Irony Is...

Irony is watching a guy, wearing THIS HAT, count out enough quarters, nickels and dimes to buy a $2 bag of Fritos, and then wait around for his 2 cents change.

And Yes, I did ask him afterward if I could photograph his hat. Hopefully he does not have internet access.

Miley Cyrus Shows Some Ankle; May Have Gone In Public Without Veil!

Miley Cyrus, 15 year old Super-mega-star of stage, screen, and song, was recently photgraphed by Annie Leibowitz for Vanity Fair magazine. One of the photographs featured the young actress/singer/mullet-heiress dressed in only a satin bedsheet, which has skinophobic Modesty Advocates across the country up in arms. Or, up in sleeves, anyway. Long, modesty-preserving sleeves.

For comment, The Daily Blog of the Day turned to an outraged parent named Bob Meyers, who asked that his name not be used in publication.

"Yeah, I was pretty disgusted", said Bob Meyers. "I mean she is very obviously naked in that picture, except for, you know.. the fabric covering up the entire front of her body. But aside from that, she is totally naked! If you kind of squint a little, and hold the magazine at the right angle, you can pretty much see the outline of one of her.. um.. you-know-whats.. quite clearly, unless maybe that's just a wrinkle in the fabric there.

"I would have thought [father, and former Chippendale's dancer] Billy-Ray [Cyrus] would have raised her better than that! I mean you can see her whole shoulder, and back, and everything! Except for that sheet, I mean. But if you think that wrapping up your nakedness in a couple of yards of fabric makes it somehow OK to be photographed like that, then you've got another thing coming!"

One Blog, mediabistro's FishbowlNY, turned to blogger and professional photo editor Rob Haggart for comment. His thoughts on the photo shoot were, "You point a camera at anybody and they start to take their clothes off".

We here at TDBotD are pretty sure he is wrong on this point. However, look for Nikon to begin using this as their new slogan in their Summer marketing campaign, aimed at selling cameras to males between the ages of 12 and 89.

It Ticks!!

Doctors at University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Through a Project Called 'Da Vinci', are using Robots to do Heart Surgery.

No offense, But I watched "The Wizard of Oz", and if the Tin Man was willing to travel through dangerous Poppy Fields full of Flying Monkeys to get a Heart, I'm not about to let him near mine with a pair of scissors!

I am sure the doctors hearts are in the right place with this program, but that is only because the Robots haven't been able to get at them!

Would you let a Scarecrow perform Brain Surgery?

I Rest My Case.

Reader Responses: TDBotD, Now Ad-Free!

I thought that I had removed Google's Adsense Ads from my blog a while ago, but I was recently informed by a reader (Thanks Sweetie!) that my between-the-post ads were still there, and when doing a post that mentions the words "thongs" "buttocks" and "pubic hair", the ads can be for some things that maybe I don't want advertised on my site.

Plus, absolutely NO-one was clicking on the dang things, so, the ads are Outta Here!

Thanks to all the Folks who gave props to the new site design. I will probably be continuing to tweak it for the next couple of months, before settling on something for the blog's 1st Anniversary on the First of July.

Lasers In The News!

**This Just In!** A panel of the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been assembled to look into the complaints of patients who say they are suffering after having the popular LASIK eye surgery. Details are unclear at this point, but many of the complaints are believed to be from people who let a doctor shoot them in the EYEBALL with a freaking LASER! On Purpose!

In other News, people whose doctors hit them on the head with hammers are reporting severe headaches!

**Bulletin!** Researchers in New Mexico have been able to create electrical activity within thunderstorms, by aiming a high-powered laser into passing storm clouds. Man-made lightning would open the way into new research into the normally-elusive weather phenomenon, and may provide scientists with the 1.21 gigawatts necessary to reliably fuel their Flux Capacitors.

Asked about the research, one of the Scientists said, "Well, We already had this high-powered Laser, so We Aimed it at the clouds to see what would happen. What else were we gonna' do with it? Shoot it into people's eyeballs? Seriously, that would be stupid, you could hurt somebody!"

**Breaking Story!** The Beamz "Laser Music System" is now on sale accross the country wherever fine Laser Music Systems are sold. The device allows users to "conduct" one of 30 pre-loaded arragements, by waving their hands through 6 laser beams that span the system's "W" shaped brackets. The device has been harshly panned for having an incredibly cheesy "Infomercial", and for generally making it's users look like morons. As of this wirting, no one has yet intentionally stuck their naked eyeball directly in the laser's path, probably because it is such a dangerous and stupid thing to do.

photo by TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³

Looking Like an Idiot Still Legal in Louisiana!

Louisiana State Senator Derrick Shepherd's bill to outlaw baggy pants was shut down by a state Senate Panel earlier this week.

The law would outlaw the wearing of clothing that "intentionally exposes undergarments, or intentionally exposes any portion of the pubic hair, cleft of the buttocks, or genitals", a crime punishable by up to 8 days of community service and/or fines as high as $175.

The anti-indecency law, inexplicably, contains an exception for thong swimsuits. On the approximately .005% of the population likely to own and wear them, I guess wearing a thong actually counts AS community service, canceling out the crime. (Guilty of one count of criminal Her-assment?)

The law failed, due to concerns about limiting Freedom of expression. Also, possibly, out of concerns that the young men deprived of their gigantic jeans might resort to hanging out on the sidewalks wearing thongs.

Photo by Eleventh Earl of Mar

Robert Cheruiot won the Boston marathon yesterday, giving his home country of Kenya their 15th champion in the last 17 years.

