Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks is still completely country

Image from Getty, via Perez.

Song of the Day

Love Spreads by Stone Roses.

A hat-tip to Garth at Disco Finery for reminding me of this great song.

Ayn Rand would be proud

An MTA Board member, Norman Seabrook, came up with an inspired idea to raise funds for our transit system without raising fares: “sell 42nd St.’s subway system underground to Disney for $60 million a year and have them paint it any way that they want to paint it.” Mayor Bloomberg, of course, pooh pooh’d the idea. I think it’s genius. Thoughts?

Can I be the first to call him “Embattled Governor Spitzer”?

Spitzer’s Office Vows to Fight Investigation

UPDATE: Yes! I can be. Who wants to be second?

HBO Update

It’s official, John from Cincinnati and I are over. I’m not a big TV watcher as it is, and I just don’t have the time to be watching something mediocre that teeters on terrible. I also just don’t want to work that hard to understand what’s happening in a TV show. There was too much “wait, what?”

I can’t get enough of Big Love, though. It’s got everything: interesting plot, good writing, great characters and fantastic actors. It’s my serious show, with Flight of the Conchords and Entourage providing the comedy portion of my TV-watching experience.

HBO is still the only channel worth watching, but I do wish they had filled that 9pm Sunday slot, the slot of Sopranos and Six Feet Under, with something that could live up to its position. John From Cincinnati just didn’t.

Afternoon poetry break

I went to a poetry reading last night with my poet friend Maryama who is visiting from Paris. It’s a weekly reading on Mondays at the Nightingale Lounge, on Second Avenue and 13th Street in Manhattan. Maryama will be reading on Monday, before she goes back to France, so if you’re interested in poetry come check her out. She’s easily one of the best poets I’ve ever read, and I don’t just say that because she tells me I’m her muse.

With poetry on my mind, I went straight to my Dorothy Parker Collection (yes, I realize there are other poets, I have a whole bookshelf full of them, I’ve just been on a Dorothy kick for awhile) and thought I’d share one that I like:

Neither Bloody Nor Bowed

They say of me, and so they should,
It’s doubtful if I come to good.
I see acquaintances and friends
Accumulating dividends,
And making enviable names
In science, art, and parlor games.
But I, despite expert advice,
Keep doing things I think are nice,
And though to good I never come-
Inseparable my nose and thumb!

Oh, one more, why not:

I Know I Have Been Happiest

I know I have been happiest at your side;
But what is done, is done, and all’s to be.
And small the good, to linger dolefully-
Gayly it lived, and gallantly it died.
I will not make you songs of hearts denied,
And you, being man, would have no tears of me,
And should I offer you fidelity,
You’d be, I think, a little terrified.

Yet this the need of woman, this her curse:
To range her little gifts, and give, and give,
Because the throb of giving’s sweet to bear.
To you, who never begged me vows or verse,
My gift shall be my absence, while I live;
But after that, my dear, I cannot swear.

One of the very few

John Hawkins has an interview with one of the good guys, Jim DeMint.

The Prince of the City

Did you know that Rudy Giuliani’s favorite slogan is “Better to be feared than loved”? Commentary’s excellent blog Contentions has an interview with Fred Siegel, Giuliani’s biographer, with lots of interesting tidbits like that. Do check it out.

Sometimes the clothes do not make the man

If you’re looking to choose a candidate for ‘08 based on their clothing, the NY Times has just the article for you. Of course, if you want that candidate to be Republican, the article might lead you to believe that John McCain is your only option; the attire of the rest of the Republican field is not mentioned.

Hat-tip Yelena.

You don’t say

Charles Barron:

You know, I think there’s racism in everything.”

It’s called projecting. Like, when you’re a liar and you think everyone is lying to you, Charles Barron is a racist who finds racism everywhere.

In case you needed another reason to think he was dumber than dirt

“I despise the internet. It’s irresponsible and, often, a net of hate.”

-Robert Fisk

Via Tim Blair.
Previous Fisk Posts.

Love or something like it

**I decide I can’t date someone bad at poker. I prefer they not play at all if they aren’t good at it.

**Where does the NY Times find those people for their Modern Love columns? I have never seen love quite so…modern.

**Mary Katharine Ham visits Vets for Freedom. In keeping with my love/relationships/dating theme from above, there’s a really cute guy named Adriel who works there. I can make introductions for a small fee.

I don’t care, give me a spicy scallop roll to go.

New Yorkers have a high level of mercury in their systems, possibly because of their sushi intake.

In other news, my favorite sushi place is now in Brooklyn, NY. It’s called Dish and it’s in Bay Ridge. I can drink like six of their lychee martinis, I’m sure, because I had three on Saturday and was happy as can be.

Oh thank goodness, Hamas is here!

Hamas investigates suspected ‘honor’ killing of three sisters.

Hamas says the suspects will be brought to justice. That’s going to be tough:

Bringing any suspected felons in Gaza to trial in the near future may be difficult as courts there have not functioned and Abbas ordered the Palestinian Authority attorney general not to cooperate with Hamas following its takeover of the territory.

Stop the presses

Oprah Winfrey and Maya Angelou are friends who respect each other and yet, yet, they support different candidates in the Democratic primary. I know. I can’t believe it myself. How do they maintain their friendship through such adversity? Who the hell knows:

A spokeswoman for Ms. Winfrey’s company, Harpo Productions, could not be reached for comment.

A representative for Ms. Angelou did not respond to a request for comment.

I guess it was a slow news day. Not like there’s two wars going on or anything.

Just stop it

Making fun of the Islamic Rage Boy is anti-Muslim, don’tya know:

A spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Ibrahim Hooper, is unconvinced. Mr Hooper says: “I find the term Islamic Rage Boy offensive, as would anyone who applied the term to their own faith. It’s an Islamophobic product by Muslim-bashers on internet hate sites.”

He compares the cartoon to the anti-semitic imagery of 1930s Nazi Germany. “The cartoon is part of an overall growth of anti-Muslim rhetoric in this country. Someone is trying to link Islam with violence and anger and profiting from it.”

Huh. And here I thought that terrorists who fly planes into our buildings and delight in chopping off heads while screaming the name of Allah might have had something to do with linking Islam and violence. But that’s just me.

Via Hot Air Headlines.

Watch out world

Because I smell amazing:

It’s like $3 and you won’t be able to stop smelling yourself.