(I Photoshopped this composite image all by my wittle self.)
Friday, January 20, 2006
The Democratic Ticket In 2008?
Just A Thought...
(I Photoshopped this composite image all by my wittle self.)
(I Photoshopped this composite image all by my wittle self.)
Osama Reemerges
"Looking In The Wrong Country?"
There was another mysterious message from Bin Laden released today.
I was looking around the internet this morning wondering IF he was still alive and why we hadn't found him if he was.
"Silly Americans...They'll never find me hiding here"
Now I understand...
(Imagestolen borrowed from here.)
There was another mysterious message from Bin Laden released today.
I was looking around the internet this morning wondering IF he was still alive and why we hadn't found him if he was.
Now I understand...
(Image
Thirty-Seven Days
One PC Down, One PC To Go
Hallelujah, the initial siege is over with.
I’m embarrassed to say that, after over a month of praying, chanting, meditating, fasting, begging, pleading, and even tap dancing, I once again have a two computer network rather than a one computer network.
You understand what I’m saying here, don’t you?
Not to be a snob, but a home wireless network with only one computer hanging off of it is what we used to call just a…
PERSONAL COMPUTER.
That’s right, for the past month we were operating a single notebook computer in a docking station using the wireless router. I didn’t see us as having a true “network” just because we weren’t running around with a CAT5 cable hanging out of our ear or our rear end (of the computer.)
In my mind you can only have a real computer “network” when you’re running at least two PC’s connected together with string or bailing wire or coax or SOMETHING…thereby sharing common resources like printers and internet connections.
My poor Dell Latitude and I had been relegated during business hours to living alone in the living room, deaf, and mute to the outside world. I think that I know now how Tom Hanks felt about his soccer ball “Wilson” while playing the role of Chuck Noland in the movie Cast Away.
Fortunately, that situation is all over with because, as I said before, yesterday morning we were once again a networked family.
It was embarrassingly easy.
After over a month of fooling around with DHCP, IP addresses, subnet masks, burning incense, and cloning MAC addresses, it came down to a fairly simple step…because all I had to do was completely UNINSTALL the LinkSys wireless network card in said notebook PC and reinstall the supporting software from scratch.
Now you might say “Gosh, Virgil…aren’t you supposed to be some kind of self-proclaimed Rocket Scientist?”
“Why did it take you so long?”
YES, darn it, I AM a SELF-PROCLAIMED ROCKET SCIENTIST, but because I use the “File Pile” form of information storage, and because the installation CD Rom containing the necessary software to accomplish the task was lost in a pile of manila file folders somewhere in our home office, and since my old Dell doesn’t have a CAT5 adapter, I was unable to reinstall the software, UNTIL...
I found the delinquent CD yesterday morning.
Hurrrrraaaayyy!!!!!
I was like a kid on Christmas morning.
I leapt from my office, ran wildly to my besieged machine resting on the end table in the living room, fired it up, tossed in the CD Rom, and within 15 minutes I was in ecstasy.
I HAD INTERNET AGAIN.
Wireless internet.
Then my celebration was abruptly ended because I had to leave the condo to go to the theater to do some construction on the set as I had promised. I spent yesterday longing for some interaction with my belovedWilson Dell.
As a result of this minor triumph, now I can get back to the original task that I started on December 13th last year, adding a third computer to the wireless network—a desktop belonging to my 85 year old neighbor, Mr. Harland “Bucky” Strader (Dartmouth Class of ‘42.) Bucky is still paying AOL $23 per month for the privilege of going on line once a week to check a few stock prices and to read some E-mail from his family.
For some strange reason, probably coincidental, my trouble started in the middle of authorizing his machine to access our wireless network and I was afraid to continue his installation until I figured out what was causing our problems.
I am SO happy to be back on line with at least two machines. Now it’s on to new adventures…
Have you ever tried to teach a guy that was born before Henry Ford started building the Model A how to use a PC and a mouse?
In Bucky’s own words: “fun and games…”
Hallelujah, the initial siege is over with.
I’m embarrassed to say that, after over a month of praying, chanting, meditating, fasting, begging, pleading, and even tap dancing, I once again have a two computer network rather than a one computer network.
You understand what I’m saying here, don’t you?
Not to be a snob, but a home wireless network with only one computer hanging off of it is what we used to call just a…
PERSONAL COMPUTER.
That’s right, for the past month we were operating a single notebook computer in a docking station using the wireless router. I didn’t see us as having a true “network” just because we weren’t running around with a CAT5 cable hanging out of our ear or our rear end (of the computer.)
In my mind you can only have a real computer “network” when you’re running at least two PC’s connected together with string or bailing wire or coax or SOMETHING…thereby sharing common resources like printers and internet connections.
My poor Dell Latitude and I had been relegated during business hours to living alone in the living room, deaf, and mute to the outside world. I think that I know now how Tom Hanks felt about his soccer ball “Wilson” while playing the role of Chuck Noland in the movie Cast Away.Fortunately, that situation is all over with because, as I said before, yesterday morning we were once again a networked family.
It was embarrassingly easy.
After over a month of fooling around with DHCP, IP addresses, subnet masks, burning incense, and cloning MAC addresses, it came down to a fairly simple step…because all I had to do was completely UNINSTALL the LinkSys wireless network card in said notebook PC and reinstall the supporting software from scratch.
Now you might say “Gosh, Virgil…aren’t you supposed to be some kind of self-proclaimed Rocket Scientist?”
“Why did it take you so long?”
YES, darn it, I AM a SELF-PROCLAIMED ROCKET SCIENTIST, but because I use the “File Pile” form of information storage, and because the installation CD Rom containing the necessary software to accomplish the task was lost in a pile of manila file folders somewhere in our home office, and since my old Dell doesn’t have a CAT5 adapter, I was unable to reinstall the software, UNTIL...
I found the delinquent CD yesterday morning.
Hurrrrraaaayyy!!!!!
I was like a kid on Christmas morning.
I leapt from my office, ran wildly to my besieged machine resting on the end table in the living room, fired it up, tossed in the CD Rom, and within 15 minutes I was in ecstasy.
I HAD INTERNET AGAIN.
Wireless internet.
Then my celebration was abruptly ended because I had to leave the condo to go to the theater to do some construction on the set as I had promised. I spent yesterday longing for some interaction with my beloved
As a result of this minor triumph, now I can get back to the original task that I started on December 13th last year, adding a third computer to the wireless network—a desktop belonging to my 85 year old neighbor, Mr. Harland “Bucky” Strader (Dartmouth Class of ‘42.) Bucky is still paying AOL $23 per month for the privilege of going on line once a week to check a few stock prices and to read some E-mail from his family.
For some strange reason, probably coincidental, my trouble started in the middle of authorizing his machine to access our wireless network and I was afraid to continue his installation until I figured out what was causing our problems.
I am SO happy to be back on line with at least two machines. Now it’s on to new adventures…
Have you ever tried to teach a guy that was born before Henry Ford started building the Model A how to use a PC and a mouse?
In Bucky’s own words: “fun and games…”
Thursday, January 19, 2006
I’m Feeling A Bit Lazy This Morning
Miscellaneous Stuff…
Just in case you haven’t noticed, there are basically two kinds of blogs out here—“linkers”, and “writers.”
The “linkers” spend most of their time providing lists of URL links to commercial web sites, other blogs, and the internet news sites. Their only personal contribution to the web’s dialogue, besides spending the time to find the linked material, is to provide some sort of occasional brief commentary.
University of Tennessee legal professor Glenn Reynolds’ Instapundit blog site obviously comes to mind when you think of a famous linker.
Then there is Michael Drudge’s Drudge Report which became famous back in the late 1990’s for breaking the story about the Philanderer-In Chief President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinski. That news scoop aside, Matt is still obviously a “linker” rather than an actual blog writer, in spite of his fame and high level insider connections to breaking news. I guess that you could say that he is also a pseudo news reporter.
My fellow blogger Steve down at Hog On Ice continuously raves about how you can get 75% of Drudge’s stuff off of Orlando’s Local6 news website.
I agree.
You’ve seen many zany and weird news stories from Local6 mentioned here on this blog in the past. I like to take a link to a 100 word story from their site and produce a 2000 word dissertation on human nature or the other underlying issues found therein.
Then there are the actual blog “writers.”
People like the three lawyers that write at Powerline, Captain Ed’s Captains Quarters, and Blog divas Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter lead the pack here in my mind.
