Jesus' 2008th Birthday

Santa just before suiting up


Joseph (not the father), Mother Mary, and Jesus


Video: Jesus' Birthday Party



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Painting: Bernard L. Madoff, Thief

Click to enlarge Bernard L. Madoff

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a hierarchy of paranoia

paranoia under the moonlight - click to enlarge

One recent psycho-sociological study found that:

• Over 40% of people regularly worry that negative comments are being made about them [ed's note: who cares!?]


• 27% think that people deliberately try to irritate them [ed's note: I believe in this number. . .it's roughly the same number of people--or, even less, than I probably set out to deliberately irritate on a daily basis]


• 20% worry about being observed or followed [ed's note: don't worry; you are.]


• 10% think that someone has it in for them [ed's note: It's almost stunning only 10% of the people believe this. . .maybe they don't have office jobs or interactive jobs. If you're really living life, someone has it in for you. . .you're probably not thinking that the person in the next office would feel nothing (or elation) if you failed to wake up the next morning; guess what?: they would.]


• 5% worry there is a conspiracy to harm them [ed note: this doesn't apply to most of us. But there are myriad cases where some, or many, of your compatriots, co-workers, fellow group members, associates, family and relatives, fellow parishioners or dharma center members wouldn't mind it all if your last breath happened right now. ]
  
  

click to enlarge
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The League of SuperPresidents ® Power Breakfast

President George W. Bush, who has steadily promised president-elect Barack Obama a smooth runway into office, has invited the Democrat to a White House breakfast on January 7, along with former presidents Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and his father, George H.W. Bush.

Soon-to-be President Obama proposed the breakfast get-together when he visited the White House on November 10, six days after winning the presidential election, Bush said.

"I'm sure he's going to ask us all questions, I would guess. If not, we'll just share war stories," the current President said about the meeting. George, I think he'll probably come up with a question or two. . .


Still standing: three Ex-Presidents

29 days to go, and I'll be out of here!

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Journey's Don't Stop Believing (with lyrics)

When I wrote about The Sopranos recently, it made me wonder about Journey, a band I'd never listened to other than incidentally. Here are two YouTube videos of Don't Stop Believing, one a song and lyric slide show, and another, live version. . .

Journey performing the tune live:

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A Hip Christmas Carol by Lord Buckley: Scrooge

Scrooge is one of Lord Buckley's greatest performances. It's good to read, and great to hear. I can't find it streaming anywhere, so if you want to hear it, you can buy it on iTunes or Amazon for ninety-nine cents. This is one of my very favorite spoken word performances ever;

this warm-hearted rendition full of love. The Lord was something else. Go ahead, download it! You won't regret spending the buck... /jack

A Hip Christmas Carol

by Lord Buckley

"Yes, me, I'm Scrooge and I got all Marley's barley,
and I'm the baddest cat in all dis world.
I been studyin' all my life how to Scrooge people,
and I guarantee I done some fine work in dat direction.
"Cratchit!"

"Yes, sir."

"You busy?"

"I shorely is, sir."

"See dat you keep busy.
Don't want no danglin' wanglin' around here.
Keep everybody tight.
And tell dem two cats come in here want to get some money
I ain't givin' no money away.

"Dey messin' wit Scrooge.
I'm takin' it in. I ain't puttin' it out.
Issat clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, keep it clear. People comin' around here
wantin' my gold dat's all, tryin' to pry into my vault.
Every time I turn around somebody's tryin' to snap...

"Tell my nephew I don't want to have no dinner wid him
an' if he never comes in here again dat'll be too soon."

"I'll tell de cat."

"See dat ya do.

"I don't understand dese people who are after my gold.
I close up dis here place and den dey ...

"What, what? Yeah, let me tell you somethin else -
You think that you gonna get off Christmas day?"

"Well I was hopin', sir, dat you'd let me knock off just a little while
for Christmas Eve cause I want to go home and cool da goose."

"Well if you gonna get off Christmas Eve
you gonna have to work aaalllll day Christmas.
You hear me?"

"I hear ya, sir. I'm wid it."

"Well I guess I'll go on home here."

So Scrooge takes off and he cuts on down the street.
And the snow's blowin' and da winds is wooooooooin',
and Scrooge is goin' along in his loose soul
and his loose clothes and his hard cash box
and his big money mind goin' on in his wig
and he ding ding ding up da stairs
and he open his door and he gets inside
and he puts a double lock on da door
cause he a little bugged tonight.
He bein' sayin' "Humbug" so long, "Humbug dis," an' "Humbug dat,"
he done give himself a natural Humbug.
He's got da bug hummin' in him, see.
So he double-lock da door.

And he sit dere and all of a sudden
dere's an old bell layin' over dere in the corner
and da bell goes, "ding-ding-ding-ding"
and Scrooge say, "Whassat?"
Dang- dong. "Whassat?"
Bell started ringin' "DING DONG DOONG DOONG"
Pretty soon all da bells all over the house started ringin'
"Ding Ding Dang Dang Dong
Ring Dong Boom Boom, Ding dong,
Boom boom"

And he hear somethin'
like some chain cats are pullin'
all da chains from the chains of time
up the hill 'a strife ringing' and dinglin'
wid his whole head ringin' and dingin' wid dem chains.

And bloooop!

