Twitter, Celebrities and Party Rooms ...

For the longest time I resisted following a bunch of celebrities on Twitter. But, I’ve noticed that a lot of them actually are tweeting about things other than self-promotion. And many of them actually reply to their fans and people who ask them questions or whatever. Which is pretty cool actually.

So, I decided that since I needed to organize my Tweetgrid anyway, I would add a bunch of celebs to it. The cool thing about Tweetgrid is that I can add people to it without actually following them on Twitter. Which is kind of stalkerish now that I think about it. Good point. But, oh well.

Basically now Tweetgrid 1 is for all the “regular” people. Blog buddies, Blog Talk Radio buddies and the people I’ve “met” through Twitter. And, Tweetgrid 2 is for media, sports, politics, porn and celebs. Unfortunately Kobe Tai isn’t on Twitter.


Have I ever mentioned that I went to college with Koba Tai? Oh yeah, hundreds of times. I keep forgetting.

Anywho, where was I? The only “celebs” I’ve replied to on Twitter have been a couple of media people and sports media like Stephen A Smith and Bill Simmons. Stephen and Bill haven’t responded to me yet, but I’m sure they will sometime. The rest of the real celebrities I haven’t replied to. Except I did ReTweet something from Alyssa Milano. She’s cool. She tweets about baseball a lot.

And it’s totally okay for me to find Alyssa hot cause I’m only four years older than her. So I wasn’t an adult when she was growing up and, um, developing on “Who’s the Boss.” Unfortunately I can’t say the same thing for Jennifer Love Hewitt and Lacey Chabert cause they were still just kids and I was already 26 when “Party of Five” started. So it always makes me feel dirty when I think of them as hot. A feeling that you probably know I enjoy. Neve Campbell is okay though, she’s Allysa’s age.

Okay, I think I got off topic for a bit there.

So basically that’s how I spent my Friday night. Refining my Tweetgrid, monitoring Facebook for status updates, watching NBA playoffs and exchanging emails with a women who was in the early stages of labor.

And you thought I had no life.


Oh, I did want to mention that I added Lily Allen to my Tweetgrid.


That’s not really important for you to know, I just wanted Karen to roll her eyes at me. Don’t deny it Karen, you know you did! Hehe

Karen is awesome. We pretty much disagree on every single thing. Politics to sports to celebrities to TV shows to whatever. We are on the opposite side of almost everything. I wonder if we lived in the same place we would end up in screaming matches over this stuff. Probably, but since we in the bloggerhood we don’t argue. Much. Hehe


So anyway, it’s now Saturday morning when I’m typing this up. I’m trying to get ahead on some blog posts and not find myself sitting here, staring at the computer screen trying to come up with something to post each night.

While I’m typing this I’m watching this new show on HGTV called “Man Land.” Basically it’s a show where they show off different “man caves” that guys have set up in their homes. Some of them are pretty cool too. Maybe not as cool as Matt-Man’s seasonal holiday tree and Chinese lanterns, but still pretty cool.

I don’t know what I would do if I could build a man cave. Or had enough room here to create one. I think it would probably be full of cardboard standees of Princess Leia and Queen Amidala. And maybe some Rat Pack posters on the wall. And maybe a few action figures around. A poker table would be okay, but I don’t really know how to play poker. Unless someone wants to teach me? But, a blackjack table would be cool. I do enjoy playing blackjack. And a pool table. I’ve always wanted a pool table. And if you’re going to have all that stuff there needs to be a bar. A stocked bar. With some tequila, bourbon, Scotch, gin, vodka, brandy, various mixes and beer. Lots of beer. Maybe a keg so I could have beer on tap for anyone who came over to hang out and watch the game or Gilmore Girls. Which reminds me. A HUGE LCD HDTV would be mandatory too. And what the hell. A stripper pole too. And maybe a smog machine. Oh and a pizza oven. And a microwave for the popcorn.

I don’t really know how I got from celebrities on twitter to man caves and party rooms, but oh well. What would be in your party room?


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I almost forgot Mellow Yellow Monday again. It is hosted by the lovely and talented Drowsey Monkey as always.

