I had always imagined that Carter's involvement in the tennis court rota was an exasperated attempt to settle a dispute between staffers, slugging it out over who should have this role.

Possibly Hamilton Jerdon (a man who couldn't spell his own name) and Zvig Brksjfiauvbi;af (a man who's name no-one could spell).

Maybe Carter was the only one on the team who could spell the players' names.

DC (in UK)

Glad Nader is on top of the detail. I admire the fact that as a kid he used to read the Congressional Record and stopped by Our Lady of the Lake University to talk to San Antonians several years ago about all sorts of national issues.

Porter, on the other hand, graduated from BYU--don't expect Porter to know too much about growing cotton in Utah, but I could be wrong. I don't think there are too many cotton fields near present-day Cambridge, either.

Now it'll be up to Joel to determine what constitutes "too deep into the details of the issue." What defines "too deep?"

If our former peanut farmer president knows his cotton and it's grown heavily in the area of the country from which he comes, then we should welcome the involvement, I say.

Good luck Joel... look forward to your photos and travel adventure kits!

From the link that Joel provided:

I did my part in World War Two
Got wounded for the nation.
Now my lungs are all shot down,
There ain't no compensation.
I'm gonna go to work on Monday
one more time.

I'm gonna go to work on Monday
One more time, one more time,
I'm gonna go to work on Monday
One more time. The doctor says I smoke too much.
He says that I'm not trying.
He says he don't know what I've got,
But we both know he's lying.
I'm gonna go to work on Monday
one more time.

I'm gonna go to work on Monday. . .
The last time I went near my job
I thought my lungs were broken.
Chest bound down like iron bands,
I couldn't breathe for choking.
I'm gonna go to work on Monday
one more time.
The politicians in this state,
They're nothing short of rotten.
They buy us off with fancy words
And sell us out to cotton.
I'm gonna go to work on Monday
one more time.

The doctor says both lungs are gone,
There ain't no way to shake it.
But I can't live without the job,
Somehow I've got to take it.
I'm gonna go to work on Monday
one more time.
They tell me I can't work at all,
There ain't no need of trying.
But living like some used up thing
Is just this short of dying.
I'm gonna go to work on Monday
one more time.

Sitting on my front porch swing,
I'm like someone forgotten.
Head all filled with angry thoughts
And lungs filled up with cotton.
I'm gonna go to work on Monday
one more time.

*sneezin' from all the dust*

Joel,
Make sure to tell Caitlin Gibson and Rachel Manteuffel they can publish all the pictures of themselves they want. Preferably without Weingarten in them.

for yello:

RME: Rolling My Eyes
SMH: Shaking My Head
LOL: sorry, if you don't know this one we may to confiscate your 'puter.

for Loomis

Queen Latifah is the stage name of Dana Elaine Owens

Flag Day: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Flag_of_Poland.jpg

Whoa, Slovenia and Serbia have a second day of Labour Day

Those two corrections by Ralph Nader show both his meticulous attention to detail, which is a blessing, and his difficulty capturing the bigger picture, which is not.
Carter was the same way.

There is always a tradeoff between large-scale and small-scale thinking. Too much small-scale and you immobilize yourself in study and indecision. Too much large-scale and you make lazy, bad decisions. We have seen both in recent Presidents.

Of course, with very smart cantankerous people like Ralph Nader (and, rumor has it, Carter) there is always the "gotcha" impulse. This is where an exception to every statement, no matter how trivial that exception might be, is invariably raised to demonstrate one's intelligence.

My teenaged son does this all the time.

I hope to make it "down under" one day; though with the way air travel costs are going, that may not happen for quite a while. Will be interesting to see how our two new hosts will mesh in with our little boodle crowd. Maybe we can invite them to a BPH?

I think we have a perfect example of two extremes in the presidential leadership styles of Carter and Dubya. One was hand-wringing and doomsaying in the midst of a recession we worked our way out of very neatly, thank you. The other chuckles and happy talks us into the economic mess we are in now.

I keep walking the cat back to figure out who is really responsible for the Iraq war. In the past I have fingered either Monica Lewinsky or Ralph Nader (another infamous confuser of forests and trees).

Perhaps it goes all the way back to Carter's micro-management of the aborted hostage rescue mission that emboldened the current crop of terrorists we are facing. Who knows?

OK, I'll stop now and go read the Kit...

So, how did it turn out--the conflict between the National Cotton Council (Cotton--the fabric of our lives) and OSHA? Perhaps Nader knows, and would be willing to share? Joel?

Use Joel's link to see the transcript that shows Carter handling questions from the press about a myriad of issues, including the cotton standard. Then just dwell on this phrase from opur current president for a moment, "We're gonna smoke 'em out."

Farmers grew a lot of cotton around Bakersfield when I was a kid. I called all the cousins around 2000-2001 to see who might be displaying symptoms of our nuclear family's shared genetic disorder. I remember one cousin speaking fondly of how when she was a child, when they visited our humble Bakersfield bungalow, my father drove them out to a field so that they could touch an actual cotton boll. I was so surprised that she was touched by this and had stored this memory for decades.

May 4-10 is Emergency Preparedness week. The week that makes all English language editors cringe.

http://www.getprepared.gc.ca/index_e.asp

Motto:
"You're on your own for the first 72 hours buddy."

I was inspired by Joel's upcoming trip (does the other photographer in the family get to go on this one? Probably not. Darn it all). Having nothing of yarny interest to talk about today, I blogged about rocks. The boodle may find the photos interesting.

http://needlesandthings.blogspot.com/2008/05/working-endlessley-and-all-i-have-to.html

Cotton dust is like grain dust, and it can and did kill.

Grain dust has been known to blow things up. Does anybody know if cotton dust had the explosive potential of grain dust?

Hey everyone - as I have mentioned, I am going on a "mini rotation" to another facility until late June. This is a great opportunity for me, but will require a lot more time dealing with other people and attending meetings. Fewer opportunities to do multitasking, I fear. So my presence here will probably be sporadic at best, although I will be sure to keep up in the PM hours if nothing else.

Yes, it is the highest form of egotism that anyone would care, but I wanted everyone to know lest it was suspected that I had been abducted by Space Aliens again.

So have a good weekend. And I hope everyone shows Ms. Gibson and Ms. Manteuffel all that is good about the Achenblog.

Cheers!

The best summary of that rather long Fallows article is this:

"I came to think that Carter believes fifty things, but no one thing. He holds explicit, thorough positions on every issue under the sun, but he has no large view of the relations between them, no line indicating which goals (reducing unemployment? human rights?) will take precedence over which (inflation control? a SALT treaty?) when the goals conflict."

And RD, I missed noticing the first time you were abducted by aliens. I just thought that was a cover story the guys with black helicopters put out.

"Every Canadian household needs an emergency plan."

Thank goodness I'm exempt.

Hello Everyone! It's been a long time. 4 months of work with out a computer long. The horror, the shame. But now that I have internet at work again I can finally do more than lurk in the late evenings. Yay.

JA don't pet the Koala bears. They have a mean bite.

dr, it is my understanding that almost any organic dust in air suspension can be explosive.

Popcorn butter flavoring dust is also a serious workplace health issue.

http://www.defendingscience.org/case_studies/upload/Boylstein_2006.pdf

Perhaps some ambitious White House press correspondent can quiz Dubya on this issue at the next press conference.

[Motto:
"You're on your own for the first 72 hours buddy."]

You know, I think that's also the standard motto for dealing with a zombie invasion. :)

RD padouk, keep on the good fight against the forces of Evil, internal or external to your shop...

dr, yes cotton dust is a readily combustible material. Like powdered sugar, flour or grain dust it burns quickly generating a quickly expanding volume of gas. When the gas mixture is confined in a building the building has to expand quickly as well or else.
Hence the buildings blowing up, silos rocketing in the sky...
An idiot making a flour burninghttp://youtube.com/watch?v=X3vLol2fF1E&feature=related demonstration:

And it very thoughtful of Nader to make sure that the candidacy of Chuck Baldwin does not go forgotten.

http://www.constitutionparty.com/news.php?aid=746

A healthy seven-party system is vital to the health of our political system.

SCC better untangle that one

http://youtube.com/watch?v=X3vLol2fF1E&feature=related

Very cool video, shrieking.. thanks! Flour power!

