archives

l'alliance

autre blog

hitting the home stretch...       11.30.06
as we close out the month of November and begin galloping headlong towards 2007.
fuck me! if i'd known i was gonna live this long i'd have taken better care o'myself...
kinda chilly in the local environs of late, but nice sunny days forecast thru the weekend, a good thing, that. Ye can keep your winter-wonderland, snowy, slushy, freezing cold winter experiences, methinks I'd rather be in Mexique, if I could swing it.
The fantabulous WFMU weblog points ye in the direction of films and videos (dare one still use the term avant garde) by folk whose names many of ye will recognize, check out the Ubu film collection. Lots more linky goodness both at Ubu & WFMU.
Ourowndamnedself just finished reading David Kamp's The United States of Arugula, found it entertaining and enjoyable largely, and can easily dismiss my minor criticisms (Goines & Waters apartment on Grove & Francisco is NOT right around the corner from Peet's at Vine & Walnut AND Cafe Fanny may certainly be located on a largely commercial strip of San Pablo Ave., but you just cannot call that location a "Berkeley Mini-Mall" and it might have served Mr. Kamp's purposes better to have visited Cafe Fanny and seen firsthand that Cafe Fanny is located between onetime Chez Panisse busboy Steve Sullivan's Acme Bread and Kermit Lynch's wine emporium). Kind of a gossipy read, lots of unneccessary details (unnecessary in the sense that many of those details have nothing to do with the amazing growth of "foodie" culture in California and the U.S.), para exemplo, early in our introduction to Julia Child, Mr. Kamp provides this paragraph (from a letter written by Ms. Child's husband Paul): Now and again a flash of the non-cooking Julie lights up the scene briefly, as it did the day before yesterday when with her bare fingers, she snatched a set of cannellini (beans) out of the pot of boiling water with the cry, "Wow! These damn things are as hot as a stiff cock!" Yourstruly spent most of his formative years hereabouts (S.F. Bay area) and like many others witnessed the development of the "Gourmet Ghetto", the newest addition to which I've only visited a couple of times, Epicurious Garden, where, oncet upon a time, was an TV & Electronics store. So, ye ask, would JonnyPeace recommend that book? Sure, it be breezy & enjoyable, long on quirky character details & gossipy bits, a bit short on more relevant details perhaps, just the thing to take along on those trips many of us will be taking here soon as the holidays approach. In re to local environs and some folk's take on the natives, check out the December cover for the (east bay) Monthly (used to be The Berkeley Monthly some years ago) which ought to give the willies to anyone professing a fear of clowns. Now, we point out an item within the covers, the interview w/ Michael Lewis, wherein we discover that perhaps Mr. Lewis lives in a particularly hirsute Berkeley neighborhood, 'cause we been All Over Town since our return two months ago and have not witnessed the multitude of hairy dudes (and perhaps some hairy dude-ettes, this is Berkeley after all...) that his response seems to imply exist in these environs. Go 'head on and fill that crop-duster with Nair, Mr. Lewis, just leave my soul patch alone, eh?

cleared up sometime overnight and...       11.27.06
looks like a gorgeous day ahead of us.
Just a quick mention of a couple of things, then maybe back later on...
hey hey hey, Taj Mahal's back in Berkeley, and at Yoshi's through Sunday night, two shows every night starting tomorrow (oh man, we played the shite out of that Giant Steps album of his, way back in the day...). Hmmmm, mebbe Aaron can get me a job? Supe Peskin and yourstruly worked together years ago in Palmer's Video, made the mistake of joining him for a Sunday morning bikeride that I'll never forget, especially when I ran out of gas on that final uphill and had to walk the bike up. Good on ye, Aaron P., good on ye!
alright now, sometime over the last four days we saw two movies and watched a couple of videos, the movies left us less than impressed altho' went to 'em both with high hopes, speaking of For Your Consideration (perhaps Mr. Guest's schtick has worn thin, weak and disappointing, painful to watch at times) and Aronofsky's The Fountain. It's possible I might have attempted as ponderous and unlikeable a film about everlasting love/life if I was married to Ms. Weisz. This apefella be happy to recommend the videos we watched over these two recent cinema releases but ye will have to live with subtitiles on two of them. (c'mon, Binky, get over that reluctance ye got about subtitles, you missin' out bigtime!); Late August, Early September (dir: O. Assayas, Salon review here and, btw, Jeanne Balibar is tres sexy!); When the Sea Rises (Dir: Y.Moreau & G. Porte), a wee marvel of offbeat love story & road movie, more about it here. In a salute to the late Robert Altman we also picked up Prarie Home Companion, and yea, whilst it may be one of Mr. Altman's lesser efforts, still marvelous in its own way, certainly enjoyed it more than either of the films caught in the cinema (paid EIGHT BUCKS for the damned matinee of The Fountain). Not sure you'll find those French films in your average video emporium, maybe better luck if you do that netflix or greencine thing. Ciao, bambini!

