Way to cash in on a trend...

Monty Python's film The Life of Brian is to return to US cinemas next month following the success of The Passion of the Christ.

I have found my buddy Nick's final ride. The Daddy flowers on top are a nice touch, don't you think?

Remember Marla? I keep seeing her. This time on the Unisys Web site.

He smiles a lot and looks great with an ak-47

Usually this Governor of California press list I subscribe to is a waste of time, but every now and then it gives me some real insight into the Governor's political philosophy. The take-away from this one: the people are idiots, and the press needs to be reminded of this.

"Governor's Press Office"
03/15/2004 04:41 PM
To
Julie Dobie
cc

Subject
In Case You Missed This: Neil Cavuto's 3/11 Common Sense





Below is an on-air commentary by FOX News' Neil Cavuto from his 3/11/04 broadcast:
I have my own nutty idea why California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is doing so well: He's absolutely convinced he cannot do otherwise.
Some things I've noticed:
He smiles a lot.
He laughs a lot.
He jokes a lot.
He backslaps a lot.
He hands out cigars a lot.
He's more prone to be gung-ho than say oh-no.
And it's clearly contagious: People like to be around him and be moved by him.
How else do you explain his turning around referendum votes doomed to defeat until he got involved?
Some say it's his celebrity. I think it's his attitude. He does not believe in the word "can't."
I've seen this before. Optimists get things done, because they cannot fathom not getting things done.
They see a wall. They walk through it.
They hear a lot of naysayers. They say, enough of it.
While others see the world and get overwhelmed by it, optimists see the same world and relish it, embrace it, challenge it, love it and yes, laugh at it and themselves.
The best CEOs I've ever known, the best leaders I've ever interviewed and the most memorable characters I've ever talked to had this one common
quality: They were fun. And more often, they were funny. And they were crazy.
After all, you have to be crazy to come into a state like California and say, "our best days are ahead of us." Or tell a cynical nation two decades ago, as Ronald Reagan did, that it was "morning in America."
The best among us see only the good in us. They make us feel good. Because all too many are too busy making us feel bad.
This is about more than seeing the glass half-full. It's about not even acknowledging it's part empty at all.

I guess they've finally recognized my secret area of expertise: Science and Technology in the South Atlantic Vortex. Check out this email I received today.

Dear Dr McMillan,

My name is Gian Luca Gardini, I am Section Editor of the Cambridge Review
of International Affairs, an academic journal based at the Centre of
International studies, University of Cambridge, and published three times a
year.

We have recently received a paper entitled: “Science and Technology in the
South Atlantic Vortex: New Roles for Emerging Powers” for consideration in
one of our next issues. I was wondering whether you would consider
reviewing the paper for us.

Should you agree to review the paper, I would be very pleased to send you
the paper and the guidelines for reviewers. Reviewers are generally listed
in the last issue of the volume for which the paper reviewed is considered
and receive a copy of the issue. We usually ask reviewers to send us
comments within 3-4 weeks.

I thank you in advance for your attention and time, and I look forward to
hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Gian Luca Gardini
Centre of International Studies
University of Cambridge

Now who was it exactly that came up with the slogan, "Pork, the other white meat?"

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Officials are investigating whether meat processed at a farm owned by a suspected serial killer might have been contaminated by human remains, authorities said Wednesday.

Anna just showed me this book review of Rising Up, Rising Downfrom the New York Times. Do you think this dude actually read the whole book? No way. Well, at least I have something to replace Infinite Jest, when I finally finish it.

Each manner gets its turn in ''Rising Up and Rising Down,'' which its publisher is calling a ''treatise on violence.'' That label has the advantage of identifying Vollmann's subject without committing itself to any particular definition of his approach. It is not a work of history or of journalism. His method owes little to sociology or philosophy -- or, indeed, to any discipline but that of obsession.