My Music Monday

Duran Duran (but say it like a Brit might and use more J than D) is back with a new song and soon to be new album. 

"Invisible" is the song.  And it's not bad. It's nothing groundbreaking for sure, but for a band that is now 40+ years old, that is kind of cool. 

Bands from the 80s, while not prolific are either still around or making modest comebacks (i.e. Psychedelic Furs), and not as nostalgia acts (i.e. just greatest hits tours).  And most of them are doing it without embarrassment or embarrassing moments. 

Duran Duran was pivotal - not necessarily for me - in music delivery. Yes, MTV had been around for a few years before the band broke big, but both the band and the station broke big due to "Hungry Like the Wolf" - and then "Rio"........and then.........and then...........and then.............

Yes, they were a band of boys - as opposed to a boy band - who happened to play catchy pop music and be cute-ish.  I mean, not Nick Rhodes. He was creepy then and this video, even in an altered state, does nothing to quell that 40 years later. 

The song is most likely produced by Erol Alkan, who remixed songs by the Killers and New Order. But Mark Ronson and Gorgio Moroder have producing credits on the full album too, so hard to say whose fingers are where. 

The video is meh. Kind of creepy, like some of the guy's mouths are wired shut and that Simon has been beaten up - especially in the eye area. But it's not 1981 anymore and the boys are men - in their 60s (for the most part), and MTV isn't really a thing. So.......onward and upward. 

Fashion

We are starting to watch Halston on Netflix. We didn't realize it was a series and not a one-time 'movie' event. 

Live and learn. 

It's not really that I care about the man - as I know next to nothing about him. 

Some of you have seen how I dress, so I know you know I don't care about fashion. 

And while I'm pseudo-associated with the era, on the other hand I'm not.  Yes, I was alive in the 60's-90's, but.........I wasn't much of a participant. Not really. 

But I like Ewan McGregor enough. More Big Fish good than scary Trainspotting good. This falls somewhere in between, Maybe he's not supposed to be, but Halston isn't a much of a likable character, so it's hard (so far) to truly see him as a protagonist here,  

Also, so far, this isn't a Mrs. Maizel, where the sets are so 'wow' that you feel like you're in that era. While not necessarily done on the cheap, they didn't seem to go out of the way in production design. 

It does seem that Netflix shows have lots of ratings that includes 'smoking' and honestly there isn't one scene in this yet where McGregor isn't smoking.  Fran Lebowitz' Pretend It's a City has the same warning, and while Fran is a chain smoker and they discuss  it in that series, I don't think you ever see her with a cigarette.  But after the first episode here, I just assume I have lung cancer 

There are only 5 episodes, so it won't be a big time suck (like say, Ryan Murphy's Hollywood turned out to be), but it does concern me that it's being billed as Season 1. 

2021 Movie Count / Goal: 11 of 15 ?

Song by: the Lovemakers

Lights Out

So much for Spring. 

Our days of 70s and 80s plunged to the very low 40s.......and lots and lots of rain. I wouldn't say high winds, but enough that we lost a branch or two.................and our power. 

....on a holiday weekend. Friday evening. 

We MIGHT get it back - according to the power company website, by 20:00 today (Saturday). 

Therefore, no Sophie Smut or Shep Porn today. 

It took forever to get a HotSpot from our phones and running images and trying to load them is a major pain (not Major Payne - the Damon Wayans vehicle). Maybe I'll delay it by a day or week .

So tonight (last night) we will sit in the dark. I will go to bed early. I mean, why not? 

At least it isn't snowing..........so..........that's my positive nature coming out, no? 

Song by: Lisa Marie Presley (I shit you not!)

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'm not 100% sold on the Black Keys new disk, Delta Kream. 

While it's always good to hear from the boys, it is an album of established (read: covers) of delta blues songs. And while the Keys have their roots in the blues, it kind of works and kind of doesn't. 

The musicianship is clearly there - Dan Auerbach and Pat Carney are pros. The two band members are joined by a few guest musicians. Allegedly, this was recorded live, 11 songs over 10 hours - no rehearsals. It's a great story if nothing else. 

