J.R. wrote:CALIFLA: Sounds like you did a great job helping that girl. Any updates?

Just to close the loop, Shannon did not go away.

Nor did she drift off to sea.

The Rangers thought about having a homecoming, but later went out their way to let me know uncle and parents of Shannon dropped into the park to make sure appreciation was given.

Shannon spent about six hours in the hospital on IV's, and then went home and on to Indiana and I guess to see the tree in her backyard.

TFISC(wC)(nF)

I've seen that SRV/Albert King video a few times. The first time I saw it, I almost sent the local PBS channel some money for the audio CD. Then i thought "wait, this seems familiar". And upon checking the CD collection, there it was!

I was just starting my sophomore year in college when he died. My father and I were together the first time I heard SRV's take on "Little Wing" (coming home from a Cavs game in Richfield, wherein the Knicks blew the home team out, and there were a bunch of ejections). Pop is a pretty big fan, and I was most impressed with LW. So -- some 20 years or so later - I count SRV's "Carnegie Hall" and his two Montreaux Jazz Fest concerts to be among some of his finest work.

Free Donuts! Everything You Need to Know to Celebrate National Donut Day

National Donut Day falls on the first Friday of June—this year it’s today, June 7. But considering what the day is best known for—free donuts—perhaps it’s time to go ahead and change the name of “holiday” to Free Donut Day.

Joining in the National Donut Day celebration this year—and doling out free treats—are the following:

Dunkin’ Donuts: One free donut of your choice with the purchase of any beverage, all day on June 7.

Krispy Kreme: The link lists participating locations in the U.S. and Canada giving out free donuts today—no purchase necessary.
http://nationaldoughnutday2013.com/

Tastykake: The first 5,000 fans who like the brand on Facebook get a coupon good for a free Tastykake donut product, redeemable now through June 14.

Winn Dixie: The supermarket chain is handing out free jumbo doughnut holes to customers at locations in Florida.

I've seen that SRV/Albert King video a few times. The first time I saw it, I almost sent the local PBS channel some money for the audio CD. Then i thought "wait, this seems familiar". And upon checking the CD collection, there it was!

I was just starting my sophomore year in college when he died. My father and I were together the first time I heard SRV's take on "Little Wing" (coming home from a Cavs game in Richfield, wherein the Knicks blew the home team out, and there were a bunch of ejections). Pop is a pretty big fan, and I was most impressed with LW. So -- some 20 years or so later - I count SRV's "Carnegie Hall" and his two Montreaux Jazz Fest concerts to be among some of his finest work.


Darkstar, had I fully realized in advance you were such an aficianado, I had other bars in San Francisco I could have introduced you to. One has supreme steaks along with the jazz and blues.

I am very happy that I have learned more about Stevie Ray Vaughan, and gained an appreciation, after his passing.

That's what "legacy" is all about.

Business was odd and off today with the tropical storm remnants, so I found myself down at the beach during the Happy Hours.

Trying to reason with hurricane season, I guess.

I have a fave bar for conch chowder and rum runners with "a floater" and ended up seated next to a nubile 20 something girl in a skirt and sandles. I was proudly displaying my 24 karat gold thick wedding ring, but she decided we should talk anyhow. And talk. And talk.

Yes, and talk.

It was a rare circumstance where I was mostly silent in a conversation.

But I did note she had marvelous legs...and was taller than me, which is generally a turn off, at least the way I see things.


Her husband later joined us, and she continued to talk to me, and talk and talk and talk. I can step on any conversation, but this girl had me today.

After covering miles and a myriad of topics she told me she was a struggling artist, and made little money.

I asked her about her style of work, and suggested I thought she might do pencil sketches, or something.

She said she did, but then followed with "that's what people who know nothing about art often ask me."

Boom. I took the hard punch.

Turns out her husband is a serious Florida Gator Fan.

I countered with Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier being coaches at my fave college teams.

And her husband reeled.

All's fair in love and war and sports and drink.

I had the tuna bites, by the way. Pan seared, and rare.

Cali

When it comes to music, I dabble a bit here, and I dabble a bit there. I thought the stuff we listened to was great.

One of the great things about technology is watching my dad leverage it. He got a smart phone about a year or so ago, and I did a quick youtube search for some rolling stones. He was blown away by that!

Since then - I've hooked up his wifi, and got him some fairly decent bluetooth stereo speakers. He's turned me onto Joe Banamassa and Tommy Emanuel. I've turned him onto the Punch Brothers.

I still can't get him into the Grateful Dead - although the acoustic stuff with Jerry Garcia, Tony Rice, and David Grismann, he really digs.

Speaking of acoustic -- There's some acoustic stuff SRV did beyond the MTV unplugged. There's also the "triple trouble" (female vocals!) stuff from the late 70's that I've not heard yet, but am itching to .

Darkstar wrote:Cali

When it comes to music, I dabble a bit here, and I dabble a bit there. I thought the stuff we listened to was great.

One of the great things about technology is watching my dad leverage it. He got a smart phone about a year or so ago, and I did a quick youtube search for some rolling stones. He was blown away by that!

Since then - I've hooked up his wifi, and got him some fairly decent bluetooth stereo speakers. He's turned me onto Joe Banamassa and Tommy Emanuel. I've turned him onto the Punch Brothers.

I still can't get him into the Grateful Dead - although the acoustic stuff with Jerry Garcia, Tony Rice, and David Grismann, he really digs.

