Friday, October 31, 2008

Updated Pic

Post sleepy puffiness has decreased. The lighting is better (kind of). The bags under my eyes aren't as bad (sort of).

I'm thinking in a few years, I might need to see Dr. 90210. Or Jess DeMaria.

Halloween

Remember this shirt?No. No you don't. Well, Dity, Morty and especially Jon might. The rest of you - not so much.

Yes, 20 years later, I still own it. I wear it about once a year. Like........on this day. I was never able to wear it to my old job, but I can at this one. On this day. It is as close as I get to dressing up on All Hallow's Eve. I suspect, if we ever got trick or treaters, they might get a chuckle out of Old Man Blobby and his shirt. ....but they never come. Maybe this year will be different.

I remember buying this shirt a Puttin' on the Dog in Columbus. It just jumped out to me and I had to have it. I probably couldn't afford it. It didn't fit (at the time). And of course, the only place I really had to wear it to was either the Garage or Wall St (Wednesday nights only, of course!). Like then, it feels a bit blouse-y, though I'm sure I've.....um.....grown. Just not in the arms. The sleeves are still too long.

The tag on it, I just saw, says 'What's Happening', and of course now I can only think of Rog, Duane and Rerun. Great!

I clearly remember wearing the shirt on at least one occasion when I was doing Ecstasy. I do not remember that night specifically, but I can almost guarantee it didn't end that well. They rarely did. It always ended in teeth grinding, tense/sore jaw and next morning I was always full of tears for not good reason. Not that it ever really stopped me from taking it again and again.

There is some memory of me also wearing jewelry around my neck (it's not a necklace!) that David G got me. I still have it - I came across it the other day. Yes, it read BIG FAG. That's how much he thinks of me.

I cannot imagine that during those days that I didn't wear it at Halloween. It seems a natural. Much more so than doing drag.

Oh - and for the love of g-d, would someone please remind me not to take self-pictures at 6 a.m.. It's not a pretty thing.



song by: Kirsty MacColl

Thursday, October 30, 2008

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).



Yeah - I'm a few months behind on this release. I bought it day one, but just never got around to writing about it.

Hailed even pre-release as a return to R.E.M.'s roots, and the press laid so much credence in this thought - it would kind of be hard to live up to.

The result - they do and they don't.

Is Accelerate the new Fables of the Reconstruction? No. But I didn't expect it to be. But on the upside, it's also not one of their last two or three releases either. While those were not horrid, they were just there and not horribly well thought out.

I enjoyed Accelerate - more than any disk since Automatic for the People - but that is not to compare those two disks. The new release has much much much more guitar - much more of a core band feel. It is a welcome retro feel, but it is not 1980 - make no mistake.

I really enjoy the first four songs - especially "Hallow Man" and "Supernatural Superserious". Michael Stipe's vocal abilities haven't changed too much over the years, but what I never hear anyone go on about is how much Mike Mills' harmonies really help make the band. I've always been a fan of Peter Buck's guitar playing.

Accelerate isn't as fun as Document, Reckoning or Murmur - but it's not meant to be. Of course, I just might be stuck in my own nostalgia. But Accelerate takes the energy of the old R.E.M. and sticks them in the present.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Hit Me With You Best Shot

It's the time, of the season, where love runs high.....

Oh no, not love. Virus. Eh - same thing!

It is that time - flu shot time. Trying to ward off the flu another year. So far I've done pretty well. Yeah, I get my annual cold - 3rd week of January - come rain or shine, and yeah, I got the Norovirus almost a year ago, but neither of them were flu.

Most folks don't even know what flu is. They think it's a bad cold: it isn't. They think it happens when it's cold out: it doesn't have to be.

It really just is a nasty virus that is usually spread by folks who don't who are carriers in their sneezes, coughs, and nasal secretions. Yummy! 226,000 folks are hospitalized by this annually - 36,000 die.

But so many people say - "oh, it gave me the flu". It did NOT. And what it does is also help those who do not get sick, who are carriers, unknowingly giving it to others.

Anywho.....I got mine yesterdee. It didn't hurt or nothin'!

Get it. Get it now. It takes 6 weeks to take effect, which is good because Flu Season really will not start until January or February - and runs through March. Watch hospital admission rates rise in March with all the folks with respiratory conditions, because you did nothing!

For shame!



Song by: Pat Benatar

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Shopping with 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!



Tripe.

Blech. Totally disgusting. Though it kind of looks cool. Until the "sealed" package began leaking all over my hand. ....and all so I could get you guys a picture.

See what I go through for you folks? I hope you appreciate it.

But seriously - who the hell really uses this stuff to cook with?

Monday, October 27, 2008

Choice in the Matter

I completed my absentee ballot yesterday. It is getting mailed this morning.

Like a moron, I voted for Nader by accident.

KIDDING!

No, but like a moron, I had licked the inner envelope (yes, there is a second outer one as well!) before I realized I hadn't taken a picture of my SAT-like circle fill-in process. I was going to use that for the image of this blog entry.

