broomeman.com - a weblog by donny broome

Victor Davis Hanson says, "There will be no second Holocaust."

I paid Jackson Hewitt to electronically file our state and federal income tax returns. They were fast, friendly and professional. I no longer have the will or patience to file my own tax returns.

The Kentucky Legislature is sick and tired of Casino boats.

Jack Rabbits Attack Walkers in Sonoma County - "Man says, 'I thought, gosh, this is somebody's pet.' He put his hand down in a friendly gesture and the bunny lunged and bit him." This reminds me of that horror movie with the killer bunnies.

Roger Ebert, on Billy Wilder: "When the American Film Institute selected the greatest 100 American films of all time, there were four Wilder films on the list, and when it picked the 100 greatest comedies, his "Some Like It Hot" placed first. In my new book The Great Movies, only Wilder and Hitchcock have three titles among the 100 films."

Here's a report about two ultra-smart crooks.

Doc talks about Microsoft.

Dancing Paul - Hey, it's Friday.

LEGO Builder - Get in on the LEGO action!

Postmodern Palestine - "Facts mean nothing. The dispute is purportedly over the principle of occupation — but next-door Syria holds far more Lebanese land than Israel does the West Bank. The dispute is supposedly over ethnic intolerance and gratuitous humiliation — but Kuwait, quite unlike Israel, ethnically cleansed their entire country of Palestinians after the Gulf War. The dispute is said to be about treating the "other" fairly — but Syria and Iraq summarily expelled over 7,000 Jews after the 1967 war, stole their property, and bragged that they had rid their country of them. The upcoming Arab Summit could spend weeks just investigating the Arab murder and persecution of its own people and Jews."

Backstabbers - "Phyllis Chesler, author of the pioneering 1972 feminist exposé of the psychiatric profession, "Women and Madness," has produced a mammoth volume, based on 20 years of research, arguing that other women can often be a girl's worst enemies. The supporting evidence in "Woman's Inhumanity to Woman" comprises primate and anthropological research, workplace studies, sociological data, original interviews, memoir, even literary criticism and fairy tale analysis -- all documenting the usually underhanded and often devastating ways that women attack each other."

2002 NFL Schedule

When you gotta go, you gotta go.

Billy Wilder died today. If you've never seen it, please rent his film named Double Indemnity. It's perhaps his best film, and it's considered by many to be one of the greatest films of the film noir genre.

Lord of the Sheep? Great photo!

There are a number of movies coming out in the next few weeks that I would like to see:

High Crimes - (April 5th) Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd and James Caviezel star in this thriller.

Spiderman - (May 3rd) This one is either going to be really bad or really good. We'll all go see it, either way.

Attack of the Clones - (May 16th) The most anticipated movie of the year (the second most anticipated film would be the second LOTR movie) features more light saber action than The Phantom Menace. How can it go wrong?

Sum of All Fears - (May 31st) Ben Affleck reprises the role of Jack Ryan in this Tom Clancy thriller. Morgan Freeman joins him. Hopefully Freeman and the plot will rise above Affleck's acting abilities.

How does 'Company Policy' begin? Julian says, "It starts with a cage containing five monkeys..." (via Dave)

The 4th annual free Oscar pool is over. My score was 16, the winner scored 27.

The crack-smoker is demanding an apology.

"Will Smith will produce and potentially star in a remake of "Uptown Saturday Night," a groundbreaking 1974 comedy that starred Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby as buddies who go uptown to chase some crooks who've stolen their winning lottery ticket." Courtney and I watched the original movie a few weeks ago. It's a classic.

Read the caption beneath this zoo photo.

TJ Buttrick: "I'm just waiting for Sharon to tell Bush, 'You're either with us, or you're with the terrorists.'"

"I remember I tried to open the mouth and tried to get it off of me. That didn't work either," he said. "I just grabbed the shark's eye and ripped it out and then it let me go."

Dave sums up Eisner's article. Well-put, Dave.

The Screed, by James Lileks, wherein he responds to Nick Kristof. (via Vodka Pundit)

Mysterious 'Black Blog' Floating Near Florida - I can't even make this stuff up!

The Great Terror - "Gosden believes it is quite possible that the countries of the West will soon experience chemical- and biological-weapons attacks far more serious and of greater lasting effect than the anthrax incidents of last autumn and the nerve-agent attack on the Tokyo subway system several years ago—that what happened in Kurdistan was only the beginning. "For Saddam's scientists, the Kurds were a test population," she said. "They were the human guinea pigs. It was a way of identifying the most effective chemical agents for use on civilian populations, and the most effective means of delivery.""

Jay Leno: "In astronomy news, scientists have discovered a cluster of thousands of burned out stars – turned out it was just Liza Minella’s wedding."

A Brilliant Madness - Sunday, April 28th

Fellowship of the Ring will be released on DVD on August 6th. A longer version will be released on November 12th.

