Day: September 5, 2008

More various

  • Oh good. At least Sarah Palin understands where Russia is. I guess McCain is implying he could have picked a running mate who doesn’t. We really dodged a bullet there, huh? At this point, I think he’d have been better off with Michael Palin. Lord knows he’s traveled abroad a lot.
  • Although I do sort of want “Alaska is right next to Russia.” on a t-shirt.
  • The New York Times on the Coen Brothers formula:

    Typically, a slightly down-on-his luck protagonist driven by a single motivating belief (“The Dude abides,” “I’m a writer”) gets involved in a low-level criminal plot involving kidnapping or extortion, setting off a chain reaction of complications and reversals. And more often than not, somebody gets shot in the face.

    Seems pretty accurate to me.

  • Wow. Sioux City must be otherwise really boring. In all fairness, I have never actually eaten at an Olive Garden myself, so maybe it’s worth all the hoopla. I hear they have good free bread and salad. [via]
  • Got allergies? Maybe what you need is a hookworm infection! [via]
  • Movie quiz: Can you recognize movie posters from a single letter? I’m reminded of an episode, I think of 20/20, years ago, in which they showed children an alphabet made up of letters from brand product logos. Most of those were frighteningly easy to recognize. None of the kids had any trouble, as I recall. Here, though, I only got 10 out of 46. So maybe there’s some small hope left for humanity. [via]
  • Just how much of a bad man was J.M. Barrie? Possibly quite very. [via]
  • I’m starting to think bad makeup and receding hair might be something like a motif in later Nicholas Cage movies…
  • Weight Watchers as roleplaying game? Hmm. [via]
  • Need to find a public restroom near you? Look no further. Well, unless it doesn’t work. I honestly haven’t tested the results near me. (And if I’m in Manhattan and really desperate, there’s always the Internets Celebrities to guide me.) [via]

Random is as random does

Last week, maybe in my haste to get it posted before my trip to California, I posted eleven of these. This week, though, we’re back to the regular ten:

  1. “Lonely Teardrops” by Jackie Wilson, guessed by Occupant
    You know my heart does nothing but burn
  2. “Labio-Dental Fricative” by Vivian Stanshall & the Sean Head Showband
    How many pies can a porpoise poise on purpose if she pleases?
  3. “Mary Lou” by Ronnie Hawkins
    Left me stranded in Kalamazoo, making her a fortune off a fool like you
  4. “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” by Jerry Lee Lewis, guessed by Kim
    Whose barn, what barn, my barn
  5. “If You Could Read My Mind” by Gordon Lightfoot, guessed by Clayton
    When you reach the part where the heartaches come, the hero would be me
  6. “Judy Is a Punk” by the Ramones, guessed by Kim
    Third verse, different from the first
  7. “Lullabye” by Emitt Rhodes
    Sing it soft and only sigh
  8. “Lost Again” by Dance Hall Crashers
    ’cause I can’t take another handshake or another blank stare
  9. “Paper Anniversary” by Christine Fellows
    All the birds fly home today, it’s fly home day
  10. “A Cautionary Song” by the Decemberists
    Remember what she does when you’re asleep

As always, best of luck!

A couple of quotes

Mark Evanier:

Amidst the dwindling hordes that defend George W. Bush, there’s a strong sense that never admitting a mistake is just as good as never making one.

John Scalzi:

Obama’s already signaled he’s not going to bother with [Palin]; she’ll be shopped out to Biden — or even better, Hilary Clinton, who I would expect is privately fuming that the McCain and the GOP think so little of her positions and personality that they expect her supporters to be swayed by someone who holds antithetical political positions, simply because that person’s got fallopian tubes. If the GOP wanted to keep the Clintons on the sidelines this election, this was not the way to do it.