If anyone is interested, truthout.org has an interesting story this morning on royal chief head of the Moonies, quite intimate apparently with the Bush family, who seems to have claimed more than once: "God D a m n America". Well, folks, I don't know about you, but I haven't yet seen that in the Post or any other MSM organization. Cool, eh? It's okay for white repubs to denounce this country, and even an Asian, but not a black guy. McCain certainly went out of his way to cozy up to Falwell and Robertson and *he's* running for President -- at least Dionne has an op-ed piece on that today.

Feeling onerously cranky today. And with good reason, eh?

Nevertheless, I am *thrilled* to pieces that my beloved Red Wings demolished the Colorado Avalanche in 4 straight games. And, *finally* my Pistons got their act together and finished off the 76ers. Next is Orlando -- hey, Snukkie, can I cross my fingers and do Grover-waves at the same time? Just askin'.

That is what I thought, too omni.

Everyone here knows how greatly I admire Mr. Carter. Sometimes, you need someone who sees the trees. If all a leader ever sees is the forest, it is easy to forget that without each individual tree, there would be no forest.

Carter saw the big picture, but understood that you cannot fix the big picture without making all the little pictures work.

Old Boodle business - Pat, I didn't figure out that you are DandyLion. Someone a few Boodles ago mentioned it. I was amazed.

Boko, you out there?

'Morning again, Boodle. Just rolled into the office after my doctor appointment-- and by a not-very-pleasant coincidence, Cassandra, I have a MRSA infection in my left leg even as I write this. It kicked in about 10 days ago, and I had my leg check-up Monday, when they took a culture of it and put me on Augmenten, a jacked-up version of amoxicillin (amoxicillin on steroids, as it were). The pills had no effect, and my leg hurts (burns and stings) likecrazy. When I went back this morning they re-wrapped it and switched me to an antibiotic called bactrin, which works better on MRSA. Two things you immediately need to know: hand-washing is vitally important to prevent the spread. Use surgical gloves when touching the patient, etc. Treat it as being very contagious upon contact (but it is not airborne with a very few minor exceptions such as burn wards of hospitals).

In my case, the MRSA has also given me a little bit of cellulitis in my leg, which hurts like crazy. I've already had three doses of cellulitis in my right leg in the last four years, and three or four staph infections. This is my second bout of MRSA. So be careful with it and wash your hands a lot, and maybe use some hand sanitizer, too. And instead of having one leg bandaged from toes to knee, I now have both legs bandaged from toes to knee: I am King Tut from the patellas southward.

Also, you raised the question of why do we seem to think only white women are beautiful. I don't think most of us on the boodle remotely think that; I know I sure as heck don't. Although Halle Berry does indeed knock my socks off, the black woman for whom I would crawl on my stomach over broken glass for is Sanaa Lathan. I loved her in "Something New" (with Simon Baker), saw it back-to-back on TV recently. She's a terrific actress, in part because her face is so expressive; she can show things just with her expressions most actresses can't come close to. So, yeah, I feel about Sanaa Lathan the way Padouk does over his redheads. I might even rank her right next Evangeline Lilly, and you *know* how I feel about EL. And I think Latifah has a terrific face, too (and I like her personality).

I've always thought Angela Bassett, Gloria Reuben and Rosario Dawson are terrific, and going back a ways, I always liked Earth Kitt, Diahan Carroll, and Ruby Dee a lot. I think Whitney Houston is dynamit-looking (althoguh she carries a bit too much baggage around with her). I've even harbored a few impure thoughts about Tina Turner (Have you ever seen "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome"?) from time to time.

Now, for my lists of fav Asian and Hispanic women... (I have three kids adopted from Korean in part because a good many Asian women knock my socks off, too.)

Let's see: Ming-Na, Lucy Liu, Bingbing Li, France Nuyen (she played "Liat" in the first "South Pacific" movie, now there was a girl/woman who buckled my knees), Miyoski Umeki ("Flower Drum Song and "Sayonara") and of course Kristi Yamaguchi.

So yeah, I'm definitely an equal opportunity dirty old man, and I suspect I am not alone on this Boodle.

Now, back to Sanaa Lathan...

Just be careful no ships are nearby, firsttimeblogger.

Don't want anyone mistakenly seeing semaphore or anything.

:-)

OK, having been outed I'll comment on Cassandra's backboodle question on why we think only white women are beautiful. Having not seen a woman for almost 18 years, I've reached the conclusion that ALL women are beautiful, or at least the ones I've met in the past 2 decades. Maybe the question should be, Why is it primarily white women who are marketed for sex appeal? Don't know, but I do know that Brook White got drummed off AI on Wednesday, and rightfully so.

Ooh, Mudge. I first became aware of Sanaa when I saw AVP. Very strong intelligent character. Knocked my socks off.

Then she did a stint on Nip/Tuck. Not as likable a character there, but still strong and smart.

Hot hot hot.

And yeah, my list of women of color who rock my boat is easily as long as my list of whities.

But tell me, what do you think of Bai Ling...teehee...just kidding...but she does make laugh a lot without trying to.

Let's not forget RuPaul. Oh wait. Never mind.

And Sanaa is in the 2008 version of 'Raisin in the Sun'. Which I intend to see as soon as it comes out on DVD. She has another three movies coming out soon, so we're in for a treat.

TBG, I like the way you think, er, um, wait, "never mind" it is.

All women are the same color on the inside.

And it's a lovely color, IMHO.

:-)

DandyLion, I agree that you've got the question framed right. But then there's also the issue of the exoticization of women of color, maybe not so much African American women, but certainly Asian, Latin American, African. Ooh, foreign, different, mysterious... I suppose if the goal is to be marketed for sex appeal, that could be seen as a plus, but it's still a narrow little box to be put into.

Extinct Australian megafauna?

While Joel's gone, we'll have to redesign his household's kitchen.

Queen Latifah has much more than a beautiful face, Mudge!

Am I wrong in believing all the other beautiful black women mentioned here fall into the skinnier white-is-beautiful paradigm? How about all the underaged young women (which does get ickier than many men here seem to realize).

Ron Paul has a new book out and he looks pretty hot. Wrong Paul? Never mind.

Never saw Bai Ling in anything, omni, but I Goggled her and saw her wiki phot. Doesn't do much for me. But it reminded me of another Asian I like a lot, but I can't think of her name: she was one of the five women on "The View" in its early days. Tended to be quieter than the rest, and also a bit of a semi-hippy/different drummer type, IIRC.

And I never saw AvsP, so I missed Sanaa in that; never watched "Nip/Tuck" either. I saw her in "Love & Basketball" with Omar Epps, and liked her, but just didn't buy their chemistry; and his character was a jerk anyway. Saw her in "Brown Sugar" with Taye Diggs, whom I liked, but didn't think there was much chemistry there either. The one where the chemistry was smokin' was "Something New." And I liked the irony of that one where *she* was the one who wouldn't date a white guy, while it was the white guy (Simon Baker), who didn't care a wiff about race. And she played the semi-spoiled debutante-type very well, I thought (considering she was a jock in L & B).

Mudge; Goggled her?

There's Halle Berry--as you have been discussing, then there's Harriet Berry. Excerpts from am oral history program, presented as an exhibit at the Oldham Art Gallery in Lancashire, England (article written by Alison Marchant, published by University of Nebraska Press)--you do know about how England thrived on cotton imports from the South... :

Harriet Berry is one of many elderly women I interviewed in Oldham who still suffers from the poor working conditions after retirement. Berry worked in the cotton mills from 1923-1937, and, like many mill workers who suffered ill health resulting from industry conditions, she received no compensation: My job was putting raw cotton in the back of the roller so that it comes out as a coil. It was called "feeding the devil," and I got bysinnosis. The damage was already done. I had chronic bronchitis at seventeen, and I had to go into the hospital because they thought I had consumption.

The union just brought me small food parcels when I had this poisoning. (I don't have much faith in unions.) It's the dust that did it. I could feel the dust going up my nose and in my throat. There were big lumps of dust always flying about. Breathing problems were common; a lot of people I worked with, early on, got bysinnosis. I didn't get compensation because my doctor first identified it as bronchitis. But apart from anything else, it gives you a bad heart. I collapsed last Wednesday, and the nurse said I could collapse anytime because my heart is under strain and is not strong enough to help my circulation. I had to be tested in Manchester, and they asked me to blow [into a measure]. But I couldn't blow into it at all!"

