Photos, Bourbon and other nonsense

   It is a nondescript Sunday morning and I am recovering from a long semi-sleepless night full of disturbing,(though non-nightmare type0 dreams. Those types of dreams come around rarely, although I dream nightly, but the semi-sleepless / cannot rest nights are becoming all too frequent. I am not sick today, but I really don't feel as I should ... old age is a bitch at times.
   Hilda is still resting, she had a long Saturday. I am still trying to figure out how to get the Nissan Quest repaired, but that will occur in time I guess. No banks handle title loans on vehicles you already own, and those Auto Title Loan places charge usurers rates.
   Today is the first Sunday of the NFL season. Hilda's two favorite teams ... the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers ... play each other in the afternoon, but we shall not be able to see it as they will be overshadowed by our cable provider in order to play the Arizona Cardinals game for the locals.
  I thought that I would send along three of my cloud photographs ... I am fascinated by clouds and have taken many pictures of them.

    When I am feeling down or ill, I tend to go through my older pictures and listen to music on my computer. Just heard a song on Rebecca Creek Radio called "Wild as the Turkey on the Bottle" ... a tribute to wild living and Wild Turkey (that good old Bourbon from Jimmie and Eddie Russell up there in Lawrenceburg, KY) ... that is pretty cute. " ... I'm living my life full throttle, and I'm wild as the turkey on the bottle ... ".
   Side Note: Some of my acquaintances were arguing the other day in the VFW about what can and cannot be called bourbon. I had to set them straight, and I'll let you guys know. Some people think it has to be made in Kentucky to be called bourbon ... FALSE! Let’s get one thing straight ... all bourbon is whiskey, but all whiskey ain't bourbon. Bourbon tastes stronger and sweeter than many other whiskeys. That’s because it’s distilled from a key ingredient: corn. Bourbon is held to many different, and some say, much higher quality standards than other whiskeys, from what goes in to how long it’s aged. Bourbon (and moonshine) are America’s only native spirits, and although 95% of it comes from Kentucky, it is made in other places.To be bourbon by federal rules, the following must apply:
  1) It has to be distilled from at least 51% corn
  2) It has to be aged AT LEAST 2 years in NEW, CHARRED, OAK barrels
  3) It cannot have anything added but distilled water ... nothing that adds color or flavor can enter
       the bottles
   Jack Daniels (and lesser known brand, but one that is just as good, George Dickle) charcoal their whiskey by running it through beds of charcoal which makes it NOT a bourbon ... but this process is supposed to make it mellower ... all a matter of taste I guess.
    Wikipedia (wrongly) calls Tennessee Whiskeys straight bourbon whiskeys, but they are way off base.

Goings On, and minor opinions

We went to Booth-Fickett School this evening (the Commander, the Men's Auxiliary Commander, Hilda … the Ladies Auxiliary President …, her Senior Vice President, and her Youth and Americanism Chairwoman). The Ladies presented them with some backpacks for students who cannot afford them, and they presented them with a NEW State of Arizona flag for their flagpole. I was along to drive Hilda and to take pictures. The Post 549 paparazzi … that's me. I missed the first quarter of my game, but that comes with the territory. I have to get up early tomorrow to help Perry Hardee of ValuPlus Vending move some vending machines so I may not see all of tonight's game. At the beginning of the 2nd half … the hated B-More Blackbirds lead 17-14. Update: The Broncos are now leading 28-17

These are today's ACTUAL Top Stories on Google News (I read it twice a day):

1) Syria, main topic at G20 Summit

2) Senate panel backs Use of Force against Syria

3) Egyptian Minister warns of terrorism

4) Ariel Castro death not a happy ending for victims

5) Dollar climbs against Euro

6) Scarlett Johansson is engaged

      Really !!! Scarlett Johansson getting engaged is in the TOP 6 stories in the news ???? People, what are we coming to in this country? A (albeit sexy) movie star of somewhat doubtful talent snares a man and that is "Stop The Presses" news? O.K., have it your way … where can I go to read news that is news. Cannot get it on TV or the radio … newspapers are liberal jokes, so what is left?

President Obama is trying to get congressional approval before we attack Syria. And if that works, there’s talk we might even consider bringing back the rest of the Constitution. ~ Jay Leno

Today during the hearing on Syria, John McCain was caught playing poker on his Smartphone. I was like, "What? John McCain knows how to use a Smartphone?" ~ Craig Ferguson

Some of my favorites … just because.

MY NFL Editorial

  VS.  

    Tonight is the first game of the 2013 NFL season ... cousin Dean's Ravens against my Broncos. I think we will edge them ~ about 24-21. Should be a good game. Come'on Peyton, kick some butt !!

    Now, let me climb gingerly up onto my soapbox ...

                                                                 ... and off I go !!!

    Thursday's NFL opener between the Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos launches Roger Goodell's eighth season as commissioner — it features an arrest rate of more than one per week over that time period. Since the Super Bowl on Feb. 3, NFL players have been arrested or charged with crimes at least 37 times, including 10 players accused of driving drunk and a murder indictment for ex-New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez.

    In Goodell's seven years on the job, NFL players have been arrested or charged with crimes at least 395 times, including:

    107 drunken-driving arrests

      43 domestic-abuse cases

      34 cases involving guns 

      84 cases involving fighting or disorderly conduct 

                 (usually at bars or nightclubs late at night)

    I think this is inevitable ... because you are giving very young men (many times from an extremely poor background) incredibly obscene amounts of money and huge amounts of adulation ... being told constantly "how great and extraordinary" they are. This is the same reason that most lottery winners are broke within 5 years (or less). They have no idea how to handle the money and attention and they give in to "stupid that they haven't used yet". If you have had nothing, or close to nothing most of your life and all-of-a-sudden ... boom! you are a millionaire  a couple of times over ... this would play tricks with any one's brain and/or conduct. I am not condoning what they do or the the fantasy-type lifestyles they lead. I mean ... seriously, what 23 year old needs a $4-$5 million dollar house. They're playing football from August to January and the rest of the year they're partying while trying to stay in shape for the following year. The people who live in their houses are merely hangers-on and pseudo-friends. The thing that really makes me feel sorry for them is their quest for trophy wives ... models and movie stars and singers ... who are as emotionally bankrupt as they are. Don't get me wrong, beauty is nice ... but it is not the basis for a happy, meaningful, lasting relationship. But ... they'll be 45, crippled and broke before they figure that out. There are a lot of broke former players out there. There are a few who invested well, got other careers and are happily married (usually not to a model/singer/movie star) ... but I fear they are exceptions.

Labor Day 2013

We are told ... NOT TO  judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics
 ... BUT ... 
we are encouraged TO judge ALL Gun Owners by the actions of a few lunatics.
                                  Is this right ???

One picture today:
   it is a local monastery that always catches my eye as I drive past.

I have not been on the Blog much ... I have been working on a new web page for our VFW Post 549 ( you may see it at www.vfwpost549.org ). It is a work in progress (forever ... as websites are), but I think it is starting to show some promise. Speaking of Post 549 ... we were there on Saturday relaxing (Hilda played SLINGO), on Sunday we were there while she worked SLINGO, today there is a lunch (she made lots of brownies) so we'll be there for a while. We have one more episode of the Father Dowling Mysteries [The last season] on CD to watch tonight. We have been surprised at how well the show holds up after all these years. Then we start on George Gently ... one of our BBC favorites. She has a doctor's appointment on Thursday with a specialist in immune systems (they're still trying to control her hypoglycemia unawareness).