Taking A Dip In The Cement Pond.............

Still in Las Vegas.

I must admit that I am just a wee bit disappointed to find out that there is NO large statute of Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel anywhere in the city of Las Vegas. There is a monument to his memory in the garden of the new Flamingo hotel, but it just doesn't seem to be big enough. After all he was the "founder of the feast" so to speak. Bugsy had a certain style and vision and would have gone far if he didn't develop sticky fingers. He started skimming off the top and got paid off with multiple rounds of M-1 carbine ammunition fired through a window of his girlfriend's living room. Play with fire, you can get burned. Particularly if you are messing with the mob.

I make no bones about it, I am country as a chicken coop. I haven't had a great deal of money and never got out much, so I am not very sophisticated. (Not as bad as a relative of mine who drank from a finger bowl at a dinner party.) So this trip is quite a adventure for a fellow who thought staying at the Motel 6 and eating at a all you care to eat Chinese buffet was the ultimate in good living.

The place we are staying is a very high end place, mint on the pillow, room service, the whole 9 yards. The bathroom is almost as big as my living room at home. But what got me was the fact that the suite has THREE televisions, one in the living area, one in front of the bed, and bless Moses there is one in the bathroom. O.K. the first two, I can see. But one in the BATHROOM? That, I don't understand. The same thing for the telephone in the bathroom. I don't know about you, but I think there are some things that should be left alone. Time in the bathroom is one of them. I don't see talking on the phone while taking care of other business nor watching the idiot box. Bathroom trips should be times of quiet contemplation or at worst, reading. I have been in public restrooms in the past when someone received a cell phone call and all I could think was " Dang, I am glad that I don't feel so important that I have to take a call while sitting on the throne." Not to mention I am not very sure that I want to put a telephone that is kept in a bathroom up to my face. I am sure that it is clean, but...........

And in weather news, I spoke to some of the locals and they felt the need to apologize for the humidity yesterday. I told them that I didn't notice it. I mean humidity to me is walking out the door and feeling like someone just slapped a hot wet towel in your face. Anyway, the humidity is dropping and the temp is going up. It should hit 107 today and there are predictions of 114 before the weekend is over. As normal, nothing but Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun.

More to follow........

Oh yeah, need some sage advice. We are moving down to the Golden Nugget in a day or so to get a taste of Old School Las Vegas. I thought it might be fun to toss down a period appropriate cocktail circa 1960's. Any suggestions?

Las Vegas..........

Greetings from Las Vegas.

It's been a rather slow day, trying to my body clock adapted to the time change and getting my knees working again. The good wife on the other hand has been a ball of fire, entering a slot tournament and placing second today, hopefully she will do better in the next round. I did discover a interesting bit of information. I now better understand heat without humidity. It hit 103 today and I was able to tolerate it better than I thought.

One of the questions I always ask preachers when I meet them is that I fully realize it will be hot in hell, but will it be humid? Normaly a test of their sense of humor, that question came to the forefront of my brain today. Dry heat is MUCH better.

So far, the most interesting part of this adventure has been the trip out. As soon as we got to the airport we found that there had been a line of storms that had gone through Atlanta and had both canceled and delayed flights. Of course, that had a domino effect and delays started cascading throughout the entire system. It didn't bother me one wit since I had a couple of books with me, but it was fun to watch other people panic, freak out and generally lose their cool.

When we got airborne, we had to go through a bit of turbulence and got to see some rather impressive lightning. While looking at the light show outside my window, watching the airplane lights being reflected as we flew through clouds, I couldn't help but think back to one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet". The original T.V. program stared William Shatner, the remake Twilight Zone movie stared John Lithgow. Both in their own way were excellent. I will not spoil it for you if you haven't seen it yet, but find it on youtube or hulu. It is well worth the time involved.

More later...........

Random Thoughts............

Taking a few moments to clear my head while doing the final last minute packing for a road trip to Las Vegas and a side trip to southern Arizona.

