JA;

Yep, most of 'em seem to be.

And many thanks, BTW.

:-)

Reposting from last Kit. Reference to topic was plagiarism. I will post to this sad story separately.

Late as usual -- this is what happens when I actually do some work. Staying doggedly off topic as all has been said. More than once.

Have a great time, Mudge, it sounds like a wonderful plan.

I've sung the first two rounds of solo carols this season, correctly remembering all the words to "Twelve Days of Christmas". I sing it only once a year, for a special friend who is allowed to request it. I go to her store and sing a couple of carols each year, as a present. This year for the first time the Boy joined me in song. We did a duet and he did a brief solo. I was very pleased; I didn't know he had any interest in singing until this year, as he has steadfastly refused to sing around me. If I can figure out how to do it, I'll get "O Holy Night" recorded sometime and post it. Ivansdad will have to help as I am technically challenged.

PLS, go and enjoy. As an Episcopalian who sang for Catholics for years (and never got to take communion) I understand your objections. However, the music should be good, the incense should smell nice, and the Catholics do the best parades (depending on the importance of the church there may be some great hats). Despite her possible flaws, your MIL did produce your husband and loves your daughter, so gets some points. Also, less charitably, she's getting old and this is one of the few avenues of family control left to her. You can afford to graciously cede to her wishes, which makes you look like an even better DIL.

'mudge - that's unA cerveza (beer is female don'tchaknow!)

BPH was soooooo much fun! can we have one every week? loved that we had new faces! someone made an interesting comment - when wilbrodog stands up to give wilbrod a hug, he's as tall as she is! (sorry wilbrod that i riled up wilbrodog, but i love that pup!) and again i managed to embarass a few people away from the bph - bc and i were in rare form last nite, but that tim was stealing the show!!! (remember, it's all about his ....)

PLS - i'm a recovering catholic - my mom tried to make me a c&e catholic but has since given up - my tactic was to go (since i was being dragged) but not do any of the rituals, kneel, take communion or sing (like Yoki - i agree completely, i think it's hypocritical!) (but i did do the handshake, peace be with you thing, cuz what can be wrong with wishing someone peace?) plus it's xmas mass so all the songs will be xmas songs and, like everyone else said - catholic xmas masses are very entertaining and colorful... (esp if they have little kids doing the child in the manger story)

Cannibalism. Again with the cannibalism.

That Billy Graham story is very sad. I find it really repugnant that the son would try to impose what he wants rather than listen to the parents. When mom first got sick we tried really hard to get her to tell us everything she would like it the worst were to happen. As much as possible we wanted to know that at the end she would be honoured in the manner that was important to her, you would think a man claiming to be an Evangilist would think not of himself but of his parents.

This is why I have left careful instructions regarding the disposition of my earthly remains. Modest pyramid. Low-BTU eternal flame. The occasional ritualistic sacrifice of a virgin chicken. You know, nothing weird or excessive.

Back to the Kit. It really is a sad situation, because it involves where actual, living people will be buried upon what may be a relatively imminent death. Most of us take for granted our own ability to make this choice, assuming we care about a final resting place and have the foresight to decide it in advance. I find truly shocking the Library faction's apparent ease in disregarding Ms. Graham's explicit, longstanding and clearly expressed wishes. Part of me wants to raise that old bugaboo feminism, and wonder if she would be so easily ignored if it weren't "just Mom". I think that is probably not right; it sounds more as if this is really a business decision. In lieu of some other tangible memorabilia, the promoters will have the Bodies of the Great Ones Themselves for display. There's a theme park for you: talking cows and dead people. I don't see where true worship and humility come into play, and as I understand it that's what really is supposed to characterize Mr. Graham.

In other Christmas news: 'the Army will press hard for "full access" to the 346,000-strong Army National Guard and the 196,000-strong Army Reserves by asking Gates to take the politically sensitive step of easing the Pentagon restrictions on the frequency and duration of involuntary call-ups for reservists'.

Which country is the National Guard supposed to be guarding? Somebody needs to stop these people from throwing more of our friends and family under the bus. Does this sound like we're winding down? With all his talk about spreading democracy it'd be nice if Mr. Bush learns what it is, and what you should do when the people have spoken in your own country.

Mo, you're right about the height.

As a pup he learned to stand on his hind legs because I wanted to break his irregular jumpy habit or at least make sure he would never hit a person at full impact if he did while he was learning not to do that.

Well he was bugging me at work once, turned out I had a headache which he was noticing, and I got up and then he stood up on his hind legs and looked me right in the eye-- 3 inches from my face, I jumped back a bit, and then he nuzzled me on the cheek.

Wasn't the last time he stood up to nuzzle me on the cheek, but that first time really took me aback. He's out of practice and a bit heavier now, so he doesn't balance as reliably anymore.

I'd say I have an inch on him, though ;).

PLS - You must do what you feel is right, of course. But in an extended family sometimes you need to pick your fights carefully. Whenever the rationale for a decision degenerates to an amorphous "principle" it is probably a good idea to step back and think things through. In my opinion, it is okay to violate one's idealistic principles in the pursuit of family harmony.

RD, I like the pyramid & flame, but how will they tell whether the chicken is virgin? You're just asking for fraud, here, all in the name of memory and worship (I'm assuming that your descendants will revere you as a god).

I loved the NYT review, as it gave me an excellent excuse not to buy the book (OR read it). I didn't even like the last "Hannibal" book, and the reviewer hit the nail on the head -- too little mystery, too much information. Also, too much gore relative to wit. I don't mind gore, but I prefer it in service to a larger goal.

Is there some meta-theme here? (a) The distortion of Graham's ministry and life for business and entertainment purposes (a talking cow?), combined with (b)the deterioration in wit and mystery of a major character in popular fiction, replaced with explicit violence and horror designed for easy filming and swifter book sales?
No, probably not. Sorry. I've been synthesizing concepts lately and can't seem to stop.

It seems, to my disinterested and irreligious eyes, that money is having its traditional corrupting influence on the Graham family. Money and power. The children have become so familiar with wielding influence that their father has earned, that they forget that their ministry is not supposed to be about them, or even about Dad or Mom. Is there anything about the unified BGEA that makes it more effective in proselytizing than if the organization were broken into all its many component parts? Give it away. I would argue that they should reduce themselves to nothing and start from zero, but that's too much to expect from persons who have become used to the comforts of commanding enormous wealth. But perhaps the kids should reduce themselves to private persons of modest affluence and give all the rest away to create thousands of small independent ministries. The single guiding hand that is supposed to keep them all on track is not the hand of Man, or of any particular man, if I understand Christian tenets sort of rightly. If the cause is just, then it shouldn't take a Billy Graham, or a Franklin Graham, or a Ned Graham, or a talking cow, to keep it going. As it is, it's a cult of personality, born of Billy, midwifed by Franklin, and Franklin is its priest. Idolatry in the purest form.

A fortress has breastworks.
Billy Graham and cannablism. What breadth.
How about a H.L. Mencken Crabshack at Billyland to feed the multitudes?

I read that Graham piece and thought to myself: "Holy Cow!"

Seriously, the Graham family story is sad (I don't mean the WaPo Graham family) but familiar. They don't seem to be better or worse than any other family; they just have greater resources than most.

Joel asks: "A comment about comments in general: Is it really possible that so many people are as rancorous and snippy and mean-spirited as they sound?"

One of the interesting thing about comments is that most people will write things in comments that they would never say in public. So, are people rancorous, snippy, and mean-spirited as they sound in comments? In truth, I think so. Most of the time we just keep it in here [bc pats himself on the heart] where it *counts*. It's those keyboards and mice and broadband that are the Devil's workshop.

I read "Red Dragon" 25 years ago or so, and it remains one of the scariest books I've ever read, and "Silence" wasn't too far behind it.

