Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year

Just wanted to wish everyone a very happy and prosperous New Year. It has to get better, right?

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Be the First on Your Block...


Coin and trinket companies are wasting no time in immortalizing Osama Bin Obama, despite the fact he has yet to even be sworn in to office. I hope all the hype isn't misplaced because he's coming into a real mess, though to be fair it will take more than one man to get us back to anywhere near normal.

A note of warning about the coins, they're only worth whatever the denomination they've been painted on. The quarter is worth only a quarter. I do have trouble making a connection between Washington and Obama, aside from the fact Washington may have owned one of Obama's distant relatives, he hasn't founded our country and has yet to show whether he as the ability to fix the things that are broken. One can only hope.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

All Over but the Shouting

Well if that wasn't nice, I don't know what is... Had a great Christmas and am looking forward to the New year. Being the procrastinator that I am I don't get fired up about New Year until the Lunar New Year rolls around. Though I don't have a lick of Chinese in the many nationalities that make up ol' Phos, I really love the Chinese New Year. Maybe it stems from my love of Oriental cuisine, maybe I am just a tad crazy, but love it I do. For me that is the real start of a new period in which to screw things up.

The symbology to the Chinese New Year has more to do with new beginnings than ours, I believe. Sweeping out the house represents sweeping all the accumulation of problems and baggage from the past year, a very nice touch.

At any rate, hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, holiday, solstice, or whatever celebration the deity of your choice endorses for this time of year.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

K9 Design


Yet another great artist came forward and designed a wonderful Christmas CD cover for me. Thanks K9!!! Check out K9 when you get a chance...

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

An Unexpected Gift

There are many ways to look at this holiday, from my point of view it is a good time for self reflection and time to think about what impact, if any one has had on his fellow man. Part of that comes down to what has one given of him or herself and in my mind the gift of love far transcends any other.

Unexpectedly I have received such a gift from the far reaches of Niagara, arriving in a small parcel in the mailbox. Opening the package I found several meticulously beaded shapes, simple in form but a profound statement of Jewel's craft and a honey dipper that sprang from a piece of wood under the talented and loving hands of her father. They are incredible treasures to me, but the best part was the letter accompanying the art - all together I received the craft of their hands and the warmth of Jewel's heart, an incredible gift. Perhaps the greatest thing can give of one's self, friendship and caring.

The beadwork and dipper hang from my Christmas tree for now, later to be placed with reverence in a display case so I can share their beauty with everyone. I will save the letter as well, though the words are imprinted on my mind. So thank you Jewel's, thank you for the wonderful art, but most of all, thanks for the friendship. That is what makes this time of year so wondrous...

I will post pictures soon, but if you can't wait to see some of Jewel's work please visit her site. I have often said I enjoy Blogging because it allows one such as I to walk among giants and this is certainly an example of that - she is a consummate artist and the beadwork is a sight to behold.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Mute Monday: T









Saturday, December 20, 2008

The Great Decider

Dear Congressman Franks,

It was interesting to see “The Great Decider” do an end around on the Senate and loan money to the auto industry. I hope it doesn’t prove a poor decision, at least not on the scale of the Iraq invasion at any rate. Chevrolet and Chrysler said they’d be back later in the initial interviews on Capitol Hill, and I don’t think they were kidding. It as if one put a saucer of milk out for a stray cat, once the cat eats the milk he will continually hang about until he gets more.

Perhaps more alarming is the fact the Executive office has as assumed powers I don’t believe it should have in the form of the ability to wage war, designate funds, and signing statements. It has turned the oval office into the lair of a dictator. These powers need to be stripped away and given back to the congress and there by default to the people (remember us?).

I would also like to know if the bailout for the auto companies the president unilaterally bestowed upon them includes a bail out for the mass transportation industry, which played fast and loose with the rules to develop an illegal financing scheme with banks and was left holding the bag when it all fell apart. It is nice to know that if one fails in business or winds up on the short end of a financial scam that the government or at least the president will be there for him or her. I was glad to see there are no repercussions for the CEOs and management of the banks and the auto industry, which would have indeed been heinous. No reason on earth to hold them responsible for their failure.

By the way, congratulations on the raise I hear you all just got. I didn’t get a raise or bonus this year, but I am not complaining as I am happy to still have my job and my house. Best to remember this when folks start talking about Washington being out of touch with their constituents. I’d also like to know when we can expect the trickle down from the billions we are pumping into the financial and auto industry. I could use a few bucks for Christmas.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Lingering Clouds



Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Sometimes You Win

When the world hands you rain...




Make lemons


or roses


or wet huskies...

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Still Underwater







Monday, December 15, 2008

Moody Monday

Blech. Cold, nasty, rainy, icky - Phos has the grumps...


Friday, December 12, 2008

Cream rises to the top, Scum floats

When an enemy vessel was cornered it was general practice to open and the sea valves and let the ocean flood the ship so it would sink or as it is known, scuttle the vessel. Bush is definitely opening all the valves, in fact I think he has come as close to sabotage as any spy during the cold war. He'll retire in Dallas, fat, dumb, and happy and as oblivious to the outside world as he is today, leaving "the peoples choice," Osama Bin Obama with a pretty big mess.

