Cool Pix
Some stunning pictures! Make sure to scroll down through them all.
h/t Twisted Sifter
Oldies Friday
It’s cold and snowy here in the upper Midwest, so to cheer us up for the weekend, let’s spin some disks !
The 70’s were years rightly maligned for many things—Vietnam, Watergate, the 
gas crisis, polyester, the Gremlin (Yours was cool though Mike M! Even if it was brown and the heater didn’t work).
But at least there was some good music. As Homer Simpson famously said,
Everyone knows rock attained perfection in 1974. It’s a scientific fact.
Let’s go back there now, shall we?
Continue reading “Oldies Friday”
So, What?
In a recent article for Salon Magazine, Mary Elizabeth Williams writes,
Of all the diabolically clever moves the anti-choice lobby has ever pulled, surely one of the greatest has been its consistent co-opting of the word “life.” Life! Who wants to argue with that? Who wants be on the side of … not-life? That’s why the language of those who support abortion has for so long been carefully couched in other terms. While opponents of abortion eagerly describe themselves as “pro-life,” the rest of us have had to scramble around with not nearly as big-ticket words like “choice” and “reproductive freedom.” The “life” conversation is often too thorny to even broach. Yet I know that throughout my own pregnancies, I never wavered for a moment in the belief that I was carrying a human life inside of me. I believe that’s what a fetus is: a human life. And that doesn’t make me one iota less solidly pro-choice.
We Have Met the Enemy…
…and it’s NOT us!
by Pino Daeni
In a recent interview, Sir David Attenborough told the Radio Times,
We are a plague on the Earth. It’s coming home to roost over the next 50 years or so. It’s not just climate change; it’s sheer space, places to grow food for this enormous horde. Either we limit our population growth or the natural world will do it for us, and the natural world is doing it for us right now.
Whoa! Hold on there Sir David! A plague? Really?
Continue reading “We Have Met the Enemy…”
Stanley Frank Musial, R.I.P.
Stan “The Man” Musial died this weekend. He was 92. No need to go into his career or stats–those are only a small part of what the man is and was. He played every game–except while serving his country in the Navy during WWII–was consistent, dependable, professional, and a real gentleman. Something very rare in professional sports.
The best compliment I ever received in my whole life was the one our team doctor paid me after my very last football game. While at a private party with teammates and coaches, he shook my hand and told me that I always reminded him of Stan Musial. He told me that Stan was never flashy, he just went about his job dependably, and with a good attitude. His teammates could always count on him to get a hit.
That’s a wonderful epitaph for a life well-lived. Bon voyage Mr. Musial. Now that you’re in heaven, pray for us and bat us in!
Banned Words, Part Un
So I was traveling again yesterday. As I rounded the bottom of Lake Michigan, which for those of you who’ve never done it is excruciatingly un-scenic, I looked for some sort of distraction.
Instead of doing something productive, like learning to speak Balinese or dictating another chapter of my book, I turned on sports radio. For two and a half hours, I heard nothing but the endless repetition of the Manti Te’o story interspersed with reaction to the Bears’ new head coach.
It was somewhere around Chesterton, Indiana that I snapped. Can we all agree to stop using the word “narrative” for a couple hundred years? Huh? Can we?
Continue reading “Banned Words, Part Un”
I Got Nuthin’
…sorry, been traveling and writing, so in lieu of a real post, let me foist this joke off on you:
Morris, a devout cowboy, lost his favorite Bible while he was mending fences on uncle Mendel’s dairy farm. Three weeks later a cow walked up to him carrying the Bible in its mouth. The Jewish cowboy couldn’t believe his eyes. He took the precious book out of the cow’s mouth, raised his eyes heavenward and exclaimed, with great joy…”It’s a miracle!”
“Not Really,” said the cow. “Your name, it’s written inside the cover.”
Thank you, thank you. I’m here all week. Try the veal.