Hot Dog!

It was Shep's big day out yesterday.

His first at doggie daycare. Usually (well, always), Shep has a dog-walker, but as we prepare for vacation, we were checking out options.

And who better to watch him than lesbians? He already has lesbian dog-walkers.

Amanda is allegedly very selective on the dogs she takes - some are on a waiting list for over a year. Shep was on a semi list for about eight months. She currently operates out of her house, but is opening her training / boarding / daycare place in October.

For our part, we were just hoping not to get called mid-day to come pick him up - afraid that he just might be a dick with the other dogs.

Spoiler Alert: we didn't have to.

While I was in training, I got a call around 15:30 that I missed from Amanda. I was worried when I saw it. But then I got a text:

"He is AWESOME. He's making tons of friends".

"I haven't had such an easy day dog in a while. He loves to be with a group"


Huge sigh of relief.   710's reaction:  "Phew".

She also sent pics......

Shep and Bella. 

Shep losing a chase. He does not like that. When he's behind, he whines. The first time it happened I thought he was hurt. But if he ever gains the lead, the crying stops.  What a manipulator. 

I took this one when I came to pick him up  (710 dropped him off)

O.M.F.G.  Cuteness overload. 

Bella, the Shepard, is apparently Shep's new girlfriend.  Or a girl....and his best pal. She is sooooo pretty and sweet. Of course Shep loves her. ....and the ears.  the ears. 

But it's the dog on the left who was so very starved for attention.  She just made it past everyone else for my pets, scratches and to give kiss after kiss. I would have gladly taken any of them home. Even Grady, the Jack Russell. 

I wanted to pet them all, but the one on the left wouldn't allow it. 

Shep on the other hand was out there with me, but playing with the cats. Sure - THOSE cats he plays with and doesn't try to pounce on. As 710 said, "maybe they'll teach him some manners". 

So, Mr. Shep will be staying there while we are away.  No crates unless warranted. He can sleep in the bed or a sofa.  This makes us happy. 

Hopefully there will be more pictures of the happy couple.



Song by: They Might Be Giants

Numbers

Any good accountant will ask you: "what do you want the number to be?".

I love spreadsheets and numbers. And in theory, numbers don't lie.......except they do... all the time. You can make numbers tell a story, even if it's a tall tale. The question is - which tale is tall, if not all of them?

Rueters reports that 88% of people who voted for SCROTUS would do it again. In a way I'm surprised by this news.......in ways I'm not.

This comes hot on the heels of Dump's über-low approval ratings of 36....the lowest of any president in their first six months in office in 70 years.

.....and another poll that says 1-in-40 (that 40%) want to see Dump impeached.....which is slightly higher than wanted to see Nixon get the same treatment.

Yet somewhere in between those three polls is another one: SCROTUS could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and not lose most of his support. 45% say they would still approve of him even if he shot someone to 29% who say they would disapprove, and 26% who aren’t sure one way or the other.

What. The. Fuck.

That question was a joke during the campaign, but now it's no longer funny.....if it ever was. And actually, now it is sounding like a challenge, which is just frightening.

This doesn't seem to upset his "christian" "base".  Oh yes. Double quotes.

It is unclear - at least to me - who the fuck these people are polling. It almost doesn't seem random. I get the 88% folks polled were already Dump supporters. They're blind - also not believing there were any discussions at all with Russia, even though Dump Jr admitted to it.  So there, is blind, then there is blind!  Mary Ingalls had better eyesight.   But the poll was looking to see amongst the base, how much if any, support SCROTUS has lost.

Not a lot.

If true that only 36% approval of all sampled were registered voters from both parties, I feel pretty good. If it's just Independents and Democrats, well then...........not so much.

I cannot quite reconcile the Impeachment and Shooting poll numbers. Clearly the latter are supporters. What they don't probably tell you is the next 45% would say it was "fake news". The remaining 10% probably didn't understand the question.

