Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Day 3

It sounds like the Iranian Hostage days - doesn't it?

...as feared.....

I'm having a brain fart and not thinking of anything interesting to blog. Right now I'm blogging in my head during the day, but nothing to computer. But my mornings aren't in place yet and my evenings are decompression time. Night time is trying to settle down for 4-5 hours of sleep. I wish I could do more, but right now I'm too wound up I guess.

It's like being back at my old job. In bed at 11a. Awake at 4:30 and out of bed at 5:15. My first day commute was 21 minutes door to door. Yesterday, due to closing of two lanes of road, it went to 50. But I wasn't preparing for 50. I have one big pet peeve: being late. I could care less if other people are late (to a degree), but I cannot stand being late. Especially on my 2nd day of work.

So, I'm planning on an early leave today....which you just know I'll get there in 15 minutes and have an hour to kill before I'm supposed to be there.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

The Mayor of Simpleton

I was with my last employer for 11 years - a huge organization where I knew most everyone. Or knew of them, at the very least. A peer of mine would call me 'the mayor'. While we'd walk to lunch, usually a few dozen people would say "hi" to me. It's been a long time since I've been 'the new guy'.

But yesterday wasn't bad. I met everyone who works at the office. Mind you there are only 60 people who work in this office as opposed to 13,000 who worked at my old place. There are only 600 people in the entire company, instead of 33,000 in my last.

Cleary the corporate culture cannot be the same. During my interview with the CEO he confirmed that by saying something that just kind of stumped me. Actually a few things.
  • Failure is accepted. As long as you pick yourself up and keep going.
NEVER would such words be uttered in my prior organization. Even if you had never failed - the fear the executive staff put out there if you did was palpable.
  • Backstabbing and/or gossiping is not tolerated.
Though I won't say doing those things were officially encouraged in my previous enviornment, but no one ever put the brakes on loshon hora. In reality they normally hit the accelerator. It's how many many people got ahead.

I'm hardly exempting myself from that behaviour, but right or wrong - it is what one did to survive. It was a learned trait and it will be nice not to have to use it as a method of advancement. Or used against you.

If the day wasn't so so so so so grey, I would have taken some pictures of my 25th floor view. When it gets a little brighter and clearer I will do and post.

This is going to be an interesting chapter in my life. I have to live it. You only have to choose to read it.

Monday, February 26, 2007

It's a New Dawn...It's a New Day

...and I'm feelin' good.

Today is my first day of work. Well, first day since October 2006.

I have to tell you - these last two weeks I've been more nervous and out of sorts than my entire unemployment.

As predicted in September/October 2006, I would start getting bites on new jobs after the first of the year. Any business tied to January fiscal calendar start was not going to be hiring the last quarter of the year - so I had to wait. I mean, I didn't wait - I looked, but got nowhere. But come early January, things started moving.

I don't want to look a gift-horse in the mouth or sound like I'm complaining - I just got three decent nibbles all at once. When I only had one, I was thrilled with it. When I was into that process and got a second one, I started questioning my own decision making. The 'what-ifs'. The "if/or". Add a third contender to the mix and I became paralyzed with fear, insecurity and downright panic. Part of my apprehension was financial. Part revolved around benefits. Part was the devil you know. And part was what would be a really cool job. For me the stress was horrible.

For added discomfort, it really came down to timing. Jobs offered, jobs proposed and a late contender from left field. Logistically I was trying to figure how to put off A until I hear what C says. Then B upgrades from a proposed job to a real real one and naturally they need to fast track it. Fudge (but I didn't say 'fudge')!! Turns out there is no easy way to do this with out pissing someone(s) off.

I somewhat hedged my bets and let company A go. Though they were the most lucrative, in the long run I don't think it would have been the best fit. Company B was the devil I knew. Promises of great career advancement and projects at which I could excel. But I had to really remind myself of the environment that existed before. I felt I was blinding myself to a job prospect and the end of my severance.

Ruckiry (not Jon's boss), company C was very cool with everything. They entered late into this picture and I was very up front where I stood in my processes. They stepped up to the plate, getting me in earlier than anticipated and putting out an offer as soon as possible.

It's not my nature to strong arm this way. I know people do it to press for an answer and make themselves more desirable, but as a hiring manager those tactics never worked on me...why should they work for me? I was up front about that too. But they came through. Though financially, it was the lowest offer, it is the best job.

I am excited about the job. I'm nervous about the job. But unlike the previous two weeks, it's good nerves.

My blogging habits are going to shift here I'm sure. The job entails 50% travel and I will have to adjust to not having my entire day free. But you will hear from me.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Ye Olde Photoshoppe

Where do I even begin with this?

I assumed a friend of mine had gotten a new Macbook Pro and was fooling around, much like I've done many-a-time in Microcenter. But no - he's had one of those for quite awhile and still fools around with it. Obviously.

