NCAA Week 1

There were a few NCAA games last night and I’m pretty sure that The VOLS play tonight. As you all saw in Wednesday’s post, Analesa gave us some great gameday snack suggestions. Well I for one took her message to heart and I’ve stocked up on all the necessary snacks to make this opening weekend a huge success.  Usually I would hit the local Buffalo Wild Wings and catch a few of the games there. But I’ve decided that for Week 1 I’m going to make my own living room ground zero.

I’ve got snacks, a new television, new recliner and I have to say that I like the way I have things set up here. One of the things Analesa talked about in her post was making certain that she had all of her electronics readily available. She’s been known to Tweet a time or two during the games. While I may not Tweet as often as AP, I do like to have my laptop and Ipad readily available. Sure I can take them to the BWW but making certain that I get a table with an outlet is not always a done deal. But that’s not the main reason I will be watching from home. When I’m at the sports bar I tend to be distracted and don’t really watch the game. Just last night I went to Twin Peaks to meet some friends and watch the last half of the BYU game. Even though I had them put the game on the TV right above me, I found that I spent far more time talking and paying attention to conversation than I did watching the game.

So this weekend I am going to hang at the house and watch the games. I’ve already mapped out which games I want to watch but the addition of the OSU game on Cox 703 at the last minute will have be switching back and forth between that and the Michigan vs Bama game. I know that if I was at BWW I wouldn’t have to switch back and forth but the fact is that if I was at the BWW I wouldn’t pay attention to either game.

So just like Analesa suggested I have my ‘gredients collected and ready to go. I might even do a little live gameday blogging. Oh yeah don’t forget, first game is on NBC at 8:00 AM Navy @ Notre Dame broadcast from the Emerald Isle itself. It's Go Time!

Why Smash Burger Is The Biggest Rip Off In The Nation!!!

My $11.24 Fast Food Meal

Okay, I know everything is going up in price right now and the dollar just doesn’t buy what it used to. But when I think back about what I spent for lunch today and what I got for it I have to step up and say that Smash Burger is the biggest rip off the American consumer can encounter. I had only been there once and the burger was horrible and to be honest it made me sick. That was a few months ago and I wrote the poor food quality off to the fact that this was a new location.

My $1.50's Worth of Bacon,

Well fast forward to today. I had to go by Best Buy on my lunch hour and there just happened to be a Smash Burger right there in the same shopping center. I decided to give them another shot. I’m still regretting it. I ordered a basic American Burger and told them to add bacon. I had no idea that the bacon was an extra $1.50. That’s just bogus. I could see seventy-five cents or maybe even a dollar, but a buck fifty? Come on. I decided to opt for some “Smash Fries” because the menu board said they were seasoned. Add to that a drink and what do you think that my burger, fries and drink set me back?  Are you ready for this? $11.24. This is not sit down dining. This is fast food. This was average, greasy run of the mill fast food. It was better than McDonald’s but not as good as either Burger King or Wendy’s but about twice the price.

The seasoned fries basically had some olive oil or something splashed on them and some sort of herb. I will say this, the fries were hot, something one doesn’t often see in a fast food chain.  But to be honest they really weren’t worth eating, let alone the $1.99 price tag. The drink was a 20 ounce paper cup that required you to serve yourself at a fountain like you would at 7-11. So basically, for the same price that I would have paid at Louie’s or Logan’s or Santa Fe or a litany of other standard restaurants, which offer full service dining, I paid the same price for a subpar  burger, some strange tasting fries and a serve yourself drink in a paper cup. Oh yeah, this is one of the places where you walk up to the counter and place your order just as you would at McDonald’s and are then given a ticket with a number on it. I was number 37. So everything is self service, but they did have the audacity to place a tip jar on the counter.

Had I not been in such a hurry, I would have, and should have, simply told them that I had changed my mind and revoked my order when they told me the total. So my recommendation to you my dear and learned readers, is to avoid this place like the plague. The food is not as good as Wendy’s and way over priced.  The service is self, and the atmosphere is that of neo classic suburban sprawl. Skip this place and seek a more traditional dining experience, you’ll be glad you did in the long run.



Tale of the tape

Special Guest Post - True Southern Bell And Mississippi Princess Analesa

A while back I had the privilege of running across a pretty interesting young lady on Twitter. She was a fan of Fox News and Shepherd Smith. We exchanged a few tweets and before long I realized that this girl was pretty smart. She was reasonable, intelligent and she measured very highly in one category that I use as somewhat of a benchmark when evaluating others. I never heard her say anything bad about others and I never heard others say anything bad about her. We also noticed that the girl was a passionate SEC football fan, particularly when it came to the Rebels of Ole Miss.

Over time her quirky outlook and devotion to all things Ole Miss created some pretty interesting tweets. A few weeks ago she started writing for a Sports blog down in Mississippi called “Make it Rain Sports” or MIRS. She and I had talked about it a few times here and there and I was finally able to persuade her to write a guest post for me on this site.

 But before we get to that I want to take a moment to tell you folks a couple of other things about this young lady. You can’t really categorize her as just a sports fan or college student, you can’t even categorize her as just a blogger because this young lady is the complete package. She’s been known to refer to herself as a princess from time to time and I guess if anyone fits the bill of what a princess should be it’s Analesa. I like to call her the Rebel Princess.

And one last bit of flattery before I go on, I think that those of you have young daughters might want to urge them to follow her on Twitter (@Rebel_AP) because I really think she’s a pretty good role model. She has the ability to point out, and serve as an example, that young ladies don’t have to be crass, or promiscuous, or foul mouthed, or sleazy to be loved and adored. She’s a great kid who has both of her feet planted squarely on the ground and she remains that way through her devotion to faith and commitment to her family. To sum it up, she would be the PERFECT girl you would want to bring home to meet your Mom.

So without further hesitation, just in time for Week 1 celebrations, here is Analesa and her take on the time honored tradition of Game Day Snacking.

