I Painted My Fridge Red

Cartoon Time

2010-07-18T07:40:00.000-04:00

This is fun for the whole family so go get the kids !

I'll bet it was a good show !

2010-07-08T14:05:00.001-04:00

I'll just bet this was a good show back in 1974, The Band and Todd Rundgren too ! Wow ! This was on the first leg of Clapton's 461 Ocean Blvd Tour.The previous nights show was at St. John's Arena in Columbus,Ohio and the following night would be in Buffalo New York. The lineup for this band was : Eric Clapton Guitar, Vocals, Jamie Oldaker Drums,Dick Sims Keyboards, Carl Radle Bass, George Terry Guitar and Yvonne Elliman Backing Vocals.

They played these songs :

Smile
Let it grow
Can't find my way home
Willie and the hand jive
Get ready
Blues power
Little queenie
Tell the truth
Crossroads .

This poster, and a few others had been stored at my Mother's home under a rug.

John Boehner's America

2010-07-07T13:20:00.000-04:00

Booklynbadboy at Daily Kos on the Boner's statement in Dickey Scaife's paper this past week :

"They're snuffing out the America that I grew up in" - Rep. John Boehner, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 6/29/10

I don't know the America John Boehner grew up in.

I don't know what it's like for a high school graduate to be able to get a union job at a factory and earn enough money to support a wife and kids. I don't know what it's like to be born at a hospital and have my parents rejoice at my birth rather than cower in fear of the bill. I don't know what it's like to have food, clothing and housing expenses constitute reasonable percentage of household income.

I don't know what it's like to grow up as child without fear of gangs, crooked police, and a proliferation of guns and ammo. I don't know what it's like to get a job as a paperboy or delivery boy because those jobs are done by adults. I don't know what it's like to come home to momma or poppa every day because one wage earner can support a family. I don't know what it's like to attend well-financed public schools with well-paid teachers that are the envy of the world. I certainly don't know what it's like to attend an inexpensive private school like John Boehner did because today only the wealthy can afford private school.

I don't know what it's like to have shop class in high school or apprentice programs to learn a trade. I don't know what it's like to be able to simply pick a college, write them a letter, and then attend. One has to hire a consultant these days and I couldn't afford that. I don't know what it's like to have no worries about my parents mortgaging their home to finance my education. I don't know what it's like to get through college without amassing a mountain of debt and ruined credit. I don't know what it's like to have multiple job prospects upon graduation.

I don't know what it's like to look forward to 30 years at one company. I don't even know what it's like to have one profession! I can't even begin to fathom what it must have been like to have an inexpensive, reliable vehicle to go from place to place. Good roads to go from place to place. Inexpensive gas to get from place to place. Public transportation that didn't take 15 percent of a paycheck. I don't know what it's like never having to choose between food and gas to get to work every day.

I don't know what it's like to go to a bank and be offered one type of 30-year fixed rate mortgage. I don't know what it's like not to have to worry about bank fees that cost more than small household appliances. Usury laws. Boy, those must have been nice! There were all those heavy regulations on banks that were in place since the 1930's. John Boehner didn't have to worry about financial crashes during his first 37 years of life because there weren't any. Since deregulation began in 1982, I've had three.

I don't know what it's like to live under a government that looked out for ordinary people. Never have. I don't know what it's like to have a government that did great things like build national highway systems or explore the heavens. Or alleviate poverty in city centers and far-away mountains. I don't know what it's like to never have to worry about the national debt. That's because in John Boehner's America rich people paid taxes. I bet it was really awesome to live in an America that was a net exporter rather than importer. A nation that was a creditor and not a debtor. A nation where the brightest minds and best salaries went into science and engineering rather than banking and advertising.

I don't know what it's like to know there is a pension waiting for me when I retire. I've got to risk it on the stock market or else I'm surely screwed, assuming I'll have any money to save. Maybe if I can overcome 29.9 percent credit card rates, disappearing private sector unions, $100,000 student loans, 15-year adjustable-rate-mortgages, kids at underfunded, inadequate public schools, health insurance that costs more than food, the saving up of the 401(k) and then cashing in of the 401(k) and then saving up of the 401(k) again, maybe I'll just barely have some inkling of the America John Boehner grew up in.

I do know what it's like to have very low taxes. Hooray.

John Boehner grew up in an America ruled by FDR's Democratic majority. I grew up in an America ruled by Ronald Reagan's Republican majority. The America he grew up is already "snuffed out." I doubt he will ever realize that it was people like him who did the snuffing.

Happy Birthday USA !

2010-07-04T11:02:00.000-04:00

New cat in the neighborhood

2010-07-03T22:39:00.000-04:00

The cat Shadow took off for better pastures though he does return every several weeks to visit and eat. He must have found a soft touch family up the road and adopted himself to them. My neighbors got a new kitten to keep Stewie company. Their grandchildren named him Sammy. He excels at tail chasing but continues to practice at that ancient art.

This is Sammy

and this is Stewie

Here.............is Crazy Personified.............

2010-06-10T01:02:00.022-04:00

These are her own words.......I swear to God......

I know that sooner or later the truth will be out and my legal efforts will be vindicated and probably will be part of history books. I know that the moment one judge order discovery or reverses prior ruling, the hounded will end and many will have an egg on their faces. I might run again in 2012. I might run for Congress or Senate. I have time to decide...I believe in entertainment there is a term “triple threat”, meaning someone who can act, sing and dance. I know I am a triple threat in politics, particularly after I succeed in Obama litigation. I can go to women’s groups and bring my message to them, I can go to Eastern European churches and talk to them in Russian, and go to Romanian churches and Hispanic groups and Jewish temples, where I can speak to them in Hebrew better then Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein taken together. If the contest of this election doesn’t succeed, next election is in 2 years. There are congressional races every 2 years, Diane Feinstein will be due for re-election in 2 years. She will be close to 80 years old then. I read about her. She used to be an attorney, married to a surgeon. I am an attorney and I am a dental surgeon.

This........is what crazy is.......................................................I refuse to believe that 374,000 people....liked what she is about...................NO FUCKING WAY !

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T18:14:00.001-04:00

From "Morning-A Death" by Vietnam War soldier Basil Paquet:

I'd sooner be a fallen pine cone this winter
In a cradle of cold New England rock,
Less hurt in it than nineteen years.
What an exit! Stage left, fronds waving,
Cut down running my ass off at a tree line.
I'm thinking, as I hear my chest
Sucking air through its brand new nipple,
I bought the ticket, I hope I drown fast,
The pain is all in living.

H/t to Rude Pundit

I think that if soldiers and poets reminded us more often of how terrible war is, then there might be less of it.

Let's just go someplace wonderful

2010-05-16T23:17:00.003-04:00

Angels.......yes, .....these are truly........the voices of Angels.....the song...Mary...............

Rewriting History And Civil War Memory

2010-04-12T11:10:00.005-04:00

This piece by Jon Meacham, editor of Newsweek, in an Op-Ed piece for the New York Times, "Southern Discomfort," sums up the whole point behind the latest push to rewrite the history of the War Between The States, he writes :

As the sesquicentennial of Fort Sumter approaches in 2011, the enduring problem for neo-Confederates endures: anyone who seeks an Edenic Southern past in which the war was principally about states’ rights and not slavery is searching in vain, for the Confederacy and slavery are inextricably and forever linked.
That has not, however, stopped Lost Causers who supported Mr. McDonnell’s proclamation from trying to recast the war in more respectable terms. They would like what Lincoln called our “fiery trial” to be seen in a political, not a moral, light. If the slaves are erased from the picture, then what took place between Sumter and Appomattox is not about the fate of human chattel, or a battle between good and evil. It is, instead, more of an ancestral skirmish in the Reagan revolution, a contest between big and small government.
We cannot allow the story of the emancipation of a people and the expiation of America’s original sin to become fodder for conservative politicians playing to their right-wing base. That, to say the very least, is a jump backward we do not need.

Kevin Levin has an always thought provoking blog called Civil War Memory. He holds an M.A. in philosophy from the University of Maryland (1994) and an M.A. in history from the University of Richmond (2005). He writes "I started blogging in November 2005 and as of February 2010 have written over 2,000 posts. I blog about subjects related to how Americans have chosen to remember and commemorate the Civil War."

Thankfully the media circus is beginning to die down over last week’s Confederate History Month proclamation. I ended up watching more of the “debate” on the major news channels than I care to admit. It was downright painful to watch. The most disappointing aspect of it all was the almost complete absence of any professional historians. You would think that the major networks could have mustered up at least one legitimate historian. The closest I saw was a half-way decent interview that Rachel Maddow conducted with Patricia Harris-Lacewell, who teaches politics and African American Studies at Princeton. More often than not the audience was treated to the same talking heads who clearly do not understand the relevant history.

Another who writes on the Civil War regularly is Robert Moore at Cenantua's Blog :

Frankly, secession and the motivation to fight wasn’t a “grass roots movement”, but was sparked by those who benefited from slavery and saw the voice of the slave states/rights of these states (let’s call it the real threat to States’ Rights) to impact national legislation severely compromised. Furthermore, the common people were used as pawns. There were many a common dirt farmer turned soldier that felt that the conflict was better defined as a rich man’s war, poor man’s fight. I think a fair number of these same common soldiers began to realize with the passage of the Twenty-Slave Law they were much better defined as pawns in the deadly game.

The use of the tea party analogy shows us even more that some Confederate celebrationists are out of touch with the reality of history, and continue to fail to understand the more complex picture of why Southerners were in the ranks of the Confederate forces.

Earlier Moore wrote :
What has really happened here is that there have been multiple missed opportunities… to educate responsibly, and spread more understanding of our collective past. Instead of rushing to paste a “boogeyman” sign on the backs of people from history or placing halos over the heads of just as many, we need to get a grip on ourselves and our national history. Like it or not, it ALL has a place in understanding who we are today. In fact, I think what we are seeing is a fine example of why we should have a Civil War History Month in Virginia… not to praise and hate, but to pause, educate, and understand.

This debate is a constant topic on sites relating to the war and has been for a long time.

Fact is, They Can't Have Their Country Back

2010-03-30T16:15:00.005-04:00

David Mixner nails down the The anti progressive Right : Constantly On The Wrong Side Of History
Mar 29 2010

The time has come for the American right wing to pack it up, stop its hatred and end its disruption of American society. They have proven time and time again that they are almost always on the wrong side of history. Time to end the 'lock and load' mentality, lawmakers who have 'targets' semi-imposed over their faces and the new code word for racism and homophobia of "We want our country back." Back to where and to whom?

The extreme right record of utter and total failure to stop the march to progress is the reason we should not have to bear their craziness anymore. The record is numbingly clear: They were wrong about Social Security. They were wrong on integrating the military forces under President Truman. They were wrong about McCarthyism in the early 1950's. They were wrong about passing civil rights legislation in the 1960's. They were wrong on Medicare. They were wrong about women rights. They were wrong about 'trickle down economics.' They were wrong about tax breaks for the rich. They were wrong about the war in Iraq. They were wrong about climate change. They were wrong about LGBT rights and they are wrong about healthcare reform.

Can you imagine our world if they had been successful in stopping any of the forces for change above? We would have a world with our seniors poor and unable to have healthcare. We would have African-Americans unable to vote. We would see women relegated to being housewives and not leading our nation. All homosexuals would still be in the closet with many having lobotomies, committing suicide and being arrested. The world has become and is still becoming a better place because of progressive legislation and ignoring the calls, shouts and anger to protect the narrow-minded status quo.

Fact is, they can't have their country back. Their country is moving forward into a greatness with a richly diverse and exciting population. Their country is still a place that still believes individual freedom and equality for all its people no matter if they are popular or not. As Frank Rich pointed out in his column this week in the New York Times, their country now has an African-American President, a woman as Speaker of the House, a Hispanic on the Supreme Court and a gay man as head of the Banking Committee in the House. Those who seek to end this march into the 21st century simply can't turn back the tides of time.

All they can do is make us more divided, pay a higher price to protect the people of this nation, fill the air with anger and make the march of progress a heavier burden. Time for them to realize that for the last 100 years they have been on the wrong side of history. I say to them: Give it up and enjoy your new healthcare and make sure your children are at last getting adequate care. I am willing to bet that in five years every single mindlessly angry voice will be using this new healthcare system and many of them will be saved economically by it. Progress is good. Generosity is appreciated. Intelligence is revered. Get used to it.

It really is a pretty big deal

2010-03-23T23:26:00.004-04:00

What a wonderful day ! Major health system reform for all. Our Vice- President's " This is a big fucking deal", somehow made it joyful. One thing for sure is that the phrase is going to get a lot of attention in the the next few days. I'm think it's great. That's our Joe, he's a gift. This image comes from 2 Political Junkies, one of Pittsburgh's best blogs.

If Fonts Were Dogs

2010-03-23T09:15:00.005-04:00

I found this at momoko mashups. Happy National Puppy Day, remember there are a lot of puppies in shelters who just want to go home and love you.

Reagan on a fifty dollar bill ? Ok , but only if we can have KISS on a twenty

2010-03-08T15:48:00.005-05:00

And maybe Otis Redding on a tenner ? WC Fields on a fin ? Charles Bukowski on a single ?

Grey skies are gonna clear up, sit on a happy face !

2010-02-27T21:28:00.009-05:00

Yes.......................spread sunshine all over the place.....when you ....sit .....on .....a ......happy faaaaaaaaaaaaaace !
Thats my word now. After three separate health incidents so far this year, I am looking for things to get at least back to normal. I would settle for normal.
Seven new inches of snow last night covered all the dirty snow piles, creating again that kind of icy moonscape that is winter here in western Pennsylvania. The birds seem as fat as ever so they must be getting enough to eat.
They seem very busy around the creek in my backyard. The Cardinals and the huge Blue Jays add the only color found other than the drab browns and greens. Animation is provided by the the small flocks of gold flecked Grackles, who can pick an area clean of half a loaf of old bread in about 6 minutes. I watched a young woodpecker on the wooden electric pole, pecking around. Poor deluded thing, what do the polite ladies say down south ? " Bless your heart."

Obama and the Democrats seem to me to be finally growing a set of Cojonies in their dealings with the lunatic fringe currently operating the Republican party. This and the fact that the infighting / power grabbing going on in that party continues to weaken them and their party of No is finally being recognized for what it is. They show their ass so often and in so many ways. I am encouraged.

Been watching old movies during my illness (es). From Amazon came a box set ( 100 Mystery Classics, Mill Creek Entertainment, 2008 ) of 100 B movies, all mystery / whodunit type things. I love B movies from the old poverty row studios : Grand National, Producers Releasing Corp, Republic and Monogram. There are some real classics on there though including My Man Godfrey, His Girl Friday, Beat The Devil, The Stranger and Algiers. Actors mostly forgotten now but whose faces and voices were once familiar to millions of people. Many of the characters seem like a cliche now but these folks were the ones who originated the persona. The dithery society matron of Billie Burke,the elegant Franchot Tone, troubled Edmund O'Brien, William Powell who stole every scene in whatever production he was ever in ( see Life With Father or the Thin Man series ). There are many big name actors too, Bogart, Cagney, Eddy G Robinson, Charles Boyer and Cary Grant. All were mostly filmed in the 1930's - 40's, with a dozen or so from the early 50's. It took me a week to watch all of them but with the sinus infection I wasn't much good for anything else. Indeed, after 2 weeks of affliction and 1 week of taking an antibiotic the sinus malfunction still lingers behind my left eye. But hey ............pack up your cares and cheer up, sit on a happy face ............

This is bad......bad, bad, bad.....................

2010-02-02T12:43:00.020-05:00

Bad Judgement

bad sports

bad girl

bad moment

bad mammy jammy

bad flower

bad Catholic

bad duck

bad santa

bad sign

bad roomba

bad kitty

bad dog

bad seed

bad boys

bad girls

bad boy

Don't get sick or hurt yourself or get old !

2010-01-24T11:31:00.009-05:00

Don't get sick ! Don't get sick....or old ....or hurt yourself. At best it's a major inconvenience and at worst it will scare you so badly you will do-do in your pantaloons. I blacked out in a public place,yes, it was a bar and yes, it was two o'clock in the afternoon though to be fair I was on my third drink ( my blood alcohol was .03 ). I got an ambulance ride to the Washington Hospital. At the hospital, they offered me no food or water and very little sleep but I had me some tests.........EEG, EKG, stress test, carotid Doppler, some other Doppler, nuclear fluid injected in my blood, CAT Scan and others. They found nothing out of the ordinary. My family doctor said it might have been just food poisoning, something that is much more common than we realize. He says if it happens again though, then there is a problem for him to solve. It's sure not something that I want to happen again and I am still freaked by the whole process. I don't even want to think about it deeply at this point. Be careful out there my friends.

Closed Temporarily

2010-01-02T07:11:00.002-05:00

Closed Temporarily, sick since Christmas Day, Happy New Year !

pics

2009-12-22T02:24:00.001-05:00

These old trucks are in Brownsville Pa. near the railroad yards and an old distillery.

About a dozen trains a day run down the main street of West Brownsville as they have done every day for over a hundred years.

Kid as kid with first electric. This was a Fender knock off which I soon traded for a Hagstrom. I still have the Hag, it has a neck as thin as a straw and plays like butter.

The Monongahela River at Brownsville. Tye dyed nature show courtesy of God.

Random living room window.

My son's yard, garden needs thinned out.

Summers gone around here, lest we forget.

When I was in the blues band years ago we opened for Jack " The Oil Man " Johnson from Mississippi at Price's Tavern in Washington Pa. Here's me and his lead guitar player, Roger Montgomery.

