GZA + RZA + Bill Murray = Fun times

Ok, this is the encore to Tom Waits week, where I post one leftover video inspired by the Coffee & Cigarettes post. This doesn't involve the brilliant Mr. Waits, but it does involve Wu Tang Clan and Bill, "Groundhog Day Ghostbustin'-Ass Murray" talking about Mr. Murray's dangerous addictions to nicotine and caffeine. Also, in this post they discuss coffee popsicles, an idea I remember having multiple conversations about with friends on a visit to Chicago a few years back.

Manure Thief?

That's right, a manure thief fell into a vat of cow dung in Germany, then fled the scene buck naked. Now, I suppose if I fell into a vat of dung I would want to ditch my clothes too, but somehow I imagine that didn't entirely solve the problem. Does anyone else read this story and say, "WAIT! WAIT!!!! MANURE THIEF"?????!?!?!?!! Oh good, figured it wasn't only me.

Friday Fun Post

A few tidbits to keep you goin through the weekend... not that I won't necessarily post sometime Saturday or Sunday, but still. It's a list post, the weekend seemed a good excuse for that sort of thing. Now the list:

• There is a disease called Uncombable Hair Syndrome, and you can learn more about it here. The blog post linked discusses how the existence of this disorder points to a few interesting points, one being, "That from a therapeutic point of view, you need to look at the market value of finding a cure, before the whole finding a cure process to the start (i.e. do you think a lot of places are looking at treating uncombable hair syndrome?) Plus, if you take that question further, you can start getting into the arena of neglected diseases." Now neglected diseases are a serious and important topic of conversation. Uncombable Hair Syndrome... well, it's remarkable that it is existent, although I guess it sounds pretty frustrating. Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan
• Bill Gates Semi-Retires today from his full-time position at Microsoft (coverage of where Microsoft stands at this point in today's NYT) to shift into a larger role with the Gates Foundation. I, for one, hope that his shifting focus may allow more of the innovative thinking and rigor that clearly powered Microsoft's success as a company to push into the world of social change. It doesn't hurt to have a great mind choose to sink large amounts of his time and focus into building a better and more equitable world. Cheers, Bill.
• North Carolina offers free replacements for license plates that include the trendy and explicit kiddo speak, "WTF." I wonder if they'll offer the same for LMAO plates next. Details here.
• Finally, muskrats attack St. Louis. People in NC think to themselves, "WTF?" Honestly, I can't really embellish this one any more than that. Wonkette has some coverage, as does the Minneapolis Start Tribune.
  

Tom Waits & Iggy Pop from Coffee & Cigarettes

Here's a fun little piece from Jim Jarmusch's 2004 film Coffee and Cigarettes featuring Tom Waits and Iggy Pop. There's a bizarre energy about the scene, and I remember seeing this movie in a theater and walking away with this scene as one of my favorites, this and the scene with Bill Murray (watch out for it to be posted here shortly!).

Late Night Throw-back (Burgertime!)

That's right, it's Burgertime! A friend got me thinking about Apple IIc games today, and I found that there's an exhaustive list of games for the IIc listed on wikipedia (no big surprise there, actually), and as I started to scroll down, the first thing that caught my eye was Burgertime. I recognized others, but this game was definitely a classic of my childhood, this and Dig Dug!

I don't really know what else to say, except that this brought a huge smile to my face, as I suppose childhood memories are supposed to.

Wonderful Distraction Alert!

This is going to sound dirty, but you should seriously check out porkmoustache. I know, I know, it sounds... well, potentially very strange at the very least, but I would posit that the best adjectives to describe this singular phenomena are quirky and/or goofy. Super happy-making photo fun for your day.

Hat tip to my friend Tiff whose facebook page tipped me off to the moustache!

Laughable

Seriously, I just wanted to throw up a couple recent favorites from Wonkette. Here goes:

• On Tuesday they had a fun and exciting post about one of John McCain's most prominent Democratic supporters. Am I talking about our jowly and pugnacious senior senator from CT, Ole' Joe Lieberman? Nope, I'm of course talking about almost Governor of West Virginia Icky Frye. Don't know who he is? Check it out.
• Yesterday they, like many blogs, covered the new cover from New York Magazine, which prominently features a terrorist fist-jab between John McCain and Barack Obama. Are you wondering to yourself, "Terrorist Fist-wha???" No worrries, I got background for ya right here.
  

