Hey, why not?
BP (Better Profits) is so fucked, I mean they don't know whether to piss, or wind their watches, and the Obama people keep patting them on the back, rather than putting them in handcuffs and getting them as far away from the crime scene as possible.
Especially so, being that Better Profits has been low-balling the amount of oil flooding into the Gulf, so they can mitigate, and lower losses in future court cases.
So, whether this works, or not, it isn't anything worse than what these Oil Criminals have been doing;
Kevin Costner may hold key to oil spill cleanup
So reads the LA Times headline, adding "Costner has invested 15 years and about $24 million in a novel way of sifting oil spills that he began working on while making his own maritime film, "Waterworld," released in 1995."
Waterworld?
Scott Weinberg in his post "Kevin Costner Defends Waterworld" noted;"But there seems to be a small fistful of movies that are "generally" accepted as big-time garbage -- and as this amusing Sydney Herald story points out, Kevin Costner's Waterworld is pretty much one of 'em."
Back to the LA Times;
[snip]
Kev, stop. You've got a better chance at making a Sizzle Beach U.S.A. sequel than you would at convincing people that Waterworld doesn't stink to high heaven. Sure, there are varying degress of movie suckitude, and Waterworld may have earned a little extra abuse because of its ridiculous production problems ... but the thing's a turkey, man.Costner has invested 15 years and about $24 million in a novel way of sifting oil spills that he began working on while making his own maritime film, "Waterworld," released in 1995.
Oh My!
Two decades later, BP and the U.S. Coast Guard plan to test six of his massive, stainless steel centrifugal oil separators next week. Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser welcomed the effort, even as he and Louisiana officials blasted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for delays in approving an emergency plan to build sand "islands" to protect the bayous of his parish.
[snip]
"The machines are essentially like big vacuum cleaners, which sit on barges and suck up oily water and spin it around at high speed," Houghtaling said. "On one side, it spits out pure oil, which can be recovered. The other side spits out 99% pure water."
If all goes according to plan, he said, "We could have as many as 26 machines dispatched throughout the gulf. Our largest machine is 112 inches high, weighs 2 ½ tons and cleans 210,000 gallons a day of oily water. We are hoping to have 10 machines that size out there — meaning we could potentially clean 2 million gallons of oil water a day."
Giant water Hoovers - Brilliant!
The Right Wing Freak Show Flying Monkeys are going to be flinging their feces around over this one.
Big, bad commie-filled Hollywood riding to rescue?
Better, they will likely adopt our Ran Kan Kan man, Rand Paul's take, channeling Donald Rumsfeld with his "Sometimes Accidents Happen."
But wait, there's more!
This isn't the first time Hollywood has rode, not just cinematically, to the rescue;Meanwhile, "Avatar" director James Cameron has said that he would make his underwater vessels available, and actor-director Robert Redford appeared in a commercial, sponsored by the Natural Resources Defense Council, that uses the spill as a clarion call to move forward on clean energy.
It is not the first time Hollywood has come to the rescue with cutting-edge technology. Paul Winchell, a versatile ventriloquist and the voice of Tigger in " Winnie the Pooh," was also an inventor who patented an early artificial heart in the 1960s. In 1940, glamorous movie star Hedy Lamarr helped design an un-jammable communications system for use against Nazi Germany.
So, perhaps there's a good vibe there for Costner, something other than 'Waterworld', and, maybe, maybe he can squeeze out a sequel, along the lines of "Sea of Dreams";If you spill it, he will come ...
Friday, May 21, 2010
Dances With Oil
Thursday, May 20, 2010
This Date ... On The Garlic
20 May 2008... On The Garlic
Editor's Note: A New Look For The Garlic!
20 May 2005... On The Garlic
Dem's Dig In for Filibuster; Republicans For Coup; RNC Lining Up Corporate Sponsors For 'Nuclear Option Bash'
Frank Gorshin, Batman's Riddler, Dead At 72; Leaves Last Riddle - MD's, Undertaker Can't Find Body
Top Ten Cloves: Things Being Discussed In The Senate Compromises Over The Judicial Nominee Fight
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Ran Kan Kan
Well, we've been trying.
Still hovering on the edge of the DL, it seems we were overly optimistic, after Monday's PT, feeling so good, we worked hard on the homefront on Tuesday, and paid the price for it.
Today's PT session did not give us the relief and comfort we were expecting, so we took it easy for most of the day/evening.