College Football Game Day - Rebel Princess Style

 



True Southern Bell and The Rebel Princess
of Make It Rain Sports - Analesa

Do you have your football countdown on your computer?  I do!  It’s the time of year that comes around slower than Christmas.  

 

I am of the opinion that going to a game is one of the most thrilling experiences but realistically there are some Saturdays we will spend in front of our TV.  The exciting thing about being at home is you can watch games all day long, veg out on lots of really yummy, bad for you, great food.  

My game days at home take as much preparation and planning as getting ready to go to the game. I really do not want to be in the kitchen waiting on the microwave or running to get something out of the oven when a game changing play happens. 

It is my preference to have one big snack, one smaller snack, and then a dessert snack.  A few examples for big snacks are things like wings, nachos, pizza, or sandwiches.  Small snacks are chips and dip or veggies.   

I forgot to mention that most of my game days at home are spent with my daddy (Daddy’s Princess for life).  So he and I will kinda discuss what we want to eat but most of the time he just rolls with whatever I decide.   

On the night before you have to get all your stuff!! Do not get stuck at the grocery store with all the grandmas or dudes getting their game day beer.  Get your stuff the night before, that way you do not leave your house for football Saturday.  Before you go to bed you have to have your baked things done, like brownies or cake.   

First thing the next morning is eat a piece of the cake or a brownie, then get your dip ready!  My all time favorite dip is Rotel cheese dip, most of the time I have to have sausage in it but if I am going to use it for my BBQ nachos the sausage is too much pig.  

I have to tell you if you have never tried BBQ Nachos you are missing out on one of the best game day foods ever.  It is the easiest thing to fix and is simply an amazing use of pig.  You can buy some pulled pork meat from your favorite BBQ restaurant or just make your own from a Boston Butt in the crock pot the day before….if you don’t know how to do that Google it!  Chips, pulled pork, Rotel cheese dip, and topped with your favorite bbq sauce and you have the best pig food ever.   

The main thing about getting ready is to avoid missing any game time and to manage your plate fixing to when the announcers are trying to convince you they are smart and know the game of football better than the coaches on the field.  Commercial times….that is when you take your bathroom breaks.   

The menu for my first college game day at home is BBQ nachos, home made spinach dip with Hawaiian bread, brownies and always, always sweet tea.  

You have to pace your self; do not try to eat all of this in game one of the day.  If you do, you will not make it all the way to the night game.  

Once you have your plan and your food started, fix your “spot”.  Whether it is your recliner, spot on the sofa, or if you are like me a giant oversized chair; get your remote, laptop, cell phone, extra napkins for later, and a blanket.

Sit back, eat and enjoy your games.  Hotty Toddy!

Just What You Wanted, Another Post About Opera

Sometimes when I sit down to write a post I know that most of my friends are going to hate it and simply click the big red X after reading about five or six lines of text. That's just something I've come to live with. They're still my friends and we all still get along but I realize that not every post is for everyone. I'm pretty certain this post will meet the conditions outlined above. This is going to be a post about The Metropolitan Opera's Live in HD productions which will be airing in movie theaters all around the world later this fall.

One the first posts I wrote a few years ago was about my trip to see the Met's production of Turandot. In case you're wanting to revisit that post it was called "A Night at The Opera, You Know You Want To Go," or something similar to that. I have to admit that last year I didn't make it to a single showing because I was too busy watching college football and grilling out and things like that. But this year I've promised myself that I am going to make certain to catch a few of the performances if not all of them. 

The first simulcast will be Donizetti’s L'Elisir d'Amore and it airs on October, 13, 2012. This is a comic opera starring Anna Netrebko and, and ... Oh well it doesn't really matter who else takes to the stage because as long as Anna is in the cast I probably won't notice the others anyway. But for those of you must know Matthew Polenzani,Mariusz Kwiecien, and Ambrogio Maestri will also be appearing in this Comic Opera.

If you happen to be a fan of Elīna Garanča, you have to wait until December 1 when she takes to the stage and screen in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito. Now I know that the vast majority of you aren't really into opera and have probably ceased reading by now. But for those of you who have continued this far I guess I will go on and explain why I like the opera. This is pretty hard for me to explain because if I were to be totally honest I would have to proclaim that I really don't know why I like it, I just know that I do.

I’ll be the first to stipulate that I don’t like all opera. In fact it could possibly be said that there might be more opera that I don’t like than what I do like. I don’t like most German opera. Of course it’s the Italians, especially Verdi and Puccini, who have pretty much made opera their own national form of art.  While I put the Italians at the top of the heap, at least in my uneducated layman’s opinion, I have to say that my two favorite operas, Carmen and Les Contes d'Hoffmann are by French composers.

 I think that Bizet’s Carmen is probably the New York Yankees or Dallas Cowboys of opera. Everyone’s heard of it and most people recognize it when they hear it.  Les Contes d'Hoffmann is a bit different. It’s by a little known composer named Jacques Offenbach and it tells the story of E.T. Hoffman and three of the women who came into, and out of, his life. The most well known piece from Les Contes d'Hoffmann is the barcarole but my favorite piece is the Song of Olympia which is performed as though the soprano is a mechanical doll.  This fast pace parade of high notes is pretty impessive.

So while I don’t know why I like opera and it’s hard for me describe opera I think it’s something that more people might enjoy if they gave it an honest chance and went to see it performed on the large screen or in person if possible. Oklahoma City has two theaters that participate in the Live in HD program. Tinsletown and Quail Springs both have Saturday performances as well as the Wednesday evening encores.

 

For a schedule of performances you can check out this link.  Met Opera Live in HD

 

 I’ve never had the privilege of seeing a full opera performed in person but I have seen some selected pieces from various operas performed on stage and I really enjoy that as well. If you’re the least bit interested in opera you might want to check out the following links, or conversely if you’ve never given opera a try this might be the place to start.

