247 thoughts on “Jack Mangans Deadpan #248: Mustache on my Sleeve

  1. Crap though the official Apple Podcast app is (Switching on auto download is an excercise in frustration), it does mean I can grab this weeks episode out on the road.

  2. Ahhh, the days of hidden tracks on CDs. How I long for them again. Hard to do in the MP3 era. Also, I really liked the first Space Hog album.

  3. CP: Turn the Page – Metallica

    I know it’s a cover but I really like this song. I like to close my eyes and just move to the music. Of course it means I’m not working for that five minutes but hey *shurg* what are you going to do.

    • Not sure how much faith I want to put into an unreferenecd article on a comedy site. I can tell you that space flight (albeit in a somewhat different form) was at least done more than 50 years earlier by Edgar Allen Poe (The Balloon Hoax – 1844) and reversing polarity was a concept that showed up closer to a hundred years earlier in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818). I also dispute the claim that in War of the Worlds “The Martians arrive on Earth via “meteors,””. The martians arrived in metal cylinders that had to have propulsion based on the fact that there was a “green mist” seen when they launched (i.e. space ships). They were mistaken for meteors by an astronomer (Ogilvy) who was simply trying to understand what the hell was going on (a common theme in War of The Worlds).

      I don’t doubt that Garrett P. Serviss came up with a lot of incredible science fiction concepts, but I think the article exaggerates. In particular I think they are exaggerating the concept that Serviss was a hack. Google the guy and he looks more like an early 20th century Carl Sagan. He was, indeed, engaging in crappy copyright horribleness for this work (see also the copyright infringed book that he was actually writing a squeal to called “Fighters from Mars: The War of the Worlds in and near Boston” (1898)). But he was also an accomplished science writer.

      All told, I’ve made quite a morning investigating all this, so I guess I have to thank the Cracked article after all.

      Have a great day everyone,

      Sir Buzzkillington Esq.

  4. CP: You Won’t Be Mine — Matchbox Twenty

    Probably my favorite song from this band. I love the piano work and backing orchestra on this song. It sounds like it belongs in a Noir movie.

  5. Crap Joke for the day:

    The girl I am seeing just bought me a packet of these olympic condoms…. She gave me the silver one and said try coming second for a change.

  6. Well, after the better part of a year upsampling my music library to 256 vbr, I’m finally done. Current size of music library is 182 GB.

    *scratches head*

    Perhaps I have too many albums?

  7. It is now possible to sleep in my new apartment. We’re not going to tonight, since we still have a motel room for one more night, but it is possible.

    The worst mishap of the day involved our truck getting lost. I fail at leading driving caravans. 🙁 It worked out, because the item we were going to get at the time fit into my car, but it was not fun and very stressful. It’s over now, though, and now we’re off to the rodeo! :happy:

      • I am hoping beyond hope that the huge press things like this have been getting lately is the desperate cries of the cornered animal that this perspective has become. The inevitable acceptance of gay rights is upon us and the few left standing in the past are lashing out because they don’t want to let it go. We say the same patterns with the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, and the civil rights movement beginning in the 60s. So I feel bad that the lashing out is going on, but extremely hopeful about the time I’m living in and how different this incident is going than if the same thing occurred in, oh say, the 1980s or earlier. There was a time, not very long ago, when CFA would have been praised for their stance rather than having fellow business partners distancing themselves left and right.

        • … and another thing
          Let’s say you have a handful of coworkers that like going to lunch together.
          My experience with that group is that you enjoy each other’s company and are looking for a few minutes of relaxation.
          If someone in that group is gay … the group will never be going to CFA again.
          If someone in the group is a vocal supporter of gay rights … or at least an advocate of “let’s keep the government out of our personal lives” then no one in that office is going to suggest CFA because it will just lead to a stressful lunch.

          Let’s say one person in that group is an right wing activist … when he says “Let’s go to CFA” the rest of the group will turn him down because who wants their lunch turned into a 30 minute political statement.

          Long term, I think this was very bad for CFA marketing.

    • “Alongside science, history, philosophy and the arts, I promise to teach you about all religions and give you the intellectual freedom to wonder, question and come to your own conclusions. And if your conclusions are different from my own, as many inevitably will be, I promise to respect them.”

      This is my “Rule #1” as a responsible parent. I may fail and succeed in other aspects, but on this issue there’s no wavering.

