The Pyramids

so i am watching Fox news this morning and they are showing clips of the Egyptian military taking positions around the Pyramids, a bloody civil war about to engage, and all I can think of is when the Grateful Dead Played the Pyramids in 78'.......if the sphinx and king tut could talk....wow

Since I'm, passing your way today
I just stopped in cause I want to say
I recall your darkness
when it crackled like a thundercloud
don't tell me this town ain't got no heart
when I can hear it beat out loud

finally some good news

and finally a reason to go to Charlottesville Va........MMMMMM table liquor served with meals...MMMMM

Thomas Jefferson's mountaintop home is teaming up with a local brewery to launch a new ale inspired by the past.

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation says it's working with Starr Hill Brewery to offer Monticello Reserve Ale, inspired by what was produced and consumed regularly at Monticello.

Brewing beer was among the plantation's important activities, and the beer was one of the "table liquors" served with meals.

Monticello Reserve Ale is made from a combination of lightly hopped wheat and corn.

The ale will make its public debut at the Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center museum shop on Feb. 21.

Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen....yikes

when you lay down with the dogs, you get up the fleas they say in Ol Ireland,

so what's to do in the Mideast ? I don't have all the answers but I think we can't continue to support dictators, the one despot we should have backed was Saddam because he was fightin a war with Iran , he occupied their venom and national focus, yes he did oppress a significant portion of his own population , but his was the most western leading nation in the region, are things any better there now ?

Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen.......what choice do we really have, the lesser of two evils or pick your poison , we really don't have a dog in this fight but we will be forced to live the consequences....remember when this was all about isreal and palastine....the good ol days.....how did they manage to extricate themselves from ths hostilities? i don't see anybody flying planes into buildings in tel aviv....in the end though it all comes down to money and quality of life, the unemployment rate in egypt is 33%.......it's a lot harder to convince a guy that has a job, a home, a wife and kids to strap a bomb to his chest and walk into an airport than it is someone living in poverty......it was the same way in northern Ireland... once the economy improved and all that western investment brought good jobs to Catholics and Protestants alike, they were able to ..if not live in peace, at least suspend the daily murdering of each other...let's see what follows in the next few years that their in financial disarray......lets hope these united states of ours can turn this thing around before we start loosing more and more people to hopelessness...oh the problems of the world are real my friends....my head hurts...maybe i'll turn on the news and see what justin beiber is up to today.

et tu mister miller

as this disaster of a january drags on, our brain as sublimily attacked by winter songs, this one from mister steve miller came to mind.

in the winter time
When all the leaves are brown
And the wind blows so chill
And the birds have all flown for the summer
I'm callin', hear me callin', hear me callin'
I'm callin', hear me callin', hear me callin'
In the winter time

enough-ski

I too like most Americans am enamored with the poetry of the great Robert Frost , but as we sit on the precipice of yet another noreast Blast of snow I must declare the enough is afu*kin nuff already.....i am starting to think about taking a weeks vacation and goin someplace warm like Florida......or who knows maybe "imported Rico"......i usually get the winter blues and long for spring somewheres in the neighborhood of the Feast of Ol Saint Patrick.....but this year i am beating the holiday rush and declaring my disdain for all things cold related.....and sadly mister frost....this includes you.......why don't you write some poems about ice cold beer on a hot summers day ? just like the Ozark Mountain Daredevils....

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Rex insists Jets will still win Super Bowl THIS YEAR

bizaro is the only word that does it justice, in a profanity laced tirade launched at nobody in particular, Jet Coach Rex Ryan was caught on tape emerging from a notorious S&M club in pittsburgh Sunday Nite with a woman that didn't look anything like his wife......."I don't care what the J*ws in the NFL office have to say about it, we are still going to dallas and we will beat both teams with our feet and feet and feet tied behind our backs " shouted an apparently innebriated Ryan........"and Namath is driving the M*x$$@! bus" declared Rex......"My boy sanchez better bring his green card cause dallas is awfully close to the border" GM Mike Ol Xmas Tree Tannenbaum added.

no Gym Today

LOS ANGELES -- Jack LaLanne, the fitness guru who inspired Charlie Higgins to trim down, eat well and pump iron for hours before his court officer weigh in , died Sunday. He was 96.

LaLanne died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia Sunday afternoon at his home in Morro Bay on California's central coast, his longtime agent Rick Hersh said.

Lalanne ate bon Bons and drank beere every day of his life up until the end, Hersh said, he never really worked out , it was all special effects.


P.S. if you checked this blog today expecting to see a humorous attack on gangreen and the jet faithful....WELL SHAME ON YOU.

