Title: The Riddle of Life and Death

Authors: Tillie Olsen (Tell Me a Riddle), Leo Tolstoy (The Death of Ivan Ilych)

Rank: 526,004

Blurb: “Masters of short fiction illumine questions of pain, suffering, medicine, fate, and, most starkly, ‘Why am I dying?'”

Customers Also Bought: “Essential Leonard Cohen”

Footnote: This morning’s post inaugurates a threatened monthly event, the real Stinque Book Club. The Management has agreed to open a multipurpose room for the occasion and waive the cleaning deposit. Please note that a gratuity of Two Buck Chuck to the janitor is appreciated.

The Riddle of Life and Death [Amazon]

Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon kickback link]

Gee, I wonder what they’ll find?

Once again, our monthly foray into creative destruction: You email photos, and through the magic of highly caffeinated hamsters, they show up here. (And since it’s been an issue of late, our hamsters are restricted to legal stimulants. We tried doping them once, but the rodent roid rage nearly destroyed the laboratory.)

June Jam [Flickr]

The news here is not that Tennessee has passed a law allowing gun possession in bars and restaurants.  The news is that there are still twelve entire states that do not allow American Patriots to carry a gun into the local Chili’s. That’s 12 stars we’re going to have to remove from the flag.

Additionally, the new law does not go far enough in ensuring American freedom, since it still forbids drinking while carrying a gun, just like the Koran! Tennessee’s Demorat Governor, Phil Bredesen, did veto the bill. He seems to think it’s unwise to have guns and alcohol in the same establishment. but he was overridden by the gun-loving Tennessee legislature, who subsequently went home to masturbate to pictures of Charlton Heston (May He Rest in Peace!).

Tenn. lawmakers approve allowing guns in bars [Salon]

I don’t know what I like better – the fact that the background music, Fanfare for the Common Man, was written by a gay guy, or the barely contained rage in that douchebag’s voice.

Read more »

We know something’s afoot when the BBC runs one of these for Obama’s Cairo speech, and a client asks for an automated version the same day. So we thought we’d stuff FlyingChainSaw’s recent Rush Limbaugh post into the word blender and see what pours out.

Wordle – Beautiful Word Clouds

Will the Bush Administration body count ever stabilize?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtlW5qpBXmo