First impressions

Whee! Fun!

Picked it up today

This little beauty.

And exactly on the timestamp. The state of Kalifornia didn't get one extra minute on my waiting period. And I'm heading to the ranch tomorrow at 0-dark-hundred for to try it out. And maybe find a turkey.

Quote of the day

"The man wants four good men. That's me and one extra."

Heh. I don't expect anyone to know the reference. I didn't (though I've seen the show in reruns). From here:

This is a scream

Check it out:

Thought experiment

Actually, just plumbing this tiny audience's brains for amusement.

If you could pick just one personality to be able to visit before he/she died, which may be soon because of advanced age, in order to let that person know how much you appreciate their contribution to the arts, who would it be?

My top three, in roughly chronological order of their stardom:

Patti Andrews
Gogi Grant
Chuck Berry

Drop yours in the comments.

My new toy

I've wanted one for years, just started the paperwork on it today.

Go here and move your cursor on the fourth one down (6.5 inch blued). I'd like it if the rosewood grips came on the blued models but I'll have to settle for the black rubber grips.

Why I love the blogosphere

[This is a repost of an old 'Pints post, especially for the darling Lemon Stand; links updated to her repost of an old favorite]

And why I love the dear folks who drop by this tiny little corner of it.

A few days ago [Well, actually it was in 2007 – Ed.] I mentioned a picture I got a kick out of, which was really only part of a picture, being on the back of an article clipped out of the Red Bluff Daily News. Today the lovely Lemon Stand dropped by and mentioned that I should have scanned it. Well, yeah, I should have. So I did and emailed it to her.

Naturally, the dear lady knows the picture, the ship, and the context. And she has posted it (after very kindly sending me a large, full-color copy of the original).

Yes, I am ashamed that I did not recognize the Mighty Mo. I blame the beer. And the ignorance...

This explains a lot

[Stolen from DNT]

Why the Wankees can afford that monstrous payroll:

Report: Yankees Trademarked 'Yankees Suck' Chant In 1996
Team Has Earned More Than $90 Billion From Popular Phrase
November 13, 2009 | Onion Sports

TAMPA, FL—New York Yankees team ownership revealed Tuesday that the phrase "Yankees suck," one of the most popular chants in sports, was trademarked by the 27-time World Series champions prior to the 1996 season, a business strategy that has earned the team close to $100 billion over the past 13 years.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records show that every time an individual chants, shouts, or writes the words "Yankees suck," the New York Yankees organization earns at least $2.15, an amount that escalates depending on repetition, volume, and whether the phrase was used during a national broadcast.

I always suspected...

I probably shouldn't do this...

...being the father of teenage girls.

Wait, they're no longer teenagers. Both are in their 20s.

Still, it seems weird to post this, being the father of teenage girls adults.

But I just couldn't pass it up. Too amusing. From Daughter Number One's facebook page (note that she is an old married lady in every way but some kind of gummint certificate):

Top 10 reasons to date an Ultimate Frisbee player:
10. If he dumps you, it's only to swing.
9. His hammer is really long.
8. His flow is impeccable.
7. He'll tell you when it's UP.
6. He let's you pull it so he can get ready to score.
5. He'll stay on you for an intense 10 seconds.
4. If he breaks you, you're screwed.
3. He'll go deep on every play.
2. He doesn't wait for it, he comes to.
1. He'll go at it with you til he scores 15 times.

Man, if she were still under 18, I'd be whoopin' on her ass with a switch.

Yay!

The dear and lovely Lemon Stand is back!

Coolness

Sometime back (at 'Pints or here, I forget which) I noted that an old picture in my possesion, captioned "Grandma Stone" was finally identified by the Tehama County Genealogical Society.

Tonight I got an email from the Society, asking for permission to use it in an upcoming article of the Society's periodical book. I'm happy to oblige.

Better: the article is being written by a grandson of said Grandma Stone. And if I can get a snail mail address for the fine fellow, I am going to send him the original picture. Because no one in my family knows the lady since my grandpa died more than forty years ago, and the picture should live with her family.

That's a good feeling.

So what be happenin' 'round here?

Well, I'll tell you. Had a good deer season, got a very nice five-point. Had a great visit out at the ranch with my putative son, Wunderkraut. He's posted some great pics of his California trip on facebook, even some of me. I may steal them.

Yesterday, I had a nice-but-all-too-short visit with Army of Mom, who was at a conference in this area. She took a pic of me too, which you may see here. She deigned to be seen in public with me, bless her kind-yet-slightly-demented heart.

Aside from that, work work work. Heigh Ho, I Owe, so Off to Work I Go, and all that.

Unbelievable, even from the LAT

Mickey Kaus and Glenn Reynolds had some amusement on this headline spin in the L.A. Times:

Democrats score congressional victories in California, New York

The GOP fares better in Virginia and New Jersey as both states elect Republican governors.

Okay, the subhead is not bad, but Kaus and IP didn't go quite far enough in looking at the embedded spin in the story. Lead paragraph:

Reporting from San Francisco and Washington - A Democrat won a special congressional election in a heavily Republican district in northern New York by exploiting a battle between moderates and conservatives for control of the GOP.

Thence follow five additional paragraphs on the same race.

Following that comes:

Democrats scored another victory in California, as Lt. Gov. John Garamendi won a special election to a Northern California congressional seat, keeping the district in Democratic hands.

And there follow another two paragraphs on a pretty meaningless, yet already predetermined, Congressional race.

And finally, we get the the tenth paragraph:

Meanwhile, Republicans seized the governorships of Virginia and New Jersey, giving the GOP a psychological boost heading into next year's midterm elections.

You just can't make this stuff up.