The Emergency Room!

The emergency room is someplace you don't want to frequent, despite the current regime's claim that everyone there is an "illegal". Unfortunately, due to a drug reaction, Max's Mom and I were "advised" to head for the ER immediately. What we saw was eye opening on the state of "the greatest health care system in the world". Spoiler alert: It's not.

We arrived at the UNMC Emergency Room around 4pm. Checked in, triaged, and fitted with a blood pressure cuff, we took our seats in the crowded waiting room. The people in the ER were packed in like sardines. Many were complaining they hadn't been seen in 4 or 5 hours. I scoffed. Spoiler alert: they were right.

Over in the corner a young man and a girl sat. The young man was in obvious pain. He gyrated, he stood, he groaned, he put his head under a blanket and he was ignored. A woman in a wheelchair without a fuck to give loudly complained on her phone that she also hadn't been seen in hours. A woman who spoke no English in a wheelchair looked lost. Translators were nonexistent. A young man behind us slept in the chair also ignored. 

As the hours dragged on, we were also ignored. So much for white privilege at least in any inner-city ER. People wandered in, obviously in pain, An older man with a nonstop nosebleed sat in a chair and bled and bled. A family with a father who'd had a stroke sat in the corner. A man in a wheelchair sat in it dropping his phone over and over. A young woman wailed in pain. Max's Mom had blood work done and the results came in but nothing happened. We sat. 

Many of the people got up and left. They'd been there too long, Shit, we'll just go home and die I guess.

Then came the night. We'd been there 3 hours when the cops began showing up with injured people. The ambulances began arriving en masse. A poor old man in a wheelchair in a gown sat there with no idea where he was. The nurses tried to communicate with him. He had no answers for them. He wanted his phone. Turns out a nursing home had driven him there and dumped him. Just fucking dumped him as garbage that was now somebody else's problem. 

A young man brought in by the police was having a mental health issue screaming for his mom and alleging "They" were out to kill him. The police waited as they processed him to be committed as non-voluntary hold. He sat in the corner crying for his mother as police stood by.to protect him from himself. 

More people came in with injuries and illnesses, some with police escorts. The chaos was rampant. Many more people got up and left. 

This was a life lesson for us. The health care system in this country is a goddamned disgrace. Yet as bad as it is, the current regime wants to make it worse. I'm not sure how they can. Desperate people, mostly black or Hispanic and definitely poor can't get help. It really is a sad state of affairs. 

Then came 9 pm. We'd been there over 5 hours. And this time it was us who got up and left, going home to die. Spoiler: Max's Mom is better.

There is no way I am blaming the fine folks who work in the ER. They are underfunded, understaffed, overworked and underappreciated, taking the abuse from people frustrated with the wait time and the perceived apathy. They do the best they can with the resources from the state and feds. But it's not enough to even put a dent in this nonsensical system that has permeated the nation over the last 40 years. Congress and the executive branch have the gold plan. They get seen immediately. They don't have to sit with the great unwashed in emergency rooms overwhelmed with the sick and poor. And thus, they do nothing to fix this disgusting system because they don't have to. They got theirs so fuck you. 

In the meantime, a madman and his handlers declassify nursing as a profession thus cutting into loans to help these saints become health care professionals. It makes no sense unless you think the agenda is to devalue a woman dominated profession. Of course it is.

The UNMC is a great resource. But it needs further funding. Lots more. Will it happen? Not as long as the main priority of a university is paying $3 million for a freakin quarterback.

Hut Hut.

WTF?

What exactly in the fuck is happening in this world? This weekend was like a weekend in World War II  where horrible things were happening on a daily basis. Who could keep up for chrissakes? 

We had another mass shooting at Brown University. Two people died in that one, so far. A young white woman named Ella Cook (which of course the Magas have taken under their wings) and a young man named Mukhammed Aziz Umurzukov (which of course the Magas have ignored). Somebody walked into a classroom and started firing, killing the two and wounding nine others. Then the shooter escaped. But never fear cuz Keystone Kash Patel is on the case. Arresting a 24-year-old white guy from Wisconsin, Kash put it out there waiting for the praise from his audience of one. But alas. Keystone Kash was wrong...again. The poor bastard arrested had nothing to do with it and was released into the wild to try and get his life back. The shooter is still in the wind but once again never fear. Kash is on the case, this time going on KKKatie Millers podcast with his honey pot  girlfriend. Ya know the one he takes on dates paid for by you, the taxpayer.

Then came Bondi Beach, in Australia. Two whack job ISIS brainwashed losers decide to open fire on a group of Jewish folks celebrating Hannukah. Their names? Who gives a shit. .  The names we need to know, along with the innocents gunned down by this father and son evil including a 10-year-old girl named Matilda, is Ahmed Al-Ahmed. A Muslim man who disarmed one of the shooters before the other shot him twice before a police officer sent him to hell. Ahmed is in the hospital recovering and should be hailed as a hero. Christ, the antisemitic psychos are getting worse aren't they? Now yeah yeah, Gaza has a lot to do with it and we all know Netanyahu is no better than Goering or Himmler but really? Innocents minding their own business celebrating their religion, including Holocaust survivors, an elderly couple who attempted to disarm the maniacs, rabbis, rugby players, ya know, normal everyday people. This also allowed American gun kooks to say heyyyyyyyyyy see, Australia disarmed their population so like everybody should be armed. Yeah, ok Gunny, you could count the mass shootings in Australia on both hands in the last 30 years while we here in the USA run out of fingers in one week. Fuck your guns now and forever.

Then came Sunday, Director/Actor Rob Reiner and his wife were murdered allegedly by his mentally ill son, Nick Reiner. For the love of gawd, what the fuck is happening in this shitty world. The murder of the Reiners was bad enough, a tragedy of monumental proportions, but the reaction to it by certain evil people who didn't like Reiners politics. As if that means because he was an unapologetic liberal and critic of Trump, he deserved to die. By the way the leader of the evil cabal of classless trolls was none other than Donald Trump who posted about how much he didn't like Reiner, called him angry and deranged and made a murder of somebody else all about him. He then, after actually thinking (?) about it for hours, doubled down on his disgusting take. This triggered the cultists, many who were waiting for permission to act like assholes from their Dear Leader. 

To be fair, most people, MAGA and not, expressed their condolences in a normal manner (even those who insisted on saying I didn't agree with Reiners politics as a prologue which is lame AF). This is hopeful. But FFS, what the hell is going on in this world, Violence is rampant including by regimes that randomly kill people in boats with no arrest, trial or sentence. Regimes that refuse to help Ukraine stave off Russian killers. Regimes that arm Israel to murder innocents in Gaza. Regimes that think that criticism is treason. And regimes led by a classless scum named Trump.

What the fuck?

PS...Last month when we went to the beach in Santa Monica, a group of Hebrew school students fueled by pizza and snacks showed up. They were just kids, along with their teachers and don't think I didn't have a thought about what if some psycho anti Semite showed up. Nobody should think like that in a normal society but goddamit we do.

What the fuck?

When Will This Madness End?

The Rubber Room Dweller in Chief has posted perhaps the most insane Tweet   Truth ever. Good lord but Fat Mussolini 2 has gone way over the cliff on this one, at least till tomorrow.

Let's break it down.

No President has ever worked as hard, except for maybe 45 others. He's stopped 8 wars, if you think he's at war with decency, literacy, humility, the truth, intelligence, and the Three Stooges. Sorry MAGAts, but those wars are still raging. He's losing them all.

He's created the greatest economy ever blah blah, brought business back into the country, rebuilt the military (again?) and instituted tax cuts. Yeah, sure Gramps, the economy sucks, the only "business" he's brought back are bribes for him, never rebuilt anything other than his own ego and tax cuts involve only him and his donors.

He's shut down the "open and dangerous" Southern Border and installed an "aura" making the whole world respect us even more. Ok, Old timer, you pardoned a Honduran drug dealer, and the only "aura" you create is the stench of your filthy diaper and the Maybelline on your hand.

He goes out of his way to undergo long, through and very boring Medical Exams, supervised by "top" doctors (well thats good lil Donnie) who all gave him "PERFECT" marks. Chrissakes Mr Universe, they gave you "perfect marks"? Most of the time doctors tell you to lose weight and stop snorting Adderall all day. And not only that, how may fucking times do you go to the "Great Walter Reed Medical Center" anyway?On 3 separate occasions, he has undergone what is known as a COGNITIVE EXAM which he ACED, and most people fail miserably. Ok, Donnie Dementia, taking THREE cognitive exams is not a sign of having your mushy noggin together. To know the difference between an elephant and a goat is not the sign of genius. It's called normalcy.

