What A Long Hilarious Memorable Explosive Creative Autumnal Partially Air Conditioned Strange Trip It's Been!

Welcome one and all to a LONG post involving some recent travel, namely to upstate NY by way of Greyhound!

Those who know me well are very familiar with my utter disgust at what air travel has turned into these days, between the invasive security, out of control fees, dodgy service and very UNCOMFORTABLE planes. But undaunted, I decided to try a method of travel that I used to love the commercials for as a kid (Continental Trailways, Greyhound etc). For the most part, Greyhound seems to have lived up to that, certainly one of the last refuges from Big Brother. (Amtrak up until recently was that too),

One thing's for sure, this Owl BADLY needed a vacation, between the craziness of work and just feeling psychologically and creatively drained (hence, at least one reason for very sparse posting of late) and preoccupation with other matters and pursuits. SO, on Sept 20, 2008, yours truly carrying a suitcase, a carry-on bag (loaded with reading material, MP3 player and travel pillow/blanket) and bass guitar in heavy duty flight case boarded a Greyhound in Atlanta headed for Albany NY where I would be met by former musical compatriot/long-time friend Tony Scotto to be whisked away to a cozy little burg in the Catskill Mountains known as Gilboa NY located in Schoharie County, about 60 miles SW of Albany NY, population approximately 1200.

After an hour delay, we were finally on the road, winding through scenic North GA, then SC (stopping twice) and the first actual layover in Charlotte NC. I must say, I very much enjoyed the bucolic and distinctly Southern scenery of these states immensely.

As the sun set, then came another layover in Beautiful Downtown Richmond VA, looking all the more like someone stole part of New Joizey and transplanted it there! After re-boarding, I finally settled in for the night after taking 2 Tylenol PM's with Benadryl (went out like a light pretty quick).

A couple tidbits of Greyhound travel wisdom I'll impart to you:

• Tylenol PM or anything with Benadryl in it will enable you to sleep much easier
  
• Greyhound seats are far more comfortable than plane seats!
  
• Minimize cell phone use on board
  
• Bring plenty of books and/or music to amuse yourself, it takes longer than flying. In my case it was on the player:

Jonas Hellborg/Shawn Lane/V Sevalgenesh: Good People In Times of Evil

Santana: Borboletta

Duke Ellington: Ellington Uptown

Back Door: Back Door

Crime Jazz: Music In The First Degree (Various Artists)

Some Reading

Ian Shoales Perfect World - Ian Shoales (aka Merle Kessler) - HILARIOUS!

Conservatives Without A Conscience: John Dean

• Most Greyhound terminals have CNN piped in so you can at least somewhat keep informed on world events
  
• Road/Rest Stop food ain't always the greatest so choose carefully, pack your own if possible
  

• Bring a small pillow and blanket for long trips and even a lower lumbar cushion, your back will thank you.
  
  
• Allow for occasional delays, you are after all traveling by road, not air.
  
• Budget well with extra.
  
• Drink lots of water, use gum and/or mouthwash in consideration of your fellow passengers
  
• Using the facilities on a moving bus is NOT as easy as it might look
  
• Enjoy the scenery you would miss with flying, well save for most of New Joizey, Philly and Delaware.

Woke back up and we were about to hit the border of 'Joizey, oil refineries and all. After what seemed like an eternity through Paramus, I could make out the Manhattan skyline through the oil-refinery induced smog. We finally hit The Lincoln Tunnel straight into the Port Authority terminal (right near Madison Square Garden). Made it with 20 minutes to spare before my connecting bus to Albany would leave. And let me tell you, the PA terminal is NOT easy to navigate! By some miracle of divine intervention, I found my gate and we were off, AGAIN to brave the oil-refinery strewn vastness of 'Joizey by way of Route 17. One other NJ quirk of note, this is the ONLY place I've ever seen that names highway rest areas after famous people (there's even a President Grover Cleveland Rest Area, who knew?). And where else would ou see a billboard advertising" TOXIC AVENGER - THE MUSICAL"? (I'm NOT making this up!) http://site.thetoxicavengermusical.com/blog/2008/09/03/toxic-avenger-musical-cast/

Before too long, a beautiful mountainous vestige came into view, and much to this Owl's relief it was THE NEW YORK STATE BORDER!!!! From that point, no more shopping malls or oil refineries, just beautiful country scenery as far as the eye could see. The New York Thruway (Route 87) is indeed a beautiful drive!

And wouldn't you know it, I arrive in Albany 20 minutes early! Meanwhile, poor Tony got stuck in traffic about an hour away (one of those large riding mowers they cut grass with along the highways flipped over). Eventually he made it, we threw everything into his Toyota pickup and off we sped for the mountains, stopping along the way to grab some groceries for the week.

I couldn't help but grab a few random road shots of upstate NY's scenic elegance:

Before long we were at The Cabin!

The first 2 days were pretty much don't do a whole lot of anything days, as a vacation should be! The weather, high 60's during the day and just beautiful with high 40's at night (best sleeping weather ever). On two nights, we did have to light the wood stove to warm the cabin. And believe me, this stove does its job very well, a little too well sometimes (necessitating opening 3 windows and turning on the ceiling fan to balance it out).

I did however get to watch Tony practice his impeccable marksmanship with a high-tech bow and arrow. And I thought this kind of stuff only happened in cartoons, but he actually managed to literally split an arrow in 2 with another shot!

During the course fo the week, the lake area was under the grip of a Red Menace, that is, The Red Squirrel Menace. It wasn't unusual for Tony, with his finely attuned ears to pick out the distinct raspy chirping of Red Squirrels, and before I could bat an eyelid, he's grabbing a .22 hunting rifle (with a serious scope on top) and picking off one or two at a time with sniper like stealth and precision. Why pick off Red Squirrels? Very simple THEY'RE PUNKS I TELL YA, PUNKS!! These destructive rodents literally chew their way into people's houses through the wood and cause lots of structural and property damage (not to mention stealing food). Not only that, these vermin harass and beat up on harmless Grey Squirrels who are good to have around. WORTHLESS RED BUSHY TAILED PUNKS!!!!

However, come Wednesday, the pace picked up a bit

That evening, Tony and I decided to grab a pint at Clark's, a little pub/diner that has the most resolutely unhealth but incredibly delicious breakfast you could ever want! It was here that among other things, I hung out with one of the local women who liked the old KOLCHAK: The Night Stalker TV series as much as I did, imagine that! We even watched an episode and laughed our heads off (it was the one with the zombie attacking gangsters). To cap it off, a VERY intoxicated, but very friendly blonde made me promise to send her a GA postcard when I got back home. Samantha, our hilarious bartender (who also has a thing for film making, even producing a documentary about Gilboa, and consequently being hit upon by said film's narrator until her dad scared the blowhard off, he was already married fer cryin' out loud!) kept us laughing all night.

And no, you're not imagining things, that stuffed rooster really is mounted sideways!

Twice within the week, I got to have venison (deer meat) in burger form, and let me tell ya, when it's prepared properly and smoked with apple wood, it is positively the TASTIEST meat you'll ever have, plus it's actually far healthier than red meat owing to it's amazing leanness.

On Thursday, a lot of shooting took place. As it got past lunchtime, Tony and I were having a conversation somehow pertaining to useless advice books on "making it in the music biz". Well, before long he pulled a few such volumes from his bookshelf (like "The Platinum Rainbow", "Sound Advice", The Complete Handbook of Songwriting" and others), and we both contemplated what possible uses there could be for said books. Next thing you know, I'm pulling out the 'ol camcorder and we subject them to a number of grueling tests like cleaning kitchen stains, withstanding assaults from a vampire stake (real big problem in the Catskills), a hunting knife and yes, even Tony's high-tech bow and arrow (cue up Paul McCartney song here) with book attached to a fake target deer. We even "frisbeed" one and used another for a wheel chock.

