“Should five per cent appear too small / Be thankful I don’t take it all – I’m the Taxman, Yeah, Yeah, I’m the Taxman”……. (George Harrison)……

Today’s the day to give it all away….. Back to the big spenders in Washington…..  Have a Nice Day….eh?…..

An appropriate song title from James Taylor that fits the Oklahoma Weather this year…… The western half of the state, along with most of west Texas, has been consumed by wildfires, better known as “Firestorms”, while the eastern half of the state has been getting more than it’s share of thunderstorms and Tornadoes…..

The latest outbreak occurred this last Thursday from a “dry line” that formed right over the “I-35 corridor” (as the weathermen call it)…… The original storms formed less than 15 miles East of the OKC area and ravaged not only Oklahoma, but cut a path of destruction throughout the South all the way to the Atlantic…. One of the worst tornado outbreaks with severe loss of life and property in history……

In OKC, we didn’t see a drop, and haven’t in months….. We did, however, receive 67 mph winds from the backside of the Low Pressure area…. Luckily, I guess, most everything here had already burnt, and no one threw a match to what little dead grass and trees we have remaining…. We are still under “Extreme High Fire Danger” throughout the week with little or no chances of rain, and predicted winds in the 20 – 40 mph range….. Oh, yeah, we’ve been having numerous days in the ’90’s – more than 20 degrees above normal for this time of year, and, it’s only April…..

April is supposed to be our wettest month, so far, along with most of the western half of the state, we have had zip, nadda, none, zero……. If it’s this bad in April, I don’t even want to think about when July/August gets here….. Any remaining blades of grass will be placed in a museum and well guarded…..

Please send rain, or “Rain Makers”, or “Rain Dancers” – Yeah, send us some of your American Indians who know how to execute a proper “Rain Dance” – Apparently our Oklahoma Indians have forgotten, or are too busy in the Casinos to give it a try….. We’re “DESPERATE”!….. Soon there will be signs on half the state’s borders – “Welcome to the Oklahoma Desert” – Enjoy your stay – Bring you own water!……

Anon wanted me to Post this……. Click Some Guitar Players and take a look….. It’s pretty amazing to watch….. The Guitars are bigger than the Players!….. I guess they don’t make kid-sized guitars in North Korea….. It makes an old guitar player want to retire immediately, but, then again, if you’re that good, at that young of an age, what have you got to look forward to?????……

We all know the cover to the Beatles Abbey Road Album

An interesting little bit of useless knowledge has come to my attention.
The photo was taken by photographer Iain Macmillan during a photo shoot on Friday 8 August 1969 the famous photo was taken at approximately 1100am GMT (London Time)
Not 24 hours later at 2355pm Pacific time 4 persons entered the grounds at 10050 Cielo Drive In Benedict Canyon Los Angeles, Ca on the orders of their leader/Guru/God Charles Manson and brutally murdered 5 people.
A strange twist of fate, The prosecution tying the motive for the murders to the Beatles and their music and that same day one of the most famous Beatles covers was being photographed.

Hey everyone, (Those that are left) Where has everyone disappeared to? Now I feel that I have a pretty good excuse. My computer time is limited and I am on the road more than at home (329 days out last year) and cannot post very often.
But the rest of everybody, Whats up? Other than MR, Robo, And myself and occasionally Anon It seems that everyone else has abandoned our little community.
I know the same old excuses, It’s spring/summertime people don’t spend much time inside, ect. Well don’t you check your e-mail daily? Have we become boring?
Doesn’t anyone else have anything to say anymore?
As I have stated previously I believe in this Blog and feel it is a vital forum to all. No matter what your views are this is a place where we all can have a discussion about any topic that anybody wants to without fear of retribution. While we might not all agree on all topics/Points of view we can all agree to differ.
So in short, Where in the hell is everyone?!!!! I don’t want MR to dissolve this forum because of Lack of participation we have had a lot of fun here over the years, learned some things, and I feel kept the American dream alive thru freedom of speech.
Of course since everyone has abandoned us it seems I guess I am just talking to 3 people. (Preaching to the choir somewhat).

Yep, we’re the FOOLS that elected the current “Tidy Bowl” administration (they’re taking us straight down the drain!)…… Of course, that’s if you voted at all….. Those who voted for the current administration, we’ll call a “Type I Fool”….. If you voted against the CA, then you have the right to pull “April Fool’s” pranks on anybody you choose……. If you DIDN’T VOTE, then you are a “Type II Fool” – Dangerous, not only to your Country and yourself, but, probably the major cause for the sewer situation our Country is now in……

VOTE, YOU FOOLS!…… …….Maybe, and I say just “MAYBE” we can get our Country back on track…..

