First.

Or second. We'll see.

Visuals! I am very happy.

Michael Corones?

Oh jeez. Joel wrote "annus."

Not only that, 'Mudge, he called it wonderful. Yanno, yer annus has a ring...

Well, it didn't long for us to toss this boodle into the crapper, did it? This may even be a record for us.

But did Einstein ever visit Mianus? And I think NASA needs to celebrate fifty years since Sputnik with a probe to Uranus.

'Mudge: fax me a dictionary real quick. They didn't teach us how to spell styrofoam, by, and Baltimore, and probably a few other words too well. *slinking back into my corner*

To celebrate, I think Joel should take a drive out to Mianus.

*faxing jack my copy of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate, 10th edition.*

*one page at a time*

*this is gonna take a while*

Good thing Einstein had the Annus Mirabilis and the Queen had the Annus Horribilis, and not the other way around. What if Einstein had suffered from sleep apnea that year, couldn't sleep, and had gone around in a mental fog? He could have ended up as the dishwasher at some nice cafe.

*filling out that *&^% cover sheet every time is getting tedious*

Annuit coeptis. Yeah, right.

yello writes:
But did Einstein ever visit Mianus?

He did visit Tuxedo Park. *l*

Mudge, Mudge! Stop! Send him the link to the Webpage instead!

http://www.m-w.com/

(Personally, I prefer AskOxford.com, but then I'm an Anglophile. Which you all already knew.)

Mudge, use the same sheet, just note one slash for page one, add a second for page 2.

This secretarial tip is brought to you by the School of General Fudging.

Man, if they showed him how to do pictures, who knows what will happen next. Maybe we'll get italics.

My Latin is pretty rusty. Is "annuit coeptis" when you're in your dorm room doing the deed with that hot chick from anthropology class when your roommate doesn't see the necktie hanging on the doornob and comes in when he's not supposed to?

(And you say to yourself, "Annuit. I knew I shoulda locked the door.")

It says "Michael Corones" because he is one of the blog editors and he is the only one who knows how to post a visual. Well, of course, the kid, Rob, knows how, too. No one has ever taught me.

"Novus Ordo Seclorum" seems more appropriate to the new order of generations at WaPo. Anything for a buck.

In many ways I'm relieved to hear it, Joel. I prefer to think of you as "unsullied" by these IT lackies.

Though I still want italics.

Joel,

I'm gradualy getting the fact that you do more beyond providing little ditties that allow the boodle to exist.

Is there a space on the Wonderfull Wacky Web where one can find a bibliography?

P.S. I once read an intro writen by you in the Dutch/Flemish version of National Geographic. It was weird to "hear" you speak Dutch. You are are truely a cunning linguist.

Joel, if your daughters are anything like mine for the right fee I am sure they would teach you how to post images.

Why does this WaPo home page headline send me into a rage: "The God Vote: Are all Secularists Atheists?" I cannot even bring myself to read it, I am so furious.

Boss, methinks you don't WANT to know, much as I used to fake befuddlement at the fax machine until one of the administrative staff just yanked the papers out of my hand and faxed it for me. It's a high zen level of passive-aggressiveness to be incompetent enough to get other people to do your work for you.

And from the New York City thread abandoned in the last kit, most of Mudge's suspicions about Pace were correct.

http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/salsa_from_new_york_city_pace_picante_sauce_commercials/

Pace is headquartered in the Garden State and famous NYC ad firm Young & Rubicam ran the campaign.

Maybe the Powers That Be at the Post looked ahead on their calendars.

I can just see the meeting:

"But, he just started at Outlook!"
"Listen, he won't be satisfied with that, once he sees this page. We better bump him up to the National Desk before September 7--after that his ego will be so inflated, he'll probably be impossible to negotiate with!"

Here's a link to one of the early Whither Space stories (possibly the original item?); I happen to know that it's one of Gene Weingarten's favorites from the Tropic magazine days.

http://tropicfan.com/The%20Final%20Frontier%20by%20Joel%20Achenbach.htm

(Also, "all" should be capitalized, just like it is in the headline immediately below it.)

*grumbling profusely and wondering when WaPo.com is going to hire a copy editor like the dead tree edition did a century ago*

Ok, lemme see if I have this fax straight: ah, beh, ceh, deh, eh, effeh...

The very large and Latinate title -- and JA's spacebeat past -- makes me want to write these starry phrases:

ad astra
to the stars

AND

as per aspera
to the stars through difficulties

I wish that the Latinisms could appear in italics.

That was me. Mea culpa.

Wow, Joel! You're ON A CALENDAR! The WORD CALENDAR! This is so cool. I am overcome with admiration and forced to be uncharacteristically enthusiastic. This is true fame.

[I once went through a leadership program and met lots of state elected officials, business leaders, etc. At the end of the year my son was incredibly impressed because I met a guy who worked with Mat Hoffman, the extreme trick bike rider.]

Congratulations also on the promotion to National Enterprise Writer. If you pronounce it National Enterprise Rider, you might get a horse out of it too, or a really cool car. Perhaps they could give you your own business enterprise, with people to run it of course, while you write about it. If it were profitable enough you might get some real leverage in the newsroom. Perhaps even a parking space.

Eurotrash, Joel has a Wikipedia page, but in its short three paragraphs it manages to be full of lies and inaccuracies, rendered difficult to identify by all the true things (Hint: lies and inaccuracies are promoted using these things called "letters"; truth is conveyed through the purity of what is called "blank space").

I think you will just have to wait until Joel discovers his Boswell, or vice-versa. Weingarten is already serving that function for Dave Barry, so the search must go elsewhere. Perhaps The Kid Known As Rob?

