The photo here is from Cooks Corner, here in Orange County this morning. They are predicting that the Santa Ana winds will be dying down by this afternoon. Fingers crossed.

If anything it is slightly worse here today then yesterday. The firefighters have a bit more control of the Foothill and Santiago Canyon fires, which are north of us, but the new fires at Camp Pendleton to the south are out of control. We are getting smoke and ash from both depending on how the winds are blowing. The car was covered by dust and ash this morning, plus it was necessary to run the windshield wipers a few times to clear debris.



Top things off with a 4.3 quake early this morning and you wonder about this California living.



Normally, the quake would have been the top story this morning, but with the fires it was barely commented upon. It may have caused some damage to structures already weakened by the fires, but caused no damage on its own.



If I hear one more reporter make the comment that it is a 'miracle' that this or that home or business survived I'm going to scream. Even if you believe in all that why would one million dollar beach front home be worthy of divine intervention and the one next door condemned to ashes? Sorry, bad morning...don't get me started!

Since yesterday we have been getting folks from San Diego coming to the library looking to use our computers to contact family, look for housing and other things. Several mentioned that they were hoping to move into the area as their homes had been damaged beyond repair or destroyed. One guy I talked to lost his job as the place where he worked had burned down, the owner does not plan to rebuild. Could somebody come to our rescue?

Oh, specking of which, we are expecting His Smugness to walk among us tomorrow. He has already called for prayers on our behalf, so I'm not expecting much in the way of federal funds. Still, as a photo op you know that he is going to wait until he is here to sign off on emergency relief, although some folks are unpatriotic enough to question why he has not done so already. Terrorist loving bastards! You can expect more ungratefulness on my part in about 24 hours, when he allows us to look upon him.

Watching TV this morning I saw too often the face of Mr. Burns..um, Michael Chertoff. Again the question arises about why he is still in such a position given all that didn't happen after Katrina? I'm just a bitter guy, you know?

Polar Bears

This is really cute, but with a nice message.

The photo shows a blaze less than ten miles from Ladera Ranch. It's north of us and could technically travel down the arroyo directly behind our complex. Hopefully, we won't have to deal with that and the firefighters can keep things under control. Considering that they are insufficiently equipped and undermanned the men and women out there on the fire lines are doing an amazing job.

As you can imagine the only two things that I have paid attention to the past few days have been the fires and the ALCS. I guess that second event being important to me is kind of sad considering the other things going on in the world.

My primary worry is, of course, that Donna, Kristina and I could very well be packing our bags at almost an hours notice. We do have some emergency supplies already on hand, packed for an earthquake but equally useful should we need to escape the fires. We have some acquaintances who have had to evacuate and we hope that nothing more serious takes place.

To be truthful, thanks to shifting winds the trip in today was not as bad as yesterday. Some exits have been reopened and the Toll roads are available, so traffic was not as congested northbound. I took several photos of the smoke from the fire which is visible from our balcony. Last night you could actually see the glow of the approaching fires over the nearby hills, which was pretty scary. If it is like that tonight after I get home I'm going to take some photos and try to post them.

Finally, I want to thank Joe & Elayne for posting their concern. I also want to thank several family and friends who have called the past couple of days from New York. Donna and I appreciate your concern and we promise to keep you updated should things change for any reason.

Considering that over a thousand buildings have been destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people have had to evacuate, we are lucky that it appears that only three or four deaths have occurred. One had been reported yesterday and another this morning, but it was just reported that two bodies were discovered near Irvine (between Ladera Ranch and here in Orange where I work). Firefighters discovered the two bodies when called to a brush fire, so it may or may not be related to the other fires we have had to concern ourselves with.

I'm going to end this now and might check in later depending on how events move.

If you have been following the news since yesterday, I don’t have to tell you that things out here are pretty bad. The air is heavy with smoke and some areas of my ride in were almost like driving in twilight due to the fires. I’m fortunate in that the northbound I5 wasn’t affected, except for visibility today. One of the alternate routes I can take (the 241 toll road) actually runs right though one of the larger fires. It has been closed from where I would take it on Oso Parkway up to where I would get off on Chapman Ave. and beyond.

Most of the fires are northeast and south of Ladera Ranch, although the winds are carrying lots of smoke and ash our way. We have seen a lot of birds flying over the arroyo heading in both directions trying to find safer areas. It’s rather sad, but fascinating to see a dozen hawks, herons, etc. flying directly overhead. We are used to seeing the huge flocks of crows each day, but the larger birds are generally flying solo or only in pairs.

We are a little unsure if things are going to get bad for us in LR. We have had fires in the area before, as you may recall, and the amount of equipment and manpower available is stretched pretty thin. Donna actually took some of our valuable papers with her to work, “Just in case.”

Oh, and if Joe is reading this, I agree. “Maybe we should let Malibu burn.”

Ninja Libraian

How can you not LOVE this??

How could I not add the new DAILY SHOW page to the links over on The Left? Just up today and already full of awesomeness!

The site has an archive of shows going back to '99. Plus lots of other goodies I haven't had a chance to check out yet.

Check out the new item over on the side. Another reason why I'll be voting for Senator Chris Dodd in the California primary early next year. The man is the only Democratic candidate whom I am totally behind at this point. I'm proud to say that I was able to vote for him as my Senator while I lived in Connecticut.

Just in case some of you folks are wondering, the sand storms you may have seen reported out here are way north of Ladera Ranch. On the other hand, we have had a couple of quakes the past week.

Blaah! My mood mirrors today's weather, overcast and cool. It appears that unless the Red Sox repeat their turn around of the couple of years ago they may be eliminated by Cleveland in the next game. Currently at 3-1, I have to keep my hopes up that Sox pitcher Josh Beckett comes through in Game 5.

Heard some of His Smugness' press conference this morning. Damn that David Gregory for not taking a hint! Also, did G.W. seem to be having a bit more trouble than usual with the English language? He appeared to be slurring his words as well. Of course, maybe it only seemed that way because I was listening to it while Stephanie Miller & the mooks were doing a MST-3K on the whole thing.

By the way, I had some other things planned for both here and Shot's Shack, but Blogger seems to be giving me trouble uploading images. We'll see how things are going later today.

DIY - How to Make a Zine; Paper, Scissors, Pen - Rockin!

Hey, Elayne! All those years doing I.J. and apa-stuff, who knew it was this easy?

Boy, if I wanted chilly, cloudy and generally gloomy days I could have stayed back East. Hardly, what I signed up for when I moved out to the Left Coast! Still the weekend was mostly nice enough, with some rain which we needed so I shouldn't complain.

