tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33250726812092639052012-02-14T02:36:34.886-05:00Gnus to ewesNearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. — Abraham LincolnHintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.comBlogger2031100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-73289893757382569302012-02-05T10:02:00.002-05:002012-02-09T21:49:33.176-05:00Let's hear it for the New Jersey Giants I'm sure 98% of the country is with me that if I hear "New York football Giants" one more time my head is going to explode.
The arcane reference to a defunct baseball franchise underscores not only the nattering narcissism of New York City residents but their total disregard of geographic reality.
The Meadowlands stadium (actually MetLife Stadium) where the Giants play football (as does Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-22095802690486627492012-01-30T12:22:00.001-05:002012-02-13T13:45:23.798-05:00An old turd is about to get 'newturd'
Hackescher Markt, Berlin, Sept. 2001
Prelude
I’ve always been fascinated by what goes on in the alleys and loading docks behind shops, restaurants and taverns — all that jumble of inner city chaotic support, remnants of a hard day’s work, rat-infested dashed dreams of failed enterprises. It’s all there. The story of that building is all there.
The essence of the back stairs, as Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-36460638671447807712012-01-23T23:54:00.006-05:002012-01-29T21:37:46.415-05:00This should be interesting So now that the GOP nominee pageant has dispensed with the preliminaries, the long knives are out in the first major league battle — Florida.
Let's set the table.
As it turns out — despite the feverish, hand-wringing chinwags stirring the pot in Iowa— the caucuses there showed us nothing and it took those folks a week to figure out that Santorum actually won [a game changer, but delayed]Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-13100106964387119252012-01-15T23:04:00.012-05:002012-02-03T16:14:07.045-05:00The cheese stands alone
Laura Kaeppeler
www.thepetitionsite.com
Well, even though (sadly) the Packers couldn't get the job done against the Giants today, the state of Wisconsin can be proud of a singular performance on Saturday.
That's when Laura Kaeppeler was crowned Miss America 2012, despite a lackluster answer during the Q&A portion and a forgettable attempt at opera.
What probably impressed the judges Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-1952532669850714072012-01-08T23:19:00.012-05:002012-01-14T02:08:49.416-05:00Is the wurst ahead of us? The county I live in is resorting to nudist resorts to give local tourism a bit of a lift (and I had no idea I lived so near such a mecca).
It appears the commissioners of Pasco County, Florida — sensing their paucity of sandy beaches — has decided to mine tourist dollars from the Krautish passion for parading around their naughty bits.
Evidently there's a good bit of money to be made byHintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-7156993803938095782012-01-01T01:21:00.026-05:002012-01-21T00:57:22.148-05:00Tween thoughts have me in knots Despite the high hopes of a new year, twentytwelve (on the face of it) is a bit like twentyeleven: we're not in the noughts and we're not yet in the teens — the numbers 11 and 12, reside in neither lot. In that regard, 11 and 12 are somewhat funky numbers aren't they? Why aren't they called oneteen and twoteen? Probably has something to do with the 12 Tribes. As 2011 lurched toward the Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-54842039368631132652011-12-26T22:04:00.012-05:002012-02-03T10:26:27.028-05:00No, not 'morons,' I said 'Mormons' I don't want to (unnecessarily) rile the natives too much, but if Mitt Romney captures the Republican nomination to represent in November (likely) and choose his running mate to be fellow candidate John Huntsman (unlikely) it would create an all-Mormon ticket.
Wow. Wouldn't that be the absolute weirdest development in a country known for weird politics?
But it won't happen as it appears Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-80012529161459117002011-12-18T23:08:00.005-05:002011-12-27T23:12:18.042-05:00Christmas is great, but ...... the fact that it is celebrated in December may be more tactical than actual.
First, there's plenty of discourse leading to the belief that Christ was not born on Dec. 25, primarily because it wasn't until 354 AD when Pope Julius I chose the date to coincide with pagan rituals. The main purpose of choosing Dec. 25 was to paper over the pagan practice with a Christian holiday.
Some sourcesHintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-16976808141556621592011-12-11T22:05:00.011-05:002012-01-20T15:09:57.437-05:00More money than sense
"Ah got three things ta tell ya." thinkprogress.org
On the TeeVee screen I'm accosted by a makeshift Marlboro man named Rick Perry, giving me the low-down on how he'll "faght fur evry Americun" against the Godless Mr. Obama {or some such nonsense} and caps the spiel by actually uttering, "I'm Rick Perry and I approve this message."
What?
Did I hear that right?
Why does this Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-68247521028398953672011-12-05T13:27:00.014-05:002012-01-07T19:54:20.537-05:00Chuckles with knuckles There are some weird words out there, for sure, but one that truly tickles me is knuckles (and its variations).
It started with the examination of knuckle down and knuckle under.
Could there be a knuckle down under? [sounds as if it should be Aussie-speak]
Knuckle down is to get busy and knuckle under is to submit, so it is conceivable that one could get busy and submit. [just ask theHintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-1432684917487061652011-11-27T23:27:00.023-05:002012-01-10T04:17:48.131-05:00"She turned me into a Newt"
A newt
audknits.com/2009/01/waddles-with-newts
As fascinating as the presidential nomination process is in this country I can't help but feel it resembles hapless roosters in a corporate cock fight.
I'm a bit of a traditionalist and have faith in the folks of Iowa and New Hampshire. I think it's good that candidates have to get face to face with voters and try to explain their positions Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-54803980273041444042011-11-22T15:35:00.002-05:002011-12-27T23:02:42.834-05:00My pillbox says it's Tuesday ... ... so I must be running the Walmart gauntlet later.
The place never ceases to amaze me. The most recent wrinkle at the local wrinklefest is a return of the monster's offer to "lay away" purchases — a sad sign that more of us are living paycheck to paycheck and have lousy or nil credit.
