Where's Your Gas From?

It may interest you that the American oil companies are spending $550 million dollars a day in purchasing foreign crude oil. That's a lot of money leaving our country! Not only that, but it's going to countries, many of whom would rather see us dead! Wouldn't it be great to purchase gasoline from companies who do not import oil from OPEC? A friend sent me a list of such companies. Let me know if there are companies that I should add to or subtract from the list:

Sunoco
Conoco
Sinclair
BP / Phillips
Hess
ARC0
Maverick
Flying J.
Valero
Murphy Oil USA - Sold at Wal-Mart - Arkansas Crude Oil.

Why these companies don't advertise that they do not do business with OPEC is a mystery. But then, much of the inner workings of all of the oil companies is mysterious.

Bennigan's Goes Belly-Up

I was never really a fan of chain or franchise restaurants and pubs. I'd prefer to go to a locally owned and operated spot which is dedicated to the area rather than being dedicated to the home office - a couple states away.
Bennigan's Grill & Tavern has filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. All company owned stores are closed. Locally owned ones remain open, for now.
Why did this happen? Simple! People stopped going! Why? For the usual reasons, price, service & product. I haven't been to a Bennigan's in more than 20 years. This is because there isn't one around here. That's curious since we have an Applebees, Garfield's, Olive Garden, Ruby Tuesday, TGI Friday, Texas Roadhouse, Tumbleweed, IHOP, Cracker Barrel, Cheeseburger In Paradise and many more - you get the idea. There's nothing like the charm of a locally owned and operated restaurant or diner with good tasting food and drink served by people who take pride in their work. If you are thinking of opening a restaurant, you may want to avoid the huge franchise fee and dump the money on quality food and employees.
I am writing this at lunchtime. I usually brown bag it but today I'm thinking about the White Castle that they're building next door...right beside the KFC, Burger King, McDonalds, Hardees, Long John Silver's, Arby's, Rally's....

Comparing Carla With Jackie?

France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy said in an interview with Vanity Fair that she sees herself as being similar to Jacqueline Kennedy.
Weeeeelllll, I don't think so! The Kennedy's were in the White House well before Bruni was born. Things were different "back then." I did a quick search for pictures of "Carla Bruni." It was difficult to find any where she was wearing any clothes. That's OK, it's just that the modesty thing keeps her a little dissimilar with Jackie. The relationships with Jagger and Clapton et al, well, there was talk of Jackie & Sinatra. In those days, an affair would be a private thing. Carla has a hit album on the charts in France, I don't think Jackie could sing. Yes the two first ladies were young and familiar with fashion and not hard to look at, but that's where (for me) the similarity ends.
Oh - there is one striking similarity - they both did an excellent job of "marrying well."

The Fiasco 400 at Indy!

Yesterday was the "Brickyard 400" or actually, the "Allstate 400 At The Brickyard." Either way, I'm glad I didn't waste my money on what proved to be a waste of time for race fans. What we had was not a race but a fiasco. Goodyear supplied the tires for the event. Goodyear makes a good tire. Trouble was - the tires that Goodyear brought to the show would wear out and pop after only 10 laps! Folks, that's 25 miles! NASCAR had no choice. They had to call mandatory Caution Laps every 10 or 12 laps for tire changes. That's like trying to race on Chicago's Dan Ryan Expressway, outbound on a Friday afternoon.
The 400 in the "Brickyard 400" stands for how much it would have cost me to see the race...tickets, gas, parking, refreshments, dinner, etc. So, I stayed home and did yard work. My place now looks like its owner could easily afford to go to Brickyard and not care about the loose resemblance of a race that took place.
Did I mention that I pruned my trees?

Jagger @ 65

Happy 65th birthday to Mick Jagger! It's been pointed out that he is now elegible for a state pension of just under $180/week.

Naw

He's still going strong with film projects and maybe another tour. His "A Bigger Bang" tour became the most successful of all time, grossing more than $558 million from 2005 to 2007.

This proves a point that I've been trying to make for years: "Age is just a number."

Phriday Photo: Julie Michaels

Continuing with the Friday postings of attractive subjects, this would be Julie Michaels. She was the blonde bad girl in "Roadhouse" with Patrick Swayze. She's also been active with many TV roles and charity work. Visit her site: JulieMichaels.com.

Have a nice weekend!

Minimum Wage

WARNING! General Tom is going to preach!

