Running Over

When you think about it, is there really such a thing as a "modest" boob job?

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Donovan: "Sunshine Superman"

Strike

I feel for this guy.

Mood: Sympathetic
Music: Rockapella: "Zombie Jamboree"

Capital Offense

This is interesting.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: Episode Six: "Alone Again Or"

Merry

I was finally able to start on The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle this afternoon. Pyle is probably better known as an illustrator, with his quality comparing to that of such contemporaries as N.C. Wyeth and Maxfield Parrish among the great American illustrators.

This will be the third classic Robin Hood text I've read, already having read Paul Creswick's work as well as that by Roger Lancelyn Green. I don't expect much variation in Pyle's rendition, but I am looking forward to his artwork.

The particular edition that I have acquired was found at an antique shop, and is actually a library discard, and thus bound in hardcover, in what is typically known as "library binding." It's copyrighted 1946, and is a reprint of the original 1883 edition published by Scribner.

Since I'm on the subject of Robin Hood... I've been trying to get Maryanne to watch the classic The Adventures of Robin Hood with me for a long time. With some caution I call it the definitive film version, for it is this version which Mel Brooks more closely imitated in his Robin Hood: Men in Tights, though Brooks did borrow slightly from Kevin Costner's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Some of the elements of the latter, including a Saracen, a witch, and Robin's return from the Crusades, are included in Brooks' version, but he maintains the tradition of the characters of Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham. The Errol Flynn film, of course, gives the Sheriff a name (Sir Guy of Gisbourne), and features a cast that's hard to beat: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, and Alan Hale.

All of the movies, though, vary from the tales, cutting out a lot of material along the way from start to finish. Robin's origins are actually explained better in the books, and those origins do not involve the Crusades. All of the movies end with Robin's happy union with Marion, though in many of the tales she doesn't even exist. None of the movies give any treatment to Robin's demise, a tale nearly as woeful, yet as hopeful, as the demise of King Arthur himself.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Bad Company: "Bad Company"

Craptastic

Today I wanted to comment in Jenni's blog about her most recent post on American Idol. I was going to say something to the effect of "When did it become more important to 'be sexy' instead of having some talent and being able to sing and play an instrument? Twenty years from now no one will remember these people."

Thanks to the craptastic state of affairs at LiveJournal, though, I was unable to post said comment.

What a piece of shit.

Mood: Annoyed
Music: Jefferson Airplane: "It's No Secret"

Wheels

Last Friday Maryanne and I had some errands to run that took us to Sun Prairie. While we were there I suggested we take a look at the lot at Stark.

We ended up leaving with a new car for Maryanne.

Mood: Pleased
Music: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: "Woodstock"

Impotent

I found an interesting op/ed piece about the situation in Darfur, the impotence of the U.N., and the potential ability of the U.S. the do what others will not.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: Fleetwood Mac: "World Turning"

SoaP

Never underestimate the power of the Internet.

Mood: Amused
Music: The Animals: "Don't Bring Me Down"

Testy

Here's more on the SAT-scoring debacle.

Mood: Annoyed
Music: Lynyrd Skynyrd: "Saturday Night Special"

Slippery Slope

Here's a law professor's take on protests on funerals and what could and shouldn't be done about them.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: The Alan Parsons Project: "Games People Play"

"Masturbuddy"

Things like this are why Oxygen gets more male viewers than Lifetime does.

Mood: Amused
Music: The Doors: "Love Me Two Times"

Beware of Dog

This could have some far-reaching effects if the proposed law in Massachusetts passes.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: Yes: "I've Seen All Good People"

Brick by Brick

It takes a lot of time to do anything like one of these.

Mood: Amused
Music: The Yardbirds: "For Your Love"

Was ist das?

I'm beginning to get a real charge out of the new ad campaign from Volkswagen wherein they poke fun at ricers and the posers who drive them. The actors portraying the engineers sport heavy German accents with which they try to speak all the affectations associated with the typical riceboy or poser. The absurdity of the situation is becoming very amusing.

"Pozer say vas?"

