Is it Possible to Have a Merry Christmas...

...in these dark and troubled times? The world is spinning out of control, poisoned by the actions of one hubristic species, a species that wars upon itself and all other species. Who could have a merry Christmas at such a time?

I Could! And you can, too! And you're a fool if you don't. Merry Christmas to All! Christ may or may not have been the son of God, but he was a great gift to mankind, either way.

Funny cat

This funny cat likes to play the piano!

And what is it that you do, Mouse?

I'm not really Mom, she is just conveniently signed in on her computer.

The Nannies are Winning

The government tells you what lightbulbs you can use.

No Turkey Today

Panda did not get a turkey today at Adam's farm. He was unable to break his record of one day in a row.

Thanksgiving Came Late This Year...

...for the cats. In fact, they were beginning to think it wouldn't come at all. But Panda, bless his heart, got them a turkey. They were so thrilled. Several of them jumped up and gave him a hug around his neck. He was SO proud. He said, "If ya want to have kitties to get, you have to feed them."

The other day I heard a loud screeching from the barn. I walked in and traced the noise to the kitten I tried to give away. It was underneath Stinky's belly (Stinky was lying down) with only its two front legs and head showing. It was howling and scrabbling with its front paws and throwing its head around trying to get out from under this massive thing lying on it. I got Stinky up and the kitten ran away as fast as its little legs could carry it. Stinky said, "Stupid cat." The kitten seems to have sufered no ill effects and is back wandering among cow legs. Stupid cat.

Curt Schilling...

...really, really, really needs to shut up.

Somebody Needs a Hug

The world is ending, and we're not doing anything about it.

More Kids

A three year old sings the SSB:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBQBOIIjQPQ&feature=related

I don't know what to say about this kid, except that he is a stark contrast with the kid to his right;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFzMcqzDOgw&NR=1

Working in a Winter Wonderland

When it snows, Dad has a lot to do . . .

. . . and it snowed quite a lot.

Christmas Pictures for a laugh

Amusing signature line

"I don't have a girlfriend. I just know a girl who would be really mad if she heard me say that."

Straight From the Horse's Mouth

A quote from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's blog:

"One's perspective regarding government and governance determines the way one ‎should cooperate with the people. If one recognizes government as a privilege and prey ‎of the governors, then the period of governance can be counted as an opportunity to fulfill ‎the expectations of certain individuals and groups or the ostentation and hedonism of the ‎governors.‎"

................?????

American Idol, 2016 or so?

Check out this seven-year-old singing the National Anthem at a basketball game. He is apparently from somewhere in the Albany area. Now, I could easily do without the pop-star affectations, especially in such a young kid. But still. Holy smoke!

The National Weather Service Explains Itself

A HEAVY SNOW WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM EST THIS EVENING . . . A HEAVY SNOW WARNING IS IN EFFECT BECAUSE HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED IN THE WARNING AREA.

Funny slogans

seen on trucks passing by the office today:

On a garbage truck, a picture of a skunk and the motto, "Our business stinks, but it's picking up!"

On a truck for a sewer/septic tank disposal business: "We're #1 in the #2 business!"

More Lily Tomlin

"Reality is for people who can't handle drugs."

It's that time of year again...

for White Christmas: http://www.thecompassgroup.biz/merryxmas.swf
It's officially two weeks until Xmas. M & D, you better have the tree up.

Chinese in Sherburne

I've grown increasingly concerned about the apparently rampant consumerism in our materialistic society...Oh, no, wait. Wrong post.

Here we go:

A new Chinese restaurant has opened in Sherburne. Which is a good thing because the ones in Norich are not the best. We got take out last night and it was pretty good. And they use new containers that are more consumer friendly. Which when they were empty I threw in the trash.

BTW, did you know that the volume of the outer five miles of the earth's crust is approximately 240 million cubic miles?

Misty's Bad Hair Day

"I just washed my hair and I can't do a thing with it."


Satin, however, is neatly coiffed.

"Hairspray is a must in the barn environment."

Twinkie prefers a pompadour.

"Stylishness is important to my self-image."

Elsie shows no improvement. She still looks like a Brown Swiss.
"I don't look like a Brown Swiss. I wish you'd stop saying that."

A Thousand Points of Light

Click to Enlarge.

A Review of Five Dog Books

Here.

Veterinary Question

Caleb, maybe one of the bovine vets could enlighten me. I could've emailed you with this but I figured a blog post would kill two birds with one stone.

The vet checked a cow pregnant at 75 days. At 92 days, she came into heat. Three possibilities:
1) She wasn't pregnant. Very not likely. No heats seen, and anybody should be able to detect a 75 day pregnancy.
2) She had a spontaneous abortion. Not likely and highly coincidental. I've seen this ~ 17 day post preg check return to heat before.
3) The vet caused a traumatic abortion. One of my questions is: Is 17 days long enough to return to heat? Well, now that I think about it, of course it is. Cows often have heats 10-12 days postpartum.