And so much happening, like BP (Better Profits) using the Coast Guard to chase away reporters to chase away reporters, to the crowning, last night, of Son of Paul, in Kentucky, a glowing candle in the Tea Party's "Take Back Our Country" cake.
It seems that Rand Paul is very much against racism, and is is using his 1st Amendment Right to say that while he likes elements of the Civil Rights Act, it really should be left to locals as to who they serve in their business, that they have 1st Amendment Rights as well, and Government shouldn't come in and tell them how to run their business.
Look for this to be a blazing billboard in the days-and-weeks ahead, so much so, likely the Flying Monkeys, of both the Right Wing Freak Show, and the Teabaggers, will be crying like that nerd whimpering about "Leave Britney Alone"
It's a toss-up, if it will be Michelle "Stalkin" Malkin, or Andrew Breitbart who first wails out "Leave Rand Alone!".
Now, if Rand only wants to let Wheel of Fortune drop one letter, he could run with this as a theme song, to show his love of diversity.
Hit it El Rey!
Tito Puente - Ran Kan Kan (HQ last recorded live performance)
This Date ... On The Garlic
19 May 2009... On The Garlic
Take Five
19 May 2008... On The Garlic
Controlled Unclassified Information ... Brilliant!
This Is Just Going To Be Too Easy ...
Top Ten Cloves: Reasons U.S. Military Used Koran For Target Practice
19 May 2007... On The Garlic
We're Waiting, John Fund ... For You To Take Your Head Out Of Your Ass ... Lieberman Abandoned The Democrats To Run As An Indie, He Wasn't Forced To
19 May 2006... On The Garlic
Crimmins Knocks One Out Of The Park With New Recording; Satirist/Author Cites “Profane Times”, Skewers Bush, Rumsfield, SUV’s
19 May 2005... On The Garlic
Google Fires Executive Chef; Caught Searching Recipes On Yahoo, MSN
Rumsfeld Dismiss Call For Space Weapons Program; "Happens every time a new Star Wars or some other Sci-Fi film comes out"
Top Ten Cloves: How Malcolm Glazer Will Make Manchester United and English Soccer More American
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Hank Jones at 91, Legenday Jazz Pianist/Composer/Grammy Winner
Our In Box, this morning, carried the sad news, of the death of the great Jazz pianist, Hank Jones, at age 91, in the Bronx, New York.
We were lucky to have seen Hank Jones perform a handful of times, and it was always tremendous, a consummate professional, you left a Hank Jones show satisfied, and in awe, of his, seemingly, effortlessly manner of employing his gift.
From Dan Heckman, LA Times;
Hank Jones, jazz pianist who spanned styles and generations, dies at 91Praised for the feather-soft precision of his touch, Jones was equally adept at unleashing the piano's full, orchestral gamut of sounds. Rhythmic lift and propulsive swing were inherent to his playing, whether performing as an accompanist or in a solo setting. And his deep understanding of harmony was the foundation for a skilled mastery of the diverse material in the Great American Songbook.
[snip]
As recently as 2008, Los Angeles jazz audiences heard Jones in a pair of Southland performances — in a trio concert at UCLA and a 90th birthday celebration at the Hollywood Bowl — clearly illustrating that he had long ago ascended to the lofty level he described.
[snip]
Over the next 15 years he was a first-call accompanist for virtually every major jazz artist of the time, backing Fitzgerald, Davis, Young, Adderley, Hawkins, Holiday and Ben Webster, among others. A three-year run with Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic from 1947 to 1950 matched him with Roy Eldridge, Max Roach and Parker. In 1955, with the release of "The Trio of Hank Jones" (with Wendell Marshall and Kenny Clarke), he began a six-decade sequence of supplementing his busy sideman schedule with recordings under his own name.
Look through your collection of Jazz records (okay, CD's, or downloads), and you may be surprised on just how many that Jones is manning the piano.
Peter Keepnews, NYT;Mr. Jones spent much of his career in the background. For three and a half decades he was primarily a sideman, most notably with Ella Fitzgerald; for much of that time he also worked as a studio musician on radio and television.
And, as to that "effortless" way of playing?
His fellow musicians admired his imagination, his versatility and his distinctive style, which blended the urbanity and rhythmic drive of the Harlem stride pianists, the dexterity of Art Tatum and the harmonic daring of bebop. (The pianist, composer and conductor André Previn once called Mr. Jones his favorite pianist, “regardless of idiom.”)“I think the way you practice has a lot to do with it,” he explained. “If you practice scales religiously and practice each note firmly with equal strength, certainly you’ll develop a certain smoothness. I used to practice a lot. I still do when I’m at home.” Mr. Jones was 78 years old at the time.
