A Vet & Tet

Where were you on January 31, 1968? Yes, 40 years ago, tomorrow, I was a high school senior in New Rochelle, New York. Also 40 years ago, tomorrow, was the very beginning of the Tet Offensive in Viet Nam. I salute the guys who were there - they went through some very heavy sh*t. These guys were and are true heroes. These are the guys we should "thank" on Veterans' Day and on Memorial Day and every damn day! Regardless of the significance of Tet or the outcome of our presence in Viet Nam, the men who we sent there are what this is all about.

My Army roommate at AFN Frankfurt is a Vietnam Veteran. He's still on the air - at Radio Luxembourg. If you've been paying attention, I've mentioned this in a previous post. Anyway, he's going to be interviewed, with others, tomorrow night on the Jim Bohannon Radio Show. Bohannon was with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade at Long Binh, Vietnam during the Tet Offensive. Meanwhile, my roommate, Benny Brown, was a Combat Engineer/RTO with the 4th Infantry Division in Pleiku.
The show is on Westwood One Radio Network and airs at 10:00 PM Eastern. If you live in a cultural vacuum (as I do) where the Jim Bohannon Show is not available, you can listen on line by clicking here.
I know that I will be listening as I have permission to stay up, tomorrow night.

Another Reason Why I Don't Go To That Church, Anymore

My wife and son and I had been going to the same church for 18 years. That's 18 years - every Sunday! During that time, all three of us played active, visable roles within various projects involving the church community.
We haven't attended services at that church for more than a year and today, I was reminded why.
A former, fellow churchgoer bought a relatively expensive SUV at our dealership, today, from another salesman! This happened four times within the time span of a single year which originally prompted me to find another church, or at least another congregation.
Is it a mystery that car salespeople work on COMMISSION? Would the Christian (CHRIST-like) thing to do be to seek out a fellow parishonner? They know where I work and what I do. Every week for 18 years, remember?
Like I say, I have no trouble with the church. It's the people, and I have no use for these people. Don't get me wrong, I don't go to church to "sell cars." Thank God (yes, this is the same God from church) I can make a decent living selling to strangers.

Retired!

I thought I'd start the week with a joke!
Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting.
Well, for example, the other day the wife and I went into town and went into a shop. We were only in there for about 5 minutes. When we came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket. We went up to him and said, 'Come on man, how about giving a senior citizen a break?' He ignored us and continued writing the ticket. I called him a Dumbass. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tires. So the wife called him a shithead. He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more we abused him, the more tickets he wrote.
Personally, we didn't care. We came into town by bus.

Have a good week.....

Who The Hell Is John Gibson?

Well, apparently he has a talk show on Fox Radio. He's becoming more and more famous for making undignified remarks. He called Heath Ledger a "weirdo" with a "serious drug problem." Making fun of the famous "I wish I knew how to quit you" line from "Brokeback Mountain," Gibson said of his death, "Well, he found out how to quit you."
This is not Gibson's first time making inappropriate comments in the wake of tragedy. In July 2005, just one day before the 7/7 terrorist bombings in London, Gibson said that "the International Olympic Committee missed a golden opportunity....If they had picked France instead of London to hold the Olympics, it would have been the one time we could look forward to where we didn't worry about terrorism. They'd blow up Paris, and who cares?" The next day, after the London bombings, Gibson repeated the remarks.
Even Archie Bunker didn't poke fun at life and death situations.
The challange here is to be witty without being an ass.
He's probaby too much of an ass to become anywhere near "witty."

Miss Miss America?

