Meanest man in the world

I like what Chris Cillizza said in his critique:
"I would not like Joel to critique the Fix. MAN."

I read one or two of the first pundit contest blogs, but that was enough for me. Joel, you're not being mean, just honest, from a very good writer's perspective.

First?

"...So I was busy impinging on her, when..."

Dunno, I think you /could/ blog with that word.

...especially when "impinging" is paired with "impishly."

I loved your criticism, Joel. It was honest, insightful, constructive, and witty. It may have seemed a tad pointed to the blogger hopefuls, but they should have signed on for that. Blogging is another kind of writing and, when done well, all writing is work. You set a good example of the kind of helpful criticism to which I aspire when correcting student intern work.

Of course, that may be why they cringe when I supervise them.

It might even be why so few students apply to work for us.

You know what the solution is for too much meanness?

More quam.

I need to find that snark key on my keyboard.

I think these were honest evaluations, Joel. Nothing to be ashamed of. And yet, I certainly know the feeling you are describing. It is why I loved being a tutor in college but really hated being a TA in grad school. You know, when you have to actually grade things. I wanted everyone to be above average. And it is why I hate interviewing prospective employees as well. It's tough to be critical.

More quam is good for most anything that ails you.

I think that quam fits the Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam song nicely.

Sorry, popping the Quam Dirigible launched so hopefully and happily here.

Quam does not mean that bright and deep advent encounter between two. Quam is an part of the comparative superlative structure. Quam means

than.

Sorry. Note. My Latin is only receptive. I heard it in Church back in the day. I can parrot phrases and will admit to this favorite:

sursum corda

Lift up our hearts.

Shall we not try that everyday? To the sun, the universe, the leaves, the cunningly smooth pebbles in a brook, cloud formations, words like Quam and what we want them to mean....

Sorry, popping the Quam Dirigible launched so hopefully and happily here.

Quam does not mean that bright and deep advent encounter between two. Quam is an part of the comparative superlative structure. Quam means

than.

Sorry. Note. My Latin is only receptive. I heard it in Church back in the day. I can parrot phrases and will admit to this favorite:

sursum corda

Lift up our hearts.

Shall we not try that everyday? To the sun, the universe, the leaves, the cunningly smooth pebbles in a brook, cloud formations, words like Quam and what we want them to mean....

Of course, if any of these individuals is scarred for life by such modest criticisms, they are probably not cut out to be bloggers. I mean, writers in general, and bloggers in particular need to have pretty thick skins. Or a cooperative pharmacist.

antequam, priusquam is indeed before/prior than ("antius quod" in kitchen latin, "avant que" in French). But I got nailed in high school because the than/quam refers to the time of the sentence, not historical time. I'd rather do the nasty.

I don't think Joel really does meanitude. Imagine if they had let Henry Allen critique these. I remember the instructor in my first year Journalism class during my (mercifully brief) major in that subject. His basic approach seemed to be that you had to be able to do three fundamental things: 1) write clearly, 2) get your facts straight, and 3) handle hostility. If you fell down on any one of these, I think he felt that he was doing you a favor by chasing you out of the department as soon as possible. Unfortunately, it wasn't until the following year that I realized that #3 was not my forte.

Incidentally, quam has some really nasty meanings in the urban dictionary.

Coronemus nos Rosis antequam marcescant
By Thomas Jordan
1612?-1685

LET us drink and be merry, dance, joke, and rejoice,
With claret and sherry, theorbo and voice!
The changeable world to our joy is unjust,
All treasure 's uncertain,
Then down with your dust!
In frolics dispose your pounds, shillings, and pence,
For we shall be nothing a hundred years hence.

We'll sport and be free with Moll, Betty, and Dolly,
Have oysters and lobsters to cure melancholy:
Fish-dinners will make a man spring like a flea,
Dame Venus, love's lady,
Was born of the sea;
With her and with Bacchus we'll tickle the sense,
For we shall be past it a hundred years hence.

Your most beautiful bride who with garlands is crown'd
And kills with each glance as she treads on the ground,
Whose lightness and brightness doth shine in such splendour
That none but the stars
Are thought fit to attend her,
Though now she be pleasant and sweet to the sense,
Will be damnable mouldy a hundred years hence.

