I wonder why Rob isn't holding that croc?

I always liked the Scorpions!!!

I am so glad there are people in the world who like these creatures and enjoy taking care of them.

I am not, nor will I ever be, one of them.

I am back from getting a twin baby fix. They are as cute as they were a week ago, only a little bigger. They are somewhat spoiled already, preferring to be held till they fall asleep. Fortunately, there are many hands to hold them.

That ties in perfectly with the alligator in the kitchen link frostbitten gave last kit.

That Cuban croc sure looks mean. I have some great pictures of the alligators that hang around my parents' house in Tarpon Springs, but I would have to hunt them down.

Re-plug of my Earth Day rant:

http://livebythefoma.blogspot.com/2008/04/earth-day-rant.html

Importing these reptiles into the islands is illegal, but they show up every once in a while. They'd wreck environmental havoc if they were allowed to flourish in our midst. Consequently, I've only seen these guys through a glass window at a zoo.

I had a small scorpion come into my kitchen once. Freaked me out when I saw it. I can't imagine what I'd do if I saw one as big as the one RobRoy is holding.

I saw the title of this Kit and burst out laughing. Excellent.

dbG... I'll start prepping the guest room for you now... October is just around the corner!

I remember the story containing the advice to beware of a snake with jittery eyes and dilated pupils. Although I am fond of snakes, I didn't really appreciate the advice until seeing these fine photographs. I cannot help but feel that, if I can see the dilated pupils and jittery eyes which signal an unhappy snake, I am already way too close.

I like your plan, Joel, but you've got an extra step in there. Once you've got the cargo clothes and auxiliary gear, why take the class? By all appearances you'd already be a nature photographer - particularly with a state-of-the art gyroscopic deelybopper - and appearance should be enough. Just show up at various nature-type scenes and click away.

Besides, you take a pretty good picture now.

My pictures of wild gators either predate my digital camera or have been too mundane to upload. The best I can do is this gator from the Georgia Aquarium:

http://flickr.com/photos/yellojkt/2316566240/in/set-72157604060975294/

As a kid I had a season pass to Busch Gardens Tampa and would spend hours just staring at their gator pool. They were a rather lethargic bunch but there were always one or two swimming around. All the fish knew to stay exactly twelve inches away. At least the smart ones did.

dbG, be sure to bring some Philly goodies with you: a coupla big pretzels, a brace of cheesesteaks (don't need scrapple; we have that here), and a couple pounds of Dietz and Watson Deluxe Loaf (shaved)(can't get it here). Also, maybe some damaged Oreos from the factory right up the street (da bullavard). And a buttercake. Jeez, can't forget the buttercake. I'll reimburse ya.

SciTim with his tool vest would make a great Jim Fowler to Joel's Marlin Perkins. It's always the sidekick that goes up and wrestles the fauna while the star stays within sprinting distance of the land rover.

*sigh* When I was a kid, the concept of a "nature magazine" was somewhat different than it is today, as is the concept of what a nature photographer photographs. We've come a long way (d@mmit).

If you like Scorpions, here's a good interview with Klaus Meine:

http://blogs.tampabay.com/80s/2007/09/scorpions-inter.html

Right. Now all you need is one of these-

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/zoomsMF/12001700mm.htm

and of course the sherpa (we call them grips) to schlep it.

My parents took a lot of alligator pictures during our family trip to Okefenokee swamp when I was a kid. You know, the kind of pictures where they say, see, it's a alligator. Right there, where the ripple is! No, it's not a log. Get up and get closer to the screen (these are slides, of course), and you'll see it. Really.

That's pretty much what their pictures of the kangaroos in Australia were like, too. Distant, tan-colored animals in a big, tan-colored grassland. But they're there! Really!

Joel, just make sure you've got a good telephoto lens when you start your new career.

My parents have gone a little camera crazy since they retired. They don't have one of those monster lenses, but they have dueling Canon EOS 40D's with 28-300mm image stabilizing lenses.

In addition to aviation photography, my dad does a lot of nature shots, specializing in birds, although he has done gators as well. Here is his website with his galleries. A great browsing site if you have time.

http://pbase.com/gmckenna

He knows about my blog but I'm not sure he has ever found the boodle, so be discreet.

Anger
Wisdom for Cooling the Flames
Backboodle biz:

Thich Nhat Hanh
Riverhead Books 09/02 Paperback $13.00
ISBN: 1-57322-937-7

Right, DBG, here is a good quote from this book:
"Our attitude is to take care of anger. We don't suppress or hate it, or run away from it. We just breathe gently and cradle our anger in our arms with the utmost tenderness."

GWE -- take care of your back.

October Boodlefest Upcoming for Ms FB and Mr. FB. Huzzah or make that Ausgeseichnet, which is German for most excellent.

---
I bet Fung shei has a remedy for too much anger floating around a home or family. I am on-kit, sorta.

I had to laugh at MacInnes's Big-Wall-O-Snakes, floor to ceiling pythons and cobras and whatnot, with a little tiny sign in the middle saying "Beware of Snake." That will take care of any liability issues, I guess.

On kit comment and shout out to Frosti:

http://www.reptilegardens.com/

Hey boodlers, without peeking, where is this attraction?

HINT: not Florida.

Been there many a time. Saw 'gator wrastlin'

I've managed never to see a really big snake, a grizzly bear, or even a black-footed ferret (despite working in occupied habitats). And the only wild macaque I've ever seen was scampering across a hotel lawn in Japan.

RobRoy's critters look well cared for.

yellojkt: "SciTim with his tool vest would make a great Jim Fowler to Joel's Marlin Perkins."

I commented to the ScienceSpouse recently that my vest brings great practical benefits (which she acknowledges) and significant sartorial advantages as well (which she firmly denies). In certain circumstances -- all right, precisely two circumstances -- my vest conveys to the beholder a sense of certainty, an absolute conviction, that I am a Man of Authority. A Go-To Guy. The man who knows what you need to know, who can answer your questions, who can rescue you from the swamps of uncertainty and bring you to the dry land of confidence. These two situations are: loitering in a hardware store, and loitering in a natural history museum. The first time it happened, in a museum, I fielded a technical question about the skeletal structure and probable lifestyle of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. We had finished our chat and the folks wandered off before I realized what had just taken place. When it happened at Lowe's a couple days ago, I was more perceptive and less knowledgeable (the fellow had a detailed question about the circumstances in which he might use some bit of merchandise) and I alerted him that I don't actually work in the hardware store, I was just shopping myself.

*Tim, Indiana Jones in disguise?

I once inquired as to whether a company could design for us a special wide-aperture lens to operate under a set of specific and peculiar circumstances. And, oh yeah, it needed to be something like an f/2 lens -- real fast. The company said they could do it, but it would require a contract for $30K (1995 dollars) in order to design and fabricate it. The lens that kurosawaguy linked to may be fantastically expensive for a *commercial* lens, but it is possible to get a 35mm camera lens for a lot more money if you try.

We didn't get the lens, by the way.

MSNBC is carrying an AP story of going mano a mano with a python:

EUGENE, Ore. - A pet store owner is calling a police sergeant a hero for saving her from the coils of a 12-foot Burmese python doing its best to turn her into a meal.
Teresa Rossiter had reached into a cage Thursday to show the huge snake to a customer when it bit her right hand and coiled around her left arm, throwing her to the floor.
A friend who happened to be at the store kept the snake off her neck and body while police were called. And when Sgt. Ryan Nelson rushed into the store, he was ready to kill the snake with his knife.
But Rossiter asked him to spare the expensive python, so Nelson put on gloves and pried open the snake's mouth to free Rossiter's hand.
Two responders from the Eugene Fire Department helped unwrap the snake, which was eventually returned to its cage.
Rossiter called Nelson a hero.
"He was the bravest guy ever. He went way above and beyond the call of duty," she told The Oregonian newspaper.
Rossiter suffered dozens of puncture wounds, but she, the sergeant and the python were fine.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/24226224/?GT1=43001

You can see the albino cobra knows it's cool. It's so vain...