Now, Hannibal Lecter has been reduced to a metaphor for America. How scary is *that*?

I should add that Harris' "Black Sunday" wasn't bad either, and features what I think is the first fictional account of a terrorist attack on the US.

bc

joel: i am available (24-7-365) for an interview and i'll give you a half-off holiday discount on the million dollar advance.

Here's what stood out to me in the Graham article: Billy Graham is "a man who was faithful and who communicated it simply." Obviously, that particular trait didn't carry on with Franklin. I also read a few of the outraged comments, but gave up, sighing. Some people just don't get that Christians come fully equipped will all the standard human frailties such as greed, pomposity, etc.

It seems to me that if we could somehow bring 'Billy Graham and cannibalism' closer together, the issue of what to do with the Mrs. would more or less solve itself.

"Fre-ed! Looks like we've got an eater!"
"I'll get the oven on."

I'm feeling a bit peckish, myself.

Bc, people ARE that meanspirited but they normally keep it zipped long enough to learn otherwise (we hope).

Snap judgments are rarely useful or correct, but internet seduces us into regurgiating our first impulses.

Just the first page of the comments-- well it was a LOT kinder than the response to Fernandes's resignation. Such vitrol.

I don't expect the WaPo will be covering the new president, even though he is THE most highly qualified person in America for that job-- deaf and hearing alike.

Fernandes simply insulted all deaf peoples' abilities when she said she was the only one who was perfectly qualified for the job in spite of low to no support from her underlings.

Now, she has left behind a LOT of damage to undo. I think chances are it will be undone at long last, but unfortunately thanks to the WaPo reporting, this incident is going to have legs for a while.

My darling angel is at the age where she's a walking tape recorded (she does a pretty good "Holy Moley" a la Steve Martin). Occassionally, she misunderstands, or twists things just a bit. Lately, she's been saying "Gracious Goodness!" I think she's onto something there -- something the Grahams might want to spend some time pondering.

So--is EVERYBOODLER going to miss the parallels between the Graham family and another famous American family in the news?
THAT is the connection the kit was obviously making between the Graham family and the Thomas Harris character (worthy of a graduate thesis at the University of What's Happen' Now).

I need to clarify that terrorist comment: I think it's one of the first fictional accounts of terrorists who have ties to the middle east operating in the United States.

Obviously, many other writers have depcited terrorist attacks on US soil prior to 1975. Ayn Rand, for example.

At some point over the life of the Boodle, I'd written my own dream funeral. Should I try to find it and repost?

bc

Viking funeral, with barechested maidens in face and body paint crying and lamenting as they wave torches to see your boat sent off?

Wait, I think that's Mudge's funeral.

http://www.amazon.com/Serve-Man-Cookbook-People/dp/1880448823/sr=8-12/qid=1166034770/ref=sr_1_12/105-2652790-6660406?ie=UTF8&s=books

The perfect present for Lecter and Dahmer???

Um, I didn't specify the barechested maidens, Wilbrod, but hey, if you insist, I won't argue. No doubt 'ol Mudgie would subscribe to that program as well.

Joel used this as part of his "Your Small Thoughts" Kit from this past March. I corrected some punctuation and spelling errors from the originally post. IIRC, we were discussing Dads and out legacies:

"Dads (being a subspecies of men) are tough to communciate with in general. We're tougher to communicate with when we're absent for decades at a time (see mine). I'm not sure what I'd want for a funeral, myself (see what I mean). I've thought a Viking funeral would be kinda cool, make a pyre on a boat, put my body on top of it, douse the whole thing in 112 octane CAM2 (racing gas has a very distinctive smell), and push the whole thing out to sea, let everybody shoot flaming arrows at it until it lights (my money is on my brother, who's been a bow hunter for 20+ years, though I won't discount my wife's high degree of motivation). Knowing my family, they'll dress me in the Darth Vader outfit when they do it, which will be fine because a: I'm dead, what the hell am I gonna do about it anyway, and b: I get it. Play Joe Satriani's 'Flying in a Blue Dream' really loud as the whole thing burns to the waterline (preferably at sunset - I guess we'll have to do this on a western facing shoreline), serve plenty of good food and drink while everybody talks about a: what a dick I was, and b: the many stupid but amusing things I did."

Y'know, I stand by that.

bc

I'm pretty sure bc's funeral plans have something to do with coconuts.

Hmm...letsee--the parallels between a son's devouring his father's legacy and an author devouring his own mystique by taming his cannibal?

And add a famous family, presumably a father-son dynamic in which son, enjoying the benefits of his father's legacy, then destroys all his father tried to do and then starts destroying his own bungled attempts at a legacy by destroying his support base?

Hmm, sometimes a cigar is a cigar, not an oepedial complex. But I think we can see the parallels if we choose to do so.

finally read the article on graham - i don't get televangelists... i think the whole thing is a bunch of hooey - like televised wrestling - all smoke and mirrors and made up... well... hooey! but graham does seem to be less full of hooey than, say, bakker - (whose tattooed and pierced son is coming out with a reality show starting tonite on the sundance channel about his "alternative" ministry... ummmm... okkkkkkkkkk)
but a talking cow? CHEESY!! (hehehehe)

After last night, I'm sure he has revised his funeral plans slightly, yes.

(BTW Mudge, he complimented me on my imaginary coconuts and didn't get slapped. One of those days you're gonna have to miss the bus and let somebody take you home, I tell you...)

wilbrod - did you have to bring up the cigar??????

Posted by:|

Glad to see someone finally translated that book from the original Kanamit.

Damon Knight would be proud.

bc

Thinking of pyramid-with-flame, there were a lot of competing proposals for the Lincoln Memorial. John Russell Pope (who designed the graceful National Gallery building) had several ideas, one of them a sort of pyramid emitting smoke, like a funeral pyre. Fortunately, a truly brilliant design by another architect was adopted.

We do have a Holy Land theme park in Orlando. I haven't visited.

Snippy comments? I assume that someone will connect me to anything I write online.

yeah wilbrod - the bphs do get slightly more... um... shall we say "r" rated the later it gets... tbg even caught ME blushing!

SCCs: You know where they are.

bc

Oh yeah, Mo. There was this guy next to the BPH who shared a LOT of secondhand cigar smoke with us. That may have contributed to my buzz later at night after he finally left.

Or did you mean something totally unrelated to Freud or the Bushes? In that case, IMO some people need to look up the definition of "keeping things private."

Quite a few of you have already expressed my feelings about the Graham family problems. I'm a very lapsed Catholic, a northerner and a bit of a cynic, so I never *got* the whole Billy Graham thing. They all sound like snake oil salesmen to me, although I know, in the case of Billy Graham, that's an unfair assumption. I have seen his son Franklin being interviewed somewhere in the last few years and he sure did come across as a phony. Again, IMHO. So nothing in this article surprised me, but it did sadden me. A talking *cow* who tells children that she is the source of milk, gee, I'm sure the little ones will be amazed to learn that.

As for Hannibal, the best scares are the ones that have a lot of mystery. Look at the shower scene in Psycho, you never see the knife pierce her skin. And it takes about half of Jaws before we even see the shark. IMHO Harris is just after the money.

Mudge, have a wonderful trip, I hope you have better weather than I did when I went there years ago.

Peter Boyle died last night. He was 71.

If you're blue and you don't know
where to go to why don't you go
where fashion sits
Puttin' on the Ritz
Different types who wear a day
coat pants with stripes and cutaway
coat perfect fits
Puttin' on the Ritz
Dressed up like a million-dollar trooper
Tryin' hard to look like Gary Cooper (super duper)
Come let's mix where Rockefellers
walk with sticks or um-ber-ellas
in their mitts
ARRRR NARHRRG GAARRFLL

It's a shame to see the family squabbling in public over this and Franklin does sound like a bully (seeing that the siblings are afraid to pi$$ his off or lose funding for their respective charities), but I think funerals and burials are for the living, not the dead.

