The bike ride yesterday disappointed, but only a little. No Fabulous Hollywood Stars were in evidence down at South High, but apparently they have been; Miley Cyrus spottings are making my “grosse pointe” RSS feed fill like a bucket. Yesterday it was basically your average film set, as seen from beyond the security line, which is to say, a bunch of trailers. You could get a similar thrill at your local KOA campground.
Well, I hope she’s enjoying herself. The Free Press had a story that said she asked some fans at the local CVS to back off and let her buy her chips in peace. I don’t believe this story for a minute. Nobody that thin and pretty eats chips of any sort, and if they do, they have lackeys buy them.
Of course I didn’t see her. I never see the famous person. I have written about this before. I’d link, but I couldn’t find it in two Googles, so pfft. I am the anti-LA Mary. By the time I arrive at the party, it’s over. After I leave, it starts. My friends were wandering through the Ohio State Fair one afternoon and ducked into the Warner Cable tent. Guess who else had ducked in to play an impromptu set, just because he liked the interactive QUBE system? Todd Rundgren! I was not there. I sat in the bar when Elvis Costello traded blows, physical ones, with Bonnie Bramlett in the bar across the street. Where I wasn’t. Another night, at another bar, I left early because I had to work the next day. An hour after I went home, Prince showed up. Played a few numbers. Argh.
Once I was at the video post-production house waiting on my friend Mark to get off work. While I stood reading a bulletin board, David Lee Roth squeezed past, behind me. Brushed up against me and everything. Didn’t feel it, didn’t know about it until someone pointed it out later. That must have been some bulletin board.
Last summer, the local papers contained a funny story, about a Grosse Pointe woman who was sitting in a restaurant, looking at the man across the way. She’s one of those women who knows everyone, and she knew she knew this man, but she couldn’t think of his name. Oh, well, time to get reacquainted. She walked across the room, stuck out her hand and said, “Hi, I’m Muffy McPrepster.” He shook her hand and said, “Hi, I’m Robert DeNiro.”
Needless to say, I was not there. (DeNiro was shooting “Stone,” coming soon to a theater near you.)
I won’t ride my bike down that way today. I expect Miley and Demi will be working the rope line.
We’ve been a shallow puddle of late, eh? Sorry, but it’s been hot and miserable, and I’ve been catching up on this and that. I’m teaching again this fall, for reals and for money and everything, and I need to get my affairs in order, which means learning Blackboard, the system everybody uses and expects me to use, too. I’m baffled by little on the internet, and I thought Blackboard was clipping right along the last time I tried to use it, but nobody could see my posts and my e-mail wasn’t getting through, and grr. One of my colleagues suggested that I may well have been doing everything right, and that “it wasn’t appearing on Blackboard” is the “dog ate my homework” of the 21st century. Well, this time I will attain mastery. This time that one won’t work with me.
So let’s skip to the bloggage:
In the Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Dumb Tree Department, meet Ben Quayle. He is not Brock Landers, dammit, but you know what? I think the dog ate that man’s homework.
Dear Ms. Schlessinger (sorry, AP style forbids me from using the “Dr.” honorific for a PhD), perhaps you are baffled this morning (although I doubt it), withering under the angry glare of those who would call you racist just because you used the word “nigger” 11 times on your stupid radio show the other day, all while in the course of telling a black woman she was overly sensitive for objecting to the use of the word by her husband’s white friends, because some comedians on HBO use it all the time, and so obviously that lady just lacks the sense of humor required for an interracial relationship. Or perhaps you aren’t. I suspect you’re reading your heaps of fan mail, and are simply grateful that someone, anyone is paying attention to you, however briefly. (Here in Detroit, your show plays in the coveted middle-of-the-night time slot.) Watching this brief video clip may help explain things to you. Although I doubt it.
Ayn Rand on the playground. Funny.
And I’m off to take the last, seriously-this-is-it, really-I-mean-it bite of my horse-eating project. Seriously. LAST BITE. Here comes the airplane, open the hangar doors.
Bob (Not Greene) said on August 13, 2010 at 11:27 am
Bonnie Bramlett was a wily veteran by then and Elvis Costello was just a pup, so I would say Bonnie got the upper hand on that one. Of course, the incident (over some racial slurs uttered by E.C.) eventually led to a great album — Get Happy!! — at least that’s the legend.
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brian stouder said on August 13, 2010 at 11:29 am
Really, I’m surprised that these movie shoots don’t operate a little more like a political campaign.
How much effort would it take for them to block out some time for meet-and-greet? They then get lots of friendly free media (or “earned media”), plus lots and lots of positive social media.
(and indeed, production days are expensive, but so are ad campaigns – and this would hit THEIR budget!)
