Elvis' Short Songs

I got the soundtrack CD of Elvis Presley's "Double Trouble" film today. It's strange but true, and terrible to reveal, but I don't believe I've ever had this album before. I don't know what it is about "Double Trouble," but it's both a film and a soundtrack album (LP, cassette, 8 track tape, and CD) that seemed to elude me.

I got the film then a couple years ago when they released a whole bunch of budget Elvis movies on DVD. Then today, just today, I got the CD. So that took me a long time.

This CD is "Spinout" and "Double Trouble" together. They were put out as "Double Features" some years ago, and this particular CD treats those two together as part of the "Original Elvis Presley Collection," making this one Number 25. So I can't figure that out exactly, since they were much later paired and weren't "original" in the same sense that I normally use the word.

I already had "Spinout" on LP but in no other format, which I had made into MP3s.

Now I have both soundtracks on CD, so that's a good advance, in my opinion.

The thing that first strikes me is the shortness of the songs. They have the timings on the back. There's 18 tracks, and 12 of them are under 2 minutes! That's stunning. It seems like they could've recorded longer versions somehow, even if they only needed a minute or so for the movie. But I guess not.

Speaking of "Spinout," I heard the sessions recordings on this one some years ago, and "Adam and Evil" was tough for Elvis to record. I think they only got one or two good tracks out of around 18 takes. He kept messing up on one part. So with that kind of track record, it might've been tough to record longer versions!

As far as the songs go, I like them a lot. I know it's not a normal opinion to like Elvis' movie songs, but I always do. Of course there are some better than others. "Old MacDonald" isn't a great one. But the others are all good. They just need to be longer.

YouTube's 10 Minute Limit

Doh!

I thought I saw plenty of YouTube videos that were over 10 minutes. I knew it used to be 10 minutes but I thought they changed that.

So I made an MP3 of a record today, which is 13+ minutes, and thought I'd put it on YouTube. Then I find out, No, they haven't changed the maximum time.

The maximum time is only extended for someone with a "director's account." So unless you're name is Alfred Hitchcock, you're out. I didn't look at the rules, so I don't know if you actually need a notarized letter from a major Hollywood studio. If so, I might have trouble getting one.

Yes, I'm a director for Behemoth Pictures, and we're going first release on this hot new production, an MP3, on YouTube. The big shafts of lights are gleaming and searching the skies. The premiere is here!

As Big As Icicles Can Get

I saw a really big icicle yesterday somewhere. It was hanging off a building, like they do, but it had dripped down and frozen about as far as it could go. It was very very close to touching the snow on the ground. The snow, you should know, is several feet deep. So it isn't the actual ground it's getting near.

It made me think about stalagmites. They're the ones, the rock formations, that go up if I have that right. It seems like the teachers used to tell us the one that ends in "tites" has to "hang on tight," so that would be the one going down. Thank goodness for helpful little reminders like that.

The icicles had accumulated outside my bathroom window. Now I see most of them are gone. We did have a few warm days a week or so ago, so they must be gone from then. But there are still plenty of big ones all over the town. The ones I saw yesterday were just a sample.

STP Stickers

The other day I was commenting on the song "I Call My Baby STP" by The Del-Vetts. You can find it at YouTube by a simple search.

In the course of that post, I think I mentioned all the STP stickers we used to see 35-40 years ago. There were STP stickers everywhere, on cars, telephone booths, school lockers, briefcases, everywhere.

It makes me wonder ... what ever happened to all the STP stickers? Did we just throw away everything that had these stickers on them?

Maybe if we found a junkyard somewhere, like a forgotten junkyard down in Missouri somewhere, one on a dead end road that also doesn't have a entrance (it's a double ended dead end), and somehow we could parachute in, we might find some old cars with aging STP stickers on them.

They might've been rained on for 45 years. Also blistered by the heat of 40 hot Missouri summers. And they'd be peeling at the edges. But there they'd be ... the oval STP logo from all those years ago.

Propriety

Propriety, first, last, and always. Must maintain propriety at all times.

With it, I must maintain dignity as well. Keep an unfluttered, unprovoked face and demeanor.

Everything where it belongs, eyes not roaming, hands appropriately used, every word decently filtered.

Uni, Roy, and Al

Whatever happened to Uni, Roy, and Al? They're seen here in a 1973 advertisement. I always hate it when we get to know these people, for example through their preference of Uniroyal tires, then they're gone and we never hear from them again.

The Archies - "Truck Driver"

One of my favorite songs by The Archies is "Truck Driver." I've been looking around the house for one of my 45s of it. (I think I have two, but I knew I had at least one.) And today, while looking for something else, I found one of them.

So I made an MP3 of it right away, since it's always been one I liked.

"Truck Driver" is the flip side of The Archies' first hit, "Bang-Shang-a-Lang."

Listening to it, I like it. But the story of "Truck Driver" doesn't really stand up to scrutiny. In the song, the singer knows a girl with eyes of brown. She's gone somewhere. And if he can catch a ride with the truck driver, maybe he can find her.

I personally think Baltimore would be a good place to check. Because he says "She talked about it the night before." Which might be an excellent clue as to her whereabouts. But then he has all the rest of the country to check, the United States, and that's a very big place. Even if the truck driver went to every state, the chances of seeing the girl are slim.

The truck driver is going to take his load through "27 different states." That still leaves quite a few.

If not Baltimore, how about New York City, where the lights are pretty. Plus, she'd go to Hollywood if she could.

I like this part where he says he won't get in the way of the truck driver. Except he'll be "standing on the running board calling her name through every town along the way." You don't think that would constitute "getting in the way"? The police are constantly pulling you over. "Hey, buddy, you can't be riding on the running board like that, screaming at the top of your lungs. It's not allowed."

In summation, this is a big country. And trying to find a single girl by riding a truck and calling out her name is not likely to get the job done!

Kucinich On The Aisle

How does Dennis Kucinich always get an aisle seat for the State of the Union speech? Does he have a bladder condition and need to be able to get out fast?

There he is once again tonight, leaning out, grinning, expecting the passing parade to acknowledge him.

Maybe the seats are assigned and that's just his natural spot. It's odd though, that one guy would always be right at the edge.

Looking at the Republicans there. Yuck. They're detestable.

I Should've Been A Bacteriologist!

I was just reading this article on the possibility of alien life forms already living among us in the world, as bacteria.

The basic concept that maybe some of this bacteria might be from outer space doesn't bother me. What is space anyway? We're always there. What got me was this paragraph:

Still, he noted that less than 1 percent of all the world's bacteria had been comprehensively studied – leaving plenty of room for scientists to find surprises in Earth's nooks and crannies.

Someone in the article notes that "less than 1 perfect of all the world's bacteria had been comprehensively studied." What? Less than 1 percent? That's about nothing. That means you get a job as a bacteriologist and you have a job for life, if you can stand to be around bacteria.

That is wild. I tend to think everything's pretty much well in hand as far as discoveries go and what there is left to find. But it looks like we have more bacteria than we know what to do with. Someone needs to get busy!

Salt On My Gloves

The other day I was trying to get rid of some ice. For this terrible task I was using the salt that comes in the big bag. There's a downside there.

One thing about this salt is, if you even get around it you're going to be tasting salt. I think I can taste it now, and it's been days since then.

I got it all over my gloves, and apparently it kicks up some micro dust in the air and attaches itself to your lips. Every once in a while you're tongue will hit your lips, and when it tastes that salt, you know you've gotten into something nasty. Especially since on the bag it says something about "phosphorus something or other" that you're not supposed to swallow.

