If Romney had NOT won in Michigan, where his father was governor and he had other ties that would have been a big story. Since he did win this does nothing but make the GOP race more interesting to media types and political junkies. Face it, while all this stuff fills the airwaves and gets lots of ink, most Americans really do not pay a lot of attention to politics until later in the year. Hell, we haven’t even had the Super Bowl yet!!

Just as an aside, I have been trying to figure out what it was about Mitt that gave me the creeps and last night watching him glory in the win, I figured it out. Mitt Romney is Gregory Ammas Stillson! Google that one if you don’t know.

The other day I posted a link to a USA TODAY poll that supposedly matches you with the Presidential candidate that best matches your views. If you scroll down the page you'll find it and as of today it was still active.

Today I'm adding another similar poll developed by Minnesota Public Radio that Mark Evanier posted over on his site.

According to this one I'm further from John Edwards than I was in the previous poll, although both Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel are still nearest to me. The thing I found surprising was that Bill Richardson came so close. I think it has more to do with the fact that the questions here are a bit different than those in the USA TODAY poll. They are actually more specific and less general in nature.

We are just beginning to get political ads here in SoCal, but so far I have not seen a single one for a candidate. Out here the big issue is a bill that the Governor has signed which would cut a deal with some of the casino-owning tribes. The tribes would be able to expand their casinos and the state would get increased revenues from the additional slot machines. With the way things work out here the voters have to approve the deal before it can go into effect. As you can imagine lots of money is being spent on both sides of the issue. While the tribes are paying for the "Vote Yes" ads (one actually features Da Arnold talking to the camera urging a Yes vote), the "Vote No" group is getting much of its funds from two California race track owners and one of the Vegas casino groups. While I lean towards favoring the thing myself, I plan on reading up on both sides of the issue before next month's primary.

I'll keep you updated on all this political stuff as it comes to my attention. Even if you aren't fascinated, I am!

Well, one of us at Chez Chaput was pretty happy with the results from New Hampshire last night. Donna really likes Hillary.

Personally, I'm not losing sleep over it as neither of the two front runners are even my third choice at this point. Seems I'm out of step with the majority of my fellow Dems, as my post yesterday pointed out. Speaking of which, ex-wife Elayne was wondering if Mike Gravel was still running. According to his website he still was as of yesterday. In fact, he had even asked for an on-air retraction from Keith Olbermann, who had said Gravel had dropped out along with Dodd & Biden.

The two people most effected by yesterday were probably John Edwards and Mitt Romney. Neither of them have a win under their belts (not counting a few delegates the Mittster got in Wyoming) so it's an uphill battle at this point. I still prefer Edwards more than Obama and Clinton, but again I'm out of step with the majority voters so far. To be honest, the only two Democratic candidates I've liked from early in their campaigns were George McGovern and Jimmy Carter. History will have to be my judge on both of those, probably after it judges Bush II.

I moved some of the links around over on The Left and eliminated a couple. There are also a few more that I plan to add sooner rather than later, since they are political in nature and this is the year for that sort of thing.

Speaking of politics, if you get a chance you might want to take a swing over to USA TODAY and try the "Candidate Match Game" they have up. You are asked eleven questions on various issues (Iraq, health care, etc.) and the results will supposedly find the candidate closest to how you feel. It was a nice surprise, if rather sad, to find that one of the three was Senator Chris Dodd, who I had been supporting, but who has since dropped out of the race.

The two remaining are Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel. I have always liked Kucinich, but never really have thought of him having any chance. As for Gravel (former Democratic Senator from Alaska) I honestly forget he's running, since the guy gets no mention at all. Checking out his website & blog I found that I'd have no problem voting for the guy! Hell, Noam Chomsky even has some nice things to say about him.

As things stand now it will be either Kucinich or Gravel who get my vote in the February primary out here.

This is reprinted from the CBS News site:

In what U.S. officials called a serious provocation, Iranian boats harassed and provoked three U.S. Navy ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, threatening to explode the American vessels.

U.S. forces were on the verge of firing on the Iranian boats in the early Sunday incident, when the boats - believed to be from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's navy - turned and moved away, a Pentagon official said. "It is the most serious provocation of this sort that we've seen yet," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record. Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman called it a "serious incident. This is something that deserves an explanation."

I don't know the entire situation, but I also don't doubt this may have happened. It seems to me a stupid provocation by the IRG, but who knows what was going on in their heads at the time. On the other hand, if it was the U.S. doing something and getting caught than the situation is equally stupid.

I can only speak for myself, when I imagine what was going on in the minds of the sailors aboard these three Navy ships.

