Boy, those Dean people know how to work the web!  They're supplying website building kits so you can build your own "Dean Community Site."  A post today on Metafilter says that last night Dean "held a conference call with over 3,500 'house parties' and individuals to spread the word."  He didn't talk with this house party. ;-)

Also, have you seen these "Deanie Baby" and "Deany Bopper" t-shirts being hocked around on various blog sites?

These guys do know how to have fun while getting the word out and bringing the money in.  And it appears to be working pretty well.

 

---

Here's more, um, fair and balanced inclusion of right-wing punditry, with a bit of Gollum thrown in. 

---

I just turned on the local 11 o'clock news and what's the lead story?  The gorilla, of course.  And now I can't get the Warren Zevon song "Gorilla, You're a Desperado" out of my head:

Big gorilla at the L.A. Zoo
Snatched the glasses right off my face
Took the keys to my BMW
Left me here to take his place

I wish the ape a lot of success
I'm sorry my apartment's a mess
Most of all I'm sorry if I made you blue
I'm betting the gorilla will, too

The rest of the lyrics here.

 

---

I can't believe this gorilla escape thing made national news.  I heard it on the local Boston news this morning, then it was on NPR news by late afternoon.  Anyway, Mark A. R. Kleiman reports this from one of his blog readers:

A reader reports spotting an AP story about a gorilla who escaped from a Boston zoo and was spotted two hours later sitting on the bench at a bus stop. He offers three interpretations:
1. Public transportation is getting worse and worse. Two hours and no bus.
2. The gorilla's escape plan was thwarted by not having exact change.
3. He missed the bus because he was mugged.

 

---

I saw Lost in Translation yesterday (see reviews here). It was excellent, especially Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson as two dislocated Americans stranded in Japan. Great story and direction by Sophia Coppola. The movie had some very funny moments and also very touching ones. I really felt the two characters’ dislocation and loneliness. But on my way home I also felt a certain lightness and hope – sometimes you unexpectedly find a real connection with someone, and it makes all the difference in the world.

 

---

See Oliver Willis' comments on the White House leaking the identity of the CIA agent, Ambassador Wilson's wife:
  There seems to be two right-wing reactions to this:
  1. This is a horrible incident and there must be an investigation
  2. Bill Clinton! Bill Clinton! Bill Clinton! 

---

"Is the cup half full or half empty in Iraq?"  According to this brief compilation in USA Today, reporters in Baghdad disagree widely in their assessment of how things are going in Iraq.  Hard to know what to believe.  

---

Since I've just gotten into this blogging thing, I try to spend time now and then looking up other people's blogs to see what's interesting.  Just found this fun one, andrea's photo blog.  Check out the Absolutely NOT Fabulous bit about inappropriate thong-wearing.  The reader comments are pretty funny, too.

 

---

Is it any coincidence that the Red Sox clinched a wild-card spot the day after Ben and Jen reunited?  I think not!  I think Ben heard about the "curse of the J-Lo" and decided to protect his beloved team at this critical juncture by smoothing things out with his novia, at least through the post-season.  Good move, Ben.

 

---

Last night I read an article in the Sept. 26 issue of The New Yorker on a decades-long, unsolved string of 100 brutal murders of women in and around Juárez, Mexico (not something to read just before bed, by the way).  The article isn't available online, but there is a good interview with the journalist, Alma Guillermoprieto.

There was a P.O.V. film shown on PBS a year ago, and the web site has a wealth of information, though no updated news.

And there is news.  I heard on the radio very recently that Mexican President Vicente Fox had ordered more police sent to the area.  This Reuters News Alert reports that "the Mexican government has sent 700 more police" to the area.  I hope they're less corrupt than the ones Guillermoprieto described in her story.

 

---

President Bush said in a Fox News interview this week that he doesn't read newspapers: "I glance at the headlines" but "rarely read the stories."  He barely watched the TV coverage of the Iraqi invasion.  He's carefully insulated from protesters.  (See the NY Times opinion piece on this.)  And we have a Vice President who doesn't like human contact.  Real men of the people.