(Yes, this is just “My Opinion” and that usually amounts to squat!)…..

Remember my Post on the Hendrix Strings back on 28JAN11 – $27.27?….. Well, those numbers are back again!….

Our band, Terraplane, have been working on a limited edition single with one original, one cover song, and a bonus track from 1976…… As you can imagine, these were all recorded at very different times….. After all the tracks were down, I had the job of mixing and synching in all the tracks on each of the recordings….. After mastering the tracks, I had the option to add anywhere from .0 seconds to 9.9 seconds of blank space between the finished tracks…… These Blank Spaces are added to the beginnings of the last two tracks, and added into the total time of the completed CD……  After thinking it over, I decided on 2 second intervals between the tracks….. Now, remember, I hadn’t paid any attention to the lengths of the tracks in any detail, other than we usually record long tracks……

Here’s the result: Three (3) Tracks – Total Time: 27 minutes, 27 Seconds!…... The Hendrix tie-in:  He recorded and released Three (3) albums while he was alive and passed on at age 27……  I’m ruling out coincidence right here and now!….. That’s TWICE these numbers have appeared – Once in a Financial form: $27.27, and once in the Time form of: 27 min 27 sec….. What’s next: Spacial or 4-D?…… Hopefully, it’s Financial again – like 27 Million, 27 Dollars ($27,000,027.00)…. I’ll take it!!!!…..

This is to give you a little insight into how MR’s brain works….. I know, there’s lots of short circuits and blown fuses in there…..

Most of you should know by now that I’m a history buff, and, that I believe by having a knowledge of history, we, (as in all human kind), could and should be able to prevent major mistakes from occurring over and over again, now and in the future by the study of it……

Oh, Yeah, this is supposed to be about the earthquake in Japan?….. I heard about the quake early Friday and the associated Tsunami headed for the West Coast of the U.S., I was naturally worried about family and friends in the Seattle area, BUT, the really weird thing that popped in my mind was, “What if this natural disaster had happened 70 years ago – March, 1941?”…… Japan was in the middle of it’s quest for World domination in the Pacific Ocean Basin….. Would there have been a “Pearl Harbor”?…… Would they have continued their aggression, or, even been a player in the remainder of WWII?……. Would there have been an “A”-Bomb?….. How much shorter would the War have been if the Allies could have concentrated all their efforts against Hitler?…… How much destruction and how many lives could have been prevented and saved?…… Just how much would History, as we know it, would have changed?……..

I know, it’s a terrible disaster, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone (well, almost), but, God (yes, I believe there is a God) works in his (Her) own way – almost the way my mind works – very illogical, messed-up, and with the memory of a Elephant…… Delayed Payback? – Who knows….. I just hope God doesn’t remember everything I’ve done in my lifetime – I can’t stand Hot places…….

We all get to “Time Travel” one hour into the future, well, it’s not really time travel, but, we do “Spring Forward” and lose an hour until next Fall (huh?)…..  What a pain, resetting all your clocks, including that uncooperative internal body clock – that’s the one that gives me the most trouble…..

A little history on DST:  The idea was first floated back in 1784 by one Benjamin Franklin. While minister of France he wrote the essay “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light.” The idea failed to see the light of day until practically 100 years later, when the U.S. railroads instituted a standardized time for their train schedules. That time change was imposed nationally during the first World War to conserve energy, but was repealed after the war ended. It became the national time again during World War II.

Although it is supposed to conserve energy due to one hour of more daylight when most people are awake, studies have shown that the savings are nominal at best…..  In our current state, I guess even a penny of energy saved is better than nothing……

Entertainment?….. I just ordered “Murder by Death” from Amazon.com, a movie with Peter Falk in it to go along with all my “Colombo” videos….  The other Peter (Sellers) is also in it , along with quite a cast…..  As a “FREE Gift”, they included a “Video on Demand” version of the same movie!…..  Not a movie of my choice, but, the exact same movie that I just purchased on DVD!…..  This allowed me to watch the flick on my Mac, right now, instantly, before I received the DVD in the mail…..  Of course, I’ve already paid for the DVD, but, I couldn’t pass-up watching it NOW!…..  Luckily, I liked the movie well enough that I will probably watch it more than once after I receive the hard copy…..  If I wouldn’t have like it, I probably would have been a bit peeved about the whole thing……

It looks like we are getting closer and closer to “Spaceballs: The Movie” every day….. Soon, just like in Spaceballs, we’ll be able to see the movie BEFORE it’s made!….. Mel Brooks knew what he was talking about…… The Economy might be in the dumpster, but, our Entertainment Technology is cutting edge…..