My (possibly incorrect) understanding was that postive word-of-mouth was always the coveted thing, for the success of any movie; and i-phones and twitter and all the rest were quite literally invented for this sort of thing
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nancy said on August 13, 2010 at 11:38 am
Actually, Brian, this one has been operating like that. Miley has been quite generous with autographs, and has been out there in public in ways few actors, errr, stars generally are. At some point she just wanted to buy some chips in peace, I guess, and asked for space. Can’t blame her.
Demi Moore is, of course, a super-tweeter, as is her husband, and they have been out and about, too. (Not buying chips, needless to say, as Demi’s super bikini bod is only maintained through blood sacrifice.) A couple weeks ago, Mr. Moore was in town and tweeted, “what’s going on tonight in Detroit, yo?” A few hours later, he posted a picture of the two of them at a Tigers game. They’re earning their checks on this one fershure.
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Sue said on August 13, 2010 at 11:46 am
TPM is reporting that Justice Alito has agreed to refer Orly Taitz’s appeal of her fine to the entire Supreme Court.
I don’t know what that means – that they will decide if they want to hear it, or that it will be put on the schedule or docket or whatever it’s called?
I’m tempted to file this under “Don’t they have better things to do?” but that’s probably just my Orly-hate coming through. Still, I’d like an explanation if anyone has one.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/08/alito_refers_taitz_appeal_to_entire_supreme_court.php?ref=fpb
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garmoore2 said on August 13, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Sue:
Rule 22 of the Rules of the Supreme Court outlines the procedures for motions to individual justices. It allows for just what Orly Taitz was doing in this case, which apparently involves just a motion. I suspect that, given that Justice Thomas had already denied her motion and she had both announced her intentions and began to act on them, Alito referred this to the entire Court just to cut the process off before she took up any more of everyone’s time.
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coozledad said on August 13, 2010 at 12:19 pm
The whole Ben Quayle thing reminds me of “The Moronic Inferno”, where Martin Amis is recalling the selection of Dan as Bush Sr.’s running mate. Straight out of the gate, he failed to recognize his severe limitations, convincing himself that he’d been selected for his abilities, rather than insuring that no one would dare take a shot at Poppy with a novelty lemur golf caddy waiting in the wings.
My favorite quote from the story was from the Bush operative who was delegated Quayle’s liason to the press.
“We’ve GOT to Calm. His. Ass. Down.”
It’s both funny and sad to watch the Republicans assembling their new hair band to take to the road. I don’t know whether they should call it Great White or REP Methwagon. One thing’s for certain: between Quayle, Cantor, Ryan and Palin it’s going to be hard to pick who’s “the dim one”.
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Jeff Borden said on August 13, 2010 at 1:28 pm
I read that article by Eric Hague, who wins douchebag dad of the day award handily, with the same sense of wonderment as a column by our local idiot financial columnist, Terri Savage, who had a conniption over a couple of little girls in the northern suburbs giving away lemonade.
People who take Ayn Rand seriously are as pathetic as those who try to live their lives by the gospel according to Tolkien, but a lot less pleasant. This asshole is turning his little daughter into the kind of kid who is going to be hated by all the other kids, but hey, it’s okay, they’re objectivists. Sweet Jesus. A toddler screaming “looter” and shoving another kid who had the audacity to ask if he could play with her toy. I’m sure the little girl will be thanking Eric profusely as she endures decades of psychotherapy as an adult.
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Jeff Borden said on August 13, 2010 at 1:37 pm
I guess my next-door neighbors are going to be enslaved by Eric Hague and his objectivist brood. One of their daughters did a small favor for us, and I wanted to give her a little reward, but her mother stopped me by saying they were trying to teach their daughters that a good deed is a reward unto itself.
Damned dirty hippies. They’ll be easy prey for the mighty Randians.
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Dorothy said on August 13, 2010 at 1:49 pm
Maybe I’m nuts but I took the whole Ayn Rand thing as a joke, more sarcastic than anything. Didn’t anyone else?
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Jason T. said on August 13, 2010 at 2:16 pm
Jeff:
Over in the corner of your mouth — is that a hook?
Also, selling Irish babies for food isn’t really a good solution to a famine.
/tongue-in-cheek
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Bob (Not Greene) said on August 13, 2010 at 2:17 pm
Yeah, the Eric Hague thing is satire. The title should be the first hint. And the “looter” bit is a dead giveaway.
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Dorothy said on August 13, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Thank you Jason and Bob (in a sing/songy voice)!!!
…sorry Jeff – not casting stones your way or anything. But seriously, maybe you oughta cut back on the caffeine today.
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judybusy said on August 13, 2010 at 2:32 pm
I thought the piece an extremely funny way to show how stupid the “philosophy” of Ayn Rand is–loved it! Jeff, careful easing that hook out of your mouth….
