Hubba Hubba

Time for a little Rule 5.

As everyone knows, this is whaddaya call one a’ yer “class” blogs; that’s why I try to keep my Rule 5 stuff kinda high-toned. So here’s a gallery of some of my favorite Hollywood babes from yesteryear.

Ava Gardner…beautiful, smoldering and dangerous. Check her out in The Killers, with Burt Lancaster and Edmund O’Brien. On her best day, Jennifer Anniston couldn’t touch this.




Lana Turner’s first (credited) appearance on film was a bit-part in a drama called They Won’t Forget. But the way she flounced (and, frankly, bounced) down the sidewalk wearing that sweater set her up for good. The combination of blonde-bombshell good looks and a young girl’s soft voice created a fascinating mix of sexiness and innocence (This combination is best exemplified in Johnny Eager; her greatest film was probably The Postman Always Rings Twice, though there’s not much innocence on display in that one – not that I mind!)




Frances Dee, for my money, had just about the loveliest face of all. The cinematography in I Walked With a Zombie uses light and shadow to perfection in highlighting this woman’s entrancing beauty.




Rhonda Fleming – One of the“The Queens of Technicolor” – was a curvy, red-headed hunk of feminine pulchritude (and she’s still with us!) Whether portraying the femme fatale in Inferno or playing it for laughs with Bob Hope in My Favorite Redhead, she was a versatile actress and one of the great all-time “lookers”.




Ann Sheridan was known as the “Oomph Girl”, and with masses of red hair and those big bedroom eyes, it’s easy to see why. Whether the genre was noir or comedy, she handled herself well (and also had a fine singing voice). Perhaps her most famous role was opposite Ronald Reagan in Kings Row; my favorites include the dark drama, Nora Prentiss, and her comic portrayal of a vain stage actress in The Man Who Came to Dinner.

Rule 2 Benefits

One of the great things about Rule 2, in addition to receiving reciprocal links, is that one is introduced to so many other fine blogs. For example, Political Castaway has an amusing post that suggests that, if Obama can fire corporate CEO's (not to mention poor Mr. Patel at the Main Street 7-11), then it's only fair that China, as one of the U.S.'s leading creditors, should have the right to fire our president.

And there's this other valuable Rule 2 perk: numerous opportunities for fisking David Brooks, or, as in this case, just watching Brooks self-fisk. Two things about the video: one, I wonder if the caller isn't a variation on the astroturfing theme, and two, according to Brooks, we are now, apparently, one with the Body of Obama ("rooting for the president is rooting for ourselves.") Using the connotation of "root" as it is employed by our Australian friends, the American taxpayer is the only one presently getting rooted.

Just a quick observation: I know we can't help how we look (God knows, I'm no prize), but even Brooks' facial expressions annoy me. As he sits there listening to the caller's question, his plump face congealed into a half-somnolent complacency, he puts me in mind of a fellow who's just settled down with his opium pipe and is waiting for the pleasant dreams to kick in.

Update: See? Rule 2 works like a charm.

Spring at Paco Command Center

In spite of the horrible impact of anthropogenic climate change, spring has sprung in its usual fashion here in Occupied Northern Virginia.

The wild plum trees are in bloom, their snowy crowns giving them a regal appearance that would probably cause our president to bow down, if he were to encounter them.


Here's another angle...


These colorful fellows are, I believe, some specimen of hyacinth (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).


And naturally, the daffodils were the first things to bloom, standing there like ranks of trumpet-wielding heralds.

Tovarish!

Comrade! I am glad to be meeting you for the first time in person. And permit me to offer you my belated congratulations on your great victory. A brilliant campaign! “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” I assure you, Mr. President, that you are definitely the one we’ve been waiting for. “Yes we can.” What a marvelously pliable slogan! It is with tremendous pleasure that I award you, on behalf of the Russian government, the Order of the Useful Idiot (First Class).



Update: Inspired move, Comrade!

Hey, A Stimulus Plan Worked for Nazi Germany

A rather curious take by the NYT, courtesy of Exurban League.

"My Administration is the Only Thing Between You and the Pitchforks"

Which makes him...Dr. Frankenstein, right?

Sorry, but I'm having a little trouble giving credence to Obama's tough-guy rhetoric (H/T: Memeorandum). Maybe if he hadn't been captured on film doing the hokey pokey with the Saudi king, or giving Queen Elizabeth the ol' two-fisted handshake as if he were a circuit rider welcoming Ma Kettle to a tent revival, it might be easier to take his George Raft impersonation more seriously. Nope. This guy is hopelessly miscast as president.

Update: Hey, it's like I said before. Without the teleprompter, Obama's suave oratory is just chopsticks played on a cathedral organ.

Update II: By the by, all you bankers out there threatened by mobs, you might want to consider getting some pitchfork insurance.

The Law Lawyer is an Ass!

Kathy Shaidle has the lowdown on Obama's nominee for the State Department's top legal position, Harold Koh.

Here's something from Koh I'm sure we're all relieved to hear: "According to his writings, Harold Koh thinks it is 'appropriate for the Supreme Court to construe our Constitution in light of foreign and international law' when 'American legal rules seem to parallel those of other nations'; when 'foreign courts have applied standards roughly comparable to our own constitutional standards in roughly comparable circumstances'; and 'when a U.S. constitutional concept, by its own terms, implicitly refers to a community standard'".

Hey, swell! Under Koh, maybe we'll find ourselves subject to some of these fine foreign statutes and regulations:

- You may not spay your female dog or cat. (Norway)
- No cows may be driven down the roadway between 10 AM and 7 PM unless there is prior approval from the Commissioner of Police. (UK)
- Anyone in company with someone who possesses narcotics, even if they are unaware that their companion has them, can be tried for the same crime. (Morocco)
- No pig may be addressed as Napoleon by its owner. (France)
- Taxi drivers must pay royalties if they play music in their cars for paying customers. (Finland)
- Citizens may not make offensive gestures at a passing state motorcade. (Zimbabwe; we'll probably be seeing a lot of prosecutions for that one in the next couple of years).

Help yourself to all the dumb laws you want, Koh. We'll just see whose America this is.