Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader watched the lift off of the Space Shuttle Discovery just a few moments ago. So far all looks like it is going well. One hopes and prays that the mission is successful.

As excited as your Maximum Leader gets about the Space Shuttle, he wonders at what point we will look to the next generation of space vehicles. The Shuttle is, after all, 30 years old in its concept. (He knows the technology keeping the shuttle going it constantly updated.) But our goals and aspirations in space are different now than 30 years ago. Perhaps it is time to recommit ourselves to a new and bolder mission in space…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader bids you welcome to his humble new home. It comes to you through the creative and technical talents of Apothegm Designs. (If you have a blog and want to make it better - shoot them an email at: apothegmdesigns -at-gmail -dot- com.)

As you can see there are comments and trackbacks. There is also a functioning RSS/XML feed (just for you Dr. Rusty.)

For now the comments are unmoderated and will allow unregistered commenters. If this becomes a problem, your Maximum Leader will likely change his position on comments and require moderation of comments and registration.

One frequent reader has said the site looks a little funereal. Funereal? Your Maximum Leader will have you know that the stunning header graphic is a combination of photos of Westminster Hall in London. (If you’ve never been to visit, your Maximum Leader recommends it. Westminster Hall is one of the most beautiful medieval structures in the world. We have King Richard II of England to thank for it.) He doesn’t think it looks funereal at all. Indeed, it has turned out better than the conceived in his mind.

So, as your Maximum Leader said, welcome to the new and improved Naked Villainy blog. If you are really excited about it (and every sane minion should be) celebrate by buying a t-shirt or mug or something.

Over the next few days you may notice little changes here and there. The addition of more archived posts, the tweaking of the blogroll, perhaps the addition of Blogads. But the writing will be the same bloggy goodness you’ve come to expect from your Maximum Leader and his ministerial cronies.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader saw an interesting quiz over on the Ministry of Minor Perfidy.

	You scored as Dragon. You are the Dragon. You store a lot of knowledge about everything. You are generally one who is good with personal growth and can regenerate yourself after a bad experience. Dragon 92% Wolf 92% Stag	83%
Dog		83%
Fox		83%
Bear		75%
Eagle		75%
Crow		67%
Salmon		67%
Bull		58%
Horse		58%
Snake		50%
Deer		50%
Ram		8%

Which animal totem best suits you?
created with QuizFarm.com

What makes this quiz so amusing to your Maximum Leader is that once he was told that he had “power animals” by a person practising some form of native american mystism. In that context (which your Maximum Leader supposes might be an inside joke) this is really quite funny.

Carry on.
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Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has stared into the crystal ball. He’s seen the future.

And he fears the future very much.

Mr. DeMille… I’m ready for my closeup…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader commends for your viewing and reading pleasure:

The Harfleur Soliliquy from Henry V as interpreted by the alien from “Cosmic Import.” As you may know, Cosmic Import is a recurring comic done by our very own Poet Laureate.

Critical assessment: The Alien is no Kenneth Branagh or Larry Olivier. But he is more animated than Biff Baker who once played Henry V in a Hayfield High School production of this play.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is not at all surprised by the recent bombings in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Indeed, the Red Sea resort seems like a great target for terrorists. It has a reputation for being “secure.” Diplmats love it. And it is in a muslim country.

Why do these factors make Sharm el-Sheikh a great target. Because it feeds the fear that the terrorists need to survive. According to news reports, the Egyptian police are looking for some Pakistani men in relation to the blast. Pakistan says that it couldn’t be Pakistani nationals responsible. One surmises that the Egyptians are also looking for Saudi’s (and 80 year old white-women from the American midwest).

Your Maximum Leader thinks that attacking Sharm el-Sheikh, and London, the terrorists are starting a new wave of attacking soft targets. These attacks will likely continue across the globe and culminate in an attack on the US in September. Your Maximum Leader hopes that police, intelligence, and military forces around the world are on high alert. Because he doesn’t see that there will be a let-up any time soon.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader sees that some schmo who once had a “relationship” with Jennifer Aniston (he was 16, she was 15) in the mid-80’s is auctioning off the notes she sent him.

Allow your Maximum Leader to go on record saying that in the MWO, that schmo will be dragged out and shot on principle. It is not that your Maximum Leader has any special affinity for Jennifer Aniston. He doesn’t. (In fact if he could “hook up” with any of the women of Friends he would choose Lisa Kudrow.) Regardless, it just strikes him as very wrong to profit from the fruits of a teen-aged puppy love. Once Aniston became a “celebrity” then your Maximum Leader takes a much different approach. But prior to that is a different matter.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader read over the wire that a new report seems to link King George III’s madness to Arsenic.

This is something like a whole cottage industry among historians. What caused George III to go mad? (First porphyria, now arsenic.) Did the British poison Napoleon? Was Anna Anderson actually Annastasia Romanov? All those questions that made Leonard Nimoy lots of money in the 70’s because of “In Search Of…”

All in all it probably isn’t too important what caused George III to go mad. What was important was that “Prinny” became Regent, Pitt kept the nation going, Wellington defeated Napoleon, and the nation of shopkeepers endured.

