SO MUCH FOR PROGRESS, I GUESS...

...I thot all would be well if I just updated...

-

It all started a couple of weeks ago. At that time, I'd just gotten everything in order regarding the functioning of this here laptop. I was able once again, to use really large type on the blog headlines, and photo positioning got a lot easier, but as you can see, that's changed. (Note the Smaller Characters in the Blog headline above.) All had been going well until Just Recently, when I visited "YouTube". I read a banner on that page that stated "YouTube will soon be phasing out support of your browser; please upgrade to another browser" (Windows Explorer 8 was one of the choices.) So I did Just That. After all, I've spent hours and hours on YouTube, looking at all kinds of historic things preserved on video. I'd hate to be denied access to such a cool site.

-

Then I landed on this blogsite, and found I couldn't select different typesizes for use in my Blog Titles. Huh? What? I'd upgraded to '8', but lost my ability to choose larger or smaller characters. I thot that by upgrading, things would improve, not get worse. So I replaced Explorer 8 with Explorer 7, which is a step down from '8' but newer than the '6' I'd started out with. Still Nothing...no way to change type sizes. So I went back, installed another version of Java; that didn't work, so I installed new Active X controls (Both 'Java' and 'Active X' are integral to the functions of a lot of things, including this blog). Nope, no progress, no huge headlines yet, but I guess I'll have to accept that for now. After all, YouTube seems to be accepting Windows 7. Anyhow, that's how I Updated, only to end up going Backwards. Strange days indeed!

------------------------------------------------

THE A-ROD WATCH (or, why are there holes in all my bats?): In the World Series, Philly lost the second game, but before they did, they got Alex Rodriguez to Strike Out three more times. He's hitless so far in this year's series. Of course A-Rod was a factor throughout the season and in the post-season...until now. He seems to be Jinxed at the Most Important Baseball Event Of All. If doesn't start hitting soon, Yankee fans will despise him almost as much as Seattle Mariners' fans who've despised him in the half-century-or-so since he escaped Seattle, leaving for the Really Big Money. The A-Rod watch will continue here. I can't help but feel that either he's disintegrating in front of my eyes, or the pressure is more than he's capable of bearing. Or perhaps a little of both. And he ain't gettin' any younger either. A-ROD, WAKE UP!!! START HITTING!!! NOW!!! This might be one of your last chances to get a World Series Ring.

--------------------------------------------------

CUTTIN' THE CALORIES JUST A BIT: I go through Carbonated Beverages in an instant. I can put away can after can after can of Carbonated Liquid, especially if it's Root Beer or Cream Soda. After all, the store brand (in this case, 'Western Family') is cheap, cheap, cheap. I recently went thru a half-rack of Cream Soda in 2 days. So I've changed my ways...well, not 'change' exactly, more like modification: I am now drinking Diet Root Beer. Diet Beverages taste like someone mixed in Clorox with all of the artificial flavors. It takes me almost two hours to go through a single can of Diet Pop. And the taste diet pop leaves in your mouth is akin to throwing up just a little bit. Ack...gurg...***!!! Also, I'm eating Bananas instead of candy bars. I guess the 'you are what you eat' theorem applies here. Theorem? Where did that come from? Honestly, I haven't uttered nor read that word since 10th grade Geometry, another math class I almost flunked long, long ago. I scored a whopping 30% on the final exam, but the teacher passed me anyway. I think he wanted to get rid of me...

-

--------------------------------------------------

THE BEATLES 'REMASTERED' CDS...Finally! I made it through the whole set! And I'm dubbing the original CD's onto home-made CD's so I can keep the originals in virtually perfect condition. I've been putting two Remasters discs onto one blank CD, and most of the Beatles' albums were short enough so that was easily accomplished. That wasn't the case with their later CD's, though...each disc of the "White Album" is over 40 minutes long, which means, even with only two minutes of the abstract-noise cut 'Revolution 9' (which is all I can stand) left on, I still can't get both CD's to fit onto one homemade CD (which has 80 minutes capacity). The "White Album" is One Long Album.

-

When dubbing a CD, I try to fill it as close to the 80-minute mark as is possible. So, each original "White Album" CD went onto a separate disc, and I filled up the rest of each disc with 'leftover' material from the 'Yellow Submarine' soundtrack as well as later material from the 'Past Masters' double CD, which contains songs from 1964-1980 which weren't on LPs. And finally, the 'Abbey Road' Remasters CD runs about 45 minutes, so I couldn't put another entire album on the back of that one, either. So I filled up the rest of that disc with other Beatles' music. If all of that scrambles your mind, let's just say I stumbled my way through the dubbing process for all the Beatles Re-Mastered CD's and just leave it at that. Really, I'm almost boring myself here...

--------------------------------------------------

As to whether I think it's essential to have the Beatles' Remastered CD's, I'd say not really. To me, the group's early albums don't sound much different in remastered form. I did notice some enhancement on their later albums. Of course, those records were recorded with better equipment, so they sounded better to begin with. You can only do so much with a re-recording, as Glenn Miller's original 'In The Mood' proves, having been reissued thousands of times in Enhanced Mono or Fake Stereo, and it still doesn't sound any better.

