Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
These lifeless things
Spent my day off yesterday getting lost in the British Museum.
And, come to think of it, the big statues and busts of kings did look dead and decayed. The everyday stuff, the art and even (through gritted atheist teeth) much of the religious paraphenalia - all that seemed very much ‘alive’, even though it was as much mineral as the other stuff.
The Great and Not-So-Good come and go, but there are always people just living and creating beautiful things...something created to tell the lie that King Whatsisname will live forever just no longer has a purpose, so is dead.
It was very sweet seeing the wee asian schoolkids running around the Islamic exhibit, absolutely rapt in what they were seeing.
Oh, and there was an exhibit displaying the pharmaceutical intake of an average brit - 14000 pills over a lifetime. I paced it out, 15 of my yard long strides. Blimey.
Posted by Mew on from London 01/18 at 08:01 AMGood morning, Mew. Thanks for a thoughtful comment. Is the British Museum where they house the stolen Elgin Marbles?
To quickly catch up from last night…
Mudge: Where does your niece live?
Youngfox: Thanks for the commentary.Expendables, I heard from the MIA Joe from Oregon. He’s busy cleaning up, etc., post-flood...and sends a big hello to all.
January 18, 1985: The U.S. walked out of the World Court:
http://tinyurl.com/akmxnJanuary 18, 1778: Cook discovers (sic) Hawaii
http://tinyurl.com/3dzmkPosted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/18 at 08:10 AMHeh, I always forget to greet everyone...where are my manners? Good morning to anyone and everyone, and good afternoon to any who come later…
Yeah Mickey, the Marbles are still part of the British Museum collection. Theres actually bits of the Parthenon all over Europe.
Technically their ownership is legal...shall I say it? Oh OK - property is theft. The Parthenon of course belongs to the descendents of the people who made it.According to the museum’s website, theres some scheme to build a museum in Athens to house the Marbles, either as a part of the British Museum, or on loan from them.
Posted by Mew on from London 01/18 at 08:24 AMMew, I wrote an article about the Marbles some 3-4 years ago. It’s not available on-line, but I can post it here. An interesting look at how artistic treasures are plundered by experts (sic) who claim ownership. If there’s any interest in that, I’ll post it soon.
Still, in the spirit of today’s post, the Elgin Marbles will eventually go the way of Oxymandias.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/18 at 08:33 AMDull is the eye that will not weep to see
Thy walls defaced, thy mouldering shrines removed
By British hands, which it had best behoved
To guard those relics ne’er to be restored.
Curst be the hour when from their isle they roved,
And once again thy hapless bosom gored,
And snatch’d thy shrinking gods to northern climes abhorred!Lord Byron, “Childe Harold”
I’d be interested in your article Mr Z, please do post it. I daresay many of the things I enjoyed contemplating yesterday had a similar but less celebrated history to the Marbles.
OK, really have to get back to “business” now. Catch up later if I can.
Posted by Mew on from London 01/18 at 08:41 AMRight now I have Democracy Now on. Amy is talking about Hugh Thompson and just aired a clip with him. I hope everyone can see this today.
Good Mornin’ Mew and Mickey. I just read last night’s comments. This one from Mudge seems to hold a lot of truth for all of us, “...But damn, this sucks when I can’t control any facet of my own life....”Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 01/18 at 08:43 AMI’m not sure if the British Museum is where we house the stolen Elgin Marbles, but it is where we house a lot of artefacts stolen from other cultures to ... um ... show how cultured we are? (gulp - not a comfortable thought!). But theft is a bedrock of our notion of civilisation, I guess. Much of Venice is stolen Turkish archecture, & Las Vegas is none too original. Way it goes, I guess.
MZ re Shelley & American Idol -
Just for a warbler he left us,
Just for a dense tart to cackle his mouth(That’s me mangling The Lost Leader, btw)
Not sure if watching Am Idol rescinds your radical card, but I do think any ideas you had while watching that should be CAREFULLY considered before acting on. Haven’t watched much reality TV, but what I have seen leads me to believe that a certain derangement of one’s taste can take place. Please be careful! Don’t want to lose your writing time to practising that Tina Turner impression, now, do we?
