This Will Make Some Heads Pop If It Comes True

Mark it down: Whoopi Goldberg will be named the new co-host of The View,
FishbowlNY has learned. Sources close to the decision say the announcement could come in a matter of days.

I suppose that once Drew Carrey sign on with TPIR Whoopi was the logical second choice.

What The World Needs Now...

...is an editor for JK Rowling. Just because you're one of the world's top-selling authors and they will let you typeset every word you can think up doesn't make it a good idea.

Weird

As far as I'm concerned, this is just another reason to not go anywhere near a cat.

In his two years living in Steere's end-stage dementia unit, Oscar has been at
the bedside of more than 25 residents shortly before they died, according to Dr.
David Dosa of Brown University in Providence.

It's probably just 25 or more coincidences, right?

Call It What You Will

They're calling this a merger of equals. It looks a lot more like a fire sale that was arranged to keep DEI on the racetrack.

Aric Almirola wins. He's away from Gibbs and driving for DEI. He won't be in Mark Martin's shadow for long.

Mark Martin wins, even though he winds up driving for Teresa. The checks will clear through the end of the year, though.

Paul Menard wins. Sooner or later Daddy's money ain't going to be enough. For the time being, this keeps him racing every Sunday.

Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek lose. Looking for a ride at Sterlin's age isn't going to be easy. Ditto for the man who is one brownie away from becoming Robbie Reiser's twin.

Regan Smith gets the truck ride he should have gotten in January. He needs to practice saying, "It was an honor to drive one of them Cup cars," until he can sound sincere.

A Man Has Got To Know His Limitations

Getting In On The HP Thang

At the Tap, Nathan prop. has more Harry Potter revelations up.

True Friendship-- None of that Sissy Crap

I try to not pass along much of the stuff that comes in over the transom but this struck a funny bone somewhere. I apologize in advance.

Are you tired of those sissy "friendship" poems that always sound good but never actually come close to reality? Well, here is a series of promises that actually speak of true friendship. You will see no cutesy little smiley faces on this card, just the stone cold truth of great friendship.

1. When you are sad I will help you get drunk and plot revenge against the sorry bastard who made you sad.

2. When you are blue I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.

3. When you smile I will know you are plotting something that I must be involved in.

4. When you are scared I will rag on you about it every chance I get.

5. When you are worried I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be until you quit whining.

6. When you are confused I will use little words.

7. When you are sick, stay the hell away from me until you are well again. I don't want whatever you have.

8. When you fall I will point and laugh at your clumsy ass.

9. This is my oath.... I pledge it to the end.
"Why?" you may ask; "because you are my friend".

Send this to 10 of your closest friends, Then get depressed because you can only think of 4!

Biggest Surprises In the First Half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Granted, I'm just barely halfway into the last book but I have been impressed by some of JKR's plot twists. I never expected...

1) In the big "Escape From Privet Lane" set piece Harry and Hagrid use JetBlue.

2) He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named making a fiery speech at the Ministry of Magic under a "Mission Accomplished" banner.

3) The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Bill O'Reilly.

4) Rupert Murdoch bought out The Prophet and put a pin-up on Page Two.

5) Severus Snape debuted his new stand-up act on Conan's show.

6) Peter Pettigrew is now one half of Wormgelina

7) Fred Weasley jumping up and down on Oprah's couch

8) Newest Weasley Wheeze? Asbestos underpants

9) Ministry cuts at Hogwarts lead to Nearly Headless Nick getting a greeter's job at Wal-Mart.

10) In the Foreword JKR hints at a new series; Harry Potter and the Endless Bag of Merchandising.

Happy Anniversary

I can remember when that happened. It can't be 38 years ago.

Absolutely inappropriate link. Don't click if you're easily offended.

Internet Spoilers

Didja peek?

Are you going to?

I'm not going to help.
Find your own links.

Measures The Administration Opposes

h/t Reform Dem

Initiatives the administration “strongly opposes” include:

-- A military pay raise for next January of 3.5
percent versus 3 percent endorsed by the White House.

-- Lowering the age-60 start of reserve retirement annuities for
reserve component members by the length of their future mobilizations.

-- Expanding eligibility for Combat-Related Special Compensation to service members forced by combat disabilities to
retire short of 20 years.

