Nate, this one's for you!

Chester Bonnaccorsi
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Awhile back Nate suggested that I may have been treading a little too close to a line called, "cat lady" by taking too many photos of the family cats (and posting them with somewhat rediculous stories). To be perfectly honest, he had a good point. Sad to say it, but regardless of the validity of such warnings, I still find the animals a good subject for photographic fun. Hence, it should come as no surprise that one of the first photos I've uploaded from my 180 picture weekend of fun with a new camera is... that's right (you've already seen it), Chester the cat.

The week is off to a great start, with beautiful weather outside, lots of good pics from the weekend, and a whole lot of work to dig into!

Cheers

New Camera Giddiness

Second Day Sky
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

So... I got a new camera this weekend, and I literally don't quite know what to do with myself or it. I've been running around taking pictures frantically and randomly since I got home with it and charged the battery Saturday evening.

The adventures so far have been somewhat hilarious... including the fact that I probably at some point need to tone down my photo quality settings because I'm fairly certian I don't need to take every shot with the set-up such that it creates a 3 megabite jpeg. Yeah. A little excessive? Perhaps.

Anyway, that's all, really for now. That and I'm giddy. Did I say that already?

Romney Hates Animals

Wow... this is nauseating, but um... wait, no, just nauseating.

It's funny because it was a family joke of ours growing up... someone misbehaving in the car? Strap 'em to the roof!

Holy crap, a Presidential candidate did that to their pet, and for whatever reason, we all now know about his insanity. Can't wait to hear some explanations for this ridiculousness.

Griffey returns to the sounds of Journey's, "Open Arms"

Leave it to baseball to knock me out of my political blogging rut here. It's been a week with lots of political crap to blather about. Wait, that's every week, right? Anyway, not everyday do you catch up with this kind of story:

A Welcome Sight, Griffey Returns to Seattle

If you grew up in the 90's loving baseball like I did, well, then you need to read it. If not, you will likely still enjoy it. Regardless, here's a little preview:


"There's a wonderful "Seinfeld" bit in which Jerry says that because players change teams so often, fans find themselves rooting for the uniform and not the athlete. "When you root for a team these days," he says, "you're mostly rooting for laundry." This is almost always the case. But Seattle fans were most definitely not rooting for laundry over the weekend. They were rooting for the player."

Enjoy

Jon Stewart Vs. Dick Cheney

Who do you think will win? I mean, Jon Stewart is cool and all, but Dick Cheney has the whole super-evil thing going for him.

Daily Show Coverage of the Cheney Redonkulousness.

Save Internet Radio

The record companies like to rake in money, and your government wants to help them do so hand-over-fist. There's a shift that's supposed to take place mid-July of this year that would in effect make it incredibly difficult for many internet radio providers to keep doing what they do. Why? Because the change in law/rules about internet radio would dramatically increase the amount of money an internet radio outfit has to pay the record companies every time they play a song.

Bottom line: the pending changes would line the pockets of record execs. Don't be fooled by anyone who wants to tell you this has anything to do with paying artists for their work. I for one am fairly certain this is far from related to that. The big loser, anyone who wants to tune into the internet and catch some of the variety that record companies and corporate radio has all-but whitewashed from broadcast radio.

So, if you're a big fan of top 40 and really care to hear nothing else, forget you ever read this post. Otherwise, visit here to take action:

http://www.savenetradio.org/act_now/index.html

OR here to learn more:

http://www.kurthanson.com/dos/

Thanks, Adam, for bringing this to my attention.

Bare Knuckle Politics

Did you realize that Dick Cheney was not part of the executive branch of our government? He argues that on odd Tuesdays, Thursdays, and whenever else he makes a secret hand movement he magically is not part of the executive branch... or actually he just generally wants to be considered whatever is expedient, at any given moment. At such expedient moments he will fluctuate between acting as President of the Senate and occasionally moonlighting as Captain Kangaroo (that last bit is unconfirmed, but I think it will eventually come to light).