In come a cat, da wildest lookin' cat ya ever see in his life.
Real gone cat.
And Scrooge does a real wild take

"I know who dat stud is - dat's Marley!
I know dat's Marley!
What's he doin' here? Say, Marley?"

"Yes, it's me."

"Man, you sure chained up dere,
man, you got chainsville all over you dere!"

"Well, I put em on myself, dat's da way I lived it.
I chained myself. I hung myself up wid all dese chains, you know,
bein' parsimonious, ya understand what I mean?
I can't get 'em off now.
I been luggin' dese chains all over da country
for the past seven years."

"Dat's a long time.
What's you want wit me dere, Marley Marley?
cause I got your barley."

"I don't mess wid no barley no more.
I wish I'd given it all away when I had it
and I'm gonna tell you somethin' else, too,
I'm a spook, you know dat."

"You tellin' me. I know dat.
You a spook, man, an' I wanna get straight."

"I'm gonna tell you somethin else, too, Mr. Scroogie Scrooge,
Dere gonna be three more gas lightin' spooks comin' in to see you."

"Three more gas lightin' spooks.
Say, one spook's enough.
Can't I have 'em all at one time?"

"No. Dey comin' one at a time.
First one be eleven,
next one be twelve,
next one'll be one."

"Man, if I had known this..."

"Tell you what. You dig, Scrooge, it's what you puttin' down.
You been a real sorry cat all dis time.
You gonna be gassed now by dese spooks."

"Well, dey say if I gotta be gassed..
Ain't gonna cost me no money, is it?"

"Cost you more 'n dat, Scrooge."

"Dey ain't no more den money!"

"You find out."

Brrrrt.

And Marley split.

And old Scrooge is sittin' dere sweatin' and dinglin' danglin'.

And all of a sudden, man,
he hears some crazy wild kind of a thing goin' on.
He don't know just what it is and all of a sudden . . .

Boom

Here comes a great big fat spook,
look like takes a hundred and seventy wings
lift him off over da house top
and he's got de old beat up cat and spandly legs,
and strangly arms and pedicured eyes,
and a whole out of his skull wiggin' up a storm
and he looks at old Scrooge and he says...

Scrooge is standin' dere in the corner
he feel like a disrupted small disregarded
and unclaimed white mice midget-style,
he's sittin' over dere.

And dis spook say, "Come wid me
'cause I is The Ghost of da Christmas Past!"

And Scrooge say, "Do I hafta?"

Say, "You certainly do!"

And he got on the ghost's wing and - brrt - they took off.

And he's flyin' old Scrooge over da top of da mountain
da wind is blowin', da wind is partin' his way,
and he's lookin' down, and seein' all dese crazy scenes goin' on.

Zoom!

He goes over a few more miles
Takes him down to a sun-lit pasture.
And da sun-lit pasture's full of children,
and de're singin' and dancin' and lovin' and goin' and swingin'
and Scrooge say, "Look, look, look! Dat's me down dere!"

"Yeah, dat's you, dat's you."

"I look pretty good"

"Yeah but ya don't look good now,"
He say, "I wanna hip you gotta get yourself ?

Zoom!

He takes him over to another place
and he shows him a pretty little chick
got dimples, three dimples on each chin,
and she got three little dimpled children,
and the next little dimple on da way,
and dere's a real swingin' cat around there,
and it's a happy time,
looks like seventeen carnivals takin' off.

An' Scrooge look at dis chick and say,
"I remember dat chick. I could 'a married her once."

"Yeah, you coulda if you wasn't so tight wid your purse.
You all was thinkin' about yourself, dat's what happened."
Say, "Let me hip you further, Mister Scrooge,
Let me tell you one thing:
you better get everything straight that you wanna
and you better straighten up."

"An' take me home."

"Yeah, I will."

Brrrrm Boom

And he's home again.

So man, that was a shaker.

This whole thing, this whole thing is shakin' me up pretty bad.

He say, I want to tell you right now . . .

Boom!

Here comes another big spook

Ooooohhhh He's a wild lookin' spook.
He's a crazy lookin' spook.

He's a far-out spook, he's a gas-light spook.
He's got a gas light right on the top of his wig
goin' around like one of them dramatic ? pilot lights
in a light house and he's there gassin' up the whole scene.

He say "Come with me. I'm The Ghost of Christmas Present"

And Scrooge look around and sees
the joint is loaded with apples and bananas and oranges and,
and credalies and acralonchs and ripalips
all kinds of crazy wild grapes and crazy Chistmas scenes
and nuts and candy.

And he say, "Come wid me."

Brrrrrttt.

Done took off again,

He said "I am The Ghost of Christmas Present."
He say, "I'm gonna show you what's goin' on in dis world
and how to dig Christmas and how to all enjoy

And he took him up to a little old outcast.

And there sittin on a small beat-up rock
was two studs chompin' up on a can 'a beans singin',

"Merry Christmas widch you,
Merry Christmas widch you.
Merry Christmas to the whole world"

And so on and so forth.

And he showin' him the people jumpin' for joy,
see how the cats that ain't got nothin' got somethin' anyway,
and they're all jumpin' for joy singin' "Merry Christmas," and da bells is ringin'.

Now you get yourself straight and see how things is ....