-- Directing pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide the Department of
Defense with same price discounts for TRICARE retail pharmacy network that are provided already on medicines dispensed
from base pharmacies.

The administration also grumbled that the Senate intends to block for
another year TRICARE fee increases for under-65 retirees and dependents.

This is from an OMB “Statement of Administration Policy” which was delivered to Senate leaders as they opened floor debate on the defense authorization bill. Why would the OMB recommend against a pay raise for our troops?

The added cost of the bigger raise, $2.2 billion through 2013,
is money “that would otherwise be available to support our troop,” said the OMB letter.

Who Is The Loneliest Man In Town?

Is it the new Maytag Repairman, Clay Jackson?

go here to see the original commercial with Jesse White.

Or is the loneliest guy in town Douglas Lute?

"Who?" you say. "Who is Douglas Lute?"

Don't you remember when he was appointed as War Czar? Don't you think we should be hearing just a little something from him about how the President's surge is working?

Another Kick At the Cat

It looks as if John Gard is going to try to take another poke at going to Washington, this time without the tour bus. There are rumblings and ramblings and missed filings already.

I can hardly wait wait for the primary next Spring, especially if Frank "You can quote me on that" Lasee jumps in the race.

Do you suppose that Gard ever gets depressed knowing that he's not even the best candidate at his breakfast table?

Oh well. In honor of the Selfish One there can be only one response. Let's party!

Handguns To the Rescue

One of the scenarios that those in favor of concealed carry are quick to bring out is the lone vigilante willing to step up when a crime has been committed and bring it to a quick end by simply showing the weapon. In these stories the weapon is a sort of talisman that, simply by being drawn and shown will magically bring an altercation to an end.

In the real world it often doesn't work out quite that way.

Raymond Keith McWain, 26, had just turned a corner in his car when he
noticed a truck with three men alongside his car. The deaf man was communicating with the other two in the truck through sign language, police said.

McWain thought the sign language gestures were some sort of slight
or "disrespect" toward him, police said. He made some gestures of his own and
honked and cut in front of the truck before pulling into the pizza store. The
men in the truck followed.

In the parking lot, McWain and the three men from the truck began
pushing and shoving, police said. McWain's cousin, Daniel Harris, 20, who works
at the pizza store, came out and began beating the deaf man as the deaf man's
companions pummeled McWain.

Multiple shots were fired from at least one gun.

Stay In School, Kids

If you're going to go into journalism full-time you should have, at a minimum, a grounding in pop culture.

From an AP story about an archeological dig site.

But first, archaeologists were called in. Beginning in late May, they started
digging into the ground in a discovery process that could last several more
weeks.
They uncovered a pistol, a buoy knife, whisky flasks, a set of false
teeth, two dog skulls and a blade from a set of sheep shears.

"A buoy knife," it said. What the is a buoy knife?

Could it be, instead, a Bowie knife. I betcha.

An Honest Question

Stay tuned to find out who is most qualified to walk in Jesse White's shoes. Who doesn't have anything to do? Who is the most forgotten man in America?

Harry Potter and the Order of the Shorthorn It Ain't

h/t to Jed

From Sky News:

Seven schoolgirls have sparked a major search and rescue mission - after
being frightened by a herd of cows.

Bad enough, surely but the story continues:

The terrified pupils, aged 14 and 15, were on a geography field trip in Swanage,
Dorset, when they sent out an SOS.

They were dropped off three miles from their outdoor centre and told to find their way back using a map.

But the teenagers, from St Albans in Hertfordshire, got stuck on a hill when they came across a herd of cows in a field blocking their way.

A coastguard rescue team, police and an ambulance were scrambled to rescue them after one of the girls called for help on her mobile phone.

A Hertfordshire County Council spokeswoman said: "The children were concerned because they realised they were going to have to walk through a field with cows in it.
"They called their parents and then the centre.

What possible reason could there be for calling the Coast Guard for a bovine rescue?

Call This A Little Background

I come from a place that had ceased to exist before I was born there.

Ableman, WI was across the mighty Baraboo river from Rock Springs. At one time the area was lively with quarrying pink quartzite for the C&NW. You can still see evidence of the Pink Lady Quarry along railbeds throughout the Midwest if you know what color to look for.

