Gratuitous Nats Posting (TM)

Sign. Dunn. Already.

That is all.

Random Commuter Observation (TM)

How delightful not to break a sweat for a change!

Gratuitous Nats Posting (TM) - Halladays In Hell Division

I confess that I might have caused last night's blowout in which the Phils clinched the NL East. You see, it was a tight game into the 6th, which was just when I got round to turning on the telly. Within minutes, Lannan fell apart and, as Gregg Easterbrook would say, I wrote "game over" on my cocktail napkin.

Oh, well.

APROPOS OF NOTHING

Replacement Killer Mira Sorvino is 43 and aging gracefully:

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Possibly The Most Unfortunate Result of "Crossing the Streams" EVAH!

Yips! to Jonah.

THIS WILL BE A NATIONAL HOLIDAY, SOMEDAY

Heather turns 49 today. No other explaination is necessary.

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Of course, it is also this brunette's birthday, who turns 41:

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BRUNETTE ACTION SERIES, SOUND OFF OR ON DIVISION

Tonight's brainless action flick was Prince of Persia which includes this gal:

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Very not bad. The flick was courtesy of the good people at Red Box vending machine at Farm Fresh; the gal-courtesy of her parents.

COMING TO A THEATER NEAR YOU

Yips! from Robbo: I'll be in my bunk.....In a good, wholesome, way, of course.

Compare, if you will, the antics of a certain current celebrity dahrlink who dresses herself in a meat-dress one day and then lashes out against DADT the next. Respectable? I think not.....

NOW, MORE THAN EVER

This ad ran in the 2008 election season . . .

Random Commuter Observation

Let me get this straight: Iran in on the verge of getting the bomb, Islamofascist terrorists are swarming, the country is in something not far short of an economic depression and NPR decides to waste air-time flogging a story about a "distracted driving" summit?

Frivolity is supposed to be my shtick.

Gratuitous Nats Posting (TM)

I suppose it is a sign of gen-u-ine fandome that the outcome of a Nats game has a marked effect on my mood.

Thus, what with all the losses I've had to endure this year, it was suh-weet to watch the two-out eighth inning rally sparked by Pudge's homer that caused the Nats to rally back from a 3-1 deficit and beat the 'Stros 8-4.

Forget the season. This is a sport played one game at a time.

GO, NATS!!

HAWAII FIVE-O RELOADED

This time, with Grace Park

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Very not bad.

CRIMES AGAINST THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Leon Wolf reviews Meghan McCain's Dirty, Sexy Politics. In a word, she is an idiot, as in "not smart."

Gratuitous Football Observation

Bless me, are the Fish really on top of the AFC East?

I haven't watched any games yet this year and when I read articles on them I don't recognize very many names, so I suppose that I've let my Dolphins Nation visa lapse.

Perhaps I ought to start paying attention again.

AS GOOD AS A SNOW DAY WITHOUT THE SNOW

The elementary school robo-called us yesterday to advise it is closed today while a broken water main is repaired. The weather is sky is crystal-clear and conditions are perfect. How lucky is that?

Gratuitous Nats Posting (TM)

So in taking a series off Atlanta this week (only the second time it's happened all season at Turner Field), did the Nats just hand the NL East to the Phillies?

Well, meb. But before Mink Monica goes sending me a big ol' bottle of bubbly, consider that we've still got half a dozen games to play against Philly itself. We could be setting youse guys up just to cut you down.

The party starts tomorrow night.

Philadelphia delenda est!

GO, NATS!!

BET ON BRUNETTE

in Delaware's GOP primary. Check her out.

Yips! From Robbo: The sources I've been reading suggest that even if she wins the nomination, she can't possibly win in the general election. (This is Delaware, after all.) Thus, the contrarian in me wonders whether a primary victory wouldn't be something of a Pyrrhic indulgence.

Pity, too, because she's so hawt.

