Living Live! Take 2!

Today's living live is one of my favorite Billy Joel songs. I finally heard it live for the first time in April of 2007. Yes, that means it is not one of his mainstream "must play" songs.

My overall favorite will always be New York State of Mind which will undoubtedly get its day in the Living Live spotlight. As a piano player, NY State of Mind is great but not too hard to play. This piece is a different story and really shows Billy's depth of writing and playing ability. The Saint Paul show's video is also on YouTube but the Dallas bootleg is much clearer.

Presenting....the one and only Billy Joel performing Root Beer Rag!

Sabrina Sucks!

How can it be that she wins our American Idol pool again. Is this 3 or 4 years consecutively? It is not like she had the first pick every year. Nor did she have any special insight - no matter what BS she gives you.

We pick when there are 20 or 24 players left (usually 24). The draft order is random. To actually score the winner is a guess at that point since the show is obviously rigged and every knows Chekezie was the best this year. OK, I'll conceed that maybe he was not #1 but....Carli was the best - but did they win? NOOOO! It came down to "Diapers" and "Swirly".

I guess since it was down to them and that made my $10 bill go to either The Rube or Sabrina, I'd have to pick her just on looks alone. Although, if Diapers would have won, we would not have had to endure the upcoming right-wing-conspiracy-its-the-liberals-fault crap that The Rube is about to spill all over us.

I don't see Sabs as being the type to gloat, but this might change her. I mean, she really is the undisputed AI Champ at LTCG. I think minimally, drinks on her are in order. Oh, and you might want to buy a lottery ticket.

An Inconvenient Truth

Now if you thought I was going to waste good ink on that stupid movie on the myth of global warming, you are wrong. That makes me think of the 12 year old girl in the grocery store today with a "Stop global warming" T-shirt. Here's an idea....stop making your kids that cannot form an opinion on things from spreading stupid propaganda on things they don't understand.

deep breath....in through the nose, out through the mouth....

What I am writing, er, ranting about here is the apparent difficulty of checking IDs. Do people really hate to have their ID checked that badly? Do they throw tantrums because they had to prove they were not committing a fraudulent act?

I primarily use my check card visa which drafts from my primary checking account. On the back it says in big black letters:

SEE WI ID!!!

My success rate? About 18.296% and then it is usually the Dairy Queen or something that cost me $3.95. Go to Dick's Sporting Goods for shoes....$90, don't question the card or look for ID. Go to Best Buy EVER and you won't get it checked. They even insist it is illegal for them to check. Apparently (and this is from some 16 year old geek cashier), but apparently some tranny came in and they questioned for ID. The picture of him/her did not match the makeup job of him/her and therefore he/she sued. So, 1 tranny gets upset for completely deviating from their picture and now Best Buy will allow you to use anybody's card for anything - NO QUESTIONS ASKED! I've even signed "SHIT" and "CRAP" and "X" and they just laugh at me. The best part is that if you write a check, the MUST see ID. Apparently transvestites don't write checks.

I can tell you right now. Next time I buy something of any value at Best Buy, I'm using someone else's card.

Here's the bottom line. Theft is rampant. You can trust NOBODY! Hell, I just had $450 stolen from my house presumably by my dog walker while we were out of town. They of course deny it. Crap....I get sidetracked so easily.....

What I was saying is that theft is everywhere. A quick check of the ID and we are on our way. At least make the crooks a little timid before they use your card.

LIVING LIVE! James Taylor and Joe Walsh - Steamroller

Back on Feburay 18th, I mentioned that I wanted to emulate (a.k.a. "copy") a them used by another blogger. He posts a theme called "Way Back Wednesday" which shows a YouTube video of some older song. I liked the idea but wanted to share live songs. I think I want to call this "Living Live" since no days of the week start with "L". Plus, to even begin to think I could do this with any sense of schedule is simply a joke.

Here is my first one. I know Al would assume Garth might be my first post but it is not. I am hitting 2 great musicians here. Joe Walsh and James Taylor. Steamroller live is a great song. I have one recording where James even scats a "MFer" in the end which is classic. Add in the great blues riffs by Joe and you have a hell of a live performance.

One more note to this song (and any others), I have a sincere love for the sound of a Hammond B-3 organ. When played right, it will instantly pulsate chills up and down my spine. There is a nice B riff at about 2 minutes into this song. I have always wanted to compile a CD with the best B-3 solos.

