeque!

All the best to the boodle for 2007! Looking forward to much entertainment from the blog machine JA---our clever muse!!

two amusing New Year's resolutions I heard on the Vinyl Cafe (CBC radio) on Sunday afternoon...

1. only buy tomatoes that taste like tomatoes regardless of the cost or don't buy them at all.

2. keep all pencils sharp in the house because it's the only tool you don't pay to have serviced and gives you the chance to work with wood.

I had a resolution I made one year---to always have fresh flowers in a vase--did that one for two years. Mums last the longest!

Good Morning all and Happy New Year.

RD and Martooni great resolutions.

It is an absolutely beautiful morning here, clear blue skies and mild temperatures. The rain is supposed to start AGAIN later but for now it is lovely.

Every year our city has a New Years Festival in a park, we used to live across from it and could what the fireworks at midnight no matter what the weather. This year they moved it to the lakeside park as most of the improveents have been completed there, outside skating rink, discovery centre etc. My oldest had a sleepover and we were going to go since they now have two fireworks displays one at 10:00 and one at midnight, unfortunately it was pouring, I would take very cold and snowing over just above freezing and raining (particularly at the lake). Kids had fun anyways so it didn't seem to be too big a disappointment.

New Years was low key here, went to visit dad in the hospital yesterday afternoon and will go again today before I start work again and can only go on weekends. His heart is doing well, lungs hopefully improving but because he has a tube still to help him breath we are having difficulty determining how much damage was done by the stroke. Can't tell if he is having problems comprehending things or if he is just very low in spirit right now. Took the girls to see him and he perked up a little. He has had 3 CAT scans that are not showing any major problems so hopes for a recovery are high, already he is using his right side significantly more each day.

On a bright sunny morning it is a great start to what I hope will be a bright sunny year for my family and all of yours.

Enjoy.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

I sure have enjoyed reading and posting this past year.

This old poop didn't even make till midnight last night.I was down for the count at 10:30.

Well HNY again to everyone....enjoy college football or whatever you are in to this day.

We're going to follow up on our rockin' New Year's Eve with a rockin' 2007, friends! Unless you prefer something more along the lines of Lawrence Welk. In any case it's going to be a fantastic year. (Yes, I'm fantasizing once again about adding indentation to the blog's arsenal of graphic tricks.)

I hope everyone is off to a great start this morning, or, better yet, is still asleep. I woke as always at 6:30 a.m. with cats demanding food in total disregard of the calendar and my own late-night heroics that included plumbing repairs at 2:15 a.m. So I'm off to a rockin' start.

Apparently the Gerald Ford events are still ongoing and I hear there is talking of starting a new Gerald Ford cable TV channel. All Jerry All The Time.

Happy New Year Boodle!

RD.. sorry we missed you (and the Great Zucchini) at First Fairfax. We were around the corner at that Irish place, where we had dinner with friends and celebrated midnight in Dublin--at 7:00 p.m. We were home before 9:00.

Came home to a house full of seventh-grade girls. No more crank phone calls--all the annoying of boys is done online. Lots of giggles and screams from downstairs. Of course, it's pretty quiet down there right now.

So... good wishes for everyone for 2007. I'm looking forward to another year of great boodling!

Good morning and happy new year to everyone.

I have not had a list of new year's resolutions in a long time, but the rain woke me up in the middle of the night and I put one together.

1. get the pictures of my kids organized instead of stacking CD after CD in a drawer.

2. be strong in my resolve to speak only Spanish to the kids, and make them speak Spanish back to me

3. convince my school district to switch to open source and web-based applications

4. keep track of what's in my fridge and pantry and stop wasting money and food when things go bad

I know I thought of other things, but I forgot them when I went back to sleep.

Happy New Year to one and all!!! :-)

a bea c, good to see you!

Enjoyed all the football yesterday, then had a very sedate NYE, as the GF had to work this morning. We enjoyed some truly eeeee-vil cheese dip last night as we watched the "Twilight Zone" marathon on SciFi, actually saw some episodes for the first time. I was amazed to see SciFi went the whole "DVD extra" route and actually aired Sterling's "next episode" outros, where he often plugged (and smoked) Chesterfields and such...

May all of us have a truly wonderful 2007.