{For decades my oft brilliant eldest sister refers to the practice as "lay awake," because that's what Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-1516803758017252482011-11-14T12:18:00.013-05:002012-01-07T20:11:34.021-05:00"It's only a flesh wound" This blog has been with me through some difficult times — none lesser than a life and death struggle with multiple myeloma and the ensuing recovery period.
Even before the word "cancer" fell out of my oncologist's mouth on May 5, 2010, I hadn't been feeling all that well for some time but couldn't put my finger on just what "it" was.
art from Cancer Council, Victoria, Australia
Then inHintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-74240376496981738522011-11-06T23:11:00.014-05:002011-12-09T01:12:09.765-05:00Are we headed for a Hitler? I dunno, but if the economic situation gets any worse people are going to start listening to anybody with a smidgen of credence who promises to get them a job and some dignity.
Here's a few semi-coherent thoughts I've cobbled together.
.......................................
After feeding us Bernie Madoff's family a week ago, 60 Minutes shoves Jack Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-18069707368186611212011-10-31T12:42:00.010-04:002012-01-07T19:56:37.577-05:00Hall of Shame more likely
fingerfood.typepad.com*
Ya know, I really didn't have a dog in the World Series fight and yet it was one of the better ones of memory, amazingly pulled out by the St. Louis Cardinals and their brilliant manager, Tony La Russa.
As La Russa rapidly exits stage right with his surprise retirement, nearly all sports reports consider him a certain Hall of Fame member, based on his impressive Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-34782197044921659562011-10-24T23:33:00.006-04:002011-11-20T01:38:39.154-05:00As an October Monday slips away Hmmm, the economy's in der Scheißplatz .... hmmmm, the rich are get richer faster than they can spend it .... hmmm ... even if you have enough money to buy a home no one will buy your existing one .... hmmmm .... because of your wealth of experience corporations do not want you because you'd simply cost too much even if you're willing to accept half of what you were paid before because it's Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-8724648594266265252011-10-17T12:29:00.008-04:002012-01-07T19:57:18.223-05:00My private Fall Classic
some loser New York site
Well, since we’re in fall, aka autumn, aka a tad cooler in Florida, let’s briefly recap the Major League Playoffs so far:
The Yankees are out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
{okay, slightly old news, but I just have to repeat ...
The Yankees are out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am so stoked}
That sorry sack of egocentric losers that has cost hundreds of millions of dollars for the Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-58028370400049664402011-10-09T22:53:00.008-04:002011-11-11T11:43:39.340-05:00Love becomes lucid, others not so much Okay, so I'm about to read on CNN.com about an arrest in Poland of a pair who've been bombing IKEAs around the continent when I am distracted by a link deemed 'trending' which blared ...
Courtney Love: I'd kill Kurt if he came back from the dead... and I paused briefly, basking in the glow of the lone cogent thought this creature as belched since she was foisted upon the American psyche in Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-56099392494716354392011-10-02T22:32:00.010-04:002012-01-07T20:00:04.266-05:00Sometimes it's best to say nothing
www.phpbb.com
Ever since I quit drinking I have been able to focus on the most miniscule of events to bring me joy {well, um, duuuuh}.
So, in my cheerier existence I began to develop a penchant for looking at people's name tags in stores and then addressing the person by their name; without any precognition of the tagee.
I'm always curious to see the Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-63342661131105758772011-09-25T23:51:00.011-04:002011-10-10T13:06:36.658-04:00Well, I was hungry at the time I remember when there used to be good Chinese buffets even in a small town. Now it's impossible to find a decent one anywhere. I've come to the conclusion that the head Reds — after vacuuming up our jobs and our debt — have been sending us their second stringers for the last five years.
Even so, last weekend, after driving for half an hour only to find Macy's closed, I suggested the family Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-44664449582010978472011-09-18T23:45:00.007-04:002011-10-10T13:14:19.624-04:00Pack a bong and a bag for the road
howtogrowbud.comSpot the semi-talented bong brain.
So somehow I'm watching HLN (you know, the half-hour CNN product that used to be devoted to news) and Natasha Curry has Seth Rogen and some friend of his who survived cancer [not doppelgänger Jonah Hill in photo], perched on a couch to pitch Seth's new movie about a guy who has cancer and takes advantage of his condition to pick up Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-22087275506076612502011-09-11T23:33:00.017-04:002011-11-17T02:40:46.367-05:00Sir Paul, I wish I was friggin' deef First, I want to apologize to my loyal readers regarding the horrid state in which my Sept. 6 entry was initially published and implore you to revisit the piece, if you would be so kind. I would like to [partially] blame its pathetic publication on the fact that I had some [minor] back surgery last week and wasn't "quite myself," but that would be an excuse only a pathetic, putrid punk would Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-34976200596129450092011-09-06T05:29:00.019-04:002011-10-02T07:37:51.224-04:00So near, yet so very, very far This week's special blog entry was delayed mostly because someone in Research egregiously missed deadline and — though pleading for mercy — was flogged mercilessly.
Photo by Dennis L. Edmiston
It was a crisp, bright September day nearly ten years ago.
Dr. Nameless and I had begun our trek toward the Charles Bridge in Prague when this photo of your author was snapped. Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-74814287861976543332011-08-28T00:01:00.019-04:002011-09-03T01:54:24.767-04:00Goodnight, Irene (I hope) 0001
Well it appears "I’m stuck inside of Jersey with the in-law blues again" (or some such Dylaneesque observation).
My daughter and I came up here to spend a week with my non-English speaking mother-in-law starting last Sunday and as I type the power flickers inside the East Brunswick two-story owned by her son, who is here also. My wife [and mother of our endearing daughter] caught upHintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-83204435763887113962011-08-21T13:44:00.008-04:002011-11-14T11:51:18.508-05:00The song remains nearly the same
fullinbloommusic.com
Everybody knows that 'things' come in threes, so here's a heavy metal cool one for you: Deep Purple lead singer Ian Gillan was born Aug. 19; Robert Plant, lead singer for Led Zeppelin, was born Aug. 20, and on Aug. 21, we were blessed with the birth of ... Kenny Rogers.