Extracting things from a snake's mouth must be done very carefully (duh!) because snake's teeth are recurved, numerous, and very sharp, designed for one way travel- down the hatch. It is relatively easy to break teeth in extracting a large object from the jaws of a snake, thereby causing infection and possibly death of the snake. One of my brother's ex-wives worked as a keeper in the Knoxville zoo while he was in grad school and she was bitten by a large constrictor one day because she reached into a cage at feeding time and the python thought she was lunch. It took them many minutes of careful prying while she pushed her hand further in (now tell me that isn't counterintuitive!) until all the teeth were disengaged and she could safely pull her hand out. Everybody survived and she got a dandy conversation piece of a scar.

It probably thought the article was about it...

:-)

re bad lighting. Since the digital age of photography began in 2004 for me, I've come to swear by flash filling. Always indoors (I don't even use the auto setting), but often outdoors as well with a foreground subject. That last photo looks flash-filled.

Q. what actor does this RobRoy fellow look like? Can't quite place it.

Montgomery's piece on Reading is an eye opener. The last time I saw the place, circa 1971, an urban renewal project had destroyed a chunk of the dying downtown. It looked like cleanup after an air raid.

Repurposing obsolete buildings seems a national thing--Portland, Oregon had the old Montgomery Ward warehouse, Rejuvenation Houseparts in another warehouse, and Columbia clothing in an old garage for horses (stable?).

On the side, my Slovak steerage-immigrant grandmother in New York must have been of the helicopter sort--the kids graduated from elite high schools. Possibly one help was her Central European assumption that once in schook, the kids would segue from Slovak and some German to English. They did, despite ongoing complaints from teachers that Mom wasn't giving them enough encouragement.

Circa 1970, Penn State was a working-class university conspicuously lacking black students. It spent possibly the next twenty years working on that problem. I wonder what's going on now to encourage Latino kids to do well in high school, then go on for higher education.

Worst. President. Ever.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/04/22/BL2008042201309.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Also, Cuban crocodile: Chew Guevara?

Let me save you the effort by acknowledging that I groaned while typing that. GOL? ROTFGMAO?

dr: liked "fumbrage"

According to a Howie Kurtz article, WSJ top editor Marcus Brauchli has resigned after only four months under Rupert Murdoch's new ownership. He claims he think ol' Rupert ought to have his own person running the paper. Hmmmmm. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/22/AR2008042201721.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Is this guy's last name pronounced like broccoli?

Referring to the Froomkin item to which TBG linked, I think it is not quite fair to say that Bush has gone from 90% approval down to 31% (69% disapproval). I don't think he ever was actually that high, although that's what the polls showed. If I had been polled immediately after 9/11, I would have joined the 90% approval rating for Bush. Not because I thought he was dandy, but because I would want to demonstrate national solidarity in the face of the villains who were trying to break us. I was prepared to support him for a month or two, on the grounds that he was our legal commander in chief, despite my objections to his presence in the office. Of course, he acted quickly to use that artificially high support to enact wretched domestic legislation and to get moving on the march to interminable war. Some of us (and I count quite a few of you, as well) recognized from the get-go that he was a pathetic excuse for a President, unfit for the office. That's why he needed a high public-approval rating, because he brought to the office no personal strength of will or of character.

I wondered that, too, Aloha. It's inescapable.

I agree with Tim that the 90% thing was bogus/aspecial case because of 9-11. And the rest of his post, too.

If this is earth day, I think mother nature is mad at us. Hmmm wonder why?

We are in day 3 of the snowstorm. Its not a killer storm, the kind where people lose their way in it, like last year (or was it two years ago - time flies), but this fine and constant snow is doing me in.

Joel, please put a BEWARE OF SNAKE PICTURES disclaimer up front when you do this! Much appreciated.

Thanks, TBG! The best is good enough for me! :-)

Mudge, believe it or not I was just thinking today that I'd have to bring you buttercake in October. I'll take orders before I set off, pretzels, dietz, pork roll?, hoagies? Wonder if I could get water ice to stay frozen. If I brought fresh Amoroso rolls, would it make more sense for you to make steaks there than eat them after they've been on the road for 3 hours? (Since I've moved back, I'm spoiled. It's within 5 minutes of them leaving the grill or it's not good enough).

"An albino cobra. For animal lovers who find a hamster insufficiently interesting."

Really now, I can perhaps understand a hamster being insufficiently interesting, but that's no need to feed it to a cobra, albino or otherwise.

What?

CP, Kim, see you there?

All this talk of GWB's approval rating after 9-11 reminds me to share today's Married to the Sea comic...

http://www.marriedtothesea.com/042208/oops-thats-not-funny.gif

*Tim's vest always made me think he was the go-to guy if you wanted a bottle of beer opened --- had to be an opener there somewhere.

The bottle-opener is in my Leatherman tool on my belt, not in my vest. Actually, it's a can-opener, but it will serve for a bottle in a pinch. I might be able to use one of the D-rings on which I hang carabiners...

DBG -- October BPH? I would hope so.

Funny, mmg.

Just a reminder...

Tomorrow night, April 23... BPH

5:00 at McCormick & Schmick's
1652 K Street, NW
Washington DC

Close to Farragut North (Red Line) and Farrugut West (Orange Line).

Awww, dbG, thanks for asking! I do think that I will make my way up to DC for the BPH. I've been thinking that I would try to get up there for a summer one, but perhaps I'll wait for the fall BPHpalooza.

And I'm with you on the reptile warning request, dbG! Criminy, all these snakes creep me out.

OH my, shall I miss dbG tomorrow? I am snowed under academically....but, how can I miss this. Off to music lesson....

I will have to skip tomorrow's BPH. I have a prior commitment to a ScienceKid.

No worries, I'm not going back to Florida. All those scaly, dead-eyed senile lounge lizards... brr.

Less than 12 hours before the protracted Pennsylvania torture is over... (And the rest of the nation is newly tortured by a resurgence in punditry).

I liked fumbrage too.

BTW, can we spell it Faumbrage and say it Fome-brage, to accurately better capture that faux-um?

SCC: I take faumbrage at any implication that I didn't know umbrage ended with a "brij" sound like bridge.

Okay, now faumbrage sounds like "foam bridge", which is pretty silly.

The pictures are great, just not a fan of snakes and creepy, crawly, things, despite their size.

I forgot to mention Earth Day this morning. I believe the History Channel will have a special tonight showing us how much of an imprint we leave on the planet.

bc, had to laugh at your, "I got nothing and they know it."

Mudge, your description of the eyebrows was funny too.

And Ivansmom, I'll bet anything that anger thing you have works so well in your profession. I mean sounding like a mommy with steel behind it, can't miss.

Slyness, a late congrats on the babies. With twins you get twice the fun.

It has rained on and off here all day. And the g-girl came by, and like a whirlwind she flew in and now she's gone. It is quiet.

I didn't get a chance to hug a tree, but I think it is a great idea, and the walk was great. I walked to my dad's house, and walked back. Tired, but a good tired.

Have a good evening, folks.

What? What? An October BPH in Washington? What are the chances of my receiving an official invitation? *Snivelling*

Is this BPH going to be around October 23? I may indeed be in town briefly for a friend's wedding, gotta make the plans.

So sorry S'Tim. I will be there. Seems you and I never seem to be able to attend on the same days anymore. And I wanted to talk with you about age appropriate sky stuff for Dear Child. Perhaps another time.

I won't be able to make tomorrow's BPH. So sorry to miss it. I do hope there will be another one before October!

