World Trade

I went to see the movie World Trade last night. I will reluctantly admit I did not want to see the movie. I was afraid it would open wounds and the floodgate of emotions I was not sure I wanted reopened. Then there was the Oliver Stone factor, his leanings are not unknown and the last thing I wanted to see was a blame Bush conspiracy theory.

The movie was brilliant. It captured the horror and confusion of the day without being too graphic. It is free of politics. My only complaint was the idiots behind me who gave a running narration to each other throughout the film -- "The towers are going to collapse", "He is going to die if they do not get out soon". Once again I was a victim of the VCR generation.

I found my emotional reaction interesting, as the movie continued, the toll on the victims, the families, the rescue workers, the citizens of our nation made me angry. By the movies end my resolve to back the nation's war on terror strengthened. The depraved, sick individuals that brought such human suffering must be brought to justice. The realization that these assholes tried again just this week makes my anger build to a rage.

I watched some woman go apeshit yesterday on CNN because the President had referred to the terrorists as Islamic Fascist. She said he was spreading hate. WTF? Why can't we say it like it is? Islamicists did the WTC, and they tried to do it again this week. These raghead Muslims have caused 99.9% of the violence in the mideast, yet there are some who do not want to call a spade a spade. These people hate us not because of our language , our skin color, our racial purity, but because we are not adherents to the teachings of a child molester who wrote the Koran. Period. Wake up and eat the bacon, these people hate us because we are a free society, not living under Islamic law. EOS. See the movie, it is good to remember why we are fighting.

Laugher for the day

You are on a horse, galloping at a constant speed. On your right side is a sharp drop off, and on your left side is an elephant traveling at the same speed as you. Directly in front of you is a galloping kangaroo and your horse is unable to overtake it. Behind you is a lion running at the same speed as you and the Kangaroo. What must you do to safely get out of this highly dangerous situation?
Get your drunk butt off the merry-go-round!

I may have posted this before. It is still funny

A man was sitting on a blanket on the beach.
He had no arms and no legs.
Three women were walking past and felt sorry for the poor man.

The first woman said "Have you ever had a hug?"
The man said "No," so she gave him a hug and walked on.

The second woman said "Have you ever had a kiss?"
The man said "No," so she gave him a kiss and walked on.

The third woman walked over to him and whispered in his ear "Have
you ever been f****d?"
The fellow looked up in amazement and said "No." She replied, "You
will be when the tide comes in."

Blame Otter, he sent it.

Just a post before I go

Does anyone still think those missing Egyptian students is no big deal?

Don't go changin'

I have made some additions to the blogroll. The best way to find out what is new is to just click and read every site over there on the right. They are all worth your time (except Queenie who refuses to post. Every time I take her off the old blogroll she starts up again. It is principle of the thing now).

How to meet women and score in the bedroom

Have you answered the Big Western poll below? I need your responses.

Sorry, if you came here for advice on getting laid you got fooled. I have been married for 22 years, I cannot help you. Maybe this post title will get me some hits -- hey, the Dragon got 30 comments on a post about group masturbation -- where is my love?

I watched the first disk of the new Pink Floyd concert DVD "Pulse" that came out recently. It is the 1994 concert in Royal Albert Hall. So far pretty cool. Welcome to my boring life. Sitting in a Courtyard hotel in Fort Wayne, watching a concert filmed 12 years ago. I bet you wish you had my life. Lunch at Applebees, dinner at Cracker Barrel and a long boring evening in the hotel typing posts to a blog.

In the spirit of my evening so far -- I wish you were here.

The post below about books got me to thinking. What was the first "adult" book you read? Not pornography, but novel with adult themes? I think it was "The Summer of '42" for me. Mom made the mistake of leaving it out on the table one day. I could read very fast in those days, and read constantly. I am sure I finished it in one day. In my teens it was not unusual for me to read for 12 or more hours in a day. Mom was not thrilled when she saw me reading the book, but I was almost done. She asked me if I had any questions. Nope, but after seeing the movie a few years later, I wanted to get laid by Jennifer O'Neill too. I am not sure when I read this book, it had to be the early 1970's. I guess I am going to head to the library one of these days and see if I can find a copy of this old classic.

Don't forget to vote for your favorite western!

The wording of a test is important

Blonde Geometry

After careful scrutiny, it is our understanding that the blonde student was given credit for the answer, but the board of education has warned math teachers to be more explicit in the future.







a tip of the old stetson to Otter

Memed

I usually do not place well with others, a true character fault. Alli at Fox Rants memed me, and well, since it is Alli, one of my very first readers, I will play along.

One book that changed your life.
"Tucker" by Louis L'Amour. My grandfather gave it to me to read and it began a 10 year reading relationship with th Western Novel.

