Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is feeling a little under the weather. (Excursus: Your Maximum Leader was just listening to a podcast about idiomatic expressions and “under the weather” was mentioned as a phrase that causes foreigners - especially Asians - much grief to learn.) He was self-medicated and asleep by 8:30 last night. Tonight might be a repeat…

Anyhoo…

Your Maximum Leader was reading over a number of the blogs on his sidebar and a few thoughts came to him…

First off, a few items from our friend FLG at Fear & Loathing in Georgetown. In this post FLG recommends that your Maximum Leader invest some money in the Vice Fund. Your Maximum Leader wasn’t sure, but he thought that he had put some money in the Vice Fund. A quick call to his financial advisor confirmed that there was indeed some money in the Vice Fund. So there… That is good to know…

Next up, It seems your Maximum Leader has ruffled FLG’s feathers… FLG is a little disappointed in the fact that his blog had to labor its way up to the Legion of Villainy, but Rooked just magically appeared there. What can your Maximum Leader say? There is injustice in the world… That and Rooked has all those lovely photos of the pretty girls…

(NB to FLG: Your Maximum Leader will buy you a drink to soothe the injustice of it all sometime soon. If he had had your number he would have asked you to join him at the Tombs on Saturday night…)

In other news…

Your Maximum Leader has decided it is time to update a list he’s kept for quite a while… Here are the first updates since 2005…

40 Signs of the Mike World Order.
(In no particular order)

1. Your Maximum Leader’s profile on all the coins.
2. A huge democratically elected multi-cameral parliament that meets continually, debates endlessly, accomplishes nothing.
3. Identity papers.
4. Show trials. (With free admission!)
5. A “tattoo” tax. You get the first small (under 3″x3″) tattoo for free. All others taxed at exhorbitant rates. No exclusions for “cultural heritage” tattoos. O.J. retried, found guilty, and stoned to death.
6. All traces of Michael Jackson removed from the face of the Earth. (Yes, even “Thriller.”)
7. Saint Elvis.
8. The dreamy Jennifer Love Hewitt becomes new model for Statue of Liberty.
9. Statue of “Liberty” renamed Statue of “Conformity to the Mike World Order.”
10. Special lanes on all highways for the exclusive use of “Friends Of Mike”
11. Beer for the People!
12. Distilled spirits for the elites!
13. Huge monthly military parades, for no particular reason.
14. Free digital cable for the People!
15. At least 5 quality programs on digital cable at any given time.
16. MLNN, the Maximum Leader News Network.
17. Ted Turner dragged out and shot, just for fun.
18. Public executions. (With free admission!)
19. Did I just say “Beer for the People?” I meant to say “FREE high-quality Beer for the People!”
20. Permits required before people can wear spandex in public.
21. One radio station broadcasting all Richard Wagner, all the time.
22. One radio station broadcasting all Elvis, all the time.
23. Lindsay Lohan v. Britney Spears Hillary Duff - to the death!
24. “No Blood, No Foul” rule introduced to the NBA to make games more interesting.
25. No hockey teams in places that do not naturally get snow during the winter.
26. Bud Selig dragged out and shot for crimes against baseball.
27. New TV show: Pundit Deathmatch! Reigning champion - Ann Coulter!
28. Barbara Striesand being forced to clean the Big Hominid’s bathroom, with her tounge.
29. Permits required of couples before breeding.
30. Honest labeling of organic products.
31. Photos of topless women on Page 3 of every reputable newspaper.
32. (For the ladies!) Photos of hunky guys on Page 5 of every reputable newspaper.
33. Music and Art appreciation taught in all grades at all schools. (RCBfA guidelines to be determined later.)
34. No one over the age of 50 allowed on “Dancing with the Stars.” Sorry Cloris, your Maximum Leader would rather see more chicks like Shannon Elizabeth or Stacy Keibler. One cable channel broadcasting the dreamy Jennifer Love Hewitt all the time.
35. The new MS-Windows OS will be both intuitive and functional.
36. School children taught the poetry of the Big Hominid in 10th grade.
37. Bill and Hillary forced to live together and like it.
38. Shame and humiliation restored to civil society, through liberal use of (and strategic placement of) stocks and pillorys.
39. People allowed to drive as fast as they want on toll roads. (You’re paying for it afterall.)
40. Perpetual happiness for the masses under the benevolent rule of an enlighted Maximum Leader.
(Verision 1.5, November 2008)

There you have it…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has long been a fan of the V-man.

If you’ve not checked out his latest post (wherein he responds to those commenters who attacked him for attacking Obama) you need to read it.

Light in August October

Your Maximum Leader would quote a little bit here, but to do so would do an injustice to the scope of the V-man’s invective.