However, the real fun came as we realized that a short improvised film was coming together (we considered it the kickoff of the One-Day Film Club, where the object is to shoot a film in just one day). Another mysterious entity took on a life of its own, The Gilboa Institute for Hillbilly Research. Before you could bat an eyelid, Tony is gathering up an assortment of hunting rifles and 2 pistols (.22 Ruger and a Smith & Wesson .41 Magnum), ammo and hearing protection. About 10 minutes down the road, we arrive at the The Gilboa Institute for Hillbilly Research Testing/Firing Range (actually a state forest). After locating a suitably tall log (how convenient) and setting it upright, the real fun began. Setting each book on the end (with just enough "splinters" to hold it in place), they were no match for the vast weaponry (both at close range AND a couple distant sniper shots with a .308 rifle).

After filming the closing comments, yours truly got to fire off the Ruger .22 (6 out of 10 rounds hit the black area of the target board we bought along in addition) and the real treat, the .41 Magnum, and yes, I re-enacted a famous scene from a Clint Eastwood "Dirty Harry" flick. My target was a can, and I managed to nail that 2 out 3 shots. One thing with the Magnum, it has more kick than you see in the movies and it's louder than hell!

Feelin' lucky, PUNK?????

That night the BBQ once again got a good workout as we laughed and discussed ideas for the film. What we decided was for us both to edit and piece together our own versions and get 2 unique perspectives so to speak.

On Friday, the beautiful weather took a turn for the cold and rainiy, so it was an indoor day perfect for some creative activity at the Funkyard Dog recording studio. Having bought one of my 5-string basses (a Schecter), I laid down 3 short completely improvised solo bass pieces, which turned out just beautifully due to Tony's ace engineering and agility with Apple Logic Pro recording software (which in my mind stomps all over Pro-Tools for user-friednliness and efficiency). Tony over the course fo the week also played me some brand new material he's been writing (and re-writing) for his second CD, for now to be titled "St. Antler's Day", with a loose theme incorporating a lot of local stories, characters and cultural quirks.

Dinner that night was with a MAJOR Italian flair as only Tony could do. Simmering red peppers, hot suasage, onions, olive oil and minced garlic for several hours yielded a bountiful feast enjoyed by us, Tony's frined Ellla and her daughter Veronica, however, "Diamond", Ella's dog couldn't partake (canines don't do very well with spicy food).

And alas, it was Saturday and time to head back home. Let me tell ya folks, getting back home to Atlanta was quite an adventure unto itself.

Tony drove me back to Albany, along the way we stopped off for a resolutely unhealthy (but VERY delicious breakfast) in Wyndham NY, another very beautiful locale. We arrived in plenty of time to hang out until my Greyhound arrived. It did, about an hour late!!

Despite that, the sailing was smooth, until somewhere in 'Joizey, we hit bad traffic snarls. Finally pulled into NYC's Port Authority terminal and my connecting coach had been long gone for a half hour--GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! This necessitated biting the bullet for $15 to get my tickets changed and waiting 2 hours for the next one. The woman behind the counter busted me up though, I could've sworn she said, "Just one human travelling?". We looked at each other and just busted up laughing! Much needed after that first missed connection. And seeing a fellow passenger who bore a strange resemblance to MSNBC's Keith Olbermann provided some mild amusement as well (wasn't him though, DANG!)

About 7:30 pm we're rolling out the Lincoln Tunnel and into 'Joizey once again (this is the only road trip I've ever taken where I crossed New Joizey twice in the same day, both ways!). So far so good and on schedule to make a connection in Raleigh NC (then going through Fayetteville, Augusta GA and finally home a different route. Somewhere between a late night stop in Baltimore MD and Beautiful Downtown Richmond VA, the coach;s AC unit bit the dust! Our driver radioed ahead for a new coach with functional AC. Finally pulling into Richmond about 2 am, I managed to summon up enough consciousness to watch some CNN and catch up with some current events and news.

About 3am, with a new coach, we're rolling again. But not even 5 miles out, the danged AC unit bites the dust again, turning our AC-ed coach into Hell On Wheels (in terms of temperature). Our quick-thinking driver pulls over, immediately opens the roof hatches, and after a brief poll of us passengers, decides to loop back to Richmond to get another coach, that hopefully has AC. About a half hour or so later, we pull out of Richmond again and wouldn't you know it, THE BLOODY THING ACTUALLY WORKS!! Imagine that! I finally managed to get a small amount of snooze time (probably just shy of 3 hours).

Finally make it into Raleigh NC (pretty nice scenery along the way, even when it's grey and drizzly). Completely missed my connnection AGAIN!! But wouldn't you know it, the driver being the good hearted soul he is, let me stay onboard to Charlotte NC, where I could change to an Atlanta bound bus and they would honor the ticket. So far so good.

At Charlotte I finally managed to grab something resembling a decent meal with a good hour or so to stretch out. Finally line up for the last leg of the trip home, and HOLY CRAP, that coach was PACKED!!

Despite that, the remainder of the trip to Atlanta went pretty smooth, made more bearable by a coupple of seatmates (one woman headed for Alabama, the other, a trucker bound for Texas) that made hilarious and deadly accurate observations about topics as far flung as local wildlife and panhandlers in different cities (the trucker's descriptions of the behavior of Atlanta panhandlers were dead-on accurate! There are indeed some who don't stop at money, some even try to hit you up for your nice shoes and other items, and often ask, "Are you the po-leece?") .

Finally pull into Atlanta about 6pm, about 5 hours later than originally planned but still at a decent hour, and in one piece, luggage intact (even if a bit punchy and sleep-starved). Well, I knew I was in downtown Atlanta alright when right at the entrance to the MARTA station I'm greeted by 2 panhandlers! Thanks for the welcome guys!! And sorry, I'm not an ATM machine and I WISH I was the po-leece!

That notwithstanding, it was good to be back in sunny Atlanta, getting home to both cats giving me the royal welcome (especially "Beaumont" yapping away) and telling some of my stories to Brian and his girlfiriend Lindsey. All told, it was a GREAT trip I wouldn't trade anything in the world for. Despite the AC-incidents, it's agood bet Greyhound will see more of my business. Looking forward to the next road epic

Hoo Hooooooooo!

Friday Follies Revisited!

1) Reasons That Republicans Should Be Rounded Up and Permanently Expelled From This Country # 55,237: Our esteemed Attorney General Michael "I Have A Portrait Of George Orwell In My Office Because of His Writing Only" Mukasey has announced that there will be no prosecutions of any Justice Department personnel in regards to NUMEROUS violations of hiring laws, in which none other than Alberto Gonzalez underlings Monica Goodling and others BLATANTLY violated hiring laws by asking potential Justice Department employees about their political beliefs and affiliations. Questions like "Why are you a Republican?" and "Why would you like to serve President Bush" were routine from this bunch of lying miscreants, such questions are SPECIFICALLY illegal to ask as they are by nature, discriminatory. Not only that but these are clearly symptomaatic of a hopelessly compromised, fraudulent and politicized Justice Department (dare we even call it that anymore?). And of course, ANYONE who was NOT a Republican or a die-hard Bush loyalist was either fired or passed over for employment and/or promotion. Nice going geniuses! Story HERE.