What do I care where I'm buried? I'll be dead. I won't really be there.

(I guess if I thought that Franklin wants his folks buried in Charlotte to keep them close by, rather than to be used as a fundraising attraction, I would be more sympathetic to him.)

My grandparents are buried in a collection of family plots in a beautiful cemetery on the border of DC and PG County. There were extra plots secured for my parents and my aunts and uncles. It was a great location when my dad's family lived over there. But my parents moved us to Fairfax in 1960. We've been to my grandparents' graves when they were buried. No other time that I can ever remember.

I used to ask my parents, "Why do you want to be buried all the way over there?" My mom would say that she didn't care where she was buried--she'd be dead. What would she know? They were paid for and available, so that was that.

When she was dying, we talked with my dad about buying burial plots in Fairfax in the beautiful cemetery that's just moments away from where I live now--and even closer to where I grew up. It didn't take much to convince him to do just that. We buried Mom there and Dad visited her every week, telling me, "I went to see Mother today." (I would often ask what she had to say and he'd chuckle and say, "Not much.")

Now they are buried there together and I drive by it nearly every day. For some reason it comforts me to know that they are close by. I know it's not really *them* but I like being able to stop by to "see Mom and Dad" when I feel like it--on the way to Costco or to get gas, not a special trip to the cemetery. My kids drop by to visit the graves when they feel like it.

My mom had no idea that we were burying her close by. She made it clear that she didn't want to talk about her impending death but I think she would have like to have known that we didn't send her out to the faraway cemetery.

mo, here's a story on Bakkers son, I would take what he preaches over his father in a heartbeat. The difference to Grahams son is quite refreshing.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/12/13/apontv.onepunkundergod.ap/index.html

Oh, the jokes are nowhere blue enough to be R. Serious PG-13 maybe, with Hollywood's declining standards of taste.

We mustn't give the world the impression we retell blue jokes or have "Aristocrats" contests. Although Tim tried to come up with "Adult entertainment" names.

(Name of first pet + street you lived on), which turned out to be boring, since not many people give their pets porn star names.

Would you call someone who made a positive decision to leave the Catholic Church a prolapsed catholic?

Re: Hannibal

I agree that reading a book on how he came to be is time expended that could be put to better use. It will intersting to see how this one sells.

To Wilbrod
What story what legs? The Post covered a series of demonstartions of interest to DC hearing people becaue it tied up the public safety resources of a city that could have (in my veiw) put them to far better use. Demonstrations ended, end of story no legs.

dmd - that was a pretty good article! and yes, a much better influence than his father!

wilbrod - yes, THAT is the cigar i was talking about - in the terms of "keeping things private"

Bokko, you beat me to that sad note about the late Mr. Boyle.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/13/AR2006121300843.html

I note that Boyle's portrayal of Raymond's father is described as "curmudgeonly."

ARRRR NARHRRG GAARRFLL, indeed.

bc

bc

Now see, it could be interesting if it started something like: "Thursday, June XX, 19XX: decided to stop vacillating and eat somebody. Why not truly savor life, I say. I have arranged for routine milk delivery. The fellow that delivers to the neighbors seems like he should be well-marbled, but firm. Memo to self: I simply must go to that specialty market down town. I am told that they have excellent truffles."

My p0rn name would be Muppet White (first pet) or Tubby Oak (second pet).

That's good. However the news of Fernandes' resignation led to a lot of initial comments I found very disturbing about Gallaudet itself, some people apparently thought she shouldn't have resigned. The percussions for Gallaudet will last a while.

Exactly, that's going to draw in the crowds to watch you, Omni.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear. I think I may have given my first pet a porn star name.

Wilbrod is just resentful due to having a *really* unextraordinary "adult entertainment" name. It was practically respectable, maybe even prissy. I, on the other hand, am LeChat Orion -- anagrammed by Wilbrod as Chant Oriole, which isn't bad.

I cannot take credit for introducing the topic of adult entertainment names -- it was going on down at the end of the table with maggie o'd, Raysmom, and TBG. I don't know who started the topic.

My Professor Poopypants name is (let me see if I can recall correctly): Lumpy Livernose. Or was that ScienceKid #1? The ScienceSpouse is Fluffy Barfchunks.

Yoki's pet reminds me of the one of the first (semi)dirty jokes I ever heard.

The punchline involved the protagonist running naked down the street calling for her pets: "Freeshow! Seymour!"

Its very sad reading about the Graham family. Makes me sure that what my grandmother did is right. Give all your assets away before you die. Mind she was not blessed well with assets, and she was not famous, so it was easier and it was planned on, passed on paid out when everyone knew she was in her right mind.

Read the Graham article. Very, very sad. So much for "Honor thy Mother and Father".

Oddly enough, my mother (at age 52 and in good health) has very detailed instructions about her burial, funeral service, etc., written out in her desk drawer. Right down to who the pall bearers should be and what hymns to play. Or I guess it's not odd considering that she lost her parents at age 35 and 38, and her husband at age 41. I would never deviate from her wishes, and I would hope my children would respect mine as I get older...

Billy Graham is cool - honest, believable, self effacing, real.

His son is another bible selling scumbag who wouls actually use his father's and mother's graves to make money.

Isn't that a disgusting shame?

I just hope that Ray Romano, Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks all have prominent roles in Peter's farewell.

As long as they're invited, of course.

:-)

Yes, RIP, Peter Boyle. Holy crap.

I think the saddest sentence in the entire Billy Graham piece (great reporting by Stepp, BTW), was the one that said Graham "hates confrontation," and that given all this (impressive, IMHO) input by Cornwell, his own wife, and Ned, the best the man could do was be noncomittal and "pray on it." The &^%$#*&% doesn't even have enough *&^$ backbone to stand up to his own son, stick to a lifetime of his own principles, and give his own wife the burial she has all but begged for. To me he is a fording coward who has no damn spine, I don't give a damn about his religious views. Ruth wants to be buried at the Cove, she gets the Cove. He can pray all he wants; it's apparently not doing him a damn bit of good. When it came to hobnobbing with presidents and heads of state, I always thought he was an ---kisser then, and he's an ---kisser now. "Hates confrontation," my ---. The man won't stand up for his own dying wife. I don't have one ounce of respect for him.

Maybe it's prayer, not patriotism, that is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

PLS, my grandfather was like your mom, he had seven pages detailing his funeral. When he died the family did their best to fulfill his wishes, unfortunately for him, he outlived many of the people he wanted to conduct his funeral. My grandpa was a funny guy, and very much wanted to share what he had equally with his children and grandchildren. As there were so many grandchildren he wanted us to state what we wanted. I remember several times the first question out of his mouth after the hellos was, what do you want when I die, go look around and pick something. (he lived another 17 from the time I remember him first saying that.

Mudge - I heart you!

I'm gonna stray off-topic here (wha?).

Remember back in 2004 when the half of America who voted for George Bush complained that the other half thought the Bush voters were stupid?

What do they think now? Do you supposed any of them are saying, "Well... gollleeee gee... maybe you were right." ?

I told Tim my p0rn star name would be Lady Pierson.

Now, a more fun game would be burlesque names:

1) Use a cute alliteration to a ethicity/regional background

2) Select a flower that now grows in your backyard (or when you had one).

3)
WOMEN: choose a simple, monosyllablic name/word ending with a vowel as (Lee, Mo, May, Ray, Bee, Zee, etc.)
MEN: Choose either a two-syllable alcoholic name (Shandy, Rummy..)

OR pluralized one syllable word/name such as Fats, Slims, Studs, Grogs, Beers, etc.

