First!

Hmmm. Simpsonizing brought to us by Burger King.

Burger King World Headquarters is, regrettably, no longer at a beautiful southern Miami suburban site overlooking Biscayne Bay. The building was stripped to its skeleton by hurricane Andrew in 1992, then refurbished in an open-office style.

Apparently the place was too far from the airport.

Meanwhile, Pisco, Peru is in ruins, the outlook for Haiti, Jamaica, and Cuba or Yucatan is not good, and Texans are starting to read the story of Noah and wonder what they've done to deserve a rerun.

I had a friend who went to Peru in the 80s and came back with Pisco - a Peruvian paint remover of the finest kind. Talk about leaving things in ruins.

What a cool idea! Props to Rob! Of course, I am too technologically challenged to actually Simpsonize myself (no Adobe on laptop, no photo on either handy computer), so I'll have to wait until I get home and turn it over to Ivansdad. However, we all know I'm actually Lisa, so just take that as given. Really. Remember the episode where an adult Lisa becomes President? Think of me as that, with less spiky hair. And without the nervous laugh caused by the aging Bart.

Season 10 is out on DVD, y'know.

Simpsonize me? Good grief! Who in their right mind would want to look like a no talent silicon enhanced blonde bimbo? Why that Jessica Simpson is... What? Oh, never mind.

I bet that BK picture database is hilarious to the DB administrators over there.

A treasure trove of humanity.

bc

Not that there's anything wrong with spiky hair, mind you. I've tried and tried to get mine to spike, but no. The Boy periodically cuts his (not this year, just "trims") so he can spike it with blue gel. It doesn't look like Lisa's, though. Fortunately he's not channeling Bart either.

Rob man that is awesome.

I couldn't find a picture small enough, or maybe it is just that my head is too big.

I'm sure I would end up a Homer. Back in the day I used to drink a lot of Natty B'oh!

Or is that D'oh!!

Rob, I made a peachy image of myself, but all I could do is save this to my computer. Since I have no web presence, I have no URL. I am so ashamed. But it was fun.

Rob,
You're behind the curve. I Simpsonized myself over two weeks ago when the movie came out.

http://livebythefoma.blogspot.com/2007/07/homer-riffic.html

My commenters and I are partial to the one on the left.

A blog friend of mine Simpsonized his whole family.

http://www.trustygetto.com/2007/07/ive-been-simpsonized.html

RD,

E-mail to me and I can get it on the interwebs. Same offer goes to anyone on the backboodle.

Thanks Yellojkt! It has been done.

Heading out--got a hot date! (My wife, and a brace of mai-tais at Szechuan Gardens, followed by some crispy beef and a couple of spring rolls. I lead such an adventurous life.)

Everybody have a good weekend.

Jimmy Stewart stamp comes out today:
http://www.indianagazette.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9412&Itemid=52

Anyone know how to change the hair color on the Simpsonizer? I can't figure that out, or maybe you can't?

byoolin, Pisco (the drink) is one of the main things (besides the fossil big dead whales) that keeps me going back to Peru.

The drink is named for the now-mostly-destroyed town. Ica region, which includes Pisco, is Peru's main agricultural area, and its wine-country as well (Pisco is made from grapes). The region is, I believe, the world's largest producer of asparagus.

Still not a lot of information coming out of southern Peru. I would not be surprised if the number of homeless in particular skyrockets as more information comes out. Most people in that area live in adobe-and-thatch structures that will not do well in an earthquake.

Several more strong aftershocks today.

Here's RD all Simpsonized.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42627063@N00/1152099425/

Hey Rob,
Joel wanted you to give us the ability to post inline images in the comments. He told me so. You've got that italics things nearly done, right?

Do you think when the Simpsonizer says "minimum size" they mean "maximum?" It wouldn't take my photos. They can't HANDLE the truth!

Unable to Simpsonize, I posted a recent effort on my blog, http://jumpersbloghouse.blogspot.com/
I realized one day there is no reason to not morph people and cartoon characters. The result is not pretty. It is, however, bizarre.

I could, for example, morph the Simpsonized Joel photo with the one Rob used to achieve it. It would be halfway. Or any other cartoon character of your choice, Rob! Consider this a one-time offer.

Thanks for posting that for me Yellojkt! The resemblance is indeed uncanny.

Aloha - I think the hair color is fixed.

Bummer, then I will be a fake blond.

http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=qwwzekccbcwkzlqrcvenyhawhnrhgybt

Aloha - I was wrong. If you go to the "hairstyle" section you can change the hair color by clicking on the colormap. If I had known that I wouldn't have allowed myself to end up so prematurely..blue.

I see from Aloha that you can link from the site. I feel very stupid.

RD, no need to feel stupid, it was purely accidental that I figured out the link. I emailed the image to myself as is offered at the end of your *makeover*, where it says to fill up a friend's email box. The email it sends gives you the link.

Okay, now I need to go back and fix the hair color...

My Simpsonized image: http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=hzkczlkxgteqqnmdsthiophdqbfrrgob

I don't have Vulcan ears in real life, but it seemed appropriate to the moment.

I thought I killed the boodle, and it turns out somebody forgot to say "new kit!".

Man, things have gone downhill under new management already.

Helpful comment: As revealed by Aloha, if you want to get your picture as an URL you have to email it to yourself! So, with thanks and apologies to Yellojkt, I present my updated pic:

http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=kmwodvpfjuyqbmxaivjtjzjfmzzdfjho

Gee, Aloha, your picture is kind of ... enticing!

Okay, this is much better

http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=geqjgwlpixxaisexdpitrvrzhmgiiwdr

I'm not a Simpsons fan. Instead I point people to my self-portrait on

http://wilbrodthegnome.blogspot.com/

Which looks just like me... except for the ears and...um.

Well, it's small, humanoid and has brown hair. That's close enough!

Anybody want to be gnomized, e-mail me and I'll get back to you someday.

Way cute, Aloha.

D'oh!
http://flickr.com/photos/35877650@N00/?saved=1

Well, remember, this is a Simpson version of me. The real me is not nearly as good looking.

Boko - that looks eerily like your picture. And SciTim - the ears are very becoming. The pic seems to capture your impish grin quite well.

This thing really seems to work.

I've been Simpsonized--

http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=ngusjzqhxyxiarmddfslmbkveijphnhk

And I created my own avatar from scratch last week, but it appears to have expired (?)

http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/sendfriend/kbbme_1772007195819.jpg

Stinking thing keeps telling me "try again", "too busy"... Well you know what? I'm busy, too.

stupid fording moron arsehole friggin mudder bugger...

Why does everyone who's been Simpsonized have a receding chin? And other than Boko, really no facial hair? It looks like the guys haven't matured enough to know the meaning of razor? Why does Padouk have a Duncan Doughnut around his mouth? And not a necktie or bowtie in sight (unless it's in your pasta tonight)?

Disturbingly lifelike:
http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=ocqxxuzxeoykqparhdkmclpfrxxuapkm

Okay... so I've tried like twelve times to submit my ugly mug to the Simpsonator, and got nuttin.

Talk about "d'oh". This is just plain old stupidity. Every time I try to upload a pic, it tells me [paraphrased] "sorry, we're just too dang popular, try again when all the more important internet users are finished."

If they're trying to get people to spend $8.00 a head to watch a frigging TV show on the big screen, you'd think they'd at least buy up enough bandwidth and server capacity to allow their movie promo applications to work.

Stupid Stupid Stupid.

Guess what? My $8 is going to buy booze. Eff off, Mr. "Let's-save-a-couple-dollars-on-web-hosting-Groening".

Heck... even Maggie coulda designed a more reliable web app.

ScienceTim-that's how I've always pictured you. You have Mathew Broderick's voice BTW.

D'Oh! You're a near Hillary-look alike, frostbitten ;).

Martooni-- I'll chose to believe that you have a chin so manly that they blew a fuse trying to transform it into a chinless wonder. Hence, the automated excuses.

But you can e-mail me your mug and I'll try for something suitably unrealistic and gnomish.

martooni - take a deep breath and try again. I think yours could be epic.

Linda- Have you ever *watched* the Simpsons?

