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News, culture, and politics. Not necessarily in that order.

 

Entries from April 2008

Larry King on the Other Larry King: Day of Silence PSA

Posted by Ocelopotamus on April 25th, 2008 at 1:37 pm

Very cool — CNN’s Larry King records a PSA in honor of his murdered namesake, in support of the 12th annual Day of Silence organized by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

 
Previously on Ocelopotamus:
• Death by Flirting
 

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Tags: News · Politics · Culture · LGBT · Media · TV · Human Rights · Video · Hate Crimes · Education · Homophobia · Transgender

With Six You Get Blogroll

Posted by Ocelopotamus on April 22nd, 2008 at 12:46 pm

So yesterdoodle, as part of my ongoing efforts to get the Ocelopotamus back to full health and vitality, I finally got around to overhauling the blogroll (that’s that tall snaky thing over to the right that looks like a list of nonsensical words and phrases!) with some links that I’ve been accumulonimbusing for a stoat’s […]

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Tags: Blogroll · Meta · Politics · Culture · Music · Blogs · Journal · Chicago · New Wave · Internet · Books · Oobleck · Neo-Futurists · Animals & Environment · Mike Scott & The Waterboys · Even in Blackouts · Modern Rock · Vegetarian & Vegan

Comical Cartoon Comics

Posted by Ocelopotamus on April 22nd, 2008 at 2:17 am

Because I haven’t brought you your funnies in a while …
• Tom the Dancing Bug’s Super-Fun-Pak Comix.
… T’Aint no evolution!
• Matt Bors: Let’s ask a multi-millionaire who sounds like a redneck!
… Ya follow?
• Opus: What to take if your nipples shoot sparks.
• Tom Toles: Constructing the angry tea-drinking elitist.
• Dinosaur Comics: literally kind of funny. […]

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Tags: Politics · Culture · Books · Comics · Nature

Thank You, Bob (or, That Flag Pin Won’t Get You Into Heaven Any More)

Posted by Ocelopotamus on April 20th, 2008 at 2:40 pm

Bob Schieffer attempts to explain it slowly and clearly for George Stephanopoulos. It probably won’t do any good, but I love him for trying.
And seriously — it’s beyond tragic that this sort of thing even needs to be said, but clearly it does.

 
Via this diary.
I like the parallel Mr. Schieffer draws here between public […]

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Tags: Meta · Politics · Culture · Music · Barack Obama · Folk · Video · 2008 Election · Religion · Journalism · Elections

The Kids Are Hall Right

Posted by Ocelopotamus on April 20th, 2008 at 11:22 am

I’m pretty geeked about the current Kids in the Hall tour, and the fact that I actually have a ticket in hand for their May 29 show at the Chicago Theatre. I’ve never gotten to see them live before, because on their previous trips to Chicago I was always performing with the Neo-Futurists or something […]

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Tags: Culture · Comedy · Film · Performance · Kids in the Hall

Condi Must Go

Posted by Ocelopotamus on April 16th, 2008 at 11:12 am

I’ll say this for Condoleeza Rice — she does an outstanding job of making the case against herself.
Watch her effectively prosecute herself on video:

 
Read this diary for context.
Visit CondiMustGo.com for more info and to sign the online petition.
 

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Tags: Politics · George W. Bush · Activism · Torture · Human Rights · Video · Law · Justice System

Bitter

Posted by Ocelopotamus on April 11th, 2008 at 8:31 pm

This is just sublime.

 
Man, he knows how to talk back.
In fact, I have no choice but to haul out the Oh Snap Flowchart:

(Swiped from this diary.)
 

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Tags: News · Politics · Democrats · Barack Obama · Hillary Clinton · John McCain · Video · 2008 Election · The Economy, Stupid

B-52’s Funplex Roundup

Posted by Ocelopotamus on April 9th, 2008 at 6:16 am

So the new B-52’s album Funplex has been out for a couple of weeks now and is getting hot-pink rave reviews everywhere. Of course all during the recent period when I was busy not blogging I was wanting to post all sorts of breathless updates and links about it. But the truth is Astralwerks seems […]

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Tags: News · Culture · Music · Chicago · LGBT · New Wave · The B-52's · Film · TV · Video

Torch

Posted by Ocelopotamus on April 8th, 2008 at 4:05 am

I’ve said this many times in the past, and I’m sure I’ll say it again in the future:
God bless Peter Tatchell.
Towleroad:
Gay activist Peter Tatchell was one of dozens detained in various protests over the weekend surrounding the transit of the Olympic flame through London, including one dramatic moment in which the torch was nearly snatched […]

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Tags: News · Politics · Culture · LGBT · Activism · Human Rights · China

Blue Angel, Red Hot

Posted by Ocelopotamus on April 8th, 2008 at 3:40 am

The folks over at Popdose have a nice feature up about Cyndi Lauper’s early rockabilly band, Blue Angel, including a few songs from the sole Blue Angel album in Mavis Pickles the Third format.
I love almost everything Ms. Lauper has done, but I have to say: the Blue Angel album is just transcendent and […]

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Tags: Culture · Music · Blogs · LGBT · New Wave · Cyndi Lauper · The B-52's

Schadenfreudian Hillarity

Posted by Ocelopotamus on April 8th, 2008 at 2:41 am

In case you haven’t seen any of these yet, my pals at Schadenfreude (who I love despite the fact that they terrify me sometimes) are doing a good job of capturing the current logic of the Hillary campaign in video.

 
These are turning up all over Greater Blogistania and one of the other installments in […]

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Tags: News · Politics · Culture · Blogs · Chicago · Comedy · Democrats · Barack Obama · Hillary Clinton · Fringe · Performance · Video · 2008 Election · Elections

Out of the Lightfoot Closet

Posted by Ocelopotamus on April 7th, 2008 at 3:42 am

I just discovered that talented local singer-songwriter John Greenfield — who, by way of mentioning it, performed in the second-ever edition of The Partly Dave Show back in 2003 — has an eloquent writeup of a recent Gordon Lightfoot show in Waukegan over on Gaper’s Block.
I suppose I’ve been a Gordon Lightfoot fan since […]

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Tags: Music · The Partly Dave Show · Folk · Folk-Rock

Freedom Is Slavery (Doubleplus for Iraqi Women)

Posted by Ocelopotamus on April 6th, 2008 at 11:41 pm

Newsweek on what life is like for women in Iraq in these days of the glorious surge:
The insurgents have been driven out of her southwest Baghdad neighborhood, but the 30-year-old shop assistant is still frightened. A year ago Al Qaeda in Iraq ruled the streets outside her home, and Mahdi Army militia units kept the […]

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Tags: News · Politics · Peace · Iraq · Foreign Policy · Feminism

Andy White at the Celtic Knot, 3/30/08: Follow-Up

Posted by Ocelopotamus on April 6th, 2008 at 5:21 am

Well, the Andy White show I posted about last Sunday was lovely. It was a shockingly intimate setting, a cozy and beautifully decorated back room at the Celtic Knot where Andy played for a group of about 20 of us, and he was just as charming and entertaining as any Andy fan would expect.
He […]

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Tags: Culture · Music · Journal · Chicago · Performance · Lit · Mike Scott & The Waterboys · Ireland · Celtic · Folk-Rock · Reviews