Wilson
I just climbed down from the roof, visits to which are always an adventure. As is my habit (not that rooftop excursions are all that common), I bypassed the ladder from the ground to the lower (family room) roof & instead climbed out my bedroom window. I had no choice but to use a ladder to get from the lower roof to the higher (main) room, even though I cautioned my father than my elephantine weight greatly exceeds the ladder's rated load capacity. We accomplished what we need to, losing only one washer over the edge. We nearly lost a wrench, but it came to rest on the gutter lids, a few inches from falling, & from whence it was retrieved by Dad. I was able to convince him that his perch on the lower roof was too precarious to continue, leaving out as he was over space with the ladder in danger of slipping off its rest on the chimney, despite my mightiest efforts to steady it. It's only a temporary fix anyway, nothing worth imperiling life & limb. Roofs should be left to the slender & sprightly.

The Loot
As I always write when emailing my birthday & Christmas wish lists, love is best expressed through material possessions. The following list is of the gifts I received from my family on the occasion of my thirty-second birthday.

{Literature}
Steve Matchett, Life in the Fast Lane: The Inside Story of Benetton's First World Championship (Mom & Dad)

{Television Series on D.V.D.}
Burn Notice—Season Four (Mom & Dad)
Castle—The Complete First Season (The L.A.W. & Brother-in-L.A.W.)
Castle—The Complete Second Season (The L.A.W. & Brother-in-L.A.W.)

{Music on C.D.}
The Proclaimers, Persevere* (Where's Teddy?)
They Might Be Giants, Join Us (Mom & Dad)
"Weird Al" Yankovic, Alpocalypse (Mom & Dad)

{Miscellany}
Gift certificate for new running shoes for Objective SCHWEDEN (Where's Teddy?)
ticket to a screening of Captain America: The First Avenger & a bag of Reece's Pieces (Where's Teddy?)
antique "Official Shaver Permit" button (Where's Teddy?)

*I've been asking for Persevere, for both birthdays & Christmas, for years, as many as four or five. Wish lists cannot be too long lest the list's author be thought an overly greedy sod, & I've thought about giving the slot perennially occupied by Persevere to another gift, one that had not been passed over again & again, but every time I did I beheld the album's title & knew I could do no less than persevere.

Project PANDORA
I have a date with The Redhead on Saturday. The plan is to catch a movie & get a drink afterward. I should probably spend less time daydreaming about her very long legs.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
"Weird Al" Yankovic, "Party in the C.I.A." from Alpocalypse (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: What a perfect song for a day that saw so much interaction betwixt Michael Westen & the bureaucrats of the C.I.A. on Burn Notice. Also, this will be the strangest addition to my iTunes playlist titled "Spy." (To my credit, I was never tempted to make the awful joke of calling "Party in the C.I.A." "the weirdest addition….")

The Queue
Even having read A Spy by Nature it is difficult to wrap my mind around just how bad it was. The one positive to be gained from squandering my time reading such dreck is a renewed confidence in my eventual success as an author, for surely I can do better than that rubbish, can't I? A monkey with a massive head trauma, & a monkey that was particularly dimwitted even before the massive head trauma at that, could write a better book than A Spy by Nature. Dame Stella Rimington's hackwork has been redeemed to a some small extent, if only because now I know there is even worse contemporary British spy fiction being churned out.

I am now № 24 in the queue for Carte Blanche.

Recently
Anthony Hope, Rupert of Hentzau
John le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy
Charles Cumming, A Spy by Nature

Currently
John le Carré, Smiley's People

Presently
Robert M. Soderstrom, The Big House: Fielding H. Yost and the Building of Michigan Stadium
John Buchan, The Thirty-nine Steps
Keith Jeffery, The Secret History of M.I.6: 1909-1949
William F. Buckley, Jr., Saving the Queen
...
Jeffery Deaver, Carte Blanche

The Rebel Black Dot Songs of the Day
They Might Be Giants, "Dr. Worm" from Severe Tire Damage (T.L.A.M.)

Dienstag, 26 Juli
They Might Be Giants, "The Shadow Government" from The Else (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: "Where's the shadow government when you need it?"

Montag, 25 Juli
They Might Be Giants, "Older" from Mink Car (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: Words of wisdom on the occasion of my thirty-second birthday:

"You're older then you've ever been
And now you're even older,
And now you're even older,
And now you're even older,
You're older then you've ever been
And now you're even older,
And now you're older still."

Sonntag, 24 Juli
They Might Be Giants, "I Am Not Your Broom" from No! (T.L.A.M.)

Samstag, 23 Juli
They Might Be Giants, "The Edison Museum" from No! (T.L.A.M.)

Freitag, 22 Juli
They Might Be Giants, "Violin" from No! (T.L.A.M.)

Coming Attractions
{a} "The Loot"
{b} "This Week in Motorsport," the German Grand Prix
{c} "The Explorers Club"
{d} "The Queue"

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
They Might Be Giants, "The Mesopotamians" from The Else (T.L.A.M.)

Wilson
We have house guests, & for the next several days my time will not be my own. My apologies for the silence to follow, 'tis hoped that being forthright will afford me your patience & understanding. I thank you, dear readers, for your continued patronage of The Secret Base. 'Til I return…

The Stars My Destination
The end. It's over, done, finished: anticlimaxlink. My thanks to the brave men & women who have challenged the reign of gravity & sundered the veil of the heavens. We must continue their work, we must return to the celestial realm. "Ye dare not stoop to less—." We must have the courage to dream, & to translate our dreams into real-world science & engineering.

"Gully Foyle is my name,
And Terra is my nation,
Deep space is my dwelling place,
The stars my destination!"
—Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination

The Explorers Club
№ CCXLIV - Pygmalion & the trope of men loving women who aren't quite women.





Bonus: The statue was only christened "Galatea" in recent centuries.

Science!
A fourth moon of the planet ("dwarf planet" being a nonsensical term with no scientific validity) Pluto has been discovered: moonlink. Boy howdy, the Hubble is just the gift that keeps on giving!

Science!

The Stars My Destination
I have not mentioned the final flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis because it is too overwhelmingly sad. Not the end of the shuttle program, that is a simple inevitability: manned spaceflight was only twenty years-old when the Columbia first flew in 1981, thirty years ago; the Discovery, the Atlantis, Endeavour, & the late, lamented Challenger & Columbia have served us well, & longer than than was ever intended. The end of the shuttle program is not a moment for sorrow, but a moment for pride in all that was accomplished. But the end of American manned spaceflight is a choice, the choice of one unpardonably arrogant man, a man who promised "hope" & "change" & delivered only change… change for the far, far worse.

