Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, and small people talk about wine

Out west again. Heading west from Reno to find Truckee, CA. I had a friend on the USS Antietam that was from Truckee and I had always wanted to see it. I figured with it only 30 min. away, this was as good a chance as I was ever likely to see. Anyway, that really good enlisted friend of mine is now a really good O-5. Some of you know just how impressive a journey through the ranks that represents.

"Downtown" Truckee, CA. Of course, there could have been a more modern downtown if I had turned the other direction off I-80, but I will just pretend that this was it.

Cool looking gas station in Truckee. Of course, it was not a gas station. It was a ski clothing store.

Northern California traffic is less hectic than Southern California traffic. I am not complaining to say that most of the trip was spent in this start and not stop traffic.

OK, am I the only one who sees an AT&T commercial in this shot?

What a beautiful view. I am so glad that several folks suggested this drive. Enough folks said to do it that I figured that there must be something to it.

This does answer the question: Does a bear poop in the woods? Yes, but he poops pine cones. Or else....could this be the bad dude that ate Ewell Gibbons.

Dusk on the lake.

Getting dark now. While the scenery is still beautiful, my little camera is not the right equipment for properly capturing it. And since I went home over the Mt. Rosa Highway, complete with a view looking down over the far off lights of Reno twinkling and filling the valley, that is a shame. Still, this is a decent shot across Lake Tahoe.

Hmmmm... two cars in the garage. That can only mean that I'M HOME!

So, I was watching Glee. It is something I do and do not apologize for. Heck, I like dancing. I like singing. And I like cheerleaders. Hence, yes hence, I thoroughly enjoy this show that has plenty of all three. In this week's featured mash up (where they mix two songs together) they did not mash up songs, but rather mashed up choirs. It started off with a group of deaf singers singing John Lennon's "Imagine" with just a piano for accompaniment. Not to be crude, but you know that deaf people sound a little off when thy speak. Or sing. Then, one by one, the other choir joined them. It was beautiful, fully bringing to bear the spirit of inclusion that John wrote into the song. I was touched.

I watched the plane load up in Phoenix. There was a large-ish soccer mom and her husband, carrying a 4 or 5 year old on his back. The plane was loading slow, which is in no way remarkable. Nor is it unexpected. Large-ish mom kept hollering, "Let's go...c'mon, let's move!"Seriously. Everyone else just looked at her as if she were boorish. Her husband, meanwhile, kept hollering (yes, hollering ad I am NOT making this up) that "I can't stand like this forever." You know, as if the 5 year old would not be able to make the arduous journey down the aisle unassisted. All I could think was, "Well, apparently Tampa is down two idiots right now." Makes me proud to know that these Tampons...I mean Tampans, are my peeps. That's all I'm saying

This is just a place holder. There is more to write, but not today. As the philosopher once asked, "If not now, when?" "Sometime later," would have to be my simple reply.

Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless.- Thomas A. Edison
If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one? - Abraham Lincoln
A good listener is usually thinking about something else. - Kin Hubbard
The only man who is really free is the one who can turn down an invitation to dinner without giving an excuse. - Jules Renard

Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions, out
Ramblin' Ed

If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you

Since the last time you stopped by:

1. New pump in the well.

2. Moved the fence without employing professionals.

3. Watched most of Season 1 of True Blood

4. Watched the cops arrest a woman who assaulted my wife.

There. You are now all caught up.

Headed for Reno this afternoon. Coulda sent another guy in the office, but I thought a trip to Nevada would be nice. Cost myself the Bucs-Saints game. Dangit Man! When will you learn to do your due diligence before assigning yourself travel??

I ordered one of thos Roku machines to stream Netflix onto my TV. The movies are free with your Netflix subscription, which I have had for years. Sometimes I watch them on my computer, but my computer chair is not 2 hours worth of comfortable. So I figured, why not? The box is small, about the size of a paperback, and it's a one time charge. $80 for the box and I already have the subscription.

