Layng quietly in fields

Layng quietly in fields
Glstening lights

Friday, October 30, 2015

Thank you for the candy, Mr. and Mrs. Jones.



Today's Tids Issue 3,455
Opening Stuff:

There is nothing brighter than the smile of a child.

I was wandering around an art gallery yesterday and noticed the similarity of many painting styles. Hey they were mostly very good, but it made me think about how difficult it can be to get out of a comfort zone regardless of how talkented you may be. I’m thinking that perhaps I should investigate and attempt new writing styles. That is, if I have a writing style in the first place. Maybe I should read some books and see what other people are doing. Nah, emulating is not creating. I like to break rules of grammar. It makes me feel frisky.

The news media is touting the emergence of Halloween as catching up with Christmas as most decorated season, and perhaps most popular. And secularists love it because they don’t have to deal with the guilt of knowing, but denying the Son of God.

You know, Cheeto’s are kind of pumpkin colored, so maybe I’m right in season.

The Question:
What was the name of the radio program that scared the hell out of Americans on Halloween night 1938. I remember crying for my pacifier. Bonus: What are the five most profitable scary, terrifying films?

The Headlines:
--“O” Sending Special Forces Troops To Syria; Spokesman Josh Says They Will Be Fewer Than 50 And They Sort Of, Will Not Necessarily Fight.
--Stock Markets In Nowhere’sville; Market Expected Show Another Weekly Gain.
--Big Labor Allocates $8 Million To Unionize Fast Food Workers; There Goes That Industry.
--Rapist, Attempted Cop Killer Shot Dead By Police In Kentucky.
--Nuke deal Safely Tucked Away, Iran Detains Another American.
--Newport RI Selected As Sole North American stopover For 2018 Volvo Around The World Race; Visitors To 2015 Stopover In Newport Was By far The Greatest Amount Among All World Ports; It Was 5 Times Greater Than The Best American City In History
--North Carolina Outlaws Sanctuary Cities.
--Tarantino Dad Creative Son Lives Outside Of Facts And Reality; He Is “Dead Wrong” Calling Cops Murderers.
--St. Paul Prep School Teen “Rapist” Gets Year In Jail And “Sex Offender” Label For Life.
--4 Washington redskin Rookies Pick Up $22,000 Dinner Tab For Team.

This Tids “Get-outta-Dodge-inflatable-raft is getting filled up fast. And I don’t mean with air, but with more and more people reserving space as a precaution to the possibility of a Pants Suit Presidency. The Tids treasury is still a little light for a super yacht, so we’re still in rubber boat mode. So, I’m taking reservations daily, even after the good showing by Repubs Wednesday night. It may be easy to beat Hillary, but not the media.

Don’t you think that our esteemed journalistic society has over done it a bit on “Clock Boy”?

A poll by an organization called Newsmax had Trump running away with the debate with 46%, and Cruz beating out Carson 20% to 16%. Rubio was fourth with 10%. The rest had 2%, except for Huck and Bush who had less than 1%. Newsmax is quite a conservative news operation, so I’m suspecting the respondents were not a broad cross section of all Repubs and certainly not Indies. In fact, before the debate ended the Company (Which has grown from web news to now Newsmax TV) sent an email asking their email audience to tune into the TV station (If you can find it) and participate in a post debate poll. I’d wait for more national polls for the real answer.

While boycotting Tarantino movies you might just as well stroll down to 34th Street to tell Macy’s that opening on Thanksgiving Day is the worst idea since Gimbals. What’s wrong with one day focused on family, pure and simple? Oh, I know, focusing on family is racist.

Wall Street Journal says that the new prestige standard in America is having a home over $100 Million! I’ve given up catching up, and it’s much more relaxing.

BTW, most of those super gigantic homes are in LA, the home of all those people who want to use other people’s money to fulfill their liberal agendas.

The giant taxpayer funded Mojave Desert Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System – the crown jewel in Obama’s alternative energy initiative – is producing carbon emissions at nearly twice the amount that compels power plants and companies to participate in the California’s cap-and-trade programs. The operation was built with a $1.6 Bil Energy Department guarantee and $539 Mil Treasury Stimulus grant. The owner says that “technically” by Gov measurement they purely alternative energy which excludes them from CandT. The Government measures to laws, but in reality it was found that the plant burns enough of their “Back-Up” energy source, Natural Gas, to produce 46,000 Metric Tons of Carbon dioxide. And the people continue to get hammered.

There is not a chance that I would spend time watching the reality TV program – The marijuana Show. The plot seems hazy to me.

