The Impossible Dream

In 1972 they made a movie ...

The things you hear at a Renaissance Festival

Oh, the things you hear at a Renaissance Festival:

... and then it got weird.

Some days it just isn't worth chewing though the leather restraints.

You might as well stop talking to them, they're not listening anyway.
(a lass telling a lad to look up)

My girlfriend likes them, too!
(same as above)

Knives and leather or whips and chains?

With all these Kilts around I am praying for a hurricane.

You are a pustule on a canker on a diseased cow's arse.

Drink and eat Mary!

Do you mind if my parrot watches?

Loose women tightened here.

I tried to contain myself. But I escaped.

Blow job red here I come.
(a girl putting on red lipstick)

I roll that way.

I think this whole town is high.

*****
FYI: Today was opening day for the 2008 Renaissance Faire around here: and the above was heard within the first hour ... and then it got weird.

Springsteen rocks Obama rally in Philly

Bruce Springsteen called the Bush presidency "a disaster" and said many Americans have "justifiably lost faith" in the American dream.

The legendary rocker interrupted a seven-song acoustic set at a voter-registration rally in Philadelphia on Saturday to praise Democrat Barack Obama and bemoan the crises facing the next president. Springsteen said that America remains a house of dreams for some, but that too many people have given up on the promise of fairness and equality.

"I've spent 35 years writing about America and its people and the meaning of the American promise - a promise handed down right here in this city," said the New Jersey rocker, whose songs often depict down-on-their-luck, working-class dreamers. "Our everyday citizens ... have justifiably lost faith in its meaning."

The rally, planned by the Obama campaign a week ago, drew tens of thousands of people to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Springsteen approached the campaign and asked to help out, an Obama aide said. The Philadelphia event came just days before Monday's voter registration deadline in Pennsylvania.

"The Boss" also plans to perform at Obama gatherings in Ohio on Sunday and Michigan on Monday. On Oct. 16, he will join Billy Joel at an Obama fundraiser in New York City.

Springsteen cited the Iraq war, the recent economic turmoil and Hurricane Katrina as examples of the Bush administration's failures. He bookended the set with his rock classic "Promised Land" and Woody Guthrie's folk anthem, "This Land is My Land."

The Obama camp says its registration efforts have helped give Democrats a 1.2 million-voter advantage over Republicans in Pennsylvania, up from a 580,000-voter lead in 2004. The most recent Quinnipiac University poll, conducted late last month, showed Obama with a 54 percent to 39 percent lead over Republican John McCain among likely state voters.

And I Quote

I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers.

~ Gandhi

Old is new

Sewing used to be a necessity. These days, it's mostly a hobby – one that looks more attractive as people stay home because of the economy and try to save money.

That's good for Charlotte Sewing Center, a 22-year-old South Boulevard store that sells sewing machines and supplies. Sales were up 17 percent in 2007 and are up 15 percent so far this year, owner Bill Troxell says.

“Not everyone's going to sit around and watch TV all day,” he said. “Now that they're at home, they want to do things.”

Some sew their way to savings on pricey home décor items such as window treatments. Unlike sewing your own clothes, which often doesn't save money because many stores sell inexpensive apparel, it's much cheaper to make drapes than have someone else do it, Troxell noted.

Sewing machine sales began going up about six years ago after a flat decade, said Troxell, the son of a Singer Co. store manager. Now, he said, technology also is driving purchases, with more machines offering computerized features.

The store draws customers from about a 75-mile radius, though Troxell says more people now call before making the trip because of high gas prices.

Once they arrive, they find more space: The store doubled in size this year to 2,000 square feet.

And the sewing courses are full – to the point that the center is adding a third teacher in 2009

Obama crashes Democrats' party

Our next president surprises crowds at the annual dinner in Asheville.

Barack Obama surprised more than 700 N.C. Democrats on Saturday night with an unscheduled appearance at the party's annual Vance-Aycock dinner.

“I hope you don't mind me crashing the party,” the Democratic presidential candidate told an enthusiastic crowd in a ballroom at the Grove Park Inn. He was greeted with a prolonged ovation and shouts of “Yes, we can!” Some people stood on chairs for a better view.

