...but maybe a student of logical relationships would have been nice.
Sean "Diddy (or whatever name he's chosen this week)" Combs has a new men's fragrance out...
Musician, fashion designer, actor, and dad, Sean "Diddy" Combs is a man of many monikers—and many talents. From music videos to raising millions for charity to his fashion line, Sean John, Combs believes that life without passion is unforgivable. His new signature scent, aptly named Unforgivable, bottles this passion for life.Errr... wait. Stay with me here.
Combs believes that "life without passion" = "unforgiveable."
The inverse corollary of this is that "unforgiveable" = "life without passion."
Thus, Combs' new cologne celebrates a rather dull existence.
Diddy, good sir, by your logic you may just as well have named your cologne "sex life of an accountant" or even "I watch Touched by An Angel on the TIVO on Friday nights."
Gosh, where do I buy this stuff?
And, yes, like all of you, I hope this will be one of the few times I waste whitespace on Mr. Combs. Diddy. Sean John. P. Whatever.
You know, since this life is all there is, and actor Darren McGavin has left it.
The husky, tough-talking performer went on to become one of the busiest actors in television and film, starring in five TV series, including "Mike Hammer," and endearing holiday audiences with his role as the grouchy dad in the 1983 comedy classic "A Christmas Story."Mr. McGavin will be fondly remembered annually in the WWR household, as we gather around the television every December to watch "A Christmas Story." And as the kids grow older, they'll do exactly what I did when my father wanted to watch "It's a Wonderful Life." They'll go hide in their room or maybe call up their friends, failing to realize that, at some point, they will pick their own Christmas movie tradition and torture their family with it.McGavin, 83, died Saturday of natural causes at a Los Angeles-area hospital with his family at his side, said his son Bogart McGavin.
It's the Circle of Life.
After lunch today at The Spot out in Golden, I took the family up Lookout Mountain* in the new Ford Fusion SEL. The handling was sure and confident; the power was plenty for the inclines; and I didn't much miss the days of taking the Mazda up the mountain.
Now, you're not going to mistake the Fusion for a high-performance touring car, as it is a sedan at heart, but auto technology has come some distance since my last new car purchase in 1996 (I hear that PCs are faster now too - and that you can get magic pictures on a shiny box in your family room). So, now the Fusion has seen city driving, highway driving, and mountain driving, and handled all of them just fine... what's left?
I'm thinking maybe a bit of undersea driving.
Although it might void the warranty.
More good news on the Ford Fusion Front:
Meanwhile, Ford's intermediate-size Fusion sold 9,999 units in January, more than double October's total, giving it a 5.08 percent share of the hotly contested midsize premium market that includes the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Chevrolet Impala, the perennial sales leader in the segment.I still think Ford is pushing the car to the wrong audience, painting it as some sort of sporty, jazzy, funkafied** cruiser, when - like I said - it's a sedan; but maybe enough of us late-20 and early-30-somethings with kids are seeing it for what it is and liking what we see.
I know I do.
* Want to see a picture of the view from up there? Ahhh, smog!
** Yes, I said "funkafied." No, I don't know if it's a word.
Yes, looks like I'm back to my old snarky ways.
A judge declared a mistrial Saturday in the murder trial of a woman accused of fatally cutting the arms off her 10-month-old daughter.It's a sad world, this one, in which the failure of some to progress beyond ancient mumbo-jumbo results in the bloody killing of an innocent child (not that any children are innocent, with that whole Original Sin nonsense).Jurors deadlocked during the fourth day of deliberations in the case of Dena Schlosser, 37, who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
...psychiatrists testifying for the defense told jurors of multiple psychotic episodes Schlosser detailed to them. One doctor said Schlosser told him she felt commanded by God to cut off Maggie's arms, followed by her own limbs and head. Schlosser had a deep cut on her shoulder when police found her.
Schlosser's husband, John Schlosser, said he wasn't alarmed when his wife said after church the day before the killing that she wanted to "give the baby to God." He said she appeared normal after he calmed her down, and he thought her mental condition had improved over the past few months.
The Schlosser family went several times a week to the Water of Life Church. The pastor, Doyle Davidson, testified that he believes mental illness is possession by demons and only God can cure it.
Dena Schlosser, who was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis after Maggie's birth, didn't take medication or see a doctor in the four months before the killing.
