September 2008 Archives

My friend Tom is going though a divorce and I went with him to divorce court today for moral support. I had to sit on a hard wooden bench for several hours as he waited for his case to be heard.

In the meantime, I got to hear a few divorce cases. The first one involved a Mexican couple who were splitting after 11 years. They didn’t have attorneys. The judge heard them present their cases and then divided up their marital property. They didn’t have much: a 2000 Silverado, a 1995 van, and a corn cart worth $2,000.

You’re probably asking, “What’s a corn cart?”

At first, I thought they were talking about a “corn card” or something that sounded like that. The wife said that the corn card cost $4,000 new. Now, it has depreciated to about half that value.

Then, the husband described how he was the one who sold corn using the corn card. He fills it up with corn and fruit and sells the items on the street. He’s a street vendor. Ah, ha! A corn cart!

I Googled it. They do call them corn carts. Who knew?

Anyway, the judge did a little rough justice. The Silverado was worth $3,000. The van was sold by the wife as junk for $100. The corn cart was worth $2,000. The husband got the Silverado and the corn cart and was ordered to pay the wife $2,450 ($5,000 minus $50 for his half of the junked van).

After several of these cases involving marital assets of $5,000 or less, my friend was finally called to settle his divorce. Unfortunately, his case involves assets in excess of $3 million. So, it wasn’t concluded quite as easily. He’s got to go back to court in November.

Check out this news story about four firefighters in San Diego who claim that they were traumatized when the city ordered them to work during a Gay Pride event.

I think that anyone who can’t handle dealing with gay people or any other minority group shouldn’t be working as a firefighter. How can they serve the public when they’re afraid of a group of LGBT citizens?

Testimony Ends in Firemen’s Trial Over Gay Pride Trauma

Last Update: 9/29 5:53 pm    

SAN DIEGO - Testimony ended Monday in a civil trial stemming from a lawsuit brought against the city by four San Diego firefighters, who claim they were ordered to participate in the 2007 gay pride parade and suffered emotional problems as a result.

Capt. John Ghiotto and firefighters Jason Hewitt, Alex Kane and Chad Allison claim they were called names and subjected to other harassment by scantily-clad parade attendees.

The firefighters, who manned a station in the Hillcrest neighborhood where the parade took place, were ordered to take part when another crew had to back out the night before the event.

More…

It is likely that these assholes simply saw this as an opportunity to get rich. I hope the lose the case and their jobs. What a bunch of wimps! 

This is the “better-late-than-never” version of Bunnytude’s RCFMHD (Random Crap From My Hard Drive) Monday. To play along, post various random graphics from your hard drive on your blog and leave a link over at Bunnytude (not here).

Here’s a great article from a 1960s magazine. My favorite hairstyle is the “crew bop” — kinda looks like the way I wore it back in the ’80s.

Oh, my. Naked Ed Harris. I wonder how that got on my hard drive. Okay, I know how it got there. You don’t have to ask why.

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. Imagine what it would be like if McCain’s V.P. choice instantly made you a few extra hundred thousand dollars. That’s what Tina Fey feels like.

Nothing was cooler than Annie Lennox in 1983 — NOTHING! She still is pretty awesome. I guess she had some health problems recently. It sucks getting old.

Anyway, these are my totally random images. I try to just pick them blindly from my downloads folder. Give it a try next week. I bet you’ve got some interesting graphics to share.

There’s some buzz going around the blogosphere about a new Internet rumor being spread via e-mail. I haven’t received the message yet. But, it claims — get this — that Barack Obama is the Antichrist!

Here’s an excerpt from the entry about it on Snopes.com:

Obama as Anti-Christ

Claim:   The Book of Revelation describes the anti-Christ as someone with characteristics matching those of Barack Obama.

Status:   False.

Example:   [Collected via e-mail, March 2008]

According to the Book of Revelations the anti-christ is: The anti-christ will be a man, in his 40s, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations with persuassive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal…. the prophecy says that people will flock to him and he will promise false hope and world peace, and when he is in power, will destory everything. Is it OBAMA??

[…]

Nothing in the Bible — in Revelation or elsewhere — describes the anti-Christ as being “a man, in his 40s, of Muslim descent.” In fact, since the book of Revelation was complete by the end of the second century, but the religion of Islam wasn’t founded until about four hundred years later, the notion that Revelation would have mentioned a “Muslim” at all is rather far-fetched. (And even if it did, it couldn’t be construed as a reference to Barack Obama, since Senator Obama isn’t a Muslim.)

Read the whole thing…

I’m somewhat surprised that one of my crazy relatives hasn’t forwarded this to me already. Perhaps they’re a bit more rational than I thought.

The scary thing is that there are lots of people in this country who will believe this crap. For example, there’s the mayor of  Fort Mill, South Carolina, Danny Funderburk:

SC: mayor ‘not sure’ if Obama’s the anti-Christ
by: Pam Spaulding
Mon Sep 29, 2008 at 09:30:00 AM EDT

Should feel enraged or just sigh in resignation that the level of ignorance of the bible-beating bigots right is so prevalent, particularly in elected officials? Take a look at the behavior of Fort Mill, SC Mayor Danny Funderburk.

