Hope that dare not speak its name…

Greetings. loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has been hoping against hope for something… He’s not wanted to blog about it for fear that he could “jinx” it.

What is “it?”

It is Mark Teixeira possibly coming to play for the Nationals.

It looks like Baltimore is out of the running. According to ESPN the Angels and Red Sawx are also in the running for Teixeira. That means he will go to Boston or LA (or Anaheim or where ever the Angels are from nowadays).

But the fact that the Nats are still in the mix is cause for irrational hope.

Carry on.

Slingin’ Sammy Baugh - RIP

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is a Green Bay Packers fan - as longtime readers know. He became a Packers fan out of a great contrarian streak. You see, if you grow up in the Washington DC area (and don’t have strong family influences to the contrary) you are going to be a Redskins fan. If you have a run-of-the-mill-milquetoasty contrarian streak, you will become a Dallas Cowboys fan.

(Excursus: Your Maximum Leader believes that Washingtonians who become Dallas fans to “stick it to the Redskins” are just idiots. Wooo… You’re soooo original. Cowboys vs Indians. Oh yeah… It was almost too subtle to get… Stupid fucks…)

Anyhoo…

You have to have a great contrarian streak to pick a team (that in the late 1970s and early 1980s) sucked terribly…

But your Maximum Leader digresses…

The Washington Redskins have a colorful and interesting history. It was made more colorful and interesting by Sammy Baugh. Slingin’ Sammy Baugh as he was known played from 1937 to 1952. He practically invented the forward pass. He also played both ways. He was an inagural member of the Football Hall of Fame. From the Washington Post Obit:

After starring at TCU, “Slingin’ Sammy” played with the Redskins from 1937 to 1952, leading them to the NFL title in his rookie season and again in 1942.

Baugh was the best all-around player in an era when such versatility was essential. In 1943, he led the league in passing, punting and defensive interceptions. In one game, he threw four touchdown passes and intercepted four as well. He threw six touchdowns passes in a game twice. His 51.4-yard punting average in 1940 is still the NFL record.

Your Maximum Leader saw Sammy Baugh at a Redskins game years ago. He remembers seeing Baugh on various sports shows (with George Michael) from time to time. He seemed like a good guy (who could curse a blue streak and drink you under the table).

He was 94 years old.

RIP - Sammy Baugh.

Carry on.

Beastly…

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has been reading the Daily Beast quite a bit lately. He has also been reading Culture 11 quite regularly.

Your Maximum Leader wonders if there isn’t some similarity between these two sites. There is some stylistic similarity. Style in terms of layout and presentation. The similarity isn’t the content. (Culture 11 as lots of great original content. There is a aggregator quality to the top of the Daily Beast.)

Is there something visually that is compelling about these sites? Your Maximum Leader can’t put his finger on it.

Sadly enough… This post seems to be petering out as your Maximum Leader is typing it…

Upon beginning the post your Maximum Leader thought that this post would wind up being some sort of erudite evaluation of the relative worth of the two sites. But as your Maximum Leader started to type he realized that if he went through with his writing he would be writing a trite miserable piece of shit that would cause him to have flashbacks.

Flashbacks to what you might ask yourself?

Flashbacks to his time as a graduate assistant having to grade 300 freshman World Civilization papers over a single weekend. The paper’s subject… “Compare and contrast the Beatitudes from the Gospel of Mark to the 8 Noble Truths of Buddha.” Great jeezey chreezey. Just typing that line caused your Maximum Leader to shake and shiver.

It might be time for a double scotch and a hockey game on tv…

Carry on.

Your Maximum Leader is listening to…

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader, fearing that you will all begin to go through DTs if he doesn’t post something soon, is taking a page out of the FLG playbook.

Your Maximum Leader is listening to:

Marhsall Crenshaw singing - “Someday Someway.” Sadly that You Tube above is a acoustic version done earlier in 2008. Your Maximum Leader is listening to the definitive version from Marshall Crenshaw’s eponymous album released back in 1982. Damn that is a good song. The Villainettes love it too. They can both sing along when it pops up on the iPod.

