cryptique

I'm worried about all of them. By all rights, the Democrats should have no problem securing a landslide victory in the presidential election, but the candidates they put forward are all flawed in some major way (whether those flaws are real or not, they affect their ability to get elected, so they're real enough). The right-wing attack machine, which is well funded and has considerable influence, will chew up any of the three major Democratic candidates. The Dems just have to hope they can survive the onslaught. Hillary: probably the single most hated/polarizing political figure in the count

[quote name='JUDE

Interesting how some people are completely grossed out by pee in the shower, yet they'll eat a hot dog and think nothing of it.

And this has what to do with anything? Sterile isn't clean enough for you?

This is pretty funny. Click the link above for the whole piece, but here's a teaser:

It was mentioned back in the day, but obviously it wasn't enacted. Meh. I don't see any point in differentiating between Umm posts and other posts. Participation is participation, regardless of the forum in which it occurs. Besides, does anyone really care that much about postcounts? edit: almost 12,000, woohoo!

If Seinfeld ever said that, he stole it from Buddy Hackett (who may well have stolen it from someone else). It certainly predates Seinfeld. I've found references to Hackett using the phrase to describe Bob Newhart. Exactly.

Well explained, gogo ... you smarmy condescending hurtful bitch.

It all goes down the same drainpipe eventually. Someone (I think it was Buddy Hackett) had a joke about this, along these lines: "He's a gentleman ... the kind of guy who steps out of the shower to take a piss."

Many of them were making a damn sight more than that. Detroit's been a mess since shortly after the riots in the late '60s, and though pockets of it have rebounded slightly, it's still mostly a rotting mass of abandoned buildings and vacant lots. It's more war zone than city. It's a shame, because there's some stunning architecture downtown.

Five weeks?!!? It's not like she was writing the songs or anything. She needed five weeks to lay down vocal tracks? edit: I'm guessing it was a few sessions spread out over five weeks. But my initial reaction was, WTF??!!?

I'm surprised they were ranked that high.

The Ravens? (Just guessing)

My knowledge in this area is pretty old by now, so don't necessarily take my word for it. But I think what I said is still true.

I've already paid several hundred dollars to see Tweedy solo (but the crowd was more like 30, not 300). As for the hypothetical 300-capacity club idea... Uncle Tupelo - $200 Wilco - $100 Jeff solo - $50 Son Volt - $25 Jay solo - $12.50 OK, I might pay a bit more to see Jay solo, but I wanted to keep up the pattern I'd established.

Google "royalty-free music" and you should find some stuff. A radio station is the same deal as a CD -- licensing required. I believe that putting any BMI/ASCAP music over your phone system constitutes a "public performance" or some such, regardless of whether it comes from the radio or a CD or other source. It totally sucks, because hold music seems like a pretty harmless thing, but that's the way the rules are written. Technically, your local bar that plays music over their speakers has to get the same licensing. Whether they do or not is up to them, of course, but there's that risk that

At least the sun's out today!

Just FYI ... if your company cares about such things, the hold music you play is subject to BMI and ASCAP licensing. Unless you use music that is royalty-free, your employer is technically supposed to hand a wad of money over to BMI/ASCAP. A decade ago that would have been about $1600 total per year; it may be more now. I only know this because I was charged with the same task several years ago for a company I used to work for. My employer eventually decided to go with royalty-free music, which was godawful to listen to but kept them out of trouble. I don't know what the chances are that s

Yup. Manning became a subject of my loathing precisely because of that whole draft business. I have rejoiced, and will continue to do so, with every crappy game he plays. He's the #3 reason I'm cheering for the Patriots. (For the record ... #1 is because I hate the Giants and always have, and #2 is because I want to see the Patriots go 19-0 and deprive the stupid '72 Dolphins of their classless champagne ritual).

Probably my first two suggestions as well. The latter ends up getting spelled several different ways on English menus -- around here I see it as "Pad Kee Mauw." It may also be called "drunken noodle." I like it with chicken and super-spicy.

Feel free to jump in on this one ... anybody.

First I've heard of it. I bought Failer on a whim a few years back and really liked it, and thought Back to Me was a good followup. I have high hopes for a new one from her.

I call bullshit. The scary thing is, as fake as this pretty obviously is, it's not too far removed from what the RIAA actually is trying to do.

A little on the side turns into $9 million out of the taxpayers' pockets ... and now it's going to get worse. Yay Detroit! This isn't the first scandal for this guy. So far he's managed to wriggle out of most of them through his own charisma and the unwavering support of his entourage. His arrogance has been mind-boggling, and frankly, it's about time it started catching up with him. article FREE PRESS SPECIAL INVESTIGATION Mayor Kilpatrick, chief of staff lied under oath, text messages show Romantic exchanges undercut denials January 24, 2008 BY JIM SCHAEFER and M.L. ELRICK FREE PRE

I'll go with this. We rarely do much on Valentine's Day. Sometimes we go to dinner, but not anyplace fancy.