Now granted I love a good conspiracy as much as the next Leftist, but it does seem a bit odd doesn't it that Milosevic's death comes less than a week after the star witness in his trial, former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic, was found dead in the same prison?

I don't think many a tear will be shed over the former strong-man, but it will be interesting to learn what the autopsy turns up.

If you haven't been reading it since I posted a link, you should click on UNSHELVED MEDIA at the Left. The strip has been doing a story on blogging at work the past week. Today's talks about just how addicting it can be.

Today was one for the books, since we had our "Grand re-opening" with a score of local & state politicians dropping by for a photo op. There must have also been a dozen folks from Queens Public administration, including the Director. Actually heard my name mis-pronounced once, which was as close to an acknowledgement as one could expect.

Interestingly enough, at lunch time Donna told me that I'd gotten a response to a resume I submitted to a library system in California. I may be able to set up a telephone interview, as I've apparently gotten through the first round of consideration. Not going to hold out much hope but a bit of California Dreaming never hurts.

The silly outfits over in the picture are the new work uniforms being approved by the U.S. Navy for enlisted personnel E-6 and below (this would be anyone below Chief Petty Officer). They are buttugly, IMHO, but I suppose some folks may find them attractive. Do you really need to be 'camouflaged' aboard a ship?

During my first enlistment (1/69 thru 12/72) the Navy decided to try a new uniform to get away from the traditional dungarees we were all wearing onboard ships. It was rumored then (and I don't have a reason to doubt it) that it had more to do with political payback for some Senator or Representative, in whose district these new outfits would be manufactured.

It will be interesting to see if this new outfit lasts any longer than the two-three years that other uniform remained in rotation. Remember that military uniforms are NOT free, but actually come out of a 'clothing allotment' active duty personnel receive. In other words, all enlisted sailors will have to pay for these!

Not a great Oscar telecast, but certainly enjoyable. No real surprises either, not many political rants. I believe that Jon Stewart did a good job of hosting, although some of his monologue stuff fell flat. Then again, you don't really know how the audience is miked so hall response might have been better than we at home seemed to believe.

Loved the beginning with appearances by all the recent hosts and Jon Stewart's 'dream sequence.' If you saw the ABC 'red carpet' special, plus the various bits in the telecast itself, you'll understand Stewart's joke about their running out of clips. Still some nice tributes, but was sort of surprised that neither Don Knotts nor Darren McGaven were shown in the memorial sequence.

Since I never saw any of the nominated films I don't feel strongly enough about the winners or losers. If nothing else it was good to see George Clooney getting the Best Supporting Actor statue and later talking about how it's difficult if not impossible to judge performances against each other unless they all did the same role.

One of me favorite Stewart lines, which both Donna and I laughed at, was "Michael Scorsese Zero, 365 Mafia One."

One note was that Stewart and others seem to have dropped the "watched by billions worldwide" bit, since as Mark Evanier pointed out in his pre-Oscar piece this has been disproved and mentioned even in the mainstream press of late.

I've got nothing to say about what's going on with His Smugness showing the flag overseas. The riots & protests being shown on CNN and MSNBC should give us pause, however. There is also little I can add to all the Bush/Chertoff/Brown fingerpointing going on over the Katrina response. Both Pacifica and Air America Radio have been giving all this decent coverage, though naturally coming from the liberal/progressive viewpoint.

On a personal note, if you have any interest in my own shady past you can check out photos of the five U.S. Navy ships on which I served during my eight years on active duty. I've posted them over the last few weeks over at SHOT'S SHACK with a comment or two.

This is a long distance dedication for Michelle at Forest Hills. The closest thing I have to Mountain Men.

The guy on the Left was going through a divorce from a former artist model and cult member. The guy on the right, Rob, was just beginning to tour the pro circuit in the then new sport of motorcross. The unseen photographer, my shipmate Jeff, would go on to do FX and makeup for the likes of Roger Corman and in films like THE HOWLING.

This was taken in 1975 in the desert near, I would later learn, the Spawn Ranch hang out of the Manson Family. At the time there were still rumors of (and folks searching for) stashes of arms and supplies buried by the Family for the coming "race war."

Within an hour of this picture being taken, fueled by large quantities of beer and Jack Daniels, one of these individuals would begin the game of tossing live ammunition into the fire.

And you wonder why I am often amazed to find myself living to the age of 55?

I had this whole Country & Western thing going on in my head that I was going to do. Stuff about listening to Kenny Rogers on the CD player.

“Talking about BS and BJs and women we’ve known.
Our years in the service and just growing old
Too much comped food & drink with second hand smoke.”

I think I may have been channeling that old Tin Pan Alley song writer that Martin Short would play on Saturday Night Live. “Give me a “B”, a bouncy “B!”

Unfortunately, getting hit with a stomach virus Sunday afternoon upon getting back home sort of put a damper on that whole thing. It was difficult enough making it to the bathroom from the bed in the guestroom let alone making a dash from the computer room down the hall. One of those violent projectile emissions from both ends for over 24-hours kind of thing. Hey! What are blogs for if not sharing those special moments?

Caesar’s in Atlantic City is still fun and they are expanding quite a bit. They bought the old Boardwalk Mall (the one that looked like a beached ferry) and are turning it into higher-end shops with a walkway directly from the casino. Guess they are trying to compete with the expansion that Tropicana did the other year.

