Mobtown Shank

Tonight! Bar Bacon Comedy Round 6

TONIGHT! Friday, June 26
11pm-12:30pm The Golden West Cafe.
Hampden, Baltimore.
1105 W. 36th St.

Bar Bacon returns with Round 6 of Baltimore's high flyin' comedy cavalcade.

Featuring:
- your host with the most, Jim Meyer
- the triumphant return of Annoy Charlie Smith star, Seaton Smith
- Comedy Central's Erin Jackson
- the fruity fun of Dr. Victor Von Gallagher

And more!

Here is Dr. Victor Von from his last Bar Bacon appearance in case you haven't already seen it:

Sponsored by Atomic Books.

This Is Not How Centaurs Are Made

Dude, seriously. Stop fucking the horse.

A South Carolina man was charged with having sex with a horse after the animal's owner caught the act on videotape, then staked out the stable and caught him at shotgun point, authorities said Wednesday.

But this wasn't the first time Rodell Vereen has been charged with buggery. He pleaded guilty last year to having sex with the same horse after owner Barbara Kenley found him in the same stable and was sentenced to probation and placed on the state's sex offender list.

Source.

Bipartisanship = Guilty By Association

Hey, Democrats - know what compromise, centrism and bipartisanship get you? They get you confused with Republicans by the voters.

A new NPR poll finds Republicans catching Democrats in a generic congressional ballot test.

"Asked whether they would support a Democrat or a Republican for Congress in 2010 if the election were held today, 42% said they would choose a Democrat and 43% a Republican, a difference well within the poll's margin of error (plus or minus 3.4 percentage points for each number in each question)."

For several years, Democrats have held wide leads on such questions.

Dems, this is an early warning sign that you're blowing it.

Source.

American Standard: Baltimoaners

by Benn Ray

Allow me to introduce a new word into our regional lexicon: Baltimoaner

BALTIMOANER - a person who complains about the representation of Baltimore in the media. Specifically, one who doesn't like the way Baltimore appears in TV shows like Homicide and The Wire (and the recent "Rust Belt" episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations). 

Instead of being proud, for example, that the city is the setting (and even a character, really) for 2 of the greatest TV shows of all time, they complain that the city is shown in these shows as crime-laden and  in decay (while being completely ignorant of Baltimore's long and rich history of crime lit - Dashiell Hammett, Edgar Allan Poe up through David Simon, Laura Lippman) . And instead of actually trying to do anything to make the city better, they simply whine and complain whenever Baltimore is portrayed in a light they don't like.

For example, here is a selection of Baltimoaner comments from the No Reservations Facebook page:

Seriously? You came to Baltimore and ate @ these places? Thanks for showing the TV world that Baltimore has terrible food! Of all of the places to dine, you really aired those places? Makes me glad I don't live in Baltimore and live in the country. Lake trout? Born and raised and still live in MD and never heard of it. I love the show, but am deeply saddened by what was chosen for this particluar episode :( -Rebecca K.

Great show, but I hope the world doesn't think Baltimore is just about crack heads and lake trout. I've been here for 25 years and never had either. I think a visit to Lexington Market, then out for old bay seasoned steamed crabs and a few Natty-Bohs, then to Little Italy for desert would have been more appropriate. -Steve W.

TERRIBLE representation of BALTIMORE!!
I was born and raised here-going on 39. I love MD and Baltimore City. Yes-there is a lot of Lake Trout in one little area of the city but there is so much more! It looks like you got a good crab cake but geeez-Pit Beef??? That does not say Baltimore! And thanks for making us look so scary and dreadful. ... Read MoreYes, we have a high crime/shooting rate but those typically happen in isolated areas where tourists or food critics would never be hanging out.-why couldn't you go to Hampden, Cross St. Market or Fell's Point, how about a little Duckpin bowling-you went feather bowling for god's sake in Detroit! How about Lexington Market-I know you know all about these places Mr. Bourdain....what were you thinking? You may have lost one of your biggest fans. I could make an exception if you come back and tell it like it really is. Not Happy!! -Karen M.

aweful portayal of Baltimore. Made me sad that Anthony overlooked the greatness that Bmore has to offer. Show made Baltimore look like boarded-up city filled with crack. Any east coast city could be made to look like this. -Henry B.

So disappointed in how Baltimore was portrayed. The city is alive and thriving. So many culinary treasures that were overlooked. We have great chefs here doing wonderful things using local products. You missed Cross Street Market, the farmers marked under 83, Birches, the Helmand, Woodbury Kitchen, the list goes on and on. I challenge Tony to come ... Read Moreback here and show the other side of Baltimore. It's not all boarded up row homes and crack babies. See http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/bal-fo.farmers20jul20,0,7090570.story -Kathy G.

What happened to Fell's Point? -David A.

Very disappointed in the choices for Baltimore. Those are probably three of the worst spots in the city. Baltimore isn't the bombed out shell it was made out to be in the show, as a huge fan of Tony I woulda thought he would have showed both sides of the coin. Also, as a fellow lover of meat in tube form, I can't believe he didn't go to Pollock Johnnies, Ostrowskis, one of the many markets in the city, etc. Lake Trout and Mo's? C'mon! -Chris B.

