Imposter!

NPR's "Fresh Air" had Jackie DeShannon on, and they played one of the songs she wrote...

The Fleetwoods, "The Great Imposter"

In addition to sounding like something David Lynch would put in one of his movies (likely in a scene of terror of some sort involving a straight razor), it's sooooo a song that hearkens back to the very dark time of early 2009. Hard to hear it without wincing!

Horny

I am enjoying the World Cup, but good lord, those fucking horns they're constantly tooting are horrendous. An endless drone. I can't imagine how horrible it is for the stadium attendees.

B FLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT

Constantly. Torture. I try to tune it out, but it's almost impossible to.

Weekend Worrier

I wasn't as impressed with the Old Town Art Fair (OTAF) this year as I've been in previous years. I don't know if the jury composition changed or what, but there were too many jewelry makers there, and there was way too much meh 2D Mixed Media. I don't object to 2D Mixed Media, but it should be "Wow!" and not "Meh." Still, I always enjoy ambling around the OTAF and seeing what's going on.

I've been encouraging B1 to read to his brother. B2 loves to read, but B1 is more reluctant to do so, trends toward nonfiction. I try to have him read some nonfiction and fiction daily, so he can (hopefully) get into the habit more. His baby brother loves to, but can't properly read, yet (although he really wants to). So, I've been having B1 read to his baby brother, and it's adorable to watch them curled up together with a book. I ordered (and just received) "Icarus at the Edge of Time" by Brian Greene, which is a retelling of the Icarus myth with a black hole in place of the sun -- it's right up B1's alley, and I can't wait for him to see it. He'll love it.

Our old cat is dying. I took his sister to the vet a few years ago -- she was my cat, and her brother was Exene's cat. Anyway, after 18 years, his number's finally up. I told Exene it was on her to take him to the vet's, since I'd done that with his sister, when she was dying. So, predictably, she didn't do anything all weekend, and poor cat's condition worsened. I tried to take care of him, but he's suffering from terminal renal failure, which is common with old cats. He's conducted himself with rather amazing grace, just trying to keep it together, cat-style, but it's still very sad. Exene finally called the vet's this morning, and is going to take him after work. I'm annoyed at how she dithered on that. The moment he got to the point of no return, she should've taken him in, rather than waiting four+ days to tend to it. *headshake*

400,000

I heard on NPR the other day that Ohio has lost 400,000 jobs over the past four years. That's a lot of jobs gone. It has something like a 10.8% unemployment rate. The Republicans have really buggered that poor state.

The World Cup is fun so far. Ghana won their match with Serbia, Germany smoked the Aussies (4 - 0 -- ouch), Slovenia squeaked by Algeria (1 - 0), and of course the US tied with England. I think England and the US will smoke Slovenia and Algeria (they're in the same group), so things are looking good for the US.

It rained a lot today. I went to the Old Town Art Fair, will comment more on that later, as I need a shower (so humid and rainy today, I feel like I'm in some kind of temperate rain forest!

Buffalo Chicken?

I had bought some bison burgers last week, cooked'em up. I made a couple today, and, on a whim, I later made my kickass BBQ sauce in the same pan, using the grease (of which there isn't much -- bison is pretty lean) as the shortening for the recipe, instead of the usual. I liked the idea of using the savory from the bison in the BBQ sauce. It tastes extra-yummy! I slathered it on the chicken and it's cooking right now, making the place smell yummy!

In other news...

England 1
USA 1

Awwwoo! A draw!

Who Killed the Electric Car?

I watched "Who Killed the Electric Car?" last night, on a whim. I usually avoid documentaries like that because it just gets my blood boiling. And this was no exception -- it's a good documentary, and they lay it out methodically. It's a clear case of an automobile company sabotaging and scuttling one of their own products in the interest of serving Big Oil. It just kills me, because the EV1 was clearly a cutting-edge vehicle. 100% electric battery-powered, no emissions, fast and powerful, it was a real forward step. GM had the opportunity to corner the market on a new and exciting product, and they backed away from it and, instead, went with SUVs. And not only did they scuttled the EV1, but they took them all back from folks who leased them and had them all crushed and impounded on a GM lot! Amazing. Near as I can tell (although this isn't explained in the movie, I'm just theorizing, here) they realized they weren't going forward with electric cars, and they didn't want the EV1s out there to 1) show that electric cars were desirable and realizable, and 2) potentially be snagged by competitors and reverse-engineered, giving a competitor access to a fine electric car that they had no intention of mass-marketing.

