Englishtown trash = treasure

Took the family to Englishtown flea market - first time for the kids. Treasures were in abundance, but some of the finest I picked out of the trash - now I can begin to decorate my swinging pad...

Targeted Marketing

Got this message in my inbox, today:


"steven, You Have Been Selected to Receive Trailer Life" - 'nuff said...

Fine China

I haven't found SNL funny in years. I hope this is a sign of better things to come.

Ahead of the curve

I was born for the new Depression.....

Ok, I've been slow....

But don't be so brutal with the comments; these guys are definitely slower...

What's the differential?

In case you wondering.

Still Life

Saved 5 bucks in the process.....

Michael, we hardly knew ye....

What's with hardly any posts lately? And mostly about guys that dance?

Dancin'? no... Walken!

Truth is, this is not not news, I'm just waaaaayyyyy behind on some of this pop culture stuff.

Whenever I see Christopher Walken, I generally think of Captain Koons, or, maybe Secretary Cleary. It's been a long time since I watched Pennies From Heaven, and I forgot about this number. So, twenty years later, he proved he's still got it.... impressive stuff.

Extra Credit - OK, while I'm at it with the movie / music references, this tune saved the world in which movie? Hint, not Nightmare...

This is just fun.

Ditch Carp

Why is it necessary to travel all the way to Australia to find some sensible writing?

Throwing a log on the fire

The link was sent to me by a colleague . I have some history doing consulting work at the firm, so the story has some relevance. As usual, the comments are more interesting than the story itself.

Still publishing

Who knew Ed Anger was still in the writing business ... or me, for that matter?

Stuck at home

OK, so it has been noted that I'm between jobs, again. At this time, I'm stuck in the house with a sick kid, wishing it were a bit nicer, outside. I'm working on piecing together my hints for saving a buck, but keeping the heat turned down, and jumping off the Parkway to pick up at Rt 138 eastbound to Rt 18 northbound to avoid the dollar toll are just too obvious ... at least to me.

I've never been a huge James Bond fan, but this piece with Sean Connery could sway me....

Leadership 101

The Bush years were fun for the comedians, to be sure, but it appears Obama will provide plenty of material, as well....

R.I.P. Ricardo

They just don't make 'em, or advertise 'em, like that anymore. Or like that. Yes, she did pet the kitty.

Happy New Year

2008 is gone - good riddance. Personally, it ended on a good note, as I was called back to my last client for a new engagement - this is very good news, work is getting harder to come by, I hear.



About a week before Christmas, brought the family up to Jersey City for the wife's family holiday get-together. I walk in and and one of the 90 -something year old aunts comes up to me and says "I haven't seen you in awhile... you look OLD." I basically let it go, but you know how hard it was to resist ...



While I probably need to start watching what I eat, we did eat at a good burger joint, earlier. Highly recommended.



Gotta share this. Flipping throught the stations on the way to work, heard the DJs joking and singing "where's the fire, where's the fire?" and I had an immediate and violent flashback to a children's record I had back as far as '69 or so. Google is your friend, and I share the gem with you. Predictable "surprise" ending, but still heavy for a 4 year old.

Whole lotta nothin', except late night tv

Just as I began to recover from the debilitating November virus, it was confirmed that I would not have a day job, past turkey day. Ironic, of course, that as soon as gas prices plummet, I no longer need to drive. What do they say again about a recession being when your neighbor is out of work, a depression is when you are? .... This is depressing.

What's news? Let's see... wife hit the retaining wall at her parents house with the Maxima, completing the trifecta. I'm still hitting the sauce. Spending more time than usual with the kids, drives you a bit mad, y'know? Wife had a sniffle, it turned to pneumonia - sickness seems to be going around.

Can't wait for Christmas.

Cold November Reigns

November started well enough - 6 days in Disney with the family, expensive, but fun. First day back, wife backs van out of garage, into my car - blames dizziness, ears haven't popped from flight yet....4th day back, son isn't feeling well, starts to take antibiotics... 5th day back, son throws up dinner and antibiotics on rug in hall, I hose off rug, outside.... 7th day back, son is in ER with pneumonia - he likes getting xrays... 8th day back , ER, take two, still too many white blood cells chasing bacteria - he gets IV antibiotics...10th day back, I'm running 101.5 fever...11th day, 102.5... 12th day, I miss work with full on white knuckle plague - doctor says I don't look so good as I stumble, in a dripping cold sweat, into his office. He recommends rest and fluids - call him later. 16th day, fever broken, but stomach problems are now joined by a nagging cough - doc comes through with codeine laced cough syrup. I slept well last night, first time in a week, and just dosed before this blog, going to bed soon - later.

I remember this too well...

Eight years of unpopular, scandal ridden, Republican rule - a divisive war, a lousy economy, gas prices out of control . The Dems have a fresh faced outsider coming in, and we all know, finally change is in the wind...it's 1976 all over again, my faithful readers, time to invest in guns and ammo, because things are about to get way worse.

Unfortunately, there's no Gipper waiting in the wings....

I think we should go see a movie as a diversion.

I need a vacation

Ok, maybe not from the intermittent blogging, but I'm just feeling spent. And sore.

Wife and Daughter went camping with girl scouts Friday into Saturday, left me home with the boy. Friday night we watched Spider-Man, and on Saturday we played in the street - he was Spidey on his bike, I was Green Goblin, on the skateboard. You have to have seen the movie, the bad guy has some flying surfboard thing..... anyhow, after an hour or so of reckless fun I'm just standing on the board, enjoying the October weather, when in less the a second the board flies out from under me, I hit the pavement real hard, and I just lay there trying not to move, hoping nothing is broken. I manged to get up and limp in - minor hip bruise, elbow bruise, and pain from my neck down through my collarbone/shoulder/arm that is still ringing two days later. I'll get back on the skateboard, I think the deal was, as long as I was going up and down the street I was fine, but tryig to stand still, pointing ACROSS the street is a problem as the pavement is crowned - as I almost was, too.

Throughout the day, we shared our appreciation for October, even enjoying our new favorite Halloween tune. Yeah, that's the guy from the B-52s .... surprised I missed this the first time around.

Lesson Learned.

I've been preoccupied with market madness, overlapping sports seasons, kids starting up school...SOS. Saw a few minutes of Palin interviews... still easy on the eyes, but yikes! If she ran the whole shooting match, well, it would be interesting.

Celebrated our 12 year anniversary with a fancy dinner out - Lesson Leaned? If the "Specials" don't have prices, they are expensive.

It's been awhile....

Yeah, I've been doing anything but posting, for a bit... apologies to all of you - your devotion is much appreciated.

Late summer became a blur of amusement parks, work, various personal obligations, and studying. Yes - studying... I haven't taken a test for like 13 years, but decided to pursue a professional certification that should make it easier to find work next time I'm on the bench. It was pretty hard work, and I'm glad it's over. These things are a racket, too - they charge major bucks for the class and the materials and to get and stay certified on top if that - basically like a work tax.

I've taken up cigars to complement the bourbon... tough part is finding an hour alone, outside, to enjoy it.

Incidentally - watching the Rutgers game - NC just opened up a 17-6 lead in the first half .... big time football, indeed. Maybe they can come back....

So tired of the politics stuff, though Palin is easy on the eyes...is that reason enough to vote her in? Anyhow I'll be back.....

No News Is Not Good News, Apparently...

All of this taunting... is it my fault to be in a midsummer brainout? It is digusting out every day... work is fine - a time consuming administration of business functions ... every weekend the Kafkaesque blur of errands, family gatherings, and traffic. On an up note, my son re-broke his front tooth... you know, the one he cracked on a door knob a few months back? He seems to be.....OK see? this is why I haven't written... somehow all I got at this point: kids and broken teeth, kids throwing up in the pool, kids crying when it's time to leave.... How about the Mets? 11 0f their last 13, tied for first in the East.... election is just too boring...why does the air conditioner blow lukewarm air? I need more time....

Now THAT'S a fire.

Drove past this big ass fire on the way in last week - besides that, not much excitement... oh yeah, someone kicked up a rock and put a nice crack in my windshield.... that's pretty cool. Another downside to driving - I miss closing my eyes on the way home after a long day, or at least, reading a magazine.

OT or Muscle Shirt Seat Covers

A few weeks back I was at my daughters softball practice, and decided to make the best of it by teaching my son how to clean out the van. While sweeping out debris and windexing, a mom in the next van over says - "Steve?" I look over, and it's that old girlfriend, famed for the OT play... she was only in the picture briefly, but her memory lingers. Anyhow, we chat for a minute or two...kids playing softball, live around here, blah blah. I explain how I'm teaching the boy the fine art of keeping his vehicle clean ("It's a clean machine..."), and she asks if it has muscle shirt seat covers..... just like the wheels I romanced her in, all those years ago....

