During a portion of my walk this morning that took me down one of the main streets in town, I saw, in a distance, two people standing on a corner, each holding the end of a white sign. As I got closer, I could see that the sign was homemade, and I could also see that the sign was being held by two very respectable looking teen-aged kids (one girl and one boy). I could also hear that they were yelling something at the passing cars and waving them in direction of the side street that runs into the main street.

As I got even closer, I could see that the sign said, “Free Car Wash,” and I could hear that they were yelling “Free car wash here” to the passing cars. Not surprisingly, they were not getting any takers.

I happen to know that at the end of the block to which they were directing people, there is a small Protestant church, with a mixed, young congregation, and I think it is a good bet that this was a fundraising effort inspired by the church Youth Group. I assume that the car wash is indeed “free,” but the “customer” would be asked to make a donation to the church. In other words, it wasn’t, in the ugly sense of the word, a “scam”. I suspect that the passing motorists didn’t know any of that, but I could not help but wonder whether knowing that would have changed anything.

I thought how nice it is to be young enough to think that people might actually believe that something is truly “free.”

Can this picture of a moose be on the level??? Holy cannoli!!!

I couldn’t find anything in Snopes.

Hey, what do I know? I’m from Jersey.

Picture shamelessly liberated from here.

Yesterday I was listening on the radio to various eyewitness reports from one of scenes of the terrorist attack in London. Not surprisingly, the interviewees spoke with a British accent, except for one man, who spoke with no accent a Jersey accent.

Sure enough, the voice turned out to be that of Sean Baran, a native of Westfield, New Jersey, a town that is spitting distance from the House by the Parkway. Sean happened to be in London finishing up a twenty-week business internship as part of his studies at the University of Richmond. He just happened to be on a double-decker bus yesterday morning, when he saw injured people coming out of the exit for the subway. Recalling September 11th, when he had been a junior in high school, he jumped off the bus to help.

Sean Baran just happens to be an Emergency Medical Technician, and he introduced himself to a physician on the scene, who assigned him to perform triage on the injured people in the immediate area and otherwise to assist with treatment of the injured, which he proceeded to do with approximately 60 people.

He said that he had decided to take EMT training after the September 11th attacks so that he would be ready “if there ever was a next time.” Turns out there was.

Nice going, Sean. As we say around these parts, “Ya done good.”

Take a look at this. Apparently, one of the editors aspires to be the next Dan Rather.

Obviously, this was all our fault.

Bush lied, Afghanistan, Iraq, Halliburton, Cheney, Oil, no WMD’s etc.

Let’s bring all the troops home immediately. That will prevent anything like this from happening ever again, anywhere.

Kumbaya.

I spent a good deal of time this evening installing Norton AntiVirus 2005. I know that for many of you geekazoids this would be a no brainer. However, for a techno-dope such as I, this is a very big deal. Hell, I’m light-headed from holding my breath for long periods during the installation process, waiting for something awful to happen.

It actually looks like it is working.

Special thanks to Bogie, who advised me to be sure to uninstall Norton AntiVirus 2002 BEFORE trying to install the new version. And, she told me in plain English how to do that.

My beloved Gibson Dreadnaught guitar is slightly more than four decades old. For far too many of those years it was dragged around and tossed in cars without a case. It has been to more drunken parties than I care to remember. It has been dropped, cigarette burned, and spilled on. And yet, it survived all that, still playing like a dream and sounding great.

Most recently, it made it unscathed through two Georgia Blogfests (hard parties, both) and their associated plane trips. It was after the most recent Blogfest that I decided that it is time to spare my beloved Gibson the potential perils of travel and to spare myself the stress of worrying that it might be damaged.

I, therefore, have been in the market for a guitar that is not overly expensive but still plays well, and sounds good. I want to be able to subject it to the rigors of travel and the hurly-burly of drunken brawls sing-alongs with friends, which always comes with the potential of damage to the instrument. At Jekyll, I played and admired the guitar that Rob brought, he having decided to leave his beloved Martin safely at home. A short while ago, I asked if he could hook me with one like his and he said he could.

True to his word, this morning, Rob went to see Willy, his guitar guy, and gave me a call about this Washburn guitar, which he had taken for a test drive and loved. Once I heard that Rob played it and liked it, it was a done deal. Here is a close-up of the nifty fret board, and, as you can see, it comes with a handy gig bag. (I’ll use my existing hard case for flying). It should arrive at my door early next week. I’m psyched.

