Yesterday I posted my opinion on Imus, and was unaware or had forgotten the past troubles his mouth got him into. And only mentioned his prejudice, not noting the sexist cruelty of his remarks as well.

But, now here's this:
http://jumpersbloghouse.blogspot.com/

Stop by for a fast one, or stay and set awhile!

I can't help wondering if Chennai has a sign over his bed saying, "WWND"- What would Nixon Do?

Okay, that's the LAST seventies' reference from me. I promise.

I hope McCain stays in, because he has some stuff to tell Republicans, but I also doubly hope he doesn't get the nomination. Had he won in 2000, things would have been fairly different, possibly better and more interesting, but I don't think I want the country to leap from Arbusto into the neo-con frying pan.

What might happen in Pakistan is far scarier than anything in Iraq. Let's not forget that they have nukes and are staring at a nuclear enabled India. Can you imagine what would happen if Pakistan became a fundamentalist state controlled by the Taliban? That's why I despise our involvement in Iraq. It took attention away from a region that *really* is a threat.

"Caddyshack" is a sports movie? I always thought it was about being an assistant groundskeeper.

Excuse me while I re-evaluate my life.

bc, its a 1961 or 62 Ford Fairlane. It worked when we bought it, but son3, the unmechanic, broke the distirbutor. Once it was someones fancy shmancy car. They don't do chrome like that anymore.

Have added a Katie Couric Dating Younger Man link to kit, fyi.

Sounds like a new domino theory in force--
a pincer movement using neighboring countries:

Iraq, then Iran.
Afghanistan, then Pakistan (Iran borders Pakistan).

Pakistan is a poor country, and while it's had a lot of tension with India, they've been rattling sabers for the past 50 years. If both have nukes, not much will happen.

However I am quite concerned about the Al Qaeda base support in Afghanistan and North Pakistan.

As far as I am concerned, if Pakistan can pull the infrastructure to build real nukes, that indicates a level of education and stability in Lahore, at least. I don't think it's gonna happen.

However, dirty bombs, theft of radioactive material and smuggling it aboard for suicide attacks is a higher threat. India actually had to evacuate its Parliament due to suicide attacks not more than a year after 9/11 and they didn't attack Pakistan.

They are having prolonged dispute over Jammu-Kashmir, which is the major source/vent of international tension. Unfortunately, that region is also within spitting distance of China.

I'm not worried about Pakistan sending nukes here. I'm more worried about instability in the Himalayas (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Tibet) causing China to take measures that will have to provoke definite reactions from India or Pakistan.

If that muskrat shows up over here in the new boodle, somebody shot the S.O.B., please.

Reporting from bottom of previous:

Scotty, if he doesn't contact the ball (fair or foul) it doesn't matter. If he does contact the ball, he's out. But the foot has to be all the way out, not just on the line.

A near-impossible call for the home plate ump, since he often has no angle on it--and anyway he's supposed to be watching the ball, not the batter's feet. So usually the ump "cheats" a little bit, in part because somebody has said something (like the catcher), and he looks where the guy strides during the practice swing. So if it looks like he's "going to" step out the ump keeps it in mind, and waits for contact.

Down at the amateur level, the opposing team or the fans usually "ruin" it, because they'll start yelling to the ump that the guy is stepping out. This only (a) alerts the batter, and (b) is irrelevant unless and until he hits the ball (or fouls it). So by yelling they've accomplished nothing--and now the ump feels like he CAN"T call it because it'll appear he's being intimidated by the fans, or whatever.

Just a lousy lose-lose situation for everybody. About the only time the ump calls it is when he's had a clear view and can see and point to the footprint in the dirt.

Did you ever see a new batter come into box and start toeing the dirt around at the front or back of the box? You know what he's doing? Erasing the line so the ump can't see it and make the call. But if it's really egregious, you can guess what the ump does: calls it whether he sees it or not. There's always a VERY delicate balance between a player who is pushing the rules and the ump. Push a little too far and the ump will make you pay--not because you did something, but because you played mind games with him and made him "think" about what you were doing. Umps hate mind games, unless its between players and teams. But don't mess with the ump's head. Ever. Umps never lose mind games. It's what makes the job so much fun.

(Like when a batter tries to crouch way down in the batter's box to appear to make the strike zone smaller. Know what the ump does? The first pitch that comes in at the batter's hat height is a strike. Could be six feet off the ground.)

-----------------

So...what happened? Did Ichiro hit the ball or not?

Wilbrid - I fear India may not be so sanguine as you about a fundamentalist Pakistan. Or so I've heard.

Linda, that was almost unfair. Almost but not quite! Trust me I'd rather be down there digging in the dirt with you. I was going to mention after your post the other day, that curbside beauty always seems to come with a high price tag.

How is your spouse doing? One of my sons gets severe dermatitis when he is stressed. I know how hard it is for him to get it cleared up. First you have to releive the stress, then medicate, but trying to do that only makes him more stressed. It can be a really viscious circle. Anyway, I hope he can find a way to get the stress out safely.

And speaking of Texas (we were right), is this when the bluebonnets are in full bloom? Some day I need to see that.

SCC: Reposting. Jeez.

That news about Katie is just shocking. What about the many lonely single good-looking well-educated and wealthy men her own age? What are they to do?

Hang out with young girls like all the other men of that age :-)

dmd - wait - they can do that?

[Also Wilbrod - didn't mean to bungle your handle. ]

I would have ranked "Breaking Away" much higher, but since I am a bicyclist and it was my first date with my wife, my judgment may not be impartial.

>Hang out with young girls like all the other men of that age :-)

If that were only true. How is it I miss all of these wonderful advantages to being a man?

Is doing my own laundry and cleaning some kind of young woman repellent?

My point, of course, is that it isn't any wonder that a succesful woman like Katie has to expand her horizons a bit. I just hope the press is kind.

Is the Katie-biz a signal that we can continue our 70s musings?

Who is katie Couric and why does anybody care?

Or perhaps Katie just met someone who intrigued her and the age was not relevant.

Error, it might take a wiser/older woman to appreciate those qualities.

I would have also liked to have seen "Cinderella Man" on the list. It seems like they used a very broad definition of "sports movies."

CP: I think we are always, you know, free to, you know, do our own thing around here.

dmd - you may be quite right. It might not be an issue of supply and demand. The polite thing would be not to speculate.

So, do you think he is after her money or what?

Bad RD! Bad RD!

Kirsten Dunst is a pot-head:

http://news.aol.com/entertainment/movies/articles/_a/kirsten-dunst-praises-virtues-of-pot/20070410122009990001

66% of the people who followed that link and took the poll think maryjane should be legal

As for sports movies I guess 'Mystery Alaska' came in at 26...

Also it looks like this book http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1550464299/ref=s9_asin_image_3-hf_favarsnfggenpx_2267_p/002-3915748-8268856?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-4&pf_rd_r=0KMH7NRPDJX4V8FBKY56&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=279581201&pf_rd_i=507846 is better than this book http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0873494261/ref=s9_asin_image_2-hf_favarsnfggenpx_2267_p/002-3915748-8268856?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-4&pf_rd_r=0KMH7NRPDJX4V8FBKY56&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=279581201&pf_rd_i=507846

Straying on topic, the charges against the Duke lacrosse players have been dropped:

http://charlotte.com/109/story/81269.html

omni - Maybe Ms. Dunst thought that the Mary Jane question was about her Spiderman character.

Omni...

Customers who bought this item also bought...

Ductigami: The Art of the Tape by Joe Wilson
The Jumbo Duct Tape Book by Jim Berg
The Original Duct Tape Halloween Book by Jim Berg
Duct Shui by Jim Berg
Wd-40 Book by Jim Berg

That Jim Berg must be one fun fellow!

lovebirds Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams are planning to tie the knot in secret

For the record these lovebirds hail from London Ontario

Donna Hogan, Anna Nicole's sister has just come out with a quickie biography on the deceased Playmate called Train Wreck

Man that is one messed up family

Looks like it's time for a celebration in Durham.

