calendarlive.com: Danger: pickup artists ahead

Interesting. Sean, where's the Game/No Game, Caring/No Caring VEN diagram when we need it?

calendarlive.com: Danger: pickup artists ahead: "Strauss once counted himself among those who were panicked around women. Then he overcompensated. After attending a seminar on the art of seduction in 2002, the former New York Times columnist and current Rolling Stone writer has been obsessed with, even addicted to, a little-known community of men who consider themselves pickup artists. He posts to message boards, helps out with seduction courses, even concocted an ill-conceived plan to get the best in the business to live together in Dean Martin's former mansion above the Hollywood strip.

He chronicles his ascent (descent?) into this world in the new book 'The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists,' which arrives in stores, bound like a Bible, on Tuesday. In it, Strauss describes in graphic detail a personal journey that begins with him being terrified of women and ends with him believing he could seduce any woman in a club, bar, coffee shop or elevator. He is a diminutive man with a shaved head and angular goatee, and though he seems gentle and sweet in person — nervous and cute and maybe a touch effete (affectations he's learned in seduction training, perhaps?) — in the book he comes off as debauched and predatory."

from the sfgate

from the sfgate
Originally uploaded by ideateller.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=3&entry_id=553

We eat so many shrimp: White People "Find"

We eat so many shrimp: White People "Find": "White People 'Find'
posted by SergDun at 9:47 PM
But Blacks loot. Oh you got to love the 'liberal' media. all of these are from yahoo news"

The Shroom, year 2

Download the 2004 recap pdf here.

And the 2005 issue here.

See you on Monday.

Are there ideas in the K-hole?

Off to Burning Man tomorrow night for parts of 5 nights and 4 whole days.

And then... Just had the creative coordinator walk in and tell us that we've got to show Super Bowl spot ideas on Tuesday.

Thus the headline of this post.

: : : Scenestars <-> Guaranteed To Break Your Hip : : :

New Bunnymen song available for download here:

: : : Scenestars <-> Guaranteed To Break Your Hip : : :: "Echo and The Bunnymen have gone nowhere. For the last 26 years, they have provided anthems of anguish and love influencing three generations of artists, their music appearing prominently in film soundtracks and consistently standing the test of time and circumstance. In a culture that is so driven by youth, it's easy to see bands like this become swallowed by all that they have created. Some bands in the years now facing Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant would be resting on their laurels, content to have been consistently critically lauded, to have brought pricelessly memorable songs like 'The Killing Moon', 'The Cutter', 'Lips Like Sugar' or 'Bring On The Dancing Horses' to life. If Siberia, the first release from E&TB in four years, is any indication, the grace with which their music and songwriting has aged is clearly unmatched by any of the young guns and hipster bands whose sound bears allegiance to them."

am(Almost) Realtime Temperature and Wind at Black Rock Station

Go here to find the weather at Black Rock City.

Yes, I caved. I head out Wednesday night for Reno where I'll meet Lacy, Jason & Michelle. We gather supplies and then head on into BRC, arriving 3 am or so.

Whoooooooh!

The Onion | Shakespeare Was, Like, The Ultimate Rapper

I actually agree with the thought here. Been saying it for years.

The Onion | Shakespeare Was, Like, The Ultimate Rapper: "As an English teacher, I have to make The Bard resonate with today's youth. I get the same questions every year: 'Shakespeare? What does this dead white guy have to do with me? He doesn't know where I come from, what I'm all about. He's not from the streets.'

Well, what's totally fresh about Shakespeare is that he wrote for ordinary people. His homies. My students say, 'Then why did he write in this snooty poetry that no one can understand?' Well, that's just it. His poetry was the best street rhyming of his time. And Shakespeare was the best 'player' of them all! Even today, 400 years later, Shakespeare is the world's ultimate rapper!"

Cheap Gas - Los Angeles

Holy crap! Maybe I'm late to the party, but these Google Mash-ups are amazing. Wish this one had more data though.

Cheap Gas - Los Angeles

Overheard in New York: The Voice of the Big Apple

Excuse me while I ostrich myself from thinking about Burning Man. And yes, ostrich, can mean whatever you or i want it to mean.

