Thursday, June 30, 2016

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!


Usually I'm up on things when I know bands I like are coming out with a new album. Somehow I almost missed the boat with the just released disk by Garbage - Strange Little Birds.

Ruckiry (not Jon's boss), I saw it listed a few days before its release and pre-ordered....without even sampling a track.

Strange Little Birds is a good album. It's not an outstanding one. It's better than most albums that are out there, but by Garbage standards, it's just good. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The thing with the band is, that normally they do the rock songs great, and ditto with the slow moving stuff as well. With this disk, the most of the music is just fine - but nothing defining. Nothing spectacular.

I was enthralled with the opening number - "Sometimes". It was just different enough for them that it kept me engaged.

There are good rock tunes: "Empty" (though there is a vocal phrasing / cadence that sounds like a heavier version of Squeeze's "Up the Junction"). I love "Blackout"'s music. And sure Shirley Manson has the vocal chops, but it seems like a missed opportunity here.

Unlike the previous albums, the slower songs are just ok here. Usually they could be outstanding, but not so much this go-round. "Even Though Our Love is Doomed" is a good example. Five and a half minutes might be too long for a song like this, but if you stick with it, the song moments of what great potential it had.

I do like "Magnetized", "So We Can Stay Alive" and "Teaching Little Fingers to Play". "Night Drive Loneliness" has it's moments, but doesn't quite hit all the marks.

And that really sums up the disk itself - moments but not big pay off. Manson clearly has great ability (and the rest of the band is just great), but she is not used effectively in this outing.

Again - Strange Little Birds isn't bad at all......it's just not great.

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Penis Song

I know I don't blog a lot about work - and that is the way it will remain, for the most part. But I had a funny to share.

I had my monthly one-on-one with my boss two days ago. Normally, there isn't a lot to talk about but I had a few things on which I needed guidance.

One of my docs, whom I like personally, but can be problematic professionally. The Boss must have already heard a rumbling or two of what I was about to say, but I gave further details.

I should state that the boss knows I'm gay. No big deal - for either of us. The Boss asks about 710 now and again, though they've never crossed paths. It's a nice gesture. And as much as I don't talk about work here, I rarely talk about personally life there.

Anyhoo.....as I provided specifics on this doc's antics, the Boss goes, "he sounds like a real dick".

I said, "he only sounds that way because he is a dick......or can be one". But I went on to say, that he doesn't bother me and I can handle his behaviour, but there was a bigger underlying contract issue that needed resolved.

And this is how the Boss followed up - and in all seriousness:  "well, I know you know how handle dicks".

Do I!

Honestly, I think the Boss would have laughed had I pointed out the statement and made a funny. But then I thought, well.......maybe they'd feel bad about me pointing out what was clearly an unintended pun - and one that, in lesser hands, be an HR nightmare.

I wasn't offended in the slightest, and I laughed internally, but don't think I made any outward changes to my demeanor as I sat in their office.

In my mind, the Boss is simultaneously telling this story at home, and while it being a humourous story, theirs has a slight mortified edge to the tale, like "can you believe I said that?"


....and it's not like the Boss was telling tall tales or untruths!  {wink}



Song by: Macklemore

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

To the Open Spaces

It's kind of one of those days - not much to go on about.

But 710 showed me this video the other day and I was just fascinated by it. I love space travel. I'd totally do it if it didn't require physics and math. That, and I'm still not 100% sure how one "eliminates" in zero gravity.

And I'd just assume not to really find out.

While I am loving Elon Musk's Space X adventures, I was mega impressed by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launch and landing.

The clean burn on take-off is neat. I like watching the speed of acceleration and deceleration. How it gets down to single and low double digits for the landing.

I know technology changes in a heartbeat, but still find it difficult that an outside company - two in fact - could do what NASA couldn't or wouldn't do.

Yes, the video is like 12 minutes long......but it's kind of fascinating.






Song by: Maria McKee

Monday, June 27, 2016

My Music Monday

As we are wrapping up colours for the month's theme, I noticed I had not done anything in 'blue'.

To be honest, if you type 'blue' into my music liberry, I could have done an entire year with that colour theme alone. Everyone in music is sooooo sad, that blue is the predominant shade.

The problem actually became how to narrow it down.

I went somewhat expected, but with a twist: classic New Order.

1980's music played on 1930's instruments.

Yes, there are vocals, but they are almost not needed. Still it is a clever take. I am not sure I'd want to hear an entire album, but for a song, it works.


Sunday, June 26, 2016

the Riddle of the Model

One of the reasons for the timeline of my glasses purchase was that for work they were taking pictures of administration - at least for the folks who didn't have them. Or for the folks who'd been around forever and their original image no longer resembles them.