But how much is too much? I immediately went and rinsed and wiped my lips. But still it lingers. I was just telling someone about it today...and as I started telling it (like now) I started tasting the stuff again. So that might be my imagination. Or it might be lingering, like a time release thing.

The big thing I've been wondering about is what kind of precautions they take with the guys who work with this stuff, like at the packing plant. It must be brutal. Now I know why the slaves in movies always look so down when they say "Back to the salt mines."

A Blizzard Day

Something about a snowy day, when the wind is whipping through at 50 mph, and there's white out conditions, makes me want to stay home.

They advise against going out, so that's a pretty good reason to stay in. They say to stay off the roads, because of the terrible danger. And they even close the highways leading out of town. So what they're trying to say is "Stay home."

There was an article in the paper where the sheriff was lamenting that people often ignore the official warnings. And next thing you know they're in a ditch somewhere, needing assistance.

My big fear about being in a ditch would be that the sheriff would be sitting in his office, heeding his own warnings, and wouldn't notice me in a ditch. So I'd freeze to death out there, where I shouldn't have been in the first place.

As it turned out tonight, I did have to go out. So I went and did what I needed to do -- official business for which I was commended for being faithful to do it in spite of the weather, when it would have been so easy to call and say I couldn't make it (sloughing off was the word they used). I was thinking, "Well, I do have a conscience, and I am conscientious." Just don't tell the sheriff!

Then I went to the store and picked up some foodstuffs. Because you never can tell. I don't want to starve to death at home. The sheriff doesn't make housecalls unless someone reports you for waving a gun.

Here I am now, in the house, listening to the blizzard assail my windows with its wind and awesome fury. It'd be a good night to have shutters on the house, assuming they wouldn't be frozen open.

Backup And Restore

I've got a backup underway. It took off automatically at some point. I didn't notice it start. I noticed everything getting sluggish and after a while saw the little notification down there.

Since it's been going for quite a while I thought maybe it was stuck, and searching around I notice other people have had that problem.

But apparently it's not stuck. I went to the place on the computer (Windows 7) for Backup and Restore and it said it was 58% along. And it's moving ... slowly but surely.

I don't care for all this automatic backup stuff, but I hate to turn it off. There'd be the short term benefit of not having everything sluggish, but let's say I needed a backup, then it might come in helpful. I'm pessimistic about it though. One day I tried to restore the computer to a prior date, its configuration. It got most of the way, then told me it failed. Real helpful! So I believe that's probably what would happen on a backup too. But you never know.

I just hate the sluggishness. Things coming to a standstill every once in a while!

He Of The Echo Effect Hath Sent Me

I'm listening to an old record called "The Story of the Old Testament as told to young people" (Part 1). It was put out on United Artists Records, in the '60s I think. Or maybe the late '50s.

In it God speaks. And whenever God speaks He has an echo effect added to His voice. How awesome!

I used to have a cassette set of the Bible on tape. And I believe they had Jesus' words with a kind of echo too. I believe that one was called a "red letter recording," the audio equivalent of printing Jesus' words in red in the bible.

We need that, I guess, the idea that God doesn't talk like we do.

Lady Gaga Five Years Ago

That's Lady Gaga from 2005, when, I guess, she was an unknown, average person in a restaurant.

It's a video that has a few clips of her on an MTV show from the time called "Boiling Point." I never heard of the show, but the premise apparently was to get on people's nerves and see if they could keep from losing their temper.

In this case they took her food and brought it back to her table with garbage on it. That would be a shocker.

She's very cute, I think. And five years ago isn't that long, from being unknown to being maybe the Number 1 artist in the whole world today. I love her songs and as far as I know I have them all.

The Yawning Reflex

The yawning reflex is great in me tonight, my big gaping maw sucking the skies for air.

And I'm sure I'm getting that fatigued, droopy look in the region of the eyes.

My posture is slumping, betraying me as one tired individual, seeing repose and a supine position.

Sleep comes easily to me, perhaps too easily. I could burrow in somewhere, pull the covers up and fall to sleep quickly.

Wouldn't be a problem.

Amazing Grace

I like the line "that saved a wretch like me."

That's an interesting twist on self-esteem, isn't it? A wretch.

There's another song that has the same kind of self-deprecation theme. Except it says "Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?" A worm.

Interesting choice of words.

Too Much Complimenting

Have you ever been complimented too much?

That's happening to me in my life these days. I have someone who's complimenting me left and right. I'm "such a nice man," etc.

Which I am. I'm nice to everyone. But most people take it in stride, maybe it's their due. Certainly I don't mind people thinking nice things about me. That's OK, but leave me to my own sense of how things are going. I don't need constant strokes about it.

I came very close today to saying "It's too much," or something like that. But, being such a nice guy, I couldn't bring myself to say it.

I myself affirm people regularly, but not the same people over and over. It's a good thing to do, especially, of course, if you're sincere. Which I usually am.

Maddening Audio Problem

I used to be able to change my recording settings on the computer, my old computer.

Now I have a Windows 7 computer and everything seems quite a bit different. One, I can plug a line into the computer, in the microphone jack, and record something, like a record. At that point the built in microphone is turned off, not picking up every throat clear, etc.

But say I want to record the soundtrack of something playing on the computer, with no line in. Such as something off of You Tube. At that point, the built in microphone is still on. There doesn't seem to be any way of turning it off.

That's a bad feature ... or non-feature.

Finished Fun In Acapulco

I've been in an Elvis mood lately. Which happens to me fairly often, being his youngest original fan. That's what I am. It would be certified if such things were certifiable. Since they aren't it's my claim ... and I don't see anyone disputing it.

I was three or four in '56, baby, doing a great Elvis impersonation. "You ain't nothin' but a hound dog!" with my rattle for a microphone. This is true stuff. I had sideburns in kindergarten.

Anyway, even though I'm old now, I'm actually quite sane -- quite sane, but I'm still certifiable as a diehard Elvis fan. Like we said back in '56, I'm still "Pulling For Presley!"

So I've been engaged in my free time watching some of the King's movies. I just finished "Fun In Acapulco" tonight. I was all the way up to the last five minutes this morning but didn't have time to finish it. So I hit pause and continued with the last song "Guadalajara" tonight.

This is a pretty good movie. Like I just wrote a day or so ago, though, I'm a little bummed out that Elvis wasn't actually in Acapulco. I don't like watching some body double walking around pretending to be him. Especially when you can look, with a trained or untrained eye, and see that it's some other guy. Of course I wouldn't expect Elvis to have done the stunts or the dives, all that. But walking around, holding hands with a girl? He could've managed that.

The little kid, Raul, at the end was going to get to go to Florida with Elvis (Mike Wingert) to be his amigo for life. So if he's still alive, a shout out to him. You did a great job in the film. I wonder what it would be like to work with the Elvis double. Was that freaky?

Now tonight I started "Double Trouble." This is kind of a freaky movie. Elvis is downright surly to the girl at the beginning. But it's all in good fun. Plus she was secretly underage, so it's a good thing that they didn't go too far!

Lloyd

What's the deal with the name "Lloyd"?

How did they ever come up with a name that starts with two of the same letter? Kind of like Aaron in that regard. "Aaron, mmeet Lloyd." "PPleased tto mmeet yyou, Lloyd."

It's a waste of letters!

Limbaugh, Our Dr. Smith

Roger Ebert has a great idea: Rush Limbaugh needs to be horsewhipped.

Rush reminds me of Dr. Smith on "Lost In Space," who's only there to be a burr under everyone's saddle. In Dr. Smith's case, he foolishly sabotaged his own life support system, the spaceship and the well being of the crew.

