Check it out. I'm sure you'll find it... explosive!]]> http://salivatingdog.com/2008/07/reboot.html http://salivatingdog.com/2008/07/reboot.html Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:18:49 -0600 I mentioned that we got a dog and I mentioned that the dog's name is Toby. Last time, I mentioned that I'd moved. Well, this is all background for a story.

When we named the dog, we were living in Shrewsbury, MO. Shrewsbury was a lovely town. I'm glad I lived there. The people were fantastic (except the creep who lived across the street, but never mind him).

But, well, I'm not saying there's a lack of diversity in Shrewsbury, but let's just say that if they brought back the Jim Crow laws, Shrewsbury would have a "White" water fountain and a "Whiter" water fountain.

Our new neighborhood, on the other hand, has a different demographic mix altogether. Well, one morning when I was walking the dog, the little guy was being uncooperative. I said, "Toby, let's get moving here!", right as one of my new neighors was walking by. One of the "diverse" ones, to use the euphemism. He gave me something of a disgusted look, and asked incredulously, "You named your dog Toby?"

I didn't think too much about it, and maybe I was being paranoid, but I seemed to be getting weird looks about the dog's name. Then when I was talking to my buddy Wayne about coming by the house for the wedding, he mentioned that when he would be refusing, out of principle, to refer to my dog by his slave name.

And I had one of those realizations that almost knocked me over. I remembered that scene from Roots. The scene below, to be specific.

(Note: this scene is very hard to take. Oh, and you might have to log in to see it, but please do it.)

So, for all anyone in the neighborhood knows, I've named my dog after the symbol of Kunta Kinte surrendering his dignity, the sign that The Man had finally beaten him.

Let it suffice to say, that's not the case. We just named him Toby because he looks like a Toby to us. And the name's stuck. So about all I can think is to just not announce his name loudly in public.

Funny how life works, isn't it?]]> http://salivatingdog.com/2007/10/20071003.html http://salivatingdog.com/2007/10/20071003.html Wed, 03 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0600 business school, and most recently, gotten married. So, where to begin? Let's begin with the marriage thing.

The wedding was absolutely everything I could have hoped for. It was so awesome that, well, you ever had one of those moment in your life where you sort of felt like a spectator? Like you felt like "This couldn't possibly be happening to me, because it's too happy."

If you haven't, you're totally missing out.

So the wedding ceremony was fabulous. The bride was looking especially radiant. The church was beautiful. The ceremony was in Latin, using the usus antiquior, the Tridentine mass, or whatever it's called these days. I continue to appreciate the old mass the more familiar I get with it. My favorite part was when we were invited past the rail (yes! They have a rail!) to kneel by the altar for a blessing. And I discovered, to my suprise, that I'm actually starting to pick up some Latin! I actually understood most of it. Well, about half of it.

The reception at the Palm House in lovely Tower Grove Park about a block away from the new house was also fantastic. The food was delicious. The incidental non-dance music was excellent. The photographer took some good pictures and managed not to be obtrusive. There was lots of drinking but no fist fights. My niece was about the most adorable flower girl in the history of weddings. She almost stole the show from me! That's how adorable she was!

So now it's on to married life. And if the begining of something has any bearing on how things are going to be in the future, married life should be awesome as well.

I could go on and on, but I think I'll leave it at that. Pictures soon! The lovely blushing bride was especially lovely that day.

I got another anouncement. I've gotten into the fast-paced, exciting world of podcasting. This seems like a natural progression. I first started putting music together in the early 90's, on cassette tape. Then I started using mp3's instead of CD's, burning CD-R's. And now this.

The first one is now available. You can find it here:

http://salivatingdog.com/podcast

As I mention in there, I'm doing themes. If anyone has a suggestion, feel free to drop me a line. Which you can do at .

Enjoy! ]]> http://salivatingdog.com/2007/09/20070928.html http://salivatingdog.com/2007/09/20070928.html Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0600 When I was telling you about the puppy, I didn’t even mention the coolest thing about the puppy, its name.

