Thursday, August 27, 2009

Redneck World

I spent the weekend with my big brother (AKA the Chief) and his family at the Kingsley Lake campgrounds at the Florida National Guard's Camp Blanding.

On Saturday we visited the Waldo Flea Market. There were many things that you would expect to see at a country flea market, from farm equipment to vegetables "only from the USA" as the sign says.

And then there was a little tent in the back called Redneck World. Being raised in New Jersey, I must confessed that I don't get the obsession with the Confederacy 134 years after its downfall. I'll tell you of some of the questionable things I saw and let you decide whether it's over the top.

A bumper sticker that says "Lee surrendered. I didn't."

Another bumper sticker. "Gone Coon Hunting". To be fair, there is a picture of some sort of animal on the sticker.

A T-shirt with the Stars and Bars and the words, "Fighting Terrorism Since 1861".

A T-shirt with Dr King's words, "I Have a Dream" and a picture of the US Capitol Building with the Stars and Bars flying over it.

On an earlier visit my brother claims to have seen a T-shirt with Klansmen in full dress and the words, "The Original Boys in the Hood" though I did not see this.

That's about as it. No "Dueling Banjoes" stuff.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Burn her!

So, continuing the iPod's shuffle, back-to-back it gives me:

"I Hear a Symphony," the Supremes
"Romeo and Juliet," Dire Straits

Maybe it's true after all?

Thursday, August 20, 2009

This doesn't surprise me

MSNBC talking about the gun-toting racists out to get our beloved president.

Watching this video, you will notice the extreme close up of the AR-15. That is because the racist gun-toter is black.

I know that the only folks watching MSNBC are the hard-core Obama Kool-aid drinkers, so they are probably lapping this up.

I'd rather have a daughter on a pole an the Mons Venus than work for any NBC network or affiliate.

The Bucs secondary was thin anyway...(Update)

.....before safety Tanard Jackson got suspended by the NFL for getting high.

Jackson will miss the first four games of the regular season without pay after an unspecified violation of the league's substances of abuse policy, leaving the Bucs without a two-year starter and one of the defense's most feared hitters. The penalty will cost Jackson $108,235 in salary.

Also. this doesn't help either.

A Tampa Bay Buccaneers player is accused of resisting arrest without violence and simple battery.

Cornerback Aqib Talib, 23, posted $300 bail this morning and was released from the Pinellas County jail after he was arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol. Both charges are misdemeanors.

The police report said that there was " an indication of alcohol influence". Really?

My big brother, the Chief, is a Jaguar season tix holder. I will be joining him Saturday night in Jacksonville to watch those Buccaneers who aren't getting high or beating on cabbies.

Update: Local sports talk is presenting the theory that the cabbie may be trying to cash in on this - that he may be trying to take advantage of a rich, sobriety-deprived athlete.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Memey, memey, nice and dreamy

It's an iPod shuffly sort of thing, probably gone round before, but why not. I like rediscovering things, especially when it means cheap, easy content.

The rules, as described by SarahK:

1. Put your iTunes, iPod, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN, NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
4. Tag whoever you want including me.
5. Have fun - you will be surprised at how it works sometimes.

Background: the ol’ Pod has 4150 songs on it, and many of them are quite odd, since it holds all of my show soundtracks (and a CD compilation of TV themes). Luckily I haven’t put all my Christmas music on it yet. As for tags... hey, go for it if you like it.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
“What Is and What Should Never Be,” Led Zeppelin. Heheheheh.

WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GUY/GIRL?
“All I Need,” the Temptations. Two for two, iPod.

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
“Tuesday Afternoon,” the Moody Blues. OK, this is getting eerie. Bonus - the track from "Days of Future Passed" includes "Evening (Time to Get Away)." Sing it, iPod.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
“As Long as I’m Singing,” Brian Setzer Orchestra. The word processor wants to call him Brian Seltzer. Poor guy. (Be advised - I have a poor singing voice, but I know of know song called As Long as I'm Writing.)

WHAT’S YOUR MOTTO
“The Simpsons End Credits.” Did I mention the odd stuff on the ol’ Pod?

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
“Some Things You Never Get Used To,” the Supremes. Hahahahahahaha...

