Controversy

Over the past year I've posted a couple of blog entries about the current state of the news media, and the sad fact that a truly objective, unbiased, news outlet does not exist. 

I also complained that CONTROVERSY sells, and that reporters are determined to create controversy where there is none.  The latest example of this is the truck pictured above.

This past Christmas, Wal-Mart offered a little eighteen wheeler with a livestock trailer in their toy department.  According to a story I read today, this toy truck is at the center of a huge CONTROVERSY!  

According to the story, complaining parents said the purpose of a livestock hauler was to carry cattle to slaughter and they thought it was unconscionable for Wal-Mart to introduce their innocent children to the concept of death at such an early age.

Although the story didn't say so, I have to assume the complainers were

• Total idiots
• Members of PETA
• Vegans
• Folks who think meat comes wrapped in cellophane from the supermarket
• All of the above

The first amendment does give anyone the  right to complain about anything.  Thank God it doesn't require us to pay attention.

Honors

Like most TV viewers, we watched the Kennedy Center Honors last night.  As usual, it was a pretty good show with only a few disappointments - James Taylor's version of "Up on the Roof" and just about everyone toasting Rita Moreno were two of the weak spots for me.

One of the things I found most impressive was not part of the entertainment.  

I found it amazing that Cicely Tyson at 90

Looks so much younger than she did when she played Miss Jane Pittman back in 1974.

 

Place Holder

Nothing new to report today.
Honey is out walking.  It is 44 degrees and overcast, and she's bundled up like she was going out in a blizzard.  At least she is out and I'm not - maybe later, maybe not.

Fifty One

Today Honey and I celebrate fifty one years of marriage.
She had been a true partner - one who makes the rough times easier to deal with and the good times even better.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Dogs

Those who follow this blog know that the Boggy Thicket family includes two miniature dachshunds, Tinker and Dusty.  That's a very old picture, but the dogs and the pillow are the same today. We still call them the puppies although they are twelve years old and their muzzles are completely gray. 

I was going to the bathroom last night when I heard Honey calling frantically from the living room.  I couldn't tell exactly what she was saying, but I did hear "Help, Tinker and Hurry!" I ran into the living room to find that Tinker had managed to get one toe-nail caught in the fabric of the pillow the pups lie on and couldn't get it out.  I had to get scissors and then hold Tink down while Honey cut the nail loose.  It took several snips at the fabric, but once she was loose everything was fine - no damage to the dog and only minor damage to an old, worn pillow.

Oddly enough, I had already decided several hours before that today's post would be about the pups, but I planned to write about Dusty.  She is the younger, and until last year the smaller of the two dogs - at their last Vet visit, Tinker had dropped a little weight and now weighs in just under ten pounds while Dusty added a few ounces and weighs ten and a half.  Although smaller, Dusty is the Alpha dog. She runs the household, and if you don't believe me, just ask her.

She also snores, and the older she gets, the louder.  That led me to write...

There’s simply no way to ignore

Dusty when she starts to snore

She rattles the dishes in the sink

Makes the walls shake, and I think

Vibrates the terrazzo tile on the floor

12/26/15

Made it through Christmas - back home in one piece.  
Happy but tired - Christmas takes longer to recover from than it used to.
 

Christmas Eve

Sick Santa

Just a few days ago, my old pal Ken Szostek was going around doing one of his favorite things - playing Santa at Christmas parties, then

The next thing he knew he was in the hospital with a heart attack.

The latest word is that he is doing OK after surgery to put in a stint.

Ken has brought joy to hundreds over the years at dozens of Christmas parties, so the timing couldn't have been much worse.

Get well soon Ken, we need guys like you around.

Hope

This world is positively fraught

With wonders yet to be wrought

As we here on earth

Await the birth

Of ideas that have not yet been thought  

Winter

Today is the first day of winter.  

Here at the Boggy Thicket the day dawned with overcast skies and a temperature of 67.

The forecast calls for a 50% chance of rain, and a high in the upper 70s.

I was able to get the garbage can out to the street between showers, and the only other thing on the agenda is wrapping a few Christmas presents.  

