SNAKES!

New Snakes on a Plane trailer.

Laundry cat blogging

I always wondered why it took three days to do laundry, but I'm starting to figure it out. I have too many helpers, is why. See, I do a load of laundry and dry it while I wash a second load (the Cold Wash). When the first load it done, I put it on the sofa while I put the SECOND load in the dryer, and when I go to actually FOLD the laundry, well...

It's so cute how they help out.

I try later.

... and yet later... ooh, now Nathan is getting pissed...

Eventually they move on. But of course by then I'm on to something else, so the laundry doesn't get folded that day. Which means the second load still languishs in the dryer, and the third load, if any, in the washer.

Oh well, they're cute.

Wagging the Sears Tower

Am I the only one who thinks the latest big coup in the War of Terrah is ... kind of pathetic? They swore an oath to Al Qaida? oooooooo!

I could swear an oath to Cthulhu (and I have, mwaaaahaaaaaah), but it's not clear to me how that threatens anyone.

UPDATE: Heh. From Josh Marshall: "It seems the new terrorist cell rolled up near Miami was in such preliminary stages of launching their jihad that they hadn't yet set aside time to become Muslims."

Kiss of Death

Ann Coulter says she admires Joe Lieberman. Jeez, Ann, what did he ever do to you?

Theft of Services

This is interesting:

A Vancouver, Wash. coffee shop tired of seeing a 20-year-old man mooch off their free wireless Internet access called the police, who charged him with "theft of services."

Brewed Awakenings employees dialed 911 after Alexander Eric Smith of Battle Ground, Wash. piggybacked off the shop's wireless Internet service for more than three months.

"He doesn't buy anything," Emily Pranger, the shop's manager, told KATU, a Portland, Ore. television station. "It's not right for him to come and use it."

...

County deputies charged Smith with theft of services after returning to the parking lot after they told him to stop. The crime, which covers such crimes as bypassing a utility meter, stealing cable, and leaving a restaurant without paying, has been used in the past to prosecute hackers who have accessed a computer or network without paying for it. "It's something that is borderline creepy," Pranger said to KATU.

Okay, not earth-shatteringly important, maybe, but I can relate. We have a group of mooching teens that come into our store, make a beeline for the cookies we have out for customers, nosh their fill and then leave. Hmmm... Theft of Services...

Hey, don't judge me by THOSE people

Heh. Bill O'Reilly tries to distance himself from his own viewers.

FOX NEWS emperor Bill O'Reilly polled his TV audience and asked if they approved or disapproved of Ann Coulter using personal attacks to make her point about some 9/11 widows. A whopping 73 percent said . . . yes, they approve. Even Bill, who is often disingenuous about his conservative leanings - "I'm an independent," he insists - seemed disconcerted over this result. But, as Bill often uses the words "nuts" and "insane" and the ever-popular and subversively scary "left-wing bomb throwers" to describe those with whom he does not agree, perhaps his fans think they are following his lead.

Bill himself has said he thought Coulter went way too far.

Suck it up, Bill. They're your own 'hideous progeny' (to quote Frankenstein in Mary Shelley's novel of the same name.

Headlines we're glad to see

More Pandas in China Than First Thought

Headlines we wish we'd never seen

Pam Anderson to pose naked in store window

Know your Sci-Fi

US transplant patients are increasingly looking to China as a source of healthy organs, available without a wait at a hefty price. CNN is reporting that these organs are taken from executed prisoners, often without consent, and reliable eyewitnesses suggest that the prisoners aren't always dead when their organs are harvested. LoveToKnow SciFi points out that this chain of events, in almost every detail, was predicted in Larry Niven's 1967 short story, Jigsaw Man.

Obligatory World Cup Post

If you're all in a tizzy over the World Cup right now, you might enjoy "The Cup", an engaging film from '99 about Tibetan Buddhist monks in exile in India determined to watch the World Cup finals in their monastery. Tagline: Buddhism is their philosophy. Soccer is their religion.

From IMDB:

While the soccer World Cup is being played in France, two young Tibetan refugees arrive at a monastery/boarding school in exile in India. Its atmosphere of serene contemplation is somewhat disrupted by soccer fever, the chief instigator being a young student, the soccer enthusiast Orgyen. Prevented by various circumstances from seeing the Cup finals on television in a nearby village, Orgyen sets out to organize the rental of a TV set for the monastery. The enterprise becomes a test of solidarity, resourcefulness and friendship for the students, while the Lama, head of the monastery, contemplates the challenges of teaching the word of Buddha in a rapidly changing world.

Filmed for under $700,000 in Bhutan, this film is Buddhist in feel as well as subject matter. Don't expect heart-pounding car-chases - this is a serene film.

Buy the DVD or VHS:

This is just cute.

3-Year-Old's Birthday Party Theme: 'NewsHour'

When a young St. Paul boy got to pick the theme for his third birthday party, he didn't pick Nemo or the Wiggles or Dora the Explorer. He didn't even pick his favorite sports team.

Henry Schally picked "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer".

His mother, Jennifer Schally, designed party hats complete with pictures of the PBS news program's regular contributors.

...

Henry clearly enjoys watching the program. When the anchor came on screen, he burst into a huge smile and yelled out, "Jim!"

Henry later noticed a change in the theme orchestration saying, "It's new music!"

When correspondent Kwame Holman started delivering his report, Henry yelled out "Kwame Holman!"

"He's really a normal kid," Jennifer Schally said. "I think beyond this, he's pretty fun-loving."

"Outside of 6 to 7 o'clock every weekday night, he's pretty normal," Troy Schally clarified.

Henry, my man, I so understand. I'm the same way about Anderson Cooper.