These are the yummiest potato chips EVER!

Blah, Blah, Blah and more Blah, Blah, Blah ...

Before we get into today’s boring ramblings post, my good friend Anndi’s father passed away the other day. Please take a minute to include Anndi and her family in your thoughts and prayers today. I’m sure she would appreciate it.

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So in what should come as a surprise to NO ONE, I did NOT go to the memorial service Saturday. I got up Saturday and just decided I wasn't going and left it at that. Of course, I didn't got get my hair cut on Friday, so that was a pretty good sign that I had already made the decision not to go.

I found the comments very interesting though. I especially found it interesting that the only one who really flat-out said "YOU HAVE TO GO" was Vinny from Big Leather Couch. The only surprise here was that he was the only one to take that position, not that he did say that. See Vinny is of EYEtalian descent. I've seen many movies that focused on the Italian people. Movies like The Godfather Trilogy, Goodfellas and Casino among others. And, a central theme in these movies is family. So, I already knew that Vinny had that same strong belief in family.

In the end I decided to follow Avitable's advice and reject the social pressure to do certain things just because they have always been considered the "right" thing to do by some silly, unwritten social "standards." Besides, none of them, or anyone else, is under any obligation to come to my funeral. I promise not to be a hypocrite on this one.

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If you look over to the sidebar you will notice a couple of things. I went through with my threat to eliminate my blog roll, which was as liberating as taking off my uncomfortable under wire bra and tossing it onto the bonfire, and I joined Blip.fm. Blip is kind of like Twitter only with music!! Yes, music!

Now I know that a lot of you have been resistant to joining Twitter. Although I have no idea why. But, Twitter with music? Oh come on now, you gotta try this out. And, you can join both Blip.fm AND Twitter and double your fun! You can even set it up so that your blips, the music you play, will be automatically posted on Twitter AND on your Facebook page.

Oh, speaking of Facebook, while appreciate your inviting me to join your mafia, that line of a work is a leetol dangerous for me. Thanks anyway.

Anyway, check Blip.fm out. If you like it, be sure to add me even though I'm nowhere near the music expert that so many of you are, Blip is a cool place to discover new music and meet some cool people.

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Okay, I know that I'm one of the few who give a shit about this one, but I have to ask the NHL and NBA bosses if they could possibly get their heads out of their asses. I just don't have any idea what they are thinking.

First of all the NHL. The NHL was lucky enough to have two playoff series go to a 7th game. We all know there is nothing more exciting than a 7th game in sports. So, you would think this would be an opportunity to market the league and get some attention to the professional sports world's red headed step child, right? Umm .. not so much.

The scheduled BOTH game sevens on the same night at almost the same time on the same network. Hello? Did it ever occur to you numb nuts that maybe some people would have enjoyed getting to see both games? How fucking stupid was this?

And as for the NBA. They had two playoff series go to a seventh game too. And did they play one of those games on Saturday night in primetime and the other on Sunday night in primetime? Oh fuck no. They played them both on Sunday. One in the early afternoon and one in primetime.

But, at least they weren't so damn stupid as to play the Lakers/Rockets game early in the afternoon on Sunday which would mean a noon tipoff on the west coast were they? You bet your sweet ass they were!

Oh yeah. Make the Western Conference teams play at noon local time and give the Eastern Conference teams the primetime slot. How fucking backwards is that? If you're going to play both games on the same day, play the Eastern Conference game in the afternoon so you can tip off later in the day and get more of an audience nation wide. Doesn't that seem to make more sense?

Did the NHL and NBA fire their marketing departments? Sheesh.

Of course, I guess the idea was to make sure that the much older and slower Celtics got that extra day of rest before having to play Orlando in a game seven. Not that the league would EVER make these decisions based on the teams they would prefer to see advance.

Oh, and if anyone thinks that the league is going to allow Denver to beat the Lakers in the conference finals and ruin the leagues desire for a Kobe Bryant v Lebron James finals then you haven't been paying attention to the NBA in a while.

