Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Monday, August 30, 2004
THE BRAVERY OF BEING OUT OF RANGE
by Roger Waters
You have a natural tendency
To squeeze off a shot
You're good fun at parties
You wear the right masks
You're old but you still
Like a laugh in the locker room
You can't abide change
You're at home an the range
You opened your suitcase
Behind the old workings
To show off the magnum
You deafened the canyon
A comfort a friend
Only upstaged in the end
By the Uzi machine gun
Does the recoil remind you
Remind you of sex
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer who you gonna kill next
I looked over Jordan and what did I see
Saw a U.S. Marine in a pile of debris
I swam in your pools
And lay under your palm trees
I looked in the eyes of the Indian
Who lay on the Federal Building steps
And through the range finder over the hill
I saw the frontline boys popping their pills
Sick of the mess they find
On their desert stage
And the bravery of being out of range
Yeah the question is vexed
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer who you gonna kill next
Hey bartender over here
Two more shots
And two more beers
Sir turn up the TV sound
The war has started on the ground
Just love those laser guided bombs
They're really great
For righting wrongs
You hit the target
And win the game
From bars 3,000 miles away
3,000 miles away
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range
We zap and maim
With the bravery of being out of range
We strafe the train
With the bravery of being out of range
We gained terrain
With the bravery of being out of range
With the bravery of being out of range
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range
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by Roger Waters
You have a natural tendency
To squeeze off a shot
You're good fun at parties
You wear the right masks
You're old but you still
Like a laugh in the locker room
You can't abide change
You're at home an the range
You opened your suitcase
Behind the old workings
To show off the magnum
You deafened the canyon
A comfort a friend
Only upstaged in the end
By the Uzi machine gun
Does the recoil remind you
Remind you of sex
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer who you gonna kill next
I looked over Jordan and what did I see
Saw a U.S. Marine in a pile of debris
I swam in your pools
And lay under your palm trees
I looked in the eyes of the Indian
Who lay on the Federal Building steps
And through the range finder over the hill
I saw the frontline boys popping their pills
Sick of the mess they find
On their desert stage
And the bravery of being out of range
Yeah the question is vexed
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer who you gonna kill next
Hey bartender over here
Two more shots
And two more beers
Sir turn up the TV sound
The war has started on the ground
Just love those laser guided bombs
They're really great
For righting wrongs
You hit the target
And win the game
From bars 3,000 miles away
3,000 miles away
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range
We zap and maim
With the bravery of being out of range
We strafe the train
With the bravery of being out of range
We gained terrain
With the bravery of being out of range
With the bravery of being out of range
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range
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MONDAY MORNING MOOSE
So Moose is feeling a bit better on his current diet of potatoes, pepto and cottage cheese. He is eagerly awaiting his new back yard (which we will own tomorrow and move into next Wednesday after a week of home improvements...Mrs. X23 and I having no real experience in home improvements, but bravely laying down new laminate flooring nonetheless...four cats and a dog make carpet a bad idea)
Anyhow, Moose posed for this picture for y'all:
And then I had a little fun with it on the G5...man does it run Photoshop fast...
Blogging will be terribly light this week and into next...so much time, so little to do (strike that! reverse it).
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So Moose is feeling a bit better on his current diet of potatoes, pepto and cottage cheese. He is eagerly awaiting his new back yard (which we will own tomorrow and move into next Wednesday after a week of home improvements...Mrs. X23 and I having no real experience in home improvements, but bravely laying down new laminate flooring nonetheless...four cats and a dog make carpet a bad idea)
Anyhow, Moose posed for this picture for y'all:
And then I had a little fun with it on the G5...man does it run Photoshop fast...
Blogging will be terribly light this week and into next...so much time, so little to do (strike that! reverse it).
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Wednesday, August 25, 2004
GREATEST BAND EVER BACKS KERRY!
