Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my frost-bit bunnies! How are you? We’ve been joking about spring’s failure to install or launch or execute or whatever, but it’s not so funny anymore. This continued snow and sleet and hail is obnoxious. People deserve a respite, a reward, after enduring a long, hard winter. So far, we seem to be getting much more punishment than reward. Of course, I am so tempted to intervene in things meteorological, but it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature. The crisis in Japan has shown us what can happen when she gets riled up. I just hope that we warm up a little soon and get out of the 30 degree range for awhile.

For those of you who observe it, I wish you a wonderful Easter Sunday. My parents allowed all sorts of religious, spiritual, and other influences into our lives as we grew up. We observed many different traditions from many different faiths and cultures. One of my favorite Easter activities was the egg hunt. In the Zoltar household, we did not run about looking for the eggs. No, we sat and concentrated until we located them using our psychic powers. It was just as much fun without all that legwork.

We also had Easter parades, where everyone who had a cart, and a mule or horse to pull it, would decorate them in bright colors and ribbons. Fortunetellers’ carts mingled with merchants’ wagons and tradesmen’s trailers, all proudly circling in festive adornment. Those are some beautiful memories. What are your Easter memories? Here’s a video to get you reminiscing:



Oh my, those chocolate bunnies go right to my hips! Don’t forget to share your Easter recollections below. Thank you for taking the time to share. I love spending time with my Irregulars and other readers.

Want to know where that egg you never found last year is? Contact: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com

[Confidential to JM: Congratulations. 18 years, one day at a time.]

It has to warm up sooner or later, it just has to. Aren’t we supposed to be hurtling towards the sun or something? Maybe if we all lean to the south, we can tilt our planet closer to it. Come on, Sol, kick start your furnace and give us a blast. Stay warm, my dears. Blowsabella!

"Kohler takes the lid off high-end toilet"



"It does everything but wipe you.

"A lid that opens automatically as you approach? Check.

"Pulsating /oscillating bidet with integrated air dryer? Naturally.

"Adjustable-height, heated seat? But of course.

"Charcoal-filter deodorizer? Must you even ask?

"Hailing it as 'a figment of beauty and geometry' that offers 'the ultimate flushing experience,' Kohler Co. is preparing to hit the market with its latest toilet, a piece of minimalist design and high tech it calls the Numi.

"It's been four years in the making and can be yours for just $6,390. Installation is extra, but if you're handy and are watching your budget, you can always tackle that job yourself.

"'It is our most advanced toilet,' product manager Mike Marbach said. 'At Kohler Co., we are always trying to be on the leading edge, and this product is really a blend of leading-edge technology and leading-edge design, and not sacrificing one for the other.'"


$6,390? You can buy a used pickup for $6,000, spend $390 on a toilet, and start your own plumbing business. I'd be afraid to use the Numi without first taking an instructional class. Ha, toilet training, all over again.
 

Open Blog - Wednesday

  
You have to listen to Tony the Tiger.
 

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

You May Have Already Seen This Video



This was posted on Break a couple of days ago, as well as YouTube, but it turns out to be a shortened version of a video posted over a year ago on YouTube, about Cookie the Penguin at the Cincinnati Zoo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wTWWjYTe1I

In any case, I wanted to post something positive because, as others have also noted, there appears to be a dearth of good news these days. (And the poetry blog that I posted below this is none too uplifting.) At least, I hope those are positive noises coming from Cookie.

"Alone"

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.

--Edgar Allan Poe

"Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction.[1] He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.[2] "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe

An important alert just in from a friend.

Dear friends and family:

As you all know, my undergraduate degree is in Nuclear Physics, and my Masters and Ph. D. degrees are in Particle Physics.

Given the above, I thought I had an obligation to address the issue of radiation from the Japanese disaster spreading around the world.

With all the fear of radiation fallout from Japan I thought it might be useful to tell you about a cheap, effective, homemade radiation tester you can easily assemble and rely upon.

Just follow these simple instructions:

OPEN A BAG OF ORVILLE REDENBACHER MICROWAVE POPCORN.

LEAVE IT ON YOUR KITCHEN COUNTER.

IF IT STARTS POPPING, YOU'RE SCREWED!

Will happen every time:

A blind man was flying in a small plane with his brother, the pilot, when his brother suddenly clutched his chest and died.

After finally finding the radio, the blind man called for help and was answered by an air traffic controller at a nearby airport. "You've got to help me! I'm totally blind, the pilot of this plane is dead, and we are flying upside down!"

The air traffic controller answered "I understand that the pilot is dead and you are blind, but if you are blind how do you know that you are flying upside down?"