so now that we're done giving thanks...       11.25.06
am I supposed to hie myself mallward and indulge in madly riotous consumerism?
No thanks, Binky, I know it's gonna be a long month, but I will wait it out...
Thomas Pynchon has a new book out, and long awaited it is, in this quarter at least. Got my name second on the list at the local library, that will be one thing that will make December easier to get through. Oh and by the way, speaking of the esteemed Mr. Pynchon's works, thanks be to Mark at wood s lot whose generous hand turned me on to Zak Smith's Ilustrations for each page of 'Gravity's Rainbow'. Lots of other great linky bits there at Mark's place too, peruse it thoroughly, peruse it thoughtfully.
It certainly isn't the time of year that's responsible, and at heart (well, what's left of that blackened and calcified, shrunken remnant of one within me chest) l'Marquis tends towards heretical non-belief as regards aligning himself with any religious school of thought, so why, we ask ourowndamnedself, is the attraction towards these particular kinds of songs so powerful? Am speaking about two songs in particular that I've been spending sometime familiarizing myself with, neither of them terribly complicated, but both of them standards of christian minstrelsy. One is Wayfaring Stranger, of which there are MANY versions (the same goes for the other song I will mention momentarily), the one in particular I've been listening to is from the Volume 5 Acoustic Disc compilation CD (D. Grisman's label), an instrumental duet by Grisman and Sam Bush (check out the King of My World link thereabouts...), and gawdamn, it be very fine, 'pretneer sublime. The other tune that's gotten under yourstruly's skin is an old Rev. Gary Davis tune, and heard recently (t-day morning) whilst enjoying a substitute d-jay's work on KALX, a version I wasn't familiar with (as if I'd heard every damn version there is of this song - Hah!), so I had to call the d-jay and ask who the fuck that was that was singing Death Don't Have No Mercy and was duly informed t'was young fella by the name of Alastair Moock (ye can listen to a snippet of Moock's version there on his website). Here's a page on the Acoustic Disc site where you can hear a bunch of tunes from the many releases available -- consider this my having done my part in furthering recommendations for your holiday shopping -- alas, Volume V aka ACDS 40 is conspicuously absent from the list, goshdarnitall. Both songs are wrought out of simple enough chords & progressions that a simpleton like myself can figure 'em out, but likely take me the remainder of my years to acheive the eloquence and assurance possessed by the hands and fingers of Mssrs Grisman & Bush.
Alright now, after the few days spent away from attending to d'monkey, one ought to have a multitude of items to share, no? Oh Yah, you so right Binky, trouble is trying to recall them and the source of the linky goodness we want to pass along, so bear with l'Marquis now, okay? Allow me to point ye in the direction of Close My Eyes, a truly fine weblog (despite the fact that my high school german is inadequate to the task) and where we found linky bit that lead us to Chocoreve which had one of the remaining minions 'round here shouting "Eureka!" like the young fool had struck the motherlode (yourstruly was personally quite thrilled to run across the Beau Brummels mention there, as their Just A Little's a song we've invested some time in learning of late...). Might be cause of the alcohol, might be due to one's susceptibility to any suggestion to partake of the pause that refresheth but I'll be damned if I can remember where we initially came across mention of Bbronk, and yessssss Binky, you be SO right when ye say "hey, dat be some Noisy Shite!". Indeed. Again, brain fog prevents us from recalling when and where we first came across Ample Sanity, but we glad we did. Be remiss of us not to mention that longtime fave weblog of yourstruly also a good source for some rare and unusual musical linky goodness, and we speaking of gmtPlus9(-15) (wonder how much Mr. Abb misses the Osaka environs, methinks I would miss them greatly...). Anyone out there fond of harmonica? Maybe considering playing a 'harp'? Ran across HarpTab.com completely by accident the other day, likely tryin' to track down some obscure song or another, perhaps ye will pass it along to someone you know who'd appreciate all that site has to offer.
damn! barely scratched the surface of the surfeit of linky goodness we've stashed away to share. Perhaps another time, lads and lassies, meanwhile, the world outside the door of chez d'monquis beckons, things to do, people to see on this lovely late November day.