Okay, I cannot bear the pain of telling a falsehood: Joel's Wiki page is accurate, so far as I can tell, but painfully short and lacking in detail. I would become Joel's Boswell, myself, but I fear that there is little salary in the position of Professional Journalist's Sycophant, and I have a mortgage to pay and offspring to educate.

uchSay ayay otlay ofyay atinLay! eMay ootay.

When I read that JA was going to the National Desk I confess the first thing I wondered was if the Achenblog about to become Rovestorm 24/7.

I am somewhat comforted to read the mediabistro link that seems to suggest that JA will still have latitude to be his eclectic self.

CP, the traditional RAF translation of that phrase (motto of the RAF) is Through Bolts and Bars We Reach The Stars.

*spitting coffee hither and yon* *L*

I want it clearly understood that my enthusiasm in my previous post is completely sincere. I have written a lot of things the past few years, but I have never been and, I venture to say, will never be quoted on the phrase calendar. A pithy and piquant piece of Joel's prose is preserved forever where it was potentially viewed by millions (or thousands) of people who might not otherwise read his writing, and they learned something to boot. That is, to use another favorite word contained in this Kit, simply boffo.

ScienceTim, Thanks for the info. It is a bit sparse.

Maybe we should "edit" the wikipedia page a bit to mention the "years spend as a Drag Queen" and "The Misfortunate Ear Muff Scandal of 82".

I'm in trouble - I'm off today, have so much to do and I've been sitting at this computer for over an hour - a great boodling morning with lots of interesting links, lots of interesting thoughts (Mudge, gosh, I'm not proud of it, but geez, you hit the nail on the head as far as Texas goes). Now there's a Stephen Hunter chat (I think k-guy made an appearance there) and I haven't gotten a thing done.

Slyness, what wonderful news! I'm in a martooni-like funk with both of my children in high school...how the heck did that happen.

Happy Friday everyone!

I dunno, Tim. I think the salary as Joel's Boswell might be negligible, but the perks alone would make up for it, if the real Boswell's experience is anything to go by. Trips galore, fascinating conversation, afternoons in the coffee house hobnobbing with the great intellects of the age, grand dinners in Streatham, and then a good long life as a judge rather than a miner. Sounds good to me.

For the culturaly challenged amoung us: (meaning me)
(or is it "meaning myself"? Cur, help me out please.)

Bosswel as in the "voice" of Charlies Angels?

Boswell as the very uninhibited hanger-on and biographer of Dr. Samuel Johnson. "Boswell's Life of Johnson." But even better, Boswells own journals. He was a lively fellow!

ET, I think that's James Boswell. Samuel Johnson's biographer.

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

Not bad Yoki, but where's your link. hehe

Now it makes a lot more sense.

From the Post anouncement:

"We're thrilled to announce that Joel Achenbach, reporter and Renaissance Man, will become a National Enterprise writer in October and work with us through the 2008 election."

I hope they didn't end the first draft with: "Afterwards we'll discard him and he can work for the New York Post."

I went ahead and updated Joe's Wiki to reflect his new exalted status. I even wiki-linked and cited a source.

Joel, take notes next time one of your lackeys embeds an image.

A new obit - Madeleine L'Engle died. I still remember the first time I read "A Wrinkle in Time" and enjoyed both those subsequent books and the ones about the Austin family. I look forward to watching the Boy read them, and maybe even reading one or two aloud. They're still perfectly good adult fiction. She was quite a person.

Oops! http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300093018

I've read Bosley's Life of Johnson. It tells the story of a reclusive lexicographer named Sammy, whom we never see. Sammy only calls Bosley over the telephone and dictates the meanings of words to him. Soon Bosley and Sammy are swamped with work, so Sammy has Bosley hire three bimbos from the Bobby Academy to help him put his dictionary together. (They were all training to become Bobbies.) First there is Sabrina ("the smart one"), then Jill ("the athletic one," though her athleticism seems mainly to reside in her hair, and she's never been seen to actually sweat), and finally Kelly (the "street-smart one"). From time to time, Bosley dispatches the girls on exciting missions to go unearth antonyms, synonyms, aptonyms, and, once in a while, the odd Googlenope. Hilarity ensued. When Jill retired, Bosley hired her younger sister Kris, who often appeared wearing a white bikini, making my heart become wildly arythymic. Then when Sabrina quit they hired Tiffany, who was pretty and used do "Sammy" perfume ads, but who had the acting ability of the statue of Cheops. And then they hired Julia, and no one ever heard of Sammy's assistants ever again, although Sammy himself went on to publish the famous Blake Carrington Manual of Grammatical Correctitude.

I hope this helps fill you in on the background, Euro.

Good thing it was only water I was drinking, 'Mudge! The firm hates it when we ruin their computers whilst also wasting their time on blogs.

I'm just jealous that Joel meets the Wiki-notability requirements:

Creative professionals: scientists, academics, economists, professors, authors, editors, journalists, filmmakers, photographers, artists, architects, engineers, and other creative professionals.

* The person is regarded as an important figure or is widely cited by their peers or successors.
* The person is known for originating a significant new concept, theory or technique.
* The person has created, or played a major role in co-creating, a significant or well-known work, or collective body of work, which has been the subject of an independent book or feature-length film, or of multiple independent periodical articles or reviews.
* The person's work either (a) has become a significant monument, (b) has been a substantial part of a significant exhibition, (c) has won significant critical attention, or (d) is represented within the permanent collections of several notable galleries, museums or internationally significant libraries.