Par-TAY!

Wilbrod, that is an insult to South India. And remember, there are lot more South Indians than there are Wilbrods.

I don't get what the Couric thing is about. Why is this news-ish?

They didn't call it "The Great Game" for nothing, you know.

I always liked the Hawaiian version of SITS...

We had poi
We had fun
We had luaus in the sun...

*running away*

Ichiro had an o-fer against Beckett, 'Mudge...

:-)

Yoki - it isn't news. It's just gossip. And it isn't as if it is all over the front page or anything. But Katie is such a big player in our culture that it is only natural that people take note.

On topic:

If the Korea truce is the standard we are trying for, I think the goal posts for victory have been moved.

CzarTim: Do you have a space for Minister of Graft available in your cabinet?

dr- The bluebonnets are indeed in bloom this year. Last year was a disappointment, but they are amazing now! Not quite a northeastern autumn beautiful, but we don't really get much color in the leaves down here. we have to take waht we can get from our colorful weeds...er, wildflowers.

Repost from last string. Connect to kit would be, "Songs that Katie C. must explain to said beau." (Oh Yoki, pardon me my celebrity-silliness. But, JA started this.)

70s Song Treasures

(1) Three country-fied ballads:
Oh Ruby, Don't Take your Love to Town
(for God's sakes, turn around....)

I love little yellow ducks.....

Oh yes they call him the streak....

-
(2) Pop-bizzaro treats:
*Ben as in the theme from Willard
*Tip Toe through the Tulips (68?)

---
(3)Now, these songs worked at the time but don't translate well now.

*Moody Blues voice over thingie that features this, "Breath deep the gathering gloom....."

*Jethro Tull's Bungle in the Jungle is fine save for that line/title

*Horse with no name

A little ditty about the VP (probably not for work)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggecq52sbR0

I love:

He's hair free
He's care free
You get the idea,
He's got a good case of Sean Connorea.

(Forgive me if the boodle already knows about Roy Zimmerman, I just about wet my pants over his "Ted Haggard is a Total Heterosexual")

Since Simon Cowell said 'not bad' about Sanjara's performance last nite, would it be ironic if he was the bottom vote getter and finally he leaves the show?

I'm getting out of here. hopefully make it home before the storm.

I heard that Moody Blues voice over thingie in the grocery store last week. It gave me a turn, but is proof that boomers still rule. Or at least, their money does.

So many topics, so little time. I couldn't view the list of sports movies, but I'm content as long as Bull Durham and Field of Dreams are there -- they're probably the only sports movies I've seen.

Poor Katie Couric. Well, at least we know the young(er) man isn't shy.

I've read several pieces on McCain recently, and they're all of the "lost his mind" variety. At least he has the courage of his convictions. On the other hand, Arbusto also has the courage of his convictions, and look where that got us. Enmeshed in a mesh of a conflict, with a far more dangerous net lurking in the badlands of Pakistan, which we're too busy to untangle. And I do think part of the "success" of this mission relies on re-setting the bar ever lower regarding past "successes".

We have bluebonnets too. But nobody cares, because they're not growing in Texas.

I am being haunted by duct tape. Perhaps I need one of those books for the Boy. I told him my imaginary friends are interested in his duct tape project, whatever it is.

CP you don't think that Moody Blues and Tull songs translate well today? The Moody Blues one describes our weather outside today. They were the only tune cooties I enjoyed today.

I agree, we should not insult the fair city of Chennai, but it's their own damn fault for changing their own name from Madras ;).

RD, I was in India when there was "high tensions" between the Indian Pakistan border. My parents were freaked about me being there in case nuclear war broke out or something.
Everybody I spoke to said "hey they always rattle sabers, nothing will happen." This was supported by the general news coverage, which was MUCH less alarmist and sensational than in the western media.

If you want to keep an eye on Pakistan. The Times of India is the world's largest newspaper written in English, and they have a pretty good science section-- just have a very good virus and spyware blocker on your pc.

There is a strong dislike between the countries, but they have bus service between the two capitals (Delhi and Lahore are closer to each other than they are to 2/3 of their own countries), and more and more the enmity is channeled into sport rivalry. Relations are not worse than they were 40 years ago.

India is actually a larger muslim country than Pakistan is, and I think India's own worst enemy will be Hindi fundamentalist politics (aka the BJP) and anti-muslim riots, not Pakistan fundamentalism.

Actually, I think the recent bombings of two trains by Pakistan-backed local Islamic extremist groups might destabilize the relationship more than you do, Wilbrod. Especially if Musharraf doesn't pretty soon speak up condemning such plots.

More celebrity-silliness in the form of "Songs that Katie C. must explain to said beau."

Convoy--first explaining what a "CB Radio" is.

867-5309--(telephone numbers used to be 7 digits)

Disco Duck--(why this song would have been given a nanosecond of airplay)

JR, I recently heard "Ben" by Michael Jackson in the grocery store and tried to convince my children, who were with me, that this was a man singing, Michael Jackson in fact. They didn't believe me. I think the Muzak people are bored and scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Speaking of which, who knows off the top of their heads the name of the celebrity who purchased the first Hummer produced for civilian use?

For McCain, it's Iraq, Immigration and Global Warming...coming in from the yard, for me right now, it's beer, bath, and bedtime (afternoon siesta), in that order.

Since you asked, dr, Loomispouse has not gone to work today but is running from appointment to appointment. Picked up his X-rays to take to the foot specialist (podiatrist, I assume). Finally, an answer! The uric acid from his gout has built up in the ball joint below his big toe, and then it's become granular, like sand, and is beginning to wear away at his joint, hence, the pain. I think he can take build to arrest further sand build-up, but I think he's stuck with what's currently wedged between the bones. This afternoon, Loomispouse is off to his GP doc's PA for sundry other smaller issues.

interesting stuff I'd like to tackle later, based on what y'all are yakkin' about...

Kirsten Dunst, bc, Marie Antoinette, Spencer Wells

taxes, Pakistan, Nicky Kristof in response to Jack Reed's remarks, as Joel posted them in this Kit

Beer and 82 degrees are beginning to make me d..r...o..w..........s.............y.

And only in India do you see the word "communal violence" to describe rioting and killing muslims, hindus, christian missionaries, etc. The Gujarati riots were pretty horrifying as much for what they didn't report as for what they did.

The world's biggest democracy has unequal laws according to religion, which I think drives part of the tension. Also, politicans use the name of Ram, Allah, etc to whip up religious hate.

India actually has a Sikh prime minister and a Muslim president right now, though, which is historic in its way.

SCC: take build...take pills....zzzzzz

Yoki! I was wondering where you were.

How are you, my friend?

Hi DMD -- I like the music; the words don't translate well.

BUNGLE IN THE JUNGLE! Lose the words and title but keep the music.

About the Moody Blues, who were a pre-curser/contemporary of The Grateful Dead....it is just thatthe voice-over on the end....does not quite work, for me.

I apologize to those Moody Blues word-overlay purists who still adore that dark, smokey, poetical flourish.

New twist: Junior prom song-theme was Knights in White Satin but who did that?

Crepe paper twirled above gym floor and a tiny disco ball, dwarfed by the eaves....blue food coloring in the punch, because the colors were blue and white....

Don't apologize CP, I think it was my interest in Rick Wakeman Journey to the Centre of the Earth that makes me appreciate that Moody Blues song.

Error, the only time my daughter thinks about laundry is when all of hers is dirty. Younger women think clean laundry falls out the sky. You probably need to hide that little detail, because the younger woman may just be hanging around to get you do her laundry.

