You're either with us or we'll betray you

Paul Krugman today: "Apologists can shout all they like that no laws were broken, that hardball politics is nothing new, or whatever. The fact remains that officials close to both Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush leaked the identity of an undercover operative for political reasons. Whether or not that act was illegal, it was clearly unpatriotic."

I saw a speech last night on C-Span where Bill Clinton essentially called George Bush's budget policies immoral. It was beautiful. Essentially he said that borrowing from China to sponsor his tax cut was unethical. I almost cheered.

You can say what you want about Clinton but the guy can talk in front of a crowd. It was amazing to watch him speak knowledgeably about economics and taxation. You just sit there and think, "damn, this guy knows what the hell he's talking about." And then you see Howdy Doody come on TV later and bumble his way through a script and your brain almost freezes. They say that in America anyone can become president but I think there really should be some kind of aptitude test you must pass before you can declare your candidacy. That way we would be assured a president that doesn't bring out in me a desire to drive a pencil into both my eardrums each time he speaks.

Crossing Over

I still won't get a cell phone until they are crystal clear and no longer give you brain cancer but I did cross one modern Rubicon today. I joined Netflix. I realized that there were so many old TV shows and concerts and documentaries out there that I hadn't seen that getting Netflix was just too dang convenient to resist any longer. I have found myself buying a couple of DVD's that later I wish I had merely rented. Netflix will help with that.

On a buying note, yesterday was pay day so I went to Manifest and bought the Concert for Bangladesh DVD. I admit openly that I skipped over the Ravi Shankar portion and went straight to the George Harrison and Friends segment. I promise that one day I will sit and watch Ravi's set. Not today, maybe not tomorrow, Monday's not looking too good either but soon I will watch it. The DVD is spectacular and I'm glad I bought it. It's definately worth watching again. I was surprised by how good the all-star band was. There is a segment with Billy Preston singing a rollicking gospel song and he just jumps up from behind his keyboard and dances in front of the band. It looked unrehearsed. During that song the band was at its tightest of the evening. George sings a few songs off All Things Must Pass and a couple of Beatles tunes, Leon Russell does a medley of Jumpin' Jack Flash and Youngblood, Ringo Starr sings a song, Bob Dylan comes out and plays whatever he feels like at that moment, George comes back and sings a couple more and the show ends. Very nice. The more I see of George the more impressed by him I am. Such and interesting and good person, it seems.

I guess he wasn't listening

Several months ago, heck, it may have been over a year ago, I outlined my idea for the next Rocky movie. I thought it would be a brilliant Oscar-nominating move to have Stallone portray Rocky as a down and out shell of himself who is struggling with brain damage caused by his brutal boxing style. People would have ate that up. It would have made dough and Stallone would get critical acclaim. What more could a Hollywood figure need more than praise and green backs? It was perfect.

As it turns out the next Rocky movie is going to be just as dumb as every one made after the first one. Ooooh, a Rocky comeback. Jesus, he's come back more than Sugar Ray Leonard.

Please don't come to my program

I had to cancel my teen writers night tonight because the board of elections is using the room I need for their early voting duties. Most of the volunteers for the board of elections are senior ladies who I like to refer to as the brides of democracy. I was able to contact all of the regulars that attend the writers group. One young man who was supposed to be attending his first meeting I could not contact because I didn't have his number. So from five thirty until six tonight I was sitting here at the reference desk praying that this kid doesn't show up so I wouldn't have to tell him he came by for no reason. He didn't show. The little bastard.

'Bout damn time

I've been keeping my eye on this Bush administration and it's looking to me like these fellas might crash pretty hard soon. Comeupance may be upon these sorry bastards. Of course Bush could probably eat a baby on live television and people would still support him because at least he didn't abort the baby and had it baptised before he ate it.

Mark Twain and The Warriors

My roommate wasn't home when I got in from work last night. Cool, I love having the place to myself. I had it to myself all weekend so this was like a bonus private evening. First thing I did was pop in the new game for the ole Xbox, The Warriors. Remember the Warriors? That's right, there is a video game version of the movie. Some of the original actors return to do voice work also. I'm in heaven. So I blew about an hour last night bopping my way through Coney Island and China Town. After that I broke out the sharp cheddar cheaseball I bought the other night and smeared a few Triscuits with the magnificence of cheese and watched a couple of innings of the world series.