Limbaugh at this point is sabotaging his own country. There ought to be a penalty for a guy like that. I don't know what it is. But horsewhipping sounds like a good start!

I Hit The Exercise Place Tonight

The doc wants me to exercise more ... so I am. I haven't exactly been pressing it, but I did go tonight.

I wasn't the sweatiest person there. I wasn't the more unhealthy looking there either. So that made me feel more than adequate.

There I was ... on the elliptical, with my headphones and iPod.

Later I was on the weight thing, where you pull down the bar, and it's all attached to some weights. They have a multitude of mirrors on the wall, so you can see yourself from odd angles. I was looking at the weirdest angle of me, thinking, there I am. Also thinking, just to look at me, you can't tell what I'm thinking or listening to. Just a guy pulling on a weight, maybe a blank slate.

But of course closer to home, in my own head, I knew it all!

The Ghost Hunters On Syfy

I have a little saying about the ghost hunters show on Syfy: "All tease, no cheese."

I really don't watch it, but another person in the house has it on all the time, and seems fascinated by their show about nothing. Ghosts that never seem to make any real objective appearance, although the folks on the show definitely seem to think they've seen and recorded something.

I see snippets of it while passing through the room. "Oop, there's something!" The camera is jarred, we instantly go to commercial! Once again, all tease, no cheese.

At this point just seeing the people on it during these snippets is a frightening enough experience for me. I don't like them a bit. If I was a ghost I'd go to wherever they are, wait for them to turn the camera off, then kick the crap out of them.

They must be making a bunch of money on this worthless show. Listening to mutters, murmurs, hisses in the dark. If they're that desperate to make contact with a living entity, how about just sitting down with some actual living people and talk!

Firefox (Not Responding)

Every once in a while, I'll be typing along, doing this, or browsing, and suddenly everything stops. Then I look up and it says Firefox (Not Responding). The computer is doing something and can't be stopped. It's just off in its own world.

Then a few minutes later -- tops -- it comes back to life and we proceed as if nothing happened.

It happened a few minutes ago, which is why I'm thinking of it now. But this time I just sat there and so the time it took to come back was less. Like less than 30 seconds. Usually I'm doing a CTRL-ALT-DELETE and trying to get to the thing where I can try to stop processes (which never works when this happens). But this time maybe I did the better thing, which is to do nothing, because it came back quickly.

It occurs to me, though, how terrible that is. It shouldn't do that. You wouldn't want your car to do that going down the road. Just to quit working for a few minutes.

And with your computer, what if you were doing a presentation for a big board meeting. Then suddenly, for no apparent reason, it all freezes up. You're sitting there, sweating. Maybe swearing under your breath.

I wish stuff like this wouldn't happen. But it still feels like we're in the Wild West of the computer age. Like you really can't depend on anything. I know with my computer -- which is only a month old -- there's something challenging me every single day. It's disgusting, even though it's a pretty good computer.

They simply have a long way to go. There's still lots of bugs.

Busy Busy Busy

I've got a busy day going. I need to bear down.

I'm like the guy in Heaven in charge of butts. I've got to get cracking!

The Things That Drive Us Crazy

Here's a "Reality Principle" from a list I have from a class I took one time. It is No. 2 on the list of 10:

"The things about people that drive us crazy are the things that are keeping them sane."

Can that be true? What a wild concept! Making me wonder what are the things "keeping ME sane" that drive other people crazy? Assuming I'm sane. Which I believe I am.

I'll think of that statement for a while. And see if I can discern any truth in it in the people I meet.

My Beautiful Buffoon

Would you like to ride in my beautiful buffoon?
Floating way up high in my beautiful buffoon,
We could sail about the highest mountains, you and I,
'Cause we can fly ... fly ...
Up, up and away in my beautiful, my beautiful buffoon.
Buffoon!

I would like the stillness of a hot air buffoon,
with just the sound of the fire whizzing above head.

How Much Is Five Pounds?

I had my six month doctor's appointment today, and the bad news is that I gained five pounds in the last six months.

So the doctor mentioned that as a bad thing. So now I need to try to shed it in the next six months. It's going to take all the determination I can muster. Plus the discipline to get to the gym and do my exercises regularly.

I was there tonight, got it done. It was helpful to me that an Elvis concert movie ("Elvis On Tour") was on the TV at my machine, so that made the time speed by. But I can't depend on that happening everyday!

Anyway, I want to have good health as much as I can. So I need to buckle down and get serious about doing the right things. No more Hershey Kisses, of which I had maybe 15 today.

My Bull Imic

This has to be the funniest joke ever, funny for not being funny.

My bull Imic. Let go of my puking bull, Imic.

2007 or 1997

I need to quit losing sleep, which means I need to get to bed at a decent hour.

I was telling someone yesterday about something President Bush did in 2007. But when I woke up today I was thinking I told them 1997, which wouldn't make any sense. I'm still not sure I didn't say 1997, but surely I didn't.

When I woke up today, and even when I was sitting in my chair, I was confused about 2007 and 1997, as in their relation to the present year. It took some real mental working it through to get myself square again.

It's not that I'm dumb. I just haven't had the full eight hours for a while. So my mind is playing tricks on me.

I need to wrap it up for tonight ... get the dog outside for her thing ... and get to bed!

The Kelsey Company

I have a sentimental place in my heart for The Kelsey Company of Meriden, Connecticut. They used to sell printing presses and all the equipment. I got one of these in 1965 for Christmas, a 3" x 5" press.

I still have one of my business cards, advertising "All Types Of Fine Printing." That's right, all types of fine printing, as long as what you need printed fits inside a 3" x 5" chase. (A chase is the metal frame that you put the type in.)

I was just looking online and see there's a site that tells about the presses and how you can buy them on eBay, etc. I actually sold one on eBay one time, a press I bought at an antique store. I bought it with the intention of selling it, but when I got it I was tempted to keep it.

I was thinking of this because I was going through some stuff and found my "Printer's Guide," published by the Kelsey Company. It's 37 pages of guidance on how to set type, handle fonts, etc. It's a great little book.

I was scanning it then with my new scanner and it was just like printing with a printing press. I have a scanner interface that you can set on a timer. I had it set on 10 seconds. So I put it in, it scans a page, then I open it, turn the page, close the lid and it scans another one. It's a lot like standing at a printing press putting in sheets of paper.

(I may as well say that my family had other printing presses. Including some good sized ones. But the 3" x 5" was my own.)

If you look through old magazines, like Popular Mechanics, you'll likely see little ads for the Kelsey Company. They were around for a long time.

I Have A Scanner And A Scanner Interface

...and they're not entirely compatible.

The interface is pretty good, not made by the scanner company. But it has one (apparent) fatal flaw. It can't run the document feeder automatically. That is, it can't do it reliably, but once in a while the option appears and works.

I wrote to the company for the interface and he told me it was a problem with the scanner's software, and that I should check for a upgrade to the driver. Of course that's going to be tough to find in relation to this particular issue with this particular piece of software, the interface software. The chances of five other people having the exact issue to be addressed in the new driver update are low. So it won't be addressed.

I called the scanner company and the guy didn't know what to tell me, since he'd never heard of it. His guess was that there was something wrong with the interface software.

The short story is ... I'm never going to be able to use it for the purposes for which it was written. Which is sad. Because it made it so easy ... the three times it worked.

A Fan Of Glenn Beck

Someone I know on Facebook is "a fan of Glenn Beck."

Sometimes you just never know. What is it that gives people such putrid taste?

The Christmas Tree Is Coming Down

The Christmas tree is looking noticeably barer as the day wears on. In fact, it has been denuded entirely. It's down to the bare branches, and the lights that it came with already installed.

