Surgery!

 This all started in July back in Vegas. A fib in 115-degree heat is not cool. But that is what started it.

In the meantime, I had a heart shocked back into rhythm in September. That worked for about 3 days. The A fib came back. Then it was a left heart catheterization looking for blockages or clots. They found nothing. The heart was fine, But the A fib continued. 

Next up a CT scan. Nothing out of ordinary in the old ticker. The A fib continued.

Then yesterday I had an ablation with the insertion of a watchman. Basically, they go in through your groin with a wire and freeze parts of the heart that may cause the A fib. Then they insert what they call a watchman into the appendage that hangs off your heart, serves no purpose and can also cause problems. In other words, they plug the appendage for good, let the tissue grow over it and hopefully that gets you off blood thinners.

Sounds fun, right? Well trust me, it's not.

They put you completely out, the only good thing about it. Then they stick some intubation thing down your throat and puncture your groin in 4 spots where they do the procedure which takes 2-4 hours. When you wake up from nighty night you have a throat that's killing you, bandages all over your groin, your wrist and your arm. Hey what the hell. How did my arm get into this craziness?

They monitor you for another 3-4 hours, changing bandages and checking your vitals. Oh by the way, you're completely naked with one of those gowns everyone hates on. So, your junk is hanging out, your belly is hanging out, and your ass is exposed for all to see. Theres's got to be a better way since this is the same kind of gown I wore in high school getting a ulcer check and that was in the 70's. They have all these new machines, but the gowns are from medieval times when bleeding was the cure for everything. 

Speaking of bleeding, right before I was going to leave, I felt like I was pissing myself. Warm fluid going down my leg. But the fluid was red and there was a lot. I busted a bandage and the blood flowed. Chalk up another hour to wait to leave. The redid my bandage and waited. And I waited. Nurses were in there putting pressure on the wound. Funny part, one nurse kept covering up my dong and one kept taking the blanket off. I preferred the one who kept covering it up, unless she was so appalled at an old man's dick she couldn't take it.

Then Max's Mom took me home and the nice comfy couch she had arranged had dog piss all over it. Thanks Malibu the dog pisser.

Look I am grateful for the great doctors and nurses at the UNMC. They are all saints. I couldn't thank them enough. But dammit do something about those ancient gowns.

Lesson learned. Don't go to Vegas ever. It's hell on earth. But if you insist on going because it is a religious pilgrimage for many Midwesterners, don't go in fucking July! 

Blue Tsunami!

 It's our LAST chance to end this. END IT!!!! TODAY!!

Midterms!

 Sick of it yet? The midterms are tomorrow and it will all end. The stupid ass political ads on TV where one candidate accuses the other one of being Jack the Ripper or Lizzie Borden. These things are on so often you just begin to either tune out or actually mute the TV. We mute. I hate them all no matter what party is lying.

Tomorrow ends the local TV stations profit scheme. No more free money from PACS and candidates and Musk and Ricketts and various other scalawags. But tomorrow, depending upon the results, could be the end of MAGA. If the people of this country take a 32% approved of jagoff President and tell him to go fuck himself, then MAGA is done. If the Democrats take the Senate, Trump has two months to cheat, declare martial law, run Supreme Court justices through in the Senate, seize ballots, screech about rigged and fixed elections and if we are lucky, flee the country to his real loyalty, Russia. That's the scariest two months maybe ever. That's IF the Democrats take the Senate, which has become increasingly harder in the last 30 years due to red states being overrepresented in that body of elderly men and women who've lost their marbles. Please America, STOP voting for boomers. We suck as people and also suck at leaving a better world for our kids. We protested, smoked dope, and listened to the Dead and the Airplane. Then we got some money, and in true human fashion, decided protecting ourselves was more important than anything. Thus, Trump. TWICE!

Tomorrow is a bellwether for the future. If the real problem, Gen Z and the boomers, come out and vote in huge numbers and the Republicans minimize the damage, we are done. Trump will be free to strongarm his cowardly stooges to change America forever. If the Gen Z's and the millennials decide to come out in huge numbers, then we can win. By we I mean decency and compassion, something lacking since MAGA crawled out from under the rocks to throw a temper tantrum about a black man being President.

Haven't we had enough? A crazy ass President, a House led by a lying "Christian" closeted elf, a Senate led by gawd knows who and various state legislatures dominated by rural 1950's thinking rubes. Trump has said so much shit that his base finds so funny, since its usually racist, sexist or homophobic, we all must be tired of it. Right?

So tomorrow we have the opportunity to return to somewhat normal. I don't even care what the Democrats will do, as long as they become a boulder in the road to the Mad King. I just want normal and all the mudslinging about Muslims and Communists and Socialists and Nazis to go away. I am perfectly fine with the Republicans that act normally. I disagree with them but to discuss without hearing I'm a "commie" or worse. Until that time, its Fuck Trump and Fuck Maga. I refuse to not fight. So let's do this America. Neuter that fucking ogre Trump. For good. Please.

In closing, before decency returns (maybe) I can still say fuck Haley Stephens, John Fetterman and fuck Jim Pillen. 

Onward!

Nebraska Cornchokers!!

 Maybe it's me. For 3 games in a row, 4 if you count The Bye's 4th quarter comeback and victory over Nebraska last week, I have sat in the stadium, whether in Lincoln or Eugene and have witnessed meltdown after meltdown after meltdown by Nebraska. Saturday was Blackout Night in Lincoln. The fans wear black, the team wears black, the end zones are black, there's a skull and crossbones at midfield and Black Death is on the sideline waiting for his moment. Never mind that Nebraska has had this event 5 prior times and lost every game (0-5), but hey it looks really "cool", right? RIGHT? 

Go Big Red implies that the school colors are red. But this blackout ignores this. It's supposed to be fun to wear black and act all spooky and on Halloween night of all days. I saw scary clowns, Husky dog costumes, T Rex costumes, that scary clown again, skinny guys in Hulk Hogan gear (yes, he said brutha after every statement), a unicorn, princesses, people in purple (scary) and the true horror on the field, guys dressed in black fucking it all up yet again.

Indiana was on the ropes (for about 3 minutes) down 17-6 in the 4th quarter. They promptly hit a long pass TD sending the red clad fans into the inevitable knowledge that they were gonna lose (even though ahead by 4) . They did lose on yet another long TD pass 20-17.

Then came Eugene. A totally winnable game in which the offense was irrelevant. Oregon had a walk on QB (no idea why) play 3 1/2 quarters. Nebraska led 14-6 in quarter 4. Then in came ex Husker Dylan Raiola and it happened again. He led a game winning drive against his old team. 17-14 Oregon.

Then came a bye week. Bye won that 7-0. No details available but Bye scored in quarter 4 on oh hell why not the last play.

Washington came into the "scary" environment Halloween Night dressed in white. The cowered when they played Back in Black (or course), they hid in the medical tent from the booing students, and they begged for mercy from the scary clown. No, they did none of that. Blah blah blah on the first 58 minutes. Nebraska led the worst game I've ever seen live since 2005. With a minute 31 seconds to go, Nebraska up 7-3 and Washington faced a 4th and 18 on their own 40. It was over. Right? RIGHT? The PA announcer screamed into the mike about 3rd or 4th down (gawd he's annoying) and Washington's new QB (the Dylan Raiola of the week) threw a 22-yard completion. Then the very next play, same guy who caught the pass, caught another pass and ran into the end zone. 10-7 Washington. Then our $5 million dollar quarterback, under orders from our $6 Millon head coach, threw a nice cake topping pick 6 and then 17-7 Washington. To put in perspective, with 1:31 to go, 7-3 Nebraska. With 1:15 to go, 17-7 Washington. How? How does this happen every week?

