Uncategorized – Page 23 – A Jaunty Little Blog

December 9, 2008June 13, 2018

Blago Bagged, Big Bustup Befuddles Billet Backers

One more…

Bwahahahaha!

Illinois Governor Rod “Blago” Blagojevich was arrested this morning.

For more good news on this subject, let’s see what Reuters has to say about it…

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a statement.

This is good enough, but America’s favorite prosecutor had this to say about the charges…

“The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering,” U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a statement. “They allege that Blagojevich put a ‘for sale’ sign on the naming of a United States senator; involved himself personally in pay-to-play schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target; and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism.”

…and he’s seen some corruption in his time!

See? It’s not all bad news out there.

– bob

UPDATE: Edited to add Ted Stevens Memorial Career Iconography.

UPDATE II: Here’s a link to the news report on WSIL TV. I can see it through the filters here, so hopefully it’ll get past whatever foolishness is keeping you from seeing other video content.

UPDATE 3: The New York Times has a handy blog post with the complaint (Mrs. Anonymous notes in the comments that the complaint is hilarious). The link to the post contains this warning though:

Criminal Complaint (Contains Profanity) – pdf

Poor Pinch! Politics ain’t pretty!

UPDATE D: Yes, I’m enjoying the alliteration, why do you ask? (um, nobody asked. – ed But they might!)

December 8, 2008June 13, 2018

Time For Fun – Caption Contest!

Howdy Jeepers,

I’ve been traipsing about again in the Life Magazine photo archive on the Googles and stumbled on a series of shots of a Jeep trip taken some time in the 50s. Fun? Are you kidding?

Apparently, somebody up ahead has broken down and held up the entire line. The yahoos who aren’t staying on the trail (Tread Lightly, you bastards) seem confused. Lots of cowboy hats are in evidence, but strangely, no hoods are up. Are these really Jeeps?

Your captions are welcome in the comments. The best comment will win a cabinet-level position in the Obama administration.

Your pal,

bob

UPDATE: MSNBC’s First Read blog notes this morning that Agriculture, Education, Energy, HHS, HUD, Labor and Transportation are still vacant, so please also list which department you’d like to run with your photo caption. Thanks!

December 6, 2008June 13, 2018

Jaunty Dumptruck O’ News! – Dumptruck Edition

Friends,

The political theatre provided by Rick “The Rick” Wagoner of GM, Bob “Orange Apron” Nardelli of Chrysler, and Alan “Why Am I Here?” Mullaly of Ford at this hour seems to have secured their respective companies loan guarantees from the government.

Not TARP money, because the current president doesn’t like that. The money is coming from the fund already set up to help the manufacturers build green cars that run on mermaid spit.

Chrysler, in particular, dodged a bullet with this one. Most of the congresscritters gave Nardelli the what-for about his Cerberus overlords’ unwillingness to pony up more of their money to keep the Dodge Boys afloat. They have a point, but a little loan now should keep them going long enough to file for bankruptcy in February. Hooray?

Oy!

-bob

December 2, 2008June 13, 2018

Quaint Tree Lighting Ceremony

Friends,

Come with me to a place that time forgot, before the propane blew up. Come to my little burg where townfolk gather in the square…

…to await the arrival of Santa and his missus on the back of a fire truck (shouldn’t that fire truck been waiting over by the splodey fields? – ed That was later. Check your history.).

But what we were all waiting for, of course was the lighting of the 80-foot Christmas Tree in the center of town accompanied by clapping and cheers!

Then the power went out.

Not kidding.

Your pal,

bob

December 1, 2008June 13, 2018

Boom.

Friends,

For a sleepy little town, Idyllwild has its exciting moments. Space Shuttle Endeavor had to land at Edwards Air Force Base yesterday, ~~flying~~ ~~gliding~~ plummeting to Earth over the Lodge and leaving sonic booms in its wake.

This makes it difficult to take a nap after the family has departed after the long Thanksgiving weekend. I sure enjoyed the visit, but you know, naps…

…and this morning, another hum-drum Monday in the mountains, the Suburban Propane yard blew up:

An explosion at a propane storage facility in Idyllwild shot flames 40 feet into the air Sunday morning, scorching a nearby mobile home and burning off the end of a worker’s moustache, firefighters said.

His moustache, people! Part of it was burned completely off! This is serious stuff. Thank goodness the Idyllwild Fire Department is on the case (across the street):

Idyllwild firefighters were sipping coffee at the town fire station a few hundred yards away when they saw the blaze through the kitchen window, said Capt. James Manietta.

“It’s hard to miss a fireball that big,” Manietta said, adding that some residents said they felt the ground shake.

I’ll bet he didn’t even put down his coffee cup.

