Eric at the Fire Ant Gazette crossed the street, and found some magic.
Betcha y'all were hoping thought I forgot about this. Nope.
Part 10: Not Yet The End (Ignore the typo in the title, please.)
Part 11: Downslope!
And for those of you who don't remember The Saga, here are the first seven parts (and Interlude), and parts 8 and 9 are here.
Susie did a tip-toe thru her blogroll, and gave everyone a link...except for me, it seems.
Of course, I didn't have anything new posted, but I doubt that explains it. I can only assume she's mad at me for not joining Ethel in The Simian Alliance.
So, here's something new for her: I found a new picture of Ethel. You can tell it's Ethel because...well...you just can. It's not my fault he can't get a woman.
Also, I must extend a warm Munuvian welcome to Jennifer and Ted, who have just become Citizens of Munuvia. I shall now do my Naked Munuvian Dance of Welcome, and you should be damn glad I don't have a webcam.
Yet.
I'm going to try to import an entry from one of my other blogs. If you suddenly can't read this, now you know.
Nope, didn't work. I don't think. It started listing a bunch of stuff that wasn't mine, and I hit the panic button.
Guess I should RTFM*
*Read The Farkin' Manual
There were really bad thunderstorms yesterday, and on the way home, a number of traffic lights along my way were out. This morning, the news reported a lot of traffic lights were still out, so I left way early, found out only two of the lights out yesterday were now working, and was grateful traffic is pretty light at 6:10 AM. When you get to work 50 minutes early, you get some time for blogging.
So I checked out Ethel, and Jennifer, and Annika, and I found this post at Annika's journal (If the link isn't working, scroll down to "Gods and Generals Revisited...") which discusses the question of whether or not people really spoke in the flowery language used in the film Gods and Generals (NOTE: I have *not* seen it, so I don't know how flowery it is). Annika argues yes, they did:
But the question is whether people used such flowery speech during everyday intimate conversations. And i think some people may have actually talked the way they do in Gods and Generals. We know that they wrote that way, because we have their letters. i heard an interview with Ronald Maxwell where he defended the dialogue he wrote for the movie, and he cited Civil War era letters as proof that his dialogue was accurate.
Amateur Civil War historian James at VRWC, Inc. concurs with Annika, in her comments, with this caveat:
Letters from average Joe farmer soldiers from the civil war sound very, very modern (except for the spelling) and the wording became more and more whimsical as you went up in class standings.
Another commenter, Publicola, adds this thought:
...flowery speech probably was not as common as you moved down the societal ladder, but I have no trouble believing it was more flowery than the common persons' speech of today.
It's a nice little discussion, and I'm bringing it up just to show how delightful a debate between knowledgable people can be, even when the subject is as mundane as, "How did people talk?"
Not being a linguist, I can only point to a link I found one day, where a US Army publication reprints a small excerpt from a letter from one William Eggert, who served in the 26th Illinois Infantry, 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 16th corps, during the Civil War. While the excerpt reprinted sounds pretty straight-forward, as I suspect a farmer-turned-soldier would, the opening does exhibit a bit of a more formal, almost flowery, tone (my transcription):
Dear Brother George. I enjoy this present opertunity (sic) in writing a few lines to you to inform you that I am well at pressent (sic) and hoping
In the end, it seems that the situation suggested the tone of writing and speech--just as it does today.
On a similar note: In all the samples of writing I've seen from pretty much the 1930's and before, everyone had beautiful handwriting, and not the chicken-scratching that passes for the hand-written word these days.
For the record, *I* have trouble reading my handwriting.
Jennifer's poll has declared Frank J's new nickname Ethel.
Ethel. Heh.
In other news, Ethel has a new In My World up, which I must confess is fantastic. Note the first comment in there. Heh.
Also, has anyone else noticed his Amazon ad is pushing Bowling for Columbine? If that doesn't increase membership in the Axis of Evil Naughty, I don't know what will.
I like John Collins--but he is either dreaming like a giddy schoolgirl over Leonarde DiCaprio, or he's been drinking enough to float a battleship. Here, he waxes eloquent that the Jets might win the Super Bowl.
