Friday, November 19, 2010

More Random Musings

So, with the whole world facing an economic downturn, Europe elects to implement unpopular austerity programs while the United States decides to try to spend its way out of the problem.  I wonder which will prove to be the most successful?

I wonder how many people who lost their entire investment in GM when they declared bankruptcy are rushing in to buy their stock now?

I love Charlie Rangel saying that nothing that he did was for his own personal gain.  I guess not paying taxes on his rental income in the Dominican Republic must have benefitted someone else.  And who among us hasn't just kind of forgotten about $600,000 in assets.  I don't know who his accountants are, but even TurboTax would have caught those "oversights."

Does Derek Jeter really think he is worth $20 million a year for the next five years?  Let's see, he is 36 now, batted .270 last year and knocked in just 67 runs.  I wonder how he will be doing when he is 41.

And where is Starbury now that the Knicks could really use him.  Maybe Isiah will bring him back after Dolan throws Walsh under the bus.  Starbury probably thinks he is worth $20 million a year for the next five years too.

Rusty Nails, straight-up, are a very underrated drink.  Three parts Scotch and one part Drambuie.  A lemon twist garnish if you chose.  For some reason they used to serve these with hazel nuts when I was younger, but I haven't seen that in years.  Yesterday I had a pre-dinner Rob Roy (a Manhattan made with Scotch) and a post-dinner Rusty Nail.  Well, two Rusty Nails.  Kind of perfect book-ends to a nice meal.

I am still depressed just thinking about Coney Island without Ruby's.

Just bought and installed a 55" Samsung LED TV and now my living room (heh, I live in a one bedroom co-op so living room is kind of a misnomer) looks kind of like a cross between a sports bar and an airport lounge.  That isn't a bad thing.  The Mysterious Chinese Woman refused to dress like a cocktail waitress, though.

I subscribed to Hulu and am very disappointed by the number of ads they insert.  On the other hand, I am now caught up in Babel II.

Netflix instant play, however, is uber.  Now I can watch "Rocky Horror Picture Show" anytime I want.  And the quality is suburb.  And all three of "The Girl..." movies are available.  I watched "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" and it was excellent.  I suspect the new one won't be nearly as good.

Be sure to check out Annie Lenox's new Christmas album, "A Christmas Cornucopia."  And to think that when I was first introduced to the Eurythmics I don't even think CDs were available.

Does anyone remember Optical Disks?

Thursday, November 18, 2010

The Intent Of The Voter Be Damned

Ah, you have to love the hypocrisy of our political system, or at least that of some of the people in it.  A classic example was the challenge to Lisa Murkowski's write in victory for Senator of Alaska.  Her opponent, Joe Miller, actually made the case that it shouldn't be the intent of the voter that mattered when it came to counting the ballots.  Huh?!  This despite the fact that Alaska does have an “intent of the voter” measure whereby a ballot could still be counted even if a name is spelled incorrectly.

Oh, but Mr. Miller didn't just challenge votes where the voter mispelled a somewhat peculiar name, he even challenged votes where the voter had drawn a heart over the "i" instead of just dotting it, or wrote in clear script instead of printing, or put a comma between the first name and the last name or, heaven forbid, wrote the last name first followed by the first name.


At least Mr. Miller was honest enough to come right out and say that the intent of the voter doesn't matter.  Most politicians still maintain that it does.  Unless, of course, that intent runs counter to whatever it is that the politician wants.

Is it any wonder why people don't trust politicians?

On the bright side, Lisa Murkowski did prevail.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

But Starbucks Selling Wine Is Okay

Just another thought concerning the banning of cafeinated alcohol drinks.  Isn't it a bit ironic that Starbucks is now going to be selling wine and beer?  I guess you just won't be able to order coffee and wine at the same time.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Loco, For Sure

In a recent post I griped about the government stepping in and regulating just about everything, including the selling of alcoholic drinks that contain caffein.  New York will make these drinks illegal after December 10th.

But this really made me scratch my head.  Alwahaib Janeder whose family owns Lealy Super Deli in Crown Heights, Brooklyn said that high school students buy the fruity drinks on the way to class.

Huh!!!  Either there are a lot high school students who are 21 or over or the Lealy Super Deli is selling a lot of alcohol to underage kids.

Maybe the problem isn't with the beverages themselves, but with how easy it seems for those who are underage to get their hands on them.