Okay, maybe that's not so cool, but two out of three ain't too shabby, Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-53352566092007201512011-08-14T11:19:00.010-04:002011-08-17T22:13:41.456-04:00The long-gone Tsongas gong I don't want to write this next entry, but Saturday's developments compel me to do so.
Back in 1991 (wow, that was such a looong time ago] one of the most untelegentic people with one of the most unpronounceable names caught my attention during the presidential campaign season.
That man was Paul Tsongas from Massachusetts. [actually Paul Efthemios Tsongas]
I really liked what he had Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-81005886379242320542011-08-08T13:46:00.009-04:002011-09-10T22:15:56.974-04:00Hunker down and get a grip
stock photo from viral email
Well, I could delve into the stock market collapse, particularly after our leader addressed the nation and world. I'm thinkin' the greedmeisters in New York didn't hear anything new and believe Da Prez may be out of bullets. {it was a weak-ass spiel — he needs to show some genuine emotion; he needs to get pissed but quit blaming everybody else}.
I could yammerHintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-43064491898418858512011-08-01T14:00:00.022-04:002011-09-12T05:41:29.228-04:00'Max, you see conspiracies everywhere'
moviemail-online.co.uk
"I used to be a heroin addict, now I'm a methadone addict." — elementary school girl in Annie Hall (1977) 'reflecting' on her future.
I was 23 when Annie Hall came out (I saw it with a certified, desperate self-esteem seeker) and I left the theater thoroughly thrilled and depressed at the same time. I realized I had just witnessed the 'perfect' movie and it was Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-91303888857501155612011-07-25T01:16:00.004-04:002011-11-19T03:18:59.673-05:00No more whining in da house Amy Winehouse picked a bad week to finally leave the scene [Charlie Sheen, take note].
The news had barely broke that the snarlin' darlin' of denialists had died when the world was shocked by the unfolding mayhem in Oslo.
It does seem sadder when the young die too soon, but I'm afraid Winehouse saw the writing on the wall (she'd given all that she had — which wasn't much [two albums? Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-25649863439583871612011-07-18T00:57:00.007-04:002011-08-17T14:09:46.501-04:00Champions know size doesn't matter
image from artlista.com
Well, naturally, I was rooting for the American women to win the FIFA World Cup on Sunday, yet I believe most were happy that at least Japan grabbed the coveted chalice.
They deserved it.
In more ways than one.
I’ve always had a special affinity for the Nipponese, having lived outside Tokyo from the ages of 12 to 15. I was so fortunate [and knew it] Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-61957407203466589112011-07-10T22:15:00.012-04:002011-08-01T15:49:01.172-04:00Screw science, we got some killin' to do While most mourn the end of the shuttle program, I simply think it means a shift from dollars spent on out of this world life-enhancing experiments to dollars spent on cleaner methods of killing people.
With budgets and debt limits strangling the (purported) economic recovery in its crib, the US simply cannot afford to spend billions of dollars to figure out new ways to manufacture ready toHintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-87156858112209653452011-07-03T23:00:00.014-04:002011-08-31T00:45:38.215-04:00There's just no getting over the rainbow
www.themorningeyes.com
Well, it's been difficult to narrow down a single pithy intellectual thought for this week's illuminating entry, so I offer this perplexing fodder to ponder.
Two highly respected, left-leaning, mainstream newspapers schooled us recently regarding the fight for 'equality' and need to understand the gay community in modern American society.
During New York's Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-6335572717508082892011-06-26T04:45:00.014-04:002011-12-27T22:42:46.011-05:00Fashioning a flimsy defense I need help with this one.
Okay, (John) Galliano is a British clothes designer and the pride of the froggish fashion houses Givenchy and Christian Dior.
Make that was the pride.
Apparently Mr. Galliano likes to go to his local Parisian bistro, get tanked and hurl anti-Semitic insults at customers willy nilly. He's done it more than once and his most recent antics were recorded on a Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-86915588664278096902011-06-19T03:46:00.007-04:002011-06-28T04:13:51.355-04:00Godspeed, Aunt Maryon
Lake Wingra borders Vilas Park in Madison, Wisconsin
Well, my favorite aunt died on Thursday.
I think she was the favorite of my sisters as well, and it may be because she never married and thus was more available to us. She thought of all her nieces and nephews as 'her kids.'
For as long as I can remember, Maryon was always mailing us humorous cards or trivia and greeting us with Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-18272112942268015002011-06-12T02:21:00.012-04:002011-07-11T02:53:26.663-04:00That's, Rep. Vienna Sausage, pal! There apparently is no end in sight for the Weiner the World Would Rather Not Have Known (hey, man, this stuff just falls into your lap).
Despite missing an opportunity to mention it last week, the flaccid case of New York congressman Anthony Weiner (aka Tony Penis) still manages a strong simmer in the near summer as a 17-year-old Delaware girl enters the scene.
I will forever remember Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-19020840466454999942011-06-05T05:21:00.022-04:002011-06-24T02:20:51.696-04:00Don't forget your beard, Mom
Saudi Arabia is the only country that bans women from driving.
Some interesting developments this week.
I am glad to see Winnipeg retrieving an NHL franchise as the Thrashers (the what?) will be exiting Atlanta for chillier Canadian climes.
Makes sense. Hockey is worshiped in Canada and Atlanta is ... well, Atlanta.
I am also happy for Curtis Granderson, who, after toiling in Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-23925394674517796052011-05-29T23:38:00.011-04:002011-06-24T02:40:01.350-04:00Just when you think it's over Well, one thing this year's Indianapolis 500 proved was the principle of the Zimmerman Lapse Phenomenon.
