STINGIN' LIZARDS!!!*

It's springtime in Austin,and since it was a fairly mild winter,the bugs are out in force.As I mentioned before,the fleas are horrific.Add to that the mosquitos and the fucking yellow jackets trying to take over our porch...one kamakazied off it's nest into Ann's shirt and stung her boob this evening.She's alright.I did a recon of our front porch and killed three small nests with my Ortho wasp and hornet killer spray which boasts a "guaranteed kill".And it delivers,by encasing the nest in a foam like web of death,they eventually drop to the ground twitching uncontrollably until I stomp them to their maker...can't wait for the "guaranteed kill",as I hate venomous insects of any and all variety,and they are high on my list of why there is no god.
What benevolent god would populate his world with stingin' lizards?It makes no sense to me."And on the fifth day god created the stinging and biting insects,cause he was drunk and wanted to fuck with Adam and Eve".That's the only explanation I can come up with.
Anyhoo,I was out on the front porch playin' my banjo when the sheer amount of mosquito's drove me inside...to the fucking fleas.
I fucking hate bugs...except for spiders, spiders are cool.
*Our dearly departed Mark D. knew an old black woman who called scorpions "stingin' lizards".And she hated them,as she should.
Hoo Whee!

OUCH

Well...they are swollen and oozy,but here they are:


GOOD...



EVIL...

Only took an hour and a half!Interesting side note,left side(evil) didn't really hurt at all,right side(good)was just this side of making the bitch face,which I didn't do,but I did wiggle my feet a bit on that one.
I'll post again in a week or so to give ya'll a better view.

UNDER THE MACHINE

Tomorrow I get my bluebird's done.It's been long enough since my last ink that I'm almost giddy about it.As is our history,Hez and I barter on a very subtle level which works out to a good deal for us both.
I changed the location to further back on my neck so they can be bigger (yes) and afford more detail.One good,one evil bluebird will soon take flight from either side of the crown on the back of my neck,peeking out just under my ears.
I can hardly wait!

Summer cold tops previously set records
No, not the weather - I'm referring to the nasty cold bug I came down with on Friday. Unfortunately I had to work Saturday and I spent my day at the office, working the best I could with a 102 degree fever, sore throat, a nose that was both stuffed up and runny at the same time, a double earache and a cough that sent what felt like knives through my throat and chest every minute or so. Needless to say, it wasn't the best of days and anyone who gets sick after me can't say I didn't warn them to stay away because I did issue warnings - along the lines of don't get close and don't touch anything on my desk. Every sneeze and cough was covered by tissue so it's not my fault if you didn't listen and stole the contaminated pen off my desk.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to have the day off which was a good thing because there was no way I was getting out of bed, but today it was back to work again. Fortunately I was feeling a bit better, but I'd have to say this cold is the worst one I've ever had. And I blame it all on the overzealous use of disinfectants these days. What better way to breed a new group of superbugs than to constantly zap everything with disinfectant wipes and sprays? I have no scientific basis for this belief, but why should people be any different than gardens? There's plenty of proof that constant application of insecticides just kills off the good bugs and makes the bad bugs resistant.

That's not to say we don't use disinfectants here at the Depthmarker household. It's just that we use them when it makes sense - like after handling turtles that might carry salmonella or when we clean the toilet. We do NOT run around spraying everything with disinfectant spray every 5 seconds like they encourage on the TV commercials. We have both sprays and hand cleaner at work, plus disinfectant soap in the bathroom soap dispensers and judging from the copious use of all three of them I'd have to say the TV commercials are working quite well on the younger generation. I guess I can expect them to bring me more super-colds to deal with in the future. Ah well, as they say - what doesn't kill me, makes me stronger.

SO...WHOSE GONNA WATCH YOU DIE?

This is a line from a Death Cab song off of the Plans CD called What Sarah said.I'm sure most of you have watched somebody die...maybe a parent,a good friend,a significant other or someone connected to you by job or obligation...forbid a child,or a pet.
I'm sure most of us have had that ICU waiting room experience.
But do any of you do an occasional inventory of loss?Not like a conscious thing really,just the names and faces of the departed roll by in the course of the day?
Ever add it up?
For me it looks like this...
Parents:both plus one in law (3)
Loved ones:D...(1)
Job or obligation...B.R.,Client,Travis State School.Born:?Died:1979(1)
Pets:Buddy,Diamond,Skeeter,Shadow(disappeared),Sullivan (5)
With the exception of my dad and Skeeter and Shadow (who could have been stolen and still very much alive)I watched them die.Some slow and giving you time to wrap your head around it and some in terrifying quicktime.
Not in any order...just popping up in response to cues encountered in your day to dayness.
Damn!That's a bunch of memories!
It is memorial day after all...a day of remembrance.Civilians and non human personnel count too,right?
They do to me.