What a problem, does she love me or is it just the laundry thing? (smile)

Yoki, consider this: if India pushed Pakistan, then Musharrif might be out of power in a heartbeat, and India has no idea who would be taking power next-- or they do, and don't like the idea.

Anyway, the best way to measure mood is from the local newspapers in India, not from western media, who tend to assume that India would react like America would, when in the last 50 years India has consistently proven to be different.

Suicide bombers are not new in India. Here's this from 2001:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1708853.stm

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/12/14/india.suspect/index.html

And the train bombings on July 11 2006

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11_July_2006_Mumbai_train_bombings

Which one should create the most shock, you think?

I wish I had saved our first "laptop" - an old Amstrad portable from 1987 which weighed about 25 pounds:

http://www.reuters.com/article/inDepthNews/idUSN0440353720070411?src=041107_1528_DOUBLEFEATURE_

It could display a fractal in color when given an equation and a starter number in, oh, 15 or 20 minutes!

CP,
'Knights in White Satin' by the Moody Blues was the stoner nominee for prom song but lost to 'Open Arms' by Journey.

Katie needs to explain that YMCA was not always a kiddie party song.

Gates just announced active duty tours in Iraq and Afghanistan are being extended to 15 months, effective immediately. Raise your hand if you didn't see that one coming? Anyone, anyone. I thought not.

I keep trying the link to sports flicks but I get a shut-down routine from netscape.

Is Gregory's Girl on the list? More of a coming-of-age movie but soccer figures highly.

I agree, Wilbrod, that you need the local papers, and not just on one side. The Dawn is very good in Pakistan, and the Indian Financial Times more reliably non-jingoistic than the Times of India (which can be pretty trashy, don't you think?)

The ultimate '70s prom song was "Dancing in the Moonlight" by King Harvest.

I like this version. Makes me smile:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHkmLEhFq44

Gosh...
I thought they were going to make the surge by sending in an advance force of chocolate bunnies and collecting thousands of Peeps and throwing them at Iraq to melt so everybody could go home.

No? I guess that was just a dream caused by eating too much easter candy, then.

Oh yeah, and looking at a couple of European papers don't hurt either. I hate the pop-up epidemic on Times of India, so I stopped checking it from home, only from computers with much more solid firewalling.

There's always the Hindu, but I've never checked out the India Financial Times.

While doing the college tour last week, the need to teach freshman how to do laundry was a frequent selling point of various orientation programs.

I am proud that we are way ahead of the curve. Our son regularly does his own laundry. It helps that most of his wardrobe is black. Makes the selection of temperature and detergent not a variable.

YJ

Y'll voted? This was done by the tyranny of the Senior Events Committee. I went for about ten minutes with unusual friend/boyfriend who disappeared off the face of the planet during college.

We wore Converse AllStars as a fashion protest. I am ashamed to admit he wore a leisure suit but it could have been a peach tux with ruffled shirt.

Katie -- splain that formal wear, if you can.

What about Stairway to Heaven? It closed most dances I remember.

CP, according to my daughter Converse AllStars are the height of fashion now, and what an outfit is built around.

DMD -- Stairway fascination continues, including with 14-year old drummer boy in the house.

In college I recall a dorm flyer about guitar lessons. The lede: Play Stairway to Heaven in Five Easy Lessons.

I never had to learn to do my laundry as part of orientation.

I think they figured that college students would learn how to do laundry by trial and error, and so what if college boys showed up for exams in pink clothes?

Of course, I vaguely remember my older siblings coming home with huge duffel bags full of laundry, and resolved that I would, at least, not come home with a month's worth dirty clothes as a homecoming present for my mother.

I kept that promise, if I recall.

Whenever I hear Hey Jude, it brings me back to those awful Junior High PE classes when we did dancing with the boys' class.

Oh, the horror of 1) being asked to dance to it or 2) NOT being asked to dance to it.

That pretty much sums up Junior High, doesn't it?

DMD -- Tell her that I am a fashion forward sort and pre-clipsed the trend.

Middle child-CeePeedottir wore them a few years ago, as did many. They laced them with satin ribbons....and selected the right colors.

Chucks are too flat-bottomed for me now. I love the colors but back in the day, select black or optical white.

In the movie version of "Wayne's World" there was the part where Wayne was shown the sign in the music store which read, "Absolutely no Stairway to Heaven." I guess that's the one that all guitar amateurs like to play.

Hi TBG! Just raised my head from the morass of work this afternoon. *Grover waves*

Wore converse all stars, gold, with my school uniform at Gibbons High School in Petersburg VA. Sadly the school closed in '01, after 125 years of operation. I hope our little rebellion in the early 70s is not what did it in.

heh heh.....

Yoki said "morass."

tee hee... *snicker*

The Hummer was Ahnold's, wasn't it? I hear he's traded it in, or had it retro-fitted, in an effort to earn his spot on the cover of Newsweek's current Save the Planet issue.

Wheezy, did you try to explain to your children why Michael Jackson was singing to a rat? Wait, I guess that's easier to believe than the fact that that's a man singing.

Frosti! Gold, did you say gold Chucks? I am so jealous.

What did they use before duct tape? Finally found the answer: it's called "gaffer's tape," it's what to tape baseball bat handles, hockey sticks, and microphones (formerly known in the '70s as "mikes," now "mics" for some strange reason) to gaffers' poles.

It's monstrously strong, expensive too. Did you know Lowes keeps the REAL duct tape in a separate section from the "duck tape?" Strange but true.

I've been keeping quiet while you guys have been talking about Katie C., but I think I have to fess up. See, for Katie it's just a rebound thing. She and I had a little thing goin, nothing serious, just a little casual flirtation, you know how it is, but I could see it was going to get out of hand, what with her calling me at work all the time and all. So I told her I was a married man, and there wouldn't --there couldn't -- be any candlelit dinners at Tavern in the Green or Tiffany bling, and she took it kinda hard. So I think she's just trying to get my attention.

I don't have any hard feelings, and I wish her well, whether she sticks with this kid or not. After all, we'll always have Paris...and Al Roker.

Since duct tape was mentioned, maybe the 85 ways to tie a necktie might be, too. It's all topology.
http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/~tmf20/85ways.shtml

Jumper, we called it electrician's tape, and would not have been able to play the Canadian sport on outdoor rinks with $2.75 Canadian Tire hockey sticks (and $0.25 pucks) if we hadn't had *the* technique of wrapping the blades in black e-tape.

Believe the answer to the Hummer question is: Arnold Schwarzenegger.

If correct, I'll take two peeps. Just FAX 'em.

I thought the answer to the Hummer question was: What did Tony Soprano get for his 47th birthday besides the golf clubs.

Aw, shucks, JR beat me!

Off-topic here...

Many of my first pseudo-sexual experiences (smooching, heavy petting, and the like) happened in the hallways and deserted stairwells of school. Now, as a teacher, I help patrol the halls and common areas to keep kids hands and mouths off of each other. Irony keeps biting me in the a$$.

Wilbrod - Let's just say that the notion that a Taliban controlled Pakistan would be, you know, not that big a deal is what's known as an alternative view.

Mudge - But will Al ever recover?

The talk of Lord of the Flies reminded me of a conversation I was in once where half the people thought we were discussing Lord of the Rings. Needless to say, the conversation went right off the map. A very surreal feeling developed until we straightened it all out. This overlap would make a fine short film, I believe. (combining the stories, not the conversation.) Or a fine nightmare.

Gosh, Gomer, you've set the bar awfully high, if those are only "pseudo-sexual!"

You said it, Yoki. Psedo never sounded so good.

Padouk, I can't talk about Al. It's still too soon. Maybe someday.

Stairway to Heaven was prom theme. Quite an upgrade from our 8th grade dance theme, which was Timothy. I'm surprised they still let us vote.