EDIT: When I added my tags, etc - I lost the inserted YOUTUBE view. Until I figure out how to do that on my own, here is a link to the video.

JAMES TAYLOR and JOE WALSH - STEAMROLLER LIVE!

A Good Fish Story

Everyone likes a good fish story. Hell, I grew up on Mille Lacs Lake (Note to all you media types....note it is NOT LAKE Mille Lacs....it is Mille Lacs Lake....yes, that bugs me and now I feel just a little better about getting it off of my chest.)

Ahem....stack to my bory. (Capital Steps Improv Group reference there....sorry)

So this local guy, Tim Pawlenty (MN Gov Guy) hereafter known as T-Paw....tells a story about the big fishing opener on the radio.

He said, "I have a wife who genuinely loves to fish. I mean, she will take the lead and ask me to go out fishing, and joyfully comes here," the governor said before adding, "She loves football, she'll go to hockey games and, I jokingly say, 'Now, if I could only get her to have sex with me.'"

This just in. He's human. Who gives a rat's cahoony? I am not all that much of a T-Paw guy and really don't care if he gets the VeeP nod from McCain or not as I really do not care for McCain.

Why in this country do we have to make a big deal about people just being people?

Now at the risk of getting in my own personal trouble with the other half, I won't draw any parallels between my wife, her love of hockey and/or fishing or.....

Nope. Not gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent. Besides, the couch is cold!

I Need The Powerball...

OK, I don't really need to win the Poweball, but tonight I was helping one of Robyn's exchange students with information on Chicago and New York since I have been to both for pleasure and business. She is from Brazil and her father is flying to Chicago to meet her at the end of May. Robyn was in Vegas with us and knows that I find good deals and like to research stuff like this so he had me email ideas to her.

Since I was in the travel planning mindset, I looked for some other ideas to save money on our cruise that I just booked for November. Primarily, airfare. We really wanted to cruise the Southern Caribbean so that means embarkation from San Juan, PR. Simply put, there are no good ways to get from MSP to SJU. NWA flies there but only from Detroit (DTW). Hmmm - what if I fly on NWA to Atlanta or DTW or Orlando and then catch a cheapo airline to SJU like Sprirt? Still, no good deals. The best is on NWA via DTW for $344. The catch is that even though our cruise is 11/30-12/7 (Sun-Sun), it is right after Thanksgiving so fares are crazy if I don't fly on Thanksgiving Day and return on Monday 12/8 (Happy Birthday to me...). I guess we need to start Turkey Day damage control soon. Cruise is just 206 days away. The neat thing of flying to PR on the 27th is that we'll have 2 solid days to explore more or PR than Jess and I did on the Destination Excellence trip there 2 years ago. I think on the 28th, we want to take the $2.50 ferry to Culebra and see Flamenco Beach. Saturday - either a drive somewhere remote on PR or go out snorkeling with the Salty Dog again.

OK, Orracle, you seem to have this figured out....what is the concern?

I'm getting to it....have a beer and calm your ass down.

I saw a link from the Spirit Airlines page offering the "free dining" at Disney (WDW). We did that plan back 2 years ago and it is great. This year, New Richmond does not go back to school until well into September so it would be a great time to take advantage of this deal. For those of you unaware, check this out...

Book your WDW vacation by June 22 for travel between 8/24 and 9/20 and receive their dining plan totally free. This is MORE food than you can eat and the choices are endless. Each night of your stay you get 1 snack, 1 counter service meal (includes entree, drink and dessert) and 1 table service meal per person. WDW has so many options including dinner shows and ethnic foods at EPCOT and Animal Kingdom that choosing is a challenge. Add in the free bus service to and from the airport and it is hard to beat a vacation like Disney. I priced 7 nights/8 days at a moderate resort for 2 adults, 1 Jr and 1 child with the unlimited park hopper, free dining and transports and it was only $2700. Pretty tough to beat that. Downgrade to a Value Resort and it would probably be around $2000.

I want to do both. Why can't I? Oh yeah, the 60 year old couple from Waconia won the 180 million. I don't need that much. 2 or 3 million will get me by for now. OK, gas is high...better make it 4.

Back to our cruise though....we are booked on Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas. 3100 passengers at double occupancy. Average cruise has around 3600 plus the 1200 crew. The ship features rock climbing, pools galore, in-line skating, ice skating, mini golf and great food. We are booked way up on deck 10 in the rear of the ship. Balcony cabin 1392. This guy has a great review and pics on his website and was next door in 1390. The view from the back should be extraordinary. FYI, the Jr. Suites next to us are available if you wanna book. We'd love the company!

