click image for readable type
A disconcerting thing to hear echoing through your neighbors open window in the wee hours.
Friday, August 31, 2007
True Stories
click image for readable type
A disconcerting thing to hear echoing through your neighbors open window in the wee hours.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Headline of the Month
Church Deacon tears scrotum off fan of rival football team.
Looks like someone is a big fan of Ivan's blog!
Looks like someone is a big fan of Ivan's blog!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
cover blurb of the week
Latter-day Ross Macdonald books in the Lew Archer series sport this classy (and accurate, aside from the limitation 'American') quote from the NYT:
The finest series of detective novels ever written by an American.
Today a batch of older printings showed up, including a copy of The Wycherly Woman from the late 60's wearing this beauty like a crown:
Lew Archer- The Hardest of the Hard Boiled Dicks
Say now!
The finest series of detective novels ever written by an American.
Today a batch of older printings showed up, including a copy of The Wycherly Woman from the late 60's wearing this beauty like a crown:
Lew Archer- The Hardest of the Hard Boiled Dicks
Say now!
Amsterdam Bicycle Culture
Clicky Clicky.
The whole country is flat as a pancake, very conducive to cycling.
We got lost a few times navigating between towns before figuring out the green lines on the map were bike paths, not roads.
And in Amsterdam proper you have to watch it.
Except for the cheery, ubiquitous ding ding ding of bike bells, they make no sound as they swarm along the cobblestones, and the locals aren't especially patient with gawking Americans wandering into traffic.
The train stations all have these tiny little lots for cars in one corner but acres of bike parking.
And speaking of Europe, I did a gigantic double-take yesterday when I saw a lime green Smart Car tooling through downtown.
NICE!
The whole country is flat as a pancake, very conducive to cycling.
We got lost a few times navigating between towns before figuring out the green lines on the map were bike paths, not roads.
And in Amsterdam proper you have to watch it.
Except for the cheery, ubiquitous ding ding ding of bike bells, they make no sound as they swarm along the cobblestones, and the locals aren't especially patient with gawking Americans wandering into traffic.
The train stations all have these tiny little lots for cars in one corner but acres of bike parking.
And speaking of Europe, I did a gigantic double-take yesterday when I saw a lime green Smart Car tooling through downtown.
NICE!
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Tales of the Bookstore
Baxblog's dedication to bringing readers the very latest in navel-gazing self absorption is legendary, even in hell.
In today's experiment we investigate the efficacy of visual methods in the quest for ever deeper strata of belly lint.
I present Tales of the Bookstore.
click image for readable type
In today's experiment we investigate the efficacy of visual methods in the quest for ever deeper strata of belly lint.
I present Tales of the Bookstore.
click image for readable type
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
query
Do fat, smelly, mentally ill people wait until the thermostat tops 80 before doing their shopping, or do they just not stink at lesser temperatures?
Monday, August 20, 2007
Public Service Announcement: documentaries
The complete Russ McElwee is now available on DVD.
Sherman's March & Time Indefinite are both top ten on my all-time list.
In March he sets out to make a film about Sherman's March (go figure), but instead ends up wandering the south, getting into relationships with a variety of more or less neurotic women and filming the results.
If he were a less interesting filmmaker, it wouldn't amount to much more than the sort of videodiary wanking we've been conditioned to expect from 'reality' tv. But he's more trenchant observer of the human condition than navel-gazing postgrad slacker, making March one of the most involving personal documentaries around.
Time Indefinite is, astonishingly, even better. It lays a strong claim to the descriptor Best Documentary Nobody's Seen. It successfully marries the quirky insight that made March great with a deeper understanding of the human condition.
A brilliant film. When I'm dictator it will be required viewing.
The others I haven't seen yet, but I've no reason to worry they'll be anything less than compelling.
Sherman's March & Time Indefinite are both top ten on my all-time list.
In March he sets out to make a film about Sherman's March (go figure), but instead ends up wandering the south, getting into relationships with a variety of more or less neurotic women and filming the results.
If he were a less interesting filmmaker, it wouldn't amount to much more than the sort of videodiary wanking we've been conditioned to expect from 'reality' tv. But he's more trenchant observer of the human condition than navel-gazing postgrad slacker, making March one of the most involving personal documentaries around.
