Danny's Dozens

	*MONK RULES* *WELCOME to the Thelonious Sphere Monk* Memorial WebLog** Wanna listen to Just A Gigolo by Monk. Or Play "Some Other Toonz" by Monk My page on Saatchi Gallery I don't pray and I seldom wish for anything but if I die before The Shrub is out of office, or if McCain is elected (even though I will win $200) I am going to be pissed throughout eternity.
	*August Y2K8*
	8/31/08 Corned Beef & Cabbage Just got home from my monthly treat at the nabe Irish bar & restaurant. The CB&C was delicious as usual but I had to listen the the other patrons all trash Obama/Biden, Teddy Kennedy etc. and extoll the choice of Sarah Palin. One was a single regular middle-aged lesbian, the other three were all white-haired seniors, (2 males and one female) a few years older than me and all drunk. It seems Palin is a good choice and the fact that she went to U. of Idaho rather than one of those snooty colleges like Harvard and Princeton is a good thing. I can't figure out if this is laughable or depressing. It was thought that putting America First by curtailing the RNC should put McCain over the top, bump-wise. Some Art Minimum Wage McCain against it 19 times, now for it. Go HERE. Who The F* Is Sarah Palin? Stephen Colbert... Go HERE. Still Stunned Someone has to tell McCain that, no, he can not choose Palin. Take it back. It scares hell out of me that America could elect such an idiot and we'd be left in a year or so with Ms. President Palin who I'm sure doesn't know Hamas from Hezbollah, Sunni from Shia, Georgia from Alabama, Katrina from Gustav. Quote Of The Day "Often my haste is a mistake, but I live with the consequences without complaint." -- John McCain Pray For Rain?** Recall James Dodson exhorting his audience to pray for rain on Obama. Well, it looks like Gustav is coming along just in time to piss on Bush's speech and maybe more. He better get his minions on their knees, for god's sake.
	8/30/08 Rufus Harley, 70, RIP Just found out that Rufus passed away 2 years ago. Sorry to hear that. But he's got me listening again to Roland Kirk. Go HERE for a taste. And Go HERE. Least Experienced Person Ever Nominated And the undisputed winner is: Go HERE. Sarah Palin, 1988 Just another sports ass**. Just like Bush. Go HERE. Send Some Vibes To NOLA Send Gustav somewhere else, New Orleans is not ready and doesn't deserve this. The levees have only been repaired where they failed last time but a mile one direction or another... who knows. Go HERE for Harry Shearer's take. Go HERE for a video. What A Gift! I can hardly wait to watch Biden behead Ms. Wasilla (R-AK). Till then I'll just have to wallow in the daily good news. It just gets better by the hour. I almost anticipate McCain having to pull a McGovern and withdraw her nomination. Which is not to belittle McGovern or Eagleton. Palin 4 Obama Before she was against him. Go HERE. No Mention Of Maria Is she even in the Open? Just found out, no, she's injured. Boo! A Palin You Could Vote For ChristianaPhobia Vatican warns but I already have it. Go HERE. No Need For More Wars The Shrub wants to declare perpetual War Against Terrorism. Go HERE. Luckily he won't be around to fight them for us. Poor Little Rich Girl Who's whining now? Why it's the 100 million dollar candidate's 2nd wife and she thinks Obama is being unfair to her. Go HERE. Apple Loyalty The Mac now has 8% market share. Go HERE. Don't Ask Hillary Ask Olympia Stowe or Kay Bailey Hutchinson if they feel insulted by McCain's choice. It's gotta hurt. And it still baffles me how stupid McCain truly is. Go HERE for a summary thus far. Quote Of The Day "I stand with Obama! It was a genuinely outstanding speech, it was magnificent. I saw Cuomošs speech, I saw Kennedy in '80, I even saw Douglas MacArthur, I saw MLK; this is the greatest convention speech and probably the most important because unlike Cuomo and the others, this was an acceptance speech, this came out of the heart of America, and he went right at the heart of America. This wasnšt a liberal speech at all. This is a deeply, deeply centrist speech. It had wit, it had humor, and when he used the needle on McCain, he stuck it into McCain and it was funny. It was Kennedy's speech in '80. I laughed with Kennedy when he was needling Ronald Reagan." -- Pat Buchanan OMG! Once Was Enough** McCain met Palin once, for an hour, before picking her as veep. Audacious! Go HERE. Go HERE.
	8/29/08 The Frick Collection If you like Art, this is one of the best places to see some. Go HERE. Despicable Journalism Headline: Single-Mom's Sons Can Still Succeed. Extrapolating from Michael Phelps, Lance Armstrong and Barack Obama. Maybe we're on to something here. Go HERE. Hillary's Still Up To No Good "We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin's historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain." Go HERE. McCain/Palin Time to kick a ton of ass Barack. Bring out the attack dogs like Harry Reid. President Palin????????? Quote Of The Day "I've served with the man 26 years. Do I have the ability to speak with experience about someone who has abused everyone he's dealt with? Someone who does not have the temperament to be president, who's wrong on the war, wrong on the economy, wrong on nuclear waste. What am I supposed to do? Walk around talking about what a great guy he is? I don't believe that." -- Harry (Give'em Hell) Reid, (D-NV) Demon In Disguise Grupp just sent me an mp3 of David Bromberg. Payback. I forgot how good he was. Go HERE. While you're on YerTube check out the rest of Bromberg. Ya' Gotta Believe That these guys and gals know what they are talking about: Dark Matter & Dark Energy from TED. Patricia Burchat, smart and quite beautiful too. Go HERE. Palin's Foreign Policy Credentials Steve Douchebag of Faux News says she's Governor of Alaska which is right next to Russia. And we all know Russia is the only country in the world. Go HERE. Mona Lisa Everybody has to paint one. Go HERE. h/t Mike Derry. Go HERE for mine. Quote Of The Day "Mr. Obama brought the crowd to its feet many times to cheer and applaud, but perhaps just as importantly for audiences back home, for almost 50 minutes he silenced the ceaseless chatter of television anchors and commentators who had insistently put their own stamp and faces on one of the most exciting political conventions in modern times. " -- Alessandra Stanley, NYT Hillary Supporters! Get out your knives and forks, and bring your gravy, we've got a woman Veep nominee and you know how old McCain is. But let's talk about no experience... 2 whole years as a Governor and a mayor of a small town in the tundra. Sounds like George W. Bush. Match that Barack. This nomination matches Ferraro in cynicism and futilty. I'm just happy it wasn't Giuliani. Go HERE. And she says, "Nukular" just like The Shrub. Poor McCain, he must have been turned down by Ridge, the only one who might have helped him win. This just keeps getting better and better. Go HERE to hear her say, "John Glenn knows something about heroism...". Just like McCain to give us all a present on his birthday.