It's funny, I have had no interest at all in baseball's post season this year. Every year, it seems, I am less interested in what happens in the world of baseball. I guess there are so many options available in this crazy modern world and you can only have so many interests. Football and NASCAR are enough for me. Honestly, if follow more than two major sports you are out of control.

After a couple of innings of the game I went to my room and broke out the awesome new Mark Twain biography by Ron Powers. I heard the guy speak on Diane Rehm rencently and I put the book on hold as soon as I got to work. I love it when I hear an author on the radio and know right away that I am going to read his or her book. That happened for the first time several years ago when I first heard Mary Doria Russell speak about her first novel, The Sparrow. I was just starting to listen to NPR and discovering such a good author really cinched the deal.

So far in the Twain bio Samuel Clemens is a teenager still living in Hannibal, MO and is working as a typesetter for a local newspaper. I'm really going to enjoy immersing myself in the life of Mark Twain for the next couple of weeks. This book is a biggun with small print. It's going to take a while, I can tell.

Pay for online news?

I went ahead and did it. I kept my subscription to the New York Times online edition. They call it Times Select. Ewwwwww, fancy. I guess full access to the current paper and their archives back to 1980 at 8 bucks a month is not a bad deal. Of course I have access to the archives via our online resources at work but I still think it's a good deal. I have spent more money on much less enlightening items on the internet than this NY Times subscription, believe me. I consider it money well spent. Now excuse me while I jump over to Ebay and search for more Godzilla figurines.

Dammit to hell

I heard that Anne Rice was putting a new novel out about Jesus. I got really excited. I thought maybe she would make Jesus gay (or gayer depending on your view) or a bigamist or a misunderstood atheist or maybe even a vampire. The possibilities were endless. It turns out though that she found god and is merely writing a serious novelized biobook about Jesus. Crap. I had hope there for a while.

Black and white

Tonight I went and saw the new George Clooney directed movie, "Good night, and Good luck." I would have probably gone to see it even if it hadn't been getting the good reviews it has been since it's shot in black and white. If I remember correctly it is only the third black and white film I have seen on the big screen. Several years ago I saw Casablanca at the Manor. A few months ago I saw the original Godzilla at the Manor. "Good Night, and Good Luck" is also playing at the Manor. Each time I go see a movie I the Manor I say to myself that I should come here more often. It's a darling old theater and I'm glad it's still around. You gotta love the deep dish urinals in the men's room. Only a blind person could miss those things.

You can read a dozen glowing reviews at metacritic. It is all that. What I loved was the fact that it was in black and white. There is one shot in particular that was stunning. David Strathairn, who plays Edward R. Murrow, is facing the camera and you see him only from the chest up. His is sitting to the right on the screen in front of a plain white wall and he is shadowed. His face the wall are two different shades of gray. In the bottom left corner of the screen is a reading lamp. It burns into the screen like half a moon. The shot is striking. It's the best shot I've seen since "Million Dollar Baby."

Safari

One of the strangest places on this planet, to me, is the make up counter at your local Belks. It's brightly lit, lined with heavily made up woman holding bottles of expensive product and house music thumps, barely audible in the background. The aromas of all the perfumes hover as one indistinct presence that gets in my eyes and threatens to close my breathing tube. It makes me wonder if there is some kind of black lung disease equivalent for the make up counter worker. (Searching for an appropriate neologism and coming up empty). Pink lung disease? That might work.

I was in Belk's to buy undies and I was trying to stride through the make up area as quickly as possible. The heavily made up faces are just creepy. What did John Lennon say? "We make her paint her face and dance." One of the women actually offered me a sample card. Was it cologne? Her phone number? A pocket mirror? Sometimes with the heavy makeup and bright light in there I expect the whole lot of them to break into a song and dance routine like out of a movie musical. The next time I go in there it would be fun for me if they started singing and dancing to "Springtime for Hitler."

