Don't you love this day?

You only get this day once every 4 years. SO you should take full advantage of it. Make love to your spouse, run around the house naked, bake a cake, just go out and enjoy it.

Historically speaking, there should be less going on today that we want to give it credit for, but there were some killa happenings. First up is in 1288, over in Scotland, they made a rule that on this day only a woman could ask a man to marry her. Here is the kicker, if the guy said no, he pays a fine. I don't know if this was a good thing or not. Think of all the unions that happened because the guy didn't want to pay a fine. I wonder how many times a woman used this day to make a dude pay cause they knew he would say no? This is the kind of law that would cut down on male whores. We should bring this law to the Us of A so US Americans would have a new holiday. This could be the most coveted reality show of all time. It would be like the Olympics cause its once every 4 years. And make the penalty either money or some form of humiliating community service like picking up trash in your boxers. Alright, its far fetched but fun to think about. Hell it really makes me think about those Scots. First they invent golf and now we get this little leap year gem. Oh and don't forget William Wallace.

Alright, now I want to give a big shout out for Hattie McDaniel who was the first person of color to win that Oscars statue back in 1940 on this day. She snagged the little golden guy for her brilliant work in Gone With The Wind. Big ups to her. This may not seem important, but this was a turning point for blacks in the entertainment industry. It paved the way for generations a few decades down the road.

Peace out people. Do good works and do good things.

The effects of trawling on the bottom of the sea...

It is frighting the effects of bottom scraping has on our seas. This here is a sat map of scrapin in the Gulf of Mexico. The little bright spots are boats or oil platforms. When these guys scrape the bottom the destroy reefs, capture a lot of by-catch, kick up hella amounts of sediment, and basically shock fragile ecosystems that are barley hangin on. See they uses to scrape the shallows until they damn near killed or caught everything there was. Now there are issues, especially in the bay, with a lack of sea grass. All of this is connnected. There needs to be areas that are off limits to all forms of commercial fishing. Don't get me wrong, my father was a commercial fisherguy. I know what its like to depend on the sea. If this kind of fishing is allowed to continue, there will be nothing for the future generations to farm. Its a hell of a situation.

Photos from ISS

Here is a shot taken from our friends aboard the ISS. That is your classic anvil cloud kissing the stratosphere. Is there anything scientific or new about this? Hell no. It just looks freakin cool. Thanks ISS team.

The 80th Academy Awards

So I watched the whole thing and I have to say I was impressed with the show. While there were no moments that will probably go down as one of those moments, it was a good show. Jon Stewart. What can I say? If not for him, I may not have stayed on as long as I did. I knew, hell I called it the day the nods were given, that the Coen Brothers were gonna wipe the floor. These guys make great films. I can't think of one movie they made that I don't like. Hell I watch some of their films with a obsessive side of me that kind of scares myself.

Helen Mirran was definitely the best dressed and the hottest woman there. I know, I know, she is in her 60's or something like that. All I can say is if you don't want people saying Helen Mirran was the hottest woman at the show, you younger bucks need to dress the part.

Did anyone think it strange the The Bourne Ultimatum won a couple of Oscars?

And Amy Adams. Girl can sing. Props to you.

As I was watching the show, I wondered why they don't give awards to important people in the industry like grips and carpenters? Am I missing something there? Is that a separate award? Come on give the little man his due.

Alright, thats about it. Have a happy monday.

If WWII intrigues you, this is right up your alley.

Digging For Nazi Treasure: German Treasure Hunters Claim to Have Found Amber Room - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

House of Flu.

Got the flu. So does my daughter. Be back as soon as possible.

The Day After Next...

Wow, the Obama ground machine has the GOTV machine kickin. They put on an impressive display of strength yesterday that sent a couple of messages. First to The Hill, you are no longer the front runner. Get used to 2nd place from here on out. And how ironic she is hanging her hopes on Texas. And Ohio. Two states that need to stay away from the national political scene for awhile. Seriously, are you gonna leave something like this up to Texas again? WTF? I think that is why Obama put the foot on the gas and slammed the primaries yesterday. He created this turning point.
Second, McCain is in trouble when polled against BO. That will probably not get any better. McCain will get a fresh dose of fairly progressive politics.

There is one other development that caught my attention. Donna Edwards ousted AL Wynn. This is another turning point in politics and many never saw the importance of it. Chris Bowers says it best,

the new primary voters who are coming out for Barack Obama are also going to result in the first progressive displacement of a centrist, corporate, congressional Democrat via a primary in years. This it it. This is what we have been working for and building for. This is our emerging majority. We finally have the organization, and the voters, and the whole ball of wax. The movement has thoroughly come of age.