Time Indefinite is, astonishingly, even better. It lays a strong claim to the descriptor Best Documentary Nobody's Seen. It successfully marries the quirky insight that made March great with a deeper understanding of the human condition.
A brilliant film. When I'm dictator it will be required viewing.
The others I haven't seen yet, but I've no reason to worry they'll be anything less than compelling.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
keywords
some recent Google searches that led dewy-eyed innocents all unaware into this temple of vice:
08/16/07 13:11:51
bearforce 1 (Google)
08/16/07 08:12:01
housefly-powered plane (Google)
08/15/07 16:59:35
"the thing" John carpenter (Google)
08/14/07 20:09:02
hannibal leckter cover (Google)
08/12/07 02:41:53
"manga sound effect dictionary" (Google)
08/10/07 14:12:22
What does Aly Machaca use in her hair? (Google)
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Thanks Burl!
Kudos to my sis-in-law for picking us up a bottle of fabulous artisan olive oil from these cats.
For cooking, I'm happy with the quarts of Santini at TJ's, but for making salad dressing, drizzling or dipping the good stuff makes a vast difference.
For cooking, I'm happy with the quarts of Santini at TJ's, but for making salad dressing, drizzling or dipping the good stuff makes a vast difference.
the problem with the media
They never say shit until they're out the door.
Summary:
"When I was editor & had vast influence over the message of my magazine, I was a big enthusiastic supporter of a major advertiser. Now that I'm quitting, I suddenly have a lot of problems with their big product."
And they wonder why nobody trusts them.
Summary:
"When I was editor & had vast influence over the message of my magazine, I was a big enthusiastic supporter of a major advertiser. Now that I'm quitting, I suddenly have a lot of problems with their big product."
And they wonder why nobody trusts them.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
New Russian Holiday
the Day of Conception.
The hope is for a brood of babies exactly nine months later on Russia's national day. Couples who "give birth to a patriot" during the June 12 festivities win money, cars, refrigerators and other prizes.
Holland's answer to the Village People
Bearforce 1 in the hauze!
/edit
commenter Big One notes that the Bearforce hails from Holland, not Norway.
Baxblog regrets the error.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
customer quotes
a lad of 6 years or so:
mommy can I tell you something? We have to go now, because I'm reallyreally hungry!
Monday, August 13, 2007
Engrish Limosine
All hail Great Wall Motor Company!
I'll take mine in Fashionable Orange, please.
It is the first luxurious guest motor model leading fashion and personality tide and combining brilliance and luxury, prestige and tolerance. Its boundless outline shocks everyone whoever sees it.
I'll take mine in Fashionable Orange, please.
Mr T: Greatest Living American?
offered for your consideration:
(stolen from DT, Baxblog's ambassador to Austrailia)
(stolen from DT, Baxblog's ambassador to Austrailia)
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Saturday, August 11, 2007
nephew heroes
a couple of Alec's creations from last night:
Bad Guy Controller
His superpower is being able to break glass without getting cut.
The only way to defeat him is by hitting him on the chin with your fist.
Doctor Foe
He can sense you without seeing you, and gained his amazing but unspecified powers when a needle he stuck in his hand to pop a blister was struck by lightning.
/edit
page one result on google for "bad guy controller"
Bad Guy Controller
His superpower is being able to break glass without getting cut.
The only way to defeat him is by hitting him on the chin with your fist.
Doctor Foe
He can sense you without seeing you, and gained his amazing but unspecified powers when a needle he stuck in his hand to pop a blister was struck by lightning.
/edit
page one result on google for "bad guy controller"
How to Reboot your iPod
My most popular feature!
current models:
Toggle the Hold switch.
Hold down the Menu & the center wheel button until the Apple logo appears.
Enjoy!
I've had a double handful of emergency iPod calls in the last few months.
Somehow, I've become the go-to guy for roadtrip iPod disasters.
I wonder if Steve Jobs has this problem?
current models:
Toggle the Hold switch.
Hold down the Menu & the center wheel button until the Apple logo appears.