Just read it yourself.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader doesn’t have much time today. It being Halloween and all. Villainette #1 is home sick (day three actually - persistant virus).

But from our friend FLG we do have a very interesting post to share with you all.

Click here to visit Rooked Again…

Your Maximum Leader will have to keep an eye on Mr Perry.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader hasn’t had a lot of time for blogging. To be honest, he’s grown weary of the news. He has been spending time with his kids and playing Medieval Total War II on the computer. (NB to Smallholder: Finished the Venice game. Unlocked all factions. Started game as Scots. Getting butt handed to him by English and Danes. Saved that game. Started another Venice game. Going well.)

Your Maximum Leader missed a chance to see Sarah Palin in Fredericksburg yesterday. He contemplated trying to for a moment. It has been forever since he’s been to a political rally. But, after calling friends, it was too crowded downtown and he didn’t want to have to deal with it all.

Your Maximum Leader thinks that McCain might pick up a surprise victory in Pennsylvania. But he also believes that McCain is going to lose Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and (sadly) Virginia. The only way that McCain gets Virginia is if there is huge turnout in rural areas and weak turnout in Northern VA and Richmond. Your Maximum Leader thinks that Hampton Roads will break for McCain. Northern VA and Richmond will only have weak turnout if the weather is bad AND most people think that Obama and Mark Warner will win going away and thus “it doesn’t make a difference if I don’t vote…” sets in. That confluence of events is a long shot. But it COULD happen…

Other things that COULD happen include: your Maximum Leader decides to foresake his family and blow his savings going to Venice for Christmas; the Washington Nationals winning the NL Pennant next year; and Jennifer Love Hewitt dumping her fiance at the altar proclaiming “No! I must throw myself at my Maximum Leader and hope for the best!”

These things COULD happen…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader will subject you all to an open letter to our bloggy friend FLG…

Dear FLG:

Your Maximum Leader

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has been watching baseball playoffs in rapt attention over the past few days. Thus, he’s not been spending his quality free-time thinking of intelligent and witty blog posts. Actually, he’s been thinking of many blog posts - just not writing them.

So there.

He was going to write a pithy essay on the election last night… But fate conspired against him. Let us explain…

Villainette #2 is a soccer player. Her team this fall is very good. Last night they were playing in the semi-finals to see which team would advance to play for the league championship. The game last night was a nail-biter. The game was scoreless through 3 quarters. In the 4th quarter, the other team scored with about 3 minutes remaining in the game. Miraculously, Villainette #2’s team managed to score about 1 minute later and tie up the game. Since it is a playoff game, there are no ties allowed. They played a 5 minute overtime… No score… Then they played a second overtime period. Again no score. So the went to the shootout. The first two players (of five selected to kick). Then the next two players on each team missed. The final player on the opposing time missed… The final kicker on Villainette #2’s team came up and kicked the ball. The goalie got his hands on it but the ball spun out of his hands, over his head, and into the goal.

There was some dispute as to whether or not one of the referees had blown a whistle before the ball went in. But Villainette #2’s team won and is now playing in the championship game tonight…

Knowing this… Allow your Maximum Leader to say that he will be going to the game and hoping for the best. He will then head home, grab a bit to eat, then settle in for the NLCS game tonight… So don’t expect any quality posting here.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader isn’t sure what to make of his computer. He runs Windows XP professional. He has a number of logins available. Only one login is an admin login… It seems as though the non-admin logins work fine. The admin login (your Maximum Leader’s own of course) when activated causes the blue screen of death and memory dumps. No viruses found on PC. Your Maximum Leader thinks it is a XP Service Pack 3 error. He still cannot start the PC in safe mode and uninstall the Service Pack. Any guidance any reader can provide in this will be appreciated.

And… While your Maximum Leader is dealing with computer issues… You really ought to check out Fear and Loathing’s dialogue with a resident of his dorm. Yes… Read “Three Conversations with One Man.”

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader will likely be posting even less frequently than normal over the next few days. He is having big-time computer problems. He has some sort of BIOS problem. He fires up Windows XP Professional and logs in, then gets the blue screen of death. There is some bigger problem here, because he can’t seem to log in in “Safe Mode” to try and look and see what is going on. He’s not installed any applications that might be the cause of the problem - but it is possible that something (like Windows itself) got an automatic update that is screwing with everything.

I got a message indicating that a file called NTACESS.SYS might be the cause of my problem. If you know anything about this, please feel free to email at the address on the sidebar.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader just finished reading Iowahawk’s latest. If you are a right-leaning person, you should click through and read it for yourself.

The Idiossey. The Not-Really-That-Epic Poem of Obamacles.

It was quite funny. Your Maximum Leader is quite fond of “Book the Sixth: The Rage of Hildusa.”