I should just stop doing pregnancy checks.

Goodness gracious.

The most recent internet search that found our blog was for "objects floating in McDonald's coffee."

It's beginning to look a lot like . . .

well, you know.

We bought the Christmas tree today. It's not up yet -- it's on the porch, all wrapped up in its nice neat netting. Ross Pancoe says hello to any Murphies who remember him.

We might commit a Radical Act and put it up in a different room. There's a lot to be said for the family room . . .

It was Twenty Years Ago Today

Sergeant Pepper taught the Band to play . . .



Happy Birthday, Luke!

10 Years Ago Today. At the White House. A Day of Intrigue.

C. December 6: The Northwest Gate Incident
1. Initial Visit and Rejection
On the morning of Saturday, December 6, Ms. Lewinsky went to the White House to deliver the letter and gifts to the President. The gifts included a sterling silver antique cigar holder, a tie, a mug, a "Hugs and Kisses" box, and an antique book about Theodore Roosevelt.(731) Ms. Lewinsky planned to leave the parcel with Ms. Currie, who had told Ms. Lewinsky that the President would be busy with his lawyers and unable to see her.(732)
Ms. Lewinsky arrived at the White House at approximately 10:00 a.m. She told the Secret Service uniformed officers at the Northwest Gate that she had gifts to drop off for the President, but that Ms. Currie did not know she was coming.(733) Ms. Lewinsky and the officers made several calls in an attempt to locate Ms. Currie.(734) The officers eventually invited Ms. Lewinsky inside the guard booth.(735) When Ms. Currie learned that Ms. Lewinsky was at the Northwest Gate, she sent word that the President "already had a guest in the [O]val," so the officers should have Ms. Lewinsky wait there for about 40 minutes.(736)
While Ms. Lewinsky was waiting, one officer mentioned that Eleanor Mondale was in the White House.(737) Ms. Lewinsky correctly surmised that the President was meeting with Ms. Mondale, rather than his lawyers, and she was "livid."(738) She stormed away, called and berated Ms. Currie from a pay phone, and then returned to her Watergate apartment.(740)
Hands shaking and almost crying, Ms. Currie informed several Secret Service officers that the President was "irate" that someone had disclosed to Ms. Lewinsky whom he was meeting with.(741) Ms. Currie told Sergeant Keith Williams, a supervisory uniformed Secret Service Officer, that if he "didn't find out what was going on, someone could be fired."(742) She also told Captain Jeffrey Purdie, the Secret Service watch commander for the uniformed division at the time, that the President was "so upset he wants somebody fired over this."(743)
. Ms. Lewinsky Returns to the White House
From her apartment, Ms. Lewinsky reached the President on the phone.(745) According to Ms. Lewinsky, the President was angry that she had "made a stink" and said that "it was none of my business . . . what he was doing."(746)
Then, to Ms. Lewinsky's surprise, the President invited her to visit him.(747) She testified that "none of the other times that we had really fought on the phone did it end up resulting in a visit that day."(748) WAVES records reflect that Ms. Lewinsky was cleared to enter the White House at 12:52 p.m. and exited at 1:36 p.m.(749)
During their meeting, Ms. Lewinsky told the President that Mr. Jordan had done nothing to help her find a job.(750) The President responded, "Oh, I'll talk to him. I'll get on it."(751)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that, overall, she had a "really nice" and "affectionate" visit with the President.(752) In an email to a friend a few days later, she wrote that, although "things have been crazy with the creep, . . . I did have a wonderful visit with him on Saturday. When he doesn't put his walls up, it is always heavenly."(753)

Minus 3

Snow everywhere.

But don't forget. Weather and climate are not the same thing.

Letter to the Editor

From the Danville Register Bee:

To the editor:Religious intolerance of homosexuals is rife, no matter how it is masked, as in a minister’s recent letter to the editor. Having sung in a local church choir for years and my “closet” coming-out accepted by the entire congregation, I wonder if he would welcome me into his fold knowing that I am bisectional.

A. Murray, Danville

Santana Trade?

What do we think of this purported Santana trade? He is super and all, but rumor is that Ellsbury could get thrown in for him. I'd like to keep him. But, if we don't get Santana, the MFYs probably will.

Dad Goes to Lowe's

Well, Mom went, too. Things were going fine until I decided to take a walk through the tool section. All of a sudden, lights started flashing and tools were buzzing. A couple of tools were actually jumping up and down in their display. Two guys in Lowe's vests came running over saying, rather loudly, "Sir! Sir! Please leave the tool section. Please, sir. Now, sir." Well, I didn't know what the hell was going on but as I walked out of the tool section, things kind of calmed down, the lights stopped flashing and the tools stopped buzzing. The crowd that had gathered started dispersing. The two Lowe's guys who hustled me out of the tool section were kind of standing between me and the tool section with looks on their faces that said I'd better not try to go in there again. So, I said to them, "Ok, what gives? What was that all about?"

