i found this on a site i keep an eye on, and for some inexplicable reason, the post that had the link was pulled, which for the person who posted it originally, is extremely ODD. (he's high on the list of Dumbass pointer-outer-of-mistakers-to-us-idiot-masses)

now, i can't say that univision is a bastion of journalistic integrity, but it is certainly interesting. and rather believable as i can see Dumbass thinking this way. bablefish it if you can't read spanish for the basic translation.

it will be interesting to see if it is true, but as i haven't seen it posted anywhere else, i'll wait until i see confirmation of this before laughing too hard. i wonder if this kid/jackass wandered around the property in question...

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a quiet footnote in history

fred the baker has died. i certainly remember the commercials, but i actually have a little story about him, so i figure this is a proper forum for it.

years ago, he used to live down in stockbridge (prolly best known for the Normon Rockwell Museum), and i had a friend who's mother had a little bakery (specialized in muffins) in lenox, so when SS was working there (cheap, child labor type situation), mr. vale would stop in from time to time for some muffins and would chat with him and his mom. apparently, he had a low opinion of the donuts that dunkin' was making, so i always found added humor in the commercials after hearing that.

time to make the donuts indeed...

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quick update

i figure i should put something up here so that those very few of you who actually manage to waste your time reading my drivel can have a brief sense of what is going on in my relatively lowly and pathetic life.

item: my vpn connection to work is really screwed up right now and i don't know why. i can make it work, but the hoops i have to jump thru to make it work are irritating. but then i'm sposed to be on vaca, so why am i bothering to care? good question.

item: RB had to call me twice about the phones. someone decided that the receptionist could go home early on xmas, so she wanted the phone forwarded to the answering service. in the past before we got the new phones, it wasn't an issue. now that we have new phones, it's an issue and RB was stuck, so he called me and i helped him sift thru things, but in the end, RB was able to find the solution, so he gets an extra chocolate chip cookie with his milk. then there were issues the following day with our Wells office not forwarding to the answering service, but the main office. after fussing with things (and this is when i discovered the vpn issues), again, RB was able to come to the rescue, so he gets an extra cookie for the next 2 days.

item: the entire family was together for the first time for xmas in several years. it's been at least 4 years since we were all together for xmas, so mom was pleased as hell. me, i felt like my brother was an intruder and that he shouldn't be here. dog was dog, and discovered that he likes the real egg nog (cream, sugar, eggs, rum, none of this cooked stuff). he tends to be underfoot and mom spilled a little accidentally. she cleaned up most, but there were a few spots she missed and he found. he went from being attentive to full bore attentive with ears in full "oh boy do i like that!" perk very quickly.

item: found out a little more about mom's side of the family. insanity really does run in the family, so that may help explain why i can be so fucked up at times. heard a few funny stories about my uncle (whom i have not spoken to/with since 1988) when he was a kid. learned a little more about my grandfather who died when i was 2. found out that i made my great aunt very sick when i visited her for the first and last time.

item: xmas presents were fairly laid back, a few useful things, a few whimsical things, nothing overly exciting. i can stuff them all into my new tool box which is useful (as my current one is having issues).

well, time for bed. i can't sleep in today as i have stuff i need to do in the morning. i'll see about filling in some of the details after i get home tomorrow.

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hahahaha....

by pure random chance (i swear):

In the year 2006 I resolve to: Download twice as much music as last year. Get your resolution here

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fucking jackass

i still remember him as a halfass monkey boy anchor for fox 5 news in NYC. he sucked them, he sucks even more now.

merry xmas you fucking wingnut.

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what a fucking nutjob.

if by some chance this is made permanent, i suggest to Mr. Letterman that CBS blackout his show down in Santa Fe.

maybe he should start doing that now....

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oooooooo....

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damn that's fucking funny. kudos! (and congrats to the happy couple)

now that was pretty fucking cool too. made a pilgrimage to the land of newbury because i needed to pick up the afore mentioned items by Tool. just listened to both of the Lustmord mixes of Schism (20 min) and Parabol (11 min, no Parabola mix) and both are very cool and different, taking elements of the song, but more in a secondary way. Schism actually takes nearly 10 minutes before we get the first real hints of the song.

didn't listen to the comentary for Schism (David Yow i think), but Jello is pretty funny. both songs have a dual commentary thing where one commentary is on the left channel, and another on the right channel. Jello was his always entertaining self, and for part of it, his commentary is nearly in sync, talking about record labels and how he interpreting the imagery. pretty funny stuff.

and the best news was on the packaging, where it says that there will be a new album in Spring 2006. WOO HOO! finally. but when i saw that, i started thinking that when Salival (to quote Maynard - JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!) came out, it was almost exactly 5 years ago to the day (5 years 8 days). that certainly bodes well for a spring release of

happy happy joy joy.