Anyhow, the answer is no, no need for the seat covers at this time.

I caved...or is it, cavied?

Kids were begging to get a pet, I thought I had a good out. "You can get a guinea pig if your grandmother lets you get a cage to keep down it with you at her shore house." She'd never go for it - house is too pristine.

I was wrong.

SpotWinkle, welcome to the family:

Mangled Cliches

I was going to call this post "Mixed Metaphors", but as the Rutgers guy pointed out "If there's no metaphor, there's no mixed metaphor."

Overheard at work .... "and again, I get the raw end of the stick..." .... hmmmmm. Reminds of the incompetent boss that warned her team not to get caught "running behind the eight ball..."

It's official

The pundits have been debating it for months now, but I knew it was official when my neighbor got let go from his well paying job at the big brokerage outfit - the recession has arrived. I've been hearing more and more stories of layoffs, and certainly I'm experiencing sticker shock at the pumps, but I still do not see much real pain. No behavioral change at all. Just as many cars on the road, all driving like ass. Long lines at movies and restaurants. Maybe a few more months and it will sink in. The election results may shock a few Americans into paying attention. (By the way, how come when some relatively small % of white people vote for Hil, because she's white, that's problematic racism, but when 90% of black people vote for Obama, that's sensible behavior? )

I've been driving alot lately, so buying gas frequently. A few weeks back, as I turned to pay the attandant, I saw that the price was 3.299... and while I kept a poker face, I was pissed. I could not believe that somehow I got suckered into one of those situations where all the stations are chaging like 2.89, but somehow I pulled in to the crazy expensive one. I drove out of there, embarassed, but now I was going to be more careful. I was relieved, later that evening, when I saw that gas was at least 3.29 everywhere, even the cheap station. At least if I'm getting robbed, everyone else is too. And besides, it's over 3.50 now...

Was that a yes or a no?...

This guy is great - I'm sure I worked with him at one time or another....

Thoughts from the road....

Those white dashed lines between the lanes on the Turnpike - who knew they were twice as long as the lane is wide? And those lanes - not wide enough to contain your errant driving after yelling "Those jerks!" when The Doors are on the radio, and laughing at your insanely quick ability to recall obscure funny moments from the eighties.

Bayway refinery looking awesome on the crystal clear nights driving home from Newark. It's lit up like Times Square, but instead of smelling like piss, it smells like...well, that Turnpike refinery smell.

What's new?

The big news is that I got lucky. No, not THAT way - but after 13 months, I was able to leave my gig at ...rhymes with "witty" group. The people that I would have missed got the boot about a week after I left, so there is not much that I miss. Food from street vendors tops the very short list.

New job is working for and with people that I like, and have known for a long time. Instead of just under 2 hours each way by train/car, I'm looking at about an hour's drive. The work is interesting, so far, and I'm getting about 26 miles to the gallon overall. Spring is slowly coming....life is good.

I'll get back to bitching about life soon, just wanting to enjoy this moment...

Tennis, anyone?

This article on clever uses for tennis balls is perfectly congruous with the the BIOAPI spirit. I'm partial to use #17 , maybe #31, and would love to have a #47.

"I say, anyone for tennis?"

Kid stuff

No clever links this time - just a few kid stories...some of you already know them, but anyhow.....


A few weeks ago we brought the kids into the city - the big draw was the Museum of Natural History. On the way there, my 5 year old son was pretty excited, and having seen the movie, "Night At The Museum", was especially looking forward to the dinosaur displays. NJ Transit provided thrills that were only built upon by the subway ride - the dinosaurs were really going to put this day over the top.

We were advised to head to the 4th floor to see the dinos. As the elevator doors opened, he asked, eyes wide "Where's Rexy?" I knew the T-Rex was just around the corner, and let him lead the way to the wondrous sight. The dinosaur displays were just as impressive as I expected, with the fossils arranged to demonstrate their size and ferocity, and the T-Rex was particularly menacing with it's huge jaws and teeth. My boy looked up at the beast, screwed up his face, and looked at me with an expression between disgust and disappointment, "That is NOT Rexy!", he proclaimed, "He isn't even MOVING!" Uh-oh...I figured he understood that the dinosaur that came to life in the movie was not real, but I was wrong. There was no real recovery from this letdown, and most of the museum, besides the face to face with "Dum-Dum" was a struggle to keep his interest. Next time I'll just let him ride the Newark Light Rail for a few hours.

My 8 year old daughter, now she's a different story. I'v managed to get her interested in better music than the Hannah Montana and other insipid kid stuff out there, so now she has become a bit of a Beatles fan - raiding my CD collection, and even looking up Beatles cartoons on YouTube - actually both her and the boy are doing that now, which is a welcome relief from wall to wall Sponge Bob. So I decide to indulge her interest, and pick up a Ringo CD at the library, to share with her. After leaving her to listen to it while she cleaned her room, she called me in, with a note of concern in her voice. Ringo was singing that oldie, "You're 16", and she asks me "How old is he?" So I say, probably 33 or so when he's singing this song, and she comes back with how that's a little wierd, inappropriate, and she's not sure whether she likes this song. Well then. I argue that he's remembering what it was like to be a teenager, and she seemed to think that was an ok explanation, though I guess I'm glad she's cautious. About a half hour later I walked in on her enthusiastically singing the verses to the "No-No Song". She just found the bouncy rhyhym and exotic sounding words to be too much fun to resist, and proclaimed this song her favorite! I begged with her to NEVER mention this to her teachers, friends or anyone besides me, "ok?", explaining that it was about drugs, and drugs are bad, and how if she mentions them in school, she will get in BIG trouble. I think she got it.

Vague food observations

Most of the food items referenced seem pretty gross, but, as you might guess, at least one has graced my plate - "fish steaks", in hot OR mustard sauce, on ritz crackers, make a fine bachelor snack when getting home after a late night. When it comes to the rest of this stuff - well, who among us doesn't know at least one fan of scrapple?

The best part of TV

The ads back in the day could be pretty good - I especially like the guy giving his wife the business over her lousy coffee. I wonder if those commercials played during classic sitcoms....

The '70s

I remember the '70s pretty well, and most of it was lame - bum economy, ugly clothes, Jimmy Carter, gas shortages, junior high....but strangely enough, some things were better in the '70s than now, namely Chevy Chase and SNL: PROOF.

Diamond Dave - Solo

If you ever enjoyed VH, and you know I did, yeeeaaaaaahhhhhh, this is interesting.....

Misfortune cookie...

OK, so it's speculation - it's still based on Chinese strategic planning "printed in China’s military journals and textbooks".... pretty compelling stuff.

Go Fly a Kite

You knew I would love this idea: using kites to drag ships around to save fuel. Now if I could rig one of these to get me to work.....

This old nut house

My first job out of college sent me on a 40 minute drive, where I drove past the entrance to the infamous Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital. Common knowledge was, this was where the serious cases went, heavy duty restraints, electroshock therapy, lobotomies and such. The pictures seem to indicate that while all of that was quite possible, a fresh coat of paint and new drapes would do wonders.

Wrapping up the Holiday

Generally speaking, it was a decent holiday season - no one was particularly sick or ill tempered - me included. Christmas eve and morning were highlighted by a houseful of family and friends really having a good time, eating and drinking to excess - this is my favorite part of Christmas, and I truly enjoy the party. I got the CD I wanted, and the wife got everything she asked for as well as a surprise gift - one of those back massage and heat things that works at home or in the car - she likes it, cool. I did have some discomfort, though, predictably, brought on my inability to have any meaningful impact on slowing down the holiday spending frenzy that my household participates in.

I suppose it benefits local retailers, credit card companies, and Asian manufacturing companies specializing in crafting poorly engineered, partially assembled, complex plastic crapscapes for kids to cry over, trip over, and lose interest in by New Years. Oh yes, and I am sure the act of purchasing all of these important gifts gives one a sense of empowerment, but in the interest of continued domestic bliss, I'll move past that, quickly.

Midway through the the holiday morning gift opening ritual, I had that familiar sickness in my belly, as I realized that as my lovely kids tore through the dozens of gifts, they were getting little real satisfaction or joy, it was just a reflexive frenzy - I'm sure if I paid more attention in General Psych I'd remember if it was truly Pavlovian. Or maybe I was just sickened as I was able to visualize the mountain of holiday debt more clearly. Whatever, It felt bad.

