*Deep Yawn*

Spurs asks the relevant question, but he asks the wrong guy! *LOL* "Former Deputy Director of the FBI, W. Mark Felt was 'Deep Throat'. David, please tell me why I should care..." (I swear, honestly: that link was there! heh) Let me sum up why we should care that after—what? 33 years?—all this time we should be all aflutter, as so many are, over the revelation that "Deep Throat" was "a former number-two official at the FBI" named W. Mark Felt: 1.) __________ 2.) __________ 3.) __________ There, I think that just about sums up why it's sooooo significant that the family of a 91-year-old man who had asked that the information be kept private thought it important to grab their 15 minutes in the national spotlight. *yawn* Look, Watergate was all about the coverup of an amateurish, third-rate burglary that scarcely rose to the level of, say, perjury under oath by a sitting president... Of course, it was a Republican president who was implicated in the coverup and a Democratic president whose license to practice law was stripped as a result of perjury. Given those simple facts, of course it's important that two month ago on March 31 (in Vanity Fair Magazine) W. Mark Felt was revealed to have been "Deep Throat." The Mass Media Podpeople just had to wait for a convenient time to insert it into the "news" cycle... Oh, and of course they decided to check their sources for this, unlike Newsweak and Korangate or CBS and Rathergate... or the NYT and, well, nearly anything ("Hello, Jason Blair!"). Well, Spurs, I hope that answers your question about just why this "news" is so very important. (Oh, but then, i picked up that you already understood all this by the fact that your post quickly moved from the pressing question of why you should care to... the field for the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. I can see you have your priorities firmly in hand. Good on you. :-)

Like Coffee?

Here's another bit of coffee bloging, via Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea Yep. You got it. Christine finds these things for us so we don't have to do it on our own. Thanks, Christine! Be sure to visit the rest of Keep the Coffee Coming, and drop in on Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea for more great coffee blogging, too.

Get your own Kerry Count-Up Clock

Want your own clock counting up the days since jean Fraud sKerry says he signed an SF-180? Go here. The instructions are pretty clear. Use at your own risk, however. And do follow the instructions carefully. You could mess up your blog template, though that's not likely. h.t. Cao's Blog for the link. One thing to note in all this: Jean Fraud sKerry says he signed an SF-180 eleven days ago, but has any credible witness seen such a document filled out with his signature on it? I didn't think so...

Free Kerry's 180!

Free John Kerry's SF180 free180_02 Image: Something... and Half of Something Join the Blogburst to Set Kerry's 180 Free! See Cao's Blog for more, including a new "meme"—set "Free Kerry's 180" to some sort of verse, a poetry meme, if you will. So... Go Down Kerry (Let your records go) When Kerry was in D.C. land (Let your records go) He said he'd give them to our hand (Let your records go) Go down, Kerry Way down in D.C. land Tell ol' NARA** "Let my records go" Thus saith the folks to old Jean Fraud Let your records go, We know already your word is flawed, Let your records go. Go down, Kerry Way down in D.C. land Tell ol' NARA** "Let my records go" No more shall they in secret hide, Let your records go, Let them come out into the light. Let your records go. Go down, Kerry Way down in D.C. land Tell ol' NARA** "Let my records go" Tell ol' NARA** "Let my records go" **NARA: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the official repository for records of military personnel who have been discharged from the U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard.

The divide (A Kipling Tuesday post)

Once again, the divide between the Empiricists and the Fantasists, Kipling style... The Sons of Martha The Sons of Mary seldom bother, for they have inherited that good part; But the Sons of Martha favour their Mother of the careful soul and the troubled heart. And because she lost her temper once, and because she was rude to the Lord her Guest, Her Sons must wait upon Mary's Sons, world without end, reprieve, or rest. It is their care in all the ages to take the buffet and cushion the shock. It is their care that the gear engages; it is their care that the switches lock. It is their care that the wheels run truly; it is their care to embark and entrain, Tally, transport, and deliver duly the Sons of Mary by land and main. They say to mountains, "Be ye removed." They say to the lesser floods, "Be dry." Under their rods are the rocks reproved -- they are not afraid of that which is high. Then do the hill-tops shake to the summit -- then is the bed of the deep laid bare, That the Sons of Mary may overcome it, pleasantly sleeping and unaware. They finger death at their gloves' end where they piece and repiece the living wires. He rears against the gates they tend: they feed him hungry behind their fires. Early at dawn, ere men see clear, they stumble into his terrible stall, And hale him forth like a haltered steer, and goad and turn him till evenfall. To these from birth is Belief forbidden; from these till death is Relief afar. They are concerned with matters hidden -- under the earthline their altars are -- The secret fountains to follow up, waters withdrawn to restore to the mouth, And gather the floods as in a cup, and pour them again at a city's drouth. They do not preach that their God will rouse them a little before the nuts work loose. They do not teach that His Pity allows them to drop their job when they dam'-well choose. As in the thronged and the lighted ways, so in the dark and the desert they stand, Wary and watchful all their days that their brethren's days may be long in the land. Raise ye the stone or cleave the wood to make a path more fair or flat -- Lo, it is black already with blood some Son of Martha spilled for that! Not as a ladder from earth to Heaven, not as a witness to any creed, But simple service simply given to his own kind in their common need. And the Sons of Mary smile and are blessed -- they know the Angels are on their side. They know in them is the Grace confessed, and for them are the Mercies multiplied. They sit at the Feet -- they hear the World -- they see how truly the Promise runs. They have cast their burden upon the Lord, and -- the Lord He lays it on Martha's Sons!

"...blood of heroes never dies..."