In a situation very close to this, back in the mid-1980s, the ship on which I was serving was approached in the dead of night by at least two small, fast moving craft. This was off the coast of Lebanon, where the U.S.S. Butte was part of a small, task force. At between 1:00-2:00am our radar picked up the small craft, running without lights and failing to respond to either radio or other signals. General Quarters was sounded and it didn't take long for all of us to be made aware of the situation. When the craft got to within several hundred yards of the ship they were shot at and destroyed by our gun mounts. The next morning, after sunrise, aircraft found debris from what appeared to be one or two boats and several oil slicks. Speculation was that it was a suicide bombing mission by one terrorist organization or another.

You do not want to threaten American warships if you know what's good for you.

I really don't have anything else to add or say on the situation, unless or until something more is known.

Well, the rain here wasn’t quite as bad as last time, but it was still enough to make driving a mess. On a positive note the ten plus acres of the arroyo that burned last year is beginning to grow back. Lots of grass and small bushes are beginning to bloom.

Donna and I stayed cocooned most of Saturday, but I did run out to get a haircut, go to the bank and hit Burger King for a late breakfast for the two of us. Dinner came to us from Pick Up Stix, a decent Chinese take-out franchise that delivers. Their stuff is pretty decent and made fresh, unlike Panda Express, their big competitor here, where everything sits in buffet style trays for hours. The one thing you learn pretty quickly out here in SoCal is that most places DO NOT deliver, unlike back in New York. We all drive, don’t you know?

We hit a marathon Bingo session at the Mission Viejo Elks Lodge on Sunday. The forty dollar buy-in gets you the morning & afternoon sessions, plus tickets for the door prize and the Bonus Bingo played later in the day. They have coffee, tea or hot cocoa, juice, muffins, Danishes in the morning, then after lunch (sandwiches, chips & cookies) they add popcorn to the menu of free stuff available for snacking. All this is part of your buy-in, but they also have soda for sale and even a cash bar if you like. This is the second time we’ve done this and already have the April marathon circled on our calendar. Sadly, the Bingo gods weren’t as giving this time out for either of us.

I’ll probably post a bit later on political stuff and my reaction to the Iranian/U.S. Navy incident.

Just wanted to share a few of the photos from the Tournament of Roses Parade. I'll try to post a few more when I have a chance.

I’m sure we all stayed up late last night waiting for the results from Iowa, huh?

Perhaps not, since I heard the Air America coverage while driving home at 6:00pm. Still it was interesting listening and later watching folks spin, explain and interpret the results for us poor unwashed.

There is certainly nothing I can say that smarter folks haven’t already. Still I wanted to share some of the results of the latest Pew Research Center surveys. This was sent to in the Pew newsletter which I receive and was compiled from interviews conducted in December of last year. It will be really interesting to see the next round of surveys which should reflect yesterday’s wins in Iowa.

The latest nationwide survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds about equal levels of support for John McCain (22%), Rudy Giuliani (20%), and Mike Huckabee (17%).

The Democratic contest has remained largely stable nationwide. Despite state polls that show very close races in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, Hillary Clinton maintains a 20-point lead over Barack Obama among registered Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters nationwide (46% to 26%), with John Edwards holding at 14%.

Religion has become a larger factor in GOP voter preference, as Huckabee has become better known. He currently holds a slim edge among white evangelical Protestants (with 28%, compared with 21% for McCain, 16% for Thompson and 12% for Giuliani). McCain and Giuliani are virtually tied for the lead among white mainline Protestants, while Giuliani continues to lead among white Catholics.

On a non-political note. Has Britney become the ‘new’ Anna Nicole?

Haven’t had much time to blog or read other folks the past couple of days. I’m hoping to have some time this week to update both here and Shot’s Shack with something or other. I also want to catch up on what others have been up to and to check out the political/news blogs.

Donna and I loved the Rose Parade yesterday. Of course, we both grew up watching it on television, but it is amazing to actually sit there in Pasadena and see these huge floats moving by you. I don’t care how good your HDTV is you cannot imagine how absolutely beautiful and detailed these floats are until you are within feet of them. We probably won’t go next year, but you never know. Right now we are thinking about doing something else next New Year’s Eve & Day, depending on a number of things taking place. The idea is to get a hotel room next time we do the parade so that we can spend the next day actually viewing the floats close up.

I definitely recommend going if there is any way you can get out here. I’ve seen the Macy’s Parade several times in person and even went the night before once to watch them inflated. I’ll still put the Rose Parade over that in terms of enjoyment and the feel of the place is totally different, if you know what I mean. Kristina and her friend Christine joined us at the parade and we all loved it, even though The Child seems to have indulged a bit too much the previous evening.

The picture of the City of Anaheim float is from the OC Registger. I plan to post some personal photos I took as soon as I get a chance, probably in a couple of days.

