Are We There Yet ?

I'm taking a day break from riots, racism, and politics. 

No worries, you know I'll get back to them. 

This last week I actually scheduled some meetings around the expected launch of the SpaceX manned Falcon rocket 

Due to weather is was scrubbed, so I went back upstairs to work. Bummer. 

The new launch time was yesterday. We kind of cut Shep's hike short so we could be home to watch the launch live. 

It went off without a hitch. 

I'm not so patriotic that I have to have the U.S. actually be the ones to send folks into space, but it was an ok thing - even though tons of folks watching were unmasked. Only the drivers of the Teslas out the launch pad seemed to have them on. 

BLOTUS and VP BLOTUS were in attendance. Right next to each other too. Where's a good sharp shooter when you need one?  Or at least debris from an exploding rocket. I turned the channel after the astronauts were up in space. I didn't want to see either of those two talk, nor did I want to see that once genius, now loon, Elon Musk speak either. 

I'll get in trouble for saying this out loud - yes, more than the inevitable knock on the door from Secret Service for the sharpshooter comment - but I bet those two motherfuckers were hoping for an explosion of some kind, just to change the narrative of anything black related. 

You only think I'm kidding about that last paragraph. I am not. 

The Falcon Heavy is one of the most, if not the most, powerful rocker that has three boosters. That seems that it has 3x the ka-boom power, should it fail. 

Fail, it did not. 

About 10:00 this morning, barring any complications, the rocket will dock with the International Space Station. 

We'll have to wait a month or so to see how it comes to earth.......and in what shape that might be. 

Song by: Pat Metheny Group

All the Small Things

I'm still not mastering the new Blogger.  Normally, I'd make these pics a larger size, but I have yet to figure out how to do that - of IF you can do it. 

I mean, I finally found the HTML portion, so in theory I could go in there and adjust sizes, but I have to believe there is a better way. 

So, you might need to click on them to make the bigger.  I dunno. 

I totally get why Shep hangs with these. He is the master of avoiding the camera. 

We found an open dog park. 
Shep found a female version of himself - along with an identical tail !

Still evicted from his bed.

Sometimes I get a female work companion. 

Capturing him in front of an azalea. 

....and on one of our many Memorial Day weekend hikes. 

Sophie was unimpressed. 

...and portrait mode on this handsome boy. 

Song by: blink 182

Change

While I don't abhor change, there are sometimes it is not welcome - which is almost always with my blog. 

Years ago, an "upgrade" with my hosting site lost every single image prior to 2010.  Months of working with them, which they claimed wasn't a problem, resulted in squat. 

Blogger has updated one time before and while it ended up working out, there were pangs. 

Blobby does not like pangs. 

So for the last few months, Blobby has been ignoring the 'try the new Blogger'.  I didn't want to. So I didn't. 

A few days ago, I got an email pretty much saying, "like it or not, we're moving you to the new blogger in two week".  Crud. 

So, pretending like I had some semblance of control, I hit the 'try the new Blogger' link. 

I like and don't like the new Blogger. 

Shocker. 

For you, the reader, you should see no difference. Yesterday's post was the first one done on the new editor. 

The editor itself is not as intuitive as one would think. I like intuitive. Honest to g-d, I think it took me seven minutes to find how to create a new post.  Don't even get me started on my scheduling of the post and the time suck that was. 

While i haven't played around with it for too too long, I can't find the place where I can write in HTML, which sometimes I actually have to do to get things to work the way I want them to work. 

However, I think I'm going to like the upgraded analytics. I'm not going to say I think they're more accurate, but the way to get and view them seems better. 

I totally get that using the old editor might not truly have been better, but it was comfortable because it was about eight years of a constant. 

For sure I anticipate troubles. I don't know what they'll be....or when, but mark my words.......

Song by: John Waite

I Just Want to Have Something to Do

The plea is so sad and so maddening, and on so many levels. 

It is a cry for help - and no one is answering. 

White people are the cause of the problem. This is a truism. Naturally, they (read: we) should be the solution as well, no? 

I'd say 'yes', but clearly we are no good at that. 

Persons of colour are afflicted and affected. We write posts like this and nothing changes because we don't actually do anything. And yes, I'm pointing all five fingers back at me.  

Another sad level is people have colour clearly have no power to stop what is happening to their communities - right out in the open. Black protests with no semi-automatic weaponry ends in tear gas and rubber bullets.  White folk:  they get sent home with no repercussions. 