– bob

November 27, 2008June 13, 2018

Ultra Danger Mega Jaunty Doppler 77,000 Weather Alert!

It’s raining in Southern California, which means that certain Horsemen are saddling up. My neighbors here have been watching the local weather, erm, professionals. “Slow down out there!” they implore. Our thrill-seekers agree, “so, will 15 MPH be okay?”

They may be thrilled to learn that the squiggly stripes on their tires aren’t just a tire company ploy to cheat them out of 3/32nds of an inch of rubber. Water. It do go out. It goes through. It go.

Seriously, you don’t have to drive like you’re riding on bowling balls. Really.

– bob

November 24, 2008June 13, 2018

What A Nice President!

Take that, Canada.

– bob

November 20, 2008June 13, 2018

Great American Remodel – Door To Nowhere

Friends,

You remember this, don’t you?

Now it looks like this…

More paneling. You’ve gotta love that, don’t you? Maybe not. I had a big pile of shiplap style, so I used that. What’s shiplap? This.

Naturally, I ran out well before I was done and it wouldn’t be easy to get more. Not from the locals anyway. I went to the hardware store and the proprietor said this:

“Shiplap? We don’t carry that. That’s flatlander wood. We only have tongue and groove. That’s what we use up here.

I can think of other things to be a bigot about. Superman vs. Batman. Regular Oreos vs. Double-Stuf. But millwork? Hill people versus those “down below?” What else might they do down there? Who can say!

I’ve gotta look into this. I think I’ve hit a nerve…

– bob

November 19, 2008June 13, 2018

Images From The Life Magazine Archives

Now this is pretty swell. Google is hosting the Life Magazine photo archives for all to see. Do a search for Idyllwild and you get a series of Alfred Eisenstaedt (!) shots from 1959 (!!) taken in and around the former Isomata (which you may know as Idyllwild Arts) including this one of Ansel Adams (!!!).

I have two favorites though. First this one that must be shot on the shores of Lake Hemet (does anybody know for sure?).

But this one may be the best of the bunch (as far as I’m concerned). After all, it’s what we do in the mountains, isn’t it? We drag out the typewriter, and have a smoke while reading a book in the weed patch surrounding the cabin. What, as they say, could possibly go wrong?
Oh, right…

But anyway, click on either of the photos here to go back to the archive. Do it when you have a lot of time to spare though. It’s real easy to lose a day spelunking around in there.

– bob

(Thanks, Daring Fireball!)

November 18, 2008June 13, 2018

Jaunty Dumptruck O’ News! Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot Edition

Friends,

The CEOs of the Big Two (plus some fraction) domestic automakers are testifying at this moment to save their bacon. The Democratic leadership wants to use a piece of the $700 billion in TARP money. Secretary Paulson and the current president say no. Some dudes want an additional pile of loans on top of the $25 billion already approved and administered by the Department of Energy for Detroit to make cars that run on powdered unicorn kidneys. The environmentalists are just absolute wrecks over that suggestion.

What’s a busy legislator to do? Looks like they’re going to punt.

Just to get an idea of the automaker’s chances of pulling this out, let’s take a quick look at the Detroit Lions’ record so far this year. You know, for some perspective…

Uh oh.

– bob

November 18, 2008June 13, 2018

Jaunty Dumptruck O’ News: Birthday Edition

Friends,

Before we get started, I’d like to wish a very happy birthday to the senior senator from Alaska, ~~indicted~~ convicted felon Ted “Uncle Ted” Stevens.

The man who threw his own wife under the bus during his corruption trial is 85 today and a little over a thousand votes behind Anchorage Mayor Mike Begich in a vote count that started two weeks ago (!). Republican senators are trying to decide today whether to expel the most senior member of their party from the chamber. Apparently, (and this is something of a surprise to me) they would rather not hang out with felons. Something about doing bad things for the image of their party…

Frankly, if I were them, I don’t know if I’d worry so much.

– bob

UPDATE: It’s all moot. Uncle Ted seems to have lost his reelection bid. Such a pity, and Happy Birthday!

UPDATE II: Quote of the day that I’m going to repurpose for this special occasion:

“They gave me this gold watch, man, but it ain’t tickin’.”

Goodbye Uncle Ted. We’ll miss you.

November 14, 2008June 13, 2018

Talking Me Down Out Of Being Down

Friends,

This economic bailout thing is bumming me out. Chrysler should file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, but will most likely just fail instead. Who’ll make parts for my Jeeps? (these guys. chrysler gave up on both of them a long time ago. – ed) GM should file for Chapter 11, but will keep their management and fail in a few months instead (haven’t they failed already? they’re insolvent , after all… – ed).

I can use a little relief. Naturally, I turned to You Look Nice Today. The latest episode features John Hodgman and Jonathan Coulton and makes with the funny. I think we all need that, don’t you?

