In Short: Glenn Beck: Biased Danger Again

"This land was made for you and me!"

And today Glenn Beck denounced the song as a progressive disaster pushing land grabs. Why? Because when it was written, 1940, it was all FDR.

He apparently has no negative feelings about the politics involved in adding the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance or the very name of the thing, that we are required to pledge allegiance to a flag, a representation of our country.

I cannot even comprehend his distorted logic, except that it's scaring some people and pushing others to drive from CA to the Pentagon to shoot people.

A moron with a microphone does not mean he should be listened to.

Jesus! $7200 Worth of Beer Confiscated by Dumb Cops

The Jesus news today is sparse: Glenn Beck tells people to leave churches that preach social justice (asshat) and a painting of Mary is crying oil outside of Paris. Boo.

So let's talk about beer and dumb cops instead!



Who are they? That's Leigh Maida and Brendan Hartranft, owners of three bars, including Resurrection Ale House, in Grays Ferry, and Local 44, in West Philly. Based on a "customer complaint," their 3 bars were targeted and raided in unison for selling beer with names that were not registered with PA.

Although the bar owners had bought the beer legally from licensed Pennsylvania distributors and had paid all the necessary taxes, the police claimed that nobody had registered the precise names of the beers with the state Liquor Control Board - a process that requires the brewers or their importers to pay a $75 registration fee for each product they want to sell in Pennsylvania.

Based on a complaint from someone the State Police refuse to identify, three teams of officers converged last Thursday on the three bars, run by Leigh Maida and her husband, Brendan Hartranft. Checking their inventories against the state's official list of more than 2,800 brands, the cops seized four kegs and 317 bottles, totaling 60.9 gallons of beer, according to police calculations.

Aside from the obvious clusterfuck that is the organization of the law, here's the bullshit part: A half-assed list corroborated over the phone with liquor control jumbled with morons executing the order were confiscating everything not on their list exactly, like if Michelob was on the list, they'd take Mich Ultra because Ultra wasn't on the list.

And the list was far from accurate. The troopers ended up taking beer served in bars across the state and ignoring Heineken, whose brewer is apparently missing from the list.

Best quote, from Maida: "My main beef with this whole convoluted situation is that the PLCB is the sole regulator of a set of products that they do not even know the names of."

I think the bigger questions are: why did they target this couple's bars? At a time when people are arguing for smaller government and championing small businesses, how does a perfect storm of ineptness swarm in and take over? And why do we still allow morons who know nothing about beer poorly manage lists that they send to Schlitz-swilling officers who wouldn't know a bock from a stout to execute orders they can barely read?

Isn't there some more important crime going on somewhere in Philly? Shouldn't investigation precede a raid? I'm calling shenanigans on this bullshit; either these good folks were singled out on a personal or business level or PA's enforcement is retarded. Or both.

Glenn Beck is a Communist

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Rage Within the Machine - Progressivism
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

Sarah Palin and Shootin' Wolves

We'll be seeing much of this in 2012.



Her response: "I'm not Governor of AL anymore. Wait, what? A-L isn't Alaska?"

LOL's a-comin'!

Van Mural Wed - Thongs for the Memories, Man-Wolf

No, that's not okay.




And neither is this, though I'd argue that Man-Wolf was simply misunderstood; it wasn't his fault that the Godstone only allowed partial transformation because it was from a parallel universe. Sheesh.

Weeks Without the XBox 360 - It's Okay!

So you heard me whine about my XBox360 tweaking out all E74 on me and you're concerned, wondering whatever dear Ricky will do!?

I know. Worst bit? Mrs. Shambles leaves for parts abroad for 10 days on Friday, multiplying my video game play time by like 20. And my Xbox, sans faceplate and hard drive, awaits departure sometime tomorrow.

But it's not all loss and pain. In fact, it opens a happy and broad opportunity of getting back to some sense of roots. I'm not a deprived mess in any sense. I've still a working PS2 and Wii. And a bit of a backlog to go along with it.

Wii Weekend

For example, I have a couple Wii items I have to catch up on:

• I recently downloaded Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and have yet to crack into that
• I played most of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess drunk and my last save was in the mer-people's land and I don't remember much about ...anything. Let's just say a start-over would be good.
• I recently had a birthday and just spent my xmas and bday gift cards to purchase (today) Metroid 3: Corruption and Super Mario Galaxy (+ hottest GameStop staff in recent memory)
• And if all else fails, I just found out LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias was released for download late last year.
• And I never did get very far into Super Mario 64

PS2 for One

Playstation2 still has some life in it as well:

• I still have GTA: San Andreas and in my latest save only have 1/3 of total gang territory left to conquer to own the whole town. Have not unlocked the 2 other sections of the map yet.
• Finally picked up God of War II at the aforementioned GameStop trip. Delicious.
• And there's always The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning. Seriously, back off. It's a reboot of the series and the cast includes Elijah Wood as Spyro, David Spade as Sparx, Gary Oldman as Ignitus, and Cree Summer as Cynder. That's right: Gary fucking Oldman.

So that's pretty much my next 12 days, aside from work, that is. In case you were wondering. I will not continue to bitch about how Microsoft is fucking their fan base, except when new glitches appear in the process of getting my XBox fixed, which I have faith they will.

My Personal Red Ring: Xbox 360 - Error 74

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again
Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need...of some...stranger's hand
In a...desperate land
Lost in a Roman...wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
All the children are insane

I was playing Fallout3 (see my Dogmeat rantamble here), and after clearing out a cave of Raiders and getting to looting the place and taking a nap, everything went Matrix on me, but red, and with lots of dots instead of the green characters. Ghosts of the action before me still remained, but none nearly visible enough to continue. Woah! I reset.

Then the flashing red light you see above. But hey, at least it's not the Red Ring of Death! Right? Wrong. MS places it straight:

While the majority of Xbox 360 owners continue to have a great experience with their console, we are aware that a very small percentage of our customers have reported receiving an error that displays “E74” on their screen. After investigating the issue, we have determined that the E74 error message can indicate the general hardware failure that is associated with three flashing red lights error on the console.

So my error and my "Oh, at least it's not the ring!" are all for nothing. And by "majority" they apparently mean "more than 50%." My research shows Microsoft is busting out repairs on an extended 3 year warranty for a possible 30% of customers who purchased an Xbox 360.

So you give me a free shipping label to fix a problem you KNEW about when I bought your system? P'sha!

I'd like 5000 points to go with the fact that I have to ship my system to you to get fixed, leaving me without the product I purchased.

Microsoft, you are a douche. And you're short-selling your clientelle. And you need to make amends. Even now, when the fervor of the red ring has died down, it still lives. It lives in every box that has been purchased. Even though you put out your statement in 2007 that you made changes, you're still sucking something hard because obviously the purchase I made a year ago was not iron-clad to your supposed changes.

This is bad business. I'll post it on my other blog too.

And I'll send in my Box with box and packing that I must pay for. And I'll call customer service every single day to find out when I'm getting it back and what credits I might expect.

I'll report back.

And my daughter just bought me Dead Rising. And even if I could play it, I just found out I can't read any of the text in the game: was optimized for HD.

Asshats. I'll let you know.