Finally, The New York Times "consistently" reports you're an old man who falls asleep at cabinet meetings and accurately publish your election results but apologize. This is TREASON. They should be shut down!

Ok Orange Hitler, look. This rant proves some things. That you are an old man, a narcissist, a Nazi, a thug, a liar, and losing your marbles. Impeach this crazy bastard or suffer the consequences. The death of America.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

The Notebook!

 I know nothing about The Notebook. Never seen the movie, never read the book. Never seen the musical. All I know about the Notebook is that picture of Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams in the rain, Sometimes that's a good thing. I went in expecting nothing, What I got was something.

The musical begins in a nursing home. We see old Noah and old Allie living there. He's got a bum knee from an old shrapnel wound from Vietnam, and she has Alzheimers. She has no idea who he is. He is reading to her from a notebook, a story she wrote about their lives in the hope she comes back to him. 

Younger Noah and Allie as teenagers fall in love over a summer. Allie's parents disapprove of Noah, a kid who works for his Dad at a lumber yard. Noah and Allie dream about Noah fixing up an old house aka "our house. The parents take her away but not until after they sleep together at their house.

The time swap is constant. We go from old to young to middle age and sometimes all at once. It keeps pace with songs that really aren't that memorable but move the story along with grace. 

Noah goes to Vietnam along with his best bud Finn. Noah and Allie separate for 10 years until she sees a story in the paper about him building "our house". Now she's engaged to a lawyer that her parents approve of. We get them back together and then we go back to the present where Allie remains not knowing who Noah is until she suddenly does. The ending is both hopeful and tragic at the same time.

The cast is perhaps the best from top to bottom I've seen in years. Everybody can sing their asses off. Everybody can act their ass off. From minor characters like the doomed Finn and his gal Georgie to the nurses to the parents to the family all are knocking it out of the park. 

But the main cast. WOW!. Kyle Mangold as young Noah and Chloe Cheers as young Allie are tremendous at playing innocence and young love. Ken Wulf Clark as middle-aged Noah (if 30 is middle aged) is great at portraying jilted love and Alysha Deslorieux is superb at playing a jilted (or so she thought) woman, She played Eliza in Hamilton on Broadway and gets the showstopper song My Days after which she gets a long and deserved ovation.

Then we get to the glue holding this all together. Beau Gravitte as older Noah keeps this moving and very real. He's a great actor and a good singer. Sharon Catherine Brown plays older Allie. Playing a role like that, where you must convince the audience,you have no idea what's going on. She's fantastic both when playing out of it and the end when she "comes back".

I thought that the story was captivating and since I knew nothing about it, it was such a pleasant surprise. Highly Recommended.

The other great surprise was the sound at the Orpheum. The orchestra is minimal thus virtually every lyric and line was decipherable. The orchestra never overwhelmed the voices like it did in the Wiz. 

Bravo all the way around.

Husker Football!

 Look, being a Nebraska football fan hasn't been easy the last few years. We really haven't been good since the turn of the century, but those 1962-1999 years were something to behold for a state of 2 million people. Five national titles, untold number of Big 8 titles, bowl games every year in Miami or Phoenix on New Years Day. It was glorious. And then reality caught up to the state of 2 million people. Its unsustainable. I accepted this years ago, but nobody else around here seems to agree. We have half the population of Iowa, who has two good teams. We are half the population of Kansas, who struggles yearly. And then there's us. Struggling for relevancy and unwilling to admit that the run is done.

We have brought in coaches who everybody thought would turn it around. Bo Pelini managed to right the ship to a consistent 9-3 but unfortunately, he was a madman, a ticking time bomb, a man who was ready to explode at all times. That gets old. And Bo was fired about 3 years too late. Who can forget his temper tantrum on the sideline at Texas A&M? His swinging of his hat and damn near hitting the official. The bitter speech about those "motherfuckers in the stands" booing him. His crazy speech after he was canned calling the AD a "cunt". Nobody needs that shit being the face of the program.

Bill Callahan was fresh off a Super Bowl loss and a player revolt when they fired Frank Solich. Yes, Hall of Fame coach Frank Solich. Well 58-17 wasn't good enough and Bill Callahan, NFL position coach, and failed Oakland Raider head coach was hired to bring the program up to date. No more of that option shit. We need a statue QB who throws a lot. That was a disastrous hire closed out by the worst defense in college football history (I mean come on 76-39 loss to Kansas).

Then came the Bo tirade. 

As always, we hire against form. From a Tom Osborne clone to an NFL coach. From an NFL coach to a college coach with anger problems. From a madman to a nice guy Mike Riley, a laid-back coach from the Pac 12 who treated his players as adults which was a total failure. Kids don't want to be adults and if given the chance they blow off training cuz it's harder than X Box. From nice guy Riley to hometown hero, Scott Frost, who had a bit of Bo in him. Bitter since he was booed in 1997, Frost thought he was in for life. What he was turned out to be was the worst football coach in Husker history. The 12-yard rumble of a slow Georgia Southern quarterback to beat us in Lincoln sealed Frost's fate. Then another hometown hero, Mickey Joseph, a former quarterback like Frost during the glory years. Unfortunately for him, he had a bit of Bo in him also in that he got arrested for domestic violence right before his interview for the head job.

Now we have Matt Rhule. Nice guy, blabbermouth, takes responsibility unlike Bo and Frost, but a total screwup when it comes to the Ps and Qs. His failure as NFL head coach (gee a pattern here?) got him the job here. Rhule is one of those everybody's family around here guys. In the NFL that's a joke. In college it is kind of nice at first, but it gets old when success eludes you. Rhule isn't going anywhere soon as his contract was extended earlier this season to keep him from going back home to Penn State (spoiler he was never going anywhere). So, mediocrity is the norm for the near future. 

And Husker fans, we better accept that. 6-6, 7-5 maybe an 8-4 on occasion. The games are just entertainment; they are not life. The quicker you realize that the happier you will be.

Go Big Red! Always. But I'm used to average now. And I've accepted it.

RFK Jr And MTG! The Initial Nuts!

 Ok fine. RFK Jr is a sick twisted pervert and has been his entire life. He's been accused of sexual misconduct numerous times. He kept a journal of his conquests complete with ratings and notes. He cheated on his first wife so many times she killed herself. He hung with Epstein (oh those pesky files). Kennedy over the years has openly defended his bro, Michael, for screwing with a 14-year-old girl, his cousin William Kennedy Smith for a rape at the Kennedy compound (yes he was acquitted) and his cousin, Michael Skakel, convicted of murder in the weird death of Martha Moxley by blaming two mysterious "black men". Just remember that Skakel would climb a tree outside Moxley's window and jack off something I wouldn't put past the charming RFK Jr. Now RFK Jr, Cheryl Hines's hubbie, is accused of carrying on a sexting relationship with "journalist" Olivia Nuzzi, Look, Nuzzi is no normal person herself, she screwed at the time Governor Mark Sanford (ewwww) but this whole drink my harvest "poetry" is the only qualifying plus that Trump needed to appoint him Secretary of HHS.

Kennedy is all of the above, a degenerate, a philanderer, a shitty poet but what the bottom line is this nut is in charge of the nation's health. He opposes vaccinations, falsely claims they cause autism, pushes quack drugs like Ivermectin, and claimed the Covid virus was created to kill white people and spare Jews and blacks. He's compared the CDC to Nazi death camps, pushed forward racist theories that blacks have stronger immune systems than whites making health care less important for them, and swims in shit filled streams for chrissakes.

Kennedy is an unqualified buffoon, always has been like the rest of this regime's terrible cabinet. But this latest garbage, if his total lack of scientific knowledge isn't enough, should result in his dismissal. Not to mention the measles resurgence, the whooping cough deaths and the latest HIV breakout in the Northeast. RFK Jr isn't only dangerous to women, but to everyone.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a thorn in the side of liberals for years, has decided to resign from Congress, effective January 2026, two days after her pension benefits become official. Yeah, I don't care about that, its only smart to be honest. But the "official" reason is the toxicity of politics. Excuse Me? The what? 

