"Being a pirate is all fun and games 'til somebody loses an eye;
It hurts like the blazes and makes you make faces,
And you can't let your mates see you cry.
Life's so one-dimensional, so unconventional, no bloody need to ask why...
Being a pirate is all fun and games 'til somebody loses an eye!"

Seattle Seafair Pirates- Kings of The Pacific Northwest since 1949

HERE

! PIRATES !

HERE

July 18, 2028 — The latest installment in the Batman franchise puts the Caped Crusader in his most precarious position yet, as he fights to save his reputation after being framed in a sting operation designed to nab pedophiles.

As Batman Besmirched  begins, Batman is in the batcave training Robin (15-year-old Banana Martin, son of Gwyneth Paltrow and rocker Chris Martin) when he is summoned to a schoolyard on Gotham City’s upper west side. When he arrives, he is greeted by an undercover police officer and a news crew, and promptly arrested.

Yes, normally Batman would easily escape the handcuffs of Gotham’s finest, but this aging hero, still being played by Christian Bale, has slowed down a bit.

Baffled, Batman calls the Batcave from the Gotham jailhouse, and asks loyal butler Lloyd (Alfred has died) to look into the reasons for his arrest.  Robin and Lloyd (Richard Gere doing the sorriest excuse for a British accent since Kevin Costner played Robin Hood) discover that the Joker is the mastermind behind the plot to get the Dark Knight off the streets. 

As the story unfolds, we learn that the Joker is the president of the North American Man-Boy Love Association, and that he has increasingly affectionate feelings for the Boy Wonder, who he hopes to woo now that Batman is out of the way.  (The story still provides no clear answer to Batman's ambiguous relationship with Robin, but it's clear that the Joker is jealous.)

After Batman Forever and the disastrous Batman and Robin forced the franchise into a long holding pattern back in the 90s and early 00s, the Caped Crusader has been able to continue dazzling movie fans for more than 20 years, much like the James Bond films did in the 60s and 70s.  And until this film, Bale has managed to keep the sober hero looking buff and spry as he’s aged.   But it may be time for Bale to bail.  In this film, the 54-year-old actor's movements are stiff and appear to be hampered by a girth that is now starting to emerge. 

Meanwhile, Michael Jackson has taken on the role of the Joker with relish -- on par with previous portrayals by Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger and far above Dane Cook's version in the 2018 film Bedtime for Batman.  As he approaches the age of 70, Jackson is still devilishly animated.

Sure, given the plotline and the Prince of Pop's history, this casting of the Joker role is a blatant form of typecasting.  But it works.  Jackson is spot on with his portrayal of the Joker's mix of gleeful madness and forbidden longing, and his look is authentic -- especially given the fact that he only had to dye his hair green for the role and didn’t need to worry about face makeup.

Batman Besmirched opens in theaters and on the Web today.  

- Cuando el progresivo aumento del tamaño del agujero llega a ser mayor que el mismo ladrillo, éste desaparece (Martínmorales ayer en ABC).

La práctica:

- Los españoles deben a los bancos más de 665.107 millones de euros por sus casas

- Martinsa-Fadesa, la punta de un iceberg

- Asefa reclama a Aisa 5,7 millones de euros por impago, cuatro veces más que en abril

- Las constructoras que entraron en energía, las más endeudadas

- Solbes califica situación actual de 'crisis compleja'

Here is an email I received responding to a condo I had listed for rent.  The above picture was included with the text.  Skim it; it's long, but I'm including all of it as a PSA for other attempted victims, like I did when Mike Jones wrote me.

From: Hayley Salmon <hayley.salmon.76@hotmail.com>
Subject: About me
Date: Wednesday, July 2, 2008, 7:31 PM

Hi
How are you?hope you are okay,sorry for the late reply,i have been very busy with sick mother in the hospital and traveling plans down here.Thanks so much for the reply.
I'll be happy if you can rent out the place to me for 12 months term lease, as i'll love to get a place before my arrival.

More about me,I am half Brit from dad and half Asian from mum,a science laboratory worker,mostly spend my time in the laboratory experimenting,divorced female of 31yrs,i am educated(undergraduate and post graduate degree), am very active in sport (ski, surf,swimming),a good christian,very low key and relaxed to live with. I DON'T smoke nor drink and i DON'T mind if flat mates do, I DON'T have a pet also. Presently staying at 10 marlborough avenue,london. e6 6hz,England,united Kingdom.

Reference...I worked under my uncle for a year and he is still running the private health center,which deals in projects that involves heart related diseases,I also work as a private tutor...And before that i schooled in Spain before moving down to united kingdom after the death of my dad and younger sibling in a car accident....

I like honest,responsible,trustworthy and hardworking people while I dislike lazy,messy,uncaring people and I love pets so much,am quiet and easy going person to live with. I'm 5'7' straight. I always love to go on date but seldom party. I swim for fun and sometimes play tennis.  I must confess am comfortable with the price and I will want to secure the place down before my arrival so i will want you to tell me all about the place,as i can't see it before my arrival .i will also need to see the pictures...Attached is my picture ,just to give you a clue of who you are renting to.I hope you like it,i am not a picture loving person though.

