U R HYDING FRUM CRIME!!!

from one of my fave sites!

Mighty Cool Vog

Our favorite Mama Vog, Central Park NYC, 1997

Xuxa!

Goddamn it, what the hell is going on here? It hypnotized me anyway...

So this past weekend...

....Camie informs me that Driver 8 spent far too much time cutting the cheese! Yes, she told me that today!

Me Bloomin' Title!

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Emperor Fluffy the Excited of Chalmondley Chumleyton Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

from Cynnie!

Blog-ennui!

Camie, Cynnie, myself...we've all got the blogging blahs...why is this so? I think the winter was not a kind one to us, and now that spring is almost here, we want to go out into the world and be there, not at the blogging grindstone...

But it shouldn't be like that, cause we can do what ever we want! Maybe the sun and seeing more folks outdoors will charge the old batteries, and give us stuff to chat about.

I wish I could come and meet with you all out there in our little group, but, man, funds are non-existant and life is just a pain-in-the-butt struggle most times. If and when we meet for real I think we will all get a charge out of it, and much blogging will resume. I may follow Camie's lead and put up a video of meself just rambling on for no reason, which I think others will enjoy!

Stog M'hone!

There was a time...when Camie and I were building financial empires...how'd that work out, CV?

This is Mama Vog back when we first started hanging out...note the Oasis love! This was before they became a pack o' drunks! CV and I even went to see one of their first shows here in NYC, which was pretty cool. I have more such pics...interested?

Ah, spring...

Maybe it's coming here to Ann Arbor, I don't know, I can't see for all the white-out effect of the snow. But this guy understands the upcoming Pothole Season better than most...

The Damnable Roads

aha!

We see Herr Dinners has hooked up with Paris Hilton as we always thought he would!


A bit of a shave needed then, eh, son?

As Friends of the Stuffin' know...

...For some reason I get a lot of hits from Google image searches on Scarlett Johannson.

Now make an Ol' Fluffster happy, and let's pitch in to get Ron this:

http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=on-the-red-carpet

Scroll down a bit for item #2...

75 and still pissed off!

No, this is not me when pissed off....I'm not 75 yet!

Today is the 75th anniversary of the release of King Kong!


Not a huge fan of the Big Ape, but, hey, 75 is significant...

Up at some ungodly hour, writing about this and that

It's 6:30 and I'm awake. I should be asleep, but I can't sleep. I've been up for awhile, and I'm infomercialed out. Let's drone on and see what happens.

There's a big scandal in Detroit, my hometown, and it's like watching a car wreck in slow motion. Things at present are bad, and they ain't gettin' better. A longtime friend of mine wanted me to write about Detroit, and there's no way in hell I'm doin' that, 'cause it depresses me too much.

Someday I hope to drunk post like the Kung-Fu Master of drunk posting, Herr Dinners... When I do, I'll make it a special post just for y'all....

More goddamn snow. I am officially sick of it, and want spring to come...

Though Noah was sick, Beanie was a lot of fun the other day at the House of Fog, er, Vog....

Cynnie...you're not getting older just cuter in a more complex way...

There's no funds at the nonce, and food is down to Vog supplied eggs...so omelets it is!

Baseball season cometh soon! Hot Damn! I am looking forward to it...

Nursing my reheated coffee...ugh... maybe a fresh pot later.

I will post again, when true awakeness occurs, my peeps!

In another world...In another time...

He's the best in the biz. You've heard him a gazillion times, and you probably don't even know his name. And, on top of all that, he seems like a pretty cool guy!

Don LaFontaine is... A Saint of The House of Fun.



and if he ever came across this...I'd faint if you did my voice message on my answering machine... plus, when I shoot my indie, there will be no other trailer voice even considered!

Didn't I just simulate, like 80% of the Internet?

So, I read a post on usemycomputer.com that I think is funny and I thought was written by John Cleese. I decide, as Camie notes, after a bit of fun with a young lass I know, to write a counter-rant to the rant. Then I send it to usemycomputer.com. -- thanks for link, guys! -- and they post it, creating the Greatest Day for The SiteMeter of Fluffy Stuffin'.

And then it turns out the thing wasn't written by Cleese, just some generic ill-tempered anti-American dude!

Ah, well, the net in a nutshell...

A Yank returns the favor

Here we have a missive from one J. Cleese, former entertainer, to which a regrettable reply must be written (in bold, betwixt his disgorgements): [revisions on 2/17 in brackets] It's just a bit o' parody, y'know!