Miss America Pageant is on tonight. This year the festivities air on TLC, last year it was CMT. You would think that in the middle of a wirters' strike that a major broadcast network would want to showcase an annual event like this. Not so. First, scheduling probably took place long before the Writers Guild's job action. Apparently NBC is happy to air a women's figure skate competition. CBS has a couple of 48 Hours Mysteries, Fox has two installments of COPS followed by America's Most Wanted. ABC? I couldn't find tonight's schedule on their web site! I Googled "ABC Schedule" and found the 2004 Fall Lineup!
This all brings me to my point. Shows that I think should be shown on cable channels are finding themselves on the broadcast networks. Meanwhile, network worthy shows like "Miss America" are being banished to the cable outlets.
By the way, the picture is of Lauren (nice abs) Nelson, Miss America 2007.
What will General Tom be watching tonight?
I'll be listening to Cousin Brucie on Sirrius.

Angelic

I've been know to kid around on this blog. It's not usual that I address a serious subject, but here goes.
This happened yesterday and I was told about it only a few minutes ago. Customers, man and wife, came to the dealership where I work. They told our finance manager that their daughter recently died. The daughter suffered a fatal heart attack, at home. Her five year old son was alone in the house with her when this happened. A full day later, the woman's father and mother came to the house and discovered what had happened. The five year old boy was lying on the sofa. He told his grandparents that he had not been alone - that "angelman" had been with him all the time. He explained to the boy that mommy had a heart attack and that grandma and grandpa would be there soon and that everything would be alright! As I said, the grandparents were in the dealership yesterday and they told this story to our finance lady, adding that the boy had a faint glow surrounding him when they found him. The glow would be some kind of symbol of protection. It vanished when the grandparents picked the boy up.
Like I say, I'm not a big fan of the paranormal and neither is our finance lady.
This was not a common situation for the boy. Perhaps an uncommon remedy was provided?

Snail Beats Mail!

Remember those mathematical "word problems? I don't remember one as interesting at this:

WARSAW (Reuters) - It's official. Postal delivery is as slow as snails, at least in Poland.
An IT worker, after receiving a letter on January 3 that was sent on December 20 as priority mail, calculated that a snail would have made it even faster to his home than the letter.
Daily Gazeta Wyborcza said Michal Szybalski calculated that it took 294 hours for the letter to arrive at his home. He also said the distance between his home and the sender was 11.1 kilometers.
Given the distance and the time, the speed of the letter was 0.03775 kilometers per hour. Szybalski calculated that a garden snail travels at around 0.048 kilometers per hour.

Sounds like somebody has a lot of time on their hands...

Big Deal!

Yes, it is a big deal - on NBC's "Deal Or No Deal" as Howie Mandel's Million Dollar Mission continues! In the recent past, he's added an additional million dollar case following each time that less than a million dollars is given away. This is in hopes that a contestant will win the top prize of $1,000,000. This, of course, is an effort to keep the show "fresh" and "more dramatic." All of this is not important to me, as long as they have the 26 models, including my friend, Anya Monzikova who joins us on the right. My my. Anya's hobbies include, er, eh, who the hell cares! She's a nice centerpiece for the wall of models.
Deal Or No Deal airs on NBC Monday and Wedesday evenings.

Super Hype Begins!

With only 11 shopping days left before the Super Bowl the super hype has reached the humbled confines of General Tom's world. It started with Tom Brady walking outside his girlfriend's apartment building with and without a walking cast on his right foot. Do You know what this means? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya? Three possibilities: 1. He has a mild high ankle sprain. This is what he says. 2. He is near death from terminal foot ailments. 3. He is in "psyche mode" in preparing for the big game. He's trying to make the Giants fans think that he's "damaged goods." I doubt that the Giants nor the 'Vegas odds makers would buy it, Tom. While I'm at it and my computer is still turned on, too much has been made of Dallas QB Tony Romo folding in the pressence of his little girlfriend, Jessica Simpson, sitting in the stands or luxury box and watching boyfriend Romo lose to the Giants. Well, Tommy Brady has a moderately good looking girlfriend, Gisele Bundchen, and golly, General Tom happens to have a picture (or two) of her to share. That's Gisele on the left.
At the same time, young Eli has a girlfriend who has been promoted to fiance!
Yes, Abby McGrew. That would be her picture, on the left, below Gisele's. I added Abby's picture since I honestly think that the Giants are going to win the game - wherever Abby wants to watch the game from!
I also added it because this blog can use all the beauty that I can possibly find.