	8/28/08 Inside McCain's Brain Howard Dean on The Daily Show Go HERE. Kerry's Best Speech If he'd given it in 2004 it might all be different. Go HERE. Simon Rich From the author of Ant Farm comes a new hillarious collection. Free-Range Chickens College Art Collection Named After Carl Grupp Jay Kirschenmann - August 28, 2008 Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD has named its permanent art collection after long-time teacher Carl Grupp. A reception to honor Grupp is set for 7 p.m. Sept. 5 at the college's Eide/Dalrymple Gallery, in the Center for Visual Arts. The Carl Grupp Collection is more than 5,000 objects. It includes prints by Matisse, Whistler, Goya and Homer as well as pieces by Augustana artists. Congratulations to a wonderful artist and dear friend. Peggy Noonan "By the way, the best line of the convention so far? Ted Strickland of Ohio, when he echoed the 1988 Democratic convention joke about George H.W. Bush, that he was born on third and thought he hit a triple. Strickland said of George W. Bush that he was born on third and then stole second. It didn't get much attention in any of the commentary, but it's all people were talking about in the bars of Denver that night." That's because most of the pundits are only listening to each other, they are missing the DNC. Go HERE. Gustav Might Disrupt RNC About the time The Shrub is scheduled to speak. Go HERE. McCain's Universal Health Plan Use the Emergency Room. Go HERE. Quote Of The Day łTheyšre asking for another four years in a just world, theyšd get 10 to 20.˛ -- Dennis Kucinich (line edited from his speech to DNC) John McCain's Lobbyists Go HERE. U.S. Open Blake and Roddick looking good and Lindsey's back for the tournament. Coverage Bill finally came through and Biden showed his substance. Been switching between CNN & PBS and have now discovered CSPAN. PBS you have to put up with David Brooks trying very hard to dig dirt. CNN is the worst with Wolf and the gang thinking what they have to say is more interresting than what's going on onstage. CSPAN is the most direct camera on the stage choice. Tonight we'll see if Barack can top himself. Happy 67th Birthday To me. Lyndon Johnson would have been 100 yesterday. John McCain will be a year older tommorrow. 72? And 45 years ago MLK gave his Lincoln Memmorial speech. Go HERE.
	8/27/08 Saint McCain, POW AKA Eldon Smith. More housing shenanigans. Go HERE. The Minimalist Andrew Sullivan's spot-on take on Hillary. Go HERE. The thing is Billary knows full well the stories abound about their lack of support for Obama. They could put the runours to rest, if they wanted to. Quote Of The Day "Look, I owe the American people an apology. If I had beaten the old man youšd've never heard of the kid and you wouldn't be in this mess. So it's all my fault and I feel that very, very strongly." -- Michael Dukakis. Veepstakes Nixon chose Agnew and won. Bush41 chose that Quale guy from Indiana and won. Mondale chose (loser) Ferraro and lost. McGovern chose everyone, settled for Shriver, and lost. Nothing to be learned here. I'm just hoping McCain will chose Rudy or Lieberman and not Ridge. Romney is a bit dicey cuz he's a Mormon and no one really believes they are Christians. Amanda Congdon v David Carr ABC Online had an odious video blogger (Go HERE.) who didn't last very long. NYTimes Online has The Carpetbagger, twice as odious and obnoxious and he doesn't have the benefit of a really nice rack like Congdon did. See how long Carr lasts. Obama v. Kerry I can sort of understand why Kerry lost; he was not the most exciting candidate and seemed to lack a real sense of humor. What I don't understand is why Obama is not wiping the floor with any Republican, not least McCain. It has to be an entrenched racism. No one in MSM can come right out and say that but I can since no one reads this blog anyway. I can also say god damn America if it once again votes against its own and my childrens' interest. God damn America if it continues its terrorist foreign policy. And god damn America if continues to ignore Global Warming. Headline Of The Day Clinton Hands It Over To One-Time Rival OMG! She got her ass handed to her. She didn't hand over anything except her petulence. Go HERE. No One Saw Kucinich The media didn't cover one of the best speeches thus far. Wolf, et.al. think we watch to see Carvel bloviating or Benito Guiliani? Or Wm. A**** Kristol f'crist sakes. Go HERE for some meat & taters. Wake up America! Billary** Hillary gave a decent speech (she had no choice), Bill was beaming (he even mouthed the words "I love you" for the cameras), Chelsea was adoring. But now it is said that Bill won't be attending Obama's speech. Go HERE. My fave speaker of the night was Brian Schweitzer, the Governor of Montana. Go HERE.