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Norman Rogers said on August 13, 2010 at 2:58 pm
The Art of War is far more appropriate for the playground these days.
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Jeff Borden said on August 13, 2010 at 3:13 pm
Yow. This is what I get for reading stuff when I’ve had five hours of sleep. Thanks, guys. I am an idiot. This is common knowledge to my wife and to many on this board already, but for any relative newcomers, the truth is out.
I AM AN IDIOT.
I have not shared this with the group because my wife and I are determined not to become “dog heads,” but we bought a labradoodle puppy two weeks ago that we are crate training, so Mr. Jeff has been getting up at least once, often twice, per night to let Cosmo out to the yard to eliminate. He is 11-weeks so this seemingly mundane event leads him to think it is time to play. I am gassed and easy prey for those who would choose to pull the wool over my eyes. Thank God I am not playing poker tonight.
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Jeff Borden said on August 13, 2010 at 3:37 pm
I am, however, not as dumb as Ben Quayle.
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4dbirds said on August 13, 2010 at 3:57 pm
Jeff B.
I have so much in common with you. I too am an idiot at times, I want a labradoodle and I play poker.
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Jeff Borden said on August 13, 2010 at 4:08 pm
OK 4dbirds, just this once. . .
He is a great puppy. I took him to the vet for his shots last week and he stood completely still on the stainless steel table while the vet did his thing. The vet, an earring wearing, tattooed younger guy, said, “Man, this dog is mellow.” He’s teething so anything he can get his mouth around is in mortal danger, but he does have a sweet nature, which is why we got him. He’s supposed to hit about 50 pounds and currently hits the scales at a muscular 15 pounds.
Damn, I cannot believe I fell for that shit now that I reread it. It’s hilarious. My bullshit detector must be on the fritz.
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Dorothy said on August 13, 2010 at 4:09 pm
I have two dogs and a cat who thinks she’s a dog and I love playing cards (though not poker necessarily) and I’m cuter and smarter than Ben Quayle.
Welcome back, Jeff!
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Jason T. said on August 13, 2010 at 4:19 pm
Jeff: I have the mother of all sinus headaches right now, so you have my sincere sympathies, dude. I’m just barely operational myself.
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Jeff Borden said on August 13, 2010 at 4:51 pm
Thanks, guys. This site really is a one-of-a-kind sort of community with a lot of great people.
Sadly, since I posted on the Internet, my gullibility will be floating in hyperspace forever and a day. On the plus side, my last name is not Quayle.
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brian stouder said on August 13, 2010 at 6:18 pm
The Quayle article Nance linked to is quite good. Reading it is like reading one of those children’s menus they give families in restaurants; you know – with mazes for them to trace with their crayons, “which items don’t belong” puzzles, and other assorted simple games.
Every time Quayle responds directly to a question, he gives an answer that may well be true, but which still doesn’t deny that he wrote the raunchy posts.
For example, the founder of the site Quayle undoubtedly wrote for now runs another site, where the founder states that Quayle wrote under the pseudonym “Brock Landers”, thus:
“The website pushing these smears about me is an offensive and I’ve never had any association with that website,” Quayle told ABCNews.com. “This is a smear campaign by my opponents.”
and then we come to this sentence:
Asked if he wrote under the pseudonym Brock Landers, Quayle told ABCNews.com emphatically: “I am not Brock Landers.”
And leaving aside his little game of hangman (or liar’s poker) did you catch his marquee bit of political thinkin’?
The first piece of legislation Quayle said he would propose if elected to Congress would be a budget-slashing initiative he calls the 20/15 solution. For every year the budget is not cut by 20 percent, Quayle proposes, executive and legislative branch politicians and bureaucrats will take a 15 percent pay cut. “Everyone across America is tightening their belts,” he said. “The only place it hasn’t happened is D.C.”
Hmmmmm. So – he wants to lop off 1/5 of all government spending? Or, if we stipulate that he knows that’s never going to happen* (given the non-discretionary mass that makes up most of the budget), has he thought about how much MORE powerful lobbyists and assorted bagmen will become, when members of congress get their pay slashed and begin really LOOKING for whatever goodies they can get?
The scarey thought is that he HAS thought this through, and that his backers really would welcome such a breakdown.
*admittedly, it’s very hard to bet on what this guy might actually “know”, other than his leering, none-too-subtly misogynistic opinion of women
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alex said on August 13, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Poor Ben Quayle probably has a chip on his shoulder, being the son of the most embarrassing vice president ever. His dad would have been relieved of the title had the Republicans won in ’08, so no wonder he’s so bitter toward the current president.
