RIP Patty Andrews

Maxine, Patty and Laverne ...

Truth be told, I always wanted to be Patty.  See these pictures of me for Halloween over the years.

I actually bought a regulation Army outfit for women circa 1940's from a movie costume warehouse, which I wore year after year, pretending I was Patty Andrews.  Sigh.

Here are a few songs made popular by the Andrews Sisters.



Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy




 Accentuate The Positive (with Bing Crosby)




Bei Mir Bist Du Shoen



Rum & Coca Cola (ok, so I am having my rum and coke, bite me!)





Rhumboogie



Six Jerks In A Jeep

Celebrate! I'm Moving

Dancing for joy!  This bitch is MOVING ... to a smaller apartment downstairs but in the same building.

Turns out, I live in the largest apartment in the building.  It's a one bedroom, about 750 square feet.  I cannot justify the rent any longer, given my current situation, and luckily, one of the singles opened up.  I bargained with the owner, and didn't get the exact rent I wanted, but we settled on what amounts to $25 more than I offered to pay.  I still will see approximately a $225 monthly savings on the rent, and will probably not have any more problems with social services because my rent is too high for the general relief and food stamps I am currently receiving.

I lived in a small single for ten years before I moved into this apartment with my grandson and my daughter eight years ago, so it's not that big of a deal to downsize.  Actually, I am enjoying getting rid of so many things.  Thank god for Craigslist!

I will have to get used to a small kitchen, but at least this apartment has a stove, whereas, my prior studio only had a top burner but no oven. I had to buy a convection oven, and even at that, it blew out the power so often it was just not worth using.  At least in this building, there is no problem with the electrical.  Also, no more schleping up the stairs and down the stairs, whether it is with laundry or groceries. 

I'll take pictures when I get fully settled, and share with everyone. 

Let's Celebrate!

Benghazi And The Faux Outrage

I am so fucking tired of the Republican party's beating the Benghazi horse to death.  This is a non story, and every time it starts to die, the Republicans beat it back to life.

Get over it.  Get a life.

This is not bigger than Watergate.  If you think that, you are stupid.  And if you are stupid, your are a Republican.  Anyone with an ounce of smarts, a decent education, and a thirst for truth knows Watergate trumps Benghazi. 

Why Are Republicans So Racist?

What is it with today's Republicans and the right wing blow tards and their utter disdain for President Obama?  I don't get it one bit, except, of course, for the mass racism.  And that, my friends, saddens me.

I am up to my neck in anger over the constant drumbeat from this group of people that consistently try to portray this President as un-American and wanting to hand over this country to some boogie man representing a leftist, socialist, liberal leader of a foreign nation.  And equally stupid is their claim that Obama is in bed with the "terrorists," whatever that means.

You have to be extremely stupid to believe that a sitting president of the United States is actually working to decimate this country!  And yet, that is the propaganda that forms the basis of the Republican party's belief system.  It is the constant topic on Fox News.  Currently it is Obama's alleged plan to take all the guns away.  That is so stupid on so many levels it seriously makes me want to smash my television when I hear reporters go off on this subject.  As if!  What is wrong with these people?  Do they not know that the majority of Americans do not believe them?  The Republicans LOST AT THE LAST ELECTION and they need to get over it.  And NO, they did not take the House as the mantra goes on Fox News.  They simply kept the majority, but lost in their mumbo jumbo is the FACT that they lost numbers in the House, despite still maintaining the majority.  All of this crap about a left wing take over of the country would be a laughing matter if those Fox viewers weren't so overwhelmingly stupid as to believe what Fox is feeding them. 

And just who is leading this attack of the stupid?  Well, it can't very well be the stupid people that are following this line of thinking.  It has to be started at the top and then fed to the bottom.  It is astounding to me that those good ole white boys in power, both in government positions as well as corporate positions, are the leaders of this racist ideology.  These people are so full of hate for the man of color at the top that they are willing to fracture this country solely because they still harbor, and cling to, their outdated belief that people of color are physiologically inferior to their white asses.

The statistics that show the number of Republicans that believe Obama was not born in the United States is astonishing.  I did not know that stupidity was contagious.  Equally disappointing are the number of Republicans that continue to espouse the belief that Obama is Muslim. 