The news reports that most of the traffic problems caused by the tragic tunnel fire up north has been cleared up. As of this morning the was no public identification of the three victims who perished. Sadly, one was an infant boy, although I don't mean to slight the two adult males who also lost their lives in the inferno. Over thirty vehicles were involved, mostly commercial vehicles, so it is lucy that more people were not injured or killed. Personally, I'm always nervous driving along side the semis on the I5 each way. Although, truth be told, most of the accidents I've witnessed have been with passenger cars.

Donna and I played Bingo on Saturday at a smaller hall, here in Orange. She didn't feel like traveling up to San Manuel, so we settled on evening bingo. Believe it or not, I actually won the final game of the night, but had to split my winnings with two other folks who also needed "B-2" for the blackout. Still, it paid for our play that day and we've put it aside for our next time out.

I just wanted to experiment with our new Gateway laptop. Excuse any major typos I don't catch since I'm trying to get used to the keyboard.

Donna has been using it for weeks since we bought it, but I haven't so much as turned the sucker on. Figured it was about time to play around and get comfortable. I haven't used a laptop on a regular basis since back at UNH in 2004, where we would use it for classroom instruction. At least we have a mouse now and not that stupid little ball thing!

Wow! Only 41 days and counting to our anniversary cruise. The past few weeks seem to have flown by and the holidays are fast approaching. We are debating whether or not to take the laptop on the cruise, but since it's only three days we probably won't. On the other hand, if we take the Alaskan cruise as we plan next year I definitely will bring this along, just to blog and gloat!

We had only our second significant rainfall on SoCal last night into this morning. Sadly, though we needed it there were several bad accidents due to the weather. Worst involved several big rigs colliding just outside a tunnel north of LA on the I-5 last evening. At least one driver is missing, ten people transported to hospitals and it may be hours before rescue/recovery efforts can be made since the tunnel itself may have suffered structural damage. It could have been much worse but again nobody will know for sure until later today.

Well, I am beginning to feel more comfortable with the computer, so I think I'll play around reading blogs, etc.

Have a good weekend!

Cats' Bad Day

Just because they are cats.

A tip of the ball cap to Al Gore for his well-deserved Nobel Prize. It has been widely expected and wished for by a lot of bloggers. At least those of us on the more progressive side of the 'net.

I heard while at lunch that it barely took minutes, following the announcement, for the folks over at Fox and on 'right-wing' sites to denounce not only Gore but the prize itself.

Guess they should urge Henry Kissinger to return his in protest, huh?

I still don't believe that the former VP will throw his hat into the Presidential ring this time out. However, come 2012 we might see him once again hitting the campaign trail. I also think we can expect the next Democratic President (and I have little doubt that we will have one in '09) will find some position for Mr. Gore, if only to keep a close eye on him.

If you look over to The Left you'll find that I've added three science related sites to the 'skeptical' area. These are all recommended by James Randi and I've found some very interesting topics on all of them. Of course, I'll be the first to admit that Science was not my best subject back in school, although I generally enjoyed it.

Many of the essays on these sites are way above my head and level of understanding, but they all examine some of the myths, preconceptions and misunderstandings the general public has on such matters.

It doesn't hurt to get a 'second opinion' on things before you except anything at face value.

The nicest thing about having two blogs, as well as a MySpace account, is that I can write and promote just about anything that captures my attention. Given that I most certainly suffer from Adult ADD it’s great to be able to write about whatever captures my wondering attention at any given moment. With the new ability to post videos here on Blogger I’m having even more fun as things come to mind, rather it is something current or nostalgic stuff I find over on YouTube.
I have some more websites that I plan on adding to one or the other of my blogs and I may be moving some around. There are a few science/skeptic pages that I plan on adding here and two web comic sites that I’m going to put over on SHOT’S SHACK.

Speaking of that site, I find it cool that when I do a Google “I’m Feeling Lucky” search for Shot’s Shack you go there immediately. With Parting Shots you get a lot of hits and even when you do a Blog search for that title it doesn’t always come up on the first page. So much for trying to be clever!

There have been some news stories (political and otherwise) that have caught my attention, but generally by the time I get a chance to blog about them they are old news. I also wonder if what I have to say is worth posting, since anything I write on politics or social issues I’m probably parroting someone far wiser so why bother? I’m sure that at one time or other I’ve had an original thought, but with the ADD I never remember it long enough to get credit. I want to blame it on enjoying the Sixties & Seventies a bit too much, but honestly I can’t remember if my memory was all that good before all that abuse.

This all comes around to the reason that I post some many links to sites that do discuss different topics. At some point I was interested enough to visit that page, found something I enjoyed or made me think. One of these days I’m going to remember what it was and go back, so the links are often there just so I can find them again. If you use them yourself, so much the better!

One final thing. Am I the only person who goes back at some point and reads what they have posted weeks or months before? I’m pretty funny sometimes, I think!

Fall in New England

I do miss living in the East this time of year. This will show you some of my home state in the Fall.

Wish you could smell the burning leaves.

Looks the the Dems are going to cave in, as usual, and give the WH a go-ahead on wiretapping U.S. citizens. Can’t be ‘soft’ on terrorists, can you?

Personally, I think that only people in Washington and the mainstream media think that the American public would believe that the Democratic party are not patriotic when they try to protect the privacy of U.S. citizens. Most folks I know would rather folks in Congress stood up to the administration. That is why most of us voted the way we did last year, isn’t it?

The Daily Show remains one of the best sources of information on television. It’s kind of sad to say that, but it seems to be the case as the regular sources of news are generally too afraid to offend anyone. (Countdown with Keith Olbermann an exception.) Last night Jon Stewart did two great bits on ‘torture’. Is it O-Tay to do it? Sure am!

On a much more pleasant note…The Yankees lose…THHHEEEEEE YANKEEESSSSS LOSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Mmmm…feel much better now, thanks.

Silver Apples---best band

Back in 1968, I heard this on a local radio station (during a show when the played experimental and new music). I went out the next day and bought SILVER APPLES the first album by the duo of the same name.

You can imagine what my friends and family thought as I played this over and over.

UHF Conan The Librarian

I saw this a few years ago and have always wanted to find it again. Enjoy!!

Back in December of '03 I posted a draft of a review I had just completed. I did not like the book, but made the mistake of posting an initial draft and not one with several corrections. The review upset the author at the time and I have just received another e-mail from her. She is right in that I thought her writing amateur at best, as I said in my review. However, in the corrected draft I removed an error regarding the book, which she pointed out.

At the time I told the Joe Bob Briggs folks that they could remove the review or insert the correction. Neither was done.

My apologies to JR and I have removed the review from my site.

"Kitty Sandworm" via Dave Kellett over at the SHELDON comics blog.

You have to love the eyes, don't you?