Tom Waits Ol' 55

Tom Waits week continues with a classic cut from his 1973 debut, Closing Time, "Ol' 55"



All Music Guide says, "The lyrics are terrific – “Well my time went so quickly/I went lickedly spitly/Out to my ol’ 55” is the song’s opening, and it progresses into a most moving account of a man and his car as one can possibly imagine."

I'll Go All Leviticus On Ya!

So James Dobson has begun trying to convince evangelicals not to vote for Barack Obama, and the Daily Show, as usual, has brilliant coverage of Dobson's comments. They do this funny thing that helps you see some of the irony in what Mr. Dobson has to say, they use what the kids are calling, "context."

Brilliant!

I Don't Wanna Grow Up

Can we call it Tom Waits week? Ok, let's! Here's a brilliant video from I Don't Wanna Grow Up off 1992's Bone Machine.

I Know it Hurts But...

$4 a gallon gas, huh, good God
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

Ok... maybe not. Nice piece over at the Atlantic today from Megan McArdle about how the pressures of $4 and possibly soon-to-be $5 a gallon gas are having an impact on supply chain management nationwide.

"The good news is that we have information technology that people in the 1975 couldn't even have dreamt of, which is grinding away at the problem of making our economy incrementally more efficient. If the price of oil does come down, we'll emerge from this substantially more productive--good for us, good for our descendants, good for the planet."

While high gas prices and the state of the economy are justifiably going to be a campaign issue this fall, and while I know they're causing a good bit of pain to many Americans. It's nice to see some documentation of the upside, part of which involves people thinking about how to do the things they do more efficiently. It would be lovely if people just worried about that all the time, but when gas is supercheap, people don't so much think about whether they need to drive from here to there. Apparently also large corporations don't think about whether they can consolidate shipments of this or that, etc.

hat tip: Andrew Sullivan

Pehdtsckjmba

Last week my brother tipped me off to this wonderful little tidbit from Tom Waits, who many folks may not know, but he's an incredible and unique musician. This year I've been particularly taken with two tracks of his, "Old 55," a song from his incredibly debut album, Closing Time, and "Hoist That Rag" from the more recent an haunting 2004 release Real Gone. He's come out with a new one, and below you can check out the press conference for his upcoming tour. You'll get not only a brief introduction to Tom and his enjoyable antics, but also a fun new vocab word!

R.I.P. Russ

How often do you see headlines that you just don't really believe? Yesterday when I saw the first headline float across my computer screen regarding Tim Russert's death, I simply thought it wasn't true. My father was about a year older than Russert when he passed away unexpectedly and pretty suddenly a few years back. I hope that in this difficult time his immediate family can take some solace in the fact that they spent some of Tim's last days together on a family vacation. Again, I see a similarity in that my own father was actually on vacation and had just seen my brother, met my brother's wife for the first time. These sorts of things can take a tragedy and soften the edges a bit (perhaps only a very little bit).

I like many have a leery eye for the mainstream media in America these days, whether I'm worried about consolidation of power among a few mega media corporations, or the oversimplification of sound-bite politics blended through the 24-hour cable news echo chamber. Russert, while imperfect like us all, truly was one of those voices who really managed to shake out of the talking points, the sound bites, and the oversimplification to bring us some meaningful news about the politics of our nation. I think he certainly presented the type of model political junkies and journalists alike should aspire to, being well informed and hard working, seeking understanding and meaning out of the bizarre circus that circles the mall down in Washington D.C. Sure he had what seemed like some gotcha moments, but over the years he offered great insight to many situations and had the sort of work ethic that gets you to the top of your game, where he certainly was this week when he left us.

I think anyone would agree, especially those of us who have lost someone around Tim Russert's age, that he has left us too soon. I hope that his family and friends will have the opportunity over the days to come to gather and celebrate a great man's life, and I truly wish them the best as they figure out how to come to terms with their loss.

Rest in Peace, L'il Russ.

The Aftermath

Looking for a distraction now that the Democratic Primaries are over? I know I'm a little at a loss for what to post about these days, and you can go any number of directions with that. Visiting Andrew Sullivan over at the Atlantic today I found two, One being a deep breath and a visit to some lighter fair, like the ReelGeezers, whose review of the Superbad is below (I just rewatched Superbad last week!).



Another direction one can go is into the deeper issues of the day. I already tossed up a quick post earlier about the SCOTUS' big decision on habeas corpus, but here's another fascinating post over at Sullivan's blog with some nice back and forth around the question of whether "Empire" is the right metaphor for understanding America's presence in Iraq. Either way you want to go, nice to know there's still lots of fun distractions out there in the world.