The left attacked Bush during is eight years, mostly on the grounds that he was stupid, and his stupidity led him to be governed by seriously bad guys, which led to the two unfunded wars in the Middle East, and the give away of our national treasury funds to corporate big wigs.  As bad as that was, the mantra never was that Bush was un-American.  He was bad for America.  But no one suggested that Bush was in bed with the terrorists or that he was trying to hand over the country to other oligarchs.

It is embarrassing that racism is so prevalent in the country that it comes out in full bore by the Republican party and their stronghold in outright lies about Obama.  Lies that are easily negated by the truth, but only to those that are not racist.  And these racists are so full of hate for people of color that they are willing to crash this country just so they could say "that n...r ruined this great country."

Rock on Obama.  I may not agree with all of your centrist ideas and actions, but you are the President of the United States, and I am a citizen of this country, and as such, I will support you as my President, color of your skin being irrelevant to the fact that you made it to the top office and are worthy of that job.

Try A Little Tenderness

Sorry, but I know I posted this a few times on this blog, but still ... this is priceless.

For those that don't remember (or lived through) Jon Cryer's teeenage years in cinema, and only know him from "Two And A Half Men" on television ... ENJOY!!!

From "Pretty In Pink" - Try A Little Tenderness

Fun. SNL Appearance

Just following up on my Fun. love-fest.  This is from an appearance on SNL, which is when I actually first saw/heard them perform.  I was a total fan from that point on.

FUN.

I am such a new fan of this band.  Six Grammy nominations!  You know, when you get an itch for a "sound," it bites you all day long!  Tell me you don't dig them ...  Lyrically they are unique, vocally, distinct and overall, exciting.  I have such a crush on the lead singer ... damn it!

"I'm Never Changing Who I Am ..."

Another contemporary song I like.

"I don't ever want to leave this town, because after all, the city never sleeps at night."

Imagine Dragons - It's Time

Denver ... Sucks!

What a game!  I like Peyton Manning, but did he have to sign up with a team in my Chargers' division?  So, have to root against him, and of course, Denver.

Great game, though.  Glad Denver was knocked off.

Too Soon ...Aaron Swartz

I can't say I was on the forefront of Aaron Swartz' connection to internet freedom.  I do know, NOW, what he was.

Can you say, "government bullying" that results in "death by suicide?"

There is really no other explanation.  And just to say, this is not the only time our government's prosecution techniques resulted in a premature death by suicide. 

At 14, Mr. Swartz helped create RSS, the nearly ubiquitous tool that allows users to subscribe to online information. He later became an Internet folk hero, pushing to make many Web files free and open to the public. But in July 2011, he was indicted on federal charges of gaining illegal access to JSTOR, a subscription-only service for distributing scientific and literary journals, and downloading 4.8 million articles and documents, nearly the entire library.

Charges in the case, including wire fraud and computer fraud, were pending at the time of Mr. Swartz’s death, carrying potential penalties of up to 35 years in prison and $1 million in fines. 

Death Star A No Go For White House

I think it is totally funny that people are using the White House petition format to seek the building of a "Death Star."  Even more hilarious is the White House response!

Paul Shawcross, Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget, responded to an earlier petition to “secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016.″

[snip]

The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn’t on the horizon. Here are a few reasons:

• The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We’re working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.
• The Administration does not support blowing up planets.
• Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?

 Ok, I am laughing hysterically so far!

PLEASE take the time to read the FULL response here.  You will NOT be disappointed!

Some choice tidbits:

Even though the United States doesn’t have anything that can do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, ...

We don’t have a Death Star, but we do have floating robot assistants on the Space Station, a President who knows his way around a light saber and advanced (marshmallow) cannon, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is supporting research on building Luke’s arm, floating droids, and quadruped walkers.

If you do pursue a career in a science, technology, engineering or math-related field, the Force will be with us! Remember, the Death Star’s power to destroy a planet, or even a whole star system, is insignificant next to the power of the Force.

Home - Phillip Phillips

I totally love this song!  I never knew the artist from American Idol, I just know this song from recent hits on my Pandora radio.

It is catchy, and cool.  Enjoy.

