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Beer Wars

The highly regarded Mr. Tim B. sent along this link on the film "Beer Wars".

Tim is a highly discerning individual who enjoys a fine brew.

He also sent over a couple of more great beer related links. I need to sort out two others but below is a link:

Old Heidelberg

Young Bigfoot?

Via Coast to Coast this chilling video of an actual Bigfoot at a younger age on a thermal imaging system! Now what? You Denial Mongers have to come up with something to avoid the painful truth regarding all the Bigfoots which proliferate the entire continent!!

Stoned Wallabies

High as kites and making crop circles!

Or are they really from outer space!!

Wallabies have been observed acting
strangely in poppy fields

via JB

Cancer Progress

This time in a good way. I meant to send this to an actual cancer researcher but was late as usual...Sorry cancer researcher!!

You know who you are!!

I actually looked this up again through google news but the articles were disappointing.

Instapundit's article link was best.

Prostate Cancer: From Inoperable to Cancer Free

I should use the term Mayo Clinic in this post to make it easier to find later.

Alfred

Alfred's profile pic reminds me so strikingly of the short story by T. C. Boyle, "The Descent of Man" that I wanted to make some comment.

Now what I thought would be a three minute post has just waylayed me for far longer.

Here is the photo:

It reminded me of the short story "The Descent of Man" by T. C. Boyle. The whole process of trying to find an example of an excerpt from the tale has become a frustration.

It is highly amusing and well written, acerbic and it lends metaphor for, I feel, far more than it seems, that wonderful story.

'And anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Boyle is perhaps our most imaginative social satirist since Swift. With an O. Henry-gone-mad (or angry) talent for twists that depict people hoisted by their own petards: The unfortunate soul who laments losing his primate-studying girlfriend to a precocious and far more sophisticated chimp in "Descent of Man."...'

I agree with the man keeping control of his material (meaning Boyle, the protagonist does not), but you would think that some little snippet might be out there to give a sense to those who may never hold the actual book in hand.

Go read T. C. Boyle, particularly the shorts. I have very much enjoyed them, and considered and concerned over them. They are fine writing and work on several depths. I saw him interviewed ages ago on MacNeil/Lehrer and admired while wincing at his advocacy for story telling.

Wincing because, I believe in my vague memory, that his enthusiasm for stories, for concepts of character and plot which leave you wanting, clutching to know the next facet, seemed to those in "Literary" circles at odds with "Literature" which it is not. "Literature" which commands attention and accolades from the "elite" can often be more a challenge than a natural draw.

I can recall him stressing this notion of story telling as an art and asset at risk in contemporary culture. Again my memory cannot be trusted, but I think I winced, understood and admired all at once.

I believe he may suggest something similar in this interview:

"That's true," he says. "I do feel that literature should be demystified. What I object to is what is happening in our era: literature is only something you get at school as an assignment. No one reads for fun, or to be subversive or to get turned on to something. It's just like doing math at school. I mean, how often do we sit down and do trigonometry for fun, to relax. I've thought about this, the domination of the literary arts by theory over the past 25 years -- which I detest -- and it's as if you have to be a critic to mediate between the author and the reader and that's utter crap. Literature can be great in all ways, but it's just entertainment like rock'n'roll or a film. It is entertainment. If it doesn't capture you on that level, as entertainment, movement of plot, then it doesn't work. Nothing else will come out of it. The beauty of the language, the characterisation, the structure, all that's irrelevant if you're not getting the reader on that level -- moving a story. If that's friendly to readers , I cop to it."

David Foster Wallace surfaces and I acknowledge that I have not read the opus which did not engage the interlocutor. I will only submit that when folks agree over too much thought and idiosyncrasy have been abandoned. They drive stories. They also drive readers:

'There's a movement, I say, in literature at the moment. Call it the new erudition. Writers like Jonathan Safran Foer and David Foster Wallace. Writers who display their erudition the way the Cheshire Cat displays teeth.

"I like David a great deal. Some of his stories are brilliant."

I interrupt. I say two words. The title of a David Foster Wallace novel. A book I spent an interminable summer decrypting. A book that is my benchmark for horrendous reading experiences. Infinite Jest.

