Dirty Hands, Supremes, and a damn good burger

OK... it's been a beautiful week in Downtown Wixconsin.  Supreme Court Justice David Prosser, who barely won his seat in a contentious election and recount saga, has been accused of arguing and choking fellow Justice Ann Bradley.  Of course, he said it was in self defense.  Last year he got into into it with Chief Justice Shirley Abramson, calling her a 'bitch' and threatening to 'destroy' her.  Back then he said the woman 'goaded him into inopportune statements.  Whoa!  You can read a bit more HERE. 
Anyways...
last week I ran into Dirty Hands Randy...I hadn't seen him for about a year...and, gosh, there he was again!!  Now, two things about Randy...one, he always seemed to have a job that left his hands permanently, ah, soiled, no matter how much he would scrub them.  He was  a roofer, and asphalt spreader, dyed cabinets in a factory, hence the name. Secondly, he is the most benign alcoholic I have ever known.  When some get too drunk, there is the possibility for violence, rude behavior... when Randy is drunk, which is more often than not, there is more than a remote chance of Shakespeare ,Keats or Nietzsche...with perhaps quotes from Casey Stengel thrown in for color.
So there I was, ensconced on a cafe table at the Farmer's Market enjoying a fresh egg sandwich and lo and behold, he graced me with his presence, and grace is all it can be, for despite his pock-marked face, his tight, taut girth, his resplendent wardrobe that varies in only the shades of gray or black t-shirts he favors, there is a quality about him and  to his voice that can only be described as a belch, conducted by Bach, breezing through canyon walls. "Jim," says he,"you look well and fit!" This, as if he had just seen me a week previous. "All things considered," I replied, "things are ok.  I thought you were in Rehab?" Which is the last I had heard. "Ah, it did not take. Some things are not meant to be. ' Adversity tests us from time to time and it is inevitable that this testing continues during life.' I read that somewhere," he said... "I don't remember where." He grinned a grin, said, 'hold on' left for a minute and returned with two Bloody Mary's.  The next hour was an explanation of his time trying to dry out at the VA Hospital in Chicago... his escape from there, his stint at working in a Group Home in Gary, his return to Wisconsin, a brief job at a meat packing plant in Madison and his return to Oshkosh for the roofing season.  There were queries about my kids, our mutual friend Fritz.  All in all, it was a good conversation.... and before he left I gave him my phone number and the promise of a few beers some afternoon.  Now, that may happen, or it may not... he did say something about the fishing being rather good up around Eagle River.  To quote Casey, there is something about Randy..."He could fall into a sewer and come up with a gold watch."

 Lastly, a friend has given me a great tip about the bar down the street, a place I would never frequent, the music being too loud and the patrons too prone to slamming dice on the bar, that serves excellent burgers.  Indeed, he was correct... a mushroom swiss third pounder with home made chips for only $4.50.  Thank goodness for carryout.  Now if I could just get Randy to run for the Supreme Court......

i REALLY WISH i WAS A BLOW HARD...

mo time for blogging... blew out the rear tire on my bike... AND i WAS miles from the nearest air... and when I filled it.it went flat... after six years I think it might be time for a new tire/tube../.. there goes the beer budget.  oh well

Oshkosh City Cab, or the Wild Bunch revisited

;.

You don't have to watch the whole video... it's just a bunch of old guys getting together for a birthday jam.  Someone said it was on YouTube and I found it.  I knew some of them pretty well, back in the day, the early -mid seventies... when I worked with some of them at the old Oshkosh City Cab.  Now that is too many stories to fit into one story, so there really is no point in trying, but the deal was is that you could get by being a hack back then, and it had great flexibility if you were a student or... a musician. I was one of the former.  Anyways, and it turned into a real interesting few years, the way it worked, see.... is just about everyone who drove DAYS was a musician, (Big City Bob is in the video) and all the night drivers were students, or mostly student-types.  We kept the city rolling.

