Hiya Kidz... 3.30.07
if you've stopped by recently you already know yourstruly's been busy elsewhere
("Man, Is It Cold Up Here!" and am I ever glad I'm wearing my long undies...) and let me mention briefly here that your tax dollars are not being spent unwisely by the good folks at NASA, and that ought to be obvious to thee if you stop and think about the quality of personnel being sent
on moon missions nowadays, hellzbellz, Binky, the evidence is Right Here in Front of Thee!
anyway, just wanted to let ye know that we got a ton of linky goodness to share w/ye, gonna be a busy weekend ahead (and the Final Four be happening tomorrow, too...) so just as soon as el chango tonto & his esteemed teammates get done with their lunar mission he'll be back to provide you more of those chunks of chewy, linky goodness ye crave.
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so is d'monkey now a weekly proposition... 3.26.07
or wha'?, yesssss, Binky, I hear ye asking and I'm here to set the matter straight...
(well, as straight as one as bent and twisted as myowndamnedself can possibly manage, alright?)
 With the surfeit of free time on my hands these days and my eternal & perpetual search for diversion and captivating amusements, yourstruly was surfing thru some Craig's List ads and postings early last week (no, Binky, not THOSE categories, well, not this time anyway) and came across this very interesting notice (within the ETC section of the Employment category), which certainly comes under the category of captivating amusements, as whom amongst us has not, at one time or another, fancied themself as an intrepid space traveler? Right?
anyway, s'not like we've been sworn to secrecy, although we (the participants in one of the phases of the lunar simulation) have been asked to be VERY discreet about what is is we are involved in, to be particularly so in any description of the actual simulation itself, which at this point in time is very easy for myowndamnedself to comply with, as the actual simulation begins today. Our group has spent Friday afternoon and all day on Saturday and Sunday in some extensive team building exercises  (yummy brekkie buffet and delicious lunches & dinner provided by our host NASA -- your tax dollars at work, Binky) which concluded late yesterday evening. Personally, once we are launched and afoot in our lunar environment I am going to do everything I can to exterminate my fellow cosmonauts, probably by crippling their life support systems, after which I intend to claim the moon for mine own dominion and NASA and the rest of those space agency types will have to deal with the big ape fellah for landing rights, etc. etc. etc. Seems like a good way to fund my retirement, No? El Chango Tonto along with the other folks involved in the simulation study have been asked to wear the watch-like gadget you see pictured there alongside, and yesssss Binky, I know you cannot read that print in the photo, but this is what the gadget is all about. Okay, so that's all I can tell you, but I will say if someone wants to extend invitation to fabulous luncheon (or, preferably dinner), ye know, wine and dine the hell out of me, perhaps, just perhaps, yourstruly might be encouraged to tell you more about this latest adventure. NASA remains one of the government entities that Jp has no problem having his tax dollars fund, right now my beef is with all that other goddamned shite that the cad-ministration has so UNWISELY committed us to paying for, likely for (at minimum) the next couple of generations. Believe me, katz und kitteez, there needs to be some serious inquiry to determine culpability for the state this country is in, and whilst impeachment will certainly not make it all better, I, for one, will be feeling much cheerier about seeing that insipid, moronic head of state served notice that his time has come. oh, and by the way, we've all been asked to provide our own diapers...
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greetings and salutations ye intrepid internauts... 3.21.07
and now, without further ado.
Having a wedding? perhaps you'll hire a minister from the Universal Life Church?
Jon Carroll, his column today, Over the weekend, I went to a memorial service;
talkin' TV talk show for a minute here now, C. Rose has some good stuff recently, check out interview with Mira Nair & the lovely Jhumpa Lahiri on the March 19 program. A bit of patience and last night's interview with Lt. Gen. William Odom will be your reward, (this brief quote I noted & likely paraphrased "counterinsurgency is an attempt to put a roof on a house with no walls.") Tonight, (and what else have you got to do on a Wednesday night anyway?) John Burns (NYTimes reporter) again (we noted a recent visit of his here on our 1.25 post) along with Richard Engel and Bobby Ghosh (and aren't our foreign correspondents so handsomely telegenic these days?);
TV talk show parte deux: Clive Davis has his own talkfest and ye might enjoy checking out what is now available via Slate & hisowngoshdarned clivejames.com.