Isn't it just a little scary to know that he (the top fellow) has been a faculty member at art/design college and also runs his own photo design studio.

(click image to enlarge)

I can tell you that both 'models' represent much better in real life. But really......how could they not? However, you might want to see references if you hire him to do your portrait photos.


*please note - no names, institutions or states were mentioned in this post.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Is Death Funny?

Kind of. Sometimes. And in the right context.

Take two recent instances:

1. I was driving down the street near a local funeral home, where more than once I've been caught stuck waiting for a procession of dozens and dozens or cars to end. Some dead people are either really popular or people are really checking to see that the bastard is dead. Probably no in between. Not so much this time. A funeral guard pulls out into the street to let the hearse get into traffic, only to be followed by one car and one pick-up.

On one hand it was kind of sad. On the other, it kind of made me smile, for a couple reasons. One was that the folks thought enough about the deceased to have the entire funeral. By the same token, I was thinking 'why'? At that point have a graveside service. I guess these are not weddings when you know how will be showing and roughly how many. Catch as catch can.

2. We were at my parents the other day and they are the kind of folks who probably shook their heads at the Beatles and their mop tops. For the most part, if it wasn't Rodgers & Hammerstein, my parents stopped purchasing music that was made when Benny Goodman died.

So during the course of the evening my mother put on some music I grew up having been forced to listen to and never enjoyed. Some song came on and my mother had commented that she used to be able to play it on her........wait for it.......................ukulele.

That stopped me in my tracks for a few seconds. I said, 'you played ukulele?'. Replying that she had and didn't I know about it, I had an immediate response, but held off for about 16 seconds (which is an eternity to me!) while I tried to gauge the room.

"These things would be nice to know for your eulogy."

I'll give her his, she laughed and laughed.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (I don't)

Ok. That last part is a lie.

So I had to go to the local grocery store yesterday. It is the one where everyone shops - including furry gay men (it's a long story...don't axe).

I knew that Megamillions was getting up there, but I never hear if anyone ever wins. Though most the stores sell tickets and have these placards to tell how much is in the jackpot, if anything is ever written in to begin with, it is usually a few drawings old. They just do not update.

Well I don't bet regularly. Usually it has to be in the eight digit range to get my attention. I mean - who can retire on $53 million?? That's crazy! But the kiosk is on the way out of the store, so I stop and ask 'how much Megamillions is this week?'.

Can anyone guess what the answer was? I know one person who can. (Actually, I know four.)



As g-d is my witness, the clerk replied, "It's always dollar."


Since this has happened to me before and has been a running joke for 16 years (yes, January 1989!), I could not help but laugh. She realized the error in a nano-second, but I probably made her feel bad due to my laughing. Honestly I wasn't laughing at her, though she didn't know it. I'll make it up to her when I cash-out the big pay day.

(on a completely unrelated note - I woke up with Depeche Mode's 'Black Celebration' playing in my head.)

Thursday, February 22, 2007

HPV

In an odd way, I'm really enjoying the discussions from states and citizens concerning the mandatory use of a drug that could deter cervical cancer in women.

Naturally, one of the sticking points is that the Human Papillomavirus can only be transmitted sexually. And to get the vaccine would be condoning sexual behaviour in teens and pre-teens. Or so say concerned parents. The other thorn in the side is the term 'mandatory'. The vaccine can also saves lives.

Each year in the U.S. about 61,000 women get cervical cancer and 3,700 die from it. It is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women around the world. The vaccine protects against four HPV types, which together cause 70% of cervical cancers and 90% of genital warts.

I can't argue or agree with the science of the drug or the testing methods to get FDA approval. Opponents are quick to point out the adverse reactions and the issues that occurred during clinical trials. That's fine. But is it fair? What I continually don't see in similar studies is how those same talking points compare to other drugs on the market. It might just be the standard - for better or worse.

Citizens, and so far the only ones I hear about are in Texas, are up in arms and think that the government has no business in telling people what should be done to their bodies. 10 to 1, these are the exact same people who say that the government should be allowed to tell certain people what to do with their bodies by banning abortion.

The 'mandatory' thing means absolutely nothing. Each parent can opt out of having their child participate. And you know it is better for the kids to get cervical cancer than it is for them to be sexually active....because getting the vaccine will automatically make their kids sluts and whores.

I agree the dealings with Merck and Texas are a little shady on how they got this all going, but in healthcare terms, how is this not like inoculations for Polio and all the other things for which we got boosters? Those saved suffering. Those saved lives.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Beautiful Red Dress

I have a friend who has a sister. She is a bit more conservative than said friend, but is the most liberal of his other family. As they visited and discussed potential 2008 nominees, the sister said she didn't think Hillary should be elected as that no woman should be control of 'the button' - due to their emotional state, not their logical one.