My parents stopped by later that morning to exchange gifts and pleasantries, and poor Mom was an unwitting victim of the frenzy's power. Upon being offered a single wrapped gift along with an envelope (Italian for money), my 5 year old, demonstrated the intense power of Classical Conditioning , and demanded to know where the rest of the gifts were, surely there was not just one?! While his meltdown was minor, I was still compelled to engage in another form of conditioning, just to remind him to knock it off.

The fun continued throughout Christmas day. Generous piles of gifts and over excited kids were the order of the day, tempered with Black Label. We packed the van for the ride home after a long day, agreeing to leave a number of parcels behind for next time, as the booty exceeded our capacity. On the ride home, I obsessively contemplated my inability to pay all of these holiday bills, the (always timely) car insurance bill, and the annual landscaping bomb - Jake does a great job on the lawn, his rates are low, but his one-bill-a-year policy is always tough to digest.

About a mile or so from home, while stopped at a light, I sensed something amiss with the van - "Christ I need this now? Another frigging thousand bucks?" A vibration, a subtle hum... I shifted to neutral, no change in the vibration, so probably not drivetrain related. I made sure the radio was off and switched off the heat, to see if the fan was the issue, but it was still there, and I started sweating. My wife asked what I was doing - pretty nervy to turn the heat off, y'know, and I shared my concern about the van. She rolled her eyes, shook her head and thanked me again for the massage seat, reminding me that it was keeping her comfy all the way home - then switched it off to allay my concern. If only all my concerns were so easily addressed.

All the best in 2008.

Christmas Cheer

Christmas is a time of joy and festivity, family and wintry fun. Last night, I saw it all, and some.

We left a family gathering and shortly after dark, and decided to give the kids a cheap thrill by taking a ride by one of the local houses where the owners do a very over the top job of decorating - every bit of lawn and home are covered with lights, various plastic statues, moving puppets, 12 foot snow globes, the works. Rumor has it the neighbors are thrilled, especially with the nightly procession of gawkers from near and far, causing a traffic jam on the otherwise quiet suburban street.

On this particular night a sign was posted above a chair on the driveway - Santa would be appearing at 6:30 - we were 5 minutes early - yippeee! I parked a bit down the street, and the four of us joined the growing crowd - I lost count at 50, mostly parents with young kids, with more coming. It was cold and breezy, and I was just a little annoyed that Santa was 5 minutes late, but the price was right. He had a few helpers, and they gave candy canes out and the kids were all generally well behaved, though there was quite a crowd bustling on the driveway. From the middle of the crowd a father raised his voice, "Honey, can you get a towel, the baby threw up?!" A frazzled dad, clutching his dazed two or three year old stood at the sidewalk part of the driveway, while his wife stared at the child, intently. The father shouted louder "You can stare all you want, she's still throwing up - get a towel!" As the agitated mother slowly stepped back, the pained child resumed spewing. This was no infant spit-up. It was a full on frat party spray, and as the crowd began to scatter, confusion was clearly in the air. New guests were pushing forward, blissfully unaware of the spectacle, while witnesses to the event were torn between getting our young 'uns to safety or offering assistance. The last thing I saw as we got out of Dodge was a parent dutifully filming his kid approaching the man in red, while inadvertently trudging through the still steaming puddles.....

Seems like old times

Last week was the holiday party for the consulting outfit I'm working with. Decent spread, Rockefeller Center, overlooking the tree lighting. Well stocked, open bar. I had a few scotches, big cups, and headed for home. It struck me on the way home that at my advanced age, a big advantage of drinking booze over beer is that I didn't need to hit the head, all two hours of the trip home - no teeth gritting, white knuckle waiting for some guy hiding in the train toilet because he's to cheap to buy a ticket. A far cry from college days, when the goal of doing shots was to get as plastered as possible.

That got me to thinking of other things I'm doing that I did back in the day, but for different reasons. Example: I stay up pretty late these days, like back in the old days. In college it was because that's when people were up and about, and you could enjoy the party; now it's when they're all asleep, so I can enjoy the quiet. I'm working two jobs, again, but actually enjoying the cash less....hmmmmmm. Oh well, there's always the scotch - big cups, ideally.

Market Matters

These two guys do a nice job explaining the current state of the market....

So I need to be challenged?

Times are tough all over - the banks are getting their asses kicked over the poor handling of risky loans and what was a miserable place to work has become a miserable, penny-pinching, chamber of horrors. So, I went on a few interviews.

Took a day off, and some, to meet with 5 people at a big name pharma outfit, and thought we all got on just swell. A few days later, the recruiter called with the bad news - they thought I was great, but that I would not be "challenged" in the position.... "challenged"?.... this is about paying bills and not being in hell, not about making it to the pinnacle of Maslow's freakin' pyramid , dammitt.

Beside's that, more of the same - family stuff, 'Phins suck, ... at least I have old reliable ...

Before Mike was famous...Katsak!

Mike Rowe is a crackup on "Dirty Jobs", but as the QVC clip shows, he used to be all about Katsak.

"You guys can do this..."

Saw this on "American Digest" , and I got the shivers, as it reminded me of a similar beating that I got about 7 years back, when the wife decided it was time to move up - at least I got lucky and did not buy in at a peak, or spend more than I could afford.

For those buyers who borrowed heavily, recently, there is a good chance the property is worth less than the amount owed. This is not too unusual with a car, but 20 grand isnt the same as 300. The dominoes are just starting to fall. First the borrowers punking out, leading to foreclosures. The lienholders, often, but not always, banks, will take most of the hit on the difference between what they are owed and the property will fetch, in what are sure to become a saturated bunch of markets.

It has happened before, as recently as the late 80s/early 90s, and will happen again. I saw folks make good money picking up condos in the market trough of the early 90s, renting them out to cover expenses, plus, then selling them after a dozen years or so at 200% or better profit to cost. Watch for the opportunities that will surface in the next few years.

You have to hand it to the banks, this time around. They did a very clever job of repackaging most of the sub-prime mortgages and selling them to cash rich entities, often overseas, who thought they were buying high grade debt. Buyer beware.

Steve needed a second job

But did he REALLY need the extra dough?

Nice car, anyhow....

Economics Fun with Ron and Ben

For most people, this converation will be pretty boring. Too bad, because I enjoy listening to two smart, influential policy makers, talking economics, and feel compelled to share. For the record, I think highly of both Ron and Ben.

Part 1

Part 2

By popular demand...

As far as I could tell, these computers were never going to catch on.



Shatner, on the other hand, was always a lock. And so cool.

States full of smart people....

vote for losers? I'm not sure how else to interpret this. Maybe it has something to do with being "book smart", but having no common sense. W can act pretty darn dumb, but Kerry? Pointless, man, pointless and anti American.

By the way, anyone notice that pretty much all the front runners are lawyers? Super.

The cool stays cool...

I promise not to post anymore of these 80s commercials, but Costanza selling burgers was one I forgot about, and worth a look.

Well turn it up, man!

Freedom Rock - album of the week. I wish I had bought this when it was available, but i just kept forgetting.

More kid stuff

Tried something different this weekend... Wild West City.

The place is a bit run down, but the constant cowboy shoot-em-up shows kept all the kids amused. Guns, holsters, and cowboy hats are pretty much mandatory, kids can bring their own, or they are happy to sell you some.

They actually sell beer at the saloon, a dollar a cup. Oh yeah, be careful not to get shot.

What a train wreck

Sorry for the big gap in posting - kids are out of school, work has been busy, I was sick, whatever.

Uneventful summer so far. One day we took the kids hiking and playing in the water at Hacklebarney, not quite an hour away. Simple, fun trip - you should try it.

I've noticed as the temps are rising, more crazy people talking to themselves in the city. Thank goodness for my shuffle, drowns 'em out - this week it's Kid Rock, Bob Seger, Metallica, Dean Martin, GNR, White Zombie, Gretchen Wilson, and Toby Keith, mostly.

Speaking of work, it still stinks - but now the firings and resignations are kicking in...but of course, no reductions in expected output. I think this is how the unions got started...

At least kill THESE lawyers....

I know it's a misquote, but Shakespeare is widely credited with advising death to all lawyers. How about we just kill these H-1B dirtbags?

But not Denny Crane - he's cool.

Thanks to Jim for the heads up.

Triumph rocks

I rarely can stay up late enough for Conan, but Triumph is worth it....

Go, Speed Racer, Go

Finally, the return of "Speed Racer", the first TV show I was obsessed with, at age three.

The Mach 5 rocks, and Christina Ricci is looking better than in the Addams Family days. I hope Susan Sarandon doesn't wreck the film with any political grandstanding. Her last good performance was in one of my favorite films, though her performance was overshadowed.

Speed Racer was the first anime I remember seeing, and was probably the best, except for, maybe, the big guy.