Thanks to Willy, who is a real nice guy and who definitely knows his guitars. If you’re in the market for musical instruments, check out Willy’s Place, Music and Things. Nice selection and very nice prices.

Finally, a very special thanks to Rob for making it happen.

Now all I need to properly break in the new axe is a kitchen table, some good whiskey and a couple pickers taking turns doing tunes. It just doesn’t get any better’n that.

It appears that Movable Type is experiencing some sort of technical difficulties that are way beyone my comprehension, but which are explained here.

If I drop off the scope, I assume that is why.

Developing.

The Lovely Rita, the Arkie lawyer and gorilla-stompin’ grandma, handed this meme off to me. Rita was one my early blogosphere finds, and to this day remains a daily read. As such, her offer is one I couldn’t refuse.

Here goes:

What I was doing ten years ago: I was doing pretty much what I am doing now, except: I wasn’t blogging, I was doing everything with fewer aches and pains, my hangovers didn’t last as long, I had fewer crowns, and I was paying monster tuition bills at TJ’s college, where only designer water is served.

5 years ago: Same shit, only I was a bit wiser than I was five years earlier (I think). And, TJ’s graduation put an end to the college tuition money pit.

1 year ago: I must have been ragged out, because I took the day off blogging to recover from last year’s Fourth of July Bash.

Yesterday: Returned to work, and after 10 minutes, the long weekend was a distant memory.

5 snacks I enjoy:
Peanuts
Peanut butter with anything
Potato chips
Ice cream
Cookies
(Unfortunately, lately, my evening snacks consist solely of Diet Dr. Pepper or Diet A&W Root Beer. Some butter almond ice cream would be just swell, thank you.)

5 songs I know all the words to: I got a million of ‘em.

5 Things I would do with $100 million:
Retire, but probably take select pro bono cases that would permit me to have fun helping regular folks get even with some of the villains of the world, such as insurance companies, car dealers, and cable companies.

Buy a house on the ocean that contains, among other amenities, a recording studio.

Buy lots of musical instruments, including a grand piano and learn to play hell out of it.

Spend a year or so driving around the United States.

Share a substantial chunk of it with family and friends.

Party my ass off. (I know – that’s six, but what the hell, I’m loaded.)

5 locations I would like to run away to:
Key West
Hawaii
Australia
Cape Cod
Pretty much anywhere near the ocean.

5 bad habits I have:
Smoking
Swearing (But I do it so well)
Peanut Butter Addiction
Bullshitting while driving resulting in a lifetime of missed turns
Insisting that those around me pay attention to the “really good parts” of a song.

5 things I like doing:
Making music
Listening to Music
Reading
Blogging
Hanging with the Usual Suspects

5 things I would never wear:
Alligator hunting boots
A Clown costume
A Speedo (You’re welcome)
A “Kerry for President” Button
Overalls (Everyone who has ever worn them would know I was faking it.)

(Man, this is long!)

5 TV shows I like:
Sopranos
Deadwood
Carnivale
History Channel Stuff
Rachel Ray doing anything she wants

5 Biggest joys of the moment:
Good music
Good books
Good friends
Good whiskey
Good cigars

5 Favorite toys:
My big, fat, capitalist car
My guitars
My drum set
This obsolete computer (even though it hates me)
My roll of duct tape

Here’s where I’m supposed to identify 5 victims. I think I prefer to issue an open invitation to anyone who might like to play.

At the eleventh hour, Hillary Clinton made an appearance in Singapore as part of the effort to convince delegates of the International Olympic Committee to select New York City as the site of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. If the New York Times’ report of the event is accurate (which, of course, is, at best, a crapshoot), it must have been a display rivaled in the Disgusting Department only by Fear Factor’s regular installments of people gobbling up cockroaches for money.

But while many of the I.O.C. representatives were ducking some of the high-profile names seeking to woo their vote, at least one turned the tables: Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was greeted like a rock star as she made her way around this tidy Asian island on Tuesday promoting the city’s bid for the 2012 Summer Games. Delegates sought to have their picture taken with her, or at least get her autograph. And while many showed up late for their meetings with representatives of the five cities bidding, for Mrs. Clinton they showed up early, sometimes standing in line.

The good news is that it is probably too late in the game for her appearance to make a difference. I would prefer that the Olympics and its attendant lunacy take place in Paris, London, Madrid, or Moscow, rather than just across the river from the House by the Parkway.

The bad news is that she probably will not decide to stay in Singapore and run for office there.