This will be my first trip in that area so I am looking forward to seeing some new territory. As far as Las Vegas goes, other than checking out a Elvis tribute artist or two,(They get all tight when you call them Elvis impersonators) and the fact that The Lightbringer doesn't think it's a good idea to go there, it doesn't have a great deal of attraction to me. You see, I don't gamble, and I figure that it would be much faster to roll down the car window and toss money out while passing through town. The good wife however, loves to gamble. (She DID marry me, which shows that) So being the dutiful husband, I figured I would tag along. To give me something to look forward to, we figured that we could rent a car and go south to Arizona and support the economy with all the boycotts people are calling. The surest way to make me do something is to tell me not to do it. (grin) I thought we could check out Old Tucson and Tombstone or anything else that might strike our fancy. Should be a interesting trip.

And in other news, I saw that the creator of the Everybody Draw Mohammad Day, Molly Norris has been put on a execution hit list by Anwar al-Awlaki. This is the same screwball that "inspired" the swine that shot up Ft. Hood. Somebody should give this guy a big cup of S. T. H. U. and a ham sandwich. I am available to help after I get back from my trip.

I have been promising you folks pictures on the blog, but haven't been able to figure out how to do it. I plan on taking my camera, instructions and every thing else with me and an going to lock myself away on this trip until I figure out how to do it, so be prepared. And wish me luck.

Today In History..........

In 1690............

The Battle of The Boyne is commemorated on this date (July 1st, old style Julian calender) In this battle, William of Orange defeated James II and pretty much assured that James and his Jacobite followers would not gain the British throne through military means. It also guaranteed that the Protestant faith would be the dominant faith in England and Northern Ireland.

In 1862..............

Congress authorizes creation of the Medal Of Honor.

Life Gets Stranger And Stranger, But Hey, Christmas IS Coming..........

I saw this over at Cinema Retro

http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php?/archives/4744-ROY-ROGERS-AUCTION-AT-CHRISTIES,-NEW-YORK-JULY-14-15-ITEMS-INCLUDE-HIS-BELOVED-HORSE-TRIGGER!.html


"Many artifacts from the personal estate of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans are scheduled to be auctioned at Christies in New York on July 14-15. The most sensational aspect of the sale is that it includes Roy's legendary horse Trigger, who was famously stuffed and preserved upon his death. In a related story, we hear that Mr. Ed has just been arrested for planning the murder of his owner Wilbur, out of concern that he might meet a similar fate."

Trigger for sale, who would have thunk it?

Any Advice?

Does anyone know how to cancel a bid on eBay? I put in a bid for a “Mickey Mouse Outfit” and now it seems I'm only thirty-six minutes away from owning Obama and his entire Cabinet.

Best Obama Facts.............

Borrowed from:
http://bestobamafacts.com/

1. Every now and then, Obama opens his eyes and the world springs into existence.
2. When a tree falls in the forest, Obama hears it.
3. Obama can clap with one hand.
4. Prometheus was punished for plagiarizing Obama.
5. Obama can make a journey of a thousand miles without a single step.
6. Socks worn by Obama are used for climbing walls in Spiderman movies.
7. Hillary Clinton dropped out of the race when she learned Obama's true name.
8. "Obama" is the very first word in the English language to be a verb, adjective, noun, pronoun, adverb, interjection, superlative and pronad. (Pronad is a new category made specifically for the word "Obama" so its power can be fully realized).
9. When Obama squints dreamily into the distance, he can see next week's lottery winning numbers. But he never plays because that would mean poverty of ambition.
10. Obama can calculate your guilt just by looking at the numbers in your checkbook.
11. A microphone into which Obama has spoken, heals asbestos-related disorders and colorectal cancer by direct application.
12. Every time Obama talks about change, a baby diaper becomes clean and a homeless person's cup fills up with nickels.
13. Every time Obama talks about "hope," coma patients regain consciousness and chant "We are the ones we've been waiting for."
14. Obama's famous stare once converted 15 Islamic fundamentalists into secular progressives, all of whom are currently employed by Countrywide Home Loans.
15. Obama is 50% typical White person.

16. Obama's real mother was young John Kerry who reproduces asexually when coming into contact with foreign Marxists.

17. Obama often says "uh" in his speeches in order to irritate Bill O'Rilley who hangs onto his every word.

18. Obama always overpays his taxes because he believes that the government will find a better use for his money than he ever could.