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brian stouder said on August 13, 2010 at 6:45 pm
Other than this place, the most interesting thing I read today:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38694097/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/
an excerpt:
Her name might lead you to believe that 10-year-old Azura Beebeejaun is just another golden ticket winner on Willy Wonka’s ill-fated chocolate factory tour. In fact, Beebeejaun isn’t fictional at all. She’s a very real, very alive little girl who caused a kerfuffle when she appeared … um … somewhat dead in a Google Street View image. Concerned citizens in St. John’s, Worcester, England alerted police after discovering Beebeejaun’s ominous image in Google Street View, British newspapers report. And who can blame them? Beebeejaun appears lying face down on the sidewalk, arms at her sides, foot dangling from the curb and both her shoes removed.
and then
Upon investigation, officers learned that Beebeejaun (who was 9 years old at the time of the picture) is alive, well and “quite chuffed to be on the Internet. It is quite funny and I can’t wait to tell classmates when I get back to school,” Beebeejaun told the U.K. Daily Mail.
She was playing with a friend, as 9 year olds will, and was ‘playing dead’ – quite apart from the passing Google car.
And don’t you love the word “chuffed”? What a great word! (ranks right up there with “splutter”, in my opinion)
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Deborah said on August 13, 2010 at 7:17 pm
I’ve had a few celebrity encounters that I’ve been lucky enough to experience but I’m no where near on the level of LA Mary. My favorite was the party I went to in NY a year or so ago that was also attended by Ginger (Lordy, I’ve forgotten her real name) of Gilligan’s island. I talked to her for about 10 minutes at the bar and had no idea who she was until someone told me later. I’m sure I commented here about this before. I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of it since. I’ve since seen my friend who had the party, he’s a pal of Ginger’s, he says she fine, still looking for a man. I saw Ginger on-line recently in one of those sites that report on bad plastic surgery victims.
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Deborah said on August 13, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Tina Louise
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deb said on August 13, 2010 at 7:47 pm
Surprised no one else has weighed in on the “Doctor” Laura fiasco. After the caller hung up, she said, “If you’re that hypersensitive about color and don’t have a sense of humor, don’t marry outside of your race” — a remark every bit as ugly as all those n-bombs.
Interestingly, Huffington Post ran this quote verbatim, as did the Seattle PI website. However, USA Today (suggested slogan: “One of America’s Newspapers”) used this: “Schlessinger also said that if the caller did not have a sense of humor about race, she shouldn’t have entered into an interracial marriage.” Memo to USA Today: There’s a reason we use direct quotes instead of paraphrasing, especially when the quote says so much more about the speaker.
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LAMary said on August 13, 2010 at 8:57 pm
I think the brush with fame thing is genetic. Both sons have run into Michael Cera on different occasions and have the photos to prove it. I know he’s not a list or anything, but my sons are in his demographic.
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Dexter said on August 13, 2010 at 8:57 pm
I turned the corner of a sidewalk in San Francisco in 1970 and there was an electric buzz on the sidewalk…I sensed something was up, people were really excited. I just asked some of my fellow pedestrians, and I had just missed seeing John and Yoko leaving an art gallery. They had just hailed a cab and were gone. I really do wish the fates had cooperated just a little bit that day. Later I did see the President of France in a motorcade, exiting his limo at the St. Francis Hotel. BFD, right? That’s how I view it too. I have seen lots of pop, rock and sports stars, but I missed a look at the biggest fish of them all. Damn.
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LAMary said on August 13, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Jeff, teach the dog to play poker. It’s possible. I’ve seen pictures.
On the other hand, my son pointed out that dogs would be total shit at playing poker because if they had a good hand (paw?) they might be able to keep a poker face, but they could not control their tails.
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Linda said on August 13, 2010 at 9:28 pm
Surprised Roy Endroso didn’t weigh in on Dr. Laura,since he has a long-running thing about white people who feel deprived because they aren’t allowed to drop the n-bomb. But the rule is as old as humanity: you can only slag on your own. Period. As Maggio (played by Frank Sinatra) said in From Here to Eternity, “Only my friends can call me wop.”
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coozledad said on August 13, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Linda: Anyone can call me a hookworm infested Scots-Irish cracker, as long as they’re buying the drinks.
And the Dems ought to buy this and run it this fall:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRHa55CmGwk&feature=player_embedded
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brian stouder said on August 13, 2010 at 10:53 pm
I saw the guy who played Barnabus Collins on Dark Shadows here in Fort Wayne, about 40 years ago…so there’s that
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Dexter said on August 13, 2010 at 11:10 pm
George Cantor was a great writer. He never wrote bitter words, never was hateful. He knew how ask questions of people and he just knew how to write.
