Geat Story

I'd recommend a listen.

A true American success story. They don't just let anyone command a Navy ship. These people are a special breed of cat.

Let Her

blind you with science. Science!

Robbie Robertson Twofer

Both from Songs for the Native Americans, 1994

Hope you enjoy them like I do.

Ghost Dance
MP3 File


Akua Tuta
MP3 File

A Whopping 76%

of the last 50 hits on this blog came to look at that dastardly soccer bitch Elizabeth Lambert. Anna Nicole is going to have to take a back seat for awhile I suppose. Speaking of back seat...

Plant A Tree This Year...

it will help with the healing. The rocks are alive mind you. Not to be missed: The Church Of The In-Pained People.

Environmentalist Whackos filmed for the first time outside of captivity.

Sing along now: "The hills are alive with the sound of screaming..."

Thanks Kurt.

Dennis Wilson - River Song

From the great Pacific Ocean Blue album.

He's from the that Wilson family.

Don't hold it against him that he hung with Charlie Manson for awhile. He done no kill'n, probably just a little chill'n.

MP3 File

Aw Shucks

It is very cool to be recognized now and then by intelligent bloggers that I admire. It happens more than I deserve. Jim Stroup over at Managing Leadership puffed me up a bit today. It was a day I needed a little puffing up actually, being on the ramparts of the jobless recovery that I am. Jim's last two posts mentioned others that are in my pantheon of favorite blogs.

Thanks Jim very much.

Now, non-readers, tell your friends about E. like Jim did:

And speaking of wide-ranging scope, Eclecticity is a fascinatingly – and sometimes startlingly – wild ride all around the landscape in which we live, with a secret unifying theme that you will define for yourself as you read. Aside from the site itself, some of the most edifying and enlightening sources I’ve found were first identified by the enigmatically omnipresent “E.” A must read.

Discover for yourself the "secret unifying theme" of this blog... then tell me!

Hot Fuzz

"have never shaved it. I like the attention it gets from women."

More Hot Fuzz.

Thanks Grow A Brain

John Turturro

as Jesus Quintana.

Victory!!!!

"To the moon Alice, to the moon!"

"A triumphant Speaker Nancy Pelosi compared the legislation to the passage of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare 30 years later."

Story here.

How shall I put this, so as to not to piss on anyone's parade?

"Great" legislation is one thing. Paying for and sustaining the practical things involved in that legislation is quite another.

Look at both Social Security and Medicare. No one would deny that both of them are very close to bankruptcy. SS and Medicare "trust funds" be damned. No such thing. The government has been using revenue from those payroll taxes to fund annual operations for years. The bottom will fall out in the next 15 years or so for them. That's just a fact. Taxes on the working will have to be massively raised to sustain SS and Medicare.

Health Care 2009 will actually be robbing Medicare to help pay for itself, so the triumphant passage of Medicare back when will be in some ways gutted for insurance for all.

Do people really get a positive buzz from stuff like this anymore? E. sure doesn't. It's not like we've gone to the moon again. The U.S. budget sure has though, and way beyond.

Moleskine Meditations

A new book by Nicholas Bate. Guaranteed to bring you pleasure. He has a way.

For Your Enjoyment and Edification

The Borderline Sociopathic Blog For Boys has been discovered and I simply had to share it with my wonderful non-readers.

For the sociopathic (borderline) boy in all of us.

John Hiatt - Feels Like Rain

From the wonderful Slow Turning, 1988.

Mr. Philly B. and I had the pleasure of rocking with Mr. Hiatt at the Hard Rock in New Orleans many yellow moons ago.

He mentions Lake Ponchartrain in the song. I drove the bitch for 6 years, round trip, to work in New Orleans and back to the lovely community of Mandeville. "Only" 24 miles each way. On those foggy mornings when we had to go 35 mpg, it felt like 100. Every mile was worth it. I loved living in Mandeville.

MP3 File

Marvin Gaye - Stubborn Kind Of Fellow

Gentilly Blvd, New Orleans, 1962.

First hit - 1962.

MP3 File

Andy Who?

Rejection. Never take it personally. Unless it's personal.

Martyr Him

That's what he wanted. Pull the plug. Sad story here.

