Thursday, January 02, 2014

NFL GREED, A GREAT NEW BOOK, AND MORE

Anne Hillerman takes over for father Tony with "Spider Woman's Daughter"

Cruisin’ and perusin’ on a January afternoon in warm Scottsdale.  I see where Boston has 14”of snow; too bad!……..Thanks to everyone who has commented favorably on the blog getting back to the old format.  It’s almost like when the blogs started at AZ Central on December 5, 2006.  If they hadn’t cancelled them we would be starting our 8th year.  Actually we are; it’s just not called AZ Central anymore.  Too bad in a way; I have always missed having readers being able to post photos or other items………Speaking of snow I see where three of the four NFL teams in the playoffs this weekend have been unable to sell all their tickets in order to avoid a local blackout of TV coverage.  I think a lot of it is about greed.  The public can only take so much and when parking, refreshments, tickets, and souvenirs get priced too high there will eventually be a backlash.  Plus, unless you are like 109,000 hockey fans who sat in 12 degrees plus snow this week for the NHL Winter Classic game, wouldn’t you rather watch football from the comfort of a bar or your living room on a large flat screen TV? Someone must agree; Green Bay can’t even sell out as of this writing.  I guess they forget the great “Ice Bowl” game of 1967.  Too bad “Dandy Don” Meredith and Bart Starr can’t play anymore……..Has anyone been reading the “Seeing Red” blog that I have mentioned before?  If you like a conservative political point of view from a good Phoenix writer, check it out……..If you are a Tony Hillerman fan who enjoyed his mysteries involving the Navajo Tribal Police in Arizona and New Mexico, there is good news!  Tony unfortunately died in 2008 at 83 but his daughter Anne has taken his place continuing the Navajo police stories.  I’m 73 pages into her first book and she writes just like her dad……..We’ve seen the demise of newspapers up close with the decrease in the circulation and size of the Arizona Republic.  A couple months ago they cut the payroll by 29 more people in addition to two earlier personnel cuts.  The neighborhood inserts have been cut to three per week and have fewer pages.  It’s not as though they were doing that well anyway since as early as 1942, 73% of Americans relied on radio for news and as early as 1933, radio commentators were ordered not to report news that was less than 12 hours old in order to justify the need for newspapers.  Why?  Because ONE FOURTH of all radio stations were owned by newspapers!  It all seems a bit quaint now as we watch some formerly great papers go down the tubes.  Is it progress?  In some cases, yes……..What would Benson would do if the Republic folded?……..I did a blog a couple weeks ago about the great radio and TV show “Amos ‘n’ Andy” that ran on radio from 1928-1960 and TV from 1951-1953.  Strangely, that blog with its accompanying film clip has disappeared from Google.  Is this big brother at work?  I don’t care what anyone says; it was a popular show enjoyed by blacks and whites and never portrayed black people in any other way than as middle class Harlem residents of their era that had jobs and families and got into funny incidents the same as whites would in a sitcom.  Shame on Google for deleting my post……..Thanks for reading…….. later.

Bart Starr of Green Bay plunges into the end zone for the 
winning  touchdown in -17 degree weather to win the 1967
NFL Championship Game over Dallas. (AP)










156 comments:

Unknown said...

Nice blog, Jimmy. Very well written. Twelve degree ice rinks? Uhm, no. Got caught in the cold last night and felt like I was having a heart attack! Took me two hours to stop shivering.

I ordered a documentary and that and Tony Hillerman mystery films are good for a cold winter's day.

Hey Jimmy, I had a problem with the website, but I fixed it. The studio is chilly at dawn. Lots of work to do.

sam said...

When I moved here in 1973, there were two papers...Gazette, and Republic..(Gazette was an evening paper, and basically reported the same news as the Republic, but I considered it less "political" than was the Republic in their reporting)
I stopped delivery of the paper in 1996....and it folded shortly after...(not my fault ! !)
But, I have never considered the Republic with any significant level of respect....and yes, I am not denying it may have been due to my bias against the apparent "bent" of many of the issues written and printed by the paper's reporters, and political positions on various State and National issues.
At the present time, I tend to get most of my news off the web, especially from foreign news sites, and I don't rely on any single source.

PROUD said...

I too miss Dandy Don” and Bart Starr. Remember as a kid, going to a Cleveland Browns game where it was so cold that fans were making small (popcorn boxes and napkin) fires in between the rows of snowy seats, and NOBODY made them stop.
I moved to the valley in 1959, phx had the same two newspapers Sam mentioned, though the Gazette didn't have a Sunday, so you got a Republic. At one time or another I was lucky enough to deliver both. The subscription ran somewhere around 50-65 cents a week and still some people asked me to come back because they didn't have the money!

midnightsstaff said...

It might be that the muppets are just getting tapped out, they jack the ticket prices and like you saw the schools in the Fiesta and a lot of other bowls are not selling what should be a slam dunk ticket sales for BCS games.

Maybe govt. extortion in what can only be another year of meager expectations has finally had it's effect- ..eventually every whisky bottle runs dry.

It's just a rumor but I heard a few health insurance plans were canceled which is obviously a lie because the president said so.. what's worse is the new improved plan that replaces the old substandard one is said to come with a steep price increase along with a high deductible and is only valid in the county you are registered to vote, but if that is true it's only because of Republican sabotage and dirty tricks.
..at least that's what CNN says.

I wish there was an honest paper in town, the Arizona Reptile is not fit to line a parakeet cage; gone are the days of a two paper city, much less a morning and evening edition.. they are just comfortable memories Jim.

Looks like another three dog night across most of the nation.. we got it easy..

Anonymous said...

Remember Connie well, Rest his Soul, used to go to the old (not old, old Garden) the one on 8th and about 50th St., for the Holiday Festival and NIT's. If memory serves, we lost Jack Twyman, a 'Big-O' Royal and humanitarian this year as well. Goddell, may be the worst Commissioner in Pro-Sports, single handedly killing the goose that laid the golden egg, with Thursday Football (traditionally a College Night) at a time when injuries are increasing, because recovery takes a few days, not hours in Pro Football and Sunday's would have Monday off, Chalk-Tuesday and Prep, Wednesday, now that's travel with no Prep, crumby product, because injuries compromise the match-ups, and lead to the opportunity for greater gambling. This years Super Bowl, in my home State, New Jersey is a joke, with no tailgating, so the little people who can't get in, get no taste of the game, all for greed every nickel for every dog and beer! The Mike Perriera Shuffle, another Goddell, Pontius Pilate move, having Refs support the calls made on the field that all in the booth disagree with!

Jury may still be out on Hockey, here in the U.S., the NBA is all but imploding and the National Pastime has an opportunity, print media, save the WSJ and possibly Post in Manhattan are doomed.

As always, Jim, good points all, clear thy palate and thy head and peace will be with thee.

Randy

midnightsstaff said...

New Jersey Randy?- no wonder you post at five in the am.. lol- East coast Christieland time zone.

I think things have just changed too much lately for the NFL to remain bullish, they willingly jumped head first into the Obamacare fartsack to help promote national suicide last summer and this obsession with pink uniforms and changing the rules to something approaching flag football might have finally tipped the balance.

Now Our Betters are naming winter storms like we do hurricanes, reminding people to grab their scissors and shelter in place; the weather channel despite snowdrifts piling up in Atlanta are still carrying water for the big lie of man made global warming..
It's hard not to laugh at those global warming cultists getting stuck in the summer ice off Antarctica.

..maybe it's just finally the victims of constant manipulation are seeing things that just can't be explained away as normal, new or not.

Mike said...

The Arizona Republic used to be a good paper until the Gannett Corp. took over. Now it's just a left wing rag.

I watch sports on my 60 inch flat screen. Cold beer in the refrigerator and no waiting at the restroom. I usually watch with the mute on because I don't need to be told what I just saw. works for mindless commercials too.

Jim McAllister said...

From: Joy Wiseman, Scottsdale

Jim, my sympathy to you on the death of your friend, Mr. Dierking. I am sure he would appreciate your remembrances of him.

It is nice to know that Ann Hillerman is now writing as her father did. I enjoyed those books.

Jim McAllister said...