I haven't found a Madeliene L'Engle obit yet, but in searching the WaPo web site, I found a discussion of A Wrinkle in Time that mentioned that it was heartily rejected by a lot of publishers. Some time back, I found Ursula LeGuin's web site, in which she displays a rejection letter for her first novel, the Left Hand of Darkness: http://www.ursulakleguin.com/Reject.html

I'll keep looking for Madeleine's obit.

Tim, I had just finished reading this obit when Ivansmom added her post. I purchased some books for my daughter recently and A Wrinkle in Time was on my short list.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/08/books/07cnd-lengle.html?hp

et voila... Unfortunately...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/08/books/07cnd-lengle.html?hp

Did life not turn out as you wanted?
Do you feel ignored?
Do you want to impress your friends?

Well, now you can become a Wikipedia entry even though you are not famous.
For only 19,99$ Eurotrash will give you a personalised "Big in Belgium" certificate.

Also Available: Fake Belgian Passports so you can enter that cool bar even if you are under age. Cuz, admit it, who knows what a Belgian passport looks like.

Just coming up for air to congratulate him on that whole Calender bit. I've never been on a Calender. (Well, there was that one time. But it was very tasteful and artistic.)

I am saddened indeed that Madeleine L'Engle passed away. Some time back I identified "A Wrinkle in Time" as being one of the most influential books of my childhood. It mixed magic and science and love into a powerful and potent brew. It started me thinking about higher dimensions and, ultimately, a fascination with Einstein. And his Annus Mirabilis.

Um, wouldn't that be "lackeys" and not "lackies" Mr. Curmudgeon, sir. I hesitate to submit this in light of my earlier faux pas regarding EB Williams and GP Marshall. Regarding the rest of that post, I hear a lot of noise but no rebuttal of any fact regarding the two teams in question. If the Washington football team had a different non-derogatory name and if it had treated Bobby Mitchell with more respect, I might feel differently.

NYT has a preliminary, StorytellerTim; I don't know if it is their full-blown obituary or their early version.

RD, your last post will send me back to the bookstore to purchase the book for my daughter.

Euro writes:
It was weird to "hear" you speak Dutch. You are are truely a cunning linguist.

Holy cow! Whew! For a moment there, Euro, I thought you might have been speaking Latin. Thank goodness, the Boodle is saved!

Madeleine L'Engle and Harper Lee are a lot alike, except that Madeleine L'Engle wrote more than one (insanely great and phenomenally important) book.

The Madeleine L'Engle wikipedia page already has been updated. Quelle surprise.

In fairness to the overworked editors who stupidly rejected A Wrinkle in Time, The Left Hand of Darkness, Harry Potter, and so on: we should remember to thank them for the uncounted billions of incredibly rotten novels from which they have saved us.

You are correct about "lackeys," crc. And except for the E.B. Williams thing (which I didn't know, either), the defense will stipulate to the charges contained therein. As I said, all the more reason to quote the Bard on the subject of Dallas:

Exeter: Scorn and defiance; slight regard, contempt,
And any thing that may not misbecome
The mighty sender, doth he prize you at.

Professional Journalist's Sycophant may not be a lucrative career, but Amateur Wikipedia Vandal is an amusing hobby.

Add the first draft of Pride and Prejudice to that list, Tim...

Okay, the JA wiki article is too close to the truth not to have been written by one of the SAO-15. Mudge, was it you?

"Professional Journalist's Sycophant" is not available as a Boodle handle. Rush Limbaugh uses it when he addresses mash notes to Ann Coulter.

Not guilty, Slyness. I never mess around with Wikipedia entries anyway. Have never even read Joel's.

If I was guessing, I'd say maybe Dreamer/Tom Fan.

Now I gotta go look.

I'd have lowercased "Politics" as the name of Joel's A.B. degree, per AP Style.

Ask mo if she wrote it; it has links to her AchenFAQs.

How do you say "wonderful week" in Latin? Weecus mirabilis? Congratulations on your promotion, Joel, and may I also say how cool it is that you've been quoted in a calendar. And for a Latin phrase, no less!

And RIP Madeleine L'Engle. I loved "A Wrinkle in Time" and read it several times when I was a youngster.

"Professional Journalist's Sycophant" is not available as a Boodle handle. Rush Limbaugh uses it when he addresses mash notes to Ann Coulter.
This assumes that either of these is deserving of the title of "Professional Journalist." "Professional Urinalist" is more like it.

A Wiki-editor that went by Rwiedower wrote the initial entry. I have added most of the citations and made some minor edits. Other editors have included Yuanchosaan, SmackBot, Zenohockey, and several anonymous users. None of these are real boodle handles.

ac in sj: Wonderful week = hebdomas mirabilis

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:Ib9zMCnd4I4J:www.lpl.arizona.edu/grad/teamX/missions/+cruithne+carbonaceous&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us

This link is a cache of some future brainstormed / proposed missions in addition to the ones in Joel's wonderful Whither Space article, which I missed the first time around. Thanks for the link. I didn't know Aldrin proposed the extraordinarily sensible Phobos mission. I myself also support Cruithne mission. The curious can find it by Googling, and might add the word "animation" for some fascinating visuals of Cruithne's odd orbit. But it's the chondridical composition that whets my curiosity. We have not yet sampled its like.

Joel, all good things. I'm looking forward to reading fresh, interesting thoughts about the campaigns!

As a side note, Error? Error?

It seems I instigated the Joel Wiki-Entry back in February of 2006:

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/achenblog/2006/02/next_a_national_dress_code.html#c220418

It seems a Boodler named edward actually got the ball rolling.

