Me and Julio Down By the School Yard

That day of the week in Blogland that you endure the other six days of my prattling on and on.....

When he kisses, he's all in. 

Saying good-bye on my way down the stairs. 

Short dogs need to be high up. 

Sophie doesn't know she's not supposed to be a pack-animal. 

....and she loves her morning cereal milk.

Well, it looks as if I have to find another place to sleep. 

Daycare Doggie Side-Eye

710's coworker's cat I've heard so much about. 

I thought Julio made an appearance on a Zoom call, but it turns out that's his owner's Zoom participant picture.  Julio looks wise. 

Song by: Paul Simon

In My Defense

I dunno - the Derek Chauvin trial seemed to go a little too quickly for my liking. 

I think the prosecution put on a decent show. The defense went awfully quick. And I think their witnesses were more than biased and lame. 

Honestly, if I were the prosecution, I might have asked one question of every single one of their witnesses:  "do you think George Floyd deserved to have his neck kneeled on for over nine minutes by the defendant, and die?"

Honestly, do we think any of them are going to say "yes"?  But it would keep bringing up the defendant killed a man no one thinks deserved to die. 

So, now I'm assuming closing arguments, deliberation, the verdict and then......................

I guess the 'then' depends on the verdict. 

If you didn't see last week's SNL cold-open - you should.  Here it is. It's amusing and not untrue. But it's a comedy show, so it doesn't really deal with the cold hard reality of what might be coming. 

Last May and June were horrific in reaction to Floyd's murder - and I am talking the police response to the protests. That is barely the scraping of the skin if Chauvin is acquitted. 

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. 

I'd like for the people of Minnesota to do the right thing this time around, but..............I'm also not counting on it. 

Song by: Freddie Mercury

Punch Bowl

Honestly, I have nothing. 

Well, little.  I've been holding on to a screen shot I took a month ago. It made me laugh. Not out loud or anything, but you get the idea. 

I think I'm most stumped at the "in Texas" part. 

Song by:  Punch Brothers

I Am Woman

I'm not trying to see how many people can hate me with this post, but I'm not not trying to either.  And it's a little - or lottle - tongue in cheek. 

....so it seems that women can do anything a man can - including gunning down an unarmed black man....in Minnesota. 

Honestly, when I heard the news that a black man had been shot to death by the police, it never ever ever ever ever ever crossed my mind that it was a Charlie's Angels wanna be.  I was guilty of sexism on this count. 

But really, why not a woman?  Hate. Fear. Racism.  If the BLOTUS years has taught us anything - and I'm not sure it has - it's that isms and phobias are not gender specific. It's almost like they instill these things in every police training program everywhere. But clearly the graduate level classes are held in Minnesota.

And of course a woman can shoot black men!!  You know, it was probably that time of the month with hormones running high. I think we can all be thankful she wasn't the president with the nuclear codes or access to 'the button'. 

Still - gun vs taser. 

Oh, those silly broads, they don't know the difference between a Phlillips head or a flat head screwdriver. They certainly can't be expected to remember a mild shocking device compared to a deadly bullet machine shooter thingy. 

I suppose this is why they only get paid 73% of what male cops make. 

That said, Kim Potter made great strides for female cops everywhere. She taught the entire Fraternal (sexist much, police guys?) Order of Police that women cops can do anything a man cop can do. 

She's like the Elizabeth Cady Stanton of law enforcement........or something.  Yay Kim!?!

Song by: Helen Reddy

12 of 12

So I'm doing my 132nd 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.

04:21.  Running first report. 

I have a 07:30 meeting with my Chair every Monday - so it's always an early start

05:19.  Packed lunch.

05:57.  Shower time. 

06:49.  Arriving at my office. 

07:39.  Said meeting. 

09:12.  Mailing something for 710. 

12:23.  Lunchtime walk.  Public art. 

Spo knows this piece from his visit from October 2018. 

12:40.  Said lunch. 

Homemade tuna salad on water table crackers and grapes.

13:37.  On way to a meeting. 

14:33.  Rehydrating. 

16:53.  Unintended public art? 

Stickers that go on our employee badge with the date that you've been cleared of any Covid symptoms. 

People have been peeling them off and placing them on this light pole. As seen on my way to the parking garage. 

17:26.   Scaling Mt. Dad #2. 

Someone wanted to make a point that I wasn't moving fast enough to take him on his evening walk. 

My Music Monday

It's kind of a two-fer today. 

Same song. Two mixes. 