Ports of call for this itinerary are:

• Oranjestad, Aruba
• Willemstad, Curacao (actually pronounced cha-ra-sa)
• St. Maarten (1/2 Dutch, 1/2 French)
• St. Thomas

So, if you can help out at all with my Disney Quest donations, let me know.

Catching Up

I had some annonymous comments that I was SURE came from The Rube. I accused him and he declined involvement. I really did not believe him. All along it was an old friend of mine from high school that I had lost contact with. Major Parke Paulson, USMC. I should have figured it out by the "setting your ankle on fire" comment. OK, I was drunk that night....those brain cells are dead.

Since the comments, we have exchanged some email and a phone call. How great it is to catch up with someone. For those of you that do not know, Parke is the reason I now know to ask where a wedding is before agreeing to be the Best Man. Our conversation on that went like this....

Parke: Will you be my best man?

Lyle: SURE - I'd be honored.

Parke: Great the wedding is in June....in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Lyle: Ra-what?

We were virtuously penniless at the time but made the 17 hour drive in 100 degree weather to the plains of Saskatchewan. All in all, it was a great time and as a gift, Parke gave me a baseball signed by every player and coach of the World Champion 1987 Minnesota Twins which I still cherish today.

So to Mr. Paulson, thanks for reaching out. You made my day! Now if we could just find Kosman, Marquardsen, Ellis and Schlagel, we'd be in business!

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Today, Eddy Arnold died. No, I am not a huge fan. Most people have heard "Cattle Call". Why do I post this useless information? Because my grandpa LOVED that song. Made me think of him today.

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Lastly, I promised some pics from The Boneyard...here are a few of my favorites.

The House of Lords Steakhouse was a Rat Pack hangout. If I could go back in time, seeing or better yet, hanging with the Rat Pack would be at the top of my list.

An old Lady Luck sign. Not just any sign though....this is the sign that Marisol Nichols (hottie) danced on in Vegas Vacation. The rails on the other side that you can see were added for her safety.

Lastly (for now) an old Golden Nugget sign. This is one of the originals and was the sign in most of the old "Fremont Street Pics". It had the big gold chunk on it with 1905 which was not the start of the Nugget but rather the year Vegas became a city. There were 3 or 4 Nugget signs from the years in The Boneyard. Very cool!

Hey Jude by New Richmond Middle School Jazz Band

I have been planning to buy some video software so I could extract some of Ashlie's band stuff. Here was my first shot at it going to YouTube and now posting to my blog. Ashlie has 2 nice solos here in Hey Jude.

Where the Hell is the Vegas Post?

People are waiting apparently.

I posted a trip report on tripadvisor.com but never made it over here.

Vegas was good. I am a little upset with myself for not doing a few of the "I'm alone" things I had planned. No, that does not include a hooker or happy ending.

I found that I did less this trip than any other. This was partly because I was the guy with the car and the guy that knows vegas. Still, it is hard to get so many people moved at the same time let alone agree on what they want to do. Face it, Vegas just is not for everyone. Having said that, we all had a good time despite some coordination issues.

Monday was a long day. With just 3-4 hours of sleep, I was up for 26+. Dinner was at Mr. Lucky's (Hard Rock) for either the $7.77 steak & shrimp or $9.99 AYCE prime rib. Prime was delicious! Thanks for buying supper, Dano!! Once I was on my own, I made it back to Terrible's and played video poker into the wee hours of the morning downing countless beers and bloody marys. Yum. Finally, dozing off at the poker machine, throwing away pairs from time to time, I decided sleep must not be delayed any longer!

Tuesday was wedding day. Shuttle service began before noon. Lindsay and Kelsey were slow. There was some excuse in play but I don't remember what it was. Needless to say, we were late for the shuttle to the wedding. Wedding was nice. Typical, 10 minute Vegas wedding. Dinner at Dan Marino's. Good ribs - not as good as Ellis Island though. Back to Terrible's, stayed up way too late again.