"I know," Boyle says. "But it's a performance. And you know, there's always in art a whole dialectic between form and content and everything in between -- there are swings, and there are individual writers who prefer one or the other. And so in painting, for instance, especially in abstract painting, there are paintings that exist more for an idea -- an aesthetic idea -- and I think those things may be limited because they're hip to a period, but may be stuck in the period."'

Oh well. Alfred looks great in that photo!

Regina Spektor

You may listen to the entire new album "Far", for free via NPR.

You may do so here.

NPR's propaganda is subsidized by a wildly over the top capitalist success story.

Boy do they hate everything about the origins of that money. If NPR employees had their way, and they are getting it with Obama, capitalism gains will be sqaundered until everyone resorts to eating grass and then...then they will blame the capitalists.

So listen! Listen! Use their bandwidth and enjoy. We are all paying for it. I used to donate to NPR with my meager funds.

Damn those thug propagandists to hell.

"Most of the money -- described by NPR as "the largest monetary gift ever received by an American cultural institution" -- will go toward the NPR Endowment Fund for Excellence, created in 1993 to provide support for NPR activities independent of other revenue sources."

Could you have elucidated where that money goes less? Exactly the behavior they excoriate Corporations for, while giving a pass to Dodd, ACORN et. al.

My Michael Jackson Joke

Ugh. I shouldn't do this. Maybe I will take it down.

Grrrrr...thinking, almost about to press "Publish Post"...

Actually I can't.

I can't (shouldn't!) post the joke that I thought of regarding the sad man's death.

Post a comment and I will email it, it just jumped into my brain.

I have a couple of new jokes that I have just heard as well...

I do feel sorry for the family and sorry for the sad progression of that very sick and deranged individual who was fed upon by sick, sick enablers who covered for his shallow evil and crimes.

I think there may be individuals with vested interest who worked closely with him who have secured hotter spots in hell.

Our Western Culture is so vile, thanks largely to, well...we all know...

This will no doubt bring out the worst in the media as the coprophagous dog which is Western Culture will feast at it's own trough. (I will not resort to obvious reference here as well).

Brace yourselves for the coverage.

This while empire sinking legislation gets voted on tomorrow.

Wow. A post with no links, and I declined my own joke.

I apologize for the terrible blog.

Candor?

Or idiocy?

In some Venn diagrams there is the potential for large overlapping real estate.

You decide:

http://www.yousuckatcraigslist.com/

Devito Update

Let the man (via Wikio) have his say:

Governmental Improvement

Dear God! If we could only get them to disappear at length with greater periodicity, and, upon their sad return, for them to rescind the laws which provide the miserable web we struggle against daily!

Sanford, missing since Thursday, reportedly located

The whereabouts of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford was unknown for nearly four days, and some state leaders question who was in charge of the executive office.

I'll vote and vote and vote!

Acorn will be impressed.

Oh yeah, even Acorn is ashamed of being Acorn now.

Pure scum.

Fourth Estate

The elitism.

Well, let me just put up the link until I can comment.

I solicit civil discourse in the comments.

Iran and Obama

I think that Ms. Althouse speaks well here. She mentions with respect and restraint, from the perspective of an individual who voted for the man, the frustrations which the pervasive worship and cultish idolatry have brought upon the still relatively sane. I say relatively because, hell, they voted for him, how sane could they have been? (Only cheap shot in this entire post. Count 'em.)

It must lend an entirely unwanted 5 minute set of disclaimers to what would have been simple conversations when these reasonable and well meaning folks concede to contributing to Obama's vote tally.

Anyhow, here is the link from her to Sullivan.

Newsweek

Samizdata has a post up on the insanity of the publication.

The Religion of Peace

Every day. Sharia. Hadith. Mohammed. Koran. Beatings. Beheadings. Burnings. Amputations. Explosions. Human sale.

In this instance it was a Christian being stoned to death because he drank tea from a Muslim stall. This may not be making huge news because the Americans are on the short list for shame. Islam is on the propaganda list for respect. The math is simple, via No Pasaran:

A Christian man was stoned to death in Pakistan for drinking tea from a roadside stall designated for Muslims.