Anyway, in a kick-ass response along the lines of, "Well, if that's the way you want it," Rahm Emanuel has introduced a motion to limit Mr. Cheney's funding to the funding set aside for his non-executive activities... which should drastically limit the massive staff he has, etc.

You know, I'll be honest. It's pretty ugly, but it makes me smile. The slimy bastard deserves to take some heat for his ridiculousness... and it's frankly long overdue. To my eye Dick Cheney is a dangerous man.

Fun related links:

• TPMCafe's article Rahm's Moment
• Salon War Room's blurb, "Tit for Tat"
  

More Interesting Than the You Tube Stare

I think if anyone takes a fair appraisal of the current state of political debate surrounding Iraq, they'll come away feeling like the staked out sides ring so hollow it's maddening. I know that I often feel frustrated and annoyed by the fact that supposed leaders are selling us analysis that is on its face just simple, if not completely backwards and wrong.

Anyway, it's funny that in a presidential race that's so bizarrely early, mind-numbing and sure to be protracted you really need the bizarro candidates to get anything said. Case in point:

Mike Gravel's Commentary on Huffington Post this week.

His article has to do with ways that Senator Clinton (as I hear it's most appropriate to address her) scares him, and the reason I re-post it to my blog is this: I share his fear of her, and the reasons for it. I also think that he's got good reason (as he points out) to fear any number of the other candidates who share adjacent views, make similar statements, etc.

I think there's a real failure of will to face down just how difficult this Iraq mess is, certainly from the current administration, but also from the Democrats. Perhaps this results from the fact that calling it as ugly as it really is, would come off sounding incredibly pessimistic next to the Tony Snows and Bill O'really?s of the world... but I dunno. I could be blathering now. Anyway, no solutions really, just a moment where I felt like the crazy guy who throws rocks in the water (wait for it... wait for it) had some interesting bits to contribute to the discourse.

Now Hear This

So nobody should be surprised to hear that America's radio waves are dominated by conservatives spewing ickiness... I'm sure not, but here's a study that drives home the point:

I saw it in this article on Crooks & Liars

Now THAT's what I'm talking about

I've been telling people that I think a really strong case any candidate for President should make given the climate in DC these days is to say clearly and loudly, "My administration will be about competence, objectivity, professionalism, etc." or something along those lines. As though designed to appeal directly to me and folks who think in similar ways, here is a very inspiring article from the Boston Globe regarding recent comments by Obama.

Here you go, the article is here.

And here's a quote from it (from Obama):

"It's easy to be cynical -- to believe that change isn't possible; that the odds are too great; that this year is bound to be no different from the last. But I also know what I've seen and what I've done," he said. "I know that for me, reform isn't just the rhetoric of a campaign; it's been a cause of my career."

I saw the article on Democratic Underground... and I recommend checking it out highly. This is the kind of thing candidates should be talking about, namely REAL reform that will have an impact on making government work well. People can squabble all they want over how much government should be involved in this or that, but my thing is this: whatever the government does, it should aim to do extremely well.

Some people act like business is somehow specially endowed with the capability of achieving lofty goals like efficiency, innovation, etc. by nature of competition, but I think this notion is crap. Accepting this argument completely undermines the idea of a government in the first place by in effect saying that anything government does is damned to be mediocre from the start. I believe competition has a value and a place, but also that society can build institutions designed to demand excellence in both execution and results. Anyway, let's get outside crap arguments and stay in the realm of talking about achievable reforms that we should all rally behind.

Cheers, and happy Friday.

Gazing through the Flowers

Matt Mieko Wedding 15
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

So... at Matt & Mikeo's wedding Lyndsey came up with a brilliant plan. There were these fun floral centerpieces on the tables... and we convinced many people to have their picture taken peeking through them... as though they were in the midst of an overgrown... well, flower patch.

Here's the first of a few I intend to blog up a storm with, so STAY TUNED for that excitement!!!

Newsish Enough for you?

How long will it be before either of these get mainstream media coverage:

Cheney Exempts His Office from Protecting Classified Info

Giuliani blows off the Iraq Study Group to make some quick cash at Speaking Engagements


Just wondering!