For instance, I might choose for myself:

Wild West Fuschia May

Mo: Panamian Dahlia Mo

Tim: Indy Rose Tells...

With more choice, it's harder to play, but the names should be more... unique.

My pornstar name would be Ming Wyoming (a Siamese cat, and Wyoming Avenue, Philly). The pathetic thing is... I kinda like it.

Yeah but he's old Mudge.

I have seen it in my dad, mrdr's dad, and all my slough of grandparents, that the older you get the lower your tolerance level is, for all the things that you hated to deal with when you are younger. If you spent a life time avoiding certain kinds of things, you will be doubly so when you are really old. If you spent a lifetime fighting back, you will be doubly so.

Knowing this, and knowing my personal propensity for putting up with no bs, and a utter incapacity for keeping my civil toungue still in my head, I fear for my little corner of the world when I am old. Its not going to be pretty. I hope they give me pills.

Sorry, Wilbrod, but Southern Orchid Smelly just does not work for me.

bc

It's a cute almost-rhyme, too, Mudge.

The thing is, calling that name repeatedly would probably make everybody crack up and filming would never get done.

BC, you did it wrong.

Yours should be:

Redneck Magnolia Julep

(If generically named orchids ever grew in your backyard, I want to see that backyard, BC.)

Well, I know he's old, dr, and I'm already making allowances for that. But the key was he has always hated confrontation, not just now that he's old. If he once showed a backbone, I'd cut him some slack--in fact, a lot of slack. But that's my point--this is a guy who spent his entire life just trying to suck up approval from everybody, god included. I don't especially like confrontation either, but sometimes you just gotta stand up and say, OK, enough's enough.

Seriously, is there anyone on this boodle who doesn't think Ruth should be buried where she herself clearly wants? Or that the son, Franklin, is a slimebag? That the Charlotte thing is, indeed, a tacky joke (if not an actual defamation and insult to to the very religious people if professes to honor)? No, this thing is a dead straight no-brainer. And the "great" Reverend Graham STILL can't make up his mind. I see it as a character flaw he's had from Day One. It'd be nice to say, "OK, he's getting Alzheimer's, he's loosing it, he can't process anymore." But there was no indication of that. Jeez, I was HOPING there'd be that "out." But it just wasn't there. The man is still what he always was.

Unfortunately.

Maybe so, Wilbrod, but I think mine was funnier.

All right let me try again: Yonder Tulips Wanda.

bc

P.S. Please note that I refrained from using any references to the South Pole or Down Under in the creation of this name. I'll leave that kinda stuff to Mudge.

Okay, Tim is correct, I'm groaning because that name game sucked.

I just wish to state for the record that I did NOT pick the name "Lady". I wanted Autumn. Apparently my parents thought I could say the dog's name if it was someting simple like "Lady".

Well, I trained that dog to come by blowing a raspberry at her. She liked it just fine.

So Pffft Pierson is more accurate. Using other nicknames, that'd make

Flearug Pierson
Tramp Pierson
Garbage disposal Pierson

Again, not really good p0rn star names. I was not a very sickly sweet child.

BC, I like that-- breaking the rules a bit again, but heck, Burlesque is about breaking the rules of common decency for a good joke;).

My Adult Entertainment name would be "Pepper West." I like it so much I may change my handle here.

i keep hitting the worty dird filter! let me try this again...

actually wilbrod, it would be panamanian w33d mo... or sp!c w33d me... better than my p0rn name - toto rose hill...

Go wild, Pepper West.

hmmm... apparently sp!c is a worty dird... i kept thinking it was weed...

Now, a w--d is just a wildflower that grew where it wasn't wanted. Unless it's crabgrass.

Panamanian Wildflower Mo?

yoki - spill the beans - what was the name??

Panamanian Crabgrass Mo? (HEY!)

Have good vacation Curmudgeon.

Aw, jeez. One more troublemaker: "Is America a Christian Nation?" on the Post homepage. http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/r_albert_mohler_jr/2006/12/a_distinction_with_a_differenc.html

Don't any of these *&^$%# "people of faith" understand the meaning of the "He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind" line? That "Christian Nation" debate cannot possibly lead to any good for anybody. None. Zero. It's just poking a stick at the tiger in the cage at the zoo. And it doesn't matter a whit which side you're on. Jeez.

"Ming the Merciless," I like it, Mudge.

Gotta admit, while the Graham article was very well written, I just can't get my dander up about their problems. Some people can obviously put a price on dignity, some won't.

bc

Mudge, I think there actually was reference to Parkinson's in the article. Parkinson's can do dreadful things to the mind too (as I'm sure you are aware). Watching my grandfather's slow decline due to Parkinson's was awful. So it's entirely possible that the reason Rev. Graham cannot make up his mind is just that - he is unable to make up his mind.

I know of a purebred who has AKC papers saying his name is something like "Foursome's My Little Giglio".

("Foursome" would be the kennel name.)

The dog is NOT called any part of that name at all.

(actually i don't have a backyard - never did - i'm a city dweller apt girl)

Off-topic (why not?) but when I got home last night Food Network had a show on food in Portland, Maine. They showed a lobster stew (lotsa lobster, butter, cream, evaporated milk) that made me so hungry I had to scarf down half a bag of chips to compensate. I found their website in case anyone wants to (further) harden their arteries: www.mainelobsterdirect.com

Then in the nearest park, whatever. You grew up in NYC?

Mudge, I just avoid the Tower of Babble (aka OnFaith and comments); the Web is not a good place for discussions on faith and religion.

See my 12:55 comment about Joel's comment about comments.

bc

nope - northern virginia (not to be mistaken with southern virginia which really should be another state)

NoVa Spiderwort Lee?

pepper pepper pepper (you vixen you) - that sounds like a kung fu masters name!

NoVa Spiderwort Leigh then?

Completely and utterly off-topic, tonight's the peak for the Geminid meteor showers. I watched a for a little while during MNF (saw two), and last night was too cloudy to see anything.

Viewing starts at around 9 PM with the best viewing between midnight and dawn.

Just thought some of you may want to know.

bc

I confess that it was I who brought up the stripper name thing. I can't imagine why. Usually I am very serious and above-the-fray. It did make for some hilarious pictures in my mind though.

I enjoyed meeting everyone and putting names, faces, and handles together. And I think that the stripper names do add another dimension to all you multi-talented boodlers!

I suspect that the "hates confrontation" bit is a bit overblown. I don't think anyone could construct such a gigantic organization without having to deal with confrontation. Perhaps it's more that he hates abruptness in handling his confrontations, because it solidifies positions and prevents compromise.

The choice is not between his wife and his son. That's easy, you choose your wife. The choice that Rev. Graham is avoiding is the choice between his wife and the gigantic industry that he has constructed around the cause that consumed his life. He put that industry into the hands of his son (or allowed it to happen). Now, he is put in the position of choosing between his wife and the caretaker of his life's work.

Of course, he doesn't have to choose a danged thing for his wife. She has made her choice, and she apparently has left no doubt that she doesn't see her husband's decisions as superseding that choice. It's up to him whether he wants to be buried at the same place that she chose for herself. And, of course, given that her health appears to be even worse than his, it's up to him whether he will honor a dying woman's sacred last request.

The funny thing is the nuns drove me from Catholicism and Billy Graham finished the rest of the job. All they can tell is who signed up, because they never find out about those who ran the other way.

The "On Faith" series is fairly absurd. No point in wading into that mess.

I forgot to add that I may follow Raysmom lead and change my name to Brownie Westwood; I think that will add a certain je ne sais quoi.

Hmm. Didn't know that about Parkinson's PLS. If that's the case, then I'll reverse myself a bit, and cut him some slack. But I still think the whole "hates confrontations" thing still stands, along with my opinion of him being a general suck-up.