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader sees that a longtime favorite of his has moved his blog to newish digs. Yes friends, Ted of Rocket Jones has moved his blog. Update them links everyone. While you are updating the links (assuming of course you have links to update) you should go and visit and vote for what you think Ted should be called… (Gotta visit the site to find out what the choices are.)

Your Maximum Leader approves of the Boris Karloff image in the background. But your Maximum Leader demands that before too long we see a little Bela Lugosi for equal time.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader sees that many of his favorite blog sites are inaccessible to users of Internet Explorer today. Some issue with Sitemeter… Your Maximum Leader doesn’t use Sitemeter. Indeed, there are many of those fun plug-in thingies that your Maximum Leader doesn’t use. Yeah, not using them might reduce his site traffic and keep a few people from finding this site. But hey. Your Maximum Leader has been around for 5 years and if you want to find him, he’s out there.

Of course, there are some bloggers who are saying that if you wouldn’t use Internet Explorer then you wouldn’t have the problem. Well… Last time your Maximum Leader checked more people use IE than any other browser. Shouldn’t you want to keep your site as acessible to the largest number of readers as possible. If more people use IE than any other browser, shouldn’t you keep that in mind when you construct your web site?

Wasn’t there supposed to be something about equality and egalitarianism on the web?

We’re all about egalitarianism here at Naked Villainy…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maxmium Leader sees one item very worthy of note today in the blogosphere. Our good buddy Robbo is setting up a new blog.

Loyal minions… Your Maximum Leader directs your attention to: The Port Stands at your Elbow.

As Robbo is a good friend of ours and an all around fine fellow… His blog is immediately added over on the blogroll… Indeed, he retains “Loyal Minion” status.

Robbo writes two thoughtful posts (one on the Llamabutchers site and on on The Port Stands at your Elbow) that deserve a bit of reading and thought by bloggers who “share a blog.”

As there are a number of people who have the rights to blog here, in the broadest sense, this is a “group blog.” But, even though these people are your Maximum Leader’s closest friends, Naked Villainy is really your Maximum Leader’s blog. He does retain complete autocratic control over it - but he hopes he’s a benevolent autocrat. And over the past few months, when this blog has been updated, it has been your Maximum Leader doing the updating… So practically, this is your Maximum Leader’s blog.

Your Maximum Leader understands the need to feel like you have a place all your own. He has an office at the Villainschloss over which Mrs Villain exerts no control. He always gets his own way in the Villainmobile. And insofar as blogs go, he knows that what he wants he gets at Naked Villainy. Your Maximum Leader does understand why Robbo would feel the need to have a place where he feels he can fully be himself.

But enough about your Maximum Leader…

Of course, your Maximum Leader recognizes that Robbos schismatic nature (now revealed) might have to put him on a watch list when the Mike World Order comes…

Seriously. Your Maximum Leader knows that he will continue to enjoy the Llamabutchers site. And he will enjoy Robbo’s solo site. (He’s already enjoyed what he’s read. And he curses himself for forgetting about the birthday of General George Henry Thomas - who has rapidly become your Maximum Leader’s favorite Civil War figure.)

Your Maximum Leader wishes Robbo the best of luck in his solo endeavours.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader wants to do two things in this post. First, comment some more on “The Dark Knight.” And second, blog about a big ole (yet sorta fun) waste of time he just completed earlier this week.

To begin! “The Dark Knight.” Your Maximum Leader is still thinking about the film. It is that memorable. To address a few items left by various commenters on the preceeding post… For our good friend Brian, the Bruce Wayne as playboy/fop or brooding millionaire… Your Maximum Leader might be missing some nuance of your description. He has felt that the best Bruce Wayne was Michael Keaton. Keaton’s Bruce Wayne was the sort of absent-minded yet innocuous rich guy. Christian Bale pulls this much more towards the young rake of a rich man. Not foppish, but very self-centered and self-indulgent. (In “The Dark Knight” a ballet performance is cancelled because Bruce decided to take the whole ballet troupe with him on his private yacht for a little woo-pitching.) Your Maximum Leader thinks that Bale’s Bruce Wayne works well with the alter-ego of Batman. Without attempting to get all Tarantino here, is Bruce Wayne the “act” or is Batman the “act?” Which is the real “essence” of the man? Your Maximum Leader thinks that for the purposes of these movies Batman is the real man - and Bruce Wayne has devolved into the cover story. In a way, Bruce Wayne, the rich playboy is someone we can identify with. We see plenty of rich celebs all over teevee and the interwebs. We want to see Batman. So, in the end your Maximum Leader doesn’t think that “The Dark Knight” will do much to change one’s impression of the Bruce Wayne side of this character. Wayne is essentially a minor subplot.

