Displaying comments 1 to 50 of 1505
MeFi post:
June 30th, June 30th
"Japan Minus Frogs"
For Guy de la Valdène
Looking casually
through my English–Japanese dictionary
I can't find the word frog.
It's not there.
Does that mean that Japan has no frogs?
Tokyo
June 4, 1976
====
I met Brautigan... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 5:02 AM on July 1, 2008
That raises an interesting notion. For some reason I can't even articulate, I had always taken it as a given that Brautigan was meant to be read on the page. It never even occurred to me that people would recite his stuff. I guess I always felt like I was reading his private journal -- and people don't generally read diaries aloud.
Hell, if I formatted that right, it'd almost make a respectable Brautigram. ;)
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 10:31 AM on July 1, 2008
"Everything Includes Us"
The thought of her hands
touching his hair
makes me want to vomit.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 11:18 AM on July 3, 2008
MeFi post:
George Carlin Dead at 71
. . . . . . .
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 10:19 PM on June 22, 2008
Saw him back in the day. Orpheum Theatre, Omaha, Nebraska. Two hours on a bare stage, just Carlin, a stool, and a bottle of Heineken.
And the fucker wouldn't share it.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 10:23 PM on June 22, 2008
Um ... Jade Dragon. Snope Phone's ringing.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 12:58 AM on June 23, 2008
Her performed just last weekend. He was scheduled to get the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in November. The Imus Show is like a funeral this morning; both Bernard McGurk and Lou Rufino were pretty close to Carlin.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 3:37 AM on June 23, 2008
I am not a starstruck kinda guy. I've met some pretty serious big names -- chatted up a couple genuine legends with no problem. Even partied with one. But I was reduced to a gibbering pile of goo when George Carlin once brushed passed me in a backstage hallway after a show. I can't even say I actually met him, unless you consider nodding, pointing and giggling like Beavis "meeting" someone.
I was lucky he didn't call security.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 7:14 AM on June 23, 2008
Well, he wasn't "sick" in the sense of "came down with something" so much as he was "sick" in the sense of having life-long (maybe congenital?) heart problems.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 6:52 PM on June 30, 2008
MeFi post:
A new jug ships clean
A local dairy went back to using glass.
Intellectually, I know that clear glass probably isn't the optimum way to go (even ignoring the shipping aspect entirely) ... but it still tastes udderly wonderful.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 6:48 PM on June 30, 2008
MeFi post:
Who wants to be a millionaire?
In the last two congressional cycles here in Nebraska, we had two major candidates who spend an absurd amount of their own money to buy the election -- and both times it blew up in their faces. Nothing reeks of oily desperation more -- and once voters get a whiff, there is an invariable backlash. Sorta restores my faith in the electorate. Sorta.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 4:07 PM on June 26, 2008
MeFi post:
Remembering the Hollywood 10
"His point was that the communists in Hollywood really were doing many of the things that they were being accused of - they really did want to overthrow the government of the U.S. ... "
I'm trying to picture Howard Da Silva or Zero Mostel or Burgess Meredith or Will Geer or Herschel "Charlie the Tuna" Bernardi plotting the overthrow the of government.
Not coming.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 3:35 AM on June 22, 2008
There were plenty of people swept up in the paranoia who had no ties to Communism beyond the traditional Rightwing mantra that anything Left = big "C" Communism. Many who did have concrete ties tended more toward European socialism. And even those who took it further differentiated between Communism and Stalinism.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 7:01 PM on June 22, 2008
MeFi post:
Raw umber is just the beginning...
My Best Practical Joke:
Back in 1998, I put up a (long gone) website called the "Internet Color Registry", said to be a consortium of major browser companies. The site had a simple database that allowed you to register color hex codes used in web pages much as you would register a vanity domain name. You got to name the color and anyone seeking to use it had to obtain your permission. I announced that we had a series of scanning bots that went out looking... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 1:51 PM on June 20, 2008
MeFi post:
A moment in history; Obama Wins Presidential Nomination.
As a general rule of thumb:
I like Obama, but tend to dislike his supporters.
I dislike Hillary, but tend to like her supporters.
The election is his to lose. Lets hope they don't prove it yet again.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 9:11 PM on June 3, 2008
I have a bottle of wine I'm saving for the debate where Obama pushes McSame's buttons to the point where we get a angry, sputtering "Vesuvius" moment of no return.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 9:21 PM on June 3, 2008
Pssst ... paulsc
Romney beat McCain in Montana. What's that say about him as "Presidential timber"?