In Short: The Next Anti-Choice Target: Miscarriage

I'm not fucking kidding. Only in Utah:

A new Utah law could charge women with homicide if they miscarry, making women's rights advocates concerned that women will be brought up on murder charges for drinking, failing to wear a seatbelt, or falling down the stairs.

The bill passed Utah's state legislature last Thursday and still needs final approval by the governor, but it continues to gain attention this week for its unusually restrictive language.

Usher in the Handmaid's Tale ASAP. Seriously. Is the work of government to get into our pieces parts as far as possible? Isn't this what Republicans are supposedly warning us about?

Oh yeah: doesn't apply to loose women who miscarry their children because of physical or emotional sin. Or some shit like that. Sin: defined by us and bad and makes Democrat women miscarry for which they must be punished. We miscarry? God wanted to challenge us in our faith!

No, really, I can't write anymore. Cheers!

Jesus on the Suds, Gay, & Beck

Jesus likes to crack one open and have a smoke now and then. He's just chillin' - he had a tough life. If he didn't like the sauce, why would he turn water to wine?

Seriously though, in a cursive writing exercise in a book in India, apparently the above image appeared next to "I for idol." And probably the same goons who decried the Islamic response to a cartoon of bomb-headed Muhammed are not only outraged and demanding apologies, but some groups are looking to file suit. So who are you going to sue? The publisher did not force the books on the kids - they were purchased by the school. Are you suing the school? Overreaction in the truest sense.

Worst bit of bad reporting? It took me 10 tries to find a piece of reporting that was about outrage over a picture that actually included the picture. Thank you BBC.


Elton John said:

"I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems," he stated. "On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don't know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East -- you're as good as dead."

Queue religious outrage.


And FireDogLake has a great post about Glenn Beck at CPAC talking about a "come to Jesus" moment for the Republicans. Beck, of course, is horribly misguided in his use of language. Surprise!


And one last thing. I was scanning through the news for this post and saw the words "One True Crutch!" But then I did a double-take. It actually read: "One True Church!" Same difference, I thought.


Last last - I think Jesus would drink Schlitz and smoke Pall Malls. You?

Theocrat

Wait, I thought you meant. Oh. Nevermind.

LARP - Live Avatar Role Playing

Absurd and hilarious. "It's almost like what I've seen Japanese people do."

Fail, Damnit! Fail! It's Friday!

Okay, we'll start with a win. Because it's a cute nana.



Told you it was hot. I mean cute. I love a well-tied babushka.

Oh, no! That led me to Funny-Dancing Grandma. I guess that's a fail of some sort...



(No - I stopped there, even though Techno Grandma was tempting)

Wait. What's that you say? A Miley Cyrus cover of Goodbye? Wonderful!



No! No! No! Make it stop! I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry!

(Okay, not really - like sharing the tape from The Ring with someone in a way. I believe the French refer to that as la bête du jambon)

How about an Anger Release Fail? At least he got some fight in the newspaper box...



Have a great weekend!

In Short: S. E. Cupp, Walking Absurdity

I keep a pretty good handle on the right wing nutters, but I'd never heard of S.E. Cupp before today when she was talking about Tiger Woods and plugging her upcoming book Losing Our Religion (which is predictably about how the left wing supposedly hates Christianity).

SE was talking to the Hannity stand-in and expressing her outrage that because Tiger didn't come out and say he was a loser, he was a loser. In a tie-in to her book, she pivoted on Tiger's comment about his previous and newfound dedication to Buddhism. Of course, that was a "direct attack" on Brit Hume who had -a while back- commented that Tiger come to Jesus and get some real redemption and ethics.

And then SE was outraged. "Buddhism, whatever," she railed, "Buddhism considers adultery a sin too." She continued: "He's obviously out of touch with whatever his god is."


Why do some people look down on Christianity, S.E.? Because of Christian(-esque people) like you. Ignorant, ignorant people like you who do not think any other belief is worthy of fifteen minutes of your time to learn the basics of the phraseology of their system, let alone the belief structure.

To clarify: Buddhism does not have a creator god, nor do they believe in the self-deprecating Christian construction of sin, original or otherwise.

But because she is informed on only one form and concept of religion, she can't speak in any other terms, even for 5 minutes. How'd she write a book about the subject? Jesus!

Here's an analogy: Many Europeans think Americans are asses because they expect the world to speak English and most won't take the 5 minutes to learn "please," "thank you," and "Do you speak English?" They just talk louder. And that's what you're doing, S.E. Not smarter - or even smart - just louder.

If you want respect from others, whether other religions or while traveling abroad, begin by showing some. I believe some would call that "being Christian."


UPDATE: To clarify, S.E. Cupp is a self-proclaimed atheist. But a bad one. Check the comments for my full opinion.

Who's Still Sponsoring Glenn Beck?

Just a little FYI from Media Matters for those of you with a few extra minutes on your hands:

At least eighty advertisers have reportedly dropped their ads from Glenn Beck's Fox News program since he called President Obama a "racist" who has a "deep-seated hatred for white people." Here are his February 8 sponsors, in the order they appeared:

Rosland Capital
Vermont Teddy Bear Company
Loan Modification Hotline
Aspercreme
Mesothelioma Families
Chattem
Tax Masters
Lifelock
Sokelove Law, LLC
Wall Street Journal
Goldline
American Advisors Group
Pro Flowers
Hydroxatone
The Jewelry Exchange
NBC Universal
Credit Card & Debt Relief Hotline

Cheers!

Jim Gaffigan - King Baby - Bacon

Delicious!

Van Murals: Javanasexy & Wave!

Uh-oh. Who brought the sexy?



I don't know who this guy is, but I tried to combine Japanamation, van, and sexy in the title of this post. And I believe that guy is all three. The person who drives that van, however, is totally sketch. As Irish Dancer would say.




OMG that wave is HUGE. Surf hard! OMG that sexy naked mermaid is about to be ground into coral reef food. What are you doing mermaid? You live underwater. You should know better!

Politics, Meh - Palin, Anyone?

My wife got me a fantastic Palin birthday card yesterday and then today I saw this on Think Progress:

Former Alaska governor and Fox News analyst Sarah Palin spoke to a crowd of Republican Party activists in Arkansas yesterday, where she lavished praise on the Tea Party movement and played down speculation that she might run for president in 2012. She also then mocked Twitter:

When she was asked what she believed was the number one threat to America today, several audience members shouted, "Obama!"

Arkansas Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb, who moderated the Q&A session, responded by adding, "Besides Obama."

Palin then chimed in as many in the crowd laughed.

"See, they said that, I didn’t," she said. "Just you watch now, too, because somebody will be here with their little Twittering thing, and it’s going to be on the Internet any minute now."

It’s unclear what Palin has against the "little Twittering thing," considering she is also on Twitter (@SarahPalinUSA) and has actually been noted for supposed new media saviness. Last night’s event in Little Rock’s 18,000-seat Verizon Arena had a significant number of empty seats. In fact, fewer than half the seats "in the lower bowl were occupied, and the entire upper level was shrouded by black drapes." In the hours before the Palin event, "the Arkansas GOP was advertising on its web site a heavily discounted '$20 ticket special.'"

Case in point: Republicans don't get technology or the internet.

