Too Saucy

This seems about right

2011-06-22T23:35:00.002-04:00

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

2011-05-24T22:59:00.000-04:00

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

2011-05-23T14:31:00.000-04:00

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

2011-05-12T00:43:00.000-04:00

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

2011-05-12T00:37:00.000-04:00

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.

Namecheap is making me nervous

2011-04-10T16:55:00.002-04:00

There was a slight hiccup for a few days there as Too Saucy went off line. Ok, I haven't been posting to the blog as much as I used to, but, still, I'd sort of like it to be there whenever I go to it.

It happened when I switched domain registrars last week from GoDaddy (which is just sort of automatically assigned when you purchase a domain through Google Blogger and checkout) to Namecheap. The switch was because of the whole GoDaddy elephant slaughter thing.

Well, it turns out transferring is not as easy as they make it sound. In addition to having to jump through hoops to find the authentication code to release the domain to Namecheap, apparently you have to configure some things in the inner workings of the site too.

When I realized it was offline, I emailed Namecheap alerting them to this and trying to figure out what was wrong. Their first response was this beauty:

"Unfortunately, there are no host records for your domain at the server.

Please contact your hosting provider in order to resolve this issue.

In case you have been using your previous registrar's nameservers before the transfer of your domain to us, please do the following to switch domain to our default nameservers:

- Login to your Namecheap account;
- Click Domains -> manage domains;
- Click on the domain itself;
- In the left-hand menu click Transfer DNS To Web Host;
- Check "Use Namecheap Default DNS Servers";
- Click Save changes."

What the fuck?

Well, I actually managed to figure out how to get the DNS (whatever that is) transferred, but Too Saucy still wasn't online, so I emailed again, only to get this gem in reply:

"the reason for this is that the DNS assigned to godaddy does not allow us to have any control of the zone records. I see that the domain is now using our Dns however have you configured the domain to point where you once had it pointing?"

What the fuck?

Hey guys, the whole point of using the Blogger template is I don't need to know any of that tech stuff, and, frankly, I don't want to know any of that tech stuff.

Well, after a few emails and exasperated Twitter postings, a tech at Namecheap finally did the necessary changes for me, but, really people, if you're going to offer your service to people disgusted with GoDaddy, at least make it customer-friendly.

Why wasn't any of this stuff explained at the beginning of the transfer process? And surely you must know, a lot of bloggers don't deal with any of the tech stuff. Do you really think a lot of folks know about "DNS" and "zone records"?

And also use proper punctuation in your emails.

Another movie ruined

2011-04-02T13:36:00.000-04:00

Why did Mel Gibson have to turn out to be such a wild-eyed, anti-semitic, racist, misogynist asshole? I was flipping through the channels and one of the movie stations was airing "Conspiracy Theory," a fun movie I haven't seen in a while (with Jean Luc Picard as a bad guy no less!) and would have liked to watch again. But I can't bear it now that this clown stars in it.

These right-wingers always ruin popular entertainment for me. I can't watch Frasier reruns now (and sometimes they're the only decent thing on at 2 am) because Kelsey Grammer is a right-wing wackjob.

Luckily I have always hated Chuck Norris and Donald Trump, so yeah, no loss there.

GoDaddy sucks

2011-04-01T18:15:00.001-04:00

I'm in the process of changing the Too Saucy domain registrar from GoDaddy to Namecheap because the fuckhead who owns GoDaddy, an oh-so-brave fellow by the name of Bob Parsons, likes to go on elephant slaughters in Africa.

Wonkette has the story (as well as a disturbing video) and I'm switching the blog domain over to the registrar they use, Namecheap, which is doing it for half price for the next 24 hours.

Since I got the domain through Google apps and not directly from GoDaddy, I had to jump through a few hoops to get all the passwords and authorization codes, but it's worth it to send a message to this cretin.

Now, how do I get to boycott Donald Trump?

Where's a geek when you need him?

2011-02-01T02:02:00.006-05:00

I really need my own IT department.

I'm fairly tech savvy. I can usually figure out the basics of smart phones and operating systems and wifi and all that good stuff. But there are so many choices now when it comes to phones it can get mind-boggling.

Part of the problem, of course, is the phone companies don't make it easy to compare, er, apples to apples - so to speak.

I'm a big fan of Google's Android operating system, which is now, by the way, the fastest growing phone OS in the world. I have the Motorola Droid, the OG Droid as it's called on the phone fan boards. I like it a lot, love the whole Google experience, the free GPS, ease of syncing contacts and calendar and documents with my desktop PC, etc.

But my two-year contract expires later this year so I want to upgrade. I'm staying with Verizon as they really do have the best network.

I'm eying the Motorola Droid Bionic. (Which, as an extra bonus, will run on Verizon's new 4G network.)

But do I really need 4G, which is faster, but more expensive. Is 3G enough anymore?

And now Verizon will sell the iPhone. I never would have considered the iPhone on the AT&T network, but I've played with it and it's a nice phone, but I really do like the Droid experience, so want to stay with it.

Except, here come the tablets, just to add more indecision into the mix. Is it worth getting one of them instead of a new phone? Keeping the OG, which works just fine, but doesnt have all the latest bells and whistles and probably won't be getting too many more Android system updates from Google? Two years is a lifetime for these smart phones.

And no doubt making me want it more than I already do, Motorola is supposedly airing a Super Bowl ad introducing their new XOOM tablet, which will run on the newest Android system which is dubbed Honeycomb. (Google calls its OS after desserts, each new version going up a letter in the alphabet. My Droid is on the version dubbed Frozen Yogurt. The Bionic will be on Gingerbread.)

Some tech sites are saying - gasp - the XOOM is much better than the iPad.

Do I get a new phone and a new tablet? And if I get a tablet, do I get wifi only or get it with a data plan? I'm already paying for a data plan on the damn phone. How much money do the bastards want!!! Sorry, Snapped for a moment there.

It would all be so much simpler if I had an unlimited budget to get everything.

That is a martini...

2011-01-28T01:24:00.000-05:00

...painfully dry.

Omaha Steaks rocks! Continental Airlines not so much.

2011-01-25T18:31:00.000-05:00

Why does Continental Airlines like to be so difficult?

I usually like them, I really do. They are one of my favorite airlines - probably second only to Virgin America, which I think has way better first class amenities but is more expensive, at least to Vegas.

But Continental seems to go out of its way to annoy.

I ordered some Omaha Steak several months ago and did it through the Continental OnePass shopping portal. The promo deal was 20 miles on my frequent flier account per dollar spent.

Naturally, Continental is disputing the points. Four months of repeated emails to investigate the missing points - nothing. Finally a vague email yesterday that they might not be valid. Sigh.

So today I contacted Omaha Steaks customer service department (which is always great) and they immediately sprang into action and said they would make it right. And I mean they responded within an hour of receiving my email, not weeks later like Continental usually does.

THAT'S how you take care of a loyal customer.

Omaha Steaks rocks! Continental - meh. (And I can only imagine it getting worse when the United merger goes through and they are bigger and even less responsive.)

Hey, Virgin America, how's your NY to Vegas schedule looking in February?

Blah

2011-01-15T12:53:00.000-05:00

It is really, realllly hard to come back to a cold, snowy NYC after a week of tropical temperatures in Cancun.

Really hard.

That is all.

Gov. Christie is back in Jersey

2011-01-05T00:20:00.000-05:00

Lardass is back in New Jersey after sitting out the big snow storm of '10 in Florida.

And, of course, in good right-wing, tea bagger fashion is blaming everybody but himself for the thousands of state residents being snowed under.

