The first time I came across the Series 2 Lego Minifigs at Walmart, I bought two of them blind at $1.99 a piece. I ended up with the "Explorer" (Yea!) and "Maraca Man" (Eh).
The second time I went to that Walmart, I was armed with a barcode decoder! Alas, the one I was looking for ("The Spartan") was nowhere to be found, so I gave them all a pass.
The third and final time I went to that Walmart, I discovered that the display was gone. They had initially put it in a back corner where the packages could be easily ripped open and stolen, so I have to wonder if this was a factor in the display going bye-bye. I looked around some more, and in a miscellaneous aisle I found exactly oneminifig pack hanging from a hook. Such a sad, sad sight, so I took pity on it and laid down $1.99 plus tax on the mysterious loner. What did I get?
It's not exactly one I was dying to get, but for a buck ninety-nine I'll take the little guy home.
Metafilter publishes a one-link post on the recent debate where Christine O'Donnell questions the separation of church & state. They soon took it down due to it existing mostly as an excuse to laugh at her ignorance of the Constitution, but I still had a window of it up on my computer. Good thing, too, because the Metafilter comments are proving to be the high point of my very crappy day:
Ronald Reagan > Newt Gingrich > Sarah Palin > Christine O'Donnell > ? posted by The Card Cheat
Ronald Reagan > Newt Gingrich > Sarah Palin > Christine O'Donnell > Potted plant posted by Dark Messiah
Ronald Reagan > Newt Gingrich > Sarah Palin > Christine O'Donnell > Bag of Hammers posted by zarq
When I saw the headline for this in the morning I thought it was one of those Evangelical gotcha things where the actual phrase 'separation of church and state' isn't in the Constitution but rather in a Jefferson letter, so I was like 'Oh you stupid...' and then I read the thing and it turns out no, she just has no idea. posted by shakespeherian
"You actually audibly heard the crowd gasp," Widener University political scientist Wesley Leckrone said after the debate, adding that it raised questions about O'Donnell's grasp of the Constitution. YA THINK!? posted by zarq
You guys are being unduly hard on potted plants and bags of hammers. posted by entropicamericana
Mabye she meant that those words aren't in the First Amendment. Fucking brilliant way of phrasing it. Good thing she's not vying for some kind of position of authority where she'll have to speak publicly. posted by Dark Messiah
Hey, there, watch it, Dark Mesiah.
(says the potted plant community)
As horrifying as this is:
Her comments, in a debate aired on radio station WDEL, generated a buzz in the audience. "You actually audibly heard the crowd gasp,"
You don't think often as gasps being comforting, but for me, this one was. posted by MCMikeNamara
Clicking on to the IMDb this morning, I was greeted by the usual list of celebrity birthdays. Among them was Barry Corbin, who today reaches the age of 70. Prior to 2007, Corbin would have most likely been remembered by the general public for Northern Exposure (and by the smaller geekier class for WarGames). But with No Country For Old Men, he took a one-scene role, and the incredible dialog therein, and marked for himself a place in cinema history. Of course, that's my own humble opinion (scene starts at five minute mark):
Ellis: "In back!"
Bell: "How'd you know I was here?"
Ellis: "Who else'd be driving up in your truck?"
Bell: "You heard it?"
Ellis: "How's that?"
Bell: "You hear my - you're havin fun with me."
Ellis: "What give you that idea. I'd seen one of them cats heard it."
Bell: "Well how'd you know it was my truck? "
Ellis: "I deduced it, when you walked in."
Bell: "How many a them things you got now?"
Ellis: "Cats? Well, I don't know. Several. Well, it depends on what you mean by got. Some of 'em are half-wild, and some of 'em are just outlaws."
(Pause)
Bell: "How you been, Ellis?"
Ellis: "You're lookin at it. I got to say... you're lookin' older."
Bell: "I am older."
Ellis: "Got a letter from your wife. She writes me pretty regular, keeps me up on the family news."
Bell: "Didn't know there was any."
Ellis: "Told me you're quittin."
(Sheriff Bell heads toward the kitchen counter.)
Bell: "You want a cup?"
Ellis: "'Preciate it."
Bell: "How fresh is that coffee?"
Ellis: "I generally make a fresh pot ever week even if there's some left over."
(Pause)
Bell: "That man that shot you died in prison?"
Ellis: "In Angola. Yeah."
Bell: "What would you a done if he'd been released?"
Ellis: "Oh, I don't know. Nothin. Wouldn't be no point in it."
Bell: "I'm kindly surprised to hear you say that."
Ellis: "Well, all the time you spend tryin to get back what's been took from you there's more goin out the door. After a while you just have to try and get a tourniquet on it. Your granddad never asked me to sign on as a deputy. Loretta tells me you're quittin. How come're you doin that?"
Bell: "I don't know. I feel overmatched. I always figured when I got older God would sort of come into my life in somehow. He didn't. I don't blame him. If I was him I'd have the same opinion of me that he does."
Ellis: "You don't know what he thinks."
(Pause)
Ellis: "I sent Uncle Mac's thumbbuster and badge over to the Rangers, to put it in their museum. Your daddy ever tell you how Uncle Mac come to his reward? Gunned down on his own porch over in Hudspeth County. Seven or eight of 'em come up there. Wantin this and wantin that. Uncle Mac went back in the house to get the shotgun, but they was ahead of him. Shot him in his doorway. Aunt Ella come out and tried to stop the bleedin. Uncle Mac all the while tryin to get that shotgun. They just set there on their horses watchin him die. After awhile one of 'em says somethin in Injun and they turned and left out. Uncle Mac knew the score even if Aunt Ella didn't. Shot through the left lung and that was that. As they say."
Bell: "When did he die?"
Ellis: "Nineteen zero and uh, nine..."
Bell: "No, I mean was it right away or in the night or when was it?"
Ellis: "I believe it was that night. She buried him the next mornin. Diggin in that hard old caliche. What you got ain't nothin new. This country is hard on people. You can't stop what's comin. Ain't all waitin on you. That's vanity."
First off, it was my birthday earlier this week and I got lots of lovely presents. Mrs. Mosley gave me a special coffee mug now that I finally bought a coffee pot and have started brewing at home to save money:
Lovely, that. Would it were a prevailing attitude in this country, but I'm afraid the Tea Party is the very antithesis of this statement (which makes you wonder how they would handled the blitz).
And for the rest of you, a nice little mashup that a Metafilter user stumbled upon. That lovely young lady is Brian Williams daughter, Allison. She's attempting to break into an acting and singing career. I don't know about her acting chops, but that girl has some pipes.
I think my favorite part of this trailer (and there are many) is the announcer's slight inflection when he has to say two "Rupert's" in a row. I mean, how often does that happen?
