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Eli's Comin'

2008-06-28T12:28:00.001-04:00

Eli's Comin'
Originally uploaded by Gus Dahlberg

That doesn't look good.

Backyardigans on Broadway

2008-06-17T12:00:00.000-04:00

TIME's James Poniewozik takes on the stage version (!!!!) of Nick Jr.'s BACKYARDIGANS - TALE OF THE MIGHTY KNIGHTS. (The sad part is, I TOTALLY agree with him re: Austin and the fact that there are really "characters" on the show.)

My favorite bit from the original:

Flying V guitar solo!

Carl Lands Basszilla

2008-06-16T12:12:00.007-04:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

(ANLO, OH) Carl Dahlberg, age four, lands Basszilla at the Pope Pond on Fathers Day. Basszilla has been seen, but not caught, for the last 4 years. The battle lasted about 3 minutes. When first hooked, Basszilla took a leap out of the water. Estimates were that the jump was a foot high.

Carl�s rig was his sister�s pink Barbie rod and reel. Megan Pope caught Mr. Whiskers earlier that afternoon with Carl�s Batman fishing rig. It was decided that the old catfish was slightly bigger than Basszilla, but did not put up a comparable fight.

Both Basszilla and Mr. Whiskers were released to fight another day.

Library Fail

2008-06-05T09:12:00.004-04:00

Via Matt Haughey, though I would probably have seen it at some point:

Click to embiggen. From the FAIL Blog.

There Is a Term For This

2008-06-04T16:05:00.003-04:00

Today's "headline" from HillaryIs44.org:

NOTE that this isn't the campaign's official site by any stretch of the imagination -- it's some very... enthusiastic "grassroots" supporters. But file this one away under the "27% of the population is completely and unutterably insane" category John Rogers mentioned a couple of years ago (and again, more relevantly, last night).

UPDATE 6/5: Never mind. Our long national annoyingly never-ending primary etc. etc. etc.

Goodnight, Harvey

2008-05-30T12:10:00.000-04:00

Harvey Korman died.

"Don't be saucy with me, Bearnaise!"

Cornhole!

2008-05-30T12:00:00.001-04:00

Okay, this one's pretty funny. I imagine it's pretty safe to reprint the entire press release:

Strickland announces 2008 Cornhole Tournament Tour

Governor Strickland announced that he will hold a statewide cornhole tournament, officially dubbed the Ted Strickland for Governor 2008 Cornhole Tournament Tour.

Cornhole enthusiasts can sign up to play in the singles bracket or team up in the doubles bracket. Governor Strickland will kick off every tournament � to be held throughout the summer in eight locations around Ohio. And the State Championship will be played at Ted�s annual birthday party in Lucasville on September 20^th.

The Ohio Corn Growers Association is the official tour sponsor and many other organizations are participating. The Carpenters union is constructing 20 official Cornhole sets for the tour which will be painted bright yellow with the tour�s official logo. The Wholesale Beer and Wine Association will be on site providing beverages.

If you want to join in on the summer fun call (614) 221-3287 or email rsvp@tedstrickland.com. Space is limited - so reserve your spot today!

The tournament locations are:

Columbus - July 12^th11:00 a.m. Registration Smith Farms 3285 Watkins Road, Columbus	Zanesville - July 19^th1:00 p.m. Registration I.B.E.W. Local #1105 5805 Frazeysburg Rd., Nashport
Portsmouth - July 26^th12:00 p.m. Registration Portsmouth Shriner�s Club U.S. Rte. 52, W. Portsmouth	Athens � July 27^th12:00 p.m. Registration Dairy Barn Cultural Arts Center 8000 Dairy Lane, Athens (the Ridges)
Dayton � August 3^rd12:00 p.m. Registration Thomas Cloud Park 4707 Brandt Pike, Huber Heights	Toledo � August 9^th10:00 a.m. Registration I.B.E.W. Local #8 727 Lime City Rd., Rossford
Canton - August 16^th11:00 a.m. Registration St. George�s Center 4667 Apple Grove St NW, N. Canton	Youngstown - August 16^th2:00 p.m. Registration U.A.W. Local #1714 2121 Salt Springs Rd., Lordstown

###

Note that it's the campaign, not the actual governor's office, if that kind of thing bothers you. But still, that's kind of awesome.