(NB: For some odd reason while looking at the cover art for the Marshall Crenshaw album your Maximum Leader thought of Mr C.S. Perry of Rooked… Hummm…)

Frankly… In the time your Maximum Leader has spent looking (in vain) for a good video of “Someday Someway” a few other songs have come and gone… They include: “Mo Ghile Mear” by Sting and the Chieftains, “It’s all been done” by the Barenaked Ladies, “Tears dry on their own” by Amy Winehouse, “Mexico” by James Taylor, and “One” by the Cowboy Junkies…

So there…

Hey… It’s content…

Carry on.

Your Maximum Leader vs. W

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader knows that by now you’ve seen the footage of the Iraqi reporter throwing his shoes at President Bush. (And President Bush ducking.)

Allow your Maximum Leader to tell you how that scene would have played out differently had it been him at the podium instead of President Bush…

Your Maximum Leader would have seen the shoe coming at him and grabbed it out of mid-air. While the man was readying his other shoe to throw, your Maximum Leader would have lept over the podium, knocked the offender to the floor, and then started beating the reporter about the head and shoulders with his own shoe while yelling “How you feelin’ now Bee-yatch?!?”

After a moment of this your Maximum Leader’s bodyguards would have to pull him off the now-bloodied offender. The man would then be taken out to the closest bridge over a river or stream, impaled and left as an example for others… (The man’s family would also be dragged out and shot.)

Just so you know.

Carry on.

Bring me the finest meat and cheese in all the land!

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maxmium Leader wants to thank Robbo, Buckethead, and Mr & Mrs FLG for a positively fantastic evening Friday last.

Your Maximum Leader believes a good time was had by all. Robbo’s account makes your Maximum Leader wonder if he should go ahead and buy a zombie apocolypse survival kit and send it to Chez Robbo. Your Maximum Leader doubts that Mrs Robbo would see the need for such a kit; but when Robbo is able to save her (and the kid’s) bacon when the inevitable attack comes she will see the light.

FLG and Mrs FLG were a delight. Mrs FLG is, as Robbo says, a special jewel. She is radiant, intelligent, and indulgent of FLG’s blogging habit. She also plays video games with her husband. A rare find indeed!

As for FLG himself… He is a very fine fellow as you can surely tell from his blog. His visage is strong and shows hints of his true pirate nature… This account of the meeting captures the spirit of the evening.

Your Maximum Leader had a great time. He should also thank Mrs P for getting the ball rolling. (NB to Mrs P: Your Maximum Leader would have called you from his cell while at dinner, but luckily for you there is no signal in the District Chophouse.)

Carry on.

Bettie Paige - RIP

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader sees on the news wires that Bettie Page has died. She was 85 and had recently suffered a heart attack. She had, apparently, suffered for many years with mental illness as well.

Of course her recent ailments or mental illness are not the cause of Bettie Page’s fame. She was the curvy black-haired model from 1950s pin-ups and erotic photos. From the AP article:

Page, who was also known as Betty, attracted national attention with magazine photographs of her sensuous figure in bikinis and see-through lingerie that were quickly tacked up on walls in military barracks, garages and elsewhere, where they remained for years.

Her photos included a centerfold in the January 1955 issue of then-fledgling Playboy magazine, as well as controversial sadomasochistic poses.

“I think that she was a remarkable lady, an iconic figure in pop culture who influenced sexuality, taste in fashion, someone who had a tremendous impact on our society,” Playboy founder Hugh Hefner told The Associated Press on Thursday. “She was a very dear person.”

Bettie Page certainly had an impact on your Maximum Leader. He remembers finding some old magazines at a comic book shop featuring photos of a bikini and smile clad Bettie Page when he was very young. Those photos were enough to stir up “funny” feelings that your Maximum Leader hadn’t had before. He might have been 8-9 years old. Your Maximum Leader, at one point, had a Bettie Page poster on a dorm-room wall at college. She was up there with Humphrey Bogart and Ronald Reagan. (There might be a story there, but he can’t think of one now.)

Your Maximum Leader is glad that Bettie Page never allowed herself to be photographed in her declining years. We will always remember her as the fresh-faced and hard-bodied 20 something with a girl-next-door face and wild streak.

For your viewing pleasure:

RIP - Bettie Page.

Carry on.

UPDATE - You should read Skippy’s moving tribute to Bettie Page.

Making Blagojevich better

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is enjoying this whole Blagojevich thing going on. Nothing like a good scandal right before Christmas to get one’s mind off other (more important) issues.

Do you know what would make this whold Blagojevich thing better (ie: more fun to watch)?

