"A-E-I-O-U (and sometimes Y)"

This morning (ok, middle of the night!), I awoke from a dream that had music in it. This is not the same thing, like when I leave my little blog blurbs of songs in my head when I wake up. This was a full-on dream.

What's stranger than waking up to the song "Maria" from West Side Story? When it's sung by Sarah Vowell , who is sitting behind a plexiglas partition like she was a ticket taker at the mega-plex. And it's not that she sung it well - I mean, she's Sarah Vowell. And it wasn't the partial song - but the entire song.

For those who are not familiar w/Sarah, she is a contributor to This American Life, an author, occasional Op-Ed writer for the New York Times and did the voice of Violet in The Incredibles.

I won't even bother going into the rest of the dream where Denton and I had a 3 yo daughter, a cat and something about going to McDonald's for breakfast in the pouring rain.

WORST.SONG.EVER.

CNN has a story posted regarding the worst song ever. In my opinion - the story itself is poorly written - but I supposed that's not the point. There are tons of 'best of' song/album lists ("Hey Jude"???? Gimme a break!) but not just not enough 'worst of'.

In 1989(?), Jon and I drove to Florida and each of us had to make a tape of the worst songs that we owned. The deal was - we could not fast forward through any of them! (Somewhere, I still have that tape!). It was funny and painful at the same time.

Then a few years ago, Rebecca and Art Silverman attempted to do a worst repsonse list to a 'best of' piece on All Songs Considered for All Things Considered a few years ago that never got aired. Becky had asked some people for their submissions - and I think it's time to re-examine the songs that would rather send us to the dentist for a root canal than to endure the 3 minutes 30 seconds of radio airtime.

As a number of people can tell you, for decades my #1 choice was Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street". That soul-piercing saxophone could (and still can) make me take plunge over a cliff. But as luck (?) would have it - newer, worser music has come along, or been rediscovered. The eerie thing is - how do these songs slip into our sub-conscious? I mean - I've always hated these songs. It was a not a slow decline into, 'wow, this song has really become annoying'. Yet I know every fucking word to each of my worst list (or most of the songs). How does this happen?????

Granted I do not listen to radio that much anymore (unless it's NPR) - so most of my choices are not current.

Though you can email CNN your submissions at worstsong@cnn.com, I'd love to.....no, need to see what everyone has to say (so list them here people!!!!). I don't think you have to put only one down. G-d knows I'm not! Unlike CNN's stipulations, these do not necessarily have to be 'hits'.

You can't (or shouldn't) put down blanket statements 'anything Whitney Houston / Celine Dion' because

1. It's just being lazy
2. It just stands to reason

Here are mine in no particular order - except the first one (and I know I'm missing a bunch):
Kokomo - Beach Boys
Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty
Cook of the House - Wings
I've Never Been to Me - Charlene
War - Culture Club
Rock Me Amadeus - Falco
Come On Eileen - Dixie's Midnight Runners
Run-Around - Blue Travelers
Let it Be - Beatles (there! I said it. someone had to!)

FOOL ON THE HILL

Sure, I saw the 'quote' in the papers of W being 'the decider'. In my mind, I immediately went into every parody you ever hear of Shrub. "I'm a decider, that's what I do, I decide" kind of shit. All w/the voice of Will Farrel doing Shrub. Quite disturbing place to be - my mind is.

I can't say I ever visit the Huffingtonpost site - but this is kind of funny. It's playable at work. There is audio. Listen. ....or at least read the printed lyrics.

Kris R-H gets all the credit for pointing this out to me.

HOW GAY IS GAY?


Just when you thought it couldn't get any gayer than Liza w/a Z, amazon goes and gets all stereotypical on us and pairs it up with what the New York Times is no longer calling 'the gay cowboy movie,' but a movie about 'bisexual ranch hands'.

What? They couldn't have paired it up with......um......with......................oh forget it. I can't wrack my brain to come up w/anything queerer than this combo of DVDs.


disclaimer: honestly, I did not go to amazon to purchase anything Liza. I SWEAR TO G-D!!! After seeing 'raves' about this in papers/magazines, we saw it on Showtime (thank you free weekend of premium channels!). No one ever bothers to mention that she lip synchs through most of it. Nor do any of the amazon reviews (which is what I really went to go check) - and yet oddly enough most, if not all the reviews are written by 'men'.

THE RIGHT GIRL


I could not be happier that Rebecca has snagged a top literary agent for her novel The Wrong Girl!!!! (actually, to be more accurate, and a better coup for Becca, is that the agent snagged her!!)

It is a very good book.....and of course, I do not just say that because a character may or may not be based on ME! Or partially on me. Or at the very least, the eyebrows of one of the characters (yes, you heard me right!).

I need to negotiate casting approval. I think that's only fair. Is Yul Brenner still alive??

"I WANT TO RIDE MY BICYCLE..."
(worst. Queen. song. ever.)

Though it has been planned for a few weeks, and has nothing to do w/my 'Mark Finneran' posting a week or so ago - I swear...honest! - I got my new bike on Saturday. (hmmm...maybe I should have titled the post Fat Bottomed Girls)

My Trek 700 was 12 yrs old, and while it was good to me, I wasn't very good to it. The first few years I rode the hell out of it. Columbus has some great bike paths that can get you to Grovetucky or Worthington - and after work, I'd go one way or the other. Columbus also was (is?) a town where after 5:30p, downtown just kind of rolled-up and died. One could ride right down main streets w/barely coming in contact, let alone site, of an automobile. It was the perfect way to relax after work (I mean, besides happy hour!). I got in not only some great exercise, but I got to work on strengthening my bionic leg.

After moving to Cleveland, the bike (ok - *I*) had fewer, yet sometimes harder rides....then eventually as work hours increased, and the bike and my body just became neglected and slid into a state of disrepair.

Cleveland Hts was not Columbus. While claiming to be eco-friendly (we are a Nuclear Free Zone, after all) the chances of being run off the road were great. Too great. That meant breaking out the bike carrier, attaching it, transporting the bikes to get to a better riding environment. It all seemed counter-intuitive.

But our new house has a better launching point for riding. Yes, there are some busy thoroughfares, but manageable. We can ride through the Shaker Lakes areas, etc. There is still the option of the bike carrier and heading down to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park - where one can ride the towpaths along the Ohio & Erie Canal. Fun to make it down to Akron, and if one gets tired or lazy, just throw your bike on the train and head back to where you started.

Anyhoo...I ordered my bike a week ago and it arrived at the store mid-week, I just couldn't pick it up until Saturday (again w/the work hours!). It is a hybrid - from Raleigh. To be honest, I didn't know Raleigh still made bicycles. The last one I saw, was my ten speed back when I was maybe 12. And though Trek had been good to me, I saw nothing they had that fit my purposes. Specialized had a great Crossroads bike, and was comparably priced - but the store was closing out the line. I didn't want a bike down the line they didn't carry or care about. Website design shouldn't really be a reason to buy a bike, but I'll give Specialized this - they have a cool-ass site.

So, I think we were home for about 20 minutes after getting the bike before we were out riding. I even wore a helmet. I loathe wearing helmets. I know it's the right thing to do to wear them. Working for a neurosurgery practice I should know better....but I felt confined. Having said that, they are a tad more comfortable than they were a decade ago - and I was smart enough to get a white-ish/silver-ish one, instead of black....which just told the sun, 'BAKE ME".

I have a lot of work to do to get back into shape for them-thar legs. We probably only rode a few miles, but it felt good. I'm looking forward to longer hours of sunlight - so I can at least get in a short ride each night.

HAPPY EASTER????

