Create a cover blurb contest!

Okay the cover below was posted on Steve Gerber’s blog and I have to give him kudos and link love for it.



Now I am betting the person who passed it along to him did some nifty Photoshop work and blacked out a caption that was on the cover to the left of Superman (the viewer’s left). Also, I am fairly positive the blurb in question was such that it downplayed whatever inference readers could draw from looking at the cover alone. Still since it was blacked out, let’s have a little fun. Post your suggestions for a cover blurb for this cover in the comments section. Without it, well they say a picture is worth a thousand words. All I know is the thing had me laughing hysterically!

Shhhh... be wery quiet, I’m hunting wabbits!

I love doing the Flickr thing. In large part because it manages to allow me to make connections with people all over the world. It is a bit more successful in that than the blog has been unfortunately. Then again, I haven’t really managed to put together the right package to promote the blog either so, there’s a whole ‘tree falls in the forest’ aspect to the thing.

Nonetheless, the Flickr stream manages to generate tons of hits. The shots I took more by accident of the Law and Order CI shoot bought out the legions of women in love with Vincent D’Onofrio. Little did I know Vinny boy was the hearthrob of so many women. Once again, the rules of attraction escape me.

So, Vinny boy bought all those female viewers to the stream but of course, naked (or nearly naked) women is what bought a helluva lot more male eyes to the stream. Guys just never tire I guess of looking at the ladies, especially if they’re done up like this:

Advanced cheating man search.

One of the thing that raises my hackles often is the way men are portrayed. I should qualify that perhaps, it’s not the way men are portrayed all the time but, the way they are portrayed by angry women. I often read stories about what equates to as very impolite and rude behavior being attributed to a person’s gender. The behavior in question directed at women and then used by women as an example of how all members of my gender embrace said behavior.

I really hate that.

Anyway, I was reading this RKB’s blog and she had written a column about this website which I thought to pass along.

The entire tone of the site assumes some sort of moral superiority on the part of women, one that seems to play into the idea of women as watchdogs and men as horndogs, and it's these sorts of assumptions (that all men are likely to cheat) that further the age-old “battle of the sexes” mentality. Because while their blog claims to be “revolutionizing the way women date,” all it’s really doing is providing an outlet for scorned, angry women. I’m not going to go so far as to suggest one can spot a cheater a mile away (I certainly know better), but if the first thing you do after you return from your date is scour their database, you’re in trouble.

I am sure a website like this will find a large audience - goodness knows they are probably the same people who are compelled to watch the Jerry Springer show day in and day out.

Look for yourself, Don’t date him girl dotcom. The site comes complete with a podcast (which I cannot bring myself to listen to) and even a useful tool in the form of the Advanced cheating men search.

It’s never been a question of remembering...


...more a question of trying to forget.

Last week, The History Channel was given over to programming focusing on the events in and around September 11th, 2001. It’s was their 9/11 week as they billed it and each night’s primetime schedule was led with shows bearing titles such as Countdown to Ground Zero - The Miracle of Stairway B - The Man Who Predicted 9/11 - The World Trade Center: Rise and Fall - Grounded on 9/11.

Also this week, New York Magazine’s cover contained the blurb:

What If 9/11 Never Happened?


In the issue a series of articles speculated on how life would be if the events New Yorkers experienced on that tragic day hadn’t taken place.

There is a very good article by John Homans titled The Long Funeral which opens with the lines: “Anyone who lived or worked in downtown Manhattan on 9/11 has no need to see the new Oliver Stone movie, powerful as it’s said to be. An anniversary isn’t necessary to remember that day. It comes back easily, in infinite detail. We remember, moment by moment, where we were, where our friends were, what we saw and heard and said as we came to awareness about what was happening...

It‘s worth reading and I suggest you check it out.

The thing I agreed with wholeheartedly is, yes, I do not need to see the Oliver Stone movie. I do not need to see the TV shows on the History Channel. I do not have to read or watch anything else about that day. I remember it very clearly and very vividly. I don’t think I will ever be able to forget it. I won’t validate the point by sharing my own experiences of that day or the weeks afterward. If anything, it would just be counter purposes to what I am trying to say here.

