Georgia Black Dog And The Handicapped
February 28, 2010
Tilly - A Georgia Black Dog
Some people call me “hoity toity”.
They do not know the history of my pets or they wouldn’t say that.
Since my wife and I first moved in together we have had 11 pets, six of those are still with us (4 Cats and 2 dogs). The others have died of various illnesses usually at a very advanced age.
Once a pet gets taken in to our home it has a FOREVER home, we do not believe in disposable pets.
Not one of these pets has ever come from a pet store or breeder. All but one were definite rescues. Even the one that I am not classifying as a rescue came from a friend whose grandmother’s barn cat had kitttens.
The dog pictured on this post is one of our younger pets “Tilly”. She wandered in to our subdivision one day and she came to live with us after my wife claims “she followed me home”. I am suspect of this story, I still think my wife lured her to our house.
If I was hoity toity, I would call Tilly a black lab. But I know where she came from. A rural area populated by trailers on acreage on the backside of our subdivision. This was no labrador retreiver. When I asked our veterinarian what she thought, her response was – “I don’t know but there are a lot of them around, I call them Georgia Black Dogs”. The name has stuck.
Our other pets have included – Mr. Kitty, the barn cat. Girl Cat, who was rescued from a thieving drug dealing co-worker of my wife’s. Buddy, the sheltie mix dog who showed up at my mother in law’s front door the day before our wedding (love of my wife’s life). Puss, the black and white cat that was rescued out of the middle of a busy street at approximately 3 weeks old. Boo Kitty, one of our multitude of black cats that was found in an old mill village outside of Atlanta and then at about four years old, was hit by a car and is now known as our cat with “one good eye”. Kitt’n, another black cat who was rescued from an abandoned Suzuki Samurai next to my parent’s house one morning at 3:00 am. Two weeks old, severely dehydrated, near death and now 16 years old.
Then came the handicapped dogs. Suzy, an off white terrier mix with a deformed jaw that causes her tongue to hang out like Snuffy Smith from the comics and results in a perpetually stinky face. Max, our Golden Retriever from the rescue (the love of my life) only had half a tongue from an accident at a young age that caused him to drool constantly and have breath that was reminiscent of “low tide”. These two as a combo resulted in a comment from one friend “what’s the deal? can’t you get at least ONE whole dog”.
The collection is rounded out by Miss Grossie, the final black cat. She moved to our house from one down the street, lived on our front porch for a month and was finally let in because we were going out of town and it was going to be cold. She hasn’t been outside since. The most recent addition was a cat named Mindy who was a rescue from the local Cherokee County Humane Society.
Are these the pets of a hoity toity person?
As always –
You can follow me on Facebook at “I am Dazed and Confused” or Twitter – www.twitter.com/iamdandc
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Almost Forty Years of Drama – And The Answer is David Geffen?
February 26, 2010
UPDATE – 10:15 P.M. EST 2/26/10. It Appears the story was not true!!! Per This Vanity Fair Online Post by Juli Weiner (CLICK HERE TO VIEW)
The Famous Nipple Picture
I am in shock.
There has been speculation for almost 40 years about who was the subject of Carly Simon’s classic “You’re so Vain”.
The answer is David Geffen?
Not Mick Jagger, not James Taylor, not David Bowie, not Kris Kristofferson, not Cat Stevens or the most heavily rumored Warren Beatty.
David Geffen?
Dick Ebersol paid $50,000 a few years ago to find this out. If I were him I’d be pissed.
David Geffen?
One story is that she finally announced it to raise her visibility prior to a new album being released.
David Geffen?
David Geffen - Circa 1970's
“All the girls dreamed that they’d be your partner”
David Geffen?
Remember the fake rumors a few years ago about David Geffen being in a relationship with Keanu Reeves and taking him shopping for “outfits”?
David Geffen?
Carly Simon should have taken this to her grave.