Mood: Amused
Music: The Guess Who: "These Eyes"

The Island

I keep hearing these commercials on the radio for the Capital Brewery advertising a new beer called Island Wheat. Apparently the wheat for this brew, which is technically a wheat ale, is grown on Washington Island, which is part of Door County. The narrator of the commercial states something to the effect that he was lucky to return from Washington Island with the wheat. This statement baffles me. It's not like it's a particularly arduous journey. A round trip might require an overnight stay, but this is Door County we're talking about, and the hotels in the northern part of the county are rather nice. So why does he feel so lucky to return to Middleton? Did the locals try to drink him under the table at Nelsen's Hall? Did he fear for his life when crossing Death's Door on the Washington Island Ferry? (Maryanne did.) Or is he just a moron?

I really wish I had a sound clip from the ferry line's dorky radio advertisement.

Mood: Annoyed
Music: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band: "Driftin' and Driftin'"

Changes

The first thing I want to note in this post is that today would have been Dad's 59th birthday.

The second thing I want to note is that there are more signs of spring in the air, despite the fact there are some light flurries in the air. Today not only did I see a couple of red-winged blackbirds during my morning commute, but I heard one singing when I took a walk during my lunch break. It was nice to hear.

The third thing to note is that I have once again given Blogger's commenting engine a try and after some trial and error have decided that it'll work. Any previous comments left through the old HaloScan engine still exist, of course, but they're just not accessible. Blogger gives me a little more control and more options than HaloScan does, at least without paying. These features include verification, moderation, and e-mail notification.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: The Yardbirds: "I'm a Man"

Tales

At long last I "finished" Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales. I put "finished" in quotation marks because there are some blank pages near the end of the book that prevent me from reading some of the stories. But I've read all the rest. I will probably take the book back to Barnes & Noble to see if I can exchange it or something.

Next, I've decided to try to finish reading the Novelist's Essential Guide to Creating Plot by J. Madison Davis. It's a nonfiction work, and along with some other books in a similar vein I hope to improve my fiction-writing skills. It's been kind of amusing so far because the author uses such strange character names in his examples.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Led Zeppelin: "Over the Hills and Far Away"

Accents

I fear for the state of language in Wisconsin.

Mood: Sad
Music: The Beatles: "Birthday"

Historical Accuracy

The Vatican has recently changed its opinion on the Crusades, changing from a more apologetic one to a more historically accurate one.

I'm glad to see them making an effort to get things right.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: Rainbow: "Street of Dreams"

Baa!

Not even a place that we consider to be sophisticated and literate, like England, is safe from the menace of political correctness.

Mood: Annoyed
Music: The Cars: "Good Times Roll"

No Fun

Apparently the whack-jobs at PETA don't want black bears to have any fun.

Mood: Irritated
Music: Genesis: "Misunderstanding"

Chick Fight

Here you'll find a truly fantastic op/ed piece about some local shenanigans being pulled by the whack-jobs at PETA.

Mood: Amused
Music: Deep Purple: "Hush"

Canterbury Tale

The Archbishop of Canterbury has chimed in on the debate over teaching creationism in schools. His opinion may surprise you.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: BBM: "High Cost of Loving"

Built Like a Tank

Do you have a rough morning commute? Maybe you need one of these.

Mood: Amused
Music: The Cherry Poppin' Daddies: "Swingin' With Tiger Woods (The Big Swing)"

Spring

Today is the first day of spring. I'm quite excited about it. I'm looking forward to the warmer weather and the other fine things that spring has to offer.

Maryanne took this picture recently. The tree is in our back yard, and can be seen by looking through the window in our dining room. I think the robins came back a bit early.

I'm still waiting for a confirmable sighting of a red-winged blackbird. I thought I saw one the other day, but I'm not sure.

Mood: Hopeful
Music: Kansas: "Carry On Wayward Son"

Image Maintenance

Here's a followup on the issue of Isaac Hayes quitting South Park. It seems Hayes himself has nothing to do with the story, and is in fact probably at home convalescing following a stroke. That raises the question of who made the announcement that he was quitting? Could someone at the church of Scientology be behind all this? We'll have to see how it plays out.

In the meantime, the controversial episode is supposedly airing this Wednesday at 10 p.m. EST (9 p.m. CST). I encourage everyone to watch.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: Bo Diddley: "Dearest Darling"

Goosed

I got the following message in my work e-mail today. Some of the information has been changed or removed for protection.

