Rantings Diversified

I think Cindy Sheehan needs to be bitch slapped and packed back off to, “The Peoples Republik of Kalifornia”.
You see I am not a Progressive.  I am a Liberal because I believe in Liberty.  Liberty for all, not just the folks who believe what I do.
I am a Liberal because I believe that the Federal Gov’t needs to get rid of all the alphabet agencies and the tens of thousands of pages of federal code and get back to the task originally set to it by the constitution.
Provide for the common defense and regulate interstate commerce.  In other words, kick some Islamofacist ass and provide a framework where a product made in Ohio can be sold in Georgia without undue constraints.  One other thing, to raise money for the first two the federal gov’t can levy tariffs on imports.
I believe that we need to get back to where we came from.  Get rid of the nanny state and let people sink or swim.  The crème will rise to the top.
We are Americans.  We built this country into the so-called Super Power it is today and we did it without income tax and socialist security and wellfair and gun control and politically correct “diversity”.  Once we got there, for some unknown reason, we then instituted these so called reforms.

Was there a bunch of guys sitting around somewhere saying something like,” Hey now that we’re a big, strong and rich country let’s start taking money from the folks doing well and give it to those who are lazy and unproductive and while we’re at it we can use some of that money to build a huge beaurocracy to employ some of those lazy and unproductive ones.”?

So if you want to take your potbeerlsdextasymethspeedquaaludes then you should be able to pop into your local Sprawl Mart and buy it, take it home and do whatever people who like that stuff do.   Just don’t expect me to condone it or want to partake in it.  I like old VW’s.  I own a few of them.  I won’t expect everyone to love aircooled, opposed, 4 cylinder, underpowered, rear mounted motors in funny looking cars and I won’t condone or love some things others do but like me they have the God given right to pursue whatever they want to do, provided it does not interfere with other people.
I shoot Highpower and Long Range Rifle all over the country but for some odd reason I’m a baaaaad person for enjoying this sport.  So over the past 25 years more and more boneheads mostly in urban areas go and steal guns and shoot each other, occasionally an innocent person is killed and when caught these guys become poor unfortunate victims of a bad society and my sport becomes akin to child rape because the tools of sport have become evil incarnate.  I have become a pariah because of my sport of choice, a sport endorsed by every president until Jimmy Carter.

Our gov’t and our society need a lot of work.  I don’t know if my idea of reform is actually plausible but in my idealistic world it would be a whole heck of a lot better than what we have now.

I’m going to recycle a few old posts.  Why?  Because I like them and I can.  I hope you enjoy them also.

I was born when folks liked IKE
I watched the Presidents funeral on TV
I didn’t know what the Great Society was
but every night Chet and Dave gave me the body count
Goodnight Chet,  Goodnight Dave
Cynicism was born
I cheered when Erlichmann, Haldeman, and Liddy went down
I laughed at the buffoon    I watched SNL
I did NOT vote for RAYGUN
maybe if…
Bush kept what’shisname out
Clinton scared the living hell out me
more and more
The commies lost
How did we get him
I cheered and danced as Florida complained
I played the National Anthem at 0:01 01/01/00

Elvis sang about his wingtips
People really liked Patsy Cline…then
Strawberry Alarm Clock
We dug
The Grateful Dead. Bowie, Hot Tuna, Black Oak, Foghat, Procul Harum, ELP, Sweet and of course
The Beatles
despite that Disco thing
ClashFearSexPistolsDeadKennedysXTCMissionofBurmaRamonesTalkingheadsBlondieX
then came that whole newwavething
Modern English,Squeeze,Flock of Seagulls,StrayCats,Animotion,Human League,Specials,FunBoyThree,Bananarama,Berlin,Madness and Elvis Costello
Tom Waits
Laurie Andersen
Eventually along came Nirvana, REM, De La Soul, nine Inch nails, Run DMC,
KoRn, Godsmack, Alanis Morrisette, Tool and Jewel
In this dawn of the 21st time I’m glad to see
Uncle Ted is still touring
there is a band called, “And you will know us by the trail of dead”
We are still strong
just like we were told we were
when we lived on kidville time
Welcome to my 6th decade

……That nappy headed media whore called Al,

Dear Al,
Please shut the fuck up! You are nothing more than a nappy-headed media whore and I’ll say it again. You may represent a very small, no… it’s an infinitesimal number of black people in this country but you do not represent anywhere even near a minority much less a majority of them. So, please go away, just shut the fuck up and go away.
Go on, git’.

