January 2009 Archives

I'm still searching my photo box for the one of me holding my infant twin sisters. Haven't found it yet but I did run across a few tidbits I thought were interesting and I'll be posting them in the coming days and weeks.

Anyone remember Wilson's? They were a department store that also had decent jewelry. They were later bought out by Service Merchandise but I liked Wilson's a lot more. We bought some rather plain gold wedding bands there because that was all we could afford. My canceled check is below. Mine was $200 and hers was $180. We still love them. Neither of us are all that big on jewelry. I don't wear watches, chains, or rings. Patsy only wears her wedding ring and her mother's engagement ring.

It says here the Steelers will get to Kurt Warner enough tomorrow to make a difference

Steelers 27 - Cardinals 17

... but I also hope I'm wrong. GO Cards.

Quote of the Day

Make a case for your ideas. Our country is in desperate straits right now and we need ideas. What we don't need is nasty rhetoric and useless noise. This doesn't help anyone get a job, keep a job, or feed their family. If there were ever a time to put the meanness behind us and focus on real dialogue and real solutions, this is the time.

Campbell Brown, CNN

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "My parents, apparently. They hated the movie. Not just hated but loathed. Despised. Shunned. Were obviously embarrassed to be the parents of a woman who thought "Arsenic and Old Lace" was a good movie."

I think I like this ID picture best now.

In 1974-75, you needed 22 credits to graduate. After junior year, I had 18. If I took the full six classes in the first semester, I only had to take two classes in the second semester to get to 22. I wasn't opposed to getting more credits if there was a class I was interested in. I would have taken another computer science class in a heartbeat. That was my favorite. Computers were different animals then. Ours was located off campus in a room probably bigger than my house. Don't remember how we were connected. You would work on your program for a while and then save it to a yellow tape. When you wanted to use it again, you would feed the yellow tape back into the computer and then go back and correct all of the errors because the tape feed was horribly unreliable. Fun times.

I went off-campus to a fancy studio uptown for my senior picture. We were told that the photographer will be able to clean up all of our blemishes but won't be able to do anything about our hair. I had my share of acne as a teenager but there were guys who had it much worse than me. All of the seniors have smooth skin in our pictures this year. The studio provided the tux. It was filthy and it stunk. The shirt had brown stains on it that I didn't even want to think about and I don't think I can adequately describe the stench emanating from the jacket. I don't know how many guys had worn mine since it was last cleaned but it had to be a couple of hundred. I don't remember how many pictures he took but I couldn't wait to get out of that thing.

And, finally, that plan to just take two classes for my final semester in high school was realized. I would get out of school at 10:10AM after trigonometry class and head home. First period was PE. Life was grand ... for about a week. I did not have a driver's license yet. Typically, I would take the streetcar to the end of the line, transfer to a bus that would take me to another bus stop, and then catch another bus home. The streetcar and the first bus were Orleans Parish. The last bus was Jefferson Parish. The Orleans Parish transit workers went on strike about mid-January that year. No streetcar, no second bus. I would have to walk. It was five miles to the Jefferson Parish bus stop. The transit workers were on strike for several months. Put a lot of miles on my shoes and my now-deteriorating knees that semester. The caption on the photo to the left is "Senior Robert Ferrara going home". Couldn't get it in the scan. I remember that kid taking the picture but, at the time, I didn't know it was of me. He had to be a freshman or sophomore.

Him: Sir?
Me: Kept going because nobody addresses me that way.
Him again: SIR?
Me: Who? Me?
Him: Yes sir. I'm taking pictures for the yearbook. Can I use yours?
Me: Sure.

When I was a freshman, one of the seniors had to take freshman physical science again in order to graduate. He was not only a senior. He was a star football player, who later played at Tulane, and is now an NOPD detective. We would break into groups of four to do experiments and he was in my group. We were in total awe of him. That kid photographer made my day. I don't give a rat's a$$ about the "sir" part but the reverence and respect he showed to an upperclassman, who was NOT a star football player, well, I hope he's doing well in life.

Quote of the Day

Of course, as others have noted on the Internet, I am no rocket surgeon.

Helen A.S. Popkin, MSNBC.com

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "The purpose of these thousands of meetings in fluorescence filled rooms is first, to save the most senior jobs, and second, to save the most senior jobs."

This ID picture used to be my favorite from high school. Looking at it today, I'm not as pleased with it. When I was taken to shop for school clothes for my junior year, I was disappointed that the cuffed bell bottom pants from the previous year were not in the stores any more. My junior year was marked by the trouble I was in. My grades were OK as I recall. No, the trouble was that I smoked. Got caught smoking in the bathroom once and got caught returning to campus during the school day after smoking a cigarette. It was against the rules for us to smoke on campus and it was also against the rules to leave campus during the school day. De La Salle's campus extended for a two-block radius. Don't remember if I got caught on campus first and left campus the second time or got caught off campus the first time and took my chances on campus the second time.

