I am VERY GRATEFUL to the bunches of you who come to read my pieces. And I love your comments. The comments are usually funnier than what I write. So I gotta keep writing so I can keep getting comments. It's a vicious circular.
Anyway, I usually don't comment directly on your comments. It's mostly for lack of time. See, I am reading, and commenting to when appropriate, 63 other writers. I just thought it was better for me to comment on your stuff than to comment on your comments. If you have any comment on this, comment away. (And now "comment" is becoming a funny word, like "ursine.")
+ + + + + + + +
This may not get a foothold in The Old Folks Home where I live, but the younger set seems to be asking: "Is Bladder Worship Wrong?" I mean, I'm seein' it on bumper stickers and T-shirts, so I suppose it's a legitimate question.
What it seems to stem from is the emphasis on urine tests in all forms of athletic endeavor. The Piss Police are all over the place, saying "Pee in the bottle, son. It won't hurt a bit." And son is saying to himself, "Will my bladder, that I adore, betray me this time? Will they find out I have eaten the yellow snow?"
It turns out that eating the yellow snow is not a crime. It's just piss-poor form.
+ + + + + + + +
The farmer, the wife and the 18-year-old daughter are in a snit. They all hate doing dishes. So Papa says, "Okay, the next person that says a word has to do the dishes." So they retire to the living room, reading, knitting, nodding off, beating off, whatever farm folks do.
Outside, a trucker has a breakdown. Seeing the farmhouse he goes thence and knocks on the door. He can see people but they don't stir. He opens the door, goes inside, and says, "I wonder if I can get some help?" They ignore the trucker. So he grabs the farmer's wife, takes her in the bedroom and has his way with her.
He starts to go back to work on his disabled truck and thinks, "Whoa. That young chick was pretty nice." So he goes back in and diddles the daughter.
The trucker then leaves and starts to work on his truck engine. His screwdriver slips and he skins his knuckles. So he goes back to the farmhouse and says, "Anybody got any Vaseline?"
And the farmer says, "I'll do the dishes!"
(A-one, a-two, a-three: GROAN.)
+ + + + + + + +
One of those cosmetologist types came to The Home this week, waning to exfoliate us all. You know, strip off our dead skin cells. She apparently didn't know that dead skin is food for carpet beetles, and a lot of them are our pets. She was just another dumb-butt, peddling cruelty to animals.
+ + + + + + + +
Ultraspy says:
Is it my imagination, or do buffalo wings taste like chicken?
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Friday, April 29, 2005
A Bandwagon for Maxine
My friend Judy has enlisted me into the ranks of "Maxine for President." I agreed to join up because Maxine obviously cares about old people like me who live in Old People's Homes. For instance, one of her many mottoes is: "If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance."
I think the reason Maxine is in the race is because she knows there are so many of us ABHers out there -- the Anybody But Hillary clan. So maybe you want to join in the fun. Here, according to an email sent to me by Judy, is Maxine's stance on the issues of the day:
1. Driver Safety. "I can't use the cell phone in the car. I have to keep my hands free for making gestures."
2. Life: "Life is like an oven. It burns my ass."
3. Housework: "I do my housework in the nude. It gives me an incentive to clean the mirrors as quickly as possible."
4. The Perfect Man: "All I'm looking for is a guy who'll do what I want, when I want, for as long as I want, and then go away. Or wait nearby, like a Dust Buster, charged up and ready when needed."
5. Work: "My performance at work has really improved over the years. Now I can nail a co-worker with a paper clip shot from a rubber band at 20 yards."
6. Technology. "My idea of rebooting is kicking somebody in the ass twice."
7. Aging: "Take every birthday with a grain of salt. This works much better if the salt accompanies a large Margarita."
+ + + + + + + +
As long as I'm stealing, the S.P.E.C.E. (Society for the Preservation of English and Correct Speech is at www.specs.org.uk. It's a new site, started this month. It's a fun-in-cheeky place where language is more important than anything, even rabies and sexually transmitted disease. For instance:
"Society member Alice Sedgewick-Browne alerts us to the tendency of Welsh BBC newsreader Huw (sic) Edwards to split infinitives....we shall be monitoring the speech of Mr. Edwards very closely indeed."
And S.P.E.C.E. was forced to announce the departure of the Society's financial manager, who served well but "made the decision to step down after a series of public grammatical errors."
+ + + + + + + +
Maxine says:
"When the neighbors play music too loud, I dance naked. Shuts 'em down pretty quick."
I think the reason Maxine is in the race is because she knows there are so many of us ABHers out there -- the Anybody But Hillary clan. So maybe you want to join in the fun. Here, according to an email sent to me by Judy, is Maxine's stance on the issues of the day:
1. Driver Safety. "I can't use the cell phone in the car. I have to keep my hands free for making gestures."
2. Life: "Life is like an oven. It burns my ass."
3. Housework: "I do my housework in the nude. It gives me an incentive to clean the mirrors as quickly as possible."
4. The Perfect Man: "All I'm looking for is a guy who'll do what I want, when I want, for as long as I want, and then go away. Or wait nearby, like a Dust Buster, charged up and ready when needed."
5. Work: "My performance at work has really improved over the years. Now I can nail a co-worker with a paper clip shot from a rubber band at 20 yards."
6. Technology. "My idea of rebooting is kicking somebody in the ass twice."
7. Aging: "Take every birthday with a grain of salt. This works much better if the salt accompanies a large Margarita."
+ + + + + + + +
As long as I'm stealing, the S.P.E.C.E. (Society for the Preservation of English and Correct Speech is at www.specs.org.uk. It's a new site, started this month. It's a fun-in-cheeky place where language is more important than anything, even rabies and sexually transmitted disease. For instance:
"Society member Alice Sedgewick-Browne alerts us to the tendency of Welsh BBC newsreader Huw (sic) Edwards to split infinitives....we shall be monitoring the speech of Mr. Edwards very closely indeed."
And S.P.E.C.E. was forced to announce the departure of the Society's financial manager, who served well but "made the decision to step down after a series of public grammatical errors."
+ + + + + + + +
Maxine says:
"When the neighbors play music too loud, I dance naked. Shuts 'em down pretty quick."
Thursday, April 28, 2005
I Am What I Am and Then Some
The rent is going up here in The Home for the Aged and Unknowing. This makes it ever more necessary for Ol' Hoss to make his pile. I wonder if there's a market for edible diapers? How about square cones for ice cream? Candles made of ear wax? Tampax Twinkies? Let me know if I hit on something you'd buy.
+ + + + + + + +
Here's some more things about Hoss, the gem of the ocean:
28. When I was a student at Willamette University, a fraternity brother named Jack Larson took me on a flight in his biplane. As a reporter-photographer for the Albany Democrat-Herald two years later, I was sent out to cover the crash of a crop duster in which the pilot was killed. It was Jack. Shit does indeed happen.
29. When I was working in tourist promotion part of my job was to tell our staff photographers what pictures they needed to take for our ads. Traveling on a back road near John Day, a coyote crossed our path. My photographer was a former state cop who still packed a shooter. I said, "Kill the bastard." (Everybody knows coyotes are nothing but trouble.) The photographer said: "What did he ever do to you?" This is why I always vote in favor of coyotes.
30. In Lumber Camp No. 2 outside of Bend, the men-folk would sometimes pitch horseshoes. And sometimes we kids would run back and forth in front of the pitched horseshoes to show our bravery. Uncle Fred threw a shoe tht caught me right below the temple. They don't make kids as goofy as they used to.
+ + + + + + + +
There were six of us who used to drink beer at a place in Salem called Boon's Treasury, which at one time was the Oregon State Treasury. We had one thing in common: we were all gay. No, wait, NONE of us was gay, that's what it was. Just a damn minute. What we had in common was that we all liked to go on float trips down the Rogue River in Southern Oregon.
The leader of the pack was a Vietnam veteran named Mose. He survived the war because he snored so loudly that his Marine buddies would always have him on night patrol. He never slept for 18 months. He always votes against war.
This float trip we were on was a leisurely four days, communing with black bears and nibbling doobie brownies, which were cooked up by an insane guy from Eugene who was an extra in "Animal House."
On the second day of the trip, one of our guys from Boon's, Jerry, fell overboard and drowned while we were trying to get past the worst rapids on the Rogue. Damn. We still had two days to go to get to civilization. So we did what anybody else would have done: "Row the boat and drag Jerry. Row the boat and drag Jerry." This is why I always vote against drowning.
+ + + + + + + +
Hoss wonders:
Is it called "cock fighting" when there are two weenie wavers on the same corner?
+ + + + + + + +
Here's some more things about Hoss, the gem of the ocean:
28. When I was a student at Willamette University, a fraternity brother named Jack Larson took me on a flight in his biplane. As a reporter-photographer for the Albany Democrat-Herald two years later, I was sent out to cover the crash of a crop duster in which the pilot was killed. It was Jack. Shit does indeed happen.
29. When I was working in tourist promotion part of my job was to tell our staff photographers what pictures they needed to take for our ads. Traveling on a back road near John Day, a coyote crossed our path. My photographer was a former state cop who still packed a shooter. I said, "Kill the bastard." (Everybody knows coyotes are nothing but trouble.) The photographer said: "What did he ever do to you?" This is why I always vote in favor of coyotes.
30. In Lumber Camp No. 2 outside of Bend, the men-folk would sometimes pitch horseshoes. And sometimes we kids would run back and forth in front of the pitched horseshoes to show our bravery. Uncle Fred threw a shoe tht caught me right below the temple. They don't make kids as goofy as they used to.