The Flaming Lips Contribute Track To MoveOn Compilation
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The Flaming Lips Contribute Track To MoveOn Compilation
MoveOn.org is co-sponsoring an album featuring powerful and political songs – most of them unreleased until now -- from some of the best artists around. It's called the "Future Soundtrack for America" and it features The Flaming Lips' "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (live on the BBC). " For a donation to MoveOn PAC of $25.00 or more, you'll get the album before it hits the record stores. These donations will make a real impact, allowing the PAC to run ads that counter the Bush campaign's negative attacks on Kerry and present a vision for how our country ought to be.
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Saturday, August 21, 2004
CLOSING SOON
So here is the house:
We should close within the next ten days and move in a week or so afterwards. Barring unexpected delays, of course...
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So here is the house:
We should close within the next ten days and move in a week or so afterwards. Barring unexpected delays, of course...
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Tuesday, August 17, 2004
OLYMPICS OBSERVATION
I just finished watching women's ping pong where the Chinese-American hopeful was just demolished by the 15 year old Japanese phenom. I was really upset in 2000 because I didn't get to watch any ping pong which is, in my mind, more exciting by far than, let's say, beach volleyball or soccer.
Speaking of soccer, many people in Athens must agree with me because there were more spectators watching ping pong than watching women's soccer (USA vs. Australia). As a matter of fact, there look to be about 50 people in the entire stadium. Is anyone actually attending the Olympics this year or is it, as in the original Athens games, an event only really attended by atheletes?
What I haven't seen a lot of are "Up Close and Personal" segments with the atheletes. I used to hate the 10 minute interludes with Jim McKay that we got to watch instead of ping pong. I'm really not missing having my heart warmed by adversity overcome through perserverence and prowess.
Finally, I watched about 4 minutes of an equestrian event yesterday that made me long for the action packed excitement of Curling. It seemed like the whole point of the event was making the horse canter around a smallish corral. Now if controlling a horse's gait in a controlled environment counts as sport, why isn't, well, anything at all an olympic sport. Dog frisbee tossing requires the same kind of skill set (animal empathy). I know I'm not the first to complain about it, but this is the first time I'm complaining about it. Making a horse walk or trot back and forth is as much a sport as parallel parking (which might make an interesting sport...oh! she got a point deduction for that extra adjustment but WAIT! a Disqualification for bumping another car...oh, the poor hopeful from Lower Bratslavia has been eliminated. Before we leave her, let's get up close and personal...)
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I just finished watching women's ping pong where the Chinese-American hopeful was just demolished by the 15 year old Japanese phenom. I was really upset in 2000 because I didn't get to watch any ping pong which is, in my mind, more exciting by far than, let's say, beach volleyball or soccer.
Speaking of soccer, many people in Athens must agree with me because there were more spectators watching ping pong than watching women's soccer (USA vs. Australia). As a matter of fact, there look to be about 50 people in the entire stadium. Is anyone actually attending the Olympics this year or is it, as in the original Athens games, an event only really attended by atheletes?
What I haven't seen a lot of are "Up Close and Personal" segments with the atheletes. I used to hate the 10 minute interludes with Jim McKay that we got to watch instead of ping pong. I'm really not missing having my heart warmed by adversity overcome through perserverence and prowess.
Finally, I watched about 4 minutes of an equestrian event yesterday that made me long for the action packed excitement of Curling. It seemed like the whole point of the event was making the horse canter around a smallish corral. Now if controlling a horse's gait in a controlled environment counts as sport, why isn't, well, anything at all an olympic sport. Dog frisbee tossing requires the same kind of skill set (animal empathy). I know I'm not the first to complain about it, but this is the first time I'm complaining about it. Making a horse walk or trot back and forth is as much a sport as parallel parking (which might make an interesting sport...oh! she got a point deduction for that extra adjustment but WAIT! a Disqualification for bumping another car...oh, the poor hopeful from Lower Bratslavia has been eliminated. Before we leave her, let's get up close and personal...)
