Sorry, your browser doesn't support Java(tm).

November 12th, 2003
Jinx

November 20th, 2003
Kid Rock

November 27th, 2003
Biwwy

December 4th, 2003
Da Crusher

December 30th, 2003
Amsterdam and the Dentist

January 2nd, 2004
Champagne and Reefer

January 24th, 2004
Swamp Buggy

February 6th, 2004
30 Days in the Hole

February 10th, 2004
Swamp Buggy - Pg. II

February 16th, 2004
Swamp Buggy - Pg. III

February 20th, 2004
Swamp Buggy - Pg. IV

June 1st, 2004
London Calling

June 16th, 2004
Eddie

I was thinking about this book I used to love when I was a kid, titled Flash, Crash, Rumble and Roll. My recollection of it as an adult is dominated by the imagery of these incredibly ominous clouds, and  the illustrator's ability to capture the ferocity of a good storm.

I've got this mild fascination with extreme weather that, until recently, I didn't understand was probably hatched right here in this 1964 Read -and-Find-Out-Science-Book.

The clouds are piled high and are colored all the different dark shades that tell you something isn't right, and the the bolts of lightning are thick chunks of sharp, clapping, angular sizzle. What's most appealing, though, I think, is the stark outlines of all of the people and statues, and even the rain drops, which have comet like tails that make you feel the sting of looking upward when you should be running.

It was it was a beautiful spectacle for the mind of a five year old to try to comprehend.

So I figure I'll go to Amazon and pick it up for my son, so that one day when we're swinging on the front porch, and he's about 40 with three kids of his own he'll be saying "you know, that Flash, Crash, Rumble and Roll book was always my favorite, and I really think it had a large influence on my sense of the mysterious, and I'd like to thank you for helping me discover that."  Or something along those lines.

I get on Amazon to check it out, and get this.

Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 4This useful book, first published with humdrum illustrations by Ed Emberley (Crowell, 1964; o.p.), underwent a major metamorphosis in 1985, with a rearranged and revised text accompanied by colorful, inviting illustrations by Barbara and Ed Emberley. Now, in a general revamping of the entire series, this simple treatise on thunder and lightning has been transformed. The text contains minor revisions, and Kelleys watercolor illustrations are bright and appealing. Diagrams are clearer and labeling promotes easier interpretation. Also included, for active home investigators (or enthusiastic classroom teachers), is a page containing two simple weather experiments and a list of three Internet weather sites. Nicely done. Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Humdrum illustrations? Humdrum mother fucking illustrations? Is this possible that some fucking moron could actually publish some shit like that?

I mean, that's got to be some publisher's party line, right? And Ed Emberley...He must have needed the work and just decided not to buck the system, I hope.  These are the only plausible explanations. Don't bother with the 1985 bullshit.

Acronyms  and wordplay I like to use at work

RAFW: Right a Fucking  Way

ASAMFnP: As Soon as Mother-Fucking Possible

HOMFnT: Hotter than a Mother-Fucker

See You Next Tuesday: C-U-N-T

Newly Discovered 19th Century Impressionist Makes Impression on Lou.

Lou Vista, sighted with his wife Ann Oxford, at the National Gallery in London, was overheard gushing about a particular painting by an artist as yet undiscovered by the couple, Camille Pissaro. In February 1897, Pissaro took a room in Paris at the Hôtel de Russie on the corner of the Boulevard des Italiens and the Rue Drouot, and produced a series of paintings of the Boulevard Montmartre at different times of the day.

Lou commented, "My favorite is the only night scene from this series. It's a masterful rendition of the play of lights on dark and wet streets. It's amazing to me that Pissarro neither signed nor exhibited it during his lifetime."

Bob Dylan Lyric of the day:
You always said
People don't do what they believe in,
they just do what's most convenient
and then they repent.

And I always said
Hang on to me baby,
and let's hope the roof stays on.

Owwwwwwwwwwwwww....