As always –
You can follow me on Facebook at “I am Dazed and Confused” or Twitter – www.twitter.com/iamdandc
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Cruising For Hookers With My Parents
February 25, 2010
Only in my family would the words Hookers & Vacation be combined into something you reminisce about.
In 1976 we took a family vacation by car and one of the stops was Washington D.C.. After a full day of sightseeing in both D.C. and Virginia we checked in to our hotel and my mother always being prepared, got out the AAA Guide Book for the city to find a place for dinner. We of course also had a AAA triptik prepared for the trip and a full complement of paper maps – which my father could fold correctly.
A restaurant was found that seemed nice enough but not too fancy given I was 14 and not into fine dining. If I remember correctly it was called the Steak Joint and turned out to be one of those stand in line, place your order then wait for them to call your number type steak places SOOO popular in the 70’s.
We didn’t take any of our multitude of maps along because my father had been in the military in the early 50’s and stationed for a short time in D.C. so he assured us he knew the area and where we needed to go.
It didn’t take long after we left our hotel in the Capitol Hill area that we were in a less than desireable area of D.C. which back in the 70’s meant one block off any major thoroughfare dominated by government buildings.
We came to the intersection where the restaurant was located and realized we had passed the pay parking lot that was most convenient to the restaurant. We of course circled the block in our metallic blue 1973 Pontiac Grand Prix with a white vinyl top. It turns out going down one of the streets previously, we had passed a group of streetwalkers (hookers) hanging out. I don’t know if we noticed them but they must have been watching us and when the car came around the block again, this time much slower so we didn’t miss our turn, they started running after us.
They thought we were “Cruising Them” and they had work!
They were beating on the car and running up to the windows – imagine their surprise when they finally looked in and saw the Ultimate White Bread Suburban Family looking back at them.
They ran off laughing.
AWW – Family Memories.
No wonder Huggy Bear didn’t scare me a year later.
As always –
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Merrill Markoe Be Cracking Me Up
February 25, 2010
From Merrill Markoe via The Huffington Post –
WESTMINSTER 2010
The White Working Women in Knee Length Suits Group
As always –
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FL GOP Party Stalwart – RESIGNS!!
February 24, 2010
Jeb Bush has not resigned from the Florida Republican party.
But my Mother did and she was a dues paying member.
All I will divulge here is that it was unhappiness with the direction and organization of the state organization. She had given up on having any influence in the national party YEARS AGO.
This is someone who has been a lifelong supporter of Republican politics and is a true loss for this group. I am sure they didn’t notice or care, which is truly a shame.
My mother has been active in Republican politics since the late 50’s early 60’s. Her political activism started in Houston, Texas back when “Republican” was still a dirty word in Texas. She was a Block Captain, worked on the first congressional campaign of George Herbert Walker Bush (aka Old Man Bush) even dancing with him once at a party function. At the time I was born, my parents received congratulatory letters from both future president Bush and one of his staffers someone named James Baker.
She was a Goldwater Republican. Kept up appearances by publically supporting Richard Nixon through the Watergate scandal – “he wasn’t doing anything different than anybody else, he just got caught” was the party line in our house.
The funniest incident involving her political activism was during the 1976 campaign of Gerald Ford. When our house was being inundated by mailings on a daily basis from both the Republican Party and the Ford campaign. We received a phone call that began with the caller saying “this is Betty Ford” my mother’s response was “really?” Well the call was from Betty Ford but it was from the Betty Ford who lived in our neighborhood and wanted me to mow her yard, not THE Betty Ford. I think she is disappointed to this day.
Her glory days were the Reagan years – she was in heaven! Not a bad word could be said about Nancy or Ronnie. She absolutely worshipped them. My parents even hosted viewing parties for his initial Televison addresses.
Of course there was support of the senior George Bush during his campaigns and presidencies. She attended the state conventions in the late 90’s and 2000 even acting as a state delegate for Lamar Alexander.
The Clinton years were a blackhole to my parents.