From: Jim Johnson

Jim:

Thanks for the info that Hillerman's daughter is continuing the escapades of Officer Jim Chee. I always liked the series as many of the places are well known to me. I can only remember one mistake: that had Chee going from The Gap to Ganado in just a few hours. Not possible.

Meanwhile, have been unable to educate Don much, skull is too thick and is full of liberal pond scum residing there. He is still as leftist as ever giving Obama credit for the stock market performance.

Jim Johnson

Jim McAllister said...

From: Greg

Thanks Jim! And one more day before we return to the frozen tundra (literally) . .

Gregory J. Bartnicki

Jim McAllister said...

I see that the Packers sold out their game for this weekend but they had to hustle to do it.

More: http://www.packers.com/news-and-events/article-1/Packers-49ers-playoff-tickets-sold-out/ecb76250-c2f0-4ea9-b2f0-67ff51daa5f3?campaign=t140103

Unknown said...

Mystery novels are written backwards, Jimmy. It's actually easier that way. Works the same in real life investigations. Spy novels are my favorite.

midnightsstaff said...

Most of my life has been ran backwards Rick, that's why I am always a step ahead of you sharpies in Missouri.
..got to be a lot tougher enjoying the four seasons n the Ozarks real time around this time of year.
I guess the mosquitoes all summer make up for the inconvenience of near zero temperatures you are enjoying today- of course there is always Spring to look forward to- a mere two and a half months away.

Glad to see the Pack get that game on tv for the locals who really can't afford the price of an NFL playoff game.
I can guarantee that there isn't a lack of interest in that locally owned franchise.
People are just coming to the end of their rope.
How about that other Garden of Eden game in Cincy.. supposed to be shirtsleeve weather about 75 with a light breeze I hear.

AHiredGun said...

Happy New Year to all and I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. Cindy and I spent New Years Eve in Vegas and almost got trampled to death on Las Vegas Blvd. after the fireworks (we put this event in the bucket list file - I did Times Square back in the early 70s).

I agree ticket prices for all major sports have gotten out of hand. This does not bode well for attendance figures from future generations. However, I do think the ticket sales for the wildcard games are due to the Artic weather. I know I would not want to sit in a stadium for over 3 hours freezing my butt off. However, my Eagles did sell out first. Too bad I don't expect to see them in the Super Bowl this year - maybe in a year or two.

midnightsstaff said...

..(America entertainment 1961)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttMt9SHRwsM

Ok.. now get a mental image of Miley Twerking..
(sorry)..
..That would be an example of American entertainment 52 years later.

1961 NFL championship game ..
.."Ray Nitschke, Boyd Dowler, and Paul Horning, were on leave from the U.S. Army.
Paul Horning scored 19 points for the Packers and was Named the MVP Most Outstanding Player in the 1961 Championship Game, and awarded a 1962 Corvette from Sport magazine"..

flash forward..

2013 Superbowl wining Baltimore Ravens led by Hall of Fame linebacker (if no one kills him in a bar or ends up in prison first), Ray Lewis.

.."Following a Super Bowl XXXIV party in Atlanta on January 31, 2000, a fight broke out between Lewis and his companions and another group of people, resulting in the stabbing deaths of Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar. Lewis and two companions, Reginald Oakley and Joseph Sweeting, were questioned by Atlanta police, and 11 days later the three men were indicted on murder and aggravated-assault charges"..

Yeah.. I couldn't tell you why tickets are going unsold.

PROUD said...


Half of pioneer rock duo dies.


RIP Phil Everly

midnightsstaff said...

Well HG- December has come and gone unlike you- thought you said Dec?

Of no consequence of course other than to those of us who note such things, dutifully filing the minutiae of everyday life away for future consideration, much like the NSA program does.

..missed the running of the bulls in the people's republic of Cave Creek I suppose, better get a bigger bucket.

I'm a bit surprised that a guy like you would pass on what could become a litigious cornucopia- you must have your hands already full.
After all isn't the Bar the only thing left standing between us and tyranny?- oh wait!

..well I'm late for my two minutes of rage therapy on the balcony- after ten it just doesn't have the same impact as at first dawn.

midnightsstaff said...

The Everly bros were as smooth as silk and none better to provide entertainment for trips to lovers lane; better stick with cartoons if you don't want to watch what the graying of America looks like- it ain't going to be pretty.

I got a feeling we are about ready to see what Sarah Palin was talking about.
..two minutes are about right- George was on to something, I feel better already.

PROUD said...


Yeah getting old ain't fer sissies, not just in the entertainment field, but in our own mirrors.... Those guys were absolutely great at harmonies, in fact if you look at bios on most famous / successful singers or groups you will probably find mention of fact that they were greatly influenced by the Everly Brothers.

I remember reading an interview with Lennon / McCartney where they talked about how they worked at mimicking the Everly's two part harmony on their early stuff, "Love Me Do"...comes to mind.

And many other artists like: Simon and Garfunkel, Alan Clarke and Graham Nash of The Hollies. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Mamas and Papas, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, The Eagles.ETAL, all credit Phil & Don as inspirational....

midnightsstaff said...

..anyone in particular been inspired by the duo of Ted Kennedy or Harry Reid?

once again- no hands raised..

PROUD said...

Well there was one old botoxed bitch but she has to raise her (left) hand to see what's in her ha....(well, you know) :-)

midnightsstaff said...

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you!..Pericles (430 B.C.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZsJ3SVI1Vw

why does the Federal Reserve need it's own arm..erh I mean securit.. erh... I mean Police Force?

.."The few who understand the system will either be so interested in its profits or be so dependent upon its favours that there will be no opposition from that class, while on the other hand, the great body of people, mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantage that capital derives from the system, will bear its burdens without complaint, and perhaps without even suspecting that the system is inimical to their interests."
~ The Rothschild brothers of London writing to associates in New York, 1863.

Unknown said...

Middy, a hall of fame country music star sent Warner Bros. a short contract that I wrote. Folks in music seem to be more interested in my writing than in the company.

Those entertainers want to know where I learned to write, Jimmy? Since I can't talk about whatshername anymore, how about if I tell them that my dog taught me? Coonhounds can do math too.

midnightsstaff said...

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_24846166/misery-steroids-survival-tale-from-coldest-game-nfl

.."On that 1982 day in Ohio, the wind chill was 59 degrees below zero. And if I have not forgotten how awesomely awful it was, I can guarantee that the men who endured those conditions while trying to play their best football have not forgotten, either. I have spoken to a few since then. They say that even today when the weather gets a little cold, their extremities get numb because they never really recovered from the frostbite they sustained that afternoon"..

I had no idea it gets cold in Cincinnati in January, good thing they are playing in Paul Brown stadium, a dome eh.. what- no dome you say? haha.

Rick, toss caution to the winds and just level with them, tell them you are a Golden Buffalo alum where excellence in creative writing is cultured every day.. that ought to be enough right there.

Unknown said...

I need a new tractor with a front end loader, belly mower and rear attached, three point hitch mounted rototiller. The tractor should have an air conditioned cab, heated, CD player, microwave, coffee maker, large screen TV, entertainment room upstairs in the cab and an elevator to get in and out of it.

Jim McAllister said...

I just finished watching the Chiefs-Colts game and if there ever was a reason for proof that one should never give up, that was it.

Down 28 points in the 3rd quarter, the Colts win 45-44. It had to be a long, quiet ride back to KC.

Lenny Dawson must be crying. His 1969-70 Chiefs team would never had lost that game.

Jim McAllister said...

Thanks, Rick.

PBS made a couple of good Hillerman films many years ago. They were made for TV but with good veteran actors like Adam beach as Jim Chee and Wes Studi as Joe Leaphorn they were excellent.

Jim McAllister said...

Sam,

I used to take the Gazette and Republic too until the Gazette folded. Montini was around in those days too; he is like a bad penny.

I would never miss him if he left and he may be doing that soon the way the paper is deteriorating in size and quality.

Jim McAllister said...

PROUD,

The cheapest I have ever seen on a daily was 4 cents in Cincy right after WWII.

In those days they had three papers: The morning Enquirer, the afternoon Post and afternoon Times-Star. The latter two eventually merged then folded and all that is left is the Enquirer with a morning edition. Like the Republic they are struggling to stay afloat and are relying more and more on on line readers. It probably won't work; that era is past.

