Ma belle amie, apres tout les beau jours, je te dit merci merci!
( My good friend, after all the beautiful days, I tell you thank you thank you! )
July 23, 2009
Ma Belle Amie - The Tee Set
Ma belle amie, apres tout les beau jours, je te dit merci merci!
( My good friend, after all the beautiful days, I tell you thank you thank you! )
Cleanliness is Next to Godliness
Or so the old adage says.
It was several years ago and I was working in a liquor store while going back to school. It was an interesting job and while I didn't make much money at it, it had its perks, such as meeting all sorts of women and getting invited to parties. (sometimes the invites were issued because they thought I'd bring all the booze)
I had met a nice young lady several weeks prior and was invited by her to come to a party at her house after I got off work. To be honest, I was attracted to her, but also to one of her friends who had come into the store with her, and both women seemed to be interested in me. (I hadn't any kinky stuff in mind, but was flattered by the attention. It's rare for even ONE woman to be interested in me, and two was doubly so)
Before closing the store for the night, I purchased a 1.75L of vodka; nearly everyone who drinks likes vodka and it's a good, neutral mixer. Besides that, it was cheap.
I got to the party and everyone was glad to see me, at least they were glad to see the booze because they were nearly out. The hostess had put her kids to bed, but her friend was having some problems getting her baby to sleep. I was introduced to the folks I didn't know and also to the friend's brother sitting at the kitchen table, a rather surly looking young man with long, long hair and a full beard.
I asked the young woman if it was OK to make me a drink and was told "Sure, make me one too!" A couple of other people attending the party wanted me to make them a drink, too, so I did so after washing my hands in the kitchen sink. The surly guy was sitting there at the dining table with an empty glass, so I politely asked him if he wanted me to make him a drink, too.
He didn't even speak, instead shaking his head. "You sure?" I asked again. "I'm making mine and these others." "Nope." he replied. "I'll get my sister to make mine."
"My hands are clean." I joked with him. He again declined, telling me "Nuthin' against you, dude, just want my sister to make it for me." He then rudely yelled at her in the next room "Hey, come make me a drink."
She walked into the room, cradling her crying child. "Gee thanks, ya jerk, you woke up your niece." Nonplussed, he said "Make me a drink, 'k?"
"Let Mike make it; he's already making the others and I heard him ask you!" she exclaimed.
"Rather YOU make it." he replied to her back as she turned and left the kitchen.
"Man, I washed my hands." I told him again.
"I'm just paranoid." he answered. "I don't know you."
Sheesh, what did the guy think I was going to do, put something in his drink? I wasn't wanting to get into HIS pants, after all.
"That why you got a beard?" I asked him. " Afraid to shave, 'fraid that SOB in the mirror will cut your throat?" I joked, but he didn't find it funny. I didn't care, because I was insulted by his attitude. Once again, he yelled to his sister to come fix his drink.
After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, his sister popped into the room, and with an obvious annoyed posture, grabbed his glass, went over to the fridge, grabbed some ice with her bare hands and put it into the glass, poured some vodka and orange juice into it, then stirred the mixture with her finger. With an exaggerated gesture, she plopped the glass down in front of her brother.
Without even thanking her, he picked up his glass and took a long swig. "Ahhh, that's what I was needing." he declared.
"Good." his sister said sarcastically.
She continued: "Just to let you know, I just changed your niece's diaper."
July 22, 2009
Mad Fold-Ins
The New York Times has a nifty homage to the back cover fold-ins of Mad Magazine.
The page is in a slideshow type format; click on the right-hand side and "pull" the image to the left, folding it over as you would do the magazine to reveal the hidden message.
My mom used to buy Mad Magazines for me and my sisters when she would go to the grocery store. The mag was then a hilariously funny satire of popular culture and politics, but in the last several years has slanted so far to the left that, a few years ago when I showed my mom an issue I had bought, she threw it in the trash basket.
Mad Fold-Ins
The page is in a slideshow type format; click on the right-hand side and "pull" the image to the left, folding it over as you would do the magazine to reveal the hidden message.
