My Music Monday

A themeless month - and it is working out ok.  Like I said last week, it's been new music month.....or stuff I recently purchased.

I'm lifting one of the best songs off of the new disk by Aimee Mann.  "Patient Zero" is just a stand out song amongst many on Mental Illness.

The melody and the chorus phrasing are really well done. The verses are pretty good as well.

While the song is not necessarily about Andrew Garfield - the Spiderman actor - according to Mann, it was inspired by him, as she had met him at some party shortly after his arrival to the U.S., but before he landed the superhero role, though the line "with some magic you can fly through the air", makes me believe (if it' truly is about him) that that line came after he was cast as the webslinger.

Mann appears in the video for roughly two seconds and in a non-lip synching role. This isn't a bad thing, as she always looks so uncomfortable in front of the camera. But you'll notice some folks from West Wing, Mad Men and such who make appearances.

Pic a Day in May - 22

Painted Dessert

a hostess gift we brought to the neighbors.  Too pretty to eat.

Ground Zero

Maybe it's ironic that my title is a Chris Cornell song.

I really have nothing today. I planned nothing. No news stories piqued my interest. No one wants to hear about work (let alone write about it).

I don't know enough Cornell songs to write about the man. I liked some Soundgarden and some Audioslave..........or as Morty called them, Audiosalve.

It's a bummer he died....or killed himself......or accidentally killed himself. That last one is the widow talking.....but I suppose that one cannot collect on his insurance policy if he is deemed to have purposefully killed himself.

Work has been tres busy. Not all fun, but I ended the week ok. In other news, we are trying for a long weekend away before the start of summer, but that means boarding Shep, which just might kill us.

It's all good.  Ok.  I'm off to bed.



Song by: Chris Cornell

Pic a Day in May - 21

Waves

Born to Run

Praise Be for Shep Porn Day.  It gives us all a break for politics. And he's cute.

Leader of the Pack

We tried a new dog park. We did not like it. The gate system was sub-par. 

Shep Profile

at Lake Erie

Two vicious best friends - Kooper and Shep. 

They see each other almost daily on their walks. 

The parents just stand around and talk while they go at it. 

Song by: Bruce Springsteen

Pic a Day in May - 20

Helicopters

the Worst Thing

This is possibly the best thing I saw yesterday - - - - - -

- - - - - and that includes Roger Ailes kicking the proverbial can.

No doubt it was not a heart attack because well........Occam's Razor.




Song by: Nat'lie Merchant

Pic a Day in May - 19

Resist

Baby Doll

I could write about 'special counsel' ........but as Jeffrey Toobin says........this could go well into 2018. So, I'll have to pace myself.

Unfortunately, I've run out of time on thinking of a blog post. I never do enough nonsense posts. But I can still keep it Dump-embarrassing and make a reader laugh..........or shudder.  Or both.

Song by: Laurie Anderson

Pic a Day in May - 18

Bloom

....and Justice for All

So Comey - the man the Democrats assumed screwed the pooch with his ill-timed announcement about Hillary. As it turns out - he's an equal opportunity pooch screwer......so that's the silver lining, I suppose.

Yes, I totally get you're all tired of coming hear to read my shit on this, but I look at it as a sliver of documentation of history........not that anyone will be around to read it after the inevitable nuclear annihilation.

Anyway - back to Comey..............and the ever present SCROTUS.

Seems Comey's FBI training did him good. He was smart enough to document everything. Allegedly, the former director created memos for every phone call and meeting he had with SCROTUS. Including trying to influence an investigation into Michael Flynn........allegedly {though we all know it is true, even though Dump's lackeys say it's not}.

I don't believe for a nanosecond that Dump understands, let alone abides by, the separation of powers in this country.

There's a lot he doesn't understand......I'm assuming.  My absolute fave was him asking Comey to consider putting reporters in prison for publishing classified information.

Reporters?  No.  Sitting Presidents??   ...........sure.  Why the fuck not?

Why isn't Alanis writing a sequel to her 1995 hit. She's got nothing else going on.

