Victor, GM and cheesemeister of the Rats of Chaos, opened a 55 gallon drum of industrial grade whoopass on the Rockets this week.* I make no excuses, but how often does Bret Favre get knocked out of a game (not very), and although my wide receivers are all great they're playing in share-the-wealth offenses. Jerry Porter is a wonderful player, but when seven or eight different Raiders get receptions in any given game, his stats are not going to be where I need them.

Great game Victor!

Victor's Hot Rats cheerleaders are cute, but if you prefer your pretty ladies a little taller, then check out Rocket Jones' very own Hot Jets!

Nic, of Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax!
LeeAnn, of The Cheese Stands Alone!
Dawn of Dawn Enterprises!
Stevie, of Caught In The XFire!
Margi, of Margi Lowry!
Lemur Girl, of... uh, Lemur Girl!
Lynn S., of Reflections in d minor!
Susie, of Practical Penumbra!
Blogoline, of Blogoline's Journal!
Gir, of Your Moosey Fate!
Tink, of Flitting Here and There!
Sarah, of Trying To Grok!
Kat, of Mostly Fluff!
Big Hair, of Left & Right!
Wegglywoo, of On the Beach at the End of the World!
Helen, of Everyday Stranger!
annika, of annika's journal!
Cindy, of Dusting My Brain!
Mookie, of MookieRiffic!
Denita, of Who Tends The Fires!
Jennifer, of Jennifer's History and Stuff!
Heather, of Angelweave!

Next up are the ominously named DFMoore...s. I wasn't sure about the significance of the name, so I asked Jennifer, who's into history and stuff. She was busy climbing through a haunted storage shed or something (it's almost Halloween dontchaknow), so I finally wound up googling it instead.

Piecing things together from multiple sources, it appears that DFMoore is an acronym or anagram (or both for you conspiracy fans!) for a secret society of fast-food restaraunt owners who read dictionary's for fun and secretly worship an old bucket of paint.

The only other hit was about some guy in Atlanta with a fetish for Chicago. But that's too pat, I'm a most-complex-explanation-possible kinda guy.

Almost lost my thread there... DFMoore - You're Toast!!!

* Actually, it was a close game.** I could have won it with the right personnel move, but I never seriously considered replacing Favre with Leftwich. Would you?

** Victor was top score for the week, I was second, and we both would've beat everybody else in the league. Victor played big when he needed it. ***

*** Oooo, cascading footnotes, shades of Tiger!

Posted by: Ted at 04:54 AM | category: Links
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Best known as the woman stabbed to death in Psycho's infamous shower scene, actress Janet Leigh has passed away at age 77.

Besides that signature role, she had a long and distinguished career, starring in movies with leading men such as Van Johnson, Van Heflin, Robert Mitchum, James Stewart, Martin and Lewis, John Wayne, Dick Van Dyke, Victor Mature, and Tony Curtis.

Thank you Ms. Leigh.

You can get the "Mad Mother Shower Curtain" here. I always wanted one of those.

Posted by: Ted at 12:00 PM | category: Cult Flicks
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1 I love her, Psycho was a great movie.

thank you for this post.

love you Ted

Posted by: vadergrrrl at October 05, 2004 12:15 AM (Gmc2U)

2 Hey, I've got that shower curtain! Received it as a gift some ten years ago from my friend Joe 'cause he knew I was a Hitchcock fan...

And, hearts out to scream-queen Jamie Lee Curtis for losing her Mom.

Posted by: Tuning Spork at October 05, 2004 12:34 AM (JcZiD)

3 i read somewhere that hitchcock got that scream by turning the water in the shower from pleasantly warm to unbearably cold in a split second and without warning her.

whenever my shower water goes cold, i always think of someone stabbing me with a foot-long knife.

...and now you're imagining me cold, wet and naked, and being stabbed with a knife. oops.

Posted by: wegglywoo at October 05, 2004 09:57 AM (IvPu4)

4 My imagination's not that good. I can probably manage the "wet and naked" part, can I forget the "cold" and "knife"?

Posted by: Ted at October 06, 2004 12:45 PM (blNMI)

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Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites has just won the XPrize!!!

Thanks to Pixy for the heads up, and Transterrestrial Musings for the live coverage.

Posted by: Ted at 11:49 AM | category: Space Program
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I don't pretend to be any great philosopher or deep thinker, but I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about pacifism (thanks Nic!), and I'm beginning to sort some things out in my mind. Bear with me a moment while I try to lay this out in some way that makes a little sense.

Some time ago, I remember hearing a comedian talk about Indians doing a Rain Dance. He was wondering if they had a practice first and if they did, and it didn't rain, then how did you know if you did it right?

Pacifism strikes me as offering that same dilemma. You resolve to be peaceful above all - the ideal - and yet when the other guy does violence against you, your only option is more peacefulness. In fact, maybe you weren't peaceful enough and if you'd only try harder then they would get the idea. Except the violence happens again and again, and each time you vow to do better.

