Category Archives: Bev-Nap

Things I wish I’d said, witticisms, clever asides, often overhead in a bar where the only thing to write it down on for posterity is a bev-nap

London Journal – Day 12 – A Hard Night’s Day

After the theatre (more on that later) I went down to Windsor Palace for a spot.  The 6 Nation’s match was on, England vs France.  You can only imagine what this meant for pubs across the great country who had the foresight to invest in HDTV!

In the Windsor Palace I found a plush leather seat in the corner with no view whatsoever of the telly.  It isn’t that I didn’t want to watch, I gladly would have.  My father played rugby, and I can figure it out within a minute or two of watching, generally.

Suddenly, after much cheering, the crowd dissipated, and I got a seat at the bar.  I captured the night’s scores in the margins of my Telegraph: England 24 – France 13.  Wales 40 – Italy 8, Ireland 34 – Scotland 13.  So, other than Scotland’s ignominious defeat, Great Britain had a damn good day.  This was not lost on the 16 year old French bartendress at the Windsor Palace.  She cursed under her breath and kept slinging ale at the sotted masses.

These Things Snowball

money-hands.jpg

Pawn’s old buddy Dave has some interesting comments to make about Congressman WIlliam Jefferson’s indictment over at the 100 Word Rant:

They found 90 thousand bucks in Bill Jefferson’s freezer. That’s slightly less than Bob Byrd’s maid normally finds between the sofa cushions. A 90 grand tip would be an insult to Dubya after giving some Halliburton exec’s wingtips one of his forked-tongue shoeshines. All Congressmen are traditionally assumed to be utterly corruptible, so why go after the gentleman from Louisiana? Let’s just say the reason starts with “n” and rhymes with “we grow.” While I have yet to peruse the entire 16-count indictment against “Dollar Bill” Jefferson, I’m pretty sure I’ll find the word uppity in there somewhere.
100 word rant: these things snowball

You tell ’em, Dave!

Why not to be in Napoli

Paul Cezanne - Old Woman with Rosary

This from the New York Times, yesterday, in a story about the problem of full landfills in Naples, Italy (emphasis mine):

As the piles rose and the stench spread, 100 or more refuse fires burned some nights — one of many trash related protests that included, inevitably, mothers clutching rosaries on railroad tracks.

We like this aura of inevitability to mothers clutching rosaries on railroad tracks, but must admit to being somehwat baffled by it.

Words and Wisdom of Dr. Fank-n-furter

Of Course, If He’d Said That about Clue I’d Have to Club Him
Theater fan: What would you say about a person who saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show only once and didn’t feel any need to see it again?
Tim Curry: I’d say that was a person who was in full possession of their senses.

–Actor’s Fund event, 52nd & Broadway

Overheard by: Big Larry

via Overheard in New York, May 17, 2007

Oops, langzamer als je blieft

MRI image of brain

While Pawn considers whether to relocate to Europe, he is studying up on what may await him across the pond. This tip comes from How To Survive Holland a website run by the recruitment firm Undutchables :

Tip: If you try to speak Dutch to a native and your accent is foreign, they will immediately speak your language. If your accent is reasonably good they will speak Dutch to you very fast. If you then say, “Oops, langzamer als je blieft (slower please)”, they will again immediately revert to your language. There is no solution to this – I just thought you should know.
Peter Forster – Vanuatu

Pawn should be ready for this, having pleaded “slower please” for years now.

Ladies Object Lesson With Mirror

While that may sound like the title of an impressionist piece by Pissarro, it is in fact just the latest interesting Google search to lead some unsuspecting fool into Fortune. One of the interesting things about gathering statistics on blog visits is seeing how people get here. Thanks to FireStats Pawn gets to learn something new every day about just what people are searching for on the web. In the case of Ladies Object Lesson With Mirror Good ol’ Fortune’s Pawn has garnered positions 2 and 3 in Google’s ranking.
ladies object lesson with mirror – Google Search

floozie-mirror-sm.JPG

After this posting, no doubt, that will change to 1,2 and 3. Another proud day for we Pawns!


Jumbo Religious Bon-bons

chocolatejesus.jpg

Paul Hina has some interesting comments about the Chocolate Jesus debacle in New York, this past Easter. Here is an excerpt:

“Catholic League head Bill Donohue called it “one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever”.

Really? Worst assault ever?

Donahue is an ass, and anyone familiar with his perpetual sense of outrage knows it.  I guess in some ways I can see how Christians might be offended by something like Serrano’s Piss Christ.  But this piece seems tame in comparison. If the piece were shaped from doody instead of chocolate then I could understand. But to me this artist is making an important social comment about the confectionary capitalism that revolves around western religious holidays.

Paul Hina: Chocolate Jesus

Well said!