Agriculture

You never know where you'll run into a Badger.

The Difference

Just the basics.

Boobies Bouncing into Autumn

Boobies celebrating the first Friday of fall.

As A Marxist

OK, I admit it: I am a Marxist. I love every one of the Marx Brothers movies. And I like Dali, too. So when I read this, well...:

Salvador Dalí sketching Harpo Marx (1937, via).

Dalí, a huge Marx Brothers fan with a particular admiration for Harpo, whom he viewed as “the most surrealist figure in Hollywood”, sent him a harp with barbed wire for strings & forks and spoons for tuning knobs as a Christmas present in 1936. Delighted, Harpo wrote Dalí that he would be “happy to be smeared by you” if the artist ever found himself in Hollywood. The next month Dalí arrived, brushes and easel in hand. The resultant painting is lost, but a monochrome pencil-and-ink study survived (here)

Dalí wrote an entertaining, if rather implausible, account of this meeting in a 1937 Harper’s Bazaar article:

“I met Harpo for the first time in his garden. He was naked, crowned with roses, and in the center of a veritable forest of harps (he was surrounded by at least five hundred harps). He was caressing, like a new Leda, a dazzling white swan, and feeding it a statue of the Venus de Milo made of cheese, which he grated against the strings of the nearest harp. An almost springlike breeze drew a curious murmur from the harp forest. In Harpo’s pupils glows the same spectral light to be observed in Picasso’s.”

Dalí later wrote a script for a Marx Brothers movie, Giraffes on Horseback Salad, which included, among other things, burning giraffes wearing gas masks & Harpo catching dwarves with a butterfly net. The film was never made. Groucho, that killjoy, claimed to have scuttled the project: “It wouldn’t play.”

Just a delicious story. Beats talking about current politics.

A "Must Read"

If you haven't already read it, please go read:

Poll: 1 In 5 Americans Believe Obama Is A Cactus

Figures

Today is world "car-free" day. So, of course, today is the one day that I'm obligated to drive. My neighbor is having surgery, and I agreed to pick him up from the hospital.

I'm not going to feel guilty. I lived car free for fourteen years, and only returned to car ownership this past spring. I inherited this car when my brother-in-law passed away, but I rarely drive it. Flagstaff is a very walking/biking friendly town.

Sometimes ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do.

Why Aliens Avoid Us

Let's face it: the Aliens don't want to talk to us. They see how we treat each other and our home planet, and realize that human beings just aren't worth the bother.
Take a look at the TV we send out to them:

Any alien seeing that is likely thinking "Earth? Don't go there. It's got Human Beings! They're contagious!"

(Quote shamelessly stolen from Red Dwarf.)

Almost Forgot.

Arr!

This Week's Boobies

Happy Friday! Nice Boobies!

(And my Giants are in 1st place today! Yay!)

Politics as a Joke

Insuring comedy gold for the next seven weeks, Christine O'Donnell, the winner in the GOP Senate primary in Delaware, sets a new "standard" for rightwing tea party nuttiness. She's best known for her strong "anti-masturbation" views. Meaning that masturbation will now be a campaign issue. Pundits and comics are certainly going to be 'busy' with that.

Yup, American democracy in action. Just think how much fun the senate would be if she actually wins (thankfully, highly unlikely). Senators debating masturbation? Do we really want that?

WATCH: Christine O'Donnell's '96 Anti-Masturbation Campaign On MTV

Bugs

Via The Political Carnival, go take a look at Bug-eyed: The cartoon faces of insects caught in incredible detail.

Some lovely bugs!

Weird, Sick Marketing

(Full story at The Rude Pundit:)
I tried to avoid doing any "9/11" posts because all possible views have already been blogged to death, but...
The New York Lottery is using human 'ping pong balls' labeled "9" and "11" to market the lottery. Really? Using a tragedy to promote a tax on people who don't understand statistics?
The eventual demise of America will be sold with a shiny marketing campaign, and the sheeple will buy it in bulk. That is the sad truth.

The Weekly Boobies

Friday, again. A fine pair of Boobies.