KBR Wants American Taxpayers To Pay Their Fine

It figures that this disgusting company would turn around and try to stick responsibility to the American public.

More Americans need to know the truth about KBR (formerly associated with Haliburton) and the insidious secret indemnification clause in their contracts with the United States.  It is despicable.

In November, a jury found KBR, the military's largest contractor, guilty of negligence in the poisoning of a dozen soldiers, and ordered the company to pay $85 million in damages. Jurors found KBR knew both of the presence and toxicity of the chemical. Other lawsuits against KBR are pending.

KBR, however, says taxpayers should be on the hook for the verdict, as well as more than $15 million the company has spent in its failed legal defense, according to court documents and attorneys involved with the case.

It makes my blood boil to read this.

The public doesn’t know what the indemnity agreement actually says because the military considers it classified. Until recently, the veterans exposed to the toxin couldn’t know either, nor could attorneys at the Department of Justice, who were left battling the contract in the dark, according to a source there.

 This company is a joke, and yet, our government can't seem to cut ties with them. 

Another soldier, Larry Roberta, now 48, was exposed to the chemical after a gust of wind blew it into his eye and into a chicken patty he was eating. After washing his face and mouth, he tried washing the chicken, because it was the only food he had left for the day. "It tastes like a mouthful of nickels,” Roberta said. “I just kept washing my mouth and I couldn't get that taste out."

Roberta said he now requires an oxygen tank because he has less than 60 percent of his lung function and gets migraines stemming from the eye that was exposed to the chemical. He had surgery to fix the muscle at the top of his stomach that prevented food from coming back up. “I can’t throw up, I can’t even burp,” Roberta said. “You know, when you can’t burp, the air has to come out the other end, which makes me the stinky dog that nobody wants to let in the house.”

Roberta said he doesn’t think U.S. taxpayers should have to pay for KBR’s mistakes.

"The United States Army Corps of Engineers is not in the business of restoring oilfields, therefore they hired KBR as their subject expert," Roberta said. "KBR was paid a good sum of money to do a job and unfortunately it didn't get done well. … The end results were okay, but they made some mistakes along the way."

Gentry’s wife said the “bailout” fits a KBR pattern.

“Whether it’s morally, ethically or even fiscally, there was no accountability then and there is no accountability now,” LouAnn Grube Gentry told The Huffington Post. “In fact, they continue their negligence and indifference. And just as an example of that is they continue to overbill the government for the legal fees. And to me that in itself proves that they are profit-mongering and their sole motivation is profit.”

 Read Senator Wyden's letter to the Secretary of the Army here. 

Junior Seau Had A Degenrative Brain Disease

There was much speculation after Seau committed suicide, especially the manner in which he did so.  He went the way many other NFL players went  by suicide, not shooting in the head.  Since Seau left his brain to science, and after an autopsy, the following was revealed:

The former N.F.L linebacker Junior Seau had a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma when he committed suicide in the spring, the National Institutes of Health said Thursday.

The findings were consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease widely connected to athletes who have absorbed frequent blows to the head, the N.I.H. said in a statement. Seau is the latest and most prominent player to be associated with the disease, which has bedeviled football in recent years as a proliferation of studies has exposed the possible long-term cognitive impact of head injuries sustained on the field. 

Read more of the article here.

Storytelling: With A Beat

Courtesy of SnapJudgment.org (h/t to Crooks & Liars) - Seriously, very good!

2013 Baseball Hall Of Fame Inductees (cricket sounds)

It is interesting to see that when it comes to electing steroid users into the Baseball Hall Of Fame, there IS a line drawn in the sand.  I, for one, would rather see Pete Rose inducted before the likes of Barry Bonds.

In their first year on the ballot, Bonds and Clemens, perhaps the most decorated hitter and pitcher in the game’s history, fell far short of receiving the necessary 75 percent of votes from baseball writers. Bonds, the career home runs leader, received only 36.2 percent, while Clemens, who won a record seven Cy Young Awards, did slightly better, with 37.6. 

It was the first election since 1996 in which the writers chose no new members.

Only 36.2 and 37.6 percent, eh?  Speaks volumes. And Bonds had this to say:

Bonds did not immediately comment, but lamented in an interview with MLB.com in November that “it’s tough when you have so many people out there who don’t want to turn the page and want to be angry at you forever.”

