Mar 12-18, 2008
The Animal Issue: Conservationists Roger Payne; On the Job With an Equine Dentist; Vets Who Favor Felines; Following Wild Tracks; Raising Chickens in Town
Honk If You’re Irish!
Diane and I left work for our annual jaunt upstreet to witness the splendor that is the S.D. Ireland Cement Truck Parade. They were 15 minutes late this year and Diane thought there were fewer trucks than usual, but they certainly made their presence known! At first I thought someone screwed up and adhered…
Why do animals make for such good allegories?
This video, posted by a young climate activist, has nothing to do with anything, really. But I like it, mostly. It reminds me of the story Pamela did last summer about domesticated chipmunks. (See also Eva’s chippy video)
Bloggers, Journalists and Sourcing
Here’s a little Vermont blogger inside baseball news for you. Last Friday, VPR aired a report raising questions about the political motives behind the crackdown on Intervale Compost. I heard it while I was on my way to pick my son up from daycare. One thing about the story immediately jumped out at me —…
St. Paddy’s Day Song Parody
If you didn’t already know, I’m a pretty big geek. I love obscure trivia, etymology, Latin, fantasy and science fiction novels, role playing games, collecting quirky cookbooks, and strange, slow moving foreign films. Or does all that make me a nerd? I’m not certain. In any case, I also really love parody. Weird Al makes…
Dear Sweet Jesus
I was just looking up images of motivational posters… long story, don’t ask… and I came across this website.
Fingertip Reader at Disney World Turnstiles
File this under the “We Really Are Turning Into a Police State” Department. From Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing: Today in my ongoing series of photos from my travels, this shot of the fingerprint reader at Walt Disney World’s turnstiles. These machines (which, I’m told, capture the shape of your fingertip instead of your fingerprint…
Risky Business
It’s nice to have an outlet like Blurt when I’m cruising the Internet late at night and come across a funny, yet terrifying, video like this one of Tom Cruise’s 2004 birthday extravaganza put on by the Church of Scientology. According to Gawker Media, the footage was shot aboard the Freewinds, the Church of Scientology’s…
Conservative Humor
The right-wing funny bone is not connected to anything. How Barack won in Vermont Blogged with the Flock Browser
Photobooth article in NYT
Hey, remember the article I did on Nakki Goranin’s Photobooth book and exhibit? The New York Times interviewed her and included more slide shows. Very cool.
Remember Alfred E. Neuman?
Even though Mad magazine doesn’t exist anymore, it seems like everyone knows this face. Maybe because he’s now in the White House? Click the picture to see the metamorphosis…
Bubble? What Bubble?
In a videoconference on Thursday, President Bush listened to reports on Afghanistan from military and civilian personnel and said he was “a little envious” of their service on the front lines. “It must be exciting for you … in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You’re really making history, and thanks,”…
Get Thee Behind Me, Satan
I consider myself a “social” sinner, as opposed to a hardcore one. You know… the occasional inappropriate thought or uncharitable reaction to my fellow man. It’s not like I kill or covet thy neighbor’s wife, for Christ’s sake. Thanks to the Vatican, I’ll have to reconsider my personal catechism. Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, the regent of…
Nazis on Vacation
Couldn’t sleep last night, so I caught up on my magazine reading. Came across an article in this week’s New Yorker about a newly discovered photo album from Auschwitz. The photos show members of the SS relaxing and joking around — taking a break from sending people to the gas chambers. I can’t find the…
But I Do Remember This
We saw Steve Earle in Montreal a couple weeks ago, and about a third of the way through the show, the power went out in Theatre Outremont. Then, for my money, an extraordinary thing happened. And one of my favorite Steve Earle songs, too.
Tina Fey is Right About Bitches
This is a little bit old, but you should hear it straight from the bitch’s mouth. She’s right, of course, about getting stuff done. The really good part is near the end. . .
Never Mind the Bollocks…
Ever catch yourself doing an unimaginably weird Google search? It happened to me today when I typed “testicle car ornament” into the search engine, hoping that none of my co-workers would look over my shoulder. Why? I was on Route 7 this morning, and noticed an unusual appendage dangling from the trailer hitch of a…
Pick Your Nose
I also really need these: And just about everything from that aforementioned website. My birthday’s not ’til July, but that shouldn’t stop you.
