Where's my superfecta now?!?!

Yesterday was the Travers, the crown jewel of the Saratoga racing season, and we were there with bells on, as usual.



This year we had a table of 6 at the Carousel Restaurant, one of the half-dozen or so on-site establishments. Erica, myself, Meghan and Renee (two of Erica’s co-teachers), and long-time friends Berns and Frank made up this year’s group of merry-makers.



As I predicted last week, I shouldn’t have been gambling. Where-as I was able to slowly build a pile of winnings last week with mostly “safe” bets and a couple high-odds ponies, Saratoga on Travers Day once again lived up to its billing as the “graveyard of favorites.”



Here’s how it went last week:
Bet 6, get back 18.
Bet 12, get back 16
Bet 6, get back 10
Bet 10, lose
Bet 12, get back 14

And so on. Nothing great, just a solid day in which I turned $60 into $85.



Here’s how it went yesterday:
Bet 6, lose
Bet 12, lose
Bet 6, lose
Bet 6, get back 8

And so on. I think only two favorites won all day. We had horses winning that went off at 28-1, 30-1, 88-1, 18-1, etc. And not only that, the favorites weren’t even close! It’d be fine if some nag came out of nowhere to win, but at least the favorite came in second so I could get back some money on the ticket with a Place/Show payout. But noooooo, the favorite came in 6th. All. Fucking. Day. Long.



You want to know how NOT exaggerating I am? Check out race 4:

Yes, that’s a $1,293 Exacta, and a $19,482 trifecta. You don’t see that very often.

But WAIT! There’s more! Look at this fucking thing:

You’re looking at a $2,565 Exacta, a $105,914 Trifecta, and a $1,523,188 Superfecta!! That had the crowd buzzing for a good 20 minutes. As the PA guy was announcing the payouts, the laughter and applause grew louder and louder, reaching ovation levels as he slowly annunciated “one… million… five… hundred… twenty… three… thousand…”

Needless to say, I had none of those horses. Some lady a couple tables over did. The exacta.



Well, after 10 races of slow bleed, my $60 SAM card now worth $17, it’s Travers time.

I’m poring over the Racing form, checking out all the tip sheets I have, trying to find something that will point me to the right underdog. Any underdog. But I couldn’t find one, so I went with the favorites: #2 Colonel John (sired by Tiznow), and Pyro. I know, I should have just cashed the ticket as is, but that’s no fun. I bet $3 WPS for Colonel John, and $2 WPS for Pyro. Two dollars left on my SAM card. Ouch.



In one of the tightest races ever at the Travers (we’re talking ½ inch, maybe), Colonel John eeked out a win, and Pyro finished third. A $15 bet brought back $33.85, cashing me out with $35.85, or $25 down. It’s a wash on the year, and I had a hell of time playing. I’ll take that deal.


We cashed out our tab (another ouch, especially when it wasn’t an even split), and headed off to Berns’ car for a tailgate on the first turn. We try to get out there as soon as possible to watch the final race right on the rail. More hijinx, more drinking, more laughter. Then, off to Siro’s, the place to be after the track. It’s quite a feat that place has pulled off. Total beer-fest on the outside, and a world-class restaurant and bar on the inside. Seriously, last time I was there, 8 of us racked up a $1700 tab, but we may have overindulged, since dinner was on the guy who won $4500 at the track that day… Elk? Sure, bring us over an elk. And a couple ducks. Bring the whole fucking zoo over, while you're at it. Medium rare.




Did I mention babe city? Frank, Berns and I had the privilege of the company of the three hottest women in the place, of course. But let me tell ya, Saratoga + Travers + nice weather = Sundresses and Boobs and Legs and Double-Takes. Especially for the two single guys in the group.

Story of the night:
Frank got to Siro's after us, and as he was coming in, he noticed two attractive women just off to the side. He's walking around looking for us, and he happened to stop within earshot of the following conversation between them:
Woman 1: I gotta take a shit. Wanna come?
Woman 2: Sure.



(Ignore the audio here, the mic on my Q sucks. But Siro's was packed, and HOPPIN'!)

Ohio voting machines "lose votes"

And they're going to use them anyway.

(UPDATE: Link Fixed)

But yeah, those of us who are not at all confident in an Obama win are just Chicken Littles.

