mcgees.org

Check out the section on my sidebar (to the right) called “Sleeve”.  The meaning being, of course, that I’m wearing my causes on my sleeve.  But I was this close to calling the section “.org-y”.

Um, wow?  Did Gmail just double its disk quota overnight?  It’s showing a 6341 MB, and I would have sworn it was about 2800 MB a few days ago.  I’m back down to 26% utilization, and hoping against hope that the quotas continue to grow faster than my email volume (I’ve already turned off every mailing list that’s being archived on a website, as that was quickly creeping up on the quota.)

Also, I’m very surprised that quotas is the plural of quota, and not quotae or something.

Recently, there have been a rash of reported scuffed, horizontal tears that vertically bisect the postage stamps on domestic U.S. mail.  It can appear as a scuff, a tear, or a scratch, but invariably shows up as a ragged white line across the middle of the stamps.

They are caused by automatic mail processing equipment used by the USPS, specifically facing and canceling equipment.  The USPS claims the devices are not malfunctioning, that this an occasional part of their normal operation.

The good news: I’m buying them for a modern mail philatelic exhibit.  If you have these, if the tops aren’t too ragged (opened by a letter opener is best, tears on the stamps from opening the letter are a no-go), send them to me unfolded in a slightly larger envelope (keep it no larger than 11 1⁄2″ × 6 1⁄8″ to save you money) and I’ll send you $1 face in mint U.S. postage for each.  If you’re sending US letters addressed overseas, make it a U.S. International Reply Coupon with a clear CDS (to redeem, keep, or sell) each.  Limit 3 per address.

Send to:

McGee
ATTN: Scuffed Stamps
3763 E Colorado Blvd # 151
Pasadena CA  91107-3808

Email me at stamps (at) mcgees (dot) org if you want references or my American Philatelic Society membership number.

Please don’t fake them.  I have enough exemplars to make it clear which are authentic, and/but if I were to miss one, it would decrease the quality of my exhibit.

Sneaky way to get lots of good stuff into a four-year-old:  Juice together

* 4 carrots
* 1 orange, peeled
* 1 grapefruit, peeled
* 1 Fuji apple
* 1 orange bell pepper

Very sweet, very yummy, very orange, and gets the nutrients of a ripe bell pepper into his system, which otherwise would be very difficult.

Niall, to Jenn:  Do you like sweet gopher poop?

Jenn:  Er, no.

Joshua:  Mommy only likes sour gopher poop.

Niall, to Jenn:  Do you like sour gopher poop?

Jenn:  I really don’t like any gopher poop.

Niall:  Have you tried gopher poop?

Jenn:  Er, no.

Niall:  How do you know you don’t like gopher poop if you’ve never tried it?

The Sun tabloid (U.S. Enquirer-style, not to be confused with the U.K. publication of the same name) was at the grocery checkout of my local supermarket tonight.

INDIAN DOOMSDAY PROPHECY!, announced the headline.  There was a picture of an individual in badly-faked Native American ceremonial makeup, and a reference to an ancient burial site.  It continued: “You will never believe how and when the world will end!”

Well, considering that I’m fairly sure the concept of “billion” did not exist in any Native American civilization’s mathematics, this is almost certainly true!  Quite impressive for this publication!

Follow the link: http://www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/closeguantanamo.html

How can ShipRush for USPS be free? How does Z-Firm make money?

ShipRush for USPS is free to you, the shipper, because it is part of the ShipRush Everywhere initiative. There are no hidden costs or fees to you. There is no fine print, and there are no catches. We are sure you will like ShipRush USPS. If you ever need to ship via one of the commercial carriers, we hope you will use ShipRush.

(You smell … ‘cos you do!  You’re a twit … ‘cos you are!  ShipRush is free … ‘cos it’s free!)

Whereas H.R. 888 is a series of lies of Stalinist dimensions seeking unabashedly to create institutions of Christian nationalism;

Whereas this is completely intolerable;

Whereas our insistence in urging Muslim nations to seek secular institutions will be seen as blatantly hypocritical and, in actuality, an urging of Muslim nations just not to create Muslim institutions (”Christian” ones would be OK!);

Whereas this resolution, while not having the power of law, will inevitably be used by the reptiles in the Religious Right to further their nefarious agenda to inject Christianity into public places, schools, and courtrooms;

Whereas I’m a fucking American, and, like the majority of the Founders and Framers, not a Christian, let alone an evangelical;

Whereas this is an utter betrayal of me, and those like me, who have done great service for this country;

Whereas this is the final straw in a battle that began in earnest seven years ago reviving the despicable history of McCarthyism;

Whereas this fucking bullshit was what made the fucking founders take up fucking arms in the first fucking place; Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, that —

1. Randy Forbes can go fuck himself;
2. everyone who voted for this piece of shit can go fuck his or herself;
3. everyone who agrees that this Resolution is appropriate can fuck his or herself;
4. this means fucking war; and
4. every reader of mcgees.org who agrees with this resolution needs to be very clear that if you agree with H.R. 888, you are no friend of mine, no friend of mcgees.org, and not welcome in my home or life, any more than you would be if you used racial slurs around me.

N: Were you spraying ants?

J:  Yes.

N:  Why were there ants in the house?

J:  Because it rained.

N:  Why are there ants in the house when it rains?

J:  Do you like our roof?

N:  Yes.

J:  So do the ants.

N:  Why?

J:  Because a raindrop is very big for an ant.

N:  Why?

J:  Are ants big?

N:  Yes.

J:  They’re big?

N:  Yes.

J:  Really?

N:  Well — some ants, like Mommy and Daddy ants, are big.

Intentionally funny:  Elephant soup recipe, which calls for 1 medium elephant, 500 gallons of boiling water, and onions and potatoes by the bushel.  It lists as serving 3800 people, but if more guests show up than expected, you can add 2 chopped rabbits.

Why it’s funny:  If you’re cooking a whole elephant, two rabbits aren’t going to make a bit of difference, are they?  They’ll serve an additional 4 people, maybe.  That’s lost in the noise and overkill of the elephant recipe.

OK, that was pretty basic.  Let’s move on to The Matrix.

Unintentionally Funny:  Morpheus: The human generates more bio-electricity than 120-volt battery and over 25,000 BTUs of body heat.  Combined with a form of fusion, the machines have found all the energy they would ever need.

Why it’s funny:  If you have fusion power, you don’t really need human body heat, do you?  Just add an extra teaspoonful of water and replace all of humanity.

OK, moving right along.

Pathetically unfunny:  The MPAA rating of the David Fincher film Zodiac, which reads “Rated R for some strong killings, language, drug material and brief sexual images.”

Why it’s pathetically unfunny, and talks about how screwed up our country’s priorities are:  Shouldn’t it just need to stop at strong killings?  Is there really a parent out there who would say, “Oh, graphic images of murder?  That’s fine, as long as there’s no profanity or brief images of clothed people having sex!”  Are these four criteria really of comparable weight?  Depicting bound people being stabbed multiple times is similar enough to the “f” word to list them in the same sentence?  Isn’t all the non-killing stuff lost in the overkill of the murders?

I’m not entirely sure what he was imitating (I have guesses), but Niall laid out all of his toy foods and went grocery shopping.

“I need a hot dog,” he said.  He picked one up, and in sincere mock adult horror, he cried, “I can’t have this one!  This one is twenty dollars!”

He picked up another, identical toy hot dog.  “I can buy this one,” he says with relief.  “This one’s one dollar.”