John Cleese’s “Letter to America”

15 02 2008

Originally uploaded by Browserd.

Dear Citizens of America,

Dear employees of DisneyCoUK,

In view of your failure to elect a competent President and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

We decline your revocation, and thus insist upon return of all Lend Lease vehicles provided in the period known as "WWII", or failing that, appropriate cash value prorated and compounded since 1938. Failure to provide such compensation will result in the turn over of The United Magic Kingdom to The Third Reich Collection Agency. We will accept Scotland as initial payment.

Her Sovereign Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy), as from Monday next.

Incorrect. Queen Elizabeth II shall resume her hand waving duties at Cinderella's Buckingham Palace, (known as "The Buck House", in proper Texan) until her 15 minute break begins, whereupon she is allowed to smoke in a location at least 50 feet from the entrance. The former "royal" known as "Prince Charles" ' name shall be changed to an unpronounceable glyph, thus heightening his "Q" rating. Former princes Harry and William shall be renamed "Charming" and "Aladdin" and assigned shifts when their outfits return from the cleaners.

Your new prime minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.
The return questionnaire will be expressed in ways that employees of DisneyCoUK can understand: "Do you feel lucky? Well, punk, do you?"

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. You should look up “revocation” in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up “aluminium,” and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. For a division of DisneyCo, your inability to grasp the concept of "bugger off" that you yourself have created is grounds for termination.

2. The letter ‘U’ will be reinstated in words such as ‘colour’, ‘favour’ and ‘neighbour.’ Likewise, you will learn to spell ‘doughnut’ without skipping half the letters, and the suffix “ize” will be replaced by the suffix “ise.”

3. You will learn that the suffix ‘burgh’ is pronounced ‘burra’; you may elect to spell Pittsburgh as ‘Pittsberg’ if you find you simply can’t cope with correct pronunciation.

4. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels (look up “vocabulary”). Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as “like” and “you know” is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication.

5. There is no such thing as “US English.” We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter ‘u’ and the elimination of “-ize.” No individual whose fame, wealth, and reputation is partially based on his pronunciation of "knights" as "k-nig-its" shall ever be allowed to comment on the writing, spelling and pronunciation of US English, henceforth known as Vista English. Nor shall the creator and former head of The Ministry of Silly Walks shall be allowed to remark on walking, strolling, jogging or any other foot-based forward motion of anyone else.

6. You will relearn your original national anthem, “God Save The Queen”,

but only after fully carrying out Task #1 (see above).
This term is acceptable, as long as it is the anthem performed by The Sex Pistols.

[All subsequent DisneyCoUK employee funerals will play some variation of "Candle in the Wind," to stimulate CD sales.]

7. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday. November 2nd will

be a new national holiday, but to be celebrated only in England. It will be called “Come-Uppance Day.” This locution is terminated under the "You can kiss my hairy yellow butt" Homer Simpson clause of your DisneyCoUK contract.

8. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you’re not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you’re not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you’re not grown up enough to handle a gun. Such passive-aggressive statements for DisneyCoUS employees would be dealt with by an appropriate spanking, however Upper Management is aware that such treatment for subdivision employees would remind them too fondly of their educational experiences. Thus, the correct palliative for DisneyCoUK employees would be regular flossing.

9. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
DisneyCoUK employees do not need vegetable peelers, as per your tribal tradition of boiling all foodstuffs until greyness is achieved, whereupon lard is added. Henceforth all boiling by DisneyCoUK employees is banned. Italians may be employed for pasta water boiling, and all tea shall be placed in pouches like Red Man or Skoal and chewed, like tobacco.

10. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean. Yes we again are grateful for your reminder of the inferiority of American vehicles vis-a-vis their German peers in the 1940-1945 periods. Please report to a superior German made train which will properly seat you in an oven or shower of a design of such efficiency that it is not achievable in America. Bring your shower cap, gold fillings, and gratitude!

11. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric immediately and without the benefit of conversion tables… Both roundabouts and metrification will help you understand the British sense of humour. Use of the terms "roundabouts" and "humour" allow you your standard employee allotment of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors as per your Employee Manual. See the section "Feeling Goofy?"

12. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling “gasoline”) - roughly $8/US per gallon. Get used to it. Subdivisions of DisneyCo shall report to Corporate, not the other way around. Failure to comply will result in your divestment to Tata Motors, like Jaguar and Land Rover.

13. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call french fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called “crisps.” Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with malt vinegar. As DisneyCoUK falls in the territorial waters of DisneyCoIceland all cod and fried potato decisions will come from Reykjavik. Mr. Cleese would be aware of this, had he bothered to install Service Pack 1 of Vista English, but this is clearly a technically skill beyond his ken.

14. Waiters and waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with customers.
So as to afford the proper verisimilitude to an otherwise otherworldly DisneyCoUK dining experience, of course.

15. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as “beer,” and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as “Lager.” American brands will be referred to as “Near-Frozen Gnat’s Urine,” so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion. British Bitter is not a proper name but a state of being cured by ice cold Budweiser. and Nascar. [The irrational fear of the refrigeration of beer is really a fear of class conflict. Better to drink the room temperature contents of the crankcase of a Morris Minor than enjoy something actually cool and refreshing that may question other British food choices and upset the existing social order.]

16. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. When non-buggery related acting skills are required, English actors are insufficient and such parts will be filled by members of the Commonwealth whose nations are sufficiently fiscally supine, as per historical tradition.

Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors as English characters. Hugh Grant fulfills this contract obligation, and the casting of non-Hugh Grant actors will dilute the Hugh Grant brand, which would be understood by Mr. Cleese if he had had the business acumen of someone who was not British Bitter.

[ Mr. Cleese is of sufficient age and sagacity himself that we would allow him, in a lesser fantasy or sci-fi epic, to be the filmic embodiment of a plastic figurine, provided with no fewer than 4 animated Dead Parrot Ghost sidekicks, voiced by Gilbert Gottfried, Courtney Love, Fran Drescher, and Henry Rollins. Resourceful American children, in playing with this life-like toy, would, invariably, stick the plastic head in the butt of the house cat, thus anticipating both critical reaction to the film itself, and a neat visual summation of the actors career. In exchange for saying no more than a dozen lines written by a Southern Californian screenwriter whose cocaine expenditures are a significant digit of the Columbian GNP, Mr. Cleese would receive more money than all British actors have received throughout all of history combined. In his contractually obligated appearance at the premiere of this epic, he would express his great interest in reprising his role as Rectal Doody-Head KenobiDooku in exchange for enough money to either buy Wales, or an amount of ladies undergarments capable of eliciting from himself 2-3 semi-erections over an 8-10 week period of masturbation. He would then go back to being British Bitter and complaining to all who will listen of his lot in life...]

Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialogue in “Four Weddings and a Funeral” was an experience akin to having one’s ear removed with a cheese grater. That Emma Thompson is the manliest actor working today in DisneyCoUK, is all the refutation needed to this line of argument. Further discussion may be had with the newest head of all DisneyCoUK education as pertains Vista English, one Dick van Dyke. [Kenneth Branagh's ersatz Woody Allen impression in Celebrity makes Ms. McDowell's work in "Four Weddings" look like the Platonic Form of Katherine and Audrey Hepburn.]

17. You will cease playing American “football.” There is only one kind of proper football; you call it “soccer”. Those of you brave enough, in time, will be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American “football”, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a

bunch of Jessies - English slang for “Big Girls Blouse”). That speakers of Vista English would put on neon colored (note the proper spelling!) panties that a Montmartre prostitute would find garish as a "uniform", and willingly lose repeatedly to non Vista English speakers in a sport analogous to watching squirrels forage in a park, is the clearest violation of the Vista English contract. The contractual exemptions to this are NBA basketball, and any sport , including checkers , played by Australians, which assume a virility not understood by filthy, bed wetting English k-nig-its, who express their love for "soccour" (shouldn't that be its proper spelling?) by their secret desire to be Victoria Beckham.

18. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the “World Series” for a game which is not played outside of America. Mr. Cleese is unfamilar with the concept of "Japan" (at the very least!) as it was not one of the countries held at gunpoint by his nation within the last 100 years. Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable and forgiven. Not an error, a feature. Every day the world should be grateful that DisneyCoUS does not have an interest in world affairs that most European branches of the corporation have had historically. If we had indeed had such interest, I would have requested Mr. Cleese be my pet Englishman, given to me by one of the sons of Harry Truman who would still have reign over England, Wales, and France.

19. You must tell us who killed JFK. It’s been driving us mad. JFK's assassination was a staged event designed to increase revenues for the Hall of Presidents, which, again , Mr. Cleese would have understood had he installed Service Pack 1.

20. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty’s Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due, backdated to 1776. Mr. Cleese's misunderstanding of the corporate structure of his organization includes his lack of awareness of Benjamin Disraeli's "Thank You Abraham Lincoln, may I have another?" clause in the contract, rendering this specious attempt at tax revenue collection Null and Void.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Yes, and I fart in your general direction sir!

John Cleese

Would you like a psycho daydream in black and white?

Busby Berkeley will happily supply one here in this clip from Dames(1934). Dick Powell is dreaming of his girl Ruby Keeler on the subway, then slips off into crazy land! See his expression at 0:26! Then Ruby Keeler shows up everywhere, eventually coming out of the iris of Ruby Keeler to be an image in a handmirror eventually grabbed by Ruby Keeler.... you see where I'm going here.

Machine Head Madness!

Over at his cool blog, Sippican Cottage has several bizarre versions of Smoke on The Water the old Deep Purple song. So I suggested we assembly the whole Machine Head album! Let's start with Highway Star! (Oh, and buy his furniture!)

A tip o' the cap...

To fellow blogger and all around good guy, Four Dinners:

Gemma Atkinson says you keep on shinin' my friend!

Behold! The Cake!

A good group of folks, including, of course, Camie, Driver 8, The Little Man, and The Beanpot all showed up at Amadeus in Ann Arbor for my Birthday Lunch/Dinner... And a good time was had by all... here's the Apple Torte cake they put a candle in...

Half a century of ridiculous nonsense!

For the big Five-Oh! it would appear the ladies have made the theme "White." Is this the promise of rebirth anew? Or the Japanese color of Death?

The party begins tomorrow...and y'all are welcome! If you have a blog, post a picture of yourself in white just for the hell of it! Let's greet the ladies as they've come in...

Yes, Salma, the birthday is tomorrow...would I kid about that?

Ah, Sandy, always sublimely ready... and lookin' good!!!

Mira's waiting for...what? I'm not sure, but clearly she's ready for the whole event...


I see Jennifer Connolly has brought Charlize Theron and Naomi Watts...fine, fine, more the merrier...


Ah, Ginger...bored, but beautiful as always!

Can anyone see what Debbie is pointing at? I can't....

Daisy Fuentes clearly has our color theme down...the rest of the outfit she's workin' on...

Julianne Moore! Stunning as always! But isn't that...sea green? Or really, really off white?

Can someone please get Parker Posey a drink? Thanks....

Finally...Scarlett looks fuzzy, but mighty damn fine...a good birthday for me it will be...

Do join us!

This one's for Knitting Vog!

Mister Lucky
Uploaded by misshollygolightly

Anatomical Snuffbox

The cars went back and forth at high speeds, stopping right in front of
The Fence, trying to scare it into opening, the fools.
The fence, hoping for a better wage, still guarded the trees from escaping with the bats
Who nested there and made merry flying all about,
trying to obscure The Sun from making it's downward trek.
The sun, properly positioned itself along my arm, slowed down, of course,
by my arm hairs from going over the horizon,
and down, down from elbow's peak to the small concavity of flesh at the start of my hand,
or the end of my arm, if you prefer,
Straight down from there it went, into said hand,
placing the day's energy here where I wanted to write with it,
just so long as I made sure to leave enough
Heat and Light for all of China in their morning so they could do what they needed to do,

Just like me.

You too lazy to make real tacos?

Yeah, fess up, you know you are! I'm a' lookin' right at you, Cynnie! :) I got these devils at Trader Joe's. A minute and a half in the microwave and zap! Easy lunch, pretty good tasting too!

Yow!

I see Suzanne Pleshette died today... and she was born on my upcoming birthday, the 31st! Hope that's not a bad sign...I check in on Ernie Banks, Nolan Ryan, and (sigh) Carole Channing, (all born on my birthday as well) and I see all is well...

Scarlett lets me know that things are cool... right SJ?

On tonight's menu: Fatted Calf

The wonderful Sundries has returned! Many times here at the Stuffin' we feared the worst, but maybe there are second acts in English lives at least!

Welcome back Victoria...Carnivale blogging would be worse without you doing it!

(I'm thinking a calvados vinaigrette and some ginger-glazed carrots with that calf, yes? Raspberry Creme Brulee for dessert? Let's see...I've got a '61 Mouton-Rothschild around here somewhere...)

Happy Birthday!

