April 8, 2007 to April 14, 2007
Wherein you are coming to a sad realization
posted by bill at 7:34 AM
Sunday, April 08, 2007
email: dontreadmeATgmailDOTcom
Previous Posts
- April 1, 2007 to April 7, 2007
- March 25 to March 30
- March 18 to March 24
- March 11, 2007 to March 17, 2007
- January 27, 2007 to February 3, 2007
- What the hell do you people want anyway?
- Now this is a musical worthy of winning awards
- If it isn't Scottish it's crap!
- A eulogy for a hauntingly sad naval officer
- Five from Fishbone
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Ah, that never gets old.
? Blogger?
If that's a question directed to the previous comments, the answer is no. In fact, they reference nothing.
Let's see who has been paying attention. The secret word is the first name of the world's worst singer. The one I've claimed Styx is more authentically Americana. Use no more than 5 u's.
Or not. Feel free to ignore.
The Althouse post is just too damned long to read on a Monday morning. Blogger codes of conduct? Bleah, I say, bleah!
But I know the secret word. I'm just not sure if I should give it away so soon.
Bill, were you the person that wrote about how that particular singer always managed to be singing about topics that were at least ten years out of date? Songs about the joys of the American car when Detroit was putting out nothing but crap, anti-Vietnam songs in the 1980s, etc?
Wasn't me, but I fully support the sentiment.
Okay, I take it back. The Althouse thread is going to be fun. I'm kind of miffed though that I covered all of the grounds for skepticism a year ago and I'm not getting any credit for it. I'm feeling like XWL....
More on what's wrong with the WKRP DVD and suggestions on what would have been acceptable.
Huh, that's twice in the last 7-10 days I've been pull-quoted (ouch!) at Althouse. Too bad I can't use that kind of street cred like trading stamps and pick up some drinking glasses.
The one I've claimed Styx is more authentically Americana.
There are so many words missing from that that I declare it unsalvageable.
My Blogger Code: B6 d- t- k s+ u f i-- o x-- e- l- c+
ALOTT5MA links to Joshua Bell playing his Stradivarius in the subway station.
Me: I'd also think most people could recognize the very good from the competent, but doubt that most could identify the genius from the very good.
Did you know the Violent Femmes were discovered busking by The Pretenders? The 20th anniversary CD of the Violent Femmes debut album includes this interview with Michael Feldman, from his show, Whad'ya Know? not much.
*********************
Feldman: The time has come ladies and gentlemen. A real rags-to-rags story. Rags-to riches, I hope. Three young men who play acoustic rock and roll were playing on a sidewalk in Milwaukee before a Pretenders' show, when who should come along but two of the Pretenders. But they for real and they recognized raw talent when they saw it. Those gentlemen are with us today. From Milwaukee, will you welcome please, the Violent Femmes.
applause
Feldman: These guys have fun when they play, too. The Violent Femmes: Gordon Gano (Feldman pronounced it as GAH-no) on...
Gano: Actually, it's GAY-NO.
Feldman: Good, it's better that way...on guitar and vocals. You write the songs...
Gano: ah-uh...
Feldman:...that make the young girls cry. And Victor Delorenzo on drums. Also known as the atomic hand, the former Atomic Hand from Theater X in Milwaukee. Victor, nice to have you here. Brian Ritchie, on bass. What kind of a bass is it? That's an inflated bass there.
Ritchie: It's an acoustic Mariachi bass.
Feldman: A Mariachi bass, uh? Very nice.
a few seconds skipped over
Feldman: Why on the streets?
Ritchie: Why not?
Feldman: Excellent answer, don't you think? I love those types of answers, they really are thought provoking. But, I mean, what is the kick of playing on the sidewalk for people.
Ritchie: Well, I think it's probably exciting in a way that we have this immediate reaction from people because they're walking by and they see us playing and they have to respond to us in some fashion. It's not every day, at least in Milwaukee, that you see musician's playing in the street.
Delorenzo And we take the music to the audience rather than the audience coming to us. So we reach a wider variety of people.
Ritchie: We play on buses and everything.
Gano: We can't get regular gigs. That's the truth, though. Forget all this stuff, we can't get the regular gigs.
Feldman: How long have you been standing in front of the drug store?
Ritchie: We've been playing for about seven and a half months. Not outside all the time.