Mom Gives Birth to Four Identical Girls - No fertility drugs were involved.

Time.com: The 50 Best WebSites

The Great Terror - "In northern Iraq, there is new evidence of Saddam Hussein's genocidal war on the Kurds—and of his possible ties to Al Qaeda."

Iron Monkey was released on DVD today. I have not seen it, but I've heard good things about it.

Priest Jams Cell Phones at Mass - Great idea! I'm hoping that all movie theaters will soon do the same!

Judge: It's OK to work in your garden in the nude.

No Easy Solution for Spam - No duh. Just hit the delete key.

The last two paragraphs of this article summarize how I feel about the Best Picture winner this year.

Number of Oscars that A.I. received: ZERO

Get ready for some serious fireworks in Israel. Sources say that Sharon is ready to launch major assaults after the latest peace talks fail.

Have you ever called one of those 1-800 'Comments' phone numbers found on the packaging of many household products? This guy did, and his conversations were quite funny.

To spray or not to spray. That is the military question.

In case you haven't noticed, gas prices are going UP!

Here a just a few candid Oscar observations: (1) Toby Maguire looked like a complete dork last night. (2) Gwyneth Paltrow needs to buy a Wonderbra. (3) Moulin Who? (4) Ben Stiller is a funny guy.

If Bin Laden were still alive, wouldn't he have gloated about it by now? Charles thinks that he's dead, for that very reason. It does seem strange that he's been so quiet as of late.

No big surprise here: Airport Screening Hasn't Improved

When Elephants Dance - "When elephants dance, it’s best to get out of the way. That’s exactly what’s happening now as the entertainment industry—the recording, publishing, and motion picture industries, mainly—attempts a worldwide intellectual property power grab with two distinct targets. Think of it: a coup and a lock on all published content in the same year, amazing isn’t it?"

Last night Denzel Washington won the Oscar that he earned 10 years ago for Malcolm X. The Academy is slow, but it does have a memory.

Donny's Oscar Picks:

     Best Picture - Lord of the Rings
     Best Director - Peter Jackson
     Best Actor - Denzel Washington
     Best Actress - Halle Berry
     Best Supporting Actor - Ian McKellen
     Best Supporting Actress - Jennifer Connelly

Courtney and I are back in Louisiana for a wedding shower. Highlight: homemade jambalaya! The real thing!

New 'Axis of Evil' toilet brushes are now available.

A photo of a whale, er, organ. Note: Whales are mammals.

"Before too long, you could have a rainbow in your wallet."

The rabbit wants your pointer. Amusing. (via MeFi)

John Derbyshire says, "I don't think we should be sending diplomats to the Middle East. I think we should be sending teams of psychiatrists. This is a diseased culture, a sick culture."

A British government source has revealed that U.S. troops in Afghanistan found a biological weapons lab during Operation Anaconda. Scary stuff.

Courtney and I enjoyed a pleasant dinner last night at Old Venice Pizza Company. Our waiter was friendly and efficient and the food was good.

Here's a photo of a minibus making the jump to warp one. Well, not really. (via PixelPile)

This is bizarre.

Kodak Colorama - The world's largest photograph.

Apple has sold 125,000 new iMacs since its January release.

Guess who's got Hepatitis C? That's awful. On another note, has anyone done a study comparing the ratio between "diseases contracted" with "rock stars dated"?

Head on over to Malted Barley, because the Beer Blog is up and running!

Note to Scorch: You've had your new digital camera for over a week, but we haven't seen any photos of California. What the heck?

Alison has published a new design. If you're not jealous of her design skills, you should be.

CNNSI is reporting that Tiger Woods has a girlfriend.

Jeff comments on the weight gain at Gitmo. Funny stuff.

In Australia, condoms are 'growing on trees'. (via Bushtit)

Ebert's Oscar Picks - I sure hope he's wrong about the Best Picture award.

"Spam is as old as the mainstream Internet itself, but its alarming rise is challenging companies more than ever. In the past six months, the volume of junk mail sent online more than doubled, according to spam filter company Brightmail. Internet researcher Jupiter Media Metrix estimates that consumers will receive about 206 billion junk e-mailings in 2006--an average of 1,400 per person, compared with about 700 per person this year."

David Skinner: Moulin Rouge Sucks

Scot’s Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 23

Movable Type version 2.0 has been released.

There are some mean women in the news today.

Knight Rider is heading to the big screen.

These guys are on the ball.

Post-9/11 Jargon - I've got a bad feeling that I'll start using some of these.

"State prosecutors seeking tougher antitrust sanctions against Microsoft Corp. yesterday portrayed the software giant as an unreformed monopolist that has continued its predatory behavior in the four years since the government filed charges against it."

Virtual Keyboard - Great idea.

On Saturday we were in Louisiana for boiled crawfish and cold beer. Spring is here at last.