Cleary that hypothetical if black people had a gathering with AR-15s it wouldn't be letting everyone going about their business is no longer hypothetical. Minneapolis proved that one wrong in one felt swoop. It is 100% a colour of ours and their skin that results with how those two groups were dealt. 

I can only imagine if that black crowd had licensed weapons with permit to carry notices showed up, they'd be shot dead. I have zero doubt on this. None. 

Here is where I fail - and I will dare say WE fail:  we've done nothing and I don't know how to get out of that hole that will actually make a noticeable difference. 

So the elephant in the room is: what do we do? 

I don't advocate violence, but Dr. King's non-violent protests turned out to be a band-aid for civil rights. This country is one millimeter further in terms of race relations as we were in the '50s turning hoses on people and lynching them. We saw a public lynching on the nightly news, Instragram, Facebook and any other social media. WE SAW IT. 

Yes, I hope those now ex-officers go to prison for life, but they are a symptom of the problem. Bit players if you will. This is festering and has been totally out of control for years. 

I need to know:  WHAT DO WE DO? 

I'm truly asking. 

Song by: the Ramones

My Name Is

Overall these days, I'm finding that people suck - be them murderous cops in Minneapolis or white women in Central Park.  No offense to the black man she was maligning, the fucking way she was abusing that dog in the process.

But I was quite taken by the Sunday NYT front page - a listing of the dead from Covid-19. I love it, because you know the White House had.to.be.fuming! 

....though probably not as much as they are at whomever is this skilled at ye olde photoshoppe. I thought this take on that NYT cover as just frickin perfect.   

.....and it's all I have for the day, because people suck..........except for the guy who did the below mock-up

Song by: Eminem

Podcast of the Month

Scrubs - save maybe the last season and a half - was one of those shows that just made me laugh.  Considering there were nine years of this, those are still pretty good numbers.

For anyone who has ever worked in a hospital, Scrubs was a far more realistic representation than ER (I suppose, as I never watched it) or St. Elsewhere (though they had the same phone system as THE Ohio State University Hospital).

The series, at times, evoked comedy, drama, pathos, but never dread. Not all episodes were stellar, but I don't recall any truly bad ones (ok, maybe a few in the last season and a half - which almost doesn't count since a lot of the series regulars were gone by then.)

Who would know that the fake Becky (Sarah Chalke) from Roseanne would be so great in this, I mean, since she was so bad in Roseanne and kind of be milquetoast in her run on How I Met Your Mother. Eliot was kind of a perfect role for her .

It was one of those shows that I am 90% sure I said aloud, "I hope this cast really gets along in real life...." as they worked in sync (it's gonna be me!)  so well.

The guest stars were great too:  Heather Locklear, Julianna Margulies, Michael J. Fox, Richard Kind, Elizabeth Banks, Christopher Meloni, among the few.

So, of course, when Turk and JD started their own podcast, Fake Doctors, Real Friends, I was hopeful. Zach Braff and Donald Faison are good (best?) friends in real life. Braff has even cast Faison in the movies he's directed.

I'm only a few episodes in and already I need to take them to task for not having a director or editor - though I don't think most podcasts do.  The shows range from 64 minutes to 97 !!!   .....for a TV episode that was 23 minutes long.

Fake Doctors, Real Friends suffers from the same thing as the Office one, and to a much lesser extent from the West Wing version:  too much inside jokes and stories that are hilarious to those who were there, but bare little, if any, relevance to those listening.

Clearly JD and Turk are having a great time with these, which is great and kind of infectious, but I'm guessing 710 would liken this to how our friends and I finish each other's sentence and heard stories about stuff he never experienced first hand, so it's amusing............to a point. Then it just becomes some reminiscing where the other parties aren't really needed at all.

That said, this might change a bit (?) when they bring on guests, be it former cast mates or guest starts. There were 180 episodes, so I'm guessing I won't hit them all (I know I wont), but I can self select certain shows based  on whomever the guest may be. 

I hope they find their stride and edit these a bit - far too long for me. And I want to like them because I liked the show so much. Here's hoping they don't fuck it up long term.

My Music Monday

I don't know from Butch Walker, though the moniker sounds like one from an 80s all-male films..................I've been told.

Apparently, he is a producer for P!nk and Green Day, and singer / songwriter in his own right.