Dump though is stupid too.......besides just being arrogant and borderline. Comey's note-taking was a well known thing in DC.  I guess that's the price Dump pays for being "an outsider".  Comey did it in the Bush administration to great effect, and during other investigations where those notes held up in court.

And he covered his bases, giving copies of these memos to FBI folks and outside associates. There is no way for others to cover or bury that.  CYA. And he gave the notes to them real time.....so there is a trail back at least to February. Had they all shown up at once, I agree, he'd have a credibility problem.

So far, the republican leadership is silent. I don't mean SCROTUS. He's never silent.......nor is he a leader.

I almost feel bad for some of the GOPers. Can you imagine having to pseudo-pretend to support this guy publicly and behind closed doors trying to figure out how to operate day-to-day without completely imploding the party?

....hey, I said "almost".

They made their own bed.  You know the rest.





Oh - and I love the guy parks across from the Dump DC Hotel and projects images onto it. It's not vandalism. I can't say he's truly breaking any laws unless he's not putting change in the meters.





Song by: Metallica

Pic a Day in May - 17

Decontamination

Russian Roulette

.....and the hits just keep on comin'.

Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

One has to wonder, when will enough be enough for this administration......for this Congress...........for this country.

Mind you, I don't know that his base cares that much that SCROTUS shared ally information with the Ruskies. But they're not intelligent enough to understand the implications of anything other than if Two Broke Girls gets cancelled.

I get home from work and come in to see 710 who just points at the TV.  My initial reaction is: 'what now?'  I'm not even 100% sure I rolled my eyes.

I don't think the Washington Post is stupid enough to print something front page, above the fold {I mean, if it were an actual paper and not just a website}.

Of course, the National Security Advisor is downplaying the entire incident while speaking to the press................right outside the oval office.

That makes me feel like it never happened...............not!

I kind of shouted at the TV when news organizations were quoting the minority party.

I don't give a flying fuck what the minority party is saying. I know their reaction without having to read one word of it. Tell me what the majority is yakking about.

One GOPer, who is unfamiliar to me, went rogue and said that the administration (or Dump himself?) was in a downward spiral.  No Shit.

So far, no word from Bitch McConnell......that chinless fuck. But Paul Ryan made a strong statement about wanting a "full explanation" of events.  Of course I kid about the "strong statement" part. He's a pussy. You'd think SCROTUS would want to grab him.

....and Ryan might have to rethink that tweet from last summer.

Alan Dershowitz claims that Dump has "the most serious charge ever made against a sitting president", though contends he probably broke no actual laws.  So then......where does that leave us? You gotta figure it's truly more impeachable than a blowjob.

But of course, impeachment means a Pence presidency.  Eeeeeeeeeek.

What I have not yet heard is how this ties to Comey..............and I just have to feel that it does. What he knew and how he was to be thwarted to say a thing. Until he possibly met a Post reporter in a parking garage????

This whole 2017 is just fucking surreal. If someone wrote this in a shitty movie, it would be playing basic cable two weeks after its disastrous theater release. Unfortunately, this isn't fiction.

It seems Russia has Dump by the short hairs............and he likes it. Almost as much as getting pissed on.



Song by: Rihanna

Pic a Day in May - 16

Fagdom

You just know it belongs to some old lady or big queen.  The Browns surround is trying to throw you off on his pseudo butchdom.

My Music Monday

The theme this month was not intentionally new music, but 3 out of 3 (so far) is just that.

....and this one is brand-spanking new. It was just released this last Friday. Three days ago. That's how new.

I'm a fan of the National.  It will be be almost four and one half years since their last disk by the time their new one, Sleep Well Beast, is released in 3.5 months.  .....so at least I'll have a new disk to review here come mid-September.

"the System Only Dreams in Total Darkness" isn't quite like their past oeuvre. From the beginning, the keyboards, the possible backing vocals, and the guitar work - all new. I'm not sure I was down with it. At the 1:30 mark, their familiar drum style kicks in.

But then the guitar work goes back to that interlude. Admittedly, I like the familiar, but on the other side of that, I don't feel a band should be stagnant just because of their fans - myself included. They need to grow and I need to be open.

