Drinking whiskey clear!
Amazon apparently thinks that Barack Obama is a terrorist. Why? Because if you searched Amazon for “terrorist costume”, this used to be the first hit:
Sadly (for humor purposes), Amazon has fixed the “glitch”. Read all about it at the L.A. Times site here.
The Episcopal Church will end this fiscal year almost $2.5 million in debt. Why? Because they’re busy suing anyone and everyone holding orthodox Anglican beliefs in the United States, of course!
“Come join the Episcopal Church… where we say we want to end world hunger, but spend all our money on suing members of our own church!”
As always, thanks to BabyBlue for the tip.
For years, I’ve thought that the media had a liberal bias. Of course, everyone just said I was “crazy” or imagining it all. And then Fox News came into being, and so the liberals started screaming about their biased coverage. Sooooo… it’s OK to think that Fox News is a hyperbolic right-wing mouthpiece, yet also think that CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post are paragons of totally impartial and completely objective journalism, and that anyone that disagrees with that is crazy? Yeah, that makes sense.
However, thanks to this year’s election, I can finally prove that it’s not just me: here are two editorials by professional journalists (one from Orson Scott Card here and the other by Michael S. Malone here) that are disgusted not only with the media bias of the 2008 election, but also other incidents.
Malone in particular is pretty peeved about the coverage of the Lebanon War from a couple of years ago. And he’s got a point. Mainstream media sources couldn’t stop reporting on every single thing the IDF did, while at the same time they deliberately chose to ignore the torrent of missiles launched by Hezbollah into northern Israel. Some poor Palestinian kid falls off his bike and CNN can’t get cameras there fast enough to document “Israel’s brutality”, yet hundreds of Israelis are killed by missiles fired from civilian areas in Lebanon and CNN can’t be bothered.
But yeah, the media’s not biased. Not at all.
Well, we’re three episodes in to the American version of Life On Mars… and my verdict: it sucks. Here’s why:
No Smoking: Once again, the people behind Life On Mars US apparently think that no one smoked in 1973. Whereas the original Life On Mars had as much smoking as an episode of Mad Men, in the American version not only does no one smoke, there aren’t even any ashtrays around! Seriously – in last night’s episode Sam and Gene went to a gay bar, and not only was no one smoking (in a gay bar?!?), there wasn’t even an ashtray to be seen anywhere! I know this is a small detail, but come on… how can you be “historically accurate” yet not have people smoking? Oh, and Ray holding a pen like a cigarette doesn’t count!
The Plots Are Too Simple: One of the main “selling points” of Life On Mars (in general) is that we can watch people existing in the recent past, all the while knowing what happens in their future. For example, in the original Life On Mars, Gene Hunt says that “[t]here will never be a woman prime minister as long as I have a hole up my arse”. Both the UK and US versions play this up for humor (last night’s episode had a “wink-wink” moment about gay marriage). But whereas the British version of the show chose not to make everything so black and white, the American version goes for the easy kill. In last night’s episode, a gay man – a war hero apparently “perfect” in every way except for his sexuality – is murdered. I just knew the whole “gays are people, too!” thing was coming… and it did. In the UK version, the gay man would have had something else in his past – an addiction to pornography, or gambling, or something – to give the show some ambiguity and make it feel less like an ABC After School Special.
With the economy in the tank, many of us are looking for ways to cut back. Groceries are a huge expense, and any way you can save a few dollars at the local megamart is always appreciated, right?
Lately I’ve been on a “leg quarters” kick. Our local Bi-Lo runs leg quarters on sale every couple of weeks for something like 59¢ a pound. I was therefore able to buy a giant 10-pound tray of them for less than $6. The only problem is… what to do with them? Sure, they taste great when cooked on the grill and slathered in BBQ sauce… but now it’s getting too cool to grill.
I stumbled across this recipe yesterday. It is, quite possibly, the EASIEST recipe I’ve ever found. It’s so easy, in fact, that I was deeply skeptical of it. But you know what? I tried it out and it was pretty damn good! What’s more, it makes the entire house smell like a Chinese restaurant! Try it out and tell me what you think!
Ingredients
1 chicken leg quarter per person
Garlic powder (not garlic salt)
Soy sauce
Hardware
1 glass baking dish
All you’ve gotta do is preheat your oven to 350F, put the leg quarter(s) in a glass baking dish, sprinkle liberally with garlic powder, then drizzle around 1 tablespoon of soy sauce per leg quarter over the chicken. Bake uncovered for around 35 minutes until the skin is crispy and delicious!
As I said, I was suspicious of this recipe when I first saw it. “Doesn’t it need some Five Spice Powder? Or some mustard powder? Or something?” But then I read the comments and saw everyone raving about it. You can always tweak the recipe if you want, but it tastes pretty good as-is!
The new season of 30 Rock won’t premiere until next Thursday, but you can catch it online at hulu.com here.
