NASCAR

It's interesting to see this story, that NASCAR's attendance and TV ratings are way down.

I don't watch car races but yesterday (I think it was) there was one on. And in flipping the channels, we came across it. I was saying, How can anyone be interested in this? It's so boring.

Then there's this statement in the Washington Post article:

Moreover, there's a growing perception that the racing is dull.

I didn't realize there was a growing perception of that. I figured it was just the same as always, people thinking it was interesting. How exactly that could be, I wouldn't know.

It's cars going around in a circle. The camera is forever going from place to place. You can't focus on anything. It's extremely, extremely boring.

Susan Boyle

So Susan Boyle, the hottest singer out of Britain since ... who? ... Mick Jagger or John Lennon ... came in second on the TV show over there that she was on.

I heard a dance troupe came in first.

But it said in the story I read earlier today that Susan sang the same song that everyone's seen from a few weeks ago. And apparently there was only one other song that she did, which was shakier. I don't know the format of the show, but she's been a worldwide star for over a month, it seems, and somehow they've only managed to have her sing two songs? It sounds like they're moving fairly slowly.

I figured she'd win, but not knowing anything about the show, the format, or the other competitors, my figuring wasn't based on anything but the hype.

Government By Insult

It makes me wonder what some of the most scurrilous Republicans were like as kids. Probably reform school would've done them some good.

All the vitriol over Sotomayor from the wingnuts is obviously over the top. And the weird thing is they would've done it for anyone Obama nominated. They're equal opportunity slanderers. There's no way this kind of tomfoolery can be rewarded by giving in to them, of course. Because it's just civic vandalism to put it nicely.

I just have to trust that the American people are generally separating out the decent from the indecent. Limbaugh, Gingrich, Beck -- that strain of garbage -- of course are indecent to the extreme. I wouldn't give a dime to hear what any of them say. You'd think, though, Gingrich might have a little more sense, being a guy who once upon a time was actually given the opportunity to lead in government. But he's right out there in the lead on this one. The guy's a mess.

Some are calling for a filibuster, all that. We've come a long way from a few years ago when the Republicans actually said filibustering was unconstitutional and threatened the "nuclear option." I said at the time, What? They don't think there'll ever be a Democratic president? But now it's all just blatant hypocrisy. They don't care. I do have to hand it to them though on this point. If you're going to be a hypocrite, it is best for your hypocrisy to be so blatant and overboard that no one will know what to do with it. Because once people have pointed out a million times that you're a hypocrite, it loses some of its edge. Of course they're hypocrites.

Just get her confirmed as fast as possible and let these miserable souls crawl off somewhere and sulk.

Thank God The Republicans Are So Stupid

You'd think they'd know how to handle Sotomayor's nomination, with a little restraint, given the whole thing about demographics, voting patterns, and the GOP's present plight. But thank God they've thrown restraint to the wind and are exercising themselves mightily in pursuit of eventual extreme isolation.

Is extremism in pursuit of extinction a vice? No, for the GOP it's a virtue. You know, a sure way to get over the pain in one foot is to shoot yourself in the other. At least until you realize that now both feet not only hurt but you fall down and go boom. I love it.

I say I love it, but there are things I don't love about it. Personally I can't stomach human garbage like Tom Tancredo, but hey, if he's sacrificing the party for the good of the cause, more power to him. It's not like I'm going to tune in and watch him -- since I do have a tender tummy, and only so many brain cells I'm willing to waste.

It looks like we're seeing the genius of Barack Obama at work. These morons have to know there's a hook in that big piece of bait, and yet they seem oblivious. They're going for it every time. 2010 can't get here soon enough, then 2012. Then, if all goes well, we'll put an exhibit in the Smithsonian, "Great Moments In Republican History," since, by then, we hope they'll be entirely kaput. A guy can dream, can't he?

The really weird thing is it actually seems possible. The Republican party is suicidal. Someone throw them an anvil.

He's Racist

How out and out ridiculous is it that the country's biggest buffoon, Rush Limbaugh, is charging Sonia Sotomayor is a "reverse racist." He's racist!