I also will want you to know that i have my car that i will be coming over with,and little of my furniture,please let me know if there will be room for them?
I don't have a job lined up for me there yet but will look for upon my arrival.

Moreover,Let me also know how i can go about securing the place down before my arrival as i will also be busy from  next week preparing to come over as i plan to arrive by  1st August/My Arrival date is flexible.

I will need you to advice me how best i can send payment to you soon as i understand that you agree to accept me in as your roommate,since my uncle who is making the total payment for the first & last month rent plus security deposit and shipping of my car , few furniture will be mailing out payment to you via Money Order in one of his business trip abroad to hold the room down for me before my arrival.
Should you agree to receive payment via Money order in US dollars,kindly advise me of your full name ,contact address (either work or home address depends on where you assure to receive it in person )and contact telephone #.

Please,feel free to ask me any more question as i am very happy to join you and more so, i will love to always get email from you on how the event unfold till my arrival.

For references reason,kindly contact below:
Former landlord :Thomas John(thomasjohn@zworg.com)
Roommate:Allan Barclay(allanbarclay@gmail.com

Thanks,I will appreciate every of your effort to assist me in this traveling plans as i will be very happy to know you more than just roommates when i get there.Am very friendly and generous.

Again,Thanks and best regards,
Hayley.

I was suspicious, but I played along. I received a couple of $1500 money orders and instructions:

From: Hayley Salmon <hayley.salmon.76@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: Please do this Favour for me
Date: Friday, July 11, 2008, 2:47 AM

Hi,
How are you doing ?  Thanks for the help in advance.

I will need you to help me send $2100 to my shipper in the  morning because she has given me an ultimatum till next week Monday to send the money since she is supposed to have received her money since last week .You should deposit the check in your bank and convert the remaining into cash so that you can send to her.The receipts from the western union or Money Gram should also be kept in your personal savings account till i arrive.
I would really appreciate it if you can help me get the payment sent over on to her soon.I must let you know that i am trying to make it up to the shipper as she had tried for me,and you have sounded like a good roommate that shows concern,i must confess.
The information below as i have told you that the shipper is on vacation but giving me the grace to send the money to him

The information of the shipper is...

Carolyn Olson
90 West 3rd Street #10
Waconia MN 55387

Please email me soon as you get the money sent

The information that you need to email me with are below..
1...Name of sender and address of sender
2..Total Amount sent (after moneygram charges is deducted)
3..Test Question and answer(if required)
4... Reference numbers for the transaction

I will be waiting for the information ASAP.
Thanks.

Hayley.

Below is my reply to Hayley. I’m now awaiting her response.

Dearest Hayley,
Today, I went to the nearest Wal-Mart to cash the two $1500 Wal-Mart money orders you were so kind to send me. Have you ever stood in line in the area where money orders are cashed at Wal-Mart?  If the picture you sent is actually you, you wouldn’t fit in too well. Neither did I. I think it was my complete set of teeth. I did learn, however, that the money orders you gave me were fake! Which has confirmed my suspicion that you are a Fucktard!

I'm also wondering if you're a whore?  I just re-read your first email to me about how you are "very happy to know you more than just roommates."  This makes me pretty sure you like to shine balls, like the guy in our copy room!

I also noticed that you can't write for shit! I'm thinking your tutor wasn't a Tudor!

Incidentally, I rented the condo weeks ago to someone else. You can, however, fly to the U.S. and toss my salad. It’s the least I can do for you.

Oh, and thanks for sending the picture. I peed all over it and sent it to the MOMA. Maybe you’ll have a layover in NYC and will be able to see it.  It's called "Piss Skank."

Very truly yours -
not your unwilling accomplice

------------------------

If Haley flies to the States, I'm totally going to meet her at the airport with this.
Time to cool off with some funny blog posts.

Others with my name were so different from me I thought there'd be no way anyone would mistake those tough gals for wimpy me!  There was the Cathy Sherman who was the long-haul trucker, another one a school bus driver and the teenager named Cathy Sherman who won outrigger canoe contests in Honolulu.  But, I thought, hey if those Cathy Shermans can do it, maybe so can I!

Googleganger is the name for this phenomenon -- googling our other selves, our doppelganger (German for double going), which I saw in the New York Times.  (See link to the story below.) This story explains the psychology behind why we feel pleasure and seek out others with our name and lists lots of examples of people who have plowed this googleganging earth before I did.  It also describes the hunt for our other selves. People have written books on it.  As for the word, googleganger (imagine a pair of dots, an umlaut, over the a,), it was named "most creative" word last year by the American Dialect Society.  My friend, "Planetjan," (see blogroll), put the word in her "Quotation Rotation."

