stuff that works

firstly, it is with great pleasure that i can declare deadwood the winner of best television series poll. the results are accurate within 3% 19 times out of 20.


i've been battling with my harman kardon receiver the past few days. the feckin thing has a mind of its own and it's driving me to distraction. whilst taking a break from trying to figure out how to work that overpriced chinese torture machine my eyes fell upon an old friend that has never let me down. the good old kirby vacuum cleaner.



i got it 23 years ago and it was well used, at least 10 years old at the time. sonny had just been born and all our carpets were covered in a nice layer of dog hair. you can help an old lady across the street 1000 times but let your baby crawl around on a dirty floor and that's what you'll be remember for. i became aware of kirby vacuum cleaners after a nice young lady called and told me if i consented to a home demonstration i'd get a free set of steak knives. the demonstration went well and i was sold on the kirby but not at the new price of about $1500. so here i sit with an ancient american made vacuum cleaner that will probably be going strong long after i'm dead and a chinese receiver that might not make it through the week.

the kirby cost me $100. it was second best $100 i ever spent ;)

for those of you that didn't vote for deadwood, you might want to re-consider your vote after watching this:



i love you sons of bitches.

research

whilst others spent the summer repairing houses and vacationing with the family i spent countless hours conducting exhaustive research into one of mankind's oldest and most intriguing questions; what is the best television series. since i have a few holes in my memory i had to concentrate on the last 10 years.

first i came up with a short list; the sopranos, the sons of anarchy and deadwood. not wanting to make a half arsed job of it i decided to watch them all one more time. all three had excellent violence and profanity and all three had some nauseating love/family subplots. it's a tough decision and i could use a little help.



thanks for the help, i love you sons of bitches.

so the recession is over

it's official, THE RECESSION IS OVER.

would anyone beg to differ?

this is right up there with another favorite expression of the economists, JOBLESS RECOVERY.
how in the wide world of sports can you have a recovery if there aren't any jobs for the unemployed people who want to work?

as bob dylan said a long time ago, You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. the recession weatherman most certainly hasn't opened his window see what is really going on out there.

now where is this all leading you say? whilst listening to dylan's theme time radio i fell in love with this song that seems to speak of hard times:

if you have an extra 3 minutes, it's a cool song.



i love you sons of bitches with or without a recession.

the last census

whilst the marketing people, data re-packagers and special interest groups are bitching and moaning about the national census i quietly conducted my last turtle census of the season this afternoon. i counted 9 of the little baskers enjoying the late summer sun. the highest count i got this summer was 17. i have to go see my radio repairman (doctor) tomorrow so i was feeling a little down. nothing picks up my spirits like gazing upon a group of turtles piling on top of each other on an old log. the world needs more turtles.

the turtles lifted my spirits so much that i decided to ride the old bike into a gaggle of canada geese at full speed. i was expecting a bit of a fight from them but they folded like a house of cards. i was feeling pretty tough until i noticed a bunch of goose shit on my tires. so it goes.

i picked up robert plants new album this morning and am happy to say i love it. it truly is a band of joy. plant and dylan seem to be aging like fine wine while jagger and tyler are living on botox and surgery trying to cheat father time.

this doesn't do the album justice but you'll get the idea.



i love you sons of bitches.

the prince is busted

canada's prince of pot gets 5 YEARS IN THE SLAMMER.

marc emery got 5 years in the slammer for selling marijuana seeds over the internet. the whole situation seems like a marx brothers movie. marc has been promoting marijuana in vancouver for as long as i can remember. i always considered marc to be an opportunistic media whore but i don't think he deserved 5 years in jail.

has the crown prince obama put an end to marijuana seeds being sold over the internet? I DON'T THINK SO.

i, along with all rational people, have always considered the american war on drugs to be a piece of shit so the persecution of marc and the 5 year sentence are not a surprise. what is a surprise is our fecking arsehole piece of shit prime minister allowing marc to be extradited by a lunatic regime that is currently trying to destroy the planet.

i'm pretty sure any progressive european government would tell obama to go fuck himself if he tried to extradite one of their citizens for selling marijuana seeds.

blow me

i procrastinated all summer about fixing a chimney. the mortar has been crumbling away and i noticed some big chunks on the roof. it's nice day, sunny with the odd cloud keeping the temperature down. i figured the cement might crack if i did it in the blazing sun of the last few months. i went onto the roof with a few screwdrivers and a brush. after chipping lots of loose cracked mortar from around the chimney i got the trusty leaf blower to blow all the loose crap off the roof. after cleaning off the roof i decided to give the chimney a blow to get rid of any dust and dirt. holy shit, chunks of mortar came off. i was so pleased with the blower i went around the roof cleaning out the eaves. of course i blew tons of shit onto my neighbors sundeck. so it goes.

2 buckets of cement later and the job was done. for years i considered leaf blowers to be useless pieces of junk but now i love that son of bitch blowing machine.



blow me!