Well, it happens every week because Nebraska has the inability to close. The coaching chokes, the players choke, the fans choke, the mascots choke, the black balloons choke, and the scary clown chokes. In fact the new mascot should be the Boston Strangler. 

I know it's just football. I know it's not as important as oh lets say, heart surgery, but it is kind of important when the black clad fans pay upwards of thousands of dollars to go. And they will pay more when the Husker AD reseats everyone.

The sight of a half empty Penn State stadium, a half empty Oklahoma stadium and USC playing in front of a half empty stadium every week, this is the sign of things to come. The so-called blue bloods are in trouble. It was a warning.

Nobody puts up with this constant choking. Even the bottle throwing students pissed not at Washington, after all they just did what they were supposed to do, but at their own team choking away victory for the fourth time in a row. I have seen empty student sections in the past.

Half empty stadiums. That's my hope for that bogus 416 straight sellout string. End that now. Unless you are big fan of the Hillside Stranglers and say, yes by all means, choke me again.

Go Big Red arghhhhhhhhhh !

Death Becomes Her!

 

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Death Becomes Her closed-on Broadway in May of 2026 and started a national tour in September. Omaha is the third city on the bill (after Cleveland and St Louis) and opening night was last night. Death Becomes Her is a musical based on the 1992 Meryl Streep/Goldie Hawn/Bruce Willis movie where two competing "friends" duel, steal each other's men, and try and kill each other. 

Jackie Burns, who set a record for number of appearances as Elpheba in Wicked, heads the cast as Madeline Ashton, a fading movie star obsessed with her looks. Kristen Beth Williams is Helen Sharp, a writer and best "friend" of Madeline who is used and abused by her "friend". Ken Marino is Dr Ernest Menville, an altruistic plastic surgeon who fixes children's cleft palates and reconstructs burn victims. Dr Ernie is Helen's fiancé' and is stolen by Madeline from Helen as a kind of game. Dr Ernie turns into a greedy plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills under the influence of Madeline the narcissist. All the while there's Nasia Thomas as Viola Van Horn, a kind of voodoo practicing witch with a potion that stops aging and death. Well of course Madeline needs that to keep her career intact. Meanwhile, Helen resides in a mental hospital, babbling about Madeline, and escapes. Turns out she drank the potion too and their attempts to kill each other backfire. Amazing special effects, more like magic tricks, occur onstage after they both are "murdered". They eventually bond again after they have faked their deaths.

The performances are spot on. Jackie Burns you can see as Elphaba, the voice is there, Kristen Beth Williams is a perfect foil. She can really sing and is a great physical comedian. Ken Marino as Dr Ernie shines in Act 2 in a manic solo song, the Plan, in which he sounds like a conspiracy nut trying to keep the women's secret a secret. Marino may look familiar to you as he was in, We're the Millers, Brooklyn 99 and The Other Two. He is a talented actor/singer and comedic actor. Nasia Thomas makes such a strong presence onstage as Viola Van Horn, and it makes you wonder how she's not a huge star. She dominates the stage on her few appearances. 

A couple of minor characters also shine. Michael Buchanan as Stefan, Madeline's long-suffering assistant, gets his own solo in Act 2. He's a very Bowen Yang type and I wanted more of him. Louis Williams is Viola's assistant, Chagal, and he's impossible to take your eyes off when he's out there.

The story is campy, the jokes are campy, the pratfalls are campy and the audience plays right along. Lots of applause, laughter and cheers for the local shoutouts. I laughed a lot and never got bored. The humor is dark, risqué', sarcastic and not for kids. Right up my alley.

Sometimes these plays exceed expectations. Death Becomes Her did exactly that.

Go see it. It's here till Sunday.

PS....the sound at the Orpheum was fantastic for once. The sound crew for the play? They deserve a standing O.

Nebraska Election!

 That map above is my state in a nutshell. It is red as hell but fortunately, those 2 blue parts are where people actually live. That's Omaha on the Iowa border and that's Lincoln next to it. The combined population of those two blue spots are well over a million people. The state has a population overall of about 1.9 million thus those two blue parts are over 50% of the people that live here. Thank goodness that the blue parts keep the state from falling into 1950s type of ass backwards leadership and complete white supremacy. Instead, the blue parts keep us in the 1970s. Just enough pushback to counter the utter idiocy of the typical leadership of this state. The midterms are next week, and Nebraska is kind in a quandary. Trump is despised in the blue parts and is some sort of god to the rest of them. Key Trump's suggestion that Iran "take out" Los Angeles and San Diego and Nebraska Maga cheering that. Yeah "California" is the devil here and though most of the red parts have never ever been there they sure know the "reality" of California. Uhm no they don't but what's new. 

We have midterms here too and races that should not be close are close. The political ads are out of control and since we live on the Iowa border we get the Iowa political ads also. My favorite is the alleged "California" woman who moved to Iowa from California because her "values" were violated there. She once was "followed" into a women's bathroom by a man, and it's scarred her ever since. She doesn't much care for the "illegals" (tho she looks very Hispanic). I think she wants Iowans to vote for Republican racists. Hope the paycheck was worth it, lady.

Let's get local. 

In our Nebraska Senate race, it's the incumbent. Pete Ricketts, a Republican of course. He bought his seat when Ben Sasse resigned from the Senate. In an event that really wasn't different than Blagojevich selling Obama's Senate seat, Governor Jim Pillen, bankrolled by Ricketts, then appointed him to the Senate seat. Ricketts has real competition this time. A union mechanic named Dan Osborn. He ran in 2024 against our other worthless Senator, Deb Fischer, and did gather 47% of the vote in this ruby red state. Fischer survived thanks to the rural vote. 

This Senate race is up for grabs. Depending on the polls, it's either a Ricketts win, a toss up, or in some cases, Osborn beats him. We shall see. Ricketts is an unlikable rich kid who depends on Daddy Joe Ricketts' money to help him run CONSTANT ads calling Osborn a "con man" and a foul-mouthed Democratic plant (they have tapes from a snitch who follows Osborn around). Yet the polls don't change. Ricketts may win but it will be only because of the genetic Republicanism of rural voters. Osborn may win because Trump is a disaster. It truly is a toss up.

In the Nebraska district 2, which is basically Omaha with a gerrymandered rural county thrown in to dilute the Democratic vote. It worked as a complete Republican milquetoast named Don Bacon won numerous terms by 51-49. He barely survived every 2 years. Then he retired. Nebraska 02 is up for grabs.

The Republicans nominated yet another Milquetoast dullard named Brinker Harding. He runs ads with a hangdog look on his face as his wife and daughters dominate him. He has nothing to say except he's suddenly liberal on stock trading and affordability. He's floundering big time.

His opponent is a political activist from Omaha named Denise Powell (Brinker says she's from Florida though she's lived here for 20 years). Powell has worked magic getting the nomination from the Democrats version of Brnker Harding, John Cavanaugh, from a well know political family here, the Kennedys of Nebraska. But Cavanaugh is inherently dull with a wonky legal view of life. Powell went after it with an activist strategy. She was unique and Omaha Democrats went with her over standard vanilla white man.