We had picked out a name for the puppy, actually. Since the three of us had gotten all hooked on Battlestar Galactica, we thought it would be pretty cool to name the puppy Gaius, after our favorite character. Or, it could also be a reference to one of my favorite dictators.

Well, when we got the little guy, we discovered that the name just didn't work. Not so much because we'd fallen out of love for the name, just that the little guy didn't look like a Gaius. Sherry thought he looked like a "Toby". Jacob was set on the name "Mr. Pugglesworth", in reference to Dr. Evil's cat. And I wanted to call him Chopper, in reference to the grizzly Eric Bana film of the same name. Or maybe in reference to the book Cujo, that being Cujo's original name.

In any case, I clearly wasn't going to get any takers on my name, so I let it drop. I was warming up to the name Toby when I noticed somethign that should have been more obvious, but for some reason wasn't: Toby was a first name, and Mr. Pugglesworth was a last name. So our compromise was to give the puppy the full name of Toby Pugglesworth.

A younger, more cynical version of me would probably have vomited a bit in his mouth to know that in the future, he would not only have a dog named "Toby Pugglesworth", but would think it's a really good name.]]> http://salivatingdog.com/2007/01/20070112.html http://salivatingdog.com/2007/01/20070112.html Fri, 12 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600 So, what's been going on with me lately? Tons of stuff. So much, in fact, I'll drop them one post at a time until I've unwound the many numerous things that have been going on with this guy.

The biggest news: we added another person to the family. Specifically a small four-legged dog-type person.

See, the lovely Fiancée and the Cub had been eying the Puggle, which is half pug, half beagle and all cute.

Now, I'd been adiment that if we're going to get a dog, we aren't going to get one until Easter. If someone (i.e. this guy here) is going to have to go outside fifteen times a day to let the puppy go tinkle, I'd rather it not be five degrees outside with sleet whipping past my head at 70 miles an hour.

Well, sometime before Christmas, the Fiancée was talking to her dad, who breeds dogs. Just out of curiosity (or so she claims) she asked if he knew someone who breeds puggles. Dog breeders comprise a fairly small community, and he'd be able to mention someone reputable.

Instead he said, "Well, I have two of them out in the puppy room right now. A boy and a girl. Why, did you want one?"

He made us a very good deal on the boy puppy. Especially when you actually saw the little guy. I mean, have you ever seen anything cuter than that?

So my days of living it up, sleeping until 8 or 9 in the morning on Saturdays are over and done. Again.

It's not without its benefits, though. The puppy gets cuter every day, which I just wouldn't have thought would be possible. It gets less googly-eyed, and seems less shocked and horrified at the world (an expression you see quite a bit in the pictures). And he's more frisky and rambunctious every day. I'm all in favor of the puppy being wild and crazy. You know, unless it's bigger than 20 lbs. Anything less, I think I can handle.

So that's been dominating the household. It's brightened everyone's life, in my opinion. And there will be more pictures later, if anyone still cares. I suspect someone else's dog is like someone else's dreams: way more interesting for the one than the other.

In the meantime, it's way past beditme for me. More news tomorrow!]]> http://salivatingdog.com/2007/01/20070110.html http://salivatingdog.com/2007/01/20070110.html Wed, 10 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600 The update for the last month: I have officially passed the "30 lbs lost" mark. I'm a mere five pounds more than I was on my very first driver's license in high school, and at that time, the heaviest thing I'd lifted was the alto sax (i.e. I hadn't done a lick of weight training, and was all flab).

I mention this not to toot my own horn (well, that's part of it, but not the whole story), but as a lead-in to this one about why people overeat. And there's some tips as to how to stop:

Sit next to the person you think will be the slowest eater when you go to a restaurant, and be the last one to start eating. Plate high-calorie foods in the kitchen but serve vegetables family style. Never eat directly from a package. Wrap tempting food in foil so you don’t see it. At a buffet put only two items on your plate at a time.