At this point in time is it even necessary to say what a moron we have sitting in the Oval Office?

The same week that one of his daughters is making the rounds promoting her book on children and health issues, Daddy decides that we don't really need to spend any money on SCHIP.

Hell, he and Lauradidn't need government help to raise the twins. Why can't the rest of America do the same?

How can you go wrong? Jokes about coffee AND Dune!

Once more another reason to make SHELDON part of your morning routine.

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I'll still be at work when the Angels/Red Sox game starts in Boston today. Aaaaargh!!

I'm on mailing lists for Major League Baseball, as well as both the Red Sox & the New York Mets.

It was amusing, but still sad, to get a letter yesterday from the Mets front office apologizing for their collapse. When the owners of a team are so brutally honest and feel it necessary to make a public apology you know changes are afoot. Still it appears they are going to keep Willie Randolph as manager. Personally, I have always liked Randolph and don't lay total blame on him for the miserable final weeks of the season Fingers crossed for next year.

I thought that with leaving Brooklyn it would be safe to take my Red Sox cap out of storage. However, seeing at the Beantowners are coming to SoCal to face the Angels I'm not sure if driving around with a big red "B" on my head is the smart thing to do. We'll see what happens during the first two games at Fenway.

As for the apparent most important story in America today.... Did you ever think that you might actually find yourself feeling some sympathy for Britney?

Now that the New York Times has dropped the charges for some of the columns, I have added a link to Dick Cavett's blog/column over to The Left.

I've always enjoyed Cavett, since he had his first late night talk show in the late '60-early '70s. He was intelligent, funny and had guests that you'd never see over on Carson (although Johnny was THE best at what he did). Over the years Cavett has remained a light in an industry continually going down a slop to lowest common denominator crap.

It is great to hear what he has to say about current events, past guests and other things in general. Enjoy!

This just in from over on Talking Points Memo:

The Kyl-Lieberman Iran amendment -- which ratchets up the confrontation with Iran by calling for the designation of its armed forces a terrorist organization responsible for killing U.S. troops -- just passed overwhelmingly, 76-22.
Of the Dem Presidential candidates, Hillary voted for the measure, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd opposed it, and Barack Obama missed the vote. On the GOP side, John McCain missed the vote.

Here we go again! Seems like Senator Clinton really wants to prove how strong she is, at least until it looks bad for her in the polls. Call me a Fox talking head, but doesn't she really seem to be flip-flopping all over the place? I mean voting WITH Lieberman on anything should give a real Democrat pause, don't you think? Witness both Biden and My Man Senator Chris Dodd, both of whom decided to take a stand against Slick Joe the Warrior Prince.

Hmm, guess Senators Obama and McCain have better things to do. "I would have voted for/against the amendment, but I was shaking hands in Cleveland that day."

I spent part of last Friday morning getting my car repaired at the Saturn dealer in Santa Ana. It was past due for a check-up and oil change, but they also took care of some other problems they found. I had a brake fluid leak and the engine mount was slipping. What would normally be around a hundred bucks and less then an hour cost me over two hours and close to eight hundred. I have a feeling that next year we may be in the market to replace one of our cars, probably mine since it is the older of the two.

We also had the first heavy rain that we’ve had here in Orange County in almost three months. I was certainly needed, but it sure made a mess of some places. A few mudslides in areas previously hit by fires; also, the beaches were in some places closed due to runoff from the drains. Sadly, some individuals and businesses use the storm drains to dump all sorts of nasty items. I also learned that Californians DO NOT know how to drive in the rain!

Saturday evening, Kristina dropped by for dinner and helped Donna set up her new laptop computer. It will be nice to have both of us online at once, instead of waiting for the other to finish with one thing or the other. Although, to be honest, half the time it’s Donna or me playing online Bingo, mahjong or video slots & poker.

Finally, we are down to 60 days and counting for our next cruise. Hard to believe that we are going to be taking our seventh cruise together to celebrate our eighth wedding anniversary. Man, where has the time gone?

The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell by John Crawford
Read by Patrick Lawlor

All vets tell ‘sea stories’; at least that’s what we called them when I was in the Navy. I’m sure all the other services have a similar custom, but probably call it something different. They are not lies so much as retellings of events, which did happen, but as we remember them and not exactly as they may have actually occurred. After you’ve told them over and over again they become ‘the truth’ fixed in our memories as if they happened exactly that way. I’m not saying that the stories Crawford writes are not truthful, but we often makes changes to events after the fact. They either make us look better or we use the changes to make us able to accept things we did but may not like.

Crawford was a National Guardsman, who joined to help pay for college. Who would know that after 9/11 his nation would send him off to another country to fight? Weren’t Guardsman simply supposed to help out after natural disasters, and meet a couple weeks each year for training? Unfortunately, Crawford and his unit find themselves marching to Baghdad in the opening weeks of Operation: Iraqi Freedom.

These are not fun stories, although there is some humor to be found. It doesn’t even matter, in the end, how you feel about the war. Whether you favor the current policies, or think we should be removing all our troops tomorrow you’ll be touched by what Crawford has to say. He was there on the ground and saw first-hand how the faces of the Iraqi people turned from smiling to hateful. He took part in events that caused some of this change, but through no fault of his own. I know from personal experience that you never fully understand why you are ordered to do things, nor do you want to all the time. Still self-preservation and self-interest will move you to do as you’re told and think about it later.

As part of the assignment I’ve spoken of before, I picked up this audio book to sample something different. I like ‘war movies’ as much as the next guy, but generally don’t read stories of real war. Although I was a History major and read textbooks on various wars, I don’t make it a habit to read books written by folks who fought in them. Still I’m glad (if such a term fits here) to have listened to this 5-CD unabridged reading of Crawford’s book. I want to recommend it for those interested in such books. You can’t help but be moved by what happened to Crawford, his fellow Guardsmen and the Iraqi people whose lives crossed his. It will also reveal things the mainstream media might not tell and this current adminstration sure as hell doesn’t want you to think about.

You can tell things are slow here at work, can't you?

Is it just me or should many folks be disgusted that twenty more Senators were upset about the MoveOn.org ad than voted for Senator Webb's bill to allow military personnel to stay longer at home?

Also, is the MoveOn ad such a vital issue compared to health insurance, immigration, the war and privacy issues?

Again, there should be little wonder that this Congress has such a low rating in any polls taken. This is another of those moments when I think that anachists might have the right idea.

"President Bush today condemned the recent MoveOn.org advertisement that described Army Gen. David H. Petraeus as General "Betray-Us," voicing disappointment that leading Democrats had not denounced it as well." from the AP

"Just shut up!" from me.

