Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Carmina Burana ::: Sheer Brilliance


My darling husband took me to see the Ballet Austin/Austin Symphony/Conspirare performance of this opera on Saturday, and it was absolutely incredible.



This entire opera is a gem, so absolutely epic in sound and emotion, and yet so crazy lyrically. The words are proof that almost anything sounds profound when said in Latin.

This is a performance in its entirety by the UC Davis symphony orchestra and choirs. Enjoy.




YouTube - Carl Orff: Carmina Burana

New Book For The Kid At Heart: Obama As Cat In The Hat


My absolute fave part is the "I can read it..." logo. lol!

cover

Lots of page samples here: ObamaParody.com

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Bambi's Bonkers (Shades of Chávez) ::: Obama says Fox News 'destructive' for U.S. growth


This is almost Funny Farm stuff.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday called Fox News Network "ultimately destructive for the long-term growth" of the United States, reopening a long-running feud with the conservative cable network that has led the U.S. conservative media's opposition to his administration.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday called Fox News Network "ultimately destructive for the long-term growth" of the United States, reopening a long-running feud with the conservative cable network that has led the U.S. conservative media's opposition to his administration.

Photograph by: Win McNamee, Reuters

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Tuesday called Fox News Channel "ultimately destructive for the long-term growth" of the United States, reopening a long-running feud with the conservative cable network that has led the U.S. conservative media's opposition to his administration.

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Obama accused Australian-born Rupert Murdoch, Fox's chairman and chief executive, of being more concerned about profits than the well-being of the United States.

He also compared Murdoch to William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper baron whose sensational publications produced the term 'yellow' journalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Obama was asked in the Rolling Stone interview whether Fox was a good institution for America and democracy.

"Look, as president, I swore to uphold the Constitution, and part of that Constitution is a free press. We've got a tradition in this country of a press that oftentimes is opinionated. The golden age of an objective press was a pretty narrow span of time in our history. Before that, you had folks like Hearst who used their newspapers very intentionally to promote their viewpoints," Obama said.

" I think Fox is part of that tradition — it is part of the tradition that has a very clear, undeniable point of view. It's a point of view that I disagree with. It's a point of view that I think is ultimately destructive for the long-term growth of a country that has a vibrant middle class and is competitive in the world. But as an economic enterprise, it's been wildly successful. And I suspect that if you ask Mr. Murdoch what his No. 1 concern is, it's that Fox is very successful."

He's quite out of his mind.

Obama says Fox News 'destructive' for U.S. growth

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Parting Of The Sea? Yep, Say Scientists... Here's How It Could've Happened


I live for these kinds of stories.

Okay, so in Exodus 14 it is written:

21And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

22And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.


Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, while studying the impacts of winds on water depths, thought to examine the Exodus account, and have come up with a pretty interesting hypothesis for how it all went down.

Parting the waters: Computer modeling applies physics to Red Sea escape route

September 21, 2010

BOULDER—The biblical account of the parting of the Red Sea has inspired and mystified people for millennia. A new computer modeling study by researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU) shows how the movement of wind as described in the book of Exodus could have parted the waters.

The computer simulations show that a strong east wind, blowing overnight, could have pushed water back at a bend where an ancient river is believed to have merged with a coastal lagoon along the Mediterranean Sea. With the water pushed back into both waterways, a land bridge would have opened at the bend, enabling people to walk across exposed mud flats to safety. As soon as the wind died down, the waters would have rushed back in.

The study is intended to present a possible scenario of events that are said to have taken place more than 3,000 years ago, although experts are uncertain whether they actually occurred. The research was based on a reconstruction of the likely locations and depths of Nile delta waterways, which have shifted considerably over time.

“The simulations match fairly closely with the account in Exodus,” says Carl Drews of NCAR, the lead author. “The parting of the waters can be understood through fluid dynamics. The wind moves the water in a way that’s in accordance with physical laws, creating a safe passage with water on two sides and then abruptly allowing the water to rush back in.”


Click the source for the rest of the article plus graphics and video: Parting the waters: Computer modeling applies physics to Red Sea escape route | UCAR

Andrew Breitbart, The One-Man Astroturf Demolition Machine! (Right Nation 2010)


This video is truly an absolutely beautiful thing to behold. It's a must-see from beginning to end.






Direct link:
YouTube - Andrew Breitbart Confronts Hateful Protesters At Right Nation 2010

And here are two videos I shot of Andrew in January discussing just this type of counter-attacking. Breitbart's Challenge to New Media: Destroy Those Who Would Destroy You and Andrew Breitbart: Time To Start Returning The Punches of the Bully Media.

I guess he wasn't kidding.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Nice Shootin', Tex! ::: My Afternoon With The Governor

Once again I had the opportunity to spend some time with Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas, this time at a super fun skeet shooting outing that was a part of RedState.com's 2010 gathering here in Austin. (Catch up via the Twitter hashtag here. For a great report on the shoot, check out fellow Austinite Robbie Cooper's report at his UrbanGrounds website.)

For me, the best part of it was once again having the opportunity to speak with and observe the Governor, which is always quite a delight for me. He really is a genuinely engaging man, very grassroots in his approach and style, very "on your level" regardless of who you are.

I had the opportunity to ask him some questions on camera which I ought to (finally) have available later today.