	8/26/08 Repeat Just cuz I love the picture and I'm a momma's boy. And I haven't seen it in a while. The Smile Train I've been a supporter of this charity and have posted it more than once to spread the word. It breaks my heart. However, two of my regular browsing sites have persistant ads for Smile Train and I have to say I'm getting depressed every time I go to these sites and am reminded again and again. Raw Story and Huff Po both feature these ads on numerous pages. Please send cash so we don't have to see this any longer. Go HERE. U.S. Open - Tennis Almost forgot but all these HUGE events (Olympics, DNC convention, RNC convention, MY birthday, 67, brother Derb's birthday, 76) within a few weeks. I'll take a break when the boring old Reprobates give Joe Lieberman his WHBJ. Meanwhile Rafa starts off shaky but you know he's on a roll. Jesu Christi Give it up you stupid f**. Your don't see the Reprublicans doing these death dances. Why couldn't she just step gracefully aside? Go HERE. Headline: Clinton to Step Aside For Obama... She got her ass handed to her. Gimme a f** break. It's POW McCain you have to dis-embowel. Go HERE. Perilla Pops had: Romesco Oil Poached Chatham Cod, black olive gnocchi, oyster mushrooms & summer zucchini sauce. Emma had: Roasted Poussin, shaved asparagus, hazelnuts & apricot puree Kate had: Roasted Duckling, mustard greens, barley, pistachios, golden currants & ginger sauce. Then we had: Brown Butter Carrot Cake cream cheese icing, candied walnuts & ginger ice cream. And: Chocolate Tasting chocolate mousse, devil's food cake & chocolate peppermint sorbet. Awesome! All for $100. I'd recommend it. PUMA These Hillary Supporters sound identical to Ann Coulter. Go HERE. The 3 Bs Never been a fan of Beach Boys, Byrds & Beatles and I certainly don't consider it rock'n roll but every so often I feel required to check my previous bias. Today I felt the need to try the Beach Boys again. Fun music, perhaps, but again it ain't rock'n roll. Go HERE for a taste. STFU You know who I mean Billary. Oh! Mama Obama** Great speech. She even managed to give Hillary a dry kiss on the ass. Can't wait to see Cindy McCain try to top that.
	8/25/08 I Wanna Puke I'm so sick of politics, I just wanna tune out, turn on and... I don't remember the rest. I'm going out to dinner with my two young babes and see ya later... PR Is PR What I don't understand is: Why do lefty blogs and websites continue to embed "Evil" units into thier pages. Like Crooks & Liars always have posts about worst person Wm. "Bloody" Kristol and Wonkette loves to push FoxNews Bill O'Really/Steve Doocy outrageousness. Why not just ignore the stupid F**? What goes around comes around, doncha know. Gimme the ammo, don't pass it on to my enemies. One Woman Who Should Have Been Prez To name only one. Ann Richards. And she rode a Harley; "The sound of freedom". This Is Rich (Frank) One of the few non-Republicans on the NYTimes staff. Go HERE. Quote Of The Day** "When he shall die take him and cut him out into stars and he shall make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun." -- Wm. Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet quoted by RFK in honor of his brother JFK. Teddy Will Be There I've never forgiven Teddy (and the Democrats in general) for sabotaging Carter but ya still gotta love the guy who has nothing left to lose. He's lost most of his family and now part of his brain and he's still getting up for the game. Still fighting and he was an early Obama supporter so STFU Billary. Go HERE. Doonesbury Great New Ad From Obama Go HERE. Quotes Of The Day Here are the top nine comments made by NBC sports commentators so far during the Summer Olympics that they would like to take back: 1. Weightlifting commentator: 'This is Gregoriava from Bulgaria. I saw her snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing.' 2. Dressage commentator: 'This is really a lovely horse and I speak from personal experience since I once mounted her mother.' 3. Paul Hamm, Gymnast: 'I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father.' 4. Boxing Analyst: 'Sure there have been injuries, and even some deaths in boxing; but none of them really that serious.' 5. Softball announcer: 'If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again.' 6. Basketball analyst: 'He dribbles a lot; and the opposition doesn't like it. In fact you can see it all over their faces.' 7. At the rowing medal ceremony: 'Ah, isn't that nice, the wife of the IOC president is hugging the cox of the British crew.' 8. Soccer commentator: 'Julian Dicks is everywhere. It's like they've got eleven Dicks on the field.' 9. Tennis commentator: 'One of the reasons Andy is playing so well is that, before the final round, his wife takes out his balls and kisses them... Oh my God, what have I just said?' h/t WlfSng Dinner @ Perilla My birthday is not until Thursday but the girls and I are having dinner tonight cuz they will be in Denver watching Barack. Harold Dieterle was the 1st season winner of Top Chef and has now opened his own restaurant in the village. He was Emma's and my favorite too, so... we have to sample his skills. Last year we went to Landmarc and guess who was working there? Dave from season 2. Brokaw In His Pocket Tom defends McCain having 7 kitchen tables because he was a POW. Go HERE. My Son Aaron Aaron could identify the sound of a VW at age 3 and went on to become a fanatic about fast, sleek cars and boats. Then he taught himself to be a Porsche mechanic and later opened his own shop in Minneapolis. Now he has his own Porsche, his boat and a motorcycle. Here's his Porsche recently restored to its original Chocolate brown. And his boat which has ribbon mahogany inlay. I'm impressed. I have none of these things but I do have a loft full of my own art (which is for sale). Ole & Sven Two young men from up in Minnesota were looking at a Sears catalog and admiring the models. Ole says to the Sven "Have you seen the beautiful girls in this catalog?" Sven replies, "Yes, they are very beautiful. And look at the price!" Ole says, with wide eyes, "Wow, they aren't very expensive. At this price, I'm buying one." Sven smiles and pats him on the back. "Good idea! Order one and if she's as beautiful as she is in the catalog, I will get one too." Three weeks later, Sven asks his friend Ole, "Did you ever receive the girl you ordered from the Sears catalog?" Ole replies, "No, but it shouldn't be long now. I got her clothes yesterday!" h/t Grupp The Norweigan Bubba? I said STFU. You ain't Prez anymore. Go HERE for his latest petulence. I'm beginning to understand why the Reprobates hate the guy.
