Monday, September 17, 2007

Double trouble: two guilty pleasures in one--> a Chcago song paired with a YouTube user video

OK, I'll admit, Chicago is a guilty pleasure (like quite a few other mainstream people who could actually play and sing). The first few albums were pretty good. Someone has set "Does anyone really know what time it is" to a truly hilarious user video. So, hey, you get to hear the song, and witness some top-notch thespians at work.


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Remember modems? Here's Penril marketing their 1200 baud modem


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Sunday, September 16, 2007

Photograph of Phil Kendall


click to enlarge

I snagged this photo from the In Memory of Phil Kendall blog site. I corrected the brightness, despeckled it, turned the color down and (attempted) to fix the red-eye. I can't be sure, but I bet this photo is from the summer of 1974. He was a great smiler, and friend.
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Caution---> Lindsay Lohan behind the wheel


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Gingrich: 80/20 The Dems will win



According to an interview Newt Gingrich had with the National Journal, the Republican's goose is cooked. Read the full article in the National Journal here.

Q: You said fairly recently that the Democrats had a very high likelihood of winning the presidency next year.

Gingrich: I think that the country, after the last couple of years, has a bias in favor of change -- I think probably starting with [Hurricane] Katrina and coming through Baghdad and the whole sense of too much spending. And you sense a lack of enthusiasm in the conservative base, and you sense a stunning level of intensity in the anti-war Left. And so you just look at the dynamics and you have to say the odds are probably 80-20 [in the Democrats' favor].
Q: 80-20?

Gingrich: Yeah. That's my guess. Now, it could change. If you had a [Republican] candidate who could break out and who could say, "Obviously, we need to change pretty dramatically, and the party of trial lawyers, public employee unions, [and] left-wing ideologues probably can't change,"


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Blogger Play - A new toy from Blogger


Blogger has just released a new toy--Blogger Play. "Shortly after Blogger launched photo uploading two years ago, one of our engineers whipped up a web page that would show us the pictures that were being uploaded in real time. The result was fun, often beautiful, but above all, compelling. We couldn’t stop watching." It's pretty cool. Go here to view the uploaded pictures of all of us on Blogger. It makes for an interesting screensaver...


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Saturday, September 15, 2007

New photographs of Jeri Kehn Thompson on the campaign trail (and a couple of her husband Fred too)

Since actor and former Senator Fred Thompson declared his candidacy for President on a television talk show, his wife Jeri Kehn has been making selected appearances on the campaign trail. Here are a handful of new photographs from some September rallies and fundraisers. If you want to see more photos of Mrs. Thompson, here is a roundup of all the photos on All This Is That.







And so it begins: Hillary and Giuliani commence trashing each other



Senator Clinton and the former Mayor of 9/11, Rudolph Giuliani have begun trashing each other in advertisements. . .as if the other dwarfs were no longer even in the race.

Rudy kicked off the war of words with a snarling attack on top Democratic contender, accusing her "spewing venom" at America's commander in Iraq. The former may of 9/11 placed a full page-ad in the New York Times chastising Clinton over her stance of the war. Shortly thereafter, he released an internet advertisement saying Clinton had turned her back on US troops, after first voting to authorize the war in Iraq, and now asking for an end to the occupation of Iraq.



"Hillary Clinton should be ashamed of herself for that," Giuliani said.

Rudy was responding to an ad by MoveOn.org, which ran in the Times earlier this week with a headline of "General Petraeus, or General Betray US?"

Clinton's campaign immediately shot back:

"It's hardly surprising that Mayor Giuliani is running the first negative ad of the '08 campaign, given his inability to justify his unqualified support for president Bush's failed Iraq strategy."

Giuliani supporters rally in Omaha, Nebraska


Giuliani's desperate move into mud-slinging comes just as Fred Thompson is chiseling away at the ex-mayor's lead in the race. Giuliani's hopes to seize the momentum again."He'd love nothing more than for her or members of her campaign to respond in an agitated way to what is clearly at best a very dubious linkage between what Moveon does and what Hillary Clinton says," said David Birdsell, professor at Baruch College.
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Friday, September 14, 2007

Hitler Youth: a Halloween Costume?

Jason Larsen sent this picture, found somewhere on the interweb. I don't know if the youth in the picture was in training as a young Nazi, or if this was a Halloween costume. It reminded me a little of the time in South Park where Eric Cartman dressed up as Hitler for Halloween. The principal made him take it off and gave him a ghost costume instead. Of course, the ghost costume looked exactly like a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe...


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Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow a/k/a The Posies perform "I Guess You're Right" live

This tune is from their most recent album, "Every Kind of Light." There arent't a lot of high quality videos of these guys out there...especially of their recent work. . .

Senator Chuck Hagel throws in the towel

[I never actually got around to posting this when it happened...earlier this week]

Senator Chuck Hagel (republican, Nebraska) plans to will announce on Monday that he is retiring from the U.S. Senate. He will also announce that he will not run for president next year, after flirting with the idea for many months. Sources close to him leaked the information to the press on Friday.

Normally we would be jubilant that another Republican has thrown in the towel. However, Hagel has earned strong national cred as the most vocal, and most pissed-off GOP critic of the President's folly in Iraq.

His outspokenness on Iraq and other key issues fueled national interest in Hagel as he went back and forth on a possible presidential bid. Until yesterday, everyone was sure he would run.

The upside: his stepping down leaves another GOP Senate seat without an incumbent just as the Republican Party desperately struggles to stem potential losses. They go into this race with more seats up for election that the Dems. The upside for Hagel: he's the first Republican in a while to leave office without a gay sex scandal dogging him.
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Thursday, September 13, 2007

Poppa John Creach plays "Over The Rainbow."