Then why should we turmoil in cares and in fears,
Turn all our tranquill'ty to sighs and to tears?
Let 's eat, drink, and play till the worms do corrupt us,
'Tis certain, Post mortem
Nulla voluptas.
For health, wealth and beauty, wit, learning and sense,
Must all come to nothing a hundred years hence.

(I happened to notice that this poem would go very well with the tune Bonnie Dundee, and would make a fine pub song.)

http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/scottish-folk-music/001205.HTM

All those wannabes stunk without exception. Probably the anxiety of "now's my chance to really make it big" screwed 'em all up.

Rashomon -- you will always be Kurosawa Guy's boodle relative to me. He is now known as KGuy.

Thanks E-man.

I sing a lot of Latin and am perfectly capable of translating it correctly, to understand its meaning. However, I prefer my own, somewhat looser translations, which I share with a couple of very forbearing musician friends as we sing.

For instance, we're doing a modern version of "Phos Hilarion". This is clearly about risible detergent. [Hilarious phosphates.]

The first line of "Nunc, dormire" is about an uncle playing dominoes with a dormouse.

So. I'm sitting in the Patriot Center with rickoshea waiting for none other than Bob Dylan to come onstage. Remind us to tell you how valuable a $5 cane from CVS really is.

TBG and RoS -- frenvy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ivansmom: I think Mad Hatter dormouse visions when I hear
Nessum Dorma.

Paul from Wales is last year's
Susan from Scotland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA

He sang the Dormouse Aria.

Good for you TBG.

Ivansmom, you're not getting your level B Latin Language Certificate. Sorry.

Hmm. Somebody accused me of BEING KGuy the first time I posted on this thread. And he did start that airship-in-movies subject yesterday, which I added on to this morning. Maybe I'm his evil twin. I always wanted to be an evil twin. HA-hahahaha. No wait. BWah ha ha. That's not right either. Gotta go now. I need to practice my evil laugh.

Your laugh is fine, Rm. Practice for fun.

Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!
Tu pure, o, Principessa,
nella tua fredda stanza,
guardi le stelle
che tremano d'amore
e di speranza.
Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me,
il nome mio nessun saprà!
No, no, sulla tua bocca lo dirò
quando la luce splenderà!
Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio
che ti fa mia!
(Il nome suo nessun saprà!...
e noi dovrem, ahime, morir!)
Dilegua, o notte!
Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle!
All'alba vincerò!
vincerò, vincerò!

English Translation of "Nessun Dorma"
Nobody shall sleep!...
Nobody shall sleep!
Even you, o Princess,
in your cold room,
watch the stars,
that tremble with love and with hope.
But my secret is hidden within me,
my name no one shall know...
No!...No!...
On your mouth I will tell it when the light shines.
And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!...
(No one will know his name and we must, alas, die.)
Vanish, o night!
Set, stars! Set, stars!
At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!

---
Which is why Pavarotti's singing of this at the World Cup in the early 90s was so perfect.

You are a good evil twin rashomon, a evil wins go.

scc as, twins

So frenvious of rickoshea and TBG! Can't wait to hear the review! Maybe he'll do a Christmas song or two.

For those obsessed, you can go here for set lists and reviews:
http://www.boblinks.com/

Don't forget to wave as you drive by!

I bet BobbyD won't sing this song Eileen Aroon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V_lZAwmoqU

But this person of the mists, Sweetheart Evelyn, comes from the mountain corner of Wexford in Ireland where my mom's family hails. I heard the song in folkie form long before Bob tried his hand at it. For one of my bucket items, I would sit in a coffeehouse setting and Bob would sing this to me.

Atypical Dylan, but really, what IS typical Dylan? That is why he persists and deservedly so.

I think I deserve a very special Latin certificate, shrieking denizen.

Nessun Dorma:

No-one sleep, no-one sleep,
too pure, princess.
Nellie, you and Freddie stand,
guarding the stars
that tremble with love
and speak Esperanto.

That's enough. Probably too much, really.

rashomon, it has been good to see you the last couple of days.

Off to sing interesting Latin.

Rashomon, you and kguy often post simultaneously or at least symbiotically.