    • Thank you so much for the article :jack: . I am an Atheist and my wife is Catholic. Each of our two children has different religious beliefs. We are doing everything we can to live that dream.

      As a side note, I’m conducting a sociology experiment. Today I have 343 friends on Facebook. I just posted that article this morning. It will be interesting to see how many people drop me as a friend even though the article has nothing but positive things to say. I’ll report back with the results.

      • As someone who identifies as a Christian, I am saddened by those who were afraid to have their religious beliefs questioned.
        My personal experience is that, spending time thinking about those questions and even questioning myself, has only made what I believe to be stronger and much more personal for me.

        /philosophical moment
        My experience with “Rabid” Christians/Atheists is that they are just two sides of the same coin. The more they act out toward the other group, the more they come across as being insecure in their belief and seeming to be trying to convince themselves that they are “right”.
        /philosophical moment

        Get me some beer and I could go on and on about this topic all evening *rolls eyes*
        Suffice it to say, no one here need ever feel awkward about expressing faith or expressing dismay with it, around me. 🙂

  8. The Berentein Bears get in on the Chick-fil-A action. Though not as strong:

    http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/30/13037988-berenstain-bears-try-to-keep-distance-from-chick-fil-a?lite

    Despite my general hatred of all things politics, I’m really curious to see how this one works out from a financial standpoint. Idiots like Mike Huckabee keep claiming that this boils down to an anti-Christian sentiment (when the rest of us can tell the difference between a Christian and someone who warps Christianity as a tool to spread their messages of hatred). I have found many Christians to believe that they have the financial super power to make or break businesses because they have the sheer numbers to support or boycott with total success. I’m really hoping that enough other businesses distance themselves from Chick-fil-A that they simply can’t float. I would like to see this bold move from Chick-fil-A become a complete financial disaster and more Christians feeling comfortable distancing themselves from the anti-gay movement.

    • I’m upset with CFA because political stand such as this are what generates the very “anti-Christian sentiment” that they complain about.
      I don’t understand why they can’t see this. 🙁

  9. On a trivial note I’ve discovered a drink in Starbucks I rather enjoy, even though I suspect it contains very little coffee.

    Frappucino Mocha Cookie Crumble

    /keeping it shallow since 1983

  10. CD: DNR from COOP Ale Works: black as sin, bitter as the truth, delicious dark belgian ale.

    Sometimes the only way to end a Friday it to bring in the bombers.

  11. My Friday has been difficult, too. I drove all over a new town, shopped for a lot of stuff, then came home to discover that our complex’s laundry payment card system is completely out of commission. I’m currently at the laundromat.

    But! I accomplished a lot of important things today. I got most of my new employee paperwork done, I started a local bank account, I signed up for cable and Internet service, and I am now the proud owner of a 24″ Samsung flatscreen TV, as well as an ironing board and some glasses and mugs. :happy:

    Bunny: Congrats on the anniversary! :happy:

    Good night, mush.

  12. So my experiment was a smashing success (or failure depending on how you view it). My re-posting of Jack’s link to “An Atheist Mother’s Promise” resulted on 0 un-friending incidents. I’ve had some bad reactions to people “discovering” that I’m an atheist so I tend to stay pretty quiet about it unless I’m in an extremely accepting community like… oh say… the Deadpan community. I can’t begin to claim to have experienced anything akin to the hardships that many in the LBGT community experience, but it sure isn’t fun when family that was all too happy with everything about you suddenly refuse to talk to you any more.

    • Well, I’m glad people accepted your post without any grief, Mr. UH. I’d hope that people of strong faith would also read that Parent’s Promise and respect its message of love, nurturing, intellectual acceptance, and support.

      • I’ve never really been sure why so many American Christians take Atheism as a slap in the face. If I were to tell someone that I was Jewish or Hindu or Buddhist, they wouldn’t bat an eye. But, tell many American Christians that you are an Atheist and they react as though you just punched Jesus in the stomach.

          • Yea.
            It’s a very complicated subject.
            You have to start with the understanding that “Christian” is a very large, blanket term. Like the label “American” you find that one size simply doesn’t “fit all”.
            Anyone the few that I have know who have had a negative reaction to atheist did so for very different reasons. One was simply ignorant of what the term really meant and so was reacting out of ignorance based fear. Atheists were “devil worshipers who ate babies” sort of thing.