Poppa John Creach plays "Over The Rainbow." I always loved his fiddle rendition of the tune. Poppa John played for both the Jefferson Starship and Hot Tuna in the 70's. This is an audio YouTube, with a slideshow. . .the only way we can put songs up here without a lot of hassle.



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Happy Birthday Moochie!!!



Happy Birthday to Claire Curran Brummet a/k/a Moochie, who turns 22 years old today.







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Poem: Alkyvision




At Stage One, you see round
Out of one eye
And square out of the other—

It's disquieting, but you shake it off
And pour down an encore,
A crooked smile still plastered

On your ragged visage.
At the next stage, it's double trouble—
You see döppelgangers.

At Stage Three, you see triple.
Closing one eye leaves you still seeing double
And the spinning begins.
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Hollywood Squares answers



I don't remember ever enjoying any of the quiz shows except Hollywood Squares. It was always interesting to see all these B list celebrities, and the screamingly campy, gay men that Americans hadn't even realized were gay. This show was tawdry, and depressing if you were a glass half-empty type, and hilarious if you could just accept it for what it was: good, clean knucklehead fun. The show, and the celebs liked to claim that their answers were completely spontaneous and unscripted. It's clear they were not. Here are a few of the gems that have surfaced on the 'net.

Peter Marshall: Paul, can you get an elephant drunk?
Paul Lynde: Yes, but he still won't go up to your apartment.

Peter Marshall: In Hawaiian, does it take more than three words to say "I love you"? Vincent Price: No, you can say it with a pineapple and a twenty.

Peter Marshall: According to Cosmo, if you meet a stranger at a party and you think he's really attractive, is it okay to come out directly and ask him if he's married?
Rose Marie: No, wait until morning.

Peter Marshall: Which of your five senses tends to diminish as you get older?
Charley Weaver: My sense of decency.

Peter Marshall: Prometheus was tied to the top of a mountain by the gods because he had given something to man. What did he give us?
Paul Lynde: I don't know what you got, but I got a sports shirt.

Peter Marshall: What are "Do It," "I Can Help" and "Can't Get Enough"?
George Gobel: I don't know but it's coming from the next apartment.

Peter Marshall: What are "dual purpose" cattle good for that other Cattle aren't?
Paul Lynde: They give milk and cookies...but I don't recommend the cookies!

Peter Marshall: If you find someone lying unconscious in the street, should you do anything?
George Gobel: I'd probably crawl around him, I guess.

Peter Marshall: Paul, why do Hell's Angels wear leather?
Paul Lynde: Because chiffon wrinkles too easily.

Peter Marshall: Charley, you've just decided to grow strawberries. Are you going to get any during your first year?
Charley Weaver: Of course not, Peter. I'm too busy growing strawberries!

Peter Marshall: In bowling, what's a perfect score?
Rose Marie: Ralph, the pin boy.

Peter Marshall: Eddie, according to the Institute of Motivational Research, a wife should be beware if another woman takes an interest in a certain item of her husband's clothing. What item?
Ed Asner: Well, shorts immediately springs to my mind...

Peter Marshall: It is considered in bad taste to discuss two subjects at nudist camps. One is politics. What is the other?
Paul Lynde: Tape measures.

Peter Marshall: True or false...a pea can last as long as 5,000 years.
George Gobel: Boy it sure seems that way sometimes...

Peter Marshall: Is there a weight limit for bags on airline flights in this country?
Charley Weaver: If she can fit under the seat, she can fly.

Peter Marshall: During a tornado, are you safer in the bedroom or in the closet?
Rose Marie: Unfortunately, Peter, I'm always safe in the bedroom.

Peter Marshall: Can boys join the camp fire girls?
Marty Allen: Only after lights out.

Peter Marshall: When you pat a dog on its head he will usually wag his tail. What will a goose do? Paul Lynde: Make him bark.

Peter Marshall: True or false, George...experts say there are only seven or eight things in the world dumber than an ant.
George Gobel: Yes, and I think I voted for six of 'em.

Peter Marshall: If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to?
Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be afraid of the dark.

Peter Marshall: According to Ann Landers, is there anything wrong with getting into the habit of kissing a lot of people?
Charley Weaver: It got me out of the army!

Peter Marshall: It is the most abused and neglected part of your body; what is it?
Paul Lynde: Mine may be abused but it certainly isn't neglected!

Peter Marshall: According to Movie Life magazine, Ann-Margret would like to start having babies soon, but her husband wants her to wait a while. Why?
Paul Lynde: He's out of town.

Peter Marshall: Dennis Weaver, Debbie Reynolds, and Shelley Winters star in the movie "What's The Matter With Helen?" Who plays Helen?
Charley Weaver: Dennis Weaver - that's why they asked the question.

Peter Marshall: Who stays pregnant for a longer period of time, your wife or your elephant?
Paul Lynde: Who told you about my elephant?

Peter Marshall: When a couple have a baby, who is responsible for its sex?
Charley Weaver: I'll lend him the car. The rest is up to him.

Peter Marshall: Jackie Gleason recently revealed that he firmly believes in them and has actually seen them on at least two occasions. What are they?
Charley Weaver: His feet.

Peter Marshall: If you're going to make a parachute jump, you should be at least how high?
Charley Weaver: Three days of steady drinking should do it.

Peter Marshall: Do female frogs croak?
Paul Lynde: If you hold their little heads under water.

Peter Marshall: You've been having trouble going to sleep. Are you probably a man or a woman?
Don Knotts: That's what's been keeping me awake!

Peter Marshall: In a very famous movie who said, "God, what a dump?"
Paul Lynde: Dumbo.

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