These people really disgust me, have you noticed?

The world's hottest hacker?

2010-12-11T13:04:00.002-05:00

Apparently not content with just taking over the porn industry, hot Eastern European girls have made a move into the usually nerdy world of computer hacking.

TG Daily reports: Kristina Svechinskaya - who has been dubbed the "world's hottest female hacker" - recently appeared in a NYC courtroom to face charges of stealing $35,000 for a notorious Eastern European cyber gang.

She definitely looks she has a way with hard drives. Hey-ooo.

Frustrating vs. Evil

2010-12-10T13:04:00.003-05:00

Believe it or not, there are some folks who are so discouraged and jaded about politics, they say: There's no difference between the parties, it doesn't matter who you vote for, both sides suck.

Wrong.

There's one pretty big difference between the two major political parties in this country.

While the Democratic party certainly gets frustrating at times, it's not inherently evil. The Republicans are inherently evil.

Look at just some of what the GOP did this week.

It blocked a bill to provide health care for thousands of 9/11 first responders at Ground Zero. Firemen, cops, EMTs, construction workers, who rushed to the World Trade Center and spent weeks literally digging in the rubble, pulling out bodies, breathing in toxic chemicals, and now plagued with deadly lung diseases and cancers. Sorry guys, the GOP won't help you.

It blocked a vote to repeal Don't Ask Don't tell, the out-of-date policy that throws gays out of the military, even though the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Defense Secretary, the military's top brass, President Obama, and a survey of service members themselves, all say there would be no harm to combat readiness if gays are allowed to openly serve. Sorry gays, the GOP doesn't want to help you.

They balked at extending sorely needed unemployment insurance for millions of Americans out of work through no fault of their own in this crappy economy. It then went on to block a tax bill that would have kept lower tax rates for the middle class but allow taxes for millionaires to slightly increase and go back to the level they were under Bill Clinton in the 90s. Sorry middle class, the GOP doesn't want to help you.

Instead the president had to make a deal allowing millionaires to keep the low tax rates they enjoyed under George W. Bush, so that he could also get a vote on the lower tax rates for the middle class and extend the unemployment benefits. Classic hostage/blackmail situation courtesy of the GOP.

(By the way, a sidenote on this issue - when Clinton was president, the economy was booming: unemployment was low, inflation was low, the stock market soared, corporate profits soared, the deficit was low, and when he left office, he bequeathed a budget surplus to Bush. Then eight years of Boy George and his economic policies and what did Obama inherit? Unemployment rising to over 9%, stock market that had plummeted and is just finally beginning to come back from the huge drop (you probably noticed that plummet in your lousy 401k reports over the last several years) and a deficit stretching as far as the eye can see. And this is the economic policy the GOP wants to keep? Yeah, it really worked so well, didn't it.)

And, of course, when it takes over Congress in 2011, the GOP is going to name climate change deniers and oil company lackeys as chairmen of committees charged with protecting the environment and overseeing the oil companies. That's going to go well. No chance for abuse there. Sorry every living creature on Earth, the GOP won't help you.

So next time you get frustrated at some wacky Democratic congressmen or some pompous Democratic Senator, just remember, the other party is, by and large, a nasty, mean-spirited, selfish group beholden to big business - oil companies, tobacco companies, insurance companies, arms companies - and right-wing religious freakazoids who want to put God into everything, take away a woman's right to choose and basically make your life a living hell if you don't worship Baby Jesus.

I'll take frustrating over evil anytime.

Clean-up in aisle 5...

2010-12-01T22:55:00.001-05:00

A Florida man was arrested for wacking off in a Walmart, according to The Smoking Gun.

In case you needed another reason to avoid Walmart.

And he was doing it looking at a copy of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

Granted, there's some majorly hot girls in that magazine, but jeez, it's really just a tiny step away from George Costanza doing it to Glamour.

Who knew people still j/o'd to magazines? If this guy ever saw some of the stuff on the Internet he would never leave his house.

"I'm running a Level 1 diagnostic"

2010-11-28T18:31:00.001-05:00

I just saw LeVar Burton in a bad made-for-TV movie (one of those corny "women in distress" Lifetime things) and, damn, does he look weird without the Star Trek: TNG Geordi goggles.

He was a key player in what is considered probably the best TV miniseries ever made (Roots), but without those goggles, meh.

Hey now

2010-11-10T00:13:00.002-05:00

I ordered the Larry Sanders Show box set. That was one of the best and most innovative shows ever, and one of HBO's first big hits.

Having been behind the scenes of a few TV shows, some of the stuff on there is absolutely spot on.

I can't wait to see Artie get drunk on Salty Dogs in a few of the episodes. I guess Rip Torn was just researching.

Sometimes you sorta miss the chimp

2010-10-20T15:05:00.000-04:00

"I don't think we came from monkeys. I think that's ridiculous. I haven't seen a half-monkey, half-person yet."
- Glenn Beck

Love the smoke effect

2010-09-11T04:30:00.000-04:00

Blondie on the iconic British program, Top of the Pops. There may have been some drugs ingested before the show.

Testing testing 1-2-3

2010-09-09T21:53:00.002-04:00

Random thoughts:

My bathroom mirror was steamy this morning. Summer is officially over.

How annoying is it when you think you are typing your user name & password in the boxes on a website, then look up and realize the cursor was not in the right place and nothing registered.

The guy who wrote the infamous "Jump the Shark" episode of "Happy Days" hates what the phrase has come to mean

You should see what happens if you give him a Bronx cheer

2010-06-18T12:40:00.002-04:00

Here's a dog with sensitivities. He hates getting the bird.

Wine tastings are so declasse

2010-06-12T21:08:00.000-04:00

I stumbled into a Scotch tastng at my local hooch store today when I stopped in for some wine. May I just say I stumbled out.

Scotch tastings are much better than wine tastings.

It would be funny if it wasn't so sad

2010-06-07T18:11:00.001-04:00

Actual non-Photoshopped pictures from BP stations with signs saying: "Do not leave pumps unattended. You are responsible for spills."

You could laugh except for those heartbreaking photos of birds coated with oil, trapped and trying to get up.

Frankenstein's albino gonk

2010-05-21T20:43:00.001-04:00

HBO is running the series finale of "Extras" these days. ("Frankenstein's albino gonk" is one of the taunts Stephen Merchant's character says he gets called.)

When the show aired, I didn't think it was as good as the original BBC version of "The Office" - although what could be?

But it really is very funny. The David Bowie episode alone is genius. Kudos Ricky Gervais for creating two of the best TV comedies of all time.

Hey, am I invisible here?

2010-05-21T14:13:00.002-04:00

Pet peeve #27: when a person calling a store takes precedence over me actually standing there in the damn store.

I picked up some dry cleaning today. I handed the woman my ticket and as she was about to turn around and fire up that revolving carousel of clothes to get my shirts, the phone rang.

She proceeded to answer it and spent 5 minutes - not exaggerating - discussing some sort of dry cleaning emergency with the person on the phone.

Uh, hello. I actually took the time and trouble to come to your store. Why are you making me wait there so you can help a person who took the time and trouble to use the fucking phone.

And it wasn't like she was on the phone call when I walked in. My transaction began first.

If it had been a store where I was going to purchase something and not there to get my shirts back, I would have been out of there after one minute. Maybe 45 seconds.

Here's a little business tip to all you store personnel - tell the caller to hold on a second while you take care of an actual flesh and blood customer.

We used to walk miles in the snow to get to a pay phone...