So they fly over da Cratchit's place,
there little old Tiny Tim, He's sittin' over in the corner
crochetin' a little crazy scene,
fiddlin' around, ya know what I mean?
An carryin' on, see,
and they are all talkin' about this here goose,
and dey look down here and this little goose
about the size of a beat up retarded sparrow,
and everybody's ooohin' and aahhhin' all over dis goose,
and day sayin' when are we gonna spread it,
and Tiny Tim say, "God bless everyone,
and even up to and including Scroogy Scrooge.
God bless everyone!" That's what Tiny Tim say.

And old Scrooge got red-eyed.

Brrrrt .

Took 'im back again.
Sound like the whole side 'a the buildin' open up
and in come a long angular spook
seventeen gas lights and stove pipes
hung together with
jingle jangle bells all over
Scrooge takes a look at this cat,

Says, "Do I have to go with you?"

He says, "You certainly do, 'cause I'm The Ghost of Christmas Future."

He say, "Come wid me."

Say, "Where we goin'?"

"None 'o your business!"

He takes old Scrooge they cut off flyin' around
the moonlight is shinin' down.

Booom!

They're in the grave-yard.
Oooh a wild OOOOoooohhhh
crazy spooky graveyard
and Scrooge is walkin' around
and finally something stepped out at him
like he was struck with the force of his eye lids,
some sort of an electronic pitchfork,
and he reads on one of them billboards in that grave-yard,
it say, "Dis is Scrooge, the baddest cat that ever lived.
He don't have nothin' he ain't got nothin' and he ain't got nothin now."

Period

And Scrooge looked at it and . . .

They're going to another place,
and there's a cat say "You goin' to the funeral?"
and he say, "Not me, man, I wouldn't go near that cat, dead or alive.
They couldn't pay me to get near that cat."
Say, "What cat is that?"
And suddenly Scrooge is takin' in the coffin factory
and seeing all these coffins layin' around,
and see one coffin,
all the rest of 'em got flowers around
'n 'dis poor little coffin got nothin on it but just some pinewood boards
an' old Scrooge look up and over and he's lookin' at this and that
and look all away 'cause he knows who is in dat coffin.

Zooooommmm.

He's swings on back again and the ghost puts him down
and old Scrooge is shakin' and shiverin'
and he finally falls into a real wild, crazy miser's coma.
And he falls out for how long he don't know
when and he wakes up and
Mornin'!

Aaaaahh, the sun was shinin' on the glorious snow
and old Scrooge is feelin' so groovey 'n so wired
and he tip tip tip tip tip toes over to the window.
He open the window, see a little cat, he say, "Hey, boy."

"Yes, sir."

"You know that great big giant king-size bird
down in Doodley's window?"

"You mean the prize bird?"

"No," he say, "I mean that great big king-size bird."
Say, "Go get that bird. Here's a twenty."

He knocks a twenty on him. "Go get dat bird.
And here's ten more for a cab,
an here's five dollar for your sister,
and here's twenty-two-fifty for your uncle's new bicycle.
Tell anyone who wants anything, 'See Scrooge.'
I'm flyin' this here Christmas.
I want to see Cratchit swing out
with a great big swingin' happy dinner.
I'm wid it all da way!"

An' old Scrooge get dressed and he's walkin' down the street,
and Ding Dong, Ding Dong Ding, the bells is ringin'.
Scrooge got a big smile on his face,
and people he's seen for twenty years never said hello,sayin'
"Good morning, Mr. Scrooge."

"What you say, Baby?"

An' he carryin' on, carryin' on, happy as the day is long.
And he finally fell into old Bob Cratchit's place
and he's got Christmas toys and Christmas joys
and Christmas presents for everybody.

And they'd just opened the goose,
and then little Tiny Tim see him comin',
he say, "God bless Mr. Scrooge.
He done did the turn about.
He's the Lord's boy today."

And that's the story of Scrooge.
You can get wid it if you want to.
There's only one way straight to the Road of Love.
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Artist Brude Elliott follows up naked Sarah Palin painting with nude Rod Blagojevich

Click Governor Palin to enlarge


Brude Elliott with his Governor Palin painting - click to enlarge

Brude Elliott, the Chicago artist who had fifteen minutes of fame following his nude painting of Sarah Palin is about to finish a new painting featuring a naked Rod Blagojevich. Rod's portrait will hang next to the Palin painting (sorry folks...we have been unable to uncover an uncensored version of either painting).

In Palin's painting, the governor wears her alternate swept back 'do, and holds an automatic rifle while standing naked on a bear-skin rug."I don't see how she could be offended by this," Elliott said. "I made her into a sex figure." [ed's note: You might have had a little help, Brude! And truth be told, she's homelier in your painting than in real life. . .your painting of Rod, however, seems flattering. ]


Click Governor Blagojevich to enlarge

Elliott's nude portrait of Blagojevich is nearly complete and will hang on the wall of Elliott's wife's bar, the Old Town Ale House, next to his nude Sarah Palin.

The Chicago artist who drew crowds, and notoriety to his wife's bar with his nude painting has begun referring to the paintings as a series, the "nude governor series."

Blagojevich nude painting Video
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A Jonas Brothers Google bomb/prank

It's always pretty funny when someone unleashes a Google bomb[1]. This week, someone unleashed one on the Jonas Brothers (which has since been, mostly, expunged):

[1] Members of an online community can affect the results of Google searches a/k/a "Google bombing" by linking their sites to a chosen one. Blogger Adam Mathes invented the practice in 2001, when he used it to link the phrase "talentless hack" to a friend's website. The search engine can actually be manipulated by a fairly small group of users. You may remember the pretty famous prank on George W. Bush, where if you typed in the phrase "miserable failure," you were directed to a biography of The President on the White House website. . .

