Now this is a great idea. Two fellow Munuvians, Stephen Macklin and Tuning Spork have decided to meet, eat and compete in a trivia contest. With questions to be submitted by the blogosphere!

They've decided to invite . . . their beloved readers, to pose to them trivia questions in their 5 chosen categories of "expertise". (That doesn't mean that they are, in fact, experts in those categories, but merely that those are the categories in which they'd like to be asked challenging questions!)

Sephen's chosen categories are:
1) Sailboat racing
2) Mac OS
3) Lord of the Rings
4) Food
5) Objectivism

Spork's chosen categories are:
1) The Beatles
2) Watergate
3) Offset printing presses
4) General Relativity and/or Classical Mechanics (non-Quantum Physics)
5) The Simpsons

Posted by: annika at 11:11 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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John at Right Wing News just posted his latest poll: Right-Of-Center Bloggers Select The Dinner Guests From Hell.

[S]elections had to be currently living people from anywhere in the world that they'd really dislike having to sit down with for a long 1 on 1 conversation over dinner. Furthermore, no dictators, terrorists, serial killers, or mass murderers could be selected.

1) Michael Moore (41 [votes]) Easy choice. A blowhard and a liar.

2) Hillary Clinton (25) Also easy. She's so full of herself. i'd imagine her talking and talking, but never listening.

3) Al Franken (19) i wouldn't mind having dinner with him. i don't think he takes himself as seriously as we on the right take him. And, he is a comedian, after all.

3) Barbra Streisand (19) Loud, smug, shrill, unrepentant egomaniac. She made my list.

5) Jacques Chirac (1 He'd probably put the make on me.

6) Al Gore (17) He did not make my list. i dunno. He seems like a bore, but he was vice president for eight years. i'd love to pick his brain about that.

7) Noam Chomsky (16) i would do physical violence to him with whatever eating utensil was handiest.

Ted Kennedy (15) i'd totally have dinner with him. No food, just booze. i'd get my own ride home, though.

9) Howard Dean (11) Party dude. Yeeeeaaaah!

9) Jesse Jackson (11) No. He might also make a pass, from what i hear about him.

11) Jimmy Carter (10) Again, former president, of course i'd like to meet him. Supposedly a very nice guy, even if he was worse than shitty as a president.

11) John Kerry (10) Dull, self-important prig. Not well liked apparently. i forgot to put him on my list, but he belongs there.

11) Ted Rall (10) You know, i'm only vaguely aware of who he is. Radical Redneck keeps sending me pictures of him. i guess he's some sort of liberal.

14) Terry McAuliffe (9) Liar. Like Ted Rall, he didn't make my list only because i generally ignore him.

14) Ralph Nader (9) He wasn't on my list, but i wouldn't have dinner with him. He's weird looking.

14) Sean Penn (9) Number 4 on my list.

17) Robert Fisk ( See my notes on Noam Chomski, supra.

17) Janeane Garofalo ( See my notes on Noam Chomski, supra.

17) Michael Jackson ( He was on my list. He's too scary. i'd keep looking at his fake nose, and i wouldn't be able to enjoy my dinner.

20) Alec Baldwin (7) i would throw rocks at him.

20) Paul Krugman (7) Blah blah blah. He didn't make my list.

20) Al Sharpton (7) Al's great. i'd definitely have dinner with him. That would be a lot of fun.

Other names on my list that didn't make it on John's were: Margret Cho, Tim Robins, Rosanne Barr, Dan Rathre, Bill Marr, Erik Roberts and George Cloonie.

Rosy O'Donell and Dan Rathre were honorable mentions on John's list. i can't believe Bill Marr didn't make it over there. Forget his politics, he's simply the most unfunny comedian i've ever heard.

Number one on my list: Rosy O'Donell. She literally makes me nauseous. Not a good thing when your eating dinner.

Posted by: annika at 12:15 AM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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1 No Bill Clinton...I find that curious.

