Just got back from NYC, the belly of the group-think beast. They are in full frenzy of election madness over there, with very few pockets of sympathetic voices. Good thing they don't read the blog there -- they might turn me away at the city gates!

Alane and Da Chimpz are out front sprucing up the spooky graveyard for the looming onslaught of trick-or-treaters. Should be interesting. Photos to come.

Guido and Kay took me to the old Seven Star Diner last night. Not sure what it's actually called now, but that's what it was called years ago when Guido and I would drive up and down Central Avenue, blasting Fishbone, looking for a place to sit down and spend our last few dollars on a cheeseburger deluxe.

No sign of the Weeping Waitress last night. Haven't seen her for years.

A not-so-anonymous commenter writes:

I liked the spooky dead look to the front yard, but maybe you can have it both ways and put Cuyahoga County on one of the Tombstones.

Well said! However, this being an entitlement-minded kind of area, I'll be surprised if anyone is voted out. Such a shame. I also understand that voters with mismatched addresses cannot be made to vote on provisional ballots on election day. Their votes go into the hopper just like those of qualified voters. Brunner and ACORN really covered all their bases on this one -- another reason I don't see the county heads having anything to worry about.

Eh, what can you do. This is already a country that would rather pay $4/gal than put holes in the ice, so it's not like anyone has their wits about them anymore. Hey McCain, how's all those years of bipartisanship working out for you these days?

Heh.

But enough of the dreary party politics of dreary northeast Ohio -- we want stories from the highways and by-ways of the Sunshine State. Like this gem:

"They busted through when I was undressed, getting ready to get in the shower. The wall came through," O'Konski said. "The workers were all right there. You could see a great deal of stuff."

I can't help but be reminded of those workers who sealed the outside of 1522, standing on scaffoldings in their sandals, spreading their mortar sealant, turning down Vin's offers of coffee, wanting only:

"Tea!"

Yes, we all love Florida. Where at any given moment you might see a great deal of stuff.

Yeow, it's getting cold out. Plenty of ice on the windshield this morning as I got in the Jeep to drive Da Chimpz to school. Yeah summer's over. I've been in denial over that since the baseball season ended, which seems like so long ago (with another pathetic collapse of the Mets). Haven't been out back very much at all. Even brought in the patio umbrella over the weekend. Yeah, it's over.

But we do have the spooky graveyard set up on the front lawn. We don't do political lawn signs. Many of the neighbors do. Considering how the Dems running this county are all under criminal investigation, a good portion of those signs could double as WANTED posters.

I need to make a call into Spumoni South to find out what's been happening. Also gotta check in with Bazzukajoe, see if he's accidentally diapered anyone lately.

Is this really what the French want?

And exactly why does she put all that stuff on her head? Because everything is like a hat.

That would be why.

Yes, Ohio is tired of having Florida steal its well-deserved title for corruption -- along with its throngs of tax-weary residents. But Florida is definitely formidable! And today the Ohio fraudsters got an assist from the Supreme Court, which said it would not look into potential violations. Crazy stuff, but I won't complain too loudly, lest they start looking up my trade licenses and tax liens.

So what did you have on the grill this week? And how much of it was purchased at Carmine's?

I haven't fired up my own grill in a few weeks now. I really should do something to reverse that trend. Yeah it's getting cold outside, but not that cold. I'm thinking: I do have some eggplant and zucchini in the refrigerator. Maybe some nice chicken parts... And an onion. Right on the grill, an onion... a little olive oil brushed on.

Yeah... this could work out.

Hello Ohio........
I never thought we would be competing with Ohio for most Rampant Voter Fraud Capital. I am assuring you that florida will never give up the crown. We are very proud to not be able to do something as fundamental as voting not without creating as much drama and doubt in the system as possible. We went from screwing up the archaic paper punch system to accidentally erasing some of the touch screen ones. We need to go back to the hand written stuff you stuck in a box. Just like in HS voting for prom queen, can we mess that up too?


