The "Strange Doctrines" Undercroft

L. Ron Hubbard: The Man, The Philosopher, The Artist, The Poet/Lyricist, The...

Music Maker?

(Via Slate.)

A Little Philosophy is a Dangerous Thing

Especially at sentencing.

Tough Choices

Hard poll question over at Wonkette.

The correct answer, of course, should be "maybe." Duh.

New Orthopedic Aid for Working Musicians?

My lower back has been acting up a little; I could sure use one of these on the load-in tonight.

On Changing One's Mind

"The matter does not appear to me now as it appears to have appeared to me then."
-- Baron Bramwell

"I can only say that I am amazed that a man of my intelligence should have been guilty of giving such an opinion."
-- Lord Westbury

(Via Balkinization.)

Look on the Bright Side

From the AFP:

Britain suffers sense of humour failure due to worries of modern life

LONDON (AFP) - Britain is suffering a sense of humour failure, with laughter levels three times lower now than 50 years ago and nearly half of all adults unable to enjoy at least one big guffaw a day, research showed....

[A]lmost half of Britons [admitted] they frequently wallowed in gloom until lunchtime.

Around 16 million adults, totalling 40 percent, said they failed to muster even one proper belly laugh in an average day.

Practical Jokes

Andy Borowitz has a few in the New Yorker.  Here are two I'll be trying out presently:

Order a bowl of chili at a fast-food restaurant. When the chili arrives, angrily complain that there is no human finger in the chili, despite the fact that you specifically ordered one....

Get a bunch of your friends together, ring O. J. Simpson’s doorbell, and tell him that you are “the real killers” and that you are surrendering to him so that he can finally stop searching for you. Get his reaction on videotape and sell it over the Internet.

(Via Arts & Letters Daily.)

Never Mind

Edward Underscore of Obsidian Wings has an Emily Latella moment.

True Lies

Governor Schwarzenegger has said, "As you know, I don't need to take any money from anybody."

Well, that's not entirely true. [Winking emoticon omitted.]

Broken Clocks and Blind Golfers

A legally blind man scores a hole-in-one from 168 yards out. A familiar moral is thus confirmed.