Feldman: What was it like opening for the Pretenders? It must have been a little disconcerting.
Gano: It was fun.
Feldman: Yeah?
Ritchie: Actually, we were too taken off-guard by the whole thing. We never expected. Well, Chrissie asked us to do the show...
Feldman: Oh, it's Chrissie to you, is it?
Ritchie: Well, Chris. Chris is how she introduced herself to us.
Feldman: Does she ask about me?
Ritchie: No. She's pretty upset from what we hear.
Gano: Something about your posture. (guessing that's a joke to something earlier in the show.)
Feldman: So they caught your act on the street and asked you to open that same night in August?
Ritchie: That's right. August the 23rd.
Feldman: August the 23rd and that night three stars were born.
Ritchie: Sort of.
Feldman: How does the future look now for the Violent Femmes?
Ritchie: Really bad.
Feldman: Too bad, you had it, uh? A flash in the pan.
Delorenzo: We had our chance and we blew it.
Feldman: I hear you're going to New York.
Ritchie: There's a contract out on us.
Feldman: How did you hear that?
Ritchie: I hear these things, Michael.
Feldman: I figure we can say these things with impunity because we're in Milwaukee.
Ritchie: We've had some contact with a record company New York. Shake Records. And the president, Alan Betrock, is interested in us. We're going to do some work with him.
Feldman: Betrock?
Ritchie: Betrock.
Feldman: Get on the ground floor with Betrock. Sounds good. Let's hear once more from the Violent Femmes.
Is it just me, or did Althouse used to actually link when she quoted commenters whom she knew had blogs?
She certainly hasn't been the past few months, that I can recall.
I think you're right. If I were to remark unkindly I might say that to do so would remove the attention from herself.
I have a fever and the only cure is more banjo.
The cowbell has been done to death, but what about the banjo. I thinking of pop music, or at least not bluegrass or country music. I wouldn't include Dolly Parton's version of Stairway to Heaven because I expect Dolly to have banjos.
I need some help, here. I bring this up because I can name just two. There has to be more. Going by this interview, sound like some Barenaked Ladies songs use banjo. I can't verify that.
Here's the two I have:
Busting Up a Starbucks, Mike Doughty, has a few seconds.
Corporate Logic, Stereoliza
This is Tuesday Trivia XLI, which means that someday historians will be distinguishing between this week's installment and the April 24 quiz by calling them "Trivia 41" and "Trivia 43." Dear imaginary historians: I prefer "Trivia pere" and "Trivia fils," if you don't mind.
1. Oboe. Oh, I just bought one of these for The Daughter.
2. Erica jong was my inital guess, though that didn't seem "appropriate." No luck with google.
3. Tina Fey? Nope, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, March 17, 2007
4. ???. Ok, golfer slang, not something I feel bad about not knowing.
5. Carter. Crap, it's Johnson.
6. D'oh. List of deserts.
7. What do these chemical elementa--and no others--have in common? Pretty sure they're all in my drinking water.
Big. Giant. Ostrich. Egg.
The Sunday menu
Had a few people over, here's the spread we put out.
1. Smoked ham from BBQ1. Yum. Having a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch and I'm looking forward to using the bone for some navy bean soup.
2. Chicken and cheese in puff pastry. Remove the meat from a roasted chicken from the grocery deli (or in this case, Costco). Mix with a couple cups of shredded cheese (a 4-cheese blend is nice), and a couple containers of Alouette Herb and Garlic cheese. Roll out a couple sheets of puff pastry, fill with mix, bake for 20-25 minutes.
3. Veggies and cheese in puff pastry. Same thing, but instead of chicken used diced broccoli, yellow squash, and zucchini. Note: scrape out the seeds.
4. The SoQuoted famous broccoli cole slaw made with an Asian vinaigrette.
5. Fresh fruit with ginger. A recipe from Shirley O. Corriher. Fill a giant bowl with oranges, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, cantalope, honeydew, crystallized ginger. Cover with a ginger syrup which is basically a simple syrup infused with fresh ginger. Let it sit overnight before serving. Amazing. Still have a little left over that I'll use to make smoothies tonight.
6. Homemade pita chips.
7. Served with a pepper jelly and cream cheese spread. We use the Harry & David Pepper and Onion Relish, but any like item should be fine...and cheaper. The Wife spread some of this on a ham sandwich and proclaimed it genius.