I didn't dare try to take it out and snap before the glue dried. I'm sure if it came open or I taped it, that the vote wouldn't be counted. So you'll have to go with some cheesy image I got off the internets.

I don't want to get too cushy - but I love that most of the polls have Obama ahead, even in some red and purple states. But overall, he was running 3.9-12 points ahead, depending on the poll. Not to be complacent, but McCain was ahead in three of the state polls, but in none of the national ones.

...and...some polls (IBD, which was had Obama at the lowest margin) at one point last week had McCain favored at like 72% amongst 18-24 year olds.

Yeah, at first you'd say, "ZOIKS", until you realize that the 18-24 year olds they polled, who they could get ahold of, were mostly on military college campuses. Most other 18-24 year olds use cell phones, not land lines - so they were not being polled.

...and in late last week, IBD only had Obama up by a margin of one. So even at 3.9, it is improving.

But do NOT go down Easy St. You still have to vote!



Song by: Aimee Mann

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Comic Books

As it gets closer and closer to election day, I'm finding it harder and harder to only do one post a day. Things just seem to present themselves to me on silver platter.

While wanting to be relevant, I also like to retain the 'stuff & nonsense' this blog is about - for the most part. But I'm also finding that time is ticking away where I haven't even done my Record of the Month or my Shopping with Blobby segments. Time's a-wastin'.

Chop Chop!

So for today, since it is Sunday - I bring you something from the Sunday Funnies: Doonesbury


As timely as it is, and as funny as it is, the subject is already a bit tiresome - no? It has become apparent that McCain as no other talking point and "Joe" is brought up more in his conversation than She Who Must Not Be Named.

I had to pull this from the Washington Post - and what I found most interesting about it is, that in the Plain Dealer, they cut the first two panels.

I am used to the PD dumbing-down the NYT articles. Yes, they change as many polysyllabic words as possible and cut a two page article in the Times down to five paragraphs in the PD. We ain't done got no edjucation here!

....but comic editing? This is a new one on me. I guess I will have to start reading these on-line too - just to see what I'm missing. For all I know, maybe someone in Apartment 3-G had an abortion!



Song by: Debbie Harry

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Tusk

I was going to call this "Bread & Circuses", but apparently I used that song title back in June. So, now what?

"Baby Elephant Walk"? The White Stripes have a disk called Elephant, but not song title by that name. So I guess I'll just go with the obvious. Well, obvious to me.

The other day, the circus came to town. To get the pachyderms from the train to the arena, well, they have to walk them up E. 9th St. No other way to really do it. I actually was late to a conference call to go down and see them. The street was already lined with folks just waiting for the free show. Some guy even asked me, "Is there going to be a parade for something?". When I told him the real reason, he just shrugged and walked away.


I've never been to the circus. It was nothing that ever intrigued me. Clowns. Freaks. Sideshows. Guys in tights. One can get that at any gay bar.

...and there was not a PETA protester in sight - which I thought might happen. ....at the elephant escort, not at the gay bar.

But as I go back to Tusk, I have a weird story to relay that I've been carrying around for about 30 years that I'm not sure I ever told anyone, as they probably would just think (more) weirdly of me.

You know me and my dreams (though I haven't written about one in quite a while). One night back in 1978, I dreamed I was in this huge group photo, sitting on some loading dock that had dozens of people in it, including the members of Fleetwood Mac. The next morning I woke up and WMMS (home of the Buzzard!) made a concert announcement that the band would be headlining the World Series of Rock.

Flash forward another year or so, when Tusk was actually released. Two disks, that had intricate packaging with each record getting two separate sleeves, or basically eight areas of artwork. Some were straight on band pictures, but two were collages of pictures, doodles, and elephants. But one of those small pictures in the collage was one of dozens of people on a loading dock - the exact one I had in my dream 16 months or so earlier.

It kind of freaked me out, but I was 16.

I'd show you the actual image, but nowhere in Goooooooogle can I find it. I thought geeks scanned and posted everything.


Song by: Fleetwood Mac

Friday, October 24, 2008

Bless the Beast & the Children
(except for RJ)

Everyone knows I tease the ones I love. Right? RIGHT?

So, I'm taking a moveon.org thingy that Morty showed a number of us yesterday morning, and then I just customized it to poke RJ in the ribs. He knows why.

I guess I could have just email it to him directly, but where is the fun in that? Isn't it more fun when someone stumbles up a post that is somewhat about yourself?



Ok - maybe the video was all about him - but the post isn't.

No, this is actually for all the registered voters who don't take the time to get to the polls. You really need to. Yes, it will be a pain - as the lines will be long, since I'm assuming it will be possibly the biggest turn-out since I've been voting.

As it turns out for me, I'll be voting via mail, since I will actually be in DC on election day. Oddly enough, I hate that. I want to be home to celebrate or commiserate. Oddly enough, DC will probably be dead - as every politico will be out in their own district, or trying to stop the minorities and elderly from getting to their voting stations.

11 more days people. 11 more days.



Song by: the Carpenters

Thursday, October 23, 2008

I'm the Cat


Oh she looks cute - but as we all know, looks can be deceiving. She is 90% good and 100% evil. All eight pounds of her.