Isn't Nessun Dorma in Italian? My Latin is so rusty as to be almost non-existent. I remember Pavarotti performing that at the Turin Olympics - made me cry, it was so beautiful. It may have been one of his last performances (wikipedia says it was his last).

Lou Dobbs: What's he running for?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/11/AR2009111125152.html?hpid=topnews

Dangit, JA, you beat me to it!!!

But I do get to use the phrase "Lou Dobbs: the Larry Johnson of CNN?"

:-)

I am pleased to see that my "unauthorized" translation of 'quam' has caught on, after getting no traction or expressions of shocked outrage in the last Boodle.

Church Latin? Ha! I snicker at it! Imprecise, it is! Of course, my critique would be stronger if I understood either Church Latin or classical Latin.

As one who managed to get just one guest Kit past the Joel-barricade, I could have told those poor dears that training and decades of experience has crafted in Joel a darned good editor.

Of the punditry contestants, my favorites are Maame Gyamfi and Burton Richter (already eliminated). I felt like Jeremy Haber's highly detailed horse-race analysis was more of what we don't need -- plus, the bored-to-a-coma thing. Zeba Khan, despite having good name recognition because of Pearls Before Swine ("Hulloooo Zeba neighba"), is a very dull writer. I noticed that Joel's critique of Kevin Huffman seemed to boil down to the idea that there is something there worth working with -- no point in such a lengthy critique if there were going to be nothing of substance left after the deconstruction.

Having seen the critique, however, I am glad I didn't enter the contest. My delicate spirit might not have survived such harsh judgment.

I can claim only a glancing acquaintance with Latin; my undergraduate advisor had her PhD in linguistics, and I did a semester independent study in Latin with her. Had a great time, but it was too late in my academic career for much to stick. But I can figure out most of the phrases I encounter.

Had a lovely tribute to veterans at church tonight. We sang the first verse of the songs of all five of the service branches. I can't say I'd ever sung the Coast Guard song before.

How bad is the rain in the metro DC area? There were 3.5 inches in our rain gauge when I looked the middle of the afternoon, and it's still coming down.

Good to hear from you, rashomon! Keep posting, please.

Here's something I don't get, however: if the WaPo is serious about this contest, why isn't it linked from the home page? It takes some searching to find it.

One more thing: I try to keep in mind that the contestants are working without a net. They are not being edited except at a very superficial level, according to the descriptions. Hence, a number of copy-editing problems (doubled words, missing verbs or subjects, etc) and the tendency to blather is not restrained by an editor. I assume that a real editor would prefer to have people deliver copy that is already almost problem-free, but it might take a while to whip a writer into shape. Do the WaPo's regular pundits go straight into the paper without modification by the editors? I doubt it.

Thanks, folks. It's nice to occasionally hang out here in the more civilized parts of the Post's website. I normally skulk about on the more unsavory parts of the op-ed page. Will and Gerson, in particular, are fond of cherry-picking data, or taking it out of context, and it's so much fun to leap out of the shadows and beat them about the head and shoulders with, you know, actual facts.

Calling all GLLEEEEEEEEEEEKS!

Just in case you didn't remember it's a new episode tonight.

Ivansmom, love your translations. Keep going!

Eldest and I are on the couch, each with our laptop - enjoying Glee.

Tim, there's a link from the National home page in Opinions - Pundit Contest: Beyond the comfort zone -
http://views.washingtonpost.com/pundits/?hpid=opinionsbox1
Otherwise, I never would have found it. I just realized that awful Siemens ad is all around the home page again - because I mistakenly clicked on it - I hadn't noticed it before.

Lessee, Glee or The Tudors - Tudors! I keep meaning to catch up on Glee online, but never seem to find the time.

Tudors shmudors. But, if you must, I highly recommend watching Glee episodes back to back online, preferably multiple times.

One more thing on the pundit contest: Whew! There sure are a lot of bad writers who think it is their task in life to go to each of the would-be pundits' blogs and inform them that their writing is weak.

OK,my daughter and I were both crying during Glee. I had read an article earlier today a review of the show, and it mentioned this episode, I understand why the review was positive.

Yep, I was a crying Gleek tonight.

Glee: best line:

Curt: I'm filled with ennui.

