Friday, November 06, 2009

Hither and thither 11/6/09

Okay folks, now, put down your coffee. The management of BibChr accepts NO responsibility for drenched keyboards, or (OTOT) monitors smacked angrily with a stapler.
  • Reader Phil Awtry took this actual picture in a Barnes and Noble. He swears he did not rearrange the books.


  • I'm Still So Naive Alert. Are you like me — does this kind of story just kind of baffle you? Here's  talented, successful, marketable actor Nicolas Cage... and he's in financial ruin. With a healthy career. He owes over six million dollars in taxes! Don't you sort of think, "Sheesh, if I earned that much money, I'd just live like I earned a tenth as much, and do great." But then I realize that I don't do that now... so more money wouldn't be the answer. Hm. Deep. Sorry. Just... Proverbs 23:4-5.
  • Hunh. Roger Ebert likes the new Disney CGI version of Christmas Carol, starring Jim Carrey. Yeah, well, that's not going to get me to the theater. The trailer looked horrible! Besides, hard to imagine this version ever being improved on...unless someone could clean up its sound track.
  • The Language of Lego. Need I say more?
  • Reader Julie Garrett knows what happened to the dinosaurs:

  • Yeah, clever. But if that were my parrot, there'd be some tiny little golden-brown drumsticks, wings, thighs and all at dinner that night.
  • Am I the only one who sees unintended humor in Challies starting another blog and naming it 10 Million Words
  • Apparently C. S. Lewis' The Great Divorce is being made into a movie. (HT Craig)
  • Want to know why feminists favor fully-informed consent for every surgical procedure — except abortion? Here's your answer. But you knew that already, didn't you? (HT Pam Siegfried for that specific link.)
  • Gil Sebenste directed me to this... but it has got to be Photoshopped. I hope.




  • So what does it mean when you read that a police officer "fired six shots" and your first thought is, "Oh, so no one was hurt?" [Update: they seem to have removed that article; you can see a cached version for awhile.]
  • Well well well. Turns out ObamaCare would include CultCare, thanks to cultist senators Hatch, Kerry and Kennedy.
  • Yes, Hatch is supposed to be a Republican. And sometimes, he is. At first. But you know what they say: never count your Hatches before they chicken.
  • Again, someone has clearly been copying off of my old Algebra test-papers.


 Maybe the "FAIL" is that it should be called the Reincarnation Restaurant.
  • Esteemed reader Paula notes the characteristically acerbic Scott Ott's "reporting" of Obama's one-year anniversary (of the election) plans.
  • Isn't this the way it always goes? Conservative GOP voters are pressed to unite behind "moderate" (read liberal) candidates in the name of Big Tentism and all that... but that doesn't go both ways. Take the recent 23rd District Congressional race in New York. The GOP runs a very liberal woman, so the Conservative Party runs a very conservative (Republican) man. The latter breezes past the former, causing the former effectively to drop out. And whom does the liberal GOP woman — whom such erstwhile luminaries as Newt Gingrich had urged as a worthy beneficiary of GOP "big tent" loyalty — endorse? You don't even need me to tell you, do you?
  • I'm not sure if I've put this up before, but a repeat wouldn't hurt anyone. There are a number of very funny "How [movie] should have ended. Reader Jon Hall liked how Star Wars (ep 4) should have ended. My favorite is how LOTR: FOTR should have ended (warning: brief, crude cartoony image). I think they got that idea from my dear wife.
  • Yep. This ought to take care of it.

  • Funny on so many levels. Click on the image below. The story is pretty poetic in itself, though (I note) not sources. But look at how Google Ads cued off the verbage of the story to pick "appropriate" ads.



  • Wow, those aliens are getting bold. Now they're doing self-portraits!


  •  Which brings us to...

















 


41 comments:

Brad Williams said...

Dan,

Thank you for helping me waste my morning. Here is some brief commentary for your reading enjoyment:

1. Concerning owing the government $6 million: sheer folly. Because, hey, if you get behind on the house, you lose the house. You get behind to uncle Sam, then you get a new house with no view. So, save for taxes as a first.

2. I do not understand the infant hidden under the bed on so many levels, but I do think that someone needs shooting. The thing that really bugs me is that the authorities knew these people were kooks before this happened. They knew that they were drug users and that the house was a pit, but the child stayed. Me, I'm afraid that if I spank my kid in Wal-Mart that DHR will swoop down and try to steal my children.

3. That is all. I have to work now.

Brad Williams said...

Dan,

Okay, so I'm not finished compulsively wasting my time. I have a few comments on the ATM robbery.

1. The Title is stupid. "Robber, off-duty cop exchange Shots at ATM." They did not "exchange" shots. The robber had a fake gun. Hard to get into an exchange with a fake gun.

2. The officer only fired 3 shots, not 6.

3. I would love to see the look on the robbers face when he saw the real gun and he was holding a fake gun. That would be awesome.