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
“Black Dog,” Led Zeppelin. Whoa, this meme went sideways pretty quickly.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
“Boom Boom,” the Yardbirds. I don’t know what this means. 50’s singer Freddy Cannon? Former boxer Ray Mancini? Artillery barrages? Maybe it’s shooting at the walls of heartache. No, that’s Bang Bang (that awful sound). Stop confoozalin’ me, iPod.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR FIRST KISS?
“Promises, Promises” by Naked Eyes. Oh, ouch. Moral - never mock the iPod; it hits back hard. Probably a design feature.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
“Night Court.” Wha?

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
“Still Alive and Well,” Rick Derringer. Interesting. I’d have picked differently for myself, but that’s kind of the whole point of this exercise, isn’t it? Besides killing time and finally putting up a post.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
“Hot Fun in the Summertime,” Sly and the Family Stone. LOVE this song.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE/LOVE?
“Velveteen,” Yoko Kanno/Ilaria Graziano. Ladybug and I first bonded by discovering that we both enjoyed Kanno’s music.

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
“Luck Will Turn Someday,” L/R soundtrack. We didn’t – and it’s hardly a dance number, though it’s a good song. If any of the songs we DID dance to had turned up, I think I would have burned my iPod as a witch.

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
“You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” Blood Sweat & Tears. Holy cow, my iPod made me tear up.

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
“Advice,” the Pillows. Ah… Sadly, I am full of help for others.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
“Pulling Mussels,” Squeeze. Hahahahaha! That would be pretty bad for a goalie.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
“Bad Case of Loving You,” Robert Palmer. Sorry, all… the secret’s out! I love my wife. (Gasp!)

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
“Weather with You,” Crowded House.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
“Route 101,” Herb Alpert. Hm. This is on the Traveling Cosmic Yurt soundtrack (coming soon!) so, again, I think my iPod may be a witch. Build a church out of her!

BONUS TRACK: “Five-Eighths,” again from the L/R soundtrack. It’s the instrumental version, so there’s no heavily-accented English. Very pretty song. I know practically none of the words.

Clicking does the strangest things

I came across an article online regarding Randy Wolf, the former Phillies pitcher who now works for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The pride of Pepperdine University is a decent middle-of-the-rotation guy at this point, but his most recent start (vs. Arizona) was a thing of beauty. Through seven innings he had allowed only one single, striking out ten, and had gone 2-3 with a home run.

They let him hit for himself in the top of the eighth - why not, it was 7-0 - and he smacked an RBI double, and came around to score, and Joe Torre let him keep going. I mean, again, why not? The guy was cruising. He'd retired 20 consecutive Diamondbacks. He'd struck out the side in the fifth, two more in the seventh, and had a shot at actually hitting for the cycle.

On his second pitch of the eighth, Wolf gave up a dinger, and two singles and a triple later, Torre had to come get him. His final line was 7 2/3 IP, three runs on five hits with ten strikeouts, plus a 3-4, 3 rbi day at the plate.

The article (which I can't find now) posited that Wolf's day was one of the greatest ever enjoyed by a pitcher, and while it's a fine day indeed, I can't help but think that there have been enough truly amazing days to consider this a slight step below.

That's not the Mets fan in me talking, either. To prove it, I will cite as possibly the top of the list a warm June in Cincinnati, where the visiting Phillies send Rick Wise to the mound. He threw a no-hitter that day... and hit two home runs of his own. Not many pitchers can say that they've done that, and to my knowledge no other pitcher can say that he did it TWICE - but Wise can, and what's more, he did it in the same season.

But this is where clicking comes in. Wise can also add some odd-duck trivia. Most famously, he was traded straight-up for Steve Carlton, who went on to win 27 games for the dreadful '72 Phils, with the Cy Young and the Hall of Fame and (for a very little while) the all-time strikeout title.

Wise's first-ever start in 1964 came against the Giants, and he surrendered his first major league home run in the first inning - to Willie Mays. On August 28th, 1971, they became the second team in a single year to give up two homers TO Wise; one was a grand slam to break a tie.

The Phillies lost 7 of Wise's next 8 starts following the June no-hitter... they also lost his next three starts after that August 28th game.

Wise wound up hitting 15 career homers, and one week shy of the two-year anniversary of his first grand slam, he hit another for the Cardinals against the Braves. It would be his last career homer.