Fort Mill Mayor Danny Funderburk says he was “just curious” when he forwarded a chain e-mail suggesting Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is the biblical antichrist. “I was just curious if there was any validity to it,” Funderburk said in a telephone interview. “I was trying to get documentation if there was any scripture to back it up.”

Funderburk apparently sent the e-mail from his business account at Gastonia Sheet Metal where he works as a business agent. The e-mail, which has circulated in the last six months since Obama secured the Democratic nomination, claims the biblical book of Revelation says the antichrist will be in his 40s and of Muslim ancestry. 

More… 

Angus & Julia Stone - What You Wanted

I had planned on going to Fisherman’s Wharf to try out my new camera today. Unfortunately, it was so cold and foggy I didn’t want to get too close to the ocean. The sun wasn’t out anyway, which meant that the photos wouldn’t be very impressive.

So, I came up with something to photograph that actually looks better on a gloomy day — the old Monterey Cemetery. I even converted the photos to B&W to make them extra creepy.

The Monterey Cemetery is a great old cemetery with lots of old graves, tombs, and gnarled trees. It is the kind of place that would be great for a horror movie location.
 

I’ve always liked spooky old cemeteries. It is fun to look at the monuments that people have erected for their dead loved ones over the generations. This cemetery has lots of family tombs. Most of them belong to old Italian families who came to Monterey in the 1800s as fishermen. The Italian section of the cemetery is quite elaborate. 

I just saw these Chanel light bulb shoes in today’s USA Weekend magazine.

They cost $2,200 and the light bulb actually lights up.

What in the hell is wrong with rich people? Why would anyone buy these ugly things?

How many stupid rich women does it take to screw in a light bulb? Apparently, one. She just puts on these shoes and drives the bulb into the socket with her feet!

I finally broke down and purchased a digital camera. I’ve wanted to take up photography for a few years now and I decided that a camera would be a nice birthday present to myself.

So, I bought a Sony A350 DSLR. It isn’t a top-of-the-line camera. However, it seems very easy to use and it came with a couple of lenses.

Like everyone who gets a new camera, I started by taking some pictures of my dog. Here’s Dante in front of the backdoor (he likes to sit there to block us from coming and going).

Here’s another one of Dante taken from above. I like this goofy perspective.

Dante is such a big boy now. It is hard to believe that he’s only six months old. He must weigh over 50 pounds already.

Here’s the fish pond. I tried to get a few shots of the koi, but the water is too murky right now. I should be able to get some in a few days after the ultraviolet lights have killed the algae. 

 Aw! Here’s my little buddy again. He’s chewing on a piece of bark. What a good boy! 

I swear I’m not going to turn into one of those people who think their pets are the cutest things in the world. But, who couldn’t love this pup? He likes to use the garden hose as a pillow.

I also tried the macro setting and took some close up shots of flowers in the garden. About five minutes after I took this photo, Dante ate the flower. He just walked up a gobbled it down.

WTF?! I just read the following article in this morning’s newspaper:

Obama effigy found hanging from Ore. campus tree

By MARY HUDETZ, Associated Press writer
Wed Sep 24, 6:43 PM ET

NEWBERG, Ore. - Officials of a small Christian university say a life-size cardboard reproduction of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was hung from a tree on the campus, an act with racial undertones that outraged students and school leaders alike.

[…]

Taped to the cardboard cutout of the black senator from Illinois was a message targeting participants in Act Six, a scholarship program geared toward increasing the number of minority and low-income students at several Christian colleges, mostly in the Northwest…

More…

What outraged me more than this hateful, racist act was that the reporter chose to describe it as “an act with racial undertones” — UNDERTONES!

This is not an act with racial undertones. It is an act with racial OVERTONES! The meaning behind lynching Obama in effigy is implicit and obvious.

I can’t imagine why the Associated Press would choose to play down the obvious racism behind this act.

Will Young - Changes

The 25th annual Folsom Street Fair will be taking place in S.F. this weekend. It has always had a reputation for displays of public nudity, overt sexuality, and outrageous behavior. It has become a S.F. tradition that draws visitors from all over the world.

Unfortunately, it also draws a collection of religious fundamentalists who want the world to believe that all LGBT people participate in this kind of thing (I’ve never attended). Pam’s House Blend has the scoop on a group called Americans for Truth Against Homosexuality:

The Peter and his Folsom fundie crew head to San Francisco
by: Pam Spaulding
Wed Sep 24, 2008 at 12:00:00 PM EDT

It must be fundraising time for The Peter.

Calling all San Francisco Blenders — the man who specializes in advanced study of kink from the “Christian” perspective, Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth Against Homosexuality, will spend the weekend in your city to “expose” the Folsom Street Fair.