 

Greene has been one of the most toxic members of Congress for damn near 5 years. Screaming at Joe Biden like a snow monkey during the State of the Union. Following David Hogg down the street yammering about gun rights. Refusing to wear a mask. Jewish space lasers. All this crazy shit. But within a week after going head-to-head with the DickTater in Chief about health care (Trump doesn't give a shit, she apparently does) and the Epstein List she's gone?. After 5 years of being hated by the left, and only 1 week of being hated by MAGA, she resigns noting the number of death threats from the flying monkeys Trump unleashes whenever he's challenged. And the left is the violent ones? Ok sure.

Anyway, good riddance to MTG with all due respect. Wish I could say the same about ol Gravel Voice Kennedy.

Tuesday Thoughts!

 I think the President is in love. With a "communist" no less. Zoldan Mamdani came to the White House last week, fresh off his New York City Mayoral election. As Trump's North Korean spokeswoman, Bullshit Barbie Leavitt was warning America that a "communist" was coming (such a cliched GOP talking point they been using for 75 years). But the meeting between the "fascist" and the "commie" went so well that Trump couldn't help but give that Relax Guy South Park grin. Like a Paul Hollywood handshake, who saw that comin'? The next day Trump began to dress like Mamdani, with an overcoat that actually fit and a scarf that still didn't hide the gobbler vagina neck. I think Donami is smitten. Until he isn't.

The Epstein Files. Oh christ. The Congress passed the release of them virtually unanimously and sent it to Trumpstein's desk where he allegedly signed the release. Now before we get all horny for the files let us remember that before this came down, Trump made Pam Bondi "investigate" Democrats allegedly on the list which means of course the Attorney General can redact everything as "national security" or as an "ongoing investigation". So yeah, we aint seeing them for quite a while so America and its attention deficit disorder can forget and concentrate on the price of cheese or whatever. This is a farce as usual.

Six Democratic Senators made a video in which they stated that members of the military are not required to follow "illegal orders", ya know like shooting protesters in the legs or something. The GOP regime went batshit. Trump, Hegseth, Leavitt, and all the flying monkeys chose to begin screeching about undermining the chain of command. Trump, a bone spur sufferer, Hegseth, an accused rapist and definite alky, and Leavitt, a woman so dense she can be seen thru, all called for charges for sedition for the six, a ludicrous claim, and Boney Spurs even called for death cuz that's what they used to do back when America was great. The target is Mark Kelley, a Senator, astronaut, Captain in the Navy and great American. Why? Cuz Hegseth and Trumpstein fear him. You think Newsom is frightening, well a hero is even more frightening. Hegseth, in between shots of moonshine, called for Kelley to be reactivated into the Navy and court martialed. I'm not sure the chain of command has stopped giggling yet.

The Comey and James indictments have been dismissed by a federal judge who couldn't have been clearer that Trump and Bondi could shove their indictments up the ass. You remember Trump appointed the 3rd place finisher in the Miss Colorado contest to be the prosecutor for these idiotic charges. Lindsey Halligan, an insurance lawyer who had never prosecuted anything, decided she could just bypass a grand jury, make shit up, and get a guilty verdict. Jesus H Christ have we found somebody lazier than Trump? Disbarment waits for Halligan and Bondi if there is any justice left.

Finally, with a regime so intent on sealing borders, how the fuck could that dry drunk Hegseth authorize a bunch of who knows what to storm a beach in Northeast Mexico, right on the Gulf of Mexico and put up signs closing the area in the name of the "commander". Yeah, that's right Pete "Wrong Way" Hegseth, you invaded Mexico by mistake. Mexican soldiers removed the signs and told them to go back to where they came from. For chrissakes, don't ever trust Uncle Pete on a road trip to Florida or you'll end up in Maine. This guy is a disaster.

On a side note, I wore my "Deranged Liberal" t shirt in public and had at least 3 people, older white men in fact, saunter up and say in a whisper "we need to stick together". Yeah agree. But why the whispering from the old white guys. Women just say "love the shirt" out loud. Cmon dudes, express it like it fuckin matters. I appreciate the support, but be loud and proud, That's how we win.

The Wiz!

 

There is white joy and celebration and then there's black joy and celebration. The Wiz is the black joy and celebration. While the Wizard of Oz, in all its various versions is a classic story of. family and love and doing the right thing, The Wiz is simply the black version of the same story.

The all-black cast is never not moving. The ensemble is portraying tornados and poppies and Ozians (residents of Oz) and Khalidas at every lull in the show. This is the most talented ensemble I've ever seen and got applause after each and every dance number. Now the story itself.

Oh hell we all know the story. Dorothy is played by 21-year-old Dana Cimone, a fireplug of energy who reminds one of a young Quinta Brunson of Abbott Elementary. She has a voice that ranges from tiny to powerful as hell. She belts out the opening number, and you immediately know this woman is going places. Along the way comes the Scarecrow, a rubber legged Elijah Lewis who reminds you of the OG Scarecrow Ray Bolger. Lewis is funny and boisterous and as I stated, quite the flexible bean pole. The Tin Man, played by D Jerome, has a great opening number and then kind of fades into the background. The Cowardly Lion, played by a flamboyant Cal Mitchell, also has a great introductory number but seems to maintain his presence throughout.

The Wiz is played by what is obviously the most experienced actor on stage, Alan Mingo Jr, whose very presence dominates the stage.

But let's talk about three women who just kill.

Amitria Fanae plays two roles. Addaperle, the Witch of the North AND the Oz gatekeeper. Her sassy attitude is the comedy of the show. She is such a natural comedian it's really a joy to see.

When we first see Kyla Jade, she is playing Aunt Em and blows it up with her first and only song. Wow! She was a finalist on The Voice a few years back and how she didn't win baffles me (I don't watch so I have no idea how the winners are chosen). She comes back as the Wicked Witch, Evillene, and she controls the musical at all times. Her voice is amazing, and her range is out of this world. When she is melted by Dorothy, her demise is both funny and sad cuz you know she won't be back.

Sheherade is Glinda and is really given little to do. But when she's out there you damn well know it. Another powerhouse voice.

Look, the talent onstage is undeniable. In fact, top to bottom it may be the most talented cast I've ever seen in a touring company. But the story is so familiar there's really nothing new. I understand the appeal of the Original Wizard of Oz since I am a white kid from the suburbs. Those people looked like me. But the Wiz could be the black kid's memory of the story and that's fine too. The music is certainly funkier than the original. The lyrics are certainly more appealing to black audiences. So, it's all a matter of taste and culture. If I had to choose, I wouldn't even try. One is as relevant as the other.

Now my mandatory complaint about the Orpheum. The sound sucks. The band often overwhelmed the singers and they were indecipherable. This happens there a lot. And it will probably always be that way. But that doesn't mean it can't be improved. Strive for it please.

The Wiz is a joy. A great fun time. Plus, you always know what is going on due to the ubiquitous story. of the Wizard of Oz. See it.

All Her Fault!

 Yeah, it's all her fault. And his and hers and etc....

An 8 part series on Peacock features a whole lot of great actors, none of whom are really lead actors but make everything they're in better than it should be.

6-year-old Milo is missing. He was snatched off the street by a mysterious man. Milo's parents, played by Sara Snook as Marissa and Jake Lacy as Peter are frantic. Was he kidnapped? Taken by traffickers? Is there a ransom demand coming? But we see that Milo is alive, living in a hotel with his kidnappers, one of whom was Jenny Kamininkis (Dakota Fanning) nanny. Oh Marissa and Peter have a nanny also, because rich people living in huge houses must have all the perks of being rich. They all work long hours, neglect their children as toys to be played with when convenient and shunned when not. 

Marissa's nanny is a suspect, Marissa is a suspect, oh hell EVERYBODY at some point is a suspect because this series is so twisty and turny, you'll be sure the perpetrators are this bunch or that guy or that woman. The press hounds the rich people and implies it's all a hoax to get attention. Meanwhile the cop, played by Michael Pena, is dogged in his pursuit of Milo. He seems like the only honest person in this series, until he's not.

Jake is a control freak. He supports his drug addicted sister (Abby Elliott) and his handicapped brother (Daniel Monks). He supports his wife and child with the control of a master. Secretive and with problems of his own, Jake is creepy from the start. You think he had something to do with it, then you don't. It's this way with everyone in the cast.