I don't need to pay the AMT and I'm too old to be Katie Couric's boy-toy. I'm not sure my ego can take any more abuse.

There are plenty in Pakistan itself who would fear Talibanism.

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20061116-090021-3966r.htm

Our only hope in Pakistan is that a large proportion of women there may be a little more ready to hang onto their human rights that they are fighting so hard for, and convince more.

http://www.whrnet.org/docs/interview-asma-0509.html

http://www.pakistan-facts.com/article.php?story=20031112132046271

We need to support any such progress. Invasion will do nothing to prevent, and in fact might accelerate such a process to Talibanization, since only central authority are checking the local governments' tendency towards corruption and backwardness.

On the other hand, Pakistan has had a woman as a prime minister-- twice. More than we can say in this noble country.

Yes CP, gold Chucks and a pleated skirt not attached to a jumper. What sweet freedom to be able to roll the waist band, thus shortening the skirt to scandalously mini proportions.

Real duct tape, the stuff actually used to repair ducts, must be a controlled substance. Darned hard to find.

In my house we called the ubiquitous gray stuff "100 mile an hour tape" because Frostdaddy had used it in repairing all manner of vehicles in Vietnam. 100 mph was supposedly the speed at which it would start peeling away from metal.

Ahhh, it was not me who set the bar so high. If any of you have middle to high school aged children and you think that some groping is a high bar, you need to talk to your kids about what they know goes on in their age group. 8th graders pass out bjs like lollipops. What I meant by pseudo was there was no insertion. Not the case today, unfortunately, which is why we can't turn our backs to the hugs we see. Sure to follow would be the coupling we don't see (hopefully).

The "hopefully" was attached to the don't see part, not the coupling part, just to clarify.

-Sigh-

I gotta go home.

I am not a perv!

I think my prom theme was Beowulf, performed by the original author. That dude was wasted on mead, let me tell you. And a lot of the kids snuck out of the mead hall to go make out in the back seats of tumbrils in the courtyard behind the stables. My date was Hrothgemfrlphleithe, a perky sophmore scullery wench who could Frank-kiss like you wouldn't believe. After the prom, we all went out for joints of wild boar, and then at sunrise tumbrilled down to the Skaggerak to watch the sun come up over Fremljinsknooplik. I'm told that not all the maidens made it home in the, uh, same condition they started the evening with, if ya know what I mean.

Good times, good times.

True story- NoVA boy and girl suspended from bus, but not from school, for insertion (thanks Gomer) in full view of motorists through emergency door at rear of bus. Parent of one demands to know who called the school district because "It's none of they gd business what my daughter does." This was in '98, I shudder at what middle schoolers must be doing now.

Is anyone else getting that HUGE ad at the top of the page that takes up the entire page? I have to scroll down an entire page just to see Joel riding the Blogosaurus.

This is happening on every WaPo page right now, whether I use Safari or Firefox.

I'm getting it too, TBG: Golfdom's First Major Sale, or some such, Making me very angry.

Seems to be fixed. Someone must have sized that ad wrong. Whew. I was afraid that was the future of WaPo.com.

This will seem from outer space, but Frosti and others may recall a discussion about cottage cheese.

I report that Horizon Brand Organic Small Curd 2% is quite good. These curds are generous nuggets, in a nice broth of milk. Yum.

Sorry if this food-gram irritates. RD might find it suitable for gourmet PA bar-b-q mix-in potato chips.

My wife just e-mailed me something that's floating around the ethersphere. If you get bit by a bee, oput a penny on the bite, and it will take the sting out and you won't get an allergic reaction. Anybody know if there's anything to this?

JR and DLD got it - the Hummer is Ahhnold's. Peeps will be faxed. And now, unfortunately, the trivia portion of the day is over. I think the "buying shorts at Old Navy" part of the day is due to start any minute. See you all later.

Mudge, that penny thing doesn't sound probable. The placebo effect might make a bite *feel* better, but if one is truly allergic I wouldn't bet my life on it.

I wouldn't bet a penny on it.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/homecure/beesting.asp

Apparently, a penny's worth of preventing being stung is worth a pound of cure.

A better cure, which the ancient romans practiced, was to tie somebody suffering from quickly fatal anaphyltic reaction to the back of a wild horse and just let the plebe giddyup.

The adrenaline rush caused by fear of being killed by horse helps reverse the shock reaction caused by the allergy.

However, I've never understood why people who have allergy attacks aren't so terrified of dying that they can reverse it without benefit of wild equines.

Hmm, maybe being bucked and jostled about helps with the breathing as well.

Curmudgeon, I picked up that book by Bede yesterday and read something about a 'mudgeon' (his spelling) fellow and scullery maids and leaving an abbey in the dark of night?

Not you I hope?

Ahnold's HMMV was military-issue, not civilian-grade; as I recall, he had to pull strings to be permitted to drive it on the road. Thus, the Ahnold answer is non-responsive to the question that was posed. I assumed it had to be a trick question (plus, work intruded for the past several hours).

If a bee bites you, then you have major problems and probably you are a flower.

A bee sting, on the other hand, is not improbable. But the penny thing seems like hooey. I could see the possibility of an electrochemical reaction between your tissues and the penny. However, that would require some kind of conductive fluid between your interior regions and the penny. Typically, insect stings do not visibly ooze. At least, not before the implanted eggs begin to hatch...

To test the penny hypothesis, you would need to do the following: keep two shiny pennies with you, sealed in a plastic baggie to avoid chemical modification. Also, bring some first aid tape along. Go annoy some bees and earn a sting (try to keep it down to just one. No hornets -- this is a bee-sting test). Unpack your pennies, tape one penny on the afflicted spot and tape the other one nearby. Allow, I dunno, a day. Remove the pennies and inspect for differences in corrosion. If there is a chemical reaction, then there would have to be a change in the pennies' surface properties. If it is specifically associated with the bee sting, then the pennies should differ.

An excellent science fair project for any masochistic or ludicrously stoic kid who is not allergic to bee stings!

Dr, that was possibly St. Jermone, who has to be the patron saint of translators, editors, and curmudgeons everywhere. He predated the Venerable Bede by 400 years, though.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08341a.htm

There will be no graft in my Czardom. Those who violate the people's trust will be sent to Iraq to perform public diplomacy using an English-to-Iraqi Arabic phrasebook written by a Portuguese publisher who speaks only Hungarian. "Arabic as He Is Expectorated" is the title, I believe.

This site makes Saint Jerome's reputation a wee clearer.
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1154

MSNBC will no longer simulcast Don Imus.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17999196/

When does the public stoning of Don Imus start?

Then again maybe it was Boniface just spreading stories to Bede. He might have been jealous of those who were cheerier sorts than he!

http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1405

It's entirely possible Imus was publicly stoned...

at the time of the utterance, even.

*angelic smile*

Several of us scullery maids have stories about "mudgeon in the dungeon". That sweet-talkin' boy was incorrigible.

CP-I do believe the appropriate ratio of curd to milk is more important than the % of milkfat and could do both small curd and 2% for cottage cheese as you describe.

One benefit of being in MN by myself is eating what I darn well please for dinner. Tonight I believe it will be cottage cheese with pita chips.

CzarTim;

Just remind people never to use the translated phrase for "Can you direct me to the station?"

:-)

Be daring, frostbitten...

A little brown mustard in the cottage cheese... Or shall I suggest 1,000 Island Dressing???

:-)

>When does the public stoning of Don Imus start?

Um, can I still watch Dave Chapelle? Listen to Richard Pryor?

Just wondering....

I'm just glad we're not worried about the young men driving around with gangsta rap blaring, who actually go to parties where college women hang out, and sometimes come back and pull out a nine.

Because Imus is clearly more dangerous to their self-esteem and physical well-being.