I'm sticking with the disapproval rating. Regardless of who does the polls, he has been in the 30s and low 40s for most of his presidency. He can laugh it off all he wants - he's still going down as worst president on record.

Even if all these polls tell a story, it's not one I care to read.



Song by: Kraftwerk

Insane in the Brain

I suppose it's not nice to speak ill of the dead............or in this case, the soon to be dead.

....but give me a minute. I'll get there.

Perhaps we should have seen John McCain's glioblastoma coming. His rambling at a recent senate hearing and of course, his selection of Sarah Palin as a running mate in 2008. Apparently he's been experiencing symptoms that affect memory, speech and cognitive reasoning for at least a decade.

I've referenced it before, but in 2008 New York had an article on the then-presidential candidate McCain saying the John McCain of the 2000 election wouldn't even recognize the one from 2008 - a republican once the voice of reason was then devoid of any kind of logic and compassion. He was forced into it, you might say, by the Right.....and then later by the Tea Party. Say anything, do anything to keep your job.

....as it turns out, he'd need that job to keep those health benefits.  Oh, the irony.

Speaking of irony.......as this current administration and Congress descends into madness, once again, McCain is the voice of reason.

Oh - don't get me wrong - he's still a douche, but by comparison he seems sane. It's all relative.

Glioblastoma is a nasty disease. I admittedly raised an eyebrow at a news article stating that "they" were considering treatment options. Radiation and Chemo for the disease is nasty........and about a 0.00000000001% chance of survival. I've yet to hear anyone who goes into remission from this.

But if you wanna fight it.....fight it. Medical advance aren't made all on lab rats. Sometimes you need human subjects too. Personally, I'd stick with my quality of life.....while I still had it.

I'm still fuming over the Palin thing. Nine years later and she's still around and he gets to die.  Lucky bastard.



Song by: Cypress Hill

Dead on Arrival

You know how when Obamacare was in its planning stages, those naysayers wailed about 'death panels'?

As it turns out, that death panel is the 115th Congress......and the patient they keep sending to its demise is the Dump Health Bill.

My post is called "Dead on Arrival", only because I know of no song called "Dead Before Arrival". That's right, another Dump health bill slated for defeat.

Of course it's natural to blame the opposing party, which is of course exactly what McConnell and SCROTUS did.

Yet Dump took it a step farther - basically saying he'll let healthcare fail. That he wants it to fail, so they can build it from the ground up.

Huh?

I know the guy isn't presidential material, but hear his words:  let. healthcare. fail.

Yes, he says "Obamacare", but the sentiment is the same. Let millions of people lose their coverage due the inability to afford and then they can make a plan. Which just makes you wonder - yet again - what the fuck have they been doing these last eight years?

As for the opposition, there is enough coming from inside their own party. But beware - some of those rejecting the plan isn't because of what is in the intended plan, it's what is not. Some don't believe it is strict enough, takes away enough or the tax cuts for the wealthy are not enough.

Dump is a sore loser, though publicly he hasn't really advocated for any aspect of this plan - or the last two. He doesn't seem to care about replacement as much as repeal.  You know......because of the black guy.

See, if he keeps saying "Obamacare",  and keeps blaming the Dems, it throws his supporters off of what a loser he and his administration and the 115th Congress are.

For me?  It's just another failed notch on his belt that will be attributed to him, no matter how hard he says otherwise.

Song by: Fall Out Boy

Site of the Month

O.M.F.G.

THIS is cathartic.

Push Trump Off a Cliff Again.


Again?  Have we done it before?

I think I'd remember if we had. There'd have been a tapped keg....and cake.

I'd have invited friends, paid their airfare, hugged people I didn't know - and I'm not much of a hugger, so you know it'd have been a big deal.

The site is exactly like you'd think. You control - to a degree - SCROTUS' movements. The site name is a little misleading, as one (read: me!) doesn't get to 'push' him. You walk him off the cliff......so the end result is still the same. Still a hearty shove would have killed the program development team?

