October 17, 2007

Gratuitous Domestic Posting (TM) - Line In The Sand Division

"No. Absolutely not. I said no sea-monkeys and I meant no sea-monkeys."

Posted by: Robert at 09:10 AM | Comments (19) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

October 16, 2007

Now it's possible for the Fins to Suck on two continents

Maybe the Dolphins have Ricky Williams back for their debut at Wembley.

But unfortunately, given the current state of dentiture under the National Hillarycare Service, I don't think there will be any interest in setting up a Shula's Steak House anytime soon, unless they provide crazy glue for loose crowns in nice little dishes with the salt and steak sauce.

Defiant Yips! from Robbo: The one hope that is keeping me going at least for the next five days, is that the Pats are pissing themselves so hard with laughter at the thought of playing Miami that the Fins will pull an upset.

Posted by: Steve-O at 05:07 PM | Comments (22) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Yeeee. Owitch.

2L stoodent mouths off at the Bench, gets himself ripped a whoooole galaxy of new ones:

Okay, it's not a real court. But that is real blood.....

Yips! to Nasty, Brutish and Short.

Posted by: Robert at 05:04 PM | Comments (27) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Lefty Bloggers Punk'd By False Air America Story

Early reports that Air America "personality" Randi Rhodes was brutally attacked and mugged near her Manhattan apartment.

Eh, turns out she just "fell" while walking her dog. But that didn't stop the immediate swirl of speculation that Rhodes was ambushed by some right-wing nut. Capt. Ed sums the situation up nicely:

So what are we to make of this?

1. Air America lies, even when stories involve their own personnel. No one thought to give Randi a call to see how she was doing before Elliot decided to air his report? And no one thought to do so afterwards? The police ended up calling to see why no one reported the incident to them. That's just marvelous journalistic ethics.

2. Anyone who thinks that bigotry has no place in the liberal mindset has -- once again -- just received a material lesson to the contrary. Even without knowing anything about the attacker, several bloggers just decided that it had to be a politically motivated assault by a conservative. That's not leaping to conclusions, that's flying at jet speed to Paranoialand.

3. How long do you think it will take for these same bloggers to offer an apology -- one not accompanied by a litany of rationalizations about how mean conservatives are, and how it was impossible not to convict an entire class of people for an imaginary crime? Longer than the next time they trot out an argument for innocent-until-proven-guilty for the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, I'd bet.

ALTERNATIVE HEADLINE YIPS from Steve-O:

Come on, someone had to say it:

Air America Personality Pwnd By Coworker's Dog Defends Journalistic Credibility: The Bitch Set Me Up!

Posted by: Gary at 04:40 PM | Comments (21) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Happy Birthday, Plum!

I was indisposed yesterday, so didn't get the chance to note that October 15 is the anniversary of the birth of Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, born that day in 1881 in Guildford, Surrey.

Instead of doing a post about the man's true literary genius, defending him over the whole Nazi P.O.W. wartime radio broadcasts, or crankily blasting and damning those who've attempted the impossible in trying to bring his Bertie and Jeeves stories to the screen, I thought I'd do a much simpler trick and simply meme my way through his bibliography. (I've screened out omnibuses, re-releases and compilations, so you may not see a title you're expecting.)

I've bolded the books I own, italicized the ones I've read but don't own, and added some comment where I thought suitable.

Are you ready? Right ho!

School Stories - Written when Plum wasn't long out of school himself.

The Pothunters (1902)
A Prefect's Uncle (1903)
Tales of St. Austin's (1903)
The Gold Bat: And Other Stories (1904)
The Head of Kay's (1905)
The White Feather (1907)
Mike at Wrykn (1953)

Ukridge Oddly, I've never read any of the Ukridge stories. Dunno why.

Love Among the Chickens (1906)
Ukridge (aka He Rather Enjoyed It) (1924)

Psmith - Plum's first really memorable character. He was based on one Rupert Doyle-Carte, son of the Doyle-Carte associated with Gilbert & Sullivan. There are not a few among you who still consider Psmith their favorite.