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A video compilation of every death in The Sopranos

If you watched all seven seasons of The Sopranos, this is like a little refresher course on all the twists, turns, and chicanes of the plot over the years. Since virtually every death was a key plot point, this is an interesting summation of one aspect of the show that alludes to some of the others.

There were some incredible murders in the series, including, finally, most of the characters except Paulie, Tony, Tony's family, and some of the soldiers in Sacrimony/Leotardo and Tony Soprano's crime families.

Stephen Clarke-Willson pointed out that some people felt burned by the way the series ended. If you want to see last moments of the show (and a remixed version), click here. I loved the ending, and don't think I would have changed a thing. The fade to black (without music, for the first time in the show's history) was an incredible way to round things out, although I can see why some people wanted to show tied up with a neat bow.


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Painting of Keelin Curran in Mexico

click to enlarge

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Times are tough. Does J-Lo's fluffer still have a job?

Click to enlarge

I was thinking today about all the people who've recently been laid off, furloughed, fired, RIF's, WARN'd, placed on hiatus, put out to pasture, forced to retire early, and been "transferred from full time to part-time." These are the people who make things we use, eat, and consume; fix things; keep them working; and sell us the parts and goods we need to keep this whole enterprise running. I guess what I am driving at is. . .in these tight times, do people like Jennifer Lopez's nipple fluffer really get to keep their jobs?

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F*** You, Penguin! A really focused blog

I love this blog! I admire bloggers who focus their beam on one topic or demographic, like Heather G's Derfwad Manor, or 5ives.com., or WFMU's Beware of the Blog, or even something like the Drudge Report. They have a focus I can't achieve, although we probably came close in the last six months. I could achieve that focus with, say, ten separate blogs; that will never happen, since I have enough trouble just tending to one...

I've been relieved to go back and explore the more open ended charter of All This Is That, hitting on alien lore, folk lore, music, art, strange news, hillbilly life, poetry, and the paranormal. After that rambling and long-winded lead that went nowhere, let's just say that F*** You, Penguin is a hilariously cranky site that posts pictures of animals and tell why the depicted animals are worthless. That's all they do. It's funny and interesting.

Check out F*** You, Penguin! A taste: F*** You, Penguin's post on lions:

"I'm not really sure where this "King of the Jungle" designation came from, but honestly, that is the biggest load of horseshit ever. Look at this dude, he looks like he's ready to put on a pair of slippers and turn in for the night. "

"I seriously wonder if the lion hasn't been resting on its laurels for the past few hundred years, and no one has actually tested one of these things. Like, some lion started a whisper campaign about how he was a real badass, and because the mane makes him look bigger than he actually is, no one wanted to fuck with him.

"WELL GUESS WHAT LION, TODAY IS YOUR UNLUCKY DAY.I'm sorry, what? Oh, no, I was talking to him. Not you, we're buddies, right? Can I get you anything? No? Okay, well you let me know."
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Snowmen from The Freaking News

The best images from The Freaking News snowman contest...obviously, most/all are digital (click them to enlarge)...









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Follow-up on the tenth planet: The Tenth Planet Isn't

The "tenth planet" a/k/a 2003 UB313 - click to enlarge

A year and a half ago, I posted a poem, and an article on the tenth planet, a subject I found endlessly fascinating. One reason I found it so interesting was that the notion of a tenth planet was a plot arc near the end of the television series Dark Skies [1].

Back in mid-2006, many scientists thought the planet would become the tenth planet:

"We are 100 percent confident that this is the first object bigger than Pluto ever found in the outer solar system," Dr. Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology said. "Even if it reflected 100 percent of the light reaching it, it would still be as big as Pluto," says Brown. Pluto is 1400 miles (2300 km) wide. "I'd say it's probably [about] one and a half times the size of Pluto, but we're not sure." Rumor has it that the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has either made a decision (or will by August 2006) as to whether or not the tenth planet will really be classified as a planet or not.

As it turns out, it was not classified as a planet at all, but instead as a dwarf planet, As of mid-2008, five smaller objects are classified as dwarf planets. Ceres is in the asteroid belt, and four orbit the Sun beyond Neptune: Haumea, Makemake, Eris, and. . .Pluto!!!!!

click to enlarge

I am deflated and stunned. Not only is UB313 not the tenth planet, but Pluto had been declassified! It's not even a planet anymore. There are not nine planets, but eight. How could the Scientists do this...I mean this is truly a mindf***er! I went from thinking there were maybe ten down to eight. Having just found this out tonight, I wonder what's next: Abe Lincoln is a fictional character?

I guess we can take some comfort in the eight that remain:

Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune

[1] The crux of Dark Skies: 20th Century history as we know it is a lie. Aliens have been among us since the late 1940s, but a government cover-up has protected the public from such knowledge. As the series progresses, we follow John Loengard and Kim Sayers through the 1960s as they attempt to foil the plots of the alien Hive. The Hive is an alien race that planned to invade Earth through a manipulation of historical events and famous figures, including most notably the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In addition, the pair must stay one step ahead of a covert government agency that has mixed motives, Majestic 12.
The show featured a number of real-life 1960's personalities in the plot, such as The Beatles, Robert Kennedy, Jim Morrison, Carl Sagan, Ronald Reagan, and J Edgar Hoover.