BBC: Hank Jones obituary
RIP Hank Jones, but do it as you always have - keep on swingin'!
Here's a few tunes you can check out.
Hank Jones - On Green Dolphin Street
Hank Jones Trio 1979 - Bluesette
Hank Jones: Willow Weep For Me
This Date ... On The Garlic
18 May 2009... On The Garlic
Top Ten Cloves: Other Possible Excuses Maureen Dowd Could Used For Plagiarizing TPM's Josh Marshall
18 May 2008... On The Garlic
"Talk about the despot calling the kettle "Barack."
Al Giordano Handing Out Campaign Sheepskins ... To Hillary Supporters
"Wherever McCain goes, Lieberman is sure to show up ..."
18 May 2007... On The Garlic
Okay Wolfie, Hit It! ... New Garlic Song For The Wolf Man
18 May 2005... On The Garlic
GoldenPlace.Com Issues Bonus For Flushed Koran; $100K Up For "Story-of-the-Year"; Offers To Buy Prisoner Too
Court Wine Decision Causes National Gridlock; Highways Jammed; Internet Slowed To Crawl With Wine Orders
Top Ten Cloves: Other Things Newsweek Says U.S. Military Uses The Koran For That Hasn't Been Published Yet
Monday, May 17, 2010
Enjoying What Again?!
Like filler articles in newspapers, you gotta love the local television news anchors.
From ABC26 in New Orleans, there was a gem-of-a-gem the other day.
It came in a "Beauty Breakthrough" report, from reporter Catherine Shreves;
G-Shot Puts Sparks Back In Your Sex LifeThe G-shot is usually performed by plastic surgeons or gynocologists. It's a quick injection of collagen-or hyalauranic acid (the same stuff used to plump our lips and fill in wrinkles) just at the base of the bladder. because the G-spot is anatomically tucked away, the goal of the G-shot is to make the G-spot more accessible.
G-Shot's official website says that in a pilot study, 87% of women surveyed reported enhanced sexual arousal/gratification after receiving the G-Shot.
[snip]
The G-Shot is a simple, non-surgical, physician-administered procedure that takes about 10 minutes. The doctor starts by numbing the area around the G-Spot, then administers the injection of the collagen or hyaluronic acid (like Juvaderm or Restalayne) filler. Doctors say it is safe, but there can be some side-effects, like bleeding, infections, urinary retention, and even a sensation of always being sexually aroused. They also add that it does not work for everyone. The filler lasts between 4-6 months, and the cost is about $1200. The procedure is usually performed by plastic surgeons or gynecologists.
Okay, even if it wasn't the Sweeps, you can run with this story under the auspices of Health, or Lifestyles.
Well, it seems that Shreves colleague, anchor Michael Hill, asked a follow-up question, that left little, nothing, to the imagination;
News Anchor Talks About Enjoying Penis (G Spot Shot)
Give Michael Hill a case of Brawndo, and book him for a cameo in the sequel, Idiocracy II.
This Date ... On The Garlic
17 May 2008... On The Garlic
WAPO Op-Ed Striking One Up For The Boys In The Band
The Longer Morning of a McCain Presidency
17 May 2007... On The Garlic
Developing Story! White House Giving World Bank, Wolfowitz Green Light To Blame McNulty; New Strategy Of Leveraging Scandals; Cheney Says Embattled Hero "Definitely In Final Throes" At World Bank
Top Ten Cloves: Other Great Things You'll Get Using Google's New Retooled Search Engine
17 May 2006... On The Garlic
Ahmadinejad “Sort Of An Islamic Lyndon LaRouche”; Said To Have Made Offer To Mexico; Ahmadinejad Claims Letter A Hoax, Cites Propaganda, Prelude To U.S. Invasion
Top Ten Cloves: Other Things Karl Rove Blames For President Bush’s Low Approval Rating
17 May 2005... On The Garlic
Rumsfeld Rolling On with Privatizing Forces; Base Closings Tied To New U-Haul Self Storage Contract
Bush Furious Over Newsweek's Koran Misquote; "Madder than when he couldn't get intel the way he wanted" Say Staff
Top Ten Cloves: Ways PBS Chief Ken Tomlinson Plans On Making PBS More "Right"
Sunday, May 16, 2010
A Little Something
West Side Story said it, suggested it, all with the aura of anticipation so thick, you could cut it;
West Side Story-Something's Coming
But wait!
It's here!