Runner-up:

Sue Sylvester: Oh yeah? Imagine audtioning for "Baywatch" and being told we're going in a different direction.

The wheelchair number, "Proud Mary" ("Big wheels keep on tuning"), well. It's why dmd was in tears.

Meanwhile, has Howard Kurtz lost his mind? His lede: "Lou Dobbs, the most opinionated and divisive anchor at a cable network that bills itself as a straight-news oasis..." Um, more opinionated and divisive than Limbaugh? Than Beck? Methinks Kurtz is resting this claim on the idea that Dobbs is an "anchor" while the others are not. A pretty thin distinction, IMHO. (But yes, Dobbs is awful. Didn't think that was at issue.)

shriek, I am soooooooooooo envious. I myself tried sooo hard to get nailed in high school. No luck.

Actually, I had already lost it when Sue went to visit her sister, then the conversation with Curt and his Dad, then just kept weeping through Proud Mary - which also gave me chills.

Putting on my rose coloured glasses to dream that Lou Dobbs just fades away into the sunset - a girl has to have dreams - let me have this if only for a moment.

Mr. F reports the Canadians put on a fine ceremony honoring all from the Commonwealth.

Toodles boodle and sweet dreams.

RIP David Lloyd, who wrote my the wonderful "Chuckles Bites the Dust" episode of MTM - still cracks me up even after viewing it so many times.

http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/11/11/rip-david-lloyd-one-of-the-greatest-of-all-tv-writers/

Aw, man. David Lloyd. One of my heroes. Jeez, he was good.

Engelman, that was a splendid song. I think I'll put it to the tune and sing it.

I have no time to regale the Boodle with more free Latin translation, so I leave you with the beginning of my favorite book in Latin. Trust me, you've read it, or your kids have:

Ecce Eduardus Ursus scalis nunc tump-tump-tump occipite gradus pulsante post Christophorum Robinum descendens. Est quod sciat unus et solus modus gradibus descendendi, nonnunquam autem sentit, etiam alterum modum exstare, dummodo pulsationibus desinere et de eo modo meditari possit. Deinde censet alios modos non esse. En, nunc ipse in imo est, vobis ostentari paratus. Winnie ille Pu.

A story worthy of David Lloyd, unfortunately it is true, and a political embarrassment for our Transport Minister (well sort of).

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/cats-demise-prompts-rumours-of-thatcher-death/article1359985/

Thanks for that, dmd. I followed the Ken Levine link - very nice tribute too:
http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2009/11/in-memory-of-david-lloyd.html
Ken Levine was one of the announcers for the Mariners (the baseball) for awhile. I liked him.

Here's the set list for Bob's Fairfax show - looks like a good one. Highway 61 and Ballad of a Thin Man:
http://www.boblinks.com/111109s.html
Amazing how quickly these get posted.

That Ken Levine blog was great, thanks seasea.

Another story by Joel about the Prez:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/11/AR2009111127507.html?hpid=topnews

Thought it was a nice gesture that Obama walked around Arlington Cemetery a bit and talked with people.

The Ken Levine post was excellent -- untikl I came to this parenthetical: "He was a true giant in the industry and one of the major influences on our career (me and my partner, David Isaacs)."

Me and my partner? Sweet jayzus.

Notwithstanding that awfulness, the post contains this link to the full script of the "Chuckles Bites the Dust" episode: http://www.twiztv.com/scripts/attic/marytylermooreshow-607.txt

Now, now, Mudge -- Kurtz was specifying that he was the most divisive anchor at CNN. I don't think Limbaugh works for CNN, does he? And I gather that Beck used to be with CNN, but not anymore, not since whatever incident made him the "man" he is today.

The Wikipedia page for "Proud Mary" already has been updated to include the reference to Glee.

Jon Stewart interviewing the great Clarence Clemons on the Daily Show: Going to a Springsteen concert "is as close as I'll ever come to going to church."

I seek Boodle wisdom: in the song "Proud Mary", I have always interpreted the lyric "Proud Mary keep on burnin'" as indicating that the song's 1st-person protagonist is smoking some ganja = Mary-juh-wanna while riding on a riverboat and enjoying the relaxation and the view. The ScienceSpouse considers me to be silly, and the Wikipedia page suggests that it is a reference to the boat, apparently named the Mary Elizabeth. I guess, then, that it is the boiler-fires that must continue their conflagration.