Yes, the math does not add up....but it's still pretty accurate. She is 90% good with us and about 100% evil with her sister. Poor Tovah, she puts up with a lot from this one. The little one wants to be alpha cat.

Sophie is still the snuggly and purry and more like a dog than a cat. We can play fetch or tug on a string for hours at a time and she just never gets tired of it. But she has no issue just walking over and taking a chomp out of Tovah - completely unprovoked. Sheesh.

And while I (or we) should discourage the behavior, she has now figured out how to open all of the cabinets in the sunroom. You walk in and it looks like the kitchen scene in The Sixth Sense with all the cupboards wide-open.

Soph just gets in - and if the door shuts behind her, she's ok. She'll eventually push her way out. But more often, she gets in there and pushes things out or finding her hidden toys - mostly strings (as she brings me one right now as I type this). She'll just sit at your feet and quietly meow, just asking to play. It's really hard to say 'no'.

I also don't say 'no' at bedtime. She likes to get between my legs to sleep. Somehow I accommodate this. It is uncomfortable, but like I said, I can't say 'no' to her. Usually.

Anyway, it's not that I missed it - I just missed blogging about it: we rescued her two years ago (three days ago). Or she rescued us, is more like it.



Song by: Jackson Browne

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Family Man


Did you guys see Family Guy the other night? Did ya? Did ya?

The episode was only ok, but it had a great great great dig, that effectively (I think) tied McCain & Palin to Nazis.

Yes, you heard that right.

The image you see in the corner of this post is Stewie, who had traveled back in time to when Hitler & Gang invaded Poland. Stewie was dressed as Adolph. He looked down at his uniform and goes, "oh what's this....?" and unveils the above pin attached to his jacket.

It got HUGE yucks in this house - and there are only two of us. Well, four, but the cats just didn't get the joke. It actually topped the bumper sticker that was slapped on the back of an Imperial Cruiser in their version of Star Wars.



Don't bother trying YouTube'ing it. Fox has already taken it down. But there are quite a number of articles all over the internets mentioning, praising, or defaming the episode.

My understanding is that Madonna also tries to tie McCain to Hitler in her new tour - but I haven't seen it nor do I plan to. Seems the poor old fogey can't seem to catch a break. Of course, he is probably old enough to actually know Hitler.

So to recap: McCain=Bad!



Song by: Fleetwood Mac

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Pull Up to the Bumper

It's days like this, when Denton turns a slight shade of red when he is with me.

Why? Because I have no qualms about stopping in a crowded parking lot, taking out my phone and snapping a picture of something I find amusing. ....even if/when there are onlookers. ...which there were.

If nothing else, it probably got people to come over after I was done, just to see what made me stop in my tracks and snap a photo. Hopefully, they got a laugh out of it. (click on image to enlarge - as always.)

My brother-in-law did. Technically, he's Denton's brother-in-law, but we're all family, right? I sent it to Denton's sister and parents too - but have yet to hear back from them.

I was urged not to send it to his aunt, as it was questionable if she has ever heard the term "WTF"? ...and no one wanted to explain it to the point where they had to drop the F bomb. They are not as crass as I am. But who is? I mean.....really?

For all the words I have written about She Who Must Not be Named, three little letters pretty much sum it up - and a lot more concisely. ahhhh.......the magic of the bumper sticker. Life's little editor.


Song by: Grace Jones

Monday, October 20, 2008

Woman Like a Man

Sarah Palin's first press conference went exactly how I expected it would. Fortunately, it was really Tina Fey.....and again, she was hilarious (sorry, Becca!).

Update before even posting: Believe it or not, NBC and/or SNL have taken off the opening skit from their site. I had it linked and before I posted, I checked it and it was gone only to be replaced by Palin saying "Live from New York....". I'm not giving that twat any airtime on my blog....not unless it really embarrasses her as a human being, let alone a candidate, that is.

(update update: apparently the clip is back up)


Unfortunately, Alec Baldwin, usually a comedy powerhouse on so many SNL skits, was weak weak weak and you can see him reading every. single. syllable. Palin's (the "real" one) appearance on Weekend Update was predictable and weak. Let's face it - she did nothing! ....much like she would do, if ever in office.

At least the MacGruber skits were somewhat funny! The first one was great.

While perusing some websites, I did my monthly look at Marti Jones' site. I've blogged at least twice about Marti - one being a concert I saw of hers earlier this summer and then a year before that, as a Record of the Month post.

I saw this little snippet and just had to copy and paste it her observation of Palin.

Is it just me, or is the issue of Sarah Palin's masquerading as "one of us" as in "(one of us) women," being over emphasized? Sarah Palin stands for the anti-advancement of everything! She doesn't represent me OR my husband. It wouldn't matter if she were a man, we would both feel the same way. Women have long strived for equality; equality among humans, not equality among women. We have equal rights, not equal philosophies. And to me, equality means diversity. Freedom to be who and what we want to be. So, what we have is an asshole running for VP.Not a woman.

Yes, I totally lifted it, and if Marti ever sees it, I apologize in advance for taking it without her permission.