Does anyone else get creeped out by the Burger King? I used to laugh at kids who were afraid of clowns. No more.

martooni - check your email for a special offer.

Boko - I have long thought "The King" was creepy. Especially as portrayed in the "Wake up with The King" commercials.

My bad Simpsonized self:

http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=vtevbxsrhqjewxakdybvvubittgombsa

Guess we're lucky they caught this legal goof in time...

Arkansas: We continue to be unique.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070817/ap_on_re_us/marriage_age_arkansas;_ylt=AmVFG1jrMdi8mNxe4IFnMMZH2ocA

I think that Rob did us a big frivolous Friday favour. This is way fun.

I think all of the Simpsonized women are alarmingly hot. But, given the source material, how could it be different?

Good one Yoki. I added the dog because Buddy resembles Santa's Little Helper but he didn't show up in the final Simpsonization.

RD- You were right about the high speed internet connection. I have the feeling I'm going to be pulling my hair out when I go home to the *&%$)%^ dial-up.

No dead plants at my sister's yet, all draperies niclely installed and she's home tomorrow so I may be able to put last year's nastiness behind me.

Martooni
**Heck... even Maggie coulda designed a more reliable web app.**

I could be offended, but I don't even know what a web app is.

(I've been away for two weeks or so, and next week I'm going in for knee replacement surgery, part deux, so forgive me for not participating.)

Maggie, my goodness! Hope everything goes well. I understand the recovery is a b1tch but it's worth the effort. Your second, I take it? At least you know what you're in for. Blessings!

Boko and Buddy999-- nice pix. Buddy looks pretty handsome.

What's his mom, a husky-schnauzer mix? What a cute white face-- worthy of the cartoon Warner Brothers (and Dot, too!).

Maggie O'D, my father-in-law had his knee replaced earlier this summer. He was out on the golf course within six weeks. So I wish you nothing but a quick recovery.

I don't believe this. I went to bed, wake up and find 2 new kits. He's working hard b'cuz he's on probation.

Missed ya around the ol' Boodle, Maggie.

The Burger King is pure evil I say. Totally creeps me out.

Missed the fun again today, not because of Internet difficulties, but because I was really busy at work. I don't have a picture of myself that's close enough to Simpsonize so I'll just enjoy everyone else's.

Slyness, congratulations on the grandmother thing, even if it's once removed. As I think I told you when we met, being a grandmother is terrific, but they grow up way too fast.

Maggie, good luck with the surgery. I know an 80 year old who had it done and she was fine after about a month or six weeks, so I'm sure you will be up and running (figuratively) in no time. I had a hip replacement almost three years ago, it was he11 for the first six weeks, then it got better fast. Of course I worked out to make sure it was flexible and strong, but I think you know that you need to do that.

Maggie O'D, I hope your surgery goes well. Check in when you can. When you can't, know we are thinking of you and missing you.

Strange World; Kerric and SonofCarl and dr, would you each or all be willing to drop me a line at dbioyoki@hotmail.com with the following subject line: Proposed Western Canadian BPH -- ?

That odd punctuation is meant to indicate that I am asking the question, but the subject line need not include the question mark. Or something.

haha

http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=rdmoeggonugzgwuvbowmnclyddqajlwl

Seriously. Totally hot.

Three moonflowers this evening.

This odd person was sighted walking Poodleparkian:
http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=anvfuzocvdonrssnavbgnscjrizoxkyj

CP - I've got *four* buds on the moonflower, so I guess it liked the bunnypoo tea. No blooms yet, but all systems seem primed.

BPTea, should be bottled. Are the buds about two inches long? They can unfurl on a hot night.

Take care, MO'D. Will be better outside of that tunnel.

LAL and CP, love your Simpsonized pics.

Like martooni's, mine didn't go through. The software analyzed the photo for half an hour, then I gave up. I really don't have a suitable picture. By design.

Glad to hear they're working you hard, Bad Sneaks.

TBG and I had a pleasant visit to a local rose garden and then took the tour of the oldest house in the county. I hadn't been in almost 20 years and they've added quite a bit. Afterwards we met Dr. G, Gdottir, and Mr. T for supper at our favorite Italian restaurant run by Greeks. Good, cheap food - it's an unbeatable combination. By their account, SonofG is nicely launched into college life. Tomorrow they wend their way back towards DC on the back roads, where neat stuff is to be found.

This makes me wonder- if a robot's understanding of humor depends on its programming, should computer science types be handling the job?

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070816-new-robot-thinks-knock-knock-jokes-are-funny.html

Cyberspace/Springfield BPH:

http://attachments.wetpaintserv.us/WOw%24%2BJe5rZT7o%24nTLdGVpw%3D%3D54385

I'll check back later to see if more faux Simpsons show up...

Frosti, check your e-mail!

Rob, that was so much fun!

kb-a Springfield bph!

dbG-got it-thanks.

SCC-So of course it's a Springfield BPH, kbertocci said that-which I would have seen if I hadn't jumped straight to the link.

I suspect they know the Awful Expressionless King freaks us all out and they do it anyway. The marketing logic escapes me, but I'm sure they have a theory.

http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=wdjmriaecveqboeyzouqgrdjxtyebjhv

I have loved seeing people!

The only thing I'll say about the Burger King is that he looks awfully like a Jewish guy I know around the eyes (not so much everything else). I think he's probably modelled on a real face, just kind of stylized out a bit.

Which raises the question is Burger King remotely kosher, anyway?

Did the advertising agency that got the contract decide to strike one against cheeseburger eating in a passive-aggressive way?

Talk about an interactive boodle... and nearly 100% on topic.

Spent a wonderful afternoon and evening with Slyness and Mr. T. Lots of fun was had by all. We took off early so that Daughter of G could watch High School Musical 2, but the hotel DOESN'T HAVE THE DISNEY CHANNEL. We think the Tivo at home is set to record. I sure hope so.

I think I really have fallen in love with Charlotte. Great city with so much going on and lots of potential. I have nearly learned to navigate the roads (if you've tried to, you'll understand what that really means). The key? Every road changes names at least once. When someone tells you to take Eastway, they really mean you want Wendover... or Runnymede... or Woodlawn... or Billy Graham Parkway.

I don't have any suitable photos - I even tried one of my kid, the Jimmy Stewart stamp, and Jack Bruce. No joy.

The King whose face is made of glue and sawdust got me thinking of horrible meaningless corporate characters, and things like http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=856&id=876922007
and Izzy, the mascot for the Olympic games in Atlanta a few years ago
http://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.4/articles/kowalskizzy1.4.html
and Izzy got me thinking of the most stealthy character of all, Mr. Coffee, a corporate branding effort that achieved total invisibility: in the history of the company there has been as far as I know, no actual Mr. Coffee character at all. A name without a face, Mr. Coffee is. A character whose visage resides totally in the mind of anyone who hears the words "Mr. Coffee" and conjures up their own shorthand mental picture. Like I said, a masterpiece of marketing cyberwarefare. And this worries me. Apparently it's the "in" thing among corporations to see themselves as invisible stealth-viruses, players in a Jerzy Kosinski-like scenario of rarified international piracy. Instead of the Bourne Supremacy we have the ad people fantasizing the Burger King Ultimatum. The Carlyle Invisibility. The movie will be a Goodtimes production in association with King Films, a subsidiary of Golan Globeus / Masterworks Productions. A Bright Sky film.

The thing that gets me is the ad people are pulling down 4 zeros more than me, and they have actually convinced themselves they are geniuses.

Kinda late in the game... but here I am!

http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=cpylibeyqsmisozdhnpwutuhdqeglxmq

Woo Hoo, TBG!

If dmd doesn't Simpsonize herself soon, we'll have to do it for her.

Simpsonized at http://jumpersbloghouse.blogspot.com/
I just play a guy who wears a tie on TV.

That's cute but definitely not as good-looking as the original, TBG.

Yoki, chic 'do and Indian shirt!

Now I'm just getting carried away. Actually, just hanging out in the kitchen...

http://tbgboodler.blogspot.com/2007/08/ive-been-simpsonized.html

It's getting crowded in here--but the more the merrier! :-)

http://attachments.wetpaintserv.us/ml6bShgFk4JYHrrTPwAqDA%3D%3D57006

Good night, see y'all tomorrow--or sometime.