While I assume that Aunt Flo stopped visiting Hillary a several years ago, I was kind of taken aback that people still and really felt this as being a legitimate reason - pre or post menopausal. With me being a man who has four sisters, it never occurred to me as being rational thinking, and yet this was coming from a woman.

'The button' isn't under a glass case that one just flips up and pushes. It's not Commissioner Gordon's phone to Batman! It's not the Easy button from Staples. I don't think these things can be pushed at a whim, cramp or hot flash!

There are legitimate reasons to question Hillary's candidacy - but riding the cotton pony isn't one of them.

The exchange got me thinking of a Laurie Anderson song, "Beautiful Red Dress" from her album, Strange Angels. The red dress isn't a dress at all. It's a metaphor. ...and please plant tongue, firmly in cheek.
Well they say women shouldn't be the president
Cause we go crazy from time to time
Well push my button baby here I go
Yeah look out baby
I'm at high tide


Tuesday, February 20, 2007

SHOPPING w/BLOBBY

Yet another installment in the drudgery that is everyday shopping. The camera-phone makes it a bit more fun - though I get looks whenever I take pics of products. Like I care what people think!

I want a second opinion.

Spinach pancakes? As if the real things didn't give me Icky Pancake Feeling (or more commonly known as IPF).

The picture does not provide the best representation of the product. The 'pancakes' are as green as Yoda and look just as edible. Icky, indeed!!!

Monday, February 19, 2007

RECORD OF THE MONTH

I figured I'd do a monthly 'what I'm listening to' kind of thing. This could be viewed as a lame placeholder kind of post. And probably it is. But it's my blog! So there!

These may or may not be newly released disks. They might not even be a good disk - just what is been in heavy rotation in my car (as usually the iPod is playing anywhere else).

30 yrs old!!! Can you frickin' believe it?

Rumours is 3 decades old this month. Arguably it is one of the best recordings in rock and/or roll. Inarguably, it is one of the most successful - spending 31 weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 and selling more than 8 million copies in 1977 alone and 18 million to date. It was, I believe, the first pop album to have four top 10 singles. In my lifetime I've owned three vinyl copies and am now on my second compact disk version. I played this record to death!!

Regardless of its age, the disk holds up. And well! People will say that there isn't a bad song on it....but I would disagree. I continually, and always have, skipped right over "Don't Stop". This was a pain in the ass with pre-laser technology. Pick up the needle and set down on the the next song - ugh! Though voting for Clinton in 1992 was never not an option, I loathed the fact that he used it as his campaign song.

The songs are very band driven (save basically solo efforts by Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie on "Never Going Back Again" and "Songbird" respectively) - though in reality most were pieced together over a year's time. The vocals are good and the harmonies tight. I'm still a huge fan of "The Chain", "Dream", "Oh Daddy" and "Gold Dust Woman".

In 1985, Warner Bros. rushed out a very inferior CD version of the disk. I bought it because, well, I rarely used my turntable. Vinyl actually held more highs and lows, sonically, than the compact disk. Finally in 2004 a remastered copy appeared on the market (hence my second CD copy). The sound is so much better, but naturally they couldn't leave well enough alone.

The album is now two disks long. The second disk is mostly outtakes, demos and alternate versions. Honestly, I think I've played this once. Though somewhat interesting, there isn't much fully formed that one would want to hear over and over. The almost acoustic version of "Gold Dust Woman" isn't bad, nor is the outtake from "Oh Daddy".

But they even fiddled with the main disk. Back in the day, I loved "Silver Springs". It was a track that was deleted from the vinyl disk because of time constraints (remember when records could only hold 45 minutes or so of music?) and slapped it on the b-side of "Go Your Own Way". So 'they' inserted it here - taking the disk out of original sequence. And they had to mess with the song itself and remix the hell out of it. You're better off hearing that song on The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac, which is even different than The Chain: 25 Years of Fleetwood Mac.

Oddly enough, as much as I loved this disk, it wouldn't be a Desert Island Disk for me - even though I pretty much financed their coke habits with the number of copies I have purchased over the years. If I had to pick a Fleetwood Mac disk as a DID, it would be Tusk.

30 years. Do you feel old now?

But if for nothing else, the cover of Rumours has brought us this:

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Knit Pick

Knitting. Ugh. Sooooo not my style. Heck, I cannot even thread a needle, so what do I know? But apparently others love love love love it.

The hat you see in my profile pic was knitted by Ditto for me. Rebecca and her mother, Eileen (hi Mrs. Flowers!), knit also. Bloggers seem to love knitting too. There are quite a few blogs dedicated to knitting and purling. I even had one for my site of the month back in October.