Song by: Damien Rice

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Freedom of Choice

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has endorsed Obama.

I'm not really surprised, but one just never knows. And maybe others know this - but I am unaware of how much cache a newspaper endorsement holds. I don't know how, or if, it translates into actual votes. There might be statistics on this, but I'm not willing to do the research.

Cleveland and Cuyahoga county are big Democratic strongholds, so it might not mean a thing. If Obama carries the state, it will be on Cuyahoga and Franklin counties coattails. We have been a reddish state for almost the last decade (longer if you count governors), and it would nice to be blue. But in reality we will be purple.

As much at the editorial board saw a need for change, they took a few swipes at McCain. You can read the entire PD endorsement here if you'd like, but I thought I'd take the time to post what I thought were the highlights:

We salute McCain as an exemplary citizen and a Washington rebel. But as a presidential nominee, McCain has been a disappointment. He was late to understand the primacy of economic pain. He has failed even to define a rationale for a McCain presidency. Experience is useful, but it's not vision.

In their first debate, McCain haughtily said that Obama did not understand the difference between strategy and tactics. His campaign suggests that he doesn't, either.

Take his selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. McCain seemed too caught up in the game-changing possibilities of teaming with a woman reformer to scratch the smiling surface. Had he, McCain might have realized that Palin is utterly unprepared for the job he offered -- let alone the one that might fall to her. His trust in her undermines our trust in him.

Trust is essential to the presidency. Americans want to believe that the chief executive understands their lives, will protect their interests and will not compromise their safety. They want a president who represents what America can be, not what it has been.


Ouchy!!!

CNN had a poll at their on-line site, and while not scientific, it shows that most folks have made their final decision.
Yet here we are - having to wait 18 more days to find out. 18 more days of bad late night jokes. 18 more days of robo-calls. 18 more days of ad after ad after ad.

Of course, it will be over soon, just not soon enough. Hopefully there will be something to celebrate.



Song by: Devo

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Angry

Yeah, I watched Countdown the other night, but it probably took an email from my like-minded sister (scary thought, no? two of us?) to get me to post Keith Olbermann's special commentary.

You have to wait until about 1:55 into the clip for him to get going, but it is well worth it. And as usual, he hits the nail on the head. Or through it.



I've seen him irate before, but I think he kicks it up a notch here.

My first thought went to the Simpsons (at it often does) of Krusty's 29th Anniversary Special. In it, there is a clip of a little known Sideshow Raheem:

Krusty tentatively says "Ah... the script says I have to bonk you with this" (holding a hammer); Raheem curtly replies "I wouldn't!!!!" "Right on!" says Krusty. Then after the clip is over, Krusty mutters, almost to himself,: "Angry.... angry young man."

Is Keith our new Raheem? Let's hope.



Song by: Pat Benatar

Friday, October 17, 2008

We Believe in Happy Endings

For all the hard work "we" have been doing during our integration, the main offices have been getting two days a month of chair massages.

Naturally, one must sign up for an open time slot - which are 15 minutes long. Some people have the gall to sign up for two consecutive slots. The nerve!

I think I have mentioned here (well, I know I have) that I have never had a massage. Not a professional one anyway! {wink} But yesterday, I filled in for the only 15 minute slot they had free, which I also had available.

I'm not sure what to think about it. It was in a room we would normally give shots or physicals in - basically the school nurse's office. The music that was playing would have made Enya sound like she plays speed metal. She had some mint scent floating around the room - I suppose it was meant to soothe. I don't know if it did or didn't.

If you've seen the chair massage - I was just face down in the covered toilet-like seat. And overall, it was pretty unremarkable. The back and shoulder rub felt ok, but that's it. It is not like I was full of knots. But when she got to the back of my head, man it felt great. Had she done that for the entire quarter-hour, I think I would have been just fine.

Relaxing? Not really. She was a chatterer. Whatever quiet-time I should have been experiencing, she filled the void with talk. Talk talk talk.

...and of course, no happy ending. Not that I minded. She wasn't my type. No dangling y chromosome.

Will I go back next month? Sure. I already signed up. But I suppose, it is possible I might no longer be on-site.




Song by: Emmylou Harris & Earl Thomas Conley

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Money Can't Buy It

Well that bump in the market didn't last long, did it?

733 points down. Ouchy.

W is going to shore up some banks to the tune of $25o BILLION!!! This announcement was supposed to bolster the market and the economy.

I am shocked - SHOCKED!!!!! - that Bush's well thought out plan has backfired, since he is such a brilliant economist and we have lived in such prosperous times during these last eight years.

I am not an economist. But it was my understanding of the $700 billion dollar plan is that it would be doled out in $250 increments with some kind of results that would have to be shown before additional funds would be released. Fuck if I knew it was the plan to let Bush do with the money as he or his crack appointees saw fit.

It kind of stinks of how Congress gave him powers of war back in 2001-2002. They fuckin' react to a situation of fear and expediency and it continually comes back to bite us in the ass.

The tiresome thing of all of this is: no representative or senator listens to, or asks, their constituency what they want. They claim to be doing the will of the people, but they do what they want, regardless of what we want. They in turn are telling us what we want - even if it is not the case.

