Legal humor here. “It’s been three days, sheriff! How’s that ‘head ’em off at the pass’ shit workin’ out for ya?” “Hey, sheriff! Are those horses you’re ridin’, or mules!” “Only two miles to the border, sheriff! Hope you like chili!” “What’s that you’re ridin’, sheriff? A rockin’ horse or a rockin’…
Author: Alan Vanneman
Bill Nye, the not science guy
Reason’s Nick Gillespie catches Bill Nye in act of being a total asshole when, in a discussion regarding climate change, he “explained” why fear of jail time ought to be a necessary part of scientific inquiry, at least for climate change “deniers”: “In these cases [cases where people say things that Dr. Bill disagrees with],…
“We suck,” says U.S. Army
Well, that’s the word from a breathless Bryan Bender, over at Politico, citing both a “secret” (more or less) “high-level but low-profile” report on Russian military capabilities and recent congressional testimony from Lt. General H. R. McMaster: “POLITICO has learned that, following the stunning success of Russia’s quasi-secret incursion into Ukraine, McMaster is quietly overseeing…
Neoliberalism and its discontents
Almost exactly one year ago, I wrote a contemptuous take down of Thomas Piketty’s then notorious book, Capitalism in the Twenty-First Century. If anyone has been citing Piketty’s arguments in the current presidential primary season, I’ve yet to hear it, but that hardly matters, because global capitalism is taking a pounding from all quarters, a…
ICP Orchestra—“Criss Cross”
“Instant Composers Pool” Orchestra is an Amsterdam-based group. This track was posted by Vera Vingerhoeds.
Two or three things I know about Nancy Reagan
I know I’m a bit late with this, but it took a while to find the right picture. This is Nancy Reagan circa 1946, “Broadway Nancy”, three years before she got to Hollywood, for a career that lasted all of seven years. Nancy Reagan really didn’t belong on the stage, or the screen. That chin,…
Alfred Hitchcock—A coupla white guys sittin’ around talkin’, Part I
Nerdwriter1, a voluble sort who posts at YouTube, has a nice take, shown above, of an early scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo in which “Scottie” (Jimmy Stewart) is put on the case that will prove his undoing by Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore). As Nerdwriter1 points out, in his pains-taking analysis of the scene’s “blocking”, it’s…
Pseudo New Yorker
Legal humor here. “ ‘You have to bring some to get some’ is not a part of our dharma.” “Lose the cap. And the attitude.” “It had best not be shag.” “That’s a whole lot of samsara you’ve got under your arm.” “Natural fibers only, please.” “Some folks are just…
What kind of woman writes for Playboy?
Over at Jezebel, Susan Braudy takes us waaayyy back to 1969 for a tale of consciousness raising Playboy-style, when Playboy’s editors decided they would take a poke at this feminism thing by hiring a woman (yes, you heard that right) to write about it. As Susan tells it, she was encouraged by her agent to…
Miles Davis—“Round Midnight”
Miles Davis Quintet featuring Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams. Recorded at Berlin, West Germany, on November 4, 1967. Posted by Miles Davis Performance Album I doubt if Thelonious would care for this rendition, since both Shorter and Hancock use his most famous composition as little more than a jumping-off point. Davis…