I was in trouble at least one more time but I don't remember why. For punishment, the Christian Brothers, particularly the disciplinarian, liked to make us memorize and recite poetry. My first detention saw me recite Abou Ben Adhem. It remains my favorite poem. I look it up occasionally because I can't recite it any more. The thing about reciting poetry to Brother Justin was you couldn't skip a word or mix the words up because he knew the poems cold. If you messed up, you sat down and went over it for a few minutes until he was ready to hear you again. They got progressively worse if you had to see him again. The next one was Jabberwocky, which gave me fits. I couldn't stand it. It's Patsy's favorite and she CAN recite it. I can't put two words of that monstrosity together. The last was The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Yeah, he was tired of seeing me. Despite its length, this one was easier for me to recite than Jabberwocky. This was all first semester nonsense. I straightened myself out.

Just an aside: Brother Justin is the only person I remember showing the picture of me holding my twin baby sisters. "They're beautiful. They look just like you with their brown hair and wide open brown eyes."

Quote of the Day

But cheerly still; and said, "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow men."

James Leigh Hunt, Abou Ben Adhem

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Only a few weeks ago, he told an interviewer that he had no intentions of retiring and was just "showing signs of mental deteoriation" (as quoted by Telegraph)."

If you've ever seen That 70s Show, you'll see Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher wearing bell-bottom slacks with cuffs. That was a short-lived fashion style and, for me, that was this year. You can have the rest of the 70s fashion, particularly the long-sleeved, all polyester shirts, but I LIKED those pants. The student ID picture was taken on the first day of school. On that first day of school, Mom asked me if it was different being a sophomore. I remember saying it beats being a freshman. I don't know why I didn't keep my freshman ID. All of the rest are taped into their respective yearbooks. We were the De La Salle Cavaliers. This ID was good for admission to any school activity.

I'm not sure when the yearbook pictures were taken. Once again, I apologize for the graininess. It looks like the hair is starting to get away from me here so I'm guessing the weather was still hot and humid but that's not much of an indicator in New Orleans. I think it was taken on campus, though. I remember going off campus for my senior picture but no other. The rule on hair was that it couldn't touch your collar. 99% of the student body was borderline on that rule. We all wanted to wear longer hair. Looking back at this frizzy, unmanageable mess, I have no idea why I wanted more of it.

Quote of the Day

Gk. sophos "wise" + moros "foolish, dull." Short form soph is attested from 1778. Sophomoric "characteristic of a sophomore" (regarded as self-assured and opinionated but crude and immature) is attested from 1837.

Sophomore definition, Dictionary.com

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "So this was really just an Assuage My Guilt kind of pharmacy trip."

No, not the fine 1990 film starring Marlin Brando, Matthew Broderick, Bruno Kirby, and Penelope Ann Miller. No, this one is me from 1971 or 1972. This is my freshman yearbook picture from De La Salle High School in New Orleans. Sorry about the graininess. Do I look like I could pass for a cop or any adult for that matter? Three of my classmates from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Grammar School chose De La Salle. One of them ended up having the exact same 7 classes as me and the other had five classes with us. Mom would drop me off at Lee's Circle in the New Orleans Central Business District and I'd catch the streetcar to school. It was 43 city blocks. I don't remember much about freshman year but I do remember initiation week. On Monday through Thursday, the freshmen had to wear a beanie and had to do pretty much whatever the seniors told them to do from 7AM until 4PM if I remember correctly. It could be carrying books, singing the fight song, doing leap frog with other freshman, etc. Mostly tame stuff. That brings me to the next photo.

The Line - De La Salle High School - 1971

On Friday, we had to walk the line. The line was a roped-off gauntlet. The seniors would line up along the outside of one of the ropes. The freshmen then walked between the ropes and the seniors would throw stuff at them. 75% of the time, it was a mixture of flour and water. Every fourth year, though, the seniors could throw pretty much whatever they wanted ... within reason. We were the fourth year and the last year this was allowed. Flour and water is nasty, folks. What those seniors threw at us went way, way beyond nasty. We're talking flour and water, rotten eggs, molasses, cat litter (Unused we hope but no one was sure), all manner of non-toxic household products, and then there was the big one. It was an X-factor. None of the previously mentioned components worried us that much but there was one that frightened us big time and that was a fairly new product on the market then called Nair. The ads on TV showed women putting it on their legs and then wiping it and all of their hair off with a rag. What??? Our hair was a big deal to us in those days. We were scared to death of Nair. Our fears were unfounded, of course. I doubt that stuff would have had any effect stirred in with those vile mixtures. One of the seniors had a garbage can full of some concoction that was bubbling. I have no idea who those guys are in the picture but I looked just like them when I was done. All of us threw our clothes away. This was the year BEFORE De La Salle got air conditioning. The schoolyard stunk for a solid 6 weeks and we had to cope with all of the windows open in the September/October New Orleans heat and you probably have an idea what heat does for an already noxious odor.