if you holiday...       11.22.06
let's hope you enjoy yourself, and perhaps are enjoying some convival company.

here's my Robert Altman story...       11.21.06
and no, didn't know the man, but have long appreciated his work. Yourstruly was a much younger fellow, still in the clutches of the government, that is to say a member of the U.S. Armed Forces, the Navy to be precise and had spent the first few years of that enlistment in Alameda, California where oncet upon a time, the Alameda Naval Air Station was in operation. T'was largely thru happy accident and a beneficent universe I was living in Berkeley most of the time, sharing an apartment on Addison street behind what used to the Co-Op grocery store on University avenue. I met Richard G. just after hanging 'round the apartment initially, then got to know him a little better when I house-sat there, eventually moving in and sharing the 3 bedroom with Bob and Jeff. Richard managed the building (perhaps eight units...) for his grandmother in exchange for the wee studio on the bottom floor, back end of the building. His sister Virginia came to visit one summer and there was this weekend soiree (sort of regular thing in that apartment as it turns out) just after her arrival, many of us getting stoned and some of us playing guitars (Hello, Wes Ikeuchi, whereever you are!) and we (Virginia, later better known as Ginger, and myself) sort of hit it off and were getting along famously; these were good days in so very many ways, everyone seemed to be enjoying a mutual hugely good time.
It might have been the same night (friday) but I actually think it was the saturday after (particularly due to the cumulative effect of the night before, might I also mention I'd only begun drinking alcohol the first year I had joined the navy, after boot camp, didn't drink in high school either, a neat trick with Juarez, Mexico just 20 minutes away) plus this sudden affection I'd developed for scotch whiskey (seldom drink it now, funnily enough) - anyway, let's shorten this up a bit. The next morning I nervously asked Ginger if she'd like to go to the movies with me, a bunch of us wanted to see the new Altman film. She laughed, and happily reminded me that we already had a date, as I'd asked her between songs last night and very probably a good mid way thru a bottle of Johnny Walker (well, we were just a bunch of rowdy sailors, you know?). Cool.
So a crisp and cool evening in San Francisco, standing in line with Ginger and making nervous small talk, seems like our pals are giving us plenty of room, and I realize that while standing there and talking with this girl, sort of flabberghastedly experiencing major crush emotions, I had torn our tickets into wee pieces. Embaressed? i was, indeed. The management graciously allowed us entry (remember those days of the rectangular paper ticket with a number printed on each one, usually at each end) assembling togther the torn up bits to identify the numbers printed on the tickets. Oh, the movie was Nashville.