DJP said...

I resent your insinuation that reading my H&T is anything other than a brilliant and wise investment of time.

Brad Williams said...

But Dan, I'm putting off my Greek for this!

Colloquist said...

I've just finished brilliantly and wisely investing my time in reading H&T, Dan. Ahem.

Grateful for Language of Lego. We say "tall 6 dotter" or "flat 4 dotter" but we really should get more creative.

Fun movies of 2010 - apparently all those brilliant Hollywood minds do not have a single original idea in their craniums. They're almost all sequels, remakes, or made from books. Guess they've never heard the masses saying, "the original is always better."

And about that restaurant receipt: seems they were really, really thirsty. Those 10- and 15K items are bottles of French wine, priced at about a 250% markup. Lesson: buy and bring your own!

Clowns are always scarier than even the freakiest mustaches. Always. :)

DJP said...

Oh boy, what a dilemma. Greek, or HT? Greek, or HT?

Glad it isn't my decision!

Fred Butler said...

Under that 50 movies for 2010:

Did you see the description for the flick "Legion"?

The basic premise of Legion is this: God, specifically the God of the Christians, is the bad guy. As he periodically does, he’s decided to kill everyone on Earth. A fallen angel is humanity's only defence [sic] against a horde of destroying angels

unbelievable.

SolaMommy said...

Was that Nick Cage's Nello's receipt? I'm thinkin'.

Great pic assortment today!

Should we expect a movie review of "Legion" sometime next year? ;-)

Mike Westfall said...

I just don't understand Lego fascination. You never see these kind of stories for, oh.. say.. Lincoln Logs. Or Tinker Toys. Why not?


OBTW, I agree with both DJP and Brad W.: Reading H&T is a brilliant and wise waste of time.

Peter Eddy said...

Hi Dan,

Thanks for this week's HT.

You don't like it when preachers pretend to know Greek, yet can't pronounce the words, so, just in case you ever have to talk about math again: that test wasn't so much algebra (i.e., it wasn't algebra at all) but calculus. And the answer was y=19e^(0.85x). (I majored in math for my undergrad.)

I also really like the cartoon of Algore and Bad B.O. (bad Barack Obama) telling their fairy tales. Pricess! :)

DJP said...

LOL.

Totally touché!

Fred Butler said...

Speaking of LEGOs, did you all see this:

*linktroll*
Lego Reproductions
*/linktroll*

Peter Eddy said...

Oops, I meant to link to your Pyromaniacs post where you said it.

DJP said...

Yes, of course: because the damage inflicted by your comment was not nearly sufficient without it.

timb said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
timb said...

Under the movies for next year:
"37 The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Nicolas Cage, seemingly the busiest man in cinema right now, "

Well at least now we know why.

CGrim said...

That restaurant receipt is insane. But I guess if you're gonna spend $28 on parmesan chunks, $14 on water, and $60 on asparagus, it's only a matter of scale to spend $35,000 on wine.

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Ah... a relaxing morning. The boys are at their grandparents and I can read 'my' H&T without interruption.

Lego Language... oh yeah. We currently have our "loose" Legos sorted into about 10 different containers, for "easy" searching... you know, when you need a 4x6 flat blue, or a ...

That crying parrot would drive me nuts. I've done my time listening to crying babies!

Oh... oh... I loved the story of the Abortionist who is now working with the pro-life group. A good reminder that you never know in whom God will work. Keep praying.

Still laughing about the LOTR alternate ending. Well, DUH!

Thanks Dan,

Julie

SolaMommy said...

For $60 that asparagus better chew, swallow, and digest itself!

lee n. field said...

The Great Divorce? OK. Hopefully they don't have a love story, and include Lewis' disclaimers. "This is not speculation about the afterlife."

Christmas Carol with Jim Carey? "EEEEeeee, no." Not after Grinch.

"So what does it mean when you read that a police officer 'fired six shots' and your first thought is, 'Oh, so no one was hurt?'" Not unknown, not unusual.

What do I make of the Saudi "crucifiction"? -- displaying the disgraced dead has been around for millenia in that area.

DJP said...

Oddly, Michael Medved raved about it. Gives it 3.5 stars.

threegirldad said...

For some reason, that comic strip of "Sire Obama" made me think of this movie clip.

Rachael Starke said...

1. The new Scrooge - In today's WSJ, Joe Morgenstern ripped into Zemeckis for using the motion-capture animation technique that gives characters only a semblance of life, with the dead eyes and gestures that fall just short of being authentic. Methinks there's a spiritual, nay, Bibley application or illustration there....

2. The conversion (albeit only ideological, yes?) of the Planned Parenthood director - Loved it. I wish more politicians who claim to be pro-life would focus on programs that forcibly educate medical practitioners and women considering abortions about what this vile procedure actually looks like. You can watch all manner of surgeries on channels like TLC and DHC - why not this "simple medical procedure"? Don't women have a moral right to know what's being done to their own bodies? Make the pro-aborts offer up a single rational argument why women should stay ignorant about doing such a nothing to a piece of pre-human tissue. I think that would build a lot more trajectory for the pro-life movement than the stale legal attempts that address the law and not the hearts of the lawmakers.