IT'S ANOTHER MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

And of course the weathermen predicted heavy rains,and while parts of central Texas experienced flooding and death,Austin was spared (knock on wood...we still got Monday to get through)any serious rain.Like the great flood on Memorial day in 81...now that was a fucking flood...canoes on Barton Springs road.
So,I have three days off from work and what do I do? Electric work.Albeit for friends and some extra cash and lunch and margs,but mostly cause I can help out my friends and hang out.
My buddy Joel Got one of them fancy giant hang on the wall flat screen TV's and needed a plug installed on the wall behind it so the cord would be hidden...done.I haven't seen him in a few months,and I haven't seen his wife in...fuck,a long time.When I first met her she was really aloof or shy or something,but today she gave me a big greeting and hug and we had a nice visit...it was really nice to see her.I like that girl,Joel did good.
So after the work was done,he took me to lunch/dinner (linner?dunch?) at Maudies north...Sure,I did electric work,but I was hanging out with friends too...same as yesterday.
Annabelle (not a guitar) slept away the day,recovering from whatever crud got us both,and when I called to let her know I was on the way home she was hungry...so I stopped and got her some vittles on the way.
After her dinner,she retired back to the sick bed and other than a trip to the corner for cigs and chocolate (for Ann),I've been going back and forth in our comments with Anon about religion and in the comments over at crooks and liars on a post about the blow up in the Texas house over speaker Craddick (R-Asshat/criminal)that has turned into a general why Texas does/doesn't suck eggs.Highly entertaining stuff.
And all the while I've been jamming to the new Melvins and the new Unsane,burned for me by Joel...dude,that Melvins is the shit!
And my son and his family got a dog(!)if my son wasn't my son,he would be a cat lady like his mom...a small mixed breed,the dog,not his mom.She is small though,so that clarification is important.
But it is memorial day...again.And we have men and women fighting and dying in the field as I type this and to them I say thank you for risking life and limb (and I will not go to the bullshit of this war...it's a war,regardless of right or wrong)and I hope you all come home soon.And to those who served in previous conflicts,my dad,Ann's dad and brother,my buddy John and everyone else who came home or fell on fields of fire,thank you.And bless you for your service to this country,whether it deserved it or not,you have my respect and gratitude.
Sending good thoughts to those deployed...come home soon.
Peace now!

PLAY THAT FUNKY BANJO WHITE BOY

Today I helped a buddy from high school run 2 new circuits in his garage/practice space so they could play to their hearts content and not pop breakers anymore.
My electrician buddy Wolfie (who,coincidentally,knows my friend from the Austin music scene of the 80's)helped me out.It went well and now he has 12 additional outlets on 2 circuits and should never pop a breaker again (until we play in his garage!).
But being around all that is musical inspired me and I have not been playing much the last couple of weeks,so after I got home and took care of my ailing Annabelle,I got out on the front porch with my banjo,my washburn and Irene and composed my first song for the banjo...imagine a civil war era lament about a farm,bad luck and resignation.
It's a beautiful thing.A dark,ugly,beautiful thing.
I guess it's the wolf in me,if you catch my meaning.
Think Dylan's Hollis Brown without the nasally vocals and you're kinda there.
I got cold mountain last night...fixin' to watch it...again.
A wonderful film.
See ya!

LIARS

The murder monkey is a liar.Darth Cheney is a liar.Tony Snow is a liar.Gonzo is a liar.Goodling is a liar.Sampson is a liar.Everyone else who sat before a committee and "testified" is a liar.Pelosi is a liar.Reid is a liar.Hillary is a liar.Obama is a liar.They are all fucking liars...every last one of them.
We are doomed to suffer the folly of liars.
Get used to it.
I am so ashamed of my country and its "leadership",words cannot express.
Except for liars.Every last fucking one of them.
If you've ever wondered about the fabled "prim rose path"...we are on it,travelling at break neck speed.
Bring your first aid kit...you're gonna need it before this bullshit is all said and done.

