Click on the comic to see the non-squished version. ..bruce w..
You knew this was coming — at least, that was one of my first thoughts upon seeing the original “Demon Sheep” ad. However, much to my delight, they used a different sequence from “Downfall” than you usually see. Hat tip to Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit. ..bruce w..
This is a long (too long) political ad dealing with the California Senate race. But just hang in there until 2:20 or so, and you will witness something truly priceless. Initial hat tip to Ace of Spades, but you’re going to be stumbling across this thing all over the net for the next few days. Just remember two words: demon sheep.
Oh, and get the t-shirt before it sells out (or gets a DMCA take-down notice).
UPDATE
The Chuck DeVore campaign people (he’s the 3rd Republican candidate in this race), recognizing a golden opportunity when they see it, have jumped in with both feet. Heh. ..bruce..
[Welcome to all and sundry coming over from Ace of Spades.]
Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal’s Best of the Web daily mailing comes this posting from the DOJ Civil Rights Division for a Voting Section trial attorney:
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
Applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be an active member of the bar in good standing (any jurisdiction), and have a minimum of three (3) years post-J.D. experience. Applicants must have substantial litigation experience, such as handling discovery, litigation strategy, motions practice, brief writing, interviewing witnesses, taking and defending depositions, trial preparation, trial practice, and negotiations. Applicants must have excellent interpersonal skills, be mature and self sufficient, communicate effectively orally and in writing, and possess excellent professional judgment.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
In addition, the following qualifications are preferred: (1) substantive knowledge of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and other statutes enforced by the section; (2) familiarity with the various analytical approaches utilized to review voting changes under Section 5 of the VRA; (3) experience investigating and/or litigating voting rights or civil rights cases; (4) federal judicial experience; (5) experience serving as the lead attorney in federal court cases; (6) familiarity with statistical methodologies used in civil rights cases; (6) and fluency in Spanish, Chinese, Korean, or vietnamese languages.
Sounds pretty stringent. But then a few paragraphs down is this (emphasis mine):
The Civil Rights Division encourages qualified applicants with targeted disabilities to apply. Targeted disabilities are deafness, blindness, missing extremities, partial or complete paralysis, convulsive disorder, mental retardation, mental illness, severe distortion of limbs and/or spine. Applicants who meet the qualification requirements and are able to perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation are encouraged to identify targeted disabilities in response to the questions in the Avue application system seeking that information. For additional information for applicants with targeted disabilities, please contact the Civil Rights Division’s Disability Program Manager, Diane Petrie, at (202) 514-3934; see also http://www.jan.wvu.edu/LEAD/index.htm and http://www.opm.gov/disability/PeopleWithDisabilities.asp.
Isn’t there an inherent conflict between the required and preferred qualifications and those targeted disabilities? Then again, perhaps not in the current DOJ. ..bruce w..
[Here are two other recent ASIP posts you may want to check out: Waist Deep in the Big Muddy and Obama as Zaphod Beeblebrox.]
It’s interesting how easily “Groundhog Day” could well have been done as drama/horror. Hat tip to Sippican Cottage. ..bruce w..
I must confess affection for a video game ad that starts by quoting the opening lines of “The Inferno” by Dante — and then segues into into battle sequences that look like a cross between “God of War” and “Left 4 Dead”. ..bruce w..
As noted below, we’re having one of our Very Large Scale BBQs tomorrow (Saturday). I got up this morning at 0545 and fired up the smoker. While (as you can see) I use lump charcoal and soaked wood to do the actual smoking, I unapologetically started the fire in the firebox with MatchLight charcoal and charcoal lighter fluid — it’s not easy starting a fire in the dark at 6200 feet above sea level and 18° F.
Here are the 5 briskets (~40 lbs total) that I’ll smoke today:
They’ve been marinading since Wednesday morning in John Henry’s Texas brisket marinade (which I usually buy 2 to 3 gallons at a time). I gently blotted them off, then applied (surprise!) John Henry’s Texas brisket dry rub. Three of the briskets are smoking right now; I’ll smoke the other two later today. All five will get double-wrapped in heavy foil and stuck in the oven at 180° until they’re served tomorrow afternoon.
I’m also smoking some elk steaks (marinading in a mix of brisket marinade and red wine), three bone-in turkey breasts (white wine, fresh basil, various herbs, and a cinnamon stick), and a leg of lamb (red wine, onion, garlic, basil, olive oil, salt, pepper). Grilling will include chicken (boneless breasts, cut lengthwise, marinated in chipotle Tabasco sauce), hamburgers, hot dogs (as always, Hebrew National), and some veggies (asparagus, small sweet peppers, a few portabello mushrooms).
I had planned to smoke the elk steaks this afternoon with the remaining two briskets, but when I took them out of the marinade this morning, they turned out to be smaller than I expected (they were frozen together when I started marinading them two days ago). I don’t want to dry them out — particularly since they’re pretty lean to begin with — so I may smoke them for a little while just before the BBQ tomorrow and then finish them off on the grill. Right now, they’re back in their marinade.
