Victimized Guitarist served up cold revenge to careless airline.

Guitarist Dave Carroll was distressed when United Airlines damaged his Taylor guitar, and wouldn't pay for the damage. Anyone who plays music seriously knows that this is an extremely serious matter. Musicians spend years getting comfortable with their instruments and they plan on using a good instruments for a lifetime. A good instrument becomes an extension of you. This story really hit a nerve, because I had a similar experience on American Airlines about 7 years ago. I was transporting a classical style Taylor guitar from Missouri to Maine to perform for a friend's wedding (BTW, Taylor makes great guitars, as Dave and I both know). Out of the airplane window I saw some moron slamming my guitar case onto the top of a luggage cart on the tarmac. It was totally needless and vicious. I was outraged. When I got the guitar back in Maine, the case was banged up, a latch had been ripped from the hard shell case and the internal microphone battery had been jolted out of the internal battery-holder. Why did I entrust my guitar to the airline? Because they had told me that checking it was the ONLY way to transport my guitar. On the way back to Missouri, I got my way and gate checked it. This episode left me with a bad feeling. Now I feel better, though, because Dave Carroll went to a lot of trouble to tell his story in detail. The song goes on for awhile (probably an indication of the intensity of his frustration), but you'll get the idea within a minute or two. Cute video to go with the music. Way to go, Dave!

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Sarah Palin resigns

Yes, it's true. Sarah Palin resigned today. Although the collective political IQ in America just went up about fifty points, the Alaskan moose just became a little bit more endangered. Here's PZ's take (presumably with apologies to Monty Python & The Holy Grail):

Brave Dame Sarah ran away. ("No!") Bravely ran away away. ("I didn't!") When danger reared it's ugly shead, She bravely turned her tail and fled. ("no!") Yes, brave Dame Sarah turned about ("I didn't!") And gallantly she chickened out. Bravely taking ("I never did!") to her feet, She beat a very brave retreat. ("all lies!") Bravest of the braaaave, Dame Sarah! ("I never!")
Yeah, I LOL'd. We'll miss ya Sair ... you betcha.

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Yea, Though He Walks Through the Shadow of Nooky

I felt sympathy for Mark Sanford at first. I did. Gone are the days when journalists would respect a politician's private life: it must be awful to live in the D.C. fishbowl. And, after all, he wasn't just screwing around. The guy fell in love. We can all relate to that. But Sanford lost me when he compared himself to King David. I mean, c'mon. King David? (Does that sort of thing really work with "values voters"? Do they think, Oh, yeah--Governor Sanford is just like King David, who was J.C.'s ancestor, sort of, and a great king and a really nifty songwriter, so let's let Sanford keep his job, at least until his son starts sleeping with his concubines--?) Talk about hubris. Anyhoo. Chris Kelly blogs for the Huffington Post and writes for Bill Maher and is, IMHO, one of the funniest men in America. Yesterday, on HuffPo, Kelly posted a piece about Sanford titled God is My Doorman, which highlights Governor Itchypant's egomania and translates some of his Godspeak. Enjoy. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-kelly/god-is-my-doorman-mark-sa_b_223472.html

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