Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Hello world

Anyone who has studied programming should recognize the title phrase from their first program. Nothing geeky here, just a way to break the ice. It's been so long since my muse left me and hit the road, I probably wouldn't recognize her if she did come back.

I've been meaning to post something before now, but just haven't really been up to it. The past few days have me feeling somewhat down; it was on the fifteenth of November three years ago that I lost my dad to cancer, and, though the pain has lessened somewhat, it never quite goes away.
The weather change has me feeling like someone took a club to me from my shoulder blades to the back of my knees; most of the time it just hurts, but now and then I get some really interesting muscle spasms in my back that tend to wake you up fast when they happen at about 400 in the morning. Sleeping has been a chore; I already sleep with a CPAP machine, but when you combine that with a charlie horse in the wee hours of the morning it tends to ruin your beauty sleep. Sleeping 3 to 5 hours a night has my head a little foggy, so excuse my whining and my meandering thought processes. Right now I feel about as friendly and cheerful as a bear with a sore tooth.

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This has me a little puzzled:

A Salt Lake City man is accused of slashing another man's face with a meat cleaver he was wearing as a necklace.

In charges filed Monday, police wrote that the man, 22, had called the victim's girlfriend "bad names" during a fight Nov. 10, and the victim threw his soda on the man.

The man allegedly took a meat cleaver he was wearing as a necklace and swung it at the victim, striking him in the face, arm and chest. The victim required 65 stitches, police wrote.

The 22-year-old was charged with second-degree felony aggravated assault.

Who the hell wears a meat cleaver on a necklace?

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I really don't understand all these problems with pirates; it used to be that if you had thugs on the high seas, you hunted them down and blew them out of the water. What the hell happened to that idea? The UN is always acting like they're useful; this would be a good time to prove it, rather than just bad-mouthing everyone else and sucking up money and bribes. Some types of people don't understand talking; with them you just have to get rough. Try executing a few of these sea-going assholes and maybe some of them would change vocations. Of course, the eunuchs at the UN have fits any time someone wants to actually get rough with criminals, and they start whining about arms and weapons and acting like bumping off murderers and thieves is a bad thing. Executing pirates is a public service, and should be treated as such.
Just my opinion.

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Mostly older stuff in the playlist today. Anyone old enough to remember some of these?

"There Ain't No Good Chain Gang" by Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings
"As Tears Go By" by The Rolling Stones
"Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel
"Never Comes the Day" by The Moody Blues
"Red, Red Wine" by Neil Diamond
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by The Beatles
"Two out of Three Ain't Bad" by Meat Loaf
"Both Sides Now" by Judy Collins
"With You There to Help Me" by Jethro Tull
"The Lonely Bull" by Herb Alpert

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

The weather is not cheering me up...

Not really fond of this white stuff falling from the sky; it means slippery roads, broken tree branches, and lots of arthritis pain. This is a shot to the west of me, from my front yard. The snow had let up for a few minutes.



Zoomed in here, to show the Oquirrh Mountains.



This is about thirty minutes later; notice you can't seen anything now with the snow coming down.



The trees in my front yard haven't dropped their leaves yet, so they're catching all the snow.



Not too cold yet, but that will be happening later tonight, I think.

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One of my favorite authors has died.

Best-selling author Michael Crichton has died in Los Angeles aged 66 after a "courageous and private battle against cancer", his family has said.


I'm really going to miss his books and movies.

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Any of these look familiar?


"Ride the Wild Surf" by Jan & Dean
"The Girl from Ipanema" by Eliane Elias
"Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol
"A View to a Kill" by Duran Duran
"The Wayward Wind" by Eddy Arnold
"Summertime" by Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band
"March of Cambreadth" by Heather Alexander
"It Ain't Right" by John Mayall & Eric Clapton
"Different Drum" by Linda Ronstadt
"Your Cheatin' Heart" by Hank Williams

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Battle royal

Hopefully by the end of the night we will know who won the brass ring; no matter who gets the presidency, I think We the People will be the losers. Right now it is 1800 here where I am, so the local stuff will be done before too long. I voted early this morning, so I feel I did my part for the day. Right now it's trying to snow off-and-on, but I don't think we'll get much during the night. Just enough bad weather to make all the joints hurt.

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Feeling like a mix tonight; anyone like this bunch?

"It's My Life" by Bon Jovi and Sugarland
"Ride the Wild Surf" by Jan & Dean
"Baby Don't Do Me Wrong" by John Lee Hooker
"Wolverton Mountain" by Claude King
"Sometimes in Winter" by Blood, Sweat & Tears
"Bourree From Violin Partita No. 1, BWV 1002" by Andrés Segovia
"Honky Tonk Heroes" by Waylon Jennings
"More Than a Feeling" by Boston
"Maybellene" by Chuck Berry
"I Drink Alone" by George Thorogood

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Changing of the seasons

Yesterday it was warm, so we took a lunch and went up into the hills while the weather was still good.
Most of the leaves have fallen in the higher country; up where we went the main deciduous trees were quakies, with a few boxelders mixed in in places. The undergrowth has died back for the most part, so things were looking a bit bare.

These are some pictures in American Fork Canyon.








Following the road up American Fork, it goes over a summit and then takes you down into Provo Canyon, and the Sundance Institute. There was no snow there (both canyons had been getting rain just before we went up), so there is no skiing at Sundance as of yet.

Sundance Institute




An Oregon grape



It was a good day in all; didn't see much wildlife other than birds and squirrels, but it was good to get out of the city for a while.

Today we have cold rain, and snow on the mountains. Winter is coming.

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Plungergirl knows how to deliver a proper bitch slap to trolls who don't like her opinions.

So I close this dissertation by recommending that the offended do one of four things: (1) rent a tractor to yank those sticks out of your ass; (2) consider the possibility that constipation may be causing you to be unusually sensitive; (3) pick up a bottle of narcotics on your next trip across the border; or (4) close the browser and resist the urge to come back.

Rock on, lady.

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Judging by my playlist, my mood seems a bit dark today.

"Iron Butterfly Theme" by Iron Butterfly
"All Along The Watchtower" from Battlestar Galactica soundtrack
"I'm Eighteen" by Alice Cooper
"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult
"The Battle of Evermore" by Led Zeppelin
"Paint It Black" by The Rolling Stones
"Gypsy" by The Moody Blues
"House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals
"Dust in the Wind" by Kansas
"Born Under a Bad Sign" by Cream

See any here you like?