If all of our money is taken from us then the only thing we'll have left is each other. We will either side with desperation or with inspiration. I hope the latter prevails and many of us can find each other this holiday season and remember that we still have one other.
As a small gift to one and all I leave you with my all-time favorite song:
James Brown's Funky Christmas-Santa Claus is Definitely Here to Stay
For those of you who may have less money this year than you had last year this one is for you.
For those with small children, struggling to keep Christmas joyous for them, this one is for you.
For all the stresses we go through just to keep it all together for others, this one is for you.
Merry Christmas
The questions have been painstakingly researched. The answers, however, have not.
24 December, 2008
11 December, 2008
Need anything from walnart?
Have you ever sent a text message about going to walnart?
-Need anything from walnart?
-Y dog food.
In my T9 function on my cellphone spells "walnart" when I mean Walmart.
Not only has it done this once but it refuses to learn my history of correcting it and typing walmart. Why does my phone refuse to type the word walmart?
I no longer question it. It is walnart to me now. Need anything form walnart? Yea, Pepto Bismol, socks and a tire iron. Got it.
Try it. Does your T9 function know "walmart" or walnart?
-Need anything from walnart?
-Y dog food.
In my T9 function on my cellphone spells "walnart" when I mean Walmart.
Not only has it done this once but it refuses to learn my history of correcting it and typing walmart. Why does my phone refuse to type the word walmart?
I no longer question it. It is walnart to me now. Need anything form walnart? Yea, Pepto Bismol, socks and a tire iron. Got it.
Try it. Does your T9 function know "walmart" or walnart?
07 December, 2008
Baltimore Mayor's Christmas Parade and Pics
Here's some pics of some of my favorite parade folks of the Christmas parade. The Mayor, the Raven's bus, the Lone Ranger and other various visual You know there are tons if you just stand on a corner for a few minutes.
This is only my second year as a Baltimore resident with as many parade visits.
Since my parade perch is only 2 blocks from the house I've been able to score the same spot for the past two years. And I always snap shots of the same parade entries.
We were all the way at the end of the Ave. at Chestnut and we heard the pipe organ as soon as it turned onto the Avenue from Falls Rd. This seems to be the lead entry and rolls down the street to let the town know that the parade is about to start. Does this happen every year? I liked the idea of a parade cryer.
Creepy sounding circus music belched out of this pipe organ. If there were 5 or 6 clowns throwing out candy it would have been creeptastic.
Oh I loved this guy with the pretzels. They were larger than my head. We walked up to Squidfire before coming back to our spot and on our way back this guy was walking down the Avenue selling these huge hot pretzels. I took 7 photos of this guy because he was always around.
I have about as many photos of the Lone Ranger here. I don't know why but I always make sure I got shots of the masked one. His buddy didn't know that he had to provide his own horse. But he doesn't look like one to miss a parade. The show must go on.
Suzanne and Kingfish holding down the perch at the Flower Mart. Of course that's only coffee. Hey don't think about taking our spot next year. She's not above shooing you off the step. Scram.
See y'all next year.
This is only my second year as a Baltimore resident with as many parade visits.
Since my parade perch is only 2 blocks from the house I've been able to score the same spot for the past two years. And I always snap shots of the same parade entries.
We were all the way at the end of the Ave. at Chestnut and we heard the pipe organ as soon as it turned onto the Avenue from Falls Rd. This seems to be the lead entry and rolls down the street to let the town know that the parade is about to start. Does this happen every year? I liked the idea of a parade cryer.
Creepy sounding circus music belched out of this pipe organ. If there were 5 or 6 clowns throwing out candy it would have been creeptastic.
Oh I loved this guy with the pretzels. They were larger than my head. We walked up to Squidfire before coming back to our spot and on our way back this guy was walking down the Avenue selling these huge hot pretzels. I took 7 photos of this guy because he was always around.
I have about as many photos of the Lone Ranger here. I don't know why but I always make sure I got shots of the masked one. His buddy didn't know that he had to provide his own horse. But he doesn't look like one to miss a parade. The show must go on.
Suzanne and Kingfish holding down the perch at the Flower Mart. Of course that's only coffee. Hey don't think about taking our spot next year. She's not above shooing you off the step. Scram.
See y'all next year.
05 December, 2008
Hampden's First Fridays Checklist
TGIF Mofos!
Hampden's usually a pretty cool place to be for First Fridays. This monthly event is a relatively new idea in my life and I'm not sure how long or how widespread the event is.
