Archive for the ‘Clippings’ Category

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Random notes: October 13, 2014.

Monday, October 13th, 2014

The New York Times may have killed their chess column. Or perhaps not.

Greg “Three Cups of Tea” Mortenson is trying to make a comeback. (Previously.)

The WP also has a longish story about the Navy silencer scandal, covered previously here.

At one pretrial hearing, a defense attorney for the auto mechanic, Mark S. Landersman of Temecula, Calif., accused the Navy of impeding the investigation by destroying a secret stash of automatic rifles that the silencers were designed to fit. Prosecutors immediately objected to further discussion in open court, calling it a classified matter.
The destroyed weapons were part of a stockpile of about 1,600 AK-47-style rifles that the U.S. military had collected overseas and stored in a warehouse in Pennsylvania, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

I really don’t have much to say, but the thought of a warehouse full of “AK-47 style rifles” brings a goofy smile to my face.

Posted in Books, Chess, Clippings, Guns, Law, Media, Sports | Comments Closed

This one’s for RoadRich.

Thursday, October 9th, 2014

Still under wraps is Lady Gaga’s strapless Hello Kitty gown, made entirely of plush dolls depicting Japan’s most bankable merchandising icon.

The dress in question is slide number eight in the slideshow.

Posted in Clippings, Hello Kitty, Museums | 1 Comment »

TMQ Watch: October 7, 2014.

Wednesday, October 8th, 2014

Now that we’ve finished banging our heads against the wall (for reasons that will become apparent shortly), let’s jump into this week’s TMQ…

(more…)

Posted in Beef, Books, Clippings, Food, Guns, Movies, NFL, Sports, TMQ watch | Comments Closed

Obit watch: October 5, 2014.

Sunday, October 5th, 2014

Lawrence clued me in to a couple of obits that might otherwise have escaped me.

Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier. It surprises me a little that he was 63, but I don’t think I knew this:

Mr. Duvalier continued to defend what human rights workers called one of the most oppressive governments in the Western Hemisphere, following in the footsteps of his father, François, known as Papa Doc, who died in 1971. The son was 19 when he assumed the post “president for life,” as he and his father called it, becoming the youngest head of state at the time.

I haven’t seen an obit from an outside source yet, but the official website is reporting the death of Paul Revere, of Paul Revere and the Raiders.

Posted in Clippings, Music, Politics | Comments Closed

Ripped from the headlines!

Friday, October 3rd, 2014

In Solvang bust, a bottle of cheap vodka, counterfeit cash, and meth


Cue Major Kong.

The bills were convincing enough that at least a few clothing and jewelry businesses in the Danish-themed town near Santa Maria were fooled into accepting them, officials said. Because of the sophistication of the bills, the Sheriff’s Department has notified the Secret Service, which is conducting its own investigation.

The tweakers are turning out good quality counterfeit $100s? So we don’t have to worry about the Iranians any longer, but the meth addicts? Why does this surprise me?

Posted in California Über Alles, Clippings, Law | Comments Closed

Random notes: October 3, 2014.

Friday, October 3rd, 2014

Good coffee is important.

I’m a big fan of both Jimmy Stewart and Carol Burnett, so this makes me very happy. (I have family in the area around Indiana, Pennsylvania, but I’ve never had the chance to visit the Jimmy Stewart Museum. Perhaps I will remedy this on a future visit.)

Five rules for viewing art, damn it, art! There’s much here that I agree with; seek silence, take your time, do some research. On the other hand, I don’t see anything wrong with purchasing postcards or posters at the gift shop. I do think the rubber van Gogh ear is a bit over the top.

Some practical advice: If you feel better about yourself when you leave a museum, you’re probably doing it all wrong.

This bothers me as well, but I’m not sure I can articulate why. I need to think on it some more.

Posted in Art, Clippings, Coffee, Food | 1 Comment »

Why don’t you ask them if they’re going away?