Wednesday - up way too early to drive out to Mesquite. Dan has relatives out there so made the ~90 mile trip to there. Casinos were just average. Scenery was neat, especially at the golf courses. I will post pics of them tomorrow from my laptop. Back to LV and dropping Robyn and Cindy off at the airport. Dan and Cindy and I went to EI for free drinks and dinner. Rib place was closed for the night so we ate in the dining room. Dan had shrimp, I had the $6.95 steak and Cindy had breakfast. Service sucked but food was good. With the coupon, total bill was around $13.00. Cindy LOVED the karaoke bar. Always voted best in LV. I think she said it best...."what a great little dive". Exactly. Did I mention how good their wheat beer is?

Thursday - finally slept in. Waited at Terrible's for my host to comp my rooms. Choked down Terrible's buffet. HIGHLIGHT of my trip....went downtown for the Boneyard Tour. This is the museum that is by appointment only and has the old Vegas signs awaiting restoration. VERY VERY VERY COOL! Best $15 I spent in Vegas. Great pics...I'll post some tomorrow.

Headed to The Orleans with 2 drunk neices, drunk Dano and Cindy. Instead of using the child care, we used three 2-4-1 coupons for their buffet and let the girls soak up some of the booze since we had to fly out that night. Cindy treated us all to tickets to go see Terry Fator. Look him up on YouTube if you don't know who he is. Very talented ventrilloquist that sings impressions...but through his dummies. Unbelieveable show. From there, straight to the airport. Nice first class upgrade for the redeye. Flight felt like 10 minutes I slept so hard.

So, I missed the Atomic Museum & Pinball Museum. 2 new casinos away from the strip I wanted to visit too. Oh well. Incentive to go back. Vegas needs me. Per this article by VegasRex, Vegas is hurting. I like his thoughts and analogies. Vegas is not dying, but the strip is killing itself. The first call I got from Dan and family was, "Come pick us up and take us where the beer is cheaper. We cannot afford $7.50 here at Mandalay Bay anymore!". Nuff said. Sinatra would roll over is his grave if he heard $7.50 for a beer on the strip. Are they making this stuff from crude oil now?

I had a good time with Cindy and Dan but more than that and it was a few too many to keep everyone happy. Eventually someone complained or just sat there waiting for others. I think that is a lesson learned. Even though my Mancation was fun and I was free to do what I wanted, I think I'll just go back to hitting that city with Jess. My odds are better there.

Bush is Bush-League

Headline today.

Oil hits record high as dollar hits record low.

$115 a barrel.

Stupid ass bush league, texas tea money making, loser of a president. At one point, I felt NONE of the presidential canidates were any good. Now, I realize that we cannot do any worse.

Yesterday Bush said of the Pope's visit:

"On his visit to America, the Pope will find that we are a country of prayer."

No shit Dick Tracy. We pray because our country is folding underneath us because of the single worst loser of a no-brained, facsimile of a president this country has ever had.

That's all I have to say about that.

Delta-NWA

In Minnesota, this IS the news today. Delta and NWA are going to merge assuming the DOJ investigation which is estimated to take 6-8 months finds it to not be a monopoly. That makes me wonder how THIS could be approved but the Sirius/XM merger has been waiting for more than a year. We'll get to that on another day I suppose.

Maybe the hard times for NWA will finally be over. This means no more need for baggage porters to panhandle everyone they service.

Ah, you say. This is not about the merger. This is about a personal issue The Orracle has with the Panhandlers - oops I mean Porters.

Right you are.

I was sure I had blogged about this in the past but could not find any evidence of it.

Let me set the story right. I travel quite a bit. When I am forced to check a bag, I use the outside porters to do so. I always tip them a couple of bucks. But man, if you do not have those greenbacks in your hand, they start to hint. OK, they don't hint. They come right out and tell you.

"This is a tipping service" I have even heard them grumble out loud when they do not get a tip... "You think we stand our here for nothing?"

Do waitresses come to your table and as they take your order remind you of the tip they expect? NO!

Like I said, I always tip them. When I get panhandled for the tip, it really turns me off. I imagine in my head that a no-tip service will reroute my bags somewhere else. I never give the tip until my bag is on the belt and out of their reach though.

Let's look at the NWA porters at MSP specifically. Since this is a hub (at least for now), they have a belt behind them that they drop the bag on. This is NO different than the ladies inside at the counters which do not beg for money nor do they expect it. They put the sticky tag on the bag and drop it on the conveyor belt. If these guys had to put the bags on a cart and haul them inside like at some of the airports with a smaller NWA presence - then the tip is GREATLY deserved. Simply doing the same service as the people inside - not so much. But I still tip them.

