headline of the day
Obama Wants ‘Indian Tribes To Be Our New Overlords’
Pure pop
photo out of context
The 30,000-year-old fossil was found in Denisova Cave in southern Siberia in 2008
A finger bone from Siberia now reveals a previously unknown group of ancient humans once existed there, one neither like us nor Neanderthals.
Bizarrely, the DNA from these extinct Siberians seems unusually similar to that of Pacific Islanders from tropical Melanesia.
Rugelach
Weekly Picture 196
Dickinson Falls, 2010
Hey Clusterflock!
Post a link to whatever it is you think is your theme song.
headline of the day
Study by 8-year-olds published in prestigious science journal
quote out of context
J. Jonah Jameson was played by Michael Mulheren. J. Jonah Jameson was against Spider-Man. I have no idea why he was against Spider-Man. But he should be against the Green Goblin, but he had no problems with the Green Goblin. He thought the Green Goblin was the hero and Spider-Man was the villain because Spider-Man was destroying things so he could save people. It was awesome because he acted like he hated Spider-Man, but the actor actually likes Spider-Man quite a bit because why would he ask to be in the musical if he really hates Spider-Man?
Remembering Kirsty MacColl
December 18th, 2010, marked the 10-year anniversary of the tragic death of renowned British songstress Kirsty MacColl, a recently rekindled musical obsession of mine. I thought I’d pay tribute here, and rekindle your obsession, too. Or maybe garner Kirsty a few new fans.
quote out of context
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the two incidents this season involving the tossing of frozen waffles onto the ice is that it’s taken Leafs fans so long to figure out a measurable way of expressing distaste for a team that hasn’t won jack since 1967.
(Thanks to Walt.)
from the comments
When I started a previous job, my coworker Ian explained to me that we food runners were responsible for slicing fruit for brunch amuses bouches. “Make them nice,” he instructed, “I like to do a sort of a pinwheel with the apples and oranges. Maybe a grape in the center. Be creative!” He would then wander off to smoke pot on the back patio, or clean up the empty beer bottles that mysteriously appeared in the liquor room from time to time. (“Dude, someones drinking the beer!” I once breathlessly informed him, “Warm!” “Man,” he deadpanned, “who would do a thing like that?”)
A couple weeks later, the chef wandered by me and saw my delicately arranged mosaic of apples and orange slices, with a single kiwi wedge off to the side. “Mike, that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. Quit fucking with the fruit, put it on the plate.” I would have blamed Ian, but he was off somewhere doing something else.
spam name
Talitha Refugia.
Thanksgiving
Stone River Boys
I’ve seen these guys twice. Both times were like the first time I ever saw music performed live. If you get a chance, please see the Stone River Boys.
don’t upset the bears
not me
This is not me, but my father.
A Ghost From Christmas Past
I was boxing up Danny’s home-made presents for his family to get in the mail this afternoon. I was visited….
A Jensen household Christmas. The holiday went something like this. (If there have ever been Christmas traditions, these Jensens held the rights to them.) Risengrød late Christmas eve morning, then preparations for dinner. Danny and his mom in the kitchen. Off to church at 5:00 for the Christmas Eve service. Back home for dinner, then cleaning up. Then pulling the Christmas tree to the middle of the living room floor and holding hands and circling the tree, Danish Carols. Then opening presents. (This is a big family, y’all.)
After opening presents, Danny left the room. I don’t remember the rest exactly so I’ll make up what happened next. I found him leaning over, his hands spaced out on the rails of the pool table downstairs at his parents’ house, sobbing. “Oh honey, what is it?” “The box wasn’t there,” he said. I said, “What box?”
I Will ALWAYS Love You
You have to wait for it, but that helps it. And then, you might get scared.
Thanks, Bootknocky.
quote out of context
“I cannot help but suppose that Neanderthal girls wept as bitterly as modern girls faced by the prospect of leaving closest family behind on their ‘wedding’ day,” said Mary Stiner, an anthropologist at the University of Arizona.
Chicken on a plate
Last Night in Dreamland
After I’d given up on the clearing of the night skies, I fussed around for a while and read some of Geoff Dyer’s The Ongoing Moment, then turned off the light and eventually slipped off.
It was one of those dream-nights in which marginally related vignettes segue into one another continually. Here are two that I dimly recall.
My friend Allen testified at what seemed to have been a congressional hearing except that a judge presided over it. Allen impersonated a Central American diplomat and delivered scathing and hilarious testimony about something. At one point he approached the judge, who ordered him to remove his hat. What followed was out of a Marx Brothers’ film, as Allen removed his natty fedora to reveal underneath a second piece of headgear, a misshapen hat such as Chico Marx wore. And underneath that he wore a flat cloth cap such as a Welsh sheep farmer might wear.
Later, my friend Charlie and I went to a Vietnamese take-out restaurant that he liked. The owner was redecorating and had just repainted the area around the counter with some fancy effect that made it look like the surface of a starburst Formica tabletop. The menu board had not been replaced, but on the freshly painted wall he had written a few incomplete, cryptic notes, using what looked to have been a No. 1 pencil. A couple of Vietnamese words, transliterated into Roman characters, and then an English word such as “orange.” Charlie rattled off the names of half a dozen dishes, but when the owner turned to me, I drew a blank and could only think of pho and banh bao. I asked Charlie to order for me and was so embarrassed that I woke up.
________
*As recommended by Phil.
The latest Gallup Poll on American Whatever You Want to Call This
Four in 10 Americans, slightly fewer today than in years past, believe God created humans in their present form about 10,000 years ago. Thirty-eight percent believe God guided a process by which humans developed over millions of years from less advanced life forms, while 16%, up slightly from years past, believe humans developed over millions of years, without God’s involvement.
quote out of context
I’m now going to go roust a bear from hibernation and make him eat my kidneys.
from the comments
I used to bring Love Potion No. 9 to the kids on Valentine’s Day. Hawaiian Punch with ice cubes in which I had frozen red hots and the little colored hearts with love messages written on them. That sort of thing. Some of the children guzzled it, seemed hypnotized. Certain ones were wary of the elixir. Like Mr. Boudreaux, who tended to eye me suspiciously, ask for a juice box, please.