I'll be there, too.

Now, do I have time to get my Gladiator outfit from the cleaners...?

bc

The Bunker
April 22, 2008

To: The Hon. Mrs. Yoki J. Himself
Shark Wrangler-in-Chief
Dewey, Cheatham and Howe, Solicitors
Calgary, Canuckistan

Dear Mrs. Himself:

It has come to our attention that due to an unfortunate series of incidents in our mailroom, your official invitation to attend the Achenblog 47th Annual Fall BPHalooza and Pre-Election Cotillion was mislaid and did not go out in the mail when originally scheduled. It seems our mailperson, an intern of unfortunate personal habits, seems to have placed your invitation between pages 48 and 49 of the latest issue of Nature Photography Magazine (the annual Volleyball Sunworshippers issue, alas) instead of posting it from the outgoing mailbox, as he was supposed to do.

Please accept our deepest, humblest, most groveling apology over this pathetically incompetent incident, and consider this missive to be your official invitation to attend.

Your deeply obedient servant and faithful correspondent,

Curmudgeon
Shop Steward

cc: BPH Seating Chart Committee
BPH Food and Banquet Subcommittee
BPH International Relations Desk
Canuckistani Embassy (Attn.: the Hon. Haute Maine Ambassadoress to these United States

I also expect an invite in my e-mail, Mudge.

This is interesting. MSNBC is reporting Penna. is too close to call -- the inference being the results are not the Hillary blowout she was hoping for. (Based on exit polls, Hillary is carrying the Oldster vote [Penna. has the second-oldest population in the entire country after Florida, which I didn't know] while Obama is carrying the young vote by nearly the same margin. And he's carrying Philly by 69% and the Philly suburbs 62% -- which may be strong enough to offset the rest of the state.) Gonna be an interesting night.

The Bunker
April 22, 2008

To: The Hon. Wilbrodog
Woofinton, Wisconsin

Dear Wilbrodog:

It has come to our attention that due to an unfortunate series of incidents in our mailroom, your official invitation to attend the Achenblog 47th Annual Fall BPHalooza and Pre-Election Cotillion was mislaid and did not go out in the mail when originally scheduled. It seems our mailperson, an intern of unfortunate personal habits, seems to have placed your invitation between pages 48 and 49 of the latest issue of Nature Photography Magazine (the annual Volleyball Sunworshippers issue, alas) instead of posting it from the outgoing mailbox, as he was supposed to do.

Please accept our deepest, humblest, most groveling apology over this pathetically incompetent incident, and consider this missive to be your official invitation to attend.

Your deeply obedient servant and faithful correspondent,

Curmudgeon
Shop Steward

cc: BPH Seating Chart Committee
BPH Food and Banquet Subcommittee
SPCA

P.S. Bring the Gnome, if you want.

Tomorrow, everybody in PA can breathe a deep sigh of relief at no longer seeing campaign ads every few minutes on TV.

As for me, I'm humming that new song Omni wrote for me last kit (for whatever reason, it is a nice tune cootie).

"I'm glad, I'm so glad, I'm glad..."

I'm game to go with faumbrage. Yes I do like it.

By supper time the fierce wind blew in some sun and the roads are melting off. I am hoping that spring returns tommorrow. Otherwise its going to be a long winter, and there is no serious amount of curling scheduled till October.

After tonight, I suppose the focus is on us here in NC. I've already had several personal telephone calls from Hillary and Barak. So nice of them to chat with me! Little me!

I've learned that when caller ID says Private name/private number, it's a political prerecorded message.

Unfortunately for the young person who called, I had to say that I would not be supporting Senator Clinton but will be voting for Senator Obama. What a thankless task for a beginner in the political process.

After tonight, I suppose the focus is on us here in NC. I've already had several personal telephone calls from Hillary and Barak. So nice of them to chat with me! Little me!

I've learned that when caller ID says Private name/private number, it's a political prerecorded message.

Unfortunately for the young person who called, I had to say that I would not be supporting Senator Clinton but will be voting for Senator Obama. What a thankless task for a beginner in the political process.

Pretty hard for a python to go mano a mano with anything what with lacking manos and such.

Just a quick wave. Came down with a doozy of a sore throat yesterday. Had to spend today at home nursing it. No fun. Though cold and flu season was about over. Ah, well.

*crickets*


Where is everyone? I'm stuck here working* late and there's no one to talk to? I'm just happy I've got Slyness' double post to keep me busy.




____________
*Most of my working here is the hurry-up-and-wait kind. Can't edit and lay out stories until they're written, you know.

Aw, do I HAVE to bring the gnome... I guess I do, after all, I doubt I could get through TSA to fly with just a smile and no gnome.
Besides there's the pesky business of getting ejected from restaurants as well.

Shoot, looks like we are a package deal.

Sorry about the double. Dunno what happened, it looked like it wasn't doing anything!

The news is calling HRC as the PA winner.

The Caps and Flyers tied at 2 going into sudden death.

My back is feeling better. Who knew watching a flooding river sitting in the sun would do so much good on my aching back.

Well, WaPo sure seems F'ed up. They now are only showing 5% of the vote in again... last time I looked they were showing 45% of the vote.

Go Caps.

I always laugh to myself when I see a young child, usually male, with a stick and a glass jar with lid poking in a rock pile.

That is where my child became interested in spiders and other such creepy crawly things.

8 year old BoyChild would poke around and bring home these things he swore were Black Widow spiders. We had scans of jars with webs and stuff under the back porch, in the garage, and occasionally smuggled into the house proper. Web sacks were laid and eventually the jars were full of many small crawly things. With the lids still attached, eventually the colony died.

As a 12-to-13 year old BoyChild, younger boys would show up on our door step with their jars of treasurers and ask for confirmation of the identification of the captured spiders.

Fast forward to today, apparently one of BoyChild's snakes is about to lay her eggs. In the past it was acceptable to have the incubator in the garage. This must be a prime snake, as the incubator moved into the house today so that BoyChild could keep watch.

And just to think this all starts with a pickle jar and a stick.

Well, that was certainly the kiss of death. Should have kept my mouth shut.

You made me smile with that story, Pacifica. Good to see you tonight.

Bah. Feh.

Caps lose in sudden death OT.

CNN was showing roughly 45% in last time I looked, HRC solidly ahead 55% to 45%.

FWIW, anyway.

Joel, I'd be careful about picking up a camera in addition to the Underwood. I've found that my editors and publishers love it *too* much when I give them my nice digital pics to go along with my text. They typically don't pay me anything close to what they'd pay a freelance pro photographer, even though my pics are used in the same manner as any pro photogs'.

I do have to be vigilant to make sure I'm not being taken advantage of.

In that respect, anyway.

bc

TBG - Thanks for the howdy. I'm usually here for the evening shift, Casandra has usually said good night before I get home.

I'm not even able to lurk as much as before. My gub'mint employer has not blocked the WaPo, but the WaPo doesn't load completely on my computer and two others I've been able to test drive.

Grown BoyChild still has snakes, tarantulas and some other assorted creepy things. He has grown up and lets the Black Widow spiders live outside in retaining walls, rock drives and hoses.

But on the way home tonight, I saw two young boys out with sticks and glass jars.

The circle of life.

Gingerly boodling past the snakes!

Went to see the Yarn Harlot last night. She's great, very funny. I got 3 books signed. Sat next to an older guy who was making an afghan for Afghanis. His wife was wearing the most beautiful sweater she had knit, just using up yarn from her stash - shades of green and grey in curvy shapes. Lots of gorgeous handknit creations on display - I kept wanting to grab at people as they walked by.

Bc, I would concur... but at least it's extra money. If you're that good, start submitting photos without all that wordy crud.

>Lots of gorgeous handknit creations on display - I kept wanting to grab at people as they walked by.