I like to consider myself in this same category, although I admit that I’m not successful all of the time. Sometimes it can be hard work, and it takes a good deal of time to produce some of the screeds that I’ve written over the past year and one-half.
I'd also like to think that I’m getting better all of the time—practice making perfect and all that.
For instance, yesterday’s diatribe (Calling A Spade A Spade) on the hysteria surrounding politically correct speech took about three hours to write and edit. I know that it was a bit long, but I was inspired with something important to say at the time and it just ended up taking a few extra written words to get it all down on paper (or actually, the electronic ether of the internet.)
My girlfriend Patricia usually takes a peek at my writing each morning before she starts work in order to determine my mood for the day and see what is on my mind. She said that she could only read about half of yesterday’s posting because it was so long. I know that the quality of my words doesn’t always balance out the quantity of my writing, but as the old saying goes…”a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do…”
I don’t have to do this (write a blog) but I do it anyway, and I realize that you can feel free to hit the “back” button on your browser at any time. I'll expend the effort and take that risk regardless.
In the interest of testing my ability as a "linker" rather than a "writer," I feel like taking a break this evening from poking and prodding the mainstream media and their darling liberals. Instead of producing further serious writing or ranting this morning, I think that I'll enjoy the luxury of just pointing out some of MY links that are in the favorites section on our computers.
A lot of casual internet surfers rely only on the big sites like Google News, Yahoo News, The NY Times, and The LA Times for their information sources.
If you pay close attention to the reporting, all of the news contained on these consumer oriented sites is basically the same. It’s just shuffled around into a different order—but it’s still all Reuters and Associated Press based crappola packaged for the informal news reader that can only spend a few minutes each day trying to absorb what is going on in the world.
If that is all YOU do yourself, along with reading your local newspaper, as I’ve said before, you are seriously misinformed.
That said, here is a list of some other websites that we find indispensable in our household:
If you travel by airliner, check out the FAA’s Air Traffic Control Command Center Site to see any potential arrival and departure delays that might affect your day moving between the airports around the country.
Coincidentally, my US Senator, Saxby Chambliss and I finally got the FAA to list our local airport on this site last year. I kept bitching for about nine months directly to the FAA with no response, then Senator Chambliss’ office jumped in at my request and three months later there was a little green dot on the Southeastern US Sector Map showing the Brunswick Golden Isles Airport.
Hurray for me…who says that you can’t fight city hall—OR the FAA?
Next comes the subject of Weather.
Remember that I’ve mentioned that I’m a real weather nerd?
I use The Weather Channel like a TV “screensaver” when the weather is bad and hurricanes are blowing around during the summer and fall months. I used to use their web site, Weather.com, regularly, but in recent years I’ve discovered the NOAA Website and also find the Weather underground much more useful.
For a little broader weather picture, try out the Space Weather site that will tell you what is going on with the sun, moon, planets, and meteor showers each month. If you live in the northern latitudes where you can actually see the Auroras in the winter, they can tell you when it is worth your time to bundle up and run outside to look.
Want to know the Jetstream position or the rise and set times for the Sun and Moon?
Take a look, they are both good sites. I use the US Naval Observatory site all of the time in my photography work to predict when to be standing outside looking east or west with my camera in my hand.
Worrying about when that next volcanic explosion is going to take place in your back yard or on the tropical island you’re going to visit this summer? Check out Australian Scientist John Seach’s site called Volcano Live.com. The interesting thing that I have learned from this site is that there are a couple of volcanoes erupting every minute of every hour of every single day of the year somewhere in the world.
Where is the lamestream media on this little factoid. Let Mount St. Helens issue a belch or fart and you’ve got headlines in 60 point type on every American newspaper for a week.
Oops, there I go again—breaking my promise to myself to give the so-called professional “newspeople” a break tonight. I guest that I’m starting to get tired and cranky.
I think that I'll be signing off now…
Have yourself a good morning.
Just in case you haven’t noticed, there are basically two kinds of blogs out here—“linkers”, and “writers.”
The “linkers” spend most of their time providing lists of URL links to commercial web sites, other blogs, and the internet news sites. Their only personal contribution to the web’s dialogue, besides spending the time to find the linked material, is to provide some sort of occasional brief commentary.
University of Tennessee legal professor Glenn Reynolds’ Instapundit blog site obviously comes to mind when you think of a famous linker.
Then there is Michael Drudge’s Drudge Report which became famous back in the late 1990’s for breaking the story about the Philanderer-In Chief President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinski. That news scoop aside, Matt is still obviously a “linker” rather than an actual blog writer, in spite of his fame and high level insider connections to breaking news. I guess that you could say that he is also a pseudo news reporter.
My fellow blogger Steve down at Hog On Ice continuously raves about how you can get 75% of Drudge’s stuff off of Orlando’s Local6 news website.
I agree.
You’ve seen many zany and weird news stories from Local6 mentioned here on this blog in the past. I like to take a link to a 100 word story from their site and produce a 2000 word dissertation on human nature or the other underlying issues found therein.
Then there are the actual blog “writers.”
People like the three lawyers that write at Powerline, Captain Ed’s Captains Quarters, and Blog divas Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter lead the pack here in my mind.
I like to consider myself in this same category, although I admit that I’m not successful all of the time. Sometimes it can be hard work, and it takes a good deal of time to produce some of the screeds that I’ve written over the past year and one-half.
I'd also like to think that I’m getting better all of the time—practice making perfect and all that.
For instance, yesterday’s diatribe (Calling A Spade A Spade) on the hysteria surrounding politically correct speech took about three hours to write and edit. I know that it was a bit long, but I was inspired with something important to say at the time and it just ended up taking a few extra written words to get it all down on paper (or actually, the electronic ether of the internet.)
My girlfriend Patricia usually takes a peek at my writing each morning before she starts work in order to determine my mood for the day and see what is on my mind. She said that she could only read about half of yesterday’s posting because it was so long. I know that the quality of my words doesn’t always balance out the quantity of my writing, but as the old saying goes…”a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do…”
I don’t have to do this (write a blog) but I do it anyway, and I realize that you can feel free to hit the “back” button on your browser at any time. I'll expend the effort and take that risk regardless.
In the interest of testing my ability as a "linker" rather than a "writer," I feel like taking a break this evening from poking and prodding the mainstream media and their darling liberals. Instead of producing further serious writing or ranting this morning, I think that I'll enjoy the luxury of just pointing out some of MY links that are in the favorites section on our computers.
A lot of casual internet surfers rely only on the big sites like Google News, Yahoo News, The NY Times, and The LA Times for their information sources.
If you pay close attention to the reporting, all of the news contained on these consumer oriented sites is basically the same. It’s just shuffled around into a different order—but it’s still all Reuters and Associated Press based crappola packaged for the informal news reader that can only spend a few minutes each day trying to absorb what is going on in the world.
If that is all YOU do yourself, along with reading your local newspaper, as I’ve said before, you are seriously misinformed.
That said, here is a list of some other websites that we find indispensable in our household:
If you travel by airliner, check out the FAA’s Air Traffic Control Command Center Site to see any potential arrival and departure delays that might affect your day moving between the airports around the country.
Coincidentally, my US Senator, Saxby Chambliss and I finally got the FAA to list our local airport on this site last year. I kept bitching for about nine months directly to the FAA with no response, then Senator Chambliss’ office jumped in at my request and three months later there was a little green dot on the Southeastern US Sector Map showing the Brunswick Golden Isles Airport.
Hurray for me…who says that you can’t fight city hall—OR the FAA?
Next comes the subject of Weather.
Remember that I’ve mentioned that I’m a real weather nerd?
I use The Weather Channel like a TV “screensaver” when the weather is bad and hurricanes are blowing around during the summer and fall months. I used to use their web site, Weather.com, regularly, but in recent years I’ve discovered the NOAA Website and also find the Weather underground much more useful.
For a little broader weather picture, try out the Space Weather site that will tell you what is going on with the sun, moon, planets, and meteor showers each month. If you live in the northern latitudes where you can actually see the Auroras in the winter, they can tell you when it is worth your time to bundle up and run outside to look.
Want to know the Jetstream position or the rise and set times for the Sun and Moon?
Take a look, they are both good sites. I use the US Naval Observatory site all of the time in my photography work to predict when to be standing outside looking east or west with my camera in my hand.
