Ostrich bite...

Yes, they do.

Why does Rush Limbaugh hate America?

Obsolete, hypocritical bigot panders to minuscule, racist fan base

Some loud mouth rabble-rousing drug addicts will say just about anything to persuade themselves that they're relevant to the national discourse. Funny how critics of Bush's obvious and compound mistakes were, in Limbaugh's mind, evil, anti-American folks, but it's patriotic, by his reckoning, to wish for the current administration's failure before they've had a chance to do anything? Yes, that's what he said. Rush Limbaugh "wants" Obama "to fail."

Can we break that down? Rush Limbaugh want unemployment and bankruptcies to rise while American businesses shut their doors forever? Rush Limbaugh wants millions of Americans to lose their homes to foreclosure? Rush Limbaugh wants veterans and civilians alike suffering for lack of adequate health care? Rush Limbaugh wants the continued suspension of Constitutional rights and American freedoms? Rush Limbaugh wants America to pour billions of dollars and the lives of young Americans into the bottomless sinkhole of an unwinnable war? Rush Limbaugh wants to garner the animosity of every other nation in the world?

Does Rush Limbaugh get a paycheck from the KKK? Who are these people who continue to encourage this hatemonger to speak publicly?

And, of course, the subtext: Rush Limbaugh wants to return to the witch hunt mentality of the 1950s HUAC red scare, and will point to the bugaboo shadow of "socialism" in a vain attempt to foment fear of change while stamping out the possibility of hope.

Or does Rush Limbaugh want the title of "Most Ignorant Person in America"? He's got my vote. I hope he succeeds. Here's a note, Rush Limbaugh: the majority of thinking Americans do not fear the word "socialism" because we know that's your shorthand for "more equal distribution of resources." It's only a frightening concept for greedy xenophobes. If Bill Gates and Warren Buffet aren't afraid of it, what's your problem?

We're going to file this one under "comedy" and move on.

Hope, from space

Satellite image of the National Mall during the inauguration.



Click image to enlarge. Click here for more inaugural satellite photography on CNET

Withdrawal plan on day one?

Are we really going to start the process of bringing the troops home immediately? We'd like to believe in this change!

Jumping Maggot Cheese?!?

I just saw this over on BoingBoing.net and felt it desperately needed to be added to InTheWeird link list.

"Casu marzu is considered toxic when the maggots in the cheese have died. Because of this, only cheese in which the maggots are still alive is eaten. When the cheese has fermented enough, it is cut into thin strips and spread on moistened Sardinian flatbread (pane carasau), to be served with a strong red wine."

WTF you say??? Well that is only where it starts to get good, then however you read this:

"Because the larvae in the cheese can launch themselves for distances up to 15 centimetres (6 in) when disturbed, diners hold their hands above the sandwich to prevent the maggots from leaping into their eyes."

This is apparently a delicacy for the Sardinian people... ok then, it is official.

Sardinian people are fricken weird.

Good News!

Arguably the coolest graphic novel in the history of using images and word bubbles to tell a speculative story, The Watchmen will actually hit the big screen more or less on schedule. Advance buzz on the film was good for fans of Alan Moore, who have seen his work turned into everything from decent-but-hardly-hitting-the-awesomeness-level-of-the-book (From Hell) to someone-ought-to-get-shot-for-bringing-this-painful-crap-into-the-world-when-the-original-was-so-awesome (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen).

Copyright disputes between Fox and Warner Bros. threatened to cancel the premiere entirely, but recently, saner heads have prevailed and the two studios have come to agreement that, yes, everyone can have some money. I would argue that stories on the level of The Watchmen belong to the world (See South Park episode 88: "Free Hat") and that as long as Moore and people actually involved in making the film get their cut, it's kind of demented for large corporations to argue about who "owns" a story.

I hope Moore uses his share to buy some spiffy new Aleister Crowley robes so he can move comfortably as he casts a spell to give all the studio execs laryngitis and hand paralysis that keep them from operating their Blackberries.

The film should premiere later this year. If you are too lazy to read books, for $19.99, you can also download the complete, uncut book as a "motion comic" from the iTunes store, with every panel intact, narrated, and slightly animated. As of this writing, I think they've gotten up to chapter 9 (of 12).

The Boy Whose Hands Were Birds

In my opinion, poetry is best read aloud. Discussion of poetry, and especially writing about poetry, always strike me as boarding a fast carriage moving in the opposite direction of where you're trying to go. Reading poetry to oneself is kind of like watching a concert with the TV on mute. But I digress. Sometimes you want to read poetry, and the author isn't there to read it to you. (Trust me; it's the best way to do poetry.)

Since we're no strangers to shameless plugs, I'm going to shamelessly plug The Boy Whose Hands Were Birds, a book of poetry by my buddy Roy Seeger, even though his wife stopped submitting to In the Weird and they wouldn't send me a free reviewer's copy. It's a good book. I don't think I've heard the author read any of these poems, but I have heard him read other poems, so I'm doing my best to imagine his voice.

And even though I'm not great at writing about poetry, I'm going to link to my review of The Boy Whose Hands Were Birds, just in case you wanted to read my three-sentence summary of a book that introduces approximately three intense images in every line.

Happy New Year!

Here's a fun site that just came to our attention: passive-aggressive notes. In the tradition of Found Magazine, but with more crabby sarcasm and less mysterious whimsy, this site showcases the unattractive side of human interaction. What happens when people with different moral codes are forced to live and work side by side? Let's find out!



In the Weird is keeping its chin up, with optimism and hope for 2009. We're looking forward to the end of this awful war and the end of this awful administration. We're going to smile through the pain when we see the occasional happy news story. We're going to remember that the news is about awful things, not because awful things are the norm, but because the news capitalizes on the sensational.

Need more of a pick-me-up? Head over to National Geographic and check out some of their excellent Best of 2009 photo compilations.