LMC UPDATE: Politico calls it for O'Donnell at 53-46. Note even close. Since the pros are throwing around "electability" in the general election and we do not live in Delaware, I will go with the LLama Hotness Test--Christine wins in a landslide.

Yips! Back from Robbo: Wow! Hey, congrats and all the rest. Seriously. I mean no gratuitous criticism. If she can hit the less than three meter target shaft, then may the Force be with her!

SEND ME YOUR ' . . .WRETCHED REFUSE OF YOUR TEEMING SHORES"

Or send me Anna Kournikova, who recently became an American citizen:

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Via the MSM and Anna's website.

RISING TIDE

Hot Air has a post that the GOP could pick up 60 seats.

LEST WE FORGET

Fly the flag today, remember the fallen, and all who risk their lives to preserve freedom and give hope to oppressed.

". . . [W]e here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this Nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Lincoln at Gettysburg.

Ew!

This has all the makings of a SciFi Channel moovie special:

STERLING, Va. - Customs agents see foreigner travelers try to bring a lot of unusual items into the U.S., but one slimy seizure over Labor Day weekend could have been devastating to crops.

A traveler from Ghana tried to bring 14 Giant African Land Snails into the U.S. at Washington-Dulles International Airport Sunday.

The snails, which were as large as a child's fist, are said to be one of the worst invasive species in the world and have caused economic damage to crops.

The snails are known to eat at least 500 different types of plants and to reproduce rapidly. They can grow to be nearly 8 inches by 4 inches big.

The traveler declared the snails, but they had to be destroyed because they are illegal in the U.S.

I can see, say, Erik Estrada as the harassed head of Customs, with Jessica Alba as the forensic biologist who knows that the snails are on the brink of mutating into giant, flying, vampire snails if they're not stopped.

The Road Not Taken

Dirty Harry as the Man of Steel? It could have happened!

In the early 1970s fresh off of his success with "Dirty Harry," [Clint] Eastwood was approached by the president of Warner Bros. Frank Wells to play the Man of Steel. "I was like, 'Superman? Nah, nah, that's not for me.' Not that there's anything wrong with it. It's for somebody, but not me."

Unlike today, where every third flick seems to have been culled from the pages of comic books, superhero movies were then seen as box-office poison. Eastwood was concerned of being typecast as a caped crime fighter. "I always liked characters that were more grounded in reality," he said.

When "Superman" did eventually hit the silver screen in 1978, starring a then unknown Christopher Reeve, Eastwood found himself starring opposite a smart aleck orangutan in "Every Which Way but Loose."

Okay, I confess he would be all wrong for the part, but I've got this vision in my head of his saying to Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor, "Go ahead....Make my day!"

Apparently, Clint also was considered to play 007 after Connery bowed out. Again, all wrong. But still......

QUESTION FOR THE GROUP-"How Am I Supposed to Respond To This?" Division

Mrs. LMC announced that one her friends, a toned-up, aging gracefully gal, has jumped on the latest fitness craze: pole dancing. The uniform for this workout is shorts, tank top, and pumps (of the "FMP" sort). How am I supposed to respond to this news?

Random Commuter Observations - Busted Division

Ah, fall! Where the byways of my particular neck of Northern Virginny become utterly clogged with school buses!

(I had to drop off the eldest Llama-ette at St. Rita of the Misunderstood Adolescence this morning and wasn't able to skitter out of Orgle Manor early enough to miss the yellow tide.)