"New York taxpayers shelled out a whopping $6 million last year to buy Viagra for those who can't afford it."

The Osbournes - I tried watching it, but gave up. It bored me to death.

Last night on Drudge's live radio show I listened as Harry Knowles reviewed Attack of the Clones. That's right, he's seen the film two months before its release! Not the final cut, but the full-length film, nonetheless. The good news, according to Knowles, is that Lucas has listened to critics of the first film and added needed depth to the new film.

Regarding this post from last week, the author, Jonathan Last, wrote to ask me if I read the entire article. I did in fact read the entire article and I enjoyed it. I simply felt that points within his very article were proof enough that blogs are not a fad, and was therefore surprised to note his use of the word "if". If you haven't read the article, be sure to check it out.

"...being an old farm boy myself, chickens coming home to roost never did make me sad, they always make me glad..."

This article is for all brides, former brides and future brides. Ouch.

Victor Davis Hanson asks a few Questions. Very interesting.

Military Promises 'Huge Numbers' For Gulf War II: The Vengeance - The Onion is on a roll this week!

"The Pentagon is rushing to produce a new and bigger bunker-buster bomb for use against hardened targets, like some of the underground hide-outs used by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein."

Here's another good reason to home school your kids.

The 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' soundtrack won five Grammy awards and is currently number one on the billboard charts, after being on the charts for 63 weeks. If you haven't seen the movie yet, rent it and watch it over and over for many fine laughs. Did I mention the music?

Dave Barry: "Let me respond, on behalf of all Americans, by suggesting, in the politest way possible, that the Surgeon General should go sit on the Food Guide Pyramid. Because out here in the real world, we do not carry cups around with us, nor do we encounter ''whole grains,'' whatever THEY are. Here in the real world, we face dietary decisions such as: Do we want the Hungry Human Burger 'n' Bacon 'n' Cheese 'n' Egg 'n' Sausage 'n' Slab o' Lard Combo Deluxe with a large order of fries? Or with a REALLY large order of fries?"

"Eat and drink what you want, it's speaking English that will kill you."

Flash Chess - Derek, this one's for you.

Google News Search (Beta) - It's a news search tool!

The Road to Windows 'Longhorn' - The next version of Windows.

I like Guinness, but I'll pass on these freaky contact lenses.

Do you pick your nose? Be honest.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Online

Lawrence Kaplan says that the Battle of Gardez in Afghanistan represents a shift in war policy. Namely, the Powell Doctrine is out, and ground troops are in.

Liverpool John Lennon Airport

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid - Rich Lowry says that North Korea may already have nuclear weapons. (via LGF)

The 'dumb' tribe on Survivor voted off Hunter, the obvious Maraamu MVP. Personally, I think the producers of the show should use Hunter to lead a new, third tribe. Armed with bows and arrows, this third tribe would be asked to 'pick off' members of the 'dumb' tribe, one by one. Audiences around the globe would cheer with glee.

"When the presence of William Shatner is the best thing about a movie, you know the production is in trouble." Ouch. This critic did not like 'Showtime'.

Study Finds Sexism Rampant in Nature - Classic Onion humor.

Rock & Roll at 50 - Roll over Beethoven.

What's wrong with this picture? (Look closely.)

Reading, Writing, and Blogging - "In the last six months, the sheer number of blogs has grown at an almost geometric rate and many bloggers have talked themselves into believing that they are in the vanguard of something big." Jonathan Last, the author of this article hasn't decided whether or not blogs are a fad. Therefore, I question whether or not he fully comprehends the growing presence (and relevance) of weblogs.

More design changes...

Lawmaker: Is copy protection wrong?

I finally got the permalinks working with the new design. More refinements are on the way.

Sketch Artist - A brilliant piece of Flash programming.

Animal News: Lion Kills Potential Mate

This is one Afghan woman who hasn't aged gracefully.

Check out this clock.

In recent weeks I've been getting a lot of spam via IM. So have others.

The jury was not fooled. If you kill five children, you must pay.

Is the suspense killing you?

"Although public interest in the Segway is high, Kamen acknowledges that to sell in great numbers, the device must be legal for use on sidewalks. If limited to roadways like other motorized vehicles, users would be exposed to cars, trucks and buses that could cause injury or death in a collision, Kamen said." The inventor of the Segway is actively lobbying for legalization of his product on public sidewalks.

The official poster for Episode II was released today.

The 20th James Bond movie will be named 'Die Another Day'. What kind of loser name is that?

"Every thang's going to be all white."

"There are plenty of reliable computers: the controls of the modern Airbus 340 are fully given over to a computer, and video-game consoles consistently work as advertised, as do Aegis missile cruisers, cellular telephones and digital watches. All contain transistors. Can technologists figure out how to replicate the reliability of airplanes, telephones, watches and televisions in future versions of Windows and Linux, so that a mischievous 12-year-old half a world away can't erase a thousand far-flung hard drives?" (NY Times Link, Login Required)

Many thanks to Derek, Misha and Evan for a pleasant, restful weekend.