"Because I have shit running up my neck!!!"

Monday, April 18, 2011

Symmetry

A video from the fantastic team at Radio Lab.

Macbeth

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

This is one we had to learn while I was in highschool...I still don't know why...

404 error

INSTALLING SPRING...

███████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 44% DONE.
Install delayed....please wait. Installation failed.

Please try again. 404 error: Season not found. Season "Spring" cannot be located. The season you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. Please try again.

Open Blog - Monday


Pee-yew!
  

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Body Builing

WHY WHY <









Welcome to JTI Music Video Site

Gezzzzzzzzzzz.

Obscure head music

Some old favorites popped in and i thought I'd share.



A spoof on H&O


if you ask nice, I'll toss up L&M "Angry eyes."

Binge/Comfort Foods



Yeah, it's been Cracker Jacks for me lately. I was going down an aisle at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago when I overheard a woman say to her mother, "I wonder where the Cracker Jacks are?" Right away, I turned around and said, "I'll show you." That started me off on this binge. Now every night I have one, or two, or three boxes of Cracker Jacks. (They come in 3-packs, damn them!) You're lucky if you get one measly peanut at the bottom of a box these days, and the "prizes" have been litigated to irrelevancy

But before Cracker Jacks it was Oreos and before that it was ice cream and before that it was something else. Potato chips, ice cream, and chocolate seem to be the constants that rotate in and out of my comfort food lineup.

What about you? Do you have a favorite snack (or two) that you sinfully indulge, or are you a good American doing his/her part in the war on obesity?

Saturday, April 16, 2011

I'm curious

I can't help but wonder what the judge that sentenced this Mother to 10 years for neglectful drowning if he had our Ghoulish baby killer in his court room.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110416/ap_on_re_us/us_toddler_death_facebook

Really???

Wow, is it the fact that we're trying to get into the summer mode,
is it that we desperately want spring to come and STAY,
why are we getting snow?? Really??
Maybe I'm just cranky, and cold.
I just want to get better, this is not fun, I want a do over of a nice, warm,
happy time! I think that's reasonable, don't you??

More summer songs

Friday, April 15, 2011

Summer Ad Nauseum - The Jamies - "Summertime, Summertime"

I took this down, but I'm reposting it because of kk's blog below. And I found a cleaner version.

Summer songs...

Serving Alcohol Drinks to Toddlers!

Last night on the news I heard of two places that served alcohol drinks to toddlers. This really got to me and I just had to write about it. Yes my kids are a lot older but I do have a two year old great niece. This is why it scares me so much.

The first toddler is only fifteen months old lives in Michigan. The family went to Applebee's for dinner and the toddler was given a alcohol drink in a plastic glass. The waiter didn't ask which drink it was and gave the cup to the child.

The second toddler is two years old and lives in Lakeland, Florida. This family went to Olive Garden for dinner. They ordered a orange juice for the boy and got a tropical sangria instead. The boy drank most of the drink and the waiter came and said that was the wrong drink and left the table very fast. When he came back with the orange juice the mom asked what was in the glass and the waiter told her. The mom was very upset and the manager came to the table to apologize. The drink had orange juice, pineapple juice and wine in it. By the end of dinner the boy was very loud, misbehaving and his eyes were dilated and red.

Then his mom took him to the emergency room. The doctor had to give the boy an IV and checked him out. But at that time with test really couldn't tell how much alcohol was in his system. The boy went home two hours later.

The boy is doing real good and nothing seems to be wrong with him. The mom did contact an attorney about this. I don't blame her for that.

This really got to me when I seen it on the news. How can people do this to a toddler and the manager not do something about this. If this was a stronger drink they could have killed the boy. I worry about this because of my little great niece and my boyfriends granddaughter. I don't want to see this happen to any child that young out there. This is really wrong and I hope something happens with this.

Four for Fridays

Hello everyone! Welcome back to Four for Fridays after a week that dragged on and on...This week's questions are random..

1) Do you find the excessive cussing in today's music/media offensive?

2) Were you the oldest, middle or the youngest child?

3) What's your favorite kind of fruit?

4) Do you think you can handle living in the frontier times (late 1800's)?

Enjoy your weekend!

Open Blog - Friday


Hooray!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Summer song

As I posted in the post below, this song always means summer to me, not just cause of the name. It's just a throw open the windows and crank it up going 65 song. Satch is a guitar god, and Stu Hamm, is no slouch on the bass as well!

Summer music??