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I'm going to say something which will offend many folks reading this, as well as civil libertarians everywhere.

I really don't care about the guy who got tasered. I'm sure it wasn't pleasant, but having been shot at and subjected to tear gas, I can truthfully say there are a lot of unpleasant things much worse.

Enjoy your fifteen days of YouTube fame and shut up, Meyer!

You can't believe how many of these things are left behind in the Public computers.

This is today's Sheldon strip and I wanted to share.

The video I posted just below was created for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. It's an non-political work that just pushes for everybody to 'support the troops'.

This is also from their website:

Founded in June 2004, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is the nation's first and largest group dedicated to the Troops and Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the civilian supporters of those Troops and Veterans.

I had tried to explain this in my first two attempts, but for some reason only when I tried with little text did it come through.

You can also find this posted over on the Huffington Post and other sites around the ‘net. You can often see the IAVA Founder and Executive Director, Paul Reickhoff talking about the current situation over there on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. He is one of the ‘good guys.

"I Like a Boy"

THis is my third try with this.

Not trying to be PC at all here.

Arrgh! It's Talk Like a Pirate Day today, so let the parrot out of its cage and put on that eye patch.

Example: "Arrggh! But it be a bad day for the OJ!"

Boy, trouble with Blackwater contractors in Iraq. Who saw that coming, huh?

There have been stories about the heavy-handed tactics the company uses for several years, but the mainstream media seems not to have cared much. Now that civilians have been killed (apparently not for the first time) and the Army had to rescue the company's hired gunmen, it appears that even the Iraqi government has had enough. I find it interesting that Blackwater was acting as bodyguards for U.S. officials and nobody seems to be having a problem with that.

I'm not even going to say anything about the O.J. situation, although it would be great seeing him in a slow-speed chase on the I-15 coming back from Vegas. (An injoke for SoCal folks.)

Hilarious House of Frightenstein Librarian.

Who says Librarians don't have a sense of humor?

A bit early for Halloweeen, but enjoy!

The following is from a speech that G.W. gave back in January of this year promoting the 'surge'.

Was this group ever formed? If so, why haven't we heard from them?

****************

"Acting on the good advice of Senator Joe Lieberman and other key members of Congress, we will form a new, bipartisan working group that will help us come together across party lines to win the war on terror. This group will meet regularly with me and my administration; it will help strengthen our relationship with Congress. We can begin by working together to increase the size of the active Army and Marine Corps, so that America has the Armed Forces we need for the 21st century. "

********

Maybe we'll hear from them tonight or tomorrow, so that Senator Leiberman can explain how things are going so well but taking out Iran would make things even better.

Tribulation Force by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins

This is the second book in the “Left Behind” series, which has become almost as popular as Harry Potter. I don’t know that all the folks reading the books buy into all of it, but I’m willing to bet the majority of them feel comfortable identifying with the main characters beliefs. This isn’t so much a book review as a few thoughts about the series and why it may be so successful. I’m putting it here rather than over on SHOT’S SHACK, because I try to keep that place free of controversy.

Those who know me are probably surprised that I picked this particular book, but I did have a good reason. The head librarian here feels that we have all fallen into a rut, at least in the books we read. As part of our ‘reader advisory’ training we all have to choose books (fiction or non-fiction), which we generally would not read.

I started with Bill Bryson’s “A Walk in the Woods”, in which Bryson talks about his attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail with an old friend. My inspiration there was my former co-worker, Michelle who is succeeding where Bryson failed. As I said in my brief talk about that book I don’t camp and I don’t walk all that much, so I’m fascinated by those who do. Actually, I was pretty active as a kid, often camping or sleeping outside several nights each summer. It wasn’t unusual for a three or four of us to hike or ride our bikes to the nearby forest and spend the day. I’ve also camped out in the California at least three or four times, that I recall, back when I was stationed here in the mid-1970s.

Back when I worked in New York I was frequently asked for books in the “Left Behind” series and its spin-offs. We generally tried to keep multiple copies available. My familiarity with the material came from reviews in the professional literature, as I wasn’t interested in reading the books, nor were any of my friends that I was aware of picking up the series.

According to Biblical prophecy, at some point those who have been ‘born-again’ shall be brought up to Heaven in an event known as The Rapture. There they will join with all the saints who have preceded them and reside in Heaven. After this those who have not been saved shall witness the coming of the Anti-Christ and suffer seven years of war and turmoil, The Tribulation, until Christ returns to reign on Earth for a thousand years. You can find a number of sites on the web that will explain this in sometimes differing detail, but this is as basic an explanation as I can give. Having been raised Roman Catholic I don’t recall this being talked about a lot back in Catechism, but we’re going back forty plus years after all.

The series features four people (an airline pilot, his daughter, a journalist and a minister) who are ‘left behind’ when the Rapture takes members of the families and friends. They come together to try and understand what has happened, only to realize that Biblical prophecy is happening. The books detail how this affects the main characters and the rest of the world, as things progress towards the final confrontation between Christ and anti-Christ.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that while a tad preachy, the books are enjoyable as fiction. If you can accept Harry on his broom, you can certainly go along with some of the mystical/spiritual happenings that take place during the story. The ‘good guys’ are flawed and make mistakes while the character of Nicolae Carpathia is nicely evil and manipulative as the Anti-Christ. The tale is a bit simplistic for my tastes and I felt that there was a bit of Catholic bashing going on. I can certainly see why the book won’t have many Jewish or Muslim readers as neither of those faiths are shown in a favorable light except for those members who realize their error and ‘come to Christ.’

I’m not so much going to recommend the book as I am going to suggest you might want to skim a few chapters just to see what so many folks are reading.

By the way, the books in the series have also been adapted to audio and for a graphic novel series. In fact, we have the first two books in the series (each book is adapted into four graphic novels)) among our Graphic Novel collection here at the library. The audio adaptations are with full-casts, sound effects and music.

Everyone will be using today to make some political point or push their agenda. I think I'm just going to take a moment to remember where I was that day. Also, to be thankful that Kristina and others I knew in the city that day were not injured.

Likewise, I will take a moment to reflect on those that were not so lucky. Their families and friends will always remember this day as well.

Spend time with your loved ones and be grateful for the moments you share with them today.

TFD Responding

this is the only clip I could find on YouTube which shows my hometown of Taftville. They feature the Taftville Fire Department, which is a volunteer organization.

Norwich, in the previous video, was where I went to high school and where my parents settled after selling the house in Taftville.

Here you actually pass by a factory I used to work in, the store owned by my Uncle George, an apartment I lived in with Betsey and other places that only a few people who read this blog will recognize.

I grew up driving these roads and before that riding my bike down those 'mean streets.'

Memories, dude!

