Bridle path

March 1st, 2010

In reading this sad story about the suicide of the guy from the TV show Growing Pains, the FoxNews.com story says “…was discovered by a search team on ‘bridal path’ in Stanley Park”

It’s bridle path, not “bridal path”.  It’s a horse trail, more or less.  I’m a city boy and I know that.

Sometimes it takes someone you disagree with…

January 28th, 2010

This exchange happened during an interview with stout atheist Christopher Hitchens in Portland Monthly magazine.  He had a no doubt well-intentioned but not-quite-getting-it Unitarian Minister interviewing him:

“Maryiln Sewell: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

“Christopher Hitchens: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.”

Shazam.  There it is.  On this point, I completely agree with Christopher Hitchens.

Happy Holid… I mean Merry Christmas

December 29th, 2009

Saw this posted by Andy McCarthy at NationalReview.com

To All My Liberal Friends:  

Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

To All My Conservative Friends:
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Defunct Stores

December 21st, 2009

Some of the names have changed and some are gone forever.  Here’s a list of stores to spark some memories.

  • Service Merchandise
  • Best Products
  • Foley’s
  • Circuit City
  • Builder’s Square
  • Goldsmith’s
  • Mervyn’s
  • Montgomery Ward
  • Sanger-Harris
  • Stripling & Cox
  • Venture Stores
  • TG&Y (I remember going here with my Grandmother)
  • Incredible Universe
  • McDuff Electronics
  • Computer City
  • Chess King
  • KB Toys
  • Just For Feet
  • Tweeter
  • Mott’s Five and Dime
  • Woolworth (I remember going to the one in downtown Fort Worth)
  • Levitz Furniture
  • Tower Records
  • Sound Warehouse (I got Luciano Pavarotti’s autograph at the one in OKC)
  • Circus World
  • Warner Brothers Studio Store
  • Western Auto
  • Suncoast Motion Picture Company
  • Payless Cashways
  • Eckerd Drug
  • Kinney’s Shoes

The Sweet Spot

December 16th, 2009

I enjoy reading Rob Neyer’s Sweet Spot blog

Obama wins Nobel peace prize? Seriously?

October 9th, 2009

Barack Obama wins the Nobel peace prize?  Even Saturday Night Live admitted Obama had accomplished not a whole lot so far as president.  Exactly what peace did he create, negotiate, contribute to or extend?

Basically Obama gets the Nobel prize for a player to be named later.

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery

September 21st, 2009

You know you’ve created something good when someone else wants to steal it.

I was reading thetruthaboutcars.com, which is a good blog about the current state of the automotive industry (or what’s left of it), when I came across this:

That's my tshirt!!!

That's my tshirt!!!

I thought to myself, “Hey, the t-shirt in the photograph looks awfully familiar.”   Well that’s because IT’S MY BLOODY T-SHIRT!  It’s my design!  I created the darn thing and they can’t even give a link to my store, only to zazzle.com.  How about a little credit guys?    I gotta move my own merchandise it seems – this t-shirt and others can be found at the JHButcher zazzle.com store.

The strings the thing, or not

August 5th, 2009

Interesting science quote I heard today:;
Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, on String Theory: “Dont hold your breath on that one. They’re not there yet – get over it.”

Friends

June 15th, 2009

Thanks to Crystal and Jeff for inviting me to dinner on Saturday night. I was orignally going to say no, I guess out of old habit, but fortunately I broke out of old habit and said to myself, “go, damn it!” I had the surf and turf. I’m very glad I went.

Oh no! How can I live on $2,777 a month?

May 18th, 2009

Why does the New York Times get on my nerves? Stories like this. This guy is bitching and moaning about having to get by on $2,777 a month (after taxes and alimony). It also mentions his base salary of $120,000. It’s shocking that somebody could be that freaking whiny. Don’t get me wrong, I feel sorry for the guy – a little bit. Why do people who graduated college think they’re entitled to Starbucks & beach houses?

Knowing that money is the ONLY thing that matters these days and considering that we never know what tomorrow will bring. this is my personal plan for dealing with the unknowns: no marriage, no kids, no house.