Each year now, coming up on five years, we have stopped and focused on what happened that day. I am all for being respectful of the memory of what happened and the loss of life that occurred but, when do we pass respectful reflection and move into the area of self indulgent scab picking? If a wound is to heal doesn't going back and picking at the scab prevent the wound from ever fully healing.

Unlike a lot of people, I avoided that part of town for a long time after what happened. I did it on purpose. I always want to remember what the area was like before that fateful day and I am looking forward to a day in the future when something new will be there and those few blocks become a part of the city once more.

When I look at the skyline now, it seems empty. I never knew how much I could miss those buildings until they were gone and every time I look at the city from a distance and see the strange skyline which I still cannot get used to I cannot help but remember that day.

I can’t wait for them to finish building a new tower, a new memorial and just finish building that whole complex back up so it can become a part of the city again. When that day comes it will put us a long way along the road to moving forward. People point to September 11th as the day the war on terror began but, really when you think about it the day the war on terror began was back in 1983 when Marines were attacked in Lebanon or even before that when the embassy was taken over in Tehran.

It was just in those cases, it seemed so very far away.

If we were going to measure it by an attack on American soil, then it still wouldn’t have been September 11th. Instead it would be the first World Trade Center attack when Ramzi Yousef and others blew up a truck bomb in the basement of the complex back in 1993.

Five years have passed and while I mean no disrespect to those who lost family and loved ones, I think it is time for us to move on. While we will never forget can we stop trying so hard to remember?

Another reason to make sure you don’t piss off the kitty!

A pair of cats really have owned an apartment, in New York City, in the 21st century. “It presented an odd set of circumstances,” remembers Brian Tormey of TitleVest, the title-insurance agency that handled the transaction, with a laugh. He’s willing to tell the story, though out of respect for his client’s privacy, he won’t name names.

I always enjoyed watching him.

You may remember him from the following movies...

Donnie Brasco (1997) Nicky / City Slickers (1991) Ed Furillo / The Freshman (1990) Victor Ray, Carmine's Nephew / When Harry Met Sally... (1989) Jess / Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) 2nd Lt. Steven Hauk / Tin Men (1987) Mouse / Birdy (1984) Renaldi / The Godfather: Part II (1974) Young Clemenza (Peter)

I think you may have even wound up confusing him with Peter Arquette because of a similarity in style and demeanor. Somehow though 57 seems way to young.

Adventures in Dickdom.

So, I got this email today and it is a sparkling example of how we get f*cked in this country on a regular basis:

Effective August 14, 2006, Verizon Online will stop charging the FUSF (Federal Universal Service Fund) recovery fee. We will stop being assessed the fee by our DSL network suppliers. Therefore, we will no longer be recovering this fee from our customers. The impact of the FUSF fee is as follows: for customers of Verizon Online with service up to 768Kbps, the fee eliminated is $1.25 a month; for customers of Verizon Online with service up to 1.5 Mbps or 3Mbps, the fee eliminated is $2.83 a month (based on current FUSF surcharge amounts). On your bill that includes charges for August 14, 2006 you will see either a partial FUSF Recovery Fee or no FUSF line item at all, depending on your bill cycle.

Starting August 26, 2006, Verizon Online will begin charging a Supplier Surcharge for all new DSL customers, existing customers with a DSL monthly or bundle package, and existing DSL annual plan customers at the time their current annual plan expires. This surcharge is not a government imposed fee or a tax; however, it is intended to help offset costs we incur from our network supplier in providing Verizon Online DSL service. The Supplier Surcharge will initially be set at $1.20 a month for Verizon Online DSL customers with service up to 768Kbps and $2.70 per month for customers with DSL service at higher speeds.

Summarized, the government has stopped charging a tax but, Verizon feels rather than lowering your bill (even if it’s a little bit) you won’t miss the money anyway since you’ve been paying it and they’ll just tack a surcharge onto your bill to improve their bottom line. Does it mean they’ll invest in the infrastructure? Probably not but, again it’s not like you haven’t been paying it up until now so why not just let them stick their hand in your pocket and take the money for themselves. What a**holes!

IT IS DONE!

...and now there is a much skinnier kitty, drunkenly careening about the bathroom where she is ensconced to avoid injuring herself. While she wasn’t doped up dramatically this time, she still seems to have suffered enough of the effects of sedation to go bottom over top should she negotiate a jump. While funny to witness, I certainly don’t want her to injure herself as she is very much my precious little treasure.

