Even rode my mountain-cycle in the rain...

• So does that only prove that I'm insane?
• You may be right, I may be crazy.

• Actually, when I left the house to ride this morning, it was not raining, and the trail was pretty devoid of joggers and cyclists. Returning to base, it started raining, but there were many more people out there.  So, I'm. Not. Alone.
• The origin of immigration politics.
• Black grapes on sale this week at Albertson's for 88¢/lb.  Why they don't value black grapes the same as green or red this week, I don't know.  But, because of my commitment to anthocyaninism, and believing that black grapes matter, I bought some.  They are delicious.  This evening, I learned that Kroger is supporting the red-skinned grapes, at the same price.  
• For probably two years, I've had an unsightly stain or deposit in the bottom of my guest bath toilet, the composition of which I preferred not to consider.  Despite vigorous brushing, oxygenated aerosols, bleach and ammonia (not at the same time), and clinging viscous-gel cleaners, nothing fazed it.  I figured I'd have to get a new toilet at some point.  This week I got some Zep Acid Toilet Bowl Cleaner.  In just three treatments, using probably less than as many ounces, I can report that the bowl is as clean as new.
• Dropping acid in your toilet bowl is where it's at, man.  Quart bottle under five dollars at fine home centers, and probably the Wal-Marts.
• And speaking of dropping acid, don't you want somebody to love?

Pass...

• Saturday afternoon TV pretty much sucks.  One channel was running an awful movie, Mysterious Island, sort of a B minus minus movie predecessor of Jurassic Park or something.  I only watched a couple of minutes, but it included a scene of a guy trying to save a girl from some ginormous Oak Lawn ostrich looking creature by jumping on its back. Further research revealed it was a 1961 film adaptation of a Jules Verne book.

T-rex meets Big Bird meets Liberace?

• I also caught a couple of minutes of The Blue Lagoon.  I've never seen the whole thing, even as a kid, but it reminded me of something Robert Blake said on the Carson show in the '70s or '80s, possibly in connection with that movie, about wanting to buy a deserted island and populate it with nubile 15-year old girls, ostensibly for immoral purposes.  Yeah, the guy with the bird was a strange bird from way back.
• Seen in the Krogers after church this evening.  The times they are a-changing.

With these readers, I can always find my Calvins...

• Folk singer Glenn Yarbrough died this week at 86.  Some months ago I posted a Youtube of Seven Daffodils, one of The Limeliters' outstanding songs.  Here's another, featuring Mr. Yarbrough's beautiful tenor, that's possibly more accessible to my younger readers, by virtue of its association with BB:

• A syllepsis (non mutagenic) from The Limeliters' Have Some Madeira, M'dear:  "She lowered her standards by raising her glass, her courage, her eyes...and his hopes."  A figure of speech similar to a diazeugma (Gk), where the subject governs multiple verb phrases, such as "We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." - JFK
• Welcome to Professor Donald's Composition 101.
• #9 Dream, with apologies to the late John Lennon.  If they're gonna do this, time is of the essence.  I can think of maybe three persons who would be good replacements, with sufficient name recognition, resources, and organization to defeat HRC in November.
• I have watched none of the Olympics.  Oldest son texted me the other night commenting on some gymnasts or volleyball chicks, but I was watching a PBS documentary, The Presidents, on RWR.  Last night was the episode on GHWB.  Not sure if I'll be able to stomach the installment on WJC, if there is one.  On the Bush 41 segment, it was kinda funny to see archive footage when GWB and Jeb were young.  Even though derided as patrician for his Connecticut and Kennebunkport associations in the '92 election, I think history will be kind to 41 for his life of service to country.
• We could use an Eisenhower/Bush type Republican today.  That's not a plug for Jeb, though, as he did not prove to be competitive in the 2016 primaries.
• In my spam box is an offer for 'Get Lipo'.  Srsly?  Look, I have a BMI of 23, and a 16.85 BF% - what the heck are they gonna lipo?
• It's being reported again that bananas may go extinct.  I remember reading in the WSJ in the '80s or early '90s that the popular cultivar we all enjoy was about to go extinct in just a few years, so I guess what's old is new.
• When I was a kid, I read of having kite wars by dipping a section of kite string in powdered glass so you could cut through your opponent's string.  Not having a ready supply of powdered glass, I never tried it.  Apparently it's become a problem in India.
• Fun With Dick and Jane (1977) was on tonight.  Funny line: George Segal asks Hanoi Jane if she'd be embarrassed if he kissed her in a very public place.  Her response: "No, I'd be embarrassed if you kissed me in a very private place in front of all these people."  Also featuring Ed McMahon.
• Had I unlimited funds, I might buy a motorhome and travel the country, leaving no forwarding address.
• I think I should go now to watch Roxanne, to get a glimpse of Daryl Hannah's bum.