The Mean Kitty Song

A day late for Cat Blogging Day but I found this by accident over on YouTube and absolutely loved it. I had to share!

First it was Da Arnold and now Fred Thompson. Guess that Leno is where Republican actors announce their intentions.

Personally, I think Thompson peaked a few months ago and he lost support dragging things out. Snubbing the other candidates and the GOP debate certainly won't win him friends in New Hampshire. It's hard to predict what will happen a year from now but I think the GOP convention will be a bit rowdy and not in a good way.

Eight years ago you probably would have gotten even money that G.W. would get the nomination, over John McCain. This year it seems that most Republicans wish they could sit out '08 and come back in 2010 to bash the Democrats to retake Congress.

I'm not going to pick a candidate until just before the Democratic primary here in CA, but I probably could bring myself to vote for just about any of the folks running on the Democratic side. Issue-wise I am probably closer to Dennis Kucinich, but having met and chatted with Chris Dodd a few times (back when I lived in Connecticut and he was my Senator) I would have no problem giving him my support. It remains to be seen how I feel after the New Year.

A trip around Norwich, Connecticut

I'm not endorsing the candidate who posted this, but since it shows my hometown I wanted to share it.

The scary thing is that many of these places haven't changed much since I last lived there in 1980.

Along with the usual stuff for Viagra, "You have won", and "you have a e-card from ..." crap filling my Bulk folder on Yahoo I have found that I have been getting other things recently. The most disturbing part is that they appear to have been sent by friends or in mailing lists to which I belong.

These new things are supposedly for 'social networking' sites which the sender thinks I may be interested in joining.

I'm not going to mention the sites, since they may be legit and the spam is being sent out by somebody without permission. I'm certainly NOT going to click on the link given in the e-mail or go to the site given, just in case. Still it is annoying to have to go through these, since some are not being stopped, especially those sent by addresses I have cleared.

This is why I have an account that only my family and a few friends know about.

Let us be careful out there!

What's with this earthquake stuff today? About a half hour ride from here, up towards Lake Elsenore there was a quake measuring 4.7. We all sure felt it here in Ladera Ranch!

Since the first one at about 10:30am PDT, there have been about a dozen after-shocks of decreasing magnitude.

On a more pleasant note, Donna and I drove up to San Manual Casino with Kristina & Marisa for nice day of Bingo. Unfortunately, none of us won anything but we had fun and ended the day with a nice Italian dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.

Today, the girls are off to visit Kristina's dad in San Diego, while Donna and I are heading out to the pool later. Naturally, we will end the evening watching Jerry Lewis doing his annual thing for "his kids".

Hope everybody has a safe & relaxing Labor Day Weekend! I'll try to check in when I can.

Who owns you Americans?

This video by George Carlin pretty much explains why things will not change in this country.

It's Carlin, so if you are offended by the "Seven Dirty Words" don't watch.

Hello! I hope I haven't confused anybody by changing things around.

For a few months I've been thinking about doing something like this and finally decided to give this background theme a chance. Please let me know if you like it or want me to try something different.

Also, if you check down at the bottom you'll see a 'live headline feed' has been added. This may or may not remain so give me some input on that as well.

By the way, really love the way Shot's Shack looks, as it already has a kind of 'western' feel to the theme. Unless I really something striking don't expect to see many changes over there.

I do hope you've tried the link to TWISTED KAIJU THEATER at the bottom of SS. I'm still working my way through twenty + seasons of material over there. Reminder again that some of the stuff might be PG13 so don't say you haven't been warned.

Okay, I know I'm going to catch flack for posting this, but I had to.

First off, as a man I was offended (but I did snicker a bit) after reading it. This was sent to me by an online cigar dealer that I'm not going to name. I think it demonstrates the fact that these dealers assume that their customers share their somewhat chauvinistic viewpoint, although there are women who do smoke cigars and I suppose frequent this site.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

A cigar is much like a good woman. If you take the time to prepare her properly, pack her gently, light her off evenly and enjoy her in a leisurely manner, she will bring you many moments of pleasure. However, if you pack her before she's willing, light her off before she's ready, and rush her through the experience, she will get mean, nasty and develop a serious bite. In addition, if you put her down or ignore her for any length of time, she'll go out on you! (Sign posted in a South Florida tobacco shop)

From today's USA TODAY:


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is sending a team of investigators to Iraq because of the growing number of cases of fraud and other irregularities in contracts involving weapons and supplies for Iraqi forces.
"The (Defense) Department is concerned with the number of contracting improprieties" that have been uncovered, department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Tuesday



Meanwhile, the Bush Administration is going to request additional funds for the Iraq war over and above the billions already well spent.



We shall also not mention (since the mainstream media has not) that one officer may have committed suicide over his part in all this. Although there does seem to be some question about his death and the Army continues to investigate. Seems he was pointing fingers at private contractors with whom he had been ordered to work. Questions of money and missing weapons (about 200 at least) came up. Hmmm...

I have decided not to talk about Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Senator Larry Craig or Michael Vick except to say that all three dug the holes into which they finally fell. All three have lied about their deeds with only Vick finally coming out (too little and too late) to admit his wrong doings.


Public figures always seem surprised when the public pays attention to what they do. As if once in a position of power, authority or influence we are just supposed to turn a blind eye to what they do privately. Yes, we all deserve some privacy, even those who make their livings in the public eye, but you have to expect to have every little thing thrown back at you when you misbehave.

I try to have sympathy for Britney, Paris and all the rest of the 'celebratards' (TM Stephanie Miller), but when you love the spotlight you better know that it will show the shadows just as well as the bright spots.

Ah, face it! I love seeing these folks getting dumped on. Who am I kidding?

Concerts I've Attended, pt. 2

Like the first part of this reminiscence of my concert going experiences, there is no particular order or relevance. I just started jotting down those that I remembered attending, and let myself recall anything about that experience that might add to it. There is certainly no chronological order, especially for those shows I saw in the ‘70s.

I was serving onboard the U.S.S. Shreveport when we hit the port of Copenhagen for several days. Our visit coincided with a celebration of Copenhagen and some U.S. city being declared “sister cities”, and one of one of the celebrities was Danny Kaye, who actually visited the ship and spoke to us briefly. But since we are talking about concerts, let’s move on.

I don’t know if it was the first concert by a ‘name’ performer I saw, but it must have been one of the first. Tivoli Gardens was a large amusement park in the city and was hosting outdoor concerts. One of the nights we were there happened to be the night that Elton John was performing. This was probably in 1971, and John was backed by Nigel Olsson & Dee Murray. I can’t recall if Davy Johnstone was also playing with him at the time, since we were pretty much just paying attention to Elton. He came out dressed as Mickey Mouse, even with the big, giant white gloves that he quickly cast aside to begin playing. This was before many of his huge hits, but he already had several Top Forty singles and his show was lots of fun.