Now we can one more to the list. Rebecca has started her, count 'em, THIRD, concurrent blog: Sharing Needles. It's a great name - no? Personally, I would have gone for Cher-ing Needles. But that would be too gay. This one is a multi-authored blog that includes Dity and Lori (whom I have never met). Why she is excluding her one and only mother as a contributor is anyone's guess. Maybe Eileen can do guest appearances.


A group of us discussed image ideas that thought would be funny for the blog graphic, but it's not (currently) being used. Becky will be killing me for actually posting this - but so be it. I love it. Absolutely love it. I didn't visualize yarn as the tourniquet yet it makes it so much better. Yes, the knitting needle kind of looks like a drumstick, but I think everyone gets the idea. I didn't even know there were wooden needles, I thought they were all aluminum. Who knew?

In WordPress form, I have their new blog linked. In Blogger form, I do not. I'm still attempting to figger out how to export the WP blog to the Blobby's Blog url.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

the 80's: Still Dead

Back in June 2005 I was lamenting that the '80s were dead as I listened to Madness' "Our House" as a Maxwell House ad.

The trend is continuing. Blondie's "One Way or Another" provides the music for both a car ad and Swiffer. Yes, I do know that the song is actually from 1978, but I'm rounding up! And even worse - Wendy's is using the Violent Femmes' "Blister in the Sun" in their new campaign. (Morty's comment: 'ew. and eww!')

Clearly our cohort is coming into the ranks of the advertising industry, but more likely we have become the target audience that the 26 yo ad execs are pushing these products at. Does "Blister in the Sun" really conjure up a faint memory for some 45 yo mother that now sways her decide to hop in her Honda Odyssey to take the brood out for a single with cheese? All it makes me think of is the bars on south campus and hoping when you had to take a piss, the toilets weren't overflowing with puke. Ahhh....good times.

Recently I've heard muzaked versions Pat Benatar's "We Belong" and Modern English's "I'll Melt with You" for something or other.

Chances are the artists themselves don't own the music. The record company does or music publisher licenses it to the advertisers, so if the actual artist didn't write the song, they might not even be seeing a cent from any of this - which is a shame.

Obviously we're going to have a few more years of this before they start looking at '90s tunes for the next group of folks with income to target. Mark my words, soon you'll be hearing a Madonna sound-alike crooning "ooooh ooooh, something's got an odor. ooooh oooh, something's got an odor. my baby uses Secret".

Just make sure it's unscented!

Friday, February 16, 2007

Feb MeMe

Originally posted on GMR - but since it's shut down, I reposted here.

Going with the suggested GMR meme theme of the month (write about a memorable photo) I didn’t have too hard of a time bringing forth a few images. Unfortunately. Perhaps it is the power of suggestion with Brad’s kick-off entry, but all of them revolved around tragedy and change.

My initial thoughts conjured up images from 9/11: the second plane headed toward the North Tower or people in mid-fall/jump. I still have massive trouble being able to view these. I had mentioned in my last September 11th blog entry that even during Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, even though the screen goes black before the plane hits the tower - still I had to look away. So, now that I’ve left you with those visual images in your head, I guess I’ll move on to mine. …and it is no less jarring.


I like reading historical event books. If I get onto a subject, I can obsess about them even: Manson, Everest, Patty Hearst. I’m just weird that way. But my first recollection of this behaviour would have to to be the JFK assassination.

I was just over 3 months old (yes, do your math!) when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Though from an early age I was fascinated about the actual event. What other sixth grader do you know who has read the entire Warren Commission Report?

There are less than 27 seconds in Zapruder’s film of the actual event. Oddly enough, the academics always view frames attempting to determine if there was a second shooter or a magic bullet by focusing on the body positions of Kennedy and John Connally. What gets overlooked is in those split seconds is the realization, anguish and desperation of Jackie Kennedy and inevitably, a nation.

A number of books speculated that she was attempting to grab part of her husband’s blown-off skull, but what is fairly well documented is her panic of trying to get the fuck out of the car. The silent film doesn’t capture the aural chaos.

This day and this film has brought us a much more wary and voyeuristic nation. Conspiracy and video now rule the day. From Rodney King to Anna Nicole. From 24 hour news to YouTube.

In reality, Camelot was only wounded that day. We’ve been beating it to death ever since
GMR

Though I probably won’t cross-post here and on Gay Men Rule, do readers want to know when I do post over there?

Maybe I’ll just post a little note here to let folks know.

btw….I posted today.

Lunhctime Conversation
(from a few days ago)

Blobby: I have an interview next Wednesday


Kathy: OH! That's my father's birthday!!!

(pause)


(pause)


(pause)


Kathy: He's dead though.


(pause)


(pause)


(pause)

Blobby: Well that's a conversation killer!

Both: lots of laughter

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Oh My Achin' Back


17" of snow. That's what we got Tuesday through Wednesday morning.