Ok, je don't celebrate this "holiday"........but Tom Green (and his bunny theme as of late) was nice enough to provide me the photo. It made me laugh.

P.S. my favorite Easter memory was after a LONG day/night of drinking but alert enough to make an outgoing answering machine message before going to bed (or is that 'passing out'?):

"Unlike Jesus, I have yet to rise................so please leave a message."

....safe to say, my mother was not pleased when she called later that morning.

"...cause I'm the Tax Man....yeah yeah..I'm the Tax Man...oh yeah"

Tis the season and all. Today is the day for all of youz guyz to make sure your taxes are postmarked, in the mail and on the way to Haliburton Uncle Sam.

This year we opted not to use TurboTax - which has been good to us all these past years. Since we moved, we had two different city taxes to pay, along w/federal and state. Then there is our current property, which resides in two different cities. Damn two parcels of land!

So we hired it out. And it made all the difference. She found stuff (in our favour) that I don't think TurboTax ever could. At first I balked at the fee - which was presented before we handed over our information. A fee that would have to be paid whether she got us a refund or whether we owed. ...and except for Cleveland Hts taxes (you never get a refund in Cleveland Hts), she got us refunds everywhere else. Je was very pleased.

BLOBBY'S FUTURE ???

How is this not going to be how I end up?

ok ok ok......or how I am this very second?

BUSH IS A DRAG

This picture isn't nearly as funny as the attached calendar.pps

Personally, I'm partial to August. November is good - but note that it is a commercial airline and not the Air National Guard.

(Dith's been dying for another shot at Blobby's Blog immortality....and this is it! She provided the PowerPoint - though it's safe to say she didn't create it herself.)

TOM/DREW

Yesterday I ran into someone from high school. Is it a big deal? In a way...kind of - for at least three reasons:

• I have almost successfully avoided anyone from high school for 25 years
• I remembered who he was on-site
• He noticed/acknowledged me first. I never ever think that anyone ever remembers who I am (yeah, I got self-esteem problems, what of it?)

"Tom", (we'll call him that, ok?) was on his way to my neighboring clinical department, which just happens to be Infectious Disease. We exchanged pleasantries, deciding not to catch up there in the lobby, but I said if he wanted, to stop by my office after his appointment. I'll be honest, I never thought he would. But one-half hour later there he was.
Tom went to Ohio State, same time I was there, so hence the 'almost' in my avoidance of all things Walsh Jesuit. (Though I did run into someone else at a funeral a few years back, but I digress...) We had very few one person whom we knew outside of high school in common. We didn't travel in the same circles by any stretch of the imagination.
...unless you have a vivid imagination.
From a class we had together junior year, I got a vibe from Tom. Mind you, back in the day, Walsh was an all-boys school...hormones were in flux, so the vibes ran rampant. During this class, Tom and I were paired w/two other guys on some project. At this time Tom felt the need to confide in me. Confide might be too strong of a word. Boast? That might be better.
While our project partners did the actual work, Tom would tell me stories or allude to his truisms. Two of his tales have stuck w/me since:

1. His trips to NYC and some 'movies' that he made there. Movies that he was sure I'd never see. Hmmmmmmm. (It's true, I never saw E.T., so it's possible he's in that!)
2. Then there was how at 16 or 17 years old he had gone to the hall of records finding records of an expired infant who died 21 years before, but who had gotten a social security number. Tom applied for many things under this kid's identity. Tom became 'Drew'.

This was in the day before most anyone had heard of identity theft. I'll admit, the more he went into detail, the more I was intrigued. Seemingly untethered freedom - which of course was a fallacy. Everything has consequences.
I ran into "Tom" at OSU, and though he wasn't unfriendly, when around other people he kept his distance....and I know why. I'd overhear them call him "Drew". In certain ways, he did what we all wish, at some time, we could do. He escaped. He became someone else.
Clearly, I lost touch. Not that I'd ever see him at a reunion. Not that I've ever been to a reunion. Again, I've avoided these folks for a quarter of a century - do you think I'd actually pay to catch-up w/their lives??? (Actually for my 20th, I had a plan to go w/Rebecca and Andrew. Becca was 9mos pregnant and we were going to go as a threesome. I'm not sure Andrew was ever let in on this plan.)
So, now here Tom is in my office, on his last possible course of treatment to save his life. Being brought back from the brink three other times - he was amazingly in good spirits. His lover of 12 years leaving him two months prior - he was amazingly in good spirits. His house burning down to the ground a year ago - still.....great spirits.
We talked about a few high school people we knew OF - but didn't know anymore. The folks we were close to/friends with - until diploma was in hand and how dispensable they were. And though it wasn't said - how dispensable we were. No regrets.
I gave him my card - told him to call me anytime.

OH THE HUMANITY..........

Yes, Goodyear has a new blimp - and he/she has no name. It is soooo very sad when unwanted blimps are brought into this world. Will no one take the responsibility to give it a proper identification? That is where you come in....

Be the one to NAME THE BLIMP!!. Oh - and if you win - it's yours for the day!!! ("Istanbul....and step on it!!!")

Please refrain from using Kirsty Alley - as it's already taken (and she doesn't fly - though she is full of hot air).

I think it's only fair that any name you submit is also entered into my comments section.

PILLOW TALK

(song of the day that is playing in my head when I woke up: Lie to Me by Chris Isaak)

This bear's pillow is too soft
This bear's pillow is too thick
This bear's pillow can't be made of down
This bear can't find a pillow that is jussssssssssssst right

Where is frickin' Goldilocks when you need her? Blobby is in search for the best. pillow. ever! The last few months (or year) have been odd. I cannot find a pillow that satisfies my need for head-rest.

Sometime after our move, my pillows just didn't cut it for me. Not only have I tried all that we have (guest rooms included) - then there were the purchases! oy!! They have the standard (tried it - my head sinks to the mattress), firm (tried it - head sinks to the mattress), extra firm (using it now, but still have to use my hands under the pillow to keep my head at a good angle).

I've tried those memory foam ones too. They're ok, but my neck ends up hurting and can experience numbness during the entire day. The thicker the pillow, the more my head tilts up when sleeping. It's beginning to be a real pain - no pun intended (or perhaps fully intended).

...and then there are those that are supposebly (yes, I know it's misspelled!) for people who sleep on their back, side or stomach. C'mon - how different can these be? Apparently different enough to make me annoyed - and not different enough to let me sleep.

I'm certainly not getting a solid 8 (hush Morty!). I'm lucky if I'm asleep for 5 - and even that's not in a row.

We have so many pillows now, I'm guessing at this point we can easily accommodate the von Trapps and their off-spring and still have enough pillows left over.

JUST IN CASE

...male figure skating wasn't quite queer enough, someone somehow found a way to make it that much more gay. (this is work safe, though adjust the volume....it was loud on my laptop)

Not Ready to Make Nice

In an earlier post I mentioned about how the new Dixie Chicks song that makes no small reference to Natalie Maines' comment about how she was embarrassed that Bush was from their home state of Texas. More to the point - the aftermath of said comment. While not killing their career, it certainly drove down their fan-base and sales.

I finally heard the song and just as I hoped, it does indeed not suck donkey-dick. While country radio could indeed play it - mainstream radio could as well. But I'd be surprised if they will. Most major outlets are owned by Clear Channel which supported Shrub to no end.

Anyhoo....you can listen to the song on the the Chicks' website. You can also play the video (which is actually pretty good - though hard to see on the 2"x2" screen. I saw it on LOGO and thought it was well done....for a video. As Morty will tell you, video lost it's thrill after Aldo Nova!




Song by:  the Dixie Chicks

I'm thinking I should move the 'Impeach Bush' banner and put this up at the top of my blog until the end of the war. Thoughts? Comments?

