28.2.05
for a country
that legalized prostitution, marijuana, euthanasia and adoption for same-sex couples, stricter immigration laws can hardly be justified without raising eyebrows about motivation. despite the weak support for cultural observations, this article still makes for an interesting read on liberalism vs. immigration in holland and the wider role of religion in the old world. moynahan has written extensively on the role of christianity throughout history and how it shapes the modern world and although his thesis, islam starting a crusade against christianity and its values in
UPDATE: i meant the thesis is simplistic in its applicability to the current dutch situation. many more factors (crumbling social welfare [independent of the islamic immigration influx from 1970s-today], crippling traffic, and low unemployment to name a few) also contribute to dutch flight and the view that holland is unlivable. i can't speak for the effects anywhere else because i don't live there, and can only partially speak for holland because i can only partially understand dutch. when i ask the dutch fwunds what's the solution to the islamic immigration and subsequent segregation, they say they are committed to finding a more effective solution to the issue than stricter immigration laws-- namely a stronger promotion of cultural integration starting with schoolchilden. the moroccan fwunds argue (convincingly, i'd say) that it's a few jihadists ruining immigration for all and point out that the dutch are racist to begin with. but to answer your question, what is the goal of the jihadists ? i don't know, but i suspect it's not eating stroopwaffels and strolling the maas boulevard. but i do know that the answer is to deport anyone suspected of jihadism. and then all the muslims. and then all the immigrants. and then the potheads. and then all those damn gays. and then the blacks. and then the women. then, when only the white men are ruling, the bombing will surely end.
oh, wait... hm, yeah, not so much.
my point is, there's the small-scale solution and the large-scale solution to this. the small scale is addressing the issue within your own country and making mainly social and legal policy changes that offer constructive, positive integration measures instead of simply imposing strict immigration laws and moving the "problem" to a neighboring country. start with the kids and don't segregate the schools. as for the large-scale solution... for all the wealth, might, and diplomatic power we as americans have, i've been constantly and deeply disappointed in the bush administration's band-aid policy on the israel-palestine conflict. he will never earn my respect as a president until that key, fundamental issue is resolved.
ANOTHER UPDATE: yes, i'm ok, and i'll take your bait because i'm sick of working.
it's not an "astounding logical leap." it's a hop... you are singling out muslims for brutal murders when brutal murders have occurred for centuries. not that it makes it right, but the point of the update is that integration, not limiting immigration, should be the political course taken.
holland is the perfect microcosm for this issue because it's the most liberal country in the world implementing not-so-liberal policies in reaction to politically-motivated murders of van gogh and to a lesser extent, pim fortuyn, both of whom were outspoken critics of the current dutch immigration policy. limiting immigration would again be band-aiding and/or relocating the issue. and let's not forget that cultural integration takes time. i understand your point that van gogh's murder was committed by an immigrant who, by all descriptions the author gives, should have been part of this assimilated group. the dutch first started looking beyond their borders into turkey and morocco for laborers in the 1970s, which means that our boy mohammed b was a first generation immigrant here in the lowlands. but again, it's going to take longer than one generation for integration to take root. be patient. you will say they don't want to integrate, and that may be true. but every chinatown does not turn into a major global threat. you need to keep this in perspective. as for understanding the nature of the threat, darling, i understand enough to know that in the digital age tighter immigration laws will not keep extremist ideas out of holland or any country. so there is no way, as you suggest, to contain or keep the jihadist ideas out of the west. there are interwebs.
as for israel/palestine, you're partially correct-- arafat's death has widened the path to resolution. but that's all the room i'm giving you on that one because we could and should be doing much, much more. the administration has grossly underestimated the importance of this. that is, unless they're playing some twisted version of the game "risk" and are slowly trying to surround palestine... who knows, they only tell us what they're doing thematically, not practically.
AND FINALLY: if i were as right-wing as matt, i would have gotten more than 3 emails on the subject, for everyone knows the power of the conservosphere. but i will sacrifice readership for the righteous cause any day.
27.2.05
the nicosphere helmet simply covers your head
ha.