+ + + + + + + +
There were six of us who used to drink beer at a place in Salem called Boon's Treasury, which at one time was the Oregon State Treasury. We had one thing in common: we were all gay. No, wait, NONE of us was gay, that's what it was. Just a damn minute. What we had in common was that we all liked to go on float trips down the Rogue River in Southern Oregon.
The leader of the pack was a Vietnam veteran named Mose. He survived the war because he snored so loudly that his Marine buddies would always have him on night patrol. He never slept for 18 months. He always votes against war.
This float trip we were on was a leisurely four days, communing with black bears and nibbling doobie brownies, which were cooked up by an insane guy from Eugene who was an extra in "Animal House."
On the second day of the trip, one of our guys from Boon's, Jerry, fell overboard and drowned while we were trying to get past the worst rapids on the Rogue. Damn. We still had two days to go to get to civilization. So we did what anybody else would have done: "Row the boat and drag Jerry. Row the boat and drag Jerry." This is why I always vote against drowning.
+ + + + + + + +
Hoss wonders:
Is it called "cock fighting" when there are two weenie wavers on the same corner?
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Amounting to a Hill of Beans
We oldsters in the Old Farts' Home are being given the opportunity to plant a vegetable garden in the vacant half-acre north of this place. It is not going well.
Joyce Greenfinger: "Right here is where we will sew the seeds for the pole beans."
Lettie Howdoesyourgardengro?: "You mean bush beans, right?"
Joyce: "Pole beans!"
Lettie: "Bush beans!"
Merle Hertz: "Look, I've got a pole, you girls got a bush. Let's settle this in my room."
+ + + + + + + +
There's a news report that Elton John will marry his long-time partner, David Furnish, late this year or early in 2006. People voting for a wedding theme song are betting on "I've Got You Under My Skin." (I know I promised never to be mean. Promises mean nothing to me.)
+ + + + + + + +
More things about me (I thought you'd never ask):
24. I played a round of golf once that took six hours. Along about the third hole, one member of our foursome, Junior Fastlife, kicked the bucket. So ever after that, for the rest of us, it was "Hit the ball, drag Junior. Hit the ball, drag Junior." This can really slow you down.
25. I learned to play bridge in college. I took a year of foreign language, German. Guess which of the two I still remember. Yeah, sure, guten tag to you, too. Eins, zwei, drei....7 spades, down 2, doubled and redoubled.
26. When my brother and I did bad, our Dad would spank us with a 3-ply razor strop. One day my brother, who is 20 months older than me, got spanked and refused to cry. So Dad quit spanking both of us. I owe my brother 20 months' worth of spanking.
27. In the 7th grade, I was trying out for the track team. I didn't seem to be able to run as fast as usual (and I was a FAST sumbitch, which I learned trying to run away from all those spankings which I deserved because I was so bad but that's another story). So I got home and told my Mom I seemed to be having stomach pangs and maybe I was hungry. Mom looked in what we called "The Doctor Book," diagnosed me as having appendicitis, and off to the hospital I went. I didn't make the track team.
+ + + + + + +
Matey says:
The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.
Joyce Greenfinger: "Right here is where we will sew the seeds for the pole beans."
Lettie Howdoesyourgardengro?: "You mean bush beans, right?"
Joyce: "Pole beans!"
Lettie: "Bush beans!"
Merle Hertz: "Look, I've got a pole, you girls got a bush. Let's settle this in my room."
+ + + + + + + +
There's a news report that Elton John will marry his long-time partner, David Furnish, late this year or early in 2006. People voting for a wedding theme song are betting on "I've Got You Under My Skin." (I know I promised never to be mean. Promises mean nothing to me.)
+ + + + + + + +
More things about me (I thought you'd never ask):
24. I played a round of golf once that took six hours. Along about the third hole, one member of our foursome, Junior Fastlife, kicked the bucket. So ever after that, for the rest of us, it was "Hit the ball, drag Junior. Hit the ball, drag Junior." This can really slow you down.
25. I learned to play bridge in college. I took a year of foreign language, German. Guess which of the two I still remember. Yeah, sure, guten tag to you, too. Eins, zwei, drei....7 spades, down 2, doubled and redoubled.
26. When my brother and I did bad, our Dad would spank us with a 3-ply razor strop. One day my brother, who is 20 months older than me, got spanked and refused to cry. So Dad quit spanking both of us. I owe my brother 20 months' worth of spanking.
27. In the 7th grade, I was trying out for the track team. I didn't seem to be able to run as fast as usual (and I was a FAST sumbitch, which I learned trying to run away from all those spankings which I deserved because I was so bad but that's another story). So I got home and told my Mom I seemed to be having stomach pangs and maybe I was hungry. Mom looked in what we called "The Doctor Book," diagnosed me as having appendicitis, and off to the hospital I went. I didn't make the track team.
+ + + + + + +
Matey says:
The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
A Little of Everything
Ol' Hoss may have been born too late to Make His Pile. In the early 1600's, explorers were making 32,000 (!) percent profit on nutmeg from the Spice Islands.
We don't get nutmeg here in the Home for Wizened People. That's because the only thing it's ever used for is to sprinkle it on egg nog, and we don't get egg nog, either.
We can get all the salt we want. Apparently there is no danger of running out. If salt was oil, gasoline would be 39 cents a gallon. Approximately.
I don't know why it's so difficult to Make My Pile. After all, my buddy Bill Gates and I went to the same school. It was called elementary school.
+ + + + + + + +
So this guy, Homer Badluck, has a great big red spot on his head, right above the bridge of his nose. He goes to the doctor.
Doctor: "What's going to happen is a wang is going to grow out of that red spot."
Homer: "A wang? You mean I gotta get up every morning and look in the mirror at a wang growing out of my head?"
Doctor: "You won't see it. The balls will be in your eyes."
+ + + + + + + +
A cannibal goes into the bar looking grim.
Bartender: "What's the matter with you?"
Cannibal: "I'm fed up with people."
+ + + + + + + +
Some people have asked me who the hell is "Matey" that I keep quoting. He is an Australian Good Ol' Boy what got some smarts. He is the one who said: "Is there another word for synonym?" I have no shame. I will steal from anybody.
I also found this on the Internet. Wrote it down and forgot to note who said it. It's worth knowing:
"I got fired from my job, it rained in Vermont, and I had my period."
+ + + + + + + +
When my buddy Bud was working in a food-canning factory, the boss called a meeting one morning when things were going to hell.
Boss: "What we have here is a failure of communication."
Bud: "Nobody told me!"
+ + + + + + + +
Matey says:
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
We don't get nutmeg here in the Home for Wizened People. That's because the only thing it's ever used for is to sprinkle it on egg nog, and we don't get egg nog, either.
We can get all the salt we want. Apparently there is no danger of running out. If salt was oil, gasoline would be 39 cents a gallon. Approximately.
I don't know why it's so difficult to Make My Pile. After all, my buddy Bill Gates and I went to the same school. It was called elementary school.
+ + + + + + + +
So this guy, Homer Badluck, has a great big red spot on his head, right above the bridge of his nose. He goes to the doctor.
Doctor: "What's going to happen is a wang is going to grow out of that red spot."
Homer: "A wang? You mean I gotta get up every morning and look in the mirror at a wang growing out of my head?"
Doctor: "You won't see it. The balls will be in your eyes."
+ + + + + + + +
A cannibal goes into the bar looking grim.
Bartender: "What's the matter with you?"
Cannibal: "I'm fed up with people."
+ + + + + + + +
Some people have asked me who the hell is "Matey" that I keep quoting. He is an Australian Good Ol' Boy what got some smarts. He is the one who said: "Is there another word for synonym?" I have no shame. I will steal from anybody.
I also found this on the Internet. Wrote it down and forgot to note who said it. It's worth knowing:
"I got fired from my job, it rained in Vermont, and I had my period."
+ + + + + + + +
When my buddy Bud was working in a food-canning factory, the boss called a meeting one morning when things were going to hell.
Boss: "What we have here is a failure of communication."
Bud: "Nobody told me!"
+ + + + + + + +
Matey says:
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
Monday, April 25, 2005
This Is Kind of Sad, Folks
Somebody once opined that I seem too lively to be living in an Old Folks' Home, and she wondered why I am a shut-in. I been putting this off because the answer is pretty sad. And believe me, Ol' Hoss knows sadness. Like, one year the U.S. Citizens elect George W. Barney Rubble and the next year the St. Louis Cardinal Catholics elect Fred Flintstone. Stone Agers uniting. This is pretty sad.
But this is sadder than that. You see, my wife has a rare disease called Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP). Its cause is unknown and a cure is non-existent. PSP is an attack on motor skills. My wife cannot walk, and must have help rising and being seated. Her sense of balance is gone, and she has fallen frequently. She cannot dress herself. She cannot feed herself. Her eyesight is failing. But her heart is strong. She has never once said "Why me?".
I cried when I first drafted this piece. Which does nobody no good. I used to cry a lot, feeling so sorry for my wife, but I got some good advice from my buddy Lois Lane so I don't do that much anymore. So don't feel sorry for us. We're doing fine.