What do you guys think? Song interpretation has always been an astoundingly weak point for me.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/11/dwarf-planet-naming-contest/

My personal favorite is "shmanets"

I never interpreted Proud Mary that way...I just thought it was about a riverboat. It's interesting how songs take on a life of their own, and how sometimes the songwriters claim not to know what they're about. Tom Petty recently tried to set straight the story about his song, American Girl, being about a college student's suicide (it's not). Apparently that's been going around for years.

The "me and my partner" grated on me too, but it's a blog, so I gave him a pass.

See, SciTim, I always look for the very simplest possible interpretation. I think the marijuana is a stretch, as is knowing that the song referred to a boat with a propane boiler... This implies *way* more brain that usually goes into a Creedence song, especially given Fogerty's known fondness for the sound of words. If you think of that nearly onomatopoeic penchant, and his ability to rhyme backwards, think of this.

He knew that Proud Mary was a river boat, and so already had the line "big wheel keep on turnin'" So he had to go back and find a sustainable, if not necessarily comprehensible, rhyme for turnin' that more or less scanned.

Now, further consider that he knows that not all of us will know, when the line enters, that Mary is boat. She might be a woman (to us). So there you go. The 'keep on burnin'' line rhymes with the one he already had, and with the driving beat of the piece, a veiled reference to burning works. In short, more quam.

It is simple, doesn't require contortions of intellect or tortured explanations and background knowledge, and works as a song (though it wouldn't as a poem, where we require a little more intention).

Yoki is right. And, the best songs and poems begin with a kind of literalism linked to soaring or introspective metaphor. But, the beauty and wonder is that the words morph into something real WITHIN our reach and hearing.

Many meanings. And, permit me to borrow from Whitman: containing multitudes.

I don't have much trouble with this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxvSU_w_t88&feature=PlayList&p=722279D4252729E6&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=13

Gotta disagree, Tim. What Kurtz said was "at a cable network that bills itself as a straight-news oasis." He didn't specify CNN. Surly the quoted definition also includes Fox, yes? Fox bills itself as straight news (fair and balanced). (That's it's patent crap is another matter.)

Gawd, I hate that! Our beloved CollegeQuaParkian always says it better than me, and in far fewer words.

I don't really hate it. I admire it, while feeling very small and yet, strangely, verbose.

Ha! I might be Stewart Little!

Y'all drove me to watch Glee.

I'm watching the "preggers" episode from last season. It's definitely funny, and with far less music than I had feared.

Yoki, just now I am the descant on your rich contralto. We must have the main melody for the descant. Together, we are right and true and a chord here.

ScTim -- good question on a good song. Been a theme song for me for a long time, when my dad first told me about that boat's name.

You are a lovely woman, CqP, and a beloved friend. Thank you.

SeaSea, thank you very much for posting tonight's play list for the Dylan concert. So *that's* what they were playing!

The band was great, very rocking and bluesing. Dylan was just amazing. He opened his mouth and some sounds came out loud but not clear. His voice is high and low, graveling and grating, with an occasional hint of helium and a 78 record. Seriously, he should see a doctor.

I swear that every time he began a song, I fell to the floor in hysterics. But I am glad I was there. And in the encore, when I discerned that he was singing(?) Like a Rolling Stone, I felt that life had come full circle for me, since that was the song he sang at Newport when he went electric. And I was there.

I think I'm sorry he didn't sing any songs from the Christmas album. That would have been AWESOME.

If you haven't seen the WaPo's review of that album, here it is. It's funny.

Bob Dylan's Christmas Album: He'll Sleigh You
Holiday Cheer Comes Menacingly Wrapped

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/12/AR2009101202765.html

You're not the only one, Wilbrod. We watched episodes 4 and 5 tonight (1,2 & 3 being unreachable) and are now hooked, unwillingly. The football game scene with the gay kid (I'm sorry, learning their names will come later) was absolutely hilarious. Also liked the ~"Bambi, I felt sooo bad when those hunters killed your mother."~ We like that kid best. Lots of little throwaways like the quadruple decontamination procedure is called the "Full Silwood." Nice.