SITE(s)OF THE MONTH

I'm not sure I'll even put these in my SOM archive section - since I'm guessing TBS will eventually cease and desist linking to them (and I'm sure my blog will be around forever!).

Anyhoo.....for all 27 of you who have not seen Lord of the Rings, TBS is showing the first two later this month. Normally I'd say they'd play the movies 'ad nauseum', but I can watch LOTR over and over.

But the site links are for their advertisement(s) of the Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. I'm putting them in what I believe to be the funniest order!


Frodo
Hunks
Secret Lovers












White Horse
Gollum
Wizard of Orc

SHOPPING w/BLOBBY (further tales)



ahhh.....nothing makes makes one more bloated and gassy than beans (or so I've heard - since I can't stand the things).

Nothing represents bloated gas-bags more than the U.S. Senate.

This is like a frickin' marriage made in heaven.

PULLING A MARK FINNERAN

Back in the '80s (g-d....did I just say that?) I was working @ OSU Hospitals. During the monthly rotations of med students, I happened upon one named Mark Finneran. A nice chap. Friendly and approachable. You'd think med students would need to be nice to find their way - but they get that chip on their shoulder fairly early on (I mean, not you Andrew!). Mark was nice. He was a big football kind of guy and no surprise he went into orthopedic surgery. I mean - don't they all?

So Mark comes around the corner and sits down to chart. I'm minding my own business and hear this 'rrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiipppppppppp'. I turn around and the poor guy is beet red. I go, "did you just........?". He nods. He'd been caught. Ruckiry (not Jon's boss) no one else was around and he could scamper off to his call-room to put on scrubs. Problem solved!

Why do I mention this? Well today I'm in a series of meeting w/anesthesiology and finally decide to get lunch. I stop to talk to two of my medical assistants and go to leave. I hear them stop one of my nurses - I keep going. Well, turns out somewhere during the day, I pulled a Mark Finneran....except I didn't hear it. Or feel it. Shouldn't there have been some kind of breeze??

Ellen, the nurse, tracks me down to tell me b/c the others didn't know how to tell me. THANKS! By the time Ellen gets to me, I'm in the lobby of a very crowded hospital! Thanks again!

These are the times I'm glad I keep a few suits in my office. I swapped out - and could do nothing but laugh about it.

At least I wasn't going commando or anything!!!!!

(NOTE: Morty left me an email comment that makes me think I wasn't clear enough. I split my pants. Not SHIT my pants! Geeesh!)

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED IMPOSSIBLE

It's been 1189 days since Shrub had a huge-ass banner declaring we were victors in Iraq. If you don't count insurgent attacks. If you don't count no true self-policing of Iraq. If you don't count that Condi is over there now imploring factions for a stable governing body. Oh - and if you don't count the 2000+ U.S. soldier deaths since we've 'accomplished' this mission.

To all of those who still back the president on this endeavor:

TRAFFIC


Last night on the way to dinner w/friends, I crossed through an intersection where I happened upon some flashing lights. It was so bright that it scared the shit out of me to be honest. My first assumption that was that an emergency vehicle was coming my way. No such luck.

Turns out it was one of the new traffic cameras that Cleveland has installed. Some are for running red lights while others are designated for speeders. Each ticket runs between $100-200. I have no idea if flash was for me - as there was a car in front of me and behind me. I do know I didn't go through a red light. I'm pretty sure it flashed before I even hit the intersection. I'm not as sure I wasn't over the speed limit, but considering the road, I'd be surprised if I was. Yes, I'm the guy who has never gotten a moving violation. Maybe a few parking tickets - and one or two accidents (which weren't my fault nor was I cited!!).

I'd be surprised if/when I actually get a ticket (of course, I always assume it's a 'when') as I cannot imagine how it is determined which one of the three cars on a 4 lane road ( and I guess the picture could have been for a car coming the other direction, which I didn't notice) was the culprit.

I think it's fightable (is that a word??) in court. ....and don't think I won't!!!!

TRUTH OUT

I'm loving the site TRUTH OUT. I have no idea who is running the site (and clearly too lazy to look it up) - but it's great. It is not the end-all/be-all site. I guess it's somewhere between Common Dreams and Daily Kos. But I don't go to just one site. If I only got my info from one site, I'd be no better than the schmuks who watch Fox. (oh c'mon - you didn't actually expect me to link to that.)

I'd link to some interesting articles but they update somewhat frequently and there are too many anyway - but it's probably a good daily read. IF you have time, then maybe delve into their archives. But there are a few dozen articles daily covering the usual suspects in topical issues - but not necessarily straight-up politics.

Blob says check it out

MR. BUN

Tom Green sent this last week. Nothing else attached (i.e. text). I'm calling him Mr. Bun. Tom that is - not the rabbit.

I'll assume it has to do w/easter. You know - that catholic holiday where g-d's son is crucified and died for your sins? The one where three days later he rises in the form of a bunny and hides eggs and candy for everyone?

What? Am I somehow getting this wrong????

NATIONAL DEBT

If you've never seen the National Debt Clock in NYC, it's quite amazing. Not in a good way - but in a car accident you just can't turn away from way. It's the way the numbers just tick away every frickin second.

The clock is built to have placeholders for 13 digits (the sign is 26 feet long!), which silly as it sounds, is only in the singles of trillions of dollars! Within the next two years, we will hit the 14 digit mark. Oddly enough, the clock is designed to run backwards if the chance ever was needed. Three more Bush years - I'm assuming we won't be seeing that feature anytime soon!

...and just an FYI - as of this writing, the debt is: $8,373,427,814,745.73 or each one of us owes $28,012.72. No personal checks, please!

side note: picture/debt is from July 2002!

I LOST ON JEOPARDY, BABY.....

Having more than once been called the King of Useless Information, last night I decided to take the first ever on-line Jeopardy. Normally try-outs are in-person, but the show tried something new. Participants had to pre-register and sign-on at least three minutes prior to the designated testing time. Gilmore Girls be damned - at 8:oop I was going to be on-line!!! (turns out it was a repeat anyway.)

50 questions in 10 minutes. The math would be: 12 seconds to read the question, type the answer and hit 'submit'. The cursor didn't automatically go back to the answer box so you had to make sure you did that as you were trying to read the next question. On the plus side you did not have to answer in the form of a question, nor did you have to have exact spelling.

Anyhoo...though they didn't give a score at the end, overall I did better than average or at least I think I did. I just couldn't get the answer for the Sanskrit category. Swear to g-d, I'm not making that up. I froze on a question regarding a peninsula in Mexico (after time ran out, of course Yucatan came to me!). The site will calculate scores based on how many people took the trial and then select people for real-live try-outs.

I really don't expect to even get that far, let alone to the show. And if I did, all I'd have in my head are two things:

• The SNL skit(s) and Sean Connery asking for a clue in THE RAPISTS category
• Me getting on TV and freezing like Cindy Brady

DIXIE CHICKS

You know - I really don't care if the song sucks donkey-dicks....I already love it (and I haven't heard a single note of it yet)!!! Ruckiry (not Jon's boss), I really do like the Chicks....or at least half the stuff they do.

A response song to an event that happened three years ago you might ask? But country radio, steeped in some warped right-wing/GOP tradition, hasn't forgotten their 'actions'- so why should the girls?