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Friday, August 13, 2004
NAZIS
Remember when the conservatives got all uptight over comparisons of Bush to Hitler or even pointing out the Preston Bush/Nazi connections? They came out swinging saying how inappropriate something as small as a contest entry was. But recently, I've been noticing a similar tendency among republicans to compare Democrats to Nazis. Michael Moore is compared to Goebbels and Kerry's ads seemingly bring to mind Nazi propaganda films. Democrats who track race are like Himmler...it goes on and on.
Now, I'm just going to say this the once. No matter how bad the Bushies are, I just don't believe the have any plans which come close to the "final solution" of the Nazis. So, in my humble opinion, Nazi comparisons are a bit over the top. At the same time, for the fascists (a perfectly acceptable epithet) on the right to even suggest a similarity between the democrats and those evil German fucks absolutely astounds me. Not only is it schoolyard bullshit ("I'm not a Nazi, you're a Nazi so nyah!), it's disingenuous and smug. They know that mainstream liberals wont address their attacks or challenge them, so they just float their shit out there, ridiculous as it may be, because they know their bullhorns are louder than the liberal whispers in the dark. I would say it all reminds me of Brownshirt tactics, but I promised I wouldn't make those comparisons.
Instead, I've been thinking that Bushco and their chums are more, shall we say, Stalinesque
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Remember when the conservatives got all uptight over comparisons of Bush to Hitler or even pointing out the Preston Bush/Nazi connections? They came out swinging saying how inappropriate something as small as a contest entry was. But recently, I've been noticing a similar tendency among republicans to compare Democrats to Nazis. Michael Moore is compared to Goebbels and Kerry's ads seemingly bring to mind Nazi propaganda films. Democrats who track race are like Himmler...it goes on and on.
Now, I'm just going to say this the once. No matter how bad the Bushies are, I just don't believe the have any plans which come close to the "final solution" of the Nazis. So, in my humble opinion, Nazi comparisons are a bit over the top. At the same time, for the fascists (a perfectly acceptable epithet) on the right to even suggest a similarity between the democrats and those evil German fucks absolutely astounds me. Not only is it schoolyard bullshit ("I'm not a Nazi, you're a Nazi so nyah!), it's disingenuous and smug. They know that mainstream liberals wont address their attacks or challenge them, so they just float their shit out there, ridiculous as it may be, because they know their bullhorns are louder than the liberal whispers in the dark. I would say it all reminds me of Brownshirt tactics, but I promised I wouldn't make those comparisons.
Instead, I've been thinking that Bushco and their chums are more, shall we say, Stalinesque
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KEEP YOUR JESUS OFF MY PENIS
Via Wh*t the Fuck:
If this man is going to hell (as he says at the end of his video), at least he'll have the company of those he is talking to...
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Via Wh*t the Fuck:
If this man is going to hell (as he says at the end of his video), at least he'll have the company of those he is talking to...
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Tuesday, August 10, 2004
YOUR ANTI-TERRORISM DOLLARS AT WORK
While the Bush Administration is hard at work making sure that al queda is more careful with their e-mails, the FBI is busy busting neo-hippie musicians for attempting to transport microphones across state lines.
It seems that Brian Teasley, the drummer for the happiest band on Earth, the Polyphonic Spree, was travelling home after a bliss out on the Craig Kilborn show when a piece of his luggage went missing on him. Being a drummer type. he reported the bag missing and then made a run for the border...to Taco Bell, that is. Upon coming home with what was most likely a number of Taco Bell's products from their value menu, he was promptly arrested by the FBI. (not for the tacos).
You see, back in Dallas, some able minded airport security person discovered that the robe wearing skin banger from Birmingham had a strange device in his bag.