I was shocked to see he died, only 69 years old.
http://www.freep.com/article/20100813/NEWS08/100813065/
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Denice B. said on August 14, 2010 at 12:16 am
Living in the hood, I hear the ‘n’ word bantered about casually amongst African-Americans. The kids in the street playing basketball call each other that. Even the ladies at work call each other that. I exaggerate my horror at the word, and tell the ladies I can’t believe I heard that in a workplace environment! I’m shocked, Shocked to hear such language here. Horrors!!!!!! Psycho Fake-Dr.Laura would probably be offended if anyone said ‘kike’ 11 times. She merely needs a sense of humor!!
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Linda said on August 14, 2010 at 4:39 am
Re: George Cantor. Here is another obituary that has a little more info, including a mention of his travel books. He also spent several years as a travel writer for the News. He wrote one travel guide on on historic places in African-American history that got a starred review in Library Journal. I checked Amazon briefly and did not find it. Maybe the travel books went out of print, but they were good.
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Jolene said on August 14, 2010 at 5:50 am
Jeff: Perhaps you should pass your puppy-training techniques along to David Letterman. His family acquired a puppy several weeks ago, which he has subsequently–and repeatedly–referred to as a helldog. Key phrase: “will tear your flesh and drink your blood.”
It’s kind of surprising, actually. Whatever his problems in dealing w/ humans, Dave seems like a dog kind of guy. Since you’re doing so well w/ your new friend, perhaps you could give him a few pointers.
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coozledad said on August 14, 2010 at 7:59 am
Dr. Laura really is a vile old thing. She needs to be in a vile old thing’s home.
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Linda said on August 14, 2010 at 8:52 am
Coozledad:
Apparently, we may not have trouble picking out Quayle as the dim bulb in the Republican chandelier:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38695343/ns/politics/
Before he rags on Obama as worst president, he better make it through an election without being “worst candidate.”
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Judybusy said on August 14, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Jeff, glad to see you had a sense of humor! And a darn good reason for being, so, hmmm, Quayle-ish. Hearing your work on training your puppy confirms my sense we did the right thing when we adopted a four-year-old dog five weeks ago. She needs fine-tuning, but has the basics down!
Remember that Hyperbole-and-a-half link Deb shared about six weeks ago about “I think my dog is retarded?” The dog compulsively licked the floor, and thus tipped her owner off to the fact she was challenged in the brain dept. “Floor-licker” has now entered our household lexicon. I propose it be widely used to described teh crazies in politics as well.
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prospero said on August 14, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Quayle(e) thinks “Everyone across America is tightening their belts…The only place it hasn’t happened is D.C.”
Like the CEOs whose compensation averages 300 times what they deign to pay their employees (10 times the adverse ratio in 1975), you moron? Particularly the big-timers like Carly Fiorina that get obscene mountains of filthy lucre for running their companies without intact head gaskets or oil until the engines seize, and then buy primary elections with the proceeds.
For Republicans, there’s the Stupid but Calculating Wing, with Cantor, Quayle, Rep. Oompa-Loompa et al. Then there are the Bull-Goose Looneys (without McMurphy’s charm, and apologies to Ken Kesey) like Angle and Rand Paul, and my current favorite, Gohmert. The AWOL governor seems simultaneously in charge of both groups. I still think anybody gullible, stupid or just plain irresponsible to vote for cndidates like these people should be disenfranchised.
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Jeff Borden said on August 14, 2010 at 2:31 pm
I like the idea of teaching Cosmo to play poker, but at this stage, he would simply eat the cards.
Judybusy, We knew we were letting ourselves in for a lot more work when we opted to go the puppy route but it is more fun than hassle except for the middle-of-the-night poop and pee runs. Once he’s old enough to be crated for the entire night, we’ll be a lot better off. But you are quite right: an older dog arrives much better prepared to share your home. I’m sure your canine appreciates his new household and is having a blast.
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Kirk said on August 14, 2010 at 4:47 pm
One close brush with celebrity I can think of happened way back in the ’70s when I was on my way home from college and was at a double gate in the Indianapolis airport. Blood Sweat & Tears showed up. They were catching a puddle-jumper to a gig at Purdue; I was heading for Columbus.
I yakked with trumpeter Lew Soloff and one or two of the other guys, who were quite neighborly. Then David Clayton-Thomas strutted in wearing a full-length fur coat and hanging on to some babe. He was an obvious celebriturd.
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deb said on August 14, 2010 at 6:09 pm
i saw betsy palmer buying cosmetics in the gift shop at the milwaukee hyatt back in the early 1980s. she seemed very nice. celebrities are just like you: they buy crap in gift shops when the airline loses their luggage! (does anybody even remember betsy palmer?)
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Kirk said on August 14, 2010 at 6:15 pm
I do, Deb. We used to watch I’ve Got a Secret in our house.
And I was wondering the same thing about David Clayton-Thomas.