Thursday, October 2nd, 2014

…in northwest Alaska, more than 35,000 walrus have come ashore seeking refuge.
“The walruses are hauling out on land in a spectacle that has become all too common in six of the last eight years as a consequence of climate-induced warming,” said a release from the U.S. Geological Survey. “Summer sea ice is retreating far north of the shallow continental shelf waters of the Chukchi Sea in U.S. and Russian waters, a condition that did not occur a decade ago. To keep up with their normal resting periods between feeding bouts to the seafloor, walruses have simply hauled out onto shore.”

Kevin Smith was unavailable for comment.

Posted in Clippings | Comments Closed

Lesson here, ‘Bey.

Thursday, October 2nd, 2014

You come at the king, you best not miss.

(Do you really need a hattip?)

Posted in Clippings | Comments Closed

TMQ Watch: September 30, 2014.

Wednesday, October 1st, 2014

Oddly, this week’s TMQ gets a link on the FARK sports tab. We can’t remember the last time FARK bothered to link to TMQ.

And what does the collective hive mind of the Daily Kos FARK have to say? That, and this week’s TMQ, after the jump…

(more…)

Posted in Clippings, Food, Mixology, Movies, NFL, Sports, TMQ watch, TV | Comments Closed

Quote of the day.

Wednesday, October 1st, 2014

“He’s from Texas, honey,” I yelled at the television, startling the cats, “That’s not ‘armed’, that’s ‘dressed’, you island-dwelling herbivore!”
Jesus, you cud-chewing Eloi, how do you people open packages? With your teeth, like an animal?

–Tam

(As a Texan who doesn’t leave the house without at least two knives, including one Spyderco, I resemble this remark. Also, I have no joke here: I just like saying “like an animal“.)

Posted in Clippings | Comments Closed

All we want to do is photograph your brains.

Wednesday, October 1st, 2014

A brief consumer note for my readers. Many of you know of my interests in neurology, books, and photography.

Please do not purchase this book for me.

Thank you.

Posted in Books, Clippings, Neuroscience, Photography | 2 Comments »

Obit watch: September 30, 2014.

Tuesday, September 30th, 2014

We haven’t heard much recently from the notoriously corrupt California city of Vernon.

The first council member to get elected in a competitive race since the Nixon presidency in the small city of Vernon — population about 100 — has died.

His death appears to have been the result of natural causes (and not in the “he was shot in the head six times, so naturally he died” sense).

Posted in California Über Alles, Clippings, Law, Obits | Comments Closed

The autumn wind is a pirate…

Tuesday, September 30th, 2014

I love this time of year. The leaves are changing, if you live in one of those places. Around here, the temperature is getting to the point where you can consider doing stuff outdoors, or even dining on a patio if that’s your thing. The NFL season is picking up.

And we have our first NFL coach firing: Dennis Allen of the Oakland Raiders.

The Raiders won four games in each of Allen’s first two seasons and recorded an 8-28 mark during his two-plus seasons. The Jacksonville Jaguars at 6-30 are the only team with a worse record during that span.

Allen also has the distinction of being the first coach hired and fired in the Mark Davis era.

I have a great deal of confidence in the Raiders ability to remain winless this coming week. The question I have is: what happens the following week? Do they get the dead cat bounce against the Chargers? I wouldn’t put it past them. Perhaps I should keep an eye on the line…

Posted in Clippings, Firings, NFL, Sports | Comments Closed

What’s wrong with Kansas?

Monday, September 29th, 2014

Apparently, nothing that firing Charlie Weis won’t cure.

He was 6-22 overall, and 1-18 in conference. I’m pretty sure this is the first major school coach firing of the year. (Corrections welcome if I’m wrong.)

Posted in Clippings, Firings, Sports | Comments Closed

Obit watch: September 29, 2014.

Monday, September 29th, 2014

Don Keefer passed away earlier this month. He was 98 years old.

Mr. Keefer was one of those actors who knocked around a lot; he was in “The Caine Mutiny” and the original Broadway cast of “Death of a Salesman”.

But he was perhaps most famous as Don Hollis, the man who ends up wished into the cornfield by Anthony in the Twilight Zone episode “It’s A Good Life”.

Also: James Traficant.

Posted in Clippings, Obits, Politics, TV | Comments Closed

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