Oh, and here's one more, check out Purple State's post about (among other things) a Canadian school child's awesome science fair project that looked into a bacterial solution to decomposing plastics. If you don't know why this is an issue, check out a film on plastic in the oceans.

How 'Bout Them Checks and Balances?

Sweet news today as the Supreme Court handed down a ruling that foreign nationals held at Guantanamo Bay have a right to pursue habeas challenges to their detention. When congress took this right away a few years ago, it was seen by many (myself included) as a huge power grab by the administration as well as a direct affront to a basic and central piece of the rights Americans fought for in seeking our independence back in the way back. A nice quick post on the ruling is available here, and I hope my soon-to-be lawyer friend Matt will soon weigh in with his own thinking on this lovely little verdict.

I'm pretty scared of this court and the decisions they will hand down over the years to come with Roberts and Alito behind the bench, but it's nice when even a group like this comes down on what seems like the site of good sense.

A Proud Moment in Baseball

I grew up a huge fan of the Philadelphia Phillies and baseball in general, but as I got to be a teenager and started playing the game myself one player dominated and I can't think of anyone of my peers who wasn't a fan. This evening Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 600th HR, and while injuries have shortened many of his seasons since 2000, it's still a remarkable milestone. Espn's Tim Kirkjian put together a nice write-up here. A couple excerpts stood out to me:

On the early years:
" 'When he came to camp in 1989, he had no chance to make the team,' [former teammate Scott] Bradley said. 'But he got a lot of at-bats early that spring because a lot of veterans don't like to play a lot early. After 20 games, he wasn't just the best player on our team, he was the best player in the league that spring. The Mariners basically said, 'We don't want this to happen, we don't want to rush him, we don't want him to make the team.' So they started running him out there against every elite pitcher, against all the nastiest left-handers they could find in hopes that he would stop hitting, and they could send him out. It never happened.'
He made the club as a 19-year-old, the youngest player on an Opening Day roster that season. In his first at-bat at the Seattle Kingdome, he hit a home run on the first pitch he saw from the White Sox's Eric King. Griffey went on to hit 16 home runs that season -- in baseball history, only Tony Conigliaro and Mel Ott hit more homers as teenagers."

On the 90's and his development as a hitter
"Griffey had the amazing ability for a young hitter to see, react and hit the breaking ball if it stayed in the strike zone for too long. As he grew as a hitter by developing his opposite field power and still maintaining his pull power, the huge home run seasons came. He was then the youngest player to reach 300, 350, 400 and 450 home runs. He was named to the All-Century team when he was 29 and he was named the Player of the Decade for the 1990s."


Kurkjian closes by saying that while we could look back now and talk about all that might have been without his injuries, it's much more fun to admire what an amazing athlete and all around player Griffey has been over the years. It's also fair to look forward and realize the kid still has quite a few homeruns ahead of him.

Zakaria on Obama and the World

I've been busy studying for the bar and so this is my first post for a while. I saw this interview with Fareed Zakaria on CNN while checking baseball scores. It's vintage Zakaria: thoughtful, fair and internationally orientated. It helps, I admit, that I agree with him. Electing Obama to the Presidency would help the US's image abroad, but that this boost will fade fast if Obama follows through on the anti-market rhetoric that he's used on the campaign trail. In a nutshell:

"Most people around the world want the United States to keep this open-world economy going, and they care much more about that than whether the United States is multilateral in the United Nations Human Rights Convention.

The core issue for a Kenyan farmer, for a Brazilian businessman, for an Indian entrepreneur is, will the United States help keep markets open?"

It’s a very brief piece but well worth reading. Now back to the books!

Zombie Army, Here I Come!

Awesome piece over at Slate today about the press (and bloggers') inability to find the right wording to describe Barack and Michelle exchanging a quick fist pound before his speech last night. I saw a post about this moment that evening (over at the Jed Report) and about how charming it was, but honestly I didn't pick up on it as it happened. Now I wish I had! I'm not going to lie, saying much nay anything about the cool factor related to things like this is exactly what feeds right wing talk about a zombie Obamaniac army full of people who simply drool over how amazing their candidate is and blah blah blah blah blah.