2010-05-20T02:17:00.016-04:00

It's amazing how fast things date.

I was watching "Unfaithful" on Cinemax tonight, and there's a scene where Diane Lane is at Grand Central and calling the mysterious guy she's cheating on Richard Gere with - and she goes to a pay phone and puts a quarter in.

It just seemed so ridiculously ancient. The movie was only made in 2002, but it seemed like it was from the 1950's.

Today, of course, she would have a cell phone. And, frankly, I'm not sure if Grand Central even has pay phones any more. It probably does, but I go through there a couple of times a month and I would be hard pressed to tell you where they are.

I remember when I commuted to the 'burbs on a daily basis - and it was not that terribly long ago - there used to be banks of pay phones there.

Now, when they show up in a movie, just 8 years old, no less, they seem like a relic.

Suddenly a Virgin doesn't look so good

2010-05-18T01:13:00.004-04:00

It's not easy having champagne tastes on an imported-beer budget.

I'm looking to do a Vegas trip in July (yes, I know, nothing says fun like visiting when you can fry an egg on the sidewalk.)

I did a quick search on the airlines' respective web sites: Continental is showing a round trip 1st class flight at $1,574. Virgin America is at $2,143.

Now, I've noted here before, I love flying VA, but that is some major discrepancy. Unless I did the web thing wrong, seriously, how can they get away with that?

Pasta fazool

2010-05-10T03:06:00.002-04:00

"There's no signal here"

2010-04-24T22:17:00.003-04:00

Now that basically everyone has a cell phone, Hollywood had to come up with something so that the victims in horror/suspense movies don't just immediately call for help and end the movie two minutes in. Apparently every movie now either takes place in a no-signal zone, or they are as bad at remembering to charge their phones as I am.

Almost as good as the scary mirror reveal.

Just another day at the mall

2010-04-19T20:22:00.010-04:00

This poor fellow was named Chaucy Morlan. He once was paraded around Europe and America in the Barnum & Bailey Circus because of his weight.

Let's face it, he's no day at the beach, but I'm not sure he would even get a second glance at the food court in the local mall today.

Ok, instead of the fancy vest and pantaloons he'd be wearing sweat pants and a KFC "Double Down"-stained t-shirt, but this guy is middle America - I see folks like this waddling around Times Square every day pointing up at the tall buildings before they groan their way back into the tour buses.

Once a circus freak, now it's just the typical tea bagger at a Palin rally.

Hello again

2010-04-15T11:36:00.002-04:00

Well, hello blogoverse. I haven't been here in a while, been a little occupied.

May be time to get back into the swing of things at Too Saucy. There are Republicans to mock, and NY stories to tell, and venting to be done about the various people who irk me.

Ann Coulter? She's pretty nasty.

2010-04-01T15:20:00.006-04:00

Those wacky Republicans, they sure like moralizing about everyone else's sex life, but they seem to have quite a freaky side themselves.

Just days after it was discovered that the RNC treated high rolling donors to a wild night at a bondage/lesbian/table service club in West Hollywood, it turns out they "inadvertently listed a phone-sex number on a fund raising letter sent to potential donors. People who tried to call the committee were instead offered "live, one-on-one talk with a nasty girl" for $2.99 a minute."

First: Haha.

But I guess we shouldn't be too surprised. This, after all, is the party of Sen. David Vitter, busted for patronizing prostitutes both in his home state of Louisiana, and in D.C. - hookers, by the way, who specialized in clients who liked to wear diapers (eww).

And the former Senator, Larry Craig, he of the infamous "wide stance" in the men's room at the Minneapolis airport bathroom.

And Sen. Larry Ensign, the Nevada GOPer who was caught boinking a married staffer (she was married to another of his staffers, no less).

And how about Mark Sanford, the S.C. luv guv of the Appalachian Trail. And we can't forget Newt Gingirch, who is a species all to himself (on wife #4, I believe).

Well, the list goes on.

And this is the party that impeached Bill Clinton for getting a b.j.

They really are the most hypocritical bunch of scum out, aren't they?

I need a glow stick

2010-03-16T18:03:00.002-04:00

Oy - my hairdresser blasts techno music. By the time I leave there my head is spinning. Although I guess that makes it easier for her to cut the hair.

Amazon fail

2010-03-12T17:25:00.004-05:00

Amazon does that "We think you might like..." thing where it analyzes something you bought and tries to get you to buy something similar. Sometimes it works, sometimes it's just obnoxious.

A few weeks ago I got an Ella Fitzgerald CD box set, "12 Nights in Hollywood." Today the friendly folks at Amazon suggested I get the 2-disc, "The Best of 12 Nights in Hollywood."

Ha ha.

Bastards, though.

Teeth paranoia

2010-03-12T01:53:00.002-05:00

Did you ever brush your teeth after you've being out drinking, eating, then realize, "Oh, I actually brushed them 40 minutes ago when I first got home."

Of course, then I paranoidally wonder if doing that is somehow damaging to my teeth.

Why am I such a nice guy?

2010-03-12T01:40:00.004-05:00

So I get on the elevator today in my building and this woman gets on with her kid, maybe 5 years old, and he starts saying, "Go away, go away." And I suddenly realize he's talking to me.

And the woman says, "Oh, no sweety, we don't say that to people, this is not your private elevator."

Then she adds, "We say that to bees or flies, we say, 'Go away, fly, buzz, go away.'"

So the brat starts saying, "Go away, fly, buzz."

And now she's embarrassed and says, "I'm sorry, he thinks everything is his."

I give a wan smile, clearly not humored, and my floor comes and I get out, and I hear her saying. "No, he's not a fly, he's our neighbor."

Of course, I wanted to snarl in the elevator, "I'm not a fly but you ARE a fucking cockroach and you should be crushed."

He would have been in tears.

It would have been great.

But she seemed genuinely embarrassed so I didn't.

But still.

Who are these people who raise these obnoxious kids?

We're living in a hologram?

2010-02-06T16:17:00.005-05:00

This is a fascinating article. Scientists are theorizing that we - the world as we know it, and us - are actually hologram depictions of events happening somewhere else in the universe.

For many months, the GEO600 team-members had been scratching their heads over inexplicable noise that is plaguing their giant detector. Then, out of the blue, a researcher approached them with an explanation. In fact, he had even predicted the noise before he knew they were detecting it. According to Craig Hogan, a physicist at the Fermilab particle physics lab in Batavia, Illinois, GEO600 has stumbled upon the fundamental limit of space-time - the point where space-time stops behaving like the smooth continuum Einstein described and instead dissolves into "grains", just as a newspaper photograph dissolves into dots as you zoom in. "It looks like GEO600 is being buffeted by the microscopic quantum convulsions of space-time," says Hogan.

If this doesn't blow your socks off, then Hogan, who has just been appointed director of Fermilab's Center for Particle Astrophysics, has an even bigger shock in store: "If the GEO600 result is what I suspect it is, then we are all living in a giant cosmic hologram."

The idea that we live in a hologram probably sounds absurd, but it is a natural extension of our best understanding of black holes, and something with a pretty firm theoretical footing. It has also been surprisingly helpful for physicists wrestling with theories of how the universe works at its most fundamental level.

The holograms you find on credit cards and banknotes are etched on two-dimensional plastic films. When light bounces off them, it recreates the appearance of a 3D image. In the 1990s physicists Leonard Susskind and Nobel prizewinner Gerard 't Hooft suggested that the same principle might apply to the universe as a whole. Our everyday experience might itself be a holographic projection of physical processes that take place on a distant, 2D surface.