In today's NYT Op-Ed pages, from Rick Moranis!
Something Else
Go check it out ...
Or something ...
This Date ... On The Garlic
16 May 2009... On The Garlic
Viva Tirado
16 May 2007... On The Garlic
Breaking News! Robertson Held For Questioning In Falwell Death; Threats Against Chavez, Sharon Make 700 Club Founder 'Person of Interest'
Top Ten Cloves: Potential Problems With Greenpeace's Noah's Ark
16 May 2006... On The Garlic
Breaking News - Congress Said Will “Clean President’s Clock” On Immigration; Bush Adds Color-Coded Border Alert Chart To Immigration Plan; Neocons Upset With Shift In White House Strategy: Speech Offered No “Ties To Sadam ... Imminent Mushroom Clouds”
Top Ten Cloves: Things Overheard Along The Border Last Evening
16 May 2005... On The Garlic
Jacko Bombshell! Jackson Offers Embattled West To Be Mayor of Neverland; Needs Experienced Help; 4-Year Contract, Regardless of Either Trial's Outcome
Apple Slaps Gates With Lawsuit; New iSqueal Hotline Flooded Since Friday
Top Ten Cloves: What Condoleezza Rice Told Muslims About The Koran To Calm Their Fears and Anger
Saturday, May 15, 2010
My Song
Sorry folks, still on the DLtoday, and, rather uncomfortably so.
Last night we went with his younger brother, we thought we go with the elder this evening, Keith Jarrett
A wonderful song, a duo with the great Norwegian saxophonist, Jan Garbarek
Enjoy!
Keith Jarrett & Jan Garbarek "My Song"
This Date ... On The Garlic
15 May 2009... On The Garlic
Home
16 May 2008... On The Garlic
It's Time To Bring Down Rollo Tomasi
Garlictorial: Why Wait - Toss Lieberman Over To The GOP Now!
Who Can She Turn To?
15 May 2007... On The Garlic
Cold Body Assoc. Denounces Gonzales For Finger-Pointing, Break In Tradition; "Blaming McNulty At This Point In Time Is Scurrilous"; CBA Membership Upset, Fears Could Be "Open Season" On Scapegoats
15 May 2005... On The Garlic
New Garlic Logo!
Friday, May 14, 2010
The Image of You
Sorry, Garlic Fans, for your absence the past few days.
We ran into a buzz saw of activity, on the homefront.
And, additionally, we have been on the DL, having injured our shoulder (Rotator Cuff issue, at the moment, with a slate of PT on the schedule, the days and weeks ahead), so we just didn't get to spend much time at the ol' computer.
We are aiming to resume posting this weekend.
Which puts a bit of pressure on us.
What music do we leave you with, something to make up for the lack of posting, something that will have you sit up, and say WOW!
For that we tap Scott Jarrett, younger brother of Jazz legend Keith Jarrett, and a monster, monster ballad.
Sit back and enjoy!
Scott Jarrett - The Image of You
This Date ... On The Garlic
14 May 2008... On The Garlic
Top Ten Cloves: Things President Bush Didn't Give Up Over Iraq War
14 May 2007... On The Garlic
"I'm Shocked ... Shocked To Find Terrorism Going On Here " ... The Results - The Garlic Weekly Poll
14 May 2005... On The Garlic
Weekend Special - Sautéed Cloves
Poll Results for The Garlic's Weekly Poll May 7 - May 13 2006; Steve Colbert, for his White House Correspondents' Association Dinner Performance, Can Expect ...
Thursday, May 13, 2010
This Date ... On The Garlic
13 May 2009... On The Garlic
Are You Going With Me?
13 May 2008... On The Garlic
Hagee Going Emily Litella On Us ...
Sadly No Slaps Down Prom Dress Boy On Bush Legacy
This Message, Brought To You By ... The GOP!
13 May 2007... On The Garlic
Happy Mothers Day ... And Let's Hear For Queen Noor!