Still think George Bush doen't totally fucking suck?

"If I as an officer think we're not even following the Geneva Conventions, there's something wrong. If officers witness all these things happening, and don't take action, there's something wrong. If another West Pointer tells me he thinks, 'Well, hitting somebody might be okay,' there's something wrong."
82nd Airborne officer, describing confusion in Iraq concerning allowable interrogation techniques.

Movie night: Dying on the vine

Tonight I took twenty valuable minutes of my precious time to set up the meeting room for the teen movie night. Until the last couple of months the movie night has been rolling along pretty well. The last two times, nothing. I was showing Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke. Unfortunately nobody showed up for the second straight time. I'm concerned.

If you haven't seen any of Miyazaki's films you should run out and rent one. Go ahead and start with "Spirited Away." You can't go wrong there. The man is a genius. He doesn't tell stories, he creates mythology.

New scare tactics

This quarter's new scary enemy via your federal gov'ment: Illegal aliens!

Homeland Security douche: "Our goal at DHS (Homeland Security) is to completely eliminate the 'catch and release' enforcement problem, and return every single illegal entrant, no exceptions.

It should be possible to achieve significant and measurable progress to this end in less than a year," Chertoff told a Senate hearing.

And don't forget this crucial issue.

Of course the only true solution to this is to elevate the living conditions in the countries these people are coming from and to work with the rest of the world to improve international relations so illegals that do come through won't be possible terrorist suspects. Of course that would makes sense and take time and wouldn't help Sue Myrick win another election. You gotta love these dinks.

Howdy

My hits have spiraled recently. What's the deal? Did a bunch of visitors die? Have I become uninteresting that quickly? Well, at least I am still above average in height. That's all that really matters.

Did you see the NASCAR race that took place in Charlotte the other night? The owners of the track took a grinder to the surface and smoothed it out. They were hoping this would provide better grip and faster speeds with side by side racing. Turns out the cars ended up going so fast that side by side racing was impossible and tires were wearing out and blowing at a rate twice that of their fuel consumption. Every 20 to 30 laps a car would have a tire blow, causing it to smash into the outside retaining wall and bringing out a caution.

These conditions provided possibly the sorriest display of racing that NASCAR has shown the world since that year in Talladega they put 60 cars on the track causing a wreck that ended the career of Wendell Scott. I swear to god, NASCAR is playing with fire. One of these days something like restrictor plates or bad track management is going to cause a nasty little human disaster on television and they are going to get the shit sued out of them by the families of dead fans and they could jeopardize everything they have gained in the last twenty years. It boggles the mind. Sometimes NASCAR is like baseball because both sports seem to survive and flourish sometimes despite the best efforts of those that run them.

I hope that someday the drivers will band together in some way and protest the unsafe conditions they are sometimes forced to race under. It's crazy that these guys allowed themselves to be put into a situation where their already dangerous sports becomes even more dangerous and they don't let out a peep. Of course they've been doing that since the late 80's at restrictor plate tracks so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. C'mon NASCAR drivers, strike!

Cat Highway

The second leg of the cat highway is in and the little buggers are finally using it. In fact two of the kitties got up there last night and had a boxing match. Since they were above my head it was like watching Godzilla fight another giant monster to be named later.

Must...have...this

I can't begin to say how much I want this poster. I would destory a small third world village just to have this poster. Which makes me much different than our government who will destroy a small third world village for the fuck of it.


Wha?

You know, these comments by our horrible, horrible president about Miers not legislating from the bench are confusing. The mere act of voting on a case that comes before the supreme court is legislation. You are affecting the law of this nation. Legislating. What he means, I guess, is that she will not be an activist judge which in his parlance means any justice that does not vote the way he thinks they should. I gots no problem with her not being a judge before but I think her being his pal since his days in Texas is enough to twist my guts into a knot. Cronyism that destroys FEMA is fine in my book but it should not extend to the supreme court, fer chrissakes.