2) Meanwhile, Some 240,000 Miles From Here: Our Moon is slowly but certainly revealing itself as something far more than just some cratered ball of rock with cool craters that gives us tides and fuels legends and myths. Scientists have found that lunar soil is rich in an isotope, Helium 3 that could provide a vital piece of the puzzle in having practical nuclear fusion for power generation. Being a non-radioactive isotope, unlike deuterium or tritium (isotopes of hydrogen), Helium 3 if fused together would not only release copius amounts of energy, but the result would be able to convert directly to electrical power, eliminating the need for an inefficient steam-turbine setup. The other benefit being, that unlike fusion hydrogen isotopes and their resultant emissions (that would rapidly degrade the walls of a reactor), fusing Helium 3 would be a lot easier on the reactor's structural integrity, meaning lower operating costs. Of course, all this is theoretical at the present time, but if it could be made to work, the results would be nothing short of phenomenal. A mere 40 tons of Helium 3 could take care of the electricity needs of the US for about a year it's estimated. Stuff like this just makes me look forward to the day when we can REALLY tell the Saudi Arabian government and OPEC to go screw themselves and the camel they rode in on. More details from Live Science HERE

3) They Just Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To #555,187: In Phoenix AZ, one man and a few of his neighbors got a rather unpleasant surprise at 5:30 in the morning when his water heater shot out of the garage like a missle and landed about ablock away. Thankfully, no injuries, just some rattled nerves. Investigators first thought it was a gas explosion until they realized it was an electric water heater. Very likely a faulty pressure relief valve. Amazing how much power there is in heated water! Video HERE

4) I Wish It Was A Joke #8821: Justice denied again. A Federal court ruled against a number of families of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks who were set to bring lawsuits against at least 4 Saudi Arabian princes, rightly taking them to task for their long-standing material/financial support of terrorists that led to the tragedy.. The grounds, these spoiled rich kid punks have sovereign immunity or something along those lines. Must be nice to be that rich and get away with anything you want, including supporting mass murderers! If I was their dad, I'd have them beheaded! Story HERE.

5) Don't Compromise, SHATNERIZE!!!: Me and video editing software and a thing for William Shatner's "singing", a VERY dangerous combination! For a long time, I pictured Shatner giving his unique treatment to the old Rolling Stones chestnut, "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" (in my mind, one of the VERY FEW times The Stones got even close to writing a decent song). Armed with not only that but a home recording studio and a bunch of instruments, I proceeded to fiendishly decontruct said ditty and "Shatnerize" it if you will. The end result can now be seen on You Tube, CLICK HERE, I DOUBLE DOG DARE YA!!!!!!!!!!!

ON THE PLAYER

Thelonious Monk: Big Band and Quartet In Concert (1964)

There'll never be another Thelonious Monk, that's for absolute certain. This has been spending a lot of time in my player of late. A rare foray for Monk into big band territory (a "smallish" big band of about 10 players including his regular quartet at the time in the 60's) with arrangements crafted by Hall Overton , Monk spins forth some of his most witty and utterly unpredictable jazz compositions with even more twists and turns, colors and shades. This was originally taped on December 30, 1963 at Symphony Hall in New York to a very appreciative audience. Highly recommended!

Happy Friday everyone!

Jail Is Like--A--Series Of Bars----------

This just made my week!!!

Alaska Republican Senator Ted "The Internet, It's Like A Series Of Tubes" Stevens was formally indicted on 7/29/2008 after a years long investigation into his rather questionable realtionship to VECO, a very powerful oil industry contractor in his native Alaska. He is charged with accepting and concealing illegal gifts and services over a value of $250,000. Uh, let's call it for what it really is folks, B-R-I-B-E-R-Y!

His buddies at VECO were paying him off in goods and services (including extensive and pricey renovations on a home of his in Alaska) for legislative favors. And of course, being the true-blue die-hard Republican he is, he took it without the slightest thought that what he was doing was not only illegal but downright sleazy and a slap in the face to those citizens who voted for him. And predictably, his Republican buddies are calling him a hero, a brave man and other implausible nonsense. You guys honestly think ANYONE is going to believe that BS anymore? And I can just see the Fox News crowd saying that he;s the victim of a plot by commie liberals. Oh if ONLY the government was competent enough to pull off such a thing.

And at 84 years old and having been in Congress BEFORE Alaska became a state, you have to wonder, didn't he make enough money already on our dime? And the fact he's running for re-election to the Senate against the Democratic mayor of Anchorage in the midst of this represents delusional thinking at its most comical! He REALLY thinks he'll just cruise to an easy victory like before. Don't think so Ted, if there's any justice you'll at least be soundly defeated. And better still, sped the rest of your useless life behind bars, where you can entertain your cellmates with your utterly HILARIOUS analogies and descriptions about the Internet.

Nice try Teddy Boy!

Story HERE

The Lottery and Fictitious Parasites From Outer Space

Thinking of buying a lottery ticket? WHY???

You know, you have FAR BETTER chances of being eaten by The Blob, you know, that fictitious overgrown Jello dessert from outer space than you do winning the lottery. So be smart, save your money and buy a CO2 fire extinguisher, it's the only thing that'll stop the Blob, and you never know folks, it might actually exist after all.

RIP: The Fourth Amendment September 17, 1787 - July 9, 2008

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Bill of Rights, Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution

July 9, 2008, a date that SHOULD live in infamy. It was on this date that a spineless, corrupt and utterly incompetent and cowardly Congress ONCE AGAIN, gave into the outrageous fear-mongering and unconstitutional demands of George W. Bush and the Republican Party by passing the FISA bill (which Bush WILL sign into law) expanding the powers and ability of the Executive Branch and the government in general to conduct ILLEGAL domestic spying against its own citizens under the pretense of "fighting terror" (the secret warrantless wiretapping program initiated by Bush after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bush and his underlings DELIBERATELY broke the law by carrying this out bypassing oversight of the FISA court which must approve and give warrants for such actions), and just as odious, giving telecom companies (like Verizon, AT&T et al) immunity from civil lawsuits for cooperating in such nefarious activity (although maybe it's possible to prosecute a CRIMINAL lawsuit), the likes of which might've made the Nixon administration blush. Congress once again has proved its inherent worthlessness time and time again just mindlessly giving in to Bush's demands. Sadly, only a tiny literal handful of people in Congress (Dennis Kucinich, Henry Waxman, Ron Paul (a Republican) and Patrick Lahey) have opposed Bush and the Republicans (and fellow Democrats) on these issues. The Democrats won a major coup in the 2006 on a heavily-hyped promise of change and reform. With the exception of these 4 individuals (and maybe one or two I'm missing), the Democrats showed that they WILLINGLY LIED just to get elected, and since then, they've been nothing but enablers and willing accomplices to the criminal behavior of the Republicans in their attempts to destroy the Constitution and the very values this country was founded on. Traitors and cowards all of em! I also lost a MAJOR amount of respect for Barack Obama for his all-too-easy switching viewpoints on this bill, yes folks HE VOTED FOR IT (I'm sure in an attempt to woo Republican voters).

I dare say the one hope we have may be if a Federal or the Supreme Court strikes down this law as inherently unconstitutional (as a Federal court did with provisions of the Patriot Act),

To Congress, the Democrats AND The Republicans (save for the 4 afforementioned individuals I cited), I say that the only fate befitting you right now is either your execution (by firing squad or beheading) or your PERMANENT EXPULSION from this country altogether and I dare say that The Republicans AND the Democrats are deserving of such punishment as well for their willful and REMORSELESS assaults on the Constitution and our values as Americans. OFF WITH ALL OF YOUR HEADS!

Uhhh, What Kind of Music Is That--?

June 29, 2008, armed with two five-string bass guitars (fretted and fretless), a digital camera and not much else, I met my friend and drummer Jeremy DeRamus for a recording session at Earthshaking Music in East Atlanta Village .