The Parking Lot: Chapter 24 continues…
   Beth was watching Fred who had now gone silent; just sitting there looking off into space. “You all right Fred?” She let the question hang.
   “Sure,” More silence. “Yeah, Beth, I’m good. But, I’m more worried about what happened to you.” He smiled.
   Worried about me, or that it could happen to you, thought Beth. Maybe Fred is a weak link in whatever is going on. Maybe he needs a friend like Nancy. “Thanks, Fred. If you need somebody to talk to, I’m always here with a cup of coffee.” Fred’s head raised up,
   Thanks, Beth. You’ll be alright.” He touched her hand and got up and left.
   “I’ll be alright?” Beth wondered what he was talking about. After the door had shut, she rose and walked over to the big window. She watched him as he took a lot of time looking up and down the street. His eyes passed by Jared’s car, which was half way up the hill, without hesitation. He reached into his pocket and pulled out keys, zapped open the door locks and got in. The car came to life, and he pulled out quickly and sped down Main Street towards the marsh road. 10 seconds later, Jared’s car came down the hill and turned left after him.
   She started back to the counter, when she noticed movement beyond out in the street. Another car, a Black BMW, accelerated out of a parking lot, falling in line behind Jared. She would not have thought much of it, until it slowed in front of her shop. She knew there were eyes on her. The pain in her ribs intensified.
   She walked quickly back to her counter where she grabbed the cell phone from her pocketbook. She punched in Jared’s number. He answered in five seconds. “Hel…”
   “Jared, you’re being followed.”

Reading Between the Lines Movie Reviews:
--I watched the drama of the 33 trapped Chilean coal miners. I really am not interested in seeing it again, even though it is well directed and well acted. Pretty dramatic too. You know the story.
--Truth is based on a book written By Mary Mapes that tries to reclaim her image destroyed by false reporting on the Bush military participation. Bush haters will love it. Cate Blanchette is great as usualand Reford isn’t bad as Dan Rather. The concensus among critic si tat the story is too didactic making a bit conedescending. Mapes probably belives that she cando no wrong and mys teach the masses.
--The audience will trouble dealing with the unlikeable character played by Braldey Cooper in Burnt. A chef and lover of food who has fallen from the heights of being an acclaimed Paris award winner, must now alter his personality as he starts his own reastaurant in search of a 3rd Michilin Star.. It is a clichéd kitchen story funny and emotional at times. Critcis hated it; ad=udinces toughtit Ok.
 
The Answer:
The War of the Worlds took America by surprise. The HG Wells super practical joke for Halloween was also a great movie (To Me). Bonus: Profits from petrifying were the films Scream, Sixth Sense, Jaws, The Ring, The Conjuring, Saw II and Amityville Horror.

A little touch of the Irish to raise you up.

Have a great week end, E-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y! And don’t forget to turn back your cloks.!


Thursday, October 29, 2015

Icabod Crane: Chairman of the Republican Party.



Today's Tids Issue 3,454
Opening Stuff:

The Repubs, all of them looked very good last night, and they also to have their heads on straight. They certainly gave their hungry constituents lots of good GOP raw meat. For instance, I could easily vote for Chris Christie. And, Ben Carson looked like the Sage on the Stage. While not in the spotlight, he made good use of his time. He displayed a level head filled with a good brain. Rubio also looked good, but I’m not sure about him yet. Huck had a good night and I loved his Government runaway blimp analogy. Carley was accurate and thorough and pretty tough, but she doesn’t ignite the love needed for a November victory. Bush was Bush again, and while it doesn’t bother me, it turns off Repubs looking for something special. Ted Cruz was outstanding one more time. He is one smart guy, and has pretty good story (Like Rubio) about what  America can do for people who start with little. He just has to get beyond Democrat demagoguery. Kasich has a great story of success in a very important electoral state. I’m not sure he connects well enough to run in the top spot. I generally look to Rand to say something cool and thoughtful, but he didn’t have much last night. Oh, did I forget Donald Trump. Actually Trump being a little less noisy looked a lot better to me. He had some pretty good moments and din’t hurt himself. All in all, I saw 10 people who would be a better president for “All” Americans than you know who.

I hear college kids talking about their music, citing pretty cool bands not on the Pop charts. I like investigating music in general looking for new sounds. So going to the college scene often turns up some pretty good new sounds. For the most part, I have never heard of any of them. College kids like it that way, having their own, by passed by the masses.

But then, I bet that none of the erudite children of the current campii ever heard of Stan Rubin and the “Tigertown Five”.

