First off, I think Obama made the right choice with Senator Joe Biden as VP. Not my first pick, but probably the safest and the one which will bring him additional support from long-time Dems.

Well, we are all packed up and ready to fly out of John Wayne Airport tomorrow for Vancouver. Then on Monday, sixteen of us (Donna, me, Donna's BFF Fran and a dozen plus of Donna's cousins and assorted spouses & partners) will be boarding the Island Princess for our seven-day Alaska cruise.

I won't promise anything, but I will try to post once or twice during the cruise, just to gloat. We'll probably check our e-mail also, if you really need to get in touch, but we won't be checking in everyday.

We will definitely be taking lots of photos so if I don't get too close to the edge of a glacier I'll post some of those when I get back. Otherwise, check with my next of kin!

Bon voyage for now!!

John McCain in "Missing, Presumed Dead"

I'm shocked at the behavior of both McCain and Kerry (whom I have admired and voted for) in this situation. Both have things to answer for, especially McCain who has been using his POW experience as both excuse and shield.

Boston Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski is recovering from triple bypass surgery today. Growing up in New England, Captain Carl was legendary and one of those players you enjoyed watching. Like the player he was brought in to replace as an outfielder, the amazing Ted Williams, Yaz instantly captured the hearts of Sox fans.

We're thinking of you, Cap!

War Block Breath Spray

If it was only so easy!

It's sort of funny that, considering what a political junkie I am, I'll be missing the Democratic convention next week.

Actually, it might be kind of pleasant to give myself a break from the whole thing considering how we'll be beat over the head with it from now until early November. At this point I still can't understand why it doesn't look like a landslide for Obama, even though he is 'different' from past Presidents. :-)

We have all the clothes ready to be packed and other things already put away. No doubt, as usual, we have over packed and might not wear everything we bring. A couple of Donna's cousins (with whom we'll be sailing) were shocked to hear that we'll both bringing more then one suitcase. Still, you can never know what might occur so it's better to bring a few more outfits.

I've gone back and forth on which two books I plan on bringing. I have stuff from both San Diego and the ALA convention, plus five more Joe Bob Briggs books to be reviewed. I'll probably finish the paperback of short mystery/suspense stories on the plane ride up, so I'll still need two for the cruise and the trip back.

I'm definitely going to bring "The Powers That Be", the first volume of a new espionage series called Room 59 by Cliff Ryder (and who doesn't believe that to be a pen name). The publisher was at San Diego giving out freebies and I now regret not being as greedy as other folks and grabbing the next two books. I'll just probably blindly pick one of the JBB books and toss it and the Ryder book in my suitcase.

This may not be fascinating to anyone else, but I really don't have anything else on my mind right now.

Bush's I.C.E. Unit Kills Again

This is the sort of thing that demands investigation and not a coverup!

Free Tibet

We should not forget what was done and continues to be done in China.

Oh McCain - Extended Director's Cut

Brilliant and I had to share this!

We enjoyed watching the U.S. Women's Softball team win last night. I have to admit that I did feel a little bad for the Venezuelan team. Donna used to be an assistant coach for a girl's team so she was really into it. We're hoping to see some more games, depending on when they are televised.

Still wishing for Mark Phelps to come in second or third in an event. That would be MY Olympic moment this year!

Interesting report I heard on the radio earlier today. It seems the areas set aside as "free speech" zones in Beijing are unusually quiet. Of course, it might be because the authorities have not given anyone the necessary permits which would allow them to gather there. I'm sure G.W. & Company were taking notes for possible copycat action during the GOP convention. Heads up to the Mayor of Minneapolis-St. Paul! Pay close attention.

G.W. is back (unfortunately) and making noises about the events taking place in Georgia. As I said in the last post, there really is nothing we can do about the situation. I hope that the U.N. does take some action (however futile), but don't expect Putin to change his plans even then, being the little Stalin that he has shown himself to be. Time for Rand-McNally to change the maps again, since if he gets away with this I expect Putin to find excuses to go into other former Soviet states to reclaim them.

Apparently the current campaigns of neither Obama or McCain really are as relevant as what did or did not happen in the Edwards & Clinton camps the past six months. Of course, Barack does have a lot of nerve going to some foreign nation like Hawaii for a holiday!

Show of hands: When you heard that Russia had invaded Georgia, your first concern was that the price of peaches was going to go up? Then you realized it was the country and not the state. Thirdly, you knew deep down that you don't care either way? Am I alone in this?