He is, of course, dreaming. I mean, really dreaming. He is dreaming to the highest of dreamstivity. He's dreaming more than Kenny Nolan.
Oh, yeah, the Jets could go to the Super Bowl. I'm sure they're being paid enough to buy their own tickets. (Ba-dum dum!)
John, my munuvian blogbro, wake up!
I can't say the Redskins will do any better. I can safely say the Redskins will do worse than the Jets. Technically, nightmares are dreams, so I guess that puts me and him in the same boat, but at least I ain't having some namby-pamby dreams of glory. The Jets will stink, the 'Skins will stink even worse (hey, we've got half of last years Jets!), and the Caps will be at the golf course in early July.
That ain't dreaming--that's The Clue-Bat of Clarity.
I can't think of the last time I was so Not Excited about the start of football season. You really wanna know what's up with the 'Skins? When they signed Martin Chase from New Orleans last week, Head Coach (Head Coach!) Norv "Man, the NFL isn't like college ball!" Turner had this to say about him: "We think he's a pretty good player. I don't know much about him..."
It's gonna be a loooong season.
Nothing worse than wanting to put up a post, and not having anything to blog about, other than the Washington Freedom won the WUSA Founder's Cup yesterday, giving Washington its fourth soccer championship since MSL soccer started. Way to go, ladies!
So I guess I'll try some train of thought blogging. Read between the stars...
***
I like beer.
And Hooter's chicken wings.
Especially with beer.
Gawd, this is dumb.
***
Wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be.
Hey, guys, I've had one report of my color changes locking up one person's machine. Honest, all I did since yesterday was change two colors.
If anyone else is having any problems with my blog (other than crappy content), could you please send me a note at victor -at- ppgworld -dot- com?
After you reboot your computer, of course.
UPDATE: Call off the panic! Send back the lawyers! Keep the guns and money! Jennifer (who reported the problem) now reports everything is OK!
I would like to thank my lovely GF for helping me make this blog a little bit more readable.
Sadly, I can't link to her until the end of the Back From Vacation Saga. It's a plot thing.
Monkey-Boy is beginning to give in to Chim-Chims demands, by finally giving him a cameo appearance in his latest "In My World."
Many thanks to the lovely Jennifer for the heads-up!
...and I see Pixy Misha is going to give the Axis of EvilNaughty 21-inch monitors! Yay for Pixy Misha!
I'm not too sure what Kin is up to, but check it out anyway.
Susie doesn't really have anything to blog about, either.
Ted is telling cop-jokes and launching rockets.
Tim the Michigander (GO BLUE!) can't spell "blend," or he prefers quoting Chairman Mao.
Kevin is excited about being blogrolled. Simple people, simple pleasures, I guess.
And Tuning Spork explains why he is the way he is. Now we know.
In the last few minutes before leaving for the weekend, I decided to check my stats. Lo and behold, someone from house.gov has been looking at Publius & Co.!
I wasn't too sure what to think! At first I was excited, then I was worried there was someone. . .watching me, and that someone would almost certainly be a Simian Alliance spy.
Check out the details. . .and it's someone doing a Google search on amy robach.
Publius & Co. was the sixth page returned.
Tip-toe-ing thru the Axis of Evil Naughty blogroll, I see:
Jennifer thinks I'm totally cool.
IMAO-TV shows the enemy is still sitting in trees, picking their noses and flinging poo.
Someone has issues with his local newspaper.
Bill is crying in his beer. Again.
We have a new member in the Axis!
DFMoore is mad at Richard Cohen.
Robert at Incommunicado is crying in his beer, too. You figure a Red Sox fan would be used to it by now. I'm a Caps fan and you don't see me crying every July when the Caps are on the golf course, do you?
Mookie saw her parents (one of which is the Incredibly Cool Beyond Words, Ted, and please point those rockets toward Frnak) HAVING SEX! No, not really, but the thought scares the jeebers outta her.
OK, lunch is over, so I'll finish up gratuitous linkage later.
