The Worry Gene

Roberta X has posted about her plumbing odyssey. (Well, actually her plumber is on an odyssey.)

I feel for her. And her travails reminds me of my concerns over plumbing, wiring, appliances, etc. etc. etc. You see, I inherited the 'worry gene' from my mother. She'd worry a lot that something wasn't working right or getting ready to break, or she'd hear a noise and become concerned that something wasn't right. It drove my father crazy. Well, I've inherited it. I worry about such things as well and things more often than not beyond my control. So leaky pipes? That's one of my worries. You never know when they might start leaking. . .but at least I have that home warranty. I should check and see if they're properly deducting my account for the monthly fee.

Dog Poo

I've just come in from clearing the back yard of dog poo produced by FatButt and BullyBoy*. I now suspect that while we sleep giant Shit Hounds leap the six foot fence and use our back yard as their private Crap Club. No two little cockers could produce that much poo in that short a time.


*For the uninitiated: our two cocker spaniels otherwise named Pumpkin and Pie.

Do I Have 'STUPID' Tattooed On My Forehead?

One thing that immediately and totally pisses me off is when someone plays me for a fool. My students will testify to this. Lying to me tells me you think I'm stupid. Bad lying to me tells me that you're stupid and you think I'm even more stupid than you.

One group that continually pisses me off are Palestinian photographers who work for the international press, particularly the AP*, who feel it's their job to at least misrepresent the news if not totally fabricate it. With the latest activity in the Gaza Strip, Little Green Footballs feels that they're at it again.



*Whose motto is, "The masses are asses."

December BlogMeet Post-game Report

Shermlock Jr. and I had a wonderful time! Roberta X has the details and a picture. Og was there and reports on his adventures getting to the meat. . .er meet. Old Grouch played Santy and handed out a CD of nice Xmas music.

December BlogMeet Reminder

Old Grouch reminds us that there's a BlogMeet tomorrow!

Woohoo! Mrs. Shomes has to work but Shermlock Jr. is up from Bloomington so may well join me tomorrow at the Broad Ripple Brew Pub at 3:00 PM.

Exodus Redux 8:16

And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become seeds throughout all the land of Egypt.

Actually, Egypt got lice, not seeds. But I can testify that seeds would have worked. Observe what I understand to be an ash tree seed:


Not large. Not heavy. Not a problem. Normally.

This last summer the ash trees lining the streets of our neighborhood decided to get it on and produce millions of these seeds that did not drop with the leaves. But the last few times the wind has blown this winter some have decided to let go. They now litter the sidewalks, decks, and cars of the neighborhood. And I just spent a nice hour this morning on my roof cleaning my gutters for a second time, digging out mounds of the little bastards. And there's still more on the trees.

Like shooting puppies in a barrel. . .

Saw this headline at Drudge:

Doctor powered SUV with fat from liposuctions...

Oh so many jokes. Too easy. . .too easy.

Merry Cthulhumas!

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!

"In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming."

With visions of sugar-plums dancing in his head?


h/t Topless Robot

Indy On Ice

While, as Dylan observed, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows," it doesn't hurt to see how Tam sees the weather. She gives us a picture of our weather in Indy today.

And I wonder if, what with I-465 and I-69 being closed for some time due to (anticipated) icy conditions, Governor Mitch decided that saving some highway budget money by not prepping the roads was more important than saving peoples' lives.

More From The Church Of Global Warming

Heresy will not be tolerated in our religion!

Princeton Physicist Calls Global Warming Science "Mistaken"

Scientist fired by Al Gore was told, "science will not intrude on public policy".

The 'Warmies' are just as assured of their beliefs as are the Creationists.

Presidential Pardons

I just saw over at Drudge:

Bush pardons 19, commutes 1 prison term

and I just flashed on a somewhat likely headline with all the Blagojevich business:

Bush Pardons Obama So He Can Serve

Defend the defenseless and . . .?