One book that you have read more than once.
"Flight of the Intruder" by Stephen Coonts

One book that you would want on a desert island.
The Aubry / Maturin series by O'Brien or the any series by WEB Griffin. If it is one book -- War and Peace -- at least it will take a while to read (it is also pretty good)

One book that made you laugh.
Any book written by Tim Dorsey

One book that made you cry
The one by John Grisham where the little kid witnesses the murder, I cannot remember the title


one book you wish had been written.
Tom Sawyer

One book you wish had never been written.
The Koran

One book you are currently reading.
"Memorial Day" by Vince Flynn, but I cannot get into it

One book you have been meaning to read.
A Farwell to Arms by Hemingway

Now tag five people
You, you, you, you, and You.

Westerns

I am not smart enough to put one of those polls into my post. I will have to take this survey in my comments. Name the five best western movies ever made, ranked in order.

I will publish my votes and the results later in the week.

More trailers

The last of the WTF? Signs

Hooters and Cuddleshack

My daughter(20)has a list of summer goals on her wall. It includes the usual lose ten pounds etc. One of the goals is to beat Mom and Dad at Cards. She and her boyfriend have tried all summer to beat us in Euchre to no avail.

Saturday they went to the drive-in movie, another of the goals since her boyfriend had never been to one. When they came home I was watching Hoosiers on TV. They pushed us to play, and since I have seen the movie about 50 times I reluctantly agreed. While we were getting the cards out the boyfriend mentioned he had never seen Hoosiers. Later we were talking about the famous scene in Caddyshack where the Baby Ruth is found in the pool. My daughter said she had not seen Caddyshack.

I told them I could not believe it," He has never seen Hooters, and you Cuddleshack?" The boyfriend burst out laughing and the daughter turned about ten shades of red. Doctor Freud, call your office.

Anyway, they finally won a game of Euchre after trying for almost a year. The spouse and I won two of three though. I told the wife later it had been a long time since I saw hooters. She was not amused and did not show me any. Such is life.

redux

This has been one of the most difficult years of my life. Read the last paragraph of the "Loser" post below. Each of your visits, your comments, your support has made the rough times bearable. I guess I did not state that well or clearly enough. Sure, I have not won life's sweepstakes, but I am in the race. Sometimes that is good enough.

Thanks.


I took down the picture of the little one.

This week's Trailer

Redneck cookout

Beautiful Loser

A few years ago my mother gave me a box of "stuff", it was all the school pictures, report cards, artwork, etc. she had saved over the years. The trashheap of my childhood. There were homemade cards for Mother's day, and birthdays I had made. I could not spell as a child either.

In the box were various ribbons from my athletic days. There were ribbons from my brief cross country career and from many wrestling meets and tourneys. There were no blue, only one red, I think. Most were for participation or, in the case of cross country, double digit placements. Whoohoo, I got 37th at the Northwestern Invitational -- way to go! There were some third place for wrestling, but not once did I raise my arms a champion. A loser always. I think the only thing I ever won was a history contest in the eighth grade. I overheard the comments as I walked by, "He won?, I did not think he was that smart."

Some things never change. I console myself that in the game of life most of us participate, few win. I know there are many worse off than I. I have a house, a car, a wonderful family, a good job. I continue to pay for financial mistakes I made fifteen or twenty years ago. My cars are old, my garage cluttered. My bathroom needs remodeling. My house is too small for my family. Paying for my daughter's college is killing me. I would have it no other way.

The point is just once, I would like to have that feeling of being a champion, a winner, the best. I would like to be able to tell you I am good at something. I joke that at least one person in my graduating class in college had me to thank that he could say he was in the top 50% of his graduating class on his resume. Some of you know my real name is Joe; Average Joe. If they had such a vote I would be elected most forgettable. I live in an average house in an average town. I have few good friends and lots of acquaintances. I do not know my neighbors, but I always wave hello. If I were to quit writing this blog most of you would bat nary an eye. We all want to leave a mark. Mine will be a footprint in the early morning's wet grass, and about as long lasting.

Rest assured, this is not a poor me, I hope I die post. I believe in the existence of God simply by the fact that he gives us a new day every 24 hours. Another chance. One more opportunity to get it right, to be a champion, a winner. I have accepted my lot in life. Happiness is where you find it. That is why I get such a kick when you come here to read my crap. In a long-winded poor Hoosierboy way I am saying Thanks. I really do appreciate it.

Schools out for the summer -- but not much longer

The wife took the little one to register for school just now. That is depressing. Only about two more weeks of summer. They are going back too early, if you ask me. I am sure the little one feels he had no summer, baseball took up much of the vacation. He would not change, but it is disappointing to look back and see you made no trips, no amusement parks, nothing but baseball games every weekend.

In Indiana you have to "rent" the textbooks. For my Senior and seventh grader book rental will be nearly $500. That does not include the $100 plus we will have to spend on notebooks, folders, paper, pens, pencils, etc. that the teachers will demand. Admittedly, the oldest boy's classes are expensive because he is taking two art classes, and the supplies are not cheap, but still, it is $150 for the little one alone.

