Jolly's Other Blog

What A Party!

2011-06-15T14:42:00.000-07:00

Between "Rapture Rick" Perry, "Rapture Rick" Santorum, Mama Grifter, Michele, Newt, and the rest of the circus, we'll certainly be entertained.

The scary thing is that we've gotten stupid enough as a society to elevate people like these to the top of the political pyramid.

I have thoughts on that, of course. At my normal digs.

Follow Me On Twitter

2011-03-11T20:19:00.001-08:00

I'll try to post with some frequency, although my regular digs will be my normal venue :)

http://twitter.com/#!/jollyrogerpc

Cape Cod Living: Blogging for the middle

2006-07-24T06:52:00.000-07:00

a href="http://www.reconstitution.us/seren/archives/1416-Why-LIEberman-must-go-from-a-colleague.html">Why LIEberman must go-from a colleague

And I really do love her

2006-02-18T23:45:00.000-08:00

I often say the wrong things
I often do the wrong things
I step in it, up to my knees at times.

But I'd never trade what I have
Because any trade would leave me with nothing
I could not hope for more than I got

How to tell her?
I wish I was better at it
I guess I have to keep plugging away

Sometimes it all seems so hard

2006-01-25T16:50:00.000-08:00

How do you ever really give yourself completely to another?

Is there ever really anyone who will love you when you're a prince and also when you're a frog? Is there anything besides a dog that will accept who you are unconditionally?

I think I had such a person once, in the form of my father. He had a headstrong, stupid teenager to deal with. He locked me out of the house more than once, promised to ship me off to a military school more than once, pretty much picked apart everything I did. And in return, I often slowed wayyyyyyyy down when doing something for my dad. And as I was something of a smart aleck, I am certain that he probably never appreciated the genuis behind my biting wit.

I could also go to him at any hour and discuss any subject. Which didn't mean he wasn't judgmental-he told me what he thought. Bluntly. Very seldom did I get "I don't know" when I went to Dad to try to work something out. If I was wrong, he didn't hesitste to slice me up. When I was right, nobody was quicker to back me up. He paid my bills when I got sick, took care of my beloved German Shepherd, was there almost all the way through a horrible divorce that I'd have avoided had I actually listened to what he was telling me to begin with.

From the age of 12 on, my dad and I were all we had. My mother remarried and I saw her only sporadically for a couple of years.

My dad passed away the 20th of June in 1996. I do not remember anymore how often I picked up a phone to call my dad and talk to him about something, or just talk to him, and then remember that I couldn't do that anymore. He was the one adult person on Earth I actually trusted, and losing him was beyond devastating-to this very day, there exists a hole that I will simply never be able to fill, because nobody will ever love me that way again.

For all of the bullshit of my teen years, and all of the headaches of a young man who wasn't ever adept at things like relationships or parenting, I want to thank my dad for being the one person I could count on. If there was some way I could talk to my dad right now and tell him how much it means to me that I was allowed to know him for 33 years, I wouldn't waste any time with pleasantries-I'd tell him. I'd pour my heart out to him, though his comfort level would have been seriously breached. I'd tell him that the one thing that blunts my worry about dying goes is the notion I might yet get to talk to him again.

Having grown up vowing never to be like my father, now I only wish I knew how to be. I wish I had the strength to see myself through a Depression, horrible theaters of war, and the ups and downs of domestic life as he was able to do. Had I gotten his backbone as my inheritance, it would have been more than I deserved.

Alas, I did not, and I am doomed to continue to try to feel my way through the dark. My compass is long broken, my light long ago stopped shining.

I really miss you Dad, whereever you may be.

Another year shot to hell

2005-12-31T02:41:00.000-08:00

Got cut, spent some time in the Hospital, got threatened with loss of job for being sick.

Yes, it can happen. The job site I was working at was so small FMLA didn't cover it. I got a nice registered letter from the cunt who does HR (at a company headquartered in Houston) warning me that if I so much as went to the Doctor one more time I could be fired.

So I quit my job that day-gave them notice, of course. The very next day, I was invited to interview for a job I had held in the past, with a large corp. I flew through the interview process, got hired, and walked away from my old job-something I should have done years ago. The cunt was displeased, which doesn't surprise me much-she struck me early on as someone who enjoys holding power over people. I do so regret not being able to serve out my notice, especially in light of the human, compassionate way those shitbags treated me. 5 years of pretty good service meant nothing to them. But after being threatened for being sick, I'd have taken any job available-I am so grateful to large corp for liking me enough to let me come back.

Two lessons are in my story. Lesson #1-that bullshit about small firms being better to work for, is bullshit. My life's experiences have always been that I was treated better at larger companies.

Lesson #2 is that sometimes you have to suck it up, make up your mind that you aren't going to be kicked around anymore, and do the necessary thing. I took that job initially because my wife and I were both laid off in the space of 2 weeks, and she was pregnant. I had to do something to keep body and soul together, and that place was the first one to make me an offer. Given that I had to go through 3 afternoon-long interview processes, I should have known that the company was loaded down with dickheads-in fact, I suspected it, but desperation sent me in anyway. I should have walked right back out of the damned place as soon as my little girl was born, and I bitterly regret not doing it-my chickenshit nature means I wasted an additional 4 years at that shithole of a place.