Mike (1909)
Psmith in the City (1910)
Psmith Journalist (1915)
Leave it to Psmith (1923) - Best of the bunch and also gets points as a Blandings Castle novel (see below).
Mike and Psmith (aka Enter Psmith) (1935)

Blandings - Ah, Blandings Castle! Home of Lord Emsworth, that affable, fuzzy-headed peer who wants nothing more than to be left alone to fiddle with his roses and tend to his prize pig. Of course he's not going to be allowed to do so.

Something Fresh (1915) - A bit clunky on re-reading, but still well worth it.
Summer Lightning (aka Fish Preferred)(1929) - One of my very favorite Wodehouse novels.
Heavy Weather (1933)
Blandings Castle and Elsewhere (1935)
Lord Emsworth and Others (aka The Crime Wave at Blandings)(1937)
Full Moon (1947)- In one of Plum's run-ons, this novel also features that hell-raiser Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistelton, Fifth Earl of Ickenham, known to all and sundry as Uncle Fred. See below.
Pigs Have Wings (1952)
Galahad at Blandings (aka The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood)(1964) - By these last couple, the steam had run out of the Blandings story.
A Pelican at Blandings (1969) See above.
Sunset at Blandings (1977) - Plum was working on this the day he died. The draft makes interesting reading, but more as a curiosity than anything else.

Bertie and Jeeves - The focus of most casual Wodehouse readers these days.
My Man Jeeves (1919)
The Inimitable Jeeves (aka Jeeves) (1923)
Carry on, Jeeves (1925)
Very Good, Jeeves (1930)
Right Ho, Jeeves (aka Brinkley Manor) (1934) - This is actually the first full-length Bertie and Jeeves novel (the previous works being short story collections). And it is easily one of the funniest.
Thank You, Jeeves (1934) - Unlike the trombone featured in the Fry/Laurie tee vee series, it was actually a ukelele with which Bertie drove Jeeves to flee. Humph.
The Code of the Woosters (193 - My personal favorite. If Scotties come, can Stiffys be far behind?
Joy in the Morning (1946)
The Mating Season (1949)
Ring for Jeeves (aka The Return of Jeeves) (1953) - This one doesn't actually feature Bertie at all, but a pal of his instead. Further, it's written from a third-person point of view instead of the usual narrative by Bertie. Many people don't much like it, but I think it has some merits.
Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit (1954) - Probably the last in the series really worth reading. As with the Blandings novels, you can tell the last few Bertie and Jeeves stories run out of steam.
Jeeves in the Offing (aka How Right You Are, Jeeves) (1960)
Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves (1963)
Much Obliged, Jeeves (1971)
Aunts Aren't Gentlemen (1974)

Oldest Member - Plums collections of golf stories.
The Clicking of Cuthbert (aka Golf Without Tears) (1922)
The Heart of a Goof (1926) - A perfect little nine-hole course.

Mr. Mulliner - I've never really warmed up to the Mulliner stories. Plum himself was involved in a tee vee series in the late 60's called Wodehouse Playhouse that was based on some of the Mulliners, and is quite good.

Meet Mr. Mulliner (1927)
Mr. Mulliner Speaking (1929)
Mulliner Nights (1933)

Monty Bodkin - Plum never seemed to have gone anywhere in particular with Monty as a main character, although he turns up in a number of other books, usually as the friend-of-the-hero.

The Luck of the Bodkins (1935)
Pearls, Girls and Monty Bodkin (1972)
Bachelors Anonymous (1973)

Uncle Fred - Ah, good old Uncle Fred. Now what did happen at the dog track that time?
Uncle Fred in the Springtime (1939)
Uncle Dynamite (194
Cocktail Time (195
Service with a Smile (1962)

Novels I bought a whole stack of these when I lived in London back in the late 80's that never made it back across the pond. Hence, a rayther large proportion of books that I've read but don't own. The novels tend to be hit or miss, in part because in many of the early ones Plum hadn't quite got the farce down yet and was still going for some degree of realism. However, some of my favorite stories are buried within this list.

