Photo of the Day Whenever

From zombietime, current leader in the 2007 Weblog Awards' Best Photo Blog.

I saw the results after I voted for Confessions of a Pioneer Woman and decided to check out the leader.

These awards sure are interesting....

I'm in 3rd place right now, by the way.

Polls close November 8.

A Chilly Wine Night

After today's 25 degrees drop in temperatures from previous days, and lows expected in the low 40s, it's a perfect night to pop the cork on this lovely bottle.

A 2000 Old Vines Tempranillo Reserva from Spain. $12.99 and as succulent as some of my favorite Tuscan wines. I just need to get in the kitchen, whip up a pizza pie, put on a movie, and prepare to relax.

Speaking of movies, last week when there was a Halloween costume contest at my place of employment, one of the guys there was dressed and in character as Walter Sobchak from The Big Lebowski.

Supposedly he won first place in a Lebowski fest here in Austin awhile back, and hung out afterwards with The Dude (the guy portraing the dude, I mean the guy at the festival portraying the dude, not THE Dude, dude) and that just had to be a hoot and a half.

"Has the whole world gone crazy? Am I the only one around here who gives a shit about the rules? Mark it zero!"

Quote of the Day

From Ron Paul :

“The American Republic is in remnant status,” he says. “The stage is set for our country eventually devolving into military dictatorship, and few seem to care.”

My God, it would be so easy to like the man if he didn't have so many other less appealing views as a presidential candidate.

I Don't Heart Huckabees

Mike Huckabee came to the Lone Star State on Sunday to troll for support in two churches, if you can believe that, and actually picked up a major vote of confidence from Pastor Jack Graham of the Prestonwood Baptist Church -- one of the largest in the country. I think that qualifies as a megachurch (or McChurch). With 28,000 members, if it were a town in Huckabee's home state of Arkansas, it would be among the top 15 in population. (And as txrad commented sarcastically to me, I'm sure they run a soup kitchen.)

Keep a close eye on this politician/musician/comedian. He's a shrewd one.

From the Dallas Morning News:

Pastor Jack Graham told the congregation of Prestonwood Baptist Church before Mr. Huckabee's sermon that Christian values have a crucial role in the political process. Although Dr. Graham said his church doesn't endorse candidates, his praise for Mr. Huckabee was unambiguous.

"It's very important that we vote our values, that we select folks and nominate folks who stand by principle and who live and proclaim and legislate according to the values we cherish," he said to enthusiastic applause.

Dr. Graham said the sermon from Mr. Huckabee, who is an ordained Southern Baptist minister, was a message of "God's word from God's man."

The "legislate according to the values we cherish" portion of that comment is the obvious code phrase meaning pretty much everything that Jesus preached against, or would have preached against had he lived in our current times.

"The more people hear Mike Huckabee, the more they like him," Dr. Graham said. "Everywhere he goes, in small groups as well as big groups, people are saying: 'This is a man who is saying what I think. This is man who is representing what I believe.'"

Carolyn Asher of Fort Worth drove to Plano Sunday morning to hear Mr. Huckabee. She said that his sermon solidified her support for him, and she compared him to President Bush.

"He upholds the values I believe in," Ms. Asher said. "He believes in Jesus, and he's not afraid to say so."

Oh dear God... excuse me, I think I need to pray. Did these people learn nothing from the past 6 1/2 years?

That is not a rhetorical question.

Mr. Huckabee gave up his work as a pastor to enter politics and become one of Arkansas' longest-serving governors.

He famously lost 110 pounds in the past few years and started running marathons. And as a little-known governor of a small Southern state, he started a presidential campaign that was given little chance to make a national splash.

Well, maybe he should have kept that extra weight on.

But seriously, for a governor so consumed with health, I find it very ironic that he served so long in Arkansas, and the state is still ranked 48th in health, according to a report released by the United Health Foundation.

From The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:

The annual report said Arkansas’ strengths included a low prevalence of binge drinking and a moderate rate of high school graduation. Weaknesses included a high percentage of children in poverty, a high premature death rate, a high rate of cancer deaths, and low immunization coverage.

I guess he doesn't chalk that up as one of his proud accomplishments.


Crossposted at Big Brass Blog

Terrorism: It's All That Matters

I'm having trouble with this.

Asma Jahangir, a leading human rights lawyer, reported in an e-mail that she had been ordered to stay confined to her home for 90 days. She said it was ironic that Musharraf "had to clamp down on the press and the judiciary to curb terrorism," adding, "Those he has arrested are progressive, secular minded people while the terrorists are offered negotiations and ceasefires."

But this really concerns me.

The Bush administration signaled Sunday that it would probably keep billions of dollars flowing to Pakistan’s military, despite the detention of human rights advocates and leaders of the political opposition by Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the country’s president.

[...]

“They would rather have a stable Pakistan — albeit with some restrictive norms — than have more democracy prone to fall in the hands of extremists,” said Tariq Azim Khan, the minister of state for information. “Given the choice, I know what our friends would choose.”

So much for "spreading democracy."