Pittsburgh Steelers Polka

To my loyal readers who are also jet fans...REPENT NOW, the end is near....play this Steeler Polka , Drink a CASE of IRON CITY Lager, Eat some Pieroggis and Bratts and root the Steel City Gang Home.........Bastrovika.......BEARS-STEELERS Super Bowl.

restuarant review..COPPER CANYON

tried the Copper Canyon in Atlantic highlands last night, on main street across from the Harborside Grille....nice place, definitely a keeper......no signage out front so of course we walked right past the place twice....in sub zero temps.....when we finaly walked in and asked the Host if this was the place, our "over the top" friend says "Yes, the one and only"....not agood start, but within minutes we were drinking ice Cold Bottles of SOL a nice mexican beer.....their chips and salsa were phenomonal....slightly overbaked...just the way i love em...and the salsa had kick.......a lot of FISH on the menu but there was enough chicken, pork and steak to balance.....everything had a southwest theme to it...guacomole, rice , beans, spicy good stuff......service was excellent, enrique inglesias was our waiter and he helped me to continously imbibe said SOL throughout the evening...never had to find him, he found us......they also had a large assortments of tequilas and margaritas that they were very proud of.....i do love tekillya, but it seldom loves me back.....after dinner we reapired to the lounge which was slightly surreal....as we walked in the piano player was playing "Gimme me 3 steps" SKYNYRD on the piano?? one by one we each asked....it was odd....but it was well lit and you could converse without straining your larynyx, so overall it was good.....like i said, i would go back......maybe in the summer...it's very close to the seastreak ferry...could fit into the 3 slot in the batting order after stops in ON THE DECK and HARBORSIDE.

disheartening at best, criminal at its worst

this is a disturbing story, but certainly not shocking. it's just further evidence of a sickness that grips this nation....a never ending money grab, no regard or concern for the origins of the money or the intended destination of these donations.....not surprisingly the bloomberg admin defended the salaries....oh well, live goes on....or in this example, death pays a dividend......i just wonder how these people look in the mirror when they are shaving in the morning, are they so callous they believe it is fair compensation? do they ever stop and take their own karma temperature ?

this story appears in todays NY POST.


9/11 museum bigs cash in
By ANNIE KARNI

Last Updated: 7:04 AM, January 23, 2011

Posted: 1:34 AM, January 23, 2011

Schoolchildren thought their penny jars and bake-sale proceeds would go toward building a 9/11 memorial at Ground Zero -- not the six-figure salaries of nonprofit execs.

But 11 staffers at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum each pulled down more than $170,000 in total compensation in 2009, according to the most recent filings. Four execs took home more than $320,000.

Foundation President Joseph Daniels, 38, pocketed $371,307 after receiving hefty raises three years in a row -- 28 percent in 2006, when he was promoted from acting president, followed by 12 percent and 6 percent.

Museum director Alice Greenwald made $351,000, and capital planning Vice President Joan Gerner soaked up $337,143 before leaving last spring. Development director Cathy Blaney raked in $322,292. The full-time foundation employee also worked last year as a fund-raiser for Gov. Cuomo's election campaign.

The money to pay the $5.3 million in compensation for the foundation's 87 staffers in 2009 came from private donations -- $220 million raised in a Herculean grass-roots effort to honor the 2,974 victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and $150 million from blue-ribbon board members. More than 60,000 individuals in all 50 states and 31 countries donated to the cause.

The rest of the foundation's money -- about $330 million in tax funds from the state and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. -- is earmarked for construction of the $610 million project.

Donors ranged from Ohio high-school students who raised $14,000 by completing a 650-mile trek from their Toledo suburb to Ground Zero, to pupils at Bethpage HS in New Jersey who collected $746 in pennies.

Teacher Shawn Clincy of the Mary Volz School in Runnemede, NJ, whose middle-school students raised $1,000 knocking on doors, was shocked by the salaries. "They're taking money from 13-year-olds who went out and collected donations. That doesn't sit right with me," he said.

Michael Burke, whose firefighter brother, William, was killed in the attacks, questioned the generous pay: "These guys are making a fortune -- it seems extravagant."

The memorial and museum is being built on 10 acres at Ground Zero, featuring two large reflecting pools with manmade waterfalls set within the footprints of the Twin Towers.

The underground 100,000-

square-foot museum will exhibit the iconic "survivor stairs" and "last column" and donated artifacts from the site and victims' families.

The foundation defended the salaries disclosed in IRS tax filings reviewed by The Post.

"We're setting up a venue that will be the highest drawing venue in New York City," said board member Tom Roger, who lost his daughter on 9/11. "You don't bring in your typical, well-meaning nonprofit person off the street to get that done. Once it's opened and operational, the salary structure will . . . come back down."

Foundation officials pointed to the compensation package of $456,558 earned by the head of the American Cancer Society's Eastern Division, which has similar annual revenue of $96 million.

Mayor Bloomberg, board chairman, said, "They're paid only a fraction of what they're worth, but at a level similar to people at comparable nonprofits."

High-priced execs

Highest earners at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum (2009 total compensation):

* Joe Daniels, President: $371,307

* Alice Greenwald, Executive VP for Programs: $351,100

* Joan Gerner, Executive VP, Capital Planning (Left in Spring 2010): $337,143

* Cathy Blaney, Executive VP, Development: $322,292

* David Langford, CFO: $224,113

* Luis Mendes, VP Design and Construction: $221,429

* Lynn Rasic, Senior VP, Public Affairs: $214,270

* Noelle Lillien, General Counsel: $193,316

* Suany Chough, Senior Adviser, Design Construction and Planning: $190,831

* Allison Bailey, Chief of Staff to President: $171,417

houston.....we have a problem

can't elaborate too much, but suffice to say the jersey i ordered for sweater nite 13 was received yesterday and there is a big mistake....i opted for personalization and they gave me the wrong name and number........with only 4 weeks to go to the gala, and this jerz took a month to receive.......tension is high at Headquarters.....but my administrative Assistant and Editor of the Annual letter..."Valerie" in on the case........the extended sweater nite family wishes her God Speed and following Seas......she's on a mission from GOD.