Obama arrived in Asheville for a rally this afternoon and two days of quiet preparation for Tuesday's debate against Republican John McCain. It's Obama's third visit to the state in two weeks.

He alluded to his success in the state's May primary, when he soundly defeated Hillary Clinton.

“People said, ‘What's he doing spending so much time in North Carolina?'” Obama said. “It turns out, the people of North Carolina decided they were going to lift up the Obama campaign.… Maybe we should just keep on coming to North Carolina.”

In remarks that lasted about 10 minutes, he gave a truncated version of the stump speech he delivered recently in Charlotte and Greensboro. He criticized the “failed policies” of the Bush administration, including a foreign policy he described as “talking tough but acting dumb.”

He promised to pull Americans together.

Joining Obama on the dais were Gov. Mike Easley and candidates for U.S. Senate, governor and other offices.

Introducing Obama, Easley took a veiled shot at McCain.

“It's one thing to be a maverick,” Easley said. “It's another to be a stubborn old mule.”

Obama is expected to stay in Asheville until Tuesday. Other than today's rally, he has no scheduled public events.

Six villagers are killed in clash at Mexico ruins

Police clashed with hundreds of villagers who seized the entrance to a Mayan archaeological site and six protesters were killed, state officials said Saturday.

Hundreds of villagers had occupied the entrance to the Chinkultic ruins for nearly a month, saying they were protesting excessive entrance fees and a lack of investment in the area.

The protesters fought police with sticks, rocks and machetes, according to the state Justice Department. Protesters managed to wrest guns away from some officers and poured gasoline on others, threatening to set them on fire, the department said.

Six protesters were killed in Friday's raid, and two dozen other people were injured, including 16 police, the department said.

Irma Trinidad, an indigenous leader who participated in the clash, said six of her comrades were shot to death by police. She said 10 other protesters had bullet wounds and 28 were arrested.

Chiapas state Justice Secretary Amador Rodriguez Lozano ordered 300 state police who participated in the raid to be detained for questioning. No charges have been filed.

Chinkultic is a Mayan archaeological site about 1,200 years old, located near the Montebello lakes near the Guatemalan border.

The villagers, most of them from the Mayan Tzeltal and Tzotzil cultures, drove administrative workers off the site on Sept. 7 with sticks, but allowed the archaeologists to keep working.

The protesters charged visitors 20 pesos (US$1.80) for entrance rather than the official 35 pesos (US$3) and said they would use the money to fix roads and make other infrastructure improvements.

Tourists continued to visit the site during the takeover. At a booth outside the entrance, officials from the National Institute of Anthropology and History warned tourists about the protests but said the site was still open to visitors.

Carolina Naturally is read in ...

Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Rheinland-Pfalz (Germany)
Berlin, Berlin (Germany)
Frederiksberg, Frederiksberg (Denmark)
Hengelo, Overrussel (Netherlands)
Lulea, Kronobergslan (Sweden)
Tornio, Lapland (Finland)
Oulu, Oulu (Finland)
Johannesburg, Gauteng (South Africa)
Rome, Lazio (Italy)
Caracas, Distrito Federal (Venezuela)
Zaragoza, Aragon (Spain)
Istanbul, Istanbul (Turkey)
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan (Malaysia)
Perth, Western Australia (Australia)
Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
Wasaga Beach, Ontario (Canada)
Calgary, Alberta (Canada)
Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada)

Five tricky questions

1. A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven't eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him?



2. A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him under water for over 5 minutes. Finally, she hangs him. But 5 minutes later they both go out together and enjoy a wonderful dinner together. How can this be?



3. What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away ?



4. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Wednesday, Friday, or Sunday?



5. This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious as to just how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it. It looks so ordinary and plain that you would think nothing was wrong with it. In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is highly unusual though. Study it and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out. Try to do so without any coaching!

THE ANSWERS TO ALL FIVE RIDDLES ARE BELOW:

1. The third room. Lions that haven't eaten in three years are dead. That one was easy, right?

2. The woman was a photographer. She shot a picture of her husband, developed it, and hung it up to dry (shot; held under water; and hung).

3. Charcoal, as it is used in barbecuing.

4. Sure you can name three consecutive days, yesterday, today, and tomorrow!

5. The letter e, which is the most common letter used in the English language, does not appear even once in the paragraph.