Shifting gears just a little, let me tell you that I detest bigots and religious nuts and pedophiles and rapists and the like. I can't stand People Who Know What's Best for You (see: religious nuts). None of those folks has a sense of humor. So that's how Hoss gets even, by exercising his funny bone. So let's do some more getting even:
+ + + + + + + +
I have slowly been tellin' you all about me. Which, of course, is the most interesting stuff you will ever read on the Internet. I can't blame you for pinin' because I haven't got all "100 Things About Hoss" laid out where you can get at 'em. But I am just being kind to you. If I showed you all 100 all at once, you'd pass out from delight and probably get hit by a train. Here, though, is No.
22. When I was a newborn, my brother nicknamed me "Babe." I was Babe Maudlin until I got my first job as a reporter in Albany, Ore., when I decided I would be Gene (middle name is Eugene) Maudlin. So my boss tried to introduce me to the police chief, but HE HAD FORGOTTEN MY NAME! So I saved the situation. "Chief, glad to know you," I said. "I'm Babe Maudlin." Dunce caps all around.
23. In high school I starred (naturally) in two school plays. In one of them I sang:
"I am the ghost of Tutankhmun,
"And I'll haunt your vampire woman,
"Everywhere she goes.
"She's a modernized Egyptian,
"I can tell by old inscriptions,"
"I'm the man who knows."
Pretty sappy. I don't think I have any of the advertising posters left. I know you wanted one.
+ + + + + + + +
Matey says:
The probability of meeting someone you know increases when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.
But this is sadder than that. You see, my wife has a rare disease called Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP). Its cause is unknown and a cure is non-existent. PSP is an attack on motor skills. My wife cannot walk, and must have help rising and being seated. Her sense of balance is gone, and she has fallen frequently. She cannot dress herself. She cannot feed herself. Her eyesight is failing. But her heart is strong. She has never once said "Why me?".
I cried when I first drafted this piece. Which does nobody no good. I used to cry a lot, feeling so sorry for my wife, but I got some good advice from my buddy Lois Lane so I don't do that much anymore. So don't feel sorry for us. We're doing fine.
Shifting gears just a little, let me tell you that I detest bigots and religious nuts and pedophiles and rapists and the like. I can't stand People Who Know What's Best for You (see: religious nuts). None of those folks has a sense of humor. So that's how Hoss gets even, by exercising his funny bone. So let's do some more getting even:
+ + + + + + + +
I have slowly been tellin' you all about me. Which, of course, is the most interesting stuff you will ever read on the Internet. I can't blame you for pinin' because I haven't got all "100 Things About Hoss" laid out where you can get at 'em. But I am just being kind to you. If I showed you all 100 all at once, you'd pass out from delight and probably get hit by a train. Here, though, is No.
22. When I was a newborn, my brother nicknamed me "Babe." I was Babe Maudlin until I got my first job as a reporter in Albany, Ore., when I decided I would be Gene (middle name is Eugene) Maudlin. So my boss tried to introduce me to the police chief, but HE HAD FORGOTTEN MY NAME! So I saved the situation. "Chief, glad to know you," I said. "I'm Babe Maudlin." Dunce caps all around.
23. In high school I starred (naturally) in two school plays. In one of them I sang:
"I am the ghost of Tutankhmun,
"And I'll haunt your vampire woman,
"Everywhere she goes.
"She's a modernized Egyptian,
"I can tell by old inscriptions,"
"I'm the man who knows."
Pretty sappy. I don't think I have any of the advertising posters left. I know you wanted one.
+ + + + + + + +
Matey says:
The probability of meeting someone you know increases when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Oh the Things I Could Have Been
Yesterday, the Oldest Known Blogger (79-year-old Ancient Mom in my Geriatric Ward) published a recipe for potato latkes. Beings as I am surrounded by Old People here in The Old People's Home, I should go around and get recipes from them to share with you. I bet they got some dandies, like:
WILTED LETTUCE, by Myrtle Foodpush
Fry up 6 pounds of bacon
Wash up 2 bushels of lettuce
Pour the bacon grease over the lettuce
Crumble the bacon and spread it on top
Serves 24. Takes all day. (Myrtle said that as a farmer's wife she never cooked for less than 24 children and farmhands. "I don't know any little recipes," she said.)
+ + + + + + + +
Awhile back I said that I had had 15 different jobs in my adult profesional persuasion. Here are some of the jobs I DIDN'T have:
-- Meter reader, tarot card reader
-- Catalyst, analyst, amethyst
-- Nay-sayer, sooth-sayer, egg layer
-- Pimp, pimple
-- Cock fighter, cock blower, clock watcher, cuckoo clock
-- Jockey, midget, dwarf, Tiny Tim, Lilliputian
-- Tyro, pyro
-- Carnival barker, seal barker, dog walker, fast talker
-- Pearl diver, muff diver
-- Specialist, speculum, spic
-- Haberdasher, slasher, masher, flasher, Lash Larue
-- Farmer, charmer, alarmer
-- Politician, academician, electrician, magician
-- Driller, killer (but I am vaniller)
+ + + + + + + +
Because I know good writin' and readin' when I see it, I want y'all to go visit Esther Wilberforce-Packard here. Her stuff is odd, strange, weird and zany. Read several of her little pieces. And let a smile be your umbrella.
+ + + + + + + +
Matey says:
Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill.
WILTED LETTUCE, by Myrtle Foodpush
Fry up 6 pounds of bacon
Wash up 2 bushels of lettuce
Pour the bacon grease over the lettuce
Crumble the bacon and spread it on top
Serves 24. Takes all day. (Myrtle said that as a farmer's wife she never cooked for less than 24 children and farmhands. "I don't know any little recipes," she said.)
+ + + + + + + +
Awhile back I said that I had had 15 different jobs in my adult profesional persuasion. Here are some of the jobs I DIDN'T have:
-- Meter reader, tarot card reader
-- Catalyst, analyst, amethyst
-- Nay-sayer, sooth-sayer, egg layer
-- Pimp, pimple
-- Cock fighter, cock blower, clock watcher, cuckoo clock
-- Jockey, midget, dwarf, Tiny Tim, Lilliputian
-- Tyro, pyro
-- Carnival barker, seal barker, dog walker, fast talker
-- Pearl diver, muff diver
-- Specialist, speculum, spic
-- Haberdasher, slasher, masher, flasher, Lash Larue
-- Farmer, charmer, alarmer
-- Politician, academician, electrician, magician
-- Driller, killer (but I am vaniller)
+ + + + + + + +
Because I know good writin' and readin' when I see it, I want y'all to go visit Esther Wilberforce-Packard here. Her stuff is odd, strange, weird and zany. Read several of her little pieces. And let a smile be your umbrella.
+ + + + + + + +
Matey says:
Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill.
Saturday, April 23, 2005
The Ancients Can Play Games, Too
There is a general feeling here at The Home for the Horse and Buggy-whipped that the Olympic Games are unfair to old people. You have to be pretty damn hale and hearty to participate in stuff like mud wrestling, basketball showboating, and 100 meter dashers, donners and blitzens. Hale and hearty = young.
Our inmate Whose Daughter Is a Lawyer wants to file suit for age discrimination. But Carolina Sister had a better plan, I think. "We will develop a competing tournament, where haleness and heartiness won't mean diddly squat. It will be for Old People. And we will call it The Ancients' Games."
Ol' Hoss: "What kind of competitions do you have in mind, Mrs. Sister?"
Carolina Sister: "I'm sure everybody here has some good ideas. But, for a start, how about Crosswords? The winner would be the person who provides the most definitions of 'cross', such as vexatious and angryness. People in wheelchairs could play."
Hope Eternalspring: "Why yes, and how about the person who can name the most body parts, like brain and asshole?"
Clancy Applerot: "And then we segue right into contests for pus squeezing, mole counting, and needle threading."
Ben Gonefishin: "I'd like to see a category for retired pedophiles. Kind of like synchronized swimming: we'll rate the contests on style and sincerity."
Maude Frickert: "And don't forget cow chip spitting and the watermelon seed toss."
Carolina Sister: "Okay, then, it's settled. The only thing left to decide is whether we want this on NBC or ESPN. I do so like Chris Berman on ESPN. He calls me Carolina Sister City. Isn't that precious?"
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I'm pretty damn smart, but computers have got my pencil whittled. I'm having a hard time figuring out how to link other sites on the Internet. But I got some help from my buddies Raehan and Steve Bottle Rocket, so today I'm going to try to make a link. Do me a favor and see if you can find Raehan here.
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Ol' Hoss says:
You know you have Internet anxiety when you start commenting on posts before they are written.
Our inmate Whose Daughter Is a Lawyer wants to file suit for age discrimination. But Carolina Sister had a better plan, I think. "We will develop a competing tournament, where haleness and heartiness won't mean diddly squat. It will be for Old People. And we will call it The Ancients' Games."
Ol' Hoss: "What kind of competitions do you have in mind, Mrs. Sister?"
Carolina Sister: "I'm sure everybody here has some good ideas. But, for a start, how about Crosswords? The winner would be the person who provides the most definitions of 'cross', such as vexatious and angryness. People in wheelchairs could play."
Hope Eternalspring: "Why yes, and how about the person who can name the most body parts, like brain and asshole?"
Clancy Applerot: "And then we segue right into contests for pus squeezing, mole counting, and needle threading."
Ben Gonefishin: "I'd like to see a category for retired pedophiles. Kind of like synchronized swimming: we'll rate the contests on style and sincerity."
Maude Frickert: "And don't forget cow chip spitting and the watermelon seed toss."