And the site isn't exactly accurately named either. Sure you can push him off a cliff or.........

You gots yourself a volcano........

......or down the treacherous 6th Avenue.....

....or a stroll in a tropical setting, where you wish Bryce Dallas Howard would be nearby....and come to the same fate.


Try them all. Have fun. Feel better about yourself, you government, your country.

I know I did.

My Music Monday

I've kind of been doing this newer music thing. I will say, most everything has been 2017-ish.  Not so much today.

"Easy to Get" by some group called Hot Chip seemingly came out in 2015.

I don't think there is a reason I should have missed this release. It's not really in my wheelhouse of the music to which I normally listen. Yet it is in my history of my Soundhound, which means, I heard it, was curious and had the app identify the song for me.

I did nothing with that collected information until today - or yesterday, actually - when I was looking for a 'new' tune to throw-up here.

"Easy to Get" has a Chic vibe. At least the music. The vocals are slightly hypnotic....but part of that is the music too.

I oddly enjoy this.

Beware of Darkness

I love the license plate.  It works on multiple levels.

You know it's probably just a lady who knits one; purls two. Yet it still works.  Because like LEGO Batman, she......... (hit the video)






 Song by: Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs

Point of View

We got Shep to the lake last week. Erie, that is.

He always seems such a happy guy. 

Taking a gander. 

Taking a closer gander. 

Afterwards at Nana's.  The way he sits just cracks me up. 

Kitty POV. 

Song by: Blink 182

Tired

I'm sitting here.....exhausted.

I'm struggling to stay awake at 8:30.......and now 9:12.   It took me that long to get energy to type that.

Too tired to focus.

I'm not one of those guys who looks forward to the weekend. Sure I like them, but I'm not the work guy who laments: "two more days to the end of the work week".

Yet it's been a non-stop work week, and an average of about 5.5 hours of sleep per night.

So fuck it. I'm going to bed.

More tomorrow?



Song by: Adele

12 of 12

So I'm doing my 88th 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.

05:05.  Dog walk avec umbrella-ella-ella. 

It never rained. 

06:35.  Shep's pied-à-terre. 

He's happy to have his own bachelor pad. Plus he gets his cheese-filled Kong and I stick Charlie Bears in the cheese for an extra treat.  Dad #1 doesn't do that. 

06:50.  Arrive at work. 

Basically the back entrance. I went in, as it started to rain. This time I had no umbrella. 

09:15.  Scheduling a Web-Ex

10:00.  Gotta go. 

12:30.  First 2018 budget meeting. 

16:05.  Ordering. 

Guiding a new employee navigate the procurement system. 

18:35.  Messy Desk. 

Yes, still at work. 

19:20.  Walking to parking garage. 

19:40.  Welcoming committee: Party of 1. 

20:40.  Foot Wakers. 

My possible last thing I do to avoid foot surgery. Or maybe my second to last. Third - at the very most. 

21:35.   Dishes. 

It would have annoyed me to see them in the sink in the a.m. So I went to bed with dishpan hands. 

....and now your Baker's Dozen......

22:05.  Dessert. 

Graeters Raspberry Chocolate Chunk.  

Psycho

You all might know that I've "joked" about Qusay and Uday in the past. But in reality, I had more respect for the originals than the half-assed Dump Boys.

Like them or not (and really, who did?), the Hussein boys were up front about their work and took pride in it. But they too had a horrible father.

These "guys"? Not so much.

I honestly do not know, or have any comprehension, how folks like Qusay Jr. and Uday Jr. can even look at themselves in the mirror each morning - - assuming they have any reflection at all.  (I'll assume they don't or they'd have had seen a plastic surgeon post haste.)

There is something completely psychotic about them - both of them, but for the most part today, we're sticking with Qusay Jr.