Wake up.

Again, I really fucking hope I'm wrong. But Wolfrum's list is exactly my list of fears for November. I'm not entirely with him on the Clinton thing, but you cannot argue that the electorate is stupid, the media is in the GOP's pocket, Obama is black, etc...

Veep THIS!

Considering CNN is "confirming" Biden, this is kind of moot, but I was thinking about it all day.

While some people were speculating that the pick would be Hillary, others said no way, she hadn't been "vetted."

Seriously? You sure you don't want to reconsider that train of thought?

You mean after 8 years of ass-probing during Bill's presidency by the corrupt media and the scandal-mongering GOP, continued demonization during the Bush II fiasco, and then a very close race for the Dem nomination, there's something we don't know about Hillary Clinton?!?!?!?

Again: seriously?

OK, imagine you're Obama, sitting in your elitist strategy tower, bowl of arugula in front of you, maybe a little raspberry vinaigrette on the side (of course). You've got five people on your finalist list: Hillary Clinton and four others. Those others? You get their tax returns, a full list of closet-based skeletons, some high school yearboooks, voting records, YouTube moments, whatever. You "vet" them. Hillary? You say, "sit tight, I may ask you, I may not, but I think you're a known quantity. We don't need it in triplicate."

To be clear, this is neither a pro or con on Clinton, or Biden, or whomever. I just thought that the whole "vetting" thing was a little silly.

If everyone is {X}, no one is {X}

Another victim of the "Terrorist Watch List."

Seriously, what's fucking point? My six-syllable first-last-name combination may be a mouthful, but there are 10 of us in the US, maybe. I'd hate to be named John Williams or something. Because not only do you have to face the fact that 99.999% of the people on that list have nothing to do with terrorism, but any one of 15,000 other people could have fucked your traveling life up for eternity. Because it doesn't matter who's in the White House in Jan 2009. Government programs like this do not die.

McCain

A comprehensive collection of anti-McCain arguments.

I am fortunate to not be on the spam lists of any wingnut friends or family. But if you get that shit, just send this right back.

Olympic musings

What's with all the ugly sportsmanship this year? I thought Usain Bolt was bad in the 100, but the men's and women's British 4x400 teams, in heats, were just fucking terrible. The woman lollygagged her ass to the line for that last 80 meters or so and almost lost the 3rd qualifying spot. The men's anchor was taunting as he crossed the finish line, waving his baton, doing the "shhhhhh" finger-to-mouth thing, etc. Is your goal in life to be hateable?

I really hope the Jamaicans crush them in the final.

---------

Speaking of crush, the men's 4x100 was hilarious. I think a couple teams were still on the baton exchange when Powell crossed the finish line. Bolt could have won the damned thing, and he was just jogging out the momentum after the handoff and exhorting Powell to go. That's gotta be embarrassing for everyone else. Almost a full second to second place? Wow.

---------

The woman who is part of the diving announcing team is almost Susyn Waldman-level terrible.

Damn it all

I missed my blogaversary on the 6th. Oh well.

Yes, Kaus still fucks goats

But that has nothing to do with this heartwarming post (with quality Ailes snark).

Best of Craisglist

My Pubic Hair Epiphany

Want it from behind while you play Super Mario Brothers ?

I was the girl your wife was going down on when you came home

To my neighbor who I saw pooping in his yard yesterday

Quote of the day

"Ladies and gentlemen, your Republican party: where the political incentives line up in such a way that letting women die rather than get an abortion is the smart way to go."
-Hilzoy

Wingnut values

I see how it works now. The disastrous health care situation in America actually encourages people to get, and stay, married.

It's easy to be straight

A great post from PizzaDiavola.

I'm not even going to try to blockquote. Read it.

It's a thing of beauty

This is phenomenal. Be sure to Full-Screen it.

When you absolutely need to fly...

...leave your penis pumps, rigidity inserts (ouch!), cock rings, etc. at home.

They're really making it tough on Limbaugh to fly to the DR to get his jollies, aren't they?

