Morning Seditionists

I actually had no idea the Academy Awards were gonna happen last night, until I was working down in my shop with NPR on the radio. They were saying that the King’s speech would be getting a lot of attention, and I thought maybe Elvis was coming out of his fake-death retirement to accept a lifetime achievement award or something. But apparently that was actually a movie. Then some rather typical NPR critic spoke about Oscar music, and was all agog over some “courageous composer who combined an oboe with a penny whistle.” Oh, such audacity. Christ, between guys like this, John Powers, David Edelstein and, most especially, Maureen Corrigan, sometimes I really understand why the teabaggers hate NPR so much. (more…)

I’m sure you’re all expecting me to mention how SU beat the despised Georgetown “what the f*ck’s a” Hoyas yesterday at the Verizon Center in DC, with a crowd that included big dog Bill Clinton, Syracuse’s not so favorite son Terry McAuliffe, and the Geico caveman (but where was Joe Biden?). But I know nobody else is interested, so I won’t bother. If I did, I might mention that, although Bill is a GT alum, I’m sure he was rooting for SU because, well, Georgetown, as we all know, sucks, and Bill doesn’t need any reminders of Monica Lewinsky. Terry, well, we have our differences, but, when it comes down to it, we’re all Orange (except on St. Patrick’s Day, when we’re all Green, unless we’re playing Notre Dame, in which case, f*ck it, we’re Orange). I’m assuming the caveman was rooting for GT, though, because he looks like one of their typical Neanderthal “fans” (except much more articulate – and clean). (more…)

Nice to see Andy yesterday, and glad to hear he’s got some Internet access. Also glad to hear Travis got cookies (and an interview). Here, it snowed a bit. The drive in was a slight hassle, but not too bad (for the brief leg of the journey that I make on a godless, socialist, interstate highway, I happened to get on a few cars behind a godless, socialist snowplow, driven by a godless, commie-pinko State worker clearing the way, so that was very smooth (albeit somewhat slow) sailing. If you’ve never been behind a snowplow with both wings down (so that it plows an entire two-lane interstate including shoulder all at once), then you don’t know how impressive it is, with snow rooster-tailing off the wings and sandblasting (or I guess that would be snowblasting) the nanny-state guardrails and tossing out sparks (very pretty at night). (more…)

First off, congrats to Web for finishing his book. I didn’t quite catch what you meant yesterday until OKat straightened things out (I think I thought you meant you finished reading a book, which is a much bigger deal in these days of Palin, Bachmann, and Walker than it used to be). Hope you don’t mind, but I converted it to .mobi format, and sent it off it to my Kindle to read (though I have a few things on the reading list ahead of, it, and I don’t really seem to get far on anything in any given night, since after a few pages it tends to be lights out). I’m not terribly confident that I’ll actually understand it, but I’ll give it a shot. Shame it’s so short, though. (more…)

And so this week drags on. Hard to believe it isn’t Friday yet. Yesterday was a gorgeous day, from what I saw. After a very cold, below zero start, it was sunny, not windy, and darn near 30°. If you live where it’s warm all the time you won’t understand, but it was a day to lift your spirits and make you feel as if life was actually worth living. And it felt warm enough to put on a pair of shorts. Today is supposed to be warm(ish) too, but not exactly sunny (in fact, it’s supposed to cloud up and precipitate a little bit on us). And then there’s a “winter storm watch” for tomorrow. Depending on which way things go, we’ll either get 10″ of wet, heavy snow, rain, or (my personal favorite) a mix of sleet, freezing rain, rain, and snow. That’s on top of whatever we do or don’t get today. (more…)

Oh, crap, forgot all about putting something up here this morning (not that anybody would be terribly disappointed). I blame it on the cold. I never should have cut my hair. Now my ears are cold all the time, and I’m forced to fight off the cold that has Granny barking like a seal all the time (I was tempted to throw her a fish last night – but all I can offer is a frozen tilapia fillet, and I didn’t wanna smack her in the chops with it). I started hitting the oil of oregano yesterday (would have started sooner, but I had to discover where it was hidden). So, anyway, a quick rundown on what’s going on. Rahm is the mayor. He should do the original Mayor Daley proud. Scott Walker is still a dangerous, crazy asshole. Ditto Momar Khadaffy Duck. The government is evacuating US Citizens from Libya. Great, more socialism from Obama and his f*cking Mommy State. Rush Limbaugh is is still a fat loudmouth (I don’t know what you ladies all seem to see in him; sure, he’s hot and manly, but I thought you women were supposed to be above all that superficial stuff). Today is meeting day, which sucks harder than a Wisconsin Republican (but not quite as hard as a family values Idaho Republican in a mens room – or so I hear). OK, gotta go.