Worrying about when that next volcanic explosion is going to take place in your back yard or on the tropical island you’re going to visit this summer? Check out Australian Scientist John Seach’s site called Volcano Live.com. The interesting thing that I have learned from this site is that there are a couple of volcanoes erupting every minute of every hour of every single day of the year somewhere in the world.
Where is the lamestream media on this little factoid. Let Mount St. Helens issue a belch or fart and you’ve got headlines in 60 point type on every American newspaper for a week.
Oops, there I go again—breaking my promise to myself to give the so-called professional “newspeople” a break tonight. I guest that I’m starting to get tired and cranky.
I think that I'll be signing off now…
Have yourself a good morning.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Bush Gets Serious With Iran
In Honor of Today's Theme...
In all fareness--I found a crappy version (oops sorry, a much SIMPLER version) of this image HERE on the web and I made substantial modifications of my own.
I think that mine's much better...what do you think?
(I love Adobe Photoshop)
Popeye Turns 77
I Found This All By Myself...I'm Getting Good With Trivia...
I was screwing around after writing that last posting about being “Confused”, and in the process I started looking for a better image of the character “Bluto” featured in the old King Features cartoon “Popeye.”
What I found out in the process is that my old friend and childhood idol, “Popeye the Sailor Man” celebrates his 77th birthday today.
Talk about a coincidence...
Here’s a little history:
He's short, balding, ornery and downright ugly by anyone's standards. But countless numbers of fans have grown up admiring and identifying with this unpretentious hero since his introduction to the public in 1929. Celebrating his 75th Anniversary in 2004, "Popeye" remains one of the most widely recognized and best-loved personalities ever.
Popeye is an underdog with a long fuse and a keen sense of fair play. Everyone identifies with him when he finally says, "Tha's all I can stands, and I can't stands no more!" And it seems only fitting that our most unlikely hero would fall for the least likely of sex symbols: Olive Oyl. Flat as a board, with a pickle-shaped nose and fickle heart to match, Popeye's "goil" puts him through his paces. Her only real competition is spinach.
Popeye made his first public appearance Jan. 17, 1929, in Elzie Segar's then 10-year-old comic strip, "Thimble Theatre," which originally revolved around Olive Oyl's family. Although he was introduced as a minor walk-on character, Popeye quickly "muskled" his way into the limelight and eclipsed the older characters to become the star of "Thimble Theatre."
With Popeye came a host of new, off-beat funny folks such as Swee'Pea, the "infink" Popeye adopted; J. Wellington Wimpy, the world's most hamburger-obsessed moocher; and Bluto, the hairy "heavy" with the glass jaw.
As a little munchkin in the 1960’s, Popeye was one of my favorite cartoons, before I graduated to “The Three Stooges” and the antics of Wyle E. Coyote and Bugs Bunny.
Remember when TV was dominated on Saturday morning with cartoons rather than stupid infomercials, "talking head" political shows, and the other crap that we're bombarded with today ?
Thank God for the Discover Channel, Food Network, The History Channel, and FOX News...else I'd lose my mind daily.
I really have a problem with most of the wierd, politicly correct shit that they are broadcasting to kids today. Alternative lifestyles are fine--but class, race, and gender stereotypes are out.
Tinky winky and Sponge Bob can take their purple/pink costumes and "square pants" and just wander on down to Cuba or somewhere where they can use them. Actually, Castro would probably have the whole gang of writers and producers in jail if he could get his crusty hands on them.
Anyway, I'm farrrrrr off topic here...
Like I started out to do--I'd like to offer a hearty HAPPY BIRTHDAY to POPEYE.
Hopefully Olive Oyl baked a nice cake...
Monday, January 16, 2006
I’m Confused…
Couldn’t They Just Drive A Car Over To Disney?
There I was, sitting here minding my own business, catching up with the news and some of my favorite blogs, when I came across this news story:
Cape Canaveral, Fl.--An unmanned NASA spacecraft the size of a piano is set to lift off Tuesday on a nine-year journey to Pluto…
What?
They're going to the time and expense of
sending a rocket loaded up with one of these
out flying around outer space to look for this little fellow (the Disney Dog Pluto):
Oh, never mind...it doesn't really matter.
I guess that I’m just a little tired this evening...
There I was, sitting here minding my own business, catching up with the news and some of my favorite blogs, when I came across this news story:
Cape Canaveral, Fl.--An unmanned NASA spacecraft the size of a piano is set to lift off Tuesday on a nine-year journey to Pluto…
What?
They're going to the time and expense of
sending a rocket loaded up with one of these
out flying around outer space to look for this little fellow (the Disney Dog Pluto):
Maybe they mean this guy..."Bluto" from the Popeye cartoon series:
Or even this guy, John Belushi's character Bluto
from the movie "Animal House":
Oops...wait a darned minute here...I get it, they're talking about this place (the Planet PLUTO):
Oh, never mind...it doesn't really matter.
I guess that I’m just a little tired this evening...
Monday Morning
Somebody, Please, Do Something Stupid So That I can Write About It...
My brain is surprisingly quiet this morning.
It's a rare event when I don't have something to say. People that know me personally understand that as a fact.
I'm so addicted to this blogging thing that I almost go into withdrawal if I don't write at least a couple thousand words every day. Most of the time it just comes spontaniously blasting off of my fingertips onto the keyboard, but other days nothing piques my interest enought to do a good rant.
As a minimum I need to cruise around the Web to see what my fellow bloggers are up to.
For instance, I've had some hilarious conversations via comments for the past week over at Miami blogger Steve's place at Hog On Ice. Steve's been doing a little workbench construction at his house, and all of us "experts" have been attempting to help him address the details.
Steve gets about a zillion hits a day, and when he mentioned me with a link last week my traffic here when up about 500%. (Thanks to Steve and Steve's readers that bothered to stop by.)
Meanwhile, in the political world, I really didn't have the energy to say much about the Alito confirmation hearings, other than verbally poking Ted Kennedy with a pointy stick and making fun of him a little. Just putting a picture of old Teddy's face here on the blog spoke, as the old saying goes, at least a thousand words.
I guess the only thing else worth mentioning on the world stage is my frustration with the "peacenicks" here, abroad, and at the UN that continue to want to negotiate with people that are either inately EVIL, insane, or some combination of both.
I'm too old and weak to join the military again so that I can personally help do something about our national security, so I just try to live somewhere other than in the big citys and almost all of my immediate family happens to have the same situations.
They (the bad guys--Korea, Iran, Syria, et.al.) aren't going away just because we choose to ignore them or have tea parties with them and the UN, and I'm sure that like on 9/11, these terrorists aren't going to waste their energy and opportunity killing a couple of people living out in the sticks (I hope.) I'm going to continue to be a hermit and stay away from things like Manhattin and college football stadiums and the Olympics and hope that I can keep my own ass as a small a target as possible.
Speaking of my own girth, I'm recovering nicely from my brush with death last August, and a nice bonus of a good mortal illness has been a much needed loss of weight. I've never had problems with my weight until the past couple of years since I had to stop water skiing and started sitting around on my ever widening posterior all of the time. I'm happy to be back within 10 pounds or so of my old fighting weight.
I'll keep looking around the news this morning and see if I can find something to bitch about...I'm almost certain something will pop up if I look hard enough.
Meanwhile, y'all have a lovely day...
My brain is surprisingly quiet this morning.
It's a rare event when I don't have something to say. People that know me personally understand that as a fact.
I'm so addicted to this blogging thing that I almost go into withdrawal if I don't write at least a couple thousand words every day. Most of the time it just comes spontaniously blasting off of my fingertips onto the keyboard, but other days nothing piques my interest enought to do a good rant.
As a minimum I need to cruise around the Web to see what my fellow bloggers are up to.
For instance, I've had some hilarious conversations via comments for the past week over at Miami blogger Steve's place at Hog On Ice. Steve's been doing a little workbench construction at his house, and all of us "experts" have been attempting to help him address the details.
Steve gets about a zillion hits a day, and when he mentioned me with a link last week my traffic here when up about 500%. (Thanks to Steve and Steve's readers that bothered to stop by.)
Meanwhile, in the political world, I really didn't have the energy to say much about the Alito confirmation hearings, other than verbally poking Ted Kennedy with a pointy stick and making fun of him a little. Just putting a picture of old Teddy's face here on the blog spoke, as the old saying goes, at least a thousand words.