For those of you who enjoy baseless optimism, here's a glimpse of the spacecraft meant to restore American manned spaceflight: no go for launchlink. Please take care not to choke over N.A.S.A. Administrator Charles Bolden's baldfaced lie, "We are committed to human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit." If you believe that, I own a lovely bridge connecting lower Manhattan & Brooklyn that I'd simply love to sell you.

The Queue
Poor John Buchan. The Thirty-nine Steps has repeatedly been moved down the queue, but the late Lord Tweedsmuir need not fear; there is not the slightest doubt I shall read the book, unless I meet my demise rather sooner than I expect. I've decided to read Saving the Queen, the first novel in William F. Buckley, Jr.'s Blackford Oakes series, in part because of nationalistic guilt over reading so many books involving the British S.I.S. & none involving the American C.I.A. (Of course, the C.I.A. plays a background rôle in many S.I.S.-centered plots.) I have not read a work of fiction primarily dealing with the C.I.A. since I was a kid & in my teenaged idiocy enjoyed the hackish novels of Tom Clancy. My father has recommended, unsolicited, the modern-day thrillers of Vince Flynn, but given the series's contemporary setting & my father's fringe sociopolitical beliefs that recommendation alone gives me pause.

I am now № 33 in the Genesee District Library's Carte Blanche queue, having begun as № 68 five weeks hence. If that rate persists, the book should be in my filthy mitts by late August.

Recently
E. W. Hornung, The Complete Raffles, Volume One: The Amateur Cracksman & The Black Mask
Anthony Hope, Rupert of Hentzau
John le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy

Currently
Charles Cumming, A Spy by Nature

Presently
John le Carré, Smiley's People
Robert M. Soderstrom, The Big House: Fielding H. Yost and the Building of Michigan Stadium
John Buchan, The Thirty-nine Steps
Keith Jeffery, The Secret History of M.I.6: 1909-1949
William F. Buckley, Jr., Saving the Queen
...
Jeffery Deaver, Carte Blanche

The Rebel Black Dot Songs of the Day
Mad Caddies, "The Gentleman" from Duck and Cover (T.L.A.M.)

Dienstag, 19 Juli
The Aquabats!, "Meltdown!" from Charge!!: Special One Year Anniversary Edition (Captain Thumbs-up)

Commentary: "Meltdown!" is awesome, just awesome.

Wilson
I was covered in "dust"—powdered off-brand Spackle—after sanding the walls of the upstairs water closet, & unable to take a shower to wash off the dust because the walls we'd been sanding were those of the upstairs water closet, leaving said W.C. covered in dust. O cruel Fortune! The garden hose sufficed as a substitute; it did not please, but it sufficed. The work progresses, ahead of Where's Teddy?'s arrival.

Project PALINDROME
Sunday night's story conference was a blockbuster! Steeze is hard at work on the first drafts of the final two episodes of the series & at long last I know the basic outline of how it all ends. I habitually work from back to front, starting with the ending & then figuring out how the characters got there; I've known the ends of the installments I've been drafting, but without knowing the overall ending I've felt a tad adrift. No more, woo hoo! The deadlines have been pushed a little to make allowance for the manifold demands on Steeze's time, but the end of this stage of our endeavour is still in sight. (Because of last night's conference, more than ever before!)

Grow or die.

The Rebel Black Dot Songs of the Day
Sex Bob-Omb, "Threshold" from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (K. Steeze)

Commentary: I cannot wait to hear/see the cover by Super Boat Warp!

Sonntag, 17 Juli
Less Than Jake, "Liquor Store" from Pezcore (K. Steeze)

Wilson
The upstairs floor of our house is a shambles. The stock pop cultural story of the home improvement job that is meant to take thirty days extending into six months? That us is forming shape of things.

This all began with my mother's unilateral decision to replace the wallpaper in the upstairs water closet with paint. Wallpapering a water closet might not have been the best idea from the get-go, but the wallpaper has been in place for at least two decades & has withstood the passage of time & the inundation of humidity in fine style. Nevertheless, Mom wished for a change & duly set about removing the wallpaper. She declined my repeated offers to spell her on wallpaper removal duty, asking me only to fetch supplies & assist her in cleaning up afterward. She then asked my father to patch up the walls with Spackle, the deal being that if he did this she wouldn't ask for his help with the actual painting.

Things began to go wrong even before the wallpaper was removed. They were both intend upon removing the reservoir from the toilet, to clear away the wallpaper behind. "Why?" I asked, since no one can see behind the reservoir? Neither had an answer, but remove the reservoir we did. In the process, the corroded pipe that connects the toilet to the house's water supply gave up the ghost & leaked; there is now visible water damage to the ceiling of the kitchen, the room directly beneath the upstairs W.C. The pipe was replaced, new sealant was applied around the base of the toilet, & the rest of the wallpaper was removed. This happened over the weekend a fortnight hence. Instead of setting about holding up his end of the Spackle-for-painting exchange, my father decided to do nothing. Naught was accomplished last weekend because my parents hosted their pinochle club: Saturday was spent in preparation, my mother cooking & my father clearing the stacks of Vast Right Wing Conspiracy claptrap that constitutes his mail; Sunday was a day of rest, since the festivities kept them both up long after midnight, well passed their habitual bedtime (they are in their sixties, after all). For most of the past week my father was again busily engaged doing nothing. The bathroom looks odd without the wallpaper, but it looks odder still without its main mirror, which sits in the hallway outside my bedroom.

Yesterday, my father & I final began to patch up the walls. I'd offered my help over a week earlier in a bid to goad him into action. I patched up the walls with Spackle while he disassembled the shower & torn some corroded metal supports out of the walls above the plastic shower cocoon. When I asked him what that had to do with painting the room's walls blue, he mumbled that it had to be done. Today, we were to sand the walls, smoothing out the rough patch work; two rounds of patching & sanding were estimated to be necessary before the walls would be properly smoothed out for painting. But instead of sanding & showing me hos to sand properly my father is currently engaged in hammering a hole in the wall near the floor, routing out "corrosion." This is the single best reason not to ask my father to do anything: he doesn't know how to "do" anything, his default behavior is to overdo things. He doesn't want anything to do with redecorating the W.C. in any event; so, I genuinely do not understand his mania for continually expanding the project instead of just getting the original work done & put to rest.