Now that I have been properly repatriated to the Republican party I’m ready to promote Cheeto’s a symbol of freedom; the essence of real choice. It’s far more than a tasty snack ... it is the essence of the US principle of independence. Where your orange fingers with pride. Leave your imprint on government food pyramids, and WHO food reports. America is all about less government intrusion and self determination. Stick by your Cheetos. Be a leader. 

The Question:
Double “Q+” Day: 1. What do you think are the top 10 top selling Halloween costumes for small children? 2. What are the Top Halloween costumes in general according to Google trends? Bonus: An Obama mask did not make the Scariest costume list this year. Name five of the scariest, and guess at the most inappropriate.

The Headlines:
--Repubs Blast Media Devotion To Clintons; Rubio Says That Media Bias Looks Like A Super Pac For The Hill; RNC Chief Rips Moderators.
--GDP Report Sucks; Q3 Only 1.5% Versus 3.9 In Q2; New Unemployment Claims Still Around All Time Lows; Pending Homes Sales Fall For Second Month; Factory Production Eased To Prevent Inventory Build-up..
--China To Abolish One Child Policy; Two Now The Limit.
--Austria Building Border Fence As Refugees Continue To Stream Through Croatia.
--Ryan Secures 218th Vote Giving Him Majority And Speaker Position; Boehner Delivers Farewell Speech..
--LAPD Police Union Joins NYC In Boycott Of Tarantino Films.
--KC Goes Up 2-0.

Joe Biden Ponders the question: “Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii? Thanks to a helpful reader for that

This looks like a potentially dreadful week for Pickin’. Last week was fair bringing The TSD YTD to 67-39, moving our percentage up a notch to 63.6%.  Miami is on fire, but they are coming up into the stadium at Patriot’s Place. The Pats are still hurting, but not in their hearts. Pats. There are really no simple picks this week, especially when you consider the possibility of upsets at any given moment. London England didn’t get a winner with the Lions and Chiefs. KC has to win this one. St. Louis “D” will bottle up San Fran. Drew Brees looks comfortable again and the Giants look confused. Saints.  I’ve been on the Minn train, but I’m going Chi at home. Houston looks dreadful and Tenn has shown sparks of life. Titans. Atlanta should beat TB. I love Cleveland but Arizona is pretty good although not away. Close one to the Cards. Baltimore will finally win another. Oakland has been a big surprise and the Jets are pretty good. Carr won’t do so well against Jets D and Revis. Jets. Is Roethlisberger playing, that is the question. Cinn-Pitt is always a war, but I’m thinking the Bennies are for real. Dallas has Become America’s underdog. Seattle needs to put 2 in a row together. I’m going Seahawks. Indy at Carolina would have been a headliner until Indy, and Luck, forgot how to play good football. The Panthers to Continue. The marquis game has to be GB at Denver; mobile Rogers against increasingly sluggish Manning. But this is still a tossup to me. Denver is tough at home and I’m picking Orange to match my Cheeto stained fingers.

Scoring the Debate Department:
Here’s some info that may help quantify the results of the debate. –New Twitter signups: Ben Carson was tops at 6,500, Rubio next at 4,200 and Trump third with 3,700. Last was Huck at 400 just ahead of Bush with 700. –Rubio, Cruz and Christie made the biggest leaps last night according to several and varied debate reviewers.

A company called “Eat this, not that” has issued a list of killer diet sodas. Do you get the feeling that a company with that kind of nanny state name might have an agenda in mind? The big problem, claims the company that doesn’t like what people eat and drink, is weight gain. The company tested 38 Diet sodas and the worst soda in the world title went to Diet Mountain Dew. The five best to drink they say are the #1 “Fruity” Bai5 Bubbles, another fruity drink “Hint Kick”, Zevia Ginger Root beer, Sprite Zero and Diet 7-Up. The two leading sellers, Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke  are 9 and 11. The caffeine free versions of those are considered slightly better for you. Am I paying attention to this? I don’t think so.

Commenting on my Toyota ad observation yesterday, a reader says he has trouble telling the difference between a news report on ISIS activity and a Toyota truck ad.

Paul Ryan is closer to the Presidency now than he was 4 years ago when on the Romney ticket

Maybe it’s time to invest in baby related products as China ok’s doubling the production of humans.