I'm not sure whether to thank the Boodle or curse the Boodle. Will advise.

The vast majority of side-wheel and paddlewheel (sternwheel) riverboats burned wood as the major fuel firing the boilers. To some extent, they gradually switched over to coal toward the end of the 19th century. But during the great age of the riverboats, they burned wood. They would stop fairly often along their routes to various landings, where stacks of wood were waiting to be taken aboard.

Wood was the preferred fuel early on since it was universally available, whereas coal existed only in certain locations. Coal was a "better" fuel, but it required development of the railroad net to get it transported to where it was needed: the seaports and riverports. The need for coal was a major driver of the expansion of the rail industry in the late 19th century. Railroad trains switched from firewood to coal much earlier than did ships, because the trains were going to and from the coal fields, which ships could not do.

Ships gradually switched from coal-burning to opilburning starting at the turn of the 20th century. It was Admiral Jackie Fisher (a hero of mine) who converted the British Navy from coal to oil during his tenure as First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, circe 1900 to 1910 or so. The navies of the rest of the world gradually followed. (The consequence of Fisher's action was the sudden influx of British oil barons like BP going into the middle east, Iraq, Iran, Saudi, etc., which in turn had consequences during WWI and after.

But yes, the Proud Mary was burning cordwood not Maui Wowie.

Oops, Silkwood.

'Mudge (imagine Marvin-the-Martian-voice-here) you just crack me up.

scTim

Photo of Mary Elizabeth Grafton, the boat.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/mary%20elizabeth%20grafton/ISTARTAJOKE/riverboat.jpg

NOT DEFINITIVE...but for fun.

rickoshea -- an excellent review!

I've felt that way about Dylan's voice for years -- but he is what he is!

Thanks Nellie. Here's what the Post's music page says...

"A Bob Dylan show in 2009 is as much a living history lesson as a concert. So skip that trip to Williamsburg and see the single greatest artist of the 20th century. Dylan's decade-long comeback continues with this year's "Together Through Life," another gently rollicking trip down America's musical memory lane, with nods to the pre-rock-and-roll sounds of Chess and Sun Records. His voice may be more shot than Bonnie and Clyde's death car, but it's still hard not to get goose bumps during classics such as "Like a Rolling Stone" or "Blowin' in the Wind."

--David Malitz, May 2009

SciTim,

Here's a cover of Proud Mary you may not have heard before. Doesn't really shed any light on the meaning of the lyrics but you have to take advantage of every opportunity to listen to music by Mr. Spock. Enjoy!

http://www.goear.com/listen.php?v=053099a

And a wee bit of proud Mary history, from the NYT, 1888:

"A VETERAN CAPTAIN DROWNED.

March 20, 1888, Wednesday

Page 1

MOBILE, Ala., March 19.--Capt. Abraham Fry, a veteran steamboat Captain, fell overboard from the steamboat Mary Elizabeth on the Alabama River Saturday night and was drowned."

Short 3-graf article and photo of 34-cent US stamp showing the Mary Elizabeth (but not the right Mary E., see below). http://www.squidoo.com/who_is_proud_mary Later down the page is a modern photo of the "real" Mary Elizabeth steamboat. She is actually a "pusher," a kind of tugboat that pushes lines of barges up and down the river (the clue is the pair of pusher bumpers on her flat bow).

CqP, your photo shows the paddlewheeler Discovery III of Fairbanks, Ala. (http://fairbanks-alaska.com/riverboat-discovery.htm), not the Mary Elizabeth. I know yours say Mary elizabeth grafton, but I think that's who took the photo. When you blow the pix up, she clearly has Discovery III on her side.

Here's more on Discovery III, built in 1987, so couldn't be the "Proud mary" in question: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_III

Limbaugh is neither an anchor nor on a cable network.

ALL songs in the 60s were about drugs.

Is more quam like more cowbell. Because everything can use more cowbell.