Glad you did Pit Beef. Lake Trout, well, I guess that's a Baltimore thing, but it's not that great...not for TV. Snoop and Mo's were huge disappointments. She's an ex-ganster. Not the best ambassador for our city. And that weird noise she made when she laughed was absolutely repulsive. Mo's is junk compared to what we have here. Kind of ... Read Moreembarassing. It was like inviting a guest to your home that insists on using your dirty, basement toilet. Geesh. Baltimore is awesome! Please come back and give it another whirl. -Jeanet P.

And Baltimore isn't very blue collar anymore. Ever hear of a really big employer, Johns Hopkins University and a little place named Best Hospital in the US for the 19th year in a row, Johns Hopkins Medicine? And then there's University of Maryland Medical Center, Sinai, and a few other. Everyone here isn't a stupid, out of work longshore man! -Melanie Z.

Man, he made Baltimore look like a big dump, not true not true! (Loved seeing Snoop though) -April M.

Boo for bashing Baltimore, Tony! You painted a terrible picture... I've always been a Bourdain fan but am hugely disappointed in your depiction of my city! - Jenny  E.

WOW, what a let down... Tony did nothing but took one slice of baltimore. kinda ruined how i feel about the series... almost like you had an agenda about what you showed... truly the shine is off the apple... shame on you tony! - David W.

Bad job on Bmore- so sad how they were represented :( -Michelle B.

Bmore can be ghetto, but there's also an awesome side to it. Don't like how it was totally one sided. Shame shame - Liz L.

Okay, with regard to No Reservations, Baltimore was filmed in a specific way to fit a particular narrative. Obviously. And while that narrative wasn't completely accurate, it isn't completely inaccurate either.

In the show No Reservations, Bourdain tends to focus on several things: working class food, bizarre regional cuisines and customs and cutting edge culinary innovations.

Let's be perfectly honest here, Baltimore is severely lacking in the culinary innovations department. Sure we have a handful of decent chefs in town, but their styles are generally derivative and they are hardly doing anything so original that it warrants national attention. We really don't have bizarre regional food. Sorry, but french fries and gravy and scrapple is not all that strange. So that leaves working class food which, in Baltimore is, outside of chain restaurants, either pit beef or lake trout.

And while years ago oysters and crabs were a blue collar staple, due to over-fishing and rampant Bay pollution, they are now expensive delicacies for those who can afford them. And honestly, as a Baltimore resident, how often do you go out for crabcakes when you don't have an out-of-town guest with you?

Bourdain has an admirable and strong distaste for tourist areas, so that is going to knock the Inner Harbor (which is hardly a culinary mecca), Fells Point and Federal Hill off the list of places to visit. And honestly, these days, it would knock Little Italy off the list too.

And while Baltimore does have more going on than Detroit and Buffalo (honestly, we're closer to Pittsburgh than either of those two cities), the renovations and upscaling of the city isn't really for the people living and working here. It's to bring in tourists, businesses and wealthy new residents.

So folks, really, stop being Baltimoaners every time you see a representation of Baltimore that doesn't match up to the image you have - it's a big damn town, and your Baltimore isn't everyone's either. And your moaning and complaining is far more damaging and embarrassing than any TV show or movie.

Instead of moaning about it, maybe take a moment to try some lake trout at The Roost (although it too is a chain) or reconsider Mo's.

Sarah Palin's Goodbye Speech

Perhaps her goodbye speech wasn't a word salad after all. Perhaps it was just poetry.

Shatner gives it a go on Conan.

72 Million Lack Proper Health Care - Congress Takes Month Off

72 million Americans either have no health insurance or are under-insured.

When anti-health care reform obstructionists and the media that serves them kept disingenuously saying "What's the hurry?" to Obama's health care deadline, keep this in mind.

72 million Americans lack proper health care coverage - meanwhile, congress is taking a month vacation.

But hey, I'm sure none of those 72 million people will require any sort of health care until after a reform bill is passed.

Source.

Amazon's Digital Kindling

Recently, Amazon deleted purchased books from people's Kindles - shocking folks who were surprised that Amazon retained that kind of access to their devices.

A growing number of civil libertarians and customer advocates wants Amazon to fundamentally alter its method for selling Kindle books, lest it be forced to one day change or recall books, perhaps by a judge ruling in a defamation case — or by a government deciding a particular work is politically damaging or embarrassing.

“As long as Amazon maintains control of the device it will have this ability to remove books and that means they will be tempted to use it or they will be forced to it,” said Holmes Wilson, campaigns manager of the Free Software Foundation.

The foundation, based in Boston, is soliciting signatures from librarians, publishers and major authors and public intellectuals. This week it plans to present a petition to Amazon asking it to give up control over the books people load on their Kindles, and to reconsider its use of the software called digital rights management, or D.R.M. The software allows the company to maintain strict control over the copies of electronic books on its reader and also prevents other companies from selling material for the device.