I know it's not quite summer, heck it's barely spring, but anytime I finally get the sun and some weather that I can get outside to play in I automatically jump into summer mode. On these first few days I have to play certain music that reminds me of summer. One of the albums I play is Dave Matthews Band Crash. For whatever reason I am put into that happy chipper fully energetic mood that I rarely get anytime of the year other than the summer months.. One of the songs really puts me in a summer feeling, reminds me of driving around in my 1987 Mercury Cougar with the windows down and driving around singing my heart out. I can feel the warmth, feel the freedom of just driving, can see the scenery go by. The song is Two Step from the same album.



Another song from that album probably the hit of this album as it's the name of the album is Crash.



It took me a few years to actually read through and truly listen to the lyrics, it's an incredibly seductive and sensual song. Brings me to those hot summer nights (oh my am I blushing a little).

There are other albums that are specifically summer albums such as Alanis Morissette Jagged Little Pill, U2 Achtung Baby and Venus Hum Big Beautiful Sky.

Do you have songs or certain artists that really pick you up or specifically listen to during the summers and nice weather??

Tom Tom Club - "Wordy Rappinghood" (Live @ Summer Sonic '09)

As long as we're talking about words . . .

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

"The Power of Words"



"The power of words" - a theme that's been recurring lately on the JTI. Synchronicity?
 

I Took the Plunge – No TV

Well, it’s more like I was pushed over the edge by economics. I couldn’t afford my Time Warner Cable bill anymore. I will cut back on food before I will give up Road Runner Turbo, so something had to give. Dropping television halved my bill. I might have been able to afford RR and the Basic Tier of TV service, which essentially are the broadcast channels, but I haven’t watched them in years. (Except, I’ve watched channel 19 for some oldies - I’ll miss The Untouchables.) On the cable channels, I mostly watched movies, Comedy Central, Adult Swim (Cartoon Network), and the History Channel (less and less as they added more and more reality shows). I can get movies from the library, and the rest are available online.

I have a buddy in Milwaukee who has an antenna on his roof and pulls in some nice channels. I don’t have that option. I live in an old apartment building that was retrofitted with cable. Each apartment has its own jack. I’m on a lower floor. Anyway, my computer’s TV tuner card and the TV in the bedroom are analog, so I would need converter boxes, and, again, only to pull in broadcast channels.

A big stumbling block in making this decision has been psychological. I’ve lived with television my entire life. I’m part of the first TV generation. As a child, I was often left alone with the TV. TV is one of my parents. I’ve been telling myself that I need instant access to news in case of another situation like 9/11, or worse. But, in reality, CNN.com covers it just as well as CNN the cable channel. In a dire emergency, my neighbor is right next door and he has two TVs. I have a key to the place (for feeding his cat) and he has said I can stop by anytime I need a TV fix.

I recently got into it, again, with TWC over service issues, so that helped me make this decision, too. I’ll see how it goes. If I go into withdrawal, I may add the Basic Tier back to my services. I think, though, that this may be the next step in my evolution into a creature of the internet. For the past few weeks, I’ve had classical music playing online all day long. It has set a new tone to my apartment. Maybe the lack of exposure to TV will turn out to be a good thing.

My Revue on Johnny Cash!

I decided this morning to write about Johnny Cash. I really like a lot of his music. I also grew up listening to his music with my parents. I know it is his deep voice that gets to me and the southern drawl.

Johnny was born on February 26th, 1932 in Kingsland, Arkansas. He passed away on September 12th, 2003 at the age of 71. He was the third child of seven children.

The style of music for Johnny Cash is Country, Rock, Rockabilly, Folk and Blues. He does vocals and plays the guitar and harmonica.


Johnny always looked up to his older brother Jack growing up. At the age of 5 Johnny was working in the cotton field with his family. Johnny's brother Jack worked at a saw mill in town. One day when Jack was 15 he was at work at the saw mill he was almost cut in half. He was pulled in a whirling head saw. This day Jack and Johnny were suppose to go fishing. But Jack wanted to go to work to make money for the family.

Johnny was inspired by Gospel music at a very early age. As a young boy he began to play the guitar and writing music. In high school he sang on a local radio station and later he released an album called My Mother's Hymn Book.

Johnny enlisted in the United States Air Force. His basic training was in San Antonio, Texas. Then he was transferred to Germany. He was honorably discharged from the service in 1954.

He was arrested seven times but never had to spend time in prison. He did have to spend a night in jail a couple of times. This was when his career was taking off and he was drinking heavily and started to take amphetamines and barbiturates. His friends would joke around and say he is really nervous. But this was how bad he was on the drugs. He would have to take uppers to stay awake during a show. He has tried every drug there was to try.