Oh yes - I had a red-hot photo shoot at work.

I cannot say I was thrilled about having to do this. It is so not my thing. I mean, does anyone visit a medicine website to see who is the business guy behind the practice?

It seems there was no way of getting around it. And I literally waited until the last scheduling day to do it - as they only do it once per year.

But at least I had my new glasses.

That's about all I had.

The photographer works in media, but it isn't a photographer by trade. So while she took like 60 shots, I can't say I was happy with 90% of them. She wasn't savvy enough to say, "your suit is bucking here....or there....".  Some of them were just horrible. Just horrible.

I'm not sure I've had an official portrait done since I was in my fraternity. That was pre-digital, and I think they only took three. But developing film is expensive.

I think I was a little surprised when I got an email back the same day with the proof sheet. Well, I guess it was a zip file.




The good thing is, they let me pick the image that they'll use. I just assumed the powers that be who are higher than me would select. But nope - I get to. 

I made a joke to see if they'd airbrush and photoshoppe it for me - and they came back that they'd touch it up.  I really was kidding. 

So now I get to go select the image - which just seems to be a shot in the dark. I guess I'll be picking the lesser of all evils. 

....and sometimes that the best you can ask for. 

After it's all done, perhaps I'll post it here. 

However, the glasses look great. 




Song by: cast of Sing Street

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Sleeper

It is another short doggie post today. The week was such (read: shitty) that I didn't even get a kitty kat shot. Soph is probably happy for the break. She's not much of a posing feline.

However, Boomer can be when it comes to doggie pics.

When we come to my mom's house and Boomer is there, he is always very excited to see us. He is pretty attentive - and I'm happy to provide the attention. 

And he's so damned cute. 

After a while he just passed out.  It was commented on that he must be getting old (10? 11?).  There was a time we were all convinced that Boomer did not sleep for like six years. He was always on. Always.

It's nice to see him chill.




Song by: Eliza Gilkyson

Friday, June 24, 2016

Steel and Glass

Well, I selected......and they're here.

My new glasses.

As you can see, I ended up going with something from the Far Side Collection.

I kid.......I kid.

I returned all the Warby Parker models first. There was nothing there I wanted. That was a shame. Some of the frames on the website looked so promising. Yet in the box less so. On my face, even less than that. Granted they had a lot more frames, but not all of theirs are available to try on at home.

Yeah, like that's gonna happen!  I won't even buy shoes on-line because I can't try them on first.

So my choices came down to finding something at the store from which I always select my frames, ones from the David Kind and, somewhere on the back burner that pair for $1,409 was stuck in my mind. It was a dream of course, but.....there it was.

Something Fearsome wrote in my 12 of 12 comments resonated with me to a degree: glasses are a part of one's identity, so I shouldn't skimp on them.

I'm paraphrasing, of course.

Still, I was on the phone or on-line a lot with the David Kind folks. I think there are three people operating out of someone's house. Everyone very nice, but you can hear everything everyone says while on the phone. The house the operate out of must be one from Tiny House Hunters.

I also called the other place about the expensive pair. I was told I could buy the frames (which were fairly reasonable) and have lenses (which were not) made elsewhere. Interesting. I called a few places and all could do it. A comparable lens was about $400 cheaper. Still pricey, but doable. Half the price of the original place.

The rub was, that if by chance a place couldn't do them, I could get a store credit for the frames, but they don't take returns. That's a big gamble for me.

A few days later, on a whim, I called back and talked to someone new. Sure there were other types of lenses that could supported by the frame. Just as clear as the 'digital' lens - for the most part. Oh - and WAY cheaper.

So I went for it. I really liked the frame, so why not?

They don't really photograph well - or I haven't found a way to, but......


They look fairly standard / conservative from a head-on view. 


From the side, the frames look a little darker, but the metal arms give it an edgier look. 


And the vision so far has been great.

I think I'll be happy with them. And as it turns out, they're not my most expensive pair of glasses ever. That title still belongs to my Tag Heuers.  I still love those glasses, but they are eight years old and two prescriptions ago.



Song by: John Lennon

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Punching in a Dream

Machete-wielding clowns chasing me down a dark deserted road.

Flipping over the handlebars of my bike and breaking my front teeth.

The world runs out of cupcakes.

A Kajagoogoo / Corey Hart reunion tour.

President Donald (t)Rump.

Reliving high school.

Any or all of these things you would think would be my biggest nightmare.

You'd be wrong. Oh, so very wrong.

Try a celebratory parade by the NBA Champions that starts an hour late, has 1.3 million people in attendance and little to no port-a-potties.

