let's make a deal

the national hockey league has locked out its players with the result being no hockey being played at this time. at the same time the republicans and democrats cannot come to terms on some phoney baloney budget deal that will allow them to continue spending much more money than they have coming into the country's coffers.

the question is, which dispute will be settled first? it's easy to say that settling a sports dispute is the easier task. after all, the amount of money involved is miniscule compared to the trillions being bandied about in the fiscal cliff debacle. but there is one big difference between the two disputes. the national hockey league dispute involves real money where as the fiscal cliff does not involve any real money belonging to the 2 parties acting like children.

i'm going to go out on a limb and predict that the hockey dispute will be settled first. by being settled i mean a hard deal that will stand for several years. i don't think it takes a genius to predict that the so called fiscal cliff will not be solved in any meaningful way, probably some band aid solution will be achieved that will allow both sides to continue posturing and proselytizing ad infinitum.

here's the problem facing the united states as i see it:

one party doesn't understand science and one party doesn't understand mathematics.

leave it up to lewis black to shed a little light on the budget dispute.

i love you sons of bitches and happy fucking new year.

xmas carol...

And the winner of ruby’s xmas carol extravaganza is:

Fairytale of new York featuring the one and only shane mcgowan.

Fairytale of new York was selected based on its unpretentious depiction of xmas showing both the noble aspirations of mankind and also showing the imperfections and frailties of the human condition. Of course i realize that 99.99% of people on this planet would not select shane’s honest and soulful vision of all things festive but as ruby’s ambassador to the human race it is my pleasure to thank shane for all the pleasure he has brought into my life.

Merry feckin xmas and please remember that a very flawed and fragile person loves you sons of bitches.

pre xmas extravaganza

the previous post highlighted two versions of a classic xmas carol. the results were an overwhelming defeat for the ravishing dame kiri te kawana. i'm not sure if her loss was due to her interpretation of the twelve days of xmas or her inability to drop a few pounds to meet the standards of physical beauty we currently expect. i have sent her an email detailing the devastating loss she suffered from my international audience. both ruby and rowdy roddy have expressed their gratitude for the support they received from the academy of voters.

i have narrowed down the list of 20th century xmas songs to two finalists. today i will present the runner-up and on xmas eve i will present the winner of my 20th century xmas song extravaganza. those faithful readers of my previous blogs will have a very good chance of predicting the winner. unfortunately, i may not have many long time readers. is it due to the infrequency of my posts, the lack of quality in the posts or could it be the current toxic atmosphere that prevents me from baring my soul and disclosing the highly interesting and intimate details of both mine and ruby's daily adventures?

without further adieu, here is the runner-up for top xmas song of the 20th century:

i apologize to anyone having to endure a commercial before the video started. there doesn't seem to be distinct pattern as to whether or not a you tube video witl play a commercial before getting to meat of the matter.

i love you sons of bitches for at least 9 more days

a tale of two carols

merry feckin xmas!

i happen to like christmas carols. it wouldn't bug me if they played them all year on radio stations or in elevators. it would supply a nice topic for conversation with strangers whilst ascending to stars. it would be a nice way to break the ice with any nice young things you might encounter.

so here are my two favorite christmas carols:

rowdy roddy!

and the lovely dame kiri te kanawa, she could whisper two turtledoves in my ear until the end of time and i wouldn't tire of it.

they're both so good i can't decide which is the better version so maybe you can help me decide

i love you sons of bitches!

tires

a few weeks ago i noticed the mighty sonata had a very low right rear tire, 8 psi. i drove to the gas station and brought the pressure up to 32 psi. for the next few days i was checking the pressure several times a day. it was losing about 2 psi per day. yesterday i finally took it to the tire store to get it repaired. they said to come back in 2 to 2.5 hours so began a long walk to the public library.

after a few hours of walking on my suspect knee i returned to the tire place and was given the bad news that the tire could not be repaired, a nail at the edge where the tread meets the sidewall. they had a sheet made up with several recommendations. first they recommended 4 new tires and of course i said no. then they recommended 2 new tires. my tread was at about 35-40% remaining. again i said no and asked if they had a cheap used tire to replace the damaged one. after checking they said no. i was just about to leave when i was called back and told they found 1 new discontinued tire that would fit the now not so mighty sonata. i snapped it up for $70. $109 after taxes, installation, balancing and enviromental levy.

