All posts by tim

i sell stuff, i love my family, art, music, political involvement, intellegent discussion, low stakes card games, guitar jams and a hat that fits just right.
History, Media, The Future, Uncategorized

200 down

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Today’s post comes from tim

 

Its been 6 months and hard to believe

The things that come out every day

The embarrassing premises incredible ugliness

Simply wrong things in every way

 

The sidemen and toadies the yes men galore

Looking over their shoulders for cues

The lies have become so much a part of the image

Were numb to the garbage he spews

 

I long for the elegant words to describe

The world in a nutshell we had

Instead of the tweets the trash talk and threats

And the pointing the finger from a man who’s gone mad

 

We stand at the crossraods, the result of the times

Where corruption and lies lead the way

The integrity of a whole nation is less

In a most unamerican way

 

I think this has taught us a lesson for sure

But the damage that’s done is far reaching

The whole ugly American persona weve witnessed

Is fantastic for how not to teaching

 

Impeach or hang in there its hard to decide

I can’t wish that Mike Pence were boss

The whole ugly mess is a travesty royal

What adverbs mean feeling the loss

 

The whole human race should go down on one knee

and vow to never allow it again.

There isn’t a question of if we will heal

But im not sure I can wait until when.

 

6 months puts us 200 days down the road

Another 1000 left before the election

I saw that they’re bashing bernies wife in their prep

Just in case he becomes our selection

 

Please lets all work together we are getting nothing done

Implore the majority brats

Didn’t they note nothing done in the 8 years preceding

When their directive was precisely that

 

Back in the day we’d compromise down a path

And the chips would be allowed to fall

You didn’t get what you wanted but you got what was fair

And America won overall

 

It will make us much better in the long run I hope

My mantra keeps telling myself

Lets hope this experiment dies a quick death

And the results go back on the shelf

 

It seems highly unlikely that these guys will ever

Be considered our superiors again

Their world’s made of toadies and yes men galore

But do you really want to go out and vote for them?

 

Do you like Al Franken as President?

 

 

 

The Baboon Congress

In A Holi-Daze

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Today’s post comes from tim

February is the month i was born

back in the day i was born the day after george washingtons birthday and every other year in school they would take off geroge washingtons birthday then on the following year they would take off abraham lincolns birthday. i suppose i was in 4th or 5th grade the year they declared we would now have presidents day and it would celebrate the two of them together. ill be the younger people of today have no idea tht the 12th is abrahams bd and the 22nd is georges bd.

about that time the decided armasists day should become veterans day and honor all wars instead of giving each war its own day ve day and jvj day for ww2 and armasists day for ww1 youve already got christmas thanksgiving easter new years and 4th of july, columbus day is a holiday that gets littel respect and form what i understand about how he treated people he should have been .martin luther kings day valentines day st patricks day april fools day may day june doesnt need a holiday june is too glorious to steal a day from celebrate every day in june, the state fair september and october are available for holiday unless you germans already celebrate october fest halloween is for kids but then we roll into the biggys with thanksgiving christmas and new years like bowling pins waiting to be knocked down in rapid succesion then we are back to february again.

it seems like we got the bases covered but there have got to be couple things overlooked i guess mothers day and fathers day sneak their way in their and hallmark tired grandparents day but i think it failed we used to celebrate richard nixons bd with a black cake in january and i alway remember that kurt vonnegut is 11/11 because it lucky and happens to be armasist day too. albert einstein is the same as my kids on 3/14 ( ive got 2 kids with the same birthday 4 years apart just so i wouldnt forget i married my wife on 01/01 /01 my parents anniversary and my daughters anniversary are both august 4th and i just know i am missing something

my favorite movie is harvey but another favorite is a thousand clowns and the quote that comes to mind is:

Murray Burns: Irving R. Feldman’s birthday is my own personal national holiday. I did not open it up for the public. He is proprietor of perhaps the most distinguished kosher delicatessen in our neighborhood, and, as such, I hold the day of his birth in reverence.

You got one?

The Baboon Congress

Nervous About Numbers

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Header photo by Dave Bleasdale on Flickr/Creative Commons 2.0
Today’s post comes from tim
The fear of the number 13 has been given a scientific name: “triskaidekaphobia“; and on analogy to this the fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia, from the Greek words Paraskeví (Παρασκευή, meaning “Friday“), and dekatreís (δεκατρείς, meaning “thirteen”)

way back when dale was first looking for a guest blogger or two when he was going to be away i was assigned was friday the 13th as my date and dale suggested that i do a friday the 13th blog to go with it.

i was thinking i had something else important to say so i used another topic and figured someone would get to it soon.  i didnt and while it surprised me that a couple of friday the 13th’s a year have come and gone without a blog on it, it remains a model of the trail that the stuff we have at our fingertips is what we discuss.
friday the 13th is a day of infamy that comes around on average 2 times a year. it is a day to avoid. i have canceled flights changed plans and done things differently when i realize that friday the 13th is where it is falling. i am funny with numbers.
666 is an automatic no no, i will run like a white tailed deer when i hear the number. i have a guy in new jersey who is a drummer who is a picky picky picky hat guy who has a phone number with 666 in it. it is less obvious  that some others it is a number where the first 3 numbers end in a 6 and then the first 2 on the last 4 are 66 so i guess it is possible that he really never did notice but wow… how could you not? i admit it i am superstitious. i will not walk under a ladder step on a crack or allow 666 in my life. (by the way, he never buys a hat he just makes me answer questions in detail and then decided he really didnt want to spend that much money anyway.)
i had a drivers license issued back whenever it was that minnesota handed out new numbers that had 666 right smack dab in the middle of it. i went to get it changed and was told it could not be done. i stayed on the phone talking to supervisor after supervisor until i got one who said they understood and would deal with it. i hung up the phone feeling better but when i checked back in months later i discovered that nothing had been done or would be done. i went in search of an answer and found one that i plugged in right away. it took over a year to rid myself of the dreaded 666 in my wallet but it is done now.
all worthwhile things take time. if you want to get a deal on your airplane tickets or find shorter lines and the popular restaurants try making a reservation on friday the 13th.
where do you stand on superstition and hows it working out for you?
The Baboon Congress