Previous posts on the tenth planet:

http://jackbrummet.blogspot.com/2006/08/poem-tenth-planet-or-incredible.html

http://jackbrummet.blogspot.com/2006/05/tenth-planet-aka-2003-ub313.html
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Snowmaggedon in Seattle!

sledding, skiing, tobogganing - click to enlarge


A snowman on the ledge of Kinnear Park, with a view of the needle. Click to enlarge.


Walking...click to enlarge

It's been a hairy, but beautiful day in the Puget Sound region. As the storm first hit last night, it took me nearly three hours to get home to the Ballard Neighborhood in Seattle, which had no snow at all. But overnight it began to come down...with a vengeance.

By noon today, more than half a foot of snow had fallen in parts of the Puget Sound region, and especially the hills (of which Seattle has at least eight good sized ones). 9 inches fell in parts of Redmond, near where I work, and north of Seattle in Arlington, two feet came down in some communities. Most work and school is cancelled. And there will be an even bigger storm this weekend.

We're about as good at dealing with the snow as we are with sunshine. Actually, we exploit the sunshine better than anyone on earth. Snow, however. . .we know how to play in it, but driving? The streets and freeways are littered with abandoned cars, jackknifed buses, and people just simply stuck, with bad tires, and no chains.

The best part of all this chaos: in the neighborhoods, most people don't drive. So everyone is walking, sledding, and cross country skiing. And it's quiet, both from the lack of cars, and the snow muffling the vehicles that are on the road...
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Matt Drudge uses special Obama photo for Man Of The Year Flash

Drudge report: COOL: MAN OF THE YEAR!


The photo used by Time Magazine

When Time Magazine named Barack Obama their "2008 Person of the Year" subtitled "Why History Can't Wait," Matt Drudge was quick to report the news. Drudge used what can only charitable be called a less mainstream photo. However, I like it anyway. . .

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NY Governor David Paterson unleashes a volley of 88 new taxes in retribution for his portrayal as befuddled on SNL

By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

Governor David Paterson in an apparent fit of pique, has unleashed a set of 88 new taxes that insiders say are a punitive measure against what the Governor privately called "This c***sucking Saturday Night Live generation of Blackberry packing, iPod toting, spoiled a**holes!"

Editor's Warning: The video clip of SNL has been sporadically available on YouTube. The link below may well be broken by the time you read this. Bending to pressure from Patterson, and other groups, YouTube has deemed the video clip "offensive."



The Governor also said "I've been up front with these f***ing a**holes, admitted having affairs, snorting coke. My wife had affairs and did blow too. So motherf***ing what! Look what honesty gets me! Ridiculed on Saturday Night Live. How f***ing dare they mock my blindness! I can't pay back the whole f***ing country over this one. But I'll be glad to start with these New York creeps."

Although the Governor is attempting to close a $15+ Billion dollar budget gap, most observers agreed the new taxes were retaliatory. The Governor's office rolled out a punitive tax package that included, among many other taxes:

an 18% tax on soda,
an iPod tax,
a new movie theater tax,
doubling the taxes on beer and wine (holy cow!),
new taxes on massages (up to 50% for "full release/happy ending"),
an additional tax on cigars,
a tax on all digitally-delivered entertainment (which, of course, includes phone ringtones, phone games, games delivered online like World of Warcraft, movies pn demand or purchased, videos, and iPod downloads to name a few),
a sporting event tax,
another taxi tax,
a new bus tax,
a limo tax,
cable TV tax,
a radio tax,
and a clothing tax.
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Video: Bob Dylan sells bras and panties

Well, if you're going to make a commercial, this is a lot more interesting than selling Chevrolets or Bud Light! This commercial is an interesting mix of the sensuous and sinister. . .



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Jack Brummet at age 2 /3? with Santa Claus a/k/a Dick Cheney working his way through college

Click to enlarge Jack and Santa Claus, 1955/56

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Film clip: Bob Dylan plays Love Minus Zero/No Limits

I don't know where this rather odd film clip comes from, but it does include Bob Dylan playing one of his masterwork songs. It may even be from the Pennebaker film.



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Google presents: An incredible motherlode of photos from Life Magazine, soon to include 10 million images

Just last month, Life Magazine opened up their treasure trove of photographs and they are available here on Google.

Charlie Parker - click to enlarge

Marilyn Monroe in Capris - click to enlarge

The official Google blog goes into great detail on these images: "We're excited to announce the availability of never-before-seen images from the LIFE photo archive. This effort to bring offline images online was inspired by our mission to organize all the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."

This collection of newly-digitized images includes photos and etchings produced and owned by LIFE dating all the way back to the 1750s.Only a very small percentage of these images have ever been published. The rest have been sitting in dusty archives in the form of negatives, slides, glass plates, etchings, and prints. We're digitizing them so that everyone can easily experience these fascinating moments in time. Today about 20 percent of the collection is online; during the next few months, we will be adding the entire LIFE archive — about 10 million photos."

Jackie Kennedy - click to enlarge


Crosby Stills Nash & Young - click to enlarge
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A new list: My favorite Criterion movies.

These are my favorite (not the best. . .necessarily) movies from The Criterion Collection. Of course, they have hundreds of other great films too; I just haven't seen them (yet).

