Meanwhile... Pt. 1

[dan bailey]

Magistrate or no, I think we've all learned over the years that it's not a good idea to turn one's back on Slam.

[Cei-U!]

My responses to the various topics raised so far:

Owies I'm in surprisingly good health at the moment. My arthritis is down to a dull roar (though the disintegrating discs in my lower back are still driving me out of bed at the butt-crack of dawn), my allergies have improved significantly since my cat passed away and I managed to dodge the flu bullet all winter and spring. My only problems currently are the pain in my feet whenever I wear shoes and what may be a sty developing inside the lower eyelid of my right eye. Not sure what I'll do about the latter but I'll be visiting my GP for a referral to a good orthopedist. Medicare will, if the proper hoops are jumped through, pay for custom shoes. It'll be weird: I've worn off-the-rack footwear for more than 40 years now, ever since multiple leg fractures put an end to my walking with braces.

Alcohol As some of you may recall, I am, if not a full-blown alcoholic, at least a problem drinker. I do occasionally (once a year, on the average) treat myself to a glass of white wine but otherwise I'm a teetotaler. These days, just the smell of beer, any beer, makes me nauseous but I do confess to missing my precious bourbon.

Tattoos My sister and all seven of my nieces have 'em but I never will. It's not some skeevy moral stance preventing me, just pure wussiness. No way is anybody sticking a needle in me that isn't either taking blood out or putting medicine in.

Slam's candidacy Go for it, man! Somebody has to counter the alarming tilt to the extreme right currently plaguing our judiciary. I almost wish I lived in Idaho so I could campaign for you. A voice of reason on the bench? Brilliant!

Musical tastes It's probably best if I steer clear of that conversation. If you think politics and religion present a potential minefield, just wait til dan and I get started. The man badmouths the Eagles, fer gosh sakes! How can I possibly address that level of irrationality???

Cei-U!
I summon the smorgasbord of commentary!

[dan bailey]

My only problems currently are the pain in my feet whenever I wear shoes

My good sir, you belong in my native Arkansas. Wearing shoes there is considered puttin' on airs, except in the most formal of occasions. It's like hinting that one's teeth aren't store-bought -- it's the very opposite of swavee & deboner.

Musical tastes It's probably best if I steer clear of that conversation. If you think politics and religion present a potential minefield, just wait til dan and I get started. The man badmouths the Eagles, fer gosh sakes! How can I possibly address that level of irrationality???

Forgive him, lord, for he knows not what he says.

Believe me, you've never really heard me badmouth the Eagles ... you just think you have. What you've seen from me here amounts to mash notes to those purveyors of puked-up pablum.

OK, except for that last part, maybe.

[Slam_Bradley]

I'm going to go ahead and crib from Kurt...because I can. And I'm never online on the weekends.

Owies I've been remarkably free of pain of late.

Alcohol I love me some alcohol. I drink a beer or two a night. Usually seasonal microbrews. I love me some classic cocktails. Manhattans & martinis in particular. I can't develop a taste for wine though.

Tattoos I don't understand them at all. To me they just look low-rent. Feel free to mutilate your body. But having a corporate icon inked in to your body doesn't make you an individual.

Musical tastes Mine are eclectic. But largely old-fashioned. Jazz. Blues. Rockabilly. Actual and alt-county. I'll happily help Dan bad-mouth The Eagles.

[shaxper]

So...I'm in the hospital right now. My second baby daughter was born yesterday. Lucky we have an off-topic thread where I can share such news :)

[The Confessor]

Prince had quite a run, from roughly 1980-1990, I guess.

Yeah, I'd pretty much agree with that, although I would probably extend it a year or two to encompass the Diamonds And Pearls and "symbol" albums from 1991 and 1992 respectively. Basically everything he did as Prince, before changing his name to symbol and recording that God awful "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" single, was pretty good as far as I'm concerned. Having said that, as good as early albums like Prince and Dirty Mind are, for me it's the middle period from about 1982 to 1988 (the albums 1999 through to Lovesexy) that are the real purple patch, if you'll excuse the pun.

Unfortunately, since then Prince has been a spent force creatively in my eyes, but the best of his '80s output still crackles with effortless pop suss, excellent musicianship and boundless imagination.

[MWGallaher]

My hearty congratulations, too, shaxper.

[Slam_Bradley]

So...I'm in the hospital right now. My second baby daughter was born yesterday. Lucky we have an off-topic thread where I can share such news :)

Congratulations, Shax.

[Fesch_]

Never was much of a wine drinker. My sweet tooth when it came to mixed drinks & such extended to wine as well, so I'd be much happier with a bottle of, say, Manischewitz Cream Cherry or Loganberry or whatever than anything even remotely "proper."

Is that some sort of sweet wine? We have some tradition of sweet wines here too, some of them are from Jerez (Sherry), but sweet orange wine and raisin wine are typical too. I sometimes drink a glass or two at a wine bar before we go for a round of tapas (my favourite spot for sweet wine is not bigger than 4 or 5 square meters, and there's always a crowd trying to enter; it is very popular among turists too, perhaps because of its authentic atmosphere):

[Fesch_]

Double post, sorry.

[dan bailey]

I echo the congratulations, shax.

So she's ... 10.0 right now? Are you gonna settle for a bag & board, or will you be going the full CGC route?

[dan bailey]

Tattoos I don't understand them at all. To me they just look low-rent. Feel free to mutilate your body. But having a corporate icon inked in to your body doesn't make you an individual.

Unless the IWW & the Red Army Faction are corporations with icons & stuff, which I'm pretty sure has never been the case (though if they are, I'm available for any PR-type openings ... some of those RAF communiques were pretty turgidly written), I think I'm safe on this one.

Musical tastes Mine are eclectic. But largely old-fashioned. Jazz. Blues. Rockabilly. Actual and alt-county. I'll happily help Dan bad-mouth The Eagles.

No use for jazz & not a whole lot for blues, but rockabilly & actual/alt-country I can definitely hang with.

[Slam_Bradley]

I might add that I like the decision to name the thread after Dick Giordano's column.

[Slam_Bradley]

Unless the IWW & the Red Army Faction are corporations with icons & stuff, which I'm pretty sure has never been the case (though if they are, I'm available for any PR-type openings ... some of those RAF communiques were pretty turgidly written), I think I'm safe on this one.

Eh. I was generalizing. The tattoo of Sonic the Hedgehog and the Korn logo doesn't make you dangerous, unique or interesting.

Being from Idaho I have a lot of interest in the Wobblies. Spent a lot of time studying the Stuenenberg murder trial.

[Lone Ranger]

I might add that I like the decision to name the thread after Dick Giordano's column.

Thanks.

It seemed appropriate, as just about anything can happen after an ellipsis.