"System Only Dreams in Total Darkness" isn't really a sing-a-long song. I'm sure one could, or would, but it doesn't quite have that kind of melody.

I'm opening up to it all. I look forward to the rest of their new disk.............in September.

Pic a Day in May - 15

Fandom

you really gotta want this.

Love Missile F1-11

Just an FYI - this is how it will probably end.  ....for all of us.

SCROTUS loves nukes. He has said so. A few times.

Let's face it - he only needs an excuse to punch in the nuclear codes.

While I think North Korea and Kim Jong Un is bat-shit crazy, he is less so than Dump. The hair is just as bad, just a different style......and colour. Possibly.  Only their hairdresser knows for sure.

But to potentially taunt CheetoFührer, just yesterday, North Korea has just "test" launched its 7th missile since Dump took office.

This cannot be coincidence.

But to cite two pivotal movies in history, we only need to discuss War Games and Austin Powers. I mean, for this scenario, this is what it comes down to, no?

This isn't 1945.

Yes, we dropped the first two nuclear bombs. People were so shocked and horrified that it ended the Eastern Theater of WWII. But by the time the Cold War rolled around and escalated, and just about anyone and everyone had the means to build and use one, the question was: to what end?

How long can one use those as threats?  Sure you win "the war", but then there's nothing left, so........what do you win?

In Austin Powers, Dr. Evil uses a highjacked nuke to hold the world ransom for $100 Billion. And the world immediately caves. My question - to whom do you return a stolen bomb to once you get the payment?

I guess the bigger question is - if one is so scared of someone else using one, so they use it first, isn't that the definition of flawed logic?

For either Dump or Un the question is moot.........or 'mute' as one of my friends would say {and not in a funny Malaprop way}. They are off-kilter enough to not care, or not understand the consequences.

I liken all of this to those disaster movies 710 LOVES to watch......and that I allow him to, as long as I'm not home.  Be it 2012, Final Impact, the Day After Tomorrow........there are hundreds of millions of people dying but the fight to survive persists.   I'm like.............why?

The fucking last thing I want to do is be amongst hundreds of millions of corpses, that then just become a factory of centuries of disease. Vaporize me immediately please.

So in my own way, I'm trying to enjoy life as it is, because with these two, who the fuck knows. It could be over before any of us realize it might happen.

The War Games reference? Well it's an easy one.

As the WOPR would so prophetically say in its Steven Hawking-like voice: "the only winning move is not to play."


If only Un and SCROTUS were half as smart as the stupid IT guy who tried to unplug the WOPR.

If only!



Song by: Sigue Sigue Sputnik

Pic a Day in May - 14

Staring at the Sea

12 of 12

So I'm doing my 86th 12 of 12.

Normally it is 12 pictures taken on the 12th of the month. Since I only post once per day, you get my images the following day. All pictures taken with my iPhone. Click images to enlarge, if you choose.

Created by Chad Darnell and picked up from, what I can tell, any number of random bloggers who then link back to him and vice versa. Chad is no longer doing this, nor is successor coordinating the linking of other 12 of 12'ers anymore. Now it's just Erik and myself - that I know of. 

I still continue to do this, because of all my consistent post topics, I actually like this one the most.

05:20.  War Paint. 

.....or moisturizer with 50 SPF

05:50.  Post Morning Walk

Ready for b'fast.  Doggie b'fast. 

06:55. Keying into my office.  

My work day has begun. 

08:52.  Picking up a cake at Corbo's for an exiting physician. 

They're over-priced

10:30.  Jesus people. Just get an accurate measurer thingy. 

11:25.  Meeting about bronchoscopes......believe it or not. 

12:30.  The carnage. 

Half a cake down. Half to go.  It was so-so. 

14:55.   Hitting my 10k in steps. 

16:50. Leaving work. Early!

17:15.  Evening Doggie Walk. 

Spring has sprung. 

18:15.  Double Date Night. 

Anatolia Cafe with 710, David & James.

19:55.  Seeing a play:  Hand to G-d. 

It was Hand to G-d Awful.  My opinion. 

That's it.  That's my day.