Ron Paul in 2008

From Dr. Paul's own campaign:

Brief Overview of Congressman Paul’s Record:

He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.
He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.

There is alot to like, here.

Radio, Radio....

I should have seen the pitch coming.

Woman calls me up from some sort of radio operation, Voice America, saying they are looking for someone to add to their portfolio of business broadcasts, and that my background would fit in well - can we talk about me doing a show? On the one hand I'm flattered, but my basic thought is - I have no time for this nonsense. I let her know I'm kinda busy, but she persists, claiming that it would easy, with available training, to put together 13 one hour shows.... huh? 13? I figured maybe a fifteen minute chat but this is nuts - the kicker - It will only cost me $6500 to have the privilege of working for Voice America!! A couple of follow up calls to try and persuade me, but ...

I said no, thanks, at this time.

Lotsa news....

Busy news month, don't you think? Rutgers women play some good hoops, get a big yawn, then Imus cracks unwise, and NOW they're heroic... Crazy guy in Virginia shoots up the campus, nothing funny there....torrential local rain...I'm especially riveted to the unfolding drama around the speeding, unbelted millionaire NJ Gov - reminds of the Kennedys, always bulletproof, till that pesky tree, storm, bullet, comes along.... Alec Baldwin chewing out his kid was a hoot - I wonder if he was "acting!"

This week, it's all about Sheryl Crow and her TP rationing. She now is backpedaling, claiming it was a joke, but why should we believe anything these clowns say - barking about global warming from their mansions and jets... I'd like to see her wipe with just one sheet...actually, yeah I would like to that, in slow motion, with zoom.

Life in the BIOAPI lane

Clearly, I'm posting less. Main reason - new job. Details to follow, but, it is pretty bad in almost every way imaginable: Longest commute I've ever had, unimpressive pay, rigorous time demands ... start with 18 hours of conference calls a week and build from there..., horrific working conditions packed 4 to a 10X12 cube, no windows, low ceilings, flooding bathroom ... it goes on, but I need material for the "why I quit" post.

A week or two into it, I began to realize that the long days were not a short term thing, and was wondering how soon to contemplate exit strategy. On a Friday night, about 7pm, I disembarked from my train, boarded my 12 year old Taurus, and began the last leg of my hour and 45 commute. On cue, a pedestrian walks in front of the car in front of me, which stops short, I brake, foot goes to floor, the Taurus proceeds unabated...

In the next quarter of a second, the experience of a lifetime of hand-me-down, used, pre-owned and well-worn toys, clothes, bikes, cars, houses and women ran through my mind, somewhere in all that I found the right reaction quick enough - pump the brake madly and steer away from the car in front of you.

I avoided a collision, but now had a dilemma - do I call AAA and pretty much piss away Friday night, already I'm exhausted from leaving most mornings at 6, and not being home before 8, till, maybe, tonight, or do I try to coax the car to the repair shop, a few miles away, through traffic lights and never ending congestion, and call my wife to pick me up there?

I drive.

By going juuuuust slow enough, downshifting the automatic, and pumping the brakes like mad when needed, I avoid disaster, and make it to the shop. There, I noticed the quickly growing pool of fluid just under the drivers side back door, which I would later be told was a rusted brake line, part of a whole system that was in sorry shape.

Wife comes to get me , brings me home for dinner, then we put the kids to bed. Afterwards, I mention how my years of driving old cars sure did come in handy as I knew how to avoid disaster, and even saved the time associated with a tow. I should have known I was inviting trouble - better off to be the pissed off stoic like dad. The return volley was unexpected - oh sure, maybe "You idiot - you could have killed yourself or others, and left your children without a father!" would have been appropriate, maybe even right, but I just didn't see......

"Well you know, you don't need to live this way anymore - I for one am sick and tired of looking at this crappy old kitchen table, it's not pretty, I'm embarassed by it, and I'm still angry you wouldn't buy me the one wanted ETC ETC ETC " for ten minutes...

While she was talking - no need to really listen to the specifics, I already know the tune - I thought about the original inspiration for this blog, the Bang It Out and Paint It lifestyle, and was reminded that it is not for everyone. I also wondered if she was right...not about the table, that's just fine, I tell you, but whether I should buy myself a better car - not just yet, though.

So, the next week, I drive our other old car to the train, for another hell week. Thursday night, 7:30, getting off the train, guess whose alarm is going off, light are flashing, and battery is dead?
I called my brother for help - he totally gets it, helped me out, and gave me no shit whatsoever. Thanks, Dom.

For my Irish friends....

My daughter just caught me playing this game.

Quote: "Daddy, what does "piss" mean?" God, I love her....

News from Europe...Thanks, Sam

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats that have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved". Soon though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross". Londoners have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance". The last time "A Bloody Nuisance" warning level occurred was during the great fire of 1666.

Also, the French government announced yesterday that it has raised it's terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide". The only two higher levels in France are "Surrender" and "Collaborate". The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.

It's not only the English and French who are on a heightened level of alert. Italy has increased its alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing". Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides". The Germans also increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs". Two higher levels remain: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose". Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual and the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish Navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish Navy.

Gramm likes McCain

I remember as a college student, being impressed by the simple logic behind the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings act, and by the straight talk of sponsor, Phil Gramm. His poorly run campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination in 1996 handed the party to Bob Dole, who was not up to the task. Gramm's retirement left a big gap in Republican leadership, in my opinion.

That leadership gap, Gramm opines, would best be filled at this time by John McCain. I often find McCain a bit flaky, but Phil's endorsement is meaningful to me - I'll pay more attention to McCain as 2008 approaches...

By the way - if you follow the link above to Gramm's wikipedia entry, there are some priceless quotes, e.g.

"Has anyone ever noticed that we live in the only country in the world where all the poor people are fat?" — During his first Senate Campaign against Democrat Lloyd Doggett.

The BIOAPI King

Inc Magazine's Entrepreneur of the Year for 2006, Ken Hendricks, is light years ahead of me at this BIOAPI thing. The article in Inc is lengthy, but worth the read - Ken is a billionaire several times over, but pretty much does it by fixing up broken stuff: buildings, companies, etc. I especially like how he treats the guy from the magazine to dinner at his faorite local restaurant - on two-for-one night. My kind of guy.

Eurogreenies

At first I thought this was a pretty good idea - by not lighting the Eiffel Tower, the French Governement would be saving scads of energy, and setting a fine example for the citizenry - all that extra juice could be used driving electric cars to round up the rioting youth in the suburbs. Upon reading the details, the whole thing is typical Euro BS - they are turning off the lights for 5 minutes, once. This will accomplish pretty much nothing.

My proposal: Turn the lights on for 15 minutes, every evening. Long enough for tourists to take pictures, and the Germans to fix their coordinates, then shut them off.

NYT on the SOTU

Since I do not own a bird cage, I usually have little use for the Times. They deserve credit for this neat little tool for searching through the text of President Bush's State of the Union addresses, since 2001. Looking up "deficit " was illuminating. In all fairness, they should make a tool like this available going back beyond Bush, but this is still fun.

Bernanke is on the ball

Watching his testimony on Capitol Hill as I type, fielding questions from Senator Sanders from Vermont, he is sharp, quick with facts and looking to fix what is broke: Control Federal entitlement spending, make sure taxation fits spending, and deal with issues now, not later.

A Strong Constitution

Sorry for the late start in '07. I had a cold. The car wouldn't start. My daughter threw up. It wasn't my fault.....

Sometimes I write in this blog, but more often I read them: Lileks, Autoblog, Opinion Journal, Ernie's, and more than a few others.

I also kill time reading the local paper, and scanning Fatwallet for interesting freebies... careful don't use these when you mean to use these!

Along the way I stumbled across a blog written by a nice fellow who maintains a web community for those interested in the plight of "work-at-home-dads" ... I'm interested, as I sort of work at home, though some might say I'm more of a "not-working-much-but still-at-home-dad". Since it's become impossible to blog about anything without politics being pulled into it, it was just a matter of time....some pretty good points made here about erosions of personal liberties, Presidents snooping around in mailboxes, etc, the whole Ben Franklin Liberty/Security thing.

My response to the question "Should the Federal Government eavesdrop without a warrant?" is in this forum, and follows:

My vote is no.

If an individual is going to really stand up for the Constitution, as it is written, then they also should read the whole thing, all of the amendments, and stand for them all - Cherry picking is not fair. Some to keep in mind :

Amendment 1 - No Federal laws respecting or prohibiting religion. Nothing here about decorations on the municipal building lawn, one way or the other.

Amendment 2 - "... the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." 'nuff said.