Progressives have been working building a political machine these last few years. When they find a established party member who isn't playing by the rules they go after them. And until now they haven't been able to unseat any of them. Until now. The game is changing amigos.

Can not wait until the general election. I get all geeked up for the process.

Watch out for Brittney Griner. Amazing.

Now comes the question, can she play in the NBA? What say you? Hmmmm?

You ever hear of good little history?

Me either. But thats not to say we can't make something like that up. Stop it. You are crushing my dreams and aspirations. Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I am angry.

Ok Ok thats over with. Here in Maryland today, we got primaries. Get out and vote. Vote and get fired up about it. A good way to find out who the dumbass in your office is about voting is to ask where there polling place is. If you ask the question 3 times and get 3 straight "huh?"'s, you know you can run smack to that person. Get some. If you are wondering who I am voting for, I will tell you it's BO. I have been watching The Hill for years gearing up for this run and I have to say she failed to inspire me. With The Hill, I think I was more for the idea of a viable woman candidate. Can she do the job, I think so, but I want Obama. And thats just where I am with it.

Alright, back to the original subject with this post. Little history, kinda like little Italy, but then again no. So here is some little history...in 1733 Savannah, GA was founded. And what a town it is. If you have never been there, make a date. River Street is a party. There is good live jazz in a couple of spots, killa food and all the kooky weirdness you saw in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I lived there for 2 years and consider some of the best times I had.

In 1909 we got the NAACP. I know you may think thats pretty good, but not big. I think we can all agree it was a good thing, Stewart style, but not big like MLK marching on Washington. So its something I call little history.

1924, President Coolidge make the first speech by a president on the radio. Big history, hell no. Like who cares today in this world of mobile digital HD broadband wireless gadgetry? Just some little presidential history for you...

And James Cash Penney died this day in 1971. You know they closed all the J.C. Penney's around the country for half a day to honor him. Think that would happen today?

So there is some little history for you. Feel free to throw it around.

Green Mountains at night. You read that right.

Green, all natural. Courtesy of the Northern Lights. I found this on the SpaceWeather site. Photo by Dave Taylor. The mountains are part of the Matanuska Glacier in Alaska.

And from the world of art...

Robbers steal $160m in art from Zurich.

High profile art heists are all the rage now. Its like the only adrenaline pumping theft left. See stealing art is better than stealing money. But only if you have two things going in your favor. One: if you are in it for the money, you better be able sell what you stole fast. The second thing is if you actually like art. Ever see the updated version of The Thomas Crown Affair after Bronson's character steals the San Giorgio Maggiore at dusk by Monet? Just takes it home to enjoy it in his study all by himself. I bet there is more than one piece of popular art being admired in this fashion.

Do you remember where you were when you heard Mike Tyson got knocked out?

Yep, it was on this day in 1990 when Iron Mike Tyson got knocked the hell out in the 10th round by James "Buster" Douglas. And in the land of the rising sun no less. I remember where I was and what I was doing. Being a typical dude and hanging out in the pool hall with other dudes. Real exciting I know. Even better it wasn't really a pool hall, it was Cherokee Lanes, so technically I was shooting pool in a bowling alley. Hey, if you can be specific, what good are you?

The best part for me was watching the fight later. What left the best impression for me was the stoic Japanese audience. That crowd was freakin jumpin! Tyson gets dropped on canvas and not one of them moved. Just imagine that same fight in MSG or The MGM Grand. People would have been jumpin up and down shootin their Glocks in the air and what not. Then again who the hell thought Buster Douglas was going to knock out Iron Mike?

It was an upset that rides high among upsets. Whats that saying? Champions fade but upsets are eternal? Rings true my man. Where were you when Mike Tyson got knocked out?

Bloomberg Camp Still Prepping For White House Bid - Politics on The Huffington Post

Good morning amigos. When your standing around that water cooler poundin the H2O and runnin' smack about politicians, don't forget to talk about this man, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. Dude has the money, has the appeal, can talk economic smack. Pair him with a dude like Republican Senator Chuck Hagel as his Vice President and that will make sense to a whole bunch of folks in the middle. The longer the fight between The Hill and BO goes on, the more people are gonna get tired of that.
Bloomberg Camp Still Prepping For White House Bid - Politics on The Huffington Post

McCain seals GOP nod as Romney suspends - Yahoo! News

McCain versus ????? I thought Mitt would stick it out till March. Now all eyes on tha Dems. Game On...

McCain seals GOP nod as Romney suspends - Yahoo! News

History offers a perspective...