Now there's not much left of Ableman. The photographer's shop is gone. Most of the houses are on the Rock Springs side of the river. Action at the quarry is on a low cycle again. The cemetery doesn't even see as much activity as it used to. The Hinckley Springs trucks leave twice a day hauling the water away from the artesian wellhead to Chicago to be sold 5 gallons at a time. I remember drinking straight from a small standpipe on that well, the water so cold and sweet it made your jaws ache.

So, that's it. Nowhere near normal or Normal, as you wish. Just a little town that's gone now, sucked into the hubbub of a larger city of 425.

No Rush

I'm beginning to think that Tony Snow does not, and may have never had, a sense of shame.

A little history of the situation.

On May 8, 11 nervous House Republicans had an "unvarnished" conversation with
the president about Iraq policy. One congressman said, "How can our
sons and daughters spill their blood while the Iraqi government goes on
vacation?" The president responded, "The vice president is over there to tell
them, 'Do not go on vacation.'"

Are You Saying All Golfers Are Sandwiches?

What would it look like if ______ and Eugene Kane got together for lunch?

Who Is Zooming Who?

Sometimes you have to pay attention to the ephemera, to the detritus that falls through the cracks and collects as crumbs underfoot. And, when you're thinking about meaning-free crumbs, who comes to mind but Paddy Mac?

Patrick McIlhearn, the overmatched conservative local Milwaukee columnist came out in favor of skywalks in a column last week. He sees them, somehow, as a bum-free alternative to streetcars.

OK, they're not cheap: $1 million a span, estimates Klingel. But $53 million for
a streetcar isn't cheap either. At least skywalks don't make you wait on a
corner where some of the jangle and jumble of real life got soused on Thunderbird and threw up.

Up in the gerbil trails, you smell espresso carts instead. And it's never too rainy or windy or arctic for you to stop and buy, never a red light to keep you from crossing. Against that, skywalks' unpopularity with urban planners seems like a lot of fortified whine.

Where in the world does a world-class thinker like Paddy get his ideas? Especially such bad ideas.

I was pointed to the Macster's bad idea by a Bruce Murphy piece titled, "How Skywalks Would Ruin Milwaukee." Murphy's sources have a lesser opinion of Habitrails For Humanity.

Earth to Patrick. Skywalks were passé in the 1990s. Cities have been moving away from them for years. “An increasing number of cities have started tearing down some of their walkways,” a January 2006 Associated Press story noted. “Planners and others in cities such as Cincinnati, Baltimore, Charlotte, N.C., Hartford, Conn. and Kansas City, Mo., now believe increasing street-level pedestrian traffic will lead to more downtown homes, shops and entertainment.”

Or consider this conclusion of an August 2005 New York Times story: “Many cities are gripped with builder’s remorse. They say the skyways and tunnels have choked off pedestrian traffic, hurt street-level retailers and limited development in the city core.”

“If I could take a cement mixer and pour cement in and clog up the tunnels, I would do it today,” then-Dallas Mayor Laura Miller told the Times.

Why do I care? What make me think the sudden appearance of a bad idea in a McIlhearn column was anything more or less than normal? An entry in the WisPolitics Budget Blog detailed some of the policy items that Assembly Republicans had salted into their version of the state budget. Along with making Wisconsin a "Shoot First" state and changing the regulation of elevators was this little gem.

Eliminate the ban on heated exterior pedestrian walkways not fully enclosed within a building, which has been in existence since 1980.

It's not exactly the kind of burning issue that has filled the front pages of newspapers in Douglas and Iron Counties, is it? In fact the one newspaper writer-type person interested is our intrepid Paddy Mac.

My questions are these. Who salted this idea in McIlhearn's fevered brow? Who needs skywalks in Milwaukee to cash in on that "negligible" $1 mi lion per span? Which of our Republican leaders put this line item in for which of his buddies? Have the roadbuilders been replaced as the darlings of Republican pork by those who build their highways in the sky?


Maybe it's just a coincidence. Maybe McIlhearn had an idea of his own. It's bound to happen someday.

Badgers? We Don't Need No Stinking Badgers

From the Beebs:

UK military spokesman Major Mike Shearer said: "We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area."

The area in question being Basra.

The director of Basra's veterinary hospital, Mushtaq Abdul-Mahdi, has inspected
several of the animals' corpses.

He told the AFP news agency: "These appeared before the fall of the regime in 1986. They are known locally as Al-Girta.

"Talk that this animal was brought by the British forces is incorrect and unscientific."