snow begone

i woke up at 2:00 a.m. and saw it was snowing , went back to bed tired and grumpy and in a foul mood, but a funny thing happened on the way to the dawn....at precisely 345 my ipod alrm went off, and by 346 i was smiling...the beautiful sound of mr Garcia's guitar and the wistful lyrics or Robert Hunter warmed my soul....i was happy to be awake and thankful to be alive....suddenly the aches and pains of a miserable work week went away....no better way to start the day than the good ol Grateful Dead.....today we had a fast live version of Scarlett Begonias from circa 1977 with the young vibrant Miss Donna Jean Godchauxx accompanying Jerome Garcia on lyrics, it really brought a smile to my face and thus i am alive and kicking and ready to start the day.....full lyrics listed below, feel free to sing along or as they say in the navy, smoke em if ya got em......to paraphrase one line from Mister Hunter, so very true that you can indeed be shown the light....if you bother to look at it right

Scarlet Begonias

As I was walkin' 'round Grosvenor Square
Not a chill to the winter but a nip to the air,
From the other direction, she was calling my eye,
It could be an illusion, but I might as well try, might as well try.

She had rings on her fingers and bells on her shoes.
And I knew without askin' she was into the blues.
She wore scarlet begonias tucked into her curls,
I knew right away she was not like other girls, other girls.

In the thick of the evening when the dealing got rough,
She was too pat to open and too cool to bluff.
As I picked up my matches and was closing the door,
I had one of those flashes I'd been there before, been there before.

Well, I ain't always right but I've never been wrong.
Seldom turns out the way it does in a song.
Once in a while you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right.
Well there ain't nothing wrong with the way she moves,
Scarlet begonias or a touch of the blues.
And there's nothing wrong with the look that's in her eyes,

Wind in the willow's playin' "Tea for Two";
The sky was yellow and the sun was blue,
Strangers stoppin' strangers just to shake their hand,
Everybody's playing in the heart of gold band, heart of gold band.

On the road

in the middle of this miserable winter of our discontent i am taking the bold initiative of moving up my annual reading of "ON THE ROAD".....normally saved for March, when Hope SPRINGS eternal and outdoor drinking is sooo close you can taste it....but this year this snowfilled season has me glarring at the horizon looking for something, and so without FURTHUR delay I am will go barnes and noble this saturday and pick up a fresh copy of the book that saved the world and for approximately the 20 or 25th time read it from cover to cover , underlining all my favorite quotations for future generations to study and decipher........and we are still in friggin january...

i did receive an email alert from the dead that there is a spring tour forming....if anyone has interest in a road trip please let me know....something on the eastern seaboard preferred...

Team Staal ?

oh boy the NHL is loosing their collective marbles....i make a lot of stuff up on this blog, but I promise you even I or the Onion could not dream this up....in a sure sign that the apocoplypse is indeed very near ; the NHL is scrapping the East vs West format for this yeras All-Star game, and instead the Teams will be named after their respective captains...Team Staal vs Team Lidstrom ( seriously) ....players from either conference can play on either team...not an intended joke although certainly laughable....but it gets better.....the players for each team will be selected in a schoolyard choose it up style.....i swear i am not kidding...and heres the punchline....the selection will of course be televised in prime time.........please google this or go straight to the NHL website for verification, there will be a quiz at Sweater nite...

in the unlikely event you did not receive your formal invite, the GALA will be held Sunday FeBREWary 20th at 3:00 in the Knights of Columbus on 81st street and 5th Ave in beloved Bayridge and the borough of Churches....

see Dano...I told you this was a Hockey Blog.

Martha.... My Dear

i am a little late with this story and for that i apologize, was roused from my sleep at 3:15 by a barking dog at the foot of my bed, which jarred my memory and forced me to logon and report this story.....it's a good thing.
Martha Stewart looooves her dogs. But do they secretly resent her? When she bent down to whisper goodbye to her bulldog Francesca, the dog jumped up and split her lip, sending Martha to the hospital. There, she criticized the wallpaper.

the moral of the story is that unless you are the alpha male in the house, don't fuck with your dog or anyone eleses dog whenm they are resting, sleeping,eating. watching OPRAH, chasing squirells, rolling in the grass, wagging their tail, havin a beer at sweater nite etc etc..........two file photos....one of martha My Dear gettin stitched, and the other of a random DOG that did not bite Martha, but is trained to bite Oprah.

class Act

In 2007 as a member of the San Diego Chargers , Ladanian tomlinson was outraged at the classless Patriots after they knocked his team out of the playoff and had the Audacity To Celebrate:

In 2007, the Chargers hosted the Patriots in the second round and blew a 21-13 lead in the fourth quarter before falling 24-21. The normally laid-back Tomlinson lost his cool and went after a Patriots player, upset that some New England players were dancing on the Chargers logo at midfield at Qualcomm Stadium. He called the Patriots "disrespectful" that night and said they "showed no class


fast forward to last night in Foxboro when Braylon edwards was doing cartwheels across the field, and santonio "what's happenin" holmes was parading arounf like an airplane.........now that's class.

