My daughter went online to buy me the CD pictured above. What makes this CD special is that a record we made in 1966 is on it. I have written about the record here and here (unfortunately, or fortunately – depending on your point of view, the uploads are no longer available). You can go here (at least for now) and check it out. Scroll a bit to the listing of songs and click to enlarge.

Yep, there we are; we made the cut at number 30. Amazing how someone not only found the record, but actually included it in an album. As I have mentioned before, the real kicker is that a group comprised of three Asians and only two white guys found its way to an album entitled, “The White Group Sound.”

I can’t wait to listen to the 29 other gems.

Update: Two of the links pointed to the same place. I fixed it, thanks to the keen proofreading eye of the Wiseass Jooette.

Yes, it’s that time of year once again.

I’m getting to be of the age when if you were to light a candle for each year I’ve been on the planet, the first one would burn out before you could light the last one. In order to keep a birthday cake from looking like a Baghdad display of “shock and awe,” I’m now one of those “one candle for each decade” guys.

Denny, my guitar playin’, kazoo tootin’ friend, likes to remind everyone that I am the “elder half of the Elderly Brothers,” but I would remind him that in a scant few days he will be as old as I am today. I figure that next year we should commence our “Soft Food Tour” in earnest. We’ll only need a repertoire of two songs, because by the time we finish playing the second song, the audience will have forgotten the first one. Besides, we can’t remember more than two songs.

I really am too tired to think about writing anything.

That is all.

1. I don’t know about you, but I damned near shit a pickle when I learned that the Senate Finance Committee (Yes, that would be the United States Senate) voted to pass “legislation” that was presented to them, not as a proposed federal statute, but rather in the form of a conceptual CliffsNotes summary, written by Christ Knows Who. Peeps, you can change one word or even a comma in a statute and change everything. The “legislation” they voted on would result in the control of more than twenty percent of the economy. The saddest thing is that lawyers and judges regularly and earnestly speak of “congressional wisdom” when analyzing the minutia of any given federal statute. It seems that every morning brings yet a brand new WTF moment.

2. In the New Jersey Governor’s race, the democrats have released negative ads focusing on Republican challenger’s Chris Christie’s weight. This tactic was apparently based upon a focus group that determined that when “average” New Jersey voters were asked what one word comes to mind when they hear the name “Chris Christie,” they responded, “Fat.” Of course, this speaks ill of the New Jersey Democrat Party, but, in my view, it says more about the quantity of working grey matter of the “average” the New Jersey voter. And we wonder why the people in this state continue to elect such loathsome septic tank sludge.

3. Speaking of sludge, Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann come to mind.

4. A few good things: Diet Dr. Pepper, Coke Zero, Mythbusters, Teflon, progressive lenses, orthotics and peeps who pick up after their dogs.

5. A few bad things: Red Bull (bleccch!), head cheese (double bleccch!), alligators, clowns, New York drivers on New Jersey highways, telemarketers, credit card offers, things stuffed into magazines that screw up turning the pages, and low-density cholesterol.

6. I wonder if the first asshole who decided to wear his baseball cap sideways realizes that he is emulating Rootie Kazootie.

7. I wonder why any sane person would take up blogging.

That is all.

Life 101 kept me from giving a minute’s worth of thought about what I might write about. I read a shitload of emails and blogs and still … no inspiration. Maybe I’m just tired. I may as well blame Bush. It’s the rage in Washington.

That is all.

This past weekend, we (Ken, my bodyguard, and da Chef a da Future – with ladies) had dinner and then proceeded to a local VFW for a couple cocktails. This particular VFW has a bar that is stocked as well as any fancy-schmancy bar I’ve ever visited (and I’ve visited a few). That’s a good thing and a bad thing. The good part is that it’s like being a kid in a candy store. The bad part is that it’s like being a kid in a candy store.

Ultimately, after taking drinking time into account, I decided that straight booze (even on ice) was a bit dangerous, so I opted for something mixed. I settled in on Three Olives Orange Vodka, with club soda and a piece of lemon. (Here is the main Three Olives Site, where you have to enter a birth date to check out the full line of bevs.) I highly recommend the drink. I believe that Three Olives makes the best flavored vodkas, and the orange flavor is most excellent. The slice of lemon finishes the drink off in spades. Be warned. They go down real easy.