The Peter will have two of the leading lights of the far right homo-obsessive movement in tow, Linda Harvey of Mission[ary Position] America, and Diane Gramley of the Pennsylvania chapter of the quickly fossilizing American Family Association.

More…

You know, this practice of “exposing” what goes on at the Folsom Street Fair could backfire on these wackos. I’m thinking about a series of ads urging people to vote no on CA Prop. 8.

EVERYONE!

Borrowed from OW via Pam’s House Blend and modified by Fritz.

Yesterday, Pam’s House Blend posted an article about Out Magazine’s 100 Gayest Albums. Many of the albums listed definitely belonged on the list. Others, uh, not so much. Many people commented on some obvious omissions.

Last night, I went through my own music collection (which is pretty darn gay) and came up with a list of my own. Keep in mind, this is a list of music that I own. If there’s something missing, that’s probably because I don’t have it and not because it doesn’t belong on the list.

I determined which albums in my collection are the “gayest” by asking myself a series of questions:

1) If I saw this album in a guy’s music collection, would it make me wonder if he is gay?

2) Is the artist gay? Bisexual? Transgender?

3) Does the artist have a large gay following?

4) Does the album have any social significance to the LGBT communities?

Then, I had to narrow it down to just 100 albums. I did this by adding up all of the queer qualities of the particular album. For example, Barbra Streisand + Broadway is twice as gay as Streisand singing typical pop songs. Barbra Streisand + Donna Summer is twice as gay as either singer alone. Now, if we ever had Barbra Streisand + Donna Summer + Broadway — wow! That would be the gayest thing ever.

Also, if an album has a track that is specifically about being gay, it is gayer than an album that doesn’t. Gay artist + gay song is twice as gay as a gay artist who doesn’t sing about being gay. Get it?

Anyway, here’s my list.

With Proposition 8 on the California ballot, there is a good chance that the citizens of the Golden State could vote to amend the State Constitution. I would just like to remind my fellow Californians that there have been some pretty horrible things in the CA Constitution in the past.

Here’s a gem from 1879:

ARTICLE XIX: CHINESE.

     Section 1. The Legislature shall prescribe all necessary regulations for the protection of the State, and the counties, cities, and towns thereof, from the burdens and evils arising from the presence of aliens who are or may become vagrants, paupers, mendicants, criminals, or invalids afflicted with contagious or infectious diseases, and from aliens otherwise dangerous or detrimental to the well-being or peace of the State, and to impose conditions upon which persons may reside in the State, and to provide the means and mode of their removal from the State, upon failure or refusal to comply with such conditions; provided, that nothing contained in this Section shall be construed to impair or limit the power of the Legislature to pass such police laws or other regulations as it may deem necessary.
 
     Sec. 2. No corporation now existing or hereafter formed under the laws of this State, shall, after the adoption of this Constitution, employ directly or indirectly, in any capacity, any Chinese or Mongolian. The Legislature shall pass such laws as may be necessary to enforce this provision.

     Sec. 3. No Chinese shall be employed on any State, county, municipal, or other public work, except in punishment for crime.

     Sec. 4. The presence of foreigners ineligible to become citizens of the United States is declared to be dangerous to the well-being of the State, and the Legislature shall discourage their immigration by all the means within its power. Asiatic coolieism is a form of human slavery, and is forever prohibited in this State, and all contracts for coolie labor shall be void. All companies or corporations, whether formed in this country or any foreign country, for the importation of such labor, shall be subject to such penalties as the Legislature may prescribe. The Legislature shall delegate all necessary power to the incorporated cities and towns of this State for the removal of Chinese without the limits of such cities and towns, or for their location within prescribed portions of those limits, and it shall also provide the necessary legislation to prohibit the introduction into this State of Chinese after the adoption of this Constitution. This Section shall be enforced by appropriate legislation 

Article XIX was repealed on November 4, 1952.

That’s right. It was law for 73 years!  

For 73 years, it was illegal to hire a Chinese person. They were prohibited from working on any State, county, municipal, or other public job. Chinese people could be expelled from the state if they were deemed to be in anyway undesirable.

Today, anyone with half a brain recognizes this law as unjust. It is bigotry written into the Constitution.

Let’s not make the same mistake when it comes to gay and lesbian Californians. 

McFly - I Kissed a Girl

H/T Aberrant Clone.

My friend Cliff and I just got back from a No on Prop. 8 rally at Monterey’s Window on the Bay. There I am in the above photo holding a yard sign.

The turn out was very good. There were between 100 and 150 people there to hold signs and wave at traffic at this very busy intersection in downtown Monterey.

Many of the folks driving by in their cars waved and honked in support. I only counted five people who shouted epithets or wave us the thumbs downs. The group who showed up for the rally was quite diverse. Old, young, black, white, hispanic, men, women, even a few four-legged friends showed up. 

I really got a kick out of a group of young people who were waving signs directly across the street from us. They have so many wonderful years ahead of them. I only hope that they’ll have something that I didn’t have when I was their age — the freedom to marry the person they love.