the guy thought i was nuts but here's the plan. this summer when the weather is nice and my 1 new tire is worn a little i'm going to head to giant tire depot that sells used tires with up to 80% tread remaining. i'll buy 3 of those buggers and have a set tires with approximately the same tread. plus my old tires will be ready to replace. why the hell should i toss out tires with 35% tread remaining? i thought of going to the used tire place yesterday but the weather was the shits and it might take a while to find good tires. in the summer i can pack a picnic basket and a bring along a lawn chair in case i need to take a rest. it should be a nice little adventure.

buy used stuff to reduce your carbon footprint. (and save a few bucks)

at the library i picked up 10 cd's and a few were excellent, especially this one:

just a pilgrim!

i love you sons of bitches

pulp fiction

here's my review of pulp fiction.

if a movie catches my fancy i usually watch it twice within a week or two. the first time through i just sit back and take it as it comes and occasionally find myself daydreaming or thinking about tomorrow so i miss a lot of the fine details. the second time through i know what to look for in order to fill in the gaps. plus i can check wikipedia to identify all the actors. maybe a 20 year old can grasp everything the first time but it's long since passed me by.

pulp fiction was certainly worth a second viewing and my initial feelings about the movie were certainly confirmed if not magnified. there is way too much bruce willis! he is definitely the weak link in the movie. almost all the other actors had a certain aura about them where i was hanging on every word waiting for the next line. but with willis it was more like, i wish he would shut the fuck up.

the question i ask myself is, did tarantino use willis to make jackson and travolta look even better? if he did, it certainly worked. jules' soliloquy to ringo at the end was highlight of movie in my books. expertly written and expertly delivered. maybe vincent could have been a bit more ruthless with lance.

a few months ago i watched pat garret and billy the kid and found myself comparing it to pulp fiction several times. all in all i would have to rate pat garret and billy the kid as the better movie. the main reason for this is, bruce fucking willis wasn't in it. i think slim pickens dying with knocking on heaven's door as a back drop outshines anything in pulp fiction. i admit to being biased when dylan is involved.

my review of pulp fiction ends with a clip from pat garret and billy the kid. how the fuck did that happen. lack of concentration i suppose.

i love you sons of bitches.

ouch

i'm happy to report a second straight visit to the dentist with no cavities but the scaling and cleaning hurt like crazy. there was a new hygienist and she was no ball of fire, neglected to floss my old teeth after the scaling but since i floss a few times a day i let it slide. i've been using a sonicare toothbrush for the past few months so maybe that had something to do with my lack of cavities.

after the dentist it was off to the doctor to have my knee examined. after a short discussion it was decided that i needed another series of injections to deal with the nasty fibrosis, scar tissue for us laymen. when i received the first series of injections i was told that i might need a second series of injections. after the second series of injections this past week i was told a third series of injections might be necessary. does anyone recognize a pattern here?

the knee is feeling much improved so i won't complain. it's hard to figure out if the improvement is due to the injections or the added exercise i've been giving it to increase the flow of synovial fluid. a month ago i had interest in synovial fluid, now i want more! in any case, i'm both pleased withe new doctor and a little peeved at the previous doctor for not giving me a proper examination.

last but not least, i just celebrated 7 years of alcohol free living. fuck me, time sure flies when you're not having any fun. it wasn't my intention to give up alcohol at the time, i merely wanted to rest up for the christmas drinking season but one thing led to another and here i am, sober as a judge. there are some excellent drinking stories i could detail but i'm a little reticent to bare my soul in the current toxic environment around here.

lastly i'd like to thank thimscool for reminding me that pulp fiction is an excellent movie worth revisiting. in case anyone is wondering, it was a legit copy that i watched last night. i enjoyed it so much i'll probably watch it again in the next few weeks.

some people are capable of apologizing, and others can't apologiSe (are you happy aquarian) for sour apples. maybe they need a little practice.

i love you sons of bitches.