That said… It is still an interesting piece.

Carry on.

This is just a test of the MoP’s posting capability. If this had been a real post, you would be amused, angered, or otherwise affected now.

Believe.

Check out this Wikipedia entry, which summarizes every chapter of Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has a very busy day ahead of him. He must attend to a number of different situations and will likely not be able to blog at all.

Consider yourselves warned.

Also… Expect changes. Great and glorious changes.

Expect them soon.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader wants you all to know that this is still a test site. Some work still needs to be done to make everything a-okay.

When all is done the archives will be up and this site will be moved to nakedvillainy.com. That way you don’t need to change any bookmarks or links.

Feedback appreciated. Click through on the “Obsequious Petitions” to leave a comment.

Your Maximum Leader is still working on a comment policy btw…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader reads that Stiggy has recently lost a dear friend and mentor. He has my deepest condolences.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader, for reasons now passing understanding, was much delayed in publishing this piece for the Men’s Club/Divas Thursday. Indeed this topic, “Embarassing Dates” is a toughy for your Maximum Leader. He doesn’t recall that many embarassing dates. Perhaps he’s blocked them out. Perhaps he didn’t date enough to be embarassed. Perhaps all his first date were embarassing and he was just too egotistical to admit it.

Regardless, one date stands out as particularly bad. So he will recount that experience…

A few months after the Minister of Agriculture was lucky enough to wed the lovely Mrs. Smallholder, your Maximum Leader went to visit the happy couple at their domicile in the suburbs of Chicago. At this point, your Maximum Leader was a not-so-swingin’ bachelor. The Smallholder, being a good friend, started working over Mrs. Smallholder to present him with a list of suitable young ladies who might act as a “date” for any nights out we might have during our visit.

It turns out that a college friend of Mrs. Smallholder was in also living in the area and was open to meeting your Maximum Leader. So one night during your Maximum Leader’s visit, “S” joined us for dinner. As it turns out, your Maximum Leader and “S” hit it off and discovered that we had many things in common.

Your Maximum Leader returned to Virginia, but he and “S” kept in touch. Some e-mails. A note or two in the mail. And phone calls. Your Maximum Leader returned to the greater Chicagoland area and tried to pitch a little more woo in “S’s” direction.

After a little while, “S” agreed to come to VA to spend a few days with your Maximum Leader. And that is where the detail of our story begins.

After picking up “S” at Dulles Airport, your Maximum Leader returned her to the great valley of the Shennendoah in Virginia. It was May (as he remembers) and the weather was great. “S” claimed to love the mountains and wanted to go and see some of the sites along Skyline Drive - a scenic route along the ridge of the mountains.

So the day after “S” arrived, your Maximum Leader took “S” up to the mountains. We resolved to go on a little hike and see the Black Water Falls. A particularly nice set of waterfalls with a nice 3 mile hike beginning and ending at a single parking area.

Your Maximum Leader had done the hike before, so he knew the grade wasn’t bad and that it was a good trail on which to walk and talk and pitch a little woo. The trail wasn’t so difficult or technical that one had to pay contant attention to what you were doing.

And therein lay the heart of the problem.

Your Maximum Leader and “S” drove out to the trail’s beginning in your Maximum Leader’s much beloved 1991 Honda Civic DX. The car was red. Got great mileage. And was fun to drive because it handled pretty well and was manual transmission.

We started out on the trail. The trail began by going downhill to the bottom of the falls. That was the really steep grade. Then there was a gentle arching path back up to the top. Your Maximum Leader and “S” did the downhill stretch in no time. We stopped at the bottom, looked at the falls. And chatted about lots of mindless subjects.

At this point your Maximum Leader started to notice that “S” wasn’t quite as warm and open as she’d been in times past. Indeed she seemed a little standoffish and distant.

Your Maximum Leader, while walking and making small-talk, was going over in his mind how he might change tactics. And around that time he noticed a large tree had fallen across the path. There are a number of ways one can traverse a tree which has fallen across your path. Your Maximum Leader, breaking one of the cardinal rules of hiking, decided to take the glamourous way of traversing the fallen tree. With a few steps of a running start, he bounded over the tree. He hoped to impress “S” with this (rather minor) show of agility and prowess.

Alas and unfortunately for him, upon landing on the other side of the tree his first leg to touch down did so in a small hole covered by a flurry of leaves and blocked from view by the bulk of the tree. This leg became caught and twisted violently as the rest of your Maximum Leader’s (considerable) bulk tried to gracefully and athletically finish the follow through.
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Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is pleased to read that the much hyped Acropolis facelift is nearly finished. Remember all that money raised by the Olympics was going to go to restoring and preserving the Acropolis. It should be stunning.

Your Maximum Leader will have to add Athens to the list of placed to visit as soon as possible…

…In case some terrorist bastards decide they want to finish what the Turks left undone.

Carry on.