The story shows it's cards a little bit per episode until it comes to a head in episode 7 when the actual story of Milo's kidnapping is scratched. In episode 8 it's all laid out, and the results are preposterous but very very entertaining.

If you want a shaggy dog story about a crime against a child, though he's safe at every moment, this is it for you.

All Her Fault is a feminist tale at its core. That women are blamed for tragedies first and sometimes it never stops, even after the facts are known. Women, in this series, whether it be Snook, Fanning, Elliott and even Sophia Lillis as Carrie Finch are the bad guys, even when they are not. The men of this series are not who they seem to be and the women pay the price. Until they don't.

It's good.

We Got Him!!?

 The government shutdown is over due to the cowardice of 8 Democratic Senators. None of whom are up for re-election in 2026. This is so smelly from a political view that you can't help but think the feckless Chuck Schumer sold out behind the scenes in exchange for cover. Fuck Chuck Schumer and the rest of the pussy Democrats who kowtowed to a monster and his goons like Grindr Mike Johnson. I am fed up with comfortable people folding and then claiming they care about you. Spoiler alert. They don't.

Then came the emails. The Epstein emails. 3 days after the Democrats surrendered, the emails come out. They say the following in a nutshell.

1) Trump was fucking young girls

2) Trump was compromised on Russia

3) Trump is an incompetent boob

4) Trump is going to tank the world economy

5) Epstein had the goods on Trump and a sick fuck like Epstein thought Trump was dirty

6) 2 months after Epstein said he had the ability to "take him down" he was dead

Do we have him? So many things would have taken down ANYBODY else that's it's hard to believe this piece of shit will ever go away until the Grim Reaper comes and sends his ass to hell. But this?

Despite Lyin Karolyn Leavitt and her constant defense of a guy who would molest her child given the chance, the defense put forward by the X ho, Megyn Kelly that 15-year-olds aren't children and thus could be banged by a 79-year-old man without consequences I guess, and the Jesse Watters Greg Gutfeld team of dunces stating it's all a hoax parroting their master, this fucking pig Trump is definitely in danger. Once Tiny Mike swore in Adelita Grijalva, the winner of an Arizona special election, there were 218 votes to release the Epstein files.

The Pervert in Chief sprang into action. Calling in Colorado rep and hand job artiste', Lauren Boebert to a meeting in the White House situation room along with crooked Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI grifter Kash Patel and shyster lawyer Todd Blanche, he put the screws to Boebert. Don't give Thomas Massie a win he pleaded, be my friend and I'll pardon your rotten kid, and as long as you're here. give me a handie. All of that was possible said. But as far as I know, the dope Boebert held steady. Meanwhile, Nutty Nancy Mace failed to pick up her phone, perhaps the smartest thing she's ever done. So as of this moment it appears the Rapist in chief may be cooked.

However, I do know that the GOP led Senate would probably kill the bill, but I just wanna see Pete Ricketts and Deb Fischer (our esteemed toadies) vote to protect a pedophile. That would be epic to know that Nebraska's elected Senators are a pederast's pet rocks. We know they already are but that would be proof.

Other scenarios involve a resignation, and then a JD Vance pardon. Or perhaps because Americans are notoriously dense, it all blows over.

But my favorite scenario involves a bunker and a smoking gun,

California Day 5! Mazel Tov Beach!

 The final day. The beach at Santa Monica. The Annenberg house (former home of Marion Davies, a real stretch of a relative) and the beach. The ocean is not something us flatlanders see often. Today at the beach, I discovered the power of mother nature as I stood in the ocean too far out, and damn near got knocked down by the waves and tide. I knew after that, had I decided to swim in the ocean, I'd be dead in 2 minutes. Either from the tide or the bacteria as this particular beach is close to the Santa Monica sewer runoff. JFC I hope I had cuts on my feet. 

People sit on the beach and contemplate life. Another place I could sit for hours thinking about shit. Or at least until the fog lifts and the sun begins to kill me.

All of a sudden, a gaggle of high school and younger kids were all over. And they all had yarmulkes, school uniforms, and slices of kosher pizza in their hands. It was a "just because" day for the local Hebrew school. They had boxes of pizza, boxes of snacks and chaperones making sure they were behaving and probably safe. They were all well behaved, commenting on Max's brother's Halloween orange hair and Max's Dad's Hassidic like side curls. Shalom.

The Warner Brothers Studio tour was next. We went on the TCM classic movies tour. This involved a tour of the back lots, lots of cool stories, a knowledgeable guide and a walk thru of the props department. You saw props on hold for future TV shows and movies. Chandeliers, pianos, clothes, you name it they had it. 

Houses made famous in various movies, the New York street you've seen many times and for moderns, the actual school used in Abbott Elementary. The Friends fountain, the houses and storefronts used in so many different films. It really was a movie geeks heaven.

The museum had the Central Perks set from Friends, the Big Bang Theory set, the DC universe and Harry Potter Experience. Lots of Batmans and Supermans, lots of Harry Potter and the actual trench coat from Casablanca along with the suit worn by Ingrid Bergman. For the moderns, the uniform worn by Chadwick Boseman in 42, the Jackie Robinson biopic. The suit worn by Lex Luthor in the latest Superman movie, the Christopher Reeve Superman suit, the Lynda Carter Wonder Woman suit. It was glorious.

Finally a meal at a restaurant called Portos which had some of the tastiest looking desserts I've ever seen. And then it was over.

I was exhausted.

California Day 4!

The thing about November is despite being autumn and damn near winter in the Midwest (it was 34 in Omaha) the desert still exists. Palm Springs is the desert and its freakin hot.

Palm Springs Pride Parade wasn't really any different than the Pride Parade in Omaha. Lots of love, lots of allies, lots of drag and lots of horses. Lots of doggos, lots of stories and lots of older men and women who remember when a parade such as this would have been impossible without cops breaking it up and arresting everybody. It was long and featured so many talented dancers, bands and regular folks and businesses who wanted the LGBTQ community as customers. In this day and age of fascism and MAGA it's really phenomenal to watch. It was fun to watch until the heat and sun would drive you into the shade.

The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway was next. Taking you on a tram packed with people from 85 degrees to the top of a mountain and 58 degrees was such a relief. I hate heat, sun and sweating. I love cool temps and scenery. This was a revelation of beauty. The view from the top is breathtaking. I could stand there for hours taking in the beauty. I may be one of the few people who think beaches and heat pale in comparison to a mountain and the cold. But that is what I feel.

The traffic in So Cal is just awful. Sunday night with everyone coming back from whatever the hell they did during the weekend was bumper to bumper. On a freakin Sunday night. But Max's brother, a wily veteran of So Cal traffic, knows what he's doing. I would have been still stuck there saying bad words to this day.

I was exhausted again.

California Day 3! The Rose Bowl!

 The Huskers in the Rose Bowl. Well actually it's UCLA's home field so it's inevitable Nebraska plays there.

But first we go to San Bernadino to see the world's first McDonalds. Well, its a museum so no Big Macs were for sale. It's got it all. Ronald McDonald, the arches, the Scooby Doo bus, wait what? Seems the owner collects anything he can get his hands on. You have statues of Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Tasmanian Devil, the Hamburglar, you loved it as a kid? It is here. The museum is full of  old McDonalds uniforms , matches, ash trays, 1984 Olympic contest tabs, the cast of the Founder, a movie that proved Roy Kroc as a moral challenged vulture capitalist. It was well worth it but don't touch anything outside or you'll leave skin as a souvenir (its fucking hot).

The Rose Bowl is in Pasadena. Being from Nebraska I have no idea where that is. So we took the Matro Rail, LA's version of the Chicago L or the NYC subway system. It's a train (sort of) that moves quickly through the shitty neighborhoods a lot of cities. After 45 minutes or so you get off at Memorial Park in Pasadena. You follow the crowd about a half mile to the shuttle buses which will take you to the Rose Bowl, another couple miles or so. You get off and the Rose Bowl looks tiny. Max informed us it's built into the ground. Max knows it all.

The staff at the Rose Bowl was so damn nice. It put Nebraska Nice to shame and since Minnesota Nice doesn't exist (see previous post), it was pleasant surprise to hear "Welcome to the Rose Bowl" numerous times. Being in Max's 15 jersey, I was subjected to a good natured "Hey Raiola you'd better get out there" instead of the ""Hey Raiola, how many tampons you got in" after Minnesota kicked our ass.