Giants by 2.

Fred's Out!

Conserative Republican Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson called it quits today. Here's how he put it:
"Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people."
Something about this guy made me feel a little uncomfortable. He was late throwing his hat into the ring and didn't seem to really want to work as hard as the other candidates. Of course, I never knew him as a senator - just as the pompous DA on Law & Order. Fred, go back to TV - it's what you do best!

Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger was found dead today in his apartment in NYC, he was 28 years old. Police say that drugs may have been involved. We will surely hear much more about this tragic death.
It's sad to see this happen to someone with a bright future in the entertainment business. It's sad to see this happen to anyone.

Bus: Women Only!

Socially, I'd say there's a problem in Mexico City. Their transportation system handles twice the load as New York City's. Apparently there's been a growing problem where the women of Mexico City have been complaining of groping and verbal abuse from men. So, it's been decided to add "Women Only" buses to certain routes. Trains in Mexico City already have designated cars for women & children.
In the Army, as an enlisted man. stationed in Frankfurt, Germany, the WACs were permitted to eat in the NCO dining hall - apart from the enlisted men - for the same reason. This didn't bother me except for my suspicions that the NCOs were getting fresh food and we, the EMs, were getting the leftovers.

Me & Katy McPhee

Singer & American Idol product, Katherine McPhee is getting married in February. Or so it has been reported. I haven't see my invitation, yet, so how can I be sure? She is sending out "Save The Date" pre-invite invitations. (Personally, I never had to send out double invites and more than 200 showed up for my wedding. Of course, I owned a liquor store at the time.) The reports say that she's marrying a guy who is 19 years older than she is! Gasp!
Being a lot older than 19 years older than Katharine McPhee, I can tell you that there are advantages to older guys. They usually have a little more money, than they did when they were in their 20's. They are much more grateful to be in the company of a beautiful young woman. They've also had the necessary time to learn stuff...about life...and about women.
Of course when Katharine is 53, her husband will be 72. For some reason, Sophia Loren & Carlo Ponte come to mind...and it worked for them!
Anyhow, it's a shame I won't be going to the wedding. I bought a very nice wedding gift for the happy couple. I ordered it from the RCA/Sony Gift Site...

Tynes' Giant Kick

We knew it was going to be cold in Green Bay - it usually is during the end of January. We also knew that the Giants were playing better now than they have in years. That's partially why I chose the Giants to beat the Packers on Sunday. The internet is full of sites that will analyze everything from Jimmy Johnson's glass of frozen water on the set of the pre-game show to well, to whatever. As a non-expert, I thought the game was very exciting and well played by both teams.
Those who know me well know that I am partial to place kickers. You know, the guys who are on the hot seat when the offense can't find the end zone. Well, on Sunday, Lawrence Tynes had two early field goals for the Giants. He missed a third. I notcied that as he returned to the bench, Coach Tom Coughlin was...scolding? no, he was blasting Tynes for his miss! Coach may be a football genius, but not a people person. In my mind, coach's ranting contributed to Tynes' 2nd muffed field goal attempt with seconds on the clock.
Fast forward to OT and following a short series of miracles, Tynes has another chance to win the game. This one from 47 yards - farther than either of the two previous misses. (Hollywood, are you still reading?) His kick was perfect! Perfect enough to send his team to the Super Bowl on February 3. His kick on Sunday would be more significant if the Giants find a way to defeat the Patriots. They almost beat them during the regular season, but "almost" doesn't count...especially when you're talking field goals.

Valentine's Day

Ok guys, Valentine's Day is comming up. As a public service, General Tom is giving you the proper way to say "I love You" in 25 different languages!