To all employees:

The warm weather means more employees will be using the walking paths and enjoying the beautiful grounds. It also means Canada geese are looking for a place to nest. Like municipalities and other landowners in the Madison-area, [the company] has hired a company that will use Border Collies to deter geese from nesting on the property.

Not only are nesting geese are [sic] known to be aggressive, but large flocks can transmit disease and damage habitat. For the safety and health of our employees and preservation of the [company] habitat, [the company] has chosen this non-lethal method to deter the geese. Because geese do not like the dogs they will choose to relocate and nest elsewhere in the area. The dogs do not touch or harm the geese. The use of dogs for this purpose is approved by US Fish and Wildlife. The Humane Society and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) endorse this technique of deterring Canada geese.

The company, Geese Police Inc., will be [here] with a Collie at different times of day for few weeks, beginning March 20.

I appreciate the effort to control the geese; they really seem to be getting out of hand around the whole state. I appreciate the approval of the US Department of Fish and Wildlife, and even that of the Human Society. But I really couldn't care less what PETA thinks about the methods being used.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Chicago: "I'm a Man"

Ridiculous

I think Barry Manilow secretly wants to be Rod Stewart. Have you seen these commercials recently on TV for his new CD? Manilow's doing the same thing Rod Stewart has done with his Great American Songbook series. Even the hair style is similar. I don't think Manilow has the kind of stage presence that Rod Stewart has, though, so the effort looks pretty ridiculous.

Mood: Amused
Music: The Beatles: "Something"

Stupid

Recently there have been advertisements on TV for a new movie called Stay Alive. The premise is based on a video game that the characters play. As the plot unfolds, the characters learn that if they die in the game, they die in real life, too.

One would think that once a smart person learned this, they'd just stop playing the game. You can't die if you don't play, right?

Of course, this is Hollywood we're talking about.

Mood: Annoyed
Music: The Moody Blues: "Tuesday Afternoon"

Final Exam

Would you have been able to graduate from the 8th Grade in Kansas back in 1895? Find out here.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: Dave Edmunds: "I Hear You Knockin'"

The White Stuff

The snow is really coming down outside, but my drive in to work was fairly uneventful, excepting the dumbass driving from Stoughton to Cottage Grove that I got stuck behind. Luckily I was able to ditch him when I turned onto the Interstate.

I have no idea how much snow we're supposed to get, not having really watched the news or anything. I guess WKOW is calling for four to seven inches.

Mood: Pensive
Music: The Traveling Wilburys: "End of the Line"

Distinctive

Looking for an interesting vacation spot in the U.S.? You might want to try one of the places on this list. Ironically it's from a British publication.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Toto: "Hold the Line"

For the Birds

When I left the house this morning I was greeted by sunshine and the sound of singing birds. I wasn't able to identify any of the songs, or any of the birds I was able to see, but the day didn't start off too badly for the middle of March. We're expecting snow tonight, though. Better now than April.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Golden Earring: "Quiet Eyes"

Wakey Wakey!

Are you looking for a more interesting way to wake up in the morning? Check these out.

Mood: Fascinated
Music: Rainbow: "Starstruck"

Bigotry

I'll miss hearing him as Chef on South Park but based on this article I'm going to have to call shenanigans on Isaac Hayes. Considering South Park's long history of skewering everybody equally, I side with the show's creators when they find it hypocritical for Isaac Hayes to speak up about this topic only after his own religion was lampooned.

So who's the real bigot here?

Mood: Disgusted
Music: The Lovin' Spoonful: "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?"

Signs

Some of the signs of spring are beginning to appear, though part of me thinks they are too early. We had some beautiful weather over the weekend. Saturday was gorgeous, though Sunday was cooler. Yesterday was fairly nice, if windy. Today will be about the same. We'll be getting some snow later in the week though. Considering the first day of spring isn't until March 20th, then that's fine by me.

This morning, though, I got quite a surprise. I looked out the front window and saw a robin across the street. There were four more of them in the back yard. I suspect the goofy weather has them out of sorts, and they may be back earlier than normal. The real sign of spring's arrival will be the redwing blackbirds. That and when the bulbs I planted last fall start poking up.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: The Zombies: "Time of the Season"

"So many fantastic colors"

Take the Glidden Color Test.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Hootie & The Blowfish: "Dream Baby"

d20

I've seen things like this before, but this one actually puts some thought into generating its results.