Maria Maksymowych was born in the Ukraine in 1930. She has worked in the cotton industry since 1955:

I'm a ring spinner. I've been doing my job for thirty-six years, ring spinning. Some people get bysinnosis. When you work for a long time in the mill you have to watch yourself. You always have to wash your hands before you have your meals, wash your mouth out, you have to look after yourself. You have an x-ray every five years, I think. They used to come to the mill in the yard, a special mobile x-ray we used to have so you knew whether you got it or not.

The machinery makes a lot of noise and you have to wear earplugs, because it does affect your hearing if you don't wear them. It's five years since they asked me to wear them. Before we didn't know, nobody was bothering about hearing aid, but now they do.

Bysinnosis and deafness are two common conditions for women who worked in the cotton industry. In addition, "kissing the shuttle," or threading the shuttle, often caused mill workers to lose their teeth from sucking in the dirt, dust, and oil along with the thread. Ingrid Wilson explained that the oil used in the cotton industry caused skin cancer.

Well, I also *did* say I liked Latifah's personality, CC. And I think she's a good actress. And I like her singing when she'
s Dana Owens.

I don't think I agree about the "white paradigm," nor do I quite understand the reference to the younger ones. But I've gone on record here before about my (equal) admiration for "older" women: Sela Ward has always knocked my socks off, as has Kate Nelligan, Kristin Scott-Thomas, and some others. In college in the late 60s I read Stephen Vizinczey's novel "In Praise of Older Women," which changed my outlook considerably ever since.

Oh, and yes, SL was very good in "Raisin in the Sun."

"Goggled": the combination of Googled and ogled.

I don't think I can touch the width or breadth of mudge's, for lack of a better phrase, spank bank, but I will concur that Rosario Dawson turns my crank. And Eartha Kitt was my favorite Catwoman. Robin Givans rocked 'Head of the Class' at about the same time that Holly Robinson was the eye candy for the guys on the rather hunk heavy '21 Jump Street.'

In the world of music, the bootylicious Beyonce is getting a run for her money from Mya and others. I don't follow the hip-hop world, but they seem to just crank out girls that can hit high-C and shake their (often quite round) rumps.

I'm too young to remember many of the women mentioned in the Asian category, but since I married the only Vietnamese girl in my school I think I can get a pass. While many Asian women in the movies seem to be Taiwanese or Hong Kong transplants, we have plenty of home grown talent as well. I once saw an ice show that featured both Kristi Yamaguchi and Debbie Thomas. It was almost enough to make me forget Katarina Witt's red catsuit. Almost. Grace Park from BSG has done Playboy. However, I draw the line at Sandra Oh. She looks like she ran into a truck.

Don't forget the South Asians. Bollywood has many beauties. There used to be a farmer's market in Dekalb County Georgia where most of the clerks were beautiful young Indian women. It was enough to give me a sari fetish.

And BBW girls are a growth market, so to speak. Has anyone mentioned Camryn Manheim yet? While not quite a Lady Bryant spokesmodel, I like Janeane Garofalo when she has a little more meat on her bones. I wish there were more women built for comfort on the big screen.

And while I joke a lot about tweener stars, I am able to mentally separate the difference between a cute child star an a real woman. That said, the first time I found out how young Scarlett Johansson was, I felt a bit skeevy. And that takes some doing.

See what you started, Cassandra?

Mudge, thanks for making my point.

Underage young women are sighed over frequently here. Here, ogle this picture! What a hottie! As someone who was offered jobs, apartments, money, all by older men, it's really creepy and there's plenty of it around here. They're not even laughing with you, they're thinking "ew."

Are any of the older women you mentioned built like Queen Latifah? How does is calling her face as beautiful different from calling the other women "just" beautiful, no differentiation?

Mudge, you're thinking of Lisa Ling. She was also my favorite co-host on 'The View'.

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

The comment about Bai Ling was a joke of course. I think she mostly plays minor roles on forgetable movies that go straight to cable or DVD. I can't remember anything I might have seen her in. She's sort of famous for being famous, so unless you frequent the Fugly blog or clebritology you wouldn't have heard of her. The thing about her I like is she's so wacky, with an outrageous fashion sense.

In other news, I just found out they made a movie out of "Shanghai Baby". The book I was insanely crazy about last year.

oops, didn't finish...

Bai Ling plays the lead. I'll probably remember her in this one if I can rent it from the video store.

One more note: You have seen her before I'm sure. She plays a local on "Lost", named Achara in the episode "Stranger in a Strange Land".

Enough boodle hogging...time for a litlle walk.

This is all danger territory. I'm not going there. I'm not saying anything about it. We each have our own standards of interest (or should I say 'interest'?), and this doesn't seem like a terribly appropriate forum to present and discuss them. There is another published Forum that addresses such topics...

I am looking forward to hearing about Australian paleontology. What will it be? Giant carnivorous kangaroos? Obscure extinct crocodiles? Stromatolites? Evidence of the earliest microbes? All these things, and more, have come out of Australian paleontology.

As to the guest bloggers: I'm looking forward to hearing what they have to say. I have now read three pieces by Rachel Manteuffel, and she's funny and perceptive. The work of Cailin Gibson, I'm not very familiar with.

"Cailin"? Obviously, I meant Caitlin.

CC,

I think you're barking up the wrong tree concerning this forum in particular. A lot of cultural standards of beauty and attractiveness are hardwired to favor the young and firm. However, just yesterday we were getting into an eye-gouging match over Renee Russo and Julianne Moore, neither of whom (did I get that right mudge) are spring chickens. And don't even get me started on the allures of Helen Mirren. Since many of us here are men of certain age, we qualify as age indifferent lechers.

Speaking of politics...

Some folks take exception to McCain even running for president, since they think he wasn't born in this country.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/01/AR2008050103224.html?hpid=topnews

*shrug*

I want to hear from the ladies. I'm tired of hearing my wife heaving sighs every time she sees a picture of George Clooney or Sting. Her standard reflex is "He just gets better with age." A hard-wired age-related prejudice that swing the other way in women.

I will take WetBlanketTim's suggestion and go no further with this topic.

Since McCain was born in a US possession to US citizens, I think they don't have much of an argument. You would otherwise be ruling ineligible for highest office thousands of citizens born to parents in the military serving overseas.

Another argument is that Hillary can't run because even though women have suffrage, the Constitution uses the masculine pronoun exclusively when describing the presidency.

Put these cranks in the "I don't have to pay taxes" bin of people who misread loopholes.

I didn't thnik it was that bad of a topic and I also didn't think that you gentlemen were being too lecherous about it. I don't really believe that our esteemed boodlers are prowling internet chat rooms for underage flesh. They post comments here at all hours, when would they prowl? And if they did, I feel confident in Chris Hansen's ability to catch them ("What are you doing here? Did you bring the condoms and the Mike's Hard Lemonade?")

Kudos to CC for making some upstanding men feel like perverts for expressing their opinions. If it offends you, nobody's making you read it, and all computers have an "off" switch.

Yello, I have long thought men getter better with age, I think my husband is a good example of this.

I am still struggling with Rene Russo being a woman of age - I think she is about my age - I AM NOT A WOMAN OF AGE.

Stomping my foot and walking away :-)

Yes, you are...(staring and leering as she walks away) ;)

I agree the ogling reaches all ages, but ogling *is* kind of skeevy if done too much. By anyone.

And yello... you got the "neither of whom" right, but it should have been "is" instead of "are."

"...Renee Russo and Julianne Moore, neither of whom is a spring chicken."

Gomer... I do love your 2:50 post.

Thanks for the welcome, Gomer! I'm still not getting the impression that the men here are getting it.

Again, are any of the older women you mentioned built like Queen Latifah? How does is calling her face as beautiful different from calling the other women "just" beautiful, no differentiation?

Can someone do a poll on whether the women of the Boodle roll their eyes when the ogling begins?

Don't knock yello's hard lemonade. You don't need to be an underage female drinker to appreciate a sweeter malt beverage:

http://livebythefoma.blogspot.com/2008/04/bitter-taste.html

I'm going to a drink real soon here.