 

Habanera from Carmen

 

Toreador Song from Carmen

 

Gypsy Song/Dance from Carmen

 

In the links above we see clips from actual operas. But another way to experience the music and performances of great operatic pieces is to see them performed as stand alone pieces in a concert or recital. The link below features Bryn Terfel singing the Toreador song, the same song as sung above by Teddy Tahu Rhodes bur as you can see the setting and style are quite different.

Bryn Terfel - Toreador Song in Concert

 

This is a clever little piece from Le Contes d' Hoffman in which a guy sings about one of the town's more colorful characters  Rolando Villazón - The Ballad of Kleinzach

 

This one is just for Leslie D, Brown E lucevan le stelle

And finally for Brad and Blair - Here we have an adaptation of your favorite aria from Turandot. I know Brad likes Luciano's rendition but I like this one by Marcello Girodani. This was actually taken from one of the Live in HD performances that I saw at Quail Springs.

So there it is folks, love it or hate it, I've given you all one more post about Opera.

Here are some more general links if you want to see them...

Anna Netrebko Meine Lippen sie Kussen so heiss 

Anna Netrebko - Rolando Villazon - Libiamo

Juan Diego Flórez - La donna é mobile 

Gustavo Dudamel and The L.A. Philharmonic with Juan Diego Flores

Time To Hang Up The Hat

I was sitting at the bar at Logan’s Roadhouse Saturday evening and I glanced up from my dinner and happened to see that one of the ESPN stations was offering live “lookins” each time Roger Clemens too to the mound as he threw for everything he was worth with his new team, the Sugarland Skeeters. At 50 years of age Clemens was out there trying to prove something to himself more so than to anyone else I’m guessing. The Skeeters, an Astros farm club, let Roger go three or four innings and I saw him give up at least one hit. I’m not sure why they pulled him unless they were afraid of his pitch count. He wasn’t really that bad, but of course at fifty he wasn’t really that good either.

I hope he’s gotten this out of his system and realized that he hasn’t got to prove anyone to anything. His record during his active years in the majors speaks for itself and he doesn’t need to try to reinvent himself. He can’t stop time or change what has happened in the last few years. I’m not sure if he was trying to get past the stories of performance enhancing drugs or tales of rolling in the hay with Mindy McReedy when she was a teenybopper or what. But the fact is that if he wants to stay in the game he needs to start thinking about alternate roles such as coaching or managing or scouting or anything other than actually stepping on the rubber.

I remember back in either the late 80’s or early 90’s when at 42 Jimmy Connors made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. But the difference here is that Connor hadn’t been out of the game for five years and he wasn’t playing in some satellite tournament, he was playing in the main draw of one of the four Grand Slam events in professional tennis. I remember that year and I remember the way I would watch and try to will Jimmy on to the next round. Naturally I was a Connors fan so that made a lot of difference, But watching Clemens throw the ball just didn’t look right. I’m neither a fan nor expert when it comes to baseball but even I could tell that this man was out of place.

Roger can’t stop or rewind the clock but he can stop now before his last images are those of a fifty year old being pulled from the mound when he’s eleven runs down.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Rivalries are an important part of our culture. Americans love a good rivalry. There was Lincoln/Douglas. There was the battle of the sexes back in the 1970’s when Billy Jean King and Bobby Riggs squared  off against each other in the Astrodome. The Cowboys and The Redskins always play there best against each other. OU & OSU have their annual Bedlam Battle and Wile E. Coyote is destined to chase the Road Runner for all eternity. The East Dillon Lions conquered the heavily favored Dillon Panthers. Perseus had to cut the head off of Medusa. David had to slay Goliath. Batman had to fight The Joker. And now the residents of the OKC metro area will witness a media battle that will go down in the annuls as one of the most tightly contested Nielsen ratings battle since Count Gregor retired.

Tomorrow morning at 4:00 AM the inaugural volley will be fired in The War at 4:00 as ravishing Rush Springs Reporter Joleen Chaney goes head to head with Beautiful Bobbie from Blanchard. Chaney and Miller will vie for viewers and wrestle for ratings in the predawn hours of what can only be called the Monday Morning Melee as these media mavens tell stories of Midnight mayhem. They’ll tell stories of hurricanes, politicians and other sources of wind.  They’ll tell us of troubles and crimes and maybe some wrecks. A few lucky Tweeters will get commercial break texts.

We’ve always been told that competition is good and that ultimately the consumer is the winner. In this case I couldn’t agree more. I’ve been a fan of both anchors for quite some time. While I think pretty highly of both of these young ladies I have to admit that getting up at 4:00 doesn’t really work with my schedule. I know that these two are pretty good friends and I can’t help but wonder if they have some sort of friendly wager about who will bring in the best numbers. True devotees of each station will back their logo no matter who is behind the desk. Normally I’m a fan of KFOR but if I am up during Mrs. Miller’s time slot I will watch her, but tomorrow is going to a bit of a dilemma for me, well it would if I were awake. Therefore I think it my moral duty to make certain that I sleep in until at least 9:00 AM so that I won’t have to make a decision. But I guess in the name of fairness I should DVR both broadcasts and then review them at a more civilized hour.

There’s absolutely no way I could declare a favorite between these two, I guess I should hope that they each draw exactly 50% of the market and that KOCO is totally shut out. That would be a win for both anchors and of course a win for the city’s viewers. So in this case I’m hoping for a 50% split and record numbers for both young ladies. I guess I should urge my readers to switch back and forth between programs every 10 minutes to assure that I’m backing each show equally. So how about this, if you live on the even side of the street switch over at 10 minute intervals ending in 0 (10, 20, 30, etc…) and if you live on the odd side of the street switch over at 10 minute intervals ending in 5 (5, 15, 25, 35 etc…) I know those on the odd side would have to switch over the after the first five minutes but you get the point. Either way you can’t go wrong.