Silly Jumper, Joe DiMaggio was Mr. Coffee. Here's an interview with the inventor:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4981135

You know, it's really pretty amazing how much these characters resemble the real thing!

G'night all!

"Mr. Coffee and Joltin' Joe DiMaggio"
Thanks so much, Frostbitten, that was totally cool and interesting. I actually worked for Mr. Coffee, and didn't know that! And you answered Simon & Garfunkle's question at the same time.

I may have to get around to Simpsonizing myself at some point.

Went to see William Gibson this evening at Politics & Prose, he was interesting and quite funny.

"'Neuromancer' was the rock band I never had. I can't play a musical instrument... it was sort of like...what if Robert Heinlein were a member of Joy Division?"

Amazingly, that did not plant a tune cootie in *my* head.

bc

TBG, g'nite.

G'nite, all.

bc

G'night bc. G'night TBG. G'night dmd. G'night dbG. G'night all.

Love,
Tgirl

Now here's an important question that Gail Collins asks in her NYT op-ed column for Saturday:

Cheap-shot break: Mitt Romney's well-manicured suburban lawn was kept that way by illegal immigrants. The workers were hired through a local landscaping company. The Boston Globe tracked some of them down back in their native Guatemala, and they said they worked for $9 to $10 an hour and that Romney had never inquired about their legal status, reserving his interaction to an occasional "buenos días."

I am only bringing this up because there seems to be a modern-day political rule under which people who hire illegal immigrants as nannies become ineligible for public service in any form, while those who hire illegal immigrants as lawn mowers and hedge trimmers get a free pass. I'm sure there is an excellent reason for this that has nothing to do with the fact that the nannies do work normally performed by women while mowing the lawn is a guy's job.

Rob, what do you think?

Oh what fun looking at all the simpsonized pics. Thanks, Rob! Even though we miss Joel you are doing a good job. I will try to post my version before the end of the weekend.

BTW, we continue to get daily early evening storms with lots of lightening and plenty of rain. This is a semi-arid climate...or used to be. Looks like global warming to me...really. Kind of scary but what can you do. Actually, what can China do.

CP--glad you are enjoying your moonflowers.

Loomis, seriously, have you ever watched the Simpsons? I say no way.

I tried to Simpsonize myself, but it just kept saying please wait...I very much enjoyed seeing everyone's Simpson's selves. I think the Achenblog was just too much for it to handle.

Rob- wow...what a great job. I don't want Joel to be worried about his blogdom, but there's no denying that you have been a most excellent sub. Trapper keepers! PeeChees! Simpsonizing! Just what one wants from a blog.

I cannot count how many times I laughed today as I backboodled! I'm not sure if I laughed harder at omni's 1:11 pod people or k-guy's 12:52. I married the type k-guy categorized.

dooley - a friend of ours spent several months in Peru and came back with a fondness for Pisco sours...I don't know what is in it, but we have developed a real taste for them....I don't ask, I just drink them when he makes them.

Good night all...

I'd Simpsonize myself but I don't have a photo on computer. Not to mention I'm also technologically challenged. It's great looking at all the Simpsonized self.

You did great Rob! You might just pass probation. I'll put in a good word for you.

Weekend SonofCarl

http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=bgarxdmscrplfmluxpqrzrzsdgcshkef

Good morning, friends. The kits are coming in so fast, I don't have time to post a comment or read them for that matter. This is truly remarkable. At the rate we're getting new kits, some of us will begin to look our age. Old. And of course, the topics are a dead giveaway. I don't own a cell phone. I tell people, I can hardly talk on the regular phone, why would I create more misery for myself with a cell phone. I need one. They do come in handy. I wonder if they make them for hearing-impaired folks? You know with a light or something? A pulse, maybe.

I don't like the Simpsons. And don't really need anything to make me look more odd(for lack of a better word) than I already do. Thank you.

Congrats, Slyness. I played the grandmother last night at church. She's still here.

Maggie, good thoughts and prayers for you. I hope everything goes well, and that soon you'll be running around.

Do they really give lasix to horses? That is one pill I don't like.

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

Hope your weekend is great. I will be at the Center this morning helping to get it up and running for the coming school year. Where did the time go?

We're still dealing with triple digit heat. I hope it's better today.

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

Good morning.
Wilbrod- The ancecestory of Buddy's mum is unknown. She was so tiny (flat too after the dump truck incident) I thought she was a cross between some class of terrier and a husky.
BTW Buddy was born at the farm were I captured the photo of Osama bin Dave.

Loomis- I think it matters who the employer of the illegal immigrant is. As your post points out, the landscapers were working for a contracter. A nanny or house servant is probably employed by the householder. It would be hard for someone to remain even wilfully ignorant about the status of someone raising their children. Sorry. A valiant try.

Don't touch that Johnny!! You don't know how it died. The city will send someone by to pick up the carcass.

TBG very important comment first, older daughters review of High School Musical 2, it was good, most sequels s*ck, this one didn't. Technically I can say I watched it too as I was in the room while it was on, but I was reading old family letters and managed to totally tune out the show. Glad to hear you are enjoying your weekend.

dbG as per your request my Simpsonized pic, this is so much better than my real picture - wonder if I could use it for my drivers liscense photo.

http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=bfslgwkiwxlqkoiyrmboqagcjsclqggu

Same here dmd, I think this is what the passport office will get next time.

WE should be able to customize the dog, that mutt doesn't look like anything I've ever taken care of.

http://picasaweb.google.fr/ShriekingDenizen/Boodle

Joel must be writing from his time machine (or he's on vacation somewhere near the international date line)...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/17/AR2007081701717.html

And think of the irony of getting this message when trying to post a second comment on an article that encourages "frenetic" page reloading:

"We restrict rapid posting of multiple comments for quality reasons. You have have already posted a comment within the last several seconds. Please try again later."

btw... Mornin' everybody.

(*getting second cup-o-joe*)

G'morning boodle. Watch your faxes for home grown tomatoes, waxed beans picked this morning, and mixed salad greens. Get the water boiling for sweet corn and lock your car doors lest someone leave a gift of zucchini. Yes, every garden in the frozen north is peaking at once and fresh vegies are being exchanged, given, and left anonymously throughout the land.

Hello All. Frosti, I have to agree about the garden. Although our tomatoes are just now starting to ripen in more than ones and twos. My Mr. Stripey has almost ripe fruit but they don't look especially striped. The beans are pretty much over, but the cukes go on forever. The sunflowers haven't flowered yet but they are really really tall. I've never planted them before and was looking forward to their huge flowers, guess I need patience (and more sun in that part of the garden would have helped too). Gorgeous day here after a muggy Friday and overnight t-storms. The air is crisp and the temps are in the lower 70's. Perfect weather to plant the hydrangea I bought last Sunday on sale. I aim to have a hydrangea garden eventually, with as many as I can find room to plant. I am crazy about those flowers.

Boko, re: your 7:20 a.m. response...

Loomis- I think it matters who the employer of the illegal immigrant is. As your post points out, the landscapers were working for a contracter. A nanny or house servant is probably employed by the householder. It would be hard for someone to remain even wilfully ignorant about the status of someone raising their children. Sorry. A valiant try.

It always amazes me, Boko, what a man can accomplish through surrogacy. Let's take Fred Thompson in Iowa as an example.

This paragraph comes from an article appearing today at nyt.com, written by reporter Susan Saulny:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/18/us/politics/18thompson.html

But if it was a debut, it was an unusual one: Mr. Thompson was shaking hands but, having not yet declared his candidacy, was barred by federal regulations from asking for votes. Nor can he advertise to promote his political ambitions, and so there were no "Thompson for president" bumper stickers or lapel pins to hand out.

Thie following from our own local paper this morning, an article written by Stewart Powell of Hearst:

Former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., making his long-awaited presidential campaign debut in Iowa, stoked the buzz at the state fair by privately recruiting activists to help him in the precinct caucuses in January.