What a process. All the totes, plastic bags, cardboard boxes with lids, and the rest. Some stuff is wrapped in tissue. The moving angel, that sets by the tree, is in a bag with a bag over her head. I see a big bearded Old World Santa peeking out of a plastic store bag.

Down below the tree, the musical merry go round horses are silent and still. A dog statue in a cap and scarf looks just as attentive as he always does. Little knick knacks relating to Christmas are coming down. Christmas is definitely over.

The Christmas videos are still setting next to the TV, but of course no one wants to watch them.

New Year's is almost over with. The holidays have come to an end, virtually. It's time to get back to normal. The season of no lights.

May Old Acquaintance Be Forgot?

Why would we want to forget our own acquaintances? And have them never brought to mind?

I should look that up. I was thinking about the lyrics to "Auld Lang Syne," because it seems like it'd be just the opposite. You want to remember your friends and loved ones.

There are a few old acquaintances I'd like to forget, but I won't list them here.

It's Happy New Year night, New Year's Eve. So may you forget whomever you want to forget, and remember the others!

Driving On Snow And Ice

Tires are meant to drive on clear roads with plenty of good traction. They don't know what to do when it's ice and snow. But if there's good tread, of course it's better.

I was driving in some of this yesterday and I could feel the car doing some shimmying back and forth on it, slipping and catching itself, as there's patches of clear pavement mixed in with the slick.

A lot of thoughts go through my mind in these situations. Such as, Keep a clear focus. But then, Stop thinking about keeping a clear focus and just have one by nature. Too much thinking can distract your mind from what it's supposed to be doing.

There's a whole series of things your feet have to be doing. Letting up off the gas at particular times, pressing it at other times. Your eyes have to be looking far ahead and anticipating. It's a constant struggle.

The big thing that helped me get through the plodding pace (at times) was a recent viewing of the movie "Doctor Zhivago." I looked at the snowy fields and thought about Zhivago trudging across one, with icicles on his mustache. And the people traveling from Russia by walking hundreds of miles in the snow. At least I didn't have to do that! Suddenly 35 mph looked pretty good!

Your One Shot At Life

So you get your one shot at life, and the best you can do with it, if you're 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, is to try and blow up a plane full of other people.

A nasty choice on his part. A waste of potential.

The Stores Closed

There's nothing that I really need. Anyway, it's not a good night to be out, with all the snow.

Still, on holidays, when almost everything is closed, it feels like there's something wrong. It's nice that all those people have the day off, of course. Even so, it's reassuring to know that stores are open just in case.

The 2010 Fruitgum Company

In the '60s we had the 1910 Fruitgum Company, doing some great bubblegum classics. Now that we're coming around to '10 again, it's time for a reunion, as the 2010 Fruitgum Company!

I wonder if they thought of that.

Summer Sausage And The Fixins'

Guess what I've been eating the last few days, which is a weird thing to eat: Blue Cheese.

I've bought blue cheese before and didn't always get far with it. But I got some for a Christmas party the other day and was spreading it on crackers and enjoying it. So I went and got another one. It comes in triangles, the brand I buy, which is Maytag Blue Cheese.

I was offering some to someone at the party, but I was very upfront about it, informing her that the blue stuff is mold. Of course at that point she didn't want any. But I think it's good mold, not bad. Like good bacteria.

Some of that, and the crackers, and some summer sausage, and other cheese, and a few jalapenos, makes for a very nice snack while sitting around. I didn't actually have any dinner, just a plate of this stuff.

P.S. Maytag Blue Cheese comes in triangles at the grocery store. Online, it looks like it comes in circles. Circles, triangles. A square would be nice too.

Needed: A Debit Card Hood

I hate the openness of the debit card swipers at the store. It seems like it wouldn't take a very creative swindle artist to figure out what your number is just by standing there and observing you. Or observing you from an angle.

They need some kind of hood you can put over yourself and the machine. Or a booth that you step in or that descends from the ceiling to encase you, so you can type your number in private. I think they could get creative. Some kind of heat shield that wiggles up the air right next to you, like you see near campfires, so that no one can get a clear shot of what's going on on the touchpad.

But my paranoia is such that I already know they could just have a thing hooked up to it to yield the numbers all day and then they'd pick it up at night. Or have it beaming the numbers from there to the parking lot.

I like using debit cards instead of checks for many obvious reasons. But I wish I understood a little more about the situation surrounding the security of doing so.

Christmas Stuff On Sale

I was going by some stores tonight, and I see all the Christmas stuff is on sale.

It's going, going, gone ... at least in value, when the big day hits. It's a double edged sword when it comes to holidays where they stock a lot of merchandise. Someone somewhere (one would assume) is losing a little money. But I don't know.

There's a lot of people who buy Christmas stuff after Christmas, including my family. We got a nice white Christmas tree after Christmas last year, kept it in a box in the basement, and it looked great this year setting out.

One of the weirdest customs I've ever heard about Christmas is when someone goes out on Christmas Eve and buys a Christmas tree and puts it up. At that point, what's the use? It's no good in a couple days.

Word Of The Father

I love the lyrics of many of the Christmas songs. But I'm getting tired tonight and can't think of all the ones I like. But it's plenty of them! Like the lyrics of "What Child Is This?" or "O Little Town of Bethlehem." "The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight."

I love the lyrics of "O Come All Ye Faithful," for sure, especially the ones that say, "Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing."

Yes, Lord, we greet you,
Born this happy morning,
Jesus, to you be glory given!
Word of the Father,
Now in flesh appearing:
O come let us adore Him,
O come let us adore Him,
O come let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

That's so beautiful, going along with the famous prologue to the Gospel of John, of course. You've got the Father ... then the expression of the Father in the Son of God. It really exalts one's thoughts to think such things. And with Christmas we have that opportunity. All the rest of the time, too, but it's very vivid when we hear the Christmas carols.

Andre Rieu -- The Vienna I Love

The video I'm referring to in this post is a VHS tape of a program called "The Vienna I Love -- Waltzes From My Heart," by Andre Rieu and the Johann Strauss Orchestra. It doesn't look like it's still available, but looking around, I notice there are lots of programs by Rieu on DVD. Wow, I wouldn't mind having the Christmas one.

But, alas, this VHS tape is the only one I have. And I just about gave it away to the thrift store yesterday to get it out of my way. It's been on my shelf for a few years and I never watched it. Then yesterday, cleaning my room, I was putting some stuff in a box for the thrift store and this was tossed over there. But then, just for some entertainment while I cleaned, I put it in the TV (which has a player) and it was very cool to see.

I guess I didn't know anything about Andre Rieu, just that he had something to do with music, since the tape's been around for a while. I hadn't really look at it that closely.

Anyway, it's quite wonderful. A bunch of waltzes, classical music. With a full orchestra, dressed up in really nice clothes and everything. And they had a packed house. Wherever it was, actually Vienna it looks like.

Andre plays the violin. I read somewhere that he plays a 1667 Stradivarius violin. I don't know if that's what he's playing in this concert, since I don't know my violins. It's definitely pretty and doesn't look over 300 years old.

As to the music, it's delightful stuff. Played with a lot of flair, with Andre right out front, standing the whole time. He's kind of like the conductor but he's not doing a lot of typical conducting. He must conduct while moving his bow on the violin. And maybe the players were used to his style.

On this tape there's a lot of humor, the introductions Andre makes to songs, plus some funny interplay of the musicians. He speaks in German throughout but there are subtitles in English.

This particular tape was copyright 1995.