Scroll 2 or 3 quotes down fro this

Overheard in New York: The Voice of the Big Apple:

"Old man: Enjoy your looks while you still have them.
Girl: Oh, we've got a long time before we have to start worrying.
Old man: No, you don't. Just remember: men age, women rot."

fark.collegefootball.com

fark.collegefootball.com
Originally uploaded by ideateller.

not really the link for this.



for non-fans: The Bowdens are coaches for the archrival Seminoles. And they

just bought a plantation. Really.



Fark is fark.com, a site full of network time-killers.



http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/showthread.php?p=873183&posted=1#post873183

Tiny Mix Tapes

Tiny Mix Tapes: "While Sufjan Stevens releases Illinois to critical acclaim, tinymixtapes makes a mixtape tribute to California to hundreds of accolades, piles of praise, and newfound fame as mixtape robots gain spots on MTV and Rolling Stone magazine.

requested by: Duke of Funk
compiled by: Bondelli

note from Bondelli: I threw the first track on there because it is about all the songs that have been made about CA and how Local H is sick of them. But since I'm a native Californian I'm not sick of them. Enjoy!

01. Local H - 'California Songs' (Whatever Happened to P.J. Soles)
02. Bad Religion - 'Los Angeles is Burning' (The Empire Strikes First)
03. Red Hot Chili Peppers - 'Under the Bridge' (Blood Sugar Sex Magik)
04. Allister - 'Somewhere on Fullerton' (Last Stop Suburbia)
05. The Ramones - 'California Sun' (Hey! Ho! Let's Go Anthology)
06. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - 'San Francisco' (Blow in the Wind)
07. Liz Phair - 'California' (Juvenilia)
08. Beach Boys - 'California Girls' (Sounds of Summer)
09. Phantom Planet - 'California' (The Guest)
10. Fountains of Wayne - 'California Sex Lawyer' (Out-of-State Plates)
11. Dead Kennedys - 'California Uber Alles' (Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables)
12. Gipsy Kings - 'Hotel California' (The Big Lebowski OST)
13. REM - 'California Dreamin' (Don't Try This at Home)

compiled by: larryniven

i would also like to hype 'illinoise.' please buy it, everyone.

01. Rufus Wainwright - 'California' (Poses)
02. Mammas and Pappas - 'California Dreamin''
03. Joni Mitchell - 'California' (Blue)
04. The Eagles - 'Hotel California'
05. Cake - 'Arco Arena' (Comfort Eagle)
06. Counting Crows - 'Goodnight L.A.' (Hard Candy)
07. Fatboy Slim - 'Kalifornia' (You've Come A Long Way, Baby)
08. West Indian Girl - 'Hollywood' (West Indian Girl)
09. The Brian Setzer Orchestra - 'Hollywood Nocturne' (The Dirty Boogie)
10. Wilco - 'California Stars'
11. Eels - 'Daisies of the Galaxy' (Daisies of the Galaxy)
12. West Indian Girl - 'Miles From Monterey' (West Indian Girl)"

Spree, Smith Enliven Mills' 'Thumbsucker'

Spree, Smith Enliven Mills' 'Thumbsucker': "The Polyphonic Spree leader Tim DeLaughter has penned the bulk of the soundtrack to the upcoming film 'Thumbsucker,' which marks the film directorial debut of visual artist Mike Mills. The album is due Sept. 13 via Hollywood, while the film -- which stars Keanu Reeves, Vince Vaughn, Tilda Swinton and Lou Pucci -- hits U.S. theaters three days later."

America, United States, Times Online, The Times, Sunday Times

Uh-oh. I'm addicted to sleep medication.

America, United States, Times Online, The Times, Sunday Times: "'Exhausted' Eminem is in hospital for pill addiction
From James Bone in New York
EMINEM, the bestselling hip-hop artist who cancelled his European tour this week blaming exhaustion, is being treated for addiction to sleeping pills.

The publicist of the rapper from Detroit, said that Eminem, who has won nine Grammies, “is in hospital under doctors’ care”.