It's not that the boys don't have an affinity for love for the genre, it's just that two white boys from Akron playing delta blues seems.........inauthentic. By letter of the law, they do it and well, but the question kind of hangs - should they? 

By my own estimation, I'd say Delta Kream would have made a great EP.  11 songs drags it out a bit. 

Or maybe, all the songs are fine, but in limited doses. Maybe my problem was playing them at once - like one used to do (and I still do) as a full length disk. I like "Going Down South", "Crawling Kingsnake" and the like, but the variety is limited - and limiting. 

It's solid B-.  

Site of the Month

First off, can we just chuckle that this name is trademarked?  

Vax-a-Million. 

Now that I say it aloud, it is supposed to be my Maximillian?  Yes, everyone is clamouring to steal that name.  <insert>eyerollemoji</insert>. 

Why yes, I can write in HTML.......thank you for noticing. 

Like the rest of the nation, Ohio has plateaued at giving vaccinations. One of my office sites had 500-700 people a day coming to get them. Now we limit clinics to 1-2 partial days per week as the needs is less and less to staff such an operation. 

So the governor has decided to play lotto for us. Well, he's the lotto commissioner. We, the people, are the bettors. 

IF you have been vaccinated (or partially so), you are eligible for 1 of 5 drawings for........and say it like Dr. Evil: "one MILLION dollars!"

If you're a teen, you can be in five drawings for having your college tuition paid at an in-state Ohio university - including room, board and books!  I mean, they REALLY get you on the books, right?   Oh SBX - you never made it worth my while to try to sell those back. 

So, once a week, for five weeks (yesterday was the first drawing), there will be a drawing to see who wins a cool million. 

The odds are in your favour - and the state's. 

For you - your ratio of winning is better than Powerball or Megamillions, but the pay off isn't as much. But allegedly it's better than those scratch-off big winner tickets too. I have a 1 in 2.7 million chance x 5. 

Your chances of getting struck by lightening are still greater.  Buuuuutttttttt......you don't buy anything or pay for a ticket. You get a potential life saving (for you and others with whom you might come in contact) shot. 

And you get five chances with that Covid Passport card - and yes, you will have to produce it to claim your winnings. 

For the state - they get more people incentivized to get vaccinated. Not that they are - exactly. 

In the deep conservative areas, where vaccinations stalled at 15%, they're not going any higher. In some of the greater minority population areas, there has been a decent increase in getting the shot. This could be more of a socio-economic issue / solution than it is an epiphany for the minority community - which has been disenfranchised from the vaccine distribution. 

For the record - I did not win Week 1. 

Four more to go!

Pretty Boys and Pretty Girls

Is is wrong that I'm envious of the abs of guy who used to be a lesbian and before that identified as a straight woman? 

.....because I am. 

I mean, I suppose it would be easier to go to the gym regularly, cut down on drinking and sugar  - but you know.......maybe the Elliot Page way is THE way. 

Perhaps he should give up acting and just join a boy band. He'd be the cute and hot one. 

For me, unless I'm IN the water, I'm not even walking around shirtless at the beach. From the beach to the water - and then back to my towel and shirt. 

I'm loving Page though. He is doing this in the semi-public eye, through carefully distributed stories - but oddly I don't think for his gain personally or professionally. He is normalizing - to a fucked up country (or certain factions of it) - the transition of a trans person. 

No offense to Chaz Bono, and while he was one of the first "celebrity" (big on the quotes part) trans person, he kind of didn't blaze the trail you'd have thought.  .......and don't start me on Caitlyn Jenner - my lord, she could just star in douche commercials........they don't even need water, vinegar or the bag. 

I totally get it's a personal thing - and a private one. But if more who are of note (and yes, I know how horrible that sounds) were to be at the forefront, perhaps it wouldn't be so horrible for those who are everyday Joes and Josephines.  Or maybe there wouldn't be such (read: any) issues about bathroom usage.