ML: the "Handknit Creations Defence" has a very low success rate. Very prudent to avoid the grabbing.

Looks like its gonna be a 10-point spread; that gives Hillary the win and the spin. Ah, well. The next test will be to see if she gets any money. As it stands now, she's a million in debt, whereas Obama has $40-some million in the bank. Penna. cost him some bucks--but it gave him the advantage of busting Hillary. Looks like the Fat Lady went back to her dressing room, too, and left a wake-up call for June.

Wilbrodog, leave the Gnome behind if you want. Just say the word and I'll have one of my minions meet you at the airport and escort you back here for the blowout.

Hey, Pacifica. I'd stay up and keep you and TBG company, but it's way past my beauty-rest time. Buenos gnocchis.

Nah, I'll bring the gnome, I need help as well for doorknobs, car doors, read clocks, tick removal, water and food bowl refills, and such.

Isn't that what you call a shim be or tick relationship?

Teh Bunkers
April 32, 2008

To: The Hon. Shyness
Mayberry, North Carolina

Dear Shyness:

It has come to our attention that due to a fortunate series of incidents in our mailroom, your official invitation to attend the Achenblog 47th Annual Fall BPHalooza and Pre-Election Cotillion was mislaid and did not go out in the mail when originally scheduled. It seems our mailperson, an intern of unfortunate personal habits, seems to have placed your invitation between pages 48 and 49 of the latest issue of Nature Photography Magazine (the annual Volleyball Sunworshippers issue, alas) instead of posting it from the outgoing mailbox, as he was supposed to do.

Please note that, ordinarily, we would be offering our deepest, humblest, most groveling apology over this pathetically incompetent incident, and would beg you to consider this missive to be your official invitation to attend. However, two events prevent that.

The first is, your brazen double-posting announcement of your preference in the upcoming Democratic primary contest in your state has made that no longer a feasible event. Further censure-including a very personal evaluation of your ability to walk and chew gum simultaneously--will be forthcoming. These may also include uncomplimentary remarks about recently hatched offspring of your offspring, as well as agressively negative reviews of any recipes you may have publicized in the past, and quite possibly a searing analysis of your use of double-spaces after periods.

Please be aware that this has nothing to do with your expressed preference-he's a fine young man, and we wish him every success. No, the problem is this: double-posting has got to stop! Electrons are being wasted! Internets are suffering! WaPo servers are being stuffed, stuffed, stuffed with useless duplicates!

The second event is that our mailperson has just removed your invitation from between pages 48 and 49 of the latest issue of Nature Photography Magazine (Dec 1968) and dropped it in the mailbox. You may expect it to arrive in the traditional 10-14 days; or maybe the mailman will save time that day, and throw the contents of his mailbag into a ravine.

Your deeply obnoxious server and wannabe faithless co-respondent,

Someol Guy
Slipshod Steward

cc: BPH Cheating Chart Committee
BPH Ford and Banking Subcommittee
North Carolina Obamamania Council

I had a big rant about Hillary and Pennsylvania just about ready to post, but I whacked it with the big delete key to bring you...

THE ULTIMATE BPH (for a long-haired out-of-towner of gnomish stature with a penchant for whiskey):

I say we all meet behind the bushes at Mudge's bus stop with some brushes and rollers and a bucket or three of blue paint. Just remember to aim for his bottom and talk like an angry pirate.

Then with kidnapped and blue-bottomed Mudge in tow...

... we swing by the nearest Kinko's to make fake ID's so we can get into Scotty's house of nuclear mayhem and pancakes. I'm sure he'd be happy to give us a tour of all the top secret stuff he works on (and hopefully will not have to kill us or zap our memories afterward).

After a quick stop at the radiation decontamination booth...

... we hijack a black helicopter and pop over to RD's den of sharp-toothed lagomorphs (after mooning the White House) and get to see him do whatever the heck it is he does (and hopefully not be killed or mind-zapped afterward). If we don't find ourselves blindfolded, handcuffed, or otherwise oppressed at Guantanamo Bay...

... we head over to College Park with a rhubarb pie, some poems and a net so we might catch the elusive red-haired pedaling professor. We'll have to ditch the blue paint before we get there, otherwise she may go "Braveheart" on us.

Our entourage would then go back to Kinko's to make fake "Press" badges, then sneak through the back door of WaPo headquarters.

Our mission? Find the guy with fly-away hair.

They probably have a lot of broom closets and nooks and crannies at WaPo HQ, not to mention all the filing cabinets, waste baskets, vending machines and rat-infested dungeon cells, so we'd have to split up to cover them all.

But once we get him, it's off to M&S's for burgers, beverages, bedgerages, and maybe even veberage or free, especially if Joel can expense it and blame Weingarten.

"Kidnapped by Boodlers" would be a great book title (and excuse), btw...

Seriously, one of these days I'm going to surprise all of you and show up at a BPH. I may have to take out a second mortgage to cover the gas to get there, but if the burgers are really only $1.99 and I can sleep in somebody's driveway, I am *so* there.

Shyness? We have a boodler named *Shyness*?

Yoki, I'm so glad Mudge made up for my poor manners. . . just smack me at the one on May.

CP, not the upcoming BPH, the one so far in the future everything looks possible--October. That's the one I'll be able to attend.

I'm with you Martooni. One of these days I will traverse half the Pacific Ocean and the entire US continent (a total of 14 hours of travel time no doubt) to get to a BPH. The way airfares are going through the atmosphere I'll have to hock all my worldly goods on eBay to get there, but it will be so worth it! I really want to talk like an angry pirate.

Morning, morning, friends. Mrs. Clinton has won one. Now the trek to North Carolina. I, like you, Slyness, do not answer the phone. They leave messages.

I watched some of the History Channel, and fell asleep. What I saw was very interesting. The melting of the ice caps, the bad weather, flooding and the such in so many places around the world. The rising oceans, really scary stuff. And just enough science thrown in to make it interesting. Documentation regarding over fishing, and the countries that are the worse offenders.

Well today is Wednesday, the busy day. I will start off with the radio program, then go on to the Bible studies, the Center, and tonight, a program at the association of churches. I'll probably get in late. And much thanks again to those that support the radio ministry.

Mudge, Slyness, Martooni, you guys were up pretty late last night, no excuse for not showing up this morning. Up, up. Where are you, Scotty?

I'm with Martooni on the bhp. I'm going to show up one of these days. I do hope they're still serving that cheeseburger.

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

dbG, yes on October, I believe.

This evening's event, alas, is not for me. I have been jiggling a sump pump for four days straight and preparing a heap o' documentation for work. I am not BPH worthy or even possible till the end of May.

Will pony up in soon for rain barrels. Any boodlers already so situated? If so, do tell some of the ins and outs.

pre-backBoodling comment...

It was nice to see Smoltz get his 3,000th strikeout last night while the Nationals got the win.

*seriously-seeking-caffeine Grover waves* :-)

Good morning, all. Cool and cloudy here today. I overslept a little, but, yanno, I'm not going to care.

I also will not comment on an earlier post concerning a double post last night. I might show umbrage, the real kind.

Well, the Pennsylvania primaries are over. And absolutely nothing has been accomplished except to widen the gulf between Clinton and Obama supporters, and diminish both in the eyes of swing voters.

It's like watching two of those pythons squeeze each other to death.

Fang Shui is the ancient art of nagging your husband into the garage.

Mornin', RDP.

Marnin', 'toon.

Good one, Phyllis.

:-)

College Parkian--

Good morning! I thought of you this morning; it's fabulous bicycling weather here these days, especially in the morning.