8. Mimosas made with Asti & Spumanti sparkling wine and a splash of peach nectar.
I'll just miss Adam at Disney World.
More Easter food. I forgot about the butterfly cakes on a cloud of homemade cotton candy.
Cake: Covered the bottom of a sheet pan with parchment paper, then poured in cake mix. Spread evenly. Bake and cool, then cut out circles with a biscuit cutter. Cut in half and turn each half 180 degrees so the straight sides were on the outside. Notched the "wings" and covered with cool whip. Placed a gummy worm for the butterfly body and decorated the wings with halved jelly beans.
Cotton candy: we have a cotton candy machine.
I'll try to remember to post a few things about the WDW parks sometime in the next few days. I must disagree with you about something though: the Safari ride at DAK is fantastic, even if the 'story' is kind of lame. (They are going to be removing even more of the 'story' about poachers soon. They may have already done so. The original version, which I was lucky to see, was actually pretty good, but it left the small children in tears.)
The problem with the Safari ride is that it is HIGHLY variable, given the nature of using live animals. We've riden it and barely seen any animals, and then riden it again 15 minutes later (slow days, obviously) and seen everything. We got charged by a rhino once! (Okay, not really charged. It just happened to be running in the direction of our bus when we came around a bend. They don't seen very well.) We once had a giraffe almost stick its head into the bus. And then there was the time we caught a glimpse of a frisky bull elephant. (That would have been an ego bruising moment even for John Holmes.)
We've also seen numerous baby elephants, and there's a brand new baby giraffe at the park that should be making its debut later this month. Really, sometimes that ride is great, although other times not so much.
One other thing, in case I forget. (I'll post this comment at Throwing Things too.) If you're staying at a Disney Resort, don't forget that to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours that are only available for Resort Guests. That extra hour in the morning or evening could prove useful. (Obviously, with small children that hour in the evening would be better after a trip back to the resort for a nap. Maybe for the adults too.)
Thanks for the info. I need to send you an email about some other stuff and I'll try to get to it tonight.
Our main problem with the Safari ride is that it never stopped and barely slowed down. There was plenty of wildlife to take pictures of, we just never stopped bouncing long enough to take a shot. DAK was by far the most disappointing spot of our first visit and we completely skipped it during our second. We're going back this time, but just to catch two of the live shows and eat at the Lodge.
I'm basing my safari experience on the Minnesota Zoological Garden and Lion Country Safari. For Minnesota, the walking path is set up to get you close to the animals and there's a monorail that would cover even more territory. The monorail stopped more than the Animal Kingdom bus. Shoot, the Jungle Cruise boat slowed down more often.
For Lion Country Safari--and here we're talking about 77-78--we drove through it at our own pace and had lions 10 feet from the car. Somewhere I have pictures of an ostrich pecking our window and the car in front of us surrounded by elephants. I've heard that type of "intimacy" is no longer allowed, still I don't think we could have been more disappointed in the DAK ride. It's a Small World was more entertaining.
This is the type of thing you get once you give into speech codes and outlawing discourteous behavior:
Mr Nayar publicly disowned his son and daughter-in-law last week after claiming he and other Indian guests at the wedding were made to feel like a "second-class citizens" in comparison with the European guests at the lavish do. If found guilty of a "deliberate and malicious act" against the religion, both Hurley and her husband, Arun, face a possible three-year jail sentence.
He's suing Elizabeth Hurley because she didn't take her shoes off at her own wedding.
And: The case is reported to be based on section 295 A of the Indian Penal code, which deals with the intention to outrage the feelings of Hindus by insulting their religious and ritualistic beliefs.
Ah, I think he's suing in India for the Hindu Blessing, not in England for the actual wedding. Source: Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, the retired businessman claimed they were made to feel like "second-class citizens" at the couple's English wedding, at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire, and their Hindu blessing at the Meherangarh Fort in Rajasthan last month.
I think that's it for celebrity news. Back to work on the book proposal for "Boris, the Russian Monopod." I'm envisioning a series of children's books. I'll need an illustrator.
I als forgot the cheese straws and macaroons that went in the adult goody bags.
...and I forgot the "o" to complete "also."