I would like to make it clear I am not starting a blogwar with Ted over at Rocket Jones, nor intentionally sowing seeds of discontent. Unintentionally, maybe, but not on purpose, and I apologize if it seems different. I like Ted for lots of reasons:
1. Ted likes rockets.
2. Ted lives in the DC area, and is no doubt a Caps fan.
3. Ted is bigger than me.
4. Ted is funny--check out his WAR! FAQ.
5. Ted is a member of the Axis of Evil Naughty. In fact, I believe he is the originator of that term. I'm not sure where he stands on the Frnak/Puppy Blender blogwar, but I'm sure he is on the side of Right.
6. Ted has invited one and all to launch rockets with him. How cool is that?
I am not influenced, in any way, shape, or form, by the fact that, should any blogwar with Ted escalate into a shooting war, I would have to resort to TP-ing his house and leaving flaming bags of dog poopie on his porch, while he has the capability (as well as the ferschlugginer rockets!) to launch long-range attacks.
Peace, Ted.
Jennifer (naturally) knows why Monkey Boy hates monkeys even though he, himself, is one.
Also on the same page: The Simian Alliance Rogues Gallery!
Let one-thousand puppies blend!
That is all.
Spanky is an RN with lots o' emergency room experience. Some of his stories are scary, others make you shake your head, and some of them make me hope and pray the characters in them haven't reproduced. I'm afraid at least one of the morons in this story may already have his own little morons running around like idiots already, tho.
Go read first, then come back for the extended entry. It isn't going anywhere.
So, just how did they pick up all of those fingers, anyway? Weren't they all thumbs by then?
Ted over at Rocket Jones doesn't like the colors of my blog, but forgets to tell me himself. Hey, c'mon Ted, I'm a guy! I can take everything but hints!
(Ask my gf if you don't believe me.)
Anyhoo, he's right, and I'll fart around with the colors this weekend.
Jennifer sent the picture she promised. It was pretty much exactly what I expected.
Just saw my first Geek On A Segway, heading east on M Street. I was not impressed.
Everyone's assignment for the day:
1. Go to a Simian Alliance blog.
2. Pick a post.
3. Clip out an excerpt from the post, and start a reply.
4. Quote the excerpt in a reply. Offset the quote from your post somehow--bold or italics.
5. Conclude your reply with one of these two words: "Heh," or "Indeed."
I have an example of this InstaTactic at Susie's blog.
That is all.
Monkey-Boy, Susie, and Serenity, all members of the Simian Alliance, are reporting illness. The Cause and Effect are obvious: Join the Simian Alliance, get Monkey Pox.
Let one-thousand puppies blend! That is all.
I watch the local Fox affiliate news in the morning. It's a nice little show with good sports coverage. I used to be a huge fan of the local CBS affiliate, until I realized their morning sports guy (who I've met, and is just a really nice person) can't get a fact straight to save his life. "The Caps aren't playing tonight," I've heard him say, while pulling on one of my Capitals shirts in preparation for that nights Caps-Rangers game. "Lance Armstrong has a six-minute lead--is that good?" about one of Armstrongs past Tour victories. It gets really frustrating after awhile.
The local ABC affiliate has a crawl going across the bottom of the screen. I hate crawls.
NBC? Please. I refuse to watch NBC, ever since they cut out of Olympic Road Race coverage--for a behind-the-scenes look at the Sydney freakin' Opera House, for cryin' out loud!
So it's Fox. I really enjoyed their news broadcasts.
So I come back from vacation, and the first Monday back I turn on the news, and something was missing--namely, Amy Robach, one of the morning co-anchors. I figured she was vacation.
This morning, still no Amy Robach. So a quick Google search turned up the fact she's moving to MSNBC. Really, I am majorly bummed.
If you've looked at her picture, you're probably thinking that I'm upset because she's an attractive blonde (especially my GF--hold on a minute, sweetie!). That couldn't be further from the truth.