I'm quite interested in where Page goes next, and what he does.  At this point, I'm just hoping he doesn't have a bigger dick than mine. 

 

Song by: Book of Love

Baking with Blobby

As many of you might know, I am a big fan of baked goods. I'm just not a baker. 

In theory, it seems easy enough, but in reality, it just never is. I thought - well, this owuld be the first time since we got this house that I've tried it, and maybe an oven that actually holds a consistent temperature will make it better. 

Maybe it did. 

A friend of mind posted a recipe for Strawberry bread. I was in a mood, so, I said, "oh, why not?". All I needed was the strawberries. 

Ingredients For the Bread: 

3/4 cup granulated sugar 

1/2 cup milk 

1/2 cup oil 

1 large egg 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or almond extract 

2 cups all-purpose flour 

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt 

2 cups diced strawberries 

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 

For the Glaze: 

2 cups powdered sugar 

2 tablespoons melted butter 

1/3 cup finely diced strawberries 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or almond extract 

1-2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk** (optional?)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, milk, oil, egg and vanilla.

 In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

In a small bowl, toss together the strawberries and the 2 tablespoons of flour to coat the strawberries. 

Fold the floured strawberries gently into the batter.

Pour the bread batter into a greased 9"x5" bread pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center of the bread should come out clean. 

Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the bread to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, melted butter, diced strawberries and extract in a small bowl. Mix until it is smooth.

Once the bread is cool, spread the glaze on top of the bread. Slice and serve.

The last step, I think was my downfall.  

I love how the milk or cream (I used the latter) was "optional", as if the confectioners sugar was just going to dissolve on its own. I should have used milk, as it is thinner. I should have used a mixer instead of by hand. 

First off, an electric mixer would have mixed the berries better and let them bleed a little, making for a pink-ish glaze. And it would have made it thinner. 

It all tastes good, but let's be honest here, it's cake, not bread. Not really. 

Would I do it again?  ehhhhh.....maybe. It's not so great that it is a must have. It was just a good way to kill some time on a Sunday morning. 

My Music Monday

I am about 43% sure some people are aware that there as a Fleetwood Mac before Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. Less probably know Christine McVie wasn't always there.  The band had been around about eight years and at least six guitarists before Buckingham. 

They were also a blues band. Less so with McVie's inclusion. Lesser so still with Welch. And not at all with Buckingham and Nicks.  Most iterations of the band had some good material - and you know "Black Magic Woman" wasn't originally a Santana song, right? 

I'm not biggily into "the blues", but so much music has its roots based in the blues, it is impossible to escape on some level (not that I am looking to escape them). 

Elmore James wrote "Got to Move" back in 1960(?). Fleetwood Mac recorded it in 1968, with Jeremy Spencer as the lead guitarist and vocalist on the track. And honestly, no one can sing the word "yeah" l like Spencer (who abruptly would leave the band to join a cult - Children of G-d three years after this recording).

Mind you - the song was written in 1960 and there was not much enlightenment about or for women, so the whole, cook, clean, sew and scrub the floor thing is cringeworthy, but the tune and delivery itself is spot on. 

In other / live versions, Spencer sings "I got to move", instead of this one where he says "you got to move".  So basically, he leaves instead of kicking the woman out. 

Sorry about the video.  The audio is superior on this clip, but it's begins to look like a cheesy lite-porn commercial for Kohler.

(Nothing But) Flowers

A women I work with sent me this pic. 

While never actually meeting my mother, she attended my mother's celebration of life almost two years ago. 

During that event, we gave out packs of flower seeds, so people could plant them and think of my mother - who was an avid gardener, but couldn't keep a flower alive to save her own. My mother was all about plants - big and small. And trees. 

Jeanne took a pack or two with her. And planted them.........and then..........nothing. 

She did a planter year one. And two. The sprouted green, and that's it. Now and then I would get a photo update of what to me looked like something you'd want to spray Round-Up on. 

Duds, I'd tell her. 

