tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73121492009-10-13T07:21:12.088-05:00art, politics, opinions, grammar, random stuff, boiled, poached, fried, sunny side uprabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.comBlogger334125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-14655204204813939892009-04-12T18:21:00.002-05:002009-04-12T18:27:55.973-05:00

Amazon rank: Amazon sales rank has been stripped from books deemed too gay, even where not sexually explicit, as part of an "adult" policy to keep them out of bestseller lists. Yet hetero porn (the deathless Playboy: The Complete Centerfolds) survives.

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614987768417981858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-54079952444408672812009-04-01T10:43:00.002-05:002009-04-01T10:47:00.307-05:00

This is not what I want to read about nuclear missile installations (whatever day it is):According to wire reports, the remote facility temporarily moved to Defense Condition (Defcon) 3 in the pre-dawn hours, but quickly backed down from that posture. An airman at the installation who asked not to be identified blamed the mishap on "way too much caffeine" consumed by occupants inside the secluded

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614987768417981858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-86348235124859020292009-02-10T20:43:00.001-06:002009-02-10T20:43:44.693-06:00

OK, that's all I have to say.

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614987768417981858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-91055271666124594762009-01-25T11:19:00.006-06:002009-01-25T11:31:30.001-06:00

I hereby ordain that film critics should start using this new term I made up for the way the camera in movies about the twentieth century emphasizes shots of people smoking in a place it's no longer legal (like an airplane or an office cubicle), or drinking or smoking while pregnant. (In case it's not obvious: after not seeing a movie in a theater in a very long time,* I recently saw

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614987768417981858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-87827135660996089852009-01-25T07:37:00.002-06:002009-01-25T07:49:21.997-06:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/24/health/research/24coffee.html?emMmmmm.....

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614987768417981858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-10513667280248072392008-12-31T16:47:00.002-06:002008-12-31T16:50:04.334-06:00

That about says it. Though I'm impressed with the Clintonesque, lawyerly, "depends on what the meaning of is is" logic of why it's fine to accept the nomination.

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614987768417981858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-54405175546748935822008-12-24T09:38:00.002-06:002008-12-24T09:47:04.753-06:00

I am making an ABC book of the financial crisis and I need some help determining which is the best word for each letter of the alphabet. Anyone have an opinion on which A is the best?AAA (credit rating)AFFINITY FRAUD (what Madoff engaged in by cheating mainly Jews)AIDAIGASIAAUTO INDUSTRY (or AUTOMAKERS)OR, anyone have any other suggestions?

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614987768417981858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-58332099624077756452008-08-31T00:12:00.003-05:002008-08-31T00:16:14.955-05:00

As of Thursday, the bus stops on 51st St. at Greenwood and at University Aves. have been "permanently" removed, and there's a rather ostentatious police blockade preventing traffic from entering the 5000 block of Greenwood. I wonder how long they'll let traffic go by at all? I guess this is what being the party's official nominee brings with it. So much for public transportation a block away from

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-62743340826766527582008-08-06T22:21:00.004-05:002008-08-06T23:00:58.065-05:00

So all last week I was waiting patiently for my new Credo mobile phone to arrive. I'm feeling pretty good about how every call I make is going to help make contributions to good liberal causes.Credo uses Federal Express for deliveries. So on the first day, Federal Express leaves a door tag on the gate outside my building. The driver has checked the option on the door tag that requires me to be

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-89698159713196586552008-07-09T15:50:00.010-05:002008-07-09T16:34:28.255-05:00

This one translates as: "Re-live May 68 on Oldies 90.4"This one responds to it. Half-erased, it translates as: "Where are the spaces for [free/creative/open] expression?  

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-54412126578708688992008-07-02T12:22:00.006-05:002008-07-02T12:31:43.047-05:00

OK, I am not actually staying in the sky. I am at the University of Exeter for a conference on obscenity in the French Renaissance--talk about abstruse and overspecialized! But it should be fun....This is a view that includes part of the courtyard of the hall where I'm staying and some of the countryside. Exeter is in "the heart of Devon." There are beautifully rolling hills, cows and sheep, and

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-30770310631182434452008-07-02T11:51:00.003-05:002008-07-02T12:32:45.648-05:00

Oxford, where I was doing some research involving geometry in medieval manuscripts (and found some other interesting stuff too). 