I noticed some weakening of support during the “W” years but no visible crack until the primary season for the 2008 election.
I don’t know if she ever publically admitted it, but among family she voiced support for the antichrist of the Republican party.
HILLARY CLINTON!!!
At that point the handwriting was on the wall.
My Father declined comment for this post.
(note – despite being raised in this environment and living in conservative GA I do not identify myself as Republican)
As always –
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The Barbi Twins?
February 23, 2010
Poster for Movie "Skin Trade"
Today I was reading the feed from The Huffington Post and came across a blog post by Reedu Taha about the new documentary “Skin Trade” which is an expose’ about the fur trade. I found the subject of the movie admirable but I found the choice of The Barbi Twins as the face of the movie poster bizarre even though I found them hot “back in the day”
In case you are not familiar with the Barbi Twins they are Identical Twin Celebrity models who appeared in several Playboy pictorials, one of them had a tempestuous marriage to the actor Ken Wahl from the TV show Wiseguy (yes, Barbi and Ken) and the subject of a very popular E! True Hollywood Story.
I did send a tweet out saying “The Barbi Twins are still alive and speaking out against the fur trade” and I sat down to write a post mocking them. Then I did some research.
I want to apologize.
I thought they had been around in the 80’s. It turns out they hit their top fame in the 90’s so that took 10 years off the slam I was going to make about the amount of time since their time in the spotlight.
Then I got to the part that really made me feel guilty. They are MAJOR animal activists not just “faces” for the movement but active participants.
They are apparently very hands-on with their animal rescue projects. These include actually partcipating in rescues after Huricanes Katrina and Rita as well as during the frequent California fires. They also were the founders of a website “The Kitty Liberation Front” which helps promote worldwide animal issues. They also produced their own documentary “Your Mommy Kills Animals” which was named as one of the top 10 independent films of 2006 by cinephelia.com.
They are anti-pet shops, anti-puppymill and anti-animal experimentations as I am.
So once again, my apologies go out to the Barbi Twins. They are doing more for animal causes than I am.
Here is the trailer from the movie Skin Trade mentioned earlier –
As always –
You can follow me on Facebook at “I am Dazed and Confused” or Twitter – www.twitter.com/iamdandc
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It Ain’t Calphalon
February 20, 2010
Circa 1970's Cookware
Have you seen these pots before?
Maybe your mother had them. Maybe you got some from your mother.
Kitty Foreman on That 70’s show had them. I’m Not kidding, watch a few episodes you’ll see them. So it is possible you have seen these on TV.
It seems like everyone I show these pots to who grew up in the 70’s still owns or remembers them.
Growing up in Tampa Florida it meant your mother shopped at Winn-Dixie. Which at that time bore the tagline – “The Beef People”. In addition to beef, people were apparently buying lots of cookware from there. I think they offered a different piece each week at a VERY LOW price with like an $8 minimum purchase.
My family did buy their beef at Winn-Dixie. They didn’t buy their beef at Publix because it was too expensive and had something done to it which caused it to be labeled “proten” and included a little pat of butter. Pantry Pride was just gross and was mainly where they bought beer and store brand soft drinks (click here for more details about my parents drinking habits). In other words, grocery shopping was “sport” during the recession wracked 70’s. You drove from store to store in your 6 – 8 miles per gallon car to get certain items at the “best price” at 3 – 4 different stores. I remember thinking one of my friends was RICH because their mother ONLY shopped at Publix.
These are the remaining three I have at my house. I know at one time there were more. Sources included my mother, my mother inlaw and a friend’s mother. Today they are kept as backups in case the stainless steel or Calphalon is dirty. All the lids are missing and the handles fell off the large pot probably 20 years ago. I think my mother finally got rid of the last of hers.
So the next time you think you are so poor during this recession – look in your cabinets. Does your cookware include any Calphalon, LeCruset or comparable brands? If it does, then shut up. Our parents bought their cookware at the grocery store.