Mr. Gates said the United States had begun “reviewing all of our assistance programs” to Pakistan. But, he noted, “We are mindful not to do anything that would undermine ongoing counter-terrorism efforts.”

I am disgusted. And pissed off.

Two Sides of '77

It's hard to believe that 1977 was the year in which both of these made an appearance:

I was a junior in high school at the time, about to reach the proverbial fork in the road. I'm glad I went down the road of exhibit A rather than remaining on the goon squad road.

This collection of photos was sent to me by my ex-boss this weekend. I think it's one of those funny emails making the rounds, and the collection of photos probably originated on someone's blog. If I knew the source I'd certainly credit it, but it's too funny not to post these.

Remember these lovely furniture sets? Come on, I know you do. Everybody knew somebody who had them!

I'm not sure how much $400 in 1977 would be in today's dollars, adjusted for inflation, but rest assured it's TOO much! Actually I was looking for an online calculator to do the math. I didn't find one but I did find the box office intake for E.T. in 1977 converted to 2006 dollars and by using the same math, that furniture would be slightly over $1,300 today.

{kona takes a quick vomit break.}



OK, I'm back. It gets worse...

I remember these. I think I had one in bright yellow. I actually find that sitting on a cold toilet seat in the winter is sort of inhibiting to my desired business, so this was such a welcomed relief.

On the other hand, this look should have been illegal. And gross! I think the models were about to make out!

It may have been 1977 but JC Penney certainly had no problems with blatantly marketing to the homosexuals:

I'll confess I wore some pretty hideous shit back in the 70s, especially around 1974, but nothing that outrageous.

My God, did they pay someone to write that line??

Thankfully we've all made it to 2007 when fashion and marketing have definitely been kicked up several notches. Oh yeah...

Crossposted at Big Brass Blog

Don't Pee in My Gene Pool

Gawd, I'm so tired of racists and their warped minds.

txrad and I have been checking out the finalists over at the Weblog Awards. We both like Angry Black Cat in the Best New Blog category.

Go read the post about the Nordic freak who is concerned about her gene pool. This comment from the video was particularly entertaining:

The idea of inter-racial mixing is promoted and sponsored by our enemies.
It's time to take action before we become a weak minority.

Honey, I'm living for the day when you are a weak minority.

I just found another video put up by the same Nordic whackjob. It was kind of turning me on at first.

This is just fucking silly as hell. Some people who think they are so damn intelligent are actually perpetuating ignorance with their inbreeding.

Size Does Matter

How many of you have seen this stupid phrase stuck on the back of an SUV? Usually just to the left of the Bush/Cheney sticker and right above the "Support Our Troops" ribbon. And yes, if you are fascinated by trivia, as I am, then it's important to know that France, with 211,209 square miles is indeed smaller than Texas by an area almost as large as Louisiana.

I'm sure most of those folks bragging about the size of their state probably couldn't guess within 100,000 square miles just how big it is. What's important is that it's bigger than France, and therefore better.

Texas really isn't much in the grand scheme of things. Lay Texas next to Brazil and you'll get the idea. Let's take this study to the planetary level and beyond.

Damn, that Jupiter sure is a large mo-fo. No damn wonder Pluto didn't make the cut after all.

Now comes the part where things not only get scary, but almost incomprehensible.

If the sun is our bowling ball, I'm staying away from the Arcturus bowling alley. Holy crap! And note the comment on the graphic: "Earth is invisible at this scale." Well, so much for the bragging rights of Texans!

Finally, the obliterator of all egos.

Whatever you do, don't say Betelgeuse three times.

Antares is the 15th brightest star in the sky. It is more than 1000 light years away. And you thought it was a long drive across Texas?

I'm not sure why we Americans think it's so important that God bless America. Or why some believe it'll be the end of civilization if two same-sex people tie the knot legally. Or why a Hillary Clinton presidency scares the crap out of so many of us. Maybe if we put ourselves in the correct cosmic perspective, we could get over ourselves.

In case you are wondering if there are any celestial orbs larger than Antares, there are. My Cephei and W Cephei are each more than three times the size of Antares.

konagod for Dodd?

I found this quiz via Phydeaux. I was expecting Dennis Kucinich, and while there were only 3 points separating them, Dennis came in third place!

	Chris Dodd Score: 48	Agree Immigration Taxes Stem-Cell Research Health Care Abortion Line-Item Veto Marriage Death Penalty	Disagree Iraq Social Security Energy
-- Take the Quiz! --

Voting is Open!

Here are some of my early recommendations based on either blogs I nominated myself or some that I simply like and believe they deserve to win:

Funniest Blog: Jon Swift

Best Liberal Blog: (Does it matter?) I like Shakesville though.

Best LGBT Blog: Pam's House Blend or Republic of T.

Best of the Top 5001-6750: Field Negro or Simply Left Behind. Both I consider to be my blog pals.

Best of the Rest of the Blogs 8751+: konagod, of course!

So, get to voting. You can vote once every 24 hours. Don't let me down.

By the way, all of these are in my blogroll, hence no links in this post... that, and the fact that I'm well into my 3rd or 5th shot of tequila, but who's counting?

