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

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bob;

I understand the whole losing the muse thing - the world is a little weird for me right now...and no, not because I wear a meat cleaver for a necklace. I just listened to Judy Collins this weekend...

BobG said...

Hi skipper: I know from your blog you have quite a bit on your mind right now; I am amazed you are able to keep it together as well as you do. Judy Collins is always a good listen, isn't she?

AlanDP said...

Wow, I haven't heard "Chain Gang" in a long, long time. That's one of the songs we used to sing in high school just to annoy our English teacher.

Mike W. said...

"Who the hell wears a meat cleaver on a necklace?"

The kind of person I stay FAR, FAR away from.

Anonymous said...

Now back in the fifties having JUNE Cleaver around your neck ... err what's that you say? Wrong clever? Nevermind. As for the pirates, yeah it would be nice if the UN grew a pair, and decided to do something about them, but I don't expect that glorified group of "thugs in suits" to be any kind of useful. YMMV.

As for your "stax of wax" ... Bridge Over Troubled Waters; naybe the biggest commercial success for S and G, and not a bad tune. Guitar Gently Weeps is one of the few Beatles songs I really liked (Blackbird and Norwegian Wood, and When I'm 64, being the three others.) Any Tull works for me.

Came over this way via "Local Malcontent", will be stopping by again soon. Understand the muse being flighty, has happened to me more then once (along with work sapping any and all creativity out of me before I am able to get to the keyboard. Keep your powder dry sir, I feel we are in for a bumpy ride over the course of the next 4 years or so.

BobG said...

alandp: I've always been a big fan of Cash and Jennings, that one was always one of my favorites.

mike w: Razor blade earrings are bad enough, I can't imagine walking around with a meat cleaver dangling from my neck.

guy s: Thanks for dropping by. Good to see someone who remembers some of the oldies. I agree with you about the bumpy ride; I think we're in for a tangle with socialism, and that can turn out badly.

The Local Malcontent said...

I'm sorry about the loss of your father, 3 years ago, Bob. You two must've been really close.

About the pirates, you have the solution precisely right. Countries in that region need to put a naval presence in the international waters and either starve them out, or blow them the hell up.
Leave the feckless U.N. out of the picture, for true effectness.

terri said...

Personally, I don't run around wearing meat cleavers as necklaces, but now and then I like to slip the wire whisk on a chain around my neck. Rubber spatulas make intersting jewelry as well. If I'm feeling really daring, I get out the garlic press. Oh yeah.

the pistolero said...

"There Ain't No Good Chain Gang" by Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings
That one came out before I was born, but it's always been one of my favorite superstar duets of that period.

Kenny said...

Great picks on the tunes. I wonder why the shipping companies do not arm their ships. I would think a couple; two, three 50 cal machineguns would be a wonderful deterrent to bad guys attacking in small boats.

As for the meat clever guy, people like him are why we need concealed carry permits.

Bob G. said...

Bob G.-
I know how you feel, BELIEVE me.
I lost my dad the same way back in 1978, and there's not ONE day that goes by without me thinking of him.
You never really "get over it"...you just learn to live WITH it. Therein lies the challenge.

I get a charley horse every few years, but it's mainly arthritis for me, thank you.
That's what wailing the crap out of your (seemingly invincible back then) body does to you after all those years.
It ALL catches up with you...sooner or later. Don't let anyone tell 'ya different.

-Meat cleaver "necklace"?
Sounds like too much "bling" to me.
-Agreed w/ hunting down the pirates...it worked well in centuries past.
No reason why it can't work AGAIN...and at longer distances with smarter weapons!

Great pick list for the songs...

Keep the Faith.

(the other) Bob G.

BobG said...

Localmalcontent: I think the pirate problem could be taken care of by treating them the same way we would any other terrorist organization.

terri: What kind of earrings go with a garlic press? Just curious...LOL

pistolero: I was in my mid-twenties when it came out; I was listening to a lot of country since disco was popular on the rock stations, and I HATE disco almost as bad as I hate rap.

Kenny: I agree with arming ships, but there are too many weenie governments that are afraid of having their subjects armed, even for self-defense.

Bob G: My bad back is the result of a minor case of scoliosis; arthritis has been moving in slowly over the past twenty years and making it worse. Getting old is a bitch, isn't it?
Glad to see you here on a visit.

Anonymous said...

my muse is super fickle too. I hate when she leaves me for an extended period of time.

I did not know that about your father. I am very sorry to hear about his passing.

GUYK said...

Hmmm. they must be some stranger people then I thought up yore way..meat cleaver for a necklace, huh? And I though we had some weirdos down here in the Banana republik of the Sunny Beaches..lots of them sunny beaches..

UBERMOUTH said...

OMG I Knew too many of those songs- I am officially OLD!

BobG said...

meleah: Your muse seems to hang around more than mine; you always seem to have something interesting to write about.

GuyK: I wouldn't be surprised if the character was from somewhere else, we do get a lot of strange people from California who move here.

Ubermouth: Some of them have been around for a while, I doubt if you're as old as you think.

James Higham said...

You miss him of course.

JDP said...

Happy Thanksgiving BobG.

JDP