Compare and contrast... A Canadian response to WWI events: In Flanders Fields by John McCrae, May 1915 In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. Here's a later response by an American reader of "In Flanders Fields"... We Shall Keep the Faith by Moina Michael, November 1918 Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields, Sleep sweet - to rise anew! We caught the torch you threw And holding high, we keep the Faith With All who died. We cherish, too, the poppy red That grows on fields where valor led; It seems to signal to the skies That blood of heroes never dies, But lends a lustre to the red Of the flower that blooms above the dead In Flanders Fields. And now the Torch and Poppy Red We wear in honor of our dead. Fear not that ye have died for naught; We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought In Flanders Fields. Now, what's the comparison, the contrast? Well, not so much between the more famous "In Flanders Fields" and the less-well-known (today, at least) "We Shall Keep the Faith" but between the two poems and... attitudes today toward those who have fallen in service to their country. Today, large numbers of Americans hold such sacrifice in disdain. Indeed, many have attended and participated in "demonstrations" that have celebrated the terrorist savages who seek to kill not only American servicemen and women but civilian non-combatans as well. Moina Michael's now less-well-known poem was instrumental in establishing "Decoration Day" (now Memorial Day) and in establishing the (apparently dying) tradition of wearing a poppy in honor of our fallen military. That McRae's poem is "better" art, I'll not dispute. But Moina Michael's poem has a heart that's sadly missing in all too many Americans today who cannot comprehend, let alone echo these lines: We cherish, too, the poppy red That grows on fields where valor led; It seems to signal to the skies That blood of heroes never dies

Phony "Liberalism" at work

h.t. to "Sir George" @ The Anti-idiotarian Rottweiler Gotta love 'em. Pseudo-liberals, that is. Easy pickings. See this article at The Telegraph. MQ is the lede: Wristbands sold to raise money for a campaign against world poverty are made in Chinese sweatshops in "slave labour" conditions... heh The thing is, this is just the sort of empty-headed stuff that passes for "good ideas" among the Fantasist Class that thinks themselves "progressive" or "liberal" when in fact they are nothing of the sort.  All the Fantasist Class consists of are these sub-classes: 1.) Reactionaries who believe the failures of liberalism can be fixed if they just keep banging their heads against the wall. (Oh, and getting more money to make the wall stronger and higher... ) 2.) "Reality-based" idealists whose only connection to reality is that it supports them in much the way that alchoholics are frequently supported in their addiction by co-dependants. 3.) The plantation slaves, that is, those dependant upon the handouts of goods and services stolen from Empiricists and from Fantasist dupes. 4.) The cynical manipulators of #s 1, 2 and 3.  This is the political class that derives its status, power and wealth from using the first three classes to steal wealth from those who produce it to buy influence with #s 1, 2, and 3. It's about time for the grownups in the Empiricist Class to just say No.  No more money.  No more buying of influence with the reactionaries, deluded idealists or plantation slaves. Just Say No. (And if they don't get the message at the polls, then maybe it's time for a Tea Party.)

What's Blogger Up To???

OK, I'm officially stumped .  OK, "stumped" but quasi-"fixed.  See Update It's the same on every computer available to me. On Win98/2000/XP, ditto all of them. As of about 2:00 this afternoon, right after a short 2-line post-upload, Blogger displays third world county properly ONLY in Firefox. Internet Exploder? Nope. Opera? Nope. Only Firefox. What the heck was different? A change in my template? Nope. (I even restored a former template to check that hypothesis: no joy.) I can see nothing corrupted in the html. All seems proper from this end, and it displays properly in Firefox! But not in other browsers. Anyone know what's gpoing on? *drums fingers impatiently* Well? Anyone? *sigh* OK, Update: Apparently the scripts (which had been working for weeks JUST FINE up until about 2:00 this afternoon) about Jean Fraud sKerry's SF-180 were the problem. Apparently, I said... Although it's still unclear why they were a problem now, after all this time, a problem, and then ONLY in Internet ExploDer and Opera, where they had NOT been a problem before... I dunno! Weird.

Really Cool Site

Like good photography?  Go to On Location With Rick Lee   h.t. Instapundit

Shred Before Flushing...

...Newsweak, that is   Cao's Blog has all the poop on how to dump Newsweak. Read it and rage on.   I've never been a subscriber to Newsweak. Once, nearly 40 years ago, I had a "student" subscription to Time ("The Weekly Fiction Magazine"), but that was for a class. If I did have a subscription to Newsweak, I would definitely shred it before flushing. heh   As it is... hmmm... I do get snailmail inviting me to "re-subscribe" to Newsweak (riiiiight--"resubscribe" when I've never had a subscription.  Desperate measures or just more typical disingenuity?).  I really ought to type up a form letter informing the marketers of my displeasure with Newsweak, print off copies to have on hand and send it (and nothing else) back in the subscription envelope... I'll have to look into that.  Seems I recall something about bar-coding on such envelopes for tracking purposes.  Have to see what I can do to retaliate if they misuse that.   Meanwhile, go on over to Cao's Blog and get going on the "Flush Newsweek" [sic] (heh) campaign.  Even if you're not a subscriber, there's a poll being taken to get feedback at one of the linkson how folks feel about Newsweak.

NEWSFLASH! Prisoner beaten at Gitmo! Eyewitness account!

Glenn Reynolds points to an amazing eye-witness account ofa prisoner-beating at Guantanamo!   Why aren't the Mass Media Podpeople all over this story?!?!?!?!?   (Hint: perhaps it doesn't fit their preconcieved bias?)

Golly, another one-a those WoW "Huh?" words

Yeh, I loved French in college (you shoulda seen the French prof in hot pants! Oo-la-la!), but since then? Sissy's WoW #6 is "aperçu," yet another word in English taken directly from French, so we can have our revenge by mispronouncing it horribly—usually as something like "ape-ur-KOO." Go ahead: give it your best shot in backwoods, Ozarkian Redneck speech. It's good for the French to hear their language mudered like that. But anywhoooo... Aperçu vous le présente: "An Approach to Assimilating the French into the Ozarkian Borg: a brief outline of the basic principles" I. Assimilate French cuisine so as to have a point of contact with French culture (common points of reference help cushion the initial contact). Greet the French assimilees with "Ya want French fries with that?" II. Be gentle with the French assimilees' inferiority complex when it evidences in snooty behavior by gently commenting, "Y'all better back off. Booger's got him an itchy trigger finger." III. Show the runty little snots some hospitality at local sporting events. "Hey Frenchy! Stand up when you hold them targets" is an inappropriate reference to normal dwarf-sized French height. Better: "Hold that target right in front o' yur ugly puss, shorty." IV. Make sure they know how to pronounce words in proper American English. For sure none of those runts can say "abstinent," "affable," "brusque," "discordant," "explication," "exposition," "ferment," "garage," "machination," or "serpent" correctly. A few whacks on the head with (empty) beer bottles will serve to gain what little attention their tiny lil brains can lend to your elocution lessons. More in Part II of "An Approach to Assimilating the French into the Ozarkian Borg: a brief outline of the basic principles" once enough Frenchy runts survive parts I–IV... Coming soon from Bubba Booger's Books, Ink.