Why art-house films are so bad

Pretty funny, and fairly dead on:

Well, it seems that, when it comes to appalling subsidised cinema, there are certain qualifications that help. Being in black-and-white scores a good few points. A really brilliant director might even manage to switch from b/w for the tragic bits into glorious colour for the redemptive, ecstatic bits. Exposure of the dark horror of life on the social housing estates lurking behind the bright facade of Europrosperity seems a sure-fire ticket to success, especially if accompanied by plenty of under-exposed footage of the grim landscapes of the urban edgelands, preferably featuring lots of pylons.

If you ever have a chance to see Funny Ha-ha, do yourself a favor. Don't. It's the perfect example of the tiny, low- to no-budget film with artsy pretentions that fails on every level. It's terrible. Objectively bad. Nothing compelling, at all, about the plot or protagonists, and it's technically unsound too. Bad light, bad audio (one time all the kids are in a van going to a party, and you can't hear the conversation over the fucking rattle of the muffler), bad everything. Of course I saw favorable mentions and decided to put it in the Netflix queueueue. The worse it is, the more some nitwit critic feels the need to give it a good review. It makes him stand out. And all publicity is good publicity. Or so they say.

(h/t Petulant at Shakesville)

Capitalism is a gateway drug

I believe mass firings are in order.

Beyond ridiculous.

Bwaaaaaahhhh!

h/t Ezra


Also:

The McCains increased their budget for household employees from $184,000 in 2006 to $273,000 in 2007, according to John McCain's tax returns.

The additional cash supports an "increase in the number of employees," the McCain aide told Politico. The aide did not answer a question about whether the growing staff stemmed from addition of new properties to the family's real estate portfolio.

And:

Facing a Democratic Party positively giddy over his recent admission that he didn't know how many houses he owned, John McCain quickly returned to a political trump card: his POW experience.

Speaking to the Washington Post, aide Brian Rogers, in full damage-control mode, acknowledged that his boss had "some investment properties and stuff," but added: "This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years -- in prison."

The article goes on to list the many ways McCain and his lackeys have woven his POW experience into every conversation on anything.


But, the winner is Andrew Sullivan:

In all the discussion of John McCain's recently recovered memory of a religious epiphany in Vietnam, one thing has been missing. The torture that was deployed against McCain emerges in all the various accounts. It involved sleep deprivation, the withholding of medical treatment, stress positions, long-time standing, and beating. Sound familiar?

According to the Bush administration's definition of torture, McCain was therefore not tortured.

Cheney denies that McCain was tortured; as does Bush. So do John Yoo and David Addington and George Tenet. In the one indisputably authentic version of the story of a Vietnamese guard showing compassion, McCain talks of the agony of long-time standing. A quarter century later, Don Rumsfeld was putting his signature to memos lengthening the agony of "long-time standing" that victims of Bush's torture regime would have to endure. These torture techniques are, according to the president of the United States, merely "enhanced interrogation."

Yay freedom

Hey, I'm really glad giving China the Olympic games had a freeance and peance effect.

The women, Wu Dianyuan [pictured, center], 79, and Wang Xiuying [left], 77, had made five visits to the police this month in an effort to get permission to protest what they contended was inadequate compensation for the demolition of their homes in Beijing.

With Leather summarizes it nicely:
Just so we're clear on what happened: the Chinese government demolished their homes, and they never even protested. They only tried to get permission to do so. And they got a year of re-education through labor.

Can't. Stop. Laughing.

International Male Catalog
2008, Summer 1986, 1986 Holiday Catalog

Bend over

From a tech writers' message board I'm on:

I have CS2 for Windows. I want CS3 for Mac. A cross-grade. Is there any
useful information about cross-grades on the Adobe web site? Of course
not. After 35 minutes on the phone with "Customer Service," much of it
on hold, the guy comes back on the line to ask me for my CS3 serial
number, which of course I don't have since the purpose of my call is to
get (aka BUY) a CS3 license. Oh no, not possible, very sorry.
Apparently, I must first purchase an upgrade from CS2 Windows to CS3
Windows. Then, when I have a CS3 Windows serial number, I will be
allowed to purchase a Windows->Mac cross-grade.

"Customer Service?" Well, I have another description for it.

This is fashion?

Jezebel has some fun with bad/bizarre photography.

Look at the horsie!

Meghan, Renee, and Erica at the track.