Over at Call Me Ahab, Caleb points to an incident that just occurred here in Indy: a robber threatens shoppers with a firearm* and an employee of the store shoots and kills the robber. I imagine that the Marion Co. Prosecutor will find the shooting justified but I wonder if the store had a 'no firearms' policy and the brave employee will be fired? I always thought it completely idiotic that places of business find it far better to allow their employees and customers to be massacred rather than allow employees to defend themselves and those around them.


*I see the Official Colt's Propaganda Rag reports that the robber had a 'gun.' Thanks for the details. Very professional.

Cults That Threaten Our Children

I saw this tonight and was flabbergasted. A cult based on flawed, unproven, and just bad science is now mainstreamed to inculcate our children.

The Big Green Help

Doesn't anybody see just how fucked this is?

Gun Purchase = Racism

Another in the category of "I should have seen this coming." If you purchase, or even intend to purchase and assault rifle*, you may be considered a racist.

h/t SayUncle



*I prefer the term tactical rifle myself.

More Sunday Music

And just so Roberta X doesn't beat me to posting another of my favorite artists, here's Regina Spektor on Conan O'brien's show. Really nice performance.

Regina Spektor- Fidelity (Late Night)

Sunday Musical Interlude

Roberta X has discovered Imogen Heap. I offer up one of my favorite Imogen performances; live on Letterman:

Cold? Save us, Saint Al!

Tam comments on the weather.

This ol' Michigan boy points out that she could have taken a wrong turn and moved to Houghton, Michigan. 9 months of winter and 3 months of hard sledding.

News From The Future

Odd experience:

I got an E-mail from myself. From the future:

-----Original Message-----
From: Shomes, Shermlock
Sent: Saturday, July 4, 2009 3:40 PM
To: Shermlock Shomes
Subject: News from Obamaland

Dude! You gotta read this. Things are great in Obamaland. You must welcome your new socialist overlords!

http://www.nytimes-se.com/

Yourself

Woah!

h/t Power Line

RC Helicopter and 1911

This is one of those things that you know is wrong but still seems disturbingly cool. And it probably would require some ammendment to the Four Rules.

Parenting 101

Rule #1: Don't give your kid some silly-ass name.

Little 'Adolf Hitler' Denied Birthday Cake at N.J. Grocery

In part:

The father of 3-year-old Adolf Hitler Campbell, denied a birthday cake with the child's full name on it by one New Jersey supermarket, is asking for a little tolerance.

Yeah. You should have been at his Second Birthday party when little Adolf smeared cake in Benito Mussolini Smith's hair.

Car Control: Let's Save The Children!

Robb Allen calls for car control. Let's think of the children!

Geeky Stuff For Cats

I saw this and immediately thought of Roberta X and Tam, what with the mixture of cats and the geekiness at Roseholme Cottage:

GEEKitty Gear

With cool stuff like:


h/t Boing Boing

What Dogs Are Really Saying

Always wondered what dogs were really saying when they are insanely yapping at you?



Yep. I thought so.

Federal Reserve Stays Mum

Our new Socialist Overlords in the Federal Reserve feel that we don't need to know to whom they are loaning our money:

Fed Refuses to Disclose Recipients of $2 Trillion

Nice.

"Hell hath no fury. . ."

The online edition of the "We Love Jim Irsay And His Colts!" Fan Magazine had the following news item:

Anderson woman burns clothing of ex, causing $100,000 in damages

I thought, "Man, that guy had a lot of duds!" but in reading further discovered that this was not a 'dump the bum's stuff in the yard and set it afire' incident. No. She apparently decided to leave them in the storage unit and burn them there. "The fire fully engulfed one entire building and damage estimates are over $100,000, not including the contents of the buildings. . ." Oops.

I do like the explanation that the couple were involved in a "bitter domestic dispute." You think?

Kittens

Other than being tasty ('Cuter the critter, the better the taste!') kittens are. . .well, I saw this as wallpaper on the laptop of one of my part-time workers:

Harsh Justice. . .

. . .for everyone but the Only Ones:

Ex-cop's shakedown sentence: detention

So this cop betrays the public trust and preys on those least able to report such malfeasance and he gets. . .home detention. Nice.

Big Three Bail Out

h/t Boing Boing

"Light Up or Leave Me Alone!"