With the aid of our brilliant engineer Scott Trihn at the controls, Jeremy and I proceeded to explore the outer frontiers of improvised music, trying a number of different groves and styles, ranging from slow smoldering cop-show jazz/swing to edgy angular funk, psychedelic and even a spacey percussion improv from Jeremy utilizing a marimba, tablas, bongos, a 20" gong and more.

Ultimately, the aim of these guided improvisations is to sculpt music around them (in my case for a new CD to be released next year, for now entitled, The Complete Radio Free Antarctica Tapes), and for Jeremy he may even devise some visual accompaniments as well as musical ones. The idea was to have a solid foundation to sculpt actual music from (be it ever so obtuse and RAGINGLY "uncommercial") as opposed to senseless random flailing/thrashing.

All told, I was very happy with the 5 pieces that resulted, and of course with further editing, teaking and adding instruments on at my home studio, The Owl's Nest, I'm sure some very colorful and challenging (to say the least, I ain't getting any more commercial folks LOL) We weren't producing the next Brittany Spears atrocity or vying for hit singles. A HUGE thank you to both Jeremy and Scott for humoring my unorthodox methods and making these little sketches and vague thoughts come to life. 100% real, in the moment and NO Pro-Tools was employed at any time.

Several Things The Bush Presidency Makes A Good Case For---

1) George W. Bush's Trial and Execution By Firing Squad For Treason: Namely for KNOWINGLY allowing Osama Bin Laden to escape and for conspiracy to commit treason by way of planning to ram through the Dubai Ports World sale of several of our ports operation to an Arab terrorist-supporting state, namely Dubai. And to say nothing of his too-cozy relationship with the terrorist-supporting Saudi Royal Family. And then there's the matter of a really half-a$$ed job in Afghanistan where the Taliban were merely chased off, as opposed to ANNIHILATING and mercilessly destroying them as they should've been before they could do any more harm. In all these things, Bush remorselessly sold us out to the enemy.

2) A Mandatory Intelligence/Competency Test For Federal Office Seekers/Holders: ANYONE seeking Federal office should be subjected to a rigorous intelligence/competency test before even being allowed to run for office and NOBODY with an IQ below 140 would be allowed to run for ANY office or hold any office, period! Brainless morons like Bush have NO place in the White House or ANY office, period! Haven't we had enough?

3) A Federal Law That Prohibits ANYONE With The Last Names of Bush or Clinton For EVER Running For Office Anywhere At Any Time: Haven't we had enough incompetence, stupidity and lawless shenanigans from these two infamous families already?.

4) A Federal Law That Prohibits ANYONE With Ties to Oil/Energy, Pharmaceutical or Banking Industries From Running For Office: Enough said!

5) The Mass Arrest and Permanent Deportation Of The Republican Party: The last 18 years have seen the Republican Party go from bad to worse in terms of rampant corruption, wanton criminal behavior (see http://www.republicanoffenders.com/ for just a partial listing of their shenanigans) complete abandonment of conservative principles, lust for power, offering up incompetent and vacuous candidates (like BOTH Bushes and Bob Dole) isn't it time we stopped giving these amoral morons a free pass? Remember, the turn to evil began with George HW Bush.

6) The Complete Removal of Our Armed Forces From ALL Foreign Countries: Let's face it folks, our military has been overextended and stretched PAST the breaking point. We NEED our troops right here to defend OUR borders. My concern is that if we are attacked again, can we defend ourselves and even retaliate? I dare say, in our present state, we're screwed (NO THANKS to Clinton/Gore AND Bush/Cheney and Rumsfeld's total incompetence). The very idea that we should should fight every country's battles for them is just plain foolish and stupid. We CANNOT be everyone's parent. Our military needs to be ready to defend US first. America First! Pat Buchanan had it right from Day One!

7) Shutting Down the Department of Homeland Security: This utterly worthless agency has not only wasted millions of our tax dollars but created a climate of fear in its overreaching violations of our constitutional rights, placed odious regulations and burdens on air travelers by treating all air travelers as presumed terrorists, and just simply being a bunch of paranoid Gestapo-wannabes. OFF WITH THEIR HEADS I SAY!

8) Elimination Of The Two Party System: Between the Republican's rampant criminal behavior, disrespect for the Constitution and the rights of Americans and the Democrats all-too-pronounced Socialist leanings, we NEED a real choice going forward. It is INHERENTLY undemocratic and UNAMERICAN that only two well-heeled and long entrenched parties bankrupt of ideas or decency u are allowed to rule. It's WAY PAST TIME that the Libertarians, The Constitution Party , The Populists and Independent people were allowed to take part in the democratic process.

At Least ONE Branch Of The Government Is Working Right--

As one AP correspondent Mark Sherman put it, the Supreme Court of the US started its term quietly and ended with a growl, for which this Owl for the most part is VERY happy about. It does my heart good to see that at least ONE branch of our government is actually doing its job and very well I might add.

After deciding a number o flower-grade cases, it came time to decide 3 very MAJOR contentions which were:

1) Treatment of Guantanamo Bay Detainees: Here, the justices in a close 5-4 decision gave Genius-Boy George Dubbaya a well-deserved bashing over the head. Their decision maintained in essence that detainees cannot not be held indefinitely without being informed of charges against them, without trial, without counsel or without hearings. This simply just reiterates what is already stated in the Constitution, international law as well as just plain decency and common sense (something the Republicans and Bush completely lack altogether).

2) Reaffirming Second Amendment Rights: Although it should be no mystery to anyone with half a mind, the Second Amendment of the US Constitution clearly states:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

In a very historic 5-4 decision, after many years of near silence on the issue, the justices essentially reaffirmed our constitutional right to bear arms for home and individual protection. This was precipitated by a legal challenge to Washington DC's draconian handgun ban. Predictably, the gun control crowd is running scared, whining that it'll be like the Wild West all over again. Personally, I don't buy that bit of hogwash when it has been shown many times over that an armed citizenry does in fact take a bite out of crime. At least SOME people are getting the message (The Supreme Court namely), that we DO NOT need gun control, but rather, we need CRIME CONTROL (a whole different ballgame altogether). More commentary HERE

3) Prohibition of Death Penalty for Child Rape: Here's where I VEHEMENTLY disagree with the justices. Although it may be legally and technically correct, morally and ethically, I just cannot get behind this one decision. The damage done to a child by sexual assault is lasting and very deep. To me, the ONLY fitting penalty for this or ANY kind of rape is death.

But #3 notwithstanding, I am really proud of our justices and their willingness to tackle some tough issues head on, again, their courage has COMPLETELY put to shame the Executive and Legislative branches of our government. This Owl salutes and thanks all nine of you, your summer break is well earned indeed!

Poetic Justice # 6698: Kanye West Gets Rapped

This is something that a musician/music fan like myself couldn't help but love.

Rapper/Egotist/Professional Dumba$$ Kanye West got a rather mild dose of what's coming to him very recently at the annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. First off, the Bonnaroo people did make a rather questionable judgement in having him perform in the first place, given Bonnaroo 's reputation for presenting some wildly ecclectic and genuinely creative music on its many stages. Creativity is something that Kanye West could definitely NOT be accused of.

After requesting numerous delays and postponements, Mr. West settled on a 2:45 am time slot after Pearl Jam wrapped up their fiery set. Next thing you know, more delays, and the crowd is getting pretty danged restless and impatient by this point (at least the ones who were still awake). Meanwhile, Mr West's entourage is building this massive and over-the top stage set, first red flag. Next red flag, NO BAND, it would be him (allegedly) performing to computer generated Pro-Tools tracks. And at 4:25 am, Mr Dumba$$ finally takes the stage, ego on display as usual, but what he didn't figure in (naturally, an overfed ego does not allow for rational thought or foresight) was this crowd's justified annoyance and even anger at his shenanigans. And you thought Guns 'n Roses was bad? And worse yet, the eventually rising sun washed out the light show (BOOOOO FREAKIN' HOOOOOO!)