For a while, all the night drivers, the students-student types, well, we were all Buds and lived in three different houses. I lived with KCR and Shoe...over on Franklin St. there was Tall Dave and Wheels and Dolt and Smut-Man.  Down on Vine St resided Bruiser, Dimly Lit, LT and .... Kid Curry.

my cab photo

Kid was a work of art... a little Picasso, some Van Gough, a dash of Dali..... but mostly Dr. Seuss.  You had to know him.  His hair was long and prematurely white, not grey. He had worked various jobs, when I knew him, and sadly, I cannot know him any more in the present cause he died about 18 years ago, but he had been a guitar player, a bartender, a artificial inseminator of cows, a busboy, a cook.... but when I knew him... a cab driver.
And today, I have a little Kid story.
Now, when I was driving, we got along with the cops pretty well.  They would stop in the station and tell us about the REALLY bad guys they were looking for, maybe run-a-ways from the State Hospital.. that stuff.  No big deal.  They usually, especially the night beat cops, give us some slack on speeding and other such... in fact even roll in once in a while to warn us of a particular Boy in Blue who did not fancy cab drivers and where that guy would be cruising on any particular night.
Well one day they rolled in, asked for a little help finding a Transvestite hooker up from Milwaukee who was practicing the trade, and unfortunately,  also ripping off clients wallets and credit cards. Now, I had seen the guy/gal, and frankly he did a very very good 'she' and had been asked if I would accept a favor in exchange for the fare,which I declined, cause I had a girl friend and needed the money more than a blow job.  Now, over all, we, the drivers, had a pretty good relationship with the 'working' girls who worked the strip clubs. It is what it is, see, and a few of them were also out of state college students who could make a lot more stripping for a summer than they could waiting tables.  Anyways, a thief is a thief and we told the cops we would be on the look out for the transvestite rip-off artist.

But the Kid didn't hear the message and one night we see him pull up to the front of the station.... and pick up the said 'girl', and he calls in on the radio, says, "I'm taking a break for awhile".  Now, I believe it was the Mole Man, Dimly and I that were in the station when he called in and we cannot just wait for him to come back and break him the news.  It was the Kid, after all, and he had priorities different than the rest of us, if he had any at all, see.  So, times goes by, I run a few fares and so does Dimly, and we are there about forty five minutes later when the Kid comes back in.  Now, he has a grin on his face that could cut the lid off a can of beans and he's got a little swagger in his walk.  "Guys," he says," you are not gonna believe what just happened to me!"  He tells us the whole story and Dimly and I are starting to laugh, especially about the un-zip part and how good it was.  I think the Kid thought we were laughing because he was telling a good story.
Finally,we could not take it anymore, told him all about the cops, the he/she and all of it. Now, he looked a bit crest fallen for a bit, then breaks back out into a grin. "Well," he said, " if you close your eyes..... it's all the same!"
 You could never take the wind out of the Kid's sail..... I swear, if you had put horse-shit in his Christmas stocking he would just run out looking for the pony that got away.  I kinda miss the Kid.

I best go now...... I think my ponygot away and I best be looking for it.

Just a Retiring Joe

view from the oblio's patio

ok... it was the week that was... mostly gloomy, mostly raining. or mostly threatening to be gloomy and raining.

Weather finally broke yesterday and was nice enough to get out for a good bike ride.

The strawberries are coming in pretty good now at the Farmeer's market after a cool, wet spring. Scarfed down a bunch of them as well as a buffalo burger.  Went to Lee's and watched him brew beer. Fun, fun,fun.

Then I stopped and chatted with my buddy Joe.  He is retiring this thursday after 30 years with the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the academic support/tests and evaluation dept.  Planning a small little gathering down at the bar for him thursday night.  Retiring... sounds funny, for a guy like Joe... cause the last thing he is, is shy and retiring.

Inducted into the UW Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997, Joe Franklin was a first-team All-Big Ten choice in 1967-68 ... UW's career rebounding average leader (11.9 per game) and the school's No. 2 rebounder overall ... led team in rebounding in each of his three seasons ... owns 47 career double-doubles, the most in Wisconsin history ... set the UW single-season scoring record with 544 in 1967-68 ... team MVP in 1966-67 and 1967-68 ... team captain in 1967-68 ... his 27 rebounds vs. Purdue (3/2/68) rank second in UW single-game annals ... chosen in fifth round (63rd overall) of 1968 NBA Draft by Milwaukee.

Well, he didn't make the NBA, but he played Pro Basketball in Italy for a few years before coming back to Wisconsin and finishing his Master's.

I am not really sure where I first ran into him... must have been about five or six years ago, it ain't no never mind.  But he is in the crew of 'old' men who meet down at the tavern a few times a week.  I don't think he jumps much anymore.... but he can still shoot.., barbs, quips, insults, witticisms.... and that is what we do.  If Billa Lang is there, too, it gets going pretty good... and it is pretty funny.