You and that total sellout Jackson guy (no, not Michael) are really starting to get up our collective noses. We don’t like you and we no longer believe anything you say to us.
Can you spell Tamara Brawley?
I read tonight that Don Imus was fired from CBS radio because of you and whatshisname threatening CBS executives. WTF? What the hell is wrong with your brain patterns? Are you malfunctioning? We think you are. We are beginning to think that the only thing you are interested in is TV coverage. Don’t lie to us again!!! You do.
Are you so ignorant as to think some stupid joke told by some old and in the way radio guy is really offensive? Christ man, a grand total of about 7 people heard that shit live but as soon as you got your greasy hands on it every single human being and most dogs, cats, rabbits, mice and horses have heard it an average of 17 times.
We don’t like you and we will no longer tolerate you, so please just go away. We recommend france. You’ll love it there. We all feel that you are a perfect shining example of what is wrong with this country. You duck any questions that do not fit your agenda and you quack and honk all day long about things that either are not true or really any lie that will turn the cameras towards you. Ya’ know in a way we kind of feel sorry for you, you ignorant twit. The next time we see you on TV yelling and hooting about some perceived evil we shall first ask you; when are you going to apologize to the Duke lacrosse players? You double standard looking, pidgeon english speaking, no kinda’ fashion wearin’, greasy haired, ugly, old goofball. Shut the fuck up and act right!!!

Sincerely,
The American Public

OK, Grandad is totally responsible for this post.  He tagged me on his site yesterday requesting or requiring me to write this post.  Now of course I had one of most intriguing and beautifully written pieces of interweb literature ever put down on a laptop keyboard to post today but alas I deleted it in preference to this one.

Why do I blog?
Because it’s there.
Because I can.
Because I’m an American and it’s my God given right to blablahblahblahblah…..
‘cause I fuckin’ want to, damn it
I maintain this site because it’s fun.  I do this as an exercise to better my piss poor writing ability.  I write this stuff because I have a metric shitload of ideas constantly running through my head and occasionally they pop out and run down my arms and infect my fingers.  Maybe I do it because I want to see how many keystrokes it takes to break my laptop.
Last Christmas time a friend whom I won’t mention is Jefferson Davis was telling me over and over that I should start blogging because I had sent him some poems and prose I wrote and he really liked them.  We were doing the Podcast every week and every week he would ask me when I was going to take the plunge in to the online web journal-sphere.  Just this past January I went to WordPress.com and started looking around and now yous’ guys’ are all stuck with me.
I’m hooked.
One of the things that I really enjoy as much as putting together fun, silly, thoughtful, argumentative, pedantic, dull, boring and PAROCHIAL posts for yous’ guys’ to read is reading all your blogs.  Someone stated on their blog that they do not write for an audience, I do.  I write most of this for me first and you secondly but it’s a good balance and I enjoy it.
I really enjoy, “blog bouncing”, and reading all these different styles and ideas and attitudes.  Literally every day I find a new blog of interest.  Occasionally I find one I really like.  You can find those occasions listed on the right under Links I Like.
This has become a hobby of sorts(like I don’t have enough hobbies) in that rather than turning the vidiot box on I like heading off into the cyber-ocean of blogs and swimming around for a bit in the evening just to see what washes up.

Now we come to that part of the post wherein I am to TAG others so that this virtual chain letter can continue on with a life of its own.  So let’s see…hmmmm, how about….nah…maybe I’ll pick…..no she won’t do it……..Oh I got it….
Sam, Problem-Child-Bride
Kate, because I said so
K8 the Gr8
I was going to tag Baino but she beat me to it so just go check her out and give her some love and comments.
Tell her Brian sent you.

You can click on the pic to embiggyalize it.
In August of 1975 I went to the Susquehanna Arts Festival with my bud Arch.  Actually, we went there with his girlfriend Iris.  She was selling her photographs at a small kiosk at Riverfront Park.   We spent most the day wandering around checking out the other artisans and sipping on our bottles of wine.   I don’t remeber when but at one point a Harrisburg City Policeman was walking by her display and stopped dead in his tracks.  He turned to us and asked, “Who here is over 21?” .  Iris was the only one to raise a hand.  The cop shook his head and made the rest of us pour out any wine we had in our hands.  After admonishing us to NOT be so obvious he started to walk away.  This is when Iris jumped up and asked the cop if she could take our picture up against his car.  He said yes.  She took the photo and for reasons way beyond my comprehension it survives to this day.