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 9:25 PM on June 3, 2008
I count myself among those underwhelmed by Obama. I keep hearing people fawn over his "electrifying" speeches, but when I read them I can't find much substance. I keep having Dukakis flashbacks. (NOTE TO OBAMA CAMPAIGN: If a GOP General offers you a ride in a tank, make sure the lens caps are off the binoculars). I see a man who let himself be hounded out of his church and is suddenly sporting a flag-pin for reasons of political expediency. Mostly, I dislike the 2008 warmed-over... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 12:00 AM on June 4, 2008
Nah ... never happen. But don't be shocked to see: Sec. of Defense, Chuck Hagel.
I almost consider that a given.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 2:22 AM on June 17, 2008
MeFi post:
Eat the taco. A funnel cake won't kill you.
Frankly, I could care less what MediaMatters says about anything.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 3:43 PM on June 14, 2008
Isn't anyone a bit troubled by Obama's abrupt about-face on the Jerusalem question? Forget the issue itself (That way madness lies.), but the fact that he took an unequivocal stance on a united Jerusalem one day, and backpedaled like Lyle Lovett walking into a barbershop the next. Either he gave in to pressure or he didn't understand the issue in the first place. Neither reflects well. Maybe there's a middle ground I don't see.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 10:01 AM on June 15, 2008
Well ... yeah ... okay .... I s'pose. But he ended up alienating more than if he had just STFU. What sort of "cunning plan" is that? At least he coulda tempered the sentiment: "I would like to see a united Jerusalem" vs. "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided." I dunno ...
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 10:32 AM on June 15, 2008
MeFi post:
Impeach Dubya.
I'm in a quandary ... now that the issue is laid out on the table, if the Dems in the rarefied strata DON'T support it, then I will have no reason to support THEM or their candidates.
Can't advertise yourself at the as the bulwark against rabid conservative corruption if you're not ever going to do anything about their excesses.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 8:35 PM on June 9, 2008
When the GOP discovers that Obama has overdue library books and starts screaming for his impeachment, I hope the "don't rock the boat" crowd recall this opportunity to do the right thing.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 9:13 PM on June 9, 2008
Who cares? At the VERY least, he won't be passing out "Get-Out-Of-Jail" cards to his toadies while he's under impeachment and he won't have the time (or juice) to tangle us up in an Iranian war.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 2:13 PM on June 11, 2008
You keep chirping "including Kucinich". My understanding is that this allows him to bring it back in a month if not committee action is taken.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 6:51 PM on June 11, 2008
You're probably right. It will no doubt drift away. Along with my support of any candidate who doesn't come out in explicit support for it.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 12:53 AM on June 12, 2008
The whole idea BEHIND "getting them into office" is that they will protect us from the excesses of other party and prosecute their illegality. If they abrogate that implicit promise and responsibility what exactly are they running on?
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 8:11 AM on June 12, 2008
MeFi post:
Cluck. Cluck. (Thwack)
Back in the days when you could still burn leaves in your own Norman Rockwell front yard, I recall my dad and grandpa butchering chickens by cutting their heads off. You know that ol' saying about running around like a chicken with its head cut off? They really do. I remember retrieving them from almost a block away.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 9:49 PM on June 10, 2008
MeFi post:
Cat Ladies!
Okay, I hate to bring up my idea of requiring licenses before people can use PhotoShop, but it seems to be becoming more and more self-evident.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 1:01 PM on May 30, 2008
MeFi post:
We are weird. And somewhat echoey.
At the risk of sounding like grouchy-old-get-off-my-lawn guy ... kids today don't have the slightest clue how wonderful the Intertubes are for foreign language acquisition. The sheer tonnage of resources is staggering. I recall spending $50 bucks for a tattered issue of "Америка" and 4 copies of "Правда" back in the day. Now I can read endless stuff on line, go into a chat room, subscribe to podcasts, stream radio and TV, or hook up with a Skype study-buddy. Sheesh, you... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 6:12 PM on May 26, 2008
MeFi post:
Dick Martin Passes
I recall being rather torn when this show was on. I liked it well enough as a kid, but I traded Goldie Hawn for Diana Rigg when they started showing "The Avengers" here in the states. Of course, "Laugh-In" ultimately pummeled them in the ratings.
posted to MetaFilter by RavinDave
at 9:11 PM on May 25, 2008