13 May 2005... On The Garlic
Bush Ready To Pull Bolton; Will Nominate Dave Chappelle; Senate Says They'll Vote "Up, Down and Sideways" For Comedy Central Star; Bolton Goes Ballistic
Top Ten Cloves: What The Two Pilots In The Cessna Were Talking About During DC Evacuation
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
This Date ... On The Garlic
12 May 2009... On The Garlic
Cry Me A River
12 May 2008... On The Garlic
Breaking News! White House To Supply Burma With Pre-Fab Convention Center
Top Ten Cloves: Things Overheard At Jenna Bush's Wedding
12 May 2006... On The Garlic
Top Ten Cloves: Ways AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. Will Justify Giving Phone Records To NSA
12 May 2005... On The Garlic
Mineta Broadcasts Klaatu and Gort Landing For Real; Rumors and Misinformation Add to DC Panic, Hysteria Over Stray Plane; Code Red Highest Since 9/11; President Not Notified for Fear of Another Book Reading
Conservatives To Fete DeLay Tonight; Last Chance For Favors In Case House Leader Censured or Expelled
Top Ten Cloves: What Vice President Cheney Told Appeals Court About His Energy Meetings To Win Verdict
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
"The score is four / And next time more”
This news broke yesterday, and it is big ...
I mean BIG!
Here's the background, in the event you were born after the 1970's;The Kent State shootings – also known as the May 4 massacre or Kent State massacre – [2][3][4] occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970. The guardsmen fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis.[5]
Some of the students who were shot had been protesting against the American invasion of Cambodia, which President Richard Nixon announced in a television address on April 30. Other students who were shot had been walking nearby or observing the protest from a distance.[6][7]
Now, here's the blockbuster news;
New analysis of 40-year-old recording of Kent State shootings reveals that Ohio Guard was given an order to prepare to fireThe Ohio National Guardsmen who fired on students and antiwar protesters at Kent State University on May 4, 1970 were given an order to prepare to shoot, according to a new analysis of a 40-year-old audio tape of the event.
"Guard!" says a male voice on the recording, which two forensic audio experts enhanced and evaluated at the request of The Plain Dealer. Several seconds pass. Then, "All right, prepare to fire!"
"Get down!" someone shouts urgently, presumably in the crowd. Finally, "Guard! . . . " followed two seconds later by a long, booming volley of gunshots. The entire spoken sequence lasts 17 seconds.
Why is this a big deal?The previously undetected command could begin to explain the central mystery of the Kent State tragedy - why 28 Guardsmen pivoted in unison atop Blanket Hill, raised their rifles and pistols and fired 67 times, killing four students and wounding nine others in an act that galvanized sentiment against the Vietnam War.
The order indicates that the gunshots were not spontaneous, or in response to sniper fire, as some have suggested over the years.
I was not-yet 15-years-old when this went down, the tipping point, after the blizzard of nightly news footage of the carnage in Viet Nam, and the handful of older guys from the neighborhood that came home in body bags.
Now, our government was shooting at us.
For, merely, expressing our 1st Amendment rights.
Digby, on her blog Hullabaloo, has a great post up, in which she quotes from the book 'Nixonland', showing, chillingly, the parallels between the red-faced, crew-cut conservatives, the ones who bought, at retail price, the tainted American Dream, the ones who in the aftermath of the Kent State shootings chanted "The score is four / And next time more”, and today's political climate;The country eventually disengaged from Vietnam. But that was only one skirmish in our ongoing tribal struggle --- it still rages today. History can now record what really happened that day at Kent State. But I think we can assume from the Nixonland excerpt that whether or not the Guardsmen shot under orders was never really the issue anyway.
(Susie Madrak, over on Crooks and Liars, has a post with video, and audio)
The funny thing is that the same Real Americans who believed the protesters deserved it would join the tea parties today and complain mightily about government overreach. In fact, many of them probably have.
And, there is still pain;In Pittsburgh, Doris Krause has been waiting 40 years to find out who killed her daughter Allison, and why. Now 84 and widowed, she said Friday the presence of the prepare-to-fire order doesn't surprise her.
"It had to be," she said. "There's no other way they could have turned in unison without a command. There's no other way they could fire at the same time."
She is frustrated, though, that the recording can't identify the person who gave the order. "I wish there was better proof," Krause said. "We have to find a man with enough courage to admit what happened.
"I'm an old lady," she said, "and before I leave this earth, I'd like to find out who said what is on that tape."
"Courage to admit what happened ..."
Hopefully, it won't take another 40-years to find that out.
Crosby Stills Nash Young Teach Your Children - Iraq
Retro Garlic: Gates vs. Iron Man
The other day we posted "Robert Gates Is In The House!", for his address taking on, and shooting an arrow across the bow of, the Military-Industrial Complex.
