The Stranger does it again

BKDM gave a shout out to The Slog some time ago and I have to say that Dan Savage et al have done it again with this post.
This photo just made me laugh out loud.
When you get a chance, pop on over to The Slog and have a look around. You won't be sorry.

Hail to the bus driver indeed

It's 7:00 on a Monday morning and there is a school bus waiting outside Kappy's. It defies the imagination as to why.

An autumn stroll on revere beach

Alice Deejay - Do You Think You're Better Off Alone?

I don't, but a beautiful song with beautiful imagery is hard to resist.

Head of the charles

The Head of the Charles is a crew and rowing competition held yearly on the Charles river that separates Boston from Cambridge. People come from all over the world to compete and many wait on the list to compete for years and years. Hundreds of thousands come out to watch, and we were just two of them!

For rita jean

Yay Democracy!

Maker's celebrates the election. The wax is red, white and blue and there's a donkey on one side and an elephant on the other. We're drinking with the donkey right now. Ain't America grand?

Yes. Those are pointsettias in the window of the Walgreens. WTF? It's not even Halloween yet.

I love The Slog, I love The Stranger

Seattle's best newspaper blog, located at http://slog.thestranger.com/, gave us this option for voting in regards to tonight's activities of the ever-present "Joe the Plumber." We picked the winning option, by the way.

It's too effing much

Via The Slog, this sign from West Plains, Missouri.
I'm at a loss for words and truly embarrassed for our country right now.

John Adams. He is moving up to #2 of my favorite Presidents, behind my man Thomas Jefferson.

You only get one...

sister, I mean. And by "you" I mean "me". Happy B-day sis - thanks for putting up with and helping out your little brother over the years!

I'm not sure Thoreau would approve.

The New England Autumn experience just continues.

the iTouch

What cool technology Apple has invented, but if all I use it for is to stay up drinking and watching Maroon 5 videos from youtube then it is only making me dumber.

Mom with Boston in the background. Thank the heavens it's a warm day.

Boston Harbor cruise with Doris. Buffet lunch and cash bar. I imagine I'll need a nap soon.

Summer Shack treats

We're having dinner at the Summer Shack with Doris. Here you can see an orgy of lobsters in a giant tank. One of these little devils will be in my belly soon.

Too much queso?

Something seems to be amiss at my local Qdoba.

Double el dub

Lucinda williams = lw. Coincidence ? I think not!

Jim as a hard-working member of the Order of the Masonic Beavers.

We're going to a show!

Debunking the five myths about John McCain

I really heartily encourage you to watch this video debunking, with facts, the five main myths about John McCain.
The myths, as we've all heard ad nauseum, are:
5. He is a Washington outsider
4. He was a "Top Gun" pilot
3. He was the central hero in his POW camp
2. He is a straight-talking reformer
2. He is always puts "Country First"

If you want even more detail, read this month's Rolling Stone cover article, "Make Believe Maverick."
I'm glad to see Rolling Stone getting back into the throes of political reporting. This article is no Hunter S. Thompson masterpiece, but it is a good, solid piece of investigative reporting that takes a little of that faux shine off the concocted biography of John McCain.

04:10am - The Technology Hour, Late Edition

It's been awhile since a technology hour post. There are three topics I want to hit, so let's get started.

First of all, head on over to http://presidentialpolygraph.com/ to get your own, personal USB lie detector test. That's right, no training required, 70% accuracy claimed on the website, and comes with

• Pulse Oximeter Finger Clip
• Skin Galvanization Finger Wraps
• Breathing Apparatus
• USB Cable
• Electronics box
• CD-ROM
• Creepy software that emulates a presidential candidate

What is the price of truth? $50.00 plus tax.






Next up - and this is truly amazing - is the ASUS splashtop linux now built-in to notebooks. If you don't understand most of those words, don't worry. ASUS makes motherboards, and now they are building a special version of linux, known as Splashtop, right into the motherboard. The result? No installation required, and it boots in a few seconds. Also, the operating system runs in RAM, which means it is *incredibly* fast. Also, this yields extended battery life for the mobile platform. Applications are limited to web browser, music player, photo manager, Skype, and Chat; but then, you can always install a traditional operating system and boot it when you need it. Santa will be bringing one of these to our house. Read more at http://www.splashtop.com/


Finally, before I sign off, I wanted to mention a cool unconference that I will be attending in November in Palo Alto CA. If you're not familiar with the term, an unconference is a facilitated, participant-driven conference centered around a theme or purpose. The term "unconference" has been applied, or self-applied, to a wide range of gatherings that try to avoid one or more aspects of a conventional conference, such as high fees and sponsored presentations. This particular unconference is Convergence08 and the topics range from Synthetic Biology to Artificial Intelligence. Special brain food will be served for lunch.

I think all know who the wrong candidate is here

I join facebook and look what happens?!

You know what? I changed my mind.

I just wrote a post about Palin's horrific showing in yet another Katie Couric interview, but on second thought these tidbits are even better, so I deleted that post and am on with this one, full throttle. (BTW: the interview info is here and here.)
The L.A. Times is reporting that Governor Palin said that "dinosaurs and humans walked the earth at the same time." This sounds like some "young earth" sneaky creationism to me. I do not approve of this non-scientific bent.
Additionally, there may be even more to come from the "Couric Interview Palin" files. Most notably, a clip in which Palin can't name any Supreme Court ruling but Roe v. Wade. Not Brown v. Board, not Plessy v. Ferguson, not Dred Scott nor Miller v. California... all of which I can name off the top of my head and I am neither a lawyer nor a major-party candidate for the office of Vice President (thank goodness for that).

