Many thanks to Dan from Madison for his kind hospitality in inviting me to go fishing with him last week. I can tell you now that Dan is a very nice guy*, not to mention that he was willing to commit himself to spending six hours on a boat with a complete stranger**. He is also a great sportsman, as befits one of Madison’s foremost bloggers and Chicago Bears season-ticket holders.
Diversions
Photos and Funnies
-Our friend Con Chapman has activated the Gerbil News Network (example: Literal-Minded Parents Push for Irony-Free School Zones).
-Got in Himmel! It’s Herr Prof. Dr. B. P. von Korncrake.
–Shorpy is an interesting photo blog that displays very old photos exclusively. (via Mike Hiteshew)
Failure, Part 1
Those picturesque New England stone walls were not put there for their looks. They weren’t even the first choice of material. Fences were originally wood, using the zigzag design that calls for a lot of wood for the length. Wood became scarce and too valuable for fencing after the forests were cleared, so stone walls became the default.
My Investment Advice
Buy goats.
My niece paid something like $2500 for her goat “Cash.” Last Friday she won the 2007 Grand Champion Junior Market Goat at the Houston Rodeo.
The goat went at auction for $108,000! That’s a Clintonesque rate of return!
In any case, I hope she will remember her loving and supportive uncle and forget last summer’s unfortunate attempt at barbecued goat.
“Then we shall fight in the shade.”
I watched the much anticipated 300 at a sold out local IMAX theater. While some critics are, to put it mildly, less than enthused about this latest Frank Miller film that portrays the Battle of Thermopylae, the positive reaction of the audience was unqualified. Of course, this may be an example of self-selection bias or it could also be that Miller has succeeded in tapping a touchstone narrative and executed it well enough that 300 attracts or repels on a visceral level.