Well, It IS August...

Thank Illyria It's Friday!

"Bleat at me no longer, human! Fetch me a craft beer!"

AYFKM?

You may safely assume that this section's heading is not suggesting the "polite" version of the acronym. I mean this version. Honestly, there are times when I'm convinced that the entire online community is a vast progressive conspiracy to make my head explode.

"Wow. Who would have figured that one?"

 Shut your pipe, quadruped...

Anyway, I was just minding my own business yesterday, not bothering anybody (much), when...

My serious answer: No, we shouldn't stop using a perfectly ordinary and widely-used term just because some of your delicate flower friends "associate" it with something. You (and any like-minded friends you might have) need to grow right the fuck up, and realize that trying to purge language of words and phrases that bother YOU is anti-intellectual, and contrary to the very idea of "language" to begin with. It makes some people feel powerful to be able to chivvy and harass other people this way, but essentially it is just a manifestation of the totalitarian impulse. It should be vigorously resisted. Does that answer your question?

Sometimes, I swear...

"The stupid, it burns!"

Feast Day

"Thanks for the shout-out!"

Today is the Feast Day of St. Augustine of Hippo, Doctor of the Church and one of my intellectual heroes.

His best-known work is Confessions, but
in these times when the very notion of citizenship is under attack from multiple compass points, I think reading his  
City of God would be more helpful to most people.

After receiving the relics of St. Augustine at the Vatican in November 2004, Pope Saint John Paul II found viewing them so powerful he composed a special prayer to mark the occasion.

Things That Make Me Happy: Domination Edition

Yesterday afternoon my beloved Kansas City Royals wrapped up a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles with a 5-3 victory at Kauffman Stadium that wasn't so close as the final score indicated. The victory gave the Royals the series win 3-1.

Yordano Ventura was utterly dominant for the Royals, holding the Orioles scoreless for his six innings, allowing only two hits and striking out 11. The score was 4-0 when he departed, and even though the bullpen wobbled in the 7th and the 9th, Ventura's record improved to 9-7, 4.41 ERA. This was the Yordano the Royals will need when the post-season begins.

"Bye bye, birdies!"

The Royals finish up August with a three-game series in Tampa Bay over the weekend and an off day on Monday before beginning a 9-game homestand to start September. These games will all be against Central Division opponents: the Detroit Tigers, the Chicago White Sox, and Minnesota Twins.

"Careful, people might start mistaking you for an optimist."

That seems highly unlikely, but I will keep my eye on it...

Wild Kingdom Bed & Breakfast Update

Have I mentioned how difficult it is to get pictures of the guests at the B&B?

"Damned paparazzo!"

Thanks, Scott...and Good Luck!

Yesterday afternoon I learned that one of my favorite comic strips, Basic Instructions, has ended. The strip was produced by the delightfully off-kilter mind of Scott Meyer. I'll let him tell you what comes next...

Until Next Time...

The process by which I select the music for these send-offs is pretty wide open. Some days, there's a connection to something I wrote about earlier in a post. Other days, there's an anniversary of some sort that gives me an idea. More often than you might imagine, it's nothing more complicated than my hearing a piece of music for the first time in awhile as I'm watching a TV show or movie.

And then there's my sentimental side. Someone very dear to me is visiting this weekend, and to honor his arrival I have selected one of his favorite pieces of music. Today's send-off is a performance of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047 (3rd Movement--Allegro assai) by the Münchener Bach-Orchester. I'm partial to this piece myself because it was used as theme music for my hero William F. Buckley, Jr.'s public affairs debate/interview program Firing Line, which ran for 33 years, 28 of them on PBS.

Enjoy...