So I am calling for a tie, unless of course one station can provide live coverage of Bigfoot running through the streets of Bricktown and taking out parking meters with each swing of his arms. You give me that and I will swear eternal loyalty by setting the channel and breaking my remote. That’s the post and I am out of here!

The State Of The Site

I think that this month of 31 posts presents a great opportunity to talk about this blog in general, a sort of State of the Site address if you will. This site is my hobby, nothing more, nothing less. I do it simply because I enjoy it. This is the 200^th post. I’ve written about a lot different things over the past but what I like the most about it is that I have written only what I wanted to write about, not what I had to write about.  That makes all the difference in the world. In case you were wondering, the blog started in October of 2009 and will soon be three years old.

There are many who would say that my blog is unsuccessful because I don’t have hundreds of followers or thousands of hits per day. There are some who would say that my site is a failure because my readers seldom leave comments. The truth is that as far as I’m concerned, this is the most successful publication on the WWW. Arrogant? Not really, the reason that I feel that my blog is extremely successful is for one simple reason, this blog serves the purpose for which it was intended and it serves it quite well.. This blog wasn’t created as a means for me to gauge my popularity based upon the number of readers. The site was created solely for my amusement and recreation. You see once I publish a post, I feel the same satisfaction and gratification whether one person reads it or thousands read it. When I look back at the first post I see that I’ve changed a lot. I’ve learned that contractions aren’t evil and in fact I actually embrace them. I no longer prepare posts as though I’m going to submit them for a grade in one class or another.

I plan to continue this blog for quite some time. As long as my health holds up, I see no reason why I can’t continue this site well into the next decade and perhaps even beyond that. Sure there were times when I went weeks or even months without writing one single post, but the truth is that some days I just don’t feel like hacking out a post simply because of the fact that I don’t have to. There are a lot of bloggers out there who aspire to have their blog turned into a book. I think it would be flattering if someone were to suggest that but I have no delusions of grandeur. This is not a money making venture, that’s why I’ve never opted to monetize it and place ads.

Don’t get me wrong, I certainly enjoy knowing that close friends read the blog from time to time. One of the most rewarding aspects of this whole endeavor, other than the satisfaction that the site brings me simply because of its existence, is when someone whom I never suspected might read the site tells me that they read one of my posts and then elaborates on what they thought of it. I realize that some of the posts are as boring as your grandmother breaking out her book of pressed flowers and making certain that you see each of them and hear the associated story. Of course the reason that many of these posts are boring is because I might not have had enough time to make it interesting, but then again some of them are just plain boring to everyone other than myself. But as I’ve grown so fond of saying, “You can do that when it’s your blog!”

I recently received a message from someone who advised me that based upon reading my blog, she had decided to start writing some things as well. She doesn’t have her own site or domain as of right now but I’m encouraging her and pushing her that way. But for right now she’s satisfied with posting on one or more subject specific sites that fit in with her interests. And the best news is that very soon I will be welcoming her as my first guest blogger. 

I decided to take this opportunity to tell you folks which posts I like the best. I chose them based upon many different factors but none of them were chosen based upon popularity or the number of hits they received. I thank you all for sticking with me this far and I look forward to another posting like this when I publish number 300. So here they are in no particular order…

 
Welcome Home Wednesday

 

I Think This Guy Grew Up To Be My Cardiologist

 

I Never Met An  Earthequake I Didn't Like

 

Lord Bless The Small Animals Because I Can't

 

Solomon's Grave

 
Baby Goats And Buffalo Wings

 

Open Your Ears And Look At The Screen

A Cloudy Country Christmas

 

Nope, Nope I Don't Like It...

 

The Crazy Old Man Down The Road

 

Do You Remember OTASCO?

Now That You've Built It He Will Come

 

The Old Yeller Clause

 

Hook, Line And .44 Magnum

 

I'm A Pretty Good Detective Myself

Fine Dining For The Elementary Minded

The Gun Had His Name On It

There are some things you overhear that you kind of wish you hadn’t. One day I was in Bass Pro and I was in the firearms section and I heard one of the clerks at the gun counter telling this kid, “Some people believe there will be a zombie uprising. They call it the Zombie Apocalypse and if that happens this is the gun to have.” I just dismissed it as something a car salesman would say and went on my way. Then a few days later I was at H&H I think and I saw the gun to which I guess he was referring.

Ruger has been a staple in the firearms business for quite some time and they enjoy a well deserved reputation for making quality products. A while back I was looking for a pocket gun and I ran across the Ruger LCP .380, a compact gun that would fit in my pocket for easy concealment. I was going to purchase one but the only one they had in stock was a special Texas Model because that was the model that the Governor of Texas once used to kill a coyote. I really wanted the gun but I wasn’t going to pay an extra $50 simply because it had an etching of a dead coyote or something. 

Well it seems that Ruger thought another special edition was in order because they actually marketed a gun known as The Zombie Slayer. This trendy little gun actually has the words Zombie Slayer etched on it as you can see. The question is would I pay an extra $50 to have the Zombie Slayer logo etched into my gun. I hate to admit it but I probably would. I have no delusions that the gun would someday be of great value because it’s a collector’s item. I have no idea how many were stamped out in the production run but I’m betting it was quite a few.

As far as the gun itself I think it’s just the standard LCP. I don’t think it has the crimson trace laser sight but I think that if any gun were going to need laser sights it would definitely be one designated for zombie slaying. Of course the age old question of .380 vs 9mm will go on forever and I'm not even going to get into that. But I think if I were going to set out on an odyssey to do my part in ridding the world of zombies I'd like to be equipped with something longer than a 2.75” barrel. I really liked Magnum Research’s  Baby Eagle .45 I recently shot and I think that would be my weapon of choice when the undead rise but I don’t think I can afford one, plus I already have a large frame heavy gun if I need it. So that being said, will I buy the Zombie Slayer if I can find one? Probably, and yes friends I will let you shoot it if we go to the range.