One of them said, "Sir, you were activating all the stud sensors. It happens once in a great while. Please just stay away from them."

Two minutes later, life had returned to normal at Lowe's, and Mom came around the corner and said, "Ready to go?" and I said, "You're never gonna believe what just happened."

It's that time again

for searches that have found this blog:

A Google search for "pictures of hobbit houses."

A Google search for "Tina Cervasio." (Actually, we get quite a lot of these.)

A Google search for "Streisand Clinton endorsement."

A Google search for "mom crotch hit." (Ack!)

A Google search, not from the same person, for "hit by pitch crotch." (A theme!)

Ok. So maybe AIDS ISN'T gonna get you. But Global Warming Definitely will. Definitely.

Click Here.

The Cow Who Got Her Head Caught in the Crotch of a Tree

Eight days after getting her head caught in the crotch of a tree, Elsie still shows some effects. Her left peri-orbital area is swollen, and it looks as if she had some nerve or muscle damage to her ears. They're droopy. She looks like a Brown Swiss. For a comparison, a cow with normal ears is shown below. I don't think the tongue thing is related. She's lucky to be alive.

Clinton Wins Streisand Endorsement

Now that should help nail down the nom for Hillary. A question remains, however: who's gonna get the all-important George Clooney endorsement?

CNN analysis:

CAFFERTY: Give me a hand with something. What exactly does the Streisand endorsement represent?
BLITZER: It means that Barbara Streisand, great singer, is supporting Hillary Clinton
CAFFERTY: Reclusive, neurotic, over-the-hill vocalist endorses Hillary. I mean, is the ground supposed to shake now, and lightning bolts fly out of the sky. Who cares!?
BLITZER: She's got a lot of fans out there, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Oh, come on!

Buy your wife a Lexus/BMW/Acura for Christmas

What's with all these attempts at tear-jerking heart-warming ads for upper-middle income husbands "surprising" their wives with new cars for Christmas? Gag me. This is romance? This is family Christmas values? The ads are just awful. And what about global warming?

Speaking of which. There are many, many new ads, mostly with kids, many paid for with your tax dollars, that are chock full of hand-wringing about GW. It is a movement, folks. And all the right people are just SO concerned and if we all do our part, we can make a difference. What stuff. Doing our part seems to mean buying a hybrid. So congratulate yourself. There was a well-known economist on CNBC yesterday who said, rightly, that all our energy-efficiency gains of recent decades have been offset by consumer's increased use of energy, and, wrongly, that if we're going to control energy use we must force consumers to use less. Crap.

Using energy is good. It gives us the things that make life enjoyable. And there is no difference between "renewable" and "non-renewable" energy. The world is a limitless source of energy. The recent high energy prices will stimulate the development of more supply. It has happened over and over in our history. Bright minds are presently working feverishly to bring more supply to market because they are going to make money doing it. And more energy use leads to a CLEANER environment. Wealthy, developed nations have cleaner air and water than poorer nations, and are vastly cleaner than they were decades and centuries ago. There are volumes of data that prove this.

The only constraint on how much energy you should "use" is how much you can afford.

Greetings, literally

The most exhausting Thanksgiving weekend I have ever spent. And it will not stop until the thirty cows and heifers that are still outside are inside at the end of the week.

One more thing to do. I want to make sure, children, that I taught you this lesson. When an adult three or more decades your senior addresses you and says, "Hi, (your name)", you would never say, "Hey." Right? Right? I taught you that one, didn't I?

Boston Globe Headline

Local
Commuter rail delays worst in year
Thirty percent of Boston's suburban commuter rail trains ran more than five minutes late in October, the worst monthly performance in a year of increasingly unreliable service that has begun to spark rider unrest.


Well, things just sound terrible in Boston. Thirty percent! More than five minutes! Worst in Year! Just thank your lucky stars you weren't living in Boston and using commuter rail a year ago. It was really, really bad then.

I wonder if they trot this same story out once a year.

Lily Tomlin quote:

"If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in the library?"

An e-mail from my friend Michele

"I went to the blog to celebrate the signing of Mike Lowell and there was nothing :-(

You all do know he was signed right. I just wanted to make sure you heard.

3 years, 37.5 million."

Beware incipient moldy-blog syndrome!

Andy Robustelli Wins a week

Finally.

McDonald's Coffee

I love going to Dunkin' Donuts for the donuts and for when I can say, "Medium coffee with cream and sugar" and I don't have to open packets of sugar and creamers and clean up after my self. And they don't say, "How many of each?" they just put in some cream and sugar. Just do it and give it to me please.



Wel, mcDonald's got smart, first by finally getting good coffee that beat out all the big names in a CR test, and second by handing out coffee that is fully prepared. I like that. The only part I don't like is haveing to have a conversation about how many of each. Just put in some cream and sugar and give it to me. I'm not fussy. Anyway, I like the McDonald's commercial about it.

