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- May 11, 2020
- Remembering Jerry Stiller
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In my history of sitting before the teevee I have numerous memories of comedian Jerry Stiller.
I recall him and his wife Ann Meara appearing on various variety shows as a comedy team and those interludes were a staccato of piecemeal flashes in the pan compared to later ...
He then appeared to go on hiatus where I never saw anything of him until Seinfeld came along. He became about the only character on that show I could tolerate after a time.
I attribute this to network syndication sticking the comedy up the world's ass whether we liked it or not.
Then he was on The King of Queens and I suffered through a spate of gd Kevin James just to see what it was all about.
The thing about Jerry Stiller that I could relate to was the portrayals of explosive anger viz a viz an otherwise frenetic nature which has been a lot like me over the years.
Today, Ben Stiller announced via Twitter that Jerry had passed at age 92 of "natural causes". Rest in peace.
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- May 11, 2020
- Remembering Salvador Dali
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In my youth there was Dali.
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dali i Domenech,
Marquis of Dalí de Púbol
May 11 1904 – January 23 1989
I missed his heyday by a long while, yet his favor with the public and his powerful eclectic persona still grasped the world in his various art productions ...
Some of which, like the one where he drew in the air in lights while being photographed in time lapse stuck with that impressionable manchild which was me.
Salvador Dali was a Spanish Surrealist artist renowned for his skills, technique, precision, and those striking and often times bizarre images which constituted his body of work.
I know I couldn't get enough of him, both is work and his antics.
He was an eccentric funny spontaneous soul to observe with a penchant for flamboyance that wouldn't quit.
Sometimes pretentious. Sometimes a little vulgar.
Always an interesting interlude to be had and I caught him in various spots on the teevee when I could.
His influence by Impressionism and the masters of the Renaissance evolved into surrealism and that so called nuclear mysticism which was an amalgamation of classicism, mysticism, a rediscovered interest in religion and the current science into which he found himself immersed.
My fondest memories of him are an old white haired fellow engaged in various over the top episodes of creativity with an almost manic enthusiasm.
He always left me feeling like the clod that I was during those times.
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- May 10, 2020
- Hating on Microsoft yet AGAIN
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How do I hate thee Microsoft, let me count the ways
I hate thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach
You sell tedium in the form of never ending updates of an operating system software which is never finished and for which you want way too much money.
That stupidity which is your coding staff is only surpassed by your intrepid fleet of microsoft certified so called professionals who are typically dumb as dirt hanging a bunch of letters after their names which are as meaningless as their pitiful little unskilled certification seeking lives.
I hate that invasion of workplaces with your lame product lines ...
How your outlook email client can't even complete a sentence with the cursor at the end. Just why does your crap have to go out of it's way to be infuriating?
And then ... there is that technofeces vaporware you call sharepoint that you have never gotten right since it's bloody incept so very long ago.
And your stupid "cloud" cottage industry that complicates every aspect of a job I once loved so much.
Too bad the powers that be don't realize that the word "cloud" in the context of networking simply means "somebody else's computer".
An inability to manage one's own technical affairs and assets is known as "outsourcing".
Duh.
Your mssql mess is precisely that: an incapable mess that should have been aborted like so many feminist sexual exploits.
Only nobody wants or needs those products of conception.
I hate your products. I hate your people. I hate your logos. I hate your never ending updates. I hate the fact that windows 10 was forced upon me. I hate your overstepping foreigner ceo.
Most of all I hate your moron customers who think that you are the only way to go. Thank gawd I'm a Unix head.
I hope redmond washington falls off into the Pacific and charlotte nc falls into a 100 sq mile 500 mile deep sinkhole because you are there and you will go with them.
Die microsoft die. Preferably right now. Make the world a better place.
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- May 9, 2020
- Benefit of the doubt
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Back in the day I was a jogger. I used to do 3 miles on the dirt roads of rural Salley, SC at high noon in August. I was never accosted let along shot at.
A tragic yet old story from Georgia involves a father and son who ambushed then killed a jogger named Ahmaud Arbery because they 'thought' he was a burglar.
Mr Arbery
Mr McMichael
Mr McMichael
The individuals, Gregory and Travis McMichael stalked the man who was apparently jogging through a neighborhood, confronted him armed with weapons and other armed individuals then shot him with a shotgun while on leaked cellphone video of the McMichaels' confrontation by an accomplice in the back of a pickup truck.
Now then, the pair were arrested two months after the crime and complaints from family and friends of the jogger which had made headlines primarily in the local area.
This has the appearance of an overzealous ex-cop taking matters to an extreme over step of one citizen's rights over another.
As the story develops I will be curious to see why a person cannot jog in a neighborhood without some misguided attempt at mistaken vigilante justice. Coupled with this is a curiosity regarding the delayed action of law enforcement.
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- May 8, 2020
- Toni Tennille's Birthday 2020
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When I was a kid there were "The Captain and Tenille".
They had a variety musical show I used to watch frequently back in the days of my early adulthood until about that time I entered the Navy and my musical tastes took a radical change.
Over the years I would read various items about them and their public persona being that as a couple hid the underly trouble which consumed their marriage.