The Detroit Free Press said that Eminem had checked himself into the city’s Brighton Hospital for dependency on the prescribed medication Ambien.

Eminem is said to have struggled to sleep as he travelled the United States on a five-week tour.

"

Quality Sex-Toys Save The World / Revealed! The glorious location of the world's largest adult goods store you never knew existed

From the ever wonderful Mark Morford.

Quality Sex-Toys Save The World / Revealed! The glorious location of the world's largest adult goods store you never knew existed: "Quality Sex-Toys Save The World
Revealed! The glorious location of the world's largest adult goods store you never knew existed

By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist

Friday, August 19, 2005


* Printable Version
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Quality Sex-Toys Save The World - Revealed! The glorious locatio...
08/19/2005

One Happy Big-Box Wasteland - Oh my yes, there is indeed one for...
08/17/2005

You Now Hate Chocolate Cake - Implant fake food memories, lose w...
08/12/2005

Liberals Are So Intolerant! - The Right loves to sling this smug...
08/10/2005

Dead Cats Hear No Screams - House smell a little sour? Hear stra...
08/05/2005


All is not lost. This is the good news. All is not dire and hopeless and warmongering and sexless and Bush. I know, it's amazing, but it's true. You see, bright spots exist. Radiant spots. Glimmers of possibility and progress, deep pools of hope and moan and yum. We have but to look. And yearn.

Like, right here. Here is a miniphenomenon, happening right before our eyes. It is this: Amazon.com is selling sex toys. A lot of sex toys. More than you knew they would ever dare sell and more than you even knew were being manufactured in the world today and a more advanced and varied selection than you probably imagined they could ever get away with."

Celeb sighting: Pam Dawber is in the house

Celeb sighting: Pam Dawber is in the house
Originally uploaded by ideateller.

Celeb sighting: Pam Dawber is in the house



Pam Dawber is visiting us today for a Big Brothers Big Sisters meeting.



Nanoo nanoo.



Cross your fingers that she buys our spot.

Mrs. Seal with Baby Seal

Naked Supermodels at Fairchild Pubs: It’s True
READ MORE: celebs, conde nast, fairchild pubs, nudity, photos

Friday we passed along word that not only is Heidi Klum on the cover of the upcoming Vitals Woman in a very pregnant state, but she’s also photographed inside that magazine both pregnant and naked. Turns out the rumor was true, and a devoted reader delivered the money shot, as it were. The big picture, after the jump.

flickrTagFight | netomer.de????

Fun network time killer.

flickrTagFight | netomer.de????: "insert one tag per field and click fight."

She's So Cool, So Smart, So Beautiful: Must Be a Girl Crush - New York Times

She's So Cool, So Smart, So Beautiful: Must Be a Girl Crush - New York Times: "Ms. Buice, who lives with her boyfriend, calls her attraction a girl crush, a phrase that many women in their 20's and 30's use in conversation, post on blogs and read in magazines. It refers to that fervent infatuation that one heterosexual woman develops for another woman who may seem impossibly sophisticated, gifted, beautiful or accomplished. And while a girl crush is, by its informal definition, not sexual in nature, the feelings that it triggers - excitement, nervousness, a sense of novelty - are very much like those that accompany a new romance.

This is not a new phenomenon. Women, especially young women, have always had such feelings of adoration for each other. Social scientists suspect such emotions are part of women's nature, feelings that evolution may have favored because they helped women bond with one another and work cooperatively. What's new is the current generation's willingness to express their ardor frankly."

Fifteen Minutes To Listen

Kate, I'm sure you can pre-order on Amazon. Heehee.
Fifteen Minutes To Listen: "Bonnie Prince Billy - Puff The Magic Dragon

Will Oldham and another guy called Red sang this children's classic on a recent 7' record released by Lucky Dog. Apparently, the song/record is to wet your appetite for an upcoming album called Songs For The Young At Heart, which will feature many indie singers performing lovely songs for children. Contributors will include Kurt Wagner from Lambchop, Stuart Murdoch from Belle and Sebastian, Robert Forster from The Go Betweens and more."

tetka.swf (application/x-shockwave-flash Object)

Uh. Uh. This is cool. You can actually drag her around if she gets stuck.

