Nifty

For a photo tour of the Skinny House click here unless prone to claustrophobia.The conservatory and patio garden are way neat.

Tax free week

According to this press release counties in NYS will enjoy purchases for one week sans sales tax ( 8.25% in these parts) from August 30 - September 5, 2005. The press release date is 8/29/05. So for those of you who have been clueless as to the dates of the tax free weeks ( as I usually am): The next Sales Tax-Free Week will be January 30 - February 5, 2006. So mark it on your calendar.

Chautauqua Lake

View from the front porch at Bemus Point Viewers on the porch at Chautququa Lake. Did I ever mention I have a ton of siblings? This particular evening after homemade Margaritas and Mexican food, a few of us proceeded to do some 'paranormal investigation' at a local cemetery ( I did mention Margaritas right?). I plan to post the pictorial findings here shortly. Stay tuned. This "cottage" was fantastic, a converted Victorian home on the lakefront. A stone's throw walking distance to the Italian Fisherman, Surf Club, the beach, the playground and of course The Hotel Lenhart :-) and only a short car ride to Midway Park, the Institute, Panama Rocks, shopping district. Of all the locations I've stayed at on the lake this was by far the best one. Chautauqua either grabs you or it doesn't. I have always loved the place, the vibe, the folks, whatever you want to call it.

" lookist "

Indeed. The latest in online dating: The BeautifulPeople Network. Originating in Denmark, since it's US debut July 27 has had 37,000 applicants from which 5,600 have become members. Prospectives need to apply and be judged by the already-members to qualify. Yeah.

Ornery bees

Has anyone noticed an increase in bee stings this year? After 30+ years of not being stung, I have been stung twice this year. It seems like the bees are becoming aggressive with little or no provocation needed. Is it more common in certain regions of the country? Here's a scary story out of Maryland where yellow jackets attacked a school. A co-worker was telling me a story the other day about noticing a weird stain on her son's closet ceiling and it turned out to be a huge hive inside of the walls. You don't want to find out you need one of these anytime soon, yet I am hearing of people in mid to late adulthood having reactions for the first time in their lives. What's going on ?

At times like this...

I'm almost glad I'm not wealthy But don't let me burst your bubble By Bill Maher August 26, 2005 You don't have to remember history, but you do have to remember Thursday. The bursting of the Nasdaq bubble was only five years ago. People lost a trillion dollars. And here we are today with real estate prices across the country that could aptly be compared to Courtney Love: irrationally high and about to collapse. I don't want to say there's a housing bubble, but I had a refrigerator delivered this morning and a homeless guy offered me $3 million for the box. Not to burst your bubble, but all bubbles do burst. And we learned this recently. It's not just that grandma was alive the last time it happened. You were alive. Eminem was on the radio. Just like now because, again, it wasn't that long ago. You know, one argument hurled against marijuana use is that it affects your short-term memory. You know, one argument hurled against marijuana use is that it affects your short-term memory. If that's true, then a) Americans, or b) the real estate market, must be pretty high. But let me correct one thing: not all Americans. This bubble isn't all across the country. Score one here for the red states, because it's apparently only in the savvy, liberal do-gooder coastal blue areas that greed and stupidity have taken over. When real estate collapses, people will go bankrupt, which will take down the banks, which all along have really owned their homes, which will bring down the markets and then the dollar. And the GOP will win an election based on renaming Amtrak the Jesus Choo Choo and the whole thing will fester to the point where Plan B is to live in caves and barter. Luckily for me all my money is tied up in Google, sunscreen and guns. the rest

Pics of Debate

Slideshow of Tuesday's Mayoral Debate with yours truly (in pink) in frame 6325 looking glazed . The guy in the T-shirt and red hat was making all sorts of outbursts which was kind of strange.

Funny story and photoblog about a bus ride from Dublin to Belfast with sleeping Italians by RedMum.

