The Weekend In Review

What a hoot. Cactus Mark and his lovely bride (well, he thought so until they had to turn around and come back for something they forgot) came up for a visit.

We had an awesome dinner at Lucille's , then had the usual billiards, bullshitting and brews session.

Saturday involved more bullshitting, brewing and drinking beer, cooking some food on the smoker, and later on a duet by "The Dookie Brothers". Yeah, we may have sounded like shit to record producers, but for never having played together before - me on the drums and he on the guitar, I think we did just fine. And we had a good time.

The main purpose of the trip was the retrieval of 'Frankenpony'.
I had made a rocking horse which was supposed to be ridden in a race by a member of administration from Mrs Curmudgeon's work at a Kentucky Derby party. When the event was canceled, the horse was up for grabs. I knew Mark's wife wanted one, so they made a trip up to get it.

If you're interested, go to Mark's blog and take a look. It has a post-construction modification, but we are now sure of the gender. :)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So How Was Your Weekend?

Mine was er, good gawd.

I went to visit Mark. Now I've known Mark for oh, I guess it's been almost 20 years, and his wife is right. "When those two get together ... you just have to see it." I think she may have a sore neck from shaking her head in disbelief the entire weekend, but nevertheless, she somehow was able to put up with our antics. And even more so, she even joined in on occasion. Poor girl.

So in between the pool shooting, shit shooting, beer consumption and name calling (you would think that there is a limit to the number of derogatory remarks, smart ass comments and manhood questioning that could possibly be made in the span of almost 20 years, but of course, I should have known better), we had a few projects to tackle.
It would be impossible to even begin to recall the many ways we pointed out the lack of 'manhood', the many items that would be shoved up the others ass sideways, or the many times 'suck me into a coma' were announced.

The beer brewing, the food cooking, the ostrich egg (yes, a single egg) preparation that needed demonstrating, and the teevee that needed watching. Yes, we took care of pretty much all of that.

So, the beer brewing. We made a batch of porter that I'm sure I will never get to sample, but it appeared that it would turn out to be a decent batch of brew. It was then time to take to the pool table again, where I could give some more lessons. In the meantime, the soufflé preparation was begun.


The egg:



Yes, one egg takes the place of a couple dozen chicken eggs. And it does make a good soufflé. Enough for about 6 people at least.

After the billiard tournament from hell which involved Mark, the Mrs., Yours Truly and another friend, we commenced to grill steaks and settle in.

Sunday involved some serious teevee time, some of the best scotch in the world,



and some more good food, and a serious gut ache from cracking the hell up:



Trust me. Unless you were there, you wouldn't understand, but the timing for the Poison concert was impeccable. I haven't laughed that gawddam hard in years.

♫♪ "What's got you so jumpy" ♫♪
♫♪♪ "Why can't you sit still, yeah." ♫♪♪

Oh yes. Good times.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just On Weekends

Drinking accelerates onset of Alzheimer's

People who have more than two alcoholic drinks a day develop Alzheimer’s disease five years earlier than those who do not drink, a comprehensive study linking the condition to lifestyle has found.
[...]

Whew. Good thing I don't drink every day.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From The "No Shit!" Files - Again

Rock stars more likely to die prematurely

Reuters - Mon Sep 3, 7:06 PM ET Sent 728 times

LONDON (Reuters) - Rock stars -- notorious for their "crash and burn" lifestyles -- really are more likely than other people to die before reaching old age.
[...]

Uh, do ya think?

How long did it take you compile this story, Einstein?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Funny

Sad or not, I fucking LAUGHED!!!





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tax Dollars At Work

USDA sent $1.1B to deceased farmers

AP - Mon Jul 23, 7:04 PM ET Avg. Rating: 4.6

WASHINGTON - The Agriculture Department sent $1.1 billion in farm payments to more than 170,000 dead people over a seven-year period, congressional investigators say.
[...]

Doesn't that just give you the warm-fuzzies?

It's bad enough the government pays subsidies to farmers to not grow some crops. But to keep paying them after they're dead too?

Sweet.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

E-Fucking-Zactly

As you know, I've been mentioning "D" a time or two. He goes by "Pick" most of the time, so that's what I'll refer to him here as.

In one of his notes I replied to, I asked if he minded me posting some of an email he sent. His reply:

"One of the reasons that make it worth strapping on bro...freedom of speech. Feel free to post anything you want that doesn't m bear ass you for knowing me"

M bare ass? Far from it. Damn proud to have you as a bud, Pick. I'm thinking up the recipe (home brew request) as we speak.

So with that I'll post a bit of news he sent:

[...]
The whole place is tucked into what is pretty much downtown Kabul, a pretty large city. I'd say similar to Denver. We are very secure, as just down the block is the presidential palace, various embassies, the International Security Force Afghanistan, etc. So there is pretty much an entire army of President Karzi's handpicked troops guarding us. I would say that in the 2 minute shuttle ride from the Safe houses to Camp Eggers you pass 5 checkpoints, are negotiating barriers the entire time, and pass maybe 200 armed soldiers. Very, very secure. Eggers itself is surrounded by a 20 something foot wall, and that's where the US forces take over with machine guns and tanks all over. And everyone is armed.

