Friday, August 31, 2007

In my head I'm already gone

Okay, that's it for me. I'm off to my parents' place to help run my dad's big barbecue contest this weekend.

Should be a good time, with lots of food and (especially) drink. So you probably won't see much from me until next Wednesday (you poor bastards).

Anyway, in the immortal words of Dennis Miller...

"That's the news and I... am... Outahere."


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Sunshine and butterflies

About the end of the first or second year into the first job out of college, most people realize that the default status of life is suckiness.

Work is hard (that's why the call it work), and you're more likely to be blamed for the mistakes of others than rewarded for your own excellence.

Life is not and never will be easy. Most people recognize this. Those who don't, become Liberals and expect the government to make everyone happy. Of course, not every day can be all sunshine and butterflies.

But some days can. And it's important to carpe those diems when they happen. Which brings me to about two weeks ago.

We were doing some light work in the 110-degree heat of the back yard when my Supermodel Wife found a flashy-looking caterpillar. It was yellow, black and white striped with a pair of "horns" on either end.

We showed our daughter who was fascinated and immediately put the thing in her bug box. Over the next few days, we fed the voracious creature leaves similar to the ones it was on when we found it. Every day after school we would find lots of leaf stems and caterpillar crap in the bug box.

Then one day it was a cocoon -- a green cocoon with gold glitter.

Fast forward to yesterday. A beautiful, sunny, 80-degree day. We get home and hear fluttering coming from the bug box on the desk where we've been watching it daily.

The Monarch butterfly had emerged from the chrysalis to the amazement of all of us. It was now our sacred duty to take the boxed butterfly outside to set it free.



The poor little guy had some trouble finding his way to the opening at the end of the box. His tiny insect brain couldn't figure out how to climb sideways.

So we tipped the box up on its end, and after a minute or two of trying, he finally emerged from the opening.

In all his glory.

He tested his wings tentatively a few times, then took off and was in the neighbor's tree within a few seconds. From there, we lost track of him.

Sharing these kind of moments with your kids really does cancel out a lot of the crap life hands you. This, along with Boulevard Wheat, is what makes life worth living.

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Friday Blogthing: Personality goes a long way

I don't think any additional commentary is needed. Yes, I do. Wait, just what are you getting at. Shudup and read!

You May Be a Bit Schizotypal...

A bit odd and socially isolated.
You couldn't care less of what others think.
And some of your beliefs are a little weird.
Like that time you thought you were Jesus.

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Thursday, August 30, 2007

Headlines: Chimp on your shoulder

This news just in from that wellspring of scholarship Atlanta - Gestures May Come From Chimps
Gesturing is one of the oldest forms of human communication, and now researchers have discovered that apes and chimps use the same motions humans do when asking for things.
The study indicates that hand gestures, much like Democrats, evolved from monkeys.

I know, I was skeptical at first just like you. But then I saw some of the pictures that were published with the study and now I have to admit, they may have something here.

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3A.M. Poll: What is your favorite thing to say to a cop who has pulled you over?

This was ganked from an email I recently received, but still worth considering.

I haven't had a traffic ticket in at least 10 years (we'll not counting parking tickets). I attribute that to my Rico Suavé-esque way of talking my way out of trouble (without offering sexual favors, you cheeky monkey).


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Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Headlines: Void where prohibited

In case you haven't been keeping up with current events in science, astrophysicists have discovered the largest yet totally empty region of space.
Radio astronomers have found the biggest hole ever seen in the universe. The void, which is nearly a billion light years across, is empty of both normal matter and dark matter. The finding challenges theories of large-scale structure formation in the universe.
The void has nothing in it. No thing. You can't believe how utterly empty this thing is. It's like Paris Hilton's resume, or any song by Maroon 5. We're talking devoid of content here.

I read about this the other night and immediately went outside to see it for myself. Sure enough there it was, right there in space where they said it would be.

I took a picture to share with you. My little Nikon digital camera got a pretty good shot.



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Eewww, someone just schmoozed all over me!

Shea at ACGIK, named me the supreme winner yesterday of the Blogger Schmooze award.

I proudly accept.

I know there are others, like The D, Chimpotle, KCSponge and Erin who have made claims to the Blogger Schmooze award. And to be certain, they are definitely schmooze-worthy in their own right.

