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Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky

on May 21st, 2007 in Reviews by | Comments Off on Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky

It seems to me on first listen anyway like this is what John Lennon would be writing, singing, playing guitar and arranging, if he were around. I highly recommend this CD.

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More well-meaning attempts to communicate with foreign visitors:

on May 15th, 2007 in Flotsum & Jetsam by | Comments Off on More well-meaning attempts to communicate with foreign visitors:

In a Tokyo Hotel: Is forbitten to steal hotel towels please. If youare not person to do such thing is please not to read notis. In another Japanese hotel room: Please to bathe inside the tub. In a Bucharest hotel lobby: The lift is being fixed for the next day.During…

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Lost in Translation

on May 12th, 2007 in Flotsum & Jetsam by | Comments Off on Lost in Translation

From an article in the Guardian Unlimited: Coors Beer maker Coors discovered that its slogan “Turn it Loose” translated into Spanish as “Suffer from Diarrhoea”. The company immediately pulled the advertisements and changed the campaign’s slogan to “Won’t Slow You Down” which it said “better resonated with Spanish-speaking audiences”. Reebok…

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Robert H. Silver, 1934 – 2007

on May 9th, 2007 in Essays & Reviews by | 2 Comments

My dad passed away on Saturday, May 5, 2007. This is what I read to my kids, my niece and nephew: There are so many things I could tell people about your grandfather. So many things that were unique and interesting and special about him, so many things that drew…

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Ripening, Wendell Berry

on May 6th, 2007 in Poems by | Comments Off on Ripening, Wendell Berry

Ripening, by Wendell Berry The longer we are together the larger death grows around us. How many we know by now who are dead! We, who were young, now count the cost of having been. And yet as we know the dead we grow familiar with the world. We, who…

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Dan Madden on Boris Yeltsin

on April 28th, 2007 in News by | Comments Off on Dan Madden on Boris Yeltsin

  A genuine hero, the like of which we we won’t see again in our lifetimes, died this week. Boris Nikolayevich was one of those rare phenomena, the right man at the right time. Without him, the Soviet Union would very likely still be with us. Lamentably, his successor is…

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The Wal*Mart Movie

on April 19th, 2007 in Flotsum & Jetsam, Uncategorized by | Comments Off on The Wal*Mart Movie

Two years ago, Robert Greenwald, a progressive filmmaker made Wal*Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. I finally got around to watching it and sent off a note to Mr. Greenwald, who was kind enough to respond. His other work is worth checking out: he made a creditable film about…

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Fox Internet News Headlines & Norman Mailer

on March 28th, 2007 in News by | Comments Off on Fox Internet News Headlines & Norman Mailer

Fox Headlines this morning: Montana Town Buried in Tumbleweeds Wynonna Judd Seeks Divorce After Husband Arrested Is America Ready for a Bald President? (Is this what’s important we wake up and hear? Can we really be this stupid?) Norman Mailer says we are! Last night, to a packed house at…

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Deconstructing a Joke (or why I’m no fun at parties)

on March 18th, 2007 in Flotsum & Jetsam by | Comments Off on Deconstructing a Joke (or why I’m no fun at parties)

A man was at the country club for his weekly round of golf. He began his round with an eagle on the first hole and a birdie on the 2d. On the third hole he had just scored his first ever hole-in-one when his cell phone rang. It was a…

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St. Patrick’s Day

on March 17th, 2007 in Gallagher's Frolics by | Comments Off on St. Patrick’s Day

Old Ireland did once with grim serpents abound That slept in the grasses and weeds, Who were known in the pubs by their sibilant sound, Though disguised in thick jackets of tweed. They plotted and schemed, and seduced and beguiled –they were always a treacherous crew: at humankind’s hardships they…

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