Billboard can come after me, but I completely 'borrowed' their review:

Not Ready to Make Nice
Producer(s): Rick Rubin Genre: COUNTRYLabel: Wide Open/Columbia (CD promo)
Dixie Chicks' lead Natalie Maines has never been the type to tuck her tail, but after an avalanche of combative censure of the trio at country radio following her 2003 criticism of President Bush, one might expect the Chicks' return to avoid ruffling feathers. Nothing doing. "Not Ready to Make Nice" responds to Maines' hurt and disbelief over the uproar: "They say time heals everything, but I'm still waiting/I'm mad as hell, can't bring myself to do what it is you think I should." The melancholy anthem, produced by Rick Rubin, is beautifully layered, melodically crafty and refreshingly impetuous. Sony is simultaneously taking the song to adult top 40, AC and country. Across all platforms, this is among the major releases of 2006.

DOGGIES


I completely forgot to mention that yesterday we went to go look at the Geauga Humane Society to look @ dogs. Kind of getting our paws wet. I always assume they'll have tons and they didn't. Maybe a dozen or so. Some really cute - some weren't even up for adoption b/c they haven't been acclimated to people. Some were slated for adoption (Rudy and and a malamute who isn't on the site). Barkley seemed really really cute - but Barky should have been his name. MAN. He's gonna talk himself right out of an adoption.

The dogs were ok, b/c there wasn't anyone we wanted to take home. The Kitty Condo (as Pru might call it) was pure heartbreak. A few dozen cats (no kittens) - so many of them so cute. Tovah and Kylie would adapt better to a dog than another cat though.

The place was great. Extremely clean. It didn't smell like a shelter or rescue. Certainly didn't look/smell like Cat Welfare in Columbus.

So long story short - we didn't get a dog. But I think Denton feels even better about doing this. I'll keep everyone posted.

iPOD PLAYLIST



Posting iPod playlist is the placeholder for blog postings. It's an easy-out. You get your posting in w/out having to actually think of anything to say. It's not that I'm quite to that point, but it's a Sunday - and who is really reading this on a weekend?

That being said - I do love my music. I've seen the Desert Island Disk lists and the opposite where people have disclose their most embarrassing music or guilty pleasures. I've got both. One man's embarrassment is another's favorite music - so who is to say.

My friend Josh told me a few months ago, he finds no music to be bad music. At first I discounted that theory - and still might (I have seen his entire catalogue). However, I learned years not to part w/ my music. At some point I'll want to play it, even for the cringe factor.

Another friend, Jon, talks about selling or donating his old CDs since his is all captured electronically. I've stored all mine this way as well, but can't seem to part w/the physical disks....at least yet.

So here we go - there is the last playlist I created. It's all over the place as most of my mixes and entire music collection tend to be. I think the oldest is Rickie Lee Jones' "Coolsville" (1979) and the newest being Rosanne Cash.

I Saved the World Today - Eurythmics
Let Go - Frou Frou
It Dawned On Me - Calla
Sorry - Madonna
Precious - Depeche Mode
4ever - Veronicas
Little Bombs - Aimee Mann
Further On (Up the Road) - Bruce Springsteen
Forever Lost - The Magic Numbers
Path of Thorns (Terms) - Sarah McLachlan
Coolsville - Rickie Lee Jones
Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down) - Tears for Fears
War Child - Blondie
I Told You - Thorns
Give Me Your Eyes - Cardigans
The Unforgettable Fire - U2
Borderline - Alison Krauss + Union Station
World w/out Dreams - Rosanne Cash
i remember - Damien Rice
Room w/a View - Marti Jones

NIGHT OUT

Last night I went to a party for a former boss who was unceremoniously let go a few weeks ago. Normally I don't socialize w/my co-workers (or former ones). The place was a converted old theatre, turned into a sports bar (ugh!). Huge, but such a horrible conversion of great space. The movie screen was projecting March Madness. More than a few people laughed in the final 2 minutes of the BC/Villanova game (which lasted 15 w/all the timeouts and commercials) when I asked if anyone knew if 'Desperate Housewives' was on. "Who has the remote?!!!"

But I went b/c Nancy had been so good to me in the 9yrs I spent in my last department. Though we had issues now and again, she provided me many opportunities. ...and she is one (if not the) smartest persons I've ever met. The people who were there were similar to me in the fact that we were 40-ish and been mentored in some way by Nancy. Since there were about 65 of us - not much time w/the honoree, so there was a core i hung with whom things are just fun and easy.

Ok...except one. This person in ITD (who are always the life of the party! NOT!) said I must be happy in my new job (new? it's been 16 mos!) - that I seemed happy and that before I was a 'sourpuss!'. I laughed it off, but have been giving it plenty, or too much, thought since. I'm the guy who thinks everything is funny. Granted, I was the most hated man in my last position - but that's why it was given to me: b/c I could handle it. All 1100 doctors hated me. All 4000 nurses hated me. As did patients and families. Most support services disliked me. It was a no- win position except for the front office. Though a serious job, I was light-hearted about it most of the time or I would have slit my wrists. Oh well......the people at the bar I relayed the story to just laughed.

Man - I only had 5 (or was it 6?) beers. Granted that is nothing compared to my past lives - my Poplar-life and my early working in Cleveland life. 5 or 6 were a warm up and I'm guessing that'd be 4 nights out a week. And I mean OUT.....til closing. Remember the days you could get home at 2:30a and still roll into work by 7a no worse the wear? Those days are gone for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy being 42 (and let's face it - who of us thought I'd live this long), but where did the stamina go?

My email group was discussing just yesterday how they wished we could go back to being burnouts. The reality is - we never were (well....I don't think....@ least since I've known them). Hell, I barely smoked pot....and isn't that where the term came from? It was so much easier to drink, or ingest and snort my drugs! This was a life before boyfriends, husbands, kids, mortgage etc. This is the same group who was here at xmas, and I believe we were all in bed by 12:30a. Ok ok ok.....YES, we started drinking at 4p, but that's not the point....or is it? Maybe there is no point.

Maybe the point is - I never thought I'd be standing in a bar watching basketball w/a bunch of mid and upper level managers...let alone BE one of them. Welcome to my life!

SpongeBob SoiledPants

Dith just doesn't get enough props in this blog. ....and if she continues in this vein, she might not!
On the other hand, it kind of made me laugh!

SEPARATED AT....UM....UM.......

Is it just me - or are there really eerie similarities between The Kramer and the crappy phone-pic I took of Al Lerner's portrait?

Man in Custody After White House Scare

that was an AP headline a little while ago today.

Apparently it doesn't have anything to do w/the arrest of Shrub after he holds the country hostage from the WH for the last 5.5 yrs. ...it's a shame really.

Deep Brain Stimulation

I don't write about work a lot. I try to keep it off the blog for the most part. It seems the right thing to do. But now and again we get national exposure (in a good way) and I like to be proud of what I do and share the good work we actually accomplish.

CNN.com (this is not on any of their actual tv stations) is running an article on the chairmen of my department. The article, to the lay person (no offense to you readers), is only half as interesting as what we actually do here. As w/most media, they think they have to dumb stuff down to get talking points across to their readers/viewers. I don't subscribe to that thought - but I'm not in media relations.

It is a decent though not great article, but it the text isn't nearly as inclusive as what we actually do here.

HOWARD DEAN

The Daily Kos had a poll yesterday asking if readers approved of the way Howard Dean was doing business w/the DNC. I was a little surprised at the results (though I believe you can still vote).

Loyal readers (or new ones who are bored enough to read my archives) of Blobby's Blog know I was a huge Dean supporter prior to and during the 2004 primary season. I never saw the implosion coming. I still don't understand how one scream can take down a campaign (though I still blame a 24 new cycle who has nothing else to show). What I would have expected was his approach - almost non-political and pro-logic - to be his undermining. But it was refreshing to have him in the race.