How long should it take to remove the wallpaper from a room that is perhaps five feet wide by ten feet long & then paint said room some or another shade of blue? Four days? Five? I hold out very little hope that the water closet will be put back together by next Thursday—three weeks after the work commenced—, when Where's Teddy? & his parents arrive for a visit to coincide with my birthday. Two days after Where's Teddy?'s arrival & while he is still here, The Squeak & The L.A.W. will arrive, to start a week-long stay by my wee niece. Neither an upstairs shambles nor home improvement work underway is what you want when you have a toddler & a baby staying in the house.

This Week in Motorsport
Last night, I watched a recap of the Acropolis Rally, Round 7 of the F.I.A. World Rally Championship (W.R.C.). Rallying is madness, & I think I want to see more of it. The next round of the W.R.C. isn't for two weeks, & there might be another week before it is available to me on Discovery's H.D. Theater channel, but in the meantime I hope to read up on the sport & familiarize myself with the broad overview of drivers, manufacturers, & traditions.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Nigel Godrich, Jason Falkner, & Justin Meldal-Johnsen, "Bass Battle" from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: Original Score Composed by Nigel Godrich (T.L.A.M.)

The Savage Wars of Peace
A quick look at Libya, months into the civil war that 'tis hoped will see Colonel Qaddafi suffer his well-earned comeuppance: From Tripolitania, with Love.

Also, the United States has given diplomatic recognition to the Libyan rebels' Transitional National Council (T.N.C.): From Foggy Bottom, with Inconsistency & Confusion. This is welcome news. So, is our "kinetic military action" now about regime change, about removing the now-illegitimate Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya headed by Colonel Qaddafi & replacing it with the now-legitimate Libyan Republic fronted by the T.N.C.? Or is the "not a war" still about "protecting the civilian population"? When American blood & treasure are on the line I think it not unreasonable to know the nature of the mission for which those precious resources are being imperiled. Mister President? Madame Secretary? Anyone?

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
The Hold Steady, "You Can make Him Like You" from Boys and Girls in America (Ki-El)

Wilson
There was a bat in the house last night. I faced it not alone but with brave Diva by my side. I trapped the fell beast in a small cooler & dumped it out the front door. My mother was near panic when I recounted the particulars of the battle, which I only did because she asked it of me. Such is her fear that tennis rackets have been positioned strategically around the house for use against any other Fledermäuse: my modern (1990s) tennis racket is at the ready in the living room & my room is to be defended by a vintage '50s or '60s Spalding racket (endorsed by the great "Pancho" Gonzales!). I thought it only right to keep her in the loop as to what was happening in the house, but if I had it to do over again I'd have kept my trap shut & allowed her to continue in blissful ignorance. I should have done a better job of protecting her.

The "Pancho" Gonzales racket is emblazoned with "Manufactured by A. G. Spalding & Bros. of Belgium." The obvious conclusion is that my father brought it back from Brussels, where he lived as a teenager with his parents & younger siblings, & attended high school. There are precious few artifacts of the years the Wilsons spent living in Belgium; so, neat!

This Week in Motorsport
Formula Fun!
The British Grand Prix was wild. Mark Webber of Red Bull (Renault) started from the pole, with his teammate reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel alongside in the second slot. Vettel beat Webber off the start, but lost the race lead to '05 & '06 World Chamnpion Fernando Alonso of Ferrari during a pit stop that took three times as long as normal. Vettel then found himself stuck behind the much slower McLaren (Mercedes) of '08 World Champion Lewis Hamilton. Alonso disappeared into the distance as Vettel just couldn't find a way to get around Hamilton. Finally, in frustration Red Bull pitted Vettel for fresh tires & to get in clean air out from behind Hamilton's McLaren. Near the end of the grand prix, with Vettel running in second & Webber in third there was concern that the teammates would collide & take each other out of the race as they did last year in Turkey. Red Bull ordered Webber to maintain his distance from Vettel, but the grizzled Aussie ignored the order & tried his best to pass his younger German teammate. Webber couldn't find his way around the defending Vettel & they finished Vettel second & Webber third behind the lightning fast Ferrari of Alonso. Hamilton came fourth just a few hundredths of a second ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa in fifth; the two cars had made contact with each other several times as they drove through the last several corners side by side.

Vettel now holds an eighty-point lead in the Driver's Championship standings over the man in second place, Webber. Going into the weekend, Vettel's lead was seventy-seven points over Webber & '10 World Champion Jenson Button of McLaren, the two being tied for points but Button holding a place advantage due to his having won a race this year. Button dropped to fourth in the standing while British Grand Prix winner Alonso jumped up to third. Hamilton sits at fifth, with a big gap down to Massa in sixth. Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Button, & Hamilton, the same five who went down to the wire in the championship sweepstakes last season, in possibly the most competitive season in the history of Formula One. This season finds the same five in very different circumstances. Vettel has won six of the nine grands prix, & he finished no worse than second in the other three. No other driver has been on the podium in every single grand prix so far in the year. To make up the eighty point gap twixt Vettel & Webber, Webber needs to outscore Vettel by an average of eight points in each of the remain ten grands prix. (First place is worth twenty-five points, second is worth eighteen, & third is worth fifteen.) But Vettel has finished no worse than second, & second is worth only seven more points than first, not the necessary eight. Worse than that, the three grands prix not won by Vettel have been won by three different drivers (Button, Hamilton, & Alonso); so, no one man is accumulating the points necessary to challenge Vettel. Vettel's amazing dominance cannot continue, can it? Surely he will finish worse than second at some point in the remaining ten races. But will anyone else find the consistency necessary to derail Vettel's bid for a repeat championship, or will the trailing four divide the scraps amongst themselves, allowing Vettel to claim the honors as F1's youngest double World Champion?

Team Lotus (Renault) had a miserable race, with both cars dropping out in the early laps due to mechanical failure. The team has not made nearly the strides in competitiveness they had hoped for this year; they continue to be better than the other two two-year-old teams, Virgin & Hispania (both using Cosworth power), but the goal of scoring points--finishing a grand prix in the top ten--looks as distant as ever. Here's hoping that a corner will be turned at the next round, the Großer Preis von Deutschland the weekend after next.