Powell will beat Brinker (it's impossible to call Brinker Harding by his last name) of that there is little doubt. The Democrats have the advantage this time. Christ, Denise Powell may only win 51-49 but a win is a win.

Jim Pillen is the current Governor of Nebraska. He fell on a fumble once in 1978 while playing football at Nebraska. This 50-year-old event elected him in 2022. He is a partisan hack who governs Nebraska like 100% of his "constituents" are on his side. He calls half the state "libtards". He gives $2.5 million no bid contracts to women he "travels with". He runs up a billion-dollar deficit when a surplus was what he inherited. He seems intoxicated, unshaven and incoherent most of the time. He won't debate his opponent, State Senator Lynn Walz. He avoids Omaha at all costs. He hides out in rural counties to avoid conflict from any "libtards". He is a disaster but because of that R next to his name he may actually get reelected. The utter failure of this Governor is on display, yet he may win.

Lynn Walz is a perfectly nice woman, a Democrat, a religious person who walks the walk and a former state senator who was a voice of reason down in that screechy legislature of ours. But can she get traction? Pillen either leads in the polls or is statistically tied. He runs ads featuring his biggest failure, property tax relief. He has fucked that up so bad it will never happen as he will continue to take care of his corporate buddies with tax cuts and tax breaks. But that R. A big obstacle to Lynn Walz (yes, a cousin of Tim Walz). Can she overcome? Any other state he'd be gone. But not here. Dead 17-year-olds on his hog farm don't seem to matter. What's this lush's appeal? Oh yeah, he fell on a Billy Sims fumble 50 years back.

Christ. This should be a slam dunk.

Last Day Seattle Day 6/7!!

 Driving from Olympia back to Seattle is a drive thru "Real America". You know, rural America. Thus, the above Leave Trump Alone sign. Hilarious. Reminds me of Nebraska. And not in a good way. 

Back into Seattle to use up the City Pass. Parking? $36. Total so far now $372 just to park. Christ.

The Argosy Cruise was a "racetrack tour" of the Puget Sound. Mostly you see the Seattle skyline, the Coast Guard stations, the Edgemont Hotel, Bainbridge Island, the stadiums, and back to the dock. Nice and relaxing. Back to the waterfront for more lunches of clam chowder and fish and chips.

Chihuly Gardens and Glass was the final Seattle City Pass activity. Parking? $25. 

The glass blowing and the gardens are really cool to see. The glass sculptures are incredible, and an actual demonstration of glass blowing is done every 15 minutes. The place was small, but the sights were worth it.

Killing time in a strange city because you have a red eye not leaving till 11pm isn't easy. Getting to the airport area to turn in the rental also not easy. But once we figured it out it was a quick meal at Jack in the Box and a fill up of gas ($5.59) before turning the car back in, scrapes and all. Nobody noticed the scratches (pfew).

Then comes a 4 hour wait at SeaTac Airport. A redeye flight to Chicago overnight and no sleep. Arrival at 5am and now killing 3 1/2 hours before the Omaha flight takes place. 

Total Parking carnage....$397. Jesus. Add in the Omaha airport parking and it becomes $425. Just to park?

Yep! It is what it is. They didn't seem to want my Monopoly free parking card.

Bastards.

Multnomah Falls Day 5!

 Sunday morning in Eugene and this old hippie goes full new hippie. Avocado Toast and a hot cocoa at a little local diner. Then we notice that somebody had scraped the rental car on the back panel. Great, hit and runs happen up here too. Bummer man.

Off we go to Multnomah Falls, a short 30-minute drive from Portland. The falls are free to see. The parking is free. The beauty is free.

The falls are right there. You walk up and there it is. It wasn't too crowded so moving around was easy. A wedding party too photos in front of it, A quinceanera celebration took place there. Walking up to the bridge was about a quarter of a mile uphill. Max did the trek. Then I did the trek. The A Fib be damned. The falls from the bridge are even more stunning. Now why people ignore signs and carry on down a dirt hill to get wet and muddy is beyond me but they did. The hour or two was well worth it. Even the Willamette River is stunningly pretty. I haven't seen this much nature being so beautiful maybe ever. Trees and rivers and falls and mountains and Puget Sound. Wow.

Olympia/Lacey, Washington was as far as we could get to Seattle. A Comfort Inn or something similar. No parking fees.  The hotel was fine, but what happened there was not. Waiting for the elevator we heard a thump. The elevator door opened and a young man was sitting on the ground with a knee brace and crutches. He had fallen. Max and Max's Mom helped the kid up and off he waddled on the crutches to his room. Never fails with us.

The Falls and picking a kid up made the day.

Plus, free parking. Total damage in parking fees still $336.

Eugene Day 4! Huskers True To Form!

Thius will more of a football post. I have been to well over a hundred of Husker games over the years. They won 5 national titles, won 9 games a year at least and then came 2003. An egomaniac named Steve Pederson became AD and wanted his own stamp on the program. So he fired a coach with a 58-17 record over 6 years and hired a fired NFL coach. Look, the rest is the last 23 years. Disappointment, crushing defeats and my eventual descent into indifference. Yeah, I go but when they lose I move on. It's pure entertainment now. 

Road trips are what I actually enjoy. Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Illinois, Oregon. Getting out of Nebraska. The games are irrelevant anymore.

Eugene, Oregon is a quintessential college town. Animal House showed Eugene in its glory. It hasnt changed much. It is a beautiful town scenery wise and racked up zero parking fees. However, due to capitalism, and the fact Husker fans travel like lemmings, a $295 hotel, no a motel, a drive up to the door motel. Yeah, $295 cuz the damn game started at 8pm local time, 10pm my time, and didn't end till 11:30 or so traveling back to Portland was out of the question.

Nebraska football is a joke. They can beat the shit out of bad teams, but when they face adversity, they fold up in a fetal position and hold on for dear life and lose. This has happened for years. Nebraska has blown 18 games in the last 7 years while leading in the 4th quarter. This is unprecedented. It's a streak of choking that puts Nebraska #1 by far in losing like that. In fact, Nebraska has not beaten a ranked team in 10 years. That also is tops for mediocrity.

Oregon was ranked 25th in one poll so the opportunity to break this streak was right there. Oregon was playing a walk on quarterback who was as incompetent as they come. Former Husker Dylan Raiola had stunk the place up the week before and was benched.

Yeah, we've all seen enough Disney flicks to know what was coming. Nebraska led 14-9 with about 6 minutes to go. Oregon had the ball and had done nothing offensively the entire game. In comes Dylan Raiola, ex Husker quarterback. Max exclaims to Ducks fans, Dylan Raiola game winning drive coming up. Not sure if he bought it but I did. We all knew what was going to happen. At least us Husker fans did. 

Game winning drive by ex-Husker Dylan Raiola. Less than a minute to go? Oregon TD. 17-14 Ducks. Max storms off down the steps as we say bye to our very cool Oregon fan neighbors. What's the point? It's entertainment, right? Right?

Another choke job, two weeks in a row. Blowing a two-score lead against Indiana the week before. I saw it live. Now blowing another lead in Eugene in the fourth was under our belts. Leaving the stadium back to the shuttle bus was a sobering affair. Like I said, we are so used to this it's expected. 