Untitled Post - You can bid for naming rights!

• Once again, there has been rioting and looting after police brutally executed an angelic choir boy/honor roll student in Milwaukee.  (Note to self: You forgot to turn on the sarcasm font.)  About a half-dozen businesses burned, police cruiser windows smashed out.
• The usual.

Guess who's not coming to dinner...

• That dude was no Sidney Poitier.
• I want a Jet wood lathe, and maybe also a ShopSmith.  What event will allow me to loot a Rockler, Woodcraft, or Texas Tool Traders store?  I mean, like, because, you know - fair?  Right?
• Had a doc visit yesterday to interpret recent lab tests: Overall cholesterol 126, CHOL/HDL 3.0, Triglycerides 118, BP in normal/good range.  Food choices and bike rides paying off.
• About three weeks ago, I noted that political observer/talkfest host John McLaughlin did not look well.  Rest in peace, Dr. McLaughlin.
• The Playboy mansion went on the market a few months ago for $200 million.  I commented at the time (but can't seem to find whether it was on MWB or on another blog) that it'd be lucky to bring half that.  Well, it did bring half that.
• Karl Rove assesses the state of Election 2016, but gives no clues about receiving political insight from MWB.
• I had a job interview in Collin County yesterday, which I think went really well.  It was a panel, affair, with two women questioning me.  One of the questions was: "When have you had a time when a plan of action did not produce the intended result?"  My response, "Besides marriage?" broke them up.  Of course, I followed up with an actual business example, so they would know I'm not really the next Shecky Green (like they would've known who Shecky Green is...).
• There's lots of office building construction near the DNT and the Sam Rayburn interchange.
• Coming back, I cut across FM-1171, which is apparently soon to be 6 lanes from I-35 east to west.
• Attended a high school orientation last night.  I saw fewer tattoos on the parents than I'd remembered at a similar event years ago, but I thought the students kind of resembled a freak show.  I texted the kids' mom that I'm glad to have graduated when and where I did.
• Nice bike ride this evening.  Coming back through the park, there was the smell of wood smoke - maybe folks grilling at the outdoor cooking area.  Enjoying the cooler temps.  Still a lot of idjits wandering forlornly around like the undead, looking for Pokémon.
• Another Russian woman, Katunya Sweet, wants to meet me.  She seems more down to earth than the other prospective honeys: "Hey there.. I am looking for a serious relations I like cooking and watching tv. I live in Russland. I would be grateful if you could answer." Like, she seems low-maintenance, isn't making any lewd suggestions or such or telling me to check out her nekkid pics (although there was a .jpg attachment)¹.  Maybe she might be the one I could settle down and grow old with?

¹ Heck, no, I didn't open it!  I don't want to get interwebs cooties.

In the Heat of the Thursday

• Would it be fair to say that DJT is HRC's only chance to win the WH? Seriously, with all of her flaws and lack of integrity, she'd be trailing any serious candidate by strong double digits.
• Yesterday's would-be Tobey Maguire apparently wanted to deliver a message to DJT.  Wouldn't a phone call or email be easier?
• Sometimes the news is in the silence.  After much fanfare last week, not much this week about the Libertarian candidate, or endorsements thereof. Is the GOP considering tumping Trump?  As kids, we used the word 'tump' all the time, but in my 20s or so, I remember saying it to my mother and she had no idea what I was talking about.  I understand it's a Southern-ism, but we're not exactly carpet-baggers.
• Regarding the brouhaha about DJT's 2nd amendment gaffe - My sense is that he was being tongue-in-cheek, and 'yugely' overestimated the humor factor, then spun the idea he was talking about 2A supporters' votes as damage control.  I don't agree that it intrinsically means he lacks the temperament for the Presidency, but it's poor judgment to fail to understand that such gaffes - in the limited time remaining in the race - are costing him tons of political capital that he doesn't have, while establishing no policy positives to attract undecideds.
• Word has it that Ted Cruz may have rough going in seeking Senate re-election in 2018.  Maybe the Weatherford car dealer should take another run at it.
• I know what you're thinking: "If Karl Rove were smart, he'd come to MWB for advice."  (Not that KR is consulting for any major candidate this cycle, so far as we know.)
• As I had the day off today, I took a phone interview (to be followed up in-person next week), and had a bike ride commencing just before noon. Who knew that on the day predicted to be the year's hottest, there'd be so few joggers/bikers on the trails?  I've never used a Camelbak, but at a couple of stations along my ride, I don't fail to replenish with several gulps of water from the water fountains.  My heat tolerance is getting better.
• Confirmed - all of the Carson shows this week have featured an Olympian(s).
• RPM's commute may be getting a bit more congested - Chuck Schwab is putting in a Texas campus nearby¹.
• Why can't we be friends?
• Blazing Saddles, History of the World, Young Frankenstein, and Silent Movie are all great Mel Brooks movies.  Life Stinks (1991) was a bit atypical, equal drama and comedy, and less slap-stick.  Nonetheless, it featured a stellar cast, with Lesley Ann Warren, Jeffrey Tambour, and Billy Barty (remember Foul Play?).  Another character in the movie, Sailor, looked sorta familiar:

