Well, I was gonna post this on his actual birthday (August 16th), but I decided to turn it into a question. So today I am celebrating Charles Bukoski’s birthday. Not celebrating the way I should, of course. If I were, I would already be drunk. But I’ll probably read a couple of his poems and drink a Miller High Life or something. The first time I ever heard his poetry was on a camping trip and I was transfixed. The guy who was reading his poems was one of those friends you see every 3 or 4 years and thoroughly enjoy the time you spend hanging out with them and you both say you should do it more often and then you never do. Bukoski’s not for everyone. I have a number of friends who actively hate him, and many critics say he’s untalented and that he’s well known in America simply because we love turning our drunks into heroes. There’s no accounting for taste, I suppose, but I like his stuff. Here’s a really good intro to him in a Rolling Stone article from 1976. And below I have enclosed a couple of poems, though I think you’ve gotta read several and kind of fall into a groove with him.

Continue reading “Happy Birthday Bukowski” →

The idea is that the state doesn’t have rights to limit individuals’ wants and passions. I disagree with that. I think we absolutely have rights because there are consequences to letting people live out whatever wants or passions they desire.
Oh, Ricky. Have you been reading Mao’s Red Book Again?

I have no problem with homosexuality. I have a problem with homosexual acts.
I have no problem with Rick Santorum. I have a problem with the words that come out of his mouth.

“What the Democrats are doing is the equivalent of Adolf Hitler in 1942 saying, ‘I’m in Paris. How dare you invade me. How dare you bomb my city? It’s mine.’ This is no more the rule of the senate than it was the rule of the senate before not to filibuster.”
Yeah, the Democrats are a lot like the Nazis, now that you think about it. Well, except for that whole “destroying Europe and exterminating millions of people because of their religion” thing.

Talikng about priests molesting children.
?Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture. When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm.?
In fact, I heard that liberals implanted a chip in the priests’ heads that turned them evil!

Isn’t that the ultimate homeland security, standing up and defending marriage?
Hmmmm, who do I see as more of a threat to national security, terrorists or homosexuals…wow, that’s a real toss up. But, you know, Rick’s right. Carson, Kyan, and Jai are a bigger threat to America than Osama bin laden.

“Another corporate good citizen cooperating with parents to keep kids from inappropriate content has been Wal-Mart.”
Thank you Wal-Mart! You may oppose unions, try to get the minimum wage lowered for your store, destroy mom and pop operations, contribute to our trade deficit with China, and sell deadly weapons, but at least I can’t get my hands on the new 50 Cent cd!

“The elementary error of relativism becomes clear when we look at multiculturalism. Sometime in the 1980s, universities began to champion the importance of ‘diversity’ as a central educational value.”
Thank God for Bob Jones University!

This morning in a CNN.com story:

Some 200 people took part in a peace vigil in Cincinnati’s Fountain Square. Many carried candles but were told not to light them because of potential harm to the downtown landmark.

Don’t light your candles because you might set a fountain on fire? But aren’t fountains filled…with…water???

Wanna remind you once again that there will be no quizzo at the Black Sheep tonight. We return there in full force next week.

Got this email from fellow quizmaster John this morning:

So what do you do when an actual fight breaks out at Quizo? I don’t
think there’s a three-ring binder for that one.

This actually happened at Downey’s tonight. Some a****** who wasn’t
playing was shouting out answers, I asked him to stop like five times,
the bartender asked him to stop, and finally in the middle of Round 2
one of the other players just walked over and took a swing at the guy.
Clocked him right in the side of the head. Bouncers were called, et
al. Stopped the game for a good twenty minutes.

That’s priceless. If the guy who got punched decides to sue, I honestly think that we should raise funds for the attackers defense team.

What kind of animal killed an Australian baby named Azaria Chamberlain on August 17th, 1980? Also, check back here at 3 o’clock today, as a big announcement is forthcoming.

It was on this day in 1962 that Pete Best was dumped as drummer for the Beatles, so I’ve been tooling around, trying to find some kool Pete Best sites and interviews. Here’s an interview he did in 1965. Here’s a pretty good story followed by a Q&A from 1995. Here’s a guy writing that Best deserved to get sacked for Ringo. What is Pete up to today? Rockin’ and rollin’.