I certainly don't think religion made this woman crazy - nor do I think all religious people are crazy - but the acceptance of such irrational idiocy can only feed the delusions of those with a weak grasp on reality.
Many of you willingly give up that grasp once a week on Sunday, and when questioned about religion, but you have a brain that functions fairly well otherwise; however, when the brain malfunctions and is forcefed nonsense about demons and possession and the mighty-morphin' love of Jesus to cure all and everything, well, look out, world, 'cause a little girl's gonna lose her arms in the bargain.
Say, did you hear about the unstable person who said that the God that doesn't exist told them to kill?
Of course you haven't.
Yes, that title was a bit off-color, but it was short notice and it's the first thing that came to mind. Besides most of you have probably never seen "The Incredible Mr. Limpet," so you won't get it anyway.
Don Knotts - longtime star of television and silver screen - has died at age 81.
Don Knotts, who kept generations of TV audiences laughing as bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show" and would-be swinger landlord Ralph Furley on "Three's Company," has died. He was 81.From the Andy Griffith Show, to the Apple Dumpling Gang, to the awful clothes he wore on Three's Company, Don Knotts was a cultural icon to my generation - or perhaps just to me.Knotts died Friday night of pulmonary and respiratory complications at a Los Angeles hospital, said Paul Ward, a spokesman for the cable network TV Land, which airs his two signature shows.
Fare thee well, Mr. Furley.
At least we have eHarmony.com's Neil Clark Warren to remind us of you.
If I wrote a post with a title like "Andy's Guide to Picking Up Women," and then gave the helpful hint of "lift with your legs, not your back," that would be pretty lame, wouldn't it?
I bet someone else thought of it before me too.
That sucks.
Stupid, lame comedians.
Yes, that would be us once again - Colorado.
A statewide smoking ban moved forward at the State Capitol Wednesday afternoon, but not before the measure passed by the State House was significantly changed.I don't smoke. I find the habit generally disgusting. I've seen firsthand the damage it can do to someone's health. I think smoking is really, really dumb.The Senate Judiciary Committee removed an exemption for Colorado casinos, meaning the Senate version of the bill now would prevent smoking in those establishments. Both versions seek to ban smoking in the vast majority of Colorado's buildings, including its restaurants and taverns.
That said, if you want to smoke, knock yourself out. If a private establishment wants to permit or prohibit smoking, bully for them.
While we've got those inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we're all perfectly free to pursue our happy vibes in another establishment, rather than the one that allows the smoking we don't like.
The other argument is that the ban is to defend the health of employees. Last time I checked, we're all also equally free to work where we choose (so long as the company in question also chooses us).
Warning: anecdotal tale! I've worked in the restaurant industry before and with the turnover there, it's not that hard to find another job... and, besides, most of the folks I knew were either smokers or potheads, alcoholics at the very least, so I doubt their health is their primary concern.
Now, given all of the above, I don't think such a ban would really hurt many establishments, at least not based on what I have read. New people will be willing to come out; current customers will still want to socialize with a drink. We'll all breathe a little easier in the end.
But that's not the point. This remains nanny-state do-goodism run amok, fighting a non-problem in the pursuit of looking like you're actually doing something meaningful. We are a state with economic concerns, immigration issues to be addressed, and public assfaces like Representatives Tom Tancredo and Marilyn Musgrave with which to contend - and this is the big battle our legislature is fighting?
Oh, please.
Pardon this brief intrusion of pop culture:
Why does Simon Cowell keep talking about how they might find someone great tonight, when all he plans to do is package them in a prefab musical nightmare that will eradicate any originality they once possessed?
Just thinkin' out loud. Through my keyboard. Which sounds more like "tap tap tap" than actual words.
My kids, that is!
Fiona Evelyn
Sometimes it comes from stupid people, in reference to this old post about people that can't spell "definitely."
Dumbwits! Definitely is the AMERICAN spelling!No, of course not, chum; but when your way is the wrong way, that does mean it's the wrong way.The rest of the world who follow the ENGLISH (you know from England) quite rightly spell it definately.
Just because it's not your way doesn't mean it's the wrong way.
And, thus, you are wrong.
Definitely so.
P.S. The Oxford English Dictionary Online from the Oxford University Press, part of Oxford University, located in England (where they speak English), says you're wrong too.