ZLP (1985) is probably best described as the opposite of "choking." Rather it is a sense of overconfidence that sets up a spectacular let-down, as in "Ahh, I'm done and I won," when, in fact, you have not successfully finished.
Here's the AP's take on how JR Hildebrand learned his Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-17091132847210099052011-05-22T23:38:00.011-04:002011-08-31T01:07:23.475-04:00Aren't ears the weirdest things?
Not his real ears www.sodahead.com
Well, since my head is still spinning from our leader's latest gambit on Mideast peace, all I can muster is what the next day's conversation must have sounded like when BHO greeted Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on the White House lawn Friday:
Prez: Hey, Bibi, great to see you, come on inside for a ... WHOA! watch out for that huge pile of POO, you Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-20968842298072650612011-05-15T23:39:00.013-04:002011-08-31T01:18:30.198-04:00Filling in the missing 'planks' Well it's nice to know the current 'cool' generation has reached new depths in slackerdom and it was only a matter of time before the bodies started to pile up.
No, I'm not talking about yapping or texting while driving. The US government doesn't want us to know how dangerous that is [and check out this Italian bus driver].
I'm talking about 'planking,' a new phenomenon by the folks who Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-42822522470527275862011-05-11T18:31:00.008-04:002011-06-03T10:28:53.403-04:00Bonus: A variety of oddities today
The Burning Giraffe, Salvador Dali (1937)
Okay, it's my birthday and so a scan of important and semi-important May 11 happenings is in order.
First, here are some other people born on this date.
Salvador Dali (1904) — and I must own 20 books on the dude — has long cast a surrealistic shadow on my life. With plenty of prints of the Spaniard's hallucinations, I don't have a copy of my Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-68451335946158998462011-05-08T16:38:00.013-04:002011-06-08T20:43:54.255-04:00Our luv affair with 'Crapitalism' Now, my dad is likely to start spinning in his grave as I enter this collection of thoughts, but having lived and worked for decades in the USA it's getting harder and harder to recognize what made US great.
'Great' as in a beacon for the rest of the world (as well as ourselves) that we have the best of everything here and, if you work hard, pay your taxes, keep your nose clean, a middle Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-35195633565154556432011-05-01T23:36:00.014-04:002011-06-08T04:48:35.830-04:00The wrath of God (and the Navy SEALs) This past week's tornado carnage in Dixie Alley has been incredible to see, beginning in Arkansas and driving death from above to ravage Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee (specifically the Memphis area), Kentucky, and yet the networks keep feeding us Will and Kate's cake.
The folks in Alabama need our help, prayers and positive energy.
A tornado is not like a hurricane — you can track a Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-67845763700937042392011-04-24T22:46:00.017-04:002011-05-04T01:17:23.044-04:00... but it's just such a funny word
photo by Niquinho on Flickr
You know, trying to describe the likes of Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian brings up an interesting dilemma regarding "occupation."
While tabloids and mainstreamers alike will make references to "heiress" or "trendsetter" or "entrepreneur," the real reason we are assaulted by every move these two bimbettes make is because of their previous public displays of Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-84842992983059066202011-04-18T13:55:00.006-04:002011-05-04T01:16:01.594-04:00Welcome to slacker nation{this week's entry was delayed as we were 'stranded' on the strand}
The other night while watching The Vampire Diaries (I know, I know, but it helps my wife engage in some mindless activity after a long day of pretty serious activity) I realized that the program has siphoned off the elements that make Glee such a hit (I know, I know, Glee is so screamingly gay it makes my testicles shrink, butHintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-27124139862391694892011-04-10T21:54:00.013-04:002011-08-18T12:47:56.181-04:00Ya gotta love that Dove While nearly breaking a fingernail trying to crack open a bottle of Dove 'volume therapy' shampoo, the thought crossed my mind as, "Who in the &%*$! designed this piece of $^(&!*."
And then, as I began inspecting the bottle more closely I thought, "Ahhh," although the packaging designers at Unilever were probably thinking "Ahhhhhhhhh!" during the research phase.
Some MBAer and an Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-77440347296378345822011-04-03T23:04:00.010-04:002011-06-24T03:08:39.519-04:00CNN: The leader in arrogance One could go back and forth about the relative credence of what comes out of Fox 'News' but interestingly enough they are not the leader in self-appointed piety.
That would be CNN.
I can't say I've ever been more disappointed in a venture as I have with the network that Ted Turner built.
I'll never forget Ted Koppel's smugness during his ABC Nightline interview of Turner (hardly a Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-4123022107553874952011-03-27T05:11:00.005-04:002011-04-25T03:33:02.086-04:00Change you can't believe in Not without total revolution could we ever end the nuthold the Democrats and Republicans have on the United States of America. But should that ever occur, I'll be at the forefront of the Common Cents Party.
Chief among the party's planks would be the elimination of the penny as valid currency.
Americans should send every penny back to the Mint to be melted into .... (thoughts?), because Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-86602842148331355372011-03-20T21:37:00.004-04:002011-05-04T01:26:45.678-04:00Another headline with 'tsunami' in it Well, I watch the news of a fearful Japan from afar thinking it's more than ironic that a nation deeply scarred by the only atomic bombardment in history is now facing another nuclear disaster.
While the actions of WWII came in flashes, this one slowly creeps unseen into the soul of the island nation.
This brings me to the crux of my thoughts on the unfolding catastrophe: How could a Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-26186559217163775942011-03-13T22:40:00.013-04:002011-03-21T02:37:43.763-04:00Martin Sheen's 'A-papa-clypse Now' Charlie Sheen has admitted he's alcoholic.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's also got tiger blood and lives with goddesses. I guess that makes him feel as though he is God. But given his latest 'cooking show' adventure on the internet, his aura appears to be breaking up.