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Oh and another thing that might help the NHL is if they give all their players nicknames and allow the announcers to use them. Names like "Slappy" or "Punky" or "Spunky" or whatever. All those Eastern European names are just too hard to pronounce. I'm not trying to ring the jingo bell here and say that furiners should change their names. I'm just saying it would be easier to follow the action if they used nicknames. Or put a few vowels in their names. Either way.

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Hey, I actually remembered to play Yellow Mellow Monday!


Drowsey Monkey is our always gracious and generous host.

Where are you going?


That billboard is located on the bypass here in Redneckville.

Random Monday Stuff ...

Okay, I’m just going to go ahead and say it. I know a lot of people enjoy following celebrities on Twitter and try to get them to respond but, I’m finding middle aged men who are following and responding to Miley Cyrus just a leetol creepy. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me though.

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Have you guys seen HBO’s teaser poster for Season 2 of “True Blood?”


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I have long believed that networks need to stop with the extreme close ups of athletes during sporting events. I know they think it helps build drama, but I think it’s disaster waiting to happen. And, I hope this screen grab of San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito helps make my case …


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I don’t know if the health care reform that we might get will be a single-payer system or what, but there is one thing that I really, REALLY hope is included in it. I hope that the government will pay for some people to have those sticks removed from their butts. Cause there are A LOT of people out there who have no fucking sense of humor whatsoever. A LOT. And personally? I’m sick of them.

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Call me cynical but I’m a bit skeptical of this whole Susan Boyle thing. She is the nice, matronly looking lady that showed up on Britain’s Got Talent and wowed everyone who was stunned that someone who doesn’t look like Britney Spears can actually sing. Not that Britney can actually sing, but you know what I mean.

Anyway, the thing that annoys me about this is the “OMG an ugly person can sing!” bullshit. It’s pretty similar to the “OMG a really pretty girl is good at math” or “OMG an articulate black man” thing. They’re all annoying as hell.

But, I’m not skeptical that Ms. Boyle can actually sing beautifully. I’m skeptical of the way this all came about. I just can’t buy they whole “she came out of nowhere” line. It’s all too perfect for Simon Cowell and the gang. She comes out of nowhere and wows everyone and suddenly becomes a world-wide sensation? Yeah, this is looking like some really brilliant marketing to me.

Although I agree that she has a beautiful voice. Even if I do think we’re being punked a little here.

And BTW, someone at the NY Post agrees with me.

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It was dog show weekend here in Redneckville and it was considerably smaller than last year’s show. And last year’s show was considerably smaller than two years ago. I don’t know why it has been getting smaller each year, but it sucks.

And it kind of sucks because a lot of people don’t want us taking pictures of their dogs. I guess they think it distracts them and they lose focus or something. It’s bad enough that these dog owners are such snobs, but griping about cameras when not actually showing the dog is a little silly.

Anyway, here’s one of the few I was able to take. It’s an Australian Shepherd…



Which reminds me …


Mellow Yellow Monday is brought to us by Drowsey Monkey.

None of these thing listed in bright yellow lettering were actually available here…


So I got the chicken nuggets, fries and Sprite (which she said was Sierra Mist) for only $7.50!


(notice the touch of yellow on the Sprite can?)

The Big Four - ONE ...

So it was a pretty nice birthday weekend. It was pretty low-key as I usually keep things. I did make a run to the liquor store for some wine and tequila. I didn’t get Petron this time because it’s just so expensive. But, I’m happy that Jose joined the birthday celebration.

And, as I said I would do, I exercised the Birthday Exception to the Heathen Observing Lent Agreement™, or HOLA! that I negotiated with Jesus. So, I did have birthday cake this weekend. But, the cake is gone and I’m back to being Junkless for Jesus as I had agree to do. I want to thank Jesus for being uncommonly receptive to my idea of a birthday exception to Lent. He’s usually a hard-ass when it comes to negotiating. That was pretty cool of him.

Anyway, I do want to say thanks to all the happy birthday wishes I got from everyone here and on my Facebook, Myspace and Twitter pages. Those were all very awesome! I do want to do a special shout to Matt-Man, Dana, Aunt Jackie and Farmers*Wife for actually doing happy birthday posts! Must have been a slow weekend. LOL .. Kidding. Those were all sweet.