Let's not get behind the curve on this one!

Blogfathers Day is fast approaching.  Don't forget to send your blogfather a Blogfathers Day eCard   Blogmothers Day™ was a modest success, and I'm hoping for broader participation next year.  But those who have Blogfathers should at least consider taking the occasion of "Fathers Day" to make note the blogger who "blogfathered" them. My blogmother is a "single blogparent" so I have no blogfather—makes this appeal all the more poignant for me. *tears up manfully* heh   So, an appeal to both of my regular readers :-) —get the word out: June 21 is not just Fathers Day.  It's also Blogfathers Day.

Edu-blogging for the smart set

Yeh, that sounds elitist, doesn't it? S'all right.  I'm really just one of the "dumb set" bystanders.   I know there's a Carnival of Education (recent carnival linked), and I've read some of the posts.  Some pretty good stuff, and I'll be reading more. Still... here's something I've been waiting for. Speaking of public schools, Jerry Pournelle (like you've not seen that name here before) write,   ...Whatever modern education has done for the averages, the effect of No Child Left Behind is that No Child Gets Ahead -- which is in fact the only way to assure the No Child Left Behind result.   Next week I will start a new page (or pages) dedicated to what can be done. One section will be devoted to homeschooling: materials available, recommended reading, and the like. I know there are home schooling networks, and it may be that those are Good Enough, so that all that's really needed is to link into them. I will also look into supplementary reading and supplementary education materials for those who can't do home schooling. Oh, there's more viewpoint in that post, including the nearly-agreeing-with-my-assessment,   In my judgment the failure of education in the US has reached a crisis stage: one could almost say that compulsory education in the public schools comes very close to child abuse. Where Pournelle falls short in that statement, IMO, is "one could almost say."  Prisons for kids is more like it. *sigh* Still, pop on over for a read.   And note the last sentence in this snippet.  It's one reason why polemicists are often at cross purpose with folks like Dr. Pournelle: he's open to reason.   ...there are pockets of excellence left in the public school system but increasingly No Child Left Behind==No Child Gets Ahead is destroying those in the name of equality and diversity. I'm open to refutation of that hypothesis also.

"couldn't be more centrist"

What's with this test? heh   Ha! Remember I said something like "couldn't be more centrist"? Well, Wonder Woman beat me to pieces on that. heh    And yeh, I know the actual quote is, " I'm just about as centrist as can be."   Take the test.

Thank a Veteran

If you do not feel you owe a debt of gratitude to veterans of our military who served with honor protecting your liberties, I just don't want to know you.   Lashed by the not-so-thinly-disguised disdain of the Loony Left Moonbat Brigade and the Mass Media Podpeople's Army, scorned by the Great Unwashed of Academia, our military personnel serve the primary legitimate function of government: protection of its citizens from outlaws and outlaw regimes which would seek to harm us.   For that alone—quite apart from the hardships they may endure in service—they deserve our gratitude, respect and clear and unequivocal expressions of thanks.   So, to all who have honorably served or are honorably serving in our country's military, Thank You. And to the families of those who have given their lives so that we may breathe free, no thanks is great enough, no honor is higher than the one bought and paid for by your sacrifice.   God bless you one and all.   We now return to our regular programming of snark aimed primarily at those in the Loony Left Moonbat Brigade and the Mass Media Podpeople's Army—you know: those who just won't "get" the point of this post. Not because they can't but because they choose not to.

Moi?

So, I'm griping about socks...   "I know I put a pair of these in the wash! Now I have one white sock of one kind and one of another,  They're different shapes, sizes and thicknesses.  Arrggghhh! I'll be walking around unbalanced!"   And Wonder Woman gives me The Look™ that says, "So? This is news?" (aieee! My eyes! My eyes!)   What?!? Moi "unbalanced"?  Surely you jest!   heh

More assaults on truth from the ACLU

From Whizbang!--   More deceit from the ACLU, via Whizbang!:   The ACLU released a FBI memo that contains a prisoners report of a Guantanamo guard flushing a Koran. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An FBI agent wrote in a 2002 document made public on Wednesday that a detainee held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had accused American jailers there of flushing the Koran down a toilet.   The Pentagon said the allegation was not credible.   ...The newly released document, dated Aug. 1, 2002, contained a summary of statements made days earlier by a detainee, whose name was redacted, in two interviews with an FBI special agent, whose name also was withheld, at the Guantanamo prison for foreign terrorism suspects.   The American Civil Liberties Union released the memo and other FBI documents it obtained from the government under court order through the Freedom of Information Act. I've seen various sites claim that Newsweek is vindicated, nothing could be further from the truth.–Whizbang!   Note, in other accounts, that the detainee who initially made the claim has recanted. Well, of course.  Consider the spin-source—ACLU: Any Criminal Lie Used.  See the rest at Whizbang!   Crossposted at America's Third World County/Protest the ACLU

Carnival of the Recipes is up at Fresh as a Daisy

I've been looking forward to this one.  A couple of recipes I've wanted to see hit the blogosphere's premier food lovers' group are in this one...   Check it out over at Fresh as a Daisy.   My own offering, a CCCCCC recipe (just go; it's goooooood), a great flank steak recipe, and—oh, just go!  There's just too much good stuff to stick around here (unless you wanna pick up my Mocking Wussie Waldorf Salads Salad recipe before you leave.  :-)

For those who are confused about ID

That's "Intelligent Design"   Every now and then I run across another wannabe enrollee in the Darwinist Seminary who insists that Intelligent Design scientific theorists are "loony right-wing illiterate wacko creationists."   Just goes to show you that the Darwinist religion is as peopled with sub-literate wackos as the Creationists are.   Via Jerry Pournelle, here's one of the better popular explanations of Intelligent Design thinking I've seen: "Intelligent Decline, Revisited" by Mustafa Akyol.  A sample:   In a nutshell, Intelligent Design is the theory that argues life on Earth is the product of natural laws, chance and intelligence. Darwinism, on the other hand, accepts only the first two causes, because, according to materialist philosophy, intelligence does not exist unless it evolves over time from mindless matter.   There's more, and it's all easily accessible and calmly presented.   This post/link to the article noted at Whizbang!'s weekly Carnival of the Trackbacks.  Check it out for some posts/articles/stories that may have slipped under your radar.  And while you're there, check some of the other posts out, like "When squeegees are outlawed, only outlaws will have squeegees," "Quote Of The Day - Lay Fatwa Edition," and others.

