Guard Dog

Yep. Sometimes it's smoked or pressure cooked to make pulled pork. I just cut it into chunks for dipping in a Coca Cola based BBQ sauce I made. VERY tender.

Now reading The Returned by Jason Mott. This definitely lived up to the hype.

I just sent a two paragraph email to both of my senators and my house rep explain that I was opposed to any intervention in Syria for the main reason that any intervention ultimately benefits Al-Qaeda. The secondary reasons were that the aim of the rebels was not to create a free and democratic country rather to replace a brutal military dictatorship with a brutal theocratic dictatorship. That is NOT an improvement. US aid should never become a destabilizing force. I'm curious what their reply will be. If there is one. From the Senators at best you get a non-committal form reply but my house rep is a good man. He usually sends back a personal reply.

I've come to the conclusion that Bruce is after every somewhat attractive lady. That just means he has a pulse. Hey, can't fault a man for being a man. That's like getting mad at a compass because it points north all the time!

You lost me Wals. I'm not seeing the connection at all.

I'm smoking a Boston Butt. I made a dry rub of salt, sugar, paprika, mustard, garlic powder, ground pepper, and celery seed, & cayenne pepper. I rubbed it down and bagged it up in the refrigerator overnight. Now I'm smoking it at 225 for 7 hours. I'm also making steamed corn on the cob and rice with sautéed mushrooms & onions. For dessert I've made bread pudding this morning and it's cooling in the fridge.

It's been a great weekend for me. It started with dinner with GF at a very nice place in downtown. Then it was drinks and live blues at the roof top lounge on the Peabody with the Memphis skyline in the background. Then it was back to her place. That's where the surprise came. Since I was going to be gone overnight and I couldn't leave my dog home alone all night I brought him to her place. He was NOT happy and made his unhappiness known by barking all night and making a mess. Well, she is not allowed dogs in this place and the neighbors complained so that is a problem to be worked out later. Anyway we laughed about it and cleaned up his mess and then later we were, you know, enjoying ourselves in the bedroom and he jumps into the bed and stares at us the whole time. He never does THAT at home. Then he started interfering and that was the end of that. The next day we took him to Overton Park and we spend the day hanging out there. Sunday night we came back to my house where, thankfully, Tommy started behaving himself again. So we just relaxed today, I'm smoking a Boston Butt Roast in the smoker and drinking Sam Adams on the porch. Tommy is chasing crows down in the trees and the GF is taking a nap on the couch. All in all a good way to end a good weekend. And I broke down and told her where we are going for her birthday present next month. She is very excited. I didn't know this but she has never flown before.

Wow I had an amazing 3 days, so many interesting, bizarre and enlightening things happened. The highlights were The speech went incredibly well. My dad and the guests were touched by what they said was the great sincerity and sentimentality of what I said Amazing food at these funky restaurants the whole weekend My brother brought an Australian lady friend to the beach cottage and this lady was super sexy and hot. And really interesting ( she has just got through an African hiking trip Bruce are you after your brother's lady?

Taking GF here for dinner tonight: http://www.eighty3memphis.com/index.php

And what, pray tell, did the creepy old professor want you to do for HIM? Hopefully nothing you will have difficulty living with. Kidding of course!

Now that IS a fine way to spend a morning.

Working around the house today. Then this afternoon I have some real work to do planning POs for a new DAS install in West Memphis.

Guess what I read. I read 3 males in 3 days and I was little WTF for a moment. I guess that would play on the old joke "what's the ultimate in trust between cannibals? oral sex."

Congrats! Today low budget racing games. Tomorrow Elder Scrolls VI, or VII since I'm sure they are already working on VI.

The same day UN inspectors arrive and that's the perfect excuse for the West, already gunning for him, to step in after the requisite videos of dead children and crying adults, etc. Seems a really weird decision to make. Ah well, hope this adventure just costs from the TLAMs. Malc it sounds like you are doubting that Assad is behind the attacks, remember he doesn't care about Canada or the Canadian people. I heard one of his favourite meals is Roast Moose, sorry to upset you but you need to realize he is a bad person The problem is the rebels are bad people too. there are no good guys here. The longer they kill each other the better off the world will be in the long run.

I always thought mine would be either "Are you sure the circuit breaker is off?" or "Hey y'all watch this!" But I'll settle for "What the hell is THAT?"

Japanese teams play small ball. Single, bunt, single. They tend to have a smaller strike zone too. A MLB team vs a NPB with a Japanese umpire would give up a lot of walks. But would also score a lot of runs since the average fastball in the NPB is 88-91 mph. They throw a lot more breaking pitches but good hitters can figure those out by their 2-3 AB.

Just a heartbreaking loss to the halos tonight. Couple that with the Sox routing the O's and it was a bummer of a night.

You take care of yourself Nep! Your chosen profession has a reputation of chewing people up with stress already.

Because if there is one thing I know it is that a number of nations have already decided how they want this to turn out and are more than willing to distort the facts, or ignore them to achieve that outcome. That is not to say they are wrong, only that I don't believe a word they say. For all that matters. I would nor believe the US government right now if it told me rain was wet.

Realistically most of us would end up dead in the fall of civilization... and the only winners are the cowards. Why? Because they(we) are opportunists. And generally understand that when crap is going down the drain you can't play knight in shining armor. Admittedly in part this would depend upon how the world was ending... in a epidemic you'd probably find family units sticking together but being incredibly xenophobic (in case the sickness jumped). In a more nuclear ending you'd see people trying to act as larger groups to survive, but it's unlikely they'd be larger than a township. Although the initial chaos that wiped out most people would have individuals operating on their own, or maybe clinging to their dependent relationship (so parents and young offspring). Depressingly those who'd be trying to be Chivalrous or whatever would end up getting crushed 'neath pragmatism and base instinct. Sorry my bipolar has been acting up so I've been looking at the dark side of things. I can see it now. Setting: Post Armageddon Iowa Scene: A burned out building Action: Calax huddles over a fire dressed in dirty rags cooking a human leg (not his) over a dwindling fire. Galaxy New Radio playing in the background.

Hey I am 100% in favor of charity groups. For all they good they do. They do manage to help in small ways. But I'm 100% opposed to using the military, or even diplomatic power to effect regime change. How does it help the world to change a brutal military backed dictatorship with a brutal military backed theocracy? The one thing I can tell you for certain is that the outcome of this will NOT be a free and democratic Syria no matter who wins. And you will not be able to distinguish the winner by the post conflict body count. Besides, there seems to be evidence (that the Obama admin will ignore because it does not advance their goals) that the rebels were the ones that have used gas. There are no good guys here. To reiterate; To Hell With Them!

Now reading The Red and Savage Tounge by FJ Atkinson. It's set in post Roman Britain. I think you guys would like this one. It has swords. Also reading The Boy From Reactor 4 by Orest Stelmach. I just started it but I'm hooked. If you like Dan Brown you'll like this. The style at least, not the subject matter.

If you make this into a movie I'll go see it!

Hey I remember that name. She was an active poster on the Bio Boards back when SoU came out.