Tim, the Hummer question was silly, not a trick. I read that Ahnold was the person who convinced GM to make civilian ones, though, and he bought the first one produced. Maybe he had a military one before that, but he did get the first civilian one.

S'nuke-very funny re Imus.

No can do with the mustard or 1,000 island dressing. The subtlety of the cottage cheese cannot be sullied with liquid stir ins. A nice counter point crunch is what we're after. A very strongly flavored mustard pretzel bite would be perfect, mustard itself, blech.

Only stoners know for sure, Scotty.

I worry about those young men Error, they are my daughters future dates (potentially)!!

Frosti has spoken SN, and I concur.

EF -- excellent points and ones the drip irony and pathos. So, the civil rights movement means that hideous speech, deadly actions, and denial of dignity gets a pass?

It should all stop. Period.

There is a sad side story here, concerning women who say the liberation means they are free to act in a girls-gone-wild mode, in the name of femininism.

Help. We are not done yet.

Since I graduated in the mid-80's, I was spared the 70's songs for prom. Our theme song was "Goo-Goo-Muck" by The Cramps and -- believe it or not -- Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame headed the band that played our prom ("The Urge").

Applesauce and Cottage Cheese.

Trust me on this. It's a PA Dutch fav.

At our Senior Prom we had a local band who were heavily influenced by REO Speedwagon. They were actually pretty good. And, unlike many of my classmates, my date and I stuck around long enough to actually enjoy them.

RD-P-takes all kinds I suppose, but the only fruit that should ever touch cottage cheese is a canned peach slice. This is how cottage cheese is typically served as a vegie choice on cafe menus across MN. Fancy "supper clubs" will often use an ice cream scoop to serve it up on a lettuce leaf with perhaps a little hat of a canned peach half.

>girls-gone-wild mode, in the name of femininism.

Either that or it was a failure of feminism to recognize that non-feminist/activist women were no more inherently noble and better behaved than men.

I know the applesauce and cottage cheese sounds kinda gross. I was very hesitant to try it when I first saw it at Zinn's Diner, but since then I have grown quite fond of the combination.

CP - you are right. We aren't done yet. And we are all making it up as we go along.

RD P-in the interest of broadening my culinary horizons I will keep the door open to cottage cheese and applesauce should I ever see it on a menu. Time for some weak, very hot coffee to top off my MN meal. Tomorrow night, Cocoa Wheats.

I assert that there are as many types of feminism as there are women. And I always thought that was sort of the idea.

The world does not need a President who will keep this war going. It needs a President who will bring peace. McCain is an intelligent version of Bush. He will follow Bush's failed strategy of staying in Iraq.....It is time the US recognised that it has created turmoil in the Middle East and that it will have to leave if peace is to have a chance.......US troops should not be killed or be killing........Congress should pass a resolution stating that it has no confidence in Bush and that it will bring the troops home notwithstanding Bush's obstinacy and preparedness to knock his empty head against a wall.

Wilbrod, wasn't it Jerome whose misogyny led the Catholic Church to establish a culture in which women were inferior and subordinate to men?

I think that if we had McCain as president, we wouldn't be in the mess we are in. That said, I don't think he is the man to get us out of Iraq. Since my wife switched parties, it's my job to pick which Republican gets to face HilObama. So far I am stumped.

70's lunch; Half a cantalope filled with cottage cheese and sprinkled with almonds, sunflower seeds and a grating of black pepper.

"The Hustler" was a sports movie???? I mean, c'mon, Jackie Gleason was in it. Was the Honeymooners episode where Norton tries to teach Ralph how to play golf a sports sitcom?

Ralph: "It says here [pointing to book] to address the ball."

Norton: *gets in stance* "Hello ball!"

1 Corinthians 7:9
"It's better to marry than burn."
St. Paul

Not Jerome; he translated the bible into Latin IIRC

Apologies, Wilbrod, if I'm wrong.

Hmmmm. Yes, Jerome translated the Vulgate. Who was it, then, who had such a negative view of women and codified it into Church doctrine?

I suppose I *could* look in The History of God, but I'd rather not...

EF -- stupidity, crassness, selfishness are equal opportunity employers. I grew up in what some would see as a backwater, yet was raised to see the responsibilities of all to get up, drink weak coffee as Frostie knows, and do the right thing. Repeat. And, mind your language, save when fishing, and leave the Lord's name out of it, and why would you invoke the ef-work anyway for such a beautiful and rare gift...

RDP: We are not there yet. I hope we develop more deliberate strategies that making it up. I know you meant this rhetorically, the "making up part." Can physics help here? Would string theory improve ethics in language?

Teaching is an opportunity to help increase thoughtfulness in next generation.

I am very tired, partly because we talked about this in three classes today. Keeping somewhat Socratic and shaping the discussion is hard work. I haven't been swimming in three weeks, which is huge withdrawal for me. But some asthma stuff in spring is very touchy, and I need to be home watching the stoking of the nebulizer, etc. I must find a way back into the pool, or buy that monstrosity that is BowFlex.....

Jeez, I don't know how to answer your 6:40, dr. I mean, sure, it coulda been me. But I can't tell for sure. See, there was more than just one scullery maid and more than one or two dark-of-night flee-the-abbey excursions. We were just going out for ice cream, though. I swear. Well, there was this one time when me and Little Susie fell asleep at the minstrel show, and then at cock's crow there we were, in the tumbril, and waaaay overdue. I don't think I'd ever seen the Prioress that mad before. I wrote a ballad about it--wonder what ever happened to that tune?

Which is pretty much exactly what Nrothgal [Northgal?] said (and which had me laughing). Of course, I think instead of "incorrigible" I think I prefer the words "persistent" and "steadfast." But that may be in the eye of the beholder and the Prioress. Who am I to quibble?

Late, as always. The first thing I noticed is that Ichiro is not out of the box, so it doesn't matter. Mudge implied that, but didn't spell it out. It's similar to soccer, where the ball remains in play until it's entirely beyond the line, so that partly out = in. Unlike basketball and gridiron, where touching the line is out.

I'll get to more serious stuff shortly....

6.03 The batter's legal position shall be with both feet within the batter's box.
APPROVED RULING: The lines defining the box are within the batter's box.

6.06 A batter is out for illegal action when -- (a) He hits a ball with one or both feet on the ground entirely outside the batter's box....
Rule 6.06(a) Comment: If a batter hits a ball fair or foul while out of the batter's box, he shall be called out.

What I meant by "making it up" is that we need to be constantly examining and re-evaluating the trade-offs inherent in our society.

We want free speech, but we don't want to tolerate hate.

We want people to be free to make their own choices in life, but we are uncomfortable if those choices seem distasteful to us.

We want peace, but we also want justice.

We want to make those who depend upon us happy, but we want some share of happiness too.

We reward achievement, but we value humility.

And given that society is always changing, whatever balance may have worked in the past isn't guaranteed to work today.

Darn, this would have been a lot more entertaining to visit than Mammoth Cave:

http://www.wymg.com/external_links.php?link=http://www.onmarijuana.com/2007/04/03/the-great-tennessee-marijuana-cave/

And as for strategy, I have always been partial to the Calculus of Felicity, in which a society seeks to maximize, in the mathematical sense of the word, the happiness of *all* its citizens.

Loomis, what a classy illness for Lspouse to have -- gout. All the best royals used to have it. My doctor thinks it might explain my sore foot. He says having blue eyes, being of German extraction, and drinking beer (kind of a syndrome, eh?) are indicators.

Error, I just saw your 7:32 and it SOUNDS as if you're saying (dangerous to assume this is what you meant, but correct me if I'm wrong) that Imus is a scapegoat on the altar of political correctness? In other words, he's being vilified and will probably be fired for something that young black guys (and rich rap stars) say every day? Is that it?

