Sure, its always Frylock who gets lambasted for his lack of participation, but I ask you this...where are Alana, Merle, Jenia Flect, BazzukaJoe and Ree-matoid during these wonderfully bizarre times? I really want to write on the Dish so that in thirty years from now I'll know where I was when my nation became the United Socialist States of America. I'm currently trying to lobby Congress for a billion dollars to research how making the perfect ravioli...I think we can all benefit, and Matt lauer will back up the idea. So today is a little bit sad for me, I was scheduled to see a small intimate concert by an all time favorite artist of mine (and I believe of Dr. Sfingi and Bazzukajoe), the "Pope of Mope" Morrissey, but alas he fell ill at the last moment. Probably was watching the news, thats why i stopped. But the announcement makes me want to sing "I was looking for a job and then i found a job...and Heaven knows I'm miserable now. I was looking forward to a concert, and then it got called out...and heaven knows I'm miserable now" So tomorrow we're having the Orlando syndicate down to Spumoni in honor of Christian's first birthday. So indeed for the first time in a very long time there will be a reunion of the Joes and Steves in a public park...might want to call the Secretary of the Interior to be on high alert. My mother once said about us "you know they all share the same brain...whats scary is its only about the size of a peach pit" . Shes pretty funny. I think brain size is overall pretty good...its just the common sense and better judgement that sometimes fails to exist. So lets see what else is going on? I went to South beach Miami last week and realized how spoiled I am in my neighborhood where they strongly enforce picking up dog turds...not only did that place smell like a giant outhouse, walking around was like doing an army bootcamp obstacle course. Anyway, I will blog more later this weekend, may the force be with all of you. Oh yeah, late birthday wishes to Tommy Massari, I was told there was a birthday pizza eaten with Mike Gallo and Marcus Dingers in your honor...thats better than a Nobel prize if you ask me.

I wish I'd been able to get downtown today to join these brave dissidents. A sign of rational life -- in Cleveland!

Can't say the same down in Cincinnati, though -- way messed up stuff over there, boy.

Loved Peyser in yesterday's NY Post complaining about the growing bedbug problem. Too bad she didn't leverage the phenomenon's glaring national symbolism.

And speaking of morgues -- this blog needs a shot in the arm. Frylock all but promised he would post an entry yesterday... said he had a lot on his mind. But alas, he has brought us nothing. Here we are, enduring the greatest economic crisis since Pheonecia's first currency crumbled, and Steve's policy is to do nothing. Katie Couric hates Frylock.

The best part about the Newsbusters site: they watch the insufferable blowhards on prime so that we don't have to.

Come to think of it, I haven't watched a TV news show in months. And every time I pass one by (flipping between Food Network and Tru.TV) I am reminded why I am not missing a thing. Hell, if you linger too long on CNN or MSNBC you might actually become dumber by the time you do switch the channel.

Shared this site with Frylock earlier -- just in case he was sleeping too comfortably lately.

Hey, remember NYC in the 1970s? I do.



Gets interesting in the third minute. Real interesting.

Oh, and keep in mind (if you watch the rest of the series) that BBC is a socialist organization, so of course they're going to portray the Ford Administration as hardline conservative. Ford! And of course, the blackout looting: "desperate and deprived population," my ass.

A fellow-traveling blog reminds us that today is the sixteenth anniversary of a workday that had Alane calling me from a bar on Chambers Street to tell me that the office had been closed because a transformer blew up down on the WTC parking level a few walls over from the Secret Service gym where she'd been working out.

"So you're all drinking," I asked.

"Yes," was her response and that's probably when her quarter ran out (those were the days of pay phones!).

So I turned on the radio. That was no transformer. That was global jihad. But (kind-a like today) the country was in a frivolous mood. Gotta maintain the status quo, y'know. Just call the cops. Put a few people in jail. Then pat ourselves on the back for getting matter all resolved.

Heh.

Anyway, I got up early this morning. No reason, just couldn't sleep. By around 6 I was cleaning up the basement -- trying to get my tools and paint cans organized. Last Saturday I fixed the window pane on the door to the back room. I actually cut a sheet of glass to size. Cut my finger too. But it's fixed. Now I gotta paint the frame.

