Liberteen

This is what youtube was made for. A cheeky, young (pre-skag) Pete Doherty, waiting in line for Oasis tickets, gets interviewed by MTV:



- Mr. Ed

Ar du Norsk?!?

Ah those crazy kids in Norway- straight from Norwegian T.V. comes this little gem...



- Bluecupboard

The Godfather Part VI and V

This isn't really that funny. Not least, because it's so true, but also because any joke that needs 'a little background' is almost certainly not very amusing in the first place. It's also a political joke, so enough said. Pray though, will you indulge me just this once...

The video below is mash-up of scenes from the Godfather and James Comey's testimony before congress last week. He was asked to describe the events of March 3 years ago, which followed a DoJ decision not to sanction a warrentless NSA wiretapping program the Whitehouse had ordered. As acting Attorney General at the time, Comey explained, there were aspects of the program that he was uncomfortable with, so he couldn't sign off on it. However, that didn't really go over well at the Whitehouse. So they decided to go over him. Trouble was, 'over him' meant the AG, and the AG at the time, John Ashcroft, was seriously ill in hospital. Well, when your wiretapping privileges are on the line, all standards of decency and decorum go out the window apparently, because Bush dispatched his enforcers - chief of staff, Andy Card, and then Whitehouse counsel, Alberto "Fredo" Gonzalez - to 'talk' to the ailing AG about over-ruling Comey's decision.

So, that's how Comey found himself racing - blue lights literally flashing - to the hospital to defend his integrity, his authority - not to mention his boss - from Bush's wise guys. And now that you've made it through all of that here's a better longer account, which outlines (on page two) who James Comey is, and thereby, just how damning these revelations are.



After the bar update:
First, the full Comey testimony is here.
Second, somewhere out a-drinkin', it occurred to me that I didn't finish the story. So, Card and Gonzalez met with the out-of-it Ashcroft, and he (to his enormous - can't believe I'm saying this - credit) sat up in bed and said no, Comey's the AG now, so what he says goes. When, a few days later, it appeared that the Whitehouse was going to go go ahead, regardless of what the DoJ thought, the whitehouse was informed that Ashcroft, Comey, and Robert Muller (then head of the FBI) all intended to resign over the matter. Following that, Bush himself intervened, and they ended up making a settlement, the details of which are sketchy.

So lets repeat that last bit again - Ashcroft, the AG, the deputy AG and the head of the FBI all intended to quit, because they could not conscience this move. That is, three committed, movement conservatives, were ready to quit over the warrantless wiretapping program, because they thought it was wrong. We've heard bits and pieces of this before - for three years the rumours over this 'affair' have flown thick and fast - but finally, the sordid details have come to light.


Politics schmolitics,

- Mr. Ed

My my how right you are.........

As a horsey employee of Sky I know just how true this all is.



Colin

New tunetastic?

Here's LCD soundsystem with All my friends. Pretty much a Bowie meets Joy Division mash-up, with a dash of the Killers to make it chartworthy. Apparently they're all the rage, I was a little sceptical at first, but it's growing on me. See what you think...


- Mr. Ed

Exponential times

Here's a video from Carl Fisch's blog. It's long, starts out pretty slow, and the music is a little much at times. Having said that, it also contains some really fascinating facts about the speed at which our world is changing, and it's well worth a watch.



Via neatorama
- Mr. Ed

Austin City Limits

The line-up for this year's Austin City Limits festival has been announced. It runs from the 14-16th of September and features a wealth of great music. Headliners include: Bob Dylan, Bjork, Wilco, The White Stripes, the Arcade Fire and My Morning Jacket.

Other acts include the Decemberists, Spoon, Midlake, Steve Earle, Andrew Bird and Chucktown's very own Cary Ann Hearst and the Gunstreet Girls.

So, anyone fancy taking a road trip with me this September? It's just under 1300 miles direct, but if we had a few extra days we could stop by Nashville, Memphis and even New Orleans on the way. Who knows, I might even have my driving licence by then...


- Mr. Ed

Total Recall

Some highlights of Gonzo's greatest moments in front of the Senate judiciary committee. Today he's getting grilled by the House committee. Details on his testimony today, including clips and background, can be found here.

- Mr. Ed

Tunetastic Tuesday returns!

This time with a performance of Radio Radio, by Elvis Costello and the Attractions, on SNL from 1977.

Read the story behind the false start here.

- Mr. Ed

PS
This has literally nothing to do with the new Zvay Records release.

Possibly...

the only Daily Mail article ever worth reading. Apparently, a cat from the midlands has learned to use the bus.

Image: NTI - from the Daily Mail

Read on here.

- Mr Ed.

LOLcats

Are great.

"babushka-cats-are-in-ur-box-bein-old-wimmens" via icanhascheezburger.com.

Find out everything you ever wanted to know about LOLcats, at the Land o' LOLcats on zvayam.com.

- Mr. Ed

What lies beneath?

Image: Ducks on the reflecting pool. Washington DC, March 2007.

You've got to love Tuesdays, because every Tuesday brings another Science Times segment. This week's offerings include a great article on Coral (Summary: If you've never seen a coral reef, then hurry up! They'll all be gone in 30 years.), a fascinating account of recent research on hand signals used by Chimps and Bonobos, and an excellent story on plankton, and how they might be used to combat global warming.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First a puzzle:

Complete the following series.
dack, deck, ..., dock, ... .

If you said 'dick duck' then you'd be right. Just what the green-slippery-shit am I on about? Well, this was supposed to be a segueway into taking about duck dicks. What's that you say? Well, sometimes I happen to like things that are 'rather contrived', so there. Getting back to the point, yes, I did mean the reproductive organs of male mallards (and other duck species, I might add). It seems that there is more to the underside of a duck than meets the eye. Read on here.

- Mr. Ed

Heck of a job...

May 1st- so many associations! May Day is frankly already stuff-full of such things, but now, dear ponies there are even more. For those of you having trouble remembering what recent significance May 1st has taken on, here's a little image that may refresh things...

picture from www.dailykos.com

Yes it's four years today since the end of the Iraq war, or more specifically "major combat operations" in Iraq, but I'll be a cart-horse if it hasn't been so quiet over there that Beigy and I weren't thinking of popping over this summer and trying out some of those lovely waterside "tavernas" I hear so much about. To think the war only lasted a little over one month before producing a land of peace, quiet, and no danger. Heck of a job Bushie, heck of a job...

I think this (mildly) unrelated cartoon by the sublime David Rees about sums it up. If I have not encouraged all ponies to visit his website, let me do so now, by providing this little link...

image from
www.mnftiu.cc (click to enlarge)


-Bluecupboard