But I hereby accept the honor of the supreme Blogger Schmooze award. To illustrate my supreme blogger schmooziness, I am leaving it up to my (two) readers to choose who they think should be nominated next for the Blogger Schmooze award.

So leave your nominations in the comments. It is okay, indeed encouraged, to nominate yourself.

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Tuesday, August 28, 2007

YouTube Tuesday: Underdogs RULE!

It's finally here. The end of summer.

Because with the beginning of college football on Saturday, summer is officially over for me.

Oh sure, there are those smartypants scientific types who will tell you that the "official" last day of summer is later in September. And yes, at least here in KC we'll still have hotter-than-balls days. There will still be leaves on the trees for several more weeks, and the grass will still be green (or in my case, brown).

But with the first kickoff, summer is over for me, replaced by football season. And what better way to begin football season than this choice video about the greatest turnaround in college football.



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Sunday, August 26, 2007

Random photo IV: Campanile

I started following Shane's travelogue about his recent European vacation at I, Shane, and it's left me feeling nostalgic for my previous two trips to Italy.

Like Shane I loved Paris and Venice. But unlike Shane, I'd have to say that Florence was my favorite European city. The sheer ratio of art per square foot was amazing. I remain envious of the Florentines who live within the history created by Giotto, Brunelleschi, the Medici and other historical figures who are responsible in large part for the way with think today.

Anyway, it's all left me with a serious jones to return to Tuscany for a few more weeks (don't even get me started on the wine). But, the best I can do now is a mind trip through my photo albums.

Here's a detail of the Campanile of Santa Maria del Fiore, also known as the Duomo of Florence. The campanile was designed by Giotto in the 1300s and is part of one of the most recognizable architectural compositions in the west.



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Friday, August 24, 2007

Friday Blogthing: They call me mellow yellow

I'm posting this today, even though I dream of a day when people are judged by the content of their character, not the color of their crayons.

You are Yellow


The clouds part and the smell of daffodils and daisies fill the air when you are around. Your sunny disposition cheers most, and makes others (the jealous and bitter ones) wish you'd never gotten out of bed.

Take this quiz: Which Crayola Box of 8 Color Are You?



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Thursday, August 23, 2007

Good luck with that

So the Johnson County Republicans have decided to take another stab at unseating Dennis Moore next year. The LJW had the report (hat tip to JD):
State Sen. Nick Jordan, a Republican from Shawnee, has announced his bid to represent the 3rd congressional district, which includes east Lawrence and is currently represented by U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, a Democrat from Lenexa.
Frankly, I've never heard of Jordan. Anyone who knows anything about his policy stances is encouraged to comment. But good luck to you anyway Nick, I think you'll need it.

Moore doesn't seem to be too concerned. He told the LJW he isn't even going to start thinking about campaigning until next year (kudos for that). And he probably doesn't have much to worry about, given the current political climate.

But one of the quotes I found particularly interesting:
"He can start the campaign now if he wants, but I'm going to continue on being in Congress and serving my constituents, and I think we've done a good job."
A good job? Wow, thanks for clarifying that for me Denny.

I mean, a guy could get the wrong impression, what with the fact that the approval rating for Congress is at its lowest point since Gallup started tracking it 30 years ago.
A new Gallup Poll finds Congress' approval rating the lowest it has been since Gallup first tracked public opinion of Congress with this measure in 1974. Just 18% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, while 76% disapprove, according to the August 13-16, 2007, Gallup Poll.
But Denny, you just keep telling yourself how good a job your doing. It might just make next year's election campaign mildly interesting.

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Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Oh, I almost forgot...

During the course of conversation at last night's meetup, The D suggested I repost a link to the infamous Big Black Hairy Tongue post from earlier this year.

Fair warning: I suggest you not view the link if you have recently eaten or are about to eat or are eating at the moment.

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Blogger meetup redux

Last night was the best blogger meetup we've had so far (at least for me).

Lot's of local bloggers showed up. And with my Supermodel Wife out of town for the week and my daughter staying the week with the grandparents, I was able to hang out with the cool kids until the end of the night.

