Living Free, Not Dying

Lyndsey is a good speller. I am not.

We are in New Hampshire for the weekend to attend Matt's wedding, and all is well up here. The setting could not be more serene, and we were greeted last night upon our arrival by a UFO cruising across the night sky. We made it here in spite of being pulled over by smokie just inside the NH border. The copper who stopped us was very nice and actually just ran my license through the system, asked if we knew where we were going, generally he was a pretty nice guy.

Today there will be all sorts of weddingness, food, merriment, and general excellence, all in the name of Living free! Huzzah

A Tribute to Lincoln

A Tribute to Lincoln
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Rest In Peace Buddy.

You will be missed.

Happy Cat

Indy
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

I have to say, it's been quite some time since I've posted photos regularly, but I think that might be likely to change soon as I recently took this, one of my favorite images ever. The original was in color, but I think that black and white is perfect for this picture, and I am really happy with the focus of it, the slight gleam in Indy's eyes, and capturing her in one of her signature completely dozed-out postures.

Needless to say, she was not feeling particularly high strung when I took this picture! This weekend Lyndsey and I are headed north to NH for Matt's wedding and I hope to take some fun pictures in the course of that fun occasion.

Prez Announces New "Personal Child Threat" tour

So, today George Bush announced that he will tour the nation telling every American personally that the terrorists are a threat to their children.

I wonder what he'll say to me given that I don't have any children. Still, I have a feeling he'll figure out something. Does anybody else just find this behavior odd? I mean, seriously, there are times where I’m so dumbfounded by the rhetoric that I can’t figure out how to be outraged because I just don’t know where to begin. Anyway, I couldn’t resist tossing this up. A tip of the hat to Talking Points Memo (www.talkingpointsmemo.com) where I first saw this video.

Note on Manamana

Check out the strange (German?!?!?) subtitles on the video below.

Manamana

Okay, here's your Friday installment of the Muppets... don't quite know why this has become a recurring post, but I kinda love it, so here you go. Enjoy!

Optimus Prime vs. Kenny Loggins '08

McSweeney's Runs down the top 20 candidates:

Republican
Democratic

Really fun and enjoyable.

Awesome things: Optimus Prime and Jesus are in the Democratic Field, A huge Barrel of Oil and the sit-com Cheers are in the Republican.

I found this posted on Salon first, so they deserve a little tip-o-the-hat.

Happy Friday, folks. T-minus a zillion months until the friggin election even happens... Right.

Gallup Says Wake Up!

The head of the Gallup Polling Group has made some bold claims in recent public remarks, including saying that the Iraq war is one demonstration of how out-of-touch the worlds leaders are with the general public.

I agree, not that this should come as any surprise. Interesting though, coming from this source, somebody who would seem to want to stay out of any sort of partisan fray. Interestingly, his remarks weren't partisan at all, they were broad-brush type indictments.

Highlighted Read for the Month

WorldChanging.org, already one of my favorite websites is running a series on 21 World Changing Principles, the first article of which is located here.

When it comes to forward-thinking writing about the tools, standards, and innovations that are driving change related on both an ecological and an ethical front, this site is amazing. They've been highlighted in my links section for ages, but I also know that piece of any given blog can be easily ignored. So, if you stop by regularly, or if this is your first time, I recommend checking out the article linked above and some of their other insightful pieces.

Sometime soon I'm even going to work up something to send their way on a book that my company is promoting. More on the book soon, but for now, check out the principles... they're actually up to number 8 or so by now... so there's a bunch to look into.

New & Improved, "Best Way"*

* with sunshiny colors for summer.

Improved hopefully refers to the constantly improved quality of the posted content. I'll let you be the judge of whether this claim is valid or similar to the constantly echoing, "Nacho Cheezerifictasticker" claims you read on Doritos bags.

John McCain, Cat Lady

Wow, today is off to a disappointing start. It turns out I've uncovered a solid reason not to vote for Barak Obama... no pets! Who knew!?!? Turns out his kids are lobbying hard to change that fact and get a dog if he wins.

What other news did the AP dig up in their latest funky candidate question?

America's Mayor, also hates animals... er... is pet-less.