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holy shit!

it took a LOOOOOOONG time, but it's finally here. and if that wasn't enuff (because it never is), this is coming at the same time.

WOO HOO!

i love this band.

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holiday spam

To One and all of my Good E-mail buds:

As the holidays approach, my heartfelt appreciation goes out to all of you who have taken the time and trouble to send me forwards over the past 12 months. Thank you for making me feel safe, secure, blessed, and wealthy.

• Extra thanks to whoever sent me the one about rat crap in the glue on envelopes 'cause I now have to go get a wet towel every time I need to seal an envelope.
  
• Also, I scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason. Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.
  
• I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put "Under God" on their cans.
  
• I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.
  
• I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.
  
• I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.
  
• I no longer go to shopping malls because someone might drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.
  
• I no longer receive packages from nor send packages by UPS or Fed Ex since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.
  
• I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore, and Uzbekistan.
  
• I no longer eat KFC because their "chickens" are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.
  
• I no longer have any sneakers -- but that will change once I receive my free replacement pair from Nike.
  
• I no longer have to buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe.
  
• I no longer worry about my soul because at last count I have 363,214 angels looking out for me.
  
• Thanks to you, I have learned that God only answers my prayers if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.
  
• I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl who is about to die in the hospital (for the 1,387,258th time)
  
• I no longer have any money at all - but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special email tracking program.
  
• Yes, I want to thank you so much for looking out for me that I will now return the favor! If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 7 minutes, a large pigeon with a wicked case of diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM (CDT) this afternoon. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next-door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician....

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today was fun

after a nutso opening, 2 friday day off storms (snow and snow/sleet/ice), i have finally experienced Ikea. i've seen the catalog (which i forgot to grab on the way out, oh well, i'll be back) but never actually been to Ikea before, and i didn't know quite what to expect. all i've heard is that they are always busy, and most of the stuff isn't bad.

so bright and early, M picked me up and we headed south to pick up F and the 3 of us were headed go Ikea. the first order of business was to get something to eat, and as it happens, Ikea has a restaurant. cafeteria style, but for $0.99, you get scrambled eggs, home fries and bacon. and it's pretty good, and rather filling. so, for short money, we had a full bfast w/coffee and juice (lingonberry, i liked it). a quick pit stop and off we went. it's a VERY big store with LOTS AND LOTS of stuff to look at. some of it quite nice, some, less nice, some a little overly country (but if you like that look, i'm sure it's very nice), some of it nifty, and all in all, a lot of it very affordable. and i even managed to get some presents for mom.

i'm not sure quite how to describe it, other than it's quite an experience the first time you go to ikea. there's a ton of stuff to take in, and for the most part, it's actually pretty nice. i liked some of the kitchens they had set up. picked up a new paper towel thing (we'll see how long it takes me not to cut myself), some roman shades for the bedroom ($7 each!), and a few other odds and ends. now i need to start looking around and see what i may want to look for.

so after we paid for our stuff, i brought it out to the car, and we headed upstairs for lunch. the swedish meatballs w/gravy and lingonberries was quite tasty. so was the salmon and lox and deserts. so we finally left ikea at ~230. we got there just before 10am. like i said, it's a BIG store. very cool tho. i can certainly see why people like it so much. and i certainly don't mind putting stuff together.

afterwards, we went to see The Chronicles of Narnia. i wasn't sure i wanted to see it or not, but i enjoyed it. i haven't read the book, so i can't say how faithful it is to the book, but it was certainly quite entertaining (in the good way). i liked the gryphons. the battle scene was hard not to compare to Lord of the Rings, and M thought the coronation scene reminded her of Star Wars (w/o the wookie roar). but all of us enjoyed it, and if you get a chance to see it, it's worth seeing. and the beavers were certainly very nicely done. they were funny :)

dinner at bugaboo where we had to endure 2 1/2 birthday claps (2 next to us, 1 on the other side of the restaurant, hence the 1/2) so it wasn't that bad. dinner wasn't bad. steak and baked tater.

and home we went. got a real xmas tree from the landlords (it's a 12" colorado spruce) w/bon bons. it's nice because M&i hadn't gotten around to setting up and decorating my tree, so i'll use this instead. i'll pull a few ornaments out, but this year i'm not going fancy.

and now i'm tired. it's been a long day.