Minimum Wage!
It increased yesterday to $6.55 nationally. There wasn't a lot of fanfare. The basic idea behind minimum wage is to guarantee unskilled workers a basic standard income level. It was never designed for the head of a household. It's sad that minimum wage is nowhere enough to raise a family. It's also sad that some of us are not worth minimum wage! I think the term is "unemployable." Slackers, people who drop out of high school for no reason, unwed jobless teenage parents, drunks and druggies.
Too many of us have jobs. Too few of us have careers!

Simon & Schuester Sue...

Sometimes the news can be funny. Simon & Schuster Inc. is suing rappers Foxy Brown & Lil' Kim. They say Brown was paid $75,000 in 2005 to deliver an autobiography called "Broken Silence" by February 2006; and Lil' Kim was paid $40,000 in 2003 for a novel due June 2004. The books never showed up. Surprised? S & S should be embarrased to admit that they forked out this kind of cash to a couple of felons (that's Lil' Kims mug on the right) who probably never read a book between them. They expect these two to write books?

Oh, and who could or would read these books? Their fans?

Spelling D-o-w-n-s-i-z-e

Candy Spelling, widow of TV producer Aaron Spelling, has decided to downsize her living quarters. Her current shack (see picture) sits on 6 acres in the modest Holmby Hills neighborhood with 11 bedrooms with 16 bathrooms and amenities such as a bowling alley, doll museum and gift-wrapping room. It's the largest home in Los Angeles County at 56,000 square feet. I don't have a picture of her new place as it is under construction. It's a condo atop a Century City tower and takes up two stories and only 16,500 square feet. She'll pay 47 million for the place or just over $2,800 a square foot. (That's a Hollywood record.) Her new digs will have a living room with two working fireplaces, a dining room for 25 guests, a 4,000-square-foot master bedroom suite and a conservatory with a rose garden, as well as a swimming pool and deck.
And we wonder why the rest of the world hates us.

Savage Autism Remarks

Michael Savage is a radio talk show host on the Talk Radio Network. He's in the news for saying some controversial, naw, stupid, things about autistic children. Our government says that an average of one in 150 children suffers from autism. Last Wednesday on his syndicated talk show, Savage said that greedy doctors and drug companies are over diagnosing autism and creating a national panic. So far, some of what he says may be partially correct, until he goes off the deep end. His words: "In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out." He continues: "What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, `Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, you idiot.'"
The guy is very popular for his anti gay and anti immigration and anti etc. opinions.
My opinion? Talk Radio is more than information, it's entertainment, too. To be successful, you need to be different. Some people choose to be more and more shocking. More and more shocking is easier than being more and more intelligent.

Wardrobe Malfunction + 4 1/2 Years

I guess it's more about the principle than it is about money.- A U.S. appeals court today overturned a decision to fine CBS Corp television stations $550,000 for airing a brief breast flash by pop singer Janet Jackson during the 2004 Super Bowl broadcast, AKA the famous "Wardrobe Malfunction." When speaking about the Super Bowl, $550,000 is not a lot of money. Consider the price tag on a :30 network ad! In the 4+ years since the actual deed, how much do you think CBS has spent on legal fees? For the record, briefly, the U.S. Appeals court said that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission "arbitrarily and capriciously departed from its prior policy" that exempted fleeting broadcast material from actionable indecency violations.
If this matter were more about money than "principle" you would never see Janet Jackson on TV.
By the way, do you remember anything about the game?
New England beat Carolina, 32-29.

Cubs' Bid Attracts Big Bucks

Tribune Co. is selling the Chicago Cubs. Odd timing. The Cubs are playing great ball and they could find themselves in post season play and possibly the World Series. Reports indicate that there are at least 10 serious parties willing to part with big bucks for the Cubs. Also "on the block" is Wrigley Field and a regional sports cable network. So, you have three money making entities. Figures of near a billion dollars are being mentioned. Why not? Anheuser Busch sold for $52 billion! The true value of a Major League Franchise is the resale value, especially after a world championship. Also, what I call the COOL FACTOR. How COOL would it be to own a major league baseball team! The COOL FACTOR is real! No MLB team owner has bought a franchise with money made in baseball. They are all uber rich from another field of business. Getting into the baseball biz was COOL for them!
So, why is Tribune Co. selling the team? Money. They need to pay off some bills. Ironic, that's the same reason that you and I are not in the bidding for the Cubs - we need to pay off some bills.