Even with various family activities and things you can’t totally escape the political news. I’ve noticed some news shows are now running segments saying that the Iowa Caucuses really DO NOT represent the American public. “Hey, we have built this up to be THE story for the past six months, but it really isn’t as important or relevant as we’ve made it out to be.”

Let’s be honest and mention that the citizens of neither Iowa nor New Hampshire, for that matter, represent much more than a tiny percent of the U.S. voting population. Statistically NH is a better sampling than those politically active folks in Iowa. The mainstream media and political types are the ones who have made these two events into such an important symbol of viability. Now with so many other states jumping on the ‘early primary’ bandwagon those candidates ending up in first or even second place are going to have a huge advantage. In some ways it almost makes you sentimental for the days when the conventions would be held and it was still uncertain who the nominee would be. Unless something significant happens we’ll probably know by April who has been chosen as the Presidential nominees. By June we’ll all have to look for Third Party alternatives!

There is certainly little I can add to what has already been said about the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. It was the very first news story I heard upon waking yesterday morning and I've been keeping tabs on what has been said on news sites and political blogs.

Apparently the most important thing is how this effects the upcoming Iowa caucus, at least from what you would think on reading most political sites. All the candidates, or their spokes people, appeared to take the opportunity (after briefly sending their condolences) to spin the event in a way favorable towards them or negatively towards one of their opponents.

I personally think that it very well might have been some radical element in Pakistan, not necessarily affiliated with the government. However, I also think that if (and I should underline that) the Pakistani military or intelligence services were aware of the possibility of such an incident they did little to prevent it.

I don't know enough about the entire situation in that country to even hazard a guess as to what will happen. On the other hand, I don't think you have to be an expert to foresee that things are going to get much worse and unstable in the near future. I think we can also safely bet that the Administration will blow any chance of aiding the democratic elements in that country.

Hope you all had a nice holiday the past few days. Donna and I sure did!

We did some last minute shopping and such on Saturday, and then drove up to the San Manuel Bingo & Casino on Sunday. We both had some ‘slot cash’ to play and while I had my usual luck, Donna hit for over three hundred dollars on the nickel Monopoly slots. Then later she won a jackpot at Bingo, but so did three other folks. She still came away with another three hundred plus, so our day was certainly not a loss by any means.
Donna had to work part of the day on Monday, so didn’t get home until after 1:00pm. Kristina drove over and after grabbing lunch at El Polo Loco, we traveled down to San Diego. Surprisingly the traffic was very good on the 5 Freeway, once we got pass an accident just beyond San Juan Capistrano. We got to Michael’s before 4:00 and all went to dinner together. I’d definitely recommend C Level over on Harbor Drive to anybody, but would suggest you stay away from Deborah’s Flaming Skirt Steak (it was called something like that), which was way too hot even for Kristina. She did eat most of it, but when Michael mentioned how hot it was to one of the supervisors she actually took it off the check. Everybody else enjoyed his or her orders and the view from the deck of the San Diego skyline was fabulous. Then it was back to Michael’s for the night.

We had a nice day on Christmas, the weather being clear and in the upper 60s. Michael’s friend Rod came over, as did Kristina’s gal pal Christine. The six of us had a very pleasant dinner of anti-pasta, salad, fresh raviolis, with the meatball & pork sauce Donna had brought. Later we had coffee and a wonderful cheesecake, also made by my lovely & talented wife. While Christine & Kristina stayed the night, Donna and I headed back home with our presents. We had a wonderful time, although there were some sad moments when we thought of Donna’s mother and this being the first Christmas without her.

Among other goodies, I got a JEOPARDY calendar, which lets you bet on each day’s answers and accumulate for the Final Jeopardy round. Donna also got me the latest edition of Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide, which will certainly get a lot of use since we are always trying to figure out this or that actor or film credit. Kristina, among other things, got me THE SIMPSON’S MOVIE on DVD, which Donna & I are both looking forward to seeing, probably this weekend. Both of us are also enjoying the tasty Starbuck’s Christmas Blend my step-daughter gave her mother and me.

I only got to see a couple of parts of A CHRISTMAS STORY during the marathon the other day. Caught the last half hour before we went out to dinner and then the first half a few hours later. Of course, I do have it on DVD and just watched it a few weeks ago anyway. Mostly we were listening to carols and just catching up on things with everyone.

That sums up Christmas with the Chaput & Chiara households. How was yours?

Santa and the Reindeer sing White Christmas

I know Mark Evanier links to this but just in case you don't visit his blog I wanted to put it here.

There's a reason Mark puts it up each year.

In order to 'reorganize' Bear Stearns has laid off over 600 employees. This should allow them to give that Christmas bonus to the executives who did the firing. No doubt it wasn't their fault for all those bad loans and financial problems the past year.

Sadly, among the most recent 135 folks given the boot here in SoCal was Kristina. Her severance package will last for a couple of months, but this isn't the way we hoped to be spending the holidays.

