Republican Campaign Songs

The Republican party is having a hard time finding anyone who wants to lend their song to his campaign. These artists have publicly come out against the GOP using their songs.

1. The Foo Fighters - My Hero. “The song is a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential.” McCain/Palin’s use “perverts the original sentiment of the lyric.”

2. Heart - Barracuda. Palin’s nickname was "Sarah Barracuda" when she played basketball in high school. Heart says, "Sarah Palin's views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women."

3. Jackson Browne - Running On Empty. He has sued the Republican party because McCainTV ads use his song without permission or endorsement.

4. ABBA - Take a Chance on Me.

5. John Hall, formerly of Orleans and now a Democratic congressman - Still the One.

6. John Mellencamp - Pink Houses.

7. Van Halen - Right Now.

9. Frankie Valli - Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You. It was in a video on McCain’s official YouTube channel. "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Warner Music Group," says a message on YouTube.

10. Chuck Berry didn’t complain when McCain used Johnny B. Goode. But right after he started using it, Berry came out for Obama.

Why do the Republican's continue to choose songs by liberal Democrats? I know there are conservatives who make music. Why not use theirs? Should a party use songs when the artists don’t endorse their candidates?

The photo is John McCain and John Mellencamp.

Why I Can't Support Sarah Palin as VP

She said she is "a pit bull with lipstick." I don't want a pit bull as vice-president, whether it wears lipstick or not. Granted, I know a pit bull who is the sweetest dog in the world, but they are not generally known for their compassion and intelligence. Maybe I could go with a smarter dog like a collie or a poodle or something, but not a pit bull.

People say they like her because "she is just like me." I don't want someone just like me. I want someone better than me. Someone smarter, more diplomatic, calmer under pressure, and more knowledgeable about the world, the economy, and law. I don't see her as that.

I want a person who is pro-choice and anti-war.

I don't want a person whose campaign slogan is "Drill baby drill." It will take 10 years or longer to get this tiny amount of oil out of Alaska. I would rather they focus on something more practical and forward thinking.

She doesn't understand that a community organizer, Obama's job when he was younger, could be just what the country needs right now. That is one of the toughest jobs anywhere, and for her to insult the profession rubs me the wrong way. It makes her seem ignorant, and kind of mean.

I know that some of my friends do support her, and I respect that. But I just can't support her.

fraternity guys

I go every year to visit friends on the New Jersey shore for the fourth of July. The friends are originally friends of my friend, who was in a fraternity in college. The fraternity was started by them so that these geeky computer programmers and other whatnot had some place to belong. It is a geek fraternity. I didn't know they existed, but there ya go.

So now they are all in their 30's and, being geeks, reasonably to very successful. A few are married. Some are single. One is retired and in his 40's. Unmarried. They still like to drink and have fun. We sit around at this gorgeous house on the Jersey shore and drink, eat, and tell ridiculous jokes.

I never realized that I would have friends who used to be in a fraternity.

Were you in one? Were your friends?

The art is German Painter Hans Baldung Grien's Adam, 1523.

Battlestar Gallactica

On Battlestar Gallactica they created Cylons, well, the huge Centurian models, not the hot humanoid ones. But they did make robots. These are big imposing robots with, it turns out, even sentience.

So why can't they make an artificial leg for the crewman who lost his? Or even a fake eye for Saul?

Didn't the scientists leave notes? Or is it a moral thing?

The image is from this link

Great Ribs!

A friend of mine sent me a gift of BBQ ribs from her favorite place, Montgomery Inn in Cincinnati.

Dag nab it, these are some GREAT ribs!

Juicy, meaty, no fat, tender. The sauce is wonderful, although you might want to add hot sauce. I like it mild, so it is perfect.

Do you like ribs? Do you wish you had some of these? If you do like ribs, where were the best ribs you've had?

The photo is from the Montgomery Inn site. You can order them and they send them to you packed in dry ice. Mmmmm....

Advertising Versus Reality

I stumbled on this website and found it very interesting. They photographed food packages, the ones that depict the food. They then removed the product from the package and photographed the actual food.

advertising vs reality

It's quite cool. There are some amazing discrepancies between the package picture and what you get in reality.