Off with their heads!!!!



Song by: Annie Lennox

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Site of the Month


I'm giving the credit for this one to Denton. We were lying in bed and he axed me if i had heard of Jott.

I had not.

Jott is a voice-activated program that allows you to draft emails, Twitters, voice memos to your iPhone or update your Facebook page, if you feel the need. It seems you can also update your Blogger or Wordpress blogs.

There is a free version, but of course there are $$$$ versions too. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you get what you pay for.

It is kind of a neat idea, but I don't need this. I don't feel the need to blog this way - or Twitter. Maybe some day, but not today. Not tomorrow.

It brings a new meaning to the term, "phoning it in".

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Record of the Month - Classic

Another installment of a disk I have enjoyed over the years. I'm trying to keep the Record of the Month posts to be fairly new releases. Classics are going to be ones that are at least 5 years old.

Times have been bad these last few weeks. Between the election, the market, Britney Spears threat of having another album release! It should be time for something fun.

So why not the G0-Go's debut disk?

In 1981, I played the hell out of Beauty and the Beat. And if I never hear "We Got the Beat" or "Our Lips Are Sealed" again, that's ok. They are not bad, just way way way overplayed.

The rest of the disk though is still great. As easy as it is to love songs like "Lust to Love", "This Town" and "Fading Fast", one must go back and revisit "Automatic", "You Can't Walk in Your Sleep (if You Can't Sleep)", and "Can't Stop the World". They are really good in their own right. So are the remaining tracks.

I think part of what drew me to the disk was that it was produced by Richard Gottehrer, as I so liked his work on Blondie's first two disks.

Almost nothing clocks in over three and one-half minutes, just making each one a potential for pop perfection. Belinda Carlisle doesn't exhibit the vibrato that I thought hampered her solo career. The rest of the women are more than adequate musicians and songwriters - not that you'd see that on their follow-up disk.

It's not a throwaway album, but if you're looking for deep and meaningful music, this ain't the disk for you. Just listen to it for what it is: good, fun, energetic and light-hearted.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Rosie Strike Back

I have been a fan of Rosanne Cash's since the late 70's. Yes, I'm that old. She is and was a great interpretive recording artist, but she is a really impressive songwriter too.

Actually, she is a pretty good writer, period. She has a good book of short stories that is at least a decade old, a children's book (who doesn't?) and something non-fiction that is slated to drop in 2009.

As recording artists go, most of their websites are trash and only updated when they have a product to hawk. Cash's isn't quite like that. Since she only releases a disk every 3-4 years, who'd ever go to her site if it were only updated that often? I can usually go to hers a few times a month to find something new.

She keeps a sort of blog and updates activities along with a standard newsletter, Mrs L's Monthly (her married name is Leventhal - so now you don't have to wonder). Truth be told, there are months that it isn't updated, but that is not really here or there. There are also updates on performances, activities and charities which she is active in.

Cash has also been an infrequent contributor to Measure for Measure, a NYT songwriter's blog. She has had pieces in New York and other publications as well. So I had high hopes for her newest piece that ran in the Nation this last week. It is a very tongue-in-cheek look at the GOP choice for VP: She Who Must Not Be Named.

The article is good, but it's not great. She has all the right intent, but the execution seems half-hearted. Cash is usually smarter and wittier than the piece that is published. Maybe it was hurried job or something.

I guess it is still worth a read.



Song by: Rosanne Cash

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Losers

So, the reports out now are that McCain cannot pull himself up enough to win the presidency on his own merits - but he might be able to secure the White House if he tears down Obama enough.

NPR, the Washington Post and other media outlets are speculating that the next few weeks will be nothing short of a barrage of negativity (really? you don't say!?!) - and the "October surprise" might be in those possibly soon to come ads and rhetoric. The Post even cited what an about face McCain has done since the 2000 election on his election tactics.

I think we saw it start with She Who Must Not Be Named trying to associate Obama with terrorists. I'm guessing that was the starting point and it will just go downhill from there.

Being a fan of conspiracy, I half-believe that the GOP had something to do with misprinting the absentee ballots in Rennselaer, NY. If you hadn't heard or saw, they did indeed list the democratic candidate as "Barack Osama".

Any number of pundits will tell you that McCain's current smear tactics are solidifying his base, but alienating the swing voters, which he will need to really win. Newsweek/MSNBC/McLauglin Group's Lawrence O'Donnell, whom I greatly respect, said he has seen no polling (none!) that doesn't show She Who Must Not Be Named dragging the GOP ticket. Did I say that right? Let me put it this way: she is helping bring McCain down! Good news for us, I suppose.

That being said, a new Newsweek poll has Obama up by 9% nationwide. Hell, even Ohio has him up by 7%. And we all know, no one can win without carrying Ohio.

Update: I wrote this last night and even though polls mid-week (five days ago) had Obama up by 7% in Ohio, today's papers have him down by 2%. WTF is up with that??



Song by: the Cardigans

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Nothing Man

Not much going on. Sad to say.

