I let this slide…and was at a neighbor’s eating and drinking like a Viking. So, open post…the preview is…we will have stuff.
Over to you.
Blog
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The “Itchy” Edition of the Horoscope for the Week of July 28
This week has powerful elements of change, chaos, disorder, mutation, et. al. Our first alignment has the Sun (power) linking up with the Moon (transformation) and MERCURY RETROGRADE (higgledy-piggledy). If that weren’t enough, both of those planets are likewise is houses of instability, with the moon being in Gemini (duality, deception, transition) and MERCURY RETROGRADE being in Cancer (things hidden, shellfish). Unrelated to the above, we have an additional alignment where Saturn retrograde shares the sun with Venus, so expect new beginnings in your love life.
Welcome Leo! In addition to the Sun, you’re playing host to Mars, so enjoy throwing your weight around and crushing your enemies underpaw. Cancer also doubles up on the planets, with the aforementioned MERCURY RETROGRADE and Venus. Which gives us: mistake – veneris – crab. Be careful out there this week.
Unusual draw this week. Usually the glibs are heavy on swords and trumps, with coins in the minority by a good sight. This week, coins dominates. So be on the lookout for moneymaking opportunities, but be careful because that suit also signifies slowness.
Leo: The High Priestess – Secrets, mystery, silence, wisdom, tenacity, science.
Virgo: The Star reversed – Arrogance, impotence, haughtiness
Libra: 4 of Cups – Weariness, disgust, aversion
Scorpio: 3 of Cups – The conclusion of a matter, perfection, happiness, plenty,happiness, victory, solace, healing
Sagittarius: 7 of Coins – Money, business, barter
Capricorn: Wheel of Fortune reversed – Bad Luck
Aquarius: 5 of Coins reversed – Discord, chaos, ruin, profligacy
Pisces: Knight of Coins – Utility, responsibility, interest, rectitude
Ares: 6 of Swords – Journey by water, envoy, expediency
Taurus: 2 of Cups: Love, friendship, passion, union, that which nature has sanctified, concord
Gemini: Queen of Swords – Absence, sterility, sadness, embarrassment
Cancer: 6 of Coins – Gifts, gratification, attention, “now is the time”
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Sunday Morning Going To Church Links
And what a lovely Sunday it is! Our A/C stopped working yesterday, so it was delightfully toasty in the house. Wonder Dog gave coronaries to some of the golfers playing behind our yard and has actually made the course’s list of hazards. In collaboration with one of the Glibertariat, I’ve started a new company, but I’m worried I’ll fail the drug test (“Not enough.”). My mother has been regaling us with stories of 1940s Baltimore (“…and the colored people had their own schools. They were terrible schools. It was so depressing.”). It’s been an interesting weekend.
Surprisingly , there are birthdays today, starting with the first sign of spring; “I thought you said you wanted a larger pianist!“; the toilet king; a guy who was buried in his own invention; the inventor of the laser show; one-fourth of the most brilliant comic team since the Three Stooges; one of my childhood fantasies; and someone who visited famine-struck areas and filmed commercials there.
On to the news!
Shut the fuck up, Barry. You were every bit as embarrassing and twice as bigoted. Say, how’s your buddy Farrakhan doin’ these days? And your mentor, Jeremiah Wright?
Why the Second Amendment really is a racial justice issue.
No possible way this is a hoax. No. Possible. Way.
Look, kid, I’m from there, too. He’s right about this (though its relevance to a congressman is… nonexistent). Deal with it. Once again, I hate everyone involved. This guy as well.
Spud put up a Puddles video last night. Fortunately, this was not Puddles.
Maureen Dowd can make even the most sensible idea seem stupid. This is a talent.
It’s tough to be stupider than her, but here’s a senator who manages to do so.
And fitting the theme of the Hazard of the Fifteenth Hole, here’s today’s entry in the annals of Old Guy Music.
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Saturday night links of absurdity
Herpity, derpity. Is it me? Or is the color really unnecessary for this little gem.
Have you started learning Mandarin yet?
How could the Top Men not have seen this coming? It’s effin’ Florida.
Maybe Bozo was just pining for the fjords? I’m disappointed in the lack of pictures.
I would have made a lousy cop. People would have been beaten with sticks.
I did not, I repeat, did NOT think of Mexican sharpshooter when I read this headline.