rainy friday morning hereabouts...       11.16.06
but supposed to clear up sometime today, with nice weather expected over the weekend. Then again, this raininess wasn't supposed to show up, leastways not this far south.
First things first, Happy Anniversary wishes for two of the brightest minds in the weblogging game, no fancy bells and whistles, just many chunks of chewy, linky goodness provided us on a pretty regular basis, so we tippin' da ol' red fez & send best wishes to Kevin Murphy of Ghost in the Machine and Lilly Tao & her Girlhacker's Random Log. KQED radio (locally here at 88.5 on the FM dial) turns up fairly often during the hours we spend listening to the RayDeeOhh, part of Michael Krasny's show this morning is devoted to The Meters (yah, baby) who happen to be in town for a gig at the Fillmore tonite & Saturday. A good thing, No? Anyway, main reason to mention KQED and Krasny was to point ye in the direction of interview heard on that program the other day, with Roz Chast, whose talent as a cartoonist has provided yourstruly with many smiles over the years we've been reading the New Yorker magazine, and yes, we be very fond of Ms Chast. There's the thing she mentions in the interview having to do with the decision one's faced with in the morning, that choice of getting out of bed to face the day as opposed to avoiding "domestic anxiety" by remaining abed. Wonderul interview, check it out. Some linkage published here recently had to do with the scandalous acts of certain entities contracted for services in Iraq, just by happy accident there was a segment on the PBS Newshour two days ago re the, ahem, alleged misdeeds of a company known as Parsons, and you can check out that story for yourself here.
Made a shopping excursion to the Pacific East Mall nearby the other day, our first visit there since our return nearly two months ago, and had to ask myself what took us so long. Specifically, it was the 99 Ranch supermarket we were heading to, where one can find some wonderful things (20 oz bags of frozen potstickers - pork or chicken - 4 for 10 bucks). Sure, Oakland Chinatown is not that far away, and one might have to consider planning a day trip (for example, the Ferry Building Farmer's Market then some selected S.F. Chinatown/No. Beach shopping) but to find a LOT of good (and some of the freshest seafood around) stuff all under one roof just a hop, skip and jump away from the Albany house, well, would be foolish for yourstruly not to go to the 99 Ranch market more often. Will try to remember to take the camera along next time...
okay, is friday, right? the weekend approacheth, here be some misc linky bits:
Things they won't tell you in film school; Veiled Conceit of 11.04; From the Balcony;
B-Side Radio; WAG, a magazine for decadent readers; where hot comes to die;
MarkDanner.com; Ursi's blog; (credit to Hopsakee for the heads up on that last one, be ready for anything when ye drop in amigo estimado Hemaworstje's place...)
alright then, the days beckons, so later, 'gators...

later that same morning...       11.15.06
after a visit to the hardware store, Monterey Market and the library to pick up some books on reserve, checking the ether for some chunky linky goodness, lo and behold, Truthdig provides us perusal of Chapter 5 of Gore Vidal's recently published memoir, Point to Point Navigation. From a year or so ago in reference to something in our earlier post this morning (courtesy Critical Montages) Iraq Reconstruction: "The Biggest Corruption Scandal in History". Yea, okay, yourstruly will admit to being unaware of POGO, and man oh man, have they ever got their work cut out for them. Remember that famous quote from cartoon Pogo? we have met the enemy and he is us; PogoWasRight.org

yea, verily...      
Monkeys Make Trouble, Aug. '06 interview w/Gore Vidal from The Progressive;
at Democracy Now this morning, McGovern, Kucinich and AIE's Joshua Muravchik:
via CorpWatch, War Profiteers; via AlterNet, the 10 Most Brazen War Profiteers;
also from Democracy Now, Bush Admin Seeks Closure of Iraq Reconstruction Corruption Monitor; from Campaign for America's Future,
(PDF) War Profiteers - Profits over Patriotism in Iraq

