Basil’s Blog

In a battle between Cal Lightman and Gregory House, who would win?

It’d be a good battle. Both know when others are lying. Both like to get reactions from others to throw them off their game. But that’s when they’re battling others.

But, head-to-head, in a fight, who would win?

I first thought Dr. Lightman, since Dr. House is crippled. He requires a cane to walk.

Then, I thought: a cane! House would just beat Lightman with the cane.

So, now I’m not sure.

Still be a good fight. And entertaining.

A rough weekend got rougher.

Got sick this weekend. Must have been something I ate. Sick Saturday, sicker Sunday, and began feeling better Monday.

Then the house fire.

Oh, not our house. But a family member who lives across the street.

The Wife’s sister, her husband, and their two children came home yesterday afternoon to find their house filled with smoke and flames. The area fire departments (mostly volunteer) responded and saved the structure. That is, there appears to be no damage to the roof, and the fire was contained to the central area of the house.

There was extensive smoke and water damage. Not sure how much is salvageable. Their three inside cats weren’t; they were found dead from the smoke. And all their clothes, furniture (the furniture that didn’t burn, that is), and many other items will probably not be salvageable. Despite the fact they contained the fire to a relatively small area, smoke and heat were all throughout the house. Then the water damage from the fire departments’ efforts to put out the fire.

I must commend the local fire departments as well as the sheriff’s office for their quick response, care, and concern.

According to the investigators with the fire and sheriff’s office, it looks like the fire began at the phone jack by the computer. Not the electrical outlet, which was several feet away, but at the phone jack.

Last night was recovering what could be: photos, baby books, family mementos… Then running to the store for clothes and basic necessities. And food; the fire came right before supper.

We’ll see how the rest of the week goes.

His Royal Weirdness, Michael Jackson, is touring again.

My reaction to the news was, of course, whoop-de-frikkin-do.

It’s not often that Michael Jackson makes the news anymore. Unless, of course, he’s paying off some kid’s family so they don’t talk about the buggering.

Used to not be that way, though. Michael Jackson used to be news.

He’d sell out concerts, sell millions of albums, perform or do backing vocals on a third of every record played on the radio, have major movie producers doing his videos …

That was a while back.

Then I got to thinking. When did it all come crashing down for Michael Jackson?

As I recall, it was in the early 1990s.

When he was young, he was a popular Black singer. And rich. He was even able to out-bid Paul McCartney for the Beatles music catalog.

Around the early 1990s, though, things went wrong. First, he seems to have turned White. And was accused of child molestation. And got hooked on drugs (mostly painkillers). And lost most of his money.

Since then, he’s been almost pitiful.

But something was nagging at me.

Then it hit me.

There’s a parallel with Barack Obama. Follow me on this.

Obama was raised by his White mother (his Kenyan father having left) until he was 10, then by his White grandparents until he graduated high school.

He went to Harvard, graduated, then moved to Chicago in the early 1990s. That’s when he became Black.

Around the time Michael Jackson turned White, Barack Obama turned Black.

It seems the world only has room for one Black superstar at a time. I’m not saying it’s right. I’m just saying.

Will Jacko’s tour succeed? Probably not. Unless Obama turns White again.

There’s a mall in New Zealand that’s looking to drive off troublesome teens … by playing Barry Manilow music.

A group of several dozen young people regularly spread rubbish, spray graffiti, get intoxicated, use drugs, swear and intimidate patrons at the outdoor mall, he said.
The city council, police and local property owners covering 410 businesses agree that “nice, easy listening” music like Manilow’s “Can’t Smile Without You,” “Mandy” and other hits might change the behavior of loitering teens

If it works, I have another mission for Manilow: Read the rest of this entry »

Remember the recent presidential election?

Sure you do. It was in all the papers.

Anyway, there was talk about how bad the economy was, and that putting a Democrat in office — even a raving socialist like Obama — would bring back the Clinton economy. Remember that?

Well, guess what? It’s happened.

The Dow closed this afternoon at 6725.02. It hasn’t closed that low since April 21st, 1997, when it closed at 6660.21.

That’s when Clinton was president.

At this rate, we’ll soon be a prosperous as we were during the Roosevelt administration, where the Dow peaked at 194.40, on March 10, 1937.

Ah, the good old days.

We don’t get a lot of snow here. So, when it does snow, even a little bit, it’s a big deal.

Yesterday was Snow Day.

Today? Spatula Day.

You see, because of the snow that was still on the car this morning, I had to do some snow removal. Not much, since we didn’t get much compared to what folks up north get, but still, more than we’re used to.

Anyway, the old credit card didn’t do the job. Not to my satisfaction. The snow accumulated on the car was thicker than the card was wide, so my hands were cold.

So, into the house for a spatula. One of those wide ones that can be used on non-stick cookware.

Works great, too, for removing 4-6 inches of snow from a car windshield.

Ah, the spatula. We should have a National Spatula Day to honor this diverse little tool.

And a cookout.

Illegal immigration is a controversial topic. Though it shouldn’t be.

I’m in favor of immigration. Heck, my ancestors came to this country … before it was a country. They were immigrants. Hundreds of years ago, to be sure, but immigrants, nonetheless.

Same for everyone who calls the U.S. home.

But, today? Yes, I’m all in favor of people immigrating to this country. In fact, there’s an immigration process. Every civilized nation on earth has an immigration process.

It’s illegal immigration that I don’t like.

But so many on the left get their panties in a wad if anyone opposes illegal immigration.

They seem to forget that illegal immigration is … well, illegal. But when did laws matter to them? Unless it’s a law to ban guns. They want them laws followed.

Anyway, they say to let the illegals alone. They’re doing jobs that Americans don’t want.

I don’t doubt it.

But, the L.A. Times reports that over 10% of Californians are out of work.

Unemployment in California shot up to its highest level in nearly 26 years in January, leaving more than 1 in 10 workers without a job.

Figures released Friday show that 79,300 jobs were lost in the state last month, bringing the total number of unemployed to 1,863,000, or 10.1% of the workforce. That’s the highest since the rate touched 10.4% in 1983.

I’ve been out of work. But, I didn’t sit on my ass. I found work.

I worked temporary construction jobs. I’ve worked at temp agencies. I’ve stood in line at the Department of Labor, filling out forms and getting lists of jobs.

I was turned down for some jobs because I was “over-qualified,” which means they figured I’d have worked until I found a better job.

Bottom line is, I didn’t sit on my ass; I went to work. And I found work.

There’s work in California. It might not be pleasant work, but work seldom is.

And, the work might be currently done by an illegal alien.

We don’t get much snow.

I don’t, anyway. That is, I’m not used to it. I’m from south Georgia, and I’m not used to snow.

But, it snowed this morning.

I got up early, and tried not to make too much noise as I turned on the TiVo.

Later in the morning, I heard a noise come from the bedroom. Then, footsteps.

The door flew open, and out came running … The Wife.

I thought something was wrong, at first. Then, I noticed the look on her face.

She threw open the door and gazed at the snow falling.

It took her a minute to realize she had on just her nightgown. I noticed right off. Perhaps it was the cold.

I grabbed my Blackberry and snapped a shot of the snow falling on the car.

She threw on some clothes and grabbed her Sony camera, taking several pictures of the falling snow.

And the animals. Not just her ducks and goats, the wild birds, too.

Of course, she made some phone calls. She gets excited about snow.

I’ve pulled guard duty in knee-deep snow on a mountainside in Korea. I’m not a big fan of snow.

But, we’re lucky here. When we get some snow, it’s not a lot; just enough to cause children’s eyes to widen.

And it doesn’t stay long. That’s the best part.

President Bush awards radio commentator Paul Harvey, the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2005, in Washington. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian award, and recognizes exceptional meritorious service.(AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)

My first job was at a radio station in my home town.

We were an ABC Radio affiliate. News every hour on the half-hour on the AM station, and every hour on the hour on the FM side.

But both the AM and FM stations carried Paul Harvey.

Paul Harvey was always popular with the older audience. But, in a small, south Georgia town, he was popular with most folks. A teenage me included.

His 5-minute “News and Comments” at 8:30 every morning was a staple. As was the quarter-hour version at 12:30.

But many people’s favorite was “The Rest of the Story.”

I remember when “The Rest of the Story” began. The first episode was about a little boy named Leslie Lynch King. The rest of the staff listened intently, following along, not knowing what to expect; after all, it was the first episode.

Of course, the little boy took his adopted father’s name, and eventually became President Gerald Rudolph Ford. The radio station staff was fascinated, and was hooked from that episode forward.

I knew President Ford’s birth name, so the surprise ending was no surprise, but the program was still well-done. I was hooked, too.

And that was the thing about Paul Harvey. It wasn’t what he said. It was how he said it.

And no one said it better.

Paul Harvey died today.

I’m going to miss his broadcasts. I’m going to miss his comments. I’m going to miss his sense of humor. I’m going to miss “The Rest of the Story.”

Most of all, I’m going to miss hearing “Paul Harvey … good day!”

There’s not much I can add to this. The picture sort of says it all.

This is a real photograph from the Columbus Public Library.

Photo by Brian Bolton. Used with permission

The thing is, I’m not sure the folks at the library were actually wrong. Many people seem to worship their computers, whether Macs, PCs, mainframes, handhelds, or whatever. And many people read more computer books than they do Bibles.

Kind of gives a whole new meaning to “Gates of Hell,” doesn’t it?