You don’t often see $300 items at the supermarket. Especially in the produce section, as opposed to behind a locked cabinet in the wine department. (I’m not sure, but I don’t think even the highest-end champagne HEB stocks hits the $300 mark.)
Archive for December, 2013
Nobody knows…
Monday, December 23rd, 2013The story you are about to hear is true.
Monday, December 23rd, 2013The names have not been changed to protect the innocent.
One night in 1962, a young police officer was working Vice out of Wilshire Division.
The vice cops pulled over a cab that had two men in it.
One of the men was Lenny Bruce. The other man was a then unknown actor named Peter O’Toole. And the vice cop was Joseph Wambaugh. Click through for the whole story.
I have a new (second) favorite Christmas song.
Saturday, December 21st, 2013Second because it is hard to replace “Fairytale of New York” in my affections. Hattip to LawDog for this:
This is not suitable for children, or adults who have no sense of humor. And I would buy this in a heartbeat if it was available on iTunes or Amazon.
Random notes: December 21, 2013.
Saturday, December 21st, 2013I’d never heard of Ned Vizzini until yesterday; this isn’t a shot at him, I just don’t read a lot of YA fiction. But this is just sad and awful.
The number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 (TALK).
The WP reviews “Chris Burden: Extreme Measures”, a retrospective of his work. I believe Mr. Burden and his work have come up here before, but for those who don’t remember…
Unmentioned because it isn’t really relevant, but: Burden’s performance inspired one of Laurie Anderson’s early works, “It’s Not the Bullet That Kills You (It’s the Hole)”.
Better Red than…
Thursday, December 19th, 2013More:
The last time I went to Red Lobster, it was kind of a disappointment. And the last two times I’ve gone to Olive Garden, I’ve walked out before even getting a drink. Maybe this is what Red Lobster needs.
Obligatory: the all-you-can-eat crab legs story.
Obligatory 2: make your own cheddar biscuits at home.
TMQ Watch: December 17, 2013.
Thursday, December 19th, 2013You know that comment we made yesterday, about “Start writing or stop talking about it” being pretty good writing advice?
Speak up, I can’t hear you.
Wednesday, December 18th, 2013If you must know, I was looking up the “Ding Fries Are Done” meme when I stumbled across this entry at KnowYourMeme: The Family Guy Effect.
You. Don’t. Say.
Tickling my fancy.
Wednesday, December 18th, 2013I don’t know why I find “the Olympic torch has only set people on fire three times” so funny, but I do. It reminds me of the line from the Spinal Tap commentary track about the pods working…maybe 70% of the time, but Marty DiBergi had to pick one night they didn’t work and make a big deal out of it…
Also tickling my funny bone:
“supposedly Greek virgin priestesses”? I’m not sure I want to think about that.
Wild, wildlife.
Wednesday, December 18th, 2013(For folks unfamiliar with Austin, Sunset Valley is an independent municipality located on the south side of town.)
Gee, if only there was some other solution to the problem of coyotes attacking dogs…
More obits people sent me.
Wednesday, December 18th, 2013Harold Camping. I’m really kind of curious what’s going to happen to Family Radio now; does it survive with a new leader? Do the stations get sold off? I think most of them are non-commercial licenses; is there another religious group that would want to buy them?
Janet Dailey, noted romance author.
You know, “Start writing or stop talking about it” is actually pretty good writing advice.
Julie Andrews!
Wednesday, December 18th, 2013It is that time of year again.
Stuff you might have heard of:
- “Forbidden Planet”
- “Judgment at Nuremberg”
- “The Magnificent Seven”
- “Mary Poppins”. Gee, isn’t that interesting?
- “Pulp Fiction”
- “The Right Stuff”
- “Roger and Me”
- “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
Pretty much all of these strike me as good choices, except “Roger and Me”. “Pulp Fiction”, I’m sure, will be divisive. More at the LAT link, including the stuff you probably haven’t heard of. On that list, I’m kind of intrigued by “Daughter of Dawn”, “King of Jazz”, and “Notes on the Port of St. Francis”.
Obit watch: December 18, 2013.
Wednesday, December 18th, 2013Ronnie Biggs, one of the conspirators in the Great Train Robbery and (briefly) vocalist for the Sex Pistols, has passed away at the age of 84.
I have the feeling that Biggs was often viewed as a loveable rogue. This is worth keeping in mind:
As is this:
(According to Wikipedia, Mills died from leukemia in 1970, and one of the robbers who wasn’t Biggs confessed to the beating last year. There does appear to be some question about whether that confession was truthful.)
Edited to add: more from the paper of record. And in case you are asking yourself, “Don’t they have newspapers in England?”: they do, but I haven’t found one I trust that doesn’t have the Biggs obit behind a pay wall.
We have a feeling that Prince Kropotkin would not approve.
Tuesday, December 17th, 2013
(Wiki wandering led me to the article on the Big Boys:
Spinal Tap really was a documentary, and we just didn’t know it at the time.)
(Edited to add: Hurrah! The U2/Popmart/giant lemon story is immortalized online! What did I tell you? (Scroll down to “Rock and Roll Creation”.) By the way, I own and enthusiastically recommend This is Spinal Tap: Official Companion
Word to my mother.
Tuesday, December 17th, 2013Open the door, get on the floor, everybody kill the dinosaur.
Tuesday, December 17th, 2013A prominent dinosaur “hobbyist” is claiming “’serious errors and irregularities’ in dinosaur research involving some of the world’s top paleontologists”.
Why is this interesting? Well, scientific disputes of this sort are a topic for coverage on this blog. After all, we do have “Retraction Watch” on our blog roll.
But there’s another good reason: the “hobbyist” in question is Microsoft millionaire, Modernist Cuisine author, and notorious patent troll Dr. Nathan P. Myhrvold.
I’m not a big fan of Dr. Myhrvold, but that kind of answer…well…it stinks.
And now that I have it stuck in your head: