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Interesting to note, on December 30th, 2006 I did a stat check of this site and reported on some of the different search strings that were bringing folks to my blog. It’s been awhile since I’ve done a stat check, so let’s see what we got going on a year later…

“resetting pad entry ford from outside”

“hazzardnet.com”

“is it legal to carry a concealed weapon into a bank in south carolina”

“glenn miller computer wallpapers”

“the mary anne pirate ship”

“avacados bad”

“get lost doormat”

“maxi pad print advertising”

I see the avacados and the maxi pads are still bringing ‘em in. Glenn Miller desktop wallpapers, yeah I got ‘em. In fact, if you click on the link to Serenade In Blue.net over on the right there, my tribute site to the swingin’ Mr. Miller, you’ll find several desktop wallpapers to chose from in the download section.

Now…this particular search string has me a bit concerned…

is it legal to carry a concealed weapon into a bank in south carolina

Now I realize that this search string garnered a hit to my blog here because I carried on about some chick carrying a concealed weapon into a bank in that TV mini-series “The Kill Point” and I mentioned South Carolina when Stephen Colbert had kicked off his short-lived run for the presidency.

However, I hope that the answer to that particular question is no. Especially after my diatribe on that particular Ten Minutes of the Worst Television I’ve Ever Seen back in September. Because if you’re so dumb as to carry a concealed weapon into a bank and then you happen to be there during a robbery and do something even dumber like start shooting at the bank robbers, I really have to wonder just how much grey matter you have in your head?! Because obviously it’s been replaced by black powder!

I also hope the person searching for the answer to that question wasn’t planning a robbery themselves.

Also, I’ve gotten a couple of hits recently from a website called stockleaf.com. This is a financial RSS feed site, with links to articles and such from all the big financial players like Kiplinger’s, the Wall Street Journal, CNN Money, The Street, ect. Now, I’m guessing my response to Brian’s Mortgage Meltdown post back in August (Panic at the Piggy Bank) got picked up in a feed by this website. Heh heh! Is it possible I could be inspiring financial gurus somewhere?

Probably not. But if I were to do some kind of financial/economic themed blog I’d want to do it the way Jim Cramer does his program “Mad Money” on CNBC. I’ve only seen the show once, but it’s worth watching just to see him have an on air conniption fit over something in the stock market or whathaveyou. With the current state of economic affairs in this country, between the so called “credit crunch” and the sub-prime fall out and the stock market having more up’s and downs than a Coney Island roller coaster ride, Mr. Cramer is his own high flyin’ trapeze artist. He’s totally nuts, but damn if he doesn’t make it interesting to pay attention to the economic news. Let’s face, it’s usually pretty dry and dull stuff, lots of numbers and percentages nobody can phathom unless they have a degree in this stuff. He simplifies it so that no matter if you’re novice and a beginner investor, or you’re a seasoned long haul survivor, you understand what’s going on and how things are shaping up. And armed with such information, you can make the right choices for your own investments.

About the only financial advice I can give is to buy low and sell high. Or buy high and sell higher. Remember to diversify. Take risks, but don’t risk it all. Stable sources of return can be a foundation in a well diversified portfolio. Past performance does not guarantee future results. If you’re young, start a 401(k). And…pray.

There you have it. MaryAnne “Cash On the Barrelhead” Coltrane with your investment tip o’ the day.

Now, there was one more search string I wanted to mention. The Mary Anne pirate ship. I have no idea what that is, but may I say….

YAARR!!

Ya know, I really really need to stop and realize a few things:

1. I’m not 19 anymore.

2. I’m not 19 anymore.

3. I’m not 19 anymore.

Okay, now that we’ve established that, I don’t think of myself as old, but I’m starting to realize that when I over-do things physically, it really hurts. And it’s either because of my age, or because I sit on my ass too much.

The weekend before Christmas, with the threat of Immeninet Doom in the Form of Rain to go ontop of the two feet of White Death we received over the past three weeks, I was helping my father to clear the snow in the yard, driveway and the roof of the house. He did the roof detail and I helped with running the snowblower, clearing the snow that came down from the roof. Apparently I was subconciously fighting with the snowblower (and it won) as on Sunday I was a hurtin’ puppy. I pulled a muscle in the upper thigh of my right leg.