Amendment 4 - As Justin referenced, citizens are supposed to be secure in their persons, houses, etc., until a Warrant is produced - then all bets are off. In practice, this does protect individuals from having their privacy violated, quickly, but if a Judge sees fit, these rights vanish. I recall that one of our community members is a "Men's Rights" specialist - the 4th Amendment has been trampled for decades in family court.

Amendment 6 - 8 - Guidelines around speedy trials, excessive bail, etc, sound nice, but are subjective. Keep an eye on the Judges.

Amendment 14 - "All persons born...in the US...are citizens of the US and the state wherein they reside" This has received more attention as concern regarding border control is rising.

Amendment 16 - "The Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived....." Wesley Snipes, are you paying attention?

Amendment 18/21 - Prohibition / repeal. The Federal Government reserves the right to change the rules - and change them back, if they want to. Any Amendment is fair game.

Clearly, there is much more to the Constitution than these highlights. Constitutional experts try their best to spin the language of the framers to suit their political and personal biases, but much of it seems pretty clear to me.
_________________

The Good News is All Bad ...to some

Saddam is dead, hanged, as it turns out. And now, finally, Amnesty Interational is really pissed off! It seems that no matter how many thousands of people he made sure were tortured, killed or mistreated, the death penalty is too severe a sentence. These Amnesty guys are tough to get riled.

But, then, they're in good company.

Hybrids are NOT the silver bullet...

...but some of them, at least the Prius, are pretty ugly. Maybe you save gas just by avoiding driving so no one sees you in it. In any event, the hybrid technology, at this stage, is not delivering as promised, according to the EPA. It looks like we'll have to try old fashioned ways to reduce our fuel bills - driving less, perhaps by biking, or shopping around for the best price.

Drive safely - or else!

"Schmoe" checks out.

Peter Boyle has died. Well known as the Ray's dad in "Everybody Loves Raymond", and for roles in movies like "Taxi Driver" and as Frankenstein's monster in "Young Frankenstein", to me, he will always remain "Schmoe".

My first encounter with Peter Boyle was in the pages of MAD Super Special #18 from 1975, where they featured a parody of his movie "Joe", called "Schmoe". The comic, reprinted from 1971, was full of jokes about hippies, Vietnam, Spiro Agnew - stuff that made sense when written, some of which was already dated by 1975, and little of which was fully grasped by this 10 year old reader. Even so, I always loved the MAD stuff, and still crack up when I see certain movies and characters they parodied. Like "Schmoe".

Boltin' Bolton

I'm very disappointed to see John Bolton out at the UN - his presence there was one of Bush's few decisions that I saw as unquestionably right. In the face of all the anti-american and criminal activity taking place there, it was good to see a straight shooting watchdog - which, I suppose, is why he's gone.

John Gibson's linked column from Fox News suggests that we'd be better off if the UN moved to Paris or Africa; and how that ain't gonna happen. I remember reading a suggestion that they move the UN to the top floors of whatever gets built at the World Trade Center site - always loved that idea!

Any thoughts on JB for President in 2008?

A parting gift from Toz

Jeffrey Toczylowski wrote:

"As far as I am concerned, we can send guys like me to go after them or we can wait for them to come back to us again. I died doing something I believed in and have no regrets except that I couldn't do more."

Sounds like a heckuva party - I hope Toz knew his efforts were appreciated.

Same warming, different globe

Darn! Al Gore was hoping he could move to another planet to escape this confounded global warming!!

Now, 'fess up, which one of you had the nerve to drive the gas-guzzler Excursion on Mars?

Rest, peacefully....

Milton Friedman has died.

During his long lifetime he saw so much change in the world, but remained consistent in his vision of a dynamic economy, able to grow unfettered by government intervention. The influential free market economist and Nobel Prize winner should get a tenth of the recognition and accolades from his alma mater that their most favorite communist does.

Sadly, he will not get even that.

Listen to the Cop.

Next time you get pulled over, listen to the cop.

Rutgers Notes...

Wow - this is not just like old times. As an undergrad during the Burns/Anderson era , we never saw the level of football excitement we're seeing this week. We also did not see so many tall buildings and fancy coffee shops on the banks. What we DID see was this:



Greasy Tony's was a New Brunswick institution, known for it's architecture (used to be a Carrol's hamburger stand, as was the Grande Pizzarama on 18 South, near the Drive-In, but I digress), late night hours and wide ranging menu, all of it greasy and good. Most of that block was demolished a number of years back to build a great big building for the university - nothing to compare to Greasy Tony's has been seen in the Hub City, since.

Tony relocated to Arizona.

By the way, the building next door to GT's, the Brunswick Pub, was owned by the brother of the owner of the North Brunswick Pub, and was the first local place I got served. In case you were wondering.

The Greasy Tony's picture above was forwarded to me a number of years back...I think they came from Dave? New Brunswick Greasy Tony Pics are hard to come by, though I found these two after a short search:

Kyoto Uh-Oh

Nice little article hidden on page 6 of today's WSJ. According to the UN, over the 2000-2004 period, the US is actually doing a better job controlling it's CO2 emissions than several Kyoto participants.

Highlights

US 1.3% UP
European Union 2.4% UP
Spain 11.4% UP
Austria 12.4% UP
UK 1% DOWN
Germany .7% DOWN
Canada 4.6% UP

So....
Blame Canada!

Hot Apple Pie -Like stuff

Long time poster Jimmy Burns has submitted a recipe for all to enjoy - perfect for campsite or fireplace:

Get an apple; biggest size you can.
Hollow out the center--remove core.
Throw in a glob of butter, brown sugar, cinammon, some raisins
Wrap it in some foil
Put it in or near a fire. If you have >1 apple, put them in a foil tray and then cover it, or wrap them up in a bigger piece of foil.
Wait 45 minutes; open the foil and (this is key) put t in a bowl--there will be hot apple juice coming out of it and you don't want to spill it on yourself.
Eat.

Record Review: Trout Mask Replica

Lately I've been picking up CDs at the library, figuring to burn them if I like. Imagine my unbridled pleasure when I saw one of rock's greatest albums of all time (according to Rolling Stone and countless professional and amateur reviewers), waiting for me to bring it home for a spin. Finally, my chance to hear Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replicahad arrived.

Too bad - it just is not good.

Critically acclaimed for it's "sophisticated" arrangements and "unconventional" approach to music, TMR has been praised as a benchmark album, that requires many listens to really "get". Among the best ever, with the Captain up there with Mozart, Beethoven and those guys.

Ummmm - no it isn't, and he's not.

What the Captain has done here, and I give him all due credit, is execute an "emperor has no clothes" album, at once revealing the ignorance of his reviewers, and his contempt for them. For that I applaud him, with enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, legions of Rolling Stone readers are still subjected to fawning reviews of this album, which was almost certainly created as a joke. Oh TMR has it's moments, occasional amusing lyrics, bizzare babbling children's songs, and snippets of real melody, but too much of it sounds like out of tune instruments being cleaned, or teenagers experimenting after breaking into Frank Zappa's basement. No doubt there were drugs involved, but somehow Pink Floyd and The Beatles still managed to be able to write listenable music.

It's worth a listen, just so you can say you did it.

Does anyone have a copy of The Velvet Underground & Nico?

More trouble in Europe....

...and - Surprise - the French are involved! While I think their (always romantic little) hearts are in the right place, making it illegal to speak freely, albeit, falsely, with respect to the First World War's Albanian Holocaust is a bit late, non? Previous French goverments have bowed before Hitler, and the current regime has it's hands full with domestic issues, but a spotty past and present won't stop our allies from jeopardizing Europe's future.

C'mon guys, quit rattling Turkey's chain, and deal with the problems and opportunities in front of you, not 90 years behind.

The difference between men and women

If only more messages from the Middle East were this simple, concise, and easy to understand....

French Revolution, Part Deux?

The opening line says it all:

Radical Muslims in France's housing estates are waging an undeclared "intifada" against the police, with violent clashes injuring an average of 14 officers each day.

I suppose this is, somehow, Bush's fault, or maybe tied to global warming. Whatever the root cause, change is brewing in Europe, and it does not appear to be developing in a peaceful fashion.

I was recently leafing through a few books about the world wars of the last century, noting how much of Europe was destroyed, especially in terms of Eurpean lives sacrificed. It will be interesting to see if this turns out similarly. I'm not sure that England and the US are prepared to rescue the continent, again, though Russia's always up for a brawl.

A hard rain is gonna fall.

So far, I like the approach of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. He seems to be a straight shooter, perhaps a bit cautious, but avoids being as tedious as his predecessor, Alan Greenspn. When it comes to the elephant in the room, he and Greenspan called it the same way: Social Security / Medicare is in need of major change.