And, check this out! Lu even put on her Party Hat!

That’s freaking cool! Party Hats rock.

Oh and a thank you to Lisa the Butterfly Farmer for doing her best Marilyn Monroe “Happy Birthday” song to me on Facebook. Sure, it was in writing, but I could fantasize about visualize the whole thing. It. Was. HAWT!

Like I said it was a quiet day for the most part. Here is what I got for my birthday from Mom and Kell …

It’s a Canon A590. My old A510 was wearing out. I’m sure it still has a lot life left, even though I’ve taken almost 11,000 pictures with it. But, the controls on the back of the camera were starting to wear out. So when mom asked if it was time for an upgrade I said hell yes.

I looked at several different point and shoots, and in the end decided to get the new version of what I had. That way I would already be used to the basics, and only have to learn the new features. And it does have several new features that my old one didn’t have. So far it looks like a pretty cool camera.

And since I have a new camera I had to play Mellow Yellow Mondays with Drowsey Monkey!

My birthday cake was white on white with yellow roses … (Don’t forget you can clickr for biggr in Flickr.)

The Family Tree Grows ...

Those of you who have been around awhile might remember that back a year or more ago, my sister, my mother and I all did blog posts about our family tree. We were kind of throwing some stuff out there to the cyber cosmos to see if anyone ever answered.

We were stuck trying to trace mom’s family. We knew that her great grandfather George Loy was living in Middlesbrough, England at the time of his death. And we thought that he was born in County Armagh, Ireland sometime around 1849. (This area is now part of Northern Ireland.)

Well, even though that was a long time ago, Kell got an email from someone who believes she might be our 4th cousin today. And, she not only knew the town that George (and her brother Peter, her great great great grandfather) came from, but she also knew THEIR father’s name!

So, if there is anyone out there who might know of a Thomas Loy who emigrated to Middlesbrough, Enlgand sometime after 1864, or other Loy’s, from the Forkhill, county Armagh, Ireland area, please send me an email which you can find on my profile page.

Or if you know any Loy’s from the Middlesbrough, England area, that would be cool too.


This tracing the family tree thing pretty hard to do if you don’t really know what you are doing. And if you refuse to pay any of those websites that say they will give you access to all kinds of information.

I hate those sites. They’re always like “Oh sure, we have lots of stuff on George Loy form Forkhill, county Armagh, Ireland. Just pay us a ridiculous monthly fee and you will see what’s there.” And then you pay and don’t find a damn thing.

Those sites are a lot like dating sites. Dating sites love to send emails saying “You have five messages from women wanting to meet you!” and then you pay the fee and find that those messages are all spam. Fuckers.

Anyway, it’s pretty slow going, but we are making some progress. It would be nice to go and visit these places though. And maybe even meet some people that I’m related to.

So how bout you guys? Anyone traced your family way back? Anyone traced your family back to anyone really famous or infamous even?


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I almost forgot about Mellow Yellow Mondays. It’s hosted by Drowsey Monkey.

Yellow label:

Getting High and Getting Mellow ....

Here is my entry for this week’s Mellow Yellow Monday, which was created by Drowsey Monkey.


I took this pic while down at the Buffalo River just south of here. While you’re enjoying your picnic, please be sure to wear your bright orange jacket and hat so you don’t get shot by some drunk deer hunter.



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Speaking of being mellow …

I get lots and lots occasional emails from people who want me to put a link to their blog or commercial website here on my blog. In exchange they say they will but a link to my blog under their “friends of this site” or whatever on their website. I’ve never agreed to do this because I don’t see why I should put links to commercial sites that I don’t read or visit. Well, not for free anyway.

These are usually sports or entertainment blogs that make this offer to me. Sometimes it’s some people trying to create a new social networking site …

- OH THAT REMINDS ME!

I’m now on Plinky. Plinky is kind of like blogging, only instead of just blogging about whatever, they give you a prompt each day. Like “What is your favorite movie genre?” or whatever. And then you answer the question and hopefully go into some detail rather just give one word answers like so many people do.