She, nay - her 85 year old mother! - actually "wintered" the sprouts. Two winters in a row.  Now, granted, I really don't know what any of that means, because, ultimately, I'm not sure I care that much, but it seemed like a lot of work for a packet of seeds that probably cost me $0.49. 

Lo and behold, 22 months later, there are flowers on the ends of those green things. First just one. Then three. Now this............at least as of a few days ago. 

I can tell you, we didn't try that hard with out batch. Instead of seeing it through, we sold the house tow which they were planted. That seemed easier than tending to a garden - even it was in my mother's memory. 

Song by: Talking Heads

Together

You'd think spending most of the week at home that I would have more pics of the pets, but that's how down and out we were. I couldn't be bothered. There are some, of course, but nothing too too inventive. 

Shep knows his side of the car, and which door. 

We weren't actually going anywhere, but he refused to accept this. So, we went somewhere. 

....and he kind of made this daycare IG feed. 

Portrait mode. 

Hot day call for chilling together. Shep was smart and took the cold marble. 

Both love kitchen time too. Treats for both, who totally deserved it. 

Song by: Sia

the Other Me

Anyone who knows me, wouldn't call me a 'silver lining' kind of guy. 

So no one was more surprised than myself when yesterday I was kind of that guy.  .....thought a little background first. 

My "illness" the other day wasn't gummy-related or even food borne.  I know this because 710 and I didn't eat the same thing and yesterday morning he had what I had - just about five times worse. So I'm going with something bacterial or viral. 

As he got ill after I left for work, I finished my first morning meeting and left the office and worked the rest of the day from home, while tending to his needs. 

I got a text from a friend asking how he was, and I told them. I got a return reply: "I think you guys deserve a break one of these days". 

My reply was quick and simple:  "in a year of Covid, I'm ok with this being the extent of our illnesses". 

See?  Silver fucking lining. 

What / Who am I turning into?  

Song by: Paul McCartney

Patterns of Fairytales

There is something to be said for restraint. 

I don't know what that something is, but........I'm sure it is very insightful. 

When in Provincetown, after our first night and we broke up after dinner, I passed a gallery on Commercial St.. By my best guestimate is that there are 18,301 galleries in P-town. There might be great art out there, but who has the time? 

Anyhooo......I was quite taken by this piece that was in a window on my walk home. Art I'm drawn to is like pornography - I'll know it when I see it. 

But I never took an art history class, so I don't know what to call this:  abstract?  funfetti? 

$1800 seemed somewhat reasonable. I mean, I have no way to judge what art is worth, just if I like it. And it should be stated this viewing was after a $200+ happy hour bill and then dinner and more drinks. I guess I should have been grateful the gallery was closed at this time of night. 

The next day, I went back to look at it in the daylight,.  .....and sober. Good thing. That 1 had turned into a 3 in the light of day. I still liked the piece a lot, just not sure if I $3800 liked it. 

I also liked a glass one too - and that's not what I would call a medium to which I am drawn.  Pun fully intended.

It was more expensive than the purple one.  But man, I like it. If 4,000 of my regular readers would like to chip in $1.00 a piece, I can get it. Just let me know when to set up the gofundme page. 

Fast forward two nights - friends Mike and Peter fed me dinner and got me drunk!  Oh ok - I might have brought the wine! As they didn't offer to drive me home or call and Uber, I schlepped up Commercial St. only to be drawn to yet another closed gallery.  

I saw a piece on a wall perpendicular to where I was standing, so nothing head on, but yet I was intrigued. The next day I dragged Morty and George with me to see it in person. A sober person, the night before, would have noticed the gallery is only open on weekends.  I was not that person. 

As it turns out, the sun was hitting the windows in such a way you could not see the painting at all. Bother! At least we got our steps in. 

After I was back home, I went on line, dug through all of Alden Gallery's artists and found the artist and the piece of work. Cleared it with the better half - and yesterday it arrived.

It is titled 'Holding Pattern'. 