Basically on the first Friday of the month various local shops (in this case Hampden) have a sort of open house which is usually, but not always, catered with wines and cheeses and beers and wraps and coffee and other food and drink. Many shops and have sale specials and such to lure shoppers in while giving everyone a little thank you for supporting them throughout the year (basically guys can crack a beer while holding their lady's purse while she shops).
This month in Hampden I've been told that local artists have banded together to display their works throughout the Avenue. But you'll have to keep your head up to see them.
If you will be walking up the Ave tonight take a look at the street lamps. Every here and there a lamppost will have some sort of art displayed on top. I've also been told that the artist will be hanging around to talk about it. Kinda like a troubadour of the arts, if ya will.
Ooh Ooh! I also saw that the Wine Source will be having free tastings of Baily's Coffee cocktails. So head on in there and get your swill on too.
So here's my First Friday's Checklist for this month:
-Ma Petit Shoes
-Sugar
-Wine Source
-Squidfire
-Red Tree
-Mud and Metal
-Double Dutch
-Atomic Books.
And then after my crew and I are finished plundering the Ave we're heading out to DC the the Gallery in Silver Spring to catch Kevin Saunderson at LODA. who is Kevin Saunderson? Only the greatest techno DJ in the land.
For those who can't make it out to DC here's a little teaser for ya.
http://rapidshare.com/files/104007700/01-kevin_saunderson-the_dj_zone-sat-03-29-2008.mp3
Cheers!
Hampden's usually a pretty cool place to be for First Fridays. This monthly event is a relatively new idea in my life and I'm not sure how long or how widespread the event is.
Basically on the first Friday of the month various local shops (in this case Hampden) have a sort of open house which is usually, but not always, catered with wines and cheeses and beers and wraps and coffee and other food and drink. Many shops and have sale specials and such to lure shoppers in while giving everyone a little thank you for supporting them throughout the year (basically guys can crack a beer while holding their lady's purse while she shops).
This month in Hampden I've been told that local artists have banded together to display their works throughout the Avenue. But you'll have to keep your head up to see them.
If you will be walking up the Ave tonight take a look at the street lamps. Every here and there a lamppost will have some sort of art displayed on top. I've also been told that the artist will be hanging around to talk about it. Kinda like a troubadour of the arts, if ya will.
Ooh Ooh! I also saw that the Wine Source will be having free tastings of Baily's Coffee cocktails. So head on in there and get your swill on too.
So here's my First Friday's Checklist for this month:
-Ma Petit Shoes
-Sugar
-Wine Source
-Squidfire
-Red Tree
-Mud and Metal
-Double Dutch
-Atomic Books.
And then after my crew and I are finished plundering the Ave we're heading out to DC the the Gallery in Silver Spring to catch Kevin Saunderson at LODA. who is Kevin Saunderson? Only the greatest techno DJ in the land.
For those who can't make it out to DC here's a little teaser for ya.
http://rapidshare.com/files/104007700/01-kevin_saunderson-the_dj_zone-sat-03-29-2008.mp3
Cheers!
Yep, I'm Getting Furloughed :(
The Gov's taking 2 days from us. It was leaked in the Sun yesterday and confirmed in the Examiner this morning.
Rumor has it that we will have the day after Christmas off and the day after New Years off without pay. More rumor has it that the 2 days pay will be stretched out over 6 mo so it will only be like losing $1.60/day. We'll see about that.
Anyone else getting fired for a few days?
I mean, "furloughed"?
Rumor has it that we will have the day after Christmas off and the day after New Years off without pay. More rumor has it that the 2 days pay will be stretched out over 6 mo so it will only be like losing $1.60/day. We'll see about that.
Anyone else getting fired for a few days?
I mean, "furloughed"?
04 December, 2008
Big 3 Bailout. Business as Usual?
I haven't been following the big 3 bailout news very intently but I don't really have to. I'm pretty sure that whoever lines up and asks for billions from the gov is going to get it. Sure there will be debates and scrutiny but everyone's getting paid.
As far as the Big 3 bailout goes (and every other bailout for that matter) it just seems like business as usual but more cash can be handed out now because the bank is being broke wide open.
I grew up in Flint, MI. When I was in high school Flint had 145,000 people and 7 GM plants in Genesee County. We could tell that Grand Blanc was the wealthy part of town because it had the Cadillac plant. Everyone worked for GM or an offshoot of the auto industry. My grandfather moved his family to MI during WWII to work in Flint for Fischer Body, my father worked there at night while going to college to be a GM engineer.
