Fallon vs. Kimmel

By now it's no longer news that the Peacock Network is planning to put Jay Leno out to pasture in favor of SNL alum turned late night host, Jimmy Fallon.

Personally, I think that of all the up-and-coming contenders, Fallon probably has the most market appeal, and I think he will do well.

But what concerns me are the Variety/Hollywood Insider headlines, that will inevitably read:

Who Wins in the Late Night Battle of the Jimmies?

Not much ado about Tuesday

Today, I got nothing.

No, really, nothing.  But, at last, scientists - physicists to be exact - studying the phenomenon, have decided that nothing is, well, something.

This is bound to be good news for Geeding, on account of that's his bag.

Of course, if nothing is something, then you can add it or subtract it in an equation, as famed physicist fifth Beatle Billy Preston famously proclaimed:



But, there's always a paradox.  You'd think that it wouldn't be a huge task to store your nothing - I was born with lots of nothing, and still have most of it left - but no less a theorist than Dylan thought otherwise.  You can, apparently, have too much:



Should you find yourself in such a predicament, you may as well sell the excess like Mark, with a little help from Slow Hand:



I'm not looking for your gratitude.  Thanks?  For nothing?

Yeah.  It's sweet.

So ya think ya gangsta, huh?

The Six Million Dollar man doesn't need a shooting stick.

Is this Todd's SUV?

This is why we don't take Dew canoeing...

h/t: Tammy

Texas Secede?

No, I don't have the bumper/window sticker, though I remember seeing them all the way back into the mid-'70s.

And, it's not my mantra.

However, it is the subject of an article in today's Startle-gram - actually, a fairly objective article, instead of the typical ridicule 'hit' pieces on the subject.

Nonetheless, I think it misses a much larger point.  In looking only at the scope of Texas secession, which I don't find likely - it fails to address a somewhat more realistic possibility: It wouldn't just be about Texas.

Take a look at the map below:

Now, am I suggesting that all, or any of, the red states should or would remove themselves from the Union because of a lost election?  The answer is a resounding NO.  In my lifetime, I've voted for the winning Presidential candidate five times, and I've lost four times without the world ending.  It's not about the party residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.  

However, there does not seem to be any abatement of the situation of productive America (loosely represented in red) carrying an increasing burden of parasitic America, which I believe is propelling us toward a rather dicey showdown.

Texas economy may well rank 14th on a global scale, according to the article, but it would still pale beside the remaining United States.  But what if - IF - not just Texas, but say, several Gulf Coast states, and a swath of breadbasket states, some of which are also energy states, a couple of timber states, up to the Canadian border, and then some rogue Western Provinces, similarly disenfranchised with Ottawa, plus Alaska - decided to join forces based on the precepts of the original U. S. Constitution?  That would be a radically different game.

Interestingly, apparently some blue state nit-wit actually thinks this would benefit what he calls The Enlightened States of America:  

Dear Red States:

• We’re ticked off at your Neanderthal attitudes and politics and we’ve decided we’re leaving.
• We in California intend to form our own country and we’re taking the other Blue States with us.
• In case you aren’t aware that includes New York, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and the rest of the Northeast.
• We believe the split will be beneficial to the nation and especially to the people of the new country of The Enlightened States of America (E.S.A).

To sum up briefly:

• You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.
• We get stem cell research and the best beaches.
• We get Andrew Cuomo and Elizabeth Warren. You get Bobby Jindal and Todd Akin.
• We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Opryland.
• We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom.
• We get Harvard. You get Ole’ Miss.
• We get 85 percent of America’s venture capital and entrepreneurs.
• You get Alabama.

That the author thinks California is the basis, example, for a successful nation, and that Andrew Cuomo, and Harvard  are prizes might tell you something.

While all of this discussion is so much silliness, it would lower the cost of vacationing on Puget Sound, Napa Valley, Disney World, or Nantucket, as the Central States' dollar would undoubtedly be quite strong against the ESA currency.

50 love songs in 5 minutes

For those in a hurry, grab a Red Bull and listen to the awesome Keystone band perform a 50 song medley:

Who knew the Fresh Prince theme was a love song...

