Painting: Istanbul's Blue Mosque, by Jack Brummet

click to enlarge

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The end of the line: Nancy Pelosi's last hours as Speaker of the House

Thanks to Jeff Clinton for passing along this photo. . .

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Four iPad face drawings by Jack Brummet

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FBI Agent Harris warns Tony Soprano about "that problem in Brooklyn"

By Jack Brummet

This is a great piece of dialogue, and a pivotal moment in the next-to-last episode ("The Blue Comet") of The Sopranos--this, and the last episode, "Made In America." are two of the great moments of television, ever. . .

FBI Agent Harris: "Remember that thing I told you about that was supposed to happen last year?  Your problem with Brooklyn?  It's on again, possibly.  You.  Maybe people close to you.  If it was really solid you would have been warned officially by the Newark office.  But my colleague in Brooklyn. . .the one with the collaborator.  The snitch is implying the wheels have already been set in motion."

Tony:  Implyin'.

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The golden-throated hobo, Ted Williams, of Columbus, Ohio

By Jack Brummet, Social Mores Editor

This is a very sweet story, mainly because it looks like he's getting a second chance...all of a sudden this video is all over the internets, and maybe, as a result, Ted Williams will get a shot at a new life.  I hope so.  What a voice!

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Painting by Jack Brummet - My Parole Officer

By Jack Brummet

This painting began life as a 2' x 3' acrylic painting on a silk "canvas."  This is a digitally processed version...

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Middle finger of the day No. 15 - More kid fingers (do the parents ever feel a little guilty about this?)

By Pablo Fanque and Mona Goldwater





You do have to wonder a little if these photos won't be ones the parents regret taking, arranging. . .and then posting on the internet?  We also posted one previous set of youthful fingers here. . .

Shock and Awe

Mournful finger?

Sure,. why not?

Ginger finger

Lake finger

Hola finger

Double trouble

Random middle finger?

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One Day To Go Until We Get The Bone: Rep. John Boehner becomes SOTH on January 5th, 2011

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor






Rep. John Boehner will be anointed Speaker of the House on January 5th, 2011.  For us, the question is not whether or not he will cry, but exactly how much he will cry.  We're betting on a few modest and relatively discreet teardrops, but hoping for a massive deluge of waterworks. . .

click to enlarge The Bone

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Frank Zappa sets the record straight on the ca-ca rumors

By Mona Goldwater, Rock & Roll Correspondent

Frank Zappa once wrote, in response to persistent rumors that he defecated on stage (or ate s*** in a gross out contest):

"For the record, folks; I never took a s*** on stage and the closest I ever came to eating s*** anywhere was at a Holiday Inn buffet in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in 1973."

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John Roderick performs "Not Moving To Portland"

John Roderick of The Long Winters performs Not Moving To Portland at The Triple Door in Seattle last summer.  In between songs, he is probably the funniest performer I have ever seen. 

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Poem by Jack Brummet: The fleeting and migratory nature of inspiration

If  you don't write it down,
Type it, or record it,


It's gone,
Like a hit and run driver


Or a pickpocket
Merging into the crowd
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The Year of the Boehner & the incoming Speaker of the House's thoughts on tanning

By Jack Brummet, Social Mores Editor

Like it or not, 2011 will be The Year of The Boehner.  Soon-to-be-Speaker of the House John Boehner recently expressed his thoughts on tanning to The Wall Street Journal:  "I have never been in a tanning bed or used a tanning product," he said.  He went on to explain that his twelve brothers and sisters, and his mother, also have the same sun-burnished look.

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