I'm actually having a decent day for a change, up $20 after 6 races. I've lost money on this weekend (my annual Alabama party) for years and years, but usually make up for it next weekend at the Travers.

If I finish today up, I may have to not gamble next weekend... oh, who am I kidding?

UPDATE: Finished $25 up.

McCain

Wow, the Democrats are really starting to push back against those stupid and mendacious McCain ads. This one right her....

Wait, what's that? This is from some random guy on YouTube? Oh.

So I still haven't heard from a Democrat?

Rock on, idiots.

Did Wilde write this?

From an acquaintance's attempt to install some Adobe software:

The Installer has encountered the following less functional Adobe product on your computer:

NONE

The Installer requires that you uninstall this less functional product before continuing this installation in order to avoid application conflict.

To uninstall NONE and then install this new product, choose Continue.

To cancel this Installer without making any changes to your computer, click Cancel.

Marco!

I should add that this is funny because it was posted on a major new site's photo-stream, where they just grab a bunch of pictures and make a gallery.

It was up for a couple hours until they realized...

We kill immigrants here, son

Just another day in 'murka.

Music Meme!

Stolen from Kona and modified. Basically, snip the first lines of lyrics from a shuffle.

Name that song!

1) Edwyn Collins - A Girl Like You (Kona)
I've never known a girl like you before
Now just like in a song from days of yore
Here you come a knockin', knockin' at my door
And I've never met a girl like you before

2) Rush - Working Man (Toast)
I get up at seven, yeah
And I go to work at nine
I got no time for livin'
Yes, I'm workin' all the time

3) Van Halen - Atomic Punk (Toast)
I am a victim of the science age, uh
A child of the storm, whoa yes
I cant remember when I was your age
For me, it says no more, no more

4) ????? - Personal Jesus (Bill)
Feeling unknown
and you're all alone,
flesh and bone,
by the telephone,
lift up the receiver,
i'll make you a believer

5) Elvis - Return to Sender (Chemist)
I gave a letter to the postman,
He put it his sack.
Bright in early next morning,
He brought my letter back.

6) AC/DC - Let Me Put My Love Into You (Toast)
Flying on a free flight
Driving all night with my machinery
Cause I
I got the power any hour

7) Blues Brothers - Hey Bartender (Bill)
I went balling the other night
I started drinking and got real tight
I blew each and all my friends
I felt so good I had to blow it again

8)
She painted a bull's eye on my mind.
No matter how I moved her aim was never high.
I guess that was what I needed at the time.

9) White Stripes - Hotel Yorba (Bill)
I was watching
With one eye on the other side
I had fifteen people telling me to move
I got moving on my mind

10) M.I.A. - Bamboo Banga (no one)
Road runner, road runner
Going hundred mile per hour
With your radio on
With your radio on


Some are easy, some are ridiculous.

I tag all y'all.

LOLbush

From the Guardian.

America. Fuck yeah!

That look of contempt is perfect.

For the ladies. And some men.

This pic led to a damned amusing comment thread over at Jezebel.

Oh yeah

Another collection of bad album covers.

Shit, I own a couple Manowar albums. I'll have to dig them up.


That is so not gay.


I'm confused.


I want to party with these folks.



Any art critics in the house? Seriously, what the motheruck? What does this mean?


Stunned.


OK, the picture's pretty bad. Love the album title.


I'll cue this up right after I Get Wet. Par-tay!

Fuck

Satchmo - 1997-2008

I'm sitting here welling up over a complete stranger's dead damned dog.

And fuck again.

And again.

Condolences, Tbogg.

The coolest thing in the history of things

The pictures and videos at this post are fantastic! Follow the link to the BBC site too.

Beautiful.

Honey-do

The project I tackled this weekend was replacing the last of the old yellowing outlets with white ones to match all the other updated rooms. Eight plugs and two switches. What could go wrong? I've only done dozens and dozens of them in my lifetime. White to white, black to black. No problems.

Turn off circuit breakers.
Replace 10 items.
Turn on breaker #1. Erica yells down the stairs, OK!!! Good. One room works.
Turn on breaker #2. BZZZZZZZZZT! Sparks fly out of the control box. Um, that's not good. Off again. On again, no sparks. Also, no "OK!!!!!"