The Oregon stadium is unique. Weirdly shaped, holds 54,000 and really not a bad seat in the house. It's also modernized a bit with handrails for us olds to climb steps. It was a pleasant experience as Oregon fans are so cool. The loss of the game? Yeah, who cares. The way it was lost? Right out of a feel-good movie about redemption. All that was needed was a PA announcer calling play by play (Oregon has a guy who's been there since 1967 and won't retire per Ducks fans. He has the energy of a sloth). 

The game was a great story. I don't care who won, this was a tremendous story of a kid who stunk up the place the week before who came off bench to beat his former team. Cmon man, win or lose, this was legendary.

Again, no parking fees. Parking carnage holding steady at $336. 

Go Big Red always!

Portland Day 3!

 Off to the mean streets of Portland. Ya know, the city MAGA can't stop saying is burning down because ANTIFA HQ is there. I still couldn't find the actual HQ to pay my dues after dodging all the "fires" and "looting" going on 24/7. For real, it was peaceful AF because of course it is.

Portland is a nice calm city. People walk around at night, they sit in parks, they go to bars and convenience stores. No problems. Conservatives are such scaredy cats.

The Oregon Historical Society is a museum in which you will find out EVERYTHING you ever needed to know about the state of Oregon. Its sordid past is highlighted. Oregon after it was admitted to the Union, passed a law outlawing blacks from living there. Yep. And if they catch you, you get 39 lashes as an "incentive" to leave Oregon. The Asians weren't liked much either. So yeah, Oregon is kind of like every other state but at least they "woke" up and learned a lesson. Unlike some other states that have never learned much of anything. I'm lookin at you Nebraska. Some would say the place was "woke". I say it was truthful.

Saturday was No Kings Day. We saw very nice protesters and joined them for a bit. Lots of honks, lots of support, and lots of activists trying to save the country. Then we went and ate and then they were gone. No Kings!

Off to Eugene for the Husker Duck game. Parking at hotel was $45. Total so far, $336 to park.

Seattle Day Two!

Day Two was going to be epic. Whale watching. After visiting a sculpture garden near the docks, we made our way to Pier 69 for boarding a whale watching boat for a 4 hour tour. Goddam it was freaking freezing when we left the dock. I don't really get cold, but this excursion was COLD. I had to flee the outside for the inside and listened to the naturalist tell me all about whales we may or may not see. She was THE most informed person on sea life maybe ever. I couldn't wait to get out there into the open seas. The Salis Sea to be exact. We sailed around and then our naturalist said look to the left and a collective gasp was audible from the tourists. A family of orcas, killer whales, were swimming around, surfacing with blowholes going full blast. It was breathtaking to see a whale in the wild. 

The 4 hour tour included seeing eagles, sea lions resting on buoys, islands, birds diving underwater to catch fish, killer whales and then, voila, Little Patch, a grey whale who should have been south by now but decided to hang around the Salis Sea. The grey whale, Little Patch (yeah he had a name) was covered in barnacles and looked kind of rough. But it was epic to see two different types of whales. It was kind of pricey but hell YOLO right? Ive seen whales in the wild where they belong. Cool.

The trip ended unfortunately and we were released from sea to wander the waterfront. The Pike Place Fish Market is overwhelming. There are 5 levels of shops and restaurants and fresh fish. We did not see them tossing the tuna around, but it was still a sight to see. Parking $36.  Total so far $256. To park.

Dicks Drive In. A simple non nonsense burger joint. You can get burgers, fries, shakes and drinks. That's it. Not to mention it wasn't that expensive. Parking free.

The City Pass sent us to the Space Needle. Parking $35. There was a Doja Cat concert going on nearby, so the fans were dressed to fit the Doja Cat crowd. Short dresses, pink hair, 80% females and they were having the time of their lives. Good for them.

The Space Needle. You go up on an outside elevator. You get off on the top and walk around with all the others. It was crowded at sunset because why wouldn't it be? It's Seattle's claim to fame. And again, the City Pass is worth it all. Beautiful views from atop the Needle.

Finally, back to the hotel.

Parking damage so far, $291.

Seattle Day One!

Never been. The Pacific Northwest. Well, I was there when I was a kid since my grandma lived in The Dalles, Oregon but I was 10. I don't remember a whole lot of it except maybe being on the Columbia River dam with my brother and Dad and him driving across the border into Washington so I could say I was there. Hell, it's been 60 years.

We flew into Seattle on Tuesday night. We found a fleabag near the airport to crash for the night. Damn, who pays for parking at a Red Roof Inn? We did. $14? Seriously? Hey man by the time this trip ended, $14 was cheap to park.

Downtown Seattle is compact. Everything is right there within a few blocks. Stayed at a Courtyard by Marriott. $81 a night to park. Spit take. See what I mean? $14 was cheap.

MOPOP. The museum of pop culture. Close to the Space Needle, the Climate Arena, and a convenient parking lot right across the street. It was fairly empty. WARNING!!! Max paid the parking fee, $70??? $70 bucks to park? The rubes from Nebraska have arrived ready to be fleeced.

The museum itself is very interesting. they have Hendrix's guitar. Costumes from Wicked and the Wizard of Oz. Interactive exhibits, More guitars. Huge pile of guitars. Buy a Seattle City Pass and save a bunch of cash on admittance fees. Too bad they don't have a Seattle Parking Pass.

Then it was off to Easy Street record shop. Tons of used vinyl, CD's and clothing. The place was everything Seattle is. They gave out whistles to use if ICE showed up. There were NO ICE signs in many businesses. It was epic to see. Recommended. Hey and the parking was $12 or so. Parking fees so far? $256 and it's only Day One.

We checked out the Seattle waterfront, the stadiums, and Buddha pigeon, a fat happy pigeon sitting on a ledge outside our hotel room. Yes, I am easily entertained. Buddha Pigeon was a hoot.

It was Day One in the books. A little Detroit style pizza at Moto Pizza in downtown and get ready for another day of touristy stuff and avoiding the mental cases wandering the streets ranting about something or other. Yeah, we have those back home too. Mental health is a crisis in this nation but that's another story.

Wynton Marsalis!

 My Uncle Dick was hardly a hip dude. In fact, he may be the squarest person I've ever known. But one time, even though being mean to rock music (the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band to be specific) he exclaimed that jazz was "better than that rock n roll". And to be honest I do not disagree with his opinion though I'd be more like jazz and rock are the best equally. Jazz has always been my go-to. When I'm hearing Miles or Coltrane or Basie or Roach or Dizzy I go into a different world without the artificial means. Jazz is something totally surprising and even the musicians can't tell you what's going to happen.

Now most music freaks will tell you they saw the Dead 66 times (me never) or Springsteen 46 times (me 5 times) or Phish 33 times (me once) or Pearl Jam 25 times (me 4 times) but my most seen act is Wynton Marsalis and a quartet or his Lincoln Center Orchestra at 9 times. His demeanor is humble, yet you can see he is THE leader of this orchestra consisting of a stable lineup of the best jazz musicians out there.

Wynton is retiring next year so his appearance at the Lied Center in Lincoln was his last. I do not know if the orchestra goes on but if it does, trombonist Chris Crenshaw, or saxophonist Sherman Isby, or trumpet player, Marcus Pointer, seem like successors to the best leader you can have, Wynton Marsalis.

Marsalis' band played two sets of about 45 minutes each, playing standards and originals and every second was every bit of jubilance that the packed house made it.  Constant applause for the solos, the cohesion and the atmosphere. 