Donna is going up to Los Angeles today for some medical tests. With a family history of thyroid cancer we don't want to take a chance, so she is seeing another specialist who we hope will get definite results from the biopsies. Michael is taking some time off to go up with her, since I can't take the day off. Again, we are crossing our fingers hoping that the results will be negative.

On the positive side, the rain is supposed to end this afternoon and things aren't as bad as in the previous period. More accidents and mudslides that time. It was still nasty driving in today, as well as driving home last night. Folks out here just do not know how to drive in anything but clear and sunny days.

Update: Donna got a call from the doctor's office saying the doctor will be leaving early. Needless to say she is pissed since Michael left work early and Donna has just called the office on Monday to verify the appointment. Unbelievable!

We had dinner last night with Kristina and her friend, Christine (yeah, it is confusing), again at our favorite Italian restaurant. It was a nice surprise when Donna gave me with another b-day gift (or early Christmas gift depending) earlier in the day. Kristina gave me a present at dinner.

My wife, who knows me very well, gave me the "Cowboy Ralphie" ornament, which goes great with my Lone Ranger ornaments. Kristina delighted me even more with "A Christmas Story" Monopoly game, that I hadn't even known about. This step-parent gig is working out swell!

The Fugs - Wide, Wide River

There may be some words, images or ideas in here that will offend you. Please move on to another post if you think you'll be upset.

Donna gave me some wonderful presents for my birthday, a few of which are edible and I'll enjoy this weekend. She also bought me a really nice, cigar torch-flame lighter from Xikar. This is no Bic, trust me!

She mad me breaded chicken cutlets for dinner on Thursday, one of my favorites. Then we went to an Italian restaurant we both like last evening, so it was kind of like two b-day dinners for me. We may also be having lunch or dinner with Kristina tomorrow, which is always a pleasure. I consider myself very lucky!

In case anybody is keeping track, I've shaved off my mustache again. I was trying to trim it yesterday morning, without wearing my glasses and things did not turn out well. It was pretty obvious though and when Donna joked about it I decided to go for it. As usual, this morning I regretted it but will learn to live with it. For those who don't know, I have had a mustache for most of the time since I was nineteen years old. I think this may be only the third or fourth time I've shaved it off.

It's odd, since I now see my father staring back at me from the mirror, rather than my Uncle Charlie. He doesn't look happy about it either!

It goes without saying that I’m not a fan of the Damned Yankees. Add to that the fact that I’ve never cared for Roger Clemens, even when he pitched for Boston. Still I was surprised to find that he and fellow Yankee star Andy Pettitte have been named in the MLB steroids report released today. Say it ain’t so, guys!

Looks like the Dems can’t even get enough support in the House to override Bush’s veto of money to give health insurance to kids not already covered. Remind me why we voted for these losers again? I’m leaning more and more towards voting against every single incumbent politician next year no matter what party.

Poor Donna had to stay out of work because of her cold, fortunately (?) she was able to do some work from home via computer and having the office calls routed to our home phone. The antibiotics they gave her really don’t seem to be working so she’s going to ask for something else. I recommended something with morphine, but was voted down.

On an other front, Kristina will be going in for a second interview and we remain hopeful. In the meantime, she continues at her current job and it looks like things may settle down enough to keep her employed into the early part of the New Year.

Finally, I know what today is so they’ll be nothing more said on that subject. Okay?

Poor Donna had to go in for some medical tests on Saturday, but things seem positive from the results so far. On the other hand, she has a bad cold and we had to go to the 'walk-in' clinic yesterday to get her checked out. She's not feeling much better today, but still had to go into work. We are hoping she can sneak out early. I took her some soup and tea before I came into work today.

Just a heads up that our holiday cards went in the mail this morning, so hopefully many of you will be receiving them in the next week or so. A few of you have moved since last year, so we hope the new addresses we have for you are accurate.

Despite everything we went to Bingo on Saturday but neither of us hit. We plan on going up to San Manuel the weekend before Christmas for some bingo and slot play. They sent me a card for my b-day that entitles me to one free buy-in at the regular bingo and some slot credit. We both got cards for free slots play and figure we might as well use it up before they expire.

Yeah, we're totally addicted. What of it? :-)

I’m old enough to have some memories of my parents and their friends talking about JFK. My parents were split, with my father supporting Nixon and my mom Kennedy. As we were Roman Catholic that was a big reason for my mother liking JFK so much, but she also said she didn’t trust Nixon even back then. I also recall the nuns at Catechism and even some mention at mass about how proud we should be to have someone of our faith running for the office of President. It’s hard to believe that all these years later the matter of religion is still so important in an election.