Maybe it's not sad. Maybe it just is.

This last week I was traveling for work. If I move on, I will kind of miss the travel. At least DC. I love DC. But after almost two years of doing it, the norm the night before is a "I don't want to go". After I'm at the airport, I'm fine. It's just that Sunday night feeling of "oh, I've got school tomorrow" feeling.

So this relaxed job search has now surpassed the three month period. The first contact was at the end of June. It is possible they are coming to a selection in the next week. I'm not holding my breath. But I'm oddly, I'm ok with their timeline - or lack thereof. And let's face it, I'm not a patient man. Axe anyone. I'm not chomping at the bit to go anywhere per se.

I know I'm in the running for this. Obviously. I don't think they'd string me along for 3.5 months - do you? I even got an email from the guy I would report to last week. Naturally I parsed it to the degree of "what did he meant by that!"

...have received positive feedback from a couple of our Division Chiefs that I have spoken with to date regarding their conversations with you...

Does that mean he's only talked to a couple? Or only gotten positive feedback from a couple? Of course, I'm going with the latter. I fully admit, out of the six I spoke with, I only came away feeling great about two of them. Good about two and questionable about two.

Last night, Denton and I ran into on of my old bosses. I always liked Heather and was oddly enough thinking about her as I was in the airport on my way home. It was odd to run into her at dinner. She said, she saw a tall, bald man walk in and thought it was her husband, but it turns out to be me. But she is now working at the place I am looking at. Not the department, but the organization.

So next week we are having lunch or something, just to talk and for her to tell me her thoughts on the place. It will be good to have that perspective.

More later on, as nothing hopefully becomes something.




Song by: Bruce Springsteen

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Stolen

Well, that didn't take long.

As I pointed out in my post, what was it, three days ago (?) that I feared our big-ass Obama sign would be stolen, while Denton and Subohd thought it would only be vandalized.

I win.

Or lose - as the case may be.

Denton went to take the trash out on Wednesday and it was gone. The poles were there - twisted and forced with, but they remained. There sign - not so much.

I don't even know how to describe how I felt. I wasn't as pissed as I was upset - if that makes any sense. Emotions, with me, rarely do. But my stomach and head were churning over this all day long.

Subohd has another sign for us, but I am reluctant to put it out. I don't want 'them' winning, but I don't want another one taken.

My thought is that some crazy college student took it for a debate party or something. But as Morty pointed out, you could not easily have just walk away with it - and it was fairly secure on those poles with some heavy-duty plastic ties that would require cutters to get them off. Someone came well prepared.

Maybe we will get the other sign, but I think I'll wait until sometime between the last debate and the actual election to display it again. And then, we should find some way to make it as tamper-proof as possible.

I'm thinking bear traps hidden in the ground cover around it. That should teach 'em.



Song by: Dashboard Confessional

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Shit Towne

Wow - I guess there is a song title for every post! ....and I need to look no further than my iTunes liberry. But to be truthful, I think almost all of the post titles I use have been from my audio collection. There might be a stray one here or there - but I have a pretty wide-spread music selection

And you all know how I like to take pictures while I drive. I know - it's a dangerous habit, but I do it for this blog. I do it for you!

So imagine my joy when I came upon a sanitation truck. THIS sanitation truck. (click image to enlarge)



Now, is it just my imagination, or does Mr. Smiley Face have a little Dirty Sanchez going on?

I think he does. I think he does.



Song by: Live

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Now I Can't Find the Door

....and now a break from my seemingly non-stop posts on politics. Even I was getting tired of writing them - so reading them was probably no fun either. ....at least after awhile.

As we slowly do some home improvement (not a good sign when the gay couple down the street has lived in their house for 31 years and still improving/renovating!), we just decided to get rid of the monochromatic entrance. Or side entrance as the case may be - but it is used as the main one. Don't ask - it's too complicated.

The entire way we enter the house needs to be redone, but that is a time and cash consuming project. In this economic downturn, investing that much into it is not our highest priority. So with $22 of paint and brushes, we (well Denton) tackled the door.

In a few mere hours we went to this:

We are looking for a new light to go above. We found one, but I said it was too big. No one listened to me - they never do. But I was right - I always am.

The pictures don't show it as much, but it makes a huge improvement when you approach the house. The door really kind of pops.

Who knows, in another 31 years, we might be close to finishing this project.




Song by: Sam Phillips

Monday, October 06, 2008

Just Don't Talk About It

What can I say, Tina Fey did it again. I find it kind of validating that I think the SNL folks hit 90% of the talking points I outlined in my twittering/blogging of the debate. I loved "Palin's" response to gay marriage.



It's all about validation, isn't it? We reinforced the big-ass Obama sign, again to the sound of honking and lots of waving. It was happening so much, I only started to get pseudo-paranoid when people would drive by and not honk. I'm so fickle. No shock there.

But we had our annual block party yesterday too. We were the talk of the 'hood, thanks to that sign. All in a good way. We are a fairly liberal bunch - and if anyone is a McCain supporter, they are not enough of one to have a sign. There are a dozen or two Obama signs up though.