He takes off in a week to do his annual golfing trip.... he flies out to Missoula, meets with some other folks, rents a motor home... and they spend three weeks golfing through upper Montana, Alberta and British Columbia.  I once mentioned that he must be the tallest Black Golfer in that part of Canada and he just rolled his eyes and said, "I am the ONLY Black golfer in that part of Canada!..... but it makes it easy to play through!"

So I said I would watch his house and mow his lawn when he was gone.  Ain't no deal.

The deal is.....  and this is what I like about Joe, to be a really interesting person, you do not talk about what you have done.... but what you are going to do.

I hope Montana is ready for him.... cause his bags are packed .. and, like he once said..." Life is just another Fairway I have not been on yet."

Fore.

I'll see your three mice, and raise you two

Sometimes, when you feel that you really have nothing to say, that you can't see the darkness for all the sunlight, when you really are so lost that you cannot remember where it was you were and where it is that you were trying to get to...maybe it's the truth but the truth is a brutal lonely place full of tigers and scarlet whores and vicious pimps.  It is why we lie.

Oh, and we lie... we all do.  To others for all sorts of reasons, gain, vanity,guilt,venality.  We lie to the ones we love... sometimes to protect, or preserve or from shame. The worst is why we lie to ourselves.... the truth is .... that that is the greatest sin of all... for we really can't stand thinking of why we do it and we wake up almost daily and do it again.

So I'm telling myself some truth here and I do not like it one little bit but if I don't I will drown deep and cold.
 I am not young... though it has taken me most of my life to realize that. Young is merely a state of mind... and now, with all the creeping grey in the hair line and beard.... young is a distortion of what I see in the mirror.  And with not being young... comes other problems..... please try to see what I mean.... because... it is getting harder and harder for me to see.  Truly.  They are called cataracts.

..and the kicker is... I am unemployed... with no insurance... and I am scared shitless... because how do you get a job... when you cannot see.

22... catch it?

so... I deal daily with vast amounts of depression, anxiety.  five hours of sleep a night is a good thing... if I can manage that much.
Not being able to see who is standing smack dab in front of me, more than four feet away, is impossible.

So.. I have gone to Social Services... trying to find a way to get some help with this... it may work out....but it just adds to the depression....
Aw, fuck it anyways!!!
Went to the University today and talked with Joe. He works in Tests &Evaluations... has been at school for thiry years. He knows everybody.  Took me to lunch... at one of the Commons... chockfull of all sorts of HS kids on campus for some HS thingee or another.  He introduces me  to Gary who works in Academic advisement and continuing adult education.  See, way back in the day, I dropped out of college with about a semester to go.  Different story.  Gary said there is a program, just for people like me....whip my old transcripts out of cold storage and find out what I need.  Could be just a class or two... I was in School of Education... maybe can get a 'non licenses-able degree'.... meaning I will never be able to teach, but still retain the degree.
Just more anxiety, fuck, but anwayz... what the fuck.  Get it while I can still read...
So... that is why I haven't done a few posts.  I have to get about six inches from the goddam screen to read this shit, type this shit.  But in the grand scheme....

See, when the onset started, I just thought I needed new glasses.  And I put it off....shit... I gottzta stop here... this is just turning to mush... I didn't want mush... I wanted naked angst... cause angst don't wear no clothers and angst don't think and angst don't give no never mind... all angst does is sit down to eat .....and you are the supper.
So I haven't a clue... I busy myslef all day,,, and hope to sleep at night.  I saw a free counselor the other day..he thinks he can get me to a free shrink... get some free meds... thinks there may be a cheap program to fix the eyes....
ya know.... just when you think your life is shit... you discover it can be shittier.
see, even when you are no longer young, you can still learn.
I was always adverse to writing this kind a personal shit.... but then thaought, what the fuck... I think there are some folks out there that think they know me a bit.... now you know a little more.
and it ain't no deal.... this is all just saying and stuff....

ok... I have to go.  My friend, Jackie, is having a birthday party at 4.  Meeting Joe and we are both going ... Jackie was on the debate team at the U.  She has been the City Manager's secretary for 35 years.... knows where all the bones are in this town... it should be a good party.

SEE... cause you don't have to read your beer before drinking.

still out to lunch....

stuff.... just can't wrap my head around writing.... or at least posting what I am writing...still deciding if it is blog appropriate.


have a coffee and doughnut on me.