For everyone who left early, you missed a great time. Thanks to XO's NASA Grab Bag, we found some interesting alternative uses for NASA mission patches. I met Janet Sader and had a great talk about kids and family and vacations. And I was honored to buy the FileGirl her very first Scotch whisky ever. She said she liked it. At least its better than those nasty martinis.

I can't even remember all of the topics of conversation, but I know the highlight was the smooching session between Erin and KC Sponge. If you left too early and missed it, here are some pics (I know they're blurry but you get the gist).

I finally got to have a really good conversation with Eolai from Irish KC, but Cara from ...JustCara left before I made it over to her table. I'll catch you next time.

Rumor is floating around that we'll all meet at Harry's downtown again next month. See you all then.

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Tuesday, August 21, 2007

YouTube Tuesday: Seven fold

It's a proven fact that you can't fold a regular sheet of 8x10 paper in half more than seven times. In fact, you can't fold most paper in half more than seven times (unless it's a huge sheet of paper).

This video purports to demonstrate this phenomenon, though for the life of me I can't see any paper whatsoever in this video.

Can you?


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Monday, August 20, 2007

escape

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Genius Bar? I don't think so.


"Hi Mr. Emawkc, this is Aaron at the Genius Bar. I was just calling to let you know your computer is ready and you can pick it up any time at the Apple Store."

"I picked it up yesterday."

"Oh?! Well... er... Ooh I see. We had an Internet outage yesterday, so it must have gotten lost in the shuffle. Okay, I guess you're all set."

The call I received this morning was just the latest example of how the Genius Bar at the Apple Store isn't restricted only to genii.

It all started two weeks ago when my iMac shot craps. I was getting ready to sync my iPod before heading out on some errands when Apple HQ sent out a message that I needed to do a security software update. No problem, it's a pretty standard deal. I click the "install" button to do the security patch.

A few seconds later, I get a message that the install is finished and I need to restart my computer. Kind of annoying, since all I wanted to do is sync my iPod, but okay. I restart. I get a message that I need to restart my computer. I restart and get the same message that I need to restart my computer. I do, same message.

Clearly something is wrong. The "geniuses" have bricked my computer. So I call and get an appointment at the so-called genius bar to have this fixed.

When in get there a couple of days later, I explain to the genius on duty that the software update they sent ruined my computer and I would like it fixed if you please. After a few minutes of triage, the young genius tells me that the motherboard on my computer is fried and will need to be replaced.

"That sounds expensive," I say.

"It is," she replies. "It's about a $900 repair and you are no longer covered by your warranty."

Luckily, this genius then does the most genuis-like thing of this whole experience.

"Don't worry, " she said in a bad news/good news voice. "This model qualifies for an extended warranty Apple Quality program. So there won't be a charge to you for the repair."

I told her that would be just fabulous.

Fast forward a few days and I get another call from a genius.

"Well, we replaced the mother board and power source and your computer still doesn't work. The issue is with your hard drive. We can replace it but we weren't able to get any data off your old one."

The genius tells me that a third party data recovery company might be able to save the 3,000 or so family pictures saved on the drive. Of course, it will cost me $250 if they succeed, but I won't have to pay anything if they fail.

Fast forward again, no data is recovered. Apple says they'll need $150 to replace the hard drive, plus they will keep the old drive to send back "to corporate" wherever that is.

So I get to pay $150 for a new drive and I lose my old drive (which has my passwords to all the porn sites I go to). Or I can pay $75 to by a new drive that I install myself, get three times the disc capacity for half the cost and I keep the old damaged drive and my secret plans for taking over the world.

The geniuses at the genius bar had a hard time understanding why I didn't want them to do the work.

But, in the end, I get a new mother board, new power supply and a hard drive upgrade all for a total out-of-pocket expense of $75. Not bad.

The bonus is that when I got everything going again, I found that I had backed up all of my photos onto an external hard drive, so I didn't lose any irreplaceable data.

No thanks to the Apple geniuses.

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Friday, August 17, 2007

Friday Blogthing: Tie good. You like shirt?



You're Thailand!
Calmer and more staunchly independent than almost all those around you, you have a long history of rising above adversity. Recent adversity has led to questions about your sexual promiscuity and the threat of disease, but you still manage to attract a number of tourists and admirers. And despite any setbacks, you can really cook a good meal whenever it's called for. Good enough to make people cry.