Jim McAllister said...

Middy,

I think there are way too many bowls and it is diluting the general interest in bowls. Plus they are taking advantage of fans with their costs and playing too far into the new year.

I loved watching Texas Tech whip ASU. I have nothing against ASU but I don't like their loudmouth show off coach Graham.

Wait until UofA gets them in basketball. They will return the favor on running up the football score on them.

Jim McAllister said...

Hi Randy,

Yeah, Connie was a great guy; I remember him playing with Oscar on those great teams of the late 50s at Cincy. They used to play some great games at schools like Bradley and Wichita in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Cincy Enquirer ran a photo a while back of Connie and some of the other UC guys who played on the Royals in the NBA in the 60s like Tom Thacker, George Wilson, and Adrian Smith. Connie looked great; I emailed him and told him he looked like he could still lace 'em up and do 40 minutes on the hardwood.

Jack Twyman was the best, especially for his taking care of Maurice Stokes all those years after they played in Rochester. He died this past year as did Phil Wheeler, another good UC player.

I agree on Thusday Night Football; too much but greed will always rear its ugly head.

Jim McAllister said...

Middy,

Randy is from the New Jersey area but lives in Scottsdale.

I think a lot of Nobama people are coming to their senses now after the Obamacare nonsense that illustrated what a lying bastard Obama is. (Are you listening, NSA?) I would love to shake Snowden's hand.

I love your statement "It's hard not to laugh at those global warming cultists getting stuck in the summer ice off Antarctica."

When will they learn that they know nothing and need to roll with the punches when it comes to climate.

Jim McAllister said...

Mike,

You nailed it with "The Arizona Republic used to be a good paper until the Gannett Corp. took over. Now it's just a left wing rag."

By the way, now that Alabama has lost TWO games, would you still take them over the Cardinals?

midnightsstaff said...

New Orleans last of the great road teams.. lol..

I would make them ride the Greyhound back to KC.. give them a taste of what's to come once the sugar ride is done.

Hey if that tractor is too nice you won't ever want to come back inside the Enchanted Farm/studio/bunker/goat refuge..
..why not just get someone to drive it to while your at it and you could sit shotgun.
As I told Rick, ya gotta quit playing little ball- wave that CU sheepskin around a little- let them know you mean business.

Jim McAllister said...

Joy,

I'm getting hooked on Anne Hillerman's work already. It's like she is Tony with a skirt. She really follows the Hillerman style.

It's nice to have Bernadette, Jim Chee, Leaphorn, Largo, and all the other characters come back to life.

Great imagery too with the depiction of the landscape of the rez.

Jim McAllister said...

Joy,

Thanks, Connie Dierking was a really nice guy and a heck of a basketball player in college and the pros.

Jim McAllister said...

Jim,

Don is a hopeless case. I haven't spoken to him in a couple years. I didn't think he liked a comment I made to him about the Liar. LOL

Jim McAllister said...

Middy,

We talked to barb's cousin in Cincy today and she says they are expecting a day just like the playoff game in 81-82 against the Chargers: Freezing temperatures and wind.

I remember that '80s game. There was a big door in the end zone and when the Chargers had the ball they opened it and let that arctic air blow in on them.

Oh, did I say the Bengals won that game? Yes, they did. There is nothing like the home field advantage.

Jim McAllister said...

AHG,

Good to see you back. Vegas for New years; sounds nice. We did that a few times years ago but not lately especially since we are at Talking Stick usually a couple times a week. It's nice but no crap table; bad deal there.

Too bad about the Eagles tonight. That last drive by Brees was the work of a true veteran. Kick the field goal at .04 and go home. Tough loss for Philly.

Jim McAllister said...

Middy,

Interesting analogy of the '61 Packers and the Ravens of last year.

Lewis will meet his end one of these days. It's just his destiny. He gets away with it while I remember Hornung had to sit out a year for betting on games.

This country has really changed their values.

Jim McAllister said...

Middy, PROUD.

I spent the summer of 1958 working in Florida parking cars at Miami Beach at the Eden Roc Hotel. I was just out of high school and the song I remember the most at that time was "Wake Up Little Susie" by Don and Phil.

Any time I hear one of their tunes it brings back another memory. I wish I would have appreciated the 50s more when i was there.

Interesting about lennon-McCartney and "Love me Do." Pretty nice tribute to Don and Phil. I miss Johnny Cash too.

Those guys can't be replaced.

Jim McAllister said...

Reid-Kennedy: Two pukes

Jim McAllister said...

Middy

That 1982 game was 59 below. I was in town visiting at the time but sure wasn't near the game.

Dan Fouts had the honor of playing QB that day for SD.

Jim McAllister said...

Rick,

I just saw that tractor in the John Deere showroom the other day!

midnightsstaff said...

Thanks for the clarification, when Randy said "his home state" I assumed there was at least one sane person left in NJ- which sounds pretty unreasonable, that clears that up.

I guess I'll break down and watch the Packers game, the conditions should cut down on the antics.
Actually it looks like the weather won't be nearly the factor as with the infamous Ice Bowl freeze fest, Lambeau has a heated field now, so ice skates can't be used.
Denver next week is another story.

Lots of hype on Drudge lately, he is turning into a modern day Randolph Herst- his site looks like National Inquirer, -70? Really- they are padding those lows with wind chill figures.
Like right now in nearby Little Falls Mn. they are claiming -27deg wind chill when it's actually only -25deg right now with a one mph wind..

..busted!

PROUD said...

Jim, Leslie and I went to Vegas for New Years. While the city was vibrant and alive with excitement the extra large (estimates that an additional 350-375K more than usual night) crowds made getting around next to impossible. We do Vegas about twice a decade, but we both agreed, we won't be doing another New Years eve there....Surprisingly, the hoards of folks we talked to (bumped into) were all behaving and nice, they shut down the strip and even a couple of main freeways, to allow for zillions of revelers to revel w/o getting run over, that put extreme pressure on all the secondary streets and ally ways, I found valet parking which had a decent escape route, or we'd still be there....

All that walking got me to working on an answer to that age old question: "why does the crowd ALWAYS seems to be walking the opposite direction" that you are going???? Happens at Christmas shopping malls, or the state fair???

Im checking ancestory.com to see if perhaps there is some salmon lineage???? in our family trees????

GREAT playoff games last night, can't wait for todays....

midnightsstaff said...

I haven't been to Vegas in a coon's age, (is that term still ok to say?)

Going to the city of broken dreams on NYE has never appealed to me even in my earlier dating frenzy years.

I remember visiting late last century when they had just opened that strip long monorail or whatever it was system, it went from the top floor of the Excalibur to the newly opened New York, New York buffet line.
..another weird concept in my opinion.

Don't know if they ever got it completely expanded but it looked as specious of an idea as any I have ever seen.
I think all those 1980's dreams probably have turned into a grim struggle for dwindling gambling traffic, at least the buffets used to be worth the line wait.

I doubt I will ever grace the city limits again, after all one can get all the gambling they can handle right now by either dodging snowbirds on the surface streets of Scottsdale or rolling the dice on the blue plate special at Pablo and Rosa's authentic Mexican style Cantina in Maryville- minus the lights and fountains.

Haha.. time to call my bud in Berwick Pa and ask how he is enjoying the four seasons today, I believe they call it freezing rain. lol.

Unknown said...

I read recently that with newspapers fading, that only 6 [SIX!] large corporations own 90% of ALL newspaper publications. The story that a Chinese businessman was buying the "NYT" is bogus, BUT their stock has risen some 80%, so, there is something afot, methinks!

Jim McAllister said...

In case you haven't seen it, this is one of the funniest commercials I have seen for Old Spice.

http://www.marketmenot.com/old-spice-momsong-commercial/

Jim McAllister said...

Coyotes suck! There, I feel better. I had to get that out of the way.

Now, on to a real sport or at least it used to be: The NFL.

Bengals blow a game they should have won but kudos to San Diego; they did what they had to do. I predict that that Marvin Lewis has coached his last game in Cincy.