Maybe with the merger, these poor souls standing under heat lamps will get the compensation they need to do their job such that they don't feel the need to panhandle me.

I'm In A Funk!

Hey everyone,

I don't know what my problem is but I have been in a funk. That translates to not being a nice guy at home sometimes. Not wanting to blog. Not wanting to do much of anything. There must be a reason. It could be this never-ending jackass version of winter or spring. It might be that I am a little short on ca$hola. Let's look at them individually...

WEATHER: It needs to warm up. Plain and simple. I feel like a fat (OK, yes I know that I am) but I feel more lazy than ever. I cannot get motivated to do anything because of the weather. Jess hints that she worries about depression. If I am depressed (don't think I am), I think some weather above 35 and no more snow will help.

CASH FLOW: It's one of those things. Timing. Everything due at once. Taxes ($1800 owed to Federal) and the fact that I never sent my state taxes which have a $1300 refund to help offset the $1800. That is pissing me off big time and I am the only one to blame. Then, the housepayment is due. I guess that is automatic - but what if I could skip one? (more on that later). As you may know, I am headed to Vegas on the 21st. I am very happy about that and it could help my funk about the weather. BUT - Vegas needs cash. DAMN!

The stupid part is that in May, I have just the opposite situation. See this: In May, we have 3 paydays. In May, I will probably get the "Stimulus" check (is that like a "happy ending"?) and also in May, I have no house payment. WTF? Yep - you heard right. I called the mortgage company because I am getting concerned about my ARM coming due next January and my 5.5% interest rate going buh-bye. I said that I might have a hard time making a higher payment (which is not totally true). But with the mortgage crisis, they felt like helping and I received a letter saying that they are restructuring the note to lock in at the 5.5% for the duration of the loan. Say what? In that process, I have no May payment. 3 checks. No house payment. Gov't stimulus check. Holy....need to start planning a vacation or something.

So....May will bring the cash and weather I need in April. Figures.

Oh well, I think I have it figured out and I will still make my obligations and have some money to spend in Vegas. Maybe I can turn over a new leaf and do something besides sit on my ass on the couch too.

See now. Don't you feel better?

Who is the Rookie?

Clearly, someone in Minnesota (or Wisconsin) is a rookie. An amature. A nubile being to the winter rules.

YOU DON'T TAKE THE FRIGGIN SCRAPER AND BRUSH OUT OF THE CAR UNTIL JUNE!

Someone did and now we have 8" of frozen slop to deal with. Way to go.

For those of you keeping score on the greenhouse gas effect. On this day, the record low in MN was in 1975 with 9 degrees while the record high was in 1882 (82 degrees). 10 years ago, it was around 75 when the massive F4 twister hit St. Peter and Comfrey. Today, it is blustery and snowy as hell.

Looks like weather changes. Up-Down-Up-Down....trends can be drawn but are just trends until the trend changes.

Get over it people. Global warming is a joke.

ONTO SOME OTHER MORE CHEERFUL TOPICS

I have been away from the blog for a while. No excuses. Just have not had things in my craw to jump on about. A few have come up and I will get to them this week along with my thoughts on the movie "21". Speaking of gambling, I have crossed 2 blogs about Vegas. Yes, I am in full Vegas planning mode trying to soak up all I can prior to my 4/21 solo venture to Vegas. That reminds me....I should ask Al if he wants to come to town and hang out. I promise I won't get you drunk old buddy. Now that his local "camp director" has met me in Idaho this summer, she'll understand and completely trust us for a few days of guy fun in a somber, boring town like Vegas won't she?

The first blog is a local Vegas resident. A self proclaimed professional gambler. He plays mostly video poker and blackjack. Interesting watching his posts and his swings of money. I don't think I could do it. Vegas Gambler is found here.

The other guy's blog was found as a result of Vegas Gambler. This is Vegas Rex and his site comes complete with pics, videos and a forum to chat about Vegas. Vegas Rex's site is right here. Pay it a visit!

See you all soon! Happy April Fool's Day!

I.R.S. Followup

In response to my post on my tax woes for this year, a friend a.k.a. "The Rube" sent me a funny email. It has probably circulated for many to see but I found it entertaining and potentially a good solution to my problem. See below.....seeing that my deficit was only $1800, I have to buy even less!