How many times has he made racially insensitive and idiotic statements in just the last year alone? Good grief. The stuff that comes out of his mouth would plug up the sewer. All he's said about Colin Powell and Barack Obama.

Limbaugh is definitely an expert on racism, by personal experience. He ought to clean up his own act (and develop some humanity) before he feels righteous enough to take on someone else.

New Supreme Court Nominee

We have one. And of course the Republicans are against her. Like they were going to be against anyone.

If you're against anyone to the left of Judge Bork, that's not principle, that's just nitpicking.

I'm Losing Track

Wow, I've been out of touch. I'm losing track of all the give and take between Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Steele, Newt Gingrich, and all the other Republican clowns. And when I say I'm losing track, I mean exactly that.

I keep checking on the blogs I look at, and there are the headlines, what one of these (I'll say it again) clowns has said today or yesterday, and it just starts to run together, like fountain pen ink in a rainstorm. Or like mascara when you've been crying.

As far as Michael Steele goes, maybe I'm living in a circular world in which the same report is being processed and reprocessed over and over. Or maybe this guy just never shuts his mouth. Is he giving interviews in his sleep? Once you've been burnt on some of the stupid stuff you say ... it's just my opinion ... but it seems like you'd fly below the radar for a while. Or is his job just to be incendiary and let the chips fall where they may?

Newt Gingrich wants to jump into the mix and seems to be doing so more and more. He thinks he has a chance. I don't think he has a chance. I think his best days are behind him. And they weren't that great. Rush, I don't listen to him, but somehow it seems like I've heard that he's pulling back a bit. And Dick Cheney, the guy is such a disgrace -- doubtlessly guilty of crimes against humanity -- it seems like he would want to keep a lower profile. But I suppose when you were at death's door over 10 years ago with heart problems, you're not that worked up now about what might happen to you.

And Cheney obviously thinks the best defense is a good offense, or the best way to play is to stay on offense as much as possible. And there's a certain logic in putting it blatantly "in our face," and thereby keeping his risk down. It's counterintuitive. I believe we've seen that over the years. If you're going to muck up things, muck up the water, do it in a blatant, drastic, overwhelming way. Take Clinton for an example, he did some little thing and got nailed for it. But if he had some it in a blatant, drastic, overwhelming way, the case would have been so complicated and convoluted no one would've known what to do about it.

I can't believe I'm about to say something nice about George W. Bush. At least he's had the decency to keep a fairly low profile.

The Flip Ultra Video Camera

The Flip Ultra video camera is a piece of crap. Don't buy one.

I've had mine since Christmas 2008 and in the last month it has entirely quit working twice. The opening screen comes on and doesn't go away. It is unusable.

The solution to this vile set of circumstances is to let it set without batteries for 24 to 72 hours. That's the solution. You have a camera that you can't use for one to three days at a time. So if you have something you want to record, just ask if it can wait for one to three days, till you can get to it.

What if everything worked this well. Your refrigerator quit working? Unplug it for three days, then it'll be OK. Till a week later when we have the same problem.

Flip cameras have lost me forever. There has to be a better brand. Like any brand.

Badmouthing The Republicans

I believe I overheard someone yesterday complaining about the Republicans.

Now, of course I complain about them on a regular basis. If the Republicans had a complaint center, I'd be over there all the time, rattling on about my latest grievances. Ha ha.

But the person I overheard struck me as a real salt of the earth person, who's giving everyone a chance to do their best. (The difference with me is that I will never give the Republicans another chance -- they've blown it.) But when you have someone who's willing to give them a chance, and she badmouths them anyway, that means they're screwing up and it's being noticed.

Sometimes I think it's not being noticed, that they're flying below the radar with some folks. So it was good to hear her saying something like, "I think President Obama is doing his best, but they just criticize him whatever it is, no matter what." In that kind of exasperated tone of, They're not looking out for our best interests, but their own purely partisan interests and bickering for the sake of bickering. That's true.

So, Republicans, keep up the good work ... or should I say the bad work ... Your report card is waiting for you in 2010 ... And listening to the salt of the earth saying you're doing a poor job, that's music to my ears. Beautiful music.