It looks like Whisenhunt can have the Lions' job if he wants it. Would you want to coach Detroit?

SF off to good start at Green Bay: 6-0, 9:00 left in the lst half.

Jim McAllister said...

Middy,

I agree on Drudge; he has changed his act a bit and is not as current on some stuff.

Jim McAllister said...

PROUD,

New Orleans really impressed me with their clock management on that last drive last night. Brees is a master at QB.

I haven't been to Vegas since 2004. We stayed at the Sahara which like most of the older places is now long gone.

With the local gambling here, we pretty much gamble here exclusively. I only miss the dice table which to me is the most exciting game in gambling. I used to do OK just playing the point and a couple line bets, usually the 6-8. Always a diverse crowd at the dice table.

In the mid 80s I videotaped a drive down the strip at night and in the day. I need to look at it again. Most of the old places are gone. We had a sales meeting at the Dunes in 1980. It is now LONG gone.

Jim McAllister said...

Middy,

Barb and I used to do Vegas about twice a year in our KC days. The last time I was in KC (2003) they had a bunch of their own casinos with craps and all the other games.

Talking Stick is our hangout here at 101 and Via Ventura. Great rooftop fine dining restaurant and a nice casino.

The Indians are not sitting on their hands with development. They are building all kinds of stuff in that Odysea project. Meanwhile, Scottsdale's stupid city council keeps approving more apartments that are not even needed.

Jim McAllister said...

Unknown,

Correct about newspapers; they are in big trouble. They are a horse and buggy business in a jet engine world.

The Republic is a good example. They have had several layoffs in the past couple years as their subscriptions keep dwindling. They have cut the paper back too by reducing pages. Their days are numbered as they will wind up on the trash heap like the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Rocky Mountain News, New Orleans Times-Picayune and others.

Mike said...

Jim, yes I would. The Cardinals aren't that good and next year will have a tougher schedule.

midnightsstaff said...

GB will be lucky not to get blown out of this one..
No offensive line will do it every time- and they need to keep Kapernick off the field.

Kind of surprised by Cincy not making it closer, I agree the Coyotes have got to do something but in times like this it probably will be the wrong thing.
..they need talent.
on the other hand, how do you think KC fans feel?..

PROUD said...

Damn, Middy hit this one bang-on:

"no offensive line for GB / they need to keep Kapernick off the field."

That was indeed THE DIFFERENCE!

Too bad this site won't allow posting pics...Leslie and I took our grandson to lake Pleasant for lunch, dropped anchor in a beautiful, 65 degree, full sunshine, glassy water, cove, had a nice lunch watching coots and cranes diving for our pretzels and some wild burro's parading along the shore line....Then came home in shorts and flip/flops to watch the Green Bay -4 degree weather!

Couldn't help thinking:

This is WHY, we live here! :-)

PROUD said...

This just in from Frank J. Flemming:

"We're never going to get good data on global warming if everyone keeps getting trapped in ice"

midnightsstaff said...

I think Kapernick might be one of the three best qb's in the NFC- and I am happy that Aaron Rogers was able to walk off the field on two legs.
Just wait until the long knives come out on McCarthy starting about now, as soon as he settled with a tie leaving way too much time on the clock it was over as far as I was concerned.

It seemed to me to make sense to go for it and even if they didn't make it leave SF deep.. but he would have caught it for that too..
Putting K man on the field with less than five min is like having 12 men on the field.
I almost agree with mike on Alabama maybe beating GB today, but not in Wisconsin and not in January- where the game is a whole different animal.

midnightsstaff said...

According to honest scientists we might be actually going into a pretty severe change in climate, a mini ice age which has zero to do with any man made pollution.

Right now we are having a surge in volcanic activity, the sun is in an odd cycle and all signs point toward a long winter and brief summer for the future.
It's not nice to wish death by freezing on anyone but these weenies who just lost the boat are a group of scientific frauds so I would make them row their way home.

But I imagine somehow my tax money is going to pay the freight for their sickness... again.

Jim McAllister said...

Mike,

If I was rich I would set up a game between Alabama and the Cardinals and give you a private box seat on the 50 yd line so you could watch the Cards win 100-0.

Something tells me you would either still be unconvinced or you would say "Yeah, but I'll bet they can't beat Auburn!"

Jim McAllister said...

Middy,

Kaepernick is the real thing. The guy can run and pass. The best thing that ever happened to him is Alex Smith getting hurt at SF so he got his chance.

The way Smith played the first half against Indy I thought it would be a blowout. That second half was unbelievable. Sad day for KC but they would have gotten beat next week anyway.

Jim McAllister said...

PROUD,

Sounds like a nice afternoon. All that cold around the country is hard to believe ass we slip on our shirts everyday.

Better them than us.

midnightsstaff said...

Called my bud in Penn after the game, he had to go cut wood this morning for some reason, said the weather started out nice and turned into freezing drizzle- I reminded him that it's only two and a half months until Spring..

Then I probably shouldn't have but told him that burning wood is going the way of the coal fired power plant- global warming ya know..

..there is a reason people back there drink a lot.

midnightsstaff said...

While I'm airing my thoughts, does it really make sense that a 8/7/1 Packers team gets home field advantage over a 12/4 San Francisco team?

Maybe I'm not looking at it right but WTF?

At least the NHL has that part pretty much right, and with an eighty game schedule it kind of smooths out the inconsistencies of schedule.

.."A wind chill warning remains in effect until noon CST Monday.
A Winter Weather Advisory for blowing snow remains in effect until
midnight CST tonight.
* Drifting snow... sustained north winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts
over 30 mph will continue into early this evening. This will
create blowing and drifting snow onto roads.
The wind chill warning is in effect from this evening through
Monday morning.
* Wind chill values... wind chills will fall into the minus 20 to
minus 30 below zero range from late tonight into early Monday
morning. Air temperatures will fall into the 0 to minus 13
degree range by Monday morning... with the coldest readings
across central Missouri"..
..hey Rick, it's football weather in your neck of Paradise eh?- better throw another log on the fire.

Somebody ought to tell Algore we're having another heat wave- gotta shut down that coal industry..

midnightsstaff said...

Polar vortex, now there's a term not used in everyday conversation.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10552977/What-is-a-polar-vortex.html

The good fans in Green Bay got a real break in that game yesterday wasn't played tonight- the temp right now is -17 with a WC value of -33.

Yes we are experiencing what might be the first in a series of winter storms and a harbinger of what's to come the next decade or so- but science today is being manipulated for it's political advantage rather than to provide any attempt to discover the truth, it loses it's value to us bystanders through intentional obfuscation.

No one seems to know what makes the normal polar vortex break off and send plumes of Arctic air masses South.. anyone seen Al this morning?
I suppose again it's something I did by producing CO2 in his world- I did drive my truck.

Anyway the good people of Green Bay can take comfort in the fact that it's always worse in Winnipeg.

PROUD said...

In high school most guys were looking for the Polar Vortex....

Back then us guys called it... The "V" spot....

Never did find it,... though, after staying at a Holiday Inn, I made it to a "Harmonic Convergence"

PROUD said...

Just read about a brilliant plan to end terrorism as we know it. CIA now streaming old Norm Crosby videos into Middle Eastern countries:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oMDNc54eHw


Seems to be working, a group of terrorists rushed into a crowded market place this morning and screamed:

ALLAHU SNACKBAR

Love it when a plan comes together :-)

Stevebuzzardo said...


Lib logic: the colder it is, the more its caused by global warming.

Stevebuzzardo said...


I'm sure glad that our tax dollars are making it possible for fat ass Moochelle to stay in Hawaii for an extended period of time, as a birthday present from Obozo

Mike said...

Jimmy, you have way to much faith in the Cardinals and the NFL. BTW, would that private box seat include all the beer I can drink?

Middy, talked to the sister-in-law in Wolf Point yesterday at 10am and it was 20 below with blowing snow. What a paradise. I understand why the drink so much, nothing else to do.

midnightsstaff said...

I liked Montana, not Butte but Montana, and if it wasn't so cold I probably would have stayed, but unless you have been in sub zero weather and had to work in it you don't have any idea.
BTW- I don't have any faith in the Cardinals.