Posted by: Victor at February 24, 2004 04:49 AM (L3qPK)

2 Victor - since she already has Hillary, why bother with Bill..unless you just like to see her move his lips? But what's up with Al Sharpton? Really Annika , he's a self serving, Jesse Jackson wanna be , with a paper thin platform ('more for my people, less for yours'). Plus I don't think Al would add too much to the conversation with all that free food sitting around!

Posted by: jim at February 24, 2004 07:04 AM (zE10C)

3 Supposedly Al Franken isn't that bad. He did a USO tour with a country musician (whose name I don't recall), but nonetheless shared radically different political views than Mr. Franken. Mr. Franken, it seems, took the high road overseas and didn't spend any time with tearing down the President et al. (unless, of course, you count 'President' Hussein). The pro-liberation musician, at the end of the tour, expressed his opinion that Franken was a class act, even if they didn't agree substantially.

Posted by: Bravo Romeo Delta at February 24, 2004 08:08 AM (9X/fX)

4 Annika, I think you're greatly underestimating the number of guys that would make a move on you if given the chance. If you exclude them from dinner for that, you'll never have dinner with another male again. I saw your picture.. Given a chance and a dinner invite, I'm sorry, but a lot of us would roll the dice.

Posted by: Rob at February 24, 2004 11:06 AM (f1Rv3)

5 Oh Rob. You're definitely in the running for next week's HCOTW®!

Posted by: annika! at February 24, 2004 11:31 AM (zAOEU)

6 Kennedy dinner date: No Problemo...inflatable boots...that, or a tiny James Bond air tank. (think Thunderball in the shark pool) Sharpton would be great dinner conversation...the one upside to a Sharpton Presidency would be Cedric the Entertainer as Press Secretary...they would move WH press briefings to prime time. In seriousness, we forgot Maureen Dowd...actually, how about the dinner table insecurity black hole if you combined MoDo and Tina Brown?

Posted by: Prince Lichnowsky at February 24, 2004 02:16 PM (QyDeG)

7 "Cartoonist" Ted Rall in his muse. This will get Coyote's 1" standing straight up! http://asmallvictory.net/archives/TedRall.html [NOT WORK SAFE. a.b.]

Posted by: Radical Redneck at February 25, 2004 11:00 AM (+P5I5)

8 I think I'd have to call it a tie between Rosie and Nutpig Moore.

Posted by: d-rod at February 27, 2004 09:29 AM (CSRmO)

9 Per Ted Rall: All you need to do is read this to see what kind of man Rall is. http://www.google.de/search?q=cache:7PasbyNSvcoJ:www.thinkingpeace.com/pages/Articles/arts081.html+ted+rall+%22why+we+fight%22&hl=de&ie=UTF-8

Posted by: Sarah at February 28, 2004 07:53 AM (byzVm)

10 Okay, i read about one paragraph of that filth and clicked it off. i would love to have dinner with that asshole, just so i could stick a fork in his eye. Then i'd laugh at him while he cried.

Posted by: annika! at February 28, 2004 05:39 PM (AT7hD)

11 Sarah, Thanks for reinforcing my disgust for walking feces bitch boy Rall. Go to the site I put above and you will find the source of that scumbag's motivation. Annika, still don't believe that's a real picture?

Posted by: Radical Redneck at February 29, 2004 08:27 PM (WwSqc)

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Susie is running Frank J.'s "Super Lucky Happy Fun Permalink Contest Number One II."

If you please, go now to IMAO and vote for the correct contestant.

Posted by: annika at 04:07 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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i'm considering removing the calendar from the sidebar. i never use it. I'm curious about whether any of you find it useful, and if so how. Either on your own blog or when visiting other MT blogs. Similarly, if you never use it, i'd like to know that too.

Update: The tribe has spoken. Kiss it goodbye.

Posted by: annika at 07:20 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 I never use it either on my own blog or yours. Let's dump it.