As always –
You can follow me on Facebook at “I am Dazed and Confused” or Twitter – www.twitter.com/iamdandc
I Have An Addiction
February 16, 2010
My addiction is not to drugs. The picture on the left is a symbol of my addiction to “Sweet Tea” (I’ll explain in a second). If you live in Buffalo, New York or some other Yankee type place like south Florida and really don’t know what sweet tea is, here you go. It is simply Iced Tea that has had COPIOUS amount of sugar added just after it has been brewed while it is still hot.
The picture is symbolic of my addiction because the “Gangsta Rap” name bestowed on me by a former coworker is “SWEET TEA”. If you live in Atlanta I believe it is mandatory that you have a gangsta rap pseudonym/nickname and mine was given because of my addiction to…… (if you don’t get it now you are not very bright)
Now I have been asked by people “how do you make this sweet tea?” Actually, I really don’t know. I buy mine from McDonald’s every morning like most people start their day with coffee. It costs $1.00 for a 32 oz. serving in a great styrofoam cup which makes it last a long time. Yeah I know it’s not environmentally friendly, but I like it, so – shut up.
In addition it is served at EVERY restaurant in Georgia – except for a few real Hoity Toity one’s that I am too poor to visit anyway.
Some good alternatives to obtain sweet tea include – Chick Fil A, theirs is very good but it costs more than McDonald’s and sometimes gives me heartburn. Publix sells it by the gallon as do many fried chicken places including Mrs. Winners.
THE TEA HOWEVER MUST BE BREWED – PROCESSED ALTERNATIVES LIKE NESTEA OR LIPTONS IN A BOTTLE OR HEAVEN FORBID A CAN ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!!!!
I don’t need to know how to make it – I buy it when I am out. At home I drink Crystal light Lemonade from the mix.
If you want to know how to make real sweet tea at home for some godforsaken reason – check out my friend Kathy Drewien’s Facebook Page that includes a recipe (click here for recipe) or chat her up on Twitter – @kdrewien
As always –
You can follow me on Facebook at “I am Dazed and Confused” or Twitter – www.twitter.com/iamdandc
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Chuck on NBC Is Based On Temple Grandin
February 13, 2010
- Temple Grandin & Claire Danes
It started snowing in Atlanta Friday afternoon so both my wife and I came home early. With nothing to do and not wanting to watch Wall to Wall coverage of “THE BLIZZARD” we decided to watch a movie on HBO that we had missed when it premiered last week, Temple Grandin with Claire Danes.
I was somewhat familiar with the real life Temple Grandin story (Click here for a full bio) because my wife is currently reading her book “Animals Make Us Human” and there was a profile of her on 60 minutes a few years ago.
The primary thing to know about Temple Grandin is that she is a highly educated and respected animal scientist and professor but is also autistic. Most importantly for this post is that as part of her autism she says that she – “Thinks in pictures”, like internet pages. She visualizes anything she has seen, in her mind and can pull it back up and piece it together with other like material – Basically she is a human google.
All of this is covered in the HBO movie and is quite fascinating. But while watching the movie it dawned on me – SHE’S A REAL LIFE “CHUCK”!!!
In case you are not familiar with the NBC show Chuck – it revolves around a central character named Chuck who has had massive CIA files downloaded in to his brain. And when he recognizes something he “flashes” and all the information stored in his brain for that item is downloaded in to his conscious mind – LIKE A HUMAN GOOGLE!!!
This has to be obvious to everyone who sees both because I am SOOO bad at making these kinds of connections like everyone says that the movie “Clueless” is based on Jane Austen’s “Emma” – Once told I see the connection but I’m not one to spot it.
If you are not convinced watch the show on Monday nights on NBC and watch the movie on HBO. Then make up your own mind.
As always –
You can follow me on Facebook at “I am Dazed and Confused” or Twitter – www.twitter.com/iamdandc
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I Am Dazed and Confused 