I have a case of Iron City Lager on ice for the AFC Title game.

Here we go Again

"This Time it's not about football anymore, this will be a class struggle, more of an ideological battle between myself and Steeler Coach Mike Tomlin....in fact i am giving the players off this week , they don't even have to show up at Heinz Field...I can win without them.....my family owned plantations in the deep south back in the 1800's and we are pretty sure that Tomlins ancestors picked Cotton for my great Grandaddy......us Ryans we fought on both sides of the Civil War to ensure victory , so some of my family died trying to free the Tomlins and the rest of the family kept them in shackles while they slaved in the fields.....so he and i have a score to settle....this will be the second biggest War in american History, I geuss WWII was bigger" Rex Ryan Foxboro MA 16Jan2011

Wow this guy is delusional.....wonder what the spread will be in Vegas?

2nd biggest game in franchise history ?

This one will be the second-biggest game in the history of this franchise," Ryan said on Friday. "Maybe Super Bowl III was the most [important]. Even more so than last year's Indianapolis game [in the AFC championship], I think this one is bigger because you got your rival, a team that has won three straight Super Bowls, right there in your own division, at their place, coming off the huge embarrassing loss that we had that Monday night game.

Wow...what a pompous self serving ass Rex Ryan is.....are you kidding me ? 2nd biggest game in franchise history? i beg to differ.....how about the AFL Championship come from behind victory at Shea over the More Hated Raiders to propel the Jets intop Super Bowl 3.....without that win who knows if there is even an AFC around today to talk about.

How about the AFC title game against Don Shula's Dolphins in the orange Bowl....a win would have put the Jets into the Super Bowl against the Redskins....a very winnable game back then.

Or the 10 point lead against Elway in Mile High.....surely if the Jets hang on and win that game Bill Parcells prepare them to dismantle the miserable Falcons in the Super Bowl.

Or the Playoff Overtime loss to the Steelers in the Herm Edwards era....that was HUGE game, who knows how far they would have gone with that confidence.

Hell...this isn't even the biggest game in the Fatass Ryan era....last years Colts game had more on the line in terms of a berth is the Super Bowl...someplace the Jets havent been in over 40 years...

This Game ? it's a Big game, but that's all....a win merely means they get to go to Pittsburgh for the AFC Title game, no automatic berth to dallas......it's an interesting game and a win would be tremendous, I will Bet the Jets and Definitely think they Can Win outright and certainly will keep it close into the 4th..but 2nd biggest in franchise history, that's an insult to the Polis, Duffy, Etc etc Clan of JETS fans who have patiently sat through 40 plus years of rhetoric, Boasts and predictions.....Shut The Fuk up and win something already.....jeeeez

ps. side not to Rex....the patriots havent won 3 straight super bowls...in fact...they didn't even win the last super bowl they played in...they lost to a quiet group of professionals that carry the moniker BIG FUCKIN BLUE ! !

The Worm Returns

For the past two years, testing of a computer worm that is believed to have sabotaged Iran's ability to develop an atomic weapon has been underway at an Israeli nuclear plant in a venture by Israel and the U.S., The New York Times reports
One can only hope and pray this is true, in a story we have carried periodically, but the rest of the media seems inclined to ignore, (its only the single most important story of the past year....even bigger than Vanessa Hudgins and Zach Efron adopting a martian baby from angelina and brad while vacationing in cabo san jerry lucas)......details of the Worm return.......As Iran marches towards the bomb , and barry and michelle frolic on the beaches of Hawaii, it is comforting to learn that our intelligence agencies are partnering with the isrealis to destroy Irans' nuclear capability from within......an undetectable computer worm that is smart enough to infiltrate and then sit and wait. If you are unfamiliar with the premise of this story it is worth a Google search...i have been banging the drum for this story since the spring time, still shocked that nobody besides Fox seems to talk about it at lenght....i would hope if the commander in chief ever decides to have another press conf ( havent seen much of the emperor since november) someone may have the audacity to ask him about it.

it is an odd story in that at least for me it simultaneously restores confidence and sounds the alarm bells of concern.....allow me to expound....also forgive me if i seem to be jumping around here...i am currently loading CD's into my I tunes library, and simultaneously listening to my current library in alphabetical order by song title....so my subliminal mindset is swinging from the Dead to Duke Ellington to Tom Waits to the Clash to Irish Rebel music to Warren Zevon and Lee Greenwod to Alice Cooper, the Outlaws, to Zep to brian Eno to Hendrix to Steppenwolf to the Ozark Mtn Daredevils to Deep purple to Thin Lizzy to ZZ Top and the Beastie boys and Kinky Friedman andback again.....it's a wonder we can even feed ourselves....suffice to say that when i have the ipod on shuffle for extended periods at Extended Volume, the Mice flee from behind the walls and lead a light brigade charge into the yard...tiny paws over tiny ears..........AH, But I digress.

back to the Worm....in a world of Bullshit Diplomacy and politically correct suicide, sitting down and extending hands to despots and signing meaningless treaties and enforcing impotent sanctions, it is comforting to at least imagine that we too are full of it, and behind closed doors we are plotting to neuter our sworn enemies and use our current advantages ...intelligence, technology and money to create a superlative Plan B should talking to animals fail...as of course it will.....whats better than being able to destroy the earth with firepower? preventing anyone else from doing it first, and so it would seem that is where we are at...........