Friday Pussy Blog

Our friend Rebecca in Big D sends me pictures of her cats fairly often, but not often enough. I save them and use them for the Friday cat blog when I'm home late from a crazy week and just too tired to run around snapping my own photos. Tonight is the night. I got this one from her about 2 weeks ago and thought it was a very surreal picture.

They're on her bed. That's what cats do best.

Have a Nice Weekend, Mr. President

Oh, and don't forget to fuck 10 million children again before you head out for some rest and relaxation.

Asshole.

Purlie Victorious

1961. Correction: 1963

Them damn niggers. Makin' us white folk look bad all the time. Them folks oughta be ashamed of themselves. ASHAMED!

I need to think about this and consult with txrad.

He said he needs to sing.

I asked, "are you going to sing about what I need to write about?"

He waffled.

Do YOU know what's going on?

The Best Halloween Party Evah

I'm not a big fan of Halloween like some of my friends. I never dress up or participate (aside from my Janis about 3 years ago). I enjoy celebrating Samhain in the privacy of my own home, quietly.

So when I was invited over to a co-workers house last night I was fighting the urge to stay home. I finally decided to go and I'm glad I did.

The first segment involved sitting in the driveway of her neighbor's house with a parade of children in costume coming around for their tooth-rotting treats.

The scariest thing I've seen in a long time on Halloween was her boyfriend.

He was dressed as the grim reaper with a hideously frightening mask. He was on stilts. He was drinking liquor. He was wearing a mask he couldn't see out of and it was dark. And he was walking around children. Because he was so tall, he was storing his can of beer on the limb of a tree, directly above where I was sitting.

Tell me that's not the stuff of which nightmares are made.

After the kiddies all went to bed we retreated to the backyard of my co-worker where we began chatting and passing around a bottle of Tarantula -- Tijuana style. No shot glasses needed.

Damn. That was fun. It makes me wish I had done a reprise. I probably could have had a chance of winning our company-sponsored costume contest.

I'm ready, man.

The 2007 Weblog Awards Nominees...

...have been announced.

I'm a bit surprised I made the cut again for the 2nd year in a row. After all, this has been a difficult year with me having to take an office job and having far less blog time and energy to keep this blog at the level I would like to see it.

Needless to say, I would appreciate your votes. It would be nice to snag one finally. Vote early, vote often.


Best of the Rest of the Blogs (8751+)

Full Throtle
Fat Man Unleashed
The Urban Grind
Kiko's House
Kiss My Gumbo
Photos by Seawitch
Political Grind
Konagod
Slublog
The Iraq War Was Wrong Blog

An Uneventful Day

Surprisingly. Maybe they had second thoughts about giving people the axe on Halloween.

I got all drunk and shit last night so that I'd be in a "fuck it all" mood at work today, and it backfired.

Nothing happened.

So I spent the day working on my resume and cover letter and chatting back and forth with my boss who informed me that the new agency taking over the big account doesn't really like to do telecommuters.

Gee, what century are we in?

Anyway, I spent most of the rest of the day checking out New York apartments and researching cost of living comparisons. I found several apartments I like in Manhattan, some are walking distance to the agency. Most of them are between $4,000 and $5,700 a month. The gourmet kitchens are particularly attractive.

I also learned that to maintain my current standard of living I'd need to make a wee bit over $200,000 in New York. Granted, my current standard of living is a bit distorted because I'm trying to sock away so much extra cash with my overtime, so the true figure is probably more like $100,000, and I'd have to do a major compromise on the apartment options.

On the other hand, I do like socking away extra cash every month. And something inside me says moving from a nice house on a one-acre lot about 20 minutes from downtown Austin to a smaller apartment in Manhattan is not exactly maintaining the same standard of living.

But it is New York. Plenty of people would give anything to live there. I know I wanted to when I was like.... 16. It has lost a lot of appeal over the years, for me at least.

I have a feeling it would be fun for about 2 weeks, feeling like a vacation perhaps, and then reality would set in.

Here's my definition of fun. Sending my juicy resume to the agency, getting them all hot and bothered with my experience (rumor has it they are freaking out about not having this account in capable hands), and then saying "oops, sorry, I can't move. No way."

They could take it or leave it. The only problem is, I don't have a backup plan. There's no option B on the table yet. And when there is one, it's also likely to result in a significantly lower standard of living adjustment.

So, I'm not happy right now. Downright depressed.

Happy Halloween!

A song from txrad's head this morning:

Bad Taste

From Petulant’s quick trigger finger:

And Bad Omen perhaps. As I trudge into work this morning, on a day when layoffs are rumored to be likely and widespread, that might be the phrase of the day.

The Democratic Debate:

Everything I ever needed to know about politics

I learned from my cats.

First off, you rip at delicate thresholds. Then you disrupt flow.

Then you accuse the disadvantaged of waging war against the machinery.

Then you revel in your patriotic glory.

If it's all so simple, WHY don't we get it?

R.I.P. Robert Goulet

He was 73. The man and his music:

"Keep Off The Grass"

"Did you ever stop and ask yourself why?"