Hey everybody, how's it hangin' with Mr. Cooper this Saturday night?

I apologize for my absence today, but I had to catch up on some long-delayed socializing. I can't be a Blorg forever, ya know?

Blorg = Blogger Borg = Someone who must stay awake to post at all hours of the day & night because resistance to the blogging imperative is futile. Did I just invent a word here, or am I late to a word everybody already knows about? It hits on Google, but they're stupid hits. Thus, I will claim this word in the name of Incisor.

Anyways, I'm glad I did leave the house today, because not only did the sunlight replenish my Vitamin Dave deficiency, I learned some important news while visiting my buddy The Mallet.

First off, Miracle is a damn good movie. Lot of sports cliches throughout, but the hockey scenes-- particularly during the match against the Soviets-- are first-rate. It takes expert filmmaking to create suspense when the entire audience knows how the movie ends.

Second, I read the paper-version of the Washington Post, and I caught a story I missed earlier today online:

There was something missing the other night when Blue Oyster Cult, the '70s stadium rockers, kicked into their signature song, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper," in a gig at the Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis.

Fans of the band, and of "Saturday Night Live," knew exactly what the song needed: More cowbell.

Walken, an actor who has specialized in portraying the slightly unhinged, has described the six-minute sketch as career-defining. "People . . . I don't know . . . I hear about it everywhere I go," he told the Orlando Sentinel in October. "It's been years, and all anybody brings up is 'cowbell.' I guess . . . you never know what's gonna click."

Among the more amused viewers of the bit are the actual members of Blue Oyster Cult. "We didn't know it was coming," says Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, co-founder and lead guitarist of the group. "We all thought it was phenomenal. We're huge Christopher Walken fans." He adds, "I've probably seen it 20 times and I'm still not tired of it."

Alas, I am not Ace, so I can not give you cowbell on his site. That privilege is reserved for he alone.

However, to tide you over until Ace returns, you could always join me in Hulking out:

Hulkamaniacs gotta have more cowbell, brotha!

-- Dave at Garfield Ridge

Posted by: Ace at 04:57 PM | Comments (4)
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Via BBC News:

Think it's crazy to shell out anywhere between $5,000 and $20,000 for a casket? What if I told you I could get you a really cool coffin shaped like a hammer, or even a uterus for just $400? OK, maybe you don't want to be buried in a female organ. How about a beer bottle? Pineapple? Cocoa bean?

Just hop a plane to the Teshi, a suburb of Accra in the African nation of Ghana, and you can pick up a wicked bitchin' coffin shaped liked fish, mobile phones, hens, roosters, leopards, lions, canoes, pineapples, cocoa beans or even an elephant. Cars are also quite popular (Mercedes and Cadillacs are favorites), as is the Bible.

Pictures are a must-see, looks like they're getting ready for a scaled-down version of The Rose Parade.

Article here, more pictures here.

Posted by John from WuzzaDem.

Posted by: Ace at 02:19 PM | Comments (6)
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What an ass this guy is.

I like this version a little better.

[Cross-posted at Say Anything]

Posted by: Ace at 01:18 PM | Comments (9)
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Juvenile humor? You bet. The WaPo.com article I just read, entitled 'Make Money Off Your Blog' was a total dud. It's basically a (very) short laundry list of tips, apparently written for the benefit of someone who's never even seen a 'Web log', but is nonetheless thinking of becoming a 'Web logger', on how they can turn their 'Web log' into a a digital cash cow.

But there is a payoff at the very end.

Hint: See here and here for context, then click on the article here and scroll to the end.

Update: Immature readers (like CraigC and BrewFan) may also enjoy this.

Posted by John from WuzzaDem

Posted by: Ace at 11:19 AM | Comments (15)
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A moving message, written in blood.

Explanation here.

[Cross-posted at Say Anything]

Posted by: Ace at 08:55 AM | Comments (8)
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Personally, I'm not one who feels the need to publicly declare my sexuality but I see no harm in this sort of thing.

EDMOND, Okla. -- A University of Central Oklahoma student group is planning what it calls "Straight Pride Week" on campus.

Members of the College Republicans said despite objections from some, they have every right to celebrate.

"The general gist is that if you are a straight student on campus be proud, be loud, this is your time to shine," said college Republican Kyle Houts.

The group has posted fliers on campus that read, "we're here, we're conservative, we're out."

Of course, the gay and lesbian crusaders aren't too happy about it.

Members of the Gay Alliance for Tolerance and Equality say they consider the College Republican's celebration an attack on gay and lesbian students.

I wonder what they'd say about conservative students who feel they're "attacked" by gay pride rallys? If I had to guess I'd say they'd probably call them fascists or Nazis or something.