Speaking of Osama, looks as though "our" boy is having a tough time wiping the Illinois stink off himself. Nothing clean has ever come out of that state, especially its gutter crawling politicians. Even Lincoln was a mutant, though to be fair he moved there from Kentucky and wasn't part of the Daley Machine. He did manage to spark the Civil War, and if you think it was all about slavery, we'll talk later. Osama bin Obama is cut from the same cloth as all the other Illinois politicians, sure he moved there from Hawaii, but he was a quick learner and that state has got to have a huge asshole-magnet buried under Chicago – time will tell.

Anyway, looks as though our Treasury department is going to hand over the money to the automakers, not needing our (that is the taxpayer's) consent so that our economy can freely hemorrhage money for the next several years, because the auto assholes have made it clear they are coming back for more in a few months. Almost like feudal lords sitting upon their thrones demanding tribute from the people. I still won’t buy an American car; they already have enough of my money. I'm not fond of the Japanese, but Id' rather drive one of their cars (well made and fuel efficient I might add) than put any coin in Detroit's pocket.

Anyway, old Osama has a hard row to hoe, and he's doing it with all the same old faces at his back. So far no appreciable change there, Barak. He is all for hand outs to this that and the next thing, the usual democratic plan to fix a social problem, throw money at it, expand the government, and as all politicians, make sure your pals, supporters, and big contributors get plum spots in your organization. He is anxious to make sure Hillary gets the millions she pissed away on her campaign back – if only he was as adamant about protecting us. The only change is that we have new masters, who by no small coincidence were former masters. I believe now would be a good time to buy an American flag, leave it in the box, carefully wrap the box and put it somewhere safe, it is about to become a collector’s item, a historical relic of a failed government system.


Want real change? click here...

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Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Holly Jolly X-mas

Well according to the religious experts and the merchants, Christmas is almost upon us. I thought it fitting I mark the occasion by the lighting of the traditional Advent Lamb, in the case, Dolly Mk VIII. Once again some radiation has leaked over from my nuclear experiments (I am just trying to produce electric power, honest! Hey it works for Iran!) which may account for the blue wool. Have to add more lead plates to the garage door, but Mrs. Phos can't lift the thing as it is. Ah well, I suppose I'll get it figured out before the neighbor kids lose all their hair.


I digress, I was talking about the birthday of The Lord, ironically falling in the midst of Chanuka - chance, no; clever marketing, you bet! To make things even wackier we also have Kwanzaa, and Eid-al-Adha, though that one tends to float predicated on the end of the Hajj. The dizzying array of heavy hitters from most of the major religions (sorry Buddha, you didn't make the X-mas cut, but I love ya anyway) drives we godless types to distraction.

Just to save time I do play the game, send out greetings, give presents, and even respond with a hearty Merry Christmas when greeted by store types who have been prohibited from saying anything beyond "Happy Holidays" lest they offend the delicate sensitivities of some crazed zealot.

The weather outside is frightful, for here.



Yukon loves the relative cold and it almost makes up for having to camp in front of his fan for about nine months out of the year. Still waiting on some much needed rain - December is supposed to be our wettest month but so far not so much.

Anyway, Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!!!

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Mute Monday: R






Saturday, December 06, 2008

Wild Horses Couldn't Drag Me...


Normally I wouldn't go shopping until after January, when all the X-mas shopping, after X-mas sales and gift return melee was over, but today I set boldly forth with Mrs. Phos. I needed a new fan for my PC, a few things From Target, and Mrs. Phos forced me to go to the Bookstore. There was actually some X-mas shopping we needed to do, no frankincense, gold or myrrh, though. It wasn't that bad - maybe it is the economy, maybe we hit it just right but there weren't the usual swarms of people. Now I don't mind people, just don't like all of them all at once. Especially in the confines of a store. Didn't find the books I wanted (got some I didn't know I wanted), but was able to find my fan, a set of blocks for the grandson, and an MP3 CD player for my father-in-law. We didn't ride in the horse drawn carriage, it's cute but I think the parking lot kind of sucks the romance out of the ride...

Friday, December 05, 2008

Time Flies

Almost a whole week since I last posted, the time just slipped away somehow. Haven't been terribly inspired to write, hopefully that will pass.

Saw that Bush finally used the "R word" and said we are in arecesstion, showing how out of touch he and the rest of the pirates in Washington are with reality. The scary thing is by saying we're in recession in his delusional state means we're probably in a depression. I belive we are at a tipping point where one more blow could bring total disaster to our country. On the bright side, the Canadian Primeminister's latest move to disband parliment on the cusp of his removal shows we aren't the only country with a pack of schnooks in charge. Communism failed and it appears Democracy (as it stands now in the US) is on life support. Might be a good time for Obama to become a bit more negaged as the current president has already gone "ROAD."

Monday, December 01, 2008

Mute Monday: Q is for Qute




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