And wouldn't you know it, I couldn't get the frickin' snow blower started. Well that's not true. I got it started - I just couldn't keep it started. Then eventually it wouldn't start again.

I watched as it lightly snowed most of the day. It was continual, but never heavy. The local weather kept predicting 4-8". No biggie. So around 5p I decide to go out and clear the drive. That's when I found out the blower didn't work. And that we had 7-8" of snow, not the 3" I estimated. I guess it was 'internet inches' in reverse.

It was cold out, the snow was coming down and even though I was ankle deep, my boots never got wet. It was light, but man there was a lot of it. The length of the driveway is about 80' and maybe 7' wide and that doesn't include the top of the drive.

By the time I got the 80' x 7' portion done, two more inches had fallen. Ok - we officially surpassed the 8" that were predicted and had 14 more hours before the storm was to be over. This was not looking good. I actually went back and cleared the other 2" before heading indoors. I knew I was going to be in pain by the time I put the shovel back in the garage. And the pain presented itself before I went to bed - but it got worse as Wednesday wore on.

Ruckiry (not Jon's boss), Denton got the snow blower fixed yesterday morning. All we needed was a new spark plug - which he pulled from the lawn mower. I wasn't sure how we'd clear the drive of the additional 8-9" that fell during the night if we didn't have the blower. And had we not cleared the 7-8" the night before - we couldn't have cleared the entire 17" with the snow blower.

The two feet at the end of the driveway, deposited by our local city snow plow, was another story.

But the snow is done and the sub-zero temps are setting in. We might get into the 30s sometime next week. MAYBE.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

"..the card says 'Please Bee Mine'...and there's a picture of bee on it..."

I'm a Ralph Wiggum in a Bart Simpson world.

Say what you want about Valentine's Day, but the time honoured tradition of the slit cut in a shoebox to receive cards from your classmates is a very early indicator of your social status for your entire school career....if not beyond.

Yes, everyone was supposed to give cards to all class members, but it rarely worked that way. Early on, we gave to select friends and people we wanted to have as friends. Be deemed unpopular by one person and you could be on the road to Obscurityland. Or worse - Ridiculeville.

Invariably, someone would do the heavy sigh/moan that Ralph did. Usually, there were wasn't a Lisa to take pity on you and slip the obligatory card into your box. It was social Darwinism at its most primal. (I love hyperbole, don't you?)

For those of us who figured out their sexual identity somewhat early, Valentine's Day is pretty much of a non-event...especially if you ended up at a same-sex high school. I doubt very much Gene Staiger would have appreciated a card slipped into his locker from me.

As it stands now the day means nothing more than a Hallmark/FTD event. The BF made me a handmade card a few years ago that meant more to me than most anything I have ever received.

Let's face it - if you need to set aside one pre-determined day per year to say 'I love you', you might need to re-examine that relationship.

We say it everyday - and mean it. ...but V-day is always a good excuse for a nice meal.


Tuesday, February 13, 2007

The Gays are Coming!!! The Gays are Coming!!!

Oh probably not. But they're being invited!

Cleveland is making an effort to attract the queers. All that disposable income they have can be used here on........on........um......on........wait a frickin' minute, I'm thinking.

The Travel Industry Association found the average gay party of 2.8 people spent an average $2,940 per trip, compared with $2,870 per trip spent by the average heterosexual party of 3.8 people. The $70 extra dollars we spend is just on fans, whistles and fancy soaps! Other than that, we're just like everyone else.

The gays can go to resturants, comedy clubs, bars and baths in any town....though the powers that be are quick to point out we have TWO bath houses! When is the last time that was a selling point for tourism? So what is the attraction here really?

I can't imagine the Indians are pulling in that many same-sex couple sports fans. I mean Thome and Omar are long gone! Maybe the draw is the Botanical Gardens or Rock N' Roll Hall o'Fame. What gay man doesn't love trees and a Blondie exhibit? More realistically, we're just going to be used as a stop over for the folks wanting to ride the coasters at Cedar Point. I mean, no one really wants to stay in Sandusky! Though there, you have your choice of Ponderosa or Sizzler!

Frankly, the entire initiative is all kind of a slap in the face. The state that spent the last three years to go out of its way to make its gay citizens feel unwelcome, now they want visitor dollars from the same group. FUCK THEM!

True to our proactive nature, we're following the lead of 67 other cities who are doing similar campaigns (I'm not making that number up either). We are so forward thinking, that we are probably only behind Ada, Oklahoma in this endeavour.

I'd pull off a YouTube of the Daily Show's Rob Cordray doing a piece a few years back regarding Philadelphia's campaign to lure gay tourists, but Viacom had them all yanked - and the Daily Show's site no longer has them on their own site. So I'll leave you with one of his questions to a Philly tourism leader:

"I'm a 19 yo meth addict with a love of historical documents - where can I go??"

