Musings from Brian J. Noggle
Monday, August 07, 2006
 
Milwaukee Admirals Celebrate Halloween Every Day
The Milwaukee Admirals have a new look and a new logo, and it's goofy:
    In conjunction with its new slogan "Never say die," which has been teasing local billboard readers for the past month, the Admirals introduced the new logo: the admiral of a ghost ship. A pirate explained to the crowd that the admiral had been at the bottom of Lake Michigan for the past 20 years and that this was what was left of him.

    The new logo is quite a bit edgier than the last logo of the salty seaman admiral. The new admiral, designed by Joe Locher of Yes Men of Milwaukee, is a skull with a black admiral's cap with ice blue trim.

    The team's new colors will be black, ice blue and silver, replacing the old red, white and blue. "We wanted to do something that would be really popular with the younger crowd," Locher said. "We wanted to avoid the idea of a trendy logo, yet we wanted to tie it in to the heritage of the team to have it make more sense."
Yeah, a skeleton logo in black, white, and ice blue. That'll impress the kids these days. What, did they think they weren't selling enough merchandise to the gangbanger crowd that flocks to Raiders apparel?

Plus, let's just savor that insight from the marketing man again:
    "We wanted to do something that would be really popular with the younger crowd," Locher said. "We wanted to avoid the idea of a trendy logo, yet we wanted to tie it in to the heritage of the team to have it make more sense."
Avoiding a trendy logo yet tying it into the heritage of the team.

Obviously, this fellow's skill lies with imagery, and not expressing cohesive concepts in language.

(Link seen a while back on The American Mind.)


- posted by Brian J. @ 7:52 PM   0 comments
 
Is It That Time Already?
In April, I sent a letter cancelling my subscription to Reader's Digest's The World's Best Reading series of classic literature editions.

It must be the beginning of the month, because I've got another invoice for a book whose shipment I refused. I'll have to drop another letter in the mail saying I won't pay this invoice, either, since I freaking cancelled five months ago.

Reader's Digest Association: It's Like AOL from the Ninteenth Century.


- posted by Brian J. @ 7:16 PM   0 comments
Sunday, August 06, 2006
 
That One Kid Must Be a Fish
Illinois to track liquor sales to minor

In other news, the remainder of Illinois' under-21 population has breathed a sigh of relief that the Man won't be watching them.


- posted by Brian J. @ 3:09 PM   0 comments
 
Sherman Parker Arrest Complete Statement
Sherman Parker or someone at his campaign has sent me the complete statement he issued after his recent arrest:
    Below is the fulll text of a statement I sent to the Post Dispatch regarding the story that is in today's (Saturday) paper about my unfortunate incident this week: On Monday, July 31, 2006, after erecting campaign signs in St. Charles County, I was pulled over on Highway 40 and detained by a Missouri State Highway trooper. I was not initially stopped for a traffic violation or any violation of the law. I did not receive a ticket for this stop. After checking my driving record, the trooper later determined that a bench warrant had been issued for my arrest for missing a court date for a speeding violation in Chesterfield.

    I had previously written the court a letter requesting to reschedule my court date since this date was during the legislative session. In the course of the ensuing weeks, with the session winding down and attempting to get my congressional campaign into full gear, I neglected to follow up with the court, and thus a bench warrant was issued without my knowledge. Prior to this incident, I had never been arrested by any law enforcement officer anywhere.

    At the present time, all my fines have been paid, and I now want to put this embarrassing matter behind me. I apologize and I understand, that as an elected official, no one person is above the law. I must strive everyday to set a higher example. I very much regret that this incident may detract, in these last few days, from the issues I have been stressing in this campaign such as: improving healthcare, economic development, and the rising cost of energy.
As I'd hoped, it's straightforward and doesn't avoid blame for a procedural error leading to his bench warrant and doesn't go off on the cop who arrested him. No indignation, no racial overtones, just a statement about what happened.

On a side note, aren't bench warrants neat things? Personally, I wonder sometimes if there's a bench warrant out for me. I mean, a speed zone or red light camera ticket mailed to the wrong address, and suddenly I could be calling my wife to bail me out of jail. One wonders if this is a good mechanism for minor law enforcement, but then again, if one is like this one (me), one knows that it's not about law enforcement as getting revenue and asserting authority.


- posted by Brian J. @ 8:42 AM   2 comments
Saturday, August 05, 2006
 
Book Report: The World's Most Infamous Crimes and Criminals (1987)
I'm not even sure any more where I bought this book. It clocks in at over 700 pages, friends, and it took me almost three weeks to read. As a matter of fact, I had to take a break in the middle of it to read I Ought To Be In Pictures when I was getting depressed from all the stories of murder and mayhem.