Everybody drove GM cars. Our idea of a foreign car was a Chrysler. It wasn't until I went away to college (MSU, not far away) that I saw many more foreign cars. College girls driving gold Lexus SUV's and many Hondas and Toyotas. many of these kids were from Detroit suburbs. Why weren't they driving GM? Ford? even Chrysler? Did they know something I didn't? Were their minds not owned by the Big 3? This really was confusing, even at 18 yrs old.
That got me to thinking about company towns and the grip they have on the people who live there. A combination of nationalism, pride and wanting to buy what we made kept us buying American cars. My family bought a new or like new car every 4 years. As soon as one was nearly paid off another one was bought.
But it's also these same people who are being put out of work. How are they going to buy GM cars now? Or any cars for that matter.
And now GM has a plan to make themselves better. One of the measures they will take if they get the billions of dollars is to lay off 20,000 workers. That's part of their solution? They've being consistently laying off workers for 25 years and still driving their company into the ground. If anyone looks deeper they will find that GM is not even worth $10 Billion.
But it doesn't matter really. business will continue as planned and there will be no money in the coffers for the people when the real depression hits. Oh it's coming. Why wouldn't it? People are just taking money and that's all that is happening. We are witnessing the largest movement of public money to Private hands that I've ever known. Isn't this what board members do right before their companies go under?
As far as the Big 3 bailout goes (and every other bailout for that matter) it just seems like business as usual but more cash can be handed out now because the bank is being broke wide open.
I grew up in Flint, MI. When I was in high school Flint had 145,000 people and 7 GM plants in Genesee County. We could tell that Grand Blanc was the wealthy part of town because it had the Cadillac plant. Everyone worked for GM or an offshoot of the auto industry. My grandfather moved his family to MI during WWII to work in Flint for Fischer Body, my father worked there at night while going to college to be a GM engineer.
Everybody drove GM cars. Our idea of a foreign car was a Chrysler. It wasn't until I went away to college (MSU, not far away) that I saw many more foreign cars. College girls driving gold Lexus SUV's and many Hondas and Toyotas. many of these kids were from Detroit suburbs. Why weren't they driving GM? Ford? even Chrysler? Did they know something I didn't? Were their minds not owned by the Big 3? This really was confusing, even at 18 yrs old.
That got me to thinking about company towns and the grip they have on the people who live there. A combination of nationalism, pride and wanting to buy what we made kept us buying American cars. My family bought a new or like new car every 4 years. As soon as one was nearly paid off another one was bought.
But it's also these same people who are being put out of work. How are they going to buy GM cars now? Or any cars for that matter.
And now GM has a plan to make themselves better. One of the measures they will take if they get the billions of dollars is to lay off 20,000 workers. That's part of their solution? They've being consistently laying off workers for 25 years and still driving their company into the ground. If anyone looks deeper they will find that GM is not even worth $10 Billion.
But it doesn't matter really. business will continue as planned and there will be no money in the coffers for the people when the real depression hits. Oh it's coming. Why wouldn't it? People are just taking money and that's all that is happening. We are witnessing the largest movement of public money to Private hands that I've ever known. Isn't this what board members do right before their companies go under?
16 November, 2008
A Dogs Life
This is Bonzo in his backyard. He's one of the luckiest dogs in Hampden in that he and his brother, Kingfish, have a full yard to run in and play in and holler at all the other dogs passing by. Many other dogs in Hampden have to walk their humans because they don't have yards of their own but these two are like the Stadler and Waldorf of the neighborhood. They give hell to every dog that walks by. I'm sure they tell them about their great yard and that their owners are afforded the luxury of being some of the laziest dog owners in town.
11 November, 2008
Photo of My Dead Dog
This was Kingfish. He served us well. At 4 yrs old this black standard poodle was a pretty good guy. A bit of a meathead but a great companion and loyal to the end.
We did make a pact, you know. We would care for eachother until the end and whoever survived got to eat the other.
So we'll be having hot dogs for the next few weeks. His spirit will do me well.
Ok, OK. He's not really dead, but he might as well be. Lazy varmit.
Yea, I Still Love Obama. But MoveOn?
OK, so the last entry I wrote about Obama and cash strapped DNC should have been seperated. I was caught up in the idea of reimbursting a campaign. MoveOn is a powerful machine for democratic change and very good at raising money. I'm sure they did well for Obama and I'm sure many of them will land prized seats on the change bus. Good for them. But I'd like to say "mission accomplished" to them if they are going to keep hawking me for $$. It's change I want and we have enough $$ to make that change. Oh wait. Do we? Have the banks and insurance companies swallowed up all our $$ yet? If so why is MoveOn asking ME for $$? Don't they know who has already taken my savings?