There seems to be a brewing schism in the Republican party: Those who want to make the party appear less the "white man" party and are willing to push Palin to the forefront of 2012 and those who say it would be political suicide. So what's the call, Pubbies? Do you appear to be even more misogynist by saying a woman who has no right running for president has no right running for president or feign acceptance of her lack of qualifications to appear more inclusive? I'm guessing they'll go the latter and blame America if she does't win the primaries and blame America (I can hear Hannity now: "America was just not ready for a strong, independent woman to lead the country!") when she doesn't win the general election. And then they'll ride that feather in their cap for the next 20 years, that they had a woman run. And that's how they'll phrase it. And that's how they'll get it so, so wrong in the short and long run.


Other politics? No, not really. Shitty, really. We're still buried in snow so my ears have numbed from the deniers saying global warming is a hoax or that it might be real but not man-made and some guy posted something on a blog about how it's all collapsing around the "warmalists" but really its not and it's become so political that it ceases to be scientific. And McCain can't even remember if he said something about capping carbon at some point.

It's all quite pointless. The Right will continue to push for less carbon regulation because business will continue to grease their asses for doing so and the Left will continue to push for more regulation. In my opinion, whether it's AGW or just GW, the Left's doing the only thing that will help the problem. They're shipping snow into Vancouver for chrissakes.

Enough politics already. Bring me the van murals!

Jesus, Green Pot, Green Lent, Fiery Pareidolia

Either I strategically postponed my Monday Jesus because of Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday or I'm a lazy son of a bitch. You decide.

Why is it that every year I completely forget that it's Ash Wednesday until I walk into the AmeriStop or UDF to pick up some beer and am entranced and almost comment to someone that they've got some shit on their forehead? Then just before what would be a horribly embarrassing moment, my brain goes "Ohhhh yeah. Some people still do that."

Weed Worship Jesus



Hey, why do these three paintings of Jesus crossing the Mexico/Texas border weigh so much? Oh, because you've got 10 lbs. of pot stuffed into the back of each one!

Stupid. What chintzy painting weighs 10 lbs? None. Even the drug-sniffing dog Cesar knew that.

Can we just legalize marijuana please? We could empty prisons, focus on real problems, people would stop stuffing the Lord with weed, and everyone else could stop pretending to be offended by it. Jesus!


Green Lent

Some folks are giving up carbon for Lent. That is so absurd it will only get this blurb. It's like only giving at Christmas. If you want to do something you know you should be doing anyway, don't use a man-made holiday to appease your deity with a faux dedicated sense of responsibility. Is baby Jesus happier if you make a pittance of an effort for 40 days or dedicate yourself to real change the whole year?


Pareidolia FAIL



Dude saw Jesus on a log in a fire. Dude apparently missed that his picture shows Jesus' huge, demonic hand emerging from the same fire.

If it was really Jesus, he'd let you pull the log out of the burning inferno with your bare hands so you could put it on Ebay. You know he would...

Progressive in Short: Right Wrong

This week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) presented a scaled-back "Jobs Bill." Republicans who had previously stated that the big one wouldn't create a single job switched tune to say Harry was selling out the country and not doing what needed to be done. Is anyone surprised by this?


3/4 of Americans support openly gay people serving in the military. Is this openness and compassion or "at least it's not me" or "kill the fags?" Maybe a mix of all? I personally don't think America's tolerant enough to allow everyone the same rights.


Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is still batshit crazy. I nominate her for VP to Palin in 2012. Oh, what a party that'll be. I'll bring the Jameson.


And, lastly, it appears that the right-wing nutters saying that snow in winter means Global Warming is a hoax are blind to all things Canadian and international. The Winter Olympics start tonight, and Vancouver has to airlift snow in so it can actually happen. Why? Warmest winter on record. I guess that like their breadth and width of knowledge of the world ends at the US borders and of science ends at the end of the day, you tie the two together and not a whisper will be spoken about an international event dependent on snow not having snow because it's too warm. But perhaps one of their coal-shucking scientists can somehow tie it to "Global Cooling."

Friday FAIL: Deniers, Cops, Light Switch Penises?

More Friday Fail. And third week in a row I haven't made it in every day. Ah, well.


Global Warming Denier FAIL

Rachel Maddow and Bill Nye lay out - in plain terms - that the morons on the right like Hannity and Limbaugh and Beck who say that snow in the winter means global warming is a hoax are full of BS, purposefully misleading their viewers and listeners.




Cop FAIL

Not new, but always funny.




Light Switch FAIL

Many examples of inadvertent penis humor.

Van Mural Wednesday: Rawr! Smart!

I know there's a pussy joke there.



I know there's a pussy joke there.

Politics on Tuesday? Easy: Repubs Are the Danger

At this point, who on the right is still kidding themselves: Republicans are not for actual medical reformation. They never have been. They want to keep their corporate medical sponsors (granted, it's been hard for the Dems with their corp med sponsors too). But the 'Pubs haven't put effort into anything except NOT putting effort into the reform Americans are desperately in need of.

Wait, that's not true. Repubs are putting a great deal of effort into scaring the hell out of the ignorant American populace that the (Obama v. 2.1) USA is going to take over their health care. And KILL US ALL! It's true. Ask Beck or Limbaugh or any of those other conservative ass-clowns who claim an allegiance to a more pure form of American government than the Republicans. And everything Obama does is bad and wrong and is deliberately so. Obama hates America!

So the Democrats have to go and the Republicans who don't get the AM Radio Stamp of WhateverTheFuck (most of them) ALL NEED TO GO. And by fostering that level of ignorant voting rampage, and ignorant Tea Party education, you foster a frenzy-dom of stupidity, a madness of idiocy, all of them suckling on the teat of talk radio like a crack baby on its amphetamine-laced lactation.

Right wing radio: you're right. America is in danger. America is in danger from you. YOU are fostering not an educated populace, but an ignorant one. You are fostering your dream of an oligarchy ruled by madness that fits your version of reality.

You are the danger.

And as disconcerting as it is, I say: Bring it on. Usher Palin into 2012. Kill reform without solutions. We'll be waiting. With facts. And you will lose.

Or America will.

Jesus, Monday Already? Lindsay?

Lohan as the Lord?



And 3...2...1 -

She turns wine into vomit and can barely walk on a waterbed. She calls her privates "fishes and loaves" and can make the cock crow 3 times before sunrise. She only said yes to crucifixion because she wanted to get nailed. She figured "spikes" either meant booze or volleyball and either was cool with her. She's really fond of Simon's Peter. She didn't call Peter "The Rock" for church-buildin'. Three days in a tomb is what she calls rehab. Born from a virgin? Travesty! She one was tempted by Satan, but turned him down because at no point did he address cock, coke, or Skyy. And yes, she was a carpenter; she's likes to work the wood.

Seriously folks. I could do this all night.

Name n Date! - Vargas, Jesus, n a Mullet!

I don't know what possessed me to type in "vargas 1978," but I did and this is what I got:


Punto y Aparte indeed!

If you're not familiar with Name n Date (because it's been a while), I type in a name and a date and post my result(s) on Google Image Search.

So let's do another. How about Jesus 1965?


Dad: drunk; Jr.: stoned; Kid: zombie-ing out on neighbor's penis

WTF? Is this thing broken? Of course not. Jesus by definition should -


I so hate Egyptian history!

Shit. Well, if it's going to be that kind of party, I'm gonna stick my dick in the mashed potatoes.

Let's close with a mullet, shall we?


Nips!

Amen.