English = I Love You; Spanish = Te Amo; French = Je T'aime; German = lch Liebe Dich; Japanese =
Ai Shite Imasu; Thai = Phom rak khun; Italian = Ti amo; Chinese = Wo Ai Ni; Swedish = Jag Alskar
Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana,Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, parts of Florida = Nice Ass, Get in the truck .

Playoff Picks

Actually these picks are for the NFL Conference Championship Games. San Diego is at New England in the early game. General Tom picks New England. Pictured at right is Briana Lee, a Patriots' Cheerleader and avid reader of this blog!
Next, we have the ICE BOWL at Green Bay where the favored Packers play host to the Giants. It's going to be near zero degrees farenheit at kick off with a windchill value of -20. Under these conditions, anything can happen. I'd like to see the Giants win, so I'll pick them.
Either way, both the Giants and the Packers will be playing against.......the weather!

Poe Toaster Returns

If you went to High School, you read Edgar Allan Poe. His writings have become classic! His personal life was far from it! He married his 13 year old cousin who died 11 years later. Some say that her death drove Poe to alcoholism. He died in Baltimore at age 40 after collapsing in a tavern.
You're probably thinking, "Fine Tom, but why do you bring this up?"
This is why: Today, January 19th, is the anniversary of Poe's birth. He would have been 199. Every year, someone - the "Poe Toaster" - delivers three roses and a half empty bottle of cognac to his grave. Some say that this tradition began in the late 1940's other say the 1970's. I remember first hearing about it in the '60's. Last night, shortly after midnight, the "Poe Toaster" struck again! Nearly 150 people were on hand at the Westminster Burial Grounds in Baltimore as the toaster did his thing. His identity is unknown. Bystanders are not permitted to interfere with the "Poe Toaster."

Hmmmmmmm.

Georgia Frontiere

Saint Louis Rams owner and chairman Georgia Frontiere has died following a long illness. She was 80.
The obits for her are all over the internet. I could copy and paste some of the more relevant facts about this lady's life, but why? I mean why duplicate? I can tell you that Miss Georgia led a full life. She was married 7 times. Widowed at least twice. Left her hometown of St. Louis eloping at age 15. Her first husband was killed in WWII. She learned to marry well and acquired ownership of the NFL Rams the old fashioned way - she inherited it from a late husband. That husband would be Carroll Rosenbloom. There's a story that Georgia, a famous Miami dancer, was introduced to Rosenbloom by Joseph P. Kennedy in the late '50's. Rosenbloom had made his fortune by selling uniforms to the U.S, Army durnig WWII. He owned the Baltimore Colts which he basically swapped for the Los Angeles Rams. Rosenbloom was a big time gambler. Many think that his drowning death was not an accident, rather payback for some huge gambling debts. This is where Georgia comes into the picture. She takes over the team and did what no pro sports franchise owner should ever do. I trust that she is in "hot water" with St. Peter, right now, for moving the Rams from Los Angeles to St. Louis!
Georgia did may nice things for the communities of St. Louis and LA. She will forever be famous as the first female owner/operator of an NFL Franchise.

Katherine Heigl

With the movie "27 Dresses" opening this weekend, I thought this would be a good time to draw up a post featurning Katherine Heigl. She strikes me as being a class act in a town famous for turning out Britneys and Lindsays and Nicoles.
I first saw Katherine in "Bride Of Chucky." It was a lousey movie but if you can act and if you are "easy to look at," a lousey movie will make you stand out that much more.
She recently married Josh Kelly. It's funny seeing them togher. She's always looking "just right" and he always has a day's growth on his face. I don't get it, but, I'm old.