On this day in 1999, Brit was livin the dream. Her song "Baby One More Time" was turning her into the hottest teenager to ever sell her sex appeal in a legal manner. All eyes were on her. And here we are a scant 8 years later and all I can say is Wow. With a capital W.
I got to thinkin about this when I noticed another teen pop sensation had a number 1 hit 11 years earlier in 1988, Tiffany with "Cold have Been". Now I was in the midst of high school hey day then. All skater wannabe punked out and what not, but Tiffany was something everyone made fun of. Of course things were different back then. There was Madonna as the sex symbol, but that was alright cause she was like 20 something. Teenagers who happened to be stars didn't sell the image Brit did. I guess that is why the only place you see Debbie Gibson and Tiffany is VH1's Where Are They Now. But when Gibson and Tiff were climbing up the charts, they were runnin that stuff as hard as they could. They were it if you were in to pop music. If you were stuck with a radio, it really sucked cause you heard each or at least one of them every hour. I guess they were trying to balance NKOTB. I don't know nor do I care cause that era in radio really opened my eyes to the value of having your own music collection. Debbie Bibson and Tiffany were part of the reason hip hop and metal was so appealing to Gen X. But that is a whole other discussion.

My wife and I were watching Will and Grace one night and one of the lines was "Who has more staying power, Brit or Christine?" We thought it was funny, but little did we know we would bust that out at dinner parties and really twist some people over the whole thing. Why because it make you talk about the train wreck that is Brit. Part of the problem is building your confidence around an image. What happens when you can't be a teenager anymore? I guess it all slips away and you go crazy. Hell look at those album covers. That tells it all. Tiff- conservative but edgy jean jacket. Long red hair. A cute look. Deb- very conservative jacket and shirt with a hat that can be considered edgy. Brit- kinda on the floor looking up suggestively with a kinda revealing skirt. Same standard grin with cocked head. Whats up with that anyway? Must be a standard pose or something. Makes you wonder what is next.

But back to the question of staying power. The real answer depends. Brit is more popular than ever, its just not the way she wants. Christine Aguilera is a way better singer and will have a more celebrated career in the vocal arts. And that is the way I see that panning out.

Alright amigos. Have a good day.

And in the world of art...

Here is a good article in the Times, London that is, that highlights the direction that the art world is moving in. Like any other genre struggling for acceptance, street art seems to have arrived. Good. I have some friends that can throw down some of the sweetest graffiti that ever was. It would be nice to see their names up there with the traditional greats.
Kate Moss Banksy print fetches £96k - Times Online

Some ramblings about yesterday....

First I wanted to throw up this nice phat picture from Cassini. Still out there, still giving us nice phat data. Beauty of a planet that Saturn.

Well well well. I am completely satisfied with the results of yesterdays "super" action. It was great to see McCain roll a Republican party that doesn't like him. And it's funny that they are remembering that now. Yeah sure as some see his stature grow, they will kiss his ass more, but the one glaring stat that I have been following is the volume of voters. There are way more dems casting ballots than repubs. Thats gonna hurt in the general election. As far as The Hill and BO go, it looks even. Good. Now I will feel that my Maryland primary will mean something. I am still undecided. I guess its really time to shake these cats down and make a decision. I can't tell you where I stand with Edwards on the sidelines.

The biggest trend I noticed and thought was important, only in the states of AL, AZ and UT did nmore Repubs vote. If that trend stays true, Repubs are in a world of hurt. Now back to our regular scheduled programming...

Tornadoes Tear Across South - weather.com

Damn the weather gods are angry. 33 Dead last I looked. Early February. Gonna be a long spring in the south and mid west.

As our theocons gently weep...

Check out this little money line from none other than Mr. CONservative, Dr. James Dobson, and I quote, "But what a sad and melancholy decision this is for me and many other conservatives. Should Sen. McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can't vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life." You know what I say? Awesome. If the entire moral majority feels this way, well its a lock for BO or The Hill. The worst thing that can happen is McCain and Mitt is still a 4 th option at this point. The longer Bloomy hangs on the sidelines, the more likely hes out. Wow. I never thought I'd see the day the nutballs thrown in the towel. Strange days we are living in my friend. Strange days indeed...

CitizenLink: Dr. Dobson: ' I Cannot, and Will Not, Vote for Sen. John McCain'

Reflections on the 07 Hurricane Season.

from Jeff Masters Weather blog. Its in the links. Moonrise over the eyewall of Hurricane Felix as it intensified into a Category 5 hurricane.