Short News: G-Spot, Have a (Secret) Smoke

Um...Gee...

Do you have a G-spot? If you're British, you may not.

A bunch of British scientists did some sexy science and decided that the G-Spot does not really exist. And then the French scientists were like "Oh non, tu fais pas!" because they're the masters of their own baters and their own sexual destinies. Best quote:

The angry French gynecologists said they’d found the real problem with their British counterparts: that they're British.

Ah, those Brits and Frenchies. Always scrappin'.


Put That Out, Drew!

Oh, no. Not in Parma, Ohio! On March 1st, Parma Community General Hospital will begin a new policy: They will not hire smokers.

Okay, so we knew this was coming. No one is surprised.

But the reality of the situation is now wildly apparent. We are heading towards a society where you punch in to your job by standing on a scale and taking a quick blood test to check your cholesterol, drug content, triglycerides, and stress hormones.

Is that okay?

Just wondering.

I'm a Banana

Van Mural Wednesday: The Road

The Road goes ever on...



If you're talking about that Kerouac book, you've got it right. What a snoozer! But you're probably not. The road goes on. Then you meet that guy and he drives you instantly mad, drowns you, and takes your clothes. And next thing you know your friends are calling him by your name because he's wearing your sweet thermal. Madness, I say!

Jesus and Politics - Or How About Video Games? And...No, Just Video Games. Fallout 3? Dogmeat? Anyone?

Jesus was supposed to be yesterday, but I'm running a little wrong on the side of time because I finally started getting buried in this game called Fallout 3 for the Xbox 360. Engrossing. Potentially hundreds of hours of gameplay (and downloadable content!) and it's killing my productivity.

The most endearing and interesting part of the game is that I have been befriended by a dog named Dogmeat. I know. It says the words "dog meat" in my inventory and I imagine the 6 HP it provides is delicious as much as it is irradiated.

But this is a dog. A real, live, video game dog. And she chooses me as her master.

And I've got to live up to that.

In the Fallout 3 Wasteland, you never know if you're going to bump into a stupid raider that Dogmeat will tear into until you can get a relatively close headshot with the combat shotgun that will make his "momma had a baby and it's head popped off" pop off with requisite spurting blood OR perhaps a small army of super-mutants will crush Dogmeat in three bangs of a water main pipe.

And when that happens, whether you are there to see it or not, you get an impersonal dialogue pop-up that simply states "Dogmeat has died" and an "OK" box.

No, damn you! It's not okay! She's a dog! A dog! She ran after the super mutant on the third floor to protect ME and it took me a while to get up there and he clubbed her with his nail board and I couldn't get there with a stimpak to fill her HP and - SHIT! - a whimper and that fucking box again. Again!

Yes. It happens again and again. Why? Because telling her to stay there brings up a whimper (and if you tell her to stay somewhere and get carried away and forget where you left her, she's gone). So you keep her with you and when you say "Good boy," she barks like fucking Lassie (I realize my disconnect in animal gender, but I do have two female cats: Dorian and Godot).

Then Dogmeat dies. And you lament your decision. You start over at the last save. Because you keep her with you and you move on. The thought of your dog dead will ruin the rest of the game. And she's actually helpful as an alert most of the time with that growl and because for the love of all things Holy, the BEST thing she can do, the reality of the situation, the dialogue choice under "Talk to Dogmeat" that states "Go away and never come back again" makes me want to vomit and cry in that pile of puke for being such a horrible human being.

I'm not sure how I'm going to feel recruiting a Goul named Charon, whom I just met.

I doubt I'll replay as an evil character, though I long to blow up Megaton. I don't have the stomach.

And don't even ask me about Mass Effect 2. Until 2012 when I finally get to it.


I don't think anything about this post is right. I admit it upfront. And yet I'm certain I'm not alone.

And you should play. Obviously, it's engaging. Engrossing.
Happy Tuesday.


UPDATE: I've downloaded the Broken Steel component so I could pop the Level 20 cap. And I now have to deal with some terrible enemies that actually scare me, though I've not even entered the storyline of the download.

Funny plus: Puppies! It's a new perk you can choose at level up so if Dogmeat dies, you can return to 101 and have a new piece of the litter. Litter? I guess the female thing is not so wrong with Dogmeat.

In Short: Hannity 'n' Them Knuckle Sammiches

I heard Hannity on Wednesday, before getting owned by a Democratic congressman, say the following:

"I don't know if you've ever heard the saying... 'I'll hit you so hard your mother'll feel the vibrations.' Oh, now we sound like street kids, heh heh."

What?

Yeah, like street kids in the 30's. No, like street kids in a movie about the 1930's. What kind of mental throwback alternate dimension does Sean Hannity live in? What pre-cold war anachronism does he inhabit? No wonder his sense of reality is so skewed. Damn.

Friday FAIL: Webcast, iPad x 2, Rollerblade x 3!

So the first part of Friday FAIL is to discuss how I failed in my first week of posting per my guide list (way down on the right column). Sure, I got the Mon/Tues going strong, but Wednesday's Van Mural had to wait to Friday and I completely skipped Thursday. We'll have another go next week, then?

Enjoy!

Live Webcast Fail




iPad Fail




And will I ever get tired of the adaptations of Hitler? Answer: No. More iPad Fail.

Hitler Learns of iPad




I'm sorry. You came here looking for Fail in a more tangible manner. Here you go!

Rollerblade FAIL x 3







Cheers!

Van Mural Whatever Today Is

Who likes ass?

Wait. Who doesn't like ass?



Ass and surf. Don't get much better than that. For surfing people, I guess.

I prefer the pale emaciation that sometimes manifests in nerds and gamers.

Tuesday Politics: Republican NO-bama!

Day two of the scheduling plan and we've got some politics for you. So far so good.


Tomorrow night, President Obama is going to deliver his State of the Union Speech.

Now leaked: He's going to put a freeze on domestic spending.

So what do the Borrow-and-Spend Republicans say about a freeze on spending by their so-called Tax-and-Spend Democrats? Wrong!

Why? Isn't taking more financial responsibility for the country important.

"Wrong!"

Why?

"Democrat mean 'BAD.'"

So it just boils down to that, does it? Anything Obama and the Democratic party does is subject to ridicule and twisting and a good kneading and beating in the taffy-pulling machine that is the conservative media-political machine? Violently oppose anything proposed - even if it does some good for the country - in order to feign compromise, which the Democrats foolishly acquiesce to, at which point you'll still shout NO but now claiming that it's a weak bill in concert with liberals who say it doesn't go far enough?

"Yep."

But what about genuine health care reform, helping those that need the most help in an admittedly broken system?

"Socialism!"

Discounted meals for poor kids?

"Breeding machines!"

Cute puppies?

"Hitler!"


I see. And what about a Supreme Court that just allowed unlimited corporate campaign contributions from corporations, including foreign corporations, figuratively turning McCain-Feingold on its head (and even making McCain turn tail on his own legislation)?

"Oh, we were in power then. Dems may have been genuinely bi-partisan, but we just wanted to limit their funding. Now? No power. We've got to win in 2010 somehow."

That's what I thought.

"Democrat mean 'BAD.'"

Right.

Some Jesus Wrestling Rambling

So it's Monday and you know what that means! Or maybe you don't. Well? Read my post from thirty minutes ago; Monday means Jesus.

