Heh. It's funny that this is up on BB now: I just recently managed to get rid of my RAZR, which I only had for a month. It failed more spectacularly than any other phone I've ever had...what a piece of crap!

Of course, it's with Verizon (if I had my way, and I don't/won't, my wife and I would use T-Mobile), and I can't help but feel like their constant firmware updates had a lot to do with its general crappiness.

On the other hand, I replaced it with a K1m, which is largely the same guts (slightly updated for newer tech) in a narrower body. I did like the way the V1m fit behind my wallet in my pocket, but both phones have the crappy, awful, lame, ugly Verizon interface (I feel like I'm waiting for a call from 2002 when I use it).

A Daewoo? Srsly? I mean, come on - at least lie on your tombstone and say you had a Merc or a BMW.

OTOH - this is proof that garish bad taste isn't limited to mobsters of the Italian-American persuasion...

malcolmkass - not a big deal? This guy is a public officer, and should be held to a higher standard than some random person who "had a bad day". Supposedly, the police work for the taxpayers, not for themselves or some abstract entity (i.e. the city, in this case); the only problem with what's happening to this cop is that, as a 17-year veteran, he's likely had other episodes in the past that went un-addressed, and his moment of reckoning is likely well overdue. If being held accountable for out-of-control behavior is such a problem for someone who supposedly enforces the law, they should get a different job, end of story.

Also, to those who might counter that Officer Roid-Rage has a dangerous job: if he only works in the Inner Harbor, that's about as close to being a mall cop as one could be in the Balto PD. Baltimore is a crime-infested hellhole (and I actually like the city), but I don't think there could be a less-dangerous beat to work than the Inner Harbor. This guy is an asshole, pure and simple.

I'm sure this will do wonders for Bawlmer's image, especially considering this is at the Inner Harbor, which was created to get tourists to return to the city (it's basically like a shiny mall in the middle of a decaying city).

I lived in Maryland for four years, and my parents have lived in the County (Baltimore Co, that is - I think the cop asks if the kid is "from the County," doesn't he? I don't want to re-watch this awfulness) for 14...and this doesn't make me want to go back!

Honestly, it doesn't matter what the pre-taping situation was, the officer's behavior is completely out-of-proportion and out-of-control. How does this help keep anyone safe?

mercermachine - I'm right there with you, I miss Austin, too. Been gone for over 4 years now...odd as it sounds, it's stories like this that make me want to go back!

On another topic, this radio station shares an FM frequency (91.7) with KVRX, the UT student station...when I was an adoptive Austinite, it disappointed me that two of the three stations worth listening to (the other being KUT, the NPR station) had to split time on the same freq. You would think in a town like Austin they'd both be able to get their own signal...

Fnarf:

vodka is horrible stuff. Real liquor has, you know, flavor.

BLASPHEMY!!! (Okay, settling down now...)

It all comes down to what vodka you drink; i.e. Grey Goose or Belvedere or such, as opposed to something clear in a plastic bottle.

The former (and others of their ilk) are very specifically distilled spirits that have their own unique taste due to the method and ingredients involved (which is to say, I like vodka martinis and I'm VERY picky about my vodka). The latter, on the other hand, are simply watered-down grain alcohol, at least here in the States.

BTW, is the subject of this article a vodka "fan", or "enthusiast"? Because he did drink said vodka rather enthusiastically...

Madjo - agreed on the stupid rules (and this guy is and idiot, too). I used to love flying, but these days I hate it; ridiculous, arbitrary "security" procedures that do nothing but piss people off and empower some $9-an-hour lackeys to behave like complete jackasses.

As for the vodka-drinking-idiot in question: why, exactly, did he need to bring 1L of vodka back to Dresden??? I mean, not only is it in eastern Germany (where alcohol is no doubt in abundant supply), but it's right over the border from the Czech Republic and just a little further from Poland. I would think good vodka (or crappy, if you prefer) would be in plentiful supply (mmm, Belvedere).

Are the liquor taxes really that bad?

I just came back from traveling abroad (holiday in Republica Dominicana - woo-hoo!), and it reinforced to me that buying duty-free stuff is a waste of time. I like to drink, but it's not worth the hassle to save $1 or $2 on a bottle of liquor...