The device, a Placid Audio Copperphone:
which is a microphone, even though it may look otherwise, was mistaken for a bomb (the first thing I thought when I saw it was, "cool looking bomb"). The bomb squad was called where it was apparently not determined that this was not a bomb. They shut down five gates at the airport because it kind of looked like a pipe bomb to someone. Now, while I applaud the security folks for being cautious, I'm fairly sure they could have resolved the situation without the FBI being called in to investigate not only Teasley, but his band leader, Tim Delaughter, who writes such incindiary lyrics as "Hey! It's the sun. And it makes me shine." and "Follow the day and reach for the sun." (maybe all the sun references made the FBI think that there were veiled references to explosions...who knows?)
When Teasley was confronted by the swift thinking FBI agents, he used another strange device, a TiVo, to show himself and the rest of his happy cult on the Kilborn show using the microphone. The FBI quickly verified with the police in Dallas that it was, in fact, a microphone.
The Spree drummer was quite relieved. Said Teasley:
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While the Bush Administration is hard at work making sure that al queda is more careful with their e-mails, the FBI is busy busting neo-hippie musicians for attempting to transport microphones across state lines.
It seems that Brian Teasley, the drummer for the happiest band on Earth, the Polyphonic Spree, was travelling home after a bliss out on the Craig Kilborn show when a piece of his luggage went missing on him. Being a drummer type. he reported the bag missing and then made a run for the border...to Taco Bell, that is. Upon coming home with what was most likely a number of Taco Bell's products from their value menu, he was promptly arrested by the FBI. (not for the tacos).
You see, back in Dallas, some able minded airport security person discovered that the robe wearing skin banger from Birmingham had a strange device in his bag.
The device, a Placid Audio Copperphone:
which is a microphone, even though it may look otherwise, was mistaken for a bomb (the first thing I thought when I saw it was, "cool looking bomb"). The bomb squad was called where it was apparently not determined that this was not a bomb. They shut down five gates at the airport because it kind of looked like a pipe bomb to someone. Now, while I applaud the security folks for being cautious, I'm fairly sure they could have resolved the situation without the FBI being called in to investigate not only Teasley, but his band leader, Tim Delaughter, who writes such incindiary lyrics as "Hey! It's the sun. And it makes me shine." and "Follow the day and reach for the sun." (maybe all the sun references made the FBI think that there were veiled references to explosions...who knows?)
When Teasley was confronted by the swift thinking FBI agents, he used another strange device, a TiVo, to show himself and the rest of his happy cult on the Kilborn show using the microphone. The FBI quickly verified with the police in Dallas that it was, in fact, a microphone.
The Spree drummer was quite relieved. Said Teasley:
Why am I surprised that Tom Ridge didn't make a "non-political" announcement about the great work the FBI and local authorities are doing in the capture of dangerous terrorists in the US. I'm sure the press release was written.
I don't want to over-dramatize the situation, but there were two or three minutes when I thought I was going to be in Guantanamo Bay with the Abu Ghraib people holding a thumbs up while pointing to my penis. I wasn't really scared about Guantanamo, I just didn't want people to see my penis. I'm a very private person.
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Monday, August 09, 2004
Friday, August 06, 2004
YOU SAY ITS YOUR BIRTHDAY?
Well, it's NTodd's and Jesse Taylor's and Uncle Grambo's and, well, I'm sure lots of other bloggy and non-bloggy types. Go eat cake.
UPDATE! I need to include Stephen Bates. He gets cake, too! (so much better than death)
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Well, it's NTodd's and Jesse Taylor's and Uncle Grambo's and, well, I'm sure lots of other bloggy and non-bloggy types. Go eat cake.
UPDATE! I need to include Stephen Bates. He gets cake, too! (so much better than death)
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PAUL KRUGMAN MATTERS BECAUSE HE IS UNAFRAID TO TELL IT LIKE IT IS
Check out Buzzflash's interview with the Princeton Professor. If the Democrats really wanted to take the fight at Bushco, they would let this man loose, with his credentials, to tell people what has happened in the last three years:
This is what people need to hear and understand. This is the message that Kerry and company need to hammer at every opportunity. Screw the high road and so-called postive campaigns. The Republicans aren't going to play fair. We have to burn them down with the truth. Grab people by the collar and scream at them that four more years of what we've got is "a pretty grim prospect."