Last Day Of Zappadan - Happy Birthday Frank

2009-12-21T12:06:00.020-05:00

In the fall of 1969 I was a freshman at Penn State University at State College Pa. Long known accurately as Happy Valley, and was probably never before or afterwards as happy as it was at that time. It was a wonderful place and time in the world. I bought this print on cardboard in town at a hippie store called People's Nation. Most of my stuff has gone by the wayside due to various moves around the country, thieves, two failed marriages and another lady who really took me to the cleaners during her slow slide into the abyss. Somehow this print has always been around, forty years now.
My friend Gary was a grad student at PSU having graduated from Rutgers. We used to make trips back to Jersey to visit his friends and conduct his business. His business was trading 1000 capsule jars of " black beauty " meth-amphetamines for pot and opium which were taken back to our school for Gary to sell at retail. The speed was provided by a guy called Altoona Mack who broke into pharmacies ( I suppose ) to obtain these pharmaceutical treats so coveted by the sleepy scholars on the banks of the old Raritan. Since it was so close we would go into New York City and do the Fillmore East shows. We saw the Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Ten Years After, Pink Floyd ( in Quad with speakers around the theater), Santana, and some others I have never heard of since, like Ballin Jack, Great Jones, Illinois Speed Press ( two brothers played harmonizing lead guitars) and others. I don't remember all, it's a bit hazy now. I do remember that one time we had to turn around on the turnpike and return due to a big snow. The concerts we planned on seeing on that aborted trip were the Who and the Mothers of Invention. I've always regretted missing both of those shows. My old head friends here in southwestern Pennsylvania speak in awed and reverent tones of a concert Frank and the Mothers gave at nearby California State Teachers College in 1972. I think it was 1972, as I said, it's all a little hazy.
Happy Birthday Frank and thanks again for everything you gave us.

On the Sixth Day Of Zappadan Frank Gave To me ...

2009-12-10T22:45:00.010-05:00

Fifteen words of wisdom......

For more on the magic of Zappadan go to Mark Hoback's Fried Green Al Qaedas here. or Blue Gal here or Mock Paper Scissors here.
My Zappadan post from last year is here.

Zappadan

2009-12-04T10:51:00.020-05:00

One can see, reflected in the face of this little child, that Frank's spirit lives on.....

For more on the magic of Zappadan go to Mark Hoback's Fried Green Al Qaedas here. or Blue Gal here or Mock Paper Scissors here. Mine of last year is here.

shitmydadsays - Everyone loves a crusty old man !

2009-11-22T22:21:00.014-05:00

I don't participate on Twitter but I do have this Twitter feed on my Google Reader. Called shitmydadsays , it is done by a guy named Justin and it is freakin' hilarious. Read some of the quotes and you might find yourself hooked.
Here is his bio:

I'm 29. I live with my 73-year-old dad. He is awesome. I just write down shit that he says.

“We’re banned from the dog park. Well, I guess it’s okay to hump, and it’s okay to bark, but both at the same time freaks people out."
1:07 PM Nov 21st from web

"No. Tell 'em we're not doing Christmas dinner at a casino... Don't be an ass about it, but tell them why it's a fucking stupid idea."
12:59 PM Nov 18th from web

"I don't need more friends. You got friends and all they do is ask you to help them move. Fuck that. I'm old. I'm through moving shit."
11:00 AM Nov 16th from web

"A mule kicked Uncle Bob once. Broke his ribs. He punched it in the face.. My point? You have an ingrown fucking toenail. Stop bitching."
11:26 AM Nov 13th from web

"Son, no one gives a shit about all the things your cell phone does. You didn't invent it, you just bought it. Anybody can do that."
10:40 AM Nov 4th from web

"You worry too much. Eat some bacon... What? No, I got no idea if it'll make you feel better, I just made too much bacon."
12:39 PM Oct 28th from web

"The baby will talk when he talks, relax. It ain't like he knows the cure for cancer and he just ain't spitting it out."
9:51 AM Oct 22nd from web

"You sure do like to tailgate people... Right, because it's real important you show up to the nothing you have to do on time."
10:53 AM Oct 20th from web

"Just pay the parking ticket. Don't be so outraged. You're not a freedom fighter in the civil rights movement. You double parked."
12:59 PM Oct 18th from web

"I like the dog. If he can't eat it, or fuck it, he pisses on it. I can get behind that."
10:11 AM Oct 16th from web

"That woman was sexy...Out of your league? Son. Let women figure out why they won't screw you, don't do it for them."
9:10 AM Oct 12th from web

"Son, people will always try and fuck you. Don't waste your life planning for a fucking, just be alert when your pants are down."
10:41 AM Oct 10th from web

"I wanted to see Detroit win. I've been there. It's like God took a shit on a parking lot. They deserve some good news."
9:13 AM Oct 8th from web

"You're being fucking dramatic. You own a TV and an air mattress. That's not exactly what I'd call "a lot to lose."
5:57 PM Oct 3rd from web

"Jesus Christ, Just give the dog his fucking food. Why's he gotta do a trick first? YOU don't have to do shit before YOU eat."
10:28 AM Sep 30th from web

"A scar ain't 13 god damned stitches. I'll introduce you to men with REAL scars, then we'll all laugh at your fucking 13 stitches together."
10:57 AM Sep 26th from web

"I'm sitting in one of those TGI Friday's places, and everyone looks like they want to shove a shotgun in their mouth."
2:56 PM Sep 24th from web

"Sometimes life leaves a hundred dollar bill on your dresser, and you don't realize until later that it's because it fucked you."
10:38 AM Sep 19th from web

"The universe does not give a fuck about you. You are a speck in its shit."
3:00 PM Sep 17th from web

"Fucking Radio Shack. It's a wonder they even know how to use a bathroom and don't just walk around all day with shit in their pants."
12:08 PM Sep 16th from web

Shadow Brings A Gift That Keeps On Giving

2009-11-20T14:28:00.007-05:00

Shadow's favorite place is on the lap of anyone who will sit still. I love this cat but the cute little bastard carried fleas into my house a few months back. Thank goodness I was able to get rid of them before they got out of hand.

Truck Crossing

2009-11-20T14:16:00.006-05:00

A little excitement outside yesterday. Rain made the hill a little slick and the driver lost control. There's no way they can get that down off there without making more damage. Lucky though, it's about 25 feet straight down to the bottom of the ravine under the left front tire.

Veteran's Day

2009-11-11T10:52:00.001-05:00

Bless our veterans. Let us honor their sacrifice by living good lives.

Remember us
we were just kids - the most of us
not militant, not warriors
and certainly not men
but trying just as hard as
any can imagine to be so
just ordinary guys
like you
and had we made it home we would be
standing where you stand,
quiet with the thoughts you think
no different
the same
just guys
........looking to be home.

- Poem on The Washington County ( Pa. ) Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial

My father was a paratrooper in the 17th Airborne Division . He was in the Battle of the Bulge and other actions in Belgium, Holland and Germany . His brother Alex also served in WW II as did five of my mothers' brothers. My Uncle John was a tanker with Patton and earned the Bronze Star with V, the Croix DeGuerre and four bronze battle stars. My stepfather fought at Guam and Okinawa with the army's 77th Division, US Marines on Guam nicknamed them the "77th Marine Division". Another uncle was disabled in Korea. I have several second cousins who are presently in the middle east. I hope they and all the others safely return from the madness men make.

Terry Kelly on taking a bit of time to remember the ones who served.

Reposted from 2008.

The President's Remarks At Fort Hood

2009-11-11T08:47:00.004-05:00

Following is the prepared text of President Obama's speech Tuesday at a Fort Hood memorial service for those killed Thursday:

We come together filled with sorrow for the thirteen Americans that we have lost; with gratitude for the lives that they led; and with a determination to honor them through the work we carry on.

This is a time of war. And yet these Americans did not die on a foreign field of battle. They were killed here, on American soil, in the heart of this great American community. It is this fact that makes the tragedy even more painful and even more incomprehensible.

For those families who have lost a loved one, no words can fill the void that has been left. We knew these men and women as soldiers and caregivers. You knew them as mothers and fathers; sons and daughters; sisters and brothers.

But here is what you must also know: your loved ones endure through the life of our nation. Their memory will be honored in the places they lived and by the people they touched. Their life's work is our security, and the freedom that we too often take for granted. Every evening that the sun sets on a tranquil town; every dawn that a flag is unfurled; every moment that an American enjoys life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - that is their legacy.

Neither this country - nor the values that we were founded upon - could exist without men and women like these thirteen Americans. And that is why we must pay tribute to their stories.

Chief Warrant Officer Michael Cahill had served in the National Guard and worked as a physician's assistant for decades. A husband and father of three, he was so committed to his patients that on the day he died, he was back at work just weeks after having a heart attack.

Major Libardo Eduardo Caraveo spoke little English when he came to America as a teenager. But he put himself through college, earned a PhD, and was helping combat units cope with the stress of deployment. He is survived by his wife, sons and step-daughters.

Staff Sergeant Justin DeCrow joined the Army right after high school, married his high school sweetheart, and had served as a light wheeled mechanic and Satellite Communications Operator. He was known as an optimist, a mentor, and a loving husband and father.

After retiring from the Army as a Major, John Gaffaney cared for society's most vulnerable during two decades as a psychiatric nurse. He spent three years trying to return to active duty in this time of war, and he was preparing to deploy to Iraq as a Captain. He leaves behind a wife and son.

Specialist Frederick Greene was a Tennessean who wanted to join the Army for a long time, and did so in 2008 with the support of his family. As a combat engineer he was a natural leader, and he is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Specialist Jason Hunt was also recently married, with three children to care for. He joined the Army after high school. He did a tour in Iraq, and it was there that he re-enlisted for six more years on his 21st birthday so that he could continue to serve.

Staff Sergeant Amy Krueger was an athlete in high school, joined the Army shortly after 9/11, and had since returned home to speak to students about her experience. When her mother told her she couldn't take on Osama bin Laden by herself, Amy replied: "Watch me."

Private First Class Aaron Nemelka was an Eagle Scout who just recently signed up to do one of the most dangerous jobs in the service - diffuse bombs - so that he could help save lives. He was proudly carrying on a tradition of military service that runs deep within his family.

Private First Class Michael Pearson loved his family and loved his music, and his goal was to be a music teacher. He excelled at playing the guitar, and could create songs on the spot and show others how to play. He joined the military a year ago, and was preparing for his first deployment.

Captain Russell Seager worked as a nurse for the VA, helping veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress. He had great respect for the military, and signed up to serve so that he could help soldiers cope with the stress of combat and return to civilian life. He leaves behind a wife and son.

Private Francheska Velez, the daughter of a father from Colombia and a Puerto Rican mother, had recently served in Korea and in Iraq, and was pursuing a career in the Army. When she was killed, she was pregnant with her first child, and was excited about becoming a mother.

Lieutenant Colonel Juanita Warman was the daughter and granddaughter of Army veterans. She was a single mother who put herself through college and graduate school, and served as a nurse practitioner while raising her two daughters. She also left behind a loving husband.

Private First Class Kham Xiong came to America from Thailand as a small child. He was a husband and father who followed his brother into the military because his family had a strong history of service. He was preparing for his first deployment to Afghanistan.

These men and women came from all parts of the country. Some had long careers in the military. Some had signed up to serve in the shadow of 9/11. Some had known intense combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some cared for those did. Their lives speak to the strength, the dignity and the decency of those who serve, and that is how they will be remembered.

That same spirit is embodied in the community here at Fort Hood, and in the many wounded who are still recovering. In those terrible minutes during the attack, soldiers made makeshift tourniquets out of their clothes. They braved gunfire to reach the wounded, and ferried them to safety in the backs of cars and a pick-up truck.

One young soldier, Amber Bahr, was so intent on helping others that she did not realize for some time that she, herself, had been shot in the back. Two police officers - Mark Todd and Kim Munley - saved countless lives by risking their own. One medic - Francisco de la Serna - treated both Officer Munley and the gunman who shot her.

It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy. But this much we do know - no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor. And for what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice - in this world, and the next.

These are trying times for our country. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the same extremists who killed nearly 3,000 Americans continue to endanger America, our allies, and innocent Afghans and Pakistanis. In Iraq, we are working to bring a war to a successful end, as there are still those who would deny the Iraqi people the future that Americans and Iraqis have sacrificed so much for.

As we face these challenges, the stories of those at Fort Hood reaffirm the core values that we are fighting for, and the strength that we must draw upon. Theirs are tales of American men and women answering an extraordinary call - the call to serve their comrades, their communities, and their country. In an age of selfishness, they embody responsibility. In an era of division, they call upon us to come together. In a time of cynicism, they remind us of who we are as Americans.

We are a nation that endures because of the courage of those who defend it. We saw that valor in those who braved bullets here at Fort Hood, just as surely as we see it in those who signed up knowing that they would serve in harm's way.

We are a nation of laws whose commitment to justice is so enduring that we would treat a gunman and give him due process, just as surely as we will see that he pays for his crimes.

We are a nation that guarantees the freedom to worship as one chooses. And instead of claiming God for our side, we remember Lincoln's words, and always pray to be on the side of God.

We are a nation that is dedicated to the proposition that all men and women are created equal. We live that truth within our military, and see it in the varied backgrounds of those we lay to rest today. We defend that truth at home and abroad, and we know that Americans will always be found on the side of liberty and equality. That is who we are as a people.

Tomorrow is Veterans Day. It is a chance to pause, and to pay tribute - for students to learn of the struggles that preceded them; for families to honor the service of parents and grandparents; for citizens to reflect upon the sacrifices that have been made in pursuit of a more perfect union.

For history is filled with heroes. You may remember the stories of a grandfather who marched across Europe; an uncle who fought in Vietnam; a sister who served in the Gulf. But as we honor the many generations who have served, I think all of us - every single American - must acknowledge that this generation has more than proved itself the equal of those who have come before.

We need not look to the past for greatness, because it is before our very eyes.

This generation of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen have volunteered in a time of certain danger. They are part of the finest fighting force that the world has ever known. They have served tour after tour of duty in distant, different and difficult places. They have stood watch in blinding deserts and on snowy mountains. They have extended the opportunity of self-government to peoples that have suffered tyranny and war. They are man and woman; white, black, and brown; of all faiths and stations - all Americans, serving together to protect our people, while giving others half a world away the chance to lead a better life.

In today's wars, there is not always a simple ceremony that signals our troops' success - no surrender papers to be signed, or capital to be claimed. But the measure of their impact is no less great - in a world of threats that no know borders, it will be marked in the safety of our cities and towns, and the security and opportunity that is extended abroad. And it will serve as testimony to the character of those who serve, and the example that you set for America and for the world.

Here, at Fort Hood, we pay tribute to thirteen men and women who were not able to escape the horror of war, even in the comfort of home. Later today, at Fort Lewis, one community will gather to remember so many in one Stryker Brigade who have fallen in Afghanistan.

Long after they are laid to rest - when the fighting has finished, and our nation has endured; when today's servicemen and women are veterans, and their children have grown - it will be said of this generation that they believed under the most trying of tests; that they persevered not just when it was easy, but when it was hard; and that they paid the price and bore the burden to secure this nation, and stood up for the values that live in the hearts of all free peoples.

So we say goodbye to those who now belong to eternity. We press ahead in pursuit of the peace that guided their service. May God bless the memory of those we lost. And may God bless the United States of America.

When I Go.........

2009-11-04T21:32:00.019-05:00

When I go .........sing me out .......with the voice of an angel..............

As each long day rolls by and falls behind me, in the lonely night, there's a peacefulness I've found
Tho' I'm weary even then
When I rise to start again
There'll be a diamond, a diamond in my crown
I have wasted all that life has laid before me, I have watched as all the green fields turn to brown But I shall not disavow
All these ties that bind me now
There'll be a diamond, a diamond in my crown
Shinning down some day I know
Brighter than all their streets of gold
When the burdens that I carry I will lay down
And the sorrows I have known
I'll see them all be overthrown
Ther'll be a diamond, a diamond in my crown
Through the passing of the years
I will grow stronger, just as sure as this old world keeps spinning 'round
Then the closer I will be to my sweetest victory
There'll be a diamond, a diamond in my crown.........

Yeah ..........Why ?

2009-11-03T07:13:00.004-05:00

Why aren't there citizens in the streets raising hell about this little (inconvenient) truth ?

H/t to Two Political Junkies, my favorite Pittsburgh political blog.

Halloween ...Ice Scream, Use Cream !