But if he's degenerated to the point that he cannot, indeed, make a decision, then OK. He gets a pass this time, and it's my bad. Don't know if that makes the story even sadder or not.

The name was "Sassy Patches"

In my defence, I was four years old, it was my first kitten, and I didn't know porn stars from black holes.

Mo, there are a ton of flowers in NoVa.
violets
fuschia (yellow flowers)
Thyme-leaved speedwell
harebells
lilac-in-the-valley
grape hyacinth
lemondrop mint
roses of all sorts
Magnolias (star, laurel bay, etc.)
Mayapple (grows in woods)
Spring beauty (pale white-pink striped flowers, very tiny-- grows next to creeks and other soggy places)

And of course Dogwood is the state flower of VA.

So I vote Panamanian Dogwood Mo!

I think Graham's refusal to be drawn into the squabbling indicates the depth of his character, wisdom and faith. He--unlike his shallow, unintelligent son, Franklin--knows when to speak and when to be silent. I believe he will be eventually be buried, with his wife, in the peaceful place that she prepared for the purpose. And I predict that Franklin will, unless he mends his ways, end in either infamy or obscurity.

...switching to another topic...

"Rena Eureka," I don't know, it's just not...me. It's not a bad P0rn name, though.

Yoki, cute name! That's better than Fluffy, especially combined with "Longwood".

Mo, I had to collect 50 different flowers for my AP bio class-- I found 51 and that was passing up flowers growing in no-pick areas, such as phlox, which grows at Great Falls Park. Those trees with the light purple flowers growing in long chains around DC are Wisterias.

But I think the flower for you to remember is:
"When lilacs last in the door-yard bloom'd,
And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night,
I mourn'd--and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring..." (Whitman poem on Lincoln's death).

http://www.bartleby.com/142/192.html

I don't know if it's Goth enough.

Thanks to this poem, I always remember that lilacs will bloom around early April in this area.

Yoki I love Sassy Patches.

I didn't live the right life. "Lightning Eddy" would be a better handle for a pool shark or a minor mob member than a p0rn star, alas...

I would be "cleo northshore" somehow I don't think that would work. Burlesque might be better Irish Peony Rae.

Running for the bus. See you guys again when I get to warm, sunny Me-he-co.

"this is a guy who spent his entire life just trying to suck up approval from everybody, god included. " Hmmm, Mudge, I never thought of it that way, but yeah I can see your point. The idea of a need to suck up to god puts a whole different filter on a life. It makes me wonder about what drives the rest of them. In a bad lot (tv evangelists don't score highly with me) he was better than most.

You know these questions should always be talked about with beverage. By all parties inlcuded in the debate. I'm sure out there in the wide world is an old timey saying about how there ain't nothin wrong with a fella that a little drink couldn't cure. It might have been Festus. It sounds like something he'd say.

OK, I'm here late. Two comments: The comments to the excellent Billy Graham article aren't near as bad as the ones that follow David Broder, Harold Meyerson, or Eugene Williams. You want to take a shower after reading most of those.
As for Hannibal, I am ashamed that I not only read (actually, listened on tape) the book but saw the movie. It epitomized the concept of gratuitous violence. I was fascinated in the way one is when watching the aftermath of a car wreck. I am scum, I know.
Back to work. Cheers.

A propos nothing, y'all know this website, right?

www.aldaily.com

i like hairball... er... harebell...
panamanian hairball mo... *snicker*

awwwwww yoki - sassy patches is a cute name for a kitten - (and an even better p0rn name!)
i think my current pet/street would be better than toto rose hill... i'd be aristotle manchester

hmmm... still doesn't do it...

I had a friend whose cat was named Mr. Porter. It was a great name, but you'd have to know the cat to see why.

The Billy Graham story is local to me, of course. I can't say I've ever been a fan; I never attended a crusade. OTOH, Billy has always struck me as a person of integrity, quite unlike Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. Now THEY were the standard sleazy entertainment around here for years and years. It's amazing that any faith survived that corrupt circus.

I never quite got Franklin Graham and the Samaritan's Purse thing. Filling shoeboxes with goodies and shipping them to children abroad is good for what...? I have to assume the organization has other worthy programs it doesn't publicize quite so much. (Come to think about it, haven't heard that they are doing it this year...)

Yes, it's a sad story. I hope Ruth gets her way. They belong in the mountains, where they made their home. I think I'll pass on visiting the library, or whatever it is. The only time I go that way, anyhoo, is when I'm headed to or from the airport and I never have time to stop on those occasions.

I was wondering when you'd chime in, Slyness. Jim and Tammy Faye came to my mind, too, and I wondered what it is about Charlotte that attracts such folks. The people I know who live there are so much better than that.

Now... how many days of work left for you?

-Posting in between finals and papers.-
Re: Billy Graham. To say that story made saddened me would be an understatement. I don't understand why a person wouldn't honor his parents' wishes for burial, especially when it is causing this much grief. True, Ruth will be dead, but she isn't dead yet, and the argument is clearly taking its tole on her. Shame on Franklin for caring so much about Billy Graham the public speaker and not enough about Billy and Ruth his parents.
Re: On Faith: I posted there once, won't ever do it again, and won't read it either. "Meaningless drivel" I think was a phrase I heard on the Achenblog, and such a phrase could be ascribed to said forum.
-Back to writing.-
If you want a sad, somewhat violent, story, read "Othello."

You know, I can't wait to see what Ming Wyoming finds to do in Mexico.

Tangent - My brilliant, though syntactically challenged, son spent the last three nights writing a paper on Othello. I helped him edit it. If I had to spend a fourth night on this project, the story might not be the only thing described as sad and violent.

Tangent! We haven't heard from you in a while.

Why wouldn't Franklin Graham honor his parents' wishes? The answer is hundreds of millions of dollars and the adoration of hundreds of millions of people. A pig on which you can put lipstick and claim that it's a sad necessity in order to do "the Lord's work."

"Ming" is the name of the ScienceDog. We don't know why; she came with that name attached, and we don't believe in changing names frivolously. Or promiscuously, for that matter.

Our cat is named 'cat', though if I remember correctly, once when highly embarrassed about the lack of a name, Kerric came up with Sir Catliness Meow, which we told the vet was shortened to cat. We were never quite sure if he fell for that.

PLS, I have to run out in a few minutes, so this may not be as comprehensible as I'd like. But I'm going against the majority advice of the Boodle.

(1) I think it's very possible to respectfully decline to participate in a decision someone else had made without your consent.
(2) Make that extremely possible.
(3) If your MIL throws a hissy fit, my guess is everyone knows who it's coming from. And although you wouldn't be declining in order to gain sympathy, I believe others would understand and wish they had the guts.
(4) You'll have made a powerful statement to your daughter about letting other people push you around so they'll think you're *nice,* and how unnecessary this is to do.
(5) You don't have to go along to get along.
(6) I'd ask myself why someone else's wants and beliefs are more important than mine. Ditto on the why spend Christmas there repeatedly question instead of switching off or spending time at home.
(7) Standing up for yourself can be construed as rocking the boat, but what's wrong with that? Saying *No, thank you* is different than saying *NO* or *NO, NEVER, YOU'RE A JERK.*
(8) Any relationship that doesn't let *you* be who *you* are is one to reconsider. Your MIL loves your daughter, but is she going to withdraw that love if your daughter isn't who your MIL wants her to be?
(9) Bullies are bullies, whether they smile or not. A bully's needs are not more important than your own.

Sorry if I exceeded the * quota there. Lots of experience with my deceased mom and ex-MIL there. When I learned to stand up for myself, they learned to back down. :-)

LTL-CA,

I look at that site every day. It's a great one.

My name would be "Duchess Cameron" and I have no further comment on the matter.