Crowded House has a new disk coming out late Spring or early Summer. The first two released songs are ok, but nothing completely out of the park. Still, there will be a purchase by me. 

The second song, "To the Island" is today's selection:  the original and the Tame Impala remix. 

The original song is decent. 

The remix is much more Tame Impala than it is Crowded House. It's not a bad thing, but it leaves less and less of the original song and makes it about another band. 

Shopping with Blobby

Yet another installment in the drudgery that is everyday shopping. The camera-phone makes it a bit more fun - though I get looks whenever I take pics of products. Like I care what people think 

So to lead up this - a little backstory. 

About 20 years ago now, I gave up soda. Cold turkey. Every morning I used to drink a 20 oz Dr. Pepper after I arrived at work. But after seeing how much sugar was in a 12 oz can, I stopped right then and there.  Kind of. 

That same morning I got a Diet Dr. Pepper, took one swig, found it 10x sweeter than regular, tossed it in the trash and started drinking only water at work. 

But I ditched soda at home, but went for lemonade. It probably had as much sugar too. And about five years ago, I just went with water - tap or La Croix or now some of the Bubly flavours.  

And when we bought this "new" house, the previous owners started to put in a fizzy water contraption. 

It would have been easy if they used just a soda stream thingy, but no........pullers, levies, canisters, compressors, tubes etc.  Except that they never quite finished the job before divorcing, moving out and selling to us. 

It took 710 months (on and off, of course) to order parts, get parts and figure out how to make it work. And it does make carbonated water, but getting the flavour part isn't quiet there yet - though right now we're at an N of 2. 

We tried the above Bubly drops. First off,  it's tough to get a single flavour - so we went with the multi-pack. The lime in the can is DE-scusting. I'm not about to try it here. 

While the instructions say 3/4 of a teaspoon for a liter of water, I wasn't about to drink a liter. So we tried an eyedropper to measure things out. No matter how much we played around, the flavour never came. Forget a wrong mix, just almost zero flavour. Period.  

The amazon reviews made it seem like we were doing something wrong - save one. The person said, "it tasted like something, but it wasn't grapefruit".  True that. 

So, we're off to another source to see what is what. 

I figure if I can find that, I'll be saving the earth a little bit by getting rid of buying cans of water. 

We shall see. 

Penny Lane

I think eight - count 'em, eight! - cat and dog pics will more than make up for my laziness yesterday.  thankyouverymuch!

Shep loves a wall. He feels so tall!

Sophie is digging our new kitchen area rug. 

It's her new favourite hang-out spot. 

....and he's still on his stick phase, which is still new. 

He doesn't know how to carry them around them. Just lays down and chews. 

Lounge Lizard-ess. 

Unicorn Bailey. 

You'd think it was my sister who dressed her up. Nope. My brother-in-law. Go figure. 

I'm 99% sure my sister put her on the island though. 

Closest I got to a pair shot. 

Shep could not be torn away from licking his paw. 

Shep's new would-be girlfriend, Penny. 

Penny Lane, actually. She. Is. Adorable. 

She lives three streets over and we see her most days.  I'm wondering how to ask for a play date. 

I LOVE this guy. 

His name is Blue. I thought he was mutt-ish, but apparently he's a breed, the name of which I didn't catch. He looks part wolf. 

He's very nice, but timid. He wants to be petted until you reach for him, then he backs away. Poor Blue. 

I will love him. 

Song by: the Beatles

I Got Plenty O Nuttin'

.....and nuttins got plenty of me.  Or something like that. 

So - YOU get the day off..........from plenty of me. 

Song by: Ella Fitzgerald

Swamp

It's been nice being fairly political-free in this here blog. 

Now and then, one must tip one's toe back into the swamp, I suppose. I mean, these 'tards can't just go unchecked now, can they? As fun as it is to ignore them, should we truthfully do that, imagine how with how much more they'd get away. 

I could go on about Matt Gaetz' would-be blanket pardon - which only tells me, he knew this was coming when Bill Barr - not Merrick Garland - started this investigation of Matty-boy. You know, all innocent folks ask for pre-pardons, right? 

No - today, I'm-a-gonna with #moscowmitch. But in screen capture  / Twitter form. It saves me the keystrokes.  

Song by:  Talking Heads

So They Say

Well it's sucking these days to be Joss Whedon. 

He's gone past #metoo to #methree. 

Apparently, the guy is abusive and a royal douchebag. Shocking. 

