Coincidences? JFK & Abe Lincoln

By Jack Brummet, Presidents Ed.

I don't know if you remember this ancient (pre-meme) meme, but here it is, slightly updated...

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Blogging X-ray

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Drawing: Faces No. ??? (depends on when it is finished)/Work In Progress)

By Jack Brummet 

[Pencil and pen on 24x38" oval gesso'd masonite]

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Neil Young's biography, "Waging Heavy Peace"

By Jack Brummet, Music Ed.

I just finished Neil Young's autobiography.  Strange, idiosyncratic, amazingly heartfelt, prismatic, pained, hopeful, and passionate.   One thing that really struck me is how, despite everything he has accomplished, Buffalo Springfield (even as briefly as they lasted) was maybe the core music experience of his life, and an experience he wants to relive.  It always seemed like CSNY was a millstone around his neck (and God knows, they went through a lot of garbage) but he truly loves each one of those guys, and goes out of his way to show that.   I go back and forth on his book when I compare it to other rock autobios, but it is utterly fascinating, and not surprisingly, he breaks the mold.



 I like Buffalo Springfield too. But I'd rather Smell The Horse:




Or hear the fellas...

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Watercolor: Bluehead No. 17

By Jack Brummet 

Bluehead No. 17 [watercolor, pen, and pencil on some really bad, cheap paper]

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PPP's conspiracy theory poll results are in. Oh Lord.

By Mona Goldwater, Conspiracy Theory Ed.

Image from www.somecanadianskeptic.com 

Public Policy Polling recently released a stunning new poll on Conspiracy theories.  Below are some of the highlights of their findings.  To find even more detail, jump here to read the complete results.  This is pretty stunning. The next time you're in a crowd, or on a bus, think about these percentages.  Look around your office and realize that one out of ten of them believe the U.S. Government allowed 9/11 to happen, or that one out of seven of them believe that the government or the media adds mind-controlling technology to TV broadcast signals.  As John Sebastian famously said at Woodstock, "this is a mind-f***er of all mindf***ers."

Whew.

From PPP:

Conspiracy Theory Poll Results

"On our national poll this week we took the opportunity to poll 20 widespread and/or infamous conspiracy theories.  Many of these theories are well known to the public, others perhaps to just the darker corners of the internet.  Here’s what we found:"

• 37% of voters believe global warming is a hoax, 51% do not. Republicans say global warming is a hoax by a 58-25 margin, Democrats disagree 11-77, and Independents are more split at  41-51. 61% of Romney voters believe global warming is a hoax
• 6% of voters believe Osama bin Laden is still alive
• 21% of voters say a UFO crashed in Roswell, NM in 1947 and the US government covered it up. More Romney voters (27%) than Obama voters (16%) believe in a UFO coverup
• 28% of voters believe secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian world government, or New World Order.  A plurality of Romney voters (38%) believe in the New World Order compared to 35% who don’t
• 28% of voters believe Saddam Hussein was involved in the 9/11 attacks.  36% of Romney voters believe Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11, 41% do not
• 20% of voters believe there is a link between childhood vaccines and autism, 51% do not
• 7% of voters think the moon landing was faked
• 13% of voters think Barack Obama is the anti-Christ, including 22% of Romney voters
• Voters are split 44%-45% on whether Bush intentionally misled about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. 72% of Democrats think Bush lied about WMDs, Independents agree 48-45, just 13% of Republicans think so
• 29% of voters believe aliens exist
• 14% of voters say the CIA was instrumental in creating the crack cocaine epidemic in America’s inner cities in the 1980’s
• 9% of voters think the government adds fluoride to our water supply for sinister reasons (not just dental health)
• 4% of voters say they believe “lizard people” control our societies by gaining political power
• 51% of voters say a larger conspiracy was at work in the JFK assassination, just 25% say Oswald acted alone
• 14% of voters believe in Bigfoot
• 15% of voters say the government or the media adds mind-controlling technology to TV broadcast signals (the so-called Tinfoil Hat crowd)
• 5% believe exhaust seen in the sky behind airplanes is actually chemicals sprayed by the government for sinister reasons
• 15% of voters think the medical industry and the pharmaceutical industry “invent” new diseases to make money
• Just 5% of voters believe that Paul McCartney actually died in 1966
• 11% of voters believe the US government allowed 9/11 to happen, 78% do not agree

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The staircase to nowhere

By Jack Brummet, Travel Ed.

A photo from FYVM. This scene reminds me of some of the remote airports I've been to in Turkey and India, where you board on the tarmac, the terminal is about the size of a double-wide, and your plane is the only one on the entire field. They make the Eugene airport look like LaGuardia.

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The gum wall in Seattle's Pike Place Market

By Jack Brummet 

No trip to Seattle's Pike Place Market is complete without a visit to the gum wall in Post Alley.

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J. Fred Muggs, TV's most famous chimpanzee, still alive and well in Florida at age 61

By Jack Brummet

The year I was born, one of the big stars of that fairly new medium television was a chimpanzee—J. Fred Muggs.

J Fred Muggs with Dave Garroway and Phoebe B. Beebee

J. Fred Muggs (born March 14, 1952) was the chimpanzee mascot for NBC's Today Show from 1953 to 1957.  Dave Garroway's show faltered in the ratings race (there was one?), but with the addition of Muggs, viewership soared and ad money started pouring in.  Muggs appeared—for obvious reasons—in diapers, 

The Russian newspaper, Izvestia, described J. Fred Muggs, as "a symbol of the American way of life", and said, "Muggs is necessary in order that the average American should not look into reports on rising taxes, and decreasing pay, but rather laugh at the funny mug of a chimpanzee."

A finger painting by Muggs appeared on the cover of Mad #38, and was the first celebrity to be featured on the cover of that magazine. However, around that time the chimp bit Mad editor Al Feldstein, and was apparently blacklisted.

J Fred Muggs is now 61 years old and lives with his longtime girlfriend Phoebe B. Beebe in Citrus Park, Florida.

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Digital art: Kim Jong Un tinkers with the Balance of Power

By Jack Brummet 

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Watercolor: Bluehead 19

By Jack Brummet 

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The Nazz: Lord Buckley's wonderful meditation on the life of Jesus Christ

By Jack Brummet

Lord Buckley's tribute to "the sweetest, gonest, wailingest cat that ever stomped on this sweet swinging sphere.  And they called this cat The Nazz.  He was a carpenter kitty..."   Lord Buckley covers Jesus with love.  My favorite part is the scene of Jesus stomping across the water of Galilee.   Or when he performs his miracle on the "cat with the bent frame."   This is one of the Lord's greatest performances...

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