	8/24/08 It Doesn't Take Long What is the vetting process anyway? Biden's sone is a lobbyist. Another is going to Iraq. Go HERE. All Politics Is Dirty Back in the day: Jefferson v. Adams. Our founding scumbags. How did they do it without TV and YouTube? Go HERE. Luka Remember this one? Go HERE. And Tom's Diner Go HERE. *The Cutting Edge* I mentioned Rufus Harley down below but not the Rollins CD he plays on. I loaded it on iTunes the other day and have been playing it daily since. It's really one of the best Rollins you can buy. Also A House Is Not A Home is one of the lovliest ballads Sonny ever recorded. And To A Wild Rose is also sweet. The Cutting Edge It Takes Time Beautiful fungii. Go HERE. Never Has A Loser Gotten So Much Attention must be paid... to Hillary's gang. Just another bunch of losers. Does Billary really want to be the one who brings Obama down in hopes of Hillary 2012? They could do it.
	8/23/08 Barack/Biden In Springfield Go HERE. *The Best Day the Worst Day* Update: Some other chapters prove to be better than previously mentioned. One gets amazed about how much so many peoples lives revolve around bad health. They must have had some very good health insurance. Donald Hall himself was cancer ridden a couple times yet outlived his much younger wife, his fellow poet Jane Kenyon who dies of leukemia. Thinking Positive? OK. So you've got Chuck Hagel praising Obama's choice of Biden for Veep. You've got Powell and Rice being coy about who they will vote for. You've got Ike's granddaughter switching parties. You've got Obama consistantly leading in most polls. You've got the newly energized youth vote. You've got McCain's consistant gaffes and flip-flopping. You've got McCain's consistant support for Bush. You've got the housing market crisis.You've got McCain's 10? homes and his $5 million "Rich" level. You've got McCain's philandering. You've got his promise of more wars. You've got McCain's lack of support for medical treatment of the war-injured. Then you have the historically stupid American electorate voting against their best interests and McCain was a POW. You've also got Billary's death-wish supporters hoping for an Obama defeat so she can run again in 2012. Go HERE. I say STFU. Ain't life grand? American Prayer Somewhat smarmy promo for Obama. Go HERE. Biden @ His Best Now that I actually look at Biden, I see how good he could be. Go HERE. Go HERE. Obama/Biden I was supposed to get a personal messaqe but I didn't. I had to learn it from CNN this morning. kate and her posse were all coming home at 4AM and they got text messages on their cell phones. I don't do text messages. McCain would now be wise to pick someone like Ridge who has no dirt on him and who is not Mitt Romney. 50 Years Sister Shirley and her husband Cy Fitterer have celebrated 50 years together. She is a sweety and he is better than some brothers I've know. Congrats.
	8/22/08 I'm Getting A Really Bad Vibe McCain is taking over the polls and America is going sour (south) again. Go HERE. Oh Shit! Not Edwards No not that Edwards. This one is called Chet and no one has ever heard of him except Washington insiders and the military. But some voters will confuse him with the other one who cheated on his wife with cancer. Bad choice Barack. Go HERE. Ike's Grandaughter Says goodbye to the GOP. Can't stand McCain. Go HERE. The Bagpipe When I taught at Wesleyan University, nearly 30 years ago, there was a music student who would practice the bagpipe each day on the Soccer/LaCrosse field out side my office in the art studio. It was mildly pleasant to hear. Years later I saw a performance at BAM by Laurie Anderson that included a large black man in Scotish kilt named Rufus Reed playing bagpipe. It too was enjoyable. Still more recently Sonny Rollins included Rufus Reed on a version of Swing Low Sweet Chariot which was awesome. Here it is: Just Play or Click On Down Arrow and select "Save As Source". And now for the past few months there has been a bagpipe player practicing outside my window at differing times of the day and late evening, down by the East River just under the Brooklyn Bridge. Sonny Rollins is infamous for having used to practice up on the Williamburg Bridge, blowing into the wind and traffic. I thought perhaps it might be Rufus Reed and after a period of a few months I wandered out one night to find out the truth. It was a young man, not a busker like you often find in the South Street Seaport down the block, I saw no basket for coins, just a young man practising his craft for an hour or two each day. McCain's Get Out of Gaffe Free Card His card and his list of gaffes. Go HERE. *The Best Day the Worst Day* Reading Donald Hall's memoir of his life and the death of Jane Kenyon, after discovering his great poem Affirmation. I feel bad to report it is not as good as I was hoping after reading an earlier excerpt somewhere. In fact, except for the obvious love story, it is quite boring. One whole chapter is devoted to the numerous cats and dogs they had over the years. The rest is devoted mostly to trips back and forth to various hospitals and who looked after their house while they were gone. Oh well... Getting Tedious Barack Just out with it.
	8/21/08 Click HERE for the latest totals. More Americans now dead in Iraq & Afghanistan than killed on 9-11. Plus 655,000 Iraqis dead. The Dark Knight Sparkler and I just saw the new Batman. I went mainly because of the hype about Heath Ledger and also it has Maggie Gyllenhal. And it was quite worth it even if the plot was stupid and it was about a half hour too long. The usual number of cars, trucks and buildings get destroyed etc. If Ledger doesn't get a posthumous Oscar there is no justice. Previous Joker Jack Nicholson must be eating his heart out about now. Emma Reccommends Breathe Me by Sia. Go HERE. Confused? Lots of useful info re: the internets. Go HERE. Deborah Lawrence If you're in Seattle. Go HERE. Artist Of The Day Ellen Jantzen has tons of new stuff. Go HERE.