Before long, the crowd is telling him in no uncertain terms that he sucks and pelts him with plastic glow sticks. He should consider himself pretty danged lucky, it could've been bottles or worse. I side with the crowd on this one, I mean, you pay good money, put up witha lot of aggravation and uncertainty at an outdoor festival to start with, but man, being jerked around by someone with an ego the size of Texas and the brain of an amoeba just ain;t worth it, especially when it's a bunch of dumbaSSed, lame gangsta rap? That goes beyond unacceptable. Who in their right mind would pay premium prices to see karaoke? Sorry Kanye, people are waking up and seeing how lame you really are, and I honestly hope that people will one day wake up to the fact of how utterly lame Rap is as a whole.

An MSNBC story HERE

RIP: Tim Russert 1950-2008

The journalism world today lost one of its best and brightest, Tim Russert, succumbed to a fatal heart attack at the age of 58, doing what he loved best.

Tim since the early 90's took over hosting NBC's "Meet The Press" and bought a depth and willingness to ask pointed questions that few dared to. In addition, he was reknowned for his election coverage work with NBC and moderating many a political debate. Though staunchly Democratic, Russert never let that compromise his objectivity or journalistic integrity. Originally a lawyer, Russsert eventually turned to journalism with the same excellence and success he pursued with law previously.

For more on Tim's life and career, see HERE

RIP Tim, this Owl definitely will miss your hard-hitting and reliable journalism, good humor and wit.

Who's The Real Terrorist? #592 Michelle Malkin

Michelle Malkin, a name that right now sends me into near apoplexy or a barely controllable rage!

This empty-headed blowhard/ignoramous sure loves to get on people's bad side and perpetuate Republican Party/Fox News fear-mongering like few I've seen (excepting of course the UNHOLY trinity of O'Reilly, Limbaugh and Hannity) , and of course, the latest of her outrages being accusing Dunkin' Donuts and Rachel Ray of "selling terrorism" by way of A PAISLEY SCARF that Rachel was wearing in an ad, of course, Malkin immediately just had to start something by publicly implying that the scarf was a garment worn by Jihadists (FACT: It was NOT), and next thing you know, Dunkin' Donuts, in a glaring moment of spinelessness and acquiescence to these fear-mongering pinheads, pulls the ad and issues an apology that was completely unnecessary. What they should've done was stand their ground and confront Ms Malkin on her ignorance of facts, her remorseless bullying and her morbid need to stir fear, paranoia and suspicion for her own gain, harassment and possibly even slander, not to mention her journalistic incompetence! But then again, expecting journalistic competence, ethics and integrity from ANYBODY associated with Fox News (she was until late 2007 on the "O'Reilly Factor" show) is like expecting a caveman to do brain surgery.

Another thing that gets me is that Ms Malkin is labeld a "Conservative Commentator", which is factually inaccurate. The Republican Party is labeled "Conservative" but nothing could be further from the truth. The GOP and people like Malkin are about as conservative as Stalin.

To Ms Malkin, I say SHUT THE HELL UP YOU BRAINLESS IDIOT!!!! Someday, your asinine pronouncements will come back and bite you, hopefully in the form of a lawsuit or two or three and hopefully the end of your career! If you are drummed out of ANY media arena and publically called out for the incompetent, ignorant fraud you are, I'll throw a party!

And my sincerest condolences to Rachel Ray for all the BS you've had to endure from these cretinous idiots like Malkin et al. I feel your pain and completely sympathize with you.

25 Years In The Slammer for Boy Band Creator

Can you sense my joy, my overwhelming euphoria and glee?


It's official folks, Lou Pearlman, the low-life swindler/con-artist and purveyor of such musical abominations as The Backstreet Boys, N'Sync et al got himself 25 years in Federal prison for swindling individual investors and banks out of some $300 million since the 1980's.


U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharp, if perchance we meet in person, I'd not only like to shake your hand but also buy you dinner to thank you for putting away this arrogant, greedy lowest form of pond slime! Not only for the swindling/bilking part, but for inflicting that God-Awful Boy-Band crap on us as well! This dumba$$'s sentence is well deserved!


A St Petersburg Times story HERE

Extremely Thin Books / Books That'll NEVER Be Published

1) Brilliant War Strategies by Donald Rumsfeld

2) Hypocrisy Is Profitable by Newt Gingrich

3) The Return to Marital Faithfulness by Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy and Newt Gingrich

4) Prepare for ANY Emergency by Michael Brown

5) The Pursuit of Intellectual Greatness by George W. Bush and Kanye West

6) Ethics and Integrity In Journalism by Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch

7) More Profiles In Courage by George W Bush and Ted Kennedy

8) The Power of Hot Air by Rush Limbaugh

9) The Art of Conversation and Listening by Bill O'Reilly

10) The Power of Indecision by George HW Bush

11) The Constitution? OVERRATED! by John Ashcroft

12) Shrew Is For You by Hillary Clinton

13) Under Oath: How I ALWAYS Told The Truth by Alberto Gonzalez

14) Self Control and Civil Behavior by Foxy Brown and 50 Cent

15) How To Talk English Real Good by Dan Quayle

16) Non-Violent Justice by Janet Reno

17) A Guide to Kindness and Humiliy by Karl Rove

18) How To Outrun Angry Mobs by Sean Hannity

19) Increase Your IQ by Jessica Simpson and Mariah Carey

20) Secrets Of A Lasting Marriage by Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown

Still Thinking of Voting Republican?

Still thinking of voting Republican this fall? Well, you might want to get a look at a certain website before doing so. Now to be fair, the Democrats have had their share of criminals on parade too (most notably Bill and Hillary), but I honestly think we've been giving the Republicans a free pass for far too long. This is the party that STILL claims to be the good guys, the ones who stand for morality, decency, American values and The Constitution.

In reality, their words and actions could not be further apart. Besides the obvious high profile criminals and traitors like the entire Bush administration, Jack Abramoff, Tom Delay, Scooter Libby, Bernard Kerik, Mark Sijander (the MI congressman who is now under indictment for money laundering for terrorists) and such, there's plenty more at various levels of Federal, State and Local government who have permanently sullied their own reputations but that of the Republican party as well, all beyond any repair. And in doing so, have damaged the reputation of the US as a nation, all without the slightest bit of remorse.

But don't take my word for it, facts speak for themselves, take some time and browse through http://www.republicanoffenders.com/ and see for yourself.

Star Trek Fights A Lot Like----BATMAN?

You know, the more I watch old reruns of the original Star Trek series with William Shatner and the whole crew, I cannot help but notice some of the fight scenes, and how much they resemble the hilariously goofy fight scenes of the old 1960's Batman TV show.

Well, wanting to become a little more familiar with my new video editing software, I put together this little montage of Star Trek fight scenes, the way they should've been, click HERE to watch. Not responsible for coffee, soda or other liquids or solids spewed on keyboards.

The Owl Predicts #3581: Al Gore and The Blob

This Owl predicts that Al Gore, in his desperation to win new and gullible converts to his junk-science and factually questionable crusades, will try to convince us that The Blob really exists, and if we don't stop driving cars and manufacturing things, the polar ice-caps will melt, the Blob will thaw, get loose and devour the whole planet, killing us all.

