I grew up thinking that torture was only for the Nazis and other evil dudes to use, but now apparently, depending on your definition, we do it too. Bummer, Having made that disclaimer, here's a few fake redacted torture memos for your comedic enjoyment. Further disclaimer: the target of this comedy is not those being tortured, but the torturers juxtaposed against good 'ol US know-how. All pics link to bigger versions.

Labels: love, memo, peace, redacted, torture, USA

"P.S. I signed up for next year. Comiskey slapped me on the back when I went in to see him and told me I would be a star next year if I took good care of myself I guess I am a star without waiting for next year Al. My contract calls for twenty-eight hundred a year which is a thousand more than I was getting. And it is pretty near a cinch that I will be in on the World Serious money next season."
-Ring Lardner- You Know Me Al 1914

Labels: baseball, glyphjockey, Kinks, lex10, punk, rock, rock n' roll, trading cards, USA, world series

All pics link to immersive page.

Labels: airplane, ambient, farmland, phonecam, photography, USA

Labels: religion, USA

When he was Texas governor, W signed 153 death warrants. 153 people were executed- like black flag on bugs. A Canadian citizen, a Mexican citizen, some Gulf War veterans, two women, and a couple with diminished or compromised mental ability in the one-hundred-and-fifty-three that were executed.

He commuted one:



Henry Lee Lucas.
The cops knew he killed his momma, his wife, and a 3rd woman, even if he did lie about his hundred-some-odd serial killer activities, some of which law enforcement believe he committed anyway.
Go figure, huh? I toldja it was the weird fact o' the day......

Just weird, I dunno-

Labels: death, horror, killers, law, USA

I was watching the playoffs a little and I told my wife "I want one of those hats!" Y'know, a blue hat with a red bill, and that cool Indian logo on it. My wife reminded me that the hat was reprehensible because it was racist. She's right. But that cartoon is so cool

Think about it, the Cleveland Indian Logo, which now is often seen as racist, has a subtext to it:


Wild savages ready to attack.
Crazy warriors with Tomahawks and arrows.
Unrelenting onslaught.
Insane and badass.

And not a "Hey what about, 'I will fight no more forever'?" in sight, Nor a "They are enigmatic..." Also a dearth of "Our founding fathers borrowed from the Iroquois for the Constitution!!!"

Jus' WILD INDIANS. (Fun fact: Indians actually come from India!)

SO HERES A SOLUTION......



THE CLEVELAND WHITE DEVIL

Now, think about it-

400 years of slavery of African Americans
Smallpox blankets sold to the Indians
Invisible weapons of mass destruction
No evolution
Shock and Awe
The most elaborate serial killers
Tasing Cops
WWF
Deliverance
Insert godawful thing here
In short actually INSANE AND BADASS

I think I'm gonna get these made........whaddyathink?

Labels: baseball, cartoon, history, India, Iraq, USA

So, I'm over looking at The Perfect American, in awe of the whole scene, the style the volume, the insanity, and it led me to dailymotion (this appears to be mrjyn's upload site of choice) where I found these. I've already blogged about this chicken-and-egg conundrum (my feeling is that it's an American song turned English)

Lastly, check out Freddie Mercury on bass in the American Version!!!!!


This guy scootaway - the original uploader - must wonder the same thing I suppose.

As a bonus, here's the theme song from Scream and Scream Again - an awesome movie, by Amen Corner:



Sorry, last thing I'll say about it......

Labels: 70s, horror, rock n' roll, uk, USA

We went to Fish n' Stuff to buy cheapo feeder goldfish for the pond, because they:
A: Eat mosquito larvae all gone and,
B: Provide a little sustenance for the 3 frogs in the pond too.

On the drive back, my daughter said' "Hey, a Hitler fish!" and damn if she wasn't right..... see what happens when Karma's got you? He must be on his 97th rebirth go-round, huh?

Here's some images, the last one, which DOES NOT feature the Hitler fish, is a link to a bee-you-ti-ful wallpaper. 40 fish in a bag, ready to get wild.

On to der fuehrer's face:

As a young paperhanger in Austria, not yet a world ruining vegetarian:


Giving a hate filled rabble rousing speech:


Standing up arrogantly for the reich:


Goofing around by doing his Mussolini impression:


Just generally looking oppressive


In the bunker, in disbelief at the invasion of Berlin:


Lastly the wallpaper - no fishes were harmed, at least until froggy met them....

Labels: frog, goldfish, hitler, larvae, mosquito, nazi, opression, pond, USA

These images come from a book with the same name as this post. I bought it at a flea market or some place and owing to my parental guilt for being on the road, went over it in great detail with my tiny son. We got to see the world that is gone, yet familiar. He understood, and all my children understand.

The book is by Berta and Elmer Hadler (who knew?- a Wikipedia link.) and published by MacMillan in 1941, dedicated to Gayle. This apparently was their schtick, being Caldecott winners.

The activities happening in a small town (not unlike mine) are described with illustrations containing a plethora of visual features as accompaniment.

It's another world.

Another World, I say.

Link @ Picture

if you want these pictures, get in touch.

Labels: animals, author, baby, bananas, bread man, chair, classic, color, eggs, furniture, Ham, kids, liberal, picture, squirrel, story, style, time, USA, why

..........................................!

Labels: augh, ecch, ew, Hollywood, oh no, ugh, USA

Here' a curious little chicken/egg phenomena: Bend Me, Shape Me, - a massive hit by The American Breed in the US when I was a little kid, but at presumably the same time a hit in England by another group, Amen Corner. The weird part is that the vibe is completely different for each song. When I was in the UK I saw they were always doing this - a commercial (an advert) for "Hits of the 60's" would come on, and it would be all, "King of the Road by Rory Flanksbury! - Streets of Laredo by Rupert Clive! Devil in a Blue Dress by Larry Lawrence and the Lads! - AND MORE!!" It was like (sometimes) the US didn't exist, then next minute life would be a hailstorm of Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Humphrey Bogart and Elvis memorabilia


- Giva lissen.

PS: Listen to just the left track of the American version, and Voila' You've got Karaoke....

Labels: 33 1/3rpm, 60, music, Top of the Pops, uk, USA, vinyl