Quotation of the day

Other than being arrested at 18 for burglarizing the home of an ex-girlfriend, George P. Bush appears to have all the right credentials to carry the Bush legacy well into the future. --Yahoo News

Other than? Other than?

Quotation of the day

I have trouble listening to what [Cheney] says sometimes because of the blood that drips from his teeth while he's talking. But my response is this: He's just angry because the president doesn't shoot old men in the face. But by the way, when he was done speaking, did he just then turn into a bat and fly away? --Rep. Alan Grayson

I'll be appearing here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress!

(If you gave me the quote and asked me to guess who said it, I probably would have said Hugo Chavez.)

Shelburne Farms

More animal pics from the trip. (Info on Shelburne Farms here.)

Happy Mole Day

So psyched to find out that today is Mole Day! Who among us doesn't love that deep, dark, velvety chocolate sauce, the secret weapon of fine Mexican cooks? Yum!

What, not that mole?

Oh, well, who among us doesn't love the sweet little vermin that burrows under our front lawns, making them all bumpy? Adorable!

Not that mole, either?

Hmmm. You mean, there's a holiday celebrating Cindy Crawford's beauty mark?

No?

Well, then I guess there's a holiday derived from the Avogadro constant, defining the number of particles in a mole, one of the seven base SI units? Seriously?

Well, fine, but now I'm in the mood for mole sauce on an avocado, served by supermodel being chased by vermin. I'm funny that way.


UPDATE: Mole Day activities! (Wait ... why won't he return my mole? That's so unfair.)

Baa

Due to overwhelming demand,* here are a few sheep pics from vacation.





More pics to come.

*Note: sarcasm.

Well, that's one way of dealing with the problem

I'm surprised the conspiracy theorists aren't grabbing this and running with it. You know those FEMA camps we're told don't exist? They do -- and they're being used for the extermination of children with swine flu! Really! It was in The New York Times! Buried on an inside page! First, pigs were discovered with swine flu at the Minnesota State Fair. Then it was theorized they caught it from 4-H kids. Then ... well, it's just too horrible to contemplate:

A veterinarian for the Minnesota State Fair, Dr. Tom Hagerty, was traveling on the East Coast late Friday and said he had not heard of the test findings. Dr. Hagerty sounded surprised at the news but not alarmed, because most of the pigs, or perhaps all, that were at the state fair at the same time as a group of 4-H children who became ill were to be sent to the slaughterhouse shortly afterward. --The New York Times

If they were turned into bacon, I hope the children were at least free-range.

Yes, The Velvet Blog has returned from vacation. Shall I bore you with vacation photos? There are sheep, goats, and dogs involved. Not, as far as I am aware, pigs or 4-H kids being led away to be aged in a smokehouse.

Radio silence

The Velvet Blog will be going dark for for a week or so.

As usual, I must beg you: Don't miss me too much. You know, the normal amount is fine.

Random 10

Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey, "Here and Now"
Sufjan Stevens, "Prairie Fire That Wanders About"
k.d. lang, "The Consequences of Falling"
World Party, "Vanity Fair"
Nellie McKay, "Baby, Watch Your Back"
Rilo Kiley, "Does He Love You?"
R.E.M., "Stand" (from Green)
Elvis Costello, "A Man Out of Time"
The Knickerbockers, "Sweet Green Fields"
Fleet Foxes, "Oliver James"

Look around you!

The "Look Around You" shorts, originally aired on the BBC, are very funny and pitch-perfect.



For more, search on the phrase "look around you" on YouTube.

Question for the teabaggers on Main Street in Sayville on Saturday

Before the question, a complaint. When you put up signs around town with "TEA PARTY" on them, the first thing I think of -- indeed the first thing anyone other than inveterate Fox News viewers think of -- is orange pekoe and crumpets, not 50-year-olds dressed up like George Washington railing about health care. And who knew the Boston tea party was organized to protest against universal health care? I, for one, did not.

Don't get me thinking of crumpets and then renege. It's just not fair.

But I digress.

Among the "patriotic" songs you were playing was "Sweet Home Alabama." So, at last, my question to you is, what the hell???

I still haven't been to the main market

10/4/14: Hey, I'm putting this update at the top because my Cashiers du Cinemart article on After Last Season is now online

I've taken down my review of After Last Season, because a much-expanded version--featuring original interviews with three of the actors--will be published in issue 17 of Cashiers du Cinemart, slated to be published in November.

More info forthcoming.

UPDATE: Issue #17 of Cashiers du Cinemart, featuring my article on After Last Season, is now available in a number of formats. Here's a link to the Kindle version, and here's a link to the print version. (The issue also features articles on Bloodsucking Freaks and the Findlays' Flesh trilogy, so it also makes a great Christmas gift. The print version has illustrations that the Kindle doesn't have, so I think it's worth the extra $3.)

UPDATE UPDATE: Other posts on the movie: On initially discovering the trailer. The reviews are in.