Johnny was married to Vivian and they had four girls. Then they divorced and he married June Carter and they had a boy. Johnny and Vivian moved to Memphis and he was selling appliances before his career took off. One day he went to audition for Sam Phillips and he sang gospel. Sam told him that gospel wasn't selling at the time. So Johnny played one of his country songs and Sam signed him on.

Folsom Prison Blues was on the top five list the next one was Walk The Line that went to number one on the country charts. This was just the start of the many hit songs that Johnny would have in his career.

Then he had his own t.v. show called The Johnny Cash Show this was in 1969-1971. He had special guests like Carl Perkins, The Carter Family, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan and Kenny Rogers are some of the people he had on the show. He also had Kris Kristofferson on the show and help him get his singing and song writing career going.

in the early 70's he started to perform in black. The reason for him wearing the black was for the poor, hungry the people in prison and the Vietnam war. That is how he had gotten the name The Man In Black.

In 1980 Johnny was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. By my surprise to find out he was the youngest person to be inducted. In the mid 80's he recorded and tour with the Highwaymen. It was Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson. In 1988 Johnny had a double by pass surgery.

In 1993 Johnny sang with U2's album Zooropa the song The Wanderer. Johnny also teamed up with Brooks & Dunn to sing Folsom Prison Blues on the Red Hot & Country for Aids Benefit. He also sang the Bob Dylan favorite Forever Young. Johnny and June had many special guest apperances on Dr. Quinn show. Johnny also enlisted the accompaniment of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Unchained. Then won Best Country Album at the Grammy.

In 1997 he was diagnosed with neurodegenitive disease, sky-drager syndrome a form of Parkinson's disease. Later Altered to autonomic neuropathy associated with diabetes. The albums American III Solitary Man & American IV The Man Comes Around is the way he is responding to his illness in the form of songs. The video Hurt fits the veiw of his past feelings of regret.

Right before June passed away she told him to keep working. Then two months after she passed away Johnny went to the Carter Family Fold in Virginia. Then right before he sang The Ring of Fire he read a statement that he had just written. " The spirit of June Carter shadows over me tonight with the love she had for me and the love I have for her. We connect somewhere between here and heaven. She came down for a short visit  I guess, From heaven to visit me tonight to give me courage and inspiration like she always has.

He is in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Rockabilly Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He also has numerous awards. He has had a awesome career and some of his kids are following in his and June's footsteps with the music. He does have a lot of great music out there and I know I really didn't mention a lot of that. I am really sorry about that.

I just hope you do like this revue about Johnny Cash and I look forward to you comments.

Johnson pleads "Not Guilty."

Here is a song for the tossed aside children, the fall out from the moneyed and powerful. Once again, the JT is not allowing posts.

"Not Intended to be a factual statement"

That's the new term for what most people call "lying". Although I guess this one applies only to when you do it on the floor of the Senate.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Jon Kyl Tweets Not Intended to Be Factual Statements
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire BlogVideo Archive


And don't forget to check out the very funny twitter feed.

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my luscious lilies of the valley! How are you? We’ve finally had some gorgeous, sunny days. I am so grateful. It’s reinvigorating to see little green shoots popping up everywhere. I have no idea of what it’s like in Romania right now, but springtime in Racine is not to be missed. Soon our local tulip trees will be blooming. They’re so showy that it’s almost sinful. Oh my. I seem to be seeing fewer birds than in previous years, but maybe that’s just me, or my neighborhood. How about you? I love our flying friends. And so do my cats.

I’ve read about the troubles in regard to Great Lakes BrewFest and DP Wigley Co’s ‘Hop To It’ and their homebrew customers. I’m sure that something will be worked out to accommodate all of the parties concerned. Racine is blessed with some of the finest entrepreneurs and they are dedicated to our city heart and soul. Bless them all. We will find a way to legally promote events like BrewFest and encourage the people who work so hard on them. Thank you all for your efforts.

I know that “my” candidate for mayor of Racine did not win. Mr. Dickert has some powerful mojo on his side. As near as I can tell, it’s imported, probably some of that Haitian or African voodoo. No worries. Madame Zoltar can overcome that. It will take some time, but I guarantee I can neutralize the effect. Then we will see how fate deals with Mr. Dickert.

Of course, the ongoing devastation in Japan keeps us transfixed. Again, I’m sending all the positive psychic energy that way that I can, as are other psychics that I know. Of course, millions across the world are also praying for the Japanese people. That kind of destruction is Mother Nature at her worst. That is why I try to avoid her at all costs. You never know what might set her off. She’s kind of like our Mr. OrbsCorbs in that way. Tee-hee.

