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!)