179TH AND VYSE, BRONX, NY (PART XXXXIII): LIFE BEFORE DEATH IN (ugh) NEW JERSEY

(continued)

FISHING (UGH)

my dad loved fishing.  on his one day off, most of the time he went on boats to long island sound.  fortunately for me, he rarely took me along.  he awoke me early-early in the morning. (groan).  first we would pick up some great coffee and sandwiches (the best part) from his store.  then usually we would go over to westchester avenue (near the el) where the bronx river widened out to enter the sound and board one of the fishing boats moored there.  twice we went out to long island via lirr (early, early, early in the morning).

i know its me not you.  i find fishing boring and tedious.  exposure to water, the elements, the uncertainties of waterways, and the motion of the boat do less than nothing for me.  tying hooks, cutting up worms or other bait and skewering it is gross.  sorry dad, i just can't hack it.  you're the man!

on one occasion i reeled in the day's prize fish.  my dad split the prize money with a friend we were with.  i'm still waiting for my share.  who holds a grudge?

fishing sucks.

(to be continued)

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179TH AND VYSE, BRONX, NY (PART XXXXII): LIFE BEFORE DEATH IN (ugh) NEW JERSEY

(continued)


AMONG THE COUPLA' HUNDRED BRONX MOVIE HOUSES CIRCA 1930s; 1940s.  

AND THESE ARE ONLY THE As

i salute the many-many great, creative, and hard working movie theater managers and their staffs thruout the bronx who provided me with great entertainment during my childhood.  they operated on the smallest of margins bringing us bingo night, free dishes, vaudeville, comic books, triple features, free candy, beauty pageants, dog races w/free prizes, outdoor hot summer night exhibitions.  how did they do it?  many had 11 cent admissions on saturday mornings.  kids would bring lunch and stay all day.  moms loved it.   AND MOVIES TOO.

i think these managers and their minions were truly great, hardworking people dedicated to their craft.  you just can't get any good (great) help like that today.


(to be continued)

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among memorable movie events are ones that i attended in the late '40s and early '50s.  i can still recall going to the third run theaters during the week when there were few people in the theater and experiencing the darkness, vastness, and big screen experience inserting me into a fantasy world all alone.  as close to a spiritual experience (whatever that is) as i can get.

a great experience especially for less than 20 cents.

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FOR LOVERS OF THE BRONX MOVIE HOUSES - AND THERE WERE ALWAYS MANY WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE OF YOUR HOME:

http://www.pelparktimes.org/html/movies_-_a-b.html

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GADDAFI AND LOCKERBIE BOMBER TO FIND SANCTUARY IN NORTHERN NEW JERSEY?????????????

buddies gaddafi and lockerbie bomber, megrahi  may seek sanctuary in the only place in the world willing to accept them, northern new jersey.  megrahi is currently trying to fake his own death again. 

see   http://www.thesun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3424074/Lockerbie-bomber-Abdelbaset-al-Megrahi-is-riddled-with-cancer.html

they can get back into shape working out at the randolph Y  maybe even get jobs at the local defense installation.  another layer of expert management is always welcome.

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179TH AND VYSE, BRONX, NY (PART XXXXI): LIFE BEFORE DEATH IN (ugh) NEW JERSEY

(continued)

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, AMERICAN STYLE -----

with many ex-gis home after the bastardgerman warii, it was inevitable that our guys would initially be hanging out at the corner candy store with nothing much to do.  one day a police car rolled up and caught some of them red handed pitching pennies.  they were cited or something and will go the rest of their lives with this stain on their record.

some other major crimes at the time; like the time i had to appear in court for ball playing at the beach and the time me and artie were picked up for talking to each other in the street.  they let us go after driving us a few streets away.  i'm sure that artie's telling them of our right of assembly under the constitution of the united states had a big influence on them.

THANKS TO THE EVER VIGILANT NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT A MAJOR CRIME WAVE WAS AVERTED.

