The least perceptive post ever.

Tom Maguire owns Le Game Plame.  Owns it, I tell ya.  If ya ain't readin' him, ya ain't readin'.

Also, I like boullabaise.  Always have.  Always will.  Has something to do with the saffron, I think.

Moving on, if Field of Dreams is the worst movie ever made and baseball the worst sport ever invented, why the hell do I cry my eyes out every single freakin' time Kevin Costner asks his dead father for a game of catch? 

Incidentally, what's up with Ed posting again?  Dare we believe that he's finally free from the crushing "smooze-and-booze" grind of the art world (oh-the-humanity)?  And why is Hilzoy always posting about such fluffy, content-free subjects like "avian flu" and "torture"?  Y'know, there's more to life than Brad and Jennifer, Hil.

More importantly, whom do I have to kill to get a "Hating on Von" or "Vonwatch," like our own Charles Bird?

Which leads me to recall that I woke up last Sunday with the taste of stale beer at the back of my throat and a strong urge for a cigarette.  Didn't realize how much I missed that feeling. 

On the other hand, what kind of Mickey-mouse grocery store puts the sour cream in the frozen juice aisle and not, ahem, next to the cream?  Answer:  The Marsh Supermarket on Broadripple Avenue in Indianapolis.  And thus begins day one of my boycott.  Or hunger strike.  Or, perhaps, both.

To sum up: this is the only open thread you'll ever get.  On this blog.  From me.  Today.  Probably.

Comments

[Dantheman]

"More importantly, whom do I have to kill to get a "Hating on Von" or "Vonwatch," like our own Charles Bird?"

You don't need to kill anyone, just ruin the site. :P

[Slartibartfast]

And suck. Suckage is necessary. But not sufficient; otherwise I'd have my own stalker site.

[Ugh]

You've turned into Atrios.

[Francis]

LA Times front page on Sunday (from memory)

1. 20,000 dead in Pakistan. OA! (oh allah, for those not up in their acronyms.)

2. The plight of immigrant workers in Iraq. Now wait a minute! the unemployment rate in iraq is off the charts and we are allowing US contractors to BRING IN workers? Could we possibly be trying any harder to lose this war?

3. Vote on Iraq Constitution might not bring peace. gee, ya think?

[at this point, about 9:00 am California time, i considered getting drunk and going back to bed for the day.]

which brings me to a broader point -- GWB has stated, ad nauseam, that the US will stand down as iraqi troops stand up. Yet anecdotal evidence around milblogs and elsewhere suggests that iraqi troops are only getting the most basic of basic training, and they are not being supplied with the necessary training or systems to develop their own command structures.

if true, this would suggest that the US is so concerned about infiltration by anti-US / anti-nationalist forces that iraq troops will never be able to replace US troops. now i'd be shocked, just shocked if my government were lying to me about iraqi forces having the capability to stand on their own any time soon.

but i'd be interested if anyone has any evidence either way. Is there any significant command-level training and supply going on? If not, does the admin have any answer as to why not?

Not on page 1 but should have been: Stanley defeats Sandstorm and H1ghlander, in a major upset! but more to the point, five purely autonomous robots drive 160+ miles through the Nevada desert. Hap tip to Carnegie-Mellon, Stanford, Gray Insurance Company (!?), and Oshkosh Truck / Auburn U.

what an incredible technological achievement. with scientists and engineers like these, the US still has a future.

[Edward_]

InstaObWi, even!

Incidentally, what's up with Ed posting again? Dare we believe that he's finally free from the crushing "smooze-and-booze" grind of the art world (oh-the-humanity)?

don't I wish. I just get so worked up from time to time I have to blog about it. ;-)

Truth is, it's only getting more boozy and smoozy in the art world between now and Christmas. Most boozy. But I hope to find a steady groove shortly after then.

Hilzoy's more than holding the fort Liberal-wise, but because the Hive didn't replace me, I take advantage from time to time...

[von]

You've turned into Atrios.

[Throws arms upward as if to heaven.]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[Ugh]

That's right, don't deny it, you're the new "Mr. Open Thread."

All you need is some snappy sayings where you can replace a word in them with "thread," and then titter about your cleverness (actually I don't know if he does this latter part, wouldn't surprise me though).

[judson]

Vontastic!!