I don’t recall if it was during the same North Atlantic cruise, but either the same year or the next when the Shreveport hit Portsmouth, England for a few days a handful of us went into London for a weekend. We were actually near the pier at which Nelson’s HMS Victory still sits, which we found very cool. Anyway, we stayed at a Bed & Breakfast and one night got tickets to a rock ‘n’ roll show at some club. There were some hairy moments as the place was filled with guys who looked like they had been extras in “Rebel Without a Cause”, but all sounded like they had taken the ferry cross the Mersey (if you know what I mean?).

A couple of bands played some really good covers of American pop stuff from the ‘50s, but then we were hit by a surprise. Screaming Lord Sutch came out and the place erupted! I only had a dim idea of who he was but it was a wild show to say the least. The guy was actually scary with skulls, flames and all sorts of stuff. The British Alice Cooper, I guess.

Joe Walsh was touring with his “Barnstorming” band when I saw him in Virginia. This was after splitting from the James Gang and before he actually produced his first solo album. I know he opened for either Yes or Emerson, Lake & Palmer, but my memory of those years won’t allow me to definitely state for which.

The second time I saw Yes, was in the mid-70s at an outdoor concert in California, I mentioned them last time out, but there were also several other groups that played that day. Little Feat (during the Lowell George era) opened the show but folks were still coming into the stadium so I don’t have any strong memories of the group; they were followed by Gary Wright who was getting lots of air play for “Dream Weaver”; next up was Peter Frampton who was a big draw back then in his own right with “Frampton”, this was where I saw how his “guitar box” effect worked. By the time Yes hit the stage I was pretty drunk and the place was rocking. It was also the last outdoor concert I attended.

It was also in California that I got to see Gordon Lightfoot. He was as good as I had hoped and definitely had the crowd very happy, except for one brief moment. This was in the mid-1970s and Gordon made a comment about how he felt sympathy for Patty Hearst for what she had undergone. The audience, for the most part, did not agree and I think he was surprised to be booed so loudly. He quickly recovered and went into one of his better-known songs, which got the crowd back behind him.

I also caught Carlos Santana during this same period, which (until the Jefferson Airplane concert at Radio City) had to be the loudest show I ever saw. My friend and I actually left our seats on the floor to head up to the balcony to save our hearing. Believe it or not, Lee Michaels (“Do You Know What I Mean?”) was the opening act. He was by himself on stage playing piano and did at least a half dozen songs. I thought he was good, but it certainly wasn’t what the crowd wanted to hear. Carlos Santana was moving into a jazz phase at this time, but still played the hits that everyone wanted to hear. Next to hearing Eric Clapton play, I can’t remember being as moved by a guitarist as I was by Santana.

Jumping back to Virginia in the mid-1970s, several of us decided to take in a Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival show. Chuck Berry was headlining the event, which was around the time that he was still getting lots of radio play for “My Ding A Ling” and “Reelin’ & Rockin’” of all things. Some local retro band opened the show, followed by The Dovells (The Bristol Stomp), The Shirelles (Soldier Boy and dozens of others), then Chubby Checker (The Twist, Limbo Rock, etc.) looking a bit older but still lots of fun. Next was Bo Diddley and we all know what he did! Chuck Berry finally came out and to our surprise, Bo Diddley played the drums for part of the set. That was totally amazing and the first time that I found that he had been a drummer at one point in his career. The concert was long but even after three hours the crowd wanted more. That was a great time!

A funny story about this night. My buddy Lee and I got to the concert hall a few hours early to pick up our tickets. We were sitting on the steps on the side of the building when this black guy in a black hat and a guitar case comes up to us. He asked us if we knew how to get into the building and we directed him around the side where they took deliveries and there was an entrance. When he asked us if we were going to the show we said we were. He laughed and said he hoped we had a good time. Naturally, just as he rounds the building and goes out of site Lee and I look at each other and say (Wait for it….) “Bo Diddley!!!” Yeah, you had to be there, I guess.

When I was in college at Eastern Connecticut they had a couple of ‘name acts’ play the gym each semester. Frankly, most were acts I had no interest in. I did get dragged to see Pure Prairie League and if you remember anything but “Aimee” you’re doing better than I was even then.
On the other hand, somehow somebody on the student activity committee must have found some extra money somewhere because he was able to get Harry Chapin. That evening his brother’s Tom and Steven were also with him. It’s sad knowing that only a few years later he would die in a car accident. He was an amazing songwriter and although he didn’t have the greatest voice it was perfect for what he did.

The only other show I saw was with Elayne when we went to see “Weird Al” Yankovic
in the Village. It was a lot of fun, with Al doing just about every one of his hits and doing so many costume changes it was remarkable. The fat suit he had for ‘Eat It’ was amazing. I’d love to see him again.

I’m sure that I’m missing a few concerts and several acts that I’ve seen. There were probably acts I saw in clubs or opening acts for others that went on to be names, but nobody comes to mind right now. This may not be the last of these types of posts, but it won’t be for a while probably unless somebody reminds me of something.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m the Obit librarian here at the library. It is always fascinating, if sometimes sad, to browse through the papers during a particular search.

Today I was going back further than I have before, looking into the death of someone in 1916. I found the article, relating to a fatal accident, but was taken by some of the other things going on at that time.

Seems that President Wilson was at his summer home in Long Branch, NJ. He had recently been filmed and his appearance was going to be edited into a movie called, “Civilization” which was going to be offered for his use in his up-coming re-election campaign.

The Boston Red Sox were playing the Brooklyn Robins (later to be known as the Dodgers) in the World Series. Some young pitcher nicknamed “The Babe” was playing for Boston in Game Two of the series. Not sure what became of him. (That's President Wilson tossing out the ball at the first season game, not the WS in case you were wondering.)

The first wartime submarine to make a trans-Atlantic trip, the German U-53, delivered documents to the German Embassy in Newport, R.I on Oct. 7, and was then ordered to leave due to the Neutrality Act. Meanwhile, Wall Street was reacting to rumors of Germany bringing ‘peace proposals’ to the President, with most of the reaction displaying distrust of the story, while others ‘give it credit.’

There was heavy fighting reported in the Balkans on two fronts between Russian and Bulgar-German-Turkish forces, while Italian troops fought with the British, French and Serbian allies.

Finally, the papers reported the collision of two ships off Newport News, VA, but the number of casualties was unknown.

All this from the Orange Daily News, “the only daily covering California’s two-million dollar frostless Valencia Orange District.”