 

Speaking of zombies, you can get these novelty zombie targets at many firing ranges.

 

Gimme' A Break

I’ve decided that I need a break. I need to take a few days and get away. I don’t want to go with anyone or have to worry about what the other person wants to do. I want to be totally selfish for about three days. I just can’t figure out where I want to go. I kind of want to go to Tunica but to be honest I really don’t want to drive that far. I’ve also thought about heading to the Branson area to do some fishing over at Roaring River. I’ve also thought about Red River, NM and trout fishing there. I’ve considered staying within the state and heading down to SE Oklahoma for some fishing this fall.

It’s not too far to head down to Dallas There’s a really cool sports bar down in Dallas and I’ve actually thought about going down there but I’m not really sure I want to pay $9 for a baked potato or $15 for a burger. I could afford it, it’s just that it’s the principle.  I really don’t know what else I would do in Dallas, there’s no gambling or fishing, at least that I know of. I’ve no desire to play golf, I tried that several years ago and I just didn’t like it. I’ve even entertained the thought of just staying here in OKC and holing up in a hotel room and doing nothing but read and sleep. But then I think about the impracticality of paying someone for a hotel room when my own bed is probably no more than ten miles away.

I’ve thought about heading to the panhandle for some camping but I know that I would be pretty bored, even with a book or two to read. I suppose that Kansas City and Shreveport are decent places to do a little gambling and they aren’t quite as far as Tunica. But I really don’t like either of those places as well as I do Tunica and I know that if I went to either of these places I would kick myself for not going to Tunica.

So there’s my quandary folks, if you all have any ideas or suggestions let me know,

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

September 17^th will see the debut of NBC’s Revolution, a television show that depicts life in a world that is void of electricity. While some folks might fear ghosts, demons, zombies, snakes or clowns, a world without electricity is probably the scariest thing I can imagine.  Think about it, no mass communication, no lights and worst of all no air conditioning. I’m a huge fan of air conditioning.

 I did a little further thinking and one of the things that would happen in a dark world would be that probably about half of the population would die from starvation. We’d lose our ability to store food in freezers, we’d lose the ability to mass harvest as we do now because from what I understand about the TV show, even the batteries in vehicles don’t work. I’m guessing it was some sort of EMP that took out all of the grids and circuitry. Without trucks, tractors, combines and other motorized farming equipment the ability to grow and harvest the yields we see today would be severely hampered. Even if we as a society were able to produce the same amount of food, how would it be distributed?  No way to truck stuff from the rural farming centers to the big cities. So my theory is that a good chunk of the population would die off in the first year. We probably would see a surge in cannibalism.

Over time, as generations came and went, we’d probably see people dumbing down. There would be no technology to assist in learning. Sure the argument could be made that we progressed once before and we could do it again but I’m not so sure. The generation who possesses all of the knowledge would probably die out in ten to twenty years because medicine as we know it would cease to exist. The education of new physicians would be hampered by the extremely limited resources and since the ability to travel would be reduced to horse and buggies, getting the doctors out to the people would be pretty difficult.

While I have no real documentation on things like this, I personally think that the bigger cities would be the absolute worst place to be. If you did survive the rioting, looting and general anarchy that would most likely prevail you would still be in a concrete jungle with little land for planting crops. In my opinion the place to be would be the isolated rural farming communities. Hopefully you would be far enough out that the roving bands of marauders wouldn’t kill you off because they wouldn’t have a lot of access to horses and would be restricted to bicycles and walking.  Because there would be no way to truck the crops that were raised out of the area, these rural farming communities would have that much more for themselves.

So if there was no electricity, there could be no modern factories. Goods and products, and clothing as we know it, would cease to exist after about twenty years. Nothing would be disposable and you would have to get every bit of usage you could from what you did have because they wouldn’t be making new stuff. But when you think about it, most of the stuff we have besides furniture and hand tools relies on some form of electricity to function. So the need for factories to build our devices would be nonexistent.  We would need factories to make pots and pans and other items for food preparation but not electric drills or TV’s. I think that currency would be reduced to food and clothing. Bartering would be the primary economic system, if there were any system at all.

The more I think about it, I think that the absence of something that we have come to rely upon so heavily both literally and psychologically would lead to so much rioting and killing that there might not even be anyone left in the larger cities. While everyone on the planet would be affected, I think that the people who do not have any technology at all would be far less impacted. The poor people we see in Africa and Asia who currently have no electricity or running water would probably be the only ones to survive, unless of course the former city dwellers became nomadic bandits that ravaged and killed them all.

I’ve always wondered how long it would take society to break down. With no communications the police would be pretty ineffective. There would be no newscasts so for the first few months people would probably think that the power would eventually return. But to be honest I think the rioting and looting would break out in less than a week. Look at Hurricane Katrina, those people knew that eventually order would be restored but they were looting in less than two days. Once the lesser elements of our society realized that police radios were out I think the killing and seizing of food and other resources would begin pretty quickly.

I have no idea how much of the above listed doom and gloom will be portrayed in the show but I certainly plan to watch it. In fact, I’m looking forward to this more than any other new show. I think this show will either be really great or it will monumentally suck. I don’t think there will be any middle ground on this one. Folks will either love it or hate it. I think I will love it.

 

Damn Coyote Demons Running Amok In Frisco

As promised in yesterday’s post, I am going to review Charnel House by Graham Masterson. I’d never heard of Graham Masterson or of Charnel House until I picked up this book at a used bookstore. I read the book in one day. I’m not going to say it was a bad book, but I’m not going to sing its praises either. The book is about a demonic force released from a San Francisco home. The Coyote Demon had been locked up in this old house for quite some time and he was really upset about it.