25.2.05
if the site name is this good
then you know the rest is even better.
please, fellow christians, heed this advice:
My husband has told me that men which attend church know this and it does bother them. They know, they have a personal battle with their eyes and thoughts; some even request prayer in men's prayer groups to help them over-come this personal battle. Yet they probably will not normally say so and they will not look your way as much, unless it is a single man looking for a Godly mate instead of a sensually motivated relationship.
For this reason we DO NOT sew: sleeveless, slit skirts, mid-rifts, low cut neck lines, or low backs. We apologize if this offends anyone but our goal is to help both ladies and men keep from inciting lasciviousness (wrong lusts). We view this as a sewing ministry and only want to plant good seeds.
ah yes, ah yes.
please, find it in your god-fearing hearts to click fwighere for a worthwhile photo gallery.
sorry bexter
but here's the weekly post:
"a dung pile measuring 100 feet long, 30 feet high and 50 feet wide"
when laura's away...
miworld
andrew sullivan has thoughts on the ipodization of the urban scene:
Music was once the preserve of the living room or the concert hall. It was sometimes solitary but it was primarily a shared experience, something that brought people together, gave them the comfort of knowing that others too understood the pleasure of a Brahms symphony or that Beatles album.
| |
| |
But music is as atomised now as living is. And it’s secret. That bloke next to you on the bus could be listening to heavy metal or a Gregorian chant. You’ll never know. And so, bit by bit, you’ll never really know him. And by his white wires, he is indicating he doesn’t really want to know you.
click me for the whole thing. i'm guilty too, but it's different here-- i only understand dutch when they talk real slow like-- and the aural abuse in the form of crappy techno remixes of crappy american top 40 music make the earbuds indispensable.
soundtrack to your life.
er, your toothbrush. "the toothbrush initially will carry one song."
what song ? well, hillary duff, of course.
the plaza would be proud
congratulations for getting published in the WSJ, dude...
WSJ(2/23) Fund Track: NASD Fines Two Brokerage Houses
(From THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
By Thomas Derpinghaus
Dow Jones Newswires
The National Association of Securities Dealers fined Quick & Reilly Inc. and a unit of Piper Jaffray Cos. for giving preferred sales treatment to mutual funds offered by certain fund companies in exchange for brokerage commissions and other payments.
NASD said it has fined two other firms in the past for similar preferential fund sales. Quick & Reilly, now a part of Charlotte, N.C., Bank of America Corp., was fined $570,000, while Piper Jaffray, of Minneapolis, was fined $275,000. Neither firm admitted or denied the charges, but both consented to the NASD's findings in the matter.
"As evidenced by our voluntary internal review and subsequent self-reporting, we continue to support the efforts of our regulators aimed at restoring investor confidence and remain intently focused on placing our clients' needs first," said Andrew Duff, chief executive officer of Piper Jaffray. "We believe this settlement is in the best interests of our clients and shareholders."
A Bank of America spokesman said the company has "fully cooperated with the NASD on this matter and we're pleased to have the settlement finalized."
NASD said Quick & Reilly and Piper Jaffray gave favorable treatment to the funds in question by giving greater visibility to the preferred funds on their internal Web sites, as well as granting increased access to the firms' sales forces. In addition, NASD said, Quick & Reilly and Piper Jaffray allowed for participation in "top producer" or training meetings and promoted the preferred funds more broadly than they did other funds.
NASD said such behavior is in violation of its "Anti-Reciprocal Rule," which bars firms from favoring mutual fund sales on the basis of brokerage commissions.
NASD found that Piper Jaffray operated its preferred partner program from 1998 to 2003 and included 12 to 15 fund groups, while Quick & Reilly's program, which ran from 2001 to 2003, included 16 to 20 fund groups.
However, NASD said, Piper Jaffray sold funds offered by more than 100 fund groups, while Quick & Reilly sold funds offered by more than 300.
Piper Jaffray asked participating fund companies to pay minimum amounts of $100,000 to $125,000 per year, and negotiated the fees with the fund companies on a yearly basis, the NASD said.
Quick & Reilly, NASD said, charged fund groups 10 basis points, or 0.10%, on the gross amount of sales and five basis points on the average daily assets under management, subject to a minimum annual payment of $75,000.