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Deborah said on August 14, 2010 at 9:24 pm
I remember Betsy Palmer and I saw her in person at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in the play South Pacific when I was in Jr High in Miami. I got invited by the assistant principal, Miss Tillman. because I had done a good job on some project but mainly because my mother had died that year and she felt sorry for me. It was extremely memorable to me. No one had ever shown that kind of attention to me and I appreciated it very much, still do.
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MaryRC said on August 14, 2010 at 9:28 pm
I used to travel a lot in a past job and I probably should have run into more celebrities than I did but the list is short: Betty Friedan sitting next to me in a Dublin beauty salon; Alan Alda in the Hotel Beijing; and Dave Winfield in Washington National airport (Reagan Airport now, I guess). And once I was seated in the first row on a flight to Stockholm and walked off the plane into a storm of flash-bulbs. Turns out that the gentlemen seated directly behind me were well-known jazz musicians (I can’t remember their names if I ever knew them). My brush with fame!
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prospero said on August 14, 2010 at 11:18 pm
Are you kidding. My brother and I got John Unitas, He was well known, one great guy. Johnny U gave a signature so he;s a jerk? What’s wrong wirh you assholes?
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prospero said on August 14, 2010 at 11:22 pm
How about if somebodu=y took the bucks awY DROM
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Dave said on August 15, 2010 at 1:15 am
Oh, so pitiful, I stood next to Grandpa Jones, Grandpa later became a Hee-Haw regular but this was pre-Hee-Haw. This was in Bowling Green, KY, at a campground and I was about 15.
Flew on a plane once with and briefly spoke to Billy Hinsche, who had been a member of Dino, Desi, and Billy, in the sixties, and was then touring with the Beach Boys as a back-up musician. Dino and Desi were the sons of Dean Martin and Desi Arnaz and I think Billy was their friend. Have to think that if he toured with the Beach Boys later, he may have been the real musician in the band.
And, we were in Bob Evans in Columbus, IN, and in the next booth was John Mellencamp and who I assume was his son. When we left, I couldn’t help but notice that John had only picked at his food, leaving the plate almost entirely full. It wasn’t long after that that he had a heart attack.
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coozledad said on August 15, 2010 at 9:57 am
If the Republicans continue to shape the debate over freedom of religion, I wonder how long it’ll take for them to fire up the ovens and start piercing and hanging each other from the gibbet. How long before Jews become the enemy? Catholics? Episcopalians?
Shortly after the World Trade Center attack, I heard some vapid bitch going on about how Al Qaeda was funded by Methodists. These are the people Bill Kristol and his ilk are felching.
It would almost be worth it to see how the know-nothings transform a liberal democracy into something resembling the opening sequence of Nicolas Roeg’s “The Devils”, but most of us would go in the first wave of killings.
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prospero said on August 15, 2010 at 11:10 am
Anchor babies? McCain was born in Panama, you idiots.
Whrn facts don’t fit, Republicans and their lackeys just lie their asses off.
I believe what Republicantsts object to is a President with a functioning brain. devoid of prejudice against faith of anybody else. Apparently, that makes him a muslim anchor baby out to subvert our wonderful way of Republican life subservient to big corporations.
Who actually believes this bullshit?. Who believe’s he’s working for Wall Street? Are Americans so stupid they don’t understand that Senate rules and the phony filibuster don’t limit what anybody can accomplish.? Deanie babies want instant gratification. Try the Senate, you morons. It doesn’t work. Tha’s Obama’s fault and you feel betrayed? No magic wand comes with the office.
What exactly do you suppose he should do>? The Senate is blocking appointments at rate that that beggars belief. For no reason but the appointer in chief isn’t a nitwit and might be a closet muslim. The dissatisfaction is woefully misguided and poorly aimed If you want something accomplished beyond the astounding health care and financial oversight accomplishments, make the Senate change the rules. 60-40 isn’t democracy, but these assholes insist on the idea that it is, and teabagging Republicans are right on board. What is up with that idiotic shit?
Everything the instant-gratification Progressives claim Obama hasn’t delivered on, that’s the Senate filibuster, and if you don;t understand that, you are an idiot. Lay the blame where it belongs, and don’t blame a President that’s already gotten an amazing amount of things done.
Seriously. if you claim Progessive, vote obstructionist Senators out of office and let the President do his job. At this point, blaming things on Obama and not the whackjob obstructionists like Mitch is just fucking obtuse.
W was a draft dodger. That’s a fact. So was Cheney. They both sucked up to the PNAC and created an invasion and occupation that cost $3billion, off the books. Republican politicians say that waste of cash . They were demonstrable traitors, and they were responsible for the obscene Swift Boat libel. That shit on the art of a cokehead idiot AWOL POS is so outragousas W should have Barney piss on his head again. Throw their asses in jail and let’s get on with things.