Take the Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid



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Thursday, August 16, 2007

KC Blogger Meetup: Short Notice Edition

Faith at F.U.S. has the details, but I'll post them here, too
What: Monthly Blogger Meetup
When: Tuesday, August 21st - 5 p.m. till whenever you wanna leave!
Where: Charlie Hooper's in Brookside (12 W. 63rd Street, KC, MO 64113)
Goodies: $1 domestic draws & $1, $2, and $3 appetizers from 3 - 7 p.m. (Stuff like pizzas, spin dip, and jalapeno poppers...yum!)
Tell you friends, Romans and countrymen. Since it's short notice, it might be an intimate crowd. I'll definitely be there. I know Faith will and probably Dan, since he lives close to the venue.

Charlie Hooper's is at the corner of Main and 63rd in Brookside. I'll try to get there as close to 5:30 as possible.

ALSO,

Wichita blogstress Shea from A California Girl in Kansas is meeting with whoever shows up Sunday afternoon at 3 pm at Fred P. Otts at the Plaza. Not sure whether I'll make it (the Magic 8 Ball says "Ask again later."), but I know she'd love to meet everyone.

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3 A.M. Poll: How hot is it

We all know it's been hot. Damn hot. But simple empirical numbers don't really describe just how beastly hot its been.

So now we turn to you to tell us just how hot is it in KC these days.


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Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Even with the worst head cold in history...

This shit is funny.

If Chris Packham's Farmer Bob isn't on your daily reading list yet, it should be (unless your one of those stuck up, prissy, no-sense of humor people (some people think they have a sense of humor, but they don't all.)).

Anyway, Packham checks in today with the latest installment of the awesome The Cup and Saucer Action News series. Today's episode "Sexxxy"
Dialling her accountant’s office, she said, “I dunno. Listen, Ira has a temp working at his reception desk this week.” Adopting a confidential whisper, she added, “She’s the stupidest person I’ve ever –” She stopped and looked me up and down. “Well. She’s plenty stupid, believe you me… Wendy! Hi, how are you? This is Jill at the Cup and Saucer. Is Ira there? Oh, he’s having lunch. Do you have his cell phone number? Great. Let me just write that down. Oops! Wendy, I’m all out of blank paper. Do you think you could fax me a blank piece of paper?” She gave me an unnecessarily exaggerated conspiratorial wink. “That way, I can write down Ira’s cell phone number. Great. I’ll call you back as soon as it gets here.” She hung up and looked at the fax machine.
Seriously, go read his stuff. It could be the NyQuil/Sudafed coctail (I call it NyQuaFed) talking, but I laughed so hard great big globs of sticky yellow snot sprayed out of my nose.

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Movie Mini Review: That Thing You Do (Director's Cut)

Title: That Thing You Do

Cast: Tom Hanks, Tom Everett Scott, Steve Zahn, Live Tyler

Plot summary:
Hometown boys from Erie, PA, form a band and make it big with a hit record. They ride the wave of the success with the considerable help of their manager until everything falls apart.

My thoughts:
Okay, this movie has been out there a while. It's a good flick, light-hearted and enjoyable even on repeated viewings.

But what prompted me to add this title to the movie review lineup was this email I received a month or two ago from Nico Del Castillo:
Hi there!

I was just bloghopping and saw that you mentioned Tom Hanks in your blog (yes, strangers do stumble upon others' blogs). I work for a company called M80, which is working with FOX to find out what bloggers think about the recent extended edition of That Thing You Do!. So basically, I'm sending out review copies of That Thing You Do! to people and I was wondering if you would be into this sort of thing and write a review for us since it's related to Tom Hanks? Of course, an honest review is strongly encouraged since it is your blog, after all. Plus you'd get to keep the copy of the DVD for yourself.

If you're interested, please let me know. If not, no worries. And yes, there is a real person behind this email address.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!
Well, far be if from me to turn down free cyber swag. The disc arrived a week or so later, but it was several weeks before my Supermodel Wife and I could a screening into our busy social calendar.