 

---

The info on "Poss. LTR" (see prior post) was not in the online version, but I got this from the Calendar section of today's Globe:

The "Poss. LTR Date-Cam," an interview production team, will be at the following restaurants to see potential dategoers. Wear your best dating duds and be yourself. For more infomation, e-mail ltr@celestialmedia.com.

• Oct.1, 7-9 p.m. at The Fireplace, 1634 Beacon St., Brookline.
• Oct.17, 7-9 p.m. at Mantra, 52 Temple Place, Boston.

 

---

Hey you singles between the ages of 35 and 55:  wanna have a camera crew follow you around on your dates?  A new reality TV show, "Poss. LTR," is looking for candidates!

The show "plans to tackle the dating obstacles of single baby boomers, such as children, exs, demanding careers, and aging parents. The show will match couples and send them on all-expenses-paid blind dates in New England, from cross-country skiing in Vermont to clamming in south Dartmouth."  Wha??  That's not fair!  I live here already.

Well, I don't think I'm up for that kinda exposure, but I would love it if my friends would do it!!  What about it??  You know who you are.

 

---

One of Poetry Daily's two poems today is "Match" - those of you trolling through match.com (as well as my friends who met and married thanks to match.com) may enjoy it.

Also check out the sometimes hilarious Match Made in Heaven, Match Made in Hell true dating stories on salon.com (not sure if these are available without subscription - somebody let me know).  Recent favorites include Dearjohn.com about being dumped by email and "Are you desperate yet" - how one guy's bad opening email line still got the girl.

There's also Conversely magazine which has both articles and advice on relationships.  I haven't spent much time browsing here but if I find anything particularly interesting I'll post it.

 

---

I was going to rant about Vice President Dick Cheney's fund-raising appearance in NH yesterday as reported on the local Boston Fox affiliate's 10 o'clock news last night. The reporter said it was a brief appearance because the VP has no flair for campaigning and that he was told Cheney "doesn't like human contact."  But I don't have the heart for it today.

So instead, in honor of the commencement of the beautiful fall season here in New England, I'm going to link to this yummy looking recipe for Apple butter-crumb pie and its companion article from today's Boston Globe.  Now, would you rather look at a photo of Dick Cheney or this pie?

(Boston Globe photo)

 

---

This NY Times op-ed article on what accounts for the rise in suicide terrorism is currently at the top of the "most emailed articles" list (a great source, btw, for the most interesting topical news and ideas - the zeitgeist of the day).  In it, researchers report that they found "there is little connection between suicide terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism, or any religion for that matter."  The conclusions are unexpected - and their implications are critical to US foreign policy direction.  If only the Bush hawks would stop persisting in their denial of reality. 

---

For all my single friends: check this out in yesterday's NY Times Weddings and Celebrations section.  The bride is 67, the groom 71.  Said the bride: "When you are our age, 'Til death do you part' seems doable."  You go, Mel and Mac! 

---

Thanks, Carol, for alerting me to this post on Billy-Ball:

HE DANCES, DON’T ASK HIM
King George Steinbrenner said a second VISA commercial with shortstop Derek Jeter is in the works. And The Boss confirmed that was his rear end in the conga line during the first commercial. "That was mine," he said. "I can still dance."

That's good, because I'd hate to be the actor who has to say "I was George Steinbrenner's ass-double in the VISA commercial."

 

---

There's joy in New England today for sports fans!  The Pats won (albeit with injuries).  The Sox won (with Pedro in fine form striking out 11).  And Nomie's girlfriend, Mia Hamm, played a big part in the US win over Sweden in today's World Cup game.  Let's enjoy it while we can!

 

---

My friend, the former linguist as she noted, wanted to know why Scott Rosenberg rated mention in my prior post when she didn't.  I pointed out that she doesn't have a blog to link to.  So I am posting her emailed rant on the "guest" page.  I will credit her publicly if she chooses (Carol?).