Seriously, if nothing else it proves beyond doubt that the U.S. is pretty much impotent when it comes to international affairs. I'm sure that Putin had a good laugh, probably in G.W.'s face, when Bush said Russia should not invade a sovereign nation. Like everyone else in Beijing, Putin knows that the President is there to suck up to the Chinese, begging them not to foreclose on the U.S. At least not until after the election, when it can be blamed on somebody else. Probably the Democrats and Bill Clinton.

Donna and I have been watching the Olympics on & off all weekend. Taking a break Saturday night for Bingo and yesterday to do some shopping and grab lunch at Mimi's Cafe. As I've mentioned before, I actually prefer the Winter games for enjoyment and action. Not to knock the track & field, swimming, etc.

Anybody else rooting for Michael Phelps NOT to win the gold in each event? Nothing personal against him, but I'd just like all the announcers to shut up. It almost seems like Phelps is the only athlete competing who deserves notice. My hope is that a Silver or Bronze would get NBC to focus on someone else for a change.

Finally, and this holds true for every time gymnastics are televised. How old are these girls? This is especially apparent in the Chinese team, where I don't know if some have even reached puberty yet!! It kind of makes my feel creepy.

Anyway, enjoy the games! Bush seems to be....

We watched most of the opening ceremony last night while visiting. We also caught some of the 'parade of nations', when we got home, until both of us were falling asleep in our chairs. It certainly was an amazing spectacular, no matter what you might think of the Chinese government or its policies. It is apparent that whomever hosts the next Olympics will not be able to match it in size or scope, even if they go all out using technology.

Found it interesting that Matt Lauer actually spoke on several controversies and political issues as the various countries were announced. As usual, Bob Costas was on hand with lots of information on the various Olympic athletes, both past and present. Neither spent too much time talking over the actual ceremony just to hear themselves talk. The absence of Katie Couric was noted and greatly appreciated by me, at least. Overall it was a good job, although I suppose you could argue with some of the camera shots and angles which didn't aid the viewer.

Of course, I can't let the subject drop without saying a few words about His Smugness and the Mrs. Did he seem especially bored by the event? It appeared as if he was fiddling with his binoculars and twitching his leg quite a bit. As for her, she had the same smile and bored expression in every single shot. It really did seem that neither wanted to even be there, but when you are in debt to somebody you need to pay your respects.

Finally, I'm saddened to hear of the problems in the marriage of John Edwards. It doesn't effect, in my mind, the positions he has taken or the ideas he expressed on the issues in the Presidential campaign. I believe I still would have voted for him, had his name been on the ballot and the scandal erupted earlier. I'm really sorry that the Obama campaign will now have to spend time and effort putting distance between the candidate and his former opponent.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and whatever Olympic event you care to watch.

It's hard to believe that our cruise is less then three weeks from today. We haven't even started to get our stuff together, which for Donna is unusual, since she is usually way ahead. Probably come down to pressing our formal wear and making sure we have enough clean casual stuff for the eight days. Big debate about whether or not to pack more then one swimsuit, as we aren't sure if one of the pools is covered or not and you can't predict the weather up in Alaska.


We thought about taking the laptop along, but decided against it. To likely to either get lost, stolen or just sit in the stateroom unused. We are going to get one of the Internet plans that the cruiselines offer, where you pay for a certain amount of online time ahead, with additional cost if you go over. Never hurts to keep in touch, plus I might try to blog just for the novelty of doing so while on vacation.

Since our other camera was taken out by a Jedi in San Diego, we bought a new one (and a tad better while we were at it) this past weekend. We'll be playing with it to make sure we know what we are doing.

Nothing to add to what I said yesterday about the quake, except that the U.S. Geological Survey now lists it as a 5.4 rather than a 5.8. Trust me, I don't think the .4 makes a hell of a lot of difference when you are in the middle of the damn thing!!

Very little damage and only a few minor injuries were reported. The news shows and sites here on the 'net are filled with video of folks looking around or running for dear life. Do I care that Judge Judy all but stained her gown running for her life or that the male & female bimbos in the Big Brother house got scared? Amusing video in both cases, but hardly news worthy.

The only thing that happened in our apartment was that a card we had on top of the television fell over. Not nearly the mess I feared would confront us when we got home.

