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Friday, December 30, 2011

Swept Away flick

One of my all-time faves.

A battle of the sexes. Class warfare. And a battle of differing ideologies.



Later

Promises, promises

With our centuries-old commissioner form of county government mere hours away from being replaced, it seems we’re replacing corruption, nepotism and indifference with tumult, chaos and rancor.

The TL link: Urban may pass on county council seat

Luzerne County Commissioner Stephen A. Urban hinted Thursday that he may not be serving on the new home rule county council.

While discussing the 2012 county budget during the last commissioner meeting, Urban said he won’t vote to give the courts more funding “if I get sworn in as a council member.”
The CV link: Final meeting features send-offs, face-offs

WILKES-BARRE - After giving farewell comments at the final Luzerne County commissioners' meeting on Thursday, Commissioner Stephen A. Urban wouldn't say if he planned to serve on county council.
"We will find out Monday," Urban said.

Personally, I’m not buying it. The way I figure it, he’ll be at the courthouse bright and early on Monday, which would be a first for any Luzerne County commissioner ex or otherwise.

The troubling thing for me is that the voters rejected the commissioner form of government only to put one of the three commissioners in partial charge of the new form of government. Does that make any sense?

Not to me, it doesn’t.

During the transitional meetings, Urban has seemed to be the more-than-willing fly in the ointment at every single one. And because of that, here’s to hoping that he does bow out.

The new county council gets sworn-in Monday morning and then transitions into it’s first official meeting as a governing body. They need to pick the flies out of the ointment, appoint a county executive and begin to deal with the parting shot the three commissioners sent them by way of a make-believe 2012 budget.

There is sure to be plenty of the aforementioned tumult, chaos and rancor. Which is in no way an indictment on my part of those due to be sworn-in come Monday. But it seems as if there would be a helluva lot less rancor if the career politician in the group would just do as he suggested he might and walk away. We can only hope.

Either way, it’s sure to be a bumpy ride. So buckle up and pay even more attention than ever before.

I know I will.

Count on it.

Later

Fore!

Mission accomplished: 18 rounds a day for three years.


One more year, er, one more excruciating year to go.

G'nite

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

"Occupy" Legos

I bought a half-ton of Legos this month alone, but I missed this set...



Later

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Where Only Sue & I Dare

There are termites in the vent framing, you say?

No problemo. Let's have a look.



Soundtrack by Sue.

Later

Monday, December 26, 2011

Word Police!!!

Is this, like, a politically correct thing to say?


Somebody call the increasingly rogue U.S. Justice Department and have this big meanie deported.

Buh-bye

Disturbing fire video

The place: The Station night club, West Warwick, Rhode Island on February, 20, 2003.

100 people were killed after the on-stage pyrotechnics lit the place on fire. From the looks of the joint, it appears to be a somewhat aged wood-frame structure, not a structure you'd want to be lighting fireworks inside of.

The fire department arrives in less than five minutes, but still well too late to save much of anything or anyone. The point being, fire moves very quickly.

When the music stops, you can hear the singer say "Wow. That's not good."



Later

Three Grandrodents video

Yeah, I know the quality sucks, so don't bother to comment on it. Just a moment in time, albeit, poorly done.

A couple of scattered thoughts on it. Surrounded by these screaming types, it's no wonder people drink.

Secondly, to the easily-led (henpecked) types, no, I do not turn off the NFL for any holiday. Not even Christmas.

Oh, and the Eagles bite!



Later

Sunday, December 25, 2011

While visions of sugar plumbs dance in our heads...

F-18 Hornets...



Later

Merry Christmas: Air Jordan war is over

Makes me want to buy 50 remote acres, a used double-wide, a couple of sawed-off shotguns and some vicious junkyard dogs.



All for overpriced Air Jordans? You couldn't get me to act like that unless you were offering retro high-top Converse.

Oops!

Big Blue highlights

I begged for this kid last season. But, no, we wouldn't want to play a freaking rookie.

Well, this kid just put up more receiving yards in one season than any receiver in Giants history dating back to 1921. What do I know.




Big mouth? Big belly? C’mon man! Tell us what you really think. Wait for it near the end.



 
Fun stuff.
 
Later

Merry Xmas: "...I'll punch him in the face"

Turns out, I got everything I wanted for Christmas on Christmas Eve. In one fell swoop, the New York Football Giants managed to knock both the cross-town Jets and the Philthydumpia "Dream Team" Eagles from the playoffs. Now that's what I call going ("ground & pound" on) green!

Check this reported post-game exchange between Jint's running back Brandon Jacobs and Jets' motor-mouthed coach Rexomouthus Erectus...

Running back Brandon Jacobs said he had an exchange with Ryan after the game in which the coach approached him, used an expletive and said, "Wait till we win the Super Bowl."