Diet Plan for Murderers that Works!

According to the AP:

Broderick Lloyd Laswell says he isn't happy that he's down to 308 pounds after eight months in the Benton County jail [in Arkansas]. He has filed a federal lawsuit complaining the jail doesn't provide inmates with enough food.

According to the suit, Laswell weighed 413 pounds when he was jailed in September. Police say he and a co-defendant fatally beat and stabbed a man, then set his home on fire.

"On several occasions I have started to do some exercising and my vision went blurry and I felt like I was going to pass out," Laswell wrote in his complaint. "About an hour after each meal my stomach starts to hurt and growl. I feel hungry again."


Unbelievable. This murderer is in jail and claims he is being "starved to death" because he has gone from 413 to 308. He should be thrilled he has finally found a diet plan that works for him.



The image is Large Torso, 1983, by Fernando Botero. It is at the Kistefoss Museum, Norway.

Sneakers in Paris

Before I went to Paris I looked online to see what people in Paris were wearing. I don't mind others knowing I am a tourist (because I am) but I didn't want to stick out too badly.

One thing that every site said was that no one wears sneakers, and women wear heels. So I brought low-heeled boots, higher heeled shoes, and a pair of non-sneaker flats. I thought my feet were broken the first day, after walking all over Paris, over cobblestone streets, and through the Louvre.

Sneakers? They were everywhere. Whoever said that Parisian women wear strictly high heels has never been to Paris. A few women did have heels on, but they looked like they were going out somewhere at night. For daytime, women wear flats or sneakers. They aren't stupid. I mean really.

Of course, the sneakers were clean, and were more of the Chuck Taylor type than Nikes.

Oh, and they wear jeans too.

The photo is one I took of the Eiffel Tower. I don't know why it is rotated.

Thinking

It has come to my attention (from various friends who are tired of looking at stupid belly button tattoos..) that I haven't been posting much of anything.

I am sorry.

I was in Paris last week. That was freaking cool. I saw some majorly wonderful stuff. Here is an example. The dude is like totally thinking.

More Weird Belly Tattoos

I loved the disgusting cat tattoo so I found these others that utilize the belly button for art's sake. Well, so to speak.

Weird Tattoos

As I was looking around for a tattoo design that was tasteful and meaningful, I came across a few that were hilarious and/or horrific. Here are some of my top favorite awful tattoos.

Sent to me by my friend J (after hearing that I was looking for a cat tattoo), this one just hurt my eyes!











This guy had eyes tattooed on his eyelids. Er... I don't think so!









OK now this is kind of cute, but... maybe not!

Say Yes to Ink

It's true. I am going to get a tattoo. I've pretty much settled on the design, which is a black cat like my sweet Cujo. Here is one of my favorite pics of Cujo. He is doing what he does most of the day.



Here is the design.


I'm thinking of getting it on my lower back, as a tramp stamp. What do you think?

Romney and KFC

A friend just told me that Mitt Romney ate Kentucky Fried Chicken when he was on the campaign trail. And he removed the skin!

What is the point of eating KFC without the skin? Is this some weird Republican ritual?

Hook Equity

I came home and tried to hang up my coat. It is my total winter coat - sort of like a sleeping bag, but a coat. Very nice and warm. But that's not the point.

I came home and tried to hang up my coat. But I can't. He has all the hooks. There are 6 hooks on my coat rack, and his coats take up all 6.

I have a total of 2 coats that I need to hang up for everyday use. Why do you need 6? I want hook equity.

Have you had that problem?

The art is Givanni Boldini's Putting on her Dress. I don't have a date for this, but it is probably the 1870's. You know she will need a coat to wear with this dress. I hope she has hook equity.

New Product Idea

I have a truly inspired idea for a new product. If someone could put it together quickly and get it ready for Christmas shopping, I know they'd make a fortune.

You've heard of noise-canceling headphones? They are amazing headphones that emit a sound that somehow cancels out the sounds around you without just blasting a ton of static into your ears. Some of them work really well. I have a pair that I wear on airplanes.

Well, how about noise canceling mouthpieces? They would cancel out the sound of the person wearing them, so no one would have to listen to them speak or scream. They would be great for children, whether on airplanes, art museums, movies, or when your friends bring them to visit.