I’ve only read excerpts of Mitt Romney’s speech as well as the reactions of various columnists, bloggers and some talking heads. To me it is a non-issue since I put all religions in the same category as belief in the Greek and Norse gods. Dude, if you pray to Odin or Buddha it makes no difference to me. Just tell me what you are going to do about the economy, the situation in Iraq and the environment. Those are the things that matter most folks and certainly to me. Your beliefs are or should be a personal and private thing between you and your family. As long as you’re not sacrificing goats in the Rose Garden who cares?

Romney’s speech reminds me more of Reagan’s remark that the Constitution promises “freedom of religion not freedom FROM religion”, rather than Kennedy’s comments. In fact, I’ll reprint the closing remarks from the late President's speech on the topic below:
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Finally, I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end–where all men and all churches are treated as equal–where every man has the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice–where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind–and where Catholics, Protestants and Jews, at both the lay and pastoral level, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood.

That is the kind of America in which I believe. And it represents the kind of Presidency in which I believe–a great office that must neither be humbled by making it the instrument of any one religious group nor tarnished by arbitrarily withholding its occupancy from the members of any one religious group. I believe in a President whose religious views are his own private affair, neither imposed by him upon the nation or imposed by the nation upon him as a condition to holding that office.
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‘Nuff said!

We have just begun putting up some decorations and still aren't sure how much we'll do. The new entertainment unit doesn't have the space the old one did for Donna's Christmas village.

I picked up holiday stamps yesterday, but we still have to decide on the card we're sending out. Fortunately, we have some holiday stationary from last year (thanks to a great post-holiday sale at Staples).

I don't have anything to add on the various political goings on, but like most folks am growing pretty tired of the Dems bashing each other rather than taking aim at the GOP. Guess you have to do something to get that 30-second soundbite on the news.

Surfs up here in the SoCal and we have already had one boarder swept out to sea. While I do sympathize with his family you have to admit that he did know what he was getting himself into. This wasn't a hot shot kid, but a 40+ yr old experienced surfer. Guess he found the Big One, huh?

This Movie is About Cats Flying

Please do not ask me to explain this. Cats flying!
'nuff said!

Sleeping with the Devil by Robert Baer

Even though this book came out in 2003 the information the author provides and some of his conclusions are still very relevant today. Robert Baer was a former CIA operative/analyst who looks at U.S. policy from a unique perspective. He actually had contact with a number of individuals involved in the events that he discusses, much of his information coming first hand.

Beginning with events then current, Baer goes back to look at just how the U.S. government became involved and in fact helped to ensure the reign of the Saudi royal family. Starting with the a meeting that FDR had with the then king, following WWII (at the behest of SoCal and representatives of American oil companies at the time), and continuing through the Bush II Presidency, Baer follows the money. For, in fact, it does come down to money and lots of it. Great sums which line the pockets of too many Washington insiders, including some who may be running for President and hundreds of others over the past fifty plus years.

It may have started, either as rumor or fact, with a briefcase filled with money left in the home of Richard Nixon, shortly after he had been elected to the office of President. Even if not true, word seemed to leak out that it was okay to do business with the Saudi family and their various businesses, legit or otherwise. Baer does not play favorites and just about every administration since Nixon’s seems to have either openly or behind closed doors done business with the Saudi regime. It is also clear, from the history that Baer discusses, that the Washington elite have not only closed their eyes to that country’s involvement with Islamic radicals, but also knowingly allowed them to cover when things got too hot for some individuals.

The author, naturally, talks about the bin Laden family, still very powerful and doing business with many U.S. firms, but also lesser known individuals in the royal family who are funding the Taliban and Al Quida. Baer really did his research, and spends several chapters discussing the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic radical groups from their creation in the 19th and early 20th century. He also looks at how other countries like Syria dealt with them in ways very different from how the Saudi government pays them off in hopes they will turn their anger outward rather than at the royal family. His examination of just how corrupt the Sauds are and have been is amazing, although it really hasn't been a secret, just not widely discussed by U.S. media.

I can agree with Baer’s conclusions that the American government has to cut its ties with the Saudi royals and other Arab countries, equally guilty of the same sort of corruption. He also makes the point that the U.S. public might have to face the possibility of changing their addiction to cheap Arab oil and look for alternatives. However, I can’t agree with one of the author’s proposals. That is to militarily take over the oil fields of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others via air strikes and commando raids. The idea is to take them over, rebuild what is necessary and allow the governments to fall around them.

I think that Baer is dead on when he says that it is only a matter of time before what the Saudi royals have allowed comes back to slit their throats. I just hope that he isn’t right that the idea he presents is actually being considered (despite the fact that such a plan was presented to Congress over twenty years ago by the Pentagon). Let’s hope there is another alternative.