Added Jacobs: "And I told him I'll punch him in the face. I told him out of all these Giants players on this team you're talking to the wrong one. And that was that."

Ryan acknowledged that he and Jacobs "had a private conversation. He doesn't like me; I respect him."

Ah, yes, Merry effing Christmas.




I managed to pull off a Sprawl-Mart free Christmas, something I'm very pleased about. Yep, no pepper spray, no sneaker riots and no hanging out with bad actors for this spirited shopper. My shopping was just about limited to K-Mart, Toys R Us and good ole Boscov's.

I enjoyed a brisk downtown walkabout early yesterday afternoon. In addition to Boscov's being very busy, Valley Seafood and the soup kitchen were likewise bombed. Anywho, I carried those two over sized shopping bags all the way home only to find that one of the bags had split and three boxes of Legos had gone AWOL on me. You know, those inexpensive Legos. As if!

We had the three local grandrodents over last night. The other two will be in route from Tennessee tomorrow morning. I talked to my sister on the phone yesterday, but she devolved into a sobbing mess when the dearly departed came up. I knew way back when that she'd never progress much past the grief stage when mom went away. But I never figured on my brother adding a double dose to her painful mix. Nothing I can do to change it.

Anyway, all is as well as it can be. I'm in for a quiet day of relaxation. And I hope anyone who has the misfortune of reading this can say the same.

Later

Friday, December 23, 2011

We all gotta duck...

When the Obama sh*t hits the fan...



Aptly brought to you by the Circle Jerks.

"Punk rock will never die, it'll just smell funny."---Francis Vincent Zappa

Here, here

All I wanted was a Coke

Missing mom and grandma during the holidays always gets me to reminiscing...



Hey Uncle Bud! Punching me around at their behest didn't help, did it?

Or did it?

Thursday, December 22, 2011

See Spot run (from Dick)

You've all seen those too-many-to-count Ad Council commercials by which the Fedrule Govmint wastes untold heaps of tax dollars on attempts at behavior modification.

Some were classics. Like Smokey the Bear. Or the Cryin' Injun. Ineffectual stuff like that.

If Smokey was effective, then why do fire investigators blame damn near every forest fire on careless smoking?

And if the entire world is so polluted that global warming is near irreversible, what did the ballin' injun really accomplish?

Did you know that the U.S. Treasury department bankrolled a commercial extolling the virtues of maintaining a good credit rating? No, I'm not making that up. Yes! The Fedrule Govmint--all $15 trillion in debt of it--has taken to lecturing the lowly likes of us about the importance of sound credit practices.

But this following video warning parents that their children may be exposed to Internet perversions takes the proverbial cake.



Yep, after having at the Internet completely unsupervised for too long, our kiddies might just start humping the puppies. This is your bloated government at work.

Yet, they claim there is nowhere in the massive budget where savings can be realized. And still others cry for even bigger government.

Gives new meaning to the phrase, See Spot run.

Arf!!!

Chiefie's bonanza?


Are bloggers journalists?

Another question might be, since so many "journalists" have taken to blogging, are they still considered journalists protected by the "shield" laws?

A $2.5 Million Libel Judgment Brings the Question: Are Bloggers Journalists?

The excerpt:

‘Bloggers Beware’

That was the headline on a conservative blog following a $2.5 million judgment this month against blogger Crystal Cox in a defamation case tried in federal court in Oregon. It’s a case followed closely in both the blogosphere and in the traditional media, as it highlights the proliferation of blogging, the blurring of lines between journalists and bloggers and more libel cases born out of blog posts.

“There are a lot of malicious people out there,” says Bruce Johnson, a Seattle attorney with Davis Wright Tremaine and author of Washington state’s current Shield Law. “You’re not going to be able to get rid of them all. They will continue to basically write graffiti on the bathroom wall, and in this case, the Internet provides the bathroom wall,” says Johnson.
On a much more local note…

DessoyE-gate"

The excerpt:

Conclusion After carefully reviewing all of the material, it is my strong opinion that the following are true:

1) The Chief has had an adulterous affair with Catherine Meehan
2) The Chief drinks alcoholically (Word is you can't call him after 9 pm)
3) The Chief has been an adulterer and a serial cheater much of his life.
3) The Chief has been applying a "ring of protection" around Catherine's drug house
4) The Mayor has refused to respond to complaints made about this house.
5) Chief Dessoye has been using Catherine Meehan as his drug source (likely opiates/heroin).
Yikes!

Good luck with that.

Later

Saturday, December 17, 2011

The Walk...

...to Gas Stock.

'Member that?









Verizon-free

A response to a comment followed by circumlocuting and then some.

Gort said...


This Youtube access must be a new venture for you sir.

No, fact is, my ages-old pissing match with Verizon which had me banned to the muddied killing fields of dial-up has come to a screeching halt. I'm loyal to a fault, but it's become obvious that Verizon views it's DSL landline customers much the the same way health care professionals view lepers.