Among the local references was a Chris Crenshaw original dedicated to ex Husker quarterback Tommie Frazier (complete with a Go Big Red chant) and the presentation to Marsalis of a distinguished fellow of the Lied and a Husker jersey with his name on it. He seemed genuinely moved by it.

Shout outs to sax player Alexa Tarantino who plowed through solos though visibly pregnant. To pianist Dan Nimmer for keeping the groove. To bassist Carlos Henriquez and drummer Oben Calviere for keeping the train moving. This is great stuff and you either get it or you don't. 

So Long Wynton Marsalis. Thanks for the memories.

Jefferson Starship!

 After last night's excursion on the SS Yacht Rock, the current night brought back the memories with a concert from 70's icons, Jefferson Starship at the Astro Theater in LaVista. The front end of the concert featured 3 other 70's hit machines, Firefall, Atlanta Rhythm Section and Pure Prairie League. Great, more yacht rock.

Firefall is/was a kind of country rock band, borne from the ruins of the Flying Burrito Brothers, that had big ass hits like You are the Woman, Just Remember I Love You and a sort of hit in what is one of my favorite songs from that era, Cinderella. The 30-minute set was energetic and well received by the crowd. There's only one original member of Firefall, guitarist Jock Bartley, left in the band, but the veterans onstage were of age to be originals so good for Firefall. They were great.

Atlanta Rhythm Section was next. That band also had hits in the 1970's and none were really my jam. The only original left is singer Rodney Justo, and from what I hear pretty much the rest of the originals are no longer with us due to being shot by cops, falling over tree limbs and drugs. ARS had two huge hits with So Into You and Imaginary Lovers and they did them in their 30-minute set. It was fine but like I said, not my jam.

The last band out was Pure Prairie League, another kind of country rock act with a couple of 70's hits including Two Lane Highway and of course, the monster hit Amie. There are no originals in this band, Vince Gill, the original lead singer on Amie seems to have moved on to better things. But the members of the current band are certainly capable of continuing keeping the music alive, including what seemed to be the world's tallest bassist, Jared Camic. He towered over everyone onstage. Maybe the rest of them are short but wow, that dude is tall. Their 30-minute set contained all two hits including the showstopper, Amie, worthy of a handshake from Paul Hollywood (IYKYK). 

Now look, there are two Jefferson Starships out there. There's Starship, which is fronted by Mickey Thomas and there's Jefferson Starship, fronted by singer Cathy Richardson and original member, 88-year-old David Freiberg. So as far as I'm concerned there's only one. The one we saw tonite.

Jefferson Starship, borne out of the ruins of the Jefferson Airplane, was formed in 1974 by Marty Balin, Paul Kantner, Grace Slick and David Freiberg. The hits followed. It was acceptable rock to the masses as opposed to the long jams and weird songs from the Airplane. The hits were many. With Richardson playing the Grace Slick role and of all people, Freiberg played the Mickey Thomas role. Did I mention he's 88? He has to be the greatest 88-year-old singer on earth. His voice is spot on, hitting the high notes of Balin and Thomas. He is amazing. Richardson has the chops and the power of Slick's voice. If you were blind, you'd never know the difference.

All the hits were there. Find Your Way Back, Miracles, White Rabbit, We Built This City (no it's NOT the worst song ever written, hipsters) Jane, Count on Me and of course, Somebody To Love. The crowd couldn't stop cheering after going oh yeah, I know that one. The current band is also perfectly capable of keeping this music alive. Marty Balin is dead, Paul Kantner is dead and Grace Slick may as well be dead considering she's 87 and painting and "retired" from performing in the 80's because as she said then, " all rock n rollers over 50 look stupid and should retire". Ehhhh, maybe 70. 

It was another trip to the past for Max's Mom and me. Hearing the music of a group I last saw in 1978 with Kantner, Balin, Slick and Freiberg was gratifying. Let's hope they keep on going, Christ, Freiberg looks like he'll live to be 100, and Richardson has the sober vibe of Slick. The story she told of Freiberg going to Egypt with the Grateful Dead in 1974 for "some reason" (complete with a shrug from Freiberg) and declining to join the Dead because "I have a Starship to form" was THE most 70's story ever.

Nostalgia is wonderful if you are of a certain age. This foursome concert fit that bill. Wonderful.

Yacht Rock Revue!

 Let's put this out front. I was in radio for years and played what is called "Yacht Rock" constantly to the point I hated every second of Cool Change or Still The One or Afternoon Delight or The Pina Colada song. I still hate them if they come on the radio (who listens to radio anymore?) but as done by the traveling band called Yacht Rock Revue it's even tolerable at worst (Brandy or Danger Zone) and downright enjoyable at best (Africa or Takin It To The Streets).

The two hours that this cover band is onstage passes like that. Led by lead singer and shameless 70's lookin guy, Nick Niespodziani, this band is tight. Nick sings like whoever he's covering. For instance, He sounded exactly like Michael McDonald on Takin it to the Streets and then hit the high notes during Africa. What a voice (tho his voice did get a bit tired at the end). He runs the show like a true conductor. Leaving some songs to people with more appropriate voices as he plays guitar or keyboards. Kourtney Jackson sings the Olivia Newton John song Magic and the Fleetwood Mac song Everywhere while when not singing lead is a great backup singer (as are all of them). Keyboard player Mark Bencuya handled the Steely Dan covers sounding just like Donald Fagen. Peter Olsen handled the vocals on other songs like Lido Shuffle and Baker Street. Now let's talk about sax player David Freeman. Man, he's a pro. He handles the sax solo in Baker Street, Ride with The Wind and other songs. He captivates while onstage. A truly great saxophonist.

The crowd of nerds and dorks dressed in Captains hats, sailor outfits and one guy in a shark costume was sparse. Not exactly a full house at the Steelhouse which may be because the similar Yachtly Crew was in Lincoln last weekend but the crowd that was there was very into it. Max's Mom was really into it and Max's Dad, the aforementioned deejay in the 70's and 80's, tried very hard to hate it and failed. It was good stuff.

This is truly the music old rockers like me love to hate. It's wimpy, soft rock that appealed to haters of disco and haters of hard rock. It served a purpose at the time.

Hey, and it serves a purpose now. It's fun. Though Afternoon Delight still sucks and is unlistenable even by them. Go get a beer during it.

Come From Away!

 

Some of my favorite moments were spent with my parents convincing me to go see theater. On the occasions I did go with them I eventually fell in love with live theater. And the Omaha Community Playhouse was the spark. Hell once, I was in the front row of the balcony watching a weird modern version of Julius Caesar when a guy with a rifle came down the stairs, crouched down beside me as I wondered what the fuck was happening, and shot Julius Caesar dead. Then he ran away. I was mortified yet realized the genius that even community theater actors and directors have in them, Yeah it's like watching AA baseball but ya know what, it's still baseball and it's great.

Come From Away is playing at the Omaha Playhouse thru October 11th. Not familiar with Come From Away? Well, you should be.