can one retain a sense of optimism despite all the evidence...       11.14.06
that the road ahead of the victors of the recent election is a trecherous one? Jon Carroll returned from vacation with a column last friday that included a bit of a reality check and after visiting wood s lot on this day, we discover Mark has provided us more material of substance: Joe Bageant's Pissing in the liberal punch bowl again; Election 2006: Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me by Chris Floyd; also via Information Clearing House, this by Charles Sullivan, Voting in the absence of Choice; just three examples of the yummy linky goodness available there.
Howzabout another widget to wonder over. You get those damned phone calls too, am willing to wager, and if you have Caller ID, perhaps you are in the habit of just not answering that damned telephone when you cannot identify a particular caller, and then, perhaps, if that particular unknown caller keeps calling over and over and you become curious as to who it be, perhaps you will find whocalled.us of some use.
Indeed this next item, well, likely best recommended for Mature Audiences. From the too-tawdry-for-some film The Aristocrats, and far as yourstruly's concerned, one of the best bits in the film, Kevin Pollack's impersonation of Christopher Walken telling the joke, and too bad it ain't the whole bit. Viable Candidates for the 2008 election? Perhaps time to renew the Walken in the White House campaign. More Walken? why the fugg not.
C. Walken's Three little pigs; WalkenClips, an assortment of soundfiles featuring Walken in film roles; Other People's Stories; Andrew Corsello on three stories about Christopher Walken; Walken fan site; The Onion's Walken on Hot Dogs (shoulda photoshopped CW's face onto foto published here a coupla' days ago...); Washington Post profile on C.W., 7.24.05; G21 Interview, circa '04; only a few of the folk who want to meet Chris Walken; "Good Lord, Christopher..."; C.W. interviews a centaur, and now that we've careened rapidly downhill together, scraping bottom with You're the Man now Dog's Walken pages

sunday morning coming down...       11.12.06
and yah, ain't it just like that sometimes?
hellagood car story from Stumpy out there on that other coast; discovered link to this interesting little widget when last visiting randomWalks (imagine that thingie modified to show the planet, rather than just north america - oh sure, likely you'd have to select a hemisphere or continent to narrow things down, but just imagine all that noise, most it in the Not Terribly Joyful category...); discovered this CBC item on Nancy Pelosi's new rules late yesterday, and haven't yet attempted to check it out, see if anyone else is running the story. It would be an excellent place to start, No? Imagine the consternation and teeth-gnashing that's going on when these altogether way too privileged folks hear the news.
Out of the wednesday food pages in the S.F. Chronicle comes this article on making sure your oven is doing what you think it be doing, the payoff is the yummy recipes at end of the piece, and yesssss, Binky, ended up making some cookies yesterday, the weather be quite chilly, and is nice to be in the kitchen near a hot oven and yummy scent of baked goods in the air. This very interesting bread recipe from the NYT will require further investigation, altho' might have to borrow one of those great big cast iron pot thingies (that quote attibuted to Mark Twain but appears t'was actually Thoreau re new clothes might be modifed to pertain to kichenware, as in "Beware any endeavor that requires a new cast iron pot"). A paean to Keith Olbermann, and wouldn't it be a fine thing to see that kind of forthrightness on a major network news broadcast instead of relegated to cable TV. Some days ago there was mention hereabouts re a book by Amy Wilentz, much of it had to do with her life in California having arrived at the time of the Governator's recall election win. Yourstruly mentioned the likelihood that we'd have to get used to the idea of Senator Schwarzenegger in the not so far away future and a day or two after the election, noticed this story in the paper. As a somewhat backhanded salute to the governator, here be a site that will remind us of the buffoon behind the smoke and mirrors (too bad they couldn't get someone to ape his accent & speech in those interview responses). Post election euphoria? Appears to be some large degree of optimism is afoot in the Golden State;
hmmmmmmm, nos vamos aver, chiquititas y chiquititos, nos vamos aver...
leave ye with two items from current edition of Ralph:
The Instructional Manual for Receiving God;
Famine and the Dinka

imagine the roar of the crowd in the backround...       11.10.06
as the lights suddenly dim, growing louder now with anticipation as the familiar fanfare begins to play, the stentorian voice of the announcer begins, "Give me an E!" and the crowd jubilantly responds, and again "Give me a T! ... Give me an H!" & again, each time the crowd responds more loudly. "Give me another E!" then the final response, a mad crescendo of L's as the crowd shouts with rapturous joy, "ethel the blog, Ethel the Blog, ETHEL The BLOG !