Thompson has yet to declare his candidacy. As Loomispouse commented, "It's amazing how he's out [in Iowa] not campaigning."

Gee, tomorrow's Achenbach today.

Meanwhile, my 10' tall, 15' wide clump of Heliconia collinsiana (big erect banana-looking leaves) is finally popping out a bunch of flowers. It's been putting on a big leaf show every summer, but this will be the first serious flower since it was planted in winter 2003. In its first year, it survived a tree landing on it in a hurricane, then another hurricane. It also put up with being more or less flattened by a tropical storm the next year. A swath of Flaveria (sort of a tropical beach goldenrod with lots of tiny yellow flower heads) is also coming into flower. The plants have been growing vigorously enough to sort of smother anything that gets in their way. Good weed killer, along with African oregano, which grows faster than you can possibly make spaghetti. I have enough to spaghettify hundreds of hungry people.

Thinking of Flaveria, one species, F. trinerva, has a truly weird distribution according to the Flora of North America: Near water, saline and gypseous areas; 0-1900 m; Ariz., Calif., Fla., Mass., Mo., N.Mex., Tex., Va.; West Indies; Central America (British Honduras); South America (Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela); probably introduced in Asia (India, Middle East); Africa; Pacific Islands (Hawaii).

"gypseous" means loaded with gypsum, the stuff wallboard is made of. Probably a weed in Hawaii. Could it have come to Massachusetts and Virginia by ship?

Here's a page from a great Miami outfit on the Flaveria I've got: http://regionalconservation.org/beta/nfyn/plantdetail.asp?tx=Flavline

That's lovely, Dave. I understand why you planted it and are glad it's finally blooming. I've been out hacking at the Lady Banks rose, which is trellised along the carport posts and ceiling. Mr. T cuts the new shoots as they threaten to overtake the carport, but it's my job to go underneath and take out the dead branches. The birds love it because it's sturdy enough to support nests but not to support the weight of a cat, so there are seven nests in it now. It's fun to watch them.

Sneaks-I have one sunflower left from the fancy seeds I planted, it may bloom if we don't get an early frost. The sunflowers the birds planted for me underneath the feeder are heavy with seeds. I'm not much for bright yellow and red as a garden color scheme (that's no scheme it's a conspiracy)but have enjoyed the sunflower, orangey red gladiloa, heavenly blue morning glory combo that chance produced outside my kitchen window. A garden of hydrangea sounds like an idea worth stealing.

Re: why the big deal about undocumented nannies vs. landscapers? Have you ever seen a movie titled "The Lawn Mower Diaries?"

Hope this works... A friend Simpsonized me a while ago... :-)

http://home.comcast.net/~polichat/home/ScottySimpson.jpg

Apart from having a shortened weekend due to business travel tomorrow, it's PERFECT here!!!

*weekend Grover waves to all*

frostbitten, it's hard not to like sunflowers. I also like black-eyed susans--we have many varieties here in CO and they even grow along the sides of roads this time of year. Regarding all the rain and lightening, we had it last evening for hours. But as a result the mornings are beautiful--everything so lush and green, the air clean and crisp.

Enjoy your day, everyone.

frostbitten, it's hard not to like sunflowers. I also like black-eyed susans--we have many varieties here in CO and they even grow along the sides of roads this time of year. Regarding all the rain and lightening, we had it last evening for hours. But as a result the mornings are beautiful--everything so lush and green, the air clean and crisp.

Enjoy your day, everyone.

I swear I only hit the submit button once!

Birdie-(my youngest sister's nickname is Birdie BTW)a sentiment worth posting twice anyway. The mad rush to produce seed that wildflowers make this time of year never ceases to please me. I love fall.

Speaking of sunflowers, check out Bean standing next to one of ours...

http://www.weefolkoutfitters.com/images/bean_and_sunflower.jpg

great pic Martooni.

For those of you still suffering in DC area heat, or worse, please excuse references to fall. It was 51 when I got up this morning and the temp is screaming up to a quite lovely high of 75-80, with a breeze coming off the lake. Just remember your spring comes a month before mine.

Bean is dwarfed. Next year, maybe some climbing beans to scramble up the sunflower stem? I think that's what Native Americans did. The idea of segregating the crop plants by species was alien. And the beans provided nitrogen.

Thinking of nitrogen, a science story this week says that kudzu (very much a member of the bean family) fixes so much nitrogen, it has to be considered a source of pollution.

Dave... that ain't a bad idea (the climbing beans). The stalk on that sunflower is like a tree trunk so I think it would handle the extra weight.

btw... that particular sunflower is a variety called "Mammoth" -- sure lives up to its name.

Good afternoon, all.

martooni, Joel's lead time for Outlook is several days (working on the final edit of his piece was probably the last thing he did on his way out the door midweek).

Which is better than the old Rough Draft days, when the lead time was 3 weeks or so.

Still, a deadline is a deadline.

The weather in DC today is just delightful today. For once.

Those of you dealing with rain and floods, and oppressive heat, please allow me to fax you some of the local weather...

Have a good day, all, wherever you are.

bc

dmd, perfect! I'd thought your hair would have more red highlights, though.

Ditto on the license. :-)

Is it just me or is it awfully quiet here today?

Hmmm... maybe this is my chance to run around the bunker butt nekkid while waving a pair of scissors.

Maybe we need a new kit?

>It always amazes me, Boko, what a man can accomplish through surrogacy.

Loomis, ever consider there's a large difference between hiring someone employed by another company to do temp. duties in your yard versus hiring a nanny to live in your house, help with your kids, and literally be there all the time? Don't you think you'd be expedcted to know more about the person living in your house than the one blowing leaves across the driveway one day a week 12 days a year?

You are not responsible for making sure the lawn guy does his taxes, but you are responsible for paying taxes on your nanny should he/she work directly for you. Besides any illegal immigration it was mainly the tax issue which brought down most of those people.

So there are both huge fiduciary and scope of work/familiarity issues that should be an obvious difference between the two situations.

D'oh.

Let me hear an "AMEN!", brothers and sisters!

Great pic, martooni.
Unusally cool here in southern Oregon. 75 yesterday and more of the same perdicted. 50 in the mornings. Much better than the 100s we have and usually have this time of the year. Noticablely less forest fires since a couple of weeks ago.
No sunflower seeds sprout under our bird feeders. The doves clean up anything that spills over. I may ahve to try to plant some of those Mammoths next spring.

Martooni, you know what they say about running with scissors in the nude.

Pal, just don't trip, okay?

huge fiduciary
AMEN

Anyone who wants to play with graphics ought to download sqirlzmorph from http://www.download.com/Sqirlz-Morph/3000-2186_4-10687871.html?tag=lst-0-1
It's good to have some sort of decent photoshop program to prep the images. It's just a fun program.

Great pic Martooni, what a great looking bean you got there, and the sunflower too.

Scotty - your simpsonized self is fabulous!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/17/AR2007081701225.html
Summer Arctic ice melts more than ever before.
"D'oh!" indeed.

i agree with ef and others that these are totally different scenarios.

on a different subject, loomis, why don't you show some humor and simpsonize yourself? ya know, lighten up and have some fun.

Howdy. After a long and vicious struggle with my computer, incuding beating the Norton anti-virus thing about the ears and shoulders, I triumphantly installed Adobe Flash and could see everyone's cool Simpsonized selves. However, I still have no photo of my own to Simpsonize. I'll ask Ivansdad for assistance, but I suspect by the time I figure it out we'll be on a new Kit and solving the problem of hunger, or instituting world peace, or something.

We're getting some of Loomis's rain here, but we're happy about it.

I agree with the distinction Error et al made regarding Loomis's "nanny/gardener" question, but it is still a good question. Perhaps the gender distinction lies, as so often, in job division: the woman is more likely to do the heavy lifting on nanny-hiring, involving serious personal fiduciary responsibility, while the man may hire the lawn contractor who hires the illegal workers, with little or no personal fiduciary liability. Therefore the woman nominee/candidate gets grilled about the tax and immigration consequences of her hire, while the man doesn't.

Mr. Rob, Mr. Rob!! Ooooh oooooooooh ooh!!