:-)

We always take our dog out to pee in the front yard before turning in. Last night, he went out at midnight with my hubby. A big firework went off overhead at the end of the block (illegal in the city limits but the cops are nowhere to be seen on this holiday), and our hound took off running for his life. When he was a half block away, my husband called him back and he scampered indoors.

He was shaking like a leaf starting at 11:45 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. This morning, when I went out to fetch the morning's paper from our front lawn, our sheltie wodn't leave my side and wouldn't pee--highly unusual. A half hour later--same scenario, then he finally peed in the flower bed, steps from the front door. He's shell-shocked.

And the rockets red glare,
The bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night,
That the same ol' New Years Eve traditions are still there.

Dustin Donica, 22, of Spring, Texas, just north of Houston, was the 3,000th soldier to die in Iraq this past weekend. Have a rockin' 2007, everyone!

Scotty... I found this ad recently and have it framed and in my office. I just love all the cigarette ads that show athletes with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths, clearly airbushed into the picture, for the most part...

http://www.billstuff.com/images/item-549a.jpg

New Year's scene courtesy Boodler BC and Kit-knitter JA:

My fourteen year-old son is in a tiny room with two buddies. I believe they worked their way through Marx Brothers DVDs between 1:30 and 6 AM. Son of CPian is awake and guffawing over JA's book _Why Things Are, Volume II:The Big Picture_.

Two buds are sleeping with mouths slack. They look touchingly like toddler-men. And the whiff of socks adds a real, humus-y undernote.

Last year, they giggled. This year, full-bore guffaw. Men in the House!

Am baking scones, which they will eat not fully aware of the delicacy before them. Am also cooking sausage. Men in the House. Roar.

Happy New Year, everybody! Lovely resolution, SuperDangHippie. I hope to follow your lead, though I'm afraid I'm more likely to accomplish RD's list. Cassandra, I'm glad you've got your granddaughter again, even though it is hard to keep up with that much energy.

We're having a quiet morning here. For the first time we all made it to midnight, where we toasted the New Year with champagne and apple juice, in age-appropriate fashion. As I had already toasted it with a NyQuil capsule, sleep followed soon after. I kept my cold symptoms at bay long enough to sing a splendid Evensong yesterday evening, then the Boy and I went downtown to OKC's Opening Night. Lots of fun for all, including a sighting of Brave Combo, a rockin' sorta polka avant-garde group. The Boy was a dancin' fool. There's a resolution for you -- sometime in 2007, be a dancin' fool. Perhaps best in the privacy of your own home, but still. . . .

Happy New Year to all boodlers near and far!

College Parkian -- I loved your post on secretly plopping bulbs in the ground.

I planted nearly 750 bulbs in Fall '05 at my old place. Many of them were species crocus and naturalizing narcissi of various types. A riotous collage of color that has probably already started (it's 70 degrees here).

I was more than happy to leave them all behind for the neighbors -- mostly very poor elderly women -- they were all enraptured last spring.

To a practiced gardener's eye it was a mess. I got the bulbs from a wholesaler -- they were the "mixed bunch" type of bags -- 250 narcissi of many different varieties all mixed togther -- no way to tell what is what.

The end result was no harmonious to me. Had I stayed there, I had plans to try and make some order of it.

I do hope they aren't stolen when they begin to bloom this winter and spring.

Loomis -- I have the same mixed emotions about the incoming year that you spoke to in your post about the 3000th American casualty in Iraq.

The war is kept on a back burner by the administration and the press.

I was struck over the holiday season by the huge absence of the troops. I did watch TV more than I usually do -- I saw advertisements for Toys for Tots and such -- but nothing advertised for those wishing to send something to Iraq. No drive for big holiday packages for the Americans in uniform. No Big Corporation sponsored advertisement just thanking them.

The 43rd president has told people repeatedly that they can help most by going shopping. I can't help but gasp when I here this.

