Tie Up Those Horses and Come in for a Drink

Tags

dogs, electorate, Entertainment, GOP, Johnny Depp, Media, Photography, Politics, psychology, Sarah Palin, sociology, Tim Flach, Top Lie of the Year

Tis the season and all that rot. Oh, I’m not a Grinch. Anything but. Look! I bring you eye candy.

Johnny Depp makes me little old heart go piddy paddy like it used to back in the day when life was all before me.

He has been called upon to grace the cover of Vanity Fair once again. Along with an interview which you can read in part here, there is a lovely series of photos of the gorgeous one for you to warm your heart by. Do indulge. I won’t tell a soul.

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If you would prefer eye candy of a different species, then drop over to Roger Ebert’s blog. His blogs are consistently fun to read and thoughtful as well. This one is about dogs and he shows you a goodly number of photos of our canine friends, done by a terrific photographer. A link to the work of Tim Flach, and his latest book. The pictures are simply stunning and worth the trip over.

Here is my favorite, just to whet your appetite:

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The University of Maryland does a polling of what media outlets people watch and how much they know about current events. Does it surprise anyone that the more people watch, the more they know? And does it surprise anyone that there is one major  exception to this rule? And that the major exception is Fox. People who watch Fox are stunningly, I mean stupendously the most mis-informed of all people polled.

Think Progress has the numbers. I mean they aren’t just a few points more ignorant; they are massively so. Fox has a captive audience here, convinced that they can’t trust anyone else, and so Fox simply indoctrinates them at will. We’ve shown you the evidence of that in regards the Health Care law and their use of “government option” and on climate change and their caveat to that there is serious disagreement by “many” scientists.

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This one can’t come as any surprise either. PolitFact has just released it’s listing of the Lie of the Year and all the runners-up. You can assume that Republicans carry the day, because Relieacans do it better than just about anybody. John, Orange Juice, Boehner, won the 1st place slot. Other notables are Michele, spinner-eye, Bachmann, and Johnny, I just hate everybody, McCain.

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I don’t know who Doug Bean is, but he seems to know of what he speaks: namely game hunting. And he watched Sarah’s gushy love affair with self, known as Sarah Palin’s Alaska. More pertinently, he watched the caribou hunt. And, he was appalled. She ain’t, it seems, any hunter he’s ever seen. She’s  a con job all the way. Read his analysis of her “style”. Me thinks that Ms. Media has perhaps over-extended herself and the true Sarah is starting to emerge: a fraud of the major proportions.

And to make matters worse: new polling by the Washington Post and ABC, show that those who would vote for Palin for Prez are eight percent. Oh please, please ego maniac lady, run, run, run. Make our collective day!

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The Contrarian, looking out over the frozen tundra of Iowa, said, “I’ll find you one day, standing at the window, with a tear in your eye as you look out at the desert sands of New Mexico, missing the beauty of a white sparkling winter’s day.”

“I doubt that,” I moaned, as I stared bleakly at the thermometer outside, registering an icy 3°. “I seriously doubt that.”

In my head, I live in Hawai`i. I walk the beach each day, and watch the surf, sitting with an iced tea and my lap top, a book of choice. The dogs frolic. The Contrarian waves from the deck. I reach through sunglassed eyes, for more sunscreen. I close my eyes, and . . . . WAKE UP IN A FREAKIN” FROZEN TUNDRA IN IOWA!

It works for a while. Do you live somewhere else in your head? Do tell.

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I can’t believe my luck. It turns out that my state’s representative here in Iowa is scheduled to be the new Speaker. And he is claiming he won’t oppose a move to impeach the remaining justices to our Supreme Court, for having the audacity to do their jobs of judicial review. This all about marriage equality in Iowa. I just sent him a temperate (mostly) e-mail making my position most clear and challenging him. I know these people know better, but if people of knowledge don’t speak up, then the misinformed and bigots among us win. The fight goes on.

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Well, it’s leftovers day! Hurrah! I made some biscotti this morning. Lovely and my favorite kind of breakfast food. See ya tomorrow.

Related Articles

• Iowa Marriage Equality May Not Be Doomed As State Senate Either Remains Dem or Is Split (lezgetreal.com)
• Lawsuit: Iowa Vote to Oust Pro-Equality Judges Was Illegal (towleroad.com)

What’s Up? 07/20/10

Tags

Darwin, David Barton, Elena Kagan, evolution, Glenn Beck, Harriet Miers, Obama, Photography, Plato, racism, religious freedom, religious right, right wing wackos, Sarah Palin, SCOTUS

Here I come to save the day. . .That means that Mighty Mouse is on the way! Oh, ‘scuse me, I get carried away with childhood memories sometimes. You gotta be OLD to remember that cartoon.