Two years after Amazon first introduced the Kindle and lighted a fire under the e-books market, there is increasing awareness of how traditional libraries of paper and ink differ from those made of bits and bytes. The D.R.M. in Amazon’s Kindle books, backed up by license agreements with copyright holders, prevents customers from copying or reselling Kindle books — the legal right of “first sale” that is guaranteed to owners of regular books.

D.R.M. has created a new dynamic between consumers and the vendors of digital media like books and movies. People do not so much own, but rent this media. And the rental agreement can be breached by the manufacturer at any time, sometime with little or no notice.

So that digital data you have that you like to think of as your e-books? Guess what? You don't actually own it. You're just renting it. And any time publishers, companies and even government officials want to alter, censor or delete that data, they can.

You know a good way to avoid that sort of thing? Buy books.

Source.

TIME Thinks Quitter Palin Is Actually A "Renegade"?

What do you call someone who abandons her state and those she swore to represent and quits her job halfway through it?

Well, if you're TIME Magazine, you that person a "renegade" on the cover of the current issue.

Renegade:
1  : a deserter from one faith, cause, or allegiance to another    
2  : an individual who rejects lawful or conventional behavior

I guess if you REALLY stretch it, definition 1 could apply since she is a deserter from her state for perhaps national politics. But are those really differing faiths?

But the subtitle reads, "Sarah Palin takes the road less traveled. But where does it lead?" So that makes it pretty clear that Time is going for definition #2.

Really, TIME? "Renegade"?

Your "Liberal" Media Eating Itself

First I should point out that I generally like MSNBC, but I do have some issues with it. However, I also strongly disagree with those who mistakenly think it's the left's equivalent of FOX News. That's simply not true. FOX News has no liberal shows. And during the Bush era, FOX news rarely, if ever, offered any criticism of the disastrous Bush Administration. In fact, the two most "liberal" shows on MSNBC, Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Rachel Maddow Show frequently criticize, question and challenge (rightly so) the Obama Administration.

FOX has no liberal shows while MSNBC has shows like Morning Joe that would fit in on FOX and has commentators like Pat Buchanan that put forth hateful and racist bile that could also easily pass for news analysis on FOX.

However, I do think there is a bit too much "our team" mentality on MSNBC (which this clip reveals). I think that giving "Uncle" Pat Robertson a voice on MSNBC only serves to mainstream his extremist views. And Joe Scarborough is a total tool. I wish MSNBC had weekend programming and also had more shows on air with young, fresh voices like, say Sam Seder.

And also, I like the guy filling in for Olbermann in this clip, David "You're Welcome" Shuster. It took me awhile to warm up to him, but once I realized he has a "you're welcome" compulsion, I immediately began liking him (at the end of most guest segments, when he thanks his guest, they thank him back. Most hosts traditionally then move on, but almost every time, Shushter says "you're welcome" under his breath before moving on. For some reason that quirk was all it took for me to like the guy.)

But I have to say that I totally agree with the spanking Boston Globe columnist Charles Pierce gives MSNBC and the mainstream media (plus, he seems a lot like Zach Galifianakis playing Richard Dreyfuss which makes him very compelling to listen to).

It is important to remember that despite this very revealing fight that these two are essentially in agreement on the subject at hand - that Lynne Cheney is a tool for spouting Birther hysteria.

On with the show...

I'd like to see more guests like Pierce on MSNBC and fewer guests like Pat Buchanan, but sadly I am inclined to think we won't be seeing Pierce on the network again.

Godless Brad Pitt

In an interview with BILD, Brad Pitt admits to being an atheist/agnostic:

ILD: Do you believe in God?
Brad Pitt [smiling]: No, no, no!

BILD: Is your soul spiritual?
Brad Pitt: No, no, no! I'm probably 20 per cent atheist and 80 per cent agnostic. I don't think anyone really knows. You'll either find out or not when you get there, until then there's no point thinking about it.

What Pitt is saying is he's actually an atheist. Many people make the mistake of thinking that atheism is the anti-god equivalent of blind faith and it's not. There is a foundation to what is commonly thought of as "agnosticism" to every atheist.

Meaning that if, for example, you show a person of faith irrefutable proof that there is no god, 9 out of 10 of those people will continue to proudly believe in a god and consider that belief a virtue. If you show an atheist irrefutable proof of god, then 9 out of 10 atheists would say, "Guess I was wrong. Okay, I accept it."

But an atheist is one who feels that there is enough evidence to suggest that there is most likely no god while an agnostic simply claims to not know - thereby giving equal probability to the existence and non-existence of a god.

Pitt's 20/80 split would fall into this definition of atheism. However, since atheists are much maligned in society by intolerant theists, it is more socially acceptable to claim Agnosticism over Atheism. 

Regardless, good for Pitt for admitting his views. Maybe more atheists and agnostics will out themselves as well and show that just because you don't believe in god that doesn't mean you are evil.

Source.