I have a rain barrel that I ordered from some outfit on the internet--it was an olive oil container in its previous life, I believe. I love being able to water my garden even when there are water restrictions in place. Here in south Florida we have a strange situation where we can have water shortages even when we're getting a lot of rain. Most of our rain just runs off since we're all paved over; it's a real shame. The rain barrel is my little tiny individual remedy to that. The only maintenance is cleaning it out once in a while, since the water is coming off my roof and the dirt collects in the bottom of the barrel.

Morning all!

I'm going to have to skip the BPH tonight. I've had a nasty stomach bug the last few days, and don't think I can manage the aroma of burgers just yet. Besides being dog tired. *Whine* Hope everyone has a good time!

We'll be sorry to miss you both, Raysmom and Maggie. Next time for sure!

:-)

Wilbrod, that wasn't my song. "I'm So Glad" is by Skip James. Earlier in the boodle mentioned by ScottyNuke. I posted a link to a YouTube video of the song as covered by Cream (two actually), and then the lyrics for you.

The only surprise for me last night was the quote from one of the guys on Charlie Rose last night that exit pollsters were told by 13% of Pa. voters that race was a factor in their choice. This is not an anonymous phone poll or internet poll. This is telling another human being that you vote based on skin color. Man, that's sad. And if that many were willing to say it, how many more did it and refused to admit it?

Oh boy does my head hurt.

Of course it had nothing to do with late night boodling (or wee hours boodling, depending on your perspective). I'm pretty sure no animals were involved (except for that pound of cocktail shrimp), but a 12-pack of Natty Ice is missing from my fridge and a couple of squirrels keep ringing the doorbell and running away giggling and high-fiving each other.

Have you ever noticed that squirrels act like crack addicts?

I see I posted something.

To quote Scooby Doo... "ruh-roh".

Off to the shop to stick my head in the router...

Peace out... {o.O/p}

at least the long primary is good for democratic party (or democratic-leaning) voter registration, if nothing else.

my poor conservative republican parents who live outside of harrisburg finally get relief from all clinton-and-obama all the time.

you folks in north carolina only have two weeks, so hang in there.

Good morning, all.

No surprises in the PA Primaries, things went more or less as predicted.

I continue to agree with those that say the Dem Presidential Candidate process is likely to go all the way to the Convention.

So be it.
For those that are worried about this improving McCain's chances in November, I would tend to agree, except that the economic situation in this country is continuing to deteriorate, and most folks vote with their pocketbooks (remember the '92 election?).

I seem to recall McCain acknowledging that the economy is not his strong suit, and the incumbent party usually pays the price when things go badly.

Can McCain still win it all?
Maybe - he's smart and plucky and has a lot of resources for waging a successful campaign - but there's a lot going against him at the moment.

Wilbrod, I meant to add that my technique and equipment are not up to what I consider pro photographer levels. The mags are using my pics simply because they're "good enough," and that I'm actually there to take them (I do find them to be good reference materials for writing articles later).

I'm looking forward to seeing those of you who attend the BPH tonight. Sorry to hear you're not doing well, Raysmom. I hope you feel better soon; make sure you have a good long restful pitstop.

bc

K-guy - yeah, those numbers on race add an ugly undercurrent to all of this. It now seems obvious that Clinton will end up with neither a lead in delegates nor in the popular vote. Instead she will be relying on the superdelegates to overrule the popular will. Now, technically, this is exactly what the superdelegates are supposed to do - save the Dems from themselves.

I am sure that Clinton will be arguing that the delegates were simply fooled by all of Obama's Fancy Talk, and that the Older and Wiser Dems know best. But if the superdelegates actually choose to overrule the popular will it will seem to many like an acquiescence to bigotry.

Cute over-the-top cartoon from Toles this morning:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinions/cartoonsandvideos/toles_main.html

I'd have used the word "SuperDelegating" instead of "Superconducting," but that's just me.

bc

Mornin', boodle. Staggered into work today. I'm feeling some better than the past two days, but still fuzzy around the edges. But, have to work tonight and again tomorrow night, so gotta try and get with the program. Hopefully, tomorrow night will be the last of this extended series of nights and Saturdays for a while. I'm not surprised at the results from the PA primary yesterday. In the time I've been able to spend up in the Pittsburgh area, I've noticed a real undercurrent of backlash against progressive Democratic ideas. As noted above, a number of folks were willing to admit that race played a factor in their voting. I think there is still a lot of resentment in the Mon Valley about African-Americans moving up in the 1950's and '60's to take jobs in the mills, and then see all the mills just shut down. And now Latino immigrants are moving in to take jobs on the lower end of the scale. Knownothingism appears to be alive and well in southwestern Pennsylvania.

k-guy writes:
The only surprise for me last night was the quote from one of the guys on Charlie Rose last night that exit pollsters were told by 13% of Pa. voters that race was a factor in their choice. This is not an anonymous phone poll or internet poll. This is telling another human being that you vote based on skin color. Man, that's sad. And if that many were willing to say it, how many more did it and refused to admit it?

LL: The detail missing is whether those voters who were polled are black or white or Latino or Asian. Perhaps some of those voters are black--rather than a monolithic white voting block, as you suggest. Perhaps some voted for Obama because he is biracial (Black). Certainly many among the black populations in many states have voted *for* Obama based on race--this can hardly be a subject for dispute.

That's as specious an argument as several that Padouk made the other day regarding SAIC and NBC. Downing was the head honcho--certainly not all divisions in the large corporation are involved in questionable activities, but some were--it's a matter of knowing what Downing's job title was and his responsibilities as CEO. NBC has both an entertainment divison as well as a news division. It's the responsibility of the news division to report to the American public the facts, not present opinions that are simply talking points provided by the Pentagon. One could hardly have expected Allard's opinions to have been represented on SNL.

OK, gosh darn it, I am GOING to make the BPH tonight. I may only be able to stay for a teensy bit. I've been billing 13 hours/day this week (read: have seen my daughter for all of 30 minutes combined since Sunday) but I will go for a wee bit. Then (hopefully) I'll get home in time for dinner with my little one or (worse) go back to the office to finish up the work that inevitably won't be finished today. This will be my last post for the day, so that I will have some hope of actually going home tonight. Over and out.

g'morning boodle. Two Scranton, PA high school seniors were suspended for skipping gym class to see Obama.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hq6lZ3LRgNlIJNapzGwXeRolvuWQD907IRH80

Surprised elitism wasn't mentioned as they are clearly close to being high school graduates, one was even class president.

Sunny here and supposed to climb into the mid 60s but I have the fireplace going to take the chill off. The frostcats have gathered around for some feline flame worshiping.

Half days huh, PLS? I read The Firm. I know how lawyer billing works.

Clearly, we want news and not talking points. My point is that just because NBC is owned by GE, and that GE has defense contracts it does not necessarily follow that all of what NBC says is military propaganda. Likewise, it does not follow that everyone who works for SAIC is a pro-military shill. My standard of proof is higher than that.

On the entirely separate point of the racial component. Your point is valid. There is ambiguity there. Although, given well-known voting patterns, and the demographics of PA, it would not at all surprise me if whites avoiding Obama because of his color is the dominant mechanism. But, again, you are correct that we would have to look more closely at the data.

Regarding race as a motivator:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_campaignplus/on_deadline_pennsylvania;_ylt=ApHU3v1LSZSc3Z1Ga6XRZ4ph24cA

"About one in five Pennsylvania voters said the race of the candidates was among the top factors in deciding how to vote, according to exit polls, and white voters who cited race supported Clinton over Obama by a 3-to-1 margin.

Results from all the primaries suggest that whites who said race was important in picking their candidate have been about twice as likely to back Clinton as Obama.

An AP-Yahoo News poll found that about 8 percent of whites would be uncomfortable voting for a black president. The actual percentage is probably higher because voters are shy about admitting a racial prejudice to pollsters."

What about black voters who cited race as a determining factor? Percentage of voters who are uneasy voting for a woman? Or are these questions just not being asked.