RIP Paul Newman

I loved you.

Jack Cafferty took the words out of my mouth

".. that was one of the most pathetic pieces of tape I have ever seen..."
Preach it, Jack!

Upon cleaning under the cushions of my couch...

... I found one of these beauties.
That's right -- 3mgs. of Lunesta.
I can only surmise that Rita Jean must have swooned onto my sofa while visiting.
And please do not judge me that it took me so long to find it. I was, quite frankly, made for finer things than vacuuming my sofa.

This is what we're getting up to after the wedding. Shocking!

Welcome to New Hampshire.

Presented without Editorial

It's this weekend!

Goldfish knockoff?

What the right really thinks of Palin

This is so delicious.
Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy, GOP pundits, caught on-mic talking about Palin as a VP choice.
And, yes, my partisan stripes are showing.
Video:

Transcript:
Chuck Todd: Mike Murphy, lots of free advice, we'll see if Steve Schmidt and the boys were watching. We'll find out on your blackberry. Tonight voters will get their chance to hear from Sarah Palin and she will get the chance to show voters she's the right woman for the job Up next, one man who's already convinced and he'll us why Gov. Jon Huntsman.

(cut away)

Peggy Noonan: Yeah.

Mike Murphy: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor world: Engler, Whitman, Tommy Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. I mean, these guys -- this is how you win a Texas race, just run it up. And it's not gonna work. And --

PN: It's over.

MM: Still McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.

CT: I also think the Palin pick is insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too.

PN: Saw Kay this morning.

CT: Yeah, she's never looked comfortable about this --

MM: They're all bummed out.

CT: Yeah, I mean is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?

PN: The most qualified? No! I think they went for this -- excuse me-- political bullshit about narratives --

CT: Yeah they went to a narrative.

MM: I totally agree.

PN: Every time the Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it.

MM: You know what's really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism, and this is cynical.

CT: This is cynical, and as you called it, gimmicky.

MM: Yeah.

Special thanks to the slog.

This movie looks like it might garner Sean Penn another Oscar nomination

Since nothing is happening in my actual life to warrant a post and it's been weeks and weeks without an update, here is a trailer for Milk, the bio-pic about Harvey Milk. I'll totally go see this.

Yesiamahooker and bosox. And of course, jimmy

Finally, another meat-eater to take to the steer house!

Barkley and Kerouac... Together at last. At the Denver Airport of all places. We are homeward bound. Thank Jeebus.

Looks like folks here in Colorado aren't overly fond of the teachings of the teachings of Joseph Smith. Must be the proximity to Utah.

Uncle Jimmy's newest protegee.

A different kind of Sunday Funday

At Jim's parents' house engaging in significantly more wholesome activities than last night.

Jaysons front lawn, or "beer can hill

Wow these cats know how to have fun. Between rockband and a roller blade trip to the skate park I don't know where night ends and morning begins.

Caterwauling

Jim and his pals "playing" rock band. There is a Jagermaster dispenser in this house. Good Lord.

Braving the continental divide

Laura makes a new frien

Hello vacation!

View from Boston Beer Works at Logan airport. Our flight is delayed so the beer drinking commences now!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Mt hood, oregon

I moved to New England for this?! Global warming ruins everything.

Tooting my own horn

So I got the news today.
I'm now a Director at my company.
I am so excited for this new chapter in my life! I'm grateful to (finally!) work for a company that rewards and respects its employees and I haven't been more fulfilled in my work life in 8 years. I wish Jim were here to celebrate, but I went out for a celebratory drink with my colleagues and boss and feel nothing but positive about what the future holds.
Sometimes doing good and doing well can go hand in hand.

If you ever sat with Fiona...

... on the sofa at any time, this will bring back memories of the furry little menace.
Big Thanks to My old roomie Bob for sending it to me. I laughed aloud on numerous occasions.

Oxtail on fire

That is the name of this dish! You gotta love oscon and you gotta love portland! And if you are ever here I recommend a trip to pambiche for dinner.

Travel Safely

Jim is on his way to Portland, Oregon for OSCON, an Open Source Convention (he's staying an extra day for a beer festival) so I'll be home alone for a week. I'm torn between sadness about maybe becoming a little lonely and glee about being to be able to so whatever I want for a whole week.
Edited at 6:50PM to add:
So far today, I've eaten a quart of Richie's Italian slush (half lemon, half blue vanilla), gone to the mall, taken a nap and had a nice long bath. I think this week isn't going to be so bad after all.

It IS Massachusetts, after all

Jim is quite taken with this lobster. In fact, he appears to be asking for its pincer in marriage. We just ate at Yankee Lobster near the Harpoon brewery (of course). Mayor Menino stopped in while we were eating. That was an unexpectedly cool Boston moment with Eddie G in tow; we then dropped him off at the Fairy Ferry for his trip to P-town.

Sidebar

Here we are. I wish I had something clever to say.

It's about time

Look! The Harpoon truck is here with my weekly delivery. Thank the gods.

Hub pub (again)

Bonnie & trey came out with us in boston!