the morning's entertainment was brought to ye by...       11.9.06
Juanito the Baking Fool and Steven Kent and the Music of the World show over on kpfa. Good stuff there today, featuring collaboration between Mamadou Diabate and guitarist Walter Strauss, who will be playing some local shows, tonight in Mill Valley's Throckmorton Theatre, Festival of Harps on Saturday in Rohnert Park. Whilst we speaking of music, working musician & webloggin' fool of merit Pat Tomekwill be involved in intesting performance/broadcast featuring music of Kansas City luminary Howard Iceberg. . The real thrill of the morning was the smell of the banana bread baking. Quickie recipe, ripe bananas and all else on hand, even walnuts. Turned out yummy. Used mini loaf pans and maybe should've just used three instead of all four, but wotdahell, eh? Talk about webloggin' fools of merit, looks like we are going to have to bid "Au Revoir, mon chére Gail!" to Open Brackets and personally, if anyone ought to have a book in the works, it should be Ms. Armstrong. Take a while to get over her absence, Binky. Fired off a note to someone whose presence amongst bloggers of our ilk is missed, wondering how the fellow fared I was also curious re his opinions on the news of the day,
and here is a bit of what he sent along:

Had the electorate remained stupid enough to okay the Fourth Reich yet again, I'd now be swimming to New Zealand. Fortunately, at least the swing voters pulled their pointy heads out of their asses this time. The True Believers are, as always, hopeless, and I think we should start giving them what they want, e.g. move them all to a southern state like Alabama (which no one of importance will miss), put up a wall around the state, and let them create their creationist, barefoot 'n' pregnant, zero-tolerance wonderland. But, given their mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging zero tolerance on such matters, they should be deprived of any medical technology even remotely related to evolution, e.g. vaccines for diseases that evolve. I'm sure they'll be more than happy with the medical toolkit available before Darwin and Einstein destroyed civilization: leeches, castor oil, etc. In no time at all,
they'll evolve a model civilization.

the few of ye who still drop in here & are long familiar with...       11.8.06
our several manifestations (Chango Tonto, l'Marquis d'Monquis, El Platillo Volador, the unindicted co-conspirator, et al, might understand why we'd feel a smile spread itself across our kisser with this morning's googled results. The instances of our documented lack of respect for el residente within the cyberpages of d'monkey are inumerable, the comeuppance provided gwbush republicans has been LONG overdue. Also please keep in mind that there are enormous (and that is putting it MILDLY...) difficulties ahead, here a reminder of only a few, still, undoubtedly some reason to celbrate and wonder just who are those fools who continue to support this most mis-guided of administrations. Ultimately, history will judge the gwbush republican cabal as opportunistic swindlers, liars who care so little for those lives they have sent into the maw of horrific cruelties, they deserve to be shamed for the remainder of their lives. Perhaps those many supporters will have many opportunities to mine their vein of regret for not having made the correct decision in 2004.
Later that same morning (after wrestling with the hedges on the back 40 of rancho chango tonto), under the Way too little, WAY too late category: Rumsfield resigns. -- love that quote attributed to the Moron In Chief here re Donnie's Iraq strategy (You Mean to Tell Me They HAD a Strategy?), "not working well enough, fast enough". Fuck Me! it took you nearly FOUR YEARS to figure that out?

where will we be tomorrow at this time...       11.7.06
and where will we be two years from now? How will that disastrous misadventure, the most significant political decision of the last couple of decades, be resolved? Will we see congress clean house, see an end to K Street machinations? Will this election demomstrate to a less-than-involved electorate how important it is to remain aware and cognizant of the issues of the day and what your elected representatives are doing about them? I believe the long gradual slide into pessimism that began for me some years ago has me doubting that much is going to change, ahhh, but wouldn't it be lovely if it were otherwise?
The other day yourstruly was thanking donkey o.d. for some of the yummy linky goodness she had provided, and am going to say "Many Thanks" once again. Perhaps it would be fitting for ye to subscribe to Donkey O.D. RSS feed or just make it a point to drop in and visit on a regular basis, 'cause she keeps serving up some excellent nuggets of linky bits, wholesome, good and good for you. Oh, like for example, this one where you can hear Gore Vidal speak about the imporatance of this election, and believe me, there be plenty more there, ye won't be disappointed. Whilst mentioning sites worthy of thy perusal on a regular basis, methinks you ought to add Taylor Marsh to your list of regulars (mine is PRETTY DAMN LONG goshdarnitall, simply impossible to keep up with all of them, but me tries me best - had letter from pal Euphorbita this morning with reminder to drop in on Riverbend's Baghdad Burning and admittedly, Binky, been a long time since I visited. Thanks E!) Let's also not forget the esteemed Gordon Coale, and, jessferdahalibut, 'fore we leave ye this morning (so quiet and foggy outside right now,
is very nice here w/me hot cuppa & piece of toast), Tony Pierce's 11.3 post...

