gathering

First Sarah Palin, now this

Astronomers say they have discovered pieces of the known universe moving in one direction at very high speeds, seemingly under the pull of "something" outside of the observable, known universe.
SPACE.com -- Mysterious New 'Dark Flow' Discovered in Space.
The most popular current theories of astrophysics can't explain this movement, which is not in line with the known expansion of the universe. Some massive object, or objects, the researchers speculate, perhaps hundreds of billions of light years away, seems to be pulling at these pieces of the universe.
The implications are manifold: a much older universe than previously thought, or things that travel considerably faster than the speed of light, or multiple universes, or ... well, no one knows.
The article notes that some scientists are calling this movement the "dark flow." Hmmm, sounds suspiciously like the "dark side" to me. Heck, something that could move whole pieces of he universe would be a sizable weapon. It would make the Death Star look like a child's toy - and make Sarah Palin look a lot like, well, Tina Fey.

Send Palin back to Alaska

This woman cannot become our second in command.
Here's a transcript from Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric (only the second interview she's done since becoming McCain's pick for vp). In today's segment, she repudiates the foreign policy advice of Henry Kissinger and Colin Powell all at once, calling them naive. Ah, the irony of it all.

Couric: You met yesterday with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who is for direct diplomacy with both Iran and Syria. Do you believe the U.S. should negotiate with leaders like President Assad and Ahmadinejad?

Palin: I think, with Ahmadinejad, personally, he is not one to negotiate with. You can't just sit down with him with no preconditions being met. Barack Obama is so off-base in his proclamation that he would meet with some of these leaders around our world who would seek to destroy America and that, and without preconditions being met. That's beyond naïve. And it's beyond bad judgment.

Couric: Are you saying Henry Kissinger ...

Palin: It's dangerous.

Couric: ... is naïve for supporting that?

Palin: I've never heard Henry Kissinger say, "Yeah, I'll meet with these leaders without preconditions being met." Diplomacy is about doing a lot of background work first and shoring up allies and positions and figuring out what sanctions perhaps could be implemented if things weren't gonna go right. That's part of diplomacy.

No real pies were harmed

I got a letter at work this week I have to share with you.
An Exchange magazine reader very upset about the pie fight. "What a waste of time, money and energy...Hope you can both come up with a better idea as you mature... Help in a soup kitchen..."
Well, no real pies were used. No food was wasted. Most of the "pies" were plates with shaving foam. Some special ones contained chocolate cream filling donated by a local bakery which would have toosed the filling as it had expired.
And, oh yes, we raised $800 for charity.
And, 125 people laughed their asses off for half an hour, with many of our friends telling us after that it may have been the most fun they had ever had.
Which is one of the reasons, I think, the pie fight became an international story. The other is the fact that my friend Dan and I have maintained a friendship for 32 years and have honored this long-ago made promise.
I wondered if it would be snarky to suggest that this letter writer could benefit from a pie in the face, but really, we all could.
For more follow-up to the pie fight, go to the pie fight Web site.

The pie fight video

Live TV : Ustream

The pie fight update

Columnist Jim Stingl wrote an article about the pie fight in Sunday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Read it here  These 50-year-olds aren't too mature to throw pie. On Monday, the story went national when Jim Romenesko picked up the column on his Obscure Store site.  Check it out here  Obscure Store

I don't recall...

Pie fight

RIPeanut

Saturday was a sad day at our house. Peanut, my cat for the past 20 years, left us. She was bone thin, deaf and unsteady on her legs, but she purred like a Harley if anyone came close to her.

We took Peanut to the vet at noon, remembering that we had made a similar appointment six years earlier. She was a feisty old lady. Had more lives than the average house cat. Ran away three or four times - once was found in the jaws of a neighbor's German shepherd and another time curled up on a couch on a porch several houses down the street. Good or bad didn't seem to matter to Peanut, who took it all in stride.

On her final morning, she went outside and chewed tender stalks of grass, then came in had a plate of tuna. 

Her body now lies in a sunny corner of our yard, where tall grass grows. She will be missed.

Hannah's recital

My daughter Hannah had her first piano recital last week. This clip is a part of one of her songs.

Go see this

The Spitfire Grill at the Skylight Theatre in Milwaukee. It runs through June 15. This wonderful musical is a tale of triumph and trust and learning to see your surroundings and self in a new light. My partner, Becky Spice, is one of the performers. And what did the local paper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, think of the production? Check out the review here.  link Another of the performers in the production is Tony Clements, a good friend of Becky's and a Skylight veteran who now resides in New York. Tony, by the way, has a terrific blog you should check out here link