March 31, 2007
Linking Fool Friday (Saturday Edition)
Could have done this last night, but there were taped episodes of The Office to watch. Props to Tor and ABQ Rob for contributing items this week.
Teh politics: Be afraid, very afraid!
Bryan Killian, new martyr of Pastafarianism. You're my hero, dude.
Refusing to sell women birth control? Well within your rights! Refusing to sell people bacon? Nooooooooo! Extraordinary rendition to Iran, NOW!
Teh food: The theory that one should only cook with really good wine is largely debunked here. I've known this for a while; I don't use things actually labeled "cooking wine," but if I just need a dry white to go in a dish, I'm happy to grab Yellowtail or whatever $6 bottle of chardonnay happens to be on sale.
And teh wacky: I'm surprised it's taken this long for someone to develop a beer flinging fridge. Their next step is to make it quieter.
March 28, 2007
A short book review
If you read The Soul of Baseball and do not enjoy it, I don't think you and I can be friends.
March 23, 2007
Linking Fool Friday
"President Bush is terrible" screeds wear a little thin after a while, but this one by TBogg is a masterpiece of the genre.
Our health care system is the greatest in the world! And we all love family values!
If you are annoyed by MS Word's "correct as you type" features, you will enjoy this primer on turning them off.
Hockey is brutal. No relation.
Unintentionally funny comic book panels.
And lastly, I am pleased to promote the documentary film Air Guitar Nation, starring FOTF C-Diddy. I am just upset that there's no DC-area engagements yet.
March 22, 2007
Some songs you should listen to
Okkervil River, "The President's Dead"
William Elliot Whitmore, "One Man's Shame"
Sentences we'd never had said before we had kids, part 106
"Please try not to rub your rice cake on the cat."
March 16, 2007
Linking Fool Friday
How 'bout those VCU Rams, huh? Actually, I loathe them, but I loathe Duke more, and I'm glad to see someone upholding the CAA's honor in the big tournament. I actually had this one in my bracket! I'm a genius! I also had Old Dominion in the sweet 16, but, well, never mind.
Teh politics: By now you've already seen this litany of wacky Fox News screen captures, right? I think my favorite is "Why the fuss about torturing people who want us dead?"
Here's a rather thorough run-down of eliminationist rhetoric on the right. But remember, they don't curse as much as we do, and that's important.
Teh wacky: An awfully good donut, indeed. Snakes in a Cab!
And lastly, FOTF Hodge recently moved to the UK, and sends word of cheese rolling, in which you run like a damn idiot down a steep hill, inveitably falling and rolling to the bottom, and whoever gets there first gets a big wheel of cheese. I am lobbying him to actually participate in this event.
WAIT THERE'S MORE: Minor league all-name bracket! Hat tip to CP, who likes Zechery Zinicola, but I prefer Brok Butcher, who sounds like a comic book villain.
March 15, 2007
Yes. Do it. I DARE you!
If Virginia actually had two Dem senators, I would do a little dance.
March 09, 2007
Linking Fool Friday
It's been a good day. I didn't have to lay a guy off, I got a toaster oven for 38 cents, and I don't have tuberculosis.
Teh politics: Oh, that terrible Left! Much much worse and crazy than the loony-ass Right. And we all know how mad the Right gets when you actually call them on their crap.
What could we have done with all the money we've spent on the war? Actually done stuff to make us safer, among other things.
This makes me glad I don't live in New York. And cops wonder why people distrust them.
Teh sports: FoolBlog hearts Buck O'Neil, and says you should buy this book. Here's an interview with the author.
And teh wacky: All cheese, all the time (thanks to Hodge, who loves his cheese too). Also, complaints from people who didn't like Prince's guitar. Former penist, indeed.
March 05, 2007
Asia loves the Incoherents?
I while back I bravely posted MP3s of a couple songs by my old college-era band. This was meant more for the subset of my readership that was around in those days, not so much to inflict it upon everyone else.
Those files still get a few hits a month, but lately there's been a rash of downloads of "Shallow" originating from this mostly-Chinese portal-lookin' thing. I can't find any links to bigfool.com from the front page, but it can't be coincidental--40 hits on "Shallow" in the first four days of March alone. And of course I find the whole thing incomprehensible.
