First Blog of 09

Hello. I said in the last blog that I would try to find a list of well-known people who had died in '8. Wikipedia has a huge list of late people, a lot of whom I did not know because they were involved in sports or science or politics in various countries, and there were listings of animals, such as the world's oldest polar bear or gorilla et al. A lot of people were famous at one time, but when they died this year the media was so into politics, and then the economic crash, that no one's life and death was of any meaning (it happens I guess). Solzhenitsyn died, and whatever he meant 30 or so years ago meant not much to the modern news business, and besides, he had shit on the West when he lived here in exile, so there may have been some sourness about him. He was one strange Russian. I suppose the lesson is--do not totally depend on the network newssources for your information. Here is my list of people I found that it was of interest that they had passed away. There are lots more I have not included. Betty Page, Sunny Von Bulow, Odetta, Paul Benedict, Nina Foch, Miriam Makeba, Michael Crichton, Yma Sumac, Studs Terkel. Tony Hillerman, Mr. Blackwell, Edie Adams, Jack Narz, Neal Hefti, Barefoot Sanders(Texas judge with links to LBJ), Bill Melendez, Don LaFontaine, Margaret Truman, Sir Edmund Hillary, Earl Butz, Maila Murin(was Vampira in Plan 9 from Outer Space), Robert Fagles(translated the Iliad and Odessey), Sir Arthur Clarke, Paul Scofield, Ivan Dixon, Joe Feeney, Harvey Korman, Sydney Pollack, Dick Martin, Robert Rauschenberg, Leyla Gencer, Eddie Arnold, Ted Key(drew Hazel), Will Elder(drew Little Annie Fannie), Leonard Pennario, Beverlee McKinsey, Dody Goodman, George Carlin, Cyd Charisse, Jim McKay, Bo Diddley, Mel Ferrerr, Yves Saint Laurent, Eula Beale, Norman Dello Joio, Estelle Getty, Tony Snow, Evelyn Keyes, Killer Kowalski, Jerry Reed, Larry Harmon(Bozo the Clown), and Jo Stafford. Terrible shame that Couric, Norville, and the other mainstream newsers never noted the passing of most of these folks. Yes, I know that many of these people were old and had finished with their talents, but here they are in my list. You all take care. Di di mau!

End of 08 and Good Riddance

It is New Years Eve, and I am watching the FoxNews crew in Times Square. And it is cold in the midwest. I suppose the biggest thing in my life that has happened this year is retirement, and it is taking some time to get used to the Old period of life, but we will roll with it. People on TV keep listing things that happened in 8( some of which I had put down the memory hole) that I should list for the historical record. The election campaign, the economic crash that has hit much of the world, the war in Gaza, the Olympics in China, the monster earthquake in China, the hurricane in Burma, the hurricanes that wrecked Galveston and the gulf coast, a bunch of tornadoes that hit lots of places in the US(and Parkersburg Iowa), the spring floods that destroyed Cedar Rapids and drowned Iowa City, the cholera epidemic in Zimabwe(little covered in the US), the drug gang wars in northern Mexico, Chavez bringing the Russian navy back into the west hemisphere, the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the little girl in Florida who was maybe killed by her mother, O J getting sent to prison, the firing of John and Marlena from Days of Our Lives, the freaking out of Britney Spears and her comeback, and the deaths of: Heath Ledger, Bernie Mac, Paul Newman, Tim Russert. Eartha Kitt, and Charleton Heston. Now it is midnight in NYC and the Clintons pushed the button that dropped the big ball and then hugged and kissed one another. Many other well known people died this year, and I should look up an obituary list to find who I forgot, and make a list on my first 9 blog entry. My mama said that a guy she knew down home died the other day out in the lot while feeding his goats. This is going to be all for right now. Maybe the new year will be better than 8, but we will probably have to live with the messes that have taken place in the old year, but some cleansing of the soul after the several years of the worship of the golden calf(as FDR said) may be in order. Let us see what happens in the next 365 days. You take care. Di di mau!

