Saturday, April 28, 2007

Manual Gaming Gone Wild

Rock, paper, scissors? You ain't seen nuthin' yet. I'm not at all familiar with Lovecraft, but seriously, how does this not sound fun?

From the RPS-101 Outcome Guide: Chainsaw DICES Turnip, Turnip STAINS Cup, Cup HOLDS Beer, Beer AFFECTS Chainsaw USE. Wow.

Delightfully nerdy. (Would 'Mesh prove to be the champion of this game, too?)

Monday, April 16, 2007

Not a Popularity Contest

This is a refreshingly realistic observation:
I am somewhat pleased by the fact that very few of the frontrunners in either party are particularly likeable. We have had 7 elections in a row in which we were supposed to
care about how much we "liked" the candidates [...]

[...]

We're not electing a dad or a mom or a best friend. We're electing someone who is supposed to: show up on time and sober every day, even when he's on vacation; work his (or her) tail off; juggle an enormous amount of responsibility; use good judgment with little information or time to respond; appoint reasonably competent people
to wield enormous (and sometimes lifetime) power; engage in hardball political negotiations with a sometimes-hostile and sometimes-stupid Congress.


I want a competent President who uses his head and who, at least occasionally, sees things "my way". I don't care if he or she is a jerk.

Quite so. We're electing a President, not a Prom King.

Quizzie Time: L.M. Montgomery

Way to make my morning!
TT Ben

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Reflections

What's in a compliment?

I don't mean a throwaway "Cute shoes!" or an "I love that dress!" but rather a real, substanative compliment, one you will never forget and will always strive to fulfill because it concerns a trait or goal you value most highly. Though the speaker probably didn't know it would strike you so deeply, it did... And you gathered it into your head and heart so that you might try to incorporate it in order to one day be more deserving. In nearly twenty six years, I can think of exactly two--which is probably as it ought to be, else one's head should be sorely swelled.

Funny things, words.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Where I wanna be...

Springtime in Princeton. Funny how just a picture can bring back all the emotions associated with this time of year there...for Yours Truly, it was always intensely bittersweet. It still is...and being unable to go to Reunions this year doesn't help any. Next year, though, next year.

Thanks to TH.

Q: Who could possibly have predicted this?

A: Pretty much anyone with a pulse. See "Well I'll Be Darned -- Norks Ignore Deadline to Shut Down Nuke Plant." (Don't you just love Andy McCarthy?) As a friend once remarked, Kim Jong Il may be nuts, but he knows what he wants and is acting very rationally. Et voila... Some days ago--maybe it was last week?--C-SPAN2 had on a panel discussion regarding NK, and one of the panelists drily remarked that it would be very interesting if someone were to do the research to find an agreement of any kind, nuclear or otherwise, that NK had actually ever followed. Indeed it would.

Nor is it difficult to predict that Ahmadinejad & co. have been taking copious notes for quite some time. Whatever else they may be, naive and stupid they are not, particularly given their most recent success.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

SmorgasBorge

Happy April Fools', y'all!

Some year I'll remember to plan some sort of practical joke, but this year, it will have to be someone else's wit instead. A few days ago, I was noodling around YouTube, looking for Victor Borge clips to show El Novio, and I was pleasantly surprised to find several.

For your April Fools' amusement, some vintage Borge--comedy with a musical touch:

Hungarian Rhapsody

Two versions of "Phonetic Punctuation"

Czardas duet-duel

Intro (in Minneapolis) Parts 1 and 2

Warning: since this is comedy from a slightly different day and age, you may find it lacking in shock and offense. You may, however, laugh anyway.