THE THREAD

[pasternakski]

"So, how do you refute Bishop Carlysle?" asked Boswell in summation. Johnson looked up, red-faced, strode up to a boulder lying nearby, and proceeded to kick it repeatedly. "I refute him THUS!" declared Johnson.

[pasternakski]

How'd you like to have Johnson on the forums here?

I think maybe we have, and he's been banned already. I doubt that it would take him very long.

[pasternakski]

You know, for a retired guy, this is gettin' to be a little too much like work.

[pasternakski]

Don't you know, I wish I was the man
Who taught water how to become ice?
'Cause he's the kind of charlatan
You listen to without even thinking twice.

[pasternakski]

A long time ago in a place called Iowa City, Iowa, I saw a guy sit down at a table on one of the main streets of town with a big glass jar in front of him. He was going to set a world record for greatest number of poems written in 24 hours.

The idea was that he would write them on slips of paper and stuff them into the glass jar to be read and counted after the 24 hours were up. I don't remember what the previous record was.

[pasternakski]

So, big pile of pens in front of him, he set to work, scribbling away. He would write, think, write some more, then put down his pen, crease the paper, and stick it down the neck of the jar.

[pasternakski]

It didn't take long before you could see that it was getting really tough for him to keep going. I mean, I peeked at one of his poems, and it was even worse than some of the stuff I was writing at the time - and that reeked like an Iowa hog farm in July (and if you've never smelled an Iowa hog farm in July, you haven't lived).

[pasternakski]

But, he stuck with it. Hour after hour. My vantage point was the local watering hole across the street called "The Copper Dollar," which had a big window in the front with a counter inside where you could sit, drink beer, and use bar-provided cards to rate the women who walked by on a scale of "1" to "10." You sat there with your pals, hit the sauce, and when some unsuspecting lovely (or not-so-lovely) walked by, you held the card up to the window that had the number on it reflecting your evaluation of the lady's "talents."

[pasternakski]

This day, though, the premier attraction was the dude across the street writing poetry like a madman. We'd have a couple of schwiels, exchange smart remarks, go shoot a couple of games of pool, then come back and do it again. It was about as good a time as you can have in a place like Iowa City, Iowa.

[pasternakski]

Well, to make a long story short, it got late. The sun went down. Our diligent poet fired up a lantern, and kept on scribbling, folding, and stuffing. By then, he was in what sports idiots call a "zone." It was rolling right along.

Cops showed up. I guess nobody bothered to get this deal approved by the city before they did it. They told him to beat it. Almost caused a riot (probably a few hours before when everybody was a lot less drunk, we all would have said "f*** it" and gone home). I guess they figured it didn't hurt anything, so they left him alone.

[pasternakski]

I dunno why, but I stuck around. My pals all got bored, went out chasing pu$$y. I sat down next to this guy at the table. He kept on writing. I didn't say anything. Neither did he.

I saw one poem. It was this:

"I went without hope
And met an angel who gave soft, but firm command.
He called me friend, grasped my hand,
And confirmed that I was damned."

Pen down, fold, stuff.

[pasternakski]

HEY MA! HEY MA! LOOKY ME! I FABERED!

Ma sez: "Fine. Now shut up and take out the garbage, willya?"

[pasternakski]

Oh. The story? I fell asleep in my chair, woke up with the sun shining over the old state capitol building. The poet dude was gone. So was the jar. I stood up, looked around. Nothing. It was Sunday morning.

Never saw him again. Never found out any more than what I already knew.

So wake up you creeps, it's time to get some poetry going!

[Dixie]

Morning chaps [:)]

[Zap]

ORIGINAL: VSWG

Mexican navy seizes cocaine sub [X(]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7515056.stm

Apparently this sub hasn't been hit by the "cannot load supplies on sub TF bug".

Sofisticated Bas***s! That was nice of US intel to help direct them to it.

[Apollo11]

Hi all,

Good morning!


Leo "Apollo11"

[DuckofTindalos]

Tithe...

[USSAmerica]

Good morning - Tithe. [&o][&o][&o]

[Gem35]

Good Morning Friends.[:)]

[alaviner]

xoing [&o]tithe