Willam Tell Told Again (1904)
Not George Washington (1907)
The Swoop!: Or How Clarence Saved England (1909)
A Gentleman of Leisure (aka The Intrusion of Jimmy) (1910)
The Prince and Betty (1912)
The Little Nugget (1913)
Uneasy Money (1917) - The best of Plum's earlier novels, imho. It contains the priceless line, "She heaved a sigh, like a sentimental seige-gun."
Piccadilly Jim (191
A Damsel in Distress (1919)
The Coming of Bill (aka Their Mutual Child) (1920)
Jill the Reckless (1921)
Indiscretions of Archie (1921) - I like this one quite a bit.
The Adventures of Sally (1922)
The Girl on the Boat (1922)
Bill the Conqueror (1924)
Sam the Sudden (aka Sam in the Suberbs) (1925)
The Small Bachelor (1927)
Money for Nothing (192
Big Money (1931)
If I Were You (1931)
Doctor Sally (1932)
Hot Water (1932) - One of my very favorites.
Laughing Gas (1936)
Summer Moonshine (1937)
Quick Service (1940)
Money in the Bank (1946) - Another of my very favorites.
Spring Fever (194
The Old Reliable (1951)
Barmy in Wonderland (1952)
French Leave (1956) - Eh. The only novel I think Plum set amongst the French.
Something Fishy (1957)
Ice in the Bedroom (1961)
Frozen Assets (1964)
aka Biffen's Millions
Company for Henry (1967)
Do Butlers Burgle Banks? (196
The Girl in Blue (1970)

Posted by: Robert at 03:55 PM | Comments (23) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Mmmmmm.......

What makes garlic good for you?

In a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers show that eating garlic appears to boost our natural supply of hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide is actually poisonous at high concentrations — it’s the same noxious byproduct of oil refining that smells like rotten eggs. But the body makes its own supply of the stuff, which acts as an antioxidant and transmits cellular signals that relax blood vessels and increase blood flow.

In the latest study, performed at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, researchers extracted juice from supermarket garlic and added small amounts to human red blood cells. The cells immediately began emitting hydrogen sulfide, the scientists found.

The power to boost hydrogen sulfide production may help explain why a garlic-rich diet appears to protect against various cancers, including breast, prostate and colon cancer, say the study authors. Higher hydrogen sulfide might also protect the heart, according to other experts. Although garlic has not consistently been shown to lower cholesterol levels, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine earlier this year found that injecting hydrogen sulfide into mice almost completely prevented the damage to heart muscle caused by a heart attack.

And here's a useful cooking tip:

Many home chefs mistakenly cook garlic immediately after crushing or chopping it, added Dr. Kraus. To maximize the health benefits, you should crush the garlic at room temperature and allow it to sit for about 15 minutes. That triggers an enzyme reaction that boosts the healthy compounds in garlic.

Of course, this being the Grey Lady, the article has to go and say something stooopid:

Now, the downside. The concentration of garlic extract used in the latest study was equivalent to an adult eating about two medium-sized cloves per day. In such countries as Italy, Korea and China, where a garlic-rich diet seems to be protective against disease, per capita consumption is as high as eight to 12 cloves per day.

While that may sound like a lot of garlic, Dr. Kraus noted that increasing your consumption to five or more cloves a day isn’t hard if you use it every time you cook. Dr. Kraus also makes a habit of snacking on garlicky dishes like hummus with vegetables.

This is a downside? Are you kidding me? There's nothing you can't do with this wonder-herb. Try some in an omlette. Dice it up and toss it in yer salad. Anything cooked in olive oil on the stove-top can also be cooked with garlic. And pasta? Geddouda here! And the NYT thinks this is difficult? Jeesh!