After the Dems surrendered their spines and nuts to the president post-9/11, I stopped all $$$$. Every mailing they sent me I sent back w/an explanation on why there was no check enclosed. They didn't get it. When Dr. Dean became head of the DNC, I finally began contributing money to the organization again.

So, it pained me that I actually voted 'undecided' in the above poll. Clearly I'm in the minority (as always!). Dean, as usual, came out of the gates raring to go and controversial in his attacks on the current administration. Great!

What I don't see him doing it rallying the democrats to have more gonads than they have had in the last five years. Sure the Dems have their Feingolds (censure!) and Schumers (ports!) - but most fly under the radar just hoping to get re-elected.

...and it's a fine line, this re-election thing. I understand this. Needing to play it safe until 2008. But at what cost?

SPAETZEL OR RICE????????? (or more Shopping w/Blobby!)

You're there in line at the grocery just thinking you'll get both. Then the shopkeep comes up and tells you that you can only have one. Which one will it be? WHICH?

CHOOSE NOW!!!!!!!!

NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A YEAR WORTH OF ENTRIES

....and it's only taken me 3 years.

Obviously I haven't been blogging daily. Lately I have - but in the past it's been hit or miss. I had been doing really well around election times and things like that - but if I had to rely on my random thoughts, I stymie myself. It's great to be funny and insightful all the time, if you can pull it off - but I'm probably not that guy. Let's face it - the subtitle of the blog is 'stuff & nonsense'.

Becky is probably right that doing this daily makes you a better writer - and maybe eventually that will come. Readership is up..and I guess that makes sense. The more consistent I do an entry - the more reason to come back. It's not so random. I've actually branched out from my four original readers - and average maybe 3-4 dozen hits per day. Yeah - it's not gonna win me a Bloggie or anything, but.......

I guess in the coming weeks, I will (should?) expand my blogroll. There are a number of good and/or funny blogs out there. Ones that I read daily. Would it be wrong for me to hold out putting them on my site unless they put me on theirs??

BLOG CLOUD

I thought this was a kind of neat thing. Below is my Blog Cloud. The site is a bit intrusive, as it searches through my already written blog entries and pulls out words here and there. You can actually go in and delete/substitute words you don't want to show up, but I like the randomness of it all.

I did not, however, pay $22 to get a t-shirt made of image. (the words cheap, crowbar, miser do not appear in my cloud!)

ST. PATRICK'S DAY - Who Cares????

This is where I'd normally put a link or quote from Kent Brockman on his commentary on SPD. But I'm fairly sure that most folks I know are tired of me doing it year-in/year-out.

The above is something Kris L-S-R-H sent my way the other day. It's as close as to anything Irish that you'll see here. (You can visit all the related products just where you think you might: sweetjesusihatebilloreilly.)

Being part Irish I can say this: St. Patrick's Day, to me, less of a holiday Arbor Day. Parades to me are one step away from circuses. And Blobby hates a circus.

Sure it gives anyone who thinks they might be Irish (or who maybe once saw an Irish person) the opportunity to drink green beer, get drunk and puke. But who needs a special day for that? We call that our teens and 20s. Possibly early 30s. (full disclosure: I think I have only puked once twice from drinking. I'm good at holding my liquor.)

WWND (what would Nick do)

Jessica Simpson snubs Bush

Love her or hate her (ok....I'm kidding on the former!) you have to love the story lead-in.

'It's never been a problem for Bono,' NRCC spokesman responds

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Concerned about politicizing her favorite charity, singer-actress Jessica Simpson Wednesday turned down a invitation to meet with President Bush, a snub that left Republicans dismayed.

This girl has been pretty much a media whore (Jessica, not George........well....ok...George too), so you kind of have to applaud that she turned down a White House invitation on so many levels.
I'm sure the Swift Boat ads against her music (if that's what one calls it) are in production as we speak.

CNN Headline Follow-Up

Deaf beauty queen was text-messaging when hit by train

I think it's safe to say that she wasn't talking on the phone when it happened. Ok - she could have been talking on the phone, but it'd pretty much be a one way conversation as far as she was concerned - no?

(Evil on the rise!)

Censure Shrub

My blog entry from March 1st seems have gotten some momentum. Ok, not my blog entry - but then again, maybe it was! You have to love bloggers and the internet (no....really......you do!).

Many a site have popped up - and many a political organizations have stepped up to the plate. FINALLY. ...and it provided me w/that little banner at the top o'the page.

I suggest you visit/read/show support/contribute whatever you can do. Will it do anything? Probably not. But hell, Clinton had a higher approval rating when he was censured. Let's take away W's political capital he thinks he earned in the last election. Let's make this lame duck a dead duck....along w/all his cronies.

G-d bless Russ Feingold for making this not go away.

Act For Change
DNC - Stop Attacking Russ
Impeach Bush
John Conyers Jr.
Move On
United Coalition of Blogs for the Impeachment of GWB
Your Representative

Headline from CNN (today)

Miss Deaf Texas struck by train, killed

Ironically - her 'cause' was safer railroad crossings!!! No....No......I kid!

(what? My evil score just sent to 48% you say??)

STARF'INBUCKS

I am not a coffee drinker myself. Sure - I'll eat coffee ice cream anyday, but drink it - nah, not for me. But the idea of Starbucks escapes me. Maybe the coffee is actually better there than at the Stop N Go - but how much better could it possibly be.

The guy in this video drops the f*bomb once or twice. (ok...maybe a few more times than that!) I found it funny.

*Probably shouldn't be playing in an office where anyone offended by 'that word' might hear. Visually - nothing inappropriate!

POSTSECRET

I have yet to submit one (though I still think we all should!), however, this one kind of spoke to me. Don't ask me why. I'm such a Leo in so many ways - but so squirmy at other times when attention is bestowed upon me.

VOTE QUIMBY CHANDRA

I met our new next door neighbor(s) yesterdee. They actually closed on their house the week after we did last year. Not sure the deal they actually struck - but the old owners didn't move out until maybe November - then so much of the house was gutted. Dumpster after dumpster was hauled away. I'm guessing the carpeting and everything was a part icky and part not the new owner's taste.

So the wife come over yesterday w/her triple stroller!!!! Yes, you heard right. Triplets. 24 mos old (or in non-parent terms: 2yrs old!) Two identical...one not. Cute little kids. I mean - for kids. Kids who are not related to you in anyway shape or form.

Meena is the wife's name. Her husband is Subodh. They are both lawyers - she being a civil rights attorney, he is running for the Attorney General of Ohio as the democratic candidate!!!! YAYYYYY. Someone has to beat that wench Betty Montgomery! My fear is: this is Ohio. What chance does a minority (Indian) have a chance to win this thing?

Since she had the stroller and the three kids - I didn't really invite her in, though we stood and chatted for maybe 20 min. She'd already seen the house though. She and her husband and put in a bid on it months before we did. They got turned down (obviously). But we have in common that we think the previous owners were douchebags. Meena admitted that they low-balled the offer, as did we. However, they were like the 4th couple to low-ball them. I think that's what got the previous owners to get it into their heads that they were being unrealistic about price.

Both Meena and I agreed it will be good to have nice neighbors (I don't know where Denton disappeared to, but he didn't get to meet her).

The good news is - we have nice neighbours. Possibly 'connected' neighbours. And most important - democrats as neighbours (but let's be fair: this is Cleveland Ambler Heights. How many republicans do you think actually live here?

BLUE POST

Not 'sad'. But blue. Like off-colour humour. So, not to read if you offend easiry (not a typo).