P.P.S. "Definately" is also not found in Cambridge University Press' Online Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Perhaps they have it in their Online Self-Righteously Incorrect Person's Dictionary. Worth a shot!
P.P.P.S. Cambridge University is in England too. Where they speak English. I suggest you visit and pay attention. Take notes even.
And you thought Denver International Airport was just a luggage-eating monster!
(Of note: the conspiracy kooks picked a cool Reivers song for their little home movie)
Just noticed that the channel INHD2 is airing Battlestar Galactica in HDTV format, with Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound. Too bad they seem to be a season behind, forcing me to watch the current season in plain ol' TV format.
Well, that was a fun evening.
Time to go get some greasy, spicy Mexican food to cure what ails me.
Pondering: How is it that at 10pm I was thinking about leaving and heading home, and the next thing I knew it was almost 2am? Did a time travelling subversive blogger attend the party?
Don't forget, tonight is the Rocky Mountain Blogger Bash v5.0, at the Breckenridge Brewery near Coors Field, downtown Denver. The fun starts sometime after 6pm.
We don't usually put up signs or wear special shirts or the like, so you might have to ask around. Consider it our personal development gift to the socially inept among you - a growing experience!
Come this time tomorrow, I won't need this stinkin' blog.
The Powerball jackpot has reached a high of $365 million -- making it the largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history.OK, so I'll probably still be a middle class working man, but a boy can dream.
As a pre-emptive strike, I realize there are some of you out there who think you're clever and original when you say "the lottery is a tax on the stupid!" On its face, this is false, as a tax is an involuntary fee, and I don't recall anyone forcing me to throw $5 into the office lottery pool.
Also, I'm pretty smart. I've got the blog to prove it!
At best, for five bucks I've become obscenely rich - at worst, I've had a little fun daydreaming about what things would be like if they turned out for the best and that's about it, minus $5. Not much different really than plopping down five bucks for a tall beer, enjoying it for a little while, and then pissing it into a toilet without remorse.
So, unless you plan to wage your wee war of witticisms against every other purchase that leads to little or no tangible benefit for the buyer, please shut up as no one's interested.
Besides, tomorrow I'll be rich!
Update: Well, that was completely unexpected - looks like I still have to go to work.
A Powerball ticket sold in Nebraska has the winning numbers for the largest jackpot in the nation's history -- $365 million -- lottery officials said Sunday.To the winner, let me just say congratulations and I hate you. In that friendly, jealous way that money so often inspires.
So, our power is out.
It must just be our street, as I can still see a couple of wireless routers from the laptop (which is how I am able to post this even though we're now supposed to be trapped in a technological dark age without electricity). I called Xcel's emergency line and it's busy; guess it's not just us.
Next, I checked the local news to see if the problem is widespread:
XCEL Energy is urging customers to limit usage of natural gas and electricity. Extremely high demand due to the low cold has the possibility of causing outages. Sporadic outages have been reported throughout the metro area.Whoops.
Better bundle up and put the faucets on drip.
Update: And we're back. For now.
Update 2: Others aren't so lucky:
Many parts of the metro area are without power. In Aurora, approximately 450 blocks of the city are without power. Littleton, Lakewood, Commerce City, Highlands Ranch, Westminster and Brighton are also reporting outages.It looks beautiful and sunny out right now, but checking the 9News website shows that looks are deceiving: it's -3F and breezy!
Update 3: Comin' round again?
XCEL Energy is conducting rolling blackouts throughout the Denver metro area. The blackouts last approximately 30 minutes. Each blackout affects a 15 to 20 block area.Yay. Maybe I'll just go back to bed until time for tonight's Rocky Mountain Blogger Bash.
Sure, some folks give you a list of five or ten random songs from their MP3 player, mostly handpicked in a random fashion to make them look cool. But me? No, I give you the list of the entire CD I just had iTunes generate for me, almost 700MB of MP3 goodness.
Not that you care.
But anyway. Click below to see the horror, unedited, because - really now - just look at some of those artists and songs.
Gimme gimme more more more »
Have you ever watched a television show or a movie and, when they show a character using a computer, thought it looked ridiculously unreal? You know, with a click or a point they zip and zoom and cut and paste and manipulate to their little fictional heart's content?
Well, wow, we might not be thinking it so unreal for long.