Toasted Notes
I really, really need this… The description says: This piping hot slice of toast is pretty hard to miss on your desktop, so you’ll always be able to put your fingers on a buttery little self- stick note when you need one. If you really, really need one too, go to perpetualkid.com
Bad Blogger!
Umm, you may have noticed my sudden disappearance of late, and instead of hoping that you haven’t, I figured I’d come clean and tell you what’s been keeping me from blogging: the 2008 edition of the 7 Nights Guide to Restaurants and Bars, and exercise. How is our dining guide preventing me from blogging?…
Funny Games coming to the Roxy
I spent about an hour yesterday reading the online debates about Funny Games, a 1997 movie by Austrian director Michael Haneke. The director just made a shot-for-shot American remake starring Naomi Watts and Tim Roth, and it’s coming to the Roxy this Friday. So, why do I care? This movie has sparked some serious debate.…
What’s He Been Smoking?
Responsible TV-news viewers — a shrinking subset that, I suspect, includes the Blurt audience — probably missed Bill O’Reilly’s Talking Points Memory the other night, when Fox’s chief crackpot went off on Vermont, again. As a newcomer to the Green Mountain State, I might have been interested in an informed dissection of Vermont’s perceived shortcomings.…
St. Michael’s Day
St. Mike’s administrators are totally loving us this week. For this week’s “Campus Question,” St. Mike’s student Jon Taylor asked some of his fellow purple knights a) Why’d St. Michael get to be a saint? And b) if he had a St. Patrick’s-style day, how would we celebrate it? I won’t give away their answers,…
![Space Tiger [SIV70]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/episode70.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
Space Tiger [SIV70]
3/6/08: Space Tiger is a fledgling local rock band that consists of father/son team Mike Deutsch and Aiden Patterson Deutsch with Chris Kiper on drums. Their sound is fresh and their lyrics vary in content from monkeys throwing coconuts to hamsters chewing socks. Space Tiger was the first band to play live on 105.9…
Cultivating Relationships
Side Dishes: Local refugees are out of Africa, into gardening
Science and Fiction
Art Review: “Between Soft Machines and Hard Science: The Interstitial Art of W. David Powell,” an installation of digital prints and historic scientific instruments. Fleming Museum, UVM, Burlington.
Theater Review: Three Days of Rain
How well do we ever really know our parents? The pursuits and passions that filled their lives prior to parenthood seem irrelevant to the me-centered world of the child. When grown children try to learn more about the adults they have alternately loved, feared, respected and rebelled against, family baggage often clutters the path to…
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again New York City prosecutors accused undercover police detective Sean Johnstone, 34, of tampering with drug evidence after listening to a tape recording of him confiding to another officer that he and his partner kept 11 of 28 bags of cocaine they had confiscated from a suspect. The incriminating evidence was provided by…
Free Will Astrology
March 12-19 ARIES (March 21-April 19): He “cleans up well” is prison lingo. It refers to a convict who, upon leaving jail, is able to overhaul his appearance and demeanor so thoroughly that no one can tell he has served time. I believe that in the coming weeks you will have access to another version…
Giant Snow Woman Spotted In Maine
Is it an irradiated Frosty run amok? The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in Christmas drag? No! It’s a Guinness World Record! My spouse forwarded me this photo of the tallest snowwoman in the world, which was shot by his co-worker Matthew Boynes during a weekend trip to Brunswick, Maine. (Matthew kindly gave us permission to…
Adolescent Accent Humor
This woman was interviewed on NPR the other day — last night I checked it out on YouTube and found this cool satire.
Ten Years After
In the most recent “Hackie” column, “A Friend of Grace,” I write about two customers of mine, Gracie and Janet. After penning this story, it occurred to me that, 10 years ago, I had written a previous piece about Gracie, entitled “Mustang Sally.” This might be unprecedented for me to feature the same person in…
Spitzer Update
Well, it’s official. While previously seen with politicos like Howard Dean, Patrick Leahy and Madeline Kunin, The House of LeMay denies any connection with NY Governor Eliot Spitzer.
Food Court: The Musical
The Grand Central video was great, but this one is even better. Sixteen secret agents from Improv Everywhere perform a musical for unsuspecting diners at a mall food court in California. Reminds me of the brilliant Buffy musical. Did someone summon the Lord of the Dance?