Got my hair cut at a place called Lebowski's Hair Salon or something like that. I drive by it every day and had always heard it was an experience. So Friday, since I had the day off, I went there for my haircut. It is themed (loosely, I would say) on the movie The Big Leibowski. Here's the link THE LINK . I was going to try to explain it, especially the hurricane shampoo, but the article does a better job.

The weird thing about the place was getting in. First off, you can give the guy outside the door $10 and he will wash and detail your car while you're inside. I declined. When I got to the door, a guy at a side window stopped me and asked for $25. I could see nothing but a bright red and chrome door. It was all very much reminicent of gaining strip club access. "This is a barber shop, right?" "Yessir. But it's not your father's barber shop." (He repeated that line about 6 times to me, so I guess he's pretty proud of it.) I looked at the door, and him standing there expectantly, like some kind of mellow bouncer. "And when I get in, I will get a haircut?" "Yessir." So I paid and went in. If you follow THIS LINK , watch it for a minute. It's animated and takes a couple of seconds to get going. It's not a complicated site though, in keeping with the Lebowski theme.

The article explains it better, but: I was led first to the bar, where I chose a Budweiser. Then I was given a shoeshine, which made me thankful I had not worn my customary flip flops. No, I didn't think they'd shine my feet. I mean, the shine was part of the price of admission, so I am glad I got it. Then a young lady in flip flops and fishnets let me over for my hurricane shampoo. Then a quick massage (from a chair, not a person) while I waited my turn at the raised barber dias. Then a lady dressed as, I'm not sure but I'm thinking meter maid or something, gave me a MAN-icure and then a decent haircut. Price of admission + tips was around $35. I wasn't sure about tipping, so I tipped everybody just in case. No one ever got disapproving looks for tipping too often. Well, except from their wife.

If you can find something everyone agrees on, it's wrong, out

Ramblin' Ed

A gentleman is a man who can play the accordion but doesn't

Gotta love November and December in Florida. It is finally cool enough to be outside all day and it is still warm enough to be outside all day. So this is when the celebrations and festivals start to really get going.

Me and Brother Dave headed out to Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg for Ribfest. We had us some festival food and watched the pretty girls walk by. Had to watch fairly closely, as they were intermingled in with a whole lot of... well, to be as kind as possile, a whole lot of not pretty. It is a fair bet to say that a lot of trailer parks were emptied out yesterday.

We stayed for Gator Country, which is Molly Hatchett except for they somehow lost the rights to their name Molly Hatchett. Most of it was sounding good, but the boys are really starting show their age. One guitarist had to sit through most of the show and another got winded and had to be replaced. The lead singer lost it on the last song. At first I thought he'd forgotten the words, but they've been singing that song for 35 years, so it seems unlikely. So I think he strained his voice. Anyhoo, the last song was brutal and the applause for it a polite, "Hey, well anyway you tried."

We also stayed for Blue Oyster Cult, who put on a much tighter show. Those guys were still on the top of their game. I was wondering about how they ended up playing at a venue like Ribfest, but then I got to thinking about today, when Big Kenny (of Big and Rich) is playing, and they're still on the radio and touring as headliners. And the Zac Brown Band is there too, and they are about the hottest thing in country music right now that's not named Taylor Swift. Anyway, I'd say the festival was a success with good ribs, good (mostly) music, and temps around 78. We didn't stay for George Thorogood, but from the looks of the T-shirts around, he had a pretty sizeable following. Who'd have thunk it?

We stopped in at the Mellow Mushroom for a late dinner on the way home. I got pizza, Bro Dave got a calzone. And we had a chuckle that te restrooms are labeled as "mellow flushroom".

Real News Report--had me rolling:


Was going to take the wife up to the 35th Annual Homosassa Arts, Crafts, & Seafood Festival today. It's a $2 donation to get in, but I know she would have really enjoyed the fresh seafood. Unfortunately, I am having major problems with my well and have the guy coming out tomorrow to pull it and repair it. Let's hope that works, because all told, I am dropping a little over $2000 for that. It'll have to work actually, because if it doesn't, I'm looking at an additional $5000-$6000 for a new well. And I don't have that kind of money laying around right now.