Just like the stock market crash of ’29, our U.S. currency is fast approaching the value of cheap wallpaper…… If those BOZO’s in Washington don’t stop being the immoral, unaccountable, I, Me, Mine Morons they are very soon, we’ll all be in the proverbial “Handbasket to Hell”…. No more U. S. of A. as we used to know it….. I say “used to” because I don’t recognize it in it’s current state…..

There are laws “We the People” have to abide by, and there are laws Washington runs our country by – THEY ARE NOT THE SAME!!!….. We have about two (2) to Five (5) percent of the population living off the fat of the rest of us….. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting REALLY Skinny these days……

It’s time to get our country back to the land of a government ran “By the People, For the People”….. There should be no such thing as a “Career Politician”…… Our country was not founded on that belief, and if things continue as they are, there will be no country left to worry about….. How’s your survival skills?……

EXIT SOAPBOX – STAGE LEFT, RIGHT, and CENTER……

Yup – Oklahoma is the new Great White North (at least to Texas)…… Over the past week, we have had record breaking snow and more is predicted for the coming week….. Oklahoma is known for it’s quick changing weather, and we’ve been getting it….. Last Saturday, January 29, we set a new high – 76 degrees – in less than 3 days (February 1), we set a new low – minus 3 degrees and had a record breaking one day snowfall total in the form of a blizzard (winds were in excess of 50 mph)…..

In all the time of recorded weather, we have had only three (3) days in which more than ten (10) inches of snow fell in a single day – one of those were way back when (’20’s or ’30’s), the last two in the span of 13 months, the Christmas Eve Blizzard of 2009 (14.1 inches) and last week’s blizzard on February 1, 2011 (12.1 inches)….. They are predicting the storm that is coming in this week to be stronger than the one we just had, and, the snow has still not melted from it yet…..

So-o-o-o, send your snow shovels, sled dogs, and warm clothing, and pray to the Electric God to keep the power on…… Of course, we’ll be able to send all the stuff back to you in a few weeks, or even days, as it will probably be A/C weather by then……

Just a few pics of the aftermath.

PD Bob claims that “Ground Hog” is just another name for a “Prairie Dog” and he’s not happy…… Seems like that’s a derogatory insult to a Prairie Dog and he wants to start a campaign to get the day renamed to “Prairie Dog Day”…..

He’s also planning a big party for all the local PD’s….. The problem is MR Headquarters is “Snowed In”, literally, we got over a foot of snow with 50 mph winds causing 5-8 foot drifts….. The door to MR HQ cannot be opened due to a huge snowdrift – No one in – No one out….. PDB’s going stir crazy on me and is trying to burrow his way out the back wall as I write….. So far, he hasn’t even put a dent in the wall, not alone the snow that’s packed up against it…… Moral to this story – Never get snowbound with a crazed Prairie Dog…..

I am digging out “Groundhog Day”, the video, to watch, brewing up some coffee, and praying for quick rescue from this snowbound hell, even though it is only about 3 degrees outside with a wind chill of -16……

Alas, “Happy Groundhog Day”….. “Happy Groundhog Day”….. “Happy Groundhog Day”….. “Happy Groundhog Day”….. “Happy Groundhog Day”….. “Happy Groundhog Day”…..

….Or downright weird??…. You decide….. I have finally got around to shredding all those papers, invoices, mailing labels, etc., that you don’t really want to throw in your trash because, these days, you can’t even trust your trash when it comes to identity theft…. I ran across an invoice from Mills Music in Bothell, WA where I purchased four sets of officially licensed Jimi Hendrix strings….. This was in April of ’09….. The reason I was in Bothell in the first place was that I was in Seattle and shopping around for a cheap Fender Telecaster to use for slide playing……

The JH strings had just came out…. They were cool as they were packed in various combinations of string configurations that Jimi used and they had different album covers for the different sets, and, they were on SALE – Two for one….

Okay, Okay, here’s the deal – The total amount for the strings, which were different prices based on which set you purchased, plus the tax amounted to $27.27….. Jimi Hendrix was 27 years old when he died…. Quirky, Weird, Coincidence, or does MR just have too much time on his hands?….