The trap lies in believing that everyone is basically good inside. Love thy neighbor. So when he refuses to react accordingly to your peaceful nature (why doesn't he understand?), then you start to look for reasons. And since the problem couldn't be him (you must believe in him), then the problem is you or something else. Nobody likes to admit that they're wrong (but you resolve to try harder just in case), so the problem must be an outside influence. And since the violence is still directed at your side, then it's a simple leap to believing that the blame lies completely on your side.

In nature, a weakness is always exploited. The weakest members of a herd are culled out by predators. A flaw in defence is used by another as an opening to attack. It's instinctive, but refining the tactic is a learned behavior.

Being a pacifist makes you an easy target, but eventaully it is realized by "the bad guys" that you're useful in another way. You advocate for them, because you believe in them. They can't be evil, it must be us! PR is a learned behavior too.

Ghandi was able to use peace as a tool to achieve his goals. Martin Luther King Jr did the same. But in both cases, they were making their points against a culture and society that was already somewhat civilized. The British and American cultures already tended towards peaceful behavior. We've seen no such tendencies from the terrorists in today's world. You can't explain away shooting children in the back. How can you understand the ability to blow up innocent people during their prayers? There's not enough love in the world to change the mind of someone who believes that killing you is what his God wants him to do.

I really want to see peace in the world, and I hope that someday it'll happen (but I don't think it will for a long, long time, if ever). I hope that those who believe in pacifism keep their wits about them and don't fall into the traps inherent in their worldview. I hope for the best but prepare for the worst, because I've learned to be a realist in life. Sometimes, no matter how well you dance, it doesn't rain because it's just not ready to rain.

Posted by: Ted at 06:16 AM | category: Square Pegs
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1 Great essay, Ted.

Posted by: Susie at October 04, 2004 01:20 PM (Vzv6M)

2 Thanks for the link, Ted.

A few thoughts of mine (not necessarily representing any offical "pacifist" view)...

I don't believe that everyone is basically good inside, I believe that everyone has the capacity for good AND evil (not good OR evil, good AND evil.) That's why every time I have a non-peaceful, non-understanding impulse, from "That SOB in accounting screws up my timesheet every week, I wish they'd fire him" to the kneekjerk reaction to a terrorist act, I want to examine my reaction. Am I really going to improve things, or am I just looking for revenge?

Also, I think there's a big difference between being a pacifist and being weak, or worse, becoming a tool of the bad guys. One of the things I'm reading now is a Christian theologian, Walter Wink, who writes about how "turn the other cheek" has been completely misinterpreted. (The gist of it is here: http://www.witherspoonsociety.org/walter_wink.htm). Rather than explaining away violence, the challenge is to find ways to actively counter violence and oppression without resorting to the same methods. (And no, I don't have an answer for what those nonviolent ways might be in our current situation. I wish I did.)

Just like you hope pacifists avoid the trap of becoming tools of the "bad guys," I hope that people who feel that our only recourse right now is a violent one avoid the traps of vengence & bloodlust in the name of defense.

Posted by: nic at October 04, 2004 02:43 PM (JijW0)

3 Pacifism has always confused me.

What? You won't FIGHT, you won't DIE or you won't KILL for something in which you believe?

I can kinda understand the third, but the first two are just foreign concepts to me.


Reminds me of the one scene in "Field of Dreams,"

Terence Mann : I'm going to beat your head in with a crowbar until you leave.
Ray Kinsella : You can't do that.
Terence Mann : There are rules here? No, there are no rules here.
[advances with crowbar]
Ray Kinsella : You're a pacifist!
Terence Mann : [stops] Shit.

Posted by: Rob @ L&R at October 04, 2004 02:56 PM (w+KN+)

4 First off: Great post, Ted. An instant classic, imho.

But nic's comment has me going now!

Terrence Mann - in that scene - was unconvinced and so he gave into Ray's assertion that he was a pacifist.
But Mann gave in in the end. All he had to say (to himself) was "I wish I had your pasion, Ray", and there it was.

Mann: Moonlight Graham.
Kinsella: You saw it!
Mann: What did I see, Ray?
...blahbiddy blah...
Kinsella: Did you hear a voice?! It's okay to admit it; it's what told me to find you.../i>
Mann: [looking at nothing while shaking his head he comes back] "Go the distance?"

Obviously, Terrance Mann wasn't remembering anything, he was hearing it right then even though we weren't. That was the moment he climbed aboard. From then on it was, once again, activism - not pacifism - that drove him.

I just love Field of Dreams.