Another Weekend

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Jesse Jackson: Sorry, Again

Can Jesse Jackson possibly be as stupid as he's making himself out to be? First, he is captured on a live microphone, during a break, saying that Barrack Obama has been "talking down" to blacks. Next, in a seperate episode, after an apology for the first slip up, he talks into a live microphone using the n-word.
The press loves this stuff! The tape will be rolling whenever Jackson is within sight, and the mic will always be live. Like it or not, we're living in a sound byte world. You've got 10 seconds to make a point, or in Jackson's case, 10 seconds to embarass yourself. Does anybody really look up to this guy? To me, he ranks up at the top of the list of famous people who should be ignored...except for his spicy off-camera remarks. Maybe he knows this. If he does, he may be a genius!

Pamela: It's All About The Money!

Vocal PETA spokes-icon, Pamela Anderson travels to Australia to appear on the Aussie version of Big Brother. She'll get $500,000. This sounds like a lot of money, but it pales in comparison with what she could be making if she were picked for a major role in a major Hollywood Movie. Back down under, the principle advertiser for Big Brother is (and I'm not kidding, here, folks) Kentucky Fried Chicken! Anderson has been campaigning for Peta and against KFC for years.
It's funny how money has the power to make us do almost anything.

Oh, one more thing. Pammy appearance on the show did not help ratings. The show has been cancelled!

Cover Of The New Yorker

I was born & raised in New York. We were regular subscribers to Life Magazine, Look, The Saturday Evening Post and Readers' Digest. It is becoming clear to me now why my family never subscribed to the New Yorker. In my mind, there is a spectrum of "taste" where humor can be blended with tasteful parody. Tasteful parody can be blended to become satire, to biting satire to tasteless. Then on the far end of the spectrum is dumb. Dumb which is worsened by prejudice, terrorism, disrespect, fear and other negative actions and emotions.
This brings us to the cover of the current New Yorker. It has everything! It depicts Obama in a turban, fist-bumping his gun-slinging wife. An American flag is burning in their fireplace. The New Yorker says it's satire. At first, Obama said nothing abour the picture. Then, his spokesman, Bill Burton said in a statement: “The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Sen. Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree." John McCain is also in agreement. HEY, it took the New Yorker to get these two guys to agree on something!

ALL Star Game

The MLB All Star Game will played tonight at Yankee Stadium. It's been 31 years since the All Stars met in the South Bronx and it'll be the final time as the wrecking ball will also be making an appearance, soon. I read an article which expects the TV ratings to be low for the game's broadcast. Well, uh, yeah! If you make enough dumb decisions, your ratings will suffer! I can see the network and MLB "suits" getting together and deciding how late the actual game should start. How many commercials can we air before the first pitch? How many $400,000/:30 commercials can we air between each half inning. How much pre game hype can we squeeze into the broadcast?
Make no mistake, I love baseball. Yes, FOX and MLB should make money. But, guys, can you do it without making the game suffer. When the game suffers, so do the ratings. Low ratings mean that you'll have to air even more commercials to make the profit you used to make when more people watched the game - at an earlier time - with fewer commercials. Maybe you can get some better announcers, next year. Buck & McCarver should be emceeing 4-H fairs and auctions. If the fans can choose the starting lineups, maybe they should also choose the game's announcers! Have you guys ever heard Pat Hughes and Ron Santo? These guys are baseball. Check them out. We can even pretend that it was your idea to have them call the game!

Bud Buyout

Globalization hits Budweiser. Is nothing sacred? Well, money talks. The Belgium company that markets Beck's among other brands has bid $52,000,000,000 for Anheuser Busch. This does not affect me directly as I am in talks with "Old Milwaukee" for them to become the official beer of this blog!
I wonder if this takeover of Anheuser Busch will affect the occasional appearance of the Budweiser Girls at a pub near you? I'm thinking of long time Anheuser Busch spokesman Ed McMahon who has recently fallen on hard times and may lose his house in the Hollywood Hills. This is Irony, American Style

Miss Universe

Saw the last hour of the Miss Universe Pageant, last night. I am proud to say that I correctly picked the top five as well as the winner, Miss Venezuela, Dayana Mendoza. It sounds like I'm bragging. I am not. All the girls were uh, slender. Some of them looked kinda funny, in the face. The trick is to pick the skinny chick with the pretty face and nice hair.
There were a couple of things that didn't seem quite right. Jerry Springer was the host. This move was probably to make the trailer park folk feel comfortable watching women who were actually wearing dresses! But Jerry Springer? Was Gilbert Gottfried busy? The ceremony was broadcast live from Nha, Vietnam. This also seemed a bit odd, to me, probably because I'm old and a portion of my memory remains.
I should mention that Miss USA tripped and fell for the second year in a row. The winner answered her question by giving a safe answer calling for peace and saying that violence is not the answer. I suppose the question had something to do with world affairs. I'm sure that leaders of rogue nations will take heed.