This BoodleMoment has been brought to you by the Wikipedia History page where nothing ever goes away.

Completely off topic but too funny not to post.

" Sep 7, 11:03 AM

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Even for someone as gaffe-prone as U.S. President George W. Bush, he was in rare form on Friday, confusing APEC with OPEC and transforming Australian troops into Austrians.

ADVERTISEMENT

Bush's tongue started slipping almost as soon as he started talking at a business forum on the eve of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Sydney.

"Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for your introduction," he told Prime Minister John Howard. "Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit."

As the audience of several hundred people erupted in laughter, Bush corrected himself and joked, "He invited me to the OPEC summit next year." Australia has never been a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries."

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/070907/odds/odd_apec_bush_gaffe_odd_dc

>As a side note, Error? Error?

WARNING WILL ROBINSON....

dbG, regrettably I have been net-less for the last several days. (I did bring a CAT5 cable and the trusty PowerBook in case I got a chance, but thought better of it.) Possibly a good excuse to buy an iPhone as the cell *did* work.

Have much back-boodling to do. Thanks for thinking of me!

That link to the Tropic story is delightful.

I sit here, mired in my kids (for some reason they have all called me or stopped by in the last couple of hours, yes Kerric too) and I have to think, Joel's mom must be pretty proud of her youngin'. It goes without saying that she was just as proud when he got the Honourable Mention in the sack race.

Came across this interesting tidbit on a knitting blog, Enchanting Juno, but you'll like it.

"I'm devoted to the 'u' spellings. To me they distill the word into a deeper level of its meaning. This is an idea I developed reading British literature at an impressionable age...but doesn't it seem like 'honour' has more depth and force than 'honor'? Something about the way the mouth curves to make room for the suggestion of the additional vowel."

Error, I caught a couple of episodes of Allo, Allo, the other day. I thought of you. I will be catching more if they show more. (Knowledge Network, I think, or possibly CLT)

Thanks for directing me to it!

Those wishing to join in the summit spirit by renting some Down Under film fare this weekend have many fine choices. For those who like dance and romance there are "Strictly Ballroom" and a big fave of mine "My Brilliant Career". For a little more acidic tastes, try "Muriel's Wedding", a must see for ABBA fans if any there should be. Heavier subject matter is dealt with in "Rabbit Proof Fence" and "Swimming Upstream" and for the hard R crowd, "The Proposition" with Guy Pearce. Finally, batting clean-up and playing in far far left field, "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert", also with Guy Pearce, Terence Stamp, and Hugo Weaving as, well, queens of the desert. It won an Oscar for best costume design.

EF: //CAT5 cable//

Gomez, I love it when you speak tech!

And

Picnic at Hanging Rock

Walkabout

Error is back! *bells, ticker-tape*

Geez, it would have been more exciting to hear that you were on a road trip on the bike or in a newly-acquired, sexy classic car. "Netless" is anti-climactic, to say the least.

Gallipoli

Oh, not Gallipoli. I become wretchedly angry and grief-filled, inducing projectile weeping, whenever I think about that movie, much less watch it. I foolishly bought it on DVD and resubjected myself to the experience a few months ago.

How about The Man from Snowy River instead?

Oh oh!

Breaker Morant. Best court martial movie ever made. Aussies in the Boer War.

kguy... I managed to see "Priscilla" on the big screen when it first came out... excellent flick. On a side note, "Priscilla" was the name of my first VW Bus -- let's just say she would have given the Aussie queens a run for their money in the costume department.

Not The Road Warrior?

I own Muriel's wedding and ALL the Abba cassette's. It is painfully obvious that my taste in music really sucks.

In my defense, you have to understand the 70s.

The Dish

Strictly Ballroom is one of my favorite movies.

Having participated in similar competitions as a kid (not dancing and I won't fess up to what it was) it was the perfect illustration of what that life is like.

It's the Aussie version of Best in Show, only not about dogs. Well... maybe about dogs. But the dogs in Best in Show didn't dance as well.

Synchronized swimming? Rythmic gymnastics? Mexican hat dancing? Ski jumping?

I loved Best in Show. And Mighty Wind. He ranks right up there with Mel Brooks in my estimation. Silly movies from funny men.

I am absolutely compelled to say this.

'It's dead, Jim'
(In honour of the National Enterprise Writer postion).

I'm going home tonite to watch Apocalypto. I'm looking forward to it.

With regard to Texas (last kit) Coloradans detest Texans and they are always showing up here, over-dressed, to pretend ski or board. There are a few exceptions but people like my platinum big-haired gold diggin step mother isn't (ain't) one of them.

And Joel, I know your fans play only a very small, minuscule actually, part in your rise to fame. Whew...where's the water? Why, you're on a calendar for gosh sakes and in volumes of the National G's. A Renaissance man...!?!

I recently recommended "The Castle" to one of my boodlefriends, so now I'll tout it to all of y'all. It's a funny, heartwarming, off-beat little Australian movie; I've seen it several times and look forward to seeing it again in the future.

I liked The Dish, too--that's a good boodle recommendation, since it's kind of science-y.

Coloradans? Greenies. Somewhat like Weenies. (Wyoming usage, circa 1980)

well, I'm glad birdie did the necessary to bring the Boodle back to life.

TBG, have I offended you in some way? I unreservedly and sincerely and heartfelt-ly apologize.

Newsfront is good, too.

Yoki, my dear friend. You have not offended me in any way. I can't even imagine what way it could have even been.