NIGHTMARE!!!!

From the sound of it, every hotel room was packed. Even locals booked them so they wouldn't have to travel the day of the event. That is hardcore.

While in theory it would have been fun to skip work and go downtown to see the throngs of folks...and Kevin Love (!!!!!)......packed train (because where are you really going to park?), high humidity, the people I saw walking to the train before 07:00......two-fisted drinking, long wait times, oh - and over a million people just didn't get me thinking, "I really need to be there!". 

My decision - not that I was actually trying to decide - came with a headline article saying anyone attending would have to "go before you go".

While the article implied there would be zero port-a-pots, in reality there were - - just not nearly enough for the amount of attendees.

I could have probably overcome all the other things had I really wanted to go - save that one. When I gotta go, I gotta go - and I'm not fighting to stand in a small enclosed area that got heated up by the sun to 124 degrees.  And you just know the area hotels and restaurants aren't that keen on letting in people just to they can go #1 or 2.

And that's really the biggest part of the nightmare - - where you're almost there....and you need to be, but then are denied.

And now you have a ticking clock.



Song by: the Naked and Famous

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Site of the Month

I might really be stretching it with this one - as well, it's not a "site". It is a destination within a site.

Sure, Twitter is a site, but it's not like I'm doing Twitter as Site of the Month. I'm pretty sure they don't need me shilling for them to get them exposure.

Or maybe they do, if I'm any indicator.  I'm not sure I've touched my Twitter account for years. I'm not sure I even know my password. However, I get weekly "updates" via email about what people are tweeting about. Some of them are people I "followed".....and some are tweets from people you might follow / like.

I'm not sure how to take it that they thought I'd like this. Or maybe they knew that I'd like to make fun of this.  And if that's the case - they were correct.



In my pea-sized brain - though I have huge hands - I immediately went to things the 'tops' would say during sex. And unfortunately, it was always with a (t)Rump voice and a (t)Rump inflection.

"I'm tremendous!"  "I have one of the best dicks in the world."  "I'm great in bed....I've won many awards".  "I'm leading in every pole"  (see what I did there?)

I know the Twitter account is plural......but is it?

I'm guessing if there is a top for (t)Rump, he's all by his lonesome.....I mean, except for his parents, who let him live in the basement at their house in Ames, Iowa.

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

We Are the Champions

I've lived in Cleveland most of my entire life. I can honestly say, never in my recollection have we been Champions.

Well "we" aren't, but the Cleveland Cavaliers are.

I say 'recollection' because the last time we had something like this was 1964 - I was one and a half years old. And it was football. But it was before the Super Bowl existed, so it was called a 'league championship'.

Sure, the Lake Erie Monsters won their championship two weeks ago it doesn't really count. It's minor league. And it's hockey.

But Sunday night, we butched it up (well, kind of) and watched Game 7 of the NBA finals.

Against all odds, Cleveland tied up the series after they were behind 3-1 (for you non-sports guys.....{Jon}.......like baseball, it's best of seven games to win the championship). Never before in NBA history has a team come back from a deficit like that to win - so nothing was statistically on our side.

Now after Golden State (that was the other team..........Jon....) won two and we rebounded (ha....get it?  rebounded??) with a win, my first cynical thought is:  oh, the NBA is going to "allow" us a win to stretch out the series.....and advertising dollars.

I thought it again when we tied up the series.

But we watched Game 7.....kind of.  When it comes down to it, those types of games and odds are way too stressful for me. Within a span of a few minutes we were up by seven, then down my eight, up by two and then tied. I had to keep flipping channels.

Honestly, it really wasn't until the last 10.6 seconds that I knew we would win. After LeBron James made one of his foul shots (he almost always misses half of them) we were up by four points. No way could the Warriors make two baskets to win or tie the game in 10.6 seconds.

710 didn't do the math. When the Warriors went for their shot, he screamed "noooooo".  But even if it were a three pointer - which it wasn't - that still would have left them one point short of a tie.

So we won.

National recognition that isn't the GOP convention.

The Cleveland Indians have come close twice before - taking both the 1995 and 1997 World Series to the seventh game......but not with a win.

It was oddly nice and satisfying to feel that the town had come together for this. Everyone at work was in a great mood - considering I'm sure those who had a shorter sleep cycle. (For the record, right after an interview or two, I headed to bed.)

Fireworks - official ones - started immediately after the win. Lots of unofficial ones too. And then, well, it was just gunfire. Lots and lots and lots of gunfire. And honking. Every car laid on their horn. And of course, there were a few crashes......but they just kept going.