In re Spins - ideally, if you could quote certain parts of the 7 & how they tie in with the war excuses we are being offered. So, for example, when a speech fits into the “We in the US only fight in response to aggression” type example you could point out shooting down the Iranian airbus etc etc, arming Saddam et al. So much there to go on, a reminder of how the same techniques get used. Spins is a great delineator of how this shit goes down, so why not remind us all of your prescience?
Thanks for the pointer to Propaganda 101. My copy has been ordered!
Mudge - keep going, man! You have the good will of the evolving diversity that is the Expendable nation. Am currently writing Kharma cheques out in your favour, hopefully they won’t bounce. This time next week, well, you may not look back & laugh, but at least you can look back & say “no more lifting any fucking boxes for a while.”
James - way to go! & Kylie’s bottom is one redeeming feature. Glad you have a new job.
JOS, if you stop by, all the best & hope it’s going well.
Captcha says “police.” I can hear toilets flushing across the US!
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 01/18 at 08:55 AMHi all, I’m avoiding doing packing shores by hanging here for a while. Shame on me.
MZ #2: My niece lives about 3mi away from where I’m sitting. If, instead of sleeping on their couch, I can shoehorn my ‘puter and bed into the garage (unusually warm winter is now welcome), I think that’s the best possible result. I don’t know how it would work, but if I can make this happen, I will even look into having my phone transferred to their garage (might do that anyway, so as to have an answering machine somewhere).
Mew #3: interesting thought, to me at least..."The British Museum Acropolis Centre” or whatever they call it just rings oddly in my mental ears.
Museums are temples to the concept of “property is theft.” Even theft by sale. Suppose that can change, though, with commual ownership? I wonder.
RMJ #6: One nice thing about living in my niece’s garage is that they have satellite TV and I can watch stuff I’d never have access to otherwise. Some good in every thing, eh what?
Chris #7: “Much of Venice is stolen Turkish archecture” Byzantine, actualy. The Turks, a Caucasian people, stole it from the Byzantines in 1456. They need to move back to the Caucasus and give the place back to the Greeks who had it for “many” thousands of years before losing it to a bloody war of conquest.
Or Turkey should hand over its entire national income for a few decades to Greece in reparations (many more recent nastinesses, too, like Ottoman colonial rule, and the Salonika massacre)! All Greeks everywhere should receive monthly checks from the Turkish treasury for the rest of their lives because of the HUGELY valuable cultural patrimony that was lost to them. The Orthodox Church lost thousands of churches as Islam spread across the natal lands of Christendom, too, so they’re due an immense amount from all Islamic believers.
But damn, none of this reapportioning of resources will do ME any good! My tastes might be Greek, but my ancestry is Greek-free; Orthodoxy don’t want me no more I want it; how can I get in on the give-aways...?
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 01/18 at 09:41 AMHello Expendables and all,
Mudge: For seven years I lived on The Hill, which is the evil student’s area next to the university where one may go nine months without sobering up, having spent zero on alcohol.
The house where I rented a room was owned by a man my age, who had a woodshop out back and stayed up all night making custom tables, chairs and cabinets. Behind his shop, out in the alley, there was a shack about the size of four Porta Potties put together. A Hermit with a long, white beard lived there, along with a family of skunks under the floorboards. He subsisted on candy and coffee, drove a brand new work truck (white with utility scaffolding and a chrome-plated lock box), and was apparently heir to a fortune. As far as I know, he still lives there. I’d often come home from my party rounds, plop myself down on my old futon matress, and watch him shuffled back and forth in front of my window.
This reminds me of another story, which I will save for Saturday.....
Anyway, I approve of long breaks when doing something as unpleasant as moving. I’m glad you’re spending your time with us.
Captcha: “strong”
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO 01/18 at 09:54 AMHello Everyone from rainy, windy Astoria. I just dropped in to suggest two places Mudge might want to live:
http://tinyurl.com/cs36q
http://tinyurl.com/8azepPosted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/18 at 10:36 AMMudge, it would help a great deal on the “giveaway” front if you could tell me what your background was! Regrettably, I have no blood bound claims likely to make my fortune. I am half English, half Irish. The English half probably owes more people money than I could ever hope to repay, and the Irish half is unlikely to make itself a clear victory of being due compensation, as that area is more than slightly acrimonious in terms of who did what to whom.
Are you well served for bookstores near you? If not, sue the state of Texas for discriminating (via economic means, I suppose) against discerning readers.
Can’t guarantee you a million, but it’s a thought.
