Author Archives: Joel

Earl Scruggs dead at 88 This is the first guy to get me interested in the five-string – and also the first guy to discourage me in it. If I couldn’t play like that – and I sure couldn’t – … Continue reading →

The first time I ever got on an airliner, I was going to spend the summer with my older brother. No way I was going without my most prized possession: Yeah, it was a piece of crap. But it was … Continue reading →

Seen pretty much everywhere I looked… Jane Fonda to play Nancy Reagan in ‘Butler’ As far as I can tell, it’s a movie about a White House butler. Seriously. Can’t wait to see who they’ll cast as Ronnie – Al … Continue reading →

Trayvon Martin’s mom files trademark papers SANFORD, Fla. – The mother of slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin has filed papers seeking to trademark two slogans based on his name. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office filings by Sybrina Fulton are … Continue reading →

I did not make this up. (scroll down a bit.)

Early Saturday, Landlady and M showed up at the Lair. They’d come up together on Friday night, so they appeared just as I was beginning to clean up the Lair so people wouldn’t (have evidence to) know what a slob … Continue reading →

Brava, Claire! Love and Freedom Yes, our freedom is imperiled. Every person reading this is well aware of that. We could all list hundreds of threats to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And of course, if we actually … Continue reading →

Fresh air, sunshine, what else can a guy ask? Oh, yeah, being done with this dumb job. And today I’m done. Got all the way to the top of West Mesa, one back-breaking rock at a time. What’s best, I … Continue reading →

Because this isn’t it. Daughter sent me this. Apparently she’s not over the Star Wars bug quite as much as I hoped.

Finger “gun” lands dad in jail This is how it starts, you know. First you’re pointing fingers, then your kids are drawing pictures of guns in school. Next thing you know, you’re mainlining religious slogans and mowing down Frenchmen. The … Continue reading →

Michelle Obama: ‘South Side of Chicago’ Values in WH No, seriously. I think. Michelle Obama: For us, it’s the values. The thing that we try to do is make sure — the residence is on the second and the third … Continue reading →

At least some repubs are using it for fodder to harass the admin. I doubt we’ll ever see justice in regard to the actual ATF, but at least it hasn’t completely disappeared. Agents appeared to have probable cause to arrest … Continue reading →

So this morning, while I was eating and getting myself bolted together I figured I’d head right out and finish that road so it’d be out of my life. Last night it was hurting me in the shoulders, this morning … Continue reading →

You write a post criticizing a lesbian Buddhist. It turns out one of your most faithful readers actually IS a lesbian Buddhist. And she’s not offended. Bullet. Dodged. 🙂

A long time ago, like damn near three years ago, I wrote a post bitching about that old David Grossman metaphor of the wolves, sheepdogs and sheep. Once in a while I still get comments on it, since it comes … Continue reading →

Brazenly stolen from KurtP.

“Four or five hours, it’ll take,” he said. Right. I spent five hours on the road up the side of that frickin’ hill. How much did I cover? I clocked it on the way down. 0.3 mile. There are a … Continue reading →

When an officer kills an animal, the Police Chief reviews it to determine if it was justified. At a minimum, a fatal Rule 4 violation. Not that it matters when you’re an Only One. H/T to Balko.

Finally got linked on Uncle. What’s next? Blogmeets? T&E samples sent to my door? Mother will be so proud. I’m going straight to the basement and tell her!