Paris Hilton's Prison Self-portrait

Click Paris's drawing to enlarge

Paris Hilton drew this self-portait while she was in the hoosegow in Lynwood. These days, however, she's enjoying her freedom, while pledging to work for prison reform (because, she said, so many prisoners told her they were innocent).
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Poem: Bible Stories 3/Babylon and the unfinished tower

Babylon and the unfinished Tower of Babel

1
The ark stopped bobbing and settled in the mud
Earth began her long drying
Noah popped the hatch

And the animals charged out of the ark
Behind Noah's wife sons and daughters-in-law
Earth began to fill once more

The begetting began again and the earth blossomed
With Noah's grandchildren and the birds and beasts
(The Bible doesn’t mention what became of the fish)


2
The corner of the world
Near the Tigris and Euphrates filled with people
But none crossed the eastern mountains

Or the desert to the west
The great world beyond was without people
After the flood families sought new homes

A group of people who wanted to serve God
Decided to build a city to rule all people
From bricks with walls of stone

3
The people said let us build a tower
Reaching to the sky so we stand as one
And not scatter across the earth

So they built a great tower from bricks
One story rising above another
But God did not want people all living together

If they stayed together
The wicked would lead the good
Into evil and away from their God

4
God began to change their language
So families and tribes by degrees all spoke
In different tongues now

Families and tribes stayed together
The men building the great tower
No longer knew each other's speech

And abandoned the tower for the faraway lands
Nineveh Assyria Egypt Sidon and Tyre
And the earth had many people in many lands
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Further reader submissions of Dean Ericksen Stories And Photos

The Gathering Storm Around Dean Ericksen

click to enlarge


It looks like a storm has erupted over Dean Ericksen's entry into the world of blogging. Unfortunately for Dean, the moment he hit the net a firestorm over his character erupted.

Just today, someone sent us a new web site that is trolling for tales of Ericksen's misdeeds. And a picture of him with a well-known despot. And those are just the things we feel comnfortable publishing.

Ericksen's days as an internet impressario appear to be drawing to a rapid denoument. You may recall this story first appeared here, followed in rapid succession by dozens of other blogs and news outlets.

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Time Magazine Goes Metric? - The U.S. Is 40 Years Behind Going Metric - Correlatives With The JFK Fitness Program & The Move Toward Total Hydration

I remember in 4th and 5th grade (circa 1963-64) diligently studying the metric system in preparation for the big changeover. There would be no more pints or inches. We all received a small bundle of wooden blocks corresponding to various metric measures. Yes, the U.S. was slated to go totally metric 40 years ago. However, we seem unable to shuck the US customary units system (our version of the Imperial system). But you may also remember JFK's physical fitness initiative. The entire country would be buffed up by about 1970. Of all those initiatives, the only one that appeared to have caught fire was the move toward hydration. We were told to drink eight glasses of water a day without fail. OK, we may be fat and unable to determine what a metre of millilitre is, but we are well-hydrated. We won that one!

Much is made of the imperial system's basis of the size of a foot, or the distance between your knuckles. And yet the metric system is based on the speed of an electron, I think. That makes more sense than the distance between some emperor's knuckles?

If the metric system is so wonderful, why then have we not converted to metric for our measure of years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds? Why was it so important to convert linear measures, but not the temporal ones?

As far as I can tell, some foods and fluids are sold my metric measure, but not much else. Except:::::::::::::::::::::::::Hootch! Whiz! Wine! Whiskey! Beer is sold by the fluid ounce, but whiskey and wine: totally metric. The formerly beloved fifth of whiskey is now the slightly smaller 3/4 of a litre bottle. Those little bottles of wine you buy on the airplane: 187.5 millilitres (or, 1/4 of a 750 millilitre bottle [the "new fifth"]. So, we may have really sucked on our adoption of metric measures, but the drunks have it down pat, at least on the fluid measures.

'Time' Switches To The Metric System - Time managing editor Rick Stengel is attempting to force the U.S. towards the metric system? A new memo yesterday told writers and editors that from now on, all measurements will be expressed in "both imperial and metric equivalents." Clearly, this is a losing battle Stengel is waging.