Bush tried to promote "privatization" as a solution, and based on my understanding of the proposal, I believe it might have helped. The problem with privatization, and the reason it will never happen as Bush presented it was that it was way too complicated. Most Americans struggled to understand how it worked, and if they couldn't understand it, they couldn't trust it. The President, with all due respect, has difficulty articulating and selling relatively simple ideas; privatization was way harder to explain than the current program:

Pay some taxes, now - get some checks and medical benefits, later.

There is a simple solution, though painful enough that whoever proposes or endorses it will not get reelected:

Raise the retirement age, significantly.

One of the recommendations of the Greenspan Commission, in 1983, was to raise the age from 65 to 67. This change will be implemented.....eventually. It was a small step in the right direction. I propose that by raising the age to 75, or better yet, 80, Social Security will serve it's original purpose of protecting the elderly, while forcing a much simpler form of "privatization" on those who are not yet old enough to collect: you either live off savings or keep working - no Federally administered "privatized" accounts are needed.

Best of all, my proposal maintains the marketing beauty of the the current program:

Pay some taxes, now - get some checks and medical benefits, (even) later.

I'm Just a Bill.

Taranto weighs in with a number of good points regarding Clinton's epic performance with Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday" (transcript). Taranto's analysis focuses on whether a number of Clinton's key assertions were truthful, and showed that not much has changed since the Clinton presidency - truth is not relevant in a world where "is" has not been clearly defined.

Senator Clinton's husband surprised me in his loss of composure. While Clinton's term in office was marked by his scandalous personal behavior, a gathering terrorist threat, and brazen corporate fraud and deceit, he always came across as warm and collegial. Much of the country was, and remains, entranced by his positive nature. I always figured that he would be fun to spend time with at a party - while the girls hanging around might not be the prettiest, there would be plenty of them, and most of them would be drinking.

At this time, though, I think he is getting a bit cranky, maybe even nuts. He is not having as much fun as he ages, and is showing frustration as he sees that his enduring legacy is focusing on his adultery, failing to sufficiently address terrorism, and gutting the military. To compound matters, more and more rational Americans are realizing that the years of budget surplus were illusory, fueled by taxes paid on gains in the booming stock market, which in turn was the product of wild speculation and the aforementioned corporate fraud. The bills would be paid later, as stock prices reverted to the norm, terrorism became a front burner issue, and the military rebuilding process erased those surpluses and some.

I hope he can regain control of his composure, and become the "fun" Bill Clinton, again. If Hillary is in the Oval Office, maybe he can show her a few of his favorite office tricks, there, for old times sake. At the rate he is going, he appears headed for a fate worse than being Hillary's First Man - being the second coming of Jimmy Carter.

"I'm a baaaad boy!"

So it seems the Pope has provoked those peace loving Islamic folk. He claims to have not meant to cause such a stir, but he is the Pope, and, if I recall my churching correctly, Popes are pretty much all knowing, so he should have known:

"Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence," (Pakistani) Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.

The more I think about the Islamic spin on this story, I am reminded of an old Merrie Melodies cartoon, with the the Pope as the "bad boy" provoking the lion. He better be careful - it does not end well for him!

Weighty matters.

Childhood obesity is in the headlines quite a bit lately. Like global warming, terrorism, and attention deficit disorder, it's one of those issues that did not merit much attention, arguably did not exist, when I was a kid; now it must be dealt with. And, like all of those other seemingly unrelated issues, the government has a solution: public policy - excuse me while I grab my wallet.

These public administrators are priceless:

"The very health of the country hangs in the balance until we reverse the childhood obesity epidemic," Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president of the Princeton, N.J.-based Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which funded the report, said at a press conference.

"Leaders in Washington, in our home states and towns need to accept this cold hard fact: That if we do not reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity, millions of kids and our society will be robbed of a healthy and hopeful future," Lavizzo-Mourey said.

Figures, the good doc is from NJ, home of so many historic central planning schemes. How generous, to offer that it is the responsibility of every level of government to solve this "problem". Overweight and unfit kids are not the parents fault, not the kids fault, but their Mayors, Senators, Governors, etc. Ummmm....ok.

Since I'm sure they will be getting right on this, I have a few suggestions. Start with gym class every day, with 20 minutes of vigorous calisthenics. If there is a need for a health/hygiene type course, that does not replace gym. Cut back on the bussing for kids under a mile to school - good for the environment, too! I'm sure I can come up with more, just give me a minute - oh, and the ADD kids? A slap upside the head will get their attention I bet...

Milton Friedman: Rutgers Man

Milton Friedman, the 94 year old economist, is profiled and interviewed by Rutgers Magazine. His stories of living and working as a student in New Brunswick are relevant today. In particular, his tale of how he and his roommate purchased white socks and green ties in bulk, to sell to freshman, reminds me of the endeavors of one of my roommates, who dealt in cigarettes and Cabbage Patch Kids (no kidding, bought them in bulk, sold at 200% markup and better). My roomie has since moved on to bigger schemes .

So has Milton Friedman.

RU, RAH, RAH,
RU, RAH, RAH,
HOO, RAH, HOO, RAH, RUTGERS, RAH,
UPSTREAM, RED TEAM, RED TEAM, UPSTREAM,
RAH, RAH, RUTGERS, RAH.

Eat The Rich!

This weekend's Journal has this great article, essentially saying that income has become more spread out among classes, as opposed to concentrated within the wealthy few, since 2000. Furthermore, this fact is not widely reported, as it would be incongruous with the general notion that Republican administrations favor the rich. Which, they probably do, by the way. But as any decent monetarist can tell you (cue Friedman, Sowell, and Co.), the rising tide raises all ships - perhaps the Federal tax cuts are having the desired effect...

One of my favorite books about economics is "Eat the Rich" by P.J. O'Rourke. An easy and entertaining read, as most O'Rourke work is, one key takeaway is that things are not always what they appear, especially when observing people in an economic system.

Mark the date

Some folks are predicting a devastating "nookyalar" war to commence on 9/12/06, as this video will attest. While there certainly is some stupidity involved with the subject matter, I'm not sure that the video itself is stupid. Heck, the music is quite good!

Assuming the war predictions are wrong, this party looks like the place to be. After we go cow tipping.

Camping eggs

I think I saw this on Food Network or maybe on a kid's show, but its simple, and my two kids love it - (so do I)

Start by getting your frying pan or griddle hot, as if you were going to make a grilled cheese - get your butter ready.

Take a standard slice of bread, white or wheat is fine, and carve a circle out of the middle with a knife. Decent size circle, you're gonna cook an egg in there. Save the circle that you cut out.

If the griddle is good and hot, slap some butter in there, again, as if you're making a grilled cheese, then drop in the bread, then, crack the egg, and pour into the circle. Take the extra piece of round bread and drop in the skillet alongside to toast it up. Wait a minute or so, use your judgement here, you're making an egg, not building the hubble telescope, then turn it over with your spatula. Cook for a bit longer, then serve with the little toasted circle for dipping - and preferably some of New Jersey's finest: pork roll!

ManBearPig rides again!

The USA Today editorial / opinion pages rip into Al Gore, pointing out the hypocrisy of his pro-environmental persona verus his excessive personal consumption, personal holdings in oil stocks, and his profit from mining activities on his properties. He seemed like an OK VP for the Clinton White House, but now he just seems adrift, a sort of poor and fat man's Ralph Nader, in search of his Corvair.

Or ManBearPig.

Hooray for Pallywood

Enjoy this 18 minute video - not a "stupid video" - which describes how the news we get out of the middle east might include footage which is crafted to suit particular points of view. Hollywood, watch out! I'll bet these guys work cheaper than the members of the Film Actors Guild.

Nasty Buggers

We're growing tomatoes in a pot on the back porch. The other day, the wife asks me to "take a look" at something, on the plant. There I saw three of the nastiest worms I've come across, each about the size of my ring finger, with little white critters massed on their backs, looking just like this picture:



After I terminated the worms and their little white friends, we looked them up. Tomato Hornworms - they do a fair amount of damage to the plants, eventually grow up to be moths. The white things? The cocoons of parasitic wasp larvae, which feed on the worms. Apparently, I should have let these worms and their passengers live, as the emerging wasps would endeavor to control the worm population going forward.

As disgusting as the worms were, I'm not ready to begin wasp farming just yet.

MF Interview

Entertaining interview with exemplary economist Milton Friedman and his wife, Rose, in this weekend's OpinionJournal. Married 68 years, and still arguing - gotta love that.