On Thursday afternoon Blagojevich holds a press conference. During the press conference he announces that he is going to appoint former Chicago Bulls player Dennis Rodman to the open US Senate seat. Then, with his wife by his side, he announces that he was only interested in taking money and bribes in exchange for the Senate appointment to be able to keep his secret truth hidden. He is really a lesbian woman trapped in a man’s body and he was hoping to get money for a sex-change operation.

Yes… That would make this all the more fun…

Carry on.

Genes and being “so-called”

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader’s interwebs connection appears to be working intermittently. He has a call in to his service provider - but no ETA on a technician yet. This little situation annoys your Maximum Leader because yesterday he had a few different items about which he wanted to blog. Alas, he didn’t actually type them out and save them - and now that moment has passed and he doesn’t want to go back and re-think those ideas.

He did, on the other hand, decide to write a little something that seemed to spring from an interesting serendipity of items about Spain. Yesterday night, before the interwebs started acting up, your Maximum Leader read this peice about Sephardic Jews leaving their genetic imprint on Spanish men. According to the AP piece:

From the 15th century on, Spain’s Jews were mostly expelled or forced to convert, but today some 20 percent of Spanish men tested have Sephardic Jewish ancestry, and 11 percent can be traced to North Africa, a study has found.

“These values are surprisingly high,” the researchers wrote in their report, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Along with researchers from Britain’s University of Leicester and Wellcome Trust, the scientists analyzed DNA samples from 1,140 men in Spain, Portugal and the Balearic Islands and compared them to Moroccans, Algerians, and Sephardic Jews in Istanbul and Israel.

“The work shows that religious conversions and subsequent marriages between people of different lines had a significant impact on modern populations both in the Balearic Islands and in Portugal,” Elena Bosch of the University of Leicester said in a statement.

One of the most surprising findings is the percentage of Spanish genes whose origin can be traced to Sephardic Jews, although Spain had a relatively small Jewish population compared to its Moorish population.

Some of these genes may pre-date the Sephardic Jewish culture, the researchers said, noting that the Phoenicians also share some of the genetic characteristics.

Your Maximum Leader thought that this little bit of information was interesting to learn. Indeed, he was reminded of previous studies have found interesting genetic connections between people that one wouldn’t associate as being so close genetically. (To avoid the risk of citing something wrong, he is going to forego a discussion of some of the other studies that he seems to remember…)

The study of human genetics is a fascinating thing. It is amazing (and sometimes upsetting) to think of what we are learning and theorizing about our own nature due to our growing understanding of the human genome.

But, the AP peice started to upset your Maximum Leader… Not because of the genetics, but because of a little something else. Here is what set off your Maximum Leader: “The Moors invaded the Iberian peninsula in 711 and remained until defeated in battle by the so-called Catholic Monarchs in 1492.” “So-called?” That pissed your Maximum Leader off a little bit. Would you refer to Alexander of Macedonia as “the so-called Alexander the Great?” Would Tsar Ivan IV of Russia be “the so-called Ivan the Terrible?”

Anyone who knows anything about Spanish history knows that Ferdinand and Isabella are known to history as “The Catholic Monarchs.” Why would one throw that “so-called” in there? Is it just to be snide or is it to try and educate people? Sadly, it can’t be the educational option because Ferdinand and Isabella are never mentioned in the article. That “so-called” sticks in your Maximum Leader’s craw and he just can’t get past it.

Something else in this confluence of events… Your Maximum Leader, prior to reading the piece on the Sephardic Jewish genes, was thinking about the Catholic Monarchs. You may be asking yourself, “Self, why would my Maximum Leader be thinking about the Catholic Monarchs?” Well… He sat down and watched “Elizabeth the Golden Age” on his Tivo over the weekend. Your Maximum Leader wonders how he actually made it through the 2 hrs running time. Gawd what a waste of time and money. There were no redeming qualities to that film. Avoid it.

While watching the film you Maximum Leader got to thinking about Phillip II of Spain (the Great-Grandson of the Catholic Monarchs). At first he wondered if the actor portraying Phillip in the film had that weird little walk (small bowlegged steps) because Phillip was described to have walked that way - or if the very tight pants required him to walk that way. After a little contemplation, he decided it was likely neither of those choices but rather an attempt to characature Phillip as a sort of weird little religious fanatic with an odd gait.

