George Aar

Ah, not so much. Just like there can be really great Heavyweight Champions of the World in Prizefighting and those less so, there are great Yokozunas (Akibono, Takanohana II, Musashimaru) and those not quite so special (Wakanohana III and - some would argue - Asashoryu). And, there can be - and currently are - more than one Yokozuna at a time.

Hmmm, the guy in the pink tutu looks suspiciously like Musashimaru, yokozuna extraordinaire...

I've done this particular chore several times for clients. I use a small "Hav-a-hart" trap (basically a wire cage with a door that snaps shut and locks) and bait it with peanut butter or corn. Try to wire the bait to the trigger of the trap as securely as you can so you know they'll trip it without getting out of jail free. What you do with them after they're trapped is up to you. (I generally just put the trap - with it's occupants - in a bucket of water for ten minutes or so). Plugging the hole they've made is best done with sheet metal, if you can do that and still make it look halfway decent. Plug it up with wood, and they'll be back to chewing on it in a day or two - uh, unless you employ my method of dealing with the trapped critters. "Born-free" sensiblities don't translate well into real-life wildlife management, IMHO...

Chopped Toad anyone? Mmmmm...

Stevie Ray Vaughan was just so dam good. He could sound like anybody on the guitar. B.B. King, Wes Montgomery, Muddy Waters, or here with his tribute to Hendrix. And then he could sound like himself, too. What a shame he left so soon.

I saw the title of this thread and I thought the Cafe was getting the cabinets refaced. What a disappointment...

I'm really starting to sound like a grumpy old man, ain't I? I used to wonder where those guys came from, now I know. Take one insecure, pimply-faced, teenaged boy add 40 years of monotony and occasional disappointment and - Voila! - one grumpy old man. Yeah, I guess I'm not really plowing any new ground here, am I WaySider? Existential dread is about as old as human thought. I'm certainly not terribly unique in my thinking, that's fer shur. And Scout, I know a bit of where you're coming from. I know I enjoy MY company much more than BAD company. There are limits to what I'll endure for companionship. But I DO tend to feel like a farking loser when I'm invited to someone's house for dinner, or to a party. Here's everybody with a family and friends and whatnot, and then there's me. The token jerkoff, invited as an act of charity. It's always awkward and uncomfortable - well, except in Japan. There we don't communicate well enough to know who's a jerkoff and who isn't. Beneficial ne? Maybe it's just all the years of propoganda about married life that we need to overcome. So much ink has been spilled promoting the "happily every after" concept, that it's seared into our collective consciousness, I fear. That, and the realization that all my best years are behind me. That's the hard pill to swallow. Ever so slowly, the harsh reality that my best days are as good as I'll ever get, and I likely won't even get any that good anymore. It's sorta disheartening. Getting old is fer the birds. Jeezus, why didn't somebody tell us it was gonna suck? Un uh...

I've been haunted by that stupid movie for the last few days now. It was a lot better written than I remember. Or, maybe I'm just reading more into it. Like the food that they provided for his "Welcome Home" party. Fish, crab, and assorted other seafood. Well-meaning, good-hearted, and ultimately thoughtless and inappropriate (sorta like the post a couple back). And then in the end I noticed he had a new Wilson Volleyball in the truck with him. And there he was, at a crossroads, literally as well as figuratively. Should he follow the horny floozy back to her home? Or head off and rekindle his relationship with Wilson? Myself, I think I'd have to go with Wilson. Jeezus, a relationship just isn't worth the effort, is it? All the compromising, cajoling, walking on eggs and all, just so you don't have to watch "Grey's Anatomy" alone? Feh... "What's it all about Alfie? Is it just for the moment we live?" So what happens if the answer (as seems most likely) is "YES!"? I'm not quite sure. "Meaningful" things aren't all that meaningful after awhile. And sooner or later we're all dead anyway. Gee, perky thought, no? And why am I writing any of this anyway? Mostly 'cause talking to the cats doesn't seem to help - them or me. Maybe you're right dooj. I should just buy a goddam diary...