Enjoy!
I've had a double handful of emergency iPod calls in the last few months.
Somehow, I've become the go-to guy for roadtrip iPod disasters.
I wonder if Steve Jobs has this problem?
Fruits of Geekhood
My broad & deep knowledge of silver age superhero comics has become, at long last, something besides a Scarlet Letter setting me apart from polite society.
My nephew Alec is recently obsessed with classic Spider Man comics & was a bottomless well of questions on his menagerie of enemies (Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, the Vulture, the Ringmaster & his Circus of Crime)& the classic Marvel standbys who populated his early adventures (Iron Man, the X-Men, Daredevil, The Hulk). I was happy to play Watcher, providing answers to all of his questions about powers, origins and motivations.
It was also interesting for me, because as a child I absolutely hated Spidey co-creator Steve Ditko's art. But like that other titan of modern comics Jack Kirby, I find my advancing age & disintegrating industry standards make him look better all the time.
Alec is a combination of brilliance & mania that in an adult would have you questioning whether he was madman or genius, Rasputin or Einstein.
But at seven years old, it's just a boy being a boy.
My educational efforts were amply rewarded by the wife's cousin, Helen, who's idea of throwing a meal together at the last minute is a big pile of perfectly marinated & grilled flank steak complimented with a salad of baby spinach & a basket of giant, fluffy biscuits.
And for desert?
Chocolate/chocolate chip bundt cake from scratch.
WINNAR.
My nephew Alec is recently obsessed with classic Spider Man comics & was a bottomless well of questions on his menagerie of enemies (Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, the Vulture, the Ringmaster & his Circus of Crime)& the classic Marvel standbys who populated his early adventures (Iron Man, the X-Men, Daredevil, The Hulk). I was happy to play Watcher, providing answers to all of his questions about powers, origins and motivations.
It was also interesting for me, because as a child I absolutely hated Spidey co-creator Steve Ditko's art. But like that other titan of modern comics Jack Kirby, I find my advancing age & disintegrating industry standards make him look better all the time.
Alec is a combination of brilliance & mania that in an adult would have you questioning whether he was madman or genius, Rasputin or Einstein.
But at seven years old, it's just a boy being a boy.
My educational efforts were amply rewarded by the wife's cousin, Helen, who's idea of throwing a meal together at the last minute is a big pile of perfectly marinated & grilled flank steak complimented with a salad of baby spinach & a basket of giant, fluffy biscuits.
And for desert?
Chocolate/chocolate chip bundt cake from scratch.
WINNAR.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
new Wes Anderson
clicky clicky.
Looks promising. Opening up his vistas, being a little less insular while keeping his quirky perspective. Looking forward to it.
Looks promising. Opening up his vistas, being a little less insular while keeping his quirky perspective. Looking forward to it.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Musical Interlude: Neko Case
The best voice on earth.
Was lucky enough to see her in a small local club with Calexico backing a few years back, and her vocals blew your hair back while making it stand on end.
Was lucky enough to see her in a small local club with Calexico backing a few years back, and her vocals blew your hair back while making it stand on end.
Musical Interlude: White Stripes
The penultimate Stripes tune, doing what they do best- mutating the blues & rocking the hell out of it better than anyone since Zeppelin.
The version off this Peel Session I tracked down a few years ago cemented their place in my affections. It's one of the greatest things ever recorded.
This take isn't quite on that plane, but it's within shouting distance.
The version off this Peel Session I tracked down a few years ago cemented their place in my affections. It's one of the greatest things ever recorded.
This take isn't quite on that plane, but it's within shouting distance.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Gin: The Drink of Science
A pocket history of the Queen's Tears.
I'm making the drink of science (with thomas dolby reverb) my war cry.
I'm making the drink of science (with thomas dolby reverb) my war cry.
bevmo update
They may be the ass and they may carry dick, and that dick may be expensive & reek of the homunculus's taint as outlined by the brother in law last week....but they do sport an impressively stuffed codpiece of gin.
You can imagine what a powerful lure this is for a man who scorns all lesser forms of alcohol.
I fear I must investigate further.
while on the topic of gin, let us revisit a post from yesteryear.