Here is Stengel's memo on taking Time metric:

Time is going global. And metric. Starting with the next issue, we will provide both imperial and metric equivalents for distance, weight, volume and temperature. (We've been doing this for some time in our graphics. Now we'll extend this to the general text as well.) This will help ensure that one text works for all of our international editions.

In most cases, we'll use the imperial measure first and then show the metric equivalent in parentheses: five ft. (1.5 m); 170 lbs. (77 kg); 5 gallons (19 liters); 98.6 degrees F (37 degrees Celsius).

Meet the Thompson Twins: Fred Thompson's wife, Jeri Kehn (with photos)

Unless she's crazier than a s***house rat, Fred Thompson's wife Jeri Kehn probably won't hurt his chances of being elected. Since jumping in the race, Thompson has had a fairly meteoric bump in the polls (even pulling ahead of McCain). Whether or not that is due to what some bloggers call The Thompson Twins is unknown.

People have written all sorts of nasty things about her, without any idea of the cut of her jib. Or any knowledge of her at all except having seen her photos. She, in fact, has been a Republican consultant and lobbyist, and sounds pretty interesting. It is clear, however, that having her standing next to the former Senator makes him look every day of his 64 years, and more. Pundits seem to think Jeri Kehn will not sell very well in the red/flyover states. I'm not sure Joe and Josephine Lunchbucket will hold her looks against her anymore than they did with Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy [Onassis].

Jeri Kehn
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Photograph: Chicken Love Tragedy - A Cautionary Tale of Beastiality in Iberia

This photo and the mangled grammar in the caption first appeared on the internet in the early 90's, back when we were all using the Spry browser to cruise between the few hundred websites that existed then...
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Americans actually do seem to care, and the frogs appear to be sitting on their wallets

According to the Associated Press, Americans gave nearly $300 billion to charitable causes last year, even beating the 2005 total was swollen by the of aid to victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma and the devastating Asian tsunami.

U.S. Citizens contributed an estimated $295.02 billion in 2006, a 1% increase when adjusted for inflation, up from $283.05 billion in 2005.

"What people find especially interesting about this, and it's true year after year, that such a high percentage comes from individual donors," Giving USA Chairman Richard Jolly said. Individuals gave a combined 75.6% of the total.

The biggest piece of the donations, $96.82 billion or 32.8%, went to religious organizations. The second largest donations, $40.98 billion or 13.9%, went to education, including gifts to colleges, universities and libraries.

The report showed that about 65% of households earning under $100,000 give to charity, "It tells you something about American culture that is unlike any other country," said Claire Gaudiani, a professor at NYU's Heyman Center for Philanthropy and author of The Greater Good: How Philanthropy Drives the American Economy and Can Save Capitalism. .

Gaudiani said Americans give more than double the next most charitable nation--Great Britain, who gave roughly 0.73%. Not surprisingly, the frogs a/k/a France, kicked in at a 0.14% rate, far far behind countries like South Africa, Singapore, Turkey and Germany.

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Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here - Lyrics and video

Back in the day, and even up to a couple of years ago, I didn't pay much attention to Pink Floyd. I was absorbed by Zappa, CSNY, The Beatles, The Kinks, The Doors, The Band, Hendrix, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Dylan, and The Grateful Dead. Since then, I have learned that these guys actually mattered a great deal. "Wish you were here" is my favorite song by Pink Floyd (so far). The video here is of the Floyd in their geezerhood, at a reunion show. . .



Wish You Were Here
by Pink Floyd

So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.
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Old 97's downloads

click to enlarge the Old 97's

If you've been a visitor here recently, you know I have been on a serious Old 97's jag for a while now. I am still contemplating going over to the Gorge at George to see them at the Willy Nelson Picnic show on July 4th. . .which happens about two days after I return from a vacation in Central Washington next week. One of the buggest disappointments of the last few months was the night in Austin a couple of months ago, when I went to see them at Stubb's. The show was rained out.

If you're not familiar with the Old 97's canon, or if you're too cheap to actually buy CDs, the Old 97's have at least two tracks from all six of their albums free for downloading here. If you're an alt-country fan, or a power pop fan, I think you'll like these guys. I'm a little embarrassed it took me so long to get a clue about these guys, because they have rapidly become tops of the pops for me. . .
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Who is "Carlo" on the last Soprano's episode?

click to enlarge

Many people are puzzled by the reference to Carlo on the final episode of The Sopranos. Carlo Gervasi apparently becomes an informant after his son is busted. Several references in the last show allude to Carlo's upcoming testimony against Anthony. This is not the Carlo who was killed earlier in the series. Carlo Gervasi, played by Arthur J. Nascarella.