Hey, if Gallo can call that jug swill Chablis and Burgundy…
We haven’t heard from our buddy Puddles in a while, so here’s an homage to our resident cryptids.
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Can You Dig It?
This entire time I thought this scene was from American Graffiti. Totally wrong, and it took me a bit of searching to figure out it is actually from The Warriors. Perhaps it would help if I watched either movie.
Then I find out American Graffiti is a George Lucas film? That can’t be right either, he hasn’t tried to ruin it by remaking it…
This is my review of Lic Beer Project SAMO IPA (H/T: Iobot)
You can probably deduce where I am going to go from looking at the can. Graffiti is a word derived from the plural Italian word graffito, which means “to scratch.” This makes perfect sense because even if this site wants to credit a bunch of handprints in Argentina for being first, the word itself was coined from evidence of vandalism carved into Greco-Roman monuments. One of the earliest examples is from a walkway in the city of Ephesus, giving directions to the city’s largest brothel…
Nowadays it is thought of as part of urban blight in some circles, but in others it has become an art form unto itself:…the modern form of street art and graffiti writing was undoubtedly born during themed to late 1960’s. Darryl McCray, better known as Cornbread, is the man who is often credited with being the first graffiti writer, tagging his name all over North Philadelphia. The story goes that he started graffiti writing because of a girl he had a crush on, Cynthia Custuss, which led to him writing ‘Cornbread Loves Cynthia’ all over the area, then continuing with his own tag. Cool Earl was best friend to Cornbread and also became known for his tagging exploits, the pair gaining media attention. Another Philadelphia tagger, Top Cat 126, moved to New York in 1967 and helped to spark the graffiti trend there. Watch Cornbread and Taki 183 in action in this MOCA 2011 video.
[…]
The world of street art and graffiti has changed dramatically since the days of Cornbread, who incidentally, now works with The Mural Arts Program that helps to prevent illegal tagging, with the two movements becoming accepted in the wider art market. Edward Seymour could have had no idea just how much his paint in a spray can invention would change the face of our urban landscapes It is the ultimate guide to the world’s most remarkable pieces of graffiti and street art. This book is the definitive survey of the international movement, focusing on the world’s most influential urban artists and artworks. Since the lives and works of urban artists are inextricably linked to specific locations and places, this beautifully illustrated volume features specially commissioned “city artworks” that provide an intimate understanding of these metropolitan landscapes. Organized geographically by country and city, more than 100 of today’s most important artists—including Espo in New York, Shepard Fairey in Los Angeles, Os Gêmeos in Brazil, and Anthony Lister in Australia—are profiled alongside key examples of their work.
It is a sentiment I am inclined to believe, given what might have been running through the artist’s mind while this was painted on the Belfast “Peace Wall”. I pondered whether Swiss Servator’s series on the Catalan Separatist movement was the main driver; I pondered it enough to take a photo while at a red light on my way out of Belfast. While some look at it as the harbinger for urban decay and avoid such neighborhoods at all costs, it seems that it only harms the owner of the structure–assuming he or she has a problem with graffiti. A problem easily solved by setting up a couple cameras, or at the very least a big dog wandering around.
I will admit this wasn’t too bad for an IPA. It has a blend of four hops, which are common by themselves but not always together. It is unfiltered and has plenty of body. It results in something pleasant in texture, bitter upfront, and fruity in the back. Overall, its a solid build and I can dig it. Lic Beer Project SAMO IPA: 3.5/5
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Saturday Morning Serenity Links
We’ve entered the time of year when the heat is joined by its partner, humidity, and the desert becomes a steam table. Dry heat my ass. I’m destroying anything I wear when out hiking, just from the Jew Sweat. But before I head outside to face this, I’ll amuse you all (at least me, anyway) with some crazy shit floating around the news media.
Birthdays today include The Lip; a guy who shot a Coke machine; the guy who took nerdery to unheard-of levels; candidate for Most Tedious TV Producer; and someone who still objects.
On to the news.
OK, this is the one that may drive me from the same general dislike that I have for any president to full-blown TDS. Fuck you, Donnie.
And on that theme, “Fuck off, slaver!”
“We need to make sure we get our stories straight and not talk to anyone like that Judith Curry moron.” The dishonesty of politicized “science” on full display.
Jews to Sicilians: “Hey, y’all, hold mah matzo!”