Carolina Sister: "Okay, then, it's settled. The only thing left to decide is whether we want this on NBC or ESPN. I do so like Chris Berman on ESPN. He calls me Carolina Sister City. Isn't that precious?"
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I'm pretty damn smart, but computers have got my pencil whittled. I'm having a hard time figuring out how to link other sites on the Internet. But I got some help from my buddies Raehan and Steve Bottle Rocket, so today I'm going to try to make a link. Do me a favor and see if you can find Raehan here.
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Ol' Hoss says:
You know you have Internet anxiety when you start commenting on posts before they are written.
Friday, April 22, 2005
I Live and Learn, and So Do You
Greetings from the Worn-Out and Down Home, where living in the past is a fine art form. We are all anxiously awaiting the Kentucky Derby, where we understand Man O' War is the heavy favorite.
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Following is some information about me you just can't get on Google or Yahoo. As some of you know, I am writing 100 things about why I am famous. Today we have an eclectic selection. We left off at No. 15 in past pieces, so we start with No.
16. In the summer of when I was 12, I got in a fist fight and wound up with a broken arm. In the summer of when I was 24 I got in a fist fight and wound up with a broken nose. This is why I always vote against summer.
17. Other people have opinions. Everything I say is a fact. There is no guesswork involved.
18. When I was 14 my Mom had to have a hysterectomy. While she was in the hospital my Dad, a tree faller, got his back broken by a falling snag and had to be hospitalized. This is why I always vote against hospitals.
19. I pitched softball in my late teens. In my first game in Bend City League I gave up 10 runs to a team of young players. The next time we played them I pitched a no-hit, no-run game. I was 19. The tavern that sponsored us let me drink celebratory beer. Hoo boy.
20. In college, like all the other poor buttwipes that were science challenged, I had to dissect a frog. This is why I always vote against frogs.
21. I am an excellent cook. I even developed my own cookbook. The leading recipe was a Mexican dish I called "I Wish I Could Chimichanga Like My Sister Kate." That would be pretty funny, except you young people probably never heard of a dance called "the shimmy."* This is why I always vote against young people.
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The Matey says:
Is there another word for synonym?
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*In 1917, Spencer Williams sang: "I can't play no piano, can't sing no blues, but I can Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble from my head to my toes." The song "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" came later, you uneducated hicks.
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Following is some information about me you just can't get on Google or Yahoo. As some of you know, I am writing 100 things about why I am famous. Today we have an eclectic selection. We left off at No. 15 in past pieces, so we start with No.
16. In the summer of when I was 12, I got in a fist fight and wound up with a broken arm. In the summer of when I was 24 I got in a fist fight and wound up with a broken nose. This is why I always vote against summer.
17. Other people have opinions. Everything I say is a fact. There is no guesswork involved.
18. When I was 14 my Mom had to have a hysterectomy. While she was in the hospital my Dad, a tree faller, got his back broken by a falling snag and had to be hospitalized. This is why I always vote against hospitals.
19. I pitched softball in my late teens. In my first game in Bend City League I gave up 10 runs to a team of young players. The next time we played them I pitched a no-hit, no-run game. I was 19. The tavern that sponsored us let me drink celebratory beer. Hoo boy.
20. In college, like all the other poor buttwipes that were science challenged, I had to dissect a frog. This is why I always vote against frogs.
21. I am an excellent cook. I even developed my own cookbook. The leading recipe was a Mexican dish I called "I Wish I Could Chimichanga Like My Sister Kate." That would be pretty funny, except you young people probably never heard of a dance called "the shimmy."* This is why I always vote against young people.
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The Matey says:
Is there another word for synonym?
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*In 1917, Spencer Williams sang: "I can't play no piano, can't sing no blues, but I can Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble from my head to my toes." The song "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" came later, you uneducated hicks.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Remembering Senior Skip Day
Something is going down here in my Home for Dodderers and Fossils. Ten inmates are shut-ins today because something in the air is causing a bad run of diarrhea (bad run of runs?). Later on today I will be taking over/under bets on the number of times Lucy Sidesaddle has to hit the can.
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I was between girl friends when our high school senior skip day arrived. This, of course, is a day when all red-blooded American boys want to get drunk and laid, in either order. So I spied the unattached, stone body that went by the name of Marie, and said to her maybe we could snag a ride out to Shevlin Park, where we could join all the other seniors who were skipping that day.
I guess Marie had never heard any of the locker room talk about me. You know how some people have belly buttons that are concave (inny) and some that are convex (outy)? I had the only inny wang in the whole school. But I thought that maybe if it got hard it might be enough to make an impression. So, anyway, Marie said yes.
I rounded up my buddy, Jack, who allowed as how he could get his Momma's car to transport the three of us. Before heading out, Marie volunteered two quarts of beer from her Momma's stash. I guess all my Momma contributed was me.
So off we went. En route, we spied another car ahead of us and I importuned ol' Jack, "Catch up, see who that is!" So Jack speeds up in that 1938 Dodge, hits a soft shoulder and rolls the car. None of us has a seat belt (this being before the invention of Allstate and before the invention of gasbags), so we go flying through the air inside the car. Inexplicably, I wind up atop Marie -- JUST LIKE I PLANNED ALL ALONG! It was the right position, but the wrong time.
Nobody was much hurt. But there were two tragedies: I never got laid until I got to college, and both quarts of beer was busted.
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I read this: It is Stop Snoring Week in Great Britain, and one of the ideas was "Tape the snorer's lips together." A doctor in Glasgow said, "Obviously this requires caution and should not be used where the snorer has any breathing difficulties." No shit.
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Ultraspy says:
If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxative. Then you will be afraid to cough.
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I was between girl friends when our high school senior skip day arrived. This, of course, is a day when all red-blooded American boys want to get drunk and laid, in either order. So I spied the unattached, stone body that went by the name of Marie, and said to her maybe we could snag a ride out to Shevlin Park, where we could join all the other seniors who were skipping that day.
I guess Marie had never heard any of the locker room talk about me. You know how some people have belly buttons that are concave (inny) and some that are convex (outy)? I had the only inny wang in the whole school. But I thought that maybe if it got hard it might be enough to make an impression. So, anyway, Marie said yes.
I rounded up my buddy, Jack, who allowed as how he could get his Momma's car to transport the three of us. Before heading out, Marie volunteered two quarts of beer from her Momma's stash. I guess all my Momma contributed was me.
So off we went. En route, we spied another car ahead of us and I importuned ol' Jack, "Catch up, see who that is!" So Jack speeds up in that 1938 Dodge, hits a soft shoulder and rolls the car. None of us has a seat belt (this being before the invention of Allstate and before the invention of gasbags), so we go flying through the air inside the car. Inexplicably, I wind up atop Marie -- JUST LIKE I PLANNED ALL ALONG! It was the right position, but the wrong time.
Nobody was much hurt. But there were two tragedies: I never got laid until I got to college, and both quarts of beer was busted.
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I read this: It is Stop Snoring Week in Great Britain, and one of the ideas was "Tape the snorer's lips together." A doctor in Glasgow said, "Obviously this requires caution and should not be used where the snorer has any breathing difficulties." No shit.
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Ultraspy says:
If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxative. Then you will be afraid to cough.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
The Discriminatory Hotels and Such
I got to comparing life in the The Old Folks Home to living in a hotel, and ruminated into this stuff:
In the late 1930's or early 1940's, contralto Marian Anderson, a black, gave a concert in my home town of Bend, Oregon. She had to stay at the local fleabag because our only Class A hotel, the Pilot Butte Inn, refused to house her. (A Negro? Sleeping on our sheets? They'll never come clean!!)
The inn was in good company. The DAR refused to let Miss Anderson give a concert in Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., in 1939.
Marian Anderson died in Oregon in 1993. The cause was said to be congestive heart failure. It could just as well have been from a broken heart.
Also during the early 1940's, Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong did a show in Bend. I don't think he was rousted by the cops until after three encores.
We had one black family in Bend. The husband supported himself by shining shoes. We had one Chinese family. They supported themselves by selling herbs. We love type-casting in Bend.
I bring all this up because one of the inmates here in The Home of Ache and Pain, Claudia Nonesuch, has a lot of experience with different kinds of people because she used to run a hotel. I asked her one day whether she ever discriminated against any class of people.
Claudia: "Oh, yes. These people had such a strange color, and a terrible accent. One could hardly understand them."
Hoss: "You mean, black people with their Gizoogle rap talk?"
Claudia: "Oh, no. I mean those pasty-faced people from Great Britain. You'd think they'd learn to speak English. All the Japanese do."
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Well, I see the St. Louis Cardinals down in the Vatican failed to elect a woman as pope. Instead, they got themselves a hardnose who will make sure women never get to be priests or cardinals, but who will be welcome to kiss His Holiness's ass and ring.
Here's part of what First Male Benedict said in his acceptance speech: "Mary, His most Holy Mother, is on our side." When Sports Illustrated picks the next Super Bowl winner, it will be the team with the most Catholics, I guess.
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The Oregon Legislature has adopted a resolution naming the pear as the Official Oregon State Fruit. Ol' Hoss was runner-up.
I also was runner-up when they picked the filbert as the Official State Nut.
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More wisdom from Matey:
If you try to fail and succeed, what have you done?
In the late 1930's or early 1940's, contralto Marian Anderson, a black, gave a concert in my home town of Bend, Oregon. She had to stay at the local fleabag because our only Class A hotel, the Pilot Butte Inn, refused to house her. (A Negro? Sleeping on our sheets? They'll never come clean!!)