In watching it, I'm up to the 11th selection, which is the "Emperor's Waltz." Johann Strauss wasn't the composer of everything on the tape, but several of the selections.

I wish I had the Christmas DVD ... but in a few days, after Christmas, I won't be wishing that anymore.

The short story here is that I'm glad I didn't give this tape to the thrift store. Because it's enjoyable and I would guess I'll watch it again someday!

(The DVD on the Amazon.com ad is a different program than what I wrote about. But it looks like it'd be something very similar.)

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

Christmas is coming. Here's a beautiful picture. This was among my tiny collection of holy cards.

Did you happen to see the "Census" poster that someone made? It suggests that it's a good thing to take part in the census, because, according to the Bible, that's what brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem where Jesus would be born.

I think it's a nice poster. But of course there are some folks up in arms over it. It seems like it had something to do with Hispanic ministers being opposed to it. One of them, I read, said it was "blasphemous" to use the name of Jesus or God for anything other than worshiping. That doesn't make a bit of sense, since we obviously would use these names in regard to discussing many things about religion and life. So that guy doesn't know what he's talking about.

But anyway, for Christmas we don't want disagreement and disagreeable people. We'll just forgive the guy for being ignorant, just like Jesus did from the Cross. The guy "knows not what he's doing."

That's a beautiful picture. I love the stars and things. I love Joseph's very rustic, monk-like haircut. He's handsome and Mary is beautiful. At first I thought Jesus was naked, but looking closer he's in a onesy. And about to get warmer with a nice cloth from His mother. So beautiful

No One Puts On Airs

In my family, no one puts on airs.

Everyone in my family is just a plain as plain can be when around other folks. As far as anyone can tell, we're no better than them. It's all one big happy mishmash of humanity, it would seem.

We're very regular. That'd be a good word for it. As right as rain, as regular as clockwork. You'd think, Wow, that brother or sister talks with some intelligence. And that's true. Most of them are highly educated, but when you're around them (us), you're stunned at how down to earth everyone is. Big smiles are offered all around. And pats on the back, without any apparent ulterior motive.

There's no airs, no flaunting of anything. To all appearances, and I'm proud to say this, we're just like anyone else, just like you, just like the average guy. No one can ever tell the difference.

Miscellaneous Absurdities

The ideas for these miscellaneous absurdities were found in a little notebook in my desk. It's my handwriting, so I'm assuming I thought these up:

• A person is described as "youngish," who then says, "I'm older than I look."
• Remember the "To Catch A Predator" show? The host catches Bigfoot somehow, but refuses to broadcast it because of "panic." He ensnares the monster when he's in a chat room mentioning how big his "feet" are.
• There's someone like storm chasers, but they're Energy Chasers, a team of "true believers" who hold to the theory that a town is a like a body, like "any system" is. They consider themselves like chiropractors of systems.
• There's a guy whose wife gets up and makes his newspapers into scrolls. He says, "I'm an old fashioned guy." Because of its size, she gets up extra early on Sunday.

The Super Pessimist

It's not the glass is half full.

It's not the glass is half empty.

It's "What glass?"

A Good Country Name?

Willie Nilly.

As in "His Greatest Hits" by Willie Nilly.

What if his nickname is Hillbilly? Willie "Hillbilly" Nilly.

On the same bill as Milli Vanilli.

A Color Aquarium

Having an aquarium is a beautiful thing. It's like having a color TV with fish in it.

I remember when I was a kid, we just had a black and white set. But things have changed since then.

The fish are more beautiful in color.

Animals Don't Care For Money

That's so true. If we see a quarter laying on the floor, we scoop it up.

I went through the kitchen a while ago and there was a quarter on the floor. It must've fallen through the hole in my pocket. I have a pretty good hole in my pants pocket. I was at a store today and I felt the embarrassing escape of about a dollar and a half in chance going down my leg. I tried to pull the pants leg in a little to keep them from clanging against the floor and rolling off in a dozen directions. Fortunately I was successful.

After that I kept my change in my coat pocket. But somehow, at some point, I must've had a quarter in my pocket later. Because I went through the kitchen and there it was on a throw rug.

The dog was sitting there in the area, of course not paying any attention to the money. She'd probably sniffed it -- I don't know -- to see if it was edible. But that would be about it.

It made me think. They simply don't know, they simply don't care for money!

The Cops' Favorite Rod Stewart Song

Every picture tells a story, doughnut?

My Windows 7 Computer

I'm loving my Windows 7 computer, a laptop. It's so fast. I've never had a fast computer and this one zips by. It has gargantuan memory compared to the old computers I've had all this time.

I have a computer at my office, extremely slow, and I use it too. Today I was using it, and there it was, grinding away, struggling to open Firefox (it also struggles to close Firefox) -- it struggles with everything. I got sick of waiting and pulled out my new computer. Even with the old one having a head start, the new one was better.

I like the indexing system a lot more than trying to find something on my previous Windows computers. I didn't realize that was there, so it was a pleasant thing to realize that I can now actually find something on the computer! Without having to go with Google Desktop.

A Snowy Day

We're already "In the Bleak Midwinter" and it's not even officially winter yet.

Snowy days and Tuesdays always get me down.

What do I care how much it may storm? I've got my gloves to keep me warm.

The Republicans Are As Dumb As A Box Of Rocks

The Republicans think they're pretty clever, blocking the people's business in Congress. I hope this cleverness earns them a place at the bottom of the heap in 2010. If not, who knows what other terrible ideas they'll have for the nation.

They certainly don't mean well, don't mean anything good for the nation's well being. It's all selfishness for them. The public good doesn't factor into their decisions. We saw it all through the Bush years -- it was corruption morning, noon, and night. And with the Obama years, the Republicans haven't changed, except now, of course, it's patriotic to dis the President. Big surprise there!

The health care reform issue, though, seems like a terrible issue for them to be blocking. This is something we all know we need. The insurance system in this country is criminal. And the Republicans are clearly on the side of the criminals. It polls over 60% favorable with the American people, and where do the Republicans find themselves? On the other side.

Let them rot. I am so sick of the Republican party I could spit.

Other People On The Road

Being on the road and on a long journey isn't that fun an experience for me. I'd rather hang around the house, get up and go to bed in the same place. There are of course times when you have to travel, but I prefer them to be few and far between.

I have some family on the road tonight, going from Tennessee to Kansas. Driving at night, at least to St. Louis. That's definitely no fun. I hope they make it OK, which I assume they will.

The Novelty's Just About Worn Off

It's day 2 of having my new computer. I messed with it most of the day, which turned out to be a mixture of good and bad, with lots of frustration.

I'm frustrated that more of my old software won't work on Windows 7. There seems to be something seriously wrong with not having this stuff backwards compatible. I'm used to doing lots of projects in particular ways, and now to have to change in my old age, it's not nice.

My scanner won't work, that's another thing. Things I do for my work, no good. I'll have to keep my XP computers forever, and if they ever threaten to die, I'll keep them on life support till long after they're brain dead. Some of this Microsoft stuff starts out brain dead, though, so it might not be that big a change.

There's a couple things that irk me. I thought maybe this computer would have the XP mode I heard about. But that's only for Windows 7 PROFESSIONAL, not Home. That was easy for me to say, right? But that's not how they tell you at Microsoft. You have to load a piece of software that tells you it's not compatible because you haven't changed the settings in your BIOS. So you go to all the trouble to make that change, then go back, and it tells you what they could've told you in the first place, that you don't have PROFESSIONAL, so what are you doing here?

The other irksome thing are all the Norton pop-ups and HP pop-ups about this, that, or the other. Yes, I know you're there. How about doing your job in the background and giving me a monthly summary?