Anyways, here I am to give you the scoop on what ya oughta be readin’ today. How’s that for chutzpah? I KNOW what you NEED to read!

I suffer from delusions of grandeur once in a while. Actually I’m very humble. You know that. I want you to believe that–it’s my blog persona. Humility. Yep.

I have others. I’m sybileen in that respect. I can call out the “others.” But don’t make me. I can be not so pretty. A very nice lady at our church said I was a “sweet person.” God love her, but she ain’t talked to the Contrarian–who would give her a different take. I am sweet, but well, let’s not go there okay?

If the wacko right doesn’t like being called racist, they oughta pay more attention to what they are critical of. I mean, Obama was in office a minute and one half when they started making it sound positively EVIL that he used a teleprompter. Like that was something new in politics. I mean they had nothing more but they HAD to criticize. When you criticize EVERYTHING down to the whether he’s a boxer versus briefs kinda guy, it’s pretty obvious you got something else  going on  in your pea brain see?

And just go and refudiate that Ms. Sarah (that woman is an Idiot!) Palin. And Pluleeeeez don’t refer to yourself and the Bard in the same breath. If you have actually read or attended a Shakespearean play, well I’ll eat my left ear.  Steve Benen has some choice words to drop on the Grizzly Mama. It’s delicious!

And don’t miss Sarah Posner’s great lament at the lunatic boy, Glenny Beck who would not, I swear, know the truth if it arrived at his front porch in letters twelve feet high and identified itself as God Almighty come to give revelation directly to the Becky one. David Barton, lap dog, who is usually on his leash when he appears with the padded cell bound Glenn, is also treated for his usual maladjustments of history.

More moaning from Andrea Lafferty of Traditional Values Coalition. She claims that Elena Kagan got a pass where similarly situated Harriet Miers got crucified. She claims the left is unfair. Except of course the truth is available and the main thrust of anti-Mier ranting is documented as coming from the right itself who thought her not conservative enough. It’s just the usual say it and it will be so to the drooling NASCAR/WWF/TRAILER TRASH who read? have it read to them.

Similarly, Family Research Council finds something sinister in Obama’s use of the term freedom to worship on a couple of occasions. It’s the beginning of the end of religion in Merika they squeak. Yeah, except that Obama has used the term freedom of religion 124 versus 9 times for freedom to worship and  Dubya numbers on the two are 124 and  33 respectively. As I said, lying comes as second nature to these RELIGIOUS  claimers.

Okay, I know that music and math are related. How, I don’t know, but some really smarty guy says that he has cracked Plato’s “codes” and well, there was, like a whole lot of new information called symbolic messages. It explains why Aristotle called Plato a student of Pythagoras when scholars can find no reason to agree. And it seems he forecast that the universe would be found to be governed by mathematical principles and not Zeus. Interesting little article.

Someone is suggesting that Darwin did not gather by happenstance a lot of material and then see a pattern which he deduced or inducted into natural selection. Rather, he may have had the hypothesis all along and gathered material in view of that belief. Hey a doctoral thesis has to come from somewhere, here you go.  Heavy reading here.

Just leaving a comment over at Blisterinas. Have you seen here photography? You really should. I was telling her I collect animal skulls. Ones from animals our dogs murder and bring home and deposit. I really like my raccoon skull. The jaw works and everything. I would collect mouse skulls but Spencer the Impaler Cat loves the heads, he leaves the rest of the body for me. I warn them about wrinkles and toss them out.

Speaking of which, why the hell are some people not making their full feeds available? I have a tough time downloading sites as it is. It would surprise you no doubt to know that I READ most of you guys blogs pretty thoroughly, though I don’t comment as much, but I read most of all you write since it’s in my READER. I thought the point of writing was to be read? Yet some folks only give titles and I have to go there just to see if it’s something I wanna read. So I don’t go as often sad to say. Some sites take me a good five minutes to download. Can’t do too many at that rate. Rant complete.

Well I’m pooped. See ya tomorrow.

What’s Up? 06/22/10

Tags

blogging, cake, dessert, History, hoarding, Marcus Aurelius, McChrystal, Military, Obama, online posting, paleontology, philosophy, Photography, psychology, racism, Recipes, slavery, teabaggers

If ya read upside down like Chimpy here, then you better go elsewhere. But I know you read just fine, so continue we will to  the bestest stuff I have found today in my wanderings through the Intertubes of information.

We have managed to have most of two days of no rain, and though threatening earlier, it’s sunning now. Not sure how long that will last.

Things are alleged to be getting all fired up again as evening comes on, when I shall be heading home from a meeting at church.

So without further ado, scan the following for anything that strikes your fancy. Where you fancy might be, I have no idea, and don’t mean to say anything untoward or sexually provocative or anything. As Vodka says, children read this blog. Keep that in mind. I believe in dressing appropriately at the computer. No skivvies if you are so enrobed. Get dressed before proceeding.

