Neocon Redemption?

Guess whose favorite former White House doughboy spokesman wrote a scathing book about his time bullshitting for the Bush administration? If you guessed Scott McClellan, you'd be correct! Word broke that he's releasing a book titled What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and What's Wrong with Washington, and in it he's as nasty as he wants to be (and we all know how nasty those Republicans can be!). From the fodder I've been reading, he really comes down on Bush's bullshit reasoning for the war in Iraq and Bush's bullshit reaction to Hurricane Katrina.

As cool as all that sounds, a big part of me thinks, "a little late, homeskillet!" He had a lot of time to call shenanigans on Bush's dirty deeds, but instead he played the dummy spokesman, misleading the American people. Guess what, Scott? You're still going to Hell (and your little dog too!).

See you there.

"I think the difference with McClellan's book is he's now telling us something we all know -- that the war with Iraq was a disastrous war [and] was sold with deception. It's a little different when you say something as I did and a few other people did four or five years ago, when the war was popular and when we were unpopular for saying what we said."
- Richard Clarke, former White House counterterrorism chief (Clarke left government in 2003)

What Does It Take?

I just rediscovered this on the radio down here this past weekend and thought I'd share. Might be one of the most beautiful tunes I've ever heard.

Embarrasing Parents=Kids With Tongue Rings

I was watching one of my favorite tv shows, MTV's documentary show True Life, and this particular episode was about "Embarrassing Parents." As you can imagine, the parents were nothing short of ridiculous. One poor girls parents were professional clowns and would show up with their clown friends at her parties to embarrass her. Another poor girls mother was a full-fledged "hootchy momma." Her mother would try to dress like Britney Spears, showing off her twice done boob job, platinum blond hair, and washboard abs to anyone who would bother to give her the attention. Mother tells her early adolescent child that she's just expressing herself. By the end of the show, the child responds to her mother that she would like to express herself with a tongue ring. Could you believe mother wasn't happy?

Why do people get tongue rings? Chris Rock will tell you 2:30 into this video.

"Nice Pants"

Photo courtesy of Becky H. "Meat-morial 2008"

Ze Russians

"Attitude Adjustment" is what is displayed on the awning in the bar below my apartment. In which direction will my attitude get adjusted? If I go in happy does that mean I will be threatened by a bunch of Russians looking to "adjust" my attitude? Does this place look shady to you? Does it seem like a place where you can drink 101 different flavors of infused vodka? Does it look like a place where Russians cut peoples' finger tips off? Perhaps a game of roulette?

My girlfriend has warned me not to blog anything negative about the bar (out of fear of the unknown), so honestly, I'm just asking questions.

If I ever go there, I'll report back.

UPDATE: My Russian related suspicions are 95% related to the new Indiana Jones movie.

Muxtape Madness

"Oh no you just di'int!"

"Yes, I just di!"

Another mouthwatering muxtape! Let me know if you have any questions.


New nails sound more appropriate on the dance floor than it does in hell.
Why do we care?
Don't look forward and expect happiness
New York rockers make their impression felt:
First up is the female poet
Next up is the Entourage
And then it all burns down.
Finally some new kids arrive
We haven't left the club, have we?
Do you party? "Yah, mon!"
The Walrus was Paul (unless it wasn't).
3-day-sleep-it-away in anger, I heard ya say
To the point it becomes a diamond.

John Safran VS God

I'm back! Time Warner Cable Guy actually came today, so I now have internet at home and no one has to die (whew!).

A couple months ago, an old roommate of mine discovered the tv show John Safran VS God on the Sundance Channel. They were re-airing an 8 part television documentary from Australia made in 2004. Throughout the series our hero, John Safran, takes an "irreverent look at world religions and theology in general... both informative and entertaining, without being outright offensive." He's kinda like an Aussie version of Bill Maher mixed with Tom Green.

In the seven minute clip below, John confesses to a priest in Sicily for dirty deeds he committed years earlier while filming for a travel show. I figured most of you have never heard of this series, but it's definitely worth checking out.

In The Mornin' Dont Say You Love Me

I think sometimes in life we loose sight of how truly fucking awesome Rod Stewart is.

Sports In Plain Site

And now for the sports report:

*Anthony Miles spears ex-marine at state track meet
*George W. Bush caught playing dirty
*Interested in competitive sports? Jump off your segway and sign up
*Nick Adenhart, a friend and Williamsport High School alumnus, has started three games pitching for the L. A. Angels so far this season

Banner Change

Hey, Pigs! I asked NathanaelMcDaniel to provide me with a new Banner pic for the site, to keep things funky fresh, and the dude abided. I think it looks great!

I still don't have internet at home, that's why I haven't been posting lately. I should have it by Saturday (or someone at Time Warner Cable will die).

Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends

Yeltsin, Edwards, Bush conducting a band, Castro, Tony Blair playing guitar? After watching this I'm even more excited about this record than I was before.

Thoughts on a City

I recently visited some old Swags in New York City on a rainy Friday night. The air was cool and calm as it collected and quickly dissipated my Maryland aura. There was no time to adjust to the new surroundings; if you tried to, you would miss everything. Searching for shelter, we stumbled into the historic St. Nick’s pub on 149th Street around midnight where live jazz music perpetuates in the heart of Harlem.