Yesterday I went to lunch

I scooted out the back door of the library that exits from the circulation workroom. Outside the temperature was right around seventy and a mist hung in the air. As the droplets drifted out the sky they continusously hit my bare skin it was like being touched constantly by tiny people with cold hands. The light fog and mist reminded me of being in Monterey, CA. I passed the brick building that houses the office drones and scrambled up the grass embankment and veered right toward Borders. Inside Borders the poor saps still had on their headsets. I think there might be some kind of repetitive ear stress you could get from sticking an earpiece in there all day. If you see someone with a red raw ear they are either secret service or they work at Borders. I went upstairs to the A/V section to see if they had the Wallace and Grommit DVD in yet. No dice. After that I moseyed over to the Harris Teeter and visited the pasta bar for the third time in less than ten days. You get to pick a pasta style, a sauce, two veggies and a meat for five bucks. They cook it right in front of you and they sprinkle fresh parmesan on it. It weighs about a pound and it will satiate a grown man, believe me. After that I headed back to the 'brary and sat in the break room eating my pasta dish and reading the New York Times Book Review.

Torturer in Chief

Is this for real? I can't believe this piece of shit is president. The president of what is supposed to be the greatest and most liberty lovin' country in the world is going to veto a bill that won't allow him to torture people anymore?

On a lighter note

History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man...

Got that bad boy in the mail the other day.

Those poor bastards

I've heard from many sources over the years that working at Borders kinda sucks. I have never doubted the veracity of these statements because working at Borders means you are working in retail and retail just plain sucks. Ask Chris, who when he got his dream job at a local record store chain, realized right away that although it was a nice record store with great management it was still retail so in a way, it kinda sucked.

Today at lunch I went to Borders. I like to go upstairs and browse in the DVD section. They have a shelf of new releases that they keep current and I liked to keep up with what is coming out. Right as I entered Borders I noticed that every employee at the registers was wearing an earpiece that connected to a transmitter at their belt. Upstairs the associate at the help desk had one also. I asked him what was up with the communicators. He said it's a new thing and they have to wear them now. I chuckled and he didn't look too enthused.

C'mon, whose idea was that? I bet two months from now all those communicators will be in the garbage.

What gives?

I don't want to come off as some stodgy old librarian but when I was younger I wasn't even allowed in the adult area of the library until I hit my teens. Today I think there may be more dang kids in the adult area than there are downstairs in childrens. Hey, if you are sitting at the internet and your baby is crying it may be disturbing all those other people trying to read. Knucklehead.

First leg of the highway

This wasn't so hard. I think I'll add more to it every few weeks until I have a kitty mass transit system in the apartment.

A quiz

1) "There's always a temptation in the middle of a long struggle to seek the quiet life, to escape the duties and problems of the world..."

This is:
A. President Bush speaking about peace-nik commie queer baits who oppose his ill-conceived war in Iraq.
B: President Bush recalling his glory days of hiding in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam war while real patriots spilled their blood 10,000 miles from home.

2) "We are facing a radical ideology with immeasurable objectives to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world."

This is:
A. President Bush's narrow view of the so-called opponents we can barely identify.
B. How the majority of people in the Muslim world view this douche bag we call president.

Did you ever wonder what would happen if...

Let's say a 13-foot python killed and ate a six-foot alligator and then his stomach exploded. What would that look like?

Lord Help Us

"In the White House that hero worshipped the president, Miers was distinguished by the intensity of her zeal: She once told me that the president was the most brilliant man she had ever met."

Anyone who may have made such a statement, whether sincerely or in a sycophantically does not need to be on the Supreme Court. A man who can't speak in complete sentances in public cannot possibly be the most brilliant man anyone has ever met.

Lead by dividing

"Voters in Oregon have twice endorsed doctor-assisted suicide, but the Bush administration has aggressively challenged the state law, the only one of its kind in the nation."

OK, it's perfectly accaptable to kill 100,000 Iraqis and sacrifice 2,000 American service peoples but if you want to die if you are suffering from a terminal illness that would be immoral? Fucking asshole.

