This Time



















He votes, because it's what Tom Jefferson and Tom McCall would've wanted him to do. But he doesn't have to enjoy the experience. Here again is Chester Magpie, underground pundit:

"Remember this as the voting machines get hacked switched on: the 9/11 revenge story still makes the heartland hamburgers cut the warmongering Republicans way too much slack. And as they will never forget The Day We Will Never Forget™, they'll also never forget that Bill Clinton had icky hippie sex with some Madonna-era ho in Abe Lincoln's Holy Temple. (Or was that Al Gore's Buddhist Temple?)

Even though amer-a-c*nts don't care much for the latest version of sandn*gger hate, McCain or some other media puppet might yet cook up the right torture ingredients. We don't like sky monsters, they make the race car wheels fall off.

Man, I'm gonna give myself cancer to at least silence this insanity."

To The End

William S. Lind (via James Wolcott) on Iraq:

A Marine friend just back from Ramadi said to me, "It didn't get any better while I was there, and it's not going to get better." Virtually everyone in Washington, except the people in the White House, knows that is true for all of Iraq.

Actually, I think the White House knows it too. Why then does it insist on "staying the course" at a casualty rate of more than one thousand Americans per month? The answer is breathtaking in its cynicism: so the retreat from Iraq happens on the next president's watch. That is why we still fight.

Yep, it's now all about George. Anyone who thinks that is too low, too mean, too despicable even for this bunch does not understand the meaning of the adjective "Rovian." Would they let thousands more young Americans get killed or wounded just so George W. does not have to face the consequences of his own folly? In a heartbeat.

I'd guess Rove has made the "kick it to the next administration" calculation; Cheney and Rumsfeld may have as well. But George? This is a man on record saying he'll stay the course even if only his wife and dog support him. In his dry-drunk mind, the sick fuck still thinks he's God's President, and he comforts himself with the thought that he's like other stalwart souls who were unpopular during their lifetimes, but were ultimately proven right because of their loyalty to his Personal Jesus.

Entries

Horse racing is a year-round bidness, and in all seasons I'm able to gather collections of interesting horse names. Here's the latest list...

Stevie Ray Gone
Polo Grounds
Be Darn Special
Spooky Girlfriend
The Friendly Ghost
Psychodrama
Safe Sex
Tequila Party
Philosopher King
Damnation
Beat Me Daddy
The Big Ugly
Miss Quackerjack
Delta House
Watson I Need You
Disco Fox
Gigli
Dylan Thomas
Freedonia
King Clone
Starcastic
Dewy Soakum N Howe

In other horse news, Breeders Cup day (one of the busiest at my workplace) is coming up in November. And Barbaro, winner of this year's Kentucky Derby, continues to show amazing resilience, after breaking his leg in the Preakness Stakes and later suffering from laminitis.

Working Weak

I'm taking a hiatus from posting on other sites and forums. Maybe a permanent one, I don't know. I get too nervous about getting posts just right, and then if I get a critical and/or snarky response to even one or two, I get paranoid and depressed.

You might notice that I do a lot of editing of my blog text. I don't like having to jerk around the reader like that -- but again, I obsess on getting everything as good as I can, even if it takes making multiple edits over several days.

Maybe I could post first drafts on a test blog, and then put the final drafts here when I'm finally satisfied. It's worth a try, I suppose.

***

For someone who takes recorded music so seriously, I sure have crappy equipment. My car radio antenna only works occasionally. My home stereo receiver and speakers are nearly 16 years old. I have no decent boombox to listen to my old cassettes. No iPod to stay reasonably close to the cutting edge. And lately some of my CD-burner mixes are sounding scratchy when they get past the 50-minute mark or so.

Oh well. Time to make lunch and get ready for work.

Every Elvis Has His Army



Costello in Japan, 1996.

I got yer EC trilogy right here...

Elvis Costello
Essential EC, Vol. 1

Radio Radio
Green Shirt
High Fidelity
Watching the Detectives
Beyond Belief
Pump It Up
Clubland
Accidents Will Happen
Alison
Oliver's Army
Everyday I Write the Book
New Lace Sleeves
(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding
New Amsterdam
Lip Service
(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
I Hope You're Happy Now
Veronica
Sulky Girl
(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea
Suit of Lights
So Like Candy
Lipstick Vogue
The Comedians


Elvis Costello
Essential EC, Vol. 2

Tokyo Storm Warning
Secondary Modern
Pay It Back
Senior Service
Brilliant Mistake
Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over)
Shipbuilding
Big Tears
The Only Flame In Town
45
London's Brilliant Parade
Man Out Of Time
American Without Tears
You'll Never Be A Man
Almost Blue
Talking In The Dark
This Is Hell
Strict Time
All This Useless Beauty
Monkey To Man
The Loved Ones


Elvis Costello
Essential EC, Vol. 3

The Imposter
Deep Dark Truthful Mirror
Less Than Zero
The Delivery Man
Blue Chair
Charm School
Hoover Factory
Glitter Gulch
Clown Strike
Girls Talk
Jacksons, Monk and Rowe
Men Called Uncle
Love Field
Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head
God Give Me Strength
Good Year For The Roses
This Year's Girl
My Dark Life
Tear Off Your Own Head (It's A Doll Revolution)
Let Me Tell You About Her
Night Rally


Probably some of your favorites were left off Vols. 1-3. If so, check back in a few years for a Volume 4, which should include post-2004 material plus the following:

No Action
Waiting For The End Of The World
Lovable
Spooky Girlfriend
The Greatest Thing
I Want You
The Other Side Of Summer
Miracle Man
Chemistry Class
Lovers Walk
Shabby Doll
I Almost Had A Weakness

Election Results

Most days anymore, you can just put me in the "what Billmon said" category:

The instruments of top-down manipulation and control, and the enormous quantities of cash available to power them, may be too strong for economic change and social evolution (the godparents of political realignment) to overcome. Political change -- much less fundamental change, the kind that frees the slaves or brings malefactors of great wealth to heel -- may no longer be possible in American politics.

The Republicans may lose this election. They're certainly trying hard. They may even lose the next one. But it's going to take more than one or two scandal-boosted victories to persuade me the Dems have a future that doesn't involve being the ornamental decoration on a functionally one-party state.

***

On a related note, I saw yesterday that here in Oregon's gubernatorial race, Republican challenger Ron Saxton (who's outspending the Democratic incumbent) is playing the Mexican card in his negative TV ads:

The number of illegal aliens here could form Oregon's second largest city...Ted Kulongoski supports giving driver's licenses to illegal aliens...Ron Saxton believes in enforcing the law...

Acting!

My daughter, the lovely and talented Vicktoria, just keeps on truckin'. She's landed one of the leads in her high school's fall musical, Seussical (playing Gertrude McFuzz), and yesterday her team finished 2nd in a statewide "Oregon Thespian Improv Festival" competition.

Here she is in August, with the cast of a local theater production of Guys and Dolls. She's in the top row, seventh from left.

Pam is fourth from left in the top row, as Big Julie. Andrew is fourth from left in the bottom row, as a member of the Mission Band.