As true now as the day it was written.
one slight tweak:
Unless I'm using 'the good stuff' I like a lot of citrus.
A full 1/8th of a lime is recommended when using sub-premium gins.
You can imagine what a powerful lure this is for a man who scorns all lesser forms of alcohol.
I fear I must investigate further.
while on the topic of gin, let us revisit a post from yesteryear.
As true now as the day it was written.
one slight tweak:
Unless I'm using 'the good stuff' I like a lot of citrus.
A full 1/8th of a lime is recommended when using sub-premium gins.
thoughts
There's either two sane guys checking out the sale cart, or one crazy one.
/edit
one crazy guy.
I R Ceiling Cat
35% Affectionate, 33% Excitable, 46% Hungry
You are a master of stealth. They never see you coming. But you always see them coming. HEY-O!
Eerily accurate, as such things go.
Which LOLcat are you?
Monday, August 6, 2007
Books of the Day
Hound-Dog Man by Fred Gipson
&
Lament for Four Virgins by Lael Tucker
quoth the Montgomery Advertiser (which deserves a gold medal for Truth in Newspaper Naming).
/edit
late contender:
A Rogue for Christmas by Kate Huntington
(just in case you were in doubt about the meaning of package)
The story of a foot-loose woodsman, and a boy who found glory when a bugle-tongued pup found him
&
Lament for Four Virgins by Lael Tucker
"...a DARING NOVEL OF A SMALL SOUTHERN TOWN...an exceedingly frank story that in some situations leaves nothing to the imagination."
quoth the Montgomery Advertiser (which deserves a gold medal for Truth in Newspaper Naming).
/edit
late contender:
A Rogue for Christmas by Kate Huntington
Sometimes the holiday's best gifts come in unexpected packages...
(just in case you were in doubt about the meaning of package)
dinner with the niece
Last night saw the return of a game I thought she'd totally forgotten, roll across the bed and get stuck so I can save you. It was an endless fascination when she was about 2 1/2.
I thought she'd forgotten it like an even earlier classic, sit in the recliner while I push the footrest up and down for 20 minutes. That one eventually accumulated so much baroque filigree (push down the footrest, climb over my lap onto the back of the chair, pretend it was the beach and jump into the 'water', swim around to the couch/desert island & rescue the starfish princess) it collapsed under it's own weight and fell out of the rotation.
She would always introduce the subject by asking if you wanted to hear a secret, then leaning over, cupping her hand around her mouth and whispering "I roll you and you get stuck!"
She's still a little shaky on the whole 'secret' thing.
She'll confide secrets like "how about you get me some ice cream!" and "let's go to the big cafe!"
After the rolling she improvised another one that had us howling.
The wife was reading her a book, but the Fiend kept demanding that we look at her yoga postures, which were accompanied by insane faces and protrusions of the tongue.
So we'd laugh, and she'd immediately demand "keep reading!"
After a couple of minutes, she'd say "ok look at me!" and kill us again with some new pose/face combination.
As usual with her games, the pace increased as she got more comfortable with it.
Eventually she reached the tempo "keep reading OK look at me! keep reading OK look at me! keep reading OK look at me!"
When we'd finally been reduced to writhing on the bed like beached fish gasping for air, she stood up, put her hands on her hips and administered her coup de grace; declaring
"That's what I'm talkin' about!"
I think I pulled something in my ribcage.
I thought she'd forgotten it like an even earlier classic, sit in the recliner while I push the footrest up and down for 20 minutes. That one eventually accumulated so much baroque filigree (push down the footrest, climb over my lap onto the back of the chair, pretend it was the beach and jump into the 'water', swim around to the couch/desert island & rescue the starfish princess) it collapsed under it's own weight and fell out of the rotation.
She would always introduce the subject by asking if you wanted to hear a secret, then leaning over, cupping her hand around her mouth and whispering "I roll you and you get stuck!"
She's still a little shaky on the whole 'secret' thing.
She'll confide secrets like "how about you get me some ice cream!" and "let's go to the big cafe!"
After the rolling she improvised another one that had us howling.