But we all know that you can't trust a scientific consensus. Right?

What's The Difference Between Smart and Stupid?

Pretty much everyone agrees that there's an upper limit to "smart."


Stupid just goes on forever.

It's An Honor To Be Nominated

Fred has turned MRQ into a competition and I've been nominated for the first weekly prize. If you have the time, please slide over there and vote for my "weedy" quote.

Thank you

Before The Order of the Phoenix

After seeing the Vince Gill commercial for FTL at the theater last night all I can figure is that he either lost a bet or his alimony payments are way higher than I imagined.

That check better have been big enough to cover the hole where his credibility used to be.

From Paul Mercurio

Presdient Bush's approval rating walks into a bar and the bartender says, "I'm sorry. We can't serve you here."

The approval rating asks, "Why not?"

And the bartender says, "Because you're under 21."

Bad News Budget

The Assembly Republicans (less Jeff Wood) passed their version of a budget on Tuesday. For a group that has decried policy-making in budget bills in the past they indulged themselves this time like a church choir on Saturday night.

Let's take a look at some of the items Brett Davis and his cohort voted for.

1) No more straight ticket voting. The R's are tired of being dragged down by candidates like Scott Walker and GWB.

2) The elimination of BadgerCarePlus for farmers. Wasn't this a cornerstone of Brett's campaign flyers last August?

3) A zero balance for the Statutory Required Balance. Apparently the R's have figured out a way to make rainy days illegal.

4) $96 million in cuts to the UW alongside cuts in student aid. The Republicans officially no longer believe that knowledge is power. In a land of stupid people Steve Nass is king.

5) A freeze in property taxes to match the millions in un- and underfunded mandates on local governments. They believe in letting your alder take the fall for the hard cuts that they are unwilling to take. When the price of a bag of garbage hits $3 you can thank the Republicans.

6) Shared revenue cuts of no less than 5% with 12% and more to some communities. Lets see, the price of a fire call now is $500. Will the Republicans be happy when it hits $1000?

7) Cuts $85 million from the JFC version of the budget for local school funding.

8) Blocks single citizens younger than 65 from the Homestead Tax Credit

9) Expanded the tax-sucking sinkhole of for-profit schooling to Racine.

The Republican budget is a document full of platitudes that is unpassable. It is just as unrealistic as the document the Dems brought out two weeks ago. It's time for both sides to stop posturing and make a budget for the people of the whole state, not just Dane and Ozaukee Counties.

Hello! Nurse

As Aaron teaches young Cole the names of the states he should remember that learning at home is a two-edged sword. The tools of education can be turned to the Devil's handiwork as easily.

There will always be someone like Uncle grumps to lead him astray.

This Would Make It harder To Get Folks To Serve In A Bush Administration

BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- China executed a former drug and food safety chief on Tuesday for corruption in an unusually swift sentence which will serve as a warning amid a series of health scandals that have stained the "made in China" brand.

The gallows would have to have an express lane to keep up with the incompetence of the CEO Administration.

Brewpub Afficianados Take Note

From Milwaukee World. The bill that giveth could also taketh away.

Milwaukee Brewing Company president Jim McCabe says if the bill, introduced
on July 3rd (a good day to introduce stealth legislation) is passed and signed
by the governor (who says he supports it) McCabe will be forced to
choose which of his facilities he must shut down. The same would apply to Gray’s
Brewing, Tyranena Brewing Company, Calumet Brewing Company, New Glarus Brewing Company, Green Bay Brewing Company and Milwaukee’s Stonefly Brewery, all of which manufacture beer and sell food.

How could a bill that allows Great Dane to own six brewpubs prohibit
six other companies from
owning more than two? “The proposed law would require that forty percent of sales at each location must be food,” McCabe says. “There is no way my new state-of-the-art brewery and packaging facility, located in an industrial building on the south side could function as a brewpub generating 41 percent of its revenues in food.”

(snip)

The Senate’s Transportation, Tourism and Insurance Committee will hold a public
hearing on the bill Wednesday, July 11th, 2007 at 1 p.m. in Room 411 south
of the State Capitol. Many representatives of Wisconsin’s brewpub industry will
be in attendance, despite having less than one week to prepare themselves after
the bill’s surreptitious introduction. The committee is expected to go into
executive session to vote on the proposal immediately afterward.