2009-10-26T11:14:00.004-04:00

The People Of Walmart

2009-10-15T13:04:00.016-04:00

It does seem to me that many at Wal*Mart have their own sense of style, however I did not realize there were so many wackos just sauntering around like a monkey with a parasol ( h/t to Mark Twain ) , unaware of the swath of humor and pathos they were cutting. Be prepared to howl with laughter when you see this site. I see by my Google Reader that this site is updated several times a day and the pics and commentary just get better and more absurd, and hey, it's all real !
A few samples:

If you think big enough, and you work hard enough maybe you can get yourself a mobile home! But don’t get too cocky, you ain’t gettin you no double-wide! So cool it there mr. big time dreamer.
Michigan

Retired Poison Groupies

Now kids, before Bret Michaels had Rock of Love skanks he had Poison groupies. Years later some of them still refuse to accept the new skank-style and delusionally live in their past; others died of syphilis, but i digress….. California

If you’re going to wear a nice summer skirt like this, don’t ruin it with those boots mister, because that is just wrong! California

We were just about to hand out our “Most Gangster Jacket of the Year” award to fuzzy spider, but out of nowhere comes Scarface with a bedazzled necklace and the magically delicious Lucky Charms guy; even Mr. Skulls is a dark horse in this race…..We need your opinions people, this is too hard! Minnesota

Cabbage Patch Man comes complete with a birth certificate, application for adoption and they are each sold separately. California

Sarah's Book Is A Stimulus Package For The Comedy Industry

2009-10-02T12:37:00.002-04:00

"The book costs $24.99, but it has a $5,000 jacket." --Jimmy Fallon

"Sarah Palin's 400-page memoir is going to be released on November 17th, and it's called 'Going Rogue: An American Life.' And critics say that it starts out okay, it get's really exciting and then confusing, and then the last 100 pages are blank." --Jimmy Fallon

"People in Alaska are looking forward to Sarah Palin's memoir. They're already calling it 'The Book to Nowhere.'" --David Letterman

"They say she finished the book ahead of schedule so they moved the release date up to November 17th. So, turns out she can finish something." --Jimmy Kimmel

"It's a big, huge book. But when you go into the store, you can use that big book to step up so you can reach a better book." --David Letterman

"But the book has got a lot of beautiful color photos that Sarah has taken from her front porch -- beautiful pictures of Russia that she took from her front porch." --David Letterman

David Letterman's Top Ten Sarah Palin Tips For Writing A Book

10. Close curtains so you don't get distracted by Russia.
9. Increase vocabulary -- use words like "slanket."
8. First buy yourself 100-grand worth of writing outfits.
7. Don't write a word until the check clears.
6. Limit yourself to one "you betcha" per chapter.
5. You can never have enough stories about ice fishing or killing things with your bare hands.
4. When in doubt, just type (wink).
3. Don't let writing cut into attending "Fire Letterman" rallies.
2. Have a book translated for sale to European countries like London.
1. I'll try to find ya some tips and I'll bring 'em to ya!

Florence Foster Jenkins - Worst Opera Singer Ever Recorded

2009-10-02T01:03:00.007-04:00

This lady's voice reminds me of Alfalfa's when he used to sing opera on the Our Gang shows .

Florence Foster Jenkins was born on July 19, 1868, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. She received music lessons as a child, and expressed a desire to go abroad to study music. Her wealthy father refused to pay the bill, so she eloped to Philadelphia with Frank Thornton Jenkins, a medical doctor. She earned a living there as a teacher and pianist. Upon her father's death Jenkins inherited a sum of money which allowed her to take up the singing career that had been discouraged by her parents and now former husband. She became involved in the musical life of Philadelphia, and later New York City, where she founded and funded the Verdi Club, took singing lessons, and began to give recitals, her first in 1912. Her mother's death in 1928 gave her additional freedom and resources to pursue singing.

From her recordings, it is apparent that Jenkins had little sense of pitch and rhythm and was barely capable of sustaining a note. Her accompanist can be heard making adjustments to compensate for her tempo variations and rhythmic mistakes. Her dubious diction, especially in foreign language songs, is also noteworthy. Nonetheless, she became tremendously popular in her unconventional way. Her audiences apparently loved her for the amusement she provided rather than her musical ability.

Despite her patent lack of ability, Jenkins was firmly convinced of her greatness. She compared herself favorably to the renowned sopranos of the day and dismissed the laughter which often came from the audience during her performances as coming from her rivals consumed by "professional jealousy." She was aware of her critics, however, saying "People may say I can't sing, but no one can ever say I didn't sing."

The music Jenkins tackled in her recitals was a mixture of the standard operatic repertoire by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giuseppe Verdi and Johann Strauss (all of them well beyond her technical ability), and songs composed by herself or her accompanist, Mr. Cosmé McMoon, who reportedly made faces at Jenkins behind her back to get laughs.

Jenkins often wore elaborate costumes that she designed herself, sometimes appearing in wings and tinsel, and, for Clavelitos, throwing flowers into the audience while fluttering a fan and sporting more flowers in her hair. After each performance Cosmé McMoon would collect these flowers from the auditorium in readiness for redistribution at the next one.

After a taxicab crash in 1943 she found she could sing "a higher F than ever before." Instead of a lawsuit against the taxicab company, she sent the driver a box of expensive cigars.

In spite of public demand for more appearances, Jenkins restricted her rare performances to a few favorite venues, and her annual recital at the Ritz-Carlton ballroom in New York City. Attendance at her recitals was always limited to her loyal clubwomen and a select few others — she handled distribution of the coveted tickets herself. At the age of 76, Jenkins finally yielded to public demand and performed at Carnegie Hall on October 25, 1944. So anticipated was the performance that tickets for the event sold out weeks in advance. Jenkins died a month later.

Take The Teabagger Socialist-Free Purity Pledge

2009-09-20T09:29:00.015-04:00

Read it................ sign it and send it on to your friends, because affordable healthcare for all Americans and saving the country from a depression will be the final straws and make us a socialist country :

I, ________________________, do solemnly swear to uphold the principles of a socialism-free society and heretofore pledge my word that I shall strictly adhere to the following:

I will complain about the destruction of 1st Amendment Rights in this country, while I am duly being allowed to exercise my 1st Amendment Rights.

I will complain about the destruction of my 2nd Amendment Rights in this country, while I am duly being allowed to exercise my 2nd Amendment rights by legally but brazenly brandishing unconcealed firearms in public.

I will foreswear the time-honored principles of fairness, decency, and respect by screaming unintelligible platitudes regarding tyranny, Nazi-ism, and socialism at public town halls.

I pledge to eliminate all government intervention in my life. I will abstain from the use of and participation in any socialist goods and services including but not limited to the following:

Social Security

Medicare/Medicaid

State Children’s Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP)

Police, Fire, and Emergency Services

US Postal Service

Roads and Highways

Air Travel (regulated by the socialist FAA)

The US Railway System

Public Subways and Metro Systems

Public Bus and Lightrail Systems

Rest Areas on Highways

Sidewalks

All Government-Funded Local/State Projects (e.g., see Iowa 2009 federal senate appropriations)

Public Water and Sewer Services (goodbye socialist toilet, shower, dishwasher, kitchen sink, outdoor hose!)

Public and State Universities and Colleges

Public Primary and Secondary Schools

Sesame Street

Publicly Funded Anti-Drug Use Education for Children

Public Museums

Libraries

Public Parks and Beaches

State and National Parks

Public Zoos

Unemployment Insurance

Municipal Garbage and Recycling Services

Treatment at Any Hospital or Clinic That Ever Received Funding From Local, State or Federal Government (pretty much all of them)

Medical Services and Medications That Were Created or Derived From Any Government Grant or Research Funding (again, pretty much all of them)

Socialist Byproducts of Government Investment Such as Duct Tape and Velcro (Nazi-NASA Inventions)

Use of the Internets, email, and networked computers, as the DoD's ARPANET was the basis for subsequent computer networking

Foodstuffs, Meats, Produce and Crops That Were Grown With, Fed With, Raised With or That Contain Inputs From Crops Grown With Government Subsidies

Clothing Made from Crops (e.g. cotton) That Were Grown With or That Contain Inputs From Government Subsidies

If a veteran of the government-run socialist US military, I will forego my VA benefits and insist on paying for my own medical care

I will not tour socialist government buildings like the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

I pledge to never take myself, my family, or my children on a tour of the following types of socialist locations, including but not limited to:

Smithsonian Museums such as the Air and Space Museum or Museum of American History

The socialist Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson Monuments

The government-operated Statue of Liberty

The Grand Canyon

The socialist World War II and Vietnam Veterans Memorials

The government-run socialist-propaganda location known as Arlington National Cemetery

All other public-funded socialist sites, whether it be in my state or in Washington, DC

I will urge my Member of Congress and Senators to forego their government salary and government-provided healthcare.

I will oppose and condemn the government-funded and therefore socialist military of the United States of America.

I will boycott the products of socialist defense contractors such as GE, Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Humana, FedEx, General Motors, Honeywell, and hundreds of others that are paid by our socialist government to produce goods for our socialist army.

I will protest socialist security departments such as the Pentagon, FBI, CIA, Department of Homeland Security, TSA, Department of Justice and their socialist employees.

Upon reaching eligible retirement age, I will tear up my socialist Social Security checks.

Upon reaching age 65, I will forego Medicare and pay for my own private health insurance until I die.

SWORN ON A BIBLE AND SIGNED THIS DAY OF __________ IN THE YEAR ___.

_____________ _________________________

Signed Printed Name/Town and State

This by a reader on one of my " must read daily " sites, Daily Kos.

Car Tossing In Merry Olde England

2009-09-17T07:37:00.001-04:00

This is another video that's too good to not share. Flinging compact cars into the sky !

So How About These Wacky Birthers Anyway, Huh.... Huh ?

2009-09-08T20:37:00.007-04:00

You gotta love them. So dedicated, and so batshit crazy ! "Always mistaken, never in doubt" was the way I heard it put once. This short animated vid explains what they think is the real story behind our President's birth. A very entertaining 2:49.

One Year Ago We First Met The Wasilla Hillbillies

2009-08-29T12:06:00.002-04:00

It has been a good ride Sarah and we will continue to follow your career as it shifts gears from forward to reverse, to neutral and back again. You've given us a lot of laughs, even tears (from laughing so hard) with your Tweets, Facebook wall and and even your so called "prepared" speeches. One of my favorite sites for mockery is Mock, Paper, Scissors , This from Tengrain there today :

One year ago today, Mooselini was thrust into the national spotlight, thanks to the failing and flailing presidential campaign that Grandpa Walnuts was running. And in some sort of act of desperate daring-do, the old fart unleashed upon an unsuspecting public perhaps the greatest grifter and her clan of hillbillies in modern American history.

Besides the animal-like Todd, we have:

•Track: the alleged meth connection sent to Iraq to head off a criminal charge, and to clean him out, but it’s pretty close to ground zero in the heroin supply chain.
•Bristol: the single mother of Trip, ex-girlfriend of Levi and noted abstinance educator.
•Willow: the mysterious Palin with a vacant Jan-Brady smile. bristol, Bristol, BRISTOL!
•Piper: perhaps the one to keep an eye on, she might snap any moment now that she is the second-place human shield when her brother…
•Trig/Algorythm: who may or may not be Mooselini’s kid, and served as the campaign’s prop and took first place as a human shield away from Piper. Trig is the likable Palin.
•Levi: the handsome but stupid sperm donor and father of…
•Trip: who probably is another likable Palin, because he is really a Johnston.
Sweet Jeebus? Only one year? Really?

Really, I know, it seems time flies when you're having a good time.

How To Tell The Age Of A Horse

2009-08-28T09:33:00.004-04:00

Whenever I see a horse I want to ask " Hey, why the long face ?"

The Age of a Horse

To tell the age of any horse
Inspect the lower jaw, of course
The six front teeth the tale will tell,
And every doubt and fear dispel.

Two middle nippers you behold
Before the colt is 2 weeks old,
Before 8 weeks 2 more will come,
Eight months the corners cut the gum.

The outside grooves will disappear,
From middle two in just one year,
In two years from the second pair,
In three years corners two are bare.

At two the middle nippers drop,
At three the second pair can’t stop,
When four years old the third pair goes,
At five a full new set he shows.

The deep black spots will pass from view,
At six years from the middle two,
The second pair at seven years,
At eight the spot each corner clears.

From middle nippers upper jaw,
At nine the black spots will with draw,
The second pair at ten are bright,
Eleven finds the corners light.

As time goes on the horsemen know,
The oval teeth three-sided grow,
They longer get project before,
Till twenty, when we know no more.

Author unknown

Les Paul RIP

2009-08-13T20:17:00.004-04:00

Thanks Mr. Paul, for creating the instrument that has inspired so many players.

Some Western Pennsylvania Stoneware

2009-08-09T04:04:00.025-04:00

from the days when craftsmen made functional things of great beauty. These were made in the middle and late 1800's here in western Pennsylvania, were shipped down the Monongahela river on flatboats and steamboats and distributed around the country. Local historians mention that stoneware often went downriver as far as New Orleans in the 1850s and 1860s. Factories in New Geneva and Greensboro became the most prolific producers of salt-glazed wares in western Pennsylvania. The names of Atchison, Boughner, Dilliner, and Hamilton & Jones and Reppert became associated with large-scale stoneware manufacture in the 1800's. Smaller shops were also built in the towns of Rices Landing, Fredericktown, and West Brownsville.

Even everyday items like a flower pot or chicken waterer were wonderfully executed

C. Baker Cake Crock, New Geneva, PA., attributed to Enix and Frankenbery Collection of Paul R. Stewart Museum, Waynesburg College

This food storage jar decorated with a baseball player brought a record price for local pottery at auction last year.

Food was stored / canned in these sealer jars

Many of the things needed in early western Pennsylvania, domestic wares in particular, could be fashioned from stoneware clay. These included water pitchers, churns, crocks, and canning jars, which were sold by the millions prior to the arrival of cheap glass. Any early order form would have also listed milk pans, spigot jars, various pots, chambers, bottles, and steins. Some potters made agricultural and industrial objects, such as poultry fountains, liquor jugs, and ware that could safely store acids and strong chemicals. On rare occasions, banks, doll heads, grave markers, twine holders, and whimsical novelties were created. Nineteenth-century consumers, especially homemakers, found these handsome vessels appealing because of their distinctive freehand cobalt blue flowers, vines, animals, birds, people, and abstract patterns.
All the potteries in western Pennsylvania produced large, masculine pieces, whose bold rims and strong shoulders were a reflection of the men who made them. Occasional flaws never detracted from their honesty.
In the 1870s, as the region's stoneware industry peaked, it turned to stenciled decoration both to cut costs and to give its image a makeover. Countless patterns were applied to vessels at this time, at first incorporating the pottery's name and later displaying the names and addresses of new customers anxious to self-promote. The stenciled crock, often viewed as synonymous with southwestern Pennsylvania stoneware, lacked the spontaneity of brush-decorated ware but was a superior article economically. Ordinary day laborers could learn to use a stencil in a day or two. This technique foreshadowed the decline and demise of the master decorator, whose handiwork is rarely seen after 1880. The more interesting stencils showcased eagles, flowers, fruit, shields, animals, abstract patterns, and -- though rarely -- people in action. Well-designed stencils produced patterns that fascinate in their great variety.

This was taken from an article called Western Pennsylvania's Stoneware Potters by Phil Schaltenbrand, written for the Westmoreland Museum of American Art

Rush Limbaugh Totally Flips The Fuck Out

2009-08-06T15:48:00.029-04:00

This horse's ass, this fat bag of gas , this sex tourist , his Oxycontin is either working too well or maybe he should start tapering off. I believe he has finally lost it.
He compares the " Obamacare " logo to a Nazi swastika logo in the video grab below.

Limbaugh: "The Obama health care logo is damn close to a Nazi swastika logo"

Rush thinks the symbol of caduceus, for centuries used to represent medicine, is secretly / on purpose a Nazi symbol.

Here's the Obama logo

This is the comparison from the bloviator's own website

I suppose he figures that this part of the United States Army is fascist also.

Too much ? Yes ......Ridiculous ? ..........yes indeed !
His own words

I suppose these two things mean the same thing

Using his logic, what does a " real American " supposed to think about this ? ...Just a coincidence ?

I found this comment by one Mr. Christopher Howard on Media Matters, who gets my thanks for the funniest thing I read all day :

Rush, you are confused. The talking point schedule is supposed to be as follows...
Monday: Obama is iron-fisted dictator (Hitler and Stalin) day.
Tuesday: Obama is weak leader (Neville Chamberlain and Jimmy Carter) day.
Wednesday: Liberalism = Communism/Socialism day
Thursday: Liberalism = Fascism/Nazism day
Friday: Obama is secretly a fanatical Muslim and/or non-believer Atheist/or the anti-Christ day. Also Taco Night!
Please adjust your calendar accordingly.

The ones that do believe this kind of thing are like the "concerned citizen" described below:

At a recent town hall meeting, a man stood up and told Representative Bob Inglis to "keep your government hands off my Medicare." The congressman, a Republican from South Carolina, tried to explain that Medicare is already a government program -- but the voter, Mr. Inglis said, "wasn't having any of it."

2009-08-01T13:38:00.007-04:00

Chicory......this is one tough little wild plant. It will grow in a bit of dust and gravel beside a busy road. Who could be more likely to identify a flower than Freida Bee, MD ? Thanks for the ID !

Backside of a sunflower outside my window

My friend Karen calls this a Blanket Flower ..... Update/correction : I am reliably informed that this is an Indian Blanket Flower

Amsterdam, Just The Facts Please

2009-07-29T13:57:00.017-04:00

Once again Fox News shares it's own "vision" of what the rest of the world is really like. They are so down on drugs but if you ask me , this proves that at Faux Snooze, they are taking them some drugs.

This from an Amsterdam resident :

Most people know that the Fox channel isn't the most objective news source on American TV. But in a pretty recent broadcast Amsterdam is so falsely portrayed as a city of crime, drugs and anarchy, that I had to show the facts.

GOP Hires ‘The Village People’ to Perform ‘C Street Chalet’

2009-07-20T11:43:00.009-04:00

GOP Hires ‘The Village People’ to Perform ‘C Street Chalet’
[Sung to the tune of "YMCA"]

GOP man, if you want to go down.
With a woman, with whom you don’t have a vow
GOP man, if you don’t want to leave town
There’s no need … to … fly to Buenos

GOP man, there’s a place you can go.
GOP man, where wild oats you can sow
You can stay there, and I’m sure you can pray
For salvation, and perhaps a Three-Way

It’s fun to stay at the … C Street Chalet
It’s fun to stay at the … C Street Chalet

They have everything, for you men to enjoy,
You can hang out with Christ, and use our in-house sex toys

It’s fun to stay at the … C Street Chalet
It’s fun to stay at the … C Street Chalet

You can get yourself laid, deduct the cost of your meals,
Plot for school prayer, and to undo the New Deal

GOP man, do you seek guarantees?
That you can hide your, blatant hy-pocrisy?
GOP man, you can visit the Lord
And a … smokin’ … Christian hot broad

It’s fun to stay at the … C Street Chalet
It’s fun to stay at the … C Street Chalet

From Don Davis at The Satirical Political Report

Now this song will be playing in your head all day long ! Sorry, I hate those earworms too.