One thing that surprised me was the number of young military guys who drove by honking and giving us their signs of support (Window on the Bay is a few miles from two major military installations). It just goes to show you how different young people feel about this issue from their parents and grandparents.

At one point, CA State Assembly candidate Bill Monning addressed the crowd. Monning is a strong supporter of LGBT rights. It was great to see him come out for this event. Thanks, Bill!

One of the things Monning said was that he’s seen large turnouts for events like this throughout the region. That’s really encouraging.

Also in attendance were members of the local ACLU and the Unitarian Church.

I grew up in Southern California. So, I know where Mexico is and that the people who come from that country are called Mexicans.

That wasn’t the case with my relatives in Nebraska and Kansas. To them, anyone who speaks the Spanish language is Spanish. This used to drive me nuts when I went to visit my grandparents and aunts and uncles on summer vacations.

They would commonly refer to people from Mexico or Latin America as Spanish — even if they knew they weren’t from Spain.

“He’s a nice Spanish man from Mexico.”

Eventually, I figured out that they also associated dark skin and South or Mesoamerican Indian features with being Spanish as well. If you were to ask my relatives to describe a Spanish person, they would describe a man with dark skin, a moustache, and probably even a sombrero!

Perhaps this is why John McCain became confused on Wednesday when a reporter asked him if he would invite Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to the White House if elected president.

McCain seemed to think the reporter was asking a question about the president of Mexico.

I cringed when I heard the interview. It was exactly like listening to one of my relatives who just doesn’t understand that Spain is a country in Europe and that the people who live there are Spanish.

I’m not sure how widespread this incorrect usage the word Spanish is throughout the country. But, it seems to me that John McCain picked it up on the various military bases he grew up on. 

This just proves to me that McCain isn’t very sophisticated. If he doesn’t know the difference between Spain and Mexico, he should probably be raising cattle in Nebraska with my relatives. 

Today is my twin brother’s birthday — which means that it is my birthday, too. It has become almost a tradition for me to post an embarrassing birthday photo on my blog. Here’s one of Frank and me when we turned nine.

Notice how happy my 100% hetero brother is with that brand new baseball glove. Me, uh, not so much.

I would have preferred something like a Big Jim action figure.

Remember Big Jim? He came shirtless in the box, wearing  a pair of red swim trunks. He was covered in bulging muscles and had cool sideburns.

There was a button on his back and when you pushed it, his arm moved in a Karate chop — or something similar if you were a very dirty little boy (which I was). I think at one point they added fuzzy chest hair to this toy. What were they thinking?! 

Big Jim didn’t debut until a couple of years later. I think I talked Mom into getting me one for Christmas in 1972. Poor ol’ Dad.  

“Barack Obama’s short career as a public servant has been defined by pessimism, defeatism, and weakness in the face of the great challenges of our time.”

— Tucker Bounds, McCain Spokesperson 

Mag Photographer’s Grotesque McCain Trick

The Atlantic has said it didn’t vet Jill Greenberg’s politics before hiring her to shoot John McCain. Even if it had known about her controversial anti-George Bush photographs, it wouldn’t have cared, as a matter of policy. The policy may soon change: Greenberg is gloating she left McCain’s eyes bloodshot and skin gnarly for the Atlantic’s October cover. Worse, from the magazine’s perspective, is that she tricked the Republican presidential nominee into standing over an unflattering strobe light, then posted the worst shots and Photoshops to her personal site.

I was going to post this a few weeks ago and forgot about it. It is Boy George’s version of “Yes We Can” — don’t ask me why Boy George would do something like this. I’m guessing he’s a Republican. I don’t get it.

It is time for this Bunnytude’s RCFMHD Monday. This is where you post a series of random images from your hard drive and link back to Bunnytude. It is kind of like a virtual show-and-tell.

This vintage schoolroom photo cracks me up. Notice the kid in the center who is staring at the camera? He looks like someone who grew up to be a serial killer. He totally ruined a staged candid shot.

Remember Divine? I’m saving this one to make a custom Christmas card one of these years. I’m not sure when this was taken — sometime in the mid-1980s I suppose.

Here’s a funny photo of Robert Conrad with George Takei standing behind him. I’d give $20 to know what Takei was thinking.

Here’s another shot of Takei getting married in California this June (okay, not a random image, but I couldn’t resist). Don’t they look happy?

There a lots of Sarah Palin images on my hard drive right now. This one just cracks me up. It is some kind of Viking fur festival. White people scare me!

I don’t pretend to be up on the latest slang. So, forgive me if this term has been around for awhile. I just came across it on gossip blog DListed. If it is new, I hope it doesn’t catch on. What is wrong with simply saying Jennifer Hudson is in LOVE. Dickmatized? Give me a break!

dickmatized

verb, To describe when your female friend has disappeared from most social events due to the man in her life or makes decisions based on/around the man.

Jennifer Hudson Must Be Dickmatized

Jennifer Hudson is engaged to Punk from “I Love New York.” The girl is an Oscar winner and she’s going to marry a dude who probably had a couple of sword fights with New York. I mean, the dude most likely tossed New York’s salad and licked on her nuts! NO!

