The Book of Mormon - Hasa Diga Eebowai

"When God fucks you in the butt (Hasa Diga Eebowai), fuck God right back in his cunt. (Hasa Diga Eebowai)."

I really would love to see this play!

From George Washington's Farewell Address (1796):

"All obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They [political parties] serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests.

"However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government; destroying afterwards the very engines, which have lifted them to unjust dominion."

Obviously, this George W. would not have been welcome in the GOP.

It was bad enough when the Republican Party was simply a tool (as are a number of Democratic politicians, let's be honest here) of the Corporations and the wealthy in this country. Now however it is obvious, from the actions of a number of Republican governors and their wholly-owned congressional houses that the idea of democracy (small "d") does not fit into their plans for the American future they envision. The idea of a permanent Republican majority, put forth by Carl Rove, is still their ideal despite the momentary bump in the road caused by the 2008 elections.

Following two years of 'birthers', Teabaggers, and ranting about the "Socialist/Muslim" President the 2010 elections put the Republicans in position to undermine the Constitution they claim to hold sacred. Momentarily blinded by what many of us thought was a change for the better, progressives now find themselves treading water with the riptide pulling us further into dangerous waters.

Sorry, to be so heavy but things are not looking good.

Is anybody still reading this? To be honest, I forget I have the damn thing unless I post a video via YouTube. As I mentioned earlier on SHOT'S SHACK, I am spending all my time over on Facebook & Twitter so my ranting is down to under a 140 characters most of the time. To be honest, I'm reTweeting more than anything, since many of the folks I Follow are much more clever than I could ever hope to be. Hell, when you can read stuff from Steve Martin, Wil Wheaton, Neil Gaiman and Keith Olbermann, among others, why bother trying to come up with something clever on my own. Steal theirs!

Frankly, I don't even know what to make of what has been happening the past few weeks. I listen to the news and all I can do is shake my head. There is nothing I can say about the tragedy in Japan and the on-going aftermath that others aren't already filling bandwidth and the airwaves saying. I'm certainly not smart enough to add to the conversation on what is happening in the Mid-East. Yeah, Qadaffi (or however you want to spell it) has to go, but are we doing the right thing? Did we take too long or go in too soon. If best-selling author and multiple adulterer Newt Gingrich is puzzled then I am out of my league.

Are you like me? Have you finally decided that any faith you had in Obama was ill-placed? If not, than I admire your conviction since mine was lost a while ago. Every so often he will say something or do something that makes me remember why I voted for him in the first place. Not in the primaries, but in the general election. I've decided that I'm going to remain registered in the Democratic Party until the primaries next year, just to see if anyone will be running against the President. Then I'm changing to Independent. My dad was right that Parties really don't mean anything, then again, my dad voted for Nixon three times.

Not even going to say that I'll try to post more often, since I'd be lying to myself as well as you. Seek me out at Facebook or Twitter, where you can generally find me at least 4-5 days a week.

George Takei Calls Out Anti-Gay Arkansas School Board Member

There is nothing I can add to this other than: "You go, George!"

Wow! Has it really been twelve years since Donna and I went out on our first date? We were introduced by my co-worker Barbra D., who knew Donna from the softball team for which both their daughters played. We had actually met several weeks before, when Donna came in to use the Library and I helped her find some information. Neither of us knew at the time that it was part of Barbra's plan to hook us up.

Sometimes it seems that it hasn't been that long and other times it seems that it has been much longer. It certainly has been a pretty hectic time for both of us, with a great many high points and also some low. We have moved four times since we were married, five if you count moving down the hall from a one-bedroom apartment in Ladera Ranch to a two-bedroom. We're both hoping that the move to Lake Forest and buying our own place will be the final move. Until she puts me in a nursing home in a few years. :-)

Star Trek KFC

Thanks to Mark Evanier for letting us know about this! I'll take the extra crispy.

Once again it's a post to apologize for not posting for about a month. Pretty much except for linking to videos here and on Shot's Shack I hardly ever think about my blogs. I feel guilty, but most of my friends (the REAL ones) are now over on Facebook and/or Twitter. I find it much easier to go to those sites to toss off a quick comment than to take the extra minutes necessary to blog. Call it digital laziness, I guess. The funny thing is that I will occasionally get an e-mail or message asking me if I still blog.