Happy Fourth Of July - This Land Is Your Land

2009-07-04T12:01:00.000-04:00

I sing songs that people made up to help them to do more work, to get somewhere in this old world, to fall in love and to get married and to have kids and to have trade unions and to have the right to speak out your mind about how to make this old world a little bit better place to work in. I sing songs about people that are fighting with guns to win a world where you’ll have a good job at union pay, and a right to speak up, to think, to have honest prices and honest wages and a nice clean place to live in and a good safe place to work in. I even sing songs about getting nursery schools for little kids too young to play in the streets, and schools where all of the other kids can go to keep from playing their games under the garbage trucks. I don’t sing any songs about the nine divorces of some millionaire playgal or the ten wives of some screwball. I’ve just not got time to sing those kind of songs and I wouldn’t sing them if they paid me a thousand dollars a week

- Woody Guthrie

This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright #154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin' it without our permission will be mighty good friends of ourn cause we don't give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that's all we wanted to do."

—Written by Guthrie in the late 1930s on a songbook distributed to listeners who wanted the words to his recordings

Midnight Music Club - Tito & Tarantula - After Dark

2009-06-27T03:04:00.003-04:00

The 1996 movie From Dusk Till Dawn had a teriffic soundtrack. I bought the disc years ago and it is one fine mixture of bluesy and ballsy songs by Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughn, The Blasters , The Mavericks, ZZ Top and Jon Wayne. Two things made this a memorable movie for me. First was this song and it's seriously sick guitar solo. The other was Salma Hayek's snake dance. Heres Tito & Tarantula doing After Dark. Enjoy !

New Feature Added To This Site - A Button For Sharing Called - AddThis

2009-06-24T10:50:00.004-04:00

I have added a very cool feature to this site. At the bottom of this and all posts you will find a button like the one below. This will save and share any post here to one of over 60 different places. You can bookmark or share any post to Facebook, MySpace, Delicious, Blogger, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, Friendfeed and many others I've never even heard of.
That's Larry The Kidman, bringing you the technology of today .....well.....today !

Place your cursor over the button below and get started sharing.

Slinky Cat

2009-06-24T06:54:00.002-04:00

I think it was Art Linklighter that said that cats do the damndest things.

Meghan McCain Gets Her Ass Handed To Her

2009-06-21T13:28:00.009-04:00

Meghan McCain was on the Bill Maher show the other day. I must say that I had, before this, some sympathy ( no, don't even call it admiration) for her mavericky ( where did I hear that word before ?) tendency to differ with some of the Republican powers that be. But she blew it on this show. She used the old girly girl / youth cop out and got handed her ass on a plate. She really has no business going on TV shows and giving her "opinions". Meghan, go back home, crack a Bud Light and read a fucking book.

It all got started during a discussion of George Bush, who McCain acknowledged was a less than perfect president. But McCain also pointed a finger at the Obama administration in Bush's defense, saying she felt that the Obama administration "has to stop completely blaming everything on its predecessor." When Maher asked McCain if she really thought this is what Obama is doing, McCain said "I do to a degree." A clearly annoyed Begala immediately shook his head and said "not to enough of a degree, I'm sorry not nearly enough." He then began to explain how President Reagan blamed Jimmy Carter for years, to which McCain responded blithely "you know I wasn't born yet so I wouldn't know." Going in for the kill, Begala fired back "I wasn't born during the French Revolution but I know about it."

Happy Fathers Day Hoss

2009-06-21T09:24:00.016-04:00

He loved the movies, music, baseball and his family. His coal miner buddies called him Hoss. My brother John and I called him Daddy.

Hoss in the late 1940's. He was always dressed like this then, big fedora hat.

Hoss in France in 1945 at age 32, with the 17th Airborne Division, making the world safe again.

On our front porch, September 1963 with me holding Tom, his first grandson, just two months before my father passed away.

New Father holding me, 1952. I look pissed and he looks nervous. Relax, it turns out you did fine. I mean hell, I'm 50 something, my brother 60 something and neither of us have ever been to jail........ ( fingers crossed ).

Now Liberals Are Pagans ! Kickin' It Old School

2009-06-07T09:38:00.010-04:00

The RNC ( Rush, Newt and Cheney ) continue to accidentally serve their country by saying the most idiotic, misguided and obnoxious statements possible, all designed to pander to the lunatic fringe that's growing smaller every day . These guys continue to find new ways to paint themselves into a corner.......... I am amazed we're not in an even deeper hole than we are when I see the extent of their cluelessness and realize that they ran this country for so long. Some of the comments to this are so good I want to share em with you

From Steven Benen at Political Animal :

BRING ON THE PAGANS.... Once in a while, it's good for political activists to expand their rhetorical repertoire a bit. Conservatives, for example, have been complaining about "liberals," "Hollywood," and the dearth of "family values" for decades. The culture-war language is stale, and more likely to produce eye-rolling than passion.

Perhaps it's time for the right to bring back an oldie that we haven't heard emphasized in a while.

Two leading voices of the Republican Party's evangelical wing visited Rock Church on Friday for a forum aimed at recapturing some of the movement's political momentum.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee urged Christians to get involved in politics to preserve the presence of religion in American life.

"I think this is one of the most critical moments in American history," Gingrich said. "We are living in a period where we are surrounded by paganism."

Now we're talking. It's one thing to lament feeling surrounded by liberalism, but to feel surrounded by paganism is to kick it old school. Really old school.

Back in December, a religious right activist insisted that "today's liberalism is really just ... a philosophy rooted in ancient pagan traditions." But the piece was published in WorldNetDaily, where it didn't have much of an impact.

Having Newt Gingrich talk about it raises the stakes. After all, the media keeps telling us how important he is.

I'd actually like to see this catch on with other leaders on the right. Nothing helps demonstrate the relevance of conservatism in the 21st century like high-profile complaints about pagans.

Don't you love that ? You go Steven !

Comments:

Gotta love the way that stellar example of Christian virtues, Gingrich, wants to hold the line against pagan values. Values like ethical violations while holding public office, giving your wife divorce papers while she's in the hospital with cancer, having affairs--what would we Christians do without Newt around to tell us what's right and wrong?
Posted by: frazer on June 7, 2009 at 7:55 AM

We are talking about serial adulterer Gingrich, tight? Also religious racist bigot Huckabee. Now I have seen everything.
Posted by: JS on June 7, 2009 at 8:05 AM

Pagans??? I can't wait until Newt gets to fornicators.
Posted by: JoeW on June 7, 2009 at 8:07 AM

So called "Paganism" predates Christianity by a couple of millenia. In fact Christianity co opted many of the old ways, including various holidays. Even the Golden Rule comes from the Wiccan Rule of Three.
Posted by: DAY on June 7, 2009 at 8:09 AM

"Two leading voices of the Republican Party's evangelical wing"
hahaha... newtie's now officially acknowledged as a leading voice for the american taliban.
Posted by: linda on June 7, 2009 at 8:11 AM

Exactly what form of idol do liberals worship? Near as I can tell most liberal principles, as espoused by Christian, Jew, Muslim, religious and atheist, are grounded in the very Christian notion of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Idol worship featuring a mindless devotion to Ronald Reagan and other false gods like "capitalism" are pretty much Republican stock in trade. Elevating greed to a virtue is another rather unChristian notion current in Newt Gingrich's Republican world view.
Why are we still paying attention to Newt Gingrich anyway?
Posted by: Ron Byers on June 7, 2009 at 8:19 AM

The statements of both Newtire & Hucklebee veered toward calls for theocracy.
Just what does this mean?
"I am not a citizen of the world," said Gingrich, who was first elected to the U.S. House from Georgia in 1978 and served as speaker from 1995 to 1999. "I am a citizen of the United States because only in the United States does citizenship start with our creator."
Has "historian" Gingrich never heard of the 14th Amendment?
Posted by: M. Bouffant on June 7, 2009 at 8:32 AM

Democrat Pagan Party. That has a much better ring to it than Democrat Socialist Party. Where can I get a bumper sticker?
Posted by: Norwood Woman on June 7, 2009 at 8:42 AM

These republicans remain inept, no matter the bizarrely articulate Gingrichs' of their world. Their tragic inattention to the country, and far too many miscalculations, were aptly recognized by voters in 2006 and 2008, too bad/so sad for the republican party establishment, now in shambles. These conservatives are unable to spin the reality like they use to. Undeterred, they continue in their very precise and disastrous downward direction. This morning--to my delight--a caller to Washington Journal on Cspan said President Obama can't even squeeze the Charmin without Republicans criticizing him endlessly, and another caller wondered who would be the next Turd Blossom of the republican party. Bwa ha ha . Gotta love how voters got so very intelligent the past few years! They aren't swayed by the party of continual crisis, of no solutions...the party of noooooooooooo. Talk about a major repudiation!
Posted by: consider wisely on June 7, 2009 at 8:51 AM

"today's liberalism is really just ... a philosophy rooted in ancient pagan traditions."
Well duh, isn't that the definition of philosophy? Pythagoras, Plato and Socrates were not Christians after all. There aren't many pejoratives left. But just like Liberal seems to be losing its sting, "Pagan" has also had a revival. Certainly to old guys like Gingrich and Pope Benedict, it still has that old voodoo. But I doubt in the 18-25 age group, it is the pejorative they think it is. As it is now associated with nature based religion.
Posted by: Patrick on June 7, 2009

Yet Another Hole Where Your Tax Money Goes

2009-05-28T16:44:00.011-04:00

Here is a map of the births paid for by Medicaid by state. It's no coincidence that the states making the biggest drain on our tax dollars as regards these are in the South, the place where just abstinence only programs are offered and condoms are never spoken of. THIS is where your tax dollars go you nutty teabaggers, paying for babies born under a policy of state and locally applied ignorance, tempered with that old time religion. I guess it's serving the Lord somehow, but I don't see it.

This via Blue Gal who has a great gift of observation and a fine sense of sarcasm :

Click image for larger and more details. And don't give Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada a pass, their states look good only because data for 2003 was not available.

In a perfect world, citizens in states with higher birth-rates among the uninsured would pay a pro-abstinence and prophylactic ignorance tax, which would appear as a line item on page one of their 1040.

"Write the name of your state on line A"
"If your state is listed in Schedule IC (idiot Christianist) subtract $1,000 from your standard deduction."

States that enact medically accurate, age-appropriate comprehensive sex education programs would be exempt from such tax after three years of reduction in Medicaid birth rates. (I would also push for free roadside condom distribution and including state-funded advertising for Trojans during all sports programming and American Fucking Idol.)

As I have said before, if accurate information can be made available on the website for Walgreens, it can be made available by your legislature.

Tennessee you must be so proud of the baby daddy who had 21 kids with 11 women and did not plan it that way. "It just happened," he said.

It just happened to Bristol Palin, too. I try not to think about whether Levi is practicing safer sex these days.

All of this is an opportunity to get our national head out of our ass and bite the bullet on mature behavior when it comes to sex. Teenagers need those of us who are adults to be adults. Bristol's mother needed to buy her condoms and tell her to use them, or watch her carefully enough and keep her busy enough that sex with Levi wasn't the only fun she could have.

Memorial Day and Those Of Us Not In Uniform

2009-05-25T22:08:00.005-04:00

Ideals are not the exclusive domain of the military. "Freedom isn't Free," as a bumper sticker slogan, is all too often used as a wedge between those who support a particular military action and those who oppose it. But that slogan can as easily be applied to those of us not in uniform. America's servicemen and women have a special responsibility, but that doesn't absolve the rest of us of our responsibility. Part of that responsibility it to recognize the nature of their service by seeing that veterans get the best equipment, protection, and leadership possible when they're in the service. It's taking care of their families both while they're away, and while they're trying to adapt when they return home. It's also making sure that they get the medical attention, training, and job opportunities they deserve when they complete their time in uniform.

Our responsibility is seeing that America remains a place where freedom is not dependent on the money in your bank account, your family connections, the gun in your pocket, or the largess of political leaders. A place where diversity of opinion is not a problem, but a strength. A place worthy of the devotion those in the military have shown.

This day is reserved for honoring those who have served in the military, and that should not be forgotten. Every day is a day for honoring our obligation to both them and to everyone else. Not only is freedom not free, freedom can not be won on a battlefield. All the soldiers who have died in every war from the Revolutionary War to date have not, and can not, secure our liberty. They can only see that we have the opportunity to win it, or lose it, every day, through the actions we take right here at home.

From Devilstower at Daily Kos

Why They Were Kept At Gitmo In The First Place

2009-05-20T22:02:00.016-04:00

Good Point

from Talking Points Memo by Josh Marshall
From TPM Reader MR ...

As Congressional Republicans make their childish complaints about the possibility of Guantanamo prisoners coming to the U.S. mainland, it's worth remembering why they were put there in the first place. It wasn't because they possess superpowers or that America doesn't know how to lock up dangerous people. It was solely so that they would be outside of the reach of the U.S. legal system.

It's amazing to me that they would advance such ridiculous arguments as " they would turn them loose in this country " and " these are people who want to kill us ". No one is suggesting that they should be turned loose. Many people in our prisons have killed and would kill again and the prisons hold them with no danger to the local populace. There are terrorists, foreign and domestic,who have been held in this country for years. I have several friends and several more acquaintances who work at a nearby maximum security prison that also holds all the present death row prisoners in the state of Pennsylvania. To say that the US prison system cannot assimilate 241 more high risk prisoners is an insult to them and the other corrections officers that every day perform one of the most dangerous and mentally challenging jobs that can be found in modern society.

Sunday Morning Smile For You

2009-05-17T12:16:00.005-04:00

This will bring a smile to your face. It is a compilation of street musicans from around the world doing the song Stand By Me. All the vocalists are amazing and the short bit the guy plays on dobro is sweet. Send it to a friend, spread some joy today, it's springtime .

Google Reader is Pretty Handy and Theres No Dripping And Zizzing Like With The Tropical Fishes

2009-05-14T09:16:00.014-04:00

Google Reader is a very handy system for saving time. For years I put off buying a computer because I knew, that as an information junkie I was going to be hooked from the moment I started. And so I was, guitar, Civil War, Blues Music and I wish that was all. Just like years ago when you first got cable TV and couldn't sleep for days for fear of missing something, movies or news or nudity. Years ago I was into photographing trains. I realized that for the longest time the only way I had looked at a train was through a camera lens. I started letting the camera hang on my chest and watching the train as it passed. Real life in real time is best, that's why I don't like to stay here too long.

I found that I was checking 50 or so blogs every day and some of them more than once a day, burning up a lot of time. This Google Reader constantly checks your favorite news sites and blogs for brand new content. Whether a site updates daily or monthly, you can be sure that you won't miss a thing. It shows them all on one page and you just scroll through. Any you click on takes you to that site in a new window. As you read them they are marked as such and disappear. You can Star any story to save it in a separate folder. There is a system to easily search ( type in either URL or blog title and it finds it ) and add content. I use several other Google Services and this dovetails in some degree or another with those. I know, this has probably been around since the 1950's but several of my friends had no knowledge of it, hence my reason for posting this.

pics

2009-05-13T16:00:00.004-04:00

Dolly On Vacation

5 Cardinals

Sunrise Up Mather Hill

Buds

Ten Mile Creek

The Grinders Blues Band at Station Square in Pittsburgh, a long ago August. Me , Doch, Kelly and Brian, it was 100 degrees

Fred the cat

My old guitar buddy Steve comes over once a month or so with his favorite brand of Bourbon. Knob Creek is one very good drink and though it is a little hot going down it has a fine aftertaste. No chaser, that's the way to drink good liquor.

The swinging bridge. When I was young we would get about ten kids out in the middle and rock it from side to side like a swing.

Books that I really enjoy are kept and read again every couple years. I probably reread as much as I first time read. But I need to have a yard sale.

We'll Blind You With Teh Fear !

2009-05-08T23:13:00.009-04:00

The extremists that control the GOP have come out with a couple new videos hoping to use old 911 fear stuff and Gitmo closings to scare the American public into supporting them again. Grasping at straws ! They still think we are idiots !

Stephen Stromberg at the Washington Post :

Maybe I’m missing something, but I’m not sure just what these ads are saying we have to fret about. A prison break? Though there are some prisoners at Gitmo who deserve to be let go -- something even the Bush administration admitted -- Obama isn’t going to release the worst-of-the-worst detainees the ad features onto American streets. Indeed, the GOP’s video even shows the heavy gates and high-security features of the facilities in which these prisoners would likely reside. Recently admitted al Qaeda agent Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri lived in a naval brig in South Carolina for nearly six years, and nearby Charleston is still intact. Colorado’s federal Supermax prison already holds Ramzi Yousef, the World Trade Center bomber, Zacarias Moussaoui, the 20th 9/11 hijacker, and Richard Reed, the guy who tried to blow up a plane with a shoe bomb. The state’s no less safe for it. There’s a reason they call it Supermax.

The Smirking Chimps writer asks : Will Nation That Housed 425,000 Nazis In WWII Find Accommodations For 241 Gitmo Captives?

Former NSC head of counterterrorism Richard Clarke has a more serious response:

"This video and the recent Republican attacks on Guantanamo are more desperate attempts from a demoralized party to politicize national security and the safety of the American people. But what is more disturbing is their brazen use of imagery and the memory of 9/11 to score political points. Thousands of Americans tragically died that day, and for the GOP to think it can win elections by denigrating their memory is disgraceful.
"The difference between these Republican videos and the very terrorist propaganda that seeks to damage our society is negligible. Each attempt to stoke the embers of fear in order to disrupt American life. Just as al Qaeda videos should be viewed as misguided rants from a small group of marginalized radicals, so too should these Republican videos be equally dismissed. As opposed to what the GOP thinks, the American people are not that naïve."