John David Souther

Former Amarillo boy, and no longer a new kid,  Mr. Souther is coming to town next month - April 11 at the Kessler Theatre and the next night in Linden, Texas.  Yes, Linden, Texas.  Did anybody famous ever come from Linden, Texas?

Here's J.D. singing with J.T.:



I bet he'll play this song.

The raptors don't appear to be scheduled for flight in April - wonder if there'll be any special guest appearances at the Linden show?

Southern Comfortable

The last time I heard this song, I was driving eastbound on the DFW turnpike, between Belt Line Road and Loop 12, and it was playing on KAFM (during that station's Adult Rock and Jazz phase '78 - '82; the frequency is now occupied by KZPS).



Brother, that Mississippi sun'll change your opinion on love.

Phriday Phlashback

OK, so while I was watching The Woman In Red, I got the idea to look through the vinyl collection for the soundtrack LP I know I bought back when (I found one, but it was still shrink wrapped - who knows where it came from - as I know I played the one I bought).

Along the way, I saw CTI Summer Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl (July 30, 1972: Grover Washington, Jr., Stanley Turrentine, Deodato, George Benson, Freddie Hubbard, Airto, Ron Carter, Bob James, et al).  As I was already in a sort of nostalgic mood, I went to the kitchen, found a snifter (yeah, it was one of those Antares/Top of the Dome ones - I know it sounds cheesy - all I could find on short notice) and poured about a finger of E & J Gallo Brandy (didn't have any V.S.O.P.) into it.  I dimmed the lights and allowed the brandy to breathe, set the tone arm on vinyl, and plopped myself onto  the sofa, Sienna hopping up right after to rest her head on my lap.

The intoxication of brandy wafting into my nostrils, the darkened room, and solid - but not deafening - SPL, caused the DeLorean speedo to hit precisely 88 miles per hour, and instantly I was transported through forty years - to a warm summer LA evening - as I sat in my jeans and boots, listening to great '70s jazz.  The only things that would've improved the experience would've been: Sitting in an oversized, distressed leather highback chair with ottoman, watching the 10" Pioneer reels go round-and-round, lit by the glow of a McIntosh tube amp:

Ooh, aah!

Oh yeah, baby!

I know you probably expect me to say I wanted to drive all this stereophonic delight through some Bose 901s, but, honestly, I've never been dissatisfied with my loudspeakers, though I wouldn't look a set of Carvers in the mouth, either.

Well, side one is through, as is my brief time-out-of-mind.  Back to the future, maybe after a detour past Maynard & Ferguson.

EDIT:  I caught RPM peering in my windows last night, and ripped this photo from his InstaMatic:

Small Wonder

OK, it's Stevie Wonder.

Yeah, the UHF channel is running The Woman In Red, a fun old (1984) movie, in which Gene Wilder has a mid-life crisis.  Wilder married co-star Gilda Radner after making this movie:



I guess it seems maybe a little quaint, being from the days when it was the men who had mid-life crises and initiated affairs.

One of a couple of movies where I liked Charles Grodin's character - the other being Chase/Hawn's Seems Like Old Times.

Friday Fogerty Foo

Ageless rock-n-roll goodness:



Now, how 'bout a little Travelin' Band, huh?

Monday's Minutiae

• If you're gonna act like a prick, suffer the consequences:

I guess the grass isn't greener in Paradise.

Atom heart father?

I'd like to exchange a vowel, Pat...

• KERA featured a riveting American Masters episode tonight on Joan Baez.
• Probably fair to say Joanie and I vote for few of the same candidates, but there is no denying her resilience and tenacity in support of the dignity of the human spirit, in addition to her immense musical talent.  The limit of my admiration?: Allowing herself to be used as a public relations tool by the North Vietnamese government, while that same government was torturing U. S. servicemen in their POW camps.
• From Every Stage, her landmark 1975 live album introduced this teenager to the story of Sacco & Vanzetti, Russian dissident poet Natalya Gorbanevskaya, and labor activist Joe Hill.  She also performs a powerful Amazing Grace.
• "It is because of people like Natalya Gorbanevskaya, I am convinced, that you and I are still alive and walking around on the face of the earth." - preface to the song 'Natalia'.
• It is because of Joan Baez relating the tenacity of people like Natalya Gorbanevskaya, that I am passionate about people - individuals, not governments - keeping and maintaining the necessary tools to retain personal liberty.