 

---

The other meme going around the web lately is that list of scrambled letters that that begins: "Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer..."  A friend of mine who is a linguist reacted to the emailed passage with an astonishingly long rant.  Scott Rosenberg had some interesting thoughts on the subject.  Be sure to check out the posted comments - it inspired more rants, amusement, and a few insights. 

---

Seeing "Fair and Balanced" all over the web lately?  I wondered if this was a spontaneous uprising against Fox for suing Al Franken over using the words in the title of his book.  It may be, but there is also this from Neal Pollack, who announced August 15 as Fair and Balanced day, encouraging people to use the words liberally on their websites.  It appears to have worked.

 

---

I'm rich!  Filthy rich!  Despite being seriously underemployed for the past two years, it turns out I'm rich after all.  Go to the Global Rich List to see how wealthy you are. 

---

Hurricane shmurricane.  Manny Ramirez just hit a home run over the wall and out of Fenway Park against an 18 mph headwind (Boston is only on the far fringes of Isabel's reach).

Here's the latest image of the storm...

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOAA image

 

---

I'm finding myself very excited by the minutest change I can make to the design of this site - like adding a line between topics in my link bar.  I am not HTML-savvy (nor XML-savvy as I find out Radio uses XML as well) but thanks to the person in the Radio discussion files who pointed out this very helpful link to me, I am making some headway.  I am neither a web designer nor an artist.  But whenever I feel that maybe I'm not creative enough or my life is too boring to write about, I think of Harvey Pekar.  Pekar authored the comic books American Splendor (see the movie - it's weird and wonderful!).  He's a downtrodden Cleveland file clerk who can only draw stick figures (R. Crumb, among others, illustrated his books), but he created stories of mundane, everyday life and people really love and connect to them.

 

---

Oh great.  As if we don't have enough trouble with the curse of the Bambino, now we could be in for the "curse of the J-Lo"?  Caramba.  The theory goes that Jen could get back at Ben for dumping her by having her Santeria psychic advisor cast a curse on all his favorite things, including his beloved Red Sox.  At least when Lou Merloni got mad at Ben last year for publicly criticizing Lou's playing he would have more likely cursed Ben's movie career.  Hey, wait a minute... 

---

I've been struggling with trying to get Radio Userland to use the correct email address for the email button for this site, to no avail.  When I got tired of that, I went to work on my business web site using FrontPage, which I am just learning and having frustrations with trying to get it to do what I want.  Guess it's time to go have some cheesecake.  (See prior post.  If I could figure out how to link back to that post...) 

---

An article in the NY Times today examines how and why humans developed music.  Did it develop as a function of courtship - to charm? Of social cohesion - to unite groups?  Or is it like "auditory cheesecake" - it just happens to produce pleasure and occurred as a happy accident?

Maybe it's the cheesecake theory.  Another story in today's Times reports that scientists have found that comfort foods (sugar, fat) actually switch off stress.  So when we go for comfort food when we're stressed out, at least in the short term it actually works.  According to Dr. Norman Pecoraro, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California at San Francisco, "If you use sex, drugs or rock 'n' roll instead of high-energy food to get stress-reducing pleasure, you miss out on the metabolic feedback" that switches off stress.  So much for auditory cheesecake.  Go for the real thing.

 

---

It's after 8pm and already dark here in New England.  The leaves on the maple trees in town are beginning to turn red and orange.  Another harbinger of fall:  The National Weather Service is reporting that Hurricane Isabel is heading for the east coast clocking in sustained winds of 140 mph with higher gusts. It's due to hit the eastern seaboard on Thursday - not as far up as here, but we'll get some of it this weekend.  I guess that rules out apple picking (as if).  This may be a good weekend to stay in and write.

(Image courtesy of NOAA)

 

---

This is my first post to my 3rd House Party blog!  I'm still learning the technology, so bear with me.  I hope to make this more fun for visitors in the future, but now all the fun is in the creating.  Welcome to my party! 

---