And speaking of Mr. OrbsCorbs, no, I still have not seen hide nor hair of him (not that there’s much hair to see) since he learned that I did not win the lottery. Humph!

In keeping with the season, here’s a 1929 Silly Symphony cartoon from Walt Disney entitled “Springtime:”



Thank you for reading my blog today. I value your visit and love all of my readers. It’s reassuring to spend time with friends and share some thoughts. The pleasure is all mine.

Send your spring greetings to: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

Enjoy the wonderful season, my beloved Irregulars. It feels good just to have the sun shine on our faces again. Get out and get going, my lovelies. Jentacular!

The Sex Pistols - "Pretty Vacant"



Remember these guys? They seem pretty tame now.
 

Open Blog - Wednesday


I hope that we all do.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Penis Museum Gets Human Member

It turns out that there is a museum for everything. It turns out Iceland is the proud home of the Iceland Phallological Museum. That's a fancy way of saying Penis Museum.

They have penises from a large variety of mammals, but just recently added their first human penis. The penis formerly belonged to Pall Arason who passed away recently at the age of 95 (so it's an old human penis) which probably looks small compared to the 67 inch sperm whale penis on display.

I thought I had found a strange one when I found the Chamber Pot Museum as part of the Zentrum fur Aussgergewoehnliche Museen (Center for the Unusual Museums) in Munich. Yeah, I went, I saw chamber pots of the rich and insane monarchs of Europe. Iceland has upped the ante on unusual museums.

Journal Times Lies for Dickert Again


That's right, first quarter home sales for last year were 348, and this year they were 316.  That is UP for the Journal Times.  You have to read the story to find out that they are comparing today's sales to those of two years ago.  This is deliberately misleading.  I am so sick of these out of town swine lying for Dickert.

Can the citizens of a city sue a newspaper for reporting lies to them, lies that lead them to make the wrong decisions?  If our newspaper won't report the facts, how the hell are we supposed to know what's going on?

Party on, lying pigs!

Btw, here's a link to a real news story that tells the truth: http://www.jsonline.com/business/119629239.html

Monday, April 11, 2011

"Cat and Dolphins playing together"



Now there's something you don't see every day. The cat looks a lot like my Charlie.
 

Ready fior a new dog.

Two years ago I had to put my little buddy down. It devastated me. I had never held a dog while it was put to sleep, and Hay was my constant companion. We did EVERYTHING together. He had more than 60,000 motorcycle miles under him in the sidecar. We'd go camping on the bike every year. He went grocery shopping and even in restaurants with me. My pack animal pal. It hurt badly when his kidneys failed and I needed time before I could think about another. It's time.

If you guys come across a female Yorkshire terrier, please let me know. I am not interested in a Boutique Yorkie mongrel. Yorki-poo, Shiz-Yorki, Morky, or Mutt-orkies need not apply. Well, if the owner is reasonable, sure, but not a $450 mutt. I can go to the Humane Society if I really want a mongrel. The new dog will be my Pal/working dog as Hay was. I'm willing to pay for an AKC pure bred, and know quality isn't cheap, but as I said, a cross breed isn't something I'll drop $$$ for.

Help my find my new Pack Mate working buddy.

Key costs

I tend to ,lose my keys so my BIL the Locksmith makes a copy and keeps them on hand in case i do an oh shit. I took my latest car key to him thinking metal key, plastic fob, cheap copy. oh my word! Plastic don't mean plastic anymore for a key end/handle/grab part. it's electronic. Riiiight. "It's plastic.' I told him. "Nope," says he, "It's all electronic."

The last time I saw an "electronic key" there were small old contacts and the electronics were obvious. He showed me a clear plastic end demo key and there is some electronics in it. A small radio frequency thingie. You can't take one of these keys in and expect your local hardware store to grind the profile and expect it to work. It's a involved process that includes a rip out to the car and programming the new key to the car.

The key blank is $16 his cost, the grinding and programming get tacked on. Mind blowing. It's damned good thing I make some Pinto Bean soup he LOVES. heh, it's even better I took a few bowls of it out to him with the key! LOL A real eye opener on the way the world is changing and we never realize. The last key he cut the blank was less than a buck.

Health Tip

Open Blog - Monday


If you can afford it, sleep is a better antidote to Monday than coffee

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Sunday Night Green Flashes

Just a few quick shots of sunset tonight. First, a small mock mirage flash above the Sun. Wish I had a little higher res on this one...they are pretty small but it's always a treat to get them before sunset.



Now a few shots of the sunset proper with the usual series of flashes behind different peaks on the mountains.



Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

It's National Library Week, April 10-16, 2011

Woot! I libraries. Here's a link to the American Library Association's webpage on National Library Week: http://www.ala.org/ala/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/natlibraryweek/index.cfm

The Racine Public Library is also holding some special events to mark the occasion. Here's the Journal Times story on that: http://www.journaltimes.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/article_973bcf58-6248-11e0-a11f-001cc4c03286.html

Go out and hug a library today.

Friday, April 8, 2011

"WestJet introduces state-of-the-art money-saving feature"



Better late than never.
 

U.S. Pharmacy Card

My gastroenterologist prescribed a drug for me that my insurance doesn't cover. It costs $83 for a month's worth. Ouch. The first time, my sister paid for it. When it came time to renew, I decided not to do it because I can't afford it. Then a young woman at my pharmacy (Aurora on Erie St.) told me about an Rx card that could help. It's free, it's not insurance, enrollment is instantaneous, and it brought the price of my prescription down from $83 to $28.

It's called the U.S. Pharmacy Card and anyone can get one. Check it out: http://www.uspharmacycard.com/

Four for Fridays

Hello everybody! Welcome back to Four for Fridays after a rather difficult week. This week's thought busters are random.

1) What song is the most personal to you?

2) What TV/movie character best describes you?

3) When was the last you were in a courtroom?

4) Who's your favorite cartoon character?

Enjoy your weekend!

Open Blog - Friday

zwani.com myspace graphic comments


Cried? I would have had a nervous breakdown.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Sigur Ros - "Glósóli"

I just happened to be checking out Madame Zoltar's profile (http://www.blogger.com/profile/04522974421889831986), when I noticed that her audio clip links to the song below. I think it's beautiful.

Walker at DeltaHawk

I went to get some pictures of the protesters and King Ding Dong himself. Unfortunately I was on Golf Ave along with some protesters and he went in the airport off Eaton Ln then drove down to DeltaHawk which borders the airport.

I drove over to Eaton Ln and wouldn’t ya know, they left on Golf...dang! Although, I did take some pictures of the protesters; there weren’t very many, almost as many cops as protesters...Laugh’in.


"Bivouac on a Mountainside"

I see before me now a traveling army halting,
                     Below a fertile valley spread, with barns and the orchards of summer,
                     Behind, the terraced sides of a mountain, abrupt, in places rising high,
                     Broken, with rocks, with clinging cedars, with tall shapes dingily seen,
                     The numerous camp-fires scatter'd near and far, some away up on the mountain,
                     The shadowy forms of men and horses, looming, large-sized, flickering,
                     And over all the sky--the sky! far, far out of reach, Studded, breaking out, the
                     eternal stars.

--Walt Whitman

"Walter 'Walt' Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse.[1] His work was very controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sexuality."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Whitman

"Scott Brown reacts to suicide at Cape Cod camp"



"Officials: Suicide victim at Cape Cod camp was employee accused of abuse"

"SANDWICH – An employee of a Christian summer camp on Cape Cod shot himself to death today just days after he became the focus of a criminal investigation into allegations that he sexually abused a camper during the 1980s, officials said."



"I've felt guilty long enough." Hear, hear.  I congratulate Senator Brown on his courage.
 

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Banned by the Journal Times, Again

 
Your Journal Times user account (OrbsCorbs) was banned by one of our editors today,  April 6, for violating our Terms of Service.

You can appeal in 30 days from the date of your ban, and if you say you agree to follow our Terms of Service, your account will be reactivated.

If you have any questions, you can contact one of our editors by email:  techguy@JournalTimes.com


Brenda Wishau
Online Programmer
The Journal Times
Phone: 262.631.1735


And I don't even know why.

:-(

I don't remember posting anything particularily obnoxious, although I did refer to Racine as the Pedo Capital of the USA.

Oh well. It's been one of those kinds of days. I wonder if OrbsO'Corbs' account is still active?

:-P

Binge drinking



Another UW Student has died from “Binge Drinking”. The student fell down the basement stairs.


http://www.fox6now.com/news/witi-20110405-uwm-student-dies,0,4801367.story

Definition of Binge Drinking as listed by Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Binge drinking is defined as episodic excessive drinking. There is currently no world wide consensus on how many drinks constitute a "binge", but in the USA, the term is often taken to mean consuming five or more standard drinks (male), or four or more drinks (female), in about two hours for a typical adult

I feel the problem with binge dinking is not the deaths even though they are tragic, but the idiots who drive drunk after binge dinking.

I have been around for some time now and still cannot understand how so many people get arrested for 4, 5, 10 times for drunken driving.