Carlo Gervasi first appears in Season Four, as a captain of Jimmy Altieri's old crew (Jimmy you may remember was also disposed of as a rat). Gervasi runs the Bloomfield Avenue casino, and was part of the Soprano family's port hijackings. In Season 6, Carlo attended two celebration dinners at Nuovo Vesuvio, first when his cousin Burt Gervasi becomes a made man and a second when he attends Christopher's bachelor party.

After Vito's murder, Gervasi is given all of his construction action. He stated once that he wanted Spatafore "dragged behind his car." When Tony decided that Spatafore had to be killed, Silvio (Steven Van Zandt) suggested Gervasi for the job because of his views. Carlo later avenged his family's honor in a memorable episode by stabbing Fat Dom for making jokes about Spatafore's murder and implying that Gervasi was also gay. He freaked out and stabbed him in the back room of Satriale's Pork Store with Silvio also getting sucked into the action. Tony Soprano discovers them waiting to dispose of the body and was angry because of the murder's possible blowback. Gervasi takes charge of disposing of Gamiello's body and even drives to Connecticut to deposit his head in a storm drain, if you remember that scene earlier in the season. You actually did see Carlo a great deal, but the glimpses were usually fleeting.

In the series finale, Gervasi's son is picked up by the FBI for drug-dealing. When Carlo fails to show up for a meeting with Paulie Walnuts, he warns Tony that he may be cutting a deal. Soprano's attorney confirms that someone is, in fact testifying before a grand jury and that indictments are forthcoming. In the final scene, Tony tells Carmela that Carlo is testifying, thus confirming that he turned informant to keep his son out of jail and possibly out of revenge for the murder of his cousin.
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Blog Wars--> Boycott This Blog: Almost There In No Time

The proprietor of Almost There In No Time, a favorite blog of NMBLA members,
as well as the NRA, the Republican National Committee, and Ralph Nader.
One follower describes Ericksen's eyes as "penetrating and insidious.
When he looks at you it's like a hypnotist's watch."

An insidious presence has crept into the "blogosphere." Dean Ericksen, a native Seattleite and environmental executive, recently initiated a scandalous blog known as Almost There In No Time. Mr. Ericksen is slowly and insidiously building a cult following in the Pacific Northwest. One person who escaped his clutches told All This Is That "Ericksen plans to increase his following until he has the numbers to make a national splash. . .and what he plans on doing will make David Koresh's conflagration look like a marshmallow roast, and will make the Jonestown Massacre look--literally--like a kool-aid party. His intention is to create such an apocalyptic meltdown that he will be long-remembered. Unlike some of those other leaders, however, he has no intention of going down with the ship!" He increases his following by preaching a strangely polyglot mixture of several seemingly incompatible philosophies, not unlike, say Heinrich Himmler or Adolph Shicklegruber himself. "He's able to pull it off, " one former cult member told All This Is That, "because unlike most of those other wackos, he doesn't seem to be in it for the sex, or the money."

Ericksen's blog is listed as a favorite on the websites of the National Rifle Association, the National Man-Boy Love Association, The King County Republican Party, the American Nazi and Communist Parties, The Junior League, Aryan Nations, Volksfront, the VFW, the fraternal orders of Elks, Moose, and Eagles, The Masonic Lodge, The National Vanguard, White Revolution, the National Alliance, the G.O.P., the Moral Majority, as well as the individual blogs of Charles Manson, Oral Roberts, Mark David Chapman, and the entertainers Celine Dion, David Hassehof, and Rosie O'Donnell. How does this seemingly random stew of no talents, hate groups, and political reactionaries join in agreement about one blogger's website? I have no idea. But I do know that Mr. Ericksen needs to be stopped well before he reaches critical mass. Perhaps it's even too late for that. One well-known deprogrammer said "it's virtually impossible to deprogram one of his followers. Once Ericksen has rooted into their psyches, it is very difficult to evict him. It's like zombies; once you cross the line you don't go back."
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