Posted by: d-rod at February 18, 2004 08:37 PM (xHDde)

2 what calendar? :-) coyote

Posted by: coyote at February 18, 2004 09:06 PM (cfoFZ)

3 Yeah, as far as I can see it's cute but completely useless.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at February 18, 2004 10:01 PM (kOqZ6)

4 I use mine to see what day it is, and I use other people's if I want to see what they posted on a particular day. But I suspect I am in the minority...

Posted by: Susie at February 18, 2004 11:06 PM (0+cMc)

5 You're right, there is a calandar there. How about that.

Posted by: Steve S. at February 19, 2004 01:22 AM (PDLvk)

6 The only real use I've found for it is when you click on a specific day it brings up those posts. Handy if you're looking for something that you remember from a few days or a week ago. I don't use it often.

Posted by: Ted at February 19, 2004 08:21 AM (blNMI)

7 Useless. Folks can just use the archives. I left it off when I came over to MT.

Posted by: Hugo at February 19, 2004 08:24 AM (gGPcB)

8 *giggles @ Steve* I'd have to agree with Susie and Ted... It's not that much of a minority... 3/8

Posted by: Cherry at February 19, 2004 10:40 PM (i7dMY)

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Check out this "Humorous Political Party Quiz to Test If You're an Archconservative, Leftwing Wacko, Antigovernment Libertine or a Commie Sympathizer," to which i was alerted through the magic of e-mail.

Posted by: annika at 09:51 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A couple of good requiems for Howard Dean can be found here:

Danny O'Brien applies the five Kübler-Ross stages of Death to Howard Dean's campaign. Nice Job, D.

Matt at Blackfive goes Elton John on Howie. Pretty classic, Matt.

Posted by: annika at 04:45 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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i did a cheesy thing. Maybe you've seen the new link on the sidebar. i opened up my own cafepress.com page. i know, i know, but it was so fun to design the stuff.

i didn't mention it until now because i was waiting for my annika's journal coffee mug to arrive. Now that i've seen the product, i am impressed. The mug came out much better than i had expected.

So now the annika's journal shop is open for business. Hey, if Kylie Minogue can sell panties with her lips all over them, i can offer you a mug to put your own lips on.

(Does this mean we'll be seeing Old Skool or Matt wearing the Kylie panties anytime soon?)

Posted by: annika at 11:22 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 ??? Not hardly! Well, not me, at least! I can't speak for OS, but I've never seen any indication that he might be into that sort of thing.

Posted by: Matt at February 17, 2004 06:35 AM (of2d1)

2 This mug would be even better with your smiling visage.

Posted by: Ehecatl at February 17, 2004 09:02 AM (+Jc3U)

3 you're so vain, you probably think this mug is about you... ;p ...mean nothing by it, just have the song stuck in my head from the morning drive to work...

Posted by: Scof at February 17, 2004 10:53 AM (Me9IN)

4 Seeing stuff with my name on it is so confusing! It all looks great, though. I may just have to get a coffee mug with our name on it.

Posted by: the other Annika at February 18, 2004 11:47 AM (pXYHz)

5 sellout! now seriously, i was looking but i could not find the annie panties.. are they ona hidden page or something? ;-) coyote

Posted by: coyote at February 18, 2004 01:27 PM (cfoFZ)

6 "Nulla puella negat" indeed -- and such a brazen display... will wonders never cease?

Posted by: Hugo at February 18, 2004 03:33 PM (gGPcB)

7 No Coyote, they're on me! And they're not for sale. ; )

Posted by: annika! at February 18, 2004 04:12 PM (zAOEU)

8 lol @ Scof lol we make all that sort of stuff at work Jigsaws too even That mousepad is a ripoff!!!

Posted by: Cherry at February 19, 2004 10:46 PM (i7dMY)

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i think it may be a sign of something when my blog makes the periodic table of elements. A sign of what, i don't know. But apparently i have a new elemental symbol: Na. It's on the Humbug blogroll which takes the form of a Periodic Table.