4 years I could have been somewhere that I was regarded as a human being.
4 years I could have gotten up every morning not absolutely hating the day.
4 years I could have spared my loved ones my rants about the shit place I worked and the shit way they treated me.

Trust yourself. There is nearly always an alternative to being treated like trash, if you are ready to go after it. Don't make the mistake I did-for 5 years of service I got threatened, gray-haired, and unpaid for my last 3 weeks of work.

Scott Stapp is back-Fred Durst finally looks good compared to something

2005-11-23T01:56:00.000-08:00

Truly a sad day for music.

I thought the greasy mullethead was a poser when he was stealing from Pearl Jam and STP back in his Creed days, and I heard samples of his latest "work," which indicates that he has not forgotten how to steal.

Yes, the Jesusistani hypocrite is a Trailer Park favorite, but I cannot stand him-he's worse than nails on chalkboard. What makes him even harder to take, of course, is that he, himself, believes he's just the greatest thing ever.

Well, if all we had to compare him to was alley cats fighting, perhaps he'd be...... nah, he'd still suck even if that was our only alternative. I have to believe that the resurrection of Scott Stapp truly does mean that rock is dead.

And sometimes, I question the wisdom of bothering

2005-11-05T00:40:00.000-08:00

I decided to shampoo an upstairs room carpet tonight. So I lugged all my stuff up, and I took my little girls up with me. 4 and 2 years of age, and not all that big for their ages. I turned them loose to play in their room while I worked the carpet.

An hour and a half later, I had the carpet straightened up. So I went to see them.

What two small children can do to a room is stunning to behold.

They can empty out dressers.
They can clear any covered surface of anything sitting on it.
They can make entire floors disappear under several inches of clothing and toys.

Clean one room, lose one room. I don't feel like I got much done tonight :(

Things I hear that scare me-Volume I

2005-10-30T20:23:00.000-08:00

I am, of course, a guy who gravitates towards bluesy rock-that mainly means hard rock, or near-hard rock. I am a firm believer that the words "country" and "music" should never be used in the same sentence. I have nothing, I suppose, against the guy who is lying drunk in a pool of his own piss because his wife is down at the honky-tonk chatting up guys for a night of illicit passion, but I really don't want to hear about it, especially if the guy has a whiny voice.

So I freely admit, I haven't a clue about the world of country "music." Don't know the names, don't know the faces, have trouble telling one song from any other song (is there a difference?) So I was shocked to find out today that there is a genre known as "country rap." So much so I had to go fire up Yahoo! and see for myself-holy shit, it exists! I can hear it now....

I said yo yo, my gal she be a ho
The homies all be hanging round her front door
Now my ass is all drunk, and I don't know what to do
All I got is my JD to get me on through

Frightening, really scary stuff to contemplate :(

Big Eddie's coming to Columbus on Friday

2005-10-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

I am a huge fan.

http://www.wegoted.com

If you have a little time, catch him between 3 and 6 on the radio, or at his site. The guy is a voice of Progressive common sense.

He's going to be in Columbus on Friday, and as a dedicated Ed Head, I plan on being there.

Of toddlers and Keith Relf

2005-10-21T22:44:00.000-07:00

I collect old music clips in video format.

I have discovered that my 2 year old likes Yardbirds videos-she sits in especially rapt attention when Keith Relf is the subject of the camera.

Tonight, my wife (who works nights) put up a webcam just so little Ree could watch her mommy. However, little Ree mumbled and pointed at the screen until.....

I pulled up a Yardbirds clip :)

I informed my wife that she had lost a popularity contest to Keith Relf. She was surprised, but I wasn't. The guy kicked ass, and had people like Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck behind him-my daughter obviously has superior musical tastes. That's not so hard to understand, is it?

Telecommuting

2005-10-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

I got lucky.

Just when the energy thing started to get seriuos, I landed a job which I can do quite well from my living room.

I think I'd probably go nuts if I tried to do it all the time, but I am most certainly willing to spend a few days a week doing it. If I really start to miss the traffic and the stink of real commuting, I still have a cube in a cube farm I can go off to. I'll try to make that a rare occurrence as I get trained up in my new position.

Life has been worse than this.

I was forced to find a new job after I had to have a laparoscopy that knocked me out of work for a month. The HR managing bitch from Hell of my former corp had me fill out some FMLA paperwork to cover my absence, then decided that I wasn't eligible for FMLA after all because my worksite didn't have the minimum number of people at it. The cunt sent me a certified letter informing me that if I was so much as late again, it was my ass.

I resigned that very day. And the very next day I got a call from a headhunter looking to fill...... a position I held 5 years ago. Although I had given the shitbag company I was working for at the time 3 weeks notice, I was anxious to get restarted somewhere else, and the firm I used to work at was anxious to have me return. So I did. Such a shame for my old employer, who intended to keep me around long enough to properly outsource me. Unless I was 5 minutes late or something.

I understand the management of my former employer is all pissed off because of how I blew them off. And there's some proof of that, since they have yet to give me a final paycheck. But you know? It's been worth it.