The NASD said several of the funds that received preferential sales treatment paid some or all of the extra fees by directing the brokerage business to Piper Jaffray and Quick & Reilly.
The association said commissions were generated by the funds through portfolio transactions, which were executed by Piper Jaffray, or in the case of Quick & Reilly, through an affiliate or third party.
In calculating Piper Jaffray's fine, NASD took into account that the Minneapolis firm self-reported its conduct following its own internal review.
Earlier this month, the NASD charged distributors of American Funds with violating its anti-reciprocal rule by directing about $100 million in brokerage commissions to about 50 brokerage firms over three years.
The American Funds matter was brought in connection with an action filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in which Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $50 million in civil penalties and surrendered profits.
In December, Edward Jones & Co. agreed to pay $75 million to settle charges that it didn't sufficiently disclose revenue-sharing agreements it had with fund companies. Edward Jones had been recommending the funds in question to its customers.
i tried to get the link but they were all "we want $89/year for this link" and i was all "i'll just copy and paste the article." it was a heated argument. anyway, pretty cool.
UPDATE: i got an email a little later that said:
"i saw you put that article on your blog. what a boring article."
haha, boring isn't the point...
24.2.05
who knew
welcome, little sis. also: poo is good for you, #3.
Waitron-B Faithful to B-Steel
For my premiere post, I feel it is important not to make too much of a splash, but to prove my proficiency in posting on all things Steelesque.
Here, then, some ROBOT HUMOR!
BANNED BOOKS IN THE YEAR 2191.
By Brendon Lloyd
*Lying Machines: Robot-Owned Media and How It Corrupts Democracy
*A Bot Election: How the Robot Lobby Influences Politics
*A Fatal Error: How We Elected a Robot President
*They Won't Die: Why Robots Should Never Be Appointed to the Supreme Court
*The New Constitution: Binary to English Translation
*Our Robot Masters: Though They Force Us to Say Otherwise, We Are Not Proud to Serve Them
*Escape From XRT-1041: How One Man Survived a Robot Slave-Labor Camp
*Electromagnetic Pulse Weaponry
Next ... Cheeseburger Fonts!
I draw the line, however, at p--p humor. Waitron-B: "B" is for "Bowl Cleaner." I intend to clean this place up.
23.2.05
of mice and millionaires
so i can help it, really... i feel maternal when millionaires stay at my apt, drink too much wine, and pass out on my futon without a blanket and start snoring with their businessman shoes hanging over the side of the cushion. yes, i can be nice and tuck them in, take off their shoes, and set an alarm for 5am.
i won't feed the kids booze until they're at least 3 but still, what's the maternal urge these days ?
is it that i miss my millionaire ? do i wish he didn't live so far away with the harlot ?
uhn, prolly.
right, the bit i was getting at, then.
he was talking about how he wants to take the harlot to maui to propose to her. i started making gaging sounds. he was all, what's wrong with that ? and i was all, that's too elimidate, dude. lame. who proposes in maui, seriously. are you going to get your frat brothers to secretly tape the proposal so you can watch it at the wedding ? seriously. i almost had him convinced until he went to pee. and he's all, you don't even know what normal is, you have pictures of people pooping posted all over your bathroom walls.
ah shit.
22.2.05
fun new game
guess what major global city this building is from and you will win a mix cd with spiffy artwork made by yours truly + superfun secret prize.
want to sample some of the songs ? they're at the gmail account. sure, i'll give you the username and password again.
username = ifmusicismylover
password = youarejustatease
you can guess in the comments or just not comment like usual.
assholes.
i heart dustin
every week, kslick sends trish and me our horoscopes. i'd never really put too much faith into these until they started to be spot-on. every week. for all three of us. well, mostly. very strange... this guy only does the horoscopes as part of his "days of our lives" page. he write as celeste, the mystic seer on days. you can start laughing at any time but like i said, his predictions are good as gold. gold, i tell you ! i've recently been ordered at gunpoint to post about the wonders of dustin: goateed, tatooed, cat-loving savant. not only does he love extra cheesy pizza, he's a PhD student who also maintains DOOL, passions, and OC pages. to learn All About Dustin, click here (ladies, please notice dustin's rustic good looks in front of real waterfall). dustin, we love you even though you are probably homosexual. we really do. so if you want to see the future for yourself, look no further than good old dusty.
here are the latest (sorry, if you're not one of these, you'll just have to click the link):
Leo: July 23-August 22
The Card: Two of Wands
What It Means: This card foresees you attaining your goals and needs this week.