$10 trillion dollars seems like a nice, round number. Not HER money of course, just you tax cattle.
A familiar script. “I feel morally obligated to come forward.”
ACLU loses a suit having nothing to do with civil liberties. “This is not over,” said Dror Ladin, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project. Dude, you just lost at the Supreme Court.
“Wiretap, what’s a good recipe for blueberry pancakes?”
Old Guy Music is a video from one of the dinosaur tours. Back in the mid-80s, I saw TFT play at Magic Mountain to a crowd of nearly zero (recalling the air force base gig in Spinal Tap) and regardless, they were wonderfully fun. And they still are.
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SEA SMITH FRIDAY NIGHT LINKS
HAHAHA! COUSIN YETI FACE, WHEN HE SEE SEA SMITH ATTACK! SEA SMITH GIVE BIG STONE HEAD AND COUSIN STEVE SMITH NIGHT OFF. HE BACK FROM DROP COUSIN YETI ON SHORE IN ASIA. HE NOT SAY MUCH ON TRIP…JUST “GLUBGLUB, RAR!” A LOT. HAHA! NO MESS WITH SMITH FAMILY!
SINCE SEA SMITH IN PACIFIC, NO BLAME HE FOR THIS. BUT YOU HERE FOR LINKS, NOT SEA SMITH BLAME. SO HERE LINKS. NOW. FOR YOU.
- SEA SMITH NOT SURE SPACE SMITH REAL…BUT THIS HE THROW ROCK?
- SEA SMITH LAUGH. THEN CRY. THEN PUKE. WHAT IS “broadcasting impartiality rules”? HOW BBC NOT PAY 100,000,000,000,000 POUND?
- THIS MAKE SEA SMITH WISH COULD HAVE POPCORN. IT GET ALL SOGGY IN OCEAN. MAYBE HE EAT POPCORN SHRIMP INSTEAD!
THIS HOOMAN GET SEA SMITH RESPECT, WHEN HIM TRY SEA SMITH A WHALE…BUT NOW HE SOUND CRAZY – “The CIA has attempted to collect us. We are at sea now and will report more soon. I will continue to be dark for the next few days,” BUT SEA SMITH HOPE THIS TRUE – “John has secreted data with individuals across the world. I know neither their identities or locations. They will release their payloads if John goes missing.” SEA SMITH RELEASE PAYLOAD, MISSING OR NO!
COME ON IN, WATER IS FINE!
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Friday Afternoon Links
Man, every redneck and his cousin-wife were in town today. I’ve never seen so many people in Apalachicola, FL in my life. You’d think they were having an SEC football game from the melange of Southern accents. Good for the townies. Gotta make that money while you can.
There are some shitty human beings in this world. Boko Haram is at the shittiest end of the list.
de Blasio blasts Trump. I hope the NYC tabloids report on this moron slap-fight every day.
Sin City receives plague of locusts.
Now this is great art. Serious moment: Don’t shoot up a pizza place because you read they might be pedos on the interwebz.
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What Are We Reading for July 2019
OMWC
One of my “reading words” is “chrestomathy.” I have no idea how to pronounce it, and I keep forgetting to look it up. At least I know what it means, a selection of passages from an author to aid in understanding a language. So between reading “help wanted” ads, writing 75 different versions of my resume, and finishing up a couple paid articles, I grabbed the two volumes of HL Mencken’s eponymous Chrestomathies off our shelves for some comfort. And they really are quite soothing if you are a cantankerous and cynical person, as I am. In this case, the chrestomathy is designed to teach the language of criticism and invective, with a sharp turn toward literary and social insight. Besides his considerable wit, Mencken had a wonderful ear for the sound of language.
It is not by accident that there has never been a book on Socialism which was also a work of art. Papa Marx’s Das Kapital at once comes to mind. It is as wholly devoid of graces as The Origin of Species or Science and Health; one simply cannot conceive a reasonable man reading it without aversion; it is as revolting as a barrel organ.