Mellowing, with Zeppelin

2005-10-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

When I was a teenager, I was very much inclined to hard rock-AC/DC, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, UFO, Scorpions.... you get the picture.

And of course, Led Zeppelin. I just loved songs like "Black Dog," "Stairway to Heaven,".... you get the idea.

And these days, I find myself listening again to Zeppelin-but I find it's the folk-tale stuff they did that I find especially to my liking. "Battle of Evermore," "Gallows Pole," it's like there was this whole Zeppelin I knew nothing about as a stupid stoner teenager.

Ultimately, this catalog of Zeppelin will likely be the one that stands the test of time and becomes part of the folk history it celebrates. Plant and Page are the traveling storytellers of our era.

Ah, the things I've seen

2005-10-01T10:53:00.000-07:00

Bon Scott. The Police (with Joan Jett and Cheap Trick as openers.) The Who. Triumph with Malmsteen. The Go-Gos. The Fixx. Billy Idol (pre-hideous era.) Hell, even Charlie Daniels and Jay Ferguson (who remembers him now?)

And so many others I lost count.

The thing about the shows I've seen in days gone by is that the bands could not have walked onstage with a karaoke machine and done their acts-there was real musicianship. Guitars, drums, keyboards. Today it seems increasingly like the musicianship doesn't matter anymore-the visual seems to be the biggest sell. I lived in an era when Britney wouldn't have made it, and I sometimes miss that era.

Rick James thought the cuts to school music programs was the reason for the loss of musicianship. He may well have been right.

I decided I don't like grownups

2005-09-30T15:54:00.000-07:00

I far prefer to talk and hang out with kids, especially the younger ones.

It seems to me that any group of grownups that consists of more than 1 or 2 people will inevitably have as a member somebody that starts some juvenuile sexual innuendo. Guess what? I'm not Beavis. I've probably seen and heard most of what there is to see and hear, and you're not gonna shock me, or make me laugh. You're gonna bore me.

Grownups also tend to smell nasty, whether it be from cigarettes, booze, or perfume applied by the gallon. Yecch.

This world I live in, I know so well that my familiarity often breeds contempt. The streets, the stores, the sounds.

However, when I talk to my 4 year old, she sees this whole world of wonder, and most of the time she points something out to me I never considered. Like the writing on the side of the water tower, or the balloon flying as an advertisement above the restaurant. She thinks smoking is nasty, doesn't drink, and mainly just wants to look around in wonder in the same space I often find myself repelled in. Her perspective very often renews mine, and improves my mood considerably.

My 2 year old doesn't talk so well yet, but I see the sparkle in her eyes whenever we go down to the river, or to the park. And she is just thrilled by things like a squirrel climbing a tree, or a train rolling down the track. That same train would undoubtedly piss me off if she weren't in the car with me, because I'd see it as blocking my way.

Sometimes the view from a lower altitude is a much nicer view. Try talking to someone down in that altitude sometime, and you'll see what I mean.

The worship of others

2005-09-25T21:14:00.000-07:00

I see it all the time. People trying to emulate some real shitbags simply because the shitbags are famous. You know what I mean-girls starving themselves to death to try to look like Kate Moss or the Olsen twins, teenaged boys screwing themselves up with body-altering chemicals so they can make the big leagues like McGwire did. The names I cite are interchangable with your favorite shitbag of the moment-the problem, as I see it, is that so many people are lost. Like they aren't sure enough of themselves to appreciate their own identities, their unique individualities. And it most assuredly is not limited to the young-I see many a person who should know better go out and do dumb shit because they saw some show and Sandra Skankalot was doing it, or had had it done.

Maybe I'm weird-I have always been able to spot a dumbass at a distance. It isn't hard to figure out that a good number of celebrities are stupid people who you would hardly want to dumb yourself down to emulate. So then, what is the attraction? The money? The fame? The feeling of personal inadequacy?

Change of the season

2005-09-24T23:20:00.000-07:00

I really despise Winter here.

I don't mind a real Winter-one where the snow falls and things freeze over and you basically stay in that state. Winters here are mostly gray, drizzly affairs, with a bit of snow thrown in here and a hair of freeze thrown in there. Sunshine is rare, and I am a person that needs a little sunshine.

I used to love Lake Erie when it froze up-it turned into a moonscape that stretched as far as the eye could see. It was a truly remarkable thing to behold-this beautiful place of warmth and sunshine in the summer just shuts down totally. Beaches become deserted, and the wind howls, and you can walk for miles on the ice.

That's Winter. I wish we had a bit more of it here.

Rock is dead

2005-09-20T23:44:00.000-07:00

I'm convinced-the cycle of suck has killed rock as a dynamic genre.

Rock is destined to go the way of jazz-a genre that has a niche, but is not in the mainstream of things.

The Other Jolly Blog

2005-09-14T21:33:00.000-07:00

I have so many Blogger friends that I can't post to because I didn't have a Blogger account. So I started this blog, where I will occasionally post things from a kinder, gentler Jolly Roger.

I will still be found most of the time at Reconstitution, a proud member of the Impeach Bush Coalition.