Things seem to be looking good for him and his reelection here in Texas this November. As incumbent as he is (longest serving Governor in Texas history), I don't see him falling to "anti-incumbency fervor" down here. He is and has been this State's greatest champion against the madness in D.C., has overseen an economy that never dipped to the degree it did nationally, and, frankly, hasn't really given anyone a really good enough reason to fire him.

And he looks ridiculously good for 60.






Update:
Joe Gimenez at the Travis County Monitor writes up on the shoot as well and discusses issues with his usual forthrightness (he's a good reporter, and a ridiculously good shot!).

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

What The H Is Going On With Chris? ::: Matthews Scolds Obama: 'Stop Saying Cutting Taxes Is Giving People Money!' | NewsBusters


I am truly in awe of what is going on with Chris Matthews. I'm just giggling and giggling at a world gone mad.







The guys at NewsBusters absolutely rock for all the work they do filtering through the rubble to find gems like these.

Matthews Scolds Obama: 'Stop Saying Cutting Taxes Is Giving People Money - It's Their Money!' | NewsBusters.org

A Real Eye-Roller ::: Obama Leaves "By their Creator" Out of Declaration of Independence/Hispanic Caucus Speech


There is so much ridiculously wrong with this clip that, as "old" as the news of this is, I'm still not bored with it.

1) "Long before America was even an idea..." i.e., once again, we suck, we're uninventive, and we're absolutely not special.

2) Mentions Mexicans as predating Americans... not true. They weren't a country until several decades after the U.S. was formed.

3) The kind of allusion to a nebulous creation of the sentiments expressed in the Declaration... as opposed to the fact that we actually know the actual names of the folks involved.

4) Join the debate... does the TelePrompTer have the words "by their Creator" on it, and he ignores them? Or is he just s-l-o-o-o-w.

Either way this video is a classic.





YouTube - Obama Leaves "By their Creator" Out of Declaration of Independence at Hispanic Caucus Speech

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Hilarious Obituary ::: Less Flowers, NObama


ROME, GA (NBC) - About 50 people attended the funeral for Don Unsworth, a northwest Georgia businessman, father, grandfather and husband.

Described by family as lively, humorous and politically conservative, Mr. Unsworth's newspaper obituary reflected all those qualities with the following request:




Obit: In lieu of flowers, donate to anybody running against Obama - WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina |

Saturday, September 11, 2010

If Only It Were Satire:: Ahmadinejad: Koran burning will bring about Israel's annihilation


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday condemned plans by a Florida pastor to burn copies of the Koran, saying that it was a Zionist plot that would bring about Israel's annihilation, Iran's Press TV reported.

Speaking at a meeting between Iran's supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior Iranian officials in Tehran, Ahmadinejad said that "the Zionists and their supporters are on the path to collapse and decline and such desperate actions will not save them, but will accelerate their fall and annihilation."

No. No you can't make it up.

Ahmadinejad: Koran burning will bring about Israel's annihilation - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

Friday, September 03, 2010

Proof Vanity Fair Jumped The Shark :::Palin’s New Defenders: Liberal Feminists /NRO


When I heard that Vanity Fair was putting out an 18-page hit on Sarah Palin, I rolled my eyes. I couldn't really see the point of it, and in fact it seemed to be ridiculous overkill.

I wasn't alone in my assessment -- but I had no idea that that so much of the head-nodding would come from the left. VF made a really really silly editorial decision. It'll be interesting to see if there's any further blowback.

This is an excerpt:

Yesterday, Vanity Fair released yet another long hatchet job piece about Sarah Palin. But what this piece has generated — well, besides incredulity that a magazine of Vanity Fair’s caliber would run a character assassination piece almost entirely based on anonymous sources — is a bipartisan backlash. Not against Palin, but against Vanity Fair.

Politico’s Ben Smith has already debunked two of the stories told in the piece. Clara Jeffery, editor of Mother Jones, tweeted that she was “annoyed by [Palin] being called to task things normal for any male pol. Like using cute kids as props.” Later, in response to Roger Ebert’s approving tweet, Jeffery sarcastically tweeted back: “Also bumming me out: That @ebertchicago would think Palin profile is ‘devastating.’ Uh, yeah, to journalistic standards.”

Fellow Mother Jones editor Monika Bauerlein was also annoyed, tweeting, “‘Sarah, these aides say, seemed comforted by having the children around, and she seemed lonely when they were gone.’ Truly a monster.”


Thursday, September 02, 2010

My Favorite Line From The Lunatic Leftist Lee's Manifesto


To be sure, there are many many to choose from, and I highly recommend reading the whole thing. It's a hoot. Until you realize that he was "awakened" by Al Gore, reads the same Malthusian crap as Obama's Science Czar John Holdren, and is especially inspired by a writer, Daniel Quinn, whose books are promoted in public schools.

As a former Obama voter said to me last night, he shouldn't have sent his manifesto to the Discovery Channel, he should've used it to get a job in the Obama administration.

Okay... so there is a heap of hilarity to be had in this treatise, great phrases like "filthy human children" that "are pollution" and "parasitic", and it's clear that he means to be taken seriously, but then he has this to say:

Saving the environment and the remaning species diversity of the planet is now your mindset. Nothing is more important than saving them. The Lions, Tigers, Giraffes, Elephants, Froggies, Turtles, Apes, Raccoons, Beetles, Ants, Sharks, Bears, and, of course, the Squirrels.



Froggies? Froggies?!

*sigh*

Discovery Channel gunman James J. Lee's manifesto - Crime - Salon.com


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Time To Start Returning The Punches of the Bully Media
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