Autumn in New York

Is this thing still on?

Testing, testing, 1 2 3.

A Maker's Mark Manhattan is a delightful thing.

Mama don't take my Instagram...

Kodak is bankrupt and Instagram is worth a billion.  Go figure.

They better not be playing tic-tac-toe over Manhattan

Kate Upton, burger, drive-in. Just because.

Since we don't actually have any Carl's Jr. in NY, I don't get to see this ad with Sports Illustrated cover girl Kate Upton enough. It's quite subtle.

This seems about right

You can tell a lot about a President by how they choose to spend their retirement.

Although he wasn't the most effective President, Jimmy Carter has widely thought to have been one of the best ex-presidents, using his influence, fame and connections for a variety of good causes, most notably working (literally hammer-in-hand working) with Habitat for Humanity to build homes for needy folks.

Bill Clinton was not only a great President, he's been a great ex-President. His Clinton Foundation works tirelessly on a variety of good projects around the world, with a special emphasis on eradicating preventable diseases, like malaria.

And our most recent chief exec, George W. Bush? Ahh, Boy George never lets you down.

Probably the worst president in the last 100 years, he left his successor an economy in the crapper and two ongoing Middle East wars, what's he doing with his cachet as one of the most famous and well-connected men in the world? Surely something positive to try to make amends for his disastrous tenure.

He's going to fucking ballgames and taking part in a Guinness World Records stunt.

How about Most Seamless Transition from Worst President to Worst Ex-President, do they have that category?

Awww

The Democratic candidate won the special election in NY-26, the FIRST time a Dem has ever won that district, one of the most conservative congressional districts in New York State.

It's one of only 4 districts in New York that voted for McCain over Obama. It's an area where the Republicans have a 7-point voter registration advantage. It was a race in which right-wing special interest operations, like Karl Rove's thuggish group, outspent the Dems 2:1 in advertising.

And, ooops, they still lost.

Paul Ryan fail. Obama wins again.

Now we know why food prices went up

New York magazine has a fascinating behind the scenes look this week at the general sleaziness of Roger Ailes and his Fox News Channel, but one anecdote stands out.

It's a description of how Ailes was trying to recruit N.J. governor Chris Christie to enter the 2012 GOP Presidential race. (Because, you know, news channel chiefs do things like that.)

A few months ago, Ailes called Chris Christie and encouraged him to jump into the race. Last summer, he'd invited Christie to dinner at his upstate compound along with Rush Limbaugh, and like much of the GOP Establishment, he fell hard for Christie, who nevertheless politely turned down Ailes's calls to run.

Holy shit. Ailes, Limbaugh and Christie at one dinner table?

Can you imagine the poor chef and wait staff who had to serve that herd of lardasses.

Finally I get my miles

Only a mere EIGHT freakin' months after placing an order for Omaha Steaks through the Continental OnePass shopping site, I finally got the miles I was supposed to get.

Well, correction - half the miles. The bonus double points apparently won't be added for another 30 days.

It apparently takes 9 months for those.

And I loved how Continental tried to throw Omaha under the bus, saying the steakies had awarded the miles to another account. Hmmm, yeah, I don't think so. Omaha is always great to deal with. Continental, not so much.

But hey, the airline is merging with United. I'm sure becoming twice as big will make it much more responsive.

Couldn't resist

My favorite picture of Trump ever.

I really hope he throws his hat into the ring.

If only to keep that rat's nest on his head from doing that again.