8.26.2009

Help Wanted


We have plants in the office that apparently need watering. Is anyone up to the challenge? I nominate Chauncey Gardiner. (YouTube)

UPDATE: Whitworth points out that though a couple of the plants may be droopy at the moment, he has done an excellent job of keeping them hydrated for the last half-decade, so there. Also, Being There is a terrific movie.

Six in the Middle of the Night

Hoooo man am I ever late getting this done. If I dawdle any longer it'll be a Six in the Wee Hours of Tomorrow Morning....

1. TED KENNEDY RIP: Sad news I just read about.... Yeah.... I've been in a media vacuum today. (New York Times)

2. ALTA IN HOCK FOR $7 BILLION: Thanks to natural gas prices plummeting by half this year, the days of rosy surpluses are past.... for a time, anyway. (CBC)

3. UK CONSIDERS TAXING SOCIALLY USELESS BANKS: In an effort to curb the culture of mega bonuses for executives within their financial sector, the head financial regulator in the UK is publicly contemplating a tax on many of their banks, calling them "socially useless." Hear, hear. Let's hope that kind of moxie is catching. (Guardian)

4. HARPER STACKS SENATE SOME MORE: A couple more Tory faithful are expected to be sent to the senate this week. Remember, Harper's not a hypocrite, he's a realist. (Globe and Mail)

5. WATER SHORTAGES IN IRAQ: The Euphrates is drying up, leaving millions without electricity and drinking water. (Guardian)

6. LIFE IS BETTER WHEN YOU SKIM WHEN YOU READ: There is no reason to read this story from the Guardian, unless education criticisms from the UK's conservative party interest you. I post on it only because the short headline on the Guardian webpage was: "Tories want education divide – Balls" and if that hyphen had been a comma, that'd be the funniest thing I'd read all day. Incidentally, while "Balls" is a pretty unfortunate last name to be saddled with, I once worked with a guy whose last name was "Bagges". His first name was Harold. No fooling. (Guardian)

Free Stuff: Taking Woodstock

Hey Dog Blog fans. Do you like prizes? Well we've got a good one. It's a prize package from the new movie, Taking Woodstock. There will be more chances to win in this week's 'dog, but this prize pack is an exclusive "enter to win" for Dog Blog readers.

The prize:

-A Taking Woodstock screenplay. by James Schamus, foreword by Ang Lee
-Taking Woodstock soundtrack

-Woodstock 40th anniversary 2-disc set (music!)

-And bubbles! Yes I said bubbles!

Sorry no free passes for this one--but you get bubbles!

Just send an e-mail to contests@prairiedogmag.com with "Woodstock" in the subject line by 5 p.m. tommorrow Thursday, Aug. 27th.

You can check out the trailer for the movie through this link. Or, just click on the video below. It's got Demetri Martin in it and it's supposed to be pretty good. Opens Friday.

Bubbles!