No, not me! At least not yet! This nod of appreciation goes out to the Althouse blog, whose creator turns an unhidden 57 today. Daily, clever blogging, good photographs, vlogs...Althouse is your full-service blog with multimedia bone fides! (I'll get around to a vlog on Drunk Punk someday!)

Always my favorite blog read...


So? Go out for birthday sushi, already!

Let's see if we can make the second half better, yes?

Soon, very soon,(Jan 31 to be exact!) The Head Fluffmeister here at the Stuffin' will turn the big 5-0!

What shall I do? I wish to let the vox Stuffingi help me out! Make suggestions! You're more than welcome to visit, I won't be planning a thing! Let's make it human and make it good!

"Think Fog"

Yesterday, on the redoubtable Althouse blog, I wrote in a comment the phrase "think fog", when I meant to say "thick fog." This has made me laugh, and I now christen it as a Coinage of The House of Fun, along with "malapropaganda", and....some other ones which I can't recall at the moment! I didn't even see the error; Prof. Althouse pointed it out saying "nice typo." But, interestingly, it is to me not strictly a typo, that is to say, a misspelling, accidental or otherwise. Rather, I simply didn't "hear" the word "thick" when I was typing, I heard my mind say "think."

I find when I type quickly, it's because I'm merely transcribing words I "hear" myself "speak." This is why my most common typing error is to simply forget to type a whole word, not misspell one. I've "heard it" already, and the brain went faster than the hands. When I write, I hear my voice 90% of the time. But sometimes I hear someone else's voice, even to the point of imagining what a persons voice sounds like if I haven't heard it.

The editing process is very different for me; there I tend to see the words as 3D shapes, usually with a particular color, often with a musical tone. I see editing as almost literally, orchestrating how I want a line of text to appear.

The period of my most writing took place when Camie and I were chatting away like magpies. We still do, but not as frequently as there are Beanie and The Little Man to wrestle and this takes considerable energy.

Christmas day, only one person called to talk all day, and I went out for lunch with one other person. I am surprised by my need for constant conversation...

...and am dismayed that Scarlett is not going to be at the top of the page after this post! Maybe I should put her in the masthead...like one of the women at the front of a ship...

I work my meme, right into the ground!

Dream? Oh, yes...

Had a bit too much grog this New Years?

...and you have enemies at home?




from Facebook.

Happy New Year!!!

"You Fucked Up! You trusted us!"

On this, the last day of the year, let's celebrate the 60th(!) birthday of Tim Matheson, whose greatest role was as Eric Stratton ("Eric Stratton, rush chairman, damn glad to meet ya!")
in
Animal House!

Enjoy!




Tip o' the cap to the loverly Lela Dowling on this, her birthday, as well. Go! Give her some business!

Oops, a Day late, sorry man!

A belated birthday tip o' the cap to Saint of the House of Fun, Oscar Levant:

Wow, he'd be a 101! Like he'd have lived that long anyway...

Fairytale Redux

The other day, Camie posted the very sweet video of "Fairytale of New York", the classic Xmas song, that was briefly "edited" (ahem) by the BBC. The Pogues played the song at their annual Dublin show, with Sinead O'Connor(!!) filling in for the late, beloved Kirsty MacColl.


(from TMZ.com)

How this crazy interweb works...

...is beyond me! For some reason, I'm getting a lot of hits on Google image searches for pics of Scarlett Johannson. Was this triggered by my post of the other day? But for some reason, the page that gets referred to is a much older one. Why? Oh, who knows? But since the wheel is squeaky, let's put on some more grease!


I know, it baffles me too!

Yes, it is kind of funny....



Eh? What's that? Well, sure I'll go get eggnog...

Merry Christmas to you all out there, and Scarlett as well...

Come To FluffStuff!

Come visit the little city I have...each visit increases the population...and when enough visit you get to change other things....

http://fluffstuff.myminicity.com/

Alfred Hitchcock

There are so many reasons Hitchcock is a Saint of The House of Fun, but I have a very particular one in mind. What's interesting about it is that it's not just about film, or even just about artistic creation generally.

It's really about what you do when you get to the top. Top of what? Doesn't matter. It's about how you deal with things when everyone around you acknowledges that you are the best, the peak, the go-to guy. Most people coast; some pontificate, some simply repeat what got them there, even if that won't work to move them any further.