THE FIRST OF TWO BRAND-NEW POSTS! What a deal!
The World Series...
...'taint exactly a Rhapsody In The Rain...
-
I ran across a newspaper article today which spoke of it Not Being Natural to have a World Series this late in the year, and I Strongly Agree. As I see it (and I'm no Norman Chad or Lou Piniella, just a lowly fan), The World Series has no business being held This Late In The Year. It's raining cats and dogs over on the East Coast, and since Philadelphia ain't all that far from New York, chances are, if its raining in one city, it's raining in the other. And since Winter isn't all that far away, Ma Nature is a-fixin' to wreak havoc as she mercilessly deposits long-held precipitation (be it rain or snow) on all those involved, whether they be multi-millionaire guys who think, "I get to play baseball for a living and you DON'T" (although they'd never admit they think that) or a fan who's paid twice his life savings for the privilege of getting soaked in the stands, thinking that anything he cheers about makes any kind of difference in what's happening on the field...
-
I like the idea of the Wild Card playoffs, although some think the only reason the Big Leagues do it is to generate more money (and they're probably right). I like it because I get to watch more quality baseball at the end of the year. But obviously, yes, the 'Wild Card' takes at least a week to get played, then a week of playoffs, and then finally, the World Series. Baseball's "Spring Training" should be shortened to two weeks; I see about as much merit in Baseball's Spring training as is in Football's Pre-Season games. If it's not part of the regular season or post-season, it's Meaningless. I don't wanna see Baseball Players wallowing in late-season mud, especially in the World Series, or missing fly balls 'cos the rain is pelting them in the eyes. Better to have the Baseball Season begin in Mid-March so the season can end on Labor Day or thereabouts; aren't we supposed to be focusing on Football this time of year?
-
Some other folks out there have postulated that Baseball's Regular Season be shortened, from 162 games, back to somewhere near 150 games, and I think that would work, too. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if Major League teams found a way to charge just as much for not-as-many-games by upping the Regular Admission Price, or perhaps raising the price of your ultra-decked-out Luxury Baseball Suite, the kind of place in which to influence Clients to double their purchases of your firm's manufactured micro-steel Lefthanded Widgets while you both extend your pinkie fingers and sip twenty-five dollar cans of beer. And if the schmoozers are lucky, they'll be able to at least see some baseball in-between negotiations. Peel a grape for me, please...
-
The only other option I can think of is to Lay Down The Law and say, "Every Major League Baseball Team Must have one of those Retractable Stadium Roofs, such as is the case in Seattle, the City Of Rain". Seattle hasn't had a game rained-out or snowed out, for the last decade or so. C'mon, New York, Philly, Washington D.C., Cleveland, Twin Cities and Chicago, pony up! Let's do this thing right! Maybe MLB itself could help out its franchises. It's for the GAME, after all. I really feel that Baseball loses some of its dignity (dignity?) when the Weather can control a game. I value the game of baseball for its history and its ageless appeal, but it's virtually impossible to play Any Sport, especially Baseball, well while players are taking a Mud bath at the same time.
-
Now I'm going to tell you why I feel Bad for Alex Rodriguez, the $250-million (or more) baseball player. Why should I feel sorry for him, right? Well, it is what it is. He's got the money and I don't, right? Shouldn't I be envious of him? Maybe, but for some reason, his batting average and run production go straight out the window whenever he's in a World Series. Plop, plop, fizz, fizz. Just like that. I want to see him hit, homer and Get This Monkey off his back. I'm a Seattle Mariners Fan, but even I feel bad for him when he's so mercilessly booed every time the Yankees come to Seattle.. C'mon, fans, A-Rod left Seattle for the Really Big Money so very long ago. Get Over It. Each and Every one of you wouldn't turn down millions and millions of dollars if someone offered to pay it. As far as this World Series, I don't really know which team I'm rooting for, though. Why I'd side with Philly would be 'cos Raul Ibanez, the former Mariner, who's a great guy and great player, is a Phillie. But really, I'm not as anti-Yankee this year as I've always been. Maybe as I age, I get more complacent. (Could be.) A political note: Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were at the game tonight. I guess they do let Biden out every now and then. I'm kinda wondering why the First Lady didn't have him on a leash, though...
-
BLOG UPDATE: ALEX RODRIGUEZ STRUCK OUT THREE TIMES IN THIS GAME AS THE PHILLIES BEAT THE YANKEES 6-1. What IS it with Rodriguez in World Series' Games?
-
I've been really complacent lately. I went almost a week without posting something...anyway, my blog-followers (all two of them) know that I'm basically a Volume Dealer, constantly there, shoving wordage at unsuspecting readers. Well, the post below was written just before I wrote this baseball-oriented post. That's right, two NEW posts for the price of One Visit! What a Deal! Best of all, no fuss, no muss...

I've got them old...
Auto-Insurance Blooze...
-
They're all over radio, TV and internet...I'm referring to those auto-insurance commercials, you know, the ones that say "call such-and-such an 800 number" for a quote, or "go to our website to find out how much you can save, Save, $AVE!!!" I've been with 'The Gecko' for over 10 years now; I don't know how much better/worse 'The Gecko' is than the 'Good Hands People', or the 'Progressive' people such as their saleslady, 'Flo', their heavily-lipsticked white-aproned clerk with the 'tricked' out nametag, who's just this side of Totally Wacko--maybe that's why I like her I like her so much...
-
I've not had a traffic accident in the last 30 years, unless you count the time I was almost killed by a young non-insured couple in a large, tricked-out muscle car. At that time, I only had liability insurance...instantaneously, I was without a car, since mine was totalled. If I hadn't hit the brakes when I did, they would've nailed the Driver's side door, with the Driver (me) just inside that door. Instead, 'cos I slammed the brakes as hard as I could, they hit the front fender, caving in said finder, ripping out the grille, crumpling the fender into the engine, popping open the trunk, anti-freeze gushing forth from the engine, with my car itself spread out over two lanes on a busy one-way street. Pieces Everywhere. Maybe I saved my own life that night; far better for the front end to get crumpled than me, I guess...
-
The insurance game is one of probability. If I'm a good driver and stay out of accidents, I'll never know, really, how good my insurance company is. Maybe I should have an accident just to find out? Car Insurance is something you pay for, hoping you never have to use it. All my insurance does, really, is Keep Me Legal on the streets. When Mr. Policeman pulls me over, and wants my registration and proof-of-insurance, well, I've got that, and it's already for instant display, which is nice; I can drive without a sense of guilt 'cos I'm LEGAL! If I remain collision-free, basically, all the insurance company is doing is sucking money outta my wallet. I could go and sign up with "Bargain Basement Joe's Auto Sales, Repair and Insurance" and I'd be just as "legal" as long as I kept up the premiums, no matter who those premiums are getting paid to.
-
So anyway, after seeing one of those insurance ads online which screamed "CHECK OUT OUR RATES! YOU ARE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR AUTO INSURANCE!", I did just that. I thot the website would just give me an instant quote! Oh, but noooo...they want phone numbers and addresses and zip codes, plus who knows what else, so I entered all those details, thinking I would then get an Instant Quote. HAH! Your name gets put into some national database, and all of a sudden, people start CALLING YOU, wanting to sell you insurance! I can't STAND being "pitched to" over the phone. I've even left an answering machine message which says, "...and if you're an insurance person trying to sell me a policy, sorry, Not Interested." So it goes without saying that I Automatically delete every E-mail that tries to get me to "switch"...
-
I'm pretty sure that "The Gecko" is, price-wise, in the same ballpark as Those Other Insurance Companies. I pay about $45 a month for full-coverage, $100 deductible. The taxi company I used to drive for had a body shop as well as Engine and Transmission mechanics, and oftentimes I saw a Geico Insurance guy in the shop, attending to his client's needs, so they do have fast response from Actual Human Beings. And I must admit I do love that Gecko. I figure a car-insurance-outfit that has A Sense Of Humor is good enough for me. I pride myself on being a Really Good Driver, and because I've got such a clean record, you'd think I'd actually get an incentive from the insurance company for accident-free driving. How about "one month free for every year you're not in an accident"...but no, not even 'The Gecko' does that.
-
Actually, now that this post is part of the Public Domain, I wouldn't be surprised to get Car Insurance solicitations showing up in the 'comments' section of this blog. I 'spose if you represent an insurance company that gives me one free month every year, I'd have to at least consider your offer. Even then, I might still stay with that cute little Gecko. He really is a cool little fellow...