(PS... check your email).

dr - (in little bitty type) I really liked Abba too. It truly was a seventies thing. I mean, compared to disco they seemed pretty hardcore.

Yoki - I remember the trauma of "Gallipoli" well. I was in college. To think I paid good money to feel that bad.

TBG - "Strictly Ballroom" was a delight. Dancing Greeks, flamboyant Australians, and a romantic ending. What's not to love?

OK... I left Eurotrash's "cunning linguist" comment alone, but I can't help but share this Craigslist link for "Free Earplugs"...

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/zip/416629249.html

I did, and do still in a nostalgic way, like ABBA. When they were in their heyday, (hayday?) I had my first car, and was traveling up and down the very long straight highway of Alberta between Edmonton (my home) and Claresholm in southern Alberta (my then-boyfriend's home); there is no more "driving rythem" than a good ABBA song when you are doing 120 km/h late on a Friday night or early on a Saturday morning (unless it is the Graceland song from the Graceland album when you are giving birth naturally to your second beautiful daughter in December 1988. That was good, too.).

I haven't seen the stage show (though it came to the SJA last year) yet, but I would, in a heartbeat, if I had a friend to go with. Sadly, neither Himself nor #1 nor #2 nor any of my equally-aged friends would go with me, because they suffer from ABBA-shame. Not me.

Thank you TBG. I feel much better now.

Something's amiss with liking ABBA??? What??? Since when???

:-)

SCC: rhythm. No wonder natural birth control never worked for me!

I've killed it, Jim.

TBG, that Craigslist link has been "flagged for removal."

Musta been hot...

Swedish pop rock: like an imaginary band ala the Monkees, but it was (is?) real.

Waterloo
Couldn't escape if I wantidoo

Napoleon turned in his grave surely, but others here, including me, danced to that and other sillinesses of the 70s.

Oh, I don't know, CP. As I heard it, Napoleon liked to shimmy with the best of us.

Speaking of Wyoming, Dave of the Coonties:

"Wyomomg: "Where men are men and sheep run scared."

Compliments of Mr. Birdie, a native Coloradan.

birdie... we used to say something similar about Slippery Rock, PA, but took it a step further:

"where the men are men, the women are men, and the sheep have learned to pray"

For those unaware, Slippery Rock University tends to produce a very high number teachers each year, of which a very high percentage are females who specialize in physical education. Hence the saying. It also tends to rank pretty high on the "party school" list, which could explain the religiosity of the area's sheep.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Ewwwww.

Joel, you rule 9/7.

My wife bought me the most recent Einstein bio. Not a bio reader but open to arguments recommending I go against that prejudice.

Harkening back to the last Boodle, the only good thing about Dallas is the Jimmie Dale Gilmore song, especially the version by Joe Ely on "Musta Notta Gotta Lotta."

Well I left for work with an ABBA tune in my head, thank goodness I heard Bad Co. Silver ,Blue and Gold on my way to work.

Then right before I got to work,the DJ(Alice Cooper) mentioned something about ABBA and I'm right back to square 1.

I thought Mudge was the Paleolithic Renaissance Man. Wait, they were only handing out one births per person each back then. Right.

Still, if they want to say YET again that you're wet behind the ears, go ahead and be proud, Joel. You know they're just way jealous of you because they don't look good surounded by cupids and butt nekkid ladies.

Buona fortuna, watch your back and don't spit up milk on any politicans.

Wow, quite a slow Friday night... I guess everyone was out celebrating Joel's promotion. :-)

And I finally got my vacation pics posted. *VBG*

http://www.monkeyview.net/id/2480/bday_07/

And we should have some Seafood Festival BPH pics tomorrow, too. :-)

Nice pics Snuke and very nice seats. Moms sure are great.

Enjoy the seafood bph everyone, I am still working crazy hours and can't make it. Someone suck down 6 oysters on the half shell for me and chase it with a cold brew.

Oh good morning too!!

Aaak! Busy day yesterdam busy day today.

My attendance at the Seafood BPH looks like it may be OBE, need to catch up on the Boodle. Einstein's Miracle year, and the Apollo program! Aaak! Totally in my wheelhouse, and I don't even have enough time to comment on them.

New windows are here, I'm going to start installing them momentarily...

If I don't make the BPH - Scotty, you're the Designated Hugger.

bc

Mornin' all...

I survived Day One of kindergarten-induced separation anxiety syndrome. Bean handled it much better than I did, which is a good thing, I suppose. She told me I can play with her toys next week if I'm feeling sad and lonely.

bc... good luck on the windows. If you need some help, the Handy Hippie's schedule is fairly free this week -- have Sawzall and hammer, can travel (assuming Stella agrees).

Wish I could make it to the seafood BPH. I'm always looking for an excuse to eat creepy crawlies from under the sea (Mrs. M won't touch the stuff, so I'm on my own there). If a lobster or crab should get loose and make a run for it, make sure you cover yourselves in melted butter and carry lemons (just in case).

Peace out... (Fairy Door Man is off to the shop).

[*poke*]

[*pokes again*]

Dagnabbit Jim, I'm a carpenter, not a coroner!

[*poke-poke-poke-poke-poke*]

I thinks it's dead.

*grumble, grumble*

Who's that keeps poking me?

*rolls over, goes back to sleep*

Wake up Mudge!

Hey... Can anyone explain this Google ad at the bottom of my boodle?

Make Money Laying Horses
Free Copy This Plan ! Free Report Make Money Now!
www.dataking2.com

Do I really want to know?

TBG... sounds like the kind of shenanigans that made the sheep in Slippery Rock, PA find religion.