Quote of the Day

There's a kind of freedom in being completely screwed because you know things can't get any worse.

Clark Kellogg, The Freshman

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "So, nothing terribly deep here except that I stirred up the Buddhist zombie hordes again and I should get back to practice. E-Sangha can screw off into the hell realms of Internet bully-boys once again."

Love the cartoon. -Rob

Heard about the 14-year-old boy arrested for impersonating a police officer? He partnered with another police officer for 5 hours and almost got away with it.

Police said the 14-year-old's partner on the traffic assignment did not recognize the boy was underage.

Glad I'm not in that officer's shoes. Some kids do look much older than they are but I can't imagine riding around with someone for five hours without discovering something was amiss. Amazing. At 14, I never could have passed for a police officer or even an adult for that matter. You'll see more about that tomorrow.

Quote of the Day

The boy "has identified an egregious breach in security,"

Deputy Supt. of Patrol Dan Dugan, Chicago Police Department

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "I can't find even a shred of boldness here or any courage to confront the established interests that run America. There are not even small public signals of such an intention. It is remarkable that the party and election process is able to produce such homogeneous figureheads that parrot the same lines. It is remarkable that so many Americans become enthusiastic over these stooges."

I know I can't be the only person who finds HBO's Big Love to be hilarious CME. What I wonder about is this: Is it intentionally funny? If you've never seen it, the show is about polygamists, how they live their lives, how they get along with each other, and how they get along with the outside world. There is also a little bit of intrigue, jealousy, double crosses, backstabbing, and a dash of religion. There are three worlds on display in this show. The first is the outside world, where polygamy is illegal. The second is the compound, where it is practiced. The outside world doesn't care what's going on in the compound and just leaves them alone as long as they stay inside it. The third encompasses the main character, who was forced off of the compound by his father, is a successful, very high-profile businessman but also a polygamist living in the outside world trying to keep his private life a secret. Got all that? The secrecy is not working. The situations this guy, his three current wives and a fourth prospective wife, and all of their children find themselves in are what I find funny. They're all self-inflicted and thoroughly ridiculous. There's a little intolerance from the outside world portrayed in the show but not very much. That's appropriate. Intolerance is pretty low on their list of problems. If I'm not supposed to be laughing at these situations, you can add that to their list.

Super Bowl Week begins. Yawn. I'll watch the game but don't expect much more than that from me, NFL, network execs, sports pundits, pre-game and halftime show producers, and to all who use any form of the phrase "breaking it down". I think that's easily the most overused, tiresome phrase in media. For those who watch and listen to the sports experts during Super Bowl Week to try and get a handle on what's going to happen next Sunday, think about this: The players and coaches of the five teams that lost to the Steelers and Cardinals in the playoffs are also experts, watched way more film than any of those clowns, had way more at stake, and still got it wrong.

I offer one from the CrabAppleLane backyard today. For an idea of what kind of day it is here, bear in mind that the image below is in color.

CrabAppleLane Gum Tree - January 25, 2009

Quote of the Day

Scouts Inc. breaks down the Super Bowl offenses, defenses and players.

ESPN

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "First, raucous goober might be the most fitting description ever for Philip Rivers."

Rendition is a film that I'm guessing has a political point of view but I don't think it executes it very well. The film seems to argue against rendition and maybe torture, too, but I'm not certain about that one. Very curious quote attributed to then Vice-President Al Gore in that Wikipedia article. I digress. Everyone will be horrified by the man who is wrongly accused, hooded, and whisked away to some unknown location without knowing why. He's tortured and finally gives up false information because, well, he doesn't have any other kind. He's willing to admit anything just to get it to stop. So rendition is a despicable practice and torture doesn't work, right? Later in the film, another man is tortured and he does give up the information that is being sought. Now what? The methods employed were extreme in both cases. It's a decent movie and I can live without knowing the point it was trying to make.

Quote of the Day

Honey, this is nasty business. There are upwards of 7,000 people in central London alive tonight, because of information that we elicited just this way. So maybe you can put your head on your pillow and feel proud for saving one man while 7,000 perish, but I got grandkids in London, so I'm glad I'm doing this job... and you're not.

Corrine Whitman, Rendition

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: ""Well you can't sell your home so you might as well enjoy it" is frequently heard from our customers as we discuss remodeling projects with them."

