|link| Posted 7:11 PM by Brian Linse

Man on the Fucking Moon

Unlike some young bloggers, I am old enough to remember the day, 33 years ago today, that Man first set foot on the Moon. I was very young, but I remember vividly the impact that this event had on my psyche.

Though I couldn't have expressed it then, the following excerpt from The Onion presents Our Dumb Century sums up my feelings at the time:

HOLY SHIT
MAN WALKS ON FUCKING MOON

Monday, July 21st 1969
THE MOON---Jesus fucking Christ.

The distant, lonely, mysterious satellite that has fascinated mankind since the dawn of time is distant and lonely no more.

At 4:17 p.m. EST yesterday, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. touched down on the Sea of Tranquility in the lunar module Eagle and radioed back to Earth the historic report: "Jesus fucking Christ, Houston. We're on the fucking Moon." [...]

What follows is a partial transcript of the radio communication between the astronauts on the Moon's Tranquility Base and NASA personnel at mission control on Earth:

TRANQUILITY BASE: This is Tranquility Base. The Eagle has landed. Jesus H. Christ, Houston. We're on the fucking Moon. Over.
HOUSTON: Roger, Tranquility, we copy you. We cannot believe you are on the fucking Moon. Repeat: Cannot fucking believe it. Over.
TRANQUILITY: It was a smooth touchdown. The Moon, for Christ's sake, the Moon. Over.
HOUSTON: Roger that. You're clear for T1, walking on the Moon. Over.
TRANQUILITY: We copy. Walking on Moon. Jesus. Over.
HOUSTON: You're cleared to hook up Lunar Equipment Conveyor. To walk (pause) fucking walk on the Moon. Over.
TRANQUILITY: LEC attached. Platform lined up. Checking ingress. Over. [...]
HOUSTON: You're clear, Tranquility. Proceed. Over. [...]
TRANQUILITY: I'm on the bottom rung of the ladder. Just one more step, and I'm... (long pause)
HOUSTON: Tranquility?
TRANQUILITY: Holy (pause) living (long pause) fuck. (Long pause) Fuck!
HOUSTON: Tranquility, do you copy?
TRANQUILITY: Are you fucking believing this? Over.
HOUSTON: We read you. Over.
TRANQUILTIY: I abso-fucking-lutely am standing on the surface of the fucking Moon. I am talking to you from the god-damned fucking Moon. Jesus H. Christ in a chicken basket.
HOUSTON: Holy Shit.

While the folks at The Onion may have made some errors with regard to the exact wording of the transcript, I've never read an account that so perfectly sums up my feelings at the time. Happy Anniversary Neil and Buzz.

|link| Posted 10:58 PM by Brian Linse

Quote of the Day

Dawn Olsen over at Up Yours:

None of that silly deep-throat crap you see in pornos, this is artistic expression, not a Monster Truck Rally.

Baby should write a book...

|link| Posted 10:02 PM by Brian Linse

The Rare Genius of O-Dub

Here's today's funniest thing you will read.

|link| Posted 9:53 PM by Brian Linse

Wacky Zacky

Tony and Will have the insights on the cute little game that Zacarias Moussaoui is playing over in Judge Brinkema's courtroom. It's a topic that I feel should be getting more attention in the mainstream press.

By the way, it sure is great to have these two guys working off of each other agian. Viva QuasiPundit !

|link| Posted 9:42 PM by Brian Linse

Leaning Left

Kevin Raybould is back to, almost too easily, dissect a particularly lame column by William Saletan. Once again, it's a Lefty Bashing party, this time in MSNBC cyberspace. Saletan is so weak on this effort the folks at MSNBC.com should stop payment on the check.

While you are at Lean Left reading Raybould's post, take some time to look around his site. It's one of my favorite new Liberal blogs.

|link| Posted 12:54 AM by Brian Linse

Exodus

Matthew Yglesias is the latest to parachute off of Blogspot and onto his own domain. Matt, it seems, is also a Movable Type convert. Nice clean and lean looking page! Adjust your links and bookmarks for:

http://www.matthewyglesias.com/

I have to say that I've not personally had any trouble using BloggerPro with my own domain. Most of the Blogger glitches seem to be with the Blogspot hosting part of the equation. It seems, however, that MT offers more toys to sex up your site, (I still can't figger out what TrackBack is), but I've heard of a few people having difficulty with their MT templates.

Yet, the exodus continues.