Alfred Hitchcock in the late '50's was in such a glorious position. His work in the '50's is a string that anyone would envy: To Catch A Thief, Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest. All of these, North by Northwest in particular, are in the center of what the studios would want to make over and over; great leading man, great soundtrack, story, direction. I think they would have wanted several 'North by Northwests' if Sir Alfred were willing to grind them out. And, mind, I'm not saying these films aren't great, they are. Let's check out the super cool intro to North by Northwest, thanks to the animation of Saul Bass and the music of Bernard Hermann; watch for Hitch at the end of the clip!


But as great as all these films were, for Hitchcock it simply wasn't enough! He wasn't going to be content to just make product, even really, really good product. He had follow his fetishistic, voyeuristic impulses all the way, past what he had started to show us in Rear Window and Vertigo. He had to give us... Psycho.




Here's what Entertainment Weekly has had to say about it:

There's no way around it: Psycho cut movie history in half. When that knife came sawing past the shower curtain at poor, sheeplike Marion Crane(Janet Leigh), Alfred Hitchcock announced that from now on all bets were off. No one was safe; a heroine could be butchered 45 minutes into the movie; a nice young man(Anthony Perkins) could turn out to be a psychotic killer with his mama's embalmed body upstairs...To be truthful, there's a little bit of Psycho in everything we watch nowadays. What Hitch wrought with his little TV crew marks the line of demarcation, in our culture, between the age of sentiment and the age of sensation. It's to pop culture what Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is to fine art: the arrival of a loud and jagged modernism.

[my emphasis] Yes, yes, I know that's a bit much, but it's just to give you the idea!

My point is not about whether you like this particular genre of film or not; it's to give Alfred Hitchcock props for doing what we wish all people at the peak of their profession would do. Spending their hard won cultural capital on not merely vanity or maintaining the status quo, but raising the bar even further! Doing only what someone in that position could do! Just for this alone, Alfred Hitchcock will always be a Saint of The House of Fun.

As Camie can attest...

Scarlett Johansson has been to the House of Fluffy...the paneling gives it away...

Following Suit...

How lazy am I? I even steal the prose from Camie!

as the condition of Cynnie's blog states, here it is!

A game:
Everyone who has a blog is welcome to participate:
The first three persons who leave a comment on today's post will have a gift from me within 365 days. But there is one condition they will have to do the same on their own blog and do the same promise. It's Pay It Forward.

Just like Cynnie, the gifts will be silly, and will be sent out...soon as I can!

My Blogosphere Xmas Present

If I could get something I want here in Blogola, I would love to find out what happened to the cool Sundries blog. Victoria had one of the most fun, readable sites out there, and she has up and disappeared since May. She did say she was taking some time off, but 8 months?!? I sometimes fear the worst, but like Lord Nelson, that's just my nature.

If you're out there sweet Ms. B, we all want you to return, even some of the Althouse commentariat as well! Otherwise, we'll be picturing you in sequels to Midnight Express....


We hope to find your prose again, under the proverbial tree this year...

Bogie and Hepburn?

Really if you think of it... more like myself and Camie, the prequel right? Half the people around here I have to treat like Elijah Cook, jr. in Maltese Falcon, and we have to somehow get a picture of Camie in the Breakfast at Tiffany's getup (maybe in front of Tiffany's!!!) Well, we can dream...

Merry Christmas, Herr Dinners!

Really, what wouldn't we give this fine gentleman for the holidays? Kegs, of course, and all the Russian Lesbian Warblers he could eat, but this should be in the front of the house to ward off any and all Evil.

His mate for next year, perhaps?

"Look, look,...

At those crazy people amongst the living who don't get what a comedy life really is! I should know -- I direct mighty fine comedies!"

Billy Wilder, Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn (and an unknown shutterbug!) on some set in the Afterlife shooting a mighty fine comedy, no doubt... and finding us even funnier!

Could this be...?

La Chat du Vog? Maybe...looks like him, except the hat would drive him SullyBonkers. No, this the front graphic for a cool site, Yousaytomayto.com

So go there and check stuff out...

Has it been 202 years already? My, my how time flies...