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because he accomplished his goals.

MY ASS.

i have a fairly low opinion of the governor here in massychooshits (certainly doesn't help that he's a mormon republican). but last night (to no one's suprise), he announced that he was not going to run for re-election as governor of mass. it wasn't stated explicitly, but the strong belief is he will now attempt to run for president to succeed The Monkey Fuhrer.

that's fine. i'm glad he isn't going to try and campaign for president while in office, but what pissed me off was how he says that he accomplished everything he set out to do. is that so? how fucking shortsighted are you? if you are going to try and run for president, are you going to only look forward to the next 4 years? and then make an announcement that you've done all you set out to do and call it quits after 1 term? positions like this (or the presidency) require you to take a LONG TERM look ahead.

it has always been my understanding that the chief executive (of anything, state, country, business) that part of your job was to the help secure the future of the country/state/commonwealth/business. that you were responsible to to continue to come up with ideas that help bring success to the country/state/commonwealth/business. short term goals are fine, but what happens afterwards?

i look at even The Monkey Fuhrer (as scary as it sounds) and for all that i really don't like him, he (ok, the puppetmaster cheney) has ideas that he'd like to see us move in long after he is out of office. the president of the organization where i work isn't looking forward to just next year, but she is looking forward to the continued success of our organization 5 and 10 years out. regardless of whether she is there or not 5 or 10 years from now. look at private colleges. look at private schools. the headmaster of my high school isn't looking to just the next year. but 5 and 10 and 20 years down the road. the success of the school years from now depend on decisions and ideas he make now.

it is your responsibility to secure the future of the commonwealth mitt, and you failed. you say you love this job. bullshit. the only long term goal you have succeeded in is using the office of governor to place you into a better position to run for president.

so thanks for leaving us with our pants around our ankles. fuck you very much mitt. and if it came down to it, i'd even consider voting for hillary over you....

now i feel dirty...

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hahahaha....

it had to happen sooner or later.

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oy....

i got a copy of the U2 show in Hartford the other night (12/7, excellent recording, thank you DF for getting a great recording of the show), and i am scanning thru it to hear bits and pieces and i reached 'Sunday Bloody Sunday', and of course the moment the drums start, the crowd goes nuts, but then Bono says what i've heard him say a few times now, that the song is no longer an Irish song. it's now America's song so i skipped forward a little bit and they throw in a little bit of 'Rock the Casbah' (the well known chorus mostly) and Bono slows things down to talk about how he saw some grafitti in the mid-west and the image tattooed itself on the back of his eyes. a simple word -

coexist

only the 'c' is a cresent moon, the 'x' the star of david and the 't' a christian cross. if you look around the web, you'll find the image as it's not too hard to find. you may even find a shot of Bono kneeling on the stage with a blindfold with that on. he then went on to point out that Jesus, Jew and Mohammad (his phrasing) are all sons of Abraham, so that it's really nothing more than a family feud. it then sounds like he brings a little kid up on stage (end of the elipse?) who he has scream out 'NO MORE' and then he asks the kid his name, and judging by his reaction, Bono nearly fell over.

the kid he brought up was named Jacob.

'Sunday Bloody Sunday' really is our song now. and for whatever reason, it really hit me that it is our song...

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(not so) Random Pictures of the moment

the first picture i posted this morning was taken at 10am.

135pm: the grey spots are melted snow on the window

245pm: the grey blobs are snow on the window. it took a few moments to get my camera to focus on the car and not the blobs. this was at the start of the white out conditions. at its height, i watched a fedex truck go sliding, a plow truck go sliding, and a minivan get stuck with a flat front right tire. i don't think they realized that it was flat as it was off the wheel.

409pm: litterally, just shy of 90 mins later and it was clear. at the time i took this, you could see sunlight on the tops of the trees.

443pm: post car cleaning.

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