The Bowl itself is older than dirt. The steps up are HUGE (thank gawd its in the ground so to get to row 61 was only 20 or so rows) and the climb is exhausting for decrepit old Nebraskans. But we made it and again once I reached our seats I wasn't moving.

The spectacle at the Rose Bowl was great. The sight of the mountains in the background was every bit as great as described. The place is gargantuan, but they tarp off the end zones to make it look less empty. There were 20,000 Nebraskans there making it a faux home game. The UCLA fans live in Los Angeles where there's stuff to do so when they lost it was like, hey great game huh? Had Nebraska lost it would have been the walking dead back to the train.

The train. Oh that train. It didn't work. So we sat there for a good 45 minutes waiting for something that wasn't coming. Being entertained by a rich looking nice man who wouldn't shut up about how fucked up Los Angeles government was, along with San Francisco and New York. His "Ya know Trump is right" lost me and Max as Max's Mom continued to listen. Thank goodness we found a bus to go to the next station, or the guy might have started in why Social Security was communism or something. The bus took us to the Lake Street station, located outside between the freeways so you had to watch LA traffic wizz by on both sides while freezing your ass off,

But the train came and we rode back with Husker fans and the homeless to Pomona.

I was exhausted.

California Day 2!

 The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is someplace in Los Angeles. I have no idea where because once there I can't tell what's west east north or south so it could have been in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for all I know.

The museum is a movie nerd's wet dream. And to boot, the Jaws 50th anniversary exhibition is currently showing. Along the way is the famous Brady Bunch house which to me is iconic. But, in all reality, it's just a house. And unlike the crazy person who owns Walter White's house in the ABQ, who put up a fence, a monitoring system AND stands outside videoing you  looking at it, this is really just a house. I was actually more fascinated by the television set of some HBO show filming in the neighborhood called I Love LA. I have no idea what that is, but it said it on the equipment. 

The museum is multiple floors and even with the Jaws exhibition, it had a tribute to women in the movies. Called from Anna Karenina to Barbie, it featured a Barbie car which you could pose in, driving it like Fred Flintstone. Though it was fascinating, what I remember is that I need to see Anna Karenina.

The Jaws exhibition is the greatest. If you idolize that movie like I do, to see the Orca (or what's left of it), the pictures of the stars, the backstage stories, the actual set where the USS Indianapolis story was told (yes Robert Shaw was shitfaced) , the barrels, the ability to do your own zoom in shot like when Roy Scheider saw the blood in the water, the actual buoy that Chrissie grabbed onto before being devoured, and the only remaining Bruce the shark hanging from the ceiling. Just epic!

Theres also the actual office desk from the Godfather, which you can sit behind trying to look like Marlon Brando (no cat provided). The Godfather AND Jaws in one place? I could barely stop from screeching in delight.

You have lots of other stuff in there also. Captain America's shield, the Donnie Darko rabbit, a C3PO, and a history of why Jewish folks started movie studios. How did they transform Dr Jekyll into Mr. Hyde in 1931? They will show you. And the actual piano used in Casablanca.

OK, Jaws, The Godfather AND Casablanca.....Now I'm screeching!

Finally, a nighttime trip through LA. The El Coyote featured in Once About a Time in Hollywood and then the Grove mall. The classic Dupars restaurant where a stack of pancakes will keep you full for a week. 

I was exhausted yet again.

California Day One! The Price Is Right!

 Being in southern California to watch the Huskers at the Rose Bowl is the goal. But what to do in the meantime? Go to a TV show! A game show! The Price is Right!

First of all, tickets are easy to get. You sign up online and you get a ticket. That's it. They were taping multiple shows on Thursday. We arrived at 10am after a harrowing ride thru LA traffic (my brother drives like a psycho because in LA you have to or you get killed). Parking is easy. You show them your ticket, and they check you in, give you a number to put on your shirt. Then you go and sit in folding chairs in rows with your number before they call you up, row by row, to fill out the standard forms saying you wont sue if some lunatic mows you over coming on down. And trust me there are loony birds galore sitting with you in their custom t shirts and crazy clothing just about ready to explode. 

Off you go to the "studio" which is nothing more than a Korean church leased to the Price is Right. They check your ID, then take your picture without glasses I assume to do facial rec to keep the violent crazies out. You sit in a conference room watching the current taping and participating with the people trying really hard to get on the show by acting up and yelling at the screen like you are there. Some lady in pink made us do the wave which we did. At some point you and your row are taken into a room where producer Jason will interview you and that's when the lunacy starts. People screeching and answering his questions with vigor and insanity. I simply told Jason I did as little as possible for a living and since he was wearing a NY Yankees cap, I spent the rest of my time hating the Yankees. The loonies laughed and he said he had no idea what the Yankees hat meant, he just liked New York. Ok then. my chances were blown (as if I had a chance anyway).

Eventually you make a long walk outside, in numerical order, to the studio, where they take your phone, your watch and your dignity. You are seated by a stagehand, I assume to put the unwashed in places they cannot be seen. That's us. Or so I thought. The studio is pretty big, bigger than I thought. You sit there as a gaggle of stagehands get you all hyped up constantly, Yeah, I got into it to the amazement of the family. Whooping and screaming. Look there was no chance I got picked. Zero. Zilch. But theres always a chance they want a 69-year-old fat guy with crazy hair and a Letterman beard to come on down. I had a routine in my head. It involved a fake cartwheel and a crazy haired reaction. Alas. 

The show began. Drew Carey came out to thunderous applause and bantered with the crowd. The announcer (I have no idea what his name is cuz I don't watch) got everybody piped up ,the stagehands threw their arms in the air and the show begam with 4 come on downs. Not us. The blonde gals we talked with from Texas and the most Texas looking blonde gals ever, had one picked, some older black dude, a black gal with a tiara and someone else I can't remember. They bid on something, and the black gal won. Dancing onstage playing the role expertly. She won her prize, and they sat her down in a row two up from us, where they forced her to sign her life away, I think. Meanwhile the audience screams and stands and tries to get noticed. Hey folks, they've known for two hours prior who they were picking. 

The rest of the show was nuts. They picked a fat 30 something guy so I was out. I fatty per show I assume. They picked a lady two rows in front of us and a woman behind us. They picked a guy literally right in front of us me. They picked a flight attendant we had spoken with earlier. Hey, I felt like we knew them and rooted for them sincerely.

During commercial breaks Drew would banter with the crowd, mostly the front row. How long ya been married, where ya from that sort of thing. He seemed like a very nice man. There were Husker fans there but because of the timing please don't mention you were there for a football game on November 8.

They fucked up. They reshot. They had technical glitches. But it's such a polished product it was great to see the imperfections.

Once the show part, the bids and the contest to win further prizes like higher and lower and guess the price were finished, they did the spin the wheel twice. The first three spun and the fat guy won. He seemed like a very nice guy, so I'll call him the big guy. Then the next three spun and Andy, the guy right in front of me won. I'm right behind his wife so look for the other fat guy, err big guy behind him.

They set up the showcases and here we go. Big guy passed his to Andy. Andy made a bid way too low in my opinion, Then the big dude bid, way too low in my opinion (two cars and he went with $35K).  Andy, my bud, was $7 something thousand low. I thought he won. Then the big dude was $7 thousand short also but less than Andy. The big dude won with much celebrating. Andy's wife was crushed because part of his showcase was a boat, which they have apparently. 

They asked us to stay because the next taping wasn't full. I was exhausted physically and especially mentally. My energy to act like a nutcase was done for. I am not like that at all, but I was acting like it there. Everybody had a blast. They do give you your phones, watches and self-esteem back and you go bye bye.

Notes:

The studio is right next to the Let's Make a Deal studio where the certifiably insane dressed like the Statue of Liberty go. 

The studio is cold.

The tickets are easy to get, Just go there and they'd probably let you in.

Often when the 3 doors are used the prizes are shown behind you for trips to Seoul and Cape Cod so you have to turn around to see the models.

Yes, the announcer said hi to his mommy and revealed he door dashed her breakfast everyday. 

The contestants who do not get onstage each receive $300. 

After the show they do one more come on down for a random number from the start who gets $100. They chose 78, we were 69 70 71 and 72, Oh Kevin was so close. 

It's a fun time I must admit. We were so glad we went. We got tickets literally the day before taping so go for it.

Our show airs 3/23/26. Whaaaaaaaaaat?

Sandwich Guy!