But as I told my high school guidance counselor.. I thought I was better cut out to be a beachcomber..

a nice walk around the lake this afternoon, I saw what I believe to be a female merganser, probably an American but maybe a red breasted one.. should have taken my camera or at least some field glasses..
..no pelicans tho and that's not a good sign.

I'm about ready to give up on humans and just stick to the birds- at least they obey nature's law, unlike this species.
Yeah..
Ouch!!- GB at this moment is -16 below with a minus -30 wind chill and dark is falling- (but at least it's not Winnipeg).
Winter has just begun.

Mike said...

I like Montana in the summer time. Going up in July because the wife and her sister are in a fishing tournament at Fort Peck.

Thinking about going thru Utah and Idaho on the way up and avoiding the pot head state of Colorado. What to go to Coeur d' Alene and check it out.

I'm thinking 4 weeks away from the Valley heat sounds good.

midnightsstaff said...

Ha.. just like the Montana tourist authority says.."come for the fishing, stay for the women".. or something like that.
..maybe that was Missouri.

Yeah an impressionable guy your age probably should take the western route, but that has it's drawbacks too not counting the 100 deg.+ drive up until you get to Pocatello (which means "eye of the potato" in Hekawi).

I don't know what would be worse, having you do the Salt Lake tour and maybe come back to Arizona with a couple of extra wives and a passal of kids or having you take the scenic 75 deg Colorado route and next thing you know it would be beads, a pony tail and maybe an earring..

..maybe you ought to fly.

Donna take it personal mike, just pulling your chain,.
Hey if I didn't do one of these every once and a while I would just be down at the lake talking to the coots.

Like Red Green says.. .."if the women don't find you handsome, at least let them find you handy"..and if duct tape don't fix it you probably have an electrical problem.

What this world needs is more Red Green's and fewer politicians.

midnightsstaff said...

Lol..."Goodyear has tried to shutter the plant in the northern city of Amiens for five years without success. Their latest attempt was met with a "boss-napping," a French tactic that had largely faded away after the height of the economic crisis in 2009. More theater than actual threat, these aim to grab management's attention — by grabbing management"..

I've been in three unions in my life and these guys put my guys to shame.
It's one thing to bust up a few windows but to actually take bosses for hostage is elevating your game.
Yeah.. those unions always work out..

Read more: http://www.myfoxny.com/story/24374207/restive-staff-seize-bosses-at-french-goodyear-site#ixzz2pfzMBhRD
Follow us: @myfoxny on Twitter | Fox5NY on Facebook

midnightsstaff said...

From the Arizona Republic today..

.."The total number of DUIs in Arizona dropped last year for the first time in the past decade, according to new data from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, which coordinates a statewide task force targeting drunk drivers .

Officers participating in the task force made more than 29,000 DUI arrests in 2013, a decrease of more than 3,000 from 2012’s total, according to the Office of Highway Safety. Authorities made nearly 4,000 DUI arrests during the 2013 holiday season, which began on Nov. 25 and went to the end of the year"..

Gotta take the good news when you get it, anyone have any idea why dui's in the Great State of Arizona are dropping? I sure as hell don't suspect the officers of slacking off- Arizona has some pretty professional officers, we are lucky.

..can't blame everything on the Snowbirds .

midnightsstaff said...

If Obama puts your blood pressure in the red zone, watch this video made in a more sane world.
Ike was a perfect leader for a growing America.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWiIYW_fBfY

..most people haven't heard what's probably the most famous speech ever made by JFK.. it's worth a listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY_jqFmyTs0

I wish I had been old enough to be aware when Ike was in office, he actually seemed to be a much more intelligent leader than most people think- I think Reagan was probably the guy that woke me up.

Listening to real leaders is like a night bowling with Ozzie and Harriet- but then he was talking to a much more intelligent nation, all we get now are bullshit artists.

Jim McAllister said...

PROUD,

I remember Norm Crosby. He was deaf as a log but made a nice living off malaprops. I see he is 86 now.

Jim McAllister said...

Buzz,

We have to hand it to Al Gore. he proved that one doesn't have to have a brain to become a multi millionaire.

Jim McAllister said...

Buzz,

We have to hand it to Al Gore. he proved that one doesn't have to have a brain to become a multi millionaire.

Jim McAllister said...

Buzz,

Plus she will be returning to Washington for her big birthday bash at the White House on the 17th. Our tax dollars at work.

I love it though; it just further proves to the naysayers what a couple of f---ing losers and opportunists they voted into the White House. I'm sure Jesse, Al, Rahm and the rest of the scumbags will all be in attendance.

Jim McAllister said...

Mike,

I'm no Cardinal fan; I've disliked them since their days in St. Louis but to think that an NFL team that won 10 games would lose to a college team that lost 2 games doesn't make sense. Auburn beat Alabama and Auburn lost to Florida State yesterday so they are not even a great college team.

As soon as I have enough influence and money, I'll set the game up for you.

Jim McAllister said...

"boss-napping,"?

LOL, I love unions. Luckily, since I am a spoiled college graduate who never worked a day in my life, I was never in a union.

I have heard of John L. Lewis though. He was the funny guy who worked with Dean Martin, right?

Jim McAllister said...

Middy,

I remember that speech by Kennedy. I was 19 when he was elected (1960), 21 when we had the almost war over the Bay of Pigs (1962), and 22 when he died(1963). Lots of memories from those times.

midnightsstaff said...

Maybe the time to listen was before that cute brood of "free" mongrel puppies in the back yard named the war on poverty, the war on drugs and the tail of the Military/Industrial complex now wagging the dog of the nation since grown into a pack of vicious wolves ripping out the throat of their owners.

..but we will never know because we now have a hellish, limitless government with ultimate designs on once and for all removing from humanity what they see as the cancer of personal Liberty and Equal Rights under a Lawful Justice system and a long awaited return of a system of Kings and peasants.

Tom Purcell tried to warn us along with a lot of people, of course they were either ignored or charged with racism or claims of being engaged in class warfare..

..eg. "The War on Women" as the Red Menace brilliantly pointed out- has been lost along with our Freedoms- yet they claim victory.

midnightsstaff said...

Speaking of...

I notice they are just leaving the billboards for the last failed Liberty School Bond election in place.
I guess that means they are going to try again this Nov- (that kid on the poster is probably now in Afghanistan chasing boogymen).

Someone call Paula and tell her that the iron is hot for her triumphant return to political fortune.
She has near exclusivity on this hot button topic, she should call a press conference with channel 12, grab her bullhorn and get some live streaming of her screaming at stopped traffic.
It would raise some awareness and re energize her stalled, seemingly directionless political career.

..at least that is what I would suggest if I were her campaign manager- maybe take some neighbor kids along while she burns down her batteries on stopped traffic.

Jim McAllister said...

Alert! Alert!

Are you tired of all the phony weather maps and long winded dialogues about the recent cold weather the country is receiving?

Well, you are in luck. Here is the forecast from an Indian radio station in North Dakota that cuts to the chase and saves you the time wasted listening to all those other guys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8hGIF9FljM

Jim McAllister said...

Middy,

I think the bullhorn is as far as Paula will ever get. Even in this screwed up society not many want to listen to an overage phony redhead rattle her teeth as she fights bulimia. Where is she anyway? Seems to have disappeared.

Did you see that 6 Republican senators crossed over today in the senate on the unemployment vote? Most were the usual suspects: Collins, Murkowski, Aytotte etc.

Mike said...

Jim, the Cardinals may have won 10 games but couldn't even make the playoffs. That's what happens when you're in 3rd place in a 4 team division.

We'll never know if a college team could beat a pro team.

Middy, "come for the fishing, stay for the women"? I don't fish and I've seen the women. I guess that's why I don't live there.I'll say one thing about the women they are professional drinkers.

midnightsstaff said...

Well the beer was cheap enough when I warmed the bar stools of Butte's finest pubs.
I guess the women were too now that I think about it.

I never seen so many blue eyed blonds as in Utah, most of the gals seem to look alike, funny that.
That weather report sounds like the guy on the station I used to listen to in Shiprock- they go from old style cowboy to Navaho chants.