I love the "Maverick Spirit" tag on this article

I'm going to remember this every time I go through airport security and have to deal with that liquid-carry-on bullshit

"I thought it was the "fundies" that were home schoolng now, as they don't want their children in the "religion-free zone" of public education?"

Ken - you obviously haven't lived in Texas, because if you did you'd know that, in many parts of the state, the "fundies" control local education.

And, most of you are probably not aware: Texas is the largest state which approves all textbooks on a statewide level.

Why is this important?

The approval comes from the elected State Board of Education, and for many, many years a small minority of religious fundamentalists in the state have maintained a presence on the board. They also maintain a steadfast opposition to any textbook content that conflicts with their narrow worldview (the example I remember best is their opposition to a picture of a woman holding a briefcase).

Anyway, because textbook publishers generally won't make editions specific to each state, they wait for Texas to make their approvals, and then they print books en masse for use nationwide. Thus, a small number of religious zealots in Texas control the contents of textbooks used across the nation.

Heh, the visual setup is a humorous metaphor for the Beatles: Jon in front, controlling the action (as it were); Paul immediately behind looking alternately engaged and completely bored; George looking mostly annoyed, when he isn't obscured by everyone else; and Ringo sitting in the back, not doing much of anything. Brilliant!

Not that I haven't seen a million things-Beatles, but it's still a shock when I see them all looking so young. Especially when Paul won't go away (though I will probably kill to look 1/10th as good as he when I'm that age).

"...he splurges on...the occasional upscale cravat..."

Who the hell wears cravats anymore?

While none of this comes as any surprise to me, I fear that this is a minor issue in the bigger picture. I fear/expect that the GAO report in question [which revealed that federal agents were able to smuggle onto airplanes all of the components to construct a bomb, past security personnel following procedures correctly, no less] will be used as justification by federal authorities for MORE of the pointless "security" measures to which fliers are subjected.

The lesson here, of course, is that we need actually effective security rather than ever more elaborate rituals in humiliation and petty power-mongering. However, since the feds have yet to learn that lesson with anything else security-related (secure ports, anyone?), I don't expect they'll get it here...

I could write a dissertation on the idea of music's "disposable-ness" in the modern era, but I need to get back to work...

So, to make it [somewhat] quick: I think a lot of people miss the fact that we're bombarded with "music" in one form or another almost constantly. TV shows, advertising, the radio in our car, background music in restaurants and businesses, etc. And, with iPods and the like, we can surround/drown ourselves in music 24/7, should we desire.

(full, ironic disclosure: I type this as Pandora Radio blasts This Heat's "Repeat" into my cranium)

So, for those who don't obsess over the "art" side of music (like I do, and I'm definitely in the minority), it's little more than a piece of clothing or cheap furniture - an accessory that one may or may not notice. You have to at least sit in place and pay attention for a movie, or to play a video game (both industries, of course, dwarf the music industry in sales terms), but you can be showered with music every waking second and barely notice.

Of course, it doesn't help that by choosing venues such as MTV (which rarely presents music in any non-truncated or non-background form), ringtones, and the focus-group bland mush on commercial FM radio, the music folks have marketed themselves into a corner. But that's all an argument for another time...

Consultancy is the afterlife for political appointees...it also often can be read as "I'm not very good at this, but I'll be happy to tell you how YOU should do it, if you pay me a lot of money."

Besides, as Kokuryu pointed out, Brownie is definitely an expert at what NOT to do in a disaster situation.

I can't help but think of Ned Flanders:

"Science is like a blabbermouth who ruins the movie by telling you how it ends. Well, I say there are some things we don't want to know. Important things!"

@JIMH (#66):

Ur postur r so much awsum!!1!1!

You know, I thought of something: traffic tickets are subject to open records requests (at least I would think so, in most places). You could very easily work backwards to figure out who the complainers are (take the details and the name of the ticketing officer, then figure out to whom the ticket was written)...then you can call their respective employers and mention that they've been online complaining about not receiving proper corruption benefits from other officers. Not that the jerks would learn their lesson, but still...