Life In The Dark Ages...

...only, the 'Dark Ages' weren't all that long ago...(were they?)

-

The thing that's triggered this blog entry is a realization that invaded my mind a couple of nights ago. I was waiting for my computer to complete its automatic updating that it does every now and then. Since I recently did a 'system recovery' on the computer, I found myself waiting, waiting, and then waiting some more for the updates to Hurry Up and Be Over; only, updates are updates, and as such, they sometimes end up taking a good while to load in. And after each Updating session, the computer has to shut down and come back on again before I can resume what I was doing before the updates occurred. Anyhow, While waiting for all of this to happen, I happened to spot one of my favorite paperbacks on a nearby shelf, so to make the Update Waiting zip by a little faster, I began reading it. I bought the book when it came out back in 1981; that's right, this little tome has been with me for 38 years. I've always been fascinated by good rock and roll stories, and this group's career has always intrigued me...

-

The book in question is "Shout! The Beatles In Their Generation" by Philip Norman, and out of all the Beatles histories and analyses I've read over the years, "Shout" seems to be the most fairly balanced account of The Beatle Years. I'm already halfway through it for the billionth time; it's like the pages just fly by when my Nose is in that book. The thing that really struck me tho, is that the pages of this book are turning Yellow. This is a one-owner book. And now the pages are yellowing. And so I've lived long enough now to see the pages Change Color. At least the binding is holding together...if I can be In This Life for another few years, I imagine that'll fall apart on me too. And, seeing this book age virtually before my eyes has led me to think of many other things that have changed in the last 10, 20, 30 or more years...

-

So, here we go on a tour of The Dark Ages...in high school, I took two years of Typing. I learned on a big clunky manual typewriter. We used typing paper, and it was labeled as such (now, it's called 'computer paper'). I remember having to use a slide rule in Math class. A slide rule! Then, calculators came out. A person could press a few buttons, and presto, resolve equations or compute square roots. How did they get all of that technology into that tiny thing? Later on, in the '70s, I had a Texas Instruments TI-30 calculator; truly I was on the Cutting Edge. Back in the '60s, Dad bought Mom a portable Cassette Recorder. "Cassette Recorder? How does this thing work? And how did all that sound get recorded onto that really tiny strip of tape inside that plastic casing?" It wasn't until I got to College that I got my first stereo Cassette Recorder, you know, the kind you could plug in and record directly from your Stereo Amp. Yep, you could shout all you wanted and still make a perfect recording, since the recorder Could Not Hear You thru a microphone.

-

Last year, a friend of mine sent me a bunch of Beatles' Newsletters that were printed up back in the '80s; the 2nd or 3rd issue of it came out right around John Lennon's death. How primitive those newsletters look. No fancy type, stapled-together pages, and from today's perspective, they look so Ancient. Communication in the Dark Ages! Back then, if one wanted to keep information, all of that documentation required a lot of storage space, and you had to lug it all around every time you changed residences until you wanted to get rid of it. Speaking of information, is there any such thing as an Encyclopedia Salesman these days? You know, the guys that would sell the World Book or Funk And Wagnalls Encyclopedias door-to-door? Back in the '60's, our family had a huge set of "The National Encyclopedia"; there were a dozen volumes and each volume was huge and heavy. Not only that, they were 1940's vintage. All that information in big heavy encyclopedias that were outdated by 20 years in the 1960's, let alone now! With this crazy little cyber-beast that I'm posting with, I have all that information and more right here at mine fingertips. If I wanna know about it, I just Google It and there it is.

-

Some people (mostly a generation or so younger than I) might wonder, "How did people ever get by without computers?" The answer to that is, "well, we just did". It was before there were 24-hour TV channels, before round-the-clock "in-depth analysis" of every happening that's ever happened, way back when there were only 3 main TV networks (CBS, NBC and ABC...if you were lucky, maybe you also had a PBS station within range of your TV set), and when Uncle Walter told us, "that's the way it is" at the end of a half-hour newscast, well, that's the way it was. It was a time when, in addition to record albums, you could also get your music on Cassettes or 8-track tapes. It was back in the days of Lawn Darts, Croquet Sets, Etch-A-Sketches, pocket transistor radios and skateboards made out of thick plywood with steel roller-skate wheels a-rollin' along. So what's the point of this particular posting? It's that I can't believe how much time has gone by. I can barely believe that I am now 55. And I'm finding it hard to keep up with everything. Whether it's because there's so much more of 'everything' out there these days, or whether I'm just getting old, who can say? It's probably a combination of both. And here I am, only adding to the vast realm of cyberspace junk that's out there for us all to digest, so in the interest of wanting not to appear extremely hypocritical, I'll stop here. For now, that is...

-

Blogger's note: Philip Norman's "Shout" Beatles-book is available in Updated Form. The new edition contains information about the careers of John, Paul, George and Ringo after the group broke up. A good book to pick up and read if and when you can wrestle yourself away from the computer...

A Couple Of Things that made me Look Twice...

...honestly, I thought I'd seen it all; guess not...

-

Like the song says, I "don't get around much anymore"...you can tell that from all the pictures I've taken; indeed, I've photographed just about every single natural feature down here ad nauseam. I need to get out there and get with it, find new, exciting places to do the ol' point-and-shoot thing with my little digital camera. I've been meaning to do that, but can't for a while. Wouldn't ya know it, just when I thot I was beginning to get ahead, Mobile Home taxes as well as property taxes are coming due fairly soon, at least the first installment thereof. Never mind that the place I'm living in has been sitting in the same spot since 1972, the Beloved State Of Oregon still classifies it as "mobile". I've been wanting to travel a little more so I can get some unique photos, but that's gonna hafta wait a while.