Once inside, the vibe was incredible and certainly tangible. The people were lively and ever shifting and smiling. The band began to play. The cymbals sizzled and the double bass pulsed. The piano player fingered those familiar walking staccato jazz chords. A saucy chanteuse emerged scatting in front of the band while her path from the bar to the stage was slowly overtaken by the crowd. This woman was not afraid to look her audience in the eye individually for extended moments. Alas, her eyes caught mine and we exchanged a lengthy stare. The intense surreality of that moment shattered my inner capacity and I looked away. She had somehow jumped onto my page and dog-eared it. It was a moment that approached the supernatural.

These moments occur to me periodically while viewing art, listening to music, and when enjoying earthly enhancers. It is a peak into the possibility of something else beyond our five senses, a crack between worlds.

The following afternoon we stood over a central stone in Strawberry Fields adjacent to the Dakota Hotel, that read the word, IMAGINE. One can only do just that while sitting on the surrounding park benches. The word conjures up a thousand thoughts. The memorial is moving and extremely effective. Even with cameras and kids, the scene around the stone is quiet and respectful. That one word has more meaning then a novel of words.

Our imaginations have always been a tool for invention. Many things we have conceived or predicted have indeed happened. We have also imagined divine worlds, peoples, and events. Does the divine supernatural exist? Maybe, but the kind of supernatural I’m talking about is beyond that. It is beyond the heavens, existing within a planet that we need to take charge of by taking care of. You got it.

Manny Being Manny

My new favorite catch ever. Manny Ramirez, over the shoulder, at the warning track, spots the Red Sox fan, off the wall, high five, lands, turns, hits the cut off man, then doubles the runner up at first. How I love planet ManRam

New Book, New News, More Angles, same ol' Dylan

Check out this interview, real sweet lady and iconic if you've heard Freewheelin' or seen Vanilla Sky.

Interview

Orioles Magic

I will admit, I am a little jealous Cleveland has not put together a video like this. We still have the most racist logo in baseball though, you can't take that away from us.

The Pres Just Crossed the Line

So you know how in life there are various lines that you aren't supposed to cross...well Commandante George Bush just leapfrogged that line. At a speech in Jerusalem in front of their Parliament, the day after their 60th anniversary, President Bush just said "Some seem to believe we should negotiate with the terrorist and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American Senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."

Our President has gone from being a failure, to being a disappointment, to now being a disgrace. To go to Israel, in their capital, in front of their elected leaders, and accuse Barack Obama of wanting to "appease" Iran and then to invoke the memory of the holocaust. This from the man who is responsible for the biggest foreign policy blunder in a generation? This from the man whose own defense secretary stated in the Washington Post today that he wants to sit down and negotiate with Iran? This from the man who said recently that as a sacrifice to the soldiers he gave up playing golf?

I'm famous!

By Spencer Stottlemyer | Staff Photographer

PUPPET NEWS ROUND-UP ACTION NEWS FLASH

This is the first installment of what will become a regular feature of Putting Things in Plain Site: PUPPET NEWS ROUND-UP. This is where I'll bring you the freshest, crunkest, puppetest headlines from around the 'Net.

First up -- Everyone's second favorite puppet clan, The Fraggles, will be coming soon to a big screen near you! That's right! The Weinstein Co. will turn the Jim Henson series "Fraggle Rock" into a live-action musical feature. I can't wait to hear songs about RADISHES, THE GREAT HEAP, DOZERS and RADISHES. I bet you can't either!

OK, so I guess that's really all the puppet news out there today. See you tomorrow when I'll be back after hopefully reading a news story about a puppet, or something that sort of tangentially relates to a puppet or puppeteering or marionettes or even has a little to do with something kind of puppety like nut-crackers or sock monkeys. Til then, here's one of my favorite puppets, Kermit T. Frog singing one of my favorite suicide songs, Elliot Smith's "Needle in the Hay". Play us out, Kermie.

Aint That a Shame

Sad news on the news....just heard Bob Herbert of the New York Times on Morning Joe saying that if you only have a high school diploma in this country that it's "virtually impossible" that you will ever own a home. Also our generation makes on average 5,000 dollars less than our parents generation did. Over the last couple decades it's just that so much of the emphasis on the economy has been put on trickle down economics. I mean I love business owners, don't get me wrong, but the tax policies, the loopholes, and the breaks that have been put in by Republicans and conservatives have been designed to help small business and corporations overwhelmingly. And their excuse is that 'well you have to help the businesses because they create the jobs' and they expect that if you give the money to the folks at the top that they'll pass it on down the line. Now I will admit, there are great business owners in the world who take the tax breaks they are given and reinvest that money back into not only their business but their people, and then those people invest money back into the economy, and everything works out swimmingly. But the problem is that the vast majority don't do that, they invest that money into their own pockets and let the working man or woman flounder. And then when the working man or woman asks for a little help they get scolded and accused of asking for a handout. As Fats Domino once said, Aint that a shame.

So Cool

I always think of you guys when I write something at work. Here's my most recent nod:

The Storque