Mr. Estevez protests too much regarding his disdain for Alcoholics Anonymous. He has repeatedly defended his drunken fiascoes asHintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-39142331953161459552011-03-06T22:08:00.018-05:002011-05-18T04:47:06.792-04:00Making yet another run for the border Here's one to chew on: Rotate troops from the Iraq and the AfPak conflicts to the southern U.S. border for the last six months of their commitment prior to reassignment.
From what I understand {and I've been privy to the ravages of PTSD} troops returning from the conflicts overseas can have a difficult time readjusting (and it's no wonder given the rapidity of change that occurs in the U.S.Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-34531697049805901972011-02-28T10:24:00.008-05:002011-04-11T12:17:43.573-04:00Don't poo-poo the choo-choos I have never been impressed with now-Gov. Rick Scott of Florida, and his current inaction verifies my growing discomfort.
I mean, to begin with he did so much damage at his previous job that the company had to rename itself. Mr. Scott was shown the door as CEO of the Columbia/HCA hospital corporation after it was fined $1.7 billion by the federal government for Medicare fraud — the largest Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-11148534208824025002011-02-20T22:50:00.017-05:002011-02-27T01:52:01.839-05:00Hippies, pirates and affected idiots [sunday]
I don't know if this will be the final version of this week's entry [given the plethora of events that have transpired] but as the Florida twilight drifted in, so did the sight of a half a dozen huge kites dancing in the draft above Treasure Island, underscored by a synchronized drumming circle centered in the sand.
Hippies, slackers and touristy onlookers were drawn to the Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-19756300581468945932011-02-15T15:04:00.009-05:002011-07-23T20:44:36.523-04:00Chirp, chirp, chirp ... crash {apologies for the tardiness of this week’s weak entry. Valentine’s Day hangover possibly? [Yeeeeeah ... right]} While I admit I’m not a fan of “social media” I must applaud its impact on mobilized propaganda and its ability to crack authoritarianism. My biggest personal indifference to the tech phenomenon is that I simply don’t have that kind of time to sit around and “friend” people I Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-22018288628021723922011-02-06T05:36:00.005-05:002011-08-11T15:59:34.888-04:00Term limits for tyrants? While I will agree with those who say democracy and Islam don't always mix too well, I will, nonetheless, offer the heretofore unintroduced idea of term limits for despots.
What is it our business if a nation of peoples prefers to live under the boot-heel of some arsehole? But perhaps a new face every dozen years or so would ease the pain of not being able to speak your mind or meet in Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-80958957648206559192011-01-30T15:24:00.005-05:002011-02-28T10:30:04.577-05:00Okay, gramps, gimme the keys George Carlin more than once expertly noted that anyone driving slower than you is an idiot, but anyone going faster is a maniac.
While pumping gas today I witnessed a vehicular accident; well, it was more that I heard screeching tires, winced as I waited for what turned out to be a medium crash, and then whipped my head around to view the more-than-fender-bender occurrence.
Luckily, it Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-24761567915273382792011-01-23T09:18:00.004-05:002011-02-27T02:04:14.709-05:00Jack Sprat and Mr. Rodgers Jack Sprat could eat no fat.
His wife could eat no lean.
And so between them both, you see,
They licked the platter clean.
Apparently this rhyme was an English proverb from at least the mid-seventeenth century and appeared in John Clarke's collection of sayings in 1639 in the form:
Jack will eat not fat, and Jull doth love no leane.
Yet betwixt them both they lick the dishesHintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-45949443660587989962011-01-16T23:48:00.005-05:002011-02-27T01:48:40.881-05:00It would suck to be a duck ...... or a goose or a blackbird and have a real lousy leader. You know it happens just as it happens with us humans. It simply has to be.
So how do these flocks end up with blockheads who fly them into jet engines or straight into the pavement?
Is it as simple as blindness or as perverse as suicidal?
I don't know but I am interested as who gets to decide who the leader will be: Does he Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-59457257766084150582011-01-09T23:31:00.006-05:002011-02-27T01:45:43.489-05:00Gas-guzzler puzzler Maybe we could slow India and China down a bit if they adopted some of our less desired traits.
Like buying gas-guzzlers.
Even as I watch $3 gas arrive with more resignation than surprise, comes a report saying SUVs are back in style, baby.
During the past few weeks I've been thinking that it's criminal that there aren't more vehicles that get 35 mgp: we know Venezuela and the Arabs andHintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-10426348929408938972011-01-02T14:10:00.002-05:002011-01-16T19:36:03.706-05:00What's 'wuss' in Chinese? I'll ring in the New Year with a bit of old news that dovetails with my grasp of the future.
Following last weekend's East Coast blizzard, the National Football League and the City of Philadelphia postponed a scheduled Eagles-Vikings game because of the nasty weather.
So Philly hosted the first Tuesday night game in 64 years (and lost) and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell called them all "Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-88365670170842991712010-12-26T03:12:00.003-05:002011-01-13T15:39:03.797-05:00Augie doggie doodoo It appears dating the last of the Busch boys can be a bit dangerous — and somehow, I think beer may be involved.
It seems that recently a waifish model croaked inside the mansion of the former Anheuser-Busch CEO August Busch IV, 46 — heir to the family fortune built by brainwashing Americans with stellar marketing and mediocre beverages.
The 27-year-old woman was Busch's girlfriend and a Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-80616058737058402992010-12-19T13:52:00.004-05:002011-04-20T03:10:02.534-04:00Unrelated Edwards dead words All I know about Elizabeth Edwards is that she was the most poised and courageous woman in the political arena that I can think of other than Jackie Kennedy {and I'm far too lazy to research whether or not the widows of Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield and William McKinley started drinking like sailors after losing their husbands}.
But Mrs. Edwards' case was a little different. Standing Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-25459643267220507722010-12-12T09:50:00.008-05:002011-06-24T10:44:18.082-04:00A little tattoo tittle-tattle As you may know there's a few folks I believe we would be better off not knowing about.