Anyway, Jaffer introduced me to Plinky over on Twitter. So I joined. You can check out my Plinky page RIGHT HERE.


Back to whatever I was blathering on about …

I have also had a couple of porn sites as me to link to them. I thought that was odd, since I don’t actually post porn here. Or even do porn reviews. I wonder how someone would do porn reviews. There really aren’t that many storylines are there?

Anyhoodle, I got another one of those link exchange offers this weekend, but from someone I’ve never expected though. The subject of the headline read …

“YOUR MARIJUANA SITE”

Huh? Wha? Who? Me?

I have no idea how, or why a site that sells marijuana accessories would decide that my blog would be the perfect place for their link. I don’t recall ever telling everyone any great stories about my crazy pot smoking days. Mostly because I’ve never actually tried pot.

And I don’t remember any long rants on what an outrage the War On Drugs™ is. Or any rants about how pot should be decriminalized or even legalized. Although I think that a pretty good argument could be made for both of those things.

So, the only thing I can figure is that they found their way here from, um, YOU GUYS.

So, who is it? Who’s the big pot head out there that has lead some pot and pot accessory sellers over here wanting to exchange links with me? And if you want the link to the hippie lettuce site, you’ll have to email me for it. LOL

And how come no tequila and tequila accessory sites have contacted me. Especially ones that are willing to provide samples for review? That’s something I do know a few things about.

How Bout a Book Review ...

So, I got to play Mellow Yellow Monday hosted by Drowsey Monkey this week …


You can see just a touch of yellow in that book “The Wordy Shipmates” by Sarah Vowell. I’m a big fan of Sarah who is a regular contributor too “This American Life” on Public Radio International. She is not a historian, just somebody who loves to learn a lot about history. Her previous book “Assassination Vacation” is full of all kinds of fascinating tidbits and stuff that is fun to know, but only really useful if you are a contestant on Jeopardy or want to dominate a game of Trivial Pursuit. Actually, it might not even help you at Trivial Pursuit, but it’s still fun to learn. You know, it’s all the cool stuff they never teach you in school.

Kind of related side note: I just read this on Twitter from Olivia Munn who I am following…

- “Just got done seeing too many historical monuments- so tired now.. Should’ve just read the brochure in the hotel room.”

Umm .. Sorry Olivia .. You might be unfreakingbelievably gorgeous and just about the coolest chick on TV, but you just lost points babe. “Just read the brochure?” Oh please!

Anyone can read about history. But, actually seeing it first hand and exploring it all in person is the way to really experience it. Just reading the brochure when all the great stuff is right outside your door, is totally missing out.

But, back to the book …

In “The Wordy Shipmates” … actually, should I be underlining book titles or are the quotes correct? I’ve really been wondering about that lately.


Anyhoodle, “The Wordy Shipmates” is about the Pilgrims who came to America way back in the day. No, not those Pilgrims. Not the ones that came over on the Mayflower. These Pilgrims came over on the Arbella and settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony (Bahston) and Rhode Island. The Puritans.

Turns out these Puritans did a great job of documenting everything that was going on, hence the name of the book. Most of the book is focused on their leader John Winthrop and his writings. The writing she talks about most is Winthrop’s sermon “A Model of Christian Charity.” This is where we get the phrase “A shining city on a hill” to describe the United States. Well, initially it was jut Massachusetts that he described that way, but you might have heard a few politicians (like all of them) use this phrase from time to time.

Like her other books Vowells wanders from time to time. Heading off on tangents discussing how wrong “The Brady Bunch” and “Happy Days” and others have been over the years about the Puritans. But, as usual she eventually ties all the loose ends together and makes her point.

I will warn you though, if you are a fan of Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush, you might get annoyed from time to time in this book. Sarah is known for her social commentary, and let’s just say her commentary leans pretty hard to the left. Much more so in this book than in “Assassination Vacation.” But, if you can toss that aside and just enjoy the book, you will enjoy yourself quite a bit. And you just might learn a few cool things too.