BLATHER REVIEW

Uh-oh

A new ATS game has begun. I may be missing 'til Christmas...

What is it?

How do I play?

Here are the answers thus far:

/whatdoestheeyewant.html
/pyramids.html
/whoreofbabylon.html
/christians.html
/leaningtowerofpisa.html
/blackplague.html
/europeanconquest.html

Join the "fun", if you dare. :)

KISS. 1974. Firehouse

Gawd, I love YouTube. (Hope google doesn't @#$% it up.)

Helluvaband.

Back in the days before KISS took the world by storm they were a band making their way through the New York music scene. Here is their 1974 appearance on the Mike Douglas Show.

Mike Douglas was pretty cool. He looked like an old fogie, but that was his "in" for presenting new and upcoming crap. He played football with Alice Cooper. He had John and Yoko on as co-hosts for a week. He hammed it up at the Universal Studios tour lot.

And he presented KISS to a national audience.

I love the way Gene nudges Paul at the very beginning as if to say "This is it, remember to kick ass". And Gene looks at Paul early on to make sure he's fine in their first TV appearance but Paul needed no such encouragement. He knew how to sing to a room (and a camera) and the performance is first-rate. Ace, with bad lighting, really shines here.

Great sound, too. You can hear how Paul's and Ace's guitars play off of each other to get the desired effect. These were not sloppy 20-something musicians. They were going somewhere else and they knew it.

Attitude. That's what's most obvious here. They knew they were destined for bigger shows than the Mike Douglas Show. But they also knew that the Mike Douglas Show was their way to get to those bigger shows, and so they kicked ass for Mike Douglas' polite crowd. (Did they know what they were looking at?)

Crisp. Clean. Fresh.

This is KISS as we might have seen them in their early shows.

Unfortunately, this excellent song never survived their rise to stardom. Perhaps it was deemed too slow and plodding for a high-energy stadium crowd. But here you can listen to the real talent that made up that silly quartet of kubuki-styled New Yawkers who dared to become the band that they always wanted to see.

Clickity click.

Lyric in the extended entry...

She'll adore you and she'll floor you with her wisdom and her vision.
And you'll love it and think of it 'til you lose all intuition.

She can move you and improve you with her love and her devotion.
And she'll thrill you and she'll chill you,
but you're headed for commotion.

And you'll need her,
so you'll feed her with your endless dedication.
And the quicker you get sicker she deludes your medication.

Get the firehouse!
'Cuz she sets my soul on fire.
Get the firehouse!
And the flames keep getting higher!

She's like bad weather, but it seems so good.
You'll never leave her, but you know you should!

So Here's A Thought...

The borders in the middle east were drawn by Europeans. How 'bout we just let them sit down and draw their own borders? Maybe that would solve a lot of the shit that's going on there. I dunno.

Whoops

My first night on second shift and I set off the alarm.

Here's the thing: The lock sux. When Tex first gave me the key he said "It sticks a little -- y'gotta jiggle it -- but it works".

Uh huh.

I tested it the next morning and it didn't work. Rang the bell to get in. Tried a few times and it was hit and miss, but it seemed to eventually get the job done.

Then, on Friday, I locked up and it worked fine.

Then, last night, it didn't.

I "left work" at about 12:25am. Set the alarm. C-O-D-E + AWAY and I was good to go. By 12:40 I was sick and tired of trying to turn that stupid lock with that stupid key. I re-entered the shop and tried to disable the alarm. I pressed the first number. I pressed the second number and heard a beep. Whoops. I completed the code and pressed "stay" knowing full well that I'd f'd it up by forgetting that the first number should have beeped.

I looked for the "reset" or "start again, dummy" button, but to no avail. All I could do was wait for the alarm to sound. And it did. Loudly.

I went on the horn to call Big Red to ask him how to shut off that dam noise. I got the call from the alarm company and gave them my name and password just so's they know that it was a f#$k-up, not a break-in. (I didn't call Tex because... I'll tell ya in a sec.)

All's well that ends well. But, sheesh, that lock needs to be upgraded. As in: replaced.