I am truly at a loss. I think I've said that before, but they keep topping themselves. I'd say I have no reason to have an ego, though we all have them, so said Freud, but there is an ego and then there is an EGO.

Mind you, Daddy led by example. Certainly a bad example, but one nonetheless. But the inability to know right from wrong, or worse to know it and completely discard it just baffles me. Especially on a national stage.

In a certain way this email thing (didn't Hillary have an email issue that the Dumps drove into the ground with every breath of their voice?) is delicious. Qusay Jr's "transparency", of which his father speaks, is such a transparent joke, as his released emails came about 38 seconds before the New York Times published them.  Oh - and that problematic issue of - there was no meeting.....there were no emails thing.  I suppose 'transparency' is all relative.

Can no one see through all of this?

Yet it frightens me. If there are no repercussions by the American people - i.e. the Dump supporters - even in the slightest, we've gone down the road as a nation from which we can never recover.

That whole he can shoot someone in the middle of the street in broad daylight and get away with it thing - is really a thing. And now it seems to extend to son-son-and daughter.


Who the fuck knew that the bastard-ette, Tiffany, would be the normal one of the family?



Now that I think about it......I even have more respect for Erik.............and Lyle.    (that's Menendez.)




  Song by: Muse

This and That

Sooooo many Dump-isms this last trip, plus Dump Jr and Dump-in-law and their foibles. It's like their stories are nesting dolls......and new and different one with each unopening.

Don't get me started on that twat, Ivanka. Though I do love how it was a Russian G20 goer was the one to take and release the snap of her sitting in as faux-president for a faux president.

And it seems Bitch McConnell and SCROTUS can't get that black man to ever leave. By all accounts the current Senate health care bill is dead in the water. It seems the GOP is the last to know, since not one person has said, "huh......this sounds great!".

Articles on CNN.com have one saying "Health Care Bill on the Brink", the next one, "Pence: GOP is Close to Repealing Obamacare".

Well?  Which is it??

I think we know, Pence is just a mouthpiece.  ....unless it's a tie in the Senate. Then he's just a nightmare.

And the protesters being dragged out of the captiol.....including wheelchair bound folk. THAT has to look for the GOP, though let's face it - they don't care. They're not about caring - unless it was a Goldman Sachs colleague who got in the way, then like the White House Press Room, they'd be banning cameras on the Hill.

That's all I got.



Song by: Michael Penn

My Music Monday

When the Civil Wars broke up a few years back, it took a little time for either John Paul White or Joy Williams to get back in the game as solo artists.

Williams showed up first, with a disk called Venus, that was very meh. It was more electronic, which I would say isn't her strong suit. Thank jebus, I checked it out of the liberry and didn't part with my cash for it.

And the suits must have known it too fairly early on, as many tracks were re-recorded in an acoustic manner.

As it turns out, she's made a bigger splash covering a Chainsmokers song for an insurance company television ad.

I know - you're saying a 'big splash' with a commercial?

Back in the day, I was an avid reader of Billboard. Not as much with electronic and fee based model, but the physical magazine.  I was always just as interested in the business aspect as I was the music one. Back then, how one charted was fairly clear:  Sales and / or Airplay - depending on the chart.

Now there are ways to chart by streaming, YouTube plays, and other media outlets......such as ads. Williams actually charted due to the ad being played and free downloads of the song.

I have heard about the Chainsmokers than I have actually know their music, though in the periphery I have heard "Don't Let Me Down", the song Williams covers for that insurance company.

While it seems harsh to pigeonhole her style, if Venus was a test balloon, it failed, and her acoustic fare is more to her fan base. Maybe electronic-style is not quite the way to branch off. The thing with Williams and Civil Wars, they'd take a fresh spin with their covers, be it Michael Jackson, Etta James, Janis Joplin or the Smashing Pumpkins. Williams can still stretch the boundaries here with a dance song and take it down to 4/4 time.

It works.