I found the entire 'memo' (above)hilarious on so many levels:

• That they'd had to draft it (and you know it wasn't the first draft) in the first place
• That the university can identify the possible culprits to do DNA testing on them
• That the university has funds to conduct DNA testing (I see an increase in student fees!)
• That the university provides alternatives/suggestions to self-love (and care for their student's comfort!)
• ...and finally, that the university thanks them

But most of all, I find that the university fails to address the sub-standard plumbing system. Let's place blame where it is due! Please look in the mirror you - the dept of Estates and Buildings!!!

For SHAME!

DIGITAL DOWNLOAD

It simply amazes me that record companies can be so far behind in their thinking when it comes to their business models. Maybe I shouldn't be. They've never really been proactive in anything other than price-hikes.

Technology has driven changes in music formats. If left to the record companies - we'd still be playing our 78 rpm acetate disks. The two biggest shakers in the last decade have to be Steve Jobs and Shawn Fanning (not necessarily in that order).

Napster (I won't hyperlink - since it's not that Napster to which I refer) completely changed the way music is record, distributed and played. Except for Edison, who can say that? Jobs, at least to date, as pretty much invented the ultimate player(s) and legitimate digital music store.

So it floors me that in yesterday's New York Times, I see this in an article on music downloads:

Breaking from the music industry's current custom, the singer's label — Island Def Jam — decided not to sell "So Sick" as an individual song before Ne-Yo's album hit stores last week. Label executives worried that releasing the track too early might cut into sales of the full CD — a fear that figures heavily in the music world's lumbering entry into the digital marketplace.

Are they kidding? I don't know anyone who buys an entire CD for one song. A disk has to be pretty damn good, or an artist w/a consistent reputation for me to buy a full disk. Either way - this isn't the 70s. The market is way different. Why go back?

"The labels are shooting themselves in the foot," said Tim Quirk, executive editor of the Rhapsody music service. To the labels, Mr. Quirk advises, "every single track that you are worried about is available for free whether you want it to be or not."

"You need to take advantage of every possible opportunity for people to pay in legitimate ways," he said.

At least someone in the industry isn't totally blind...though to be fair, Rhapsody is a digital music outlet. Do the record execs not realize that Napster flourished b/c of the buying public's frustration w/music distribution? They focus on their dying retail market - whereas 5 yrs ago it was piracy. What goes around comes around.

My g-d, last month iTunes sold their 1 billionth song. I've never purchased an entire disk of music from iTunes. It has always been individual songs. Though I've never seen any stats on it - I would venture to guess I'm no different than the majority of their consumers.

Even Stevie Nicks said in a recent interview that she does not see putting out another album as has been done traditionally. It is more to her advantage to release a few good tracks via services like iTunes than put out a mediocre album (and it could be argued that she's only put out mediocre albums). Oh - and she's gotta be 60 - right? Or pushing it. How is it someone in the grandma age-range has more insight to how business should be done than an MBA?

SITE OF THE MONTH

Hey! I'm not even waiting until my blog-clock ticks out to add the site o'the month for March!

Denton turned me onto the Flash Mind Reader - and it's weird. Creepy Weird. I have done it maybe a dozen times - and it gets it right every single time. I mean - it's not like I say my answer out loud so the guys who are hiding behind the screen on the internets can hear me!

To quote/paraphrase that old thermos joke: "how it know?"

Though there are 100 numbers, there are only 23-24 symbols. So there must be some mathematical equation behind it. As if taking two numbers, adding them, then subtracting them isn't enough to tax the mind (yes Morty you heard me - we have to do math!).

....but still........the right answer every single time? There! There!!! It just did it again!

SHOPPING W/BLOBBY

I had no idea that vegetable broth is what was used to make the gals have fuller looking lips. If you axe me, I think plastic surgeons/dermatologists are way overcharging their patients.

I'm Not Nearly As Bad As All You People Think!

You Are 44% Evil

You are evil, but you haven't yet mastered the dark side. Fear not though - you are on your way to world domination.

How Evil Are You?

Post-OSCAR

Ok - except for Ang Lee and Reese Witherspoon, I pretty much struck out on my award winners. ...and at least Wallace & Gromit won.

The awards will officially end my posting of Brokeback parodies. Well, the two below actually end the postings.

Brokeback Island is LOST entree and not too bad either.

But the best of the bunch - and I do mean all of them that I've posted - the one Becky sent me last night is the stand-out. And it is the shortest and is done w/animated bunnies.

Growing Up

This morning the phone rings at 7:00a. It's Sunday. I see almost no scenario where this can be good news. No one is calling to arrange dinner at 7:00a. ....and it wasn't.

My father was being taken by squad to the emergency department w/chest pain. The call was from one of my sisters. He had been working alone doing some water plant business. Physical work. Way too physical for an 85+ yo man. He knew enough to get home, take aspirin as if he was having a heart attack. And both he and my mother were smart enough to call 9-1-1 and not try to navigate the hospital transport on their own.

As it turns out the docs ruled out an MI, but they're keeping him overnight....at least one night. The staff was great - much better than @ my hospital.

Nothing makes you feel more grown-up than taking care of your parents to whatever degree. A car, house and job don't do that. Making your own will, becoming your parent's power of attorney or navigating them through the healthcare system thrusts you into immediate adulthood. Anyone who knows me will easily admit that I am grounded in my adolescence.

In the last few months, as morbid as it sounds, I've envisioned the situation where I'd be the one who would have to deliver a eulogy at the funeral or either of my parents. Not only do not think my sisters wouldn't do it - I don't think they could. Of course, this would go along w/having to make all the arrangements. I'm a realist this way: my parents are in their late 70s and mid-80s. Time is precious - yet limited. Something my sisters have trouble realizing and struggle with. Even if my parents live to 100, I swear my sisters will have never seen it coming. (a somewhat funny side note: I had no desire to call my other siblings to fill them in - but promised my mother I would. I attempted to get my younger sister to call one an older one - which nobody would want to do. I told her I'd pay her a dollar. Her response was, "sure. times one million!" I made the call.)

I've had this conversation before - but how did the seemingly 'black sheep' of the family become the responsible one? Maybe I seemingly deal with these things ok (maybe not - we really don't know yet, do we?). Maybe it is my work background. Maybe it is because I'm a realist.

....or maybe I'm just finally an adult.

OMG

Not that I had ANY desire to see Hairspray - the musical....since I heart the original movie so much, but I reallllllllllllllly have no intention of seeing the new movie of the musical (ala The Producers). Just read this tidbit from Billboard:

Queen Latifah and John Travolta (!!!!!) are the first stars cast for New Line Cinema's film adaptation of the smash Broadway musical "Hairspray." Latifah will portray Motormouth Maybelle, while Travolta will transform into the lovably large Edna Turnblad, a role originated by female impersonator Divine and updated on Broadway by Harvey Fierstein.

The exclamation points after Travolta are mine - not the magazine's. At least Divine and Firestein could play Edna a little tongue in cheek and not for the paycheck. But the bigger question is 'why Why WHY???? !!!!!!!!!!!' Hell, throw a muumuu on Kirsty Alley (well...you'd almost have to!) - and she could pass for a man dressed as a woman. Sure it still has that weird Scientology angle....but swing a dead cat in Hollywood and you'd hit one of those. Can't be avoided. (of course w/Travolta you still get that weird gay vibe!')

At least we'll always have the original movies w/Debbie, Sonny , Ricki and the guy who played Corny Collins! Do yourself a favor - buy it!

Feel free to use the Comments section to cast the other roles in the movie. LL Cool J or Chris Rock to play Seaweed? Anyone? Anyone???

OSCAR Predictions

Ok - so I haven't seen all (or many) of the movies up for Oscar contention. Does that mean I can't make predictions? The hotly contested races won't even be televised ....like who will win Best Best Boy or Key Grip?????? As it turns out - they're not my predictions of who would win - but who i'd want to win.