(links there seem a bit wonky, Clive...)
ya know, youstruly meant to mention this contest way back then, hell, I knew I'd never win.
Just noticed (and so what if I'm a few weeks late) the winners were posted in February,
so now I got myself to wondering what other cool contest I might be missing out on...
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hey dere, katz und kitteez... 3.14.07
maybe I'm not the only one who has that feeling, you know, the one that has one thinking sometimes it's all such a drag, what's the fucking point. So, if you're feeling that way of late, stop now and don't read any further, 'cause what you'll read here will likely make you feel a whole lot worse. Stopped by the always fabulous donkey o.d. and found two things there that I am sharing here and now, but you ought to hie yourself over there oncet in a while because there always be good stuff (albeit in that category of "now I feel a whole lot fuckin' worse, goddamn you donkey o.d.") there: Dick Cavett, What My Uncle Knew About War; and from the pages of The (London Sunday) Times on-line,
To the End of the Earth.
Got a bit summery hereabouts over the weekend, temps in the high 70's on Sunday & Monday, mostly that kind of thing forecast all week long, but with the marine layer making an appearance in the evening to remind us that NorCal/SF Bay Area is NOT (and for the many reasons this is so, I am GRATEFUL like a MoFo) So.Cal. Okay, I hear you, who cares? alright...
Taylor Marsh, another site yourstruly visits regularly, has something tres interesante to share (many somethings actually), and likely something you knew as well as I did, but nice to see it broken down in such a clearly described manner: The Truth About Fox.
Ok, now I'll try to stop being such a downer...
The best fuckin' weblog name is the known universe:
TwelveYearsOfBeingAnnoyedByChloeSevignyDotCom.
and jessferdahalibut: RADAR;
a special thing;
many, many, many Kinks Tabs at Dave Emlen's Unofficial Kinks Web Site
a grateful apefellah thanks the oenologist over at environy for that chunk of linky goodness;
for that special gal pal in your life, maybe the perfect wedding gift ('cause we all know, once you're married, it's all over...) The Cone, special mention here ('cause it be where we got the heads up on the Cone & more) that if you are not already checking out WFMU's Beware the Blog, you missin' out BIGTIME, Binky!
okay, what shall we leave ye with. Hmmmmm, maybe this SFGate item on Bill Frisell, where you'll learn where he'll be this Friday night, part of the SFJazz Spring Season series of concerts.
I got a big, fat mama tryin' to break me...
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a friday of miscelleanea... 3.9.07
what the hell, eh? Be mindful of that tricky business with that new DST bullshite...
via Slate, The Four Unspeakable Truths: What politicians won't admit about Iraq;
new blip on d'monkey's radar: Enjoy Every Sandwich
(not to be confused with enjoyeverysandwich.com);
and this personal note, manOhman, we sure be missing Warren Z. round these parts...
the New Yorker magazine on-line got itself a spiffy new look, check it out;
we've posted it before, but jessferdahalibut here it be again, Homeland Stupidity;
mentioned Perilous Power... in post the other day, Paradigm Publishing podcast site here
and one wonders if they be updating that site on any kind of regular basis...;
& oncet again, in that jessferdahalibut spirit, kithkin unspire;
for lit lovers, The Tart of Fiction/Fiction Bitch;
very likely mineowndamnedself just hasn't paid attention, yet it seems like we've not
seen much mention of this piece from last Sunday's NYT magazine, Darwin's God;
& because many of ye know we be all about monkeybusiness here, Monkey Filter;
do ye have an appreciation for the pause that refresheth? these guys do;
not able to recall where we initially heard about The Definitive 200
(mebbe too much of that pause that refresheth, eh Binky?),
and am certain that ye, like ourowndamnedself,
will have many points of contention with the selection.
okeydokey pokeylokey, that's a baker's dozen chunks of linky goodness for ye,
we'll leave ye with a couple of bonus goodies, from the always marvelous wood s lot,
Privatization The Real Walter Reed Scandal, from Le Revue Gauche;
A Willful Abandonment of Progressive Ideals courtesy CounterPunch;
along with this painfully truthful quote provided us by Mark,
“To think is to run after insecurity, to be demoralized for grandiose trifles, to immure oneself in abstractions with a martyr’s avidity, to hunt up complications the way others pursue collapse or gain. The thinker is by definition keen for torment."