All right, why is everyone up so late? I mean, it's not late here, but usually you guys are in bed by 9 pm (EST). Isn't it a school night?

ros, glad you enjoyed seeing Dylan again. I wasn't sure what you would think of his voice, having heard him when he was young. I've only seen him once, about 5 years ago, and at first I thought, what a joke. But I love how he does the songs. I could usually figure them out halfway through - the guy in the seat next to me got them on the second note - he'd make a sound of recognition, or laugh. Tambourine Man was a highlight for me, so different from the recordings, and I love All Along the Watchtower. Dylan has fabulous musicians with him, really a treat. Hope TBG had fun too!

I think it is the Federal Holiday, seasea, which has lulled our Eastern Friends into a false sense of Saturday Evening. Hahahahaha! Us unemployed wastrels can sleep as late as we like.

Oh, wait. That isn't a good thing.

But nothing tops this golden throated performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQtyJZhV2lQ

The website that started the rumors about Glenn Beck and that girl (not that I believe the rumor, but why doesn't Beck prove it false?) won its case on the 'moron in a hurry' standard.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2355560,00.asp

After winning the lawsuit, Isaac Eiland-Hall turned over the password to the website to Beck and said he no longer had use for the site now that his First Amendment rights had been upheld.

Many people found great irony in Glenn Beck appealing to the United Nations for a case that was so flimsy that it would never have been considered in the US.

But Glenn Beck hasn't bothered to take it down.

http://didglennbeckrapeandmurderayounggirlin1990.com/

Yet.

The weird middle of the week holiday was what I was thinking too, but lots of people don't get it off. I have to get up early tomorrow myself - busy day.

Congrats to Nukespouse for landing a job! It gives me hope.

I believe, yello, that you are thinking more about the years 69-75 (what most people call "The Sixties"). Prior to that, most songs were about holding hands and dancing in the 'gym after the basketball game in a shift and cat's-eye glasses and white gloves, and a boyfriend in his suit, about to go to Vietnam.

A white sport's coat,
And a pink carnation...

Yes, Yoki. The '60s' didn't actually happen during the 1960s. At least not a great deal of it. I've frequently tried to actually tie down the era, but it's pretty elusive. The leading candidates are:

Beatles on Ed Sullivan to Beatles breaking up.

Assassination of Kennedy to resignation of Nixon.

Summer of Love to Altamont

Tonkin Gulf Resolution to the fall of Saigon

February 3, 1959 to October 4, 1970

Big NoPrize to whoever can figure out the last one without Wikipedia or Google.

I think this Shatner trumps a pair of Nimoys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-yy2URAYqU

How about a new game: Define that Neologism.

glenbeckery (noun):

Anyone?

Take my word for it. '69-'75 is "The Sixties" Maybe '74.

I was there. Young, very (at least in '69), but there.

Sigh. The good old days.

For gosh sake's! Nixon resigned in '74. See? My timeline works.

roshomon, GlengarryGlennBeck?

Glennbeckery: Deliberately repeating innuendo and unfounded rumors while ostensibly and disingenuously expressing disbelief. See Lou Dobbs reporting on the Birther movement.

Wow. In honor of such a busy boodle overnight, omelets to order with ham biscuits in the ready room. Mixed fruit, plus breakfast beverages. Enjoy, all!

Cool and wet in the Carolinas this morning. I believe I'll do my exercising indoors. Is it still raining in metro DC? Time for Ida to go back to sea...

This morning's news highlighted he nor'easter that's moving into the DC area. Please take care, boodlers. Danish pastry, scones, bagels, and of course, proper coffee are in the ready room.

A Glenbakery recipe for artisan lies in 5 minutes

6 cups of unfounded lies
1 1/2 tbsp leavener
1 1/2 tsp gossip
3 cups swill

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients into a sludge. Let the lie ferment for a few hours in a dark, damp corner until it rises and collapses (now the lie is well developed). Cover it, but not in an airtight container to allow noxious gases to escape, and keep it alive but subdued in a cold dark place. When you are ready, take a piece of the lie and stretch it to fit the occasion. For effect decorate with a cross, bake until a barely palatable crust forms and feed to the masses.

We have a feast in the ready room, but what I am really going after is coffee.

Need coffee. Fear cup is not nearly big enough.

Excellent article, Joel.

The comments? Well, I couldn't help myself but I wish I had... *SIGHHHH*

Looking to be a particularly gloomy and dank day here in DC.