The book didn’t have a whole lot character development except for one character, an American Indian shaman who was not the protagonist.  The book is primarily written in first person but to be honest it seems like it jumps tenses a couple of times. What the title lacks in character development it makes up for in action and fast moving plot. We get to find out all about the Coyote Demon and what he is doing, thinking and plotting. Plus a lot of descriptive gory demon fighting takes place. It’s hard to go wrong with a good demon fight.

There’re no lengthy descriptions of the character’s clothing or home furnishings like one might find in a Ken Follett novel. What I both love and hate about Follett is that he can easily take a paragraph describing a single button on a person’s coat or the upholstered button of a sofa. Not so much for Graham. Masterson is pretty simplistic when he says, “She wore white Levi’s with a red silk blouse.”  And for someone who’s not really fashion conscious or fashion savvy, I really prefer Masterson’s method of describing clothing to that of Follett. Of course I’m not implying that I like Masterson’s work as well as I do Follett’s but I do like the way he quickly dresses his characters.

I didn’t buy Charnel House because I expected it to rival the works of Dickens or Dumas or even Follett. I bought Charnel House because I wanted a quick and easy light read and that was exactly what I got. So in that aspect, CH was exactly what I wanted. So it could certainly be said that if a book satisfied your needs and more or less lived up to your expectations, no matter how lofty or lowly they might be, that it was not a waste of time. Would I recommend CH to just anyone? No, I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone but I would recommend it to someone who was looking to kill off an afternoon reading in the gazebo or during a rainstorm.

Here’s my deal. First person to leave a comment on this post will be given my copy of Charnel House at no cost. I’ll even mail it to you.

Judging Covers

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts I am currently in the market for a good book to read. This weekend I decided to hit the library and a couple of bookstores to see if I could find a copy of The Great Gatsby becuase I really wanted to read it before the upcoming film version is released. My first trip was on Saturday morning. I went to the good old Del City branch of the Metropolitan Library System to see if I might be able to find a copy there, free is hard to beat. Sadly my search ended in defeat as they didn't have any Fitzgerald, let alone The Great Gatsby.

I noticed the sky was getting darker each moment but I could see some lighter shades of gray on the back side of the storm so I knew that if it were to rain it would blow through pretty quickly. I decided to try to get one more stop in before the rain came. I drove over to The Booksmith, a local used book store here in the wonderful little berg of Del City. I didn't find any Fitzgerald but because the books were so cheap I vowed that I would not leave empty handed and the weather was starting to look like it would be best suited to staying in and reading. 

I decided I would get a cheap and flimsy pulp book guaranteed to be a light read. I found one that looked pretty thin so I wouldn't have to devote much time to it. I picked up a copy of Charnel House which was shelved in the horror section. I think the cover image was supposed to be somewhat menacing but I actually found it kind of humorous. I won't go into the actual story of Charnel House in this post because I plan to devote a post to it specifically tomorrow. I decided that while I was there I would pick up somethign a little more mainstream and picked up a copy of Robert Ludlum's The Scarlatti Inheritance, which I learned was actually his first novel. Just as with Charnel House, I'll forgo anyting about this title specifically as I don't want to be redundant when I write about it a future post. By this time the rain was coming down pretty good but I was parked really close to the door so there was no need to wait it out. I drove home and got about thirty pages into Charnel House and then decided to go to Logan's for lunch.

Saturday night ended up in Bricktown but Sunday I swore I would find my copy. I decided to give Half Price Books a try. I was really impressed with their prices and selection. However, the only Fitzgerald they didn’t have was The Great Gatsby. Like the previous day I decided I would not leave empty handed.  So I decided to go with Daphne Du Mauriier’s Scapegoat and I decided that I would give one of Fitzgerald’s other titles a shot so I purchased The Last Tycoon only to get it home and learn that it was an unfinished novel. I guess that means that we get to make up our own ending.

Just a couple of hours ago after a tasty late night supper at Twin Peaks I drove over to Barnes and Noble to see if they had a copy of The Great Gatsby. They had one copy, it was in hardback and was $25. I declined. And so the quest goes on to find my copy of The Great Gatsby. I guess I will have to do an interlibrary loan to get a copy at no cost… Unless one of my learned and devoted readers wants to loan me a copy.

Good TV Is Hard To Come By

I know it’s not readily apparent, but sometimes I actually dedicate a little bit of thought to these posts and what I put into them. Today’s post caused me to think long and hard about my decision as to what I deem to be the best Western TV show of the past. There are a lot of legitimate contenders. There are the most popular such as Gunsmoke and Bonanza, but then there are some others such as Wagon Train, Laredo, Have Gun Will Travel, Maverick, High Chaparral, The Big Valley, Rawhide and The Rifleman. Of course all of these shows are from the past, a closed chapter in the history of American Television.  But I have to tell you that I remember these shows and some of them are still around on Encore Westerns or other syndicated outlets.

When I was a little kid I guess I liked The Rifleman the best. I think it was probably because one of the show’s main characters was a child, someone I could at least partially relate to. Of course I also liked the obligatory violence that needed to be doled out as Lucas McCain dispatched crooks, murderers and other wrongdoers to meet their maker. Over the course of the show Lucas killed more folks than the Spanish Flu epidemic. Of course the killings were always justified because the simple plots let you know exactly who was and wasn’t a bad guy.  When I watch the show as an adult I see that one of the major themes is the devotion to family and Lucas’s attempts to raise his son. That’s all very touching and whatnot, but I still liked the gunplay.

For a while I was a devoted Bonanza man. I can’t remember the exact time slot but there for a while wnen I was between jobs, Channel 4 used to air Bonanza really early in the morning, perhaps from 3:00 – 5:00 or some other insane hour. Seeing as how I didn’t have to work the next day I would usually stay up late enough to watch these episodes and I became quite the fan. At the time it was indeed my favorite Western. The show had some action but it was also quite story driven. Each episode brought a new challenge to the Cartwrights ranging from interlopers trying to carve off a piece of the Ponderosa for themselves or the ill fated love interests of Ben and the boys.