Yesterday, Robert Farley and Davida H. Isaacs, over on The American Prospect, put up an amusing, and informative, post, relating to the colossally-large elephant in the room;
The Stark Reality of Defense Contracting ...A summer blockbuster tackles disputes endemic to the military-industrial complexIn Iron Man 2, billionaire industrialist Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) risks billion-dollar pieces of equipment to impress guests at a birthday party -- a big mistake for a defense contractor. After all, Stark's reckless debauchery provides the perfect pretext for the U.S. government to take away his Iron Man suit. Explosions, tattoos, and Scarlett Johansson notwithstanding, the disputes between Tony Stark and his antagonists revolve around ownership of the rights to the Iron Man technology. Iron Man 2 is the most expensive movie ever made about an intellectual property dispute.
[snip]
In the United States, inventors are supposed to profit from their creations, as emphasized in the original comics. But Iron Man 2 takes a different tack. While trying to fend off Vanko, Stark is pressured by the U.S. government to give up the secrets of the Iron Man suit. After Stark refuses a senator's demand that he relinquish his body-armor technology, the government forcibly takes it from him, only to turn it over to a competitor that then uses the technology to fulfill its own defense contract. Consciously or no, this echoes the real world; the United States government can take such actions with almost total legal impunity.
These inventors theoretically have their own superpower at their disposal: the Fifth Amendment's "Takings Clause," which requires compensation for government appropriation. But it has one weakness: the military and state secrets privilege, which has been invoked with increasing frequency in the past 25 years. Perhaps most notably, it has been used to prevent suspected terrorists from obtaining access to incriminating information. Less well known is the role it has played in suppressing intellectual-property owners' attempts to recover compensation for government use of their innovations.
[snip]
Stark didn't need a monetary incentive to develop his technology. And presumably Stark, either individually or through his company, retained sufficient political pull to obtain compensation for that stolen technology without having to rely on the Takings Clause. Of course, he's just a fictional comic book hero. But as audiences watch Senate efforts to persuade Tony Stark to relinquish Iron Man technology to the U.S. Government, they should keep in mind that Stark's greatest power might not be his full-body armor but instead his company's political connections.
Suit up there, Mr. Gates ...
Or, call in the cavalry!
This Date ... On The Garlic
11 May 2009... On The Garlic
Just A Little Lovin'
11 May 2008... On The Garlic
Don't Cry For Me, Lanny Davis ...
Today's Must Read - The Military-Media Dog-and-Pony Show
11 May 2006... On The Garlic
Top Ten Cloves: Signs HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson Is Getting Ready To Cancel Your Contract
11 May 2005... On The Garlic
Garlic Exclusive! Dems Seek Arrest, Charges of Senate Leader Frist, and Others; Say Nuclear Threat Violates Patriot Act; AG Gonzales Opens Investigation
Top Ten Cloves: Other Things The Courts Are Letting United Airlines Do To Their Retirees
Monday, May 10, 2010
This Is Why We Need To Keep Newspapers Around
I have been a newspaper junkie for much of my life.
Even very young, five, six-years-old, I would race up to my grandfather's corner store, and read the paper before school, going back-to-front, having to scope out, first, how my favorite sports team made out the night before.
There was so much stuff to be wondered by.
Aside from the hard news, and the Op-Ed Pages, newspapers are necessary for something much, much more;
Filler articles, and the local answer man, or advice giver.
These items are gold and a really good item makes trekking through the paper a most satisfying experience.
Today's 'The Boston Globe' has such an item.
It comes from the "Ask Dr. Knowledge" column (who is actually, a local Physics professor);
Why is drinking a milkshake through a straw harder than a soft drink?Q - If I order a soft drink at a fast-food restaurant, I can drink it with a thin straw or a wide straw, with little difficulty either way. When it comes to a milkshake though, I can’t get anything at all through the narrow straw. Why?
There is more detail Dr. Knowledge provides the benighted milkshake drinker, so check that out.
A - The first thing to notice about the milkshake is that it’s viscous, which is the scientific way of saying that it’s sticky. Water is somewhat viscous, too, but much less so.
[snip]
If you can just manage to suck up a milkshake through the wide straw, however, you would need 16 times the suction to get it up the narrower one at the same rate.
What marveled me was that there was someone out there, so stumped, so fraught with anxiety, so lost over the complexity of straws, parched, maybe jonesin' for a milkshake, and perpetually stymied by those darn straws, the straw being Lucy-and-the-football, that they wrote (perhaps emailed) the local newspapers' "Dr. Knowledge" in a quest to have their life reunited with the tasty ice-cream, milk and syrup libation.
And, I have to wonder, if, in the Doc's answer, the part about needing "16 times the suction", if he was, slyly, telling the questioner that, you gotta really suck, both, to drink the milkshake, and, to send in a question like that.