Because if that is what you mean, let's discuss "free speech." Thomas Payne was a big advocate of it. It's great. It's in our Constitution and soldiers have died in defense of our right to it, correct?

But do you think even Thomas Payne would have said that the clerk who sold Payne's wife dry goods should have had the right (with impunity) to tell her that that color makes her look much too stout and she should consider a nice brown or black? Don't you think old Tom would have said that certainly the clerk had the right to say whatever he wanted, but no right whatsoever to retain his job selling cloth and pins if he wanted to insult the public?

And how is that different from Don Imus who is, after all, selling air time? No one reasonable is even suggesting that he go to jail for what he said - we DO have the right to free speech. All people are saying is they will exercise their right not to buy products pushed on his show anymore.

And no one is claiming that the rap stars and ganstas are right - we simply have no economic leverage over them, and we do have some with Imus.

Frostbitten, you have the "salad" backward. My mother put the peach half on the lettuce with the concave side up, and put a scoop of cottage cheese on top. Sometime, if she was in a good mood, there would be a maraschino on the very top of the cottage cheese.

RDP, you've got it right, in my estimation.

I never thought it was a tenet of feminism that women were more noble than men, whatever that might mean. Just that women should be afforded the same opportunities to f--k it all up.

I'm sure plenty of people will continue to listen to Imus, Stern, Leykis, all the shock jocks. I have no idea why. IMO, Pryor and Chappelle and Lenny Bruce are in a different category. As Al Franken said tonight to Larry King, Lenny Bruce's humor had a point. I don't know what Imus was trying to say, but it sounded to me like he was judging a group of women he didn't know based on his stereotype of black athletes.

I read something earlier today about how "nappy headed" was so vile, it had pretty much disappeared from the language. I remember hearing it from the likes of George Wallace. Maybe it's time for Imus to retire to his ranch and devote himself to his charities.

EF, Imus can't have it both ways. He wants to be mainstream enough to have serious people on his show but if that's the case he can't do the racist/sexist stuff too.

Of course, so much of humor is poking fun at people but intelligent people know where to draw the line.

The "gangsta rappers do it too" excuse is lame for the reasons Wheezy said. Richard Pryor used the "N" word frequently and with great effect in his memorable routines; that gave no white man or woman any standing to use it.

The sexism part which, I fear, comes from this neanderthal "why are women playing sports" perspective is at a minumum more indefensible and hasn't been given the attention it should.

Wheezy, I don't give a flying rat's patootie if Imus has to slink back to his ranch as a consequence of his free speech. He made the mistake of saying publicly what any number of yes, young black men probably say every day. I don't buy gangsta rap, so I do have some conrol over that financial aspect. But they have an audience and so does he. No one who wants him to apologize will ever believe it, and the rest don't care.

He'll probably end up on XM satellite radio with a big raise. I don't know, I stopped listening to him about 25 years ago, so I don't care.

I can tell you I hear stuff coming out of cars in town that makes what he said sound like an invitation to a pancake breakfast.

Perhaps it is only after we've experienced and confronted hate and all the other distasteful aspects of the world that we can truly be in a position to reject them and choose something better.

"[The ten commandments] are all talking about emotions . . . . Do you think it ever worked? Do you think it works today? Everyone's breaking all those laws. Do you know why? Because they had to experience all of them in order to be wise about any of them. You can't cure an addict until you give the addict everything they want and then they ask for no more. That is when we have owned an experience, and that is when we are wise. . . . From knowledge, we build new holograms, and we create a new storm, and in that new storm we create realities in which unknown emotions will exist. How with the ten commandments could we have possibly created a mind that could transcend space and time? No, we're too busy keeping our emotions in check to ever dream of infinite possibilites. Maybe that is the ultimate conspiracy."

-- Ramtha, on the DVD "What the Bleep!? Down the Rabbit Hole: Quantum Edition"

A couple of stories on Josh Bell on NPR - the first is about the "experiment" -
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9521098

and a review of his new CD:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9528118

Rain Pryor wrote a book about her father that details what his addictions did with regard to his treatment of women and children in his household, but as a comic he generally played the "men are powerless in the face of women" card. Here's a bit he did on SNL on Dec. 13, 1975:

I get women, too. I can't keep 'em but I get 'em. Women always leave me, man! I don't mind 'em leavin' but they tell you why. You know what I mean? Just leave! Don't tell me why! 'Cause there ain't nothin' you can do but stand there and look silly, right? You be ... [imitates a man standing there and looking silly: points to himself in surprise, shrugs helplessly, rolls his eyes, shakes his head in disbelief] And the madder you get, women get cool when you get mad. [as an angry man] "WELL, GO ON AND GET OUT THEN!" [as a cool, calm woman] "I'm leaving." [as the man] "I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" [as the woman] "Don't worry, you shan't."

Here's how Chevy Chase started the news that night:
Chevy Chase: UNICEF fell under attack this week when Syria formally protested the charitable organization's new Christmas card, which says, in ten different languages, "Let's kill the Arabs and take their oil!"

from
http://www.tv.com/saturday-night-live/richard-pryor-gil-scott-heron-thalamus-rasulala/episode/111403/summary.html

I do want to note that Joshua Bell received his music training at, ahem, Indiana University. More than basketball here people, more than basketball.

If we ever do a list of favorite comedians I got Pryor number 1. Funny and real at the same time like no one else.

Kurt Vonnegut died.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/books/12vonnegut.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

And so it goes.

Sorry I killed the Boodle.

Wow, lots to catch up on today.

Not sure how Linda mixed me up with K. Dunst or what to make of it.

dr, an early 60's Fairlane? Cool.

I see that the people are speaking where Imus is concerned. And I say: good.

Mudge, Northgal? Ha.

Why isn't "Happy Gilmore" in the 25 greatest sports movies? It was *way* better than "Tin Cup." Though I'm glad "Slap Shot" made it in there.

bc

Wheezy, thanks for posting that link re. Vonnegut's passing.

I'm going to have to think a bit about this... maybe something for tomorrow. No doubt Joel will mention this in a Kit.

So it goes, indeed.

bc

I like Richard Pryor's work, but not number one with me-- his best work was slightly before I was old enough to watch it ALL. And you know that TV didn't record his finest, most unprintable work either.

S'Nuke- LOL.

Error-- I was actually being sacrastic about stoning Imus. It seems a dead silence and withholding of applause would hit a performer much harder than anything else.

However just because a lot of people do it doesn't make it right, either. It might make it democratic, but not right.

And now I have to go scrub my eyes out after reading about Mudge getting some Saxon a bearskin at his old prom held at that hall hight Herot. I'll never look at the word "Runnymede" the same way again.

RIP Kurt. One less realist, the world just got a little loonier.

Hi Boodlers,

Just checking in. Always like reading the A-blog when I can. We are set to get two (!) blizzards in a row...one tomorrow evening into Friday and the second Monday. :-( Oh, how I sometimes miss the mid-atlantic region. Specially in the spring. Least I'll be visiting in May and bask in the buttercups.

Regarding Imus, he is soooo last century. Looks like he has sunset syndrome in reverse. Go away and never come back, ugly bigot.

I'm sorry to hear about Vonnegut. I know he's a favorite of many folks here. I like this quote that was in the NY Times obit:
"There's only one rule that I know of, babies -- 'God damn it, you've got to be kind.'"

RC, say it ain't so! I'm flying through Denver next Wed - no blizzards allowed!

Morning all! *somewhat subdued Grover waves*

I sincerely hope we, as a species, can one day erect a monument to Kurt on Titan.

Good morning, friends. Well, well. What a morning. I think we had a thunderstorm here last night. When I woke up a few minutes ago, my television was off and I did not turn it off. Probably dozed off and left it on, which is not out of character for me.