A shameless plug...

...for someone else's blog   Kris, of Anywhere But Here, has a very good "journal-type" blog with interesting posts and some newsy things as well.  And every now and then she pops in one of her out-of-the-way internet discoveries that are just pure fun.   Here's one such post pointing to a comprehensive answer to that age-old question: Why did the chicken cross the road?   Check things out over at Kris' place.  You might decide it's one to blogroll.  I did.

My poly-compass...

You might have thought, reading some of my posts about schools, congresscritters, Islamic jihadists, etc., that I'm a right-wing extremist of some sort.   Nothing (except assuming me to be a flaming anarchist :-) could be further from the truth:   Not a surprise to folks who know me well, perhaps. I'm just about as centrist as can be. (Although I have some libertarian leanings the test did not ask particular questions to uncover. heh :-)    Take the test yourself and see where it marks your political compass.  As these things go, it seems to be better than most.   By contrast to my scores, Ted Kennedy would likely fit in the far, far upper left-hand corner (slotting in by his soul mate Joseph Stalin), George W. Bush would fit about midway in the upper right hand quadrant, close to Margaret Thatcher, and Jean Fraud sKerry would be wandering aimlessly around the upper left hand quadrant (with furtive and abortive forays into uncharted territory in the upper right hand quadrant), depending upon the latest wind—and accusing some Secret Service agent of pushing him around the compass.

Sympathy for the Devil

From the depths of my most charitable being I offer this sympathy card to the wounded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi...     To: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (I've addressed this to you in Malawi, Cos I hear you're running From folks who're gunning For you, for a lark on safari.)   Your wounds may be sorely pressing, And even, perhaps, quite distressing, But I take hope in this, You insufferable piss- They've poisoned your surgical dressing.   So, as your wounds fill with puss, We'll charter a big Grehound bus To haul in the tourists (We need no jurists) To jeer as you whine, moan and fuss.   Your passing will leave us distressed, For really, in case you've not guessed, We all think it fitter You suffer long, bitter Agonies; yes, that is best.   (Yeh, it's doggerel. What? I'm going to spend time polishing actual poetry for that scabrous, mangy dog?)

A troubling sight...

Whoa, there, fellas! Let's hold our horses!   The picture below might wrongly offend some folks.  Wrongly, because in order to take offense they'd have to be historical illiterates.   Let me backtrack a bit...   As often happens with me, several disparate thoughts crowded into the narrow space between my ears and began duking it out. One was the relatively recent (in blogosphere "years" :-) brouhaha over senate rules regarding filibusters.  Senator Robert C. Byrd waxed eloquent (well, as eloquent as that cracker—with my apologies to illiterate crackers everywhere for associating your ilk with that slimy _____ —ever gets) about senate traditions and respect for minority positions, yadayadayada  Complete and utter B.S.   Let's take a trip in the Wayback Machine and let Mr. Peabody clear the record a bit.   It's June 10, 1964, and "...Senator Robert C. Byrd completed an address that he had begun fourteen hours and thirteen minutes earlier. The subject was the pending Civil Rights Act of 1964, a measure that occupied the Senate for fifty-seven working days, including six Saturdays."* And what, pray tell was the context of Byrd's address? Oh, it was a Democratic filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964!  Yep.  Just as the Democrats had filibustered against the Civil Rights Act of 1957, they did again, led by Byrd this time, in 1964.   Byrd's filibuster was just the capstone to 57 days of Democratic stalling.   So much for giving minority voices a hearing.    Indeed, had not Republicans strongly backed the bill, Hubert Humphrey, the putative Democratic hero of the story, would never have been able to overcome defecting Democrats to obtain a 67-vote cloture.   And yet, despite steady Republican support and even leadership in genuine Civil Rights issues (as opposed to phony issues like assuring the patronizing and racist quota system—otherwise known as "affirmative action"), the Democrats still have an apparent lock on the Black vote.  Keep 'em on the plantation, eh, Byrd?   Disgusting racists.   A troubling sight...    So, the lawn "jockey" pictured above... There's a long (and disputed by recent arguments, all from a perspective of "feeling" that historical accounts must be wrong, rather than from facts) story behind these things.  I'm leaving that aside for now.  Just look at the picture of the one above as dispassionately as possible, for just a moment. This is one of the early ones, dressed not in jockey attire but in the common clothing of an 18th century slave.    That picture above, quite frankly, my friends is what Robert C. Byrd sees when he looks upon a black person: Property of the DNC.  What gain to be free of chattel slavery if one is simply to sell onself into political, economic and social bondage for a pottage?   Robert C. Byrd, indeed the entire racist, race-baiting DNC is beyond disgusting. And the blacks who have sold out to the DNC and work to keep their brothers in chains are worse.   OK, so I'm a white boy and have no right to say these things?  Wrong. Read the First Amendment again, bubba.

Music Quasi-not-so-meme-ish music "meme" update

There.  Confused are we now?   My daughter—who just happens also to be my "blogdaughter"— (gee, how did that happen?) has also responded to the quasi-not-so-meme-ish music "meme" with "My music is... "   From Josh Groban to Strong Bad: She's a chip off the old block when it comes to ecclectic tastes in listening.  (Yeh, Meg, I put the Groban album pic there just for you. heh)         That makes four, now... waiting to hear from the hinterlands...

Revenge of the Sith: the Cliff Notes

Thanks to IMAO  (and Carnival of Comedy) for the link to...   Thumbnail Guide to Revenge of the Sith   If you don't have the time or even the remotest desire to see the movie, but do want to be able to discuss the movie intelligently, then this may fill the bill for you.   Warning: if you are a rabid fan, this may be a bit much.  If you are a fan and plan to see the movie soon, spoilers are abundant.

"...none so blind..."