Limbaugh/ Hannity/Joe The (Not A Real) Plumber - The Gift That Keeps On Giving

2009-05-07T09:49:00.038-04:00

Rush Limbaugh, radio entertainer, drug addict and sex tourist is really starting to hit his stride in his efforts to purge "His" party of all heretics who don't walk the far right edge. Others are leaving because it's not crazy enough ! Go Rush-o, and go you other lunatics, you're making a better case against all you stand for than we could ever do. I believe you are finally doing "the Lord's Work."

This from Ellen at News Hounds :

Who couldn't see this one coming? Colin Powell had the nerve to speak outpublicly against the hate mongering of Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, calling it bad for Republicans. So rather than debate the actual effect of Limbaugh and Coulter on the party, Sean Hannity called on Limbaugh-sub Mark Steyn to discredit Powell. Earlier in the show, Hannity made the unintentionally hilarious commentthat he doesn't ever hear “nastiness” from Limbaugh. But Powell was fair game, as Hannity introduced the segment by saying, 'endorsing Barack Obama was not enough' for Powell. 'Now he is on the offensive against Republicans.'
Predictably, Steyn claimed, “I don't recognize this characterization of (Limbaugh) as some angry, bitter man who's driving people away.”
Maybe those two don't but much of the rest of the country does. Before he backtracked to kiss Limbaugh's you know what, RNC chair Michael Steele knew it. And the pollsters know it. Limbaugh's favorability ratings are lower than George W. Bush's. And not even uber-loyalist Hannity has been arguing that Bush is good for Republicans these days."
“What sense of a vision do you get from Colin Powell?” Steyn asked dismissively. Earth to Steyn: Powell is not running for office. But he obviously has a vision for Republicans – the one Steyn and Hannity were so busy attacking.
Not discussed at all? Limbaugh's racial attack on Powell in response.
By the way, Powell had a 54% favorability ratinglast fall, compared to Limbaugh's recent 28%.

Wow, now even Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher is quitting the Republican Party? That's what a new Time article reports on his latest antics :
"Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, tells TIME he's so outraged by GOP overspending, he's quitting the party -- and he's the bull's-eye of its target audience," the article says.

Looks like old Joe will be Rush's next target !

Kos nails it:

Republicans are an old party, and their retrograde bigoted positions on equality are repulsive to younger voters. Obama won the youth vote 66-32, and nothing the Republicans have done since then have made them more palatable to those voters. In fact, by doubling down on hatred, Republicans are merely cementing the millennial generation into the (D) column for years to come.
It's true that many Americans agree with the Republican position. In fact, per the polling, that number appears to be about 38 percent, or about 114 million Americans. That's a lot!
But that's not 50 percent, which is useless to you in elections, and it's a shrinking number as new youngsters reach voting age and the seniors pass on. Time is the bigot's worst enemy.
I'm just happy that what makes Boss Limbaugh happy, and what's best for the long-term health of the Republican Party are so diametrically opposed.

And lastly, Driftglass shares with us the official Wingnut Family Photo

First row seated (L - R): Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck
Second row standing(L - R): Joe the Quitter, Rupert Murdoch, Brit Hume

What does it say that the meatheads and toe-pickers are leaving the Grand Old Party because it's just not hair-on-fire/ass-gouting-napalm reckless and crazy enough?

Here is all you need to know about this Miss California Bullshit thats been going on way, way too long

2009-05-02T03:09:00.011-04:00

Its like...Fuck this shit already ! This means nothing ! Who cares what this plastic titted bimbo has to say ? She's crying cause she lost for being honest . It's a pagent ! Some win some lose, by their answers. At's it, at's how it goes! Now this Michael Musto is one funny sarcastic son of a bitch ! I have a 12 hour rule on posting .........this means that when I come home drunk and write something that I must wait 12 hours before I post so that I can put a check on my self. But in this case , all bets are off !

Sojourner Truth Statue Placed In Capitol Visitors Center

2009-04-29T13:11:00.006-04:00

She lived for nearly 90 years. She never stopped fighting to extend the rights and protections of our democracy. She preached against capital punishment and advocated for prison reform. She recruited African American troops for the Union Army. She helped to desegregate the streetcars that ran through Washington, and she worked diligently to improve living conditions for freed men and women.
She did not know how to read or write. Her life was from the most humble and improbable circumstances. But she ended up counting President Lincoln and President Grant among her acquaintances. She never, never, despite what she went through, stopped believing in the promise of liberty. She lived long enough to see the end of slavery, but not the establishment of voting rights for women. The 19th Amendment would not be passed until 37 years after her death. But today, she takes her place in this Capitol, and we are the better for it.
Was any person ever better named? Think about it. She is a sojourner of truth, by truth, and for truth. And her words, her example, and her legacy will never perish from this earth, so long as men and women stand up and say loudly and clearly: We hear you echoing down through the years of history, we believe that your journey is not yet over, and we will make the rest of that journey with you. God bless the memory of Sojourner Truth."
This from the US State Department website.

First Lady Michelle Obama joined House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other lawmakers and dignitaries on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to unveil a bust of Sojourner Truth, the 19th-century slave turned abolitionist who was also a fiery advocate for women’s rights.
Mrs. Obama praised Ms. Truth as a woman who didn’t allow “indignities to destroy her spirit,’’ who fought for her own freedom, the freedom of others and for women’s right to vote. She said the bust, which will appear in Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitors Center, would inspire many young African Americans who visit the Capitol.
“And just as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott would be pleased to know that we have a woman serving as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, I hope that Sojourner Truth would be proud to see me, a descendant of slaves, serving as the First Lady of the United States of America,’’ Mrs. Obama said. “We are all here because, as my husband says time and time again, we stand on the shoulders of giants like Sojourner Truth.”
From the New York Times

A speech delivered 1851 Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio :

Ain't I a Woman?

Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?
That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?
Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?
Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say.

- Sojourner Truth (1797-1883)

Control Your Cat

2009-04-29T12:10:00.000-04:00

I'm going right to Amazon and get me one of these !

Pity The Nation By Lawrence Ferlinghetti

2009-04-28T06:35:00.012-04:00

Lawrence Ferlinghetti has been around a long time (since Great Britain was just Pretty Good Britain) and he's always made sense.............. like so :

PITY THE NATION

Pity the nation whose people are sheep, and whose shepherds mislead them.
Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced,and whose bigots haunt the airwaves.
Pity the nation that raises not its voice, except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero and aims to rule the world with force and by torture.
Pity the nation that knows no other language but its own and no other culture but its own.
Pity the nation whose breath is money and sleeps the sleep of the too well fed.
Pity the nation — oh, pity the people who allow their rights to erode and their freedoms to be washed away.
My country, tears of thee, sweet land of liberty.

- by Lawrence Ferlinghetti 2007 (inspired by Khalil Gibran’s poem of the same title)

Gee ! It looks like from my counter, that people are looking here once in a while , so................... thank you folks who are looking, for looking.

I Say Nuts To The Teabagging Insanitea !

2009-04-10T13:00:00.014-04:00

This is right up there with the terrorist fist bump, she touched the Queen, freedom fries, Sarah Palin, purple band-aids, spilling French wine, Joe the Plumber, and burning Dixie Chicks Cd's. We don't need to mock these loony tooners, they set em up and knock em down all on their own. Imagine, what idiot thought up teabagging as a political statement ? The original tea party was to protest taxation WITHOUT representation. The elected representatives of the people of this country already DID / ARE voting for the very things these Goober Pyles are protesting. They are simply confusing tyranny with losing an election. All this is only necessary because of the crimes of the last administration, one that most of these self styled patriots likely supported. Leave it to Faux News to push this kind of foolishness.

Andrew Sullivan summarized it this way : "These are not tea-parties. They are tea-tantrums. And the adolescent, unserious hysteria is a function not of a movement regrouping and refinding itself. It's a function of a movement's intellectual collapse and a party's fast-accelerating nervous breakdown."

From John Devore at Horses Ass :

What would be interesting to know is the thought process, such as it is, that inspires teabagging. Sure, they’ll blather about “out of control government spending,” but they didn’t give a flying fig about it during the last administration and if someone today dares to talk about reforming the defense procurement system then the teabag noise machine starts in about “threatening America’s safety.”
So it’s really “government spending on things they don’t like that helps people they don’t like” that pisses them off. Wasting trillions on weapons systems that don’t work and invading countries that shouldn’t have been invaded was just fine with them.

Says Declan McCullagh:
But the problem with the Tea Party movement is that the same complaints can be lodged against former President George W. Bush. It was the Bush administration that bailed out AIG; it bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; it bailed out Citigroup; it bailed out Bear Stearns. And it was the Bush administration that pressed Congress to bail out Detroit automakers.
Where were those hand-printed signs last week -- or last year -- assailing "BushNomics?" Where were these same conservatives when the Republicans and the Federal Reserve were on a bailout bender last year? Or when the GOP doubled the size of the federal debt?

Climb on the sore loser express ! I say nuts to em'.

Wingnuts - Fanning The Flames And Killing People

2009-04-06T14:19:00.016-04:00

This today from a quite reserved and restrained Rude Pundit :

Richard Poplawski shot and killed three police officers before being arrested in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He legally owned an assault weapon and two handguns, despite being booted from the Marines for being too violent. Poplawski was a young man convinced the nation was secretly controlled by a cabal that would eradicate freedom of speech, take away his guns and use the military to enslave the citizenry.

Conservatives are running scared because the left is seeing a connection, especially with Poplawski, between the violent, apocalyptic rhetoric of the right.

Jesus Christ, nut up, right wingers. You can't say that we're heading towards revolution and that gun laws are harming America, but, hey, we don't want violence. No, you can't walk around naked with a raging hard-on, but then say you don't wanna fuck something. There's times when you don't get to decide what your words actually mean; there's times when others take your words and actions to logical conclusions whether you meant it or not. Toss in a depr/recession and a touch of crazy and, well, boom. So at least admit that you squirted a little lighter fluid onto the fire.

and with another opinion on the same subject is David Neiwert at Crooks And Liars :

You have to wonder if right-wingers will ever get it: Difference isn't a threat. Because we believe in freedom of speech and freedom of thought, there will probably always be haters like Richard Poplawski among us. Inevitably they will be driven by fear: the fear of difference. Because to them, difference of any kind is a threat.

They were mewling like wounded hyenas this weekend after some of us pointed out that there was a direct connection between the irresponsible fearmongering in which they've been indulging since Barack Obama was elected and Saturday's tragedy in Pittsburgh.
We strongly believe that there's a clear, common-sense connection between the paranoiac fearmongering that has passed for right-wing rhetoric since well before Obama's election (and has become acute since) and violence like that in Pittsburgh, or in Knoxville: horrifying tragedies, in which the sources of the criminal's unambiguous motives are that very same hysterical fearmongering -- whether it's about the evil socialists, stinking immigrants, or conspiring gun-grabbers who've taken over the country since Election Day.

And yes, Glenn Beck deserves some mention here. His fearmongering on the gun issue is noteworthy in itself. I'm sure we all remember the time he speculated that these shooters were just ordinary citizens frustrated by "the system" and "political correctness."

At the same time, the unrelenting meme being pushed by the right that Obama will mount an assault on the Second Amendment has helped fuel the panic buying of firearms. According to the F.B.I., there have been 1.2 million more requests for background checks of potential gun buyers from November to February than there were in the same four months last year.

Needless to say, President Obama has repeatedly expressed his support for the Second Amendment and opposes a ban on firearms in the United States.

And from across the big water, read what The British Observer has to say :

The American right-wing machine has cranked up its engine of evil to prevent Obama from doing what needs to be done. I get Fox News on what you can refer to as cable, and it is clear that there is a systemic attempt to muster and organise against Obama’s agenda. Now, organising against the Democratic agenda is not in itself a bad thing. It is only right that in a healthy and functional democracy there exist a strong and viable opposition, laying their cards on the table. However, what we witness now is not the laying of cards, but rather: IRRATIONAL HATRED. The kind of hatred that Clinton faced and that Kennedy before him faced. The kind of right-wing hatred that propels individuals to shoot up schools and immigration centres under the demonstrably false contention that the election of Barack Obama, America’s first black President, would herald a drop in their standard of living, a standard that had already received permanent residency in the toilet after W.’s first term. The kind of hate that pushes duly elected member of America’s legislative arm to call for "revolutions" or to accuse the President of the United States of being a "socialist". The kind of hate that leaves the American secret service no choice but to put in place an unimaginable security regime around the American President just to ensure a Bill O’Reilly or Sean Hannity inspired lunatic does not turn everybody’s worst nightmare into reality.

A little more on the Pittsburgh shooter :
Accused cop-killer Richard Poplawski spent hours posting racist messages on an extremist right-wing Web site, decrying blacks and Latinos and warning of forthcoming economic collapse fueled by the "Zionist occupation" of America, an expert in political extremism has determined. Earlier, he had praised the "AK" rifle as his ideal weapon.

On March 13, according to the site, Mr. Poplawski wrote a lengthy post predicting economic collapse, engineered by a Jewish conspiracy:

"The federal government, mainstream media, and banking system in these United States are strongly under the influence of -- if not completely controlled by -- Zionist interest," the post declares. "An economic collapse of the financial system is inevitable, bringing with it some degree of civil unrest if not outright balkanization of the continental US, civil/revolutionary/racial war . . . This collapse is likely engineered by the elite Jewish powers that be in order to make for a power and asset grab."

So , not just another nutty crazed gunman, and not a guy who " flipped out when the dog pissed on the rug ". Let the blame fall where it should.

"Suffocation, Due To A Cat Sucking The Breath From The Deceased's Mouth".

2009-03-26T10:50:00.012-04:00

Superstition seems to have had, or to have , no limits.

From the Pittsburgh ( Pennsylvania ) Dispatch of March 11 1907:

"Suffocation, due to a cat sucking the breath from the deceased's mouth". That will be the Deputy Coroner's report entered in county records this morning in the case of the death Tuesday night of Bennenita Maria Delu, aged 6 months and 1 day, at Clarksville, Penn Township, Allegheny County, Pa. Old housewives, wise in mother's lore, will tell you the story that a cat will inhale the breath from an infants mouth till the little one smothers but no previous record of such a fatality is to be found in the Allegheny County Coroners office. Little Bennenita's father is Evasio Delu, a coal miner in Clarksville; the mother, Pierena Delu, keeps a little grocery store in the mining hamlet. The parents reported the death of the child yesterday morning. Deputy Coroner Thomas H. Laidley investigated the case.The mother told the Deputy that she had rocked the baby to sleep in her arms early Tuesday evening and then had carried the child into the room in the back of the store and laid it in the cradle. Fifteen minutes later she happened into the room again and found the house cat nestled on the baby's breast, it's nostrils glued to the little one's mouth. She snatched the cat away, then tried to arouse the child, but could not."

Bad kitty !.......bad !.........now you go lay down ! ......go.... lay.... down ! .....killing people, no no ......bad kitty !

Happy Birthday My Good Brother John

2009-03-24T09:45:00.014-04:00

I have been down with a nasty flu virus for the last 4-5 days, mostly either sleeping, retching into a bag or running thru the back yard to the little building with the quarter moon cut out on the door. So it was that I forgot my good brother's birthday yesterday, he's ten years older than I am. He's been laying around comfortably in Florida all winter, the term Snowbird being defined by him and Mollie. And there's really nothing I could buy him because last month he got the ultimate gift from his Pittsburgh Steelers - a sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy !

I call him my good brother because he's good to his family, his children and grandchildren. He is enjoying every day of a well earned and well deserved retirement.

Happy Birthday Pollock !

This Scalds My Ass !

2009-03-23T23:55:00.024-04:00

I'm gonna tell you what scalds my ass , a headline in my local newspaper today read " Republicans Predict Doomsday If Budget Ok'd." Now lookie here, they ran congress for many years, also the White House since 2000. They ran us into the fucking ditch we are in and so how in the world do they presume to come off giving advice on how to clean up the shit they made ? I say let them cry crocodile tears but still, it scalds my ass. This is kind of a midnight drunken rant that I in no way apologize for.

Extreme Sheep LED Art

2009-03-18T10:44:00.004-04:00

You gotta love the way the human mind works sometimes. These folks from Wales took sheep and attached LED vests to them and herded them around on a far hill to produce amazing patterns, a game of pong, fireworks and even the Mona Lisa. As someone said " Sheep , not just for sex anymore ".

Midnight Music Club # 6 - Brandon Petrucci

2009-03-14T23:29:00.000-04:00

My old friend Brandon is one talented son of a gun. He toured / followed the Dead for years. Now he is settled with a good woman. May we all have that blessing...............

Blog Against Theocracy, Coming April 10 - 12 2009

2009-03-12T16:48:00.010-04:00

Tengrain of Mock, Paper, Scissors, wrote the best concise description of this blogswarm last year:
The theme [of the blogswarm], like always, is the Separation of Church and State — we are for it. But the variations on the theme are many...This is not a bashing of religion - peeps can believe what they choose, however they choose — but it is a reminder that the Government should keep out of religion, and Religion should keep out of the government.

The Lure of the Open Road

2009-03-05T09:34:00.025-05:00

I happened across this story of two young women who, in 1944, set out on a journey to see the country. These bold young ladies travelled on bicycles, slept in barns and cemeteries and washed in streams. Taking different part time jobs along the way, they hitchhiked rides with truck drivers and worked from Louisville to New Orleans as chambermaids on a steam towboat. They then bicycled across the south to Florida and back to their home at Buffalo. With many quaint snapshot photographs, it is a charming story of a kindlier gentler America, one that was much safer then and more optimistic, even in the midst of a great war.