(to be continued)

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BUST THE UNION: SAVE THE LITTLE KIDS

(moan, groan) scott walker, self proclaimed savior and governor of wisconsin has been duped (probably entrapped) into admitting his union busting advocacy (boo hoo, sob).

gee, gov. walker, this is politics.  if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.  just trying to make you feel better, you should recall the super dirty tricks on john kerry and the swift-boat heroes.  now that was really funny.  don't you think?

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ROLLING STONE, STORY:

Army Deploys Psy-Ops on U.S. Senators

By Michael Hastings



February 23, 2011 11:55 PM ET


The U.S. Army illegally ordered a team of soldiers specializing in "psychological operations" to manipulate visiting American senators into providing more troops and funding for the war ........



why is this a surprise?  every nitwit in the defense dept. thinks he is saving and ruling the country.  my wife's hair stylist (alcoholic) husband came into the salon one day and said the "gulf of tonkin" incident was not too important because he was not called to a meeting.  amazingly, the self-importance of defense dept. personnel goes right down to the bottom.

right now i am controlling your mind by my thoughts; thinking, thinking -----  "meet me at the officer's club at 1800 hours".

see, you are now under my control.

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FOR OUR GUYS IN PSY-OPS:



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ON PENSIONS, BUSINESSMEN, CABBAGES, AND KINGS.

in retrospect my guaranteed pension was the pot-o-gold at the end of the rainbow.  the carrot at the end of the stick.  if it were not there, working with nitwit scientists, engineers, and secretarial skanks (in a new jersey defense dept. installation) would have been immeasureably more difficult than it was.

-"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax—
Of cabbages—and kings—
And why the sea is boiling hot—
And whether pigs have wings."

in addition if the govt. had paid the actual interest rate on the pension funds there would be no problems.  if in some states like .. umm .. new jersey the politicians had made their obligated contributions there would be no problem.

meanwhile, business men waiting for their next victim to step into their business web while watching fox news are feeling sorry for themselves imagining that they are working.  they're upset over these pensions as they balance their two sets of books waiting for their homestead rebates.  i have two words for them:  ---- ---.







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JUST A PICTURE

just a picture of the rko chester, right next to west farms square, where my bro' in law worked as an usher in the '40s.  being under the el does not enhance its image but the good stuff was inside.

diagonally across the street was a ..mmmmm..  pizza place.   mmmm...  pizza.

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179TH AND VYSE, BRONX, NY (PART XXXX): LIFE BEFORE DEATH IN (ugh) NEW JERSEY

(continued)

in the early '40s it was fairly safe for a tween to travel the subway system around nyc.  i was only abused once very briefly (and walked away) on the subway system which scared me but here i am.  perhaps the guy moved to new jersey and got a job in the human resources department at my defense intallation.  who knows?  just sayin'.

during high school, assignments requiring attendance at some of the nyc museums in manhattan was required.
for my 13th birthday a great uncle gave me $20, probably the rough equivalent of $200 today.  i went downtown and squandered this fortune in one day.  i took a tour of nbc studios, probably the museum of science and industry which was in the basement at 30 rock** (which no one remembers but me), bought some luminous paint, played some games at an arcade, had lunch, and other stuff, returning home broke.

yes i should have turned this money over to my parents and never seen it again.  they would have done the same things i did only without me.

(to be continued)

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WHOA - JANE KRAKOWSKI OF 30 ROCK IN NEW YORK CITY.



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AROUND TIME AND SPACE

just some peaceful demonstrations from around the world.

madison wisc.?  -- cairo, egypt?  or wash. dc?

just sayin'.






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DUNNO ANYTHING ABOUT THIS VIDEO ??????????????????????

THEY LOOK LIKE AMERICANS.



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GO YANKEES

yankees starting spring training this week and on their way to the world series.  it is a certainty.

signed, THE GREAT OZ.

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ON BEING MAGNIFICENT

i must complement myself for yesterday's blog.  considering i am untalented, had just awakened, had taken my meds, and was comatose it was pretty good.  i really enjoyed it.  don't bother reading it because i don't care what you do or think.  i am so great.