Keith Thompson describes his journey from wilfull blindness to the reactionary nature of modern "liberalism" to...   ...to what I might call idealistic empiricism, or genuine liberalism that is quite similar to the liberal, progressive views of... George W. Bush... or our Founders and Framers.   ...A left averse to making common cause with competent, self- determining individuals -- people who guide their lives on the basis of received values, everyday moral understandings, traditional wisdom, and plain common sense -- is a faction that deserves the marginalization it has pursued with such tenacity for so many years.   All of which is why I have come to believe, and gladly join with others who have discovered for themselves, that the single most important thing a genuinely liberal person can do now is walk away from the house the left has built. The renewal of any tradition that deserves the name "progressive" becomes more likely with each step in a better direction.   Just go read it all. Then send Keith Thompson an e- welcoming him to the land of those who choose to see.   Oh, and a big tip o' the hat to Alan Woody of Woody's News & Views.

Protest the American Criminal Libertine Union

I'd like to sign up for the Protest the ACLU Blogburst, but I'm an idiot and can't figure out how to "forward [my] rss feed..." to the appropriate place.   The ACLU (insert your own snarky translation of the acronym in "comments") is way, way off the deep end in promoting the death of Western Civilization in their defense of jihadi terrorists, among other forms of scum it loves, and in direct attacks upon freedom of speech and religion.   What's with this organization?  Is societal entropy their only value?  So, I'll take time once a week or so to locate another ACLU attack upon civilization and rant or ridicule as is appropriate.   Dr. Tarr and Mr. Fether are eagerly awaiting their turn at the American Criminal License Underwriters...

More on movies

Here a link, there a link, everywhere a link-link   (Yeh. Those who know a little about America's Third World County™ will wince at that... )   Following up on the movie/DVD tag thingy, Kim du Toit posted a link to a commentary by Howard Veit, who posted a link to a NYT article* that he scooped—the NYT article seemed almost like a followup to Howard's blog post. heh   Interesting comment from the NYT article:   With box-office attendance sliding, so far, for the third consecutive year, many in the industry are starting to ask whether the slump is just part of a cyclical swing driven mostly by a crop of weak movies or whether it reflects a much bigger change in the way Americans look to be entertained - a change that will pose serious new challenges to Hollywood.   Studios have made more on DVD sales and licensing products than on theatrical releases for some time. Now, technologies like TiVo and video-on-demand are keeping even more people at home, as are advanced home entertainment centers, with their high-definition television images on large flat screens and multichannel sound systems.   "It is much more chilling if there is a cultural shift in people staying away from movies," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the Exhibitor Relations Company, a box-office tracking firm. "Quality is a fixable problem." IF the "quality" issue can be fixed (a doubtful assertion by Dergarabedian) it still leaves Hollyweird in a difficult position. (Almost said "delicate condition"--but Hollyweird would fix that with another abortion in a New York minute)   Howard Veit's post is much more insightful on the issue of quality.   *Note: the NYT article requires registration to view.  Ignore that.  Go to Bugmenot and get a username/password.

Comment on congresscritter gone wild

Spending my words   As I was posting a comment over at Curmudgeonly and Skeptical, I thought to myself, "Self, why are you 'wasting' (heh) a perfectly good blogpost in someone else's comments?"   (Rabbit trail: a large piece of me wanted to start the sentence above off in a way such that is scanned with the tune to "The Streets of Laredo."  You can thank me now for averting that catastrophe.  You're welcome.)   So, here:   May I humbly offer my own suggestion concerning what to do about congresscritters and their ilk?   A grass roots movement for one (penultimate--the sixteenth and seventeenth amendments need nullifying) more Constitutional amendment establishing a limit on federal holidays and defining the last federal holiday as National Potomoc Day, when the citizenry is invited to descend upon Congress and dunk the entire mess in the Potomoc. Repeatedly. Until only the gasbags rise to the top for their *auto da fe* Their burning corpses would provide the light for the all-night barbeque to follow.   Now, note: I do NOT suggest any vigilantism here but a Constitutional amendment, brought forward by the states, to accomplish this worthy goal.   Enough pressure brought to bear on our congresscritters, and the thing could get ratified, followed by mass resignations before the first such holiday.   Ahhh... the sweet, sweet sounds of silence on Capitol Hill...   Of course, I'd welcome modifications to such an amendment that would include all bureaucrats, administration officials and judges.   (No, I'm not an anarchist, but our current crop of politicos--including the judiciary--are beginning to show me that anarchy has *some* merit... *sigh*)

"Rules? We don't need no steenking rules!"

Roger Schultz "speaks truth to power"  (heh)   via a post over at Kim du Toit's A Nation of Riflemen, this gem:   I was thinking.  Umpires are a necessary part of baseball, and their duties are well defined. They decide whether each unswung upon pitch is a ball, or a strike.  The umpire's authority is absolute in this area.  Four balls and the batter walks to first base. Not 3 balls, not 5 balls; four.   Three strikes, and the batter is out.  Not 2 strikes, not 4; three. So, umpires have the power to enforce baseball's rules, but not change them.  Ever.   Judges are umpires.  Too many of them have decided that they can change the rules willy-nilly, and when they do that, they disturb the balance and harmony of the game...   Just toodle on over to Curmudgeonly and Skeptical and read the whole thing.