Teresa Brewer

I got this CD at a record store -- mostly a used record store -- a couple weeks ago.

I haven't listened to it since I've been home, but I listened to part of it in our motel on a portable CD player.

It's different from Teresa's ordinary songs, which were pop with a lot of playfulness. These are more the teenage, light rock sound of the late '50s.

20 songs. My favorite song on the CD is one I've had the 45 rpm record to for many years. It was my Mom's actually but one we played to virtual death as kids, "It's The Same Old Jazz." I believe I still have that copy, as bad looking as ever but it still plays. Then one day I got what looked like a mint copy at an antique store for $3. Then I got it home and it skipped on my record player. So that's weird, the beat to death copy plays through, but the mint looking copy doesn't.

In its place, though, I had a download of questionable origin. But now I have the CD, so everything is good and proper.

This song I believe is fully entitled, "It's The Same Old Jazz Momma." The theme of the song is a daughter's justification of the rock era and '50s teenage sensibilities to her mother by comparing all that to the mother's memories of the '20s. With the great conclusion that it's the same thing, the same old jazz, Momma!

Lyrics including this: "Remember back in '22, the shimmy shake you used to do. Remember how you'd 'Bump and Meet.' Well, bump and jump keep company." And "Rudy Vallee had a megaphone, and Clara Bow had 'It.' Now Bill Haley has a microphone, and Mary Lou's a hit. And Daddy, Daddy, Daddy wore a raccoon coat. And drove a Plymouth too. Now leather jackets are the fashion note, and motorcycles too." But you can see, "It's the same old jazz, Momma!"

A Wedding

I have a wedding to go to tomorrow, a niece.

I haven't been to a wedding for quite a while, I mean a full fledged, all the trimmings wedding. I went to one in the fall in the park that was about a seven minute ceremony with no fanfare. But before that, it's been like years.

One of the coolest weddings I went to was supposed to be outside in the park, but because of rain, they went to a church. It turned out to be a nice thing that they did, since they had one of those four piece quartet groups with violins. Where they're really playing them, not just violin-synching to recorded music.

I don't know if my niece will have something like that. But I'm thinking it's going to be something nice.

So Much For American Idol

That was like going to a four star restaurant and getting plain old white bread. That's what Kris Allen is.

LOL. What a downer. Remember some of the American Idol finales of old, confetti sprayed everywhere, bright lights, the place going bonkers? Kris Allen wins and it's like a thud in there. Even the winner was like, I won? Me? How can this be?

Adam Lambert was definitely classy looking in losing. But I believe he will be the ultimate winner of this season, much like Chris Daughtry was a few seasons ago.

Why America would want Kris ... There's some terrible reasons possible.

The CIA Lied

I'm sure of it. Now we have yet another Democrat, which is the fourth I believe, saying the CIA kept sloppy records of a particular meeting, because they had listed a guy in attendance who was excluded from the actual meeting.

Why is it such a surprise that the CIA might ever lie? Have they been entirely forthcoming in the past about things? I think Leon Panetta is all wet. (By the way, wasn't he one of our guys? What's his problem all of a sudden?)

I haven't been watching the news -- seriously, so I miss this stuff -- but I've been reading that they're taking Nancy Pelosi to task over what she said about not being briefed early on about torture. These guys don't care about the truth. All they care about is scoring partisan points.

She probably is telling the truth. But they don't care.

Bush's Wreckage

Even if George W. Bush escapes justice in one sense, at least we got him in another way -- the GOP losing its appeal in almost every demographic group. I guess you can't run a criminal administration, neglect the people, trash the nation and actually get away with it (in every sense of the word, that is.)

We actually know who the crooks were, the Republicans. And now they get to pay the price. May they rot forever.

A Gallup poll shows, "The only subgroup in which the party saw a slight increase in support from 2001 to 2009 was frequent churchgoers."

The biggest decline was with the college-educated, 18 to 29-year-olds, and Midwestern voters, down around 10%.

I love it. I just wish it was worse for them.