Allegedly he has a 'new' album coming out which implies he's has others. I just heard this song somewhere on XM and took note. Honestly, when I went back to listen for this here post, I don't remember ever hearing the song "Gridlock", the first time.

But in another way, I get why it drew me in:  1970s.

When I You-Tube'd it, 710 was in the room. While the song itself isn't Fleetwood Mac-y, the backing vocals and arrangements are. 710 was thinking more Firefall. As it turns out, just a bit later, what it truly reminded me of was "Cool Night" by Paul Davis.

Me, being me, looked Mr. Walker, and indeed, while he is considering his new disk to be a rock opera - a love story about hate (parts based on a son coming out in a religious household) - he knows it is steeped in Fleetwood Mac, Doobie Brothers and Toto influences.  .....so I wasn't completely wrong about my Mac influence.

The song, due to these influences, struck a chord with me.

Site of the Month

This month's Site of the Month, at least for me, seemed easy enough.

I mean, look at it: Antidepressants or Tolkien.

It's fairly self-explanatory, no?

To spell it out, there are a set of screens and the name that comes up, you must say if it is a character from a J.R.R. Tolkien or an antidepressant.

See? Self-explanatory - except for the fact that I just explained it to you.

I've read and seen enough Tolkien,  I rarely pay too much attention to the pharma ads on tv, so really only know my own antidepressant - which wasn't even represented here.

So, you get 24 chances. 

I'm a tad bit disappointed in my results.

That's like a C-. 

Is it any wonder I'm on a mood elevator?

the Foggy Dew

Yet another week of sheltering at home, except for dog walks. As it turns out, some of the shots came to us.

Morning dew doggie nose. 

710's office assistant.

Being told that the work day was done!

Always know where your competition is and what they're up to.

New 'hood kitty visiting 710 at his work office. 

The new next door kitty is confident and doesn't stand down to Mr. Shep. 

I still don't know her / his name. 

Song by: the Chieftains 

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!

I say, I never learn from my mistakes, and in a way, that is true with the new Lucinda Williams disk, Good Souls for Better Angels. 

With her last few disks, I've rated them so poorly, but always continued to purchase. I swore to myself, that the Lucinda I loved so much no longer existed, and I would no longer buy her disks. That lasted for one new release and one re-reissue. 

Without listening to a note, but perusing iTunes on a pre-dawn Friday morning (the day of new releases), I saw it, I hit 'purchase' and the rest they say, is history. 

And this is why I can't learn: my mostly pragmatic approach to most things goes out the window when it comes to artists I like or have liked. My entire music collection is littered with quasi-bad releases of people who used to put out good or great stuff.  But now and then, they surprise you. Case in point: Lucinda Williams. 

It's like Vegas or golf. You hate it, you lose time and again, and just as you give up, you win a hand (or a hole), and you're automatically drawn back in. 

Good Souls for Better Angels is that winning hand. 

Williams' voice is never going to be sing-songy and it's rough for sure, but not nearly as bad as those albums when she sang like she had a mouthful of broken marbles. 

Good Souls is all about the soul, the devil, g-d or John the Revelator. All are mentioned numerous times throughout the disk. Maybe for a woman from the South, this isn't all that surprising. 

I played this disk on shuffle, which may or may not have helped. The first song was "Pray the Devil Back to Hell".  Just awesome. The song and album aren't rock, nor blues, nor country - but an amalgam that is almost her own. She stands out with "Down Past the Bottom". 

Her Blues-Country vein is tapped with excellent "Bad Blues News" and "Man Without a Soul" 

The slower songs that Williams could make work on many of her albums don't always fit here ("Shadows & Doubt"). "Big Black Train" and "When the Way Gets Dark" will prove that last sentence a fallacy. It does evoke a little something from Essence. I like "Good Souls" too, and it's a good way to close out the disk. 

I'm not a fan of "Bone of Contention" or "Wakin' Up". It's Williams, not Crazy Horse. 

As the disk was recorded live in the studio with her touring band, there is an immediacy about it. It's a hard album - in terms of music and to like, should you not be a fan. 

Good Souls isn't a perfect disk, but it is leaps and bounds better than Lucinda's last 3-4 disks. So, for the moment, I've been reeled back in. 

Leviticus: Faggot

Welcome to Hatesville, USA : population far too many to count.

Even the 2020 census isn't capturing that locale.

But you can count on MICHAEL DREWER from Loveland, CO to step-up the hate game.