Then there's the smell. Always with the smell:

Garlic can cause indigestion, but for many, the bigger concern is that it can make your breath and sweat smell like…garlic. While individual reactions to garlic vary, eating fennel seeds like those served at Indian restaurants helps to neutralize the smell.

Suff on your "concern". As I've said before, I'd use garlic-based toothpaste if it were available.

Posted by: Robert at 01:30 PM | Comments (25) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Whoa

It's the right-brain/left-brain test. Apparently, whether you see the girl spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise tells which half of your brain you use more.

After staring at it for a few minutes, I discovered that I could make myself see her spin either way. Indeed, I got to the point where she didn't appear to be spinning at all, just swinging her foot back and forth, one way and the other. (Hint: Watch the foot. And project which direction you think it is turning.)

I might have given my brain a nice workout, but the sudden change in perspective has made me sea-sick.

Yips! to The Silver Fox.

Posted by: Robert at 01:07 PM | Comments (25) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

But Does It Taste Just Like Chicken?

Squirrel canapes, anyone?

Posted by: Gary at 11:38 AM | Comments (18) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gratuitous Llama Netflix Movie Non-Review

After hemming and hawing for a few days, I've had to come clean to Netflix that I managed to lose two of its DVD's within the space of about 48 hours. Bang goes 40 bucks, because that's the you-lost-it-you-buy-it fee.

The trouble is that when I get a new DVD, I open the envelope, check the disk and then leave it in the pile of mail on the kitchen counter. Evidently, the last couple times somebody came through to jihad the pile of junk mail, catalogues and teh like, those little white sleeves got caught up and pitched into the trash. I guess I'm going to have to be more disciplined about keeping track of these things.

Incidently, the two movies in question were Hidalgo and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, neither of which I have still yet seen.

I also just got 300. Tell me, folks, is it really worth it?

Economical Yips! from Gary:
Robbo, you should have bought the DVDs at Walmart or Target for $9.99 and then stuffed all three discs into the return envelope that came with "300". You would have at least saved yourself $20.

Plan B would be deepdiscountdvd.com (free shipping) - Hidalgo $11.21 KKBB $17.36. It's still a $11.50 savings and you can't put a price on denying the Netflix bastages the satisfaction.

Plan C (if you wanted to role the dice): buy Hidalgo, sent it back. Say you mailed KKBB and they never got it. They probably would have given you a mulligan on that one (based on my experience).

Damn, I'm a cheap mofo ain't I?

Posted by: Robert at 11:21 AM | Comments (25) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gratuitous Weekend Round-Up

As I say, I was incommunicado yesterday, which is too bad because plenty went on this weekend. A short summary:

**Friday afternoon St. Marie of the Blessed Educational Method held its annual fall social at one of the local parks. Among other activities, there were moonbounces. (Of course there were moonbounces. In these opening years of the 21st Century, is there left a single kids' party that doesn't involve moonbounces?)

Anyhoo, I drew the short straw to monitor one of the bounces for a while. To me, monitoring means making sure that the kids at least take their shoes off before they go in, and that body-checking is kept to a reasonable minimum in order to limit the number of broken noses and split lips. Other than that, I pretty much just give the kiddies a free rein. Evidently, however, my laissez-faire attitude is not generally shared amongst the local parental units. As the childs laughed and sang and bounced about, I had several parents fussing at me. What's the maximum allowable number of children at any one time? I shrugged and said, "I suppose when it collapses, that means there's too many." Should those big kids be in there with all the smaller ones? The "big kids" to whom they were referring were a pair of sweet-tempered nine year old twins whom I happen to know as being quite consciencious. Any other older kids I probably would have barred. How long are you letting them bounce each time? "Oh, I'm not timing them. Your child wants in, let him get in. He wants out, let him get out."

