The only US jurisdiction currently to allow homosexual weddings has suspended them while equally moving to grant such unions historic legal recognition. A circuit judge in Multnomah County, Oregon, ordered a freeze on gay marriage licenses to give the State Legislature a chance to formalise them. Judge Frank Bearden also ordered the state to recognise the 3,022 licenses issued in the county since 3 March. The move is a first for the entire US, where the issue has divided opinion. There are plenty of related links in the right hand column in this article. When I lived in Oregon, in…
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I had jury duty today. I’m extremely happy to announce that I don’t have jury duty tomorrow – I’m not sure why not, but I was excused after the first round of “voir dire.” I was excused by the prosecutors – first one called up to sit in the jury box, first one excused. As I was leaving with one of the other lucky excusees, I leaned over and whispered “score!” gleefully (we were out in the hallway with our checks for $17.50 in hand). I wouldn’t mind serving – just not at California Avenue Criminal Court. It’s a pain…
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Just a couple of orange couch potatos – I love this photo. Actually, there’s a whole series of shots, but the ones showing me full length are too horrible for the Internet. Stuey’s also the reason I’m in a gardening frame of mind. I got all the plants in the ground tonight at last – somehow $95 worth of perennials looks kinda small, but I’m pretty sure they’ll grow (some of them will grow to 2 – 3 feet). There’ll be a rain barrel right near them so watering them won’t be a chore. I got lupine, spiked gayfeather, blue…
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An example of synchronicity? The world knows no boundaries of nation or language; if it’s spring, there’re plants for sale tempting people to try to get them to grow. Earlier today I was plant-shopping in Schaumburg. Meanwhile, Mediatinker was plant-shopping in Japan. Lamb’s Ear is the softest plant ever. I love stroking its leaves and was very happy to do so at the herb shop we visited today. I didn’t buy any, though. Instead I picked up parsely, sage, rosemary, thyme, margoram, basil, shiso, lemon balm, tarragon, wild strawberry, lettuce, yarrow, lavender, and eucalyptus. I would have purchased more, but…
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Air America Radio is looking to hire an intern. Duties: Escorting guests to and from The O’Franken Factor studio. Venturing out into the city to accomplish time-sensitive missions. Supporting Team O’Franken in its various online and offline activities. Pay: The job’s strictly volunteer, but it will pay out – big – in terms of hands-on experience in a deadline-driven radio work environment. It will also be occasionally hilarious. I’m thinking “time-sensitive missions” probably means “be back by 1255pm with the sandwiches.” Still, it could be an amazing opportunity for somebody.
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The father of a Columbine High School victim found a cool welcome when he tried to attend an NRA event to engage VP Cheney about the assault weapon ban, which is due to expire this fall: Mauser entered the convention hall where the NRA was meeting, but was turned away by a security guard as several conventioneers applauded. A couple of conventioneers yelled “Get a life” and “Vote for Bush.” Mauser said the NRA “is an organization with a Field and Stream magazine membership, but a Soldier of Fortune magazine leadership.” Nice.
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Let me start by saying that I can’t stand daylilies. My mom had them in a hardscrabble little bed in front of the porch for years, and one of my garden chores used to be deadheading the daylilies. They’re really boring flowers; there’s no scent and they’re ridiculously hardy, so they can’t be killed off by anything short of a mini-Ice Age. They grow, they bloom, the flowers die, they keep growing and blooming. Meh.
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It’s been an interesting day for AAR listeners in Chicago – the local station continued to broadcast in Chinese until at least 2pm according to the pre-show comments at Majority Report: The Network, Tonight, Next Week. However, sometime around 3pm or so, AAR was back on the airwaves at WNTD AM950. Listeners to Randi Rhodes show reported that the Chicago AAR staff wasn’t able to get in to the studio until then. My own personal theory is that someone walked off with the new keys after the locks were changed. Here’s my list of items AAR studio staff should have…
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John Cleese and Tim Curry have joined the cast of upcoming animated picture “Valiant. What is it? I hadn’t heard of it before, but based on this, it probably will not suck one tiny little bit. The animated comedy tells the story of a wood pigeon named Valiant, who overcomes his small size to become a hero in Great Britain’s Royal Air Force Homing Pigeon Service during World War II. Cleese plays an Allied pigeon who gets trapped behind enemy lines. Curry voices a character who is devoted to the pigeons’ destruction as part of the enemy’s Falcon Brigade, the…
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The big screen movie version of “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” may do just that, even if John Malkovich joins “Galaxy” cast. He plays a heretofore unheard of character created for the movie by Douglas Adams in the screenplay he wrote before his death in 2001.