The wife was reading her a book, but the Fiend kept demanding that we look at her yoga postures, which were accompanied by insane faces and protrusions of the tongue.
So we'd laugh, and she'd immediately demand "keep reading!"
After a couple of minutes, she'd say "ok look at me!" and kill us again with some new pose/face combination.
As usual with her games, the pace increased as she got more comfortable with it.
Eventually she reached the tempo "keep reading OK look at me! keep reading OK look at me! keep reading OK look at me!"
When we'd finally been reduced to writhing on the bed like beached fish gasping for air, she stood up, put her hands on her hips and administered her coup de grace; declaring
"That's what I'm talkin' about!"
I think I pulled something in my ribcage.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
welcome to the mOOn
Through an odd set of coincidences I've run across several members of my original e-posse, the regulars of the prehistorically & preternaturally brilliant Dark Side of the mOOn BBS*.
A hearty Baxblog welcome to Mal, Twain, Gern, Bos, Rosty, Moorlock & whoever else drifts through the pourous, Rothko-esque border between LJ and Blogger.
*for our younger readers
BBS's are how neanderthals got on-line before Al Gore invented the internet
A hearty Baxblog welcome to Mal, Twain, Gern, Bos, Rosty, Moorlock & whoever else drifts through the pourous, Rothko-esque border between LJ and Blogger.
*for our younger readers
BBS's are how neanderthals got on-line before Al Gore invented the internet
MULE LIBRARY
clicky clicky.
Nice!
....these mules are rather special.
They are known as bibliomulas (book mules) and they are helping to spread the benefits of reading to people who are isolated from much of the world around them.
Nice!
Saturday, August 4, 2007
exchange rates
I can tell the dollar is in the toilet because today's endless parade of tourists from the UK are are throwing cash around like confetti at a victory parade.
A stately older gentleman inquired about the price of a title on the Arts & Crafts movement in California & replied to my answer with "eminently reasonable...I'll take that one.".
Which is a far cry from the usual run of customer interactions, po-faced ejaculations like is this a library? and that perennial classic where's the nonfiction section!?
Also, it's an excellent excuse to pimp Black Books, the greatest comedy series of all time (and not just because it stars a misanthropic used book dealer).
A stately older gentleman inquired about the price of a title on the Arts & Crafts movement in California & replied to my answer with "eminently reasonable...I'll take that one.".
Which is a far cry from the usual run of customer interactions, po-faced ejaculations like is this a library? and that perennial classic where's the nonfiction section!?
Also, it's an excellent excuse to pimp Black Books, the greatest comedy series of all time (and not just because it stars a misanthropic used book dealer).
high tech marital stress
clicky clicky.
Avoiding all this nonsense is one upside of marrying a confirmed Luddite.
Although she has started checking her email regularly....hmmmmm.
Avoiding all this nonsense is one upside of marrying a confirmed Luddite.
Although she has started checking her email regularly....hmmmmm.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Bust
A few years back brother in law spotted a world famous sculptor of miniatures at the bookstore and struck up a conversation.
Cut to the present, and see where it lead..
(lead..get it? awww, never mind.)
Cut to the present, and see where it lead..
(lead..get it? awww, never mind.)
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
DRIVE IN MOVIE
Saw Transformers at the drive in.
Pretty good, thanks mainly to a spot-on script that played off the tension between the overheated on-screen seriousness & the film's ridiculous premise very well. It also had excellent dialog, which goes a long way in a silly action movie.
Watched a little less than half of the second feature Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix. Overheated claptrap with none of the charm of the first few installments- I started falling asleep & we went home.
But it gives me the opportunity to mention Devra & Tina seeing Daniel Radcliffe's w33n in a London production of Equus.
Woah, Nellie!
Pretty good, thanks mainly to a spot-on script that played off the tension between the overheated on-screen seriousness & the film's ridiculous premise very well. It also had excellent dialog, which goes a long way in a silly action movie.
Watched a little less than half of the second feature Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix. Overheated claptrap with none of the charm of the first few installments- I started falling asleep & we went home.
But it gives me the opportunity to mention Devra & Tina seeing Daniel Radcliffe's w33n in a London production of Equus.
Woah, Nellie!
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