[Delicious Pundit]

Actually this post sounds more like Larry King in the days of his great USA Today column -- e.g. "The designs of the new ties are better than ever...I never grow tired of listening to Canada's national anthem...no manager's gut strains against his baseball uniform better than Tommy Lasorda's..." etc. etc.

(P.S. I only made up one of those.)

[Barry]

Von: "More importantly, whom do I have to kill to get a "Hating on Von" or "Vonwatch," like our own Charles Bird?"

Your own mind, Von, your own mind. Then again, lots of drugs and Rush everyday should do it.

Slart: "And suck. Suckage is necessary. But not sufficient; otherwise I'd have my own stalker site."

Slart, ya gotta *strive*. Don't rest on natural talent. It takes work, hard work, I tellya.

[Jackmormon]

Hey, who're ya calling a stalker?

[Slartibartfast]

If von's Mr. Open Thread, my job has been...outsourced.

[Ugh]

And to Indiana of all places.

[von]

And to Indiana of all places.

It's just like India, except with an extra "na".

[Hal]

Tom Maguire owns Le Game Propaganda. Owns it I tell ya.

If you're just reading Tom, then ya simply ain't reading. You're just reinforcing your own bias.

[hilzoy]

von: it's cos I'm a girl, doncha know. We're never serious political bloggers.

(And who's the one who covers such serious and momentous topics as jet-powered outhouses and prosthetic dog testicles? Huh?)

[Ugh]

It's just like India, except with an extra "na".

Shouldn't that be "except with a 'na'"? There's no "na" in India, unless you're unceremoniously excising the "di," in which case its "Inana," which is how I'm sure most young children pronounce it. NTTAWWT.

And is everybody still all bitter about the Bobby Knight thing?

[Slartibartfast]

I'm still bitter about Lee Corso.

Ok, just kidding. Hell, most of you probably have no idea what I'm talking about.

[Ugh]

I'm often bitter that I can't strangle Lee Corso, is that what you mean?

[Anarch]

Ugh: Oh come on. Anyone insane enough to show up to College Gameday for the BC-Florida State game in full Seminole headgear -- complete with facepaint! -- is too batsh**-insane not to love.

[Slartibartfast]

Anarch should relate to the Lee Corso bitterness, being a Badger. Or close to Badgers.

[belle]

you know, von, I don't think that looks like the greatest bouillabasse recipe ever. wait--let me restate that. that is an absolute crap recipe for bouillabasse. that is a pale shadow of a bouillabaisse. a mockery, even. try this one:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/106741

but don't listen to them on the "just substitute fennel fronds for pastis" thing. well, maybe, if you can't get pastis. I apologize for the link format but I couldn't get the html to work.

[kenB]

Anyone else see this list:

Ways in Which the Disinterred Corpse of Silent-Film Actor Lon Chaney Would Be a Better Vice President Than Dick Cheney

[Slartibartfast]

Flawed, kenB. If the disinterred corpse of Lon Chaney were VP, he could certainly dish out jobs to the disinterred corpses of former co-workers.

[Ugh]

Anyone insane enough to show up to College Gameday for the BC-Florida State game in full Seminole headgear -- complete with facepaint! -- is too batsh**-insane not to love.

They must have to keep him and Vitale in separate hermetically sealed chambers at ESPN headquarters to prevent the two of them from colliding and thus negating all existence.

[von]

Thanks, Belle.

And is everybody still all bitter about the Bobby Knight thing?

I attended that fair institution, which was recently ranked the No. 1 party school in the US, but I spent most of my growing-up years living in a home about three blocks away from Mackey Arena, i.e., where the Purdue Boilermakers play. I was in the stands for the famous chair-thowing incident (incidentally, the chair nearly hit Steve Reid, arguably Purdue's best player at the time). So, no, "bitterness" is not a word I'd use to describe my feelings about Bobby's downfall.

[Ugh]

So, no, "bitterness" is not a word I'd use to describe my feelings about Bobby's downfall.

You must have relished it. But what about the IU fans? For some reason I get this vision in my head that about every other day there is gnashing of teeth and wailing that Bobby was run out of town by evil doers.

[Slartibartfast]

Three blocks from Mackey? I could probably have thrown you a beer from my window. You'd have been underage at the time, though; I know I was.