And if you're new here, don't turn heel on me yet. I'm a Godless Liberal and when I say Monday Jesus, I mean something tangential and irreverent. Kind of by definition. Might even be about a Latino now and then.

So today's media search was kind of a wash with every story mentioning Jesus having to do with the damned Trijicon scopes with Bible verses on them. Lame. You want to kill a Muslim's soul, shoot him with bacon bullets like everyone else does. Sheesh!

So what did I find about Jesus today? You're going to regret asking.



That's the image. The title of the article?

CM Punk The Version Of Jesus in Wrestling. Good Or Bad?

And, because I love you, I shall reprint the entire text of the article. English teacher marks [in red brackets]. Don't feel bad; this is someone listed as a contributor.

Ever since Punk turned heel, he has been nothing but an awsome [SP] competidor [SP] in the WWE.

Since his goal of ending Jeff Hardy´s career[,] CM Punk has become a really solid character in the SD brand. But now officials are really taking his gimmick to a real [RED] "EDGE".

Now don't get me wrong I really enjoy this story for Punk, I belive it´s really original and has a taste of reality that everyone likes[awk, RO sent].

WWE has donde [SP] a really nice job by taking thios [SP] character to the next level, just see it[frag]. Punk has started to gain [WC] a kind of Jesus look right? Or is it just me? Then in every promo he has made in [SP?] his quest to save the lifes [SP] of the adicts [SP] has been nothing but a very interesting copy of the message of Jesus [awk-restructure, please]. The most impresive thing is that the audience has identified with these gimmick[s] and more than ever they pay to go and BOO Punk out of the arena. [But if Punk is the Jesus figure, why does he get BOO'd? NC]

Some people think this is a really boring and anoying gimmick, but reallity [SP] is I belive is [awk] one of the best WWE has come up with these past year[?]. Just look who [SP?] funny and entertaining is every word Punk has to say in those "saving people" segments. Things like: "These women needs me I sense it" are[tense] just hilarious coming from a guy like Punk with his tatoos and wearing his wrestling attire [awk].

Come on people give this a chance, belive or not I think these is one of the best products WWE has released in a long time [RO].

The partnership with Luke [Biblical Luke?] makes it even more interesting, and on the other hand gives good old Festus a nice push, we all wanted these [number] for him since he is a really nice [WC] wrestler. And if the storyline rounds [?] around Jesus who knows maybe Luke will be the one that turns on Punk and serves him to the entire face part [face part?]of the locker room.

It´s a rellay [SP] GOOD thing for Punk, for Luke, for SD and specially for the WWE Universe. If you just hate the story I respect you're [your] opinion but I'm asking you to respect mine and give CM Punk (aKa ["a.k.a."] Jesus) a shot with this new gimmick.

Holy Christ, that was hard to mark up!

(FYI: When writing something that will forever be floating the circuits and aether that is the internets, either use Firefox or Chrome (spellcheck) or write it in Word and copy/paste.)

If "your" surprised by the contributors, you can see the fans on teevee. I went once. Ironically. Back when it was the World Wildlife Foundation.

Maybe "its" just lost "it's" edge.

A New Plan Theme Thing

Okay, it's not necessarily a "NEW" plan as in the blog is going to change or all the things you love will disappear like a cake in front of a fat kid, but I've noticed a lack of focus on my part. A lack of discipline.

So about half the time, my focus will fall into the outline you can see under Linktastica! on the right. Feel free to suggest anything. I'm sure it will be welcomed with joy.

So what've I got in store for my wonderful people? Only the best:

Monday
Jesus News!

Tuesday
Politics I May or May Not Give a Shit About

Wednesday
Van Mural Wednesday

Thursday
Images of Some Sort. Probably Funny. Occasionally Photoshopped by Yours Truly

Friday
Fail Friday Video(s)


As you may know, when I feel frisky or particularly motivated, I'll knock out 2 or 3 posts in a day. This list is positioned to make me knock out at least 1 on those days I don't feel so much so.

SO: Whatcha think?

In Short: McDonald's FAIL

I stopped into McDonald's tonight. While in the drive-thru pay window, I noticed a sign posted inside:

Due to slow sales, hours have been cut for all employees. When sales increase, you will be given your hours back.

And when I was driving away, I noticed a sign posted in the front window:

HELP WANTED


FAIL


Your thoughts?

Van Mural Wednesday: Eyes on Your Chess Battle

She sees your darkest secrets...




Chess battle!

Arctic Monkeys - Nick Cave - Red Right Hand

I love the Arctic Monkeys. I love Nick Cave. I love this fucking video. Love it with me.

Frisky Dingo, Meet Archer!

Remember that time I talked about that one vague show called Frisky Dingo? If not, feel free to visit the link and return or just watch a little love below:



I loved the hell out of that show - honestly the most consistently hilarious show I've ever seen in timing and pace and it just matched my brain in some way. And then it broke my heart when Season 2 ended and nary a word was heard.

And then, by chance, I caught a blurb on IFC with Dingo co-creator Adam Reed talking about his new venture entitled Archer about a whoring secret agent (think James Bond gone bad) that appears very similar to Xander Cruise in Dingo. The previews showed a perfect match in timing, non sequitur, and hilarity.

Here's a taste:


(Check out more on FXArcher's Channel)

And the best part is: you can get in on the ground floor! The clip I saw said the series started on FX on January 21st, but the first two episodes aired last week on the 14th. But they're airing the first two episodes ("Training Day" and "Mole Hunt") on Thursday again before the second showing of episode 3, "Diversity Hire."

FX. Thursdays at 10pm. We can watch and hope that they pick it up beyond its original 6 episodes.

Yay!

Stupid Shit Republicans Say

Let's focus on two. I keep pretty close with the crazy as it happens from conservatives but this first one really blew my mind.

Tiger Woods, That Naughty Buddhist

Tiger Woods will recover as a golfer. Whether he can recover as a person I think is a very open question, and it's a tragic situation with him. I think he's lost his family. It's not clear to me that -- whether he'll be able to have a relationship with his children.

But the Tiger Woods that emerges once the news value dies out of this scandal -- the extent to which he can recover, it seems to me, depends on his faith. He's said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith.

So my message to Tiger would be, "Tiger, turn your faith -- turn to the Christian faith, and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world."

That was noted asshat Brit Hume on Fox News. I don't care that he spewed his religion all over the air - I think Murdoch walks around with a loaf of blessed bread, breaking off pieces and swabbing up the sputum for lunch - but WTF?

First - He's knocking someone else's religion in relation to his own and his "I don't think" qualifies it as complete ignorance. It's like saying "I've only eaten cabbage all my life and if you want your nutrition I think that kale is wasting your life!"

What a fuck. What is he saying? Let's get together a big list of Christians who have BEEN Christians and screwed over their spouses or abused kids or molested kids. Who the hell are you?

And Buddhism is to blame?

Second - Imagine, for a second, if this was posited by Malcom X, and he said that Tiger's coming to Allah through the Nation of Islam would be a better solution to Buddhism.

Can you even visualize the nasty disaster of religion and hate and race that would ensue - from people at Fox News?

Hypocrisy is an ugly thing, and only uglier when unmasked and laid bare.


Giuliani and um...9/11?

RUDY: "What he should be doing is following the right things that Bush did -- one of the right things he did was treat this as a war on terror. We had no domestic attacks under Bush. We've had one under Obama."