Then your Maximum Leader started to think about the historical reputation of Phillip II, his father Charles V, and his Great-Grandparents Ferdinand and Isabella. Other than Isabella do any of them have a favorable reputation that isn’t significantly tainted by Protestant historicism? And frankly isn’t Isabella’s favorable reputation based on “financing” Columbus’ voyages?

Your Maximum Leader doesn’t believe that Phillip or Charles deserve their bad repuations if you try and look at them as actors in their times. Perhaps from a few hundred years (and secularized society) on we can scoff at their religious wars in Europe. But if one tries to insinuate your mind into their time their actions seem perfectly explainable.

Your Maximum Leader also didn’t realize, until pulling out a book and checking, that Phillip II was married 4 times. He could recall three wives (Mary I of England, Elizabeth of Valois and Anne of Austria - with Mary Tudor and Anne of Austria immediately coming to mind, Elizabeth took a little digging). But he didn’t know that before Mary I of England came Mary of Portugal. He should have known because he knew about Don Carlos of Spain, but he just thought that Don Carlos’ mother was Elizabeth of Valois.

Anyhoo… Your Maximum Leader was thinking about the Catholic Monarchs when he read that piece on the AP and that little “so-called” line annoyed him.

If you would like to share your thoughts on Phillip II, Charles V, The Catholic Monarchs, or human genetics; please feel free to do so in the comments or emails.

Carry on.

Caps vs. I-holes

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader enjoyed watching the Washington Capitals hockey team beat the New York Islanders last night in HD on tee-vee. He sat and watched the game with the Wee Villain. (The Wee Villain only watched until his bedtime.)

It looked a little dicey for the Caps until Donald Brashear’s goal. Your Maximum Leader was fearing that the Caps losing streak would extend to three games. He is glad it didn’t happen.

Your Maximum Leader especially likes it when the Caps can beat the Islanders. Your Maximum Leader regularly refers to the Islanders as the I-holes. Your Maximum Leader remembers the I-holes beating up on the Caps every time they came to town back in the late-70s and early 80s. He remembers their annoying fans too. It is nice to get a little 20-years in the making revenge.

Did you happen to see Thomas Boswell’s peice on the Caps yesterday? If you are a Washington sports fan you should. The Caps are the best show in town right now. Your Maximum Leader hopes that they will remain so for a while…

Carry on.

Interesting misreading

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader made an interesting misreading of a headline he saw somewhere on the web today.

The headline: “Republicans Strike Back in Georgia.” (Your Maximum Leader would link - but he can’t recall where he saw the headline.)

Your Maximum Leader first thought, “Oh! The army of (the Republic of) Georgia must be leading some offensive against the Russian army. That could be a problem.”

Then it turned out that the story was about Saxby Chambliss winning re-election to the US Senate in the (US State of) Georgia.

Your Maximum Leader doubts that many people made the same mistake.

Carry on.

Acqua Alta - Part 2

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader’s thoughts continue to be dominated by Venetian floods. He isn’t sure what it is that is creating this idee fixe in his mind. It is what it is he supposes…

Here is a link to a 1 minute video courtesy of the Guardian of London. It shows a guy surfing in Piazza San Marco. That is disturbingly cool.

Also from the Guardian an interesting piece by Tanya Gold. A highlight your Maximum Leader found interesting:

So I am looking out of my second floor window at the Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal – normally seeing a street, but today a canal – watching carrier bags float past. Ah, Venice! City of Casanova, Titian and the floating carrier bag. Some of the designer shops on the alley are actually open, although they all have high metal boards at the entrances, keeping the water out. Pucci and Gucci are open. Harry’s Bar is sort of open. I watch, amazed, as a woman in waders stops outside a handbag shop and demands to be shown a handbag. The shop girl shows it to her across the board. She touches it, debates with the seller, and eventually buys it. Three foot of floodwater, and still she shops. She must be Italian.

Your Maximum Leader likes the imagery there. A woman shopping in three feet of flooding for a designer handbag. Your Maximum Leader knows a few women like that… He might even be related to one or two… (NB - they are not Mrs Villain.)

Carry on.

Random iPod Post

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was tagged by Mike at Curmudgeonry with a little meme thingie. According to Mike we should: 1) Grab your iPod. 2) Select “All Songs” then hit “Shuffle.” 3) Go online and find the lyrics to the song that is selected and post them.