We heard from Dan yesterday, who was visiting Disney's California Adventure park. He said they made folks leave the park while they checked the rides and attractions for damage. He had joked over the weekend about wanting to experience a quake, but said he wasn't really serious and was pretty unnerved by the whole thing.

One quick thing on the political front and I know I'm repeating myself. How can the Presidential race still be this close according to polls? Is anybody paying attention to the silly, old man?

The answer is yes! At least from what I gathered over the weekend speaking to a couple of people whom I like and respect. Obama is not to be completely trusted and he is an elitist. Both of these comments from college educated folks with good paying jobs. We better hope that there will be a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress, since we might be seeing a President McCain come next January if this keeps up.

Holy crap! We sure felt that one out here.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey there was a 5.8 quake, followed by a 3.4 aftershock. It was about 7 mi. east of Los Angeles near Chino.

We evacuated the Library for a few minutes and then allowed folks to come back in. Naturally, being Californians many didn't want to get up from their computers at all. Of course, it was our fault (pardon the expression) that they lost some time. *sigh*

Except for some books falling from the shelves we have suffered no damage here at the Library.

I couldn't get through to Donna on her cell, but she called me from her office phone and we compared notes. This may explain why neither of us saw Babie almost all morning. A co-worker said her cat had been acting 'hinkey' all day.

I'll let you know more if anything happens.

Lots of strange stuff went on this past weekend in San Diego and I don't know where to start.

I got through the event with the only damage being a twisted ankle and a broken shutter on my digital camera.

The first from trying to climb out of a taxi Friday night with several bags of action figures and a backpack. I was exhausted to begin with and I think it just my lack of coordination that did the trick.

The second thing I owe to a light saber swing from some Jedi. You'd expect that sort of thing from the Seth, but not from Obi Wannabe! Fortunately, the camera still works but I have to be careful not to touch the lens. Donna sees it as an excuse to get a better camera and I have to admit she took the news of the accident better than I feared.

Bottom line is that Dan and I had a good time, both of us getting a lot of stuff. Seeing what Dan picked up made Donna appreciate the fact that I collect comics and very few action figures. It's costing him a couple of hundred dollars to ship his goodies back home to New Jersey. Add to that the several hundred he spent to get the figures and the others he has pre-ordered at the con. (Personally, I would never buy five of the He-Man figures in order to get the one limited edition King Grayskull! Just speaking for myself, of course.)

I'll be talking more about this over at Shot's Shack the next few days and hope to be able to download the far too few photos I took. With the shutter jammed I could only use the camera on Friday.

Between now and Election Day I'm going to be saying this a lot, so bear with me.

How in the Hell can anybody be taking John McCain seriously as a Presidential candidate? Can the polls that show him within a few points of or actually leading Obama among voters actually reflect reality?

I know that Obama is a scary, black guy with a funny name, but even so he certainly should be more acceptable then a senile, old man whose chief claim to fame is something that happened four decades ago. I won't belittle what he went through, but that and getting folks to forget that he was one of the Keating Five (thanks for getting the American tax payer to bail out the S&Ls John!) should not qualify him to sit in the Oval Office, except for coffee.

Adding either the Anti-Christ or The Exorcist as VP, can only add to the guys scary factor, but apparently there are lots of white folks who are okay with that.

My Morning Jacket - Librarian

Librarian is the name of the album by this group. :-)

Grampa Abe McCain

Vote for me! I'm old and uuumm...can I have my oatmeal now?

Does it even pay at this point to mention the lies and misinformation His Smugness put out this morning? Apparently, he has been planning for this all along and he warned us about the price of oil rising and the like. No surprise to him. Also, it's the fault of Congress (especially those who call themselves Democraticals) that everything isn't working out. Bastards!!

It's all good and we can trust him to have it all fixed before he leaves office. The best thing would be to skip the elections and just hand everything over to John McCain. Why go through the hassle of all that voter fraud, intimidation and another move by the Supreme Court?

Stop whining!!

So can we safely say that the President is a blowhole? Is that still within my First Amendment rights?

Looks like the economy is about to totally go down the toilet and the American taxpayer about to bail out banks and lending institutions that are 'too big to fail' (whatever that is supposed to mean). So naturally, His Smugness has decided to help out his oil buddies and future employers by ending the ban on off-short drilling. Hell, why not? The lame ass seat warmers in Congress, going by the name Democrat, haven't stopped the SOB from doing anything else he wants, so why start at this point?

Yeah, I have a headache and don't feel all that well, why do you ask?