A bit west of Mudsock

 

More stuff I’ve seen

Stuff I saw yesterday

Not a completely awful cell phone picture
 

Now I know why Dorothy wanted out of Kansas

I have really tried to be a better person recently. When I see my fellow humans dressing or acting in what to me is silly, I have tried to withhold comment . 

It started with watching an old lady trying on shoes. She was sporting the worst-fitting, most poorly designed wig that looked like it came straight from 1972. Then it occurred to me that maybe she had been sick, perhaps cancer, and was doing her best to feel pretty. Who am I to poke fun, even if to myself?

 Fast forward tto yesterday. We slipped in to a McDonald's in Redacted Kansas for a quick breakfast. I moseyed into the restroom. There, standing at a urinal, was a man of at least my age or older, his pants and tighty whities pulled down around his ankles — his full moon shining for all to see. 

I looked down moved around him to the other urinal and unzipped my fly. He finally pulled up his pants and left. No, he did not wash his hands. 

So yes. I found this beyond weird. I’ve not seen a male completely drop his trousers to pee since my boys did it at around three or four years old. 

Maybe it is just me. I know things are different for the female of the species, but this was akin to a stranger next to you striking up a conversation at the urinal wall. It just shouldn’t happen. 

I have a feather pillow, where can I get some hot tar?

I read today FEMA is slow to respond to recent hurricanes because they are pretty much out of money. How is that you ask? It seems the Biden-Harris regime has used nearly one BILLION dollars of FEMA funds over the past two years to provide services and housing to illegals. 

Ponder that readers. The Democrsts took emergency money earmarked to help out you and your fellow Americans and gave it to criminals. 

There is an election next month. Do you want politicians who care more for American citizens or for those who come here illegally? Vote accordingly. 

Dear Democrats

 I’m following up on something I read about Mr. Kamala Harris. 

It was my understanding that paying off a former mistress was some kind of worst crime ever or something?

What about slapping around a different one?

Hello? Is anyone out there?

I flip the bird to the longshoremen

 Given the burden of inflation the Biden/Harris regime has placed on us all I am not surprised workers are looking for an increase in pay. I’m still working for the same salary I signed up for in 2022, so I am making about 20% less.

But come on Longshoremen, you want a 77% raise? F you. Your union president brags he will cripple the economy, spike prices, and ruin Christmas . No wonder I hate unions. *

So get ready for shortages. Prepare for more inflation. 

You are aware, if Biden ever came off vacation, he has the presidential power to force a mediation in this dispute. He won’t because the democrats need the union vote. And I’m not sure he is mentally up to it. Do we really want Mayor Pete heading up negotiations? I’d rather my 9 year-old granddaughter took the lead.

I spit on you all.

*I could write a month’s worth of posts about the unions.

Stuff the Commies can do

When I win the lottery this is what I want. An automatic toilet. The lid opens when you walk in the room. The seat is heated. A discrete fan whisks away any odor you may produce. When you finish your business, the lid closes and the stool flushes automatically. No more manual labor in the bathroom for me.

Look, if the Hangzou Bay Universal Hotel can have state of the art toilets, why can’t you and I? Don’t we deserve it?

*Yes this was my actual room. A king room with an extra sitting area—$85 a night. A similar hotel in a the States would run $300-$400 depending on your location.

I woke up remembering my coffee maker is broken

I’m back,  it was a good trip, far better than my last trip to the mysterious orient. Did I eat what most Americans would consider to be “weird shit”? Yes. Did I mange to feed myself with chopsticks? Yes. Was the customer visit, the reason for the trip,  a success? Yes. Did the travel to and thro suck? Absolutely. 

After steeling myself to climb into another airplane seat after a 13 hour first leg, we boarded the plane in Dallas and then sat there for an hour for a maintenance issue. On the other hand, an extra hour on an already long trip was way better than having the left engine fall off at 30,000 feet. 

Since I’m complaining, my one true skill in life, I have been awake approximately 34 of the past 40 hours. I will bitch-slap the next person who says it must be awesome to travel all over the world. 

Ok, it is and I’m a lucky man. Travel is not all fun and games though. 

Yet another

Discuss among yourselves any topic you desire. 

Here is some background music 

Hopefully, I am winging my way back from the Orient by the time you read this. A quick, brutal trip to China started at 3:00 am on Wednesday and will end around 2:00 AM Monday when I get back home. 

Perhaps I will have interesting tales to fill the blog this week. Probably not. 

It’s a canned post and I cannot predict the future. 

I have to can posts, Google is verboten in China.

No thanks

 

Goodbye Meta AI. Please note an attorney has advised us to put this on to protect our top blurbs. As Meta is now a public entity all tob blurbers must post a similar top blurb. If you do not, it will be assumed you are ok with Meta using your top blurb to train its top blurb AI. We do not give Meta or anyone else permission to use our top blurb.

Music to dance by

 

Put on your Dancin’ Shoes

 A local favorite from the old days you might not know.

No Friday Five today. I know, cry in your beer.

Some might call it payback.

Let me understand. Zelinsky endorses Kammy Harris. 

Now the Biden /Harris Administration sending billions more of your tax money to Ukraine.

I’m not a big believer in coincidence. 

