I'm avoiding going to bed

...can you tell? I talked Golf Guy out hours ago, since then I've been watching various YouTube offerings. My favorite is Bette Midler's final tribute to Johnny Carson.

I dare you to watch this one without crying! And yes, I realize I'm posting a preposterous amount of videos lately.

Suck it up.

Is this what passes for Muzak these days?

I unfortunately had to spend a good amount of time in my local bank branch today in a (probably futile) attempt to solve a problem. While I was there this song from Evanescence was being modestly pumped out over the loudspeakers as though it were a perfectly mainstream selection. I thought they were insane...until I saw the 70+ year old fellow who was waiting before me happily tapping his toe to the tune.

Freaky.

UPDATE: In response to inquiries - I'll only say that it was Bank of America, I won't rat out the branch and in case some super sleuth quizelles it out - everyone waiting seemed perfectly happy regardless of the music selection.

UPDATE II: Problem totally solved. Awesomely solved. In fact, I am in awe of the efficiency of the solution. It cost me time (but waiting to jazzy tunes!) and anxiety but not an arm and a leg (yeah, we're poor enough that an overdraft penalty means tuna for a week). Love you Bank of America!

UPDATE III: Okay, I was closing a savings account w/ auto deposit. Spoke to three people on the phone: regular person, slightly more informed regular person, supervisor. You'd think it'd be just that "easy". Nope. A month later I was looking at a negative balance (due to service charges due to canceling direct deposit on " closed" account ) on an account that I'd closed and penalties. KUDOS to my bank VP for telling me that "the problem is that the first guy you spoke to was an idiot". No, SERIOUSLY, he said that!!! It then took him a week to straighten all the charges and penalties. BUT HE DID IT! For little old me, hardly their biggest depositor. Heck, my balance is a little above zero at the end of each pay period, but he took the time to help me. Killing me not to name him and give him the recognition that he deserves. I'll settle for :

Thank you Bank of America!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Making a birdhouse in your soul

Is it really a happy song? Not sure but not to put too fine a point on it, it makes me happy. And, since I'm turning over a new happy leaf in August, I choose for it to be a happy song.

As I wish. (Eh, random bastardized movie quote. What can I say? I'm in a mood.)

Cat Fight

Pick your favorite: Princess Chunk the 44 pound homeless fat cat OR Jesus kitty?

I'm pretty certain that Princess Chunk could take Jesus in a fight.

UPDATED: Jesus cat calls in a Cheeto for backup: Cheesus

Ha!

Oh, go ahead and laugh! I'm pretty sure He has to have a truly excellent sense of humor. (Otherwise how do you explain Cheesus?)

The Montauk Monster

Here's the story about the Montauk Monster.

I've seen a turtle sans shell (pre soup), that's no turtle.

What do you think it is?

Personally I don't know, I just know that I don't want to run into a live one in a dark alley.

"What if a demon were to creep after you one night, in your loneliest loneliness, and say, 'This life which you live must be lived by you once again and innumerable times more; and every pain and joy and thought and sigh must come again to you, all in the same sequence. The eternal hourglass will again and again be turned and you with it, dust of the dust!'

Would you throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse that demon? Or would you answer, 'Never have I heard anything more divine'?" ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

So? Have you ever heard anything more divine or are you cursing and gnashing?

Adjust your life accordingly before that demon washes up on your beach.

Water on Mars!

I'm not old enough to remember the moon landing so excuse me if I find this to be a most awesome space related discovery.

In a discovery that could qualify as one of the most important in the history of space exploration, NASA’s Phoenix Mission may have confirmed the presence of water ice on the planet, Popular Mechanics has learned. The scheduling of a press conference for Thursday at 2 p.m. Eastern by NASA and the University of Arizona has raised hopes in the space community that scientists will announce the breakthrough. When pressed for details, a spokesperson for the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory refused to elaborate beyond saying that the Phoenix team would unveil new findings from the ongoing robotic mission to Mars. If the rumor holds true, it would be the first direct confirmation of water ice beyond Earth.

Too cool! (Pun intended.)

Florida Sunshine Laws

Note to ignorant TV commentators (I'm looking at you FOX News):

It can't be called a "leak" if the state is required to release the information.

Here's hoping that Caylee Anthony is found alive and well.

Good riddance to bad rubbish

Alaska Senator Ted Stephens has been indicted on corruption charges.
It's about damned time. Resign now, Ted!

Oh, did you notice the lack of respect in the way that addressed him not just by his first name but ignoring his title as well? Lack. Of. Respect.

Do the decent thing, Ted, resign now and give your party time to put up a good candidate for November.

People like Senator Stephens (he of the Bridge to Nowhere fame) have been pushing fiscally conservative voters like me out of the Republican party for some time now. I fully expect Senator John McCain (a fiscal conservative himself) to jump on excoriating Stephens, and if/when he does, good for him.

Shocked because I sorta complimented McCain? I don't blame you. But although I'm not a fan of Senator McCain I will give him credit where credit is due. He does talk a good game when it comes to fiscal conservatism.

Here's wishing the people of Alaska the best of luck in filling Ted's seat with a decent human being. Whether a Republican or Democrat, I'll be happy with more fiscal conservatives in Congress. I'm not partial to any particular party at this point.

Drunken elk meets sorry end after toddler attack

No, seriously. That's even the original headline.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" - Fail

An extreme home makeover, a mortgage pay off and $100,000 cash? But 3 years later they're facing foreclosure.

Oh, please! And yeah, take my tax dollars to finance their mortgage bailout. Misled, my ass.