.."Our staff is fluent in both, English and Navajo, allowing for information to be relayed in both languages. This contributes to the wide youth audience, who do not understand the more "traditional" Navajo used by some of KTNN's announcers. With KTNN® implementing a daily feature titled "Navajo Word of the Day", this addresses KTNN's role in language preservation among our younger audience"..

..now that's country! and you can brush up on that second language at the same time.
If you want a vision of this nation's future, just take a drive through the res. some weekend.

Mike said...

Ah Shiprock, a garden spot along with Gallup and Farmington. Went to New Mexico about 4 years ago with my son because he had a deer tag. As soon as we crossed the state line it started raining. When we got to his area east of Farmington it rained for 3 straight days.

midnightsstaff said...

I would sure like to see three decent periods per game for once, at least they broke out of that funk from the second on but whazzup with taking one period a game off?

midnightsstaff said...

Azcentral calling Ice Station Missouri... do you read me?..

nothing...

Rick probably just went to bed a few days ago and stayed there. it's practically balmy there right now with the cold air moving east..

ah.. the four seasons.

midnightsstaff said...

.."More than 100 first responders who claimed to have psychiatric conditions and medical disorders because of their work at Ground Zero are being arrested today for disability fraud"..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2535352/9-11-responders-scam.html

What! now you are telling me that a lot of our beloved "first responders" are turning out to be a bunch of welfare frauds?- I guess everyone in New York agrees that no crisis should ever go to waste..
I thought all that hero worship of a bunch of New Yorkers was a bit much.
..but then I just naturally consider everyone east of the Mississippi as suspect.

This sick nation doesn't have a political crisis, it has a morality crisis- fix that and the political problems would disappear.

midnightsstaff said...

Well Jim, maybe the truth just doesn't sell well with lots of folks but tell me how we have gone from a Norman Rockwell country that produced and approved of cartoons like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB6p5QPVhPI

to a nearly illiterate and unthinking nation of perpetual children who would sue to have that cartoon banned as extremist thought?

Our generation was the last one saturated with anything that can be considered as wholesome or informative entertainment.
Guess there's no sense in providing an abstract, contemporary comparison cartoon- just take a look around at what surrounds us today in the social media.

Makes you want to move to Idaho and off the grid.

Unknown said...

Station Missouri calling Azcentral ... come in Azcentral, this is Station Missouri. Do you read me?

(That's what they did after that polar hurricane (vortex) moved through in the movie, 2012)

We're saved though. Secretary of State Kerry has declared war on Global Warming.

Hey Jimmy, our company, www.lanajefferiesmusicllc.com went live yesterday. Thirty thousand views in one day. We have a web editor coming in, so I can create content.

Hey Jimmy, when you were in the John Deere showroom, did you see the new track vehicles for field and hunting? Yep, deer radar and laser corn planting.

All is well Azcentral. Out.

midnightsstaff said...

.."Thank you Rick and be safe"..and that was a live report from behind enemy lines...(voice of Walter Winchell)

Stay tuned to blogcast KATZ for any future hillbilly turned internet movie mogul developments, so for now it's "Good evening and may God bless"- Red.

fun quiz for anyone over 55.
http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz314888240c8c8.html

Jim McAllister said...

Ah, Shiprock.

I've been there once and I remember the roadkill in the middle of the road right in town. However, it is the setting for many of the great Tony Hillerman stories of the Navajo Tribal Police.

Jim McAllister said...

Mike,

Gallup is unbelievable. Lots of drunks there. When I worked for P and G in 1993 we couldn't sell hairspray to stores there because of the alcohol content.

Jim McAllister said...

Middy,

Great cartoon. Love the fools ready to sign up to that zoot suit looking guy. Reminds me of Obama.

Jim McAllister said...

Good quiz Middy but too easy.

Unknown said...

That was fun, Middy. I got nine out of ten. I never watched Dinah Shore, I guess.

Hey, according to maps, we have another dose of Japanese nuclear radiation over Missouri. The good news is that we glow in the dark now and don't need flashlights.

midnightsstaff said...

To easy...

Then why did you take it twice?..

I figure anyone from The Flaming River State would probably miss one or two like I did with Roy Rogers... and I used to watch that show with the devotion a religious Palm Springs bluehair with a bad thyroid watching telethons.

starting to get a distinct echo here Jim, maybe everyone is still posting on that other site.
..at least I can take comfort in that the June 1986 Plowboy centerfold from Missouri didn't eat the radioactive snow.. at least I hope not.

midnightsstaff said...

She sure convinced me to buy a Chevy once I saved up enough allowance, you just don't have enough time on the books to remember that hoofer.

danced her way out of the segregated south right into main street, she was the equivalent of HarpO in her day, minus the billions.

That cartoon is spot on and something that should be seen by every child in America.. but what do they get from the government schools- how to put a condom on a banana and "Heather and her two mommies and a German Shepherd" by the time they reach the third grade.

midnightsstaff said...

Two plus Too plus To equals Tu..

midnightsstaff said...

Hey I have a hard back copy of Skeleton Man if you want it.

Remind me if we ever get over to Randy's for enchiladas and fried egg and I'll bring it.

I can't believe no one in Arizona does enchiladas and fried eggs for breakfast- every truck stop in the Panhandle had those.

PROUD said...

I got a perfect 10...Only had to use the WAG (wild ass guess) once on the Uncle Milty question.


Now it wants me to go for what's behind the curtain, or double or nuthin on a video bonus question....What to do?

Dinah Shore was a cutie, seem to remember her and Burt Reynolds being a couple for a while.

Jim McAllister said...

I removed the second one. the site was so slow last night that I thought the first attempt didn't get through.

Th regulars seem to be back and there are 108 comments. What did you expect? I'm not Bret Baier and Charles Krauthammer!

Jim McAllister said...

PROUD,

Now that you mention it, I think you're right about Burt and Dinah.

She was a great WWII gal but never made it big in Hollywood. She did much better on TV. Chevy sponsored her.

Stevebuzzardo said...


I was perfect till #10, I had to guess on a couple.
Who the hell watched "The Tracey Ullman Show"?

midnightsstaff said...

me..

The T-U show came on around the time that Living Color and Get a Life did..

Actually her variety show wasn't bad but I doubt I would watch it now- where do you think The Simpsons debuted?- yep right there.

Looks like Cristie has shown his tyrannical colors- just like any other political turd will given enough time.

I hope this flushes him once and for all- probably piss off a few Republicans with my viewpoint but no one listens anyway; I was trying to warn people about this effin' Statist clown years ago.

Stevebuzzardo said...


The media are acting like Christie let 4 people die in Benghazi

Its funny how Obama is involved in scandal after scandal, Benghazi, IRS, Solyndra, Fast and Furious and no one is fired and no questions are answered

Mike said...

Jim, Gallup does have it's share of drunk Indians. I suppose if I had a crappy life on the Rez I'd drink too.

Dinah Shore was definitely a looker.

midnightsstaff said...

Reservations were the first American welfare camps, the buffalo hunters first eliminated any way for the nomadic tribes to survive by slaughtering the millions of bison roaming free, pretty much the same as how the government has killed off any means of making a living for millions of low income Americans the past two decades.

Once they controlled their food supply they then herded the starving natives into camps the "treaties" provided in exchange for the small price of their freedom and self respect.

..good thing we didn't fall for that trap Mitt Romney was selling eh?
Jobs <-> buffalo.

I don't see much difference between the drunken Indian at Peach Springs and the average freeshitarmy volunteer manning our ghettos all across the reservations of modern America thanks to LBJ.

I am proud of my grandpa who walked off the res when he was 13 and made a life for himself.

So how does insurance work for someone still a legal child of 21 thereby still on his parents plan when he gets married and has kids- who's insurance pays?- I guess that prenatal care for fifty year old couples was intentional after all.

Free men my ass.

Unknown said...

Lana is moving over toward Salina, Kansas, Jimmy.

Marvelous blog. Excellent comments. Very well formed conversational tactics and bantering.

And the stock market is over 16,000. What if 17,000 is a mile marker in Time? And what if Obama decided he likes being President and someone decided that since they were in power, that they should remain in power. A group of people bent on the destruction of a few for the preservation of even fewer. Democrats.

midnightsstaff said...