I noticed that, despite being well-stocked, there was no Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka behind the bar. I chatted with the bartender about it, so I figure it’s just a matter of time.

Of course, drinking in a Veterans’ Post Bar provides the bonus of being surrounded with peeps who, having served in the military, have a special appreciation of what it means to be an American. That’s a quality all too often lacking in Jersey.

No, really.

You can’t make this shit up.

Wanna know why?

Are you sure?

It’s not interesting.

OK, you twisted my arm.

Ultra short version: No blogging, because between me and the computer was a stretch of freshly sanded floor covered with wet polyurethane.

I told you it wasn’t interesting.

Back in 2007, I wrote a post listing the people who, at that time, were giving me a Case of the Ass. I thought this would be a good time to revisit and revise the list as necessary. As you can see, the revised list only got longer.

Turns out that that the people who were giving me a Case of the Ass in 2007 are still giving me a Case of the Ass. Indeed, only one person was removed from the original list and that is only because he farookin’ died and can no longer give me a Case of the Ass.

Update: Bou pointed out that I forgot to cross off Ted Kennedy So that shortens the list by two, although just thinking about that creep gives me a Case of the Ass.

The Original List and the Additions Thereto.

Hillary Clinton
Bill Clinton
Barack Obama
Dick Durbin
Chuck Hagel
Chuck Schumer
Bob Menendez
Frank Lautenberg
John Edwards
Elizabeth Edwards (Yes, it is a shame that she is ill)
Dennis Kuchinich
Rosie O’Donnell
Barbara Walters
Joy Behar
Sean Penn
Madonna
Sheryl Crow
Al Gore
Daryl Hanna
Bill Moyers
Harry Reid
Nancy Pelosi
John Murtha
Jesse Jackson
Tim Russert Deceased
Lawrence O’Donnell
Ron Kuby
Barney Frank
Ted Kennedy Dead.
Cindy Sheehan
Robert Kennedy, Jr.
Jon Corzine (Yes, I’m glad he’s recovering) The jerk is all better now.
Jim McGreevey
Barbra Streisand
Sandy Berger
Dan Rather
David Gregory
Katie Couric
Chris Matthews
Eleanor Clift
John Kerry
Al Sharpton
Joe Biden
Charlie Rangel
Patrick Leahy
Chris Dodd
Jane Fonda
Barbara Boxer
Andrea Mitchell
Helen Thomas
Jonathan Alter
Bill Maher
Maureen Dowd

The Additions

Al Franken*
Michael Moore*
Paul Begala*
Whoopie Goldberg
Maxine Waters
John Cornyn John Conyers
Rahm Emmanuel
Robert Gibbs
Van Jones
Cass Sunstein
Mamoud Amademajad
Tom Brokaw
Frank Rich
Tom Friedman
Susan Sarandon
Keith Olbermann
Ed Schultz
Jeanane Garafolo
David Letterman
Rachel Maddow
Kanye West
Nobel Peace Prize Committee

As I said last time, if you need links to know who these wastes-of-oxygen are, maybe you should be on the list.

* At the time of the original post, commenters suggested that I should have included these peeps. The commenters were right.

Update: Thanks to commeter, Dangerous Dave, who questioned why John Cornyn should be on the list. Indeed, it was my mistake, made in the snit that accompanied my making the list. I had intended to include John “Who need to read the Bill” Conyers instead of John Cornyn. I have since fixed the mistake. BTW, Dave’s suggested entries are spot on.

I gather this has been circulating around the interwebs for a while, but sometimes I’m late getting the memo.

In honor of the 44th President of the United States , Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream has introduced a new flavor: ” Barocky Road .”
Barocky Road is a blend of half vanilla, half chocolate, and surrounded by nuts and flakes. The vanilla portion of the mix is not openly advertised and usually denied as an ingredient. The nuts and flakes are all very bitter and hard to swallow.

The cost is $100.00 per scoop.

When purchased it will be presented to you in a large beautiful cone, but then the ice cream is taken away and given to the person in line behind you.

You are left with an empty wallet and no change, holding an empty cone with no hope of getting any ice cream.

Are you stimulated?

Thanks to Gerry from Jersey