*holding hand up high*

Mr. Joel always gives us several Kits on the weekend, really and for true!!!

:-)

I found this very excellent essay at Image journal.
http://www.imagejournal.org/back/021/swander_essay.asp

Beautifully written, and it ends with some gardening.

Bernard (?) Kerick removed himself from the running for Homeland Security chief for not paying nanny taxes. I seem to remember that she was also an illegal alien.

On another topic, pretty much all the presidential candidates have started out with testing-the-water status or exploratory committess. (Hillary called hers a "Listening Tour"...very clever strategy). Thompson isn't doing anything out of the ordinary. He just didn't start super-early like everyone else this election cycle.

Fred Thompson-"He's a lawyer, a lobbyist, and a actor. That's two more bad things than John Edwards. Two!"

Fred Thompson- "He smokes! He drinks! He s1uts around!! But there's some bad things about Fred Thompson too."

"He's a lawyer, a lobbyist, and a actor. That's two more bad things than John Edwards. Two!"

redstateupdate.com cracks me up

SCC-cracks me up and messes with my cut and paste skills.

Wow, Wilbrod, wow! That certainly puts a little knee pain in perspective. I'll never complain again.

Thanks for posting that.

I really like her writing. I think I'll be looking into that author's books now.

I see we have run out of Simpsonizers. It was fun, and helped me to realize how many of the female boodlers are, you know, so vavavoom. (And, of course, I mean that in only a respectful and empowering way.)

This morning was something of a watershed at the Padouk household. My sixteen year old son took his first solo drive. Granted, it was only a few miles to a school car wash fundraiser, but still it made us anxious. Frankly, we were a mess. It was like watching him get on the bus for the first day of school. (Except, when he left for school we were pretty sure he wouldn't be wrecking the bus.) Anyway, we made him call as soon as he arrived and right before he left. We assured him that we would stop doing this. Eventually.

I spent most of the afternoon cleaning out our garage. I do this every Spring. I am quite vigilant. Four hours and a few pounds of inhaled dust later, it now looks, well, less grungy.

I also discovered that over the winter the local rodent population had been using the garage as some sort of love shack. There was evidence of nests beneath several of the shelves. Who knew corrugated steel was such a turn on?

Congratulations, RD, on your offspring's first successful solo flight. May there be many more, and may you eventually learn to breathe while they take place. I've got five years before the Boy is eligible to wreck my nerves in that particular way. I appreciate the opportunity to learn vicariously from you and the other Boodlers with older agents of chaos.

Congratulations also on the garage cleaning. Over Labor Day, or at the end of September, I plan to clean out our shop. It has to be the end of a month so I can hit Big Junk Day. That's where you pile all your large unweildy items on the curb for the city to remove, and casual passersby stop and take almost all of it first. Kind of a free garage sale. It has been over a year since I really went through the thing, so we'll have a big pile. First I'll set off bug bombs, though; currently it is inhabited by wasps (seasonal) and fiddlebacks (eternal). I had to go in there once one winter, and the fiddlebacks gathered around my feet in a semicircle, waiting. I fled before they could advance.

Unwieldy. I before E except after C.

My characterization:

http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=oxmrcxewxyelrhremyrmbjareesaetwj

From prior boodle - I had PeeCee's in junior high and high school.

cell phone boodling from Baileys Crossing. Waiting for Bill Gibson to show. I have an enormous pile of books for him to sign. I'm a sf author groupie. Just sad I couldn't hook up with bc and boodle pub crawl Conn. Ave.

I viewed pacifica's Simpsonizing (very nice!) but had yellojkt's post in mind -- that will mess with your head.

I just found out the Boy likes Irish punk political music, most of which is like traditional Irish music (which is pretty much all political really) on steroids. Do I have some stuff to inflict on him! He also saw the Jon Stewart "comedy" news show for the first time this week (Karl Rove) and laughed hysterically. I was so proud.

Oh, RD, just wait till he's 18 or so and out till 3 ayem. I spent many a sleepless night trying not to worry. I was so glad when my kid moved out because I didn't know where he was! I realize that doesn't make sense, but my mom told me it was easier on her when I was away at college, for the same reason. Good luck.

Ivansmom, you have big junk days every month? Seattle used to do that once a year. My husband would roam neighborhoods and come home with all sorts of stuff. Now you have to haul it to a designated location - not nearly as much fun.

I cleaned off the bookshelves in the living room which become depositories for catalogs, magazines, work-related stuff. Amazing what I found there (tax returns from 2002 and 2003, books I've been looking for, a birthday card suitable for my sister, whose birthday is coming soon).

martooni, that is one great big sunflower, and a beautiful young girl standing beside it.

Slyness, I read that your city lost one of its pioneers, John Belk. The Observer attributed the growth of Charlotte under his leadership. Of course, the only thing I'm familiar with is the department store.

I started reading a new book called "Whoopi" by none other than Whoopi Goldberg. The first chapter deals with "farting", and she calls it wind. I laughed so hard I actually saw stars. The woman is crazy. I don't know if I'll be able to finish it. Hurts something awful to laugh.

Once or twice a week, Thing 2 (18) drives away with Dear Child (4) in the back seat. I no longer panic, and sometimes get giddy at the thought of a few quiet hours.
Thing 1 (the man-child, 21) doesn't take Dear Child out, as she's not allowed into clubs, and apparently, those are the only places he goes.

Geez, I go on vacation for two weeks only to discover that there's been an Achencoup.

I love Whoopi-- a very funny gal. If you need a poetry break, try this one out, Cassandra.
http://www.poetrymagazine.org/magazine/0707/poem_179809.html

Just change "Cassandra" for "Patrica" and it could speak to you on your down days ;).

Science Saturday newsflash: Sharks have fingers.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070817/sc_livescience/howsharkshidetheirfingers

Comments, Dooley? Now I'm worried-- are sharks flipping us the middle finger all the time? What about whales?

Also, how solid is the fossil record of shark evolution, given they have cartiligious skeletons?

I may be reduced to having Mr. T take a picture of me so I can Simpsonize myself. Come to think of it, I can find one of him and see what happens...I should do that!

Older daughter has settled down since her hard-partying college years. There were several occasions on which she prevailed upon her younger sister, who does not drink, to act as designated driver for her. I must say that I am grateful that she and all her friends are very careful about not driving when they have been drinking. It's a relief to know that they are that responsible. Yes, ML, it really is easier when they are away and you don't know what they're doing.

Yes, Cassandra, John Belk did quite a bit for the city, besides run a successful department store. My time with the City was after his, so I never met him, but my impression was that he was a down-to-earth person in spite of the wealth.

Glad you're enjoying Whoopi's book. I look forward to hearing your review of it.

Wilbrod, that was a wonderful essay. I hope that her medical care has improved since then. To go ten months with that kind of pain and not get a good diagnosis does not inspire trust in physicians.

It was a good day in the family. After a month of cold showers, elder daughter has hot water in her condo. It's an older complex with aluminum wiring so replacing the coils in the water heater didn't fix it. Her dad finally figured it out and replaced the breaker, the wiring to the heater, and used the proper wire nuts. Now she doesn't have to come here to take a shower!

Ivansmom, what are fiddlebacks? They sound like something I wouldn't care to deal with. We have earwigs, and they are bad enough.

I'm back home to the dail-up. I started download Pacifica Simpson at 8:04 and it's 92% done.
sigh

For those that are interested:

Barry Bonds just hit number 760.

My Simpson is not too far from how I look - but the hair color is too dark. Imagine that picture with white hair.

Cassandra... when Slyness and I met up with Mr. T for dinner last night, one of the first things he said to her was "Mayor Belk died."

I don't know much about John Belk, but many of the buildings, programs and facilities at my son's new home bear the Belk name, including this fantastic program that allows every student at Queens the opportunity to travel abroad after their junior year at no cost...

http://www.queens.edu/news_detail.asp?press_id=1984§ion=home

Slyness, fiddlebacks are brown recluse spiders. Very poisonous. Their bite tends to rot the flesh around the wound. Unpleasant. They are called "fiddlebacks" colloquially because the marking on the abdomen? thorax? looks like a violin.