now the scary part.....arer we so powerful that we can create a rock that even we cant lift ? in other words, can the worm turn ? can this super intelligent virus wake up one day and threaten US ? or more likely....if the technology exits, how soon before said technology falls into the wrong hands....OR EVEN MORE LIKELY....if we partnered with the Isrealis....how soon before ? ? well as david bowie would say, the Man who Sold the World.....we all love to have a few extra sheckles in our pockets....to be able to buy a round and throw some coin around like a hero....that's human nature....but our biblical friends are born with the CURSE of money....they live to be the bankers of the world and seemingly have it bred into them over centuries an unmatched desire to screw or double cross everyone and everything.......in the here and now I see islam as the enemy, it is the religion of the weak minded, it feeds off the poor and uniformed, trully as freud would say the opiate of the masses.. ..notice i didnt call them arabs....our prisons are filled with american born islam converts, when you are at the very bottom, when your world can not get worse, when there is nothing on the horizon you are susceptible....islam is salvation to a sinner, they twist and turn it any way that fits the listener....to that extent isreal is our natural allied force, our best chance at containing and neutralizing our common threat........but in the long term ? as our good friend Eggroll would remind us..have the jews ever had a partner ? ? Jesus Christ, they Killed Jesus Christ didn't they ?

I know this a lot for a Sunday Morning, maybe the stomach Flu that's going around is really just a natural reaction to the MLK Holiday .....but read it and file it away.....and don't say i didn't tell ya , when your train gets lost. ( Dylan...a jew then a christian , and now a devoted follower of sweater nite).

Say a Little prayer for the Bears today.....How much will we Drink if the NFC Title game is Bears-Packers...ov vey.

Zodiac smodiac

I was born on March 2nd, I have been a Pisces my whole life, I feel guilty when I have a shrimp cocktail or a baked Clam because I feel like a canibal, and now there telling me I'm an Aquarius......I've seen the movie HAIR, I've been hearing that dumbass song for 40 some odd years and it means nothing to me......I'm STILL a PISCES.....bullshit....I ain't giving back all my old GOOD Hororscopes, Chinese Fortune Cookie Predictions or anything......I joined the Navy because I'm a squid, what I supposed to do now, go back in time a go the Aquarium instead ?

MINNEAPOLIS - It's a new year, and there's new Zodiac signs for many in 2011. Professor Parke Kunkle of the Minnesota Planetarium Society says the Zodiac has a date problem. If you imagine the Earth as a spinning top, the axis changes as it wobbles.

5,000 years later, it means the stars are not aligned, so those with a Libra horoscope are really a Virgo, and many others have a new Zodiac sign too.

“Right now its pointing this way, the North Star, but 3000 BC it was pointing differently,” Kunkle said. “Now things have moved and the sun is in a different constellation. We're about a whole constellation off.“

And don’t forget Ophiuchus, (Pronounced OH-FUK-US )astrology’s orphan.

”Ophiuchus has been a constellation for years and it just gets left out,” Kunkle said.

Our first Look at the Derby 2011

Well what better to do on a snowy saturday in January than take an eye spy at the Derby Contenders for next May....ahhh nothin warms the heart like the thought of our Equine Pals back on the track, galloping round the oval, the roases bllomin, beers chillin in the cooler, beef sizzlin on the grill, money flowin from the Para Mutual windows, Calvin Borell strangling someone in the winners circle....all good stuff....

actually contemplated a trip over to Monmouth Park for the simulcast today, but with the NFL games comin on soon , and I am still technically under the weather...so for now we will daydream from afar.....have a few cocktails downstairs in Club Gato, and watch trackside Live.

A quick glance at Horse Racing Nation shows no surprises...Uncle Mo is the favorite 120 days out from the Derby....and Ricky Dutrow is back with
Boys at Tosconova ,another top pick early........but as always is the CASE...Mr Bob Baffert cathces my eye with Jaycito and Solid Citizen Micheal Smith uptop as of this writing......it would make my year if this combo were to win....my favorite Trainer nad Jock.......as luck would have it...Jaycito's next race is Sunday February 20th in the San vicente Stakes at Santa Anita.....so whilst we quaff beers in the Knights of Columbus and wax poetic about Ol Time Hockey and Eddie Shore , we can call Chip or the other Uncle Mo and put a few sheckles on Jaycito......who knows, i may win enough to pay for my room in the Hotel Gregory for Sweater Nite.......or Not.

anyhow gang, as you can probably surmise....I have never picked the winner of the Derby before the Super Bowl has been played....truth be told, after a hot streak of 3 in a row from 90-92....i have only had 2 or 3 derby winner the past ten years. so take it with a grain of salt and enjoy the Derby Prep Season.....and since I am not going to Churchill Downs this years, that means the party is back on...stay tuned.

