The Cost Of Media

I was thinking on the way to work today about how much media costs us today. I remember when cable TV was installed in town back in the day. I think the cost was around $20 a month. Everyone thought that was just outrageous!

Now we pay on average anywhere from $60 for basic cable to $150 a month if you want premium channels, HD content and internet service.

Add to that cell phone and smartphone service. That also is anywhere from $50 for basic service to $150 a month if you have 2 or more lines with a data plan.

That's $110 to $300 a month just for TV, internet and wireless phone service!

How did we get to the point where we spend as much for entertainment and communications as we used to spend for a month of groceries when cable was first installed?

bc

I'm Impressed

I haven't heard of this band before I saw them on SNL this weekend.



The girl has some pipes.

You're welcome.

bc

Everything You Need To Know Before You Vote

...is in this one 30 second commercial.



See you at the polls.

bc

The SawsAll Does It All

I started in the upstairs bathroom last weekend. I took the trusty sawsall and just cut out the entire shower. What I found was as bad as I had expected. I have 2x10 floor joists and 3/4" plywood for the floor. On top of that was 1/4" lewon plywood and ceramic tile. The leak(s) from the shower had gotten between the lewon and the 3/4" plywood. It was quite rotten so I just pulled up all of the tile and lewon.

As a side story, we have had problems with palimino bugs in the kitchen. The kitchen is underneath the bathroom. Well, I could never find where the bastards were coming from. These pests need moisture to survive. The kitchen and underneath the house are dry. When I pulled down the shower I exposed a nest of the bugs! That is where they were getting their moisture. So, at least that mystery is solved.

Also, the water pipes that go to the shower come in from the ceiling of the bathroom, down the shower wall and, for some reason, into the floor under the shower. Where the hell were they going? They went to the bathtub on the other side of the room. I cannot fathom why it was plumbed this way because the tub and the sink are on the same wall. But instead of coming off of the sink to the tub, the plumbing was routed under the floor from the shower.

Anyway, the 3/4" plywood where the shower was will have to be replaced but only one piece. So that's pretty good. However we have not decided whether to just replace the shower or do we do a complete change up of the layout of the room. The bathtub is a deep soaker tub with jets and it only gets used two or three times a year. I don't see any reason to keep it. A shower is all we need.

I Don't Want To Do This...

...but it must be done.

The shower in the upstairs bathroom has been leaking. So I'm going to tear it out and see what's what underneath.

I'm afraid.

I've got the feeling that this is going to end up being a complete renovation.

$$$$$$$$!

Oh,yeah.

bc

Had To Share This

I have read that this was done in one take. If it was it is truly amazing.



Also, John Lennon rules!

Jon Stewart's "Postcards From The Pledge"

I had to share this...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Postcards From the Pledge
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

They are not even trying. Really, it just insults my intelligence that they think that I am stupid enough to buy their into their "pledge" to the American people. These are the same people who got us into this mess in the first place. Who didn't lift a finger to help get the country back up on it's feet. Who said "no" to everything for two years, not because of their principles but because it is politically expedient to oppose everything. What did they have to lose? Rush Limbaugh gave them cover on January 20,2009 when he said, "I hope he fails". That was his signal to the loser Republicans that he had their backs if any of them want to follow him.

Behold!

Nothing like a fresh coat of paint to make you fall in love with your house again.

Geez

Just when I thought the American people couldn't get any stupider.

"The number of Americans who say President Obama is a Muslim has nearly doubled since March 2009, according to a new poll from Pew out today. The poll finds that 18% of Americans say the president -- who, it should be said for the record, is a practicing Christian -- is a Muslim. That's up from 11% who said the same thing in March of last year.

At the same time, a new poll from Time magazine shows a widespread distrust of Islam among Americans, and an overwhelming opposition to the Cordoba House project in Manhattan. The Time poll also found that 24% of Americans say Obama is a Muslim.

No group is more convinced of the president's Muslim faith than conservative Republicans. The Pew poll found 34% of them say Obama is a Muslim, which is an increase from 18% in the March 2009 survey. The number is not that much different from Republicans overall -- 31% of all Republicans surveyed by Pew said Obama practices Islam, and 24% of "moderate and liberal" members of the GOP said the same thing."

I take it that Muslim is the new "nigger".

bc

William The Bloody Strikes Again

TBogg goes after Bill Kristol one more time. With feeling. And more cow bell.

Kristol can suck it.

bc

Has It Been A Month?

Today is the first day of August or as we say here in the South, "the dog-days of August", even though we have been in high heat and humidity since I posted the first of last month.

I have been very busy working on "This Damned Old House". Just finished painting the exterior. I am currently sanding the old paint off of the front porch floor so I can stain it. I rented a floor sander that got 98% of it done but the remaining 2% has been a very slow process. I am hoping to get it ready for stain within the next few days.

The house looks great but now all I see when I look at it is the black stains on the roof. I have found that can be cleaned off with a combination of bleach and Tri-Sodium Phosphate. That is next on my agenda.

I'll post a picture when it is all complete.