More later. ..bruce w..
UPDATED 02/02/2010
OK, things got a bit too hectic to ever really update things. The BBQ was a success — we had probably 120+ people attend, and almost all of the food was eaten (we were left with maybe 5 lbs of cooked hamburgers and some unopened packs of hot dogs). The elk steaks and the tabasco chicken vanished very quickly, but even I was surprised when I carved up the last of the five briskets as things were winding down a bit, put it out on the serving table — and then saw that it was completely gone about a half hour later. Great fun, though Sandra and I were pretty exhausted the next day. ..bfw..
Over 40 years ago, Pete Seeger wrote a song ostensibly about an Army platoon on stateside maneuvers but actually referring to the escalation of the Vietnam War. Here are the lyrics:
It was back in nineteen forty-two,
I was a member of a good platoon.
We were on maneuvers in-a Loozianna,
One night by the light of the moon.
The captain told us to ford a river,
That’s how it all begun.
We were — knee deep in the Big Muddy,
But the big fool said to push on.
The Sergeant said, “Sir, are you sure,
This is the best way back to the base?”
“Sergeant, go on! I forded this river
‘Bout a mile above this place.
It’ll be a little soggy but just keep slogging.
We’ll soon be on dry ground.”
We were — waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.
The Sergeant said, “Sir, with all this equipment
No man will be able to swim.”
“Sergeant, don’t be a Nervous Nellie,”
The Captain said to him.
“All we need is a little determination;
Men, follow me, I’ll lead on.”
We were — neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.
All at once, the moon clouded over,
We heard a gurgling cry.
A few seconds later, the captain’s helmet
Was all that floated by.
The Sergeant said, “Turn around men!
I’m in charge from now on.”
And we just made it out of the Big Muddy
With the captain dead and gone.
We stripped and dived and found his body
Stuck in the old quicksand.
I guess he didn’t know that the water was deeper
Than the place he’d once before been.
Another stream had joined the Big Muddy
‘Bout a half mile from where we’d gone.
We were lucky to escape from the Big Muddy
When the big fool said to push on.
Well, I’m not going to point any moral;
I’ll leave that for yourself
Maybe you’re still walking, you’re still talking
You’d like to keep your health.
But every time I read the papers
That old feeling comes on;
We’re — waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep! Neck deep! Soon even a
Tall man’ll be over his head, we’re
Waist deep in the Big Muddy!
And the big fool says to push on!
I found myself wondering at the end of President Obama’s State of the Union address how many of the Democrats in the House Chamber had that song or thoughts along those lines running through their minds. ..bruce w..
I just heard Chris Wallace talk about having a press lunch with Pres. Obama today and that Obama seemed quite sure of himself, unfazed by the Massachusetts election last week and the subsequent collapse of Obamacare, and looking forward to his State of the Union address tonight. I immediately flashed back to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (which I first listened to in its original radio format some 30 years ago on our local [Houston] NPR station). One of the major characters is Zaphod Beeblebrox, “ex-confidence trickster and part-time Galactic President” who is on the run, having stolen the starship Heart of Gold at its christening. He is, to put it mildly, very sure of himself:
“Look I’m here with cool OK? I am so amazingly cool you could keep a side of meat in me for a month. I am so hip I have difficulty seeing over my pelvis. Now, will you move before I blow it?”
During the course of events, Zaphod get put into the Total Perspective Vortex, “allegedly the most horrible torture device to which a sentient being can be subjected”:
When you are put into the Vortex you are given just one momentary glimpse of the entire unimaginable infinity of creation, and somewhere in it a tiny little mark, a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot, which says, “You are here.”
So what happens when Zaphod Beeblebrox is subjected to it?
The door of the Vortex swung open.
From his disembodied mind Gargravarr watched dejectedly. He had rather liked Zaphod Beeblebrox in a strange sort of way. He was clearly a man of many qualities, even if they were mostly bad ones.
He waited for him to flop forward out of the box, as they all did.
Instead, he stepped out.
“Hi!” he said.
“Beeblebrox …” gasped Gargravarr’s mind in amazement.
“Could I have a drink please?” said Zaphod.
“You … you … have been in the Vortex?” stammered Gargravarr.
“You saw me, kid.”
“And it was working?”
“Sure was.”
“And you saw the whole infinity of creation?”
“Sure. Really neat place, you know that?”
Gargravarr’s mind was reeling in astonishment. Had his body been with him it would have sat down heavily with its mouth hanging open.
“And you saw yourself,” said Gargravarr, “in relation to it all?”
“Oh, yeah yeah.”
“But … what did you experience?”
Zaphod shrugged smugly.
“It just told me what I knew all the time. I’m a really terrific and great guy. Didn’t I tell you, baby, I’m Zaphod Beeblebrox!“