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THEY EVEN WROTE A SONG ABOUT ME.



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WHINING IS YOUR WINNING STATEGY

at my defense installation in (ugh) NEW JERSEY, whining was both an art and a strategy.  part of the curriculum at engineering schools like NCE must have been allocated to acting.  without a doubt engineers are the best actors and actresses.  how else can their academic degrees be explained?

of course in every human activity whining helps.  remember, its always the other guy's fault and you are a victim.  making stuff up to back up your allegations is a plus.  with enough tears even the most cynical of people will believe you.  as a bonus your inferior work product and weak psychological makeup will pass muster while you successfully smear your competition.  be sure to display your phd degree and always refer to yourself as doctor.  the more incompetent you are the more important this overall strategy is.

go for it now that you are empowered with your super power: WHINING.

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179TH AND VYSE, BRONX, NY (PART XXXIX): LIFE BEFORE DEATH IN (ugh) NEW JERSEY

(continued)

just sayin'

i know i've been letting italy off the wwii hook.  we americans love death bed conversions.  as previously mentioned in an earlier blog, late in the war with the bastardgermans, bronx park on weekends was filled with ex-italian soldiers, enjoying the freedoms of this country and their paisanos company from the 187th street area. 

vaguely i recall a crowd of them at the elephant house wearing their uniforms with some pow identification having a good time.  as you do not know italy embraced the germanbastards at the start of wwii but switched in sept. 1943.

after the war they changed the country's name to new jersey.

this sorta apologetic wikipedia article spins their history:  (i'm always fair and balanced)   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Italy_during_World_War_II
 

yes, i'm still fighting wwii.  i'm not letting france totally off the hook either.  they were first against the germanbastards then southern (a/k/a vichy) france was for them.  they go all ways.  and since you don't know we fought them in north africa:
see:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Torch


and as you know humphrey bogart, ingrid bergman, and paul henreid helped us out in casablanca.  and then again humphrey bogart as tank commander also attacked from the east in sahara.
(to be continued)
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or better yet:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YGXsw3XK9I&feature=related
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179TH AND VYSE, BRONX, NY (PART XXXVIII): LIFE BEFORE DEATH IN (ugh) NEW JERSEY

(continued)

in spite of the bookie operation conducted at the candy store several of the guys from bryant ave. (veterans from crushing the germanbastards) became police officers. 

one of them barely made the height limit.  in order to maximize his measured height for his physical exam he lay in his bed late and then was carried and taken by car in a prone position to his physical exam.  the neighborhood was elated when he successfully measured the correct height.

(to be continued)

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just sayin'



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THE NEW BEHAVIOR CRITERIA

at one time your behavior was considered ok if you didn't mind seeing a writeup of it in the new york times.  the new criteria is that you don't want to see it on the jon stewart daily show or on youtube.

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VALENTINE'S DAY ---

AND NOW THE GREAT LINDA RONSTADT (eat your heart out today new jersey engineers):




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JUST SAYIN'

when we were in nyc we saw, THE PEE WEE HERMAN SHOW, on b'way which closed in january.  i know you great intellectuals from the sticks would rather see, les miserables, or, cats, but me of lesser mental ability was really pleased with pee wee herman.

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AND THEY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TO GET THEIR FEET WET
BUT THEY DID IT FOR YOU!!!!!

thinkin' yesterday of the political unrest in egypt i couldn't help comparing what has occurred up to now and what general douglas macarthur would have done.  his record shows that he wanted to drop nuclear bombs on china during the korean war and that in 1932 when wwi vets (called the bonus army) rallied in wash. dc he,  "brought up troops and tanks ....... The troops advanced with bayonets and sabers drawn under a shower of bricks and rocks, .......  the troops cleared the ..... campground ".

cpac members salute you general, yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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GREATEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME!