If you liked the theatrical release of this movie, you'll probably like the director's cut as well. As vanity projects go, this was a far more successful venture for Tom Hanks than Beyond the Sea was for Kevin Spacey. It is more genuine, with music woven in more convincingly.

But I have to agree with the editors who left some scenes on the cutting room floor. The DVD director's cut that we viewed had scenes that didn't seem to advance the plot, or at best tried too hard to drive home minor plot points. For example, there were several extra scenes of Charlene Theron's character's developing affair with her dentist while her boyfriend and drummer, Skitch Patterson, was on the road.

There were other scenes that didn't seem to have any relevance at all to the plot, including an introduction to manager Mr. White's (Tom Hanks) gay lover.

The only other issue I had with the DVD was that the audio didn't seem to agree with our home theater system. I'm not sure it it's a flaw in the disc, or if I had a setting off on our tuner, but I haven't had the same issue with other DVDs so I'm inclined to blame the disc.

My final rating: Good, but the theatrical release was better.

Favorite quote:
"Hey, wasn't that our fan?"

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Tuesday, August 14, 2007

YouTube Tuesday: Daft hands

When I saw this video, I at first thought it must be about the lamest thing on YouTube.

A couple of bouncing fists? Reminds me of some lonely nights back in junior high... but I digress.

Give it at least 51 seconds, that's when it starts getting interesting.



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I know I'm not the first to say it, but...

Let me just reiterate how much I think summer colds suck.

I mean, your tired, achy a bit of a fever, then you have to go outside where it's 100 degrees which makes the feverish feeling even worse, then, as if things aren't bad enough, you have to stop at the dry cleaners to pick up some shirts and you get blasted with 150 degree temps and 150 percent humidity so you're sweating all over yourself as you wait in line and when its finally your turn you're sweat is dripping onto the credit card receipt when you're trying to sign your signature, which looks nothing like your name because you're hands are still shaky from the overdose of that NyQuil/Sudafed cocktail that you took at 1:20 a.m. because you've got to get some kind of sleep, even if it's just a drug-induced coma and you feel so shitty you don't even notice the Leawood police cruiser as you pull out of the dry cleaners parking lot and the best you can manage is a contrite wave for cutting him off and hope he doesn't pull you over because you'd never pass a field sobriety test in your condition and when he passes you without taking notice you're just relieved and turn up the air conditioner in you car to full blast to try to dry your perspiration-soaked shirt as much as possible before you get to the parking lot at work and have to trudge through the heat again to get to your cube where you can brain-dump the morning's events onto a cheesy, poorly-written blog post, publish it, then curl up into a fetal position under your desk.

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Friday, August 10, 2007

Friday Blogthing: Book 'em

I really can't argue with this, at least not until I've had a few shots.




You're Animal Farm!

by George Orwell


You are living proof that power corrupts and whoever leads you will become just as bad as the past leaders. You're quite conflicted about this emotionally and waver from hopelessly idealistic to tragically jaded. Ultimately, you know you can't trust pigs. Your best moments are when you're down on all fours.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.


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Wednesday, August 08, 2007

FWD: How to argue effectively

I've been having an email "discussion" with one of my fake-hippy "moonbat" friends about a topic of the political genre (details unimportant for his post).

This guy prides himself on his arguing abilities. When I told him he was full of shite, he sent me the following to explain his arguing techniques.
I argue very well. Ask any of my remaining friends. I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don't even invite me.

You, too, can win arguments. Simply follow these rules:

Drink liquor.

Suppose you are at a party and some hotshot intellectual is expounding on the economy of Peru, a subject you know nothing about.

If you're drinking some health-fanatic drink like grapefruit juice, you'll hang back, afraid to display your ignorance, while the hotshot enthralls your date.

But if you drink several large martinis, you'll discover you have STRONG VIEWS about the Peruvian economy. You'll be a WEALTH of information. You'll argue forcefully, offering searing insights and possibly upsetting furniture. People will be impressed. Some may leave the room.

Make things up.
Suppose, in the Peruvian economy argument, you are trying to prove that Peruvians are underpaid, a position you base solely on the fact that YOU are underpaid, and you'll be damned if you're going to let a bunch of Peruvians be better off.

DON'T say: "I think Peruvians are underpaid."