Tiger Attackees: Taunted & Tipsy

The fatal Christmas Day San Franciso Zoo tiger attack was, indeed, tragic. However you must remember that we are dealing with a dumb (& wild) animal! A dumb (& wild) animal who was restrained by a wall that was 12 1/2 feet tall - 4 feet shorter than the recommended height.
We should also remember that the punks who were attacked had been drinking. The genius on the left, 19 year old Paul Dhaliwal was legally drunk. The boys had also been toking. Dhaliwal says that he did no taunting. Police say otherwise. And why not? This is all going to develop into a major lawsuit. Whatever the final decision happens to be, you can be sure that changes will be made at all zoos so drunk, marijuanna smoking, low life moronic punks will be safe and protected.

Adios El Nivel

Mexico's oldest cantina is closing. El Nivel, commonly referred to as "A charming dive" had been serving the famous and not so famous for more than 150 years! The building's owner is the National Autonomous University of Mexico and they won a 17 year legal battle against the cantina's owner. Ironic. If a university in the USA were to close down such a place, there would be riots on campus - at least there would have been in the '60's.
I've never been there, but I've been to similar places. You can be sure that tonight I'll raise a can of Old Milwaukee in tribute to the memory of El Nivel.
The owner says he is searching for a new location.
It won't be the same.

Meet Jessica Lucas

I feel that it is not only important, but that it is my duty to introduce new talent on this blog. Well, maybe that's a little cheesy, but, here's Jessica Lucas.
She's from Canada, been acting since she was 7, bla bla bla, you're probably looking at the picture, anyway.
She has a small role, this season, on CSI and she's in the new movie "Cloverfield."
That's all.

Diane Drops The F-Bomb

Diane Sawyer is interviewing Diane Keaton, this morning, on Good Morning America and a few minutes into the conversation, Keaton says that if she were as beautiful as Sawyer she wouldn't have to work on her f-ing personality and she'd be married. Fact is, Keaton has never been married.
Maybe she should work on her f-ing vocabulary.
The FCC.....You know for a long while I doubted if there really was an FCC, until Janet Jackson did her little dance with Justin Timberlake during the Super Bowl halftime ditty....well, the FCC is "stammering" on this one. To ABC's credit, they bleeped out the offense on their Central, Mountain & Pacific feeds. I say that if there is a fine, ABC should force Diane Keaton to pay it.
It all comes down to common sense. Clearly Diane Keaton doensn't have any. She was sitting under bright lights, in front of a couple ot live TV cameras and she was wearing a mic. Such a situation calls for a certain poise that people with half a brain can muster up. Having eked out a living for many years in broadcasting, I have learned that you don't drop the F-Bomb in front of your mother, any member of the clergy, respectable women and certainly not on live network TV!
Diane Keaton is an idiot.

Eddie & Tracey Split, Kinda

Some people should never get married. Others should never "almost" get married. Eddie Murphy and Tracey Edmonds were engaged last summer. Handsome couple, don't you think? She's been lugging around an 8 carat diamond engagement ring since then. The two get hitched in a non-legally binding ceremony on an island near Bora-Bora. Two weeks pass and the two split up?
He's 46, she's 40. Both are divorced. He has 5 kids, she has 2.
There's probably more to this than meets the eye, but whatever the complications may be, this doesn't seem quite right.
The lesson for each: Wedded bliss doesn't always follow the bliss of being engaged. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Ivanka - You're Hired!

Ivanka Trump, The Donald's 26 year old princess has received final approval from the New Jersey State Casino Control Commission to serve on the board of directors of Trump Entertainment Resorts, which operates three casinos there.
The 26-year-old daughter of Donald and Ivana Trump received temporary approval in July, pending completion of an investigation into her background and finances — a standard practice for pending casino board members.

It's good to see that the girl has some money "coming in."

Ellen On Deal Or No Deal!

I've already mentioned that I am fond of NBC's "Deal Or No Deal." Tonight the producers are introducing their first "celebrity model." It's Ellen Degeneres. Good choice since she's a funny woman. With her, er, uh, sexual orientation - this could be interesting on several levels.
For those of you who may be new to this blog, last March I identified the Banker. You can read that post by entering "banker" in the search window at the top/left of this page.
This post is also the best excuse that I can think of to add a picture of my favorite Deal Or No Deal model, Ursula Mayes (#5). Click here to see her commercial for the Juiced 2 Video Game.
Her bio says that she enjoys cooking.
That's nice. Very nice.