WEDNESDAY

Summary:

Jon reports to Garfield that Liz laughed at his jokes all night. When he is greeted by silence, he inquires as to whether it is wrong to question Liz's sense of humor. Garfield suggests that it is not, implying that Jon's sense of humor is not good. The comedy factor is significantly increased by Jon's polka-dot bow tie.

Why this is funny:

We start by laughing at Jon's outrageous bow tie, then we find ourselves rooting for him. The child-like excitement of a 50-year old man gushing in front of his aged, snotty cat is endearing. When his enthusiasm is greeted by silence (a signature Garfield technique) Jon remembers he's not funny. This is reinforced by Garfield who, like Mo'Nique, is never afraid to tell it like it is. The humor is multiplied because Garfield is a little cat and Jon is a human who could conceivably have the snarky feline put to sleep.

Update from yesterday:

Okay, so on top of my new trim and svelt figure, I've also taken to doing something about the hair. Like using styling products. Not so much combing or anything, just getting some styling stuff, running it through my hair and hoping for the best.

Anyway, the gel stuff has a tendency to get gummed up in the Dolomite Ring. And since it's now easy to slip the thing off, apparently I took the little guy off and then didn't bother to put it back on.

I know how concerned everyone was about it, and I'm sorry for any anguish I may have subjected you all to.

Although I have decided it's time to retire the Dolomite Ring. We had some good times, but I think it's time to move on. To the aforementioned cooler ring that'll be here in about a year.]]> http://salivatingdog.com/2006/09/20060927.html http://salivatingdog.com/2006/09/20060927.html Wed, 27 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0600 Captain Tragedy!

I didn't get a class ring. From high school or college. I just got a ring. Since, aside from Texas A&M grads, most people don't actually wear class rings. Or you might wear it for a year and then it goes in a box never to be seen again.

Instead of a class ring, I just got a ring. The Dolemite Ring, it's called. Looks not totally unlike a class ring, but it wasn't. Just a piece of onyx and gold. It's over 10 years old and styles change. I think it looks like something I might have stolen from the set of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but whatever. It's part of my look.

Well, as I never shut up about, I've been losing weight lately. (27 lbs. so far, thank you very much.) In fact, I've been losing so much weight, the aforementioned Dolemite Ring was fitting very loosely. So loosely, in fact, that I looked down at my hand a few minutes ago, and realized that it wasn't there! It would seem that it had just plum fallen off!

So, that's today's tragedy. Granted, it's not too terribly much of a tragedy. For starters, with my new trim physique, I doubt people had been able to pry their eyes away from my body to notice my accessories. And in less than a year, I'll be getting a way cooler ring, and I'd probably be retiring the Dolomite Ring anyway.

But still!]]> http://salivatingdog.com/2006/09/20060926.html http://salivatingdog.com/2006/09/20060926.html Tue, 26 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0600 As you've no doubt heard by now — you know, unless you've spent the last five years under a rock, in a cave, with your eyes shut and your fingers in your ears — hydrogenated fats (or "trans fat" as most people call them now) are really bad for you. Like they're the worst kinds of fat you can put in your system. (If you missed out on the terminology, this is why suddenly everyone was saying "Stop eating margerine. You're better off just sticking with butter.")

What you may or may not have heard is that it's not enough to just not use the hydrogenated fats. Some fats are highly unstable under heat and if you use them for cooking, they'll hydrogenate themselves, leaving you with exactly the same trans fats you'd get if you just had the hydrogenated corn oil.

The most stable fats, the ones least likely to oxidize, are saturated fats. Things like animal fats: lard, tallow, and butter. And of the vegetable fats, coconut oil is the highest in saturated fat, and therefore the most stable at high heats.

Okay, knowing all that, rewind about 10 or 15 years. What was the big public health nuisance? Movie popcorn. The flavor of the month for the nanny state types desperate to ruin everyone's fun was saturated fat. And you can imagine their horror when they discovered that movie theaters were cooking their popcorn with... coconut oil.