The Answer:
Here’s an idea of what kids at a young age and their parents are thinking about. #10 is Spiderman for boys. Next is Baby Lion, then Cinderella, Wonder Woman, Lil Mermaid, Harry Potter, Superheroes, NASA Jr. Astronaut, Batman and Ninja. 2. Harley Quinn tops the list followed by Star Wars, Superhero, Pirate, Batman, Minnie Mouse, Witch, Minions, Joker, Wonder Woman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Princess, Mermaid, Vampire, Maleficent, Dinosaur, Clown, Doll and Princess Leia. Bonus: Shirtless Putin, Hillary, Boehner, Joe Biden, Mother-in-Law “Likes” on Facebook, Trump, ISIS Swordsman and Overworked ObamaCare workers are frightening the masses this year. There is also a category of “Most inappropriate costumes” like Free Mammogram, Suicide Bomber, Tampax Man. Rabbi Costume for Dogs, Sperm Man, Hitler, Trans Barbie Doll, Catholic Priest And Alter Boy, Blind Referee, Nudist Family, Sexy Little Black Dress For Kids, Chastity Belt (Woman) and Key (Man), and a host of men’s package costumes in several sizes, and various sexual act costumes.

The favorite musical genre of college students according to “Likes” on FaceBook are Hip-Hop (14,540), Country (299,700), Rock & Roll (244,840), Pop (224,140), Jazz (106,000) and Classical 65,380).

Here is one of the favorite music tracks at Cornell University, just to give you a feel for what may be coming to your ears. Personally, I’ll stick with Stan Rubin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-M1AtrxztU








Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Building cohesion out of confusion.



Today's Tids Issue 3,453
Opening Stuff:

It only looks negative because there are just too many ways to spread the drear of black clouds. The blackest of clouds is only hiding the eternal light momentarily. Love and kindness and understanding in the heart will always erupt gloriously in the end if you let it go. Hoagy Carmichael said it all.

Let’s hope that the debate tonight helps to clean up the mess. Every day that the Repubs assault each other, The Hill gains a few points and I have to pump a little more air into my inflatable.

It was nice this morning seeing the NBA standings with my beloved Boston Celtics at the top. Of course this was solely due to the fact that there have been no games played and “Bo” for Boston comes before “Br” for Brooklyn. But, I am the eternal optimist and I’m looking for great things form this team without a superstar, but with lots of very good players who like to play together. I think it‘s called team! Yeah, team, a rarity at times in the NBA. I’m psyched!

When I walk into the vegetable department of a supermarket my eyes glaze over and my senses shut down. Yet, moving along and into the meat department I feel my heart beating robustly, energizing my body. Red meat is a cardio workout.

The Question:
Double “Q” Day! 1. Name five of Julia Roberts’ best movies. 2. Here’s a couple of Perdue questions. Why does Perdue chicken have a unique yellow color? Who did Frank Perdue contact for help squashing attempts at Union organization of his employees? Bonus: Last night lead off hitter Alcides Escabar in first at bat hit an inside the park home run. It has only been done 10 times in the history of the World Series. When was the first WS ITP HR and who hit it?

The Headlines:
--Nice Guy Dennis Hastert Pleads Guilty In “Hush-Money” Case..
--Northrup Gets Big Contract to Produce Next Version Of B2 Bomber.
--House Introduces Measure To Impeach (Indict) IRS Director.
--The Hill On Colbert Show Says She Will Break Up Big Banks, Stealing Yet Another Populist Line From Bernie.
--Resilient KC Beats Mets In Game 1; Marathon Was The Longest WS Game Ever.
--Apple report Makes Investors Smile.

The “F” in Fall is Fantastic time of the year every year, that is… if you can manage to stay away from the barrage of Pumpkin-in-everything recipes.

TV So Far, Department
--Homeland is outstanding this year. Edge of the seat stuff all of the time. Claire Danes is wonderful again as is Mandy Patinin and Rupert Friend. Also up and coming is the increasingly evil Miranda Otto as Allison Carr  –Fargo is coming together nicely. It is always quirky and at times things look out of place, but eventually the Coens know how to make it sensible. --I wondered if the new TV show Super Girl was just another Hillary promotional vehicle. I kind of figured it was last night when in the first scene the heroine talking on a phone said “My boss will be at the dinner if she doesn’t have to sit next to Bill O’Reilly. Sneaky little Hollywood screenwriter. It is comic book all the way, and the writers have taken liberties with some basic Superman/Girl facts. –I could get into Limitless and Blindspot if I had the time – Fresh off the Boat is funny satire and makes me alugh.

Every once in a while the Tids Obit editor picks randomly an obit page from the state’s largest newspaper to get a reading on the average age of diseased. Today’s was 78.38. The good news is that that’s about as low as I’ve seen it over the years.

Is Janet Yellen following the lead of EuroCentralBanks’ Mario Draghi? It sure looks like it.