I have a tension backache after today. Meaning it's time to quit. I'm just going to do a few blogs and then read for a while, then my usual tasks (dishes, etc.)

The Red Book

I ordered a copy of "The Red Book," the long-awaited and frequently forgotten (be me) book by C.G. Jung.

I heard a guy give part of a lecture on this subject -- the subject came up in the course of his remarks -- one time a few years ago. I made a mental note of it, because he said it was expected to be published in the next few years or so.

Then I've checked around a few times in the last few years to see what kind of progress they were making, or rather to see if it was published and available. It never was.

Now all of a sudden I hear it came out in September and I didn't know about it. So I just discovered it a few days ago, that it was published.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting it. I read some of the reviews and the big article on the NY Times site about it, and it sounds very interesting.

I'm hoping to make many breakthroughs of my own with this big book. Not that I don't make plenty already. I certainly do. See you in Heaven!

Looking For A Book

I was looking for a book that I have today. Oh, I hate looking for books.

The big problem is I don't have the room to put all my books in normal places in an orderly way. So they're stacked here there and everywhere, on various shelves, some upright, some on their sides, some double or triple-layered back, etc. It's a mess.

The thing is, My best books it seems like I could have them in one place and in a reasonable place at that. But this particular book -- what it was is irrelevant -- didn't seem to be anywhere. I checked and checked. I'm thinking, I think I know what it's spine looks like, etc.

So I'm in one room. I'm moving the bed, thinking maybe it was under there. Moving stacks, getting irritated.

Finally I narrowed in my sights -- sometimes I can look right at something and still not see it -- and I thought I saw it, then I did see it. There is was. I took it off the shelf and put it on my desk ... somewhere.

I do not ever want to have to look for that book again. Stay on the shelf close to where you belong!

A Fawn Is A Baby Deer

A fawn is a baby deer. A woman is a female person. Of the opposite sex.

Stag is the name of an old magazine. And a party I've never been to one of.

Compelling Impulses

I was looking at a book I have. I can't remember the title. But it's something like "2,143 Meditations, Koans, and Whatever," a book that has little snippets of meditations. It's a cool book, one you dip in at random and it gives you something to think about.

I saw several things just looking at it for a minute.

One of them was this pointer, though not in exactly these words: "Wait until you have a compelling impulse two times before acting on it."

That would be good to do, because I get a lot of compelling impulses. When I'm looking at candy bars, for example, sometimes I have pretty good restraint. Then other days, like today, I went to the store specifically to get candy. Sometimes I'm definitely compelled. And frankly, had I waited for a second compulsion today it would've come.

I have a lot of my compelling impulses of the past surrounding me. I'm always trying to find shelf space for them. Many of them I waited for a second impulse. Many of them I didn't.

It's good advice. Maybe wait 10 times as a matter of policy. Because for me it's easy to secure that second one.

Picking Up Poop Even When It's Not Necessary

I took my dog for a walk in a deserted campground today.

We're going through the place where there are sometimes 300 campers and tents. But now there's none. It's completely wide open. Nobody there. The attendant is long gone. The newspaper machine has a September newspaper showing through the window.

It's so bare even sagebrush avoids it.

So there we go, walking across a deserted campground. My dog takes a poop. I think, Why am I cleaning this up? There's not much of a good answer, but I guess I'm just conscientious. I cleaned it up.

15 Years For Stealing Cigarettes

Stupid guy.

This guy, 26-year-old Jared Smith, admitted he was a career criminal and could've gotten 25 years for stealing cigarettes.

Good comment by Brookings (South Dakota) County State’s Attorney Clyde Calhoon... He called Smith a career criminal but not a very good one, “because he seems to always get caught.”

Should've picked a different career. Or not been a smoker.

Started Frankenstein

I started the old movie, "Frankenstein," the Boris Karloff one. Got it on VHS today at a thrift store. I half think I already had it somewhere.

I like the beginning. A guy comes out on the screen and warns us, the audience, about what's coming up. So what's supposed to happen? You're in the theater and you get up and leave?

He never actually says that. He just hints around that it's going to be horrifying. So I hope I can stand it. I'll be watching 10-20 minutes a day till I get it done, watching only during my exercises.

Ardath by Marie Corelli

I finished the book "Ardath" by Marie Corelli. It was a big one but a good read.

Synopsis:

There's a guy named Theos Alwyn, a poet from England who's also skeptical in the religious sense. He happens to be in the East somewhere, the Caucasus mountains, and meets with a monk named Heliobas. (Heliobas is also the main character in Corelli's novel "A Romance of Two Worlds.") He's a mysterious, all-seeing, all-knowing kind of guy, with some deep in's when it comes to religion.

Alwyn stands against religion and Heliobas guides him along. Soon Alwyn takes a serious nap and is transported into realms somewhere above, where he meets an angel he comes to love, and he comes back around and immediately writes a long, inspired poem. One sitting.

Now he's interested in religion. Heliobas opens to him certain mysteries from the book of 2 Esdras, and sends him to the field of Ardath, mentioned in 2 Esdras, which is at the ruins of Babylon. He gets there, goes to the field of Ardath, has some mystical experiences involving the same angel figure from before, then he seems to be transported to a whole other time and place.

The bulk of the book is his experiences in this other time and place, the city of Al-Kyris. In Al-Kyris, they have a king, priests, a High Priestess figure, poets, critics, professors, the whole thing. Alwyn doesn't have recall of who he is, just vague hints come to him occasionally about his life and religion. In Al-Kyris he becomes fast friends with the Laureate of the realm, Sah-luma. There's enough hints dropped along the way that it's obvious the two of them share something very intimate in common.

I can't summarize the whole Al-Kyris section since it's huge. He's there when the whole kingdom experiences its downfall and Sah-luma is killed. Then he's back to the present day. It's revealed to him that all that was a dream, but it was a dream of actual people and things that happened. In fact Sah-luma was a prior incarnation of himself. That explains why all of Sah-luma's poems are poems that Alwyn also wrote, including the long one, Nourhalma, the inspired one from before.

In the experiences he had he focused in on many presentiments of Jesus Christ, the Cross being used as a mystical symbol in anticipation of the Gospel, prophesied to come into the world in 5,000 years. So he was reliving things that happened close to 7,000 years before.

Because of his life of flesh and denial of the spiritual things, he has been denied a final consummation and life with the female angel figure, his everlasting beloved Edris. But obviously he's well on the right path now, being aware of the reality of spiritual things and God.

The last section has Alwyn back in England, where he's with friends and heavily engaged in the social scene. His big inspired poem was a bestseller and everyone wants to meet him. The last section has some truly boring parts. It's kind of a let-down. The big thing in it is that he's a completely different person and fame holds no charm. So he's put off by all the hangers-on, etc.

He meets Heliobas, who's in England on his way to Mexico. They talk over Alwyn's transformation and what his life has in store for him. He knows he'll someday be with Edris. He also knows he has some kind of power to bring her back, but keeps avoiding it out of true love. He's denying himself, which turns out to have been a good move.

Finally he meets Edris in a cathedral and it's revealed that she's come down to spend mortality with him after all, because every time he prayed that she be spared this and that he get along as well as he can, it actually meant she was that much closer to being sent.

They go somewhere, to some mountain retreat somewhere, and live there. He's writing poetry, as I recall, and doing his best to convert the world to spirituality through poetry and away from their vain ways.

Adam Lambert's Songs

I just got the CD yesterday. I heard most of the songs streaming on MySpace the other day. Then I've heard the other songs at least twice. Plus the performances on the CBS Early Show (You Tube).