I'm no James fan. I still think he did a shitty thing when he left for Miami. But it's hard to argue with three 40+ point games in a row. He carried the team. And while he didn't play great for half of the finals, but I'll never turn on Kevin Love.  NEVER!

Sure LeBron helped us win the finals. He even got MVP. But he also got to hug a sweaty sweaty sweaty Kevin Love.

Lucky Bastard.



Song by: Queen

Monday, June 20, 2016

My Music Monday

Colours is the theme. So many songs to choose from - and I only have four weeks. Well....two now.....including this one.

I know you're all expecting Chris DeBurgh's "the Lady in Red", but that probably isn't going to happen. And by 'probably, I mean 'definitely'.

I'm still enjoying my post-Dixie Chicks concert experience (the music part).

DCX have always been fans of Patty Griffin. They've covered a number of her songs over the years - some on tape and some in concert.

In 2000, Griffin recorded an album, Silver Bell, that was never released.......well, until 2013. But the Chicks heard the disk and recorded a few of the songs off there. Natalie Maines went on to say, that they'd like to record every song from that disk.

Since the Chicks have not been recording as a group, Maines went on to record the title track of Griffin's album for her debut solo album.

As Griffin has a certain style and DCX stuck pretty much to her arrangements - and as Maines is / was the lead singer of DCX, her solo take on "Silver Bell" sounds very very very much like the Dixie Chicks doing Patty Griffin.

I have to say, when Maines' album came out, I was lukewarm to "Silver Bell", but it's grown on me over time. I do like Griffin, and actually, I think the Dixie Chicks do her song more justice than she usually does herself.

Natalie Maines - "Silver Bell"

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Kung Fu Fighting

It's official: I'm a yellow-belt.

No, I did not take up karate.....or kare-a-tay, as Spongebob might say.

No, Blobby was required to go through Lean Six Sigma training this last week. And while it wasn't my first choice of something to do, it didn't suck or anything, which I totally figured it would.

Unlike kare-a-tay, Six Sigma only has four belts: yellow (me), green, black and black master.

The idea is for better process improvement methodologies - to eliminate waste and increase revenue. People. Process. Product. Allegedly in that order.

It got me out of my element and I only knew two people in the class, so it expanded my employee base a little.

I have done process improvements programs before - like General Motor's PICOS. So there weren't tons of elements to which I was unaware.

The fascilitator might not have truly appreciated my take on the case study we were given as pre-work to go over. While I got what the drill was to really cover, the case I was assigned had flawed - or at least partial - information. There was no way in reality to validate their reported success.....and I said so. He agreed, but had no follow-up as to why they still used that case study.

I would be ok with a day of learning. But these things aren't always about book learning...or video / presentation learning. No - you are required to participate. I at least got on a good team.

One of our projects was to eliminate waste and come up with a future state of a product. Our product was candy airplanes to get to children in hospitals.  Yes, you read that correctly.


I suppose one has to overlook the fact that the entire thing is not edible, as the wheel - LifeSavers - are unwrapped and therefore unsanitary too. And you have to overlook the fact that many kinds who are hospitalized can't or shouldn't be eating candy.

Then there are those kids who will just throw them thinking they could or should be able to fly.

Still, as we were the first team to present, we did the best. We eliminated steps and time (45 seconds of time) and one FTE.  You also must use the peppermint LifeSavers.  The 'fruit' ones get sticky and gummy.


There are production issues when it comes to shipping of not having the wings bend. And the rubber band isn't edible.....so the future state was to find another product that is that would work:  Red Vines?  Candy glue?

I suppose it was good to work together as a team.

I don't know about green or black belt status. I should not limit myself - but I'm not seeing that in my near future.



Song by: Carl Douglas

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Behind Blue Eyes

Just a two-fer today.

I haven't had many animal encounters in this last week. Work sucks for that.


Sophie is all about sitting on me as soon as I get home.  Of course I let her - no matter how frickin' hot out it may be. 

This is Logan. He's beautiful and blue-eyed. 

He sat outside with David and myself when we had tea last week. He was happy to take pets from David for the entire time. David was happy to do it. 



Song by: the Who

Friday, June 17, 2016

Don't Pull Your Love

Allegedly, the rise of Hamilton might have kept old Alex on the 10-spot.

The plan was to replace him with some female, but that eventually became the $20 bill and Andrew Jackson got the axe.

I'm one who steers away from anything that is hyped as much as Hamilton is. I did it with the original Star Wars - not bothering to see it until just before Empire Strike Back was released.

Granted, I was wrong on that one. But a more modern day example would be Beyonce.

Lemonade?  Really?  It ain't all that.