Lordy!

Monday, February 12, 2007

Batting 1.000

I am loving that the Chicks ruled the roost last night. 5 for 5. I'm not sure which award was the best - 'album of the year' or winning both categories in country, from which they'd been shunned.

I am becoming more and more like Morty - that I just don't enjoy award shows. Unlike most, I tuned in for the Chicks performance, not the Police. The gals got off to a rocky start with their song, but I think it went pretty well overall - and I think Natalie looks great with dark (and most likely her natural colour) hair.

The Police....well.....'Roxanne' was a little too obvious of a choice and far from being their best song. Sting-a-ling-a-ding-dong looked great, but the performance had too much of a touch of free-form jazz. Je didn't enjoy it. But I've never enjoyed that song, so they were in a no-win situation with me.

At least the two performances I wanted to see were in the first half hour and then we didn't have to watch any more of it.
it should be noted.......

I did not make the top listing of the World's Worst Dictators. Again! First the Bloggies and now this! Is there no end to this public humiliation?

To be honest, I was cornfused by the list. Making the grade - Kim Jong-il...sure, I can see that. Omar al-Bashir...right at the top....and for good reason. No Castro on the list? But included was Putin? I thought he was President of Russia. Mubarak? President of Egypt - no?

This got me thinking about what is a dictator. The definition is 'a ruler who is unconstrained by law' or 'A ruler with absolute power and authority, especially one who exercises this power and authority tyrannically' or 'A ruler who is not restricted by a constitution, laws or any opposition.'

So riddle me this: if we are going the definition - why isn't Shrub on the list? Technically W doesn't have absolute power or authority. And technically he is restricted by a constitution and has opposition. Yet he chooses to ignore those things and plow ahead his own way with little or no regard to the citizens of his country. Just like a dictator would.

btw...I get all my hard-hitting news from Parade Magazine. Doesn't everyone??

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Gay Men Rule

Lance and Joshua have kindly invited me to be a contributor to the existing multi-authored blog, Gay Men Rule. I was honored, so naturally I accepted.

In existence for less than a year, their readership is coming close to rivaling mine - which has been out there for almost four years. But to be fair, I only started counting visits about a year ago - so I really had no idea how many hits I may have been getting.

Though I will try to have original posts in each blog I can't guarantee it. Some folks will cross-post and I think that is fine, but that is not my goal. I would like people to visit both sites. At some point I am hoping to have such great entries that I will want to cross-post. Clearly with 60 or so contributors to GMR, they do not think they need a post from me every day. Maybe not even every week.

As it goes - my first post there was yesterday. Stop by - take a look.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

20K

I rolled over the 20,000 visit mark earlier today. It seems I'm averaging 10k visitors every six months. In theory that should make my total hits around 70-80k since it's inception. The counter only went in 14 mos ago so there is no true way of knowing what happened beforehand.

The lucky 20,000th visitor is from Lorain, OH. That's only about 40 minutes from me - but I can't say I know anyone from there. Avon Lake, Bay Village or Vermillion sure. Lorain - not so much.

I used to be envious of the folks who get 1000 hits per day (yes Moby - I'm talkin' to you!), but at some point you just have to say - this is me and I can't really be compared to anyone else. I'm happy to get my 50-100 daily hits.

Now if I could only find a way to migrate (easiry) my stuff on Wordpress to my Blobby's Blog hosting site. I'd be golden!
CRIMINAL RULE 16

There is a columnist in Cleveland I just don't normally care much for. But a while back, she and a few others wrote about Ohio Criminal Rule 16 and asked for citizen support in turning over the measure. I just kept reading the article and though I was supportive and a little outraged, I did nothing.

Ohio law actually has a provision not allowing defense attorneys access to information that prosecuters have in criminal cases. You know - like something as simple as police and witness reports. Oddly enough, this does not pertain to civil cases. Go figure.

In a perfect world, the district attorneys would share this open discovery information with the defense. Ohio is far from being a perfect world.

If the D.A. wants to railroad someone, or just build their careers on their own prosecutorial records, they can do it. Nothing stopping them. Even if that evidence might clear the defendant or at the very least, bring up reasonable doubt. In Dec '06, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled 4-2 to keep this provision in place.

The Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers obviously have an interest in this provision being changed. Actually so should every citizen. No one ever thinks about what if it were themselves who was now on trial. The amount of people who are wrongly prosecuted, convicted and sometimes condemend to death is atrocious. Even if it's only one!

Check out the .pdf of Broken Duty on OACDL site. Or check out the ACLU's thoughts.

Allegedly, Jo Ellen Cline, Legislative Counsel, Supreme Court of Ohio says all it takes is one letter written to her requesting the matter be looked into for her to consider it. I doubt it. Maybe a few dozen will though. This time I was not silent.