On sharks:

I'm a little surprised that sharks have these genes; I would have expected their first occurrence to be in the sarcopterygian (lobe-finned) fish--the ancestors to the land vertebrates (tetrapods).

HOX genes are responsible for most segmented and branching structures (like limbs in vertebrates). It's surprising that sharks have these particular genes because their limbs show a less developed segmentation and branching than in the sarcopterygians. This sugests that the develpoment of the tetrapod limb was not a completely new genetic development, but more likely a change in degree and timing of expression.

The shark fossil record is better than might be expected. Shark teeth preserve beautifully, and in most adult sharks the vertebral centra and otic capsules also ossify. There have also been a number of relatively complete skeletons preserved in various unusual deposits. For DC boodlers, there is a largely complete Cretaceous shark skeleton on exhibit in the fossil sea life hall at the Smithsonian.

Couldn't get my Simpsonized image to work yesterday, maybe I'll try again later.

Uh-oh, this is not good:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/nyregion/19fire.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Okay, I'll play.

http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=eozxtcgqczaoxsfupuavrdbzbdackled

http://www.uncommondescent.com/evolution/shark-fins-human-limbs/

Apparently the limb genes originated in the medial fin (back fin) structure, which makes sense.

As Dooley knows, a gene can turn on in other body areas from which it originally evolved. That is called ectopicism. Fruit flies have developed mutations that resulted in legs instead of eyes, eyes in abnormal places, etc. Some are lethal, some not.

Apparently the genes are related to the genes that forms the lamprey back fins (which are feathery...)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14045413/GT1/8307/

Perhaps the duplicated genes got a retrotransposon that caused them to come under the control of the same (or copies of) the homeobox genes that help develop paired gills and kidney/sexual organs.

All vertebrates urinate and defecate from apertures close to the hind limbs (or remmants).

It'll be a fun puzzle tracing how lateral fins evolved, anyway.

All you ladies look stunning even simpsonized! Of course, you men are handsome too!

I'm taking a break from staring at the things that need packing. A couple of weeks ago my landlord told me he sold "my house". The new owner doesn't want to rent it out so I'll have to move. It's such a no fun activity. Maybe I'll just go bake a cake. Sure beats packing.

I'm sorry to hear that, rainforest. How very disconcerting that conversation must have been. I hope you found a place you like as much, perhaps without a cobra. Enjoy the cake!

Got it to work this time, but it's pretty svelte compared to the real me:

http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=mamsdyhndfhirppwjhxrkidjqmigxhjz

"Perhaps the duplicated genes got a retrotransposon that caused them to come under the control of the same (or copies of) the homeobox genes that help develop paired gills and kidney/sexual organs."

Interesting idea, Wilbrod. Ribs could fit within the same pattern, and possibly the skull as well.

I really like the idea that paired appendages could be an example of ectopicism that happened to be selected for because of a conferred advantage (increased stability in swimming.) The earliest chordates (Pikaia, the conodont animals) do not appear to have had paired appendages.

Brown recluse spiders I'm familiar with, Ivansmom. Not good that you have them all the time. I thought they were shy and typically hid themselves? Yours must be aggressive, or hungry. Or something.

Mr. T just got an email saying that two firefighters died at the Deutsche Bank fire. Deaths fighting a fire in a building being demolished. That is just wrong.

Dooley, did we go to school together in Philadelphia?

LiT, LAL, wooh! . . . I admit it was disconcerting to find my exact hairstyle as a cartoon.

rain forest, you have my sympathies. Moving is the worst, unless you find a new, wonderful place. Here's hoping for the best for you.

Oh, rain forest! Will it be difficult to find another place? Don't know what the rental market is like in Brunei! Packing and moving are no fun. But I like arriving in the new place and making it my own.

Do you all have those dreams every time you move about finding new rooms behind doors you never noticed before?

Speaking of dreams... I had one last night that created an entire boodle. I only wish I could remember any of it.

Daughter is finally watching HS Musical 2. This hotel in Altavista, Va. (home of the famous Lane Cedar Chests), gets the Disney Channel. I told her last night Disney'd be showing the movie ad nauseam.

Hey, all you locals must check out Tom Shroder's article in the WaPo magazine. He manages to affectionately trash both the Achenblog and Weingarten in the same paragraph.

rain forest, moving is indeed no fun. But look at it this way. It will finally motivate you to throw away stuff.

Thanks RD! and for you nonlocals...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/15/AR2007081501373.html

760 what?

Thanks, RD & TBG. It is good to know that we rank higher than a root canal, or so I prefer to interpret the analogy.

Slyness, our fiddlebacks are shy and hide as a general rule. I think in the shop they've reached critical mass.

"High School Musical II" was not as bad as one might have expected from a sequel that was purely market-driven (or market-drivel?). It has another wholesome story line and once more redeemed the (same) antagonists in the end. I am very pleased to see the musical movie form resurgent, even if I can't remember the songs afterwards. Also, it has a dance number on a baseball field, incorporating the game. Who could complain? I did point out to the Boy that, as it is set in Albuquerque in summer, these kids are doing all this dancing etc in 100 degree heat. Verisimilitude, not so much.

TBG - Don't you really want to know what the "not feasible" Weingarten idea was?

I feel for you rain forest. It is just amazing how stuff just seems to bubble up...you can think you're almost done with a room and then...bubble,bubble, there are 4 more boxes worth. Good luck and I hope you find a lovely new place.

Hubby is watching the Redskins...I haven't heard any howls, so I think it might be going well.

RD - My son has had his license since April. I am just to the point that he doesn't have to call me every single time he arrives at whatever destination. He is gainfully employed at Harris Teeter and he doesn't have to call me when he arrives there...it's about 5 minutes from the house. However, he just got off work and is going to a friend's house across town...I am waiting, waiting. Even though he is a good kid and has done well driving, it's a nightmare.

Hubby and I went to see "Death at a Funeral" tonight. It was hilarious. It starts off slowly to set everything up and it was a little silly in spots, but we both agreed that it was the funniest movie we've seen in ages. The most recognizable star in this British flick is Matthew McFayden (sp?) the guy who played Mr. Darcy in the most recent adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. If you watch Masterpiece Theatre or British movies you'll recognize a lot of the cast. Anyway, hope you all will try to catch it, it's very funny.

I've been blathering on as my pic is being Simpsonized, but it's still analyzing and I don't want to be a boodle bore. I've enjoyed seeing everyone's likenesses.

Thanks to TBG, here's my Simpsonized self:

http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=jgxpiepeepvuejmnqbgeoedmqqhuopmj#

rain forest, good luck on the move. There is much to be said for cleaning out, but moving sucks.

Oh You can't bounce a meatball
Though try with all your might
Turn on the radio
I want to fly a kite
GOOD EVENING FRIENDS!
(One down and only 15 CDs of Looney Tunes to go, then on to the complete Pinky and the Brain collection. I love Amazon.)

TBG: //Do you all have those dreams every time you move about finding new rooms behind doors you never noticed before?//

Umm (assent). And at the top of staircases I've never seen before. Whole wings, different furniture, totally new houses and cities. Except I have this dream every few months, never when I'm moving.

Is there a site that will South Park us?

Who knew we'd keep ourselves so amused without Joel?

I often have the undiscovered room dream. Often coupled with the forgotten aquarium dream.

dbG... of course the answer is YES...

http://www.sp-studio.de/

I had already South Parked myself. Not as easy to share, though. If anyone wants to send them to me at boodler [at] mac [dot] com I'll be happy to post them on my blog.

I added my South Park image to yesterday's post...

http://tbgboodler.blogspot.com/2007/08/ive-been-simpsonized.html

Hey, some guy named Achenbach has a piece in Outlook tomorrow about journalism, the Internet, bloggs, etc. Check it out at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/17/AR2007081701717.html

(This guy Achenbach at the bottom of his piece even has the nerve to invite people to come comment on it on "his" blog. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. "His" blog, jeez, that's a good one.)