Out to Lunch

... self service today..... drop a howdy... leave a tip

My old man

.... loved his family very much smoked
Raleigh cigarettes
had polio so he had a left shoe that was enormous
could get really mad and yell... then go bake cupcakes and cookies to say he was sorry
ate pickled pigs feet while watching Star Trek
Love Mitch Miller and bagpipes
ran a paint store and then sold advertising
would futz around making stuff in the basement until he cut off parts of two fingers and mom sold his table saw
loved telling corny jokes, the cornier the better
loved watching his sons play HS sports
went to church on a weekly basis and was very active in church, but never argued when all his kids stopped
won WWII (drafted despite the polio.he was an artillery gunner cause he couldn't march) all by himself
thought Walter Cronkite was the most honest man in America
raised, at turns, pigeons, pheasants, parakeets,finches...always was a birdbrain
loved classical music...though he didn't know much about it.... played it constantly
was a generous even when he had little
when I was little told me that Jews were people that went to a different church, "no different than Methodists"
Was in total control of Christmas.....the more lights, ribbons, bows,packages,carols... the better
would get a little tipsy on New Year's Eve and call his old army buddy... every year
called most sundays to tell me it was hotter,colder,rainier, snowier,sunnier,gustier, where he was than where I was
Liked Brandy Old Fashioneds
read my comic books, but not my Mad magazines
Shared my passion for Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs,but thought Buck Rodgers was greater than Flash Gordon
had broken his left leg about 18 times in ten different places (polio again)
couldn't throw a football for shit
got really pissed off at me once when I came home from school early and found him and mom having a 'nooner'
used to give me a silver dollar on my birthday
thought gardening was the most manly thing you could do...loved flowers
told me once my pot plant needed a bigger pot
positively could not get enough time to spend with his grandchildren... and the only time I saw him cry was when Nick died at only two years old
was embarrassed to no end when he walked in on me,at my college apartment,and caught me and a girlfriend having a 'nooner'
gave me passion for gummy candy
loved Western movies
told me his appendectomy scar was a 'bayonet' wound... and I believed him
thought Viet Nam was a 'just' war... and would argue it with me... and when I got drafted found all the documentation on my rheumatic fever, fucked up ankles... and everything else he could think of to flunk the physical ( I did..but that is another story)
Almost died from Pride when I brought the college debate team to his house after a tournament in LaCrosse
also liked pickled herring, pickled beets,pickled eggs,pickled turkey gizzards.... but did not like pickels
he....... was........ STUFF
and
I
Miss HIM tremendously......
have a great day, Eugeneio

Just a cultured guy..... Friday Ballett!!!

I think.... therefore I am tired.

Deep upper middle central North USA

ok.... if Wisxonsin is in the Midwest....

why is Iraq in the Mid East?

Clevelandistan

.... and if Florida is in the Deep South.....
why isn't Finland in the Deep North?
And this Pacific Northwest stuff.....? Well, Duh!!!!  There is no Atlantic Northwest.... fact is... there is No Atlantic North East.... we just call that Maine...
Ya know.... some days it is not good to look at a map.... but see, there is a place I am trying to get to.... heard the employment opportunities are good.....

........ I'll give you a ring when I get there.


Traveling Light

Wisconsin Interrnet Troll.... in the budget

The shit that The Trolls, ah, Wisconsin Republicans have added to the State Budget, ah, corporate give-away.... is godddam mind boggling and insane.

So.... here is the deal.... right now Wisconsin has a non-profit WiscNet,  cooperative established in 1990,that provides Internet access at a low rate to most public and private schools, local governments and libraries.  That way, see, even poor students, poor people... can find places to access the internet.... free.

Of course.... that is considered, "unfair competition" by for profit internet providers, like say AT&T.... who have contributed a SHITLOAD of campaign money to the REPUBLICANS!