JHud’s rep told People: “I can confirm that Jennifer got engaged to her boyfriend David on Friday night in L.A.”

[…]

JHud is either knocked up or she’s extremely dickmatized. I don’t care how good the dick is. He’s had his tongue down New York’s masculine throat! That’s a deal breaker.

More…

“They ought to — there ought to be an adult who says, ‘Do we really need to go that far in this ad? Don’t we make our point and won’t we get broader acceptance and deny the opposition an opportunity to attack us if we don’t include that one little last tweak in the ad?’ ”

— Karl Rove

Wow! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I just can’t get over the following story about this racist “novelty item” that the Family Research Council was selling at the Values Voter Summit.

What a bunch of stupid crackers!   

Values at the Values Voter Summit - Obama as a Muslim Aunt Jemima
by: Pam Spaulding
Sat Sep 13, 2008 at 16:31:19 PM EDT

The Values Voter Summit is taking place this weekend, and along with the usual bloviating and bible-beating rhetoric, we have the high-minded Dominionists of Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council sponsoring a booth at the convention selling this item, which it calls “political satire.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune) 

Values Voter Summit organizers cut off sales of Obama Waffles boxes on Saturday, saying they had not realized the boxes displayed “offensive material.” The summit and the exhibit hall where the boxes were sold had been open since Thursday afternoon.

The box was meant as political satire, said Mark Whitlock and Bob DeMoss, two writers from Franklin, Tenn., who created the mix. They sold it for $10 a box from a rented booth at the summit sponsored by the lobbying arm of the Family Research Council.

More…

Here is a photo of the entire box from the ObamaWaffles.com website:

They even have an “angry black woman” caricature of Michelle.

ALAN COLMES: [Sarah Palin] in an interview tonight with Charlie Gibson was asked about George Bush’s doctrine, which she didn’t know anything about, had to be told that the Bush doctrine is preemptive strike.

RUDY GIUALINI: Not if you look on Wikipedia. Do you know what that says on Wikipedia?

COLMES: Do you go by Wikipedia? Is that how you get your information?

GIUALINI: It will show you how unbiased Wikipedia is. Wikipedia says that the Bush doctrine’s some kind of irresponsible war monger.

At my last job, I worked with a couple of elderly graphic designers who were scared to death of new technology. They were both stuck in the world of printed marketing collateral and nothing bent them out of joint more than my prediction that paper will soon be a thing of the past.

I’d tell them that as soon as the hardware is perfected, brochures, magazines, books, and newspapers will disappear as fast as the vinyl LP and VHS tapes. Of course, I’d also explain that this new technology would actually increase the need for graphic designers. Without printing costs to worry about, organizations will be able to produce many more documents. They were never convinced. They firmly believed that electronic publishing would somehow put them out of work.

Well, it looks as if we’re very close to having a usable electronic reading device — one that is flexible and can be read in bright light. The demonstrations I’ve seen of the Plastic Logic reader are quite impressive. I have to say this one is the best I’ve seen.

I was shocked to learn that an anti-gay group held a rally just a few miles from my home yesterday. According to an article in today’s Monterey County Herald, an organization from Pennsylvania called The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (check out their scary website) gathered at the intersection of Ocean Avenue and San Carlos Street carrying anti-gay signs and a red banner with a lion and the words “Tradition, Family, Property.”

One Carmel resident described the demonstration as “fascist” and several others felt compelled to give these crazy folks the finger.

Apparently, this Phelps-style hate group is conducting a 30-day tour of the state, protesting marriage equality — and really pissing people off in the communities they visit.

For those of you who are not familiar with Ocean Avenue in Carmel, it is a little bit like an amusement park without the thrill rides. It is a beautiful shopping district with art galleries, quaint shops, outdoor cafes, and a quiet smalltown atmosphere. I can’t imagine anyone holding a demonstration like the one described here. It would be exactly like protesting on Disney’s Main Street!

Here are some excerpts from the article:

It has been seven long years since George W. Bush promised us that he’d get Osama Bin Laden dead or alive. As far as we know, Bin Laden is still alive and well and living in hiding. I feel that this is the biggest failure of the Bush administration. A mass murderer has not been brought to justice. The crimes of 9/11 have not yet been avenged. Bush will soon leave office and retire to his ranch in Texas. If he had any honor, he’d keep his promise and search for Bin Laden after his term in office expires.

Ultra Naté - Twisted (Got Me Goin’ ‘Round)

I found this in my inbox today:

John McCain and Barack Obama are backstage getting haircuts and shaves before the first presidential debate.

As they sit there, each being worked on by a different barber, not a word is spoken.

As the barbers finish their shaves, the one who has McCain in his chair reaches for the after shave. McCain is quick to stop him saying, “No thanks, my wife Cindy will smell that and think I’ve been in a whorehouse.”

The second barber turns to Obama and asks, “How about you?”

