Maters

Let’s face it… store bought tomatoes pretty much suck. I can count the number of truly good ones that I have purchased at a grocery store in the past 20 years on one hand (maybe). What passes for tomatoes in grocery stores (at least in the US) is flavorless, watery and very unsatisfying. That’s why there are always several “flights” of tomatoes planted in my backyard garden. I plant twice as much as I need in each flight because the birds are gonna get theirs! The first flight is about ready for picking and I’m going to the cheese shop for some fresh mozzarella. I’ll combine the maters with the cheese and some fresh basil (also from the garden) and drizzle it with a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Yum.

A Bottle In Front of Me

The Freeman-Watts Standard Procedure was used for the first time in September 1936. Also known as “the precision method”, this involved inserting a blunt spatula through holes in both sides of the skull; the instrument was moved up and down to sever the thalamo-cortical fibers (above). However, Freeman was unhappy with the new procedure. He considered it to be both time-consuming and messy, and so developed a quicker method, the so-called “ice-pick”lobotomy, which he performed for the first time on January 17th, 1945.

During the middle of the last century (that’s arounf the 1940’s, folks), there were over 40,000 lobotomies performed in just the US. Ah, the progression of medical science…

What’s In Your Toothpaste?

It was only a matter of time. People seem to like Oriental characters on their skin (even if it winds up really saying “stupid whitey) and the Chinese seem to like putting diethylene glycol in products for consumption. So it was only a matter of time until somebody rigged up the Chinese characters for DEG on a shirt for sale. It is noted with irony that the shirt is made in the USA>

Vegan Sex

A New Zealand report claims that growing number of vegans are shunning sex with their meat eating counterparts. They claim it’s because they don’t want their bodies to come into contact with the bodies of those who are composed of dead animals… or maybe it’s just self-preservation?

RIP Tom Snyder

Iconic Tomorrow Show host, Tom Snyder passed away at the age of 71. His chain smoking, hard hitting, get to the point attitude was a large chunk of my growing up. “Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures now as they fly through the air.”

Hillary’s Boobs

Hillary Clinton’s cleavage seems to be getting some national review. Why this is happening is not only weird, it’s disturbing. “Frankly, focusing on women’s bodies instead of their ideas is insulting. It’s insulting to every woman who has ever tried to be taken seriously in a business meeting,” Ann Lewis wrote. Why anyone would actually make the effort to think that the Hildabeast is bringin’ sexy back is beyond me.

Daily Pressure

So you go through 40+ years of life with blood pressure that ranges from just below normal to low. Then, your doctor mentions that your blood pressure is a little high and that it should be monitored “just to be on the safe side”.  One thing leads to another and then you are told that the old BP is a wee bit too high (If it’s a just a wee bit, can’t we just leave it be? It’s more than a wee bit…). Since there’s a family history, it’s off to the cardiologist for a complete work up, the indignity of having your chest shaved, and then the whole macho thing of actually finishing the treadmill test while claiming that it’s no big deal (when the most strenuous physical activity you’ve had in three years is chasing the wife around the bedroom). Nothing major to worry about, but you get slapped on BP meds and diuretics (BTW, diuretics suck canal water). The doc gets the combo right and the BP stabilizes, but he tells you to keep a regular eye on the BP just so that we know when/if things get out of whack. You take a break from watching a movie and take a quick reading and freak out when the display says 178 over 118. Yikes! An hour of wondering if you should call and make an appointment… You take the reading again and it’s only 136 over 75. Not perfect, but not horrible. And enough to have a nice *expensive* dram of single malt…

Latest Method To Curb Gang Violence

I’m sure that this is going to be very effective. It looks as if San Francisco and Fort Worth are going to start filing law suits against gangs and those who engage in gang activity. Now San Francisco is the place where one of the police commissioners is a transgender who also happens to own a sex toy enterprise. And Fort Worth is, well, in Texas. It strikes me that neither city is really going to be taken seriously in this effort.

Sheikh Your Money Maker

“A Qatar sheikh held up a British Airways Flight at Milan’s Linate airport for nearly three hours after discovering three of his female relatives had been seated next to men they did not know.When none of the other business class passengers agreed to swap seats, the sheikh, a member of Qatar’s ruling family, went to the pilot, who had already started the engine, to complain, an airport official said. But the pilot ordered him and his traveling companions, the three women, two men, a cook and a servant, off the plane.”

Mr. Money wound up causing a three hour delay with his stunt. He’s a member of the ruling family… Why not just fly on a private jet or buy up all of business class?

Drop The Dime

How nervous would you be if you carried a dime worth $1.9 million in your pocket? How bad would feel if you accidently spent it on a Snickers bar?