The "holographic principle" challenges our sensibilities. It seems hard to believe that you woke up, brushed your teeth and are reading this article because of something happening on the boundary of the universe. No one knows what it would mean for us if we really do live in a hologram, yet theorists have good reasons to believe that many aspects of the holographic principle are true.
- NewScientist

Frankly, I wish the real me in the 2-dimensional world would hurry up and find his gloves, it's freezing here in this hologram world and I had to go out without them today.

This may be the epitome of corporate-speak bullshit...

2010-02-06T03:16:00.001-05:00

"Change management"?

"This person will assist in defining the change management strategy and will be responsible for driving and supporting all aspects of organizational readiness to ensure business owners and end users are ready, motivated, and able to accept new business processes with a focus on change management and communications activities. He/She will manage, develop, and administer stakeholder assessments to measure change readiness, communication effectiveness, and organizational infrastructure."

The thong is dead...

2010-02-03T17:32:00.003-05:00

...long live the thong.

Well, at least its successor.

According to Cosmo, and, hey, they study this stuff, thongs are no longer the undies of choice for the discerning woman, it's apparently the boy short.

Of course, with the picture they have accompanying the article, uh yeah - if every woman's butt looked like that. (And I always thought those were called booty shorts? Shows what I know.)

What a strange company

2010-01-12T18:52:00.005-05:00

I got my Motorola Droid - so far loving it. But Verizon Wireless really does have some strange business practices.

I have a second line, and usually when I get a new phone after my New Every 2 kicks in, they give me a new free phone for the 2nd line. It's not as good as the main phone, obviously, usually just a basic one, but what the heck, it's a new phone.

So as I was in the Verizon store on 86th today getting the Droid, I asked the guy what free phone comes with it for the second line.

Well, apparently none. He claimed they subsidize the Droid so much, they don't give a free phone with it.

I was perturbed and he noted I could get a new one pretty cheap. I looked at the Samsung Intensity, which sells for $70, but comes with a $50 rebate, so final cost was 20 bucks. I told him I'd take that, but he helpfully told me that if I ordered it online they sell it at the reduced price without having to go through the rebate dog & pony show of sending in the receipt and the bar code and waiting 8 weeks for it to show up, they just sell it at the $20 price.

Even better.

So I get home, log on to Verizon - and it turns out they actually are selling it to me free. No charge at all. And the beauty part, no shipping charge. I just got an email from FedEx that it's already left their West Chester, PA facility and will be here in two days.

Now you figure the 2-day shipping is going to cost Verizon, what, 8 bucks, 10?

So instead of just giving me the damn phone for free in the store, they are going to pay money to ship it to me.

And somehow they will still manage to make a bazillion dollars this year.

Bastards

2010-01-10T19:04:00.003-05:00

The cell phone industry really does seem to go out of its way to make it difficult and piss you off, doesn't it?

I'm drooling over the Motorola Droid phone and my Verizon contract kicked into New Every 2 mode a few weeks ago...but now I'm reading about this Nexus phone which is only available on T-Mobile, which I have no interest in switching to - but apparently it will soon be available on Verizon in a few months.

And then you keep hearing that the iPhone will also soon be available on Verizon.

Seriously, these cell phone carriers/hardware companies just like to make us jump through hoops.

Bastards.

Somewhere on the rails

2010-01-05T16:33:00.001-05:00

Mobile post from the railroad wondering if it works. Because even on a commuter train people are annoying. I need one of those "Get Smart" cone of silence things. If someone invents a portable one they will make a fortune.

Take your little scam elsewhere

2010-01-01T13:55:00.009-05:00

A year or so ago, when I was moving Too Saucy from the blogspot.com site, where it had been for a few years (awkwardly named toosaucy.blogspot.com), to its own stand alone domain name, I tried to get TooSaucy.com - but someone had bought the name. And it was just there - blank, nothing on the page. Obviously, it was one of those creepy companies that buy domain names and then sit on them hoping to sell them for a profit.

Oh well. What are you going to do. But toosaucy.org was available, so I got that instead.

Well, a few days ago I got an email from the domain snatcher informing me that, hey, what do you know, toosaucy.com was available and it could be mine.

"We noticed that you own TOOSAUCY.ORG and felt that you may be interested in acquiring the .COM version of your existing domain name. It is available for a one-time fee of only $49.00 USD."

Of course, a domain name only costs $10 from a regular registry, like Go Daddy (not to mention, they have hot girls in their Super Bowl ads).

Well, needless to say, I was not about to give those creeps $49 - but, hey guys, thanks for informing me .com was now available. So I immediately hopped on Go Daddy, and, voilà, ten bucks later, toosaucy.com belongs to me, its rightful owner.

And, I have the pleasure of knowing that they held on to the name for two years, so the whole thing actually cost them $20.

Not that I'll make any real money from it, but, you know, it's the principle.

Classic headline

2009-12-27T17:28:00.001-05:00

After sex sting, AP governor Tiwari ejects prematurely
- The Times of India

It's nice to know that even in India, copy editors can be mischievous.

More Pomplamoose....

2009-12-12T22:23:00.004-05:00

....yes more!

And you know their whole thing is what you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice) and if you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds.)

Blah blah.

ps - check out the cute ending of the 1st video when his sister walks in.

2,000 channels...

2009-12-12T22:03:00.006-05:00

I literally have something like 2,000 channels on my system and I still can't get shows like this, which were once part of the regular TV landscape. Now we get, you know, American Idol:

It's the little things....

2009-11-30T00:09:00.002-05:00

Happiness is finding something you thought you had lost in Vegas several months ago. No, not my innocence. My cool pair of classic Ray Bans, which I found buried in one of the 38 pockets in my laptop bag.

Yay me!

At least it wasn't an 8-year-old altar boy

2009-11-12T19:55:00.000-05:00

Irish priest kidnapped in Philippines released by MILF

Yikes!

2009-11-09T21:39:00.003-05:00

This girl is scary...but yet somewhat intriguing. You can't go wrong with college girls in soccer uniforms - in ponytails no less - but, damn, this is a one-girl terror squad.

The fat guy sings

2009-11-04T00:25:00.005-05:00

Sigh: why do I do this to myself and pay attention to election results in a very off-year election, with only a few notable races going on in the country. It was mixed results tonight. The good guys (the Dems) lost in Virgina, which, let's face it, is really still basically a right-wing Southern state.

Very happily, though, the Dems won that NY-23 Congressional seat that the right-wing nut jobs have been salivating over. Glenn Beck and the rest of that crowd have been pushing this race (the seat became open when Jedi Master Obama tapped the Republican incumbent Congressman to be Secretary of the Army causing the special election).

The GOP has literally held that district since the Civil War. Until now. Haha.

Disappointing, though, was the NJ governor's race, where the fat guy won. Buncha yokels down there.

Drooling

2009-10-28T23:12:00.003-04:00

My newest coveted electronic item, the Droid. Conveniently, it's debuting just a few weeks before my New-Every-2 plan kicks in in December. And of course, better than the iPhone, it's on Verizon. I hate them sometimes, but their network is much better than crappy AT&T.

The specs look great, including a built-in turn-by-turn GPS powered by Google Maps. Why buy a $200 stand-alone GPS any more.

Er, I hope so!

2009-10-27T18:57:00.002-04:00

Pilots of wayward jet lose licenses

Considering the two alternatives on this story were either that they fell asleep or were so busy on their laptops they didn't notice they overflew the airport by more than an hour, I certainly hope they lost their licenses.