I'm watching Antiques Roadshow last night because I record this show and usually watch it a few minutes at a time while I'm doing something or waiting for something else to come on. If you've never seen the show, people bring in all sorts of antiques and collectibles and they tell the show's traveling group of appraisers what they know about it, what they paid for it or how they got it, and what they think it might be worth. The appraisers then support or dispute that knowledge, give their opinions, and put an estimated auction, retail, or insurance value on it. Sometimes, the appraisers can hardly contain their excitement. On a previous show, a guy brought in a Swiss watch he said was once appraised at about $6000. The roadshow expert could hardly keep his hands from shaking as he described the intricacies and functions of that watch. He then said it was the finest watch he ever held and that it was worth about a quarter of a million dollars.

Anyway, what got me last night was a collection of postcards, photographs, and letters from Louis Armstrong that someone brought in. That's a cool link. You can even watch the clip I'm referring to. This is why I watch that show. Louis had befriended this person's father-in-law. The pictures and postcards were nice but the centerpiece of the collection, for me, was an extremely personal eleven-page, front and back, handwritten letter from Louis that talked about his music, his new album, his work, and his wife. The appraiser put a value of $20,000 on the collection. I guess that's fair but if I had stuff like that from Louis Armstrong written to someone in my family, $20k wouldn't get near it. I'm not much of a jazz fan, particularly modern contemporary jazz, but I'm a big fan of Louis. I think he's probably the greatest entertainer of the 20th century.

Today's QOTD, well, never mind.

Quote of the Day

'We are being told we have to hope he succeeds, that we have to grab our ankles...because his father was black, because he's the first black president, we've got to accept this.

Rush Limbaugh

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "But some proponents of "alternative medicine" believe that drug companies actually conspire to keep people sick to reap profits."

Today's QOTD is from Lily Allen. I never heard of her but I don't get out much. I love that some articles on some websites allow for comments. The first comment to Lily's admission is this from Missy:

Sensible girl. In my twenties I had no time for girls that went after rich men; in my forties it suddenly all makes perfect sense. It is in no way less worthy an ambition than aiming to marry a good-looking woman.

Alrighty then. I dare not add a thing to that.

Quote of the Day

I just hope I can stay famous enough for a little bit so someone rich will marry me. That's all I really care about these days.

Lily Allen

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Those 8 years did not pass quickly at all, and they were so tumolteous and filled with Drama, that I doubt anything Obama can conjure up (with the possible exception of him getting a white mistress, which would be AWESOME. Double Awesome points if its Ann Coulter) can equal or parallel."

My favorite Obama quote is not about politics. It's about baseball. Who would he root for in a Cubs - White Sox World Series?

Oh, that's easy. White Sox. I'm not one of these fair-weather fans. You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer; beautiful people up there. People aren't watching the game. It's not serious. White Sox, that's baseball. South Side.

He's a fan. Most politicians go to great lengths to NOT take sides. I guess the thinking is that votes could be lost. That may even be so. To those, I say Go Sox. Good Morning, Mr President.

With apologies to Monty Python ... and, now, for something completely different: Wing suits. Insane, but it looks like the coolest thing ever. I love what one of the Norwegians said. "and now it's getting boring so we play around." Yeah, that's the word I was looking for. Boring.

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Quote of the Day

We are stewards of the revolutionary impulse toward what Washington called "the sacred fire of liberty," but freedom is not a buy-and-hold proposition. When we have been at our best, we have redefined and rethought what freedom means, and what it signifies to say something--or someone--is American.

Jon Meacham, Newsweek

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "A colon is not just something that precedes a list."

It will be difficult to escape the wall-to-wall Inauguration coverage today. I'll try to catch some of it. All inaugurations are historic but I think this one packs a little extra. That's all CrabAppleLane is offering today. There's more to be found just about everywhere.

Quote of the Day

If the other side has won, you don't want to deal with the traffic.

David Frum

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Of course, the president-elect is still in the traditional "honeymoon" period, and the current reservoir of goodwill could drain as the recession and other problems test the people's patience."

Yet another team has gotten to the Super Bowl before my Saints. This time, it's the Arizona Cardinals. It was just about three weeks ago that I said over at Fish Fear Me that the playoffs were wide open and that 11 of the 12 teams have a chance to win the whole thing. There was one that I thought was a joke and didn't have a chance. That team was the Cardinals. So, will the Steelers restore order to the cosmos and be the first team to win a 6th Super Bowl or will chaos rule supreme and the Cards continue to defy the oddsmakers, experts, and me? Go Cards.

For the record, it's now the New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, and Jacksonville Jaguars that haven't been to a Super Bowl.

Quote of the Day

Satan called and would like to know how to get the ice off his windshield.

Unknown Arizona Cardinal fan

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "The game was the most emotional in Cards history, as the team built on the energy of the home crowd to go up 24-6 at the half, and then came back with a huge game-winning drive to put the finishing touches on the win."