Loomis, you have completely mischaracterized what I said. I did not say, "Boy what a shame that all the white bigots voted for Hillary and she won." I said that it was sad that people voted based on skin color, and were willing to admit to it . I did not say for whom. I did not make a "specious argument", unless you think that voting based on race is a good thing and wish to argue that side with me. If so, "bring it on", but don't read things into my statement that are not there.

kguy - I may have misinterpreted your words as well, and I am very sorry for having done so. You were making a blanket statement about the evils of bigotry - and I endorse that completely. I am the one who suggested that this might give a nasty undercurrent to the superdelegate considerations.

Been too busy with the black helicopters to boodle. But, I've come up from the morass with an exclusive leak, just for the A-blog, not for atribution, of course. The geeky science folk among us will love this, then again, they may already know all about it:

Research has led to the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second to take from four days to four years to complete.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2- 6 years; It does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact,
Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each
reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.

When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

CC - those are good questions.

My whole point is that if superdelegates override the popular will, a whole lot of people are going to ask *why*? And unpleasant suspicions that race is a factor are unavoidable. If the situation were reversed, and Hillary were ahead, I would have the same question regarding gender.

This is why I think the whole concept of the superdelegate only works in a world where identify politics, such as race, aren't factors. Otherwise ugly suspicions and alienation are unavoidable.

And, as the statistic kguy pointed out so clearly shows, we aren't in such a world.

Don! If you're too busy to back boodle you'll miss that we were wondering how your running is going? How's it going?

I registered for the Army 10 miler in October and we're aiming for a post race and shower BPH that afternoon (Sunday, Oct. 5).

SCC- extra ? and perhaps a comma to clarify the BPH is post-race and post-shower, not that the BPH itself will be some kind of showering event.

Don, your explanation about Gv explains why I am no longer employed by the government. I resisted being changed from a peon to a moron, so they expelled me.

Don, that's an oldie but a goodie.

bc

Back to Joel's kit, I really like those Albino snakes. I once read that albino animals seldom last long in the wild because of their lack of protective coloration. So you think they would be, you know, grateful.

Frosti, we can't make you wear a paper plate and ribbon hat (a la wedding shower) at the BPH? TBG? Can we get a ruling on this?

There was very little data to support what you said, k-guy. I'm sorry that is was left open to interpretation. But apparently it's obvious now as to what you meant, thanks to your clarification. But the info that you shared begs the question about whether it is as wrong to vote against someone based on the color of her/his race, as it is to vote for her/him based on race.

CC raises an excellent point about whether the question was put to Pennsylvanis voters last night about gender. Inquiring minds (mine) would like to know. Discrimination takes many forms.

I don't know if I buy the argument about "popular will." Pennsylvanians showed popular will last night, as have the voters of the Sunbelt states, California, New York, Ohio, Texas and arguably Florida. I'd certainly appreciate some reporting by the press, at this point in the contest, about how many states where Obama "won" were caucus states rahter than open primaries, and what number where he won went hugely Republican in the last, say, one or two elections. Of course all those "Bush states" may not even be a factor any longer considered how badly he's bungled the presidency coupled with the inconvenient fact that voters have had it up to here (draws flattened hand across eyeballs) with 43.

Clinton trails in the delegate count by what?--150?--not a landslide by any stretch of the imagination. And not all the states have had the chance to hold their primaries yet. There is a process in place for picking the candidate. Let it play out despite the fact that two candidates running such a close race is a sticky wicket. I worry about John McCain's activities not a whit--he sure was pandering during his trip to Selma in the last several days.

BTW, there have been huge cries for Texas to abolish its prima-caucus system after our primary results last March.

Well, what do you know? I just received my invitation to the October BPH (though it was suspiciously creased and stained) and I am honoured to accept. See you there, then!

Good morning. Y'all have fun at that BPH. I swear one of these days I'm going to show up, but this isn't the day. I would be attending our Arts Festival, but it is certain to be raining this afternoon and evening. I liked martooni's late-night description of a BPH Night Out.

I'm discouraged by the admission that people vote by race, too, no matter which people it is. Of course it is understandable that black voters consider race when voting for Obama, just as it is that white voters do the same when voting for Hilary. I'm just hoping for the day when we can get past that, or at least past that being in and of itself a decisive factor. I think Obama is too.

I find it interesting that although the NYT endorsed Hilary they have an editorial today chiding her harshly for her campaign tactics. The subtext I read is that, if she keeps this up, she will have ceased to be the candidate they endorsed and they may re-think.

Our governor (a superdelegate) just came out today for Obama, as did our Democratic political overlord, David Boren -- not a superdelegate or formally involved currently in politics but a force to be reckoned with here nonetheless. He recently wrote a book, "A Letter to America" which I (somewhat surprised) find myself recommending vigorously. It is very short. He asks all the right questions about the disappearing middle class, the pernicious effect of partisanship on governance, the corrupting influence of money on politics, our loss of international standing, decline in education and more. The most important question he asks is, where is our outrage? Why are people not discussing these problems and addressing them? What is wrong with us? He's not making excuses for anyone either. Although he offers some solutions, the primary value of the book to me lies in the pointed and comprehensive discussion of the questions.

RD, we have a couple of Albino deer running around our community here in west by god. Since there is no hunting allowed in our community they are relatively safe,unless the venture off the ranch.Then I think it would be like looney tunes, ding!! first day of albino hunting season and the guns will be blazing.

Ivansmom - I thought the tone of that NYT editorial was interesting too. I think they are making a distinction between Hillary the President, whom they still like, and Hillary the Campaigner, whom they increasingly dislike. And if one accepts that the likelihood of the former is small, the importance of the latter becomes vastly more important.

Ouch. Yellow card for syntax and lack of parallel structure. I should say, "the importance of the latter becomes vastly greater."

Time to take a walk and go warn the Albino deer.

"the BPH is post-race and post-shower, not that the BPH itself will be some kind of showering event."

I must say I'm a little disappointed. Got my new Barbie® bubble bath all ready and everything.

I worked last night until after 2:00 a.m. Got home by 2:30, in bed by 2:45 and then lay there with my eyes wide open until about 3:45, my body too tired to move and my mind too awake to sleep. I hate that.

But I cleared my calendar for today until 5:00, when Son of G and I will arrive at the BPH just as the valet parking guys are coming on duty. Perfect timing is the key.


I did a little WaPo surfing last night, looking for some light entertainment and found it, as always, with Hints from Heloise. I'm amazed sometimes at the drivel she will print as hints. This was my favorite and I was poised to show my kids today, but when I stumbled downstairs this morning, I found they had cut it out of the paper already!

"Dear Heloise:

"My daughter's two cats somehow manage to get fur on my lampshades. I had the brainstorm yesterday to use a lint brush to remove the fur. It worked wonderfully!

"Meredith, Springfield"

gwe, I hope your back's doing better today.

Your comment regrding the albino deer made me think of the old Far Side comic with the deer bearing a bullseye on his coat, and another deer commenting, "Bummer of a birthmark, Hal." Here's someone trying to make a buck off of that:

http://www.lechatnoirboutique.com/proddetail.php?prod=FSBOABH

Re. albino snakes, I've seen full size albino Burmese pythons and they don't look hungry. Having said that, I have no idea if they are successful in the wild.

bc

Frosti, thanks for remembering me and my postoperative resolutions for furthering my health. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've fallen off the wagon with regard to regular excersize, and running.

First, it was a bad cold, then bad weather, now it's my bad attitude. I've got no *&^% excuse for it; I just can't get the lead out of my rear. One of those ex-Marine drill sargent types on TV is what I need. My wife fills that bill nicely, but her attitude is, "Look, either excersize, or die. The choice is yours. If you choose to croak, please do me the courtesy of putting our financial affairs in order first." So, it looks like I gotta grow up. I'll let you know how *that* goes.