So the movie theaters capitulated, and they stopped using coconut oil and instead started using... hydrogenated corn oil. That's right. Switching to trans fats was considered the healthy alternative at the time.

So how long do you think until someone launches a campaign against movie popcorn to get the trans fats out of it? I wonder what they'll switch to?

And how long it'll take to switch from that to something else? My guess is in 10 years they'll switch back to coconut oil. Which everyone says was way tastier than the corn oil they're using now.]]> http://salivatingdog.com/2006/09/20060922.html http://salivatingdog.com/2006/09/20060922.html Fri, 22 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0600 This is Andrew Robb, the Australian government's multicultural spokesman, to a group of imams.

"We live in a world of terrorism where evil acts are being regularly perpetrated in the name of your faith. And because it is your faith that is being invoked as justification for these evil acts, it is your problem."

Why can't we get guys like him in this country?

QOTD #2:

Given that skinny women are hopelessly manipulated by the fashion industry, and that obese women are hopelessly manipulated by the food industry, I propose the following magic-bullet legislation:

The government buy every obese person subscriptions to the top fashion magazines; meanwhile every skinny person should be forced to sit through a dozen McDonalds, sugary cereal, and Hostess cupcake commercials.

In six months, we'll all wear the same size, and everyone will finally be equal.

I watched the game at the sports bar around the corner with my uncle. The Sooners are on fire. A.D. Peterson just picks apart the defense, for a touchdown, putting the Sooners up by 13. My uncle says, "I'm out of here. If we lose this game, I don't want to see it."

I liked his thinking, but there was still 6 minutes left, so I thought I'd at least watch the next drive. Three-and-out. So I left, went home, content in the knowledge that we had nothing to worry about. 3 and 0, baby!

Well, I think everyone knows how that story ends.

Moral of the story: There's always enough time for the Sooners to blow the lead. Assume nothing!]]> http://salivatingdog.com/2006/09/20060919.html http://salivatingdog.com/2006/09/20060919.html Tue, 19 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0600 this story I would first like to point out that the people in question are Sicilian.

A jealous nun appeared in court charged with threats to kill and an arson attack on a priest's house - after she caught him in bed with a married woman.

Sister Silvia Gomes De Sousa, 39, saw red and set fire to Father Carmelo Mantarro's house after she nabbed him 'in flagrante.'

You all may not know this, but as you all know, I'm not just on this extremely ambitious diet and exercise program because I want to look good. I mean, that's part of it, but that's not the whole story or even the biggest part, really. It's that, after years of threatening to take my health seriously, I finally did it.

Not just take my health seriously, I've decided to live forever. I mean, if you're going to dream, dream big*.

Obviously medical technology doesn't allow people to live forever right now, so I'm hoping that I can live long enough that once something breaks they'll be able to fix it. Though to increase my odds, I should obviously keep myself as well preserved as possible. They're making seriously progress on the robotic exoskeleton but it'd be nice if my endoskeleton were in good shape until then.

Anyway, I read this story with great interest. It was about, you guessed it, longevity.

The point of this story seems to be that longevity has little to do with genes, and is basically a crap-shoot. Which is true. You could have great chunks of plaque lining your arteries for decades, and none of them quite get around to dislodging themselves and giving you the fatal heart attack the actuaries would say you should have had at the age of 43. Or you can be fit as a fiddle, but somehow a vein bursts in your brain and you're dead within minutes.

Or cancer. My mom and one of my aunts are identical twins. They both started smoking at the age of 16. 20 years later, my mom has lung cancer, and my aunt doesn't.

Why? Nobody knows. It certainly wasn't genetics. I mean, they might both be predisposed to cancer, but the plain facts are that my mom was the one who actually got it.

And this is just diseases. It's not even bringing into account accidents. Some people ride motorcycles into their 80's never wearing having worn a helmet. And how old is Ben Roethlisberger?