Night after Christmas '08

Cold and icey on Christmas Day, but supposedly it is going to get up in the 50s Friday, after more ice snow. Will have to see how such weather comes about. Tragedy and sorrow on Dec 25 this year; Eartha Kitt and Harold Pinter both died, and some doofus in California dressed up as Santa and walked into his etranged wife's house, and killed her and her family and set the house on fire, and thankfully then shot himself. So far nine people are listed as dead in this mess. I just got done watching a tape of a 1947 western with Robt. Mitchum called Pursued. Complicated plot about a family feud and who in the past did bad to who among 2 families. Not totally successful story, and with a somewhat sour "happy" ending, but interesting. Deserves more than one viewing. Some good acting by Judith Anderson, who is always watchable. Not much world news was covered today on the news channels, except for lots of stuff about the people still stranded in airports. I have been in something of a depression and gloom cloud for the last few days, but keep hoping that it will end very very soon. And supposedly a lot of people in New England lost their power Again in another ice storm out there. Some dude in St. Peter's lunged at the Pope during Christmas mass last night. This is going to be all for right now. You take care. Di di mau!

Cold Christmas Eve

It is cold and icy tonight in the midwest. No traffic much on the streets past my hootch, No crows in the trees outside my window--which is one good thing . Tomorrow I am supposed to drive home to see the family. I hope the interstate is clean enough so I can drive on it. People are still stuck in airports all over the country and Amtrack is screwed up so that a lot of people cannot even get train rides. The news people never cover whatever the weather situation is for bus travel. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain and get icy again. The winter this year started early in Nov, and has not changed for 2 months. Maybe in early 09 we will start getting toward an early spring, but nature will have its way. With the bad weather, and the economic crash, and all the emotionalism of the election campaign, good riddance to 08. And on a personal note, my retirement happened. So far, I am still settling into the world of Not Working. I still miss my gang I was with for 35 years. A couple of days ago there was a major mess in Bethesda Maryland when a big water main broke on a major highway and a lot of cars got stranded in the water and had to be rescued by helicoptor. Mark Felt, who said he was Deep Throat and ratted on Nixon, died at 95 a few days ago. The war in Iraq seems to have fizzled out as a news issue and except for such oddities as an Iraqi reporter throwing his shoes at Bush is getting little coverage. And nothing much is being covered anymore about the terrorist raid in Bombay. The bribery scandal with Governor Blago is ongoing, and the car company bailout is the ongoing issue, and there is an upcoming mess with California going broke, and old man Maddof and his losing of 50 billion in his ponzi scheme is a continuing story. It is now Christmas day, and I am watching the ceremony from the Vatican. Hopefully Obama will have a successful beginning of his presidency. There is a news article in Drudge that military honchos are planning for a situation where troops have to called out to settle the riots that may break out if the US economy crashes so bad that the fabric of the country falls apart. You all take care. This will be all for right now. Di di mau!

Cold and Awful December Night

The main news as of now is the very cold and snowy weather stretching all across the US, from one side to the other. It snowed the other day in Vegas Baby, and an ice storm in Nuengland knocked out power to about a million people another storm is pounding the region right now, and a fifty truck and car pile up happened in Michigan, and Iowa is now getting minus 25 wind chills and mucho ice is all over the road system. Maybe it will get up to 30 degrees by Christmas, but the forecast keeps changing day by day. Some global warming expert the other day on Foxnews tried to explain that having very cold weather actually verified global warming, because very extreme weather really meant that the earth was getting warmer and warmer. Political news is all about Governor Blago announcing that he will not resign, and Obama trying to distance himself from Blago. And O picking an anti-Gay preacher to give the prayer at O's inauguration is stirring controversy. Foxnews made a big deal of getting a farewell interview with Cheney, with a bunch of digs at Biden. I watched it this evening, but did not hear much sensational. Should get a paper tomorrow to see if I missed anything Cheney said that was historically important. Mobs of people today at my local Walmart, so I went to a local Kmart, and it was crowded too. Watched a dvd last night of Talladega Nights, which was not actually very good. Ferrell tried hard to bring Ricky Bobby to life, but the movie was just not that great. Good movie to see once and then move on. In Venezuela Chavez is trying to close a huge shopping center in Caracas, because he does not the people to overdo Consumerism. This is going to be all for right now. You all stay warm, because this winter will be over in about 3 months, and then spring and heat will return, and it will again be shorts and sandals and tshirts time. But last spring we got floods and tornadoes. I also this weekend watched Sideways, which wowed the Oscars crowd, but it did not impress me. Two middle aged guys drinking wine and drooping in their midlife crises. The Patriots and Arz. Cardinals played their game this afternoon played their game in a snow storm. Always something to watch. Di di mau!

