Richard Pryor passed away today.

As a kid, I remember listening to bootleg tapes of Richard Pryor’s act. We had tapes of tapes of tapes, and they sounded crappy. My dad was ok with us listening to foul language as long as it was comedy (thanks dad). As a result, I heard a lot of Richard Pryor and then later on, Eddie Murphy, who walked through the doors Richard Pryor had opened. We liked listening to abrasive comedy because it was the only time you got to hear good poop jokes you could pass on at school. There was a couple of Richard Pryor shows I knew by heart for several years. And even though it was considered one of his worst films, Brewster’s Millions is one of my favorites. The cultural significance of Pryor’s racial comedy didn’t dawn on me until I was an adult. For all of his flaws offstage, I know he had a tremendous impact on American culture. I was too young to understand that when I listened to him. I just remember the shit jokes. They were hilarious.

Thanks Richard. I loved your shit jokes.

rob

This year felt a bit more normal for my wife to celebrate her birthday, although we’ve postponed the celebration until tomorrow because of her work schedule.

Still with friends & family like this, it can’t help but be more festive than it was 4 years ago.

rob

I have mentioned Google Maps here before because I was so impressed with the technology behind it. But here is where technology truly makes an impact on our lives. Satellite photos of New Orleans from before and after Hurricane Katrina rolled through have been added to Google Maps.

1. Simply go to maps.google.com.
2. Type “New Orleans” into the search box.
3. The Satellite button at the top right of the map will show you the before image.
4. The Katrina button shows you the same area after.

It really gave me a sense of the scope of the destruction. It is breathtaking.

Thanks to Download Squad for the tip.

rob

I do a bit of sampling of the right-leaning web from time to time. Probably too often for my long-term health, but I have always believed that it is important to (try to) understand all points of view.

Tonight I happened upon www.ohhowIlovejesus.com. As you might expect, the authors love Jesus, which should go without saying, but I’m a big fan of blugeoning you with the obvious.

After perusing a few posts, I noticed on the sidebar a link to Comment Rules. I haven’t really come across rules for commenting on other blogs except a general request for no spam. Many of the most vicious bloggers on the right don’t allow comments at all, which is always amusing in my opinion because it generally drives your audience away (if the lack of a reality-based opinion hasn’t already). I have never removed any comments here except obvious comment spam, so I was curious to see what comment rules might look like.

I found these rules to be very symbolic in a way that I will not spell out here. In my infinite “opinionated-ness,” I am choosing not to comment.

www.ohhowilovejesus.com Comment Rules.

rob