I guess the only thing else worth mentioning on the world stage is my frustration with the "peacenicks" here, abroad, and at the UN that continue to want to negotiate with people that are either inately EVIL, insane, or some combination of both.
I'm too old and weak to join the military again so that I can personally help do something about our national security, so I just try to live somewhere other than in the big citys and almost all of my immediate family happens to have the same situations.
They (the bad guys--Korea, Iran, Syria, et.al.) aren't going away just because we choose to ignore them or have tea parties with them and the UN, and I'm sure that like on 9/11, these terrorists aren't going to waste their energy and opportunity killing a couple of people living out in the sticks (I hope.) I'm going to continue to be a hermit and stay away from things like Manhattin and college football stadiums and the Olympics and hope that I can keep my own ass as a small a target as possible.
Speaking of my own girth, I'm recovering nicely from my brush with death last August, and a nice bonus of a good mortal illness has been a much needed loss of weight. I've never had problems with my weight until the past couple of years since I had to stop water skiing and started sitting around on my ever widening posterior all of the time. I'm happy to be back within 10 pounds or so of my old fighting weight.
I'll keep looking around the news this morning and see if I can find something to bitch about...I'm almost certain something will pop up if I look hard enough.
Meanwhile, y'all have a lovely day...
Sunday, January 15, 2006
"Bush Urges UN Action Against Iran”
Yeah, and why doesn't Bush put in a call to his local PTA while we're at it?
"It's logical that a country which has rejected diplomatic entreaties be sent to the United Nations Security Council," Mr. Bush said during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Just in case you have been too busy raising your kids or working your ass off at your job or otherwise just haven’t been paying attention, let me point out some aggravating little details here that can put this story into perspective.
First of all, Iran needs nuclear energy like I need my own personal aircraft carrier.
Iran with a Nuclear Reactor makes as much sense as allowing me to buy NY City's Holland Tunnel so I can turn it into my own personal condominium.
Hey....I can certainly use the extra space.
Why do I say this?
Because, from what I’ve read and seen, it’s virtually impossible to dig a 2 foot deep hole into the ground in Iran to put in a fence post or plant a shrub without having oil come pouring out of the ground while you are digging.
People in Iran could eat Peanut Butter and Crude oil sandwiches and do their own free oil changes every day of every week of every year on their car engines in their home driveways (if they didn’t all drive camels) and not put a dent in Iran's oil supply.
So what is the bottom line here?
Oil in Iran is cheep, and it is EVERYWHERE.
Yet this stupid asshole...
My head has reached what I call “orbital rotational velocity” and as a result I’m combining TWO serious issues into one single Blog rant this morning.
Grab yourself a cup of coffee (or tea or a beer or your own other beverage of choice,) sit down, and let me tell you what is bothering me.
I copied the title of this posting from the headline attached to this Washington Times article:
President Bush yesterday urged that Iran be hauled before the U.N. Security Council for pursuing nuclear weapons, a move that Tehran said would end its cooperation with U.N. inspectors.
"It's logical that a country which has rejected diplomatic entreaties be sent to the United Nations Security Council," Mr. Bush said during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Just in case you have been too busy raising your kids or working your ass off at your job or otherwise just haven’t been paying attention, let me point out some aggravating little details here that can put this story into perspective.
First of all, Iran needs nuclear energy like I need my own personal aircraft carrier.
Iran with a Nuclear Reactor makes as much sense as allowing me to buy NY City's Holland Tunnel so I can turn it into my own personal condominium.
Hey....I can certainly use the extra space.
Why do I say this?
Because, from what I’ve read and seen, it’s virtually impossible to dig a 2 foot deep hole into the ground in Iran to put in a fence post or plant a shrub without having oil come pouring out of the ground while you are digging.
People in Iran could eat Peanut Butter and Crude oil sandwiches and do their own free oil changes every day of every week of every year on their car engines in their home driveways (if they didn’t all drive camels) and not put a dent in Iran's oil supply.
So what is the bottom line here?
Oil in Iran is cheep, and it is EVERYWHERE.
Yet this stupid asshole...
Mahmood Ahmadinejad, the new terrorist leader President of Iran, has the audacity to continue to claim that his country only wants nuclear technology in order to make electricity for their few citizens that have wires attached to their huts and aren’t forced to spend three quarters of the day on their knees on a prayer mat hoping that Allah will put them out of their misery.
Even if Iran managed to build a reactor, these bigoted bastards would still prevent their women from using electric light to clean their kitchens and see after dark in their huts or tents while hand weaving their hijabs (head scarfs.)
Let's get this straight people:
IRAN DOES NOT NEED NUCLEAR ENERGY TO CONDUCT NORMAL DAILY BUSINESS.
Heck, I bet that gasoline in Iran today costs...what?...a whole fifty cents a gallon?
If you honestly believe that Iran wants to continue their nuclear program for any reason other than obtaining materials for an atomic bomb, then you are a total IDIOT.
Taking...
A...
Big...
Breath...
NEXT........
Look at this map, please...
Canada 0.170
Saudi Arabia 0.145
Mexico 0.130
Venezuela 0.110
Nigeria 0.070
Iraq 0.040
UK 0.036
Angola 0.030
Algeria 0.030
Russia 0.020
Kuwait 0.017
Columbia 0.015
Ecuador 0.010
Gabon 0.010
Total Imports 0.853
What do you see?
Let me help you out a little...
First, we import 85.3% of our oil here in the United States.
That's a problem...BUT
Look at how much crude oil actually comes from (gasp) Saudi Arabia.
See that number?
Only 14.5 percent.
And from Iraq?
FOUR percent?
OH MY GOSH....STOP THE PRESSES.
Didn't the media and all of our lovely concerned liberals say that we invaded Iraq because we wanted their oil, and didn't the media and these same concerned anti-war, Honda Prius driving liberals say that our energy problems all come about because of our dependence on Saudi oil?
No?
Yes?
Look at that map again, and notice that we import 17% of our oil from Canada (somewhere near Alaska's ANWAR reserves) and 13% from Mexico.
THIRTY PERCENT OF OUR OIL COMES FROM OUR NORTH AMERICAN NEIGHBORS...THIS NUMBER RISES UP TO FIFTY PERCENT IF YOU COUNT OUR DOMESTIC PRODUCTION.
(My Update 1/17/06) While Re-reading my own writing... it occurs to me that if the United States of By God America wanted to invade a country...or two.. in the interest of oil, why screw around with a bunch of swarthy, godless islamist jihadists 6000 miles away. Why doesn't President Bush just avoid the aircraft carrier and C-17 transport route, call all of our troops home, and take over Mexico and Canada?
Think about it for a minute. In addition to gaining lots of oil, we'd gain access to all of the construction workers, fruit pickers, and landscapers we could possibly use over the next hundred years, thereby also solving the illegal immigration crisis and the border situation. We'd also get access to some killer Hockey players, but on the down side we'd all have to start saying "eh" and figure out what the hell a "tuque" is.
It seems to me that IF we could double our own domestic oil production by doing a little drilling off the shores of California and Florida (Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas already allow it) and bore a few productive holes in the tundra of Alaska's ANWAR, we could easily tell the bastards running OPEC to kiss it...
And I'd also tell the Israeli's that they have our permission to put Iran back on an oil based electrial program
....BOMBS AWAY
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Home Cooking
It’s Not Impossible, But It Does Take Some Practice…
For those of my readers that haven’t been hanging around this Blog for any length of time, I’m going to take this opportunity to mention that, besides being an engineer (and architect and artist and writer and scholar and musician and lover and history buff and all around self-proclaimed good guy), I also really love to cook.
So much so, I have started writing a separate cooking blog called The Redneck Gourmet to document my cooking adventures,
Go check it out when you have the time, if you will.
I think that I am getting pretty good at it (succumbing to yet another a brief moment of self edification here)…cooking, that is. The writing about cooking part of my resume probably still needs some work yet.
It hasn’t always been that way with regard to my interest in cooking, however, but smack dab in the middle of my life, after I got divorced in my mid thirties, I decided to seriously learn how to work my way around something besides the Barbeque grill—an avocation that many, if not most, men are afraid to do. As a result, I started hanging out in the kitchen doing something besides eating peanut butter sandwiches off of a paper towel while leaning over the sink.
I’ve actually managed to competently take over the kitchen in my domicile. My girlfriend Pat doesn’t seem to mind, however.