So I want to know….what were you doing in August 1975?
BTW, I’m the ginger on the left.  Arch is the Roger Daltry clone.

Apparently Granddad woke up on the wrong side of the bed and noticed that Twenty Major lumped him with all the rest of the NON-smoking bloggers.

Twenty responded as you would have expected him to do so….with lots swearing and an insult. Well Grandad got on his high horse (No he’s been off heroin for awhile now) and loosed his giant Tiger or Lion or something like that, named Tiddles, on Twenty. Well Grannymar is upset because Herself hasn’t been heard from in days. She has recruited Dario Sanchez and John in Dublin to help figure this problem out. I offered to see what I could do to help.
I called K8 the Gr8 but I got her answering machine. She was out hiking the Himilayas with King Wouldye of Labrador.
I also made an emergency phone call to the Jefferson Davis’ compound down south but he was gone to the local cafe chatting up some ginger waitress. I tried both Kav and The Swearing Lady but Kav was slurring his speech and going on about how GlenLivit is shite compared to Jamesons. I hung up on him. The Swearing Lady was getting ready to go bar hopping and she was ranting on about how one just can’t find a decent pair of heels in Galway. I can’t understand her accent. I then contacted the RAF and asked if they could do a quick flyover to make sure everything is alright. They claimed not to know where Ireland is so I called NASA and asked if they could point one of their satellites that way and check up on this situation. They sent me 137 pages of forms to fill out and then I have to submit it to a review panel that won’t be back at work until June.
I called the government of France but they kept yelling something about the pate not being done yet.
I then contacted the German Luftwaffe but apparently they all have been out drinking heavily since last Wednesday.
I finally got through to the 193^rd Special Operations Wing Command of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard and asked them if they could pop over and find out what’s going on.

They have reported back to me and here are the super-secret spy photos they forwarded to me.

That is the REAL Tiddles.

Here’s Grandad and Herself after the Gardai arrived.

It looks like Twenty made it home from the pub.

Well things settled down by Easter Sunday morning and we all had a nice Easter dinner together as witnessed below.

You live for summer and fall, when street fairs signal the beginning of funnel cake season.
You know what REAL potpie is.
You ask the waitress for “dippy eggs” for breakfast.
You consider Pittsburgh to be “out west,” and you know the fastest way to Philly is the Turnpike.
You call sloppy joes, “barbecue”.
When it snows, they put cinders on the roads instead of sand.
The first day of Buck season and the first day of Doe season are school holidays.
One of the highlights of your life was a field trip to Penn’s Cave and Ringing Rocks
You know the time and location of every “wing night” in a 20 mile radius.
You don’t think people from Philly talk funny.
All of your childhood vacations were trips to the Jersey shore.
Driving is always better in winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
You find 20 degrees just a little chilly.
Words like “hoagie” and “chipped ham” actually mean something to you.
You can use the phrase “fire hall wedding reception” and not even bat an eye.
You think nothing of an Amish buggy on the road.
You constantly refer to Pennsylvania as “PA” (pronounced Pee-ay). How many other states do that?
You can go 2 weeks in winter without sunshine and think this is normal.
There is no such thing as a “Philly Cheesesteak”. Its just called a Cheesesteak since everybody knows where they come from.
“Vacation” means going to Hershey Park for the weekend.
You know several people who have hit deer more than once.
You often switch from “Heat” to “A/C” in the same day.
You use a down comforter in the summer.
You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events.
You think of the major food groups as deer meat and fish.
You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend or wife knows how to use them.
There are 7 empty cars running in the parking lot at the mini-mart at any given time.
You can actually eat cold pizza (even for breakfast) and know others who do the same. Those from NY find this “barbaric”.
You not only have heard of Birch Beer, but you know that it comes in several colors: Red, White, Brown, Gold.
At least 5 people on your block (for the city folks) have electric “candles” in all or most of their windows all year long.
You know several places to purchase or that serve Scrapple, Lebanon Bologna and Hot Bacon Dressing.
You can’t go to a Pennsylvania Wedding without hearing the “Chicken Dance”.
You think only God has the proper resume to take over after Joe Paterno leaves Penn State.
To the rest of the world, Hooters is a restaurant chain. To you it’s a band from Philadelphia.
You can easily spell and pronounce last names like Wojciechowski and Ricigliano.
You’ve eaten coal candy.
You don’t think a stripping hole is an adult club.
You think A-Treat soda is a national brand.
You still have halupkies on New Years day.
You want to scream every time a newscaster tries to pronounce Schuylkill.
You’re shocked to find out no one in your office knows what Yuengling beer is.
People wonder why you’d bet dollars to donuts on anything.
No matter where you live, you still think it’s warmer than Frackville.
You’re the only person on your street that “straightens up the house” before guests come over.
You can dodge potholes at 55 MPH.
You get misty-eyed when you see Mrs. T’s pierogies in the frozen food aisle.