I wrote my letter with all the suggestions to make the point to the state:
  • we all have rights to a fair trial
  • prosecutors should share all law enforcement reports and witness statements before trials
  • each letter received needs to be read by each justice before they vote
Blogsophere? I rarely ask any favors of you. Will you do me a favor and drop an email to her at: clinej@sconet.state.oh.us

There are power in numbers.

Friday, February 09, 2007

Kathy Griffin

I'm not sure if the timing could have been worse or couldn't have been better.

We had tickets to see Kathy Griffin last night. A few hours prior to the show, Anna Nicole Smith dies in a Florida hotel room. For those who don't follow Griffin's work, more than once she has used Smith as fodder for her stand-up and usually it is funny. The whole event could have been somewhat fortuitous for Griffin. Or could have been career ending - depending on how she played it.

I had mentioned to friends that she would either say nothing about the event or the entire show would be about Smith. When she came out 15-20 minutes late, I assumed it was because she was rewriting her entire show. I was wrong on all counts. Griffin opened with (and I'm paraphrasing): "I got nothing. I knew her and she died. I can't joke about it." And that was that. Then she moved on to a very mediocre show.

She did go through the usual cast of suspects: Abdul, Lohan, Trump, Walters - but nothing that was horribly scathing. The stand-up was funny in some places, but man did it d-r-a-g in others. There is something to be said for her televised shows - and editing. She was funnier when we saw her a year ago. I think it is safe to say we won't be running out to see her again anytime soon.

And Kathy is all about her gays. And they are all about her. The theatre was sold out - and about 90% gay gay gay. Probably easier to get picked up there than a bar, Restoration Hardware or Crate & Barrel (and the last two easier than a bar!).

Interesting side note - at dinner before the show, I thought I saw someone I knew from Ohio State whom I had not seen in 20+ years. And it was he. What are the odds he sat directly in front of us at the show?

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Dear Kitty.....

Ok, so this isn't Anne Frank! Like I could live in an attic or be quiet for two minutes, let alone two years!

I've been majorly distracted over the last few days (or has it been weeks?). This post isn't completely throw-away, because if nothing else, I found it funny. Denton's brother-in-law, Mike, sent it to us. It should be known, his family only have cats, as we do.

The cat portion is all very Stewie, dontcha think?


Excerpts from a Dog's Diary:


8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!


Excerpts from a Cat's Diary:

Day 683 of my captivity:

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.

They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the floor.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about "what a good little hunter" I am. The audacity!

There was some sort a assemble of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event.

However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means,and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow-but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released-and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded!

The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe........for now.....

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Site of the Month

It seems fun. It seems logical. It seems probable that I'll never do it. But I want to. So do you. Everyone does. Of course, everyone thinks other people are the problem and it's never them.

...but at least it isn't me!

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

DNC

The DNC is as bad as any other money raising organization. I contribute to them when I can or when I think the effort is worthwhile. For years, with their spineless faction, I decided to directly gave to candidates I believed in and ignored the DNC. Since Mr./Dr./Gov. Howard Dean has been in place, I've helped out a bit more. Until I lost my job.

Two weeks ago I told the DNC to 'take me off their call list'. They were NOT happy. They had gone through their entire schpiel about how they drained all their funds and resources from the November elections and did I know how important having a democratic congress was? Blow me! Don't talk down to me!

I explained to them that I was currently unemployed and when I could give, I would give. The chick on the other end of the phone was unrelenting. Like any money asking organization, they just start paring down the amount that one could give. After a few 'no' answers, I just got nasty. I lied and said, 'are you gonna help pay my mortgage when I give you my last $50?'. Then I told her to take me off their list.

Over the weekend I got a DNC survey of issues asking for my input. Mind you - the top portion of the survey is a contribution section. I'll assume the more I check, the more they consider my responses. If nothing is checked, I bet my survey goes right in the shredder.

Monday, February 05, 2007

So.Very.Cold.

It is quite possible every school in NE Ohio is closed today. -4 is the temp and that is without the wind. I swear, if I didn't have to get out of bed to pee, I might not have come out from under the covers. The cats were actually cuddled together at my hips all night trying to keep warm.

Remember a little while ago when I said because we had such a mild December and January that I couldn't really complain about the cold, etc? Yeah - that's all done with. I'm bitching now.

It was like this yesterday. It was like this Saturday - except the winds were at 30 mph. It will be like this tomorrow. We might get into +degree weather on Wednesday.

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Puppy Bowl III

Breaking News Flash: I don't give a rat's ass about the Uber Bowl. Shocking, but true.

Not that I'm much of a pro-football fan anyway, but it's hard to get jazzed up about two teams that you know little about and care less than that. Even my brother-in-law, who is pretty die-hard with his sports watches for the commercials.