	8/20/08 Bobby! One of Barack's heroes on the GNP. Go HERE. "Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over eight hundred billion dollars a year, but that GNP -- if we should judge America by that -- counts air pollution and cigarette advertising and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet the Gross National Product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans. --Robert Kennedy 1968 Only 40 years ago. Reich v. Rubin Obama has some economic plans. Go HERE. Quote Of The Day "If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut." -- Albert Einstein Go HERE. Moral Failure "It was 30 years ago." --John McCain Go HERE. Early Obama 13 years ago and he hasn't changed much. Go HERE. h/t Andrew Sullivan Artist Of The Day Kittiwat Unarrom, master baker. Go HERE. What To Believe McCain takes 5 point lead over Obama according to Zogby. Go HERE. You have to remember that Zogby also predicted Kerry the winner in 2004.
	8/19/08 Ping! Pong. Some people spend their time perfecting this sport. Go figger. Brava Rachel! My fave smart gal Maddow gets a shot on MSNBC. Go HERE. Saakashvili and Warren Andrew Sullivan seems to be on my wavelength on this issue. Go HERE. Crosby, Nash & Browne Lives In The Balance. Go HERE. Go HERE for Running On Emptry. McCain's Black Friend Saint John claims John Lewis as a trusted advisor. Trouble is, Lewis says he doesn't consult with him. Go HERE. And, unlike Colbert he can not actually come up with a photo of the two together. Bubba? STFU Go HERE. Olympic Comedy Beam Go HERE. And Go HERE. And Go HERE.
	8/18/08 What Is Rich? McCain says, "How about 5 million." Go HERE. "I Will Win." When Obama says it, I kinda get the sense of when Michael Jordan has the last shot in an NBA playoff final. I expect him to make the 3 pointer. But then I am not America which elected The Shrub twice. Whut'n The Hail Is... The Anti-Christ? I keep reading this about Obama who claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Does that mean that anyone who believes in The Christ is actually an Anti-Christ. I'm confused. Especially since all this mumbo-jumbo is so 1st Century. Go HERE. Musharraf Get Well Cards Go HERE. Misspelling Is Obsolete Rilly! Go HERE. Hardly Strickly Bluegrass This sounds awesome. FREE! Gotta think about going. Go HERE. Nova Science Now I've become addicted to Nova and Nova Science Now on PBS. I'd check it out if I were you and if I were a young man with more confidence in my intelligence I would have chosen to study science instead of art. Go HERE for a starter. McCain's Economy v. Obama Go HERE. Quote Of The Day "I cannot imagine America electing a president during a time of war who is not at his center fundamentally American in his thinking and in his values." -- Clinton Chief strategist Mark Penn, in a memo about Obama A Cross In The Sand McCain's story is remarkably similar to a story by Solzhenitsyn. Go HERE. And HERE.
	8/17/08 Some Art The Christ Factor After last night's evangelical do-see-do I'm beginning to get more and more concerned about Obama and "his faith". With McCain (or Bush) you know he really doesn't give a shit about religion. But Barack seems sincere which makes me really queasy. I'm looking forward to the 1st agnostic Prez (Reagan was about as close as we've come and I wouldn't want to repeat that mistake.). I couldn't care less about 1st black, 1st Jew, 1st woman. Nome sain? Phillip Seymour Hoffman Never seen a performance by him that was not authentic. Go HERE. $57,000,000 Obsenity Robert Frost's Mending Walls. Go HERE. Go HERE. Grupp Being Silly But that is redundant. Dick Cheney Blues By Danny Cox. Go HERE. Sorry John Don Helms, 81, RIP If you know Hank Williams' music you know Don Helms. Go HERE. Stop Saying That! Cognitive dissonance. Truth to power. The Obama brand. _______ is the new _______. Why don't you tell us what you really think.
	8/16/08 Full Moon Over The Brooklyn Bridge Beautiful but it usually means I won't sleep tonight. Hitchhiking When I was young and mostly broke it was the way to go. Dress respectably and you could go when you wanted, it was free and no one (very few) hassled you. You had your fantasies about some babe picking you up and taking you where you really wanted to be. Now there is a new scheme, iHitching, which sounds resonable in a car-pooling age. Go HERE. Who The Hail Is Rick Warren? And why does he get a shot at Obama & McCain. Why not Bill Moyers? Go HERE. I also resent all the emphasis on Christianity. It has no place in the debate. Doh! Boy Scouts Waterboarding -1913 Go HERE. More From Dan Witz Street Art: Ugly New Buildings. Go HERE. Barack The Hunk Body-surfing in Hawaii. Go HERE. Ray Wylie Hubbard Dee Grupp recommends Snake Farm. Go HERE. Go HERE for Emmylou singing Townes Van Zandt's Snowing On Raton. Go HERE for Townes himself. More From Bob For those who never get enough. Go HERE. Green Market Gotta go stock up on tomaters and sweet corn.