Pic a Day in May - 13

Infrastructure

Bastard

The surprise isn't that that Tramp, Bristol Slut Palin, had another baby.  The shock is she is finally married when it happened.

It's not entirely clear if she got pregnant after marriage - which isn't her style. She likes to put out without the need for commitment.  It's that whole "cow. milk. free." thing.

Make no mistake - she's the cow.

The slutty cow.


And I don't meant to slut shame. It's unfair to the rest of the sluts of the world to lump that wench in with them. It makes other sluts look bad.

....and cows.

Allegedly this is the Abstinence Poster Child's third kid.........though I'm still not convinced her little "brother" just isn't her first bastard. Her first Downsy bastard.

I doubt it will be her last.



Song by: Ian Hunter

Pic a Day in May - 12

Personal

It's not the advertisement that is unseemly.  It's the exclamation point on the response.

It just seems all too desperate.

Unbelievable

The more I think about Comey's firing the more unnerved I get.

Yes, the comparisons to Nixon firing Archibald Cox......hehehe.....Cox!.....is all over the place. Except for the fact that Cox never headed the FBI.

Ooops........to all you folks who are far far too free with 'sharing' a story on Facebook.

Cox was a special prosecutor. Trust me, SCROTUS isn't getting one of those. Not if Bitch McConnell gets his way.  Mind you - had President Hillary Clinton fired Comey......there'd be pitchforks and fire at her doorstep.

I gotta give it to the GOP............they are unflappable in public.....and no one is making much headway with knocking them off their game.

But no, this doesn't make me think of Nixon. This is far more dictatorial. You take out opponents, enemies and anyone who might have information about you that is less than flattering......or illegal. And soon you have an army full of blond-haired, blue-eye'd men.  Or Eric Dump.....except for the 'male' part.

But all hope is not lost.

SCROTUS is losing. His approval levels are at the second to all time low, according to Quinnipiac University. 36%.

You know those uneducated folks that Dump loved so much?  They're fleeing. White voters with no college degree have dumped him by 10%.  White men support dropped by 7%.  Women who support(ed) him?  Who gives a fuck.

You could say I'm curious how this all turns out, I just assume it won't. It will drag out with this kind of shit for another 3.5 years.....and still not certainty it won't be for another four.

Oh fuck - I think I need to up my dosage of my anti-depressant.




Song by: emf

Pic a Day in May - 11

Resist

Private Investigations

He was a dick amongst dicks.

A partisan player who fucked up more than he ever fixed.  .....and it came back to bite him in the ass. He got shit-canned.

So sad.

Not.

Clearly, I'm no fan. And while I think he should have been gone last October, he served a purpose for the current administration...........until he didn't.

I do love how the media cited that the White House cited Comey's handling of the Clinton email "scandal".  And that's all they say:  "the handling" of it.

To many, I think one could surmise that Comey was wrong and fucked it up by his "October surprise". But I think the White House thinks he fucked up by not charging Hillary. What they meant was his 'mishandling' of the email scandal.

That is not the reason they 86'd him.

That's a-cuz he is........well, was........investigating SCROTUS for his 14,812 ties to Russia.

But it's easier to say 'lost confidence in' than 'trying to circumvent justice'.  The phrase "Conflict of Interest" seems to rise to the top of the explanations.

Perhaps there is a little issue with letting Comey go-go. I don't know the rules of engagement, but isn't he now free to talk.........or write a book?

Here's hoping.


What I found even more inneresting was that the Deputy Attorney General was the one to do the deed.  Jeff Sessions was nowhere to be seen. I have to believe that means something.



Song by: Dire Straits

Pic a Day in May - 10

Interrupted

We Exist

There is a scene in an episode of Parks and Recreation where Garry / Jerry / Larry has a fart-attack. Leslie says that the health plan they are on is horrible. She once broke her wrist and it wasn't covered because having a wrist was considered a pre-existing condition.

The scene was prophetic.

As I predicted, the ACA has been repealed. I won't go as far as to say it is replaced.

All the white men representatives, and some of the self-loathing white females too, opted to barely read the bill and didn't even bother to get a budget estimate on the new one, before voting to rip away something a black man gave them.

