a keyboard, a second-grade education, and a powerful sense of entitlement
Captain Kangaroo died today. Thinking back to that show and that time brings back a ton of good memories. And no, Mr. Green Jeans was not Frank Zappa's dad.
Nekkid hiker guy reaches his journey's end. Man, it's cold in Scotland this time of year. He probably should've started up there in the summer and hiked south.
Had fun with the Birmingham Webloggers at the On Tap Entertainment and Beer Guzzling Complex last night. Unfortunately the non-disclosure agreement I was forced to sign prevents me from saying too much, and my pictures were confiscated before I was allowed to leave. I can tell you that we did have record attendance (without even counting the two people who were there that we didn't know were there). Beyond that, I can neither confirm nor deny any rumors that you might hear about burping contests, table dances, underwear swapping, or body shots.
Write it down, the Panthers are gonna win the Super Bowl. They are this year's team of destiny. I know it, the psychic beagles at Diversionz know it, Warren Sapp knows it. All it took was me moving out of Charlotte before the season started, dragging my little black cloud back to Alabammy.
Nothing good to post today, see you tonight at the On Tap in Lakeview. I hear Sheryl Crow's gonna be there.
Google not getting you the porn you need? Just Booble for it. Then say "Please God, help me cleanse the computer of viruses and evil photographs which disturb and ruin my work..., so that I shall be able to cleanse myself (of sin)".
Some poor saps are trying to bring canned haggis to the USA. What's a haggis, you ask? Well the Scottish tourism people would like for you to think it's this cute little animal that lives in the highlands. What it actually is is a sheep's stomach, filled with ground up sheep organs, oatmeal, and suet, then boiled. Even Scottish people try not to eat it too often, but if you insist, have some this Sunday night, which is Burns Night. How do I know all this Scottish stuff? Well, I lived there a couple of years, and my mother was a McEwen. Remember, if it's not Scottish, it's CRAP! Unless we're talking haggis, that stuff is crap too.
I reported last fall about the theft of the Half Life 2 code from Valve. Last week the FBI rounded up some programmers in California for questioning and confiscated their computers. Some people are now accusing Valve of lying about the theft as an excuse for missing the Christmas '03 release of HL2 (HL2 and Team Fortress 2 were both recognized in the 2003 Vaporware Awards). In a kind of related but not really article (CounterStrike is a Half Life mod), Firing Squad has a rant about what we already know, sniper rifles are for weenies.
Last night's searches:
"round me up a big butt nugget" - try using that in a sentence
"chicharrones carbs" - keep searching, pal, there aren't any there
"round me up a big butt nugget" - try using that in a sentence
"chicharrones carbs" - keep searching, pal, there aren't any there
Scottish police get extremely politically correct - "the word 'homosexual' should also be avoided because it is derogatory". I thought that was the word you were supposed to use. What are they gonna call them? Poofter? Fag? Nancy boy? It's gotten very confusing.
Ava's Man, Part One
I just finished reading Ava's Man by Rick Bragg. It's the story of Bragg's maternal grandparents, Charlie and Ava Bundrum, who raised a family while bouncing all over the Alabama-Georgia line during the 30's and 40's. I really enjoyed the book, primarily because so much of the stuff in it is familiar to me. I'm only a couple of years younger than Bragg, so our grandparents were part of the same generation. It was a different time back then, and this book takes us there with stories that run the gamut, from hilarious to heartbreaking.
Charlie supported his family by working as a roofer, traveling to wherever the work was. He supplemented this income by hunting, fishing, and cooking a little moonshine on the side. My father's father was a carpenter, and even though he didn't make any moonshine (that I know of), I know that he lived the way Charlie lived, doing backbreaking work all your life for just enough money to get by. Leaving nothing to your children but a few well-worn tools, and the character to move a few more rungs up the ladder when the prosperity of the 50's came along. The hard times of the Depression broke a lot of men, but it also created a lot of diamonds, forged in the flames of hardship and want. I'd like to think a little of what those men had was passed down to me, but I know it's been diluted by the years. Those lean times are just something in a history book to me. Ava's Man brought that time to life, and made it seem more real. Rick, on the off chance that you ever read this, I want to buy you a drink (or a steak) next time you're in Birmingham.
I just finished reading Ava's Man by Rick Bragg. It's the story of Bragg's maternal grandparents, Charlie and Ava Bundrum, who raised a family while bouncing all over the Alabama-Georgia line during the 30's and 40's. I really enjoyed the book, primarily because so much of the stuff in it is familiar to me. I'm only a couple of years younger than Bragg, so our grandparents were part of the same generation. It was a different time back then, and this book takes us there with stories that run the gamut, from hilarious to heartbreaking.
Charlie supported his family by working as a roofer, traveling to wherever the work was. He supplemented this income by hunting, fishing, and cooking a little moonshine on the side. My father's father was a carpenter, and even though he didn't make any moonshine (that I know of), I know that he lived the way Charlie lived, doing backbreaking work all your life for just enough money to get by. Leaving nothing to your children but a few well-worn tools, and the character to move a few more rungs up the ladder when the prosperity of the 50's came along. The hard times of the Depression broke a lot of men, but it also created a lot of diamonds, forged in the flames of hardship and want. I'd like to think a little of what those men had was passed down to me, but I know it's been diluted by the years. Those lean times are just something in a history book to me. Ava's Man brought that time to life, and made it seem more real. Rick, on the off chance that you ever read this, I want to buy you a drink (or a steak) next time you're in Birmingham.