The cat has taken to sleeping with the dog. I can't figure that out. They've always hated each other before. I've heard of cats that sleep with those that are about to die in nursing homes. I wonder if that's what's going on, the dog is about to die? One could hope... Just finished watching "Cast Away" again. This is the first time I ever got all misty about it though. I guess seeing in a different light can do that. Here he comes home after going through hell for years, only to find that everybody is all feeling sorry for his poor wife, meanwhile the faithless slut has hooked up with a new paycheck and the poor castaway schmuck ends up STILL getting boned. Well, it's only a movie... It strikes me though, that the whole "I'll love you forever" and "happily every after" are as fictitious and unattainable as any life portrayed in the movies. Hell, nobody much seems to do it anymore. Sure, they all talk a good game. But, when the chips are down, does anybody REALLY stick with their partner through thick and thin? I'm aware more and more of those in their later years who just end up spending the rest of their lifes by themselves. Maybe that's not all that bad? I just need a little more getting used to? Maybe I could get a volley ball to talk things over with? I've already pretty much outgrown any notion of a Loving God keeping tabs on everybody. Hell, does it really seem likely to anybody? Is that what you see going on in the world? Maybe you're not paying attention? And silly spiritualist ideas are even more absurd to me, likewise astrology, conspiracy theories, alternative medicine and anything else that requires more "faith" than reason to apprehend. Now add to the list "love". I've got serious doubts about it's existence too. Sure, we get all gooey about this person or that, but isn't that really just a hormonal response? Biology compelling us to procreate. Get beyond that, and there's not much else going on it seems. And as sexual attraction fades, those wonderful feelings go with. And we end up back on our island. Nobody notices. We're out of touch, living a life of anonymity and relative inconsequentialness. And maybe we'd end it all if we could only figure out a pleasant way of stepping out, but we don't. Too much drama. And, there's the unknown. Life, for all it's unpleasantness, boredom, and occasional tragedy, is familiar. We're used to getting up everyday and doing, ... whatever it is we do. Is that the "quiet desperation" I've heard about? Maybe. I think Wilson probably was as good a friend as there was. Unchanging, utterly faithful, never negative, and as pleasant as we can imagine. And he was always quiet. I'm used to quiet now. I hope I can manage to refrain from giving advice as I get older. Can that get anymore pathetic? "Well, what's always worked for me is..." (shudder) Giving pointless advice that nobody pays any attention to and pulling my pants up to my armpits are just a couple of things that I'm going to take great pains to avoid doing, OH, and wearing a cap too. Oooh GAWD! Gawd, I've turned into such a pussywimp. A misogynist one to be sure, but a wimp all the same...

I think that's what the skipper of the Titanic said - just before he started treading water...

Geeze, I knew that was gonna be too easy. Sheesh, all of about a minute or so to figure out...

Methinks this 'un will be too easy, but... "And when the sun comes up, I`ll be on top" (not an opening line, that would have been WAAAY to easy)

Something like "New York Mining Disaster - 1941"?

Isn't that a Bee Gees song?

While I can't say that I was ever a fan of their "music", I often thought the T.V. show was a hoot. Anybody remember the episode where the Mothers of Invention were on? The "Mothers" all disguised themselves to look like the Monkees and the Monkees likewise looked like the "Mothers". To my 15 year-old brain, it was the funniest thing to ever appear on television. It would be interesting to see it again to see how my 50-something brain would view it...

Well, this has been around for awhile, but still has me in stitches whenever I hear it. http://youtube.com/watch?v=un_PjRXV5l8 Please don't tell me it was all staged. I have to believe in something...

What a comfort to know that there are still really loving people out there who are willing to come here and point out where we're falling short. Oh, the relief!

Oh gawd, so much of this stuff is like arguing over whose brand of Snake Oil is the best. And the really annoying part is to have to suffer - yet one more time - listening to somebody, who quite likely doesn't have a clue what's really going on in the world, confidently give his guidance and counsel to those who don't need or want it, and didn't request it. It's amazing how someone can become so convinced of "Truths" that are so dubious and have little or no support in the REAL world. Just what is it that makes some "Believers" so adamant and committed to superstitious dogma? The charisma of their teacher? The magnitude of the promises made in their Holy Writ of choice? Or is it simply warm and squishy feelings they get from the belief? I dunno... Personally, I'd much rather know an unpleasant truth than be comforted by pleasant fables...

Well, in a Scandanavian household Christmas Eve dinner was always supposed to be a humble meal. Like boiled cod and stringbeans and maybe a slice of bread. Then on Christmas Day you could really pull out all the stops and have rollepulse, gumuloust cheese, and - of course - LUTEFISK. While I sure miss the family, now that all the Nordic relations have passed on, thank Gawd I don't have to eat any of that crap anymore. Jeezus that stuff is awful...

OH, and for yous guys who are savvy about that kinda stuff, Where do all the dancers go in the end of the video? Was this all filmed in one take, as it looks, or is there more computer magic going on than there seems?

Well, thanks to the oft-repeated I-Pod commercial, I finally had to track down who it was singing in that video. I've listened to a few of her songs now, and, she's not bad. Kinda '70s sounding, not that there's anything wrong with that: http://youtube.com/watch?v=p8Z-DIAthbM

Oh, I've gotta "second" for Will and Ariel Durant, and maybe a plug for Bertrand Russell too... and Jared Diamond too

For me it would have to be "A Clockwork Orange", or, maybe "Apocalypse Now", Yeah, I'm the sentimental type...

I guess I don't understand the angst. I just think it's cool. WAAAY cool...

Uh, I actually did some "time" with Y-WAM. Well, what I did was go along with them to Tijuana after the (now ex) missus volunteered my services. I paid for my own plane ticket to San Diego met with a group and then we were bussed over the border to build "houses" for the underprivileged inhabitants of Tijuana. My impression of the folks involved with Y-WAM was pretty much like any other church. Lots of really drippy religiosity, well-meaning people, and a carload of "We don't have a farking clue". The overwhelming feeling I got of the basic mindset of the group was that of unbridled, naive, condscending patronizing. A sickeningly sweet veneer papering over an unbearable need to do good. Lots of folks desperately seeking validation. Lots of locals stoically putting up the Ugly Americans so as to gain access to a little of their largess. No, I didn't make any "pals" while there...