I'm feeling a bit more confident that McCain/Palin are being seen-through as a losing team. Maybe it's just me. The late Saturday night story of Palin saying Obama associates with terrorists elevated her from 'twat' status, to full blown 'cunt' status. Call my misogynistic if you must - but I'm calling them like I see them.

It kills me that she could get away with such a statement. I'm assuming Obama saying she purposefully had a Down Syndrome baby for sympathy votes would get him raked over the coals. Saying it doesn't make it true, but no one is going to tell a 'lady' she's an out and out liar, but you also can't treat that 'lady' the same way she's treating you.

I hate her.



Song by: Rosanne Cash

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Gimme Little Sign

Yes, I voted for Hillary. I'm still proud of that vote, but after the DNC went the way of Obama, I threw my support behind him. Monetarily and otherwise.

As the money goes, I'm not really thrilled with the outcome. Like when I contribute to NPR, I don't do it for the gift they send (actually, I tell them I don't want it - put my money towards the frickin' station!), ditto for Obama's campaign. I know I'm paying for those g-ddamn ads I turn off every commercial break.

So is it any wonder I'm a little annoyed that six weeks ago I contributed and they were to send me car magnets with Obama/Biden and they have yet to arrive?

Number one, is it the first campaign promise that was broken by these two? Number two - the magnets have a limited shelf-life. If they want me to drive around with it, don't you think they'd want me to do it before the election?

Ok - enough of all that. For those who don't know, we live on a corner lot. It is a pretty busy street, but the house sits back so we don't have to see/hear a lot of it. But the corner is a great place for visibility. So much so, that during an election cycle, some unknowns just come by and plant signs that we have to continually take off and throw away.

This year, we were proactive and decided we would be the ones to put out the sign of choice. Denton contacted our next door neighbor, who works for the Obama campaign - and look what he scored for us:

Yeah - the sign is about 4' x 6'. HUGE. As Subohd quipped, "Don't let them tell you size doesn't matter!" I already knew that! His yard "boasts" a puny 1' x 2.5' sign. I don't think we're overcompensating - do you?

As we strung it up between the trees, dozens of cars drove by honking, waving, smiling and pointing. Well, I guess the people in the cars - not the autos themselves.

We all speculated on whether someone would deface the sign, but I think it is ripe for being stolen - not that it would be very easy to get into any car.

I also know we are basically inviting others to think it's ok to stick their signs in the yard. I try to be logical about why they do it. It doesn't really look like someone's yard, but every man's land. But it's not.

Denton, Sudohd and myself agreed that we will take out other signs that will inevitably appear over the next four weeks. Our garbage man must hate us.




Song by: Don Dixon & Marti Jones

Friday, October 03, 2008

Only Talking Sense

Let's face it. THE debate wasn't all that.

As one of the PBS pundits said afterwards, Rebuplicans are feeling a lot better and Democrats are sorry to see that Palin didn't implode. That pretty much wraps it up.

Before the debate, Becky encouraged me to liveTwit during the debate. I took that challenge. So did Andrew. So did Moby. I think Becky was playing World of WarCraft, or whatever it's called.

Anyhooo....here are a few (not all, but most) of my Twits.

Blobby1 to quote Gandalf: "and so it begins"
Blobby1 how i wish Samantha Bee was moderating this. no offense Gwen
Blobby1 maverick and hockey moms. she's using all her good bits early one. Pace yourself Sarah!
Blobby1 not going by what the moderator wants? can she do that?
Blobby1 massive cramp in my left foot. I blame Palin
Blobby1 worried he (Biden) keeps saying "John" instead of McCain when speaking negatively about him. connect the dots
Blobby1 did she just say she is believing Al-Qaeda?
Blobby1 Palin. respecting women's rights. LOLLLLLLLLLL. LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. oh, she is killing me
Blobby1 keep tying him to Geo Bush. 8-9 x in a row. beautiful!!!!!!!!!
Blobby1 Bozniacs?
Blobby1 "McCain knows how to win a war - he's been there" Did we win Viet Nam?
Blobby1 she just sided w/Cheney to have autonomy!!! i'm sure she'd shoot someone in the face too.
Blobby1 one kid going to war. one special needs. one knocked up. her kids aren't GOING to college. what's she worried about?
Blobby1 UGH. Reagan quote. PANDERING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Blobby1 is it just me, or does Joe stumble over and over on Obama's name?
Blobby1 to quote the last line of the last KitH episode: Thank g-d, THAT's over!

Biden did ok and many think he hit gold with talking about his family and tearing up. To me, it seemed a bit forced, but if she can bring up her special needs kid all the time (scroll down to 2nd article), he can play that card as well.

But as Andrew pointed out - all four of them are smarter than W.



Song by: the Finn Brothers

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Farewell to the Old Me

I was going to title this post, "Old Man", but I thought that would be too easy. But in reality, that is exactly what I've become.

Case in point: the other day I had come home from work and was out watering the lawn (our new grass) and our newly planted flora and fauna. As I was doing this, I saw a car seemingly pull up at the curb in front of the house. Four teenagers got out and headed down the street towards the heavily wooded area across the way.