Speaking of acoustic -- There's some acoustic stuff SRV did beyond the MTV unplugged. There's also the "triple trouble" (female vocals!) stuff from the late 70's that I've not heard yet, but am itching to .

Darkstar that was a great day and evening in San Francisco. Credit to you for playing well with the striking crab fisherman who enjoyed imbibing with us at the bar where we met up near a BART station on Market Street and all agreeably conversed with personal opinions noted by all.

My only regret about your visit when we met was that I could have given you a more hyped up tour of "local culture" in San Francisco than I did.

Our wedding rings noted, with an admission here we drank and listened to great live music in a street bar controlled by Larry Flynt, though I did not know so when I dragged you there.


I remember about a decade ago when I was trying to get my Dad to learn how to use his Comcast remote and the TV MLB package I had paid for, for him, to see.......the frickin' Cleveland Indians who only won one World Series in his 87 years of life.

The third time the Comcast tech in our part of California came to his apartment down the street from me, the Comcast guy opened up personally and told me that he spent 75% of his time trying to teach "old people" to use the remotes correctly with the Comcast box.

If YOU have your Dad on a smartphone with any success, YOU and HIM are ahead of the curve.

I've read around here elsewhere that Rusty has noted my "stories."

Here's another offering.

My youngest daughter is inexplicably a huge NFL hockey fan, and was one before she met her current boyfriend and most likely future husband who is even a more huge NFL Hockey Fan than she is. She's a San Jose Sharks Girl....she dated one....and I posted pics here about that.....and he's a Chicago Black Hawks guy.

My wife and I have obliged and pretended to enjoy and embrace their fandoms as I inexplicably am watching the first game of the Stanley Cup finals in triple overtime.


The last time I paid this close attention to a hockey game might have been when I was I think 23.

It was 1980. The smart one's who have paid attention over the years, of course, know the game.

I was teaching high school and occasionally carrying a gun doing plain clothes security for a once retail giant. One night after work, a girl from "the cashier's cage" asked me to join her at I think one of the early TGI Friday's in Miami FL.

She was very cute, and of course I did. She was a nurse by day, and a cashier cage girl by night.

She introduced me to Chivas Regal on the rocks that night. As that particular hockey game, perhaps a replay, was aired on the bar televisions.

It was my first time with her outside of "work" and she went into a story about being on a boat going into the Atlantic the weekend before and seeing a bunch of guys on another boat and deciding to lower her bottom bikini to turn them on for a quick thrill for her and all.

At about the same moment Al Michaels was yelling on the screen I was watching, "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!"

She saw my eyes water up.

Her next words were, "I was just trying to turn you on. I didn't want to make you cry."

We discussed the events and motivations for emotions and I took her home with me and back to her car where we left it the night before outside the restaurant, the next morning.

I'm sure she is still a very good nurse.

And I remember her name. "Joanie"


And in Triple Overtime the Chicago Black Hawks go up 1-0 with a late goal over the Boston Bruins.

Sounds like you were out with a guy and not a girl.

Thanks for changing it around.

You are infatuated with me.

A note I should have made to my last post here, there are many moments of American History we have all been told we should collectively remember in our mutual lifetimes.



For me, by best and most pleasant day for remembering where I was for one of those days, it's "The Miracle on Ice."

The rest of those "we should all remember days" were no way near as pleasant.

(I had a longer post prepped and typed, but it timed out and is seeming just wasted words........or as Jay Leno would say in this case, "about the same as more seasons of Cleveland Indians Baseball since 1948, or the second term for Barack Obama.")

A Blind Squirrel Department:

The stock market has had a hell of a run in part due to the Fed printing money and in part due to some small strengthening of the Economy but we are now coming into an important cycle in the time period so it is possible that we just might go down for awhile soon. Purely based on numerics and nothing else.

The Fed has arranged things so that the monthly interest on my retirement funds now allow me to buy a cup of coffee at my local Starbucks

When will I be able to buy a CD with a decent rate of return?

Don't know but believe it or not best rates at many banks are on savings accounts (remember them?) You have to shop around and many are rates for only 3 or 6 months to entice you in but you can move around and there is no penalty for withdrawl. Calling around I was able to find .75% locally. Its not much but beats checking and the CD's they are hawking now.

I just dumped some money from loose dot.com "retirement days" remnants into a self directed IRA with Merrill Lynch.

My most recent "financial advisor" for these funds is an Asian New Jersey guy with a thick Bronx accent.


We're moving on up.


I pulled money out of my Calpers Account, which my wife had been pleading with me to do.

California has been funding annual budgets with money drawn from Calpers "savings."


I withdrew from a couple other short lived protected companies to do same in the past few weeks.

The Calpers guys when I made the withdrawal lamented, "but you were "guaranteed 6% annually" here.

My Asian New York guy rocks, and told me those CA guys were lame in their beliefs of best return.

I had checked "agressive" on my portfolio desires with the new guys.

James Gandolfini -- who famously played Tony Soprano on "The Sopranos" -- died earlier today in Italy .

Gandolfini is believed to have suffered a heart attack. He was 51.

Gandolfini was in Italy to attend the 59th Taormina Film Festival in Sicily -- and he was scheduled to participate in a festival event this weekend with Italian director Gabriele Muccino.

Gandolfini shot to fame playing a hitman in the 1993 hit "True Romance" ... and quickly became a Hollywood legend when he was cast as Tony Soprano in 1999. He won 3 Emmy awards for the role during the show's 6 season run.

Gandolfini also appeared in a ton of huge movies including "Get Shorty," "The Mexican" and "Zero Dark Thirty."