A life story in two sentences:

"Mom & Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. He was eighteen, she was sixteen and I was three."

~ Billie Holiday ~







Australian Open tennis. Do the women hit the ball harder today than the men did 20 years ago?

If Carmelo Anthony joined a Kibbutz for a month or at the very least visited with Bill Russell for a few days, might he then better understand the concept of sharing?

Does television watching cause hangovers? I have no evidence, but I suspect it does.

Some countries name their airports after national heroes—is the U.S. the only one to name an airport after someone who just acted like one in the movies?

Got to work today. Over 100 e-mails. 3 are important. The rest is junk. I delete them As I always do. As I have been for years. Trouble is, it takes about 15 minutes to check what's junk and what's not. When you get stuff by snail mail or by phone and you don’t respond, they will eventually give up…because it costs them money to keep after you that way…on the internet is costs them virtually nothing. So does that mean junk e-mail WILL NEVER STOP?

Sometimes I wake up to radio station playing a sound bite from a political candidate or some such human impersonator that I hit the snooze button harder and faster than is probably recommended in the user’s manual. For next hour or so I’m in a foul mood. Should I switch to classical music, the buzzer, or rely on my internal clock?

If you can make it there, you’ll make it anywhere…?
Got a cab on 50th and Broadway— went to 28th and 5th. Total travel time: 27 minutes.




Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.
--Daniel Patrick Moynihan

GINGRICH: "When I was speaker, we had four consecutive balanced budgets."

FACTS: Actually Newt, it was two. And what exactly do you mean by “we”?

ROMNEY: "President Barack Obama's $814 billion economic stimulus program "didn't create private-sector jobs."

FACTS: According to an August 2011 report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, between 1.2 million and 3.7 million full-time-equivalent jobs were created last year because of the stimulus.

SANTORUM: "One of (my proposals) would be to be able to deduct losses from the sale of your home. Right now you can't do that. You have to pay gains, depending on the amount, but you can't deduct the losses, as other capital losses can be."

FACTS: That’s cause the tax code is already stacked in favor of home ownership. Under federal law, when you sell your private residence, you can make up to $250,000 in profit — $500,000 if you are married — and not owe any capital gains taxes. That's a helluva break and one that doesn’t apply if you’re selling stocks or works of art.

ME: When I was in college there was far less partying and drinking on campus than there is today…

FACTS: …but the drinking age was 18, so we went off campus to bars—and since there was so much more pot and other drugs available we didn’t have to drink so much since we were usually stoned on other things.

And all I did was look it up…except for the last one, which only required a moment of honest reflection. All in all, took me less than 5 minutes…which gives me an…

Idea. Someone like Jon Stewart or Colbert should host a show where you watch the debate and a bunch of researchers are on hand to do a quick fact check on every statement. Viewers could play along at home. Big prizes go to those who catch most lies/distortions. Prizes could include trip to political convention where they could perform the same service at the event. How cool—an American Idol whistleblower instead of a singer.


"Was on my way home last night and stopped at one of my favorite haunts. It's the Mercantile Library. on 47th off Madison. It was founded in 1820 and it still looks the same as it did then. To walk in there and comb the shelves in the back or browse through racks out front is like stepping back in time and getting a taste for what it was like when books and literature were regarded as cultural treasures worthy of the highest regard and care. When the weather permits, they roll out four or five carts to the sidewalk where I have found buried treasures more often than not. I discovered Michael Malone there and at least a dozen others. And last night I popped in to see if I could find a copy of a collection of Melville stories that I thought I had spotted on a previous visit, but when I got to the racks in back, they were blocked by a portable coat rack packed from end to end with winter wear. Had times become so desperate that they were now selling used clothing? I enquired as the sound of laughter rolled down the stairs from above. Seems it was to accommodate the hundred or so people upstairs who had come to hear ....Elmore Leonard. Yowza! The Man. Dutch himself!
I headed upstairs and joined the throng. He's aged, he's slowed down, but he's still good. And funny. And never hesitant to cut through the bull and pretension and call it like he sees it. But like all these things, it's makes me a bit uncomfortable watching people I admire having to slog through stuff he's probably said a thousand times before and listening to people asking questions that are intended to call attention to themselves--and I always feel the guest of honor is trying to be gracious and patient and would probably prefer to be almost anywhere else except for the fact that such events are part of the game of selling books. So I thought I'd just grab my coat and go as soon as it was over and not stick around for the meet and greet and book signing part. But then I thought, hey, I'll buy the book and if I can get it signed, that would be kinda cool too. So I got on line and watched as those in front of me took their sweet time chatting with the great man (who looked tired and on the verge of packing it in) and thought about whether I should say something when it was my turn or just give him a quick salute to shorten the discomfort for us both. As it came to be my turn, I handed him the book and said: " Thanks for all the great reads--did you enjoy this evening?" I don't know why I added the question, I guess I really did want to engage him at some level even briefly. He looked up at me and said " I like to think of myself as a gentleman..." and then he looked over to the woman sitting next to him, who I assumed was a representative of the library or his publisher--and then turned back to me and added "...so I cannot give you an honest answer." I laughed. And so did a few others who heard him. He signed the book and I saluted him again and was on my way.

David Graeber teaches at Goldsmiths, University of London, and has authored several books – most recently, Debt: The First 5,000 Years. Graeber points out that, in the midst of the financial crash of 2008, enormous debts between banks were renegotiated. Yet only a fraction of troubled mortgages have gotten the same treatment.

He said:
"Debts between the very wealthy or between governments can always be renegotiated and always have been throughout world history. … It's when you have debts owed by the poor to the rich that suddenly debts become a sacred obligation, more important than anything else. The idea of renegotiating them becomes unthinkable."

Clarke and Dawe. These guys are good. And prolific. Started doing bits like this in the late 80s. Like Bob and Ray (for those of us who remember them) but more pointed and politically focused. Lots to choose from on YouTube…here’s a taste.





M I T T

a : a woman's glove that leaves the fingers uncovered
b : mitten
c : a baseball catcher's or first baseman's glove made in the style of a mitten
slang : hand.

Examples of MITT
The children bundled up in hats and mitts
He can hold anything in those big mitts of his.

Origin of MITT
short for mitten
First Known Use: 1757

Rhymes with MITT:
bit, bitt, brit, Brit, chit, dit, fit, flit, frit, git, grit, hit, it, kit, knit, lit, nit, pit, quit, shit, sit, skit, slit, snit, spit, split, Split, sprit, teat, tit, twit, whit, wit, writ, zit

also:

Military Transition Team or MiTT. Members of the 1st Infantry Division's 1st and 3rd Brigade Combat Teams support the MiTT mission by training Army, Air Force and Navy NCOs and officers to teach, coach and advise Iraqi and Afghan security forces.

Focus MITTS…(also called focus pads, coaching pads, punch mitts and target pads) are flat, hand-held pads that are about 12 inches in diameter.

Morgan Interview Thematic Technique. Or The MITT.
Developed by Dr. Raymond Morgan
A Criminal Interviewing TechniqueFor Use in Detection of Deception Interviews

Mobile Interval Training Timer (MITT Registration Code) Interval training timer for mobile phone

MOS

Movie biz trivia. MOS is the term used in film and Video production when something is being shot without sound.
Accepted wisdom has it that in the early days of Hollywood, many directors were German or of German extraction--and when they shot without sound they would pronounce the phrase as "Mit out sound". However some say this is legend and that MOS actually stands for Motor Only Sync. So next time you're crashing a movie set and someone tells you to keep quiet, you can tell them that you thought they were shooting MOS, and they'll think you're part of the crew.