Whoa.

tetka.swf (application/x-shockwave-flash Object)

Biking Toward Nowhere - New York Times

Why should the president get 5 fucking weeks off? Very annoyed right now.

Biking Toward Nowhere - New York Times: "Biking Toward Nowhere

By Maureen Dowd
Published: August 17, 2005

How could President Bush be cavorting around on a long vacation with American troops struggling with a spiraling crisis in Iraq?

Wasn't he worried that his vacation activities might send a frivolous signal at a time when he had put so many young Americans in harm's way?"

The New Yorker: Fact

The New Yorker: Fact: "LONE STAR
Kinky Friedman on the campaign trail.
by DAN HALPERN
Issue of 2005-08-22
Posted 2005-08-15

Here are a few lessons from modern American music. First, he not busy being born is busy dying. Second, you can't hang a man for killing a woman who is trying to steal your horse. And, third, you come to see what you want to see; you come to see, but you never come to know.

These are good lessons. Bob Dylan provided the first, Willie Nelson the second. The third belongs to Kinky Friedman, who, in the nineteen-seventies, travelled around the country with his country-and-Western band—Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys—annoying audiences with a series of goading, satirical songs with titles like “They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore” and “Asshole from El Paso.” In the eighties, after the band broke up, Kinky reinvented himself as a mystery novelist. In the past twenty years, he has written seventeen mysteries starring a detective named Kinky Friedman—a Jewish cowboy from Texas who has quit a singing career for a life of sleuthing and one-liners in New York City. Today, Dylan and Nelson, whose onstage thrones in the great concert hall of musical divinity were installed decades ago, seem to intend to ride their tour buses forever. Kinky, who never learned to sit still much, has grown tired of his second career—this year, at the age of sixty, he announced that his most recent mystery will be his last—and has sought out a third. He intends to be the governor of Texas.

At nine o'clock on a bright May morning, near the start of his first real campaign swing, the candidate was sitting in the shabby ground-floor restaurant of the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Houston, wondering what to have for breakfast. “The decisions that kill me are the little ones,” Kinky told me later. “Wardrobe kills me. I have two outfits. I have my Waylon Jennings vest, which is this booger here that Waylon gave me, and I have my preaching coat, and every morning it takes me half the goddam day to figure which one I'm going to wear.” On this occasion, he had gone with the vest—the preaching coat is usually reserved for more formal occasions—a slightly weather-beaten black leather number, worn over a black shirt and jeans, topped off with his customary black Stetson and the first of eight or ten cigars (Montecristo No. 2s) that he smokes each day. “The Governor has decided on pancakes!” he barked, finally. “Jewford, are there pancakes at this buffet? Do you see any kind of pancakes anywhere?”"

disorient contact sheet

disorient contact sheet
Originally uploaded by ideateller.

stuff on my cats

I once got Hart (bachelor-era) to agree that single guys with cats are creepy.

Of course, Hart had a cat and was single at that time.

Home

Cartman the aristocrat

This is so beyond inappropriate, you shouldn't even watch it if you're going to be working anywhere in the next 2 months.

...

Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic

Not even vaguely work appropriate. I love Sarah Silverman.

Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic

KIROTV.com - News - Man Kills Wife After Sex To Watch Sports On TV

In a sick way, this is an ad for TiVo.

KIROTV.com - News - Man Kills Wife After Sex To Watch Sports On TV: "Man Kills Wife After Sex To Watch Sports On TV

POSTED: 9:29 am PDT August 4, 2005
UPDATED: 9:45 am PDT August 4, 2005

PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- A Florida sports fan has been sentenced to death for killing his wife after sex.

Christoper Offord got angry because his wife wanted to cuddle after they had sex -- but he wanted to watch sports on television. She died after being struck dozens of times with a claw hammer.

Offord later confessed to a bartender at a sports bar, and eventually pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

In imposing the death sentence, the judge said the brutality of the crime outweighed any of the defendant's possible mental problems.

Offord did not speak in court, but admitted in a jailhouse interview that he deserved to die.