I have two brothers that attended IU over the 1978-1985 timeframe; they had Lee Corso to look up to, so to speak. I think I attended three Little 500s, one of which my older brother rode in. IU was the opposite of Purdue in many ways.

[Dantheman]

Since this is an open thread, and it is the peiod in the Jewish calendar called the Days of Awe, here are some Awe-ful puns about how to appropriately cast off one's sins.

[Ugh]

CNN Breaking news:

Informant in Iraq admits information about a terror plot against New York subway was a hoax, sources tell CNN.

[von]

I have two brothers that attended IU over the 1978-1985 timeframe; they had Lee Corso to look up to, so to speak. I think I attended three Little 500s, one of which my older brother rode in. IU was the opposite of Purdue in many ways.

Let's put it this way: At Purdue, one aspires to build the best nuclear bomb one can. At IU, one passes a resolution declaring the city a nuclear free zone. (There used to be an Episcopol Church on Kirkwood Avenure that so declared.)

But the flipside is intringuing: West Lafayette* is a strange mix of evangelical, liberal Republical (i.e., me), and conservative Democrat -- with a very loose scattering of liberals. This may be a contentious mix, but it is not a particularly bizarre one. Bloomington, on the other hand, is 50% redneck and 50% pure Noam Chompsky (unlike my prior grammatical mistake in re Hilzoy (supra), I'm talking about clones of the man. Bizarre only begins to describe it.)

von

*FYI: '86-'87, I was primary in Colchester, England. '92, was my senior year of HS. In case you're wondering: 11-1 in football (hopes for a AA State Championship dashed by Scencia); an excellent swimming season (but Quick Tackle** is not the best preparation for middle-distance sprints); and the culmination of the proudest moment of my short political career: I got the stall doors put back on the boys' restrooms at W.L.H.S. (achieved via extensive negotiation, admittedly, the year before).

**Better known as weak-side tackle, 'tho, in my own defense, we frequently ran double-tight (i.e., two tight ends). Good technique and a modicrum of strength beats speed or size most HS days. The bizarre thing is, I can still remember a good number of plays. 37 was off-tackle, TB carries, FB blocks; against a 5-2 in a double-tight, the TE and I double down with the DT. 17 was quick off-tackle, FB carries -- almost always no TE, and thus a cut block from me against a bigger DT. (Being a bit undersized, I prided myself on what I could.) 42 was a pull, I think, down the right (strong) side [i.e., I get to hit someone who's not expecting it at full speed] .... and that's enough HS football reminiscing for a lifetime of this blog.

[Jackmormon]

It's so hard to avoid the phatic when blogging; we're all guilty.

[rilkefan]

Sticking with "vatic", like my namesake.

[Jackmormon]

Rilkefan, I have have seldom felt so happy at having been corrected.

[rilkefan]

"phatic" is a fine word, no need to feel corrected, let's just all hang out.

[Slartibartfast]

I'm more interested in the swimming part, von. You were a 200 free guy? You guys had some outstanding performers at that distance.

[von]

Sorry, been away: Yes, we had some outstanding folks on that team, Slart (several went one to swim in college, one at Michigan). Unfortunately, my times hovered in the good-but-not-great range.

[Slartibartfast]

Sounds like me, von. Making the Boilermaker traveling squad was nice, but they were desperate for breaststrokers.

Speaking of which, time for an open thread?

[von]

Sounds like me, von. Making the Boilermaker traveling squad was nice, but they were desperate for breaststrokers.

Well, now I'll go out on a limb: Did you know either of the Soedels (Dirk or Fritz)?

[Slartibartfast]

They were after my time, von. I swam in the '79-'80 season only. My knees went out (chondromalacia) pretty early in the year, followed by my shoulders (tendinitis, both sides) a couple of months into 1980. I think the upper respiratory infection pretty much nailed it; I got my pulse rate up to 240 in practice, which was the first indication I had that something was horribly wrong. The shoulders I could have recovered from, but the knees ached for years after.

Making the traveling squad wasn't all that great a thing; they needed a breaststroker and I was...decent. Not good (not quite sub-minute), just decent. Given that I had just about all of my self-worth tied up in my career as a swimmer (which had only started three years prior), not being able to do it anymore crushed me for a good long while.