	8/15/08 Why Isn't Obama Doing Better? Could it be because he is half-black? Young? Intelligent? And this is America. Or, could it be that MSM & pollsters needs to sell a close race to keep viewers watching? Either McCain will win a squeaker or Obama will win in a landslide. Don't Need It! Don't need any pix of Ellen kissing Portia. Best wishes to all concerned. If you think that is news, think again. It doesn't affect you in the least. McCain on Georgia? Listen up! Big Mistake Barack I agree with Jack; Hillary has taken over Barack's convention. Go HERE. I ♥ NYC I just discovered what many people probably already know: Milton Glaser "invented" the unbiquitous logo that I am totally sick of seeing. That's some claim to fame. He also designed the famous Dylan (Medusa) poster that I also hate. I won't post it because I hate it. You know the one. If not, Google it if you need to. Sort Of Depressing I saw an episode of NOVA last night about the Geologic ages of earth and it left me in a bit of a funk about making art. Why do we do all this stuff that will never survive the next age. Global warming is alarming but it's not as if extinction of a species hasn't happened before. Only the lowly cockroach remains; one of the best jokes from the latest Pixar movie Wall-E. So if 99.9 of all species will not survive, what are we to value about our products here on Earth. Who Is Prez Presumptuous Go HERE. Jerry Wexler, 91, RIP Great record producer: Aretha, Ray Charles, The Stones, Zeppelin, Bob, Willie to name just a few. Go HERE. Quote Of The Day "My friends, we have reached a crisis, the first probably serious crisis internationally since the end of the Cold War. This is an act of aggression." -- John McCain MacDries says, "Unlike Iraq/Kuwait, Gulf War 1, Kosovo, Iraq invasion." Soft Porn Women's beach volleyball. Go HERE. Great News A new film from the worlds' greatest director, Almodovar. Plus it has the most gorgeous great actress Penelope Cruz. Cruz manages to be both cute and incredibly beautiful and yet sexy. Beautiful women are not often very sexy. Go HERE.
	8/14/08 How The Dumb Dems Can Still Blow It Michael Moore is not dumb. Go HERE. h/t Dee Grupp What Is A Hero? Go HERE. Yet the name is given to anyone who happens to be there when something happened. John McCain survived 5-6 years as a POW and is now a hero. One of the soldiers who was first to witness the horrors of Buchenwald is now a hero. Go HERE. Both suffered PTSD. Oh! Oprah! "The show is estimated to attract up to 10 million viewers daily and she earned 260 million dollars in the year 2007, according to Forbes Magazine." MacDries insists, "No one "earns" $260,000,000 in a year. Or, even a lifetime." Sorry John Milestones My girls have reached the stage where they do their own laundry. That's kewl. They are both here today multi-tasking; watching Cinderella on tape while flipping around to catch the Olympics while surfing the internet for email and chatting, and doing the aforementioned laundry. I like it. WOW! Nader Makes His Move Ralphie has 7000 persons set to rally outside the conventions. He wants in on the debates. Go HERE. MacDries says, "Ralph? STFU." The Dems Are Spineless Just the latest example in case you need one. Hillary get to be nominated and voted on. Go HERE. Solar Power Coming On Go HERE. Quote Of The Day "In the 21st century nations don't invade other nations." -- John McCain The Boss Jungleland 1975. Sounds a bit like Tom Waits. Go HERE. It Doesn't Get Any Better Fats, Ray, Jerry Lee & Carl. Go HERE. Bob Wuz Here I didn't find tickets so I didn't go but Kate's friend Julian, son of Jaques Levy got to go backstage. Lucky kids. Go HERE. Whut'n Tha Hail? James Blake beats Federer. Ditto Serena & Venus are out. Go HERE.
	8/13/08 "Ich bin ein Georgian" McCain says he speaks for all Americans. I don't think so. At least, he doesn't speak for me. Go HERE. Jane Hamsher Video: Go HERE. Once again Condi Clueless. Go HERE. Underwhelm Me One More Time Hillary's gonna do a stem winder and rile up her troops, as will Bill and now for The Keynote: Mark Warner? What's gonna be left for Barack and his poor VP? Sounds like a pretty boring convention and you know the Reprobates will do even worse. Too bad the Olympics couldn't be running in the same time slot. Sparkler's Back Tanned, safe and sound with lots of medals.
	8/12/08 Where & When Black Folks Vacation Cokie? Condolezza. Go HERE. Some Art Comparing A Couple Of Johns Edwards & McCain Go HERE. Stop Saying That! Meme. Snarky. Risible. Xenophobe. Elitist. New Movie I.O.U.S.A. Go HERE. McCain Wants His Own War(s) Artist Of The Day Levi van Veluw. Go HERE. Bush Doesn't Want Vets To Vote Go HERE. My Sparkler After seven (7) weeks I get to pick up my baby tomorrow. Then in 2 years she goes to college and I miss her already. Not fair. Hillarious Short, very short stories by Simon Rich. Ant Farm: And Other Desperate Situations
	8/11/08 Male-Female/Gay-Straight Think again. Go HERE. Review Of Mad Men. And retro in general. Go HERE. Seth Rogen & Tribe Currently in theatres, Pineapple Express is enjoying the PR blitz of Seth Rogen et. al. I've seen a few of these TV appearances, plus a trailer for his previous "comedy" Superbad. It's all on the internet as well. His IMDB profile lets us know his parent met in Israel. He also likes to spinkle dialog with Yiddish words with which we all grew up. My question is: Why does Rogen insist on telling us, each chance he gets, that he is Jewish? He did it on The Daily Show, he did it in the trailer for Superbad. Jon Stewart thought it was (somehow) funny as well. But then Stewart has the same affliction. Count the times Stewart tells us he is Jewish. I love The Daily Show but not because Jon is Jewish, or short for that matter. He's funny, he's smart. We have similar political views. OTOH, James Franco, Rogen's cast-partner, makes no reference to what is perhaps his Italian (Catholic) heritage. My theory is: Ethnic groups who have a history of being discriminated against have a rather nervous need to let people know they know, and that they are putting everyone on notice. Now blacks have no need to tell anyone they are black. We can see that. Bill Cosby avoided the whole subject by dealing with generic family matters. Richard Pryor threw his blackness and his personal failures in the face of everyone, black & white. (Even Obama who is merely 1/2 black, looks black and I'm sure has always been considered black.) Jews, however, are not necessarily recognized as Jews unless their names end in 'stein or 'berg. Thus, they feel a need to let us know. It's a form of special pleading. Like the rich boy John Edwards needing to remind us that he grew up a po'boy just like all the folks he hoped would vote for him. BTW I have never heard a Protestant comedian identify himself as a Presbyterian. "I ain't no damn Catholic." For Billary Cards of commiseration. Go HERE. The Liberal MSM Cokie Roberts slams Obama for taking a vacation in Hawaii and visting his grandma. "He should have gone to Myrtle Beach or somewhere like that". It just pisses these "pundits" off that they are not consulted at all. Hey Cokie? STFU. Headline Of The Day Teenage Pregnancy Drops Off After 25. Even More Log Rolling The New York Times takes care of its own. David Carr, a media reporter who has written a memoir, has thus far been treated to an extended article/excerpt in the Magazine, a featured video on the web and now a review by Pete Hamil praising The Time Of The Gun. Must be some book. Redemption pays bigtime. Today you can add to the list a podcast. Go HERE if you haven't had enough yet. And then this weekend he gets another review in the Book Review. I swear the guy must have slept with everyone at the NYTimes. Or, perhaps, he dealing a little on the side again.