To my surprise, I figured out that cooking is really just simple chemistry like I learned at Georgia Tech—surrounded by some fancy candles, stainless pots and pans, a few pieces of china or stoneware, and perhaps some vases full of flowers if you want to demonstrate a little flare.
The cool thing about the chemistry of cooking is that it is so forgiving (within certain limits) and unlike titrating an acid/base solution or worrying about how many “moles” of sodium you have in your Pyrex glass beaker, with cooking you can use your eyeballs and taste buds as your litmus paper and you do most of your work without wearing safety glasses.
At least that is the way MY cooking goes…there might be a few people out there that have a different experience and opinion on this topic.
Regarding cooking safety, I still do have a tendency to want to cook half naked—from the waist up that is, and in the process I’ve learned first hand an intimate knowledge of how to control the temperature of a skillet in order to prevent spattering my belly and chest with hot grease while frying bacon in the morning.
Don’t worry, when I have guests in the house I elect to wear a shirt to cover my hairy chest and possibly a baseball cap to cover my ever balding head.
“Hairless” food is always a good motto, and my lovely Mother just made me a nice apron as a Christmas gift this year so that I wouldn’t spoil my shirts and pants if and when I happen to allow a sauce to get too hot or commit some other culinary “boo-boo” while preparing my guests’ dinner.
Actually, I’ve found that you can meet some really interesting people when you know how to cook. Many people are eager to interact with you and help you as you hone and develop your cooking skills.
I try not to eat crappy junk foods in my middle age, so cooking definitely helps my dietary issues. No chips, no Twinkies, no candy (OK, ok maybe some Godiva chocolate), and few cookies. I prefer instead to torture myself cooking more wholesome foods in theory, from scratch, but still I elect to use bacon grease and gobs of real butter in my concoctions.
You know what?
In the end , when everything is said and done, I will still be dead Dead DEAD like the next Vegan that sits around eating Tofu and soy burgers all day, so why deny myself of the most important ingredient in food...
Flavor!
I’ve also learned that you can live without a microwave oven—the solution being something called aluminum foil, a 250 degree oven, and a bit of patience. I’d rather reserve the counter space in our small condo kitchen for other uses than having a big white plastic box sitting around doing nothing 23-3/4 hours each day. Fast cooking is great, but we can’t afford the real estate right now (I do have a double oven though…)
Any whoooooooo…
What started this rambling was when I was limping around the Internet this evening and looked up a recipe for Pimento and Cheese.
Here are the recommended ingredients to make your own:
16 oz. pkg. Kraft Deluxe American Cheese (grated)
4 oz. jar pimento
2 eggs
1 tbsp. mustard
1 tsp. vinegar
1 tbsp. mayonnaise
GREAT...Seems simple enough to me, how about you?
The purpose of this epic Internet Google expedition was that I happen to love a good Pimento and Cheese sandwich every now and then and I thought that I might make my own spread from scratch for a change here at home.
Nothing fancy, just two pieces of bread and some Pimento and Cheese spread.
But I couldn’t leave things that simple, Nooooo Sirrrrrr, not MEEEE, so I wandered into my kitchen to see what I had been eating out of a plastic tub in the fridge.
I think I might be sick.
Take a gander at this list of ingredients off of a tub of store-bought “Pimentoy and Cheesy” crap that I had in my house this morning:
American Cheese Imitation (water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, Cassen, whey [milk], Sodium phosphate,Modified corn starch,Sodium citrate, Salt, Artificial flavors, Lactic acid, Sorbic Acid [preservative], Adipic acid, Artificial Colors, Calcium Phosphate, Sodium Aluminum Palminate, Riboflavin,Vitamin B-12)
Salad Dressing (soybean oil, water, corn syrup, vinegar, egg yolks, modified corn starch, sugar, salt, spice, lemon juice concentrate, oleoresin, Paprika.
Bell Pepper (Water, bell pepper, citric acid)
Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate to protect flavor
Anmatto Color
Salt
I'm going to get my favorite large wooden spoon and go gag myself now...
For those of my readers that haven’t been hanging around this Blog for any length of time, I’m going to take this opportunity to mention that, besides being an engineer (and architect and artist and writer and scholar and musician and lover and history buff and all around self-proclaimed good guy), I also really love to cook.
So much so, I have started writing a separate cooking blog called The Redneck Gourmet to document my cooking adventures,
Go check it out when you have the time, if you will.
I think that I am getting pretty good at it (succumbing to yet another a brief moment of self edification here)…cooking, that is. The writing about cooking part of my resume probably still needs some work yet.
It hasn’t always been that way with regard to my interest in cooking, however, but smack dab in the middle of my life, after I got divorced in my mid thirties, I decided to seriously learn how to work my way around something besides the Barbeque grill—an avocation that many, if not most, men are afraid to do. As a result, I started hanging out in the kitchen doing something besides eating peanut butter sandwiches off of a paper towel while leaning over the sink.
I’ve actually managed to competently take over the kitchen in my domicile. My girlfriend Pat doesn’t seem to mind, however.
To my surprise, I figured out that cooking is really just simple chemistry like I learned at Georgia Tech—surrounded by some fancy candles, stainless pots and pans, a few pieces of china or stoneware, and perhaps some vases full of flowers if you want to demonstrate a little flare.
The cool thing about the chemistry of cooking is that it is so forgiving (within certain limits) and unlike titrating an acid/base solution or worrying about how many “moles” of sodium you have in your Pyrex glass beaker, with cooking you can use your eyeballs and taste buds as your litmus paper and you do most of your work without wearing safety glasses.
At least that is the way MY cooking goes…there might be a few people out there that have a different experience and opinion on this topic.
Regarding cooking safety, I still do have a tendency to want to cook half naked—from the waist up that is, and in the process I’ve learned first hand an intimate knowledge of how to control the temperature of a skillet in order to prevent spattering my belly and chest with hot grease while frying bacon in the morning.
Don’t worry, when I have guests in the house I elect to wear a shirt to cover my hairy chest and possibly a baseball cap to cover my ever balding head.
“Hairless” food is always a good motto, and my lovely Mother just made me a nice apron as a Christmas gift this year so that I wouldn’t spoil my shirts and pants if and when I happen to allow a sauce to get too hot or commit some other culinary “boo-boo” while preparing my guests’ dinner.
Actually, I’ve found that you can meet some really interesting people when you know how to cook. Many people are eager to interact with you and help you as you hone and develop your cooking skills.
I try not to eat crappy junk foods in my middle age, so cooking definitely helps my dietary issues. No chips, no Twinkies, no candy (OK, ok maybe some Godiva chocolate), and few cookies. I prefer instead to torture myself cooking more wholesome foods in theory, from scratch, but still I elect to use bacon grease and gobs of real butter in my concoctions.
You know what?
In the end , when everything is said and done, I will still be dead Dead DEAD like the next Vegan that sits around eating Tofu and soy burgers all day, so why deny myself of the most important ingredient in food...
Flavor!
I’ve also learned that you can live without a microwave oven—the solution being something called aluminum foil, a 250 degree oven, and a bit of patience. I’d rather reserve the counter space in our small condo kitchen for other uses than having a big white plastic box sitting around doing nothing 23-3/4 hours each day. Fast cooking is great, but we can’t afford the real estate right now (I do have a double oven though…)
Any whoooooooo…
What started this rambling was when I was limping around the Internet this evening and looked up a recipe for Pimento and Cheese.
Here are the recommended ingredients to make your own:
16 oz. pkg. Kraft Deluxe American Cheese (grated)
4 oz. jar pimento
2 eggs
1 tbsp. mustard
1 tsp. vinegar
1 tbsp. mayonnaise
GREAT...Seems simple enough to me, how about you?
The purpose of this epic Internet Google expedition was that I happen to love a good Pimento and Cheese sandwich every now and then and I thought that I might make my own spread from scratch for a change here at home.
Nothing fancy, just two pieces of bread and some Pimento and Cheese spread.
But I couldn’t leave things that simple, Nooooo Sirrrrrr, not MEEEE, so I wandered into my kitchen to see what I had been eating out of a plastic tub in the fridge.
I think I might be sick.