If It Costs More - It Must Be Better!

Here's a report on an interesting study which basically says that the more you spend on a bottle of wine, the more you will enjoy it - regardless of actually quality! Read on...
STANFORD, California (Reuters) - The more wine costs, the more people enjoy it, regardless of how it tastes, a study by California researchers has found.

Researchers at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the California Institute of Technology found that because people expect wines that cost more to be of higher quality, they trick themselves into believing the wines provide a more pleasurable experience than less expensive ones.
Their study, published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, says that expectations of quality trigger activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex, the part of the brain that registers pleasure. This happens even though the part of our brain that interprets taste is not affected.
While many studies have looked at how marketing affects behavior, this is the first to show that it has a direct effect on the brain.
The researchers said that when 20 adult test subjects sampled the same wine at different prices, they reported experiencing pleasure at significantly greater levels when told the wine cost more. At the same time, the part of the brain responsible for pleasure showed significant activity.

I've always said that if it tastes good to you, then it's good - no matter what it costs. Same with the reverse. Also, you must remember that the people involved in this study were drinking.

Golden Globe Ceremony - Not So Golden

The Golden Globe Ceremony was held last night. Well, with the Writers' Guild strike, the big-time actors refused to cross the picket lines, so there were no celebrities. The presentation took the form of a news conference. News conferences have traditionally been as exciting as watching paint dry, or listening to snow melt.
Nielsen came up with the numbers - 5.8 million people watched the 'Globes on Sunday. Last year it was 20 million. Network TV charges sponsors by the size of the audience. Translation: NBC lost between $10 & 15 million. Is that a lot of money, for them? Well, yes and no. It's more than they pay Brian Williams.
Next month the Academy Awards will be broadcast. If the writers' strike is still going on, it should be interesting to see what portion of last year's audience of 40 million will be watching.

Frozen Tundra Will Be...Well, Frozen

Always one to look ahead, I see that the National Weather Service is calling for mostly sunny skies in Green Bay and in Foxboro for Sunday's NFL Conference Championship games. At Lambeau Field the mercury should rise to +7F while the Patriot faithful at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro should be enjoying a balmy 20 degree day.
This is all subject to change

Podres Passes

Sad news. Johnny Podres passed away, Sunday. He was 75. If you were alive in the 1950's you would know that he pitched for the Dodgers, the Brooklyn Dodgers. The picture on the right is of a 23 year old Podres being congratulated by Roy Campanella & Pee Wee Reese as he completed a 2-0 shutout of the Yankees, at Ebbett's Field, in the final game of the 1955 World Series. This was his second win of the series, winning him the MVP Award for the fall classic. This was Brooklyn's only championship team. Following the 1955 season, Podres was drafted by the military. His Major League career resumed in '57 with the Dodgers. He is being remembered and admired as a gentleman and a fierce competitor.
Condolances to Podres' family & friends.

Kitana Baker

So, yesterday, I'm channel surfing, waiting for the Colts-Chargers game to come on and I stumble over a documentary on the Independent Film Channel called "Incident At Loch Ness." I'm curious enough to tune it in and I see that Kitana Baker has a role. This is probably the dumbest movie I've ever seen. I kept watching it because Kitana was the only person in the movie who could operate the sonar equipment. All this, and brains too!
Kitana Baker is probably most famous for her role in a Miller Lite Beer commercial from a few years ago. We've all seen it...BUT, this blog has an international appeal! Benny, the commercial is below! Enjoy!

The Blessings Of Obscurity!