I'm not fool - I used to be one of those kids. But lest you think I cared that they were going to get high, I didn't. I did notice their car sat at a weird angle, so I headed to the front of the yard. ....and damn if those fucking kids didn't park on the lawn! My lawn. Our lawn.

Being the old man I now am, I chased them down and told them to....and I quote....'get your fucking car off my lawn'.

Only one of the four came back. He shrugged like it was no big deal. But of course, I couldn't let it go. I had to go on about how I had just paid to have the lawn to be redone and did he not know that if you drive up and over the curb it is no longer the street? He just shrugged - again.

He thought he was going to back up in our drive, but I stood right there not letting him. He had to use reverse to go down the street as he was smart enough not to dare even using the driveway across the street.

If there was a punishment, it was that his friends went without him and were probably halfway through their pot before he made it back. It wasn't long before they walked back - all four of them. They looked up into the yard, and I made sure they saw that I saw them, less they tried any retribution.

So yeah - I'm turning into the typical neighborhood dad. So what??


But as for the planting. Here is the before of part of the side of the drive:


......and here is the after


more before

more after



I'll get pics of the front of the house in a bit. But I guess this is what old men who are the neighborhood coots do.....run off kids and show off their gardens.

So long, Young Blobby!



Song by: Dar Williams

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

How Do

What can I say? Nashville wasn't horrible.

I never thought the city would be - it was the event that was my company's annual meeting I was dreading. We are in the process of merging two separate organizations into one. Nashville is their base, Cleveland is ours. Yeah - we are all very territorial, though everyone higher-up tries to pretend that no one is. So that we had to have the annual meeting on their turf....well.......... Let's just say, we are feeling very threatened.

Nashville itself? Great.

At least the part of downtown we stayed in. The hotel was two blocks from Broadway, which is the main drag and just chock-full of honky tonks and dozens of live music venues. It's a pretty frickin' clean city too. There are also quite a few places on that street to get a guitar or mandolin......and any number of places to purchase cowboy boots - most have deals of two or three pair for the price of one. Granted, they weren't cheap. But I don't think I could pull those off anyway.

Best yet - it's a great place to score some alcohol. Which I did. Two of the two nights I was there. The second one being a 12 hour binge. Ahhhh.....old times.......old times.

But to be fair, I had no desire to go back to my room because I had to SHARE a room at this conference!!!! Can you fuckin' believe it? The guy had locked me out of my our room the first night. Latched that door, he did. It never occurred to me, but others said thought he may have been pleasuring himself. Ewwww. Show some restraint. It is going to make for a weird working relationship going forward.

Earlier that same night, we were forced to be on some paddle wheel boat for drinks dinner. I was meeting my new "region", and to identify ourselves I was given a red bandana and told to "wear it creatively". It turns out guys cannot do that. I was not about to use it as kerchief or make it into an ascot. I went with the Bloods look....and just hoped there were no Crips on board.

Yes, this is me after about seven beers with very little fud (and before I got locked out of the room). Notice the nicely named establishment I am posing out in front of. Though I didn't go in that night, I was there the following, and it was one of the best places to drink and listen to country music. Not Tim McGraw country, but Buck Owens country. Most of the folks I was with were annoyed, but a few of us loved it. And of course, I got a Robert's t-shirt, because, they didn't sell Blobby ones.

No, this night I was forced to go out to Coyote Ugly. Not the Matt Ardrey band, but the bar where skanks dance on the bar and hang their bras up all over. There I encountered two "women" who both shared one of their's husband. Don't ask.

Back to day two: After a day full of meetings the following day, we had dinner and an awards ceremony - or as some of us called it, the Dundies. Yes, I was nominated for eight of them - and walked away with squat. But I'm not bitter!!!!!!! But I had been drinking for three hours before that, then during, then after at the NashVegas party. Yes, you heard me correctly.

I also drank during the debates, because I fled NashVegas after having some pictures taken (will post when/if I get them). Then it was out to the bars - including Robert's. And Tootsies. No, not Dustin Hoffman in drag, but the bar where Willie Nelson allegedly gave Patsy Cline "Crazy". Chock up more beers there and perhaps some tequila. And by 'perhaps' you can substitute, 'for sure'. Then more beer. And we played a game of dart. No no....not plural. The bar only had one dart. It was a game that took forever.

On the way back to the hotel, the now four of us, passed a homeless man. Diana, just being nice, said, "hey, how's it going?" Me being drunk did my best Peter Griffin imitation: "Not good, Diana...........not good." I thought it was only so-so funny, but the others had to stop because they were laughing so hard.

Back at the unlocked room by 03:30 and back at work by 07:30. I can certainly drink like I used to - I just can't bounce back quite like I used to. But four gallons of water later, I was almost rehydrated. Almost.

I realized how much I really like many of the folks I have been working with for the last two years. Maybe it's just the alcohol talking. I'm not sure I care for the new conjoined folks, but we'll see. I still am in discussions for another job at another location.

Friday will be the three month mark for that. Yeah, I know - don't say anything.




Song by: Mary Chapin Carpenter