Obama replies, “Go ahead, Michelle doesn’t know what the inside of a whorehouse smells like.”

After two years of work and over twelve years of collecting snapshots, it’s finally here- Who We Were: A Snapshot history of America!- A collaboration between myself, Michael Williams, and Richard Cahan. 350 photos, all taken by amateur photographers, tell the story of America from the 1890s through the early 1970s, literally beginning inside a surry with a fringe on top and ending on the Moon. Of course there’s World Wars (two of them!), the Depression, and Civil Rights marches but there’s also cave-dwelling child brides and love-lorn bootleggers, rabbit hunters and rat-catching contests.

[…]

New! Added 9/1Moving Pictures: Brief Lives and Living Portraits- 20 animated series of photobooth strips and/or multiple photobooth images of the same person. A jittery, flickering, Frankensteinian attempt to bring old photos back to life. A couple of the series- the first and last- have over 30 images so they’ll take a little time to load but they’re worth the wait!

These videos by comedienne Julie Brown are freakin’ hilarious:

Eww! Judge David Young returned this week for his second season with a new focus. The only openly gay TV judge has added a lie dectector and DNA paternity testing to the show and is presenting the kind of cases that we’re used to seeing on Maury.

I watched Judge David Young last season and found his show to be fresh and unique. Now, it has been reduced to unwatchable baby daddy drama. I predict that this will be Young’s last season on TV. 

Judge Judy is still the reigning queen of small claims court TV. She presents real cases with real people and doesn’t stoop to hype like lie detectors and DNA tests.

I can’t stand seeing people on TV talking about cheating on their partners and questioning the paternity of their children. I’d rather watch someone sue her neighbor for cutting down a tree or former roommates fighting over unpaid rent.

It is too bad that Judge Young had to sell out and feature fake, sensational cases involving cheating spouses and illegitimate children.

UPDATE: I received an e-mail message from David Young this evening. He has asked me to watch a few more episodes before I pass judgement on his second season:

Date:  Wed Sep 10 20:17:52 CDT 2008    
 
Subject:  I’m sorry you do not like the show   
 
Fritz, our DNA cases are just one third of what we do. And I must say, that we are nothing like Maury. We also have incorporated the use of a lie detector and surprise witnesses in many cases.  All innovative for daytime court.   My show was and still is unique. So before wishing for my obit, take the show in for a week or so and then let me know what you think.
 
My best,
 
David Young

Okay. I won’t remove Judge David Young from my TiVo Season Pass Manager just yet. But, the last couple of shows where exactly like Maury. A husband accused his wife of cheating and then she took a lie detector test, which was followed by a DNA test. That’s what Maury does 70% of the time.

Maury also does those “can you tell which one is a man” shows during which the audience votes on which guests are women and which ones are transgender.

Please, Judge David, don’t borrow that material from Maury, too. I don’t want to see you ruling on who was born with a penis and who wasn’t! 

“We grow good people in our small towns with honesty and sincerity and dignity.”

— GOP Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin, quoting right-wing columnist and rabid anti-semite Westbrook Pegler

Today, scientists in Geneva, Switzerland fired up the Large Hadron Collider.

First Beam For Large Hadron Collider

ScienceDaily (Sep. 10, 2008) — An international collaboration of scientists today sent the first beam of protons zooming at nearly the speed of light around the world’s most powerful particle accelerator—the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)—located at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) invested a total $531 million in the construction of the accelerator and its detectors, which scientists believe could help unlock extraordinary discoveries about the nature of the physical universe.

More…

Unfortunately, some other scientists have expressed concern that these experiments could result in the creation of a black hole that will suck in the entire world and result in the end of all things as we know it. 

I wonder if it will look anything like this:

Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun

My twin brother and I used to watch a lot of really bad horror movies when we were kids. He recently posted a YouTube trailer of one that I remember as being particularly bad, The Flesh Eaters. I was a very disappointed 7-year-old when I watched that movie expecting to see monsters ripping into human flesh with gnarly teeth. There wasn’t a drop of blood — just a cheap glowing special effect and actors running around screaming for no good reason.

However, I wasn’t disappointed by Mantago or Attack of the Mushroom People (it went by both titles). The people actually turned into giant mushrooms! I especially remember the weird music and the “surprise” ending in which the narrator admits that he “..ate the mushrooms!”

Do you have a favorite old horror movie? If so, look it up on YouTube and post a link. 

I have over 50,000 music files on my computer. Until now, it has been very difficult to manage a collection of that size using iTunes. Apple’s new version of iTunes, iTunes 8, includes significant improvements that may make this software my music manager of choice.

One of the things that was inadequate in previous versions of iTunes was how it sorted music files. If you preferred to have artists filed by last name (Michael Jackson under “J” for example), you had to edit the tag of every music file by that artist — one at a time.

With iTunes 8, you can now edit the sort field of multiple items. Yeah! I don’t know why iTunes didn’t do this sooner.

