Puppets AND Hippie Music!

This morning I was all set to write about this column by the Sun's new sports columnist, and how he got it exactly right - the Orioles won't return to prominence, or even respectability, while Peter Angelos owns the team.

But then I found this video. These Gloves and Boots people took the fantastical hippie sound of the Polyphonic Spree and created a music video starring their puppets! Yeah, the lyrics and the puppet singing don't snyc up all that well, but hey most puppets aren't great singers anyway. What's important is that the video captures the peace, love, flower-child, cult-like vibe of the Spree. Enjoy!

Instant Zombie Classic

I just saw Shaun of the Dead last night for the first time. While not a very scary zombie movie, it's certainly the funniest zombie film I've seen thus far. When I finally get around to starting the all-zombie portion of our DVD collection, it will certainly be an addition. So if you dig zombies, silly British humor, and good filmmaking, check out Shaun of the Dead.

Now a note about most zombie movies - generally the premise is that if one is bitten by a zombie, one will eventually die and be re-animated by the zombie disease/curse/cooties, into another zombie. But after people are first bitten, they always continue to fight off the zombies, even though they should know that they're just going to be one themselves, eventually. So why fight? I mean, you're just going to get to the point that's in every zombie film, when your best friend or brother or girlfriend is going to have to decapitate you or shoot you in the head to protect themselves. So why put them in that tough emotional situation? Once you're bitten, time to throw in the towel!

Of course, it's just instinct to keep fighting when you're attacked by the undead, so I suppose that's part of the reason. Maybe the victim also figures that maybe there's a small chance that they're starring in a zombie film in which the cure for zombieism is found at the end of the movie, and that in that case fighting and becoming a zombie later on beats being torn limb-from-limb by the undead (which is what will happen if you don't fight them off) and ending up just-plain-dead. Don't hold your breath - I've seen a number of zombie films, and that never happens. In fact, the endings are usually pretty bleak for humanity, and relatively bright for the flesh-eating legions of undead.

[Blogger's Note: the word zombie or derivations thereof appear in this post fifteen times! I tried to change it up occassionally, throwing in undead every once in a while. The I got to thinking, are there any other synonyms for zombie that I'm not coming up with? Just one, really. The only word I could find that was specifically appropriate for zombies, as opposed to ghosts, demons, or vampires, was revenant.]

Latest 'W' Joke

Well, maybe it's not the latest, but I just received it by email so it's new to me:

Donald Rumsfeld is giving the president his daily briefing.

He concludes by saying: "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed in an
accident."

"OH NO!" the President exclaims. "That's terrible!"

His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the
President sits, head in hands.

Finally, the President looks up and asks..........

How many is a Brazillion???

Negative Publicity & Google

I searched for 'underchuckle' today on Google, and the blog finally shows up! So I'm taking this opportunity, which not-so-coincidentally follows coming home to a second-floor window screen lying -bent and twisted - on the ground in front of our house, to extoll the virtues of the Patterson Park Community Development Corporation. They're the people who we bought the house from, and who offer a one-year comprehensive warranty that is taking them 18 months and counting to fulfill the terms of. They can't measure for or install window screens properly. They can't seem to find a decent plumber. Their customer service response time is measured in months. The list goes on.

Hopefully, Google will continue to work its magic, and all of my blog entries will be indexed someday. And they just maybe, aspiring homeowners who are contemplating a move to the Patterson Park neighborhood and are thinking of buying from the nice people at the CDC will Google said company, and will find this entry. To those visitors, I sincerely beseech you - don't do it. It may seem like a good deal, but dealing with them and their semi-skilled contractors will beget nothing but frustration. Trust me, I've been there.

The Only Weather Site You'll Ever Need

The guy who operates this site is a TV weatherman & meteorologist from Idaho, who believes that Russian - i.e. old Soviet - technology was used (possibly by the Japanese Mafia?) to cause and control Hurricane Katrina. He's leaving his TV gig to devote more time to his 'research'.

Destruction Photos!

As promised (a day late, not that you're surprised by that), the rubble and mayhem that is our Baltimore rowhouse:



Here's the backyard, after its fateful encounter with a jackhammer, a sledgehammer, and some pry bars. I think the hibiscus are a nice touch.







And here is the front railing, after a surprise visit from a dirtbike-riding hoodlum.