Posted by: Tuning Spork at October 05, 2004 12:59 AM (JcZiD)

5 It was a great movie...

My favorite:

Ray Kinsella : So what do you want?
Terence Mann : I want them to stop looking to me for answers, begging me to speak again, write again, be a leader. I want them to start thinking for themselves. I want my privacy.
Ray Kinsella : No, I mean, what do you WANT?
[Gestures to the concession stand they're in front of]
Terence Mann : Oh. Dog and a beer.

Posted by: Rob @ L&R at October 05, 2004 09:19 AM (w+KN+)

6 Nic, I knew that about you from our previous discussions. I think "pacifism" has been hijacked by self-hating apologists just as surely as Islam has been hijacked by radical terrorist factions.

Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr were true visionaries, and neither ever claimed that what was happening to their people was their own fault. Recognizing an injustice and still finding a way to non-violently counter it is walking a tightrope. Convincing others to follow your lead takes epic leadership.

Posted by: Ted at October 06, 2004 12:41 PM (blNMI)

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On Sunday mornings I like to make myself a nice breakfast. Here's one of my favorites.

Make oatmeal (use the real stuff, not that nasty instant). When it's done, stir in a dollop of vanilla extract, then a half-handfull of raisins and crushed walnuts. Once it's in the bowl, drizzle a little brown sugar or maple syrup over the top.

While the oatmeal is cooking, quarter and core a pear. Melt some butter in a small skillet, add the pears and saute for a few minutes. When done, sprinkle with cinnamon or ginger.

If you're watching your fat intake, use cooking spray instead of the butter to saute the pears.

Quick, easy and yummy.

Posted by: Ted at 09:33 AM | category: Recipes
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1 I don't know anyone even thought of inventing instant oatmeal. The good stuff only takes a few minutes to make. I've done it with raisons, brown sugar and nutmeg. I'll have to try the vanilla extract next time. Aw hell, I might just make a bowl later tonight!

Posted by: Tuning Spork at October 03, 2004 06:51 PM (MZM9X)

2 Sounds YUMMY! There's nothing better than real oatmeal. I love it with brown sugar and a little milk.

Posted by: Catt at October 04, 2004 12:15 AM (UUS/P)

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You may recall the ongoing hullabaloo about Snakehead fish in the mid-Atlantic states. It's mean, tough and voracious, with the ability to scour small ponds free of other life.

Sounds like a bad movie, right?

Thanks to the SciFi Channel, now it is. I just saw a preview where the Snakeheads not only survive, but "move up a few rungs on the food ladder". They're still mean, tough and voracious, but now they're also twenty feet long.

You know I'm gonna be watching.

Posted by: Ted at 09:39 PM | category: Cult Flicks
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Skippy's list of things not allowed to do by the Army has been posted and reposted all over the net (I linked to a version back in January). Now Skippy is back with an 'official' website, including some guest submitted list additions. Good fun and worth checking out.

Thanks to Wince and Casey for the pointers.

Posted by: Ted at 09:06 PM | category: Links
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1 Umm. You didn't put a link to Skippy.

Unless you want us to go throught the other guys. That works too.

:-)

Posted by: GEBIV at October 01, 2004 09:41 PM (BQDCT)

2 Doh! Fixed.

Posted by: Ted at October 01, 2004 09:48 PM (ZjSa7)

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Welcome to Uncle Sam's Fiscal Year 2005. Let's hope it's more sane than the one just ended.

Posted by: Ted at 06:05 AM | category: Square Pegs
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And most of them are wearing Cubs uniforms.

Muwhahahahahahahahaha

Posted by: Ted at 06:01 AM | category: Square Pegs
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1 Hey!

Posted by: Jennifer at October 01, 2004 11:20 AM (m08O2)

2 I was just about to say "Don't ya dare let Jennifer hear ya say that!".

I guess I wont bother...

Posted by: Tuning Spork at October 02, 2004 11:09 PM (TE2N9)

3 Ted; Back in Oct 2004 you made a post -- " Found Wood" where you mentioned " And they recently found a complete Jimi Hendrix video from Sweden ". I've not heard anything more about this .... Who found this video ? Will it be released ? As a fan, I 'd sure like to find out more about this. Thanks for any assistance. Regards, Gregory Gunther

Posted by: GGunther at May 28, 2005 09:26 PM (SXm1G)

4 Gregory, I tried to follow the original news article link and it's now expired, so I don't have any more information about it, and a quickie check on Google didn't help. Here's the original blip I posted: http://rocketjones.mu.nu/archives/046477.php Sorry I don't have more hard information. IIRC, the film was shot by a television station during a Hendrix concert in Stockholm. At some later time, some station employees were told to go ahead and destroy the tape during an effort to "clean house" . Instead, the unknown employees stashed the tapes in the back of the station's archive room, where they lay forgotten until last year. That's really all I have, and it's from memory. Maybe a more careful Google search will turn up more.

Posted by: Ted at May 29, 2005 12:49 AM (+OVgL)

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