	8/10/08 Some Art Issac Hayes, 65, RIP I always liked his character, Gandolph Fitch, on The Rockford Files if not his music. Go HERE. Theme From Shaft Go HERE. Bob - 1966 Like A Rolling Stone. Go HERE. On Psychoanalysis "Išm sure they would remove my devils, but I fear they would offend my angels." --Rilke John Cage One of my favorite authors, even if he is not a fave musician. Haven't read him lately. Go HERE.
	8/9/08 Quotes Of The Day "Wait a minute, we can't have acquittals. If we've been holding these guys for so long, how can we explain letting them get off? We can't have acquittals. We've got to have convictions." -- Pentagon general counsel William Haynes to Col. Morris Davis, Gitmo chief prosecutor, August 2005 "I concluded that full, fair and open trials were not possible under the current system." -- Col. Davis, on his subsequent resignation h/t Doonesbury on Slate. The Air Car Some people are thinking. Go HERE. A Black Day I'm having one of those. Woke up to gloom. Walked across town to the green market for fresh fish and the first ripe tomatoes and sweet corn of the year. Still felt lousy. Took a nap. Still feel lousy. Mind fuzzy. Blood sugar is ok. Blood pressure high. Just a black day. Kate just walked in and also said she is in a funk and woke up that way. Is there shit in the air. The weather's beautiful. What A Woman! Elizabeth Edwards. Go HERE. Every man should be so lucky in choosing a wife. Only problem is: She knew and still let him continue running even though the disclosure might have meant Prez McCain when it came out. Bye, Bye Tricky Nixon left office on this date in 1974. Amy Walker, 25, Actress More Log Rolling The New York Times takes care of its own. David Carr, a media reporter who has written a memoir, has thus far been treated to an extended article/excerpt in the Magazine, a featured video on the web and now a review by Pete Hamil praising The Time Of The Gun. Must be some book. Redemption pays bigtime. Today you can add to the list a podcast. Go HERE if you haven't had enough yet. Happy Birthday Derb Brother Daryl is 76 today, fit as a fiddle down in Austin where he still paints houses and plays with his grandson.
	8/8/08 Billy Collins Binge The First Dream The Wind is ghosting around the house tonight and as I lean against the door of sleep I begin to think about the first person to dream, how quiet he must have seemed the next morning as the others stood around the fire draped in the skins of animals talking to each other only in vowels, for this was long before the invention of consonants. He might have gone off by himself to sit on a rock and look into the mist of a lake as he tried to tell himself what had happened, how he had gone somewhere without going, how he had put his arms around the neck of a beast that the others could touch only after they had killed it with stones, how he felt its breath on his bare neck. Then again, the first dream could have come to a woman, though she would behave, I suppose, much the same way, moving off by herself to be alone near water, except that the curve of her young shoulders and the tilt of her downcast head would make her appear to be terribly alone, and if you were there to notice this, you might have gone down as the first person to ever fall in love with the sadness of another. Billy Collins You? Me? Us? Richard Thompson from 1996. Just too f*ing awesome. He may be better than Dylan, Young; at least as good. I know, shocking! you? me? us? Get it from Amazon. Stop Saying That My bad. Teh. If Your Name Is Clinton STFU. Oh John (Edwards), Say It Ain't So The John finally fesses up, adds his name to a long list of hetero & homosexual transgressors. Good thing Obama beat his pants off or we'd be stuck with McCain for 4 more years. Stay clean Barak. Go HERE. And he says as did Michael Jackson, "the kid's not mine". John Edwards should resign. Wait a minute... he doesn't have a job. Plus, he has enough money to live forever without a job. So he should just say, "bite me..." Remember how Carter got castigated for saying he had lusted in his mind? Who hasn't? Perhaps Sister Teresa. My sex life consists mainly of wet-dreams about Penelope Cruz and/or Julianne Moore. Geez... and Hunter wasn't even a babe like FDR's or Ike's or Lyndon's or JFK's or Bobby's or MLK's or LBJ's or Hart's or Foley's or G.H.W's or Newt's or Vitter's or Craig's or Livingston's or McGreevy's or Spitzer's or John McCain's or Rudy G's... y'get me point. Sidebar to all this male-bashing: Most of them were cheating with women. And the women were mostly cheating on their "sisters". So much for feminism. Let's Vote Against Self-Interest Again DNS Security Flaw This is not like the Y2K bug. Aren't ya just scared? Go HERE. Getting Old** When one gets to a certain age the obituaries become of interest. Who is dying? Do I know them. Did they live to a ripe old age? Or did they die younger than I am currently? Also, and more imprtantly, what will happen to all this stuff I've made and accumulated?