The good news is I like them. The bad news (if you want to call it that) is they're already running through my mind.

This is only bad news because those incessant loops in the brain, song worms, can be very annoying. So here I am, constantly imagining, "What do you want from me?" And the simple guitar thing that starts and is in the middle of it.

The songs are quite good on the CD. Maybe too good.

Reading "Ardath"

I mentioned somewhere on one of my blogs that I was reading "Ardath," by Marie Corelli. I still am! I haven't ended it, since it's a longish book, but I'm getting there.

It is a three part book, and it looks like it was published as three separate volumes, going by what I see at Google Books. Fortunately the edition I have has all three volumes together, making it so I don't have to track down three separate books and buy them.

I'm in the last part, so that's pretty good. I think it's a compelling book. I like it a lot. The author had a real lavish way of describing things, apparently from having read so much poetry. So she's not shy and not reserved in giving things a completely over the top description.

I'll probably write about it when I get done with it. I notice there's not many descriptions of the contents online. So that's something that could be filled in. And I'll try to do that when I make it the rest of the way through.

Heath Bars

I usually have a craving for candy about once a week.

Yesterday it was for a very particular kind of candy, the Heath bar. I haven't had one of these for maybe years, a couple years maybe. But suddenly that's what I wanted.

Under the word "Heath" they're labeled "Milk Chocolate English Toffee Bar." They have a real delicious toffee bar under the coating of chocolate. So they go from soft to hard in about five seconds. If you have the discipline to let the toffee melt in your mouth, you can get some lasting enjoyment out of them. But I don't usually have the discipline.

Like right now, I chewed a piece and it's already gone. Bad move!

By the way, this isn't a paid endorsement of any sort. I read about blogs that do that. So to be just up front, I am not a paid spokesperson. I have these two candy bars and I might not eat another Heath for another two years. The craving is not constant.

These Three Stooges Films Are A Drag

Toward the end of the Shemp years, and I believe into the next years, the Three Stooges films weren't so good.

I guess the thing was the shorts weren't making enough money or the studio didn't want to spend any money on them, or something like that. Surely they didn't just run out of ideas.

I'm watching the Seventh volume of the complete Columbia shorts and many of them are retreads, including footage from films from prior years. It's a complete drag. They put a new title on them though, so at least we have that (ya ha!)

I guess there are different scenes, somewhat, but still ... just retreading an old film and with extended scenes from the earlier film ... is not my way of doing things.

They're very stale.

My Good Deed For The Day

This is from "The Annals of You Never Know What You Might Be Doing In Five Minutes."

I was bringing the dog home from a walk in the park and there was a guy on the corner who asked me a question about the school bus schedule.

Since I didn't know, I started calling around and couldn't get anyone at the schools to pick up. Within five minutes I was in this guy's house, looking for other phone numbers and making calls.

Finally, when none of the calls paid off, we were in my car heading for the school to see if we could find the child in question. We did, they made it home, and everyone was safe and sound.

None of it was predictable. Showing that you really do not know 100% what you might be doing five minutes from now.

That's Me On Guitar

That's me on guitar on Adam Lambert's song "Music Again." It's a hot solo, done by me of course. I had my lip curled at the time. That's how I got it so hot.

George W. Bush's Presidential Library

What a waste of money and space. A presidential center in honor of idiot George W. Bush.

If they want to build something else we don't need, how about another McDonald's or Kentucky Fried Chicken?

I like the sound of one of the exhibits though. Some kind of $100 million holograph of the Constitution continually going through a shredder. Just like during his failed presidency.

Wish I Had Some Chocolate

I have a craving for some chocolate or some candy of some kind. But there's no candy in the house that I know of.

And I hate to go all the way to the store to get some. I would need to go to one of the discount places since I despise the idea of buying candy at convenience stores, where it's twice the price.

But I should resist. It won't do me any good. Either for my weight, my teeth, or my wallet.

Still, we crave what we crave. And it definitely does sound good. I will try to resist. I will try my best.

Caught A Glimpse Of Alf

I was exercising last night at the exercise place. And I was trying to find a particular channel, one that had Andy Griffith on. I could see it across the room on one of the main TVs, but I'm not familiar with where any channel is on the TV there.

As I going at it, exercising and searching at the same time, I was pushing the channel UP button and getting the picture and moving on. In the process I caught a glimpse of Alf for about a second. I wonder what channel that was. Are they showing reruns of Alf?

It's funny I didn't stop on it. That was a favorite show of mine at the time, way back when. But the bottom totally fell out on my interest in it. My interest hasn't held even in the sense of it being a nostalgic favorite.

I wonder what the chances are of that. Since most things that we like from years ago, we still have a soft spot in our hearts for, and would want to see it a few times years later. But for some unknown reason that doesn't hold for Alf. Or Married With Children, which I was crazy for when it was first on. Really crazy for. No more.

I watched the Andy Griffith episode for a little while -- I didn't have any sound -- and even that was not very interesting (without sound). So I flipped over and was going to watch two women shooting pool, except I tuned in right at the end, so I saw one woman's last five shots, then she won a big silver cup and that was it.

TV with the sound off isn't very interesting. It's about the same as with the sound on.

Beware The Ides Of November

I was going to say, Beware the Ides of November. But I see the definition of "ides" is not what I expected.

(in the ancient Roman calendar) the fifteenth day of March, May, July, or October, and the thirteenth day of the other months.

It's not the fifteenth of November, just the fifteenth of March, May, July, and October.

The rest of the months get the ides over with on the thirteenth.

So if anything bad was going to happen to you on the ides of November, for which you should've been aware, it's already happened.

Nothing's quite as dangerous as the ides of March, of course. But this year, the ides of November having been on Friday the 13th, it could've been bad.

There must have been someone out there who had a terrible day on Nov. 13. To those people I would've said, Beware the Ides of November. But now that it's over, sorry about that.

Christmas Music Is Starting

I'm starting to sing Christmas music. I haven't listened to much of it yet, although I was listening to a Slim Whitman Christmas album a few weeks ago.

But the usual songs are coming to mind. I like ones like "Through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow, hang a shining star up on the highest bough, and have yourself a merry little Christmas now." Real sentimental stuff.

"Here we are as in olden days, happy golden days of yore..." That's so pretty.

Or "I'll be home for Christmas, you can plan on me..." It's so sentimental. This looks like one of those weird years where I probably won't make it "home" for Christmas, even though I maybe should do it anyway, since you never know how many there will be left.

This Is An Old Blog

That's one way to look at it, this is an old blog. I have over 400 posts. Pretty old!

Another way would be, maybe it was just created yesterday. And the 400 posts were already there just to test your faith. If you believe in the young blog theory.

But another way to look at it is this: It's old, yes, but not as old as it's likely to get. By the time another 50 years passes, and I'm still going strong, with 30,000 some posts by then, we'll all look back and say, 400? -- that wasn't so old.

If I last another 50 years, more power to me! The clock starts .... NOW!

A Verizon Hack

I'm depressed.

I just heard a family member, who doesn't have very much money, had her Verizon account hacked, and someone ran up between $500-600 fees for one thing or another.

She tried to talk to them at Verizon customer service but they won't help her, they say, get some of these charges off her bill. You know, I have never ever heard one good word about Verizon customer service. It seems like everything I've ever heard about them, their policy is to turn you down.

Anyway, it's not over with yet. I found a thing online about how to have a (maybe) successful dispute with Verizon. They ought to be able to look at her history and see that she hasn't had a history of these kinds of charges in the past. And since it's apparently easy to hack a Verizon account, if they put 2 + 2 together, they could see that she is telling the truth.