 

In one of the most idiotic trials ever, the sammy guy was acquitted of assault on a federal officer for making him smell onions and getting mustard on his vest.

Simply another distraction from the sight of Trump taking rights away and acting like a mob boss. 

Dude's a hero.

Tuesday Rants!

 As Americans were losing their food stamps on Saturday, Friday night the Marie Antionette in Chief held a Great Gatsby Party at Mar A Dumpo proving that Trump has never read a book in his life. Dancing girls, 1970s Playboy Mansion shit like chicks writhing around in martini glasses and flappers (check out the wino Pirro) walking around as the Tin Eared Jackass in Chief sat there with that stupid grin on his face holding court with the elites. Never mind about the total shitshow at Bedbug A Lago, ignoring the shutdown and the fact the poors are about to starve, this is EXACTLY why this creep is spending $350 million on a ballroom financed by bribes  contributions from giant corporations looking to cash in at Bribe Central. Let them eat cake, I guess. But let's face it, the current GOP actually has continued the age-old bullshit that there are black men inner city youth playing taxpayer funded X Box games on taxpayer funded Wi Fi and wont get a job. Anyone who buys this shit is a racist and plain dumb. But alas. 39% of people on SNAP are children and the rest are working two jobs and STILL can't make it. Keep going to those Wal Mart food stamp meetings where they teach you how to get SNAP because they refuse to pay a living wage. 

Dick Cheney has entered hell. The former Veep and current war criminal lived way too long. His joy at killing the browns in wars funded by taxpayers while his Haliburton made billions selling Ramen noodles to troops and guns to the military. Haliburton was the Wal Mart of war crimes. Cheney is a Nebraska native, making Charlie Starkweather only the 2nd worst Nebraskan of all time. Cheney moved to Wyoming as a kid where he began his reign of terror. He flunked out of Yale, making him the 2nd worst Yalie behind J D Vance. Back in Laramie, he staggered his way through the University of Wyoming, making him the worst Cowboy of all time with nobody in 2nd place. He drank and got DUI's in the 60's before he shape shifted to DC where he bullied his way into the Ford Administration and expressed his view that Nixon was the dictator we all needed and Tricky Dick got screwed. Then Wyoming elected him to Congress where he opposed the MLK holiday, loved apartheid and opposed the release of Nelson Mandela. Then he weaseled his way into the HW Bush regime as Secretary of Defense War. Then came the dumber Bush who made him President  Veep. 9/11 came and Cheney saw dollar signs and oil. Thus, the Iraq War where thousands of Americans died and were maimed and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians died. Ya know, he was a war criminal. Even his later revelation that Trump was a bigger dick than he was (not sure if he was just jealous) and should not be in office doesn't redeem his murderous life.

Zohran Mamdani will be the next mayor of America's largest city, and this scares the shit out of political boomers who are on their way out soon to join Dick Cheney wherever the fuck he is. The Democratic establishment is frightened that Mamdani's movement of people under 40 will render them useless, which of course they are. The Republicans, who call anyone to the left of Attila the Hun a communist, are terrified mostly of those under 40's waking the fuck up and dragging them out of their mansions and being guillotined (be still my heart). Small town rubes in states a thousand miles away are scared that NYC exists where murders are 24/7 and Namdammy will come to their hamlets and say mean things about their fealty to the Republicans. Be strong NYC and reject the old man Cuomo and the beret wearing old man trying to be a teen, Sliwa. It will be a great day for Gen Z when Zohran Mamdani wins in a landslide.

Trump's 60 minutes interview. I didn't see it because watching Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Orchestra makes me happy and Trump makes me sick. Apparently, the Moron in Chief, after screeching about Joe Biden's autopen and how if you don't know who you are pardoning should make the pardon null and void (that means not real MAGA) has no idea who CZ, a crypto crook, is. Oh yeah, Trump pardoned him for crimes he pleaded guilty to related to the scam that is crypto. But he said not once, but twice, he has no idea who he is. Jesus on a Cracker, this muthafuka is so blatant in his lying he doesn't even care what anybody thinks. Obvious untruths, lies, are just inconveniences to the Magat's because he's so funnyyyyyyy. He entertains them, like the country's emcee. Fuck that autopen bullshit forever. Somehow, I don't think that will be the case.

Secretary of Fox and Friends Defense  War, the drunken sex fiend Pete Hegseth continues to do what Stephen Miller tells him to do and order the killing of anybody in a fucking boat anywhere near Venezuela. Ya know, in honor of Dick Cheney, Trump wants the oil. Lying about drugs is the way to get it. Blow up a few brown folks in motorboats, lie about their intentions, and get ready for invasion. It's the oldest trick in the book and unfortunately it works. Mexican War, Spanish American War, Vietnam, Iraq, Gaza, it's all there. But the blind "patriots" all buy in, loving the bullying and bluster because their terrible lot in life is made "better" by killing a few furriners. Look, fentanyl doesn't come from Venezuela, it comes into America because Americans bring it in. And Americans use it, often to deadly results. It's called supply and demand. The very basis of capitalism. You know if Trump could make money off fentanyl, he would in a minute. This is why it's so infuriating. The moral leper, and his minions, couldn't care less about dead kids. It's a means to an end. Absolute power.

Ok I'm done.

No wait, Fuck ICE!!!

Viking Sunday!

Vikings-Eagles Sunday at noon. In the family, one Vikings fan, one Eagles fan and one pseudo-Eagles fan who is actually a Bears fan but willing to wear the Barkley jersey to support Max in hostile territory. But hey Minnesota Nice right?

The light rail was packed like sardines. It was hot, it was claustrophobic and someplace around Lake Street the goddamned thing broke down. The power went out, the air went out, the lights went out and you were stuck in the weird position you were crammed into. 20 Minutes later they announced a new train was coming on the southbound track, which must have been thrilling for the people on it who now were forced to go back to the stadium while the football freaks crammed in. The whiplash on the train as it stopped and started about sent Max's Mom flying. My neck hurts.

Finally, we got to the stadium. you must walk up steps, lots of steps to get over the street then back down to get to the lines to enter. Then once you get past security, it's into this glass enclosed wonder of a stadium. Escalators to the top of the stadium with the rest of the steerage. Then up to the 2nd to the last row. Jesus, I was done. I am not moving from this seat until this damn thing is over. But there's really not a bad seat in the house. Surrounded by both Eagles and Vikings fans, we did the Skol Vikings chant, the singing of the Viking song (which I memorized by quarter 2), Skol Vikings lets win this game Skol Vikings honor your name...., Fight Fight Fight V I K I N G S Lets go. And I was in an Eagles jersey.

The Eagles looked like the Super bowl champs and won the game 28-22. It was an entertaining game; unlike Friday nights blow out. We had long TD passes, pick sixes and long ass Field Goals. You forget how good these players are, compared to college.

After the game we stood waiting for Max's Mom bathroom break. Some Vikings fan was drunk, angry and a real bro. As Eagles fans finished the E A G L E S chant, this bro said it was the gayest thing he's ever seen (yeah like Skol Vikings is so manly), and said he was gonna go beat up some "fags". I don't like that word any more than I like the N bomb and I glared at him to which the bro said "Don't look at me fag" and I realized de-escalation was probably a good idea, rather than an old man getting throttled by a guy 40 years younger. I ignored him. He went away. Back to his MAGA basement closet. 

Then came Bro #2. He reached his hand out and then did the combing his hair Fonzie deal. Then we got the double bird. Ya got us dude. Happy Days!

Fans are nuts but as Max pointed out, it was two guys out of 60,000. Yes, but why do we have to meet them every time? 

The degeneration of fan behavior I have noticed over the last few years, 9 years maybe, is getting worse. Nebraska fans are becoming the same as all. They boo teams they will beat 59-0, they boo other teams bands, they act worse and worse. We used to applaud the other team leaving the field, win or lose. That's over. Now its people screaming at the other teams, win or lose. Maybe it's a good thing to lose season tickets and watch it from a 50-yard line seat in your living room. 

Hmmm wonder what happened about 9 years ago that would cause this incivility to become commonplace. Minnesota Nice and the so-called Greatest Fans in the World has much less gravitas. 

It's a shame. Well at least nobody dropped poop on us from a fighter plane.

Driving Miss Minneapolis!

Saturday is a drive around day in Minneapolis, St Paul and every suburb known to man. The No Kings protest was huge in Minneapolis but when we got there, it was breaking up, and people were walking home. So off we went.

