Showing posts with label thankful. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thankful. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Christmas with the Cohens

 

Your love is like  a peaceful BLM/Antifa rally


Way back when people went to malls, before the internet and the Flying AIDS all but wiped them out, we got to see all sorts of interesting stores. Ok, I lied, but at least every mall had a Victoria's Secret, with hyper-aggressive salesgirls. Can I help you sir? Yes, I'm looking for some fashionable girdles to hold my prodigious gut in. And stockings... some nice stockings. I want to feel pretty.

Where was I?

I figured out Victoria's secret: how she can get so many people to pay so much for so little.

One thing I miss, before the crowds started to bother me (any more than 2 of us in the store at 1 time), was Sharper Image. Sharper Image or whatever store it was that had all the incredibly overpriced gadgets. A lighted wine opener for $149.99. The best binoculars with video recorder (because there were no others) for $299. A recliner that did massage for $4799, $6399 for the masseuse option. A lighted, heated car seatcover, also with masseuse option. For the kids, an actual Porsche that only works indoors. For the smart kids, a remote-controlled plutonium refining plant. For the less-gifted kids, a remote-controlled junkyard in Detroit somewhere. A Bluetooth mixer that texts you when the dough is mixed (or the fingers have been mashed). A Bluetooth blanket that texts you when you're warm enough. A Bluetooth app that searches for only the kind of pr0n you like, and texts you when it fills up your computer. The piece de resistance is a Bluetooth dresser that you can summon with a text. Impress your friends... call the dresser and it appears!

Since the Flying AIDS has put a cramp in my malling (and my life), I don't get to see these stores (are not in malls anymore), so I located them online. Ok, even grade school dropouts and DMV workers can find Sharper Image and Hammacher Shlemmer and FAO Schwarz. Looking at heated this and Bluetooth that just isn't the same online. Or I'm getting less interested (as if that were possible). Or the toys are getting less interesting (most likely). Oh well, progress.


Speaking of progress, you can order a couch at Costco. Hold the phone - order a couch? Well, it was mighty nice looking in the weekly flyer. Mrs lefty thought so. I had to agree with her, but there was the small problem of not being able to sit in it before we bought it. I don't buy a guitar without playing it first. She doesn't buy grapes without eating one first. What if the monolith of a couch gets here and it's the wrong shade of black (commonly referred to as brown)? What if she sits in it, immediately sags to sea level, and requires an entire fire company to extract her? What if we mistakenly got the ejector seat option and she hits the wrong button? What if the dog isn't comfortable??  Mrs lefty mentions they have a return policy. Have you ever tried to stuff an entire multi-piece sofa back into individual cardboard boxes? Then you call for pickup and they tell you it needs to be returned to the store.

So I'm not getting a couch from a catalog, but I did learn that in Israel, they have destroyed cancerous cells in mice. They hope for human trials in 2 years. Hold the phone (again) - at least 2 years between method and human trials for cancer, but a 1 yr method to human use for a Flying AIDS vaccine. It can take years for a new medicine to hit the market because of the testing required. I used to be in the industry - this isn't something somebody read on Faceyspaces. Let's use our Calm Voices: I think there might be something off about the Flying AIDS vaccine. "We rushed the Flying AIDS vaccine to market but we're taking our time on a possible cure for cancer."


Today I identify as  a 1947 fire truck, with a bell that goes ding, ding, ding!


A southwest Philly man is in the hospital after being shot 11 times.

What does this tell us?

  • bullets aren't expensive enough
  • southwest Philly needs better vision tests for its shooters
  • somebody's homies are pointing and laughing at them


The Liberty Bell and Independence Hall will be closed through December.

Idiot Mayor thinks the bell could catch the Flying AIDS


  • Guitar Center has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy due to the Flying AIDS, and will continue business while restructuring.
  • see what happens when I don't leave the house?
  • also might have something to do with shrinking store inventory


Joe Biden is starting to look for cabinet appointees. So far, the only skills required are CPR and the ability to repeat things over and over without going mad. They are also required to attend Kamala's freaky weekend parties.


