Jim Varagona

>Interesting excerpt from today’s White House press briefing with Scott McClellan, during which a reporter questioned why Cheney’s blood alcohol level wasn’t taken after he shot his buddy, especially considering the men admitted to drinking during lunch earlier in the day. Also, the VP was not questioned by the po-po’s at all until the next day. The reporter’s point being that regular Joe citizen wouldn’t have been treated so nicely. She must remember that this is America, and politicians and celebrities are different from us. If Dick killed Mrs. Cheney and blamed it on a one armed man, a one armed man did it. Case in point: O.J., Robert Blake, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr., Gary Condit…the list goes on forever.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the fact that when Dick finally decided to discuss this whole matter, he chose Fox News. How convenient.

• Great piece in Newsweek about Cheney being an against-type VP: Dick Cheney, the enigma

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=1932857117&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifrhttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0002HDXTQ&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifrhttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0002T7YWQ&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr

>What seemed to be simply humor food has turned into quite a serious and controversial situation. VP Cheney “accidentally” shoots a man, let’s the ranch owner break the news, and now the victim, 78-year-old Harry Whittington, has a “silent heart attack” because one of the several pellets lodged in him has moved to his heart–on Valentine’s Day. Sounds like Dick has a sick deal with the devil and was pulling some strings on Tuesday.

Doctors still are optimistic about Whittington’s prognosis, but that’s what they said before this “setback”. I am so easily amused, as usual with White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan’s handling of this fiasco. And once again, David Gregory from NBC has come through as the hero trying to penetrate the forcefield of silence that this administration puts up. An excerpt from a Washington Post article dated Tuesday morning:

The most heated public moment occurred during McClellan’s off-camera
“gaggle” with White House reporters yesterday morning. It featured NBC’s David
Gregory, one of McClellan’s most persistent inquisitors over the last year, who
raised his voice while asking a question about the incident.

“Hold on,” McClellan interrupted, pointing out that “the cameras aren’t on right now. You can do this later.”

“Don’t accuse me of trying to pose to the cameras,” Gregory replied. “Don’t be a jerk to me personally when I’m asking you a serious question.”

“You don’t have to yell,” McClellan said.

“I will yell,” said Gregory, jabbing his finger in McClellan’s direction. “If you want to use that podium to try to take shots at me personally, which I don’t appreciate, then I will raise my voice, because that’s wrong.”

“Calm down, Dave. Calm down,” said McClellan evenly.

The two men spoke privately after the gaggle, Gregory said later. No apologies were exchanged. “I said what I said and I meant what I said,” Gregory said. He said he and McClellan get along “very well,” a point agreed upon by McClellan during a brief interview.

“David’s a good guy and a good reporter,” McClellan added. He said that yesterday was “one of those days where I knew exactly what to expect.”

This nonsense never gets old. Now I understand why people voted for Bush. This crap is so ridiculous, that it’s entertaining, moreso than Grey’s Anatomy or Desperate Housewives. We are a pop culture society of convenience, and the politics of today play to both of those aspects.

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0743270029&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifrhttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=1565848403&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifrhttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0008GJRRI&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr

>One of the members of the Filipino Mafia referred me to this trailer for Brokeback to the Future, which reminded him of my posting on Shining. Both are genius recuts of known films to make trailers for “different” motion pictures.

The Brokeback clip was done by a video sketch comedy troupe from Emerson College, alma mater of Pete Parisi (RIP) of World Wide Magazine fame and the subject of my documentary, P.E.P.

This article from CTV in Canada discusses the impact on humor that the film, Brokeback Mountain, has had. It also mentions this trailer for a sequel to Top Gun, a la Gay Cowboy flick. The quality is not as good, but still worth checking out. These video dorks with no time on their hands are very clever.

While on YouTube, I also found this clip entitled “Lazy Sunday” , by Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell from SNL, which I saw on SNL several weeks back and cannot get out of my head. It is also referred to as “The Chronic-WHAT-cles of Narnia”. It’s dope, man.

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0002WZTOI&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifrhttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B00006AL1E&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifrhttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000E8M0WO&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr

>
My last post concerned recent events involving the White House that some would deem “effed up”. To add more to my arsenal, we learn today that Vice President Dick shot a man yesterday. Technically it was an accident, and they were hunting, but the details are still a bit sketchy.

For instance, Dick’s office did not report this until almost 24 hours later, after the local paper broke the story earlier today. The men were wearing bright orange vests, but apparently Dick was fixated on his quail and didn’t realize he shot one of his hunting companions in the cheek, neck, and chest. The companion/victim was one Harry Whittington, described as “a millionaire attorney from Austin”. The AP states further:

Whittington has been a private practice attorney in Austin since 1950 and has long been active in Texas Republican politics. He’s been appointed to several state boards, including when then-Gov. George W. Bush named him to the Texas Funeral Service Commission.

Katharine Armstrong, who owns the property, summed up the event well by saying, “…the vice president picked out a bird and was following it and shot. And by god, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good.”

Granted, the man was shot with pellets, but he was bleeding, and despite being reportedly “stable and doing well”, Whittington is in intensive care. Who knows what he did to deserve this hit from the President’s right hand man? And is this only the beginning from our vigilante federal government? If one of us disagrees with them, could we be the next to get “peppered real good”??!