Lin-Manuel Miranda seems engaging enough, but not enough to spend four or five digits to see his fucking play based on an autobiography of Hamilton. I can pick that up at the liberry - and it won't rap at me. So - two points for Blobby.

Fine - it won 13,081 Tonys the other night. It's like one of those things no one dares vote against...because you're not hip or cool if you don't. People are tripping over themselves to praise it or go to it.



I'm just not one of them.  ....though tickets are probably better than a child.

I was reading the Atlantic a little bit ago and I just smile and smile and smiled at the interview with Laurie Anderson.

Je love her. Most everything about her. The article discusses her performance pieces, but gets into politics and yes, Hamilton. And this is why I love her.   (click to embiggen the images)




I'm sure it's my own fandom of Anderson and my own trepidation (real or not) about Hamilton, but I feel that someone somewhere finally told the truth about the play.




Song by: Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Come on Home

I'll take a break from gun violence posts today. They drain me.

Though Ohio Republicunt, Rob Portman, is potentially breaking party lines to vote for assault rifle regulation.

Portman is the dick who faux-wrote me after Sandy Hook, saying he's firmly behind keeping assault rifles legal. I made a "joke" then saying, if his gay son got shot, he'd be all for gun control.

If you remember, Portman was against same sex anything until he discovered his son was a fruit-loop. So now that gays DO get shot up with assault rifles, Robby-boy has seen the error of his ways.

I'll take the vote - if he actually gives it - but I still hate him.

Well, so much for me not talking about guns.


In other news - my mother is home. She was a compliant patient in the hospital and in her week of rehab. She learned the error of her husband's ways when he was a pain in the ass patient. I was proud of how well she did being three weeks in outside care.

Now, since she's been home, she's a little less compliant. This was to be expected.

She went home with no oxygen and has a walker if she needs one, but passed all assessments to walk unassisted. All good news.

She is ok with home OT and PT. She's ok with the home health nurse checking on her. She's not ok with the home health aide we hired for the first two weeks of her being home.

That's right: 7 days a weeks. 5 hours a day.

Well, 4. Because before she even left rehab she decreased the time we had scheduled - and without telling us. Oh and the first day she said she didn't want anyone there - - possibly the most important day to have someone there.

I totally get it - it is not easy having someone you don't know in your house for four hours at a time. The idea is they'd be there when she showered, just in case. But that's what - 30 minutes?

Now the aide can fix meals, do laundry and light cleaning. My mother is all: "I'll have to refold everything - she didn't do it right".  Sigh.  But I get it.

She's smart enough not to try to carry laundry - no matter how light - upstairs. She hasn't even thought of driving. And the lady across the street said if she sees her cutting her lawn that she's calling me.

Way to go lady across the street.

So I keep tabs on her daily - through phone or email. She does love her iPad.

She seems to be pretty stable, but she should be ok for a while. Personally, I'm hoping she'll miss the conversations she was having with others in rehab. She collected some stories, but now she's at home alone. I kind of want her want interaction......which might mean senior living, but I think that would be good for her.

That might take a little doing, but a boy can dream.



Song by: Everything But the Girl

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Blood

Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have.

- Margaret Mead


There is a connection between the image and the quote - I swear.

I like the image, though it might be unfair to have the NRA heading that.

Let me rephrase, because some of you just gasped. It's unfair to only be singling out the NRA. There are many many many people to blame.

My avoidance has turned to anger and frustration. That post I said I'd already written time and time again is probably going to be repeated here and now. So, sorry about that.

First off, let me give kudos to my right-winged Facebook friends who have not said word-one about the shooting in Orlando. It's either great restraint on their part, or they know this event was beyond the pale and even they cannot defend gun rights at this point.

If the latter, then they are fucking wusses. But all these asshats hide behind their guns and the 2nd Amendment.

Mind you - none of them have said "what a tragedy" or the standard and untrue "our prayers are with them and their families". And while I'm kind of offended they didn't, I'd be more offended if they did. You can't win with me on this one - at least not from that crowd.

But yes - the politicians. They're big on that 'prayers' piece, but not so much on the curbing the violence piece. It's big business. Theirs.

Their bank accounts are flush from lobbyists and special interest groups.

I'm not sure why I just thought of this though - where are the multi-kajillionaires who are against gun violence? If they pumped as much money into DC (and personal off-shore bank accounts) as the NRA does, guess what, there would be gun control in a heartbeat.

Like Mead says, it only takes a few caring people. Just with kajillions of dollars. That's kind of the qualifier she omitted.

I do like the Mead quote and at one point that was probably true. I'm not so sure it's that 'simple' any more - not that it probably ever was. It is a few people, just in higher places. And that can be dangerous - as we've seen.