Wait, wasn't there that shoe bomber guy and ...how did Giuliani forget about that part of his soul, 9/11? Didn't that happen during Bush?

What the fuck?

To be fair, Giuliani has since revamped his statement (according to Olbermann's team 4 times), but none of them clearly reach for the primary ignorance and none truly point to the true cause of the original statement: Rudy Giuliani and other Conservatives are now positing revised history as reality. Recent history, that we all remember, that we were all there for - if no in NY - that there are pieces of our memory that are at fault. That Bush was not.

It's a basic psychological ploy, really. Some people look at it and say "So because you say it 500 times, does it make it true?" Yes. It does. The sad truth is that the first time it's heard by many goons, it's true. The subsequent lies only prove to bolster those who've heard #1 and imbue more who haven't. And by the time they get to bullshit #500, everyone who is ignorant enough to eat up any conservative scat they can get their hands on (that other conservatives haven't already devoured)? They eat it like a fat kid eats cake.

We'll never buy the bullshit. But I wanted you to know that there are tens of millions who will. Who already have.


Epilogue

Today I heard Rush Limbaugh say that if you want to look at what Democratic corruption can do to a city to ruin it, take a look at New Orleans.

If I'm not mistaken (and correct me if I am), New Orleans was ruined by Bush-appointed asshats that didn't know how to organize the simplest of disaster scenarios, let alone the worst of imaginings.

More stupid. More drunk by stupid-drinkers. More waste of brain cells. More of burying intellect.

And that is conservatism. For today at least.


UPDATE!

Media Matters Reports:

After an earthquake devastated Haiti on January 12, Pat Robertson said on The 700 Club that Haitians had "swor[n] a pact to the devil" to get "free from the French" and that "ever since, they have been cursed." Robertson's comments follow a pattern in which he has assigned blame for tragedies and disasters, as well predicted them.

Is this because voodoo, which is practiced in Haiti, is an amalgamation of pagan and Catholic beliefs? Guess what? Christianity is an amalgamation of pagan and "new" beliefs!

I believe this post will continue in perpetuity...

In Short: Haiti ...WHA?

Right now CNN, MSNBC, HLN, etc. are talking about and extensively covering the earthquake that has rocked Haiti to its roots and killed hundreds - if not thousands - of locals.

Fox News is focused on Bill O'Reilly interviewing Sarah Palin and proving she's not retarded. No breaks for real news.

Fox itself must be retarded in its coverage of reality.

Case in point.

Dr. Oz on Reiki

Dr. Oz likes Reiki. I like Reiki. Cool.

Scrapbooking is Stupid

That is all.

Mentalist Fight: Amanda and Robin

Mrs. Shambles and I watch The Mentalist with that strapping Aussie Simon Baker who was in that terrible show The Guardian that gave me a sad feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever I saw it listed on the DVR. Wait - did we have DVR back then? I don't know. I don't remember the cable situation then. I do remember the sad, empty feeling though.

Anyway, I was thinking about my previous post mentioning the Oliva Munn / Morgan Webb post from a while back, and then The Mentalist popped up. It's a good show, nothing like The Guardian.

So, readers, feel free to chime in: I'm not putting any qualifiers on it like fight or beauty. Who wins? Why?

Robin Tunney



or...

Amanda Righetti




Personally? Well ...I'll let you mull over it and I'll update the post with my thoughts and any particularly clever comments next week.

Van Mural Saturday?

Yeah. What can I say. Feeling guilty about being busy. So here's your Van Mural action to make things better. I know: it's like a peck on a bruise when you're hoping for them to go down on you. Take it for what it is.

Found this gem and was almost hesitant to post it. I mean I'm not a surfer, so maybe it's cool. The art doesn't suck, though the van itself says "Collar-poppin Douchebag" to me. Not sure why. Judge for yourself.



But I know your expectations when it comes to vans here at Cause For Concern is not centered around talented art and quality craftsmanship. You want a big pile of suck with generous, dripping side of schadenfreude.

At your service!



Now let me admit, up front, that I am well aware that this is NOT a mural in the purest sense. A mural is generally painted, though mixed media is not out of the question. This is neither. This is shiny garland and tape. This is the scrapbooking version of Van Mural Wednesday.

But it does suck. And that we can appreciate. Or at least laugh at.


...and who the fuck gave smiley faces the right to get a driver's license? Jesus! Next thing you know, we'll be giving them to immigrants.

Holy Snickers! Traffic Update

Yesterday I was tooling around with some of the stats from my other clients and I thought I'd take a look at the numbers for this little corner of the blogosphere and - Holy Shit! - I've been getting between 200 and 400 visits a day. WTF?

Some Statties

Top referring Keywords:

naked (5.69%)
julianna rose mauriello (3.43%)
olivia munn maxim (3.43%)
shake weight for men (3.20%)
glenn beck is a douchebag (2.73%)

Shows you what kind of party I'm throwing. Although I tend to speak politics quite a bit, so perhaps it's a better representation of the people on the internets.

For those of you who don't know, Juliana is the pink-haired leading lady on a kids' show called Lazytown. She is a very attractive young lady and in May she turned 18, which makes that previous sentence slightly less creepy. Olivia is the female host of Attack of the Show on G4 and I once pitted her up against Morgan Webb - with mixed reviews. Shake Weight is always a party pleaser. And Glenn Beck is always a tremendous douchebag.

But #1 keyword is naked? You dirty birds.

The fun part about the internet and search engine mechanics is that by me posting about posts and linking the right text to my own blog - even from my own blog - it alters the numbers in the aether and may bring even more traffic, kind of like if I went back in time to my sophomore year in college and told myself to grow a pair and just pounce on K. on our first date she might not have later broken up with me because I didn't pounce on her on our first date. Okay, maybe not anything like that. Sorry. My soft-spoken college days sometimes haunt me.

But enough about me. Who wants more numbers!?

(last 30 days)

8,557 Visits
10,746 Pageviews
80.88% Bounce Rate (meaning they entered and left on the same page)
00:00:21 Average time on a page (yes, that's seconds)

And an interesting note: a full 25% of my traffic comes from Google Image Searches that lead to my page. Images are important! In fact, here's one apropos of absolutely nothing, an old favorite of my own making:


Liquid Jesus Beer

So overall, good numbers. Crazy numbers. And certainly tells me that I've got to focus on offering more to you good people, especially my regulars, on a ...well, regular basis. Even if I'm busy. So hopefully I'll get a couple more catch-up posts out today, some tomorrow, and my goal: To post 5x a week at minimum. Let's see if I can keep up.

Keep reading, keep commenting, even if you're here for non-existent naked pics :)

Learn to Speak TeaBag

This one's a little older, but delicious, as is everything at Mark Fiore's site. Enjoy!

A Retort: Guideline for Conservatives

I love getting comments. Granted, most of them are humorous or insightful bits from my regular readers. But every once in a while - every couple days or so - I get something from a conservative either (rarely) actually agreeing with something I said, (occasionally) contributing thoughtful criticism to my post, or (often) parroting Beck or Limbaugh and calling me stupid.

I respond to most of them, mostly to let them know that they are ignorant and what to do in order engage me in actual conversation. I generally do this quietly, commenting and leaving it alone.

