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| God's own yodeller called home | Music |
News 8 Austin confirms that yodeller Don Walser died yesterday of complications from diabetes (which can mean lots of things).
I saw Don Walser once, and it wasn't my cuppa tea but it was well done and everyone I've ever talked to who knew him respected him, which isn't always the case in the music business. The News 8 article mentions something I didn't know, which that he used to open for the Butthole Surfers. Given that he's also listed as being a "western swing" performer who kept alive the music of Bob Wills, I think I'll see what I think of his stuff now.
And I am personally looking for the third shoe to drop. Texas has had a bad September, between Don and Ann.
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| .:Posted by Michael at 08:19 AM
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A couple of years ago, I posted some thoughts about Tim Hildebrandt. Tim died yesterday of complications due to diabetes. He was a wonderful guy and one of my first adult friends. He did what he wanted to do. He loved making movies, so he made one in his house. He and his brother painted the original Star Wars Poster for that movie's premier. His wife liked to cook so they made a fantasy cookbook. He did countless book covers and calendars and magic cards, both with his brother and by himself.
And he was a hell of a guy. I'll miss him.
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| .:Posted by Michael at 09:06 PM
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| It turns out we long-hairs are Capitalist Running Dogs.. | News |
Aunty Beeb listens to the burning social issues as seen on TV in North Korea and reports on a new campaign against capitalist decadent long hair....stressed the "negative effects" of long hair on "human intelligence development", noting that long hair "consumes a great deal of nutrition" and could thus rob the brain of energy.
Men should get a haircut every 15 days, it recommended. ...or they can let their hair consume a great deal of nutrition. Yes, folks, it's the long-hair diet, lose weight with Dr. Sampson's North Korean Long-Hair Diet, and save time and money, too..."No matter how good the clothes, if one does not wear tidy shoes, one's personality will be downgraded."--Minju Choson If you don't tie your shoelaces, you'll be forced to run Personality 3.1.1 for Work Camps. I'm glad the North Koreans are working on the really important issues.
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| .:Posted by Michael at 06:27 PM
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| Is this a good idea, Monty Python on Broadway? | News |
Spamalot is the name of the Eric Idle's Monty Python and the Holy Grail adaptation as a Broadway show. Directed by Mike Nichols, with Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hype Pierce, it'll either be fantastic or else it'll suck donkey balls.
I'm a longtime fan. If anyone can make this work, it's Eric Idle. At least, I hope, he can make it work for me...
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| .:Posted by Michael at 11:01 AM
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| Time for a cheap shot | News |
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal:Nevada gaming regulators determined Thursday that Garfield, the fat, lazy comic-strip cat, appeals primarily to adults and is a suitable character for slot machines.
Well, this is surprising.
I didn't think Garfield appealed to anyone.
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| .:Posted by Michael at 09:07 AM
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The Register tells us that Sex no bar to geekdom. I think that it would be more reassuring to many to know that Geekdom no bar to sex. Perhaps we need a study done...
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| .:Posted by Michael at 06:07 PM
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| Ferret-Badgers. Why did it have to be Ferret-Badgers? | News |
That's a Ferret-Badger. It's a south-east asian species of badger that's about the size of a ferret. They're related (they're both mustelids), but the ferret-badger is a true badger. The ferret-badger is one of the exotic species that's being investigated as a possible source of SARS. This doesn't really surprise me.
Ferrets have long been used to investigate human respiratory system diseases because of similarities in how our lungs work. We're very careful with Grainne when one of us has a respiratory ailment.
And I've got to say, Ferret-Badgers and Raccoon-Dogs make some of the mutant animals in Gamma World look reasonable.
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| .:Posted by Michael at 04:48 PM
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| The Barnes Collection | News |
NPR : Plan to Move Art Collection Sparks Protests
My Cousin, John Anderson, was on NPR yesterday talking about the subject of his latest book, Art Held Hostage: The Battle Over the Barnes Collection. The Barnes Foundation is, 50 years after Albert Barnes death, on the verge of being taken over by the Philadelphia art establishment Barnes and his friend and successor Richard Glanton so loathed.
It's a fascinating book, but I have to admit that I'm more jazzed about hearing my cousin's voice, talking about major east coast art-and-money squabbles with just a hint of East Texas in his voice.
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| .:Posted by Michael at 09:10 AM
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| More on my feelings about the Columbia | News |
Ginger blogs about the traffic sign that told us who to contact if we found shuttle debris.
Houston is a NASA town. We have a bunch of friends who work for NASA or contract for NASA. We know people who know people. We have tickets tonight for a concert and I think we're sitting with a friend who works at NASA. We don't know if he'll be there. We're not really personally affected.
But I feel like I've been kicked in the gut.
And I feel a sense of rage when I think that anyone of any political stripe will use this tragedy to advance their political agenda. For instance, if I find out that Donald Rumsfeld orders his aides to identify "things related and not" that will allow us to blame this on Saddam Hussein, I will go ballistic.
If there are responsible parties, let them be dealt with.
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| .:Posted by Michael at 08:31 PM
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It looks like the Space Shuttle Columbia and her 7 member crew were lost while attempting to land this morning. May the crew rest in peace, they died in the noble endeavor of expanding our horizons.
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| .:Posted by Michael at 10:11 AM
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The Register notices the new £100 Levi's Dockers with special cell phone radiation shields to protect, well, things near your pockets.
Of course, the phones only ring in your pockets because pants are normally permeable to radiation. Which may mean you can miss more annoying calls. "Sorry, Don, didn't get your call. Must be my new Dockers GoodGonads slacks..."
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| .:Posted by Michael at 02:25 PM
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| Maybe it's a Ceremonial Deistic Miracle... | News |
Amish Tech Support takes CNN to task for referring to the Quecreek rescue as a 'miracle'. He muses on the Mirriam-Webster definitions of the term.
I think he's missing CNN's cutting-edge use of ceremonial deism. If "Under God" is a meaningless phrase that merely serves to solemnize the Pledge of Allegiance, then a miracle, which manifestly displays divine intervention, is merely an event of note. The first definition in M-W is the same as the second.
In cleaving to this definition, CNN follows the current usage of 'miracle' on CNNSI
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| .:Posted by Michael at 11:44 PM
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| Sweden: Tough on Crime | News |
A Nokia board member stopped for going 47 mph in a 31 mph zone is fined $103,600. Sweden bases traffic fines on ability to pay as determined by income tax returns. This staggering amount is the equivalent to two weeks pay. I would be very sad to pay two weeks of my salary for a ticket, but we are talking about how to get the attention of a guy who earned more than $2M in income last year.
Lesson Learned: Don't admit your income to traffic cops in Sweden.
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| .:Posted by Michael at 06:32 PM
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