-

Then again, if I take photos of the same old places day after day, perhaps I'm forced to see an "angle" that isn't seen every day, and as such, I've got two such photos which will give you, the reader, a different perspective on things. Or perhaps not. Only you will know for sure; all I do is take 'em and post 'em. This first photo was taken 2 or 3 weeks ago, and I thot for sure there was going to be one heck of a shipwreck; the wind was blowin' and the waves were churnin' as a little sailboat tried gallantly to leave the ocean for the safety of the harbor. As that little boat was coming in, a much bigger boat was going out to sea, and for a moment or so, it looked as if they were gonna collide...Oh, NO! A Maritime Disaster In The Making! Oh, the HUMANITY...Well, of course Nothing Happened, but all the same, I'll just bet the Cap'n of that little boat was sure glad to get in off the ocean; I guess he knew he wasn't gonna have a head-on with that big Dredge Vessel (The "Yaquina"). They passed each other without incident, but for a moment, they really had me goin' there.

-

Seen from above, the channel both of these boats are in is actually about a quarter-mile wide, maybe a little more, so there was plenty of room for 'em. I've seen conditions where the water was so rough, that the Coast Guard called small boats back in, saying they couldn't "cross the bar" due to hazardous seas. Once I saw a big ship heading seaward in super-rough waters, and after a half-hour trying to get somewhere, it just turned around and came back in. I've lived down here for going on three years and haven't been on the ocean yet. I still have memories of getting seasick when Dad took our family out on a charter boat out of Westport, Washington. That was over 30 YEARS AGO.

-

Now, for the next photo, let me set it up for a moment here so you can really appreciate it for what it is. We're all familiar with Seagulls; they're the scavengers of the ocean. Or the Lake. Or any body of water. I've seen 'em hangin' around lakes in the depths of a snowy ice-cold winter; they're so stupid they don't fly south...they'd rather stay where they are and freeze. Indeed, the Seagull is not known for its intellectual ability. They have the Power of Flight, for cryin' out loud, so fly somewhere warmer! But, nooooo... They fly so gracefully, and then they'll just about kill each other for a morsel of someone's lunch. Once, I tossed a chicken bone to a seagull, and without reservation, he gulped it down...a chicken bone! They must have digestive enzymes approaching the strength of Sulfuric Acid. GULP! Down the hatch! Anyhow, I was walking down the beach a coupla weeks ago and saw a gull poised on the jetty, and something about its appearance just kinda struck me as weird...

-

I thot the Seagull had a branch caught in its beak, and I actually felt sorry for it and wanted to help, but of course the Gulls keep their distance. But it was sitting there motionless, in some sort of avian degree of somnambulance and if it was going thru any pain or inconveniece, it sure wasn't gonna let me know. Birds do that; if they get sick and weak, they won't let other birds know that, lest they become easy prey. So what was going on with this gull? It was trying to eat a STARFISH. A starfish!

-

I don't know about you, but to me, it looks like there just ain't a whole lotta edible meat on a Starfish. They're pointy, their outer covering resembles extra-coarse-grade sandpaper mixed in with the texture of asphalt, and once a Starfish finds a rock to its liking, it takes the force of a crowbar to pry 'em loose. That seagull trying to eat a starfish would be like me trying to eat a fencepost. Gulp. Later on, I saw a seagull in approximately the same spot, sans Starfish; but since all Gulls look alike to me, it may or may not have been the bird pictured here. Have you ever eaten cold fried chicken after it's been sitting in the fridge all night? I imagine that would be a similar experience to eating a starfish. In retrospect, maybe it's a good thing the Gull managed to pry the starfish loose from its rock. Otherwise, the gull might've tried to eat the boulder that the starfish was stuck onto. They're not terribly smart, you know...

-

And now, having read this post, you can readily admit to anyone, any time, anywhere, that Yes, You Have Indeed Seen It All. The vastness of the ocean reduced to a couple instances of rampant paranoia on my part. There. I'm done... and all of a sudden, I'm hungry for some fried chicken...

Rainy Day, Dream Away...
...Sometimes those gray skies are soothing...
-
Down here on the Southern Oregon Coast, it can rain, and rain a LOT. That's good, though. It can be a Rainy Day In The Life, but I guess it's all in how you deal with. I once saw a "Peanuts" cartoon in which Charlie Brown was glad the sun wasn't shining; that way he didn't have to go outside and play all kinds of games. The Rainy Days were good for ol' Charlie Brown because he didn't feel obligated to do so much when the sun wasn't out. I think I feel the same way; when the sun's out, I Have To Get Out There. Don't get me wrong; I'm glad I respond to nice weather in that way, but a sleepy cloudy day like today seems to let me move a bit slower. If I want, I can curl up all day with the TV if I choose and not feel the guilt of Not Going Outside, since it's gray, gloomy and raining. I do have to go outside today, sometime...I'm out of milk!
-
In honor of this Day of Rain, I've included some song titles to get you in the mood... "Rainy Day People" (Gordon Lightfoot), "Rain" (The Beatles), "Rainy Day, Dream Away" (Jimi Hendrix), "Raining In My Heart" (Buddy Holly), "It's Raining Again" (Supertramp), "See The Sky About To Rain" (Neil Young), "Yesterday's Rain" (Sweet), "The Rains Came" (Sir Douglas Quintet), "Baby The Rain Must Fall" (Glenn Yarborough), "The Rain Song" (Led Zeppelin), "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again" (The Fortunes), "Riders On The Storm" (The Doors), "Kiss Me In The Rain" (Barbra Striesand), "See The Sky About To Rain" (Neil Young), "Who'll Stop The Rain" and "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" (Creedence), "I Wish It Would Rain" (The Temptations), "Let It Rain" (Eric Clapton). I'm sure many other Rain Songs have been recorded over the years; if you can remember any other Rain Songs, toss 'em into the 'comments' section'...