By Endurance We Conquer
The week just past saw the American Le Mans Series return to action for the first time since April, the lengthy lay-off required by the series's dedication to its namesake, Le Mans. The 24 Heures du Mans is a brutal test of man & machine under even the best of circumstances; it is made all the more difficult if a team must relocate its men & its machines from one side of the Atlantic to the other. The return was inauspicious, more about why in just a moment, but there will be chances aplenty for redemption as the famine turns to feast with races to be held every fortnight for the next several months.

The inauspicious return is due to two factors, {a} venue & {b} medium. The venue was Connecticut's Lime Rock Park; I hate Lime Rock Park. Lime Rock is the antithesis of the Le Mans's immortal Circuit de la Sarthe. The track is short, narrow, & nearly ovular. Driving at Lime Rock must be the racing equivalent of sitting in a traffic jam. Adding to the woes was the television coverage on E.S.P.N. Not only was the race coverage abridged, which turns out to be just as loathsome on E.S.P.N. as it was last summer on C.B.S., but the commentators were horribly amateurish. Instead of referring to, for example, the green & white Black Swan Racing car as "the Black Swan Racing car," they'd say simply "the green & white car." Hell's bells, man, if your camera is showing a green & white car I don't need you to tell me that you're talking about the green & white car! But if you tell that it's the Black Swan racing car, & that Black Swan continues to be the class of the G.T. Challenge teams, then I've begun to have a greater knowledge of the series & the sport. What is to be gained from dumbing down the race coverage? The worst part of an abridged race is the lack of any sense of how the race is unfolding. An abridge race is inferior to both a full race & a highlight package; if I'm not to see the race as it happened, to gather for myself a sense of its rhythm & its surprises, I'd really just rather watch a short presentation of the race's highlights. I won't be watching any more A.L.M.S. races on E.S.P.N. 2; I will give the A.L.M.S. one more chance on the streaming espn3.com website, but I hold out no great hope for my future as a fan of the series.

In one last bit about motorsport, I recently read a short article about Audi's dedication to racing. (My hope is that this means Audi will continue to compete at Le Mans in L.M.P.1 even after Porsche's reentry into the fray in 2014.) The article contained a great line from Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, head of Audi Sport: "Motorsport is brutal: only the best system prevails." Under the aegis of Dr. Ullrich, Audi has been the overall winner of the 24 Heures du Mans in ten of the last twelve years. I once heard it memorably remarked that Dr. Ullrich (& he's always called Dr. Ullrich) has forgotten more about running a racing team than most racing team bosses will ever know.

"Motorsport is brutal: only the best system prevails."

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Moving Cloud, "The Chinese Polka/William Durrette's Clog/The Boys of the Lough" from Green Linnet Records: The Twentieth Anniversary Collection (T.L.A.M.)

Lies, Damned Lies, & the News*
Holy smoke, something worth reading from The New York Times: Contrarylink. Count me pleasantly surprised.

Interesting remarks on supposedly objective journalism v. nakedly partisan journalism from The Economist: Transparencylink. The Economist openly describes itself as "a liberal paper," using the correct definition of political liberalism instead of the nonsensical contemporary American definition of political liberalism. American "liberalism," as extrapolated from the policies & proposals of President Franklin Roosevelt, Senator Edward Kennedy, & President Barack Obama is often so illiberal as to seem a piece of Newspeak. Liberalism, classical liberalism: freedom of expression & religion, limited & constrained government, respect for property & contracts. Liberalism: the closest thing this benighted world has ever seen to justice.

*From the phrase, "lies, damned lies, & statistics," popularized but not coined by Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain.

The Savage Wars of Peace
If our mission in Libya—now entering its fourth month with no even remotely achievable objective having been articulated by our charlatan president—is really about "protecting the civilian population" & not removing Colonel Qaddafi from power, what exactly is our rationale for doing nothing to protect the civilian population of Syria from "President" Assad's depredations?

Also, if the Syrians are unwilling to live up to the bear minimum of their Vienna Convention responsibilities—such as preventing mobs of vandals from invading the U.S. & French embassies—why exactly have we not severed diplomatic relations with Damascus? What do President Obama & Secretary of State Clinton hope to gain from such a conspicuous display of weakness & indecision?

What is Pakistan's incentive to continuing providing what help they do provide against al-Qaeda & the Taliban if the United States will not reimburse them for services already provided? Allowing Pakistan to fall under the full sway of Islamists would be a disaster of nigh unimaginable proportions; so, why are we failing to prop up Islamabad? Is there anyone reading this who can explain to me the logic of the Obama Administration's decision? Please, I beg thee.

Anyone, please: What is the United States's policy toward Afghanistan & Pakistan? I am a reasonably bright fellow but the unifying theory behind our disparate actions escapes me. I am desperate for your help.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, "The Golden Age" via iTunes (T.L.A.M.)

Dienstag, 12 Juli
The Wombats, "1996" from The Wombats Proudly Present: This Modern Glitch (T.L.A.M.)

Happy Birthday!
Best wishes for the happiest of birthdays to my oldest friend, Danny Boy. We were born a fortnight apart. We grew up around the corner from each other. We met when my family moved into his family's neighborhood, when he & I were two years old; we met ere my erstwhile best friend was born. Throughout my youth he was my brother in every way but blood (yes, I know that is a contradiction in terms given the definition of "brother," but you take my meaning). Time hath no power to diminish such a bond. Happy birthday, Dan!

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
The Skatalites, "The Guns of Navarone" via iTunes (T.L.A.M.)

The Explorers Club
№ CCXLIII - Phaëton & the chariot of Helios.







Science!
The high concept, no pun intended, in two words: spy blimps. Need anything more be said? Just in case it does: Spy blimplink.

Science!

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
MxPx, "Top of the Charts" from Secret Weapon (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: "From the bottom of our hearts to the top of the charts."

The Savage Wars of Peace
Welcome to the brotherhood of nations, South Sudan: Independencelink! May the new Republic of South Sudan live up to the lofty ideals of its motto: "Justice, Liberty, Prosperity."



