A menagerie of subjects...
...a heapin' helpin' of blogging gumbo; eat hearty!

Why didn't someone think of this before? For years and years, we've seen those plastic catsup (ketchup?) and mustard bottles at restaurants, which always came in handy; several years ago, the condiment people began putting their HOME products in plastic, squeezable bottles. Okay, well, maybe I'm behind the times, but it wasn't too long ago that I noticed you could buy JELLY in squeezable bottles...a pure stroke of genius! You don't have to worry about wasting jelly or getting the gooey, sticky stuff all over your hands. How about it, folks...creamy peanut butter in a squeeze bottle? I'm waiting for it. Although, if a manufacturer tried to put 'chunky' peanut butter in a squeeze bottle...someone's eye would get shot out by flying peanut pieces. Well, that's okay; just put a warning label on the side of the bottle...

He'll be worrying about more than just getting sacked: Quarterback MICHAEL VICK (New Orleans Saints?) has been sentenced to 23 months in prison for his dog-fighting activities; he's gotta be careful now; if he gets taken down in the exercise yard, chances are his tackler will be packing a SHANK. Why is it, that people who are set for life with millions of dollars seem to have these fatal flaws which cause them to throw it all away? (Can anyone say "O.J.", who was stupid enough to get involved in a gun-toting situation in Vegas, especially in the light of what happened, regarding his domestic situation on June 12, 1994?)

Who says I don't keep up on new music? Actually, I don't. Although, there's a fine new radio station here which mixes in recent popular laid-back music with stuff from the '70s and '80s; I just wish there was someone who'd open a mike every now and then and tell me who I was listening to. But, that station keeps annoying commercials to a minimum, so that's nice. So I do try to keep aware of new music, although its' a weak effort at best. But I try.
I actually found out about this new slice o'music online, and was able to hear a few tracks with my computer's media player. So, even for this old dinosaur, shopping for music takes twists and turns. That's how I found out about this collaboration between Robert Plant (the Led Zeppelin singer) and Alison Krauss, who I understand is quite famous in the world of country music, although I'd never heard of her until this disc came out. "Raising Sand" is a gentle, melodic, almost careful album; hushed harmonies abound in a laid-back country-folk sort of fusion, although it does rock once in a while. So I keep up on music, I guess, when it involves old musicians...and Plant ain't gettin' any younger. But he and she sound just fine. You might remember Plant's high-pitched wailing with Led Zeppelin; obviously he can't soar that high anymore, but he can still hit high notes, and does so here smoothly and delicately. Alison fits right in as she weaves her voice around Plant's. The entire album has an intimate feel; perfect late-nite music to wind down to.

Monday Night Football with a twist: The television broadcast of Monday Night Football annoys me to no end. Three commentators, all competing for space in which to say their inane somethings, and if that's not enough, there's 2 more on-field correspondents plus an irrelevant guest from The World Of Entertainment. So much verbage, so intense, all the time; it's enough to give ya a migraine. So tonight, I've got Monday Night Football on TV with the sound off, and instead, I'm listening to the Westwood-One radio broadcast, which ain't nearly as hyper. Only two commentators. And that's still one-too-many sometimes, but at least it's a step in the right direction.

Political garbage ad nauseum: What's this about the Prezzident continuing to prolong the Iraq war, even when it was recently found out that nukes hadn't been made over there for 4 years? And what's this about CIA tapes of torture sessions being destroyed by the powers that be? And lately, a former CIA agent has come out and said that "waterboarding" (where they tie you up and almost drown you), even though he thinks it 'goes too far', does produce results. Like, one of the 9/11 masterminds saying they didn't mean to kill so many people when they rammed airplanes into the World Trade Center. Yeah, rrrrrright. Maybe waterboarding's too good for guys like him. Meantime, one Prezzidential Candidate is trying to defend his Mormon faith; another is trying to justify his city's paying for security when he was having an affair while mayor of New York City; Oprah is endorsing Barack Obama, Bush is still bumbling in the White House and Vice President Cheney is still probably the one guy running this country. Like I said...AD NAUSEUM. This stuff makes me so sick, that I actually contemplated deleting this paragraph. Nah, I won't. It makes the rest of this post look good.
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Well, there ya go; a complete post typed in less than 30 minutes. Just dashed right out there. Blogging spontaneity at its most blatant. Maybe I should do more of these. Meantime, the radio is beginning to fade a little bit, due to a weak nighttime signal, but no way am I going to switch on the TV volume, not as long as that airhead Tony Kornheiser is part of the crew!