Archive for November, 2007

Tomfoolishness

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007

Tom Lehrer Annotated Lyrics.

I have a copy of the book, “Too Many Songs by Tom Lehrer,” but that doesn’t have the annotations. I also got to see a performance of the musical, “Tomfoolery” sometime in the 80s. That was a lot of fun – it was staged in a commercial greenhouse, so there wasn’t a lot of stage area. About the only clear memory I have of it is the performance of “Smut” by one of the female cast members, who was dressed in a very “little-girl” dress and carrying a teddy bear during the song. I wouldn’t mind seeing it again.

That reminds me … I need to get my Tom Lehrer CD back from my daughter.

Antitrust, revisited

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007

I was disappointed in the ruling some years back in the Microsoft antitrust suit, and I haven’t been that impressed with what’s happened in the PC marketplace since the ruling. It looks as though I’m not the only one who thinks that way.

Assault and batteries

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007

Batteries are causing problems. Once again, laptop batteries are catching fire.

And, in other news, cellphone batteries may be lethal.

Laptops are more powerful than pen and paper and abacus, and I certainly wouldn’t want to give up my cellphone in the hopes that I could expect to find convenient phonebooths, but modern technology can come with an unexpected price.

I’m not sure about the car, but …

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007

Your Score: Doc Brown

133 Heart, 168 Genius, 119 Cool, 171 Excitability

Dr. Emmett L. “Doc” Brown – (Christopher Lloyd)
Back to the Future (1985)

You are Doc Brown, the consummate 80’s scientist. When inspiration strikes, you’re single-minded in the pursuit of scientific truth… even if it takes several decades and your entire fortune. You may be easily distracted, but you’re still able to form meaningful relationships with a select few. And, you’ve got a really awesome car.

“If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits eighty-eight miles per hour… you’re gonna see some serious shit.”

Other scientific possibilities:

Gary Wallace


Wyatt Donnelly


Peter Venkman


Jordan Cochran


Egon Spengler


Doc Brown


Newton Crosby


Paul Stephens


Ben Crandall


Wayne Szalinkski


Winston Zeddemore


Ben Jabituya


Lazlo Hollyfeld


Ray Stantz


Buckaroo Banzai


Chris Knight

Hmmm – I guess I’ve got to make some time to look at the style sheets for the site – the h1 tag is producing white text, which doesn’t work well on a white background.

Found at the Anarchangel, reached via a link at Jed’s.

Update: Just to be clear, the blank area above the picture has a headline that you can see if you select the text. It doesn’t tell you anything new, and the text is too large for the space, but it’s there if you want to see it.

This would certainly put me in the holiday mood

Tuesday, November 13th, 2007

After all, there’s nothing quite like having an Advent calendar that portrays a serial killer.

Someone thought this was a good idea

Tuesday, November 13th, 2007

Saturday, Marion and I went to the Denver Art Museum to see the exhibit of items from the Louvre. I found it fairly interesting. The museum itself was interesting, too. The exhibit was in the new building, which has one of those weird designs (no boxes for us, please, we’re cultured). It meant that even the rooms inside weren’t rectangular (which made for some interesting design decisions in the men’s room, among other locations).

I was disconcerted, though, by something I found in the museum’s store: The Marie Antoinette Action Figure (with Ejector Head Action!).

For Veteran’s Day

Sunday, November 11th, 2007

While I’ve been in the military, I’m not a milblogger. Others are, though, and this Veteran’s Day, I’ll just point to BlackFive’s “Someone You Should Know” archives. These are stories you’re not likely to have heard.

You sure that wasn’t a basketball game?

Sunday, November 11th, 2007

Navy played a football game in Denton against North Texas yesterday. The home team scored 62 points.

Navy won. Did both teams leave their defenses in the locker room?

Final score

Image from NavySports.Com

My sixteenth birthday was not this memorable

Friday, November 9th, 2007

Gaius points to a story from England about what can happen when a mother wants to make her son’s birthday memorable.

She hired someone in a gorilla suit to show up and embarrass her son during class by chasing him around the room. She even provided a camera to the teacher and requested film of the event.

Unfortunately for her (and this shows the dangers in delegation), she did not deal directly with a buffoon in a gorilla suit, and the individual who actually showed up in the classroom dressed and behaved somewhat differently:

But – thanks to what has been put down as a booking error – a female stripper turned up in place of the gorilla-suited man the unnamed mother had apparently asked for.

The stripper, who arrived on cue halfway through the lesson, first walked the birthday boy around the classroom on all fours.

Then, gyrating to the sounds of Britney Spears, she spanked him before stripping down to her bra and knickers and insisting the “naughty” schoolboy rub cream all over her body.

At that point, the teacher – who had not been told what the surprise would entail – called an immediate end to the show.

Why did the teacher let it go that far? Why didn’t the mother have to clear it with the school administration beforehand? Shouldn’t the entertainer have had to check in with the school’s office on entry?

Ah, well. Enough with the “I’m a responsible adult but there oughta be a law”-type questions. I’m both envious and horrified by this. Given how I was at sixteen, I’d probably have died of embarrassment or run away from home if something like this had happened.

Yesterday in History

Thursday, November 8th, 2007

Gaius noted yesterday that it was the anniversary of Galloping Gertie.