Dear Internal Revenue Service: Enclosed you will find my 2008 tax return showing that I owe $3,407.00 in taxes. Please note the attached article from the USA Today newspaper; dated 12 November, wherein you will see the Pentagon (Department of Defense) is paying $171.50 per hammer and NASA has paid $600.00 per toilet seat. I am enclosing four (4) toilet seats (valued @ $2,400) and six (6) hammers valued @ $1,029), which I secured at Home Depot, bringing my total remittance to $3,429.00. Please apply the overpayment of $22.00 to the "Presidential Election Fund," as noted on my return. You can do this inexpensively by sending them one (1) 1.5" Phillips Head screw (see aforementioned article from USA Today newspaper detailing how H.U.D. pays $22.00 each for 1.5" Phillips Head Screws). One screw is enclosed for your convenience. It has been a pleasure to pay my tax bill this year, and I look forward to paying it again next year.

Sincerely, A Satisfied Taxpayer

Cool Blogsite

Blogs are cool. They are a place to say what you feel to anyone and everyone. Most are "old fashioned" and are typed such as mine. Some can link to YouTube videos. Very few are true video blogs.

The one I bring to you here just happens to be my brother in law's. He is a Fox News guy in Chicago. Mark has a great intuition to find the story and a knack for asking the question. This is not unlike what I look for in a good business analyst. When I interview for a BA, I look for intuition. I look for someone that can ask great questions but more importantly, find more questions in the answers. I believe this is one of the great talents that Mark has along with other minor traits such as charm, a good voice and authenticity.

Despite his relation, I have only recently found his video blog. I have watched most of the segments and found them interesting and entertaining. Not many people would even dare sit down in a room with guys from 5+ different gangs especially when he is the odd man out when it comes to race, income and future in most people's eyes. Some may go in the room but not dare ask them the hard questions like why they do what they do. Why don't they want to change. Why would they want to stay in that life with such a high mortality rate. Tough stuff.

I hope you all take a jump over there and give it a look. BLOG LINK

"The Streak Has Ended" or "Those %#@!#& Bastards!"

I realize that the title resembles the continuation of a Rocky & Bullwinkle skit (If you don't get it, you are too young).

I did our taxes last night. It went something like this:

1) Enter Lyle's W-2. Estimated refund: $2700

2) Enter Jessica's W-2. Estimated repayment: $4200

That's OK....I just have not entered our mortgage interest or any other deductions....don't panic.

3) Enter deductions. Your bottom line: Pay Federal taxes = $1800.

Questions:

Are you rich? No we are not rich. We barely pay our bills.

Next Question: No, we or Jess did not claim too many deductions

Last question please!: Well, that extra income was nice but it not like we are rolling in the cash!

WTF? I mean.....I had this money spent! Don't say what Jess said...."You always spend money before it is in your hands!" I have NEVER not received a return! NEVER!

So how do you propose I find money to go to Vegas for Alicia's wedding? Odd jobs? Babysitting? Maybe I could get a job watching the Seven Seeds. How bad could it be? Then again, I have read this blog religiously...those kids would kill a weakling like me. Need a new plan. I welcome your comments and suggestions on how I can make up this deficit.

On the brightside, we will receive a $1300 return from Wisconny....so I suppose I am only out $500 but being out is being out. I should have listened to Al and folded when I had the chance.

And The Oscar Goes To:

Harrison Ford: DIABLO CODY for JUNO!

DC: First of all, I'd like to thank The Academy (because you have to). I'd also like to acknowledge Lyle Orr for his inspiration as one of the coolest people that never introduced themself to me. You see, watching Lyle and his geek buddies go to the breakroom at LTCG was inspiring to me. It made me realize that I had talents far greater than LTCG could ever draw from me. It was then that I decided to go and write this screenplay that has made me an instant Hollywood sesation and a millionaire.


Or something like that....

Wow. Diablo Cody a.k.a. Brooke Busey worked at the same place as me and now is holding an Oscar. If we focused on LTCG, who else is being held back because they think this job is it for them? Is it someone else in claims? Is it the breeding ground for future Hollywood talent? Is it IT? Perhaps someone in IT has some unbelievable talent that is just being held back by the day to day grind at LTCG.

The morale of the story is talk to everyone. Get to know everyone. Share a laugh with everyone. You just never know who the next one to accept an Oscar will be!

A Rough Life....Obviously

This has really been bugging me. For two consecutive weeks, when I opened up the StarTribune Sunday paper and looked at the Arts & Entertainment section, they lead with a photo. Might be an artist. Might be a musician. Might be a writer. I don't care and I don't get past the stupid photo. Here is one of them:

These people are given the gift of a front page story. Their careers must be good. Why do they look like they are suffering some ungodly strife? Are they dying? Do they wish they were dying? Did their dog just die? Do cameras make them want to die?

