In Which We Give Props to Our Dental Professionals

Well, the message on this card is certainly appropriate coz we DO love our dentist and his wonderful staff, as you Gentle Readers who have been with me a while know very well.  I make that last statement because we have documented our extensive experience with Dr. Thompson... over eight years' worth, the biggest parts of which began here and ended here... a two-year Adventure In Modern Dentistry that involved multiple surgeries, bone grafts, and culminated in the placement of five dental implants.  It was all worth it, though, as my quality of life has improved considerably since the project was completed.  Read that as: I eat like a normal person now.  

So, the very brief and heartfelt testimonial aside (you want more? there's a lot more!), I thought all y'all might like to see the shining faces of Dr. Thompson and his staff (the Lovely Victoria, my hygienist, is at top right).  Aren't they the living definition of "Beautiful People?"  They're the very best at what they do, too.  You can take that to the bank.

Heh

Mr. Ramirez:

Emergencies, like beauty, are in the eye of the beholder.  That said, Obama has been lookin' particularly stupid of late.

―:☺:―

I know this is gettin' old, Gentle Reader, and I know for a fact you prolly don't give a big rat's ass about MY weather.  But there's this:

Full disclosure:  I chose the reporting location that always overstates the case for effect.  This station is usually above the reported temp at Cannon Airplane Patch by five degrees or so, but this time it's at least ten.  Our real temp at 1200 hrs was 101 degrees with five percent relative humidity.  These triple digit temps are beginning to get a bit old but it beats the HELL outta this shit.

A Minor Observation

One of the best things about my vision since cataract surgery is how much cleaner El Casa Móvil de Pennington appears to be.  That's because my eyes were corrected for distance vision and things in the middle distance and close-up are less than distinct.  So, one can conveniently ignore... or fail to see... the accumulation of "stuff" on the floor and elsewhere in one's daily life.  Until one leaves one's reading glasses on and walks into the Little Room to take a leak, that is.

Zounds.  I've been in cleaner gas station rest rooms.  Seriously.

So, it's 20 minutes later and we now have a sparkling bathroom.  My DIL... who keeps an immaculate house... must have been horrified when she came to visit a couple o' weeks ago.  Or mebbe not: the standard greeting guests get when they enter the premises is "don't look down."  There's more reason than ever for that warning these days and I'm beginning to think I really need a maid.

Just a Couple o' Thangs

Kitty Update:  (I KNOW.  I said I wouldn't, but I sometimes lie misspeak.)   I think something terrible happened to the four kittens that hang around El Casa Móvil de Pennington.  Mama Cat was acting very distraught last evening during After Dinner Whiskey Hour, meowing ceaselessly and repeatedly making wide circles around the entire area, with nary a kitten in sight.  That's a shame, if true, coz the kittens have been a never-ending source of entertainment this past week.  Mama Cat has been bringing birds for the kitties to devour every night for the past few (and LOTS of 'em, Mama Cat bein' quite the accomplished huntress; no dumpster soup kitchen for HER) and watching those going-ons have been supremely entertaining... even if the neighbor's yard looks like the aftermath of an explosion in a pillow factory.  We're talkin' a LOT of dead bird carcasses.  

It's middling strange I should feel so bad about this, given the cat-hating image I have to uphold.  Old Age has had the strangest effect on me.

Weather Update:  The Weather Deity At Hand is smiling upon us as our winds haven't picked up and our awning is deployed.  But it IS hot!

I see the forecast has been updated to reflect more misery is upon us for the foreseeable future.  We're also gonna set a record high today, but I suppose this is what I get for bein' an Anthropomorphic Global Warming Climate Change Denier.  Somewhere Algore is laughing his considerable ass off.

Update, 1350 hrs:  Do they LIE?

I think mebbe.

Weird Al Is BACK!

Too frickin' cool...

Now I've never seen a Lady Gaga performance (no fuckin' geezer jokes, mmmkay?) but I have it on good authority this spoof is spot-on.