I'm sorry, I guess I just don't care. These two, Barack and Michelle, are two smart, poised, incredibly successful people, and I believe they will both provide remarkable leadership to our country in the years to come. Not only that, but they seem like genuinely cool folks, whether it jumps out in moments like Michelle's conversation with people in Indiana about her difficult choice to work and pay off student loans while worrying about this choice and her desire to be the absolute best mother to her two daughters or in a momentary fist pound during a well deserved moment of celebration. Last night was a remarkable night, and while I don't support Obama because I think that he and his wife are cool people, I do think it's fun to see someone succeed in this level of politics and still actually come across as normal, even cool.


Previous indicator that I'm an Obama zombie: my excitement to see him brush the dirt off his shoulders, Jay-Z style.

54 contests + 362 decisive super delegates = ...

"Yes We Did" - Andrew Sullivan

"Historic" - HuffPo

"Destiny" - NY Post

"Barack Obama is President of America" - Wonkette

"Obama Clinches" - Philadelphia Inquirer

"Taking Back the Story" - Purple State Blog

"The End of Clintonism" - John Dickerson at Slate.com

"I Will Be Making No Decisions Tonight" - Hilary Clinton


... wait wait... WHAT?!?!?!?!?!!?


"Senator Clinton may not have made any decision tonight, but the Democratic Party has." - Tim Russert

Fair enough, thanks Tim!

"I look forward to seeing you on Last Comic Standing." Jon Stewart to Terry McAuliffe on tonight's Daily Show.

"It's Our Time" - Barack Obama

I'm not gonna lie, I think this is all pretty damn exciting. Forget about all the sleazy sad bizarre no-decision-making etc. This thing is Over. Happy Math Day at The Best Way, folks!

... and good night.

WAIT! Let's end Math Day the way we started, with some stuff related to the new Weezer album. Their actual video for Pork & Beans turns out to be, well, awesome. Check it out here:



Why not celebrate with a who's who list of YouTube phenomena? And actually... let's end on a touching and intensely cool note from Andrew Sullivan.

Stephen Colbert + Awards With Mirrors Built-In = A Match Made in Heaven

Stephen Colbert spoke at Princeton's graduation ceremony this week, encouraging graduates not to change the world. He was also awarded the, "The Great Princeton Class of 2008 Understandable Vanity Award." (pictured at left). He went into further specifics in his speech, encouraging the graduates not to change global warming, saying, "The older generations cut down the forest and sprayed millions of tons of CO2 in the air for a reason -- because they felt a draft in here. ... When you're older, you'll understand that it is a lot easier to raise the ocean temperatures a few degrees than to remember to bring a cardigan."

As the grandson of a Princeton grad, I couldn't be more proud of this hallowed institution. Ah Colbert... what will your bump do for the Tigers?

Want to know more about what was said? Check it here at HuffPo.

13 Seasons + A Return Home to Bow Out = Classy

Mike Lieberthal took his final bow, retiring from Marjor League Baseball Sunday after signing a one-day contract for $4 to end his career with the Philadelphia Phillies, where he played 13 seasons. I grew up watching some rough patches with the Phils, and Lieberthal caught through some difficult seasons in the Vet and beyond.

I was also interested to read that the last player who retired in this fashion from the Phillies was Center Fielder Doug Glanville. My family and I watched Glanville play single-A ball in the Cubs farm system one summer in upstate NY, then when he came over to the Phillies it was a pleasure to watch him hold down the fort in Center Field.



Just a little Phillies fan moment here on Math Day!

More details on Lieberthal's final day in the bigs.

This Post + Harriet Christian = Exploding Head

Earlier this year I had a conversation with my roommates that I have come to recount often in the months since it happened. I was subjecting them to large amounts of coverage that evening from some state (or states') primaries and we got to talking about Presidents and possibility. One of my roommates asked (a fine question in my opinion) how much we should realistically imagine an Obama administration might change in 4 or even 8 years of power. I didn't have this answer at the ready but with a moment or two's thought I responded, "well, how much do you feel like America has changed since January 2001?"

I hate to use the Bushies as an example of success, but if the Bush administration set out to make changes in America, they certainly have managed some huge shifts in our identity (both how we think about ourselves and how the world sees us). If you watch the Daily Show clip I posted earlier Jon Stewart refers to some of this as, "the things about this administration that angered and frightened you over the first couple of years of their reign and then over time you... have come to accept as the new normal."