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-72655279633137268232008-06-19T20:06:00.001-05:002008-06-19T20:09:01.250-05:00

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-9001539841780401122008-06-19T12:12:00.001-05:002008-06-19T12:14:48.601-05:00

http://chicagoist.com/2008/06/17/interview_bank_of_america_cinemas_m.php

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-70472244358669244112008-06-18T23:43:00.002-05:002008-06-18T23:43:47.287-05:00

Istria Cafe in Hyde Park, Chicago, is now celebrating of "Government Appreciation Month" by offering one free medium gelato to any national presidential candidate or family member.

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-12453404522029725922008-04-15T21:40:00.000-05:002008-04-15T21:41:01.779-05:00

What's up with the flotilla of movie trucks outside Obama's house right now?

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-8854336139208166342008-01-03T14:54:00.000-06:002008-01-03T14:58:36.317-06:00

At O'Hare Airport, in the United terminal, there's a nice feature above the E-ticket checkin terminals: a display screen explaining to you the security requirements for bringing liquids in carry-on luggage. 3-1-1, as we all now know. (3 ounce containers, in one quart ziploc bag, per one passenger, I guess.) What's awfully nice about this feature is how honest United is about why were are doing

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-19931679762395266022007-07-31T14:58:00.000-05:002007-07-31T14:59:22.334-05:00

I've been pretty overwhelmed. I'm going to start blogging again soon. I promise. All for now, but more to come....

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-89691985025734710092007-03-22T23:22:00.000-05:002007-03-23T00:01:55.607-05:00

Siren of the Tropics (La Sirène des Tropiques)[this post is part of Goatdog's 1927 Blog-a-thon]In Siren of the Tropics (1927), Josephine Baker’s character, Papitou, is by no means a siren. The title comes straight from a marquee at the Folies Bergères; maybe it’s just ironic. Josephine doesn’t sing, and she doesn’t effortlessly (or even calculatedly) attract the man she loves, though she does

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-1170799097765406102007-02-06T15:55:00.000-06:002007-02-06T15:58:17.783-06:00

Just a follow-up to my note below about Sony. A couple weeks ago I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau of New York (because that's where Sony's corporate headquarters is). I was assigned a case number and wasn't sure anything would come of it. Well, lo and behold, I got a call from a Sony employee saying my rebate would be on its way direct from headquarters (bypassing the rebate

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-1170310321319308322007-02-01T00:05:00.000-06:002007-02-01T00:12:01.343-06:00

OK, so while I'm blogging again, something of a more frivolous nature than the School of the Americas. Well, not frivolous, but something of mainly personal and not global relevance. Here it is: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER count on Sony to honor a rebate promotion. Sony owes me $500 (a promised rebate on a pricey video camera) and apparently has no plans of coughing it up. On October 4 they informed me

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-1170285391504904172007-01-31T17:08:00.000-06:002007-01-31T17:16:31.520-06:00

That's right, I haven't been blogging much. Today I am moved to blog by the courage of my neighbor, Don Coleman, who, along with 15 other protesters, was just sentenced to two months in federal prison for "unlawful entry" (stepping over the line onto Army territory) at the School of the Americas, Ft. Benning, Georgia, this past November. The School of the Americas trains Latin American military

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-1168718020342135342007-01-13T13:50:00.000-06:002007-01-13T13:53:40.366-06:00

Seen: one medium-sized raccoon, successfully dodging traffic on Chicago Avenue between Ashland and Noble around 8pm. ("That's a raccoon!" many were heard to say.)Also heard: "Did you hear James Brown died?" [With Jamaican lilt:] "Girl, under what rock have you been hiding?"

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-1166760876375490262006-12-21T21:41:00.000-06:002006-12-22T09:02:40.963-06:00

"Happy Holidays" has been a part of our culture for over a hundred years. Why is there suddenly a war against it? Why is this simple phrase suddenly so scandalous?I was inspired to do this research by a friend who, I guess, travels in somewhat more conservative circles than I do. She mentioned to me that she'd "gotten @#$%^" one year when she sent a "Happy Holidays" card instead of a "Merry

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7312149.post-1166323305529995562006-12-16T20:33:00.000-06:002006-12-16T20:41:45.546-06:00

Hey, that's catchy, kinda like "Mirror in the Bathroom." Feel Tank has now had 2 of its 15 minutes of fame. Listen here.In other news, two of my three readers know this already, but...I had good news about my tenure case yesterday. Maybe I can start blogging under my real name now. (Maybe not.) Yesterday it was 60 degrees in Boston in mid-December. On any other day, for me, that would be cause

rabbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269290495604454136noreply@blogger.com0