The inn was in good company. The DAR refused to let Miss Anderson give a concert in Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., in 1939.
Marian Anderson died in Oregon in 1993. The cause was said to be congestive heart failure. It could just as well have been from a broken heart.
Also during the early 1940's, Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong did a show in Bend. I don't think he was rousted by the cops until after three encores.
We had one black family in Bend. The husband supported himself by shining shoes. We had one Chinese family. They supported themselves by selling herbs. We love type-casting in Bend.
I bring all this up because one of the inmates here in The Home of Ache and Pain, Claudia Nonesuch, has a lot of experience with different kinds of people because she used to run a hotel. I asked her one day whether she ever discriminated against any class of people.
Claudia: "Oh, yes. These people had such a strange color, and a terrible accent. One could hardly understand them."
Hoss: "You mean, black people with their Gizoogle rap talk?"
Claudia: "Oh, no. I mean those pasty-faced people from Great Britain. You'd think they'd learn to speak English. All the Japanese do."
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Well, I see the St. Louis Cardinals down in the Vatican failed to elect a woman as pope. Instead, they got themselves a hardnose who will make sure women never get to be priests or cardinals, but who will be welcome to kiss His Holiness's ass and ring.
Here's part of what First Male Benedict said in his acceptance speech: "Mary, His most Holy Mother, is on our side." When Sports Illustrated picks the next Super Bowl winner, it will be the team with the most Catholics, I guess.
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The Oregon Legislature has adopted a resolution naming the pear as the Official Oregon State Fruit. Ol' Hoss was runner-up.
I also was runner-up when they picked the filbert as the Official State Nut.
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More wisdom from Matey:
If you try to fail and succeed, what have you done?
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Degenerate Dominoes
The Activities Director here at The Home for Aged People and Cheddar likes to keep us busy with one thing and another -- movies, popcorn feeds, big poop contests, Skip-Bo and the like. This morning, the A.D. set up four of our finest ladies -- Carolina Sister, Maude Frickert, Nelly Nervous and Clementine Dourpuss -- with a dominoes game. This proved to be A Major Mistake.
In case you don't know, to score in dominoes the ends of the various legs that are made during the course of play have to end in 0 or 5. Say there are four legs with the outside numbers being 6, 4, 3 and 2. Added up, it's 15, so the person who played the last domino gets 15 points.
Clementine does not grasp the scoring concept. She wants points no matter what the total is. "There, that's 14; give me 14 points." "Look, 4, 6, 3, 3; give me 16." Carolina Sister says, "For the last time, Clemmie, that's not how we score."
Clementine goes ballistic. She starts throwing dominoes ever' which way. One of them leaves the room and lands in front of the cue ball where Paul Certain is playing pool. Paul misses a shot, and is steamed. He throws the six-ball at Clementine, but it hits Nellie right in the forehead. Services are pending.
Meanwhile, Addie Loosdrawer and Maggie Hophed are coming round the corner toward the Activity Room. In the confusion they start pummeling Maude Frickert, who reportedly used the last of the soap in the laundry room. Clementine throws more dominoes. Paul heaves the 1, 8, 9 and 15 balls, which land in the weeds outside and won't be found until fall. Merle Hertz arrives and sucker punches Paul.
(It was Paul, you see, who tried to steal Merle's place in the dining room. Asked later why he was still harboring a grudge, Merle said: "I was harboring a grudge.")
Carolina Sister pulls out her Uzi and shoots everybody. It would have been pretty bad, I guess, except Carolina's son had converted the Uzi to a water pistol. Even so, a lot of people got wet.
This was not a normal day in The Old Folks Home. Not abnormal, either. Just...uh...a little different than usual. Not much. Just a little.
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More of the 100 things about the man you love (Ol' Hoss hisself):
14. When I was 12 I got a job with a lumber mill in Bend, Oregon, as a fire suppressor. That was the fancy title for weed hoer. There were eight of us kids who hoed the weeds between the stacks of lumber that were put out to dry. We were paid 25 cents an hour. One day I announced, "When I grow up, I'm going to try to make $200 a month. I'll be set for life." When I retired, I was in a job that paid almost $5,000 a month, and felt underpaid. This is why I always vote against inflation.
15. Other jobs I have had: Picking cherries, string beans, strawberries and potatoes. Now they got machines that do most of this stuff. This why I always vote against machinery.
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More wisdom from the guru:
Why is it called tourist season when we can't shoot them?
In case you don't know, to score in dominoes the ends of the various legs that are made during the course of play have to end in 0 or 5. Say there are four legs with the outside numbers being 6, 4, 3 and 2. Added up, it's 15, so the person who played the last domino gets 15 points.
Clementine does not grasp the scoring concept. She wants points no matter what the total is. "There, that's 14; give me 14 points." "Look, 4, 6, 3, 3; give me 16." Carolina Sister says, "For the last time, Clemmie, that's not how we score."
Clementine goes ballistic. She starts throwing dominoes ever' which way. One of them leaves the room and lands in front of the cue ball where Paul Certain is playing pool. Paul misses a shot, and is steamed. He throws the six-ball at Clementine, but it hits Nellie right in the forehead. Services are pending.
Meanwhile, Addie Loosdrawer and Maggie Hophed are coming round the corner toward the Activity Room. In the confusion they start pummeling Maude Frickert, who reportedly used the last of the soap in the laundry room. Clementine throws more dominoes. Paul heaves the 1, 8, 9 and 15 balls, which land in the weeds outside and won't be found until fall. Merle Hertz arrives and sucker punches Paul.
(It was Paul, you see, who tried to steal Merle's place in the dining room. Asked later why he was still harboring a grudge, Merle said: "I was harboring a grudge.")
Carolina Sister pulls out her Uzi and shoots everybody. It would have been pretty bad, I guess, except Carolina's son had converted the Uzi to a water pistol. Even so, a lot of people got wet.
This was not a normal day in The Old Folks Home. Not abnormal, either. Just...uh...a little different than usual. Not much. Just a little.
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More of the 100 things about the man you love (Ol' Hoss hisself):
14. When I was 12 I got a job with a lumber mill in Bend, Oregon, as a fire suppressor. That was the fancy title for weed hoer. There were eight of us kids who hoed the weeds between the stacks of lumber that were put out to dry. We were paid 25 cents an hour. One day I announced, "When I grow up, I'm going to try to make $200 a month. I'll be set for life." When I retired, I was in a job that paid almost $5,000 a month, and felt underpaid. This is why I always vote against inflation.
15. Other jobs I have had: Picking cherries, string beans, strawberries and potatoes. Now they got machines that do most of this stuff. This why I always vote against machinery.
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More wisdom from the guru:
Why is it called tourist season when we can't shoot them?
Monday, April 18, 2005
Another Plan to Make My Pile
I usually don't put serious stuff on here, but bear with me just for a minute. There is this guy in Australia who has come up with a jimcrack of an idea based on his view of the UN, "which failed to achieve anything in the way of kerbing the (Saddam) atrocities while at the same time skimming off the funds."
"Why not just abandon the UN and start again? First condition of membership will be a freely elected government. Second condition would be a willingness to cooperate rather than obstruct. Why not call it the 'Coalition of the Willing'?"
A dandy idea. Put an Israeli type fence around the UN in New York. Set up the Coalition of the Willing in Oregon. Lots of smart people here, such as me. Viva la revolucion.
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As regular readers know, Ol' Hoss is very interested in Making a Lot of Money. I got my reasons, one being that I'm not quite as rich as Bill Gates. But that's okay, because Bill's my buddy. If he weren't, I'd invent something to put him out of business. What's he got, some piddly little outfit called Microfit, or something? If I wanted, I could invent a deal called Giantsoft and it would be all over for Bill. But I got other irons in the campfire.
What I'm thinkin' of inventing is a board game. What we would have is a four-sided board with 10 spaces on each of the sides. The spaces would be blank. People could put their game pieces down on any of the spaces, throw some dice and move in either direction on the board according to the number they throwed. And just keep throwin' the dice and moving around the board, etcetera finitum. One can play, or 100 can play, makes no difference. Nobody collects any "Go" money because the game only has game pieces and dice, to cut costs.
The game never ends. Probably we'll need some folks in the wings to take over for the first peoople that get in the game, for they are likely to atrophy.
The game would be called "Monotony." Let me know what you think.
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Perceived wisdom:
Spelling is a lossed art.
"Why not just abandon the UN and start again? First condition of membership will be a freely elected government. Second condition would be a willingness to cooperate rather than obstruct. Why not call it the 'Coalition of the Willing'?"
A dandy idea. Put an Israeli type fence around the UN in New York. Set up the Coalition of the Willing in Oregon. Lots of smart people here, such as me. Viva la revolucion.
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As regular readers know, Ol' Hoss is very interested in Making a Lot of Money. I got my reasons, one being that I'm not quite as rich as Bill Gates. But that's okay, because Bill's my buddy. If he weren't, I'd invent something to put him out of business. What's he got, some piddly little outfit called Microfit, or something? If I wanted, I could invent a deal called Giantsoft and it would be all over for Bill. But I got other irons in the campfire.
What I'm thinkin' of inventing is a board game. What we would have is a four-sided board with 10 spaces on each of the sides. The spaces would be blank. People could put their game pieces down on any of the spaces, throw some dice and move in either direction on the board according to the number they throwed. And just keep throwin' the dice and moving around the board, etcetera finitum. One can play, or 100 can play, makes no difference. Nobody collects any "Go" money because the game only has game pieces and dice, to cut costs.