Driving thru Minneapolis and there, with a line of people was Matt's Bar, home of the Juicy Lucy, a hamburger full of cheese. It's famous, it's a wait of 1-2 hours and the line had nothing but Philadelphia Eagles fans looking for their cheese wiz and beef. Down the block is 38th Street and the George Floyd Memorial. Now you may think Floyd was a criminal, a counterfeiter, a druggie, a domestic abuser or anything else, but the fact remains, being murdered by a sworn Minneapolis cop is not the sentence for any of that. It is interesting to see the scene of the crime. Floyd was a lot of things, but a murderer like Derek Chauvin he was not.

The U of M campus is on both sides of the Mississippi. Rowers were out and so were protestors. Give em a quick shout out, a honk and a thumbs up and we were on our way. The campus is very nice and clean. I wonder if the frat boys had gotten over their hangovers.

St Paul is the capitol of the state. the capitol building is typical. A big white capitol that looks like this.

Back to the Mall to find the plaques that identify where certain things were at the old Met. Metropolitan Stadium was on the site of the former home of the Twins and the Vikings. It took a while and that Mall was still hotter than hell but Max found them.

I went to the Met once in 1967. I found it so cool. Being a child, anything would be cool. I'm sure the Met turned into a dump, but nonetheless, the Met could never have been as big of a shithole as that Metrodome turned out to be. A gigantic cement tomb. It is also gone. US Bank Stadium is there now, home of the Vikings. Tomorrow.  

Gooooo Gophers!

 Off to Minneapolis with the entire fam damily to watch the Huskers beat Minnesota (oops). The drive is between 5-6 hours from Omaha to the cities and seems like 5 of it is Iowa. 

The Mall of America is a giant hell hole. It's levels high, it's huge, it's full of people of all stripes, and it's hot as hell. But man, do you get your steps in. We killed off time before the hotel would let us check in without charging us $40 for being early. 

The game was at the Huntingdon Bank stadium on the campus of the U of M. The light rail (gawd I wish we had one here) is a quick and easy way to get around the cities. The stadium is newer, it does have steps, but it also has seat backs. Lots of Husker fans were there to watch our victory and bowl eligibility game. Whoops! Minnesota dominated the game from beginning to end. The Huskers got slapped around and it was pathetic to watch but Go Big Red always.

Notes from Game

There was an older Minnesota fan sitting across the aisle and whether he was all there or not is debatable. Every single play he would exclaim in the most Fargo like accent...."Gooooo Goooophers!  Yes, every play. I guess they heard him.

After the debacle was over, leaving the venue, here comes the drunken frat boys, decked out on Gopher hoodies and chanting "Fuck Nebraska"! Ok boys, but you've beat us 6 years in a row so act like ya been there. You're a better program than us and have been for years. But the frat boys needed to be de-escalated because they looked like they were lookin for a fight. High fiving the winners seems to work as they changed from "Fuck Nebraska" to "I like your sweatshirt" with a fist bump. Another band of drunks decided to give Max shit for wearing an old 15 jersey. "Hey man its Raiola, how many tampons you got in?" Max responded 8 (which at the time was the number of sacks he endured) and said "I can barely walk". Playing along and taking your lumps is always the best strategy. Not like me in 1976 when Iowa State fans got into it with us and we went to jail for a few hours. Those days are over.

The stadium has the greatest popcorn ever at a sporting event. It's movie theater like in many ways. Both in taste and price. 

Minnesota's band is solid. They have a top 5 fight song, the Rouser, and they have a great mascot, Goldy Gopher. I could easily become a Minnesota fan if I lived there. It's a fun atmosphere.  

Watch Out ICE! It's a Frog!

 As Portland "burns", invaded by T Rex's and frogs and unicorns and cats and wiener dogs, Trump the Impaler blowhards himself into a alleged "peace deal" that's really nothing more than a ceasefire and the completion of a real estate deal between Jared Kushner, Bibi Netanyahu and Donald Trump. Gaza is destroyed by choice. Tens of thousands of Palestinians are dead, including children, buildings are in rubble, and the opportunity is there for real estate worms to move in and develop. Develop of course means catering to the rich at the expense of the poor. So excuse me if I don't get all fuzzy inside because the murder has stopped for a day or two. And by murder, I mean October 7th AND the utter destruction of Gaza. One was a planned attack on innocents by a gang of terrorists, and the other was a planned attack on innocents by a US supplied war machine led by a crooked politician desperate to stay out of jail. Sound familiar? 1200 died on Oct 7 and tens of thousands died in the revenge, 99% of whom had nothing to do with the Oct 7 murders. Sounds fair (eye roll). 

ICE, some with swastika tattoos, continue to keep their stuffed into locker in middle school revenge tour by smashing into cars, provoking people dressed as mascots, chasing down people who've been her 30 years, arresting guys who spent 45 years in prison wrongfully convicted, and being general assholes. Theres not a doubt in my mind that these thugs were hired by Secretary Ice Barbie to crack heads and further the J6 coup by violence with a badge. Noem is an asshole for sure, but her photo ops prove it. She is truly performing for that audience of one, Stephen Miller, to impress upon him her hatred of all that is not white. She's been banned from South Dakota Lakota reservation for chrissakes because she's such a bigot. So fuck ICE and fuck Kristi Noem.

Deranged ass kisser, Grindr Mike Johnson, has nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2026 along with some Knesset Kiss Ass/ Christ, Grindr Mike it's a two-day old "ceasefire" that has a slim to none chance of holding. Now some of us know that Joe Biden started this ball rolling, freeing 105 hostages in 2023, and when this one fails, they'll blame Biden somehow. Johnson is absolutely the worst Speaker of the House ever, in fact he's not even Speaker, he's just Trump's bag man who does whatever he's told by President Miller. Grindr Mike, a man of many secrets, refuses to swear in the newest member of the House, an Arizona Democrat named Adelita Grijalva recently elected, because she would be the 218th House member to demand the vote on the Epstein list. And being a pedo protector, Johnson continues to do the devils work on his road to Hades.

Finally, J D Vance. A fast-talking con artist without a principle in his body. He went on various shows this last Sunday to further fascism and lying about everything else. Asked by George Stephanopoulos if Tom Homan, the human migraine, accepted $50K in a fast-food bag days before the election for influence peddling. Vance, who lies just as easily as Trump, wouldn't answer and launched into the biased press bullshit. But George wouldn't let him get away with it, asking him 2 more times until as Vance lied and bobbed and weaved yet again. As the third dodge began, George S cut him off and said well he's not answering the question and cut the feed leaving Vance to go on other shows and face less dangerous opponents who refuse to stand up to these guys. 

Vance, who called Trump "Hitler" in 2016 and was way ahead of us, is as unlikable of a lunkhead than maybe any politician alive. Well, anyone with an average IQ that is. Vance who answers questions like he's selling you siding or gutters, ya know throws your first name into every sentence to show how much he cares about you, is just so full of shit he should have been a window salesman, he could have taken every penny from those hillbillies he allegedly grew up with. But what Vance doesnt get is Peter Thiels money can't keep him from himself. A dishonest empty soul who can shape shift to whatever he needs to be. So despite being Thiel's bitch, Vance cannot survive being the top of the mountain. He's appalling to most people who recognize con men when they see one. And when on top, EVERYONE sees you, not just gullible Ohioans. 

Legally Bondi!

Oh my. Pamzilla appeared before the Senate Oversight Committee armed to the teeth with oppo research on every Democratic Senator who had the audacity to ask questions. She rolled her eyes, insulted them, made up shit they'd done, made up contributions to Democrats by donors related to Epstein, stayed silent, defended her boss and did everything BUT answer questions. Pam Bondi would be the worst lawyer in any other regime, but isn't the worst because of the existence of Alina Habba Do and Lindsey Halligan, not to mention Todd Blanche. She isn't anything other than a mob lawyer keeping the wolves at bay from her mob boss employer. She is the Attorney General for all the people. Stop while I guffaw. Bondi is a dumpster fire, and nobody is going to put her out. As long as she's in office, existing as a street tough doing the mobsters revenge, she's a joke. She accepted a $25000 bribe  campaign contribution from Trump while serving as AG in Floriduh to keep her from indicting the fraud Trump over his fraud Trump University. We all know what she is and are just haggling over price now.