But hey, the Nats have a Gold Glove third baseman and a permanent mananger, so things are looking up, right?

Right?

*shaking-the-rain-from-my-jacket-with-less-than-a-tenth-of-the-panache-Wilbrodog-would-use Grover waves* :-)

Gut morninckzz, Boodlerei!

Nice spring weather here (at last).

Watching the six o'clock:

Check out the military construction boom and amounts being spent on bases in Afghanistan. It suggests a forever occupation.

Meanwhile, dollar is in a nose dive.

All long range bad news for the American taxpayer.

Haff a good day, everyone.

Brag

Thanks for breakfast, slyness. I'll have the hippie hollow. It's one of my favorites.

DNAGirl,
As tempting as that sounds, I'm going to pass on the GlennBakery. But I do hear it makes a good Hannity hash. And their secret to such good Limdough is the oxy in the rolls.

Good morning all. I got up, looked outside, and declared it to be a most blustery day.

Which reminds me, thanks Ivansmom!

Wow. Excellent and extremely even-handed article by Joel about the wartime commander in chief:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/11/AR2009111127507.html?hpid=topnews

The comments are painfully predictable.

'morning all. Gorgeous day in the other federal capital. Chuck and Camilla didn't have to stand in the rain for the Remembrance ceremonies yesterday. It's rare; the records show it was only the fourth dry Nov 11 in the past 20 years.

Radio-active poop?
http://www.skolnik.com/blog/

'Morning, Boodle. Aye, garn, this be sailor's weather, begad. Reminds me of the weeks we spent patrolling off Ushant, keeping the Frenchies blocaded inside Brest. O them war the days, they wuz. Ever'thing reefed down but a couple of yards of the topsails, and a hank for'ard at the jib.

(OK, I've been listening to O'Brian's "The Yellow Admiral" on my way to work.)

Great breakfast, slyness.

This guy is 64 today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVC2cszdTao so the song selection is appropriate.

Aye, 'twas a holiday yesterday, and so the late night boodling.

Joel, wouldja pass on to the layout desk that the Photo Box link on the Knock-Out Abuse Benefit connects to the Howard Homecoming? And ask them why there's a hyphen in "Knock-out"? If it's the verb expressing a request to knock something out (such as abuse), there's no hyphen. If it's an adjective descripting absue as being really neat and cool ("a knock-out"), then yes, keep the hyphen. But I really don't think they are praising abuse. Although in this day and age, I guess one shouldn't make assumptions.

One of my favorite Neil Young songs, thanks Mudge.

Nice morning here, a little cooler, a good but not killing frost.

I gotta give Andrew Sullivan credit. I didn't think much of him at the beginning of his career, but he keeps on making sense when almost nobody else does. From Kurtz's column today:

"Are you getting tired of all this political sniping? Washington reporters tend to get caught up in it, but Andrew Sullivan complains about "the sheer, mind-numbing, nerve-stretching, politician-watching endlessness of it all. If I were not paid to follow these ins and outs, I'd find the whole process alienating.

"But this ghastly process is what legislating such an enormously complex bill actually requires. And I do think that one of the most under-estimated aspects of the Obama presidency has been his insistence on letting legislators. . . . legislate.

"This is their job. Maybe it's because that's where Obama came from; and maybe it's because he understands that the Clinton approach failed. But it is also a conservative re-balancing of constitutional order.

"We no longer live in a republic in which the Decider decides and corrals a rigid ideological party into obedience. We live in a republic in which the to and fro between branches of government is embraced, where complex legislation can evolve over time, with debate, where vital national issues can lead to raucous town hall meetings and ugly Congressional sessions, where goals are examined, deliberated, debated and fought over, where a law's passage is never assured, and where improvement is always possible. In other words, we live in a real, breathing, frustrating, but pulsating democracy."

Guy's right.

New kit!!

Poor Mudge

Joel, you are not mean. My freshman composition professor was, though. In one of my papers I used the word "well-rounded" in a metaphorical sense and he wrote in the margin: "Ugh! Meatballs are well-rounded." I got an A in that class. Imagine what kind of comments he wrote on the papers he thought were bad! I think a professor who is capable of putting "Ugh!" on a student's paper should NOT be allowed to teach writing.