 Yeah, Barry, that's it.  We fans don't want to "turn the page" and we want "to be angry at you forever."  You're damn right we feel that way!  Ass twit.

Alex Jones, Conspiratorial Idiot, Loses It Over Guns

Why is it that when it comes to guns and gun control, the conversation disintegrates into stupid and stupider?  I remember sometime back in the 1980's, I actually stopped being friends with this guy that, despite his outer presence of passivity, was a full blown second amendment gun rights blow hard.  Yeah, I do base continuing friendships on whether my belief system is compatible with the other person.  I lost it when he kept on repeating the mantra "bullets don't kill people, people kill people."  I yelled at him to get out of my fucking house, and that was the last time I ever spoke to him.  And he was a fun guy to be with, and we were even lovers at one point in time during out five year relationship.  Another one bites the dust over my hard stance.  But, I digress.

As if being a lunatic about guns isn't enough, this past week's episode on the Piers Morgan show had to take the cake for the most absurd train wreck of an individual ever.

The long version:



The shorter version:

 

This man is totally nuts and seriously unhinged.  Jon Stewart did a fantastic segment that actually put the crazies into perspective.

The Daily Show
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"So this isn't really about the constution ... it's about how periously close some people in this country feel they're living to a tyrant's rule.

Holy shit!  No one's taking away all the guns.  But now I get it.  Now I see what's happening.  So this is what it is.  Their paranoid fear of a possible dystopic future prevents us from addressing our actual dystopic present.  ... because a few of us remain vigilant of the rise of an imaginary Hitler"

As the CNN headline reads:

  Alex Jones may be the king of conspiracy

Conspiracies abound, Alex Jones will tell you.

Bankers pull the strings on world governments to solidify their power. Companies are harming you and ducking responsibility. Antidepressants are "suicide mass murder pills." President Barack Obama is using drones against Americans.

And the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, was engineered by the government.

Now, he's attacking CNN host Piers Morgan, depicting the British native of being a "red coat" out to step on Americans' rights and calling for his deportation.

"California Gold" ... Going To Miss You, Huell

I watched Huell Howser's California Gold series religiously.  I used to try to figure out which areas he highlighted, I knew about.  Most of the time, I found myself on the short end of the stick.  Still, there were a lot of places he showcased that I could seriously say I knew of that way back when.

In 20 years of traversing the state for his program "California Gold," Huell Howser took his viewers to the Mojave Desert to learn the story of the world's tallest and oldest Joshua tree, to the Eastside of L.A. to explore the history of mariachi and to the small Kern County town of Wasco to see and smell acres and acres of rosebushes.

 I can't believe this precious soul is gone at age 67.  That's seven years for me ... damn.

Call Me, Maybe?

Now that I finally figured how to use the "apps" on my droid cell phone, I've got Pandora, and can listen to the current crop of today's pop hits.  I always listen to current music, but lately, I've been absent.  I hope this eclectic list for tonight is appreciated.

I don't care if my readers think I've gone off the deep end, I love music, and that includes today's pop artists.  Enjoy!

Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepson



We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift



Daylight - Maroon 5



Grenade - Bruno Mars



Diamonds - Rhianna



Some Nights - Fun.



(my favorite, cuz I love mariachi) 50 Ways To Say Goodbye - Train



Closing out with boy band One Direction!

Little Things - One Direction



(crossing fingers I don't get a "take down" order for these new songs ...)

Let The Firing Begin!

San Diego Chargers President Dean Spanos finally ran out of wiggle room.
Coach Norv Turner and general manager A.J. Smith had to go.

Spanos fired Turner and Smith on Monday after a season of stunning come-from-ahead losses left the Chargers out of the playoffs for the third straight season, not to mention the fan anger that was turning to apathy and leaving thousands of unsold seats at many home games.

Thank goodness.  I let my feelings be known by this post back in November 2008, and I have felt that the Chargers would continue to decline under Norv Turner and A.J. Smith.  Hell, letting LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles get away seriously pissed me off.

Here's hoping that a new coach will help re-build the team that Turner destroyed.