Gradually degenerating into ignorance and complacency.

Monday, January 15, 2007

stripped clean rock (1970s)

Hollies, Long Tall Woman in a Black Dress

Saturday night I was downtown
Working for the FBI
Sitting in a nest of bad men
Whisky bottles piling high

Bootlegging boozer on the west side,
Full of people who are doing wrong
Just about to call up the DA man
When I heard this woman singing a song

A pair of 45's made me open my eyes
My temperature started to rise
She was a long cool woman in a black dress,
Just a 5-9 beautiful tall
With just one look I was a bad mess
'Cos that long cool woman had it all

I saw her headed towards the table,
Like a tall walking big black cat
When Charlie said I hope that you're able boy
Well I'm telling you she knows where it's at

Then suddenly we heard the sirens,
And everybody started to run
A-jumping out of doors and tables
When I heard somebody shooting a gun

Well the DA was pumping my left hand
And she was a-holding my right
Well I told her don't get scared
'Cos you're gonna be spared

Well I've gotta be forgiven
If I wanna spend my living
With a long cool woman in a black dress,
Just a 5-9 beautiful tall
With just one look I was a bad mess
'Cos that long cool woman had it all.
Had it all ...
Had it all ...
Had it all ...
Had it all ...

six of one, half dozen of another

But wait ... hear and listen to the difference.

I'll go with Van Halen on this one:

Kinks vs Van Halen
"You Really Got Me"

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Way to go

These folks go to the folks' church. The husband used to teach where I subbed often. His wife nobly found funding for a local boy who needed a kidney transplant. I can only hope that Their compassion and generosity are returned to them many fold.

Dave's chips

Monkeyjack mentioned to me that while up at the lake cottage, they were making nacho chips. "Dave's" as they were later called were finalized with 'Ranch' dressing. Monkeyjack got the munchies so made some. I do not (Sam from "Green Eggs and Ham" statements on ranch anything) like it in a bowl, to avoid it elsewise, that's my goal.

Monkeyjack and others really like the "Dave's" chips, while I'll take the shredded cheese on warmed chips, with the sides of guacamole and salsa. I sometimes like sour cream, but they are just fine without it. It's not as if the salsa and chips don't have enough salt already and the cheese enough oils and fats. Guacamole is made with avacado, which has fat. Imagine a fatty fruit, well there you have it.

MR sent me something


He, in turn, got it from someone else.

Rockin' Out with the Band


She's a rocker
She's a roller
She's a right out of controller
She's a wheeler
She's a dealer
She's a wicked soft heart stealer
She's a bruiser
She's a cruiser
She's a rock 'n'' roll woman

Got slicked back hair
Skin tight jeans
Cadillac car
And a teenage dream


...
Well, she's working on it

bit hard to swallow

Water intoxification? I have a very difficult time believing that a person died of too much water, which in my ignorant point of view, would be increasing your blood pressure to fatal levels. Now, how does a person consume too much water over a one day period. This to me smacks of radio BS that made it to media some how.

I have heard of ruptured organs that cause health problems and fatalities, but the report here says only that she died of water toxification. Had she died of internal hemorraging, blood clot, renal failure burst or ruptured organs, that I would believe. If she did die this way, she was able to overcome her body's many ways of equalizing pressure, liquid volumes, and hormones, which would have made her an interesting medical case study when alive.

Friday's Winter

As seen through my windshield: I think of "Turn the Page" by Bob Seger.

Fresh coffee scent

I started coughing when I had coffee in my mouth. Had I done the natural thing, I would have spit it out in the direction I was facing, but that would have been nasty in a public place. I coughed, hacked, tried to swallow slowly. I was doing a very slow, but okay job. My father patted my back to "help" and it re-routed to my nose. Thanks! I still smell coffee, 13 hours later, despite clearing my nose. It didn't burn nearly as bad as soda or milk.

Whether or not to see Weather Man

Don't. There is a website, Angry Alien productions that does 30 sec. versions of movies. Well, they could do a 10 sec version of this movie and miss nothing. Weather can change quickly, but not this movie. It starts slow, mostly unemotional, bits of nothing in between with a sour finish.

I sneeze at this movie.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Magic Man!