The Captain was Daryl Dragon who Tenille married on November 11, 1975 allegedly in the name of tax benefits. I didn't get the impression that theirs was a happy union and this was confirmed in Tennille's biography.
Nonetheless they remained close after their divorce and through the time of Mr Dragon's death from kidney failure in early January of last year.
Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille was born May 8, 1940 and is an American singer-songwriter and keyboardist, best known as one-half of this 1970s duo Captain & Tennille alongside her former husband Daryl Dragon.
Their hallmark musical number is "Love Will Keep Us Together".
Tennille has also done other musical gigs independently of her husband, including various sessions and solo projects.
Today is her birthday. She is a pillar of my young adult years. I have great respect for her as a performer and person and I hope she enjoys many more celebrations of her birthday.
Happy birthday to you !
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- May 7, 2020
- Nick Berg was murdered in 2004
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In 2004 I was a motivated patriot borderline jingoist working in the field of Information Technology for a niche handbell business concern. My work was easy but very busy and it involved a lot of equipment change outs and Unix support and I tried to do a good job for the years I was there.
During that time I learned of the murder of Nick Berg, an American freelance radio tower repairman who had ventured to Iraq in the shadow of the United States invasion of that country.
He was abducted and murdered by beheading allegedly by Jordanian national Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a muslim insurgent who we subsequently took out by air strike in October of that same year.
Allegedly this murder of Mr Berg was in retribution for the very ill advised Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal in which Mr Berg had no involvement.
It seems that United States Army members tortured and otherwise abused Iraqi prisoners. Later it has been speculated that those actually punished, though perpetrators, were not the individuals giving the orders.
A video of the beheading of Nicholas Berg was released on the internet. This is said to have been from London to a Malaysian hosted page owned by the Islamist organization Muntada al-Ansar. It was an infuriating piece of travesty whereby an innocent was punished for the transgressions of others.
It epitomizes the militant muslim in my mind.
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- May 7, 2020
- Online Presence and Insignificant Others
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There is an issue with having an online presence of the nature of crackerjackdata.net ...
This surrounds the innumerable attempts at exploit by others who either rent server or network space and try to break and enter as either a hobby or career.
Yes, I indeed had such inclinations back in the late 1970s but those days are long gone and my access was limited to a measily 1200 baud analog modem attached to a dumb terminal. The addition of a pdp-11/73 process in a backplane with DLV/11-J and other interfaces as well as CDC 9448-96 disk drive the size of a small refrigerator still didn't afford me the break and enter capabilities all too many technological sociopaths now may afford.
Then there are the two types of people: significant and insignificant.
My place is not for everyone. It is both an acquired taste and by invitation only. People think because you're in the public domain you're automatically a public resource with which to do as you please. Nope, I don't let just anyone hang around.
The annointed few are accommodated regardless of how great those lengths are to make things happen. The others are admonished thusly:
behave or begone !
So what is one to do when the access logs are filled with OBVIOUS exploit attempts of the web, mail, and application server variety by the sociopathic ilk of would-be technology purveyors in our midst ???
In a word: FIREWALL.
Yes, the F word. I will invoke it at the drop of a hat. I will firewall people, places, groups, entities, entire countries at the drop of a hat. Can you say "China" enemy of the United States of America boys and girls?
I even purchase additional machines to ensure adequate throughput for the many rules in place.
So yes, I am a vigorous firewall afficinado with eyes on those logs and a keen eye for keeping out troublemakers, i.e., spammers and exploits and I won't hesitate to change out hardware which gives the slightest hint of unsuitability.
There you have it. I'm a vigilant mean network and server farm managing machine ! My policy is "do no harm to others" and conversely, you go after me I'm going to head you off at the pass quicky and permanently. Don't tread on me unless you want to draw back a nub.
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- May 6, 2020
- International No Diet Day 2020
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I've celebrated this day before. Pretty much every day of my life. Today is International No Diet Day and I'm not one to go on diets ... I believe exercise to be the weight gain problem answer.
Now, the day is devoted to body acceptance ... and no, Gussie I'm not accepting of your magnificent moo cow pendulous breasts attached to that stupendous abdomen that drags the ground with those butt cheeks that go on forever.
Sure, I've suffered rejection but I went ahead and cut my losses long ago and now I have a goodly selection of various consorts who accompany me because they know what I'm about otherwise and respect my exceptional skills and superb hygenic maintenance.
No, I'm not hating on anyone it's just you can't call yourself dieting when you eat a pile of weight watchers product that you wash down with a case of light beer.
The day is about promoting a healthy lifestyle. So go forth and do so and then rejoin your feminist gaggle and celebrate your diversity because it's quite the varied terrain you're toting around for display.
Me, I'll just stick to that which I am. I can't say I'll ever be in the great shape of my post Navy days once again but it's surely a wonderful thought.
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- May 5, 2020
- Cinco de Mayo 2020
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The fifth of May commemorates the Mexican Army victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla May 5, 1862 under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza.
The battle is celebrated each fifth of May as a great victory for freedom in Mexico.
Some of the locals erroneously called it "Mexico's Fourth of July".