Anyone Want Some Concrete?

So I'm having some trouble trying to get rid of all this busted-up concrete that's in our back "yard". Seems that the people who work at concrete recycling companies aren't known for the breadth of their knowledge on those companies' operations. For example, a woman at a local facility could tell me how much they charge for disposal (a nominal $30 fee, no matter how much concrete you have) and how much they charge to drop a dumpster near your house ($75), but not how much to pick up said dumpster. Huh? So she gave me another phone number to call to get that information, and they evidently aren't able to pick up the phone when it rings. The other local place I've tried has still yet to answer their damn phone! I suppose I'm just surprised - and disappointed - that the concrete recycling industry in Baltimore doesn't attract the best and brightest in the construction refuse business.

And yes, I know, I promised to post photos of the concrete rubble and the results of punk-on-a-dirtbike vs. iron railing. What can I say, I have been remiss. I'll post them tomorrow, I promise!

I'm going to a Nationals game with my brother tonight, versus Barry Bonds and the Gigantes. He homered last night at RFK, we'll see if he can make it two nights in a row. The big question of course is, what's he on now? Some stealth steroid? HGH? Or a super-new, high-octane flaxseed oil? We'll probably never know.

MS Doctor Tells Dick Where to Go, Cashes In

So it seems that Dr. Ben Marble is making a bit of money off of his comments to Dick Cheney last week. (You'll recall that last summer Cheney expressed near-identical sentiments to Senator Leahy of Vermont on the Senate floor). I don't have a problem with that; the good doctor has stated pretty clearly that even though his house was destroyed by Katrina, he's not a charity case. And it takes some nerve to walk up to the VP, surrounded by Secret Service, and say what he did. I think the T-Shirt could be a bit flashier though, maybe a photo of Dick, a middle finger, something like that...

Our Latest Export

I would be remiss if I went any longer without mentioning spankledelia.com. For those of you who know Mr. Grau, neither his site's artistic merits nor his...engaging and um, enlightened prose should come as a surprise. He's recently unleashed himself upon London disguised as a mild-mannered (bwaahhahah!) art student. Well, maybe unleashed isn't the right term; it's not quite like the classic Godzilla/Tokyo relationship, because he's not nearly that tall. Anyway, good luck to all involved.

Seriously though, how much damage could he do over there? With what they already think of us thanks to our remedial president, Ryon may actually raise their collective opinion of the U.S.! You know that we live in a very fucked-up world when that last sentence is actually true.
(image from spankledelia, used without permission - I'm married to a lawyer, go ahead and sue!)

BB King, Maryland Wine

This past Sunday, thanks to Amy & Matt, we saw B.B. King at Wolf Trap. I had never been to Wolf Trap in all my years in this area, and I was impressed. Not so much with the sound or view, which were both excellent, but with the fact that on the lawn, you can bring whatever you want to eat or drink. Beer, wine, food; we had it all! Even crackers and cheese. We blended almost seamlessly into the vast lawn of yuppies. I had no idea that B.B. King was almost 80 years old! He'll actually be 80 this Friday. He took long breaks between songs to tell stories and jokes, and never played Lucille for very long stretches, but whaddya want, the dude is 80! He can still sing and still play though, and it was a great show all around.

This weekend is the Maryland Wine Festival, out in Westminster. Yeah, I know, I'm more of a beer drinker too. But we've been the past couple years, and it's a good time (because of all the wine, mostly). It's open both Saturday and Sunday - if you're interested in going, let me know and maybe we can arrange a delightful group outing on one of those days.

It's Official, He's Really That Bad

From Sky News Ireland (Sky is owned by Rupert Murdoch, go figure). It's not exactly breaking news though, about half the country has figured this out over the last five years.

Dirt Bikes and Jackhammers

Dirt Bike: Like the one a teenager was riding in our neighborhood when he saw the cops, tried to outrun them, and crashed into our front railing on Friday afternoon. A photo is forthcoming in the next entry.

Jackhammer: The implement that was used when my dad, brother and I busted up 300 sqaure feet of concrete in our back yard. Definitely better than a sledgehammer! And more fun too. Photos forthcoming also.

New Orleans Blog

Thanks to my brother, who sent me the link for this blog, which is operating from the downtown New Orelans Central Business District.