Does KC Jones count as a celebrity? I think so. I used to ride the Green Line with this professorial ex-Celt fairly frequently, A gentleman, unrecognized in a city he helped make great. Not Russ, the greatest basketball player that ever lived. Michael Jordan? Walked every time and the league approved. If Kevin McHale got the Jordan extra step, he was unstoppable. Not Havlicek, just a great player. Unlike Michael, never reached in. Unquestionably the second best defensive player in the history of hoops. After Russell.
I Like David Lee Roth. I think Jump< is a brilliant song, and Eddy never had a better singer. Van Halen with that total ahole Sammy Haggar was just depressing. And Dave is a wonderfully good singer. That’s pretty much undeniable. Not AC/DC but they used to be pretty good.
How does anybody choose when it comes to rock and roll? I’d say the Kinks are my favorites (followed closely by anything to do with Lou Reed), but I’d say Waterloo Sunset is the most gorgeous song anybody ever wrote. Is that rock? I think so. When the Temps and the Supremes got all psychedelic, was that rock ‘n’ roll or what? Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone? Jimi should have played that.
I once met Agnes Moorehead. At the same time as having a drink with Paul Henreid. Gracious people. Ms Moorehead had a dry martini. She was old, but elegant Closest thing to Bette Davis you’d ever get..
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Jeff Borden said on August 15, 2010 at 3:00 pm
I see the walking sack of smegma that is Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, saying President Obama’s stance on the Islamic community center in Lower Manhattan will be “an election issue” in the midterms.
Funny how the right-wingers always have to have someone to hate. At least the Soviets were worthy of their ire, but with the Evil Empire in ruins, they need some new enemies to fire up the followers. They’ve settled on immigrants, particularly those of the brownish hue, and Islam, many of whose followers are of the brownish complexion. They are very unhappy about homosexuals finally getting the same kinds of legal protections most of us always have enjoyed. And then there are teachers, union members, scientist and anyone expert enough to earn the title of “elite.” We can’t, of course, leave our our half-breed Muslim fascist/socialist/communist president off the list.
It’s rather astonishing to think of how far right-wing philosophies have drifted since the days of St. Ronald. I was no fan of him or his policies, but at least he was upbeat and had a positive view of the future. The current version of American conservatism is a very bitter brew.
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Deborah said on August 15, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Prospero you sound like my husband. Well, sorta, not the colorful parts, he is so perturbed with Rachel and Keith and it bugs him that they are always whining about stuff that’s important but not as important as the big items on the table and the whining can cost a lot in the long run.
The air and water show is happening in Chicago this weekend (big sigh). Last year we were in Finland at this time so I didn’t have to see my cats being terrified by the noise. Little Bird is out on the lake on a friend’s boat and she called me and told me it is a completely different experience out there, a positive one. Sometimes it seems as if the aircraft are 20 feet from my window and everything rattles. It makes me realize how it must feel in a war zone. There are a zillion boats on the lake and the weather is pretty good, not as hot as it has been.
Yesterday we had a lousy experience. Little Bird and her boyfriend and I drove about 40 miles out of Chicago to a U-pick-it farm in the country to get some tomatoes to can. What we didn’t think about ahead of time were the heat and the mosquitos once we got there. So we asked if they had some already picked ones we could purchase. No, of course not, but they said their kids would pick some for us. We explained what we were interested in, ripe tomatoes about the size of your fist, about a half bushel. What we got were dinky and about two thirds of them not ripe, a mixed bag of types, and a lot of bad spots. I felt like I couldn’t reject them after these poor kids picked them for us. In the end I spent way more than I expected and got a bad bunch. So we decided to ditch canning them and used Prospero’s recipe of roasting tomatoes first tossed in a bag with olive oil basil and garlic, we added onions, then pureeing them in a blender. I’ve only roasted about a third of them so far because the rest are not ripe yet. I’m freezing a big batch for later. Tonight I’m making spaghetti sauce out of some of it with ground beef.
I also got some peaches there, pre-picked but they are not ripe yet, tomorrow they will be perfect and Little Bird will make a pie then.
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Linda said on August 15, 2010 at 6:28 pm
Jeff, you are right. People might be pissed at Obama because of the economy, but they may be colder to the Repubs than otherwise, since the party refuses to talk about anything they care about. Really, who is excited about killing the 14th amendment and a mosque (Toledo has three, and it hasn’t hurt us much. Of course, we aren’t on sacred ground)? People felt good about voting for Republicans before they decided to appeal to teh crazy. Now, they need to take a bath.
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prospero said on August 15, 2010 at 7:12 pm
I have always thought Los Lobos a great band, with three superb songwriters, two excellent singers, and a mind-bending guitar player. Robert Plant’s take on Angel Dance is fairly astounding.