The government of the Sudan, both the old, unified nation & the new northern rump state, is an abomination. Khartoum is a systematic violator of human rights, international law, & human decency. The armies & militias of Omar al-Bashir have raped, murdered, & pillaged their way across southern Sudan (the new South Sudan), the eastern Darfur region, & the new rump state of the north. al-Bashir is exactly the sort of monster the United States should be in the business of slaying. (The short version of my favored foreign/national security policy of the U.S.: A.K.B., the arsehole-killing business.) As if Khartoum's crimes against its own people weren't enough, it was also an early & enthusiastic supporter of al-Qaeda. It is not enough for the Western liberal democracies to wish South Sudan well; we must be prepared, at the first hint of trouble, to use every diplomatic, economic, & military tool at our disposal to let Juba escape from the bloodstained shadow of Khartoum.

In the words of Professor Farnsworth, "Good news, everyone!" Newly-minted Secretary of Defense Panetta boasts that the strategic defeat of al-Qaeda is within reach: SecDefLink. I hope sincerely that he's right, yet I cannot help but be reminded of former Vice President Cheney's repeated claims in '05 & '06 that the Iraqi insurgency was in its "death throes." Someone should go out & let al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (A.Q.A.P.) & al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (A.Q.I.M.) know that they are kaputt; to this point they, like al-Shabaab in Somalia & al-Qaeda-inspired "lone wolves" around the world, seem not to have received the memo.

The Queue
I'm all the way down to № 45 in the Carte Blanche queue. I began as № 68 three & a half weeks ago, & was № 52 early this week! At this rate, I'll be knee deep in the 21st century literary reboot of James Bond before you could sing the jaw-dropping, side-splitting lyrics to "Thunderball," by the incomparable Tom Jones (Wayback Machine).

"His days of asking are all gone…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
John Linnell, "The Songs of the 50 States" from State Songs (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: We dare not lose sight of the centrality of federalism to our Great Republic. Those powers not expressly granted to the federal government are explicitly reserved to the several states or to the people themselves. The American government is not & should not be Washington; it is also Lansing & Albany & Juneau & Montpelier & forty-six others, & thousands of county & municipal governments. Our nation is the United States of America, not the Unified State of America.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Charles Ives, "He is There" from The Pity of War: Song and Poems of Wartime Suffering (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: May America always, always, always disregard John Quincy Adams's insular advice & go abroad in search of monsters to destroy.

"He's conscious always of his country's aim,
Which is liberty for all."

Autobahn
I know that I live in what is still, after all that's happened, a G.M. town. I know that before the reassertion of the turn-of-the-20th-century appellation "Vehicle City" Flint was fondly nicknamed, after its most sprawling industrial complex, the "Buick City." I lament the decline of Grand Blanc's defining summer traditional, the Buick Open golf tournament. But even taking into consideration all these factors, sweet merciful crap, there are a lot of the new Buick Regals on the roads around here! This morning, I parked Lumi in the middle of three open parking spaces; when I returned this afternoon, Lumi was flanked on either side by a Buick Regal.

Also, & I admit this next bit has to be shoehorned into "Autobahn" since it's only about motorcars the way Sports Night was about sports, I continue to be appalled by the persistent belief in economic protectionism. A local auto dealership has been airing preposterous television advertisements proclaiming solidarity with the many laid-off works of metropolitan Flint & touting its supposed virtue in only carrying American brands. I find this claim to virtue irksome, even offensive, on two counts: {a} The claim that it is always most patriotic to buy goods from an "American" company flies in the face of economic theory (the advantages of specialization & the gains of trade) & economic reality (the advantage to the American consumer of buying cheaper imported goods over more expensive domestically-produced goods & the gains to American exports from fostering economic growth in underdeveloped parts of the globe). Call me old-fashioned, but I still consider cold, hard facts to be more important than fantastical, chauvinistic assertions. {b} The offending dealership sells only General Motors brands, foremost amongst them Buick. The hot-selling Buick Regal is based on the Opel Insignia, Opel being G.M.'s subsidiary in Germany. The first model year Regals were manufactured by Opel in Germany & imported in the U.S.; Regals are now produced on this side of the Atlantic... in Oshawa, Ontario. Not the U.S., the Canadas! Supposing for the sake of argument that we did accept the spurious notion that it is virtuous to "buy American," would it really be better to buy an "American" Buick manufactured in Germany or the Canadas or a "Japanese" Honda manufactured in Where's Teddy?'s hometown of Marysville, Ohio?

I'm much more of a partisan for Buick than I am for Honda, but let's support or oppose certain marques for the right reasons, those of mere opinion or fancy, not based on dubious logic & counterfactual facts. I don't like Honda automobiles because I dislike our wimpy Honda lawnmower, which sputters & halts if there's even the merest suggestion of moisture in the grass. Dodgy personal preference? All to the good. Jingoism parading as virtue? Dirty pool, old son.

He's Dead, Jim
The cough remains about the same. Yesterday's lightheaded sensation, itself usually the result of flooded sinuses, has given way to a running nose. My hope is that this means I am on the mend. My voice—my beloved, sonorous voice—is off, the frog still residing in my throat.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Rob Carriker, "The Red, White and Blue" from Over There!: Songs of America's Wars (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: Today's R.B.D.S.O.T.D. is actually "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean," inexplicably retitled "The Red, White and Blue" for the purposes of Over There! Even if the song was titled "The Red, White and Blue" it should be "The Red, White, and Blue;" the comma is not optional. What is in actuality "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean" is today's patriotic R.B.D.S.O.T.D., part of our week-long musical celebration of Independence Day.

He's Dead, Jim
I am again afflicted with the dreadful sick. I reckon I caught whatever this contagion might be from my father, who has been even more lethargic than usual for the past several days, & complaining bitterly to that effect. I have a very periodic cough, I am fatigued, & am possessed of a general sense that all is not well. I live in fear of a recurrence of last winter's diabolical fever, a malady so fearsome it necessitated my first trip to the sawbones in years; my fervent hope is that this is not that. How sick will I get? How soon will I recover? Only time will tell.

Cough up a lung, so to speak, & you are looked upon as if you've a narwhal's tusk growing out of your forehead. Let fly the most harmless, dainty little sneeze & persons from all quarters will fall all over themselves to say "Bless you." I've long thought that curious.

