Wmcmanus

Happy birthday, man!

Here's a direct quote from another forum that I frequent, where I started a similar "RIP Whitney Houston" thread... mind you, this was his entire post! People really amaze me with their 'world views' sometimes. "I was always disappointed that she didn't continue to produce the work that I enjoyed so much. Now there will never be more. Too bad."

Thanks for the link, Phil. Just watched it. I'd say they did a pretty decent job in their editorial efforts to get it down to 10 minutes. Some other topics were discussed, like the role of record companies and such, but nothing too very interesting. There was a short Q&A session toward the end where one audience member made a great point about the 'soul' of the music being lost in low res (speaking as an audiophile and how emotionally involved you can become in music when it's recorded well and played back on a high end system). Neil hadn't yet addressed that point, so he essentially said, "Well, ya... exactly... that's why this is important..." (although not in exactly those words).

Actually, this kind of reminds me of the OJ trial. Once OJ's lawyers had an all black jury it was game over. Then OJ tensed up his hand as he attempted to (err, attempted not to) put on the glove while making a contorted and perplexed face, as though he was so shocked and outraged that someone would dare suggest that this glove was his. Then right on cue, Johnnie Cochran delivered his rehearsed knock out blow, "If the glove don't fit, you must acquit!" If your skin color matches his, then you've got to have his back. History repeating itself. The analogy comes full circle when considering public opinion at the time. They were operating with the same sort of ratios. Something like 95-98% of all blacks believed that OJ was innocent, or at least should be acquitted. Whereas, less than 20% of all other Americans (of whatever race/ethnicity) believed that he was innocent, and most of them still believed he did it, but should be let off on one technicality or another. I don't know exactly what drives that, and I don't blame OJ's defense team for taking that strategy, nor do I really blame Obama for doing whatever he can do to win his battle. I just think it's fair to point out that this is exactly what he's doing, and whether you agree with his politics or not, you should at least admit that this is the reality of the matter. If you can't see that, then you must be totally blind, because you sure would see it (and be completely outraged by his racism) if Romney made the same blatant appeal to white Americans... without talking about a single thing in his video except for the commonality of their shared race.

As compared to 56,549. https://www.facebook.com/africanamericansforobama I was merely pointing out that it was racist, and I wouldn't have even done that if Matt hadn't goaded me about making a large donation, which was actually kind of funny, BTW. But socially acceptable racism or not, I don't blame Obama for pandering to black voters by appealing to slavery and oppression and such. If I were him, I'd do the same thing (if I knew I could get away with it). He knows that he doesn't need to run on his record. Anywhere from 95-98% of black voters (that's the range I've seen reported) punched his name on their tickets in 2008, and he currently has an 89% approval rating among black voters. So he doesn't need to appeal to them on any other level other than merely being black himself. That gives him a 10% head start at the ballot box. Who wouldn't take that deal?

Fixed that. No, actually, I was watching with great fascination, pondering the question as to how we've come to the point as a nation where it's perfectly acceptable for a sitting President to make such a blatantly racist appeal. "Vote for me, since I'm black like you. Look at your skin, then look at mine. See? We're the same! That's all there is to it. So vote for me. End of story." I was imaging what it would like if a white candidate would make the same appeal to all European Americans... but, ya, whatever... sorry for the mislink.

Very sad news today. No real details yet. Far too young. RIP beautiful lady, you will be missed. http://blogs.wsj.com...dead-at-age-48/ http://blogs.wsj.com...dead-at-age-48/ Similar links can be found on the abc, huffington post, and cbc websites (among others), so it seems to be confirmed... although none of them have provided any details at this point.

For any new-found Lennonites, this might be a "deal" although $90 is still $90... http://www.popmarket.com/details/26683124 Not much new there if you're already a fan/collector.

"Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other." ~Oscar Ameringer

I agree. There is less to lose with lossless.

Have a good one, Doug!

That's good stuff! I'll have to remember to wear my Pliny the Elder hat that day, and tip it to whomever is able to imbibe.

I'd say you've just set yourself up for a good ass reaming. Just remember to lean forward if you have to fart afterwards.

How To Write Good 1. Avoid alliteration. Always. 2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with. 3. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.) 4. Employ the vernacular. 5. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc. 6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary. 7. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive. 8. Contractions aren't necessary. 9. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos. 10. One should never generalize. 11. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." 12. Comparisons are as bad as cliches. 13. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous. 14. Profanity sucks. 15. Be more or less specific. 16. Understatement is always best. 17. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement. 18. One-word sentences? Eliminate. 19. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake. 20. The passive voice is to be avoided. 21. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms. 22. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed. 23. Who needs rhetorical questions?

Got this email today: Hope this poem has the same effect on you as it did on me - then my forwarding it will be worth the effort. Walk with me by the water - worth the read... A BEAUTIFUL POEM ABOUT GROWING OLDER: Fuck... I forgot the words...

Ehh... pics wouldn't load. Nevermind.

^ More like the Skipper, I'd say. Happy birthday, Jeff.

Maybe I should, but there's no glass up there! Maybe a Ninja detection sensor.

^ "So what if my roots show!?!?!?" "... you could have at least worn a hat."

Now that he doesn't need our help, we should probably offer some suggestions. Try the Phillips L1. I haven't, but Tyll says they're good, so they must be.