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Check out Buzzflash's interview with the Princeton Professor. If the Democrats really wanted to take the fight at Bushco, they would let this man loose, with his credentials, to tell people what has happened in the last three years:
If you think about how far down we’ve come in this short time, it’s actually pretty amazing. But I don’t know what happens if they manage to hold on, one way or another, in November. So far, every real-world thing they turned their hands to, every real-world issue, as opposed to politics, has turned to crud. Afghanistan’s a mess. Iraq’s a mess. The economy’s a mess. The budget’s a mess. Homeland Security is a mess. Four more years of this, and I don’t know. It’s going to be a pretty grim prospect.
This is what people need to hear and understand. This is the message that Kerry and company need to hammer at every opportunity. Screw the high road and so-called postive campaigns. The Republicans aren't going to play fair. We have to burn them down with the truth. Grab people by the collar and scream at them that four more years of what we've got is "a pretty grim prospect."
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THEY HATE OUR OPTIMISM
"They," of course, being Republicans. Our future VP notes about some freeper-type hecklers on the campaign trail:
Senator Edwards is a very diplomatic man. Good quality for a VP. Do you think Dick Cheney would be as polite with his words?
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"They," of course, being Republicans. Our future VP notes about some freeper-type hecklers on the campaign trail:
"When they were booing 'hope' and 'optimism,' I knew it was an interesting crowd."
Senator Edwards is a very diplomatic man. Good quality for a VP. Do you think Dick Cheney would be as polite with his words?
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Thursday, August 05, 2004
CELEBRITY
Elections inevitably bring out the question, especially from republicans, as to whether or not celebrities should get involved in politics. Some say that they have no place in the discussion because they are just actors or musicians or whatever and haven't earned the right to speak on subjects that people like Ann Coulter or Michael Savage have (because they, after all, have served and/or spent a lot of time with the common folk and know what it is to be a real American...apparently, over half of the country is populated by America-hating subversives and traitors. That guy sitting next to you? He may be a liberal teacher and might very well hate Ann Coulter's America. Shake his hand and pat him on the back.)
But I've had an epiphany on the subject today. While vegetating and letting the TV play in the background, I overheard an advertisment for a new show called "The Insider" which will give us an even closer view into the lives of celebrities because, apparently, we deserve to know whether or not Tom still loves Nicole. So here's my thought:
If we "deserve" to know if Tom still loves Nicole, don't we also "deserve" to know who Tom is going to vote for and why? The so-called pundits fail to understand that Americans, as a culture, have deified celebrites whether these folk want this status or not. This means that cameras and reporters poke into every corner of the lifestyles of the rich and famous. People want to know what kind of clothes Cher wears, so why not who she votes for? People want to know who Demi is sleeping with, so why not what she thinks about abortion? If inquiring minds want to know the steamy details of the latest spat between Harrison Ford and his girlfriend, why wouldn't they also want to delve into their favorite actor's political viewpoint?
And even if people aren't actively seeking political advice from their favorite star, don't these stars, by allowing people into every other facet of their lives, deserve to use their public voice in whatever manner they choose? If cameramen can invade Barbra Streisand's wedding, why can't she sing out a few political endorsements?
It just seems like quid pro quo to me.
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Elections inevitably bring out the question, especially from republicans, as to whether or not celebrities should get involved in politics. Some say that they have no place in the discussion because they are just actors or musicians or whatever and haven't earned the right to speak on subjects that people like Ann Coulter or Michael Savage have (because they, after all, have served and/or spent a lot of time with the common folk and know what it is to be a real American...apparently, over half of the country is populated by America-hating subversives and traitors. That guy sitting next to you? He may be a liberal teacher and might very well hate Ann Coulter's America. Shake his hand and pat him on the back.)
