The Sun This A.M.

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Legistorm Transparancies Sidekick

Salaries and more.

Althouse

Has an apt post.

Go read it all:

"...In the implicit analogy, 1. Mormans are to Muslims as the Mountain Meadow Massacre is to the WTC attack and 2. the memorial at the Mountain Meadows Massacre site is to the Mountain Meadows Massacre as the mosque near the WTC site is to the WTC attack.

I don't really see how the analogy holds up. As I understand it — and please correct me if I'm wrong — the Mountain Meadows memorial is a monument to the victims of the massacre (which occured in 1857). It was put up by Mormons in recent years, and, though today's Mormons were born long after the event and could not possibly had causal role in the massacre, they nevertheless take it upon themselves to express regret for what happened. Indeed, there is debate among Mormons about whether the apologies have gone deep enough.

An accurate analogy would be if today's Mormons put their efforts into making public statements informing us that they are not the ones who committed the massacre and that the vast majority of Mormons don't advocate doing that sort of thing, and then they wanted to build a place of worship for themselves near the site of the massacre which they want us to honor because of the way they would be making a show of the moderation of their form of Mormonism.

Come on, Attaturk! You can't even picture Mormons doing that, and certainly if they did, there would be screams of horror and disgust! "

Glasses

I really have been meaning to get a spare set just in case.

This is certainly highly convincing:

Thoughts, Adam?

via opieradio this fascinating blend.

Smells Like Rockin' Robin

Gliding is Too Enjoyable for Words

These are from last year, never ended up posting them, other than the sunset, as I recall.

The dark amphitheater like structure towards the bottom of the snaps I was told was an enormous backstop of countless used tires constructed for a large shooting range which, sadly, was never completed. Now that might be considered problem.

That last photo is of, I was informed, the estate of Don Mclean, of American Pie fame.

I should jump over and compare photos from Google Earth or some such.

Update: This is out there as Don Mclean's house.

Lord Dumpling

I did not realize that the illustrious Dean Kamen had his own sovereign island state, peace be upon him, or...well, good wishes.

Amusing, or shall I say, "how droll, how very, very droll"

I thought I once posted of a summit he held, they mentioned the island, I did not realize which island it actually is, glad to know enough to salute.

Kamen is cool beyond measure, if you ask me.

So I Wasn't the Only One

The only one who couldn't stand Alan Alda in M.A.S.H.

He has become a cliche, but I am glad to know the real Hawkeye, the man who wrote the book, also could not stand Alda.

H. Richard Hornberger's house, on the beautiful coast of Maine, is up for auction.

He died in 1997.

He was actually in the 8055 and got skunked on the movie rights for a few hundred bucks, wouldn't sign the book again.

It's funny that Altman would also harbor harsh feelings. The idea that Altman's 14 year old kid wrote "Suicide is Painless" is very cool, I wonder what became of him.

We see clearly the artistic liberal upset at his lack of compensation. Liberals are about art, not money, maaaaan...We also see the artist, one Mr. Hornberger, angry that the direction and intent of his creation has been misappropriated.

I know who I would have respected, and it is not the liberal conceited Altman, even if Hornberger liked his production.

I respect Hornberger, and will get a copy of the book, it must be much better than my memories of M.A.S.H.

Dr. Hornberger modeled the character of Capt. Benjamin Franklin (Hawkeye) Pierce after himself, his son said. Partly for that reason, he disliked the television series and almost never watched it.

''He liked the movie because he thought it followed his original intent very closely,'' William Hornberger said. ''But my father was a political conservative, and he did not like the liberal tendencies that Alan Alda portrayed Hawkeye Pierce as having.''

''My father didn't write an anti-war book,'' he added. ''It was a humorous account of his work, with serious parts thrown in about the awful kind of work it was, and how difficult and challenging it was.''