Dear Juror,
You were summoned for jury duty on #######, 2007 for a Special Set Case. The case that you were specially called for has been continued to another date. You will not be required to report, and another group of jurors will be summoned for this case at the appropriate time.
Yay! My record of not being called for jury duty is technically still intact. But now I'm kinda curious what I missed.
"I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms Lewinsky."
Just a thought. Depending on how you interpret Clinton's emphasis as he said it, this could be read as him telling Monica that he wasn't having sexual relations with Mrs. Clinton.
Repeat after me:
AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format. AAC is not an Apple proprietary format.
Name I'd legally change if it was me: Schmuck
I've always wondered how differently the Clinton mess would have been perceived had it been Michael instead of Monica Lewinsky.
Afterall, President Clinton asserted that oral sex isn't "sex", so by that logic, being serviced by a male mouth shouldn't be intrinsically different than being serviced by a female one (and it certainly wouldn't make the suckee gay).
I would imagine a same sex servicing of presidential needs would have received a different response both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Also, speaking of non-Apple AAC players . . .
Product recommendation: Sonnet iPod battery replacement.
The battery on my 3rd generation iPod, after 3 years and almost daily use, is pretty much shot. Not wanting to pay Apple's price to change it, I looked into some DIY places. I'm just trying to make it last until the next generation is released, so I don't want to spend a lot of money on something that's seriously out of warranty.
Sonnet was $19.95 (plus another $9 shipping), and came with two tools and an instruction video. Took me maybe 15 minutes to break it apart, replace the battery, and put it all back together. I cannot stress enough that when it comes to tools I am completely retarded, so the fact I was able to do this means anyone can.
It'll be at least a day before I can report back on the battery life; otherwise, so far, so good.
That's what you often wonder? Interesting.
Finally, my ode to one of the greatest albums ever, Don't Stand Me Down, by Dexys Midnight Runners.
Food Whore:
A man and woman came in yesterday for lunch, he wanted a Cobb salad. But he did not want chicken, bacon, avocado, or blue cheese. Which basically leaves egg and lettuce. To be helpful, his server suggested a less expensive alternative of a plain salad with egg. That made him mad. She apologized. He demanded she bring him the Cobb Salad.
The woman sitting across from him asked if we used clam juice in our clam chowder, and could she get a bowl without clams. Apparently she's allergic to shellfish.
more racial stereotyping
Another link from Daring Fireball to a good article on file formats:
As part of the deal, Apple said it would offer non-protected 256kbps AAC files alongside its current protected 128kbps AAC files.
EMI press officer Dylan Jones says EMI is "format agnostic": it supplies digital masters of songs to music libraries, who then do their own encoding. They could offer 320kbps MP3 or 256kbps WMA (Windows Media Audio) or Sony Atrac or whatever they think they can sell. Music stores are free to choose the encoding and the quality, says Jones, "above a certain level".
Another way of looking at is that the iTunes Store is no longer tied to the iPod (at least for EMI tracks). You've always been able to use the iTunes software to rip your own CD (mp3, if you wanted), manage your music on your computer, and download to any music player. The iPod was not required for that (though it was easier). Any music player that can run AAC can now use the iTunes Store (for EMI tracks); thanks Apple, that's damn nice of you! Someone poke with a stick when I can buy a song from Microsoft to play on my iPod.
Come on, only 11 more comments to top last week's total.
WTF?? Cricket coverage
The ball strikes McCullum's front pad, rebounds behind his bat and is caught by Russel Arnold, the man at silly point. It is not clear whether the Sri Lankan are appealing for a catch or leg before wicket, but the official word later is that it was lbw. McCullum is not best pleased. He says something to umpire Asad Rauf as he leaves the field and shakes his head several times in a show of dissent on the way back to the pavilion which will see him heavily fined or perhaps even banned. "I'm not sure it was the greatest lbw decision in the world, but I am pretty sure McCullum thought he was given out caught," says Ian Smith.
*******************
Vaas returns to bowl the final over but he is a little wayward and he slips one down the legside which is out of reach of Sangakkara, the wicketkeeper, and goes for five wides. Styris hits four off the final ball and another 16 runs come off the last over, making it 38 off the last three. Franklin gave Styris, the centurion, excellent support and the pair shared an unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 64.