el blzzardo part duece

well somewhere under St Francis nose is the pond, if Barry Goldfish and his cohorts survive this winter i may start getting worried.....are these mutant nuclear survivor goldfish from 3 mile island? first they survived my Crazy dog drinking out of their pond for 4 years, then we had the uninvited snapping turtle that launched a goldfish Holocouast...all while St Frank stood around doing nothing, then the freash air pump broked and they were engulfed by more Algea that the Flacons Tight End Mr crumpler, and NOW.....winter 2010-11 they have been burried under 3 feet of snow for 21 plus days....the surface froze over and the snow has blocked out the warmth of the sun.......if these friggin fishies are alive on the first day of spring I am afraid they may grow legs and strangle me in my otherwise peaceful sleep....i'll keep my loyal readrers posted.........on a abright note...i did manage to shovel out and light the grill.....so Steak Fajitas for the Football games is a real possibility....and of course i shoveled a Crop Circle for Graves to utilize as a latrine......just in time for more snow on Tuesday....Doctor Doctor..Mister M.D.

somebody must have spiked Spikes drink

dont ask me to explain, maybe it was the meds or lackofbooze....but i found myself watchin espn last night and their two hour town hall style discussion about the black athlete in todays world.......first off john calipari is a dirtbag, pandering to and catering to these wonderful Mamas and Grandmas that raise these boys he recruits, how much stronger they are because of their grandmas......kinda made u wanna give your first born to this whitey who speaks the truth......he went on to explain why his graduation rate sucks and how he has a "Money" talk with his kids that turn pro at 19........then there was Randy Shannon....a deer in the headlights....still not sure what he was trying to say....Jalen Rose was honest, he said at Michigan they used to joke that the white guys on the team were only there for free throw percentage and to boost graduation rates... Craig Willburn made the best point of the night when talking about the NCAA trying to force kids to stay in school or at least spend a year in school before joining the NBA and how many in the black community think that is racist...."Only in this country could we view education as an impediment to success"....so true.......Robin Roberts was acting half white and half black, she could not make up her mind...acting all serious , then laughing and talking slang and jive , calling Marion Jones a sister and boogeying across the stage.....surreal.....

But Spike Lee stole the show.....mumbling and stumblimg all night....loosing his train of thought.....fading in and out....trailing off mid sentence, forgetting peoples names......made zero sense....bizaro....reminded of louis farakhan and the million man march....more like 300,000 but still a captive audience ( and thankfully nobody missed work that day).....and farakhan decides to talk about space aliens...

they kept harping about racism, and the Q surveys that rank the least liked players and how most of them are black.......but they failed to touch on the obvious...

case in point....I am a knick fan....i liked Lebron James....i thought he was a decent guy in cleveland, i would have liked to see him on the knicks....i rooted for the Cavs when they reached the NBA finals....all the while fully knowing that he was BLACK..........then came the decision.....his natl TV Fiasco when he announced he would be taking his talents to south beach....NOW ? i hope he nevers wins a title....WHY ? because i think he's an arrogant, immature, jerkoff......i know he's still black, and that has nothing to do with it........sports is about allegiances, if i had a problem with black athletes I'd spend all my time watching Hockey and Organizing Hockey Parties.....OK Bad Example.....but you get the point.

California Dreamin

this really has to stop, this cold weather has to go away....i am starting to understand why people migrate south as they get older, i would kill for a summer day or at least a taste of spring, an ice cold beer on the hot beach would be heaven.

el blizzardo part 2

if this snow keeps up, i am gonna end up in rehab....holy shazbott....something about a pending snowstorm and then the eventual snowstorm that makes you wanna put on yer drinking shoes and get hammered....i spent tuesday night in the club quarters on washington street, nice hotel except it overlooks the pit, which is now the memorial that is being built....woke up around 3:00 in the morning, still drunk, and found myself starring at the window at the footprints of 1 world trade...surreal in snow.....hard to believe its been ten years already, but somedays it feels like it another lifetime ago.....oh well.

Minnesota Mike

if your out there.....please leave your address in the comment feild, i have been asking donn for your address for a sweater nite letter for 3 weeks to no avail...

Duff...if your out there, don't begrudge your mail carrier, don't revoke their yearly stipend/ tip, it is not the fault of the USPS if you do NOT receive a letter......i put yours in an empty bottle of Jamesons and threw it in the narrows in hopes it will wash up on the sandy shores of "imported rico" in a months time..


all this at 4:00 a.m. and an impending blizzrd.......that sound Pazarecki hears in his sleep is the pension register going KA-CHING ! !

Pretty Cool ?

Gene Chizik, tha Head Coach of Auburn when asked what he thought about tickets for the BCS Natl Champinship game going for $4,000 on stub hub said "That's pretty cool, it shows you what big spectacle our game has become"

I wonder how many homes are in foreclosure in the great state of alabama.
I wonder how many months rent 4k would cover.
I wonder how many families in alabama spend 4,000 a YEAR on FOOD.

yeah that's pretty cool icehole.....

David Akers CHOKES

the perfect end to the season for that team to the south......Akers CHOKES twice on gimme's , and then the dog murderer throws a pick in the end zone.......enjoy the offseason.....in hindsight I am glad it was their fans that ponied up a C note for tickets, another $25 for parking, another $50 for the tailgate, $$$ Beers inside, waking up on a Monday with a hangover and your team LOST......must suck.