Bovine Veterinary Science In A Nutshell-The Thermometer method

If your cow is not eating, stick a thermometer in her rectum. Leave it there for 30 seconds if it's made of glass (the thermomter). It helps to keep a string on it so you don't have to fish it out of the gutter or the cow. Read it and interpret the results.



101.0-The cow is hypocalcemic. It may be secondary to paraparturient milk production or secondary to indigestion. If she's standing, run a bottle of calcium gluconate under the skin. If she's down, you probably skipped the thermometer and went straight to the IV calcium.



101.5-The cow is normal. Either she's having you on, or she's full, or trouble is incipient.



102.0-102.5 - A mild infection, such as pneumonia. A shot of ceftiofur, often only one, will put her right in 12 hours. Ceftiofur is another miracle drug. If it doesn't put her right, further investigation is warranted.



104.0-107.0-Udder trouble. Lots of treatment options. You decide.



And that's about all you need to know. You can check the urine for ketosis, if you like. Feeding a low-level ionophore has seemingly eliminated DAs here.



Now I can just hear the handwringers and tonguecluckers: "Ohhh! These poor cows get sick?" Well, yes, they do. But the modern cow is a whole lot healthier that the old-time cows on the mom and pop 25-cow farm, whose growth and production were stunted by low quality feed, poor ventilation, and other forms of abuse. Contrary to myth, the high-producing modern cow is not "pushed" to high production. She is coaxed and babied. The HPMC is the healthy, happy cow. The cows out there scrabbling for the last blades of grass on the sacred "pasture" mandated by organic definitions are being abused. If you give that cow a choice, I can absolutely guarantee what it will be. A clean, dry, warm stall with good feed delivered, and if she can go out every now and then, she'll be happy.

The Yankees are talking...

to Mike Lowell according to the boston Gloebe. heaven forbid. They offered Mariano $45 million for three years, and they tied Posada up until he's forty for some ungodly sum. Those two have been among the best players in the game in recent years, but surely they are on the downhill slide. Not what I'd call judicious and certainly not what the Red Sox would do. Think of the young talent that kind of money would have tied up.

And Beckett didn't get the Cy Young, which in light of the playoffs is a miscarriage of justice. Not that Sabathia wasn't deserving, but if they voted now it would not turn out the same.

Good times in dentistry.

For a good read, check out the reviews of the dentist I've been seeing for the last few months. I finally changed dentists today, and I couldn't be happier.

And no, I haven't written a review yet. But when I do, it'll be a doozy.

I miss Dr. Bianchi.

Ho Hum

Well. No new posts for awhile. Sooo busy. Trying to finish the dry cow barn, keep the cows productive, fill in for Jeremy while he goes to "deer camp" and keep supper on the table in the manner to which the Mom has become accustomed. (How did she do it all those years?) (Venison soup tonight!) We've been considering a new car but we're both so timid, and spending two or three thousand dollars on sales tax is money down a rat hole. Saturday, we drove to Rochester, almost, and traded our car for Laura's so i can do her brakes at a substantial savings over having Midaseineke muffler and brake do them. The horrible milk contract that I entered into for this year expires at the end of the year, which will be a relief. Next year's milk prices should be lower than this year's but i won't be able to tell the difference, given how much i gave up with the contract. Even so, i can't come up with enough places to spend money to avoid paying thousands and thousands in taxes. 15.3 % right off the top for "self-employment tax" before you even get to federal income taxes and state income taxes. The Red Sox signed Schilling but have not yet signed Lowell. Pedroia the pisshead is AL ROTY. Football is pretty boring and most of all stupid. Mom finished the Aubrey/Maturin/Patrick O'Brian Master and Commander books but, being a slower reader i still have six or eight to go. Hooray! I'm considering starting them all over again once i finish the set. What books!

A reminder to a couple of people who haven't done something they should have done.

MOM WON THE BASEBALL POOL! SEND HER FIVE DOLLARS! YOU"RE MURPHIES FOR CRISSAKES!

Was this cow being bullied in the schoolyard...

and no one was allowed to hug it? Or is it one of those global warming effects?

Anyway, look out above.

What?

Is this for real?

Seen this?

The letter that the Sox sent Schilling on Thanksgiving in 2003, a couple hours before Theo and Co. showed up to negotiate with him. Very interesting read.

Vet Article

An excerpt from this column:

He also thinks "wellness exams" are all about improving the financial wellness of the provider. Busby says the best guideline for when to take your pet to the vet is when you can tell there's something wrong. But, with the same fervor displayed by the salesperson at the electronics store who encouraged me to buy the extended warranty on the clock radio, my local pet hospital has pushed me to sign up for its $440-a-year wellness plan, which will provide a full panoply of unnecessary vaccines, as well as dental cleaning, and twice yearly neurological, cardiac, pulmonary, blood, and fecal exams. Even in France, they don't do this for people.