SCC: I'm going to NEED a drink real soon here.

Thus proving my point.

What can I say? I'm a prude.

More importantly, I have gotten carried away with myself and walked down this road before, and nearly lost a good job as a result of it.

Rene Russo: 54
Julianne Moore: 47

Both older than me and younger that Maureen Dowd.

You're still not getting it all, omni. Read further back.

CC, I can't seem to remember any men here ogling underaged women. Unless you count my ogling of Nancy Drew, who isn't even real. If that's one you're refering to then remember this: in that fantasy world I was the same age as she. Also I never made any comment about her hotness.

I'm going to say it depends on my mood whether the eyes roll or not. Usually it just means faster scrolling... I'll give the guys their little bit of ogling if they remember that ogling shouldn't be obvious. For example... I know my husband looks, but I've never actually seen him do it in the 25 years we've been together.

I agree with CC that the mention of Queen Latifah's face was a bit puzzling. I was glad to see that my son looked at those pictures that Gene W linked to of the "ideal" movie star body and said "Ew... too thin."

What exactly is it I don't get. My 3:12 post was simply in response to yello's 2:15. On this boodle I only mention the hotness of one women. Thiry-six is not underaged.

cc-So is it weight prejudice or sexism you see? I'd probably rise in defense of my brother boodlers either way, just need to know what for.

Don't want to go on and on about mayoral stuff, but Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybek is hot-but unfortunately we talked long enough yesterday that I saw how smart he is. This skews my hotness meter, not to the point where sitcom pairings of unattractive men with hot women make sense, but brains, wit, and charm can turn an 8 into a 10.

Way too many people seem to occasionally forget that this blog started life as the humor blog too full of itself to bother being funny. A certain amount of licentiousness can be dismissed as comic exaggeration. Think of Weingarten's dirty old man schtick.

I think two things might have pushed this too far: As a defense of not being pan-cultural enough in our standards of beauty some of us (and by 'us' I mean myself exclusively) may have tried to defend ourselves by being overly comprehensive so as to avoid accusations of tokenism.

I also used a vulgar expression that I first heard while watching the PG-13 rated movie "Ten Things I Hate About You" starring the very talented and then underage Julia Stiles. The phrase was in reference to her character by another teenage character as to to her unavailability as a romantic partner. A google of the phrase and the movie title should take you to the exact quote.

I hope my description has been demure enough to not offen anyone.

It was neither my responsibility nor my intent to welcome you, CC. We are all free to come to or to leave this imaginary place. My intent was to give sarcastic props for your post making the men in this boodle feel like pervs for expressing their love for the many and varied shapes and colors of the better half of the human species. I'm pretty sure the guys "get" your point, just as I'm pretty sure you "got" mine without the use of this little primer I just penned.

SCC: offend

And if we are talking hot politicians, Governor Martin O'Malley is conspicuously prone to wearing black shirts that are a little too small and distinctly lacking sleeves so as to show off the benefits of his rigorous weight training regimen when he performs with his faux-Celtic rock band. Some may even say that he is getting better with age.

If any of us guys here were truly sexist or truly offensive to ladies, two things would have happened: (1) they'd have called us on it in a New York second (you think LL, CP, TBG, Yoki, DMD, dr, PLS, Mo, Maggie O, Raysmom, Ivansmom, or LA Lurker would have sat still or put up with that kinda behavior from us for one minute? You sure don't them very well, I'll tell you that much); (2) the ladies wouldn't have hung around with us if we were like that; they'd have been outta here months ago.

Whenever I see a particularly mismatched or aesthetically unique couple, I say that "Love comes in all sizes, shapes, and colors."

I say "everyone's the same height when they're horizontal."

I will also defend the guys here because we were all specifically asked about our standards of beauty. We can't blame the guys because the enthusiastically responded.

I suspect Cassandra was thinking the same thing I did the other day when looking at the Mo MoDo blog with all those pictures...

"Who is that foxy black lady with the striking grey hair, and why didn't Yello even think to label who those people were?"

I saw her on the Colbert show on Wednesday and she's Donna Brazile, a superdelegate, who had a humorous line... "I'm a woman so I like Hillary, I'm black so I like Obama, I'm grumpy so I like McCain."

So, Yello-- label all the ladies you snap pictures of, and Cassandra'll never have to wonder how you could possibly overlook such a babe again.

Thank god for Colbert for NOT overlooking her by any means.

To digress slightly. The phrase I mentioned from "Ten Things..." was made in reference to Julia Stiles's character's YOUNGER sister, upping the ewwww factor. Here is the line leading up to it in context. A young teenage male has been badly brushed off by the snobby campus queen bee:

"What's there, is a snotty little princess wearing a strategically planned sun dress to make guys like us realize that we can never touch her and guys like Joey realize that they want to.
She, my friend, is what we will spend the rest of our lives not having."

The plot is a loosely updated version of 'The Taming of the Shrew' to the point of naming the female leads Kat and Bianca. In addition to Julia Stiles, it launched the career of the late Heath Ledger.

That movie is a classic on the mores and pitfalls of teenage romance worthy of being an heir to the John Hughes film tradition. Do not rashly dismiss the universality of a good teen romantic comedy. Let me someday explain the father/son bonding potential of watching "Bring It On" together.

Five hours later, but who's counting --

Welcome back, Kerric! I'm not sure how you survived your computer-less existence, but I'm glad you did.

My blog entry at Dowd Report only discussed the on-air comments of Maureen Dowd and as such didn't merit the mention of Donna Brazile.

http://dowdreport.blogspot.com/2008/04/this-week-with-maureen.html

If you were to read the behind the scenes report by Dowd Report contributor yellojkt, you will note that Ms. Brazile gets mentioned three times:

"A couple of minutes before the end of the segment, out walked the full Roundtable Panel which included George Will, Donna Brazile, Maureen Dowd, and Matthew Dowd (no relation as far as I know)."

"While I expected [Dowd] to be short, she seemed just a little more full-figured than I expected, not that she was anywhere close to Donna Brazile territory."

"Donna Brazile was still animatedly discussing Hillary Clinton's campaign strategy."

http://livebythefoma.blogspot.com/2008/04/stalking-modo.html

I must say that Donna Brazile's make-up was far more flattering under the scrutiny of the high definition cameras than that of the rather pale Dowd.

None of the group pictures on the Flickr group identify the individual members of "The Panel." I will correct that.

Fixed.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yellojkt/2447856782/in/set-72157604764628018/

tonight's triple feature:

'Sweeney Todd' (Have serious man crush on Johnny Depp, he's so HOT)

'And, There You Are' (about a gay man who dates straight men)

'27 Dresses' (lotta Snark on the CBlog for Katherine Heigl, but I love KH)

Plus she's hot, so there, I said it again. Though she is too young for me, I'm pretty sure twenty-nine is not underaged.

OK, now I'm just being childish. Maybe she's not too young for me on an emotional level though. Yep, I'm actually to young for her.

Discussing who's hot and who's not is one of those things that can get offensive if it goes too far or too long. You know, it starts out being fun, and then isn't anymore. I was kind of taken aback by Mudge's comment about Queen Latifah, too. But it is true he and others were responding to Cassandra's question, so...I was thinking about throwing out my list of guys, but decided not to prolong it. I tend to skip over these discussions pretty quickly. CC, don't get offended, stick around. Ya gotta have a thick skin to Boodle (no judgement on whether that's hot or not).

Well, alright, I'll, um, "bite" -- Yeah, Clooney is a hottie alright, and he's even more so as he's put some age on him.

I was always swooning in yesteryear over Yul Brynner -- he had the absolutely perfect head for being bald. And there was something knee-tingling (and other places, too, btw) about his gaze.

I will admit that I am incredibly attracted to black men (which I did not, btw, admit to my father while he was alive, as he would have killed me). But I find that I am completely captured by their ears and eyebrows -- sounds very funny in a fetishy kind of way, but there we are. This is all generally speaking, mind you, but there are a number of incredibly gorgeous men out there and I have to watch out for the whiplash coefficient as I encounter them.

Well, I'm essentially too old now for anything but the fantasy, so I shall continue to cling to that for dear life. Ah, but, . . . . . .

As a previous boodler directed to Cassandra -- see what you did???? Kinda funny, really.