Come From Away is a musical about when airplanes from all over the world were rerouted to Gander, Newfoundland on 9/11. 38 planes full of 7000 passengers overtook this small town in Canada and the residents jumped into action to make them as comfortable as possible. The story is of the heavily accented Canadians being saints and the passengers being pissed, until they aren't. We have the two gay dudes named Kevin, the female pilot who overcame the sexism of the industry, the woman whose son is a firefighter in NYC, the Englishman and the divorcee, the Mayor, the townsfolk, the Muslim man singled out as a threat, Beulah the sweet lady who makes everyone feel better, the Africans and a cast of real characters. The story is fascinating, the songs are catchy and the local actors are fantastic singers and thespians.

The set is a bunch of chairs that get rearranged by the actors as the story goes on. A plane, a bar, a bus, customs, libraries. That's about it. And it's handled expertly. It is probably 50% dialogue and 50% songs. This is a one act play that is nothing but fun, until the end when we find things out about the people. Spoiler alert, the woman loses her son in the Towers. That's kind of depressing but man the rest of it is pure joy.

Go see it. You'll laugh a lot. You may even cry. But you will leave the theater saying man those Canadians are fine people. When asked why they were so accommodating, the Canadians say well you'd have done the same for us, to which many Americans on the stage say, would we?

We love you Canada!

Old Age Isn't War, It's A Massacre! Phillip Roth

 

Being old isn't what it used to be. It used to be you got sick, doctors did their best with what they had at the time, and then you died of things that are curable today. It was not ideal and I realize 50 years or less from now the same story will be true. Cancer will be curable, heart problems will be fixable earlier, and once this regime is gone, diseases will once again be eradicated. Everyone is fortunate to be living today with all the fancy equipment. That is if you are on Medicare. If not good luck. Even though this country, thanks to LBJ, looks after its old (think that would pass now?) with Medicare and ignores the rest of the nation claiming Medicare for all is too expensive. Yeah, tell that to 31 of 32 so called civilized nations that have national health care. But then again, we need a trillion-and-a-half-dollar military to protect us like its fucking 1945 (shhhh but it's because congress critters have defense industries in their district building shit the military doesn't even want it)..

Being old catches up with you. If you've avoided doctors forever and then you finally have some sort of emergency and have to go to the ER or the clinic, you realized that probably wasn't smart. I spent a great deal of my life without health insurance and only because of a broken hand did I go and get hit with a bill I couldn't pay without financing. Then I got health insurance but was so used to going oh well, that'll go away, I never used it. Not smart.

When the heat began to become unbearable, and my daily walks with Malibu became a bit harder, and I had to mow the lawn in shifts because my energy was like a video game and ran out quickly, I knew something wasn't kosher. But after fainting at a football game in the heat, throwing up at a baseball game in the heat, and then being unable to walk 3/4of a mile in the 115-degree heat in Vegas, I was taken to the ER where I was diagnosed with Atrial fibrillation. Simply put that means when you take your pulse, it goes beat beat beat......................beat.....beat beat beat. That long pause between beats gets to the point where you say ok, please beat again. Yeah, people live with it as will I.

But this time I needed my heart shocked back into rhythm. They electrocute you basically and your heart beats normally.  Well in my case, it was about 3 days until a fib kicked back in. Then it was a stress test. Somehow, my resting heartbeat was higher than when stressed so that's abnormal. So the next step was a left heart catheterization. Oh great. I spent a lot of years in the insurance industry and read LOT of operative reports of heart caths. They never seemed normal. They usually led to open heart surgery or stents or bypasses and even some heart transplants. Not good.

All of this tortured me for 3 weeks between the stress test and this. I wanted it over. I just knew this wasn't going to be good. What the hell is wrong with me? I'm indestructible, right? RIGHT? Not at all. I knew I was doomed. Sticking a wire into your heart and checking to see for blockages or worse didn't seem normal.

As Tom Petty said, the Waiting is the Hardest Part, and dammit he was right. I stressed for weeks because I'm not used to being sick. I just knew it was gonna be bad, I knew it. 

Let me describe the procedure. They EKG you, they shave you, they put X's in ink on your feet (???), they make you wait. The nurses are saints reassuring you. You do not know if they will put the wire thru your wrist or your groin. Please be the wrist. The doctor came in and said 90% of the time the wrist works. Ok let's see if my bad luck holds.

In the OR, they put you on a table about the same width as your body so don't move. The nurses joked for me to not look down. Oh did I tell you, you are naked except for one of those damn gowns? The doctor came in, made a joke that he'd done at least a dozen of these, some even successfully before he said I am kidding and went in thru my wrist. Could I feel it under twilight sedation? No. And THEN, the dye came out of the wire and honestly, it felt like it set my heart on fire for about 5 seconds. Even under sedation, that was scary. 

After about 10 minutes of this hour-long procedure, the doc said everything looks good, no blockages and the leaky valve wasn't serious. They will just try and shock my heart back into rhythm in a couple of weeks. Good news? Well hell to the yeah, it was. The shocking I've been through so it's all cake now.

Anyway, this whole rant is about getting old isn't fun. Your lifestyle will eventually catch up with you. Even if you have not abused yourself for decades, it will catch up. Nobody is indestructible.

Go to the doctor.

Dolly Parton!

 The first time I saw Dolly Parton I was a small child of maybe 8 or 9. She was in a commercial with her mentor, Porter Wagoner, for a detergent of some sort. Ya know the times, the mid 60's, when if you bought detergent or gas, you got free glasses or in this case you got dish towels. Why do I remember this particular television ad? Well duh, I was just discovering my heterosexuality and Dolly was unforgettable. Up there with Elizabeth Montgomery, Barbara Eden, Diane Carroll and Grace Slick, Dolly got something moving.

I am not going to pretend Dolly's music was my cup of tea, nor am I going to pretend I knew everything about her, but she never left my mind. And she never left America's mind. She never faded away. I mean female icons like Carly Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, Helen Reddy all dominated the charts in the 70's but inevitably faded away. But Dolly never did. She made music, movies, TV appearances (never forget her telling Johnny Carson she was on the Tonight Show as often as he was), and philanthropy. She never ever lost the limelight. The only comparable female icon I can think of is Cher who also has never left the spotlight. But Dolly didn't piss people off like Cher may have with her political statements. Dolly was nice and had the impact of a velvet hammer. Cher belted you over the head with a ball bat. But Dolly was smart, a marketing genius, or perhaps she was just what she projected, a freakin saint. Dolly was a blonde, had a huge chest and freely admitted to fixing body parts that had begun to age but she was no dummy. She was smart as a whip and she knew it. She could carve you up like a Thanksgiving turkey and you would still walk away going wow what a nice person. Genius.

Dolly passed away today at the age of 80 from a recently discovered cancer (fuck cancer). The world is shocked. Even right wingers are 75% onboard mourning her passing, proof of the velvet hammer. This passing is a big one. I was shocked. I knew that she'd had some health problems and had cancelled a Vegas residency, but her videos of her announcing that kind of stuff made one convinced she would survive anything. But like all of us, she did not.

Christ, Dolly funded the Covid vaccine, she funded libraries and free books for kids, she supported Black Lives Matter (you think our little white asses are the only lives that matter she said), she supported victims of Tennessee fires who had lost everything, she supported schools that were underfunded and mostly black, she told Missouri to fuck off when they defunded her books in school libraries project and funded it herself and she refused to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom when Trump was in office.

When Dolly was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she initially refused because she didn't feel worthy cuz she wasn't a rocker. But she eventually accepted the honor and did a rock record with duets with Sting, Ann Wilson, Steve Perry, Rob Halford, Pat Benatar, Stevie Nicks etc... A lot of it was pretty good. Admittedly I listened to the album for the Joan Jetts, the Sheryl Crows, the Paul McCartneys and the Lynryd Skynyrds. But she was great also.