The point being, I guess my goal of living forever, or even living to 100, is probably quixotic. About all you can do is try to keep yourself in as good shape as you can.

So after some consideration, I've decided the reason I'm losing weight is because I want to look good. If I happen to live any longer, gravy.

Tradesports.com has the Republicans with about an 83% chance of hanging on to the Senate and about a 53% chance of hanging onto the House. The House swing is huge. They were sitting at around 40% just a few weeks ago.

Whether or not that's a good thing is something I don't want to get into. (All things considered, I don't think it is, but never mind about that.) The interesting question is, Why? I mean, the polls have looked up for them, but it's got to be more than that for the futures investor types to become so bullish on them.

No, I think the answer can be found in this story:

The recent sharp drop in the global price of crude oil could mark the start of a massive sell-off that returns gasoline prices to lows not seen since the late 1990s — perhaps as low as $1.15 a gallon.

Actually the connection to presidential approval ratings was spelled out, among other places, in this post. I suspect it's more general than that. We'll see, though.

All I know is that my personal mood has improved dramatically. Like when I can gas up La Tortuga for under $100, the world seems like a better place†.

If you're real bored today read the famous last words of Dutch Schultz. This man was a genius. It's like a prose version of a David Lynch movie.

Too bad it wasn't until he was dying anyone found out.

two thousand; come on, get some money in that treasury; we need it; come on, please get it; I can't tell you to. You are telling the truth, aren't you, Mr. Harris. That is not what you have in the book. Oh, yes I have. Oh, please, warden. Please. What am I going to do for money. How is that; how do you like that? Please put me on my feet, at once. Thank you, Sam, you are a boiled man; I do it because you ask me to. Did you hear me? i would hear it, the Circuit Court would hear it, and the Supreme Court might hear it. Come on, pull me up, sir. All right. Cam Davis. Oh, please reply. N.R.A. If that ain't the payoff. Please crack down on the Chinaman's friends and Hitler's commander. All right, I am sore and I am going to give you honey if I can. look out. We broke that up. Mother is the best bet and don't let Satan draw you too fast.

† That's an exaggeration. But not much of one. ]]> http://salivatingdog.com/2006/09/20060915.html http://salivatingdog.com/2006/09/20060915.html Fri, 15 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0600 driving while nude is illegal? What country is this? Iran?

George Bush recently referred to the al Qaeda types as Islamic fascists. Well, apparently there are religious fascists in this country as well. Granted, the al Qaeda types would like to have gay folks murdered by dropping walls on them, whereas this guy just got arrested for driving in the buff.

But never mind about that. There's clearly intolerance everywhere, and we should start looking at the man in the mirror before we start criticizing other people.

The word of the day is Cynocephaly. Read all about it.

Things have been quiet around the 'Dog recently, and sorry about that. But certainly things have not been quiet around Chez Famous J.

First off, as I may have alluded to in my previous post, I'm back on the diet train. Nothing gimmicky, really. Just cooking at home. And as I also alluded to, everything starts from something fresh. Nothing from a box, nothing from a can. And no starchy things, like breads and spuds. (Alas...)

Everything me and the fam eat these days starts out as raw meat or raw vegetables, plus about five cloves of garlic, some spices, olive oil, and occasional condiments like nam pla, and (after a few hours' work) is transformed into something delicious. But would this all work for me to lose weight?

Well, the preliminary results are in, and as of this morning, I've dropped 21 lbs. Granted, I have another 23 or so lbs yet to lose, but this is serious progress.

The only thing I'm worried about is that I may just plateau here. I've stopped doing all the things that you're not supposed to do and started doing all the things you are. I've started working out, lifting the weights. I don't snack at all between meals. I don't drink any sodee-pop or really any carbs to speak of, other than the aforementioned vegetables. Then there was this box of donuts sitting inthe break room all day yesterday, just staring at me, saying, "J! You've been such a good boy! Reward yourself! Might I suggest this handsome fellow over here with the delicious coconut sprinkles all over him? He looks delicious and he's just raring to be eaten. So, go ahead! You know you want to."