Celeste Says: Just make sure that on that list is romance and love,
as this is the most romantic week of the year!
Virgo: August 23-September 22
The Card: Three of Wands
What It Means: This card foresees business negotiations of some type
playing a large role in your life this week.
Celeste Says: Yes, the spirits tell me you will make many deals in
your life. Just be sure to leave time for love darling!
Libra: September 23-October 22
The Card: Page of Swords
What It Means: This foresees you being on the watch for the unknown this week.
Celeste Says: The crystals do not show me what you are watching for.
Could it be Mr. Right?
"it's in our interest that europe be strong"
after hanging out with the yermans and jacques chiraq, there's much blather in europe about bush's visit over zee pond. mark steyn comments:
But, in the broader sense vis-à-vis Europe, the administration is changing the tone precisely because it understands there can be no substance. And, if there's no substance that can be changed, what's to quarrel about? International relations are like ex-girlfriends: if you're still deluding yourself you can get her back, every encounter will perforce be fraught and turbulent; once you realise that's never gonna happen, you can meet for a quick decaf latte every six – make that 10 – months and do the whole hey-isn't-it-terrific-the-way-we're-able-to-be-such-great-friends routine because you couldn't care less. You can even make a few pleasant noises about her new romance (the so-called European Constitution) secure in the knowledge he's a total loser.
hah.
via vodka.
also, remember when bush said he was looking for a good cowboy (referring to repairing his relationship with chirac) ?
i'm still not over that one.
for amber
i don't know how to send pics through friendster (which is, by the by, so 2005) so here you go:
we're not allowed to sign for bar tabs together anymore.
speaking of rock opera...
no, not our crazy manic-depressive cousin who steals the family jewels from our aunt and buries them in the bayside backyard, but... STRONG BAD !!!
(new email)
16.2.05
sweet
thanks, mf.
15.2.05
come now, spud jr.
bored ? sad ? bored ?
watch this. if you don't laugh, then there's something seriously wrong with you.
i'm going straight to hell
well worth it, i'm sure.
did you know ?
A regular toilet has a terribly small seat. This creates very uncomfortable pressure points, consequently producing numbness in the legs and thighs from lack of proper blood flow.
Considering ergonomics, the toilet seat and bowl have more than 6 extra inches in the front.
spiffy !
14.2.05
and now for your weekly food porn
omg:
DECATUR, Ga. (AP) -When Becky Cleaveland is out with her girlfriends, they all pick at salads except for the petite Atlanta woman. She tackles "The Hamdog."
The dish, a specialty of Mulligan's, a suburban bar, is a hot dog wrapped by a beef patty that's deep fried, covered with chili, cheese and onions and served on a hoagie bun. Oh yeah, it's also topped with a fried egg and two fistfuls of fries.
hot dog wrapped by a deep fried beef patty ? so cool.
so incredibly cool.
as the saying goes...
in love, there are those who are kissing and those who are being kissed.
which one are you ?
UPDATE: the onion has it right.
UPDATE DEUCE: unrelated, but ha.
