41st

Birthday:

Nice presents including a small friendly wide angle lens for my camera and a good book. Really good dinner at Onotria, a newish high class italian restaurant. The pasta sauce had WILD BOAR in it. I somehow imagined the chef taking the boat over to Catalina and chasing one around with a spear, then bringing it back in a suspiciously lumpy duffel bag and scaring the other customers.

The cannoli was good but not quite as good as the home made stuff redmaenad fed me once. The owner was wandering about and occasionally singing. There were lots of people there having wine events of some kind where they had those balloon glasses the size of their heads, which was comic.

My brother gave me a Skype phone but it’s windows only, so back to Amazon it goes.

Today, I got the spam below, which pleased me to no end:

From: Bugger C. Displeasing (Williams@vflock.com)
Subject: popular programs for everyday use.

http://www.2qqn89qipp86lkkx722xp2kk.catodonnf.com

o/~ ‘Cause heeee loooooves traaaaaaaash o/~

This was sent to me by jonpants who then couldn’t take his own medicine:

jonpants: he killed snuffy.
substitute: And made a Snuffy Film of it, no doubt.
jonpants: oh man that was just bad.

Woman’s Body Found On Big Bird Actor’s Conn. Property

POSTED: 8:23 pm EST December 13, 2005
UPDATED: 8:27 pm EST December 13, 2005

WOODSTOCK, Conn. — The body of a woman who disappeared while jogging was found Tuesday on property owned by the performer who plays Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on the popular children’s television show “Sesame Street,” a town official said.

Woodstock First Selectwoman Delpha Mae Very cautioned against drawing conclusions, saying the property owned by Caroll Spinney is a very large tract of remote wooded land.

State police did not release information on any suspects. A message seeking comment was left at Spinney’s home.

The body of Judith Nilan, 44, was found in a storage building on the Massachusetts border at about 10:30 a.m. during a search by state police, tracking dogs, volunteers and a helicopter. State police said her death was a homicide.

“You just don’t think of those type of things happening in Woodstock,” Very said. “We consider it extremely safe.”

Woodstock, home to about 8,000 people, is about 40 miles northeast of Hartford and about 30 miles southwest of Worcester, Mass.

Nilan, a middle school social worker, was reported missing Monday night by her husband, who said she went jogging about 4:30 p.m. and never returned.

Her husband, Jon Baker, told police he searched his wife’s normal jogging route after she failed to return to their Woodstock home three hours after going out for her daily run. He called police after failing to find her, said Sgt. J. Paul Vance, a state police spokesman.

Vance said he didn’t know if the storage building, which is about 6 miles from Nilan’s home, was near her jogging route. He would not say what led police to the body.

“There were leads and evidence that was discovered by investigators that were significant in moving this case ahead on a continuous basis late last night and early this morning,” he said.

No suspects were in custody Tuesday afternoon, but police had solid leads, Vance said.

“I don’t want to tell people not to lock their doors or anything, but I’ll say we’ve made some very good headway on this investigation and leave it at that,” he said.

The storage building is located off the road and straddles the state line.

Connecticut and Massachusetts authorities were working jointly on the investigation, Vance said.

The crime scene was still being processed and authorities had not determined which state’s medical examiner would perform the autopsy, Vance said.

Benedict Arnold Slept Here

Current list of things broken in my house:

  • Water pipe inside slab (repaired)
  • Drywall and paint damaged by flood (repaired)
  • Vanity in bathroom destroyed
  • Carpet in hallway, living room, one bedroom destroyed
  • Thermostat for heater working only intermittently status post handyman “looking at it”. (new one just installed)
  • Forced-air natural gas heater dead even when started manually; fan motor broken; entire heater needs replacement. (Heater may be as much as 40 years old.) (installed as of this moment)
  • Front door deadbolt won’t close status post handyman “fixing” doorknob/lock issues.
  • Toilet flush mechanism does not stop unless you “do it right”.
  • Cover on fluorescent light over kitchen counter falls off periodically with a loud bang.
  • Slab under house is “efflorescing”, which will inevitably require slab replacement at some future date.

Girls who are sad should take a pill

The best part of my occasional medication-checkup visits to the psychiatrist’s office is the brochures. No, really. The drug companies produce these things, which don’t mention any specific drug but urge you to deal with your problem. I’ve posted some pictures of swag and brochures before. Today’s offering is “Balanced”, a look at one housewife’s indoctrination in to the proper way to handle her problems. It seriously looks like that comic strip “Baby Blues”. Also, note older male psychologist authority figure and emphasis on Women Problems.

Balanced!

The American Fuck Yeah Association

Driving down Westcliff Avenue last night I was obstructed by a big RV that was drifting in and out of lanes. The damned thing was so wide it could barely fit in one lane and was bumbling about dangerously. I passed the monster with a wide berth, tapping my horn and thinking “probably some drunk who lives in his RV.” Then I noticed it was painted all over with ads, logos, and signs. Racing team? Soft drink promotion? What the…

tale gators

Yes, there is such a thing as the American Tailgate Association.

The American Tailgaters Association (ATA) was founded for several reasons. The “sport” of tailgating has become a national phenomenon as a recreational activity, yet there has never been a venue for tailgaters to come together in a single place.until now!

The ATA will allow tailgaters all across our great nation to meet in forums, discuss the best tailgating places, talk about their favorite teams or sports, find discount merchandise, post pictures, and generally be the one stop tailgaters “community”.

[…]

Our desire is to promote ATA membership and our corporate partners and we believe by offering an entertaining, interactive, cost-effective and ever-expanding experience, our membership will in turn promote organizational allegiance, brand loyalty and name recognition for our corporate partners and ourselves.

An outstanding characteristic of my country is our inability to have fun without creating an association with bylaws, getting corporate sponsors, copyrighting and trademarking it, having an annual competition, and finally and inevitably adopting a mission and vision statement. See: Little League, car stereo enthusiasts, etc.