Hey Tim,
Yeah, I guess Franklin forgot, or chooses to ignore, that verse, "You cannot serve both God and money." Not that it's wrong to have money, but that if you profess to be a Christian, it shouldn't be your primary objective. You know what is kind of ironic? Jesus talks a heck of a lot more about money than he does about sex (let alone homosexuality). Guess Franklin missed that Sunday school lesson.

I am interested (and I mean that genuinely, not snarkily) in Tim's statement that he does like to change animals' names.

Himself and I (because we have almost always had older rescue dogs and cats) have had an on-going conversation about this.

Himself thinks it is confusing to the animal to change its name. I argue that a) in the case of shelter dogs nobody knows their name anyway, so the name you adopt them under is just what the shelter assigned, and the dog is probably not habituated to it.

When I started working in Rescue I began to think that changing an adoptee's name is actually a good thing. It marks the beginning of a new life, and allows you to focus on the reasons you appreciate the animal, not on its often sad past, and always deficits in behaviour/temperament.

In the case of rehomed animals when you do know its name, you often get really really bad names. Broc used to be Milo (how can a Rough Collie be Milo?!) and Reba was, gawd 'elp her, "Alpenrose's Wendy's 'Lil Fancy (Reba)." Yuck!

Also I don't think animals think of their names the way we think of ours. Its a cue, not an identity, and they pick up new vocabulary all the time. My only rule about changing names is that it has to be consistent. If you choose a new name, use it and only it. Switching back and forth would be confusing.

Also, the older adoptees whose names I haven't changed were originally show animals, and their registered names go with their records. 'Bo is AM CAN CC Felitan's Strabo of LaChrista and Gus was CH. Noah's Place Augustus, CD, DDX, PTD. If you change the registered name, you run the risk of losing the qualifications. The loss of confirmation titles didn't bother me, but I was very proud to have put a CGC, a CD, a DDX and a Pet Therapy title on Gustipher after we got him, and that made him a versatility dog. If we'd lost the confirmation title, he wouldn't have been. I was so proud of him, of his willingness to learn and work, I wanted him to get the credit for it.

Finally, I don't know about everybody else, but I use multiple diminutives of all the animals' names, and they still seem to know who they are. Strabo is 'Bo, Bobo, Bo-bee, Bobohead and Little Brown Man. Gus, as you have heard, was Gus, Gustipher, Guster Duster, Gussy and Gussy-Goo. Yeoman is Yeoman, Yeoby, Yeobid, Pupster and (so embarrassing!) Puppy-Wuppy. Libby is Libby, Libster, Bibs, Flibberty-Gibbet, Elizabeth! and My Girl. Broc is Broc, Brocie, Brocolli, Brocster-Docster and Red Dog.

So I don't know. Maybe I've messed them up. It's hard to say.

Star Hart or Bootsie Hart. I may have to switch handles as well. I also really liked Duchess Cameron and Sassy Patches.

PLS, speaking of your assignment, Mareva Injunction could also be an adult entertainment name. BTW, my vote is go. You could always start a new tradition at your house that involves burning the Bishop of Rome in effigy.

My p0rn names under the accepted convention are so embarassing I cannot even bring myself to type them.

Well, here's one of the least embarassing:
Fizzbin Edgemont.

*sigh*

bc

I'm Hercules Oak. My wife is Brandy Buttercup.

One would think we would have a far more interesting life.

Seven, TBG, and I'm hangin' on for dear life. I'd be busy even if I weren't trying to indoctrinate my successor, and that is sending me way over the top. Tomorrow is the luncheon my coworkers insisted on having to "honor" my retirement. I'm praying that I can be gracious and don't get surprised into saying something too honest for polite company.

Billy Graham is a native of Charlotte, that's why the support from the local community and the reason for the library being here. He actually grew up on a dairy farm near what is now Park Road Shopping Center.

As for the Bakkers, I have no idea where they came from and why they picked Charlotte. They were *okay* as long as they had the facilities in town. It was when they moved just across the border into South Carolina and built the resort that they got in trouble. Even my aunt, who was not known for good judgment, figured out it was a majorly crooked operation after being a volunteer a short while.

As for Billy, my mother used to tell the story that when my grandmother wanted to attend a crusade, my grandfather opined that he could get all the religion he wanted and needed in his own church, where his family had worshipped for two centuries. That rather sums up my attitude.

I have a cat I adopted named professor moriatry(or something like that),But i have a hard time pronouncing moriartry and spelling it too,so he is just called the professor!!!
Much easier for me to say especially when I am calling him

My potential p0rn-star names are all so darned masculine:

Rocky Barada, Oscar Araba, Ian Archibald, and the infamous duo Igor and One-Eye Steele.

[That's dog, dog, (female) cat, and two cats, in that order. (The last two pets on the list didn't actually belong to us but spent a heck of a lot of time at our house. We suspected that they'd escaped from some sort of eye clinic, where they'd had all manner of gruesome experiments conducted on them.)]

There's always Johann Sebastian Bark (and his cousin Offenbark or Oftenbark), George Frederic Houndel, Domenico Snarlatti, Arcangelo Curelli, L van Bitehoven, WA Mutzart, the Thomas Tail-less family, and the rest of the musical dogs. (Sorry if the outer reaches of this category have already been explored in detail.)

I actually forgot about our first pet last night and came up with the wrong p0rn name. I also forgot that my first two and half years were spent in DC, so my p0rn star name would be Smoky Oglethorpe.

That sounds more like a character in a Carl Hiaasen book than a p0rn star, dontcha think?

I think we should spend one day boodling under our p0rn star names.

I once had a Siamese Fighting Fish named Hans.

Think about it.

Technical question for you IT types: I'm trying to get onto a screen on the US Airways site. The little scroll bar at the bottom gets about halfway across, and nothing more happens. Can anybody explain to me why it seems to be freezing up, and anything I can do about it? I've re-started it half a dozen times, and waited as long as ten minutes between re-loads.

I can't believe it. The Colbert Report is talking to Dan Savage about their porn names! (on tonight's rerun) -- This is the second time this has happened on the boodle. What's up with this?

OK, I must go finish the family's supper, but:

LTL-CA: too too funny. See, when I say I'm not clever or witty, this is the sort of thing I am talking about. Never in a year could I come up with those, but I appreciate them.

bc: hahahahahaha!

Padouk: hahahahaha!

TBG: I just love you, ya know?

I think my p0rn name would be Aa. Ham (Canadians devoted to the CBC Radio 1 network, unite!).

Ming... try another browser.

I often switch between Safari and Firefox and it's amazing how some pages render great on one browser and are unreadable on the other.

doo doo doo doo doo doo doo (Twilight Zone musics).

Joel...

What is YOUR p0rn star name? Out with it, please.

(Oh... and THANKS!)

I don't think the formula for p)rn names works. If it did, I would be Sassy 77th Avenue, and that doesn't sound very interesting.

Yeah, Yoki, but Sassy Seventy-Seventh sounds great! (emphasis on the SAssy)

Yoki, I was waiting for someone to say that--the *second* street I lived on as a child was South 115th West Avenue, and THAT's not a very interesting name, is it?

maggie o'd, the same thing happened to me last week.

I was teasing my husband because he *hates* the way Hong Kong hair salons provide head massages as a standard part of the shampoo routine. (I *love* these massages. Often the massager will press his/her thumbs into your temples so firmly that it hurts, yet it feels great.) I told my husband he was like George Costanza, because he was complaining that he always seemed to get these massages from a man.

The very next day, I turned on the TV and saw a re-run of that Seinfeld episode where George gets a massage from "Raymond" and tells Jerry, "I got a massage . . . from a man . . . and, I think it moved!"

[If it's true that our minds create our reality, then we shouldn't be at all surprised by these coincidences.]