TEA PARTY THEME SONG

via my brother in law and the good folks at YouTube:

ACADEMICS

Victor Davis Hanson reflects on forty years in the academy, via Hot Air. My impression of the law school faculty who taught Robbo and me could be summarized as great students in their day, who worked on the law review of whatever school they attended, and managed to get prestigious appellate clerkships after graduation. Some went stratight into teaching thereafter and others, only after a short stop at a top law firm where they we not there long enough to try a case to a jury by themselves. Once they made it to teaching, they worked diligently publishing articles that were read only by other law professors. I recall one property professor whose specialty seemed to be the obscure area of the law dealing with shopping centers and who became downright zealous about defending faculty parking privilege when I parked in a forbidden spot in a snowstorm (there were plenty of faculty spots left BTW). Don't get me wrong, I would still attend the alma mater if I had to do it all over again but at this stage of my life, I am convinced the best teachers I ever had were the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary who ran St. Pius X School in Norfolk when I was growing up.

Gratuitous Nats Posting (TM)

Hey, Gary! Whaddaya think of that Espinosa kid? I can tell you that he's been setting things on fire since he came up last week and is proving to be an extremely pleasant late-season surprise down here in Nats Town.

Who knows? You guys might just wind up in the cellar instead of us!

GO, NATS!!

UPDATE: On further review, I see that Espinosa played college ball for Long Beach State. Their "unofficial" team knickname? The Dirtbags.

That's back alley quality, that is.

Blast From The Past

Some long time Llama friends may be interested to know that I had dinner this weekend with our retired Fearless Leader, Steve-O his own self, together with INDC Bill. When we started talking about "the old days" I was somewhat astonished by how much water has flown under the bridge in only four or five years.

Random Commuter Observations (TM)

My metro stop was positively crawling with paramilitary types this morning. I've never seen so many people packing so much heat around the station before. I suppose it was all some kind of drill, as most of them looked pretty bored, but still, the reminder their presence brings gives one the creeps.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Wear appropriate running gear when putting in miles on the beach, meaning shoes and shorts. The shoes protect against crab shell fragments and dead jellyfish. As for the importance of the running shorts, just trust me on this one.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

YOU COME UP WITH YOUR OWN TAGLINE

I'm speechless.

A local anchor pointed this one out as it seems to be making the rounds on the media circuit.

MOONSHINE GONE LEGIT

This comes via Fox News. One of the few regrets I have about private practice was I never did a moonshine case.

I WANT DOC HOLLIDAY'S GUNSMITH

One of our faithful readers first pointed out the three shell double barrel but close examination of the gunfight at the OK corral shows Doc empties at least 18 rounds from his two six-shooters:

Just sayin'

LMC BRUNETTE BIRTHDAY SERIES

Salma Hayek is 44:

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Gratuitous Nats Posting (TM) - Off Color Division

Oh, no! MASN has axed Nats tee vee color commentator Rob "Angry Rob" Dibble for saying that Strasburg should man up over his arm.

This is ridiculous. The whole point of having Dibble on board was his tendency to lose his temper and start cutting through the broadcast booth happy-speak when things weren't going the way he thought they ought to.

We're gonna miss ya, buddy.

So does this mean Ray "The Silver Fox" Knight is going to be the color guy for the next few weeks? He's entertaining, if you like senior moment humor, but don't expect any more sparks.

Thar She Blows!

Now that's a whale of an explosion:

Australian officials used explosives to blow up a terminally ill humpback whale that became stranded on a beach near Perth two weeks ago.

After attempts to return the juvenile whale to the sea failed, the state Department of Environment and Conservation had intended to let the 31-foot creature die naturally.

The whale was stranded on a beach in Albany, about 240 miles southwest of Perth, the state capital.

But the department's district manager, Mike Shepherd, said in a statement that the whale moved into a position on a sandbar in which it could be stabilised and euthanized.

Explosives were used because officials believed the whale was too large to shoot.

The International Whaling Commission recommends the use of explosives to euthanize beached whales longer than 26 feet.

Who knew the IWC had whale detonation standards?

Gratuitous Nats Posting (TM)

Kinda glad I didn't let the Llama-ettes stay up to watch the game last night.

I'll bet Nyjer Morgan's got a mile-wide headache this morning. There were many aspects of the Nats' game that concerned me going into this season, but having to deal with a centerfielder going postal was not one of them.