HUZZAH! My favorite comedy is back!
Of all the figures in English history, few loom larger than Oliver Cromwell. As “Lord Protector” of England, Cromwell served as England’s chief executive during the Interregnum of 1649–1660 – the only significant period of time since the Romans left England that the island was not ruled by a monarchy. It’s a curiosity, then, that although there are thousands of books written about Cromwell, although every English schoolkid learns about him, and although there’s a huge statue of him outside the Houses of Parliament, Oliver Cromwell has no grave.
Welcome to the mystery of Oliver Cromwell’s head.
It all started with King Charles I. The son of King James I, Charles saw himself as an absolute monarch in the mold of the kings of France. He was on the throne by Divine Right, and no man could tell him what to do. Unfortunately for Charles, there was a group of men who didn’t quite see it that way: the English Parliament.
On June 15, 1215, King John signed Magna Carta at Runnymede. The document was a specific list of grievances the aristocracy had against the crown. By signing it, King John not only agreed to end those specific practices, he established the notion that no one in England – not even the monarch – was above the law. So although future kings like Richard III and Henry VIII might have had ghastly legislation passed, they did so by begging, browbeating, or bribing the Parliament. They didn’t dare think of ignoring it.
Charles I wasn’t nearly as smart. Throughout his reign, he continually tried to take power from the Parliament and give it back to the Crown. Charles seized a small power here, and a little tax there. Parliamentarians protested, but Charles managed to smooth things over… most of the time.
Oh my God… is Pushing Daisies the SWEETEST show of all time or what?
Sadly, the show might not be around for much longer. The “Strike Disease” that’s affecting all of the new shows from last season that were cut off by the strike – Pushing Daisies, Chuck, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Dirty Sexy Money, just to name a few – is really affecting Daisies. The show was originally a surprise hit, pulling in better-than-expected numbers for ABC. However, after the writer’s strike, the show simply isn’t gaining traction. Mainstream media like MSNBC are wondering what’s wrong with the show, while ratings blogs like tvbythenumbers are “this close” to putting the show in the “likely to be cancelled” death pool.
Which is a crying shame. There really hasn’t ever been a TV show like Daisies. Yes, it’s like a favorite comfy sweater or pillow… and it almost makes me tear up at least once per episode.
So… enjoy it while you can , folks!
Back in 2004, Microsoft made the decision to release all security updates for all of their products on the second Tuesday of each month, a day now known to us IT folk as “Patch Tuesday”.
Occasionally, Microsoft will release an “out of band” or “emergency” patch outside of the “Patch Tuesday” schedule. They do this because the security issue in question is simply too critical to wait until the next Patch Tuesday.
There is a new vulnerability out there that affects the “server” service on Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 (both x86 and x64 versions). Microsoft released a new emergency patch for it today. You can read all the technical mumbo-jumbo about it here.
The important thing is that you run Windows Update (or Microsoft Update) on all of your computers ASAP. This exploit looks pretty nasty!
Wow! Just… wow! After last week’s less than stellar episode, this week’s Mad Men was just… amazing! So let’s get right to it, shall we?
“The Mountain King” begins at the Draper home. Betty yells at the children to clean up their mess. She then goes into Don’s office and endorses his paycheck (which is dated October 11, 1962). She goes to light a cigarette and finds something amiss. Betty gets up and quietly walks around the house… until she finds Sally sneaking a cigarette in the bathroom. Betty locks Sally in the closet as a punishment. Sally threatens to “tell daddy” when he comes home. Betty tells her that she is welcome to do so. From the other side of the locked door, Sally says that Don left “left because you’re stupid and mean”. Sally’s comment cuts Betty to the bone:
We next see Don getting off a bus in San Pedro, a small town around 25 miles south of Los Angeles.
Back at the agency, Ken and Sal sit with Peggy in her “office” trying to think of a way to sell Popsicles year-round. Ken complains about the noise and people constantly coming in and out (the Xerox machine is in Peggy’s office, remember?). Sal complains about the lack of “refreshments”, which causes Peggy to reach in her desk and pull out a bottle of Scotch. While Peggy pours, Sal says that his mom would buy him a Popsicle and break it in half, “like Jesus at the Last Supper”. This gives Peggy a flash of inspiration: everyone breaks Popsicles in half, and that is something you can do year ’round. She compares it to Communion, saying that the breaking of a Popsicle is a Christian behavior, if not a Christian action. Peggy says “and let me tell you something, the Catholic Church knows how to sell things”.
We next see Pete, who is walking back to his office. He asks his secretary Hildy if there are any messages. She says that Burt Peterson called with a question about an expense report… oh, and that Trudy has gotten them an appointment at Spence-Chapin, an adoption agency. Hildy then gives a brief speech about how wonderful it is that Pete’s adopting an unwanted baby. Pete, with clenched jaw, thanks her for the messages.