(via Jeff Quinton)

[Cross-posted at Say Anything]

Posted by: Ace at 08:28 AM | Comments (6)
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Here's a statement from the President I agree with 100%:

Planet Out - President Bush angered advocates for LGBT equal rights by suggesting in a Thursday interview with the New York Times that "studies" show children develop better when raised by heterosexual married couples.

The remarks were part of the president's response to a question about the Florida law that bars gay men and lesbians from adopting children. The law -- one of the harshest anti-gay laws in the country -- was recently upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, and this month the Supreme Court refused to hear the challenge on appeal.

Regarding the Florida law, the president responded, "I don't know this particular case."

He continued by focusing on the "ideal in society" of children being raised by a man and a woman. "And I believe children can receive love from gay couples, but the ideal is -- and studies have shown that the ideal is where a child is raised in a married family with a man and a woman."

Clearly the President speaks the truth. Gay couples can no doubt provide loving homes, but the ideal situation for a child is in a home with strong maternal and paternal influence from a male and a female parent.

Of course, gay activists aren't framing this issue with what's best for the child.

"It's too bad we don't have an ideal president," said John Marble, spokesman for the National Stonewall Democrats.

"Any law that bars gay Americans from adopting children is morally wrong," he told the PlanetOut Network. "It's disturbing that we have a president who refuses to denounce such a law."

Mr. Marble is clearly more concerned with the alleged right of gays to adopt than with the welfare of the children. Frankly, there is no such right. When it comes to the issue of adoption the only right that exists is for children to be raised in the best of possible situations.

I'm willing to accept gay adoption in instances where there is no suitable heterosexual couples available to adopt, but I think its clearly in the best interest of the children that preference be given to qualifying heterosexual couples.

[Cross-posted at Say Anything]

Posted by: Ace at 08:10 AM | Comments (17)
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Here's a statement from the President I agree with 100%:

Planet Out - President Bush angered advocates for LGBT equal rights by suggesting in a Thursday interview with the New York Times that "studies" show children develop better when raised by heterosexual married couples.

The remarks were part of the president's response to a question about the Florida law that bars gay men and lesbians from adopting children. The law -- one of the harshest anti-gay laws in the country -- was recently upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, and this month the Supreme Court refused to hear the challenge on appeal.

Regarding the Florida law, the president responded, "I don't know this particular case."

He continued by focusing on the "ideal in society" of children being raised by a man and a woman. "And I believe children can receive love from gay couples, but the ideal is -- and studies have shown that the ideal is where a child is raised in a married family with a man and a woman."

Clearly the President speaks the truth. Gay couples can no doubt provide loving homes, but the ideal situation for a child is in a home with strong maternal and paternal influence from a male and a female parent.

Of course, gay activists aren't framing this issue with what's best for the child.

"It's too bad we don't have an ideal president," said John Marble, spokesman for the National Stonewall Democrats.

"Any law that bars gay Americans from adopting children is morally wrong," he told the PlanetOut Network. "It's disturbing that we have a president who refuses to denounce such a law."

Mr. Marble is clearly more concerned with the alleged right of gays to adopt than with the welfare of the children. Frankly, there is no such right. When it comes to the issue of adoption the only right that exists is for children to be raised in the best of possible situations.

I'm willing to accept gay adoption in instances where there is no suitable heterosexual couples available to adopt, but I think its clearly in the best interest of the children that preference be given to qualifying heterosexual couples.

[Cross-posted at Say Anything]

Posted by: Ace at 08:10 AM | Comments (19)
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Finally, science starts providing us all with the revealing answers to questions no one was asking.

Damn. Miss January is HOT!

-- Dave at Garfield Ridge

Posted by: Ace at 07:26 AM | Comments (3)
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One blogger believes a recent car bomb in Iraq may have been staged.

The key and blindingly obvious point: there are at least three photojournalists from different outfits there exactly at the time it goes off! This is not a lucky coincidence. The pictures are clearly taken less than a minute after the original explosion and less than a minute apart. Also: all of the photographers are stringers, not regular staff photographers.

Interpretation: One, this was staged, the particulars of the bomb ensure it will be ineffective and safe from the distance from which it was photographed, but visually spectacular. The people running are most likely also staged. Two, the reporters were invited to see it. Three, they knew it was staged.

I've long been suspicious of the media coverage in Iraq, and so has Sec. Rumsfeld.

One of the chief complaints we've heard from a lot of soldiers these days is how the media coverage of Iraq has tended to paint a much more sinister picture than the soldiers themselves feel really exists. If the media are using staged events to depict a more negative situation in Iraq than actually exists it would explain a lot of the duality between what is shown us on television and what is seen by the soldiers on the ground.

Its common knowledge that the media slants its coverage of Iraq, it does not take much of a leap in faith to imagine the less reputable outlets using staged events to achieve that agenda.

(via Instapundit)

[Cross-posted at Say Anything]

Posted by: Ace at 07:24 AM | Comments (3)
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