Overnight Lows

Palin's Turkey Pardon Interview Goes Wrong

noreply@blogger.com (K2) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:03:00 +0000

Governor Sarah Palin was conducting a post Turkey Pardon interview at a turkey farm - all the while, a farm worker was processing a doomed turkey in the background. It all ends with a wink of irony.

The Roots' Bus Crashed in France - All Okay...Player

noreply@blogger.com (K2) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:15:00 +0000

A tour bus carrying The Roots crashed last night near Paris. Fortunately, everyone is okay.

?uestlove decided to blog about it - from the side of the road.

"I used to live life, like there was no manana
Now I'm treatin every breath, like it was "your honor"
malik b, 1999 "the spark" from things fall apart

well...since we are sitting on the side of the road. what better way to pass the time while the ambulance comes then to....blog.

- Continued

Rambo Stroller

noreply@blogger.com (mel) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:50:00 +0000

I'm not sure what it says about human nature that anyone at all would be interested in grooming their kid for war from birth, nor what it says about me that my first thought was, 'That's frakkin' cool' and my second thought that said, 'Wait... that's kind of disturbing.' (Good thing I'm not a parent, eh?)

Here's the very cool 2009 Kid Kustoms Oakley Roddler:

via NOTCOT
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Hemingses of Monticello, by Annette Gordon-Reed - Winner of 2008 National Book Award for Non-Fiction

noreply@blogger.com (K2) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:54:00 +0000

Congratulations to Annette Gordon-Reed, and her book Hemingses of Monticello, for winning the National Book Award for Non-Fiction last night.

I had the great pleasure of meeting and speaking with Ms. Gordon-Reed last year at our publishing sales conference; I'm fascinated with just about anything Jeffersonian, so I was a bit star-struck. She was completely gracious, kind and so informative.

Here is an excerpt of from an interview from the National Book Foundation

I really wanted to get a sense of, and convey to readers, the way slavery worked in the day-to-day lives of people. We know what the big picture of slavery meant to the enslaved. But I wanted people to understand that this was not just the oppression of a nameless mass of people. It blighted the lives of millions of individuals in ways that we can feel, if we allow ourselves to do that. I want readers to identify with, say, Robert Hemings, who had a wife away from Monticello and wanted to be with her and their children. The tension between him and Jefferson as he negotiated his freedom so that he could join his family, I think, puts a really human face on the toll slavery took on family life. We know the poignant drama of enforced separations. But here we see a more quiet desperation: we have a husband and father using what means were at his disposal to be able to live with his family. Or Mary Hemings who asked to be sold away from Monticello to live on Main Street in Charlottesville with Thomas Bell, a prosperous white merchant who left her and their children his house and property. And then you compare them to the other enslaved people down the mountain—the majority of people at Monticello—who had few real chances to affect their lives in meaningful ways. We see the differences in individual circumstances while understanding that there was no “good” or “easy” way to be enslaved.

Here she is speaking at Monticello:

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

The book and award are timely as we find ourselves with Obama as President-Elect. Congrats to Ms. Gordon-Reed and all the other NBA winners.

Cheers!

Related:

Overnight Lows Posts on Liberty

wednesday's words

Sep 03, 2008

... than under care of the wolves. it will be said, the great societies cannot exist without government. the savages, therefore, break them into small ones. thomas jefferson, notes on the state of virginia. __. subscribe in a reader.

Comments Regarding Amendment 48 in Colorado?

Oct 21, 2008

In this spirit - I give you Thomas Jefferson's Wall of Separation Letter: Mr. President To messers Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, & Stephen S. Nelson a committee of the Danbury Baptist association in the state of Connecticut. ...

view original declaration of independence today at the nypl

Jul 04, 2008

doors will remain open for a special viewing of "one of the nation’s great historical treasures, an annotated copy of the declaration of independence in thomas jefferson’s hand." jefferson underlined a number of passages in this copy, ...

lewis and clark

May 14, 2008

... pacific ocean whether the columbia, oregon, colorado or any other river may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce." - thomas jefferson to meriwether lewis, 1803 ...