Enjoy the weekend, all.

What it really is (today's boodling, I mean) is an indication of the Boodle's collective lack of interest in Ralph Nader. Not that we ever hesitate to go off-kit, but dust of various kinds got more discussion than Nader did. And yes, Cassandra asked, but only in passing, and on the last kit; interesting that the topic stuck around all day. I say it was all just an exercise in Nader-avoidance.

I think "attractive" covers a lot of diversity, based on my conversations with guys who they really find hot.

Some people I wouldn't have given a second look at as "hot", they found hot.

Chaçun à son goût.

And I'm not too surprised by Mudge's polite comment. Some adore Valkyries, others don't... and Queen Latifah is 5 feet 10. She'd unmask my gnomedom in no time flat just by standing next to me.

CC, I second mostlylurking's motion that you stick around. After all, you are on the elite SSAo15 list. Plus, the more the merrier, everyone here will agree. There are a few boodlers who have left for good that we all miss terribly, just as we would you.

And if I ever do offend, please do call me on it.

But just please bare in mind, I am one of the resident smart alecks. Many of my posts are supposed to be humorous.

The rest informative.

Back when I had three handles and could keep them straight for the nature of the post, I was:

omnigood: informative and talkative (typeative?)
omnigoof: humorous (or at least trying)
omnibad: pretending to be mean or snarky

Then for some reason I kept mixing 'em up, and so just switched to omni for good (hehe).

Running (limping) for the bus. Everybody have a good weekend.

Cassandra, be careful around that MRSA.

I remember that omni.

If we are still talking hawtness, I'm going to posit that any scale of same, must include voice and curling. Then I can include David McCullough, James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, Pete Fenson and Thomas Ulsrud.

Curmudgeon , you too.

My goodness, never take the boodle seriously. Egads, go to Superfrenchie's blog for serious discussion. It's actually rather excellent for what it is.

Personally (no offense, Mudge) but I don't really want to waste the energy worrying if any boodlers' personal turn-ons are PC as long as they don't fondle Wilbrodog inappropriately.

Although I suspect Wilbrodog has commited more sexual harrassment than any of the people at the BPH have.

(Sorry Scottynuke, I really never knew his nose was over there.)

Queen Latifah is a little sassier than I like my women. Don't ask me the distinction between her and Tina Fey who I adore. I can't put my finger on it. Doesn't make me racist, sexist, heightist, or anti-royalty. Sue me.

Someone earlier mentioned the movie "Brown Sugar" which I saw in the theaters. It's a very sweet movie with a moving realistic if idealized plotline. Much better than many Julia Roberts movies I have had to endure.

In addition to Queen Latifah, it has a way too good looking cast. But then don't most movies? That's why it's Hollywood. The people that play the "ugly duckling" characters in movies would be in the top decile of attractiveness in any realistic scenario.

SCC: "The people WHO play..."

And I had been doing so well lately.

I guess that means Joan Rivers and Roseanne Barr aren't on your crush list, yello. Nor Janeane Garofalo, either?

Grace Jones.

What, me worry?

Oops, almost forgot:
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/07/24/PH2007072402374.html

I already covered Garafalo:

"I like Janeane Garofalo when she has a little more meat on her bones."

Keep up. Joan Rivers, no. Roseanne is complicated.

speaking of hawt men, NOT:

http://tinyurl.com/3tmycd

You might want to close your eyes before clicking on that link. I have no idea if it is SFW (Safe For Work).

Wow, huge aureoles on that fella...

Janeane is hot cause she's a smart funny liberal. Plus, she's really cute, and so yes, she's hot. One the few I would put on I my list of 'who would you most like to have lunch with'. Or if I got lucky, brunch.

Joan has a grating voice and is plastic looking. Her daughter shares almost all the pre plastic features and I find her attractive, and her boobs were just fine pre-implants (OK that's TMI)

For me, Roseanne isn't complicated, so much as it is a list.

Wilbrod, I told you to close your eyes.

Boodle faxing some eye bleach, STAT.

I happen to like redheads. Yet, I am married to a Germanic brunette with big brown eyes. Do I feel short-changed? Not for a second. We do not pick our mates out of a face book. Other things, like personality, values, and simple proximity matter much, much more.

Likewise, my wife grew up lusting over tall rugged men. So, you know, she got exactly what she wanted. (If only.) No, she ended up with a man of average height with a questionable jawline and a permanent 5 o'clock shadow. And does she feel cheated? Well, it depends if I forget to do the dishes or not.

The point is, both men and women have certain innate ideals for physical attractiveness. But they are invariably swamped by other more important and relevant factors. So what does it matter unless you have nothing else to offer but your looks?

... you are right on the mark RD... I must admit that I find certain middle aged balding men with grey hair and intelligence, EXTREMELY hot!!! really rather weird but there you have it. I find myself lusting after them like there is no tomorrow...

Okay, time to look up some photos of Zinedine Zidane to get my fix... although he's not quite middle aged... but he's on his way... yowza!

Dropping in briefly, staying off the topic of Ralph Nader (right, bia!). Howdy Kerric. Howdy CC. Howdy Wheezy from yesterday and anyone else I forgot who's recently dropped in.

I've enjoyed reading this conversation because it isn't prurient; it is a bunch of people I feel I know in an imaginary way, discussing the ways in which they view women (not all these posters were men). I'm kind of fascinated. And I think it was a healthy conversation because it was sparked by the question about standards of beauty. They appear pretty broad here (so to speak) (sorry).

CC, I understand what you mean about the creepy factor but I'm not there yet with this Boodle. That could be because I haven't had the kind of experiences you described, which would make me more sensitive to it - the same thing I often say discussing race (easy for me to be colorblind; easy for me to not take offense at giggly talk about women).

Off to the theater yet again. Six more shows.

Well said, RD. Unfortunately it does often feel that looks override everything else, that we forget that attitude and rapport and everything else in the package can strongly affect the attractiveness meter.

(As well as the effect of pheromones, if scientists are to be believed...)

http://www.apa.org/monitor/jan98/phero.html
http://www.unisci.com/stories/20013/0827014.htm

Of course, as Frostbitten mentioned, sometimes conversation is a powerful turn-on.

In terms of male beauty and hawtness, I have only one thing to say.

Sean Connery

We've had the discussion.

Omni, speaking of a guy who should never take his shirt off on the beach (or the sands)...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080502/ap_on_he_me/feminine_pharaoh;_ylt=AjyvRSJGNhrBaDjoVdNb6VwR.3QA

Without naming names (or ages), I will also affirm that balding men can be quite hawt as well.

(But never guys with comb-overs. You have been warned.)

What RD P said.

To quote Bugs Bunny:

"Ain't I a stinker"

RD said : The point is, both men and women have certain innate ideals for physical attractiveness. But they are invariably swamped by other more important and relevant factors.

My Swedish friend was on a tennis scholarship studying in Louisiana in the mid '80s. We met in Florida over the Christmas holidays. The entire time she was in the US (around 10 years) she only dated guys that had middle-eastern looks. Now, she's back in Sweden, married to a typical-looking Swedish guy and has 2 children.

Wilbrod-don't knock the comb-over.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHm_1116f_Q
(narration is in Japanese, and totally unnecessary)

Is the Kentucky Derby tomorrow?

Nope, I had a doctor with a reasonably good combover-- the tip off is the hair-part near the ear.

That makes me giggle, I once couldn't take my eyes off a Japanese guy (not this one) in a group of businessman until I figured out why he vaguely reminded me of my doctor. Then I nearly shot hot tea out of my nose when I caught sight of the low hair-part. That was painful.

gwe, yes it is.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/01/AR2008050103166.html

Somebody at work asked me if Sunday was Mother's Day. I had to google it to find out, and according to wikipedia, Mother's Day is May 11.

Mostly-it is always easy to remember Mother's Day. It is the day after fishing opener in MN; which is why our local store sells bait and gifts.

Yes, Mother's Day is May 11, as is graduation from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, and Duke University. Since there are no hotel rooms to be found in that end of the state for the weekend, we are getting up on Sunday morning and driving to Chapel Hill.

The person who will be graduating in the family called me at 9:20 this morning to inform me that she had finished her last exam. She is done, complete, finshed, through. Yay for her!

I like PYRO to Burn up the rest of the field.