19. When Obama rids the world of nuclear weapons, the red button in his office will control the thermostats in American homes.

20. Obama brings change to the world every time he closes his eyes and imagines that Twin Towers never existed.

21. After a hearty meal Obama has been known to send off a tiny ripple of hope. This tiny ripple of hope in Chicago can cause change throughout the world.
22. 
    

    When Obama relaxes at home with his family he switches to a British accent.

23. Obama's wife is a Klingon.

24. Obama's children are named Child 1 and Child 2 respectively.
25. Our universe is held together by the force of Michelle Obama's benevolent willpower, but her patience is running thin.
26. Michelle Obama has saved humanity from destruction many times and is slightly annoyed that we haven't returned the favor.
27. Monica Lewinsky owns "I Barack for Obama" bumper sticker.
28. Everything Obama touches begins to vote Democrat.
29. More dead people voted for Obama than for any other Democrat candidate in the history of Chicago politics.
30. The tingle that crawled up Chris Matthews' leg has taken control of his brain and is reporting a full preparedness to take over the world.
31. Obama can make things disappear just like David Copperfield can, but he hates taking things away from the community.
32. US Mail Service published Obama's resume on a new first class stamp.
33. In the movies, Obama's part is played by Robert Redford.
34. Obama can inflate a hot air balloon in one blow. He does it for the children.
35. Obama used to spell his name as Ubama but changed it to avoid confusion with Usama bin Laden.
36. When Obama fixes his gaze on the clouds, he is reading his next great line from the big teleprompter in the sky, which is unseen to ordinary humans.
37. One time the Republicans paid a voodoo priest to reprogram the teleprompter, and then Obama delivered the speech by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick instead of his own. But courageous journalist Bob Woodward uncovered the plot, forcing the Republicans to resign. As a result, Obama became even more popular with the downtrodden who didn't know that it was Gov. Patrick's speech.
38. Obama wrote "Stairway to Heaven" and many other songs popular among the downtrodden.
39. Obama's love for the downtrodden heats up the planet's atmosphere by 5.8 degrees Fahrenheit, while his loathing of George W. Bush cools it down by the same amount. That's why the scientists have been unable to detect any significant variations in average global temperatures.
40. The main point of Al Gore's book "Earth in the Balance" is that a disastrous climate change can be averted if we all help keep Obama emotionally balanced.
41. Obama visited Benjamin Franklin in a dream and told him how to live his life serving the community, but all that Franklin could remember was, how to fly a kite.
42. Scientists discovered that a constant repetition of the words "hope" and "change" increases the size of penis in male patients by up to three inches.
43. Any sentence containing the name "Obama" and ending in a question mark has been determined to be racist. The only exceptions are rhetorical sentences such as "Is there any way that Obama could be more perfect?"
44. Obama smokes so you don't have to.
45. Obama's cigarettes have been registered at the EPA as a renewable power source contributing 5,000 Megawatts of electricity to the national power grid every time he takes a draw.
46. The "smoke" that comes out of Obama's mouth contains rare gases that help replenish the ozone layer and neutralize the industrial pollution.
47. Obama once downed a Fox News satellite simply by clicking on a universal TV remote in his living room. Obama then reprogrammed the remaining satellites to broadcast reruns of Keith Olbermann's show, thus expanding the consciousness of the average American TV viewer and raising awareness by 19%.
48. When Obama speaks about universal healthcare, the risk of cardiovascular diseases decreases by 58 percent, and the risk of cancer decreases by 60 percent.
49. Obama knows that his healthcare plan is going to work because he personally tested it in a leper colony, where he healed everyone by shaking hands and kissing babies.
50. In Portland, Oregon, Obama fed a multitude of 75 thousand with five government subsidy forms and two rolls of red tape.
51. An unkind word about Obama's family serves as a passkey to the hottest rings of Hell.
52. When Obama smiles, somewhere in America a door opens to an abortion clinic.
53. When Obama claps his hands, a child is born in a Third World country.
54. When Obama stomps his foot, a sweatshop closes in Asia, with thousands of children in the streets demanding that the United States send them financial aid, food, and medicine.
55. Deep down, everyone's an Obama.