Truth be told, it was the reddish-orange square that drew me in initially. But now that I have it, I really like it - and more importantly, so does 710, since he didn't get to see it at all. 

We're not sure exactly where it will reside, but I have my idea. We shall see. 

.....just an FYI, the original two pieces are still high on my 'would like' list. I just don't know I'll pull that trigger.....or a bank robbery to get them.............or that gofundme page. 

Song by: the National

Change in Circumstance

As if Kevin McCarthy weren't already a humongo douchebag, he's doubling down and ante'ing up. And everyone is about to let him. 

He's already gotten away with doing away with Liz Cheney. Of course, no one needs a Cheney doing anything, but she's gone due to his changing the narrative on her calling out BLOTUS for being a dick and inciting an insurrection.  Something he did. Something that is video and audio recorded. 

But poof - just like that, he didn't do it and Cheney is to take the fall.  

Here's where he's upping the ante:

McCarthy is leading the charge for Republicans to downplay (read: negate) that there even was an insurrection. 

And some asshole GOPer (though it might be McCarthy also, likened January 6th to - and I quote - "a normal tourist visit". 

What the Actual F. 

What kills me is they're going to get away with it.  Some of the GOP is already refuses to support a commission on the Jan 6th uprising. The commission hasn't even taken place yet, let alone any results. 

I bet he'd support it if he knew it was in his favour. 

Of course, as always where is the Democratic leadership?  NOWHERE to be seen or heard. 

In theory, I know we have the House and Senate, yet all we hear from is McCarthy and McConnell.  Why won't our own parties fucktards stand up and be noticed?  

I don't know how to keep the insurrection to not sink under the waves and treated like nothing. If anything, it was a test run. The next version isn't going to be as good.  

Mark. My. Words. 

Song by: Pat Metheny Group

When in Rome

As I was having caffeine with Mike one morning, I kept seeing people passing behind him, going down or coming up a ramp. 

On the sidewalk was a man with a clipboard and a walkie-talkie, but I had no idea what was going on. 

Mike's noggin' - as petite as it is {snicker} was blocking this entire sign. 

Ok ok. His head isn't AS big as the sign, but the whole depth of field thing really did block the wording. 

Massachusetts, it seems, is licensed for recreational and medical marijuana. I kind of assumed as I was driving past Lenox and saw t sign for a dispensary, but I was also going about 75 mph, so might not have really caught if it was for medical use or not. 

For the next day or so, I toyed with going back. While certainly have smoked pot in the past, it's been a long long while, as I never enjoyed the smell etc. 

While in Amsterdam I looked for some edibles, but I felt like a fraud being in there, as I knew nothing. And when we were in San Francisco, we never even made the attempt. It never even crossed my mind 

But as the blog title suggests - when in Rome. 

After consulting with some traveling companions who had already been in, they gave me the lay of the land and what I needed to do and for which to ask. They bought actual pot - I was going for edibles. 

I knew some info about them but not enough either for purchase or for first time use. Yes, I get it is recreational, but I guess I wouldn't take a jet-ski out without learning a thing or two about it. I didn't learn or read enough I think. 

I knew that edibles are fairly unregulated, so you could get a good mellow high or you know, a fucked up trip. I've done enough drugs in my life that this can be said about every illegal (and now legal) substance you ingest or snort up your nose.  If you're using needles, I have no experience with that and cannot compare. 

After going to Curaleaf, I opted for the tropical gummies, which were the lower dosage - as again, the fairly unregulated, let's start of safer.  You have your choice of gummies that really mellow you out or ones that keep you more active. I opted for the latter. 

A few days later, I stopped in B Well and got the lower dose gummies for the active ingredient. 

40 gummies for someone who doesn't do pot seems like a lot - and it is. But I'm not coming back anytime soon probably, right? When in Rome..........again. 

It should be noted I did none of these in P-town. I wasn't sure how I'd react and we had limited time there. Also, I was staying on my own, so you know, better safe than sorry. 