From the daily "We Love The Colts!" newspaper:

Woman lights wrong smoke in front of trooper

In part:

Police say a Muncie woman was arrested after asking a state trooper whether she could smoke -- and then trying to light up a marijuana joint.

My response:

The Video Challenge

In my mind Tam has thrown down the gauntlet with her video posting. Following the theme of "cheesy" and "love" I offer the following:

Woof! Woof!

Been there. Done that.



h/t LauraW. at Ace of Spades HQ

Word, Plaxico!

A Public Service Message from Plaxico Burress:



h/t JR at A Keyboard and a .45

Xmas Present for Breda?

Should we all chip in a buy this for Breda?

"Don't do as I do. . ."

". . .do as I say." - Grandma Husted

I wonder how Grandma would feel if that's become a standard with those in the government?

New England border protection chief charged with hiring illegal immigrants

Holiday BlogMeet

It's coming!

A "What the Fu....?!?" News Item

Perusing the Colts Official Propaganda Pamphlet I see:

Hoosier charged with trying to buy girl, 15

In part:

Authorities say a northeastern Indiana man attempted pay an undercover officer $500 for a 15-year-old girl who would then be taken out of state and forced into a marriage.

But that didn't cause me to blurt out "What the [f-bomb]?!?" It was the:

Steuben County sheriff's Detective Dale Murray says the department received a tip from a member of Stump's church that he had talked about his desire to buy an underage girl.

Oh, yeah. That's something I can see discussing with a fellow church-goer before services begin. "Yeah, George. I'm lookin' to buy a teenage honey for half a grand. Any leads?"

8 is enough . . . for a dress!

Why did I think of Breda when I saw this?

h/t Boing Boing

Indy BlogMeet for December?

No word yet on when (or if!) we'll be having an Indy BlogMeet for December. 14th? 21st? Maybe even the 28th?

Dec. 4, 5:00 AM: Roberta X is asking for possible BlogMeet dates. If you have a preference please let her know there.

Son of Return of the Musical Interlude

I admit it. I really like Burt Bacharach's music. His style goes a long way. Take something like The Flaming Lips' "She Don't Use Jelly:"



and Burt Bacharach-ize it like Ben Folds does:



and you have something nice to listen to.

The Return of the Musical Interlude

I walked into the house tonight to discover Mrs. Holmes watching The Sterile Cuckoo. Good movie! And it has one of my favorite songs in it:

The Rest Of The Story?

Certain news items in the Colts Rah Rah Rag intrigue me with what is NOT reported:

Officer may have saved taxpayers a costly repair

In toto:

A quick-thinking Indianapolis police officer worked to simultaneously protect public safety and taxpayer dollars Sunday when police on the Southeastside searched a red Ferrari for drugs.

The driver had led police on a brief chase after they tried to stop him for speeding, finally halting near Emerson Avenue and Stop 11 Road.

Officers at the scene radioed for a drug-sniffing dog. But one K-9 officer, estimating the car's value at a quarter of a million dollars, warned dispatchers that his aggressive dog might scratch the Ferrari -- and possibly leave the city liable for repair costs if the search turned up nothing. The officer's off-the-cuff valuation of the car wasn't confirmed, but his main point was that the car is expensive. So, a more docile dog was dispatched to the scene.

That dog found no drugs in the car, and the driver -- who turned out to be on his way to Community Hospital South with chest pains -- was not cited, said Sgt. Paul Thompson, spokesman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

It's nice that the police saved us taxpayers some money but I don't think that's the story here. Did the driver of the Ferrari actually go to the hospital after being delayed by the cops? I suspect so as he wasn't cited. But I really wonder what was the race of the driver of the Ferrari? Was this a white guy (to the police obviously a doctor or a laywer) racing to the hospital with chest pains?

"Sir, do you want us to call for an ambulance or do you think you can make it? We'll put our lights on and you can follow us there."

Or was it a black guy (with that kind of car, to the police the guy is obviously a drug dealer)?

"Chest pains? Sure. Right. Do you have anything illegal in the car? You won't let us search it? Well, we'll have to call in the K-9 unit."