So… Needing content and seeing that this is an easy post to write…

The random song dished out was “Up Above My Head” by Kirk Franklin’s Nu Nation off the “God’s Property” album. Lyrics are:

Up above my head I hear music in the air
Up above my head there’s a melody so bright
And fair
I can hear when I’m all alone
Even in those times when I feel all hope is gone
Up above my head I hear joybells ringing
Up above my head I hear angels singing
There must be a God somewhere
There must be a God somewhere

I hear music in the air
I hear music everywhere
There must be a God somewhere

There must be a God somewhere
There must be a God somewhere
There must be a God somewhere

Your Maximum Leader believes that he has a version of this song sung by The King of Rock and Roll. He also believes that he has never listened to this song before. It is one of nearly 9000 songs on the iPod.

Your Maximum Leader has a playlist of his “top rated” songs that he uses for background music a lot. In iTunes one can assign a rating of 0 to 5 stars to a song. Your Maximum Leader has approximately 2100 songs rated with 4 or 5 stars. Those songs make up the contents of the “top rated” playlist. The other 7000 odd songs tend to languish unlistened to. Your Maximum Leader has decided that he’ll start playing more random songs from the “lower rated” songs to expand his horizons some.

Carry on.

Acqua Alta - December 2008

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has, in this space and to anyone who will listen, shared his desire to go to Venice for Christmas. He’s read that November to February is the worst time to visit Venice if you are concerned about the acqua alta (or “high water” as the Venetians call it). But he figured that when the time came, he’d just risk it…

Well… The time to visit is not December 2008. This is because your Maximum Leader would risk the unholy wrath of Mrs Villain if he just packed up and went. The second reason is because the worst acqua alta in a decade has hit the city.

Kevin directs us to the Times of London which writes:

Sirens sounded across Venice yesterday as flooding submerged 95 per cent of the city and left tourists in St Mark’s Square thigh-deep in water.

The highest water levels in more than 20 years paralysed services. Elderly residents were carried to high ground and some people took to the piazzas in inflatable dinghies.

As the water retreated it left a layer of sludge and debris. There were fears of more flooding, with another surge into the city from the Adriatic predicted today as high tides coincide with bad weather. Temperatures in the past few days have barely risen above freezing.

“Venice is completely paralysed,” one official said. “We are submerged.” Massimo Cacciari, the Mayor of Venice, advised residents and tourists to avoid moving around unless it was unavoidable. “Anyone thinking of coming should think again,” he said. “These are exceptionally high waters. Don’t venture out unless it is necessary.”

Driven by strong winds and heavy rain, the water rose to just over 5ft above sea level, the highest acqua alta since the 5ft 2in (1.6m) of 1986. The tide monitoring centre gave warning that the levels could yet reach a 30-year high.The water reached 6ft 4in above sea level in 1966, causing devastation to homes, shops and historic monuments and artworks.

Oy! Your Maximum Leader has got to get to Venice before it is completely subsumed by the lagoon.

Thanks to the AP you have photos of the flooding:
acqua alta in Piazza San Marco

Here is a link to the whole AP photo slideshow.

Carry on.

UPDATE - Link to now expanded slide show should be working.

Happy Thanksgiving

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader wishes you all (a second time) a Happy Thanksgiving. From the archives, for your reading pleasure, the first Thanksgiving proclamation from George Washington:

General Thanksgiving
By the PRESIDENT of the United States Of America
A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houfes of Congress have, by their joint committee, requefted me “to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to eftablifh a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and affign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of thefe States to the fervice of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our fincere and humble thanksfor His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the fignal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpofitions of His providence in the courfe and conclufion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have fince enjoyed;– for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to eftablish Conftitutions of government for our fafety and happinefs, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;– for the civil and religious liberty with which we are bleffed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffufing useful knowledge;– and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleafed to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in moft humbly offering our prayers and fupplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and befeech Him to pardon our national and other tranfgreffions;– to enable us all, whether in publick or private ftations, to perform our feveral and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a bleffing to all the people by conftantly being a Government of wife, juft, and conftitutional laws, difcreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all fovereigns and nations (especially fuch as have shewn kindnefs unto us); and to blefs them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increafe of fcience among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind fuch a degree of temporal profperity as he alone knows to be beft.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand feven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) G. Washington

Happy day to you all.

Carry on.

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