The first Saturday home I tried the tropical low energy one. Actually, I tried half. Nothing. An hour later, another half. Nothing.  I meant to look up if I were taking them right, but never did 

Cut to this last Saturday, an hour before our weekly Zoom call. One full one of the active kind ingested. 

90 minutes later or so, I felt good. I had two beers on top of edible. I had snacked a little bit since lunch, but not truly had a meal since. Morty and Becky thought I looked tired on the call. I think that is just me, and not me under the influence, I'm sorry to say. 

I went to bed with a little buzz, but nothing big time. It is not a high like smoking - at least that was my experience 

The rest of my experience doesn't end well - though I don't think it had a thing to do with the edibles. 

The next morning - Sunday - I got up. Sat around for a bit and took Shep out for a walk. Half-way in, I went, "uh-ho". A weight was sitting in my gut. I wasn't sure how it was going to end, but we made the walk and then my GI distress manifested itself in ugly ways. 

Then add to that, chills.  Or sweats. Headache. Muscle aches. Skin sensitivity. Really wanting to vomit but not actually happening.

This would last all day long - and then some. 

Of course, NOW I do research on this stuff. 

It is highly unlikely the edibles produced something out of a Beetlejuice deleted scene. 

They suggest avoiding drinking alcohol while doing edibles. Noted. They suggest hydrating before, during and after. I did not do that either.  Sure I had water with dinner later, but like HYDRATING hydrating, no. I did not do that. 

My neck had been stiff earlier on Saturday, and we did picnic at lunch. Maybe that salad I bought wasn't all it could be? 

While I'm sure I will try a gummy again (38 to go!), it just might not anytime soon. 

Song by:  Nickel Creek

My Music Monday

This will be weird. 

I'm featuring a song here I never heard.  Yes, I'm not even sampling it ahead of time. 

I haven't had a free moment this week to listen to a new socially distanced recording from John Paul White and Rose Cousins. 

Honestly, I've never heard of her, but White rarely disappoints - me, that is. 

The Folk Artist Alliance puts two folk artists together to write new music inspired by their time in quarantine. 

So here - for the first time, for you and me, is "I Can't With You"

a Face in the Crowd

I don't know what to think about the mask / no mask situation. 

Well, that's kind of a lie. I just have a lot of thoughts. Perhaps, too many. 

On one hand, there is a sense of normalcy with relaxing the restrictions. But on the other hand, only 36% of those eligible to receive the vaccine has taken fully vaccinated. 47% (or another 11%)  have taken only one one of their doses........and numbers are on the rise for those who are opting out of dose #2. 

36% - even 47% - is a LONG way off from herd immunity. 

The joke is, of course, that unvaccinated people should still be wearing masks. That assumes they had been - and you know they haven't. Look at their voter registration, or if they have hefty bags full of gasoline in the backs of their car. 

Beside the inevitable increase in infections coming our way, it is the nightmare of retail that is going to be horrid. Worse than it has been for the last year +. 

There will be establishments that are still going to require the wearing of masks. If we thought the Karen's of the world were apoplectic while wearing to have to wear masks during lockdown times - just. you. wait.  It is going to be epic.....ly bad. 

I have eagerly awaited some direction from work, but I don't expect it to change at all. Not now. Not yet. The docs who work for me tell me regardless of the hospital policy, they'll continue to wear masks during patient visits. Good for them. 

I'm more comfortable outside without them - within reason. I still carry, and plan to, a mask with me that I will need to slip on as others are around. 

Early June, in Ohio, there are no limits on capacity for places of eat and drink. Those restrictions are all being lifted. The number of Covid cases in our state aren't really falling - they're holding steady between 1,100 - 1,400 per day.  When they did hit 700+ the other day the media was happy to say 'they were cut in half!'.  The next day they said, 'cases are at 1400'.  They never say 'they doubled!!!'. 

We are our own worst enemy. I assume we will continue to be.  

Song by: Tom Petty  (no Heartbreakers)

Life on a String

A busy work week, coming out of vacation mode. It left for few opportunities for pet pics.  But you get what you get - and you'll like it. 