For me, it's Eight Belles, and all's welles.

However I just look at the post parade and pick then (too late to bet, but meh.)

I agree with Wilbrod--combovers are not attractive... bald and shaven is best... Patrick Stewart definitely tops the list of most attractive bald men.

However, the eyes are to me the most alluring feature of a man. It's something in the eyes... when your eyes meet and their is that instant excitement and you're both riveted to the spot. I am a firm believer in love at first sight.

... meant "there is" not "their is"...

Alas, love at first sight can be easily confused with lust at first sight, Miss Toronto. It takes a little time to seal the deal.

Also, if you've been falling for the wrong types, then instant attraction is definitely a warning signal.

However, love at first sight does happen, or I and my siblings wouldn't be here, I suppose. I suspect the same thing happened to two of my brothers as well.

My sister tried the "at first sight" and it backfired, though.

No comb over is attractive, or undetectable, but you have to admire the artistry of that Japanese version.

Dubiously weekend-safe content: Dirtiest (real) racehorse names.

http://www.faniq.com/blog/The-Dirtiest-And-Weirdest-Racehorse-Names-Ever-Blog-8579

Boy, the minute Joel leaves, we drag this boodle through the ghetto, don't we?

There is a certain 62-year-old man, 6'3" with graying hair, whom I find extremely HOT.

Lucky for me he's sitting next to me on the couch right now... as he has nearly every day at some point for almost 25 years.

Only skimming, so I've probably missed either the boat or the broad side of the barn, but it seems to me that what CC was going for, trying to get addressed wasn't the you guys are creepy, but the second sentence...
"Am I wrong in believing all the other beautiful black women mentioned here fall into the skinnier white-is-beautiful paradigm?"
I just don't know where to start with that. I honest to goodness did not know that the image of white encompasses skinny. Some of my friends are going to howl when they here this.
About beautiful men...I find different things about men beautiful. If he makes me laugh, he's pretty darn handsome in my mind. If he's good-hearted with an open smile, he's beautiful. Barry White's voice...dear God beautiful. All the regular male boodlers here have brilliantly twisted minds (but also keep a good distance away from creepy), so they get counted as beautiful. Any man who takes out the trash *without being asked* AND puts a new trashbag in the kitchen trashcan, well, he's just gorgeous.
I saw a strikingly beautiful man one time on a train. Truly an Adonis. I almost woke him to tell him, but the train was in Spain, and my Spanish isn't all that great...I didn't want to wake someone just to tell him something stupid like your avacados are burning.

LOL!!!, LostinThought... those are all very, very true... sense of humour in particular, open smile, and thoughtful of course... I think these things are all expressed in the eyes... that twinkling happy soul shines through and you know in an instant...

TBG-you remind me of the time I saw a new series on Mystery! and couldn't wait to share the hotness of the male lead with a good friend and co-worker. She called me in the middle of the next week's episode to point out that he looked just like Mr. F.
Here is a good pic of hottie Robson Green
http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/09/17/robson_green_narrowweb__300x467,0.jpg

But how do all those hot people smell? Sweaty?

Ahem. I REALLY shouldn't have left the gnome unattended while I was busy rolling out some verses for my blog. I smell a lot of trouble everywhere now.

Except at my blog.

http://wilbrodog.blogspot.com/

I regret (not) to say that these are songs of dog-experience, not songs of hot people.

SCC: 'that you guys are creepy', and 'hear this' and anything else I didn't see.

Welcome back Kerric and Wheezy and everybody. Shout out to Achenfan--*sending ESP messages that she should check in to monitor Joel's progress Down Under*

I have been too busy to read the whole boodle and I have a lot to do before I fall asleep tonight, but I have two things to say about this kit:

1) My husband is much more impressed with Mr. Achenbach in light of the Nader phone call. Mr. Bertocci was one of the Florida voters who voted for Nader in 2000. And he is unrepentant, too. I like Ralph, but would not vote for him. If I wanted to go all third-party on ya, I'd vote for

2) MY FAVORITE OUTSIDER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Love 22 http://love22.com/

And on that note, I bid you all a good night.

Wheezy!!!!!!

LiT, re: your 9:05, nobody's ever called me anything remotely close to "gorgeous" before (I've got some coupons for Lenscrafters you can have, if you're interested). But yes, every Saturday morning. Like clockwork. And on Wednesday nights: the recycling bins.

I'd tell you what I do to the dishwasher, but you'd probably start ripping your clothes off.

I don't know about Li
T, but just thinking about the what you may or may not do to the dishwasher is giving me the vapors.

Yes, bald men are totally hot. Even when he wears his ball cap.

We were sitting outside this evening and it is season for crane migration. the migration path is right over our house.

We took out the video camera and took some footage, but we have not figured out how to get it off the camera yet. It's a new toy. The sound alone of many groups of cranes as they fly is amazing, and watching these maginficent birds ride the updrafts is one of the highlights of my spring.

Ha, kb! Hadn't heard of Mr 22, or whatever he calls himself. And I love that Mr B is a proud Nader voter. I figure most of those people wouldn't have voted for anyone...although I suppose if just a few hundred of them had gone for Gore...ah well...And I was mad at Nader and Phil Donahue for saying there was no difference between Gore and Bush.

Yes, I'm all about the eyes too. Patrick Dempsey has wonderful expressive eyes on TV, not to mention great hair. I always gravitated toward blondes, too, although not consciously.

Wow, dr, I hope you can figure out how to get the video off the camera and in a place where you can share it with us! I'd love to see the cranes.

Mr. T and I saw wild turkeys last weekend in the mountains. They are so big and so ugly! I always have wondered why Ben Franklin wanted them to be the national bird. Of course, nowadays, that would be ironic.

Hey, I take out the trash and replace the bags, do the dishes, vacuum, dust, etc.

And I will rip my own clothes off.
I have quik-release catches on my gladiator attire.

bc

And I must admit I was quite taken with Dan Stevens as Edward Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility - lovely eyes, gorgeous smile. Well, all those Austen men are attractive (although not very diverse, that's true).
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/austen/menofausten.html

dr, do the cranes have sort of floppy wing action like herons? They sound like a wonder to behold.

Oh, dr, you just haven't lived until you've experienced the full Curmudgeon dishwasher experience. You've probably never even heard of such techniques as the Maytag Flick, or the Reverse Whirlpool. And as for putting the dishwashing powder into the flip-out soap tray....well...I don't think I could describe it in this venue without the Wirty Dird filter blowing a gasket. And if I told you about the rinse cycle...well, that would just ruin your relationship with your hubby forever.

Easy, you just made half the female boodlers faint, Mudge.

Mudge... stop, I'm crying from laughing so hard :)... and bc's "quick-release catches on my gladiator attire" ?? kooky bunch :)

Well, if you're all up for a good movie... about 'love at first sight', check the trailer on this Spanish film... I was going to watch it tonight but opted for Chicken Little instead, which has put me in a particularly happy mood...

http://www.palmpictures.com/film/sex-and-lucia.php

Sweet dreams everyone :)

But Mudge...what kind of shoes do you wear when "doing the dishes"?

Lit, what kind of high-heeled pumps would go with his blue bottoms, do you think?

Florsheim wingtips, what else? In oxblood, of course. And I give whole new meaning to the phrase, "I'm jellin'."

mostly-Oh my, thanks for that link! I have always been a Colin Firth fan but you might be right...Dan Stevens=adorable. Hmmm...what a conundrum....Colin Firth/Dan Stevens? I have to say that Mark Strong as Mr. Knightly was pretty dang cute as well.

Scotty - thanks so much for the *keep Kim laughing* effort with your link in the previous kit . I had to send that link about interviews to a number of people because it hit so close to home for several of us. You can't make this stuff up! Asking the interviewer to leave the room so the interviewee can take a call...criminy!

Mudge - I am sorry to hear about your mrsa problem...what a pain, in more ways than one.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Just to give you some insight into my twisted random mind. This was my viewing schedule for the evening:

Hardball With Chris Matthews - A clip of McCain saying we won't ever go to war over oil again. Possible gaffe.

