This and That

I had some KFC yesterday. I don't have it very often because I think it's overpriced. I also think, thanks to yesterday's sample, that the quality has tanked. I recall plump pieces of chicken so tasty I was tempted to eat the bones. Now, the scraggly road kill they offer is barely palatable. And the biscuits are garbage compared to the wonderful rolls they used to sell. The Colonel must be rotating in his grave like a chicken on a spit.

I was waylaid by some Girl Scouts outside Albertson's today and forced to buy a box of Thin Mints, easily the best cookie made. But $4.00 a box? Larceny. Are they training these kids to be good citizens when they grow up or thousand-dollar-a-night call girls?

My hot streak at the casino continues. Five straight winning visits for a total of about $750. Two progressive jackpot wins ($233 and $143). I may buy another box of Girl Scout cookies if this keeps up.

Who writes ad copy for TV commercials these days? I keep hearing "less" used when "fewer" would be correct.

Tomorrow is Daylight Savings. Spring ahead. I always thought that if I died before the Fall Back date I'd be ahead of the game. Not looking to do it any time soon, though.

Have a nice weekend.

Need a Laugh?

One of my daily must-visit blogs is Ken Levine's. His varied career includes writing for hit TV shows M*A*S*H, FRASIER, MARY TYLER MOORE, CHEERS), baseball announcer, director, playwright, and bon vivant. He's published a book about his travels called WHERE THE HELL AM I? Each short chapter, and there are scores of them, recounts a trip he's taken to somewhere, either for business or pleasure. His pithy, witty observations are guaranteed to have you laughing out loud.

You can buy the Kindle version on Amazon. Other formats are also available.

Remember the Alamo

On this day in 1836 the final assault on the Alamo resulted in the death of all the defending Texians. It was a costly victory for Santa Anna (estimated 800 casualties), and the 13 days he spent in the siege allowed Sam Houston to assemble an army and ultimately defeat the Mexican army at San Jacinto. The deaths at the Alamo were not in vain. Revisionists now say that Davy Crockett surrendered and was executed. I don't buy that. Right after the battle one of the non-combatant survivors, Susanna Dickinson, saw Crockett's body in the area of the chapel, surrounded by dead Mexican soldiers. He and his Tennesseans were assigned the defense of the low palisade, an open area between the chapel and high wall in which a makeshift defensive position was fashioned from wagons, boxes, sacks, etc. That's on the lower right on the accompanying map (#14), on the slant.

Sling Free

I officially got permission to stop using my sling today. That's the one for my right arm. My butt will undoubtedly be in a sling forever. Unofficially, I stopped using it two days ago. Good riddance. Now, if I wanted a Singapore Sling I'd wish to share it with a vintage Anna May Wong. Speaking of her, I've seen some people spell her middle name Mae. I have a feeling both spellings were used over the years.

AMC Ticks Me Off Again

It was bad enough when AMC started inserting long commercial breaks into their movies, usually at inapropriate moments, but now they've gone and sicced their PC Police on a revered John Wayne movie. Yesterday I managed to catch EL DORADO from the beginning while channel surfing so I decided to watch it. This, you may know, is a remake of RIO BRAVO, but with Robert Mitchum in the Dean Martin/drunken sheriff role, James Caan instead of Ricky Nelson, and Arthur Hunnicutt taking over for Walter Brennan. Charlene Holt in the Angie Dickinson role is no slouch, either. Anyway, in one scene Caan, Mitchum, and Hunnicutt are trying to sneak into the back door of a saloon, but find it guarded by a bad guy. What happens in the unexpurgated film is Caan disguises himself as a Chinaman, missing no stereotype, until he can get close enough to the thug to knock him out. In the AMC snipfest, Caan says, "Wait, I have an idea." The next thing you know he's slugging the owlhoot. I don't know about you, but I don't need some clown at AMC censoring my movies for me. What's this world coming to?