A small example... Here, in my corner of beautiful DownTown Wisconsin... therre is this itsy bitsy Library Co-op that provides interlibrary loan and internet services to small county libraries, among other services.  That combination speeds book sharing, which saves those small libraries a ton of money and allows rural library patrons access to a ton of material that would not be financially feasible otherwise.  Right now, through WiscNet the library co-op is able to do this for about $9,000.  If WiscNet is dissolved.... the cost rises anywhere from $29,000 to $59,000.  HMMMMMMM Shit&Bisquits!  So... instead of taking tax dollars and providing a public service... the Republicans want to take tax dollars and increase the cost of providing that same public service!
Now, remember, those are just stats for ONE LIBRARY CO-OP!  Toss in all the other libraries, the UW System Universities, public government offices..... Holy Shit.... the Republicans Trolls want to GIVE AWAY tax dollars.....but of course, the private internet providers, who have a substantial market already, just say that it is unfair that they should compete with tax provided services, that that is not a 'level playing field'!!!!   Well, no shit you dumb goddam money suckers!  Tax money should provide efficient services, not added expenses.
And, get this........

"According to UW System Spokesperson David Giroux, the language used in the legislation would also require UW-Extension and UW-Madison to return roughly $37 million in federal grant money intended for rural broadband development. In addition, UW-Madison would be forced to withdraw from online research partnerships that are dependent on the program." The Daily Cardinal

So, first you cut the budget for schools, libraries, colleges..... then you force their costs up.... and then puke up $37million. 

Now.... there is no going back to 'non'internet' days.....  but I guess greed is now popular and we can take tax money and turn it over to private enterprise and pay five times as much.... boy and howdy... that is a great way to balance the budget.

I hope so folks.... get.... pissed.... off.  New budget talks begin again today in Madison.  I think there will be some folks around the Capital protesting..... and I think I know the message...

Diamonds And Rust

/

So... about twelve years ago.... she sat next to me on the Bridge... and said, "Hello, mister." ... and it's the people you don't see coming that you expect the most.... when you least expect them.  And that is how it was.... just walking through the art fair, taking a break, and there she was, again.

...... just like the time, ten years before that time.... and the time so may times ago... so young ago... so goddam young ago, that time, when she broke my glasses and I had to sleep with her because I couldn't see to drive home... or at least that is the reason she gave then.... so goddam young ago.  Well, it didn't work out some thirty five years ago... or twenty five, or twelve.  So it went. It never did seem to work. I remember it was always interesting trying, though, and she never broke my glasses again.  but there are other things to break.

  
I'll be damned
Here comes your ghost again
But that's not unusual
It's just that the moon is full
And you happened to call
And here I sit
Hand on the telephone
Hearing a voice I'd known
A couple of light years ago
Heading straight for a fall 

So, they have that stupid goddam art fair in the same stupid goddam park every goddam year... and the same goddam bridge is still goddam there.... and now ..
... I saw her there last year.  We didn't talk, and when I looked around, she was gone
I still had her number.  I had a couple of drinks.. I called. Didn't leave a message.  She called me back.
"how's the husband?"....... "how's the kids?" .."How you doing".... "Fine.And you?"  and that was that. But I always think of that bridge. And what it is like to have a ghost sit next to you and call you 'Mister'.
Now, my daughter and I go to the Art Fair and she picks out my Father's Day present. ... and goes back to her Mom's.

.... one year it rained so hard, they canceled the art fair.  I went anyway. Stood under an oak tree and sipped whiskey from a half-pint.  It is what it is, and it ain't no never mind.

Because I need some of that vagueness now
It's all come back too clearly
Yes I loved you dearly
And if you're offering me diamonds and rust
I've already paid 

 It gets to the point where you do not want diamonds anymore... cause you really believe there are none.... but if you try, see, you can get pretty good at polishing rust.

Used to be this blog, see...and a Dude called Fairlane

Jonestown

Drink Up, Bitches

*old mast head, Jonestown

Jonestown was one of the first blogs I stumbled onto, into and around. It kinda blew me away, see, cause I had never read or heard about blogs much until then, however long ago that was.  See, the deal was.... truth&stuff... I was looking for a recipe for Cajun Meatloaf... and I skittered here, bounced off there..straight on to someewhere else.... I was careening through the clouds... and it ain't no neveermind...see, but I landed in Jonestown.... and there was a guy named Fairlane.... and a cast of Clowns, Wizards, Bitches and Balderdash that well, it was stuff... and if you said you understood all of what was on the pages you would be lying.... and if you said you didn't get it, the point.... you really were a dumbass.... he would write like this... and this is mild... but but but

When Fascism comes to America they say it will come wrapped in a Flag waving a Cross.
I say-
Fuck that.
Wrap that bitch up tight in a Jimmy Hat (like a Dog).
Keep it from getting on anyone.
Christine O’Donnell has a Plan.
But it’s not Plan B.
In her world being Mastur of your own Destiny is a BIG No.No.No!
Can’t trust us with such details- Leave it to (Beaver) Me.
She says.
I know what’s best-
As Director of the Ministry of Love, she promises an Iron Fist in every Pussy.
Of course, She meant “Pot.”
Wink, wink, nod, nod.
You betcha

 it was like someone took the shark's teeth out of the glass on granny's night stand, gave it to the old beagle on the porch and then chased the pooch around........

When Fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in Lipstick, and High Heels waving to us on Fox News.
Everyone in Position-
Ready
Set
Snarl

ok.  like I said... that was mild... and those are just some clips from before he went MIA... not that he is really gone, he just went gone somewhere else, and that ain't no big deal, see.......

Yesiree, Billy Fuckin’ Bob, they be A lot of Old Ass Mother Fuckers Sporting Solecistic Sign-ery whilst exposing Paper Skin to Scorching Sun.
All in the Name of Liberty.

(Take that You Statist Whipper Snappers!)

And what has these Concerned Not Too Distant Future Nursing Home Residents up in Flabby Arms?
Well, they Wants tuh Know-
When is Adolf Niggler™ going to get his Big Gummint, Slimy, Commie Colored Hands out of  Medicare, and Social Security, and into the pockets of those Lazy, Good for Nothing Trickster, Crack Smoking Swindler, Big Butt Having, Wide Nosed-Breathin’ All the White Man’s Air Negroes running around like they Own the Place?
*And don’t fergit them Mexicans, too*

...that is just part of one post...  now I have been writing since, well, since Sister Mary Saving Grace threw a poem of mine up on the bulletin board back in first gradeee and I thought, "Shit, I have been published!"  So I started chiming in with comments on the commentable section... and damn, after awhile folks started comment back,, mostly telling me to shut up (kidding) and get my own bloggy.
which, huh! here it is.... but the thing was the stuff he would write on those pages....


And the Summer of Our Discontent is fading into the Fall from a really High Building w/out a Mixed Metaphorical Paddle.
Fuck.
Figures.
~5493459043=.9
Glenn Beck is a Smug Cunt. Let’s get that out in the OPEN for the White Eyed and Bush-y tailed.
Cunt³
Tell him to his face, but Grifters only have Eyes for the Jaundiced. He ain’t interested in-
One…Two…Rat-a-TAT-TAT!
Speaking of Failing Livers-
Old people really suck.
Once you get to the point you no longer recognize you smell like Cat Litter, it’s time to Die or at the very least, Move out of the Goddamn Way.
Too late for “Restorations,” or “Refudiating Cackles of Rads.”
Not right for the Old to Decide for the Young-
Let us get on with Living.
I know.
Because nothing says-
Welcome, Pair of Mormon dudes riding Mountain Bikes wearing white short sleeve shirts, long pants, and ties in 97° weather, better than Nineteen Full Metal Jacket Cap Peelers.
Sure, I’d love to Convert…
Seriously, Mormonism is Scientology with an even less believable Story Line. (Yeah, you heard me, Fuck L. Ron Ron).
Thetans or Lamanites?
Wow, tough choice.
I’ll get back to you after I self-Lobotomize.
God Almighty.
What are people to do these days?

Tosspots abound, War, Greed,  Reverse Racism, Art is being Murdered faster than the Rain Forests, AND there Ain’t Shit on TV except a couple Toffee Nosed Mardies queefing out dialogue obviously written by a Quasi-Retarded Wannabe Poof going through an Artificially Inseminated After School Specialized Tragedy.
What the fuck they Expect people to think, Feel, Say?
I’m here, to tell you-
But Exactly what
I haven’t the faintest Fucking Idea.
Bullshit.
I’m merely cuing you to the Farce right there in front of your Fucking Whatever-

ok.... Fairlane is done gone somewhere else, and it ain't no business of mine, and I really don't care all that much, see, but the deal is....that I realized I didn't have to think of what I was going to write some mornings.... just let it roll... so, kiddos, when you read my pages.... it ain't always me writing....
sometimes it's the candy wrapper on the sidewalk, or the stones rattling in an old cold tin can....or the dust smell that comes from old rotten wood.... or just the idea of what you can find when you go to look up a meatloaf recipe.

.... and remember, ketchup sucks... make your own sauce.