She and the other morning anchor, Shawn Yancy, had a fantastic chemistry going. Watching them in the morning was a real delight. They weren't wooden, they weren't there just for fluff, either. Before she came to DC, Ms. Robach was an investigative reporter in Charleston, SC, and was honored by Regardie's Power Magazine (in 2000) as one of the 100 most powerful people in Washington (that would be the District, responsible for local affairs, and not Washington, reponsible for national affairs).
I really miss the banter between Ms. Robach and Ms. Yancey.
Axis of Naughty spies have infiltrated the Enemy Camp. Video is being broadcast at this very moment! All Axis of Naughty Members, as well as those in the InstAxis, are urged to view live video of the enemy, so that we may learn his habits and, basically, have a good laugh at his expense.
That is all.
UPDATE: No, that's not all. More cameras have been placed in the Enemy Camp here, here (click on Urwaldhaus, and here.
Kevin over at Wizbang! has requested all those siding against Monkey Boy trackback to this post and declare their allegiance.
Monkey-Boy is going down hard!
The last two nights it was my turn to cook. Last night, everything was on the grill: Eggplant slices brushed with olive oil and spices, grilled onions (prepped by the GF: onions in foil w/ oil, balsamic vinegar, and pepper), and corn. Lots of grilled corn--6 ears.
What, grills are for meat? Dude, you can grill lettuce, if you want to.
I love grilled corn, and this was some waaay sweet corn. The GF and I went to one of the local farms and stocked up on green beans, onions, corn, blackberries, peaches, and one or two other things--can't remember. Eggplants, yeah, we got a couple of eggplants, and some zucchini. Might've been something else. . .The GF wanted tomatos; I talked her out of it. We have over a dozen ripe plum tomatos, and over a dozen more on the vine that will be ripe soon. You want some tomatos?
Everything's almost all gone. I mentioned last nights meal; maybe I'll post the pictures of all of those veggies on the grill later. I ate two pieces of corn; one for the gf, two for the rats (they love grilled corn, too) and the gf will eat the last one tomorrow.
Today, the peaches were turned into a pie (I bought the crust--hey, I've made pie crust and it's a pain in the butt to get right), the zucchini was grilled, we did another onion, and chicken marinated in italian dressing. Green beans are hard to grill (they fall thru the grates), so they were steamed. Not exactly haute cuisine, but it was good.
The pie was really really good. I have to brag: It was damn good. I want another slice right now.
It was the mace. Next time, I think I'll try it with ginger.
It's time to pick sides. As has been said about other wars, "You're either with us, or against us."
I am against Monkey-Boy, in all of his incarnations. He speaks French. He eats bananas. He has been co-habitating with Chim-Chim from Speed Racer for years, refusing to make an honest...uhh...chimp of Chim-Chim. But worst of all--
He made Susie cry! No one makes Susie cry and gets away with it! NO ONE!
Though my blog-sis has apparently forgiven Monkey-Boy and has joined the Simian Alliance (she's even running their blog, which I'd link to, but it might be used to provide pingage which I don't want, because, basically, I *am* that petty), I cannot forgive him.
Susie, move my link on The Simian Alliance blog from "Potential Allies" to "Sworn Enemies!" for Monkey-Boy is forever my enemy, until he first apologizes for making you cry, then marries Chim-Chim from Speed racer.
Monkey-Boy, you're going down. Hard.
I have to admit, this is going to go on a lot longer than I thought. I can see why Pixy Misha may never finish The Blogfather Saga. Anyhoo, I present:
Part 8: 8 Blogs Out
Part 9: Will it End?
Believe me, I'm wondering, myself.
UPDATE: OK, so I confused Pixy Misa with Emperor Misha. Cut me some slack, Jen, like you've never misspelled a word :)
Back From Vacation: Interlude
Part 7: bf7EN
Part 6: THE SIXTH BFV
Part 5: BFV's FIFTH
Part 4: BFV IV:RINGERS SOLN
Part 3: B.F.V. III: blogtron
Part 2: Back From Vacation Too: Blogosphere Boogaloo
Part 1: Back From Vacation
This is a test. It is only a test. A poor, sad, lonely test, and that is all it can ever aspire to be.
