Asparagus pee, Gooblek & Other Neat stuff

Awhile back, I wrote about the wonder of writing my initials on the copper bottom of a Revereware pan using ketchup, and I’m sure everyone is dying to know how that works. Here’s a link to a guy who’s devoted way too much time to the phenomenon of cleaning pennies with taco sauce.

I’m thrilled to hear and report that on October 19th they’re releasing From a Basement on a Hill, the album Elliott Smith was working on last year when he allegedly took his own life. There are links to several stories on Google News Search.

Unfortunately, it’s only one CD, not the double that was originally a possibility, but the good news is that it’s already #113 on Amazon, and it’s not even out yet.

I’d sure rather have Elliott back.

I don’t know about you, but I’m going over to Amazon and order it now.

For more information, here’s a link to his main fansite: Sweet Adeline.

I’d like to rant about politics, but I don’t have time right now, so I’m going to let Michael Moore’s Message do it for me.

Here’s a sample:

“WAKE UP! The majority are with us! More than half of all Americans are pro-choice, want stronger environmental laws, are appalled that assault weapons are back on the street — and 54% now believe the war is wrong. YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE TO CONVINCE THEM OF ANY OF THIS — YOU JUST HAVE TO GIVE THEM A RAY OF HOPE AND A RIDE TO THE POLLS. CAN YOU DO THAT? WILL YOU DO THAT?”

Asparagus Pee’s getting a bunch of hits on “Chris Benson’s Wife” again.

If you’re looking for her, go directly to annabenson.net. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. (Or hang around and read Anna Benson’s Not Here, sign the guestbook, leave a comment, or whatever. Vote Kerry.)

It suddenly occurs to me that I think I forgot to mention that I’m pretty sure the “widow’s son” in that corny hidden message from The Da Vinci Code‘s dust jacket is none other than Hiram Abiff. That’s probably old news to the folks who care about Masonic/Rosicrucian whatnot, but I stumbled on it all by my little lonesome, so there it is. Follow the link to Google on Hiram Abiff and draw your own conclusions.

I know you’re all dying to check out this Guide to Springfield USA. Someone has created a map with every place ever mentioned on The Simpsons&#153.

I actually laugh a lot more than I rant, but I would like to state publicly that I refuse to use the abbreviation LOL. (The jury’s still out on ROTFLMAO.)

I am so tired of all the Bush/Kerry crap about military service and Vietnam. Who made up the rule that says a politician ought to be a veteran anyway, and better yet, a decorated one? Serving at all makes you a hero, but unless you have to hold up under torture or something, isn’t getting wounded just bad luck? Is it better to have a medal you didn’t really deserve, or no medal at all?

By the way, did you know that some people consider Clinton to be a draft dodger?

Now I know it ain’t patriotic, but I for one would think that if you’ve got it together enough to find yourself leading an advanced country of 300 million, you ought to be clever enough to find legally valid ways to avoid serving in a badly justified war. So I wish Bush would quit trying to deny one of the few things I actually respect him for having the sense to do.

And if your daddy doesn’t have enough clout to help you get out of it, dodging your way into a Rhodes Scholarship to wait it out at Oxford will do just fine, thank you.

Several of the people I work with and for are nearing retirement age, and one guy has a sign up over his desk that he’s updating every morning with the number of days till he retires on his birthday in 2006, so based on current assumptions regarding Social Security, I’ve decided to do the same for my 67th birthday.

As of right now, my whiteboard shows I’ve got only 9018 days left to go!

I’m going to keep this short and sweet. I believe the documents CBS put out there re: Bush and the National Guard are forgeries produced in MS Word, and I’ll be very surprised if it turns out to be otherwise, so I’m embarassed for CBS as they scramble to try to make good. The PDFs smelled wrong when I first glanced at them, and I just couldn’t put my finger on it, but it was a perfect example of Blink, which is a pretty good book I’ve read as an advance reader’s copy that unfortunately hasn’t been published yet.

I’m also very disappointed to say that I’m afraid this will turn people against Kerry to the point where, were I a conspiracy theorist, I would almost suspect the Bush camp of misleading CBS on purpose to intensify and counteract the Swift boat fiasco and put the old AWOL rumors to rest at Kerry’s expense.