Summer vacation

The Daily Blank is taking a breather for the rest of the summer. Those of you who know my work status are probably already asking yourself, “What the hell does he need a break from?”

Fair question. The problem is that I’m on the home stretch of the big move and the next couple of weeks are going to be very busy. The magnitude of the task is making it hard for me to concentrate on anything else. Actually, at this stage, I’m having a hard time finding a little piece of tabletop and a chair that isn’t piled high with boxes. Please note that I’m not bitching – just busy.

Once the move is over I’ll be spending the rest of the summer deep in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts at Pine Island Lake. Not only is there no Wi-Fi there, a usable cell signal is dependent on the relative humidity and the intensity of the Aurora Borealis. I think the best thing is to just power it down for a couple of months.

There may be a couple of special posts over the summer which I’ll announce on Facebook and via email to those on the mailing list.

It should be an interesting time next fall when we return just as we gear up for the midterm elections. At this point I’m not sure who is ahead; is it big oil or Wall Street? There is still time for big pharma to step up and take the flag – you can never count them out. Have a happy summer.

d’blank

Misc.

Can’t anybody do anything right in this country anymore? Over 200 bodies improperly buried in Arlington National Cemetery for God's sake? Ridiculous.

It’s nice to see the cat get its tail twisted now and then; or in this case – the Vampire Squid. Goldman Sach’s stock is in the tank and the government seems to actually be putting some pressure on them after losing patience with their stalling and stonewalling tactics, like sending the equivalent of several billion pages of documents in response to a recent subpoena.

The chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Committee, Phil Angelides, even refused to meet privately with Goldman CVS (Chief Vampire Squid) Lloyd Blankfein. Maybe their money ain’t good in Washington anymore?

On the other hand, probably it is. Goldman and other banks have already gutted financial regulation reform to a large degree. Joe Nocera, hardly a Trotskyite, lays it out in a recent Times column. This bill is going to be so weak as to be meaningless. They aren’t going to do anything meaningful about derivatives trading, and on the consumer protection front they’ve already given up on a proposed rule that would have required anyone selling exotic mortgages to compare whatever they are selling to a (formerly) standard thirty-year fixed mortgage. I guess we can all see how inflammatory and anti-bank that would have been.

I’m glad to see that wiser heads at General Motors quickly backed off the “don’t call me Chevy” memo. Maybe they are learning a few things at the New GM.

I guess we now know why Peter Carroll took a powder from USC when he did. The NCAA continues to run hard for the title of "worst regulatory organization in America." It is a very competitive race what with the work being done at the Minerals Management Service, the SEC and the FDA. I’d like to see a playoff among that group. On the other hand – maybe not.

As Buzzard said to me this morning regarding the NCAA, “I hope they are happy -- by removing 30 scholarships worth $150,000 each, mostly poor inner kids are being deprived of an education in favor of some rich Hollywood mogul who can easily afford to send his child to USC film school.” Meanwhile Carroll and Reggie Bush, the real culprits in this affair, continue making their millions in the NFL with no repercussions.

Hamburger Lit update: I’ve been sampling some of the recommendations from the comments to the May 8^th DB post. I read “An Unlikely Spy” by Daniel Silva and “Careless in Red” by Elizabeth George (who was born in Warren, Ohio). I can recommend both. Thanks to Brooke and Fenway.

Blues: I’m lovin’ the new Mannish Boys (above) album “Shake for Me.” They play bad-ass bar-band blues with a distinctly Bo Diddley-ish 1-3-2 beat. In fact they cover “Mona.” Their cover of Eric Clapton’s “Reconsider Baby” is terrific too.

Speaking of music, the Prowlers will be at the Ace of Clubs this Saturday night. That’s on Great Jones Street in da village, New York City. First set at nine. I’ll be there.

Coach Lou and I continue our bi-polar blog on “What’s Next.” We’re like the most popular content on the site. Can you believe it? Come check us out.

I’m still packing and discarding every day. It’s amazing what you can accumulate over 30+ years. It is not a fast process. Everything requires an evaluation and when you get to old photos it’s hard not to stop and day dream about the circumstances of their origins. Next up I have to decide what to do with all my old vinyl. There must be a couple hundred old albums I haven’t played in over 25 years (and am not likely to in the future), but it’s hard to toss them. Any takers? They are mostly mid-60’s to mid-70’s classic rock and R&B, but there are some stinkers in the mix too. Buzzard advises me to check the inside of all the double albums for aged and forgotten contraband before passing them on, which sounds like a good idea.

Adios muchachos.

Fatmobile

The most irritating commercials on TV are for the Scooter Store. They aren’t irritating in the manner of a “clapper” ad, or the really graphic anti-diarrhea spots. These are irritating because they encourage people on the periphery of need to use Medicare funds for these dubious devices.

The people in the ads are always really cute granny types who obviously need help getting to church or out to help at the Girl Scout bake sale. But who actually uses these machines? You urbanites may not see many of them, but I’ve spent the last few months visiting my local Wal-Mart on at least a weekly basis. Here is the “truth-in-advertising” version* of the testimonials that promote the Scooter Store:

“Hi! How do you like my new scooter from the Scooter Store? It didn’t cost me a nickel. The friendly people at the Scooter Store showed me how to scam Medicare (and you – the taxpayer) and my insurance company (and you – the premium payer) into paying for the whole thing!

After spending a lifetime eating whatever I wanted, never exercising, and watching my weight sore to 400 lbs, I found walking to the fridge a real chore. The folks at the Scooter Store felt my pain and assured me that never walking anywhere was my right as an American! So call today and let the knowledgeable, friendly staff at the Scooter Store show you how to get your friends and neighbors to pay for a new scooter so your fat ass will never have to walk anywhere again. Don’t delay. Call today.”

* My apologies in advance to anyone who actually needs one of these rolling fat-boy carts.

Topic #2: I always take my ear buds to the gym to plug into the sound system while I’m on the elliptical. One bud is marked with an L (left) and the other with an R (right). Yesterday, for at least the twentieth straight time, when I looked down I found that I had R in my left hand and L in my right. I say “at least” because it had probably happened another 10-20 times before I started counting. This seems like a near mathematical impossibility to me. One of you must have the math skills to calculate the odds. I am perplexed.

So I guess you can tell I’m reaching for topics. Forgive me but I am hugely distracted as we are in the process of sorting through 30 years of life’s accumulations, and packing them up in preparation of moving out of our house at the end of the month – our fourth major move in 3-1/2 years. This is leaving me little time for the deep thought and rigorous research that normally goes into these posts.