File This Under "Miss Me Yet?"

Blackfive:

The President addressing the 10th Mountain Division today at Fort Drum:

"First time I saw 10th Mountain Division, you guys were in southern Iraq. When I went back to visit Afghanistan, you guys were the first ones there. I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honor to who actually came back and wasn’t receiving it posthumously."

As we all know, SSG Sal Giunta, of the 173rd Airborne, was the first living recipient (2011) of the MOH who fought in Iraq/Afganistan. SFC Jared Monti, 10th Mountain Division, was KIA in Afghanistan in 2006. He was posthumously awarded the MOH by Obama in 2009.

Can you imagine Dubya making such a statement?  Neither can I.  I don't like Obama, I don't like his politics, but I respect the office of the president.  That said, this gaffe offends me to my very core.  Say what you will about President Bush but the man would NEVER make an error as grievous as this.  Period.  Obama is worse than a fuckin' joke... the man is not worthy of the position he holds.

(h/t: Mean Ol' Meany)

Feel Free To Disregard...

... coz all I'm gonna do is bitch.  About the usual, too.  We're just in from a routine visit with our favorite dental hygienist followed by a re-supply trip out to Wally-World, the visit with the Lovely Victoria bein' the better part of that excursion.   For it is miserable outdoors, Gentle Reader:

I can handle the heat... that ain't no Big Deal... but I have issues with the wind (as you well know).  We're right on the cusp of the safety zone where my awning is concerned and we have chosen to leave it furled, discretion being the better part of valor and all that.  I hope the wind dies down by tomorrow, coz I hate to think of the impact direct sun will have on El Casa Móvil de Pennington when the temp is 106.  That could get brutal.

Congrats Are Due

 LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 22: Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings poses after winning the James Norris Memorial Trophy during the 2011 NHL Awards at the Palms Casino Resort June 22, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

I'd be seriously remiss if I didn't mention the fact that The Perfect Human won his seventh Norris trophy last night in Vegas.  Here's Scott Burnside, from ESPN's NHL Awards wrap-up:

That plus-minus stat? It's wildly overrated, as Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom won his seventh James Norris Memorial Trophy with a minus-2 rating. Still, Lidstrom was full value for the honor in what was the closest race since 1996.

Lidstrom edged out Nashville captain Shea Weber by a 736-727 margin. For the record, Weber was plus-7 and Zdeno Chara was a whopping plus-33. Chara was hot on the Norris trail, too; he had 33 first-place votes, while Lidstrom had 35 and Weber 32.

Lidstrom had 62 points during the season, second among all NHL defensemen, and logged considerable ice time with injuries to other Detroit defensemen, including Brian Rafalski.

"When I came over, I was just trying to make the team," Lidstrom said. "I figured I'd stay a few years and see what it's like playing over here and then go back to Sweden. I never envisioned myself playing for 20 years and having the success that I've been part of."

Success?  There's The Mom of All Understatements from the always humble and understated Lidstrom.  TPH is simply the BEST defenseman of this generation and (arguably) second only to the great Bobby Orr as the NHL's all-time best at his position.  Success, indeed.

TPH deserves another trophy, too... sumthin' along the lines about havin' The Perfect Family.  Regarde:

Wow.  Them Swedes have GOOD genes, don't they?

Whodunnit?

My Buddy Ed In Florida and I were discussing flamingos the other day... of the sort I have hangin' around El Casa Móvil de Pennington... and he told me about a group of 'em he'd seen recently.  He said he'd send me the pic as soon as he found it, and here it is:

Heh.  That's somewhere in Estes Park, CO.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack, AKA My Dark Secret

Bee Gees:

The tune was also on the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack album as if you didn't know, Gentle Reader, assuming you're "of a certain age."  And yeah: I bought it.  And I played it, a lot.  From The Wiki:

The cultural impact of Saturday Night Fever in the United States was tremendous.

[...]

