Lawyers - The Scum of the Professional Classes

In general, for many the law has become a “safety” career or fallback position for those who are intelligent but not gifted enough to go into other, more substantive learned professions, like medicine, science, architecture, engineering, etc. People see law as a chance to use their verbal skills and validate their intelligence and self worth, in lieu of actually having a talent (or developing) a talent for something real.

Joe T, Recovering Lawyer,

 on the post What A Girl’s Job Tells You.

Bad Santa

Matthew Inmam has solved the riddle of What Santa Really Does While You're Asleep.

Jingle Dogs Reunion Show

You have seen their hit video now see their reunion show. Age has not been kind to the Jingle Dogs.

Too Much Drama Christmas

Anti Television Protest in Tunisia

An anti TV protest in Tunisia leads to art installation, story on France 24.

Martini Survival Kit

(from a post at Cookrookery)

Historical Learning

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to learn about it from

Oliver Stone films.

Mr I. L. in a private conversation

"Imagine Finding Meat" - Mmm

Is it wrong that I found this image appetizing? It is screen grab  from an episode of Grey's Anatomy supposedly of a liver resection. Watching my mouth watered and all I could thing about was liver and onions. I think the message is you should never watch a medical show or documentary when you are hungry.

Or you can be normal.

Where To Get Bombed In London

Bomb Sight is the perfect tool for the time traveler to London during the Blitz. Bombs are given their times and locations. It is remarkable how evenly distributed are the bomb sites across London. Looking at the above map of the bombs that fell on Westminster you could imagine in retrospect that the famous bunkers that were built, Churchill War Rooms, were probably not needed. For me the scariest thing is how the government bunkers of WWII presaged the "government continuity plans" in the nuclear age.

In the 70's Darth Vader was Superman's Trainer

The book Superman, by Larry Tye, there is a paragraph describing Christopher Reeve's training regime. The exercise and bodybuilding training plan was put together and run by "...Dave Prowse, a body builder and gym owner in London...". And who is this random "Dave". Only the honorary leader of the 501st Legion that's who.

Mad Men Grunge

In 2005 Paul Anka did an album of rock covers given jazz standards treatment, Rock Swings. This cover is more startling different than many of the covers on this album. Nirvana's fast/slow loud/quiet dynamics that so much of the song's appeal is not carried over to this cover. Instead, the lyrics have power for being comprehensible,

From a link in a post containing weird Nixon posters, "Apart from the Nixon interlude, I did intend to post this from a world where rock music never developed..." in the thread Things that look like alternate history but aren't IIa on AH.com.

George Orwell's Dickensian Existence

...in the new year[1947] he [Orwell] stayed in London for one of the coldest British winters on record and with such a national shortage of fuel that he burnt his furniture and his child's toys.

wiki entry for George Orwell.