Save for Buffy, Firefly, the first Avengers movie and of course, Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog, I don't really know from him. 

Now mind you, I put a LOT of time into Buffy. But Cordelia, two decades too late, spilled the bean on how horrible it was on the set for the women thanks to Whedon. While Buffy herself wasn't quite as vocal to this admission, she kind of semi-silently confirmed Cordelia's story. Willow has been mum on everything, as far as I can tell.  Dawn? Nowhere to be seen or heard. 

But with Justice League - or whatever it's called - he kind of stepped in it with sexism, racism and misogyny. 

I guess I didn't know he jumped from the Marvel Universe to DC.  Oh - and I can't state this enough:  I. Don't. Care. either. 

But he took his bad behaviour to DC. And it sounds like their one person of colour in the Justice League (and honestly, save Batman, Superman, Aquaman and Wonder Woman - I didn't know they had others) was not treated well. 

Nor was Wonder Woman. Whedon "allegedly" said he'd make Gal Gadot look stupid on the screen when she pushed back on something. Whatever his reaction eventually got Warner Bros to not allow Whedon alone on the set with her for the rest of filming and reshoots. 

But this is kind of the joke with these action hero stuff:  they all look ridiculous almost all of the time and people have no issue going no matter what garbage is released.  By all accounts, Wonder Woman already looked stupid in Wonder Woman 2. 

This is an audience who'd pay to see the guy with the bow and arrow headline a movie, given the chance. Hell - they're letting Scarlet Johannsen's character have her own and all she does is kick. You cannot make these people look more stupid on screen than they already are. Where's the threat here? 

The head of Warner Bros is taking a lot of heat too for their "we investigated and found no wrongdoing" but the stars are now talking. 

Honestly, Whedon might never helm a thing again, but he is reportedly worth $100 million, so he probably doesn't care so much. 

Song by: cast of Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog

Uncle Frank

More than halfway to the year goal and it's only April. 

Saturday, we watched Uncle Frank on Amazon Prime. 

As I have have chosen a string of stinkers, 710 got to pick. Rightfully so.  There is a reason, years ago, my selection for my groups book club actually imploded the club itself. I still blame Terry Gross. 

710 chose well.  Well, he chose better. 

Uncle Frank is a late '60s / early '70s story of a gay man from a deeply southern family (read: g-d fearing). It was written and directed by Alan Ball (creator of True Blood, Six Feet Under) who is from the south. Maybe it's semi-autobiographical, perhaps not. 

There is nothing groundbreaking here, in terms of story.  The execution is well done, with Paul Bettany as Frank, his lover, Wally - played by Peter Macdissi (who was in Ball's Six Feet Under, True Blood and Towelhead) and Sophia Lillis, who plays Frank's niece, Beth. 

The supporting cast is great too - in terms of name recognition:  Margo Martindale, Steve Zahn and Stephen Root. And of course, the every present Judy Greer.  And NPR had a rib-tickler with her being in this: 

By my reckoning, this represents the 1,523rd review I have written over the course of my career to feature the phrase, "an underused Judy Greer," and I am officially sick of it.

True. True. 

Actually, all of the supporting cast are underutilized. Overall, they are openers and closers to the movie, for the most part, though Root is pivotal and effective in his screen time.  The other three, but especially Bettany and Macdissi, carry the film. And from that, mostly Macdissi. I liked Lillis a lot too. 

I remember Macdissi as Claire's brutal / unhinged art teacher in Six Feet Under. He is wonderful in this. 

Frank's back story is the most intriguing thing about this - and as you might expect, is heartbreaking. 

The rest of the story - of hiding one's sexuality, the inevitable discovery of, and the reaction to - is tried and true. Again, well done, but very familiar. 

Still, compared to the crap that I've picked, this might be the best of the year so far. 

As this is Amazon, like products you buy, you get to review. Or read them. Unlike those products, there isn't a comment button  - which is good, as my fingers were ready to type. 

I would have written the same comment on on all, had I been able to:

"thank you for making the point of movie so succinctly with your review". 

I'm sure that would have had them scratching their heads. 

Of course two were 'anonymous' users, because: cowards.   But I did laugh that the other person was unironicaly named 'Karen'. 

It all fit too perfectly. 

2021 Movie Count / Goal: 09 of 15

Song by: the Drive-By Truckers

My Music Monday

Whoo-hoo.  Garbage has a new disk coming out in June - their first in five years - so, you'll be seeing review of that coming out sometime that moth, or the consecutive one. 