The game never ends. Probably we'll need some folks in the wings to take over for the first peoople that get in the game, for they are likely to atrophy.
The game would be called "Monotony." Let me know what you think.
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Perceived wisdom:
Spelling is a lossed art.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
The History Buff Strikes Again
Feelgood Sockhanes joined me for breakfast in the You Call This Living? Home this morning, where we was having biscuits and pork belly gravy. This is not as good as fried sheep nuts, which is Rocky Mountain Oysters. Which got us to wondering whether fried dog nuts would be any good. That's the trouble with chefs today, those Emerils and all -- they don't think about branching out.
But that's not what was on Feelgood's mind. No, you see, Feelgood is the Revisionist History Freak. He is constantly efforting to make sure I have not bought into the standard history texts. He wants me to Know the Truth. And today he is imparting wisdom about Shakespeare.
Feelgood: "You up on your Willie the Shake plays, Hoss?"
Hoss: "Why, yes, Feelgood. Just this morning I was finishing up 'Two Gents From Veroner' before hauling out my Gutenberg version of 'The Taming of the Shrews, Mice and Voles.'"
Feelgood: "Howsomever, you prolly don't know the truth about Hamlet."
Hoss: "But you're going to tell me. I can hardly wait. I am bustin' the buttons right off my Dickies."
Feelgood: "So old Hamlet holds up this skull and crossbones and says, 'Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him, Horatio.' And then he points to this skull mug and says, 'Here hung those lips I have kissed I know not how oft.'"
Feelgood: "You get it, Hoss? Hamlet was lockin' lips with Yorick. They was goddam fairies! That prolly explains why Yorick died of AIDS."
Hoss: "Thanks for that tidbit, Feelgood. I will be alerting all the Danish history professors with whom I am acquainted."
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I wonder if my buddy Rachelle Loyear-Williams is making fun of me. (Rachelle is in my Geriatric Ward, over to the left.) She had a piece on April 15 about all the list-making that is going on, Internet-wise. You know the kind of stuff: 10 things I like done to me in the shower; 100 things that prove how wonderful I am; 5 questions and answers about drill sergeants I have known; the 50 tiniest penises I have seen, and so on.
Anyway, Good Ol' Hoss has started a list of things about Hisself, which he is dribbling out in dribbles and drabbles. Rachelle mighta seen this, and thought up a parody. Which is okay; I been parodied by the best Danish history professors in the land. Basically, this is what Rachelle wrote:
"Here is a list of things from me:
"100 Things I Suck At"
"1. Thinking up things to put on lists."
But that's not what was on Feelgood's mind. No, you see, Feelgood is the Revisionist History Freak. He is constantly efforting to make sure I have not bought into the standard history texts. He wants me to Know the Truth. And today he is imparting wisdom about Shakespeare.
Feelgood: "You up on your Willie the Shake plays, Hoss?"
Hoss: "Why, yes, Feelgood. Just this morning I was finishing up 'Two Gents From Veroner' before hauling out my Gutenberg version of 'The Taming of the Shrews, Mice and Voles.'"
Feelgood: "Howsomever, you prolly don't know the truth about Hamlet."
Hoss: "But you're going to tell me. I can hardly wait. I am bustin' the buttons right off my Dickies."
Feelgood: "So old Hamlet holds up this skull and crossbones and says, 'Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him, Horatio.' And then he points to this skull mug and says, 'Here hung those lips I have kissed I know not how oft.'"
Feelgood: "You get it, Hoss? Hamlet was lockin' lips with Yorick. They was goddam fairies! That prolly explains why Yorick died of AIDS."
Hoss: "Thanks for that tidbit, Feelgood. I will be alerting all the Danish history professors with whom I am acquainted."
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I wonder if my buddy Rachelle Loyear-Williams is making fun of me. (Rachelle is in my Geriatric Ward, over to the left.) She had a piece on April 15 about all the list-making that is going on, Internet-wise. You know the kind of stuff: 10 things I like done to me in the shower; 100 things that prove how wonderful I am; 5 questions and answers about drill sergeants I have known; the 50 tiniest penises I have seen, and so on.
Anyway, Good Ol' Hoss has started a list of things about Hisself, which he is dribbling out in dribbles and drabbles. Rachelle mighta seen this, and thought up a parody. Which is okay; I been parodied by the best Danish history professors in the land. Basically, this is what Rachelle wrote:
"Here is a list of things from me:
"100 Things I Suck At"
"1. Thinking up things to put on lists."
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Things You Didn't Know Till Now
Tomorrow at The Old Folks' Home we're getting one of those Unitarian guys as our preacher. I don't know about Unitarians -- they seem a little soft on religion.
"That Christ guy was a helluva carpenter. Could have invented mortises and tenons and arches and arch supports if he wanted to. About that walking on water thing, it seems a little far-fetched to me. But whatever."
It was a Unitarian, I believe, who said the Ten Commandments weren't really "commandments." No, he said, it was simply a True/False quiz.
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Back to More Things About Ol' Hoss (the newspaper days): This is No.
13. As a reporter at the Albany (Ore.) Democrat-Herald in 1954 I spotted a football gambling operation going on at a local tavern. (I was having a sarsparilla, if you must know.) Bets were being taken on National Football League games, which was then illegal. So later on I asked the Police Chief if he knew about this, and he said, "No. You have any proof?"
I went back to the tavern, picked five games, gave the bartender a dollar, got my receipt and went back to the Chief. He busted the operator, a fella named Sandy. When they got Sandy to the police station he said, "You don't need to look in my shoes. I don't have anything there." Naturally, in his shoes, Sandy is packing $1,000.
I hit all five games. Woulda won $10. Police never gave me back my dollar, either, saying it was "evidence." That was the last time I tried to be on the right side of the law. Thieves.
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These days, it seems like you can call anybody just about anything, and it don't seem to matter much. People trade invective for invective and then go about their business.
But it doesn't seem safe to say what another person writes on the Internet is "lame." I seen some big fights erupt over that one. It wouldn't surprise me any to pretty soon see a site advertising some get-even help: "Redress of Insult, Brought to You by Rent-A-Thug."
Yeah, I'd be pretty careful about criticizing other people's Internet pieces, if I was you.
(This message brought to you by Hosannas for Hoss, Ltd.)
"That Christ guy was a helluva carpenter. Could have invented mortises and tenons and arches and arch supports if he wanted to. About that walking on water thing, it seems a little far-fetched to me. But whatever."
It was a Unitarian, I believe, who said the Ten Commandments weren't really "commandments." No, he said, it was simply a True/False quiz.
+ + + + + + + +
Back to More Things About Ol' Hoss (the newspaper days): This is No.
13. As a reporter at the Albany (Ore.) Democrat-Herald in 1954 I spotted a football gambling operation going on at a local tavern. (I was having a sarsparilla, if you must know.) Bets were being taken on National Football League games, which was then illegal. So later on I asked the Police Chief if he knew about this, and he said, "No. You have any proof?"
I went back to the tavern, picked five games, gave the bartender a dollar, got my receipt and went back to the Chief. He busted the operator, a fella named Sandy. When they got Sandy to the police station he said, "You don't need to look in my shoes. I don't have anything there." Naturally, in his shoes, Sandy is packing $1,000.
I hit all five games. Woulda won $10. Police never gave me back my dollar, either, saying it was "evidence." That was the last time I tried to be on the right side of the law. Thieves.
+ + + + + + + +
These days, it seems like you can call anybody just about anything, and it don't seem to matter much. People trade invective for invective and then go about their business.
But it doesn't seem safe to say what another person writes on the Internet is "lame." I seen some big fights erupt over that one. It wouldn't surprise me any to pretty soon see a site advertising some get-even help: "Redress of Insult, Brought to You by Rent-A-Thug."
Yeah, I'd be pretty careful about criticizing other people's Internet pieces, if I was you.
(This message brought to you by Hosannas for Hoss, Ltd.)
Friday, April 15, 2005
I Figure That Liars Can't Figure
It is fortitudinous that I am with you today. I tripped on a dead body outside my door in The Old Folks' Home and almost busted my kiester. It was Lydia Halfgood. I don't know why they can't clean up the dead bodies around here. They're a downright hazard.
And if there's one more thing I can't stand (and there is), it's those buttwipes up at the federal level, like President Karl Rove and his dummy, W. Mortimore Snerdbush, who keep saying that Social Security is going to go bust. They be moanin' about future generations what ain't gonna have a pot to pee in. Meanwhile, I keep comin' up with ideas to save their bumble-dickin' ass. Why don't they listen?
1. I've writ about this before, but it's worth repeatin'. THE GOVERNMENT CANNOT GO BROKE. The feds own the U.S. Mint. It can print all the money anybody wants. Why the hell this solution isn't obvious is beyond Ol' Hoss.
2. If that don't satisfy the dildo-eatin' communist economists, there's another easy source of revenue. Think of this: Every time the Post Office prints a new stamp, millions of philatelists* buy some and tuck 'em in albums. These will never be used. It's just like printing money. And coins: The government is making these 50-state quarters. Numismatists* are squirreling these away like hard winter acorns. They will never be spent. There is billions of dollars of stamp and coin money already on hand. God, this stuff is simple.
3. And if that weren't enough, there is always my preferred solution: Make everybody work till they're a hunnert years old. This might seem cruel to some of you, but by God I'll do anything to protect my Social Security check.