Man, lemme tell ya, you don’t realize how important a muscle in your body is until it hurts and you discover what important function it does. In this case, this muscle is the one that allows me to actually lift my whole leg. It’s a good thing I’m not a dog, where lifting a leg allows for answering nature’s call. Sorry Nature, you’ll have to leave a message.

Of course, in true Coltrane fashion I proceed to aggrevate my leg further on Monday, trying to step over a patch of ice in the driveway. Remember that Imminent Doom in the Form of Rain I spoke of? We didn’t get a lot of it. It rained yes, but they had predicted it would be a lot of rain and there was concern that with all the snow on roofs, and then the added weight of the rain would spell disaster.

The only disaster was me nearly landing on my tush on a patch of ice not even two feet wide. I didn’t go down but I did pull the muscle in the same leg.

Then Tuesday was Christmas and…I can’t sit around and do nothing! There’s presents to open! Turkey to cook! Food to stuff in my face! A DVD player to hook up! C’mon!

So I aggrevated it even more. So much so that when I went back to work on Wednesday, I hurt. I could hardly walk.

I’m mostly recovered from it now, although still a little tender, but there’s an important lesson here: If you pull a muscle, don’t pull it two or three times again after initialy pulling it! It really hurts! Trust me, I’m now an expert on this.

Which means you can forgo setting up the DVD player for a day or two.

On January 7th, 2008, Stephen Colbert returns to the ert…I mean, the air! Khee! *does happy dance*

No, the writer’s strike hasn’t ended. It’s still raging on. And of course now WGA is all pissed off because Colbert and Jon Stewart are resuming their shows. WGA had this to say on Thursday…

“Comedy Central forcing Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert back on the air will not give the viewers the quality shows they’ve come to expect,” the WGA statement read. “The only way to get the writing staffs back on the job is for the AMPTP companies to come back to the table prepared to negotiate a fair deal with the Writers Guild.”

Comedy Central “forced” them to come back? Makes it sound like the meeting went something like this…

I suppose the WGA is trying not to attack Colbert and Stewart directly, instead laying  the blame at Comedy Central, but I can’t help but be a little offended by the remark. Almost like WGA is saying that Colbert and Stewart aren’t quality enough on their own to pull off something for their programs. Stewart’s background is stand up comedy. Colbert honed his skills in improv. I have no doubt that both of them can whip something together for a 30 minute program. Even if they can’t write their own material beforehand, they can certainly ad-lib.

Personally, I’m looking forward to Stephen’s return and I will get my ol’ VCR fired up again to resume taping episodes. Given his character’s penchant for stirring things up a little bit, I’m sure Stephen’s return is not going to be subdued.

Of course, I don’t envy the position he’s in. He’s a writer on his own show, and he’s union, but he’s also an executive producer and probably took into consideration the fact that a lot of other people have been out of work since this thing started seven weeks ago. I think some people forget that there’s production people, video editors, sound people, ect. who have been off the job since the beginning of November.

I should make clear that I’m not saying I’m not sympathetic to the writers in their cause. Certainly, they should be properly compensated for their works no matter what format it appears in (DVD, internet download, ect). I’m not at all saying that I support the producers/studios at all in their refusal to apparently negotiate a fair deal.

What I am saying however, is the way this is all being handled SUCKS. Somebody, somewhere is being a colossal pain in the ass. Now whether it’s the WGA or the studios, I don’t know. But I can’t believe that everything has ground to a halt over this compensation issue.

So, as a writer, though I’m sympathetic to the writer’s cause, I support and applaud Mr. Colbert for his show’s return. And like a baby eaglet watching the mother eagle soar over her young, I’ll be watching.

Oh, and before I forget, congratulations Stephen on being named the AP’s Celebrity of the Year for 2007!!

Last December 15th, I marked this date. Once again I do so…

In light of today’s announcement of the Mitchell report, the finding’s of the probe into steroid use in Major League Baseball, I’ve come to realize that the sport truly is America’s Pasttime as it clearly demonstrates what seems to be America’s newest in greatest values.

Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat.

Game over.