John McCain, a bit of a cat lady... or animal lover, but wow 22 pets!?!?! Amazing. I'm not so sure about Cuff and Link as turtle names, Mr. McCain, it's a little too much with the cheese. Also, maybe he's not so much a cat lady as somebody who is starting their own arc... you know, just in case the flood comes.

My favorite pet name belongs to Bill Richardson's cat Squeaky.

In all seriousness, though, does anybody else love this utter and complete randomness courtesy of the Associated Press? I'm impressed with the range of questions they've asked, and I'm now prepared to offer some ideas for future questions. Maybe if you comment and leave ideas of your own we can develop a really strong list to send AP's way. So, here goes:

1. Are you now or have you ever been a toupee-wearer?
2. Name your favorite dairy product
3. If you were stranded on a small desert island which character on Lost would your actions most closely resemble, and why?
4. Which do you find more annoying: soaring deficits or cell phone ring tones?

Amazing Stories

If I had to name the reasons why I blog, top of the list would be to share random and fun information that I encounter. In that vein, here is a hilarious story from the world of Sports:

It involves a mid-90's era Baseball hero whose star has faded a bit over the years due to multiple injuries over many seasons. It includes an obnoxious and presumably overweight fan, and it also features a jock strap, athletic supporter, whatever your favorite terminology for it is. All in all, it's a fun little read, so check it out.

Also, if you're looking to check out a fun new band, my band of the week is The Clientele.

It's Friday, let's make a cake!

Okay... so this is pretty random, but entirely enjoyable. Honestly, what isn't random on this here blog???

Still Amazing

Incredible... I can't believe I still haven't seen this movie!

If you have, drop me a comment. Except yesterday's birthday boy, I already talked to you about it... and I know what you think, and you're probably deeply saddened that I still haven't seen the movie.

MORE LATER!!!


Songs of the week: Song title (artist)

1. Heavy Metal Drummer (Wilco) because it's almost summer, and some Wilco songs just say SUMMER to me
2. In Green (Volcano, I'm Still Excited!) because this band's name makes me think of the classic film Joe Versus the Volcano... wait, did I just call that movie a classic... crap, where's the backspace key???
3. Condoleezza, Check My Posse (The Majestic Twelve) It's just a funny song. Watch out future mix CD, this song has your name on it
4. The Passenger (Iggy Pop) Cause I said so.
5. Take the Fifth (Spoon) in honor of Monica Goodling

Jesus Has Salmonella

Jesus Has Salmonella
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

This time last week I was chillin with Jesus, Tyler, Emily, Meredith, Lyndsey, and, well, sadly, Jesus had Salmonella. Just a little bit, you know, on his left arm... cozying up to him.

Love this picture.

Happy FRIDAY everybody!!!!

Good Morning!

Good analysis is a great thing, especially at the start of the day. I just finished up reading a nicely written Slate post about Alberto Gonzales' visit to the Congress yesterday, and I couldn't help but want to post a quote:

"And as for Gonzales, he has made himself immortal by merely willing himself to be so. That must be what accounts for his Zenlike state today. It's an ingenious strategy. Instead of letting the president throw him under the bus to protect Karl Rove, Gonzales just lies down in the road, then giggles as the bus runs over his head." ~ Dahlia Lithwick for Slate

Click here check out the remainder of the article, "Alberto Gonzales, Zen Master."

Yeah... so...

That last post probably should have been two posts. Knight Rider and the GOP debate really are two completely separate things. Oh well... it's all soup in my brain.

Just got back from DC last night. Great fun trip, and some fun pictures should be up here later!!!

Yeah for pictures.

Damn you RSS!

Couldn't Resist:

Hasselhoff is "back on his game," so don't worry about that crazy crazy video. or this one. or this one.


Kinda sad, really, but then it's Hasselhoff. He'll be okay, the Germans will still love everything he does, and the world will keep spinning.