According to International Christian Concern (ICC) the man, Ishtiaq Masih, had ordered tea at a stall in Machharkay village, Punjab, Pakistan, after his bus stopped to allow passengers to relieve themselves.

When Ishtiaq went to pay for his tea, the owner noticed that he was wearing a necklace with a cross and grabbed him, calling for his employees to bring anything available to beat him for violating a sign posted on the stall warning non-Muslims to declare their religion before being served.

Ishtiaq had not noticed the warning sign before ordering his tea, as he ordered with a group of his fellow passengers.

Witnesses claim the owner and 14 of his employees beat Ishtiaq with stones, iron rods and clubs, and stabbed him multiple times with kitchen knives as Ishtiaq pleaded for mercy.

The other bus passengers intervened and took Ishtiaq to the Rural Health Center in the village. Ishtiaq died as a result of spinal, head, and chest injuries. The doctor who took Ishtiaq's case told ICC that Ishtiaq had excessive internal and external bleeding, a fractured skull, and brain injuries.

A correspondent from the ICC confirmed that he saw a warning posted outside the tea stall, which read: "All non-Muslims should introduce their faith prior to ordering tea. This tea stall serves Muslims only."

Idiot Kenyan

Earworm

Name the commercial sans search.

A Word to College Grads

on liberty, de Tocqueville, Obama and conservatives from Andrew Klavan.

Klavan relates to those pie-eyed whipper-snappers so well it's downright disconcerting.

He also has an idea for bumper sticker police.

Regarding Snopes and Anne Wortham

Allow me to link to the original post on my part and the thread involving someone who must have been a little errant in the corrections they intended to make with such enthusiasm.

At which point do I assert that the letter came out of the interview?

What implication is meant by the note that I claim "to have 'Snopsed it.'"?

I will simply assume poor little ButterscotchCat was well into her evening...We have all been there.

As for the atrocious background and page elements.

"Mess" is in the banner.

Just Checking

Can i change the background to green because I hate Islamic Insanity and support those I admire who are out in streets trying to grasp at freedom for themselves and those that follow?

I will link to Totten and Sullivan as they have been admirably up on the matters in Iran.

Fourth Estate

Why not just link back to an old and undeniable shame?

Remember as you see ABC et. al. grub for a man who prays the despots prevail in Iran?

Time magazine, and their man "responsible for thousands of American deaths."

Sophisticated though, that testicle monger. No wonder they were all so smitten.

Pham Xuan An.

Remember, that was back in the old days. Pressure to not stab your country in the back was much stronger.

What are they doing right now?

Train Proximity

I have spent quite a bit of time close to where the trains run. With this home and this train schedule I would be more than happy. You can find yourself far away and missing the impending, disrupting mass. You more than grow used to it...

Jennifer May for The New York Times

MORNING LOCAL A freight train passes a few feet

from Kathleen Hulser’s 1839 summer house in Connecticut.

William Wellman

There was a biography of "Wild Bill" Wellman who directed "Wings" (the first winner for best picture at the academy awards) among other notable films, on tonight.

Interesting life.

Danny Devito

On the set of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" the other day.

via WWTDD

In The DVD

"The Wrestler"

Presidents

---

President Bush


President Reagan


President Obama

H/T Nolookingbackwards

Laconic?

Nope.

Fatigued? Perhaps Rahm must prick the finger of the Prick in Chief to see that his shameless coprophagous metabolites don't overwhelm his endocrine feedback loop.

This is excruciating in tempo and nauseating in the richness of it's bullshit.



Oh well, the "JournoListers" are all over him, making sure he is all he can be as a leader, and it is no doubt their sycophancy which Rahm must administer to get that charlatan ship shape.

Diplomacy has to involve engagement, got that?

"You haven't seen China and Russia respond as forcefully in the past on the issues because I think there is an indication that they recognize how destablizing North Korea's actions have been."

This includes a "very hard look" at how to move forward!

Ugh. Will try to post more often, even though it's all so sickening.

Jimmy at the Belmont Stakes

Jimmy went on an adventure to hit the track and the Belmont horsies! (yes, I called them "horsies")

He took some great photos to document the day and most can be seen here.

One extra can be seen here.