You actually understand these jokes.

A hat tip to Wordnerd for motivating me into digging these up

This stew is great with about 5 lbs cleaned, dressed and boned squab, goose, duck, venison, squirrel, dove, rabbit or just about any combination of game.
Start by cutting the meat into one-inch chunks then apply a rub of Tony Chacheres Creole seasoning to all the meat, then place in a bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour (overnight is better).
In a cast-iron Dutch oven, brown the meat thoroughly in Olive oil.

When the meat is browned, remove to a bowl and add to the Dutch oven:
1 cup onion, sliced
1 ring smoked hot Italian sausage, sliced
2 cloves garlic

When the onion is nicely browned, add to the Dutch oven:
1 pint Yuengling Premium beer
2 cups duck stock (or beef broth)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves

Bring the stock to a boil, add the meat, cover and place in a 275-degree oven for at least two hours. Half an hour before the stew is ready to be served, add:
2 cups potatoes, chopped
2 cups carrots, chopped

Remove the bay leaves and, if necessary, thicken the gravy with a white or brown roux. This dish can be prepared ahead of time and reheated at mealtime (in fact it’s better that way).
Eat
Burp
Enjoy

Happy Easter!

I can sew.  Can you?  When I was a kid my mother taught me how to sew.  I can handle a sewing needle like a ninja in the night.  She told me that even boys needed to learn how to sew.  That and I was the only one in the house with eyes good enough to thread a needle.  What would I do, while at college, if a button came off my shirt?, she asked me.  Of course, being a kid, I was thinking…..go buy another one!  She taught me how to sew a patch on a pair of blue jeans, how to darn a sock, how to replace a button (both kinds) and how to repair a tear.
All my sisters have these big noisy electrically powered, push button, self feeding sewing machines and they rip through repairs like a fat kid through a box of doughnuts.
Well, I wield a sewing needle!  Ok, so it’s not the most manly-man kinda’ thing but ya’ know what?  I can fix stuff.  I don’t care if it’s my old used lawn mower, any one of my many clocks, all my friends’ computers or my favorite shirt.  I can fix it.  It’s what I do.  Sewing is one of those zen-like exercises that focuses me and makes me enjoy the process as well as the end result.  It’s like working on a clock.  Every step you take is obviously important to the final result.
Recently Grannymar put up a podcast about her sewing box and it got me thinking about my Moms sewing box that I have in a drawer in my bedroom.  It’s full of the odd buttons and assorted needles, a tailors tape measure, scissors, pinking shears, a scapular of St. Martin de Porres, pins, thread, a half a zipper, hooks and eyelets and all that stuff you would expect to find in a sewing box.  It also contains an odd looking egg shaped chunk of wood.  It took me awhile but it finally dawned on me that it is a darning egg.  One of the most useful little gizmos ever invented.  I have no doubt that you just throw away a pair of socks that develop a hole in them.  Well guess what?  So do I or I should say so did I.
Today after reading Grannymars latest post I decided to break out that old darning egg and see if I still had it in me.  Haha!  I am currently wearing a really warm and comfy pair of recently repaired wool socks.

In the past twety four hours I have found or re-found two blogs of note.  Noteworthy enough that I’m typing this post to tell  yous’ guys’ about them.  They are as follows;

K8 the Gr8

and

Because I Said So

Now go and visit them and give them some love, comments and a nice Hello.