Pictures to come.

Teaser for tomorrow’s Friday Cat Blogging.

Although she doesn’t know it yet, tomorrow will be that most dreaded of days in a cat’s life, for tomorrow it will be time for:



As much as I love the furry beast, her hair takes on a life of its own and we are at the point where it is about to take us both over so, it’s time for the dreaded trip! I’m thinking of before and after photos but she looks so pitifully skinny after the fact and I feel so bad for her although within a few days she seems very happy and is running around the house with abandon.

From the archives.

I started going through the drafts of entries I have (which is alarmingly long) and determined I wanted to at least clean out some of the unfinished snippets. I’ve found myself burning out on the internet in recent months. Specifically the whole i-porn thing has just reached the point where it seems pointless. A lot of guys I know look at i-porn, they talk about it with other guys but not their spouses or girlfriends. Men really never grow tired of looking and while I haven’t tired of looking at women I certainly have tired of doing it online.

Anyway, the guys I’m talking about are peers. These are people in their 30s, 40s and 50s. Thing is there is a whole generation out there of people who are growing up with this. I read this article back in 2003 and was going to post a link to it. It’s still an interesting read and I don’t think it’s lost its relevance:

Every once in awhile, there‘s a reminder to me of how dramatically different it is to grow up today...

Like many other guys his age, Rick, who has never rented an X-rated video and considers strip clubs “a little gross,” discovered Internet porn in high school, and he’ll tell you about it with all the whimsy of a high-school football star waxing nostalgic about his early years on the JV squad. “I remember it clear as day. It just dawned on me: I can type in Pamela Anderson, and naked pictures of her will come up from Playboy!”

Goldmember was on this past weekend.



...and everytime I see the guy above or hear the name, I can’t help but think of this one particular person.

Remembering how good certain music is.

I’ve been really enjoying the discovery of iTunes these days, slowly loading only my favorites from the myriad cds I have into my library. I was listening to one ELO song which I know is phrasing from a Beatles song. The ELO song is called “Mister Kingdom” and I’m pretty sure it was the phrase it was paying homage to was “Across the Universe.” Anyway, I went looking for lyrics to satisfy my curiosity (like I shouldn’t be doing better things with my time) and as I was looking through the lyrics of different Beatles songs I came upon an old favorite of mine. Favorite just because I always thought the lyrics were so wonderful and reading them reminded me of someone from awhile back...

I Will (Lennon/McCartney)

Who knows how long I’ve loved you
You know I love you still
Will I wait a lonely lifetime
If you want me to—I will.

For if I ever saw you
I didn’t catch your name
But it never really mattered
I will always feel the same.

Love you forever and forever
Love you with all my heart
Love you whenever we’re together
Love you when we’re apart.

And when at last I find you
Your song will fill the air
Sing it loud so I can hear you
Make it easy to be near you
For the things you do endear you to me
You know I will
I will.

What can I say, I’m a big mush.

A passing mention.

In the Mike Douglas entry below you will see a couple of images embedded, clicking on them will take you to some rather interesting video.

Futility and you.

I have been blogging now for close to three and a half years.

It’s almost the same amount of time a person spends in high school, imagine that! So, over three and a half years there have been a lot of changes in life. Blogging is good if only because I find as I get older, time speeds up and I have increasing difficulty in placing when things happened in life in the greater context of the scheme of things.

One thing I notice though is there are a lot of us writing these days.

This is a good thing.

I had recently read or seen something somewhere about community and the formation of communities. It was interesting in they talked about how the definition of community was changing and this was largely due to the internet. You might not know your neighbors, the people on your block, the people on your floor but, you would at the same time have made friends with people in other parts of the world who you wouldn’t have connected with but who share your interests.

What made me think about this, was reading a post up on the New York Hack blog. It wasn’t anything surprising, it’s just about people behaving badly, rudely and truthfully it’s nothing new. People might like to believe it is but, it isn’t.

It has so far generated 200 plus comments and what is interesting is the way the conversation has developed through those comments. Some of the things that have been touched upon are violence towards women by men, attitudes towards police, life in big cities just to name a few. People bring all kinds of different perspectives to the discussion. Each person has their own unique take on the events detailed in the post.