Chasing Zoey - A 'Zoey 101' movie starring the now-pregnant Jamie Lynn Spears. It's prom night and what surprises are in store? A Karate Kid tribute and lots of kids proclaiming their undying love to each other. I started playing the "because I'm pregnant game" but lost interest.

http://livebythefoma.blogspot.com/2008/01/zoey-zingers.html

Doctor Who - The Doctor fights lava men and sexy Sybil oracles in Pompeii on Volcano Eve.

Battlestar Galactica - More mystical mumbo jumbo as Starbuck goes slowly bonkers and Tyrell kisses and makes up with Baltar.

This is not an official authorized video, but for you fans of bald-headed men, Christine Lavin is with you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuR2IELrF30

I'm still clinging to the "thinning" rationalization despite the the soup bowl sized spot at the back.

For all my boodle amigos, especially dmdogz, Broc Collie, College Barkian, Yokisdogs, Yellojkt pup, etc.

(one verse was worse, but is fixed now).

http://wilbrodog.blogspot.com/2008/05/for-all-my-poodle-amigos-btw-spell.html

A classic choice Mudge. Understated elegance.

If you know where the 'on' switch is on the vacuum, you're beautiful *and* hot. (Know how to sort the laundry? Smoking hot. Know where I keep the grocery store? On-fire hot.)

It seems never have been asked, so I'm wondering... Was Loomis referring to the cotton-growing that took place near Bakersfield CA, or Bakersfield TX, or some other Bakersfield entirely? So far as I can tell, there's been lot's o' cotton near both.

Idiot! "Lots", not "lot's"!

Bless your cotton pickin' heart, I just don't know, Bob.

Old news, but here's my take:

I don't think that I'd have been able to react much differently than Obama did to the "Wright problem". [Yes, I've heard that the terminal punctuation should always go inside the quotes. I disagree!] I've got friends and acquaintances with whom I disagree almost violently, and whose actions I must sometimes hold to be unforgivable. And yet, while I distance myself from them as a result of their choices, it takes a HELL of a lot for me to utterly disown them.

Perhaps it's an innate optimism that will be crushed out of me eventually, perhaps it's a pessimistic view of my own future that requires that I keep all potential lifelines open. Who knows?!? But I don't find it easy to totally demonize folks that I don't know at all, let alone them what I knows at least a little bit.

Except for Nancy Grace. She just frosts my butt something fierce! Evil woman!

Bob, I agree with you on the terminal punctuation. It doesn't really make sense to me for the full stop to be inside the quotes.

rainforest, thank you for understanding the REAL point I was trying to make!

:-D

I also forgot to give Wheezy & Kerric & CC their proper *Grover wave* welcome backs. My humble apologies.

Yer welcome, Kim! :-)

Mad dishwasher skilz... Check.

Sorting and doing my own laundry... Check.

Windows... Check.

Emptying trash & recycling... Check.

Vacuuming... Check.

Bald... Hmmmmmmm...

Can't have it all, it seems. :-)

*doing-lots-of-stretching-before-trying-to-do-some-pre-moving-company-arrival-stuff Grover waves*

As I do periodically, I was checking out the WaPo.com "Discussion Guidelines", largely to remind myself to transgress less often and less egregiously.
[ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/delphi/delphirules.htm ]

But I was rather struck by the fast-and-loose use of the term of "third party" in clause #1, as if this is clear-cut in this day and age of co-operative authorship. If Joel & and I (as third parties) decide that we are aggrieved by a guest Kit authored by (well, I won't name names), will the WaPo stand idly by while we savage this (unnamed) contributor in an attempt to claim some monetary salve for our psychic wounds?

And when WaPo allows maniacs like Dave Barry, or Sharon Lamb, or Chris Bell onboard to discuss whatever moves them, can WaPO REALLY get away with claiming that it has no responsibility for whatever they may hath wrought?

Why do I get the impression that this set of guidelines was drawn up by folks who've never tested it against a man determined to recover a few tens of millions of dollars for his misplaced trousers?

You KNOW you need more coffee when you have to SCC your name!!! *L*

S-nuk: Never for a moment thought that it wasn't intentional!

Bob S.

I emphatically agree. Put the punctuation outside the quote when it is not part of the original quote.

I have been defiantly doing so in acts of civil disobedience for a long time. I'm just afraid that all my other sins of grammar and punctuation keep people from realizing it was intentional.

The Wright stuff makes sense too.

And I have to call BS on the housework-as-aphrodisiac scam. I have never been molested while vacuuming no matter how many times I go over the same patch of carpet between the television and the couch.

I have been goosed a few times while preparing dinner and getting vegetables out of the crisper. But that was probably TMI.

Don't get me going on the terms of service, particularly Rule 6. Read the terms of service on any social networking site and you would be appalled by the over-reaching. They haven't laid claims to first born children, but they're close.

My concern with cotton is not the dust since I'm not a factory worker, but the chemicals. Since cotton is not a food product, the chemicals that can be used in it's growing, harvesting, and processing is much wider. However, cottonseed oil is a common food ingredient and I want to know if any chemicals are being introduced into the food chain from this vector.

I feel so on-topic.

Of course, the nice thing about rule #6 is that you can hang whatever you wish upon some limb of the WaPo.com beast (as long as it's reasonable in its natal form), then (with only cursory attempts at hiding your trail) you could probably get away with reposting it in increasingly virulent forms, all the while claiming that you've no longer got responsibility, as the Washington Post has claimed "irrevocable, perpetual, exclusive and fully sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such content in whole or in part, world-wide..." any content hung upon it.

I was just about to point out that I've ingested a fair bit of cottonseed oil. It may not be a main course, but I've run across it in many starters!

Morning all. Last night ended a little later than usual so I slept in. My day doesn't really start until Mrs Lion wakes up and tells me what I'm supposed to do.

I took the daughters out, or rather, the daughters took me out last night to see the play "Beauty and the Beast" at the local high school. Wow! The HS my daughter attends mmust have an award winning drama club or something. The acting, live music, and all the love songs performed by these kids kept my eyes saturated most of the evening. Teenagers, especially when working together, are truly some of the most beautiful of all peoples.

My oldest daughter just left to take her SATs. Before she left, she asked me to define about a dozen words, only 3 of which I've ever heard of. Wish her luck.

Wish I had known that the cool kids showed up for pre-breakfast. Wouda been here too.
Nice bone of a pome, Wilbrodog. College Barkian says thanks for the rhymes.

Big week. Feel like my brain is broken. Will remedy with yard work at the local pool.

YJ is right about cotton -- tons of inputs from water to fert. and pest. to make it grow. Check out my colleague's blog on sustainable fashion: she has some clear thinking on the silly excesses of about 400 dollar jacket made of bamboo, cruety-free silk, and green cotton....

http://nicewhitelady.blogspot.com/

---
About the conversation about beauty standards plus the noted twinch of (the possibility of?) discomfort. The emerging feeling of discomfort is a way to remind us all that we can move from good will and humor into some territory particularly complex for women. I think that what RD and I touched on last kit about the privacy of those moments when an I-Thou encounter might take place is different than the broader conversation of frank admiration of said components.

I have four brothers -- and three sisters -- I am used to overhearing such conversations. But, sometimes I blurted out to good brothers: "Hey there! Lady in the house!"

And, Gomer, your irony might have been lost in the plain text environment. I like onmi's reminder of

ironicCP
mockshockCP
professorCP
bikerCP

Glad DandyL is back.

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

Morning, morning, friends. What discussions yesterday, and I missed it all. Lost, your comment was so nice, and Mudge your description with that dishwasher and those blood red wingtips, had me rolling. And Miss Toronto, your comments concerning the sparks flying was right on time. All of you let it rip, and I had no idea. I laughed at loud, really loud. It's good I'm here alone, although my neighbors probably think I'm crazy.

Mudge, do take care of your legs. With the other problem, that is dangerous territory.

I'm going to try and check with my doctor next week. I still don't feel that good.

Slyness, Martooni, and everyone, it is the weekend, time to move. *waving*

Scotty, read your post, but did not understand it, probably need more coffee.

yello
I think we all know who is responsible for the war in Iraq. I assume this person had to sign some type of paper, something had to be in writing, correct? Or did he just say it, and it was?

Time to hit the shower. I have a meeting at church this morning, and I'm running late already. The weather here is cloudy and looking like rain. And it has cooled down some.