And as you know, I don't really stream, I purchase, so with the pre-order, I got their first "single",  "the Men Who Rule the World". 

In a world that has had it's upheaval in the last year, I am kind of reveling in that fact that little has changed in Garbage's sound. 

As you might guess from the title - and a strong female singer - it's not gonna be a love song. 

Shirley Manson, and the band, call out sexism, racism, misogyny, #metoo et al in this - and all rightfully so. They lay it at the feet of the men who 'rule' the world. 

Came Back Haunted

Song by: Nine Inch Nails

Orange Crush

Dogs and cats.  That's all the intro you get. 

Shep has a new things with sticks. 

He won't walk with one, but he'll roll around and chomp. 

Sophie likes my closet. And the shoes in it. 

Hobo Shep. 

Waitin' to catch a ride.

A passenger train came by a little later and a number of people on said train pointed to him and waved!

Sophie has a new set of stairs up to 710's chair. 

She can still jump up (and down), but it's clearly getting harder for her. We have the means to make it easier for her, so we do.

This guy - who isn't "Walter" from a few doors down (though we thought it was) makes a nightly appearance on our doorbell cam. He traipses across the front walk almost every night 

Yesterday, he was just camped out on our porch - in the middle of the day.  He ran when I tried to get him to come closer to me. 

I've named him "Rusty"

Song by: R.E.M.

Whatever 'Gets' You Through the Night

Let's face it, best description of Matt Gaetz is "creepy". 

Honestly, look at this fucked up pic of him. Maybe someone tinted it, played with the exposure and saturation, but I'm guessing it's just his creepy self - down to the Burlington Coat Factory plaid suit, and the Billy Graham hair. 

Of course, there is his "adopted" 19 year old son. 

No no......he didn't adopt a kid who is NOW 19.....he allegedly adopted one in his late late teens. 

Of course, I don't know anyone has seen the adoption papers - much like BLOTUS' tax returns. And it's nicer to say that the kid is his adopted son, than say, that it's some kid he found that buttfucks him.  

Oh c'mon - you know Gaetz ain't the top in that relationship.  ....or any relationship. 

Still........a gay angle is still like GOP kryptonite. 

His brethren are kind of even defending him by regaling stories of how he was quick to show them picture / video on his phone of women he allegedly porked.  No doubt they were Canadian exchange student with whom he's already lost touch. 

So now, his story is about a girl. And sex trafficking. Sorry, possible / alleged 

A 38 year old with a 17 year old girl, isn't just more palatable to the GOP, it's in their fucking playbook - ask Roy Moore.......or BLOTUS (Jeffrey Epstein's good close friend!). Actually, 17 might be considered middle aged for that bunch. 

Gaetz is such a fucking dweeb, he's actually telling people, "my dad is out there trying to catch these liars, and is wearing a wire!".  Well MENSA Matt, way to blow that cover!  (which you know the whole thing is a total lie.)

Personally, I love that it was William Barr's DOJ that opened this investigation. Not Biden's. 

I get the interest in bringing this guy down, but it's fucking Florida. The trash rarely gets whiter or poorer than this. This is probably going nowhere, at the 17 yo will no doubt proudly be on some MTV teen mom show in 4.....3.....2........

Song by: Elton John & John Lennon

Bad Reputation

Oh honey.  No. 

Just.....no!

Deb Brix is trying salvage what is left of her reputation as an actual doctor. But as Pat Benatar once sang, it's a little too little, it's a little too late.  (now try and get that song out of your head!)

The picture here - and multiple others like it - seem to be saying, "I told lies that were thissssss big". 

And she did.  Huge ones. And to what end? 

To hear her tell it, had she been allowed to talk, at least 100,000 lives could have been saved from Covid. 

Honey - you were "allowed" to talk. You weren't allowed to speak in the role you opted to take. The one you knew was a farce. You opted to be silent for your own gain. 

Brix could have gone out in a fucking blaze of glory had she stood up in one of those White House sessions and lambasted the president and his team about their lack of performance, their lies, the misguided "science" behind everything they said. 

But she kept your pie hole shut. 

Sure, BLOTUS would have canned her sorry ass after speaking the truth. And oddly she wouldn't have to worry about not being heard. Every new org in the country (save Fox) would have clamoured to get interviews with her. 

So, her Apology Tour '21 falls flat. She's more guilty on this than BLOTUS. That AMA should strip her of her license. 

Song by: Freedy Johnston