No New Year's resolutions for me: I decided years ago it was a setup for failure! :-)

Besides, there's isn't much room left for improvement in my life -- I'm close to perfect (cough, splutter, wheeze, choke . . . .:-))

Cassandra -- glad you have the g-girl and had a good New Year's Eve.

dmd -- it sounds as if your dad is on the slow road to recovery. I'm very glad the CT scans didn't find any damage.

dbG -- I know I'm supposed to listen to the BelleRuth Naparstek CD twice a day every day until suregery -- but I can't stand to put it on anymore!!! I'm doing the visualizations in my regular meditation sessions. My surgeon has agreed to let me play the music part of her stuff during the surgery. It plays for any hour -- the surgery is 4 hours -- so I'll get 25% coverage. I'll probably be sick of it by then too -- even in my unconsciuous!! :-)

May everyone enjoy their respective DVDs, Cds, musical instruments, books, gardening (why not?) and other holiday activities.

Well I fell asleep to the Marx Bros and awoke to classic sci-fi. No ill effects - moderation worked just fine. Not a bad start.

I'm not going to jinx it by calling it a resolution, but I did get on the treadmill today for the first time in about a year and half. Felt good. Proceeded to coffee, bacon and eggs, playing with the new Moog and a steady diet of sci-fi on TCM.

Joel, I am extremely impressed you could have a plumbing emergency at 2:15am and still be in good cheer. Rock on.

wow -- a new post drifts in every two hours or so . . . boodlers are actually doing other things.

how quaint.

:-)

Here are a couple of funny websites I found yesterday while the kids were nappining.

http://www.pikipimp.com/

http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/

I'll post my pikipimp result on Flickr later. My superhero quiz said I am 95% Spiderman.

Here are a couple of funny websites I found yesterday while the kids were nappining.

http://www.pikipimp.com/

http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/

I'll post my pikipimp result on Flickr later. My superhero quiz said I am 95% Spiderman.

geez -- sorry for the serial posts. I forgot to comment on the Great Zucchini!

My sister and brother-in-law had hired him for my niece's birthday for the Sunday after Weingarten's article on him.

They had more parents than is the norm stay for the show. All veyr curious about the new media star.

My brother-in-law said he was a total bore, very true to the article, but the kids adored him. I wonder if any life management types have tried an intervention to help the poor guy.

nellie, there was a very funny article by a WaPo writer last year about getting rid of a grand piano. I can't remember who wrote it, and I can't find it online - does anyone else recall it?

a bea c, I loved the Super Hero Quiz!

(start deep metallic synth voice)
I AM IRON MAN!

Thanks for the info, EF. I guess listing the Kimball for a price, even a low price, would keep the really nutty people away. The kind who might respond if you just listed it as "free to a good home."

EF, take the villain quiz at the same site. I wasn't more than 65% of any of them. Kinda sad.

Nelson, if you're sick of it, I'm sure you've internalized it all already.

a bea c: Dang! I wanted to be Rocket J. Squirrel!

Spider-Man 95%
Wonder Woman 62%
Iron Man 60%
Supergirl 57%
Superman 55%
Green Lantern 55%
Batman 50%
The Flash 50%
Robin 45%
Catwoman 45%
Hulk 40%

dbG, I am jealous. I was only 50% Wonder Woman. Must be my "interesting" fashion sense.

As villain I'm The Green Goblin, with Dr. Doom as a close runner-up. I can live with that.

I am either Spiderman or Superman.

I would actually prefer to be Green Lantern or Flash.

Happy New Year, everyone!! I hope y'all have a great one.

Happy birthday wishes to Error and RD. Hope you had/have a good one.

Good luck to you, nelson. I hope everything goes well for you.

I'm 90% Spiderman.

Nelson,

Very quirky that I am planting bulbs in your families "old sod" in the Guerilla-style we both admit to.

I hope all goes well with your surgery. You might like reading or listening on tape to Jean Shinoda Bolen's _Close to the Bone: The Search for Meaning and Life-threatening Illness_. I find this very helpful, always.

I, like you, resist the huge bags of mixed species bulbs. I love the prices but think that the most natural look is when clumps of like-flowers overtake a ridge, lawn, meadow or ditch. Too much mixing of species -- well, a bit riotious.

Still, I never met a flower I did not like, really. In fact, a certain relative by marriage only approves of flowers in subtle colors. So, in defiance, I like to plant rude, vulgar flowers like Zinnia in all the electric shades and sizes....but then, I am bad in that way.

She once said that a rose looked a bit like overblown Shelly Winters with too much lipstick on.....I want such overdone, painted-lady flowers.