We start with a nice recipe for dessert, Mystery Mocha from Pioneer Woman. I’ve cut through all the pictures and gone straight to the recipe. It’s kinda like a lava cake, chocolaty and coffeey.

There is an interesting review of a biography of Marcus Aurelius at In Character. That might interest one person I know, but I thought it posed an interesting dilemma today. We all want so many answers to life’s questions, but we seldom seek the answers in philosophy, certainly not ancient Stoicism at least. We are more prone to the quick fix of self-help books. Perhaps a post might grow from this. . .who knows.

The Boston Globe has a really good article on the mind of the anonymous commenter online. The hard core make up about 1% of all online users.  Should people be required to use their names? What is happening as a result of the anonymity generally allowed? Are comments even a good thing at all? Read on and see.

In case you didn’t know, Blisterina does some outstanding photography, usually in black and white which I just love. Please visit.

Religious Dispatches has a good piece on the Tea Party and how it attempts to re-write history. Now we are to understand that racism really played no part in slavery. No, it was a conspiracy is all. Do read on. Providing “proof” that racists don’t have to feel guilty about their racism. Takes the cake doesn’t it?

It appears we may have been walking longer than we thought. Kin of Lucy the most famous of our ancestors, is older than she apparently. Lucy’s ancestor is called “big man” because he was between 5 and 5’6″  compared to Lucy who was a mere 3’6″ tall. As you would expect, not all agree, and that’s the fun of science isn’t it?

We hear about it more and more. It seems to be the new “in” thing to suffer from. I’m talking about hoarding. I think there is even a TV show that features interventions. Anyway, I don’t get people like this, but I find it all quite fascinating as well. There is a book out about it, and it is featured  at Huff Po. In our consumer obsessed lives, I can only guess it is on the rise.  It’s a sad and complex disease. The book looks interesting for sure.

Will or will not President Obama fire Gen. Stanley McChrystal? Most think he will, but David Quigg has a very different take, and one that is worth thinking about. Obama is smarter than the average President  after all.

And dat oughta keep you outa trouble today.

Down in the Dumps

Tags

baby animals, Photography

It’s Sunday, and I didn’t go to church. Woke up to a couple of inches of snow, but it blew quite hard during the night, and I could see some drifts. I just wasn’t up to starting down the lane 0nly to have to return, or worse, getting stuck. So I opted to stay home.

I’m depressed enough by the snow itself. That started last evening, when the Contrarian wakened me from the computer reverie to say, “Well, we are getting snow now.” I looked up to see the earth covered in white. My heart sank, and I’m not recovered yet. It should be melted in a day or two.

Anyway, I figured that given my mood, I might look up so pictures of cute baby animals. Who can resist that? Not me for sure. So, enjoy. If I find anything to post about later, I will.

New Header!

Tags

Clark Little, Photography

I am so pleased to show this new header. I hope you enjoy it. I saw Clark Little’s work on GMA a week or so ago, and thought they were frankly beautiful. He takes these photos in Hawaii I believe, laying on the beach or in the surf. He captures these beautiful shots as the waves crash over him.

I wrote to him and asked him to consider allowing me to use one as a header. He sent me eleven! I will rotate them monthly. They are so truly gorgeous I hope you will drop by his site and order a print. They range in price from very affordable to more expensive prints, but no doubt you will find a place to hang them and enjoy them.

You can go to Clark Little Photography.com to see many many more of these extraordinary pieces of true art.

I’ll also carry a direct link in my blogroll should you lose this one and want to visit at a later date. Look under photography.

Herreeee’s Brandy!

Tags

Art, Photography

I thought I would submit a picture of our intrepid Brandy today with a caption that fits her well. Next to riding in her truck, sleeping is her favorite. Oh, well next to eating of course. Since she is getting a bit older, we cover the loveseat and let them enjoy a softer bed than they would get lying on the floor. Her and Bear trade off sleeping on the loveseat with sleeping on a double sized pillow on the floor.

The process for doing the captions is from http://icanhascheezburger.com/. You can recaption any photo there, take any you like as is, or download any picture you wish and caption it. All you need do is sign up and login. I submitted this for their site, but I have no idea whether they will think it worthy of posting to their blog. It’s a fun place with some hysterical pics though.

Sky Watch #4

Tags

Art, Photography, Sky Watch

I just really loved this picture taken by the Contrarian. He really got a great shot and I love the raying out at the bottom. The red was vibrant. This next one was taken a bit later after the sun had departed over the horizon.

I hope you enjoy these, and I’m off to visit some more of yours too! If you would like to see more great photos,  please visit Sky Watch  today!