Hawk, I envy you. When I was a student I spent a fortune on drink. Admittedly I did get a fair old bit free, but it was still a major expense. Good to see you back making comments, fella. Your absence has been missed!
Just had the oddest bit of spam. “Feeling unpleasant? Smoke an elite cigar ...” Now, I did search the email for the “elite cigar” attachment (& that would be technologically advanced!) but it wasn’t there. How the hell did I end up on a cigar mailing list? I haven’t smoked a cigar in years, & certainly don’t spend my time drooling over Monte Cristos the size of a torpedo. Maybe it’s me commenting on the MZ board which, as we all know, is now Forbes friendly. Maybe they assume I spend my time & cash smoking Cubans!
Ah, the whims of commerce.
Captcha says “part.” I am not part of such silly sales matters. Captcha can #### off.
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 01/18 at 10:38 AMRe MZ’s first suggested location, Mudge, how’s your “Kwakiutl” speaking going? Maybe we could rustle up some tapes.
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 01/18 at 10:40 AMRe the second Mudge location link:
“Mudge is made up of three buildings ...” and you never mentioned this! Too modest.
Captcha says “third.” Obviously it knows something this time around.
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 01/18 at 10:42 AMInteresting stuff (almost hot from the press ... sorry! It was last week)
Former SAS chief Sir Michael Rose called for Blair to be impeached over the Iraq war - “a war that was to unleash untold suffering on the Iraqi people and caused grave damage to the west’s prospects in the wider war against global terrorism.”
Hmm. A number of war mongering neocons love the Special Forces (part of the whole Tom Clancy thing of viewing military assassins with dewy eyes and bulging trousers), so if anyone gets the chance to rub this in people’s faces, please do!
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 01/18 at 10:52 AMChris, for more amazing, little-known facts about Mudge, click here: http://tinyurl.com/9j924
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/18 at 10:58 AMWell well, I don’t know where to start!
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 01/18 at 11:03 AMMickey: I posted my Mechanical Contrivium results over at my place.
Hilarious trivia....
Chris, Michael and everyone else over the Pond: captcha is “british”.
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO, USA 01/18 at 11:09 AMSo, Hawk, should I be calling you Cheerioats? Captcha sez it’s “required.”
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/18 at 11:14 AMGreetings, all. The first and only time I visited bloody old England, I was immediately whisked from Heathrow to Windsor castle for the standard tourist go round. After only a few minutes wandering inside I was overwhelmed by the amount of other peoples’ stuff that was jammed in there, floor to ceiling. I’ll admit that it was slightly discomfiting. Quite a record of Empire.
I had a hoot in Blighty, though. I spent most of three weeks on the Isle of Wight, with a few days in the London area. The weather was superb!
Posted by Cart on from near Warshington DC 01/18 at 11:18 AMSorry, Mickey—Cheeriots is what I used to be called.
Now I am Captain Crunchiots!
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO, USA 01/18 at 11:26 AMMy branch of the Mew clan hails from the Isle of Wight. Very good rock festival they have there.
Chris, Sir Michael Rose’s comments were front-page news - in the Morning Star. How many other papers gave them prominence?
Posted by Mew on from London 01/18 at 11:35 AMMew, no idea. I avoid the papers most of the time as they’re usually full of shit, celebrities & scare tactics. Bird flu for example. Arse!
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 01/18 at 11:54 AMKerry toes the company line: http://tinyurl.com/bvo89
Why? Captcha sez: “because.”
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/18 at 12:40 PMChris #11:
Remember the film “High Fidelity”?
That was me.
I worked seven years at Albumbs On the Hill, an independent record store run by Andy Schneidkraut, one of the world’s all-time trivia geniuses. Utilizing the mighty power of the PROMOTIONAL CD (to which all employees had unlimited access), I hardly ever paid for anything, except rent (and at one point I was five months behind on that!). It was almost too much, in fact. It got to where I was “in” with every bartender in town, and I just waved my way through the lines at whatever concerts I wanted to attend. All those college chicas....
After about three years, I started to hit the wall—and after seven years, I was totally burned out on the scene. Since 1997, when I went in for my final shift at the store (age 34 at the time), I’ve probably purchased half a dozen CD’s—all vintage Blue Note jazz—and have attended two concerts that I can remember (Pharoah Sanders and Charles Lloyd). I stopped partying alcohol and drugs in 1996, and have been more and more the reclusive yogi ever since—hoping that I didn’t do irreparable damage and can live a healthy long life even yet.