"

kgw.com | News for Oregon and SW Washington | Local News

Anybody see the loophole in the Oregon law? (Hint: intent)

kgw.com | News for Oregon and SW Washington | Local News: "aked man swims to Ross Island

04:15 PM PDT on Wednesday, August 10, 2005

By ANTONIA GIEDWOYN, kgw.com Staff

A naked man swimming in the Willamette River towards Ross Island Wednesday morning prompted a 9-1-1 call from an apparently alarmed onlooker, but the swimmer was allowed to continue.

The Willamette River runs through downtown Portland.

“It’s not a crime to be naked [in public],” said Sgt. Brian Schmautz with the Portland Police Bureau.

According to Oregon law, it’s not illegal to be naked anywhere in public unless the naked person has the intent to be sexually aroused.

The 9-1-1 call came in about 10:30 a.m. Police, fire and county officials were notified, Schmautz said.

The man was not expected to face any charges. "

Coach Hillary or President Hillary?

Hope he's right.

I'm just waiting for Obama in '12

ESPN.com: Page 2 : The Sports Guy's mailbag: "Q: Which do you think we'll see first, a female president or a female head coach of an NBA, MLB, NFL or NHL team?
--Matt Skelly, Hadley, Mass.

SG: ...

What will we see? That's easy -- a female president. If you don't think Hillary Clinton will be running the country in four years, you're crazy. Ever been stuck in a room full of women when they decide on something ridiculous like 'Andie McDowell has been the most beautiful woman in Hollywood for the past 15 years' and they will absolutely stick together until the death when you're posing counterarguments? Well, I think that's how the 2008 election is going to unfold -- Hillary is going to be Andie McDowell-ed right into the presidency. If she becomes president, that means any woman can become president. It's too important not to vote for her. So they'll vote for her.

(And just for the record, I probably will, too -- I miss having Bill Clinton around. Imagine having him on tour as the First Man? How much trouble could he get into? It would be just as if he was the president again, only without any responsibility. Think about it -- even when he did have responsibility, the whole Lewinsky debacle happened. As the First Man? Anything's possible.)"

follow up

follow up
Originally uploaded by ideateller.

the main problem I have with these ads is that they suck. the idea's great.

but the first ad is godawful.

ugly

ugly
Originally uploaded by ideateller.

UNATTRACTIVE MEN SOUGHT FOR LIQUOR ADS

British Spirits Company Strikes Back Against U.K. Ad Regulators

August 08, 2005

QwikFIND ID: AAQ81G

By Emma Hall



LONDON (AdAge.com) -- In a clever public relations coup, the president of

Halewood International distilleries has deftly turned a rebuke by U.K.

advertising regulators into a hilarious stunt that has focused more

attention than ever on his products.



Halewood International has turned a clash with British advertising

regulators into a PR stunt that has drawn world attention. The top image

above is the offending ad; the lower image is the company's response seeking

unattractive males for its next ad campaign.



In June, the Liverpool-based spirits company's new ad for its carbonated,

peach-flavored Lambrini drink ran afoul of the British Code of Advertising

Practices' recently tightened prohibition against ads that suggest alcoholic

drinks may contribute to sexual-social success. That new restriction, which

may sound silly to a U.S. audience, was actually motivated by a countrywide

concern over the growing problem of binge drinking among British youth.



Sexually edgy ads

Halewood International, which has a controversial history of running

sexually edgy ads, is now required to submit its work to the U.K.

Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) before publishing it. When it

submitted its latest ad for the Lambrini brand, ASA rejected it.



That ad shows three attractive young women ?winning? a hunky young man in a

parody of a traditional British fairground game where rubber ducks are

"fished" out of a pond with a hooked pole. The ad was created by the

Manchester-based CheethamBell JWT agency.



The ASA informed Halewood that it considers "advert is in danger of implying

that the drink may bring sexual/social success, because the man in question

looks quite attractive and desirable. If the man was clearly unattractive,

we think that this implication would be removed. This does not mean that we

are banning attractive people from alcohol advertising.?