Dolly was a plus for the human race unlike a certain other 80-year-old. I will miss her light in this dark ass world.

Democratic Socialism!

 Democratic Socialism!! It scares the shit out of old white men, currently in power, because it threatens their very relevance. The GOP pisses their pants at its mention. The Democrats, instead of embracing the concept and accepting the new guard, start blathering about leaving the party because it means they are finished. You're old boomers. Your time is over. Accept it. I am to the point where anybody over 70 will never get my vote again. Go away. And truth be told, I'm dangerously closer to 70 than 60 and realize my generation of boomers have become their parents. We used to protest, smoke weed, stand up to the man, march for civil rights, end wars and drive crooked presidents out of office. Now? We want to run over protesters legally, oppose legalizing weed, are the man, suppress civil rights to keep white men in power, supports wars and shrug when a crooked president does something crooked. We are pathetic. We are the Progressive insurance commercial. We've become our parents and not in a good way.

Now some of us had cool parents. Greatest Generation people who may not have understood the hippies and the antiwar movement but accepted it without hollering about it too much. Archie Bunker was real then and unfortunately is even more real today. Archie was a clown to be laughed at. The ignorance was funny. Mike Stivic was also a clown in his own way. A condescending lib. They were all to be made fun of. Haha.

But alas, though the ignorance of the masses remains, the ignorance of the politicians is dangerous. The United States Senate was once considered the "world's greatest deliberative body" full of intellects and the smart people. The House has always been a carnival side show, full of some of the dumbest people on Earth, but the Senate? Even the red states sent smart people, though they be Republicans, and with few exceptions, you could be proud of your Senators. Well then came 1980, and the whole thing changed. A wave of morons swept into office on the coattails of the guy who started this all, Saint Ronald Reagan the First. Christ, Chuck Grassley was elected in 1980, and the old bastard is still there because Iowa refuses to vote anybody out of office. And its only gotten worse/

Dopes permeate the Senate. Evil permeates the Senate. When you have the likes of Tommy Tuberville, Marsha Blackburn, Eric Schmitt, Mike Lee, Tim Scott, Katie Britt, Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz, Pete Ricketts, Cindy Loomis, and whatever that twosome from Idaho is, the body is the same as the House. Hissing possums.

Oh the Democrats don't get off here. When you have the likes of Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin, Angus King, and even Bernie Sanders all OVER 80 still hanging on, no wonder younger people like Mamdani and Abdul El Sayed win primaries. Democratic socialism! Shhhhh but go real dumb like Trump, over 80, and say "communism" just lke the GOP has done since 1946. When you got nothing, go straight for the C word. And the GOP got nuthin.

What is Democratic Socialism? It's Finland, or Denmark, or Holland, or Norway or Sweden. Hardly bastions of commies, these countries provide its citizens with basic needs. Health care, income, holidays, a balanced work/life. low crime rates and democracy. Even for the hypocrites who constantly rant about nonwhites yet accept all the benefits of democratic socialism. The white supremacists are all over these countries, but they seldom elect them, unlike here where we elect the old bitter white supremacists to office and then shrug when they act like the racist bigots they are.

It's time for the old white men to get the fuck out of the way. As much as they kick and scream, or threaten to bolt the Democratic Party, they must be ignored. Leave! Go ahead and leave! OR....get onboard and work together to eliminate the threat of another 2 years of Trump ass kissers kissing his ass.

If that happens, because of Democratic infighting over a word, or more likely their refusal to cede power, we are doomed. 

This is the year my friends. We either cut this regime's nuts off, or we let their cowardice win again.

Democratic Socialism? It's simply a word.

No use throwing away 250 years of democracy out the window over a fucking word.

Magic of Motown!

 Who doesn't love the Motown hits? Oh, I'm sure there's some cranks out there who do not but they are wrong. Period.

The Magic of Motown traveling show came thru Omaha last night and though it wasn't exactly a packed house, it was a show full of energy both from the singers AND the crowd. The rotating cast included four male singers handling the Four Tops, Smokey, Sam and Dave, and the Temptations while the three female singers knocked it out of the park with Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, a killer version of R E S P E C T and another killer version of Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You performed by a young lady stating how she hoped she did justice to the song, much to screams of "You got this Girl" and other encouraging shout outs. She, of course, like she does every night, killed. It was phenomenal.

The show is a sort of Vegas type tribute show and there is nothing wrong with that because it's all about the music. People of a certain age made up the vast majority of the crowd. Black folk, white folk all singing along and the black folk proving that they got the moves and the white folk do not but nonetheless, they have fun. Watching old white people dance never fails to amuse me and it didn't disappoint yet again.

So much talent on that stage and it's a shame that I don't know any of their names because the Orpheum Theater in Omaha has one of the worst sound systems in existence. If you didn't know the lyrics to the classics, you were left out. The introduction of the cast of singers was garbled and indecipherable. Oh well, all I can say is that one guy doing Smokey and MJ was fantastic. That one woman doing Aretha was kick ass and that other woman doing Whitney was marvelous. Sorry I don't know your names.

Notes:

They used local musicians in this show. Sax players and guitarist were local. Keyboard player and drummer are with the show. All of it was smooth as hell.

Late Arrivals--I mean Ive been there getting there late. But 99% of the time I am in my seat on time. This crowd walked in 15 minutes late, a half hour late and it's a pain in the ass distraction. In this case CPT doesn't mean what it usually does. This time it stood for Creamy People Time or Cracker People Time. Be on time people.

The sound system---It sucks. Sometimes a show will bring in their own sound systems and sometimes they just use whatever atrocity passes for a house sound system. This show relied on the in-house sound people. I'm not blaming them; they only have to work with what they got, but cmon man. FIX IT!

The Magic of Motown-- worth it? Absolutely. The music is timeless. The performers are great. There's a joy in the air listening to these classic hits. What more can you ask for?

If it comes back, I'll Be There and there Aint No Mountain High Enough to stop me.

Anthony Fauci Vs Rand Paul!

 The calling of American hero Anthony Fauci before a Senate hearing led by his arch enemy, a moss haired "libertarian" named Rand Paul (Neighbor-Ky) was bad enough, but when Paul and his fellow blowhards decided to simply use it as an opportunity to appeal to the anti vax, Covid was a hoax, anti-mask morons who make up the GOP base it was a shitshow.

Fauci gave a statement, calling Paul unhinged, and then clammed up, invoking the 5th for the rest of the hearing because he understood it was nothing but a trap to satisfy Paul's weird ass obsession with the good Doctor. Now Paul, a so-called libertarian who hates the feds overreach, did what most "libertarians" do when pushed, they turn into pro federal government thumb breakers ready to throw everyone in prison. Paul warned Fauci of "repercussions" for zipping his lip. I guess that means Paul will go home, dress in his Prussian military threads and think of ways to define "repercussions".

Meanwhile the screeching monkeys of the Senate committee got all their sound bites in. Senator Pussy, aka Senator Hawley, asked Fauci what day it was. Hawley, a fist pumping anarchist, then proceeded to get in his campaign shorts before yielding. Typical Hawley performance. A laughable high school theater production of All The Presidents Men. But in this case, the pussy from Missouri is on the crook's side.