Grand Illusion - Jean Renoir (one of the great great movies...one notch under [or over] Citizen Kane)
Seven Samurai - Kurosawa (a three hour long epic film)
The 400 Blows - Francois Truffaut
This Is Spinal Tap - Rob Reiner (one of my top five knucklehead movies)
The Long Good Friday - John McKenzie
M - Fritz Lang - an awesome thriller
Nanook of the North - killer early documentary. Sorry, Frank Zappa didn't invent Nanook.
Time Bandits - Terry Gilliam (esp. if you're a Gilliam fan)
Henry V - Laurence Olivier (one of the best Shakespeare movies ever)
Fishing with John - John Lurie (a very funny and strange sort of travelogue, with Jim Jarmusch, Tom Waits, and Willem DaFoe)
Brazil - Terry Gilliam (This movie is one of a kind)
The Harder They Come - Perry Henzell (and dark, and very cool plunge into Shantytown, Reggae, and Rasta, with a great soundtrack)
The Blob - The classic spooky movie
Do the Right Thing - Spike Lee (his best movie, I think)
Playtime - Jacque Tati (I wonder if I would still like Tati movies?)
8 1/2 - Federico Fellini
Monterey Pop Festival (Hendrix, Joplin, Otis Redding and others broke out)
3 Women - Robert Altman
Slacker - Richard Linklater (an Austin movie--people seem to love it or hate it; the second time I saw it, everyone in the room fell asleep)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Wes Anderson (my favorite Wes movie)
Murmur of the heart - Louis Malle
Dazes and Confused - Richard Linklater
Stranger than paradise - jim jarmusch
Traffic - Jacques Tati
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie - Luis Buñuel
Spartacus- Stanley Kubrick
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[see, also, A List of Lists on All This Is That]

Video: Johnny Cash sings Nasty Dan to Oscar The Grouch on Sesame Street

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Teen shoots parents who confiscated his Halo 3 videogame

Prosecutors at the murder trial of 17-year-old Daniel Petric say the teen shot both his parents because they wouldn't let him play Halo 3.

Petric, 16 at the time of the shooting, was forbidden to buy Halo 3 by his parents, Mark and Susan Petric. The teen snuck out to purchase the game anyway. When his parents discovered the game, they locked it up in a gun safe, along with the father's semiautomatic handgun.

According to the dad's testimony, Daniel walked into the room and said "Would you guys close your eyes? I have a surprise for you."

Petric then shot both parents in the head. The mother died immediately, but the father survived. In court, Daniel said: "Dad, I'm so sorry for what I did to Mom, to you and to the family. I'm so glad you are alive." "You're my son," Mark Petric responded. "You're my boy."

Prosecutors have not said whether or not they would file charges against the surviving parent for child abuse.
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Amazing video and story-->> Iraqi newspaperman hucks his shoes at President Bush's head: "It is the farewell kiss, you dog!"

An Iraqi journalist hucked his shoes and hurled the truth lobbed a dog-bomb told The President what most people were actually thinking and insulted President Bush at a press conference in Baghdad yesterday.



As the two leaders met in Nuri al-Maliki's private office, a journalist sitting in the third row jumped up, shouting: "It is the farewell kiss, you dog," and threw his shoes one after the other towards Bush.

Maliki made a protective gesture towards the US president, who ducked and was not hit. We never get to see this in the States--the President ducking as foreign objects hurtle toward his head. [Ed's note: If you can throw two shoes at the President, surrounded by the best security force in the world, we hope Obama limits his public appearances].

Soles of shoes are considered the ultimate insult in Arab culture. In Moslem countries you do not face your shoe bottoms toward anyone.

The journalist, Muntazer al-Zaidi from the Al-Baghdadia channel in Cairo, was taken from the room by security forces.

The President later said "I don't know what the guy's cause is... I didn't feel the least bit threatened by it."
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Our Lady of Guadalupe: Stark Naked!--> Playboy gets Mother Mary to pose naked for their cover

A smoldering version of The Virgin of Guadalupe appears on the cover of the Mexican version of Playboy that hit the stands last Thursday. Playboy Mexico’s editor Gabriel Bauducco decided to put a nude Virgin Mary on its cover, and the Mexican newspaper El Diario reported that the magazine has already sold over 80 thousand copies.

The magazine features a model--Maria Florencia Onori--naked except for a white cloth over her head. A banner , “Te adoramos, Maria,” (We adore you, Mary) appears on the cover, as well.

In one of the pictures, the model seems to be posing next to a church. Playboy sources said that photographer David Eisenberg’s intentions were not to make the model look like Virgin Mary. Nyuk, nyuk. On the other hand, the magazine was purposely timed to be released before the Virgin of Guadalupe Day, a Mexican holiday based upon the Virgin's appearance before a Mexican child on December 12, 1951. ---o0o---

Poem: Defense

photo courtesy of freephoto.com
under a creative commons 3.0 license


Defense

You can't stop the rain.
All you can do

Is build a roof
You hope won't leak,

Or, at the very least,
Leak on you, and yours.
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Love Hurts: Never say "no" to sex in the morning

According to a Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office report, early last Saturday morning, Brittany Phillips, a 19-year-old Louisiana woman, was ready for sex. But her BF, Todd Stewart, 35, was not supplying it. He tried to push Phillips off him in the bedroom of their West Monroe, Louisana home.


click to enlarge the complaint

Phillips claims that Stewart became violent after he shut her down (and the physical evidence does not disagree). Stewart told an investigator that he left the bedroom to sleep on a living room couch, but that Phillips "would not leave him alone." At some point, he added, things got physical and he was stabbed in the lower lip with "a long metal object which appeared to be a knife."