Oh yes, I'm highlighting this douche. I mean, he highlighted himself, so I'm just helping spread the word on what a dick he is.

For those unaware, the governor of Colorado is Jared Polis, a gay man. The only out gay governor. The 'faggot' who is purposefully closed down Baby Drewer's gym. So you know - name calling!

First off, you know MICHAEL DREWER, doesn't wipe off any machine or weight before or after using it.

It is my hope and dream (I don't go big), that every gym in the area surrounding Loveland, CO sees this, or Twitter, or any number of places, and cancels his membership or bans him for life.  Ditto with any place of employment.

I do these things so you don't have to - but do not go search out his Facebook page. Filled with hate, patriotism, racism and one for 'help the dying children'.  No offense to those kids, but if this is the guy fighting for you, it's better off you just croak.

Secondly, the confederate flag shirt? 

Bitch, please. I know they probably didn't cover this in your GED class (should you have gotten that far), but Colorado didn't become a state until after the Civl War, and even as a territory they supported the Union. Oh - AND THEY LOST! ......a 155 years ago.  GET THE FUCK OVER IT.

Oh - what the fuck am I saying?  Facts and logic mean nothing to the MICHAEL DREWER's of the world.

I hope his actions do have consequences. Should they, MICHAEL DREWER is only going to blame Governor Faggot for his troubles.

And you know when the gyms open, the patrons will be required to where masks - which no doubt, MICHAEL DREWER will balk at the idea and say it's his constitutional right not to wear one (someone PLEASE show me where that is in that document!) and that he's discriminated against.

But here is what Mikey and his cohort don't truly get. In 2018 SCOTUS ruled for a baker who refused to make a cake for some other faggots who are not governor. So.....riddle me this.....how is this different if he's turned away for not wearing a mask?

Oh sure, say it's 'religious beliefs' is that difference. But since people cherry-pick from the bible all the time, find a passage - ANY passage - and apply it to why Mr. Twinklenuts can't step foot in the gym without a mask.  SCOTUS has you covered on that.

I am so disappointed with humanity.



Song by: Me'shell Ndegeocello

Drugs

It's kind of funny, but it's kind of not.

The poor woman had listen to the actual audio far too often, I assume, so she should get hazard pay.

In all honesty, the day got away from me and prepared nothing.......so you get this?




Song by: Talking Heads

I Don't Believe

I think it goes without saying: I don't believe a word that comes out of his mouth, or anyone in his administration.

Honestly, if any of them said the sky was blue, I'd doubt that too.

But for someone who gets tested every day {allegedly}, thought the coronavirus was a hoax {not allegedly} and won't wear a mask, why in the fuck would he take a drug that is totally unproven for Covid-19?

Let's say it IS true he's taking it. That "man" probably has Lupus and the drug (I'm not spelling the name out) is to help him with that. I mean, he is in his 70s. Statistically he has to have health issues - not that he's ever gonna come clean on them.

The other reason for him taking it is probably a lie that he is taking it:  Michael Cohen got paid $1.3M from Novartis - the maker of the drug - for access to BLOTUS. The Novartis CEO met with BLOTUS at a dinner in January 2020.

And supposedly, though not confirmed, Rudy G purchased $2M in Novartis stock in February. And let's face it, stocks have taken a dive these last few months. Rudy has dirt on BLOTUS, so even mentioning he's taking it probably gets Rudy some coin.

While I put none of this past this dick of a president, I'm still going with #1 - Lupus.

The most distinctive sign of lupus — a facial rash that resembles the wings of a butterfly unfolding across both cheeks.

Like we'd know, but that could explain all his make-up.

Confusion and memory loss are symptoms too - so, that would explain a lot.


He's just an old, fat, evil fuck.  .....and there's no cure for that.




Song by: Paul Simon

My Music Monday

In theory, I know I can get my Sirius XM to play at home through my computer, but I haven't bothered. You've already read how much I don't really care for it in my car, so why expend the energy to set it up inside.

That said, since driving is limited to the grocery store (which is like a five minute drive and hikes on weekends for Shep, my XM time is a very short window.

Somewhere in that narrow time frame, I have heard a few new songs to which I've been drawn - one of them is "Van Horn" by Saint Motel, from their confusingly titled EP, The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Part 1. 

There is no movie, let alone a soundtrack. Hence my confusion.

Still, "Van Horn" has a good beat, a decent chorus. That's more than you can say about today's music (but say it like an old codger).