• Over the weekend, it was reported that the cannabis legalization group, NORML, was denied a permit to participate in a Dallas St. Patrick's Day parade.
• Meh - not really my issue.
• But, here's something to munch on, dudes and dudettes: Prior to the 1920's, the ganja was generally available and not yet prohibited in most jurisdictions.  And while 'getting mellow and eating copious quantities of Doritos' is not enumerated in the Bill of Rights, it seems a fair 'takeaway' can be established that in the long view, it's easier to preserve a right than to try to win it back once ceded (the example of Prohibition notwithstanding).
• The Donald's Wonderful Elixir - yesterday morning, not really feeling like making, or drinking, and entire, albeit small, pot of coffee, I instead poured a 1/2 tsp Brer Rabbit Blackstrap molasses, an equal amount of lemonjuice, and Dr Pepper (OK, it was really Dr.K - on account of I'm cheap, Wally) into a coffee cup - and nuked it for about 1-1/2 minutes.
• I expect my hair will return to a luxuriant brown within just a few days...

Happy St. Patrick's Sunday!

• On my email, a sidebar frequently pops up with Stuart Smalley's picture.   I don't know why.
• On one of the electronic dating services, the woman's hobbies/likes ran together forming the unlikely: "I'd like to get my pilot's license Horseback riding"
• She might: a) Be the first, b) Be a truly inspired Steampunk inventor, or c) Really dig Pegasus.
• From a company website offering cool wooden ceilings:

Bob Villa?

• Is he Pancho's grandson?
• Bob Vila, formerly of This Old House, with many cameo appearances on Home Improvement, bears a strong resemblance to Bobvilla. 
• A friend emailed the following video clip, stating that it was from a surprising source:

• I emailed him back, noting that it was refreshing, but not shocking, as my first recollection of hearing the term "The Second Amendment ain't about duck hunting!" was from a Roy Innis essay or broadcast nearly 20 years ago.  I don't think I can give this message any better than this video.
• BTW, I checked to make sure this was a recent press conference.  It's from February 22, 2013.
• Wanna fly into the cuckoo's nest?
• If that entire structure was originally an insane asylum - that's a lot of crazy people.
• This weekend's services noted that contemporary society has a strange way of celebrating St. Patrick, who brought Christianity to the Emerald Isle.  Later, at Wally World, I saw these t-shirts:

Your mother would be so proud if you wore this... 

• Everyone knows that finding the gold requires a combination of green beer, crack, and the magic leprechaun flute.
• I think there were four employees running the entire store, at 9:30p on a Saturday - a woman by the sporting goods counter/key machine had been waiting 15 minutes for an associate.
• As well, Mother Hubbard's ammo cupboard was bare:

• 'S okay - I can roll my own.
• My church band sometimes performs secular songs.
• They recently did this one (also featured on SNL last night):

• Todd the Dog Blogger has a very eloquent post about closure following trauma, in this case divorce:  It was 3 years ago today that she left me and I still have a hard time believing it sometime. I am having a hard time right now just writing her name. I don't want her back but I miss her every day. I also don't need anybody's comments. I just need to say goodbye. It is not what I want to do. It never was. Goodbye Rhonda.
• I understand completely, and although I sometimes [outwardly] reference the poignancy of Thank God and Greyhound, I agree there's not a day I don't miss her, my best friend, frequently think of things I would've done differently, and occasionally wonder if anything else would've resulted in a different outcome.
• For those of you in relationships - I pray you take the time to express your appreciation of your spouse/significant other.

Saturday Cowboy Song

Here's a toast to old horses, old dogs, children, watermelon wine - and anything else I can pull from the metaphor bucket...



Dance with the one what brung ya.