Mayoral Debate

I made it to the Hamlin House tonight for the Debate. By the time it started at 7pm it was SRO and I'd estimate a couple of hundred people showed. The Two Kevins took it again as far as I'm concerned, the same impression I had watching the "Showdown in the Square"- wow is the local media sailing on the unrest in these parts or what? Brown is a serious candidate? A "shoo-in"? This guy is pure robotics, slick as they get. When he said he'd keep Ray McGurn on as an employee because "he's a civil servant" he did not have to utter another word.I'm boggled, just boggled. Gaughan usually wins points for eloquence and tonight was no different- his stand on Eminent Domain is from a legal perspective and makes sense, though on a few other questions he seemed to be off focus. Helfer gets points with ideas such as privatizing education and even as parking ramp king, his background is solid,dyed-in-the-wool Buffalo. Flynn provides comic relief and Calvaneso appears to be a plant from some alien civ that wants to colonize us. The good news is I got to briefly meet Jen and Erin. After sitting for close to three hours I became a little glazed by 8:45 and after a quick beer in the lounge( where I spotted Jim O. seated comfortably and taking notes) I took off. Hopefully another blogger con is in the works soon.

Hard to ignore

It is hard to ignore this grieving mother who won't give up her vigil in Crawford until the Pres takes a break from his vacation and meets with her. You'd need to be made of stone not to empathize with her. I believed there were reasons to engage in military defense, an attack on the perpetrators of the crimes on the U.S. in the days following 9/11. At that time I wouldn't have dreamed that it would turn into an occupation of Iraq and had I known, would not have supported military action. The saga of Cindy Sheehan has ignited both sides of a deadly conundrum again with fervor. Butler Shaffer has written at the Lew Rockwell site : One woman has chosen to call all of this into question. Cindy Sheehan – whose son, Casey, was killed in Iraq last year – has been waiting outside George Bush’s Crawford, Texas, ranch for him to come out and explain to her "what was the noble cause Casey died for"? She openly confronts the Bush administration’s claim that ending the war now would "dishonor" those who have died. She responds that "by sending honorable people to die, they so dishonor themselves. They say we must complete our mission . . . but why would I want one more mother to go through what I have, just because my son is dead?" She wants to tell Mr. Bush "don’t you dare spill any more blood in Casey’s name." From today's NY Post Op-Ed page : It's impossible not to appreciate the pain and anguish that Cindy Sheehan, now camped out by President Bush's Texas ranch, has felt since her soldier son, Casey, was killed in action in Iraq. Even Sheehan's belief that her son died in what she now terms "a dishonorable cause" is, in a way, understandable — even though most of the families of those killed in the War on Terror would strongly disagree with her. But Cindy Sheehan's vigil in hopes of getting a second meeting with the president (their first was last year, two months after Casey's death) has attracted widespread media attention. Indeed, her new campaign as the so-called "peace mom" has energized the antiwar movement, fueled by constant and favorable coverage from the national news reporters — now bivouacked in Crawford, Texas, bored silly and more than willing to portray her as "the symbol for the entire antiwar movement." Like any other American, she is entitled to a personal agenda. Sadly, the one she's developed is ugly.

iraqi portent

Quietly, in their ones and twos, the professional classes of Baghdad are slipping out of the country to avoid becoming another fatal statistic. Iraq is losing the educated elite of doctors, lawyers, academics and businessmen who are vital to securing a stable future. There is also fear that their departure will leave a vacuum to be filled by religious extremists.

festering navels

as if the self mutiliation kids are doing isn't bad enough, you hear a story like this one ... A 13-year-old was in critical condition and her mother faced criminal charges Monday for failing to get medical help after the girl's attempt to pierce her own belly button caused a severe infection lasting weeks. By the time Deborah Robinson's daughter was taken to the hospital last week, the former middle school track runner weighed about 75 pounds and was near death, authorities said. The girl was found by paramedics in the family's apartment Wednesday morning after they received a 911 call about an ill child. According to a police report, the girl was lying on a couch in the apartment wearing an oxygen mask. Prosecutors said the girl's infection was caused by her attempt to pierce her navel. The small flesh wound progressed to damage several of her organs. Yeah any parent should be drawn and quartered but how did an oxygen mask get into the picture and who told her to give it to the child? Teen Piercing Sparks Near-Fatal Infection