We'll get em next year Mac

In my mind I can still hear Steve Mac screaming from the alley next to Liev Ericksons, "Charlie....why don't they Put Lenny Dawson and Ed Podolak Back in the game"?

To which Charlie replied...."They both been retired for 10 years"

To which Mac Replied to the Whole Neighborhood for 3 Hour " SHADUMSKI ....I will kill you...BLAHHHH"

sadly our mighty Chiefs without the great Len Dawson could not score enough to give our beloved Horse War Paint and his buxom blonde Rider a workout.....we'll get em next year is right Mac...if we can coax Curly Culp and the Hammer out of retirement.

Letter Day

There a few days that always stand out as being special ....the first day when it is warm enough to enjoy a few brews outside for the season , Derby Day , the opening of the pool, FLAG Day... and of course today.....Sweater Nite Letter Day.....there nothing as suspenseful as the Day I ( Founder and President of SN) get to peruse the mailing list and just like Sanity Klause, get to decide who has been naughty or nice....in other words, who deserves an Invite to the annual Bacchanal ...who has distinguished themselves as a quality drinker and quasi Hockey Fan......well today is that day.....and unfortunately because of Obamacare and the rising costs of EVERYTHING, there is less money in the treasury this year than any year prior...a lot of fair weather fans will be omitted from the invite......shock waves and tremors are being felt across the region.....of course my 3 loyal readers are safe....the party by the way is Sunday Feb 20th at 3:00 at the K of C ...

put awaythe metal chairs

Today is either Elvis Pressleys birhday or death day....doesn't really matter, firemen across the tri-state area will start beating each other over the heads with anyt furniture thats not nailed down.....viva Lars Vega

one of THOSE days

ever have one of those days ? i swear certain people are sent into our lives to provoke and annoy.....not the everyday knuckleheads that we all endure, but the occasional jackass you want to strangle.....like we are part of a social experiment and the Good Lord or some Martian Nation is watching us on a video screen to see how we react.

Wednesday was one of them for me.....started bright and early while waitin on the 6:08 train to Hoboken from Little Silver.....Johnny Fatass is standing 5 feet to my left on the platform with his Ginormous Gym bag.....i'm readin the Post minding my own P&Q's ( Pints and Quarts...another expression that will soon be lost to the Euro & Metrics)....and 6:08 turns into 6:10 and the 6:15....then the gates go down alas a train is coming...."is this the 6:08 to Hoboken or the 6:20 to NY ? " he asks ME....who the fuck am i the conductor ? ? ........"no idea" is say "i didn't hear an announcement"........"yeah me neither" he says........ok then why ask me jerkoff?

The train rolls in and the door stops right in front of him....takes him about 15 seconds to get on the train.......annoying........he goes left, so i immediately go right....i already hate this prick and I don't want to see him again for the rest of eternity.

oh....but it wouldn't be a story if it ended there, now would it ? ?

so we get to Hoboken and I start my walk to the light Rail....there is ongoing construction to the walkway, so it is narrow........there is a logjam up ahead....we only have a minute or two to catch our train.....what is the Problem ? ? u guessed it....Johnny Fatass is walking at a snails pace and nobody can get around him because of his bag....i am about ten people behind him. so i give up.......of course the train pulls out about 20 seconds before we get there....on a normal day I would be nice and warm on my lite rail, but today i am stuck waiting on the frozen tundra of the platform for the next train....which OF COURSE is 3 minutes late.

when it finally arrives i wait to see where this jackass is going, he heads to the back of the train so i go forward......just before we pull out of the station, i am sitting there re-reading my Post and as the doors are about to close who comes running down the platform ? changed his mind and now HAS to be in the first car, a social disease this SOB is....now he doesn't sit near me or say a word, but STILL i am seething.....he annoys me to no end.

we get to my stop at Harborside and OF COURSE...he is getting off too...so i go into slowdown mode...just like the sanitation dpt on a snow day, I drag my feet and walk extra slow to let this loathsome creature get further ahead of me......I decide to go into the cafeteria across the street to get another 20oz bucket of Java beans....mmm delicious caffeine will make the world right again....so i go in and make my coffee, contemplate an egg wrap or a muffin, decide against it, just want to pay for my coffee and get to the desk....one last hurdle, the Cashier....one last indignity to suffer before my workday commences, this miscreant is ahead of me in line, and he has his filthy Gym Bag on the counter where other people will eventually place their breakfast items, I can't even look at him, my blood pressure is soaring, i am already thinking about how early i can go to lunch so i can start drinking ......i am staring at the ceiling, patiently waiting.....tick tock, tick tock...what is the holdup? this freako has already paid and received his change, but now he has to rearrange his pockets, put his credit card back, get out his work badge, put away his train pass....blah, blah, blah....all while standing in front of the register...preventing sally Jones from ringing up my CASH purchase....

as i walk to the office after leaving the cafeteria I wonder aloud if there is doubt as to why i have the stress levels I do ,and why I am forced to imbibe ?


if the Good lord was fucking with me, I hope he at least got a chuckle out of it....2 pepcid and 12 Coors Lights later, i too was laughing about it.

stop the presses

at 3:08 this morning the sweater nite crew was aroused from their slumber and ordered to stop the presses......just a few hours before the first letters were to be dropped at the post Office declaring the K of C as the host of SN XIII .......

for the first time in her illustrous History Sweater Nite is Goin overseas......and we aint talkin about the NARROWS , nosir.......SN 13 is going to the land of Rum for a Nice respite on the Tropical Beaches of

PUERTO RICO..........no tellin whom we may run into down there......more to follow.