I have a new DSL provider, I'm having some fun with some long-lost videos but, let us not forget that I was the first local blogger to embed a YouTube video, as well as the first local blogger to embed a video featuring original content. While I may not give a hoot about being cutting-edge these days, remember, there was a time when most of you were playing catch-up. In fact, all of you were bringing up the electronic rear-guard.

Check this video I posted after first-ever blogger soiree held at Mark's Pub.

12/15/2006



After the video, I posted a couple of pictures of the particpants. And I was quickly castigated by those very same participants for daring to reveal their identities. You see, it never occurred to me that those who would ramble on electronically, and those who would likeise gather in public would object to being outed. But some did object. So I deleted said video and said pictures.

Look, I apologize if my output of late has been boring. I never thought of any of it as being boring, but I've been punched in the head a couple of hundred times too many.

In Washington, a charlatan is leading us to financial ruin.

In Harrisburg, a new governor is leading us to dried-out watery tributaries as a way of filling his campaign coffers.   

In Wilkes-Barre, an anorexic-looking Santa and her clueless elves think council meetings should be reduced to tired circus stunts.

In the local blog-a-rama, what once was the ultimate in citizen activism has now morphed into being the endless pursuit of celebrity.

Y'all can think whatever you want, but I see or feel no shame for retreating to the relative safety of great musical performances gone by.



Later

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Mick Ronson

Oh, and that David Blowie guy, too.



Believe it or not, Mick Ronson once played at the Kings College gym, while helping to front Ian Hunter's reformed Mott the Hoople.

I'd say that makes the Kings gym hallowed ground.

At least, I'd say.



Phantom of the Park

KISS!!!

The Fab Four

The Rutles...

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

New York Dolls give birth to punk

Freaked, I did.



Blondie goes Goldfinger

One of my favorite movies of all time is Goldfinger, the gold standard of James Bond Movies.

I watched it for the first time in the cheap seats positioned directly in front of the Sandy Beach drive-in screen shortly after it was released, and I've watched it every chance I've gotten ever since then.

In my mind, Sean Connery was James Bond, and all of those who came after him were not worthy.

But that Goldfinger theme, that haunting theme as it was, has never once escaped from my limitless musical conscience.



Hubba, hubba!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Sparks: All you ever think about is sex

This ancient video is unique.

By the way, Sparks was always fun.

After seeing it again after all these years, I'm thinking this is what a Wilkes-Barre City Council meeting would be like if the hapless but, beaten back insurgents ultimately persisted and had their way.



Later

Paul WIlliams: The Hell of It

From the 1974 cult non-classic "Phantom of the Paradise."



I don't know about y'all, but I love it.

Monday, December 12, 2011

RANT!

The long and loud version of...535 jackasses plus two.



Whew!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Volkswaffe

Who knew?

The next LT?

It'll never happen.



Never

Moment of Clarity

Necessary reading for the Occupussies who think I should pay for their, ahem, "education." 

Moment of Clarity


The website www.payscale.com lists the median starting pay and median mid-career pay for 125 common bachelor degrees. Petroleum engineers start at $97,000 while elementary education majors start at $29,000. No wonder the world’s social scientists hate big oil.
High school seniors, pay attention here - the top-paying bachelor degrees in order are: petroleum engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, materials science, aerospace engineering, computer engineering, physics, applied mathematics, computer science, and nuclear engineering.

And the worst-paying degrees in order are: child and family studies, social work, elementary education, culinary arts, special education, recreation and leisure studies, physical education, public health, theology, and art. The various ethnic and gender studies majors are not even listed separately as there is no market for them.

Going on to graduate school will not fix a low-paying degree choice, either. According to Forbes Magazine, the worst master’s degrees for employment (job availability and pay) in order are: music, history, divinity, English, psychology, social work, library science, counseling, education, and chemistry.

So if your goal is to get the best return on your investment in post-secondary education, then start out taking your math and science foundations at a two-year college and then transfer to the cheapest four-year college that offers a degree in Petroleum Engineering. You will spend less than $30,000 for a credential that carries a $97,000 median starting pay. Ask a business major (#58) to explain ROI to you.
You are what you made it. Now suck on it.

Bye

Friday, December 9, 2011

Stigma? What Stigma?

Private Sector?

Jobs? Self-reliance? Dogged individualism? Toughness? Freedom?

Antiquated concepts, all!


Vote for me. I'll put Ramen noodles and government surplus horse meat in every Rent-A-Center supplied pot.

Sign up today!

Wilkes-Barre Racing

Take a look.

Wilkes-Barre Racing

Interested?

Take the Tour

Later

Thursday, December 8, 2011

EPA: Oops! Don't drink the water

Go frickin' figure.