Wednesday's Words

noreply@blogger.com (mel) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:40:00 +0000

WORDS

Axes
After whose stroke the wood rings,
And the echoes!
Echoes travelling
Off from the center like horses.

The sap
Wells like tears, like the
Water striving
To re-establish its mirror
Over the rock

That drops and turns,
A white skull,
Eaten by weedy greens.
Years later I
Encounter them on the road --

Words dry and riderless,
The indefatigable hoof-taps.
While
From the bottom of the pool, fixed stars
Govern a life.

Sylvia Plath

Original Image Link

Texas Grand Jury Indicts Cheney, Gonzales

noreply@blogger.com (K2) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:35:00 +0000

HOUSTON (Reuters)

- A grand jury in South Texas indicted U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and former attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Tuesday for "organized criminal activity" related to alleged abuse of inmates in private prisons.

The indictment has not been seen by a judge, who could dismiss it.

The grand jury in Willacy County, in the Rio Grande Valley near the U.S.-Mexico border, said Cheney is "profiteering from depriving human beings of their liberty," according to a copy of the indictment obtained by Reuters.

The Ultimatum Game

noreply@blogger.com (mel) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:49:00 +0000

This Dinosaur Comic makes me wonder if Ryan North recently read Everyday Survival:

Link to Comic

I Live in Heaven

noreply@blogger.com (mel) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 01:31:00 +0000

Last Day for Nocturnal Mockery

noreply@blogger.com (mel) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:56:00 +0000

If you live in Colorado Springs or nearby, and you'd like to see some graffiti art very worthy of framing, check out Nocturnal Mockery at Cedars today while you still can:

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Big Island Bans Biotech Coffee, Taro

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Michelle) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:22:00 +0000

"It's all happening!" ~ Penny Lane

November 14, 2008

Big Island bans GMO coffee and taro crops

Council overrides mayor's veto 7-0 amid big show of support

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — The Big Island County Council gave final approval yesterday to an ordinance making it illegal to grow genetically modified taro and coffee on the island, overriding a veto of the measure by Mayor Harry Kim.

It is the state's first such ban.

An overflow crowd at the council's Hilo hearing room was overwhelmingly in favor of the ban, with organic farmers saying they worry that pollen from genetically modified crops could contaminate organic crops and destroy their livelihoods.

Critics of genetically modified crops also said there are no data showing the altered crops are safe.

"With the passing of this bill, you stand up and protect the people," said Lauren Riley-Payne, 16, whose family operates an organic farm in Kapoho. "You show that our safety is worth it."

The council voted 7-0 to override Kim's veto and ban the crops.

Critics of GMO crops cited examples of organic papaya farms that were contaminated by pollen from papaya that was genetically modified to make it resist the ringspot virus.

To read the full story:

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081114/NEWS01/811140334

Bike of the Apocalypse

noreply@blogger.com (mel) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:18:00 +0000

So this is the bike you need as a backup for your tank when the revolution comes:

via Backcountry.com:

Found this SUV Fixie on a site written in some foreign language, and since the American school system (damn them!) failed to teach me a second language, I have no idea what they’re saying about it. I’m not sure where any conventional human being would need a machine like this, but I’m betting I’ll see one rolling along the Great Hipster Silk Route by the end of the week.

via velonista
By Rocky Thompson

(And those of you who don't think I'm kidding need to take a few deep breaths...)
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Gear Heart

noreply@blogger.com (mel) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 04:41:00 +0000

via Not Yellow, Chicken
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Wednesday's Words

noreply@blogger.com (mel) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:40:00 +0000

Men must endure
Their going hence, even as their coming hither:
Ripeness is all.