Meanwhile the beauty queen lawyer, Lindsey Halligan, appointed as US Attorney for Virginia because the Godfather thinks she's hot, and willing to do whatever he wants, justified or not, has indicted former FBI head James Comey for something. She's an idiot insurance lawyer who has never tried a case and boy does it show. She was castigated by a judge for being so incompetent she couldn't even file paperwork correctly for the indictment of Comey. Comey, who has the best lawyers in DC, should have no problem beating this rap. Halligan is so dumb she filed a court document setting the trial date for Jan 5, 2025, 9 months ago. This is the real men in women's sports argument. She's about to be crushed.

The Godfather Don, who just has to have a roundtable every week in which his cabinet kisses his ass, leaving their self-respect at the door, is just sitting there glowing in the praise, hitting on any hot chick he lets in the door. Yesterday it was table full of "independent journalists" also known as right wing grifters paid to further the regimes bullshit. Total frauds like Andy Ngo (Trump fell asleep listening to this dullard), Jack Posobiec and some Seattle grifter who claimed Trump had turned her views around right before he told her how attractive she was. Others like Savanah Hernandez from TPUSA and Katie Daviscourt, a blonde Post Millennial "reporter" who dressed like she had been hired as an escort for an orange businessman. And Nick Sortor, a grifter who followed Secretary Swizzle Stick Noem all over hell documenting her idiocy, insisting there is actually an Antifa, dressed as a frog perhaps? Pathetic

Finally, ICE continues on their revenge tour of Chicago and Portland and LA. Thugs, untrained clowns, right wing whackjobs and horribly nasty men who'd been stuffed into lockers in middle school are the ICE base. Cheered on by bigots and assholes but fortunately met with resistance by the people, these jokers are failing miserably at Stephen Millers 3500 people a day bounty. 10, 11 or 12 of them at a time chasing grandfathers into coffee shops to earn their bounty, shooting people who get in the way, and pepper balling priests yet they claim to be under assault. Oh yeah, they are ICE, a bunch of incompetent snowflakes who soon will learn "I was just following orders" aint gonna work as a defense. 

This country is being run by a bald little worm named Stephen Miller. This Miller is perhaps the most powerful Nazi to ever be that close to the Presidency. The day he goes to prison cannot come soon enough.

Herb Alpert!

 If you are a child of the 60's you couldn't get away from radio hits by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. And you liked them. The poppy trumpet and the rest of the Brass. Now of course we know that there never really was a Tijuana Brass as he used session musicians yet who cared?

Alpert brought his latest version of the Brass to Omaha last night to perform in front of a full house. The crowd was lively, shouted out questions, stood and applauded way too much for a guy with a bad knee and loved every second of it.

Alpert is 90 years old, looks great, plays great, moves great and tells stories like a fun Grandpa. Beginning with The Lonely Bull , Alpert went right into action Above the band was a giant screen that showed old tapes of 1960s shows in which Herb Alpert appeared on, commercials that featured Alpert's music (Tea Berry gum), old music videos of the brass playing in bullrings, racetracks, on the beach, and onstage. It was a fascinating watch from the aspect of a kid from the 60's. Johnny Carson, the Dating Game, Rowan and Martin among others.

All the hits were played, many of which I'd forgotten about. Whipped Cream (Alpert has a great story about that album cover which apparently got some loudmouth in the crowd "through puberty") Spanish Flea, Love Potion #9, This Guys In Love With You (another great story) Rise, Smile, Tijuana Taxi, Mexican Shuffle. The songs are all there.

As an added bonus, the former lead singer of Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66, Lani Hall, was brought out to sing short snippets of their hits. Oh yeah, she is also Herb Alperts wife of 52 years. Another great story of how they met, how he ordered the Brass to stay away from Brasil 66's women singers during a tour so he could have Lani to himself. He's so great at weaving a story together unlike other old men we are subjected to.

This legend is 90 years old. If you get a chance, this concert is a must. You'll be smiling for 90 minutes.

The Week That Was!

The invasion of America has hit a new concern. Portland, Memphis, Chicago, Los Angeles and every Home Depot in this nation has been invaded by Trumps goons, ICE. The Mango Mussolini has doubled down by sending National Guard troops into American cities that didn't vote for this fragile Ego'd little bitch. The results are predictable. Since there is no attack on ICE in any of these places, lets manufacture one by unleashing these J6ers, Proud Boys and just plain thugs onto the normal people who say no more of this fascist shit. They march out like little goosestepping pretend soldiers, adorned in gas masks, slapping their night sticks into their hands, and flak jackets and when nothing happens, they attack the protesters. This results in videos of goons beating up hippies, appealing to the Archie Bunkers still alive, and thus, the hey what's the context questions. They show old WW II footage to the Idiot in Chief, tell him its (fill in the blank) city, he buys it and then Stephen Miller takes a break from eating mice, and orders the baboons in cool uniforms to wherever to bust heads. Then Miller takes a break from jacking off to Holocaust videos to manufacture a new "crisis". The day these pieces of dung go before a court and get life will be a great day.

Meanwhile, Pete the Drunken Dingleberry Hegseth takes a break from homoerotic speeches to Generals to bring out videos of American fighter pilots killing Venezuelan fishermen or leisure boaters by blowing them out of the water. Many of them were heading for port, not to the US to force fentanyl down your poor kid's throat. These are war crimes of course, as the evidence that these people were drug runners is nonexistent. But Hegseth just keeps showing them, which I'm sure makes him think of hairless buff shirtless men that definitely are not gay (SNL credit), and gets his Christian nationalist crank all hard. The day this guy goes before a court will be a great day.

Kash Patel, the Twitter troll, and head of the FBI has become even more incompetent as his reign of error continues. Patel was hired, along with his fellow podcasting prick, Dan Bingo Bongo, to get into bum fights with Democratic Congresspeople for maximum Fox and Newsmax exposure to appease the base of monkeys. Patel has recently ended FBI cooperation with the Anti-Defamation League, the Southern Poverty Law Center because of woke or some such shit. This means when one of those organizations comes to the FBI with credible threats from racists, anti-semites, or your general psychotic loser, Patel and Bingo will ignore it. Thus, I assume the FBI will also not take seriously what White People Are Superior groups tell them about phony Antifa and BLM activities. Yeah sure. Patel's job is to protect white nationalists aka the MAGA base. 

Meanwhile, the Tiffany Network, home of Murrow and Cronkite and Friendly, under the orders of Skydance Paramount Plus pussies, have hired Bari Weiss, a disgruntled New York Times reject, to run its editorial department. Weiss is one of those frauds that suddenly realized that grifting MAGA is lucrative and ranted about cancel culture and woke. Oh the golden oldies never fail with dummies. Weiss caught the eye of the Ellisons, David and Larry, as they buy up American media to further the conservative con job. And now this right wing grifter will be stuffing the billionaire me me me culture into CBS News. Pretty soon we will be seeing anchors like Beanie Boy Tim Pool and "reporters" like Andy Ngo and Benny Johnson spewing the regime bullshit. I guess it's good the only people who watch network news any longer are old and on their way out. Like Larry Ellison.

The shutdown continues with the GOP going full Goebbels by telling a lie often enough that people start believing it. Not since the Volkischer Beobachter has a government spewed more bullshit. The Democrats want to spend a trillion dollars on illegals health care. Put forth by every GOP weasel still shilling for this Goon in Chief, this is utter garbage. They know it but outright lying, not the usual spinning, is the new GOP way. Up is down, in is out, Antifa is fascist, and a Nazi salute is a "Roman salute". Some of them when confronted with their lies go back to spinning. Illegals go to ER, have no money, and the taxpayers get stuck with the bill. Not exactly a trillion, and not even true, but the let em bleed out on the street or die of disease argument really isn't a winner. Well at least with normal people with a heart. Those kind of folks don't death threat any politician who strays from the cruelty platform.

Finally whooping cough, measles, typhoid, tuberculosis and soon smallpox I'm sure are back. As parents listen to their internet kook "research" and that gravel eating RFK Jr, about the "herd immunity" trash we've heard for years, back then from hippie weirdos, and now from dumb Magats AND hippie weirdos, back off from vaccines for their runny nosed kids. The spread of dead diseases, long thought gone, one of humanity's greatest achievements, is back. Red States like Florida, Mississippi, Texas, Missouri and Louisiana have outbreaks of these diseases. Congrats rubes. It's almost back to when America was great. 

We are fucked.