hoax, schmoax

Defective Yeti has a nice little piece on the (deliberate?) misuse of the word "hoax" by the MSM. I particularly liked this:

The advantages of labeling something like this a hoax are obvious: you didn't massively overreact to a situation that the average person recognized as harmless, you were tricked into doing so! You didn't just take a quotation from a clearly phony article on a random webpage and build a story around in, you were duped! You're not an idiot, you're just easily gulled! (This argument reminds me of the Democrats claiming that they voted in favor of the Iraq war because the White House tricked them into doing so ... not that getting outwitted by Bush is any less embarrassing than getting outwitted by flour.)

It really gets my dander up when I hear Hillary et al trot out that old "they tricked me" chestnut. How come I, sitting at home on my cigarette-burned couch, knew the White House was lying, but people who are supposed to figure these things out for their job were duped? Because they weren't, that's why. "I was too chicken-shit to stand up and call bullshit", it's more like. And you want to be my latex salesman.

It just makes riding a tall bike around naked seem somehow pointless

"Everyone is looking at it this morning, this big black figure in the sky and that wasn't supposed to burn, saying, 'Now what do we do?'"

big, uh, shoes to fill

Other kids are going to mock this kid real bad:
"Hey, Charley Horse!", they'll shout.

3 months in...

... and I think I'm finally getting the hang of this.

that doesn't sound right

Wow, the compact disc turns 25 today. I remember my friend Josh throwing these "indestructible" discs around his room in the mid '80's. Then I remember listening to his CD of Pink Floyd's The Wall:
"Mother do you think they'll try to break my
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbballsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsalls
allsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsallsalls
alls"

So, how are we all enjoying our less expensive/more durable audio future?

addendum to previous post

I think I found it (them).
Watch the video.
All cats on the clown!
(via LFROS)

meme ow

So, I came up with a "lolcats" caption- I just need a picture to go with it:

AFTER UZ DEAD IN HOUSE FOR THREE DAYZ IZ EATING UR FLESH OK THANKS

unless mumbling counts as slurring of speech

The radio station I sometimes listen to on my drive home plays lots of PSAs, like about how you're not supposed to shake your baby but you are supposed to talk to them (DON'T MIX THESE UP!). Yesterday I was half listening to a PSA about strokes when I thought they said "eighty-seven percent of stroke victims have no symptoms".
I pulled over right away.
"My God", I thought, "I have no symptoms!".

By the way, I have a Public Service Announcement of my own to make:

If you're thinking of purchasing a bag of "Red Ju Ju Fish", be aware: these are NOT the same as the red "Swedish Fish" that are so delicious.
Please, don't make the same mistake I made.

spare the Rod

I'm pretty sure there are no Steigers in my family tree, but sometimes I wonder.

can we agree that it could be better?

While some news outlets have a tendency toward sensationalism and hysteria, I've noticed that NPR reporters sometimes tend to understate the case a bit. Example from this morning, and I might be paraphrasing a little:
"the collapse raises questions about the bridge's structural stability".
I would have said it answers those questions, but what the hey.

hello my ragtime gal

This is really just a note to myself to remind me to read this article on living frogs and toads found inside rocks (sorry about registration- try BugMeNot), a phenomenon which I believe inspired the classic Warner Bros. cartoon One Froggy Evening.

Who sent you?