Well thank you Roger Ebert for that fine review of Jim's new and improved blogsite.
By the way, it's hard to slip the word "bantering" in without people thinking you are talking about small chickens- good work, you can always tell a Golden Buffalo "J" school product when you see them.

Well I hear once they see the bright lights of Salina Kansas ol' Jeff city seems to lose it's luster to an up and comer like Lana..

Don't worry and let it go- she has to spread her wings and fly as high as the Kansas sky will let her.. jus' like you taught her..
or something like that.

(I keep seeing a black cat's head popping up from behind the desk..it was kinda spooky the first couple of times- now it's just funny)

Jim McAllister said...

Ya gotta love Jay Leno.....

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2014/01/10/leno-now-christie-denying-everything-he-sounds-even-more-presidential

Jim McAllister said...

Rick,

Salina, Kansas? Wow! That's out there.

There used to be a big air base there (Schilling AFB) but it is long gone.

Mike said...

I've been to Kansas. It's not the end of the world but you can see it from there. I had the pleasure of visiting my new in-laws in Liberal Kansas in 1981. Also went to Dodge City. For some reason have never gone back.

Jim McAllister said...

Mike,

I worked the Liberal area once in the early 70s. It was of those western Kansas towns where the telephone poles were strung for as far as the eyes could see on that flat geography.

Stevebuzzardo said...


Ray Stevens Blasts Obama in Song!

http://eaglerising.com/4051/ray-stevens-blasts-obama-song/

midnightsstaff said...

Well I guess Ray will be getting a security check by the IRS pretty soon.

Libraturds don't have much of a sense of humor mostly.

Yeah I still have kinfolk in Kansas so that's off the map as far as I'm concerned, might accidentally run in to one.

If you haven't seen a grain elevator rise straight up from the curve of the earth take a ride down any highway in God's joke on America.
I can't imagine any situation I would be caught in Kansas..

Unknown said...

Salina has a closed Air Force base? Well Lana should enjoy the intrigue then.

I hear ya, Middy about Kansas. I need something that resembles mountains. If I knew someone, I'd move out west and set up LJM elsewhere. Keep the website and the store.

Switching stores, Jimmy. I'm presently creating SKU's, creating the inventory, downloads, etc. before I get rid of the present store on the website and upload the new one. The present one kind of sucks.

Should I put the farm up for sale again? Relocate the business?

Unknown said...

Oops. Working on about five different pages at once, Jimmy.

Lana didn't post that; I did.

I do PR for a few people, Jimmy. And I would like to relocate around other folks who want to work in the LJM company. It's hard to find good help these days.

midnightsstaff said...

Sy6il??- is that you??..

(another cat head sighting)

midnightsstaff said...

.."Many have been locked up for theft, violence and even murder, yet convicts believe they have better morals and are kinder and more generous than those in the outside world, according to new research.
Prisoners believe themselves to have more 'pro-social characteristics' - such as kindness, morality, self-control, and generosity - than non-prisoners, psychologists said"..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2536459/Prisoners-believe-BETTER-morals-people-outside-claims-study.html#ixzz2q7IYBVbj

I knew that sometime someone would get around to this study..I suppose it depends on the incarcerated and why they are there in the first place.
Now if they had said "better morals than politicians" then that would include Charles Manson and his next door neighbors at the Corcoran SHU as well.

midnightsstaff said...

.."Users of Google's web-based email service Gmail will be bombarded with messages from total strangers following a system update which allows people to send them emails without needing their address, it is feared.

The change, announced on yesterday, is designed to integrate Gmail with Google+, the firm's two-and-a-half-year old social network that has 540 million active users.

As well as seeing their social network contacts added to their list of email contacts, the update means Google+ users will be able to email people on the social network directly even if they don't have their address"..

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2537024/How-strangers-soon-invading-inbox-Gmail-private-update-allows-people-send-emails-without-having-address.html#ixzz2q7OCZXsa

..and you still think it's all in my head?

PROUD said...

Middy, it's not in your head, it's ALL in the details.
And it's not as sinister as that article tries to portray it.

All any google user,(gmail, google+, etc) need do is take two minutes to read the directions and then set their privacy settings as tight as they themselves choose to have. Do that and they stay just as anonymous as anyone can be these days....

Privacy problems the article mentions will only be a problem for those people who never take the time to use the product correctly, but then that's,(problems from using something incorrectly)is true of all things in life.

The article finds fault with the new format requiring a person to actually take the time to opt out, sadly, something lots of people will never bother to do, well....until they receive a shyt load of unwanted stuff????....

Mike said...

Jim, Kansas is definitely flat. I hear Iowa is the same way. Back in the 80's we has some guys that worked for the phone company in Iowa come down here for the winter to work because it was to cold in Iowa One of them was assigned to me. We had a big job in Cave Creek He was amazed by the mountains because he'd never seen anything like that in Iowa.

midnightsstaff said...

From the 70's our fourth amendment rights for financial privacy have been under assault starting with Shultz vs. California banking and the US vs. Miller- Constitutionally defiant decisions which eventually led to another useless layer of legislation- RFPA.

http://epic.org/privacy/rfpa/

Our betters passed the RFPA; Right to Financial Privacy Act which supposedly would prevent government intrusion into our privacy- a specious argument at best which begs the question of if only the fourth amendment had been upheld to begin with no further legislation would be necessary..
But as you can see the government has set up NSA to allow non government entities to collect that data they are "forbidden by statute" and supposedly not to be able to gather..

If my refusal to provide meaningless information to my own hukou seems an over reaction so be it and I will wear the aluminum hat with pride.
..but if you can't see the workaround aspect Google is doing then I guess I can't explain my reluctance to open my life to the internet to your satisfaction.
Google does not ask, it decrees..

Same thing as facebook Jim, "if you can't find the mark at the table"...

midnightsstaff said...

If Arizona mountains impressed him seeing the Whitney chain from 395 near Lone Pine would have given him a stroke.

happiest memories I have is time spent in the Golden Trout wilderness.
..no phone, no car, nothing that can't be carried in a pack..

PROUD said...

Middy, you do know that google owns blogspot and blogger, right?

I think you place way to much value on the tin foil protective layer...

midnightsstaff said...

I guess I just have a natural distaste for East German food, must be something from my childhood.
..or something I read.

Well the Coyotes look like meat right now, and I couldn't begin to tell what the fix might be, it's almost like they ended the season a few games early.

midnightsstaff said...

http://tpc.pc2.netdna-cdn.com/images/Mohammed_Atta_Government_Healthcare.jpg

Jim McAllister said...

Watch out for the 49ers. 2 for 2 on the road and they have Seattle next week in Seattle.

It's going to be a hell of a match. Seattle is damn good but they couldn't beat the Cardinals on their home field so I have to give the 49ers a slight edge. The road doesn't seem to bother them and Kaepernick is in mid season form. Seattle has Russell Wilson who isn't exactly chopped liver at QB so it should be a good one.

I'll take the 49ers by 3.

PROUD said...

I'm with you on 49ers Jim....

I'm seeing a Patriot / San Fran Super Bowl...

Playoffs have been some really good football...Lovin it!

Unknown said...

What's up, y'all. Hired a web designer today. She's good. The year looks promising. And we discontinued the online store and went with one that the website warranties. Too many problems. I didn't like the numbers.

When the sports conversations begin, the topic is waning.

midnightsstaff said...

Ya got a point..

http://www.theburningplatform.com/2014/01/12/do-you-really-think-mcdonalds-will-be-paying-burger-flippers-15-per-hour/

..well it looks like those strong arm tactics fast food technicians are threatening is paying off, I think they should forget 15 and go for 25 an hour, why set your sights so low?- can't raise a family and buy a ski boat on 15/hr.

Jim McAllister said...

Interesting column, Middy. Throw all the bums out and bring in R2D2. He is more congenial than a lot of the dunderheads there now and probably can even count change; something heretofore unheard of at those places.

I remember when McDonald's was great with their 15 cent burgers, 10 cent fries and dime Cokes and you walked up to an outside window to be served. The employees were 1960's kids who knew several multi syllable words and understood English.

Mike said...

Jim, those days are long gone. It's hard to go to a fast food place and actually find a person that speaks English.