But wait! There's more! The Baseball Reference guys ran a list of all the relievers who've hit homers and found two who've hit two in a game themselves. The first guy on that list, Millard "Dixie" Howell, is a very interesting guy: broke in with the Cleveland Indians in 1940, had arm troubles, went to WW2, was made a prisoner of war, but made it briefly back to the bigs at age 29. And when the game seemed to have passed him by, he popped back up at age 35 for the White Sox, presaging Jim Morris by over forty years, and he went 8-3 with a 2.93 ERA. His two-tater game came two years later. Sadly, he died very young, via heart attack at age 40, while working out for an independent league team in spring training.

By the way, be sure when you investigate these things. You have to wind up with the correct Millard "Dixie" Howell, or things could get wierd.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Thanks Brad!

For ruining this song for me.

Before singing his song "Welcome to the Future," Paisley reflected on Election Day, telling the audience in the East Room that it felt "unbelievable" to be in N.Y.C.'s Times Square, before turning to the President and quipping, "I'm sure you were busy." "I stood there and watched the world turn on a dime," Paisley said to President Obama. "I'm a two-time father…I thought about [my children]...you are the first president they will remember, which is something."

You need to watch the video to get the full gushing over. I know a lot of college students like Brad Paisley, and he can support whomever he wants.

But remember the Dixie Chicks - getting seen with this guy might not be healthy for the career.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

I think I'll go for a walk

See, he says he's not dead.

You're not foolin' anyone, y'know...

No, I want to post something! I feel happy! I feel happyyyyyy...

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Don't give Corzine any ideas

Apparently, the state of California has been issuing IOUs to contractors that they do business with because Ahnold has no cash. They are worthless; no bank will honor them.

Small businesses that received $682 million in IOUs from the state say California expects them to pay taxes on the worthless scraps of paper, but refuses to accept its own IOUs to pay debts or taxes. The vendors' federal class action claims the state is trying to balance its budget on their backs.

Lead plaintiff Nancy Baird filled her contract with California to provide embroidered polo shirts to a youth camp run by the National Guard, but never was paid the $27,000 she was owed. She says California "paid" her with an IOU that two banks refused to accept - yet she had to pay California sales tax on the so-called "sale" of the uniforms.

But here's the prize in the Cracker Jack box. California is treating the IOUs as income and is demanding IOU holders to pax state income tax on them. And the state won't take its own IOUs back as payment.

I hope for the sake of you folks in Jersey that your governor isn't reading this blog.

Saturday, August 08, 2009

This is creative

Some Dem congresscritters are looking for ways to avoid their own voters this August break. Some load up their town halls with union goons, but that can lead to some bad video. Some will only meet one on one with voters. Some will do telephone town halls. One guy had his at a children's hospital.

But Congresscritter Sanchez tops them all. Disguise your town hall as a prayer vigil. Notice this gutless coward taking only written questions.

These people would have no problems from dissenters if they showed up with a draft of the House bill in their hands, and instead of droning on with lib Pferdkaese, start right out with, "Where is your concern? Show me what page it's on?" None of them can do that. And we all know why.

The video edited out the prayer. As with all interfaith meetings, I wonder to which local goat diety these people bow the knee.

By the way, if you want to rat me out to the White House, the email address is flag@whitehouse.gov

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Fighting the Power in Tampa

My congresscritter had a town hall.

It looks like more than just the Sisko is angry. The first video has her talking. I would have yelled at her, too. She was spewing Pferdkaese.

Predominently Dem district. Kathy Castor would have to be caught naked with Rush Limbaugh to lose her seat.

Castor didn't get the latest memo. Big Pharma cut a deal with Obama. The new boogieman is the insurance companies and Glenn Beck.

Pretty good coverage from the local FOX station.

My Left Foot

At the podiatry clinic in the VA hospital yesterday. The doctor treating me looked like she was 15 years old.

The wound on my left foot (on top, right where the big toe meets the foot) is slow to heal. The tendon is exposed, which is an infection concern. The doc took blood from me and used it to make a plasma plug over the wound.

I am wearing something that looks like a ski boot to keep the foot immobile. I go back next week.

It's a nice foot. Daniel Day-Lewis starred in a movie about it. Hopefully I get to keep it.

Saturday, August 01, 2009

With apologies to Rod Stewart..


..Every picture tells a story, don't it?

Thanks to Lucianne.com.