House of Cards starts to crumble

Delta to dump pension plans

Landslide long in coming, but finally here.

Gasp!

They so know me!

You Are The Empress

You represent the ideal female figure: beauty and nurturing. You bring security and harmony to many. At times, you are also a very sensual person. You are characterized by love, pleasure, and desire. Your fortune: You need to take some time to think about the role of commitment in your life. It's possible you need to commit more to others, or deal with how others have treated you. It is very important for you to support your friends and family right now, difficult as it may be. You may need to look at your relationship with your mother, or your relationships as a mother.

What Tarot Card Are You?

I know nothiiiinnng

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, left, and White House Counselor Dan Barlett, ride in a military helicopter wearing helmets and flak jackets for a trip from Baghdad International Airport to U.S. Embassy in the Greenzone.

Exploding heads

I can't be the only person who remembers the 'blipverts' episode on Max Headroom: Clear Channel Eyes One-Second Radio Spots

Werd, yo.

From Kevin Drum:

Talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations. The GOP barely won a congressional election in a district that's 60% Republican. After a year of looking, the White House finally persuaded someone to become Secretary of the Treasury. They killed a terrorist they could have killed three years ago if they'd wanted to. And Bush's top aide has "avoided criminal charges."

Next up: FEMA fails to screw up after Hurricane Alberto is downgraded to a tropical storm. Another triumph for the White House!

More national decorating

Shhh, don't tell the sisters, but I'm not a big god-believer. And if I were, I'm not sure I'd go so far as to trust a supernatural entity in charge of everything... that said, 'in god we trust' on coins is not an issue I'm going to be falling on a sword for.

But there's this guy... Some atheist sues over the phrase 'in God we trust' on coins, and the judge throws out the case, claiming that the phrase is more in the nature of a national motto and "is secular in nature and use".

So in effect, it's like honi soi qe mal e pense, or those Chinese symbols for 'tranquility' or 'harmony' that are stamped on purses for looks.

Is this a big 'victory' for the Religious Right? God downgraded to a secular bit of decor on coinage? When did our government get so big on decorating?

Heh.

TVNewser: When it comes to the subject of immigration, more Americans trust Lou Dobbs than President Bush, according to a survey by MWR Strategies.

Leadership Squabbles

Several blogs, including Americablog, are reporting that Rep. Murtha is going to be gunning for Steny Hoyer in the Dem Race for Majority Leader (which presumes a democratic house, of course.)

The Prairie Angel, reporting from her cloister, throws her considerable support behind Murtha. She's a Single Issue Voter and approves of his stand on the Cat Question.

♥ ♥ ♥ Fangurling ♥ ♥ ♥

The Prairie Angel was at Olsson's bookstore yesterday to hear her idol, Anderson Cooper, and get her book signed. Plenty of other people had the same idea.

Directly behind me was a lovely woman who remembered the tabloids going wild over the custody case over his mom. "Fortunately there's no gossip about this boy", she said. (I didn't. Say. A word.) The Angel's Eye View:

You'd think an angel could get a better seat, wouldn't you? Signing was in a room off the main bookstore, which we were herded into by number. I remembered my set speech - "you write beautifully and I hope this is only the first of many books" and got it out without stammering, fainting or quavering. I did this by avoiding eye contact until AFTER speaking. Gawd, the eyes...

This is the best photo I could get from the limits of photo-taking (you couldn't photograph in the signing room itself:

And here's a photo thru the glass from outside the store altogether:

Such a beautifully brought up young man - he shook hands with everyone.

Siiigh... so briefly met, so hastily parted, probably never to meet again. The Prairie Angel, her life's objectives met, will now retire to a cloister in France, but don't worry, she'll have wifi.

Decor

Okay, everyone's glad al Zarqawi is gone and all, and a little gloating is natural, but guys? The frame? Over The Top.

Even if you want to hang it on the wall, which I presume you do or why else frame it, dry-mounted on foamcore would be must more tasteful. Make a sandwich out of the foamcore, the 'art' and a piece of glass or plexi, held together by those invisible little clips. Much less faroche.

Or one of those 'floating frames' if you're going for dramatic effect.

Never seen numbers like this

Zogby:

The war in Iraq has become so unpopular that it could cost Republicans control of Congress, statehouses and governor races around the country, national pollster John Zogby said Friday.

He said 70% of voters believe the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction, adding, “I have never seen a number like that since I’ve been polling.”

...

Zogby said his boldest prediction is that Hurricane Katrina, which demolished much of the Gulf Coast in 2005, could be more of a defining moment for the U.S. than the 9-11 terrorist attacks because the storm showed that neither big federal government nor federalism – greater state powers – can cope with large-scale disasters.

Family Values

Personified.

Let's review. What do Phyllis Schlafly, Randall Terry, Sens. Arlen Specter and Richard Shelby, former Vice President Ford, and countless other prominent Republicans have in common with Dick and Lynne Cheney? They are parents of gay and lesbian children. And despite some high hopes for the Cheneys during Mary's recent book tour, they have all remained silent this month while their President and their party leadership deem their children unworthy of equality in their relationships.

It's so true

Your Ideal Pet is a Cat

You're both aloof, introverted, and moody. And your friends secretly wish that you were declawed!

What's Your Ideal Pet?

Do as I say, not as I do

Michelle Malkin, Anchor Baby.

Word, John

John Aravosis has a Way With Words: "We have no government. We have a tax-cutting war machine run by an incompetent moron."

It's THREAD!

From Popular Science:

Is It Raining Aliens?
Nearly 50 tons of mysterious red particles showered India in 2001. Now the race is on to figure out what the heck they are.

Stock up on firestone now!