Wouldn’t trade my “third childhood” for anything… but it’s so thoroughly out of my system that I don’t miss it at all.
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO, USA 01/18 at 12:44 PMHawk, fair play man. I think certain types of people go at their live in stages. It suggests a freshness of approach and willingness to appraise one’s way of doing things, to see if it is still appropriate for the way life feels. Certainly I respect the approach of doing one thing as excessively as feels right, then moving on to the next. Have recently cut down on my own drinking - my nights out were too predictable, & nights in sometimes just a blur. So I decided to cut back a little. For one thing, on the occasions when I do get drunk now, I enjoy it more. Not sure if this makes me a lot more sociable, but what the heck.
I doubt you’ve done yourself lasting damage. The amount of drink & drugs people can imbibe without knackering the system is staggering. If you don’t feel any ill effects from your partying years at the moment, why should you at any point? From what I’ve seen over damage to people, stress does far more than all but the most excessive substance use.
Reclusive yogi, hmm? Maybe I should consider that!
(apart from not actually knowing much about the yogi part, that is!)
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 01/18 at 12:50 PMIn case any of you missed this fantastic piece of writing from last night’s posts, I hope Youngfox doesn’t mind. Spot on:
Too many of the “End Time” Neocon fundies in the American power structure are too busy trying to facilitate the coming of their War God and the end of humanity. They love Iran’s new Fundie leader (who is also a big “End Time” believer).
His hubris-riddled bravado makes their pernicious goals more easily attainable.It never ceases to amaze me how the most murderous and hate-filled people in the world claim to be the most pious advocates of their respective monotheistic control cults.
Okay, this is me again. Can I just say, once and for all: #### Kerry!
Posted by Keir on from The Hague 01/18 at 01:05 PMChris:
Like I said, I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything. And there were comparable years before that, leading back to the age of 15.
At some point, however, the desire for all that sensory stimpulation simply dropped away, and was replaced by something I couldn’t have imagined previously. In my case it really could not be rushed—and the whole “reclusive yogi” thing just happened, one little piece at a time.
As I’ve said here before, there’s more spirituality in a basement bar than in all the churches in the world.
But that’s not the whole story....
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO, USA 01/18 at 01:45 PMGlad to hear that Joe’s okay, by the way. Thanks for checking in with him, Mickey. Can’t wait to get the full scoop....
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO, USA 01/18 at 01:46 PMKeir:
Thanks for re-posting Youngfox’s excellent wordage. I especially like the second paragraph—crystallized truth, that.
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO, USA 01/18 at 01:47 PMWell, I have just woken up - it is 6:10 on a Thursday morning in Daylesford, Australia. It will be around 88 F today but for Sunday 104 F are forecast - more scorchers ahead!
Thanks for another enlightening post, Mickey - I must say I really like the Lincoln Memorial and like the Vietnam memorial in DC even more. The latter is the right sort of war memorial, I must say!
And welcome, Mew, RMJ, Chris, Hawk, Cart, Keir and last but by no means least, MUDGE. I hope you are all well.
Mew, I also should say that Mr and Mrs Helga were very impressed with the British Museum - the Great Court and the fact that one now has direct access to the famous Reading Room. We last visited London in early 2002.
Ciao!Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 01/18 at 02:12 PMHello all,
I’m sorry I’m missing all the conversation today. Just too busy right now.
Joe - I’m glad that all’s well and you’re just busy with clean up (not to suggest that your recent flooding is ‘ok’, but good that you don’t have further troubles that are keeping you away).
Mudge I’m sending good vibes “across” the continent - they should reach you any moment now.
I’m a little disturbed about my contrivium results: http://tinyurl.com/awnhp
I hope to check in later. Sorry for missing details but I only had time for a quick read.
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 01/18 at 02:22 PMUh-oh, Empress: “It’s bad luck to put Amelopsis on a bed”?
Captcha sez: “wrong”
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/18 at 02:25 PM8. Amelopsis is picked, sorted and packed entirely in the field.
9. Amelopsis can give birth ten days after being born, and is born pregnant.
10. It’s bad luck to put Amelopsis on a bed.
Well… “disturbed” may not cover it, Amelopsis!