Dilemma

Should a blogger's 1000th post be weighty or funny?

Scooter's still free.






I guess it can be both.

Help A Blogger Out

Pete is making a list of the great movies left off the Army Times list of Top Ten Military Movies in response to the AFI Top 100's lack of good military movies.

5. The Caine Mutiny (1954) - Oh, man, who can forget those balls that Lt.
Cmdr. Queeg kept rattling around! This is right up there with Letters from Iwo
Jima as THE BEST….Again, I own this movie, and watch it frequently….

4. Glory (1989) - Watched it twice….thought it was ok, but really think
Letters and Caine are better movies….

I've added my two cents in the comments. Go over and add yours.

To 900 Or So Of My New Closest Friends

Thank you

Time Is Running Short

Just two more chances to see the show.

M*A*S*H Cast:
Supporting Characters

It’s your last chance to see MASH this weekend! Don’t miss it on July 6 or 7 at 7:30 p.m. The play is presented by the Evansville Community Theatre in the state-of-the-art Evansville Performing Arts Center at Evansville High School, 640 S. Fifth St. Tickets are all general admission and are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Tickets are available in advance in Evansville at the Union Bank and Trust, Piggly Wiggly, Evansville Pharmacy, and Bank of Evansville. For information, contact producer Jennie Nehls at 608-882-4926 or by e-mail at nenni68@charter.net.

Last week a few of the supporting characters spoke with the play’s publicity coordinator to give you an inside look at what it’s like to be on stage in MASH.

Are you having a good time putting on this play?
Linda Draeving-Hammack/Congresswoman: I grew up military, so it’s pretty cool -- it takes me back. Most of it’s true to life. My dad was in the Air Force, so I was an Air Force brat. It was a good life, a hard life, but a very good life. We moved every two to three years. The first 18 years of my life I lived on seven different bases.
Chelsea Schmit/Fritzi: I like how everyone is really nice and really supportive.
Cody Marenas/Crazylegs: I just like everyone and the range of ages that are here.
PJ Spears/Nyng: I’m having a great time. I’ve never done this before. I was nervous. It’s just so neat to see other people act – they’re really good!

What do you like best about your character?
Jennie Nehls/Dean Lodge: Dean Mercy Lodge tries to sound "all business" but it's obvious that regardless of the mischief Hawkeye caused her at the school, deep down she has a soft spot for him.
Chelsea Schmit/Fritzi: I like that my character is not very intelligent and I like to play her because she’s so opposite – I don’t really consider myself that dumb! We all have dumb moments, but her life is a dumb moment so it’s kind of fun.
Linda Draeving-Hammack/Congresswoman: I’m a congresswoman. That’s cool. And she’s made fun of; that’s kind of funny. And I get to scream.
Chelsea Schmit/Fritzi: My character feeds off the other two girls she’s with. Together the three of them are just really very blank and dull-witted! It’s so funny because of the reaction of the officers in the camp.
PJ Spears/Nyng: I like getting to pretend to be someone else and see if I can convince other people to believe the character. She’s funny. I try to make it funny.

Aside from the outright comedy, what might the audience take away from the play?
Linda Draeving-Hammack/Congresswoman: I think the importance of relationships comes shining through in the play. Any time you take people out of their own comfort zone and put them in a foreign country, personal relationships become very important because they’re dependent on each other. That’s one of the things I learned growing up military – how important your nuclear family and relationships become to you when you’re far away from your extended family. You create extended families when you’re overseas or on a military base.
Chelsea Schmit/Fritzi: I’ve got nothing! Mitzi, Fritzi, and Agnes don’t have a lot of messages!
Cody Marenas/Crazylegs: I’m an old college buddy of Hawkeye – there are messages about keeping your friends and staying in touch with your old friends.