Well Al, I'll bet you read THIS article and thought it was real, didn't ya 'ol boy? But then again, can someone soooooo important as the Nobel Prize-winning Al Gore be bothered with such details like, uhhhh, FACTS? After all, this is the same guy who claimed to "take the initiative in creating the Internet" and that Erich Segal's "Love Story" was based on Al and Tipper's dating relationship (an assertion that Segal is very quick to debunk). Maybe if we're somewhat lucky, somewhere there might be a real Blob and Al could try negotiating with this mindless protoplasm. But then again, I shouldn't have said this, it's an insult to mindless protoplasms everywhere.

My Inevitable Anti-Smooth Jazz Rant

This so-called "Smoooooooooth Jaaaaaaazzzz" stuff to me is nothing more than product, a lot like cheez-wiz or McDonalds. It's real smooth alright but I ain't hearing ANYTHING resembling jazz there.

Besides the fact that 99% of sounds so danged much alike and EASILY could be generated by computer (and I suspect about that much of it is) , it completely lacks some of the fundamental characteristics that make jazz what it is:

1) Improvisation (as opposed to just playing reprtitive stock pentatonic licks)

2) Harmonic sophistication and extended harmonies while retaining some grounding in the blues (even the more abstract and experimental avant jazz has this to some extent)

3) Rhythmic variation or even swing

4) Risk taking in general or any kind of originality

5) The intangible quality of soulfulness is completely missing.

The thing that gets me is that some of these smooth jazz guys are actually pretty good musicians that took the easy path to riches, and then there's complete talentless hacks like Kenny G who are very limited to this specific niche', doing the musical equivalent of talentless actors like Keanu Reeves, Lucy Liu or J-Lo geting by on their looks. To call it smooth jazz to me is intellectually and artistically dishonest from the jazz side of it. Why not just say it's instrumental pop and leave it at that? Smooth Jazz? How about more like SNOOZE-jazz.

Monday Madness Strikes Again!

1) Odd Pairings That Actually Work #521: This is going back a ways, but this actually happened on national TV, Oct., 28, 1970. Johnny Cash had a much loved TV show going at the time, and his guest that night, none other than Louis Armstrong! Most would think, how in the world could they possibly pull off something given they came from 2 completely different musical worlds? Well, hear it for yourself, they tore into an old Jimmy Rogers country-blues number "Yodel #9", seen HERE. This had to have been one of Satchmo's last performances before his death in 1971.

2) You're Joking, RIGHT?: While campaigning in PA this week, Barrack Obama in this Owl's opinion made one of the WORST mistakes a presidential candidate could make this early in the game. He might even be right to some degree but man, talk about shooting yourself in the foot! Obama has said that John McCain would be better than Bush, a rather stark reversal from his earlier position that a McCain presidency would be like giving Bush a third term. Even as McCain himself tries to distance himself from the last 8 years of Bush's incompetency, not many are buying it, this Owl among those who just ain't buyin' it either. To paraphrase a friend's comment, saying McCain would be better than Bush would be like saying that "Joe Blow running for police commissioner would be better than Jack The Ripper". Barry, I hope you grasp the implications of what you just said as it relates to your own candidacy, the story HERE

3) Is It Just Me Or----:

a) Does Karl Rove bear at least a casual resemblance to Mr. Freeze or Egghead on the old Batman TV show?

b) If you were a career journalist, wouldn't having ANY mention on your resume' of employment with Fox News be a sure fire career killer?

c) Does not ABC set the pace on its handling of news in terms of sheer vacuousness and insipidness?

d) It really is true that American Idol has contributed to the progressive dumbing down of our country, along with the Bush administration?

4) Batcave Home Theater: See it for yourself, by way of Gizmodo.com, an actual home theater setup very much like the Batcave, has to be seen to be believed HERE!

5) Cursing The Yankees: This has got to be the most HILARIOUS thing I've heard in the last couple weeks, a construction worker involved in building the new Yankees stadium in NYC is actually a rabid Boston Red Sox fan, and attempted to curse the Yankees by burying a Red Sox shirt in the complex, which was later unearthed. Keith Olbermann had a bit to say about this to rather amusing effect HERE.

Monday Moonlight Madness

Here we are again, after a short absence (namely because of work related insanity and a burgeoning addiction to creating twisted, humorous music videos), Monday Madness is back again in full hoot, talons bared (and my eyes are hurting from all this #$@% pollen!):

1) I'm Not Alone #8824: Does my heart good to know there is someone who shares my barely controllable outrage and disgust at Islam, its extremism and its misogyny, intellectual backwardness and complete intolerance of others uniqueness, the right to be secure in their persons, the right to think for themselves and the right to live a peaceful, productive life if they don't agree with Islam's tenets (dang, it's starting to sound like the present day neo-con dominated Republican Party and Fox News). Well, British commentator/comedian Pat Condell has BEAUTIFULLY summed up what I'm sure a lot of us have been thinking despite these politically-correct times we live in. Pat, with his characteristic wit, humor, insight and just plain no-nonsense bluntness takes the Muslim world at large (and yes folks, I DO know and believe that there are peace-loving/law abiding Muslims in the world, just not enough of them I'm afraid) to task for its duplicity, hypocrisy, murderous ways and utter audacity in demanding that everyone else bow down to them for fear of being blown up. Watch the full commentary on video HERE and see if you don't at least understand the outrage. Pat's official site HERE

I don't necessarily agree with ALL of Pat's viewpoints, but this one really struck a chord for me personally.

2) No Surprises Here: Yep, it's official, Dick "The Penguin" Cheney and many below him did in fact approve the use of harsh interrogation/torture methods against "suspected" terrorists in complete defiance of things like The Geneva Convention, the U.S Constitution etc. Cheney took great pains to insulate Idiot-Boy Bush from any meetings/discussions concerning these particular matters (what a pal, I tell ya!). Sure makes a lie of Bush's repeated assertions of "We do not torture". AP story HERE

And of course, rather belatedly in this Owl's opinion, the Democrats are howling over Bush's excessive use of Executive Privilege as an excuse to not be accountable for his reckless and irresponsible decisions and actions (and I agree, Bush is making Nixon look honest and humble by comparison). All well and good, but, ahem, you really needed to be a lot more vocal on this earlier on and actually get off your lazy, mediocre a$$es and investigate, and yes, even initiate Articles of Impeachment. Would you, Of course not, you Dems have ZERO guts, intestinal fortitude, principles and sufficient outrage to do ANYTHING that you were elected to do by a large number of voters in November of 2006. You conned your way into office so that you could simply give Idiot-Boy Bush everything he demanded without question rather than fight for actual change, drawing a paycheck on OUR dime anyway. Oh, yeah, and it IS campaign season too let's not forget. Well, now that I've ranted, I refer you to the story HERE

And of course, General David "Really, I'm Not Running For Office" Patreus went before Congress this past week to make a case for the continuing presence in Iraq that to date has accomplished little to nothing of worth (save for Saddam Husein getting hanged, but in reality, that should've been the responsibility of native Iraqi's to rise up and execute him, but that's another discussion). Along with Congress were our 3 presidential hopefuls, who asked some pretty pointed (but to my estimation, not quite pointed enough) questions of Patreus and Ryan Crocker (what useful purpose does he serve anyway?). Patreus's complete inability to give an honest, straight answer on even the most fundamental questions concerning Iraq was very telling (why doesn't he go into politics?). A REAL military man would've been far more honest and forthcoming than Mr Patreus was. His convoluted, cryptic riddles/double-talk (much like Idiot-Boy Rumsfeld's blathering of years past) only reinforced the idea that someone is NOT telling us the truth. A piece from Energy and Capital HERE gives food for thought. The only case that this Dynamic Duo has made is for Bush's impeachment/execution and Patreus's court martial.