Update re' religion:

I'M GLAD SHE WASN'T MY MOM

As you may or may not know,Texas doesn't have a state income tax,so they rely on property taxes to generate revenue.Which essentially translates to: you will never really own anything outright.And that pisses me off.The grand share of this tax is generated supporting the schools,and then the rest is divvied up into other areas.
The tax is high and continues growing each year,forcing many home owners out of their homes either by selling or being sued and foreclosed on by the appraisal district.
Being home owners,we are effected by this,especially because folks are coming in from out of state and buying the small,affordable homes in our neighborhood,tearing down the homes and building what the local media refers to as McMansions...huge,ultra modern pieces of architecture that are the bane of my existence.Literally.
Inevitably,I fear we will be taxed out of our home,either by selling to one of those aforementioned carpetbaggers, or the county will swoop down and take it to pay back taxes.To say I have a problem with property tax is an understatement,back when we had a mortgage,the tax was included in the monthly payment,we didn't have to think or plan for it,but now that we own it outright,we have to budget for what I like to call the great county assfuck.And that's kind of hard to do when unemployment and a shitty economy strike right around the time the mortgage was paid off.
I do not have a child in the public school system and when I did,the system,I believe,contributed to his problems and ultimately failed him.Regardless of our attempts to make it work.My son bears some responsibility for this,as we parents do as well,but the school system here is shit and I resent having to contribute to it's ongoing misuse of children and funds(my money).
Other services are lackluster at best,and lets just say it's a fucked up situation all around.
I had to go negotiate with the county today to address our arrears.My initial phone contact with them was kind of like that scene in goodfellas when Ray Liotta says "Fuck you,give me my money" while choking that guy with the phone cord until his wig flopped off.
They wanted monthly installments that we could of made providing we could live on air pudding and jam sandwiches (jam 2 pieces of bread together and pretend there's something in between).
So I went down there,hat in hand and seriously repressing a desire to twist off on some sort of academy award winning rant about the unfairness of it all.
I walked out an hour later with a payment plan we can live with and the feeling that I had been lined out by the most intimidating mom in the world.Don't get me wrong,she helped me out of a jam when she didn't really have to and I appreciate that I can keep my house for a while longer.
But damn! This woman had it down pat.

Five weeks
When I turned in my resignation at the first of April, my boss asked me to give him five weeks to fix things. This was because five weeks was the projected amount of time before we moved to the new center. Now I'm no fool so I didn't believe for a moment that we would move on time or that the move was going to fix anything, but I didn't have another job lined up so I figured, why not? Well, we did eventually move seven weeks later, but just as I expected, the move didn't fix things. We are now trying a five week rotation that has me working over twice as many evening shifts with a weekend off only once during those five weeks. Now there are *some* improvements to this schedule because I won't be flipping between days and nights in the same week (which was killing me), but will work one week of all days shifts and then one week of all night shifts. I'll also have two days off in a row for the most part (just not on the weekends.) And one weekend off every five weeks beats the heck out of one weekend every three months. There's also the fact that I'm on vacation during one week of this rotation and it lands conveniently during one of the night shift weeks. Plus, who knows? Despite my misgivings, it might work out fine and I'll actually like this schedule (not likely, but stranger things have happened.)

I don't see this as doable over the long haul, but what's another five weeks? It will pass in the blink of an eye and I can always evaluate the situation again at the end of it.

INSPECTOR GADGET

All of the jobs I do are inspected by city officials to make sure we are are in compliance with city code and NEC code (national electric code).There are specific criteria you have to meet to pass,plus these inspectors have been around a long time and have, uh...idiosyncrasies.
I spent my entire day re-strapping MC cable because it was "too loose".NEC code requires that you strap your cable within 1 foot of a junction box and every 4 feet after.City inspectors want it to look like fucking prada apparently.And while I'm cool with that...I do it neat the first time.I was cleaning up some shitty work by some other IJ's/apprentices that came before me.
At the end of the day,it all looked pretty,as uniform as you can make gooseneck conduit look without separating it.
As tedious and mind numbingly redundant it was,I looked around at the end of the day at my crisp clean lines of strapage and thought "this is why I am an electrician".
Safe,professional and god damn pretty for that prima - donna inspector.
Fuck that guy.:)
I love my job.
On a side note,my buddy Hez (who did my leg tats) called with a turtle dilemma.Shell rot on an aquatic species...I hooked up with my vet/buddy and got some topical antibiotic for him and his and discussed the next ink for me. Sailor Jerry bluebirds,one good(halo) ,one evil(horns), on my neck...just behind my ears,so my hair covers them.Looks like tomorrow might be the day.
We'll see.
As far as the ink goes I just don't give a shit anymore...I'm gonna do what I want.