Hard times and funky weather

The word... is
yesterday morning when I woke at 5:30 it was already 80 degrees... this morning, same time, it was only 57.  Go figure.  We had two bits of storms come through yesterday.... the second was rather severe, bringing strong parallel winds, torrential rains and just a dash of thunder.  I had been out biking but had stopped at Oblio's for a pint just before the storm.  Now, if you need be stuck in a storm there isn't a argument about the best place to be is in a sturdy brick building with an ample supply of good pale ale.  Karl had also ducked in.... it is nice to talk to a real newsman.... he usually has more info than what can be put in the paper.. and it sure beats talking baseball.  He had a few comments on the Wiscon recall elections, Anthony Weiner's weiner,  and stuff.  When the storm let up we went out the back for a smoke and the sky was a almost brilliant yellow color, with neat wisps of clean cotton clouds.  Made me wish that I had a camera with me, and equally pleased that I didn't.

Hard times are continuing....and it has dawned on me that America is in the middle of a Un-Civil War. On tv, on the internet, on street corners, in the papers, at the polls. And I realize, that I am on a side of it.  Sometimes it is hard to tell what side. Sometimes I don't care......

..... and other times..... I wish it would all go away.... and leave a beautiful lemon sky.

MY UNDERWEAR.... JUNK WILL COST YOU EXTRA

ok....  I don't have a tweeter, twitter... whatever account... so this will have to do.

Vote, damminit all anyways

NOW READ THIS

.... there is a growing trend, to destroy Democracy.... as we know it...... Vote it every election you are eligible to.

Come and visit Wisconsin... the cheese really stinks.

OK.  The State of Wisxonsin.... is really working hard to repair it's budget.... cause we are broke, see.

"The budget committee also voted Friday to ban using state money for abortions at the Madison Surgery Center, which is operated by the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority.
No abortions are done at the facility." Green Bay Press Gazette

Well that is hunky dory...Let's ban something that wasn't there... saves a lot of money... but it makes it seem like the STATE WAS DOING ABORTIONS... SO THE RADICAL RELIGIOUS WILL SUPPORT THE GOVERNOR... HE DONE BANNED ABORTIONS!!  What a crock of bullshit.

Plus... there is a new rule that would mandate contracting certain road to private companies. Oshkosh Norwestern
One of the committee's last votes was to approve a tax cut for manufacturers that eventually would cost the state $128 million a year. "..requires counties and municipalities to hire private companies to do any project that costs more than $100,000 and end equipment-sharing efforts that local officials say have kept the cost of local road maintenance down."  well, tax dollars SHOULD go to the highest bidder!! It is a shame that local and county governments provide services!!!

One of the committee's last votes was to approve a tax cut for manufacturers that eventually would cost the state $128 million a year.

So... let's ban abortions, where they are not being done... let's take state, county and local governments out of the road repair business, roads that were built with tax dollars... and give that away.  Let's give more breaks to businesses that are already paying little taxes..... in the high hopes that they may even pay less in the future.

Wellllll.... some good folks in Wisconsin are not taking this lightly.  Teachers, Unionists, public workers, firemen, prison guards... have been protesting since this shit started... they have now erected a tent city by the capital to keep the protests going.  It's called "Walkerville"

 Well,,,, there is another provision in the budget that would give tax breaks to , get this, Phillip Morris, see, cause they really really create jobs in Wisconsin.  More info at MADISON.COM

"Dear Editor: The Joint Finance Committee voted Tuesday, 13-3, to change taxation on smokeless tobacco products from one based on price - where the tax automatically follows inflation - to one based on weight. This move would make some smokeless tobacco much less expensive and give a competitive edge to the tobacco giant Philip Morris USA.
That vote coupled with the committee's decision to double cuts to the state's effective and popular Tobacco Prevention and Control Program is devastating to the health of Wisconsin and sets the state up for a future with more needless addiction and higher health care costs."

There is just too much shit... wading through it all becomes a full time job.  These folks in Wisconsin are no longer legislators, they are thieves, liars, cheats and crooks.  Another proviso in the "Budget" would limit the amount of personal income a legislator needs reveal.... Holy Conflict of Interest Batman!!"  And... upset with the recall effort, six state Senators are facing recall, the state GOP is toying with the idea of running fake candidates.

But... you see, it is all about creating jobs, balancing our budget..... and paying back your corporate sponsors.