'Fat, middle-aged golfers'

Seizing on the wording about "unattractive men" Halewood's chairman-CEO,

John Halewood, responded by creating and publicizing a new advertisement for

Lambrini that sought to recruit "fat, middle-aged golfers" to star in a new

Lambrini ad that would be more in keeping with the ASA's sensibilities.



Apparently in order to avoid having to submit the work for ASA approval as a

public advertisement, Mr. Halewood erected the new ad as a large poster in

his own backyard, which overlooks the Royal Birkdale golf course -- where

the British Women?s Open Championship was being played.



Mr. Halewood said, ?We?re not sure the ASA is qualified to decide for the

nation who?s sexy and who?s not. Beauty is after all in the eye of the

beholder ?- perhaps the ASA should take a look in the mirror before they

decide they?ve got the rulebook on sexual prowess.?

Dead Cats Hear No Screams / House smell a little sour? Hear strange mewling in the walls? Maybe you, too, can be a crazy cat lady

Dead Cats Hear No Screams / House smell a little sour? Hear strange mewling in the walls? Maybe you, too, can be a crazy cat lady: "So you'd think if you lived in a densely populated town in Virginia and were 58 years old and spent a good number of your postmenopausal years hoarding feral cats to the point where you finally reached a grand total of 88 diseased and inbred felines all flopped like used rags around your house, well, you'd think you might have accomplished something just a little special. "

*IRON* Mike

No comment.

New York Daily News - Daily Dish & Gossip - Rush & Molloy: Unsettling news in Jax's custody fight: "A hit below the belt?

Mike Tyson might be turning from his fists to another body part to make a living.

The former champ says he's been approached by reps for porn star Jenna Jameson to co-star in a X-rated movie.

The free-spending pugilist, who was pummeled recently by the tax man, says he told Jameson's people, 'I need the money up front.'

Boxing writer Pedro Fernandez recalled in Zoo magazine that, 'according to court documentation from Tyson's rape trial, his member is at least 14 inches long. If Tyson brings out some of the ferocity that made him a champion, he could definitely become a successful porn star.'

The muscleman has been spending this week on the beaches of Saint-Tropez with some shapely ladies. Maybe he's in training."

Trading Cricket for Jihad - New York Times

Wow.

Trading Cricket for Jihad - New York Times: "We have learned a lot about the jihadists, from Osama bin Laden down to the Europeans who attacked the London subways last month. We know, thanks to a database gathered by Marc Sageman, formerly of the C.I.A., that about 75 percent of anti-Western terrorists come from middle-class or upper-middle-class homes. An amazing 65 percent have gone to college, and three-quarters have professional or semiprofessional jobs, particularly in engineering and science.

"

3 runs in 25 hours: Sean.Keener.org

Keener posted this on his blog, so being a smartass and someone who hates running, I had to post a comment.

3 runs in 25 hours: Sean.Keener.org: "3 runs in 25 hours

6:30 am August 3rd: 6.3 miles in 49:37 (Big BootsnAll Loop)
5:15 pm August 3rd: 6.0 miles in 45:53 (Terwilleger Hill)
6:30 am August 4th: 5.4 miles in 44:16 (Esplanade)

I'm ready for HTC - now, how fast can I go?"


From me:

Funny. I just completed 3 runs in 25 months:

3:00 pm June 2003: 0.4 miles in 2:00 (Late for airplane, shoeless)
1:00 am Halloween 2004: 0.3 miles in 1:15 (retrieving condoms from my hotel room) (vertical gain/loss +30ft) (also shoeless)
11:15 pm (?) July 2005: 0.8 miles in ??? (drunk on Venice Beach. Not shoeless, but pantsless).

(Note: completely fictional events.)

bunny suicide for my birthday

bunny suicide for my birthday
Originally uploaded by ideateller.

endy was in town this weekend and she brought a birthday gift for me.



she made an awesome (with jen's craftpertise) t-shirt of the bunny suicides.



here's an excerpt from the Suicide Bunnies book.



book of bunny suicides

BreakingNews

Well, there goes my fraternity. Damn. Hopefully that means the fundraising letters will stop.

BreakingNews: "August 2, 2005
Fraternity closes Fla. chapter as hazing penalty
ASSOCIATED PRESS Related news from the Web

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - A national fraternity has closed its chapter at the University of Florida for two years as a penalty for hazing.