            Another was an religious extremist who didn’t like much of anyone who didn’t worship EXACTLY as they did. So while he had it in for atheists he also had it in for other Christian denominations.

            Another guy (and I suspect this of some others) got riled about atheists but as far as I knew, he didn’t attend a church or show any other outward signs of Christian faith (like being particularly charitable or even nice). He really only ever talked about religion when he wanted to use it as a club to beat up on someone else. I suspect he adorned the title of Christian to advance in the very “right wing” world of the government, military contractor.

            That being said, the majority of Christians that I interact with are very non-committal about atheists. They really don’t personally know any atheists so their only exposure is from the news (which is rarely a good way for ANY group to get good representation) and frankly, they don’t spend very much time even thinking about them either way.

          • JJ, I definitely try (though not always hard enough) to specify that there is only a subsection of Christians that react negatively to Atheists. I also tend to leave out that there are Atheists that take Belief as a slap in the face as well. And, as my recent experience on Facebook demonstrates, I am subject to the same fallacies of expectancy and confirmation bias that anyone else is. I’ve had great discussions and horrible discussions, with most people not caring about it one way or the other. But that makes for boring discussions about my experiences. All I can do is hope for a world where an “extreme” Islamist, an “extreme” Christian and an “extreme” Atheist meeting up will be cause no more difficulty that a meeting between an “extreme” Star Wars fan, an “extreme” Star Trek fan and an “extreme” Dr. Who fan.

          • Hello?
            Sonic Screw Driver … time travel!
            Dr. Who could go back in time and disable the phasers before the Enterprise could even fire them!
            …and mitachloreans? Don’t even get me started!

  13. Crap joke for the day:

    Just been watching Olympic Ladies Beach Volleyball . .
    There’s already been a wrist injury . .
    But i should be OK by Monday . . !

  14. CD: Fox Barrel Blackberry Pear Cider. Also good, but not great. More looking forward to the Aloha Series Koko Brown (Ale brewed with toasted coconut) that awaits me later this evening.

  15. The forces of evil cast quite a bozo shadow…. Over what was otherwise a pretty damn good day, culminating in a cool-as-gosh flashlight tour at the local DBG.

    Goodnight :Great-horned owl:

  16. Crap joke for a lazy Sunday:

    After being married 25 years, one day I took a look at my wife and said, “Honey, do you realize 25 years ago, I had a cheap apartment, a cheap car, slept on a sofa bed and watched a 10 inch black and white TV, but I got to sleep every night
    with a hot 25 year old blond. Now, we have a nice house, nice car, big bed and plasma screen TV, but I’m sleeping with a 50 year old Woman. It seems to me that you are not holding up your side of things.”

    Now my wife is a very reasonable woman. She told me to go out and find a hot 25 year old blond, and she would make sure that I would once again be living in a cheap apartment, driving a cheap car, sleeping on a sofa bed….

    I shut up and took out the trash.

    • Clap…………………… Clap……….. clap……. clap……. clap…… clap….. clap…. clap… clap.. clap clap clapclapclapclapclapclapclapclap
      clapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclap

  17. Just got back from seeing Total Recall. I think I got more out of the movie than hubby did. He felt they tried to take themselves too seriously. He missed the over the top campiness so Schwarzenegger and Paul Verhoven. I figured, if they did that, the movie would have been universally panned. While very close the the first movie, it’s the differences that made it work for me. If I wanted a Schwarzenegger TR, I would watch the DVD we have downstairs

  18. Hubby and I just watch two versions of Curiosity’s “grand entrance”. One narrated by Bill Shatner, the other by Wil Wheaton. Identicle scripts. Hubby prefers William Shatner’s version, I find both ave merits. Go do a you tube search and decide for yourself

  19. Last of the night from me.

    Look what I found posted in 2011 back on episode 3, which was originally posted in 2006:

    Rhettro
    on September 6, 2011 at 3:37 pm said: Edit
    Psst… Alvie… I’m a traveler from the future. In 2011 you are knocked off and replaced by a imposter called Lo. Don’t let it happen. P.S. if you see James from London, tell him not to go on the trip with his girlfriend. No one knows what happened to him after that. *ktb*

    Time And Rhettro Dimensions In Space?

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