Why do you think people will enjoy this play?
PJ Spears/Nyng: It’s going to be so funny. You won’t believe how many people you see every day that can act so well! I didn’t know they could do this.
Jennie Nehls/Dean Lodge: I think it's a show that most people have watched and they can identify with the characters. Having watched the show for many years, I wondered if that might make it hard to get used to seeing someone else play those roles. On the contrary, each member of the cast has really embraced their character and they all have done an amazing job blending together beautifully.
Chelsea Schmit/Fritzi: When you know the people who are in the show you see bits and pieces of them coming out in their characters and it’s really humorous how they connect.
Cody Marenas/Crazylegs: If we hit the lines right, it’ll make the audience laugh.
Jennie Nehls/Dean Lodge: I think people will most enjoy watching everyone in the cast have such a good time with their characters and the story. It's a great show with a lot of funny, and some poignant, moments.
Linda Draeving-Hammack/Congresswoman: It’s a good show…the directing, the producing, it’s just a good show.
Chelsea Schmit/Fritzi: It’s a break from reality, putting yourself in a different place and a different time. If there are actors you know, it’s fun to see the actors step out into something they don’t always do.
Linda Draeving-Hammack/Congresswoman: Come see us and have a good time – and remember that every actress loves flowers!

####
sc-6-29-07

Two Pictures and a Riddle

The paper says that today is Kissing Day. Here's a treat.

Kissing Day Picture #1

The Riddle

Which one of today's funnies had a slam on the Supreme Court buried so small that most everyone missed it?

Kissing Day Picture #2

The Answer To The Riddle.

Get Fuzzy

The (Really) No-Spin Zone. Really. No Kidding. Not Like That Other Guy's Spinning-No-Spin Thingie Zone.

Aaron asks, "What's the spin?" I'll offer this.

Al Gore III is a grown man who has made some mistakes in the
past. It would appear that he has made some more. If found guilty he
should be held responsible for his actions.

See, now isn't that refreshing compared to all of the Scooter-blather we've been subjected to over the past few days? When will the Republican partisans learn that actions have consequences and stand up for personal responsibility?

Did I See You At The Parade? Did I Throw You A Tootsie Roll?

The weather was perfect, the crowd was friendly, the company could not have been better.
click on pictures to enlarge

If you didn't see the cast of M*A*S*H at the parade yesterday, I hope you can see us tonight when the production resumes. Details below.




M*A*S*H will be presented in the state-of-the-art Evansville Performing Arts Center at Evansville High School, 640 S. Fifth St. in Evansville. Performances are July 5, 6, and 7 at 7:30 p.m..

Tickets are all general admission and are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Tickets are available in advance in Evansville at the Union Bank and Trust, Piggly Wiggly, Evansville Pharmacy, and Bank of Evansville.

A Long And Difficult Birth

From USHistory.org

Chronology of Events
1776

June 7
Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, receives Richard Henry Lee's resolution urging Congress to declare independence.

June 11
Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston appointed to a committee to draft a declaration of independence. American army retreats to Lake Champlain from Canada.

June 12-27
Jefferson, at the request of the committee, drafts a declaration, of which only a fragment exists. Jefferson's clean, or "fair" copy, the "original Rough draught," is reviewed by the committee. Both documents are in the manuscript collections of the Library of Congress.

June 28
A fair copy of the committee draft of the Declaration of Independence is read in Congress.

July 1-4
Congress debates and revises the Declaration of Independence.

July 2
Congress declares independence as the British fleet and army arrive at New York.

July 4
Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence in the morning of a bright, sunny, but cool Philadelphia day. John Dunlap prints the Declaration of Independence. These prints are now called "Dunlap Broadsides." Twenty-four copies are known to exist, two of which are in the Library of Congress. One of these was Washington's personal copy.

July 5
John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, dispatches the first of Dunlap's broadsides of the Declaration of Independence to the legislatures of New Jersey and Delaware.

July 6
Pennsylvania Evening Post of July 6 prints the first newspaper rendition of the Declaration of Independence.

July 8
The first public reading of the Declaration is in Philadelphia.

July 9
Washington orders that the Declaration of Independence be read before the American army in New York

July 19
Congress orders the Declaration of Independence engrossed (officially inscribed) and signed by members.

August 2
Delegates begin to sign engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence. A large British reinforcement arrives at New York after being repelled at Charleston, S.C.

1777
January 18
Congress, now sitting in Baltimore, Maryland, orders that signed copies of the Declaration of Independence printed by Mary Katherine Goddard of Baltimore be sent to the states.

I Agree With Owen This Time

This would be interesting.

The comments over at BS go into the RINOsity of some of the potential candidates for Steve Kagen's 8th District seat. I'd just like to see how nasty a primary campaign between Cheney's-Boy, Gard and Mr Personality Frank Lassee could get.