Here's a note from Nappy on the 202nd Anniversary of the Battle of Austerlitz:

Proclamation of Napoleon I. Bonaparte

Soldiers!
I am pleased with you. Everything I expected of your dauntlessness has been fulfilled by you today, at Austerlitz. You have crowned our colors with immortal fame. The enemy army, comprised of a hundred thousand men, led by the Russian and Austrian emperors, was pulverized and crushed in less than 4 hours. Those who escaped the brunt of your weapons were drowned. Forty battalions, Russian Emperor's Guard flags, one hundred and twenty cannons, twenty generals, and more than thirty thousand captured - this is the outcome of this monumental day. Despite its superior size, the reputed Russian infantry was not able to withstand your assault, and you need not fear any opponent anymore. The third coalition was defeated and destroyed within two months. Peace is not far in the future. However, as I promised my nation before I crossed the Rhine, I will establish only such a peace that would provide me with an assurance and ensure our allied with compensation.

Soldiers,
When my nation placed the Emperor's crown upon my head, I trusted that you would maintain it in the brilliant lustre of fame, which is the only value it holds for me. But at the same moment, our enemies wanted to destroy and debase it. They wanted to force me to place this iron crown, tainted by the blood of so many of our people, on the head of our most cruel enemy. You have suppressed and ruined those arrogant and senseless efforts, on the anniversary of your Emperor's crowning. You have proved that it is easier to threaten and hold us in contempt than it is to defeat us.

Soldiers,
When I have completed everything that is necessary for ensuring the happiness and prosperity of our fatherland, I will lead you back home to France. There you will be treated to my most kind and generous care. My nation will welcome you with open arms. It will be enough to say: I fought at Austerlitz, in order for everyone to rejoin: this is a hero!

Napoleon

In our Emperor's tent at Austerlitz, 12 Frimaire of the year XIV.

Situation at 3-4 p.m. on the 2. december 1805

Have a nice Sunday! Invade the various Austerlitzes in your life!

Aiiiieeeee!!!! Rice Cooker down! Rice Cooker down!

Yep, it's true, the ol' zorichi (sp) bit the farm today....done overcooked the rice and made the stuff stick (and blacken like road tar) on the bottom... Throw it on the Christmas list...

Let's answer Chiot Mort's question

Dead Puppy asked what would I like for Xmas...ok, here goes.

We need many things at The Stuffin, but let's try and sort things out.

1.) Furniture. I have nothing but uncomfortable stuff!

2.) Clothing. Most everything is shot to hell, and I'm a tuff fit!

3.) Car Repair. Nothing major, just lots of small stuff let's harass Camie about it!

4.) Vacation. It's been far too long since I've been outta town, but I think Camie may need one more than even I, so let's send her to London, shall we?

5.) Kitchen stuff. It's old, in bad shape, and not much fun to use.

Just a few thoughts here, maybe more as I think about them.

The Current Tree, Part Deux

All right then!

What does my readership want for Xmas? Go ahead and tell The Jolly Old Fat Man who runs The Stuffing! We'll see what we can do!

It's here...

Turkey. more stuff....ugggg...I'm full and I haven't eaten yet!

Time to pass out in preparation!

Merry, happy to all y'all!

The Post of the Beast

The other day ("What does 'other day' mean?", asks Little Man) on the redoubtable Althouse blog, She wondered who be her 11,111,111th visitor. I was visitor 11,111,110 so I can't answer that question, but I am the 6,666 visitor to 'Stuffin! It's only fitting really; someone has to come here and it might as well be me!

I do note that as Thanksgiving draws near, I do get more hits from people searching for 'Stuffin'! So, turkey, turkey, turkey, cranberries, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, football...anything to make my SiteMeter happy...

The Current Tree

I have posted pics of the tree right in front of my house in other seasons...but isn't fall the best season for this sort of thing?

Did you know...

That Camie and I were in several bands? Oh, yes...


Here we are in our Grand Ole Opry phase...

Our Devo-soundalike band almost had a hit with "Flog it", but things went awry...

This is from our glam period...I can't tell which one of us is which, this being 1973 and all... I love our subtle uses of color, don't you?


Fluffy and Camie: Absinthe Police. Christ, don't ask, it was the '70's!



I went on to do a solo gig as a Rouge Supercop for JC Penneys, searching for value like Caine in Kung Fu, while wearing my Chia Chest Hair, lookin' all bad ass!

All those lessons for Fluffy Jr. finally paid off!

Once again, pajama clad bandits are foiled by the house WatchCat!

I am a bitch without my coffee...

And I take it out on the world...

Bears need no wasabi!

Camie, Little Man, Beanie at Halloween

Camie and I went out trick or treating with her chillin's last night; none of my 'ween pics came out very well, but a good time was had by all. Here we have a pic before going out at dinner. Little Man insisted on starting outside the frame and racing into the shot!