*******************
I have an Indian coworker who could probably explain this. If I was interested. I'm not. Also have another coworker who spent much of his childhood in India with his missionary parents. Said the Indians would dink the wicket around in the usual cricket way while the American kids swung for the fences like it was baseball. The Americans usually won.
Controversial, but thought provoking comment for the day.
Frank Sinatra's appeal as a teen singer in the 30s was much like Sanjaya's appeal today (and for much the same reasons).
This comment has been removed by the author.
You have me at a disadvantage with Sanjaya. I know he's a guy with big hair on American Idol.
For Sinatra, I've never been a fan of his singer--he was a much better actor. For his '30s crooner role, I see his appeal as being cleancut and sexually nonthreatening.
Question.
Anyone scrolled down far enough to see my advisory warning in the right panel? I tried placing it under my email, but that wiped out the blogroll. Don't know why, it just did.
I'll probably add it to the post text for next week.
Another question. Have we lost the ability to make potentially insensitive comments without being labeled some sort of [---]ist?
Anyone remember the joke books from the 70s? The ones that would have white jokes in one half, then flip it over to read the black jokes. Pollock, Jewish, Italian, German, Irish, pretty much any demographic you can think of was covered. Looks like Larry Wilde might have been the author of all these. I remember these being insanely popular. Wish I'd kept the couple I owned; bet I could make grown faint by waving them around in public.
Public flagellation is just unseemly.
I must not think bad thoughts
edit: bet I could make grown men faint by waving them around in public.
And women. There I go, discriminating against the fairer sex.
Isn't "fairer sex" also exclusionary language. I mean, women can be total bastards too. And don't forget hermaphrodites.
And by bastards I don't mean to insult children raised out of wedlock.
Not that single parents aren't as capable of raising a child as a two parent household
Or apartmenthold. Or villagehold. Or communehold. Or van down by the riverhold.
We're basically fucked now, aren't we?
Again, I mean no offense against hermaphrodites.
We're basically fucked now, aren't we?
Yes, that's it exactly.
I think I'll be fine though, as long as I can still say "mother f@cker".
Same as it ever was
How about some old news: Master and slave computer labels unacceptable, officials say
It's even a page on Snopes.
Link through at kottke.org: energy analysis of Reusable vs. Disposable Cups. I've been using the same mug at work for about 15 years, so I think I'm ok. Especially since it usually just gets washed after a long weekend. I'll take it home during vacation breaks and run it through the dishwasher, otherwise since it's constantly filled with hot water (tea), I usually just rinse it out in the morning.
Now I'd like to see the energy comparison on my lunch usage. Sometimes I bring my lunch in reusable plastic containers that I take home and throw in the dishwasher. Sometimes I bring my lunch in ziplock bags, these get dumped in a ceramic bowl and the bowl gets handwashed in the sink.
Why I'll watch Drive:
Tully is played by Minear's "Firefly" leading man, Nathan Fillion, sort of a taller, meaner version of Harrison Ford if Ford hadn't had his sense of humor surgically removed in 1983. If there's a reason to go along on this race to an uncertain destination, it's he.
Also, comments like that are why I enjoy reading Alan Sepinwall.
A new feature: Ask Bob Mould a Question.
This week
April 6, 2007
Headline of the day?
If not, it's definately a contender.
Buying a computer in 1982
random quotes:
All six computers we chose (Apple II, Atari 800, IBM Personal Computer, Commodore PET, Radio Shack TRS-80 and Texas Instruments’ 99/4A) have various features in common. For one thing, they’re all programmable in basic, which is the most popular of all * personal-computer languages.
All the computers are specified with floatingpoint basic (which includes decimal numbers and integers), and approximately 48K (48,000 bits) of programmable memory (as much as all but the Apple—64K—and the IBM—256K—will accept).
The one thing not included in our pricing structure is the cost of the color monitor or TV set that you must buy for the color-capable computers.
“Columns” and “characters” are used interchangeably in computer talk.
One thing about computers— they’re all going to fail, sooner or later.
What they liked about the Texas Instruments’ 99/4A: New keyboard should generate interest.
Another product I'd recommend: CLR Power Plumber
"mother f@cker"
What do you have against mothers? Or f@cking, for that matter?
(SHHHHHHHHHHH!!)
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