Rachael Starke said...

And as for that receipt - at first it got me a little teary with nostalgia! In my former life at HP, one of the biggest, most gruelling parts of my job was to host dinners with some of our most important accounts and senior HP executives. The more intense the deal was, the bigger the dinner had to be. Consequently, I made sure I was thoroughly educated about famous expensive restaurants that were famous and expensive for their creative, delicious food and impeccable service

and famous expensive restaurants that were merely famous for being expensive.

Take a group of savvy senior executives to the latter, and watch them instantly question your judgement about everything.

Have a little fun Googling this restaurant and see what kind of reviews come up. Or, Brad, if you're still studying that Greek, I'll simply note that their most famous customer is Paris Hilton. That'll give you a sense of which kind of restaurant this is. Try not to think too long about what it says about our country that these kinds of places are still in existence, generating that kind of revenue.

And if I may say, this truly was an excellent H&T - a wonderful variety of tasty treats, impeccably prepared and served with elegance and panache.

Five stars.

DJP said...

Thank you, Rachael.

They say presentation is everything.

Susan said...

Okay, just to get this out of my system: Isn't it weird that it had to be Al Gore who "invented" the internet? It was just "meant to be"--I mean, who better to receive credit for the birth of the "information superhighway", a system built upon AlGorisms?

(Bah da bump.)

Susan said...

(Oops, I meant AlGorithms. Haha. Freudian slip?)

DJP said...

Wow.

Susan said...

Oh, Rachael, Rachael, Rachael, you for one, then, will appreciate this restaurant scene. ;) (The background: Some corporate bigwigs took their insignificant intern to a fine French restaurant...et voilà! Hilarity ensues.)

Paula said...

Dragging myself away from the important business of preparations for DS's Windows 7 Launch Party to say, I feel for the owners of that crying parrot. One of our parrots was previously owned by a 70-year-old Jewish, bipolar woman. He has a bit of a Yiddish accent...very moody:

"How are you?"
"Get off there!"
"I love you"
"BAD BIRD!"
"Good Boy"
"Don't do that again!"
"What are you doing honey?
"Get out of here right now!"

Paula said...

ARRRGGG!!! Had a big, brilliant comment with hyperlinks and such and Firefox shut down. When it restored, the links were gone. So this will be a less-than-impressive comment...

First, where can I get a job as a paid pray-er? Do I have to join a cult, or will Obamacare be funding the Baptists as well?

...And speaking of Republicans who should experience a good old Amish shunning, Pro Choice Republican Chair Michael Steele was just on Hannity trying to 'scare the base' by warning that Obamacare includes abortion. Like he cares!!! Puh leeze!! There are strong words for people who sell themselves to the highest bidder, but they're not fit to print here.

It doesn't look good for a REAL conservative candidate for national office anytime soon with the likes of Steele leading the party (Steele also took zero responsibility for the happenings in NY....'who, me?'). Maddening!

CR said...

I think the new version of Christmas Carol looks nice I'll probably go check it out. Remember I have a friend in a movie theather that is allowed got to other theaters for free. So, I won't spend a dime.

The 2012 movie sounds interesting too.

Solameanie said...

I think someone should show Pecadillo the mustache photos. He's been mourning the loss of his mustache on Facebook. Hilarious.

Strong Tower said...

I see you have never recreationally used peyote.

DJP said...

True, neither recreationally nor therapeutically.

But where did you see that?

Strong Tower said...

The recreational drug questonaire. I swear I died... several times.

Peter Eddy said...

Hi Dan,

I thought of something this morning: that guy on his calculus test might have copied your algebra test. It's not like "it is secret" can only be written on a calulus exam. For example, in high school, to the question "Who wrote 1984?" I could have written, "it is secret" and also copied your old algebra tests.

Sorry for jumping to conclusions so quickly.

DJP said...

Nah, Peter; yours was a blow well and fairly struck.

(c:

Anonymous said...

Hey Dan, the Barnes & Noble book photo was from me, discovered by providence at a B&N in Omaha last weekend. In the bargain aisle, to boot. And I hereby attest that I did not rearrange any of these books.

Aaron said...

What happens to Nicolas Cage actually happens to a lot of people who acquired wealth without knowing much about business. I see it all the time in my profession. It happens to entertainers, athletes, inventors, and worse, widows who get a lot of life insurance.

Aaron said...

The articles I read were very uncertain about how many shots were fired by whom and if the robber was hurt (articles said they didn't know his condition). I didn't see anything about a fake gun (but Dan's link was not working now) I'd be surprised if the cop only got three shots off and the robber got away.

The robber is one lucky dude.