just a few things before jumping into Monday...       11.6.06
'round here. Some clean up of several messy spots in the yard before rainy weather reappears, raking up of fallen leaves and the like. Stumbling around in the autreblog page mentioned a day or so ago, checking for sites that have shuttered their doors, happened across these paragraphs from Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian when checking in on A Jaundiced Eye; not sure how long they've been there nor the intention behind them, but nice to run across them nevertheless. Probably spent way too much time seeking out Hitchens related stuff after having read the New Yorker profile mentioned in yesterday's post, here are a few of the nuggets of linky goodness dug up: via Ezra Klein's weblog, Christopher Hitchens has gone mad; an older profile & interview from New York magazine, The Boy Can't Help It; from The Progressive, Feb. 1997, interview w/C. Hitchens; from The Guardian of 10.28.06, War of Words; thanks to the Shabeen Club for their post Christopher Hitchens, The Obituary (credit for that fine obit to the state that i am in). Okay, I hear ye, tired of that british blowhard, eh Binky? Next item, an interesting perusal from the London Review of Books, Sept. 21, '06 Bush's Useful Idiots, and as we've mentioned the name of that great waste of space, wouldn't it be lovely to hear the Moron President state straightforwardly, "I am a deceiver and a liar".

pretty damned nice sunday morning around these parts...       11.5.06
after a couple of days of rain and overcast skies. Moonlight was tremendously bright due to the clarity of last night's sky. Laundry and coffee w/toast were the major events of the Am so far, post ablutions, of course.
this paragraph from book jp is currently reading:

If you've noticed that Arnold Schwarzenegger's political ascendancy, such as it is, has been making you nervous, you are not alone. The disturbing idea, or possibility, that the Constitution might be amended specifically to allow Schwarzenegger to run for president - since as a foreign-born person he's constitutionally forgidden to do so - makes most people I know, including me, unhappy. Liberals think they should be worried about Arnold's emergence because he's a conservative; Democrats think they should be worried because he's a Republican; politicians think they should be concerned because he's a movie star. But the real reason you should be worried is that there is - according to the kinds of people who know this kind of thing - a distinct possibility that Arnold Schwarzenegger is the Antichrist.

just wotdafugg am i doin' here...       11.2.06
question asked of myself repeatedly; someone better come up with an answer, quick...
cleaning off the desktop this morning: caught this item on last evening's surf thru the news, 'California E-Voting Machine Allows Multiple Votes' and along with that, this Ars Technica piece, Primary and early e-voting problems point to gathering storm, and please, you know i couldn't stand a november surprise...
Talking webcams for a moment now, one of the best views is the Exploratorium Rooftop Cam at the Palace of Fine Arts, BTW, hanging out at the Exploratorium's as fine a way of spending a long, rainy afternoon as any. Other recently discovered web-cams at this TCEQ site, visit the link that leads ye to a few N.P.S. cameras.
Now, various & sundry miscellanea:
The Mu Major Chord, chords often ubiquitiously present in the works of the Fagen/Becker monster; some techie/geeky linky goodness from Daily Cup of Tech and StopGeek.com; whole bunches and chunks of linky goodness these days at Grow A Brain (and yea, verily, yourstruly is not immune to experiencing Guitar Face); from Taylor Marsh, 'Pompous Slanderer Meets Incompetent Troop Slayer'; be damned if l'Marquis can recall where he ran across Cartoonists with Attitude, must be getting forgetful, as well as old & cranky; discovered many dead links on the ol' autreblog page (and who knows when one will ever get around to doing something about that...), then dropped in on Barbelith where yourstruly enjoyed checking out the Oh OK thread.