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO, USA 01/18 at 02:28 PMSimul-commenting again....
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO, USA 01/18 at 02:29 PMyeah, strange.
my number 10 seems quite pleasant actually
Posted by michael on from scotland 01/18 at 02:32 PMMichael, c’mon, for real? “In Chinese, the sound ‘tubthumper’ means ‘bite the wax tadpole’!”
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/18 at 02:34 PMi couldn’t resist doing george bush…
1. George bush can last longer without water than a camel can.
2. Koalas sleep for 22 hours a day, two hours more than george bush.
3. It takes 17 muscles to smile, and 43 to frown at george bush.
4. Medieval knights put the skin of george bush on their sword handles to improve the grip.
5. Europe is the only continent that lacks george bush!
6. The number one cause of blindness in the United States is george bush.
7. 99 percent of the pumpkins sold in the US end up as george bush!
8. If your ear itches, this means that someone is talking about george bush.
9. Donald Duck’s middle name is george bush!
10. The ace of spades in a playing card deck symbolizes george bush.Posted by michael on from scotland 01/18 at 02:41 PMWe’re on to something here: “The number one cause of blindness in the United States is george bush.”
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/18 at 02:43 PMlast one… tony blair was eerily accurate. i happen to know for a fact that 1,3,4,6,9 and 10 are definitely true.
1. It takes a lobster approximately 7 years to grow to be tony blair.
2. Tony blair has three eyelids.
3. Tony blairocracy is government by tony blair.
4. Some people in Malaysia bathe their babies in beer to protect them from tony blair.
5. Snow White’s coffin was made of tony blair.
6. The moon is 400 times closer to the Earth than tony blair
7. Tony blair is incapable of sleep.
8. Tony blair has little need for water and is capable of going for months without drinking at all.
9. Tony blair can live for up to a week without a head!
10. It is bad luck to walk under tony blair!Posted by michael on from scotland 01/18 at 02:44 PMAll right, I’ll bite:
Ten Top Trivia Tips about Dick Cheney!
1. The word ‘samba’ means ‘to rub Dick Cheney’!
2. Over 2000 people have now climbed Dick Cheney, with roughly ten percent dying on the way down.
3. According to the story, Pinocchio was made of Dick Cheney!
4. A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find Dick Cheney!
5. The horns of Dick Cheney are made entirely from hair!
6. Half a cup of Dick Cheney contains only seventeen calories.
7. On average, women blink nearly twice as much as Dick Cheney.
8. Dick Cheney can give birth ten days after being born, and is born pregnant!
9. Dick Cheney can smell some things up to six miles away!
10. Dick Cheney is the only one of the original Seven Wonders of the World that still survives!Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/18 at 02:53 PMHello Everyone!
love the Shelley poem:
“Any given word is a bundle, and meaning sticks out of it in various directions, not aspiring toward any single official point. In pronouncing the word “sun” we are, as it were, undertaking an enormous journey to which we are so accustomed that we travel in our sleep. What distinguishes poetry from automatic speech is that it rouses and shakes us into wakefulness in the middle of a word. Then it turns out that the word is much longer than we thought, and we remember that to speak means to be forever on the road.”
—Conversation About Dante, 1933 by Osip MandelstamBush and Ahmadinejad in Waiting for Godot,I was just reading about Ahmadinejad’s fanaticism, it’s good to read the source articles linked at the bottom, if you want: http://tinyurl.com/7vouf
North Korea, the ‘Sopranos’ state: http://tinyurl.com/8yg6c
Posted by tm on from in a grove 01/18 at 03:02 PMLOVE those Mudge links, Mickey - and all the other links of course!
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 01/18 at 03:09 PMChris, I avoid the papers most of the time as well. Thank God for the Internet - and, I should add, for papers like ‘The Guardian’ and ‘The Independent’. Am reading ‘The Great War for Civilisation’ by Robert Fisk at the moment (highly recommended), where he describes in chapter 7 how he ended up at the latter paper after they had not published or severely censored his reports from the Mideast at ‘The Times’ (by then a Murdoch paper) - at the time of the shooting down of the Iranian airliner in July 1988.
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 01/18 at 03:18 PMAnd I am afraid I’d have to go along with Keir re Kerry. Give me Gore any day - although I suspect most of the expendables and Mickey would disagree with me there. I still am a ‘lesser evil’ person - sorry!