Festival of Friday

• This post is certified Dennis Rodman-free.
• BON posted an article about a Milwaukee Marine/CHL carrier who interrupted an assault.
• Lots of good information in that article.  My initial thought was "If the guy was a Marine, why didn't he just kick the bully's a$$?"  But it turns out the assaulter was a pretty big dude.
• The Marine wasn't looking for trouble, but, having driven up on the scene, couldn't just ignore it.
• He called the cops, and properly showed his credentials when asked.
• No shots were fired.  It was a textbook perfect case of why Americans choose to uphold the right to self-defense, whether against common thugs or tyranny.
• As in the real world, not all cases will have perfect outcomes.  The police response was on target - they're not encouraging vigilantism, but they recognize citizens need the means to protect themselves and each other responsibly.¹
• Another HuffPo article bashes Paul Ryan for staying on message, after 2012, suggesting that the election result invalidates any concerns for the country's financial health.  
• It's not the conclusion I would draw.
• Surprise!  Michael Moore's desire to publish pictures of Newtown victims' bodies is not popular.
• I read a lot of Yahoo! News articles on my phone.  It's not uncommon for several comments in a row to be "...blocked by the administrator."  I don't know if it's because they have a touchy administrator or really crazy commenters.
• The skeleton of a medieval knight has been unearthed in Scotland. They can find Richard III, Henry IV, and a knight - from hundreds of years ago - but Jimmy Hoffa is still missing from 1975.
• I have ruled out finding him in my garage.
• RPM posted a cool Sunset pic yesterday.  This one, from Florida, is also cool:

• Supposedly, someone related the above to the selection of the new Pope.  Regarding composition, focus, and use of color - advantage RPM.  But catching an angel-shaped cloud (assuming it's not been 'shopped) is pretty awesome, too.
• Random pic - Hayden Panettiere next to a tricked out, stretched and jacked, Excursion:

Hey, was she the model for the cloud?

• I went to bed early last night, with a medical concern that I thought might require a trip to the emergency room.
• This morning, I felt much better.  Staying home from work, I went to the doctor mid-day.  He said the situation (abdominal hernia) was not critical, and gave me the name of a surgeon if it continues to give me issues.
• I don't like staying home from work, but the down time allowed me to prepare, and put up, several meals' worth of tasty vittles.
• HuffPo Celebrity thinks Jeffrey Tambor looks like the new Pope:

• Yea, kinda.  But then, if you shaved off his beard, so would Todd the Blogger, who would've made a good Baptist Pope.
• BTW, Todd, I got a 30% off Kohl's email coupon today - in case they accidentally deleted you from their files.
• Leave it to Beaver is on TV in the other room = good times.
• No, Good Times was on in an earlier time slot...
• Dy-no-mite!

¹Edit - Following another news outlet's article on the same story, reader Gerald Dick made the following comment/observation: : "Let's see did the guy stop beating the woman because of the violence against women act that just passed congress, or the former marine holding a gun on him till the police came to take him away? You decide!"

Washout Wednesday

• So this morning I'm commenting to a colleague that I've enjoyed the DST, and I'm actually getting to work earlier.
• "Don, it's Spring Break week."
• D'oh!  Uh, yeah, sure, I knew that.
• I had it in my head today that I was going to eat fried chicken for lunch.
• As luck would have it, I was in the SE FTW area, so I thought I'd look for a Williams Chicken place - a guy I used to work with raved about their chicken.
• Found one on E. Berry Street, a couple of blocks from Miller.  The place was neat as a pin, with stainless steel covering on the front counter.  And except for the counter-to-ceiling 5/8" thick security plexiglas completely isolating the employees from the customers, you wouldn't have known it was on E. Berry Street.
• The chicken itself was crispy but tender - I think it coulda used the Colonel's spices, though.
• The employees were as friendly as could be.
• This month's PopSci, page 76, asks the question: "Do Lobotomies Work?"
• And supplies the short answer: "Surprisingly, yes." As well as a five-paragraph explanation.
• But I still don't want one.
• Mark Kelly - Rocket Scientist?
• I've always respected astronauts, because you don't get to be in that elite corps without lots of intelligence and dedication.  But I'm at a loss to understand the recent events surrounding former spaceman Mark Kelly.
• As I understand the timeline, he was in an Arizona gun store to purchase a .45 caliber handgun.  I'm all for that.
• While there, he saw a pre-owned AR-15 or variant, and purchased it as well, but delivery was postponed so that the shop could check the provenance of the firearm.  Again, all pretty standard stuff.
• At some point - and this seems to be where it gets muddy - it becomes known that Mr. Kelly has or is purchasing a so-called "assault weapon".  He then publicly says it was to illustrate how easy it is to get such firearms,and that he's going to turn it over to the authorities when he takes delivery.
• So, here we have a man who has rigorous training in logical thought, suggesting that a gun store selling him (well known astronaut) a gun, without immediate delivery, is somehow emblematic of the ease with which creeps, miscreants, and dope fiends can get firearms?
• How does that make sense?
• A couple of mobile homes being moved had the east loop, already reduced by construction to one lane southbound, near a standstill this morning.  I was behind the chase car, watching as the 'wide load' bumped a half-dozen or so traffic barrels aside - at least until FWPD & TXDoT workers radio'd ahead to have them moved a bit until the caravan passed.
• I'm thinking about moonlighting as one of those tax-preparation Statue of Liberty people.
• Seen in the Stockyards today:

• The mind reels with other rhyming possibilities...

Tuesday's Trivia

• Last evening, just as I was ready to turn in for the night, I let the dog out to do her dog business.  In the meantime, I put some dishes in the dishwasher, along the way spilling some water on the counter, causing me to take a minute or so extra to wipe it up.
• When I went to let the dog in - no dog!
• Not in the backyard, nor the front.  So I walked a few houses up and down the street.
• Then I drove around the block.  Three.  Times.
• Again, backyard, front yard.  No.  Dog.
• Of course, I'd taken her collar off recently to give her a bath/shower.
• Finally resigned that she'd apparently gone on an extended walkabout, I was about ready to turn out the lights, but instead I called her from the front porch.
• Tail between her legs, she came slinking across the front yard.
• I think she knows I was cheesed, because tonight she's been staying close to me and giving me that "I'm really your favorite dog, right?" look.
• HuffPo proves once again they're idiots.  Opening paragraph: Recent Korean history reveals a sobering possibility: It may only be a matter of time before North Korea launches a sudden, deadly attack on the South.  And perhaps more unsettling, Seoul has vowed that this time, it will respond with an even stronger blow.
• "Perhaps more unsettling"?   Please!  Heaven forbid that a country should fight back if attacked by a two bit dictator.  Is HuffPo suggesting South Korea should simply capitulate?
• From the intersection of nature and technology: the Phoenix Herpetological Society has fitted a disfigured alligator with a prosthetic tail to enable it to function more normally.  The reptile lost its tail fighting with another gator.
• Now, I don't know anything about prosthetic alligator tails, but for a consumer report on inflatable tail, we go to field correspondent Dew...
• It's clear I'm getting old - I'm listening to the TV news from the UHF station featuring Tracy, Suzy, and Troy.
• Is it just me, or does this car look like something an Android emoticon would drive?:

• Other bloggers wrote recently about strange dreams.  Last Friday night, I dreamt my house had a basement I'd somehow forgotten about.
• A 7500 square foot basement/parking garage, with room to park at least a half dozen cars.  It had two really cool racing boats down there, a fully equipped machine shop, a photocopier, key duplicator machine, and 15KW diesel generator.  I was really tickled because I couldn't imagine how I'd forgotten I had a basement.
• Oh, yeah, there was also a room between the main floor and the basement that I discovered and was going to transform into a media room.
• No, I went to bed totally sober.
• Saturday, oldest Son texted me, asking if I wanted to go to the shooting range.  He wanted to sight in a rifle he'd bought recently.
• About 45 minutes later, he came by the house with his girlfriend.  We loaded up gear and went to the range.  When we got there, we found that a match was pre-empting other uses of the facility.
• However, they invited us to shoot in the falling [steel] plates competition.  We've done those several times before, but never competitively.
• Since we weren't sure exactly where our rimfire handguns were shooting, another member loaned us a tricked out dot-sighted race gun, which was kinda fun.
• Son showed his GF how to shoot a 1911 .45 ACP.  And another shooter insisted we shoot his immaculate S&W  bobbed hammer K-38 "Target Masterpiece".  Very sweet revolver.  Son's GF did very well - her first time to shoot handguns.
• Son and I finished out the afternoon launching .277" projectiles (me: 100gr - him: 130gr) on the 100 yd range.  His new rifle is very lightweight, and he was shooting heavy loads.  Mine is more traditional & heavier, wood-stocked, and I had prepped a few light varmint loads.  We're gonna have to do some more fine tuning to get groups we're pleased with.
• Coming in two weeks @ Keystone Church:

• Pastor Brandon said wearing of camo would be encouraged.  Wonder if he'll mind if I use my duck call for "Amens"?
• I'm liking the time change for once.
• Daughter told me some time back that her Mother said I'd not been sufficiently appreciative of her (Mother, not Daughter) .  Possibly so.  And here's a HuffPo article that may be correct, and makes the case.
• Stopped at the dollar store today to buy a few things (I was looking for generic Aleve, but they were out).  When I was in line, I thought I had five items, but when the cashier rang up my purchase, it came to $4.25.
• I shrugged it off and walked out to my car.
• Then looking in the bag, and then the receipt, I saw the cashier had missed an item - a retractable USB-iPod charging cable I'd bought for my Daughter.
• Free USB cable! Lucky me!
• Not. So. Fast.
• I picked up the cable and my receipt, and headed back into the store.  My original cashier had gone off station, so I approached another and told her I'd not been charged for the item.  Although I think she looked at me a bit quizzically, she rang up my purchase.
• Yeah, no one would have noticed, and they're a large corporation.  
• I think it was an answered prayer from this morning.  God tests, Satan tempts.  Keystone Church always asks God to entrust His broken people to them.
• I guess I figured "How can I be entrusted with a large responsibility, if I fail on a small one?"
• Yet I also know the flip side of the coin - how difficult is it do the right thing for only a dollar?  Will I be able to do right when the cost is higher?
• I don't know, but I pray so.

Presenting the Not Ready for Bill Nye Players

Because I know you tune in here to get plain-speak explanations of cutting edge science.

• Reuters is reporting that researchers at the Swiss Large Hadron Collider are pulling back from previous predictions of imminent breakthroughs from finding the elusive Higgs Boson, often referred to as "The God Particle" (although lots of media outlets use a little 'g' because they're not much on the real God).
• So, after billions and billions spent, and they think they found the particle - now no one's so sure that it's gonna radically alter the time spent in line in the Starbucks drive-through.
• Talk about your buyer's remorse.
• Actually, I think it's kinda like being a chick in the Mouseketeers - they doll you up and pin great hopes on you, but as soon as you're 17, you're a has-been.  After years and years of chasing the boson, now that it's supposedly found, it can't even get a record deal.
• Whether it is or isn't the God Particle - I don't know.  But I do know that Yahoo! commenter MikeyZ noted the following:  A Higgs Boson walks into a Catholic Church.  The priest inside says, "Sorry, but we don't serve Higgs Bosons here."  The boson replies, "But you have to, because without me, you can't have Mass."
• Hold the applause.
• Actually, scientists seem now to have moved on to the "unparticle" which behaves like photons (light particles) in some ways, and like matter in others, and would have variable mass-energy.
• Pretty much as I've always predicted.

• And in other technology - a guy on the sensory frontier has implanted permanent magnets in his fingertips to help him tune into the electromagnetic waves coursing around him.
• It would be just my luck he'd be my server at Chili's, and he'd screw up my debit card.
• I once tried to get my dentist to tune my fillings for better radio reception, but all I got was KAAM oldies.
• Bummer.

Another One Rides the Bus

...a line borrowed from "Weird" Al Yankovic.