The Tragedy of King Lear (Act V, scene ii), William Shakespeare

Image Link

National Geo's Best Wild Animal Photos of 2008

noreply@blogger.com (mel) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:55:00 +0000

The 7 winning shots for Best Wild Animal Photo 2008 are simply stunning (I guess I should say 'of course' since this is National Geographic we're talking about). Here are my favs:

That first one doesn't even look real, does it? (It is.)
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Star Wars Set Shots

noreply@blogger.com (mel) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:19:00 +0000

OK, I know I'm a geek, but I adore the old Star Wars and accordingly I really love some of these shots from the set :)

Source Link

via Cynical-C Blog
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Feel Better, Merle!

noreply@blogger.com (mel) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 02:07:00 +0000

I was lucky enough to see Willie, Merle, and Ray in the Last of Breed tour. It was an incredible show and my whole family enjoyed it. :)

via stillisstillmoving:

http://www.bakersfield.com
by Shellie Branco
At the insistence of his family and personal physician, Merle Haggard had a cancerous growth removed from his lung Monday at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital. Friends and associates of the country music icon said the surgery was a success and he is in stable condition.

The 71-year-old country star and Oildale native had a malignant tumor, apparently the same growth that was discovered in May, according to sources who wished to remain anonymous.

Haggard told The Californian while on tour in August that he didn’t plan to treat the growth, which was discovered May 5. He said he doesn’t trust hospitals but, all along, family members wanted him to seek treatment.

“Of course, everyone wanted me at the Mayo Clinic, someone wanted me in Santa Barbara (to) do this and that,” he told The Californian in August. “And they said, ‘Oh, my God,’ and I said, ‘Well, I’m not gonna do anything.’”

At the time, he said it wasn’t cancerous and it hadn’t changed two months after the discovery, but that doctors didn’t know what it was.

The singer, to whom fans gave a warm welcome in February at the dedication of Merle Haggard Drive in Oildale and a hometown concert, was admitted to the hospital last week.

Haggard’s family has been by his side at the hospital and the singer is in good spirits, according to sources.

(Continued)

Get better soon, Merle!

Travel Very Cheaply (IF You're a Claustrophiliac)

noreply@blogger.com (mel) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 02:00:00 +0000

Gotta love old school Popular Science ideas:

(October 1940)

At the Savage Chicken Pharmacy

noreply@blogger.com (mel) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:47:00 +0000

Yes... yes, it did.

Link: Savage Chickens Pharmacy
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Wednesday's Words

noreply@blogger.com (mel) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:40:00 +0000

And then there is the Tenth Commandment. 'Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.' The Ten Commandments are God's basic rules about how we should live — a brief list of sacred obligations and solemn moral precepts.

The first nine Commandments concern theological principles and social law. But then, right at the end, is 'Don't envy your buddy's cow.' How did that make the top ten? What's it doing there? Why would God, with just ten things to tell Moses, choose as one of those things jealousy about the starter mansion with in-ground pool next door?
Yet think how important the Tenth Commandment is to a community, to a nation, indeed to a presidential election. If you want a mule, if you want a pot roast, if you want a cleaning lady, don't be a jerk and whine about what the people across the street have — go get your own.

The Tenth Commandment sends a message to all the jerks who want redistribution of wealth, higher taxes, more government programs, more government regulation, more government, less free enterprise, and less freedom. And the message is clear and concise: Go to hell.

P.J. O'Rourke, An Alternative Inaugural Speech (18 January 2005)

__________________

The American political system is like a gigantic Mexican Christmas fiesta. Each political party is a huge piñata — a papier-mâché donkey, for example. The donkey is filled with full employment, low interest rates, affordable housing, comprehensive medical benefits, a balanced budget and other goodies. The American voter is blindfolded and given a stick. The voter then swings the stick wildly in every direction, trying to hit a political candidate on the head and knock some sense into the silly bastard.

P.J. O'Rourke, Parliament of Whores (1991)

__________________

Worshiping the earth is more fun than going to church. It's also closer. We can just step off the sidewalk. And sometimes we can get impressionable members of the opposite sex to perform sacramental rites with us.

P.J. O'Rourke, All the Trouble in the World. The lighter side of famine, pestilence, destruction and death (1994)

I can't feature O'Rourke quotes without including my all-time favorite:

There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.

P.J. O'Rourke, The Liberty Manifesto (6 May 1993)

Quotes via the ever-handy Wikiquote
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noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:30:00 +0000

VOTE!

noreply@blogger.com (mel) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:40:00 +0000

Today's the day! It's so incredibly important to exercise your vote:

Voting is a hard-won civil right. Think for a moment about the countries wherein citizens have NO say in their governance. Want to live there? Didn't think so.

