Just lovely.

...And now it starts snowing.
Just #*@!?ing lovely.
Luc is wishing hateful shit on us here. Thanks man!

Quick Update

Just a quick update for Constant Readers...

I'm in Buffalo NY for the NHL's Winter Classic...
An outdoor game to be played in Ralph Wilson Stadium, usually home to the Buffalo Bills, this week it is the temporary stomping ground of the Sabres and 50,000 rabid hockey fans...
When tickets went on sale, all 50,000 tickets were sold out in something on the order of 20 minutes...
This will be the place to be on New Years Day if you are in West New York State.

During my copious free time I will be striving to put together a passable narrative of the trip down to the Tortugas from 2 weeks ago...
It's coming RSN.
(Real Soon Now)

Film at 11, updates as they happen...

TBG out-

Inappropriate attire

Smart Ass: "We're all gonna chip in and buy you a jacket."

Yours Truly: "For stuff in my size they charge by the yard...and I don't think you'll raise enough to buy one sleeve, let alone a full winter coat."

TBG, Freezing my...fingers off.

The NHL's Winter Classic

...The moon, on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave a lustre of mid-day to objects below...
-From Clement Moore's "A visit from St. Nick"

This gives new meaning to "Pure as the driven snow"...

TBG out-

Wow

Anonymous NHL guy: "They can't pay me enough to do it, but they could pay you enough."

Other Anonymous NHL guy: "Yeah, I'm cheap *and* easy."

TBG- worried.

It's going to be one of those events...

JR: "Chicks dig the monkey..."

Chris: "Monkey? Is that what you are calling it these days?"

TBG, out-

Zzzz...

Now I feel better about the safety of my equipment...

Out of context: Buffalo

From the waitress at Red Robin:

"Do you want some pink?"

(We assumed she meant the hamburger...)

TBG, back in Buffalo.

Living Dangerously

Posting a blog entry via Crackberry while driving up I-95 at night is kinda like giving a ferret a shave.
No matter how careful you are, someone is going to get hurt.

But I have time to kill and the blog ain't gonna write itself.

If any Constant Readers want a real chuckle, stroll over to Zack Cline's site, http://thewrongway.com and go to his galleries.
Between his eye for composition and his choice in cameras, his photos make mine look like I'm blindly snapping away with a Kodak Instamatic.
Anyway, peruse the pics from DRTO...especially the ones of The Grand Shearing...

Ok, you have your assignment, get moving.

TBG out-

May, perhaps, might, could.

(This is the last time I'm going to beat this horse. I promise...)



Yet another cover story in USAToday concerning global warming.



"Scientists: Global warming could kill off reefs by 2050."



A dire warning by "an international coalition of scientists" in an obscure journal says coral reefs, and by extention, the rest of the world, are doomed in 42 years.



The USAToday article, and undoubtedly the report itself is full of language that screams "Doomsday!" in one breath and couches the entire report in suppositive language and a host of "possible scenarios" ranging from complete-extinction-of-life-as-we-know-it to negligible-impact-life-is-good forecasts.



The News Media today loves this kind of stuff... It lets them do a little hand wringing and it sells newspapers or gives the talking heads something to wail about...



The scientific community loves this atmosphere of fear, because in the environment of "publish or perish" that is Academia today, you can write a report filled with twisted and massaged data, get published and because it is couched in the "may, might, perhaps, possible" language, they have no accountability.

Kind of like how the hurricane forecasters give dire warnings like: "we have the potential to see the worst season for devastating hurricanes in the last five decades!" - then they shrug their shoulders and say "we said 'potential' in our forecast. Sorry!" when there are a minimum of storms that year.



The final word from Uncle Jay:

Scientists don't "know" shit.



TBG, out-

More Global Warming Bullshit

Saint Al has been bad mouthing the USA, again.

"I am going to speak an inconvenient truth," Gore told an audience of several hundred, playing on the name of his Oscar-winning documentary.

And in low tones he added: "My own country the United States is principally responsible for obstructing progress in Bali," spurring rapturous applause and cheers.

I'm tired of this asshole.

Read a REASONABLE opinion from one of his Nobel Co-Laureates:

Dishonest Political Tampering with the Science on Global Warming
Written By: Christopher Monckton, Denpasar, Bali
Published In: News Release
Publication Date: December 5, 2007

As a contributor to the IPCC’s 2007 report, I share the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. Yet I and many of my peers in the British House of Lords - through our hereditary element the most independent-minded of lawmakers - profoundly disagree on fundamental scientific grounds with both the IPCC and my co-laureate’s alarmist movie An Inconvenient Truth, which won this year’s Oscar for Best Sci-Fi Comedy Horror.

Continue reading this article...

TBG out-

Buffalo

This weather is insane.

For the life of me, I can't figure out why anyone lives up here.

On the way to the Stadium this AM...


That's a nice glaze of snow and ice on the highway...

In the stadium...


This will be a perfect place to play an outdoor hockey game...


I have to walk up and down these steps in sneakers...

I'm going to kill myself...

TBG, freezing-

Welcome to Misery

Population: Me

From Google Weather:

Buffalo, NY
27F,
Wind: E 10 mph
Hum: 74%
Thu: 27F-30F, Snow (...and lots of it.)
Fri: 18F-33F, Chance of Snow Showers
Sat: 17F-26F, Chance of Snow

Schools are closed and flights are canceled.
I am ill-prepared for the weather here. I need warmer clothes, a knit cap to keep my noggin from freezing, and some boots with good traction.
My sneakers slide on the snow and ice - if I don't take a serious fall between now and Friday night I'll be amazed.

Obligatory Food Content:
I went to the Anchor Tavern for wings last night...
I have to say, they were pretty tasty.

TBG, out in the snow.

Career Development Seminar

- or -
Tortugas Drinking and Fishing 2007

Annie in SC
(Formerly Annie in KW)
Asks a particularly timely question...

"And how come no posts/pics from DRTO?"

Well... There are two good reasons...

First, I've been either behind the wheel of a vehicle or getting on a plane for the majority of my waking hours since my return... and second... No pics, because no camera.

Well... I have my Crackberry camera, but that's pretty pitiful...
I also still have my old sony, but since the screen on the back is cracked, it makes it a bit hard to preview the pics... I have to shoot a bunch and hope for good results...

There is a nice post coming covering our "Career Development Seminar", including such tales as "The Grand Snapper Outing", "The Stuttgart Carnivore", "Miss Costa Rica and the White Asses", and the ever-popular "There have been complaints..." story.

Stay tuned, film at 11.

TBG, out-

Extremes. I go to them.

Before...



After...



Responses so far:

1. Damn. How much rum did you guys drink?

2. Wow. Did you lose a bet?

3. Who's the convict?

4. Holy crap! (initial response from several people)

5. Jeez. There is no middle ground with you, is there?

6. Dude. Sunscreen. Quick.

7. Man. You look mean. Looks good on *you* though... (said while backing away)

8. Wow. Is it time for the Masters already?

9. Dude, the glare is killing me.

10. Did you fall asleep around a bunch of drunk guys?

11. Oh, Dude. You've got to get a new motorcycle to go with *that* look!

12. Hey man, the WWE called- you're scheduled for a match tomorrow night.

13. Nervous laughter.
(initial response from several people, usually cut short by a very hostile look...followed by a comment such as "man, you really look angry."

-------------------------

Just for the record, this was a planned tonsorial adjustment.
It was time for a change...

TBG out-