So, as luck, and the natural orneriness of things, would have it, when I dropped several thousands of dollars to run a new chainlink fence, I a) enclosed the pump inside, making it necessary for me to remove the southern end of the fence and dig up the poles to allow the guy's truck to get into the yard. And b) I ran the eastern side of the fence, the long, long, all the way across the back yard portion of the fence directly over the pump. So it also has to come down. Therefore, c) we are not going to Homosassa, but rather staying here. I am sure the wife would rather have water long term, than shrimp one afternoon, but it is not something she may readily admit.

Instead, we will drive the Mustang to the flea market to mingle with the half of the trailer park dwellers that are not at Ribfest.



The thing I hate about an argument is that it always interrupts a discussion, out
Ramblin' Ed

The food and beer midway. This and the one opposite it framed the main stage.

We opted to sit back just a bit and watch it on the screen. It was a wise choice as up front we could have been crushed by boomers semi-rythmically swaying and blissfully singing along.

Niiiiiiice....

Honesty is a good thing, but it is not profitable to its possessor unless it is kept under control

I could not get the whole robot guy in the picture, so I got his head. Any lower and I suppose all I would have gotten were his, well, nuts. And bolts. Tampa's downtown, in this area of Franklin Street anyway, is pretty dead, but there is quite a bit of art work out on the streets. I believe our Arts District is adjacent by a block or so and that is why.

From where this statue is I can see the old Tampa Theater. I remember a long, long time ago Dad took me there so we could watch a Monty Python film festival. Shoulda took a picture of it, but the link above gives you a 360 degree view of the inside. If you use your mouse, you can control the view. It is gorgeous, like the early twentieth century theaters tended to be. I also saw Dwight Yoakam in L.A. at the Wiltern Theater in Koreatown. Strangely, I cannot find any decent webpages to link to and show it. And it has hosted Dwight, Wilco, The Stones, Moby, and any number of national acts over the years.

This is robot man's son, I think. They were side by side. You can see Dad's arm in barely in frame on the right.
Taking pictures of the "Wall O' Bras" in Ybor City.

The "Wall O' Bras". Too bad I didn't get the whole thing. It was pretty impressive.

I was reading the viewer reviews for the movie I'd just rented off of Netflix. One bonehead in particular was offering his opinion that the director had not made any real effort at character development. And that the story was implausable. Fair enough. I mean, it is a movie about a beautiful female Japanese Samurai who, clad only in a fur bikini, battles zombies. Onechanbara trailer.

OK, it's out there. Yes, I would rent a movie about a beautiful female Japanese Samurai who, clad only in a fur bikini, battles zombies. The real question is: Who wouldn't?? I also rented Machine Girl. Sue me. [Note: Scroll to the bottom for the trailer. There you can see the flying guillotine and drill bra for yourself. And...you're welcome.]

I used to do a lot of 'drive by blogging", meaning I would just keep hitting the NEXT BLOG button up in the left top corner and see what I discovered. It was interesting, like typing two random, mismatched words (think: formica calculator) into google and/or google images to see where it would take you. So a couple of nights ago I did it again, for old time's sake. What a disappointment.

First off, it was about 70% non-English posts that came up. I guess all the English speakers are twittering and facebooking or something. Then about 20% of the time I got Russian porn. The name of the blogs kept changing, but it was the same pictures of the same women over and over, so I know it was broadcast over the blogsphere. You rarely got blindsided by porn on Blogger in the past, so I was a bit surprised. Although I guess I really shouldn't have been. The last 10% were either regular blogs or business advertisement/blogs. All in all, a very disappointing drive by.

I like an escalator because an escalator can never break, it can only become stairs. There would never be an escalator temporarily out of order sign, only an escalator temporarily stairs. Sorry for the convenience.
- Mitch Hedberg

Well flies like to fly 'cuz they don't like to stay
buzzin' in the ears of the chicken all day
chicken understand and he peck out the code
send a subsonic signal through the snot in
the middle of an elephant's long wet cold grey nose, out

Ramblin' Ed