Did I buckle? Did I fill my mouth with coconut-infused tastiness? No, sir! I did no such thing!

But the biggest impact you can make on yourself is just doing something. Like going from eating the cake every time you're in the vicinity of it to, you know, not eating cake. That's a way bigger lifestyle change than to go from eating well to eating very well. Or to go from the heaviest thing you lift being the remote to lifting actual weights. Really heavy ones. I guess I can lift even heavier things – and I'm sure I will – but that's not going to make as big a difference as just getting started.

Well, I suppose I'll worry about that another time. All I know is that right now, I'm in a better mood than I've been at any point since I quit smoking. And I feel dynamite. I have a ton of energy, a fact that has been driving the Cub and the Fiancée nuts lately, since about a half hour after eating, I just start pacing around the house like a caged tiger.

Anyway, this weekend, if I've lost another pound by then, I'll be halfway there, and I'm going to actually reward myself by blowing the diet completely and taking the Cub and myself for pizza. And to reward the Cub for putting up with the lack of anything fattening.

Let's hope I don't do too much damage.

I mentioned getting restless and pacing around the house. This happened a few days ago after I read this story about light bulbs.

It's about those Compact Flourescent Lightbulbs, or CFL's. They're those little soft-serve ice cream cone-looking things that you've possibly noticed next to the proper light bulbs. The ones that cost $3.50 a piece, versus, I dunno, 50 cents a piece.

Well, as I read the story, I came across this nugget:

What that means is that if every one of 110 million American households bought just one ice-cream-cone bulb, took it home, and screwed it in the place of an ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people. One bulb swapped out, enough electricity saved to power all the homes in Delaware and Rhode Island. In terms of oil not burned, or greenhouse gases not exhausted into the atmosphere, one bulb is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the roads.

Swirl bulbs don't just work, they pay for themselves. They use so little power compared with old reliable bulbs, a $3 swirl pays for itself in lower electric bills in about five months. Screw one in, turn it on, and it's not just lighting your living room, it's dropping quarters in your pocket. The advantages pile up in a way to almost make one giddy. Compact fluorescents, even in heavy use, last 5, 7, 10 years. Years. Install one on your 30th birthday; it may be around to help illuminate your 40th.

"Where are you going?" said the Fiancée.

"Don't you see?!" I said, a drop of sweat slowly trickling down my crazed face. "We're losing money right now! As we speak!" I reached into my pocket and dropped some coins in front of me. "It's like we're just throwing money away! Do you think we have so much money we can just throw it away?!"

The Fiancée stared at me blankly for a few seconds, no doubt wondering what she'd gotten herself into agreeing to marry this lunatic. Then the blank look shifted to a defeated one. "All right, fine."

So I got a few bulbs to replace the lights that had been burned out for the last few weeks, like the one in the hallway whose absence almost caused my death a few times at least. And I got a few others to replace some of the lights that stay on for days at a time, like the one right outside the front door. And a few more as backups.

I don't know if it was worth the effort. It certainly wasn't worth the urgency. But I suppose these strange errands at odd hours of the night are part of the darker side of the new, leaner, and overall-improved Famous J.

By the way, the story about the lightbulbs is about more than just lightbulbs. It's also a peek inside the culture of Walmart. Really interesting stuff. Let it suffice to say, the Walmart folks come across as being the exact opposite of what I'd imagine the typical Walmart protester thinks they're like. Which is to say, nobody had a monocle and a Snidely Whiplash-style mustache, nobody lit their gigantic cigars with $100 bills and cackled about how they're going to screw over the little guy. Quite the opposite.

I got the sense that the Walmart people know they're #1, but that they're genuinely serious about making the customer's life better and using their market share to do good.]]> http://salivatingdog.com/2006/09/20060913.html http://salivatingdog.com/2006/09/20060913.html Wed, 13 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0600 You know, you learn a lot about yourself cooking. For instance, I've learned that it takes me forever to do absolutely anything. Which means, I get home around 5:30 and we usually end up eating around 9:15.