3) More Welcome News On Two Fronts: A significant advance in cancer research AND protecting people in the event of a nuclear/radiation induced incident has recently occurred. In short, a pill that could block radiation damage and protect people exposed to normally lethal or potentially doses of radiation. This ironically, was learned from how some cancers seem to resist radiation treatments. Far more lucid details are found HERE

4) Bravery In The Courtroom: 61-year-old Brooklyn stenographer Ron Tolkin went absolutely Jack Bauer on a psychotic defendant on defendant Victor Wright after the convicted drug felon started choking federal prosecutor Carolyn Pokorny (who thankfully, outside of some bruises wak otherwise OK). Tolkin jumped to her defense, baiting the felon to try attacking him instead. Victor Wright then produced a razor and attempted to slash Tolkin but failed (he dropped the weapon), Tolkin, a lawyer (the defendant's lawyer no less), and 2 Marshalls finally subdued this piece of human trash. Tolkin also happened to have a small digital recorder going which captured the whole ordeal. Shortly after, Tolkin submitted a complete transcript of the whole incident and it can be seen HERE. Tolkin not only displayed great bravery in dealing with this psycho but also unleashed a torrent of cursing that would strip paint.

5) Secrets Of The Magic 8-Ball: One of the most durable and long-lived novelty items/toys, the Magic 8-Ball apparently shows no signs of going away any day soon. Have you ever wondered just how those things were made and how they worked? Well, one person launched a full out investigation into the mysteries of The Magic 8-Ball, and you can see the end result HERE!

On The Player
Steuart Liebig/Tee Tot Quartet
Always Outnumbered

Imagine if you will, someone like Ornette Coleman or Charles Mingus getting a real hankering to play old-timey blues/jazz and country. Sound crazy? Sound impossible? Not if bassist/composer Steuart Liebig has anything to say about it. Combining forces with drum,mer Joe Berardi, cornetist/trumpeter Dan Clucas and Dobro player Scot Ray, the Tee Tot Quartet pulls off the above hybrid and something more with great wit, humor and emotional depth. DO check this out, it can be found on CD Baby HERE with samples. Also, check out Steuart's own site: www.stigsite.com

Hell Freezes Over - I Just Did My First Music Video!

Amazing, ain't it. I swore for years and years that I would NEVER make a music video . Well, time and circumstances have a way of changing one's mind. After months of good natured prodding and goading from some friends, I bought some video editing software (uLead/Corel Video Studio 11) and set to work on creating a twisted and hilarious video for one of my original songs from my most recent CD "Guaranteed To Be 100% Free of Hit Singles". In just over a week, The song is chose was "It Takes A Village to Raise An Idiot". I managed to get something together that I was reasonably happy with and had me cackling like a mad scientist at work.

It's full of things tha tamuse and delight me, Duke Ellington, Buddy Rich, flying saucers, mad scientists, slapstick, train wrecks, Batman fights, lions running a mok in movie theaters, the usual.

It's now posted on YouTube and you can watch it HERE

Hitlary's Long History of Ruthless Lies and Deceit

You know, 'ol Hillary Clinton's most recent bout of "misspeaking" shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone really.

No matter how much Hitlary tries to paint herself as having integrity and being a great leader, one cannot avoid the disturbing facts.

Jerry Zeifman, a former Chief Counsel on the Judiciary Committe fo the US House of Representatives remembers one Hillary Rodham-Clinton very well in fact. Even at the age of 27, Hillary was one scheming, conniving ruthless witch during the Watergate investigation, unethical and deceitful as could be. Such that when the Wateragte investigation was over, Zeifman outright FIRED Hillary from the committee and even further, REFUSED (again to his credit) to write a letter of recommendation for her.

What bought this on? Hillary and several colleagues on the committee conspired to deny then president Richard Nixon the right to legal counsel, Nixon's counsel, one E. Howard Hunt, if put on the stand, definitely had the goods on Senator Ted Kennedy and some nefarious misdeeds of his. It was Kennedy's counsel Burke Marshall who got Hillary the job on the Judiciary Committe in the first place. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I knew Hillary was a no-good lying snake from the start, I just didn;t realize the true extent, and there are more details on Jerry Zeifman's site HERE

More Reasons You Should STOP Watching Or Listening to Fox News:

1) In August of 2006, the locale was Largo Florida. A police officer pulls over an SUV for speeding, but to add to the drama, the vehicle's stereo was BLASTING enough to rattle windows of nearby houses. Obnoxious Gansta Rap? NOPE, it was Bill O'Reilly! And that poor cop wound up getting a fusillade of undeserved verbal abuse from this mindless O'Reilly-worshipping dumba$$. I'd bet anything Belligerent Genius Boy there was afraid he'd have to go before a liberal judge that would throw the book at him. Ya know, I HOPE that's exactly what happened to him. Story, complete transcript of the exchange AND video HERE

2) Also, in September of 2006. Several high profile individuals, one of them being MSNBC anchor/commentator Keith Olbermann recieved rather suspicious letters in their mail, that when opened, spilled out a white powder, and of course, the natural assumption is that it was Anthrax. Along with this was a menacing note that read "DEATH TO ALL DEMAGOGUES". Quite wisely, Keith called the FBI and police, and then went to the nearest hospital to make sure he was OK. To add to this drama, despite being told to NOT report on it until given the OK by law enforcement officials, the Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post of course, defied authoriities and went to press anyway, and wrote a shrill, factually innacurate and hateful story (no surprise here coming from Mr Murdoch,practically endorsing terroristic threats against anyone who doesn;t agree with them and openly MOCKED the police and FBI for their work. Keith got a clean bill of health hours later and returned to work. The powdery substance turned out to be soap powder. Keith's story HERE

But wait, there's more! The same nutjob who sent these fake Anthrax letters struck again, exact same targets. Eventually, in November 2006, police arrested one Chad Castagana, then aged 39 of Woodland Hills CA, a loser who at his age STILL lived with his parents and, ready for this, worshipped, drooled and obsessed over not one but THREE women associated with Fox News (Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin and Laura Ingraham. Honestly, 3 horrid people I wouldn't be seen dead with) A Reuters news account HERE. Keith Olbermann's perspective and comments on such sick individuals HERE.

Mr Castagana was later convicted on 14 felony counts and sentenced to five years probation and confinement at the Gateways Community Corrections Center in Los Angeles, CA where he is to receive psychiatric treatment and medication.

Parents, if you keep Fox News and The New York Post out of your home and away from your kids, you're doing your job well indeed. We don't need more belligerent and mentally disturbed degenerates like these two examples running around under the influence of a network that could only be described as "Fairly Unbalanced"

Friday Frights and More

1) The Occasional Dumba$$ Rapper Roundup: Shouldn't surprise anyone, but yet another rapper just got their ass handed to them by the justice system and rightly so. One Remy Ma of New York was pronounced guilty of assault, illegal posession of a weapon (.45 calibre with hollow point bullets) and attempted coercion (shouldn't that read, attempted robbery?) after shooting a woman near a nightclub in 2007. Remy claims that she meant to shoot someone else, a friend (HUH?) she suspected of stealing $3000 from her. Sadly, someone else just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ms Remy is staring down the barrel of 25 years in the slammer (GOOD I say!), though somehow, she was acquitted of witness tampering and gang assault charges (how did THAT happen?). I know, some people probably think I'm stereotyping unfairly, but dang it, this kind of thing happens WAY TOO OFTEN to be a coincidence or some unjustified stereotype, this is a real serious problem people, and the Hip-Hop/Rap culture shares more than a little of the blame for such stupid, violent and criminal/anti-social behavior. Story HERE

And while we're at it, Atlanta rapper TI finally saw there was no way he could beat the rap so he pleaded guilty to illegal weapons charges (which SHOULD'VE gotten him 10 years easily) but because of a plea agreement, he just might get a lighter sentence (his first installment is 1000 hours of community service effective now). Formal sentencing willl take place March of 2009, which could mean if he lives up to his deferred sentencing agreement, he will be sentenced to one year in prison, pay a $100,000 fine, spend three years under supervised release, including a year of home detention, and perform a total of 1,500 hours of community service, this according to U.S. Attorney David Nahmias. Story HERE Another account in the AJC goes on to say that if TI blows it (which he most likely will), it's 8 years in the joint for him.

