Obviously Presbyterians

And they thought my idea of an Uncle Sam theme (groomsmen in red, white, and blue tuxes, and groom in US suit) for my wedding was over top. I don't think this would've played well 26 years ago in a Baptist church in Sulphur LA.

Don't Call Them Dummies

Ventriloquists take offense at the word "dummies."

The performers brought their dummies along for the trip too."[They're] wooden Americans. They don't call them dummies," Ferrese said.

Probably from Native American Pine trees.

When Grackles Attack

They came by close enough for me to notice the noise of flapping wings the first time. I heard a bunch of grackles making a racket up on some nearby powerlines. The second pass I saw them coming and ducked out of the way. There were about 6 grackles sitting on the powerlines looking at me and squawking. I stopped walking and stared up at them, when about 4 of the 6 launched and dove at me a third time. About halfway, I started flailing my arms at them in frantic waves which caused the birds to pull up and fly off before reaching me. I quickly jogged away before another attack. All this on my lunch time walk of about two miles. Unfortunately there were no telephone booths for me to jump into for relative safety.

This reminds me of an Eastern Kingbird that nested out behind the 18th green of Mallard Cove Golf Course (my hometown course) back in the day. The bird would fly at golfers who had happened to get beneath its tree. We watched from the clubhouse as group after group came in and did battle with the Kingbird. Comedy.

Two corpulent gin-soaked trollops

Mark Steyn blasts a visual analysis of the financial state of New York and California.

Not to be too gloomy, but the country feels like it's seizing up. It's as if California and New York have burst their bodices like two corpulent gin-soaked trollops and rolled over the fruited plain to rub bellies at the Mississippi. If you're underneath, it's not going to be fun.

Ouch. That's a visual I could do without.

My NPR Name

If I were an NPR reporter, what would be my name? Lianablog asks this question and comes up with a formula for the answer.

In fact, we’ve often wondered what it would be like to be one of them. A Nina Totenberg or a Renita Jablonski. A David Kestenbaum or a Lakshmi Singh. Even (on our most ambitious days) a Cherry Glaser or a Sylvia Poggioli. So finally, after years of Fresh Air sign-off ambitions, we came up with a system for creating our own NPR Names. Here’s how it works: You take your middle initial and insert it somewhere into your first name. Then you add on the smallest foreign town you’ve ever visited.

So I guess that makes me Martt Matamoras, or Martt Montreal. I have not travelled much abroad. Since some people aren't aware that New Mexico is a US state, maybe one of their small towns would pass. Martt Hobbs, NPR news.

DVD Diplomacy

Nothing has made me laugh out loud lately as much as Obama's gaffe in giving dvd's to England's Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The kicker of course to the whole story is that the dvd's won't play in England because they are the wrong format for their players. HAR HAR!

The coinage of the phrase "DVD Diplomacy" is spot on. Well done to the first to say it and I will echo as often as possible. It will be difficult to outdo this bit of incompetent bungling, but I am sure Obama and his sidekick Biden have something up their sleeves.

Michelle Obama does her part (from the same link):

Not to be out done in tastelessness by her husband, Michelle got into the act, too. Mrs. Brown came bearing two outfits for the Obama girls from Topshop, one of Britain’s trendiest and expensive women’s wear retail outlets.

In return, Michelle apparently had a staffer run down to the White House gift shop and grab two toy Marine One helicopter models for the Brown’s boys.

Class all the way, huh?