This is all preamble to an overlap of two things I read today related to one of those most heated of all American political issues, abortion (and choice). As many people understand fairly well, the current administration has nudged the Supreme Court significantly further to the right with their two appointments, opening up the possibility that within many of our lifetimes Roe vs. Wade might be overturned. Fewer may track the ages of our current Supremes closely enough to be clear that our next president will almost certainly nominate at least one justice to the highest court in the land. Hence, I would submit that for pro-choice (and, I suppose, anti-choice) Americans the stakes in this fall's election are incredibly high.

The two articles that set up my superlong preamble here are:

• Early this morning I read a post on AmericaBlog, that raised the question of how serious Clinton supporters are about choice when they claim that they will help McCain should Obama become the nominee.
  
• This afternoon, my friend Tyler posted a link to this essay in the New York Times, written by an 80 year-old gynecologist who describes his experiences working in New York City hospitals in pre-Roe America. As one might imagine, this description is fairly bleak. To offer a quote from the end of Cromwell's essay, "It is important to remember that Roe v. Wade did not mean that abortions could be performed. They have always been done, dating from ancient Greek days. What Roe said was that ending a pregnancy could be carried out by medical personnel, in a medically accepted setting, thus conferring on women, finally, the full rights of first-class citizens — and freeing their doctors to treat them as such."
  

Reading these articles mere hours apart made clear that while I post, write and think a good bit about the minutia of politics here (and lots of other random stuff) the end game is what matters. The party in control will make decisions on a daily basis that impact the lives of Americans and others. The choice we face in the voting booth is about who we believe will take our nation and the world in the right direction. I know this is true for me as much as it is for people who adamantly disagree with me on the question of choice (or other things like government spending, or the merits of universal healthcare).

Hence I was reminded (for the 30 zillionth time) today that it is always insanely important to keep our eye on the fact that the two parties we currently have really do take substantively different positions on issues large and small.

BTW, if you don't know Harriet Christian, internet sensation, you can get to know her via FoxNoise filtered through Wonkette (the only way to get your FoxNoise) here.

Update: Post title change to protect the integrity of Math Day at Best Way!

THANKS WORLD! UPDATE II: What a strange day... and there will probably be at least 3 other things to post about before it's over. Anyway, the AP has a piece picked up on Yahoo News today (where I found it) detailing the differences between Obama and McCain on the issues. How handy is that as an addendum here? Please do read, it's a nice little summary.

B52s + McLellan = Audio Book Genius???

I'm looking forward to catching this whole episode of the Daily Show, perhaps this evening via the wonders of a little device I like to call a Dee Vee... Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Until then, enjoy the following clip of Fred Schneider adding some "zazz" to Scott McLellan's new book:



SCOOTER LIBBY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's Math Day at The Best Way!

What will our next equation of wonderment bring you???

Pork & Beans + Chocolate Rain = Weezer!?!?!

I've been a fan of Weezer since their days of songs about sweaters overlapped with awkward high school times, and I recently learned that they are releasing their latest self titled album (the red album this time). This news brought a balance of excitement and concern, as I've enjoyed a fair number of tracks even through rough patches... and then there was Make Believe, which I'm sure sold zillions of copies of Beverly Hills via itunes, but overall was pretty weak.

Still, today I discovered that this still-favorite band of mine has teamed up with Tay Zonday, the internet sensation who brought you Chocolate Rain (if you don't know chocolate rain, check it out here, and some Chocolate Rain byproducts here with Darth Vader, here with John Mayer, here with some dude at a drive-through window and here with Dr. Pepper). Below is a clip of Weezer guitarist Brian Bell and Tay Zonday doing an acoustic version of the first single from the red album, "Pork & Beans." I think my favorite part is watching Brian try not to lose it laughing when Tay starts in doin his thing.



Warning... this is the second video posted on The Best Way in less than a week that may cause music to get stuck in your head... well, maybe not Pork and Beans quite so much as Chocolate Rain, damn that tune is catchy.

Music to My Ears!

Ok... so the last post was mean to your senses... hopefully this one does a little repair!

I just saw this on HuffPo, had to toss it up. Bill Clinton said today, at a stop in South Dakota that this may be the last day he's ever involved in a campaign of this kind. One of many hints today that the end is potentially actually finally really no-shit here for what the Daily Show long ago aptly named, "The Long Flat Seemingly Endless Bataan Death March to the Whitehouse."

I won't hold my breath, but it would be nice, wouldn't it?


More Music:

From the AP via Teagan Goddard:

"It does appear to be pretty clear that Senator Obama is going to be the nominee. After Tuesday's contests, she needs to acknowledge that he's going to be the nominee and quickly get behind him."

-- Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, a national co-chairman of Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign