Thanksgiving

I would like to introduce you all to our new good friends here in Austin, Mark and Kelly. They hosted us for an "orphans" Thanksgiving this year. Here they are with their very first turkey. It turned out beautifully.

During our last visit to Madison, Mark M. and I were joking we have replaced him with another Mark down here. So, Mark and Carol, meet Mark and Kelly. Has a nice ring to it.

Here is Mark carving the glorious bird.

Here we have little Ariel (the daughter of one of Jack's lab mates) snuggling with a stuffed "Bevo". Bevo is the UT Austin mascot - he's a cool ass long horn.

This year there were no white russians for me, or Settlers, or Laurels for me to pick up, so it was a little less eventful than a couple years ago, but it was nice nonetheless.

In unrelated news, I have recently been told to start "taking it easy" and being "off my feet" more. (Apparently dehydration and working too hard can cause premature contractions, as I got to find out in the ER the other night - who knew!? Well, Marta, YOU probably knew). Taking it easy sounds nice, but not for me with my type A personality and all. But, for the sake of not having our baby 3 months early, I will give it my all.

You know that photo of Jack with the mustache? That's what greeted me after I got home from work Friday night, that and a beautifully clean house! Jack has been telling me to "sit down" a lot and that he "can get that for me"...I'm trying, I really am :) and he is doing a great job of making me feel like I can.

I also recently got an early Christmas present from Jack. This very funny and very cute T-shirt. Since I can only wear it so long, he gave it to me early. We're going to keep that bun in the oven a little longer!

So, looks like Bunny and I will be enjoying lots of TV together in the next few months!

shaving

Bad-ass biker or Village Person?.. you decide.

Quick Update Post

Here is a Bunny glamour shots pic for you'all. Rx caught her basking lazily in the sunlight the other day.


Our Baby's room is almost complete! Thanks to Roxanne's dad for our newest purchase, a 6 drawer chest! It looks great!

David jr.'s creation Calvin came to visit with us, here he is taking in the local sights.

I found a new favorite soft drink

Check this out!!! Diet Dr. B!!!!

Tastes more like regular Dr. B Coming soon, Dr. B junior!
Bunny was unamused by that joke.

Also, Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

wordle

This is a wordle picture from all our October blog posts... Just paste any text into Wordle.net and it will make a word picture with the most used words bigger than the less frequently used words. You can see from the October wordle that Texas, Baby, Day, Awesome, Wisconsin and Got were used quite frequently.

For November apparently Government was on our mind a little bit. Now I know for sure I am on some watchlist.

Here is the Gettysburg Address wordled.

I cant watch enough Cold Steel videos

My favorite part is the 20 seconds of wiffle ball footage, cause that's the test of a good Sjambok.

Remember that bailout?....

Oh yeah what ever happened with that? How did the buying up toxic mortgages go? Nope not doing that anymore... okay... Well what are you doing? The answer... not much. According to Bill Moyers Journal, Paulson has destroyed confidence that he or anyone in the Bush administration can do anything to stop this or turn it around. We will basically be coasting (without wheels) into the next administration. An excellent (or at least workable) plan for preventing foreclosures has actually been proposed by someone in the Bush administration and Paulson and Bush said... no thank you (more on that later).
Anyway, check out the transcripts for this week's Bill Moyers Journal. I will give you some choice exerps, this weeks guest is Joe Nocera, a writer for the NY Times... (Bill Moyers was out this week).

DEBORAH AMOS: When there was talk in the beginning about the bailout plan, that was one of the major issues that Hank Paulson talked about that we have to fix the mortgage crisis. He acknowledges that it is at the basis of what the problem is. And yet he hasn't addressed it. Why?

JOE NOCERA: It's so hard to figure out. Number one, as Barney Frank said this week in one of those hearings, Mr. Secretary, it is explicit in the legislation that preventing foreclosures is one of the things this money is for, which he kind of keeps denying. Secondly, he makes this distinction between investing in the financial institutions, which he does call investing, and giving money to homeowners or doing something for homeowners, which he calls spending. In other words, he sees that as a government spending program. And he's opposed to that. But if you don't do something for homeowners, not only will it hurt the economy, it'll hurt neighborhoods. It'll hurt the next door neighbor. And by the way, it'll go all the way up the chain of Wall Street and you'll start to see the write offs all over again and the same problems all over again.

DEBORAH AMOS: The counter-argument has been about moral hazard. That if you bail out homeowners, there'll be more people who will say, "I need help."

JOE NOCERA: And there's more than a little truth to that. And the moral hazard is a real argument. And it has driven a lot of the thinking in Treasury about what to do about homeowners. It's like if you give people incentive to foreclose, more people will decide, "Hey, I'm about to foreclose." So my problem with it really is that if you're going to say that about homeowners, why don't say the same thing about financial institutions? Why doesn't moral hazard work for them as well? And, you know, the government has bent over backwards to give money to financial institutions whether they need it or not. And they just don't seem to have the same set of standards.

Turns out there actually is a plan out there that looks like it will work to help struggling homeowners that helps solve some of the moral hazard argument. It was proposed by the head of the FDIC Sheila Bair, a Bush appointee...

JOE NOCERA: Well, she has been in this position where she has, the FDIC took over a bank in California, IndyMac, and they have used it as a petri dish to experiment with mortgage modifications to see what can be done, what can't be done, how many can we do. Now, the program is still in its beginning stages. There are 60,000 mortgages at IndyMac. And I think they've only modified 3,000 or 4,000. But she does view this as a way to do major modifications. And the idea is, you know, you get it down to 31 percent of their income, however you have to do it. Income, interest rate readjustments, even some principle readjustments. You broaden the length of the loan. You make them fixed rates. There's a lot of things she's doing.
DEBORAH AMOS: And they work?
JOE NOCERA: They absolutely do work. Now, what she wants to do on the federal level is cut a deal with banks that basically says if you modify mortgages so you take a bit of a hit and you do same thing we're doing at IndyMac, we will guarantee that you won't lose any more money on those deals. In other words, if the person re-defaults after you do a modification, the government will guarantee to cover the loss on the re-default. The estimate for that at the moment is about $40 billion. She has been negotiating with the White House for well over a month on this and the Treasury Department. And they basically think it's too much money and they don't want to spend it. And they also think her criteria is too broad, and they want to narrow it. So she finally, in disgust really, just posted her plan on the FDIC website and basically said, "Here, America, is what I want to do and they won't let me do it." She is completely broken with the administration.

There you go, 700 Billion to throw at Wall Street, and 40 Billion to actually help real Americans facing foreclosure... and the 40 Billion is too much money... Here is a link to an article about her plan.

This post is too long and boring as it is, but I will leave you with this uplifting paragraph..

DEBORAH AMOS: For you, what's the headline this week?

JOE NOCERA: I think the headline this week is "Government Throws in the Towel." It's a terrible thing to say, but I do think that's the headline this week. The one good headline, we haven't really talked about it much, is that the Democrats told the auto companies to come back with a plan in 12 to 14 days. And you think to yourself, "Guys, don't you realize you should have come up with a plan in the first place?" You can't just come up and beg for money after all the problems you've had.

Pandas

There is a reason they are called Panda Bears..

an epidemic of civic ignorance

“It can truly be said that we are suffering from an epidemic of civic ignorance,” Bunting said. “The extent of failure is pervasive, cutting across every segment of the American population."

Check out this article. God we are dumb. Maybe we deserve a horrible government.

-- Only 27 percent of Americans know that the Bill of Rights prohibits the government from establishing an official religion in the U.S.

-- 54 percent do not know that the Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, not the president.

Politicians are worse than the average American if you can imagine that...

-- Seventy-nine (79) percent of elected officeholders did not know that the Bill of Rights expressly forbids the government establishment of an official religion.

-- A large number (43 percent) of politicians did not know what the Electoral College does.

Is it elitist to suggest that you should have to pass an utterly simple civics test to be able to vote?... Okay, of course it is elitist, quite elitist, but I don't care anymore. If you have no understanding of government, history, or current events, I don't think you should be able to vote period. Why should that person be able to elect officials for people who do know what is going on? I am not talking hard here... I am talking super super easy like ... Who is the current president, the current vice president? Was Saddam Hussein responsible for 9/11? How many states are there? Name a 1st amendment right... anything from of the bill of rights for that matter. Whose side was Japan on in WW2? Which countries border the US? Name a branch of government... any branch..

To be safe, make 50% a passing grade... again, I am not talking hard here whatsoever....

I think this would serve 2 purposes, 1) it would exclude people from voting who don't know what the hell they are doing, which is good for everyone (including the people who failed the test it could be argued) and 2) it would cause people who may be borderline passing, but still want to vote to actually bone up on basic government facts to pass the test. People would have a reason (other than the obvious one) for learning about current events, history, and the government. How does the old expression go?... "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." Maybe this would get people to pay attention.

27 weeks

Reality really starts to set in when your baby is the size of a cauliflower...

Shalom, Shalom!!

I was flipping through the radio dial on the ride home and I heard U2's Vertigo... but it wasn't quite right......My first inkling that something was wrong occurred when instead of "Hello, Hello", I heard "Shalom, Shalom"

Watch if you dare!!!



Here is the chorus...
Shalom, shalom
I'm at a place called Jericho
Christ's in town, and all I know is the Dude's really something
I can feel
His love reaching me now
Read Luke 19 you'll see how
Cause He's real! Real!


Here are some of Apologetix's other "hits"

Corinthians...... In the End by Linkin Park
Sounds of Silas.... Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel
Hotel Can't Afford Ya... Hotel California by The Eagles
JC's Mom.. Stacey's Mom by Fountains Of Wayne
The Real Sin Savior..... The Real Slim Shady by Eminem
Look Yourself...... Lose Yourself by Eminem

I could go on with the cringe inducing titles but you get the point. I just had to share this with everyone as Rx and I have been yelling "Shalom, Shalom" to eachother for the last coupla days...

Bathroom Decor

These are my foot X-rays.. They are uninteresting (and negative) by themselves, but their new location makes them unique.
I decided to put them up in our bathroom window. Every morning it is really bright in the bathroom because of the east facing window. This is quite a rude awakening. It reminded me of a light box for X-ray viewing. I recently got some X-rays of my foot so I decided to just put them up. This 4 x 3 foot room is the only room Roxanne allows me to have complete artistic freedom in. She gets the rest of the house. Taking into account my unique style, I consider myself lucky I have this room as my canvas.

For some reason Rx gets free Dog Fancy and Cat Fancy magazines. I have been decorating the other walls of the bathroom with each month's "centerfolds" . My favs are the Maine Coons at the top of the previous picture.
The Boston Terrior is nice too..

changing table

Thanks mom for this awesome changing table... I finally got it assembled. I have Mr. Froggie strapped in for scale. The baby room is coming together!!!!

Happy Birthday to Lou!!!

Roxanne got Louie a squirrel stump for his birthday... For those not in the know, it is a plush stump with squeaky squirrels stuffed inside. Louie loves it!!

He is 8 years old now by the way!! Can you believe it!! Why it seems like only yesterday we were celebrating his 7th B-day here in Austin...

Also its my little brother's b-day as well... shout out!

25 weeks... our baby is a rutabaga

wow

Are you F#@$ing kidding me? Africa is a country?!? Oh my God, we dodged a bullet last Tuesday. Even GW knows the 3 countries in NAFTA. Also... thanks FOXS news for keeping this information private... Luckily through other avenues (any public speaking engagement) the American public was able to see what an idiot she was, but not passing on info like that is essentially treasonous as far as I am concerned. This ignorant tantrum throwing baby could have been in charge of our nukes!?!?! And Fox news would have just stood by and let this happen, nay actively try to make this happen?!?!?!! This is FOXS NEWS reporting this so you can bet its probably toned down! Oh my God, we must be ever vigilant against idiots... never can they get this close again.

Halloween Protocol and Crib Assembly

For Halloween Rx worked and I stayed home and handed out treats. Dr. Loupta accompanied Rx to work as I would have gone crazy making Louie shut up and stop barking like a mad man every time the doorbell rang. This was my first time giving out candy. Relying on my memories from childhood, I thought all you had to do was turn your front porch light on and wait for Trick or Treaters to ring your doorbell and ask for treats. If you don't want to participate, just turn out your front porch light and you (probably) will not be bothered.... Evidently times have changed or more likely my locality has changed ("everything is weirder in Texas"). As I was watching TV waiting for trick or treaters to come by, I was wondering why no one was knocking on my door... I could hear people walking by, and see them out the window but they wouldn't come up to my door. I began wondering if my house was on some sex offender website or something. I finally got tired of this and waited for a big group and ambushed them with my candy bowl and walked down to the sidewalk to give them candy. That's when I noticed that my other neighbors who were participating in handing out candy were dressed up and sitting on their porches in lawn chairs waiting for kids! The kids weren't coming to my house because I wasn't waiting outside all night for them... What the hell? I bought candy... I am not going to forgo my TV watching and general lounging to sit alone outside to distribute candy in a costume! Also that would be extremely creepy without my wife sitting next to me...Texas is so backwards. I finally just went up to a large group of kids and unloaded copious amounts of candy and turned off my porch light and relaxed the rest of the night.... I will tell you what... my kid is going to be ringing doorbells on Halloween.. its the American way.


Anyway, here I am assembling the crib Rx's Mom got us!! Thanks so much Kathy, it is awesome!!
Assembly was a cinch and it matched our baby decor perfectly. Rx tells me that babies really care a lot about decor so everything has to match and have a theme. Our theme is froggies and our colors are coffee or expresso and sage green. I was originally thinking craigslist for the theme and "rainbow" (as in "any color under the...") for the color, but Rx has told me that our baby would grow up to be a crazy lunatic in this kind of environment.

out foxed

As I am a glutton for punishment, I checked over at foxnews.com to see what was happening in fair and balanced land... and the lead story on the website was this article

Wow! Can you imagine the bile that must be brimming over in those assclowns. I want to be mad, I want to be disgusted, but I only feel pity for them. Their lives must be so sad and horrid that they feel that they have to tear down anything that doesnt fit their agenda even when it means demeaning our new first lady on election night. How horribly sad. I mean give him and his family a day... an hour... before you unleash your viceral hatred and spew bull shit over the airwaves. No... they couldn't do that, they couldnt leave his family alone for 1 day. nice... Anyone who wants to claim that Fox news has any legitimacy whatsoever, come talk to me I have a bridge to sell you.

Persimmon

Wheww... Now that we have staved off a Palin presidency for 4 years at least we can get back to this blog's original charter... to spread mundanity throughout the land!! Has anyone out there ever eaten a Persimmon before? Has anyone ever heard of a persimmon? I first heard about them via the bluegrass song "watermelon on the vine" that speaks of 'Simmons a-growing on the tree. On a side note, here are the original (moderately racist) lyrics to that song. They have fortunately been toned down a little over the years to this. I got into bluegrass a couple years ago and this song kept coming up in compilations I bought, and I would always think to myself... what the hell is a 'simmons? Well evidently we have them in grocery stores down here (and other stores up north too, I am sure I just didn't notice them before). They look like a small perfect tomato, but are rather sweet inside. You are supposed to wait until they are ripe or just over ripe to eat them because they have an astringency that some people don't like. I found my persimmon to be delicious!
What I also like about persimmons is the element of danger! This is directly from wikipedia (so I know its accurate)
"Unripened persimmons contain the soluble tannin shibuol, which, upon contact with a weak acid, polymerizes in the stomach and forms a gluey coagulum that can affix with other stomach matter. The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy notes that consumption of persimmons has been known to cause bezoars that require surgery in over 90% of cases. More than 85% phytobezoars are caused by ingestion of unripened persimmons. Persimmon bezoars often occur in epidemics in regions where the fruit is grown. Horses may develop a taste for the fruit growing on a tree in their pasture and overindulge also, making them quite ill. It is often advised that persimmons should not be eaten with crab meat, nor should they be eaten on an empty stomach."

Damn! good thing I waited til it was ripe.. these things should come with a warning label. It was quite good though, I think I will buy some more although Rx was not as impressed as I was. My expectations were quite low though although I was pleasantly surprised. I just didn't want a bezoar... I will update you if that happens.
Priscilla was embarrassed by my love of the persimmon.

ELECTION DAY!!

I'm going to end with this one...it's from Saturday Night Live so it's pretty funny, but the best part is that Tina Fey just had to take the Katie Couric interviews and basically read the transcripts. It summarizes a lot of the previous, so if you just have time for one, this is it:



I also found an interview w/John McCain regarding Palin - Tom Brokaw started out by saying " you continue to defend her" and John McCain said he doesn't defend her, he "praises" her. "She needs no defense". Well, obviously. heck, she's a smart cookie, dontcha know? I tried to embed the video but couldn't for some reason (my computer stinks?). Here's the link if you're interested:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/mccain-on-meet-the-press/

SO, HERE'S TO HOPING WE DON'T HAVE TO DO ANY MORE PALIN'S STUPID QUOTES POSTS!!!

GET OUT THE VOTE, MY FRIENDS!

I could go on and on, "what newspapers have you read?" "I have one gay friend who has chosen to be gay"..nice "choice" of words, ugh! Here's the last real clip, the answer to the bail-out question, it's one of my favorites. It's like her little brain short-circuited near the end there and the Stepford Wife just couldn't put together a coherent thought anymore:

3 DAYS AND COUNTING

Give this next one exactly one minute before she self-implodes:

Now, those were a couple of my latest favorites, but let's not forget these:



I like how, in this next one, she just can't understand why Katie Couric doesn't GET that Alaska's PROXIMITY to Russia gives her foreign policy experience...

brief interruption

I don't know why, but this made me laugh really hard. Also this one...