Has ACORN been to Berea yet? have they tried to register John Paul yet?
Have the trees changed color? I miss that. Pile the fallen leaves high and dive in once for me.


So we had dinner at my mom's. Bar-b-que. It was great except that the pool is open to any one falling in so ellexa must be contained. She was very interested in what uncle vito was eating and takes pride in saying Unka Vido correctly and we all laugh everytime. I dont know why it is so funny. She speaks very well and very often says very unexpected things or uses the funniest terms. She loves uncle Jenia. she needs to know what hes doing and when hes coming over. Uncle steve too. And yes , she puts everything on her head. She is a mastandrea.

Someone rang the doorbell last night, interrupting our viewing of a Terry Gilliam animation DVD (funny stuff). A man introduced himself as being from the "Progressive Future" group, and wanted to ask me about the election. Progressive future? Sounds pretty expensive, I thought. I told him thanks for nothing, but we're all set planning for our own future. I don't feel a need to argue with zealots, but I did just now try to find some background on the group mentioned by this particular zealot. Here's one blog's take on them. Heh.

Of course, being here in Cuyahoga County there's no confidence that a non-zealot's vote will even be counted, thanks not only to the fraudsters trying to overwhelm the system, but the fraudsters who run the local government and, conveniently, count the ballots. With any luck, many of them will eventually be doing serious prison time. Unless the DOJ lawyers are fired en masse in January. Which of course they will.

The leaves are turning around Berea-Rose -- lots of nice color in the area, and it'll likely be peaking soon. Haven't made any apple pie yet this year... I think I need to get on that.

Yesterday was one of those rare days when Alane and I had the day off but Cookie and Mojo had school. So after they were safely dropped at the schoolhouse door, Alane and I drove across town to the upscale blight of Cleveland's east side to find ourselves some expensive groceries.

As for me, I rarely venture into Cleveland proper much less its outer neighborhoods -- too dismal. I could hardly make out the "Obama-Biden" lawn signs among all the "For Sale" postings. Cleveland's such a Detroit wannabe. But that was no matter: we were on our way to Whole Foods to get some broccoli rabe, Zagarra's to get some figs and mineola oranges, and Galucci's to get some prosciutto di parma and a hot eggplant parmesan to go.

Needless to say, all that made for quite the nifty lunch when we returned. Then we headed out to see American Carol, a movie that had about as many quality gags as Meet the Spartans, which I watched on DVD last week. They were both about as heavy-handed on theme.

This week we have to set up the front of the house for Halloween. We're starting to amass about as much scare-decoration as we have for Christmas... And I feel I can't let that happen.

The meatballs are made -- Cookie and I rolled them out a little while ago. They came out of the broiler and into the sauce just a few minutes ago. We each sampled one.

And they were declared worthy.

(Took a little twist this time, throwing a handful of dried porcini mushrooms into the food processor with the onion, garlic and fresh parsley; there was just a hint of it in my taste-test, so next time I might up the ante on the fungi -- yeah, I'm a fun guy.)

Now I need another cup of coffee while I sit here listening to 80s music. Right now it's Private Idaho. Earlier it was The Smiths. All these years later and I still enjoy it:

Punctured bicycle, on a hill - side deso - late...
Will nature make a man of me yet?

Ha -- great stuff. Yes, the pain was enough...

There's no denying it any longer: autumn is here. Temps at 39 degrees right now, and was a bit lower when we woke up yesterday morning. Still, I didn't want to admit that I needed to turn on the furnace. So we toughed it out yesterday, burning up some firewood, wearing layers. But last night I gave in: we slept with the heater on.

Another sure sign that summer vacation is over: the Cub Scouts are doing their popcorn sale fundraiser, which officially kicked off yesterday.

Was really cold when we got up this morning, so I made a fire. Cookie got into costume to narrate how it all went:

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