I had never heard of 2004's Spartan but it had an interesting cast so I recorded it a couple of nights ago. It's a David Mamet movie and I tend to like those. Mamet's films tend to be wordy, like Glengarry Glen Ross, but not this one. Although the dialogue is all Mamet, intrigue was his main tool and he loaded it up. He lets the audience in on some of it and by that I mean we don't know exactly what's going on but we know something isn't right. He didn't quite finish the job, though. The conspiracy didn't completely unravel and there's at least one loose end and maybe two that wasn't addressed. It was still a good Saturday night popcorn movie. I liked it a lot. If you're interested, it's playing on HBO now.

I offer two pics from my afternoon walk on this gloriously mild CrabAppleLane Sunday. Temps are in the 60s and I plan to spend the afternoon cleaning a few things up in the yard.

CrabAppleLane Trail - January 18, 2009

Priscilla - January 18, 2009

Quote of the Day

Do you wanna gossip or do you wanna shoot somebody?

Jones, Spartan

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "DEEP in an archive, more than two dozen letters written by Mary, Queen of Scots, lie largely unseen for centuries."

The Scotsman is a newspaper in Scotland but their online version appears to be a three-column blog. -Rob

The door had fallen off earlier in the week and the weather was a bit too cold, windy, and rainy for me to get on a tall ladder so it stayed down until this afternoon. I decided against using the hinge and hasp again and just screwed the door permanently closed. Also sanded the opening that had become a little too splintery for my tastes. The door will have to be removed for cleaning if it survives. I think I will get one more season out of it before it disintegrates. I built it many years ago out of cedar, as recommended. It has no paint or sealer of any kind on it and the exposure is starting to catch up with it. Wasn't pleased with the condition of the roof so I gave that some attention as well. Assuming (Hoping, really) the new roof won't put them off, I'm very interested to see if the bluebirds will use it as they did before they got a new one.

Will rent for a song - January 17, 2009

Quote of the Day

In addition to receiving praise for their hard work, the inept and often neglectful staff members said they'd like to see a number of new incentives introduced. Among them, a larger and more comfortable break room where employees can go unwind, longer extensions on overdue projects, and the option of working from home on Fridays and possibly also Mondays.

The Onion

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Posh department store Liberty of London has long stocked the Onion Light, but we have only just discovered that they include it on their website, in the category 'For the trendsetters' (of course!)."

OK, those are cute. -Rob

Quite cold here at CrabAppleLane this morning. Lower 20s, I'm told.

A bit of a follow-up on this entry: It seems that story sent up enough flags to have those parents investigated by relevant authorities. Their children have been taken away from them. The Division of Youth and Family Services are not saying what prompted that action but my guess is there's more here than just the names.

Quote of the Day

So here's us ... on the raggedy edge. Don't push me. And I won't push you.

Malcom Reynolds, Serenity

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "This is partly because my family, when they discovered my talent, pushed me so hard to do something with it that it literally took any fun out of making art."

Love the name of the blog. -Rob

If you FlickR, the National Galleries of Scotland have put some photos online. I was particularly struck by the story of Greyfriars Bobby. Dog lovers may want to have a box of tissue nearby. He was in the Great Scots set. Good on whoever thought to do that.

Quote of the Day

The famous Skye Terrier, Greyfriars Bobby was so devoted to his master John Gray, even in death, for fourteen years Bobby lay on the grave only leaving for food.

Greyfriars Bobby Website

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Edinburgh was promised an additional £3.5 million to meet the extra costs that it incurs for being Scottish capital."

From today's Times-Picayune and AP:

THIBODAUX, La. (AP) -- A Houma man has been booked with cruelty to a juvenile for allegedly leaving his 3-month-old child strapped in a car as he gambled at a casino in Larose.

< Insert temperance tirade here >

Today's QOTD is about newly elected Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson. I remember that stance. He was a great player by anyone's measure but he also played for 9 teams in his 25 years. He was a tad difficult.

Quote of the Day

Why did Rickey fold himself into a wizened gum ball, an arthritic Yoda, while standing up at the plate?

Roger Angell, The New Yorker

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "I wonder if I'm not drinking too much: the pig appears to be on the move."

Tony Dungy retired yesterday. From the Indianapolis Star:

Dungy walks away at the top of his game. He walks away at age 53, with the best record in Colts history. He walks away from the team and the game he loves, from a $5 million salary and a club that will go into the 2009 season among the favorites for Super Bowl XLIV.

He'll be fine. The QOTD suggests he has no regrets. That's good because he shouldn't. The vast majority of coaches are curt and arrogant (See Belichick, Saban, Shanahan, Spurrier, Parcells, etc). Dungy became successful without becoming a jackass. Good Luck and Best Wishes, Coach.

I hadn't looked at the Astronomy Picture of the Day in some time but this one for Sunday is amazing. I know the saying is "No bucks, no Buck Rogers" so manned space flight is inevitable but unmanned spacecraft like Cassini-Huygens give us way more bang for the buck and are much safer.

Quote of the Day

I won't look back and think that I could have done anything more, that if I'd put more time in, maybe we'd have won one more game.