I think I promised at the beginning of 2010 that I would try to be a more regular poster, but things turned out differently. I am totally addicted to Facebook, especially the various games. Started out with the usual Happy Aquarium stuff and went from there. Now I am mostly into Mafia Wars, Frontierville and several others. I am also 'Friending' just about anybody, but it's still a kick to actually have somebody I personally know add me. There are actually two people with whom I went to high school, but barely spoke to in four years. We're now "friends". C'mon! That is too classic.

One interesting thing is that about a half-dozen of Donna's immediate family are currently on Facebook, so we can keep up with them. Yet, I haven't found a single member of my family on Facebook, but am being followed by two of them on Twitter. Not sure what that says about them or us.

I did ramble a bit, but wanted to let you know that I am still alive and kicking. We are trying to get through this rainy spell, with only the one leak we have discovered so far. A minor leak around one window in the addition, but still annoying. I really feel bad for the birds I normally feed on the patio, since I haven't had a chance to refill one of the feeders. If it holds off for a while I hope to get back there tonight or in the morning.

Oh, before I forget. Donna and I are now on Skype. If you are also and would like to 'chat' please drop me an e-mail. We did our first call to Donna's cousin Charles & his partner John. It was pretty cool, despite some problems with our camera. Donna went out and we have traded up for a better model. Keep an eye out for us, or for me do be doing some more Four-Color Fiend videos for YouTube.

Have a very, Merry Christmas and a safe & sane New Year's.

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

Hey, even a cynical old unbeliever like me can appreciate this. Happy Holidays!

Not a whole heck of a lot to report, but I did promise myself I would try and post a bit more frequently.

The house is probably about 80% finished at this point. The last major thing was moving the bedrooms around and switching the beds. Donna decided to keep our older bed and move the newer one into the guestroom or as we call it, The Stoffo Suite. (An inside joke, so don't dwell on it if it makes no sense.)

We have a few minor things to do over the next week or so, as we have family & friends coming over for Thanksgiving dinner. It will be the first gathering we have in our new place and we'd like everything complete by then.

We're getting used to hearing the trains coming by, since most stop by 11:00pm with the exception of a freight train that runs through around 2:00am. After living in Brooklyn and in Connecticut on fairly busy streets it really isn't a big issue with either of us. The thing that bothers us most are the new creaky noises when we turn the heat on. Something else to get used to over time. Pretty minor annoyances when compared to having our own place and so much extra room.

Show of hands. How many of you thought of Donna and me when you heard about the Carnival ship floating without power? LOL! We both thought it was pretty funny, but did sympathize with the passengers going through it.

That's it for now. Hope you all have your change of address notices by now.

LOLCAT BIBLE: GENESIS 1

And dis is very true stuff 2 no!!

We're finally moving in to our new place tomorrow. Nobody will be happier than Donna, since she has really done most of the work involved. While I've been at work, most days she had off she was either dealing with movers, flooring folks, buying paint, or working on packing up Chez Chaput for its move. I would show up at night to do what I could or to help Donna, Kristina and Michael with the painting.

The place looks good, although empty. We have a few items the previous owners left (an entertainment unit, bureaus and nightstand) which are good enough for now, since our furniture will certainly not fill up the additional two rooms we'll be getting. Eventually we will have to get some furniture for the living room, since our current stuff will be going into the 'family room'. I think folks coming out to stay will be happy to have a 'guestroom' that doesn't double as office/comics den. :-)

After just watching it for about an hour, I must admit that shows look different on the 40" flatscreen HDTV. Even with only the basic cable hooked up it is strange seeing both old and new shows. They look...not sure how to describe it, but different from the way they appear on our older sets. Can't wait to start watching some films and using our new Blu-ray player. Something we had discussed, but not really planned on getting. However, it was included as a package deal with the TV so why not take advantage. I'm sure my MST-3K and RiffTrax DVDs will look even better and who doesn't want watch NotLD on a big screen with Mike & Co. having fun. Sorry now I didn't take advantage of the Blockbuster 'going out of business' sale a few months ago.

Enjoy your weekend and I'll try to let you in on how things went next Monday.

Well, it started out as a trip to Living Spaces to choose a new bed for the new place. We're moving the old king-sized one to the guestroom and using the sofa sleeper in the family room. We decided, while we were there to look at some lamps,since we wanted something new for the master bedroom. Somehow we took a wrong turn and ended up next door at Phil's Television.

Seriously, we have been having trouble with our livingroom TV and had originally planned on waiting. The store had a good deal on a 40" flatscreen where they would throw in a Blu-Ray player, so we decided to go for it. Can't wait to view RIVER MONSTERS & MONSTERS INSIDE ME on a bigger screen and in HD. :-)

Bottom line is that I don't think we'll be cruising anytime soon and I'm not sure if my 60th b-day present will be quite as cool as I had hoped. Oh well, we all make sacrifices.