Now on the one hand, i should be flattered that i'm to be found where Einsteinium or Fermium might normally be on the real table. Bottom row of the actinide series, which would make me one of the rare earths. That sounds flattering, except Humbug has labelled that row the "obscuroid series," which doesn't sound too good.

There's no indication of my atomic number, so i'm calling "100," because it's such a nice round number.

Scorebard has a pretty cool design going, too. i like the tab navigation and i dig the baseball poetry.

Posted by: annika at 07:36 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Seriously, wonderfully, deliciously, off the fucking deep end, insane.

Posted by: annika at 10:37 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Once again, Frank J. has outdone himself. Read his satire of the typical Democratic Underground.com comment thread, which can be used equally well with any topic.

Posted by: annika at 06:21 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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This appears to be the week for me to blog about nipples, seen or unseen.

Kevin's Wizbang is the place to go for pictures of Janet Jackson's boob and what i now know is a "nipple shield," not a pastie or a piece of tape as some have suggested. That's fucking sick. And i say that as someone with a pierced tongue. Anybody who thought that Janet might be the only normal one in that family . . . think again.

Oh, by the way, i was named Wizbang's Blog of the Day. Thanks Kevin! (Let me know if that PayPal bribe didn't go through.)

And, in reference to my previous nipple related post, where Brant commented that he thought Brittany's nips were lower than normal due to a botched implant job, lookie here. Kin, posting at Jen's has the photographic proof, not only of the American Skankwoman's augmentation, but also of the below the equator orientation of her little nippies. Good work Kin!

Update: Ginger opines on Nip Slippage.

Posted by: annika at 11:37 PM | Comments (16) | Add Comment
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1 I, ummm, don't feel comfortable hammering on other peoples' piercable bits. Some would say that my piercing is pretty icky, too.

Posted by: zombyboy at February 02, 2004 12:00 AM (X7Bhq)

2 Have you seen the site that traces Britney's evolution from A-cup to C (and maybe D) cup - and back again? Her boobies vary over time. Maybe the girls got inflatable implants...

Posted by: Pixy Misa at February 02, 2004 06:06 AM (jtW2s)

3 So Annika, in honor of your nipple-blogging week, what are the odds of you posting a topless pic. You know not that I'm asking for gratuitous nudity or anything. I'm just thinking theme here, and what better way to get it going.. Just a suggestion.. I'm thinking logos, promotion, corporate sponsors.. 'Annika's boob week'. I could be huge.. I'm gonna get banned now, huh?

Posted by: Rob at February 02, 2004 08:00 AM (QDVwP)

4 So Annika, in honor of your nipple-blogging week, what are the odds of you posting a topless pic. You know not that I'm asking for gratuitous nudity or anything. I'm just thinking theme here, and what better way to get it going.. Just a suggestion.. I'm thinking logos, promotion, corporate sponsors.. 'Annika's boob week'. It could be huge.. I'm gonna get banned now, huh?

Posted by: Rob at February 02, 2004 08:01 AM (QDVwP)

5 A stupid comment, and it double posted. I suck.

Posted by: rob at February 02, 2004 08:02 AM (QDVwP)

6 In the immortal words of Patsy on AbFab... "Accident, sweetie".

Posted by: d-rod at February 02, 2004 10:40 AM (CSRmO)

7 Three times is the charm?

Posted by: annika at February 02, 2004 11:04 AM (zAOEU)

8 Annie- just curious, if you really get down to it, just how is it that a nipple shield is that much different than a spike through your tongue? i asked my little sister why she got her tongue pierced and she said to me, "there is only ONE reason to do it, and if you don't know what that is, i'm not gonna tell ya" body modification is a very personal thing, and many people do many seemingly odd things for reasons only known to them. does that really make them sick or perverted? i'm not so sure. i'd never judge you for that sort of thing (hell, i think it's sexy) but i think you might be exhibiting a bit of intolerance on this one. i do still luv ya though arf coyote arf coyote