 It was pretty funny because it became a recurring plotline that whatever Cartwright paramour happened to be girl of the hour would invariably meet some grisly death leaving one or more of the Cartwrights stricken with grief  that while dire at the moment was never mentioned in future episodes.  I guess they got over things pretty quickly back in the old west. Just as with The Rifleman, family was always a central theme on Bonanza. Of course in Westerns the central characters were always black and white yet pretty transparent in that they never had hidden agendas or ulterior motives, unless of course they were the inveterate villain with a heart as black as their hat. I guess Adam would be an exception because the educated Cartwright dressed in the same black clothing in every episode. Of course the Cartwrights always wore the same clothes each episode.  I could never figure out why the richest family in Nevada only had one change of clothes.  .

No post about Westerns would be complete without giving a paragraph or two to one of the longest running shows in TV history, Gunsmoke. I think that Gunsmoke was probably the grittiest of all Westerns because the good guys didn’t always make it. Some of the episodes featured really good and innocent people dying for no other reason than someone wanted to kill them. Of course the killers were always brought to justice by Marshall Dillon and Festus, or Chester or Quint if you watched the really early episodes.  Gunsmoke was great because over the lengthy run of the show we learned more and more about the characters, which were all somewhat colorful.

Matt and Kitty had their underlying love for one another yet you never see them kiss. Doctor Galen Adams, the cynical town doctor who seemed quite brusque but always showed to be a compassionate care giver who would heal a sick child or dig a .44 slug out of a man, or woman as harsh as the show was at times, and never ask for a dime in payment. But of course the most colorful character was that of Festus Hagen played by Ken Curtis. Festus would never miss a chance to pontificate about the goings on around Dodge City. The uneducated Festus would mispronounce words and many times just make them up as he went. The ramblings of  Festus were one of the things that kept me watching Gunsmoke for as long as I did.  One thing many folks may not know is that Curtis was the son in law of the legendary director John Ford so he often found small roles in some of John Wayne’s better films. And in case you want to know one more thing about Ken, he was actually a big band singer with Tommy Dorsey back in the 1940’s.

Well I guess I should start winding this down and move on to what I think is my favorite Western of all time, Rawhide. In my opinion, Rawhide is one of the more intelligent programs of the genre. Very seldom was the plot driven by action or violence and a lot of the time the stories were about interpersonal conflict. It was always interesting the way that the primary character Gil Favor, played by Eric Flemming, would react to the various crises that he and his trail hands would encounter as they moved cattle along the trail from Texas to the railhead at Sedalia, Missouri.

Just like Gunsmoke, Rawhide has a couple of characters that stand out. Rowdy Yates was played by Clint Eastwood. Rowdy was the second in command but usually he would be sent into town or asked to scout ahead and would always wind up in some sort of trouble or meet some interesting character along the way that would side track him and provide the show’s plot. Rawhide had a character quite similar to Festus on Gunsmoke. Wishbone was the chuck wagon cook and was always scruffy and quick to offer his opinion on the matter at hand.

What draws me to Rawhide is the fact that the stories aren’t usually those associated with most Westerns. Very seldom is it a story of Cowboys and Indians or bank robbers being chased down by a posse. As often as not the plot would focus around one of the strange characters the gang would meet along the trail and of course Gil and the boys would provide some sort of solution to whatever problem happened to be plaguing this person.  The stories were often strange and involved aspects bordering on the macabre and sometimes supernatural. But as the show was a Western, there were times at which lead would fly and blood would be shed and that would be the manner in which problems were solved. But like I said, quite often the stories were intelligent and well written. If you have access to Encore Westerns, I really suggest you taking in a couple of episodes of Rawhide.

Well that’s finally the end folks and I have to say that I’ve really enjoyed writing this post. I hope that if you’re not familiar with Westerns of don’t watch them that often you might take the opportunity to give them a try.

Bloggin' On The Fly With E-Blogger Mobile

Live from Whiskey Chicks...

Here's what I see:

Drunk Bachelorette Party with a small inflatable African American effigy of the groom

A local blues band

Lizzy "Goat Goat" Haden

Smokin' hot Allie Worden

A chick clearly smoking in a smoke free building

A bouncer

Miscellaneous bar patrons

Two guys/gals/ that are REALLY confused about their gender

A guy that looks like Dr. Spencer Reed on Criminal Minds

A girl with GAP

An African American woman clapping... Not in rhythm with everyone else

A guy fatter than I am

And Now... Moving to "The Bench Across From Nonna's" we see:

Lots of horse drawn carriages

Strolling Goats

Valets (Two Sets)

A skank with Hooker Boots

Dude pulling a metal sign behind his bicycle

A Gran Torino like in the Clint Eastwood movie

A fiberglass UPS Bison

A pedalcab driver ( Not Lem in case Lizzy reads this)

More strolling Goats

Some guy driving around with a ladder protruding 12-15 feet into the air from the bed of his pickup

Some people ALMOST getting into a fight but both parties wussed out

Dudes on Segues

Prancing Goat in training

Australian Sheepdog

And down in front of the Wormy Dog we saw two guys get arrested

And now back to the bench to post this wonderful piece of literature to the WWW... 31 Posts in 31 days... This is what you get sometimes

On Cynicism

I Like This Definition Too

I'm not certain what happened but sometimes I just get these thoughts and have to get them out there.

I guess it was a couple of years ago that I first heard the Oscar Wilde quote stating that a cynic is, “A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” Now more times than I can count I’ve been called a cynic and if I have to think and reflect upon it I guess I would have to say that I am quite indifferent about it, neither proud nor ashamed. I think that one can become too cynical and miss out on the things that are important in life because they refuse to allow themselves to shorten the distance between themselves and the things about which they have genuine concern. Conversely, if a person isn’t cynical enough they open themselves to exploitation and the eventual ridicule that inherently follows.