This looks like fun:

Wednesday whispers

• I'm kinda wiped out tonight.  I had a headache and took an Excedrin equivalent - which helped - but I think I'm going to turn the lights out early.
• Daughter's mom sent this text last night:

• I think it's the first molar she's lost.
• Have you ever noticed the doors on the Toyota Tundra?  The front doors have horizontal handles, that you lift up.  The rear doors have vertical handles.  I've seen that arrangement on the Nissan Xterra SUV, but it looks odd to my eyes on a pickup.
• Just south of Harris Methodist today, I saw an operating construction crane with a horizontal boom the length of a football field.  I felt like a five year old with a Buddy-L truck - I could've parked and watched that for a half-hour, and would've been mesmerized.  I'm sure working that equipment requires amazing concentration and skill.
• Today's lunch: JITB's Hot Mess burger, featuring melted pepper jack cheese, sourdough bun, sauteéd onion rings, and jalapeños.  The takeaway?  Tasty, but messy - I think I'll stick with Swiss & 'shrooms.
• A pedestrian was walking on the NE 28th Street bridge over the railyards between Decatur Ave and North Main.  Crazy - there's no, nada, none, zilch sidewalk there.
• More craziness in the world - an elementary school kiddo was suspended for two days because he chewed away his Pop-Tart, leaving a shape of a - shudder - gun.  Can some of these school administrators pull their heads out, please?Über-crazy - Parents in South Florida are outraged because a fill-in-the-letter spelling assignment of three letter words like b-u-n, s-u-n, f-u-n - also featured a picture of a g-u-n.  The same kids probably watch hours of violent TV and play video games, but their tender psyches are gonna be warped by a spelling assignment?  As John Stossel says: "Gimme a break!"  
• Not to miss a chance, I'll throw in an Eagles quote as well: "Get over it!"
• China reportedly is chock full of ginormous empty cities.  Weird.
• Last night I mentioned that folks often confide in me.  I also find that I'm apparently approachable - strangers come up to me all the time to ask questions.  Just this afternoon, a woman drove across a parking lot to ask me something.  Certainly it can't be that I appear knowledgeable.

• Conversely, I can start a conversation with just about anyone - some might say I could converse with a cinder block wall - or talk it into submission.  You notice that the Berlin wall is no longer standing?
• I don't take offense though, because I know a few people who could start arguments with walls.
• During this past weekend's sermon, I wrote down the phrase "applying motive to misunderstanding" from the message.  I seem to see a lot of that - people attributing ill will to things that they just don't understand.  I try not to be guilty of too quickly judging others' intent.
• Women wearing jeans or tights tucked into their boots is a good look - though it kinda depends on the woman.  I saw one today who was totally rockin' that look.
• My rechargeable electric can opener died years ago - I could've replaced the Ni-Cd batteries, but I'm  trying to simplify (albeit too slowly), and so I've been using a simple metal opener.  
• I broke down today and upgraded to a geared hand opener - the old one was too slow and required too much effort.
• In other cutting edge news - the TSA will no longer confiscate small penknives with blades under 2-1/2 inches.  Yahoo news reports that 9/11 victims' families are "outraged".
• Really?  Have they had time to poll the victims' families?
• Near my office this afternoon, I observed a young, sort of Bohemian, couple crossing a busy intersection, holding hands.  He had a knapsack over his shoulder, with lots of pins/adornments on the strap, and a scarf/muffler.  She wore a sweater and pink sweatpants, and was carrying a large (24") stuffed animal.   I was at a loss to surmise what their situation was - not that it's any of my business.
• Lately, I've added 1/2 teaspoon of Brer Rabbit molasses to each gallon of iced tea I make.  Not sure why.  Some supposed health benefit that I can't remember.

Delightful Dancing Doggie

This is not normally the channel where you get hoofing fruh-fruh canines.

But I'm making an exception today:

Randomosities...

• Tonight, KERA ran a John Denver special, recorded in Japan in the'80s.  The musicianship was so-so - I've seen him backed by better bands - but still, it was enjoyable.  It's John Denver.
• His name came up recently at my parents' house.  Mom reminded me that at the annual Oskosh Fly-In a couple of decades ago, my Dad tripped Mr. Deutschendorf accidentally as the latter walked from the sunshine (on his shoulders?) into a [darker/darkened] workshop or hospitality tent.  Ruh-roh!
• A colleague recently complimented me, saying that I help make working at our organization 'bearable'. (Rebuttal viewpoint from Todd the Blogger or the Dew in 3-2-1...)
• An exaggeration, sure, but I understand what was meant.  I do try to leaven the day with levity, and to play well in the sandbox.
• Historically, co-workers tend to treat me as a confidant - telling me things that they likely shouldn't - probably because they know I can keep a confidence.  Nothing immoral, illegal, or unethical, mind you, just things that might be unflattering.
• Someone was sleepy Sunday evening as I watched TV on the sofa:

• The Circus Blogger recently referred to the Eagles as 'generic' music.  Now, I understand that Todd the Blogger might use the adjective 'geriatric'.  And if Skippy's talking about Tequila Sunrise, Peaceful Easy Feeling, Best of My Love - well, I wouldn't argue the point, even I consider those pretty much throwaways from the musical canon. 
• But from Hotel California forward (with an aside that Desperado is an excellent concept album), and especially in Henley's solo work, I don't believe there's a better, more literate songwriter/lyricist than NTSU ex Don Henley.
• What is kind of surprising is that a band whose recording catalog numbers fewer than 7 original releases (plus two Greatest Hits compilations, two live recordings, and an anthology boxed set) still can easily fill large arena tours.
• Wonder if this was written about the Ringmaster of said blog:

But the Baron is in the balcony, laughing¹ 
And pointing to the pit 
He says "|Aw, look, they've grown accustomed to the smell²
 Now people love that $#!+ 
 And we're workin' it." 
Workin' it.

(Henley/Simes/Lynch, excerpt from Workin' It, InsideJob)

• Moving on.
• News today that the USAG says it's okay for the POTUS to use drones against US citizens domestically.
• Not that they intend to, though.  It's, you know, just in case.
• And the MSM thinks that folks with AR-15 poodle shooters are paranoid.
• Full disclosure: I don't own an AR-15 or any of its clones.  But I don't have any issue with ordinary law abiding folks who do.
• As one who remembers the 'Texas Secede' bumper/window stickers from the '70s, I tend to regard the concept as so much 'bar talk'.  Silliness, in other words.
• However what's not silly, and not nearly as amusing, is that Washington in its derision of the concept, utterly disregards the underlying discontent in the nation - not just Texas - that tends to give rise to the possibility of an en masse secession of a wide swath of the midwest, potentially including a band of states from the Gulf of Mexico, through the nation's breadbasket, northwest (and maybe including some disgruntled Canadian Provinces - they're not too thrilled with Ottawa) up to Alaska.
• Seems to me the productive, energy and resource-rich states would kind of hold the high cards, and would be self-sustaining.  Thriving, even.
• As well, many arms manufacturers, watching the outcome of bills wending their way through different blue state legislatures, may be relocating to more hospitable areas.
• So, if a large part of the North American continent were to issue the Declaration of Independence II, they would probably be the well-armed states, and unless the remaining Federal government intended to go all Kim Jong Un on the 'rebellious' ones, there'd be essentially zero chance of successfully occupying/subjugating the new breakaway nation stretching from the Gulf to the Baltic.
• Not that I advocate or hope for such a scenario.  But we seem to have possibly the greatest Divider in Chief these United States have ever seen.
• Like I said, something to chew on.

¹,²  Lyrics modified in lines 1 and 3

Dissing the Dysfunction

From this last weekend:



Coming up later this month, a Duck Dynasty-themed service, complete with camo, and maybe some duck calls...

More jt

A very nice acoustic version of Never Die Young from the Colonial Theatre in MA.

Dancing Santas

I kept forgetting to look this up and post it.

I think y'all recognize that the Church I attend is not quite conventional.  Well, here's more proof, from a promotion/outreach done during the Christmas Season, at Heritage and also at Southlake Town Square (this footage is Heritage only):



And in a few weeks, they're starting a series using themes from Duck Dynasty - camo and duck calls encouraged.  Not to leave you in suspense, the series will be about how the famous Kings of Israel all ducked responsibility in some way or other - except for One.

Take a trip in the wabac machine

An old friend recently forwarded me an email that lists the signs that you are or are becoming an old codger.

One of the clues was that you sing along to the songs at the supermarket or in the elevator.

Well, just today Daughter and I were in Tuesday Morning looking for an olivewood goblet - didn't find - and heard this song:



Now, my friend who emailed me the list is 11 years older than me.  But she has me pegged - guilty as charged - as she knows I am pretty conversant with the oldies.