Because, let's face it, that's what this is about.

They can attempt to spin it about premiums, enrollment, lower costs, but the truth is:  a black man gave them something. And they hate the black man.  Men. All of them.  They even hate Ben Carson - but it is not like anyone is going out on a limb with that statement.

And yes, they can 'spin' about those ACA bullet points, but since they didn't do a OBM oversight, they truly have zero know-how on what enrollment will be or what the cost to the users or the government might be.

The one thing they do know: rolling back pre-existing conditions.

I know everyone is up in arms (and by "everyone", I mean Facebook folks) about this. To be clear (and kind of fair), the pre-existing stuff only kicks in if you ever lose coverage.  .....which is kind of how it was before, except that 22 million folks didn't have coverage before.

So as long as they don't let a policy lapse, they "should be" golden.

Ohhhh, don't get me wrong, I'm not siding with the SCROTUS Scrotums® on this, but let's not be like them.....let's tell the truth where it exists.

However, the list of pre-existing, should one lapse is quite extensive.

AIDS/HIV - Alcohol or drug abuse with recent treatment - Alzheimer’s/dementia - Anorexia - Arthritis - Bulimia - Cancer - Cerebral palsy - Congestive heart failure - Coronary artery/heart disease, bypass surgery - Crohn’s disease - Diabetes - Epilepsy - Hemophilia - Hepatitis - Kidney disease, renal failure - Lupus -Mental disorders (including Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Schizophrenia) - Multiple sclerosis - Muscular dystrophy - Obesity - Organ transplant - Paraplegia - Paralysis - Parkinson’s disease - Pending surgery or hospitalization - Pneumocystic pneumonia - Pregnancy or expectant parent (includes men) -Sleep apnea - Stroke - Transsexualism

And possibly even....

Acne, allergies, anxiety, asthma, basal cell skin cancer (a type of skin cancer that doesn't tend to spread), depression, ear infections, fractures, high cholesterol, hypertension, incontinence, joint injuries, kidney stones, menstrual irregularities, migraine headaches, being overweight, restless leg syndrome, tonsillitis, urinary tract infections, varicose veins, and vertigo.

It's all very unclear: becoming paralyzed is pre-existing? Being pregnant is too?  Even if it's your first.....and you're a man?

If the Senate lets this go through, this is going to flame out...........in a big way. But not before thousands, if not millions, are decimated.

.....and I'm kind of ok with that.

Obama did a valiant effort to help reform healthcare in this country. It's not where it needs to be, but everyone, including the Dems, realized that.

Once millions lose out, once hospitals are in disarray, once people start dying from lack of healthcare (yes, that's a jab at you, you Idaho-fuck face Raul Labrador (with that name, shouldn't he be deported?)) and people - even the Scrotums  - revolt, then maybe real change will take place.

And yeah, it will be painful to see the deterioration of what healthcare system (and a country) we have, and yes, for a bit it will make things even more divisive than we have been (which seems unreal), but right now I think it's the only way to heal (pun fully intended).

Oh - I also want Dump and the GOP to take every single iota of blame for the devastation they inflict.



Song by: Arcade Fire

Pic a Day in May - 9

Charcoal

I can't tell you why, but I like the drawring (not a typo).

Each time I see it - at work - I think: "what high school senior drew this for their portfolio to get into art school?'

Sure, it kind of looks like he is being contemplative. Or he could be sucking his thumb.  Either or.

My Music Monday

Admittedly, when I heard Blondie's new song, "Fun" back in February, I went "meh".  I played it and put it out of my memory.

Blondie had a great run in the 70s and 80s. Spectacular, even. Debbie Harry had some great solo work too. But then.....well.....you got Panic of Girls and Ghosts of Downloads and to a lesser extent, the Curse of Blondie.

I had no expectations for their new disk (review pending). Bad or not, Blondie is one of those habits I cannot seem to break.

So, in Billboard the other day, I read they had their first Dance Club Hit in 22 years. I was about to do the math to figure out what they could have released even as recent as two decades ago (1995) that topped even a tertiary Billboard chart. As it turns out, that last hit was another remix / rerelease of their 1980 hit, "Atomic".