This blog has more than 300 posts. It also has a hit counter. On a good day I see one or two unique visits. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate your dropping by! But, good God - 300+ posts and obviously no recognition from the blog search engines? Even Google Blog Search doesn't list this blog - and they're the parent company of blogspot! I'm convinced that the only way to attact a large following is to post pictures of scantily clad women! But, there's already enough of that on the internet!
There is a blessing in all of this. I can say whatever-the-hell-I-want and only my close friends will ever see it. These are the same people who know me and accept the way I feel about things.
I did receive a couple of responses from strangers. One, when I said that E-85 fuel was (at this point) a waste of money. Another was on our participation in Iraq. Other than that, zilch.
So with this in mind, please stay tuned. I plan on pushing the envelope and going a little farther in 2008.
Since you are in my circle of friends, I'll probably be posting something about you!

What da ----------?

I had to search hard for this one! I guess we don't have enough laws on the books. Read on...
ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) — What the ...? A St. Louis-area town is considering a bill that would ban swearing in bars, along with table-dancing, drinking contests and profane music.
City officials contend the bill is needed to keep rowdy crowds under control because the historic downtown area gets a little too lively on some nights.
City Councilman Richard Veit said he was prompted to propose the bill after complaints about bad bar behavior. He says it will give police some rules to enforce when things get too rowdy.
But some bar owners worry the bill is too vague and restrictive, saying it may be a violation of their civil rights.
Marc Rousseau, who owns bar R.T. Weilers, said he thinks the bill needs revision.
To me, the solution is simple, actually, it's the American Way! Raise the price of drinks. This will keep the riff raft out and keep the fiscally responsible from drinking too much.
OK, seriously, if this is really a problem, the bar owner should know about it. The bottom line is that the bar owner will do whatever is necessary to increase business. This is another problem that will take care if itself.

My Space Mayor In Hot Water

Arlington, Oregon is a small town of a little more than 500 folks. They have a mayor who has a My Space account and, well, that's where things started getting racey. You see, Mayor Carmen Kontur-Gronquist's My Space photo is the one that you see, here. She is in her black lingerie, posing on an Arlington Fire Truck. The locals don't appreciate it. There's talk of a recall election.

I wonder if Hugh Hefner knows about this?

Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em

If you were a GI, the title of this post is all too familiar to you. Smoking within a public place is now like robbing a bank. Here's a story from Reuters that will "clear the air" for some of us:

BERLIN (Reuters) - The owner of a small German computer company has fired three non-smoking workers because they were threatening to disturb the peace after they requested a smoke-free environment.

The manager of the 10-person IT company in Buesum, named Thomas J., told the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper he had fired the trio because their non-smoking was causing disruptions.
Germany introduced non-smoking rules in pubs and restaurants on January 1, but Germans working in small offices are still allowed to smoke.
"I can't be bothered with trouble-makers," Thomas was quoted saying. "We're on the phone all the time and it's just easier to work while smoking. Everyone picks on smokers these days. It's time for revenge. I'm only going to hire smokers from now on."

Stay tuned. This business is doomed.

New Packers' Quarterback??

I try not to get too political, here, but IT IS MY BLOG! Here's one that's been going around...

In a news conference Deanna Favre announced she will be the starting QB for the Packers this coming Sunday. Deanna asserts that she is qualified to be starting QB because she has spent the past 16 years married to Brett while he played QB for the Packers. During this period of time she became familiar with the definition of a corner blitz, and is now completely comfortable with other terminology of the Packers offense. A survey of Packers fans shows that 50% of those polled supported the move.

Does this sounds unbelievable to you? Well, Hillary Clinton makes the same claims as to why she is qualified to be President and 50% of democrats polled agreed. She has never run a City, County, or State. When told Hillary Clinton has experience because she has 8 years in the white house, Dick Morris stated, "So has the pastry chef."

Kelly Learns A Lesson

Congratulations, Kelly Tilghman! You made it on to General Tom's Blog! Kelly who? Read on...

HONOLULU (AP) -- Golf Channel suspended anchor Kelly Tilghman for two weeks on Wednesday for saying last week that young players who wanted to challenge Tiger Woods should "lynch him in a back alley."