(via the Cake Eater, who - although she didn't say so - is probably, like the rest of us, wondering just how this will revolutionize porn).
I'm sure, almost positive even, that folks working in the media have a brain similar in structure and function to the one that resides in my head. However, granting that, however reluctantly, I am stumped at how this story could possibly warrant being in the "above the fold" section of CNN.com.
NEW YORK (AP) -- A canine contestant in this week's Westminster Kennel Club show escaped from its cage at John F. Kennedy International Airport and was believed to be on the loose in the surrounding area, authorities said.Is this newsworthy?
Was it an Arabian Hound and thus a credible terrorism risk?
Other stories of less importance, as indicated by page position, include: "Katrina Response Defended," "Deadly Pakistani Protests," and even "Tanzania: Food Needed for 3.7 Million."
Maybe sending them that damn dog to eat would be a good start.
Also:In another show of not knowing what's truly important, they put the SI Swimsuit Issue 2006 link at the very bottom!
What is with these people??
I say let's just tell Kellie Pickler, Katherine McPhee, and Melissa McGhee that they all won and see if they, like, have an impromptu celebratory makeout session. The kind where Kellie will say "Oh, and ladies, this might sound weird, but I just happen to have a tub of whipped cream in my bag." And then they giggle a knowing giggle and...
Awwwww yeah*.
Hey, don't look at me like that; it's not like I'm old enough to be their father.
Unless I was a very precocious and charming child.
* Unless, uh, any of them are not yet 18, because I'm not that creepy.
Just busy.
But soon... soon... the snark and joy and love and such that you've come to expect will make its return.
To pass the time, you can watch me rassle with "Mr. Since-We-Have-Satellites-the-Bible-is-True" in the comments at RWS. It's amazing the things people will believe.
Update: Oh yeah, I won't be around tonight, sorry. It's Valentine's Day, also the 8th anniversary of our second wedding ceremony in England (see, since the wife is a limey we had a ceremony on each side of the pond). Boom bow a chow wow.
Update 2: Booma licka locka wow.
Update 3: Tonight's wine was an inexpensive 2004 Castle Rock Monterey County Pinot Noir (87 points from Wine Spectator). It went pretty well with the improvised spaghetti and meatballs in a basic red sauce that I whipped up for dinner, and is also quite drinkable by itself.
Update 4: Took a ...1999? 2000?... Barnard & Griffin Cabernet Sauvignon that I'd had lying in wait for a couple of years in the wine fridge to a dinner party on Saturday night. The wine was a bit dumb when I opened it, but after breathing for an hour it got back its fruit, minus any harsh tannins, although I still found the nose a bit weak (but then I was a tiny bit congested and had had a couple beers prior). The dinner guests thoroughly enjoyed it though, so it must have been alright.
Battlestar Galactica remains one of the best shows - if not the best show - on television.
Yes, you waited four days to read that.
Unrelated: Prudes are funny. Unless you find yourself married to one.
First, let me be clear: I agree with a lot of what you'll find at Pajamas Media (I also disagree with quite a bit, particularly the grammar and punctuation). As well, a number of my blog-friends are on their payroll, or whatever you wish to call it.
That said, wearing your apparent insignificance as a badge of honor is just... silly.
Woohoo! A Senator doesn't know who we are! We are so there, baby - oh yeah! - we have arrived!Or, maybe you're just a bunch of bloggers... just like the rest of us... bloggers. Possibly, or possibly not, in pajamas.
Oprah Winfrey Weeps Over King's Coffin
Poor Mrs. King, they couldn't even afford to get her full name in alongside Oprah's.
While perusing this bad-fashion-flashback post over at Phil's site, I came across the link to this photo.
Of Hillary Duff.
Of Hillary Duff in a t-shirt.
Of Hillary Duff in a Motorhead t-shirt.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry, but lordy I know the end is nigh.
Update: Also from Phil - does your woman need glasses?
ARAPAHOE COUNTY - A couple planning their own Super Bowl pyrotechnics display blew up their car and injured themselves Sunday.I bet these two will go on to breed as well.The two told Sheridan Police officers that a balloon filled with acetylene exploded in the back seat of the car. Acetylene is a highly flammable gas used in welding.
The two people filled the balloon with the gas in hopes of blowing it up at a Super Bowl party. The balloon exploded after rolling across the car's backseat.