If I have to pay to check my damn bag these days, I'd sort of like a little alertness in the cockpit.

Pomplamoose does "Single Ladies"

2009-10-22T22:08:00.001-04:00

She always looks startled!

Ka-ching

2009-10-21T22:17:00.004-04:00

I always enjoy meeting my friend Jan for drinks. Not only because I've know her for 7 years now - which is crazy - but she still manages to amuse me with her tales. And, perhaps just as important, she always overpays her share of the bar bill, while I always try to guilt her into thinking she hasn't left enough.

We met at the lovely but ridiculously overpriced M Bar in the Mansfield on West 44th. It's one of those clubby, wood-paneled rooms with a horseshoe-shaped bar and a live jazz combo.

But alas, no happy hour prices. I had 2 glasses of an amusing little Pinot Grigio and one of the house specialty martinis - a concoction of Stoli Vanilla Vodka, French Parfait Amour, Blueberry & Pineapple Juice and Fresh Blueberries - and still managed to get out of there for $32. Good times.

When we were figuring where to meet, and I suggested the M, she looked it up on the web site and emailed me today that she was afraid she was not dressed nicely enough. I was expecting a tee-shirt and ripped jeans but she was fine. (Although I told her if she hadn't been dressed appropriately, I would have just pretended I didn't know her, made her sit on the other side of the bar, and we could have texted all night.)

But the best part is when she imagines she sees celebrities. She was staring at a girl sitting 2 seats down from us and I asked what was going on, and she whispered it was Rachel McAdams. Er, not even close. Not even in the ball park. Then again, this is the same girl who a few years ago froze - and I mean literally froze in her tracks like the proverbial deer in the headlights - with her jaw gaping open, because she thought she saw the blond guy who played Samantha's boyfriend on Sex and the City. Needless to say, another miss.

I knew she looked familiar

2009-10-20T00:50:00.001-04:00

Here's that teacher that Don Draper is currently defiling on "Mad Men." And she's a blogger!

Every single Kramer entrance in chronological order

2009-10-19T00:26:00.001-04:00

Aww

2009-10-14T16:55:00.002-04:00

A beagle puppy attacks a Rottweiler. He could have had the little guy for lunch if he wanted.

There's a lesson in here somewhere

2009-10-07T04:21:00.003-04:00

A 3-way cat-tug-o'-war over a piece of steak. The little guy in the middle doing all the eating instead of all the the tugging seems to be the smartest one.

Great New York TV theme songs

2009-10-06T03:32:00.014-04:00

I vaguely remember doing a Too Saucy post a long while back about the crazy amount of TV shows that are set in New York (sit-coms and dramas, not the talk or news stuff).

(Sorry Red State America, apparently no one really wants to see what happens in your little town.)

Here's some classic theme songs from a few of them. This just scratches the surface of course.

Back at the beginning of TV, Bensonhurst (that's in Brooklyn) was represented.

And a decade or so later, Brooklyn Heights.

Sometimes, Queens got in the act (even from Television City)...

I'm not quite sure where Maude lived, but it was somewhere over one of the bridges.

But let's face it, Manhattan is where everyone wants to be be...

Haha, no really. Sometimes for work...

or school...

or fighting crime...

Look at Herman Munster!

But usually just to have fun and try to be glamorous...

Or to be somewhat insufferably in love...

Meh, need a little palate cleaning after that (although they go over the same damn bridge in Central Park)...

Sometimes people in NYC were thrown together for reasons I could never figure out. Why adults would want to have roomies beats me, but apparently divorce is very expensive...

But sometimes money is no object...

Even if you and your roomie are a low level chef and a coffee shop waitress, you can still live in a great Greenwich Village loft (I forget how, or even if, they explained that)...

And they will bring the great NY theme song theme together...

Look at this baby

2009-10-05T21:38:00.003-04:00

Although the crappy cell phone cam pic really doesn't do it justice, I've got into making homemade pizza lately. This thin-crusted beauty is topped with a delicious tomato sauce, mozzarella, portabella mushrooms, and sliced black olives, all sprinkled with sea salt, onion powder and garlic powder.

It's 12" across and provides four very good-sized slices.

Total cost to me = $6. Kaching!

Unfortunate moments in the annals of Twitter

2009-10-04T15:45:00.000-04:00

From CNN's TJ Holmes:

@tjholmescnn Can't get that Miley Cyrus song out of my head! Though it's driving my nuts, I gotta hand it to her for making such a catchy tune!

A business suggestion that can make someone a small fortune

2009-09-27T02:32:00.006-04:00

I have a suggestion for someone looking to make some nice coin. Start an assembling company - that is, a company that you hire that will put together furniture that needs to be assembled.

As someone who does not like doing manual labor, I would use this service in a New York minute. And I doubt I am alone.

If you order something online, you definitely need it. And even some items purchased from a store need to be assembled, but the store invariably charges a ripoff amount if you get them to do it. Undercut the store prices and you will get business.

Last year I bought a beautiful new media center for my even more beautiful 55" HDTV (1080p, thank you) and surround-sound components. I got it from the strangely named Door Store, and I knew it would be a nightmare to put together: a glass top, doors and drawers. Ugh. So I had them do it.

Well the guys delivered it and put it together in about 15 minutes. They didn't even have to look at the instructions, they had the proper tools. I would still be sitting on the floor today trying to figure it out. Cost to me $60. Well worth it.

But that's a fairly elaborate piece of furniture. I am, I have to admit, helpless with anything that has to be assembled. It is my weak spot. My one weak spot.

I just bought speaker stands from Amazon. They are basically a base, a pole that extends, and a clamp thing at the top that you attach your speaker to. But there's something like 50 freaken' screws and nuts and bolts and blah blah. I looked at the instruction sheet and realize I do not have the time or patience for this, so I'm going to have to get one of the maintenance guys in my building to do it for 20 bucks. He will probably do it in 3 minutes, so, you know, good deal for him.

But it would be nice to have an assembling company to hire who are experts at putting together anything and everything. Or at least has the patience to read those ridiculous instructions sheets with the crappy drawings that make you more confused.

So some enterprising entrepreneur out there, take this idea and run with it. You're welcome.

This is why I love New York

2009-09-23T02:13:00.003-04:00

Tuesday, I had a $200 Italian dinner with my old boss (he paid) followed by $5 Hurricanes at a dive bar in Times Square. Good times.

And just as good, on my way to the restaurant, I was on the N train coming from the East Side into midtown, and there were - and I am not exaggerating - people reading Asian, Spanish, Indian, Russian (maybe Polish, I couldn't tell) and British newspapers. And a bunch of other folks reading books - serious hardcovers and trashy paperbacks.

Does any other city read as much as this one?

Granted, most people out there have to drive while they commute so they can't read. But what an amazing - it's cliche, but true - melting pot the city is.

And this, of course, is the great fear of those clowns you hear out there in East Bumfuck at those "town hall meetings" screaming, "I want my country back."

Back from what?

It ain't the 1950's any more, goober. Get over it.

Patsy Cline's last TV appearance

2009-09-21T01:39:00.003-04:00

All that talent and her dress costs less than Tori Spelling's left fucking earring.

Elvis Costello's first TV appearance

2009-09-20T03:05:00.002-04:00

Why is Billy Mays still on my TV...

2009-09-18T02:54:00.006-04:00

...selling some new cheap-ass car phone holder/adapter thing? Didn't he die of cocaine?

Of course, now whenever you see one of his ads you have to just look on in fascination at the manic personality. It all makes sense now. Nobody could be that excited about a Shamwow or whatever it was he was selling.