& Mark provides credit to the fine mind behind Isola di Rifiuti for sharing that E. M. Cioran quote.
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struggling with ennui and feelings of uselessness... 3.7.07
and a week long (as of today) bout of dealing w/very sore back, way down in those lower vertebrae, almos' on the tailbone, yeowwotch! Don't count us down and out yet, Binky.
 Last time 'round, yourstruly threatened to make additonal mention of new comida favorita so w/out further monkeybusiness I shall point ye in the direction of Ba Le, 10174 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, where ye will find no sandwich over $2.25 (as of this day, mind ye) and yummy noodle &/or rice dishes ranging from $4.25 to $5.50 (next time we provide ye picture of a bowl brimming over with yummy vietnamese goodness). That's a picture of the #9 BBQ chicken banh mi over dere on da side, we'd already wolfed down the #8 (grilled pork) brought home alongside what was intended for later, but got munched up pretty damn prontoquickly as the big fella was H U N G R Y. You may note
that review attached to link above dates from January '05, so these folks have been there dishing out their particular version of yummy stuff for some time now and the fact they be new to me has to do with my being scarce in these parts since summer of '04. Will be making trip to Oakland Chinatown here very soon and compare and contrast Ba Le's efforts to those of another little Vietnamese hole in the wall I know of there. Interesting thing to me is how those Frenchies get around, as that sweet french roll utilized in Viet Nam is so very similiar to the francescito (or sometimes more commonly known as bolillo) and we all know (leastways, those of us who stayed awake in history class) that the French did have serious footholds in both Mexique & Viet Nam. You used to be able to buy very delicious sandwiches (tortas) made of ham & avocado & more on a francescito at Fred's Bar in Juarez, Mx. for many (!) years, I wonder if Fred's is still even around.
Ah, it being the wonderful month of March, the herald of spring in these parts, it be time to pass along some B-day wishes to a pair of individuals that have played large part in making yourstruly feel like he be back home and welcome in the bay area environs. Happy Birfdey to Ms. JaneyKakes (whose b-day just passed on the third) and her partner Phillipe (whose birfdey is sorta kinda right around the corner). Both have recently returned from the lovely hamlet of Cambria, Ca. where they enjoyed a long weekend's getaway/joint b-day celebration in the company of the family pooch, Juno.
Next up, a messy melange of miscellaneous linky bits starting with something discovered (as usual) completely by accident whilst seeking out info on sumptink else. Introduce you to the page we discovered with some fine writing by musician Sam Broussard. Then when I went looking around for information on Sam's band, this page showed up, a ton of linky bits re Contemporary Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco music and if you've anything in common w/el chango tonto, it be that cajunzydecocreole music gives us Happy Feet!
Alright, talking more comida & cocina goodness, good recipes abound at Simply Recipes.
In previous post to today's, I mentioned the conversation w/Harold Pinter seen on the C. Rose show, and whilst watching I was
also surfing about seeking out some related linky goodness to share, and came across the wunnerful That's so pants and recent post there celebrating Mr. Pinter plus this Google Video file of BBC programme wherein Mr. Pinter introduces Mr. Chomksky. This allows segue to mention book picked up on Monday from local library, Perilous Power: The Middle East & U.S. Foreign Policy, which is a distillation of long interview & discussion with Noam Chomsky and Gilbert Achcar,
"moderated" by Stephen H. Shalom. Definitely worth seeking out and getting into, boys und gurlz, particularly if you're weary of the usual bullshite from the usual bullshitters.
