Late Night Curly

Curly loves you, too. :)
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Mo' Guitar Bloggin'

My first Korean guitar, from eBay. B.C.Rich ('s Korean subsidiary) Mockingbird. Dang...

Top: First Korean guitar I ever bought -- got it for $155. I always wanted a Mockingbird, 'cause they're SO damn cool. Anyway, I bought this one, and... it was a decent guitar, really! Good pickups, good action, reasonably good feel for the money, really... but I didn't fall for it. I ended up giving it to my South African friend's daughter's boyfriend. His Dad was an alcoholic, and smashed up his Squier Strat in a drunken rage, at some point. I thought that sucked, and seeing as how I was awash in awesome guitars, I could certainly afford to give the kid a guitar... so I did.

Also in picture: The kick-ass Hamer Special FM in Aztec Gold, curly maple top.
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More Curly? On A Tuesday?

Yeah, why not? You deserve it. :)
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Here We Are

Well, FedEx went well, I think. After translating my résumé into their "online" application process ("online," as in, "web-based, but you have to use it in their office"), and taking a couple of standard psychological tests ("is taking home a pen from work stealing?" et al), I was promised a yea or nay sometime this week. The lady I met with said they have a lot of turnover on this shift (2:30 a.m. - 7:30 a.m., 5-6 days/week), so they're eager to hire some new blood. Yo, pick me! Pick meeeeee!

I'm writing this from the condo, offline, @ 5:00 p.m. CDT... it's raining hard, wind-blown drops, right now, so a trip to the WGOWC seems unwise. I was at the laundrette briefly, earlier, and got online for a few minutes, but I always feel funny being there during the day when I'm not also doing laundry. I'd set out for the pool, since there were notices all over the compound, alerting everyone to the pool rules, and the fact that it would open on Memorial Day. Not surprisingly, it's not open yet. Rumor has it that there's some repair that needs done before the city can inspect and license it for the season, and the association is either too cheap to pay for the repairs, or doesn't have the money.

And pre-paid cell phones -- WTF?!? I didn't read the fine print when I got this Cingular deal. Apparently, if you don't use 'em, the minutes expire after 30 days! What? That's just crazy talk. I think I'll contact Cingular and ask them to restore those lost minutes, or lose my bidness to Virgin (thanks, NMRed!).

And then, there's always Curly, right? Heh... here's a shot I took during the storm (hence the flash). You wouldn't believe how soft his coat is, right now... of course, I'm still brushing him severl times a week, which he loves. Oddly, the fur that comes loose is not so much the outer guard hairs, but mostly the fine, downy undercoat. Still, he just feels a lot softer, these days.

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Curly Video Archives: Chair Dancin'

In honor of my figuring out that YouTube will show y'all all of the video clips I have up (and I've linked to tht page, on the right, below -- under "additional goodies/Curly Videos!"), here's Curly rolling around on the crazy green checkerboard chair.

Yes, it's a re-run, but if you haven't seen it... it's new to you!
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But Seriously, Folks...

You have a mouse -- don't be afraid to use it!

The Pantless One is seeking 419,067 hits, total, by June 14th (his 3rd blogiversary). How'd he come up with that number? I dunno. He wasn't wearing pants -- you think I was gonna ask about that? Anyway, he's ~10K hits shy.

You know what to do.
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Re-Run Curly

From December. 'Cause it's just so danged cute.
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Memorial Day Curly

It's too hot for tetherbunny, Dad!
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Sexy Grandma

Another "picture-of-a-picture" picture I found. I recall talking about the sexy grandma I knew, who had a pierced tongue. This would be her. :)
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Curly Video Archives: Whole Beast Massage

With natural sound, so you can hear just what a hedonist this li'l guy is. ;)
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Guitars I've Known And Loved, Before

The Carvin Holdsworth H2T. Bought at a discount ('cause the Carvin guys knew I was running Holdsworth's official website), and sold, shortly before my home was foreclosed upon. :) Nice axe... very pretty, but it doesn't play as well as the prototype H1 that Allan gave me. Why is it that all my beautiful guitars never play as well as the ones that aren't as gorgeous? I think there's a life lesson in that for all of us.