Me and Da Chimpz just watched an episode of Food Detective where they tested a bunch of dirty-water hot dogs from NYC street vendors. The findings: mega bacteria. Of course. Eh, won't stop me from partaking of the street meat. But the part of the show I really liked was where they looked at moldy cheeses and tried to figure out why eating the stuff doesn't kill you.

I used to eat a lot of green veiny cheeses, preferably the runny or crumbly kind. Washed down with a glass of ruby port -- that's living.

It was a good show. As the host roamed the aging caves of the cheese shop I could only think of one word:

Havarti.

The word was in my head and the voice was Steve's. Messed up, I know.

This is some of the funniest video since the peasant scene in Holy Grail. Great to see our nation's student revolutionaries are still is earnestly puerile as they ever were. Then again, I don't remember anyone at SUNY Purchase taking over the cafeteria, declaring themselves the Liberators of Flik.

In any event, the "consensus" is clear: this stuff is a "riot."



Campus security? I thought we were an autonomous collective! Then again, it does seem that our national economy has been regulated into an anarcho-syndicalist commune.

"Come see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being repressed!"

Hey Steve, here's the angryrenter site I was telling you about. So it looks like at least a third of the population is aware that it is getting royally screwed -- well, 90-something percent if you count people current on their mortgage or owning free and clear.

What did you want for living within your means? A subsidy? Heh... That's for the other guy.

Okay, it's not funny.

Spent a few days in NYC this week -- too bad I couldn't have gotten in when the Spumoni crowd was up there. But as it turns out I got into the area well after their flight had already departed.

Oddly enough my flights went smoothly. And it was American Airlines! Monday night's flight was pretty much an empty plane -- four passengers. They even offered us a snack: a bag of roasted almonds. And not just a little pouch -- this thing was 3.5 oz of nuts, too much to even finish in one sitting. The kind of bag that if you got socked in the jaw with it you'd feel big pain. I was shocked.

Anyway, by the time I got back on Wednesday night most of the snow/ice accumulations had melted. I could hardly recognize the neighborhood. But have no fear: it's snowing again today, laying down another dusting of the white stuff.

And Steve, do you people really have a billboard offering a program of "stripped: naked truth on sex"? Because that's what it says on the internets, and I tend to believe everything I read. (You people sure know how to have fun on Sundays.)

This blog has gotten a bit dull. It needs something to make it better. It needs bacon. Everything needs bacon. Ah, that's better.

Finally, a big melt. Temps were in the 40s yesterday and should stay above freezing for most of today. I'm seeing parts of my yard and street that have been snow-covered for over a month.

After Mass this morning we went to Bob Evans. Haven't been there in a while. Had to have some sausage gravy. On the way we passed the restaurant that used to be Vhooda. I didn't know it had closed. Well, changed to something else. That's too bad -- it was the last eatery in the area to have some distinctive character. Even the Station Restaurant is gone, for several months now. Oh, but the Olive Garden is still going strong. Disgusting.

Eh, maybe if I went out to eat more often some of these places would've lasted longer. But these days I'm pinching pennies. We did get a pizza from Capri on Friday. Maybe we should do that more often -- if that place went bust I'd weep bitterly.

Steve, you sound a little down about all this. Maybe you need a pill.

C'mon Steve, this is nothing new. To paraphrase one savvy chief of staff: never waste an emergency by not looting. Our elected officials owe debts to the interest groups that got them elected. If they have to destroy the country's future to pay back those debts, well why not... It's an emergency!

Besides, in a year or two $800 billion in devalued U.S. Dollars will hardly be enough to buy a latte. Or a pair of Walmart shoes.