This is why we need to keep newspapers around.
Bonus Links
Michael Sokolove: What’s a Big City Without a Newspaper?
Will Bunch: Apple's tablet will NOT save journalism
Danny Sullivan: Google CEO Eric Schmidt On Newspapers & Journalism
Clay Shirky: Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable
Stormy Weather, Indeed ... RIP Lena Horne
It was sad to discover, via multiple posts, the passing of actress, and Jazz singer, Lena Horne.
I have a handful of her albums (well, now, CD's) and she had a lovely voice, you knew, from the first note or two, that it was Lena Horne singing, so soft, or sultry.
Lena Horne, Singer and Actress, Dies at 92Ms. Horne was stuffed into one “all-star” musical after another — “Thousands Cheer” (1943), “Broadway Rhythm” (1944), “Two Girls and a Sailor” (1944), “Ziegfeld Follies” (1946), “Words and Music” (1948) — to sing a song or two that could easily be snipped from the movie when it played in the South, where the idea of an African-American performer in anything but a subservient role in a movie with an otherwise all-white cast was unthinkable.
[snip]
Touring Army camps for the U.S.O., Ms. Horne was outspoken in her criticism of the way black soldiers were treated. “So the U.S.O. got mad,” she recalled. “And they said, ‘You’re not going to be allowed to go anyplace anymore under our auspices.’ So from then on I was labeled a bad little Red girl.”
Ms. Horne later claimed that for this and other reasons, including her friendship with leftists like Paul Robeson and W.E.B. DuBois, she was blacklisted and “unable to do films or television for the next seven years” after her tenure with MGM ended in 1950.
[snip]
Ms. Horne’s voice was not particularly powerful, but it was extremely expressive. She reached her listeners emotionally by acting as well as singing the romantic standards like “The Man I Love” and “Moon River” that dominated her repertory. The person she always credited as her main influence was not another singer but a pianist and composer, Duke Ellington’s longtime associate Billy Strayhorn.
“I wasn’t born a singer,” she told Strayhorn’s biographer, David Hajdu. “I had to learn a lot. Billy rehearsed me. He stretched me vocally.” Strayhorn occasionally worked as her accompanist and, she said, “taught me the basics of music, because I didn’t know anything.”
[snip]
Looking back at the age of 80, Ms. Horne said: “My identity is very clear to me now. I am a black woman. I’m free. I no longer have to be a ‘credit.’ I don’t have to be a symbol to anybody; I don’t have to be a first to anybody. I don’t have to be an imitation of a white woman that Hollywood sort of hoped I’d become. I’m me, and I’m like nobody else.”
While that be the standard, boiler-plate obit, we found a few people that came to Lena Horne via other routes.
Like, Edward Copeland;
I know why there's no sun up in the sky and that's because the world has lost the irreplaceable Lena Horne at the age of 92. The actress/singer who helped to break down racial barriers by becoming the first African-American performer to receive a major Hollywood studio contract passed away Sunday night in a Manhattan hospital.
[snip]
The bulk of her career was spent taking that sultry voice to concert halls or appearing as herself in other venues such as That's Entertainment III and sitcoms such as A Different World, The Cosby Show and a particularly memorable Sanford & Son, where Fred tricked her into coming to his house claiming that Lamont was his young, terminally ill child.
Or, Melissa McEwan;
I know the exact moment I saw Lena Horne for the first time. I was 11, and she made a guest appearance on "The Cosby Show," as herself, in an episode where Claire (Phylicia Rashad) took Cliff (Bill Cosby) to see her perform for his birthday. I remember thinking how beautiful and glamorous she was, and falling utterly in love with her voice, which has remained to this day one of my absolute favorites—totally recognizable, totally unmistakable, totally butter.
That hits it, "totally butter."
And, while a bevy of people posted her signature tune, "Stormy Weather" (Dave Itzkoff, over on the NYT Artsbeat, additionally posted a nice one, of Lena Horne and Kermit the Frog singing "It Ain't Easy Being Green"), we took the nod from our friend Dee Dee Gordon, who went with, a classic, a Jazz standard, written by Michael Legrand, for "Les Parapluies de Cherbourg" (which also happens to be one of my all-time favorite tunes).
It's a gem ...
Lena Horne with Gabor Szabo - Watch What Happens (Revised)
It's Kagan!
Now, doesn't that have a ring of a summer replacement television show?
It's Kagan!
Quick, pull up the promo of a short, lets say, rounded, Elena Kagan, bouncing around, crazy-like, having mishaps, bumping into people, running in-and-out of an apartment, having forgotten something.