I'm not saying I wish they were dead or anything so coarse, but their 15 minutes evaporated quickly, yet they linger around every corner, clinging to our pant cuffs, reminding us of their cancerous, pathetic existence.
I'm speaking primarily of Bud Selig, Paul McCartney, the Pillsbury Doughboy [now I Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-78456580300602559432010-12-05T07:15:00.002-05:002011-05-04T13:37:18.093-04:00Fake trees, fake butter, fake snoobs Sorry, but some things need to be real and the latest on the list that I've had to come to terms with is fake Christmas trees.
While this year has probably been the most trying for me, it seemed the idea of acquiring my first-ever fake Christmas tree was a distinct probability.
However as we inched into December, I was thunderstruck by the price tags for something that's not even close Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-82005324011212140062010-11-28T23:55:00.005-05:002010-12-05T19:09:21.722-05:00So thankful that I'm not a frog While pondering the pond action this week it came to me that, by and large, it sucks to be a frog.
Considering how few predators of the rather large water birds we have around here, the aviators have their way along the waterline, feeding on whatever it is they want. This week I watched my second frog get snared by a heron, tossed to the ground, pierced through the chest and then inhaled Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-50785085279103791052010-11-21T03:11:00.009-05:002011-01-08T23:44:26.116-05:00Throw it to me! Throw it to ... (splat) Probably the most ironic aspect of Illinois facing Northwestern in football this weekend at Wrigley Field is the perceived damage to the reputations of each schools' math departments: there's only room for one end zone.
Why?
Because Wrigley Field is a baseball park in the greatest tradition of such. No one ever tried to lay out a football field in it, so in actuality, no one knew that itHintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-49530098903555740692010-11-14T23:56:00.003-05:002011-02-10T23:43:52.254-05:00Package? I've got your package II It remains a mystery to me how a certain type of plastic packaging is so dangerous to open that some safety agency hasn't stepped in to quash the practice.
The "clamshell" packaging in question frequently shows up in hardware stores, especially some type of flashlight with batteries. There is no way of separating the seemingly glued portions of clear, molded plastic.
So you have to get Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-24041142799571523002010-11-07T00:38:00.005-04:002011-02-16T03:08:24.159-05:00A strong pick-off move You know the idea of a shellacking is a bit of an understatement of what happened on Tuesday.
No matter what your political stripe, Nov. 2, 2010, was more of a step up of the Realists who said, "Fix this mess or you're gone. You've spent a ton of money and we see nothing for it."
This mind-set shall remain until the recovery is complete {that is, until people have jobs — which could be Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-28525877012168641302010-10-31T00:06:00.008-04:002010-12-13T10:07:52.377-05:00Texas star turning into a scar You know, there's a reason the Dallas Cowboys stink so horribly this year {and of recent memory}, but no one is allowed to say it. Thank the Lord, I shall break that silence.
It's quite simple: Wade Philips, the head coach, must be suffering from brain damage.
And the glaring fact that the pleasantly plump, silver haired gentleman receives no respect from his players.
But poor Wade [now Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-2394230019772667812010-10-24T01:22:00.014-04:002011-05-26T02:16:29.683-04:00WTF moment #2: Crapola
Imagine these two half-moon, plastic pieces fitting tighter; snugly on top of a normal sized toilet. With no space between them. The one on the left is designed to catch crap in order to study its form. The one on the right collects urine, in the must-win war against dehydration. The concept purports to handle both excrements simultaneously.
The reality, well ...
You know sojourns Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-65086256705499380242010-10-17T22:19:00.001-04:002010-10-22T22:44:14.439-04:00Mining for a little more faith[I'm currently staying in the Moffitt Cancer Center shaking off a case of multiple myeloma.]
Certainly the tales of the rescued Chilean miners makes even the most hard-hearted among us pause and observe "Wow, that's incredible."
And even though the rescue of these men {it wasn't known above ground for 17 days that below ground survivors existed} was achieved through a global response of Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-52361813978651078512010-10-10T02:34:00.006-04:002010-12-06T05:52:01.911-05:00A sawback for a buzzkill This report actually showed up a little while back, another clever ploy to alter self-destructive human behavior with carrots (these appear to be non-glazed.)
According to the St. Petersburg Times and their Curtis Krueger, 'problem drinkers' can be bribed off the stuff and it appears the offenders are taking the bait.
It seems that technology once again trumps a concerted effort to Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-63095872664843699722010-10-03T22:57:00.006-04:002010-12-06T05:54:59.923-05:00The Rahm and the short of it Well, now that President Obama's big plans are well through the pipeline, it's high time that the can-do runt with chips on both shoulders can scamper from the carnage in DC for his dream job: Mayor of Chicago.
I'm talking of course of Rahm Emanuel. And as it turns out, not every one in Chicago is thrilled with the Rahmenator's decision to run for the city's top thug.
But we shall see if Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-50357100710583073612010-09-26T11:27:00.009-04:002010-12-06T05:55:40.201-05:00Move over Henny Youngman Whenever I'm feeling a tad sorry for myself I think of Emilio Estevez. Then I feel much better.
(I mistyped both his first and last name just now; had to look it up — how pathetic).
And if there ever was a cause célèbre for fratricide I don't think a jury would convict little Emilio of doing damage to the environment should Good-time Charlie be 'found ... somewhere .... not responding.'
Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-35919894843207849272010-09-19T21:03:00.003-04:002011-05-17T13:38:43.455-04:00No, that's not it — oh, just forget it I must stand and applaud CNN's effort to conjure up a 'news' story regarding women talking about the comfort level of talking about their G-spots — it may be commentary, but it is certainly not news.
It's not anything really, other than a small, myopic group of people justifying their existence at the alleged leader in World News by creating a sure-fire Web traffic generator — women's Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-90630682262864012552010-09-12T21:10:00.003-04:002010-09-15T21:49:00.277-04:00Exactly how dumb do we appear? Incredible to me the absurdity of this ad.