Go upstairs, check out the work I did on that circuit, six plugs and one switch. Bust out the multimeter, no juice anywhere. Well, the problem is in the box, and that's something I won't fuck with. Wait until Monday, I guess. No major inconvenience. Erica can always bring her laptop downstairs.

A little while later, I hear a giggle in the kitchen. Erica has crossed "replace outlets" off the list. She has also added "call electrician."

Thanks, babe. I love you too. Wiseass.

As it turns out, it wasn't my fault. My wiring was fine, the breaker was just old and crapped out. Great. $95 for 20 minutes of work. Oh well. I can't sell this place fast enough.

Nice inning there, jackasses

Hey, good thing we traded away a decent reliever for a washed-up catcher.

Angels 7th inning:
2 solo homers, Yankees give up a 3-1 lead.

Angels 8th inning:
homer (1)
double
single (2)
error
double (3, 4)
single
single (5)
wild pitch (6)
single (7)

Yup, that's 7 runs in, and no outs yet.

Good thing I have to take a shower and go downtown to drink, so I don't have to watch the rest of this shit.

Duuuuuude

"An inquest into the death of Welsh gym owner Gerald Mellin has found the businessman decapitated himself in his Aston Martin DB7 after an argument with his estranged wife. According to the court, Mellin tied one end of a rope to a tree, climbed into his DB7 and wrapped the other end around his neck. Mellin then jammed the pedal down on the $173,000 car, driving into a busy main road, forcing other drivers to watch his horrific death. Police found his headless body still in the driving seat and his head on the back seat."

Still workin', still shufflin'

Settled in for some hard-core Word work this morning. Need to knock off at least 300 pages today, and I've done 109 this morning so far.

Let's see here. Dial up the "Kick Ass" playlist...

Arctic Monkeys - Do Me a Favour
I said do me a favour and ask if you need some help
She said do me a favour and stop flattering yourself
To break apart these ties that bind
Perhaps 'fuck off' might be too kind
Perhaps 'fuck off' might be too kind

Johnny Cash - Sam Hall
Great, and funny, country murder ballad

Against Me! - Stop!

Shakira - Ojos Así
I'm getting a tingly sensation in my groinal ara.

Ramones - The KKK Took My Baby Away

REM - Losing My Religion

Primus - Tommy The Cat
What an amazing collection of musicians. I listened to this three times just for the drums.

Rush - Animate
What an amazing collection of musicians. I listened to this two times just for the drums.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - I Like It
Oh yeah, baby, it's the butt-in-the-office-chair boogie!

Jethro Tull - My God
People what have you done
locked Him in His golden cage.
Made Him bend to your religion
Him resurrected from the grave.
He is the god of nothing
if that's all that you can see.
You are the god of everything
He's inside you and me.
So lean upon Him gently
and don't call on Him to save you
from your social graces
and the sins you used to waive.
The bloody Church of England
in chains of history
requests your earthly presence at
the vicarage for tea.
And the graven image you-know-who
with His plastic crucifix
he's got him fixed
confuses me as to who and where and why
as to how he gets his kicks.
Confessing to the endless sin
the endless whining sounds.
You'll be praying till next Thursday to
all the gods that you can count.

Biting anti-organized-religion commentary, and a ridiculous flute solo. We're all winners here.

Rush - Before And After
These guys were called Zeppelin wannabes when this came out, and the accusation isn't without its merits. This heavy groove case in point. Still, good is good. And this song is good, 30+ years later. Rutsey was a good drummer too. No Peart, of course, but solid. Quite a debut album.

Mötley Crüe - Kickstart my Heart
Woah, yeah, baby!
One of 4 Crüe songs I like. Though that stupid "we're still kicking ass" interlude kind of ruins it for me.

~~~~~

Work on the computer, killer tunes through the stereo, and women's beach volleyball on the TV. Woah, yeah, great asses and skin cancer!

~~~~~

Queensrÿche - Queen of the Reich
Mr. Halford, meet Mr. Tate. And are you pretty much destined to be a drummer when your last name is Rockenfeld?