My mom used to buy Mad Magazines for me and my sisters when she would go to the grocery store. The mag was then a hilariously funny satire of popular culture and politics, but in the last several years has slanted so far to the left that, a few years ago when I showed my mom an issue I had bought, she threw it in the trash basket.
Mad Fold-Ins
Embedding a YouTube Video
May Cost You a Bundle in ASCAP Bills
Fresh off a court victory against Google's YouTube, ASCAP tells us it is setting its sights on users of the video-sharing site. Welcome to the exciting world of copyright licensing, blogger; you may already owe gobs of money!
ASCAP licenses the performance rights for music, collecting royalties for its songwriter members when their songs are played in certain contexts.
Those contexts now include a YouTube video embedded on your blog or website, assuming your site is not "purely" non-commercial and is deemed large enough by ASCAP. The group just sent a collection letter to internet entrepreneur Jason Calacanis (pictured) for YouTube videos embedded on his Mahalo reference site. Based on what the group told Valleywag, other startups should be worried:
"ASCAP does not offer licenses to – or require licenses from – those who simply make their personal blogs available on purely noncommercial Web sites. Mahalo.com is a larger venture than simply a personal blog, and therefore ASCAP is engaged in discussions with Mr. Calacanis concerning the use of ASCAP members' music on the site."
ASCAP sent collection letters to other website owners in the spring; YouTube told recipients to refer the group back to YouTube. But then a judge ruled Google owed ASCAP $1.6 million while a court fight between the two sides over licensing drags on. At some point, website owners are going to start wondering how much longer Google will offer to handle all the legal complaints over YouTube embeds — and just how many songs they've embedded over the years and now owe royalties on.
I'm not worried; they can't get blood out of a turnip, and my own defense would be this: How am I to know whether someone posting a YT vid has permission or not?
YouTube does a pretty good job of policing this stuff as seen in so many videos I've posted being taken down.
You Tube has this to say:
There have been a few questions in the forum regarding ASCAP and we wanted to provide our perspective on the issue. We have become aware of yet another misguided effort on the part of ASCAP to double dip--this time by pressuring third-party websites which embed YouTube videos to pay royalties to ASCAP. We believe there is no legal basis for ASCAP's position because YouTube itself is currently licensed by ASCAP pursuant to its application made under the antitrust consent decree that governs ASCAP's operations. The license requested by YouTube covers all US public performances of ASCAP music in YouTube videos from YouTube's servers all the way through to the end user, regardless of whether a third-party website is embedding the YouTube player. We believe that YouTube has already cleared any necessary public performance rights for US playbacks of ASCAP songs, and ASCAP's attempt to collect an additional payment from another party for the very same stream is not credible.
Regards,
YouTube Team
Hail, South Dakota!
From Wiki:
Hail! South Dakota! (1943) is the official state song of South Dakota, selected by popular vote. It was written and composed by DeeCort Hammitt (1893-1970).
Lyrics (midi file, so you can sing along)
Hail! South Dakota! a great state of the land;
Health, wealth and beauty, that's what makes her grand;
She has her Black Hills, and mines with gold so rare,
And with her scenery, no other state can compare.
Come where the sun shines, and where life's worth your while;
You won't be here long, till you'll wear a smile;
No state's so healthy, and no folk quite so true.
To South Dakota we welcome you.
Hail! South Dakota! the state we love the best,
Land of our fathers, builders of the west;
Home of the Badlands, and Rushmore's ageless shrine,
Black Hills and prairies, farmland and sunshine.
Hills, farms and prairies, blessed with bright sunshine.
What's this got to do with this blog, one more-or-less devoted to this part of Texas? Well, South Dakota is the only state that's not represented by a visitor since I put in the state Flag Counter at the bottom of the page a couple of months ago. North Dakota was the next-to-last state, but someone from there visited yesterday. (thanks for the heads-up, Barb!)
I don't know what it was that kept that part of the country from visiting; decency and good sense, I reckon.
Maybe, just maybe, Google will index this soon and someone from the state will be searching for the lyrics or melody and click on the link. If it doesn't, then I'll title a post "South Dakota Gay Dwarfs Who Love Their Sister's Feet".
That'll bring 'em from all over, betcha.
(although "out of the woodwork" isn't a state)
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