Tony Dungy

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Anyone who has read his autobiography "Quiet Strength" from cover to cover understand why Coach Dungy is a short timer and will sympathize with him. The fact that he is still coaching is a surprise, to be honest."

Via Pitcherlady: If you're not sure if you're a liberal or conservative, I'm thinking this article won't help you make up your mind much. Good for a laugh, though.

Via a link on today's BOTD:

The retail environment is very difficult and they did not have sufficient capital to weather the bad times.

I think we may be hearing this a lot in every business environment for a while.

A comment by bigred48yrs on an Arizona Republic article about the surprising Arizona Cardinals:

Oh pul-eaze! NOW you're a fan? After all the crap you've been spouting? Oh, all right, I guess there's room on the wagon--but you ride up front where the horses f@rt.

I wouldn't mind seeing fresh faces in the Super Bowl even though it would mean yet another team beating the Saints to it. Go Cards.

About today's QOTD: The City of New Orleans, like all other city and state governments nationwide, is facing severe budget problems. He wants to reduce the most noticeable, most commented on, and most appreciated service the city provides. As always, his comments come out in the worst possible way. The truth is the businesses, who attract the patrons who cause the mess, should pay a higher portion of the "enhanced, Disney-like services" but they're struggling, too.

Quote of the Day

This will eliminate the enhanced, Disney-like services, such as street sweeping and power washing in the Vieux Carre and downtown areas of the city.

Mayor Ray Nagin, City of New Orleans

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Ironically, they were a sign company with no sign on their building."

I watched Hitman last night because CME was the order of the day. Here's some CME trivia: When the heroes have to shoot at people to their left and right, they sometimes cross their arms (Notice the graphic to the left) so their right hand is shooting to the left and the left hand is shooting to the right. Sometimes, they just extend their arms right and left and shoot. I know almost nothing about shooting with weapons in both hands so I'd like to know what the rules are here. I'm guessing the reasons are more aesthetic than practical. Anyway, Hitman is a fun popcorn action movie with some great action scenes and a little humor. Worth your time.

I feel for Jake Delhomme this morning. He had a really tough day at the office yesterday. It might cost him his job although I don't know who is out there that could beat him out of it unless the Panthers make a big play (Contract to Cassel and compensation to the Pats) for Matt Cassel. QB play in the NFL is such that I think Cassel is going to have more than a few suitors despite the franchise tag. Tip of the cap to the Cardinals, though. WOW.

I offer one from the backyard today. It was taken off of the side of one of our trails. We're told by the Louisiana Agricultural Extension Service that this is the time to plant trees. Mother Nature apparently agrees.

CrabAppleLane Oak Sapling - January 11, 2009

Quote of the Day

Stop talking or I'll put you back in the trunk.

Agent 47, Hitman

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Once again she is compared to a Hitchcock blonde, while her Mad Men character is described as 'uncorking a magnum of cool wrath.....emerging as the show's presiding enigma.....while inching along a hairline crack of hysteria.'"

We have an interest in an oil well. Before you start thinking we're rolling in money, you should know the dividends we receive total about $30 per year. Patsy's dad worked for an oil company and he bought an interest. When he died, the three kids received equal shares of that interest. We used to get a yearly check for about $30. That was good for a nice lunch or a casual dinner back in the 80s. About 10-15 years ago, they started paying the dividends quarterly so we started getting 4 checks per year for about $7 or $8 each. Not as useful or fun for us, we would just cash or deposit those with whatever other banking business we had. The company has now been sold. The new company still pays out the meager dividends quarterly but has decided to charge for the maintenance separately. Now, in addition to getting a check for $7.87, we get a bill for 44¢. We would like them to just deduct the 44¢ from the dividend but we have to fill out a rather complicated form before they will do that so we just curse the envelopes every three months.

Saw the little opossum below come take a drink from the pond this morning. Don't see them as much lately as we did when we first moved in. We never had them in large numbers but it was not unusual to see 3 or 4 per week. This is the first one I've seen here in a few years.

CrabAppleLane Backyard Visitor - January 10, 2009
He/she was a little slow getting around and couldn't outrun me if it came to that. Decided to stay still so I wouldn't notice. A better poser doesn't exist.

Quote of the Day

Well maybe it is just the time of year
Or maybe it's the time of man
I don't know who l am
But you know life is for learning

Joni Mitchell, Woodstock

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "I'm not happy just because I still have readers but I'm very glad to see that the majority of Iranian people are able to bypass regimes filtering."

A thoughtful neighbor gave me a Joe Muggs Coffee gift box for Christmas and that's what I'm drinking this morning. I've always liked Joe Muggs coffee. Whenever I get dragged Patsy and I go to the local Books-A-Million, I usually just go grab a cup and let her look around by herself. Takes her about 20 minutes to find something in that place. If I'm getting something, I can scan and grab in about a minute, maybe two, so I just do that when I'm finished my coffee. She's usually ready to make a selection by then. It works for us. By the way, accusations of impatience on one part or dawdling on the other ... didn't work.

