Posts

86 Ribeye's?? That's a Lot!!

One of my first tasks tending bar, was working the service bar in the kitchen of a very nice steakhouse. It was a good way for a kid who technically wasn't legal to drink alcohol to learn how to make cocktails. It was a good set-up for all as the waitresses could put in food and drink orders in the same area, saving time and a lot of steps in the process. Most restaurants don't have the space for this, but this one had been designed by a very good restaurant man. It was a busy place and I learned speed. There are only two kinds of bartenders: the quick and the dead. I was becoming a top hand.  I was brand new to the business and fascinated by the organized chaos of the kitchen with the waitresses barking out orders to the cooks on the line, the cooks repeating those orders and all this getting done in a timely, tasty, manner. I picked up on what was going down, enough to know that I didn't want to be on either side of that line. It has always bemused me though, that it took...
Post a Comment
Read more

Most of Life is Just Showing Up

 There are threats against presidents and other elected officials all the time. Most are easily dismissed when the Secret Service visits the person and they determine the person is unserious or totally incapable of carrying out whatever their threat might have been. It's usually somebody talking shit, with no terrorist or political ties.  But what if they learned of a credible one, with a fit, educated, potential bad actor, with actual intent and desire? Could they keep such a person on a long leash if they might be able to use him for political purposes with no risk of them succeeding?  Crime-fighting includes stealth and undercover agents infiltrating criminal organizations at every level, from the feds on down to your local cops. It even- according to Trump's ridiculous DOJ- might include The Southern Poverty Law Center (a non-profit Civil Rights organization) because they allegedly  used paid informants to infiltrate the Klan and other evil entities to keep an ey...
2 comments
Read more

A Conspiracy of Dunces

 Well, fuck me a-runnin'- it really was about expediting Trump's ridiculous ballroom fantasy! Within moments of the *attack*, pundits that had been queued up all evening unleased their posts, all pretty much saying, "THIS is why we need a ballroom!" Seemed a little planned, didn't it? The production values of these assassination attempts  have never been good under Trump. Most people put as much stock in the three as they do his claims to have ended eight wars. This WHCD one seemed really thrown together. It was utter chaos as SS and security scrambled about, seemingly for effect, and diners seemed confused and unaware of what was actually happening. How many thought a waiter dropped plates? All the *action* and gunplay transpired on the floor above. The guests were never in danger. But part of the show is to get the first-class passengers to the safety of the lifeboats of the US Titanic, because people expect that. We all found out how not precious the wives are ...
Post a Comment
Read more

It's It's a Ballroom Blitz, Ballroom Blitz

 I had no intention of watching the White House Correspondents Dinner last night, because those things aren't funny like they used to be. This was going to be the first one Trump ever attended whilst president. That's interesting because he had four opportunities to attend the shenanigans in his first term, but passed because, for a fat guy, he has very thin skin. He does not take teasing very well. He takes umbrage instead and he doesn't do well at that either. We may never know, but since part of his charm is insulting the press corps and journalists, he might have had some real zingers lined up about Kaitlyn Collins that would really put the fourth estate in their place, probably for good. Lard knows the {{{FAKENEWS}}} really needs to be destroyed and that was one of the things he was elected to do that Kamala Harris could not  be bothered to do because she's all political and doesn't golf. And she hasn't been dreaming of a ballroom for 150 years like a man w...
1 comment
Read more

The Last Cigarette

 Trump is going to allow firing squads for executions. Clearly, this is to satiate the bloodlust of his Maga faithful and give his regime the appearance of being all into law & order, but there is more afoot. There always is. Twenty-seven states allow capital punishment, but six of those are under moratoriums and not currently allowed to kill anyone. Does Trump's Kingly edict override all fifty states? Who knows when a republic gives way to a fascist monarchy overnight? It's hard to keep up with the changes when they come via a social media site or Executive Orders.  Personally, my beef with capital punishment is that it is too final. You make legal missteps and put a person in prison for life; you can give that person their life back when new evidence shows they were innocent. If you execute them, you can't. I don't generally have compassion for murderers even though there might be very good reasons to take another's life. These United States are chockful of la...
4 comments
Read more

Good Enemies Are Hard to Find. Bad Ones Find YOU

 I've never been one in life to have 'good enemies'. I've always been stuck with losers who thought they could better themselves by attaching to me like a parasite. This has been the case at both work and play.  I still hear from a person  who glommed onto me years ago on a now-defunct site known as Topix. It was as vitriolic and offensive as I guess Twitter is now, though on a much smaller scale. You couldn't block people there because the owner knew that would have been the kiss of death to his business model as, quite obviously, the only thing keeping the lights on was trolls annoying and fighting with people. It was moderated by trolls. Trolls there would have like twenty/thirty accounts where they would harass each other and other posters and talk to themselves to further their nonsense. It was fun though and I made some lifelong friends there.  I honed my writing skills and learned to take people down, shortly and sweetly. I mean, I always had that in me, but ...
2 comments
Read more

Bada Binge! Again

 I finished the last episode of my umpteenth binging of "The Sopranos" last night. It is still the best series that has ever been on television, and probably always will be. It is so good, that even when you know everything that is going to happen, happens, you still enjoy it. Rewatching gives the viewer a chance to study characters closer, understand their arc more, and appreciate the actor's skill at their craft. James Gandolfini was born to play Tony Soprano. He owned the role and did it better than no one else possibly could. Tony was a horrible person. I've heard all my life that actors prefer to play the villain because they can better display their acting chops and really explore the role. Fine. Probably. Daniel Day-Lewis is arguably the greatest actor alive today and he was born to play Bill the Butcher in "Gangs of New York", also a mob boss. Neither actor could step in and play either role, great as they are. That's just the way it goes with ac...
2 comments
Read more