Now let's wrap up this exercise in futility with some linkybits from the S.F. Bay Guardian, all having to do with film about to be released here and there (May 9th in San Francisco), a South Korean horror/monster film that has been garnering some very positive reviews, The Host. Visiting the SFBG website I notice that the current issue is now online, so here are the linkybits from previous issue: We are going to eat you! America ain't "The Host" with the most; Bong hits the mainstream The anti-establishment answer to Spielberg arrives; brief interview with Bong Joon-ho; plus piece about the F/X house in San Francisco responsible for bringing the creature to life.
Basta! Basta! I hear ye! datz all fo' now, folks...
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it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood... 3.2.07
and won't ye be my neighbor?
Would be cool, would take you out to favorite banh mi place in nearby El Cerrito where we'd get sandwiches and then take 'em out to Cesar Chavez park and find ourselves a nice picnic spot on one of the hillsides and enjoy the yummy sandwiches, maybe a deliciously cool beer alongside and, boyohboyohboy, on a day like this, Binky-poo, would be a wee tiny bit of heaven on earth.
More about that banh mi place in E.C. next time, along with a wholebuncha other stuff, but the important thing yourstruly wants to share with you in the Here & Now is some Must See Video,
in this instance we are asking thee to hie thyself off to that damnable Charlie Rose website again (man, I was literally shouting at C.R. on TV to SHUT THE FUCK UP and let the guy answer the goddamned question, dat fucker so fulla hisowndamnedself sometimes...) where you can catch an interview with (in mine own not so humble opinion) one of the great playwrights in the english langwidge, Harold Pinter. Link is here, go watch the video and then (like I did) send Charles a note re his shortcomings as a host.
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high time yourstuly posted something hereabouts... 3.1.07
I'll not describe the various & nefarious reasons that have prevented me from doing so; 'tis likely you'd thank me for that, had you any glimmer of them. First thing to mention's a show I've only recently begun viewing, on somewhat of a haphazard basis as it is broadcast locally mid-afternoon on Sundays, Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria. There's a link on the site that will provide access to Google video URL for the most recently broadcast program which you should watch for two reasons. First, is the lengthy excerpt for the A.A. winning documentary The Blood of Yingzhou District, which, for some of us, is heartbreaking viewing. Second reason is to introduce yourself to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. No jive here, boyz und gurlz, spend the few minutes it will take to meet Ms. Ali, you'll undoubtedly be impressed by her candor, intelligence and bravery. The world would be a better place with more folk like her in it. Perhaps you'll also check out Mr. Z's show/site more often.
I've also meant to get out to a couple of local shops where a person can get hold of that lovely treat oft referred to as a vietnamese sandwich, but alas, mineownlazyass has had us doing otras cosas, but here's bit of an introduction to Banh Mi, and maybe baybee, you live in a culturally diverse locale that might offer you opportunity to get out and familiarize yourself with this yummy stuff.
Now, some miscellanea, various linky bits from here and there: The Sell-Off of America, and credit to the person guiding us in that direction goes to B. Hayes "One Stop Thought Shop"; if yourstruly really knew what he was doing AND "buckled down and got all disciplined and shite about it", he'd have updated his list of unindicted co-conspirators some time ago, nevertheless, I am happy to see that
both el chango tonto and Bing F.'s "What the Futch?" happen to part of the Big Brass Alliance, where ye will find many more wonders to peruse. Next item has been mentioned on many sites, but if ye have missed it, you can find it here, Chomsky on Iran, Iraq, and the Rest of the World. One of these days, and it will undoubtedly be sooner than later, we will all be missing the presence and mindfulness of Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky and Gore Vidal, and I wonder who will be stepping up to the plate, Binky, once that trinity has departed this vale of tears. Stay away from that frozen pizza folks, bad bad bad for you, ye better believe it and thanks to the fine mind behind "Nothing is Too Impossible" for sharing their killerpizza adventure (and more, like that Tascam recharable battery project post) with us. Alright, that's all folks, leastways for now...
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february '07, a month of being deluged by both memories and rainfall
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