Picture - Brokeback Mountain
Director - Ang Lee
Actor - Heath Ledger
Actress - Reese Witherspoon
Supp Actor - Matt Dillon
Supp Actress - Michelle Williams

As the Oscars approach...

(this morning's song in my head upon waking was "Romanticide". For the life of me I don't know who did it - and it's not really worth Goooooogling.)

I figure I'd leave you with a few more Brokeback mash-ups. I'm assuming they'll be my last ones - but I've said that before. Clearly they are being run into the ground.

Brokeback MountDoom
Clearly could have been funnier. In my own mind, I'm playing all three LOTR movies in my head - and there are way more 'brokeback' type scenes between Frodo and Sam than what is represented here.

Brokeback to the Future
eh. It's just ok.

Star Wars: The Empire Brokeback
see: Brokeback MountDoom

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Brokeback
Yes, similar title. Different trilogy.

Brokeback Top Gun
...as if the original movie wasn't homoerotic enough!

Brokeback Dumb and Dumber
Guess what? I never saw the original movie. I've got nothing to say about it.

OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

H.R. Pufnstuf died!!!

If they truly go in threes - I can only imagine that Sigmund is next....followed closely by someone in the cast of Lidsville.

(btw....I was never a fan, but when it was played a few years ago on Nick@Nite, I happened to catch a few minutes of it. My first thought was - 'man that was some acid trip Sid & Marty Krofft were on. Turns out Morty saw the same thing at the same time and thought the same thing!)

Another Nail in the Shrub Legacy

Is it wrong to internally gloat at W's misfortunes? During Congressional hearings the administration tried to play down what they knew, when they knew it and the importance levee at which they knew it.

In a government video briefing the day before Hurricane Katrina struck on Aug. 29, Bush didn't ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."

Whooops!

"I'm concerned about ... their ability to respond to a catastrophe within a catastrophe," Brown told his bosses the afternoon before Katrina made landfall.

For all the flack we have given Michael Brown as being a doofus (and I'm not convinced he isn't) I think he was definitely being made THE scapegoat.

The White House and Homeland Security Department urged the public not to read too much into the video footage. "I hope people don't draw conclusions from the president getting a single briefing," presidential spokesman Trent Duffy said, citing a variety of orders and disaster declarations Bush signed before the storm made landfall. "He received multiple briefings from multiple officials, and he was completely engaged at all times."

Umm....doesn't this make Shrub's ignorance inherently worse?

If he was completely engaged - which I doubt - his lack of understanding and compassion have sunk to a new level. I also find it laughable in this 24 news-cycle-world that a few weeks earlier the White House can refute the things Brown was saying under oath and that this wouldn't eventually surface....and that months before that, an aide was quoted as saying he had to beg Bush to watch news reports of what was going on down in New Orleans.

A very overlooked news clip of the week: Bush will have 5,000 people protecting him on his trip to India. FIVE THOUSAND. If that doesn't say: the most reviled man alive today, I don't know what does.

(I couldn't let these timely news pieces pass and seem like an after-the-thought blogger. Unfortunately, my funnier post will have to wait.)

In Like A Lamb

Mostly just ramblings today.

It's somewhat sunny out today. Chilly, but sunny. No storms. The leg doesn't hurt so much (but it predicts a shift in weather in the next 24-48 hrs). So this is the lamb - right? Meaning end of month should be a doozy.

I woke up w/"Lily of the West" playing in my head. I believe it's a Dylan song (Bob - not Thomas), though I've only heard Johnny Cash do it, then his daughter, Rosanne. By the time I got out of my car @ work, the song in my head morphed into "Troy" by Sinead O'Connor. This is what still resides in my grey matter.

Though I'll try to get the banner up in my blog (and it seems to take up a lot of bandwidth - making it slower for you to reach the sunny destination which is Blobby's Blog!), The United Coalition of Blogs for the Impeachment of George W. Bush is in full function.

The above is a noble, albeit doomed, endeavors. No republican congress is going to impeach one of their own. And even IF they did - at least Agnew resigned before Nixon was gonna get tossed. Giving Cheney the reigns (officially) would invariably be worse.

Shurb Shrub Shrub

For fun and games - you can create your own soundbyte or speech in the fashion of W. That is...if you can stand it.

On a better note: a recent (as in today) CBS poll has Shrub at his all time lowest approval rating - 32%. That surpasses his 35% low of his Katrina days (not his days in Katrina & the Waves). And dropped a whopping eight points in the last month!!!

Only 21% of folks think that it's ok for Dubai to be running the 6 U.S. ports. Though it doesn't say it - I'd almost bet that faction surveyed live in some landlocked area like Nebraska, Oklahoma or Idaho. Red. Dry. Stupid.

Bush is also losing ground in selling the stability of Iraq (36% think things are going well) and only 18% of those polled have a favorable opinion of Cheney.

This is just factoid since nothing is going to happen to change his administration. Let's just hope it continues onto the '06 elections and we take back the House, if not the Senate.

....AND WE HAVE OUR THIRD!!!





They say they go in 3s. Of course, Ralphie's dad will be missed the most. But there's something to be said for Weaver's 'The Duel'. It was a great movie to watch on the Ghoul!

There has got to be a way ala 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon' to put these three together. But I'm afraid it might involve Tobey McGuire. Using "Monty Python's Meaning of Life" scene involving Death is just plain out cheating!

....and (k)not(t) a moment too soon

The man who creeped out millions in the '70s (and I was not a fan of Andy Griffith either)


peaked as an aminated fish in the late '60s

but if nothing else, begat someone sleazy and funny (the latter being difficult for SNL)

SITE OF THE MONTH

Though I haven't used it much, Becky turned me on a few mos ago to Pandora.

It is a non-charge music listening service which builds the playlist upon your preferences. Interestingly enough you can only fast fwd through so many songs per hour....ok, that part isn't interesting, but the part that is, is b/c to be able to control what you listen to makes them a music-on-demand service - which they're not.

Play w/it. You might like it. (oh, if I had a dime for every time I heard that!!)

Gay Adoption

You gotta hand it to Rove. The best way to polarize U.S. politics is w/the gays. We are the go-to guys when your party is faltering and in need of distraction from true issues. If not marriage, then civil union. If not civil union, then why not put a ban on adoption by the homos. It sure takes the heat off of , oh, let’s see….war, economics, declining poll numbers (he he…I said ‘pole’), Cheney shooting someone in the face (thanks for the link Mr. Green!), Valerie Plame, giving up our ports to the UAE, Katrina….shall I go on?

And middle America (which, btw, I live!) will eat this shit up.

Natch the GOP launches this as the 2006 election cycle starts brewing. Oh – and don’t think they won’t be trotting out JebShrub for this. Florida already has this on the books. And it’s a perfect way to kick-off his bid for the 2008 presidential election (oh c’mon – you didn’t really think the GOP would pick McCain, did you???).

Ruckiry, I’ve never wanted children myself (a stint at babysitting my younger sister, where I chased her around the house w/a butcher knife gave me that epiphany. Oh yeah – and girls: ewwwwwwww!!). But for those who do, states (16 more are considering it) could put into law that would easily thwart legally adopting a child if you are gay.

Here in the Buckeye state, Rep. Ron Hood, the Ashville republican sponsoring the bill, said he believes children raised by gay parents have increased risk of physical and emotional problems and might question their own sexuality. Um…..yeah, b/c my non-gay parents really deflected that risk for me!

There is a little good news for the state that put Shrub in power for another 4 yrs: House Speaker Jon Husted, (a REPUBLICAN) dismissed the bill as discriminatory. Oh – and then topped it off and stunned a few people in the process by saying, “I’m adopted!”. Schwing!