Hopefully, I won't be called on to monitor the moonbounce again any time soon. I believe this is a hope now fervently shared by several other parents.

***Friday night we attended a reception for patrons of an art fair held in our little neck of teh NoVa woods, the Missus being prezdent of some ladies' group or other active in the fair. I believe that the idea was to give a boost to starving artists. If the works on display at the gallery where the reception was held were any indication, there's a damned good reason why these artists are starving. They consisted of a series of ginormous landscapes done in bright, vibrant acrylics. Plastered across these pristine vistas were black and white clip-art style renditions of Man and all his Works (the air, for instance, was full of jets, the waters full of powerboats and supertankers), the whole display calculated to posivitely scream "'Where every prospect pleases/and only Man is vile.' Get it? GET IT!!!!?" I couldn't imagine anybody actually paying for one of these shrills, much less displaying it.

***Saturday was an important soccer day because it was the eldest Llama-ette's debut as goalie for the Creepy Green Lepreuchauns this season. I'd been fretting about this in a casual way ever since she announced that she wanted to give it a try. The gels at her age are really beginning to play the game seriously (it is a real joy to watch them learning how to work together) and there is much more to being goalie than just standing around looking coo-el in the gloves and jersey, and I wasn't sure she understood exactly what she was letting herself in for. So I'd spent the week giving her a lot of boring Dad Advice about teamwork, commitment, mental toughness and best effort. We'd also done some practicing in the back yard. (I had the seven year old take some shots on her. Ah, sibling-j-rivalry! The eldest was positively indignant that her little sister could make such wicked corner shots. Her sister, in turn, was grinning like a maniac.) And the coach, a great guy who I believe agreed to let her try just to humor her, spent some extra drill time with her as well.

Anyhoo, came the start of the second half of the game (our goalies play by halves)....and everything went just fine. We were already up by a couple goals and the coach put in our best defensive players by way of helping the gel out. The other team threatened a few times, but most of the game was played at their end of the field. What shots they did make, the gel handled calmly and workman-like enough. All in all, I think it was a good, confidence-boosting introduction. We won 4-0, btw. We're 3-1 for the season so far.

(The Missus handled the other two gels' games, so I didn't see them play this week. The five year old, however, apparently is turning into a holy terror on the field, which isn't the least surprising.)

***Saturday evening we attended a "harvest dinner" for church. This is an annual event. Six or seven different families agree to host a dinner, typically for between about 15 and 20 people. It's all about building community, but it's also about hitting up the parishioners for donations, for which purpose somebody from the clergy or the vestry or the stewardship committee shows up and makes a PBS-like pledge pitch. (Fortunately, the pitch typically comes long after the flow of adult beverages has commenced, so it's not as bad as all that.)

I got a few comments and queries about my decision to resign from the vestry and head for Rome. Because I didn't make a big stink about it - firing a nasty letter off to the bishop or nailing my vestry pin to the sanctuary door, for example - everyone has been quite polite. A few people have even been heartfelt enough in their show of support that I half believe them. On the other hand, the general consensus still seems to be that I have gone quite mad. And indeed, I got an anonymous message from one of the members of a group of older ladies at church Sunday morning that they hope I will "come to my senses" soon.

No fear.

***Sunday afternoon the Missus had to go work the art fair I mentioned above. As she took the younger LLama-ettes with her, I got the idea that the eldest and I would cook a big dinner together for them. We settled on a favorite shrimp and prosciutto pasta dish, known in the household as PSP or "Pops' Super Pasta" because the recipe comes out of a cookbook Dad put together a few years ago. Nothing makes a dish tastier than preparing it yourself, and I let the gel really get her hands dirty - tailing the shrimp, cuisine-arting the garlic, basil and shallots, zesting the lemon-rind, testing the angel's-hair. I also introduced her to the concept of the "cook's tax", that is, the cook's perquisite of being able to sample any of the ingredients at any time (well, almost any - she's a bit young to be getting a glass of sherry). We had to stop ourselves from gobbling up all the prosciutto before the sauce was even cooked.

