Is Osama's latest video a surrender proposal?

A threat to President Bush? An endorsement of Senator Kerry?

I don't know, but watching it I kept wondering whether Ron Howard's half-naked little brother would invite us back to drink some Tranya:

Update: Looks like Rusty had a similar idea.

Posted by: JohnL at 01:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 54 words, total size 1 kb.

I got back safely last night, but lacked the time and energy to post my usual humble brilliance.

I had given Rob the Llamabutcher the key to the place for about a day, but unfortunately Munuviana crashed during his window of opportunity to leave Llama droppings here. Look back later today for the new SF Babe poll, along with the final results of the Leia/Padme contest.

Posted by: JohnL at 09:23 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 72 words, total size 1 kb.

I find myself out of town in Chicago for the next few days for a continuing legal education conference. Unfortunately, I only have dialup access and find it frustrating to surf or blog, so expect limited-to-no posting until Wednesday evening.

I'll have a belated aircraft cheesecake posting ready by then. I got some ideas at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry yesterday.

As additional away-from-home sightseeing, I caught Team America: World Police at the theater last night. This is a must-see, especially for the supposedly "open-minded" leftists who like cutting-edge humor. It is the antidote to Fahrenheit 911: rather than taking down Fahrenheit 911's lies point-by-point, it undermines the whole self-loathing, defeatist premise of that movie and the laughable self-importance of the media elite. America! F*** Yeah!

Update: Instapundit is traveling, too. I wish I could call on some quality writing talent (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) to fill in the blanks here while I'm gone.

Posted by: JohnL at 08:54 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 163 words, total size 1 kb.

Donzilla is traveling in Africa.

The world being what it is, I'm more likely to pay to go to space than to Africa during my lifetime. Thank goodness someone else can travel there and allow me to travel vicariously with them.

Don has some nice pics up. Check it out.

Posted by: JohnL at 11:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 54 words, total size 1 kb.

Tovarisch Kommissar holds show trial number 13.

Links post exploiting TexasBestGrok content, but refuses to recognize TexasBestGrok.

Makes Kommissar running-dog exploiter, nyet? All talkski no walkski.

Posted by: JohnL at 08:45 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 34 words, total size 1 kb.

In all seriousness, the Flying Space Monkey (whose blog layout gripes I illustrated below) mentions several things that frustrate me as well.

I suppose the one gripe of his that I routinely violate is in making this site more graphics-intensive than it used to be. I do try to reduce the size and quality of photos I post here to minimize Pixy's bandwidth charges and my readers' load times. Otherwise I try to avoid the many other design flaws pointed out by the Soaring Celestial Simian.

One additional hint: if you have a third-party script in your template (such as a stat meter or the TTLB Ecosystem script) put it toward the end of your HTML so that it does not prevent your content from loading if there is an error with the script. I had a lot of trouble reading several of my favorite sites last week when the Ecosystem was experiencing some growing pains.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:00 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 162 words, total size 1 kb.

Arrgghhhh! Stupid dog! No treats for you tonight! The Flying Space Monkey was saying those are the things you're NOT supposed to do!

Posted by: JohnL at 09:09 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 142 words, total size 2 kb.

The 66th Bonfire of the Vanities is up at the Llamabutchers and yours truly is prominently featured.

Posted by: JohnL at 11:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 29 words, total size 1 kb.

My blogchild Owlish has been hitting his stride recently, with a wide range of posts covering the MSM's selective publication habits, tatoos, Klingons for Kerry, and gay life in Texas.

Check his blog out, and leave a comment to let him know he's doing a good job.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:48 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 51 words, total size 1 kb.

The bloggers' micro-charity network Strengthen the Good has identified its third candidate for your consideration: Debi Faris And The Garden Of Angels.

Debi's charity, the Garden of Angels, works to provide names and legal, honorable burials for abandoned newborns. This charity also supports "Baby Moses" laws that allow mothers who don't want their children to leave them at a safe place (such as a fire station or hospital emergency room) without criminal liability for placement in foster or adoptive homes, as an alternative to abandonment or infanticide.

Please read the overview at Strengthen the Good, click through to Garden of Angels, and consider whether this charity is worth some small donation. Thanks.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:38 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 120 words, total size 1 kb.

Looks like I've evolved from an "Adorable Rodent" into a "Marauding Marsupial" in the Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem at some point over the last few days. I've seen a huge surge of searches for "Rutan+SpaceShipTwo" leading to my site since late September. Over the last week I've been averaging well over 100 hits a day (236 so far today!)

We'll see if this is just a temporary spike or a new plateau. In any case, I'll enjoy this higher state of being as a belated blogday present.

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this. I enjoy writing it, so I'm glad some of y'all enjoy reading it!

Posted by: JohnL at 10:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 112 words, total size 1 kb.

Just in case I neglect to blog tonight, today is the one-year anniversary of my foray into blogging.

A big thank you to my readers. I know I have a few regulars, and I appreciate the fact that you take the time to read my random thoughts.

Much appreciation especially to Pixy Misa for providing the server space, domain, and Movable Type installation, and to Ted "Rocket Jones" for inviting me to join the Munuvians (yay!) after I had spent six months at Blogspot.

Thanks!

Posted by: JohnL at 08:59 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 87 words, total size 1 kb.