The Grout Gallery (Cont'd)

Back in November, the Almond Gallery challenged its readers to submit grout related plays on words. Because of the lack of submission within the allotted contest time-frame, no winner was declared. Today, however, I received a submission via text message from Sean M. of Palm Springs California. Since all previous submissions were also the work of Mr. M, I declare him the winner by default.

The winning response:

I went with a grouts-hunting (grouse-hunting) party in Shropshire.



Artists rendition of Sean M. (pictured far right) spotting hunting partner Ashford Alverston.

How Well do You Known San Francisco?

Most loyal A.G. readers have some kind of connection to the Bay Area and to its cultural, financial and creative hub, San Francisco. Whether you've lived nearby your entire life, just came to the bay, or live in Cleveland and just happened upon the Almond Gallery, now is your chance to test your knowledge of the layout of the Golden Gate City. Try to match the following locations to their corresponding starred-number on the map below:

a) Golden Gate Park
b) Pier 39
c) Chrissy Field
d) Civic Center
e) Haight/Ashbury
f) 19th Avenue
g) The Fillmore
h) AT&T Park
i) Marin County
j) The Castro



Write down your answers before viewing the comments section. Then paste your original, unaltered answers as a comment and compare your answers to others. NO CHEATING! I will post the correct responses in about a week.

The Competition!

Our good friend Jonathan G. over at jonothoughts.blogspot.com has agreed to a blogging challenge! I'm partly using the competition as motivation to return the A.G. to it's original glory of last semester, and partly as a publicity stunt to increase readership.

The competition is who can create the most posts on their blog in one week. We started on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. So I am already a little bit behind the curve. Don't worry though, loyal readers! The days to come will be full to the brim with juicy observations, activities, commentary and more! Since neither of our blogs has a strict over-arching theme, any content or subject matter is fair-game. The only rule is that the posts must be coherent. This rule will be naturally enforced by the fact that we both put an emphasis on the integrity and quality of anything with our names on it, especially our blogs.

Help us keep our institutions of learning alive by following our posts as the competition goes on! Comments are always appreciated as they remind us that our efforts do not go unnoticed!

Martin Luther King Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAKnMLPus1M&eurl=http://volokh.com/

Amazingly, during the 13 years I spent in the public school system, despite all the talk about civil rights and the accomplishments of Dr. King, I had never actually heard his famous speech in its entirety. Without actually watching the speech, listening every word he uses and how he uses his words, I couldn't begin to understand the colossal importance of the event and especially Dr. King himself. Young people should understand why he is only one of two people in America's history to be honored with a Federal holiday (here in Berkeley he is the only one, as Columbus Day has been changed to Indigenous People's Day). Public schools: This one is easy, just show the clip.

In the future, if you want to honor Dr. King on his day, circulate the link to friends and family. It came to me via e-mail from my dad, John.

The Legacy of GWB

"Listening to the fatuous Al Gore claim his undeserved Nobel Prize and maunder on about how America is ruining the planet makes me realize how fortunate America is to have as its president George W. Bush. Yes, Bush has his ample share of failings. He occasionally speaks at the fifth-grade level. He is too willing to surround himself with cronies and sycophants. An unsupple man, Bush sometimes reminds me of the toy soldier who walks into the wall and keeps going."


This is an excerpt from Dinesh D'Souza's most recent column. I think that the he doles out a perfect balance of praise and criticism for an imperfect President that still gets undeniably shafted by a dishonest media on a daily basis. I am inclined to disagree with his final claim that Bush could be remembered as one of the great Presidents of our time, but anything is possible. It is interesting to go back and read what Lincoln's critics predicted of his legacy.

The Good, the Bad and Pat Buchanan

When the world is divided into two distinct camps, liberal and conservative, some radically different points of view tend to be lumped together. The Almond Gallery subscribes to a strong conservative belief system that has been defined with help from certain individuals. These "foremost conservatives" must be distinguished from the far less savory "fauxmost conservatives," that is, those who I believe tarnish the reputation of conservatism in general. Here are my lists of those who exemplify each subset:

Foremost Conservatives
#1: Barry Goldwater - Reinvented the Republican party as the party of small government. Fought responsibly against the 20th century's greatest threat: Communism.
#2: Winston Churchill - A champion of freedom during the darkest of times. Took on both worldwide fascism and his country's Labour party with an impeccable wit.
#3: Ayn Rand - Provided a philosophical backing to the principles of individualism and conservatism. Taught us that acquiring wealth is something to be proud of.
#4: George Will - The most consistently readable conservative columnist. His opinions carry a lot of weight with his conservative readers such as myself (see post from Nov. 13, Donations, Nominations..).
#5: William F. Buckley - Despite being referred to by #3 as the most dangerous man in America, his biweekly publication the National Review has been incredibly influential in shaping politics in Washington for the better.

Honorable mentions to: Justice Antonin Scalia, Ronald Reagan and Thomas Sowell
----
Fauxmost Conservatives

#1: Mike Huckabee - To quote foremost conservative Winston Churchill, "He has all of the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." He holds a backwards philosophy that diametrically opposes Goldwater's conservatism.
#2: George W. Bush - Despite generally good intentions, President Bush has failed to apply conservative principles and has little results to show for his (almost) two terms. Also has fermented general hatred for the Republican party.
#3: Arnold Schwarzenneger - Has disappointed conservatives in his second term with his middle-of-the-road approach to governing and big spending programs.
#4: Pat Buchanan - His protectionist/isolationist ideas are some of the most anti-free-market since the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
#5: Ron Paul - I give Paul credit for his honesty and divergence from typical politicians, however, he fails to distinguish libertarianism from libertarian fetishism. The latter is dangerous in itself and in that it deters voters from looking rationally at reasoned libertarianism.

Honorable mention to: Pat Robertson, James "Mountain Jim" Inhofe and Abraham Lincoln

sleep the clock around

Life has a way of seeming more beautiful when I am listening to Belle & Sebastian.