I used to like to be out in the crowd taking it all in for hours on end.
It was really a fete to behold on the West coast.
I was known to make merry late into the night at San Juan Capistrano some 6 miles down interstate 5 from my apartment in El Toro, now known as Forest Lake.
Anyway some of those waters passing under the bridge include what I view as an invasion facilitated by the government of Mexico until President Trump made them the offer they couldn't refuse.
My continuing issues surround those motivations which caused them pretty much to escort invaders to our border prior to that time.
I even stopped drinking Coranitas because they reminded me of those happy times late into the night in Southern California.
Will I ever regain the esteem Mexico and specifically Tiajuana, land that I loved once held in my heart?
I simply don't know.
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- May 4, 2020
- International Firefighters Day 2020
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Today is International Firefighters Day when the personnel of the fire departments of the world are remembered and honored.
St Florian, who lived from 250 – c 304 AD is the patron saint of firefighters and the style of his cross is known as the 'Florian cross'.
This shape is used among many of the fire departments with which I have experience.
St Florian is invoked against fires, floods, lightning, and the pains of purgatory.
A famous Church named for St Florian is located in Kraków.
His veneration has been particularly intense since 1528, when a fire burned the neighborhood without destroying the church.
His feast day is May 4.
The firefighter ribbon worn to signify firefighters and their activities is both red and blue.
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- May 3, 2020
- Adventures in Medicare
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Having reached the ripe old age of 65 I signed up for medicare on the social security web site.
I wish I could say things went totally smoothly, but I'm afraid that simply wasn't the case.
It seems that their 'select' credit history questions involved individuals with whom I did not know from past dealings, necessitating an interview of sorts from the social security administration office in Chicago, Illinois.
Anyway after a couple of misses on the phone we connected Friday and she had a few questions derived ostensibly from reading from my social security report on her computer screen.
She asked for my date of birth and I told her and we touched on how it had just passed.
She asked for my mother's maiden name and that was certainly no issue.
She asked me the city and state of my birth and that question came and went without any problems.
She asked me about my first job and I passed that question with flying colors as well.
Then we went on to discuss the level of medicare for which I had applied and it became obvious to her that I was indeed the individual who had completed the online application.
So the lesson here was just because you don't think something is going well perhaps all it needs is a little personal interaction whereby you can prove yourself and ... voila !
Now I'm offically a new card carrying old fart.
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- May 2, 2020
- Topical Considerations
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I was looking for something to write about for today.
I'm afraid that the pickings were somewhat sparse to say the least.
It is the anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden ... But while he remains a lesson in picking your friends and allies he remains really old news.
Bob Clampett's death went down on this day but Beany and Cecil have been passe for so long they remain in the annals of golden oldies yet not really germane current events.
That poof J Edgar Hoover died on this date too and I am so disturbed by the revelations of his debauchery, thievery, blackmail, and all manner of underhanded doings based on his penchant for maintaining dossiers and diddling his girlfriend Clyde Tolson his memory is simply so much flatus in the wind.
So I just decided to mull over those criteria which make an individual or their memory suitable topical content for a blog entry.
I even went so far to consult various style guides and they were even more hoity toity and missing of the point than the actual regurgitated historical elements I would include otherwise.
So ... nothing and nobody really interested me today.
Therefore, you're stuck with this.
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- May 1, 2020
- May Day 2020
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I was never a big fan of May Day celebrations, dancing around a pole winding ribbons, nor getting all dressed up for such displays.
Indeed, my last encounter with a May Pole was at Aragona Elementary School in Aragona Village in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
I believe I was in the second grade or so.
So this is yet another May Day ...
A public holiday celebrated on May first.
It is known as an ancient Spring festival with observances in the Northern hemisphere.
I believe it to be primarily a manifestation of European cultures and involves song and dance as well as cake and the making of merriment.
It has been sullied in the United States since the late 19th century when May Day was selected as the date for International Workers Day by the Socialists and Communists in Chicago.
International Workers Day is also referred to as "May Day".
However, it is not a traditional celebration but an abomination of the communists and socialists who should all be deported by any means necessary.
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- April 30, 2020
- Honesty Day 2020
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In this day and age honesty is certainly suffering. With the subterfuge and underhanded manipulation by the democratic party leadership of a stupid section of electorate ... called the "registered democrats" we are left with an erosion of that which is The United States of America.
That socialist impetus they would impart upon us with the underlying goal of controlling all aspects of our lives and redistribution of wealth we are headed for a fall unless more begin the journey of understanding just what is going on.
That liberal libtard constituency — part and parcel and controlled by the democrats is leading the rest of us down the primrose path of death and destruction of everything the founding fathers fought and died for:
• Life
• Liberty
• Happiness
Theirs is a world where the wealth is taken from the worker and given to the shirker.
Today is Honesty Day, invented by one M Hirsh Goldberg and celebrated at the end of April to facilitate honesty and straightforward communication in relationships, politics, consumer affairs and historical educational pursuits.
Let us hope that honesty prevails over the lying moral turpitude which has become the hallmark of the democrats and their pervasive vendetta against conservative values and goals.
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