The soundtrack also won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year.^[4]

In 2003, the album was ranked number 131 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The soundtrack hit the #1 spot on Billboard Music Chart's Pop Album and Soul Album charts. In 2003 the TV network VH1 named it the 57th greatest album of all time.

Pretty successful, no?  The album's success and sales make it all the more interesting that a lot of my contemporaries pull a "Good Morning, Mr. Phelps" where SNF is concerned, which is to say they "disavow all knowledge" of its existence and the fact they boogied down to the tunes therein.  That might also be because we ALL know "Disco SUCKED," right?  Either that or the missions of my contemporaries weren't successful, thus the disavowal of all knowledge. 

As for me?  The fact I liked the album and always trotted it out at parties (to a universally positive reaction, especially from the wimmen) might be a dark secret in most circles today.  I'm not all that ashamed to admit it, tho... mainly because I got laid a lot had several deeply rewarding bonding experiences that were initiated and helped along while dancing to this album and I'm forever grateful for that.  The night often began with a lil Jive Talkin' and Boogie Shoes but moved on to How Deep Is Your Love? by the time the lights went low and things got serious, or as serious as they got back then.  Relatively speaking.

Nannies and Bots of the Evil Kind

It's still way early (for me) but David Burge is leading the sweeps for the day's best tweet with this:

@iowahawkblog David Burge

All in a day's work for the U.S. Department of Facepalm dailycaller.com/2011/06/22/fed…

Heh.  I'll have to file that away for future use.  Burge is right though... facepalm is the appropriate reaction after reading shit like this (from Burge's link):

The federal government has a growing interest in the eating habits of Americans for the same reason it has an interest in tobacco consumption, said Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The reason is money, because three-quarters of medical-spending is driven by chronic diseases, such as obesity and tobacco-related diseases, she said.

Sebelius’ comments came at the tail-end of Tuesday’s White House press conference where officials showcased nine new photos that must be carried on cigarette packs. Officials used a survey of 18,000 people to find the images that would have the most distressing impact on groups of smokers, including young smokers and mothers of young kids. 

Ah, yes.  There's much to dislike here.  A "growing interest in the eating habits..." sounds both ludicrous and ominous at the same time, if that's possible.  Then again, those two words describe much of the gubmint's activities these days.  I won't rant about Nanny's new cigarette pack "warnings," except to say gubmint at ALL levels should be very careful what they wish for.  The taxes paid by cigarette smokers provide for a LOT of gubmint services, especially at the state level.  If every smoker in America quit today each of the 50 states would be in a budget crisis tomorrow.  What?  Oh, OK... make that a worse crisis.

―:☺:―

In other news... My baby has her new hat.  I left El Casa Móvil de Pennington just before 0700 hrs yesterday morning and didn't return until nearly 1800 hrs, which made for a mighty long day, lemmee tell ya.  I put that time to good use by doin' sumthin' I rarely do these days:  I read Robopocalypse from cover to cover (so to speak) in a single sitting.  The lede grafs from a review at IO9:

Cool robots unlike any you've seen before battle humans in a near-future world where computerized cars and military drones are out to smash all homo sapiens. Until some robotics geeks and an army of Osage natives learn to fight back. 

It sounds like the plot to the most awesome robot uprising movie ever, and one day it will be. For now, it's Daniel Wilson's first novel, Robopocalypse. Long before it hit bookstores this month, Wilson's book was already in Steven Spielberg's hands, being turned into a futuristic war movie. And when you read it, you'll see why. Though Robopocalypse follows the general outlines of the classic robot uprising story, it's packed with enough realistic detail and surprising twists that you'll be riveted. Imagine the smartest parts of the Battlestar Galatica remake crossed with the most awesome fight scenes from Independence Day. Yeah, it's kind of like that.

The references are lost on me seein' as how I'm not familiar with either, but the book is a serious page-turner.  This is just the ticket if you're looking for a beach book and you like sci-fi.