Charlie performed magic last night. Into an ordinary cup he slowly poured water. He poured and poured and poured. He then turned over the cup and viola! The water appeared to be gone in the continually thirsty cup. Well done Charlie.

Another picture, not shown, Charlie revealed his secret, which most magicians would not dare do. It isn't a trick cup. Magic is in the believing.

Charlie painted

Okay, I'll admit it. That isn't a real tattoo, but ...

What kind of nurse?

Been caught cheatin' (once, when he was five)

Monkeyjack and I were trying desperately to boost the money on Lego Star Wars II. This is actually Charlie's game. Monkeyjack and I were mid-level when, Charlie had to use the bathroom at night. He popped out into the other room to find his Gamecube in use. "What's that?" "Whatcha doing'?" "I'll just shut that off."

Monkeyjack and I "fibbed" about our not not using it and said that we were about to watch a movie. Monkeyjack moved the unit, trying to prevent his clever son from turning off the unit. Try as he might ... Charlie was faster. We tried again, with no sound this time, and finished. 3 a.m. and Monkeyjack was sleeping at the control. Monkeyjack bought the desired unit -- Boba Fett.

I guess it doesn't pay to lie.

Friday, January 12, 2007

Sgt. Naked

Yeah, well ... whatever!

Sgt. poses for Playboy and "didn't do anything wrong". Well, technically, she's right. Wearing dog tags and playing to the fact she's a Sgt. was a bad call. I can only guess that she and her family needed a bit of money, hence the spread. If she is docked pay or discharge the military will suffer a blow at a time when it doesn't need more bad news.

Timing is everything. I suppose she might have accepted it due to the timing, "I dare you to discharge me!"

In any case, the military, if smart needs to bite the bullet on this one and let it go, then re-write codes of conduct.

Calling Veruca Salt

"bill will have little or no effect on federal spending and provide no substantial savings to the government", so says Tony Snow. Who gives a care? The government won't save? Excuse me doofi (plural of doofus), but the measure is to help individuals, persons, not the body of government. The president's call to veto it I think will downgrade his rating yet more, if that matters.

I don't care if Republicans or Democrats wrote and passed the thing, if it helps -- do it!

"... don't care how, I want it now!"

"The president and his Republican allies have argued that this bill would do nothing. Then why, I must ask, would he bother to veto it?" said Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Speech leaves questions

"So America will change our strategy to help the Iraqis carry out their campaign to put down sectarian violence — and bring security to the people of Baghdad."

So ... what were we doing?

"To show that it is committed to delivering a better life, the Iraqi government will spend 10 billion dollars of its own money on reconstruction and infrastructure projects that will create new jobs."

Okay. So, they haven't spent the money on that. I could go on regarding the US expediture on job creation, but that is another story.

"We will use America's full diplomatic resources to rally support for Iraq from nations throughout the Middle East. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf States need to understand that an American defeat in Iraq would create a new sanctuary for extremists — and a strategic threat to their survival."

Dear Bush, the US has no diplomatic resources in the Middle East. Oh, yeah. Egypt really listens to the US. uh, no.

"The challenge playing out across the broader Middle East is more than a military conflict. It is the decisive ideological struggle of our time. On one side are those who believe in freedom and moderation. On the other side are extremists who kill the innocent, and have declared their intention to destroy our way of life."

What should have been stated is that the region must either control itself or be dominated. They can either be dominated by Iran, Jordan, and Syria or by the US. If the region goes civil war -- a very strong likelihood, Iran will take it with ease. We could intervene and place a person in charge in Iraq, but wait ... that was Saddam. Oh, well.
'00 is the new 60s

"Victory will not look like the ones our fathers and grandfathers achieved. There will be no surrender ceremony on the deck of a battleship." -- correct.

"In these dangerous times, the United States is blessed to have extraordinary and selfless men and women willing to step forward and defend us."

-- I submit that the US stopping lying about things for the military and pony up. They have repeatedly not paid out for families of dead service personnel the correct levels, have lied about the money for tuitions and have lied about the periods of deployment and their length of engagement. If the US starts telling the truth, then they'll get people more inclined to join.

"Author of Liberty", speech writer botched it on this one.

More good photos of 2006













-- photo courtesy of S. Cramer






Good photos of 2006













-- photo courtesy of Megan O.












There will be more to come