I think that anyone who is arrested multiple times, their vehicles should be impounded by the court and sold!

Additionally, If the spouse has a vehicle and allows the drunk to take it, he or she should be arrest and their vehicle should then be confiscated!

There has to be a way to get the multiple drunk drives off the road.

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my diaphanous daffodils! How are you? Surprise, I’m baaack!

Oh my, what a story. The “lottery” that I “won” was a scam. I couldn’t believe it at first. I was devastated. Thank God that Mr. OrbsCorbs was there or I might have fallen for it. He appeared at my front door right after I announced that I’d won the money. Mr. OrbsCorbs offered to help pack, clean, or do whatever he could to be useful in the preparation for our move to Romania. He also seemed to pay a lot of personal attention to me (tee-hee), but I know that sudden wealth might have something to do with that. (I found his vague hints at marriage to be unsettling, though.)

While we were making preparations, I received a telephone call from the same gentleman who had called previously to tell me that I had won. He was inquiring about the “earnest money,” and giving me directions on where to send it. I told him that I had no idea of what he was talking about. He said, “It’s right there, printed on the back of your ticket. You must put up $5,000 earnest money as a show of good faith and your intention to come to Romania to claim your prize and live here for at least the next five years."

I panicked. I’ll be honest with you, my dears, I don’t even remember buying a ticket for the Romanian Psychic Lottery. I’m not sure I ever did. When the man called to tell me that I had won $30 million, I wasn’t going to quibble over details. I thought perhaps the lottery was conducted psychically and I had been selected through the ether. In any case, I didn’t have $5,000 lying around. We had already purchased our airline tickets and had to rent out a lot of storage space for our belongings until we were settled in Romania and could send for them. The house was going up for sale, with some of the furniture still in it, but I wasn’t going to sell the business. That meant I had to hire on a manager at more costs.

I told the gentleman that I would need some time to get the money together and he said that he would call again the following day. Oh my. I just didn’t know what to do. At that point, Mr. OrbsCorbs came into the room to ask me if some items were to be put in storage, or shipped with us. He looked at me and said, “Madame, you don’t look too well. Is anything wrong?” Oh dear. I told him about the phone call and the $5,000 and being broke. And I cried. Mr. OrbsCorbs was so consoling. He gave me a great big hug and let me cry on his shoulder for awhile, and then he said, “You know, I think this lottery thing is a scam.” “What?” I said as I pushed back from him. Mr. OrbsCorbs went on to explain about how ruthless telephone scammers ask people to provide money upfront to claim some ”winnings” or “inheritance” or deserted bank account. I was still skeptical. So he offered to take me to the Racine Police Department where we could talk to an officer about it. No thanks! My kind has a built-in aversion to the police.

Finally, Mr. Orbscorbs suggested that I contact some of my psychic friends in the area to see if they, too, had “won” the Romanian Psychic Lottery. I felt foolish at first, but Mr. OrbsCorbs egged me on. So I called, and the very first psychic that I contacted said that she, too, had been informed that she’d won the lottery. She had not yet received any “earnest money” call, though. I was shocked. So I called all of the psychics that I know here. In total, 29 had been contacted and told that they had won the “lottery.” Of those, 14 had already received the call about providing “earnest money.” And of those, sadly, three had already wired money, in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. Oh my, oh my. If Mr. OrbsCorbs hadn’t alerted me to this scam, I don’t know what would have happened. Thank you so much, Mr. OrbsCorbs. Thank you.

And me, a professional psychic, and I didn’t see through this? That is what happens when greed clouds your heart and your vision. Junior is devastated, too, because he won’t be a teenage millionaire playboy on Romania’s nude beaches. Well, I learned a lot from this experience, mainly that old saw, “If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

I hope that all of my dear Irregulars will accept the newly-humbled me back into the fold of your loving embrace. I wanted to reply to all of your lovely farewell comments in my last blog, but I couldn't because I was crying too hard.  I started having nightmares about you right after I wrote that blog. The emotional stress of leaving here, even temporarily, was almost too much for me to bear. It’s like I was created to do just this. So I hope that you don’t mind if I hop back into the spot of the JTI’s official prognosticator. Unless, of course, you’ve already replaced me. If you have, please notify me, and I’ll scratch the bitch’s eyes out, oh, no, I mean, we can “discuss” matters.

Please send your lucky lottery numbers to: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

[Confidential to JD:  Those who make deals with the Devil get burnt permanently.]

I love you, I love you, I love you, my dear Irregulars. I am so happy to be back with you. It would have been nice to be rich with a lot of money, but here in Racine I am so much richer with a lot friends. May we never part again. Spring is beginning to sproing. Pay attention. The plants will be putting on the greatest show on earth. Anagnorisis!