From the promo, we'll know it's going to be a zany comedy.
Well, it almost played out that way, with Cable going wall-to-wall with "It's Kagan", giving them an opportunity to ignore the disaster of the oil spill for the day (and likely, many more).
Jeffrey Toobin penned a post that he hangs, and hung, out with her.
They've already started, with slamming Kagan, for agreeing with something Thurgood Marshall said, which is pointed out they used the same, weak-ass fart, against Obama.
The Left has questions, with, at least, one push-back
A few more, Digby and Stephanie Mencimer, go with the inexperience angle, of Elana Who?
While Glenn Greenwald stands against her.
If nothing comes up that bashes her, expect someone - The PartyofNoicans, or Faux News, perhaps one of the many Flying Monkeys of the Right Wing Freak Show - will start a whisper campaign, a post with lots of question marks, on whether or not Elena Kagen is a lesbian.
Andrew Sullivan is already calling for Kagan to come out of the closet (if she is encased in one), while Digby cautions him to "Don't Go There", with Ta-Nehisi Coates needs a "Talk to Me Like I'm Stupid" about it all, and on-cue, some Flying Monkeys are trying to rally the troops with "The stakes are too high. Social conservatives must rise up as one and say no lesbian is qualified to sit on the Supreme Court.?"
If you want to hit the Tivo, and bypass all that, you can go to Tom Goldstein, from the Scotusblog, who is a-man-with-plan, laying out almost all you need to read about Elena Kagan;It’s Kagan
9750 Words on Elena Kagan ...More than you ever wanted to know
Where We Go From Here ...Process and substance in a Kagan nomination
And it's only Day One.
You can check out Memeorandum to stay on-top of the minutia
This Date ... On The Garlic
10 May 2009... On The Garlic
Happy Mother's Day!
Where Do We Go
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Developing Story! Bush Said Ready To Dump Wolfowitz and Name Blair New World Bank Chief; Sources Say Bush Not Ready To Abandon Rewarding Iraq War Supporters; Cheney Furious, Was Lobbying For Libby Posting
New Barry Crimmins Essay - We Are Here
Keith Olberman Follow-Up: AAN Presents First Annual Molly Ivins Award to Keith Olbermann
10 May 2006... On The Garlic
More Letters on The Garlic’s Baseball Piece
10 May 2005... On The Garlic
American Idol Spin's Off New Born-Again Virgin Show; All Christian Music Format; Special Segment For Declaring New, Multi-Born Again Status
Amazon Says "I Do"; Opens Wedding Registry;Offers Free Shipping For Weddings With Over 100 Guests
Top Ten Cloves: Other Born-Again Virgins Now That John Mason Is Out
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Happy Mother's Day!
Here's wishing, from The Garlic, to all the Moms out there, a very, very happy Mother's Day!
We know that;Mother's Day is an annual holiday that recognizes mothers, motherhood and maternal bonds in general, as well the positive contributions that they make to society. In the United States, it is celebrated on the second Sunday in May.
[snip]
In its present form, Mother's Day was established by Anna Marie Jarvis, following the death of her mother Ann Jarvis on May 9, 1905, with the help of a Philadelphia merchant called John Wanamaker.[2] A small service was held in May 12, 1907 in the Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna's mother had been teaching Sunday school.[2] But the first "official" service was in May 10, 1908 in the same church, accompanied by a larger ceremony in the Wanamaker Auditorium in the Wanamaker's store on Philadelphia.[2] She then campaigned to establish Mother's Day as a U.S. national holiday, and later as an international holiday.[1][2]
The holiday was declared officially by the state of West Virginia in 1910, and the rest of states followed quickly.[2] On May 8, 1914, the U.S. Congress passed a law designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day and requesting a proclamation. On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation, declaring the first national Mother's Day,[9][10] as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war.[9]
In 1934, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved a stamp commemorating the holiday.[11]
Here's a few Bonus Links you can peruse;
- Celebrating Mothers
Why Mom really does make the best cakes ...A neurologist tells us about our mothers, what the smell of baking does to us, and how we taste food in the womb- Mother's Day Manifesto: 2010
And, lastly, perhaps the greatest tune evah, written (and performed) about mothers.
As Wikipedia notes;
"Sweet Mother" is a highlife song by the Nigeria/Cameroonian singer Prince Nico Mbarga and his band Rocafil Jazz. Released in 1976, it remains one of the most popular songs in Africa.
Prince Nico Mbarga Sweet Mother