Meanwhile, my latest copy of Rolling Stone features Katy Perry, Michael Cera and Matt Taibbi talking out of his ass about something he doesn’t know shit about, but, you know, Obama betrayed our trust when he signed TARP. Last issue was Lady Gaga. They should go back to Richard Dreyfuss. And people said rock is dead. RS may well be. The porn covers are starting to be embarrassing when I see my mailman.
Linda, if people are pissed at Obama because of the economy, which was the particular blow to the head that made them so obtuse. This all happened before he was elected, and people that don’t or won’t understand that are either brain-damaged or just can’t abide a black President. Lord knows, there are lots of the latter.
The problem with Obama’s recovery attempts all have to do with “not quite enough”, but honestly, given the Congress he has to live with and can’t just shoot, what the hell else could he have done at this point. Much of the Deanie Baby disconnect comes from Obama supposedly abandoning Public Option, like anybody even thought about that during the 2008 campaign. It’s a wimpy sort of sop approach to purveyor’s of Adam Smith health care in the first place, and it is not an idea endorsed by candidate Obama no matter how much anybody whines about it. Listen to the Humanas and Bill Frist, Juvenile Small Animal Abuser, squeal about what got passed in the dysfunctional Senate. Once in a century historic.
And PGA. If half the players can’t get a round in in one day for three days straight, you think you may have skewed the results? This one should actually not count.
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Jeff Borden said on August 15, 2010 at 7:20 pm
Bad economic times always bring an extra measure of grief to those at the bottom rungs of society. It’s just so damned disappointing to see the so-called Party of Lincoln turning into the party of Nathan Bedford Forrest in response. I know politics is a dirty business and Democrats have been just as willing to indulge in scare tactics over the years, but it’s been some time since we saw a political party openly talking about changing things so radically, which is what all this talk about repealing the 14th Amendment and embracing a narrow view of the 2nd Amendment so it does not apply to Islam is all about.
God help us if there’s another significant terrorist attack linked to a Muslim country. There’ll be blood in the streets.
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prospero said on August 15, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Here’s David Hidalgo playing his own song. I think Robert Plant managed to turn affirmative into ominous.
Added treat. Song named for my daughter. Try profiling that Mescan, Arpaio, you crooked asshole.
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Dexter said on August 15, 2010 at 7:30 pm
No doubt, the three nicest celebs I ever ran into were Alvy Moore (The Wild One, and also he played Conservation Agent Hank Kimball on “Green Acres”), John Madden, and Denny Crum, former basketball coach at Louisville.
Moore was the greeter for the grand opening of Northwood Cinema in Fort Wayne…must have been 1976. He was a character, nice , pleasant fellow to chat with.
I rode an Amtrak with football celeb John Madden once, from Union Station until I got off in Bryan, Ohio. I got a quick autograph and had a short few words, then left him alone. Other people wanted his time…too much, I thought. I mean, a fella can’t be “on” all the time.
Crum I met in the lobby of hotel in St. Louis. He had just been jogging in his Redbirds warm up suit, he was waving at some supporters, and I just said hello, and he stopped and we had a most pleasant chat for a good three minutes.
I won’t list the pricks I ran into over the years…too many, too boring, lots of hate.
But today? a perfect day
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Linda said on August 15, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Prospero:
Enough people voted for him to get him into office, because people–even some borderline racists–were desperate to try anything to fix stuff. But 1) people lose patience and 2) there’s an element of human nature here: people want things to be better, without being different, even if different is required. So people were freaked out when the health care reform made things…different. Also, lots of people don’t pay attention to stuff closely. They know things are bottled up in Congress, but think that “the parties” are fighting, not that one party is digging in like Missouri mules. So they are mad at everybody. And people often have a relationship with powerful politicians that kids have with their parents: when they hurt, they are pissed at their parents for not making it better, even when it’s not directly in their power.
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prospero said on August 15, 2010 at 9:52 pm
Linda: I get that, but being a human being is a poor excuse for bone stupidity, outright racism and irrationality.
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alex said on August 15, 2010 at 11:43 pm
Deborah—
I have a countertop full of splitting ripe fatties that I probably won’t get to use because they’ll go bad before I’m ready to cook again. And some place charged you money for shit? Shame on them.
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LAMary said on August 16, 2010 at 11:16 am
prospero, David Hidalgo has the voice of an angel.
And I feel the same way about RS. The Gaga issue had the McChrystal article but was otherwise lame. I don’t feel inspired to even open RS very often, but my sons read it for music reviews.
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joodyb said on August 16, 2010 at 6:04 pm
best use for split fresh tomatoes:
http://easysoutherncooking.com/fried-tomatoes.html
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