• Here's some of Howard Morris' earlier work:

• This Christmas, Antenna TV is bringing back the '90s TV show Wings. This will be a plus for their lineup.  Now, if someone would just return the Bruce shows: The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. (Campbell), and Moonlighting (Willis), as well as Lorenzo Lamas' Renegade.
• Speaking of Christmas...the other night I caught an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger, Christmas edition.  In the show, Cordell defuses a tense barrio situation by reciting from Luke 6, then delivers Maria y Jose's baby, with Trivette's help.  Lots of references to Jesus Christ.  Think that episode would make prime time TV today?

¹ A dated news release was used, for the photos.  In image #1 (with Lake Turner on the right), Dad & oldest son and I shot sporting clays several years ago from the hilltop just left of the bald spot in the foreground.

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday

• Another newcomer seems to be jumping into the Presidential election fray.  Heck, why not?
• Will any credible candidate rise to save the 2016 election?  Can Meteor Strike's chances reach a plurality?  The remaining election season looks like a monkey screw.
• A co-worker of mine predicts civil war II within two years.  I don't think smart money would bet against him.
• Clock dork is back in the news, still trying to extend his 15 minutes of fame and win the litigation lottery in the waning months of the current administration.  The article bemoans that he misses his 'makeshift laboratory'.  If his student desk with a few scavenged electronics bits and pieces is a makeshift lab, my garage is a certifiable Menlo Park (NJ).  It's been reported that he wants to return to the U.S., as the fam's fifteen minutes have fizzled in Qatar, as well.
• HRC could try to make a useful idiot of him - she already has Kazir Khan and the Orlando shooter's father.  He could round out her three stooges lineup.
• BTW, props to the DNC for scheduling Khan, in what was basically a non sequitur attack on DJT.  The calculation was spot-on, that DJT would overreact and make an ass defending himself.
• I surmised something like this would happen.  After widespread success getting representations of the Northern Virginia battle flag removed from public view, the PC crowd is now going after the Gadsden "Don't Tread on Me" flag.  The convoluted logic apparently has it that because someone who allegedly harassed someone else wore a cap with the flag depiction, it's a "racist" symbol.  Lawyers for CAT, Ford, Ram, GMC, NASCAR and Cabela's should probably be paying attention if this gains traction.
• Similarly, certain PC groups, emboldened by successes in recent years, now want to quash any vestiges of normalcy wherever they can be found.  The culture war rages on.
• I've watched several features on Grit-TV lately.  If we get into another war, forget the B1s, B2s, B52s, F15/16/18/22/35s - All we need is to send Chuck Norris, Wesley Snipes, Clint Eastwood, and maybe Bruce Willis (but not as Petruchio) to wreak devastation and havoc on any foe.

Wilbur never knew Ed was a classically trained Shakespearean actor...

•  Apparently Col. Braddock didn't always keep his dong in his wallet - giving rise to Missing in Action III, in which Col. Jimbo returns to get his Vietnamese love interest and their son.  She doesn't make it, but he is able to take out about a hundred Charlies, and with his son and a priest liberate an orphanage, hijack a C-47 and flee to Thailand.  In The Marksman (2005), Wesley Snipes is able to evade thousands of rounds of machine gun fire and RPGs, while practicing an economy of shooting with a suppressed carbine, seemingly earning a 1:1 shot:kill ratio that would've made White Feather proud.  I do at least admire his practicality, as in the 'fog of war', you probably won't have Danny Noonan to caddy around extra ammo for you.
• The schedulers of Carson's reruns at Antenna-TV seem to be capitalizing on the Olympics.  Last night they had Greg Louganis (and more interestingly, Carl Reiner).  The night before featured Caitlyn Jenner (née Bruce), from about 1979, which was kind of a fun time capsule, as Jenner spoke of the upcoming birth of hizr (a term I just coined) first child, and preparing to be a commentator for the next year's Olympics, along with Orenthal James.
• Carson's monologue featured a reference to the L.A. Rams moving...to Anaheim during the off season, noting that the move exceeded yardage gained during the prior year.