Still, I listened to the link of the remix of "Fun". It's not destined to be a classic, but it certainly isn't Ghost of the Downloads awful.  The remix is better than the original, and it has its moments of hooks.

The video isn't stellar, but Blondie has never been known of having good ones. And I can't get over being distracted by Debbie's wig from the Phyllis Diller Collection™.  It makes her look every one of her 71 years.

Pic a Day in May - 8

Dream

I love this for multiple reasons.

The message itself is only one of them.

It resides in a part of town prone to run down residences, public housing, shuttered business and the like. Yet for years, the building and the message remains pristine. No errant graffiti adorns the building or the art.

Power to the Meek

It was a crapshoot if you were going to get a blog post today.

I mean, you would have, but it wasn't known if it would be on time.

That power outage I mentioned oh so briefly yesterday continued throughout most of yesterday as well. Naturally, our temps outside hovered around 42 F, so that was no fun - considering we had no head inside.

And it was pouring outside.

Well, we had some heat, as I the fireplace going.....and a dog who was ok with laying on top of me. It wasn't a three dog night, but it was a one dog late morning.

I would have gone to Starbucks to get power and free wifi so I could post. As it was, in the morning I went to one so I could do some work budget stuff, but didn't assume it would take so long to get power back.

The thing is - I should have figured that. As we lost power on Monday and Tuesday. Semi-high winds, a saturated ground and old trees are just a recipe for disaster. Trees come down and take nearby wires with them.

BTW - none of this was on our property.

Down the street there is a holler, if you will, that has bunches of old trees....and slopes.....and well, precariously place power lines. What could possibly go wrong?

Apparently this week: a lot.

I found myself annoyed for lots of reasons. There was the power thing, sure. There was the sitting in the dark thing - no way to charge a phone to even play Words with Friends. But it was more the draining of said phone battery checking on the status of the repair.  Or the non-status.

Every 90 minutes, the site would say it would be fixed in two hours. They just changed the delivery time. Or that they semi-fixed the line (brown-out status) and took it off the site as being 'fixed'.

Natch - the neighbors all called or emailed me. I suppose running the neighborhood email directory, they think I'm some fountain of knowledge {and in some ways, I am}, but I have no inner workings of the electric company  - unless it's the one with Rita Moreno and Morgan Freeman {sp.  it.   spit!}

One woman actually got annoyed with me when I didn't know the answer of when a fix would be in place. Her daughter literally rolled her eyes at me. Cunt Sr. and Jr.

Ruckiry (not Jon's boss), late yesterday afternoon, before thinking of heading to Starbucks to post, partial power came back on - enough to charge a phone. Then full power. And so far we are four hours in with no service interruption........though the electric company site says there are still outages in our 'hood, though I don't know where.

It wasn't all bad. I slept. Quite a bit. Friday night, with the house all dark by 20:00, I was asleep in a chair 30 minutes later......and up in bed by 22:00. And then a good nap after doing my work at the coffee shop. I don't normally get a lot of sleep, and rarely nap, so semi-forced napping seemed ok to do on a cold, rainy, powerless day.  Days.  Plural.

Clearly, I'm not designed for roughing it. Red Roof Inn is my idea of the lowest standard to which I can exist.  But on the plus side - they allow dogs to stay, usually for free.



Song by: the Eurythmics

Pic a Day in May - 7

Needle

Physical time.  Oddly enough, I got stuck yesterday morning and had some of my results posted and available to me within two hours. So far, all in the normal range.

Lay it Down

Another Saturday.  It's our second day this week with no power.  I'm doing this on Friday afternoon at a Starbucks.  That's how committed I am to you people.

If we weren't sure if Shep was a 'water dog', this might have answered our question.

Shep just jumps into anyone's lap.....except the cuter guy right next to us. But Rufus was nice.

Squirrel.

A daily occurrence.

Chipmunk hole?   No idea what he was rooting for. Routing?

He might not want it, but he wants to know what it is you're having.

Song by: the Cowboy Junkies