Over at the US Postal Service, they're introducing a nationwide digital 'Operation Santa', wherein kids write to Santa, and it will be shared online. To make things more realistic, the first 3 letters will be lost, Santa will only work 8 hours a day, with several breaks for drinking lunch and smoking blunts. Few of the letters will be answered, blaming Trump for budget cuts, and less will be posted because the USPS is busy burning all those ballots and other mail they just don't want to deliver. This will prepare kids for real life, with all its grief, greed, and disappointments. After liquid lunch, sometimes Santa gets itchy and signs his name 'Satan.'

In a totally unrelated matter, we've had 2 packages to return. Both were put in our mailbox, with the flag up, and both required a personal trip to the post office because Heidi the Mail Chick didn't pick either one up. Perhaps she was out the day they talked about letters in mailboxes with a TO: address.

I was never involved with this because I was at work, but we had a beloved mailman for many years, who was right out of the 50s. If something was heavy, he'd carry it in for people who couldn't. He was a real gentleman and a nice guy. When it was cold, people would make him hot chocolate. When it was really cold, people would make him hot chocolate with a bit of a boost in it. Because he was on our route for so long, and because everything was working so well, he needed to be transferred to a new route, in Postal Wisdom. Then we got Bob. No idea what his name was, but Bob is sufficient. Whenever we met our original guy and told him what was up, he'd say "Oh, you must have Bob."  I don't want to throw a lot of negativity on Bob; we got our mail (eventually), and he never appeared intoxicated or stoned - he just worked like it.


  • Cojoined separated twins Sanchia and Eman Mowatt are now at university, and say 'We always knew we were different'
  • Their parents are horrified they didn't manage to keep their childrens' secret from them.


Last week was America's Fools Day, the one day Congress does something right. They passed an IoT security bill, stating the government would only buy IoT devices with a certain level of security. This is hailed as a step to get a minimum level of IoT security in place. Not to worry, ladies and gentlemen, your doorbell camera will still be shared with police, and your baby cameras will still have Satan's voice coming out of them. This is also the 1 time per year that Congress rightly concerns itself with something more than actual Americans.


A black aspiring jockey in Britain wants to encourage other young black riders to get into horse racing. This would not go well in the US. Regardless, there is a Diversity in Racing Steering Group, so we can all sleep at night. 


Dear lefty  

  • We're having turkey with all the trimmings. You?
  • We're in danger of lamb. I might stay home and eat an Oscar Meyer bologna sandwich. It's not as miserable as it sounds - I put horseradish mustard on it.


The cancel student debt people are out, getting Biden's ear.

It's only fair.... so what if they signed on, agreeing to pay. They've determined it's unfair, after the fact, so the entire debt should be canceled.

Presumptive President Biden: I need you to cancel my mortgage debt. It's unfair.



It turns out the biblical Goliath might not have been as tall as first thought. Scholars translating the story from its original ancient French believe the person commenting to have said, "That man's as big as a truck," instead of 27 cubits, 1 parsec, and 4 stone.


Hey - miss your coworkers? Need a shot of the old geekness? Long for yet another place that women forgot? Have yourself a Virtual Christmas. Fire up your favorite conferencing software (that's not Zoom), decorate the old home office chairs and desks merrily, have someone do the announcements, and celebrate!

Screw this. Celebrate alone, like you're destined to. You never went to holiday parties anyway. Geeks don't do that - it's in the Geek Charter.



Here's some Flying AIDS news that contradicts the Narrative.... [italics mine]

First is the Danish mask study, which was completed several months ago but was only recently published in a peer-reviewed journal. The study took two groups and gave the first group masks to wear with instruction on how they should be used. The other group was the mask-free control group.

The study found that coronavirus spread within the statistical margin of error in each group. In other words, wearing the mask did little if anything to control the spread of the virus.

Similarly, a massive new study conducted in Wuhan, China, and published in the respected scientific journal Nature, reports that asymptomatic persons who have tested positive for Covid-19 do not pass on the infection to others. Considering that mask mandates and lockdowns are all based on the theory that asymptomatic “positive cases” can still pass on the sickness, this is potentially an important piece of information to help plan a more effective response to the virus. 





It's been a pretty shitty year, so it's more difficult to be thankful....
I'm thankful for good health for everyone around me. No murder in the family either. Imagine being thankful for no close deaths. Having a job. 1 or 2 days of sun per week.