But still, isn't there some sort of protocol about taking dead people's commercials off the air.

Then again, I'm pretty sure there's a new commercial for Walgreen's running that features Nancy Marchand, the actress who played Tony Soprano's mother, who died in real life about 8 years ago. It looks like they are dubbing in her voice though.

I guess the family or the estate okays these things for the residuals, but it does seem sort of tacky.

Springy side or flat

2009-09-14T03:23:00.002-04:00

Smart as I am - and I am incredibly smart and modest - even after years and years of battery use, I still can never remember which is the + side and which is the - side for the battery, and I still have to peer at the remote and at the battery and contemplate which end goes in which direction.

Guitar Hero for Beethoven?

2009-09-14T03:21:00.002-04:00

Actually, it's just a graphical animation of the 5th Symphony.

Virgin America, good airline, bad writer

2009-09-04T02:03:00.006-04:00

I got an email from Virgin America a few days ago bragging that they are at 1 million members on their Elevate (frequent flyer) program.

You're welcome.

(And, by the way, I just switched my recurring charges from my Citibank to my Virgin credit card so I will be getting points every month for my cell phone, cable bills, etc.)

You're welcome again.

Anyhoo, the email provided me with a special code to get 20 percent off a flight, but as I read it I knew there were going to be big problems. The genius who wrote it came up with this language:

Book by: September 29th
Fly: September 2nd and November 18th
December 2nd and December 16th
January 6th and February 10th

Hmm, so let's see, I have to fly on those 6 days to get the 20 percent off?

Well, I can only imagine the calls they got from many confused folks, so today a sheepish follow-up email came:

We’re sending this follow up email as a friendly reminder, and to make sure that we are clear about the dates of travel. So here again, and with our thanks, are the dates that your 20% off offer applies to.

Book by: September 29
Fly: September 2 - November 18
December 2 - December 16
January 6 - February 10

Ok, that's better. (Even though they ended a sentence in a preposition.)

You know, Virgin, I would be quite happy to proofread your silly emails for a nominal fee - how about round trip first class to Vegas, hmm, 6 times a year.

Now that sounds reasonable to me.

Do I have to run every company in the world?

2009-09-01T23:31:00.003-04:00

As I was painfully aware, Gmail went down Tuesday for a few hours.

"Google said it had taken some of Gmail's servers offline for routine maintenance, and underestimated the load that would place on other computers responsible for directing traffic to the appropriate Gmail servers."

They took servers down at 2 pm ET on a Tuesday?

Hey, here's a suggestion, numbnuts: pay a little overtime and maybe have your techs work on a fucking Sunday night.

What is wrong with these people?

This is totally my luck

2009-08-28T23:50:00.005-04:00

I've been aggrieved lately obsessing over losing a pair of sunglasses and a book during a recent trip. I was in Las Vegas 3 weeks ago and when I got home I was quite perturbed to find that I no longer had my classic Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses and a Nelson DeMille book I had been reading. I tore my suitcase apart looking in every square inch, hoping they were in there somewhere.

And when I obsess, I obsess. It was driving me crazy wondering how I could have been so clumsy. The glasses cost about $80 five years ago, they're probably $100 today. I was halfway through the book and enjoying it, now I would have to buy another copy to finish it.

Did I leave them in the hotel, on the plane, in the car ride home from the airport? Seriously, this was driving me crazy.

Last night, I literally had a Eureka moment and sat up at 4 in the morning - now, this is 3 weeks later, mind you - and thought: the computer bag. I had taken my laptop with me and haven't opened it since I came home. So I get it out and sure enough there was the damn book. The bag has lots of pouches and is great for putting in things to carry on the plane.

But, and this is the part that's totally my bad luck: no sunglasses. A $9 paperback, sure, that I find; $100 sunglasses? Nah.

Zzzzzz...

2009-08-18T15:25:00.002-04:00

I have to admit, when I get my bouts of insomnia, I think I agree with them:

A good night's sleep or great sex?

Sleep, say 51% of respondents in a study released today by Westin Hotels & Resorts.

The study of about 12,500 recent travelers in a dozen countries commissioned by the hotel chain, backs up headlines that say Americans don't get enough sleep.

Some highlights:

• 51% of respondents would prefer a perfect night's sleep to great sex. Contrary to stereotype, more men than women picked slumber over a roll in the hay. Canadians were the only group to favor sex over sleep. (When a Westin survey asked the same question a decade ago, just 31% picked sleep.)

Luck be a lady tonight...

2009-08-12T01:14:00.011-04:00

I just flew back from Las Vegas - boy, are my arms tired - so a few random thoughts:

Those guys who stand on the Strip trying to hand out cards to strip clubs or for call girls are absolutely relentless. Do those cards actually work? I guess they do, because they keep using them, but jeez, so annoying. They don't even seem to pay attention to who they are trying to give them to; I saw them trying to thrust them into the hands of old married couples and 14-year-old girls.

And apparently the LV police department doesn't care. I saw a gaggle of those guys handing out cards while a cop car was sitting right next to them. I have to think if the casinos put the word out, those guys would no longer be there. I wonder why they don't get them banned?

Speaking of LV cops, one of the funniest sights I saw was a guy dressed as Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow taking a picture of tourists who wanted to pose with LV cops. I was going to take a picture of him taking the picture, but it would have been too meta. Also, my battery was dead.

For the first time, I actually saw women with a Kate Gosselin haircut. Oy. God bless the Midwest and the hillbillies who live there.

There are a LOT of dueling piano acts these days. When and why did this become so popular? And come to think of it, how many Comedians of the Year are there in Vegas? Seemed to be a lot.

On my flight out there I was stuck next to maybe THE most annoying person I have been forced to sit next to for 5 hours. Not to be a snob - ok, who am I kidding, I am a snob - but one of the reasons I fly first class is to avoid the riffraff. Well, thank you Continental for putting me next to one of the most obnoxious individuals I have ever met. She was an elderly woman (God forbid I ever get stuck next to a hot little blond), late 60s probably, and, wow, she had to fucking comment on everything.

As we were sitting waiting for the plane to fill up, she had to comment on the weight of the people filing past: "In my days, we called that saddle butt." She had to comment on girls with tattoos: "I just found out, they call that tramp stamps." She actually commented on the size of carry-on luggage: "I don't know how they allow those on the plane, they're too big."

She wouldn't fucking shut up.

So even though I was planning to read a Nelson DeMille mystery, I quickly put on the headphones to watch TV. Didn't stop her. She kept tapping my shoulder to comment on what was on my screen. And here's the thing - she wasn't watching TV herself. I actually said to her, "Don't you want headphones?" and she said, "I have a good book I want to read." But she didn't! She just kept watching my screen and yapping. Fucking Baby Jesus. She was maybe the MOST annoying person I have ever been forced to endure.

I was already in a bad mood having to fly Continental instead of my beloved Virgin America, but I was coming from Philadelphia this time and Virgin only flies out of JFK, so I was leaving from Newark. I have to tell you, after going Virgin, you really notice the shoddiness of Continental now - the plane itself, the entertainment choices, the personnel (fairly surly.) Ugh.

Never again, if I can help it.

Although I do have miles, so, you know, case by case.

This is great

2009-08-04T03:00:00.004-04:00

No, this isn't the missing Gabor sister, it's the leader of the "birther" movement, which claims Obama isn't really a U.S. citizen so can't be president. Yet another right-wing loon determined to make the Republican party extinct by the next decade. Bless 'em.