Mending Wall- by Robert Frost

For the Observer:

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,

That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,

And spills the upper boulders in the sun,

And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.

The work of hunters is another thing:

I have come after them and made repair

Where they have left not one stone on a stone,

But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,

To please the yelping dogs.

The gaps I mean,

No one has seen them made or heard them made,

But at spring mending-time we find them there.

I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;

And on a day we meet to walk the line

And set the wall between us once again.

We keep the wall between us as we go.

To each the boulders that have fallen to each.

And some are loaves and some so nearly balls

We have to use a spell to make them balance: '

Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'

We wear our fingers rough with handling them.

Oh, just another kind of out-door game,

One on a side. It comes to little more:

There where it is we do not need the wall:

He is all pine and I am apple orchard.

My apple trees will never get across

And eat the cones under his pines,

I tell him.

He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'.

Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder

If I could put a notion in his head: '

Why do they make good neighbors?

Isn't it Where there are cows?

But here there are no cows.

Before I built a wall I'd ask to know

What I was walling in or walling out,

And to whom I was like to give offence.

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,

That wants it down.'

I could say 'Elves' to him,

But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather

He said it for himself. I see him there

Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top

In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.

He moves in darkness as it seems to me~

Not of woods only and the shade of trees.

He will not go behind his father's saying,

And he likes having thought of it so well

He says again, "Good fences make good neighbors."

Try Your Hand At Seeing The Future

The Mathias Family is keeping track of predictions for the next (and last) Harry Potter novel, due out in just a dew weeks and they're willing to let us play as well.

Slide over to Pundit Nation and record your predictions for posterity.

Here are my thoughts:

1) Dumbledore isn't coming back. He might show up as a patronas or help Harry out with a pensieve episode but he is really, truly, most actually dead. That whole Nicholas Flamel reference is jsut a red herring.

2) Snape's motives are pure. My guess is that he dies in defense of one of the Big Three, probably Hermione. If Snape does not receive redemption then the whole point of the series seems to make no difference. I don't see that happening.

3) Draco Malfoy lives to carry the Death Eaters to a new generation. Lucius is RDB (Rent. Don't buy.)

4) I boldly predict that I'll read Book 7 and have no better handle on what the deuce the whole horcrux thing is than I have now.

5) Hermione is offered a job at Hogwarts as is Neville. Harry is offered Dumbledore's office and turns it down. Ron winds up doing infomercials for his brothers' line of magic tchotchkes.

6) We get one more wet-eyed scene with Harry's Mum and Pa. She will give him the push to defeat He-Whose-Name-Can't-Be-Spelled.

7) JKR will not be able to walk away from the characters or world she's created. She will have another book set in the Hogwarts world within ten years.

The Enlisted Men and the Korean Characters' Turn

M*A*S*H Cast:

Privates and Korean Characters

Two performances are in the books but there are still plenty of chances to see the ECT production of MASH, including a matinee this afternoon at 2. A week ago a couple of privates and two of the Korean characters in MASH talked with the play’s publicity coordinator about the play.

Are you having a good time putting on this play?
Tyler Franklin/Pvt. Lopez: One of the fun parts for me is watching the people get
into their characters as they say their lines, realizing what their lines mean and why they’re funny.
Andrew Lust/Pvt. Boone: My favorite part is all the dialogue between the general and
me. They’re funny parts -- lots of misunderstandings.
Tyler Franklin/Pvt. Lopez: I like the nurses; they like to plot with each other.
Carl Soderberg/Ho-Jon: The play is written well. The television show has lived on
during generations and decades because it’s funny. This is a different show, so it’s not exactly like the television show, but they’re both very funny. They both have a lot of good one-liners. But they also develop really funny themes throughout. If done correctly our show has the potential to be hilarious and I hope it is.