Still, I applaud those who make the effort. I tried after Sandy Hook and was met with automated response smack-downs. There was no option for discussion - logical or otherwise - or a back and forth of ideas. How can you represent your constituents want if you don't listen to your constituents. Oh that's right - the constituents they listen to are the ones with the greenbacks. It really is a sad state of affairs.

The only thing sadder - if possible - are the "men" of the cloth. The bile that spews from their mouths just reinforces they know nothing of the teaching of this mythical Jesus. Even if he never existed - they believe he did. And they believe what he believed.....allegedly. It's hard to say - since they clearly don't expound anything they're supposed to be 'teaching'.

Church or State

So what can some caring people actually do? Storm the castle - meaning state house or US capitol? Storm the churches?  I mean, why not? politicians listen to the church more than they do their voters. I mean - the religious right......who own guns. So maybe that isn't the best plan.

I didn't say I had any ideas, but I'm willing to listen and participate.




Song by: Allison Moorer

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Pulse

I'm struggling for a good post today.

Orlando weighs heavy on my mind, but I can't seem to think of anything to do the subject matter, or the victims, justice. Every direction I seem to go, I come up empty. Or worse - I start to ramble.

I can no longer write about gun control, terrorism, political stupidity (when it comes to these events) or religion. I've said it before - many have - and nothing has changed. The needle has not been moved - forward - even by a degree.

I cannot deal with the stupidity and hate from any of those groups - and while in a year, anyone going back to read this might scratch there head as to specifics, I cannot and will not acknowledge those here. Not now.

Sunday left me horribly distracted.

For a while I could not tear myself away from the coverage - and then I went the complete opposite: I avoided the news and went into a denial phase. If I can't hear about it: it didn't happen.

I couldn't be bothered to hear Obama's address, though I hear it was great. I expected no less from him. The 24/7 anchors were horrible. Wolf Blitzer: you're an embarrassment.

Still at the my core,  was rattled.....and in a weird way, I don't know why.

Don't say the obvious, because I already have. It goes deeper than that. And it's not because the victims were gay or it was at a gay bar / gathering place. Sure, that wasn't a great angle to the story. It kept coming back to: "the worst mass shooting in U.S. history".

THE worst.

....for now.

And I think that's what really has me down. Some asshole will be hell bent on beating that 'record'.

Social media has already raked Florida, the NRA, the Senate and House over the coals - and deservedly so. Trump has patted himself on the back for his part - and blamed Obama for what he thinks is his. All the predictable things have taken place.

I think the biggest shock of this entire thing is that I'm not shocked.  And that is truly the saddest part of this - and possibly why I am upset.

I'm not a Broadway or Tonys kind of fag. Musicals are so not my thing. But with the news as it was, we had the Tonys on last night to keep away from any news. Naturally, current events leaked into a live broadcast, as it could not be ignored.

I'm also not as intrigued with Hamilton as everybody else seems to be. It's amusing as a clip or two, but two hours and 45 minutes (!!!!) of it?  Someone please become Aaron Burr and shoot me.

(Yes, I see the sick irony in that line given the post.)

Still, while the show was muted far more often than when it was not, we did happen to catch Lin-Manuel Miranda's speech for his win. It didn't make everything better, of course, but there was a flicker.  It wasn't of hope - as I'm not sure I feel that in these instances. But it was a flicker of some kind: humanity? compassion? empathy?

It's not that there aren't enough good words out there afterwards. Maybe it was that he mentioned it but didn't mention-mention it.

There I go again....rambling. Unable to focus.








Song by: the Psychedelic Furs

Monday, June 13, 2016

12 of 12

So I'm doing my 75th 12 of 12.

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

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

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

06:10.  Laundry. 

Sad thing is - it wasn't even the first load. I just forgot to take an earlier picture. 

06:33.  the Sunday paper. 

 07:00.  Starting 710's coffee after I heard him get up.  

If he could have only waited 10 more minutes. 

 09:05.  Getting ready for yoga.  Contacts in......or going in. 

10:40. Yoga on the beach. Windy - and it was more of a Twerking class than yoga. I was not amused. 

 11:30. A newly planted living wall outside of Cleveland Tea Revival

12:52. 710 updated me on the Orlando shooting as we pulled into the drive - up to 50 dead (from 20). 

This deserves an entire blog post, but for the moment, I wouldn't even know where to start. And it's not because it's a gay club, but just 50 fucking people dead.  Yes, Gov. Scott - of course it's terrorism, but I bet you wouldn't have called it that if the shooter was white or a Christian. 

Ok - maybe that was my blog post for this. 