Willowby was our breakfast stop. At 8:00 a.m. the townspeople were preparing for the business day ahead. Brooms swept the papers fluttering to the curb. Water splashed from the window washers’ buckets and ran in little streams down to the curb. A white-aproned clerk piled pyramids of golden oranges against the window. Beneath was the freshly-painted sign, "Oranges - 5 cents." We went inside and bought the two biggest oranges we could find.
The village square was a convenient breakfast spot. We lined up the meal on a park bench. The bran flakes were dry, the oranges pithy. I chopped off another lump from the petrified sugar in the bag. It had weathered the storm, too. Then we filled our canteens at the gas station to wash cups and spoons.

Getting a lift on a chicken truck

As the sun rose, the driver left us off on Route 80, where we might catch another truck. The first one we hailed stopped and took us on to Tuskegee.
Now over 50 years later, as we read the news and watch the television reports of abductions that take place today, we wonder. Were we courageous or just naive? Or was it our outlook, our spirit, the happiness we exuded that carried us along in safety ? We stationed ourselves at a gas pump again. This time we secured a ride headed directly to Atlanta, Georgia, with two fellows driving a chicken truck. Now we’ve had about every variety of vehicle! They tied our bikes on top of the chicken crates.

Visiting newly disabled soldiers in Georgia

Two boys met us, Felix and Larry, one in a wheelchair and the other on crutches, each minus a leg. Each had a red rose for us. I’ll never forget that. These boys escorted us around. First, we went to their ward, where all their mates had similar injuries. Most all of them lost their limbs on Anzio Beachhead invasion in Italy. In the Physical Therapy ward, they were exercising muscles so they would be conditioned to using artificial limbs. Then to the place where they made the prostheses and witnessed a fellow being fitted to an arm and hand. As we pushed the wheelchairs around, we were surprised to see the good fun and cheerfulness the boys had in spite of their life-changing experiences and challenging future ahead of them.

On The Steamer Corrigidor

There are always little feelings or sensations associated with events that help one to remember experiences more vividly. Perhaps I shall always remember the vibrations of the engines and the sound like a train riding the tracks, the smell of certain closed rooms above the hot brig, the shrill voice of Mrs. Lynch above the engine noise, and Tommy’s listless face at breakfast after only five hours sleep. And I’ll remember the luxury of taking a handful of cookies, dipping up a tall glass of milk and eating a whole cantaloupe. I’ll remember trying to understand the southern accent, chopping ice in the chill box, scrubbing black marks from the red linoleum, counting soiled linen in the lounge, and seeing the rigging bared against a sky full of stars! I’ll remember how the deck hands were always painting; the stuffed feeling around the belt after Wednesday’s and Sunday’s dinner of southern fried chicken, followed by two soup bowls of ice cream; our rush to the guard in our excitement to see anything new that happened, followed by a severe lecture from Mrs. Lynch; and the bliss of having electric fans in the summer heat. And, too, I have seen the factions and bargaining developed by the union aboard ship, heard the many tales told by Captain Stroube in the pilot house, and listened to his words of wisdom founded upon years of river boating. The ripple of a full moon’s reflection upon the Mississippi, the churn of the water by the propellers, the heat of the engine room and the sweat pouring off the men’s backs, and perhaps most of all, the sound of the throttle bells as the speed of the boat changed. I’ll remember making up sooty beds and folding black towels, putting dishes away in the wrong place, and finding a pail that doesn’t leak. I’ll remember the desolate shores and the sandbars, the tow caught there, the shanty boats and the willows. I’ll remember taking the second bell for meals and catching the beds in between. Yes, there are many things to remember. It will be impossible to forget.

The entire story, titled The Lure of the Open Road.Wartime wandering through the Eastern states by bicycle, truck, and riverboat. 1944,by Thelma Popp Jones. 2007, is here.

US Airways 1549 - Hudson River Plane Landing - Animation with Audio

2009-03-02T17:21:00.007-05:00

These folks are trained professionals so don't try this at home. This is an animation of the emergency landing with the actual audio. Every one involved is as cool minded as anyone could be.

Happy 24th Birthday, My Son

2009-02-25T13:44:00.021-05:00

February 27th is the birthday of my child Casey. Here he is digging in the dirt in the backyard at the log house, wearing jeans and his pea coat with the flag pin his Grandad made sure he always wore. He was a cute little tow headed bugger when he was young.

At age nineteen he was elected Mayor of his hometown, when he was a sophomore political science major at the University there. Today, in addition to being Mayor and an active volunteer fireman he is the Borough Manager of a small nearby town. His Father, Mother, Stepfather and all the rest of his family are very proud of him. You've grown up to be a good and useful person Pieboy !

Senator Bob Casey, D - Pennsylvania and my son Casey. Watch out Senator , some one's sniffing after your job !

Socks, The Clinton White House Cat, Passes On

2009-02-21T16:40:00.018-05:00

In this March 19, 1994 photo, Socks the cat peers over the podium in the White House briefing room

BALTIMORE – Socks, the White House cat during the Clinton administration who waged war on Buddy the pup, has died. He was around 18. Socks had lived with Bill Clinton's secretary, Betty Currie, in Hollywood, Md., since the Clintons left the White House in early 2001.
Currie confirmed Socks' death Friday evening and said she was "heartbroken." She did not give details, referring calls to the Clinton Foundation office. The foundation released a statement from the Clintons: "Socks brought much happiness to Chelsea and us over the years, and enjoyment to kids and cat lovers everywhere. We're grateful for those memories, and we especially want to thank our good friend, Betty Currie, for taking such loving care of Socks for so many years."
Socks had reached his late teens, an advanced age for a cat, when reports surfaced in late 2008 that he had cancer and Currie had ruled out invasive efforts to prolong his life. Socks was what feline-lovers call a tuxedo cat, mostly black with white down the front and belly and on his feet, suggesting a fashionable dandy in a black satin evening jacket with a snowy shirt peeping out. He had markings that looked a bit like a mustache and goatee.
Chelsea Clinton's pet first appeared in the news in November 1992 after then Gov. Bill Clinton won the presidency and the family was the still in the governor's mansion in Little Rock, Ark. Socks became an early symbol of privacy vs. media in the Clinton era when photographers got a little aggressive as he took a stroll outside.
Life changed for Socks in the White House, when his easy access to the out-of-doors was necessarily curtailed. One official conceded that, yes, Socks was on a leash while outside.
Things took a turn for the worse in late 1997, when then-puppy Buddy, a chocolate retriever, arrived. Relations between Socks and Buddy were cool from the beginning. "I'm trying to work that out," Clinton joked at the time. "It's going to take a while. It's kind of like peace in Ireland or the Middle East." A few weeks later, in early 1998, the two pets had an encounter on the South Lawn. "A very agitated Buddy approached the cat and began barking as the president restrained him with a green leash," The Associated Press reported. "Socks, hair raised high, stood his ground until Clinton and Buddy made their exit to the Oval Office." But their pairing enchanted pet lovers, especially children. In 1998, then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton put out a book of children's letters to the two pets in "Dear Socks, Dear Buddy." "Can you please send me a picture and a paw print," one youngster wrote Socks. "Do you have fleas? I think my cat has fleas." In the book, the first lady wrote she had been taking daughter Chelsea to a piano lesson in spring 1991 when they spotted two kittens in the music teacher's front yard. "The black one with white paws, Socks, jumped right into (Chelsea's) arms," she wrote.
After the Clintons left in early 2001, Socks moved in with Currie. Buddy, meanwhile, made the move with the Clintons to Chappaqua, N.Y., but he was struck and killed by a car the following year. Socks continued to live quietly with Currie, sometimes making appearances at programs held by pet welfare groups. Landau said Socks enjoyed sitting in the sun and that Currie doted on him, cooking him special chicken dinners.

By Associated Press Writer Kasey Jones

Nice, I think pets are , as they say friends are, God's way of apologizing for your family.

Golden Retriever In Cut Off Jeans

2009-02-17T09:40:00.003-05:00

My friend Tooch has a beautiful and maniacal golden retriever named Ruxpin. The other day, at the tender age of 13 months he was fixed. To keep him from scratching at the stitches Tooch rigged up a pair of cut off jeans, with a hole for the tail, for him to wear.

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-14T11:19:00.004-05:00

I've been a collector all my life and old paper holds a fascination for me. Here are two beautiful old valentines I've had for years.

This one is dated 1901 and is die cut.

It seems as though back then that hearts were not as common a motif as flowers.

Midnight Music Club # 4 - Dan Hicks - I Scare Myself

2009-02-12T00:01:00.002-05:00

He may be the only really hip person there is. Dan Hicks was with San Francisco band The Charlatans and left in 1968 to form Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks with violinist David LaFlamme. This band was a cult favorite because of their both funny and wonderful original songs. My favorite release from that time is "Last Train To Hicksville." Dan works with only the best players and singers and the way they work is amazing. In a live show the music is enhanced by their low key antics. Here's the band doing "I Scare Myself" :

Happy Birthday A. Lincoln - We Honor You, Cracks And All

2009-02-08T18:46:00.024-05:00

He was in his time the most popular and the most disliked American. "Abraham Lincoln was one of the four most hated presidents in U.S. history, the other three are Andrew Jackson, Harry Truman and George W. Bush." , explained James Cornelius, curator of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. He is now, without question, our most beloved and respected citizen.

"Looking For Lincoln" is Historian Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s quest to piece together Lincoln’s complex life. The 2-hour documentary airs on PBS television on Feb. 11, 2009, it can be viewed online now here in it's entirety. There are over 14,000 biographies of Lincoln, more than on any other person in the worlds history. In this new PBS video we see a Lincoln that will disappoint some and enrage at least a few. Viewers will find not an iconic hero but a human with all the normal faults and fears ( and sometimes extreme fears ) that we all have.
Lincoln has been described as the representative American, he's a representative human and like all a mixture of elements of courage and fear, wisdom and folly, accomplishments and mistakes. Many of his speeches were poetry and his personal writings were sublime in their wisdom and sensitivity. Witness :

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

A progressive theorist but coldly realistic thinker who stayed within and shared many of the accepted prejudices of his time. One will see here some cracks and chips in the complexion of the marble iconic figure that carried the nation on his back for over four years. Acknowledging these cracks does not diminish his place in history nor the value of either his service or his example to us.
Bob Dylan said " Woody Guthrie was my first hero, he taught me that there were no heroes." People are only human, but some, when needed, when called by History, like Lincoln, can be heroic.

Cold / Warm - Cat In A Box

2009-02-08T11:49:00.013-05:00

When it was doing this outside

Shadow aka Pete the neighbor cat came inside to find a warm spot for a nap.

Laying in a warm bed of antique papers.

Pittsburgh Steelers And The Joy Of Six

2009-02-02T13:41:00.020-05:00

Pittsburgh is the first team in NFL history to win a sixth Lombardi Trophy, surpassing the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, each with five.

PITTSBURGH (AP and other sources) — Gold and black-clad fans with Steelers' iconic Terrible Towels waving in the air or tucked into their back pockets partied into the early morning hours Monday in an impromptu block party across Pittsburgh to celebrate the team's historic sixth Super Bowl win.Thousands of people gathered in the city's Oakland neighborhood near the University of Pittsburgh and also along the quirky strip of bars known as the South Side. City officials had anticipated the large crowds, and had about 400 police on the streets as a precaution. Moments after the Steelers sealed the 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Tampa, revelers poured out of area bars, and some broke out in song, bellowing Queen's We are the Champions.The city's Oakland section, near the University of Pittsburgh, was ground zero for post-game revelry, where thousands flooded the streets, waving the yellow and gold and lighting what they could on fire. Police, who has barricaded several streets so that fans could celebrate without jumping on cars, reported no major incidents, just a few good-natured couch fires.

Down in Tampa, the Super Bowl itself went off with minimal bad behavior, as less than 30 fans were arrested, including two who tried to snatch someone else's tickets and sneak their way into the big game, and one particularly drunk driver who somehow managed to drive her way into a police horse.
Police in riot gear patrolled the South Side on bikes and in cars, letting the loud and rowdy
celebration run its course. Jim Jacobs, 43, had his 8-year-old son, Marcus, on his shoulders and 9-year-old Luke by his side. We're going to have a hard time getting them up for school tomorrow, and they are home schooled," Bars were packed in the area popular with college students and the 20-something crowd, with music blaring. One man carried a life-size cutout of President Barack Obama, with a Terrible Towel draped around the neck, while a one-man band played in the middle of a blocked-off street and photos of players were projected onto the sides of buildings.

The Pennsylvania politicians who watched the Super Bowl at a White House party with President Barack Obama gave high marks to the team and the Fan-in-Chief. Mr. Obama had declared his allegiance to the Steelers before the Super Bowl."It was great, just a real honor to be able to watch the Super Bowl with the Steelers in it anywhere, but it was that much more of an honor to watch it at the White House," said Sen. Bob Casey, of Scranton. Mr. Casey brought four Terrible Towels and Eat 'n Park cookies to bring a bit of Pittsburgh to D.C. Mr. Casey said the event was "99 percent social." "The president was paying close attention," he said. "I think he saw every play."

Ah, the Super Bowl, gotta love a night that includes couch fires, driving into a horse, and dozens
of arrests, but is considered surprisingly orderly.

Here is how some of America’s leading sports pundits saw the Steelers’ triumph:

Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times: “In the end Sunday night, with Pittsburgh dancing and Arizona moaning and America struck dumb with the true spectacle of it all, Super Bowl XLIII will
overwhelmingly be remembered for one thing. It was the greatest. From a stirring national anthem to a tingling late finish, the Steelers’ 27-23 victory over the Cardinals was the greatest Super Bowl ever, one whose Roman numbers should have been XXL for its double-extra-large helping of theatrics and dramatics.”

Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports: “The fourth quarter had been a disaster for the Steelers, 16 unanswered points, a tiring defense and an offense that couldn’t get out of its own way. A lesser team would’ve crumbled. A weaker-minded group would’ve pointed fingers. Anything less than a champion would’ve let the Cardinals momentum wash right over them. (Ben) Roethlisberger had no such concerns. He knew his guys. He gathered the team before that final drive, embraced the opportunity and dared his teammates. This was their chance. It’s one drive for the Super Bowl, who doesn’t want this?”

Mark Kriegel, FoxSports.com: “Hines Ward might be the soul of the Steelers. Larry Fitzgerald, who now owns Jerry Rice’s single-season playoff records, might be the best receiver in football. But as the night moved toward its finale, Santonio Holmes kept telling himself this was his game. And so it was.”

Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN.com: “Do you have any idea how hard it is to win a Super Bowl? The
Steelers have now won a record-breaking six of them, two in the past four years. Fifteen of the
NFL’s 32 franchises have never won one. Five have never even advanced to the game. So trying to put an Iron City six-pack into perspective is like trying to comprehend Michelangelo’s Sistine
Chapel or Rod Blagojevich’s hair. Some things are beyond explanation.”

Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel: “In these trying economic times, how can you not feel good that
it’s the Steelers who have become the model franchise in all of professional sports? Some other of the NFL’s other dynastic franchises have come and gone, but the Steelers just keep coming. The Dallas Cowboys? They make headlines because their quarterback dates Jessica Simpson, but they haven’t won a playoff game in a dozen years.”

Other Quotes from the news:

Steelers football is 60 minutes. It’s never going to be pretty.

At 36-years-old, Tomlin is the youngest coach to lead a team to a Super Bowl victory.

Making his annual Groundhog's Day appearance Monday in Punxsutawney, Pa., Phil gazed out at a cheering crowd and "saw his shadow," the event's announcer said, signaling more winter to come, CNN reported. "After casting a joyful eye towards thousands of his faithful followers, Phil proclaimed that his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers were world champions one more time," the announcer said, adding, "And as he looked, 'a bright sky above me showed my shadow beside me. So six more weeks of winter it will be.

I just checked a map -- I had no idea Tampa was a suburb of Pittsburgh.

It was, in a word, marvelous. And none of the above even accounts for Jennifer Hudson's national anthem, the wave to the crowd by the members of that U.S. Airways flight crew who pulled off the Miracle on the Hudson . . . and, of course, the Boss, Bruce Springsteen,

This Ben Roethlisberger is one part bull rider, one part whirling dervish and three parts all man.

Harrison, the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year, picked off Kurt Warner's pass in the end zone and rumbled 100 yards the other way for a touchdown. That play was the longest in Super Bowl history .

The big apple is celebrating the Pittsburgh Steelers' big win on Sunday.In honor of the Steelers' Super Bowl win, the Empire State Building is shining its tower lights in yellow and white from dusk until midnight on Monday

A little more information on that Terrible Towel guy.
Myron Cope left behind something far more personal than a legacy of terrycloth, a battle flag for
a city and its team. In 1996, he handed over the trademark to the Terrible Towel to the Allegheny Valley School. It is a network of campuses and group homes across Pennsylvania for people with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities. It receives almost all the profits from sales of the towels. “It’s an incredible help for us,” a spokesman said. “We’re a nonprofit organization, and our primary funding is through Medicaid. While Medicaid is very good to people with disabilities, it is limited in what it will cover.” Myron Cope wanted the money to go not for construction projects, but for individual assistance for residents. Recent purchases include high-end specialized wheelchairs and sensory programs that allow severely disabled residents,including quadriplegics, to perform tasks such as turning on lights or music with a movement of their eyes.
Hundreds of thousands of the towels, trademarked as “Myron Cope’s the Official Terrible Towel”, are sold every year, for about $7 each. Through the Steelers, who handle the marketing of the towels, the school receives a check every month, usually for tens of thousands of dollars. Before this season, Allegheny Valley School had received more than $2.5 million from the towels since 1996.Roughly $1 million of that came during and immediately after the 2005 season, when the Steelers won Super Bowl XL. This season is likely to top that.