There's so much irony on copswritingcops.com it might just collapse inwards on itself and become an ironic black hole...

I nominate the creators of the site for the "Dick of the Month" award - for having the temerity to bitch and whine about the crap that they put everyone else through. It's obvious cops need to write MORE tickets to other cops; perhaps, then, a few more of them will realize what arbitrary assholes they often are to the general public. Fuckwits.

I don't think there has been a time that I have more regretted moving out of Atlanta and into the suburbs...I mean, owning a house and living with my wife is nice and all, but the only competitive bowling action out our way is the hyper-competitive rednecks (usually on their way to getting hyper drunk).

Go Klingons!

What geniuses! Because, as we all know, airliner-hijacking terrorists always carry around suspicious reading material like "Jihad for Dummies" and "Realizing your Inner Terrorist in 10 Easy Steps". I'll never, ever doubt TSA or the federal government again!

I can SMELL the safety. And the freedom! (Or is that freedom fries I smell?)

"It's more like he's stressed out, and has been through one stupid interview after another..."

That's a good point, actually. And I guess it's worth remembering that the subtext of the movie is that he's already (at the point which the film is documenting) made his decision to "go electric" and make an artistic progression/transformation. Thus, the hastily-organized English tour probably forced him to play a part which he wasn't very interested in anymore...

That said, I still think he's being a jerk. From my (minute) experience as a musician, I can say with certainty that when you play music in public, idiots who know nothing about your music or music in general will want to engage you in stupid conversations. You just have to deal with it; I think his choice of response (tearing down a semi-clueless reporter) was immature.

"I can arrange a march about it"

Yeah, but make sure, if it's required, that you get a permit to exercise your right to free speech in this fashion. Otherwise you might get stunned. Or tasered. Or...you get the idea.

(I'm speculating that you probably have to get a permit in most places to stage a march, but I have no basis for this other than gut feeling.)

Also: "school-principal-on-thorazine style." Hilarious!

I've always thought that this scene was Dylan at his worst - a petulant, self-important bully who tears down a reporter (admittedly, a stiff prude of a reporter) and behaves like a complete jerk just because he can. It strikes me as the low point of the movie, in terms of how it makes me feel about sounds-all-over-em Bob. But that's just me. :-)

So TSA personnel are ignorant, amped-up jackasses. What's new?

TSA is to airline safety what Soviet political trials were to due legal process. (i.e. a show)

"She is painting exactly as all the adult paintings have been in the past 50 years, but painting like a child, too."

So, Cy Twombley has been reincarnated before he even dies?

I saw this in the Times yesterday, and my immediate thought (beyond my disgust at money-grubbing corporate whores who want to help the Chinese government repress its citizens) was similar to Nick (#4): once the emerging fascists in our country see how well their technology works oppressing foreign populations, they bring it to the feds and try to make a sale. And, no doubt, in the name of keeping us "safe", they'll bite.

Shouldn't we, as a nation, be restricting the sale of these insidious technologies to repressive authoritarian states? (I know, ha ha ha.)

This stuff drives me so insane I almost want to become a Libertarian...

"Please accept five pounds of frozen shrimp"
"This shrimp isn't frozen. And it smells funny."
"Okay, 10 pounds."
"Woo hoo!"

Antinous - actually, now that I think about it, I'm surprised he didn't rush into the kitchen and taze this woman. From my understanding, modern day police procedure is to taze someone at the slightest provocation, and then ask questions later. If necessary. For the paperwork.

Fast food is much like scratch-off lottery tickets: it's a "stupid" tax. You're paying someone to poison your body and make you a fatass.

(Though I recognize the cop gets his salt-burgers for free.)

Anyway, even though I don't know all the facts of the matter, it would appear that the officer is 1) an idiot, and 2) waaaay too puffed-up in self-importance. Of course, those traits make him an average police officer for Georgia (I'm in Atlanta).

Normally this would be a cops-being-jerks issue, but for me it's also a taxpayer issue: this moron's department wants to have the state crime lab test the burger. Are you freaking kidding me? Not with my money, jerk.