Hey Al Gore, its 31 degrees in South Florida this morning. Thanks for the much needed warning on that warming trend! So for many years the blog avoided any political discussion whatsoever due to the polarizing effects it had on a few readers. The effects produced a unanimous vote by the Dish writers to avoid all sensitive topics, particularly those of the political species. That ban has since been lifted and so I'm going to take the plunge and hope my words do not offend. Personally, I've always felt politics is a science, and just like a hard science it examines problems and searches for solutions...emotions are merely an obstacle to the necessary objectivity. In other words the "nicest" idea is probably not the most realistic idea...its likely the opposite: fantasy. Lets look at the stimulus package. A stimulus, by any definition would be an instant boosting effect, think of the body's reaction to stimulants like caffeine or cocaine. Unfortunately, the US economy will not experience any new employment from infrastructure improvement for at least 2-3 years, therefore this is not a economic stimulant, just a future work project. The economy will not feel the effects of redecorating the commerce department, just a few DC interior designers will. Increased spending for community get out the vote campaigns...we saw how cost efficient those worked this year. Birth control pills? Pelosi sees this helping the economy, I don't. But lets move on to the meat of this cheeseburger deluxe: the tax credits. $500 for individuals and $1000 for couples...whether or not you paid any. Fair? Not really, but I'd gladly look past it if I thought it would have a strong enough effect on consumer spending that businesses would need to increase production and work force numbers. It's not enough money to spark investment in the ailing stock market. Not enough to help someone purchase a home (from the suffering builders) or a vehicle (from the struggling Big 3), not enough to really do anything more than pay a bill or two. This stimulus package is a massive deficit spending bill disguised as an economic rescue bill. Its a few hundred dollars to keep you distracted, everyone is happy to get something free...but lets be honest, its impossible for it to help the recession. It merely funds a collection of new programs that couldn't get passed otherwise. Oh yeah, speaking of deficit spending, this will bring our grand total in rescue packages to over 3 trillion. So we borrow a trillion dollars, when we know less will be coming in the next fiscal year to pay it back? What is the lesson we are teaching our children? Simple economics would show as the debt rises so do the payments and percentage of the federal budget towards them...this occurs as your federal tax receipts are plummeting. The potential risk is catastrophic. Its like taking a pay cut and then mortgaging a monstrous new home 1000 times more than you can afford. Its irresponsible. Government needs to do what every person does when they get a pay cut, eliminate every bit of unneccesary spending until you can afford it again. A real economic rescue bill? Slash the federal budget to the bone, and then slash the corporate and income taxes at least 10% across the board. As the money that rightfully belongs to taxpayers floods back in amounts that will make a difference (I don't know about you, but I'm broke and I had to pay in the 5 digits), people will spend again. We have to be realistic: jobs are created by businesses and people with enough money to open them, not government. Businesses need capital and investment to expand. Its the ONLY way. I just wanted to get this off my chest before we all celebrated about our $500.00 welfare check, because in the end we will be paying it back....with a lotta friggin interest. Well, enough about this, I gotta decide which bill I'm gonna pay with mine...maybe I should send a Thank You note to Harry Reid.

This is why we all hate Al Gore: it's snowing again. And the temps are in the teens. And it's going to get colder later today.

And all the stupid and expensive anti-global-warming laws are still on the books!

No wonder the economy is in the toilet. Which reminds me: I still have some paperwork to collect before I can get my taxes figured out. This is going to suck. And next year's only promises to be worse!

Anyway, I gotta go outside in a little while and clear the snow off the car. Every year people ask me if I'm finally going to open my wallet and buy the obligatory snow-blower. The answer is still no.

Well, Da Chimpz are awake. I must feed them. And maybe get myself another cup of coffee.

Heh. I guess I was right to skip the game last night -- I probably would've thrown a brick through the TV screen.

Can any entertainment company thrive when it can't stop its own staff from actively insulting half the population? (The productive half that actually pays taxes!)

And speaking of entertainment, here's the latest Fark post with the "Florida" tag: yep, it's those pesky calls from police and firefight charities. Turns out, the telemarketers keep most of the money. Surprised? Don't be. We get those calls too, but fortunately they tend to come in on the phone line that we never answer. Because I can't imagine the practice in Ohio is any different from Florida.

Took a muscle relaxer pill last night and then sprawled myself out to watch some TV -- next thing I knew it was morning. Yikes. Lower back has been nagging lately. Probably shouldn't have scraped/shoveled ice yesterday -- but temps did reach 41 and I wanted to not repeat my mistake of the last thaw-refreeze. So today's Chimp Shuttle should make it to and from school with no difficult.

So anyway, I fell asleep before Family Guy last night. Made it through an(other) unfunny Simpsons, though. Feh.

Anyway, it's time to get dressed and drink more coffee.