By the way, did anybody else hear that in the GOP debate last night George W. Bush was mentioned only once by the candidates? I'd like to know who was responsible for the name drop, but apparently he was only referred to by name exactly once by a candidate in the course of the whole 90 minute debate. Craziness. (Gracias AmericaBlog)

>> UPDATE: it was Sen. Sam Brownback in response to a question about Scoot Scooty McScooter Libby. (Thanks Salon)

Celebrity News Flash

So I've recently started working all day long with an RSS feed on screen over to my right. If you've been wondering about recent developments in terms of oddball things appearing in ye olde blog, that's the explanation. It's the reason why I encountered this:

Ms. Pinkett-Smith says that Katie Holmes is a, "tigress," and decidedly not tied up in the basement waiting for Tom to toss her down a steak while he plots Scientology's subliminal overthrow of the world.

Now, if you feel that this post falls a little outside my normal domain for stuff to put up, you're almost certainly right. That said, I found some of Jada's comments in the thing to be hilarious and kinda awesome enough, that I couldn't help it. Anyway, there's your friendly Friday quick read! Enjoy.

New Fun Game

Here's a new fun game:

Find the commander guy

The White House actually has a release on their website that includes a transcript of the President referring to himself as "the commander guy."

Now, I've seen this comment splashed across blogs for days, so the thing itself is nothing new, but the fact that it's on the White House website is CLASSIC. So, if you want to check it out, go here, hit ctrl-f and look for "the commander guy."

Read it and weep or chuckle or just gawk.

This makes me sick

The president is advocating hate. The right wing will lie up a storm, and will make it look like vetoing or threatening to veto the Hate Crimes bill working its way through congress is something else, but it's not.

Here's a link to some vanilla news coverage of the state of Hate Crimes legislation.


It makes me sick to think that the bastards fighting against adding protections to existing Hate Crimes law are having their way. I want to say more, but I just can't figure out how to put it down in writing. This post might get longer later, but for now, feel free, like me to write some emails to various reps on this one. If folks have thoughts, comments are welcome.

>>UPDATE: Hate Crimes Legislation Passes House, along the way Dems make some incredible speeches about the importance of this legislation and the message sent by those who oppose it. I'm proud to call myself a Democrat today (even though there are many days that I'm not sure I really fit in the donkey party). Check out a handful of pretty impressive speeches here.

Turkey (not Thanksgiving related)

To say that I know very little about Turkey might be a vast understatement, but I found this article on AmericaBlog very interesting, and if you're looking for an interesting read, I recommend it:

Turkey's Political Intrigue

Ferret Hater-in-Chief?? Possible.

I couldn't resist posting this. If you have thoughts, feel free to share, but I saw a post today about Rudi Giuliani ranting on the subject of ferrets. I read the rant, it's not all that drop-dead amazing, a little twisted and strange, but more dumb and silly than outrageous. Anyway, enjoy.

Change is good

Hey man, there's this growing consensus that green think is the new cool, that environmentalists no longer have to be crazy hitch-hiking granola-eating hippies. They can be random skater kids, or grandmas, or anybody who just plain cares about the future.

In that spirit, a site that's been on the sidebar to the left is one I visit each and every day. I recommend doing so, as they have interesting articles all the time. Today, Worldchanging.com put up their list of things they couldn't cover but thought were cool for April. I recommend browsing because there's bound to be something there that catches your fancy.

I also recommend (as a regular read) Grist.

Since I'm recommending stuff, I also recommend Arcade Fire's new album Neon Bible, Nortec Collective (in honor of Cinco de Mayo!), and Sunset Rubdown. These last two things are both bands... and if you click on the link to Sunset Rubdown, check out their goofy little dorky picture, it's great and makes me smile.

Happy Wed nes day. Change is good.

Ground Control to Major Kucinich

The AP put out an amazing thing today. They asked all these supermundane questions of the various folks who are running for president. They compiled all the answers and are going to post one question a day for the next... well, week, I guess? I dunno. Anyway, if he doesn't become President of the USA, Dennis Kucinich wants to be an astronaut. Good stuff, I think he has the best answer. Mysteriously, John Edwards would be a Mill Supervisor, interesting choice there Johnny boy. Check out the rest of the answers here.

On the funny side, I also give some props to rebel Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (the governor who lost a 1,000 lbs on the Subway diet), and to Bill Richardson... great answers guys.