(h/t BSB)

Memorial

2008-05-27T11:17:00.001-04:00

P1000762
Originally uploaded by Gus Dahlberg

It was a busy Memorial Day weekend. Go see:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdahlberg/

Your Legislature at Work

2008-05-23T08:21:00.002-04:00

From yesterday's Dispatch:

Back in the days when Under the Boardwalk, Back Stabbers and Yakety Yak hit the airwaves, the groups who sang them -- the Drifters, the O'Jays and the Coasters -- were faceless voices spilling out of the radio.
But when the nostalgia craze for '50s, '60s and '70s music developed in recent years, hundreds of musical groups hit the concert, festival and fair circuit. Some of today's touring groups contain original band members, but many don't.

Most concertgoers don't know the difference. But many of the original artists sit idle at home, or have gone broke pursuing lawsuits against knock-off bands that profit from their hard-earned musical reputations.
...The Ohio General Assembly stepped into the spotlight yesterday, as the Senate unanimously passed the "Truth in Music Act." The legislation, which has been approved in two dozen other states, would require performing musical acts to have at least one original band member in order to use the original band's name.

In other words, there must be at least one original Drifter on stage, or the group can't be called the Drifters.

"False, deceptive or misleading" advertising and performances could constitute separate violations, each punishable by a civil penalty of $5,000 up to $15,000.

Seriously? This is going to be a law?

Note that the Dispatch article goes on to quote one of the founding members of the Coasters and Bowzer from Sha Na Na, itself a revival/cover group, both in support of the measure. The article doesn't, however, mention any actual examples, local or otherwise, of this problem.

I suppose that I'm greeting this thing with more bemusement than anything, since I would tend to agree that seeing a "fake" group is something of a ripoff -- but, y'know, that's what federal trademark law is already there for, isn't it? It doesn't really address who "owns" the name -- the fact that someone has adopted the name of a band decades after the original went defunct and performs the same music would seem to support the idea that there's a "brand", but there wouldn't be any market confusion, only that the participating parties had changed, right?

Thanks to the internets, here's a portion of what Wikipedia has to say about the Coasters:

Several groups used the name in the 1970s, touring throughout the country, though Carl Gardner, one of the original Coasters, held the legal rights to it. Gardner continued to tour with the Coasters and has made many attempts to stop bogus groups with no connection to the original group from using the name. In late 2005 Carl's son Carl Gardner, Jr. took over as lead with the group, when his father retired. The Coasters of 2008: Carl Gardner Jr, Ronnie Bright, Alvin Morse, J.W. Lance, and Thomas Palmer (gtr), with Gardner Sr as coach. [[1]]

As of 2007, all of the other original group members, except Leon Hughes, have either died or retired. Some of the former members suffered tragic ends. Saxophonist and "fifth Coaster" King Curtis was stabbed to death by two junkies outside his apartment building in 1971. Cornelius Gunter was shot to death while sitting in a Las Vegas parking garage in 1990. Nate Wilson, a member of one of Gunter's offshoot Coasters groups, was shot and his body dismembered in 1980. ^[2]

Don't get me wrong. The Coasters were a tremendously important part of rock 'n roll history and I frankly think the original members should be treated like royalty. But:

1) The Coasters, like many of the "classic" groups I suspect this law is aimed at protecting, were only performing someone else's material. They didn't write their own songs -- Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller did. At best, the Coasters can lay claim only to their own interpretations of the music itself.

2) If I read this right, Gardner is the only original member of the Coasters left who's trying to actively make money from the Coasters , only he's not even in the group, he's the "coach" -- meaning that there are no original members of the group performing. Wouldn't that be just as problematic under the new law as an "impostor" group? Where's the line between "these guys were never in the group originally but have the blessing of someone who was " and "these guys were never in the group originally"? The whims of an aging musician determine whether the state gets to fine someone up to $15,000? I call shenanigans.

3) Take this a step further. The Coasters, like many other musical groups over the last fifty years, have had a constantly rotating membership. Who's "original" in that scenario? Do they have to appear on the record in order to sing the song? What if they didn't record it but toured with the group in the 50s, or 60s, or 70s?

I have thought about this way too much, now, but I'm gonna wager I've spent more time on it here than anyone in the Ohio Senate, and this only took about twenty minutes. This is really one of the worst cases of "shouldn't there be a law...?" that I've ever seen. The answer is that there probably shouldn't.