[*pokes Mudge again*]

C'mon, ye olde coot. Thars cows be needin milkin and fine young wenches ter help wit the milkin.

No shame in being an ABBA fan. We planned a vacation to Toronto when we learned that Canada was going to have a production of Mamma Mia before New York. That is dedication.

*grumbling, splashing cold water on my face, scratching, taking my morning meds, etc.*

I really wish you guys hadn't started this Abba thing. I've got that *&%$#@^%$ "SOS" tune cootie in my head.

OK, magic time, as Jack Lemmon used to say. Time to head up to Annapolis and see if I can round me up some crab soup and some BPHers. See all you guys later tonight.

Howdy y'all. I too am getting a late start today but errands must be run soon. I wish i could go to the seafood BPH. Seafood loses some of its charm when there is no nearby ocean and the food must be flown in. Looks like rain here. The rain is now conveniently spacing itself a week apart so we don't have to water. Y'all enjoy that BPH, y'hear?

Ivansmom (and other boodlers)... you'll be there in spirit! We could use some of that rain (but not today!).

ok -- now you've done it! Here it is in Swedish:

Mamma Mia, jag har blivit kär
Se mig, titt i mina ögon
Mamma Mia, om det inte är
Kärlek, vad med mig att göra?

Tune cooties, indeed! Now I can't get that *(^*%) out of my head!!!!! Grrrrrrrr.

I actually met Agneta Fältskog (the blond one) in the woods while friends and I were picking mushrooms (actually, my friends did that, as I don't know which ones will kill me, and left it to them (hmmm, that doesn't look right. . . .)). She and her significant other of the moment were getting spring water from a well which was famous for the best water in the region (I've tasted it, and it were really good).

Have fun at the BPH tonight.

Mumble, mutter... I'm putting off the chore to go under the house and figure 1) if there are termites and 2) why the hall floor under my friend's unit#2 is sagging. Plus trim the vines around the air conditioning units. Crawlspace. Chee. No wonder I'm poking the boodle instead of motivating. Ooh, I know another chore to do, to put off the unpleasantness even longer. Yay. Martooni's neat fairy doors remind me of the tree face my mother got me. Have you seen these?
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.genuinetreepeeple.com/images/dutch.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.genuinetreepeeple.com/&h=250&w=225&sz=35&hl=en&start=13&um=1&tbnid=k4A26lO70EolmM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=100&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtree%2Bfaces%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN
Ha, what a link.
The hooks came out. I will repair.

TBG, your ad obviously contains a misprint. That should be "Haying horses."

It's "Dataking..." so I think it's laying odds for horses, not haying horses.

That makes no sense, horses don't pay extra for stall service or anything.

The market is perused, the groceries purchased, the lunches consumed, some homework accomplished and it is time to get on with the day.

The Boy is about to get a lesson in delayed gratification. He's been saving his allowance. He wants to go to a game store and buy some video type thing. However, the game will be there, and if he waits long enough he'll get it for Christmas or something anyway (not from me).
I've pointed out the State Fair starts next week, and he'll also want money for the midway. He likes to play the games for stuffed animals, but he needs money for that. He's basically restricted to darts, which always give some kind of prize; last year I let him try one of the other "ball" games and he was amazed to see how quick that $5 disappeared with no return.
So: spend the money on a game, or wait for the fair? Or go in hock to me and get no allowance for the next few weeks? [I won't articulate this option but he may propose it.] Life is filled with choices.

There's always mowing lawns or doing odd jobs for neighbors to earn extra money.

I was doing that by when I was 8-9 years old. I would also encourage the boy to think in that direction.

We're back home with barbeque. It's fair time in Mr. T's community back home, so we went, gorged on the world's best barbeque, and brought 20 pounds home to freeze. I think I'll take it easy for the rest of the day...

Laundry this afternoon. Storyswap tonight. The rest of the ScienceFamily will be watching "The Terminator".

Any boodlers want to come to the swap? You are not required to tell any stories, though you may if you want to.

Careful, we might show up and tell stories of you at the BPH, with appropriate embellishments and hand gestures.

Thanks for the invite!

Neighbors? What neighbors? I do have some family as neighbors and I'm sure my aunt could use garden help. Actually, the purchasing dilemma resolved itself; he had more saved than I thought and the game was used and cheap, so he may get both the game and the prizes.

It is fresh roasted green chile time here; one of the farmers brings his chiles and roaster to market and voila! it is very much like being in New Mexico. Yum.

birdie,
In my corner of Wyoming, a dry wash called "Deadline Draw" was once the cattlepeople-imposed border for sheep grazing.

There were still plenty of sheeps, which live well on saltbush. Nuttall's (or Gardner's) saltbush is really fairly small, has rather salty-tasting fleshy leaves, and lives happily on bentonite clay soils that shrink and swell so that they're rather fluffy in the summer. Areas like this would be be perfect for filming a sci-fi film with extraterrestrial vegetation.

I never made it all the way to Butch Cassidy's remotest hideaway on the Bighorn River north of Greybull.

Locally, a nursery was doing a big clearance sale in prep for remodelling, so I picked up Simpson's stopper bushes, a heliconia for cut flowers, and another . . . coontie.

I had just walked home from the pool Friday morning and, still dripping wet, crossed the the threshold of our front door to hear the phone ringing. It was 10:47 a.m. I reached the nearest phone just as the answering machine was picking up the call. The person phoning was the Department of Homeland Security.

The young woman had phoned me to respond to my inquiry of whether of not those who signed up to speak on Sept. 11 (in San Antonio) would be restricted to a given time period. She informed that each person at the mic would have three minutes to "make oral comments."