Ad of the Month

Normally my Ad of the Month post is a video from an ad.  Normally my Ad of the Month post isn't monthly......but why quibble about my timeliness.  Or lack of.

This one is a different medium:  billboards.

We've been seeing this sign for the last few weeks as we made it up to one of Shep's dog parks. Since I'm usually the one driving - and I'd usually forget about it right after passing it - I'd keep forgetting to get a snap of the sign.

Last week, 710 was quick after I axed him to take a pic.

All I can assume it that it's some kind of car lubricant.....or like WD40.

Or it's for a Gentleman's Club.

I know it's the former. I just wish it were for the latter.

Feelin' Single - Seein' Double

It's slow pic week. Stupid work.

Shep and Kooper have a tussle before the 4th of July parade. 

Kooper is still his favourite friend. 

Patriotic Pup

Shep has a semi-doppelgänger.  Spot on, if not for the fluffy tail. 

It was so freaky to see.....and the odder thing was, he never gave him a second look. 

Song by: Emmylou Harris

Wrong

There was a line in the debut episode of HBO show, Newsroom.

Jeff Daniel's character says to another panelist: If liberals are so smart, how come they lose so goddamned always?” 

A-fuckin'-men.

Look at this fucking lame-ass campaign the D-triple-C is doing.

What. The. Fuck.

So from that earlier Daniel's quote: maybe liberals are not so smart.

What fucking genius came up with something so lame that it could have been  passed off in a middle-school lockerroom? It comes off as petty, at best. There is already a Chief Petty Officer:  SCROTUS.

....and if we are going for petty, like it or not, no one is going to do it better than Dump.

Why in the world would I part with my hard-earned dough on something so faux thought out as this, when they'd take my money and doing as ill conceived as this marketing campaign?

I'm sorry  -  but if this is Dem's direction, we deserve to lose.  Yes.  I said it.

And I've said it before, "we" don't take the high road most of the time, though "we" pretend we do. But we don't play dirty enough. Not enough to win.

Yes, you could say, "well if we play dirty we are no better than "them"".  True.........to a degree.

I have hopes that once (or if, in this case) we obtain office, we do more of the right thing. I never believe any politician does the right thing most of the time, let alone all............you just got for best case scenario.

I'll be honest, I don't know the difference between the DNC and the DCCC.  I believe the latter is the money raising arm of the DNC...or so it seems. It took me eons to get off their lists after my break-up with Howard Dean. I'm certainly not giving them $$$ now.......and certainly not for this.

If this is the Dem's plan, at this rate, "we" won't even be winning anything in 2018.

g-d help us all.



Song by: Depeche Mode

Cooking with Blobby

When's the last time you saw one of these segments??   Forever and a day it seems.

This "new" job (19 months in) has stymied my ability to try too much new when it comes to cooking. It's all I can do to get home and make one of the now standards.

I miss the experimentation, but sometimes you have to make due. I should explore more on weekends, I guess.

But it was the 4th and we have our annual neighborhood picnic.

You know me and our neighborhood get togethers - I gotta show off the gay. Those women and their quinoa salads are driving me batty. No one wants that much quinoa ladies....and yes, we're all judging you for trying to announce to everyone how "healthy" you are. No one is buying it.....on any level.

As you saw yesterday, I opted for the non-dessert option. There'd be tons of cookies and cupcakes...and there were, along with some amazing brownies, of which I kept it to one. And naturally, the ubiquitous rice krispie treats - of which I had one.  ....and while some find the bowl of fruit to be a "dessert", you're fooling no one.  ....though I still ate it.

No, I went for curry chicken salad. I've seen Ina make it, and sampled some my cousin Betsy has made, and it was good. So that's what I did.