Quote of the Day

I thought we had an outside chance

Kyle Whittingham, Utah Utes Head Coach

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "But occasionally, I decree (with the wife's consent of course) to go off course to grab some local coffee, with the most recent stop being a place called Perk on Main."

It says here that Florida makes it three in a row for the SEC in BCS National Championship games. I think they'll win by 10-14 points. Although I am a big fan of SEC football, that is not what I'd like to see. What I'd like to see is the Sooners cover the 2½ point spread in a high-scoring game tonight (Over 62 points combined) for reasons more mundane than my loyalty to the SEC. The winner of this game will join Texas, USC, and Utah in laying claim to a national championship. All of these teams were included in or excluded from the national championship game by opinion, not by their play on the field. All, except Utah, have one conference loss. Regardless of the outcome of tonight's game,

CrabAppleLane declares the
Utah Utes
National Champions.

Quote of the Day

This is the sixth year in the past 10 that the title has been in dispute under this cash-grab, fan-dis, monopoly that the BCS has created. Which is why the title game just doesn't matter anymore. It's like being named Miss Ogallala. Or Best Amish Electrician.

Rick Reilly, ESPN.com

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "C'mon Obama, invite the Utes to the White House."

OK, so the first-grader, 6, misses his bus and decides to take his mom's car to school. From the same Washington Post Article (Free registration may be required):

The boy's parents were arrested and charged with felony child endangerment. Wilkins said the father, David E. Dodson, 40, was under a court order not to leave the 6-year-old and his 4-year-old brother alone with their mother, Jacqulyn D. Waltman, 26, at their home in the town of Wicomico Church.

I'm thinking something has been left out here. I'm curious about that court order, aren't you? Why was it issued? What was the concern? I think further explanation here would have been useful. Boys can't be left alone with their mother so a court order is imposed on the father? That seems unusual to me.

CrabAppleLane's winter birds are here. Chipping sparrows, robins, goldfinches, and this year's newcomer, a buff-bellied hummingbird that Patsy has named Buffy, all in attendance in the yard and at our various feeders. Life is good.

Quote of the Day

All I was hoping, no offense to Jake, was that he would make a few more mistakes than me so that the coaches would give me a chance.

Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Did you hear anything remotely close to an apology in there? Neither did I."

Scrubs starts its last season tonight on a new night, a new network, and in HD and I'm hoping it can capture some new magic. It has been warm, funny, irreverent, and quite poignant sometimes but lost a good deal of its charm last season. Zach Braff is leaving after this season and the show may continue without him but that's still undecided. For my money, his character is the most replaceable but I think the series has run its course. Time to call it quits and no need to tie up loose ends. No teary farewells, either. Good job on the series, though.

I've linked this before but below is one of my all-time favorite TV sequences. Thought it appropriate.

Quote of the Day

They hate you Bob. They hate from the bottom of your hooves to the top of your pitchfork. They hate you. By God, they hate you good.

Dr Cox, Scrubs

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: ""I'm getting Rowdy -- I get the dead dog," says an excited Zach Braff. As fans of SCRUBS may know, this is Braff's eighth and last season on SCRUBS."

Is there any such thing as proofreading any more or is that service a victim of cutbacks? From USA Today:

On Oct. 5 in Baltimore, quarterback Kerry Collins led an 80-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarterback to lift Tennessee to a 13-10 win.

Fourth quarterback? Maybe they'll correct it when they see all of the traffic from CrabAppleLane.

I installed a software package on my PC the other day that had several, glaring spelling errors. "You" for "your" is one that I see way too much of or should I say way "to" much of. I came across both of those five minutes into the installation. When I see such things, it worries me a great deal that I'm putting such important things in their hands. I'm really not that much of a stickler about spelling. One could probably find questionable spelling and grammar here but it's really not OK anywhere and I think it's unprofessional when it's done in a professional context.

Today's BOTD references one of my favorite movies. A clip below:

Quote of the Day

We're going to Tennessee. Be there.

Ed Reed, Baltimore Ravens

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "So for my birthday, right after Christmas, he got me a real one, and it started my love affair with music, with jazz, and with Louis Armstrong."

I watched Jumper last night. I was in the mood for cheesy mindless entertainment (CME) and this one fits that bill to a T. A CME movie does not hold up to a moment's thought but it works when you're not in the mood to even give up that much. Hayden Christensen gets top billing and is the protagonist but Jamie Bell and Samuel L Jackson steal the show. A jumper is a person who can teleport from one place to another. There is an organization, led by Jackson, who would prefer that no one have that ability and their goal is to exterminate the jumpers. Best to just immerse yourself, revel in its absurdity, and eat plenty of popcorn. Keep an eye on Jamie Bell, though. I've seen him in a couple of things now. He's going to be a star.