Coniving bastards

2009-07-31T16:28:00.003-04:00

I thought I had scored a good soda deal at C-Town today: 99 cents for 2 liter bottles of Schweppes, Pepsi, and Mountain Mist (which is a Sprite knockoff. Of course, Sprite itself is a 7-Up knockoff. I digress).

So I load up with a bottle of ginger ale, cola, and the lemon-limey stuff.

Then I get home and suddenly realize they had charged me $1.89 per bottle!

Of course, then I took a close look at the weekly sales flier. It's 99 cents - with an additional $10 purchase.

That part, of course, is in the tiniest print possible. Maybe a .3 font size.

Why do they like to screw us?

Ugh

2009-07-29T18:20:00.001-04:00

President Obama will drink Bud Light at the Thursday meeting with the African-American professor and white police officer who got in a dust-up earlier this month.
- USA Today

You know, I love the guy, but, seriously, never mind the Middle East - he clearly needs a beer adviser.

I've been very busy

2009-07-22T02:19:00.002-04:00

A different era

2009-07-18T01:37:00.004-04:00

Now we have Glenn Beck.

Look at the end of the Kennedy assassination segment. Cronkite almost breaks down when he announces the death and a guy standing behind him in the newsroom looking at the wire machine swings his head around to see what was going on.

Weird censoring

2009-07-15T03:12:00.003-04:00

So I'm watching Big Brother After Dark again, and although it is, for the most part, an uncensored look at the BB guests from midnight to 3 am, there was some strange censoring going on.

Monday night, there was an extended discussion among the players (who were liquored up) about their sexual histories, and oh, the cameras did not move away from the stories of anal sex, group sex, one-night stands, etc. Thank you, Showtime.

There was even a little booby flash from Jordan, the yummy Southern blond. Thank you especially for that, Showtime. Giggidy.

But Tuesday night, a few players were sitting in the yard (they were joined in mid-conversation as sometimes happens as the cameras cut from room to room) and one of them was saying, "She's really the wife of the president?"

The other player said, "Oh yeah, he owns CBS, and Viacom, which is MTV...."

They were clearly talking about Julie Chen, the host of the show, who is the wife of Les Moonves, president of CBS and Showtime. But the guy who was trying to explain this was confused and was actually describing Sumner Redstone, who is the guy who owns CBS and Viacom (which includes MTV, etc.)

Suddenly a Technical Difficulty card came up on the screen for about 30 seconds, first time I've ever seen this, and they quickly cut to some other people in the kitchen prattling on about nothing in particular.

So lets see, anal sex discussions, fine. Sumner Redstone discussions, not fine.

At least we know the limits.

Why is this not surprising?

2009-07-12T22:26:00.002-04:00

Pew surveyed more than 2,500 scientists, conducted in collaboration with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The survey found that more than half (55%) of the scientists identified themselves as Democrats, and nearly as many (52%) call themselves liberal. What's more, "Many of the scientists surveyed mentioned in their open-ended comments that they were optimistic about the Obama administration's likely impact on science.

Only 9% of the scientists, meanwhile, consider themselves conservative, while fewer still (6%) identified themselves as Republicans.
- Washington Monthly

Gee, I don't suppose that could be because today's GOP doesn't believe in evolution or global warming and is dominated by a bunch of bible-thumping holy-rollers could it?

Arrghh

2009-07-12T00:55:00.002-04:00

I've done it again, allowed myself to get suckered into Big Brother. It's not the primetime shows on CBS that are the problem, it's BB After Dark on Showtime that run seven nights a freaken' week - from midnight to 3 am no less.

Hey boss, no early morning meetings for the rest of the summer, ok?

But I do rather like that little southern blond girl on this season. Giggity. (Oh, and the bikini model ain't too shabby either). Yes, I'm sure that were some tough casting decisions made.

Those are some bad weddings

2009-07-07T14:14:00.002-04:00

Is it just me or does there always seem to be a dozen or so people killed by a drone in Pakistan or Afghanistan. Often coming or going to a wedding no less.

It's like when they were constantly killing the #3 guy in al queda. It seemed to happen every week.

Always read the label

2009-07-06T18:06:00.009-04:00

Sigh. This is why you need to carefully read directions in the store when you're trying a food item you've never had before.

I just bought Mancini's spaghetti dinner: big meatballs with "Sunday sauce." I was totally looking forward to it; a green salad, some garlic bread on the side, an amusing little Pinot Grigio.

Unfortunately, after I eagerly ripped open the package, I saw the hidden directions: "Defrost in refrigerator overnight."

Oh well, I haven't ordered pizza in a while.

Holy crap

2009-07-06T00:48:00.002-04:00

It would have been too much after MJ and Farrah

2009-07-06T00:21:00.002-04:00

I thought Debbie had died. No exaggeration, I heard "Only in my Dreams" THREE times in a long weekend in Florida. I have no idea why it was being played so much. Unusual musical tastes down there.

Congrats, Minnesota

2009-06-30T15:38:00.002-04:00

Minn. Supreme Court Declares Franken Winner in Senate Race

I think Fat Ass Limbaugh's fat head just exploded. Bwahaha.

$284 later...

2009-06-30T13:57:00.002-04:00

The GE repair guy just left, after replacing some fan thing - whatever.

The damn fridge is less than 3 years old. My old fridge was probably about 20. It was in the apartment when I moved in. It was still going strong, but, nooo, I had to get a fancy schmancy stainless steel.

America doesn't build things any more.

It's sad.

More Republican hijinks

2009-06-27T02:51:00.004-04:00

Naked ex-mayor arrested at campsite

"A former mayor found sitting naked and holding a beer at a Rabun County campsite told police he wasn’t the same naked man seen walking around earlier.

Ranger Brandon Walls and a deputy sheriff went to the campsite Saturday evening after a complaint of a man walking naked in Earls Ford Road, according to the report. Musselwhite appeared to be intoxicated, and several alcoholic beverages were at the campsite, Walls said.

Walls said he had spoken to Musselwhite earlier in the day regarding an ATV the former mayor was driving.

“He looked at us and said hello,” according to the report.

Musselwhite then asked why he was being visited.

“I said the complainant had specifically said his campsite, and the fact that he was still nude made me think it was him,” Walls wrote

Musselwhite, a Republican, was elected to the City Council in 2000. He served on the council for six years, including as mayor of the town. In 2006, he lost a bid for a state Senate seat."

Bill Clinton was a freaking eunuch compared to these Republicans.

Does she use Linked In?

2009-06-26T03:51:00.007-04:00

This might be longer than the lead story in The Times today.

But, you know, when you are writing to "Dearest," well, you want to speak from the heart.