Roger Angell on Joe Torre

Here's a nice article about Joe Torre, who just signed with the Dodgers.

Happy Halloween!

What do we do now?

Kay, Baseball can come back now.

I'm bored.

The Corn Police

Really, sometimes I'm just staggered. James Lileks, as usual, nails this one in his inimitable fashion. He can ridicule with the best of them.

The good part:

This, for example, makes my head combust: corn is the new villian. Corn. Maize! It's the new tobacco. Squanto's Revenge! Demon Corn will be the new food meme, and work its way into the cautious sensbilities of the Interminably Concerned, all because of one lauded doc that detassels the myths and exposes the way Big Corn has persuaded everyone who glug nine gallons of sweetened soda per day. Gah. GAAAH. I can't take it anymore. I try to get (G)Nat to eat corn; it's one of the vegetables I was told was good for you, even though experience with diapers years ago taught me that it has a strange incorruptable carnuba-wax shell that allows it safe passage through the corrosive halls of the digestive system. But I love corn. I love corn with butter. I love corn with salt. I loved popped corn. I love Corn Puffs. I love corn-fed beef. I loved corned beef. Friends, Romans, Countrymen: lend me an ear.

I'll gladly give up ethanol, if they're concerned about corn subsidies.

No? Huh. Imagine.

I don't consume a lot of high-fructose corn syrup; no one in this house does. Why? Because I don't buy it. I don't buy many products that have it. Delta Corn Force doesn't break into the house in the middle of the night and force everyone to consume corn syrup at gunpoint. Look: I'm opposed to farm subsidies. It's pork. Corn-fed pork. But there's something else at work here, and it's the same old tut-tut gullet-nannies who can't bear the fact that you can get a meal at McDonald's for two bucks, and you like it. STOP LIKING WHAT YOU LIKE. People are choosing the wrong food, for some strange peculiar reason. We have to make them stop doing that.

The article notes that the farm bill will now be used to "improve what people eat," presumably more fruits and vegetables. Because those are so very hard to come by in this country. I go to the grocery store and head for the fruits and vegetable departments, and angry butchers block my way every time. From the article:
The health reformers say they have only just begun.

"We are exactly where we were with tobacco in the 1970s," said Barnard.

These people will be happy when everyone is squatting in a peat hut in hemp loincloths gnawing on raw broccoli. You'll be allowed to have an ear of corn, but only if a malarial mosquito gets in the hut. Then you beat with the corn. The organic way.

Sorry to rant, but jeez. CORN. It never ends. It never, ever will end.

Don't try this at home

OUCH!

FJM says it best...

From Fire Joe Morgan:
I'm devastated that I'll have to wait months and months before seeing Fox's Scouting Reports and Keys to the Game again.

For Josh Fogg in Game 3:

1) Dragon slayer -- beats good teams.
2) If stuff matched his heart, he'd be a Hall of Famer.

They might have well have added

3) Outstanding, once-in-a-generation hypothetical cut fastball
4) If hands were made of metal, he'd be affected by powerful electromagnets buried underneath the field.

And before the clincher, we were offered these keys:

Red Sox: Try To Wrap-Up Lopsided Series

Rockies: Desperate Times, Simply Win Tonight

I will never stop enjoying these. "Try to win." "Simply win." Win the next win is all, guys.

Additional Key To The Game: Both Teams Cannot Win.

World Series Final Thoughts

Make you comments here.

Mike Lowell was a fine choice for MVP. Runner-up? Not jacoby, not Beckett. Varitek. He had timely hits. But the biggest reason would be the performance of the pitching staff. It is in no small part a testament to his efforts. He should be a Red Sox for life. As should Manny, Ortiz, Wakefield, Youk, Schilling. Papelbon, too, though he's young yet.

Fox's post-game coverage was just awful. We wanted to see the players and we had to listen to Henry, Lucchino, and Werner all say something. And then more blather from the talking suits. Sadly, I didn't have NESN set up to record.

The Red Sox will be a formidable force next year.

Series Over! Mom Wins!

Who's the new baseball guru among us? Who stayed up to celebrate her victory long after I went to bed? Yup, Mrs. Red Sox, Mom.

The final standings:

Mom 26
Luke 25
Me 22
Laura 21
Don 19
Kate 18
Jason 18
Michelle 17
Caleb 11
Judi 10
Claire 8
Shawn 5


Send along your $5, cash, no checks. Do it today so it doesn't slip through the cracks. Thanks for playing everyone. We'll do it again next year if the Sox are in it, and we'll modify the scoring a bit to improve the competition.

One run game!

Popple Ban is coming in. The dog just woke up.


...and the cat is scared...



...doesn't Fox/MLB/The Rockies know that I have a huge exam at 9 AM?

Still sleeping...

The only team who could possibly beat the Red Sox right now? The Patriots.

Rockies better turn it up a notch...

The Cat With a Name can't keep her eyes open...

Can we get a close game tonight please?