BASEBALL WITHDRAWALS: It's Saturday, mid-day as I type this, and there might be a Division or Wild Card playoff game on right now, but I don't know. To see some of those playoffs games, I need to have the TBS network available to me. It's not, though. I don't feel bad about that. And today, being a hazy, gray, rainy day, I feel a bit too lazy to go and look for the dates of some games. Although, several days ago, I did copy down the schedule for the World Series, and you can bet I'll be glued to the screen, savoring the sport. I always get a bit depressed at the end of baseball season; I hate for things to be "over". Although, and how about this; there's a game coming up today in an hour which my Expanded Basic Cable thru the auspices of ESPN is carrying. There's another game after that, though, and in order to see that one, I'll have to case someone's house and wonder how I can steal their TV signal. Nahhh...it's a gray rainy day and I'm lazy, so neverrr mind...
-
ANOTHER SGT. PEPPER? No it's not, but some critics out there think it Could Be. Some have said that an album by the group 'Love' ("Forever Changes") can be seen as a sort of cryptic response to "Pepper". Love's leader and main songwriter, Arthur Lee, said long ago when that 1967 album came out, thought he thought he was going to die soon and wrote the lyrics as a way of saying goodbye. And the lyrics are cryptic; alluding to war, loneliness, the coldness of society, alienation, depression and other fun stuff. "Forever Changes", Love's 3rd album, (1967, pictured at left), didn't sell well at the time, but those who haven't hear it have no idea what they're missing. It's a lush album, not a bad song on it, and the group's music is enhanced by ghostly orchestral arrangements, and except for a couple of songs which buzz mightly with Electric Guitars, the music is largely built around acoustic guitar chord patterns. Do I think "Forever Changes" could be an answer to "Sgt. Pepper"? Not really, although it could be seen that way. This long-forgotten album has been kept alive due to people finding out about it and buying it over the years. Go to YouTube, enter "Arthur Lee Love", scroll down to where a clip, showing him singing the oddly-titled song, "Andmoreagain", and if you do, you'll hear one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
-
Love's story is one of the craziest rock and roll histories ever. For a lot of reasons, which have a lot to do with group leader Arthur Lee, the group didn't become universally popular, but the music is unique, diverse and intriguing. A couple of years before he died, Arthur Lee was featured in the DVD, "The Forever Changes Concert" where the entire album is performed live. It was nice to see Arthur Lee revelling in the Spotlight, where he should have been all those years.

A Newly Rejuvenated Blog?

...Not Exactly, but I didn't need Tech Support this time!

-

Warning! This posting is so boring, it makes My Eyes Glaze Over, and I'm the one who WROTE IT!

-

After spending hours (excruciating hours, that is) trying to figure out what was wrong with my blog, and after performing two complete system recoveries, I was perplexed. Just lately, I could post to this blog, but when I went to 'view Blog', the page would freeze up and I couldn't scroll down, and wow, was that ever a giant hassle. And I sure didn't want to talk to some Tech-Support person in Bombay, India or wherever. I'm sure their hearts are in the right place, but I've found their accent, when applied to English, is Almost Untranslatable. Anyway, I've literally been involved in hand-to-hand combat with My Computer, trying to find out what was going on. And, it's close to 3AM the Next Morning, and I FINALLY FOUND OUT what was making my computer malfunction.

-

First of all, when you do a system recovery, you end up flushing Everything You've Saved (unless you put it on a disc, I guess). I didn't have anything worth saving, so no problem there for me. After about half an hour of waiting for System Recovery to install itself into your computer, the screen grows mysteriously dark...we're now in the land of Computer Voodoo...and then, FLASH!, up pops your screen again with tons of Icons that you'd never think of using in a million years. So you've gotta delete the icons you don't want. Then, you've gotta go deep inside, into the murky dark depths of "Add/Remove Programs" and again take out all the stuff yer not gonna use, ever. You can gain a lot of free memory that way. I don't care that all the photos I've taken aren't in my computer's memory anymore. They're all posted at Webshots (http://www.webshots.com/), user name "digitaldave72" so I didn't lose any of those.

-

And I went around and around, trying to figure out why This Blog Wasn't Working, and the first time around with the whole System Recovery thing, I think I misprogrammed a whole bunch of stuff, resulting in My Browser Not Working At All. Talk about feeling like a raving idiot. There was no way to get online; my blue "hp invent" blue screen just sat there, doing nothing. So I tried "System Recovery" again, once more going through all the procedures outlined above, deleting, deleting, deleting, and got my computer operating pretty-much the way I wanted. So it was time once again to Address My Blog Situation. It still didn't work. Then I begin getting into 'ActiveX' issues since that's the 'prompt' my blogsite said it needed in order to be able to run, but I couldn't get those to work, either. It was getting to the point where my computer was fast becoming somewhat less functional than your average paperweight.

-

In my universe, I don't like things that don't work. If there is such a thing as 'anal retentive', I guess I'm it. I want control. I want everything to function the way it should. And I'll plow away at the situation for hours and hours. Perhaps there's some compulsion-obsession in my character as well. Trouble is, my technical knowledge falls far short of achieving the Things I Envision. And then, I remembered something which had happened a few hours previously; I'd inadvertently terminated a program download that involved installing Java. Hmmm...hadn't I heard somewhere that Java has something to do with certain websites? So off I went to the Java website and hit "download". Twice, the program Almost Loaded itself in, but stopped because of some "error 25099" code-thing that, upon further research, I found out that while the Java Folks don't know what's causing the error, they do provide A Solution. The Java website advised me to go waaay deep down into my files and totally Delete the Java stuff already in my computer and then Go back to the Java Site and Download Java once more. Fresh Java. Ulp. So I crossed my fingers and did what I was told...

-

Evidently, something in my computer's old Java Mechanism got corrupted. It's like putting new parts in the car, sort of. You cross yer fingers and hope the parts don't break down anytime soon. But this time, All The Java I'll Ever Need installed SUCCESSFULLY into my Fierce Internet Cruising Machine. I then triumphantly returned to my blogsite, excited at the prospect of Once Again being able to Read My Blog, to scroll down, yea, with reckless abandon, to read any portion of my blog that's not yet in the archives. And ya know what happened? NOTHING. With that, I sent off my millionth "computer error report" to Microsoft, and my blog remained motionless. The only way to get out of a page yer stuck on is to go to another website with another window. Then, Microsoft sends you a little gray box that advises you to "report error" or something like that. Then, finally, the site you were on gets deleted.

-

One more time, I went back to This Blog's display page. There I noticed a little bar that said "install ActiveX control" and it was a case of "not again"...but I figured now that that Java was working properly, since it managed to load completely, so maybe the ActiveX thing would work as well. And, whaddaya know, the ActiveX Control installed successfully, and hey, folks, we're back in the money again! My Blog Works. I guess there's a Procedural Order to all of this, First install Java, then Go Back to the ActiveX issues. Ain't life grand? Well, no, but now that I got everything fixed, life's a bit better, although it's still raining. Once the Old Java Was removed, replaced with New, Uncorrupted Java, there was another benefit that I wasn't counting on, or perhaps it was the new ActiveX issue-thing that got fixed after the Finally Complete Java Installation, or a Java/ActiveX blend of things, but anyway...