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EGYPT SWALLOWS CPAC

YEA CPAC, GO FOR IT.

amazingly the mobs in the streets of cairo appeared to be civilized compared to the weird, pasty faced crazies and speakers at the cpac conference.  from nra leaders promoting the idea that each person should be armed to the teeth to protect themselves from each other to political, bitter has beens like rumsfeld and spokespersons such as: "The opening-day roster of potential presidential hopefuls included former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.), former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.) and Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.)."

as sanity sinks to the depths in this country, there may be hope for the human race elsewhere. 

then again, not????????


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on the other hand leftwing nuts think that egyptian unrest has something to do with the palestinians and israel.  the cairo crowds don't give a ----- about palestinians.  the bbc and cnn keep stirring this pot.

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BACK IN MY GRANMA'S HOUSE



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179TH AND VYSE, BRONX, NY (PART XXXVII): LIFE BEFORE DEATH IN (ugh) NEW JERSEY

(continued)



JUST SAYIN'


on new year's eve 1944 mike klover and i were invited over to celebrate the birth of the new year at my father's place.  near the end of the war with the germanbastards, my father was in partnership in a small eatery on 163rd and simpson streets.   an invite there was a rare occurrence.  the staff usually had other things to do than serve freebee kids.  that place was successful because my father and his partner were good at what they did, hard working and conscientious.

me and mike were treated to their great meat sandwiches and desserts.  we used the store phone to call people and ask if they had prince albert in a can.  i know this makes no sense but we thought it was funny.

(to be continued)

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WINTER GARDENING ADVENTURES

one begonia seed has germinated so far using the wet tissue paper method.  this will be the most expensive single begonia plant in the world.  i'm using a flourescent light presently 24/7.  today i'll get some fine grained seed starter soil and try to transplant the skinny little thing.  right now i don't want the thing but having brought it into the world feel responsible.

a few weeks ago i tossed some marigold seed into a potting soil mix that i dried and saved in a paper bag from last year's marigolds to see what would happen.  one came up and appears really strong (and smart too).  it won't be too long before it flowers and i can see what i've got.  the parent plants were hybrids so the offspring may be variable but i only had one type of marigold in my garden.  i'll soon see.

my real garden plan for this year is gold marigolds and scarlet zinnias in my four foot long window boxes for my porch perimeter to have some rabbit protection.  and lillies in front of the porch.  last year two lily plants were not touched by critters.  they looked great.

yesterday was the first day i tested the garden soil.  because of the cold, i lasted about two minutes but i found the soil can be worked.  i'll put in the lily bulbs on the next non-freezing day and hope the critters won't find them.



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this sounds so great even on my $10 speakers.



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WARREN BUFFET SEZ

his heirs are feeding him hamburgers
and macaroni salad

warren buffet saving for his old age is investing millions and millions and millions and millions in stocks which will increase dramatically in value mainly because he says so.

payment for this investment is being made to important finance people and bank executives who rolled up to his house in a u-haul and carried out many of the mattresses in which he saved his dividend and interest checks.




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179TH AND VYSE, BRONX, NY (PART XXXVI): LIFE BEFORE DEATH IN (ugh) NEW JERSEY

(continued)

in midtown manhattan one day in 1960 i saw joey, the bookie from the candy store in painter's garb working at a building.  i guess he would rather be a painter than be a mathematician for the defense dept.  that was too constraining for him to consider.  you had to be brain dead, lazy, or immune to boredom.  i opt for lazy and immune to boredom.  maybe joey didn't want to sit and get the butt corrugations for the required college credits .  he was already smarter than almost all the defense dept. people i knew.

perhaps he turned to painting because the bookie business was too competitive with the law and the mob on your case, a dangerous situation.   mediocrity and boredom with the defense dept. pays off.  i can attest to that.

excuse me.  gotta go.  i have to check my mailbox for my retirement check.

(to be continued)

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annoying and narrow, bill kristol, on scarborough this morning.  not only is he in a delusional little bubble world now but i'm sure he was one of those kids who snuck home from school so the other kids wouldn't beat him up.  i don't doubt that he did all his homework.  what else could he do?