Oh, I didn't call Tex because he had a busy day. He is, as of 6:33pm October 23rd, 2006, the proud Papa of a bouncing baby girl. :)

Hope nobody robs him blind tonight.

Blogathon! Help Keep Sporky Off The Streets!

GOAL HAS BEEN REACHED!! WOO HOO!!!!! YOU GUYS RULE!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

Some people who've made a decent living have had their livelihoods swept away when their jobs were sent overseas. Others, like me, who've made a decent living in the past have had their livelihoods swept away by technology. In my case, computers. The market for experienced printing press operators ain't what it used to be.

Well, after six months of looking for something that pays more than minimum wage, my unemployment benefits ran out. Surprisingly, at that point, finding a job that pays even a mere 8 bucks an hour proved more difficult than I'd expected. Even low-paying assembly work seems to demand several years of experience for crying out loud. And making the rounds is tough when you've got no gas in the tank.

While I am finally back to work (Yay!:)), I have come to be two months behind in my rent, and I wont have enough to make a payment until I'm three months behind. Needless to say, my landlady, Denise, is hurting, trying to make her mortgage payments without any income from yours truly in over two months. (She was on disability for a few years and is now probably making not much more than I am which ain't much, lemme tell ya.)

She needs a rent payment from me now. ASAP. As in this week. I can't afford to move. I don't want to move, and I'm sure she doesn't want me to move, but this is crunch time in Blather Review Land. So, my rare, precious and beautiful fellow bloggers, let's have a Blogathon!

My goal is modest: $600 by the end of the weekend. Even if it takes a week and a half for PayPal to get me some funds, at least I can tell Denise that help is on the way. So, whadda ya say, sporks fans? 600 bloggers at $1 each and we're there! But let's not count on 600 bloggers coming through for us. Give 'til it feels good! I may even have a prize for all donators. Maybe I'll email y'all a copy of my 2nd place Barnum Essay Contest winner. I dunno.

So, help to keep me off the streets. Help keep Blather Review online. Keep telling yourself that it's for a good cause. Spread the word, and lets see how fast we can reach that easy goal!

Thank you for your help!

Only 10 more shopping days 'til hot dogs and bologna are off the menu. :)

UPDATE @ 7:11pm: Woo Hoo! We're at $96.20 already! Thank you thank you thank you!! You guys and gals rule!!!

UPDATE @ 8:47pm: Nuthin' comin' in in a while. Come o-o-o-o-o-on, my Lovies! Let's see if we can bitchslap that $600 goal tonight and get it overwith!

Sending thanks to my special friends now...

UPDATE @ 3:52pm Sunday: Only 5 donations thus far. **sigh** Gotta spread the word a bit more widely. Let's see....

UPDATE @ 11:11pm: Goal is reached!! Just passed $600!!!

I am in awe of the blogosphere. I have no appropriate words to express my humble gratitude except to say THANK YOU. This really means alot to me. Crap, I wish I had something to say that was worthy of your generous assistance to a blogger in need. **sigh** Must. Get. Sleep. zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

New Improved Baseball Predictions!

Okay, so last week I correctly called only 1 out of 4 Division Series' winners. But, for the League Championship Series', I've come up with a method that should almost guarantee that I go 2-for-2.

First, I'll dispense with the whole idea of home field advantage. I'm now convinced that it doesn't exist. So, let's reassess the remaining teams and see what'll happen in the next week or so.

Detroit Tigers vs Oakland Athletics
As we saw in the Tigers' upset of the Yankees, good pitching beats good hitting. While the Oakland has had good pitching all season Detroit's pitching has been the best overall. Quite evenly matched offensively, all indicators point to a staggering Tigers win.
A's in 6

New York Mets vs St Louis Cardinals
As we saw in the Cardinals defeat of the San Diego Padres, consistant hitting beats inconsistant pitching. The Mets' pitching has been (slightly) better, overall, throughout the year, and their offense is far too deep to be shut down by the guns of St Louis. The Mets' first World Series appearance since 2000 seems to be all but inevitable.
Cardinals in 5

Well I'll Be

I guess there are lights in North Korea at night after all.

Or are there?

Out, out, brief candle! mwheh.