In both my email and phone call to DHS, I had written that I wanted to speak (make oral comments.) Of course, I suppose that some people might be submitting written comments. I told Loomispouse that I would be sorely tempted to make some nonverbal comments or perhaps a hand gesture or two.

We got to talking and come to find out, Sharon P. really doesn't work for DHS, but for the subcontractor SAIC. "Scientific Applications International..." I blurted out. The same, she replied. I asked her if she knew of the newly late Wayne Downing or David Kay, the Iraq weapons inspector, former honchos of SAIC. She had never heard of them. "Sweet, naive little lamb" I thought.

We continued to talk. I slowly plied her with some questions. Then, at one point, mid-conversation, she asked me the following:

Sharon P.: "Have you signed up to speak at Tuesday's meeting?

I: "Ummmm. yes. That's why I emailed the Department of Homeland Security *and* phoned in (note: having never spoken once to a live person)."

Sharon P: Long pause...

I: I mean, that's why you're calling me, right? To tell me I have three minutes to speak. Right?

After hanging up the phone I was pretty flabbergasted by the exchange I described. We'll see how Tuesday night's meeting downtown goes...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/20/AR2007072001422.html

By Ellen Nakashima and Renae Merle
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, July 21, 2007; Page D01

A government contractor handling sensitive health information for 867,000 U.S. service members and their families acknowledged yesterday that some of its employees sent unencrypted data -- such as medical appointments, treatments and diagnoses -- across the Internet.

Air Force investigators are probing the security breach at Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) of San Diego, an $8 billion defense contractor that holds sensitive government contracts, including for information security.

I won't even begin to discuss SAIC's problematic contract with the FBI...

But can they rattle off dates and facts and do calculations like the real Rainman?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070907120758.htm

Squeak... squeak...squeak... squeaksqueaksqueak!

And it follows that normal mice are also capable of empathy of sorts. Squeak?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060630100140.htm

I went to a plant sale at the local Japanese garden - got a sword fern, an ostrich fern, a winter hazel and a boulevard cypress. I've killed a boulevard cypress before - think I'll keep this one in a pot for awhile.

SAIC is a contractor known informally in the community as "Kentucky Fried Science." The company is divided into hundreds of independent profit centers that collectively employ thousands of people. The different profit centers are reasonably independent and few are aware of what the others are doing. In other words, they are nearly as fragmented as certain government agencies with which I am familiar.

Ivansmom - funny you should mention peppers. I find myself inundated with Japapenos. A single plant has produced enough peppers to keep me teary eyed through the next presidential election. And then some. In Northern Virginia, hot peppers are the way to soothe the ego of even the most incompetent gardener.

SCC: Jalapenos, of course. Japapenos are the far eastern variety.

> hundreds of independent profit centers that collectively employ thousands of people

I worked for them in an intern program, doing FORTRAN. My boss referred to it at "The McDonald's of science contracting". (This was so long ago both Don Imus and Howard Stern were actually somewhat funny still.)

We were in a building on the other side of the road from an airport, right in the fiight path. Behind us was a field. I was this tiny terminal/printer room and the PHD's all had an office along the back wall.

One foggy afternoon the guy in the office across from me flies out and runs down the hall screaming. As I stuck my head past his office door I could just see single-engine plane lift back up over the building. The guy had come down to basically ground level to see where he was in the fog.

That still has to be one of the funniest looks I've ever seen on someone's face.

Found Henry Loomis's name in NYT reporter Tim Weiner's new book about the CIA, "Legacy of Ashes," that I bought today--the book praised by Steve Coll and Walter Isaacson.

Henry has a paragraph, a very short bio of sorts, in Jennet Conant's book about Alfred Lee Loomis--so the VOA mention in both books was the clincher that linked the name for me. Conant lists Alfred's son Henry as affiliated with the U.S. Information Agency--a mangling of words so disingenuous that I never made the connection, sadly, to the CIA.

Apparently, Henry Loomis is listed in Julius Mader's 1968 " Who's Who in CIA," a book I understand is very hard to come by. Anyone know how I might source more info about Henry of Jacksonville, Fla.?

Since we just discussed Samuel Huntington, this blogger in the link below connects Henry Loomis and Samuel Huntington in footnote #8. I haven't read the blog post since dinner is pending.

http://erlenda3.blogspot.com/2006/02/clash-of-civilizations.html

Secretly, he [Samuel Huntington]participates in the creation of the think tank group that submitted a report to the presidential candidate, Richard Nixon, on the way to reinforce the CIA secret actions [8].

[8] The group was composed by Francis M. Baton, Richard M. Bissell Jr., Roger D. Fisher, Samuel Huntington, Lyman Kirkpatrick, Henry Loomis, Max Milliken, Lucien W. Pye, Edwin O. Reischauer, Adam Yarmolinsky and Franklin Lindsay.

Happy to report a beautiful, sunny and delicious Maryland Seafood Festival BPH was had by all!

Mr. G and I joined up with Mudge (spouseless for a few days), Scottynuke and his GF and Mo and her mom. Just the right group for enjoying seafood combos, spiced shrimp and funnel cakes... and great live music. ("Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?") Of course, the lot of you were all there in spirit, too!

Scottynuke took the requisite group photo and will be posting it by tomorrow I'm sure.

Good evening, Boodle. I'm back from Annapolis and the Maryland Seafood Festival BPH. Also attending were TBG and her better half; mo and mo's mom, Scottynuke and GFofSN. We ate some food, toured the crafts tent, drank a brewski or two, and generally had a good time (the weather was great; there was even a breeze coming right off the water. A good time was had by all. Scotty will post a photo in due course, I'm sure.