MONDAY FROM HELL

To fully explain this I have to back up to Saturday...I worked and was scheduled to work 10 hours,but thanks to a ruptured cold water line on our washer,I only worked 4.Apparently,when I got my tools out of the back seat I left the door ajar and drained my battery down.Steve had jumper cables and saved the day.
All was well for the remainder of the weekend,with Sunday spent on the porch with friends drinking beer,and lots of it.I have not drunk beer in any amount past a glass in several years as it makes my face swell up and my head fill with snot.But...I was impulsive (read:out of vodka).It was great fun.Until this morning,surprisingly,I felt OK,but my truck was not.It barely started.
I made it to work,but at another location down town and every trade had every saw, drill and implement of noisy destruction all going at once and constantly for the entire fucking day.By lunch I was so rattled I thought I would rather kill the carpenter who had been ripping 4x8 sheets of plywood with a circular saw not 10 feet from me rather than hear him rip another sheet.
Then,my 10 in one screwdriver disappeared.These tools are the shit,you have 2 phillips head,2 slotted,2 square drive and 2 star drive screwdriver tips,plus a 1/4 and 5/16 inch nutdrivers all in one tool.And some motherfucker stole it.
And by motherfucker,I mean one of the gook HVAC guys.And the reason I say this is because at the end of the day today,one of those rinky dink rice men picked up my level right in front of me like he was shopping at fucking home depot,and didn't put it down until he met my steely homicidal glare.Fucking thieving zipperheads.
It takes some balls to steal someones means of a livelihood,and had I caught the culprit,I would have beat him down with a pipe bender or something.And that fucking chuck with my level is lucky I wasn't holding something sharp in my hand as he would have been wearing it.Let me tell you,I was so ready to go home.
But it was not to be...the battery was dead again,and would not jump start.This time,we had no jumper cables,but fashioned some from some #10 stranded wire...sketchy and potentially dangerous,but I've seen it work before.It was not to be,and it was then I noticed that the battery had been installed in September...of 2000...that's a good run.
Ann came and rounded me up and we went to the parts house and got a new battery,went back and installed it and we got back home around 7 (stopping off for dinner for an hour).
And my ears are still fucking ringing.

I GOTTA RAMBLE...

So I go to waterloo and pick up my special ordered (?) copy of Honky's "Balls out inn".It rules...but I'm wondering why did I have to order a local artist from a locally owned wrecka stow?This just seems odd to me.Anyhoo,like I said, it rules.Simple as that.
I called my buddy mark that I sent the cd's to recently and my hunch was correct,he loves Death Cab For Cutie.This band is everything morose,but still,they make you smile somehow.
I watched most of Cold mountain on Bravo tonight.Great movie...period costumes were awesome,music was awesome,great actors,great story.But I was puzzled about the character Ruby.Who is this great new talent?Is this the same actor who played Jane in HBO's Deadwood?Who is this incredibly hot looking woman with chops?

Turns out it's Renee Zellweger...who knew? I loves me a woman with a shotgun that looks like that.I will be buying the dvd at some point.Great civil war love story.
Nicole Kidman is the star of this flick,and while she is a beauty in her own right,Renee beat her hands down in looks on this one,I used to dream about girls tht looked like her in my youth.
I did a turtle check this afternoon...all is well in turtopia...as usual,Frag was fucking Annabelle...a clear sign that turtles are happy!:)and everyone else was out and about,active.It did my heart good to see this as I have not been the best turtle wrangler of late.
The weather here has been tolerable of late,probably a sign of the hell that will be wrought upon us that beelzebub likes to call "summer"...ugh.
Al...why did you make that movie and set everything in motion?Did losing the election piss you off that much that you had to create global warming?
Run again and this time you'll win and you can put a stop to our ultimate demise.
I would like to beat gonzo with a sock full of wood screws.
Yada yada yada...Blah blah blah
Good night or morning as it were.

