CANADIAN ELCTIONS

If you don't have HBO then here is a clip for you that explains Canadian election 2015.

Canada, we do love you; and it is nice to know that your politicians are as fucked up as ours. 

the Ol'Buzzard

OCTOBER IN WESTERN MAINE

This has been the most beautiful fall I can remember here in western Maine.   The colors have been vivid with startling shades from brilliant red to brightest gold. 

But now the color has peaked and passed; our world has shifted to gold and yellows with bare branches beginning to show as the wind takes the leaves. 

The green is copper beach, it will turn late to a brassy copper.

 

I can truly say that fall has passed and the first indications of winter are settling in.   Today the high temperature was 41 degrees and snow has been predicted for the higher elevations.

This is the Maine I love: a place of four seasons; and the fall and winter are my favorite.

 

October 17^{th 2015} 

the Ol’Buzzard 

CELL PHONE ETIQUETTE

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUD

Yesterday I used my cell phone for the second time this year.   I called a small general store for a steak and cheese sandwich to go, on the way home from running errands.  

I got this phone in Alaska in 2005 when I was principal of three Native schools in the southeast tundra.   It was necessary I stay in connect with the schools and the district office whenever I was out of the villages.  

I pay $100 a year for 250 minutes through an Alaska communication company, and have found that I cannot find a comparable offer here in Maine - so I keep the Alaskan phone service.  

At present I have over 2000 minutes available; and though I carry the phone whenever we travel, or I am on the bike (motorcycle,) I never turn it on unless I need to make a call – which is almost never.   I don’t even know how to retrieve messages and missed calls and really don’t give a fuck.   I am not so important that I can’t wait until I get home and check my answering machine or e-mail.

I am not opposed to technology; I use TomTom when I travel, I enjoy the computer and I believe that technology is the only thing that may save the human race at some time in the future.    

But, no one needs to be connected 24/7.   No one needs to be communicating by text or telephone while driving; no one needs to have their phone turned on in a restaurant, movie, playhouse or other public venue.   The idea that anyone needs to sit in a restaurant with friends or family and check their e-mail or text is absurd and ignorant.

 

And, if you walk around with that thing that looks like a leach hanging out of your ear, and you are not an emergency room doctor on call, you are an…

Turn off your cell phone.   You are not that important.

The Ol’Buzzard

THE HUMAN RACE SUX, BUT HAVE A GOOD DAY

Today is a cat day.  It is raining and the temperature is fifty degrees with a slight wind. 

I love this type of day.    It’s a day to stay home and read, nap, eat, nap, drink wine, get laid and nap – and spend a short time on the computer this morning to get the need to write out of my system.

 

I have made a conscious effort not to mire into the political, economic and foreign policies of the country and the world on this blog; because what comes around goes around – and we will see the same insanity again and again and again.

So I try to blog about the non-crisis of the moment.   But today I have to comment.

  

October 9, 2015 and we have another shooting at a college campus, this week in Arizona.   Oh well; what’s Donald Trump doing?

The Republican led Congress is totally dysfunctional: they have inherited the wind; but we all suffer from a dysfunctional government.

We are quagmire in the Middle East and it is of our own making:  

  

In 2003 Bush invaded Iraq and removed Saddam, and that has turned into ethnic chaos resulting in Isil.

 We supported the overthrow of Kaddafi resulting in that country being destabilized and becoming a home for Al Qaeda.

Now we are demanding the overthrow of the government of Syria and removal of President Bashar al Assad – what could possibly go wrong there?  Obviously we can’t learn from past mistakes.

Adding to the Syrian conflict Russia has now militarily committed to the al Assad government and is flying missions in defiance of U.S. war planes.

  

Vladimir Putin is an ego-maniac that seems anxious for a confrontation with the U.S.   He is capable of escalating the Syrian conflict to a nuclear threat believing the U.S. will back down and Russia will be respected as the premier military power in the world. 

The problem is that we have our own ego-maniacs led by John McCain who would like to escalate a confrontation with Russia.  Yesterday McCain proposed implementing a no fly zone over Syria and confronting Russian war planes.  

I constantly make reference to George Orwell’s 1984 because the parallels to today are so striking.

 

The country is in a perpetual state of war: we fight them there because we don’t want to fight them here.

“War is Peace.”

The Patriot Act will keep us safe.

“Freedom is Slavery.”

The Tea Party has taken over the Republican Congress and vies for the Presidency.

“Ignorance is Strength.”

The parallels are endless.  If you haven’t read 1984 in a while…   Perhaps you shouldn’t – it might ruin your day.

The fucking country is a mess, the god damn world is a mess, the human race is a mess; but I don’t care.  It will be the same way when I am gone.    The human race cannot live in peace.  As individuals we are likable-enough; but in our herd, our pack or our troop we are destructive, vindictive and cruel. 

Am I depressed?   No way.   I plan to drink some wine, have a decadent lunch, and if I am lucky have sex this afternoon with my beautiful wife.

  

So the world can go to hell in a handbag – just as it always has.   We are the root of our own destruction and someday we will inherit the wind. 

But in the meantime have a good day

the Ol’Buzzard

A GREAT FALL RECIPEE

AN OCTOBER SOUP

One large butternut squash

Three and one half cups of low sodium chicken broth

One medium onion

One large apple

Cube the butternut squash into one inch pieces, add the diced onion and apple slices.  Place in a slow cooker with three and one half cups of low sodium chicken broth – cook on high for four hours or low for six.

Puree contents of slow cooker then add

1 teaspoon of cinnamon and one half teaspoon of nutmeg and three tablespoons of maple syrup.   Mix well and serve. 

A hardy soup meal with bread and butter.

Enjoy

the Ol'Buzzard  

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

Read my lips
the Ol'Buzzard

OCTOBER: A SPECIAL MONTH FOR SPECIAL PEOPLE

When you are married to a witch October is a special month.

October 

Damn my hair has turned white.  

But, I still have some black in my mustache and my pubes are still black.

 The season for witches - and this one is mine

The baby is always watching the mamma witch

The Older Cat - My wife's familiar 

The exercise bike sits idle behind the chest: perhaps she can cast a spell that will make us want to use it next month.

Double bubble toil and trouble...

Counting down to Halloween

Look into my eyes...

The witch's broom -  hand made by an artisan in Kentucky.

Something evil this way comes

the Ol'Buzzard