[I probably should have signed that one as Dreamer.
Or One-Eye Steele. (You know, that sounds *really* vulgar.)]

My crummy camera only got a few pictures from the BPH and here they are:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42627063@N00/321807992/

and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42627063@N00/321807990/in/photostream/

Each of these pictures did have a gnome but it seems that like ghosts, they vanish from the negative.

Achenfan/Dreamer, there aren't many coincidences in the Higgs Ocean, are there? There are a lot more causes to effects than meet the eye, I suppose.

Mudge, if you're still having problems with your browser, give me a ring, and I'll check into the flights for ya.

bc

Hmm, I think the dog we had way back when I was really little was called Rex. Still not an improvement on Lady.

Now I feel like I should be singing "My Fair Lady", though.

Yoki, I watched how Wilbrodog reacted to his name being called and he looked pretty miserable and submissive so I changed it. Killian was a horrible name for a big dog anyway.

I also wondered about the possible phonetic similarity between his name and "Killing" to a dog's ears.

How would a dog feel about hearing that tone or body language of others associated with what sounded like his name?

HOnestly, I'd have changed it anyway. I grew deathly ill of the name Killian when analyzing "The Bonfire of the Vanities" and throughly detesting Tom Wolfe's tendency to write all of his male characters as scumbags, and the women as 1-D cardboard mysteries.)

Wilbrodog's new paper name means "Black beauty" in another language and is definitely way more okay than Killian, and he grew into the name almost immediately.

Hey, Wilbrodog wants a p0rn star name, even though he doesn't have any pets.

He votes for "Dashing Bunnyrabbit Fields".

Well, here we all are. Sassy, Oglethorp and Rena.

Its late in the evening and I have beside me the trusty beverage, and I finally have the courage to tell you all, that until this evening I had no idea how to figure out ones p0rn star name. I figured this was not somehting I could do at work no matter how sublime or silly it was. I should have known better. You've left me feeling like a lemming following everybody else off a cliff.

Butch King. Yessiree, there ought to be a law.

And it does not get any better if I use the second pet and the second street/ish name (no formal name but it was a township line).

Honey Townline

Oh the humanity.

maggieo, you would be speaking of the Acheneffect. It highly karmic around here.

Hum. Prissy Ashland would be my p0rn name. Doesn't work to well, IMHO. Neither does Angel Providence, which names the dog and street that were a part of my first marriage. That's more theological than rakish...although it was providential that I got out of that relationship.

Lemme see here... pr0n names, eh?

Well to go back a ways we had
Sam(more than on Sam all dogs, different breeds)
Blacky
Cat(AKA Jaguar, Satan, Sir Caliness NeMiow, Demonbeast)
and of course there is my roommates cat who is Taz

Which would make me hmmm....
Which should I pick?

I'll go with Demonbeast 210
Or maybe Satan Sierra.
Both are workable p0rn names.

Yo, Honey Townline! (OK if we just call you Hon?)

>I once had a Siamese Fighting Fish named Hans.

LOL!

BPH pics!!!!

http://www.monkeyview.net/id/2480/xmas_bph/index.vhtml

I'm trying to get ready for my trip, I'll add more pics in the am!!

:-)

SCC: Satan Sierra Grande

Not a street name but they subdivision we lived in.

My nom de pr0n would be PuddyTat Harborview based on the cat my parents had before I was born. However, if we go by the dog that we got later, I would be Princess Willow Oaks. That would be rather misleading on the Apex Theater marquee.

Princess was a beagle with a penchant for getting into the trash. She quickly grew to porcine proportions and my little brother taught it to react to the name of "Pig" as well as to "Princess". I agree with whoever said it's all conditioning and not identity.

Ming Wyoming, I 2nd on another browser. Try Internet Explorer if you're not, some systmes still do require it, although those webmasters shall certianly burn in the digital hereafter.

My p0rn name would be Max Hamilton I think. Or maybe Rusty.

Could be worse.

Let's see, I could be:
Molly Philadelphia
Fluffy Philadelphia (ha - I sound like Daffy Duck!)
Jinx Philadelphia
Mikki Philadelphia
Mac Philadelphia

Obviously we didn't move often enough to make this interesting. Had lots of kitties, though - Mikki was my dog.

I too had a cat with no name - my favorite cat, in fact. We got him when my son was 8 - we named him Jaguar, but never called him that. We called him Kit - clever, eh - or the Cat.

Sassy, Oglethorpe and Rena sounds like one terrific law firm, if you ask me.

Scotty... I was only trying to keep my book warm. You know better than that. Don't freak JA out, please.

And remember folks: You can lose your money but not your merchandise, because once you buy a prize it's yours to keep.

By the way, you all realize Pat will have to put out another version of BoodlePop now to include p0rn handles, right?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Boooring porn name! Timmy Verree. How about Lucia Thunder? I did have a cat named Bruce, nicknamed Brucellosis.

Apropos a recent topic, something to drive the Christmas music from your head:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zey8567bcg&mode=related&search=

L'il Frankie is a weasally PK if I ever saw one, and I've seen a few. I prefer the ones that go out and sow some wild oats, even if they end up in the old man's line of work anyways.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/12/AR2006121201710.html

Just switched to Firefox, no success. It just ain't letting me in. Curse you, Homeland Security!

OK, folks, we're now shutting down Ice Station Zebra for two weeks while this station enters the dark side of the moon for two weeks. Relax, Hal, I'm only going to power you down. Hal? Hal, open the pod bay doors, Hal.

Hal?

Hal, I'm getting a littl

MoJo Soapstone?

S'Nukes goona post some pics in 19 min

Is the p0rn last name the street you live on now, or can you choose one from the past?

Ming, a reboot fixes a lot of things, although maybe it's the web server that really needs to reboot. If you use WinXP, you might want to upgrade to IE7 if you haven't already. It's an improvement IMHO.

ming wyoming indeed. I almost broke my fingers

Hey! Where's our pictures, S'nuke? Wilbrod wants to know if the captions came through on that batch. We can fwd to Yellojkt instead.

You can lose your money, honey,
but not your merchandise.

If you can win a prise, baby,
then it's yours to keep.

When you keep your dark
eyes on my phiz, honey,

You can't see the horiz
on, that's the priz.

[insert blues lick here]

By the way, p0rn star is a type of shrimp, right?

I do so like seafood, but why name food before you eat it?

I wandered lonely down the street one day
Who should I see slitherin' my way?

That is correct, Dashingubunnyfields!

I cannot think, I cannot say,
it may have been a small dog, Tray.

LTL-CA,
I had my network breakdown a few days after installing IE7 - then after I fixed it, IE seemed very sluggish and would hang. So I've been using Firefox and it seems better. But it may just be a coinky-dink.

It's a good thing I hadn't downloaded Pat's boodlecode, or I'd be blaming it - ha!

But yet, I think, it may
have been a mastiff, tall and thin.

The canine tribe can dance and spin,
bred for hors d'oeuvres, and somethin,
to work, and laugh, cuddle in

make up your mind
we're all enthralled

Ah, no, I do believe
You're all appalled

You want the end? The
final tale?

Then wait, and hark

This story ends
with just...

A bark.

Well ya gotta know that Christ didn't have much imput into the planning of the Trinity

Huh?

Say, Is that a false prophet you have on the end of that stick. Let me help you with that.

Well, Christmas is fine, but I perfer Easter. I like to get drunk and throw a dead cat into the nearest church

Well, I hear a lot of demurral, but this is an all-star cast:

Ming Wyoming
Sassy Patches
Timmy Verree
Lucia Thunder
Lightning Eddy
Toto Rosehill
Duchess Cameron
Fizzbin Edgemont
Hercules Oak
Brandy Buttercup
Rocky Barada
Oscar Araba
Ian Archibald
Igor & One-Eye Steele
Johann Sebastian Bark
Sassy Seventy-Seventh
Butch King
Prissy Ashland
Angel Providence
Princess Willow Oaks
Max (or Rusty) Hamilton
Mac (or Molly) Philadelphia

I'd be in there as: "Chipper Springhill".

