May 7, 2008
The Forecast Is for Clouds
Apparently the outage I’ve been promising is about to happen for real…so this is farewell, but not goodbye. I will be using the copious time I save by not writing…er, not deleting junk comments…to read David Mitchell’s mega-mulit-award-winning Cloud Atlas, finally. Perhaps you’d like to join me?
Read it in books
Posted by bill at 9:41 PM
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April 23, 2008
Don't Panic
The wise words of Douglas Adams are always worth keeping in mind, but especially so now, because the entire MediaJunkie family of blogs—which includes The Philter—will soon be going offline for a server upgrade. The outage will begin pretty much any time now and last for about a week. I know that many of you can’t begin your day without my invaluable guidance, but one of these mornings you’re going to wake up and find this site gone. When that happens, you’ll want to throw yourself off the roof of the nearest tall building, but please, I beg you, don’t. Just take a deep breath and remind yourself that this, too, shall pass. I’ll see you again in the brighter and bigger world of next week.
Whatever else
Posted by bill at 11:58 AM
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April 21, 2008
Word of the day
I just randomly came across this word in the dictionary (Webster’s New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition). I swear I am not making this up.
pinchcock: a clamp used on a flexible tube to control the flow of fluid through it
In a word: ouch.
Whatever else
Posted by bill at 11:50 AM
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April 18, 2008
Also, Your Holiness's ride is totally bitchin'
While we’re at it, can anyone tell me why they appear to be standing in front of a Confederate flag?
I really thought I was over being amazed at what a doofus our Commander-in-Chief is. I mean, it’s old news, right? But every once in a while, I see something that gets me shaking my head all over again.
For instance, a couple days ago, Pope Benedict was giving a speech at the White House. Not necessarily my favorite person, the Pope; but still, this is a very important figure on the world stage, the spiritual leader of hundreds of millions of people. When the speech is over, George W. walks up to him, and here’s what our beloved leader has to say: “Thank you, Your Holiness. Awesome speech.”
Awesome speech. I…ugh. Never mind. It’ll all be over with soon enough.
Whatever else
Posted by bill at 10:48 AM
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April 13, 2008
Talking at cross-purposes
Overheard at Trader Joe’s:
Dad to approximately four-year-old son: We need to get some bananas. Want to help me pick out some bananas?
Boy: I’m an apatosaurus.
Whatever else
Posted by bill at 7:03 PM
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April 9, 2008
And now for something completely...
According to news reports, John Cleese has offered to write jokes for Barack Obama if (when) he becomes the Democratic nominee for president.
Monty Python legend John Cleese is to offer his services as a speechwriter to Barack Obama if he wins the Democratic nomination to become US president, he told a British newspaper out Tuesday. The British comedian, who lives in California, told the Western Daily Press regional paper that his jokes could help the Illinois senator get into the White House.
Call me cynical, but it doesn’t take a genius to see this for what it really is: a shameless, transparent ploy for an appointment to head the Ministry of Silly Walks in an Obama administration.
Whatever else
Posted by bill at 1:10 PM
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April 8, 2008
When Elvis Met Steve
Among the things I learned from Born Standing Up: The picture of Steve Martin on the left is not a gag devised for the cover of The Steve Martin Brothers, as I’d always assumed. It was how Steve actually looked in the late 60s.
This week’s reading has been Steve Martin’s memoir Born Standing Up. On the whole, a surprisingly dry read, though of course loaded with interesting tidbits for the Martin aficionado. Some of these have to do with the development of his comedy, though a lot of that I already knew from one place or another. Others had to do with Steve’s interactions with other famous persons. For instance, Linda Ronstadt:
One week I opened the show for Linda Ronstadt; she sang barefoot on a raised stage and wore a silver lamé dress that stopped a millimeter below her panties, causing the floor of the Troubadour to be slick with drool. Linda and I saw each other for a while, but I was so intimidated by her talent and street smarts that, after the ninth date, she finally said, “Steve, do you often date girls and not try to sleep with them?”
Continue reading "When Elvis Met Steve"
Read it in books
Posted by bill at 2:44 PM
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