Posted by: coyote at February 02, 2004 11:09 AM (cfoFZ)

9 "body modification is a very personal thing, and many people do many seemingly odd things for reasons only known to them. does that really make them sick or perverted?" Not necessarily, but in the case any member of the Jacko family, the answer is yes. Seriously 'Yote, i do have my preferences where body art is concerned. i pierced my tongue, my nose and my navel. But i wouldn't pierce my nips, too sensitive. i dated a couple of guys with pierced nips and i did find that a bit sexy. i dated guys with pierced tongues too. That was, um, different. About half of my friends have pierced tongues, too. What you see as intolerance is just a matter of aesthetic taste for me. A guy with a little ring on his nip is sexy, if he has the attitude to match, but i don't think lip rings are attractive in any circumstance. i'm ambivalent about eyebrow piercing on either sex. What's the point of that? i like tattoos, but i think a big hunkin sun tat on the tummy is ugly. i have no prob with nip piercing, per se, but attaching a shield is overdoing it, in my opinion. It makes me cringe to think what would happen if that material had gotten caught on one of the spikes when Justin pulled it off. Yeeoow.

Posted by: annika at February 02, 2004 03:35 PM (zAOEU)

10 ok Annie- i must have just misread "That's fucking sick" and "Anyone who thought that Janet might the only normal one in that family... think again." my bad. ;-) coyote

Posted by: coyote at February 02, 2004 04:10 PM (cfoFZ)

11 Annika: Did I call that or what? Poor woman. You have to pity someone who spends all that money on a boob job and then her nips point not only down, but in different directions.

Posted by: Brant at February 02, 2004 05:31 PM (WfQGW)

12 I think I'm gonna follow Rob's lead and make this into a world wide effort. Think of it as Girls Gone Wild:Spring Blog '04 Show your tits!

Posted by: Kin at February 04, 2004 11:22 AM (IDa3v)

13 Have you ever had a wardrobe malfunction, annika?

Posted by: d-rod at February 05, 2004 06:20 PM (GNk2j)

14 buy stock newsletter from our secure server! get next day delivery free! and save over 70% on all of our popular brand name medications. Delete if you dont like it.

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Tony Pierce's new project, Lick Magazine, was launched today at halftime of the [Most Excellent] Bowl. i read through it and hereby pronounce it to be rad, very rad.

Posted by: annika at 11:00 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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This is funny. i'm not in it thank goodness. Guess who is the Ace of Spades, though. Link thanks to Kevin.

Posted by: annika at 01:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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i just read that Ginger has taken the big step and told her bf about Candied Ginger.

There are trade-offs to letting people from the real world in on your blog. When i first started, i wanted to keep the whole thing a secret from everybody. i guess the theory was that i could write about my family, coworkers and friends openly, disclosing all their dirty little secrets and maybe feel better in the process. Also, if i wanted to do a post about mstbtn, i could do so without embarrassing myself too much.

As things evolved, i ended up not disclosing too many dirty secrets and to date i have yet to write anything about mstbtn (unless you count that one poem). In the meantime the secret squeaked out a bit. Now my close friends Betty, Franci, Lori and Steve all know about the blog. Franci has guest hosted and Lori comments every now and then. And i finally told my writer friend Danny from NY, from whom i kept it a secret when i visited him last summer.

My boyfriend does not know, and i don't plan to tell him. At least not unless we reach a much more serious stage than we're at now. As for my family, so far no one knows, which is the way i want it. i get so much material from my brother's shenanigans that i would hate to have to censor stories about him. My coworkers either don't know, or they have all secretly been reading for some time, due to the IS people monitoring my computer. i guess i won't find out until the day i'm reprimanded.

Posted by: annika at 08:58 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Tiger encouraged me to move off of Glogspot and also hinted at the wonders of this thing called pinging. So it seems only appropriate that i experiment with the heretofore unknown (to me) technology known as TrackBack by making a reference to my favorite Texas lawyer.

