Things are crazy busy from now until the college's commencement ceremony next Saturday. So sometimes I just need a picture of a creature that's really got life figured out.

You know what's interesting about Daredevil's murderous arch-enemy Bullseye?



He's always ready for a pie fight.

I'm a bad voter. When it comes to the presidential primary, North Carolina initially seemed like it was going to be a complete afterthought with both of the major parties' scrappin' matches done and decided. I'd like to claim that's what kept it off my radar, but of course we've known for some time that the donkeys would still be duking it out. Instead, I'm a spouter of that standard lazy American doggerel of being too busy to pay attention to my local politics.

firthofforth did an amazing job of pouring through a "Voter's Guide" we received to figure out who should get our household's support when it came to elected positions like Commissioner of Insurance and Superintendent of Public Instruction only to discover upon her arrival at the polling place bright and early this morning that she'd neglected to sort through the candidates for Governor and U.S. Senate. Luckily, she called to warn me about the hole in her prep work and I waited until the drive home to give me some time for added research. Since we're not talking about races that are as hotly contested as that Barack-Hilary face-off, information was hard to come by. For many of the races, I inadvertently become a single-issue voter as the only contrasting information I could find involved the individual candidates stances on immigration, which hardly seems like the most important topic around here.

I also suspect this the first time since firthofforth and I have been going to same polling station that we voted for different presidential candidates. I guess we canceled each other out.

I'll have to be a better kid when it comes to voting prep in November.

The Long of It, The Short of It
Circa 2000

The scheme behind this one should be apparent. I'd been stewing on this idea for some time before perching in front on the stereo to pull it together. This would be so much easier in the iTunes era, just for the relative ease in scanning the thousands of titles at my disposal.

SIDE ONE
THE GODFATHERS, "Just Because You're Not Paranoid Doesn't Mean To Say They're Not Going To Get You!"
In the most recent Five for Friday, the man who wears number 19 for the Cakers reminded me of this British band that had a minor hit in the late 1980's with a succinct cataloging of the rigors of life. Despite the relatively small splash they made, there was still a "best of" release, which is where I pulled this from.
BEULAH, "If We Can Land a Man on the Moon, Surely I Can Win Your Heart"
YO LA TENGO, "Ultra-Powerful Short Wave Radio Picks Up Music From Venus"
FLAMING LIPS, "Guy Who Got a Headache and Accidentally Saves The World"
The lyrics are fairly vague, but this song somehow always felt fully fleshed out to me. Like the saga of Yoshimi that eventually followed, it seems like a completely, weird short story.
LYLE LOVETT, "Ballad of the Snow Leopard and the Tanqueray Cowboy"
THE JUDYBATS, "Down in the Shacks Where the Satellite Dishes Grow"
AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB, "How Many Six Packs Does It Take To Screw In A Light?"
MANIC STREET PREACHERS, "If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next"
On the rare occasions that I invoke Manic Street Preachers in this slice of the Web, I inevitably feel like I'm pleading for forgiveness from ilikemusic for not liking them more.
THE MAGNETIC FIELDS, "The Sun Goes Down and the World Goes Dancing"
U2, "Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around the World"
BUFFALO TOM, "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here"
I dislike grammar enough that despite an Bachelor of Arts in English and this song representing one of my favorite Schoolhouse Rock's, I'm still can't tell you what an adverb is with any authority. I love those old Saturday morning lessons-in-catchy-disguise and the idea of the covers record seemed somewhat inspired at the time. It wasn't a great CD to listen to all the way through, but it was nice to have around for mixes.
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD, "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself"
MASSIVE ATTACK WITH TRACEY THORN, "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game"

SIDE TWO
DJ RAP, "Go"
DANCE HALL CRASHERS, "Go"
Ha ha, see what I did there?
NED'S ATOMIC DUSTBIN, "You"
R.E.M., "You"
Ha ha, see what I did there?
GREEN DAY, "She"
THE BREEDERS, "Hag"
VIOLENT FEMMES, "Fat"
CONCRETE BLONDE, "Sun"
GAY DAD, "Joy"
I recall pouring through the high stack of CMJ New Music Monthly compilation CD's, figuring that if I was going to make my song selections largely on the basis on the relative length of the song titles, I may as well find some stuff I wouldn't otherwise think to listen to. The name of this band is awful enough that I may have regularly bypassed them, but this song is damn catchy.
BEN FOLDS FIVE, "Army"
I probably should have tried to stick with two-letter and three-letter songs titles, but, as I recall, I really wanted to get this Ben Folds Five song on a tape. I was still several months away from a move to the south, so I didn't know that the reference to Chick-Fil-A was about an actual restaurant chain.
LIZ PHAIR, "Ride"
ANI DIFRANCO, "Itch"
BIG STAR, "Feel"
ELASTICA, "Blue"
THE REPLACEMENTS, "Otto"
Those were the days.

I just spent a ridiculously long time scouring the Interweb for images of the interior of Iron Man issue #39. Sometimes I think I really need a scanner. In this instance, it would have also been helpful to have a copy of Iron Man issue #39. All of this provides a pretty solid clue as to what movie will be reviewed in this cyberspace tomorrow.

Instead of posting that tonight, I'll indulge in my new standby for a content-light day: a random panel from "Playful Obsession"!



At least caker_66 will be happy with this entry.

There should be no shortage of songs for this topic.

As always, please play along...


( Rosebud, I swear to God you are as graceful as a capital letter S. )

America voted!...and National Smile Month, you are safe. Please head over to the couch.

Wait, that's not our format here.

Ahem...

Thirty-One Ways To Celebrate NATIONAL SMILE MONTH
(the first one is for you, studiesinsecret.)

1. Watch the best Angel episode ever.
2. Read a girl magazine.
3. Listen to an album.
4. Consider the album that never was (the solo version years later doesn't count).
5. Read a challenging book.
6. Watch a cartoon.
7. Get a tan.
8. Brush your teeth with some toothpaste made in China chock full of diethylene glycol.
9. Try out a new motto.
10. Check out some live music at the Nashville Blooming Festival.
11. Watch a movie by the finest director to hail from Waukesha, Wisconsin.
12. Read a hippie comic.
13. Read a comic about a pie-throwing cat.
14. Purchase a new vehicle.
15. Sign up your pet for a professional photo shoot.
16. Become a Quilting Angel.
17. Have a refreshing beverage.
18. Practice smoking just like daddy.
19. Enjoy one of Charlie Chaplin's most enduring creations.
20. Take initiative to enhance your learning when it comes to mathematics and science.
21. Take advice from a blue fellow, three apples tall.
22. Get your sneer on.
23. Take pleasure in seeing an ex cry.
24. Wear a sorta creepy t-shirt.
25. Head on off to Kentucky.
26. Groove on some classic jazz, daddy-o.
27. Groove at a jazz cafe in Vienna.
28. Add a nifty banner to your bedroom wall.
29. Think back to the release of Vanilla Sky.
30. Chow down on some San Francisco BBQ.
31. Do whatever.

Once again, we return to the feature that inspired the gift purchase of a paid livejournal account in the first place: a poll. With the first of a month rapidly approaching, it's time to start considering the best ways to spend the thirty-one days of May in an appropriately celebratory manner. There are so many different options for the coming calendar page that I need to turn to you, faithful friends, to determine which commemorative month to, well, commemorate.

Poll #1180024 Happy New Month for May
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

What special holiday month should be commemorated with the regular "Happy New Month" post on Thursday, May 1st?

Happy voting! Whatever is in the lead on Thursday morning will be the focus of our efforts.