Legal humor here. “It’s the old ‘some pigs are more equal than others’ thing come back to bite us in the ass.” “He says he’s always depended on the kindness of strangers, but I’d say that ‘gullibility’ is more à propos.” “Don’t sweat it. We’ll get fat. He’ll get slaughtered. I’ve seen it a thousand…
Author: Alan Vanneman
Jan, Jan, & Maarten—“Misterioso”
From the “Bariton Festival” in Durgerdam, Holland, 7 Oktober 2012, featuring Jan Menu, baritonsaxofoon, Jan Voogd, contrabas, and Maarten van der Grinten, gitaar. The boys are a little slow off the mark, but eventually they make it work. Posted by jijimoso
Chuck Hagel—“Pour encourager les autres”*
One of the comparatively few attractive things about President Obama is his dislike of the “ritual dismissal”—the Washington practice of figuratively beheading a pre-eminent DC playa, not really because his departure will make a difference as much as the sheer pleasure involved in seeing an important somebody get his butt publicly kicked. Well, a foolish…
A tear, and a poem, for Marion Barry
I will shed a tear for Marian Barry, for, as a fellow human being, he deserves one on his death. But let it be remembered that Barry was a terrible mayor of Washington, DC, whose incompetence and greed made life for Washington’s poor far worse than it had been. Barry turned DC’s government into a…
Pseudo New Yorker
Legal humor here. “This way, we have the best of both worlds. I have what I want, and, well, frankly, that’s as far as I’ve gotten. But you know what? It feels good!” “‘I can’t turn my back on you for a minute, can I?’ You know something, hunbun? You didn’t know the half of…
Henry Kissinger’s World Order—the silk stocking full of shit at 90
Henry’s actually 91 rather than 90, but I doubt if he’ll miss the extra birthday. And, in any event, I always choose euphony over accuracy when given the choice. Since we’re talking accuracy, Napoleon was in fact talking about, and to, Talleyrand when he delivered the memorable insult given above, while Henry’s fave rave was…
“Science” Marches “On”
A couple of weeks ago, the Washington Post served up, um, a “Whopper” of an article titled “How a national food policy could save millions of American lives,” an article so big that it required four authors, to wit: Mark Bittman, an opinion columnist and food writer for the New York Times; Michael Pollan, who…
Pseudo New Yorker
Legal humor here. “He said ‘Tell them that the last time you saw me, I was singing ‘Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds’.’ He appeared to find that quite amusing.” “I’m sorry, but every time you call, he just says ‘SHAZAM’ and takes off.” “You were right, Madge. They did give him a key to…
MONK’estra plays Monk
“Little Rootie Tootie,” to be precise SAX: Bob Sheppard, Jeff Driskill, Justo Almario, Tom Luer, Tommy Peterson TRUMPET: Bijon Watson, Willie Murillo, Ray Monterio, Brian Swartz, Gabe Johnson TROMBONE: Francisco Torres, Wendell Kelly, Steve Hughes, Ryan Dragon BASS: Rickey Minor DRUMS: Gary Novak KEYBOARDS/MELODICA: John Beasley Additional musicians: Dwight Trible, Nayanna Holley, Andy Martin, Tony…
“Hey! Hey! Read all about it! An Oklahoma Oilman’s Billion-Dollar Divorce! Harold Hamm to Pay One of the Biggest Divorce Settlements in History! Read all about it!”
Harold Hamm started up way the hard way—thirteenth child of a family of sharecroppers. Now he’s sitting on the oil rights to about a million acres of what geologists call the Bakken Formation, worth about $18 billion. Some folks might think that $18 billion should buy a man a little respect. But for the New…