But never have I thought that Wilde’s definition addresses the form of cynicism which I practice. Wilde’s interpretation of the cynical condition addresses only one form of cynicism. And if I may be so bold I contend that his appraisal of the cynic might be, at least as used in the famous quote, quite limited and borderline ignorant. I think it could be said that many times a cynic does indeed know the value of something, it’s just that he or she simply doesn’t think it worth the price. I’m not certain who coined the term, “A healthy dose of cynicism,” but I think that it presents a more realistic view of the cynic.

I think it might be said that like money, cynicism is a necessary evil. Cynicism might more accurately be described as the cloak that wards off naivety. Life isn’t all sunshine and lollipops and if you’re not snugly tucked into your cloak of cynicism you might full well pay the price. So if a cynic is someone who doesn’t know the value of things, then what may be said of the enlightened chap who has the ability to weigh the price of an idea versus the true cost?  And if one cared to expound further on that idea, could it not be said that the value is in all actuality the true cost? So if value and true cost are synonymous, could it not be said that value and cost need not be mutually exclusive?

Wilde’s interpretation of the cynic implies that he or she doesn’t have the ability to recognize the value or true cost of an idea or principle. But I suggest that the practicing cynic is one who can quickly and albeit methodically, reduce an idea, theory or proposal down to its base parts and elements and thusly determine its true cost.

 I once heard the principle of economics expressed as “A system of distribution which keeps everyone from getting everything they want when they want it.” The author, whose name escapes me, went on to say that ultimately economics comes down to the reality of if this, then not that. For example, we often proclaim that we can put a man on the moon yet we can’t do this that or the other. Under this theory it’s entirely possible that the reason mankind can’t accomplish whatever it is that the person is desiring is because we put a man on the moon. We as a society invested so much time, energy and resources toward putting a man on the moon that we no longer have the time, energy or resources to accomplish the task which is now being asked of us. So as you can see, economics does indeed keep everyone from getting everything they want whenever they want it.

So based upon the definition and examples of economics outlined above and my contention that a cynic is closer to a sage than a miser, anyone who is able to assess and evaluate the true cost of something in economic terms, be it the economics of money, love, hate or desire, would, in fact, have to be a cynic.

But then we have to address the degree to which one is or isn’t a cynic. Is cynicism black and white or does an infinite number of shades of gray reside between the two? I propose that the degree to which one is a cynic is directly related to one’s ability to accurately assess the true cost of something. So yes, cynicism is inundated with varying shades of gray depending upon the individual’s intellect and ability to break down and assess the true cost of an idea, value, process or exposure to the influence, good or bad, that an individual can assert upon them. Therefore, in this context cynicism is directly related to one’s analytical abilities and the use thereof to detect the potential detriments which could potentially cause them harm. So essentially, in this context cynicism is the ability to detect a potential danger and distance one’s self so as to avoid it. So yes, cynicism is your friend and protector.

License And Proof Of Insurance?

Oklahoma City is a thriving metropolitan community. You can go to the symphony, take in a ballgame or even a rodeo. When the season is right you can watch Olympic caliber rowing on the Oklahoma River. There are several museums and centers for cultural exchange. Thousands of head of livestock are bought and sold daily at the city’s Stockyards. Oklahoma City has thousands of miles of streets and highways and most of the time the drivers are courteous and obey the rules of the road and the speed limits.  But when they don’t that’s when they spring into action. They carry a badge.

It was Wednesday, it was warm in Oklahoma City. I was working Day Watch at The Call Center. My Captain was Angel Dones and my partner was Justin Sprouse. My name is Bobman and I carry a cable guy badge.  

It was a routine morning just like any other. I hopped in my vehicle and headed for work. I had to go in an hour early to meet some overtime requirements. It was about 9:30 in the morning and I was driving north along the I – 235 Corridor. As I rounded a curve there he was, a motorcycle cop who wasn’t on his motorcycle. He was standing beside it skulking in the shadow of an overpass training a speed gun at oncoming traffic.. When I saw him I knew it was too late. I tapped my brakes and looked at the speedometer. It read nearly 80 mph. I knew I had been detected. As I passed by I saw him mount his ride and engage the emergency flashers. He tucked in behind me and I proceeded to slow and put on my emergency flashers.

I pulled over to my left as directed by the motor officer. He walked up asked for my driver’s license and proof of insurance. I handed him both items. He advised me that he was pulling me over because the speed limit was 60 Mph and he had clocked me at around 75. He said that he would adjust it to 70 to make things easier on me and I told him I appreciated it. He asked me if I knew my tag was expired. I advised that I was aware and had actually purchased the new decal but had yet to affix it to the license plate. I pulled it from my center console and showed him. He was satisfied that I had met the legal criteria to operate a motor vehicle within the state of Oklahoma and processed my citation. He asked me if I had any questions and I advised him that I had none. He said that he appreciated my positive attitude during the situation and thanked me for that and my cooperation. He then told me to be safe and I  then turned off my flashers and turned on my turn signal to merge into traffic. There was none so I pulled onto the roadway unimpeded and proceeded to my place of employment.

When I arrived and looked around I realized I was not in 1960’s Los Angeles and Jack Webb was not sitting in my passenger seat giving a detailed account of the day’s activities. I was both relieved and strangely disappointed.  Looking back it wasn’t really that bad and I wasn’t angry that I had been ticketed. I was indeed speeding and I have to say that one ticket in almost eight years of driving the Broadway Extension really isn’t that bad, especially when I think of all the times I drove above the speed limit and got by with it. I think one ticket out of literally thousands of trips I’ve made is an acceptable ratio.

The cop really was a good guy and I have to say I was surprised. The only other motorcycle cop I ever dealt with was a total jerk and gave all cops a bad name. But that was 25 years ago and this guy was the polar opposite.  He actually cut me a break when he didn’t have to and I appreciate that. Below is an actual picture of the actual officer writing the actual ticket…the one that he actually wrote me.