With Much Deliberation

I thought long and hard about this... Michael Jackson. His death is everywhere and I, at first, refused to include that in here. But just let me say this:

How can a man who paid $20 million to the family of a victim (and presumably the victim himself) to get out of a child molestation civil suit, have a history of said activity be considered some great thing? His fans baffle me.

The Catholic church has endured the same vilification over the centuries without one redeeming quality... at least none I think of. Yet, as Big Rick told me yesterday, if one can sing and dance and sell an ass load of records, that makes him immune to the accusations and his own actions.

I'm not saying MJ should rot in hell, that is for the Almighty to decide, what I am saying is even when your heroes stumble, you need to evaluate why they are your hero and just how far are going to look beyond their faults to continue that hero relationship.

When it was determined Roger Clemens may have been doping in baseball, my heart was broken. I loved watching that guy play ball. But if he truly did dope up and cheat at baseball, I hope they send him out. As for Barry Bonds, we'll get into that when the time is right.

But, back to MJ. the circus has rolled into town and the animals have been turned loose. This thing is going to be a sick moment in Americana and I, for one, am already sick of it... nevertheless, I'll be right in the thick of it as we watch the real weirdness unfold.

Stay tuned...

Yeah, It's Hot

This picture was taken last February. This is my wife Josephine and our two greyhounds Jack and Zoe (from left). Yes, the dogs are wearing coats, long story. Anyway, I thought I would share this little picture while the current temperatures are cresting the triple digit mark in heat index.

If you are getting a little hot outside, think of this simple little serene moment captured earlier this year.

For the record, I was as miserable then as I kinda am right now. I used to love the heat, I grew up in south Texas where winter is February 12th, for about an hour and a half. Unlike here where there are four distinctish seasons. But I have to remember that it "ain't the heat, it's the humidity." How true.

So, for all this talk of global warming or climate change or whatever you want to call it, around here there is at least some change in the weather once we get around the other side of the sun. For the record, the Farmer's Almanac kind of predicted this heat, as you can see here. Most notably, June being 4 degrees above average. If you put your faith into this sort of thing, keep in mind, as of the posting of this, we're supposed to be seeing some scattered storms and what they call "seasonal" weather... whatever that means.

This goes on to say we should expect a normal July and August with June being the only month with a substantial increase in temperature. What does all this really mean?

It's hot as hell outside. Stay in the air conditioning.

Going Ape over Mr. Rogers

When I was a youngster, like most kids my age, I spent some afternoon TV time with Mr. Rogers. He was one of the few bits of wholesome television I could tolerate. That was until Monty Python came on and my little world changed.

But back to the good Fred Rogers. Mr. Rogers calm way he carried on to the show everyday always brought some sense of relief, no matter how awkward he was. take this video, for example. Here's Mr. Rogers with Koko the signing gorilla. At one point during this video, it appears Koko will not let him go. She apparently liked Mr. Rogers. Maybe the way King Kong liked Ann Darrow. There is a sense of uneasiness while watching this, and to me at least, a certain bit of strange comfort. You know, the comfort you get while watching Fred Rogers in the clutches of a 400 pound gorilla.



I don't know about you, but when Koko grunts, I would have needed a change of pants.