The safe houses are basically mansions that have been taken over by the various "foreign" militaries here. There are maybe 10 housing US troops, all in a one block area. This whole area is also patrolled by the same group of soldiers, with extremely controlled entry and is surrounded by a very high wall with razor wire on top. We are so safe that the only time we have to wear the body armour and have our weapons loaded is during the shuttle ride. At the safe houses and Camp Eggers you can take it off. I would estimate that each house is 6 to 8 bedroom and very nice with all the comforts of home, including cable tv and wireless internet access. So after I learn more I'll hopefully be able to hook up the laptop at "home".

I took a "pass" on the Driving training, as I had promised a certain blue eyed/red haired beauty to stay safe, so have no desire to leave the secure area and drive around. I saw all I need to see on the drive up from Bagram. The country is dry and mountainous, and we saw lots of Bedouin camps with their goats and camels. The city is chaotic as it digs itself out of the last 50 decades of Soviet then Taliban rule, with limited running water and electricity. Many of their buildings were destroyed in the wars and are still in ruins. Traffic is an absolute nightmare and I want nothing to do with it.

The Afghans themselves are simply overjoyed that we are here. We freed them from the Taliban which were pretty much hated by all, have maintained a very light hand and let them establish their own government, and pumped an enoumous amount of money into the country. They are very cordial and friendly...eager to be of any help they can. They have an old school way of making you feel welcome, preffering to chat and have tea before even thinking about getting down to bussiness. It's kinda charming, and I'm actually very impressed.

The fighting that remains in the Country is all concentrated down-south in the Kandahar area, the stronghold of al queda and the Talaban. The ease of hitting with an ied or sniper then slipping across the paki border is making life difficult. There are random, standoff attacks on coalition forces, but no pinched fire fights to speak of. The Afghans themselves are the only ones that get in that kind of fight, and they always win. The "spring offensive" is all a media hyped frenzy, and has developed into absolutely nothing.

So basically I've decided that I'm not here to fight anybody, I'm here to help a friend stand up. I think that is the attitude of everyone I work with. We maintain a very vigilant state, but the only real concerns are the very, very rare ied or suicide bomber.

How's that for a paper? Hah don't remember when I've rambled so much. But I hope it puts your mind at some ease, because I know the "not knowing" is the hard part.

And of course while I miss everyone terribly, I am still very glad that I am here and doing my small part to empower these people and let democracy shine. Their's is an old, old culture and they deserve a break.

[...]

That's the news so far. Now, if you have a minute and want to say 'Hello' to Pick, send an email to the address in my profile and I'll hand out his addy. I don't want spammers to go gabbing it, so I'll not post it here.





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Definition of Globalization

Got this from an email:

Finally, a definition of globalization I can understand and to which I can relate:

Question: What is the truest definition of Globalization?

Answer: Princess Diana's death.

Question: How come?

Answer: An English princess with an
Egyptian boyfriend crashes in a
French tunnel, driving a
German car with a
Dutch engine, driven by a
Belgian who was drunk on
Scottish whisky, followed closely by
Italian Paparazzi, on
Japanese motorcycles; treated by an
American doctor, using
Brazilian medicines.

This is sent to you by a Canadian, using
American (Bill Gates') technology, and you're probably reading this on your computer, that uses
Taiwanese chips, and a
Korean monitor, assembled by
Bangladeshi workers in a
Singapore plant, transported by
Indian lorry-drivers, hijacked by
Indonesians, unloaded by
Sicilian longshoremen, and trucked to you by
Mexican illegals.....


That, my friends, is Globalization!

So simple.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They Have The Right Idea

Belgian firm says speak Dutch or be fired

Reuters - 2 hours, 7 minutes ago

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A Belgian auto parts supplier has forbidden its workers to speak any language other than Dutch, even during their lunch break, and employees could be fired if they disobey.
[...]

Good gawd. Would I ever love to see Americans say "Speak English or...".

It will never happen, but I can dream.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More Easter Shit

Peeps: I hate them. They're disgusting.

But they do make nice apparel:








~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BWAH!

Hard-core porn interrupts news show

AP - Wed Mar 14, 9:29 PM ET

MESA, Ariz. - A cable news program was temporarily replaced with hard-core pornography, shocking viewers who had been watching a health show featuring former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw. The incident Monday night on KPPX-TV was "an act of human sabotage" at the Phoenix-area station, said ION Television, which operates the station.
[...]

I've got five bucks says someone is looking for a job.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So. Whad'dy Think?

Are all cancers caused by nothing more than a parasite?




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another One Bites The Dust

Back in November I wrote about the Stardust going the way of most older casinos here in town.
Well, they blew the fucker all to hell Monday night.

Go here and take a look at the pictures.

Sorta sad. Not only are we losing all the old-school casinos to the new 'mega-resorts', I did a stint as a bus boy there once when I was hard up for a job.





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twins

Now here's a photo of Paris and Brittney that I'll bet you haven't seen before.

Careful now, they're NEKKID!
[+/-] show/hide the twins









~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It Must Run In The Family

Anna Nicole Smith dead

[...]
Seminole tribal fire rescue and Hollywood fire rescue workers tried to revive her at her hotel, said Michael Bloom, president of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

She was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood at 2:10 p.m. and died there, police said.
[...]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I tole yyoufu - nnnnn - youfuckers I-I nnnn Iwasnnnn, Iwasnnnn, I wasnn't feelunshogood."


Seriously though, hmmm. We all know she was a drunk. Most likely ate every chemical available too. My guess is she partied too hard, and overdid it.

But then again, maybe her late husband's family got tired of her shit:

"Marshall [her late husband] died the following year and Smith spent much of the following decade battling members of his family over his estate. In May 2006 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Smith could pursue her case in federal court."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~