Yay for humanity.
I have no idea which instance of the RMBB this should be, but that could be because, despite my post below, I'm watching the Super Bowl and enjoying a beverage or two (however, I'm also cleaning the kitchen, doing laundry, and entertaining the wee Fiona).
So, anyway, February 18 at the Breckenridge Brewery, 6pm... RSVP over here.
Maybe we should let them know we're coming...
Awesome! I wonder what else is on television...
I also wonder why the Super Bowl pre-game show, according to my on-screen guide, is almost as long as the game itself. That strikes me as similar to having 90 minutes of commercials before a feature film (no, trust me, it only feels like 90 minutes of commercials).
Numerous Colorado state lawmakers are looking to fix their windshields after the security gate on the Capitol grounds smashed down on their cars and trucks.Hey, most lawmakers don't actually read the bills on which they vote, so should we be surprised that they don't read memos... or signs... big yellow warning signs right in front of them?In each case, the legislators tried to get through the steel-tubed gate right after another car.
"This (gate) shuts immediately after the first car goes through and I didn't realize that," said Sen. Lew Entz (R-Hooper). "It hit me hard and broke my windshield."
The gate is new on the Capitol grounds this year. Previous wooden gates were broken regularly, but had sensors that allowed those with parking permits and remote control gate operators to simply press their button and head through behind another car with the gate staying open.
Despite a yellow warning sign in front of the gate warning only one car at a time should proceed and a note sent to them with the following sentence in bold typeface, "Do not follow the vehicle in front of you," it has been difficult to break numerous Capitol employees of their past parking habits.
SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean truck driver killed himself on Saturday by setting himself on fire after distributing leaflets urging disgraced stem-cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk to resume his research, police said.Go on, try to make sense out of how that was supposed to work. I'm thinking perhaps a nice bundt cake or peach cobbler would have had a higher chance of success.
This would be almost funny if it weren't so patently insane:
GAZA CITY (AP) -- Rage against caricatures of Islam's revered prophet poured out across the Muslim world on Saturday, with aggrieved believers calling for the execution of those involved, storming European buildings, and setting European flags afire.I've said that some Christians are nuts, but you folks are really nuts. Nutty nuts, even.
Update: Looks like it isn't just wacky Muslims who are against secularism and free speech, asthe Vatican chimes in:
In its first official comments on the caricatures, the Vatican, while deploring violent protests, said certain forms of criticism represent an "unacceptable provocation."*cough* Bullshit."The right to freedom of thought and expression ... cannot entail the right to offend the religious sentiment of believers," the Vatican said in a statement.
If that were the case, I'd be out of business in a hurry.
Lindsay Lohan was treated at a London hospital last week after she cut her leg in an accident at the home of Bryan Adams, according to published reports.Shower. Still wet. Lotion. Slippery.The 19-year-old Mean Girls star had 10 stitches to close a gash on her shin after she slipped on a set of stairs Friday. Lohan was released from the hospital later that day, the reports said.
“She had just come out of the shower so she was still wet and had some lotion on, and she completely flipped on the stairs since it was slippery."
I'm sorry, I seem to have completely forgotten what my point was in all of this.
Well, yeah, unless it might actually help someone.
Three years ago today, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated in the skies above the Western United States, taking with her the lives of the seven crew members who had accompanied her into space.
While it was a mission destined for tragedy, these seven brave adventurers are no less worthy of praise and admiration than the Challenger crew lost 17 years before.
But... perusing the major news websites, I see virtually no mention of the disaster. In fact, it seems that Britney Spears guesting on Will & Grace is more newsworthy, at least on CNN.
No wonder our space program continually ends up an after-thought; even when its most dedicated members give their lives in pursuit of human understanding, we make them take a backseat to the momma of Skank-Ass Daddy Federline's baby.
How....wrong.
In a stunning move as the Supreme Court's newest member, Justice Samuel Alito broke ranks Wednesday night with the court's conservatives by refusing to allow Missouri to execute death-row inmate Michael Taylor.It could be that he didn't think he knew enough to render the "expected" judgment, but also knew too much to withdraw completely from the decision as he did in two others.Alito sided with five other liberal and moderate justices in rejecting a second request to allow the state of Missouri to execute Taylor.
Or it could be something else completely.
What the heck do I know?