Tilghman was laughing during the exchange Friday with analyst Nick Faldo at the Mercedes-Benz Championship, and Woods' agent at IMG said he didn't think there was any ill intent.

Should we make a big deal out of this? You can answer this for yourself. Keep in mind that Miss Tilghman was praising Tiger's golfing skill and she was responding to Nick Faldo's suggestion that younger golfers may have to "gang up" on Woods to defeat him. To me, the important factor here is that Kelly meant no harm with her comment. Her words (in my mind) were not in the least bit serious. If the comment was not serious, should we react seriously?
The lesson, here, Miss Kelly is that there are people who are too busy listening to words when they should be listening to what you are saying. I just got off the phone with Don Imus. He agrees.

Video? You want video? Try this:

Excuse me as I try to figure out how I'm going to sell my next car...

Ogling Olga

A new James Bond movie is coming out and with it is a new James Bond Girl. Nothing new, here. I mention this for a couple of reasons. Recent world events have been rather ugly, also, there's not nearly enough "beauty" in this world. I counter this with young Olga. The Bond series has become a little "ho-hum" to me. After all, how many ways are there to save the world from international bad guys? Half the world is wondering if they prefer Pierce or Roger or Sean to portray 007. It doesn't matter. Enter Olga Kurylenko. She's a young (of course) model/actress from Ukraine. Of course I came up with a real spiffy picture of her. I'd like to point out to my neighbors that the girl has no tattoos. Click the thumbnail to get the full size picture. Did you click the thumbnail? Go ahead, you'll thank me!

You're welcome! I don't have any details on the upcoming Bond flick. (Hip dudes always say flick.)

If only I were a hundred years younger (& single) that would be me - in a sleeping bag - outside her front door.

Thank you, God.

Parade's Snafu

Hey, Parade Magazine, you blew it.

First, let me say that the article on Benazir Bhutto was very well done, except it was written with the expectation that she would serve her country further and help the free world fight terrorism. Fact is, she was killed more than a week before the article hit the newsstands. Very tacky. You guys could have edited the fine piece to reflect the fact that the woman is no longer with us and what it means to any or all of us!

What's next, Parade? You know, as I remember it, Harry Truman was outstanding interview material!

Hillary Survives

The picture is left over from Halloween, but I think it applies year-round.
Even though, Hillary was defeated in Iowa, she's not done.
I mentioned in the previous post that I'm trying not to listen to the Presidential Candidates because all that comes from their mouths is feel-good dribble aimed at relaxing you enough to vote for them. If you think of it, it's what we've done that makes us what we are. In choosing a candidate, it might be wise to see what he or she has accomplished in the past. Distant & recent pasts - both.
Remember - what's coming out of their mouths is a sales pitch!
If this were a horse race, I'd put my money on Hillary. In an election, that's not where I'd put my vote.

New Year's Message

OK, it's January 4th and I'm finally getting around to my New Year's Message. I'm aware that I do not have the power to change much of the world, but I can, in some small way and so can you. You can decide to do whatever you want, I don't really care. Me? Thanks for asking! If I were a real celebrity I could talk about not acting as insane in 2008 as I did in 2007. Or, I could talk about doing stuff that the regular "Joe Six-Pack" could never dream of doing. Instead, I plan to get more haircuts in 2008. A little more sleep would also be nice. I also plan to do a lot of painting, you know, general upkeep around the house. Weight is not a problem with me. Maybe because I keep physically active and I don't eat like a pig. I also plan to spend less time around loud blowhards. This may mean fighting the BS, but I'm up to it. This includes our national politicians! I plan on listening, very little, to our Presidential Candidates. The only reason that their mouths are moving is to get votes. They will say anything to make you feel good enough to vote for them. Otherwise, they'd stay at home and count their money.

Thanks for reading this. I'll have a better post, soon.