My asthma is getting worse, people can hear me wheezing now. Must talk with the doctor about that. Might help to use the inhaler, but don't like the inhaler.

Error, I personally don't like rap music. I don't know what they're saying, but my beef with them is that I prefer singing, not talking with music. My children liked it when it first came out, but I don't think the lyrics were as bad then, as they are now. I don't like the bad, potty, mouth thing, and as a woman I am not crazy about being called anything other than the female I am. As the young woman said on the Rutger team, it not good no matter whose mouth it falls out.

As to Don Imus, I'm sure he never thought the words would come back as they have. He did not consider what the effect would be, and he's not alone in that thinking. Many times we let loose with stuff that has not been thought about and weighed, but as most people have asserted here, and elsewhere, he went to far. He choose someone's child to talk about, and as Science Tim said, young people that could not in a sense defend themselves because they are still under adult supervision. And how do we explain Mr. Imus's behavior to our children and to young people everywhere? Yes, we have the freedom to say what we want to say, and we use that freedom in this and many public forums, but one never has the right to hurt and be mean to others, at least, I don't believe they do. And to have that paid for by all the people that buy products from corporations that sponsor that kind of talk, is just too much.

No school this week, so I don't have do anything else but maybe get some rest, after doing a tour of duty at the laundry room.

Morning, Mudge, Slyness, Scotty, and all.*waving*

Martooni, hope it is going well with you.

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

Cassandra, please use the inhaler - it works.

Sorry to here about Kurt Vonnegut it was the first headline I saw when I looked at the news this morning.

We were lucky here, temperature stayed just warm enough to prevent the rain that fell from turning to freezing rain or snow, it was a wild night though but now it is calm and the temperature rose overnight - almost feels spring like.

Morning, Cassandra! *wave*

From the Depressingly Redundant Department of Redundancy:

Baghdad Bridge, Buildings Go Boom

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/12/AR2007041200265.html?hpid=topnews

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/12/AR2007041200568.html?hpid=topnews

*SIGH*

I enjoyed reading Vonnegut very much. I don't think I accepted his world view nearly as much as some, but he certainly made me think.

Good morning. Very sorry to hear about Kurt Vonnegut. I'll write something this morning and post it in a couple of hours. A lot of writers we admire, but some we love. I loved Vonnegut. He wasn't the most facile with his pen, or the most brilliant at constructing a plot, and no one's going to confuse him with Dickens, but he was damn funny and wise and had a way of taking you down into the darkness of the world and then guiding you back to the light. I don't if I could prove that statement with a passage; actually there was also an apocalyptic quality to some of his work (see, ice-9, etc.). But this was a guy who survived the Dresden firebombing in an underground meatlocker and even if he said that didn't explain anything about him, it had to shape his worldview.

Scottynuke, your post on Iraq reminded me about the following "Discussion" transcript. I do not think I have ever read a more articulate and insightful description of the situation in Iraq.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/04/09/DI2007040900799.html

Joel - I am looking forward to reading your thoughts on Vonnegut. I think the word "apocalyptic" nails why I was both delighted and disturbed by his writing.

kb,

I've finally posted my letter from Kurt Vonnegut.

http://livebythefoma.blogspot.com/2007/04/so-it-goes.html

That's all I can say right now. I have to compose myself enough to go to work.

CP, sorry to hear about your asthma. If you're serious about the BF, you might luck out on Craigslist, eBay or the local papers and get one for about $600. However, they are not serious equipment. How about a Concept2 rower or free weights?

yellojkt - That was a very charming letter from Vonnegut, and a touching tribute.

I have only written one fan letter to a writer in my life, and in return I got a slightly smart-alecky postcard.

But I still dig the guy.

Vonnegut was one of the writers who got me turned on to "reading for enjoyment" during high school. "Slaughterhouse Five" was an assigned reading, but I was so impressed I went off and read everything else the man had written.

My favorite quote/concept from him (paraphrased because I'm on the way out the door) was that artists are the canaries of society -- the first to detect trouble -- so if you see lots of artists dropping dead, you should probably worry.

Looking forward to Joel's write-up on Kurt.

btw... Mornin' everybody (and thanks again, Cassandra).

See yinz all around lunchtime...

DBG -- No asthma for me, but my darling boy has instrinsic asthma, which is squirrelly and hard to control. He handles much of it himself, but when tethered to the nebulizer these days for about three hours, we watch old movies and I grade papers. I will try to get back to the pool, because the water experience has other calming benefits besides exericise....like being in a sound depriviation chamber.....I would have to hang a bowflex machine from the ceiling....no room. Maybe a small rower would work. Thanks for the idea.

Cassandra, are you on Advair? New advances on asthma treatment all the time. Have you seen a doc lately on wheezing?

And from the Extremely Confusing Department:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/11/AR2007041102172.html?hpid=topnews

I'm very conflicted on this one. There's no good reason to exclude a world-class person from the team. There's no way a set of wheels equates to a set of legs, so there can't be head-to-head competition that way. There are no other competitors in that category at that level, so how can you have a "race" for one?

*SIGH*

yellojkt-I know it was hard for you to compose the Vonnegut obit this morning, but not having one in the can made it better. IMHO

My first thought last night when I heard the news about Vonnegut's death via the BBC was that "I must get up and turn on the computer to tell the Boodle." The second, much more rational thought was "Someone else has already told them." Which of course led to "Wonder what Joel will write." I dreamed something in JA style, but can't remember it now. Sigh....

CP- I beg to differ with dbG in recommending free weights over the bowflex. While I agree that the BF is not "serious" weight lifting equipment,it is not the space grabber that free weights are.

CP, not on Advair, don't know the name of the inhaler. I've had medications that one takes daily to prevent an asthma attack, but just could not see myself taking this because I don't believe such medication exist that completely controls asthma to that extent. Plus there were too many side effects that I was afraid of.

Because I take a number of medications from time to time, I am leary of medicines, especially causing a problem with mixing them up.

I've never read the author that died, but read the piece about him this morning, he certainly sounds like he was an interesting person, and his work is something I would love to read.

yellojkt,

I'm heading over to your site now. I don't know what I have to add to this conversation, but I do know that whether somebody "gets" Vonnegut is a major clue to whether there is any possibility they will ever be able to relate to me in any meaningful way. Today will be a day when I am even more grateful than usual for Achenblog.

Cassandra, I take daily medications (inhalers) for asthma, and unless I am sick it takes away all wheezing, to the point where doctors can miss the asthma. It really helps.

S'Nuke-Thought provoking. My first ? is why other schools don't have wheelchair athletes. I know not all schools have students who would be capable of competing but surely there are some who could. Reminds me a little of when sports first opened up to women. In my day the thought was that surely there couldn't be more than one or two girls in the whole state of MN who would even want to play hockey. For every kid in a wheelchair who is ready to compete and fight for the right to do it I'm sure there are dozens who would compete if the door were already opened.

Later gators. I have 4 looong meetings to attend today. Having them all on one day sounded like a good idea when they were scheduled. The old "get it out of the way" routine. Must remember this feeling the next time I'm asked to get out my calendar.

dmd, the inhaler does help, I will use it, but the last time I used it did not feel so good afterwards. It could have been anything. Thanks for the info.

Time to go. I have to go get the stuff that keeps me going, legal dope, medications.

Have a good day folks. I was so hoping that "we the people" could have a good conversation about race and treating each other good, but it seems that has flown out the window, and another opportunity missed. I am so afraid that when we finally start talking like adults it will be after much, much, hurt on both sides. It is most certainly a conversation that we will surely have some point. Hopefully, a point of our choice, not one that rises up on its own. Peace.

KB -- you are write about KV as a winnowing tool among potential friends. Did you know he was married to Jill Krementz (sp?) who wrote a number of children's books based on her photography?

