The Beer Bar

...What's a little anal leakage compared with THAT? Just rereading my (autographed ) copy of Failure Is Not an Option. Oddly apt follow-on to the Flannery O'Connor bio.

Its so cool what can be found on YouTube. This little diddy is not professionally recorded so the sound and visual suffer some ... but the remarkable impact of Paul McCartney singing Birthday to (I still cannot play a drum roll) Ringo Star is awesome. The two 69 & 70 year-olds, Ringo freshly minted) exhibit nearly as much energy as they once did so many years ago. Watching this brought a few tears to my eyes ... I'm such a queen Check out the poor guy assigned to make care of Paul on stage. He nearly gets bashed in the face at the start of the song and at the end has to fly across the stage to grab Paul's guitar that is about to bash a few others inb the head

#Today's question: IF you could go to one event..past, present or future...what would it be?

Irving Fein is anything but a household name. He was a Hollywood publicist and manager who died yesterday. One of many of a much despised breed, he had the good fortune/judgement to work with and guide the careers of two master comedians – Jack Benny and George Burns. He first collaborated with Benny after the Second World War, helping him polish up his image of a famously ‘cheap’ Charlie and also a lousy violinist, which he wasn't - that violin in the clip is a Stradivarius worth now around US$4 million! As Benny was dying of cancer in 1974, he suggested that Fein work for his old pal, George Burns, whose career had seemed to drift after the death of his wife, Gracie…

When a notable such as Fareed Zakaria gets caught cheating, we wonder. When the Olympics is noted for cheating, we wonder. When every bank seems to be fudging the rules, we wonder. Do we then cheat ourselves? The Observer takes a look at the rise of cheating: http://observer.com/2012/08/our-cheating-hearts-honor-integrity-and-playing-by-the-rules-are-all-out-of-style/?show=all

Fairly incredible in the implications... Book written in DNA code Scientists who encoded the book say it could soon be cheaper to store information in DNA than in conventional digital devices Geraint Jones guardian.co.uk, Thursday 16 August 2012 14.45 EDT Book of life: DNA is the ultimate compact storage medium. Photograph: Alamy Scientists have for the first time used DNA to encode the contents of a book. At 53,000 words, and including 11 images and a computer program, it is the largest amount of data yet stored artificially using the genetic material. The researchers claim that the cost of DNA coding is dropping so quickly that within five to 10 years it could …

In honor of Madonna's 54th birthday today, here is a video of a kid at his bar mitzvah in 1992. Now he is a lawyer and gay activist. On March 14, 1992, Shaun Sperling read from the Torah and became a Bar Mitzvah in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. The theme Shaun chose to signify the religious celebration of him becoming a man was, 'Madonna'. To kick off the party, he performed a dance to 'Vogue' - now strike a pose and lets get to it...

A regular poster on here got a gasp out of me when he wrote that he had considered using 30k frequent flyer miles instead of paying $300 cash. That is far below my threshold of value per mile, Well today another friend(Who just happens to have the same screen name as the above mentioned regular poster-but is in fact a different person) posted this in his blog.It is a very good general tutorial on the use of points and miles, http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/2012/08/16/valuing-miles-and-points-is-a-futile-effort Speaking of Hotel Points-I am doing an insane mattress run this weekend in Phoenix Braving 110 degree temps in order to gain 20k points in my main …

Blake Jenner Rumor has it that he will become the next Alpha-male, to replace the graduating Finn.

It never ceases to amaze me when I read ads on craigslist (and even rentboy). Some of the guys seem to be totally lacking in formal education or at the very least, the ability to proofread. Or are the majority of the ads written and placed while drunk? When you see an ad full of misspelled words, grammatical errors, and verging on the incomprehensible, does it turn you off, or do you like the "big and dumb" type of guys? Here is an example of a real CL ad I just came across.. Hey guys I am Stan and What i really need right now is some one who can take me for a nice ride to where ever they want to go... I need to exscape from this place the call home and brought to exta…

This should be the anthem of the summer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbQK-w2ARsw

I will be going to Rio and Porto Alegre on Sept. 6th and to Prague on October 4th and to Ft. Lauderdale/Miami on Oct. 18th. If anyone is around and wants to meet up let me know! The last few trips it has been really enjoyable meeting up with fellow MER's!

Don't kill the messenger: Are anal tattoos the next big thing? Let's hope not. I can't stand tattoos in any form.

Our thoughts go out to the family of feminist pioneer Helen Gurley Brown, who passed away today at the age of 90. I was shocked when they said her age. We have all gotten older.

There is a new video out that some people claim is "proof" that Taylor is gay, simply because of how he uses "Jazz hands" in his conversation.. you be the judge..

A Delta commuter flight about to refuel at Pittsburgh was delayed when a flock of tens of thousands of honey bees took up residence on one wing! I'll bet the passengers were glad they were not actually inside! Apparently, bees are protected and can not be killed, and so a beekeeper had to be called to remove them. As one wag commented: "Seems the plane was filling up with the latest B(ee)P(ee) fuel." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU-2kOw8Amw

Andy Murray wardrobe malfunction?

Michael Phelps, photographed by Annie Leibovitz for Louis Vuitton.

At breakfast this morning I saw this car and this front license plate. Oz, why didn't you say hello?

Ty and I had an interesting discussion a few weeks back and he sent me an email tell me what he would like to see in a new logo. He said: "As a logo I envision three male silhouettes, one in a pin-stripe suit with a Fedora (shot half or 3/4 length) maybe holding a martini, the second a jock in a muscle shirt with a head band and football type pants holding a football, the third is what we have been calling a mink - sort a little beyond twinky with a hint of muscular definition, with an athletic or loose T-shrit, shorts and skateboard. The images would be half or 3/4 body shots or maybe a mix depending on how they look in layout. There may be better choices but I had a …

Does anybody know if VP hopeful Paul Ryan owns stock in P90x or gets money back for selling the product? Everytime I turn around lately, he's talking about this great weight-loss product that he uses with people at the Capital. Now everytime I see him, I expect him to pitch a product like the SHAM-WOW.

Oh and a few professional burger friends of mine

I might for the first few minutes but they have to catch my attention very quickly or else I will be switching the TV off. I couldn't face watching another train wreck like the opening ones were.