Football Season

Tonight marks the start of another Football season, for which I am happy. While I'm a Baseball fan first and foremost, Football games generate more social participation. For example, my local pub becomes a full on sports bar where fans for each team gather for a party at game time. I'm a lifelong 49er's fan, and on Sunday I'll be with a bunch of other Niners fans (of course, there will also be a bunch of Seahawks fans rooting against us) for the game. That doesn't happen for baseball, except for the world series.

For Football fans seeking a good laugh, here's the Onion Sports 2010 NFL Team-By-Team Guide. Satire at it's finest. For example, on my Niners:

Strength: He may not be a Joe Montana, but Alex Smith is proving to be a better QB than Jim Druckenmiller, Gio Carmazzi, or Steve Stenstrom ever were

Weakness: Whatever head coach Mike Singletary is thinking at any given moment

Player To Watch: Veteran Brian Westbrook is always a threat to explode into a cloud of ligaments and bone

Biggest Question: If the 49ers are willing to let Glen Coffee go to follow Christ, what's to stop the entire team from following suit?

Well, OK then. Sadly, I remember how bad Carmazzi was.

River Art

(click to big)
So I'm having a beer with an old river running buddy, and he says: "If you're really a Boatman on The Canyon, then you have a piece of artwork given to you by a passenger."
I said: "yup. I have one."
This is a painting by my dear friend Bex Deluxe, that hangs proudly on my wall.

For Warren...

Shadows are falling and I'm running out of breath
Keep me in your heart for awhile

If I leave you it doesn't mean I love you any less
Keep me in your heart for awhile

When you get up in the morning and you see that crazy sun
Keep me in your heart for awhile

There's a train leaving nightly called when all is said and done
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sometimes when you're doing simple things
around the house
Maybe you'll think of me and smile

You know I'm tied to you like the buttons on
your blouse
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Hold me in your thoughts, take me to your dreams
Touch me as I fall into view
When the winter comes keep the fires lit
And I will be right next to you

Engine driver's headed north to Pleasant Stream
Keep me in your heart for awhile

These wheels keep turning but they're running out
of steam
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Keep me in your heart for awhile

For Labor Day

I rarely post music, but this is a good one for today.

Age Check

If you laugh at this...

you're probably getting old.

A Friday Boobie

September already? Where did the summer go?

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

A True Christian

There are so many negative stories of religious intolerance that it was refreshing to read an actual positive story showing the true teachings of Christ:

When pastor Steve Stone initially heard of the mosque and Islamic center being erected on the sprawling land adjacent his church, his stomach tightened.

Then he raised a 6-foot sign reading, "Welcome to the Neighborhood."

The issue for Stone and the 550-person Heartsong Church in Cordova, came down to one question:

"What would Jesus do if He were us? He would welcome the neighbor," Stone said.

The Memphis Islamic Center, a nonprofit organization formed three years ago, is two weeks from breaking ground on the first phase of a multimillion-dollar complex.

While plans for Islamic centers across the country and just miles away have triggered vitriolic responses and divided communities, here in Memphis it's been a peaceful process.

On a 31-acre stretch at Humphrey Road and Houston Levee, Memphis Islamic Center leaders plan to build a massive gathering place during the next several years. It will include a mosque, youth center, day care center, indoor gym, sports fields, medical clinic and retirement home.

While the 4,000-square-foot worship hall is being completed, Heartsong has opened its doors to its neighbors throughout the monthlong observance of Ramadan.

Under a gigantic cross constructed of salvaged wood, nearly 200 area Muslims have been gathering each night to pray.

"I think it's helped break down a lot of barriers in both congregations," said Islamic center board member Danish Siddiqui.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/aug/28/common-threads/

This in Memphis, not a bastion of liberalism. As someone who isn't religious but has studied a lot of theology and religious philosophy, I've always thought that at the core of all the Abrahamic religions is a message of living together in peace that is far stronger than all the smiting, slaying, or Jihad. We need more Christians to listen to Pastor Steve Stone and his ilk.

(End of positive post. Regular cynicism will return soon.)