Take a gander at this list of ingredients off of a tub of store-bought “Pimentoy and Cheesy” crap that I had in my house this morning:
American Cheese Imitation (water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, Cassen, whey [milk], Sodium phosphate,Modified corn starch,Sodium citrate, Salt, Artificial flavors, Lactic acid, Sorbic Acid [preservative], Adipic acid, Artificial Colors, Calcium Phosphate, Sodium Aluminum Palminate, Riboflavin,Vitamin B-12)
Salad Dressing (soybean oil, water, corn syrup, vinegar, egg yolks, modified corn starch, sugar, salt, spice, lemon juice concentrate, oleoresin, Paprika.
Bell Pepper (Water, bell pepper, citric acid)
Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate to protect flavor
Anmatto Color
Salt
I'm going to get my favorite large wooden spoon and go gag myself now...
Friday, January 13, 2006
OH...OH...OHHH...It's Friday the 13th
Quick...Run Away...
Tell me where to go, and I'll meet you there...
Oops...I'm already there
Tell me where to go, and I'll meet you there...
Oops...I'm already there
More Fresh Meat
For a fresh Rant…
I actually have three, no, make that four… Microsoft Word documents open right now, because my mind is racing (although I need to get some sleep so I can go to the theater today) and every single time I start to shut this computer down, dammit if I don’t find something else I have to bitch about.
For instance, look at this story from my beloved Local6 website:
MINEOLA, N.Y.—A shrimp a hibachi chef tossed at a man eating at a Japanese steakhouse ultimately led to the diner's death, his family claims in a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against the restaurant chain Benihana.
Jerry Colaitis wrenched his neck when he ducked to avoid the shrimp in the chain's Munsey
Park restaurant, attorney Andre Ferenzo said in opening statements Wednesday.
Months after the January 2001 incident, the 43-year-old Long Island man died from complications caused by neck surgery he required afterward, the lawyer said.
Benihana lawyer Charles Connick said it was unlikely a chef who works for tips would toss food at customers after being asked not to, as Ferenzo claimed. Even if that happened, Connick added, the cause of Colaitis' death was an infection or neck injury unrelated to the shrimp.
Benihana chefs mix dining with entertainment as they grill Japanese food in front of patrons. Ferenzo said some of them have become more daring in recent years, but Connick said customers enjoy the experience.
"Some customers, especially dads and sons, want to catch the food," Connick said. "The evidence will show that it was part of the show."
Colaitis, of Old Brookville, underwent neck surgery in June 2001, but there were complications, and he had numbness in his arm, Ferenzo said. He died that November, a day after checking into a hospital with a 105-degree fever.
Flying SHRIMP?
Killed a man?
I’ve been to Benihana manyhana times before, and generally, if you don’t have 38C’s, toss out $20 bills from your wallet, or otherwise attract the attention of the grill chef by being a cute female, you are going to be relegated to the spectator section in the evening’s show.
That (being a spectator) is often still worth the effort, because some of these women just don’t get out much…er…um…never mind…
Next, I think that you should generally know what you are in for when you walk in the front door of the typical Benihana’s restaurants.
It ain’t cheep. For what you get, I think that it can be considered somewhat overpriced.
Perhaps this fellow should have kept on dining at Wendy’s, with the occasional trip to Waffle House, and he'd still be alive.
I say that if the poor plaintiff didn’t have enough sense to reach up and GRAB the shrimp out of the air with HIS HAND, then he also didn’t have enough active brain cells to avoid breaking his stupid neck trying to catch a piece of Dachshund’s turd in the same manner, accidentally flung up in the air by a lawnmower when he’s walking down the sidewalk past our friend’s Ozzie’s lawn maintenance activities.
Do YOU instinctively catch things in your mouth while sitting at a dining table?
I don’t—particularly after I’ve asked my fellow diners and the chef to not toss seafood at me.
Would YOU allow “social pressure” to make you snag a fresh morsel of food off of the grill ?
I might suffer an eye injury or get tossed into jail for kicking someone’s ass for throwing food at me, but I seriously doubt that I would die as a result of a “food catching induced” neck injury.
I actually have three, no, make that four… Microsoft Word documents open right now, because my mind is racing (although I need to get some sleep so I can go to the theater today) and every single time I start to shut this computer down, dammit if I don’t find something else I have to bitch about.
For instance, look at this story from my beloved Local6 website:
MINEOLA, N.Y.—A shrimp a hibachi chef tossed at a man eating at a Japanese steakhouse ultimately led to the diner's death, his family claims in a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against the restaurant chain Benihana.
Jerry Colaitis wrenched his neck when he ducked to avoid the shrimp in the chain's Munsey
Park restaurant, attorney Andre Ferenzo said in opening statements Wednesday.
Months after the January 2001 incident, the 43-year-old Long Island man died from complications caused by neck surgery he required afterward, the lawyer said.
Benihana lawyer Charles Connick said it was unlikely a chef who works for tips would toss food at customers after being asked not to, as Ferenzo claimed. Even if that happened, Connick added, the cause of Colaitis' death was an infection or neck injury unrelated to the shrimp.
Benihana chefs mix dining with entertainment as they grill Japanese food in front of patrons. Ferenzo said some of them have become more daring in recent years, but Connick said customers enjoy the experience.
"Some customers, especially dads and sons, want to catch the food," Connick said. "The evidence will show that it was part of the show."
Colaitis, of Old Brookville, underwent neck surgery in June 2001, but there were complications, and he had numbness in his arm, Ferenzo said. He died that November, a day after checking into a hospital with a 105-degree fever.
Flying SHRIMP?
Killed a man?
I’ve been to Benihana manyhana times before, and generally, if you don’t have 38C’s, toss out $20 bills from your wallet, or otherwise attract the attention of the grill chef by being a cute female, you are going to be relegated to the spectator section in the evening’s show.
That (being a spectator) is often still worth the effort, because some of these women just don’t get out much…er…um…never mind…
Next, I think that you should generally know what you are in for when you walk in the front door of the typical Benihana’s restaurants.
It ain’t cheep. For what you get, I think that it can be considered somewhat overpriced.
Perhaps this fellow should have kept on dining at Wendy’s, with the occasional trip to Waffle House, and he'd still be alive.
I say that if the poor plaintiff didn’t have enough sense to reach up and GRAB the shrimp out of the air with HIS HAND, then he also didn’t have enough active brain cells to avoid breaking his stupid neck trying to catch a piece of Dachshund’s turd in the same manner, accidentally flung up in the air by a lawnmower when he’s walking down the sidewalk past our friend’s Ozzie’s lawn maintenance activities.
Do YOU instinctively catch things in your mouth while sitting at a dining table?
I don’t—particularly after I’ve asked my fellow diners and the chef to not toss seafood at me.
Would YOU allow “social pressure” to make you snag a fresh morsel of food off of the grill ?
I might suffer an eye injury or get tossed into jail for kicking someone’s ass for throwing food at me, but I seriously doubt that I would die as a result of a “food catching induced” neck injury.
What Are They Actually Selling?
Where was this stuff when I really needed it...
As I've said before, one of my favorite southern comics is Jeff Foxworthy.
A little known fact is that Mr. Foxworthy is also one of my fellow Georgia Tech Alumni, his attendance at our beloved North Avenue Trade School having overlapped with my own personal saga living in downtown Atlanta.
One of Jeff's monologues mentions his excitement at getting Victoria's Secret catalogs in the mail these days--unsolicited.
I understand his position on this matter.
These catalogues show things that most men (and some women) just can't help themselves from staring at when presented in this manner. I copied the above photo from an e-mail delivered to my free Yahoo spam folder, and I decided to comment here to get this issue out of my system for good--hopefully.
Here are some of his words, delivered this morning working strictly from memory, and quoting him as best I can (because I seriously identify with Jeff's take on life):
"You get pictures of grown women, standing around in their underwear, delivered to your door...FOR FREE!"
"where was this stuff when I really NEEDED it?"
"All we had when I was a kid was the Sears and Roebook Catalog...filled with them pictures of those giant 'lunchroom lady' bras...you know something with 57 cast iron hooks."
"If one of those things snaps, someone is losing an eye..."
"As far as I can see...looking at a Victoria's Secret Catalog--Victoria HAS no secrets left..."
I offer my hearty "AMEN"...Mr. Foxworthy
As I've said before, one of my favorite southern comics is Jeff Foxworthy.A little known fact is that Mr. Foxworthy is also one of my fellow Georgia Tech Alumni, his attendance at our beloved North Avenue Trade School having overlapped with my own personal saga living in downtown Atlanta.