I plan on staying with BloggerPro for the time being, and I've even continued to buy off the occasional Blogspot banner to help support Ev.

In spite of all the recent difficulties, there can be no doubt that Ev is someone to whom we all owe a great deal.

|link| Posted 3:31 PM by Brian Linse

Orwell and Post Modernism

Check out a very interesting debate going on over at Armed Liberal.

|link| Posted 3:26 PM by Brian Linse

Need A Chuckle?

THIS is the funniest thing you will read all day.

|link| Posted 2:19 PM by Brian Linse

Thank You Jeebus !

Ken Layne is returned! He's redesigned the site a bit, and is catching some sleep before resuming normal operations.

Meanwhile, Jeffy G and the P-Wiz team are in web hosting hell, so if the site is MIA do not fear, they are working on it.

|link| Posted 4:14 AM by Brian Linse

Team Sami Has A New Home

The boys and girls of Libertarian Samizdata have a new domain and a new look. Update your bookmarks and links. http://www.samizdata.net/blog/

The new design is nice, but I would have preferred a background of Samizchicks pics.

|link| Posted 2:33 PM by Brian Linse

AN OPEN LETTER IN SUPPORT OF THE PEOPLE OF IRAN
FROM THE WEBLOGGING COMMUNITY

We are not politicians, nor are we generals. We hold no power to dispatch diplomats to negotiate; we can send no troops to defend those who choose to risk their lives in the cause of freedom.

What power we have is in our words, and in our thoughts. And it is that strength which we offer to the people of Iran on this day.

Across the diverse and often contentious world of weblogs, each of us has chosen to put aside our differences and come together today to declare our unanimity on the following simple principles:

- That the people of Iran are allies of free men and women everywhere in the world, and deserve to live under a government of their own choosing, which respects their own personal liberties

- That the current Iranian regime has failed to create a free and prosperous society, and attempts to mask its own failures by repression and tyranny

We do not presume to know what is best for the people of Iran; but we are firm in our conviction that the policies of the current government stand in the way of the Iranians ability to make those choices for themselves.

And so we urge our own governments to turn their attention to Iran. The leaders and diplomats of the world's democracies must be clear in their opposition to the repressive actions of the current Iranian regime, but even more importantly, must be clear in their support for the aspirations of the Iranian people.

And to the people of Iran, we say: You are not alone. We see your demonstrations in the streets; we hear of your newspapers falling to censorship; and we watch with anticipation as you join the community of the Internet in greater and greater numbers. Our hopes are with you in your struggle for freedom. We cannot and will not presume to tell you the correct path to freedom; that is for you to choose. But we look forward to the day when we can welcome your nation into the community of free societies of the world, for we know with deepest certainty that such a day will come.

[via Random Jottings]

|link| Posted 7:22 PM by Brian Linse

Tower Of Power Bassist Needs Help

Rocco Prestia, legendary bassist for the band Tower of Power, is suffering from Hepatitis C and is in need of a liver transplant.

A medical fund has been established to accept donations. If you would like to help Rocco, information can be found at his website. The Tower of Power website has information as well.

Rocco's distinctive 16th note bass lines have propelled the Tower for many years, and he is one of the players that the more famous bassists you've heard of look up to with respect. I met him once, unexpectedly, many years ago at the factory of bass amp maker SWR, and I had to try very hard not to wet my pants. Rocco is a true original and a musical inspiration to many.

Please help if you can. And spread the word.



The fund accepts PayPal.

|link| Posted 4:04 PM by Brian Linse

Dick In A Tight Spot

And in this case, that ain't good.

Looks like VP Dick is gonna have some splainin' to do. Atrios has the link.

Let the speculation on who will run with 43 in '04 begin! I nominate Rudy G!

|link| Posted 3:01 PM by Brian Linse

Welch In The News

The Daily News, that is. I checked out Matt's Blog to see if the company of fellow bloggers had inspired him to return. There I found a link to a new column in the Los Angeles Daily News about the LAX July 4th shooting and the way that LA mayor James Hahn and the local FBI screwed the pooch.

Matt says they treated us like children and lied to us. He's right, of course, and he has some interesting ideas about why they may have done that.

Welch remembers the debacle of the EgyptAir 990 investigation, which is covered in a must read Atlantic article from November 2001, and a web only interview with the author of the article. After you read Welch in the Daily News, check out these two Atlantic pieces.