All that said, I recommend the book to anybody who wants to know how we got to where we are and why certain Presidential candidates probably won’t change things very much. It does look like every past Democratic as well as Republican resident of 1600 Pennsylvannia Avenue has oil, if not blood, on their hands.

We are getting a bit nervous out here, concerned as we are about Kristina. Seems the company for which she works has been adversely affected by the housing & mortgage crunch. This has hurt them and as large companies always do in these situations, they begin chopping employees. Naturally, not those who made the bad deals and approved them, but lower level ones who had nothing at all to do with the situation.

Sadly, Kristina is one of those employees who may be looking for a job. The only bright side is that she has not been called into HR yet, while seeing several of her friends and more senior folks shown the door. Also, her company has been giving a small severance package that would continue health benefits until the end of the year and pay through February.

We are crossing our fingers, but aren’t feeling too positive as more cuts are likely. My stepdaughter is a wizard with computers and has worked in non-financial industries before. It’s likely that she can find something else should the need arise.

I’ll let you know as things progress.

It’s Monday evening and I feel totally exhausted. Unfortunately, I’m working until 9:00pm tonight and have to get through the next few hours. I wish now that I had taken today as a Vacation Day and been able to get some sleep as Donna has. Oh, well….

Speaking of my wife I want to wish a very, Happy 8th Anniversary to my love & life, Donna Lee! It is not a figure of speech to say that I would not be here (and I don’t mean California) if this woman had not come into my life when she did. I will always be thankful that we met and fell in love.
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The Carnival Paradise is one of the lines older and smaller ships, but it was perfect for our weekend voyage.

To give you an idea of how the cruise was you should know that within an hour of checking aboard I ordered my first drink and had my last around 11:30pm last night in the ship’s casino. The first was the ‘welcome aboard’ special, the name of which I can’t remember but it had rum, pineapple & orange juice in it. The great thing about these ‘specials’ is that they come in plastic cups that allow you to get discounts on each daily special, simply by returning the empty to the waitress. The drinks themselves tend towards the fruity/frosted variety and with the cup come to around $3.00 each. Yum!

Donna, Fran (Donna’s long-time friend) and I had a great time over the three days. The ladies got to catch up on things and I enjoyed the food, drinks, pool and casino. There was some shopping along the way as well; including some things we’ll be giving for Christmas.

One new thing was attending the art auction presented by Park West Gallery, with Fran. She almost always attends these, but for me it was a whole new experience. It was a lot of fun, plus Donna and I have a couple of nice pieces of artwork for the apartment. We both love a small, Thomas Kincaid work called “Winter Memories”, which will go well in the living room. I picked up a terrific “Speed Racer” print with the entire cast of the old show, including Racer X and the Mach 5. No idea where that will go, but I plan to have it framed as soon as we receive it. The bidding part of the auction is certainly the most exciting, even with many of the pieces already requested and having a set price in place before hand. (That’s how we got the Kincaid for much less than you’d expect.) There were also some amazing works by Picasso, Dali and Peter Max that went for prices that make my head hurt. As a treat at the end of the auction they ran the Dali/Disney short film, “Destino.” Amazing if you haven’t had the opportunity to see it.

The cruise was way too short and we spent the trip back from the terminal talking about which cruise we’d like to take next year. Right now it seems like we’ll be going to Alaska for a week, but all of us would like to take the Panama Canal crossing one of these days. (Something I actually did while in the Navy, but the experience was a bit different as you can imagine.)

I probably won't have a chance to post until next Monday. It's also doubtful that I'll be reading other folks or anything besides, perhaps, my e-mail if I get a chance tomorrow.

I just wanted to take a moment to wish you all a very, Happy Thanksgiving. Even if you don't make a big deal out of it I hope you enjoy whatever you'll be doing the next few days.

I'll fill you in on what we did and didn't do during the three-night cruise on Monday evening, since I'm scheduled to work. Hopefully, we won't have a repeat of our last Carnival experience and spend half a day looking for someone who has jumped overboard.

Take care!

Did you see on the news that Mission Viejo (which Ladera Ranch is considered part of) has been named the 'safest city' in the U.S. ? Strange after living for years in Brooklyn, huh?

A very, busy weekend here between moving furniture and shopping for Thanksgiving.

We decided to rearrange our living room and even purchased a new TV stand. Unfortunately, once we got it put together it was obvious that it would fall forward at the least touch. Having had more than a couple of tremblors we felt we shouldn't take chances. It was returned and we have the set temporarily on one of our old end tables, which we took from the spare room. We'll probably go shopping for something sturdier after we get back from the cruise.

At least we were able to move the second rocker/recliner from the bedroom to the living room, move the love seat around and put the lower half of the entertainment unit in the bedroom where we can use the drawers and shelves for storage. The shifting makes the place look less cramped and will give us space for everybody on Thursday.

