walpaper

Blown Away - Tripping Daisy

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:16:24 -0700

Blown Away - Tripping Daisy

Political Britney

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:20:00 -0700

I first discovered her school girl ways in a Chicago record store and played Hit Me Baby for MarkinMontana at 2 East 8th. It was 1998, I was 19 and I fell in love with Brit that day.

By the way, Mark, 2 East 8th is a Columbia dorm now. That school owns the entire south loop. Owns It!

Love for Sale - Oscar Peterson

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:01:15 -0700

Love for Sale - Oscar Peterson

This is the kind of man Barack Obama is...

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:10:32 -0700

This is the kind of man Barack Obama is...:

An amazing true story of how Obama helped a complete stranger.

via ideas

Relaxin’ at Camarillo - Buster Williams Quartet via...

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:09:08 -0700

Relaxin’ at Camarillo - Buster Williams Quartet

via sparklingpants

sparklingpants: Not my best food pic, but… Simple* Sunday...

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:48:00 -0700

sparklingpants:

Not my best food pic, but…

Simple* Sunday supper: brisket and butternut squash

*in that we did not make one visit to the grocery to prepare this meal. Extra brisket in the freezer and squash from the CSA.

—-

Just promise me when I visit NYC you’ll make me dinner. Just promise me. I’m pretty sure I’d rather have dinner made by SP rather than any restaurant in town.

B.C.E. - Best Croutons Ever

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:44:00 -0700

I’m having a Caesar salad from El Greco, a great little greek place in the neighborhood. Usually I have their tasty Gyros, but I was in the mood for something lighter.

It’s a minimal Caesar: lettuce, parmesan, caesar dressing and croutons. But these Croutons are Amazing! They’re like little fried donuts! That might not sound good, but my taste buds are having a toga party right now. I want a huge bowl of these croutons!

These are without question the best fried salad bread squares I’ve ever had - Put it in the books. I’ll ask El Greco how they make them and get back to you.

About Mr. Brown - O.A.R.34th & 8th Concert via spatially

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:37:04 -0700

About Mr. Brown - O.A.R.
34th & 8th Concert

via spatially

WaPo: Standard Warfare May Be Eclipsed By Nation-Building

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:37:34 -0700

WaPo: Standard Warfare May Be Eclipsed By Nation-Building:

thedailywhat:

2000: Bush: “I don’t think our troops ought to be used for what’s called nation-building. I think our troops ought to be used to fight and win war.”

2008: WaPo: “The Army on Monday will unveil an unprecedented doctrine that declares nation-building missions will probably become more important than conventional warfare and defines ‘fragile states’ that breed crime, terrorism and religious and ethnic strife as the greatest threat to U.S. national security.”

Yesterday we got on the road and drove with no destination in...

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:08:00 -0700

Yesterday we got on the road and drove with no destination in mind…

We found the Montrose Oktoberfest: Bingo, Beer, Brats, Pretzels, Caramel Apples, Rides, Games, German Brass Bands, local dance company performances…

Montrose is about 20 minutes north on the 2 freeway. It’s the closest feel to an uptown Highland Park I’ve seen near Los Angeles. It’s a very cute little town. More on it later.

Just like Del, I’m queasy over our corporate food...

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 10:17:00 -0700

Just like Del, I’m queasy over our corporate food establishments’ need to get into the polling business.

I just saw this at my corner 7-Eleven. They have a big election coffee cup display & you choose the cup denoting the candidate you’re voting for. They check their cup inventory and update their site regularly with the numbers.

The Los Feliz 7-Eleven had many more McCain cups (which means people were grabbing the Obama cups), but It makes me feel sick - and not just from the 7-Eleven coffee.

Politico: Obama clinches on Rove map

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 09:52:00 -0700

Politico: Obama clinches on Rove map:

With 30 days until Nov. 4, Karl Rove projects that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) would get at least 273 electoral votes – three more than are needed to win – if the presidential election were held today.
…

The remarkable forecast from the architect of the last two nationwide political victories underscores the straits that have rapidly enveloped Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) as the banking and credit crisis spread.

via thedailywhat

270 to Win

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 23:29:55 -0700

270 to Win

270 to Win Historical Electoral College maps from every U.S....

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 23:20:25 -0700

270 to Win

Historical Electoral College maps from every U.S. presidential election in history. Fascinating to see how quickly the map can change.

via Daring Fireball

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It really is fascinating how quickly the map changes.