-

I've now got BIG FONTS back on my blogsite! As you might remember, I've not been able to make a proper headline, instead resorting to SMALL BOLD LETTERS for the subject line and bold italics to further entice you to see what I'm raving about now. You know, maybe I was born in the wrong era. There are people making megabucks, doing what I've been doing for the last 10 HOURS (albeit they do it quite a bit faster). But, I didn't need to call Tech Support this time around. I'm sure you might wonder why I'm patting myself on the back here; well, I'm not. Instead, I'm just saying, "if I can do this, anyone can." Honestly, you can't screw up too badly on computers. Ya just keep pressing buttons until something happens.

-

One more added benefit from Finally Getting It Right, was, that it's easier for me to drag a photo down from the top of this page it to the place I want it to appear. I'd noticed that task became more complicated right around the time I lost my BIG FONTS!!! (Have I lost my mind yet?) So anyway, the enhancement of That Procedure has enabled me to post this photo here, which More Accurately Describes My Computer Knowledge...

-

-

So, in summation, it took me almost a Complete Day to resolve this issue within my computer. Something a tekkie-whiz-kid could do in half an hour. So do I have enough computer skills to work for the Federal Government yet? Surely, the Pentagon could use my services...

IT'S HIS BIRTHDAY...

...and I'm sad things turned out like they did.

-

He never listened to a Compact Disc.

He never talked over a Cell-phone.

He never heard of 9/11.

He never used an I-pod or an MP3.

He never went online.

He never sent someone an e-mail.

...and yet, he seems to be everywhere these days...

-

I was reading an old "Time" Magazine the other night and I saw a picture of him. I wanted to reach into the photo and pull him out of it and bring him here, to the present day. Only, I couldn't. In the photo, he was seen autographing a record album on that night long ago. And five or six hours after the photo was taken, he was No Longer Among Us. It's not fair. And after all these years, I still feel a great sense of loss in spite of the fact that I Never Met Him. He was a musician, and hearing the music emanating from his restless character is still refreshing and so great to hear. And then I remember that night, long ago. It's not fair that I have to associate such a great tragedy with his music, which means a lot to me. If you think of one, you're led to think of the other. It's not fair.

-

Lately the musical group he was in has been front-and-center, thrust into our collective psyches once again. You can hear it everywhere; you can read about it in the trade magazines and newspapers, and it's Online as well. A great man, such as he was, should be remembered fondly, and certainly he is. But the memories of him are forever associated with What Happened To Him. Music is Life, and his is most definitely the Music of a restless, creative, living Human Being. Certainly his music had its ups and downs, but us Human Beings have our own individual ups and downs, and we accepted what he did, even when he wasn't at his best. He had left his group, and in the following ten years, he recorded some great music as well as some uninspired music, and even some irritating music. But regardless of how well he did, and considering he hadn't recorded anything during his last five years, it was still reassuring to know He Was Out There. Finally he re-emerged with a new album two weeks before his death. He'd just come back, and all of a sudden he was taken from us. In a way, that made everything even harder to cope with.

-

I have difficulty accepting the fact that he's gone. It didn't matter to me if he was with the group or not, for all the members of that group had carried on with solo careers, making a lot of Good to Great music that became a part of my life. If perhaps his solo material varies widely in quality, most folks will admit the group he was with could almost do No Wrong. I once watched a full-length movie of him, producing records, playing guitar, conducting recording sessions, interacting with his fellow musicians and, in general, living life. It was so interesting to see so many facets of his character on display; perhaps all of us got to know him just a little bit better. And as the movie ended, and I walked out of the theater late one night, and walked across the parking lot to my car, I remember thinking, "what a great movie, I'm glad I saw it", and then, the cold dark realization hit me: "But he's still dead, isn't he?"

-

I played one of his group's most well-known albums last night, and although I've heard so much music since that album came out, the fact is that album, and that group, and the virtual excellence of almost all of their music through the years was, is, and will probably always be a big part of what I'm about. The album I listened to last night was "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", and perhaps I'm Heavily Biased, but that record just gets better and better with age. It is some of the Wildest, Most Bombastic Music Ever Recorded. Many groups over the years have performed admirably, creating music which makes my pulse race; I loved all the rock bands who came out in my heyday. But "Sgt. Pepper" hits me harder than the dreaded anvil hits Wile E. Coyote in a "Road Runner" cartoon. That's how much of an impact it's always had on me.

-

I was angry for a long, long time after his death. I felt that something had been taken away from me. Those of My Generation suffered a great loss. We were Stunned. It was a "President Kennedy" moment All Over Again. You could remember exactly where you were and what you were doing. Over the years, my anger has subsided a bit, especially since one of his bandmates died several years ago. And as the years go by, he and his group recede into the far reaches of my memory, similar to Jack Dawson slipping, sinking into the icy waters of the North Atlantic in the "Titanic" movie. Today, hearing the records he was on still continues to bring up a whole boatload of mixed emotions. At the same time, I'm so fortunate to have heard such great music in my lifetime, and hopefully the Coming Generations will also see and hear Just How Good He Was, and Just How Good His Band Was.

-

-

You had so much to give us all

You had so much to say

And it's a shame you're gone for good

I've never really understood

Why you were taken...away...