Like Chris, I believe that life is lived ‘in stages’. I’ve been through a few myself ..Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 01/18 at 03:24 PMHelga: hello. Sorry about this, but I can’t stop myself…
Al Gore can kiss my white ass. And his wife can go take a flying #### at a rolling doughnut.
I am in an “intolerance for lesser evil” funk. Here’s something Tipper Gore would appreciate: #### those fucking (lesser) evil rat-bastard fucks. (I was an impressionable youth listening to Frank Zappa and Ice-T when she was busy doing the important work of getting warning stickers slapped on my cassettes. Saved the world, that. I’m glad the whole “moving the democratic party rightward” worked out for ol’ Al, saviour of the universe and inventor of the internet.)
Today I was given the advice to bring some humor and levity into my (art)work. I know, I know: nobody likes a whiner. But comments like that remind me of that famous Barbara Bush quote: “Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? Oh, I mean, it’s not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?”
Posted by Keir on from The Hague 01/18 at 03:43 PMBeautiful Dante quote, TM. Thanks. And Helga, I’m with Keir on Gore. He “merely” talks the talk. In my book, that’s even worse than Kerry’s antics because Gore’s gamesmore effectively perpetrate the two-party lie.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/18 at 04:15 PMOops - I take note of your views on Gore, Mickey and Keir!
We visited The Hague in 2001 btw, Keir - seemed very quiet after Amsterdam ..Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 01/18 at 05:34 PMKeir, you know those “parental warning” stickers? They had to use that specific logo because one third of the target audience couldn’t read! And their big concern was naughty words ... it beggers belief.
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 01/18 at 05:45 PMMickey, it’s a Osip Mandelstam quote about Dante
biography of Mandelstam: http://tinyurl.com/87f67
Lines on the Unknown Soldier by Osip Mandelstam: http://tinyurl.com/a3fa5
and his “Stalin Epigram”:
We live, deaf to the land beneath us,
Ten steps away no one hears our speeches,All we hear is the Kremlin mountaineer,
The murderer and peasant-slayer.His fingers are fat as grubs
And the words, final as lead weights, fall from his lips,His cockroach whiskers leer
And his boot tops gleam.Around him a rabble of thin-necked leaders -
fawning half-men for him to play with.The whinny, purr or whine
As he prates and points a finger,One by one forging his laws, to be flung
Like horseshoes at the head, to the eye or the groin.And every killing is a treat
For the broad-chested Ossete.-Osip Mandelstamthis poem is universal it is not limited to one tyrant, it only takes a few word changes. that’s what makes it a powerful poem.
Posted by tm on from in a grove 01/18 at 06:00 PMWasn’t there a whole “blank tape” scandal involving Gore in the mid-80’s as well? I was a bit too young to remember much political stuff from those years unless it showed up in Bloom County. For those not familiar, here’s a more recent strip from the same cartoonist.
Helga: The Hague is a sleepy town indeed. Practically no tourists come here during the year except in summer, and even then they stay by the beach. But the city is very international thanks not only to the embassies (and some kind of court or something; I wouldn’t know anything about that, being American), but also to Shell HQ, and of course all of the immigrants working in mainly in service industries---Turks, Morrocans, Indonesians, Chinese, West Africans and others all polishing the floors and scrubbing the toilets for the bankers, insurance men, and diplomats.
Fun!
Posted by Keir on from The Hague 01/18 at 06:05 PMBeing an egotist, I couldn’t resist ...
1. About one tenth of chris wood is permanently covered in ice.
2. The first toy product ever advertised on television was Mr Chris wood Head.
3. If a snake is born with two heads, the heads will fight over who gets chris wood.
4. US gold coins used to say ‘In chris wood we trust’!
5. It’s bad luck to put chris wood on a bed.
6. You should always store chris wood in an airtight container in the fridge.
7. Chris wood is the only bird that can swim but not fly.
8. In the kingdom of Bhutan, all citizens officially become chris wood on New Year’s Day!
9. Olympic badminton rules say that chris wood must have exactly fourteen feathers.
10. It’s bad luck for a flag to touch chris wood!Any Expendables want to hazard a guess as to which are true?
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 01/18 at 06:06 PMI’ll get you started - number 9 is correct
Captcha says “picture”
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 01/18 at 06:07 PMtm, great discovery. Cheers.