Your Maximum Leader finds Ellison’s comment interesting. The interesting part is this: What amazes me is that a movie this good was made with DC characters. Maybe Marvel doesn’t have the monopoly on three-dimensional heroes and villains with a backstory. Perhaps after years away from the genre, he is having trouble with the idea that Marvel comics always had the more developed characters. Your Maximum Leader’s years of reading comic books were in the 80s and into the 90s. This was the age of Millers “Dark Knight” reinvention of the Batman story. (And it was the era of “The Watchmen” (soon to be a major motion picture - and still a fantastic comic book). It could be that the comics in which your Maximum Leader indulged were all well written and well developed. So he’s never thought that DC lacked for good characters. It could also be that the movies based on the DC characters have lacked good screenwriters…

Anyhoo… Moving on from movies…

Your Maximum Leader, on Wednesday night, decided to check in to see if his Blogger/Blogspot logins worked. (They did.) He then did something that he’s never done before. (But perhaps you have…)

On the left side of the Blogger main page there is a little rotating spot showing the names of blogs that have recently been updated. Your Maximum Leader doesn’t believe he’s ever clicked on that link before. But Weds. night he clicked through on any blog name that he thought sounded interesting. He did this for 1 hour. He rarely had to wait more than 30-40 seconds for an interesting sounding blog title to appear. Just for the record, he didn’t click on any purely numerical blog titles. In fact, here is a list of blog title “types” he didn’t click on: all numeric, chinese/japanese/asian characters, any blog title that was a song lyric, any blog title that was “businessey” sounding, anything written in “3l33t.”

So there…

He was surprised at how many innocuous blog names just linked you to pages that were obviously set up just to improve someone’s web site search results. There were also a number of blogs that were really fronts for dating sites. Your Maximum Leader was surprised at the dearth of porn sites. In 1 hour he probably only saw 5 or six blatantly pornographic titles appear as links - and only clicked on two that were not blatantly porn but were instead funny and suggestive.

Well… Over the course of 1 hour there were only three blogs worthy of note. Here they are.

A Very Creepy Blog. A blog dedicated to discussion of the art and articles of the horror magazines of the 1970s and 1980s. Your Maximum Leader was a “Creepy” and “Vampirella” reader back in the day.

Smells Like Grape. A wine review site.

I write it, you skim it. A personal blog with some rather interesting posts. Some neat links too. Including this one: Barack Obama is your new bicycle. Barack Obama is not your Maximum Leader’s new bicycle, but he is the new bicycle to so many people…

Your Maximum Leader might play this little game of Blogger update again some time…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is one tired guy. He’s been dog sitting and niece/nephew sitting recently. Five kids and two dogs in the ole Villainschloss. That is a handful of domestic responsibility.

To make matters more interesting… The Villainschloss sprang a small roof leak (which we believe was just fixed last night with some roofing caulk), the garbage disposal in the primary kitchen died, and the lovely Mrs Villain has decided to start painting the basement.

Oh… Did your Maximum Leader mention that the cable box/DVR apparently shorted out last night too?

So, your Maximum Leader is taking his own little All-star break. He may, or may not, blog further this week. Check this space for new posts.

Oh… Your Maximum Leader does have a second TV with basic cable - so he was able to watch the Home Run Derby last night. He was sure as Josh Hamilton was going on his first round tear that someone else was going to win the derby. Hamilton blew his wad too early and just didn’t have it in him at the end.

Another Home Run Derby observation… Your Maximum Leader knew all the National League players in the Derby, and most of the American League players as well (being a National League man that is no surprise). But he was disappointed in how many “stars” did not participate in the Derby. Has this All-Star ritual lost its luster? He would have liked to have seen Manny Ramirez, or Junior Griffey out there swinging for the fences…

Go National League! Show those American Leaguers who’s boss…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has a case of the summer blehs. What are the summer blehs? They are that feeling that you would just rather sit and read a book, watch a baseball game on tv, play with the kids, or just sleep as opposed to turn on the computer and write a blog post.

So, your Maximum Leader has been reading, watching tv, playing with his kids, or sleeping rather than blogging. Your loss isn’t really his gain… But hey, this is his site afterall..

Speaking of this site… Naked Villainy turns 5 years old today. Wow! Five years. That makes this blog older than your Maximum Leader’s youngest, the Wee Villain. (He’s not so “wee” anymore. Which is to say that he is not “wee” like he was when he was born, but compared to his old man (and Maximum Leader) he is still “wee.”)

What will your Maximum Leader do tonight to celebrate his blog’s 5th anniversary?

Probably not much…

Just like the amount of content he’s been posting recently…

Carry on.