Hard to believe that we spent over two hundred bucks on groceries for six people! Of course, we also picked up some things we can use before and after the holiday so it wasn't all for stuff to go with the turkey :-)

Can it really be only three days until our cruise? Or only a week until our 8th anniversary? Wow, the time has flown.

Kristina will be taking care of Babie for us, which we appreciate. Just hope she doesn't sneak Wilbur over to visit!

Enjoyed a pleasant three-day weekend and stayed away from the blogoverse pretty much. Going to try and catch up at least somewhat tonight while on desk.

Donna and I played Bingo again on Saturday, using my last winnings for the buy-in and then Donna winning on the very first 'warm up'. We're having more luck at the Irvine bingo than we have at the other places, although I did have a small win in Orange. Also, got a 'birthday' certificate for free Bingo at the San Manuel Bingo & Casino, plus free slot money. I have until 30-days after my b-day so we may head there sometime around the holidays.

Hard to believe that it's only a little more than a week until our cruise. We picked up some of the stuff for our Thanksgiving dinner and are going to start getting our clothes ready. We have promised ourselves we won't over pack as we usually do, which works since there will only be one night, Saturday, that we are expected to dress formally. Donna, Fran and I have already done that plenty of times, so I'm skipping the tux or suit this time out and will only grab a sports jacket.

We've also received our tickets for the Rose Bowl Parade and are looking forward to that come New Years.

The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it emotionally."—Flannery O'Connor

Came across this quote while reading this morning and it struck a cord. Perhaps with a rapidly approaching birthday and looking back over the events of the past year I am becoming more reflective. We all have uncomfortable things we don't like to recall or think about. Still they are part of our makeup and can't be ignored.

About a week ago I received an e-mail from my cousin George, who sent along a scan of a photograph taken back in the late '50s. I must have been around 8 or 9 years of age in the picture. The group included our cousin Ernie and George's sister, Donna, both of whom have already passed away. Donna was fifty-seven, which I will turn come next month and Ernie was only in his late 30s when he died from kidney failure.

Sorry, to turn all morbid on you but it was just something which has been on my mind for the past week or so. The quote from O'Connor just brought it to the surface.

I hope to have something lighter to blog about here or over on Shot's Shack later.

I’ve been spending a lot of time (both at home and during breaks at work) checking out new sites, posting in forums and generally ruining my eyesight on the Internet. You can see some of the new sites that I’ve linked to on both my blogs and you should expect more.

I added one to the new “official” Mystery Science Theatre 3000 site over on SHOT’S SHACK and will be adding a ‘religious satire’ site, the Wittenburg Door, over here later today if I have the chance. Joe Bob Briggs is writing for them and if you enjoy his essays on other things you might enjoy this as well. It’s like The Onion aimed at Christians.

I get so many e-mails from the various forums and groups I belong to that I rarely get to many of them more than once a week. If it wasn’t for the daily chance to win free cigars, I’d probably only get over to Cigar World on a monthly basis, as I do with Beer Advocate. Hmmm, is there a vice I don’t read about?

I have also started posting and taking part in the CBGXtra forums, those at Twisted Kaiju Theatre and Comic Collector Live. If you happen to see stuff from ‘Stevec50’ in any of those you can be sure I’ve come in from lurking mode.

You can’t ignore the Shelfari Shelf here and I’m having fun adding my books. Anything listed by Amazon can be placed on the shelf, along with cover photos in many cases. I don’t have nearly as many books as you would think, but since some aren’t listed on Amazon I can’t add them. Frankly, if anything that seems to be my major gripe. Plus, there is this weird glitch where it won’t let me input certain books since they are considered just another version of one I already have listed. For example, I have the Classics Illustrated version of MOBY DICK that was illustrated by Bill Sienkiewicz that I added. However, I also have the NBM edition of Melville’s novel that was produced by Will Eisner in my collection as well. According to Shelfari they are different editions of the same work, rather than totally separate works, and I can’t place both onto My Shelf. This problem also comes up with some multi-volume works, especially TPB collections. Again you have to decide which volume/edition to show on your shelf.

After all the excitement of the past couple of weeks it's nice to get back normality here in Ladera Ranch. The fires are still burning in some areas, but are all but completely contained. Most folks have been allowed to return to their homes, and those who have lost theirs are trying to get their lives back together. Doing the day to day stuff actually is nice for a change, given what could be.

Poor Donna is having problems with her left leg and we are discussing with doctors the eventually replacement of both knees. It will be months away, if not a year, but it's something we have to think about. Other procedures may be necessary before then, but we will take one thing at a time.

Given the leg/knees problems we are looking to rent a wheelchair for the up-coming cruise. We think it will make things easier, and even if she decides not to use it all the time we'll have it if she needs it.