Life is like that in you can superimpose whatever framework you want over events. If you look through the posts, you can see places where people took it upon themselves to get all involved. The shame is the same people who exert so much effort in this fashion would be better served just taking all that energy and focusing on the things around them in the real world - myself included.

What do the following people all have in common?

Joy Adamson • Edie Adams • Anna Maria Alberghetti • Alan Alda • Marty Allen • Peter Allen • Steve Allen • Muhammad Ali • America • Morey Amsterdam • Willie Aames • Loni Anderson • Paul Anka • Dana Andrews • The Animals • Louis Armstrong • Lucie Arnaz • Eddy Arnold • Arthur Ashe • Fred Astaire • Chet Atkins • Richard Attenborough • Frankie Avalon • The Babys • Jim Backus • Jim Bacon • Pearl Bailey • F. Lee Bailey • Lucille Ball • Kaye Ballard • Shirley Bassey • Meredith Baxter • The Bay City Rollers • The Beach Boys • The Bee Gees • Harry Belafonte • Joan Bennett • Tony Bennett • George Benson • Robby Benson • Brook Benton • Candice Bergen • Edgar Bergen • Milton Berle • Shelley Berman • Chuck Berry • Joey Bishop • Richard Blackwell • Eubie Blake...


Blondie • Blood, Sweat & Tears • Ann Blyth • The Boomtown Rats • Danny Bonaduce • Sonny Bono • Victor Borge • Ernest Borgnine • The Box Tops • Boyce and Hart • Terry Bradshaw • The Brady Bunch Kids • David Brenner • Jimmy Breslin • Beau Bridges • James Brolin • Mel Brooks • Joyce Brothers • James Brown • Dave Brubeck • Anita Bryant • Rose Bucher, wife of USS Pueblo captain Lloyd Bucher • Victor Buono • Buffalo Bob Smith • Carol Burnett • George Burns • Ellen Burstyn • Ruth Buzzi • John Byner • Charlie Byrd • Sebastian Cabot • Sid Caesar • Sammy Cahn • Dyan Cannon • Frank Capra • Captain & Tennille • George Carlin • Eric Carmen • Art Carney • Vikki Carr • Diahann Carroll • Lynda Carter • Rubin Carter • Johnny Cash • June Carter Cash • Shaun Cassidy • Oleg Cassini • Dick Cavett • Wilt Chamberlain • Harry Chapin • Ray Charles • Charo • Cher • CHIC • Petula Clark • Roy Clark • James Coburn • Joe Cocker • James Coco • Natalie Cole • Gary Coleman • The Commodores • Sean Connery • Mike Connors • Robert Conrad • Peter Cook • Sam Cooke • Jackie Cooper • Pat Cooper • David Copperfield • Chick Corea • Bill Cosby • Howard Cosell • The Cowsills • Bob Crane • Christina Crawford • Joan Crawford • Bing Crosby • Norm Crosby • Scatman Crothers • Billy Crystal • Robert Culp • Tony Curtis • Dagmar • Arlene Dahl • Bill Daily • Rodney Dangerfield • James Darren • Bobby Darin • John Davidson • Bette Davis • Sammy Davis Jr. • Richard Deacon • Jimmy Dean • Yvonne De Carlo • The DeFranco Family • Gloria DeHaven • The Delfonics • Dom DeLuise • Jackie DeShannon • Susan Dey • Neil Diamond • Angie Dickinson • Phyllis Diller • Tamara Dobson • Micky Dolenz • Fats Domino • Troy Donahue • Michael Douglas • Hugh Downs • Patrick Duffy • Patty Duke • Electric Light Orchestra • Duke Ellington • Cass Elliot • Dale Evans • Chad Everett • Bob Eubanks • Nanette Fabray • Lola Falana • Jamie Farr • Farrah Fawcett • Barbara Feldon • José Feliciano • Lou Ferrigno • Sally Field • Totie Fields • The Fifth Dimension • Carrie Fisher • Roberta Flack • Fannie Flagg • Peggy Fleming • Henry Fonda • Jane Fonda • Peter Fonda • Harrison Ford • Gerald Ford • Tennessee Ernie Ford • Glenn Ford • The Four Tops • Redd Foxx • Peter Frampton • Sergio Franchi • Connie Francis...