And I’m assuming what was tongue-in-cheek, democrat, State Sen. Robert Hagan sent out e-mails to fellow reps, stating that he intends to "introduce legislation in the near future that would ban households with one or more Republican voters from adopting children or acting as foster parents."

Ohio has about 3,000 children who are available for adoption because their parents' rights to them are severed. Let’s multiply that by 17 (the 16 states thinking of this same route, plus Florida who already has it in place). 51,000 kids minimally (figuring w/Ohio’s ever declining population, other states have the same or higher foster child rate).

So, let’s put this into GOP perspective:

- Ban sex education in schools
- Ban condom distribution
- Children/unmarried couples practice abstinence only (b/c that works so well)
- Limit/Eliminate abortion
- Limit adoptions to healthy families with both mother and father who are heterosexual
- Cut funding and Medicaid to the needy who are most likely raising children or taking in foster children as a mean of support from the state

Yeah – those kids should be snapped up in NO time! And well provided for. And no new ones coming down the pipleline. Problem: solved!

Paul and Frank are NOT Gay !!!!!

Overall, my blog is pretty PG-13. Sometimes borderline R.

It's never NC-17. Well - never say never. But a friend supplied me with a video that I have debated whether or not to share. I can't offend the masses if I don't get masses visiting my site - can I? We're only talking 2 dozen hits per day. I've opted to share.

That being said - I'm not out to offend the masses. Besides my occasional rant - let's face it - I'm in it for the humour. This my dear readers is meant for the humour.


Let's start of w/this:

* This video clip is not suitable for work! (Maybe if you have a private office - w/your door shut and volume down. Maybe!)

* This video clip contains some pixilated nudity and simulated sex acts.

* This video clip contains some vulgar language and derogatory comments.

* This video clip requires Quicktime for viewing.

* This video is funny as hell.

Patrick Leahy? Harry Whittington? Oh Hell - Why Not Both?

You gotta love Cafepress. Though they seemingly lean to the left - make no mistake, they are a money making venture w/no partisan ties. I don't go to the site often, but Kris Royer directed me to this yesterday. (IMO this was the best product.)

In other news, Brit Hume is an assh*le. I know........you're all SHOCKED!

WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE IT IS..............?


Creme de Klink? Semen ala Schultz?
And what would you possibly use it for? On second thought - don't even answer that.

Either way - I saw it when I was searching out mandarin oranges (so much easier to get than mandarin babies!) and saw it. My trusty camera-phone let me capture the moment. I'm going to have to use that phone feature for this blog a lot more often.

M***y/Not M***y

I have this 'friend' who must get more things on PostSecret than anyone I know. (ok - I don't know of anyone who has actually been put up there.) It's probably not him. PROBABLY.

One could well be though. Anyone knowing M***y would know that one of them is definately NOT.

IRAQ WAR DEAD & MY BLOG

It should be noted that as we approach the beginning of the 4th year of Bush's little diversion of not catching bin Laden, and nearing the beginning of the 4th year of my blog, that the hits on my blog in the next day or so will reach the U.S. casualties in IraqU.S..

Though that is clearly a coincidence (and a matter of timing - depending on when you read this) it is not insignificant. While I love the inquiries/visits and the validation that someone/anyone read this, the thought that an equal number of lives have been lost on this little extracurricular of Shurb's sickens me. (You could scroll down to see the number of wounded in action - but it's expoentially worse!)

Lately I've coming back to Colin Powell's little Pottery Barn comment - and though more reasonable people knew it to be true, those frickin' people who 'bleed red white and blue' never gave it consideration. I still think they don't. The irony is that it is their children/family who are the ones taking up arms and being killed. ....and we do own it and are there for years to come.

You almost cannot blame them for continuing to stand behind the president. If they opted not to, mentally they have to reconcile that their loved ones may have died in vain - and that has to be very tough to justify.

I GOT NOTHING.......

Sure, there are thousands of Cheney cheap shots to take (oops...one right there). But the news is just too fucking odd.

Between Libby saying his leaks were ok'd by 'superiors' (effectively letting Cheney and Rove off the hook w/the statement's cloudiness) and Chertoff/Brown ping-ponging their Katrina failures and blames - to be honest, if it's not Family Circus I just can't read the paper.

Ok - that last part is a lie. Mark Trail or Apartment 3G perhaps - but I'd never read Family Circus. Hell, I won't even link you to it just as a joke.

But I have nothing of huge interest to blog here. I guess I could tell you about the chicken I made for dinner last night. My valentine's dinner that I ate alone. Booo-Hoooo. That could lead me into a piece on "Alone Again, Naturally", but that would naturally segue into Gilbert O'Sullivan (g-d help me - there IS a official website) and was that his real name? I mean, did he change it to have name recognition w/Gilbert & Sullivan - and if so why? What part of early '70s pop buying demographics related to operettas about duty? He he....I said 'duty'.

Ok, no crying - it was kind of nice to have the place to myself (not that Kylie or Tovah would ever let me BE alone). So I obsessed over rebuilding/refining my iTunes liberry while the Olympics were on (muted).

I will leave you w/this that I came across awhile back (sorry can't remember a reference to which to link you) that I found amusing:

Some people are like Slinkies---not good for anything, but still bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.

BROKEBACK GROCERY LIST

Yes - another funny, provided by Tom Green as told to him by somoene else. I mean let's face it, the man is funny, but not THAT funny. In lesser hands than Mr. Green's - it wouldn't be AS funny.

WEEK ONE
Beans
Bacon
Coffee
Whiskey

WEEK TWO
Beans
Ham
Coffee
Whiskey

WEEK THREE
Beans al fresca
Thin-sliced Bacon
Hazelnut Coffee
Sky vodka & Tanqueray gin
K-Y gel

WEEK FOUR
Beans en salade
Pancetta
Coffee (espresso grind)
5-6 bottles best Chardonnay
2 tubes K-Y gel

WEEK FIVE
Fresh Fava beans
Jasmine rice
Prosciutto, approx. 8 ounces, thinly sliced
Medallions of veal
Porcini mushrooms
1/2 pint of heavy whipping cream
1 Cub Scout uniform, size 42 long
5-6 bottles French Bordeaux (Estate Reserve)
1 extra large bottle Astro-glide

WEEK SIX
Yukon Gold potatoes
Heavy whipping cream
Asparagus (very thin)
Organic Eggs
Spanish Lemons
Gruyere cheese (well aged)
Crushed Walnuts
Arborio Rice for Risotto
Arugula
Clarified Butter
Extra Virgin Olive oil
Pure Balsamic vinegar
6 yards white silk organdy
6 yards pale ivory taffeta
3 Cases of Dom Perignon Masters Reserve
Large tin Crisco

Driveway Fame

It's gonna live forever!

So, Denton pointed me towards the Peppe and Sons site. They were the ones who did our driveway last autumn. I didn't know that Denton allowed them to use our drive for their site.

Had I - well, I might have negotiated a discount of some sort.

BrokeMac Mountain

I wish I could quit this. I swore I would stop w/the Brokeback Mountain jokettes.....but I can't. This is one for all the Apple folks out there.

THE BLOGGIES

Apparently I have been overlooked by the academy for my 'body of work'. Well screw them! They lie - it's NOT an honor to just be nominated. It's an honor to win. There is no honor in losing (do you hear me Matt Dillon????)

I'm off the subject. Ok......so Blobby's Blog is a little too under the radar. So be it.

However, you can vote for more popular blogs that are out there. If you have to sink to the selections they put in front of you, that is...............