It is such a baldfaced attempt at lily-livered 20-something girlie angst that I cannot believe somebody actually got it past the initial premise and got a green light to spend (probably) hundreds of thousands of dollars for this weak, cheesy pitch of the dreams of a sniveling wallflower.
Madison Avenue, Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue just Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-34248203575648217242010-09-05T16:34:00.005-04:002011-06-03T00:59:25.772-04:00The pain of "choice" Well, we did it; we switched our phone/tv/internet "provider" to save money (it's incredible what Verizon charges for what it delivers) to bask in yet another stupidly created maze from more marketeers of mediocrity.
Today, all I wanted to find was a one channel out of about 300 which would show me a current weather radar (because, as a moron, I could look out the window and see darkness on Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-78136922885355572742010-08-29T01:52:00.006-04:002010-11-12T12:49:06.737-05:00Will the Meek inherit the turf? Just a cursory glance at this past week's Florida primary probably gave a sprig of hope to the race for the open Senate seat in D.C.
Charlie Crist has, I'm sorry, all the appeal of an insurance salesman: the shock of white hair combined with a too many visits to the tanning booth are the initial visual turnoff. But when he opens his mouth the nearly overt fence-sitter fails to Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-53776934069124634092010-08-22T01:03:00.011-04:002011-04-15T01:14:19.960-04:00Taking the crowd by the horns For all the NASCAR defenders I shall offer a shield and defer to this week's "bull-goes-ape-shit-goring-dozens-as-it-stomps-through-slowish-spectators" bit of news from Spain.
Because in terms of bestiality, is it any worse than what Michael Vick did and was sentenced to nearly two years in prison for in his pit-bull operation?
I mean in Spain a crowd (as in 3,500) paid money expecting Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-85357141767844533582010-08-15T21:30:00.009-04:002010-09-19T15:58:46.411-04:00Randomly pick a catastrophe I had to return to a lesson I learned 16 years ago: remembering to exhale.
Sounds silly but in this hurly burly existence in the United States of America (and the rest of 'the west' to a lesser degree) we rarely take time to slow down, preferring instead to hit a wall before we are forced to stop.
But what I learned 16 years ago was the importance of breathing; specifically remembering to Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-40209873990565652072010-08-08T03:21:00.090-04:002011-05-26T05:17:08.183-04:00No more feeling like a number The really sad thing about the current state of affairs is that "you [don't even] feel like a number," and in some ways you want to keep it that way.
In what should have its own glorified alcove in the Labor Department's Hall of Fame would be the edict which eliminated certain laid-off ranks from earlier unemployment equations in order for the 'official unemployment number' to artificiallyHintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-61505151483385325772010-08-01T20:20:00.008-04:002010-09-06T00:39:18.918-04:00Jersey joke; objectivity; 'a cool moment' We've become a nation of sad sacks, more interested in gleaning glee from someone else's misery or abject ineptitude than we are in improving our own lot: "Well, at least I'm not as much a loser as that guy (pick any cast member of Jersey Shore)." And this is how we recharge our esteem enough to get up the next morning knowing that there are millions who are 'below average' in the USA and we Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-60327078460479022572010-07-26T22:16:00.006-04:002011-04-20T03:24:44.042-04:00Sorry this is a tad late ...... but my daughter sat on my keyboard.
Thus the subject may also seem a bit dated except for the media's penchant for beating a dead horse long after it had any chance of surviving, and its continual lowering of the bar as to what constitutes justice in the USA.
I'm speaking of Shirley Sherrod and Mel Gibson.
All right, it is apparent to everyone by now that Mel Gibson is a troubled man,Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-42247755805640541692010-07-18T10:33:00.006-04:002010-08-27T13:34:38.063-04:00Bye, George, it wasn't swell Behind all the crocodile tears following the death of George Steinbrenner, I must point out that though the man did donate much money to the Tampa area, he is also guilty of making one of the most beautiful games on the planet one of the least accessible to the average fan.
His penchant for overpaying star players has driven ticket prices beyond the reach of most people and I dare say his Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-77713264333804527782010-07-11T19:53:00.004-04:002010-08-27T21:38:43.779-04:00You really can't go home It's still a little difficult for me to fathom — LeBron James stiff-arming his hometown and battering his legacy — but I think maybe people unfairly expected him to act more maturely.
I think what is lost in the reaction of his ridiculous, over-the-top free-agent signing of "King James" is the fact that he is only 25 and passed on going to college.
I cannot criticize his desire to win {Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-53667640389302981902010-07-04T00:22:00.004-04:002010-07-09T15:04:56.725-04:00Bye, bye Byrdie I know it's not polite to speak ill of the dead, so I'll try to keep this brief. As I lived in West Virginia for a year and a half I simply must comment on the crap that's being spread following the death of West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd.
The from the Washington Post: "... he was known as the 'king of pork' and was immensely proud of the way he used his long years on the Appropriations Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-65054039539464713262010-06-27T13:01:00.003-04:002010-08-06T04:11:58.157-04:00'Pitched battles' have their moments Fans call it "the beautiful game." Well, you don't have to be a fan of futbol at all to recognize art on the pitch, because the match-winning, catch-and-kick of Ghana's Asamoah Gyan to defeat the USA was one of the greatest moves in sports that I can remember — the gymnastics of White Sox pitcher Mark Buherle being the most phenomenal in recent memory (and that was in April).
I guess part Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-57318575047365639032010-06-20T04:46:00.005-04:002010-07-08T16:15:28.912-04:00Every day is Father's Day For those of you dudes who are childless, this won't make any sense. For the rest of us we know how fortunate we are. Despite all the fears, tears, frustrations and limitations, there is no greater sense of purpose that I have or will experience, than being a father; and I'm sure mothers will tell you the same.