What I like in the male species has changed over the years. My first husband was tall, very tall, and that was the attraction. Most of the men in my family were short, very short. When I met my second husband, it was his eyes that attracted me. Now when I look at my daughter, I see those same beautiful eyes. And the g-girl. As I aged, I was attracted to older men that like to talk, and had the ability to talk. I'm sure you noticed the change from the physical to the mental.

Have a great weekend, folks. Give God some of your time, and enjoy your families.

Oh, about the cotton dust. That is some stinking stuff. As a child I picked cotton, not very good at it, but it was a job. And those of us that did this work had to smell that cotton dust. It gave me a headache every time. The scent just did not go away. It was so heavy at times. I can imagine the folks that really worked in cotton got too much of that chemical. And I mean those that baled it, and worked in those barns. Pickers were outside, so the concentration wasn't as thick. Back during this time, no one paid attention, and if they did, nothing was done about it. We had to eat, so we had to work.

Some days, I just cannot appreciate my mother enough. I'm sure others found easier ways to survive, but my mother always did it the hard way. And in truth, that was the easy way. The lessons learned are priceless.

Where're the chicks?

Mornin' all...

Too much to do and not enough of me, so I'll just say this after a *very* quick backboodling:

Dishwasher, shmishwasher.

*I* do dishes by hand and even know where the soap is. I have also perfected the art of stacking said dishes after washing (sometimes six feet high, which requires a ladder) to air dry so they come out not only spotless, but free of towel lint.

I've even been known to put them away.

(Actually, the dish stacking thing drives Mrs. M crazy -- especially when the "good" dishes are involved -- because my method of stacking resembles the Tower of Pisa, but I've never broken a single cup or dish yet.)

Peace out... gotta go make sawdust. :-)

Morning all... Boko... glad to see you; we noticed you were gone for a few days.

Dandylion... I agree... every time I see a middle school or high school play I am amazed... and satisfied that our future is in good hands (if we can only hand over a decent future, that is).

Off for a sisters' weekend in a couple of hours. If you see four women who are having a genuinely great time together, say "hi."

Do I detect some heated competition re: doing housework? ... boys will be boys :-)

Another sexy trait? A guy who takes care of his kids without calling it "babysitting."

Cassandra - What I like about the male of the species (MY species, at any rate) has changed over the years, too!

'morning, folks.
i've been busy and not able even to lurk much.
joel, sounds like a fun gig down under.
tbg, have a good with the sisterhood.
mudge, hope your leg heals quickly.
bia, are ya done yet? me neither.

my only observation about the latest wright controversy is the pastor put his own interests ahead of obama's. neither a practical nor a christian thing to do.

i tend to ignore ogling and such because i often don't know who the people are being discussed. as for me, colin firth is definitely a hottie. and i think i have a crush on stephen colbert. there i said it.

have a good weekend everyone!

Coughing-up-a-lung greetings to the boodle. The reservation's 3rd annual 100+ mile spiritual run started bright and early this morning and I ran the ceremonial first mile, then another mile back to my car. It was 25 degrees and windy, thus the post exertion cough.

Spring still doesn't appear to be here unless you look closely. Columbine, Jacob's Ladder and Sedum are thriving and the spring ephemerals are poking up out of the mulch (really unraked leaf litter). Just one 70 degree day would bring an explosion of green and dainty blooms but it2q2 has been 6 months since we've seen 70. We may be headed for a record.

On kit-Caribou coffee will take 10 cents off your purchase if you answer the daily trivia question correctly before ordering. One day last month they asked "Which crop requires the most chemical use from planting to harvest?" The answer was cotton. I often wonder about the agenda and source material for their questions, but since I think I agree with their "hidden" agenda I don't see any need to complain.

Also, I put the period inside the quotation marks but mutter in protest while typing.

SCC-my bad on the 2q2, should be "has". (ha, ha, ha, period outside the quotation marks. Lol, we haz punctuation.)

Frosti... our Caribou coffee uses Trivial Pursuit cards for the daily question.

Finished watching Carrier last night. Thanks to those who pointed it out. What a great show. I have a new appreciation for the folks in the military (I already had an appreciation, but you know what I mean). I loved the production values of the show as well... beautiful photography and excellent music choices.

I wish they'd do a followup on those folks we got to know so well. It's been a couple of years since filming. (I especially wonder about the kid from Manassas.)

A good friend's son is training for a career as an officer in nuclear subs. She comes from a decidedly nonmilitary background, so watching this was a real eye-opener for her. It was especially nice to see the general "goodness" in the carrier's population. Does that make sense?

Rainy and raw weekend here which foils our attempts to plant a few more shrubs. When I say 'our' I mean "S" as I am reduced to supervising until the staples come out. Survived work yesterday, boy did they miss me, what a mess.

In my youth I was attracted to bad boys, which explains a lot. Before I met "S" I had the benefit of some theraphy which helped me discover what I needed and wanted in a man - honesty, humility and a sense of humor. Twenty years ago I would have looked at "S" as a friend, nothing more. I'm glad I changed enough to recognize how 'hot' those three qualities truly are. As for chores, he'll do anything but cook and that's fine with me.

Hope everyone enjoys the weekend. I think mine will involve a lot of naps.

Speaking of housework - I'm in the midst of one of those "do it yourself" handyman nightmares. I'm just changing a garbage disposal. Nothing to it, right? Except that the thirty-year-old (is that too many hyphens?) "T"-connector which connects the disposal drain line to the sink drainpipe is so worn out that it started cracking & crumbling as I pulled it back slightly from the disposal during the removal process, and I don't have a wrench large enough to grip the nuts which attach it to the drain lines, and the water supply line to the faucet is leaking at the nut, and faucet itself is leaking, and last night that was a repeated knocking sound that sounded like it was coming from inside the pipes in the basement, and...

Sigh! I can tell it's gonna be a long weekend of running back and forth to the hardware store. I'm remembering why my father always hired people to do these jobs!

I love Wilbrodog, who does not seem to realize he has already basically written a book. A wondrous sort of book that is both for kids and adults. I wish it were published.

Good morning, all.

Middle daughter was one of the Emcees at the local Middle School last night, a highly entertaining evening. Yes, my daughter did great. Interestingly, I Emceed the talent show at my school when I was her age as well. There must be a Host gene that runs in my family.

I've been doing some housework this AM myself; putting the dishes away from last night's dishwasher run, making the bed, putting laundry away finishing up the grocery store shopping list, getting a few things together to change the oil on the car (at some point this weekend), and finishing up the repair of the computer I'm writing this Boodle item on.

Then to spend some time relaxing with some friends, and at some point I'll do some writing.

Oh, yeah. At some point I'll take a shower. Not necessarily because I need it, but because it's a good excuse to admire myself in the mirror and say, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the sexiest gladiator of them all?"

[Mirror] "Sire, 'tis true, there's no one who looks better in nothing but olive oil than you."

Well, if the mirror *could* talk, that's what I'd hope it would say, anyway. And it would refrain from any commentary regarding blemishes on my posterior.

Mudge, I hope your condition clears up soon, and I expect that you'll be back to your usual level of irascibility in no time.

Scottynuke, back to work!
la lurker, back to ogling!
Cassandra, back to making this world a better place!

Me, I'm off to the showers.

bc

Hey everybody, I'm waving as I drive by...food in the oven to take to Mr. T's family reunion, we're leaving in half an hour. It will be a good time...Later, folks!

TBG - When I enlisted in the Air Force in 1980, I was one of VERY few in any of the extended branches of my family to have joined the military in a couple of generations, and the only one of the great-grandchildren of any of my eight great-grandparents to have done so. There was certainly support for my decision, but definitely also some consternation. In the not-so-very-post-Vietnam era, I think that there was not a lot of enthusiasm for military service amongst social/economic/political circles that 1) didn't already have ties to the military, and 2) didn't "need" to join for financial reasons.

What I found was a fascinating mix of folks, who were there for an astounding array of reasons. Many of them had plenty of other options. I won't say that it's the defining experience of my life - moving from Georgia to Japan/Okinawa/Kentucky/Colorado/back to Georgia between second and tenth grades probably qualifies - but I'll always treasure the experience.

Up early to work on a server backup switchover that's just occurring now. Hours of boredom, moments of sheer terror.

I think it'll be a fine day to make potato salad and distribute it to all my fri