From Salon:

But Altman was to make his name, if not a lot of money, with his next project -- the phenomenally successful Korean War romp "MASH" (1970). The Ring Lardner Jr. screenplay had been making the rounds for some time, and 15 directors -- including Stanley Kubrick and Sidney Lumet -- had passed on the adaptation of the novel by 'Richard Hooker' (a pseudonym for authors H. Richard Hornberger and William Heinz) by the time Altman got his hands on it and saw his chance. For a flat fee of $75,000 with no percentage of the gross, he signed on to the 20th Century Fox project.

"MASH" introduced audiences, in the most accessible way possible, to the Altman style -- ensemble acting, episodic storytelling, zoom lenses and overlapping dialogue. It also fed them all of the major characteristics of an Altman film: rabid anti-authoritarianism, anti-militarism, black humor (the blackest), sacrilege, delight in decadence, adolescent sexual escapades, hypocrisy revealed and casual drug use.

The movie made stars out of its two leads, Elliott Gould and Donald Sutherland; started a running story line the TV series "M*A*S*H" would milk for years; and put a giant bulge in Fox's corporate wallet. "MASH" cost a measly $3.5 million to make, but according to Peter Biskind's account of the late '60s and '70s in Hollywood, "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood," the film "pulled in $36.7 million ... putting it third for 1970 behind 'Love Story' and 'Airport.'" And that's not counting the loads of cash made from the TV series.

Altman, of course, didn't see any of that money. And he would often complain that his son Michael, who at the age of 14 wrote the film's popular theme song, "Suicide is Painless," made more than he did off of "MASH." But Altman got what he really hungered for: acclaim as an artist. The film struck a chord both with the youth culture and the burgeoning anti-Vietnam War sentiment in the United States and abroad. At Cannes, "MASH" was awarded the Palm d'Or for best film. And it received five Academy Award nominations, including best picture and best director, though it won only one: best screenplay -- for which Lardner got the Oscar.

It's hard to overstate the importance of "MASH" to Altman's career. At 45, he was older than the Young Turks then kicking new life into old Hollywood. But overnight he became leader of the pack, universally hailed as a genius, an auteur, a demon filmmaker and an iconoclast. He took the brass ring and ran with it -- sometimes making bizarre but fascinating failures like "Brewster McCloud" (1970), "California Split" (1974) or "Buffalo Bill and the Indians" (1976), and with other projects crafting literature on-screen in films such as "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" (1971), "The Long Goodbye" (1973), "Nashville" (1975) and "Three Women" (1977). Even his over-the-top 1978 farce "A Wedding" and 1979's often reviled sci-fi thriller "Quintet," though flawed in their own ways, reveal the idiosyncratic brilliance of their creator.

Cuttlefish

I had a different question about the beasts.

This was not surprising, and still it is a fascination.

Please let me not forget---I must get a similar, yet more playful and adorable in a mammalian way, video of river otters responding to a tuning fork.

Me and a friend stumbled on the reaction and it is so danged neat. Especially when you are driving the fork.

Took More Photos

Transferred many many files.

First time the SD cards are free and clear in ages.

Will poke through the drive and post some, it felt like cleaning house.

Need a drive to back them up.

He's 12

He is 12, he kicks ass on the racetrack at 130, and he's "just gotta thank my sponsor, Gunbroker.com"

That's enough to bring a S.E. Grin to anyone I know.

It's nice to see Alphecca posting, and it made me happy to link to:

http://www.gunbroker.com/

AK

I Laughed

This is a little funny.

The Barret is awesome.

Photos

A ton around the corner, here are a couple of oldies:









Click on 'em, it makes a difference...wish I had a nicer screen...

I Don't Think I have

(Update Update: The Dog is safely back with it's owner from PA who was frantic and left many messages on the machine at the pound.)

(Update: I am feeling pretty Bitey though...Go vote for Peter Schiff!

grrrrr)

RABIES

Just in case anyone is wondering.

You know, for the rabid record.

Can't guarantee nothin...

Just tried to help a Dog today...

I couldn't not...

Damned Rabies Haters!!!