Last Call for the Star Ball

Here in St. Louis at the Renaissance by the airport, tonight through Sunday.

Pelvic potpourri

Whenever I'm looking for a cheap post, I go rip off Sydney Smith, our irreplaceable Medpundit. Here she points us to some women who teach medical students as they submit to pelvic exams. (If they exist, we were spared knowledge of men who do the same for prostate exams). She also links to the e-pelvis.

Lacking the requisite plumbing, I can't speak directly of pelvic exams. I understand that it involves a speculum, a device renowned for its coldness. It is inserted into the vagina and then a ratcheting device holds it open. There's also soundproofing to keep down the echoes.

No, I made up that last part. But I really have known some gossipy small-town nurses who would, um, speculate and even count how many clicks the ratchet on the speculum would make on various women they knew. Now that's a conversation starter.

Whether coming or going, you can use strength and control in your pelvic muscles. For this you need Kegel exercises.

So what else do you want to know about pelvises/pelvi/pelves?

Day By Day

Dean Esmay interviews Chris Muir, the genius behind the comic strip Day by Day. Don't miss it.

The Home Front

...is a new site in support of our armed services. Check them out.

Of particular interest is a centralized list of employers and what they are doing more than what is required by law in support of reservists. I for one will start irritating at least three companies to get their names on the list.

From the credits page:

The idea for this site was Susanna Cornett's, and Mike Hendrix did the design and construction. Comments and suggestions may be e-mailed to Susanna at thegoodguys2003-at-hotmail-dot-com and to Mike at mike-at-coldfury-dot-com.

We'd like to thank these folks for their support and encouragement, and for providing us with information and links.

In no particular order:

Michele Catalano

Paul Palubicki

Except I had to add this title manually until I RTFM

Alright, I'm giving w.bloggar a test ride. So far it looks terrific - I have about 5 minutes of download and install time tied up in it with a scuzzy old 56K dialup connection. I think I'm going to like it.

What does it do? I won't do it justice - just click the link above.

Pave France!

Right here. Don't miss the jokes and other abuse.

Sure it's over the top. But then if you want to see what kind of slimeball Chirac is, read Khidhir Hamza's "Saddam's Bombmaker".

And then read Michael Ledeen's post in NRO about what might really be going on. And David Frum's diary entry about a Hubert Vedrine performance.

Soft core smut?

Some locals are protesting the spring break edition of the Abercrombie and Fitch catalog. As before, it is full of nude models, often in mixed groups and provocative positions. I can't speak in detail about the pictures because I only saw what they showed on TV, but the stuff I've seen posted at their mall stores was smutty enough when you consider it was posted in a public place.

Yeah yeah, Europeans post stuff like this all the time. I remember a trip there when I was in grade school and being astounded at seeing nudity on the public airwaves. But I'm happy to say that this isn't Europe, and after watching the behavior of many Europeans lately I say "viva la difference".

A few years ago when the Infiniti came out (I think it was the Infiniti), none of the early ads showed the car they were advertising. This was innovative if not necessarily advisable. I never did hear how well that campaign worked, but it did strike me as perverse at the time.

So now A&F is trying to sell clothes with nudes?

Oh, it'll get them attention alright. Maybe the message is "unless you look like this, you'd better cover up with A&F clothes".

Slow week coming

I don't know how much time I'll have this week for blogging because of crunch time on a project. But it does give me an excuse for some blogrolling:

For serious stuff, try Clayton Cramer, Stuart Buck, Howard Bashman, Lynne Kiesling, Erin O'Connor and Winterspeak.

Besides Lileks and Instapundit, my two favorite family guys are Tony Woodlief and Terry Oglesby (and while you're checking out the Possum's hospitality, take a tour of the Axis of Weevil). If it's an eligible guy you're after, of course there's Acidman.

For comic relief try 3 Bruces, or of course Scrappleface.

To wander off left of center, how about War Liberal or Armed Liberal?

If you want controversy, odds are you'll find it at Gene Expression or Omphalos.

Women? Ah yes, there are some I haven't linked to lately. You've probably already been to Michele's site. You have to like Asparagirl's attitude. Something is up with Moxie. Then there's party goddess Vicki and Janis down South, or Dawn in Ohio, or Robyn in FL (hope you're feeling better). And the inimitable Page.

Fairly recent additions to the blogroll include Beaker, Blaster, Michael Ubaldi and Andrew Zolli.

For international stuff, there's Brussels Blog, Ibidem, Dilacerator and of course Tim Blair.

For science and technology you can't go wrong with Jay Manifold, Rand Simberg, Charles Murtaugh and Derek Lowe. What the heck, how about Beth Skwarecki? For medical stuff, try MedPundit and MedRants. Or check out Gizmodo for your gadget needs.

I could probably do this for days and end up with something like The Talking Dog's list of blogs (which is lefty enough to somehow omit people like Lileks and Steven Den Beste last time I looked, as well as NWA). What the heck, I left out plenty of people too, but as I mentioned time is a bit scarce this week.

And if the group above isn't enough to keep you busy, you're probably spending too much time in front of your PC anyway.

Toren Smith is back

...so check him out.

Indexing music

"You know that song that goes....?" I say that all the time, and I have a fairly good memory for that stuff. I might even attempt to whistle the song in question, but that can be a challenge with things like, say, "Flight of the Bumblebee".

Even then it doesn't help much given alternate names, sampling, etc. What is it, the theme from the Lone Ranger or the William Tell Overture? And in case anybody remembers MC Hammer and Rick James, how likely was it that you'd know that "Can't Touch This" sampled "SuperFreak"?

So unless I happen to run into the right people, how do I find a song I'm trying to remember from a few bars or musical phrases? Is there some sort of search tool for this?

Housing, dead peasants and rent control

The firm of Galt & Dreck has a couple of interesting posts about housing valuations here and here. (I'd hate it if Asymmetrical Information suddenly disappeared - can I insure against this?)

Alright you guys, please continue: what would happen to the economy of New York City if they got rid of rent control?

Unless you're a fetus...

Dodd on the value of human life.

Eat at Hardee's

This is the best I could do for a transcript for what currently is my favorite TV ad:

"At the Battle of Waterloo, the French surrendered"

"At the Franco-Prussian War, the French surrendered"

"At World War II, the French surrendered"

"Don't be a big chicken - eat one. Hardee's Big Chicken Sandwich...."

When does a threat become imminent?

Charles Austin wants to know.

Kurds hold pro-war rally in St. Louis today

Fox 2 tells us that there are about 600 Kurds in St. Louis. It looked like most of them were in on a pro-war rally in St. Louis today. I'll link something when it shows up.

UPDATE: A link here. Their primary concern is Turkish rule after a war with Iraq. Money quote:

Though the group was calling the event a "peace rally," organizers said they support a U.S. invasion.

"If you run Saddam out of the region, it will mean peace for all the region," Shahad said. "We want to see a democratic government in Iraq, and we feel you can't do that without war."