Todd Stewart: not ready to go that morning

The sexually frustrated Phillips acknowledged to Deputy Shane Smith that she struck Stewart, but said she did it "to protect herself." Phillips, pictured in the mug shot above, was charged with aggravated battery, and the battered Stewart, was charged with simple battery. Phillips was also booked on a pair of outstanding warrants, for more (!!) simple battery and damage to property.


click to enlarge
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An Incredible Globe

click to enlarge the stereographic projection

This Wikipedia "featured picture" is a 360-degree spherical panorama of a beach in Marigot, Saint Martin, using nine images in a stereographic projection to create a globe. The assemblage shows the "little planet" effect, where the area close to the point opposite to the center of projection becomes significantly enlarged. A detailed explanation of how it is done can be found here.

The original image resides here on Flickr and was created in 2007 by Alexandre Duret-Lutz.
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Another One Bites The Dust: Demo Governor Blagojevich of Illinois arrested for trying to sell Obama's Senate Seat

By Pablo Fanque,
National Affairs Editor, All This Is That

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested on corruption charges on Tuesday, including trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by fellow Democrat President-elect Barack Obama, federal prosecutors said.

While Obama has long distanced himself from the governor -- who has been under investigation on other issues for months -- many people are hoping he he has ALWAYS kept his distance.

The case reminds us once again of the political sewer from which Barack Obama emerged--Chicago machine politics--without necessarily being a part of those politics, but most likely, a reluctant observer and, at times, expedient friend.

"The corruption laid out in these charges is staggering," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the federal prosecutor, said in a statement. And that is an understatement. The amount of money Blagojevich (and his wife whom you hear so clearly giving instructions in audio tapes) were trying to shake down is stunning.

Possibly even spookier is his unmitigated audacity and the quite open demands he unapologetically imposes on supplicants. This makes the $90,000 found in fellow Democrat's Rep. William Jefferson's freezer last summer look like revenue from a Kool-Aid stand.

According to the complaint, Patricia Blagojevich was the voice in the background spewing an ugly suggestion to "just fire" some newspaper editors if the Tribune Co. hoped for state assistance to sell Wrigley Field, the storied home of the Chicago Cubs."

"Hold up that (expletive) Cubs (expletive)," she says as her husband is talking on the telephone. "(Expletive) them."

This shoddy episode has given great hope to right wing bloggers and talk show hosts, who seem convinced the Obama smoking gun tape will surface any day. And the story has struck fear in the hearts of more than a few leftists, all of whom are crossing their fingers.
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Sarah Palin's Christmas Card

Sarah Palin's Christmas Card from our friends at Weekly Wolrld News



click to enlarge
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The English Beat perform Best Friend (with lyrics)

The English Beat--who I am once again enthralled with (after just seeing them live again)--perform Best Friend. It's a great song, and the lyrics are worth checking out. Earlier, I always thought this was a love song; it's something entitely, and wryly different...and altogether roundabout love song. One of the things I've always liked about the tune is the chiming Danelectro guitar line...and it chimes here like the bells of heaven.



Best Friend
By Dave Wakeling


I just found out the name of your best friend,
you been talkin' about yourself again,
and no one seems to share your views.
why doesn't everybody listen to you kid?
how come you never really seem to get through, is it you?
talk about yourself again, you.
talk about yourself,
always you, you, you.
talk about yourself again.
she's on a holiday,
she's got her summer frock on.
suck on an ice cream,
it's meltin' in the hot sun.
first date's made you pray for more.
i wanted you, wanted.
everybody knows the score,
i wanted you, wanted.
what are we pretendin' for?
let's talk about ourselves on the floor.
let's talk about yourselves, nothing more i promise.
talk about ourselves again.
i just found out the name of your best friend.
talk, talk, talk about yourself again.
yes i just found out the name of your best friend.
i just found out the name of your best friend,
you been talkin' about yourself again,
and no one seems to share your views.
why doesn't anybody listen to you kid?
how come you never really seem to get through, is it you?
talk about yourself again, you.
talk about yourself,
always you, you, you.
talk about yourself again.
again, again, again, again.
i just found out the name of your best friend,
just found out the name of your best friend,
i just found out the name of your best friend,
i just found out the name of your best friend,
just found out the name of your best friend,
i just found out the name of your best friend,
just found out the name of your best friend,
i just found out the name of your best friend.
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Music That Matters

I have been jotting down notes on bands and singers, partly because I like lists, but also, in reaction to the list on the sidebar of Dean Ericksen's blog: "Music Worth Having Around."
A lot of people and bands I thought would be on this list didn't make it. Some bands I really like like Seattle's Band of Horses, The Raconteurs, or another Seattle band, The Fleet Foxes, haven't been around long enough to make the list. And there are literally hundreds of people and bands like Steely Dan, Yes, General Public, Leon Russell, Joe Jackson, Graham Parker, and others, that just don't hold up. In my booklet, anyhow. And yeah, I know I've missed dozens of people in all categories (let me know), and didn't even create one for classical/serious music...