Note to Hillary Clinton: When running in an unprecedentedly long and grueling "marathon" race for the Presidency, try to make sure your opponent isn't even the slightest bit Kenyan.

In Other News, Barack Obama has announced he will be running the rest of the race barefoot.

Out of Thin Air!

Just a while back, in my first post about Girl Singers, I mentioned that Yael Naim's song "New Soul" was featured in the Television Commercial for Apple's Macbook "Air". For those of you familiar with that commercial, I present the following video, which features the some song. (but quite a bit more of it!)



Mac Fans, you may now shake your heads in disapproval at your PC-using neighbors. (But not at Me, For I use linux, and am therefore cooler Than ALL of you! MWAH-Ha-Ha-HAAAH!)

More Screenshotty Goodness!

WOW! Now I realize why all the linux-heads out there were always so insistent that linux rocked, and was stable, and awesome and easy, when I could clearly see that it was not particularly stable, or easy.

They knew what I didn't know; that with a bit (OK, a lot) of tweaking, a linux system really rocks! There is a pretty high bar set for entry even still, no matter what your local linux-head tells you about linux being "Ready for Prime Time", or "Ready for You and Grandma", but Hoo Boy!! The rewards for persistence are, to quote a well known Chubby Cartoon Dad, "Freakin' Sweet!"

Now I am blazing along, with a laptop computer that is considered so under-powered that it cost less than most USED laptops. I just noticed that I was sitting on the sofa at the airport, running (1..2..3..uh...) let's just say a "whole bunch" of programs ,on battery power, running a high-speed wireless connection, without any slowdown of anything at all! My Battery lasts a ridiculously long time, too, under normal conditions, and I can use my laptop as a portable, battery powered, "boom box" for literally hours, without needing to plug in.

Some people annoy you with pictures of their Kids/Grankids. Some people Annoy you with pictures of their Pets/Grandpets. I am going to annoy you (just this once) with more beautiful pictures of my pride+joy in action. As usual, Click to see the whole enchilada, full size.

3 Things That Rock!

First thing: The Hulk! I picked up the 2 disc set of the circa 1988 Made-for-TV movies, "The Incredible Hulk Returns", and "The Trial of The Incredible Hulk". The cost? $3.
Second thing: Thor! The first of the aforementioned movies features the ol' Hulkster fighting, first against, then alongside, a beefy blond American supposedly depicting the Norse God of Thunder himself. His horrible acting is painful, and at the same time, part of the charming Aura of Cheesiness that permeates the whole movie. 'Cause, let's face it, Lou Ferrigno ain't winnin' any Oscars for his nuanced acting in the title role, either. The whole thing is SO terrible, it's great!
Third thing: My Awesome Computer! I snagged a beautiful custom theme for my linux-powered GNOME Desktop, and if you can tear your eyes from the Musclebound Manly Men in the middle of the screen, you will see that there is a lot of beautiful computing happening around the outside of that Movie Player window. Click it, to enjoy it bigger!

The Charity of the Week #8 and #9

This week I am Donating My $52 to the Blue Monarch, a "Life-Recovery" program for Abused Women.

This organization is right in my backyard, so to speak, and has a partnership with a wonderful coffeeshop/bakery/restaurant/gift shop/foodmarket called "The Blue Chair", which is right behind the restaurant where I work. We use the same dumpster, I think. I have donated to the Blue Monarch before, in the form of buying muffins from the Blue Chair (They are Really Fantastically Good Muffins, too! You should try them if you ever find yourselves in Sewanee), but I had not given money directly to the Blue Monarch program before.

No matter What your political, religious, or philosophical leanings, I am relatively sure you can join with me on this point: Women should not be getting beaten up. Period. When a Man starts beating up on a Woman who is either physically, financially, or emotionally weaker than him, something very wrong is happening.

If you have ever known a woman who has had this terrible fortune befall her, then you know what I mean when I say that recovery from such abuse is difficult in the best of cases, and can often leave scars that can never be undone. The Blue Monarch Program helps women who have been through horrible trials, over the course of a year, to reclaim their lives as their own. The Program puts these women to work, teaches them, coaches them, encourages them, and trains them, so that when they exit the program, they are no longer victims, and unlikely to ever be again.

Plus, their Blueberry Muffins are seriously out of this world. Really. They're great. (I'm getting hungry...)

But I didn't stop there!! No, no! Continuing on the theme of Violence against Women, I also made a donation to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network. (Just for the record, I am against Violence against Men, too. Especially when it's against me)

These folks have a lot of various support programs for women (and girls) who have been victims, or feel they might soon be. They also have a lot of preventative educational programs, particularly on college campuses, where it can be hard for young co-eds to tell exactly where the line between "drunken making out" and "date rape" is. (Hint: if you avoid the drunkenness, this line is much clearer for both parties involved)

Education and Prevention Before the Fact, and Support, Care and Counseling After the Fact, are both great reasons to support these folks. The girl you save might be your own, or one close to you.

Up Pretty Early In The Morning...

You know how they say, "You have to get up pretty early in the morning" to pull a trick on somebody? Well, nobody gets up earlier than me. I got up so early this morning, it was yesterday afternoon. By the time many of you wake up this April Fools' Day, I will have already witnessed a dozen or more people fall victim to the signs pictured above. (more than a dozen, I hope!)
I will let you know how it goes, but as of this writing, this is still a prank in progress.