Even the Dog With No Name is bored...

Game thread

Sorry, Rob! Sorry, here it is.

Jeepers, don't annoy your Uncle Rob, kids.

Comment away . . .

In Perspective

Don't miss this column on Rockie's manager Clint Hurdle.

Boston fans Photoshop the Sox

Some of these are a lot of fun. I am particularly fond of the one of the Three Tenors -- but Jacoby-wan Kenobi has quite a ring to it.

Baseball Time Again-Game three thread

Ok, Murphies and friends. Make comments. Don't leave me out here all alone. For those of you who care about such things, Mom and I replayed JT's SSB to start the game off right. While he played, we stood and put our right hands over our hearts. A stirring beginning.

The Sox will lose tonight. Fogg will be tough, and Matzusaka will nibble and leave after five.

Aunt Judy sent some wonderful pictures.

On the back of this one, Grandpa Murphy wrote:

XMAS 84 - Conway, Mass.
"Dr" Caleb Murphy checking G'pa Tom Murphy
G'pa Beech Hodgdon in background

It was Caleb's first stethoscope! In this one, the doctor is examining Aunt Judy's mother, Harriette Hodgdon.


This one was also taken in Conway. Grandpa wrote on the back: T.P.M. - Lucas Murphy. The picture is date-stamped Jan. 1989, so this was probably taken at Murphy Christmas 1988, when Luke would have just turned one year old.


This one was taken in our living room in the Main Street house in Ashfield. (I can tell by the couch. Remember that couch?) Grandpa Murphy wrote the date on the back -- 6/86 -- and Grandma Murphy wrote:
Laura Mae
"I love you."

No baseball. Replacing it with blog posts. Last one.

This one's for you, Luke. I just can't believe all the dumb shit that is out there. Good thing I can just laugh at it.

Thomas Freidman in the venerated NYT:

People often ask: I want to get greener, what should I do? New light bulbs? A hybrid? A solar roof? Well, all of those things are helpful.
But actually, the greenest thing you can do is this: Choose the right leaders. It is so much more important to change your leaders than change your light bulbs.
Why? Because leaders write the rules, set the standards and offer the tax incentives that drive market behavior across a whole city, state or country. Whatever any of us does individually matters a tiny bit. But when leaders change the rules, you get scale change across the whole marketplace.

9/11 not so bad, really.

We're just naive.

Cadillacs. They make you feel like a million bucks!

Says who? Why, Bob Dylan, of course. That iconoclastic counter-culture icon. And, hey, his Cadillac is an SUV. Hasn't he heard about you-know-what, or does he just ... not ... care.

Where do I Start?

What do you say to this guy? Oh, you poor thing? Yes, it's a shame you can't get other people to pay for your education? Though, of course, he did, by attending a state school. The taxpayers of NY foot the bill for about 2/3s of it. That's not enough? Maybe his parents should kick his ass out.

For Our Vet Student Readers

Today, Panda went back to the vet's for the second half of his Lyme Disease/Bordatella vaccination, (I think Bordatella is the right name -- not quite sure) and so the vet could take a look at a little growth on his left forefoot that Panda's been chewing and worrying at quite a lot lately:


The vet says it's probably a sebaceous adenoma and not a problem in itself, but since it's bothering him, it needs to come off or it could become a problem later. So, we're going back week after next and he'll freeze it off, like a wart. While I was getting Panda ready for the vet that morning, I had realized that a little rashy patch on his side that he's had for a short while was getting worse. So I asked the vet to take a look at that, too. After the vet clipped the area and cleaned it, this is how it looked:


It's not really quite as red and angry as it looks in the picture. It's an oval area of little slightly-raised lesions that get scabby, itch, and also seem to be a bit painful. The vet says this is a bacterial infection that can probably be treated topically, though if that doesn't clear it up, or if it spreads, Panda may need an oral antibiotic. He prescribed this:


(Enlarging the picture makes the name legible.) So, tonight I was putting on the ointment, and what did I find on his other side but ANOTHER red, raised, bothersome area that he had clearly been gnawing and nibbling at. I swear it wasn't there this morning. The picture is pretty bad and I can't see it clearly enough myself to be sure if it's another area of the same rash or possibly another irritated, tiny sebaceous adenoma. I will treat it with the same ointment, watch it, and show it to the vet if it's not improving when we go back to take the other one off his foot. What a nuisance. Could he have picked up the bacterial thing at the groomer's, do you suppose?

By popular demand . . .

. . . a Game 2 Thread.

Dad would normally do this, of course, but he is reading this old-fashioned thing called a "book" while he watches. Plus, he burned his hand pretty badly while he was cooking earlier, and maybe he doesn't feel like typing.

Let the comments begin.

World Series Game 1 Thread

Wake is out. Too bad. I like the guy. Ellsbury plays and Coco sits, nursing his knee. Probably a good thing. Ellsbury has that star power.