First off, I'd like to say that this collection is one of the most poorly edited and produced books I've come across in some time. A cheap edition published in Great Britain, this book features gritty paper, a cover that's close enough to a pizza box in quality to merit the comparison, pages cut by a dull blade, and partially washed out ink in many places. Additionally, the editing job was poor; many sidebar two-paragraph anecdotes inserted to break up sections actually retold the stories of incidents and crimes told elsewhere in the book. In the case of Black Bart, an old West stagecoach robber, he has his own named section in one chapter and, later in the chapter, is recounted as a part of a section about the most notorious Western robbers. By "is recounted," I mean the same seven or eight paragraphs appear twice in the same chapter, separated by only a handful of pages. This book definitely doesn't represent an academic or thoughtful work in any sense of the imagination. It's completely a case of slapping together a large number of pruriently-interesting things and hoping to make as much from them as possible.

Still, it contains quite the compendium of famous, infamous, and trivial crimes of murder, genocide, fraud, theivery, and whatnot. The first couple hundred pages focus on mass murderers and genocidal tyrants, which led to my distaste to which I alluded. It did, however, give me a little historical perspective on the "disproportionate" and violent doings of the Western military, particularly the American and Israeli militaries, in the last 100 years. I mean, come on, the Huns and the Khans and the Ottomans were capable of real genocide, not having small units go nuts or ordnance going errant. When we lose perspective on what animal mankind really is, I guess it's easy to think that our civilization isn't better than the worst man has to offer.

Is the book a worthwhile read? Well, if you're looking for macabre trivia--and who isn't? But take plenty of breaks to retain your perspective that all of mankind isn't like this book depicts.

Books mentioned in this review:


- posted by Brian J. @ 6:52 PM   0 comments
 
Driving While Black Republican
Akin rival arrested on traffic warrants:
    On Monday night, Parker had just finished staking campaign signs on private property near Highway 40 in St. Charles County when he was pulled over by a state trooper who questioned what Parker was doing near the road.

    When the officer later did a check on the candidate's drivers license, he discovered that Parker had two arrest warrants for unresolved traffic violations in St. Louis County. Parker was briefly taken into police custody and released after paying a pair of $100 bonds, according to court documents.
So this has all the trappings of a racial profiling sort of stop, and the Post-Dispatch's activism is muted. Because the target is a Republican, or because the target himself is avoiding the obvious?
    Parker, already considered a long shot to unseat Akin, issued an apologetic statement after being asked about the arrest on Friday.

    "I very much regret that this incident may detract, in these last few days, from the issues I have been stressing in this campaign," Parker said in a statement.
And:
    "I understand, that as an elected official, no one person is above the law," Parker said.
Sounds like the reasoned response of someone we'd want to elect. I haven't seen the full statement (it's not on his Web site), but I hope it's as apologetic and appropriate as the paper makes it sound. Not accusatory, not avoiding responsibility, just explanatory and humble.

UPDATE: Representative Parker has sent me his complete statement, posted here.


- posted by Brian J. @ 11:52 AM   0 comments
 
Mmmm, Underbelly
Novelist emerges from cult status writing about underbelly of Ozarks:
    A few hollows and half a universe south of Laura Ingalls Wilder's last little house, you'll find Daniel Woodrell.

    In this author's world, Pa cooks meth and Ma sits by the potbelly with unwashed hair, her mind "broke." The three young ones pretty much fend for themselves.

    There's no sunshiny morning or easy redemption in these Missouri hills. No tender stories of life's travails eased by kindly neighbors or a loving Savior.

    Although Woodrell's characters share traditions with hardscrabble Ozark folks of lore, his stories probably aren't going to grab the "Little House on the Prairie" or "Shepherd of the Hills" crowd. Old Matt's moonshine still isn't so quaint when it's a lab for making crank.

    Woodrell is Missouri's most original, yet underappreciated working author. He's not unknown: Ang Lee made a movie of one of his books, and others have been optioned.
Because the coastal cultural elites prefer that their inferiors in the interior be seemy, irredeemable, redneck trash. Congratulations to Woodrell for his success in perpetuating and profiting from the stereotypes.

In my experience, the people of that area are less crusty and shotgun eccentric and more earthy and friendly. But as the journalist writing the piece indicates, the underbelly sells more than the smiling face, helpful hands, or strong back.


- posted by Brian J. @ 11:46 AM   0 comments
 
Chicken Dreams
Tristan fantasizes about dinner:

Chicken Dreams



- posted by Brian J. @ 3:06 AM   3 comments
Friday, August 04, 2006
 
Violate The Geneva Conventions At Home
It's not waterboarding as interrogation; it's yoga!