By the way, we'll be finally moving this coming Saturday, so I hope many of you already got the change of address.

Everyone: Turk Out The Vote.com!

Makes sense to me! Let us do what we can.

Companies Buying Stocks, Not Employees

Why do I love The Young Turks? This is one of the reasons.

We'll be painting the new place this weekend. Hope to get most of it anyway, since we are having some workers coming in next week to do plumbing, electrical and finally the new carpets and flooring. Those credit cards are wearing thin!

Strange times at work, with schedule changes and people retiring. Not sure what it will look like when the dust settles, but we do what we have to do.

Should Gerry Brown have called Meg Whitman a whore? No, of course not. I would have settled for bitch, but that's just me. :-)

Hope to start getting those change of address/phone number cards in the mail soon, if I haven't already given that info out to you personally. Things are hectic, so please don't take offense if I haven't been in touch lately.

Alan Grayson 'Taliban Dan' Ad

Can we just back my hero, Alan Grayson? He is a 'real' Democrat and the kind of person we need in Congress.

VoteVets Ad - Brother

Just something to think about!

We signed the papers for the rental of the mobile home park lot yesterday. Puts us one step closer to being homeowners, which still seems strange to me. The guy who will install our carpeting, and other flooring came by for a walk-through and measured what needed to be. Pretty much everything but the pantry/laundry room and the two bathrooms will be getting new flooring. Donna has yet to decide on the paint colors, but we'll probably be making that decision in the next few days. I trust her totally on this, along with input from Kristina. I can live with anything they decide on, which also goes for the carpeting.

Anybody at all excited about the mid-term elections coming up in a couple months? Anybody else seriously considering third-party candidates, just so they aren't voting for an incumbent of either party? Anybody really think that a dozen wack-jobs from the Tea Party/GOP faction getting into office will make a difference? Didn't think so! Although I'm reading and listening to just as much political stuff as always, I find that I feel at a distance from it all. Intellectually I know that the outcome will effect me, but I just can't work up any emotional feelings (other than disdain) for any of the candidates running for office. I'm sure that when I get into the voting booth I'll punch the button for a few of the Democrats, although my heart really isn't in it anymore.

This is gearing up to be an interesting year for me personally (between the new home and turning sixty), so maybe that is why I feel distracted from other things going on around me. I promise to keep you updated as events occur.

Well, for those of you NOT keeping up with us on Facebook or Twitter, I have a bit of news.

Donna and I are preparing to move again. We're staying in Orange County, but moving a bit north to Lake Forest. It will actually allow me a shorter commute, but increase the time that Donna spends on the road. Still all things considered it should be better for us financially, plus the new place is close to twice the size of our current apartment. In case I haven't mentioned it before, we are buying a mobile home in a gated 'senior' community. When I have a chance I'll try to post some photos of the place.

This is all new to me, since I've never been a 'home-owner' before. Donna has gone through all the documents, credit checks, etc. before so I'm gladly following her lead on this. I'll keep you all updated and contact some of you with our new address and phone number once we have all that set up. Wish us luck!

With our lease coming up for renewal again, Donna and I are seriously considering moving. It's a combination of finances and just wanting a change. It would be nice to have a bigger place and possibly, with a decent mortgage, a cheaper one. Not only could we do what we wanted with the interior, since most places have very, strict guidelines on what you can do with the exterior, but there wouldn't be somebody above or below us. It sometimes seems the guy upstairs is bowling or lifting weights right above our bedroom. The former tenets below us would be visited by their daughter, who was a heavy smoker and we'd get blow back through the vents and from open windows. I'll keep everyone updated on if or when we do make the move, so you can send those house-warming gifts. :-)

Had to bring my car in for some maintenance this past week. The 'change oil' light kept coming on and initially I thought I was just overdue for the 3,000-mile check. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the pistons. I had to leave the car overnight and got a rental (paid for), but it turned out to be worse than originally thought and it became a two-day affair. Strange driving around in a new car, but Enterprise was pretty good about it and even waved having to pay for used gas, which was really nice of them. Will definitely use them again, as we have in the past. The repair even came in under-estimate so except for having to get up earlier than usual for three straight days (in order to get to work on time), it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Man, where has the year gone? It will be Labor Day in a few weeks, Fran is coming out for another cruise and the birthday I could happily ignore is too rapidly approaching. Hope things are going smoother in your lives!