It wasn't until I received a facebook friend request from a Cathy Sherman in Australia that I thought it might be possible to actually get to know some other people with my name -- without going to a lot of trouble. I'm now adding Cathy and Catherine Shermans to my friends list. So far, I haven't had to deal with the dilemma of what to do with a Kathy with a K. I never thought of Kathy as the same name as mine, but I shouldn't be so picky.  After all, they are Shermans.....

Despite all of these doubles, I've never met another Cathy Sherman.  I came close once.  I got a report from my doctor that I had an abnormal finding on a test.  I needed a different test. I drove in an ice storm to get to my procedure, after worrying for a month.  The nurse asked me a couple of questions. It turned out that another Catherine Sherman had had the same test in that office the same day I had. It was her abnormal result, not mine. I was relieved for myself, but concerned for my double.  This confusion wouldn't have happened had I taken my husband's much more rare last name.  But I wouldn't have any googlegangers.  Medical mixups are a small price to pay. 

Finding a host of Catherine Shermans led to a lot more people with the last name of Sherman in a facebook group called "Shermans Unite!"  I'm now a proud new member.  People grouping together with the same name isn't a new phenomenon, although it was much harder before the internet.  You had to rely on the old-fashioned phone directory.  How quaint is that?

Growing up, I didn't know anyone else with the name of Sherman other than my immediate family.  If we Shermans have nothing else in common, we do have similar nicknames, including being called Sherman by friends instead of our first names.  It makes it confusing when I go out with my three brothers and their five sons.  My two sisters kept the name Sherman, too.  (If you were lucky enough to have that name, would you change it?)

 According to "Shermans Unite!" Sherman is the BEST LAST NAME EVER!  The facebook group says "that people call you by your last name, all of the time, because it's just that great."  And this is true.  And it's never mispronounced.  If for some reason people tire of calling you Sherman, there are tons of nicknames -- Sherm, Shermie, Sherm-dog, The Shermanator (From American Pie), or Tank, from Sherman Tank.

People are bound to be jealous and will try to use the name maliciously.  When my father played high school basketball, the opposing teams tried to rattle him by chanting, Sherman, Sherman, you are it!  S H for Sherman, I T for It!  But there is no stopping a Sherman.  We're like tanks.

The most famous Sherman is the Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman. My father did some research and didn't find a link there.  We claim him, anyway!  Other famous Shermans include General Sherman's brother John, who authored the Sherman Antitrust Act, and was a senator and Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of State.  He was also known as the "Ohio Icicle."  Hmmm.   James S. Sherman was the 27th vice president of the United States.  All of these Shermans are part of a vast political family that spans the history of the country, beginning with the patriarch of the family, Roger Sherman, a senator from Connecticut, who was one of the Committee of Five who drafted the Declaration of Independence and then was one of the signers.  In fact, he was the only person to sign all great state papers of the U.S.: the Articles of Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Conferderation and the Constitution. That's a big deal.  Way to go, great-great-great-great grandfather!  (Ok, it's just wishful thinking.) 

To see more about this family, go to www.wikipedia.org and search for the "Baldwin, Hoar & Sherman family."  Isn't wikipedia great!

Thomas Jefferson said of Roger Sherman:  "That is Mr. Sherman of Connecticut, a man who has never said a foolish thing in his life."  That, perhaps, is a clue that I'm not related to him.

My branch of Shermans was originally French-speaking Catholics from Alsace-Lorraine, a province that was tossed back and forth between France and Germany.  The Roger Sherman family is Anglo-Saxon Protestant, originally from England.  The name Sherman is from Middle English shereman for "shearer," so maybe our common ancestors were all shearing sheep together somewhere before some of the Saxons moved into England.  There are Jewish Shermans, too.   Sher  "scissors" plus man is yiddish for tailor, according to www.answers.com  There are also some non-Shermans who like the name so much that they give t to their children as a first name.  Sherman Helmsley was one of the lucky ones.

There are lots of other famous Shermans. Don't forget Mr. Peabody's pet boy Sherman from Rocky and Bullwinkle. The work of photographer Cindy Sherman, who uses herself as a model, is in museum collections across the country. There's Ben Sherman, a clothing designer, and Nat Sherman, tobacconist to the world.  Remember comedian Allan Sherman (Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah song) and Bobby Sherman, the teeny bopper singer?  My brother's name is Allan, so we sang that a lot.  My father's name was Bob, so he got a lot of phone calls from giggling girls when that singer was famous.

General Sherman gave his name to the Sherman tank and to the General Sherman Sequoia tree, the biggest tree in the world.  It is, in fact, the largest single organism by volume on earth!

There's Sherman, Texas, and Sherman Oaks, Calif., and counties named Sherman in Kansas, Nebraska and Texas.

I feel happy to be among my tribe, even if we are united only by one glorious name!  As to the subset of Cathy Shermans, my googlegangers, I'll be happy to see what you're doing out there in the world.  Now when I see my name listed multiple times on my facebook birthday calendar all year long, I don't have to groan about getting older, I'll just celebrate more!

Names That Match Forge a Bond on the Internet a link to a New York Times article about finding your name double through google, called googleganging.

Show Me Your Genitals

by Jon Lajoie