The problem with kids today is that they're products of public education which means they haven't learned a damn thing.

I agree on the niners. Good team and can play in bad weather. Would like to see a Denver SF Super Bowl.

midnightsstaff said...

Well I turned off that laugher of a game after goal 4..
Something is very wrong with the Coyotes right now.

I don't care, either Denver or SF- just as long as we don't have to put up with that ass Brady again.

midnightsstaff said...

Keep believing that Google is not a proxy thug for the NSA.

http://www.zdnet.com/googles-reach-expands-into-your-home-more-via-3-2-billion-nest-acquisition-7000025109/

This is something that Il Duce could only dream of.

ultimate control.

Jim McAllister said...

Mike,

I worry about Denver making it. That damn new England is still a tough team and with Brady at QB they are really tough.

That's not to say Denver can't do it but they will need to look better than they did against a mediocre San Diego team. Manning is no chopped liver, that's for sure and home field should be a help. However, they have already lost to NE once this year on the road.

New England by 6.

Jim McAllister said...

Middy,

I changed over to the Suns who also lost but in OT 98-96. It was a lot more exciting game.

midnightsstaff said...

Oh, you mean "Los Suns"... I had to think a min.

I have never seen such a meltdown in my life, it started with sending Rusty Klesla down and playing that game on him and I think something serious must be going on.
Remember Rick Tocchet and the gong show going on with him and Gretzky's squeeze?
Yeah, this isn't a normal team motivation issue.

midnightsstaff said...

Well looks like the Japanese stock market is taking a 3+ percent haircut tonight, gotta feel bad for the Japanese citizens, they got played the past two decades just like we are now.
..and there's a slight problem with that nuclear incident.

I got a feeling that Aokigahara is going to have long lines before much longer.

Jim McAllister said...

Middy,

They all suck up to that "Los" crappola; anything to insure making a buck.

The Suns are returning to earth after a great start. The experts predicted that they would win 19 this year and they have easily surpassed that already. I'm glad for Jeff Hornacek's sake since he is a throwback guy to their glory days.

They just lost 4 of 5 on a tough road trip and it should have been 5 of 5 except the Minnesota player missed a 4 footer at the buzzer.

I see their main problem being that they don't have much size and tend to get pushed around a lot as they pile up the injuries.

Jim McAllister said...

Oops! I hit the send button too soon.

As far as the Coyotes, they seem to have thrown in the towel. They will beat out Calgary and Edmonton in their division and that is about it. They are 6 behind Vancouver and with the way they are now playing I don't see them catching up.

Losing to last place Winnipeg 5-1 is an embarrassment. Tippit better star getting on these guys cases.

Jim McAllister said...

The good news is that Barb's and my alma mater, Cincinnati, has jumped into both polls top 25 coming in at 23rd in the USA Today poll and 19th in the AP.

Sad year at Cincy though with the death of Connie Dierking in December at 76.

He played with Oscar Robertson on those great 50's UC teams plus he played 10 years in the NBA. He was a good guy and I'm proud to say I knew him and did a column on him in 2006.

He will be missed.

midnightsstaff said...

The toll cannot do anything but increase Jim, dictators have long ascribed to the theory that one way to relieve the nation of it's debt is to relieve the nation of it's creditors..

Not that Medicare was anything like a rational approach but what the un-Affordable Medical Act has already started is an intentional purge of the rolls every bit as evil as what Stalin did to the Ukraine.

..and in my opinion a soulless Christie as president would be worse if anything.

Here is an easily understood example of what Sarah Palin was trying to warn this ignorant,amoral nation of in 2008.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/01/obamacare_may_kill_brick_williams.html

This plague, the same as any other plague mankind has ever suffered- will be as deep, painful and remorseless as the IRS itself.
It's also apparent to any thinking individual that it's directly attributable to our nation turning it's back on God.
Instead we have chosen worshiping money as an idol and giving audience to false gods like Obama who are leading this nation into an unsustainable wilderness.

Politics is what got us here, politics has no answer.
Keep in mind the German people didn't vote for Jews in ovens, a frozen death in Russia or for a complete annihilation of their nation.
..they voted for hope and change.

Mike said...

Middy, I'm with you on Brady. Don't like him now and didn't like him when he played at Michigan.

Jim the Suns have been here since 1968 and have never won a championship and probably never will.

As an Arizona native it's sad to have 4 major league sports teams that aren't very good.

At least the Arizona Wildcats are number 1.

midnightsstaff said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L09qnRfZY-k#t=11

Sorry, this video is no longer applicable due to the nearly half decade old redefined parameters creating the New Normal.
..and after all...

.."you didn't build that dry cleaning business"..

No George, you have to realize that operating a dry cleaning business or any other small business is hurtful as to the sustainable nature of a fragile ecosystem, I also noted that your hiring practices do not comply with the new Unaffordable Care Act guidelines, a matter now turned over to the Internal Revenue Service, you may have heard of them.

..By unilateral decree my decision has fallen unfavorably in your behalf, my advice to you is that is you better just stay in Harlem.. that is unless you offer campaign bribes, as you can see with Eric Holder with my back and the judicial system terrified of me there is no longer any reason to feign innocence; now we just stick a gun in your face when we want something.
..yeah, dial 911 and see who answers..

Sincerely BHO President of the entire Galaxy forever...

Jim McAllister said...

This is hilarious with Jimmy Kimmel. It's about 5 minutes long. Watch to the end.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2014/01/15/jimmy-kimmel-savages-obamacare-and-uninformed-young-people-who-suppor

midnightsstaff said...

Really?....
He says nothing that all of us weren't talking about in 2008..

So where the hell was the brilliant and funny Jimmy Kimmel in Oct. 2012 or 2008 for that matter when it meant something? ..cracking wise about wealthy white senior citizens and Republican fat cats I suppose.

But the worst thing is now he is throwing gasoline on the fire that anyone over 50 is the enemy because they supposedly "voted in" this crap.. and fools will not get the community organizing class warfare game now being played by ignorant assholes like Obama's right hand man Jimmy Kimmel.
..a guy evidently who couldn't care less about the nation because he along with his leftist ilk have been on their knees championing Obama's destruction of the nation.

Stage two which is nearly here is going to be a systematic purge of the elderly, not that they are guilty it's just like Hitler needed Jews and Stalin needed "Wreckers". Obama like every other failed tyrant needs the selfish "Seniors"- you know the "winners of life's lottery" as they tell you of every time anyone is stupid enough to listen.
..rant off/...

midnightsstaff said...

Sorry about that outburst Jim, I'll try to control myself in the future..

.."Following Macy's announcement last week JCPenney today announced that as part of its turnaround efforts, the Company will be closing 33 under performing stores across the country in order to focus its resources on the Company`s highest potential growth opportunities"..

Isn't that the same evil approach Mitt Romney used to do- restructure and try to save failing businesses?
-ah never mind- off topic.

Damn Jacques... obviously they are just trying to "wreck" this glorious recovery which drove the surging market today based on this week's great unemployment reports.

..and what about the 2000 jobs that just vanished into the new normal?
I suspect it's a bunch of damn raaaycists trying to paint "The Lightbringer" as incompetent..(maybe Obama ought to sic the IRS on them)
It could be worse, at least Sears, Best Buy, a lot of grocery chains and Target still look ok.

Thank God I didn't make a career out of and raise a family on .75/hr.at my first job at Western Auto because George Bush got that one too.
(come to think of it, Wizard Auto didn't provide health coverage either).. thieving bastards!!

...sorry, can't help myself but I didn't really try too hard either.

midnightsstaff said...

http://ir.jcpenney.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=70528&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1889015&highlight=

eg.. stockholders memo..

J. C. Penney Company, Inc. Comments on Holiday Performance

PLANO, TX -- (Jan. 8, 2014) -- JCPenney reported today that the Company is pleased with its performance for the holiday period, showing continued progress in its turnaround efforts. Customers responded well to the Company's offerings this holiday shopping season, both in store and online.

JCPenney also reaffirmed its outlook for the fourth quarter of 2013, as previously set out in the Company's third quarter earnings release dated Nov. 20, 2013.

Bipolar??- really?