The Phantom Scribbler

In Old English, "sc" followed by "ae" makes the "sh" sound. And, because I'm a geek, I thought wouldn't it be hilarious to do a remake of " Shaft ," but with an Anglo-Saxon hero called "Scæft"? Who's the Anglo-Saxon dude That likes to show the chicks his rood? SCÆFT! That's hwæt's up! Who's the man that would risk his neck For his closest-kin? SCÆFT! Can you jiggit? Who's the thane that's off the chain Say the seaxy mutha's name ... SCÆFT! Rihtdónde! And, speaking of Beowulf, I also recently found out that the word  grindle  means "herring." I am forced to wonder if Beowulf was just a fisherman. Or, perhaps, a logician who defeated the terrible  Red Grindle ? By the way, the term "red herring" originates from the tradition whereby young hunting dogs in Britain were trained to follow a scent with the use of a "red" (salted and smoked) herring (see kipper). This pungent fis

Composed upon the passing of C.J. around the year of our Lord 2010: Dad-Koresh, a king. Dad-Koresh, a king! He who saw the deep places below Khampound 2/3 Presbyterian and 1/3 Baptist He tormented his children He made them angry They cried out to the gods, "Send us a companion for our king! Save us from his purityrannity!" Aroo-roo heard their cries. Enki-dog, a wild mutt with reindeer antlers 2/3 dog and 1/3 ottoman Entered Khankhord Entered Khampound He hid upstairs He hid in the dining room Dad-Koresh found Enki-dog They became great friends The new friends went to Khan-apolis together Where the great Pam-Bubba watched shows by the hundreds Enki-dog stood and wagged his tail Dad-Koresh shined his bluetooth Pam-Bubba was asleep, so they took a rain check But Enki-dog fell to the ground, struck down by the gods. Dad-Khoresh wept bitter tears saying, "He who was my companion through naptime and dinner is gone forever." Explanation: This is based on the version of th

I watched "Cabaret" two days after the 2024 election.   Let me start with this.  I've done some research since seeing the musical and the author who wrote the book on which the musical was based was ... not a good dude.  According to Howard Moss in his biography of Christopher Isherwood (the author), he came to Berlin to frequent, "...the boy-bars in Berlin in the late years of the Weimar Republic...".  Not cool.  I'll make reference to this later.   Ok, some context.  The Sunday before the election, my wife and I drove to NC so she could vote (as NC neglected to send her requested absentee ballot).  Directly after voting, we drove to NYC so I could attend a veterinary conference.  As I drove, I got regular updates from my sister about the election results.  We arrived right before midnight and things weren't looking good.   I wasn't able to sleep, so I kept watching the results come in (skipping back and forth between "The Return of the King&qu

My dad retired yesterday.  I spoke with him last night and was surprised to hear how bittersweet this was for him.  I assumed he'd be THRILLED to finally not have to work constantly well into his 70s, but that wasn't the case.  He was genuinely heart-sick to leave the friends he'd made and abandon riders who had come to love and depend on him.   Also, he said he loved the feeling of expertly navigating a giant behemoth through traffic.  Probably explains his leather driving gloves with the flames on them.   Of the stories he told me from his last day, two stuck out.   One of his regular riders is homeless.  Actually, many of them are, but it's important to this story.  She brought him a card and some presents, including a multi-function pocketknife which included a knife, spoon and fork.  She also gave him her phone number and asked him to call her at Christmas.  He full wept when telling me this.   He told the very last rider that he was the very last rider as he was d

 When I first registered to vote in 1993, I registered Libertarian.  More as a lark than anything, because I was really Republican.  My parents made me change it to Republican because I was, at that time, getting a degree in Criminal Justice and they said the police would never hire a Libertarian or a Democrat.  Also, I guess, Jesus would be mad?  I did change it and proceeded to vote Republican for a while.  But it wasn't long before I started voting 3rd party.  Usually, if there was a Libertarian candidate, I voted Libertarian.  I had reasons which are still good reasons mostly outlined in Thoreau's "On Civil Disobedience".  In NC, there's a lot of 3rd party candidates to choose from.   If there wasn't a Libertarian, I'd vote for what I called "The Bollox Party."  The goal was to create some manner of gridlock, especially in the Federal government.  For example: * Both houses of Congress fully 50% split between DNC and GOP * One house GOP and o

This beginning story is important because it goes to my overall point even though I'm assuming anyone who bothers to read this, all 1.3 of you, already know it.   A professed Christian who works in the establishment next to mine was telling me about an inadvertent drive with a Muslim chauffer during which she was given a 30 minute sermon about how Christianity is a corruption of Islam, etc.  The driver was considerate and persuasive and, although she was not ultimately convinced, he got her thinking.  "Because," she said, "I only worship one God like Islam says, but I don't worship Jesus because he's not God ... right?" To which I responded, "Weeeeellll ... how nerdy do you want me to get about this?"  (I try to do this for people before I assault them with shit.)  After receiving permission, I said something along the lines of a GREATLY stripped down Quicinque vult (Athanasian Creed) :  Yes, Christians believe there is just one God. But also