Make your comments below. My money is on the Sox. I looked up tickets on Ebay. $1000 to $20000. Yikes.

A Natural Halloween

No petrochemical products from giant multi-national corporations for me! Natural cobwebs only. You might even say they're organic! Click to enlarge.

Baseball Pool Update-Yer not gonna believe this

Who has a lead that is substantial, if not commanding? Yes, The Mom. The same person who, for years, could not understand my fondness for baseball. Who is the only person who can beat her? Yes, the Other Mom, Judi. If the Red Sox win, Mom wins. If the Rockies win, the Other Mom wins. How about that, baseball experts?

For future pools I would make an adjustment in the scoring. In LCSs. I'd subtract TWO points each for the difference in the number of games and for the WS, I'd subtract THREE points each. That would keep more people in it until the end, and place more importance on the number of games played.

Please double check my scoring. I could easily make an error.

The Standings:

Mom 16
Luke 14
Me 12
Laura 11
Caleb 11
Judi 10
Kate 9
Don 9
Claire 8
Jason 7
Michelle 6
Shawn 5

Game Seven-10/21 thread

Well, we got 'em where we want 'em.

Poor Paul Byrd, the latest victim of the witch hunt.

In 1986, Jim Rice could speak english. I wonder what happened.

Post your comments below, baseball fans.

The Road not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood


And sorry I could not travel both
and be one traveler, long I stood


and looked down one as far as I could
to where it bent in the undergrowth;


Then took the other, as just as fair,


and having perhaps the better claim
because it was grassy and wanted wear;


though as for that, the passing there
had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
in leaves no feet had trodden black.


Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.


I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:


Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference.

Sachmo

There is a commercial in which Louis Armstrong sings a stanza of "the Saints Go Marching In". Wow. Now that is music. Natural, refreshing, unpretentious. Gotta get some.

Adoption

After years of wondering why he didn't look like his younger sister or brother, Mark finally got up the nerve to ask his mother if he was adopted.

"Yes, you were son," his mother said, as she started to cry softly. "But, it didn't work out and they brought you back."

BASEBALL TONIGHT! Game thread 10/20

Can the Big Lug pull it off? I think he can. And Jacoby Ellsbury takes Coco's place tonight.

I'm PUMPED!

Back to Fenway

Where I'd put the odds of the Red Sox winning two about even with the Indians winning one. It comes down to Shilling and Dice-K. If they are on, the RS will go to the WS.

I have been a fan and supporter of Coco, but he needs to sit. Stick Elsbury in and see what happens. Sorry, Coco, but you look really lost.

Lugo gives me the creeps. He should sit, too. Cora should play in his stead, permanently.

However it goes, I hope both teams make a game of it. Let's see some drama.

Joe Torre, Again

I like Joe as much as the next guy, but I was not impressed by his news conference yesterday, of which I have only seen a segment. He used the Johnny Damon "insult" routine to describe the contract he was offered. Nothing wrong with feeling insulted by a contract that will pay you millions of dollars but don't say it publicly. This is one working stiff who cannot identify. Also, he was just a little too petulant. Not gonna go back to Yankee stadium, etc. Joe, you made tens of millions of dollars over the last twelve years because an organization wanted you. They don't want you anymore, which is their mistake, but, wow, what a run. Don't ruin it by playing the injured party.

I'm great!

Also Excellent!!!! Not to mention "Super!" and A++++++.

Just reading my Ebay feedback.

Game Thread 10/18

BOOM!

YOUK!

Hi Everybody, I'm joe Buck. THAT is Tim McCarver

How weird is that? I mean, exactly that. Not this. That.

So long, Joe.

My anti-Yankees feelings of shadenfreude have been tempered for the last couple of years by my respect, and sympathy, for Joe Torre. Now that he's pretty much shown himself the door (though, c'mon, that was clearly their intention), I think I'll be able to hate them much harder than ever before. And meanwhile, I think I'll be a minor fan of whichever team ends up hiring Joe.

Big game tonight. I'm with Manny, though. It's been a really stellar year already, and if it ends in the next couple days, I'll be OK with that. We've seen: A rookie toss a no-hitter, not one but two Japanese phenoms, the emergence of Jacoby Ellsbury, a ROY bid by Pedroia, a Cy Young bid by Josh Beckett, and Gold Glove bids from Youk, Coco, and possibly others, four home runs in a row, and oh, the AL East championship for the first time in a very long time. Yeah, I'll really be the most broken-up about the fact that I won't be able to watch baseball every day anymore.

Why I Like Manny

It's bizarre how fanatical some get about the Red Sox and winning it all, and blaming managers and players when they don't. I Like Manny's attitude. The normal ebb and flow of baseball makes anything possible, and, as Manny says, Cleveland is hitting and pitching well right now.

So one team out of thirty-two will end up satisfied. That's absurd. If we lose, as they say in France, cess la vie. Root for Cleveland to win the Series. They have a very likable team. And Cleveland can celebrate. Nothing wrong with that.