13.2.05
photomania
ok, i have lots of pics to post now that the interwebs are back in business chez moi. [i sure hope andy stays, though, don't you ?] so grab a glass of rode wijn and click away. this is me in my kitchen, but you can't actually see the kitchen... the toilet is the door right behind me, it's underneath the stairs. and in the background you can see part of the living room.
and here's looking at the other direction into part of the kitchen. frenchies on the left, dutchies on the right. please notice everyone's favorite dinner of wine, cheese, and cigarettes. also please note awesome robot picture between the window and the dryer.
do you want to see what the apt looks like from the outside ?
ok here it is:
see the van with the green back side ? and how there are two street lights above the van ? if you look above the light on the right, that's chez moi. the second and third floors. that was a bad description, so don't worry if you have no idea what i'm going on about.
yes, i'm from wisco, i end sentences with not one but two prepositions.
un vendredi sur paris
friday was rainy and grey, as is most of the old world this time of year. in the morning, i went shopping with jon and kathy for a zinc bar they want to put in their kitchen in north carolina. at about 10a, i had the rest of the day to myself. the happiest i've been since december, i took la ligne une metro to the st. paul/marais stop and stepped above ground to see the hotel de ville, somehow greyer than the sky. all the monuments in paris these days are adorned with the childish scribble of "paris 2012" in the city's attempt to gain favor for its olympic bid. word on the street says that if paris can make its public transport more handicap-accessible, they will probably get their wish:
from there, i wandered further into le marais (literally, the swamp) which was the old haunt of ms. bonnie when she lived in paris. i had to stop at l'as du falafel for lunch. the only good thing lenny kravitz did for this world was announce this place as the best falafel in the world. his corny picture is on the wall and the 33cl of coke cost more than the pocket full of yummy. the falafel restos are centralized on the rue des roisiers in the jewish part of le marais, and the street is lined with bookstores, butcher shops, and bakeries (boulangeries):
one of the criteria for a great city is attractive window displays and gay paree will never disappoint. the jewelry stores always have intricate layouts and i'm always baffled as to why they choose to crucify the earrings:
here is a typical side street: shops below, apts with balcony plant awnings, yellow post office drop box built into the cement, and street signs no one obeys:
ah, the centre pompidou. whether you love it or hate it, the building housing the largest collection of modern art in europe also has several moyens to view art without paying the hefty entrance tariff. the lower level was showing free video exhibitions friday. i watched a showing of a modern interpretive dance and although it wasn't meant to be funny, i found myself acting like my 10 year old girl-in-church self, gulping down laughter in the never-winning battle to keep a straight face in a reverent setting. interpretive dance also reminds me of impromptu readings of selective passages of "dune," a favorite sci-fi book of fellow triangle inhabitant mel brown. incidentally, and unbeknownst to the rest of the klaver girls until 2001, the eldest was named after the character of the fair lady in the aforementioned classic.
one of the traditions that have survived french stereotype is the old men playing boules in the parks. through the trees, you can see old unaffected parisian men cajoling each other as they backspin grapefruit-sized balls as close to the smaller, silver target as they can, a sort of mix between crochet, horseshoes, and darts:
there are also free poop bags ! no, of course no one uses them, despite the free bags, detailed instructions on how to clean up after your animal, and grave warnings of a 457.58 euro fine for deserted defecation. but fear not, stepping in poo with your left foot in paris is supposed to be good luck:
this is the rue montorgeuil, made famous by a monet painting of the french revolution. today it's a major shopping street and lies in the heart of the district where i spent most of my time during france round 1:
and you should get guillotined for going down this street and not stopping at one of its fantastic fromageries:
i'm ready for my closeup, said mr. cheese:
admittedly not the best picture, but this is one of my favorite street names in paris (rue des malgarcons is right up there, too), named after a baker in 1399, who apparently made such kick-ass baked goods that he deserved his own street. it just rolls of the tongue well-- try it, pronounced: roo tic-tun
the fruit palace, a place where i remember all the prices are negotiable, depending on how much you flirt and what mood the owners are in that day:
ah... this is not the same street corner it was 5 years ago ! it was here, friends, on the rue des petits carreaux where your humble poster was employed for 2 short weeks in the summer of 2000. for future information $400 in work permit fees will allow you to be berated and near tears for 8 hours a day in a busy parisian cafe run by two stout and balding brothers from the south of france. when it was a cafe and not a bread shop, one friday afternoon in june a clueless and probably hungover young blonde american girl was unceremoniously fired for what one of the brothers spat from his chicken-smelling mouth l'incompetence. yeah, it translates pretty directly.