Ruckiry (not Jon's boss), Animal Planet shows the Puppy Bowl at the same time. They throw a dozen or so puppies on a faux gridiron to romp around with chew toys and balls. The puppies wrestle and play. Now and again, they head over to the clear water bowl, where there is a camera situated right underneath. Not a lot cuter than a close-up of a puppy's tongue lapping up the water.

Well there is: The Kitty Half-Time Show.


I think the entire thing is 60 or 90 minutes and Animal Planet just keeps replaying it. It's cute. It's fun. It's better than a Budweiser ad.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

YouTube Saturday

I'm almost 100% sure this isn't Madonna. And I'm pretttttty sure the 'Madge' in the final clip isn't even a woman. At least yet. Give him/her time.

Yes....I'm joking. I know what is what. I do like the big bottle of malt liquor and bucket of chicken. And they do say the camera adds 10 lbs.


Friday, February 02, 2007

BLOGGER 90210

Major blog overhaul is coming. Yeah, I know I keep saying it, but this time it's true. I swear.

Blogger Beta has been bad to me. I've been bad to me - but Blogger Beta has been worse. I keep striking out 'beta' because it is no longer beta.

When I updated from my old url to blobbysblog.com, I pretty much lost all my archived posts. I have them, but they didn't publish and I never got around to reloading them.

Two days ago when the old version of Blogger wouldn't let me log in anymore, I was forced to sign up for Blogger Beta. Well, that wiped out the 4-5 mos. of archived posts that were still visible. It also wiped out the image in my header and messed up a bunch of my settings in the template. Oy.

So, I'm leaving Blogger. I'm hopping over to Word Press as my blog editor of choice. There is just one MAJOR hitch: importing.

Had I attempted to move this blog to Word Press just a day or two earlier, it would have been somewhat of a breeze. Posts, links and comments would have come through automatically. However no images would have transferred. As it turns out it didn't matter. After having to update to the new version of Blogger, I found out Word Press cannot import anything from Blogger Beta at all. Frick!

So I am copying each and every post from Blogger - individually - and pasting it into Word Press. But to keep the integrity of the original blog, I then have to re-time stamp/date the posts so they are like they were always there. I've already updated 2003, 2004, half of 2005 and all of 2007. The bulk of my posts were 2006, so I have a few more days to go in completing this task. After that's done, then I can export them to my url. To my readership, it will be seamless. I hope.

This is a painful process - and I'm not really talking about the copy/paste functions. I am forced to look at every single one of my entries again. It's all I can do to not edit edit edit.

In its early stages the blog was not that good downright bad. Some entries were one line long. Some of them have broken links - which is understandable. At least one, I have NO idea what I was even alluding to. But, I'm leaving them as is.

At first, I wasn't sure of my blog-style: not quite essay. not quite diary. not quite one-liners. It's still 'stuff & nonsense' - and I don't see that changing. But the quality of the writing has gotten somewhat better. It's better than a Fabio penned novel, but not as good as a Marisa de los Santos one. G-d willing - I'll get there!

Within the next week, I plan to have a new look - and one that doesn't involve bigger boobies.
HOT ENOUGH FOR YA?

Jon sent me this. He was questioning if SPF 30000 would be sufficient. I'm thinking yes and no...depending on the day.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

BEST. BAND. NAME. EVER.

I don't think anyone (and I do mean ANYONE) would probably consider me a prude. Oh sure, I might cringe my nose when someone brings up Dirty Sanchez, but hey, whatever floats your boat. (yet do you know anyone who has ever done such a thing? I think not!)

Though I know I am not the only one, I've always had some weird thing for picking a good band name out of just normal conversational phrases. They always seem good and/or funny at the time, but it is safe to say that I have not taken the energy to commit any of them to memory....which is saying something.

Every once in awhile you come across a real band name that just gives one pause. While reading one of the local rags yesterday, I noticed an ad for a band that will be appearing at the Grog Shop, which is a neighborhood venue for smaller and unestablished acts. This upcoming March, a band you are sure to never ever ever ever never ever ever to hear on the radio, see on any video station or in a large print ad. Ever.


wait for it.....



wait for it....



ANAL CUNT!!!! the exclamation points are mine.


...and for g-d's sake, even THEY have a wikipedia link. Am I the ONLY one who doesn't??

There is no www.analcunt.com....well, there is, but it's not linked to the band, much like www.dicks.com is not linked to the sporting goods chain. (go ahead, type them. I know you want to!)

I'll assume they are not easy-listening or MOR when their albums are 40 Reasons to Hate Us, Everyone Should be KILLED and It Just Gets Worse.

Any reference to them coming to Cleveland was certainly omitted from the Grog Shop's Plain Dealer ad today. There were the bands appearing on 3/10 and 3/12, but the PD would have you believe there is no band on 3/11. Prudes, I tellz ya.

Oh - and don't you just love their logo?