Aretha Franklin • Joe Frazier • Robert Frost • Annette Funicello • Eva Gabor • Zsa Zsa Gabor • Judy Garland • Teri Garr • Leif Garrett • Steve Garvey • Marvin Gaye • Gloria Gaynor • Will Geer • Genesis • Stan Getz • Andy Gibb • Henry Gibson • Astrud Gilberto • Nick Gilder • Frank Gifford • Arthur Godfrey • Ruth Gordon • Lesley Gore • Frank Gorshin • Elliot Gould • Robert Goulet • Kathryn Grant • Moby Grape • Teresa Graves • Rocky Graziano • Jose Greco • Lorne Greene • Shecky Greene • Bud Greenspan • Joel Grey • Merv Griffin • Andy Griffith • Tammy Grimes • Gucci • Buddy Hackett • Gene Hackman • Jack Haley • Monty Hall • Mark Hamill • Marvin Hamlisch • Lionel Hampton • Herbie Hancock • Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes • Valerie Harper • Richard Harris • Edith Head • Margaux Hemingway • Florence Henderson • Marilu Henner • Jim Henson • Hildegarde • Harriet Hilliard • Gregory Hines • Alfred Hitchcock • Don Ho • Dustin Hoffman • Anthony Hopkins • Sterling Holloway • Celeste Holm • Larry Holmes • Bob Hope • Dennis Hopper • Edward Everett Horton • Moe Howard • Ron Howard • Hubert H. Humphrey • John Huston • Tab Hunter • Lauren Hutton • Janis Ian • Marty Ingels • The Ink Spots • Glenda Jackson • Kate Jackson • Reggie Jackson • The Jackson 5 • Sonny James • George Jessel • Billy Joel • Elton John • Arte Johnson • Van Johnson • Allan Jones • Anissa Jones • Davy Jones • Jack Jones • James Earl Jones • Shirley Jones • KC & the Sunshine Band • Pauline Kael • Garson Kanin • Gabe Kaplan • Donna Karan...


Andy Kaufman • Howard Keel • Gene Kelly • Grace Kelly • Rose Kennedy • Tom Kennedy • Chaka Khan • Alan King • Billie Jean King • The Kinks • Durward Kirby • KISS • Eartha Kitt • Calvin Klein • Robert Klein • Jack Klugman • Gladys Knight • Ted Knight • Kool & the Gang • Bernie Kopell • Cheryl Ladd • Frankie Laine • Dorothy Lamour • Fernando Lamas • Michael Landon • Jessica Lange • Abbe Lane • Louise Lasser • Lassie • Carol Lawrence • Peter Lawford • Janet Leigh • Jack Lemmon • John Lennon • The Lennon Sisters • Jack E. Leonard • Sheldon Leonard...


David Letterman • The Lettermen • Sam Levenson • Jerry Lewis • Shari Lewis • Liberace • Hal Linden • Art Linkletter • Rich Little • June Lockhart • Anita Loos • Jack Lord • Susan Lucci • Allen Ludden • Lorna Luft • Paul Lynde • Loretta Lynn • Cheryl Lynn • Ali MacGraw • Gavin MacLeod • Gisele MacKenzie • Fred MacMurray • Meredith MacRae • Miriam Makeba • Barbara Mandrell • Barry Manilow • Mickey Mantle • Marcel Marceau • Penny Marshall • Martha Reeves & the Vandellas • Dick Martin • Steve Martin • Lee Marvin • Johnny Mathis • Walter Matthau • James Mason • Peter Max • Curtis Mayfield • Willie Mays • Andrea McArdle • David McCallum • Doug McClure • Van McCoy • Spanky McFarland • Darren McGavin • Phyllis McGuire • Don McLean • Kristy McNichol • Margaret Mead • Jayne Meadows • Anne Meara • Melanie • Sergio Mendes • Burgess Meredith • Don Meredith • Dina Merrill • Robert Merrill • James Michener • Bette Midler • Ann Miller • Mitch Miller • Hayley Mills • Stephanie Mills • Yvette Mimieux • Liza Minnelli • Ricardo Montalban • Dudley Moore • Mary Tyler Moore • Garry Moore • Roger Moore • Agnes Moorehead • Erin Moran • Jaye P. Morgan • Robert Morse • Mother Teresa • Bess Myerson • Ralph Nader • Joe Namath • Clarence Nash • Ozzie Nelson • Ricky Nelson • The New Seekers • Wayne Newton • Olivia Newton-John • Jack Nicholson • Maxine Nightingale • Leonard Nimoy • Agnes Nixon...