Words to live by.

Never squat with spurs on.

neo-con Fashion Police

Sue Nace thought election volunteers were joking when they told her she would have to remove her T-shirt to vote in the presidential primary last spring.

But it was no laughing matter to the poll workers-turned-fashion police, who said Nace's Obama shirt was inappropriate electioneering — and made her cover the writing before casting a ballot.

Now, a political fight over what voters can wear to the polls is headed to court in Pennsylvania — with the Republican Party favoring a dress code and Democrats opposed.

Read the rest here.

Good grief! Gigantic gourd goes missing in Michigan

A massive pumpkin has gone missing from a front yard of a home in suburban Flint, Michigan - and its owner suspects some mighty strong thieves.

The Flint Journal reports Thursday the 450-pound pumpkin had been on display for only a day at the Grand Blanc Township home of Bill Teer. He spent five months growing the Atlantic Giant.

Teer is offering $200 for the pumpkin's return. He figures someone must have seen it - or at least the small team required to steal the colossal squash.

People in N.C. fault GOP for economic woes

With nearly half of North Carolinians blaming the Republican Party for the nation's economic conditions, the levels of support for the Republican and Democratic parties in the presidential election have drawn even in the state, according to the latest Elon University Poll.

According to the Elon University Institute for Politics and Public Affairs, whose latest poll results were released Friday, 48 percent of North Carolinians think Republicans are more responsible for the state of the economy, while 24 percent believe Democrats are. (Thirteen percent said neither party was more responsible than the other.)

The poll, conducted Monday through Thursday, also showed 44 percent of North Carolinians think Democrat Barack Obama would do a better job of managing the economy as president, while 42 percent believe Republican John McCain would.

“North Carolina, following the national trend, is leaning Democrat for President. Should this pattern prevail, the result would be a startling change in state presidential politics for more than one reason,” the poll's director, Hunter Bacot, said in a news release. “Not only have the Democrats failed to win North Carolina in over 30 years, such a victory would mark a major milestone for the black community here and throughout the South.

The Bradley Effect

RS Janes wrote this piece over at BartBlog on October 4, 2008. He makes an interesting point.

By RS Janes

"You remember the so-called Bradley Effect? That was named after former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley when he ran for Governor of California in 1982. Although ahead in late polling, Bradley, who happens to be black, lost to the white guy, Republican George Deukmejian. Pollsters believed that many white people they polled claimed they’d vote for Bradley, so as not to be perceived as racists, and then privately voted for Deukmejian.

This year, I think I’ve discovered a ‘Reverse Bradley Effect’; a few weeks ago, I was talking to a 30-something woman who has family and friends of all colors working in Big Box stores such as Walmart. She said these folks were being subtly intimidated into saying they’ll vote for McCain, and she mentioned an incident where one of the Blue Vest Brigade made the mistake of putting an Obama-Biden sticker on her car bumper. Suddenly she was handed the worst duties, treated dismissively by the manager, threatened with a write-up for nothing, and the Obama sticker was rendered illegible by indelible marker while her car was parked in the store lot. Then an absurdly fallacious gossip campaign started that claimed she was a drunken atheist who beat her kids. Employees got the message: Come out for Obama and the Top Management, all in the tank for the Republicans, will make your life miserable, but in devious ways that can’t be traced to your political leanings.

These days, her relatives and buddies tell anyone who asks they’re voting for McCain but, when they enter the voting booth, they plan to check the box for Obama. I wonder how many similar events are going on out in the Vast Wasteland of Generica and what effect this might be having on the polls?

With Indiana teetering Blue for the first time since 1964, and McCain’s campaign giving up on Michigan’s 17 electoral votes and running on empty in Ohio – recent reports of early voting in Columbus show that the Obama team got their people out to vote while the disorganized McCainiacs were snoozing – it appears Obama is poised to make a clean sweep of the Bush-battered Rust Belt states from Minnesota to Pennsylvania, including Iowa and Missouri, a net gain of 128 electoral votes. If that happens, it’s landslide city – Obama will win by over 300 electoral votes."

OOPS!

Just in case you didn't know ...

That $60,000 in per diem that Palin got for sleeping in her own home - well it seems she 'forgot' to pay her taxes on it.

Read all about it.