-

John Lennon, October 9, 1940-December 8, 1980

OH, THEY'RE SO CLEVER...
...my saga with the Beatles' Remasters Continues...
-
I've heard about half of the New Remastered CD's that feature The Beatles . The bass guitar seems to be more easily heard and the music is more up-front; it's like the entire group has become closer to the microphones, so that's good. But, the voices sound a bit rawer, and edits within songs seem to jump out...if all of a sudden the 'tone' of the vocal changes, that's where an edit was made, to either attach a new vocal phrase or to tag on an ending note or whatever. I'm still not convinced these Remasters are all that essential for those like me that already have the 'old' Beatles CD's which have been around since 1987. As near as I can tell, if you put one of the old-edition CD's in your player and turn it up a bit, you'll get more or less the same thing you get on the Beatles' Remasters.
-
All of the Remastered CD's feature a little "mini-documentary" on the making of whatever album you've listened to, and they're interesting in a generic sort-of-way. But...the little "mini-doc's" serve a dual purpose...the minute you pop the CD into your laptop, the disc basically takes over your computer. You are also forced to install the Quicktime player if you wanna view the mini-doc's, which don't include any Revealing and Startling Beatles Observations. In short, you can't download the songs because up pops the mini-documentary. So they make you think you're getting something Great (The Mini-docs), but in actuality, your ability to interact with the CD is stripped away. As far as I know, the average computer user can't copy the Remasters CDs because the mini-docs get in the way. Talk about clever, eh? Ah, but I've found a way around that, and I've been dubbing the music onto CD. (I'm sure my confession will send Apple Records detectives my way, since my activities have been so subversive.)
-
First, I'll put the remastered CD into my deck, which is plugged into my sound system. Then, I reach around back, and switch a few stereo cables around; one end plugged into the CD deck, and the other plugged into my stand-alone CD burner, which has a pair of speakers installed into it, so I can hear what I'm dubbing. Then I set the burner so it changes tracks automatically; it can hear the between-song silence and automatically begins a new track when the next song starts. When I record the Beatles' later discs, such as 'Abbey Road' or The 'White Album', I'll have to change tracks manually, since the songs run together, but my CD deck has a 'reverse' counter that counts the time backwards, so when it hits "0:00", that's when I'll change the track for the next song.
-
An added benefit to this is, a blank CD holds close to 80 minutes of material. Most of the Beatles' earlier albums are under 35 minutes long, which means, I can put two of their remastered CD's on one disc, which is really handy, because, instead of dragging the Actual Remastered discs out every time I want to play them, I can keep 'em in their original sleeves and only play the discs I've dubbed from the re-mastered CD's, which came in posterboard sleeves with no extra added protection, meaning the possibility of scratching your remastered discs exists with each withdrawal/re-insertion of them into the disc jacket. I've got hard plastic sleeves with "pop-in" devices, so the playback surface touches nothing at all once it's re-inserted. Basically, I want to keep my Original Re-Mastered CD's in top-notch condition, which is why I did all this. And, because the discs I've dubbed contain two albums each, I don't have to change CD's as much. (Is that lazy or what?)
-
I remember back a long time ago when musicians and their associates were "huffing and puffing" because they were saying that home taping was Killing The Music. "Don't tape our stuff, go out and buy it", they were all screaming. A survey was taken back in the '80s which proved them wrong...it was found that the majority of home tapers were also the most prolific music buyers. That was especially true in my case; in the pre-CD age, when the mighty Cassette was the cheapest sound reproduction mechanism available, I bought tons of albums, and then I'd go home and make "various artists" tapes I could listen to in the car.
-
And, no, I wasn't thinking about setting up some sort of shady, underground Bootleg Business; I was taping for ME. Back then, I'd heard of people buying albums and taping them. Why not? It's silly not to be able to hear the music you've bought; so you tape the music, to hear it in your car; maybe you tape another copy for yourself so you can listen to that at home, rather than pull the album out of its innersleeve, where possibility of scratching exists. I never went that far; I'd just record the music onto one cassette for the car, and play the album at home. One last note: The CD copies I've made ARE downloadable into Windows MediaPlayer or Realplayer, so I can make more copies if I need to. Even if I had a CD deck in my car, I wouldn't wanna put the Original Remastered Discs in it. So what'll probably happen is, that I'll only play the Actual Remasters Discs once, in an effort to keep them pristine. After all, I've got copies them for 'general usage'. To close this section of the post, may I present two of "our heroes" in concert (Seattle!) in that magical year of 1964...
-
-

LET'S GO PHISHING!: You've heard about the latest "Phishing" scam in which tons of e-mail addresses were obtained over Hotmail. I do most of my e-mailing on Yahoo, but one would think this scam could operate on any e-mail provider. You get an e-mail saying something to the effect of "Your (insert name of your bank or charge card) has been violated; please supply us with all of your important information so we can clear this up." And when you answer all the questions, you've provided answers for scammers who then use that information to Steal You Blind. Don't fall for that, people. A big clue in spotting fraudulent "Phishes" is...if you see the words "To: Undisclosed Recipients" near the top of your e-mail, Don't Answer It! Not even if you see the logo of your bank company included; "phishers" out there can easily obtain those. "To Undisclosed Recipients" means the message, supposedly directed to Just You, has been mass-mailed all over the place. Beware!

I've received oodles and gobs of those "phishes", saying that my 'Bank Of America' account has been violated. I don't even Bank at Bank of America! Sometimes I've received phony messages from Paypal, Ebay, or other entities I've interacted with on the 'net. So far I haven't received one from my own bank, tho I wouldn't be surprised if I got one. If you have questions about a possible phony e-mail, contact your bank, or Paypal, or Ebay, 'cos they want to know if/when they've been "Phished".

Looking back over this post, I can see that I'm extremely two-faced; first, I teach you how to subvert the Beatles' Remastered CD's, and then I give you advice on how not to be subverted in a Phishing scheme. Beware of Me, I guess...

TOO MUCH BLOGGING, NOT ENOUGH TIME..

...it's easy to spread one's self too thin online...

-

Throughout my postings here recently, I've indicated several (hundred) times that I'm doing a post at the last possible moment before the current week expires, and sometimes I haven't even met my self-imposed quota of Two Entries Per Week. So what gives? If you look at my old postings, you'll find instances where I posted two or three times a DAY. I musta been nuts! But it was fun at the time. So my ideas have run thin, and my posting frequency has slowed dramatically. Why? Do I have an excuse? To my credit, I stopped going to "Facebook", the giant mega-site that wants you to Spill Yer Guts every day. The first thing you read when you go there is "What's On Your Mind", and I feel compelled to answer that and then go say hi to all my friends, comment on everything, and honestly, once Facebook grabs ya, it's hard to let go, but I did. And not going to Facebook means I've got more blogging time.

-

I don't know how many of my postings were Baseball-oriented with the Seattle Mariners being featured most times, but I think that's tapered off, too. Why? Well, there's a blog over at the Seattletimes.com that features real-time game updates of Seattle Mariners' games and fans can chip in and make comments as the game progresses, and over the summer, I've put almost 470 entries into that website. That's not a lot, though; some commenters have over Four THOUSAND posts. Still, that baseball website did end up taking quite a lot of blog energy outta me. Baseball season is finally over, though (well, except for all the playoffs and World Series), so soon, very very soon, I should have more time to blog since I'll be watching fewer sports events on TV. But even then, well, Sunday nights, Monday nights, and (some) weekend afternoons will be spent watching Pro Football. It's easier to blog during a football game than a baseball game, I've found out. The pace of a Football game just seems to better accommodate blogging activity.