Chicken Breasts  - with bone and skin
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Curry Powder - 3 T
Mayo (full fat) - 1.5 cups
Chutney - 1/4 cup
Dry White Wine - 1/3 cup
Celery - two large stalks - medium chop
Scallions - two of them - medium chop
Whole Salted Cashews - 1 cup
Raisins - 1/4 cup   Seedless Red Grapes

Good luck finding bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts these days. I have deboned a chicken before to go that route, but not this time. Skinless, boneless for me.  Who's got the time? Perhaps the bone-in have more meat.....but more on that in a minute. 

Rub with olive oil, then salt & pepper them, then roast in oven till done. 20 min or so. 

While that cooks, it gives you more than enough time to make the dressing and chop. 

Throw mayo, chutney, wine, curry and 1.5 t of salt into food processor. Keep it on until all is smooth. 

It makes a LOT of sauce. It doesn't seem like it till you blend it. This is where I wonder if bone-in chicken has more meat. I could have easily had enough for two more breasts. 

BTW.....use a coloured spatula and stuff, as curry stains quickly and easily. Mix stuff in glass bowls, not anything plastic. 

I also had time to cut the grapes and chop the scallions and celery.  I used grapes because while I like raisins on their own, I'm not a fan of them "in" food. 

Chop the chicken while it is still warm and add SOME of the sauce.  Don't over do it until you see how it melds. Then add the celery, grapes and scallions. Blend.  Add more sauce as needed. You don't want the chicken and such swimming in that.

Refrigerate for 2 hours or so. 

Add cashews and mix them in. 

Adding them later leaves them their firmness. 

I liked it. Says it will serve 6, but who knows. I put it in a bowl and people took it all - gone within 30 minutes or so. I never did hear anyone rave about it, nor did I see them gag and spit it out, so I'm taking it as a win.

710 claimed to have liked it.

I don't know I'd make it for home use really, unless I halved the recipe. There is only so much curry I want to eat in a short period of time.

Still with the spice of the curry, the bite of the scallion, the salt of the cashew and the sweetness of the grapes, it provided a plethora of ways to enjoy the dish.   It's good for parties......or if you made wraps.

It's a very easy recipe.

Fireworks

Another Fourth come and gone.

More or less for the last dozen years, it's been relatively the same: neighborhood parade, neighborhood picnic and then watching fireworks from a neighbor's patio.

I'd like to say we did something excitingly different this year, but alas we did not.

We attempted the parade. It's a lot of kids and dogs. For some reason Shep is kind of dick to two dogs in the 'hood. Naturally, both dogs were there. Just waiting around for the parade to start was too much for him. He snapped a few times, but got along with others I think had we arrived later and just started walking, we'd have been good. As it was, 710 took him home.

I had every intention of walking in the parade, but as it was kicking off, two friends were taking a walk through the 'hood.  So we stayed and caught up.  I invited them to the picnic but they had other plans.

Admittedly, I ignored invitation instructions - which asked for desserts. There are always too many and too few sides. I went with a side. But that's for another post another day.

And we skipped fireworks at home......for ones at Jacob's Field. Yes, we had tickets to see an Indians - Padres game.   You guys won, Fearsome.

It was a beautiful day and a great night. ....except for the loss.

As it turns out, we did not stay for the fireworks. It was Shep's first 4th and we weren't 100% sure how he'd be. He has been great during thunderstorms, but fireworks can be different.  He seemed to be ok overall.  ...the grand finales made him sit up.....but no shaking.

I am not a patriotic person by nature......but let's face it, this year it would be really hard to get it up for this country. There is zero to crow about.....except that North Korea can probably only hit Alaska. Let's hope it's Wasilla.



Song by: the Tragically Hip

Let's Impeach the President

......yes, let's.

What could be more patriotic than that??  Nuttin'.....that's what.

Until you find out the alternative if we do could be sooooo much worse, that is.  Pence?  Or if he goes with SCROTUS, then......{shudder} Paul Ryan.

That said - those scary men aside, shouldn't we all want to stop a truly mentally unbalanced man from holding the position of President? When one of my sisters, who considered voting for him (but didn't) thinks he's mentally unstable, well..............wouldn't you think more people feel the same way?