Thats part of the Steelers story too. It is always noted that the Steelers reflect their community of fans' personality. One never reads that about any other football team.

The celebration continues with a parade in downtown Pittsburgh at noon on Tuesday. Come and celebrate a wonderful success story in these lean and cold days. Come and be joyful.

I told you so !

Pittsburgh Steelers - Tonight's The Night

2009-02-01T08:00:00.003-05:00

When the Pittsburgh Steelers win tonight they will have won more Super Bowls than any other team.

The Steelers ride into their third American Football Conference championship game in five years tonight, their fourth in seven years, their sixth since 1994, and their 14th since the original cast of football icons led by Franco Harris himself mapped out a sporting empire in the 1970.

The line: Steelers by 6.
Series: Steelers lead, 17-10, including 1-0 in playoffs.
The skinny: Teams have met three times in the same season 18 times, with 11 sweeps. ...

The Ravens led the NFL with 34 takeaways. Ed Reed has 10 INTs in their past eight games. ... John Harbaugh (16) and Mike Tomlin (32) have 48 regular-season games between them as head coaches, fewest for conference title game coaches in the Super Bowl era since the Colts' Don McCafferty and the Raiders' John Madden had 42 between them in 1970.

Terry O'Neill takes the term "Steelers fanatic" to a whole new level. Some may remember his name from the last time the Steelers were in the Super Bowl. O'Neill is the guy who had a heart attack at Cupka's Bar on the south side when Jerome Bettis fumbled. A few years later, as the Steelers are approaching another big game, O'Neill said his friends are a little worried about him come Super Bowl Sunday. Terry O'Neill now has a pacemaker that still goes off occasionally on Steeler Sundays."This is how I'm introduced: 'Remember the guy who had the heart attack back when Jerome Bettis fumbled?'" O'Neill said. O'Neill's name is on T-shirts that say "Home of Heart Stopping Action." O'Neill went to the hospital after his heart stopped beating when Jerome Bettis fumbled on the goal line against the colts in the playoffs. Alive, O'Neill laughed a lot. "Another Pittsburgh guy, Andy Warhol, said we all get 15 minutes of fame, and here I am, talking to you after being dead," he says.

When did this game of games, this week where endlessly irritating television commercials used to trumpet the coming of Super Sundays with a chorus of trumpets and kettle drums worthy of the closing credits of "Britain at War" disappear into a world where the pregame words of the combatants sound like Elizabeth Barret Browning talking in her sleep?

A lot started with Myron Cope, for him, the Steelers were the best men. Myron passed away last year, but don't let that fool you. In both my mind's eye and hear I see him and hear him shouting from wherever the best of Pittsburgh calls heaven.
If that's a little confusing, then be aware that Myron spoke three languages: Pittsburgher, Cope-Speak and English -- definitely in that order. For 35 straight seasons, following a distinguished newspaper career, Myron was the Steelers' "man in the radio-TV booth." He was also Pittsburgh Nation's conscience, cheerleader and elder statesman. When it came to the Steelers, he was about as objective as a Florida real estate guy trying to sell you 32 acres of swampland.
A good catch in Cope-Speak was a "yoi." A great catch was a "double yoi." On the rarest of rare occasions, he even resorted to a "Triple Yoi." A Steelers first down was greeted with "Okel Dokel."
When Myron spoke, Pittsburgh listened. It had no choice. Picture the sound of the Last Empress of China dragging her elongated fingernails across the face of the world's largest blackboard. That was Myron's falsetto voice spreading the saga of the Steelers up and down across the air waves of Western Pennsylvania.
He knew his audience the way a father knows his children, and that bond led to the invention that lifted thousands and thousands of battered Pittsburgh emotions at a time when it was clear that the empty mills were never coming back. When the blue collar economy went straight down the old outhouse shaft, it was Myron Cope who rallied the Faithful.
He gave them The Terrible Towel.
The way Myron explained the birth of the Terrible Towel was like this:
"The general manager of my station wanted a gimmick, but I told him I wasn't a gimmick guy, and he said I better reconsider because my contract ran out in three weeks, so I told him 'I'm your gimmick guy.'
"I got on the air, and I told anyone and everyone within the sound of my voice (at Myron's decibel level, that meant from Three Rivers Stadium on up to Saturn) should bring a yellow towel to the game. If they didn't have one, they should buy one, and if they couldn't buy one, they should dye one."

The Terrible Towel was born. It is the most recognizable symbol in all of sports -- a yellow hand-held blizzard that could have distracted the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
If as you watch Sunday's game on television, one huge slice of the grandstand turns bright yellow, the sun has not fallen on Raymond James Stadium. An army of Terrible Towels has.
This will be the first time the Steelers of Pittsburgh try to win a Super Bowl without Myron Cope on this planet. But they best be warned. He's watching. He has always watched these Steelers with the same intensity that Pittsburgh always watched him. The older guys who retired from the front office will still tell you how amazed they were when Cope would check into the players' hotel surrounded by crowds of fans so large that security guards were needed in every city.
Not much has changed since then. Back in Cope's old hometown Sunday, the wind off the Allegheny River will rattle through downtown with all the subtlety of Harry Grebb's left hook. It will jar the teeth and cut through layers of clothing. This is the way it's supposed to be in the Western Pennsylvania weather, with God in his heaven, the calendar just dipping a single toe into February and the Steelers about to play football in the Super Bowl.
If Cope were here, he would frown on Florida's 70-degree weather but remind you it would be fine as long as his Steelers won. He would tell you that they had to win because back home there are generations of families that learned about Bill Dudley and Jock Sutherland and Bobby Layne and John Henry Johnson through the tribal elders. Now they tell their own children about Terry Bradshaw and Lynn Swan and Franco Harris and Jack Ham.
And then he would remind all that he was the one who gave air time by the hour to the creation of Franco's Italian-American Army -- the Franco Harris fan club. He explained to the world -- or at least Pittsburgh, which was his world -- that Franco's Army was the brainchild of the brainchild of a pizza guy and a baker to honor the Steelers star who was of African-American and Italian-American ancestry.
This will be his kind of game with his kind of stakes and thousands who made the trip from Pittsburgh will wave their Terrible Towels the way Joshua's horn players zeroed in on Jericho.
Let the record show that two days after Myron's death, hundreds of people gathered in the teeth of a heavy snowstorm in front of City Hall in Pittsburgh. As one they saluted their fallen hero in the ceremony that featured one, whole, solid minute of silent Terrible Towel waving.

This is an athletic opulence few cities even aspire to with any practicality. The Arizona Cardinals, who play the Philadelphia Eagles in today's earlier National Football Conference title game, have not mounted such a grand stage since the Truman administration, or approximately two decades before anyone so much as thought of a Super Bowl.
And still modern Championship Sundays in Pittsburgh deliver a seismic coupling of pride and wariness, something realist short story master Alice Munro might call "a terrible amount of luxury and unease."
The Steelers lost both championship games in the short history of Heinz Field. They've lost the last three title games played in Pittsburgh and four of the last five. But because they took the hair-raisingly uncharted Cincinnati-Indianapolis-Denver route to Super Bowl XL just three years ago, and because a victory tonight against the Baltimore Ravens would put them in a seventh Super Bowl (more than anyone except the Dallas Cowboys), they retain the perpetual civic burden of capacious expectations.

"We're used to this in Pittsburgh," said Hines Ward, the dean of Pittsburgh's stars. "No disrespect to the Pirates or the Penguins, but the standard around here is the Super Bowl every year. That's just what's expected."
Expectations are only part of the Pittsburgh/Steelers equation. On the other side is identity, as there is likely no fan base so intense, so far flung, so proud of something even as often indefinable as Pittsburgh ethos. "More than any other sports franchise I can think of, there's a kind of work ethic about them, and I don't know if it's branding, because that gets oversimplified into black and gold or whatever, but it's something about the Steelers that is recognized in London, in Manchester; there's a Steelers bar in Leon, France."
Consequently, Pittsburghers, regional expatriates and converts the world over have an implied license to take this simple game hyper-seriously, regardless of the debatable global urgency of an event like tonight's. It's all predictably manic, if not a little bit comic.

"I've found what epitomizes Pittsburgh, what sums up what we're all about, and it's right there in the main terminal at the Pittsburgh airport," said Bill Crawford, the gifted young Pittsburgh comedian. "There are two huge statues there. One is of George Washington, and one is of Franco Harris. People from Pittsburgh pass them and think, 'Yeah, that's normal, let's get our flight,' or 'Yeah, that's totally all right, let's go to Brookstone.'
"But people from outside the city see that and think it's ridiculous. They're like, 'What? Wait, this guy's the father of our country, and this other guy caught a football off somebody's helmet 35 years ago.' You can hear the argument, right?
"Dude, he was the first president."
"Oh yeah? Well Franco was a first-round draft choice in 1972."
"But Washington beat the Redcoats."
"Hey, Franco beat the Raiders -- it's pretty well documented. It was Immaculate."
"C'mon; he was the leader of the Continental Army!"
"Franco had Franco's Italian Army, it was his army, so in my mind, Franco's up one."
Small wonder that our own view of world history, even as it's unfolding, often gets seen through a black-and-gold looking glass. On the front page of this newspaper, the morning of Dec. 29, an all-capital letters, five-column headline read, "BIG BEN DOWN, PROBABLY NOT OUT." The one-column head next to that said, "Israel pounds Gaza by air again."
As the next Steelers cataclysm draws within hours, additions to the faith are fervently sought and dutifully recorded. The Steelers have never lost to a division opponent such as Baltimore in a postseason game. They're 7-0. When they beat an opponent twice in one season, as they have the Ravens this year, they've never lost a third meeting such as this. They are 7-0.
In the compound Pittsburgh equation though, there is something more than, again, "a terrible amount of luxury and unease."
"The reason we watch sports is the uncertainty of the outcome, but it's particularly compelling in a framework of success, like in Pittsburgh," "Look at San Francisco. There is a history of bohemia, which is generally enough to color a future of bohemia to a certain extent.
"With Pittsburgh, the Steelers are the embodiment of everything the city has ever done right, presented today in the urgency of a live event, a live event that can color the question of whether we can continue to do so.

Go Stillers !
Kickoff: 6:30 p.m EST.

This was mostly pieced together from several different sports articles, too many to credit, so forgive me.

This is very cool , these musicians are aged 11 to 13. Do yourself a favor and check them out !

President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address - A Gigapan Image

2009-01-26T23:13:00.007-05:00

This is very cool and one could get lost in here, I did. NYC Photographer David Bergman made this Gigapan image from the north press platform during President Obama's inaugural address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on January 20, 2009. It's made up of 220 images and the final image size is 59,783 X 24,658 pixels or 1,474 megapixels.

Click on the image, zoom surprisingly close and you can see what everyone is doing as the new President speaks.

Ain't Wastin Time No More

2009-01-20T11:15:00.019-05:00

Gregg Allman wrote this song to help himself cope with the death of his brother Duane Allman. I feel our country has suffered a sort of death for the last eight years, it might be better termed a zombie like existence. We've been stumbling, like walking wounded, but tense, with shoulders jacked up around our neck. Even the sunshine has felt like rain for a long time. That ends today. There's very little sadness this song. It is, rather, a commitment to the present and the future. This is the best chance we've ever had. It is a beautiful day.

Last Sunday morning, the sunshine felt like rain.
Week before, they all seemed the same.
With the help of God and true friends,
I come to realize I still had two strong legs,
and even wings to fly.
And oh I, ain't wastin' time no more
cause time goes by like hurricanes, and faster things.

Lord, lord miss Sally, why all your cryin?
Been around here three long days, you're lookin like you're dyin.
Just step yourself outside, and look up at the stars above
Go on downtown baby, find somebody to love.
Meanwhile I ain't wastin time no more
cause time goes by like pouring rain, and much faster things.

You don't need no gypsy to tell you why,
You cant let one precious day slip by.
Look inside yourself, and if you dont see what you want,
Maybe sometimes then you don't,
But leave your mind alone and just get high.

Well by and by, way after many years have gone,
And all the war freaks die off, leavin us alone.
Well raise our children in the peaceful way we can,
Its up to you and me brother
To try and try again.

Well, hear us now, we aint wastin time no more
cause time goes by like hurricanes
Runnin after subway trains
Dont forget the pouring rain.

This is live at the Beacon Theater in 2003. Derek Trucks does the first solo and Warren Haynes does the second.

Pittsburgh Is Going To The Super Bowl !

2009-01-19T01:13:00.008-05:00

Because they deserve it !..................................because they earned it !...........because ....they did it ! And tonight ............is one glorious night ...............in Steeler Nation.

It's A Steeler Nation, You Just Live Here

2009-01-17T10:50:00.014-05:00

There will be one hell of a good football game on Sunday January 18th at 6:30 pm when the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh. Wherever you go around this country , you can find Steeler fans. Thats because for so many years many of the areas best and brightest moved on to where the pickin's were better, but they never lost the 'Burgh feeling. One can find a Steeler's fan bar in every major city and they could accurately be called America's favorite team.
The Ravens-Steelers rivalry is arguably the nastiest in all of sports. What happens when you throw the irresistible force that is Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward and the immovable object that is Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis onto the same field ? Breathtaking hits, some of them late. It is not the longest rivalry in the history of the NFL, but it is the most intense.

"What else would you expect -- us and the Ravens," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said Sunday after the Steelers handled the Chargers 35-24. "It would be a big game if it was a scrimmage. It just happens to be the AFC Championship Game." Familiarity between these two AFC North teams breeds, well, something beyond contempt. There have been alleged late hits, reported bounties and even not-so-veiled death threats.
"Every block, every tackle -- none of them are done casually," said Steelers radio broadcaster Tunch Ilkin, who played in Pittsburgh from 1980 to 1992. "They're all done with full intensity and malicious intent. If you have a chance to rub a guy's face in the dirt on a tackle, you do. If you can put a knee in a guy's back to help yourself get up, you do it."
This season, appropriately, the Ravens and Steelers have the league's top-ranked defenses in terms of points and yards allowed. The Steelers lead the series 17-10 -- including a divisional-round playoff victory at the end of the 2001 season -- and won both previous games this season, one in overtime, by a total of seven points.
The Ravens, though, have had their moments. In 2006, they won both games and sacked quarterback Ben Roethlisberger 16 times. One of them was a brutal shot by Ravens linebacker Bart Scott. "That's the cleanest tackle I've had in my life," Scott said later. "It felt good to hear the air leave his body."
That's the kind of game it's going to be !

After this win , February 1st at Tampa will have a scene much like this one from a few years back.

Go Stillers !..............................Number 1..........

This pic says it all

Now Guitar Heroes Can Play Real Guitar

2009-01-09T00:02:00.028-05:00

I play guitar so I've never been impressed with the Guitar Hero game but at a bar near me on Thursday nights teams of crazy drunks compete playing it and it is loads of fun to watch. Of course no one is playing for real, they are just pushing colored buttons on toy guitars, kind of like high tech air guitar. Only the singers need some real chops / talent to play the game, the others including the drummer are just going through the motions. Well that's not going to impress the girls which is why every one learns to play guitar in the first place . Soon guitar hero wannabees can actually learn to play guitar or at least to learn where you put your fingers, which is very necessary in playing actual guitar. This is a great idea. Using a real and playable guitar in this game means you actually take something home after the experience, something you can apply to real life. The system uses a guitar with color coded strings and has lessons to teach guitar as well as featuring competitive game play. So now you can really rock out, make the other, plastic guitar guys or girls look like dorks and get the real chicks ( or guys ) too. Disney is involved in this so lets hope the music cranks and that its not High School Musical type drivel.

When I get big I'm gonna get an electric guitar..............when I get real big - Neil Young muttering between songs at a concert.

A real guitar, a 1982 Epiphone Spirit. The Spirit is Epiphone / Gibson's answer to the Fender Tele, a working man's axe, a solid slab of wood with two hot pickups and a perfect neck.
I never achieved hero status with it ( my guitar playing friends would quickly agree ) but for a few years I seldom paid for my own drinks in the local saloons.....now that's status you can use !

Happy New Year And The 2008 "WTF?" Awards

2008-12-31T03:38:00.031-05:00

"As for you, Gilgamesh, fill your belly with good things; day and night, night and day, dance and be merry, feast and rejoice. Let your clothes be fresh, bathe yourself in water, cherish the little child that holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your embrace; for this too is the lot of man." - In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Siduri

From the Smirking Chimp comes the The 2008 "WTF?" Awards
by Ed Naha :

As 2008 stumbles to the finish line like the last member of "The Wild Bunch" to eat the dirt, it's time to pause and reflect on the past twelve months. Yet, how to do so without using George Carlin's famous "Seven Words" a thousand times in five minutes? There's only one course to take. It's time for the "2008 'WTF?' Awards:

THE "I GOT A ROCKET IN MY POCKET" AWARD is bestowed upon CIA operatives in Afghanistan. In an attempt to win the loyalty of grizzled warlords, the agents are giving them the gift of Viagra. In an effort to win the loyalty of warlords' wives, they are giving them running shoes and a six-hour head start.

THE "THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON DRUGS" PRIZE goes to economics whiz Rush Limbaugh who, shortly after the election, declared: "The Obama recession is in full swing, ladies and gentlemen. Stocks are dying, which is a precursor of things to come. This is an Obama recession. Might turn into a depression." He then forecast a return of zeppelin travel and told his maid go get more of his special take-out.