Must see material, thanks Jimmy!

(this is a particularly beautiful photo)

"Death and Taxes"

via Rachael in Kentucky through Malkin

American Experience

and Bio Warfare.

I must say reading the transcript before the broadcast arrives at that language is engaging, particularly with the computer to look up other material. Wow do they (PBS) employ the provocative tactics they excoriate elsewhere...

I will link and wonder at how they seem to omit so much of the enemy when examining our "American Experience".

14 minutes in...they are passing huge judgement on the Americans and depicting them as Brit puppets.

"The Japanese had crossed an ethical line..." That shouts naivete.

Preston is prevalent. Patrick gets short shrift. Many others they could have tapped...I have read a little and am no expert but it shakes my regard for "American Experience".

I should have known better before now.

Watch and decide for yourself...

Tetris

Why does Google look odd today?

Because Tetris is now 25!

Ouch!

...and good!

I loved that game.

Must go look for it now...

Storm Chaser

The subject of the Indonesian sulfur mines on the shores of an acid lake in the crater of a volcano came up today.

Kwah Ijen

It led to this wonderfully crazy gentleman's blog, StormChaser.ca, and photos of him taking a rubber raft out onto the acid lake for samples. PH of .5, like battery acid!He has other great material, take a look, and maybe bookmark.

Randall Jerell

Chicagoboyz has a post reviewing a German film, "Dresden". Obama will be stopping in that historic city and the post is well worth reading and they make fine note of the President's visit.

They finish the post with a Randall Jerell poem which, in this rain, looking over an old graveyard, seems well worth copying and pasting for anyone else who may be interested:

"Losses"

In bombers named for girls, we burned
The cities we had learned about in school–
Till our lives wore out; our bodies lay among
The people we had killed and never seen.
When we lasted long enough they gave us medals;
When we died they said, “Our casualties were low.”

They said, “Here are the maps”; we burned the cities.

SCOTUS Executioner

"it's time for a younger man to do the Supreme Court's killing now..."

The Supreme Court's Executioner retires.

File it under the sad parade of time...

Sandy Berger

and the recent archive disapearance.

Just a couple of links.

Oh--

as I went to look I noticed that the American Spectator was wondering the same thing:

"Government files are missing. It's time to round up the usual suspects. I wonder where Sandy Berger was that night? "

Gold Fever Up North

Canadian mint looking into accounting vs. holding contrast:

"The largest reported theft at the mint was in 1996, when a machinist at the Sussex Drive plant pocketed 85 ounces or eight bars of almost-pure gold called "anodes," the final step in the refining process before 24-karat ingots are made in an acid bath. He sold it for $8,000 to another man, who sold it to a company for $22,000. It was resold once more for $40,000.

A charge of theft against the man was later dropped for unexplained reasons and the mint was spared the humiliation of a trial that would have explained how the man snuck the precious metal past metal detectors, surveillance cameras and electronic sensors.

Prior to that, there were only two reported incidents of gold theft in the mint's 101-year history.

In 1988, a 23-year veteran janitor at the plant stole at least $30,000 in gold. The man worked in an area of the mint where objects that come into contact with liquid gold, such as tools, are crushed and recycled so the gold can be recovered. Police found he had more than $150,000 in unexplained income between 1985 and 1988."

A worker at the Royal Canadian Mint inspects a freshly stamped loonie.

A significant quantity of gold, silver and other precious metals is unaccounted

for at the Royal Canadian Mint, but police have not yet been called to investigate,

officials said.

Photograph by: Fred Greenslade, Reuters

Earworm

This week's earworm is Michael Montes's piano piece which has been in high rotation on the Canon Rebel Camera commercials...



It's in my head.

It seems Sacred Noise did the sequence for the opening of the 25 anniversary TED Conference.

Update:

Actually this is more like how it is in my head. Both slow and fast. Also a little overlapping, to boot:

Brookhaven

I didn't realize that Brookhaven had developed it's own spiderwort. Neat.

Iowahawk

channels Newsweek's Meachum with immaculate clarity.

Go laugh.

NRA vs. Chicago

interesting.

Old Jews Telling Jokes

Enjoy.

via Volokh