So, Spurs wants a look at my movie collection

Coyses! Tagged again!  :-)   Spurs, sitting in over at Sissy's old place (though I understand she's making noises about guests and old fish--heh) tagged me with the movie meme tag thingy, so here goes, Spurs.  you asked for it.   1. The number of DVD's I own:   Hard one. :-) Five. (My wife owns more--and hers are relatively recent flicks.  Mine are all old movies--EARLY Scarlet Pimpernel, some Bob Hope/Bing Crosby "Road" flicks, etc. ;-) 2. The last DVD I bought:   A Mannheim Steamroller Christmas DVD. Can't even say the title. I'm more impressed with the MS CDs. 3. The last DVD I watched:   Hard to recall. We watch mostly videotapes, cos we mostly rent for one-time viewings and out local Third World County™ video store has difficulty getting their investment out of DVDs cos of the rough treatment they recieve. So, last movie/DVD I know I viewed (as DVD) Parts of Star Wars Eisodes I & II.  Memory kicked in. Last moview viewed front to back: National Treasure.  Nicholas Cage as a cut-rate Indiana Jones character. Yawn. 4. 5 movies that  I watch a lot or mean a lot to me I like:   Have to go with favs here, cos few movies mean much to me and I don't do repeats of many movies at all. So, in no particular order:   Matilda.    Surprised?  Don't be. I like this movie enough that my daughter gave me the Roald Dahl book for my birthday.  Love the book. Still, Mara Wilson was delightful in this movie. De-light-ful. I have watched this one several times, and, yeh, eventually I'll end up buying it.     LOTR I've only linked "Fellowship" here, but they're all good. I first read LOTR in 1967 (late bloomer), and it is an enduring fav.  Was in the top ten on a waiting list in a major metro area for The Silmarillion when it was published in 1977, and have read everything by Tolkien I can get my hands on. So, even though the movies took some (probably necessary, though disappointing) liberties with the books (Where's Tom Bombadil???), they were still wonderful versions of the Tolkien epic.   Die Hard II—and for those who know me, no surprise.  Silly plot.  So-so acting. Nice filming (though continuity is... not good). but what sells it to me is Finlandia played when the planes are landing.  heh  I love that scene... cos Finlandia was perfect for it. And cos Finlandia was THE piece of music that     "hooked" me on music.                 Bean What can I say? Rowan Atkinson is the physical comedy champ of this millennium.  He saves an otherwise flat and nondescript movie from oblivion through his genius.           Name any Jackie Chan movie. If it at least has English dubbed, I've watched it.  And I'd be likely to watch it again.   5. Tag 5 others   Tagging... man.  This is the part I hate. I'll update as folks agree to serve...   Update #1: Richard, over at Random Rambling, tagged himself off this post last night.  What a mensch.  Here's his post.   Update #2: Christine, of Morning Coffe & Afternoon Tea, knocks back a twofer with A Carnival and a Meme. Commented on the Carnival of the Recipes #41 and then knocked off the movie meme-ish thingy. If she'd fit one more topic in she'd have had a hat trick.

It's no "Wind in the Willows"

Miss Mousy wasn't home, so...   Last minute jitters.  For so long he'd pretended her zaftig form and coy charm (not to mention her cute drill sergeant's parade-ground voice) held no real appeal for him.    But he could no longer deny his feelings. *sigh*  He knew she cared for him, too—well, as much as she could care for anyone but herself.  Yes, he knew her faults, but he no longer cared.    At last, he'd asked her out and she'd accepted (of course--she'd only been waiting and waiting... :-).  Now, if only he'd had something other than this old green suit...  Oh well.  Maybe the chocolates would distract her.   She's opening the door.  Oh, no! She's looking at the suit. No! It's the chocolates!   "Kermit, you shouldn't have!" she proclaims disingenuously.   Good. Chocolates were the right opener.     ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++   [Yeh, I know this is violates continuity in the Muppet World.  So?]

Brain Wave

Shades of Poul Anderson...   Reading this article in New Scientist, I flashed on Poul Anderson's Brain Wave. (Who can explain how memory works?) The article, "11 steps to a better brain," traces eleven things you can do to increase your mental acuity.   Hmmm... doesn't praise coffee highly enough (or really, at all).  Oh, well, it was a pleasant thought. As a country, however, we could substantially raise the IQ of our society as a whole by throwing out all professors of education and public school administrators.   It'd be a start...   h.t. to Ed, a correspondent on Jerry Pournelle's Chaos Manor in Perspective, Current Mail.

One of the chief problems of civilization...

...is not what you may think   Yes, America as a bulwark of Western Civilization is in danger.  Yes, our society appears to be crumbling from within—schools become prisons for kids while politics, law, the arts and even science seem to be succombing to savagery, stupidity and banality.   But all of those signs and symptoms of a dying civilization pale in comparison to the horror (the horror!) I am about to bring to your attention.  This problem is ubiquitous in our society.  It is evidence of evil incarnate walking—or more rightly, driving—the planet.    It is the 99 out of 100 licensed, bone-uh-fied drivers on our streets and highways who have less intelligence—collectively!—than God gave a head of cabbage.   (With apologies to cabbages worldwide for the association.)   What depraved indifference to a civil society, to the travails of Western Civilization itself, causes governmental bodies to give these cretins license to drive a motor vehicle?  How can so much evidence of a society peopled by those who switch off whatever few brain cells they have and drive in a persistent vegetative state be ignored?  How can a society survive when such idiots are allowed on the highways, instead of being planted (alive or dead, I care not) in a corn field somewhere, where at least they might do some good as fertilizer?   Mark it well. It is the end of civilization, my friends. Slow-moving roadblocks and speeding unguided missles on the highways are signs of the same rot at the heart of our society.  And I fear it is too late.   (Yes. You got it in one.  I renewed my drivers license today.  For six years.  It is too late, indeed.)   Joust the Facts has a post in a similar vein. His observations are a little more finely focused, however: "...It occurred to me that the bluest of blue states seem to correlate quite well with the worst of the worst driver states.  Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Washington, DC, Maryland, California, Connecticut were the bottom eight, and all very blue in the last two elections.  Coincidence?  I think not." No argument here, though it's been over 30 years since I wantered into those strange lands...

Carnival of Comedy 5

'Tis a poor thing, but my own...   Yeh, I tossed my poor lil entry into the pool of participants in this week's Carnival of Comedy.  Someone, please throw it a rope, please?  Meanwhile, check all the other entries out.  Some funny stuff there. (And then there's my post.  Oh. Well. :-)   Carnival of Comedy, Carnival of Comedy, Carnival of Comedy.   Go ahead, say it three times really fast. Easy, huh?  Now try this one:   Fred fed Ted bread, and Ted fed Fred bread.   Harder, isn't it, smartypants?   OK, this one:   Three free throws. Three free throws. Three free throws.   I thought so.  I'd better give you the easy one again:   Carnival of Comedy, Carnival of Comedy, Carnival of Comedy.

Now THAT'S a scurrilous lie!

My Office is   NOT a mess!   (It is a salvage yard cum recycling center.)