Okay, I've been called on the "chicken hawk" comment in my previous post, so I might as well say something here. I don't know how many folks read the occasional 'comments' that folks make and probably fewer read my replies hidden back there. I have to admit that I don't always read the 'comments' on most of the blogs & news sites I read unless I'm going to comment myself.

Despite being a Vietnam Era Vet myself, I don't expect everybody who runs for political office to have served as well. I voted for Bill Clinton and for quite a few other folks who never enlisted, as it's not the defining reason I support any candidate. In fact, there have been times when I've voted for the non-veteran running against a vet. Military service is only one element in deciding who I'll support in an election.

My sole point in that post was to say that I feel that if you purposely went out of your way not to serve in the military, you should be extremely careful in putting others who have made a different decision in harm's way. It is especially disgusting to hear the VP talking about sacrifice and urging continued involvement by our Armed Forces when he is publicly quoted on record as having said he had 'more important' things to do during the Vietnam War than to serve. That to me it the definition of a CHICKEN HAWK. "My life and desires are more important than the lives and desires of the thousands of men and women I can order into harm's way."

This isn't going to change your mind about this, nor did I expect it to. I'm sure that if I was a tad more articulate I could better express myself, but you get what you pay for. (In this case, nothing but your time online.)

Don't even get me started on His Smugness making comparisons between Vietnam and Iraq! The only lesson G.W. & Darth Cheney learned was how NOT to go over and fight.

Also, video has come out (where was it back when?) with Cheney talking in 1994 about why the U.S. didn't go after Sadam back after the First Gulf War. It seems that removing the dictator would have thrown Iraq into turmoil and it would have become a "quagmire" according to the then Secretary of Defense. Hmmm.

I can't believe that some Democrats are siding with some Republicans urging the Iraqi military to oust Malaki. Talking Points Memo has a story on some GOP connected lobbyists working with old CIA buddy Ayad Allawi, the one-time Iraqi interim Prime Minister. Whether you like how Malaki is doing his job or not (and I certainly can't say that I am) I REALLLLLY don't think that pushing for the Iraqi military to make a move is a wise thing. Hasn't the US been down this street before? Do we never learn from the past?

Donna and I spend the weekends I have free doing things, so I rarely get online except to check my e-mail. Even that sometimes gets put off if we have plans to head off to San Manuel, shopping or the movies. Due to the usual I didn't get a chance to blog and yesterday was busy at work so I'm a few days behind on reading and posting.

It seems hard to believe that it was a year ago yesterday (8/20/06) that Donna and I boarded Jet Blue for a one-way flight to Long Beach, to start a new life in Ladera Ranch.

So much has happened in the past year (good, bad, happy and sad) that I wouldn't know where to begin. Our families and friends have suffered deaths and illnesses, but have also witnessed pregnancies, births, new jobs and weddings. Donna and I both like our current jobs and are beginning to dig ourselves out of the financial hole that months of unemployment created. It's nice to actually have a bit of extra cash to enable us to get out and about.

The next few months will see us back playing bingo, perhaps heading out to Catalina Island for a few days and then in November a cruise on Carnival to celebrate our anniversary.

Nothing major to report, but I just wanted to take a moment to thank those of you who have sent us e-mail, called us, gone to dinner or have done something to make our new life out here a pleasant experience. We both send our love and hope you'll drop by the new Chez Chaput for dinner sometime.

New York’s Congressmen Charles Rangel brought up the idea of a return to a draft a couple of years ago. At the time he started taking hits from both the Right and the Left for even hinting as such a thing. As all things come around in circles so to has his idea. Now he’s not the only one hinting that it might not be such a bad idea.

It may come as a shock to some folks, generally those who don’t know me from years ago, but I don’t think a Selective Service or ‘draft’ would necessarily be a bad thing.

I grew up in the 1950s & ‘60s when every male had to go down to the Selective Service Office within a week of their 18th birthday and sign up. In this period, with the Vietnam War going full swing, it was accepted that everybody had a pretty good chance of being called up. I knew folks who were able to get deferments for college or for medical reasons, but only a couple guys who actually filed as “conscientious objectors”. I also knew guys who vowed they would take off for Canada if called up but lost touch with them, so have no idea what happened if they did get the notice.

Personally, I walked out of the SS office and down the hall to the Navy recruiter, end of story.

I know as well as anybody that the same type of folks who pulled strings or knew people who could will do exactly that. The Bush, Cheney and Limbaugh’s of this generation will be just as ‘chicken hawk’ as their elders. Still I do think that if there were a draft our representatives in Congress might be a bit more careful before giving the next President a blank check for military adventure.

I also believe that both men and women should be made to sign up for SS. If not military service, then working in hospitals, doing work on our infrastructure or performing in the public sector in some capacity for a minimum amount of time. I also think that the deferments allowed for non-medical reasons should also be limited and not of the type you can get multiple times. Like jury duty, your turn will eventually come up.

I haven’t totally thought this through and I know that there are probably really great arguments for not bringing it back, still it is not fair for the folks who did volunteer for whatever reason to be the only ones to repeatedly have to make the same sacrifices.

Just my two cents.

I read the news today, oh boy!

There could be over 600 people killed in the earthquakes in Peru; over 400 in recent attacks & bombings in Iraq; three rescuers were killed trying to find the missing miners in Utah; Texas is suffering from flooding with a powerful hurricane possibly heading there next week, after moving through the Caribbean. I also understand that there are concerns about the space shuttle on its return to earth, due to problems with the heat tiles.

That's all pretty serious stuff I guess but, Holy Crap!!!

I was shocked to hear that the National Enquirer writes that Siegfried & Roy will announce that they are "gay" in an up-coming book. Damn, that threw me for a loop!

Who saw that coming?

Have I mentioned before that I'm the 'obit' Librarian here? It kind of falls to the person in charge of microfilm to also handle the requests we receive for obituary searches. We probably receive a couple of requests from around the country every week. Folks in the area are welcome to come to the library and do their own searches, but out-of-town requests seem more frequent.

The job sort of came to me by default since when I was hired I mentioned that I had worked with microfilm & microfiche for years at both public and academic libraries. Be careful what you put in those resumes, kids!

On a political note, does anybody buy Rove's "wants to spend more time with his family" thing? Who would want the creepy guy hanging around the backyard all day? It should also be obvious that even out of the White House he'll still be calling a lot of the shots through former staffers and go-betweens.

Personally, I'd rather see the Attorney General hitting the road, but as he knows where the skeletons are buried (and may have put a few there himself) I don't think he'll be leaving until G.W. climbs aboard the helicopter in Jan. of '09. That is of course, if we still have elections next year!

