Alternatively titled: This is how the Internet works

As I was browsing through my usual blog fare, I happened across the Weekly Feminist Reader for this week at Feministing. It had a link to a cartoon documentary on the roles for women in Hollywood. That took me to an awesome site full of comics (that I will have to make a link to as well).

Well, on that site, I jumped over to a funny little website called Stuff White People Like. On the very first page, I find an awesome story about how unrelentingly white my old hometown is. (But Eugene certainly isn’t any better. In fact, Oregon in general is pretty damn white. I think it’s because this is where all the southern racists came to after the Civil War. Or something.)

Anyway, I just wanted to share that train of links. It’s an awful lot like how my brain works. Just one non sequitur after another.

Ooh! Shiny Things!
el jo

I just wanted to say “Happy Towel Day” to y’all before it’s over.

I know where my towel is at!

el jo

Holy shit! Can somebody please tell me just what the fuck is wrong with this woman? Apparently she’s staying in the race through June at the very least just in case something happens to Barack Obama. Like what? Well, since she referenced Bobby Kennedy’s assassination in June of 1968, I can only assume that she means Obama’s death.

She sounds like a mafioso. “Hey, eh, you know, things can happen to candidates, you know, when they don’t know I’m the one that’s supposed to be runnin’ the show, see? Bad things. I mean, hey, I don’t wanna give anybody any ideas or nothin’ but, eh, lookit what happened to Bobby Kennedy. You know, I’m just sayin’.”

I really feel that this woman is royally fucking up any future chances for women to run for president. I also really feel that with every single press conference, every time she opens her mouth, she’s destroying her own campaign, her credibility, and the trust of the American people. But when are people going to wake up and do something about it? Don’t the Dems have some say in who gets nominated? Or have the Dems become so cowed by the Republicans (and each other) that they’d rather wait, risking a loss to John McCain, than do something to deal with this petulant little candidate?

Let me just say it now for all y’all to hear: “Hillary Rodham Clinton is pissing me the fuck off! She needs to get a goddamn clue and leave this race!”

el jo

From Wikipedia:

The Second Defenestration of Prague was central to the start of the Thirty Years’ War in 1618.
Some members of the Bohemian aristocracy rebelled following the 1617 election of Ferdinand (Duke of Styria and a Catholic) as King of Bohemia to succeed the aging Emperor Matthias. In 1617, Roman Catholic officials ordered the cessation of construction of some Protestant chapels on land that the Catholic clergy claimed ownership of. Protestants contended the land in question was royal, rather than owned by the Catholic Church, and was thus available for their own use. Protestants interpreted the cessation order as a violation of the right to freedom of religious expression granted in the Letter of Majesty issued by Emperor Rudolf II in 1609. They also feared that the fiercely Catholic Ferdinand would revoke the Protestant rights altogether once he came to the throne.
At Prague Castle on May 23, 1618, an assembly of Protestants, led by Count Thurn, tried two Imperial governors, Vilem Slavata of Chlum (1572–1652) and Jaroslav Borzita of Martinice (1582–1649), for violating the Letter of Majesty (Right of Freedom of Religion), found them guilty, and threw them, together with their scribe Philip Fabricius, out of the high windows of the Bohemian Chancellery. They landed on a large pile of manure in a dry moat and survived. Philip Fabricius was later ennobled by the emperor and granted the title von Hohenfall (lit. meaning “of Highfall”).
Roman Catholic Imperial officials claimed that the three men survived due to the mercy of angels assisting the righteousness of the Catholic cause. Protestant pamphleteers asserted that their survival had more to do with the horse excrement in which they landed than the benevolent acts of the angels.

Celebrate this Discordian Holyday by steering clear of ditches and piles of manure. Especially if there are any tall buildings nearby.

el jo

Here's a handful of pix I gakked from the Outdoor Program Facebook page. (I still haven't gotten my rolls developed. Sorry!)

This weekend I spent four days floating down the Wild and Scenic Rogue River picking up trash, tires, and debris from the banks. The Rogue River Clean Up has been going on for 18 years now and a lot of folks in Oregon definitely appreciate the effort that goes into cleaning this beautiful river.

I’ll have some photos up as soon as I get them developed. (Yeah, the techie geek doesn’t have a digital camera.)

el jo

So beer is chametz, but that doesn’t mean I can’t drink. My wonderful girlfriend Natacia (who is a kick-ass drink mixer) concocted a tasty little something that is kosher for Pesach. She’s calling it a Dovdeván (Hebrew for ‘cherry’). And here’s how you put it together:

Get yourself an 8 oz. old-fashioned glass and fill it with ice (”on the rocks”, as they say)
Pour in 1 1/2 oz. of Slivovitz Plum Brandy and 1 1/2 oz. of Kirschwasser
Throw in a dash of bitters, a dash of grenadine, and a dash of lemon juice
Top it with cranberry juice and garnish with a slice of lemon and a maraschino cherry
Shout out “L’Chaim!” and enjoy!

(And like I said, it’s totally kosher for Pesach!)

الجوهرة

Attention all you flag-pin and cross-pin wearing prats out there. Bob Schieffer has got a little something something to say to all y’all:

Patriotism is no more about signs or pins than religion is about reminding others how pious we think we are. No, the proof in these puddings is not the signs that we wear, but how we act. Wouldn’t that also be a better way to judge our presidential candidates than by the jewelry they wear?

Ramen, brother!

el jo

Happy Passover, people!

I just got back from my first (technically second, but I actually engaged in stuff this time) seder, and it was fun stuff. I’ve celebrated other holidays like Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur (which usually falls on my birthday, what a drag), and Hanukkah, so it made sense to participate in a far more important holiday this year. (I should bally well celebrate! I was, after all, a first born son!)

But now I’ve committed myself to eight days of no grains, which means no beer! (Oy gavolt!) Meh, I’ll be fine.

In other news, I’m working on a new political comic in response to the bullshit debate on ABC last week. Keep an eye out for it in the next few days!

Anyway, Happy Pesach everybody!
el jo

Clinton Portrays Herself as a Pro-Gun Churchgoer (from the New York Times)
Holy crap? When did Hillary decide she was running on the Republican ticket?

Maybe I’m just a clueless, naïve fool who doesn’t know shit about politics, but it seems like the three contenders are running in, not two, but three parties. John McCain is clearly running on the “Crazy Old Motherfucker” ticket, Hillary is rapidly becoming an old-school Republican, and Barack Obama does actually kinda sorta resemble a Democrat.

I think this division between the Democratic contenders is a real boon for John McCain (sadly). Hillary seems to be completely oblivious to the words that are falling out of her mouth. Is she like Joe Lieberman in that she forgot she’s supposed to be a Dem? (At least Joe finally dropped the charade by running as an Independent.)

The Republican Party has already demonstrated through its distance from Bush that there’s more than one way to be a Republican. This presidential race has proven that obviously there’s more than one way to be a Democrat as well. So why are there still only two major parties? I think that has a lot to do with the binary mentality of most Americans:

Coke or Pepsi?
Macintosh or PC?
McDonald’s or Burger King?
Male or Female?
Rich or Poor?
White Hats or Black Hats?
With us or against us?
All or Nothing?

It seems to me that this binary thinking is pervasive in American thinking. Nevermind the fact that there are alternatives to the binary. (RC Cola, Linux, Arby’s, Middle Class, Men Without Hats, Patriotic Dissent, Something.)

I guess I just don’t get it. But I do feel that if we’re not careful in our thinking, Americans are going to wind up with four more years of Bush, er… McCain.

الجوهرة