It's shaping up to be a good day. 

Enough Is Enough

2015 has been the year for stories about police violence - the Ferguson anniversary, Freddie Gray, Chicago, etc. - and each time the media became more shrill in their coverage.  

This morning, CBS news sent out what has to be the ultimate headline:

Police shoot dead suspect 

inside L.A. emergency room

If you read the Story, you'll see that this is not what happened, but it does read like the ultimate 2015 headline.

 

 

 

Christmas Song

Continuing my tradition of posting a Christmas song every year, here's this year's offering. It ain't Robert Earl Keen, but it is topical...
 

The Gift

If you haven't seen this yet, you need to.  One of the most effective ads for organ donation ever...

12/17/2015

Firemen

Watching TV and minding our own business last Saturday when we heard sirens - LOTS of sirens - approaching.  We went outside, and could hear them getting closer.  It was the local volunteer Fire Department carrying Santa around the neighborhood.  
Speaking of firemen.....

 

And A Partridge In A Pear Tree

Xmas Bike

One More Xmas Picture

Progress

I have become a victim of progress. Since starting my blog, I have used Windows Live Writer to compose my daily entries. As of yesterday it is no longer compatible with Blogger. Google advised that I convert to Open Live Writer, Microsoft's replacement, but I can't get it to connect to my blog. Of course, Microsoft isn't the only game in town, so I tried another composition software that gets good reviews - Raven. It won't connect, either. I can still compose using Blogger itself, but it doesn't offer the same options, and is not nearly as user-friendly. Google says that there are some issues that should be resolved soon. Meanwhile, I probably won't be posting daily.

Just One More

One More

Another Christmas Picture

More Xmas Lights

Yesterday, I shared Christmas lights on a train.  Today it’s a ship.  The picture was taken off the coast of Oregon.

Christmas Train

 

December 7th, and I should be posting something about Pearl Harbor, but I decided to lighten things up a little. 

Here’s a video of the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train rolling through Detroit last Wednesday.

Houston Football

Sunday morning, and two Houston Football teams (University of Houston and Sam Houston State) both won their football games yesterday.  Can the Houston Texans make it three for three this afternoon? 

On paper, the Texans should beat the Buffalo Bills, but unfortunately, they don't play on paper, they play on turf.

It’s a Sign

Driving around the neighborhood yesterday, I saw a hand written cardboard sign attached to the stop sign at Plum Grove Road and FM 1485.

I don’t have a dog in this fight, don’t know the participants,  but my first reaction was “Right on – you go girl.”  Of course, I would have been a lot more excited if she were selling his shotgun or his lawn mower.

Pemex Comes to Houston

 Petróleos Mexicanos, the Mexican national oil company, opened its first Pemex gas station outside of Mexico yesterday.  The gas station/convenience store is in the 7900 block of Park Place Blvd in southeast Houston, and is the first of five stations – all in Houston – as a test of Pemex brand strength in the US. 

Pemex is hedging its bet - all of these first stations are in primarily Hispanic sections of town, with three more in the southeast and one in west Houston.

Command

One of 3M’s many successful products is the Command line of removable hooks, very popular this time of year for hanging Christmas decorations. 

One of my Facebook friends posted a picture of the wreath on her front door and mentioned that she would be adding garlands as soon as she picked up some Command hooks at the 3M company store.

I don’t know whether it was intentional or not, but her first reply was classic.  Someone wrote “Command hooks are a staple in our household.”

Kaposi

In a Facebook post related to AIDS Day, former State Representative Debra Danburg noted yesterday that the group that became the AIDS Foundation of Houston was originally called the Kaposi’s Sarcoma Foundation.  She was one of the founders, and a board member when the group was organized in the early 80s.

Kaposi’s Sarcoma is a tumor caused by infection with human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8), and was often seen in young men with HIV infections.

The Kaposi group had an office in the Montrose area, and the company I worked for at the time had a copy machine there.  Several of the technicians refused to service that copier, or even set foot in the place.

I hadn’t heard the term in years.  Maybe that’s a good thing.

Chivalry

Really happened yesterday in Tempe, Arizona.