I know zip about economics so I'm probably the last person to say anything about what has been happening the past few days. Still I find myself agreeing with Jim Cramer, the host of CNBC's MAD MONEY. There are two different economies, one Wall Street and the other the 'real world' where most folks operate.

It's wonderful to see the Fed bailing out those poor banks and financial institutions, while the average American is loosing his home or is a paycheck away from loosing everything.

The Orange Republican Club is meeting in the Library's Community Room this morning. I'm going to keep any comments to myself, since you never know around here who knows whom.

This from Talking Points Memo from this morning's G.W. press conference:

******************

At home, Bush ruled out any bailout of homeowners hit with foreclosures in the form of direct assistance. But he said "enormous empathy" is in order for such people and indicated he was open to some federal help for people to refinance and keep their homes.

"The word bailout _ I'm not exactly sure what you mean. If you mean direct grants to homeowners, the answer would be no," the president said.

************

Should we bring up the assistance His Smugness received when his various business ventures failed? I thought not!

Just to ease the mind of some folks back east, Donna and I actually slept through the 4.0+ quake this morning. It was situated north of us, so you might have had to be up to have noticed anything. The local stations were up and about searching for damage, but it seems that only some Ralph's supermarket lost some ceiling tiles.

Babie did wake me up a little after 2:00am but this seems to have been an hour after the tremblor hit.

Looks like the folks back in New York had a rougher time with the storm yesterday.

Dave Kellett is running a week of Shakespeare jokes over on his SHELDON strip.

The running gag is that ol' Will created hundreds of words that have become part of our common vocabulary.

You can't go wrong with Shakespeare humor. My ex will back me up on that. Right, Elayne?

The city of Cornelia, GA has 3,674 residents. It is located in Habersham County, the apple growing area of the state. The giant apple, which is located in the center of town, was created in 1925. It weighs over 5,200 pounds and is seven feet tall. It honors the apple growers and pickers.

According to the Associated Press 3,674 American military personnel have been killed in Iraq since the invasion.

Should the city of Cornelia cease to exist would Congress and the President notice?

Concerts I have attended: part 1

I was sitting in a doctor’s office the other week, waiting for my appointment and listening to the music being pumped in. Mostly stuff from the Seventies & Eighties which was pretty much when my musical taste stopped expanding. I’m not saying that there wasn’t anything in the past twenty years I didn’t enjoy, but I think your choice of listening is formed by the time you hit your thirties.

Anyway, while sitting there I started thinking about all the concerts I’ve attended and some of the performers I’ve had a chance to catch live. I started writing down the list which triggered a lot of memories. Don’t expect any great insights, just some random comments amidst the names.

I saw Jefferson Airplane twice: once with Betsy at an outdoor concert & once with Elayne at Radio City Music Hall. That first concert also featured Hot Tuna (w/ “Papa” John Creach) and Commander Cody (George Frayne) & His Lost Planet Airmen.

Betsy and I saw Bette Midler at the old Hartford Civic Center on her “Divine Miss M” tour, with Barry Manilow as her pianist & arranger. While Midler took a break Manilow sang several songs from his first album, plus some of his commercial jingles, which were fun. Who knew that in a few years he'd be making more than Midler on tour and packing in the halls?

Sadly when I went to see Joe Cocker, he was totally wasted, came on late and forget some of his own lyrics. People who set through the two opening acts actually started leaving during his set. I saw him in some hall in Virginia while stationed down there. About a month later he actually collapsed on stage during a performance and I believe ended up in rehab.

Redbone, best known for “Maggie” and “Witch Queen of New Orleans”, opened for Cocker the night I saw him. I think more folks will have good memories of them then the headliner.

Eric Clapton, during his “Derek and the Dominos” tour promoting his “Layla and other assorted love songs” album. Incredible concert! There were four of us who went to a Blood Bank to donate so we'd have enough money to buy tickets for the show that night.

Saw his ex-Cream partner, Jack Bruce years later with surprise guest Phoebe Snow. They opened for the Moody Blues at Madison Square Garden. Snow was good, but I'll always remember her almost getting in a fight with our friend Dorian at a 'wrap party' following a performance by the Firesign Theatre.

Moody Blues, one of my all time favorite bands. I had tried to see them a few years before at an outside concert, but it was rained out after Elayne and I stood around for hours.

Yes, who I was lucky to see twice in the early to mid-70s. The first time with Rick Wakeman on keyboards was in Virginia and then several years later with Patrick Moraz replacing Wakeman. The second time was at a outdoor stadium with my friend Larry Driscoll while we were stationed on the U.S.S. Waddell in San Diego. One of the highlights of that was watching a guy fall from the upper deck above us onto the bleechers. Nasty!

Emerson, Lake & Palmer who were promoting “Pictures at an Exhibition” were absolutely incredible, both musically and in the show they put on. I really don't recall who opened for them, but seem to remember that it was a band that did go on to have several hits and fans of their own.

Chicago, I caught twice in concert, first back in the early ‘70s with Rick Neese a shipmate from the U.S.S. Shreveport and later in Atlantic City (which I talked about in an earlier post last year). When they started they and Blood, Sweat & Tears (who I never saw) were two of my favorite bands.

The Beach Boys, one of the most fun concerts I’ve attended in the past ten years, even if it was at Trump’s Marina in AC. Donna and I attended with Pete and his late wife, Bella.

At a two day “folk” festival in Virginia I saw:

Linda Ronstadt (post Stone Poney’s) looking terribly cute, barefoot with cut-off jeans and a halter-top. Richie Havens and “Country” Joe McDonald, both performed solo sets on acoustic guitars. McKendree Spring, who I hadn’t heard of up to that point but whose set made me run out to pick up their album. There were many other artists some of whom I should remember but sadly can’t at the moment.

I caught Dave Van Ronk, a great folk singer who sadly died a few years ago. He headlined a small folk concert with mostly local artists back in Virginia, and I can’t recall any of the other artists.

One of these days I’ll get around to finishing this.

I just find it hard to believe that this Administration can still do things to surprise me. Aided by the usual suspects, it seems that the blame for the bridge collapse is being placed at the feet of the Clinton Administration. Haven't we gone down this route too often before? Is there anybody but the remaining 28% who will even believe it for a moment?

Despite the talk about impeachment and other happy thoughts I stand by my conviction that they'll be no change until January of '09 in Iraq or elsewhere.

About four years ago there was a bridge collapse in Connecticut, while we lived there. The local and state media brought out the same studies and professionals to say at that point that things were bad nationally. We're hearing all of it again, as we did after Katrina and the recent steam pipe explosion in NYC.

Where are the billions of dollars we need to do these repairs?

Oh, that's right! We're building permanent bases and an embassy in Iraq. Much more important than our infrastructure, isn't it?