 14:13.  Cutting the lawn.  Should have used sunscreen - on me, not the lawn. 

16:10.  I found my frames. 

Found. Past tense. 

With lenses - and without discount - they were {gulp} $1,409!!!  I shit you not. 
Mind you that was with tax. And with a 30% discount, they were still over $1,000. I passed.

That's what I get for shopping at a store called Eyetique. I shit you not. 

 17:30. Visiting my mother after her return home. More on this possibly later in the week. 

18:20. Groceries.

In dire need of fud at the house. We're like Old Mother Hubbard - but no dog, and no bone. Oddly enough, way back before a buy-out and renovation, I used to work at this grocery store when I was in high school. It was called Bi-Rite then. 

22:10.  Nothing says 'Sunday Night' like:  you need to empty the dishwasher. 

22:30.  Your Baker's Dozen. 

'tude. 

My Music Monday

Even though today is 12 of 12, I felt I'd be cheating Erik if I didn't fully participate in the music selection too.

As stated prior - we are focusing on colours.

This week I am doing red. Lots of selections in my liberry. Oh, how to choose?

When I saw "Beautiful Red Dress" by Laurie Anderson pop up, I thought: oh, there it is.

The song comes from her 1989 album, Strange Angels.

It's a good album, but out of character for Anderson. A performance artist by trade, she's always incorporated music into her work, but rarely does she sing. She talks.....usually. Strange Angels is mostly singing.

In "Beautiful Red Dress" Anderson both sings and speaks.

The sad thing about the song is that today, it's just as relevant as it was 27 years ago. Heavy in themes of equality of women - in pay and power.

There is a great lyric: "I just want to say something / You know, for every dollar a man makes a woman makes 63 cents / Now, fifty years ago that was 62 cents / So, with that kind of luck, it'll be the year 3,888 before we make a buck."

And yes, there is a part of why people think the presidency will never go to a woman.

It's all fairly timely - this long after it's release.

Oh - and yes, the 'red dress' is pretty much a metaphor for menstruation.

But you knew that - - right?


Sunday, June 12, 2016

Rock Lobster

Fucked Up.

That is the short review for the Lobster.

The slightly longer review would be: Fucked Up.......but in certain regards, it's a world we are already on the edge of living in and maybe always have been. To a degree.

The Lobster takes place in a time where people are not allowed to be single. You must carry your "couples papers" with you at all times, or be subject to interrogation. Those who are single are sent to resort where you have 45 days to find a partner, or be turned into an animal of your choice.

You can add more time to your stay, depending on how many people you can shoot with a tranquilizer gun while hunting them in the woods.

The Lobster is a sort of the Most Dangerous Game meets the Bachelor / Bachelorette - with a little Ministry of Magic checking your wand to prove your a wizard or a witch, and I guess a little the Incredible Mr. Limpet.

The trailer made it look better than it was, or at least more light-hearted than it was. I get it was to be a dark comedy-ish movie....but it was slightly darker than imagined. And by 'slightly', I mean much more.

It is a dystopian society they now live in. Both of them. On one hand you have the faction that tell you that you must be partnered or be an animal. There is another faction of those who live on the fringe - and in the woods - who eschew this way of thinking. The irony is, their beliefs swing the other way on the pendulum: not only do they believe you don't have to be partnered up, you're actually punished - physically - for even flirting or dancing (though they can dance by themselves, which is why they listen to EDM via headphones). Intercourse is a new level of punishment.

I picked 'dystopia' on purpose. The word, derived from the Greeks, the Lobster is all about the Greek - in terms of the director who is, and the story, which has heavy elements of a Greek tragedies. None of this is coincidence.

Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz do a nice job. The delivery is stilted, especially on Farrell's part, but it's supposed to be. He's out of place, he's unsure - yet somehow resigned to his potential fate of becoming a lobster.

The rest of the cast is effective - some eerily so. And yes, Ben Wishaw is in it (like third thing I've seen him in this year).

The 'resort' makes it a semi-spoken factor that couples should have common interests - and that works for and then against most of them. Almost all to uncomfortable ends.

710 mentioned before deciding to go, that he had seen a partial review and it mentioned how odd and dark the ending was. For a bit, I opted out of even going due to hearing a review. But I changed my mind - but I won't lie, I looked away more than a few times. Once even covering my ears. One couple in the theater (only 11 of us in the entire place - - - yes, I counted) laughed at a part I almost got up and walked out during. I could not fathom a laugh...even out of nerves.

The movie takes some odd turns, but some of the filming is extremely well done.

I know we still have 6.5 months to go, but I'm going on record that the Lobster might be the weirdest movie I'll be seeing in all of 2016.