TBG - But won't the cats get cold with their fur removed?

Hahahahaha ha ha

Oh Bother.

Ivansmon writes:
I find it interesting that although the NYT endorsed Hilary they have an editorial today chiding her harshly for her campaign tactics.

The NYT didn't let Obama off the hook either. From the same op-ed:

Mr. Obama is not blameless when it comes to the negative and vapid nature of this campaign. He is increasingly rising to Mrs. Clinton's bait, undercutting his own claims that he is offering a higher more inclusive form of politics. When she criticized his comments about "bitter" voters, Mr. Obama mocked her as an Annie Oakley wannabe. All that does is remind Americans who are on the fence about his relative youth and inexperience.

LL: For those interested in Obama's negative campaign tactics, you might want to go back to the NYT archives and historian Doris Kearn Goodwin's comment about Obama's remarks about Clinton pointing out that it took both MLK and LBJ to get the Voting Rights Act passed. I think the keywords "charisma" and "Goodwin" ought to get you there via the NYT's search engine. I'm not sure why Obama seems to be the Teflon candidate, much like Bill Clinton was when he ran for the White House. Unpopular incumbents named Bush?

TBG and RD-stop!! I just drank a large glass of water and there isn't a Kegel exercise in the world strong enough to prevent disaster when laughing this hard.

Jack-I know the problem exactly. Mr. F is of similar mien, he smiled once back in '00 when I finished my first half marathon, but I've backslid considerably since then. Now he is encouraging, but sure to keep my insurance beneficiary information updated.

so which of these is most frightening: an albino cobra, a fast moving gator, a giant scorpion, or hillary on the campaign trail? (the first three are not usually found in my vicinity.)

TBG-The Frostsisters have always enjoyed a good laugh from Heloise. Among our favorites was a letter from the the mid '70s asking what to do with sock tops. "It's a shame to throw them away when the toes are past darning but the tops show no wear at all." I forget what the official Heloise reply was but Frostsis #1 and I cut a couple tube sock tops in a spiral to make long strips about an inch wide. We intended to braid a rug that would make Heloise's answer look like the lamest attempt at thrift ever devised. The rug goal turned into a place mat, and ultimately we had an over sized coaster. But, this was the '70s and we knew anything could be art. We tacked it to the wall in our shared bedroom between the macrame owl and her Tiger Beat pull out posters.

'Morning (or I suppose, Good Afternoon), Boodle. My refresh button problem is so bad that the last post I'm showing is dr's post from 5:16 p.m. yesterday. So I need to do a lot of backboodling before I know what the blazes you guys are up to.

'Morning, Scotty and Cassandra; sorry to have missed you at morning roll call, but I had an early diabetes checkup at Georgetown to get to (took 'em three tries to fins dome blood to siphon off).

Mudge... I'm sure you've been asked this, but have you tossed out your cache lately? That really does cure a multitude of problems.

Also... use Firefox or Safari. Stay away from Internet Exploder. You're just asking for trouble with IE.

Don--good for you, being honest, and welcome to the Self-Loathing Society. You're in good company.

Now get off that couch and go outside. It's spring! You don't have to train for a marathon, you know. Take a 10 minute walk. Then go from there. When it comes to exercise, ANYTHING is a lot better than nothing. There are studies to prove it.

Curmudgeon, holding the Ctrl key down while you press F5 solves the refresh problem for me.

Reshuffling of the military deck, again-

"Army Gen. David Petraeus, the four-star general who led troops in Iraq for the past year, will be nominated by President Bush to be the next commander of U.S. Central Command, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday.

Gates said he expected Petraeus to make the shift in late summer or early fall. The Pentagon chief also announced that Bush will nominate Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno to replace Petraeus in Baghdad..."

More from TBO (Tampa Bay Online) here:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAQ?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME

don, definitely start with walking. and listen to some good music.

i think we should have an boodle convention where we all descend on d.c. for a weekend. you only live once you know.

butlerguy, the answer is getting between Mudge and a Tom Collins at a BPH.

You do *not* want to do that.

bc

In Senator Clinton's defense, I don't think she has any choice but to go negative.

Despite her protestations to the contrary, the only way Hillary Clinton can win is by convincing the superdelegates that Obama is unelectable. This is the only valid argument for them to overturn Obama's expected numerical superiority of delegates and popular vote.

Therefore, unless she decides to drop out (Yeah. Right.) her only winning strategy appears to be to enthusiastically tear down the credibility of the presumptive Democratic candidate in the eyes of the superdelegates.

And there is a small chance that she might pull it off. But there is a much greater chance that she will fail. In which case, her efforts will have done nothing but greatly increase the probability of a President McCain.

For those keeping score, this means Odierno will go to Iraq instead of taking the Army Vice Chief job. Chiarelli, now 2nd in command in Iraq will be nominated as Vice Chief. Acting CentCom commander Dempsey, who took over when Fallon resigned, will take command of USAEur in the fall as previously planned.

L.A. lurker... I think you have an excellent idea.

October 5 might be a great place to start! Let's plan on a Total Boodle BPH in DC on October 5. Of course, maybe Sat., Oct 4, might be the better idea for travelers. Frosti... would you be able to make a Saturday BPH... the day before your ten-miler?

Who else is in? It's early enough to start planning, saving, warning the boss, etc., isn't it?

Good morning everybody.

It saddens me that people would come right out and say their voting is racially motivated though I do think Loomis has a good point. Without some idea of the context it is difficult to judge fairly. Without knowing Pennsylvania and its voting patterns I am really out on a limb so I have to go with what I read.

I'm also going to keep in mind that it is easier to fight something that is there in the open than it is against something that is hidden and not talked about.

TBG quoted: "I had the brainstorm yesterday to use a lint brush to remove the fur."

Wow.

Next thing you know, Meredith from Springfield will discover that a vacuum cleaner does a pretty good job of picking up dirt, cat hair and other stuff from a carpet. Or that soap and water are perfect for cleaning dirty dishes.

Makes you wonder why so many rocket scientists are out of work.

TBG- A Sat. Oct 4 BPH is a most excellent idea. I plan to arrive in the DC area the evening of the 3rd or early morning on the 4th.

Like Frosti, my sisters and I have spent years "enjoying" Hints from Heloise. The sock toppers is great and it sounds a little familiar. We've enjoyed such recent hints as "I like to keep a Rolodex next to my computer to keep my email addresses handy." (Although Heloise would edit Rolodex to something generic like' a circular address-card holder.')

Recently I sent my sisters some handy info and called it "Hints from TBG-oise." My younger sister, E, wrote this in response. She's the funny one in the family...

"Here's a hint for all those who enjoy television. Each Sunday morning I laboriously clip the descriptions of my favorite television programs from the marvelous "TV Week" magazine and paste them, clearly labeled with a permanent marker by date and time, into a sturdy, water-resistant binder.

"I keep the binder in a quilted sling I have fashioned to fit over the arm of my favorite TV chair. (Remember to remove any pins! --H) After supper, all I have to do is leaf through my binder, find the proper pages for that day, and refer to my "TV Week" for the proper channel. A real time-saver! --Loyal Reader"

I am shocked, shocked, by all those who would question the importance of Hints from Heloise to our great national conversation on, umm, hintiness. Why I still remember well when I learned from her that, in a pinch, one can use peanut butter to clean compact disks. (You think I'm kidding 'bout this?) I just wish she had been much clearer about that "chunky verses creamy" issue.

And who can forget her recommendation that baking soda makes good toothpaste. While a mouthful of baking *powder*, on the other hand, is a great way to fake rabies.

McCain stopped by Youngstown, Ohio yesterday to visit one of the "forgotten places in US." I am wondering if he see some fairy doors along the way.