Tiger needs a hug.

Yeah, I am gonna contemplate my bloggin' efforts.

If the most I can accomplish is pissin' off the people I am tryin' to compliment, then maybe I could make better use of my time.

Posted by: annika at 12:46 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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One night last month during the holidays, while i visited my mom and dad, we all watched The Tonight Show. As he often does, my dad started comparing Leno to Johnny Carson.

“Boy, I sure miss Carson,” he said.

“Me too,” mom added. “He was the best. Jay Leno just doesn’t compare.”

Dad turned to me. “Sissy, you’re too young to remember Carson, but there was a time when people used to stay up every night just to watch his monologue,” he said.

“i do so remember Carson.”

Mom rolled her eyes. “No she doesn’t.”

“Yah mom, i do,” i retorted. “He had white hair. He wasn’t very funny. i like Leno better.”

Dad was appalled. “Wasn’t funny? C’mon! Let me tell you something little girl, Carson was great even when he wasn’t funny.”

“Yes. Everybody knew his monologues weren’t funny. It didn’t matter. We just loved to watch him,” mom said. “He was like a good friend.”

i had no idea my parents felt so strongly about the old man.

Mom continued. “I remember during the writers’ strike when Johnny had to write his own jokes. He was very funny then.”

“Oh yes, he was,” dad nodded. “Very funny.”

“But let me tell you,” my dad leaned forward, a serious look flashing across his face, “there were three times when Carson was so good that you made sure you stayed up to watch him.”

“When was that?” i asked.

“Whenever Don Rickles, Buddy Hackett or Pete Fountain were guests.”

“Pete Fountain?” i laughed.

“Yes, you know Pete Fountain. Played clarinet. Died a few years ago.”

“You and your Pete Fountain, dear,” mom chuckled.

i grew up listening to Pete Fountain records. My dad worshipped the guy.

“Of course,” dad said. “Rickles, Hackett and Pete Fountain. You didn’t miss Carson when any of those guys were on.” My dad’s face became wistful. “You know, you can’t say that about any talk show these days. There’s nobody today that compares. Nobody that makes you say, ‘hey I gotta stay up and watch tonight.’”

i tried to think of a guest who might compel me to watch Leno, or Letterman, in the way my dad used to stay up to watch Carson and Rickles, et al., but i drew a blank.

Until today, when Lileks guest hosted on HewittÂ’s show.

Maybe it’s not the same thing, ‘cause it’s radio, but lemme tell you, when i hear that Lileks is going to be on the Hugh Hewitt show, i make darn sure i tune in that day. Lileks is as awesome on the radio as he is in print. When Lileks was cracking on "nude Hugh" with his bald head and hairy back running from the police, i was dying. That was funny stuff. He may not play the clarinet, but i'd stack James Lileks up against Buddy Hackett any day.

Update: Brad at Infinite Monkeys writes about his call in to the show, which i heard.

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Thanks to Roxette i found this fantastic poetry blog called Ivy Is Here. i pretend to talk a little about poetry, but Ivy is the real deal. i am gratified to see that she is currently number one in this week's NWS voting. Ivy gets my vote and many future return visits.

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When i was away i still checked my e-mails on my cell phone. i noticed that i was getting emails with "hi " in the subject line. When i opened them, there was no message. After deleting, the same e-mail would reappear in about five minutes. After the first time, i just deleted without opening it. Eventually they stopped.

Now, i think it was that new e-mail worm, which tries to trick users into opening it by using an innocuous subject line. Luckily, since i was using my cell-phone, there was no way for the worm to infect anything.

Anyway, now i routinely delete e-mails with suspiciously non-specific subject lines without opening them. i've also told people that if they want to e-mail me, it's best to use my name in the subject line, since the bots don't know my name. Hopefully that will help.

Posted by: annika at 09:20 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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