Woman buys house for $1.75 on eBay

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:57:04 -0700

Woman buys house for $1.75 on eBay:

randyhaddock:

Joanne Smith, 30, of Chicago made the successful bid for the Saginaw house in an auction on eBay. Reporter Roberto Acosta of The Saginaw News noted that her bid, one of eight, was lower than the cost of a McDonald’s value meal.

McCain and Palin hate Americans

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:53:00 -0700

squashed:

I’m puzzled by Palin’s (and by association, McCain’s) repeated denigration of cities, the entire East Coast, the media, community organizers, and everybody who disagrees with McCain’s never-say-enough stance on Iraq. Last time I checked, the United States has two coasts and a lot of cities. McCain is running to be President of all of them. In my mind, the contempt their campaign has shown for such a large portion of the country should weigh heavily against this candidacy.

(And yes, I chose the inflammatory subject line because I would love to see a response from one of McCain’s supporters. If Obama’s campaign started attacking the Republican base as uneducated or backwards, the response would be swift, brutal, and deserved. How is the McCain-Palin brand of Us vs. Them divisiveness any more acceptable? Convince me on this one. I’ve never voted for a Democratic Presidential candidate before—and I will do it this time because Obama explicitly and repeatedly reached out to the entire country—even the parts that ultimately won’t vote for him.)

via jessicat

The Money Meltdown

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:25:00 -0700

The Money Meltdown:

A one-page site which aims to provide visitors with the best places to go online to get a handle on the current financial crisis.

via kottke: robin

Kottke: Power of NoodlesThat’s chef Kin Jing Mark...

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:19:00 -0700

Kottke:

Power of Noodles
That’s chef Kin Jing Mark stretching and dividing dough into super-thin noodles. Seeing this when I was a kid made a great impression on me about the wonder of mathematics.

2050ad: RENEWABLE “PORK” On Monday, the House rejected the...

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:15:59 -0700

2050ad:

RENEWABLE “PORK”

On Monday, the House rejected the financial rescue package by 228 to 205 votes. On Friday, it passed it, by 263 to 171. What changed? The Dow had its largest single-day drop. Popular opinion reversed. And the bill itself changed. It had picked up $150 billion in what some critics labeled “pork.”

Keith Ashdown of Taxpayers for Common Sense said of the tacked-on portfolio: “Many of these provisions are tax provisions that benefit narrow interests that have been waiting to hop on a legislative train that was leaving Washington.”

True, the bill includes a bizarre tax credit for wooden arrows, worth $200,000, and a very un-eco-friendly seven-year tax rebate for owners of motocross race tracks, worth $100 million, among other less-than-noble and certainly unnecessary provisions.

But there are a few that are crucial to our efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, certainly not a “narrow” interest:

One-year extension of tax credits for the production of power from wind, solar, and refined coal facilities, and other renewable sources, as well as tax credits for a new category, “marine renewable.” The “Environment News Service” reports that “the extensions will be partly paid for by a change in the tax code for the oil and gas industry.” This portion of the bill includes $800 million for clean energy bonds for renewable energy generating facilities.

On his cellphone from outside the House chamber yesterday afternoon, Peter Mandelstam, the founder and president of BlueWater Wind and a long-time advocate for wind power, said, “We shouldn’t have to be back before Congress every two to three years asking for these extensions. Those of us in the business are committing capital for projects that will be completed in 2012, when the legislation is only through 2009.”

$1.4 billion will go to refined coal facilities over 10 years, with priority given to those with smaller carbon footprints. These facilities produce what its proponents, like Evergreen Energy’s President and CEO Kevin R. Collins, call “cleaner coal.” Faithful readers know how I feel about that. But I’m willing to accept the lesser evil, and $800 million is appeasement enough, although the 2009 expiration date is frustrating.

$10 million to allow employers to provide benefits to employees who commute to work on their bicycles (similar to the benefits some employers provide to those who commute in their cars or on public transportation). This will include provisions for the “purchase and repair of a bicycle, bicycle improvements, and bicycle storage.”

Referring to the provisions for tax credits for renewable energy facilities, the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, said:

This was a part of our energy bill last year; it did not survive the Senate. It now has become a part of this legislation. And it is paid for. We fought hard to include these critical tax cuts … because they are central to job creation.

It’s a shame it took this crisis and this bill to get them through Congress, and a shame that people like Mandelstam will have to be back in DC next year, lobbying Congress, instead of building wind farms.

via laurakaypea: abjekt

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:14:32 -0700

via laurakaypea: abjekt