Here's another angle/close-up of the H2T (almost required for any figured maple-topped guitar, really). To the left, a regrettably sold Ibanez Signature Series bass (my landlord has it now, and loves it... and it provided me with 6-7 weeks of rent!).
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Lazy Sunday

Curly looks on, disinterested, as Jeffraham jiggles the tetherbunny a few feet away.
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Sunday Git-Fiddle Bloggin'

More, vacuous, summertime holiday weekend fluff-blogging, while our nation goes to hell in a Hefty bag.

I never found this photo in amongst my unpacked stuff at the condo... but I found a picture of the picture (actually, it was a photo of the Carvin Holdsworth H1 prototype guitar that Allan Holdsworth gave me at his birthday party, some years ago, but, it included a picture of this picture).

There I am -- 15, skinny, long hair. Rockin' out on my 1963 Gibson SG. My first kick-ass guitar.

I ended up re-finishing it in high school... I thought the lacquer checking, so treasured by collectors, was ugly. So, I re-did it in Corvette Polar White -- a white so white, it hurt your eyes.

Then, I ended up selling it in my early 20s, to buy a car. It ended up in the hands of an inmate at the local federal pen, I was told by the buyers (who were relatives of the inmate). Dang.
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Early Curly

Events leading up to Curly's 4th birthday celebration will include some re-runs of old video clips, and a full upload of all clips to YouTube, along with an index page for all the clips. With that in mind, here's a particularly cute, short clip of Curly doing what he does best. :)
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Guitar Sale In West Nashville

If you locals know of anyone about ready to splash out on a big dollar Les Paul, you might want to point 'em to this, first.

I also have an Ibanez Saber package (including a Roland GK-2A pickup, Roland VGA-3 modeling amp and a Roland GR-50 guitar synth) for sale, as well as a couple of goodies by Line 6: a Spider 112 amp, and a GuitarPort.

UPDATE: I've also got a heck of a deal on my Canon GL1 DV camera, complete with Adobe editing suite, a Sony Clie PEG-S360, and a Wardriver's Special, if y'all are into those kinds of thangs.
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A Bird?

Maybe. But hell, it's 90F+... it's time for a nap!
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Itchy & Scratchy

All in one cat -- no mouse!

Poor li'l feller cain't get no privacy, can he? :)

Oh -- my FedEx appointment isn't until Tuesday -- duh! Their hiring folx are off on Monday (imagine that!).

I think I can officially start Summer, 2006, here (although it doesn't really start until my birthday)... we now have "heat lightning," which is what we southerners call the phenomenon wherein frequent lightning is observed on the horizon, yet no thunder is ever heard.

Too cool.
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I Still Can't Believe It.

That which, without, I would barely be here at all. Thanks again, Auntie GWPDA!

Dang, this thang is fancy. It even has LightScribe!
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Guard Cat

Note to Capitol Police: Curly is available for work at the Rayburn House Office Building. Contact me for rates. :)

UPDATE: Too good to leave hidden in the comments, Ivytree chimed in with the appropriate in several ways, "Or maybe the Rayburn MOUSE Office Building..."
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TGIF! HICA!

Thank Gore It's Friday! Here Is Curly Again!

CurlyQ gets an early, 7 a.m. outdoor pettin' session. It was really nice at 7:00... low 70sF, breezy. Now, it's up in the 80sF, but at least the humidity is reasonable, and the breeze is really, really nice. Pretty nice day to be at the WGOWC, in the shade.

I dodged a small tree limb last night, right before I packed up GWPDA's notebook, and headed to the laundrette for an hour (to get some free WiFi signal -- not for shelter).

(btw, it's kinda crappy for a jobless guy to say, "TGIF!" but, hey... forgive me)
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Curly As A Young'Un

Hey, I found another photo of Curly as a young'un. Look how skinny! Dang ol' Happy Tails must've not been feedin' him at all. :)

His b-day is coming up, y'know (or what I consider his b-day: June 6th, which is when I brought him home).
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Hiding Behind Onionhead

Doppler radar sez storms are movin' in, so I dunno if I'll be back to post another Curly photo, tonight... so, here's this one. He's hiding behind my massive cranium, as I read Glenn Greenwald's How Would A Patriot Act? on Tuesday afternoon.
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Speaking Of Guitars...

... here is a fine one. This is a 1994 Hamer (USA) Special FM, in Aztec Gold, w/curly maple cap. I but the enlargement on the right to show the subtle, yet beautiful figuring in the maple.

I bought this and my other Hamer Special FM about the same time, from eBay (hey, a single guy with a then-$60K annual salary...). I knew I would sell one of them at a profit... and I did. It was this one.