This feature is such a huge time saver that it alone has me sold on iTunes 8. In addition, the applicant appears to be much faster.

iTunes 8 also introduces a new grid view for browsing albums, artists, and genres. This interface is almost exactly like my favorite music organizer, AlbumPlayer. AlbumPlayer also includes a very robust database and sorting functions (still superior to iTunes).

One new feature of iTunes 8 that I found disappointing was the Genius Sidebar. Genius is supposed to give you lists of tracks that you don’t have for a particular artist and suggest similar music that may be of interest to you.

So, I selected what I thought would be a very easy for Genius to handle, AC/DC: 

The Genius sidebar wasn’t able to find songs by AC/DC? It couldn’t match AC/DC to anything similar? AC/DC?! Obviously, Genius isn’t quite as smart as the name implies. I think I’ll be turning this feature off.

I really like the new graphic interface of iTunes 8. It helps quite a bit to have album thumbnails when browsing through my music collection. It makes using digital music more like browsing through CDs in a record store or your own collection (if you’re as organized as I am that is).

I spend quite a bit of time scanning and collecting cover art for my digital music collection. So, it is nice to have a way to display it in iTunes.

BTW, if you’re looking for quality album cover art, check out AlbumArtExchange.com.

I watched Barack Obama on The O’Reilly Factor last night and based on what he said, I have serious doubts about my continuing to support him as a candidate. Obviously, Obama appeared on Fox News in order to convince the wingnuts that he just as much of a hawk as John McCain. I was very disappointed in his support of the so-called “war on terror” and the use of military action in the Middle East.

I regret giving my support to a candidate who fails to condemn the illegal, immoral, and unjust war in Iraq. He quibbles with O’Reilly over the effectiveness of the surge. He states that he will continue to waste our military resources to combat terrorism when it has been proven time and time again that police and intelligence agencies are more effective. 

Obama has proven himself to be a typical pandering politician. He’ll say anything to get elected. He’ll use the scare tactics of the right to his own advantage.

So much for change. So much for hope. So much for an end to war.

Devendra Banhart - Carmensita

— Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland

Radical Russ over at Pam’s House Blend has written about John McCain’s new theme song Raisin’ McCain:

Raisin McCain
by: RadicalRuss
Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 14:48:00 PM EDT

I watched the Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin speeches last night, but before I get to it, I just have to laugh at the feeble country-rock song penned by John Rich entitled “Raisin’ McCain”. He performed it last night after all the speechifying:

Well he got shot down in a Vietnam town
Fighting for the red, white and blue
And they locked him up in the Hanoi Hilton
Thinking they could break him in two
He stayed strong, stayed extra long
‘Til they let all the other boys out
Now we’ve got a real man with an American plan
We’re going to put him in the big White House

Well we’re all just raisin’ McCain
Everywhere across the USA
You can get on the train or get out of the way
We’re all just raisin’ McCain

More…

Well, I just had to do the obvious P’shop. Right?

I’ve been getting spam from Bill O’Reilly for several years. I assume that someone signed me up as a joke. Today, I received the following “Bill Bulletin” in my inbox:

Bill Bulletin

from BillOReilly.com

September 4, 2008

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), the Democratic presidential nominee, sits down for an exclusive interview with Bill tonight on The O’Reilly Factor.

The Factor airs on the Fox News Channel weeknights at 8 PM ET.

The Factor File Newsletter and Bill’s column will resume as usual next week.

Why is Barack Obama appearing on The O’Lielly Factor? What could he possibly have to gain by going on any Fox News program? No one who watches this rightwing filth is going to vote for him.

STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!

Batusi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Batusi was a 1960s style go-go dance invented for the Batman television series. The name is a pun on the then-popular dance the Watusi.
 
Performance
The Batusi is performed by making a horizontal V-sign with one’s index and middle fingers of both hands, and drawing them across in front of the eyes, one hand at a time, with the eyes roughly between the fingers. This is performed in time with the music, and is improved upon by continuing to dance with the lower half of the body, simultaneously.

History
The Batusi first appeared in the premiere episode of the 1960s American television series based on the comic book character Batman.

There are conflicting reports as to who invented the dance, which became a national craze on the dance scene. One account is that it was invented by dance instructor Arthur Murray for Batman, and was supposedly first performed at a cocktail party at a New York City discothèque, Harlow’s. But in a 2005 Wizard Magazine interview, Adam West claims credit for creating the Batusi’s unique moves.

H/T Aberrant Clone.

I don’t eat potato chips. I prefer tortilla chips and salsa.

However, I am still somewhat disturbed at the news of a shortage of potato chips. It is being reported that farmers aren’t growing as many potatoes these days — especially “chipping” potatoes used to make potato chips.

I haven’t noticed fewer potatoes in the produce aisle at the grocery store. In fact, the spuds were stacked as high as usual the last time I bought some Russetts.

Potato chips in short supply

By STEVE RAABE

The Denver Post

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Denver — What, no chips?

Potato-chip aficionados are discovering their cherished snack may be in short supply.

And if they find it, they’re likely to pay a bit more for it.

The problem: Not enough chipping spuds to supply manufacturers.