You Like It - You Got It

Here: A lot of the music I have posted here, nice and tidy for my non-listeners.

Elizabeth Lambert - Soccer Bitch

Let's roll the video tape!



Ms. Lambert has some anger management issues E. thinks. She needs to transfer to a California school and get some medical marijuana treatment.

Tragedy Or Jihad?

Amy Alkon, the Advice Godless, the liberal libertarian weighs in and provides some of what others are reporting and opining about the Mad Major in Texas. And I'm not saying he is crazy in calling him that.

Money shot:

Sudden Jihad Syndrome, Personal Jihad Syndrome, call it what you will--these terrible acts should not be psychiatrically diagnosed and excused. At the risk of being called a racist, allow me to suggest that we must connect the dots before it is too late. Islam now=jihad=hate propaganda=9/11=the tragedy at Ft Hood.

An Unintended Consequence (Surely)

of "health care."

Firmly ensconced in middle age, this just warms my cackles.

HT: The Advice Godless

One Guy's Take

On "Liv'n The Viva Dilbert."

Thanks John.

Train - I Got You

From their new release, Save Me, San Francisco.

With a huge hat tip to another great Bay Area band, the Doobie Brothers.

The Doobies, hailed from my hometown of San Jose.

MP3 File

Badfinger - No Matter What

from 1970. Badfinger first pressed albums with Apple Records and had the seal of approval from each of the Fab Four.

Annointed they were. Deservedly so.

Badfinger Wiki'd

MP3 File

Taking Better Photos

one photo at a time.

Jim Miotke, the mastermind behind BetterPhoto.com is the younger brother of a high school friend of mine. Jim also has a very very good personal development blog here. He's "Conducting an experiment on personal mastery and selfless success..."

You go Jimmy.

A Marvelous 5:00 a.m. Rant...

Take as many as you want kids. We're celebrating a birthday!


By a marvelous blogger. Say it Michael! I suspect this has been building up for a long time.

The Execupundit on Freedom.

A Problem By Any Other Name Is Still A Problem

“Houston, we’ve had a problem.”

When Apollo 13 Commander James Lovell said these words to his ground controllers, he was not aware that in 40 or so years, it would be almost verboten to say the word “problem” in a business setting. Big guy managers are often times famous for saying, “If you are going to bring me a problem, bring me at least 3 solutions for it…” Big guy manager can avoid problems this way actually. Pretty clever.

And then there are the positive-thinkerites. They don’t call problems problems, they are “opportunities to excel”, or “challenges to be overcome.” Now I’m all for reframing things at the appropriate time, and I’m all for learning from challenges, but dammit, things get real difficult sometimes, problems happen. Things go FUBAR in the night and no amount of saying “problem” in the correct way is going to stop the heart from beating faster, the stomach acid to start working overtime, the insomnia to rear its head. Is shit hitting the fan an opportunity or a challenge at that point? Neither. It's a problem. The last thing someone needs when presenting a problem to his/her boss is some corporate platitude about how we view problems around here. That person needs empathy and at that point, support, guidance, and yes, maybe even the boss’s stab at a solution or at least a partnership to develop some solutions.

Call problems problems. Cut out the corporate cuteness and jargon-mongering.

Years ago I was asked by my boss at the time to have a meeting to find “synergy” (jargon at its finest) with a person who was heading up clinical education. I was heading up all the other types: leadership, staff development, etc. at the same hospital. You could say we were supposed to be colleagues. Synergy would be all over the place when these two professionals put their minds to it.

We met in her office. My first mistake. She showed me an organization chart she'd prepared for our meeting. She had merged our two departments. She put herself on top and there was no sign of me on that chart anywhere. I guess she had freed up my future to pursue other “opportunities.” At that point I had a problem. O.K. a challenge too. But a big problem first.

Employee Counseling Gone Array

The few minutes before this scene were great too. Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David talking over who should do the counseling. There is a place for this in a training class of mine. Guaranteed.

Brian Wilson - 'Til I Die

From I Just Wasn't Made For These Times, 1995.

Originally on The Beach Boys Surf's Up album, 1971.

MP3 File

How deep is the ocean?

What Was In Your Wallet?

A Visual History of the Credit Card.

Thanks New Shelton