Help the Democrats Recognize U.S. Soldiers

Well, I'm sure everybody's already read about this story. They've replaced the photo of the Canadian soldier with an American flag, but I'm sure they're still in hot pursuit of a photo of an American soldier.

What most people don't realize, though, is that the photo of the Canadian was not the first photo used for the story. No, siree. But, the crack staff at Blather Review have found a screenshot of a cached version of the page as it existed just after the story was first posted. Have a look-see:

At least they're trying, bless their hearts.

Time to cook some crow again

Welp, the 2006 post season is here and that can only mean one thing. Predictions!!! Yeah, I know it's lame. When it comes to baseball, anything can happen in a short series. Still it's fun to pretend that statistics, hunches and voodoo alone can foretell the inevitable outcome of the fall classic.

So, without further ado, let's get to it. First up is the Division Series' best of 5.

New YorkYankees vs Detroit Tigers
This should be a very good series. Detroit has had the best pitching in the majors this season and New York has had the most productive offense. While the Tigers' hitting isn't as inconsistent as the Yankees' pitching, and in a short series you'd give the edge to the compressed pitching rotation, I'm going to give the edge to the Bronx Bombers mainly because of the home field advantage and the fact that they've beaten the Tigers 5 times out of 7 during the regular season. I predict a tough fight.
Yankees in 5.

Minnesota Twins vs Oakland Athletics
These two teams are very close to each other both offensively and defensively. However, their matchups during the regular season have favored the Twins 6 games to 4. That's not a whole of difference, but the Twins also have the home field advantage. The A's have hit more home runs during the season (175 vs the Twins' 143), but the Twinkies still ended up with a higher slugging percentage, more runs scored and their pitching staff has given up fewer runs. A good matchup, but Minnesota has the scrappy offense and a slightly more hard to crack defense.
Twins in 4.

San Diego Padres vs St Louis Cardinals
As weak as San Diego's hitting is, the Cardinals' offense has been only slightly better while the Padres' pitching has been outstanding this year. The Card's pitching isn't awful by any stretch, but it'll be too little to stop the Padres from scoring enough runs to win. St Louie may have more power, but in a short series y'gotta give the pitching the edge. Look for San Diego to overcome the Cardinals' home field advantage.
Padres in 5.

New York Mets vs Los Angeles Dodgers
The Mets may have the best record record in baseball but these two teams are actually quite evenly matched. What the Dodgers lack in home run power they more than make up for in on-base percentage and batting average. New York have been slightly better pitching-wise, but they're not stellar on defense by any means.
But, not only do the Mets have the home field advantage, they're young and hungry. They've watched the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the '86 Mets and they want to taste that victory. Yeah, I'm a Mets fan, what of it? All they have to do is have a successful 2-game west coast road trip.
Mets in 5.

Next up will be the League Championship Series'. Best of 7.

New York Yankees vs Minnesota Twins
This may be an even tougher matchup for the Yanks. While the Twins' pitching isn't quite as impenetrable as the Tigers', and their offense not quite as strong, the Yankees have had a tougher time defeating the Twins in the regular season. This'll be a barn burner, but New York will win in the end.
Yankees in 7.

New York Mets vs San Diego Padres
The Padres have the superior pitching but the Mets have the superior offense. While the two teams' on-base percentages and batting averages are virtually identical, New York's power has made them about 15% better at run production. San Diego may have the best pitching in the National League, but the Mets are pretty solid in that department, as well. If the Padres had the home field advantage I might give them the edge, but the Amazin's are just too good at putting runs on the board.
Mets in 6.

Which brings us to a Subway Series!!

New York Yankees vs New York Mets
The Mets have the pitching edge but the Yankees' offense is phenomenal. As a team the Yanks batted .285 this season, while the Mets batted .264, and their run production was about 10% higher. Regardless of where the games are played, I predict no home field advantage. The Mets will give the Yankees a good fight, but, in the end, the Yanks will have the upper hand. New York wins.
Yankees in 6.

Now let's sit back, relax, and watch my predictions go down in flames.

PLAY BALL!!! :)

The Heckler

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Sunday Comix

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