On the positive side, the food has been outstanding. And pretty healthy as well. I've decided I need to get serious about my diet, and the only way that's going to happen is to start making things myself. Rule of Thumb: There's almost nothing you can make for yourself that isn't better for you than the best thing you can get at a restaurant.

To top that off, the Cub is living at the house full time. It's a struggle. He's got the attention span of a gnat on PCP, and if the homework is ever going to get done, you really have to keep your eye on him. Unless it's math. If it's math, you have to literally sit down four inches from him and stare at the page. (I'm not exaggerating.) Otherwise he'll just stare off. Like Peter in Office Space.

Every time I get frustrated, I just remember that I didn't really get an attention span to speak of until I was about 26. It's what goes around, you know?

The Fiancée has been awesome with that. Since she's the Type A person in the household, and I'm usually cooking and/or doing dishes. But I've have to fill in from time to time.

So the output is way down. But fear not! The wacky links keep building up, and I'll try to unload those in the next few.

Somewhere on my lifetime agenda, I'd like to write a book/play/screenplay about the McCarthy era where -- get this -- you find out that some of the people who were blacklisted were actual Communists, spying for the Soviet Union.

This would apparently be a serious revelation to some people. I suspect most people my age or any younger just assume there were as many Soviet spies in the US as there were, oh, let's say, witches in seventeenth century Massachusets. (Gee, I wonder where they might have gotten that idea.)

Anyway, this is James Lileks from a few days ago, talking about everyone's favorite bete noir.

The bravery of the scrappy idealists! The piggish philistinism of the anti-commie brutes! The smothering wet quilt of Conformity that held America motionless until it was thrown off by the undulating hips of Elvis! (Did you know they didn’t show him below the waist on TV, at first! True! It was horrible, the Fifties; no one had sex without weeping in shame afterwards. Sometimes during.) It's just interesting how Westerners think that that Red Scare was a historical event of such towering proportions it trumps the tales of the Soviet Union in the same period. US version: communist sympathizers frozen out of screenwriting jobs, justly or unjustly. USSR version: actual communists killed in ghastly numbers by a parody of a legal system underwritten by brute force and an industrialized penal system built on slave labor. Why is the latter ignored, and the former celebrated?

More tomorrow. For now, I'm off to sleep.]]> http://salivatingdog.com/2006/08/20060828.html http://salivatingdog.com/2006/08/20060828.html Tue, 29 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0600 Apparently you're supposed to google the phrase "[your name] looks like", and see what happens. So, when I did the search, here's my favorite:

J looks like he has an armadillo in his trousers.

Update: Okay, I checked the second page:

j. looks like she just attended atlanta's premiere drag emporium and got her some show hair (big and unreal)

Oh, and if you don't know who Dan is, uh, never mind.

So, I saw Little Miss Sunshine this weekend.

I can't recommend this movie highly enough. I was thinking that if you liked Sideways, you'll like this movie, but that's not quite it. It's that kind of humor but it's a totally different (and much better) movie.

Everyone in the cast was fantastic, especially Steve Carell as the suicidal Proust scholar. The story was great. The soundtrack featured the great Sufjan Stevens. Everything about it was great.

Furthermore, I'll go out on a limb and say that it's going to win Best Picture. First comedy since Annie Hall, as they say.

So go out and see it! Right now! What are you doing? You're what? Working? Take a very long lunch! See it twice! You probably weren't going to get anything done today anyway.

I'll give it the highest-possible five puppy heads.

[Dog Head] [Dog Head] [Dog Head] [Dog Head] [Dog Head]

Note: The next dog is just around the corner. And then I'll have a head here, but for now, you'll just have to use your imagination. ]]> http://salivatingdog.com/2006/08/20060814.html http://salivatingdog.com/2006/08/20060814.html Mon, 14 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0600