Contemporary Inanity

Amongst the craziness, a little fun

We were really busy last night, which is good.  After all, I don't think my landlord would accept my working for him to pay off my rent, especially after the inevitable flaws in my work shine through.  Let's say that I'm much better with a shaker in my mitts than I am with a hammer.

I did get to have a little fun at the unwitting expense of some of the guests, though.  It's a good time when some inept (and I'm being very charitable) people try to collaborate on the crossword.

"What's a word for 'like jambalaya'?  Okra... no.  Stewy!"

Me: "Why don't you try 'cajun'."

"Yeah!  That'll work. C-A-G-U-N."

Me: *walks away, shaking head*

Later: "'Anniversary of Oct. 24.'  Is that D-Day?"

Me: *grinning, shaking head*

You get the idea.  It went on like this for a while.  I hope these folks are better in what they do in real life.  They must be -- otherwise, they wouldn't have any money to pay for their bill.

Opening Day...

is a week away!

Boy, it's been a long winter.

Tidbit -- March 30

On this date in 1970, in Caroline County, Virginia, Somethingroyal bore Bold Ruler a son.  That son's name would eventually be Secretariat, and he may have been the greatest racehorse who ever walked the earth -- hard to believe, but his owner won him on the flip of a coin.

Big Red, as he was known, finished fourth in his first race, and in 20 more starts he would never finish out of the money.  He was the first horse in 25 years to win the Triple Crown, a feat he accomplished with relative ease, though there was controversy about his time at the Preakness.  The track and States record he set at the Belmont Stakes still stands today, 36 years later.

In fact, let's see exactly how much better than his competition Secretariat really was.

Two items from a slow day

A guy came in today, and I have to admit, I wasn't my usual jovial self to him at first, although my anger was a little bit faked.  The man in question was wearing a Manchester United away jersey.  Though Man U is not on my list of favorites (or favourites, since we are talking about England after all), it wasn't the choice of club that caused me to say, "There's not enough money in the world to make me wear that shirt!"

You see, for those of you who don't know, Manchester United's shirt sponsor is American International Group.  That means that the AIG logo is splayed across the front of the shirt.  Not on a bet would I wear that shirt.

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I have a proposal -- if people are going to indulge in the unsanitary habit of chewing tobacco indoors, they should have the decency to bring their own receptacles for their expectoration.  In other words, clean up your own spit!

Anger enough to go around

On 26 March, in a joint press conference with the PM of the UK, Gordon Brown, Brazilian President Lula da Silva made a pretty provocative statement.  He said that the brunt of the economic downturn should not be felt by the world's poor, who had nothing to do with it.  That part wasn't too bad, but the following raised my eyebrows, at least.

"This is a crisis that was caused by white people with blue eyes.  Before the crisis, they looked as if they knew everything about economics, but now they are showing that they know nothing."

Whew!  My eyes are hazel.

I can understand why there is a lot of anger in the world directed at financial institutions, because I share some.  The guys who the anger is being directed at don't really care much, I guess. 

I know who rates my sympathy.

Magic Words

I'm sure I've written about this before, but I'm not going to bother to search for anything.  Sue me.

You were probably taught by your parents.  If you have kids, you probably teach them; if you are too young to have kids, you probably will teach them. So why can't you exhibit the behavior yourself?

If you ask someone for something, they'll probably be in a lot better frame of mind if you use those magic words that you were taught.

"Would you change the TV to TNT, please?"

See how easy that is?

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I guess I shouldn't paint with such a broad brush.  In point of fact, most people do say Please and Thank You.  Sometimes, though, when people forget to use those  words  in the first interaction, I'm not inclined to cut them any slack.  And that's bad for both of us.

Tidbit -- March 25

On this date in 1942, in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, one of the all time greats entered this world of dreams.  Her family moved first to Buffalo, then Detroit, where her career would take off. 

She has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which befits the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  You better think long and hard before you refuse to show this woman the respect she deserves.

She knows how to wear a hat, too.  That's not what you're going to see here, though.

Happy 67th Birthday to The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin!  May you live to see many more.

For all the chumbolones out there, here's a little old school soul for your soul.

Tidbit -- March 24

On this date in 1999, a truck carrying flour and margarine caught fire in the Mont Blanc tunnel connecting France and Italy.  The fire quickly got out of control and would burn for an astonishing 56 hours; 39 people perished.

I guess the surprising thing is that this fire was the first deadly blaze in the tunnel's lifespan.  After all, the tunnel is over 7 miles long and only 28 feet wide.  There are many compartments in the tunnel where people are to wait out fires, but they were only rated to last 4 hours.

It took three years for the bridge to reopen after all the damage sustained.  The cost to merchants on either side of the passage was enormous.  Security was improved as well.  There is now a fully staffed fire company in the middle of the tunnel.

Amazingly, the truck driver survived the disaster and he faced a trial after which he received a 4 month suspended sentence.

It's kind of a monotonous trip, even if it is accompanied by The Bangles.

Tidbit -- March 22

On this date in 1923, the first radio broadcast took place and the announcer was the legendary Foster Hewitt.  Hewitt was a pioneer and was the man who came up with the phrase, "He shoots -- he scores!"

Unfortunately, he did not trademark the phrase, as I'm sure it never would have occurred to him.  Here's the great man's voice over a pretty cheesy video.

Tidbit -- March 21

On this date in 1804, the Code Napoléon was adopted.  This, by far, was the grandest legacy of the man from Corsica.

Codifying the hodgepodge of laws that were enforced to various degrees in France was an important step in solidifying French rule and the Code lasted in many countries even after the French were ousted.  In the US, Louisiana still features some aspects of the Code, and lawyers there can't generally practice in other states and vice versa (or so I've been told -- I follow a different path of "working at the bar").