The Queue
The Honourable Schoolboy has jumped the queue due to my excitement over the new motion picture Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, but I still intend to read The Thirty-nine Steps before Smiley's People. Then I shall read the S.I.S. counterpart to Christopher Andrew's brilliant Defend the Realm: The Authorized History of M.I.5, Keith Jeffery's The Secret History of M.I.6: 1909-1949. I am uncertain what precisely I shall read after that jaunt into non-fiction, other than to say it will fall within (or very near) the espionage genre. More Deighton, such as S.S.-G.B.? More le Carré, such as Call for the Dead? If The Thirty-nine Steps pans out it will very likely be more from John Buchan, all but certainly Greenmantle. Or perhaps The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers?

I was rather accidentally made aware of the book The Art of Indirection in British Espionage Fiction: A Critical Study of Six Novelists: Amazonlink. I've no intention of reading the book; I'd rather read spy fiction than read about spy fiction. But I must say I am appalled by Stella Rimington's inclusion alongside the likes of Len Deighton, John le Carré, Eric Ambler, & Graham Greene (I omit Charles Cumming because I've not read his work; neither have I read Ambler or Greene, but consensus public opinion holds them in high regard). Dame Stella is rubbish as a novelist; to invert the old Reading Rainbow exhortation, take my word for it, I suffered through four of her six novels (& counting). Spare thyself, I beseech thee! My hope is that Rimington was included because of her high-profile career at the highest levels of British Intelligence, having been the first distaff Director-General of M.I.5, rather than her less than stellar career as a writer of "British espionage fiction."

Also, before Labor Day, or rather, even earlier than that, before the first Michigan football game of the year on Saturday, 3 September—home against the epithetless Broncos of Western Michigan—I intend to read The Big House: Fielding H. Yost and the Building of Michigan Stadium by Robert M. Soderstrom. I have no idea if Brady Hoke will pan out as our head coach, but win, loose, or draw (no longer feasible due to rule changes) it's great to be a Michigan Wolverine. Go Blue!

I'm now № 52 in the Carte Blanche queue. I started at № 68 three weeks hence; sixteen places in approximately twenty-some days? I'd call that a satisfactory pace. I suspect the hot-of-the-presses volume is a two-week loan, rather than the usual four weeks; so, whenever my number is called courtesy to my fellows still in the queue will require me to set aside whatever I'm reading in favor of Carte Blanche.

Recently
Greg Rucka & various artists, Queen & Country: Operation: SADDLEBAGS & Operation: RED PANDA
E. W. Hornung, The Complete Raffles, Volume One: The Amateur Cracksman & The Black Mask
Anthony Hope, Rupert of Hentzau

Currently
John le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy

Presently
John Buchan, The Thirty-nine Steps
John le Carré, Smiley's People
Keith Jeffery, The Secret History of M.I.6: 1909-1949
Robert M. Soderstrom, The Big House: Fielding H. Yost and the Building of Michigan Stadium
...
Jeffery Deaver, Carte Blanche

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Mr First and the Gimme Gimmes, "Coming to America" from Have Another Ball! (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: It seems that Neil Diamond's song, of which today's R.B.D.S.O.T.D. is a cover, as is the case with all Gimme Gimmes songs, is titled "America," not "Coming to America." But it is more commonly known as "Coming to America" & this is how it is identified in the Have Another Ball! liner notes.

We are a nation of immigrants, a refuge from tyranny & poverty. May we always remain such.

Project PALINDROME
On Sunday, Steeze & I had our first webcam story conference in a month. We didn't intend for June's silence, we just kept missing each other. This is due in part to an uptick in his social life; this is welcome news, since not too long ago he moved from Hollywood to the San Francisco Bay, & the isolation of being new to an area is one of the worst parts of moving. But the silence did not mean that June lay fallow. Both of us worked & steady progress continues to be made. First drafts of all episodes of the story are due by the end of August. I'm not sure what the next step will be after that; we need to discuss Project TRIANGLE, the sequel to Project TROIKA (The Ace continues to labor away on Tier 3 of 5), but the turning in of first drafts by no means entails PALINDROME's completion. Steeze worked on PALINDROME for years before he brought me in to help; so, I'd really like to see all his hard work come to fruition. But one thing at a time, first we have to finish up the remaining first drafts.

Grow or die.

Bier!
I've noticed since I stopped drinking pop that my intake of beer has increased. There is nothing even remotely like a one-to-one parity & my average intake over the last fortnight is still less than one bottle of beer per day, but the increase has been substantial nonetheless. My imperviousness to alcohol is not as legendary as it once was, but there are still no discernible signs of intoxication even after multiple beers; I'm not the beast I was, but I'm no lightweight. The not-as-occasional-as-before beer & a daily glass each of milk with dinner & of orange juice in the morning (I loves me some vitamin C) are the only deviations from the daily monotony of water, water, & water, followed by yet more water.

This past weekend I decided to mark America's national holiday with a selection of foreign beers, taking advantage of a "combo pack" special at my local grocer: specially-marked six-pack boxes into which the customer could place six bottles of any variety. I chose six beers with which I had either limited or no experience, viewing this as a perfect way to sample them without having to commit to six bottles of a beer I might not like. The wisdom of this stratagem was borne out by the sorry results of the testing: I disliked four of the beers, neither liked nor disliked one, & liked one, though not as much as any of the five or six brands I usually favor. Those are Guinness, Red Stripe, Grolsch, Beck's, & Carlsberg, with Heineken a passable in situ man-about-town substitute since I know of no local bar that serves Grolsch.

Like
Newcastle Brown Ale

Neither
Beck's Dark ('tis noticeably inferior to regular Beck's)

Dislike
Smithwick's
Stella Artois
Dos Equis
Dos Equis Amber

I still love the "The Most Interesting Man in the World" advertising campaign, just not what it pitches. I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer almost anything to Dos Equis. No profound conclusions came out of the weekend's experiment, but for the nonce my yen for exploration has been quelled. I shall stick to what I know & to what I know I like.

I've never trusted my love of Yuengling. Do I really like the beer, or is it a mania born of scarcity, since you can't get it in the Midwest? Add to that the possibility of affection by association, since I only drink Yuengling when I visit the Eastern Seaboard, a region to which I travel to visit family & friends, occasions on which good times are in abundance. Lest I forget, add patriotism to the pile of doubts: mayhap I like Yuengling more than I otherwise would because it is the only decent American beer I've ever had. I have traditionally derided my own national brews as "American pisswater," & I stand by that.

"Stay thirsty, my friends."