More Prisons for Kids

This ought to be at least a weekly gig   Lotsa resources all over the web, with people a lot smarter and better-informed than I deal with the problems of so-called public education in the U.S. of A.  One resource that has some of the brightest thinkers around—some teachers, some ordinary joes and some folks that are smarter than you and me put together—approaching this topic from time to time is Jerry Pournelle's Chaos Manor in Perspective Current Mail pages.  Here's a (very) brief portion of one of Dr. Pournelle's responses to a correspondant:   "Credentialism" is insane. I was once asked to be President of a local junior college to help get it back on an academic track. I thought I could do it, but it turns out I do not have an "administrative credential" and thus I am not qualified to be president of a junior college in California. I should thank God for that since it would have been a very bad thing for me to do, but the madness of the credential process remains. Air Force sergeants who have taught meteorology and math to young men and women for 20 years are not "qualified" to teach high school science, while imbeciles with no idea of science or teaching a "qualified" by sitting through some lamebrain courses that anyone could pass without attending the course.—Current Mail, Monday 05/23/05 Just pop over to Jerry Pournelle's site and do an onsite search for "education," "public schools," "teachers," etc. Be prepared for some reading.   And after perusing Dr. Pournelle's site for a while, ask yourself what could drive a teacher to write an essay like the one described here.  Sure, I've known a lot of incompetent (and even some downright stupid) public school teachers, but most of them do their best to teach the children who are their charges. And many of them are bright, competent people who must endure administrators who are mostly dolts, poltroons, incompetents and bullies to boot, while attempting to civilize little hellions who have been ruined by excrebly bad or nonexistant parenting.   Our schools are worse than just bad curricula, bad teaching, *spit* politicians *spit*, hellions and well-schooled idiots and their "parents," and venal administrators who are dumber than rocks (but crafty politicos) all added together and minmastered to carefully devised, stupid homogeneity.   The sum is far worse than its parts, I'm afraid.   I'm glad my youngest nephew is being homeschooled.  He's far too bright to be subjected to the lobotomy-by-millimeters factories that are our public schools.

I don't think Harvey's such a Bad Example...

For your weekly dose (OK, most think I need a daily dose) of blogaid, head to Harvey's Bad Example   Today's blog etiquette post by Harvey is but one of many examples of how I should behave when I blog and post on other folks' blogs. And his Blogging Tips (upper righthand sidebar) section is one I consider a must read (I simply must read the rst of it... when I get a Round Tuit—cos everything I've read there so far has helped me).   Go check out "How to Correct Without Offending."

Followup to the "Swirly Tutorial"

Dan Riehl shows his kinder, gentler side...   And why not?  Covering the Madcap Jolly Jokers* at Newsweak would bring out the kinder, gentler side of anyone. Newsweek’s Washington Bureau Chief Daniel Klaidman's prank** of giving an interview to Al Jizzeera*** stating that, regardless of his magazine's retraction, he could take no stand on whether military interrogators had or had not engaged in desecration of the Koran**** at Gitmo is yet another example of a wry sense of humor taken amiss*****, I fear.   See Dan's generous, kind and gentle treatment****** of this jolly joker*.   Money quote from Daniel "Coulda happened; I'll make sure I leave that impression" Klaidman: "... we did not have the information that we needed to make the assertion that we did in this item – that this had happened... We have heard the allegations, we continue to report, and the US military and other entities are investigating, and as I said, we are neutral on whether any of this ever happened." Lending grist to the Al Jizzeera "Saudi-financed Jihadist Propoganda Network" host's agenda ("But there is no proof that it did not happen either... ").   I've linked the Al Jizzeera "Saudi-financed Jihadist Propoganda Network" article somewhere in this post, but I'm not giving the Al Jizzeera "Saudi-financed Jihadist Propoganda Network" a big plug here, you know.   +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++   *N.B. In this context, "Madcap Jolly Jokers" is a euphemism for "Damned Collaborationist Filth."   **"Daniel Klaidman's prank" is a euphemism for "traitorous venom."   ***Al Jizzeera is the correct spelling of the Saudi camel-lover's propoganda network.   ****desecration of the Koran = the careful, proper treatment of a piece of filth, already too unclean from passing through the hands of camle-loving jihadists to use as toilet paper.   *****wry sense of humor taken amiss = filthy, collaborationist treason correctly interpreted.   ******generous, kind and gentle treatment = rips him a new one.   WARNING: I HAVE LINKED BELOW TO SOME OFFENSIVE MATERIAL (THAT IS, MATERIAL USING THE NAME "DANIEL KLAIDMAN").  Oh, there are also some appropriate but highly offensive links to bestiality sites that may be associated with DANIEL KLAIDMAN—I am neutral on whether this is so or not, so I must of course report that it could be so, in order to rise to the level of journalistic integrity set by such bags of puss as Daniel Klaidman.   PLEASE DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINKS ASSOCIATED WITH "Daniel Klaidman"! While they are in no way as vile as is he, some of them are disgusting, repulsive and completely vile sites, indeed.   NOTE: Let me be perfectly clear about this.  I am neutral on whether or not any form of sexual perversions—such as bestiality, pedophilia, sado-masochism, etc.—are habitually practiced by Newsweek’s Washington Bureau Chief Daniel Klaidman. I am neutral on whether Newsweek’s Washington Bureau Chief Daniel Klaidman has yet stopped beating his wife—or not. I am neutral on the topic of whether or not Newsweek’s Washington Bureau Chief Daniel Klaidman is a cannibalistic serial killer.   Since I have no evidence that any of these things are true about this useless bag of puss, I am neutral on whether or not any of these things are true.   Of course, I don't have any evidence that they are not true, either... So they all could be!   And that's the position that Daniel Klaidman takes concerning the  allegation that a prison guard tried to flush the Koran down a toilet: after his mag reported it did happen, when the Saudi-financed Jihadist Propoganda Network asked him about it, he's neutral.  "Coulda happened" is this bag of puss's message.

Another report in on the music "thing"

Random Rambling has reported his music "thing"...   And it sounds like his listening habits include a pretty good array of songs.  Thanks for the post, bubba.