His points about the current administration, and the advantages of having a Democrat in the White House with a Republican Congress are especially worthy of note. Where is the next Friedman?

Durka, Durka, Durka - mohammed jihad!

I think I saw this bunch of silly dames at the mall - probably honor students. You know New Jersey is crawling with folks who think and behave this way.... very creepy.

Watching them carry on fills me with a need to watch Team America - World Police again....

Corzine's first budget

The State of New Jersey had some difficulty enacting a budget this year, and as a result, the state constitution required a shut down of non-essential services. It looks like the crooks - er, legislators - have worked out a compromise as to how they will fund the state's lavish services, and the taxpayer is left holding the bag. The big disappointment here is that Corzine could have used his experience as a bottom-line driven business guy as a basis to contain spiraling spending. Instead, he seems to be pandering to the state's unionized workers. I guess the temptation to reach into the never ending pot of tax money was too much for him to resist.

I know I have at least one reader who is a state worker - and one who isn't - (two readers is pretty sad)- do either of you know if the missed work days will end up being paid for anyway? That is, if in a normal July sees a state worker in his office 20 days, and paid for a full month, will this year see a week or so less pay? That could be a good thing for the taxpayers, if it's the case. Then we could try the same thing every few months...

Slip-Sliding Away

Interesting article here regarding the issues surrounding the effort to keep Long Beach Island , NJ, from being washed to sea. My opinion on this topic is not unlike my opinion of the short sighted folks living below sea level in New Orleans, or in the flood plains near the Mississippi River in the Midwest: enjoy the view, buy your own insurance, and learn to swim.

Gray Dawn Redux

How do you like that - my letter to the editor got published!

Most of my neighbors are about my parents age, and they seem to be avoiding me lately. At least they haven't tried to burn a cross on our lawn or anything so distasteful...

Happy Father's Day

Most of the fathers I know are married. I figured they might appreciate this calculator. I guess I knew marriage was an expensive proposition, but this is ridiculous!

Gray Dawn

My latest letter to the editor regarding the "Old Folks Rebellion", whereby the empty nesters of New Jersey are trying to duck paying school taxes.


The June 8 Sentinel has yet another advocate of the
"Fair Tax" proposal making their case. In recap, the
"Fair Tax" proposal suggests that a flat 5% income
tax, administered by the state, will solve the
inequities resulting from the current property tax
based education funding. I see at least two big
problems baked into this proposal.

Problem 1: The "Fair Tax" proposal assumes that an
income tax is more "fair" than a property tax, because
those with more income must have more ability to pay.
This is only half true, as overall wealth is more
relevant than income when calculating the ability to
pay a bill, tax or otherwise. With all due respect,
many of the retirees and empty nesters promoting this
tax scheme are very well off, sitting on well funded
pensions and retirement plans, hundreds of thousands
in home equity, and have their child raising expenses
behind them. Forgive me if I have some reservations
about a scheme to ensure that they save a few thousand
more every year to feather their empty nests.

Solution: In order to accurately calculate who has
money to spare for education taxes, a wealth-based,
not income or property value-based tax, is most fair.
All state residents would submit the market value of
all of their real estate, financial, and personal
assets, less any outstanding mortgage and personal
debt. A percentage of the net wealth would be paid
for education. The rich get soaked, the poor walk
free. It could not be more fair.

Problem 2: The "Fair Tax" proposal hands over
administration of education funds to the state.
Centralizing control of funds in the state government
makes it easier for funds to be siphoned off and for
local interests to be shortchanged. Local control of
budgets is not without drawbacks, but I would not like
to see Trenton running my local schools.

Solution: All money collected in a given school
district should be submitted directly to that
district, where they can decide and oversee how that
money is spent.

No tax system is perfect, but the "Fair Tax" proposal
leaves much to be desired before it is really "fair".

Jersey Joke

No this is not about McGreevy and soap on a rope.

Thanks to Sam for passing this along - enjoy:

Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Heaven, God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael, the Archangel, found Him resting on the seventh day.
He inquires of God, "Where have you been?"

God sighed a deep sigh Of satisfaction and proudly pointed downward through the clouds. "Look, Michael, look what I've made."Archangel Michael looked puzzled and said, "What is it?"

"It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put life on it. I'm going to call it earth and it's going to be a great place of balance." "Balance?" inquired Michael, still confused.

God explained, pointing to different parts of the earth, "For example, Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while Africa is going to be poor. The Middle East over there will be a hot spot."
God continued, pointing to different countries, "This one will be extremely hot and while this one will be very cold and covered with ice."

The Archangel, impressed by God's work, then pointed to a large land mass with an ocean as it border and said, "What's that one?" "Ah," said God, "that's the Jersey Shore, the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful beaches, rivers, lakes, and climate. The people from the Jersey Shore are going to be modest, intelligent, and humorous, and they are going to be found traveling the world. They will be extremely
sociable, hardworking, and high achieving people, and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats and carriers of peace."

Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then exclaimed, "What about balance, God? You said there would be balance! Everyone and everything seems so totally perfect in this place you call the Jersey Shore"

God replied wisely, "Wait until you see the assholes I'm sending down from New York every summer."

Dr. K -All the way - to hell!

Dwight Gooden was a heck of a pitcher for a few years in the eighties. His career started out about the same time as Roger Clemens, and through about 1989 or so, you could argue Gooden was the better pitcher, at least statistically. Clemens' ability to put together a long and successful career suggests that Gooden's abuse of hard drugs was a bad idea. Gooden's wasted talent was a big disappointment to us Mets fans.

Thank goodness I'm a Dolphins fan as well. Dolphins fans never suffered that kind of disappointment.

Hmmmmm, well there is potential for redemption.

We've nicknamed it: Wile E.

Most of our neighbors have a seen a small, red fox in our neighborhood over the past few years - I have yet to see it. Last summer, I did see and hear what I thought was a wolf or coyote, running up and down the street in the middle of the night making a distinctive "yip-yip" sound.

My wife figured that I was hallucinating - she pays little mind to what I say usually. I looked into it the next day, and a bit of research showed it to be a coyote, for sure. It looked pretty much like the one in this picture. Over the winter, I did not see or hear any more evidence of the critter.


The cool spring weather has us sleeping with the windows open. Last week, we heard the "yip-yip" again in the middle of the night, but didn't see anything. Earlier this week, early in the morning, the wife is looking out the kitchen window and sees a dog in the yard. The dog looks like a husky my neighbor used to have, but then she notices it looks too skinny and scruffy - and it has a small animal in it's mouth! A quick trip to the computer confirms my earlier coyote sighting. He's back, and he's hungry. We've spoken to a few of the neighbors, and while none has seen the coyote, several have seen the fox.

My research led me to this page on Rutgers Rarities. It seems that a pack of coyote are roaming around the woods in Piscataway, NJ, near the Rutgers campus. Be careful out there!

America's Pastime Trying To Blow It - Again.

In the mid nineties, baseball almost died because of it's own greed-induced strike. The sport's comeback has been fueled by the excitement of watching the home run barrage of the late nineties and the explosive growth of fantasy / rotisserie baseball. The individual greed of players, in the form of cheating through steroid use, has ruined the joy of the home run era. Now the collective greed of Major League Baseball may wreck the sport for good.

Baseball highlight shows, websites, newsletters, and websites have benefitted from the need for fantasy managers to consume up to the minute data about their fantasy league. Major League Baseball wants to make sure they control - and profit from - the fantasy activity, and will likely make it something the casual fan will give up on. These guys are killing the golden goose. This can not be pinned on Barry Bonds.

Revolting Taxpayers

The taxpayers are revolting!

This idea, at least in my opinion, is revolting. After reading this opinion, and listening to the complaints of so many "baby boomer" taxpayers, I emailed this rebuttal:

"The May 4 edition of the Sentinel finds yet another
citizen suggesting that school taxes should be paid
only by school users, in essence, a user fee.

What a great idea - but only if it is implemented at
the same time as a similar user fee to replace the
current Social Security / Medicare taxes, which, just
like school taxes, are primarily paid by those who get
no direct benefit.

If you want to break the social contract, it's not
fair to cherry pick."

I am the first in line when it comes time to criticize waste at every level of Goverment, and I am sure that local school systems could be run more efficiently. I empathize with the senior citizen on a fixed income, but it takes big brass ones to wait until after the system took care of you and your kids, and then to point out that it's unfair, as so many of these "poor" seniors do. I'm all for a "fair" system - I'll pay for my kid's education, you pay for your retirement and health care.

As it stands, the system is being sucked dry by the boomers, so I'll be left paying for my own retirement and health care - if I'm lucky enough to last that long!