Keep on Rockin'

Celebrating eight years of freedom - nine if I count the nearly year spent helping make payments for my fat ba$tard shyster's Lexus.



I usually say I can't hold a grudge - which is true - but, back in the day, if I'd seen the sonofabitch by the roadside with a rusty knife half sticking in him, I'd have had to stop just to make sure it was fully inserted.

I'm over that now.  Kinder and gentler, you might say.

But I still wouldn't talk to him if I saw him at the Tom Thumb.

Be vewy, vewy quiet...

I wonder if a few Elmer Fudds with A.H. Fox side-by-sides, or even some Remington 870s or proletariat Mossberg 500s, might dissuade the morons with cellphones from looking for the mythical monsters.

He's hunting Pokémon.

Mr. Fudd was always pretty hapless afield.  But I'll bet Elmer Keith coulda bagged a tote sack of the little devils...

Pokémon?  Just dad-blamed tomfoolery!

Blowing the cobwebs out of my mind

• Clint Eastwood is fed up with PC.  I caught part of Any Which Way You Can last night.  Trivia notes: A different primate was used for Clyde, as the original orangutan had grown too big.  In the scene where Philo takes Clyde to a motel for a conjugal visit, I thought I saw a blip from Bedtime for Bonzo flash across the TV the drunk motel attendant was watching. When Clint became mayor of Carmel, CA, RWR is said to have phoned the actor to ask "What's an actor who once appeared with a monkey in a movie doing in politics?"  The director of Bedtime for Bonzo (and some episodes of Leave it to Beaver) later had a successful career as producer of a top late night talk show.
• But no one can make the left more apoplectic than Ted Nugent.  Someone protesting an upcoming appearance in Minnesota described the gonzo musician as "[tolerant] of racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny, xenophobia, ableism, and incivility toward people who protest his remarks".  Ableism? BTW, it's also rumored he's crossed against the light, jaywalked, and once left chewing gum under a table at Dairy Queen.
• Knowing his disdain for prosecutors, I am surprised the circus blogger did not pick up on this news story.
• China's 'one child' policy, which began in the 1970s, is being phased out. Since about 1990, about 60% of the country's primary schools have closed.  Estimates - some disputed - say that 400 million females were aborted, sometimes against the will of the parents.  The effect has been overcrowded and polluted cities, and underpopulated rural areas.  China will need a massive influx of foreign workers to bridge the gap for at least a generation until normal population trends take hold.
• Tell me what you want, what you really, really, want.  Apparently, most environmental groups won't support carbon tax plans if they're revenue neutral.  Well, isn't that special?  So, do they want to decrease carbon emissions, or grow taxes?
• Leptokurtosis - I looked it up so you won't have to.  It's not contagious.  I learned the word after watching an interview with JPM Chase's Jamie Dimon, in which he referenced a possible "fat tail event" regarding Brexit, which has nothing to do with WJC chasing interns.  Black Swan Theory is related, but not synonymous with the term.
• Here's an old concept that has resurfaced as a result of BLM.  OK, the forty acres are in Alaska.  And ole Bessie is ornery as a, well, you know.
• Your newfangled ways frighten and confuse me.  This guy coulda been a lawyer.
• Carlos Norris for President.  In the past week, I caught part of a couple of Missing In Action movies.  As a POW/laborer, Col. Braddock is promised freedom if he will sign a document stating he committed crimes against Viet Nam.  His captors additionally taunt him by telling him his wife is getting ready to marry another man.  Dude, it's classic psy-ops. Norris/Braddock of course succeeds in eliminating the prisoner camp, amid lots of gunfire and explosions.
• They never are.  I wonder if the captors intercepted a letter from her.

• The other night, I heard a familiar tune on The Andy Griffith Show, featuring Andy and some bluegrass/jug band players (whom I later learned were The Dillards).  I was a bit surprised, as I'd always thought it was from a Burt Reynolds/Jon Voight/Ned Beatty/Ronny Cox film.  Turns out the tune predated both screen appearances.
• This will make ComKev - and anyone else - weep for the species.
• As I was on a bike ride last night, well over a dozen flippin' idjits with cellphones in hand blocked a bike path bridge.  Apparently Pokémon was hiding under the bridge or such.
• I have been riding for about a week now, since I found my compressor wasn't really broken.  Fattening my calves for the killing.
• A newly-wed Tom and Roseanne Arnold appeared on the Carson show last night, talking about their derriére tattoos.  So classy, those two, although by this century's standards, they almost seem quaint.