Carnival of the Recipes #41: My fav fruit salad

Although I have vivid memories from childhood of this special treat...   It's not just a fruit salad, but it's certainly my fav. My mom swears she never made it (though I can still see me and my four siblings jokeying over our fav fruit pieces... ). But then, that has been happening more and more often lately.  It's either a sign of her advancing age or mine.   Regardless, I have been making this salad that boldly mocks Waldorf salads as being too wussie for at least thirty years, myself, so...   Here's another "process, not a recipe" recipe for you. Measurements/amounts are NOT exact; vary at will:   Mocking Wussie Waldorf Salads Salad   1/2 medium head of (green) cabbage, shredded or chopped 2/3 cup chopped walnuts (more or less, preferably more :-) 2/3 cup chopped celery (frankly, more celery is a good thing) about 1/2 cup raisins 1Tbs lemon juice and zest of one lemon (lime juice is a nice variation) one can (your fav) fruit cocktail (pineapple, pear, peach, grape, etc. pieces in fruit syrup--I distinctly recall vying for the maraschino cherry pieces as a child. heh) one apple, cleaned, cored, NOT peeled and cut into pieces 1/3 to 1/2 cup of mayonnaise, salad dressing or Miracle Whip.   Mix it all in a large bowl. Chill for an hour or more.  Eat.   My memory is of this served with chicken pot pie. So that's the way I do it.   Note: I've been known to add some celery seed from time to time. I like it.  Opinions vary.   Recipe hunters, welcome!  Come on in.  Grab a cuppa joe.  Put your feet on the coffee table and relax a while.  In other parts of this blog, I rant and rave, ponder and pontificate, wander and wonder, but food is for fun as much as simply fuel. So enjoy, drop me a note and tell me how this turned out for you, should you try it. Or just wander around a while and wonder what you've let yourself in for.

John F Kerry is a liar

[UPDATE: Don Singleton has a good roundup of various comments about Jean Fraud sKerry's disingenuous proclamation that he's "signed it" (whatever the antecedent of that "it" may be... ) .  And thanks for the link, Don.]   John F Kerry is a liar   Just read the interview in yesterday's Boston Globe article carefully.  Kerry and his flappers* craft some slimy disingenuity out of an opportunity to answer some direct questions clearly an unabiguously.  I've cited examples below, but one bears repeating. Asked if and when he had signed SF-180, Kerry replied: "I have signed it," Kerry said. Then, he added that his staff was ''still going through it" and ''very, very shortly, you will have a chance to see it." As I commented over at Cathouse Chat...   Is sKerry subliterate or does he really expect this lil piece of obfuscation will fly because everyone else is?   Check the quote above and notice the amphibolous use of "it." Does "it" refer to his records or to the SF-180... or to neither? His use of the pronoun just makes no sense.   And that's probably exactly the way he wants it.   I say, let's google bomb his senate website associating the word "liar" with   http://kerry.senate.gov/   Or (or perhaps better, /and/) Google bomb John Kerry associating his name with   http://www.thefreedictionary.com/liar   Either or both would work for me:   John F Kerry is a liar . John F Kerry is a liar . John F Kerry is a liar . John F Kerry is a liar . John F Kerry is a liar . John F Kerry is a liar . John F Kerry is a liar . John F Kerry is a liar . John F Kerry is a liar . John F Kerry is a liar . John F Kerry is a liar . John F Kerry is a liar .   Try it.  It feels good just to say it out loud.   And better to say it with links.   :-)

This just in...

Newsateleven...   Via Harvey at Bad Example,   Precision Guided Humor Assignment Reminder: What consequences would you like to befall Newsweek for running the fake Koran-flushing story? due by 9pm EDT Wednesday, May 25th. Late entries must be accompanied by a lame excuse.   'K Harvey, et al.  Since I'm all full of sweetness and light, wouldn't hurt a fly, butter wouldn't melt in my mouth, yadayadayada, here's my modest proposal for a simple reminder to the Newsweak folks to do a little fact-checking (and to have a biopsy done on that ugly lump on their collective back: looks like malignant bias to anyone with two functioning brain cells) before running another lie:   Every single solitary person who works for Newsweak in any capacity connected to any word that ever gets printed MUST be given a Swirly Tutorial by each and every member of the military stationed at Gitmo.   That's    Line up all the dweebs who work for Newsweak. One at a time, the personnel at gitmo give swirlies to a single employee until the Gitmo personnel are too pooped to give that ONE dweeb another swirly. (Gonna take a while: those marines are in good shape.) Rest the Gitmo personnel for tomorrow's lesson taught to the next Newsweak dweeb. Keep the newsweak dweebs standing in line while the Gitmo folks nap. Repeat with next Newsweak dweeb until all have toilet-fresh hair. Combine each Speech-impaired Piscine's* physical lesson with, "See? Your head's smaller than the typical Koran, and it's still not flushing down the toilet.  Got it?"  Eventually, some of them will learn.  Maybe.   Followup tutorial:   If Newsweak dweebs repeat error of lying about the military in spite of Swirly Tutorial, next tutorial:   "How to hold a target at Marine rifleman training."       *"Speech-impaired Piscine"—Dumb Bass, of course.

Remember when?

You recall in one of the presidential debates when Jean Fraud sKerry recounted how his mother tried to encourage him to stop lying?   Yeh, you remember that.  She tried one last time to pound it into his skull that he needed to start developing some "Integrity, integrity, integrity."   Here's my lil reminder to Jean Fraud sKerry (otherwise known as John F. Kerry):   LiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiar LiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiar LiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiar LiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiar LiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiar LiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiar LiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiar LiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiar LiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiar LiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiar LiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiar LiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiar LiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiarLiar

Just for fun.

Who likes plain beige boxes? OK, you can both put your hands down, now.   I've never been a fan of plain box computer looks. But I've not felt attracted to the flourescent/translucent Macs or the whirly-lights moded gamer look, so, I was sorta left with the option of buying someone else's idea of a cool looking case (usually, *blech!*) or doing something about it, myself.   The old bird shown below houses an older (333Mhz) processor and only 256 MB ram, etc., but yes, that's mahogany veneer (and yes, I painted the dustcatcher front black).      It's not the camera; it's my photography "skills." :-)    I liked that veneered, stained and varnished look.  Still do.  But when a mobo I ordered came with a nice case, and I was temporarily (I thought) out of veneering materials (found some more later, tucked away safely.  heh) I decided to use some paint/glaze that I'd used on a furniture project to give it a more attractive look.  Added some mahogany pieces to slotcovers, etc., and...   It's not the camera; it's my photography skills, still. :-)    I think I'll add another optical drive to Ziggy, but for now, the one is just fine, and the mahogany slot cover is nice.   I used to, before it died the death of clicks, have a nice black keyboard I had face-veneered with mahogany on all but the keycaps, but since it's only good for looking at, it's junk, now. My current wireless keyboard for this computer is a nice, attractive gray/black, so I'm not itching to change its looks.  The mouse that goes with the wireless keyboard, though... Hmmm... how touch would it be to carve a cover for that??? And now that I think about it, what about the fascia for my monitor? Hmmm... Tha'd look nice civered in a mahogany veneer or with the computer case's paint treatement...   :-)