They even name-checked Digital Underground and The Humpty Dance in this episode, so here’s some, um, background.

Oh, I heard this “hateful little song” on the newly completely merged SiriusXM satellite machine today and laughed until I cried.

No, I’m not sending a message. It’s just dark. Is that so wrong?

The next song makes me smile too. It’s on the newish Decemberists EP. I’ll leave it to you to tell the kids who Valerie Plame is.

Good luck with that…

Sigh,

– bob

November 10, 2008June 13, 2018

An Open Letter To The Idyllwild Weather Clam

Madam,

Boy, were you wrong. Very, not kidding wrong. Let’s look at today’s prognostication:

Sure, I knew it was going to be cold today. I’d started working on replacing the Door To Nowhere™ with a solid, insulated wall. The job yesterday started slowly…

I stripped the panelling and pulled out the insulation to bear witness to the horrors that lie underneath. Essentially, the kooks who put that room together couldn’t afford a whole lot of boards over eight feet long.

No big deal, they just hold up the roof. Then there’s this box that had no purpose that I could discern.

What’s it for? Ah, it’s used in lieu of a post to hold up those short boards above it. Very clever.

So things were going okay. The outside bits of panelling came off to reveal more hijinks, so I knocked off for the night. Lola seemed pleased with the quiet…

So I took the rest of the day off to let my back heal. Sunday should be just fine, I’ve been assured of the by the illustrious, fabled, and nearly perfect Idyllwild Weather Clam I thought. This is what I get for thinking.

It was damp overnight, but nothing to worry about. Foggy and cold I can deal with, so I did. The crazy wall came out leaving a giant hole in the house…

Then the hail came. A big sack of not good. This is gonna put a crimp in my plans.

– bob

November 6, 2008June 13, 2018

The Sunrise Series Continues

This morning’s sunrise was pretty dramatic and the camera had a hard time capturing it. No Photoshop tricks, just a little white balance correction…

I’m really having a good time with this and I hope you like these shots too.

– bob

November 5, 2008June 13, 2018

Jaunty Election Central – Hangover Edition

Friends,

According to the election results from the Secretary of State’s office this morning, we Californians are a bunch of irresponsible, reactionary bigots with hearts of gold. Let’s take a closer look at the jackassery that took place yesterday. This is with 94.6% of the precincts reporting:

Prop 1A – Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act: Remember how we don’t have any money and nobody’s buying bonds in this economic climate? Remember how this proposition posits that if we sell ten billion dollars in bonds, that will encourage the feds and private companies to give us the rest of the money we’d need to build a new science fiction choo choo train? And how insane is that? This one is winning 52.3% to 47.7% Holy crap. Are you people drunk?
Prop 2 – Standards for Confining Farm Animals: Happy cows win 63.3% to 36.7%. Aw, you guys are swell.
Prop 3 – Children’s Hospital Bond Act: We still have a huge deficit, but what the heck, let’s make it more huger! Winning 54.8% to 45.2%
Prop 4 – Waiting Period and Parental Notification Before Termination of Minor’s Pregnancy The voters think this should lose (I eventually did too), and it is 47.6% to 52.4%
Prop 5 – Nonviolent Drug Offenses. Sentencing, Parole and Rehabilitation: Also losing 40.2% to 59.8% It would let “drug dealers back out on the streets” after all. Or something.
Prop 6 – Police and Law Enforcement Funding. Criminal Penalties and Laws: This one is also losing big—30.5% to 69.5% I’ve heard that people just didn’t like the budgetary constraints but others didn’t like the creation of brand new crimes.
Prop 7 – Renewable Energy Generation: This needed to fail and it is failing 35.0% to 65.0%
Prop 8 – Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry: Bigots win! 52.1% to 47.9%
Prop 9 – Criminal Justice System. Victim’s Rights. Parole: Yeah, this one is winning too 53.3% to 46.7% The constitution—it’s not just for defining fundamental rights anymore!
Prop 10 – Alternative Fuel Vehicles and Renewable Energy Bonds: I guess T. Boone Pickens will have to build his own natural gas stations. This one is failing hard 40.1% to 59.9%
Prop 11 – Redistricting: This is barely squeaking by, winning by one percentage point, 50.5% to 49.5% Cross whatever you have that’s crossable and hope this passes. It’s our ticket to getting rid of the fools in the capitol.
Prop 12 – Veterans’ Bond Act of 2008: I don’t see how you could vote against this, but 36.5% did. Not good enough to beat the 63.5% of voters in favor. This would be an example, I think, of people not reading the sample ballot. I know, horror!

So thanks for stopping in for our election coverage and thanks for voting, you schizophrenic nutjobs.

Your pal,

bob