Anyway...in a "new president makes good" effort I see on CNN.com that Obama has set up a websight for the country to communicate with the new admin. A transparency that we've never seen before? Check it out for yourself. It's a fairly small site for now but I'm sure it will grow with leaps and bounds. change.gov
Just in time for Veterans Day. Have a look see.
Anyway...in a "new president makes good" effort I see on CNN.com that Obama has set up a websight for the country to communicate with the new admin. A transparency that we've never seen before? Check it out for yourself. It's a fairly small site for now but I'm sure it will grow with leaps and bounds. change.gov
Just in time for Veterans Day. Have a look see.
Uh...Wait. Do I Still Love Obama?
Below is an Email I just got from Moveon.org.
If you are on the mailing list then you probably got the same email.
In the past week I've gotten invitations to buy Victory bumper stickers, Posters and now T-shirts...To help repay the DNC. Repay the DNC? For what? For doing their job and running a candidate we would vote for? Wait a min. We donate before the election to support the candidate. We don't pay after to reimburse those who put more in. Who are we paying back? Is someone getting back their investment at our expense?? Does this sound all too familiar or am I already hating our new president? Someone, please tell me I'm wrong!
I've never dealt with MoveOn when they were actually loving a president. This could get ugly.
Here's their letter...
Friend -- In the months and years ahead, we're going to accomplish amazing things together. No president has ever had the support of such a powerful grassroots movement, and Barack and Joe will need you to continue fighting alongside them. But before we take the next step, we need to get our house in order. The Democratic National Committee poured all of its resources into building our successful 50-state field program. And they played a crucial role in helping Barack win in unlikely states like North Carolina and Indiana. We even picked up an electoral vote in Nebraska. The DNC took on considerable debt to make this happen. Make a donation of $30 or more now to help the DNC pay for these efforts, and you'll get a commemorative 2008 Victory T-shirt.
The DNC began building a 50-state organization in 2005. The infrastructure they put in place over the last four years opened up a new batch of battleground states where a Democratic nominee hadn't been competitive for a generation. In the final few months, the DNC went above and beyond to expand our ground efforts and ensure victory. We couldn't have won this election without their support. As we start laying the groundwork for real change, we need to help the DNC recover the resources it took to win. Please make a donation today and get your 2008 Victory T-shirt: http://my.barackobama.com/page/m2/55c13974/506d20f9/9e59ff1/11884a3f/3588423768/VEsF/ This movement for change is just getting started, and we look forward to working with you to bring the change this country needs. Thanks for everything you did to elect Barack and Joe, Obama for America
If you are on the mailing list then you probably got the same email.
In the past week I've gotten invitations to buy Victory bumper stickers, Posters and now T-shirts...To help repay the DNC. Repay the DNC? For what? For doing their job and running a candidate we would vote for? Wait a min. We donate before the election to support the candidate. We don't pay after to reimburse those who put more in. Who are we paying back? Is someone getting back their investment at our expense?? Does this sound all too familiar or am I already hating our new president? Someone, please tell me I'm wrong!
I've never dealt with MoveOn when they were actually loving a president. This could get ugly.
Here's their letter...
Friend -- In the months and years ahead, we're going to accomplish amazing things together. No president has ever had the support of such a powerful grassroots movement, and Barack and Joe will need you to continue fighting alongside them. But before we take the next step, we need to get our house in order. The Democratic National Committee poured all of its resources into building our successful 50-state field program. And they played a crucial role in helping Barack win in unlikely states like North Carolina and Indiana. We even picked up an electoral vote in Nebraska. The DNC took on considerable debt to make this happen. Make a donation of $30 or more now to help the DNC pay for these efforts, and you'll get a commemorative 2008 Victory T-shirt.
The DNC began building a 50-state organization in 2005. The infrastructure they put in place over the last four years opened up a new batch of battleground states where a Democratic nominee hadn't been competitive for a generation. In the final few months, the DNC went above and beyond to expand our ground efforts and ensure victory. We couldn't have won this election without their support. As we start laying the groundwork for real change, we need to help the DNC recover the resources it took to win. Please make a donation today and get your 2008 Victory T-shirt: http://my.barackobama.com/page/m2/55c13974/506d20f9/9e59ff1/11884a3f/3588423768/VEsF/ This movement for change is just getting started, and we look forward to working with you to bring the change this country needs. Thanks for everything you did to elect Barack and Joe, Obama for America
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