Open Blog - Wednesday


It's definitely helping!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Jesus Toasters



http://jesustoasters.com/

Only $39.95. Who thinks of this stuff?

SICK PAY

There has been controversy over sick pay where some groups/voters claim business should be required to offer sick pay.

Talking with several individuals the range of sick pay they receive at their jobs varies substantially, anywhere from 3 to 7 in a rolling year.

My question is: “should a business be “REQUIRED BY LAW” to offer sick pay?



The Story Behind the DP Wigley Co Brew-ha-ha

A few days ago I blogged about the recent happenings at DP Wigley Co where a fundraiser featuring homebrew was stopped:
http://www.jtirregulars.com/2011/04/beer-brew-that-made-milwaukee-famous.html

JTI Special Correspondent Clint Teeters has looked further into this matter and has filed this report:

"I emailed the mayor and asked why the fundraiser was stopped at DP Wigley.  City Administrator Tom Friedel replied:

Mr. Teeters,

Thank you for communicating with the city on this matter.   The mayor asked me to respond on his behalf.  In a separate email, I have contacted Mark Flynn of D. P. Wigley

Last Friday the City Clerk’s office received an anonymous report (with a flyer) that the Belle City Homebrewers were planning to offer free beer samples at D.P. Wigley during the First Friday event.  We corresponded with the owners of the business, citing state statute 125.06, concerning home brewing.
125.06 License and permit exceptions. No license or permit is required under this chapter for:
 (3) Homemade wine or fermented malt beverages.
The manufacture of wine or fermented malt beverages of any alcoholic content by any person at his or her home, farm or place of residence if the wine or fermented malt beverages is to be consumed by that person or his or her family and  guests, and if the person manufacturing the wine or fermented malt beverages receives no compensation.
The key words here are, “to be consumed at his or her home, farm or place of residence”.  Clearly the D.P. Wigley site does not fall under any of those categories for exception.  We felt it was our obligation to inform the owners that a complaint was made and remind them of the law.
Mr. Flynn responded that we were making an incorrect interpretation of the law, so we contacted the state commerce department asking for advice on this particular situation.  They responded that there were two additional statutes that governed this situation.
125.09 prohibits consumption in public places and 125.315 prohibits commercially giving it away.  Unlicensed business cannot do either.
The statutes cited are state laws, not city policies.  The city did not close down the event, but made the owners aware of the state law, so that if they were confronted by an officer attempting to enforce the law, they would not be surprised.  When the city receives complaints from citizens it has an obligation to respond.  We regret that this situation caused the Belle City Homebrewers to cancel their worthwhile event and that our call to them was given on short notice, but those circumstances were beyond our control.
In an effort to find a solution to what happened last Friday and for the Great Lakes Brewfest, we suggest that the club contact an elected state representative to ask for a change in the statutes that would accommodate events that clubs like yours would like to hold.  Statute 125.51(10) allows for temporary licensing and could be modified to include home brewing clubs.  The city would be happy to work with your organization to advance changes in this statute.

If you would like to discuss this further, please contact me directly,

Tom

Thomas Friedel
City Administrator
730 Washington Ave.
Racine, WI 53403
262-619-2540

"Yours truly, Clint Teeters."

Thank you JTI Special Correspondent Clint Teeters for your exhaustive investigation and extensive research  into this story.

"125.09 prohibits consumption in public places"  Does this mean the end of the 4th of July as we know it?

Please report in on your voting experience. Ward or municipality and voter number. Crowded or empty? Anything weird happen or was it smooth sailing. Please remember to make your voice heard. This is one of our most precious privilages as citizens.

Commercial for Touch Wood SH-08C Cell Phone



Some of the commercials are better than the TV shows.

"Notice of claim against the City…in black and white"

"5:14 p.m. – I received permission from the Claimant and the attorney handling this. Here is the Notice of Claim that was filed against the City of Racine this past Friday. This is the first of about 5 contractors that will be filings claims.



Party on, lying John!

Vote Today!


There are many races being decided today in our area, including Mayor of Racine, County Executive, three RUSD board seats, a state Supreme Court seat, three RUSD referendums, and numerous other races specific to your local ward/village/township/whatever.

It is imperative that we vote.  Hundreds of thousands of valiant men and women have given their lives to protect our right to vote.  Please exercise that right and add your voice to our democratic process.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

The Cyclotrope



No tricks, no CGI, no sleight of hand; just a bicycle wheel, your eyes, and your brain.

Also available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyBpt3VrBNg