* Hoss shows off with some more big words.
+ + + + + + + +
Just wondering: Is it in Cannes, France, that all the restroom jokes are written?
+ + + + + + + +
A while back, in an earlier piece, I advised how we was all going to get rich by taking over a bunch of these Assisted Living Facilities. I invited you to scratch some money together so's you could invest. One of the ideas I had for you to raise money was for you to sell your first-born child.
One of my buddies, Shane Wexford (who's in my Geriatric roll at left), got sorta miffed at me when I announced I had sold my idea to my buddy, Bill Gates, and wouldn't be needing any outside investments. Here's what Shane wrote to me:
"You might be glad to hear -- for it has averted a 'legal action' -- that in relation to the Hoss 'get rich' scheme, I was able to steal back my partner's kid, after I had eBayed him. Tracked him down, spirited him away. I left a credit note for the eBay buyers saying that he was damaged goods. This keeps me in the good books of my partner, who had started asking where the riches were."
I am real sorry about that. But, hell, if you had bought kruggerands when they first came out you wouldn't be in such sorry shape, financial-wise.
+ + + + + + + +
Shit. I just heard a THUMP outside my door. I'll probably be trapped in here all day.
And if there's one more thing I can't stand (and there is), it's those buttwipes up at the federal level, like President Karl Rove and his dummy, W. Mortimore Snerdbush, who keep saying that Social Security is going to go bust. They be moanin' about future generations what ain't gonna have a pot to pee in. Meanwhile, I keep comin' up with ideas to save their bumble-dickin' ass. Why don't they listen?
1. I've writ about this before, but it's worth repeatin'. THE GOVERNMENT CANNOT GO BROKE. The feds own the U.S. Mint. It can print all the money anybody wants. Why the hell this solution isn't obvious is beyond Ol' Hoss.
2. If that don't satisfy the dildo-eatin' communist economists, there's another easy source of revenue. Think of this: Every time the Post Office prints a new stamp, millions of philatelists* buy some and tuck 'em in albums. These will never be used. It's just like printing money. And coins: The government is making these 50-state quarters. Numismatists* are squirreling these away like hard winter acorns. They will never be spent. There is billions of dollars of stamp and coin money already on hand. God, this stuff is simple.
3. And if that weren't enough, there is always my preferred solution: Make everybody work till they're a hunnert years old. This might seem cruel to some of you, but by God I'll do anything to protect my Social Security check.
* Hoss shows off with some more big words.
+ + + + + + + +
Just wondering: Is it in Cannes, France, that all the restroom jokes are written?
+ + + + + + + +
A while back, in an earlier piece, I advised how we was all going to get rich by taking over a bunch of these Assisted Living Facilities. I invited you to scratch some money together so's you could invest. One of the ideas I had for you to raise money was for you to sell your first-born child.
One of my buddies, Shane Wexford (who's in my Geriatric roll at left), got sorta miffed at me when I announced I had sold my idea to my buddy, Bill Gates, and wouldn't be needing any outside investments. Here's what Shane wrote to me:
"You might be glad to hear -- for it has averted a 'legal action' -- that in relation to the Hoss 'get rich' scheme, I was able to steal back my partner's kid, after I had eBayed him. Tracked him down, spirited him away. I left a credit note for the eBay buyers saying that he was damaged goods. This keeps me in the good books of my partner, who had started asking where the riches were."
I am real sorry about that. But, hell, if you had bought kruggerands when they first came out you wouldn't be in such sorry shape, financial-wise.
+ + + + + + + +
Shit. I just heard a THUMP outside my door. I'll probably be trapped in here all day.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Me and Roger
Before I came to The Last Roundup (where I live), I played a lot of golf. As you might expect, I was damn good at it. But that's another story, which won't get told someday.
My wife and I were playing in the early 1980's in Scottsdale, Arizoner. As we were leaving the 8th hole a ball comes skittering across the green and stopped right next to my cart. On the ball is printed: "Roger Maris". Roger is the guy what busted Babe Ruth's home run record, hitting 61 in 1961 (and got a lot of hate mail for his feat).
On the 9th hole my wife and I were held up by a foursome in front of us, so that gave time for Roger and his playing partner to join us on the tee. I am not much of a hero worshipper (except when it comes to me), so I said to Roger, "I hear you're a beer distributor." I guess he noticed me looking at his belly, 'cause he sucked it right up before admitting that fact.
So the four of us played the rest of the 18 holes. At the end, Roger said he wanted to thank me and my wife for not talking about baseball. He said he seldom gets a chance to work on his golf game because people wanna jaw at him about 61 home runs and being named Most Valuable Player and all that.
"So," he said, "if you want my autograph, it's okay to ask."
I said, "I was more thinkin' you probably want mine."
"Why would that be, Mr. Snake?"
"Well, according to the scorecards, I whipped your ass in golf. Don't that make me your hero?"
+ + + + + + + +
I got a links partner (as in Internet links, not golf links) named Raehan, who is listed as, believe it or not, Raehan, in my Geriatric Ward, yonder at left. She is another one of my buddies, of which I got plenty.
She said in comments to my historical mumblings that I should include some stuff from my newspaper days. I am pleased to abrogate (I bet you thought I didn't know any big words). So here is No.
12. As City Editor of the Capital Journal in Salem, Oregon, I get one of the first newspapers off the press when it starts at about 1:15 p.m. On one page there are two pictures. One shows a mass murderer, the second shows a respected businessman. The pictures are switched. Ol' Hoss, true to newspaper tradition, runs downstairs and yells "Stop the press!" While we fix the glitch, 1,100 newspapers that were printed before I stop the press are consigned to recycling. I never got to stop the press because we had a late-breaking big story. I would have liked to, though. I can be quite the drama queen.
My wife and I were playing in the early 1980's in Scottsdale, Arizoner. As we were leaving the 8th hole a ball comes skittering across the green and stopped right next to my cart. On the ball is printed: "Roger Maris". Roger is the guy what busted Babe Ruth's home run record, hitting 61 in 1961 (and got a lot of hate mail for his feat).
On the 9th hole my wife and I were held up by a foursome in front of us, so that gave time for Roger and his playing partner to join us on the tee. I am not much of a hero worshipper (except when it comes to me), so I said to Roger, "I hear you're a beer distributor." I guess he noticed me looking at his belly, 'cause he sucked it right up before admitting that fact.
So the four of us played the rest of the 18 holes. At the end, Roger said he wanted to thank me and my wife for not talking about baseball. He said he seldom gets a chance to work on his golf game because people wanna jaw at him about 61 home runs and being named Most Valuable Player and all that.
"So," he said, "if you want my autograph, it's okay to ask."
I said, "I was more thinkin' you probably want mine."
"Why would that be, Mr. Snake?"
"Well, according to the scorecards, I whipped your ass in golf. Don't that make me your hero?"
+ + + + + + + +
I got a links partner (as in Internet links, not golf links) named Raehan, who is listed as, believe it or not, Raehan, in my Geriatric Ward, yonder at left. She is another one of my buddies, of which I got plenty.
She said in comments to my historical mumblings that I should include some stuff from my newspaper days. I am pleased to abrogate (I bet you thought I didn't know any big words). So here is No.
12. As City Editor of the Capital Journal in Salem, Oregon, I get one of the first newspapers off the press when it starts at about 1:15 p.m. On one page there are two pictures. One shows a mass murderer, the second shows a respected businessman. The pictures are switched. Ol' Hoss, true to newspaper tradition, runs downstairs and yells "Stop the press!" While we fix the glitch, 1,100 newspapers that were printed before I stop the press are consigned to recycling. I never got to stop the press because we had a late-breaking big story. I would have liked to, though. I can be quite the drama queen.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
"....Makes Hoss a Dull Boy"
Yesterday I started telling you about one of the folks in The Old Folks' Home. It turned out to be me. Here is a synopsicum of what you missed if you didn't read yesterday's entry:
1. Hoss was behind the door when the brains were passed out.
2. He's a honky.
3. Losers are born, not made.
4. Something, something, something.
5. Something else.
Now that we're all caught up, here's some more stuff about Mr. Famous:
6. In high school I played the trombone in the school band. Then one day the band director said, "Hoss, you're the worst trombone player in the band, so we're switching you to tuba. It takes a lot of talent to be a bad tuba player." This was a good thing. My folks sold my trombone and sent me to Boy Scout camp.
7. I only had to play tuba during football season, because for the rest of the year I was an athaletic strap. I played basketball and participated in track. In college, I set the record in track for long jumping. It wasn't very far, but this school was noted more for brainiacs (like Mr. Mensa Hosstail) than athletiacs.
8. In college I joined a fraternity. My roommate taught me to smoke. Now, 55 years later, my doctor has taught me NOT to smoke. I am easily led.
9. I have been married a lot. I married my present wife twice, it worked out so bad the first time around. I have several children. They all know I am taking My Pile with me, so they generally ignore me. Which is fine because they got all these grandkids who are nothing but knee-biters and panty-poopers. But, just like you, they all love me.
10. I have had 15 different jobs (not counting juvenile delinquency and juvenile employment), all but one of which could have been a career post. The one that was sure to dead-end was as speechwriter for Oregon Gov. Tom McCall, since he was limited to two terms. He was a great environmentalist. He once described a smelly paper plant south of Salem, Oregon, as "a stinking cancer on the broad green bosom of the Willamette Valley." I didn't write that. I wasn't mean enough.
