Monthly Archives: November 2002

Another one

Posted on November 30, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

One more blog that I meant to add to the blogroll yesterday but forgot: Paul Frankenstein. Too much tryptophan, I guess. Anyway, it’s there now. Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | Comments Off on Another one

The Junction Boys

Posted on November 30, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Having watched my recommended daily allowance of football over the T-Day weekend, I’ve seen approximately 1,539 promos for the ESPN movie The Junction Boys, about how Legendary Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant took a buncha Aggie boys out to Junction, TX … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | Comments Off on The Junction Boys

Baseball still an Olympic sport

Posted on November 30, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

A decision on whether or not to drop baseball, softball, and the modern pentathlon from Olympic competition has been postponed until after the 2004 Games, thus ensuring that all three sports will continue through at least 2008. This is a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | 6 Comments

Blogrolling and cocooning

Posted on November 29, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Added some new blogs, removed a couple of others. Some new blogs were added because I saw them in my referral log and liked what they had to say, others came via the recommendation of other bloggers. See? The system … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 6 Comments

Building a better blog

Posted on November 29, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Larry has some great advice for bloggers concerning site design and generating traffic to your blog. I recommend them both. The issue of generating blog traffic has occasionally been dicey. Just before I moved from Blogspot to this site I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 4 Comments

You’re still free to be stupid

Posted on November 29, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Another appallingly stupid op-ed piece in today’s Chron. The author, a professor of history at Tomball College named Tom Lovell, really needs to get out more. SOME years back, a Rice grad invited me to an Owls home football game. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | 3 Comments

Buy Nothing Day

Posted on November 29, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve seen a couple of exhortations to observe Buy Nothing Day. I’m not impressed. The idea of picking one day to change one’s behavior may have pop culture appeal, but like the Great American Gas Out it will accomplish nothing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | 1 Comment

High-roast turkey and other helpful hints

Posted on November 28, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Tiffany subscribes to Cook’s Illustrated, a fascinating magazine even for a non-chef like me. One part chef school, one part science lab, one part Consumer Reports, the magazine is all about finding the best way to do something by trial-and-error … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | Comments Off on High-roast turkey and other helpful hints

Negative advertising works

Posted on November 27, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Everyone who paid attention agrees that the Texas Governor’s race was very negative this year. A new poll suggests that Tony Sanchez got the brunt of the fallout from that: On a scale of one to five with five being … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | Comments Off on Negative advertising works

Live Nude Ghouls

Posted on November 27, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Via Greg Wythe comes this hilarious story from the NY Post, that bastion of Murdochian righteousness in the Big Apple: The staff of the Liquid Assets lounge in South Plainfield says a gaggle of go-go loving ghouls invaded their burlesque … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in General snarkiness | 2 Comments

Turducken goes mainstream

Posted on November 27, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Today’s Chron has this NYT wire story about the history of turducken, the chicken-in-a-duck-in-a-turkey confabulation that Paul Prudhomme claims to have invented. It’s a pretty good overview, with some history of stuffing one type of food into another, and they … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | 5 Comments

Department of “Duh!”

Posted on November 27, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Botox injections have been linked to Immobile Eyebrow Syndrome: In the new study, published last week in the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, researchers from the Indiana University Medical Center examined 29 patients who had received Botox injections in their … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Comments Off on Department of “Duh!”

Blogosphere Navel Gazing: Electric Boogaloo

Posted on November 27, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve tried, I really have, to give a rat’s ass about the latest controversy surrounding Little Green Footballs, but I just can’t quite bring myself to do it. It’s so much ado over nothing at all. So naturally, I’m going … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blog stuff | 5 Comments

T-Day in Texas

Posted on November 27, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Scott Chaffin shares some Thanksgiving memories of his grandmother. Check it out. Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | Comments Off on T-Day in Texas

David Rushing update

Posted on November 27, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Well, the good news is that the Chron finally addressed the David Rushing issue. The bad news is that they did so in a completely candy-assed way. What they did was print three letters to the editor which one assumes … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | 1 Comment

Phone company is evil: Film at 11

Posted on November 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

I’m shocked, shocked to report that Southwestern Bell is being accused of stifling competition: Ten companies are accusing SBC Southwestern Bell of putting up roadblocks to thwart competition. In a complaint filed with the Texas Public Utility Commission, they claim … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness | Comments Off on Phone company is evil: Film at 11

Another Enron guilty plea

Posted on November 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

A former Enron employee named Lawrence Lawyer has pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges stemming from his involvement with Michael Kopper in fradulent business deals. Lawyer, a 34-year-old banker, admitted before Houston-based U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt that he failed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Enronarama | Comments Off on Another Enron guilty plea

Voices from the past

Posted on November 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

From an op-ed in the Chron, overlooked by me but spotted by the permalinkless Blah3 (it’s the first entry for November 26, scroll down a bit) and written by a member of that notorious liberal cabal the Heritage Foundation: There … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | 1 Comment

Quixotic Quest Dept.