Sense

So, it seems, by BLOTUS logic, had Dr. Weis not tested me for cancer back in 1993, I would not have had cancer. I'd be dead now, but it wouldn't or couldn't have been from cancer.

“When you test, you have a case. When you test, you find something is wrong with people. If we didn’t do any testing, we would have very few cases. They don't want to write that, but it's common sense.”

I mean.......I cant even.

Can we start with 'common sense'?  Can we end with it?

Honestly, his comment might not eve be the worst part of it. He said is while addressing a company that makes PPE equipment...........and he did it unmasked.

I'm 100% certain BLOTUS cannot mention 'common sense', if nothing else but for what Inigo Montoya clearly states.

I have stated in the past that while vile and extremely well versed at manipulation, BLOTUS isn't stupid. He's currently testing that theory, but I still think there is a much more underlying evil message going on with his dumb-ass constituents.

__________________________________________________

Can we talk Paul Manafort for a minute?

He's out of prison early (WAY early) because the risk of the coronavirus.


EXSQUEEZE ME?

Someone - and you know it's Barr & BLOTUS - got Manafort out of his already weak-ass prison sentence after only a few months stay.  I was expecting a full pardon, so this part is actually a surprise.

The kicker - OPEN UP THE ECONOMY, because Covid-19 isn't that bad, if it exists at all.

You fucking window-licking White Housers, you can't have it both ways. But of course they will.

Notice, they're not worried about Michael Cohen getting it.  Also, if they didn't test Manafort for it, he'd never get it (see above).

__________________________________________________

Obamagate.

According to BLOTUS: "The biggest political crime in American history, by far!"

The fake fuck just neglected to say what that crime might be. Or when it happened. More importantly, he never said why his intelligence agencies and justice department hasn't arrested and prosecuted the black man.  (I'm assuming that is the actual reason, besides that Obama had better traction and approval ratings.)

Of course it's all just deflect and really really kicking off his re-election campaign. He has no one else technically to fight, so let's go after the imaginary enemy. And lord knows those folks toting 3 teeth and / or an AR-15 hate nothing more than a black man with power. I mean, they'd hate him more if he were black, in power and queer, but.........there is no trifecta here.

BLOTUS believes in, and has asked the Supreme Court for, “absolute immunity” to being prosecuted or even investigated for any crime while in office.

I have yet to hear any reporter axe him if presidents get blanket immunity, than would it matter what Obama did in office?

His head might just explode on the spot.............and I'd be ok with that.



Song by: Peter Yorn

Homeward Bound

Still homebound. The animules are seemingly loving it all. We are always together......though they split the time between 710's office and mine. 

Dog - Cat practicing social distancing.

Shep got a new dog bed. 

.....or so thought Shep. 

Roly Poly Shep

.....and now, Sophie is playing with Shep's toys. 

This isn't going to end well.......

Song by: Simon & Garfunkle

I've Got a Great Idea

Let's not kid ourselves, kids.

Jared Kushner's alleged misstep of saying that it's not ruled out that the 2020 presidential election could be postponed is no misstep - or accident.

At best, it was a test balloon.

The reality is, it was a warning shot across the bow.

....and BLOTUS used the most unlikeable messenger, because, well.......no one (and I do mean NO ONE) gives two fucks about Kushner. So if he succeeds, great. If he fails, tough shit.

If you dare go back and read any number of random political posts of mine from January 2017, you will find multiple references of me stating that there is no way BLOTUS is ever going to leave office willingly - even if actually losing the election.

I believe I stated earlier this year, with the delays and questions regarding state primaries, what this sets precedence for the November election.

I'm not saying I'm Miss Cleo, I'm just saying Louis Braille could have seen this coming.

Yes, Twitter and Hillary Clinton is up in arms, but as we've seen in the past, that condemnation has done little (read: nothing) to stop this administration. The Constitution is nothing to these folks. Nothing.

Now, I'm doubtful Pappy Joe can be BLOTUS, but I think we're about to find out he's not even going to get a chance.



Song by: Harry Connick Jr. 

Open Up

I wasn't sure I'd do another one of these.  First it was Covid only.  Then Covid - Political. It's skewing a little more Political - Covid this time. And it would all be funnier if they were all so fucking spot-on.

Hilarious!

You gotta believe that had to hurt them. 

COVID finally catches up with the daily paper cartoons. 

....and I do believe this is the last one of these I'll do. 

Song by: REO Speedwagon