11. (Why stop when you're on a roll?) One of my juvenile jobs was as public address announcer for City League Softball. In those days it was common for the announcer to say who was at bat, who was on deck, and who was the third to bat -- the batter "in the hole." This traveling all-star team came through; they thought they were funny. So here were their first three batters, as announced by Young Hoss: "Now batting, White, with Crapp on deck and Glasscock in the hole." The adults in the audience booed when Hoss giggled.
+ + + + + + + +
There once was a writer named Hoss,
Who with words was not at a loss.
He proved right away
With the rhyme of the day,
Toss, gauss, moss, joss, sauce, and boss.
Burma Shave.
1. Hoss was behind the door when the brains were passed out.
2. He's a honky.
3. Losers are born, not made.
4. Something, something, something.
5. Something else.
Now that we're all caught up, here's some more stuff about Mr. Famous:
6. In high school I played the trombone in the school band. Then one day the band director said, "Hoss, you're the worst trombone player in the band, so we're switching you to tuba. It takes a lot of talent to be a bad tuba player." This was a good thing. My folks sold my trombone and sent me to Boy Scout camp.
7. I only had to play tuba during football season, because for the rest of the year I was an athaletic strap. I played basketball and participated in track. In college, I set the record in track for long jumping. It wasn't very far, but this school was noted more for brainiacs (like Mr. Mensa Hosstail) than athletiacs.
8. In college I joined a fraternity. My roommate taught me to smoke. Now, 55 years later, my doctor has taught me NOT to smoke. I am easily led.
9. I have been married a lot. I married my present wife twice, it worked out so bad the first time around. I have several children. They all know I am taking My Pile with me, so they generally ignore me. Which is fine because they got all these grandkids who are nothing but knee-biters and panty-poopers. But, just like you, they all love me.
10. I have had 15 different jobs (not counting juvenile delinquency and juvenile employment), all but one of which could have been a career post. The one that was sure to dead-end was as speechwriter for Oregon Gov. Tom McCall, since he was limited to two terms. He was a great environmentalist. He once described a smelly paper plant south of Salem, Oregon, as "a stinking cancer on the broad green bosom of the Willamette Valley." I didn't write that. I wasn't mean enough.
11. (Why stop when you're on a roll?) One of my juvenile jobs was as public address announcer for City League Softball. In those days it was common for the announcer to say who was at bat, who was on deck, and who was the third to bat -- the batter "in the hole." This traveling all-star team came through; they thought they were funny. So here were their first three batters, as announced by Young Hoss: "Now batting, White, with Crapp on deck and Glasscock in the hole." The adults in the audience booed when Hoss giggled.
+ + + + + + + +
There once was a writer named Hoss,
Who with words was not at a loss.
He proved right away
With the rhyme of the day,
Toss, gauss, moss, joss, sauce, and boss.
Burma Shave.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
You Didn't Ask for This
Yesterday, my buddy down in St. Loo, Dave Morris, wrote about hisself in a clever way, telling his readers 10 things about his historical. It was downright entertaining. I mean, who wouldn't want to know that he is body-hair challenged? (You can link to his piece by tracking him down in Hoss's list at the left.)
Since I am an Old Fogey, living in an Old Fogeys' Home, my life is sure to be almost as interesting as Dave's. So I thought there'd be no harm if'n I did the same. (In fact, I KNOW you been slobberin' all over yourself waiting for me to spill these beans.)
1. I was born in a house in Bend, Oregon, on Oct. 1, 1930. That house is still standing. There is a plaque near the front door that says: "Nobody important was born here."
2. I am Caucasian, or "white bread." As far as I know, I've always been Caucasian.
3. When I was a young boy, living in Lumber Camp No. 2, my older brother and I each had a large metal airplane for a toy. My Dad drove his car over my brother's plane. In the resulting confusion, my brother convinced everbody that it was MY plane that was run over. I have been confused ever since.
4. On my first day of school in Bend, the teachers had us play "Dodge Tag." You start with one "Toucher" in the middle of the field, and everybody else would try to run past him. Kids who got touched were then "Touchers," and on an on. I figured out right away there was no way for a runner to win this game, so I went home. My teacher was not pleased.
5. In the fifth grade I was the only one in my class to get 100 percent in spelling every week. My biggest success was being the only one to spell, properly, the word "Febyooarry." Lots of people don't know it's got two R's in it.
Well, lookee here. I'm writin' me a treatist about myself. You prolly can only stomach so much of this at one sittin', so I'll continue tomorrow. And don't worry. Some of the stuff I got to say actually IS interesting. I might let you vote on which item it is.
+ + + + + + + +
It's just human nature to want to help people out. You can get food to take out. A lot of guys want to help women out of their clothes. Gays want to get their partners "out." Curt Schilling wants to get Derek Jeter out. You want a hangnail to grow out, not in. I was 86'd once, which is a "throw out." But I never grew any butternut squash.
Since I am an Old Fogey, living in an Old Fogeys' Home, my life is sure to be almost as interesting as Dave's. So I thought there'd be no harm if'n I did the same. (In fact, I KNOW you been slobberin' all over yourself waiting for me to spill these beans.)
1. I was born in a house in Bend, Oregon, on Oct. 1, 1930. That house is still standing. There is a plaque near the front door that says: "Nobody important was born here."
2. I am Caucasian, or "white bread." As far as I know, I've always been Caucasian.
3. When I was a young boy, living in Lumber Camp No. 2, my older brother and I each had a large metal airplane for a toy. My Dad drove his car over my brother's plane. In the resulting confusion, my brother convinced everbody that it was MY plane that was run over. I have been confused ever since.
4. On my first day of school in Bend, the teachers had us play "Dodge Tag." You start with one "Toucher" in the middle of the field, and everybody else would try to run past him. Kids who got touched were then "Touchers," and on an on. I figured out right away there was no way for a runner to win this game, so I went home. My teacher was not pleased.
5. In the fifth grade I was the only one in my class to get 100 percent in spelling every week. My biggest success was being the only one to spell, properly, the word "Febyooarry." Lots of people don't know it's got two R's in it.
Well, lookee here. I'm writin' me a treatist about myself. You prolly can only stomach so much of this at one sittin', so I'll continue tomorrow. And don't worry. Some of the stuff I got to say actually IS interesting. I might let you vote on which item it is.
+ + + + + + + +
It's just human nature to want to help people out. You can get food to take out. A lot of guys want to help women out of their clothes. Gays want to get their partners "out." Curt Schilling wants to get Derek Jeter out. You want a hangnail to grow out, not in. I was 86'd once, which is a "throw out." But I never grew any butternut squash.
Monday, April 11, 2005
The Inventor You Know and Love
I know you all remember what a great inventor I am -- inventions I hope will be someday instrumental in my effort to Make My Pile of Cash before I cash in my chips. I mean, I just recently invented the "Shrink-wrapped Budweiser With Bacon Cracklings" and the "Cotton Gin Fizz." And that's just since I got deposited in an Assisted Living Facility (nee Old Farts' Home).
I was a pretty good inventor when I was young, too. For instance, I almost invented the telephone. Officially, Alexander G. Bell invented the telephone. Probably he got all the credit because of the name he come up with: Telephone.
But I shoulda got at least equal billing. What I invented was like Bell's telephone but I attached a long electric cord to the mouthpiece. I named this product "The Walkie a Little Ways and Talkie Thingie."
I guess I gotta admit that "Telephone" had more pizzaz.
+ + + + + + + +
I also was runner-up to Henry Ford, who is credited with inventing "mass production" and/or "the assembly line."
What I invented was just as good, just a little later. It were the "Assembly System Simplified, With Inventory Protected Email."
What prolly did me in was some butthead acronymed me: "A.S.S.W.I.P.E."
+ + + + + + + +
Somebody tipped me to a site that lists the frequency of use of 86,000 words on the Internet. "The" is No. 1. "Fucking" is No. 3048. Which means there are 82,952 less important things than fucking. But 3,047 things MORE important? Not likely.
(This site is G rated. The paragraph above is for educational purposes only, and any Government Agency seeking to deny Ol' Hoss clearance can go to Hades. I didn't say "Hell," because that's a dirty word. And while you're in Hades, go fuck yourself.)
I was a pretty good inventor when I was young, too. For instance, I almost invented the telephone. Officially, Alexander G. Bell invented the telephone. Probably he got all the credit because of the name he come up with: Telephone.
But I shoulda got at least equal billing. What I invented was like Bell's telephone but I attached a long electric cord to the mouthpiece. I named this product "The Walkie a Little Ways and Talkie Thingie."
I guess I gotta admit that "Telephone" had more pizzaz.
+ + + + + + + +
I also was runner-up to Henry Ford, who is credited with inventing "mass production" and/or "the assembly line."
What I invented was just as good, just a little later. It were the "Assembly System Simplified, With Inventory Protected Email."
What prolly did me in was some butthead acronymed me: "A.S.S.W.I.P.E."
+ + + + + + + +
Somebody tipped me to a site that lists the frequency of use of 86,000 words on the Internet. "The" is No. 1. "Fucking" is No. 3048. Which means there are 82,952 less important things than fucking. But 3,047 things MORE important? Not likely.
(This site is G rated. The paragraph above is for educational purposes only, and any Government Agency seeking to deny Ol' Hoss clearance can go to Hades. I didn't say "Hell," because that's a dirty word. And while you're in Hades, go fuck yourself.)
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