Posted on November 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Four defeated state candidates in Texas are filing suit against the Texas Association of Business, claiming that money that the TAB spent in the campaigns constituted direct contributions, which are illegal under state law. Okay, this is a little complicated. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | 3 Comments

Budget projections

Posted on November 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

This is going to be such a fun year for the State Lege. The Legislative Budget Board can’t even agree on projections for state economic growth and its implications for next year’s budget: In a battle portending more to come, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Comments Off on Budget projections

David Rushing update

Posted on November 26, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

No correction or letters-to-the-editor printed in the Chron as of today regarding David Rushing. I’ll be keeping an eye on it. On a slightly egotistical note, this site is higher result in a Google search for “David Rushing” than any … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | 2 Comments

Need some help with your Christmas list?

Posted on November 25, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Get ready, there’s gonna be another online auction of Enron memorabilia, from December 3-5: A sleek black Lincoln Navigator that transported former Enron Corp. chairman Kenneth Lay a few blocks to Dynegy Inc. about a year ago to announce the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Enronarama | Comments Off on Need some help with your Christmas list?

David Rushing update

Posted on November 25, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Yesterday, after Mark Yzaguirre tipped me off to David Rushing’s more accurate byline, I sent the following email to the Chron: In Sunday’s edition, you printed an opinion piece called “How John Sharp Killed the Texas Democratic Party” (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/editorial/outlook/1674118). The … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | 3 Comments

Houston supports light rail

Posted on November 25, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

In theory, anyway, according to a poll taken by County Judge Robert Eckels. Eckels is no big fan of rail, but even when he tried to push the anti-rail viewpoint, the support was there: The poll shows that 66 percent … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | 2 Comments

Art Car Parade breaks with International Festival

Posted on November 25, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

The Houston Art Car Parade, the granddaddy of all Art Car Parades and one of the best reasons to be in Houston in the springtime, is severing its ties with the Houston International Festival, thus allowing it more freedom in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Comments Off on Art Car Parade breaks with International Festival

He works hard so I don’t have to

Posted on November 25, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

I have a lot of respect for people who can actually read something written by Michelle Malkin. Greg Beato has done so here, and the results are quite amusing. Check it out. Via Matt Welch. I should note that my … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | Comments Off on He works hard so I don’t have to

Sometimes you’re not paranoid enough

Posted on November 24, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

While writing the article below critiquing David Rushing’s op-ed in today’s Chron, I was tempted to include a line saying something like “This article is so ridiculous and slanted, I’d almost swear it was written by a Republican posing as … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | 4 Comments

RIP, Little Hipps

Posted on November 24, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

I hate stories like this: SAN ANTONIO — After satisfying San Antonio’s need for grease for 42 years, the last Little Hipps hamburger was flipped Friday. The burger stand, in a tiny converted gas station just north of downtown, has … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | 15 Comments

Race, politics, and stupidity

Posted on November 24, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

When I saw the above-the-fold headline in the Sunday op-ed section entitled How John Sharp Killed the Texas Democratic Party, I expected a discussion of things like how all three top ticket candidates ran as Rpublican Lites, how Sharp kept … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2002 | 6 Comments

Doing to America what he did to Texas

Posted on November 23, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Those new environmental rules that Team Bush has unleashed on us look awfully familiar to us folks in Texas. Well hey, Bush promised to do to America’s economy what he did to Texas’, so why should things be any different … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in National news | Comments Off on Doing to America what he did to Texas

That’s Mister Mayor Osama to you, bub

Posted on November 23, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

The former mayor of Sugar Land is suing a talk show host for some columns he wrote in which he called the mayor “Osama”: A lawsuit has been filed by former Sugar Land Mayor Dean Hrbacek against radio talk show … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | 8 Comments

Aguirre testifies before Grand Jury

Posted on November 23, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

The man himself, Captain Mark Aguirre, testified for four hours before the grand jury that’s apparently looking into charges against him for the K-Mart Kiddie Roundup. Unfortunately, as grand jury proceedings are secret, there’s not much meat to this story. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in K-Mart Kiddie Roundup | 2 Comments

New frontiers

Posted on November 23, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

Greg Morrow finds a new trick for an old dog: the self-fisking. I think this is why the French invented reflexive verbs. Continue reading →

Posted in Other punditry | Comments Off on New frontiers

The marching band refused to yield

Posted on November 23, 2002 by Charles Kuffner

I missed it earlier this week, but November 20 was the 20th anniversary of The Play, California’s amazing game-winning kick return against Stanford that culminated with a trombone player getting flattened in the end zone. Kevin Moen, the player who … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | 1 Comment