Super Tuesday

How long have we been waiting for this? Today is supposedly the deciding day. The big show down. After today, we could be waving goodbye to a potential presidential prospect or two. I think after today, you will see Mitt on the way out. That leaves the Republicans who lurk on the far right in a bind. All those moral majority voters hate John McCain. All I can say is GOOD FOR THAT! Back in the day, I was all about the McCain effort. Then I saw he lay down to the bully tactics of the incoming Bu$hco regime and that kind of made me lose interest in the guy. I mean 5 years in the Hanoi Hilton and he lets that frat boy put the smack down on him? WTF? I mean is there a hotter head in politics than McCain? He should have raged on Bush back then. Straight Talk Express to the forehead chop! So that the Republican field.

Dems. BO or The Hill. Both are terrifying prospects to the right. Not as terrifying as McCain, but still its the other party. And seeing how Republicans are wired like terminators from the future to destroy Sarah Conner, they want to destroy all political enemies in like manner. I have no idea how this is going to shake out. SOme polls have The Hill up 10% on BO and others have BO up by 13%. These polls were conducted on the same day in the same state. You tell me. All I know is the entire world is watching this political race. It is incredibly interesting to watch. The drama, the freakin drama. Without a doubt the best blog for dems is My DD.com. It is one of the oldest blogs and its all about polls and what not. Paradise for a political junkie. That is the blog where Markos from DailyKos got his start. He used to be this commenter that got people riled up. Ahh the good old days before everyone knew who he was.

Alright. Keep watching for results. I will post up any articles I dig on today. Or any thoughts I have. I know I haven't waded into politics on this site as much as my interest is in the field and I am sorry for that. As much as I read and study this crap, you would think I would have expressed more of an opinion on it. That will change from here on out.

Winter Haiku

bright planets twinkle,
night recedes its frosty grasp.
memories of warmth.

Best Superbowl Ever.

I myself being a life long and die hard Steelers guy had nothing riding on last night game. Other than the fact that if the Pats lost, they shouldn't be considered best dynasty ever, the Steelers run of 4 in 6 is it. These Pats are better than that early 90's Dallas crew, but only by reaching the big show one more time. Hey I still think what the Bills did by going to 4 straight is one of the greatest achievements ever. All that crap aside, that game last night was freaking awesome. I am really conflicted cause I feel so good those Giants pulled that out of their backsides. Upsets are echoed through out eternity. Broadway Joe anyone? I love the fact the Pats fell short. And how cool is it that brothers are back to back MVP? Dude that 3rd down play with Eli seeming down, bustin loose and letting it rip. Giants lore. Hell Superbowl lore. And that catch. And that sack of Brady after that. Another aspect of the game I loved was how much Brady got hit. Dude got beat down. So its with guilt that I feel so celebrant about this victory, not because Brady got beat, but because I am so happy for a team other than my Steelers.

Thanks Giants. Thanks for the best Superbowl I can remember.

The stuff you can find on you tube.

I never thought I could find this on youtube, but there it is in all its glory. This is a clip from the show Taxi. Freakin classic show. And this clip has to be one of the funniest moments on a sitcom ever. I give you Jim at the DMV.

Sometimes you wonder....

at least I do. I wonder cause my generation learned it from the beat writers. It appealed and now we can hold a thought for more than a minute. Oh well. It could be worse. I could be living in England in the middle ages.

Remember looking at this picture for the first time? The instant of death. I was in fairly young. Middle school some where. It really got me thinking about war. Especially how different Vietnam looked from WWII or the Korean War. But that just shows how military minded I was from the jump. I always knew I was going to join the army. Not the air force, navy or marines, the army was my shinizzle. Kind of like how some people get hooked on smoking, I got hooked by Be All You Can Be. Anyway in 1968 South Vietnamese National Police Chief Brig. Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan executed a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head. And because it was captured by the news, it was all over the world. Plus it became on of the most memorable images from any war.

And since we are in the 60's, I got to give a shout out to Brandon Lee today. This would have been his 42 birthday. We still miss you. The Crow is still one of the best movies ever. Rapid Fire wasn't to bad as far as action flicks go. After time I just came to the conclusion that we should be happy Brandon and Bruce did what they did on film and we can watch that forever. What a tragic family history.

And I will leave you with another birthday worth celebrating. On this day in 1902, the lord blessed us with Langston Hughes. Thank you Thank you Thank you! I was digging through the Hughes poems and I found one I have not read since I was drinking these poems in college. And now more than ever, this poem seems way ahead of its time. Hell it is a timeless classic. Eat your heart out Walt.

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek--
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean--
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home--
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay--
Except the dream that's almost dead today.

O, let America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose--
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath--
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again!