What do you like about your own character?
Andrew Lust/Pvt. Boone: It’s kind of like I don’t have to act at all. It’s pretty much me…a nervous, clumsy, scaredy guy. Kind of stupid, but actually intelligent. It’s like I’m playing me. I really don’t have to act; I just have to say the lines that are in the book.
Tyler Franklin/Pvt. Lopez: My character seems like the low man on the totem pole and
that relates to me with the play because unlike a lot of older people in the cast, I don’t know a lot about the Korean war. I’m the low man on the totem pole just in general here, so I can really relate to that character. He does the grunt work.
Chelsea Lezotte/Sohng: Sohng is just a fun character, a fun person to play. PJ [who plays the other Korean woman in the play] has been trying to help me learn to talk with a Korean accent.
Carl Soderberg/Ho-Jon: My character is a challenge. I haven’t been on stage for four years. Coming back to it is kind of interesting because to portray a 17-year-old Korean boy when I’m a 21-year-old Swedish boy, is an interesting transition, but it’s fun, too. I like a challenge and I have a lot of time this summer, so I’m really trying to devote a lot of it to developing something that’s going to be interesting and can tie the show together and make it feel like it’s really in Korea. I hope bringing that to the table will be fun for both myself and the audience. The way I need him to come across is much like a servant, serving Hawkeye and Duke and the others on stage. Having that demeanor is something I’m not used to, so I’m still developing that. That’s another reason it’s so challenging, because there are so many different aspects of who Ho-Jon is that I have to try to capture and effectively show on stage -- that there’s more to him.

How do your characters get along with each other?
Tyler Franklin/Pvt. Lopez: At one point, everybody comes together to help one of the
characters. They’re not family, but they are in a sense.
Chelsea Lezotte/Sohng: It seems like they’ve all got their own groups and circles they
hang out with, but everybody will protect everybody else and you could go to any one of them.
Tyler Franklin/Pvt. Lopez: My favorite group is Duke and Hawkeye. They’re kind of
mischievous and hang out with each other. They get away with a lot.

Aside from the outright comedy, what might the audience take away from play?
Tyler Franklin/Pvt. Lopez: These are people who are great at their work and they may
want to go back to their families but they can’t because they’re so good at what they do. You don’t see the families back home that are missing them. It was probably really tough to be gone for that long.

Chelsea Lezotte/Sohng: It shows you just have to do what you have to do.
Carl Soderberg/Ho-Jon: It’s easier to go on stage and have a gag and have people laugh and clap. The more difficult thing is doing the themes that are underlying. One of the themes is the friendships that have developed among everyone there and the Koreans, the camaraderie that’s developed during this really serious time. They can take lightly that they’re medical surgeons in the middle of the war. They’re saving lives, but at the same time they’re able to maintain that sense of humor that’s really necessary. If you can’t laugh, it’s going to be tough going.

Why do you think people will enjoy this play?
Tyler Franklin/Pvt. Lopez: To see someone you know up on stage is always fun to see
how they do. If you’ve grown up watching the TV show, or read the book, or seen the movie -- I always like to see how other people interpret it or would put the show on. Our main attraction is going to be the people who grew up watching the show, who know more about the Korean War, not just in a history book.
Chelsea Lezotte/Sohng: I think if anybody comes to see it, they’ll like it. You don’t have to know anything about it. I haven’t seen it on TV.
Carl Soderberg/Ho-Jon: I would tell everybody to come see it because it is going to be
funny, but also because you’re really going to feel connected to the show. By the time it’s over, you’re really going to feel like you’ve experienced a sense of what it’s like to be part of the Korean war.

How is this experience going for you?
Chelsea Lezotte/Sohng: This is the first time I’ve been on stage. It’s going good. I need
a lot of help, but it’s fun.
Tyler Franklin/Pvt. Lopez: She’s really come out of her shell.
Chelsea Lezotte/Sohng: I’ve heard that a couple times!
Andrew Lust/Pvt. Boone: I’m a veteran here doing plays. I’ve been in musicals and plays for the past 6 years.
Tyler Franklin/Pvt. Lopez: This is my fifth show that I’ve at least helped with. Last year with The Beverly Hillbillies I had a lot of fun with it. It’s different with an all high school cast which I’m used to. They talk about school most of the time. This is a good mix of adults and younger people, because you go to the adults for help about what the setting was or how someone would act in that time. Then they come to you because they don’t know where the green room is or to ask what we have in the prop shop. It’s a give and take on both sides and that’s something really special for the show.

Why do you think people will enjoy this play?
Andrew Lust/Pvt. Boone: It’s in the middle of the summer and there’s air conditioning in there. And my house doesn’t have it, so…
Tyler Franklin/Pvt. Lopez: Mine doesn’t either! It’s a fun family show.
Chelsea Lezotte/Sohng: They won’t walk away and think it’s a waste of time. They’ll
have fun if they come watch it.

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sc-6/22/07