One of Jeff's monologues mentions his excitement at getting Victoria's Secret catalogs in the mail these days--unsolicited.
I understand his position on this matter.
These catalogues show things that most men (and some women) just can't help themselves from staring at when presented in this manner. I copied the above photo from an e-mail delivered to my free Yahoo spam folder, and I decided to comment here to get this issue out of my system for good--hopefully.
Here are some of his words, delivered this morning working strictly from memory, and quoting him as best I can (because I seriously identify with Jeff's take on life):
"You get pictures of grown women, standing around in their underwear, delivered to your door...FOR FREE!"
"where was this stuff when I really NEEDED it?"
"All we had when I was a kid was the Sears and Roebook Catalog...filled with them pictures of those giant 'lunchroom lady' bras...you know something with 57 cast iron hooks."
"If one of those things snaps, someone is losing an eye..."
"As far as I can see...looking at a Victoria's Secret Catalog--Victoria HAS no secrets left..."
I offer my hearty "AMEN"...Mr. Foxworthy
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Ted Koppel Joins NPR
A Match Made In heaven...
Ted Koppel has a new one year deal to work at NPR
I'm sure that he'll be really fair and balanced...
(the old saw of a shoe fitting like a glove or birds of a feather flocking together or something like that comes to my mind...)
Ted Koppel has a new one year deal to work at NPR
I'm sure that he'll be really fair and balanced...
(the old saw of a shoe fitting like a glove or birds of a feather flocking together or something like that comes to my mind...)
Is That A Gun In Your Pocket?
"Or Are You Just Glad To See Me?"
I'll let this story speak for itself...here...take a peek...
Priests Furious Over Proposed Condom Law
POSTED: 5:09 pm EST January 11, 2006
BOGOTA, Colombia -- Roman Catholic priests in a Colombian town are furious over a councilman's proposal that people 14 and older must carry a condom at all times to reduce unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
William Pena, a councilman in Tulua, said Wednesday he will present a formal proposal requiring all men and women - even those just on a visit to the town - to carry at least one condom. Those caught empty-pocketed could be fined $180 or ordered to take a safe sex course, he said.
"Sexual relations are going on constantly," (what...Viagra???) Pena told The Associated Press in an interview. "If you carry a condom, chances are you'll use it during the day. It's not going to be there forever."
Tulua has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in Colombia, he said. The proposal will be debated by other town leaders and could go into effect by March.
Roman Catholic priests in the Cauca Valley town, 150 miles southwest of Bogota, were fuming over the plan.
The Rev. Jesus Velasquez said it would only encourage sexual relations and ridiculed it as absurd. "I would have to have a condom even though I'm a member of the clergy," he was quoted as saying in the newspaper El Tiempo.
Another town priest, the Rev. Roberto Sarmiento, said improved sex education would be a better solution.
"Nobody can force someone to carry a condom in their pocket," he said. "They should instead carry the responsibility of what sexual relations mean."
All I want to know is:
When is the Roman Catholic Church managment going to get some sort of clue in this area of "human relations?"
Secondly, if they are successful...
Why can't they also support me being allowed to haul a Bazooka or some other form of giant rocket launcher around in my pocket to use to blast the heads off of stupid people like these described in this story, along with the stupid people that get paid to publish idiocy like this story represents?
Sorry...I'm going to go take my nap now...
I'm geting cranky...
I'll let this story speak for itself...here...take a peek...
Priests Furious Over Proposed Condom Law
POSTED: 5:09 pm EST January 11, 2006
BOGOTA, Colombia -- Roman Catholic priests in a Colombian town are furious over a councilman's proposal that people 14 and older must carry a condom at all times to reduce unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
William Pena, a councilman in Tulua, said Wednesday he will present a formal proposal requiring all men and women - even those just on a visit to the town - to carry at least one condom. Those caught empty-pocketed could be fined $180 or ordered to take a safe sex course, he said.
"Sexual relations are going on constantly," (what...Viagra???) Pena told The Associated Press in an interview. "If you carry a condom, chances are you'll use it during the day. It's not going to be there forever."
Tulua has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in Colombia, he said. The proposal will be debated by other town leaders and could go into effect by March.
Roman Catholic priests in the Cauca Valley town, 150 miles southwest of Bogota, were fuming over the plan.
The Rev. Jesus Velasquez said it would only encourage sexual relations and ridiculed it as absurd. "I would have to have a condom even though I'm a member of the clergy," he was quoted as saying in the newspaper El Tiempo.
Another town priest, the Rev. Roberto Sarmiento, said improved sex education would be a better solution.
"Nobody can force someone to carry a condom in their pocket," he said. "They should instead carry the responsibility of what sexual relations mean."
All I want to know is:
When is the Roman Catholic Church managment going to get some sort of clue in this area of "human relations?"
Secondly, if they are successful...
Why can't they also support me being allowed to haul a Bazooka or some other form of giant rocket launcher around in my pocket to use to blast the heads off of stupid people like these described in this story, along with the stupid people that get paid to publish idiocy like this story represents?
Sorry...I'm going to go take my nap now...
I'm geting cranky...
You Just Can't Make This Stuff Up
OK People...
Here I was, ready to turn on talk radio and doze away on my morning nap, when I found this story on Florida's Local6 news website and I just had to offer a comment.
Read this and then tell me what you think...
An 11-year-old boy had a lingering headache two days after a pickup truck ran over his head. "All I remember about it was that when the truck ran over my head, I could hear my bones crack," Cameron Schuette said Tuesday.
Cameron, a 5th-grader and his 13-year-old brother Tyler were helping their grandfather chop and load wood on Sunday. The boys were sitting on the tailgate of their grandfather's truck when he began backing down his gravel driveway and Cameron either fell or jumped off.
Ron Shurley said he at first thought he ran over a piece of wood until he got out of the truck and saw Cameron lying face down in the gravel. Then he stood up and ran into the house, Shurley said.
"He didn't look too worse for wear," Shurley said. "He was just saying he had a headache."
After spotting blood running out of the boy's ear, Shurley drove him to the hospital. Cameron was then transferred to another hospital, where tests revealed he had a slight hairline skull fracture. He also had roadrash on his neck and face, a black eye and a laceration on his ear canal.
He was released from the hospital Tuesday, suffering a stiff neck and a headache.
His mother, Shannon England, said the accident showed the dangers of letting children ride on tailgates. She said it was a "miracle" that Cameron had not been injured worse..
As my Blog buddy Steve H. over at Hog on ice has said, forget Matt Drudge's famous big money Drudge Report, all you have to do is hang around at the Local 6 website to get enough craziness to last you a lifetime.
Finally, the story had this to say:
"Maybe he has an exceptionally hard head," Shurley said.
My Mother and my girl Pat can certainly identify with that concept...
(because they they know someone with an even HARDER head...)
Here I was, ready to turn on talk radio and doze away on my morning nap, when I found this story on Florida's Local6 news website and I just had to offer a comment.
Read this and then tell me what you think...
An 11-year-old boy had a lingering headache two days after a pickup truck ran over his head. "All I remember about it was that when the truck ran over my head, I could hear my bones crack," Cameron Schuette said Tuesday.
Cameron, a 5th-grader and his 13-year-old brother Tyler were helping their grandfather chop and load wood on Sunday. The boys were sitting on the tailgate of their grandfather's truck when he began backing down his gravel driveway and Cameron either fell or jumped off.
Ron Shurley said he at first thought he ran over a piece of wood until he got out of the truck and saw Cameron lying face down in the gravel. Then he stood up and ran into the house, Shurley said.
"He didn't look too worse for wear," Shurley said. "He was just saying he had a headache."
After spotting blood running out of the boy's ear, Shurley drove him to the hospital. Cameron was then transferred to another hospital, where tests revealed he had a slight hairline skull fracture. He also had roadrash on his neck and face, a black eye and a laceration on his ear canal.
He was released from the hospital Tuesday, suffering a stiff neck and a headache.
His mother, Shannon England, said the accident showed the dangers of letting children ride on tailgates. She said it was a "miracle" that Cameron had not been injured worse..
As my Blog buddy Steve H. over at Hog on ice has said, forget Matt Drudge's famous big money Drudge Report, all you have to do is hang around at the Local 6 website to get enough craziness to last you a lifetime.
Finally, the story had this to say:
"Maybe he has an exceptionally hard head," Shurley said.