“I wouldn’t use the word shortage, but supplies are fairly limited,” said Tim O’Connor, president and chief executive of the Denver-based U.S. Potato Board. “I know there have been some (retail) outages where not all products are available every day.”

King Soopers has posted signs in snack aisles, warning customers that various brands of chips may be temporarily absent.

Potatoes of all varieties are in shorter supply than usual because many farmers are opting to replace potato acreage with corn, wheat and barley — crops whose prices have gone up faster than potatoes.

“There’s definitely a shortage of fresh potatoes,” said Katy Strohauer, who with her husband, Harry, grows russets, reds, Yukons and fingerlings near Greeley.

[…]

Colorado’s largest potato-growing region, the San Luis Valley, produces mainly russets and has few, if any, chipping potatoes.

[…]

But the supply problem has been particularly acute with chipping potatoes. Those special varieties are bred with hard, dense flesh and low moisture, qualities that enhance frying…

More…

One of the worst things I can imagine about being a dog would be not being able to communicate about being in pain or a health issue to your human.

I am the co-owner of a cute 6-month-old Golden Retriever named Dante. Dante doesn’t live with me. He lives with my friend Tom. But, I help feed him and take care of him. I see him almost every day.

Yesterday, Tom called me to say that Dante wasn’t eating. This is unusual because he’s growing very fast and eats like he can’t get enough. I asked Tom if Dante had any other symptoms that could indicate a problem. He said no.

Today, I went over to see Dante and he was acting pretty frisky. Tom said he still wasn’t eating, though. I looked him over and didn’t see anything wrong. I checked inside his mouth and felt his little belly. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong.

I little while later, I took Dante into the backyard to play fetch with a tennis ball. Dante ran after the ball as usual. However, when he went to pick up the ball, he started choking. He did this several times. Then, he sat down and began scratching wildly at his collar.

I always check Dante’s collar to see if it is too tight when he gets his bath. The last bath was just a few days ago. I wondered if he could have grown quickly enough to outgrow his collar in such a short amount of time.

I put my fingers under Dante’s collar to see if it was too snug and was shocked to find a large plastic ring under it!

The ring was very tight and the exact same width as Dante’s collar. The collar was covering it completely and there was no way I could have seen it without moving the collar.

The ring was hard, brittle plastic and it broke under a little pressure from my fingers and fell off. Obviously, the ring was choking Dante and making him unable to eat.

We have no idea where this ring came from. It is dark gray plastic and smooth on the outside with a groove running down the center on the inside. How could a dog manage to get something like that stuck on his neck? It had to have taken some force to get it over his head and ears. It was much tighter than his collar and that doesn’t slip off his head.

Anyway, if your dog is choking, it could be a good idea to check under the collar as well as inside the mouth and throat.

I noticed several video slideshows on YouTube of Sarah Palin played to the Wonder Woman theme song. So, I just had to do one myself. Check it out:

Yes. She certainly did.

How pathetic are they?

Sorry. There’s no punchline. Today, the Log Cabin Republicans (self-loathing homos who vote Republican), endorsed John McCain for president. They did this in spite of the fact that the GOP platform is as anti-gay as it has ever been. They have officially declared that gay and lesbian people are “incompatible” with military service. They have called for a constitutional amendment to outlaw marriage equality.

Chrome was quick to download and install. As you can see from the graphic below, it is a very simple tabbed, browser.

Help make Google Chrome better by automatically sending usage statistics and crash reports to Google. 
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Romeo Void - Girl In Trouble

Just as the blogosphere was reeling with the news that John McCain has selected a “bimbo beauty queen” as his running mate, we learn that she has a “whore” teenage daughter who is unmarried and pregnant!

Assessing the Political Impact of Bristol Palin’s Pregnancy

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s family at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, gust 29, 2008. Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol, is holding four-month-old Trig Palin. (Melina Mara / The Washington Post)

ST. PAUL — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announced moments ago that her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is five months pregnant and is planning to keep the baby and marry the father.

“We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us,” said Sarah and Todd Palin in a statement. “Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.”

More…

Obviously, Sarah Palin is an unfit mother. She ignored her duty to keep her child pure and virginal until marriage. (So will say the religious right.)

This really is going to be a major blow to McCain’s campaign. I’m from the Midwest and nothing can get the tongues wagging and the hellfire burning like a girl who gets herself knocked up. Both the mother and the child are vilified!

Most fundies will be shocked that Sarah Palin has announced her “shame” publicly. They would prefer that Bristol Palin be sent away to a secret location to give birth her bastard child out of the public eye.  

Here’s Cindy McCain on This Week with George Stephanapolis explaining that Sarah Palin has national security experience because Alaska is close to Russia.

Hey, Cindy! Moscow is 4300 miles from Anchorage. That’s on the other freakin’ side of the planet. Russia is a HUGE country. But, the seat of power in Russia is a very long distance from Alaska.

Is this what we want in the White House? Another simple-minded idiot with a child’s view of the world?