If you could make some really cheap ones I could carry some with me, and offer them to needy children.

I'm just a giver, you know. Always thinking of the children.

Anyone interested in creating this product?

The art is Pablo Picasso's Mother and Child, 1922.

Cats or Children?

I think I'm better with cats than with children. When I come home, Cujo meets me at the door, meowing loudly and continually. I have learned that this is his "I'm hungry" cry. So I fill his dish and take it to his area, saying, "Look Cujo, it's yummy yummy Cujo food for Cujo!" I like to say his name a lot, because I think somehow he will learn it and eventually come when I call him, fetch sticks, and guard the house against burglars.

My friend has a 2 year old child. To him I say, "So, have you considered colleges? What do you think you'd like to do?" And sometimes, "Geez, kid, get a job!" And, "Do you realize it is rather annoying when you run around and around the house like that slapping everyone?"

I pick Cujo up and stroke him, saying, "Good Cujo. What a good kitten you are, my little special kitty cat." Cat hair and dander flies everywhere. There are times when I seem to be wearing a cat hair suit.

I shake hands with my friend's child, then wash my hands, because we all know kids are germ magnets.

It's probably a good thing I forgot to have children.

The art is from an old 1980's T-shirt that I've always loved, based on a Roy Lichtenstein painting.

OK so say you are in a bar, pub, or a restaurant where you are bound to use the restroom more than once.

I tend to go to the same stall over and over again. Do you?

If there is an odor there after my first or second or whatever visit there, I freak out a little, but I don't go to a new one. Do you?

If I flush and the toilet paper doesn't go all the way down, I tend to leave it in the hopes that some one else will see it and be repulsed, and therefore less likely to use "my" stall. Do you?
Just wondering.

The art is Jean Helion's Upside Down, 1947.

Mexico Flood

In case you hadn't heard, there are hundreds of thousands of people affected by a huge flood in Mexico.

From the AP Story:
At least one death was reported and nearly all services, including drinking water and public transportation, were shut down. The flood affected an estimated 900,000 people — their homes flooded, damaged or cut off by high water. The flooding is in Villahermosa, the state capital of Tabasco, in southeastern Mexico.

The floods are also affecting oil production and cultural treasures (like these huge pre-Colombian Olmec heads that are really amazing).

I don't know anyone in that area, but if you do I hope everything is OK for them.

There are some Reuters photos here:
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/wl/110207mexicofloods/im:/071018/photos_ts/2007_10_18t135257_450x346_us_climatechange_usa_energy;_ylt=AhC9khKtWwx.bOXjBKfuuc.aK8MA
The art is Mexican surrealist artist Rodolfo Morales' Angel de Anoranza. He often included women, angels, and buildings in his paintings.

Sports Fans

The Red Sox won the World Series. I am a Sox fan, so that made me happy. It made a lot of people happy. It made them so happy that at least 37 were arrested here in my lovely Boston.

This is a quote from our WBZ News site:

37 people were arrested overnight in the city by Boston and State Police, mostly for disorderly conduct. No serious injuries were reported. 16 cars were vandalized on Newbury Street. Most of the damage was broken side view mirrors, broken windows and damaged windshield wipers. At least one small fire was set and at one point, the crowd flipped a pick up truck on to its side. Young people sprayed each other with beer and some climbed street signs or utility poles. Pictures captured by WBZ-TV crews showed at least one car tipped over near Copley Square. (end quote)

I am puzzled. How does starting fires and destroying property express your team or civic spirit? I just don't get it. At least no one was killed, like in 2004.

I don't think this is endemic to Boston. I know all over the world people go crazily violent when their sports team wins. What is it about? Seriously, I just don't understand it.

Of course, I also don't understand how a US event is termed a "World" Series. But maybe that's just me.

The art is Bacchus, 1626, by the Baroque painter Jusepe de Ribera.

A Deep Philosophical Question

Do you think that my cat knows I love him? And can he love me?

Or does he just want me because I feed him and scoop out his poop, and if I died he would eat me?

The art is Nude With a Cat, 1949, by Balthus.