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
The New American Brass Band, "Hail, Columbia" from The Civil War: Music from the Original Soundtrack (T.L.A.M.)

Operation AXIOM
Happy Independence Day, both to my fellow Americans & to any non-American whose eyes might fall upon these lines! Happy birthday to the United States of America, free now for two hundred thirty-five years!



I always mean to make a bigger deal of Independence Day that I do. Alas, this impulse strikes me each year only on the evening of the 4th of July, as my mom watches the Washington, D.C. fireworks on television, & very quickly thereafter fades until the following Independence Day. How shall I go about reminding myself to plan a proper whizbang for '12? I want ballyhoo! I want spectacle! I want… I'm not sure. I must make at least as big a deal of Independence Day as I do of Narwhal Day; not a one-to-one parallel, but a rough equivalence of effort put forth. I've a year to get this right, & the scheming cannot begin too soon.

Happy Independence Day!

The Rebel Black Dot Song of Independence Day
The University of Michigan Marching Band, "The Star-Spangled Banner" from Hurrah for the Yellow and Blue (T.L.A.M.)

The Explorers Club
№ CCXLII - The Argonauts, heroes all, & the good ship Argo.







Argonauts who have themselves been subjects of episodes of "The Explorers Club," in alphabetical order rather than chronological: Atalanta, Bellerophon, Heracles, & Theseus.

Project GLOWWORM
I wore shorts & sandals to Mass today. The sandals were quite appropriate, since sandals are mentioned in Scripture far more often than a wingtips. I wore the shorts on purely utilitarian grounds, fearing that today would be as hot & humid as yesterday. I paired my "dressiest" shorts with my habitual-for-Mass polo shirt; they were not strictly necessary, but I was certainly more comfortable than I would have been in slacks & socks. While I felt an explanation was in order, I apologize for nothing.

Urbi et Orbi
Father Steve regularly gives blessings at the end o' Mass to those who are to celebrate a birthday or a wedding anniversary in the week to come. I thought this odd when he first took over the parish, but there's nothing wrong with it & over the past year I've gotten used to the ritual. I've gotten used to it, yet there remains a part that makes me squirm ever so slightly. Father Steve invites to assembled parish to extend a hand toward those being blessed while he recites the few lines of the blessing. Mayhap I'm being oversensitive, but I'll never be comfortable with the sight of several hundred people, the majority of them white, raising there right arms in what looks for all the world like a Roman salute.

This Week in Motorsport
Porsche have announced their intention to challenge for the overall race win at Le Mans with an L.M.P.1 program to enter competition in 2014. There is every reason genuinely to believe that Porsche will be able to threaten the dominance of Audi & Peugeot, as Porsche's last prototype, the L.M.P.2-spec. R.S. Spyder was highly successful in both American & European competition. The R.S. Spyder might still be competing for honors in L.M.P.2 had not the A.C.O. placed cost-constraints on the class that priced the Porsche out of contention.

This is grand news, but the one thought that gives me pause is a fear over what Porsche's entrance will mean for Audi. I do not mean as far as competition; I favor Audi over Peugeot principally because Peugeot continues to employ the loathsome Anthony Davidson as a driver. If Porsche can beat Audi, more power to them. But will Porsche's entrance into L.M.P.1 prompt Audi's departure? Both Audi & Porsche are part of the colossal Volkswagen Group; will the corporate parent allow the siblings (step-siblings, rather, by merger & acquisition not by corporate birth) to compete against each other? When Bentley, also owned by Volkswagen, won the 24 Heures du Mans in 2003, it was with the support of Team Joest, a German racing organization that had before & has since formed the basis of the Audi factory team; in addition, several of the Bentley pilots had been victorious Audi drivers in 2000, '01, & '02. There were Audi R8s in that '03 Le Mans, but run by privateers, not the factory. Will the Volkswagen Group allow Audi & Porsche to compete genuinely, or will one marque step aside for the other?

But that paranoia-cum-pessimism might well be misplaced. These are heady days of endurance racing, a sport on the grow. The Intercontinental Le Mans Cups, now in its second year, has been such a runaway success that the F.I.A. has partnered with the A.C.O. to re-brand it as the World Endurance Championship starting next year. I prefer the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup as a name, but the money & media savvy of the F.I.A. will be quite a boost. Audi v. Peugeot v. Porsche! Woo hoo!

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
The University of Michigan Marching Band, "America the Beautiful" from A Saturday Tradition (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: From the seldom-sung second verse:

"Confirm they soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law."

A motion picture adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is to be released in the fall: Internet Movie Databaselink & Wikipedialink. I am excited about the prospects for this film based on two counts & nervous about its prospects on one, also allowing for a substantial number of unknowns. On the plus side, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a crackerjack story & would make a magnificent motion picture if handled correctly. Also aiding this cause is the cast, which looks quite strong & agreeably British. My trepidation is based in the complexity of the story; I simply do not know if it can be told effectively within the time constraints of a motion picture, even a lengthy one. Nevertheless, I am so dreadfully fond of both the television miniseries starring Sir Alec Guinness & John le Carré's novel (I list the television adaptation ahead of the original novel solely because that is the order in which I encountered the works) that a well-done Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy feature has the potential to be held very highly in my esteem. Trailerlink. Fingers crossed.

"There are three of them and Alleline."

The Rebel Black Dot Songs of the Day
Ivy, "Worry About You" from Long Distance (T.L.A.M.)

Freitag, 1 Juli
Go Sailor, "Bigger Than an Ocean" from Go Sailor (T.L.A.M.)

Project MERCATOR | Project PANDORA
…cont'd from Wayback Machine…

The surprise of the evening (Friday, 3 June) was Farr Afield's partner in crime, The Redhead. I'd seen her at many a Loose Ties gig & we'd chatted a bit here & there, but we'd never had a proper conversation. She planted herself at our table & played a few games of hangman with Nick Andopolis & Ska Army, & we chatted a bit. Rather out of the blue, she asked if I was going to see X-Men: First Class. I replied that I had no specific plans, "but I'm a huge dork; so, I'm sure I'll see it." Without any particular conscious thought I added, "We should see it sometime." She then invited me to join her & some pals for a screening on the approaching Sunday (5 June). I assented & the ball was set to rolling.