leaving the marais and making my way westward toward the 43 bus to take me back to neuilly-sur-seine, i pass a chocolate shop all decked out for le jour de la saint valentin. since i started liking chocolate and not skipping past these windows, i've noticed they have some of the best displays in the city. this is not one of them, but trust me on this, ok ? great:
i purposely take a detour on my walk back to pass the gorgeously ornate opera house. this is one of the reasons i switched from being a metro girl to a bus girl-- you can't see this kind of beauty underground:
back in family land, i went to see my cousin pookers graduate from cub scouts to boy scouts. the ceremony was so boring that i, yes your most varsity lettering klaver girl, decided to shoot some hoops in the gym. which i haven't done in at least 8 years, so you know it was seriously ennuyeux. in the car on the ride back, pookers was being asked about his achievement and all he wanted to do was read an advertisement to grow muscules from the latest issue of "boy's life." ha:
it was jon's birthday on saturday so pookers and i decided to make cupcakes. but we make the best cupcakes because we take all the candy from the oversized storage bins filled with american food under the beds and smash it up to make topping. pookers likes to use the pizza cutter and steak and cheese knives to cut up reese's, m&ms, oreos, kinder, and whatever else we can find. yes, they were good.
please also notice freshly-stolen guiness pint glass filled with water that is now in my kitchen. i love free glassware. but more than that, i love stealing.
good night.
10.2.05
à la une
dear diary,
today i feel: 7/10. the day is nice but it is raining !
today i am reading some great books and listening to some fun music.
four eyes: nancy milford, zelda
when i grow up i want to be just like zelda.
four eyes: ben marcus the age of wire and string
this is a very strange man, mommy.
one ear queer: bright eyes "i'm wide awake, it's morning"
this sure is more upbeat than the other ones.
and i like you, emmylou.
one ear queer: fiery furnaces "gallowsbird's bark"
i hated this album at first but could not stop playing it.
now i think it is swell.
beat this song: leonard cohen, "sing another song, boys"
(maximum volume, please)
UPDATE: ok, at least one person doesn't get it. in the beginning of the post, i was making fun of blogs because i have a love/hate relationship with innocent, loving BS. the first part is mocking people using blogs to talk about how their day went and if they feel sunshiny or frustrated or whatever. yes, this is also self-mockery because i post about the same things. "four eyes" means what i'm reading, "one ear queer" means what i'm listening to (half deaf, remember), and "beat this song" is the last song i heard which conquered all internal and external distractions, thus rendering it a "winner."
time to start slutting it up, girls
after 34 years of being a home-wrecking harlot, camilla parker bowles will now become "princess consort."
girls everywhere who dream of marrying a prince are now undergoing plastic surgery to make their faces look as much as possible like a horse. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the king and princess consort of england !
how charming.
diana was quoted as saying in a 1995 tv interview "There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
"marriage" is, in british english, another word for "horse stable."
8.2.05
manger ensemble ?
But another participant said perhaps that [a private dinner] was not such a good idea, noting that in some of their previous meetings, Mr. Chirac has pointed his finger at Mr. Bush and lectured him on what he does not know.
hah. allez les bleus !
you have $9
Poem Of The Week
By Their Works
Who cleaned up the Last Supper?
These would be my people.
Maybe hung over, wanting
desperately a better job,
standing with rags
in hand as the window
beckons with hills
of yellow grass. In Da Vinci,
the blue robed apostle
gesturing at Christ
is saying, give Him the check.
What a mess they've made
of their faith. My God
would put a busboy
on earth to roam
among the waiters
and remind them to share
their tips. The woman
who finished one
half eaten olive
and scooped the rest
into her pockets,
walked her tiny pride home
to children who looked
at her smile and saw
the salvation of a meal.
All that week
at work she ignored
customers who talked
of Rome and silk
and crucifixions,
though she couldn't stop
thinking of this man
who said thank you
each time she filled
His glass.
-Bob Hicok
Pavement Lite
I have often said, "Bad jazz is awful, but good jazz is even worse."
This is something else.
Make sure you turn up the volume to hear their slick, sad version of "Trigger Cut".
7.2.05
For MF...
...because he knows that the stack of Journey tapes in his safe deposit box are nothing to be ashamed of.