EVERY vote counts! Yes, there is an electoral college, but your vote strongly influences the outcome of the electoral college vote.

Your right to complain about the outcome is entirely dependent on whether you made the effort to make things go the way you think they should. No free rides! NO BITCHING IF YOU DON'T BOTHER!

VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE! You live in the U.S.!!!!

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They'd See You, But They'd Still Want to Hit You

noreply@blogger.com (mel) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 03:06:00 +0000

Via Bikehacker:

Bright Idea: Cordarounds Bicycle Pants

Being seen on the road is a consistent theme on bikehacks. Cyclists have a much lower visual profile than a motor vehicle and it is important to take whatever measures you can to be seen both during the day and night. Andrew recently bumped into a web site that provides a nice urban pant option. The company is called Cordarounds and the web site states:

Cordarounds is a two-man design shop based in San Francisco. We only sell our clothing online and manufacture locally. Each product is produced in small batches of a couple hundred items, then we move on to new ideas.
Below is one of their items and as the famous saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words -

Again from the site:

The Cordarounds Bike to Work pants are everyday khakis with inner brilliance — the pockets and pant cuffs reflect while you bike or bound around at night. At the office, they’re everyday work wear. To and from, they’re anything but.
It’s such a good idea that it probably won’t be long until larger companies start offering knock offs. Do them a solid and buy the originals.

Crazy McCain Supporter

noreply@blogger.com (Drew) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 15:53:00 +0000

I hope this crazy old witch got a good old halloween egging, or maybe the classic flaming bag of poo. This should disturb you regardless of who you are voting for on Tuesday...and you better vote!

Isolation

noreply@blogger.com (mel) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 15:38:00 +0000

Somewhere in CO. Photo by K2.

RIP - Studs Terkel Dies at 96

noreply@blogger.com (K2) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 12:51:00 +0000

Studs Terkel, author, actor, radio personality, oral historian, raconteur, patriot and champion of the common man died yesterday - he was 96 years old. RIP, my man.

His thoughts on oral history:

"When the Chinese Wall was built, where did the masons go for lunch? When Caesar conquered Gall, was there not even a cook in the army? And here's the big one, when the Armada sank, you read that King Philip wept. Were there no other tears?" Terkel said upon receiving an honorary National Book Award medal in 1997. "And that's what I believe oral history is about. It's about those who shed those other tears, who on rare occasions of triumph laugh that other laugh."

In my other life, I have the privilege of selling Studs Terkel to booksellers far and wide. I'm a sucker for oral history and Studs is the master. Studs is the Terry Gross of the 20th Century - he interviewed everyone from Bob Dylan, to Dennis Kucinich, to the most uncommon of the common. If you haven't read Working, And They All Sang, Hope Dies Last, or American Dreams - you're missing a snapshot of true American history.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Terkel dies at 96 - AP

Studs Terkel, Oral Historian And Radio Legend, 96 - NPR, Morning Edition

Studs Terkel - Rocking the Boat

Studs on a Soapbox Part I

Studs on a Soapbox Part II

Via StudsTerkel.org

Studs Terkel, prize-winning author and radio broadcast personality was born Louis Terkel in New York on May 16, 1912. His father, Samuel, was a tailor and his mother, Anna (Finkel) was a seamstress. He had three brothers.

In 1952 Terkel began working for WFMT, first with the "Studs Terkel Almanac" and the "Studs Terkel Show," primarily to play music. The interviewing came along by accident {LISTEN}. This later became the award-winning, "The Studs Terkel Program." His first book, Giants of Jazz, was published in 1956. Ten years later his first book of oral history interviews, Division Street : America, came out. It was followed by a succession of oral history books on the 1930s Depression, World War Two, race relations, working, the American dream, and aging. His latest book, Will the Circle Be Unbroken : Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith, was published in 2001. Terkel continues to interview people, work on his books, and make public appearances. He is Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at the Chicago Historical Society.