I don't want to sound like a game show host, but thanks for coming by. This blog was difficult when I had 4 followers. The increased reads make me feel better. And when I feel better, I don't get into things (as quickly). 








Monday, December 31, 2018

burrrrrrrrrrp - The Year in Review 2018

2018 shall forever be known as..... wait for it.....  Shit.
Dead people. Financial crap. Losing my best friend. Existential Agita. Suicidal phones, a severe lack of new guitars (exactly zero, more or less) and a wife with more than several people's shares of ill health. Due to my work probation, I can't kill anybody til next year. Windows is still popular.  Aside from that, it's been a peach.


But it was not all bad. There were many positives.... like.. ummm... no... or... then there was... that was something else... no.. wait... oh yeah, a new furry little girl, who can apparently cause things on shelves 5' high to fall to the floor so she can eviscerate them.



Let me be thankful:

No one hit the car.
I'm employed.
I still (almost) have my health.
The tic has mostly gone, but still scares people off.
I gained approximately 1.5 readers. And 10 pounds.
ThermionicEmissions had 100% uptime (Google assured me).



Mandatory Pitch

For many people, this time of year sucks eggs (or worse).
If you're one of them, reach out. Friends, professionals, religious leaders...
If you're depressed... suicidal... bipolar.... addicted...
You don't HAVE TO feel this way.
Stigma is a thing of the past. "Man Up" is ridiculous. But you can't get help unless you ask for it.
If you're really desperate, please write me via a comment (that won't be published).
If any of you harm yourselves, that's one less reader, ok?


Other Mandatory Pitch

My goal for next year is 16 readers and a comment or two. Tell your friends. Better yet, tell people you don't like. Tell your pets (they're a lot smarter than you give them credit for). If you're still speaking, tell your spouse. Tell whoever you boinked recently. Tell your priest: there's a lot of Vatican news here. Tell college students.. they'll start a war to get this blog shut down... think of the publicity!



Because I'm feeling miserable and maudlin (great band name), here are some musicians (and people) who flew the coop in 2018:

Roy Clark - Hee Haw star, multi-instrumentalist
Paul Allen - owner of a Jimi Hendrix guitar, philanthropist, helped establish Experience Seattle, co-founder of Microsoft
Burt Reynolds - best known for his rugs and as the guy who got Sally Field in short shorts
Aretha Franklin - Queen of Soul
Robert Mandan (86) actor - SOAP
Barbara Bush (92) - she seemed really nice
Steven Hawking (76)  we still don't know how he survived that long
David Ogden Stiers (75)  MASH-Winchester, Better Off Dead
Marty Balin (76) Jefferson Airplane
Ed King (68) the man who played the intro to Sweet Home Alabama
DJ Fontana (87) Elvis' drummer
Matthew Mellon (53) banking heir - contrary to expectationsthere was no interest
Fast Eddie Clarke (67) Motorhead guitarist
Matt "Guitar" Murphy (88) - Blues Brothers guitarist
Alan Bean (86) - 4th man on the moon
Charles Neville (79) - Neville Brothers
Art Bell (72) - the man who invented paranormal radio
Nokie Edwards (82) The Ventures guitarist
Ingvar Kamprad (91) Ikea founder. Buried without a casket because they couldn't put it together.
Marshall Cocker (13) - aka Muppet Paws; spiritual leader, cat food enthusiast, owner of 2 humans and a bed
My Nerves - shot



Continuing to Fight Life:

John Henry 'Bonzo' Bonham - drummer, alcohol enthusiast
Jimi Hendrix - he played guitar (left handed), his 'equipment' documented by the Plaster Casters, more groupies than Led Zeppelin (combined), most bandmates remain with him.
Frank Zappa - virtuoso composer and guitarist, ate the yellow snow
Joe Cocker - not Feelin Alright
Davy Jones - no longer Monkeying around
The Beach Boys - nobody told them
Scott Weiland - Stone Temple Pilots frontman, bipolar pharmaceutical enthusiast
Allman Brothers - falling like mad
Badfinger - 50% gone, suicide enthusiasts
Motorhead - 66% gone, including a 70 year old still having Jack and meth for breakfast
Electric Light Orchestra - all replaced by Jeff Lynne
Robert Palmer - still in the alley with Sally
Leslie West - leg only
Gary Moore - Still having the blues
Danny Gatton - world's greatest unknown guitarist, shotgun enthusiast
Les Paul - inventor of the electric guitar (and everything else)
Lynyrd Skynyrd - everybody but one
Bee Gees - Barry is nervous




People We Wish Were Dead:

Feel free to leave suggestions



WTF Happened This Year anyway?