OK, meanwhile, I have pretty good news to report: the Redskins whipped the Steelers 10-3 in the first half (the only half that counted) of tonight's game, which is still continuing with about 7 minutes left as I write this, and the Steelers have added two field goals, and still trail 10-9. They may in fact eventually win it, but it doesn't matter. The Skins' defense was awesome in the first half, and it looks like they will have an awesome year if they can whip the Steelers' first string, which they did. The offense looked only so-so, against the 4th-ranked defense, so that's somewhat understandable. And Gibbs insisted on some conservative play-calling featuring a lackluster running game, and the Steelers knocked Campbell out with a kneee injury that doesn't look too serious.

But I think we're gonna win some games this year.

Of course, the downside to watching the Skins was I've had to listen to Joe Theisman all night, and I'm about ready to puke.

Mudge, Ivansdad watched the first part of the Cowboys game, decided they didn't look too bad, and abandoned it. I think of the exhibition games as the time they allow all the good players to be injured so they can't start the regular season. Of course, I also collapse in helpless giggles when they announce the Nose Tackle.

I mean, really.

Vaya con queso, and fondue.

Thank you all. I've looked at a couple of places but haven't found what I like. I'm looking for a small house with a big compound. The small house part might be difficult. In local culture, extended families stay together so a lot of houses have 2 living rooms. Even when a house started out "small" it gets extended to the size of another living room. They need it b'cuz they hold private parties quite a bit and relatives visit each other a lot. The houses here have no basement and every house has a small storage room. That's the only surprise room as it can be in different parts of the house. The average family has 5 kids. My neighbour has 7 kids!

You're right RD, it's time to throw away stuff. I'm a hoarder so there're going to be a lot of stuff that gets thrown away.

Ivansmom, we've got spiders that look like fiddlebacks but I don't know if they are. I let them go if I'm in a good mood but not otherwise.

'Night, Ivansmom, and fondue to you, too.

The Skins' 3rd string defense just had a great goal-line stand, keeping the Steelers out of the endzone after 1st down on the 3-yard line (they may still lose if the Steelers kick a field goal, but it's still a major victory. And it's their second major goal-line stand of the game, too). So I really don't care if the Steelers kick this field goal or not; I've seen what I want to see.

Field goal's good, they lead 12-10 with 1:31 left. It's a moral victory for the Skins. Backup QB Todd Collins named player of the game.

36-yard pass, Skins on the 25-yard-line, well within the FG kicker's range. 29 seconds.
Penalty, now of the 30. Still OK.

Mudge - you seem to be taking it better than my hubby.

TBG, you are not letting your freak flag fly, although that is a lovely SP rendition of yourself!

Check Yahoo. I just sent one. The site you came up with was far better than the one I found. Anyway, "Dang. I hate it when my mask hides my tiara."

Ugly ending. Offensive pass interference, a couple incompletes, then a tipped pass and interception. 12-10 the final.

But still a great game for the Skins.

1st string: Skins win, 10-3
2md string: Steelers win, 6-0
2&3rd string: STeelers win, 7-0.

Yes, Dooley!

I can visualize it for only part of the skull, though-- the jaw bones that arose from the gill arches, I would think.

This handout speaks of "the three skulls" of modern vertebrates.

http://users.rowan.edu/~holbrook/CompAnatLab2.pdf

The cranium itself tends to be dermal bone (secreted under the skin), rather than cartilage -> bone replacement.

I suppose the scapula could also be a similar cousin, also forming as "dermal" bone.

In sharks and teleosts. the pectoral girdle is behind the gills.

Here's the thing. The (2-chambered) heart is also AHEAD of the pectoral girdle.
Thus, their hearts are actually in an area homologous structurally to our neck region.

I wonder if this indicates that the line leading to teleosts and tetrapods acquired an extra segmentation in the gill/neck region?

If this occured after forefins evolved, then the fore fins should have doubled as well.

Therefore, there should be vestigates of ectopic fins around the bottom of the ribcage in early necked tetrapod ancestors (literally sexapods).

As it happens, there's a six-finned fishy tetrapod ancestor that fits the bill.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eusthenopteron

The lineage quickly lost the surplus mid-body fins, apparently.

But would the doubling of the body parts also double the hearts, leading to the double circulatory system (leading to 3, 4 chambered hearts) in tetrapods... or instead, did the neck heart then become the trachea?

Correction:
2&3rd strings: Steelers win 3-0.

That last post was by me, of course. Rare of me to forget.

SCC: That last non-sports-related post.

"Pectoral girdle"? Boy, I haven't seen anybody wearing one of those things in years. Decades, even.

Just checking in--I had my second mosaics class today--what fun and my new hobby. My plan, once I get good enough, is to do a picture of birds (naturally) at a birdbath similar to one done in 5 BC!

Now that all kids are finally in college or past college hubby and I have more freedom to try new things. And in another 4 years will actually have some free cash although I won't believe it til I hold those greenbacks in my hands.

Martooni, LOVED the 11:22 AM picture of child and huge sunflower...awesome and made me smile. Always :-) Hey, maybe my second big mosaic project.... The boodle is great for generating ideas dontcha think?

Mudge, Broncos lost to Dallas but not too bad a game and minimal injuries.

Wilbrod, I think you're right about the mandibles (which came long after the cranium.)

However, I think the cranium itself is a good candidate, as well. The axial postcranial skeleton is basically a series of vertebrae with a pair of ribs, one one each side. The cranium is similar (from back to front--basioccipital and two squamosals; basisphenoid and two parietals; presphenoid and two frontals; vomer and two maxillae.) Seems to me like a continuation of the vertebrae-rib series. The ossification centers may have shifted--they're know to do that.

Hadn't thought about this with respect to the heart before. One thing to consider though, is that the number of segments anterior to the shoulder girdle is highly variable (~10 in mammals, ~50 in some dinosaurs and pleisiosaurs.) Even if you do get additional segments, the addition is not necessarily complete, so you might not get the extra appendages.

Eusthenopteron is actually tetrapodal, although it looks hexapodal in lateral view. The last fin is not paired--it actually sits on the midline. The coelacanth (Latimeria) has the same arrangement.

If I understand correctly, you're suggesting that the four-chambered heart is essentially a combined pair of two-chambered hearts. That's a cool idea, although I still favor a single heart with later divisions. The reason is that the four-chambered heart is a very late development in tetrapods--they first occur about 150 million years after the first sarcopterygian fish, and independently in two different groups.

I knew something was up when a black Porsche Boxster with gold upholstry pulled up next to us at the light in Seven Corners, Falls Church. Both people driving were decked head to toe in Steelers gear. The driver was a cute woman in her twenties. The passenger was much older with a good bit of grey already showing. My wife and I got into a spirited daughter/trophy debate.

Well, I went ahead and Simpsonized myself.

http://simpsonizeme.com/ecard.php?lang=en_us&code=etqpbsmovlduatrdwufpacieqbibflrc#

I didn't see any Gladiator outfits, so I wore the next best thing.

Didn't get a chance to see the Washington NFL Franchise play except late in the 4th quarter, and, well... it could have been worse.

bc

I'm sure I'll regret this post in the morning, but...

Just a very quick, very late drive-by to say that as far as I'm concerned, musicals in all shapes and forms S U C K.

Every dang one of them.

They are sickeningly cute when they're not being sickeningly melodramatic, and totally asinine all of the time. They also tend toward the ultra-stereotypical and have no basis in reality (even in the Hollywood sense). I think the only reason for the existence of musicals is to provide work for actors and actresses who are so desperate that they can't even find work in pr0n. That, or they're even dumber than the buckets of rocks they call their "agents".

Just my two cents.

Rock opera, on the other hand, is only slightly less silly, but at least has some redeeming qualities (thinking The Who's "Tommy").

Oklahoma (the musical, not the state), is simply ridiculous. I have gay friends who, having been subjected to it, came very close to sleeping with women afterwards. When a flaming queen says "My God... this is just *too* gay", well...

Oh... I was finally able to "Simpsonize" myself last night.

Apparently, it requires a Windows(tm) PC. Like the lazy programmers at my bank, those behind the Simpsonizer are too stupid to realize that Firefox on Linux is able to do everything that Firefox on XP can do (and probably faster and more efficiently).