Frankie Valli (shown above in a recent publicity pic) and The Four Seasons (at least the latest incarnation of the group) were excellent. You can note some changes in the arrangements to cover for Valli’s slightly decreased high notes, but overall he’s still the same amazing singer he’s always been. You tend to forget that Frankie has been at this since the early 1960s (his first few hits with the FS are from that period) so he is himself in his late 60s. The FS look like the Backstreet Boys standing next to him, but were all quite good during their solo bits. Valli’s current back up band, directed by his long-time arranger Robbie Robertson, were really professional and every song was immediately recognizable. After all that is what you go to this type of show for anyway.

Hard to believe that after a little over twenty years of taking trips down to Atlantic City the place still gives me a kick when I'm there. The gambling part isn't what it once was, but I still love walking about checking out the new machines and watching things change. Las Vegas, where I've been three times also holds that same fascination.

I'm off to Atlantic City later this morning, so I'll fill you in on all that and the Four Seasons concert either Sunday night or Monday.

Hope you've had a chance to check out some of the photos of my old Navy ships at Shot's Shack
I still have a couple of more to post.

I've added a link to Overdue Media, the home of UNSHELVED, a librarian/library based comic strip over on the Left. I've enjoyed it for several years now, receiving it daily in my e-mail. Felt it was about time I gave the Bill & Gene their due and linked to them. Even if you're not a Librarian I think you'll get a lot of the 'office humor' and comics references.

I'd just like to congratulate the Queens Public Library administration for doing in less then two years what it took the Brooklyn Public system almost fourteen and three different Directors to do. Have I mentioned that I once enjoyed being a librarian?

Remember folks! Always keep that resume updated since you never know when it might come in handy.

Happy Birthday to my wife!

I probably don't tell you enough how much I love you and how you saved my life at a major point.

Have a special day and enjoy the chocolates!

These were sent to me a while ago by the ever perky Dorian Tenore-Bartilucci. I really didn't have anything on hand to post or talk about so I just wanted to do something "cute" for once.

Have a good weekend and a Happy President's Day! (Unless you happen to be the President, in which case you're on your own, G.W.!)

Has it really been seven years since our first date?

We went to see "Shakespeare in Love" and I didn't "make the move."

Love you Donna!

Just in case I can't get a box of REAL candy for my love!

Happy Valentine's Day, Donna Lee!

You can't deny that this "Dead Eye" Dick Cheney story doesn't seem to be going away. The news coming out that the VP office appeared to be interferring with or at least delaying (pardon the expression) the investigation by local law enforcement appears to be keeping the event in the press.

It is interesting to conjecture what the press and Congress would have done about this sort of thing had it happpened to Bill Clinton.

We also wish a speedy recovery to Mr. Harry Whittington both from the wounds inflicted by the VP and his heart attack.

Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and injured a man during a hunting trip in Texas, The Associated Press reports.

This opens up the way for so many jokes I don't even know where to start. I expect the likes of the Leno & Letterman staffs are cranking out reams of material at this very moment.

Personally, I'd like to see the VP showing up on Court TV.

Friday night was the "Midnight Buffet", where the chef and his crew go all out putting together an incredible display of artistry. I can't imagine the amount of hours it takes to put this together, but those folks who stay up certainly seem to enjoy themselves.

That's The Lovely Christina, looking all Angelina Jolie there and somehow I appear to have channeled my Uncle Charlie. Something I always feared would be my fate as a kid, but I'm only missing the cigar in this picture.

If you take a cruise you really should make an attempt to hit one of these. The best part is that when the picture taking part is done, you get to come back and eat your way through it.

This is our last port, Costa Maya, Mexico. You can see the long pier at which the ships dock and several of the other ships beside the Miracle.

If you don't feel like walking the length of the pier there's a small trolley which travels back and forth, but sadly I forgot to snap a shot.

As you can also see the beach at the end is not for swimming, you'd have to take a cab or one of the tours further down the beach. However, the mall does have several large size pools, one includes the swim-up bar you see in one of the photos.

There's no charge to just sit in the lounge chairs or hammocks along the beach, but there are several restaurants & bars. Waiters will bring you out your drinks if you like. During the day there are arts & crafts demonstrations in the plaza, with dozens of shops of all kinds arond the sunken stage if you'd like to shop and go no further into the town.

I've got a couple of more shots over at Shot's Shack, that you might get a kick out of.

For those of you still interested I plan on finishing up my cruise posting this weekend. I still have some photos of Costa Maya, Mexico and from the Carnival Miracle "midnight buffet" that I want to share as well.

If this weekend in NYC is as bad as they say it will be a good couple of days to just stay indoors anyway.

On a political note, I doubt that Scooter will actually drop the bomb on the VP. He has too much at stake if he wants any kind of future in the GOP or in government to turn on his ex-boss.

Interesting to hear that G.W. snuck the idea of Social Security privatization into the budget, especially after he all but said it was a dead issue in the State of the Union speech. Pretty obvious you can't trust His Smugness, but you folks should already know that.

Note to city workers that they be careful about playing games on the office computers. You never know when the Mayor has nothing better to do than to sneak around peeking at your terminal.

Just a bunch of misc. pics from Grand Cayman that I wanted to share.

There's the Blue Iguana statue; Diane our 'pirate' tour guide; another pic of the beach; the Hard Rock & Harley/Davidson cafes along the shore and an example of one of the island homes.

Grand Cayman is nice but just remember how expensive it can be. The first time Donna and I went down there we made the mistake of grabbing lunch at a local place, above the Pirate's Grotto. I had fish & chips, Donna had coconut shrimp and we had iced tea, for a whopping $55 U.S. This time we ate aboard before and after our tour!