I just don't get it. Is this ART? I guess I understand why I failed art in 8th grade. Yes, an F. Why you ask? Simple. Making mobiles and drawing stick figures is nothing but busywork to me. Give me wood (easy now, not that kind of wood) and a saw and I will make you something that will last for 100 years or more. A mobile? A stupid clay ashtray? Don't waste my time.



On the bright side, I guess I will never have to pose for a picture that makes the world believe that my life really, truly sucks as is the case with these people.

How PC Can You Get?

To the loyal "Orracle" fans out there, I know what you are thinking.

"The Orracle....PC?"

The answer to that question is YES!

I don't know why but out of the blue today, at a stop for tax software at Best Buy, we bought a new desk PC AND a new laptop.

The desktop was simple. Our old one sucks. We have an old PC with an old CRT monitor and just needed to upgrade.

The laptop? I am having a harder time justifying that one. Work provides one to both Jess and me. So why get another? For starters, we bought a sale Toshiba that was $449. Not a whole lot of power but playing around tonight, it is really nice and has a great screen. You never know....it just might end up going south with Senior Orr and Madame Bradley. Just a thought. I think if shown how to get to the internet and to email, dad might check it. Well....at least in the mornings. Maybe that is just a pipe dream...but we all need to dream.

All said and done, with $70 in software added in (tax and spyware tools), it came to a measly $1251.00. Not bad for 2 units.

This trip started with a visit to the MN Valley Humane Society where all of the labs rescued from the puppy mill in Central Wisconny were. We were VERY close to adopting a small yellow lab named Carter. I just did not want to deal with the potential health issues starting with the extensive worming that will have to be finished by their owner. Even without our help, all 4 of the pups brought up from the infirmary today were adopted. Lots of traffic in the shelter so all in all, the blight brought onto these dogs was a blessing for the shelter having received extensive media coverage. Considering what costs we may have incurred for a new puppy, the $1250 for the computers seems small.

Come back later this week. A fellow blogger does a post every Wednesday called "Wayback Wednesday". I love this idea and he says that if you are inspired by this idea, feel free to copy it. And so I am. My music video posts will be of the LIVE concert theme at least for now. Everytime I listen to Sirius, I wish there were a channel of nothing but live performances. Another great channel would be nothing but covers - but we'll save that for later.

The posts still need to be named, but look back for that feature on this blog!

Have a great week~
The Orracle

Sunday Rants

My favorite subject...global warming. Check this out. Go ahead....warm my day! Now I know that a streak of weather is nothing more than a streak. In the big picture of Earth, so is the trend everyone likes to call Global Warming. It is just the the timeframe is not one winter or year but 10-20. Big deal. Just like today's weather and last week's weather are just trends - blips on the radar. So - if you so insist it is real. Send some heat my way. My ga$ bill is getting high.

MOVIES

The Jason Reitman Film Festival continues. I was up late last night and decided to watch a movie that was fermenting on my DVR. I watched Thank You For Smoking. Good flick. Funny to a point. This movie boasted a list of some of my favorite "B" list cast members. They are A-list to me though. JK Simmons, William H Macy and Maria Bello. Yeah, baby! When it comes to my top 5 "LIST" chicks....you know the Friends list? Chicks you can do, no strings attached. No, it cannot be Luanne from accounting - it has to be someone that most people would never really have the chance to do. Anyway, she is on my list. Yes, my list is riddled with the likes of Jessica Alba, Helen Hunt, Eliza Dushku and Katie Holmes (also in the movie). I keep a place for Maria Bello. I don't know what it is about her. She just does it for me.

In looking at the list I have assembled above, how can annyone accuse me of longing for the 18 year old looking chicks? Look at that list! Maria Bello - born 1967. Meg Ryan - born 1961! Helen Hunt - born 1963! THE ORRACLE? Born 1970!! These women I chase are OLD! (sorry Cindy & Candy) Wow...way offtrack (as if there was some direction here!)

Lastly, I watched Sex And Breakfast. I had my doubts but it could have been good given the subject matter. Plus, Eliza Dushku was in it. Strange movie. I don't suggest you see it. Not very good. Eliza looked great. That's about it.

Enough for today. Stay warm.