Football begins on Monday. We have some practice to do. The little one is also playing fall baseball. He has not picked up a mitt or bat in about two weeks, so we will have to knock off a little rust before our first practice on Sunday. They move to a regular sized field for the fall league and play by major league rules -- it will be quite a change. He has played those rules before, but it will still be an adjustment. Of course, he has not thrown a football since last fall -- there is more than a little rust needs to be polished! He plays for the middle school team this year. That will be an adjustment. He is still pretty small.

Those of you who live in a small town will understand the hurtles he will face. We have lived here about 16 years. Neither my wife nor I grew up here. We did not play sports here. We are still in many respects "outsiders". Often you are picked for teams because your father was a good athlete, or because the coach went to school with your mom. If he gets a fair chance, he is the best quarterback in the seventh grade. If they base the decision like they often do -- who is the best basketball player (this is Indiana) he will not be given a fair opportunity. Last year he made the "all star" football team that traveled to play in some tournaments. He beat out three other kids for the full-time QB position. He will compete against the same group this year, just different coaches. We will see what happens, he is worried, he knows how things work. Your name means more than your ability sometimes. He has dealt with similar situations in every sport he plays. They look at his size and dismiss him. He will out work, out hustle, and out play nearly every kid, and he takes a hit like no one else his size. If given a chance he will earn the position. I only hope they give him the opportunity to prove himself.

Anyway, to the point of this post: it is too early to go back to school. It will sure be quiet here at the home office when they do.

An elephant's memory

In 1986, Mkele Mbembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from college.
On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.
The elephant seemed distressed so Mbembe approached it very carefully.
He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot, and found a large thorn deeply embedded in it.
As carefully and as gently as he could, Mbembe worked the thorn out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.

The elephant turned to face the man and with a rather stern look on its face, stared at him.
For several tense moments Mbembe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled.
Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned and walked away.
Mbembe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.
Twenty years later he was walking through a zoo with his teenaged son.
As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Mbembe and his son Tapu were standing.

The large bull elephant stared at Mbembe and lifted its front foot off the ground then put it down.
The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.
Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mbembe couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant.
Mbembe summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure.
He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder.
Suddenly the elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of the man's legs and swung him wildly back and forth along the railing, killing him.

Probably wasn't the same elephant !!!!!!!!!


from my Dad

Coffee Breath

Yesterday I found myself really wishing I had one of those camera phones. I saw a business in East Dubuque, IL that just cracked me up. It was called "Family Beer and Liquor" If you do not find that amusing you are at the wrong website.

I visited US Grant's home in Galena, IL yesterday morning (that is it up there on the left). I arrived right at nine am, as the doors opened. I was the first tour of the day, and needless to say, I was the only member of my tour group. The docent gave a nice presentation, but insisted in talking right in my face. This guy had the most fetid breath I have smelt in a long time. It was horrid, I think the guy must have had a garlic and onion omelet and lots of coffee for breakfast. It was so bad I just wanted to leave, and you know how I love the Civil War and all associated with it.

I stayed in one of those "suite" type hotels last night. There were several kids across the hall. The parents not only let the brats run up and down the hall all evening, but actually encouraged it. I heard the mom say at least twice, "why don;t you go out in the hall and run?" Plus, I got the room next to the elevator, a great experience all around.

I will be back home tonight. I am ready.

Cool Cat, Looking for a Kitty

It is all over the news this morning, -- record heat, we are all going to die, global warming, blah, blah. It is summer, it does this EVERY year around this time. Look, if we were really in the middle of global warming the records broken would be from last year, last week, yesterday. Most of the records being broken were set decades ago. How does Algore explain that?

Alarmist tell us one of the reasons we know the heat is worse is the number of deaths. I say the deaths are increasing for a variety of reasons. First, many that are dying are the elderly. People live much longer than they used to. One hundred years ago some of these people would have died from disease and injury. Two, I believe we are softer than in the past. As little as 40 years ago many homes and cars did not have air conditioning. You become more accustomed to the heat. Now we run from our air conditioned home to our air conditioned car to our air conditioned office. We spend little time outside. We do not get gradually acclimated to the heat over the course of spring and summer.

I used to work in a factory that was very hot. The ambient temperature year round was around ninety degrees farenheit. In the summer temperatures often reached well above 100. Just married, our little two bedroom house had no air conditioning. I would sit under the ceiling fans, warm, but not uncomfortable. The wife worked in an air conditioned office, she found the house sweltering. It is all what you get used to.

It is hot. Stay inside, wear loose light clothing and drink plenty of fluids. In fewer weeks than we want to admit we will be bitching about the cold. Football camp is in session.

Oh, in a completely unrelated note, I hope you die Fidel.