Irish at the river

W

Well... it's a nice little set up... the amphitheater down by the river .  Different concert, usually good, always reasonably priced.  This weekend it was three days of Irish music, food, dance... and beer.  And lucky me, gotza free weekend pass from one of the sponsors.  So..... sitting on the grass, looking at the stars.... there are worse things to do.

No Beer for you.....

Now I am pissed off.... the Wisconsin Legislature... has done it again.  This time they are attacking.... get this (in Wisxonsin, no less)  BEER!  or more correctly, small brewers and breweries.  Ok, it gets complicated, but here is the nub, and I will also post a link.  There has been a 'Turf War' between Anheuser Busch and Miller Coors for beer distribution in Wisconsin... Miller-Coors was a big campaign contributor for Scott Walker.... Now there is proposed legislation that would significantly cripple the growing micro-brewing industry in Wisconsin.  You can read more HERE.  

THE REAL DEAL..... is that it would in essence hinder the growth of independent business... Wisconsin small Breweries.  Now it is just plain and simple a matter of a large mega-company trying to stifle any ANY competition.

Real American, huh?  That is Scott Walker's way of creating jobs, helping business grow..... shit&whisker!

I know I have waxed eloquent on this page of my love for  beer.  The truth is, about twenty years ago I had pretty much given up on drinking beer.... not that I had a problem...but more so... it just didn't taste good anymore.

And then, all across the country Small brewers started making good beer again... all grain, clean water, not additives... old styles revived... Pilsners, Porters, Stouts, IPA's, Ales, Stouts... IT WAS GREAT!  Good beer tastes great with good food.....fish, cheese, BBQ, b eef, pork, Mexican.... name it!!!

Now, craft beer, as it were, really has a small market share...but it was growing.  Brewpubs sprang up... often with attached restaurants... and it gave us  CHOICES!  well corporate greed knows no bounds.  At first the big three would buy up small breweries... or make partnership deals... Red Hook in Seattle, Goose Island in Illinois, Leinenkugels in Wisconsin.... to channel profits that had been siphoned away..... but that wasn't enough to satisfy the greed.  Nope.  Know the new 'rules' will not eliminate small breweries... but it sure will make it difficult to sell your brand.  It further inhibits current distributors from bringing in small brands from other states... Stone Brewing company and Dogfish Head are already gone from store shelves.

OK... I am just ranting.... but the real deal is..... this is just another measure to stifle... independence, entrepreneurship, innovation, and ...... jobs.  The current legislature does not have the individual in mind.....  they never have. Never will.  It is NOT about balancing a budget... never was.

just a poem today.....

Barking

The moon comes up.

The moon goes down.

This is to inform you

that I didn’t die young.

Age swept past me

but I caught up.

Spring has begun here and each day

brings new birds up from Mexico.

Yesterday I got a call from the outside

world but I said no in thunder.

I was a dog on a short chain

and now there’s no chain.

 

Jim Harrison

We won't get fooled again

ok.... been some strange days.
Nothing big, nothing specific..... just hacking at the tropical rhubarb of anxiety that is growing in the head, whacking at the emotional banana plants, stumbling over the rotting stumps of past bad decisions,  plus... I was accused, (slightly, perhaps in jest), of being a bigot.

So, here's the deal... the political thing has boiled itself down to a joke.  It just boggles me. The rhetoric is so banal and insensate that it makes me gag just thinking about it.  Who are these people....? ... and I just do not mean the politicians... all the commentary about them, and then the commentary about the commentary.  I won't comment about that.

I made contact, or rather he made contact with me, with someone from high school (screwy FB) who now sends me notes about people who have died in my old home town, religious tracts he thinks are relevant and republican-ish thoughts.
I can't begin to comment.

I think someone called me a bigot... I think... 'cause I looked through the comments and I didn't see a comment that anyone could have misunderstood.... but then, snark can cloud things.  At first I was a little upset, and even a little mad.... and then I just let it go. There are roads to walk today, and I am all out of peanut butter.. and mad just isn't working today.
That's my only comment.

So, no one has died... the politics suck, I am not a bigot... and if I have any prejudices isn't just that my chemicals get jostled around sometimes.... it's like getting gas... and it goes away.

 the thing of it is.... from the radio to the TV, from FB to Blogger... it just seems that everyone is apt to be telling me what to believe... and I don't believe me
all that much, so why should I believe them?

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."

.... cause he ain't no wizard, and there ain't no yellow brick road.... and Dorothy never really left Kansas ...
and it ain't no deal.


leave a comment, eh!