My Mother and my girl Pat can certainly identify with that concept...
(because they they know someone with an even HARDER head...)
Ruby Throated Hummingbirds
This is not my finger in this picture.
I'm not going to lie to you--I wish it was, but it's not.
Two years ago I couldn't tell you anything about Hummingbirds except :
A--they are very tiny birds that can hover in flight...and...
B--See A above
I had, in fact, previously enjoyed seeing Hummingbirds in the Bahamas and in Jamaica when I visited various resorts on vacation, but the idea of actually interacting with hummers on a daily basis was quite foreign to me until Pat and I moved here to St. Simons Island.
Then everything changed.
During our first summer here on the island we bought a cheep hummingbird feeder, mixed up a batch of sugar water, and we were quite amazed that we soon developed our own little Hummingbird “Air Force” that conducted aerobatic exercises outside our second floor living room window every day.
If you’ve never had a relationship with “Hummers,” you’re missing one of life’s simplest pleasures. Don’t get me wrong here—pound for pound, if Hummers were the size of humans, I’d be hiding under a rock somewhere because these little bastards can be viscious to each other.
Fortunately they are not that size, so you can let your Pugs and Poodles and grandchildren run around in safety outside while the Hummers buzz around overhead. Most inattentive people think that they are seeing insects when they are actually seeing Hummers.
We have what we call “Hummingbird wars” outside the window each afternoon between March and October. During these altercations, a couple of dominate birds will sit on nearby tree branches and defend our feeders (we now have two) from foreign birds that evidently don’t reside in the area or don’t belong to our flock or otherwise meet whatever criteria Hummers apply to their territorial protection strategies.
Our Hummers are mainly of the Ruby-throated Species. We might get an occasional visitor in other variations, but we’ve learned to recognize the Rubies and they represent 99% of the members of our own Air Force.
The above picture of the little male Ruby-Throat sitting on some unidentified person’s thumb makes me extremely jealous, because I’ve heard that you can develop a relationship with these wild birds where they will actually perch on you.
I’ve already had two up-close and personal experiences myself, but I have as yet not had a Hummer sit on me personally.
While visiting my Mother last spring down in south Alabama, I assisted her in purchasing and putting out a new hummingbird feeder on her breezeway adjacent to the pool. I think it was on the very first day (the date is incidental to this story) that the feeder was out, I managed to leave the adjacent garage passage door open, and late that afternoon I walked into the garage and found a male Ruby Hummer panicking and bouncing off of the ceiling of the garage.
Hummers instinctively fly upward when threatened, and opening the garage doors and chasing the little bird around only increased his distress. They are smart, but instinctively they are their own worst enemies in these situations.
Fortunately (and I’m not making this up) I had read on a website just weeks earlier about how to catch and release a hummer from a garage. Pat and my Mother and I, through a group effort, managed to corner the little guy—I grabbed him in my bare hands—and walk him outside to safely release him.
God, I wish I had my camera. He was poking his tiny head out and looking at me like he just knew that I was going to bite him in half and swallow him, toes and all…
But I didn’t, and upon his release he promptly hauled ass out of sight into the trees to the north of the house.
My other “close encounter” was late last summer when I was out on the patio doing some birdfeeder maintenance and I froze while a hummer came up to the feeder adjacent to the one I was working on, about a foot away from my head, and happily drank his fill.
Unfortunately, in order to keep from scaring him off, I was only able to see him out of the corner of my eye, but the striking thing for me was hearing the mechanical buzz of his wings as he maneuvered around the feeder.
Pat witnessed the whole episode, and being the bird lover that she is, she was quite envious of my experience.
With this week's 75 degree F daytime temps and balmy nights, we're already anticipating cooking up another batch of sugar water and waiting for our guys and gals to return from the long journey across the Gulf of Mexico.
As for me, personally, before this summer is over, I'm gonna show you all a picture of me with a Hummer sitting on my ever balding head (probably taking a poop on me in the process.)
And by the way, I owe a Hat Tip to Rodger over at Curmudgeonly & Skeptical for the photo...
I'm not going to lie to you--I wish it was, but it's not.
Two years ago I couldn't tell you anything about Hummingbirds except :
A--they are very tiny birds that can hover in flight...and...
B--See A above
I had, in fact, previously enjoyed seeing Hummingbirds in the Bahamas and in Jamaica when I visited various resorts on vacation, but the idea of actually interacting with hummers on a daily basis was quite foreign to me until Pat and I moved here to St. Simons Island.
Then everything changed.
During our first summer here on the island we bought a cheep hummingbird feeder, mixed up a batch of sugar water, and we were quite amazed that we soon developed our own little Hummingbird “Air Force” that conducted aerobatic exercises outside our second floor living room window every day.
If you’ve never had a relationship with “Hummers,” you’re missing one of life’s simplest pleasures. Don’t get me wrong here—pound for pound, if Hummers were the size of humans, I’d be hiding under a rock somewhere because these little bastards can be viscious to each other.
Fortunately they are not that size, so you can let your Pugs and Poodles and grandchildren run around in safety outside while the Hummers buzz around overhead. Most inattentive people think that they are seeing insects when they are actually seeing Hummers.
We have what we call “Hummingbird wars” outside the window each afternoon between March and October. During these altercations, a couple of dominate birds will sit on nearby tree branches and defend our feeders (we now have two) from foreign birds that evidently don’t reside in the area or don’t belong to our flock or otherwise meet whatever criteria Hummers apply to their territorial protection strategies.
Our Hummers are mainly of the Ruby-throated Species. We might get an occasional visitor in other variations, but we’ve learned to recognize the Rubies and they represent 99% of the members of our own Air Force.
The above picture of the little male Ruby-Throat sitting on some unidentified person’s thumb makes me extremely jealous, because I’ve heard that you can develop a relationship with these wild birds where they will actually perch on you.
I’ve already had two up-close and personal experiences myself, but I have as yet not had a Hummer sit on me personally.
While visiting my Mother last spring down in south Alabama, I assisted her in purchasing and putting out a new hummingbird feeder on her breezeway adjacent to the pool. I think it was on the very first day (the date is incidental to this story) that the feeder was out, I managed to leave the adjacent garage passage door open, and late that afternoon I walked into the garage and found a male Ruby Hummer panicking and bouncing off of the ceiling of the garage.
Hummers instinctively fly upward when threatened, and opening the garage doors and chasing the little bird around only increased his distress. They are smart, but instinctively they are their own worst enemies in these situations.
Fortunately (and I’m not making this up) I had read on a website just weeks earlier about how to catch and release a hummer from a garage. Pat and my Mother and I, through a group effort, managed to corner the little guy—I grabbed him in my bare hands—and walk him outside to safely release him.
God, I wish I had my camera. He was poking his tiny head out and looking at me like he just knew that I was going to bite him in half and swallow him, toes and all…
But I didn’t, and upon his release he promptly hauled ass out of sight into the trees to the north of the house.
My other “close encounter” was late last summer when I was out on the patio doing some birdfeeder maintenance and I froze while a hummer came up to the feeder adjacent to the one I was working on, about a foot away from my head, and happily drank his fill.
Unfortunately, in order to keep from scaring him off, I was only able to see him out of the corner of my eye, but the striking thing for me was hearing the mechanical buzz of his wings as he maneuvered around the feeder.
Pat witnessed the whole episode, and being the bird lover that she is, she was quite envious of my experience.
With this week's 75 degree F daytime temps and balmy nights, we're already anticipating cooking up another batch of sugar water and waiting for our guys and gals to return from the long journey across the Gulf of Mexico.
As for me, personally, before this summer is over, I'm gonna show you all a picture of me with a Hummer sitting on my ever balding head (probably taking a poop on me in the process.)
And by the way, I owe a Hat Tip to Rodger over at Curmudgeonly & Skeptical for the photo...
More Weird Crap I Found On The Internet
I just tripped over this Web Page about spending the night in jail...but not in the usual way that you would envision.
Couldn't you live like a King in a room that looks like this?
It will cost you $105 per night, and you don't need a lawyer to get yourself out when you want to end your stay.
It's in the Jailer's Inn Bed and Breakfast in Bardstown, Kentucky.
I guess it makes sense that even old jails are useful when rennovated and re-opened as things like Bed and Breakfast facilities.
I love staying in old inns and B&B's, so this property is on my personal "want to stay list."