The one I kept isn't as pretty, but it plays better. I have it for sale on craigslist, for you Gnashvegans who want a Les Paul-quality guitar, but would rather pay $500 for it rather than $2000+.
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When Cats Get Bored

... they paw at "no-see-ums," which are microscopic and/or invisible critters that only cats can see.

The Gibson interview went well, I think. I was told if I hear back from them by Friday of next week, I'll be scheduled for an orientation session, and I'll have gotten the job. If not, I didn't.

I was the oldest guy there for an interview, though. Not sure how I feel about that.
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GWPDA? I'd E-mail Ya, But...

... Gmail's been down for more than four hours!

Thank you for the wonderful notebook. :)
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OMG. O.M.G.

I cannot believe it. I am not worthy. I don't deserve y'all.

The good Dr. GWPDA went and did the unexplainable: She sent me a Compaq Presario V2000 notebook. This is a NICE notebook... actually, a VERY NICE notebook. Far nicer than my recently-departed Toshiba Satellite Celeron 1.73GHz notebook (and, it goes without saying, MILES beyond the Pentium I 90MHz Toshiba I've been using these last couple of weeks). It has built-in WiFi. It has a DVD-RW drive. It has a widescreen, hi-res display. It has built-in Firewire, media card reader and three USB ports. It has a bunch of RAM (384MB) and HDD space (80GB).


I feel like any words I use to try to express my gratitude will sound completely inadequate, given that a notebook has been my link to the outside world (I depend on a wireless connection at my landlord's, which uses my hardware, but he, of course, pays the monthly broadband bill, and allows me to use the connection for free), and especially in light of the fact of how generous GWPDA and dozens of Atriots have been to me in the past couple of years. I honestly feel as if I shouldn't have even mentioned my notebook problems, but I wanted to explain to everyone why I might not be online as frequently, so as not to worry anyone. But I probably shouldn't have mentioned that the old notebook didn't have USB, or that it was painfully slow (seriously -- Gmail took 3-5 minutes to open the inbox, and that was with a full-strength WiFi signal... but I probably should have kept all that to myself).

Now I know who the mysterious poster was who suggested that I "go home and check my doorstep" earlier this afternoon. ;) I owe you Big Time, GWPDA. Thank you. You're too good. What can I do to repay you, dear (assuming you don't need a guitar)?
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Thoughtful Curly

He just looks like a deep thinker, here, I thought. ;)
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While I Read How Would A Patriot Act?

... on the balcony yesterday, during the beautifully warm, non-rainy day, Curly stood watch against the many robins, cardinals, finches and starlings that threatened to attack us.
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Enough About Me

Tonight, I'd like to pay tribute to a good friend of mine, who, unfortunately, I've recently lost contact with, due to poverty and changing phone numbers. His name is Gary Wells, and he lives in my hometown in eastern Kentucky. I hope you enjoy his tune.
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Curly Flow

Another crappy low-light no-flash special effects shot of Curly in motion.

Oh, and I thought I'd introduce y'all to my computing platform; note the engineered power cord, made from an extension cord and two alligator clips. Good thing I could find my soldering pencil. :)


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More Tetherbunny

See, Ivytree -- he does get some exercise!
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Weekend Update

Fun stuff first: After describing my new haircut elsewhere, some wanted to see what I meant by "onionhead":



And, for Ivytree, who cannot get enough of overweight cats, I bring t3h Curly in full fatness:



Mostly good news on the computing front, but not peachy-keen: I found out that I can keep writing to a regular CD-R, and the stone knives & bearskins notebook can read the latest session appended to that disc. That means I can upload Curly pix without wasting a CD-R each and every time I want to go portable. :)

On the desktop front, I did a few thangs -- since the modern Toshi notebook is no more, I hooked up the 15" flatpanel to the desktop system that Linda, my former neighbor, gave me before she moved to Florida. I also installed a Firewire card that I had laying around, so's I can suck in video from the GL-1, as long as I continue to have it. I also tried to install a PCI WiFi card that I had, but that failed. This is the second PC I've had where installing the card caused the machine not to boot/display goes blank, and never comes on. I guess the card is bad. I thought I'd do that, in case someone nearby ever installed an open network, but I'm out of luck on the card, so, no matter. I was able to pull the 128MB RAM and replace it with a 512MB module that I had, so the desktop now has 4x the memory it once had (and a DVD burner, and now, a Firewire card). Unfortunately, the desktop doesn't further my online pursuits, but if I feel like writing a long rant offline, I can always burn it (and Curly pix!) to a CD-R, and upload all that once I get over to the WGOWC with the sk&b notebook.