The Price Of "Peace"

Christie's auction house has sold John Lennon's handwritten lyrics to "Give Peace a Chance" for $833,654.
The lyrics were written during Lennon's 1969 Bed-in protest for peace at the Queens Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.
In true John Lennon fashion, he wrote the lyrics and recorded the song in the hotel room with about 50 guests, who included singer Petula Clark and beat poet Allen Ginsberg.
How do you think he would have felt about the transaction? I think his reaction would be determined by where the proceeds actually went.
As for the words, here they are. Read them slowly:

Two, one two three four

Ev'rybody's talking about
Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism
This-ism, that-ism, is-m, is-m, is-m.

All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

C'mon
Ev'rybody's talking about Ministers,
Sinisters, Banisters and canisters
Bishops and Fishops and Rabbis and Pop eyes, And bye bye, bye byes.

All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

Let me tell you now
Ev'rybody's talking about
Revolution, evolution, masturbation,
flagellation, regulation, integrations,
meditations, United Nations, Congratulations.

All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

Ev'rybody's talking about
John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rosemary,
Tommy Smothers, Bobby Dylan, Tommy Cooper,
Derek Taylor, Norman Mailer,
Alan Ginsberg, Hare Krishna,
Hare, Hare Krishna

All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance.

Vanessa Blames "Stupid People"

Vanessa Hudgens, star of "High School Musical" probably has some degree of talent going for her. Good for her 'cause I don't think she's too bright! A while back, some nude pics of here were leaked to the internet. This week she blames "Stupid People" for allowing them to surface in cyber space. Is she upset that she didn't make any money for the pictures or because her reputation may have kept her from some job offers?
Well, sweetie, two things. If you don't want nude pictures of yourself to be seen on the internet, you should make sure that you have clothes on when a camera is pointed at you. Secondly, you may want to choose to associate with a better class of people. As for me personally, during the last 6 months I chose to associate with a better class of people. It's working.
Back to the nudie pics, I haven't seen them. No, really, I haven't. You may be cute, but some people aren't cut out for naked pictures, you, Vanessa, would be one of them.

Jackie Guerrido

Here's another shameless attempt to boost the number of hits to this blog.

Meet Jackie Guerrido, a weatherperson and journalist at Univision. No weatherperson is 100% correct with their forecast - all the time. With Jackie...who cares? Being that I know, like 3 words in Spanish, watching her I could probably learn a whole new language! Oh, and get the weather forecast at the same time!
Is this a great country or what?

Stray-Rod Gets Served

We saw this one coming. Last year Alex Rodriquez was spotted with Joslyn Noel Morse, a Vegas exotic dancer. More recently, Madonna's name has come up. Mrs. A-Rod's name has been seen in the same sentence with Lenny Kravitz. Whatever.
Now, less than 3 months after the birth of their second child, wifey Cynthia files for divorce. She wants the usual - the kids, the house and alimony. Did you know that she's a psychologist? Well, she is. I wonder what the psychology is behind choosing the outfit, below, to wear to a game at Yankee Stadium last season? Pretty women with backgrounds in psychology.....spooky...

Drafted......again!

Cheesey Fourth?

I've been looking for stuff to put here but most of it is cheesey. Like, Angelina Jolie checking into a French hospital to give birth to twins? (Yawn) Pammy Anderson calling Jessica Simpson a bitch & a whore on Austrailian Radio. (Yawn) The trans gender guy who give birth of a baby girl (Double Yawn)
Wait! Here's something from New York City! You know, the best place in the world to do something odd! It must be...because there is no shortage of "odd" in New York! Troy Landwher spent 8 hours-a-day for an entire week inside a 40 degree farenheit cooler, carving a sculpture of the signing of the Declaration of Independence out of a one ton block of Wisconsin cheddar cheese. The folks at Cheez-it (the official snack cracker of this blog!) funded the project, based on the famous John Trumbull painting. The work was put on display in Times Square.
Stay tuned for the hotdog eating contest...