My neighbors really like a stand of purple Verbena on a Stick, that grows next to acid yellow Black-eyed Susans. One year I grew chartruese-green and magenta-pink Amaranth whose blossoms like like crocheted dreadlocks. I will have to plan for that again.

Your old neighborhood bears fingerprints of plantings from the last 80 years:
*classic German bearded iris in two tones of purple
*snow crocus in three yards on Wake Forest that carpet the ground with tiny white-lavender-mauve blossoms in late February
*mature lilacs in seven or eight yards that always risk removal by some new owners who think that blooming for ten days out of a year is not worth much (but oh, the fragrance!)
*Paul's Scarlet climber on an old house now home to college students who don't notice this spring harbinger
*spring beauties along the wood's edge
*and Allee of Bradford Pears still charms although these aging trees break in even light thunder storms...

Nelson, are you in CA? Where are you that snow crocus will bloom soon?

mostlylurking, that piano article was by Tom Shroder.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/14/AR2006111400983_pf.html

And kb - I still want to know who edits an article that is written by the editor? It's, like, some sort of existential conundrum.

RD, I would guess Weingarten edited it...what goes around comes around, right? I suppose editors have to be good writers so they have the bonafides to edit. It was a good article.

a bea c, it's the jewelry.

kb, thanks - I can't believe I forgot that Shroder wrote it. So funny - oh, I forgot, I don't have a sense of humor!

CP, I love zinnias - the big, tall ones. I usually go for the reds and purples. When I buy bulbs, I try to keep them all in the same color range. So one year I'll buy red tulips, the next white - since I don't keep good records of where things are already. I don't think there's anyplace prettier than DC in the spring.

Interesting... I'm more Catwoman than Wonder Woman.

*ROFL*

Spider-Man 80%
Superman 60%
Robin 60%
The Flash 60%
Green Lantern 55%
Hulk 45%
Catwoman 45%
Wonder Woman 40%
Batman 35%
Supergirl 35%
Iron Man 25%

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand BIG SURPRISE on the supervillian front:

Mr. Freeze 75%
The Joker 65%
Dr. Doom 57%

Well all I can say in a crisis is don't count on me to battle the villians. Apparently I am too mild mannered.

Superman 75%
Spider-Man 70%
The Flash 55%
Supergirl 53%
Robin 52%
Catwoman 50%
Hulk 45%
Wonder Woman 43%
Green Lantern 40%
Batman 30%
Iron Man 20%

Mostly Lurking: Are you in LA?

I agree, Washington in spring is lovely, lovely.

I adore Henry Mitchell's garden writing. You may already know his books, like _One Man's Garden_.

Like good cooking books, you don't really need to like gardening to enjoy reading them. Wisdom inside. Funny observations about people, dogs, and plants, too.

After I finish with a number of syllabus revisions -- my January 1 ritural -- I will cuddle in bed with seed and bulb catelogs for window shopping and garden-reverie. Will also re-read some Gertrude Jekyll about her fifty-years plus love-affair with plants and nature. Will have vidodin on board since my two broken teeth are still with me, awaiting dental ministrations on Tuesday and Wednesday. This will take loads of money: oh the plants I won't have this summer, in order some teeth to buy!. I am lucky to be in the position to buy some teeth. And zinnia are so cheep! Big, blousey bang for the buck. Three faves are
Envy (Grinch green!)
Violet Queen (electric purple)
Enchantress (magenta on speed)

If more of us planted flowers and knitted, well, the world would be a better place.

Son and I went to pay our respects to Jerry Ford. It was great. I hate to admit that we went because it was so convenient: parked very close to the Capitol; drizzle kept most folks away; nothing open nearby so no traffic.

But I'm very glad I went. I spent two summers interning on the Hill for a House committee and spent a lot of time wandering around the Capitol. It was cool to be back in the rotunda in such a powerful venue.

We got there just as they stopped everything for the very solemn changing of the guard. It meant we were there for almost five minutes instead of only 30 seconds or so.

I was very touched to see that his coffin looked just like my dad's did: draped with an american flag (Dad was a veteran and any vet is provided a flag for the coffin by the VA).

But if Weingarten were the editor, surely someone would have noticed all that maniacal laughter.

On a lighter note, am I only 15% Catwoman because I don't wear a pushup bra?

Spider-Man 70%
Superman 60%
The Flash 50%