I resorted to using Son-of-Mrs.-M's PC (he's been AWOL all summer) and instead of getting the "busy" message I was getting every time I tried on my Linux PC, it loaded right up. It got the beard right (almost), but even I couldn't drink enough and/or squint hard enough to find any similarity between what it came up with and what I really look like. I guess they never completed the "long-haired leaping gnome" module (and if they did, they somehow confused "long-haired leaping gnome" with "six-pack-abbed Flanders with a five-o'clock shadow and a ponytail"). My Simpsonized self looked like somebody who would get beat up by basket weaving majors at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

Dooley-- just to play devil's advocate here...

The two hearts have to have a common opening to share blood flow, otherwise the lung is on a completely different circuit than the rest of the body, and no oxygen is passed.

2 hearts could fuse to form one heart with 3 chambers. This might be easier to have the pacemaker function controlling both halves develop-- (which is a problem with 4 chambered hearts-- they need coordination!)

The three-chambered heart of amphibians with a single large undivided ventricle, is unlikely to be the ancestral form. They may need a heart that can be pacemaked through to their gill/lung metamorphosis far more than they need efficient hearts.
They breathe through their skin as well as their lungs/gills, after all.

So, taking the present smooth, large third ventricle of amphibians as the ancestral model could be like arguing that whales' limbs indicate an earlier stage of tetrapod evolution because they only have 2 limbs, not 4.
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/jun99/929744043.Zo.r.html

In fact, the hearts found in reptiles are quite diverse and different.

Crocodilians in fact have an unique 4-chamber heart design that allows the lungs to be bypassed on dives.

This heart lacks an aortic arch, while the reptiles with three-chambered hearts DO have aortic arches.

Turtles have a three-chambered heart and their ventricle actually has 3 partitions. I have a suspicion that this heart can't beat very fast without going into arrhythmia and shutting off blood flow-- this design would seem to cause a lot of turbulence at higher speeds.

However, this heart fits their slow lifestyle and keeps their blood better oxygenated than the amphibian model.

http://faculty.weber.edu/jcavitt/reptilian_circulatory_system.htm

The article about Ralph Ellison that Shroder refers to is really, really good:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/15/AR2007081501365.html
I don't know that I've read Invisible Man, although I know of it (and I have read the science fictiony The Invisible Man). Will have to add that and his posthumous works to my list.

martooni, that's a pretty broad generalization. Les Miserables is amazing and an exception to your rule, IMHO. I'm not a big musical fan, but I wouldn't write them all off. Oklahoma and Showboat are hard for me to take, having been forced to study them in high school.

shroder's article describes my life right now.

speaking of procrastination, i've south-parked myself.

I too procrastinate. I baked an eggless and milkless chocolate cake. It turned out okay despite being eggless and milkless.

Eggless and milkless chocolate cake

2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
½ cup cocoa
¾ cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp vinegar
2 cups cold water

Sift all dry ingredients into a bowl
Add liquid in order given
Pour cold water over all.
Mix thoroughly
Pour into a greased & floured 9 x 13" cake pan
Bake at 350 F for 35-40 min

Following from Joel's article about blogs vs newspapers, if page hits are what count, then newspapers are run by the people who assign articles to journalists. I want the Paris Hilton article, not matter how trivial, because the page hits will prove I'm the best journalist! (Same thing happens at my IT work in a mortgage bank -- in the past few weeks there have been a lot of changes to the underwriting subsystems, but not to the larger systems that push the data around, so depending on which you happen to work on, you may be viewed as essential or lazy.)

Rain Forest, that recipe sounds like the Crazy Cake that I heard about on NPR the other day. How does it taste?

Here's the cake, it's called Wacky Cake. Sounds like yours RF!

Mary Carole Battle's Mother's Wacky Cake

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon white vinegar

6 tablespoons cooking or salad oil

1 cup cold water

In an 8-inch- or 9-inch-square cake pan, sift the dry ingredients. Make three holes; pour the vanilla in the first, vinegar in the second, and oil in the third.

Pour the cold water over the mixture, and stir until no longer lumpy. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. If desired, top with seven-minute frosting (below).

Yes Aloha, the wacky cake does sounds like the one I baked. Surprisingly it tasted alright. It doesn't have the nice egg flavour and richness of milk but it's not bad at all.

I assume the Washington Post has some sort of financial arrangement with Burger King. I mean the paper wouldn't be promoting Burger King for free, right? Doh.

martooni,

Broadway musicals follow Clarke's Law just as closely as any other entertainment genre. Part of the problem is that the format is fairly limiting. I just saw two musicals in New York, a big blockbuster and a very edgy newcomer.

http://livebythefoma.blogspot.com/2007/08/les-awakenings.html

My son particularly liked "Spring Awakenings" because even though it's set in 1890s Germany it is about horny and/or depressed teenagers, which he finds particularly relevant at his stage in life.

We were cleaning his room and listening to "The B1tch of Life" from the soundtrack and he observes that the song is about masturbation. My wife was mildly confused, but I just said, "Yeah? Of course it is."

Here is one verse, judge for yourself:

'She said, "Give me that hand, please, and the itch you can't control.
Let me teach you how to handle all the sadness in your soul.
Oh, we'll work that silver magic,
Then we'll aim it all the wall."
She said, "Love may make you blind, kid, but I wouldn't mind at all."'

That's about as far from a surry with the fringe on top as you can get. The very young actors are all very talented, not a weak voice in the bunch. The end of Act I isn't very far from pr0n if it weren't done so tastefully in that 70s era rated M way.

Tell me the type of entertainment you like and I'm sure I can posit some dated examples of lameness. Sure, 90% of Broadway is cr@p, but it's the 10% that can speak to the soul.

SCC (not mine, the lyrics page I cut and pasted from): "Then we'll aim it AT the wall"

You can hear that verse and a lot more excerpts here:

http://www.springawakening.com/spring_awakening_music_and_video.php

My favorite song (and they have the full version of it on the website) is "Totally F*$@ed" because I have been there.

Morning, friends. We're trying to get clothes, shoes, everything on to go out the door for Sunday school this morning. Spongebob and Diego are trying to slow us down a bit, but we shall endure.

Hope your weekend is going great. Mine so far has been a bit slow, but busy.

It has cooled down some, not a lot, but some. Temps should be in the 90's today. Still got the humidity though.

Could someone give me the address of that restaurant that caters to the boodle porching hour in the District?

Have a great day, folks. I'm going to try hard to do that myself.

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

Rain forest and Aloha, Thanks for those recipes! My daughter is allergic to eggs, so we are always looking for good egg-free things to make.

There are two McCormick & Schmicks in DC. This the Boodle approved one:

McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant
1652 K Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202) 861-2233

http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=content.display&pageid=96&areaid=29

I figure if WaPo can shamelessly shill for BK, I can post a link to a chain seafood house.

American musical theater is like opera. As Richard Gere said in Pretty Woman (about opera and I'm paraprhasing) "if you love it at first sight you will always love it, if you don't you may come to appreciate it but you will never love it."

Good morning boodle. Had to slip on a hoodie this morning as I refuse to fire up the gas fireplace to "take the chill off" before Labor Day.

Martooni, _Moulin Rouge_. The plot may be ridiculous, but the music is wonderful.

dbG - I love Moulin Rouge. The rendition of "Your Song" always makes me all whoozy. Are you familiar with the rest of Baz Luhrmann's Red Curtain Trilogy? His "Romeo and Juliet" may offend some purists, but I found it so engrossing that I watched it twice in a row. And "Strictly Ballroom" is a great date flick.

I will admit it.. I LOVE MUSICALS! I'm glad my daughter shares my affection because she is my theatre buddy. My son hates anything to do with musical theatre which is funny because he used to be in them.

I have added dbG to the South Parked page; she has her freak flag flying, that's for sure...

http://tbgboodler.blogspot.com/2007/08/weve-been-south-parked.html

yellojkt... Are you familiar with the Barenaked Ladies song "It's Only Me" ? I never thought about what it was about until they mentioned in concert that it's about masturbation. I guess I'm just not looking for that when hearing a song, but a line like "They say you'll never love another 'til