Dearest, Kindly accept my apology for sending mail to you.I believe you are a highly respected personality, I am writing this mail with tears, sadness and pains. I know it will come to you as a suprise since we haven't known or come across each other before considering the fact that I sourced your profile from a human resource profile database on your country through Internet. I am Miss Esther John Garang 24 years old female from the Republic of Sudan, the Daughter of Late Dr. John Garang. Before my late father’s death in Uganda on 31st of July 2005, he was Vice President of Sudan and was kill by Sudan President Omar al Bashir in helicopter crash. You can read more about my father in the link below

(I'll save you the link)

I am constrained to contact you because of the maltreatment which I am receiving from my step mother. She planned to take away all my late father's treasury and properties from me since the unexpected death of my beloved Father. Meanwhile I wanted to travel to Europe, but she hide away my international passport and other valuable documents. Luckily she did not discover where I kept my father's File which contained important documents. Now I am presently staying in the Mission House in Burkina Faso. I am seeking for longterm relationship and investment assistance. My father of blessed memory deposited the sum of US$12.7 Million in one bank in Burkina Faso with my name as the next of kin. I had contacted the Bank to clear the deposit but the Branch Manager told me that being a refugee, my status according to the local law does not authorize me to carry out the operation. However, he advised me to provide a trustee who will stand on my behalf. I had wanted to inform my stepmother about this deposit but I am affraid that she will not offer me anything after the release of the money. Therefore, I decide to seek for your help in transferring the money into your bank account while I will relocate to your country and settle down with you. As you indicated your interest to help me I will give you the account number and the contact of the bank where my late beloved father deposited the money with my name as the next of kin. It is my intention to compensate you with 20% of the total money for your assitance and the balance shall be my investment in any profitable venture which you will recommend to me as have no any idea about foreign investment. Please all communications should be through this email address only for confidential purposes. Thanking you alot in anticipation of your quick response. I will send you my photos in my next email. Yours Miss Esther John Garang

Oooh, I want some of that money. And I bet she's good looking too!

GE sucks, they bring bad things to life...

2009-06-26T01:28:00.009-04:00

This is how the U.S. ends, not with a bang, but with GE becoming just another piss ass company.

General Electric used to be - seriously - the mark of an amazing product.

The company was founded by Edison, for crissakes.

Dishwashers, jet engines, TV sets, can openers - not to mention products I don't even want to know about - but most of all, damn, their refrigerators were really, really good.

Not everyone buys a SubZero or a Viking. But GE fridges were a pretty nice product level.

I moved into my apartment a decade ago. And there was a GE fridge in the kitchen that probably was there since the building opened in the 80s. And it worked really good.

A year or so ago, doing an "upgrade," I got new stainless steel appliances - micro, dishwasher, stove and, of course, refrigerator. All GE brand.

Well, this week, the fucking GE refrigerator basically went kaput. The freezer part is going fine, everything in there seems to be solid - but the refrigerator part, eh, no.

I first realized it when I got stuck with a sour carton of milk a few days ago. Initially, I was ready to blame the milk people, then I realized the bottles of soda and beer weren't quite as cold as they usually were.

So I cranked it up to 9 - the highest level on the temp control - what no 11? - but still everything just didn't seem right.

Well, now, I'm fucked - stuck with a stainless steel paper weight. Because, of course, the warranty has ended after one year.

Oh, thank you GE. Thank you fucking Home Depot (where I bought this piece of crap).

If you ever wondered why America is no longer the economic powerhouse of the world, here's a hint: Blame GE. Blame Home Depot.

They sell shoddy pieces of disposable crap.

This is the real tragedy

2009-06-25T16:17:00.002-04:00

Never mind what's happening in Iran. How can I spend an hour on the treadmill and it tells me I only lost 410 calories?

I'll get that all back just sniffing the cork on an amusing little pinot noir at dinner tonight!

I feel so inadequate

2009-06-24T22:13:00.004-04:00

That Virgin America quiz was today, and I just "completed" it.

Ugh, let's just say it was not pretty.

Here was one of the questions: "While chatting with your college roommate, her mother borrowed the keyboard to ask you about sightseeing in their upcoming trip to the US: Hvilken stat har det største stadion i USA? For this contest, however, you should provide your answer in English. Hint: Use Google Talk to say "Hej" to da2en@bot.talk.google.com!"

Sigh.

Let's just say I probably won't be getting one of the free tix on Virgin. I really wanted one, love that airline, but, er, are they aware they are dealing with the American public and not the freaken' Japanese!

Now ask me who played Louis on Taxi and I'm going first class everywhere they fly (mostly on their Vegas leg, of course).

Oh well, maybe they'll do a pop culture test next time. Hint, hint.

Here's all you need to know about Mark Sanford

2009-06-24T18:59:00.002-04:00

"As a congressman, Sanford voted in favor of three of four articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, citing the need for 'moral legitimacy.'"

Well, ok, he is quite the hypocrite - shocking, I know, a family values, right-wing Republican who is a hypocrite!!! - but he is also quite the email charmer. Here's an excerpt of a missive to his little Argentinian spitfire:

"I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificent gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curve of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of the night's light — but hey, that would be going into sexual details."

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

And we get to play that video again...

2009-06-24T14:30:00.004-04:00

...for yet another Republican holy roller who was considering running for President in 2012. Buh bye, Mark, we hardly knew ye.

Has he tried a GPS?

2009-06-24T11:46:00.006-04:00

Mark Sanford, the Governor of South Carolina, went missing over the weekend, just dropped out of sight for five days, no security detail with him, his wife didn't know where he was. "He was writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids,” she told the A.P. on Monday.

(Nice for the kids to hear, by the way, that their father didn't want to be near them on, um, Father's Day.)

Anyway, when the press started asking where he was, his staff said he was tired after a long legislative session, and was "hiking the Appalachian trail."

Uh huh.

Ooops, well now it turns out, apparently he was in Argentina on a personal trip, driving along the coastline there.

That's a hell of a discrepancy. And from what I understand, the coastline of Argentina is not that accessible.

Hmm, something fishy going on here, wouldn't you say?

Oh, and do I even need to note, this guy's a Republican, of course - the party of weird, freaky fetishes. I'm pretty sure you can find a few down Argentine way. (It's also the party of hypocritical family values right-wingers who screw around. Paging: Larry Craig, Newt Gingrich, David Vitter, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Foley, John Ensign, etc., etc. - there's not enough room on the Internet to list them all).

Sanford better hope that what happens in Buenos Aires, stays in Buenos Aires.

Buffy kicks ass...on Twilight guy

2009-06-23T16:24:00.001-04:00

Nice mashup here, showing why Buffy ruled for so many years.

Digital still doesn't quite compare

2009-06-23T01:41:00.001-04:00

Eastman Kodak to discontinue Kodachrome

There's a new contendah

2009-06-22T19:46:00.003-04:00

I used to think the Cablevision commercials were the most annoying ads you could see on TV.

Even beating out even such normal winners as Shamwow or the Snuggly, and simply because those attrocities really only show up on late night infomercials, you know, on Ch. 9 at 2 am - so if you see them, well, it's your own damn fault.

But the Cablevision ads, with those incredibly annoying jingles, can catch you during a Seinfeld rerun on Ch. 5 or TBS in late fringe.

But now, I have to say, there is a new winner.

Freecreditreport dot com.

Holy shit.

So BAD. So ANNOYING. So STUPID.

Not to mention, the service is a rip-off. You can get your credit rating for FREE by LAW. You don't need to use these clowns.

Please, Baby Jesus, make them stop.

Who are these brainiacs who read Too Saucy?

2009-06-22T16:27:00.003-04:00

Another genius lurking out there is heard from. I posted recently about a contest Virgin America is running where you have to answer a series of questions within a time limit, using various Google apps.

They ran a sample quiz a few weeks ago, and, um, it is going to be freaken' hard.

Love that airline. Hating this quiz.

But some people keep leaving comments at that post, casually answering some of the questions: "#FF4F00 is the hex triplet -- a 7 digit code for international orange."

Or as another commenter explained in more detail: "just google the three things ("NASA Advanced Crew Escape Suits" "Golden Gate Bridge" "Tokyo Tower"), and you will find websites (including wikipedia!) about the color "International Orange". Just copy the HTML code for the color (it's on the wikipedia page!) and paste it in the answer!"

Of course. What was I thinking!