THE LITTLE PRINCESS


"I am Irene,all entitled dog princess of Depthmarkerland...You shall taketh me everywhere you go at any time (except for work,which is 7 to 3:30 monday thru friday)
any deviation will result in royal whining and howling untill you come home and TAKE ME SOMEWHERE!!!!
I've created a canine monster...but ya gotta love her.

DEATH...AND ITCHES

Ok...the death part first.I examined Theo today and discovered the animal planet equivalent of those disturbing army ant documentaries,only it was...yes you guessed it,republica...I mean fleas.
So I gave him a bath.Well, you couldn't really call it a bath cause his hips are so fucked up I can't put him in the tub as he would surely panic and bite me...and there is nothing wrong with his teeth and formidable jawline.
So we lashed him to a post out front and gave him a hose bath.Sounds medieval dunnit??? Big fun.Theo is sensitive to certain noises...hissing,spraying,raspberry noises.Well the hose hissed and sprayed and the shampoo bottle made fart noises,a veritable trifecta of freak out for the old man.Once the lathering began he was cool with it.But when it came time for the rinse,he took the biggest dump I've ever seen and tried to pull the post out of the ground,with his neck/collar/leash.Yet he did not bite me...growl and grunt like we always do,but no teeth,thanks dude!
But the toweling dry was a doggie orgasm for him and he was right as rain.
After copious treats, he began his nightly bark for supper,as he had eliminated everything from his system earlier,which I'm sure was an embarrassment for him,as he is very much like that guy in dead presidents(Dembrozio?Christopher from the sopranos) who doesn't like to shit with someone watching him. In the movie,it cost him his life...Theo was merely canine embarrassed.
But now he is flea free...for 4 hours tops...but 4 hours of bliss.
Between the baths and the spraying of the domicile we should defeat them in a week or so.
Hopefully we'll all get a good nights sleep.

FLEAS...HORNY,HORNY BASTARDS.

Since we had a relatively mild winter,the spring has brought us a large amount of bugs in general,but since we have dogs and the neighborhood is literally crawling with feral cats,we got fleas out the ass.
When our dogs go out,they bring the fleas in the house.Given the impossibility of counting how many they bring in,let's just say that given his body mass Theo brings in 2500 fleas.Out of those, 1250 are female.They jump off of him and into our bedroom floor,bedding and laundry baskets.Those bitches lay between 20 and 50 eggs a day.Just for arguments sake,I'll go with 20 a day.So that means on any given day there are 25000 eggs laid in our bedroom with a gestation period of 2 weeks.Conventional sprays kill the fleas but not the eggs.So,over a 14 day cycle there are 3/4 of a million (I'm guessing) of these little bastards occupying a 12 x 14 foot room and most of them on on the bed,or on the dogs.That sleep with us.On the bed.
Which,in part explains why I'm up at 1 in the fucking morning writing about fleas.
Theo likes to get in between us on the bed and rest his head and torso on my chest and shoulder...get the picture?
A kajillion fucking fleas leaping off his beautiful muzzle and reconnoitering my body.As he snores in blissful "I'm cuddling with dad sleep",in this sleep he frequently rolls over on his back,exposing his belly which carries the back up battalion of fleas that launch off of him,crawl all over us and spring under the bed to lay another kajillion eggs.Rinse and repeat.
Combine that with a full moon and I am one sleep deprived motherfucker.
I'm reminded of a D-Con commercial from the 70's featuring Ali,who says "There back in the walls...Hidin' and Breedin'"!In reference to fleas,and you know what?That brother was right.
And speaking of right did you see the repuglican debate tonight?God help us all.They are pathetic,and like the fleas in my house they are unwelcome vermin gnawing away at my sensibilities in a way that is unwelcome and most annoying.The only two viable nominees I see in this field (and by field I mean that park that burned down in Cali the other day)is McCain...the mwf one and the tthf one.He demures on weekends to have that goiter on his right cheek shunted and drained.
God I hate fucking fleas.