But sometimes, like today, I'm going to place in my first post of 2010 an excellent bad example of how to comment and my reply as a guide to those conservatives who still don't get that independent thought might actually make others think a little.

The post was Right Wing Glurge SPAM: Political Correctness in which I discuss some junk mail that came through and the dubious claims of origin and how nowhere on the internet could there be found proof of such origins.

Someone said they loved the dubious definition. I called them a sycophant, and someone else - Canoebutt - replied:

About as educated a sycophant as one that would list his astrological sign on his bio page as if it actually meant something. How is life in your mother's basement?

I believe my reply covers it:

Canoebutt-
Sorry to disappoint, but I own my own home and my own business.

One of the things I tend to discuss from time to time is the technical ineptitude of conservatives. Thank you for proving my point.

For your education and benefit: Google inserts the astrological sign if you input your birthday as an obfuscation of the actual birth date.

Also: your attack, which is generally referred to as ad hominem means you have no argument against ideas and resort to attacking the person. But as we've already covered, you cannot even do that correctly.

Remove yourself from the Limbaugh man-teat and speak intelligently about things you actually understand. People might take you seriously.

Note to the trolls: Just plain mean or insulting will get your comment deleted. Parroting talk show hosts and Fox News talking points or ad hominem attacks will get you called out. Stupid might win you ridicule.

You think I'm wrong and you're right, then argue a solid point with decent backing. I will read. I will reply. We will converse.

If you don't think you can do that, while it may reduce my enjoyment, you might want to reconsider posting a comment. You'll just be proving all the zombie myrmidon stereotypes we already know to be mostly true.

And for the love of all things holy, try not to reference anything having to do with the internet. It's just better that way.

Happy New Year

In this time of Republican trolls, conservative asshats, neverending wars, and underpants bombers, I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you to all you wonderful, wonderful readers who keep sticking around for one reason or another.

I wish you all the best tonight and for the new year.

Cheers!

Tiga: Shoes

I'm hip. I'm cool. So I listen to some sweet indie music, sometimes Canadian, so when that sweet song shows up on the new iPod commercial I can say "Oh yeah, I've been listening to them for months."

No, I'm not really a dick like that. Only sometimes. Maybe. Really, I just enjoy new, different, not overplayed music.

So I was eating up some delicious CBC Radio 3 and in the last few weeks this song "Shoes" by Tiga keeps popping in and it drives me goddamned batty! In a bad way. Annoying as hell.

So in the ever-engaging endeavor of lessening pain by spreading it out, I had to pull up the video and share with you my misery.

Only there's this one problem: When I clicked play, when I was fully expecting to wallow in the pain that is "Shoes," I found myself enthralled. And somehow now I love the song. Really. I've watched the video 3 times and it's delicious. I'm not joking.

See for yourself:



(I told you it was all fucking videos today.)

Star Wars / A-Team Mashup

Brilliant. And yes, it's looking like just videos today :)



(h/t BoingBoing)

Republicans Try to Fart Out Franken

Air America cracks me up sometimes.

Michele Bachmann: Welfare Socialist!

A story was released today saying that Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal subsidies for her family farm. These farmer subsidies come from our community tax dollars, leading us to ask the question, is Michele Bachmann a secret socialist?

Here's the link. I can't listen because I'm not ready to download Silverlight to my computer. Damn you Microsoft!

But I'm not going to leave you in the lurch. Here's the vid from Young Turks:



Over a quarter of a million dollars in gov't subsidies.

Sur-prise, sur-prise!

Let's get her to run with Palin.

Backatcha!

Well, I'm back from the outer space that is the holiday season. I trust you all had a great holiday?

Relatively uneventful on my end - just some good times with friends and family and usually a few drinks to close out the night.

Most interesting part of the holiday was that Mrs. Shambles's grandmother is in a nursing home right now. And when we visited her, the woman she's sharing a room with, separated by a curtain, kept asking us (apparently Nancy and Bob) how the food was in Jamaica and how big the plane was and why we kept talking about Cincinnati when she knew that we lived in North Olmstead before we went to Jamaica, of course.

When we said we lived in North Carolina before that, she got totally confused.

Oh, and that one of my relatives may soon begin smoking weed due to a medical condition.

And it was snowing and I'd had little sleep and a sugar free Red Bull, but driving back home I either saw the body of a giant sheepdog or a small Yeti.

So I guess it was a little interesting.

I wish you all the best in the coming week and year!

Why is Max Baucus Drunk?

Seriously. Drunk.

Of course, if I had to deal with the Republican asshats in the Senate I'd probably drink pretty heavily too. But not when I was going to be on teevee. Even if you don't consider CSPAN teevee.

R.E.M. on Letterman, 1983 - South Central Rain

Just when I don't think I can love the band any more, I find a gem like this.

The song is very, very sad (look up the lyrics), but wow with performance and holy shit Stipe with hair.

In Short: Mark Levin is Retarded

I just turned to SIRIUS Patriot to hear Mark Levin spout that the life expectancy in the US is not at par with other first world nations because people in the US drive cars with less steel and less size and you're not going to survive a crash in one of those tiny cars.

He has apparently never been to a foreign country, where tiny cars is pretty much the f'ing rule. Small cars, fuel economy, etc. Standard. Throughout Europe.

I suggest Mark to to Ireland and - if he can find it - drive around in an Escalade. He might be able to make it through the streets of major cities, i.e. Dublin. But he will never find a place to park, and if he ever has to travel outside the city, he will kill the first person he meets crossing many wide swaths of roads that are about 9 feet wide and lined with ancient stone walls.

That's why they have small cars there. Douche.

And he's going on, but I'll just say: Mark, the phrase is "Waiting for the OTHER shoe to drop" not "waiting for another shoe to drop."

Stop lying. Grow a brain.

(CLICK)

Lost Dog

You ever turn a corner or get out of your car or just unexpectedly see something that turns your act into accidentally walking into a bus, but one just big enough that it plows right into your stomach?

That was me tonight hitting the gas station for smokes after a networking event.

I parked, got out, and gave all the crap scotch taped onto the glass of the AmeriStop a rudimentary glance and then

BLAMMO!

I saw something that looked like this:



Scrawled like that, a faded poster, copied with a cheap nickel copier, terrier in the slightly-skewed picture on the sheet. The "C" was in caps. And no name of the dog. No phone number. Just a sad, silent plea.

And I looked, thought "Aww, sad." Then read the last line and just about fell over. Then supported myself on weak knees as it processed that there was not dog name or phone number.

And for that instant, I don't think I've been that sad in a very, very long time.

So I share with you.

I'll be in the area again next Tuesday and will get a pic if it's still there. I hope to God I just missed something and my memory fails me in sorrow and there was contact information on that poster.

Stupid Shit I Bitch About

This morning I woke up in a state. Grumpy. Angry. Well...hungover a bit to tell you the truth. It was 5:30am. But worse off for the media I imbued during the first 30 minutes of my morning.

I saw the Orbitz Valet commercial. And that killed me. Originally, it went like this:


"Ah, the Hernandez ...'s ...ez"

Brilliant! Hilarious! But apparently someone phoned in and pissed in someone's ear and the commercial I saw this morning went "Ah, the Hernandez's."

Who the fuck ruined that comedy moment? Fuck them!