A Modest Business Proposal

2008-05-06T10:36:00.004-04:00

CONFIDENTIAL/URGENT POLITICAL PROPOSAL
Dear Sir
First we must solicit your confidence in this issue. This is by virtue as being utterly confidential and "top secret".
We are SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON, the wife of the former United States head of state, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, and also SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN, friend and associate of current head of state PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH. We got your contact through business inquiries as we were searching for contacts of a citizen who can help save our and our family's political careers since our country has been frustrating us.
We are top officials of the United States Senate Government who are interested in importation of oil into our country with funds that are presently trapped in the FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION TRUST FUND dedicated to improving transportation. We wish to send this money to overseas accounts in the MIDDLE EAST but cannot due to restrictions in Congress Transportation Equity Act requiring that this money must be spent to build roads, bridges and high speed trains.
If you accept we will deliver to your a sum of 30 DOLLARS in the summer 2008 in form of a "GAS TAX HOLIDAY". You will then deliver this money to accounts of our friends in Middle East by taking it to your nearby gasoline station where they have information to forward the money. Please supply your bank account, social security number, address and your vote in DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES AND NOVEMBER GENERAL ELECTION.

That? That's HILARIOUS (if you've ever gotten the email, you'll know why, but here's a better explanation.) More here.

(via Swampland)

This is as close as I got to the real Nighthawks

2008-05-02T21:45:00.001-04:00

This is as close as I got to the real Nighthawks
Originally uploaded by Gus Dahlberg

This one's for mom

2008-05-02T20:49:00.001-04:00

This one's for mom
Originally uploaded by Gus Dahlberg

Night of the Crane

2008-05-02T08:59:00.001-04:00

Night of the Crane
Originally uploaded by Gus Dahlberg

Ah, Chicago.

2008-04-30T16:30:00.001-04:00

Ah, Chicago.
Originally uploaded by Gus Dahlberg

Oh Frak

2008-04-07T13:45:00.001-04:00

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

(via Spencer Ackerman)

How'd That Happen?

2008-03-21T13:37:00.003-04:00

Back momentarily to bring you this moment of joy from New York City television news:

GLORIOUS. (via TNR)

See also: my dad's favorite newscaster/interviewer bring the pain to FOX & FRIENDS. Those are some seriously uncomfortable looks on the left side of the screen, but Wallace DOESN'T EVEN BLINK. That guy's awesome sometimes.

dc Endorses?

2008-02-14T21:48:00.002-05:00

Well, all I know is, Barack Obama warmed up my car for me.

(just keep clicking, you'll get it.)

If Adventure Has a Name

2008-02-14T12:37:00.001-05:00

As penance for you not being able to see the last video, here's the first trailer for INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, due May 22:

The Classics

2008-02-12T09:23:00.000-05:00

Fitting that this comes in Oscar month: the cast of SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS dub classic movies:

[via waxy]

Changes!

2008-02-01T10:01:00.000-05:00

Be patient with it at first -- it takes about a minute to ramp up, but it's totally worth it.

(via Elliot Van Buskirk at WIRED's Listening Post)

SOTD - If You're Happy and You Know It

2008-01-31T19:46:00.000-05:00

Carl's back with another Song of the Day.

There might be a little political bias in our household.

Dance Dance Bear

2008-01-29T14:38:00.001-05:00

I was just going to let this clip from a student who was dissatisfied with the level of his animation instruction slide by the first time I saw it a couple of weeks ago, but Andy Baio linked to it again and I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING AT IT. Hit the link for the context and interview with the animator.

The Invisible Primary

2008-01-28T13:07:00.000-05:00

I've cracked on Buckeye State Blog in the past, but they seem like they've stepped up their game in the last few months -- definitely leaning, but at least informatively leaning. And this roundup of Ohio Democratic "superdelegates" and their anticipated votes is some crackerjack work, frankly. Kudos.

You're Welcome, America

2008-01-25T18:02:00.000-05:00

Eeeny, meeny, miney, moe...

[source]

Hello Everybodeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

2008-01-24T13:04:00.000-05:00

Howzcum I have to find out about Sesame Street Videos from Andrew Sullivan's blog, of all places?

And also, howzcum SSV doesn't allow for embedded videos? Seriously! Even hulu lets you put clips online, and I'm guessing that they're a bit more concerned with prevention of wholesale IP theft than Sesame Workshop is...

Huh. Anyway -- awesome.