The only thing worse than having substantial portions of my playoff teams eliminated yesterday (Spawn and Death on Two Legs) is not being very high in the standings afterward. Well, it's not like I know anything about football. Illustration: I liked the Colts chances of going to the Super Bowl and I thought the Falcons were a lock yesterday.

I offer two from the front yard on this balmy CrabAppleLane Sunday.

CrabAppleLane Needles - January 4, 2009

CrabAppleLane Ants - January 4, 2009
My neighbor and I were wrestling one day when I was a kid. He got the advantage and held me down in a red ant pile. It wasn't as big as this one and he didn't do that on purpose. I couldn't get up and they were biting me pretty good. It wasn't until he got bit that he let me up. I did a dance because there were ants in my pants. Red ant piles don't get this big in the city usually because people do something about them. Out here at CrabAppleLane, where parts of the yard can go untended for a few weeks, they are more like castles than piles.

Quote of the Day

I like to walk for a change. Makes me feel normal.

Griffin, Jumper

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Teleportation can make your day more interesting. Like having a break on the head of the Sphinx in Egypt."

About today's QOTD: Was pondering the state of civility since the election and how quickly it deteriorated amongst the politicals like it always does and thought of my favorite Joni Mitchell song. That had me looking on the original blog to see if I'd used it before and that led me to the almost 3yr old entry where I had. The New Zealand Herald links are still valid and I checked one out to see a mortgage company advertising 50 year loans, a $275k loan for $1177/mo, a $201k loan for $861/mo, and a $124k loan for $531/mo. Isn't this the kind of lending that caused a great deal of the mess the mortgage companies and homeowners find themselves in? Good old Circle Game. Not the only one thinking about it. See the BOTD and give them credit for the YouTube idea.

Quote of the Day

And the seasons
They go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return
We can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

Joni Mitchell, The Circle Game

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Take A Moment: The Circle Game"

Neither NFC playoff game is sold out yet and may be blacked out in their home markets. Is ticket-pricing part of the problem? In Minnesota, a lot of the tickets range from $80 to $180 each according to the Star Tribune. In Arizona, they start at $54.75 each. I think I paid $45 for my "cheap" Saints playoff tickets back in 1992 so I think this has more to do with product than pricing. Despite their winning records and division championships, Viking fans and Cardinal fans are just not all that excited about their teams. Card fans have reason for such pessimism. They play in a weak division and have been trounced by every decent team they've faced lately. The Falcons are coming to town and they're more than decent. Viking fans are a little harder to figure. Their team is playing OK and their game with the Eagles looks like a good one ... but they have more tickets left and they play in a smaller stadium. Not getting that.

About today's QOTD: It elicited this comment from someone calling themselves SuperChargers:

BTW, I have 50,000 tix for sale. Only $10 a piece. To buy, please call 619 555-BogusTicketsForSaleForCheap!

Humor alive and well in San Diego.

Les Miles' LSU Tigers won the Chick Fil A Bowl Wednesday night over favored Georgia Tech. His Tiger teams are 4-0 in bowl games now and all of them have been blowouts. His team was the underdog in two of the four. The guy does not get the respect he deserves. The Baton Rouge Morning Advocate even gave Georgia Tech the edge in coaching. Keep proving everyone wrong, Les. GEAUX Tigers.

Quote of the Day

The Chargers also are warning that counterfeit tickets were a problem in the regular-season finale and suggest people buy tickets only from the team or from someone they know.

Kevin Acee, San Diego Union Tribune

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Saying good-bye to the west will be difficult, but I'm sure we'll be back some day. Living back east is something I truly am looking forward to. Living in New York City was a long time ago, but I simply adored living on that side of America. As for my hubby, he's taking a leap of faith with me, something he promised when we met and I told him I was on a change the world journey without roots. It will no doubt be one hell of a ride."

Happy New Year


From CrabAppleLane

Did you do anything special? We spent a quiet evening at home but we did stay up past midnight just like the grownups. Yes, we have no life.

Starting out the New Year in typical fashion. I know some of the ladies out there may find this hard to believe but guys are complete idiots about some things. Earlier today, a guy I know carried so much clothes up to his closet and the load was so heavy that the wire hangers dug into his hand about a quarter of an inch deep, left an indentation that is still visible several hours later, and was excruciatingly painful ... all so he wouldn't have to make two trips. My His hand still hurts.

Quote of the Day

Wednesday's romp was the fourth straight no-doubt bowl victory under Les Miles and this one came when the Tigers were a clear-cut underdog.

Randy Rosetta, Baton Rouge Morning Advocate

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "[20 AM PST] Welcome Kiribati, New Zealand and Chatham Island to 2009!"