Have you seen those new Toyota ads that say they want to take Americans back in time? I hope it isn’t to 1941.

Today in 1776 the American revolutionary forces fought the British in White Plains NY and lost. But lore has it that Generals there standing on what is now called “Battle Hill” looked out at the valleys and daisies fluttering across acres of fields and exclaimed the beauty of the “white plains”! Yikes.

There used to be a lot more great food choices in grocery stores until people started claiming that food caused illnesses.

Let’s hear it for Newport resident Barbara Ann Fenton. She was just named the Executive Director of the Young Republicans National Federation. YRNF Chairman Dennis Cook of Illinois said he turned a  few heads when he named Barbara from the Bluest of blue states to such a key position. But, she is a battler like most of the scant list RI Repubs. More important, she sees the diversity in the Repub party as well as anyone, and she is driven to broadening the tent for voters. She has said she can turn the broad, yet confusing array of GOP Prez candidates into a positive, and will work her butt off trying.

People get upset at these occasional viral videos of police roughing up students. Ask a couple of teachers who try to teach in class rooms dominated by the antics of some of these out of control students what their opinion is of a little external authoritarian treatment.

Last Night on The Voice, I really warmed up to Korin Bukowski’s beautiful voice and emotional relation to “All I Want”. I also liked the competition between of Dustin Christianson and Keith Semple. Of course Keith sang one of my favorite songs, “I Want to Know What Love Is”. Singers who sing something I know and like, always have an edge. Morgan Frazier surprised me and Darius Scott showed a promising talent, though he needs to feel the music a little more. Summer Schappell had the energy and tried really hard, but she wasn’t very good at all.

Some pretty intelligent and giving people find it hard to understand why the term “Hard working” is considered racist.

After red meat defamation day on Monday, there were long lines at fish counters on Tuesday. See how easy it is to guide the will of people.

It appears that people are clamoring to jump aboard the Tids refugee inflatable in the post Hillary election days. In fact, we may be looking at an inflatable Ark. But, one level headed potential escapee suggests we pool together our resources to buy a large comfortable yacht which we can use to sail the seven seas for 4 years. She suggests a selected list of the disgruntled that would include chefs, investment advisors, gun owners and a couple of teckies to keep the communications alive.

There is no truth to the rumor that The Houston Texans have named all-everything JJ Watts as back-up QB after idiot Ryan Mallett missed the team airplane giving up a lifetime of easy money.

Do you think that Frank Perdue has a seat on the World Health Organization governing committee? The Perdue’s have always been pretty crafty.

The Parking Lot: Chapter 24 continues…
   Beth was in agony as she tied to be nice to Fred. She never thought it would hurt so bad. But, the more she talked and watched Fred, the more she knew it was worth the effort. She was sure he was here for the same reason that she was. – to pump each other dry. “I don’t know why I came in today. I’m aching, Fred. Hey,” now she paused for emphasis and reached down to touch his shoulder, “Did you ever see those scary looking lugs around here before?” Fred became conspicuously silent.
    “Uh, no.” His mind wasn’t working as fast as usual, she thought.     
    “You all right, Fred?” She now thought she had taken control. Something is wrong with Fred. Maybe the lugs saw him after me. “Why do you think those guys were looking for me anyhow Fred?”
    “I have no idea, Beth. I’m Head of the Town council not a mentalist. People just think I now everything because I talk too much. I’m just a neighbor who has a little bigger say in things” he looked confused to her.
    “Are you sure you’re alright. Maybe we should talk.”

The Answer:
1. Personally, I liked the Pelican Brief, which was under acclaimed by the critical shining lights. It actually came in 10th on the Best of JR list. 9 was Steel Magnolias, and then going towards #1 we had Mystic Pizza, My Best Friend’s Wedding (Lied it), Something To Talk About, Erin Brockovich (good one), Closer, Pretty Woman and for #1, one I liked a lot, Sleeping with the Enemy 2. The secret ingredient in Frank Perdue’s chicken feed was marigold Seeds which gave the meat a golden hue. Frank twice turned to Mafia Boss Paul Castellano to fend off the union effort. Bonus: The first World Series inside the park Home run was way back in 1903! It was hit by Pittsburgh Pirates Jimmy Sebring against the Boston Americans (Who won the series Boston proving the worth of the American League for the first time). The Second ITP HR was by Boston’s Patsy Dougherty of Boston in the same series. Old Casey Stengle playing for the NY Giants hit one against the Ya, ya, ya…(WYKWIM)…in 1923.

It turns out that my car is even more complicated than me.