THE NO DOLLARS AND NON-CENTS tin-foil crown is shared by Karl Rove and Bill O'Reilly, who declared that the current recession is just media hype designed to bolster the standing of Barack Obama. O'Reilly asked if it all isn't just an "effort on the part of 'The New York Times' and other liberal media to basically paint as drastic a picture as possible, so that when Barack Obama takes office that anything is better than what we have now?" The ever-sage Rove replied: "Yes." They then both interviewed Leprechauns about the myth of global warming.

THE "FANTASY ISLAND" MEETS "LOST" ORATORY AWARD goes to Condoleezza Rice who, this past weekend, declared that claims that the Bush Administration is one of the worst ever are "ridiculous." "I think generations pretty soon are going to start to thank this president for what he's done. This generation will," she declared before being tranquilized and carted off to "Our Lady of Cashews' Home for the Reality-Impaired."

THE "ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME" PRIZE goes to the Philippines' Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is having a hard time being taken seriously. Their acronym is MILF. Sarah Palin is thinking of suing.

THE "COVER ME BOYS, I'M TAKING THE HILL" AWARD is given to perpetually dour Tom Brokaw who, stuck in The Greatest Generation mode, consistently stated that Senator John McCain was criticism-proof because he was "a genuine war hero." Close friends are worried about Tom. He's currently having all of Audie Murphy's old flashbacks.

THE "BIGGUS DICKUS" PROFILES IN DEMENTIA AWARD goes to Dick Cheney. He began the year with an interview where he was told that two-thirds of the country thought the Iraq invasion was a colossal screw-up. He replied with: "So?" He ended the year, ruminating on the fact that he's as popular as an anal wart. "I don't have any idea" why. If nothing else, he's consistent.

THE "WHO COULD'VE SEEN IT COMING?" CRYSTAL BALL is awarded to the Bush financial team. The following is a series of headlines that appeared in a single week in February. "Recession fears rise on more job cuts." "Fed takes new steps to boost cash for banks." "World markets slide as US economy groans." "Housing market spirals, no end in sight." "Consumer confidence at lowest since 2002." "Studies: Iraq costs US $12B per month." "Gas prices rise to new national record." "Consumers increased their borrowing by $6.9 billion in January." "Bush says no recession in sight."

THE "JUNGLE FEVER" WASHCLOTH is tossed at Fox pollster Frank Luntz who, after a Clinton-Obama debate asked his control group, "How many of you want them to make love to each other?" He then went home and watched the film "Mandingo" with a can of Reddi Wip.

THE "I THINK, THEREFORE I AIN'T" TIN WHISTLE goes to ever vigilant broadcast barnacle Michael Savage who, pondering the existence of Obama, offered: "We have a right to know if he's a so-called friendly Muslim or one who aspires to more radical teachings."

THE "WHO WOULD JESUS PISS ON?" PRIZE is nailed by Southern Carolina Pastor Roger Byrd, who posted this message on a sign outside his church. "Obama, Osama, Hmmmm, are they brothers?" Hmmmm. Byrd? Turd? Separated at birth?

THE GOP BIG (PLANTATION?) SLAVE QUARTERS MEDAL is hung around the neck of Rep. Geoff David (KY) who, after calling Obama "a snake oil salesman," added, "That boy's finger does not need to be on the (nuclear) button." He later said his use of the word "boy" was not meant to be offensive. He meant to say "pickaninny."

THE "KEEP YOUR EYES ON HIS BALLS" TROPHY goes to John McCain who sold sacks of golf balls on his web site but didn't take into account the wave of satisfied "customers" who would post their testimonials. "The Golf Pack is great," wrote one, "but when are you going to offer a Joe Lieberman Certified McCain Ballwasher?" "I LOVE it!" declared a customer named Gramps. "I appreciate the compartment for my soiled Depends."

THE "GREAT AMERICAN PIG-OUT" PRIZE goes to the Republican Party who, over eight weeks, spent $68,400 for Sarah Palin's makeup artist, $42,000 for her hair stylist and over $150,000 on clothing. Swill, baby, swill! You betcha.

And, finally, THE DIRTY, ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS AWARD goes to the Bush Administration; the biggest collection of lying, corrupt, ideology-driven, callous, immoral, uncaring, arrogant, factually ignorant, pompous, preening clowns ever to befoul Washington. May your heads always be targeted by Buster Brown and Tige.

Condolences to the runners-up: the bankers, Wall Street wizards and captains of Industry who destroyed the American economy through sheer greed. You never literally bombed innocent civilians, so you missed by inches.

Read all the awards here.

Happy New Year everyone, and cheer up, it's looking a lot better this time around, and there's only 20 days, 6 hours and 47 minutes more to go till we no longer have to hold our collective noses.

Palin Family Values

2008-12-30T08:47:00.009-05:00

These are two kids who were both forced to quit high school because of Grandma Bible Spice's holyroller style American values. So much for promoting abstinence and denying sex education. With the fundies it's all about how it looks, not what is wiser or better for everyone. Speaking of God, Lord Almighty could you imagine the weeping, whining, pissing and moaning if this were the Obama's 18 year old daughter, or any other Democrats' children ? That bloated Rush , Billo and the peckerheads at Fox news would never let it rest. All a reasonable person can say is best of luck to the the new parents, they are no different and no dumber than most eighteen year olds. Looks like they fired up the old Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator for this new child. Their bad fortune is to have to spend future holiday dinners at the tables of either of their crazy parents. I suggest you two move to the lower 48 and get the fuck away from both your families.

Bristol Palin gave birth to her much-anticipated baby son on Sunday, People.com reported this evening.
The first grandchild of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston, weighing in at seven pounds, four ounces.
When it was announced shortly after Gov. Palin was named John McCain's running mate that her teenage daughter was expecting, it triggered national debates on teen pregnancy and marriage, abstinence education, the VP vetting process, the privacy of political families and, well, just about everything.
Bristol Palin is 18, as is her boyfriend of three years, Levi Johnston, a former high school hockey player. Both have dropped out of high school -- she to complete her diploma through correspondence courses, People reports, and he to become an apprentice electrician, he told the AP this fall. They have said they plan to marry in 2009. (Johnston's mother Sherry was arrested earlier this month on felony drug charges for allegedly selling OxyContin.)

This was pinched from the Washington Post. I'm sure the story will go on and on and on.

This Is Bad.............Bad...Bad...Bad

2008-12-30T08:22:00.008-05:00

Bad Daddy

Bad Mommy

Bad Boys

Bad Girls

Bad Bride

Bad Day At Black Rock

Bad Kitty

Bad Taste

Bad Holiday Spirit

Bad Genes

Bad Costume

Bad Neighborhood

Bad Company

Bad Judgment

Bad Joke

Bad Idea

Bad Vibe

Bad Elvis

Dock Ellis - Psychedelic Pittsburgh Pirate

2008-12-20T16:10:00.002-05:00

Pittsburgh Pirates' pitcher Dock Ellis who said he was under the influence of LSD when he pitched a 1970 no-hitter against the San Diego Padres passed away yesterday.

Dock Ellis, the former major league pitcher best remembered for his flamboyance and social activism as a member of the great Pittsburgh Pirates teams of the 1970s, died Friday December 19th of a liver ailment in California. He was 63. Dock Ellis won 138 games over 12 major league seasons. Ellis spent 12 years in the majors with Pittsburgh, the New York Yankees, Oakland, Texas and the New York Mets. He retired in 1979 with a record of 138-119. but was best known for several colorful incidents on and off the field.

Dock related the LSD story in 1984 while he was co-ordinator of an anti drug program in Los Angeles. He said he didn't know until six hours before his June 12, 1970 no hitter that he was going to pitch.
"I was in Los Angeles, and the team was playing in San Diego , but I didn't know it. I had taken LSD..... I thought it was an off-day, that's how come I had it in me. I took the LSD at noon. At 1 pm, his girlfriend and trip partner looked at the paper and said, "Dock, you're pitching today! She got me to the airport at 3:30. I got there at 4:30, and the game started at 6:05pm. It was a twi-night doubleheader.I can only remember bits and pieces of the game. I was psyched. I had a feeling of euphoria.I was zeroed in on the (catcher's) glove, but I didn't hit the glove too much. I remember hitting a couple of batters and the bases were loaded two or three times.The ball was small sometimes, the ball was large sometimes, sometimes I saw the catcher, sometimes I didn't. Sometimes I tried to stare the hitter down and throw while I was looking at him. I chewed my gum until it turned to powder. They say I had about three to four fielding chances. I remember diving out of the way of a ball I thought was a line drive. I jumped, but the ball wasn't hit hard and never reached me."

The Pirates won the game, 2-0, although Ellis walked eight batters. It was the highpoint in the baseball career of one of the finer pitchers of his time, and arguably,one of the greatest achievements in the history of sports.

In May 1974 -- in an effort to inspire a lifeless Pittsburgh team -- Ellis beaned Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and Dan Driessen in the top of the first inning. After walking Tony Perez, Ellis threw a pitch near Johnny Bench's head and was lifted from the game by manager Danny Murtaugh.
Ellis went 19-9 in 1971 for the Pirates, who beat the Orioles in the World Series.
Off the field, Ellis spoke freely about racial issues, once telling reporters that he wouldn't start against Oakland's Vida Blue in the All-Star Game because Major League Baseball would never start "two soul brothers'' against each other.

Ellis suffered from cirrhosis of the liver and was placed on a list to receive a liver transplant in May. The Los Angeles Times wrote that Ellis had no health insurance, but received help paying his medical bills from friends in baseball.Bill Scaringe, an agent who represented Ellis after he retired, said Ellis worked for years in the California department of corrections helping inmates transition from prison back to the community. He also ran a drug counseling center in Los Angeles. Scaringe said. "Dock was such a likeable person -- very gregarious, very outgoing. I would set up personal appearances for him, and after like 30 seconds, people were like relatives or neighbors. Dock was very easy to talk to. He was just a pleasure to be around.

That was Dock, peace be to his ashes .

Tattooed Pig

2008-12-19T09:18:00.009-05:00

Words fail me.

Midnight Music Club # 3 - Norman Nardini

2008-12-13T03:38:00.017-05:00

Norman has never worked a straight job for one day of his life. He has only ever played music. Pittsburgh has had some great rock bands: Gathering Field, The Silencers, Joe Grusheckey & the Iron City Houserockers, Rusted Root, Donnie Iris, The Clarks and Billy Price to name just a few. Among all these, Norman Nardini is a legend. He is working tonight, somewhere, at a festival or in a dive bar he's playing his rust belt rock & roll, his three piece band working man's music. It's American heartland music, like Seeger or Bruce or Mellencamp or Petty, no different than any of them and certainly no less. He's lacked a great commercial success but what the fuck does that have to do with making great rock and roll ?

In 1975 he was a bass player for the rock band Diamond Reo. Norman left the band to start Norman Nardini & The Tigers as lead singer, lead guitar and song writer. The 1981 release "Eatin Alive", recorded live at Cleveland’s legendary Agora Club, received a 4 Star Review from Rolling Stone’s record guide. The Tigers toured together through 1986. CBS in 1983 released "Norman Nardini and The Tigers", which featured Norman’s longtime friend, Jon Bon Jovi, on background vocals. In 1987, CBS released "Love Dog" which featured Rick Derringer, Dr. John and Paul Schaeffer. Throughout the 90's, Norman continued touring and released 3 CDs on New York City's Circumstantial label . 1991’s "This Ole Train" took Norman over to Germany for a tour with the Blues Brothers. In 1998, Moondog Records released "There Was A Time" and more great stuff has followed. 1993's "It's Alive" is live and alive Norman at his best. He's the real deal. He makes friends easily, shares his toys and jams well with others.

..."Norman Nardini is the epitome of rock'n'roll. He lives it and breathes it. The greatest compliment anybody can pay a player is that he lives it. God bless him for it.." ~Jon Bon Jovi

Here are my friends Norman and Whitey Cooper and Harry Bottoms doing "Rock & Roll City" in the Beachland Tavern, a neighborhood bar, the kind of place where they are most at home. With Norman , it's all about the music and the buzz he can pass on to you in the night.

If you want more I recommend the "Smoke Two Joints " video, above.

Pilgrim George - Walkin' The Walk

2008-12-10T11:10:00.015-05:00

Last fall I was driving along a country road when I noticed an apparition in faded blue truckin' along the side of the road. Normally my curiosity would have demanded I stop and inquire just what was happening but I was running late for an appointment. I had to go along without stopping but wondered several times in the days afterward " who was that cat ? " Did I really see that or was it one of the acid flashbacks the government always promised me but never paid off on ? Several days later I read a story in the local newspaper reassuring me that I did still maintain my tenuous hold on reality. It was written by my friend Colleen Nelson, an illustrator, artist and free lance writer. I have never been accused of being overly religious but I do like to think I have a spiritual sense that recognizes and embraces the good that exists. My philosophy is that any one that practices love and gentleness has my support. It is nice to know something of the story of Pilgrim George, a good soul who walks the walk. The story Colleen wrote follows:

Drivers on their way to work on Tuesday morning might have spotted a tall, robed figure striding through Rogersville, on State Route 18- 21. The details of his dress were startling against the backdrop of Victorian houses, casual American dressers and passing vehicles – hooded robe, wooden staff and thick sandals keeping a steady pace. Curiosity won out over being late for work for one West Greene resident, who found the nearest place to turn around and drive back to find out what the heck Gandalf was doing out here in the boonies, snowy beard flowing, walking like he had some special place to go. Meet Pilgrim George, not of Middle Earth, but of this earth, just passing through, as he has for more than 30 years. He had left the highway and was sitting in the flowery grasses beside the creek, drinking water from a plastic bottle and being entertained by a young gray tabby cat who was delighted to find a fellow sojourner taking his ease in the natural world. "Yes," he admitted, eyes twinkling in an open, friendly face that was weathered and tan. His glasses were held in place with tape, but the big icon around his neck glistened with gold leaf and there was a wide embossed cross at the top of the staff beside him. A rosary encircled one wrist. "I’m a pilgrim. I left Cameron, West Virginia this morning and I’m on my way to Uniontown." After more than 30 years of making the road his home, from here to Jerusalem and back, Byzantine Catholic church deacon George Florien Walter knows a thing or two about the kindness of strangers. He doesn’t carry money or food, just water and a tent. His pouches and bags contain day-to-day necessities, including needle and thread for on-the-road repairs. His sandals are made of pieces of tire tread, bolts and wire he finds along the berm. The bottom of his wooden staff is shod in tread as well, neatly tied and tacked. On the road, those who are intrigued enough to say hello sometimes supply lifts to the next town and even breakfast at McDonalds. Passersby offer meals and showers, reporters write stories about his travels and those who ask are blessed. "For four months of the year I walk hundreds of miles. The rest of the time I’m a poustinik, a hermit ". His yearly pilgrimage will end at Mount. St. Macrina, near Uniontown. Thousands of Byzantine Catholics from all over America have gathered here for 74 years for a Labor Day weekend of prayer, teachings, fellowship and good food. Walter shouldered his pack and took up the staff the first week of May to visit shrines and celebrate holy days in the states he visited. For many, this chance meeting takes on a religious significance that reaffirms their own faith. Pilgrimages are part of all religions, and as such reflect the universal need to seek a conversion experience – a journey that brings a life change. For thousands of years, the faithful have made the journey on foot to holy places or shrines of special significance. The experience of walking great distances teaches that the way of getting there was just as important as the destination. For Walter, 67, his pilgrimage of faith is a global love affair. He has walked through 41 countries, starting with a pilgrimage from Barcelona to Jerusalem 38 years ago at age 29. He has logged more than thirty eight thousand miles, once traveling up to 30 miles a day, now down to a sage 10 to 12 miles through the heat and sudden showers of May through September weather. The tradition of traveling on foot is preserved at Mount St. Macrina and is honored by the many processions that take place this weekend. Ceremonies are accompanied by the singing of prayers and brightened by pilgrims like Walter, who put on the vestments of antiquity and poverty and walk their connection with divinity. "I’m living the life God intended for me," Walter said simply as he got in the passengers seat and headed to town with his new benefactor, who dropped him off at Bowlby Library and gave him directions to St. Anns Church on High Street. It was just another blessedly giving and receiving kind of day in the life of Pilgrim George.

The History Of Religion In 90 Seconds

2008-12-08T18:56:00.013-05:00

This is really fascinating to me . I like to study the times that existed between the major events ( wars, plagues, forward leaps of collective consciousness ) of the world to fill in the spaces existing in my knowledge. I read books titled The History of Europe 1920 - 1935. It's necessary to know not just what happened but also how it all came about due to the years preceding. This short video does nicely as far as to show how the worlds religions have evolved. Only 90 seconds to expand your understanding of how we got here, where we are now , as people, in this shrinking world. Because religion, like it or not , drives most people's lives to some degree and we all have to live with that fact and in some sad cases people die with that fact burning into their freakin' eyeballs. Reason enough to stop and get a realistic perspective.

This is from a very interesting site called Maps Of War.

How has the geography of religion evolved over the centuries, and where has it sparked wars? Our map gives us a brief history of the world's most well-known religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism. Selected periods of inter-religious bloodshed are also highlighted. Want to see 5,000 years of religion in 90 seconds? Ready, Set, Go !

No Digital TV For The Elderly

2008-12-05T17:36:00.009-05:00

Sorry Grandma, no more tv for you come February something. This poor lady's VCR has been flashing 12:00, 12:00,12:00 since 1983. She gives it a good try though.......... she's game.

Buy A Toaster And Get A Free Bank

2008-12-05T16:04:00.006-05:00

No thanks , I have enough on my plate right now , thank you. .......trying to manage just my own affairs...............But it does remind me of the old joke about standing in a bread line and asking for toast.