From USAToday.com: EPA: Fracking may cause groundwater pollution

The excerpt:
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday for the first time that fracking — a controversial method of improving the productivity of oil and gas wells — may be to blame for causing groundwater pollution.
But remember, the gas-drilling outfits are good, good neighbors throwing good money to local charities and for event sponsorships.

Whatever.

Drawdown through Kuwait

'Bout time.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Warthog

Warning: Language

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Wall Street on Trial

Dead-on accurate...

The latest video from Andrew Klavan on the Occutards

Welcome to Obama World, where nobody does anything and everybody is entitled to something.

Romney? Gingrich? Paul? Doesn't matter when PeeWee Herman would make for a dramatic upgrade.

Sez me.

G'nite

Monday, December 5, 2011

Aged papers

When Grandma passed away quite unexpectedly (at least to me), we found while rooting through her most personal of things that she had saved a copy of the Times Leader (or Times Record...I forget) dated December 8, 1941. At that time, that yellowed newspaper was 39-years-old.

I wanted it. So did my Mom. And that turned out to be the only thing she not only laid claim to, but that she had taken from the abode after Gram's funeral.

After my Mom passed away at age 49, I took possession of that aged newspaper, which was then 47-years old. Much like her mom before her, my mom saved a newspaper from what she considered to be the seminal moment of her lifetime, a Times Leader dated November 23, 1963.

Even though I was a 5-year-old in kindergarten, I remember the day Kennedy was assassinated simply because my mom stared at the reports on the TV and cried all day long. And simply put, I wanted to watch some Bowery Boys, Little Rascals, or Mighty Mouse.

And while I still have the Pearl Harbor and JFK newspapers, I've added a copy of the Challenger disaster print reporting, as well as the papers from 9-11. Oh, and that Pearl Harbor paper is now 70-years-old.

When I was a sprat, we would kill marauding make-believe "Japs" in the back yard. All these years later, I've got no quarrel with any of them. But I've still got that newspaper. Weird.



Later

Herman Cain's 'Ode to Pizza'

Don't quit your day job.

Oh, that's right. He already did.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

It's been all downhill since...

Since FZ moved on.



Girl, you thought he was a man but...

The greatest?

Maybe?

Patty

Ah, Patty.

Patty. Yum, yum.



If only.

Dolls

Yikes!



Made me move past Chicago's brass.

Bang!

Home Rule austerity

Now that the voters of Luzerne County have gone and replaced their three red ink-stained commissioners with a home rule government, now the soon-to-be-departed commissioners are pitching cutbacks, layoffs and a quasi balanced budget.

Yes, with upwards of 18% of the operating budget devoted to debt service payments, with revenues shrinking and costs soaring, this budgetary cycle is no different than those that preceded it.

But, now that home rule is but days away from taking effect, now…now our commissioners are dead-set against more property tax increases, additional bond debt or the selling of county properties.

Nope. Now that the voters have given the commissioners an unceremonious heave-ho, now the commissioners have embraced sabotage as a form of fiscal responsibility.

Subterfuge, baby.

So the Feds are investigating City Vest’s mishandling of the $6 million the County had loaned to it.

$6 million was spent with little to show for it, the hulking Hotel Sterling is waiting on a wrecking ball and irate people are demanding answers. And while that’s all well and good and such, I expect that the grand jury will find no evidence of malfeasance.

Incompetence? Sure. Criminality? I doubt it.

Sure, I’ve heard all of the incessant rumblings on WILK…the rumors, the second-hand stories and the regurgitated suspicions. But here’s the scoop, you oft-enraged conspiracy theorists…

Try as you may, you cannot will the next round of corruption arrests and the like. There’s either corruption afoot, or there isn’t. And the tired attempts to create corruption out of thin air are starting to get very old.

Tear it down and move on to the next less than evidential right-to-know nugget.

Now that UGI has announced that natural gas rates will be reduced by 9%, do you suppose that the great majority of the anti-fracking noise will be muted?

Methinks.

No, he’s not a ‘tax and spend’ liberal. He’s a spend, spend and spend liberal.

What do you think of a guy who won’t post his name or his picture on his site, but he will post a picture of one of the mayor’s kids?



Time for some more horrendous hits on 'defenseless receivers.'

Later

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Benzene? It can't happen here

From ProPublica.com…

Company Backs out of $45 Million Deal to Buy Troubled Wyoming Gas Field

A deal to sell a controversial central Wyoming natural gas field has fallen apart amidst allegations that drilling there has caused water pollution.
Texas-based Legacy Resources backed out of a $45 million deal to buy the field near Pavillion, Wyom., from EnCana last week, soon after the Environmental Protection Agency said it had detected cancer-causing benzene at 50 times the level safe for humans and other carcinogenic pollutants during its latest round of sampling.
The cancelled sale could signal difficulty for companies trying to turn over aging gas fields if there are environmental or health concerns related to their operations.
********