-

Something else that's cut into my blogging activity is the "Webshots" website. I've posted over 600 photos there over the last year, and every single photo comes with a comment or two about the location. Many users there don't detail their photos like that, but I'm under some compulsion to make all my posts anywhere as complete as I can make them. It can easily take me 2 or 3 hours to upload photos into that site, and to provide some sort of semi-intelligent commentary throughout. "webshots" is located at http://www.webshots.com/; the username is 'digitaldave72' if you wanna see the excruciatingly painstaking effort I've put into that. I'm too lazy to paint, and I can't draw anything accurately anyway, but I love to take photos. It's as if Mother Nature supplies me with all these ready-made images that I can confine to my camera and take 'em home with me.

-

In addition, I still try to put in appearances over at the Spokesman-Review newspaper's interactive blogsite, "Huckleberries Online" (you'll have to Google that; the paper's website name has changed over the last year, so I'm not sure of their "www" address). So really, I've left bits and pieces of myself in various places in the internet. And, tonite after playing guitar at a jam session, I'm doing what I can here to try and keep this blogsite alive. I've got over 900 entries posted in this blog; sometimes I go back thru and read my own archives and I can see where I've been shallow, or posted something really really good, and some other of my old postings make me wonder, "What could I have been thinking?" I've thought lately about writing a book, but I don't have enough time or commitment to do that, but maybe that's what I've been doing all along here on this blog. And now, it's almost 1am on Tuesday morning, and I've gotta stop here. Screeeech!!! But before I go, a photo for ya...

-

Here's a shot of the lower end of Coos Bay; the ocean is probably about 3 or 4 miles west, as the crow flies. The day before I took this (a couple of weeks ago), temperatures rose to over 90 degrees; the next day, it was probably 75 or 80. Still, it was warmer than I've experienced for 2 or 3 years now. The photo is designed to be Eye Candy for those of you who've endured this post.

A FRIDAY-NIGHT SORT-OF-HAPHAZARD POSTING...
...here's a little bit about a bunch of stuff...
-
Not a truly Olympic moment: I guess President Obama went over to someplace in Denmark recently to deliver a sales pitch to the Olympic committee. At stake was the right to host the summer Olympics in 2016. So he proposed that Chicago should be the hosting city 7 years from now. Maybe the Olympic Committee thot about Chicago's crime-ridden Mafioso history and said "Thanks but No Thanks"...or just "No Thanks". It's kinda hard for me to even think that far into the future at this point; in 2016, my age will be 62. In other words, I'll be starting to get really, Really Old. Nope...don't wanna think about it. Repression mechanism, where are ya...? Anyway, the picturesque city of Rio DeJaniero was chosen for the Olympics, and why not...I understand there's never been an Olympiad in South America...
-
It's time for me to take action: Some kind of action...any kind of action. I've put on weight the last 3 months. It all started at the grocery store, in the dairy section. I reached for a gallon of milk, and after putting that in the shopping basket, turned around and, presto, there was a big display featuring those big plastic packs of cookies, so I bought one. I tend to be a binge eater, and let's just say that big pack of cookies lasted 2 days. 2 whole days. You think I'd have learned my lesson; although the cookies tasted great, I lost all self-respect by the next morning. But...a couple of weeks later I did it again. BINGE! Gone, another big tray of cookies. Twice in one month. And at my most recent Doctors' Appointment, he determined that I'd gained 5 pounds. Looking back, it had to be the cookies. So I need to get my boots a-walkin'.
-
It's been a long season: Two more games left in the Regular Season. If the Seattle Mariners could've swept this last series with Texas, we'd have tied 'em for second place in the division. Although this has been a fairly successful season, The M's didn't want to give us fans all big heads by actually doing that. So the M's lost tonight, 7-4 as Texas came from behind for the win. The Mariners snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Now I'm not sure how much this has to do with anything, but the tomboyish Angie Mentink said tonite on FSN that if Seattle would've tied for second place with the Texas Rangers, each Rangers Player would've lost about $10,000. So Texas won tonite, assuring themselves of Second Place. Follow the money!
-
It's been a long season, part two: The two "wild-card" baseball playoffs begin soon, and the network that carries them isn't in my expanded-basic Cable TV service. One part of me is tempted to go to the TV people and sign up for expanded-basic-deluxe (or whatever it's called) service, but part of me says I might need a break from all of this baseball stuff. If I go two days in a row without watching a game, I start to go thru withdrawals. One week without baseball, and I'm fidgeting uncontrollably thinking about all the games I'm missing. There's usually a week between the start of the Wild-Card, and the start of the two Division Series. I'm afraid I'll start binge-eating without Baseball in the picture. Ah, but I have a strategy for that...if I'm gonna binge-eat, I'll wolf down bananas. So who do I want to win the World Series (which will actually extend into NOVEMBER, I've heard!)? Anyone but the Yankees. Beat them Damned Yankees.
-
Fun Times At The Local Pharmacy: I was in line today with a list of prescriptions from my Doctor. Other than my weight gain, I'm doing fine; the blood pressure is 120/80 and my cholesterol even came down. Part of the reason for that is the Niacin that the doctor wants me to take. And, Niacin's pretty cheap, too. My prescriptions don't cost all that much, for which I'm thankful. Sometimes people have to choose which prescriptions they want due to affordability, and that was obviously the case with the couple who I was in line behind. The guy actually said, and I quote: "If it weren't for the fact that I've got such a bad pancreas, I'd go get drunk." Hopefully he didn't also have to put gas in his car today; the prices around here are slowly creeping back up toward the $3.00-a-gallon mark.
-
Some Political Stuff: It is true that since the Presidential Election, my attention hasn't revolved around political things. As long as there isn't some kind of flagrant scandal brewing in the Obama household, I'll just accept that the various branches of government are doing whatever they do, and hope that Good Things will come from whatever they do. I do know this, though: Sarah Palin, that Walking Disaster In A Skirt, is Out There. She's hovering, menacingly; some say she's positioning herself for a Prezzidential Run in 2012. The question must be asked, "no matter what she does, says or learns, how is she going to be better then, than she is now?" History backs me up on this: Dan Quayle didn't DARE try to run for Prezzident, and Sarah's twice as flaky as he was. Sarah makes Dan Quayle look like a True Statesman. Anyway, with time now on her hands, she's got time to be an author, or an author with a ghost writer...anyway, she's come out with a new book. Pictured below is her book, featuring a cover design that was rejected at the last possible minute before publication:
-
















-
In Dan Quayle's defense...remember when he Very Publicly Said that "Potatoe" is the correct spelling of that tuber we all know and love? Here's my take: The plural of "Potato" is "Potatoes", so while he committed a blunderous faux pas there, at least it was a semi-educated, but still clueless, stab in the dark. He dropped the "S", but kept the "E". An "oops" moment...