Mood: Amused
Music: Led Zeppelin: "When the Levee Breaks"

Titillating

Salma Hayek dancing in From Dusk til Dawn.

Aw yeah.

Mood: Pleased
Music: John Mellencamp: "I Need a Lover"

M.O.

There's a guy I work with whose desk is located near mine that annoys me. It seems like almost daily he's placing a personal call on company time to complain about something he's bought. Currently it's a problem with the carpet he had installed. Another time it was some Bose speakers he wanted to return after having used them. Another time it was some eye surgery he had done.

This makes me think... can't he do this on his day off? I don't see him here every day, so I know he has days off.

It also makes me think, "You get what you pay for." In the case of the laser eye surgery, it is rumored that instead of investigating various surgeons for things like experience and reputation, he literally shopped around for the lowest price. I suspect something similar happened with the carpet, or at least the installation.

When I told Maryanne about this guy's modus operandi, she simply said, "Dumbass."

Mood: Annoyed
Music: The Jimi Hendrix Experience: "Gypsy Eyes"

Testy

Even if it was over ten years ago, this makes me glad I took the ACT and not the SAT.

Mood: Disgusted
Music: Muddy Waters: "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man"

Tune In

Gone are the days of the innocent purple nurple.

What have we come to?

Mood: Irritated
Music: Bad Company: "Rock and Roll Fantasy"

Nag a Ram

Here are some interesting anagrams of famous people's names.

Mood: Amused
Music: The Fabulous Thunderbirds: "Tuff Enuff"

Comic Relief

At least Jews can have a sense of humor about themselves.

Mood: Amused
Music: Head East: "Never Been Any Reason"

Closeted

Could Fred Phelps secretly be gay?

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Sweet: "Love Is Like Oxygen"

Human Shields

It's a shame that a group of motorcyclists has to do something like this to begin with, but I'm glad they do.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: REO Speedwagon: "Golden Country"

Eminent Something

Here's more on the eminent domain issue, this time in the form of a bank standing up for what it believes in.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: The Kentucky Headhunters: "Dumas Walker"

"If you build it..."

Anybody who knows me well knows that I'm a bit of a LEGO enthusiast, but anything I've ever created pales in comparison to this and this.

Mood: Awed
Music: The Black Crowes: "Lickin'"

Jenni, Jenny

To elaborate on a previous post, it seems that (Madison) Jenni is not the only one concerned about my lack of posts about my daughter Sarah. (Minnesota) Jenny has also shown some concern about this. This raises two issues:

1) I'm glad to hear people are actually reading my blog.

2) If people are so concerned about the content of my blog, why aren't they leaving comments on it or using the mail link (that mailbox icon at the top of the page) asking me directly?

It makes me think of junior high. "Can you tell so-and-so about this...?" Nobody could talk directly to any one else. There always had to be some kind of go between.

Seems kind of... juvenile...

Mood: Bemused
Music: Bad Company: "Ready for Love"

Tagged

As a solution to repeat DUI offenders, a number of states have looked into somehow marking the vehicles owned by these people.

There is some resistance, of course: "I think the answer is certainly more treatment and rehabilitation..."

That's obviously why 45% of Maryland's traffic fatalities are related to alcohol.

Mood: Irritated
Music: Cheap Trick: "Dream Police"

Real?

After reading this article, and the names of the people involved, I was indecisive for a moment as to whether it was a legitimate story.

It turns out it is. My guess is the unusual names are a good indicator of how screwed up things really are.

Mood: Perplexed
Music: The Beatles: "Oh Darling!"

Accuracy

Who in their right mind would ever consider an animated Disney movie to be historically accurate?

Mood: Irritated
Music: Collective Soul: "Listen"

"It ain't fair"

That an op/ed piece like this gets written at all is just another sign of the problem of political correctness and lack of common sense that is plaguing our society.

Mood: Annoyed
Music: The Commitments: "Try a Little Tenderness"

Land of Idiots

Here's documented evidence that Illinois is full of idiots.

Not only is the governor an idiot, but only idiots could have elected him to begin with.

Mood: Amused
Music: Eric Clapton: "It Hurts Me Too"