A false missile alert in Hawaii, Ron Jeremy was banned from the Adult Video News Awards, Tide Pods became a popular teen snack, California banned straws, we bid hello to Chocolate Frosted Flakes and goodbye to Chocolate Frosted Flakes with Marshmallows, celebrities continued not to move to Canada after Trump won, it rained a total of 364 days, a man was taken off a plane for farting, Amazon sent sex toys to random people, a Malaysian newspaper featured an article telling how to spot a gay man, "Imma do it like dis Imma gonna do it like dat" graced commercials, Mothers Day cards should be more transgender-sensitive, Nancy Pelosi said politicians can learn something from drag queens, Oprah said she'd run for president if God told her to - God wisely stopped talking to her, a murderer's defense was that acne medicine made him do it, Gun Control movement is too white, super gonorrhea discovered, Starbucks closed its 8,000 stores for racial bias education day, masculinity as a cult, brow bars, facial recognition software discriminates against black people (if serial killers only killed Chinese/Jewish people, someone would say they were being discriminated against), London's gang database is 87% black, Asian, minority, ethnic - rendering it racially discriminatory, a severed snake head can bite, the reason any Americans are poor is they're not working, you can slip and fall on a 6" shower pipe and get it stuck in your rectum.


Don't forget colleges and universities: toxic masculinity, counternarratives around whiteness, you can't say nigger in a free speech class, whiteness is an existential threat to the US, librarians argue that Christians who say God Bless You are Islamophobic, the White Privilege conference, Christians, especially white ones-receive perks, heterosexual privilege, cisgender privilege, able-bodied privilege, unconscious bias, Jesus was a drag queen with queer desires, the wilderness club can't go out because the wilderness is too dangerous, and the No Whites Allowed pool party.


United Airlines had a particularly good year: they dragged someone off a plane, forced a woman to put her dog in overhead-where it died, flew a dog to Germany by mistake, and their 286 IBM PCjr broke, grounding the airline for a week.


  • It's not that I fail - it's that I fail to succeed. Every time.



 According to Douglas Adams (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy), flying is hurling yourself at the ground and missing.



  • My friend had an audience with a Serious Dude at a record company today. He texted to let me know he's pooping in XXX Records' bathroom. These are the people you keep with you all your life.




Let's not bitch about that which was: let's bitch about that which will be:

lefty's predictions for 2019


  1. People will do stupid shit on their computers, continuing their reign as the weakest link in the security chain.
  2. Hillary will announce her presidency in about 4 weeks.
  3. Companies will leave their buckets open, inviting hackers to hack.
  4. People will say bad things about the president.
  5. Many many people will bemoan Mondays.
  6. A famous female music star will have a meltdown.
  7. The phrase 'hump day' will be used 437.7345 million times.
  8. I will use the words 'my dog' 265 and a half times
  9. Half the government will be in litigation against the other half
  10. California will do something whacky
  11. Charley Manson will return, spreading his message of peace and love.
  12. Higher Learning will be less learning and more higher.
  13. Medical marijuana will become legal across the country
  14. Most of the country will develop medical issues
  15. New York will ban packets of sugar
  16. The San Andreas Fault will be renamed the San Andreas Geological Feature, because California says 'fault' implies blame and hurts feelings.
  17. The NRA will force another 4 million people to buy guns
  18. Hockey will continue to discriminate against Asians with Downs Syndrome
  19. Faceyspaces will get caught leaking personal information. The resulting uproar won't wake an infant.
  20. Texas will ban cars with engines under 6 cylinders, which would be just about all of them. Except pickup trucks.



HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY!
Thanks muchly for coming by.