short and sweet

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today’s post comes from tim

clyde made a suggedtion the other day we do a 50 word guest blog offering

i blew past it because he also mentioned he was going to stop writing on his everything is south of here site and i recoiled

(please continue clyde)
so lets try in the same way haiku limits and defines i propose ee prepare 2017 posts of no more than 50 words (title excluded)

jerzy kozinski used to edit snd edit until no unneccessary was allowed to remain

based on that rule 1/2 this post goes along with 7/8 of whst i have to ssy in general

ready set blog

Songs, The Baboon Congress, Words

christmastime oh christmastime

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Today’s post comes from tim

in the words of the old charlie brown tune.

christmastime oh christmastime

how i wish that you were mine

every year you come around

and i always feel the same

christmastime oh christmastime

im so glad that you are mine

every year all over town

we all do sing your name

the feeling it inspires is hopeful

everyone agrees

the warmth and love that it invokes

is what impresses me

no need wondering why it is

lets just say our thanks

in a world where too much stinks

christmas love does rank

if we all enjoy this time

all december through

maybe we can brace ourselves

the end will be too soon

 

how can you remain in the moment

 

 

Family, The Baboon Congress

rich in children part 2

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today’s post comes from tim

daughter emma is a piece of work.

we were talking at thanksgiving and she said her sister asked  her what it was like to be the kid who wasn’t the favorite of either parent.

my sister was over thanksgiving and enjoys some aspects of my dysfunctional  family. she said the way the girls play remind her of cats

emma was the one who when we moved into our house at age 5 , loved the house because it had the dancing stage in the living room. when you came into the house there was an area  10×20 that stepped down 4 steps into the living room and had a full wall of windows in front of it so when it got dark the reflection of the stage in the windows was like a 2 foot tall screen of  selfies as you moved to your favorite tunes.

the first time i saw her dancing i was in awe. she is good and fluid and fun to watch. i would have to be discreet though because she didn’t like to be watched and would stop if she felt the eyes on her. she can do it with friends and cohorts but not and audience until…. she asks for an audience and performs for the correct amount of time and then is done until next time.

olivia her older sister is majoring in musical theater and loves to perform.

her brother devin is the josh groban of the family and sings like a rock/opera/r&b diva in the shower , at his church/in the car/reading his email… so she comes by it naturally.

last year emma started taking voice at macphail and she said she enjoyed it. her sister takes her from school and brings her home except now her sister has theater rehearsal i need to go pick her up.  it has been a total of maybe 3 or 4 times. well i park and go in and go upstairs to the spot where the lessons are.  macphail moved to a new building a couple of years ago and the sound is more or less contained in the studios. you can hear but it is muted and soft. so im sitting in the hall and thinking its too bad i cant hear emma because the rooms are so quiet, all i can hear is a voice coming from down the hall that definitely isn’t her. its nothing like her. so i get up and nonchalantly mosey down the hall and ge to look in the little 8×10 window in the door as i walk by and the voice is coming out of the back of a head that looks just like my daughters. i go down to the end of the hall turn around and come back to see that it is indeed coming out of the head that from the back looks to be like my daughter. i sit and 2 or 3 minutes later i discovered that it was indeed emma singing as she comes ot of the room with her teacher.

i commented that i couldn’t believe the sounds coming out of the room were coming ot of emma and they booth looked at each other and laughed. the teacher said he thought she should do a performance at the student sign up thing on the main stage for one of the 3 or 4 nights in the spring and she said she thought that was a good idea.

i went back 2 or three weeks later and olivia had her lesson going on and she was doing these melodic classical/jazz scales and emma was singing her song in the room next door. there was a chair in the hall that was smack dab in the middle of the  two rooms and i was in it getting stereophonic daughters singing and it made me cry.

she and her teacher came out of the room again and we talked for a minute again about her performance on the macphail stage. the teacher left and emma told me that she had signed up for a talent thing at school. in front of the class? yeah. alone? with a friend who sings and plays piano. have yo sung together before? is she any good? will she play piano? will you play piano or guitar or ukulele?

we dont know, we are figuring it out. its going to be a blues  thing. ella / bonnie raitt?

we will figure it out

so tonight i fall asleep on the couch and am wakened by her playing the uke and singing like a young lady who knows what shes shooting for. not ella, not bonnie not taylor swift but somewhere along the lines of the music my daughters play for me when i get to let them lead the musical choice of the time and place.

i was told that is the song she will be performing next friday at school. . olivia at the childerns theater performing for a  4 day run and emma doing a 5 minute blip in front of a group of peers at high school.

i have a week to look forward to next week

 

what are you looking forward to?