Actually, even better, I'd forgotten the first dog.

"Sabra Springhill"

Wow!

I think that's Mencken, but I can't find the quote

I particularly like "Butch King." That is... very descriptive.

Memo to myself: Find more racy streets to live on.

Can't use my current pets, that would be either really stupid or the wrong gender, which doesn't matter here but would show up in p0rn. So, how about Jason.... hmmm, better not pick a numbered street... how about Cudgegong? No, how about Dolphin? No ... aha, from when I was 5: Oak. Jason Oak.

How distubing

Fluff,
I guess I would have to suggest a total prophylactic treatment. The 2 to 3 hour model. Reboot the modem and router, too, all in the proper sequence. That typically works for me, but then I don't have a very complex configuration although the number of things hanging off the workstation increases steadily over time.

WOW You've really done this before

Oops.

I doubt that I'll be too sorely missed, but:

I've got a combination of junkware & hard drive overload that's strangling my system, and I think I'm gonna have to (shudder!) punt, wipe clean, & reload the operating system. The last time I did it was about 18 months & many downloaded applications & upgrades ago, not to mention many gigabytes of stuff that I'd like to hold onto, but my CD-ROM drive won't save anything. [It reads disks just fine, but doesn't recognize blank disks as usable for saving info. This is one of the reasons I'm going to punt and start fresh.]

I have no idea how long it might take to become functional again. It took me several days last time, but I did learn some things. Maybe not so long this time, but it's really all in the merciful hands of Allah, I think!

I'm probably gonna hit on the fateful "restore system" button sometime tomorrow morning.

"Rex Pierson"?!?

Awesome!

Jason Oak,
What fixed my network problem finally was powering off the router for 20 seconds (I had called Comcast and Linksys twice before they had me try that). I had tried booting, powering everything off. But then IE kept hanging, so I decided to try Firefox for awhile, which seems to be better. When my kid visits the next time, we'll upgrade the wireless router. He thinks I should replace the cable modem too, which he refers to as a piece of junk. I'm just as apt to blame software - or it could be my PC, which is fairly old with not much memory or disk space. Thanks for the advice though - it does somehow help to know I'm not the only one with this problem.

Bob S -
good luck to you. I've never had to do that, knock on wood.

Cassandra, hope you're doing ok.

I'm gonna call it a night, but for anyone who's still up:

The meteor shower must still be pretty active, 'cuz I just saw two within three or four minutes, and my viewing conditions are crap! There's a layer of fog here which makes the sky invisible in any direction which ain't pretty much overhead, and I had trees in front of me and my townhouse to the rear. So, two sightings within five minutes while viewing less than five percent of the sky equals... lots!

Good morning, friends. I typed a whole thing about Billy Graham and lost it. I will not retype, too much work.

Too tired to check in yesterday, but feeling some better this morning. Trying to drink the water.

Mudge, are you going somewhere? If it's a vacation have a good time.

What's the name thing? Did not get that.

Have a good day, folks. The holidays are suppose to be a time of joy and celebration for us, but for some it can be a very lonely time. If you know someone that is alone, perhaps not able to get with family or without family, remember them in your holiday activities. I will try to do that myself. There is so much sickness in the world, and not just physical sickness, but heart and mind too. We have a lot of work before us, but so much of the time we just ignore it.

I often tell people that as a missionary I could start my day at sun up, and by sunset, there would still be work to do. It is always there, there's always that need, it does not go away.

While I am thinking about it, let me thank each and every one of you for allowing me into your lives, and for your many kindnesses to me and my family. Thank you for the well wishes and for the little gifts and thoughts that have come to mean so much in my life. I look forward to talking to you everyday, and your presence in my life is rich and rewarding to me, as I hope I am the same for you.

Thank you Joel Achenbach for your kindness and patience with me. As I've said many times, you are a good person, and may God bless you and your lovely family. The best to you in the New Year. I see you moving up in this life, and all of it good.

May God bless each and every one, and may He provide whatever is needed in your life, but my wish is that you come to know that God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Cassandra, good morning and thank you for what you have brought to my life, I can only imagine the good you bring to people outside the virtual world. Have a wonderful holiday season and God Bless.

Thanks Cassandra
Nice holidays words to make the day go by,keep up the good work and please know that the work you do is appreciated by the many lives you touch each and every day.

God bless you this holiday season and may you and your family have a wonderful new year!!

Morning All!!! *waving*

A Very Merry Christmas to you too, Cassandra!! *HUGS*

OK, all the BPH pics (with much appreciated assistance from Wilbrod) are up at the same link:

http://www.monkeyview.net/id/2480/xmas_bph/index.vhtml

P()orn names?? I got nuttin... Joy Atkinson REALLY wouldn't cut it. :-)

SCC: P()rn *rolling my eyes @ my stupididity*

Oh yeah, I'm off on vacation too, heading in the opposite direction from 'Mudge (no offense) to spend time with my daughter and family. I WILL do my best to Boodle, of course!

May everyone have a safe and delightful holiday season!!

:-)

Kerric, actually that would be Sam Barr. There was one street before then, but I can't remember the name but Sam Barr is not too bad. Surely beats Butch King.

Safe travels Scottynuke and Mudge, hope you both have a wonderful vacation.

We are living through "White Christmas" here, no need to travel south for mild winter. Just like the movie the temperatures are supposed to drop Christmas Eve/Christmas Day and fingers crossed we might get snow.

With all these folks heading off for vacation, brings to mind, when do the lights go dark Joel? We now have the tools to do a best of.

Have a good vacation Scottynuke. Mudge may all your days follow your schedule.

dr, You are up early this morning!

Hey, where did all the "How Things Are" books come from? Pretty sweet, although it is a shame that you had to settle for the paperbacks. I have one of the hardcover special-editions with the embossed leather and gold inlay.

They are rather rare.

And a bit pricier, right, RD?

The Charlotte Observer picked up the Billy Graham story today, front page above the fold. I'll have to watch the letters to the editor to see the local reaction.

Cassandra, thanks for your kind and sweet words. I am thankful that you are in my life, too.

This holiday season has been hard for me. The reality of losing both my parents in two short years has really set in and it's not good. I have some short bursts of incredible sadness. They don't last long, but they are pretty intense.

I know that with my family and friends I will get through this fine and stronger and I look around and am so thankful for what I've got and what I've had--especially two wonderful parents who gave me the best childhood (and they helped give my kids one, too) a person could hope for.

dmd... I'm thinking of you and the others here who have lost loved ones this past year. Please know that you're not alone when you get those pangs of sadness and that we're all in this together.

Hey.. Christmas is still a just under a couple of weeks away, isn't it? We've got plenty of time for more good wishes.

Keep 'em comin!

TBG (aka Smoky Oglethorpe)

TBG, I feel for you, even though I've been relatively untouched by the major kind of losses, I have still experienced those pangs you speak of--they just hit you out of nowhere. I believe that one reason people feel depressed around the holidays is because their expectations are messed up--we somehow expect to be happier because it's the holidays, when in fact the holidays exist to get us through a naturally gloomy time. I have ranted at length about this on my blog this morning --
http://readthinklive.blogsport.com -- and I hereby dedicate it to TBG, and anybody else who feels less festive than you think you should at this point.

That was me, of course -- boodlepop won't find all these anonymous comments, boo hoo.

TBG, I have been thinking of you as well, Christmas in particular reminds me of mom, she always made it special. She sang in the choir when I was growing up so the