Three Kappa Alpha pledges who were arrested March 18 for stealing signs from local businesses and apartment complexes told police they had been ordered to take the signs to decorate the fraternity house for an upcoming party. "

A Big Drug Party - Cheap cocaine on the way, thanks to a new Colombian law. By Daniel Kurtz-Phelan

Sweet. Just in time for Burning Man.

A Big Drug Party - Cheap cocaine on the way, thanks to a new Colombian law. By Daniel Kurtz-Phelan: "A Big Drug Party
Cheap cocaine on the way, thanks to a new Colombian law.
By Daniel Kurtz-Phelan
Posted Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2005, at 4:24 AM PT

Uribe's plan will let the paramilitaries off easy
In May, Colombian soldiers raided a cave near the Pacific coast and found 15 tons of cocaine ready to be loaded onto a squadron of speedboats for transport north. It was the biggest take ever in Colombia, worth $400 million on the American street, and the latest in a slew of busts this spring and summer. In the past several months, Columbian authorities have stumbled on multi-ton stashes and intercepted drug-loaded speedboats on a weekly basis. Military officials report that they are on pace to seize 60 percent more cocaine than they did last year.

"

strange ABC News: Welcome to the Swamp

ABC News: Welcome to the Swamp: "Aug. 2, 2005 — Dunwoody, Ga., is a neighborhood of luxurious, discreet, elegantly landscaped, million-dollar homes.

And then there's Daryl Cook's house where Spottie, Dottie and Sausage Patty — the pigs —- roam the front lawn along with a trio of goats and a rooster named Spurrier. They stand out against Cook's bright orange-and-blue house, the colors of his alma mater, the University of Florida.

Cook wanted to subdivide his property and build a second house, but some neighbors protested and officials denied his request on the grounds his land was zoned for agriculture, not residence.

So Cook gave them agriculture with a vengeance.

'Sore loser,' Cook said. 'If you wish, you can call me that, but I'm fighting for what I think is my right.'

Cook has cleared his trees to make room for next year's crop of corn and beans and he says he still has more work to do.

'I've been given lemons and I've made lemonade,' Cook said. 'This is my way to make the best use of the property.'

He calls his homestead 'The Swamp of Georgia.' Neighbors have other names.

'When he got the hogs and got the rooster, I understand there's quite a stench that surrounds the property,' said Ken Wright III, the Dunwoody Homeowners' Association president.

But Cook said he has received nothing but positive feedback from his unusual protest, adding his goal is not to drive away his neighbors.

'I've got some wonderful neighbors and I certainly want to keep my neighbors and be neighborly,' he said. 'I intend to live here; I want to live here.'"

More Ashcroft/Verve

Lord, I guess I'll never know by Richard Ashcroft.

This was a b-side to Bittersweet Symphony, nearly 8 years ago, and still remains one of my favorite songs.

"Y'know that sometimes I get lost/been asking questions since the day I could talk."

asking questions = blogging, i think.

Coldcroft

KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic led with a live version of 'bittersweet symphony', one of my favorite songs of all time. (and one of the biggest highway train robberies of all time - google 'verve bittersweet rolling stones' and take a look).

On the live cut, he introduces the song as "modern day blues music". he aint' wrong.

So, I took a look around to see if Mssr. Ashcroft is readying his third solo album. He is. 8 tracks have strings (he's gone a little Seal on us).

On top of that, he's been opening for Coldplay and performed with them at Live 8 (who actually watched that show?). You can find a link to a slow-loading video clip below.

What happened next: "

Coldplay take to the stage and “In My Place” fills the air. Chris Martin and co are also dressed entirely in black. Was there a dress code backstage? Martin punches the air and the crowd are with him all the way. His hand, displaying the Fair Trade symbol he’s been sporting of late, covers the Jumbotron screens. He introduces a special guest and “the best song ever written”and none other than the Verve’s Richard Ashcroft strolls onstage. Wearing White.

“Bittersweet Symphony”is the song on Ashcroft’s lips and 90% of the audience's as well. "