Say instead: "The average Peruvian's salary in 1981 dollars adjusted for the revised tax base is $1,452.81 per annum, which is $836.07 before the mean gross poverty level."

NOTE: Always make up exact figures.

If an opponent asks you where you got your information, make THAT up too. Say: "This information comes from Dr. Hovel T. Moon's study for the Buford Commission published on May 9, 1982. Didn't you read it?"

Say this in the same tone of voice you would use to say, "You left your soiled underwear in my bathroom."

Use meaningless but weighty-sounding words and phrases.

Memorize this list:
  • Let me put it this way
  • In terms of
  • Vis-a-vis
  • Per se
  • As it were
  • Qua
  • So to speak
You should also memorize some Latin abbreviations such as "Q.E.D.", "e.g.", and "i.e." These are all short for "I speak Latin, and you don't."

Here's how to use these words and phrases. Suppose you want to say, "Peruvians would like to order appetizers more often, but they don't have enough money."

You never win arguments talking like that. But you WILL win if you say, "Let me put it this way. In terms of appetizers vis-a-vis Peruvians qua Peruvians, they would like to order them more often, so to speak, but they do not have enough money per se, as it were. Q.E.D."

Only a fool would challenge that statement.

Use snappy and irrelevant comebacks.
You need an arsenal of all-purpose irrelevant phrases to fire back at your opponents when they make valid points. The best are:
  • You're begging the question.
  • You're being defensive.
  • Don't compare apples to oranges.
  • What are your parameters?
This last one is especially valuable. Nobody (other than engineers and policy wonks) has the vaguest idea what "parameters" means. Don't forget the classic: YOU'RE SO LINEAR.

Here's how to use your comebacks:

You say: As Abraham Lincoln said in 1873...
Your opponent says: Lincoln died in 1865.
You say: You're begging the question.

You say: Liberians, like most Asians...
Your opponent says: Liberia is in Africa.
You say: You're being defensive.

Compare your opponent to Adolf Hitler.
This is your heavy artillery, for when your opponent is obviously right and you are spectacularly wrong.

Bring Hitler up subtly. Say, "That sounds suspiciously like something Adolf Hitler might say," or "You certainly do remind me of Adolf Hitler."
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Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Meet the old boss, same as the new boss (Part II)

This started out as a comment on Tony's blog, but I was impressing myself so much that I decided to post it here instead (take that Tony! Hah, really stuck it to ya. Yeah, there's more where that came from!).

Anyway, in Tony's post today he broke down the political masturbation that was the YearlyKos Konvention (ugh, I threw up a little in my mouth just typing that)
the progressive B.S. spouted by Hillary and Obama and all of the other Kool-Aid drinking lefty political bloggers was just too much for folks in KC to believe.
It seems displays like those of Clinton and Barack have (rightly) reinvigorated Tony's sense of jaded apathy toward national politics.
...our political system is completely corrupt and each new reformer only gets compromised and tarnished for their efforts which rarely elicit any significant change.
Whoa, what a flash of insight! Welcome to 20 years ago, Tony. I hate to say I told you so, but...

Just kidding man. Just bustin' your chops (no homo). But seriously, one of the things I find perversely comforting is that when it comes to politics in this country, you always know everyone is on the take.

Every eight years or so, there's a political El Nino in this country, where everyone suddenly realizes that the revolution has become the establishment. The reformers have become the corrupted. Suddenly, the members of the left or right teams are so shocked and appalled at the gall and temerity of the other team that "action must be taken. We can't allow this to continue."

So we get what we had last November, or 1996 or 2000 or whatever. Sure, it can be frustrating if you buy into the "team" concept of politics. But if you can look at the big picture and realize that aside from a few hundred billion dollars spent on the odd military action every few years nothing of consequence ever changes, well, there's a certain comfort in that.

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YouTube Tuesday: I'm an hour early

Actually, since 3 o'clock AM central is 4 o'clock A.M. eastern, I guess I'm right on schedule for a conspiracy theory.



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Monday, August 06, 2007

KGB Carnival for August 6: Schweaty Balls edition

You wanna know what it's like in Kansas these days? It's hot, damn hot. So hot you can make a batch of Schweaty Balls with very little effort.