I accidentally saw a minute or two of Scott Brown (not the good, 30th Century Man one, of course, but the Wisconsin Governor), and I gotta say, what the f*ck’s wrong with you, Cheeseheads? I mean, forget that the guy is a fascist, teabagging, Koch-sucker. He’s a friggin’ dummy. I mean, it only took me a few seconds to realize this guy is one stupid son of a bitch – so how the hell did you guys ever elect him? I guess everything Minnesotans have been saying about you people over the years is true. Until you get rid of him, my vacation in the Dells is officially off (and I was so looking forward to visiting the House on the Rock). (more…)

In honor of George Washington, I’ll be starting off the day today with some dental work (yes, I know I said I wasn’t gonna go for a while, but, well, I guess I’m just feeling like Jack Nicholson and/or Bill Murray – by the way, did you know Bill was the bass player in ‘Mr Rogers meets the bass player’? One of my favorites as a young delinquent, and I had no idea – in Little Shop of Horrors). Somewhat ironic to be getting a “crown” on this day, I guess, but it’s more than made up for by the fact that my insurance only pays for wooden ones (and a pretty small amount at that). (more…)

I was reading a story today by somebody or other I’d never heard of (not that it matters; there are lots of people I’ve never heard of), talking about the “Female Foreign Correspondents’ Code Of Silence, Finally Broken” and relating a story of her having been groped in Pakistan to the attack on Lara Logan. Anyhow, one of the things she wrote was that “Several commentators have suggested that Ms. Logan was somehow at fault”, and I thought, really? At first I thought she meant “commenters,” which wouldn’t surprise me too much, or that maybe she was just using a different version of the “some people say” story that people use when they want to make some point or other. (more…)

Well gosh, what a difference a day makes. Yesterday, it was darn near 60 degrees out, and it was actually sunny. By the time I got out of work, I was stunned to see how much snow had melted. I mean, the snow was quite deep when I left in the morning, and then suddenly there was actually grass again. Now, though, it’s cold (and getting colder; supposed to be back down into the teens by this afternoon) and it’s a whiteout out there. Sweet. Oh well, I’ll try and accomplish some inside work today. Goodness know there’s a lot of it to do. (more…)

Today’s my brother’s birthday. He’s, let’s see, let me do the math here…. He’s old. A lot older than I am, so that makes him really old. Also, if you’re bored, looking for something to do tonight, and happen to live within 50 miles of the State Theatre in Ithaca, NY, you should go and see a young man by the name of Marc Maron. I understand he’s quite a funny fellow. Also appearing will be Eugene Mirman, and Kurt Braunohler. I guess with a name like “brown holer” your career choices are pretty much either comedian or mass murderer. At least if you attended any of the schools I did, growing up. (more…)

It was nice to read about Stan Musial’s day in DC, so thanks for that, Vernon. Of course, Stan last played shortly before my third birthday, so I don’t really remember him as a player. But then, I was never really much of a baseball fan – more so when I was kid, I guess. I think that was because back then, they played the World Series during the day, during the week (some of the games, anyway, if not all of them), so if you wanted to watch, you’d have to call in sick to work or play hooky from school. Otherwise, you went around with a earphone and a pocket transistor radio. In other words, the World Series was something special – even if you weren’t really a fan. Now? Well, not some much. As with most all professional sports (except maybe the NHL), it’s pretty much just rich, spoiled mercenaries pumped with horse drugs. Used to be the trade of a player was big news – and a strike or a lockout unthinkable. But once you get all this money involved, well, it takes a lot of the fun out of things. It’s all George Steinbrenner’s fault. (more…)

The guys on the lo-cal news this morning are wearing pink (the kinda cute female talking head with the really good porn star name — who they dumped the pleasant but goonie-faced broad for when they went to hi-def because I guess they figured it was too early in the morning to look at her in HD — isn’t wearing pink, though, so maybe she didn’t get the memo). Is this some sort of pink holiday that I’m unaware of? Not that I have any pink apparel, assuming you discount the socks and underwear that snuck in the wash with my red sweatpants. I think they’re long gone, though (as are the sweats, ‘cuz my wife kept making fun of them – actually, the real reason is I think they finally disintegrated; had them for a few decades). There was some sort of red holiday the other day, too. Something to do with the heart association, I think, where I was supposed to wear red and have my picture taken at work, for which I would receive a stupid pin. (more…)

I missed it yesterday, but I guess the Today Show had George (the first) Bush and his, um “lovely” wife Bar on for Valentines’s Day. Because, when you think of love, hugs, kisses, sweetness, and light, you think of Barbara Bush. Right? Although I couldn’t bring myself to watch the replay, in looking at the photo, I must say that George finally looks old enough to be married to Barb. Well, good for them – I’m glad they’re so gosh darn happy. I mean, look at what happiness they’ve managed to set forth upon the planet in their 100 years of marriage. (more…)

I hope you all made it through President’s Day OK. Seems as if a lot of people went on vacation. After a very cold and snowy Saturday, yesterday turned out pretty warm (after starting out cold and snowy), and I was able to widen out the driveway (though one of my snow chains broke or something; as I was about done, I just pulled it off and will have a look as soon as the time is the most inconvenient). I also skipped getting diesel. Again, I think I’ll wait until I desperately need some. I did manage to make some progress on my desk though. Having decided to go with porcelain tiles for the top, I bought a bunch and got them cut and laid out. Now I just need to get them all laid (me too), grouted, etc. Unfortunately there isn’t enough light in the room, so it’ll have to wait for next weekend (or I suppose I could put a lamp in there or something). (more…)