So this past Sunday, multiple cities had rallies to impeach SCROTUS.

We went to the Cleveburgh one, if for nothing else than to take Shep to his first political rally.  ....and his first known urban walk, but mostly the rally.

He was unimpressed. And for good reason.

I have no idea who organized this......or disorganized it, as the case may be.

Let's just say: for the millions of people who don't like Dump, I was, on one hand, surprised at the lackluster turn-out. On the other hand, it's a holiday weekend. People have plans and like it or not, they won't change it to un-support a sitting president.

I think the problem also lay with the word 'impeachment'. People want action now, and impeachment, if it were to happen, takes time. People aren't stirred up enough to bother being bothered.....or to take time out to show-up.  Sure, there was the woman's march.......but as Ms. Jackson once spoke-sang, "what have you done for me late-leeee?". 

The lack of crowd was only part of the problem. Lack of truly good motivated speakers  which is kind of a must at a political rally was painfully obvious. That those speakers addressed many-a-thing, yet few directly about Dump and fewer about impeachment. I love being left uninspired to do a single thing after attending one of these..................not!

A huge downturn was the adjoining rally for #blacklivesmatter.

In theory, I'm all for that rally too. Except they just performed a dick move about having it along with, when and where as the impeachment one.

The 10 of them - yes I counted - set up shop about 25 feet from the impeachment rally, co-opting the opportunity instead of being able to do it on their own. And for what little size the planned rally was, theirs was louder. Hell, even their "leader" came over and interrupted the speaker of the intended rally - and really what could the speaker do?

You can't stand there and denounce a #blacklivesmatter person. Their hashtag pretty much prevents you from doing that without fear of being labeled #racist.

After said woman went back to their set-up space, you could hear her bitching about how white our crowd was (and it was!) - and why they weren't being supported.

While I knew better, I wanted to say - why do you think anyone should ditch the scheduled event to pay attention to your cause.......and btw........the main event was white, but there was no reason you couldn't join in a participant.

I'd like to say we stayed till the end, but between the interruptions and the poorly chosen and prepared speakers, I was getting diddly out of this event. So we took Shep for more of an downtown walk, giving him 3,401 new things to smell of which he's never had the chance. I mean, someone should benefit from this outing.

Maybe the next one will have more support behind it........from the organizers and the public.



Song by: Neil Young

My Music Monday

I might be running out of "new" music shortly, but I can always go to "recent" selections, as that is vague enough on any level.  It's all relative.

I saw that the "other Brett" posted a new song by Debbie Harry and Shirley Manson on FB, but I forgot to go back to listen to it. Then I saw that Blondie and Garbage were doing some dates together and someone interviewed both Harry and Manson and they brought up the song and potentially trying it in concert.

This might be difficult to do.

Yes, Harry and Manson appear on "Tehran 1979" from some tv show of which I've never heard, but in reality it is: David Reitzell feat Debbie Harry and Shirley Manson. So basically, it's a DJ who can do the music but needs a vocalist - potentially a famous one - to actually bring the song to life.

That sounds like I'm saying DJs aren't real talent - and they can be, but you cans slap a pair of cans on their ears and poof - it makes them famous. Not everyone is David Guetta.

Anyway, I say the song might be difficult to do live as it is a lot of studio-processed music not easily reproduced in a live setting.

I don't mind the music at all - though it's not horribly original. I hear Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" ....and by association, Madonna's "Future Lovers" .....throughout the entire song.

Harry's vocals are interesting....even good. Almost better than anything she's done on the last Blondie disk - and get this, her entire vocal is about 23 seconds long. And no, I'm not kidding.

It's unfortunate that Manson is relegated to backing vocals..........very backing. Honestly, if her name was not on the banner, I wouldn't know it was she.

It is a groovy groove.......but it left me wanting more. Not necessarily more of it, but more from it.