• Diabetoblog previous posting: MC Dubya (Dick Is A Killer)

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000EP9UZW&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifrhttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0002IQN0G&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifrhttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=1595580255&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr

>

“The guy saw me in almost a dozen settings, and joked with me about a bunch of things, including details of my kids. Perhaps he has forgotten everything, who knows,” Abramoff wrote in an e-mail to Kim Eisler, national editor for the Washingtonian magazine.

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000EDWW5Y&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifrhttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000621NRQ&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifrhttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B00067WSV6&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr

>

The Birthday Boy

>
Considering he was a grandpa on The Munsters 40 years ago, which I suppose is grandparent age, I always found it amazing that Grandpa Munster made it this long. Al Lewis was 95 and still hosting a weekly radio program. Good for him.

In the MSNBC obit., they state:

Just two years short of his 90th birthday, a ponytailed Lewis ran as the Green Party candidate against incumbent Gov. George Pataki. Lewis campaigned against draconian drug laws and the death penalty, while going to court in a losing battle to have his name appear on the ballot as “Grandpa Al Lewis.”

I only hope I can have that much spunk when I’m 65.

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0002CX1LG&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifrhttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000ATQYX8&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifrhttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=diabetoboycom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B00007JZXS&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr

>I recently blogged about my boss breaking down to me about his nun abuse experiences after hearing my story. This has continued, with him describing in greater detail his horrific tales and how he is now haunted by them in his sleep. And we are talking about a great, powerful man here, who is crumbling under the weight of these thoughts of penguin women.

As we sat down with the Filipino Mafia and other co-workers to a bagel break, he told us about having to line up with other boys in the hall as a nun decided their fate on the other side of one of those double steel door doorways that are common in grade schools. Apparently someone cut through a neighbor’s yard to get to school and didn’t close the gate. A dog got loose and was hit by a car. The neighbor brought her issue to the nuns and the authorities, so the boys stood waiting. He spoke of the crack between the two doors and how they noticed the sister approaching. The fear in him created illusions of her striking down upon them with bolts of lightning from her fingertips or the even more realistic fate of hearing the crack of a ruler.

As an aside here, they say when the nun cracks a yardstick, it makes a noise, because the very tip of it breaks the sound barrier. That alone puts fear in me.

Granted, there were no lightning bolts, but she wanted so badly to discipline somebody, so they felt intimidation through her voice and mannerisms.

At this point in the story, another Retail Service Representative from another company who was listening in, joined us and looked worried.

“I know the sound of that yardstick,” he told us. “It will forever be etched in my mind.”

He then broke down and told us of how he was disciplined by being struck with a ruler by a sister. Three at this gathering now had a common bond. I wonder how far this will go and what other stories will come from the telling of my experience.

In the meantime, I suggested to my boss that he get on a strong sedative to sleep through the demonic nuns that haunt his slumber.

>Boy, the members of the Filipino Mafia that I work with take advantage of their power. I ride with them, which I am thankful for, but they pick me up an hour after they say they will on a constant basis. Now I could leave their carpool, but they have connections at the quickie marts to get free gas, so no one has to pay. This is disrespectful to our boss though, and despite his mob ties, he cannot do a thing about them waltzing in whenever they please, because the power of these Pinoys is on the upsurge. I defend the boss as much as I can, but they gang up on me during their smoke breaks and blow second hand smoke in my eyes.

Now I understand that it is stressful when you do not have much food because spearfishing season is over, but to throw one’s weight around like this is ridiculous. I have no choice, but to submit though. What can we do as Italian Retail Service Representatives?? Only sit back, assemble more patio furniture, and keep our mouths shut.

>Before I could have a real job, and before I actually worked in the fertilizer industry with Scotts earlier last year, I worked with FertHairlizer. My mother worked at a copy shop here in South St. Louis back in the early 1990s. Next door was a barber shop run by Bill Black. What was interesting about his place was that he was a C-level celebrity. He had photos on the wall of him on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, The Late Show with David Letterman, and others. Black made and still makes clothing from hair, including bras and underwear, which may get itchy, but they still earned him exposure at Ripley’s Believe It or Not museums around the world. He also had this amazing innovation called FertHairlizer, which was a fertilizer for plants that had human hair in it, because of its nitrogen content. When the hair from the shop was swept up, it was swept into trap doors in the floor. In the basement, the hair was gathered in trash cans for use in the clothing, ferthairlizer, and potting soil lines. On a few occasions, I was the one that mixed the sterilized hair with the soil and bagged it. Good times.

Bill Black later closed up shop here and moved down to Texas. I spotted him about a year back on a segment on The Tonight Show where Tom Green searches states for their most interesting person. Unfortunately, he wasn’t Texas’s, but he did get an honorable mention for his hair vests and bikinis.

Now, according to an article I found from the Austin Chronicle, Black is still hawking his usual hair stuff, but now he’s expanding his horizons to include insulation made from hair and nutritional supplements for animals made from liquefied human hair. So far his ideas haven’t caught on and it is a shame. He claims they all work great, so why not?! If only he could fuel cars on liquefied hair, then he’d have something to cure America’s oil addiction.

photo from the Austin Chronicle

Bill Black has a web site at FertHairlizer.com, but the quality isn’t comparable to his wonderful products. Check it out anyway.