-from “Jack London”
He is a man who has lied and dissembled, and a man who has crawled. He knows the taste of boot-polish. He has suffered kicks in the tonneau of his pantaloons. He has taken orders from his superiors in knavery and he has wooed and flattered his inferiors in sense. His public life is an endless series of evasions and false pretenses. He is willing to embrace any issue, no matter how idiotic, that will get him votes,and he is willing to sacrifice any principle, however sound, that will lose them for him. I do not describe the democratic politician at his inordinate worst; I describe him as he is encountered in the full sunshine of normalcy
-from “Notes on Democracy”
SugarFree
I was all over the place this month, reeling drunkenly from short story to short story, genre to genre, the only novel of note was a re-read of Fight Club, which I’ve done every couple of years since it was published in 1996. It is very, very close to being a perfect novel: black as night, funny and angry, well-written and bold. The novel has been overshadowed by the movie adaption, but the movie is all straight from the book, even lifting large chunks of dialogue directly, but neither diminishes the other. Both should be studied as how to adapt a piece of fiction for the screen, namely, if there’s a good reason to adapt it, maybe don’t throw out all the parts that made the work worth adapting in the first place. [casts Swiss’ patented narrowed-gaze at Altered Carbon, Less Than Zero, World War Z, Starship Troopers, Wanted, ad infinitum]
jesse.in.mb
My will to read has been blunted by two months of legal documents, application forms and fixing the sub-literate internal and outward-facing forms, paperwork and notices of my workplace. Perhaps I’ll finish the novel I’ve been 2/3 of the way through for four months on my flight to New Jersey today, but I’ll probably just watch a shitty movie on the in-light entertainment system instead.
mexican sharpshooter
I am afraid the only thing I read of consequence in the last month is my company’s compliance policy with GDPR, the SOP related to it, and the proposed rewrite I drew up and sent to the lawyers for approval.
JW
This week JW is reading palms…with his dick. Drop by JW’s Boutique Palmistry shop and find out the intimate details of your future by giving JW a handy.*
*Lubricant will be provided gratis by jesse.in.mb, apparently this shit has an expiration date.
SP
I’m continuing to work my way through Jon Talton’s David Mapstone series in eBooks borrowed from the Maricopa County Library District. I’m on High Country Nocturne. I’m still enjoying them, but the emotional drama with the protagonist’s personal relationships has started wearing on me. I don’t do emotional drama in my own relationships, and I generally don’t want to deal with it in my escapist reading, either.
However, what I’m mostly concentrating on currently are books on Alzheimer’s, dementia, memory loss, cognitive decline, and how to be an effective caregiver to people undergoing the process. I’m not necessarily fooling myself that we’ll be able to reverse it, but we might be able to slow the progression. Maybe.
The neuroscience is always fascinating to me, but right now I am really reading to understand more of what my mother-in-law is experiencing and learn new ways to cope with the exhaustion and sadness I am encountering as we enfold her into our home and daily life. We didn’t expect it to be easy, but I’m not sure I fully understood how draining it is emotionally to witness her struggle all day every day.
If I find any of the books particularly helpful or insightful, I’ll write a standalone post on the topic in August.
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Friday Morning Every Day Is A Weekend Links
Another Friday and I’m back. And so are the various clowns, stooges, caitiffs, malefactors, and femalefactors who inhabit our political landscape, many of whom will feature in today’s links, along with the miscellaneous folks who cross over into newsworthiness by virtue of achievement or unintended misfortune.
But first, the birthdays. And they include the original anti-vaxxer; a comedic genius who presaged Eva Gabor; the Methuselah of pitchers; arguably the best filmmaker of the 20th century; some dude with big lips whose music I never cared for (except one song…); one of the people who made DS9 unwatchable; one of the people who made Larry Sanders very watchable; and an erstwhile idol of the Left who is now an unperson.
On to the news!
Here is my shocked face. I may have to get another one soon, this one is wearing out.
Someone took the “bag of dicks” thing a bit too seriously.
Who ever would have imagined that this would be a blatant PR gimmick for merchandise? Damn, that shocked face is taking quite a beating.
Arab Nazis in France. It is heartwarming to see the cultural blending. First rate trolling, Djamel!
How to make the next generation of libertarians. And in other Dallas news, “The name again is Mister Tow!”
Here’s a kid with lots of therapy in her future. And a Hitachi wand.
Old Guy Music today bows to my deep love for Leo Kottke’s music- and in particular, the felicitous pairing with Mike Gordon. This song came up on my shuffle yesterday while I was out for my morning walk, and not only was it cool, Leo never sounded more like Stephin Merritt. And that’s a compliment.