And the heat is oppressive, as many of the posts in this week's Kansas Guild of Bloggers carnival attest. Lots of heavy, brooding posts, but a few people are finding fun things to blog about.

Anyway, here's what I've come up with for this week.
Well, there you have it. It's too damn hot for more than this, though if you know of something I've missed, drop me an email or a comment and I'll be sure to get it added.

Be sure to keep your eye out for Kansas-related blog posts and submit them for next week's carnival. Until then, try to stay cool Kansas.

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Friday, August 03, 2007

Congratulations The D!


Congratulations to The D for totally dominating the competition in Emawkc's Second Annual Blog Anagram Game!!!

This was the best Emawkc's Second Annual Blog Anagram Game!!! ever. Thanks to everyone who participated. I only wish that everyone could win, but then we'd be a bunch of damn dirty hippies.

Anyway, have a great weekend everyone!
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Friday Blogthing: JD would so hate me







What will you get busted for?
You'll be busted for ... Excessive noise from your rocking party

'What will you get busted for?' at QuizGalaxy.com

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Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Man grabs a log* II

That's right. It's that time again. Back by popular demand...

It's (cue the Monty Python theme music...)
Quantcast
Emawkc's Second Annual Blog Anagram Game!!!

If you missed last year's anagram game, here's how it works: Below is a list of 10 blog titles in anagram form (anigramified, if you will). Your assignment, should you choose not to puss out, is to decode the anagrams and leave a comment with the answer.

Each time someone correctly decodes a title, you get a point. I'll link to the respective blog once its anagrammed title has been decoded. The commenter with the most points will win bragging rights, link love and lots of fabulous prizes**.

Oh, and to make things a little easier, all of the animgramified blogs below are listed in the blogroll to the left. And to make things even a little more easier, none of the blogs used last year are used this year.

It's fun, see?

Okay, here are this year's anagrams. Good luck.
  1. We bred my spy
  2. Oh Mr. Mint, freestanding lush
  3. We'll helm hell lice
  4. Why so ass?
  5. Less elk limbs
  6. Whip guru, buy absinthe
  7. Mr. Bear fob
  8. Turd heels
  9. How Lewd, Newton
  10. Do a yolk pitch
*Yes, the title of this post is actually and anagram for "blog anagrams" -- cute eh?
**As usual, no actual prizes will be given. You should know me better than that.
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Shooting at the flames

When I was about 10 or 12, some mischievous kids accidentally set our dog's doghouse on fire with bottle rockets.

They had painted a target around the door of the doghouse, and were making a game of shooting the bottle rockets at the target, trying to get them through the door. It's harder than you would think... I'd imagine.

We never figured out who the mischievous offenders were, but my friend and I were the first on the scene when the dog house caught fire from the straw and bedding inside. We had the presence of mind to get the garden hose and - even though it wasn't us who set the thing on fire - try to put out the flames.

When my dad came running out of the house, he was yelling at us to shoot the water inside the doghouse, not at the flames as they were coming out the door.

You see, my dad new what Kansas Republicans seem to have forgotten. That when your house is burning, it's no good to shoot the flames. You have to shoot the water at the source of the fire, the fuel.

When the state GOP created its new "loyalty committee" to try to stop moderate Republicans from having anything to do with Democrats, they continued to shoot at the political flames. They thing the measure will prop up their party (I say "their" party because I would probably be considered a disloyal Republican).

They think they can bully members into not supporting Democrats for local and state offices, even if a Democrat is a better choice.
"There are times where the party needs to unite under just one banner," Kansas Republican Party executive director Christian Morgan said Monday.

"At the very base level, if you can’t get county officers and district officers, if you can't get them to stop backing Democrats, then you have serious problems," Morgan said.

Morgan is right about one thing, there is a serious problem. But the problem isn't disloyal Republicans, it's that the Republican party is out of touch with what is becoming a majority of the state.

To paraphrase Leia Organa, the more they try to tighten their grip on what members can do/say, the more members will slip through their fingers.

Rather than try to hamstring party members, the Republican leadership needs to take a hard, honest look at their constituency. Try to figure out why a Republican would want to help a Democrat get elected in the first place. Address the issue at the core of the fire, rather than just shoot at the flames.

If they can't do that, their house will continue to burn down.

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