I don't know about the rest of the country but the big story out here in SoCal is the strike by the SGA against the networks and film studios. After the damage caused by the fires, the economic impact of a prolonged strike will cause some real damage out here. To most folks it only means that Jay, Dave, and The Daily Show & Cobert Report will be heading to reruns. Out here we may see some restaurants, small delivery companies and other businesses severely effected and possibly closing. It will be interesting to see how things ripple out here.

Only 17 days until our cruise and despite Donna's physical problems we still both excited. We are seriously trying to the Alaskan cruise next year and in between we have a couple of other things we hope to do. More on that as our plans gel. :-)

A Hard Day's Night of the Living Dead

Because I'm in one of those moods!

BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAINSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

If you go over to http://www.halloween-nyc.com/ you'll find some great photos of last night's Greenwich Village Halloween Parade.

I have some nice memories of going there several years and of watching it live on TV on several others. It was always fun, no matter how you experienced it. The photo hear is from last night's festivities.

Seeing the photos there and the ones on the KCBS-2/KCAL-9 site of the West Hollywood parade made me recall the Halloween that Elayne & I experienced the Castro in San Francisco.

Elayne, how long was I holding that guy's hand before I realized it wasn't you? I remember you, Matt & Candy had a good laugh at my expense. :-(

Have a very, Happy & Safe Halloween!

Just wanted an excuse to use this picture. The Batman looks like the Shaw family's Chops, so I couldn't resist.

Perhaps something more serious later.

One of the reasons that SHELDON remains one of my favorite strips are the odd references that Dave Kellett tosses in.

I mean "Duck & Cover"? Bwahahahah

It was all around a very nice weekend. There are still, sadly, some fires causing continued hardship. The air is a bit better today, at least in the Mission Viejo/Ladera Ranch area. We could still smell it last night, but by this morning it had cleared. Looking out towards the hills you can see smoke but the winds have died down.

We went to play Bingo over in Irvine on Saturday and I won again. This time I didn't have to split the money with other winners, but did make a small donation to the school where it was held. I figure I could afford $20 out of the $250 I won. We're putting aside part of that, like we did last time, to pay for our next Bingo adventure. We'll probably never break even, considering how much we have spent at San Manuel, but it's nice to finally win a few.

Speaking of winning.... :-)

Did you happen to hear that....BOSTON WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And while we are on the subject of winning the NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS are undefeated!!!

On a more serious note, Donna is in Los Angeles this afternoon getting a second opinion on her thyroid. It will probably be the same and we will have to look to get her scheduled for surgery sometime after returning from our cruise. Possibly in early December if we can, as we are also considering a quick trip back east for Christmas, depending on my work schedule.

Fire Fighter Tribute

Just a moment to thank those who risk everything day after day.

It appears that the worst is over, at least for now. Firefighters seem to be gaining the upper hand in almost all of the fires and people are beginning to return to their homes. It will be days, if not weeks, until there is a complete assessment of how much this is going to cost the state. It's still smokey and many of the schools in Orange County have cancelled outdoor activities, including sports.

It's a sad anniversary for firefighters out here today. Just a year ago five of them lost their lives when they were trapped during another forest fire. At noon there was a moment of silence and many of those working to stop the current fires lay down their hoses and equipment to pay tribute.

Well, it's a bit of good news/bad news here in the OC. The Santa Ana winds have died down and the weather has cooled a bit. On the other hand, these winds coming from the ocean are a bit less predictable than the Santa Ana variety and can shift. Still most of the fires are coming under control to some extent. It is hoped that over the weekend, if things stay as they are, many people can begin returning home.

Unfortunately, the fires from Santiago Canyon which were a glow over the hills on Tuesday night have swept over the crest and into Lost Canyon & Live Oak Canyon. The fires are visible now from the patio, where Donna and I watched them spreading and moving closer. Fires have also spread into yet another county, moving into Riverside which had been spared up to now.

Yesterday, Donna drove over to Rancho Santa Margarita where Kristina lives (much closer to the fires) to see how things are there. Our daughter is on a cruise with friends this week, but her roommate is home. Still we are concerned and wanted to ensure ourselves that we didn't need to grab Wilbur (her cat) and take him with us.

Between a marine layer which brought in fog and the continuing smokey conditions visibility this morning was not the best. Again the car was covered in ash and everything smells of smoke. It has gotten so that the library here continually smells of it, as winds bring it in when patrons enter and leave the lobby. We keep the windows closed at home, but we do have the smell beginning to come through the halls so there is little escape. Poor Donna has had to use her inhaler more often and you see some folks in surgical masks walking and even in cars.

We had plans to go off for a 'romantic weekend', but cancelled our reservations at the casino, since the roads to get there keep being closed due to the fires. Besides we feel safer sticking close to home until the situation improves.

On a more pleasant note....the RED SOX WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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.

***********

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?