Scissor Sisters - Take Your Mother
Gonna take your mama out all night
Yeah we'll show her what it's all about
We'll get her jacked up on some cheap champagne
We'll let the good times all roll out

These guys kick so much ass it's not even funny. I can't believe how much I like a disco-rock band. It shouldn't be possible. And yet here they are. A genre-buster. A couple weeks ago, I noticed a concert of their on TV on one of the HD channels, so I DVRed it. What a show. That's when I realized why I liked them. The core - drums, guitar, bass - is really a rock band. It's the keyboards and the crazy gold-lamé-wearing dude and chick singers that give it the dance-disco touch. Addictive as all hell.

Zagoraios - O Votanikos
My second-favorite Rembetiko (rebel music). A mish-mash of Greek and Turkish and various Greek mountain dialects, I don't know half of what he's saying. But I get the point.

Rilo Kiley - Silver Lining
Nice little tune. Maybe shouldn't be on the "kick ass" list. Still, good band.

Raconteurs - Steady As She Goes

Maroon 5 - Wake Up Call
Adam Levine can sing. Unfortunately, 90% of what he sings is tripe. But each of their two albums has one song I really like. And they're both angry.

Phish - Bouncing 'Round the Romm (live)
Here comes the office-chair-boogie again!

Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers - Just One Kiss
The ultimate booze-soaked party music. Zydeco with a touch of rock, and off-the charts danceability for white guys with only three moves. When I was in N'awlins, he was on the road out of town. I swore I would see him live one day. A month later he died. Fuck.

Against Me! - Up The Cuts
These guys rule.

Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye
A great breakup song, with that strange combo of depressing/uplifting. It sounds so pretty, but all the while the lyrics just kill you... He died too young, just like his father

Kings of Leon - Day Old Blues
Girls are gonna like the way I toss my hair
Boys are gonna hate the way I seem
dayol' dayol' dayol', dayol' dayol' dayol', dayol' dayol' dayol' buh-LOOOO-whoooz

Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell
Torn and twisted at the foot of a burning bike

[Scene: Delta Phi kitchen, circa 1991. People discussing how many times they've seen certain bands live. Of course, the dominant band is the Dead.]
Angelos: I've seen the Dead 4 times, and Jerry twice. Now that I think of it, I've seen Meat Loaf 6 times.
Others: Look at Angelos with some combination of amusement and amazement.
Angelos: I guess that makes me a Meathead.
[end Scene]

Arctic Moneys - The Bad Thing
Do the bad thing
Take off your wedding ring
It won't make it any easier
It might make it worse

How many over-hyped bands not only live up to the hype, but exceed it? I can't fucking think of anyone other than these guys and Kings of Leon.

Iron Maiden - Duellists
Oh yeah. What an amazing piece of music. Smith and Murray are so head-and-shoulders above any other metal guitar tandems, they need a rear-view mirror with a zoom feature. (How's that for a mixed methaphor?!) Nicko and Steve drive the bus, Dave and Adrian go off. They're in each others brains man!

Jethro Tull - Locomotive Breath
A classic.

Blues Brothers - Flip Flop and Fly
I don't care if I die

Arctic Monkeys - Teddy Picker
She saw it and she grabbed it and it wasn't what it seemed
The kids all dream of making it, whatever that means

and

Assuming that all things are equal,
Who'd want to be men of the people
When there's people like you?

Iron Maiden - Murders in the Rue Morgue
When your chief lyricists are a literature major and a history major, you wind up with a lot of cool songs. Literate metal. What a concept.

Kings of Leon - On Call
I'm gon' brawl, so be there
One for all, I'll be there
And when they fall, to pieces
Lord you know, I'll be there laughing

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Come On (Part III)
One of my favorite album solos. Groovy song and all, but for me it's all about the lead break.

Johnny Cash - Man In Black
Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.


Wow. Just wow. This song was relased 37 years ago. And nothing's fucking changed.

Johnny Cash is always will be my hero.

And on that note, I've got to get out of the basement, away from this computer, and go out and see some sun. Then I have to work on the house a bit, and tonight, we're going out even if it's just for a couple drinks on Broadway.

I've been locked up in the basement too long. The wife and I have been like roommates the last couple weeks. She's on the couch watching TV, I'm at the computer.

274 pages down so far today.

I'll knock more off later, after Erica goes to bed.