I was a-wonderin'

I saw an article on Drudge that 109 oil platforms had been destroyed in the Gulf of Mexico by the two recent hurricanes. I thought 109 seemed like a lot of oil platforms so I tried to find out how many oil platforms existed in the Gulf of Mexico. So far I've been able to fin in a 2004 Houston Chronicle article that "more than 100 companies operate the thousands of oil and gas platforms in the Gulf."

More information as I gather it...

Momma dogface banana patch

I think I am going to go straight edge. From now on the most toxic substance that will enter my body is pizza or if I fall into Sugar Creek, sewage.

Big weekend in the National Flounder Patrol. The NFP is the fantasy football league I am in that has been running now for about six or seven years with the same five person core. We've have had a few people fall in and out over the years but the NFP has maintained its identity for a while now. One season Tom even joined us. He drafted a team made up of only players that had Muslim-sounding names. He did surprisingly well. This weekend the average spread of victory between opponents was 4.5 points and no team lost by more than 6.5 points. How's that for parity?

I see that the NASCAR race at Talladega was just how the NASCAR brass likes it, full of wrecks and carnage. I swear things will not change at Talladega until someone dies. That is what it is going to take for NASCAR to get rid of restrictor plates. Just like my cable choices, if NASCAR really wanted to fix what is going on at this track they would have long ago. If they claim that restrictor plates are the best solution they are bullshitting, lying and full of shit.

I hard the last twenty minutes of the president's "press conference" this morning. I swear, hearing the softball questions these hand picked reporters toss to this guy is just shocking. They are a bunch of goddman pussies.

I am going to make a kitty highway out of 1X6's in my apartment. I figure if after so many years the bastards won't put in new carpet or paint the place then I am going to start some heavy construction. The future is now.

The Army rocks?

You have got to be fucking kidding.

More proof that George W. Bush is shit

"Although its title might sound more like a Judas Priest album than a political thriller, "Metal Storm" offers a highly realistic account of an American war with Turkey. In the grand tradition of the cold-war farce "The Mouse That Roared," the book describes a series of baroque plot twists that result in Turkey's humbling the American military behemoth. To be sure, the book is trashy - its wild speculations include a shadow ruler behind the unnamed American president and arms smuggling via the Mexican drug mafia - and readers are presumably taking it with a grain of salt. Yet it's a sign of how far America's reputation has plummeted that "Metal Storm," first published in late 2004, is now in its eighth printing of 50,000. The book is said to be very popular with the Turkish military, and men aged 18 to 30."

Golf Conversation

Thursday I played golf with Chris. I have two buds named Chris and it gets mighty confusing when blogging. He's the Chris that my friend Beth refers to as "the Chris that says fuck all the time." The other Chris we can just call "the one big loud guy." Any person that knows them both will find these descriptions apt.

We played golf at Revolution Park Golf. This was the second time we played there. It's on the west side of town off Remount Road. It's a nine hole public course and it's fun and challenging. Last time we were there was July and then about half the greens were in terrible shape with a bare spots and uneven grass. They fixed that problem so the place is perfect now.

We started in the afternoon and in the middle of the third hole it started raining. We finished the hole quickly and parked the cart under some trees and waited for about 20 minutes for the rain to quit. For a while there we thought we were hosed but it started getting lighter and when the rain stopped it didn't come back. The sky slowly cleared up, it got a little warmer and turned in the perfect afternoon. It was the first time I had been on a golf course during a rain delay and the transformation the course went throught from cloudy and rainy to warm and sunny was dramatic. Hole number 8 is a long uphill par 5 with a wooded area to your right and a line of trees going up the fairway to the left. You have to drive the ball from the tee over a wooded creek. By now it is pushing six o'clock and the sun is going down slow to our left and the fairway grass is releasing into the air the moisture deposited by the rain shower. For a while with the reddish light and the steam coming off the turf it felt like early morning instead of the late afternoon. Even driving my tee shot into the woods along the creek was not enought to ruin my appreciation of the beauty of the golf course for that 30 minutes.

The conversation part

At hole six I actually out drove Chris off the tee with a nice long straight tee shot. Chris admired it and said "Wow, that was your best tee shot since...uhh...ever."