Pass this along...

Monday Morning Quarterbacking

Several random notes and filler on a snowy Monday afternoon:

* Photo above — What we have here is the view outside of my front door, to the right, of my neighborhood when the snowstorm hit hard on Sunday afternoon. I love the contrast from my neightbor's house on the white and drab that surrounds it.

The little girl asked all morning to go outside and play in the snow. We finally did just before this scene hit. It was a good dusting, but nothing like this. And we both lasted 2 minutes - the Arctic blast wind that fed the storm absolutely drove us inside. The wind chill was way below zero and the temperature was in the high 20s most of the day.

Today, it is a slick white sheen on a normally overcast December. The sun is out and the sky is blue. Well, that should be a metaphor for everything - even when the storm hits, the sun comes out the next day anyway. Or whatever... no need for Zen today.

* Work - We still have our jobs. Talking to colleagues from other papers over the last month or so, I can say that with some pride and some sadness - some of them are out of work now. The wife's job is safe for now as well. With the economy in the tank, the need for counselors is just as big, maybe more so.

* "... for the rest of us" - The Washington state capitol in Olympia has out a moritorium on holiday displays due to several protests over the Nativity scene there.

But honestly, why is it so interesting? Because - "The moratorium applies to ... pending requests for a Buddhist display, a Jewish banner, a mannequin of Satan holding a statement against atheists and wishing them a merry Christmas, an aluminum pole in celebration of the invented holiday of Festivus, and a "Flying Spaghetti Monster Holiday Display."

Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld should be proud... very proud...



* George Bush and shoes - I honestly would like to know what was going through George W. Bush's mind when shoes were thrown at him in Iraq...



In Iraq, to throw a shoe at someone means that you are offering that person the biggest insult possible - that you aren't even worthy enough for me to step on. Since shoes are barriers between you and the ground/dirt/etc., the target of your shoe throwing is beneath even your shoes.

Rather unnecessary, to be honest (and funny), but it does remind me of this quip from Austin Powers... "That really hurt! I'm gonna have a lump there, you idiot! Who throws a shoe? Honestly! You fight like a woman!"

And it gives me a chance to seque into this moving gif that's a favorite:

Have a happy Festivus, everybody!

Tis the season....

Cheech & Chong - Christmas Song


Once in a while, I'll post some off-beat songs for the holidays. Since I'm still grooving on Cheech & Chong, we have this selection. A good video editing for the song/bit, too...

Enjoy.

Holy shit, wow man...

A little trip down memory lane... 1977-style...

A 1977 JCPenny's catalog

Holy shit, wow... You know you wore some of that shit and you knew others did, too...

And here's something to enjoy...



Cheech & Chong live on Saturday was fantastic fun. The contact high from the copious amount of pot smoke throughout the Paramount Theater in Seattle was rather intense. They ended the show with a sing-along to "Up In Smoke"... very cool. I honestly thought I'd never get a chance to see them live and I wasn't disappointed. A fantastic environment to see them in. Not a show you'd take the kids to, though.



"When trouble times begin to bother me, I take a toke and all my cares... go up in smoke..."

A quick read

I don't get to do this very often anymore, but I cleared a book cover-to-cover in one sitting tonight. Yeah, there were some starts and stops, especially with a thrilling and more captivating that it should have MNF game (fantasy football-wise), but it was a quick read and I went through it.

Steve Martin's Born Standing Up

I discovered Steve Martin at the same time as I did Richard Pryor, Cheech & Chong and George Carlin. The records flowed with comedy, wit and intelligence. I even took one of his lesser catchphrases and used it to just throw myself off, especially during a particularly mind-numbing swim practice - "Grandpa bought a rubber..."

In a way, the book was a "hey, I was a comedian and I was fucking good, too" tome to probably more than his share of critics who believe he's been rather dry and mundane as an actor these days. Some of his work deserves the slings and arrows - "Pink Panther" to name one - but overall, The Jerk is a masterpiece that came from his stand-up workouts. For that movie alone, he should get a pass, I believe. I don't see him as a dramatic actor. I still see him as a stand-up comedian who is in movies.

Actually, I learned from the book that the fame and popularity he earned on the road helped him get into the door in Hollywood and off the road for good. Hey, good for him for that. He went out and did what he had to do to get there. Words all of us could use once in a while, especially myself.

Speaking of first-discovered comics, on Saturday, I'm going to see Cheech & Chong at the Paramount Theater in Seattle. In a way, it is a tip of the cap to my uncle Monty, who helped expose me to a lot of different views over the past decades. I got to see Cheech & Chong's Up In Smoke at my grandmother's house with my younger Uncle Tim through his help - he rented the movie.

Both Cheech & Chong have admitted that they're out to cash in on what is left of their popularity and the nostalgia the shows will bring. And they'll cash in - they've added shows at nearly every stop. There's two in Seattle, which I got in on for the first show at 7:30 p.m. But my curiocity in seeing the 10 p.m. show is killing me, however.

Odds & Ends: XM's Friction channel isn't that bad. It isn't fantastic, but it is in my rotation now.... America Left, which is powered by Air America, was left unchanged, which is good, but you can't hear a promo for the channel anymore. All you seem to get is the America Right channel, powered by FauxNews Radio, and their "liberals hate America" promos on every fucking channel that allows commercials. And I thought XM was the "conservative" side of the SatRadio war... How to lose a fantasy football matchup: Have your wide receiver, who single-handedly got you back into your matchup, throw an interception on a double-wide receiver pass when the game is already in hand. Thanks, New Orleans. ... Just in case you need to sit down and listen to a good lecture, one where you'll learn something at the end of it, check out TED. Sometimes it is tough to find a good one, especially one that really grabs your interest. But like a golden nugget in the waters of a Sierra Nevada creek, the search is half the fun.