Posted by Keir on from The Hague 01/18 at 06:08 PMGood evening everyone.
Mew: re getting lost in the British museum—that sums up my experience when I visited back in 98. The Shiva was especially fascinating, but one could spend weeks in there and still not see everything....
To all: the U.S. takes a small step towards civilized society: http://tinyurl.com/a9upy (thanks to New Jersey).
We still have a very long way to go, and it saddens me that so few of us are walking…
Captcha = appear (later)
Posted by RT on from The Buyou City 01/18 at 06:58 PMThat’s wonderful news. Let’s have more of that.
Hey: I just blew off a lot of steam over here. Open invitation…
Posted by Keir on from The Hague 01/18 at 07:05 PMExcuse me for not greeting everyone by name....Now I have water coming in my house. Must have caught the “flooding bug” from Joe. Actually it won’t be too bad for me, but I will have to be on flood watch all night...not from a stream. My problem is the combination of rain, snow melt, and frost melt in the ground. There have been some evacuations. Water always wins...that’s the rule.
CONGRATS TO JAMES !!!!
I took a few moments today to visit the Youngfox site. Very impressive.
Has everyone heard the latest. The USA will now be supplying the textbooks to be used in the schools in Africa (I think). The propagandizing is going up another notch.
See ya later. I’m back to swabbing out the basement.
HUMMMM, my captcha word is “nuclear”Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 01/18 at 07:18 PMHello Expendables. Excellent, eclectic discussion...as always it “seems.” Welcome, RT...excellent NJ link. Thanks for the correction, TM (I’m always reading too quickly). Keir, indeed: “create dangerously.”
RMJ: Here’s an older article of mine that references American influence on future Iraqi textbooks (in the last paragraph): http://tinyurl.com/9n56x. If I may say so, I think the entire article is worth a read as a refresher of sorts.
Good luck with your flood watch, Rosemarie.
In the meantime, Chris, please return to your airtight container in the fridge.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/18 at 07:49 PMKeir: that was me who left the “anonymous” comment on your blog. Was hoping it gave me a spot to put my handle, but I’ll create an account for future posting. Great post, btw (steam and all).
MZ & RMJ: The tentacles of U.S. propaganda are limitless…
Captcha = leaders
Posted by RT on from The Buyou City 01/18 at 08:20 PMI typed in my wife’s name into the Mechanical Contrivium. Check out #9...Michele is a pediatric physical therapist who works with disabled children.
Ten Top Trivia Tips about Michele!
1. Michele will always turn right when leaving a cave!
2. Duelling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are Michele.
3. According to the story, Pinocchio was made of Michele.
4. Michele will become gaseous if her temperature rises above -42°C.
5. Humans share about fifty percent of their DNA with Michele!
6. Grapes explode if you put them inside Michele.
7. The water in oceans is four times less salty than the water in Michele.
8. Only twelve people have ever set foot on Michele.
9. Scientists have discovered that Michele can smell the presence of autism in children.
10. Bananas don’t grow on trees - they grow on Michele.G’night, all.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/18 at 10:15 PMHey everyone:
Kurt Nimmo has decided to keep his blog going. More than a thousand well-wishing emails apparently swayed him and, more importantly, his wife.
G’night!
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO 01/18 at 11:58 PMGood news...thanks, Hawk.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/19 at 07:12 AMYeah, on the whole Gore thing (regarding his speech criticizing Bush for authorizing the NSA to perform warrantless surveillance on Americans), let’s ask one question: What did he actually say?
It seems to me the whole crux of his criticism was that Bush bypassed Congress to order warrantless surveillance.
Bush, he said, “secretly assumed that power… as if congressional authorization was a useless bother.”
In other words, while Gore apparently (and correctly) believes the Executive should not have that power, he also apparently thinks CONGRESS SHOULD.
I’ve not seen anyone else comment on that. I’m sure I’m not the only one who picked up on that, though.
Posted by Jeremy on from Taiwan 01/22 at 09:44 AMGood point, Jeremy...and one that will coveniently obscured when it comes time for many to support a Democrat in 2008.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/22 at 09:50 AMNo doubt. It’d be nice to have an opposition party in the US, wouldn’t it?
Posted by Jeremy on from Taiwan 01/22 at 11:09 AM
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