So, how the fuck is your weekend, so far?
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Friday? Catbloggin'.

Ol' greenish-yellow eyes is back! ;)
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Thursday Night Curly

He's got that evil eye thang... he must've known that I'd spent the last four hours with my fundie Mom. Naw, it wan't that bad. Jesus was barely mentioned. Frist was, however. :) She's kinda worried about me. Well, after a night in the Super 8, her and her husband will be driving back to Texas, where once, Governor Chimpy granted her property tax amnesty. Ain't Republicans great?
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But Can She Make Biscuits & Gravy?

Congrats to Sallyh and her family -- her daughter gave birth right before midnight to a baby girl, so she's now officially Grannyh in my book. :)

I tried to post on Eschaton, but now that I've stepped back a decade in computing power, every top thread I encounter over there is a 1000-comment+ monster. Funny how that shit works out, hm? ;)
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Git You Some Curly!

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Bwoken Pwomises

I'd promised additional Curly this evening, but due to insufficient home testing, I cannot deliver. I burned some pix onto a CD-RW, and apparently either the antique Toshi can't read CD-RWs, or it can't read unfinalized CD-RWs (I left it open, since I expected to be writing more files to it very soon, of course).

The landlord is rehearsing with Schroeder's Revenge right now, but said he had a PC consultation he needed later, so I may get another shot at it, so... stay tuned!
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CURLY!

Curly loves playing tetherbunny, y'know.

Here's another pix... may be a few days before I get a chance to share.

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Live From The Toshiba Satellite Pro 400CDT!

Yep -- it works, although I type about 10x faster than the display can refresh (and folx, I'm not a touch-typist; you've heard me bitch about having to use my nifty LED flashlight at night at the WGOWC). Oh -- I unintentionally misled, too -- this PC does have a CD-ROM. I found it looking (again, unsuccessfully) for the AC cord. Fortunately, the transformer is inside this massive notebook, so I just had to rig a zip cord with a couple of alligator clips to be in bidness.

Now, if I can get it to go more than 30 minutes without a reboot... ;)
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Pentium I, 90MHz

Spocko's offer a few days back on Eschaton made me remember that I, too, had an oddball ancient Toshiba laptop that I got at auction for $20. I'm going to see if I can get it on the wireless network at the WGOWC this evening. It does have a PCMCIA slot, but no USB, no CD-ROM, no... well, not much of anything, really. 16MB/RAM, oh yeah! Win95! Whoo-hoo!

We'll see where it goes.
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Still In Net Limbo

Sorry -- still out-of-the-loop with the notebook for now. Hopefully will get to use the landlord's PC every few days until I figure out something else. In the meantime, enjoy the short clip above of Curly playing his new favorite game with sittenpretty's gift bunny. :)
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Still In Net Limbo

Sorry -- still out-of-the-loop with the notebook for now. Hopefully will get to use the landlord's PC every few days until I figure out something else. In the meantime, enjoy the short clip above of Curly playing his new favorite game with sittenpretty's gift bunny. :)
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Still In Net Limbo

Sorry -- still out-of-the-loop with the notebook for now. Hopefully will get to use the landlord's PC every few days until I figure out something else. In the meantime, enjoy the short clip above of Curly playing his new favorite game with sittenpretty's gift bunny. :)
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Still In Net Limbo

Sorry -- still out-of-the-loop with the notebook for now. Hopefully will get to use the landlord's PC every few days until I figure out something else. In the meantime, enjoy the short clip above of Curly playing his new favorite game with sittenpretty's gift bunny. :)
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Still In Net Limbo

Sorry -- still out-of-the-loop with the notebook for now. Hopefully will get to use the landlord's PC every few days until I figure out something else. In the meantime, enjoy the short clip above of Curly playing his new favorite game with sittenpretty's gift bunny. :)
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Farewell, My Friends (Or Not)

My notebooks in decline... today, the keyboard wasn't fully functional (including a number of keys that were required in order to enter the password for the PC -- yes, I'm a nerd, and have accounts set up on my PCs). However, once I got it home, it seemed to be functioning somewhat normally. The notebook is the only somewhat-portable system I have (I still have to pack a 15" flatpanel display when I take it to the landlord's, as its display has been intermittant for months).