In which Victoria Beckham is pretty cool

Allure: How do you feel about fat people? Is there an ick factor?
VB: That’s an awful question. People have to be healthy. Some people can’t help being thin; some people can’t help being fat. People can’t help the way they look. I don’t like it when people are mean about me, so I’m not going to be mean about anybody else.


You go.

Some other choice quotes here.

Welcome to China: Please Ignore the Communism

Well said

From Steve Greenberg.

Welcome to Bush America

Man tries to vote.

Man has proper ID for voting, as dictated by the laws of his state.

Man gets arrested.

Where were we?

Oh, yeah. Working like a fucking dog again. Office by day, working at home until 1 or 2 or 3 in the morning every night.

Hence the radio silence.

~~~~~

Let's start a shuffle while I spew.

Kings of Leon - Holy Roller Novocaine (Youth and Young Manhood)
In my KoL top 5. Filthy, filthy groove. Come on baby, you and me, let's get together and do the nasty. Ah, but "Lord's gonna get us back." The band consists of the three brothers and the cousin Followill. They come from a long line of Pentacostal preachers, and grew up steeped in deep-South religion. This conflict of the rock-n-roll life with their upbringing comes up quite often in their lyrics.

Judas Priest - Diamonds and Rust (Unleashed in the East)
What fucking power he had. This album is stupendous because of Halford alone.

Stevie Wonder - Superstition
Stevie Wonder's a musical genius!!!!! There aren't many booty shakers above this on the all-time list of booty shakers.

Black Crowes - Hard to Handle (Shake your Moneymaker)
Yesaroun'
I haven't heard this in 3+ years, I'd guess. Holds up pretty nicely all these years later.

Talking Heads - Slippery People (Stop Making Sense)
One of the all time great bands. I fuckin' love David Byrne. A freaky, freaky genius. And what a concert this was. Seriously, if you've never watched this movie, do yourself the favor. Beautifully conceptualized and filmed. This is my favorite song from it.

Franklin Micare Trio - Coconut Woman
This is the band that played our wedding. Their two albums are just so good. Amazing what you can find locally, if you look. I remember when he had just moved into the area, and played Rolls for the first time, just him and his guitar. At the end of the night, I turned to Tom, the bartender/owner, and said "you'd better make this fucking guy a regular." "Way ahead of you," he said. He wins the Metroland "best jazz vocalist" year in and year out, and puts on one HELL of a bar show.

Jimmy Eat World - The Middle (Bleed American)
Awesome. Killer hooky chorus, uplifting message, solid groove.

Robert Plant - Big Love (Manic Nirvana)
Filthy. Filthy. Filthy. Plant put out some kick-ass material post Zeppelin. Page, not so much. Remember Coverdale/Page? What a steaming pile of shit that was. Could he have picked a worse Plant-wannabe-poseur? I think not. Also, nice way to admit you got nuttin'.

Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
Shake it baby, shake it.

Ramones - Rockaway Beach
OK, who wrote the best 2-minute songs? These guys, or Buddy Holly? That's a tough call.

Public Enemy - Can't Truss It (Apocalypse '91 - The Enemy Strike Black)
All right all right
Bass in your face
Not an eight track
Gettin' it good to the wood
So the people
Give you some a dat
Reactin' to the fax
That I kick and it stick
And it stay around
Pointin' to the joint put the Buddha down
Goin' goin' gettin' to the roots
Ain't givin' it up
So turn me loose
But then again I got a story
That's harder than the hardcore
Cost of the holocaust
I'm talkin' 'bout the one still goin' on
I know
Where I'm from, not dum diddie dum
From the base motherland
The place of the drum
Invaded by the wack diddie wack
Fooled the black, left us faded
King and chief probably had a big beef
Because of dat now I grit my teeth
So here's a song to the strong
'Bout a shake of a snake
And the smile went along wit dat
Can't truss it

'nuff said.

Damn those guys were good.

Scorpions - Blackout
This song is so fucking rude, but I don't care. It sounds too good to get all high and mighty about it.

I miss my Matthias Jabs striped pants.


Except mine were black and white. They were quite the sensation at Delta Phi parties. Seriously, I was just goofing around, but the ladies always had to flirt and comment. Those pants got me some.

Apostolos Nikolaidis - Panta me glyko hassisi
Wine, women, song, and good black hash. What else do you need, really?

Zagoraios - Pou Pas Memeti
Hey, it's like Two for Tuesday, Hellenic style! Another kick-ass groove. If I had to pick a favorite genre of music, it would probably be Greek "rebel" music.

Pearl Jam - Green Disease (Riot Act)
It's a disease, and they're all green
It emanates from their being
A satiation with occupation

And like weeds with big leaves
Stealing light from what's beneath
Where they have more
Still they take more

A top-5 PJ song for me. And just unbelievable live.

Ramones - Teenage Lobotomy
Now I guess I'll have to tell'em
That I ain't got no cerebellum

White Stripes - Seven Nation Army (Live Under Blackpool Lights)
This is another mind-blowing concert DVD. Watching him make all that wonderful noise with one strangely-tuned guitar and a couple pedals is crazy. Crazy good.

Limbo Maniacs - Butt Funkin'
Some random band I got from Toast. The whole album is too much to take in one dose, but this is really good shuffle stuff. Great grooves. The lyrics, well... you can surmise the maturity level from the title of this song.

Arctic Monkeys - 505 (Favourite Worst Nightmare)
A great way to close an album out. Builds slowly, a little organ, a little guitar, some rhythm section, and finish cathartically. Yes!

Bruce Springsteen - Radio Nowhere (Magic)
Yeah, this puppy holds up.

Weezer - Dope Nose (some untitled album with a color)
Hey! Another great 2-minute song band. It's the anti-Metallica competition.

Clapton and a zillion others - While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Concert for George)
Very well done tribute concert.

The Hold Steady - Stuck Between Stations (Boys and Girls in America)
An all-timer. In my top-20 songs ever, fer sure.

Gogol Bordello - 60 Revolutions (Underdog World Strike)
Where posers and models with guitars
Boogie to the shit for beats
I make a better rock revolution
Alone with my dick!

Another top-20 song. These immigrant punks kick some ass.

Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict A Riot (Employment)
Rockin', hooky, groovy, with an eminently shoutable chorus.

Masters of Reality - She Got Me (when she got her dress on) (Sunrise on the Sufferbus)
What an amazing one-off project this was. Ginger Baker hooked up with a couple buddies and put together quite a collection of tunes. This one right here is positively dangerous if you're driving. I literally put my cruise control on when this song comes up.