Second prize is a set of steak knives

The Baldwin 'Leads are Weak' speech from "Glengarry GlenRoss" is that good. If you've ever had a sales job, you should check out this film.

My first job out of college was as a stockbroker - 300 phone calls a day, hoping to yield eight to ten prospects. Every month end, try to pitch 'em a stock of the month. Worst. Job. Ever. The only guys who succeeded were salesman from appliance stores or crooks. I quit after a few months, and worked construction from May till year end just to get the bad taste out of my mouth.

Interestingly, many of those guys eventually got bagged - I worked with five of the guys noted on this link. Considering how much money these characters grifted over the years, the fines are ridiculously small.

The McDermott brothers were darn good high school wrestlers - but you should not have bought stock from them!

Thank You Mask Man

I haven't seen this video in years. Funny Lenny Bruce stuff -was very controversial - seems tame, today....

Fresh Threads for the Little Ones

I must thank Lileks for bringing this one to my attention.

If you dress your kids in this stuff, it is my opinion that you are stupid.

Am I the only one that finds it curious that they offer sets for basketball but not chess?

It's hard enough to deal with dirty diapers, vomit, and misbehavior as they get older. Now, if they wear their "baby beater", they may get a cap in their ass.

Swell.

Where is the Teachers Union when you need them?

OK - perhaps the slap at the union is gratuitous, but what the heck. I've got my UFCW withdrawal card, and paid my dues, so I can poke at the unions if I want to.

But getting back to this news story, do you get the sense that whether the U.S. was wrapped up in this military activity in Iraq or not, there would still be this kind of stuff going on? The big difference is, we would never hear about it. Will the students be intimidated, and toe the line, or will they stand up to the terrorists?

Final point - you can love or hate Bush, favor or oppose our involvement in Iraq, drive a Prius or an Excursion - I don't care - but if you think these teacher killers are anything but verminous terrorists, and that they deserve anything less than extermination, I think you are a fool and a traitor to humanity.

Banging Out the Business Cycle

Reading this article in CFO, I paid special attention to the graphic that they put together from information available from the National Bureau of Economic Research. That graphic outlines the dates and durations of periods of contraction (recession/depression) and expansion since WWII.

What struck me was the general ugliness of the economy in the seventies and early eighties. I recall, as a kid, so much gloom and doom talk, things like books encouraging the stockpiling of guns and ammo and precious metals. TV shows like Little House on The Prairie and The Waltons seemed to exist just to make you feel better that your crops didn't just get destroyed by locusts and that you didn't have to crank a tin lizzie after rolling out of the bed you shared with your two brothers. I remember Carter in his sweater, hostages in the middle east, bomb shelter signs, and being genuinely scared that things were going badly. It made me feel good then, as it does now, to know that my home was equipped with a low tech wood burner - just in case.

Hence the origin of Bang It Out and Paint It - just the ingrained fears of a kid raised in the seventies expressed in a medium of the oughts.

Careful with that Libertarianism, Eugene

I read Taranto in the journal most every day, and more often than not, I find his observations hit the mark. He is usually a bit harder on the general notion of Libertarianism than I, but in the 4/11/06 column he makes a valid point:

...far libertarianism to be pretty much indistinguishable from the far left and the far right.

Extremism rarely reaches intended goals, though it does polarize - look at all the Ayn Rand haters. You just need to take it a bit less literally - that's for you, Jimmy Burns. Though, JB, I do agree she drones on and on and on.....

I tend to lean Libertarian, but recognize the need for someone to build highways, defend our nation, and lock up the dirtbags out to hurt my kids. Think Reagan, not Bush. If we could just start to cut back on some of the other overhead, the country might have a fighting chance.

If you fear for the future of the U.S...

and you have a few minutes, check out the Bruce Sterling short story that Manifest Destiny links to. The minor Rutgers reference is an added bonus!

Tip of the hat to The Angry Engineer.

More spicy Italian!

This stuff is priceless. If Berlusconi loses the election, he might be fun to have as U.S. President in 2008. Seriously, would you rather have Hilary? I'm not sure what she's eating, but I wouldn't laugh as much watching her eat it.

Check out the links - tip of the hat to Cruel.com.

Frigging pervert

This is starting to really piss me off. Something is seriously wrong with these people. I don't care about his politics, his socio-economic background or any other nonsense. This clown, and anyone else caught in this type of behavior, needs some jail time - state pen with roommate Bubba, not Club Fed. Second offense - castration - then twice the play time with Bubba. If we need to make room in the prisons, fine, let some of the pot-smokers out - they're too lazy to chase young girls.

"Cogliones," said the Queen,"If I had them, I'd be King!"

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is keeping Italian politics interesting. As an American of Italian descent, I get a big laugh at his graphic use of language to make a point, and I can identify with it. My relatives, friends, and even, occasionally I, myself, can be similarly expressive when trying to make a point, and I generally appreciate the efficiency of such use of language.

American Politics could take a lesson here - I for one think that anyone who voted for McGreevey for Governor in NJ back in the day was a great big ... kitty cat. Dissapointing, eh? - If only I had Berlusconi's cogliones.

French Moxie

Now that's a French resistance!
Hitler's march through France might have ended much sooner, and many tragic deaths averted, had he threatened to fire many of them them without cause, rather than threatening to throw many of them into the fire.
It strikes me as odd, what motivates the French, these days.

Unintended Consequences

The law of unintended consequences is back in the local news. It seems the "Drug Free School Zones" laws are putting too many minorities behind bars. Hmmm - never saw that coming. I never thought the stepped up enforcement made much sense - do adult drug dealers actually approach school yards and market their wares all that often? I'm guessing young'uns doing drugs are getting them from their most entrepreneurial peers, who in turn, are generally smart enough to contact their wholesalers off campus.

This Old Car

As you might have guessed, I'm an advocate of buying used cars, letting the other guy take the hit on depreciation. My daily driver is a 1995 model, which I acquired in late '96 for less than ten grand. At this point, I budget about a thousand a year for repairs and maintenance, and usually come in under budget. Now it's got some kind of issue involving intermittent leaking coolant. Great. I brought it to the shop when I first saw the problem, their pressure testing confirmed the radiator was ok, so they replaced all the hoses and clamps. Came in under 200 bucks - but a week later, it's leaking again, just a puddle smaller than a compact disc, and not every day, in the morning under the radiator. Very frustrating, but highlights the trick to the used car game - at some point you have to move on.

I'm not making that call just yet, but I am at 120k miles, and may need to figure out whether the time is near....

Change Is

I was born in 1965, and grew up in a working class NJ suburb. I’m feeling pretty old now, and from time to time, reflect on whether the good old days were really so good.

Good old days:

Kids played outside for hours on end, pretty much unsupervised, with little concern about safety.
Afternoon baseball on TV.
Front bench seats, three on the tree.
Gigantor and Speed Racer were so much cooler than current anime.
Fall cleanup ended with a leaf burning.
We walked to school - liberation.
Bunk beds were common.
The sound of a phone ringing.
Moms were home.



Not so good old days:

TV was generally lame, offering little variety.
Air conditioning was a luxury item in most cars, and some homes.
No microwave ovens – I think we ate more food that was boiled or cold.
Cars rusted quickly, broke down more often, got flat tires, and besides looking way cooler, were junk compared to today.
We walked to school – often cold and wet.
Small houses were common – I remember a “family room” as something your rich aunt had.
Needing to untangle the phone cord.


I threw this list together in about 5 minutes, and I’m sure I missed a bunch of good stuff, but what strikes me is that while this is presented as two lists, one good, one bad, it also looks like a single list of things that have changed in the 30 or so years gone by.

Change is sometimes good, change is sometimes bad, but if one thing is certain, change is.

Equal Rights Equal Wrongs

Every so often the same old news is reported about how gender discrimination leads to pay inequity, glass ceilings, etc. Recent articles have pointed out that, at least in higher education, the tables have been turned, and most college and grad students are female - evidence that inequities can be rectified with the proper progressive legislation and attitude. Bravo.

Now it's time to turn our attention to that other institution so many adults enroll in - prison.

The disproportionate ratio of women in prison compared to men is reprehensible. After all of the efforts to change the rules of entry and adjust opportunities in the workplace and academia to ensure equal, or at least sort of equal, gender participation, the penal system is operated like a throwback to the dark ages.

Steps must be taken to ensure equality of gender representation/opportunity in prison. For starters, laws should be analyzed to determine which ones are disproportionately offering prison opportunies to males, and adjusted to be more fair and equitable. Affirmative action might be called for. Perhaps adjusting sentence lengths by gender would help to reduce the disparity as well. I am sure there are plenty of good ideas to fix gender bias in prisons, and it's time to get started.