I'm typing this on the landlord's notebook, at the landlord's house (the WGOWC, as it is known); he loaned it to me for a couple of days, as he wanted me to get the video of their band I shot on Saturday captured.

Anyway, I don't know if I'll be able to continue my online interactions with any regularity, and therefore wanted to thank all of you for our time together, and for all the support you have provided over the past couple of years... just in case I'm unable to return on a regular basis.

And, of course, I have to post another Curly pix. :)
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Schroeder's Revenge

Cinema verite... apologies to one and all. Not an easy shoot, hand-held, but I think a stationary tripod shoot would have been even more of a drag.

The bass player (right) is my landlord, btw.
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If I Were Home With Curly Now

... it'd look very much like this. The clouds have rolled in, and the sun is setting.

I had to duck under the tarp while shooting video of the band, today, during one tune... but, it was just a 30-minutes set. Dangest thang I ever did see, too... fuckers built a serious stage in the middle of a cow pasture, with scaffolding, drum riser, the whole nine. Maybe I'll put a clip up in the next few days.
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Forty Bux

It's not exactly a living, but... the landlord left a voicemail saying that his Hendrix gig (the band now being re-named "Schroeder's Revenge," btw, as they're adding non-Hendrix tunes to the set list) is doing a 30 min. set at a private Derby party tonight, and they'd like to pay me $40 to videotape it. Okay!

Problem being, I screwed up my sleep schedule, and really am gonna need a nap between now and 4:00, when we need to leave. :(

UPDATE: Screw the nap, bucko! We leave at 2:00 (and the landlord just woke up 15 minutes ago to let me know that). So, I guess I'll go do that, and drop back by here with beer, tonight, until I just can't take it no mo'. ;)
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Gift Bunny

Here we see Curly enjoying sittenpretty's gift of a pink, stuffed ether bunny. Like most toys, Curly enjoys them so much better if they are tethered to the end of the stringstick, or inside a paper grocery bag. ;)
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Too Sramt For My Own Good

... and yes, I purposely misspelled "smart." :)

Either Cadillac Man and/or AKA Girl unplugged their wireless access point, or (get this)... the network I've been hitching a ride on for the last seven or eight months at the condo belonged to the folks that lived underneath them. Those folx -- who're two units below me -- moved out today, and now, there's no network. Perhaps a coincidence... I mean, I had a full five bars in my condo, so it's damned near inconceivable that I'd be pegged out like that from someone two units below.

As for the photo, I can only tell you this -- I took it after my friend dropped my old digicam, and dislodged its image sensor (a lot of black is cropped off the left side); it was the last image captured by that Olympus D370 (?). Both my friend and I were very drunk, and leaving a Titans game when I took this.
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Another Corner Turned

Curly calls it a day.
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If You Think George W. Bush

... is some kind of good president, I have a message for you.

Really... is there anything un-American that you will not defend this asshole for doing?

Torture?

Check.

Secret prisons?

Check.

Warrantless wiretaps on American citizens, with no judicial oversight?

Check.

Seriously... if Bush were to pardon Zacarias Moussaoui tomorrow, who the fuck would be surprised?

And how many wingnuts would be chortling about what a great move that pardon was for Bush? No shit -- would there NOT be oodles of justifications from the winger blogosphere on that?

You fuckin' know there WOULD be.

Fuck you, you bunch of backwash dead-enders. Fuck you where you breathe. I wouldn't piss down your trachea if your fuckin' lungs were on fire.
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Chinny-Chin-Chin

Precious beast... gettin' that love that dares to speak its name!
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Thursday Cutout Curly

Awww, he looked!
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Dusky Curly

Curly tracks the birds as they all rush to roost ahead of the oncoming thunderstorms. No Photoshopping, here... just the crappy low-light capabilities of my camera. ;)
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I Say We Paws

... for this commercial message.
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Video Vault: Vocal Curly

I know this is one of Sallyh's favorites, so here's a re-run. :)
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What Kind...

... of sick bastige goes to a Halloween party as Ted Kaczynski (the UNABOMer), and then has the gall to win First Place as Best Costume?

Yeah. That'd be me. And I thought up the costume about an hour before I went to the party.
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The Quandry

Inside? Outside? Or upside-down? :)
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I Came Home To This

He couldn't be bothered to greet Dad, tonight. Just plum wore out, he was.
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