For myself, I can only say 'so far, so good,' as my daughter's health and Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-69823513077316028022010-06-13T09:12:00.003-04:002010-07-08T16:17:01.086-04:00Another one bites the dust We've all been getting a really good geography lesson in central Asia since the century started and the recent developments in Kyrgyzstan reveal yet another peal from the peasants squeezed in the middle.
Here's the latest news, thanks to James Kirchick:
"Over the past week in Kyrgyzstan, riots between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the country's south have left nearly 200 people dead. Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-79366028227029378982010-05-30T20:04:00.005-04:002010-06-21T04:09:29.837-04:00Cleaning up with batteries and dim bulbs If I had a few thousand dollars to toss blindly into investments, then it would be these three items which I would feed my fortune-seeking funds: Light bulbs, batteries and hand sanitizer.
The first two — light bulbs and batteries — are nearly universal in their need and yet have become so notoriously bad in their performance that sales of the items are sure to climb even more so.
By Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-85804264818798006592010-05-23T02:00:00.007-04:002010-07-09T16:18:09.607-04:00Thai me up, Tsunami me down Well, things have a been a bit out of sorts in Thailand but I fear the sickness in Siam goes a bit deeper and touches me a bit more that the 'average' American.
I spent two of the best year's of a young lad's life in Bangkok: all of its bizarre, tropical filth, juicy fruits and religious aura. I was too young to understand Vietnam in the early 1960s; I just knew may dad 'worked at the Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-76360379845113251712010-05-16T21:35:00.003-04:002010-06-21T04:45:17.327-04:00When footfalls become footsteps Without question a recent generation or two can stand rapt in this poser from the Pink Floyd just as easily as considering a Bible Verse:
There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship's smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying.
When I was a child
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-91465082757450145282010-05-09T22:38:00.003-04:002010-08-20T12:22:20.941-04:00Compartmentalize thisClinton's a Compartmentalizer Are You?
From WaPo's Andrew Goldman and Alexandra Jacobs a little while back came this nice stand-in [or is it stand up?] that George Plimpton pecked out after spending time with our aw-shucks, silver-haired savior:
"It was summer 1996, and the writer George Plimpton was sitting opposite Bill Clinton on Air Force 1 en route to the Olympic Games in Atlanta. Mr.Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-1662314485086754452010-05-02T18:02:00.008-04:002010-08-10T20:21:00.217-04:00What's that threatening our border? Well, I guess you can pick whether it's illegal immigrants or a fat oil slick, in either case it's not pretty.
Say what you will regarding Arizona's latest attempt to stem the tide of violence in that porous state, but I cannot think of a more complex issue than illegal "immigration" facing America (other than health care). {Education is an ongoing battle but at least there's a measure of Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-91423407901167353652010-04-25T22:09:00.010-04:002010-05-01T20:43:25.808-04:00Gator-gazing on a Friday morning ...... I reflected on a week that began with a flurry of odd wildlife interactions.
It was a trifecta of terrors {well, not all of them} that began on Monday in what came to be a standoff with two egrets; one in particular.
I've seen the creatures from a medium distance, gliding awkwardly to an unsteady landing, dorking around the neighborhood. The feathery aviators can often be a little Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-46309851917413932692010-04-18T21:00:00.008-04:002010-06-13T07:34:41.890-04:00Fantastic? Yes; but is it basketball? I am going to defer my scheduled topic of man vs. nature until next week, as a more timely tirade emerged today while [briefly] watching an NBA playoff game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Part of what amazes me is how could league officials be aware that discredited (an subsequently convicted) NBA official Tim Donaghy was fixing games, because the officiating I Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-45771444357745948462010-04-11T22:54:00.046-04:002010-04-16T09:09:43.811-04:00Oh, Poe, am I cravin' some 'Raven' I'm going to admit right here that I don't quite understand e-publishing that much, but recent articles and business dealings make me wonder if Edgar Allan Poe would be more prepared for the future than the rest of us.
Before cost-effective mass production arrived, a number of books were published in serial form in newspapers and periodicals. Is that how e-books will end up? Spoon-fed on Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-51995064734349618912010-04-04T11:28:00.007-04:002011-04-25T03:45:06.896-04:00Please, please, let it be Sheila! Okay, it's Easter, but I can't help but silently root for the possible return of a truly evil character this week. And during Easter week some old joys were resurrected as my alma mater, the University of Dayton, thumped their way to the National Invitational Tournament championship.
First the evil one. As I have mentioned previously in this forum I do follow at a distance the travails of Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-65391655117535236432010-03-28T22:11:00.002-04:002010-04-16T08:59:34.438-04:00Gimme shelter Okay, so the inflated, baited new home sales 'surge' is about to become history, and while there has been a flurry of hammering in Pasco County, I just don't see home sales moving up much for the year.
And unless the current administration starts handing out more jobs to people in order to pump up the numbers, I just can't see manufacturing or retail leading the way to real recovery with Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-36539447270876127402010-03-21T23:16:00.005-04:002010-04-10T09:48:54.977-04:00A tip of the coonskin cap"Davy-y, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier ..." There's usually a tinge of sadness when a celebrity of sorts dies, of course, it depends on the celebrity. 'They' say, "They always die in 3's," and I suppose one could say that did occur last week, but seriously, what did Corey Haim ever do that had any lasting power? Now for the other two actors who died, well ...
While Peter Graves' Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3325072681209263905.post-82235408606475834902010-03-14T21:49:00.005-04:002010-12-29T02:49:49.637-05:00Headless Body in Topless Bar ...... one of the greatest headlines ever written, thanks to the New York Post (1982) and we have an Australian to [indirectly] thank for it: Rupert Murdoch.
But the fact that I have retyped Headless Body in Topless Bar merely calls attention to this blog entry, whether I discuss food, dog grooming or St. Augustine grass.
I could also add http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/anniversary/35th/n_8568/ Hintertreppehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067704865340871838noreply@blogger.com0