In the wake of the Gulf Disaster, the open wound in the world that it represents, this documentary is a must-see, because you really see how Big Oil calls the tune in our country. It's especially fascinating to see the damning appraisal of hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell cars -- both of which are blind alleys intended to keep gasoline front-and-center. Fuel cell cars are inordinately expensive, relative to electric cars, and are, even in the best-case scenario, a stopgap technology. There's been plenty of money poured into them, and they're still a prohibitive blind alley -- compared with that, the electric cars are a far-cheaper, user-friendlier real-world alternative.

Anyway, the movie shows a clear case of companies acting against their long-term economic interest and actually foregoing commanding market share because of the easy, oily money being made in the here-and-now. And how they will work tirelessly to ensure that emission-free electric cars don't displace the gas-guzzlers anytime soon.

Amazing stuff, well worth a viewing, but if you have an iota of liberal and progressive values in your heart, it'll piss you off.

It's also staggering to see that the first electric cars appeared in 1897.

Drink: Hey, There

Cocktail recipe...

Hey, There

2 jiggers Coconut Rum
3 dashes Bitters
V8 Fusion (Strawberry-Banana)
Ice
1 spear of mango

Fill Collins glass with crushed ice. Then add Rum and bitters. Then pour V8 Fusion. Stir. Garnish with a spear of mango.

Today

Had the boys downtown today, watching the Blackhawks and the Stanley Cup go by. Humid and hot as hell, but I'd prepared for it, had plenty of water for the boys, and they enjoyed themselves. Huge number of people there -- the estimates are about 2 million people turned up, and I believe it, as it was a massive turnout. The boys had a good time, and it was fun to see so many people out, a very Chicago moment. I snapped a bunch of pix.

Weekend

This weekend, let's see... Tomorrow: take the boys to the ticker tape parade tomorrow for the Blackhawks, since I've never been to a ticker tape parade before, and the boys certainly have never seen one, so that should be fun. Then start watching the World Cup (Yay! Yeah, right -- most of the episodes are on ESPN, which I don't have).

Saturday, B1's last soccer game. And then either (or both) Saturday and/or Sunday, take the boys to the 61st annual Old Town Art Fair. Also, I think the US team plays at the World Cup Saturday, so watching that, too, if it's broadcast.

England vs. USA (2 p.m. EST on ABC)

Nothing solid planned Sunday. I'm gonna try to get that damnable screenplay done and out the door, so I can move onto my next writing project. Probably a grocery run in the mix, too.

New Picture

That new profile picture was from today. Just for fun! ; )

Yay!

The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup! Yaay!

Tallboys

The boys have grown since I last measured them in May! Like a half-inch for B2, and a quarter-inch for B1!

B1: 4'6.5"
B2: 3'7.5"

They're growing and growing!

Whew (2)

Yesterday's diatribe was my 400th post on this particular blog. Just carrying a lot of emotional pain, alas. I roll with most everything in life, but there are a few things that are just too painful to roll with, and he's one of those things. I swear, the past couple of years have been packed with emotional pain! Good timing! It can only get better, I think. Move forward, onward, upward. That kinda thing. Try to stay productive, get writing done, get Exene the hell out of my mix (the dire economy of 2008-09, the Great Recession, really, really made those years dreadful), and find the fun and the happy. Get my own little place, move forward. I have discovered that I can handle a lot of emotional pain and remain functional; something I didn't realize I had that in me.

I've been watching Season 1 of "The Wire" -- good show. I don't generally like cop shows, but it's entertaining. HBO typically has it sewn up, those dramas. The absence of ad breaks and the ability to follow stories from episode to episode (versus having it wrap up in an hour), it makes a big difference. Good stuff.