Musical Interlude

 

Humpity hump day

There is no reason not to listen to this today:

And the winner is…

 Last week my old Keurig refused to pump coffee. I cleaned it and ran some vinegar through it and after a bit it started working. These things happen. I wandered downstairs mid-morning for my second cup of Joe yesterday morning and the machine refused to pump again. All I got was a serious of clicks accompanied by curses. The swearing was me not the machine. 

After dinner I ran down to the store and bought another jug of vinegar and tried to run it through. Nothing. I left it sitting all night, that usually does the trick. But this morning it still refuses to pump out even water. Disappointed does not begin to describe my feelings. I suppose I should not complain, that Keurig is around ten years old and is used every single day. 

I can grab a cup of coffee from the gas station down the street or I can go to the Starbucks about the same distance the other direction. I could drive down to Walmart and buy a can of coffee and brew a pot. Or I could just sit here and bitch about it to you while sipping leftover iced tea from last night’s supper for a caffeine fix. 

Here’s what I did…

We walked right past the lemon shake ups

I’m late to the old blogeroo this morning. It is of no matter since I really have nothing of interest to post. 

We had a good but uneventful weekend. On Saturday we visited a festival not so far away, then did a mini road trip through Hamilton and Madison counties. The wife did some shopping, I had some ice cream. 

We spent more time walking from the parking lot and back than we did at the festival. The wife couldn’t find anyone selling kettle corn and that was enough for her to vote us both right off the festival island.  While she did not get her sweet popcorn fix, she did get to spend all day with me, so I suppose it was a winning day for her anyway. 

On Sunday I watched TV all darn day. I did pause long enough to make a pot of chili and clean up the supper mess, but it was a wasted day. 

I know, this is not exactly riveting. It is my boring life though. 

Haves great Monday.

Friday Five revisited

We all have opinions. Of course, mine are far more valid than yours (snort). No seriously, for me rap music has no place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fane and while I love her music (in small batches) Dolly Parton does not either. 

 Yet without a doubt Rock music is undeniably the stepchild of country music and the blues. And country came straight from the coupling of gospel and slave dirges. Music is incest on a grand scale. So, while certainly not to my taste, perhaps rap belongs after all.

No artist bridges the gap of gospel, blues, and country quite like the granddaddy and candidate for most influential artist than the indomitable Elvis. No last name needed. He dragged “black music” into the mainstream with hip shaking fury and music was never the same. 

Of course the real bridge between country and blues and gospel and someone we should consider the true father of Rock and Roll — Little Richard. He was Elvis before Elvis, only Richard was ignored because he was black and gay and mostly because he was black. Jerry Lee Lewis was a white version of Little Richard, only he was accepted by white DJs because he had the one thing Little Richard lacked — fair skin. Jerry Lee was cool right up until he married his 13 year old cousin…in our lexicon of most influential rockers we have to add Little Richard.

Then came the Beatles. Those rebel music makers who did not grab a guitar because of Elvis sure did when the four lads from Liverpool showed up. In hindsight the Beatles phenomenon is sorta head scratching. Their early stuff was nothing special. Three cords, tight harmonies, sophomoric love songs. But somehow the redefined not only rock music, but culture. There is no debating this one.

One could write a whole dissertation on the change in rock music from the simple notes of early Beatles records to the complex melodies and lyrics just a few years later in the Doors, The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, psychedelic rock, hard rock, etc. it was a mere five years from full-blown Beatlemania to Jimmie Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, or even the fantastic progressive sounds of Yes or The Moody Blues. 

Which brings me to number four: Led Zeppelin . They were not the first heavy metal band, but they redefined the genre. The first real arena rockers, they changed music in ways we had not seen before. Zep reworked old blues (stealing oftentimes from old records wholesale) and added folk and fantasy into a pounding guitar rich sound. How many eighties rockers just wanted to be Led Zeppelin?

Then from the excess of the eighties came punk rock. Barely able to play their instruments, I’m looking at you Sex Pistols, or are mostly the same three cords and melody repackaged from album to album — yes you Ramones, finally real musicians blended punk, rock, and world rhythms into The Clash. Their output was low, their influence great. 

There you have it. My list of most  influential Rock artists. 

Interesting enough, most of my favorite bands didn’t make the cut. I left off several artists that could have been included. The Eagles redefined and created a whole genre unto themselves. We did not discuss progressive rock and I absolutely ignored Motown. Did Michael Jackson have any less influence than the Clash? Where is Metallica or Pink Floyd in my list? How about the Sugarhill Gang or Disco? How about Cream or Hendrix? Do we even have Led Zeppelin without them? No Beach boys?  How do we ignore MTV?

Well, I certainly have fodder for many, many more posts. 

A hard one

Rock music has been a constant backdrop in my life. When you look at the evolution of the genre over the past seventy years there are many artist who redefined music. 

Name your top five most influential artists/groups in rock and roll for this week’s Friday Five (and your reasons) in the comments.

It may be hard to limit yourself to five. I will even allow ten, if you give your reasons numbers 6-10 must be considered.

I look forward to the comments.

Pass on by

So here’s the thing, I got up late. My Keurig refuses to pump coffee. I have two long conference calls on the calendar for today. 

A crappy mood does not even begin to describe the situation .

I stole this from MC