Cassandra, at the risk of sounding motherly here, listen a bit. The controller asthma meds are a godsend! Advair is one and despite what you may have heard the side effects are slim-to-none for most. The problem with Advair is that you must take it in a steady dose over time. You cannot use it for a few weeks or days and then slip. Advair is also not a rescue medicine, meaning you do not use in in an attack.

Without Advair, I believe my darling son would be dead on the soccer field, literally. With Advair, he has a chance at a normal daily routine. He still carries other meds, but hasn't had a rescue event for a while.

Do you have a nebulizer? Most insurance companies cover them now, to avoid trips to the ER. He uses the nebulizer now for inhaled steriods and moist air during this tricky time of the year. When T.S. Eliot wrote that "April is the cruelest month....." I always insert "because of asthma."

Done with lecture. I am so grateful for asthma meds and think daily on the number of asthma deaths in the developing world due for want of these simple meds. We are so lucky to have our problems.

BTW -- if peeps here are still using CFC propelled inhalers, switch to the non CFC type now. The CFC-sort face a global expiration soon. Be GREEN with your Asthma MACHINE!

Cassandra, the conversation can continue here. It is underway in my classroom, this week. What I wish is that we would all reconsider the crassness of our language, choosing to elevate our speech to that befitting all human dignity.

Hey Oprah -- use your forum here. Don Imus -- use your ranch work on charity for children with cancer as a model and extend to some real work on how humor can be funny and NOT cross the line. Etc.

Also, don't you love Kurt Vonnegut's name -- you couldn't make it up. And in my wild imagination one of the greeters at the end of the tunnel would have been Mr. Fear-and-Loathing-in Vegas.....

Pakistan seems to bother people. Kristof writes about it. I don't know if Musharraf is as bad as Pinochet, or if he serves the same purpose. The army is very corrupt. Everyone knows there are bad elements. There are extremist elements. How could you have an Islamic country in that region without extremists? How much pressure can we put on the government, and what is the downside?

In the next election, this is a 'real' issue. I doubt it will be discussed. We worry about Terror, but how many incidents are there? Will the world collapse if we fail in Iraq? Is there another strategy? Well, pols just raise cash. It's the cash, stupid.

In DeMille's book Wildfire, the US has a plan to nuke most of the 'trouble' countries after an incident here. Whether the plan exists, who knows? That's one way to finality. Are we that arrogant?

It's not much of a war, so far. It would be nice if Pakistan developed, remained moderate, expanded the middle class. If the economy worked better, there would be more freedom. That's a long process. If we say we can't wait, because Pakistan is 'too dangerous' to our interests, then what?

Again, maybe McCain and Romney and Clinton and Obama should be discussing this? People liked that neo-Colonial fantasy. It gave us a lot of control. How much control will we have? Is McCain clinging to that, the ought two thing? Trying for too much control might be the worst path?

cp, yes, I am familiar with Krementz's work--I read many of her books with my daughter--one of our favorites is "A Very Young Dancer."

When two artists have a successful marriage it goes against my basic theory, illustrated by my own domestic situation. My husband's metaphor for our relationship is that he is a helium balloon and I stand with my feet firmly on the ground, "holding the string."

Krementz and Vonnegut proved that there is another model, where two creative people can support one another. Love finds a way. And now I'm getting sad thinking of Jill Krementz as the grieving spouse. They were lucky to have each other.

I remember the nebulizer and its soothing white noise. I rocked a baby gently as she gasped for air. I held the pale green mask to her face until her breating slowed. And I watched her eyes flutter close as she finally fell asleep.

Why RDP, you see the poetry of the nebulizer. Thank you for brightening my day.

Joel captured a lot of what I'm feeling about Vonnegut (as I expected he would); the guy wasn't about beautiful prose, or intricate, well-researched plot, he was about the dark and the light, the heart and soul and mind of man in a tragicomic universe.

bc

yellojkt;

That blog item was really nice. Hope you are up to a more complete version soon.

Uh, Wheezy, I wouldn't call Michael Jackson a man singing the song Ben, he was fourteen at the time it was recorded.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSqo17o2a1w

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_%28song%29

KB -- I agree about the artist-in-relatinship quality you mention. I don't know much about KV's life. I hope he was easier to live with than many artist-genious-visionaries. I know that John C. Mather is a fabulous guy, especially in his ordinariness. I would appreciate others noting when achievement mashes-up with kindness and livability. Too often, the suffering spouse undergirds the artist's life....and pays taxes, mows the lawn, etc.

Omni, I didn't realize that. MJ is my age! How weird.

Thanks to Yellojkt for his tribute page for Kurt Vonnegut.

On a lighter note, when I started reading this:

CP, sorry to hear about your asthma. If you're serious about the BF, you might luck out on Craigslist, eBay or the local papers and get one for about $600. However, they are not serious equipment. How about a Concept2 rower or free weights?

Posted by: dbG | April 12, 2007 07:44 AM

I thought BF was boyfriend, and thought dbG was suggesting that College Parkian could get one on Craigslist for about $600!

Wheezy! From the sublime of RDP reminding me of nebulizer poety to the crack (Irish slang for roaring funny/good times) of a $600 BF from Craig's list. My day is complete. If I were not holding required office hours I would simply go back to bed, after jiggling the tempermental sump pump again.

TBG -- Tell darling son PeeGee to try out office hours. He may make a old heart glad.

Raysmom -- you may have emailed me, but something bizzaro is up on that server. Try again? I found a thimble of a bird nest this morning. Sometime in the past, the azalea must have hosted a hummingbird...the cuteness is high on the mini-meter. I see a feather the size of a fingernail paring.

Morning, everybody. Hey, Cassandra! *dainty royal-like wave* (That's all I'm up to today.)

I'm sooo 19th century in my reading, but, yanno, I think I'll stay there. Never had to read Vonnegut; I suppose he wasn't on the required reading list when I was in college. Of course, I only took the one required American lit class, being an Anglophile. All I remember is that we listened to Bernstein's Mass as a metaphor for the dissonance in modern life.

Mudge, Nrothgal was sooo beneath you. *I* remember how Ermentrude had such a crush on you, you handsome devil. And you didn't pay her a bit of mind. She went into the convent because of that, did you know? She was an able administrator and rose to be Prioress about three down from the one who kept us in line. She never did get over you.

Busy day ahead. Going to have lunch with my half brother and niece. He will be 83 on Sunday, and this is likely to be the last birthday we have him with us. Several weeks ago, tests revealed that his heart is functioning at 20%. No wonder he's so confused. I'm trying to pay lots of attention so that I will know when they need me most.

*adjusting my mutant cap*

bc writes:
Not sure how Linda mixed me up with K. Dunst or what to make of it.

bc, didn't a month or so ago, you write about renting the DVD of the movie "Marie Antoinette" and say that, after viewing it, it didn't do much for you and your daughters? I have yet to see the film--now long gone from theaters and currently available on DVD.

And Kirsten Dunst played Maria Antoinette in director Sofia Coppola's film of the same name. My thought: maybe Kirsten Dunst was a tad too pretty to play the famous Hapsburg?

Why would I say this? Another story from Spenser Wells in his National Geographic Book, "Deep Ancestry: Inside the Genographic Project." It occurs early in the book in his Chapter 2, along with a portrait of Charles II. Let Wells tell it:
it:

How do individual differences from person to person add up to regional differneces? Because of local marriage patterns. ...

One of the best examples of this comes not from 18th century villages (which are difficult to study genetically without a real time machine) but from one of the royal families of Europe at the time. Among all the great European dynasties, the Hapsburgs of Austria-Hungary were perhaps the greatest. This influential family succeeded in placing their sons and daughters into the royal households of almost evry major European court, from Spain to Germany to Croatia. Marie Antoinette, wife of French king Louis XVI (whom Jefferson probably met as am