Rock
The Beatles (all the way)
The Rolling Stones (up to Exile On Main Street)
John Lennon
The Kinks (up to, say, Schoolboys In Disgrace)
The Old 97's
Bob Dylan (up to Desire, and sporadically thereafter)
Rod Stewart (Faces and the early solo albums)
John Sebastian (the first solo record, and of course The Lovin' Spoonful, who had just enough hits to fill up a CD.
Paul Simon (the first couple of solo albums)
Rick Danko
Steve Miller (60's and early 70's SM, not "Fly Like An Eagle" and beyond)
Joni Mitchell
Chicago up through, say, VI
Bruce Springsteen
Elvis Costello
The Byrds
Split Enz/Crowded House/Finn Brothers
The Who
The Clash
The Pretenders
Talking Heads
Queen
Lou Reed
David Bowie
Cream
Velvet Underground
Derek and the Dominoes
Buffalo Springfield
The Grateful Dead
Los Lobos
The Posies (NW heroes)
Traveling Wilburys
Crosby Stills Nash/Crosby Stills Nash & Young
The Beach Boys
Brian Wilson (select, but not most, solo albums)
The Doors
The Sonics (NW heroes)
Nirvana (NW heroes)
Paul Revere and The Raiders (NW heroes)
Big Star (now 1/2 NW heroes)
Weezer
The Band
The English Beat
Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention
The Ramones
Janis Joplin
Sly and the Family Stone
The Youngbloods
Fleetwood Mac
Cream
Jimi Hendrix
The Dukes of Stratosphear
The Carpenters
Simon and Garfunkel
Pink Floyd
Led Zeppelin (through Houses of the Holy)
Brian Eno
Nick Lowe/Rockpile
Buddy Holly
Chuck Berry
Derek and the Dominoes
The Allman Brothers

Country/Western/Bluegrass/folk (ish)
Woody Guthrie
Hank Williams (The King)
Bob Wills
Roy Orbison
George Jones
Willie Nelson
Chet Atkins
Merle Haggard
Emmylou Harris
Buddy & Julie Miller
Dolly Parton
Patsy Cline
Roy Rogers
Sons of The Pioneers
Gene Autry
Johnny Cash
The Carter Family
Earl Monroe
Old and In The Way
David Grisman
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
John Prine
Dwight Yoakum
Lucinda Williams
Lynette Anderson
Dale Watson
Bela Fleck

Jazz/swing/bebop/cool
Charflie Parker
Thelonius Monk
Art Tatum
Paul Winter
Charles Mingus
Duke Ellington
Lester Young
Benny Goodman
Glen Miller
Dizzy Gillespie
Bill Evans
Gerry Mulligan
Jacquo Pastorius
Miles Davis
Charles Lloyd
Jimmy Smith
Weather Report
Return To Forever
John McLaughlin
Count Basie
Chet Baker
Cab Calloway
Herbie Hancock
Bessie Smith
Nina Simone
Bud Powell
Stéphane Grappelli
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Branford Marsalis
Wayne Shorter
Louis Armstrong (solo, and with The Hot Fives and Hot Sevens)
Billie Holiday
The Beau Hunks
Sun Ra
Bill Frisell
Jimmy Smith
Keith Jarrett

Blues/R & B/Soul/reggae
James Brown
Wlly Dixon
Muddy Waters
Al Green
Sleepy John Estes
Jimmy Reed
The Supremes
Lightnin' Hopkins
Otis Redding
The Blind Boys if Alabama
Rev. Blind Gary Davis
Stevie Wonder
Etta James
Smokey Robinson
The Temptations
The Miracles
The Four Tops
Leadbelly
Furry Lewis
Elmore Johnson
Skip James
Jimmy Cliff
Bob Marley
Billie Holiday
Marvin Gaye
Michael Jackson (first few albums)
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Barbra Streisand back in the day, 1977 that is

click Babs to enlarge

Here is the back cover of Barbra's 1977 album Superman. I worked at a music store in NYC that year (Carl Fischer Music Publisher) and the sheet music, with Barbra in her revealing outfit, flew off the shelves.

The cover, was probably the raciest thing she ever did. . .until perhaps Meet The Fokkers, where she plays the nearly deranged sex-therapist mom of Ben Stiller (Fokker)...
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"When Monkeys Fly Out My Butt": George W. Bush and Barbra Streisand Kiss - now that's one awkward smooch!

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Dave Wakeling and Nat Love perform Save It For Later on Luke Burbank's TBTL

It's kind of cool when your heroes meet.

While Dave Wakeling and the English Beat were in town for an awesome show at The Showbox, they dropped by Seattle's (and now, the world's) Luke Burbank's TBTL (Too Beautiful To Live - KIRO 97.3 FM and 710 AM). They play two songs, including one of their greatest, Save It For Later. I have seen The English Beat twice now, but have never seen Dave without his pink Danelectro. They're playing unplugged.

Check out this video on YouTube (or down below) and download the TBTL podcast with songs and interview at the TBTL website. or at the iTunes podast site.


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Portrait of Dean Ericksen

click to enlarge

Dean Ericksen can be found blogging here.

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Typeracer.com - a typing race game

As a four fingered typist, I knew I'd suck at this; still it's kind of fun. You race against other typists and your progress is measured by a car moving in a race with others. Of course, the people on the leaderboard/high score list all type around 150 words per minute. Check it out at http://play.typeracer.com/



As you can see, someone typed nearly 230 words per minute!
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