2) Hillary's Delusions of Grandeur: Poor Hillary Clinton, can't seem to catch a break, especially since many documents regarding her time as First Lady (and to me, "Lady" is stretching things) were made public. In her desperate bid to claim "foreign policy experience" it seems that she recalled a trip to Bosnia, claiming to be under heavy sniper fire when she landed, but in reality, she made the trip 3 months after the war in Bosnia was officially over, taking along her daughter Chelsea and two entertainers. Ands that's not even the half of it, as at least from thsi list on Fact Check.org indicates, she, shall we say LIES or EXAGGERATES HER ACCOMPLISHMENTS, OOPS, I'm sorry, that should read, "Misspoke". More here on FactCheck.org

3) World's Earliest Sound Recording?: Clocking in at a whopping 10 seconds but no less significant, US researchers have found a recording of someone singing "Claire De Lune'". A French inventor, Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville was responsible for this significant first step in recording technology in the year 1860 with a device known as the phonautograph, which scratched sound onto a sheet of paper coated by the smoke of an oil lamp. This was 17 years BEFORE Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. The interesting twist is, that de Martinville had NO intention of playing back the sound, he simply wanted a visual representation of sound waves to study. News story HERE, and even more amazing, the recording itself can be heard HERE

4) Outrageous Rockstar Demands: From time to time, I've wondered how some of these intelligence-deficient but ego endowed rock stars got their demands met or what they were to begin with (out of some morbid curiosity I admit), well, The Smoking Gun has aspecial secton on its website specially dedicated to rockstar/entertainer backstage demands, some relatively benign, others enough to want to call the Happy Wagon and stage an intervention, read 'em HERE

ON THE PLAYER

King Kong: Jean Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa

From the year 1970 comes this quirky gem by an up and coming violinist from France who paid his dues initially in the classical world before developing a jones for Coltrane and other jazz greats. Ponty had played on Frank Zappa's groundbreaking "Hot Rats" LP and good 'ol Frank wanting to showcase the violinists talents more visibly (though he'd already been making albums since the mid 1960's) put this session together utilizing some of L.A.'s top jazz players (like Ernie Watts) and even some from the classical world. Here, Ponty re-interprets several of Frank's songs to great effect (the jaunty title track, the HILARIOUS "America Drinks and Goes Home", and even the haunting balladry of "20 Small Cigars" for example) and even contributes an odd half-blues/half Latin original, "How Would You Like To Have A Head Like That?". The real challenge comes with Zappa's "Music for Electric Violin and Low Budget Orchestra" (named so because Frank couldn't get the necessary funds for a full orchestra for the piece, so he had to settle for a smaller chamber ensemble. The piece hits a lot of terrotory from Stravinsky to jazz to whatever with Ponty weaving his way through it masterfully and with great wit. Highly recommended

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!!!

Dana Perino,, Worlds DUMBEST White House Press Secretary!

Ahhh, the unenviable job of being White House Press Secretary, the OFFICIAL job description is to be a liaison between the President and the press, HOWEVER, we all know the REAL job description is to lie, spin and obfuscate on behalf of the president. Well, looks like Bright Boy Bush currently ties the record for most press secretaries (4 currently, along with Bill Clinton and Harry Truman), the previous being Ari Fleischer, Scott McLellan and Tony Snow. And since Snow's resignation in 2006, Dana Perino occupies the slot. Without question, Ms Perino is the DUMBEST, most incompetent, vacuous and utterly useless and clueless Press Secretary to reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in this, or ANY administration. As much as I cannot stand Tony Snow (mainly because of his association with False News), at least he had something of a brain. Ms Perino actually gives "ditzy blondes" a bad name to put it kindly.

Time after time, Dana really outdones herself and proved once again that the Bush Administration is a dangerous carrier of contagious stupidity, incompetence and ignorance. One particular incident occurred October 26, 2007 when a reporter quizzed her regarding the missile defense shield proposed for Eastern Europe and how it compared to the Cuban Missile Crisis, she of course was a deer in the headlights, trying desperately to concoct an answer, the best she could do was a "they're not the same thing" reply with little or no substance to it. A short time later, she appears on an NPR Radio quiz show called "Wait--Wait--Don't Tell Me", she FINALLY admitted she had NO idea what the Cuban Missile Crisis was at all (she had to ask her husband about it, he was shocked to put it mildly). HERE is a written transcript of her appearance, One news story HERE. Another incident on March 20, 2008 involved her spectacular bungling about how Bush and Cheney disregard opinion polls, and in the end, Genius Girl winds up painting the picture that Bush strives to be unpopular. Hmmm, quite interesting considering Bush is too damned lazy to strive for much of anything in the way of humility or common sense. The details HERE

And MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann has featured her MANY incompetencies on his Countdown broadcasts, among some of them were his "Worst Person In The World Award", the "Cuban Missile Crisis incident"and the lies regarding the National Intelligence Estimate Part One and Part Two

Not a big deal you might say? Well, let's face facts, this kind of ignorance of history, inexcusable stupidity, bungling and intellectual shallowness is sadly de rigeur for the Bush Administration as a whole, completely antithetical to what this country stands for. No wonder our credibility as a nation is zero to none in many countries, because we ALLOW idiots free reign! This just should not be! It's things like this that make a compelling case for a MANDATORY IQ Test for anyone that runs for national office and anyone that is appointed by said candidates if they win the office. And ANYTHING below 130 should be considered a FAILING grade. George Walker Bush, you're going to stay after school young man!!!

And an interesting fact about Dana Perino, she was on A DEBATE TEAM at Colorado State University-Pueblo!!!!????????

RIP Arthur C. Clarke - 1917-2008

A true original, visionary and well-loved author took leave of the planet this week, one Arthur C Clarke at the age of 90 suffering breathing problems and the long-term effects of Post-Polio Syndrome at his home in Sri Lanka.

The English born Clarke had a long and varied career, originally educated at King's College attaining a degree in Physics and Mathematics after WWII. He served with the British Royal Air Force, during which time he wrote a now highly regarded memo predicting the idea of communications satellites. He became a prolific author of both science fiction and science fact, and after a series of explorations and writing about his adventures in The Great Barrier Reef, he permanently relocated to Sri Lanka in 1956. Although encumbered at times by Post-Polio Syndrome on land at times, Clarke found himself "perfectly operational" underwater, and he scuba-dived well into old age.

Among his most loved works were short stories like "The 9 Billion Names of God" and "The Sentinel" (originally written in 1948, this became the basis of Stanley Kubrick's classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey), novels like "Rendezvous With Rama", "Childhood's End" and "The City and The Stars" and of course, his novelization of the 2001 screenplay in collaboration with Stanley Kubrick. He was also very active as a lecturer, teacher, television commentator on science (I even remember him being part fo the on-air commentary of the first Apollo moon landing in 1969).

His final wishes included:

Launching hair with strands of his DNA into space, for Sri Lanka's raging civil war to end, for the world to embrace cleaner sources of energy and for evidence of extraterrestrial beings to be discovered.

News story HERE, and an excellent Wikipedia article on his life and career.