Do You Love Music This Much?
From The Decemberists' Message Board:
"There was something I never, ever noticed untill just today, and I said to myself "!?!?!" Basically, if you listen to tracks such as 'My Mother Was Chineese Trapeze Artist' (at 3:05) and on 'I Was Meant For The Stage' (at about 1:49, which is where I first noticed, though it wrecks a lot of this performance, especialy the parts after that initial "cher") you begin to notice something that you hear on a lot of thier records, which is the use of a certain Antares product. Sure, everyone uses auto-tune now. However, the engineer that is doing the actual auto-tuning is no good at it. Artifacts uncomfortably remain, it sounds like he wasn't even doing this in graphical mode."
Whoa. Indie rock fans suck. Somebody needs to brush the Cool Ranch crumbs out of his goatee and feed them to his ferret named "Keats". Has anyone ever talked this way about Aerosmith or Celine Dion? Of course not. Because those hardworking, state fair going, High Life swilling taxpayers know that it's all about the music. The Music!
Tonight We're Gonna Party Like It's 1983
Is this old news? Bill Gates strikes sexy poses for Teen Beat. Examine him in all his lanky, brainy beauty! What's with the hound dog eyes? That must've been some amazing blow. See some more almost-erotica here.
3.2.05
what do you do if
you're the founder of the fifth-largest cable provider in southern california known for your "moral" programming and have just been found guilty of looting your own company ?
well, you go to jail. what does the new management bring in ?
well, duh. porn.
Adelphia, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2002, currently is on the block. During the last year, in an effort to bolster Adelphia's bottom line, the company's new management has begun offering softer porn in various areas of the country and, in recent months, has introduced the hardest-core programming in a few markets.
....
Single-X-rated movies feature nudity, long-range or panoramic and medium-range camera shots, simulated sex and sex between women. Double-X-rated movies show intercourse, oral sex and close-up shots. Triple-X-rated movies feature anal sex and visible ejaculation.
in holland, one can barely-- no, one cannot walk down the street or turn on the tv past 10 pm without seeing soft-core porn... but this seems like quite a step for cable, non ?
the ultimate geek date
preceeding the star wars movie would be dinner where the food is cooked with lasers:
He also plans to buy a class IV laser to create dishes that are "impossible through conventional means." (A class IV laser, the highest grade under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's classification system, projects high-powered beams and is typically used for surgery or welding.)
Mr. Cantu said he might use the laser to burn a hole through a piece of sashimi tuna, cooking the fish thoroughly inside but leaving its exterior raw. He said he would also use the laser to create "inside out" bread, where the crust is baked inside the loaf and the doughy part is the outer surface. "We'll be the first restaurant on planet Earth to use a class IV laser to cook food," he said with a grin.
He is testing a hand-held ion-particle gun, which he said is for levitating food. So far he has zapped only salt and sugar, but envisions one day making whole meals float before awestruck diners.
i'll behave and refrain from the lightsaber innuendo joke.
2.2.05
punxsutawney phil
Team Zissou, Unite!
"Off west coast of Vietnam, Gulf of Thailand. Three pirates armed with guns and long knives boarded a chemical tanker underway. They raided master's cabin, stole cash from ship's safe and master's personal belongings. They then tried to take the master to their boat but he resisted and received injuries. Pirates escaped in their boat."
Make sure you're prepared, and check the Weekly Piracy Repot here.
Cheeseburger Related
Heinz and fry Twin Towers? If only I knew how to Photoshop in a couple of paper airplanes. Hmm. I'm hungry...for justice. Please click here to see more from "sculptor" Jack Daws.
A Quick Introduction
Here's a recent photo of Annie and me. I'm the one with the nice green sweater. On the day of this picture, we had a good chat about what democracy in Iraq will mean for US-France relations. Annie hogged the wine. She let me have a bite of her hotdog. We snorted some Tylenol PM off an autographed copy of Middlesex, and whoops, before you can dial 911, we're riding a golf cart into the pond on the 7th hole. Despite contrary testimony, it was not my idea.
Please welcome me here, the new blog puppet.