Richard Nixon • Chuck Norris • The Oak Ridge Boys • Carroll O'Connor • Hugh O'Brian • The O'Jays • Yoko Ono • Jerry Orbach • Tony Orlando • Donny Osmond • Marie Osmond • Buck Owens • Janis Paige • Jim Palmer • Hermes Pan • Barbara Parkins • Dolly Parton • Billy Paul • Jane Pauley • Minnie Pearl • Teddy Pendergrass • Penn & Teller • Bernadette Peters • Michelle Phillips • Wilson Pickett • Sidney Poitier • Jane Powell • Otto Preminger • Charley Pride • Louis Prima • Freddie Prinze • Prince Albert of Monaco • Prince Rainier III • Princess Caroline of Monaco • Juliet Prowse • Richard Pryor • Gary Puckett & The Union Gap • John Raitt • Tony Randall • Boots Randolph • The Raspberries • Lou Rawls • Lynn Redgrave • Jerry Reed • Rex Reed • Robert Reed • Della Reese • Rob Reiner • Burt Reynolds • Debbie Reynolds • Buddy Rich • Little Richard • Ian Richardson • Don Rickles • Bobby Riggs • Chita Rivera • Joan Rivers • Oral Roberts • Dale Robertson • Cliff Robertson • Smokey Robinson & the Miracles • Jimmie Rodgers • Ginger Rogers • Kenny Rogers • Roy Rogers • Wayne Rogers • The Rolling Stones • Cesar Romero • Linda Ronstadt • Mickey Rooney • Rose Marie • Pete Rose • Dan Rowan • Rose Royce • Rufus • Bobby Rydell • Eva Marie Saint • Buffy Sainte-Marie • Soupy Sales • Telly Savalas • Gale Sayers • Tobias Schneebaum • Charles Schulz • Arnold Schwarzenegger • Rick Schroeder • Martin Scorsese • George C. Scott • Lizabeth Scott • Neil Sedaka • George Segal • Doc Severinsen...


William Shatner • Artie Shaw • Sidney Sheldon • Brooke Shields • Talia Shire • Beverly Sills • Silver Convention • Paul Simon • Red Skelton • Patti Smith • Jaclyn Smith • Liz Smith • The Smothers Brothers • Elke Sommer • Stephen Sondheim • Sonny & Cher • The Spinners • Mark Spitz • Benjamin Spock • Robert Stack • Sylvester Stallone • The Staples Singers • Jean Stapleton • Ringo Starr • Rod Steiger • David Steinberg • Connie Stevens • Ray Stevens • Jerry Stiller • Ben Stiller • Amy Stiller • Sly & the Family Stone • Barbra Streisand • Sally Struthers • Jule Styne • Donna Summer • The Supremes • Jacqueline Susann • David Susskind • Gloria Swanson • Tavares • James Taylor • Rip Taylor • The Temptations • B.J. Thomas • Danny Thomas • Marlo Thomas • Shirley Temple • Cheryl Tiegs • Mel Tillis • Lily Tomlin • John Travolta • Lee Trevino • Tina Turner • The Turtles • Twiggy • Cicely Tyson • Leslie Uggams • Liv Ullman • Peter Ustinov • Jerry Vale • Valentino • Rudy Vallee • Frankie Valli • Vivian Vance • Gloria Vanderbilt • Vanilla Fudge • Sarah Vaughan • Gwen Verdon • Ben Vereen • Bobby Vinton • Diana Vreeland • Jon Voight • Lindsay Wagner • Robert Wagner • Tom Waits • Jimmie Walker • George C. Wallace • Eli Wallach • Grover Washington, Jr. • John Wayne • Carl Weathers • Lawrence Welk • Dottie West • Betty White • Margaret Whiting • Gene Wilder • Andy Williams • Anson Williams • Cindy Williams • Esther Williams • Roger Williams • Flip Wilson • Nancy Wilson • Paul Winchell • Henry Winkler • Edgar Winter • Jonathan Winters • Shelley Winters • Stevie Wonder...