Blog in a Time of Chaos and Confusion

Van Johnson died the other day, and TV Guide noted that Paul Benedict(the very tall guy on the Jeffersons) had died, and both deaths were brushed off as hohums in the media. That happens, and the Big stuff of the week was economic news and political scandal, and the finding of the body of a little kid in Florida who may be the little girl who has been missing for several months. Congress did not give the car companies the billions they wanted to stay in business. The Governor of Illinois was busted for supposedly trying to sell Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder. And an old financier from NYC (he was once head of Nasdaq) was snitched on by his sons for running some kind of Ponzi scheme that lost at least fifty billion. On a news website some money expert said that common investers need not worry about getting affected by the fifty billion dollar loss because Madoff had only dealt with a small number of very rich people, and the only folks who would feel hurt by the scam were very rich people in Palm Beach. I have doubts about such Don't Worry About It statements. Maybe we were due for a cleansing from worshipping the Golden Calf which has been going on for a couple of decades, but the scourging will be painful for everybody. And that comment about the golden calf comes from a quote I read by FDR. I hope O does not get crushed by the financial crises and the foreign problems that wrecked the Carter regime. Oh, yes--an ice storm in New England has left about a million people without power. With most states broke or near it all that was needed was a giant weather disaster that will have to be paid for. I am going to close this blog entry now. Every thing I am writing about is some human misery. So, you all take care. Di di mau!

Sunday Night Awaiting the Storm

The title could refer to the coming economic crash(which is already here) but is about the upcoming blizzard the weather people say will be in the midwest early or late Monday. One weather guru the other day said that the snow will pile up all winter and will make for a long awful winter. I suppose that if that happens we will get floods like we got last spring. We will see what happens. A not cheerful weekend re world news, but most of what was on cable TV related to O's cabinet appointments. OK, OJ got sentenced to at least 9 years in prison, and got very weepy in the court room, and then Fred Goldman got in front of the cameras and gloated. Someone up in Ames Iowa killed a couple early Saturday morning. A guy under suspicion is being searched for after disappearing from the town, but so far the story is being kept vague by the police. Odetta died the other day, and yesterday Sunny von Bulow finally died after being in a coma for 28 years. It was revealed that Klaus is still Alive and living in London. The Bears beat the Jags real bad today, the Packers lost by three points to Houston, and Northwest Missouri State pounded Northern Alabama is their small college playoff. I am happy about all these scores. This is not a really deep historical events account tonight because I have felt like a dud for several days and cannot get my spirit up. And this is Pearle Harbor Day and is the 11th anniversary of my Dad's funeral. I think the economy and my financial future are getting me down. The last I heard there are still a bunch of people who got laid off from a window factory in Chicago still hold up inside the building demanding severance money from the company, and several yuppie left wingers are hanging around playing 60s and demonstrating with the workers. Fans, I am going to wind up this blogging, and need to grease me with Vicks and take a nap. Will return in the very near future. You take care. Di di mau!

Winter Is Here

Was gone from the keyboard for several days--gone home to the family for Thanksgiving, which we celebrated with what has become a tradition of having a dinner of buffalo, instead of turkey or hog. Daddy started it several years ago when buff eat came onto the market, and that has been our tradition ever since. The news the last several days has been all about the terrorists' attack on the hotels in Bombay(Mumbai). One couple from Wales who got caught in their hotel room at the Taj are now complaining that the bad guys were watching CNN which was giving the locations of where people were hiding in the Taj. More on the story as it develops. The Bears got whopped by the vikings this evening. I should be in bed in total grief, but I will try to bear up under my sorrow. The big regional news around here is the first winter storm which has rolled across the USA. It began to snow big wet flakes Friday morning and kept snowing for at least 26 hours(really). O'Hare airport is all off schedule, and Interstate 35 was very slick this afternoon, and the streets of Des Moines are very icy and the wind is blowing loudly. So, Winter has arrived, but according to forecasts the temp should get up to 50 degrees by the middle of the week. The news for the last several days has been mainly the Economy, India(and Pakistan), and the weather. And there has been lots of news on the chaos in shopping centers on Black Friday with mobs of people rioting for bargains. One security guy at a mall on Long Island was trampled to death by the mob when the doors opened. O may officially nominate HRC for SecState this week. Gas prices have fallen to $1.57. . This may be all for right now. I do not have much more to tell the world. You all take care, and I will have more the next time I blog. Di di mau!