"Livestock Emissions are NO JOKE"

Like I said, you can't make this stuff up.

Bad News from Iraq

Not enough People Dying. Chimpy McBushitler is putting grave diggers out of work.

Baseball Pool Update

Post Rockies sweep:

Mom/Caleb 11
Judi 10
Luke 8
Me 7
Laura 6
Shawn 5
Kate/Don 4
Claire/Michelle/Jason 2

Yes, Mom is in the lead. Yes, Judi is right behind her. Go figger.

Many of us have the RS for the ACLS. Shawn and Caleb have the Injuns. So Caleb could be well in front before the WS. But. Judi has the Rockies in the WS. Caleb has the Indians. It could be a two-person race if the Red Sox don't mount one of their patented comebacks.

UR Mathematicians Say Wormhole is Possible

http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=3012

Ack, no DSL!

I am posting from work to report that Dad just told me that the DSL at home is down and probably won't be fixed before tomorrow. Therefore, there will probably be no Game Thread emanating from the Murphies' Home Base tonight, nor will there be the usual penetrating, insightful play-by-play commentary you have all come to expect. Somebody else will have to set up the Game Thread and keep the conversation going.

Just didn't want you all worrying about us while we are Off the Grid. Obviously, if they do get it fixed, we will jump in as quickly as possible. Have fun, and call us if there's anything you just can't wait to comment on during the game! (not too late though, natch.)

Game thread 10/15-Ortiz Hit in Crotch!

He appears to be OK. What was he thinking?

I hate watching Matzusaka pitch. Nibble, nibble, nibble.

The Cleveland pitchers seem to be stealing the Red Sox hitters thunder.

You Want Drama?

You got drama. Do we trust our starting pitchers after Beckett? Will they be dumb enough to include Gagne with a spoon on the World Series Roster if we make it that far? Can Manny and David keep up the pace? How can four relief pitchers all be terrible at the same time?

It's gonna be a battle.

More drama? Caleb has the Indians and the Rockies. Mom, Luke, and Laura Have the Red Sox and the Rockies. The rest of us have only one winning possibility in the LCS. It may come down to the wire.

Game Thread 10/13

James Taylor is an odd dude.

It's not gonna be easy to get any runs off of Carmona....

That will be five dollars, please

Boo-yah.

The Utilitarian Blog

Jeremy and I were looking around for the rubber mallet the other day. We couldn't find it anywhere. I said, "You were the last one to use it." He said, "You were the last one to use it." In the end, I used a steel hammer to put the fiberglass posts in the earf. Later, perusing the blog, I found the rubber mallet! "There it is," I said. Five dollars cash to the first person that can find it, Mom/Cassie/Cathy excluded.

Objectivist Views on Environmentalism

I looked up Lowell Ponte, author of The Cooling, because I heard that years after writing that book he came to his senses and denounced all forms of environmental hysteria. Apparently he had this to say:

"But the Leftist press continues to quote bug and flower scientists about global warming - including doomsayers who three decades ago were predicting a fast-approaching, planet-freezing ice age. (I should know, being author of the 1976 Prentice-Hall bestselling climate book The Cooling.)

As you probably recognized, all such Leftist doomsaying - hothouse or ice age, wet or dry, population explosion or drastic decline - calls for the same remedy. We must have bigger government, more political regulation and control, higher taxes, and permit less individual and private sector liberty if we are to survive whatever is this year's fashionable danger."

Anyway, I stumbled across an objectivist wikipedia! The websites opening paragraph on environmentalism just hit the nail on head so hard I couldn't believe it:

"The basic principle driving the environmentalist movement is the belief that "nature" has inherent moral value, and therefore the influence of man, and especially that of industrial civilization, is evil. Politically, this means the advocacy of various limits on industrial civilization, since all productive human activity has some kind of byproduct. While few (but alarmingly many) advocates of environmentalism recognize it as such, the ultimate goal of the environmentalist movement is the total destruction of industrial civilization, and the vast majority of the human race whose existence is made possible by it."

Reminds me of a shirt I saw the other day that said something like, "the Earth does not belong to mankind, mankind belongs to the Earth." How can any serious person actually believe that? The Earth is an inanimate object. No person or thing has EVER belonged to an inanimate object and never will. Value comes from us. We decide what is valuable and what is not. Without life, the Earth is literally worthless. I love nature too, but only because of the value that it brings to me, not because of some mystical, moral value that it contains. Anyway the objectist wiki thread on environmentalism has a lot of good info.

Game Thread 10/12

Two strikeouts and a home run for Beckett in the first. Not a good ratio.

Manny! Manny is IN THE ZONE! GO RED SOX!!!!!

Kitten for sale/rent

I've got a really cute kitten for sale or rent (rooms to let, fifty cents). If anybody's interested, I'll post pictures. It's one of those marbly ones. What's it called? Calico? It really likes milk replacer.