Tiger Woods • James Woods • Tammy Wynette • Michael York • Gig Young • Henny Youngman • Frank Zappa • Prince (artist)

Well, if you were a kid like me growing up during the 60’s and the 70’s, chances are you got a chance to see them on The Mike Douglas Show. The Mike Douglas show was on in the afternoon at a time when there wasn’t really a lot to watch on TV. If it was a crappy day out and there weren’t any good cartoons on, chances are more than likely you’d stop and watch a bit of the show. At the time, the ancient days bc (before cable) there were only 7 channels here in New York (2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13) not a lot for a kid to choose from. No VCR and DVDs either, no video games, computer or internet. Looking back, it’s amazing we all survived those misbegotten archaic times but, somehow we managed.

Mike Douglas was a big part of that era.

“It was really a music show, with a whole lot of talk and laughter in between numbers.”

Douglas did about 6,000 shows, most 90 minutes long, and estimated that at its peak the syndicated show was seen in about 230 cities.

“Even when America was getting kind of angry in the 1960s and 1970s, his show was sort of an oasis of politeness,” Brooks said. “It got you away from some of the turmoil in life.”

I remember the sets vaguely resembled The Dating Game sets, they were distinctly of the era. It was hokey, it was trite and it was very much a part of its time. I know I enjoyed watching the show from time to time although it seems like so very long ago. Still, I couldn’t help but remember the show today when I heard of Mike Douglas’ passing. The name means nothing to anyone under the age of 40 but, to if you’re over 40 I’m sure you remember the name well.

The return of Friday Cat Blogging.



So, this is position two. Ballet has all these different numbered positions and kitty does a bit of a dance during each day. Like the feline version of Star Trek her job is to seek out and explore strange new places to nap. I was thinking of doing a series of photos just showing how many places in the house she has claimed as her own.

Can we get more impersonal?

A company has defended its decision to sack one of its staff by text message, claiming it was keeping in touch with youth culture. Katy Tanner, a 21-year-old sales assistant, received the message while she was off work with a migraine, the South Wales Echo newspaper said Friday. The text message said: “We will not require your services anymore...Thank you for your time with us.”

In case you think the world is going to sh*t!

Validation of your opinion via Doodie.com.

Not without.

It’s not that I am without much to say, actually if anything quite the opposite is true in that I have plenty to say but little time to say it.

The evil dictator.

Today I was looking through some photos on Flickr from different people I have marked as contacts. One photo very pointedly showed a father and child demonstrating against the action of the Israelis in Lebanon.

Then there were a bunch of comments from various people regarding the photo which eventually digressed into an assignment of blame in regard to which side held the moral high ground. I started to write my own comment but, thought better of it and then thought I would be better off addressing it here anyway.

Did I miss something? Is war a f**king board game that nations play with rules? How clueless are people?

Better still, I like someone stating at one point (and I’m paraphrasing), ‘I’m with you on the whole Bush is an evil dictator but, this is different.’

Talk about overstatement.

I may not like our current administration but, evil dictator? People, ummmm - isn’t that a bit much? I’ll go you one better, people want to talk about the US invasion of Iraq but, hello! The US is not out there urging Shiite to go after Sunni and vice a versa. People, they’re doing that on their own. I actually think the administration would be more than happy if a lot of that stuff stopped to tell you the truth. All allusions to being a super-power aside, we really don’t have that kind of control over the world.

Then, isn’t it interesting? I mean when the US does take an action (like they did in Iraq) it was wrong, wrong, wrong but, when all this crap jumped off in Lebanon every one and their brother is talking about how the US should do something, how we should get involved. As if? What are we supposed to do - land troops in southern Lebanon to act as a buffer between the two sides? Hey, I’ve got an idea, let the Chinese do that, or maybe the Russians, or how about the French - or maybe about a dozen plus other nations who go running around the UN vilifying every move our country makes.

I’m not saying we make the right move every time because we sure as hell don’t - it’s just that I would like to see some citizens from these other countries who have lots to say put their people on the ground. Let them paint a target on their backs. You know, I wish our world was a more peaceful place. I hope we’re moving towards that, I really do.

Just spare me some of that hypocrisy if you will.