History Channel

so 3:30 this morning we are watching a Biography of Rebert E Lee on the history channel while sipping coffee and the narration consists of reading of letters between Lee and his wife Mary.....real good stuff, insightful, witty , emotional.....150 years later you still get a feel for what was happening on those battlefields from a factual historical standpoint and also from a personal point of view........suddenly I was saddened by the realiztion that this type of Biography will soon be extinct, 150 years from now when "They" look back on this generation and try to retell our tales and gain insight to our emotions, there will be little to review and decipher, nobody writes letters anymore...all we will have to show for ourselves is abbreviated texts in cyber space............OH, and Of Course this BLOG...

Navy Captain Relived of Duty

wow....the XO of the USS Enterprise was involved with lewd videos that poked fun at Homosexuals, Lesbians and masturbation...................that sound you didn't hear was crickets in the distance....as in...who gives a f*k ?....... as Steven Tyler stated so correctly 20 years ago and still appropriate."Theres something wrong with the world today".......i mean seriously, enough with the application of civilian morals and standards to the Military.....it's not the same, the military is a world unto itself, there are a different set or norms and mores that are adhered to.....when you pull away from the dock as i can attest ( and I am sure the Marines, Army and Air Force are similar when they deploy) everything changes......the stress levels increase dramatically , the class structure changes, suddenly it is survival of the strong.........i have never been, but i imagine it is similar to a prison environment, you exploit the weak and find a niche to survive.....you are sailing away from your home and there is no certainty that you will ever return, civilian rules and politically correct behavior do not exist. The task of this XO and the Senior Command of this Carrier was to get 6,000 men to forget about their wives and children and do what was asked of them, even if it cost them their lives......tell me exactly how some fatass lawyer in Virginia and the ACLU would handle this task....who gives a shiite what course of action this XO took, so he made some videos, he tried to inject some levity into the situation, show the crew he was human and has a sense of humor, we know the civilian world is too sensitive, we know there is a great deal of the population that is waiting to be offended by something so they can sue or go to HR , we know PC is suffocating social debate and everyone looks over their shoulder before they state their opinions......but this CAN't cross over to the Military......Dont ask dont tell was nonsense , there are gays in the military , always have been , and always will be......just like High School or any other social situation, some guys will torment and torture suspected gays and others could give a dam so as long as they do their job like everyone else. What happens overseas or in combat or anywhere the military is deployed, cannot be litigated in a court room, should not be dissected on larry king live and should be left to the Military to handle.

i'd love to see the unedited videos from that ship, i bet they are hysterical.

Winter Classic

ok lets start the debates...why the F have the New York Rangers, easily the NHL's most recognizable and popular franchise not been invited to participate in the Winter Classic....even if you feel Rangers-Iceladies from Yankee stadium or Rangers-Devils from Giants Stadium is too regional or you are uncertain with the NY weather come Jan 1......you most certainly agree the Rangers deserve....ahem, DEMAND the right to play on the biggest stage...even if it's on the road......How About Rangers-Red Wings from Tiger Stadium ? or Rangers- Maple Leafs from the SKYDOME....Rangers-Rockies from Coors Field.....mmmmmm Cooooors field.....or Rangers-Blue Jackets from the Horse Shoe...oh the list goes on and on.......in case you missed it, and i would feel comfortable in wagering a few C notes that you did......the Frogmen to the North, feeling betrayed and left out of the big show , are staging their own outdoor game with 2 teams of their own.....on Sunday Feb 20th the Flying Frenchmen from Montreal travel to former home of Doug Flutie and the Calgary Stampeders to tackle the Flames formerly of hot Lanta...

little ten

well the big ten went 0-5 on New Years day , and what ramifications will that have on next year most over hyped conf in the nation.....nada.....because the Press/Media are a Joke...everyone is self serving, nobody wants to vote their conscience if that outcome of said vote has a negative impact on themselves.....i have gone over this before, but i will again for the sake of my newcomers......if an AP Voter from Peoria Illinois , one that covers the Illini and Big Ten Football for his newspaper voted accurately , and just say the Big Ten had no teams in the Top 15 , it would then render his coverage of the Illini VS Mich, Ohio St, Wisc Penn St or take your pick to have less meaning and garner less attention than if he were covering Illini VS the #3 Ranker Wolverines or the #1 Buckeyes etc etc........the polls become popularity contests as opposed to viable rankings, and that will never change.....Boise and TCU will never get their due, because they don't have a seat at the table.....disband the BCS now, we know we will never have a Playoff, so lets just try to get independent voters, equal representation from across the country, and throwout the auto bids.....I am BIG East guy, but we all know even Boise with 1 loss would have put up a better fight against Oklahoma than UCONN did.

el blizzardo

these shots were taken at 7:00 a.m. New Years Day 2011.....a full 6 days after the storm, sadly the outside bar is still snowed in, but the comfy cozy confines of Club Gato were open for business throughout the storm.....or so Gravey tells me.