And then I turned the channel to Headline News and caught the end of a story of some foul, stupid shit where the reporter stated:

"Some Santas are dropping their jokes that bad kids will be getting socks for Christmas. The kids are actually asking for socks in this economy, not video game systems, asking for library cards..."

Asking for library cards? What the fuck place do they live in? What the fuck kids are they talking about? Where did they find the humility that they're reporting on?

What kid is humble to ask for socks? Even if they're barefoot, they're still asking for a fucking Xbox360, begging for a PS3, living on the dream of a DSi. Most kids would eat cardboard while standing barefoot on glass to play a solid video game system.

NO ONE IS ASKING FOR FUCKING SOCKS!

What kid is asking Santa for a fucking library card? THEY'RE FREE!!! Kick Santa in the nads and ask Mom or Dad to take you to the library for your FREE fucking card!

Jeez. Sorry. It was a bad morning.

Continue rocking. Nothing to see here...

3 Flavors Man Moment: Video Games, Politics, and Long-term Crushin'

Bayonetta

I'm playing the Xbox360 demo of Bayonetta. She's some supernatural witch-lady with a suit of hair, square-rimmed glasses, and a mole on her chin in a game that I'd characterize as entertaining and thoughtful button-mashing akin to Devil May Cry.

And then E3 happened:



Damn.


Mika Brzezinski

This is the real reason I watch MSNBC's Morning Joe. At least "Morning Mika" has some alliteration.




Ricci All Day Long

I've been crushing for forever. My wife knows about it. My friend teases me that she has a fivehead. But I can't let go. Just something about her.




Oh, I guess that's about all I need for a man moment right now. Ahhhh.

Next time: that magic tingle slightly fucked up teeth give me. Seriously. Patricia Arquette? Noms. And, of course, the tragedy that comes with orthodontics. Boo.

Picard is Pro Apple Juice, Anti-Panda Rape

RAWR! Van Mural Wednesday!

Here kitty kitty...



RAWR!

In Short: Tear Down That ...Racism!

I was just doing some web work and came across this gem in a timeline:

MARCH 22, 1988

Overriding President Ronald Reagan's veto, Congress passed the Civil Rights Restoration Act, which expanded the reach of nondiscrimination laws within private institutions receiving federal funds.

But wait, isn't it them Republicans that championed Civil Rights? Isn't that what Hannity and Beck and Limbaugh said?

Skiddin' Tires 'n' Stupid!

...yet not the kind of stupid you'd think might end this clip.

Huckabee, Clemmons, and Hypocrisy

You can read a little more about the issue here, but the rundown goes like this: Clemmons was 16 when he was sentenced to 106 years for violent acts. 47 years later, Huckabee was governor of Arkansas and commuted his sentence. Clemmons moved to Washington state and killed 4 police officers. Huckabee say it wasn't his fault. It was Washington's.

WTF?

Standard Republican line: Every criminal, especially violent ones, should be locked up and the key should disappear. Bad enough then it's off with their head, despite that we're in agreement with the same countries we despise when the Good ol' USA breaches the topic of the death penalty. Empty prisons because of overcrowding? Hell NO! Tax and spend and build some more.

I think then-Gov. Huckabee had a Liberal moment, which is kind of like a senior moment but instead of being built on senility, this was built on understanding and compassion, something not generally exhibited by Republicans. Hell, I would've done the same thing.

So why am I even writing about this?

Because of the double standard. If it had been a member of the Democratic Party that had commuted this sentence, the Right Wing, their talk show army, and the Fox footsoldiers would've been all aflourish in and drunk on schadenfreude: Liberals ruining the country, the bleeding heart of the Liberal causes real bleeding, Liberals hate cops, etc. But when a Republican does it, he issues a non-apology and our alleged left-leaning press barely covers the issue.

I guess the silver lining of all this bullshit is one more down. I'm guessing this event, no matter how glossed over, is going to hurt him for Repub nomination 2012, which means my preferred DreamGirl and ClownLady, Sarah Palin, is one step closer to making a complete fool of herself as the nominee.

So what's your take on this whole debacle?

Nudist Streaker Love Story (SFW)

Brilliant and touching :)

OMG! Van Mural Wed on Wed! Eagle!

Are we really doing this again? On a Wednesday?

Well, then: tasty.

Rush Limbaugh is STILL a Big Fat Idiot

You know me and my talk radio.

Well, today I got to hear a particularly fierce breakdown of Rush when a caller challenged him on what he called the "covering up" of those idiot scientists who decided to play with the data in global warming and how their candid conversations would hurt the science behind the theory.

The caller in question said that he was surprised that Rush was all in a tizzy about this, but when the Bush Administration repeatedly censored papers and scientific findings about global warming and its effect on the environment (and the effect carbon emissions were having on the environment), there was not word one from him.

And then Rush got angry. He said that there couldn't be censorship because global warming is a hoax. Then he went on to my paraphrase here:

"There is no such thing as human-caused Global Warming (repeat 3x. oh, let's just do it)! There is no such thing as human-caused Global Warming! There is no such thing as human-caused Global Warming! There is no such thing as human-caused Global Warming! There is no need for health care reform! There is no need for Obama. There is no need for you! You are a menace to our country and a threat to freedom and liberty! There was no censorship because it didn't exist! Those censors did us a favor because it's all a hoax! And they'll come for you first ...because people like you will give up their freedom as long as you put Bush in jail!"

I may have to hunt the actual transcript down because my rendition is pretty damn close, but for the record: the real thing is the very definition of blowing a golden fucknut and frying it in batshit crazy.

So, to clarify: If you believe what is being censored does not actually exist and suckle at the teat of one administration, it is not malicious, governmental overreach of power, but a gracious act. And when the next administration calls it censorship...well, you get it at this point. Rush is still a Bush ball boy and will say ANYTHING - regardless of how mad it sounds - to piss against the Obama wall, even if it's absolute madness because his listeners are so blind, they'll believe anything.

Case in point, an unreported listening last week where a caller stated "I just need you to tell me how I should feel about" health care or something. WTF? And he didn't even correct them, just verbally patted them on the head, sat them on his lap, and told a tale. Like he does every day.

It's getting worse and worse. But the crazy is all good. I'm still hoping for a Palin/Beck 2012 ticket. Yeah, that's what people really want: bring on the tea parties! When it comes down to it, a little too weird and crazy is still a little too weird and crazy and your average American doesn't subscribe to crazy.

Enemies of Mass Effect 2

When it comes to video games, I'm slightly behind the times. I have a PS2, Xbox360, and a Wii. In the last year, I've completed Portal, Mass Effect, and Bioshock, and am finally deep into Half-Life 2. Out of these 4, they were all 10/10, and each had their strengths, but for depth of play and replay value, I'd go Mass Effect hands down.

And so I'm tweaking over these teasers coming out for Mass Effect 2. Here's one embedded for your gaming geek pleasure.

Mass Effect 2 at IGN.com

Colin Meloy (Decemberists) Video

This just makes me very happy. Brilliant. Thanks to Jen ;)

Van Mural Wednesday: Turkey!

I looked and looked and couldn't find a van with a turkey painted on it. Boo!

So how about a van with a turkey in it?



Cause in Russia, van eats turkey.

No, that wasn't supposed to make sense.


But not to disappoint:



You could give 'em a call, but I think they're working on that tire. Or decaying inside the van itself.


Happy Thanksgiving!