I'm quite confused. If anyone has any idea what's up with this, please advise.
Nats tickets 2007
Greetings baseball fans. I've renewed my Nationals 20-game ticket plan, and once again I'm planning on off-loading about half of the games. $30 per pair, which is face value (they actually knocked them down from last year by $1 per seat). Same location: section 515, row 4, seats 7-8, which is in the upper level, fourth row of the yellows, right behind home plate. Great seats for the money.
Here's what's on the block now; there may be more as the season progresses. If you're interested in any of them, or if you want to be on my e-mail list on which I beg people to buy tickets or come to games with me, drop me an e-mail. All games are at 7:05 PM unless otherwise noted.
Tuesday, April 3 vs. Fish
Sunday, April 8, 1:35 PM vs. Snakes (Easter Sunday)
Thursday, June 7, 1:05 PM vs. Pirates
Tuesday, July 17 vs. Astros
Thursday, July 19 vs. Rockies
Today's recipe: oversaturation
Yeah, I've said not-mean things about Rachael Ray before. But honestly, this is just going too far.
March 02, 2007
Linking Fool Friday
I'm-a go ahead and do this now, while I have a window, even though it's still early. I reserve the right to add "WAIT WAIT THERE'S MORE" items later in the day.
Atrios' posts on the role of religion in politics of late have been excellent. Money quote: "Romney's going to find out that it's not important whether you're a "person of faith." What's important is that you're a person of the right faith. It's time to be honest about that."
John Kerry questions guy who funded the Swift Boat campaign. I find this highly amusing. Predictably, commenters on the right think this is Wrong of John Kerry and he is a Bad Person.
Slactivist comments on the twin controversies of Obama and McCain referring to soldiers' lives as "wasted". It's just like my earlier comments on taboo use of the phrase "in vain": Should the parents of fallen soldiers be angry with people using these terms, or with the leaders who sent their children to fight and die for bad reasons? Our media and the right-wing noise machine have done a fine job of getting people to misplace their anger.
And teh wacky: Tigers and orangutans, together at last!
I TOLD YOU THERE'D BE MORE BUT YOU DIDN'T BELIEVE ME! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME?!: There's been much made this week about a goofy little study saying how those awful liberal bloggers swear so much more than their conservative counterparts, which proves... I don't know what, exactly. But apparently the conservatives have been so up in arms about all that nasty, evil cursing that they haven't had time to blog about anything else, like maybe the lousy treatment of wounded troops at Walter Reed. Support our troops, bitches! (Oops, sorry.)
March 01, 2007
Someone rent me a damn beach house
The Jersey shore real estate/rental agencies all seem to have really good web sites with custom searches--search by location, bedrooms, bathrooms, price, you name it, with lots of pictures and details.
For the Maryland and Delaware beaches, the rental agencies web sites all suck, with incomprehensible and useless search engines, and when you do find a property it's lacking in pictures and even pricing.
What the HELL people.
Choices that shouldn't have to be made
The story of Deamonte Driver, a 12-year-old who died of a toothache because his family couldn't work out dental insurance, is making the rounds around Left Blogg Towne. The reactions have been predictable: His mom should have found a way to pay the $80! It's all her fault, she's a bad mom! These reactions of course come from the lofty positions of both hindsight and relative financial security, so quite naturally they miss the point.
Most of us have never been severely poor, a condition which effects more and more Americans these days. Of course Deamonte's mom would have found a way to get him the care he needed if she'd known how severe the outcome would be, but when faced with the needs of both kids and the difficulty of navigating the health care system, she had to make a choice. Unless you've been down that path, it's nearly impossible to comprehend making choices like that, but millions of Americans make them every day. Shoes or food? Heat or medicine?
It's odd that many of the same people who would blame Mrs. Driver for this tragedy will also loudly proclaim how great America is, in general and in particular for its health care situation. A truly great nation wouldn't allow this to happen; it would find a way to leverage its great wealth and ingenuity to provide basic care for all its citizens, because it can, because that would be a good thing.
But apparently we can't all agree on the value in universal care, so we're still waiting. America is a Great Nation thanks to Proof Through Vigorous Assertion.