The Loose Ties were the last of that night's trio of bands. During the set, I skanked up a storm as is my custom (&, since I've been designated the Super Fan, something of a duty); I extended a hand to The Redhead, she having quit as I did our table on the mezzanine & seated herself upon a stool at the junction of the tiny dance floor & the bar, at the beginning of one of the band's two slow songs & she accepted readily. This was not a serious slow dance, not with me having already skanked up the aforementioned storm. Later, as I stood on the sidelines taking a breather she swiped a finger along my belly, urging me back to the dance floor. I rejoined the effort & we skanked the night away. With the set finished & the night winding down, I aided in conveying Nick Andopolis's drums to his motorcar, park next door to the Soggy Bottom. In time I was joined by The Redhead, Nick Andopolis, & Jameson, the bass player (I really must devise code names for the rest of The Loose Ties). The Redhead assumed station next to me & teasingly groused about the "beer baby" in her stomach. I placed my left hand on her shoulder & my right on her stomach & pretended to feel the "baby" kick. I walked her back to the entrance of the bar; I'd had long day & was tired & dehydrated from all the skanking, & I wanted to call it a night. But there was at least some connection twixt The Redhead & me over the course of the evening & I wished to acknowledge that in some way. I thought it too forward to simply kiss her unbidden, besides which I'd sweated like a Wilson on the dance floor; so, I fell back on the oldest weapon in my arsenal, a trick I've used since I was a wee lad: I kissed her hand. She greeted this was a goofy smile & them returned the gesture in kind, jerking my hand into her face with inadvisable force. The next day she reported via the FaceSpace that she'd given herself a bloody nose. O the splendors of libations!

Sunday came & with it the opportunity of accompanying her to a screening of X-Men: First Class. She rang my mobile, having gotten my number from Nick Andopolis, & proposed a time to meet at the cinema. Not too much later she sent a text message informing me that the time had been moved, we were to attend a later screening to accommodate with the most ease the largest number of potential attendees. I know how that goes; so, I was unperturbed. A little while & some apologies for the indecision of her friends later & the meeting was changed again to the original screening. I was, as is my regrettable custom, running a tad late; so, upon my arrival at the cinema I rang her to inform her of my arrival. The call went to voicemail &, as the last apparently believer in that technology, I left her a message. My concern was that she might have already seated herself in the theater & deactivated or silenced her mobile as a courtesy to others. I purchased my ticket & took up a watch in the lobby. I ran into the Anonymous Friend, whom I had not seen in quite a long time, as he was meeting up with a group of friends. When they went into the theater I followed, suspecting that The Redhead & company might already have taken their seats. I saw so sign of her, but that might have been solely due to the darkness (by this point the coming attractions were already running). I assumed a seat close to the exit, resigned to hooking up with her party once the film ended.

No sooner had I sat down than my mobile began to vibrate in my pocket. I saw The Redhead's name in the caller ID. & answered in hushed tones; she apologized for having not yet arrived, she was just pulling into the parking lot. I abandoned my seat & walked out to the lobby to meet her. She soon appeared in the ticket line, accompanied by her younger sister (I'd guess late middle school or early high school). Whilst in line she fielded a call from a friend who was meant to join us, but who had gone to the Trillium Cinema in Grand Blanc instead of the Courtland Cinema (in where? Burton? Flint Township? A number of miles distant from Grand Blanc). So, it was to be we three. We missed a little pit of the picture, no more than a few moments, but I cannot be more precise until I see the film again on D.V.D. The Redhead sat between her sister & your humble narrator, & she looked lovely in a blue summer dress, but with the younger girl there as chaperone there was nothing to do but simply sit back & enjoy the picture. When the picture was concluded & The Redhead & I were waiting in the lobby for her sister to use the W.C., The Redhead apologized for her sister's presence, but it had been unavoidable. Such things happen, I assured her, now more confident in the belief that I was not the only one who'd viewed the outing as a chance for something more than just a friendly evening about town.

I would like to have acted quickly to have seen her again, but the following weekend was the 24 Heures du Mans. As I wrote at the time, "Le Mans is far more important than making time with a long-legged redhead. Comely lasses come & go, but Le Mans is forever." Think me a madman if you wish, but I stand by those words. The following weekend I was presented with dueling social, to a bonfire hosted by the Action Hero & to see Green Lantern with a group organized by The Impossible Ingenue. I chose the movie as soon as I realized this would be a perfect opportunity to see The Redhead again. I invited her to join "a group of indeterminate size" & she quickly accepted the invitation. A couple hours later The Ingenue informed me that we'd be going to a different showing than originally planned, later in the evening & in vile 3-D. No sooner had I passed the change in plans & my apologies for same onto The Redhead than The Ingenue texted back that the original plan was again in effect. Maddening idiocy. By this time The Redhead wrote of her regrets, but she would have to back out of the venture, reasonably citing the early hour at which she had to be at work the following day. I extracted from her several laughs & the promise of a rain check. In any event, I think it for the best that The Redhead was not in attendance. The film was wretched, one of those true wastes of time when you realize that on your deathbed you'll want those hours of your life back; The Impossible Ingenue & The Most Dangerous Game were at their annoying, immature worst, shrieking over the P.G.-13 pornography of Ryan Reynolds like the children they truly are. I cut my loses & said my goodbyes at the first opportunity. All things considered, I'd have rather been in Philadelphia.

I made no effort to see The Redhead last weekend because with my parents away visiting The Squeak & her parents in the District of Columbia I reverted to hermit mode, eschewing all company bu the limited-time offers of The Guy & The Gal. My hope is that the poolside Fourth of July wingding being organized by Farr Afield's boyflesh will furnish me with the opportunity I seek to make a lasting impression on the lass.

Lies, Damned Lies, & the News
The "Friday News Roundup" panel on N.P.R., in discussing the conviction of former Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich, expounded at length upon the culture of corruption that is Illinois politics. "The machine" was considered only slightly less nakedly corrupt that the P.R.I. was in the days when Mexico was a one-party state. Illinois politics is dirty, they cried with outrage. Yet at no point did anyone mention either President Barack Obama, former U.S. senator for Illinois & Illinois state senator, or Mayor Rahm Emanuel, current Mayor of Chicago & former U.S. congressman for Illinois.

So, any corrupt Republican anywhere is a brush with which to smear every Republican everywhere, but institutionalized corruption in Illinois politics has nothing to do with prominent Illinois politicians? I do love a good double standard from our self-appointed seekers of truth.