	8/7/08 Go Veggie Reasons to quit eating meat. Some really horrible videos on this site which you may not want to watch. Go HERE. Show Us Your Boobs, Cindy! McCain and Miss Buffalo Chip. Go HERE. Funny thing is: His daughter was standing there too and he didn't offer her up. A Michael Franks Sort Of Day Found this mash-up of Diana Krall & Franks on YerTube. Go HERE. And with Veronica Nunn Go HERE. Eggplant Go HERE. The Electoral Map Go HERE. Obama is taking next week off in Hawaii. Sure hope the jounos keep the hell away and let him surf a bit before he comes back and kicks ass again. $12 Laptops Go HERE. More Wars
	8/6/08 Here's The Deal I used to get about 200 hits a day. Then I switched servers and my traffic dropped to about 20 stalwart souls. Now we are down to about 6-8 friends who faithfully follow my daily rants. I'm thinking, wondering if it is worth it. It may be time to get a life. Artist Of The Day Laurie Anderson. Still kicking even after her 15 minutes of fame. She and Lou growing old gracefully. Go HERE. Stop Saying That At the end of the day. At that point in time. On the same page. I'm like... The blogosphere. To be continued... Back In The Day... when the Stones meant something. Go HERE. Demetri Martin Funny guy. Go HERE. Log Rolling The New York Times takes care of its own. David Carr, a media reporter who has written a memoir, has thus far been treated to an extended article/excerpt in the Magazine, a featured video on the web and now a review by Pete Hamil praising The Time Of The Gun. Must be some book. Redemption pays bigtime. Bayh Bye Whew! That was close but no mention of him for veep.
	11/05/06 Toby Keith STFU! Gut Feeling It just feels like Obama will win in a landslide but MSM needs to depict it as a close race. Yet Americans are stupid, think Nixon 2x, Reagan 2x and The Shrub 2x. I predict a huge national mental depression if McCain should squeak by in November. Miss Buffalo Chip McCain volunteers Cindy as a contestant. Go HERE. And Go HERE. Grace Potter & The Nocturnals Go HERE.
	8/4/08 Britain From Above Interesting. Go HERE. GOTCHA! I know it is not considered appropriate to gloat when bad things happen to anyone (even bad people) but I don't care. When someone (like Wm. Buckley, Strom Thurmond, Robert Novak or hopefully Bill Kristol & David Brooks) spreads bile across the land for decades and then succumbs to human destiny, such as is waiting for us one and all, I can't help but get a twinge of "cummupence". "mi dipiace". Campaign Finance Reform Remember the McCain/Feingold bi-partisan reform plan? Well it turns out a couple who live in Queens, where the median income is $58 thou, each contributed $28,000 to RNC to elect McCain. Go HERE. And Go HERE. The Washington Post reported that McCain received $1.1 million from oil and gas industry executives and employees in June -- three-quarters of which came after he called for lifting the ban on offshore drilling on June 16. Sculptors: Eat Your Heart Out Think you know Origami? Think again. Go HERE. VOTE Absentee Know anyone who lives abroad? Send them a clue to voting. Go HERE. Or Go HERE. Obama/Bayh 08 Still looks to be his choice. Getting pretty cozy. Go HERE. And Go HERE. Tricky Dick Almost endearing; outakes before his resignation. Go HERE. Happy Birthday Barack Obama is 47 today. Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, 89, RIP Go HERE. Lizz Wright Does Neil's Old Man. Where have I been?
	8/3/08 Bucky @ Whitney Well worth seeing even if you think you know him well. Lots of beautiful models and the Dymaxion Car. Buck & Dwight The Internets Every weekend my internet connection gets slow as hell and has lots of dropped connections. Is this just my problem or does anyone else notice this? Pinnochio McCain His nose keeps growing. Go HERE. Now That's An Upset Djokovic beats Nadal but it was only a 3 setter. Go HERE. Some People Have Too Much Money $1.6 million for a baseball card. Go HERE. Today Kate wants to go see the Bucky Fuller show at The Whitney, so when she gets up around 2pm, that's what we will do. The smell of shoe polish is wafting in the wondow and someone from the street just yelled, "hello-oh".
	8/2/08 Quote Of The Day "We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security." -- Dwight David Eisenhower, U.S. general and 34th president (1890-1969) Our Mentor Monk Been re-reading the bio MONK by Laurent de Wilde which has stimulated an all day session of Monk's music. Brilliant Corners, Carnegie Hall With Coltrane and coming up Monk With Art Blakey. Running While Black Bob Herbert weighs in. Go HERE. Some Art Jens & Gita Went to a b-b-q last night with my old pal Jens & his girl friend Gita who is also Kate's summer boss. Gita is a partner in Thread Collective a green architecture firm. Go HERE. And Jens has a construction company called VeGollc. Go HERE. Go HERE for a NYTimes feature on Jens & Gita.
	8/01/08 Cortez The Killer Neil Young Live. Go HERE. Grace Potter & Joe Satriani Live. Go HERE. And Warren Haynes w/ Dave Matthews Band. Go HERE. Wanna See Pix Of Celebs Drinking Starbucks? This is really exciting. Go HERE. Obama Picks Bayh Hate to be among the first with this disappointing news. Go HERE. Introducing Flight Of The Conchords. Go HERE. Some Art Clapton: The Autobiography Best Sellers are not always all their cracked up to be. If you love Eric you will finish it. If not, probably not. He seems intent on thanking everyone he's ever known and is as happy as only a sober drunk can be. I'm glad because his best music has been produced since he dried out. For comparison, I started to re-read Monk by Laurent deWilde which is excellent and intelligent. Whut Tha Hail Iz Thait The Montauk Monster. Go HERE. Buchanan Bruised It's gotta hurt, eh, Pat, to be taken down by a lesbian. And a beautiful one too. Go HERE. Another Month Shot To Hell And almost another year; I'll soon be 67. Yippie!?
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