Senator Bernie Moreno, a used car dealer and crypto prick. dropped the F bomb to get the attention he craves. Who the fuck do you think you were? Migawd, these assholes could ask the same questions of their cult master. The irony is out of sight.

But the worst moment was when the "Libertarian" Rand Paul, had Fauci's lawyer, David Schertler, removed from the proceedings for having the gall to bring up the Bill of Rights. Schertler left and Paul lost all libertarian cred. Again.

Look, Fauci is a national hero. He aint perfect, but he saves lives. Which is more than I can say about the libertarian, the pussy and the used car salesman. 

A contempt of Congress vote will come next week which I'm sure that Senate idiots like Tommy Tuberville and the bag of hair Marsha Blackburn will vote yes. Then Fauci can join the list of contempt of Congress folks still to be dealt with. Ya know like Jim Jordan (Greasy-Oh). Christ Ohio, what the fuck is wrong with you electing sex crime cover up artists, couch fuckers, used car salesmen and that wife beater Max Miller (DV-OH). Stop trying to become Alabama, that's Nebraska's job.

Paul released portions, very carefully, of Dr Fauci's diary (Gawd they love diaries over there on the fascist side of the aisle) that would intend to make Fauci look start struck. What Paul left out, I'm sure it was just an oversight, was Fauci's views on what a dangerous idiot Donald Trump was. Fauci was baffled by the President and his obsession with ratings and covering up Covid, which of course Trump thought would make him look bad. You know like the Covid will be over by Easter and the churches will be filled. 

Dr Fauci is 85 years old. He is retired. He has Fuck You money. And he's using it.

Rand Paul is 63 years old going on 126. Unfortunately, he still has a job. And he will use it to grandstand and roll his eyes and blather on. Fascinating!

Oh, and come on Kentucky. Your senators are this dweeb Rand Paul, and some guy who may not even be alive. You can do better than reelecting a "libertarian" fascist or a turtle on life support. Don't try and become Louisiana, that's Nebraska's job.

Yukking It Up With Fascists!!

 There she is, Meet the Press' Kristen Welker, yukking it up with Joseph Goebbels Stephen Miller at the White House Correspondents Dinner last week. This is proof that journalism is deader than Lindsey Graham. When the so called "free press" laughs it up with the very fascists who would jail them for saying bad stuff about the Fascist in Chief, it is deader than Tommy Tubervilles brain. The usual nonsense that is the WHCD usually consisted of a gathering of the Washington "journalists", they jerked each other off, and then the current President would get up and give a funny speech. Clinton was funny, W was funny, Obama was funny and then came the least funny man in the world, no not Greg Gutfeld, but Donald Trump. Trump refused to show up, keeping up his image as a press hater with his foolish followers. until last week. 

Well of course he was supposed to be there in June, and was, but some guy busted in with a weapon, and attempted to "assassinate" uhhhh hell I don't know. So the event failed to launch. RFK abandoned Cheryl Hines, Vance rushed out without Usha, Miller ran out feeling up Katie and Trump peered out from behind a curtain like "wow my fake assassination attempt seems to be going well". Thus, the event was cancelled and rescheduled because the WHC never misses an opportunity to praise themselves.

It was last Friday night. Trump sat there looking glum and playing with his mouth thing, whatever that was. The journalists getting awards, much to the anger of Trump, walked up to him and shook his hand with a fuck you smile. Kaitlan Collins did that, but had no idea what was coming.

Trump's speech was misogynistic, xenophobic, racist, homophobic and included his obsession with transgenders (whats with these weirdos?). He compared Collins to Dylan Mulvaney, called other politicians clowns, stated his hate for Adam Schiff (very Christian of you), went after late night talk show hosts, and even tried to joke about RFK's penchant for eating roadkill. Silence except from Trumps clapping monkeys in the cabinet. The problem, Donnie, is that your lame ass shit doesn't play with an audience not wearing red hats and being easily amused.

But back to the beginning. Laughing it up by "journalists" with the very people who would put you in a camp as soon as they get Supreme Court permission is a bad image. Independent press? Oh, I know it's ALWAYS been a reach around jerkfest with the politicians and the press, but the threat of Reagan or Bush or W was nothing comparable to this guy, Trump. Those presidents had a sense of humor, gently chided the Fourth Estate and even were self-deprecating. This guy is incapable of anything but lame jokes and jabs at others while comparing himself to Jesus, Lincoln and Einstein. 

I don't know what's going to happen. Journalism may not survive as heads of networks and news organizations cower in fear that Trump could cost them money. So, they kiss his ass, back off on reporting on the crimes he's committed, settle lawsuits, appoint Bari Weiss like sycophants who fire anybody who gets too close to the truth. It is disgraceful what this maniac has done to the cowards of the "free press". And it's disgraceful that the Fourth Estate turns out to be such chickenshits. It is a perfect storm for fascism. November will tell the tale.

Meanwhile the only saving grace is the reaction of the crowd to Trump's attempt to be Bob Fucking Hope. Including his cabinet members after he brings up their weirdness of eating dead whales.

Yuck Yuck!

Trump Regime Math!

 They are from the top left

1) Lt Tyler Feehan of Hawaii' 25 years old

2) Sgt Michael Swinton of North Carolina 30 years old

3) Pvt Isabella Gonzales of Texas 19 years old

4) Sgt Angel Rampersad of New York 28 years old

These four soldiers died due to Iranian missiles and drones hitting them in Jordan and Iraq, respectively.  

This last week, the Pentagon, led by Low T Pete Hegseth, removed them from the casualty list because, ta daaaaa, Trump had declared a ceasefire in April so therefore, they aren't really dead or whatever. Translation....18 dead looks worse than 14 dead so if we just ignore those last 4, everything is kosher ad lets Trump brag that we "only" lost 14 souls in the Iran War as opposed to the "200,000" we lost in Vietnam. Too bad Prez bone spurs wasn't one of them.

These four young people died for the ego of an 80-year-old maniac from the USA, a 76-year-old monster from Israel and a 77-year-old Thumbreaker from Iran. These 3 old men have caused such suffering in the world to satisfy their own ego, insanity and political madness, that they are the Putin, Xi and Kim of the so-called free world and a religious theocracy.

But when it all comes down to it, I don't give a rat's ass about any of the aforementioned creeps. The sooner they are gone, the better. What will the warmongers and whackos whose solution to everything is to bomb the shit out of anybody, do when those 3 are just a footnote in history. Probably try and find a new war criminal to kill more people. But whatever, all political leaders who act like those 6 are pieces of shit and deserve whatever happens to them. Think Khadaffi.

What I do care about are those 4 dead kids, along with the 14 others who died in the Trump/Netanyahu Folly. All should still be alive and those 6 should be in prison.

But they aren't, the 18 are still dead and those last 4 are erased by Whiskey Pete Hegseth from the killed in action list. Hegseth is a despicable human being who prances around a Navy boat like he's auditioning for the Joffrey Ballet. He claims Low T is a problem for troops. No, getting fucking blown up is the problem. The only thing Hegseth ever blew up was the Fox News bathroom. 

Hegseth had to make "sacrifices" to satisfy his evil master. And I guess two women, a black guy and a white guy were cool to bump.

Fuck Pete Hegseth. Fuck Trump. Fuck Netanyahu. Fuck the Ayatollah.

Those heroes deserved more gratefulness from their leaders.

I for one thank them for their service.