Like I said, she doesn't have much money. So I would probably have to step in (not that I'm loaded either) and help get the stinking thing paid.

I would guess it'd be up to her to keep better track of her account, although I don't know what the actual answer is. Someone could run up a lot of charges in a short amount of time.

I hate those people!

Lou Dobbs Quitting CNN

Lou Dobbs reportedly is quitting CNN. Good. He's terrible.

During the very few minutes that I watch TV at all, I surf between CNN and MSNBC. But if Lou Dobbs is on, for the most part I'd rather watch commercials on MSNBC.

A couple nights ago I heard him for a few seconds railing about something. The guy is nothing but grief and complaints. So, zap, back to the commercials on MSNBC.

Lou Dobbs quitting? Yea! What took so long?

Ardath

I got a new book today (new to me), first published in 1896, I believe.

It's called "Ardath" by Marie Corelli. I read a book by her within the last month, "A Romance of Two Worlds," so I bought a couple more books online. This is the one that came today.

It's fairly lengthy, being around 550 pages of smaller print. The publisher looks like some kind of cheapo publisher, since the type is broken in places, the printing is poor, and I've noticed a couple of typos in the first 40 pages. So I don't know if this was some kind of bootleg copy from way back when or what.

The publisher was Hurst & Co. There's no copyright information, date, any of that. That's weird.

It's not great but I can make out most of it. I noticed there was one use of the word "sever" when "several" would make more sense. I looked at the copy on Google Books and it said "several." So that's a major typo, as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to making it through this book. It's interesting that Heliobas, from the "Romance" book is a character in this one as well. I didn't know that was going to be the case, so I was pleasantly surprised.

Ideas For Tomorrow

I notice that if you want to do a different idea everyday, some kind of theme, that days pass by very quickly, and you're always pressed for what it's going to be.

I'm thinking of cartoonists, who reportedly work two months in advance or more. They have that kind of everyday schedule to keep up. Maybe they can come up with a dozen strips a day or a dozen panels. I don't know.

If you do anything everyday -- except going to the bathroom and eating -- it's a demand on your time. Because that time rolls around very quickly.

I don't have any great ideas for tomorrow. I'm rooting around in my mind for one, but one hasn't come. I'm thinking I'll get to bed and something will surely ferment in my mind overnight.

I always know it (or semi-know it) when it comes to mind, so all I have to do (hopefully) is sleep, then wake up, and Voila, there it will be!

Dead Swan On The Bathroom Floor

Shapes.

Online Clip Art

I still don't know the rules about using online clip art.

I've been doing graphics for one of my blog. And looking up pictures at Google images to use in collages is of course a great way to find things.

But then what? Is it legal and permissible to just use elements of stuff you find around the internet? I don't think it is. I see there's some clip art places that, even though it seems to be "free," I think they still expect some kind of credit or whatever.

And some of them have a little identifier in the middle of the picture, like they're trying to discourage you from using it.

I was looking for pictures of a "junkyard dog" and found some great clip art for that theme. But some of them I was reluctant to use because of these possible restrictions.

But one thing to say about it. It looks like clip art has come a long way since 8-10 years ago, when all you'd get were links to clip art places that themselves were links to clip art places. You followed the links till you were back at the first place and you never actually saw any clip art!

I'm serious about that. Back then clip art was tough to find.

Old Candy Wrappers

I have a sad sight here at my left hand. A pile of old candy bar wrappers, the Fun Size kind. Snickers, Milky Way, and a few Three Musketeers. They're left over from the left over candy from Halloween. I've got it eaten. But the wrappers remain.

Snickers are good to let melt in your mouth, which is hard to do because we have a natural inclination to want to chew. Same thing for Milky Way. Three Musketeers is the most boring candy bar I can think of. It has to be my least favorite of the main candy bar brands. I don't think letting it melt in your mouth would make it any better.

If Three Musketeers was a car, it's be so stripped down, you'd think, Man, where's the radio? Does this car even have a glove compartment? How about a steering wheel? In other words, there's nothing to it. Chocolate on the outside. Then whatever that nougat stuff in the middle is called. And that's it.

Three Musketeers as a candy bar is like kissing your sister. Nothing happens and you'd just as soon it didn't anyway.

They show Three Musketeers floating away on their commercials, because they're so light. That's truth in advertising. Except when they float away I won't be running around trying to catch them.

Will The Democrats Get The Message?

The time to get the message is now. It's not the day after Election Day a year from now, going "If we had only known!"

The time to "know" is now. We want you to govern like actual Democrats, not corporate shills or those too timid to govern. Be bold and get something decent and honest done for the people. The people will appreciate you more.

There's always going to be another election. If you're too timid to govern because there's an election coming, then you're never going to get the job done.

We want action. We want bold action. Don't go toward the right, the center, all that hogwash. And the Republicans aren't looking for bipartisanship. They're there to stab you in the back.

Do what we want -- what's right for the American people -- and you'll be rewarded for it.

A Whole Year Since The Election

2008 was a killer for me, all the waiting, all the political suffering. It didn't seem like we'd ever get to the election. Then we finally, finally did. And now it's been an entire year since!

How is President Obama doing? I think he's doing pretty much OK. I would prefer a more out and out liberal agenda, and more of an out and out killer instinct to get it. I don't like the idea of pussyfootin' around with political enemies when you're President of the United States.

I think this health-care thing could've been better. And it could've been done sooner. Maybe not, because I'm not really there to know. I tend to think the president has more power than he uses. I imagine he could've twisted some arms off and broken some knee caps, politically speaking.

As far as the Democrats in Congress, I don't like it that they're going a hundred different ways, always in rebellion over one thing or another. I think a surer way to bury the Republicans is to govern as Democrats with good Democratic principles. And among those principles I don't mean shooting yourself in the foot while no sense of direction.

Now it's election day again, and the Republicans have a mixed bag. They're going to spin it as a big night for them, that Obama's bad and the Republicans are good. It doesn't really mean that, but just wait and see.

What happens in 2010, I'm hoping we get our act together and crush them. But if 2009 is any guide, I don't know that it will happen.

Enjoyed Some Tacos

I just enjoyed six tacos that I get from a Mexican restaurant in my town that I like. I like it but all I ever get are tacos. I got a burrito there once and didn't care for it particularly. But I love the tacos!

I'm the only one in my household who likes the place. So that doesn't make for very many outings together. I only go stag, get my stuff to go, and bring it home.

This is my second dose of tacos there in three days. I normally cherish them and guide them tenderly in my mouth, etc. I think tonight I felt a little more jaded. I ate them about the same way but didn't enjoy them quite as much.

I might need to lay off getting them for a while ... then it'll be special again.

Halloween Candy

I've eaten way too much Halloween candy.

We bought two bags of candy bars, the little Fun Size ones. Snickers, Milky Way, and 3 Musketeers. Then we had precisely one kid come to the door. It must not be like it was when I was a kid. We were gung ho for going trick or treating. We had it down to a science. We had so much candy we were eating it for a month. The kids these days, I don't know what's wrong. Maybe the parents are overly paranoid.

It's OK with me. We remain optimistic in buying so much candy. Then I get the excess, which is much. But it's hard to quit eating it.

I had a weird 3 Musketeers in this batch. Must have been a factory mistake. It was a half 3 Musketeers candy bar, no wrapping, and looked like it was sliced at a 45 degree angle on one end, with some little groove marks. I didn't examine it before throwing it away, so that's just my take with one glance.

They obviously make millions of 3 Musketeers bars and I'm sure this one hit a machine badly or something and somehow sneaked by.