All in all, a very good weekend.

Posted by: Robert at 10:31 AM | Comments (20) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Donde Esta El Llama Roberto?

Sorry for the lack of posting yesterday. Mr. Cranky Sinus came to pay a call, jamming my ears, crossing my eyes and making my head feel about ten pounds heavier than it is. You wouldn't have cared to read any of the thoughts I'd have written anyway.

All better now, or at least close enough.

Posted by: Robert at 08:55 AM | Comments (16) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

October 15, 2007

I'm no expert in Catholic Theology and whatnot

But wouldn't this be kinda a bad sign for JP2's sainthood candidacy?

Posted by: Steve-O at 10:15 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Heh.

Apple---the New Microsoft?

(That's meant as an insult).

The first couple of minutes are funny on this.

That's like saying the Sawx are the New Yankees...

Posted by: Steve-O at 09:46 PM | Comments (18) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Apres moi le deluge

Well, that's depressing. Anybody up for a movie?

Posted by: Steve-O at 09:01 PM | Comments (16) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Monday Night Football

Are you ready for some football...

Posted by: Steve-O at 08:58 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Monday night garbage time

Posted by: Steve-O at 08:28 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Empirical research

A graduate student with time to kill could do a hilarious regression analysis on this phenomena: what is exactly the R^2 on interest in Britney's crotch shot pics?

(Blame AgentBedHead for this one).

Posted by: Steve-O at 08:16 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

The 51st State: Greenland

Annexation, anybody?

At times like this, you have to ask: what would William Seward have done?

But there is an ironic medieval optimum joke in here somewhere...

Posted by: Steve-O at 07:58 PM | Comments (18) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Brainless LMC time-waster

The complete first season of Dark Angel on DVD, courtesy of Mrs. LMC. Can be enjoyed with the sound off or on.

Posted by: LMC at 01:06 PM | Comments (19) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

October 14, 2007

Best editorial of the weekend

From a Notre Dame student newspaper:

Is everyone excited about beating UCLA Saturday night and celebrating a victory for the first time this season? You should be. For the seniors, juniors and sophomores, it was a welcome reminder of what victories in South Bend are like on Saturdays. And it's the first time you freshmen have tasted an Irish win since coming to campus in August.

But, please, as an alumnus and diehard fan of Notre Dame - the team, school and program - don't let the excitement spill over to embarrassment this weekend if the Irish knock off Boston College. Don't storm the field.

Sure, beating BC would be a huge moment. It's the No. 4 team in the country. It's undefeated and energized. The Eagles have a Heisman Trophy candidate and likely NFL first-round pick in Matt Ryan. They will come into our stadium with a swagger, a sense of confidence that will piss off diehard Irish fans.

And a win Saturday would be a huge moment in our season. Upsetting a top-5 team would be another step in building the confidence of our younger guys, and it would give our upperclassmen another great memory about playing for the Irish.

But there's a reason we refer to Boston College as Fredo, and bull-rushing the field against our weaker, inferior little brother would be embarrassing. We would be showing them a sense of respect that they don't deserve. Storming the court against BC in basketball was bad enough when we ended their 20-game winning streak in the 2005-06 season. Let's not surrender to the same temptation and make the same mistake in football.

In 1993, Boston College came into Notre Dame Stadium and abruptly ended our National Championship aspirations. Let's do the same thing to them this season. Let's make a statement during the game and scream louder than we have since the 2005 game against Southern Cal, giving our team the second-half energy they will need to earn a win.

But after we win, let's keep our excitement in the stands. Storming the field is about being an underdog, and Notre Dame is never an underdog against Boston College - regardless of our record. We should never expect to lose to Boston College. And when we beat them this weekend, let's act like we've done it before.

Because we have.

No worries, mate.

Posted by: Steve-O at 09:40 PM | Comments (24) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

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