Click on this link, and then hit your Refresh button (or go here) to download the new 'Clone War' trailer. Simply put, this is by far the best trailer to be released for this movie. The movie opens on Thursday, May 16th. Does anyone know when the tickets will go on sale?

The Fro is back!

The full trailer for Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones will soon be available at starwars.com, but you can also see the new two-and-a-half-minute trailer Sunday night on FOX television between original episodes of "Malcolm in the Middle" (7:30-8:00 PM CST) and "The X-Files" (8:00-9:00 PM CST).

Survivor 4 - Patricia is gone. Sean and Sarah are right behind her. Let's face it, the entire Maraamu team is quite sad. It's so obvious that Hunter got stuck with a group of losers who don't stand a chance. Hopefully CBS will devise a way to come up with better tribes in the future. Most of the Maraamu tribe should have failed some type of screening.

Every kid needs one of these.

Here's a little Ebert humor for you, from his review of the new film, Time Machine: "Since this race--the Morlocks--is allegedly a Darwinian offshoot of humans, and since they are remarkably unattractive, they call into question the theory that over a long period of time a race grows more attractive through natural selection. They are obviously the result of 800,000 years of ugly brides."

Rubik's Cube - Solve it online. What a great idea.

14-Year-Old Hero - Angie Campbell ran into a fire to save her little brother and sister. She suffered second-degree burns to her forearms, hands and lips.

It's nice to know that the Governor of The Sovereign State of Mississippi reads things before he signs them. Is this the year 2002 or 1962?

Here's a review of the film that CBS will air on Sunday about the WTC attack.

Ultimate Dropdown Menu v3.1.2 (via a life uncommon)

If you love real beer, go here and read the entry for March 1st. (The permalink is not working.)

The Pepys Project - It's a geographical listing of blogs. My blog is the only one from Mississippi for now.

All cats are killing machines, especially large cats.

Everyone in MS knows that Elvis is alive and well. This is not 'news'.

"A school bus driver charged with having a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit while driving his route says the stress of his job drove him to drink. But Marvin Franks insists safety is always his top priority. "If you had these kids on your bus, you'd drink too," Mr. Franks said Saturday, adding that, after only a month on the job, he was unable to control screaming kids who refused to stay in their seats."

On Sunday I noticed that pharmacists can now add flavoring to liquid medication. What flavors? Coffee, lemon, strawberry, grape, you name it. There are more than a dozen flavors to choose from! Why didn't they have this when I was a kid?

Beth, this one is for you: Flash MX. Check out these features! (You're a superstar girl, why are you still in the hood?)

"U.S. forces are now engaged in the fiercest ground combat they have seen since the October 1993 "Black Hawk Down" firefight in Mogadishu, Somalia, that left 18 U.S. soldiers dead. Osama bin Laden has cited the subsequent U.S. withdrawal from Somalia as evidence of the country's weakness."

M$ = BS. Uncle Bill claims that IE cannot be removed from XP or Windows 2000. The relevant question is: Can you release a build that WILL WORK without IE? Answer: Of course.

This one is for Brent.

"Hey, let's go for a ride in the washing machine!"

I'm in favor of mandatory driving tests every few years or so, to eliminate people like this from the roads.

That's gotta hurt.

"I read the news today, oh, boy..."

Thanks.

The new Morpheus sucks. It's time to use a different P2P client. I guess I'll give iMesh a try.

A new Star Wars trailer will be released next Tuesday.

This afternoon I received a call from Patrick Turner, the manager of Hops. He apologized for what happened last Sunday. He was not there on Sunday and my email was the first that he had heard about it. He has asked me to call him personally on his cell phone or at the restaurant before our next visit, so that he may personally oversee our dining experience. I'm going to do just that, and give them another chance. I'm glad they called me.

"Do not pee in the Millenium Falcon." - Priceless.

The future of toilet paper?

Below is an excerpt from Matt's comments regarding Michael Greene's speech at the Grammy Awards:

"You do not accuse your customers of theft. You make no friends that way. Instead you ask, 'what can we the industry give you the consumer to make you buy more of our units?' (because the industry thinks in units. To them this is a business not an art). The thieves, I mean customers, will respond, 'we'd like to buy music in a portable format that will play in my car and on my computer that doesn't expire'. Now instead of responding that's not possible, respond, 'yes that technology exists today. It's called MP3s and you know what, we're dying to sell you some'."

Meg wants a blanket with sleeves. Hmm. Not a bad idea at all. UPDATE: Meg found them!

Pallet Jumping - LOL! (via Flutterby)

How to Install Grokster Without Spyware