Loomis, I'm laughing that there is such a book as "Who's Who in CIA." Is that a book that is only one page long, like "The Wit and Wisdom of Dick Cheney," or like that? I mean, I thought the whole point about working for the CIA is that nobody is supposed to know who is who.

I've never grown jalapenos, RD, because should they grow at all I'd have more than I could ever use (and I'm a hot pepper fan). I pointed out to the Boy today that we have one green bell pepper and one banana pepper almost ready to pick. In what can only be a calculated insult, there is a single blossom on one large, half-tilted tomato plant. I had to explain to the Boy that it was an insult because neither that plant, nor its cohorts, condescended to produce anything during the regular growing season.

It sounds like a fine BPH and I look forward as always to a photo.

Our tomatoes are finally beginning to produce. It'll be interesting to see if we can get half of the promised crop ripe before the first frost.

They're Lazyboy beefsteak tomatoes, and nothing like the very active and talented Mr. Stripey.

bc... did you happen to catch this?

The 50 Worst Cars of All Time...

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1658545_1657686,00.html?cnn=yes

I know that mechanics have a unique sense of humor, but never came across such snarkiness/wit in an automotive critic. Is this typical? It's been years since I've picked up Car & Driver or even a Hot VWs.

I now understand why we never see many antique motorcycles in parades. I'm having a laughing fit imaging a true biker riding a red bike with training wheels in public.

Thanks for the link, 'tooni. That is priceless snark.

RD, dealing with SAIC in southern Indiana at Crane Naval Warfare. Why are they being kicked off the base so local rural governments have to find a new home for them? Just askin'. . . .

We have a pretty good tomato crop for us, which is paltry compared to most of you. I have some sweet peppers, though, for the first time ever - they must like the driveway location.

I'm hoping to get some asters tomorrow. I usually fall (heh heh) for the mums, which are nice the first year but then don't do as well over time. Pretty, starry-flowered asters, that's what I'm after.

Well, I'll eat some of my words. Conant is correct. There was a United States Information Agency, as mentioned in this abstract from JSTOR for an article titled "Selling Uncle Sam in the Seventies." (Kenneth R. Sparks, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 398, Propaganda in International Affairs (Nov., 1971), pp. 113-123.)

(You may be right, Mudge. Googling Julius Mader turns up questionable material.)

The United States propaganda machine needs overhauling. Parts remain spread throughout the government. Its chief component, the U. S. Information Agency, lacks agreement on purpose, often operates on questionable assumptions regarding the effects of communication, and tends to be removed from policy. Official propaganda faces an increasingly uphill battle. Our propagandists are usually not in control of the media and other institutions which make large-scale persuasive communication possible. In those countries where such control can be achieved, U. S. interests are often minimal. Nongovernmental channels of communication are and will remain the chief source of information about America. They will shape foreign attitudes about the United States and its policies. Official efforts should concentrate on promoting private media products, supplementing them where necessary. Reorganization would help the propagandists play their proper role in foreign policy formulation and implementation.

dave of the coonties, aren't coonties native to Florida, Mexico and the West Indies?

Martooni--haven't heard the Slippery Rock slogan but it's funny. The poor sheep.

We have had lovely weather here this weekend. It's cooling off! Fall is in the air. We hiked today in the Front Range foothills. Relatives live nearby. So beautiful and peaceful. But I'm always just a bit on guard since it is prime mountain lion territory. Lots and lots of deer, too.

Joel, loved the alpha geezer story. So true. I hope you can still write fun stories like this in your new position.

From today's Guardian --

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/tim_watkin/2007/09/the_world_left_the_us_behind.html

I am not awake. I am not awake. I am not awake.

Dangit. I'm awake.

[so much for the power of suggestion]

The worst thing about insomnia is that even after you've given up trying to sleep, you then have to find very quiet things to do -- or risk being murdered by those who *can* sleep.

I'm up, due to a noisy, flashy thunderstorm an hour ago that failed to provide us any rain.

Birdie, this page gives a good overview of the coontie. The Institute for Regional Conservation is a tiny, low-budget, and enormously competent outfit that's greatly improved our knowledge of South Florida's tropical plants and their habitats.
http://regionalconservation.org/beta/nfyn/plantdetail.asp?tx=Zamiinte

There's lots more Zamias in Mexico and Central America, with new species being discovered regularly. I have a beautiful young Zamia variegata in the yard. It's a rain forest species with yellow-speckled leaves. One species, Zamia pseudoparasitica (rotten name for a nice plant), even lives as an epiphyte up in trees.

Joel's Outlook piece this morning is a bit depressing. I'm not headed toward being a frisky geezer. Even restless leg snydrome, diagnosed by my internist just before the ad campaigns started. I'm finally returning to regular office hours, but still need to see whether problems with fatigue can be minimized. (Of course the summer heat doesn't help. Everyone feels kind of listless).

Not to mention that Coach Paterno was a successful youngster when I was a Penn State student. Nearly all of the junior faculty from back then are retired. I wonder if alumni do tours of fire bombing sites. Whoever did them was pretty inept. The worst damage was to the Horticulture Department. No one worried about Evil Horticulture in 1970. It was much more recently that genetic engineering unrest led to the Urban Horticulture building at the University of Washington being destroyed. The arsonists complained that they didn't mean to destroy the whole building, and blamed the fire department for not showing up quickly enough.

Then again, Hawaii PBS did a program about active seniors who were surfing and skateboarding.

Did I miss the new kit notice?