Be sure to click view the Windows Media Player video How to use a Neti Pot in the right sidebar, just in case they reinstate the draft and you're assigned to Guantanamo Bay.


- posted by Brian J. @ 7:48 PM   0 comments
 
Motto
When in Rome, do as the Visigoths do.

UPDATE Oops. Oh, yeah, I completely, inadvertently, ripped off Mark Steyn. Now I feel like a real blogger, headed for scandal. And after I even sent it to Top Five's Ruminations, too.


- posted by Brian J. @ 6:30 AM   0 comments
 
Friday Morning Serenity
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Also, let me win the Powerball.


- posted by Brian J. @ 6:28 AM   2 comments
Thursday, August 03, 2006
 
From Death to Lawsuit in 5 Days
Parents of woman killed in sky-diver plane crash file suit:
    The parents of a would-be skydiver who died along with five others in a plane crash Saturday [July 29] filed a lawsuit today [August 2] claiming negligence caused the aircraft’s engine to fail.

    Vivian and Susan Delacroix of Kent, England, brought suit against the engine manufacturer, skydiving club and others claiming they are responsible for the death of their daughter, Victoria Delacroix, 22.

    "Our initial investigation points to a right engine failure just after takeoff," said Gary C. Robb, a Kansas City attorney representing the family.
Congratulations to the proud attorney who pursued the pursuit of justice to England and probably got the lawsuit file before the body was buried. Not only is he quick, but he's aggressive with the defendants:
    The maker of the PT6A turbo prop engine in the DeHavilland DHC-6 airplane that crashed after taking off from the Sullivan Regional Airport. The manufacturer was Pratt & Whitney, which is owned by United Technologies.

    Annick Laberge, a spokesman for Pratt & Whitney Canada division, declined comment today.

    "It is our corporate policy not to discuss incidents under investigation," she said.

    The suit also names the Quantum Leap Skydiving Center, which operated the skydiving club; the airport, which serviced and maintained the plane; Adventure Aviation, which owned the plane; and pilot Scott Cowan, who also perished in the crash.
Suing the estate of another victim of the crash. That, my friends, is pluck with a capital F.

Although we at MfBJN wonder how they couldn't work Thomas Miskel, Bourbeuse River Hauling, and Six Flags into the suit somehow. Perhaps it's only a matter of time.

(I post this with the plantiffs' attorney's name in here understanding that this attorney will find this post--hi there!-- next time he or a member of his staff uses Google to find his 'fan base,' but the last I heard, calling someone plucky is not actually libelous.)


- posted by Brian J. @ 8:18 PM   1 comments
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
 
I Hope That Wasn't the DEA Looking
Apparently, I'm the number 11 Google hit for how is the heroin getting into milwaukee.

I guess I'll get a little extra scrutiny now. Thanks, Google.


- posted by Brian J. @ 8:16 PM   0 comments
 
Ruining It For Everybody
Woman sues over son's drowning death during church outing:
    The mother of one of the five children who drowned last month during a church outing to an eastern Missouri state park has sued the church and Joyce Meyer Ministries, claiming negligence and inadequate supervision.

    The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Tuesday in St. Louis Circuit Court, also said the ministries and its St. Louis Dream Center church did not have parents' permission to take 50 children to Castlewood State Park in St. Louis County on July 9.
Litigation compounds a tragedy by ensuring that other depressed youth won't get the opportunity to go to church picnics in the future.


- posted by Brian J. @ 7:44 PM   1 comments
 
What Would Papa Do?
The old man and the six-toed cats: Hemingway home in dispute:
    The caretakers of Ernest Hemingway's Key West home want a federal judge to intervene in their dispute with the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the six-toed cats that roam the property.

    More than 50 descendants of a multi-toed cat the novelist received as a gift in 1935 wander the grounds of the home, where Hemingway lived for more than 10 years and wrote "A Farewell to Arms" and "To Have and Have Not."

    The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum disputes the USDA's claim that it is an "exhibitor" of cats and needs to have a USDA Animal Welfare License, according to a complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Miami.

    "What they're comparing the Hemingway house to is a circus or a zoo because there are cats on the premises," Cara Higgins, the home's attorney, said Friday. "This is not a traveling circus. These cats have been on the premises forever."
He would have broken a walking stick over his head is what he would have done. Or shot himself, perhaps; our world does not accommodate men of Papa's stature and temperment any more. Instead, it allows attorneys and government functionaries to live the lives to which they've become accustomed, at our expense and at the expense of our mythology.


- posted by Brian J. @ 7:41 PM   0 comments
To say Noggle, one first must be able to say the "Nah."