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and it has the WiFis

A Best Buy employee created this video and I believe he got into some trouble over it even though Best Buy was never mentioned.

Be that as it may, the video is funny...and a little scary. There are people out there as dumb as the one that is asking for the new iPhone.

bc

The Green Hornet Trailer

I don't know if it is going to be any good. From the trailer it looks as if it will be successful. At least with the 13 to 18 year old crowd. The Greeen Hornet was one of my favorites from my childhood. I couldn't wait for the TV show to come on each week just so I could see Kato (Bruce Lee) kick someone in the face.

I'm On A Boat!

BP chief executive Tony Hayward, often criticized for being tone-deaf to U.S. concerns about the worst oil spill in American history, took time off Saturday to attend a glitzy yacht race off England’s Isle of Wight.



I guess he got his life back.

bc

Well, The Weekend Is Upon Us...

Now, the real work begins.

By now you have probably seen this video on the news or the internets, but here it is again.



Have a great weekend and try to stay cool. It's going to be a hot one.

bc

I've Got To Get Back To Work To Get Some Rest

I cleaned out the shed for the second time this year. It had gotten to the point that I had to climb over things to get what I needed out of there. Then I mowed the lawn, took a swim and went for a walk. That was Saturday.

Sunday my daughter's Volvo A/C quit. I worked on that all morning. Still haven't figured it out. The A/C is kicking in but the blower isn't coming on. Blower doesn't work on heat either. I'll get it eventually.

We are in the middle of having our house painted so today I took the front porch lights down. My wife painted them and I moved them to the back porch. We replaced those lights with ones my wife bought Saturday.

On inspection of the columns on the front porch I can see a lot of what looks like alligator or reticulating in the finish. So, I have started stripping them by use of a heat gun and scraper. I got one side of two columns done. There are 8 columns in all. This might take a while.

bc

Man, It's Hot Out There!

11 o'clock pm and it's still 80 degrees here. This weekend it will be up to 99 degrees without the heat index. And summer won't be here for 10 more days.

I guess Al Gore was right after all.

bc

Thank God!

Nolan says no to Mr. Freeze too.

bc

RIP - Dennis Hopper

This scene from Easy Rider with Jack Nicholson is one of my favorites.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

I present for your enjoyment- The Black Keys

For The "Lost" Souls Out There

The internets are all torn up over the last episode of Lost. I was pretty satisfied with it. That is because of the characters in the show. The first 2 seasons I was caught up in the mystery and questions about the island but as the series continued I found myself interested more in what happened to the people in the story. I know that a lot of questions were left unanswered, but who really thought that everything would be? All I know is that I went to bed a little sad because I am going to miss them.

For a good recap of the episode go here.

Oh, yeah, the Jimmy Kimmel show that was scheduled to come on after Lost last night was pre-empted here for 2 episodes of Two and a Half Men by the local cable company. In case you did not see it, here is the alternate endings to Lost that was shown....

Rand Paul Bee's Tired

John Cole's prediction will come true.

That's my prediction.

bc

Brilliant!

I would say that Andy Sandberg is a comic genius but he also does the Laser Cat videos.
Not a big fan of the Laser Cat.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Now, show me your papers!

Thought Of The Day

It seems like being named the world's oldest person is a death sentence.

bc

Books I Have Read So Far This Year

My wife and I seem to have a running contest to see how many books we can read. Believe it or not she is way ahead of me.

Here is the list so far this year:

1. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
2. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
4. Catching Fire (sequel to #3)by Suzanne Collins
5. City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments Book 1) by Cassandra Claire
6. City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments Book 2) by Cassandra Claire
7. City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments Book 3) by Cassandra Claire
8. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
9. The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
10. The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond
11. Timequake by Kirk Vonnegut
12. God Hates Us All by Hank Moody
13. The Host by Stephanie Myers

Currently reading "World Made by Hand" by James Howard Kunstler after that it will be "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig.

bc

The Party's Over

via cosmicnavellint:

The Old Fart tells it like it is---



--calmly as I could not.

The reason I'm down on the so called "movement" is because they are spouting the same talking points that I hear every day here in Mississippi. I'm not down on the people of my state, they are truly some of the most friendly folks you would ever want to meet. But when things are going on that they don't understand they become a little unhinged. They look for someone to blame and it sure ain't them.

I Could Not Agree More

Heather Friday at crooksandliars.com has the best description of the tea party people I have read so far:

"It would be nice to see these wingnuts challenged by our sorry excuse for a "main stream media" as well as Cenk did here. They'd be marginalized in the manner they deserve to be rather than propped up as some sort of grass roots movement, which they're not.

This tea party movement is one part Dick Armey and company fake astroturf protest, one part angry McCain and Palin soreloserman, one part abortion clinic protester, one part white nationalist militia movement/gun rights nuts, one part ClusterFox/Glenn Beck brain dead watcher, one part anti-immigration Lou Dobbs/Tom Tancredo fan, one part southern racist that isn't done fighting the Civil War yet and one part Ron Paul/Libertarian."
-emphasis mine.

I should put this on my facebook page but I try to keep away from politics there so I won't alienate my family.


bc

Dumb Fucks

Some guys are out showing off their dick sizes today.

Role Reversal

What do you get when you have a bunch of over-weight white people flinging shit at "the monkey in the White House"?

The Southern Republican Leadership Conference.

bc

I Get No Respect

At home all I seem to be good for is bringing in a paycheck and doing all the heavy lifting.

I'm asked about my opinion about things only to be ridiculed or rejected. So, why bother.

I'm the Rodney Dangerfield of my family.

Whoo Weee!

Booman is hot! It seems Doocy "The Douche" on Fox and Friends has pissed him off royally.

I can't say that I blame him. Doocy is a dink.

Read it.

How does the media continue to believe that Fox News is a real news organization?

bc

Dreaming

Lately I have been having the most vivid dreams. Not only can I dream a dream and remember it the next day, I can also wake up from that dream and go right back into it.

Last night I had a dream that I was in a golf foursome with George W. Bush. Can you believe that?

Anyway, when his turn came to tee it up, he could not hit the ball. He swung and he swung but could not hit it. It became almost painful to watch much like listening to him give a statement "on-the-fly". Finally, after about twenty tries we had to scratch him.

I have no idea what brought that dream about but it was good to see him standing there with egg on his face.

bc

Media's False Equivilences

During the HRC debate and its subsequent passage many threats and intimidation tactics have been used against Democratic members of Congress. They were right to call them out and admonish their behavior. It is striking to me that the Republican leadership is cheering them on.

Yesterday we learned that a deranged individual posted a threatening video to Republican Congressman Eric Cantor and has since been arrested. Good. Violent threats to anyone are not to be tolerated. However, this morning on MSNBC's Monin' Joe all Mika Brzezinski wanted to talk about was this example of how the left is just as bad as the right on this subject. She nor anyone at the table ever said that this person also threatened many other people including Barack Obama. How can Ms Brzezinski claim that he is from the "far left"? Because he threatened a republican? This makes no sense.

I would bet dollars to donuts that by the evening news hour this guy is "far left" and that the right can now make the claim that both sides do it.

Thanks Mika. Great reporting there.

bc

UPDATE: The Rude Pundit has to be quoted here:

"'Cause, see, whenever anyone tries to make some kind of moral equivalence between the actions of leftist protesters in the 1960s and 1970s and those of the teabaggers (or, indeed, the militia movement), they are forgetting context. And context, as we know, will take your sad little rhetorical point and spank its ass until it begs context to stop."

I just love the last sentence.

Quote of the Day

"the GOP just had a premature political ejaculation. Obama, meanwhile, has just got his groove on."

- Andrew Sullivan from the Atlantic's Daily Dish

For Alex

Rest in Peace

A Typical IT Call For Me

I love people like the guy in this video. They keep me in a job.

Call The Waaamulance

Now that the health care summit is over I am willing to bet that the spin out of Fox News is how the President was so mean to the Republicans. For a party who acts so tough and Billy Bad Ass all the time they sure spend a lot of time on the TeeVee crying about people being condescending to them.

I swear they are like a bunch of 5 year olds.

bc

UPDATE: That did not take long...

Happy Valentines Day

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If you find yourself down just listen to this song. It always puts a smile on my face whenever I hear it. This clip is from the excellent movie "Stop Making Sense" by Jonathan Demme.

Now, Here Is What Political Satire Looks Like

Sandberg hits it out of the park.

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I Hear There Is A Football Game Sunday

.
I predict that one team will win.

bc

I'm so Excited!

Happy Lost Day!

The sixth and final season of Lost starts tonight. If you have not been watching this show you don't know what you have been missing. It is really the only reason I watch ABC except for Modern Family another terrific show.

We have been promised that this season all questions will be answered. That remains to be seen. If it ends up that it was all in Hurley's head I'm going to to be pissed.

bc

The Death Of The Kindle?

Apple ( Steve Jobs) introduces the iPad Tablet. It looks like it would be more enjoyable to read from it than Amazon's Kindle.

We Are All Truly Fucked Now!

"Government cannot restrict corporations from spending money to influence political campaigns, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday in an opinion that immediately reverberated across the political landscape and drew strong criticism from the White House.

The decision upends the political battlefield in time for November's high-stakes congressional elections. It also is likely to affect state contests. Twenty-two states prohibit corporate spending in state candidate elections, and two more, New York and Alabama, impose limits on such spending."

-USA Today

The court ruled some time ago that corporations are "super citizens" . That means they have more rights than we as individuals have in this country. You think we have crooked politicians now, just wait a couple of more election cycles.

bc

UPDATE: There may be something that can be done about this:

I know I was going to leave politics alone for a while. But every time I do they keep pulling me back in.

bc

It's Been A While

The holidays are behind me now. I haven't had much to blog about, at least anything anyone would want to read.

I know one thing, I am sick of politics. I'm taking a break from that stuff.

So:

Which makes me nostalgic for this video.

bc
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