30 YEARS IN...
So we got this reunion coming up and Sunday I spent the afternoon with a guy I haven't seen in a long time from those wild and wooly days.This past weekend was a revelation for me in a lot of ways really...Saturday I went out to puhflugerville to play guitars with my buddy jon who moved out to that wasteland of yuppies and uppity negros a couple of weeks ago and is miserable about it.It was fun,and I played the best blues guitar I've played in a long time.I'm not a skilled musician,I taught myself.I don't read music,hell...I can barely read tab,but I have the feel and our music reflects that as the other members of the wolves have that feel as well,with Annabelle being the musical brains of the band,as it were.
I had a very good time visiting with Jon and Sandy and the doggies and playing back and forth.Until I left at about a quarter to midnight.I went left when I should of went right and ended up in fucking Elgin.Basically the opposite direction I should have been going in...but it was dark and the landscape has changed out there,ummm,north of the river.It's important to note that I have always lived south of the river and have disdained north of the river always,forsaking that disdain beyond 42nd and guadalupe because that's where my tat shop was only farter(farter!that's fucking funny!!!I meant FARTHER) north to Hines Pool and Spa because they paid my bills for 7 years,and oh yeah...FUCK Andy Hines and the horse he rode in on.
So my 15 minute ride home turned into an hour and a half,plus I was horking up a "shepards salad" with the worst heartburn I've had in years.There are bits of onion and cucumber all over the dash of my rodeo.I finally reconnected with my bearings at a quikstop in Elgin,got some gas and some alka-seltzer and made it home.
So...Sunday I go to Brian's house,guitars still in the truck.We hung out,had some beers (I haven't had a beer in months)and caught up.We even had a conference call with our friend Rick who lives in another state.I have pictures of the 3 of us playing together on my back porch when we were 15,16 years old.
Time really is an evil mistress...we are all grey wolves.
And hanging out with Brian drove that home.Nothing has changed much really,he is still the kid I knew back in the day...but we are older now,and somehow wiser,yet we retain the spirit of our younger days.
And that's a very good thing.
And as my dear friend and monster drummer Bill would say "anyway...Blah blah blah".

DEAR MOM...

You've been gone since '92,but I still think about you every day,well,almost every day.
Things have changed a lot since you've been gone but I still think you'd be proud of me and your legacy.
I have a new job...I couldn't bang my head against the social work wall anymore and the pool nigger thing didn't work out,so thanks to my friend Rusty I'm an electrician now.
It's honest work and the pay is good.
I finally met my match in Annabelle,and we have been married now for almost 15 years...you'd like her,she's a lot like you.True spirit and all that.
Kyle is married to a real sweetheart and they have a son and a daughter on the way.
He's turned out to be a man to be proud of...I wish you could see them.
The house has changed but I still see you in the kitchen and on the back porch,lamenting the way of the world as only you could do.
I wish I could give you a hug and a rose for mothers day like I did for god knows how many years,but this will have to do.
I miss you.
Happy mothers day.
Love,Rob.

What the...
Back at the first of April I turned in my resignation at work. My boss asked me to give him some time to fix things and agreed that I should take a week off in April. But due to circumstances at work I couldn't take off a week in April so it was moved to May. But then due to circumstances at work I couldn't take off in May so it was postponed to June with the promise of two weekends off in May to compensate for the delay. But then, one by one, the weekends off in May also vanished. Now anyone who has read this blog over the years knows I tend to put up with a ridiculous amount of demands on my time from an employer, but I finally reached my breaking point. I haven't had a weekend off since February 17th. So here I was looking at my first weekend off in THREE MONTHS and I'm told that I can't have that because other people are on on vacation. These are people who has less seniority, but whose vacations got approved while mine got postponed. If fire could have shot out of the top of my head, then the 24 foot ceiling at work would most definitely have been singed. But fire doesn't literally shoot out of the top of my head so I decided I had two options - either walk right out the door and go on a permanent vacation or negotiate further for a weekend off. I opted for negotiation and eventually ended up with one weekend off in May, but I'm not entirely sure that walking out the door wasn't the better option.

REMEMBER THIS GUY?


Or more importantly the hair.This evening Ann and I went to Matt's for dinner and there was this 50 something woman with that hair actually,it was a cross between flock of shitty haircuts and Howard jones.
Ann's only response was:She must be from Dallas.And she was right on target!We've both seen those moms dropping their kids off at UT at the start of a semester,and they look exactly like that hair wise anyway.The gaudy sequined vests vary in vomitous style and the designer jeans vary as well.But that hair...it's hair that invites you to throw a match at it and duck for cover.
I could not stop laughing and making comments,as an added bonus,she had her eyes painted up like Magenta from Rocky Horror.
Dallas...god help us all.