Damn fence - keeping him from the squirrel. 

The girl loves to snuggle. I'm just fine with that. 

Dinner, you say? 

My lord - those ears. 

And at almost 16, Sophie is still kittenish when it comes to strings - even ones on my sweat pants. 

Break on an after-work walk. 

Song by: Laurie Anderson

Sun and Moon and Stars

I have nothing of note, I suppose. 

This moon and stars was left here by previous owners. We're not sure which of a many previous owners, but......it was present when we closed and on moving day. So it's ours now. 

One place that moon and stars has not been in on that decorative rod. ......like we think it was meant to be. 

The piece was lying in the bushes when we got here, as it is now. 

It's not that we're lazy or sloppy homeowners. Honest. 

I've put that thing back where it belongs and it doesn't stay. There have been times I haven't even made it back inside before it's jumped from its perch. 

710 finally took my advice and got plier out to squeeze the hook closed. That kept it up there for 2-3 whole days. Tops. 

Before you ask, no, wind does not seem to play a factor. Nor do I think deer or squirrels are involved....and you know squirrels are behind most everything!  Maybe it's being done by the ghost of one of the former owners. 

I'd say we'd vow to fix it, because it should be fixable, yet, here we are a year later with this copper piece sitting in the shrubs more than it has been in the sky. 

I suppose we could throw it out, but where's the challenge in that? 

Song by: Lyle Lovett

12 of 12

So I'm doing my 133rd 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. Erik is back and I think he's picking up 12 of 12 again.

06:02.  What shirt to wear?  What shirt to wear???

06:31.  Lunch goes into the work fridge. 

I had pasta. 

06:35.  Sun's comin' up....like a big bald head....

07:29.  Completing an on-base form for a new provider who started on Monday. 

12:56.  Conference call. 

One of 5 in a row. 

13:17.  Warming up the pasta. 

17:14. Scanning stuff. 

17:32.  Heading home. 11 hours later. 

17:43.  One of the neighbor's Jack Russell's taking time away from barking at Shep when (s)he spied me. 

18:15. After work walk. 

Shep has quite the life. 

18:30.  Horseshoe "Lake". 

Yes, Cookie - this is what it has looked like for a while. It's not what you remember. 

19:43.  Mindless Milk Street. 

If I want to make Tagliatelle alla Bolognese. It seemed complicated. 

That's it for this month!

Golden

If it weren't so funny, I wouldn't laugh. But it is. 

An award that literally no one cares about - except for Mike, to extract prizes for his contest wins - is in a diversity (as in, lack of) controversy. 

S. N. O. R. E. 

Until this last two years, welcome to the Academy Awards.  And Emmys. And Tonys.  And Nickelodeon.  Oh - and every Country Music Award Show. 

I mean, what the fuck are people talking about the Golden Globes for?  Of course they have a diversity issue. But so does Hollywood with deciding between Julia Roberts or Sandra Bullock - and only those two - for any role. 

The Hollywood Foreign Press has given best acting awards to Madonna and Pia Zadora. I don't think 'diversity' is in their vocabulary, like the word 'talent' isn't either. 

I'm not sure who raised the flag on the Globes, or that they've been singled out - as they are all guilty of this. ABC hasn't pulled the plug on airing the Oscars, though NBC has for the Globes. Of course, the sub-basement dwelling ratings probably was a money loser for them in the first place. 

Of course, I am howling over the headline above. 

My cynical self - or as I call it, 'myself' - assumes Cruise is getting out ahead of something else that makes him look bad. I mean, he and Scientology is the whitest of the white, right?  Sure, the 8.916 Mission Impossible movies has Vingh Rhames - but honestly, that is where diversity ended in those movies. Unless a 5'4" closeted gay man equals 'diverse'. 

I watched the Globes for two reasons - one to see Ricky Gervais just slaughter those in front of him, and they had to semi-laugh in hopes of no attention on them. The second was to see how badly I'd lose to Mike.  That is less funny. 

Song by: Fall Out Boy