But I've had an epiphany on the subject today. While vegetating and letting the TV play in the background, I overheard an advertisment for a new show called "The Insider" which will give us an even closer view into the lives of celebrities because, apparently, we deserve to know whether or not Tom still loves Nicole. So here's my thought:
If we "deserve" to know if Tom still loves Nicole, don't we also "deserve" to know who Tom is going to vote for and why? The so-called pundits fail to understand that Americans, as a culture, have deified celebrites whether these folk want this status or not. This means that cameras and reporters poke into every corner of the lifestyles of the rich and famous. People want to know what kind of clothes Cher wears, so why not who she votes for? People want to know who Demi is sleeping with, so why not what she thinks about abortion? If inquiring minds want to know the steamy details of the latest spat between Harrison Ford and his girlfriend, why wouldn't they also want to delve into their favorite actor's political viewpoint?
And even if people aren't actively seeking political advice from their favorite star, don't these stars, by allowing people into every other facet of their lives, deserve to use their public voice in whatever manner they choose? If cameramen can invade Barbra Streisand's wedding, why can't she sing out a few political endorsements?
It just seems like quid pro quo to me.
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Wednesday, August 04, 2004
NASA LAUNCHES SPACECRAFT TO MERCURYX23
Just kidding! But check this out. Scientists (God love 'em...Bush don't) have figured out a way to heat shield Messenger, the Mercury exploratory craft, from the heat of the sun as it orbits the innermost planet. While it will take a bit of time before the data comes back (2011), this is still very cool stuff.
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Just kidding! But check this out. Scientists (God love 'em...Bush don't) have figured out a way to heat shield Messenger, the Mercury exploratory craft, from the heat of the sun as it orbits the innermost planet. While it will take a bit of time before the data comes back (2011), this is still very cool stuff.
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Tuesday, August 03, 2004
WISCONSIN REPUBLICAN LEADER PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR KERRY
In that Bush has always played politics in the war on terror, this statement:
...can only be taken as supportive of Kerry, who has never made spurious terror level anouncements to cover his failed policies or steal attention from political rivals.
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In that Bush has always played politics in the war on terror, this statement:
"Wisconsin voters aren't going to trust a candidate who plays politics with the war on terror," said [Republican Milwaukee County Executive Scott] Walker..."
...can only be taken as supportive of Kerry, who has never made spurious terror level anouncements to cover his failed policies or steal attention from political rivals.
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THE HOUSE
For those of you who have purchased a house, you know what the process can do to you. My hand is cramped from initialing and signing. Also, the scrutiny of insurance people and lenders and looking at all the things you have to do to the house and buy for the house and it just makes you a little crazy. Just a little. And then there's this whole business with closing and you have to wait and wait and you just want to move into it already and let your dog run around the back yard and let the cats find their new perches but you can't because of the escrow (what is this word, anyway?) and the closing and...YEARRRGHH!!!
Okay, I'm better now. Hopefully, we'll have all the answers by the end of the week.
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For those of you who have purchased a house, you know what the process can do to you. My hand is cramped from initialing and signing. Also, the scrutiny of insurance people and lenders and looking at all the things you have to do to the house and buy for the house and it just makes you a little crazy. Just a little. And then there's this whole business with closing and you have to wait and wait and you just want to move into it already and let your dog run around the back yard and let the cats find their new perches but you can't because of the escrow (what is this word, anyway?) and the closing and...YEARRRGHH!!!
Okay, I'm better now. Hopefully, we'll have all the answers by the end of the week.
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THE NEWEST BUSH CAMPAIGN AD
Via Atrios:
The Preznit tells us not to vote, not to trust liberals or Democrats and to only watch Fox as he runs from demon horses.
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Via Atrios:
The Preznit tells us not to vote, not to trust liberals or Democrats and to only watch Fox as he runs from demon horses.
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