ODDLY ENOUGH...

This song reminds me of my dog Buddy that I brought back from Colorado,he was put down in my arms,in November.

DUDE...WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!

I sent my old friend Mark, who lives in Colorado some CDs among them were Plans and Transatlantacism by Death Cab For Cutie.He called me early tues morning to say they had arrived and he was listening to Trans on his way to work.And now I paraphrase his comment: "I'm surprised...it's so melodic and mellow...dude!What happened to you?!"
Mark has always been in the 24 odd years we've known each other more partial to the poppier mellow stuff,and back in the day I was all about anger and aggression in my tunes.But I had my mellow side as well and I was always focused on lyrics and this guy can write some songs let me tell you.
Here's "Marching Bands Of Manhatten"...enjoy.
"If I could open my mouth,wide enough for a marching band to march out" priceless!



Just wait till he gets to The Cutthroats 9 disc...HooWhee!I may have strayed in my middle age but I haven't forgotten my roots.

SO WE BOUGHT THIS AIR CONDITIONER

Last year.A window unit...I installed it sans directions,because there were none.I had to guess which screws to use for what and it made a noise when I was done that I can only liken to a playing card in a bicycle spoke...or actually, 100 cards in a spoke.
It's starting to get hot here,so we have been alternately enduring the heat or the noise,depending on the stress level.Until today.
I pulled the front off of it and started digging around inside the fan enclosure.
I found the missing directions and the remote.
Brilliant!

AUSTIN'S VERY OWN...

The dire nature of my previous post led me to these gems...Honky,in all it's redneck white trash glory.These guys fucking rule.Enjoy.

PART ONE OF NINE

I found this today and it moved me on a number of levels,it's called "When the wind blows" and is about the very human consequences of getting nuked.They follow all the recommendations in the government pamphlets to help you survive "the bomb" and guess what happens?
This is a very well made document of the reality of nuclear war...you can pretend it's not over,but it is.Seriously over.



This "war" in Iraq is really wearing on me these days. I worry for the troops and the "indigenous personnel" caught up in a civil war.The surge that so far has only resulted in an increase of violence and death.The manipulation of stats (car bombs don't count?)and the administrations insistence that things are improving when clearly you would have to blind to not see that things are getting steadily worse.
The giggling murder monkey has a fetish for comparing himself to Lincoln,he apparently installed a portrait of honest Abe in the oval office and compares the civil war to what he's currently enduring with his own civil war.What an asshat.
There's no comparison,and there's a key player missing.
Oh wait!Cheney can be Grant.
This video is a striking portrait of what could happen if matters continue to escalate and somebody,somewhere makes that smoking gun a mushroom cloud,to coin a phrase.

THIS SAYS IT ALL



I miss Warren...

SULLIVAN'S ROOM

It's still hard to go in there,his scent still fills the room even after these months have passed.He's there but he isn't and that just twists me up and sends me spinning.
I miss him and wish he was here.but that's not to be,what is apparent is that I am a sentimental old fuck.
So be it.I'll be sentimental for someone I loved and wish they were here with me...right now.Come on...no?NO?
I guess I'll just sit in Sullivan's room when no one else is around.
It ain't much,but it's something.

GUN VIOLENCE IN AMERICA EXPLAINED!

It's Art Clokey's fault...

WTF?!?
Just for grins, I decided to apply "online" for credit to *possibly* purchase a certain laptop that I have had my eye on for a long time. I won't necessarily buy it if magically approved nor would I ever consider paying 21.9% interest over the long term, but it never hurts to know one's options since my current laptop has been in death-throes for the last few months or so. Worst case scenario is that the laptop gives up the ghost before I have the funds stashed to purchase a new one and then I'd have to bite the interest bullet for 3 months or so. So I apply online and fill out the usual information that one sees on a credit application, but then I get to this "verify your identity" part after I enter my Social Security number. I wouldn't have batted an eye if these had been questions actually related to *ME*, the credit applicant. However, these were questions regarding my EX-HUSBAND'S BROTHERS. What kind of fucked up shit is this?

A REMINDER OF GREATNESS

I got the chance to see AC/DC at the Armadillo in '76 (I think),it was an awesome show,THIS is the pure distillation of Rock and Roll...

Baby please don't go...

Part one



Part two