.....until the new Daniel Radcliffe movie, Swiss Army Man comes out.




....oh, and for the record, according to the Lobster website, the animal I'll become if I am out of a coupling and never recoupled?



2016 Movie Count / Goal:  14 of 18



Song by: the B-52's

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Long Tail Cat

An abbreviated pet post is still better than none - no?

Queen Soph. Regal as always. 

My sister has been cutting my mother's yard. Boomer follows here as she does it. He is such her dog. 

And Pippa has made herself quite at home during a visit to my sister's house. 



Song by: Loggins & Messina

Friday, June 10, 2016

Surrender

Can I tell you how fucking annoying all these people are who - for lack of a better word - insist anyone who supported Bernie Sanders must now unify and get behind and vote for Hillary?

Don't fucking tell me what to do.

If someone wants to make well-reasoned discussion points on why to vote for Clinton, that's fine. But A. don't tell me who to vote for and B. you had better have a better reason than 'must defeat Trump'.

How did that John Kerry / 2004 thing work out for us all?

While I checked the box for Kerry, I didn't vote for him, I voted against Bush. Kerry was a horrible choice too. He just was.

I'm not sure 2016 is much different.

Some gays are happy to point out that Bernie wasn't for same-sex marriage back in 2006. Ok. They happen to leave out that Hillary didn't change her view until 2013. And this isn't a proposition to those folks, but: suck my dick.

This is where they don't have well-reasoned discussion points. The problem is, they think they do.

Now, I get why Clinton supporters need Sanders supporters to get on board - because they are scared, and well they should be. They didn't take Sanders seriously from the get-go and expected him to be gone 2-3 months in. And here it is, 10 months later and even in the last set of primaries he one two of six.

His (non-super) delegate count isn't that far off from Clinton's.

The thing is - from the get-go, Clinton and these folks figure she had a clear and easy path to the nomination and that didn't turn out to be true. She's had to put a lot more time and resources into this campaign just to get the nomination. It has also exposed to not being as big a of liberal as many assumed....or hoped.

Yes, I wanted Sanders to push Hillary more to the left, but that didn't happen. She is just right-of-center as she's always been. That has to hurt her supporters - though they don't see that. Because when you look at the GOP clown car, of course she looks liberal, but so does Ronald Reagan.

I cannot think of a single thing that Clinton has said that has made me go: "wow - what a great point." Not one.

Of course the irony of the Clinton supporter is - they'd loathe if anyone told them they should support Sanders (or anyone else), yet they have no qualms about doing it themselves.

No doubt I will be check the box for Clinton, but I'm not sure I'll be voting for her. I'll be voting against Trump.



Song by: Cheap Trick

Thursday, June 09, 2016

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!


OMG.

Are people this lazy?  Are they that germaphobic? Or just afraid of burnt fingers or electrocution?

I'm going with the first one.

Wednesday, June 08, 2016

Style Kills

It's fashion show day today.

I got 11 pairs of frames in the mail last week. As much as I need glasses, it took almost a week for me to try them on.

I went with two companies - Warby Parker and a lesser known peddler, David Kind.

Parker it's pretty straight forward: select five frames and they send them to you.

With Kind, you pick three, and my assigned 'stylist', selects another three that they think would work for me. Oh - with Kind, you had to submit a photo so 'my stylist' could fit me better.

Their packaging was much much much better too. They really do it up right. The case was incredible and it comes with a mirror!

When all said and done, on-line, the Parker glasses (or the one frame I really wanted) looked incredible. In person? Not so much. I had a difficult time choosing five frames and as it turns out, only one of them possibly worked.

And maybe what I selected all started to look the same to me, or the stylist went in my direction to a fault.

Let's run through it - shall we?

None of the photos are great. They're plastic non, non-glare lenses. They show all the light everywhere - and it's reflected. It's not optimal.

 A. Mr. Magoo-ish, but I love the lighter shade on the bottom. 

 B. Kind. I like the colouring. But they look a little Far Side-y.

C. Warby Parker. It was a whimsical choice. There is a coloured line of blue that runs around the eyes. It looks like I got it from the Buggles Collection®

 D. Not bad. Not bad. David Kind. 

E.  Now I'm Ira from Boca. 

 F. Kind of / Sort of like B.  Slightly different colouring on top. 

G.  I like them, and maybe it's the picture, but they make my eyes look crossed. 


I think I have it narrowed to two. Possibly three. Though I'm not committed to any of them just yet. I might need to throw in contacts and put them on, so I can see clearly how I'd look in them.

Anyone have any constructive criticism? Or any you like or don't?



Song by: Robert Palmer