Chris Suellentrop has the story (as I have subsequently discovered) at the blog she shares with Tobin Harshaw at the NYT. If only k-guy had included the word "white" in his previous statement, all would have been clear:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/?hp

Problem was, he lost all the older voter categories, starting at age 45. He lost white people, both genders. And with respect to every background, he lost the working-class folks, the union members, and the non-college educated. He lost suburbanites (including two of the suburban Philadelphia counties, Montgomery and Bucks, that he needed to win by comfortable margins), small-town dwellers, and rural residents. He lost the white Catholics and he lost the Jews. He lost the culturally-conservative Democrats on Bob Casey's home turf, Lackawanna County, by a 3 to 1 margin.

And let's return to the racial factor for a moment, because there is a jarring and highly sensitive finding that showed up in the exit polls. Thirteen percent of white voters statewide said that the race of the candidate was important to them; of those voters, 74 percent cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton. This is arguably a warning sign that Obama may face a higher racial hurdle than many observers have generally assumed.

LL: I disagree with Padouk. I think Obama hasn't been thoroughly vetted and the news stories haven't broken his way in the last six weeks. He is a poor debater--search Google for this opinion if you don't believe mine.

Eloquent when he can go into his preacher-like patois on the stump where he can set his own cadence, when he has the stage and arena to himself. He slipped into Black patois when he made his San Antonio appearance, just before he spoke--and when he spoke from Indiana last night, why did he keep dropping his g's? So, he's a Harvard (law) grad, but he's not a Harvard grad?

Where is yellojkt this morning (or afternoon for most of you folks?)

We are having what is becoming boring, partly cloudy mixed mist snow and sun. I will need a hay bailer soon before I can mow the lawns again.

Very funny, RD & TBG. I haven't read Hints from Heloise in years, though I think I have a collected volume of them. I'd better go dig it out and see what helpful hints I've missed.

We need to fax butlerguy a scorpion, fast moving gator, and albino cobra so he can make this experiment. I'll want a full report on the outcome, butlerguy, so try not to get eaten or stung.

Early October BPH weekend, huh? That's pretty tempting, as long as I don't have to run any races.

Don, congratulations on admitting your exercise attitude problem. I'm just now overcoming mine. I started with yard work: an hour a day with the push mower (all I got right now) or digging up garden plots. Assuming this drudgery ever ends I've got the bicycle out, and the gym lurks in the background. As kbertocci says, just jump in. Even a ten-minute walk is a better start than nothing. Although I myself am jumping back on the wagon, I take the same stance as your wife does towards Ivansdad's exercise habits. If I can decide to do it, so can he. I can't make him. [This does not apply to the Boy; I make him do all sorts of healthy things.]

You want to get exercise? Remodel a room. See, then the rest of the floor starts to look shabby in comparison. It never ends.

You want to get exercise? Remodel a room. See, then the rest of the floor starts to look shabby in comparison. It never ends.

Loomis, I didn't include the word "white" in my earlier comment because I WAS being clear. I also didn't include the words "black" "brown" yellow" "red" and "aubergine" because I WAS being clear. If I do not characterize voters by race and gender it is because I choose not to, because I lament the behavior regardless of demographic factors. Although not myself an elephant, "I meant what I said and I said what I meant" applies here.

Popping in for a minute....no real time to backboodle, barely time to skim, but here's a small piece of info that might matter in the debate about race and PA. In PA, the usual b/w/l/a categories don't work. Once outside of the big cities (read: Philly, Pittsburgh if you squint), there are a lot of Germans and Italians, and they do NOT consider themselves to be of the same race. You'd need more categories (and you know what I think about the 'other' box).
And yes, there's a difference as well between a Harvard grad and a Harvard Law grad.

quiz time?

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/departments/education_1/?page=quiz181&Quizid=181

TBG, I love the idea of an Oct 4 mega-BPH. Since it's so pretty that time of year, how about a picnic?

I'm not sure I understand the whole Harvard Law/Harvard grad discussion, but I can assure you that one cannot tell either a Harvard Law or Harvard grad by the way they talk. This includes accent, speech patterns, flaws or peculiarities, sentence structure and vocabulary. To use the vernacular, they's a bunch of them graduates. Some of them talk like pointyheads, some use tediously accurate diction and speak with precision, some are jes' folks. Most of us vary our speech depending on circumstances, like everyone else - I speak differently in a courtroom or board meeting than in a casual gathering of friends or with family members.

frostbitten;

I can only imagine the plethora of carbo-loading possibilities at a BPH.

:-)

I know beer and wine have carbs, but what about mojitos?

Mudge, can you lower the portcullis to the bunker for me? I got an entire artist's studio to move into it.

If you can do it before 3, I can definitely let you off the hook as the original model for "Zeus caught en flagrante with swans"-- bc apparently knows somebody who'll be willing to pose and will be here any second.

Although I don't see what the mystery identity is all about, and I also keep worrying the swans will just get diarrhea rather than mellow out after drinking his patent swan sedative with lemongrass, chamonile, and olive oil.

So if you could see your way to laying down certain rules about no practical jokes concerning loosey-goosey swans, that'd be much appreciated as well.

No, we can't set it up outside on the lawn, Mudge!

Have you forgotten the last 20 tickets we got for our nude-streaking boodlers? They threatened to just take prisoners, no questions asked the next time.

(oh my god... I hope bc didn't drug the local nudist-pinching policeman and strip him.... I better pull out my digital camera just in case....)

From today's earlier chat with William Safire...

Washington: Mr Safire, please answer: Is it correct to say "I'll have three Whopper Junior s" or "I'll have three Whopper s Junior"??

William Safire: You're using the analogy of "attorneys general" and "courts martial", pluralizing the noun and not the adjective. I like to order "Whoppers Junior" because it gets a funny look or a laugh.

Safire?! Where? He has been invaluable in teaching me the little things English teachers never mention.

4/8 on the quiz. I'm thinking of making a movie about the residents of the Black Eye Galaxy. I'll call it "You Lookin' at Me? The Story of the Harvard Law Graduate."

I don't know about Hahvud Law, but here's what Yale Law grads sound like-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvlr0BNgWW0&feature=related

Picnic for the Oct mega BPH sounds great if we can have it at one of the wineries

TBG -- this shall be the warm up lesson on Friday. I owe you a coke.

Not sure what to think about the PA election: folks would say that both have a dog in the fight.

Greetings to the BHPers. Cannot life my head up till late May. Enjoy.

There's one out Leesburg way, but you'd have to schedule it on a weekend, otherwise it's a traffic nightmare for most of the local boodlers to get to.

NEW KIT. Library of Congress and happiness in it.

PSSS. Joel is IN THE BUNKER NOW!

Forgot to mention I got 7/8. But I say that stupid last question is wrong, not me. I'm sure there are a few of us on the boodle who will back me up on this.

Also, my day 'officially ends at three, and I'm ready to BPH party now. Of course if I do this I'll be done just about the time bc and Mudge arrive.

So I think I'll stick around a little longer and find something to play with on the web.

BPH Grande! Cool idea, but we'll be back at school in October. I'll be there in spirit.

When I first started teaching thie fellow from somewhere near Washington, NC would being his travelling snake show to our building. I had never held a snake to that point a in my life and had to act as cool as I could while we distributed the animals among the students to hold. The highlight of the show was a 18 foot reticulated python. When that came out of the box, it took nearly 1/2 of the children in the class to hold it. I was statined nesr the head during onde class and near the middle of the abdomen in another class. I haven't been that up close and personal with a reptile since, but have largely overcome my fear of snakes.

Joel, loved the reptile story; made sure it got excellent play in The Ledger here in Lakeland. Your old friend, Michael. BTW, my new blog is http://afunnyguy.theledger.com