~~~~~

Spent last weekend in Boston, playing at my friend Tom's golf club at the annual 3-day Member-Guest Tournament.

We sucked balls. We couldn't catch a break Friday and Saturday, and the guys we played were catching all of them. We started the weekend 0 for 5. That's record futility for us. Sunday came around, and it was spoiler time. We won both of our matches, and I shot a pretty damned good 83. We slid up from the basement to 4th place of 6, so at least we won't be hearing about it for the whole next year.

Tried to hook up with oddjob. He suggested the place. We showed up at 7:45, grabbed some bar space for us and stools for the girls. I proceeded to walk around the whole establishment and the outside seating area, looking for the guy "about 6' tall, with thinning brown hair and glasses... wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt and black pants." I did this 5 times over the next hour. Nine o'clock and a $90 tab later, we left.

He was outside the whole time. How does this happen?

~~~~~

My company makes the big move next week, into some phenomenal new digs. The building used to be the largest knitting mill in the world, until a big fire. It's been sitting around all decrepit for years, because the textile industry is non-existent in the US. OK, pretty much all industry is gone. We've got the entire second and third floors of a fully-restored factory building. We're talking straight out of an HGTV show. Exposed brick and ventilation ducts, the whole 9 yards. I'll post pictures. Oh, and I get an office! Semi-private, but I actually prefer that. The better to oversee my minions. {rubs hands together and grins evil grin}

~~~~~

OK, that drum routine during the opening ceremony was outstanding.

It freaked Erica out. Gave her visions of Hitler-esque marches or something. Can't say I disagree with her, but still, awesome.

I, for one, welcome our Chinese drumming overlords. They own us already, they just haven't moved in yet.

~~~~~

This is too silly

Craig Ferguson has been going nuts on the "fork in the garbage disposal" dance for a couple weeks now.



(that one starts at 1:50)