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"Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing"



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AMY TAN, THE KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE

just finished, amy tan's, 1991 book, the kitchen god's wife - better late than never.  the best part of this story is the historical content of china in the 20th century and of special delight to me was the old wives tales passed from one generation to the next, similar but diffrent from the tales and myths passed on to many americans from their european ancestry.  and remarkably these tales and superstitions are believed by intelligent people.

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just a sampling of superstitions and stuff.  my mom never took a chance to ignore any of them.  she even had some unique ones of her own or passed on from relatives and neighbors.  never take a chance.

http://www.corsinet.com/trivia/scary.html

i don't see the one about goldfish???????

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AND YOU THOUGHT MUSLIMS WERE RETARDED:

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SUPER SUNDAY

superbowl today.  i don't see the names GIANTS or JETS on the program.  so, i'll just go down the dial and watch reruns of, beaver.

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having had some unsatisfactory buying experiences with online shopping such as amazon and ebay i'm  considering changing my avatar identity from, ming the merciless, to dudley do right. 

i'm just an innocent, guileless, naive person adrift on the sea of life.

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179TH AND VYSE, BRONX, NY (PART XXXV): LIFE BEFORE DEATH IN (ugh) NEW JERSEY

(continued)

after the war with the germanbastards and japbastards the young men came home.  it took awhile for them to adjust.  slowly they differentiated themselves by moving into different trades and jobs and businesses.  two brothers bought the candy store on my street which seemed to be foundering.  they remarkably turned it into a booming center of neighborhood commerce.  they started serving a variety of fast foods and soda fountain delights.  they took in a juke box and a pinball machine.  a bookie set up shop in and around the store.  he always amazed me by his math skills.  so superior to the phd mathematicians i knew in the defense dept,

the woman who regularly revealed her female charms in her window got married and raised a family.  see Monday, November 16, 2009 title on hot summer nights she lie on her bed next to he...

ball playing and stickball games flourished (on 179th between vyse and daly) in spite of a crabby old crone who kept calling the police.

(to be continued)

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DUKE, DUKE, DUKE

dear coach mike krzyzewski
i am amazed how fast your bb team goes from magnificent to mediocre and then back to magnificent again.  you can see what i mean from the the last three games of your team and the last three games of mediocre st. john's.  almost unbelievable.  y'know what i'm sayin'?
signed,
col. dr. prof. granpa don.

DUKE:
Thu, Jan 27 Boston College 84 - 68 (W)       (16 point win)
Sun, Jan 30 St. John's 78 - 93 (L)                  (15 point loss)
Wed, Feb 02 Maryland 80 - 62 (W)             (18 point win)

ST. JOHN'S:
1/26 Georgetown L, 77-52                            (ho hum)
1/30 Duke W, 93-78                                       (surprise, surprise)
2/2 Rutgers W, 58-56                                   (ho hum)

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YEA, DEPENDABLE YANKEES START SPRING TRAINING IN TWO WEEKS.

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179TH AND VYSE, BRONX, NY (PART XXXIV): LIFE BEFORE DEATH IN (ugh) NEW JERSEY

(continued)


desperately seeking sandra and/or other girls.

MUST BE 1920s PHOTO
POST OFFICE WAS EITHER IN FRONT OF OR IN THAT BUILDING IN THE CENTER IN THE DISTANCE

bernie was anxious to accidentally see sandra who lived near the post office. although he went biking to find her, he found a basketball court instead.  on occasion a bunch of us went over to this distant basketball court in a playground beyond the post office, starlight park, and west farms square.  we never saw sandra.

mid-teenage boys are always looking for girls.  many of them don't know why but although they are stupid are very impressionable.  relationships were all fantasy in my group.

on my way by bus to the grand concourse to meet cousin rita who was in from florida i encountered priscilla from our elementary school.  we talked on the bus and never met again.

cousin rita and i have a great grandparent in common (or something).  we went to radio city music hall and then talked a long time in front of her aunt's building on the grand concourse well into the summer night.

yes, there was life before death in (ugh) new jersey.

i haven't the slightest idea what this blog is about.

(to be continued (anyway))
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SORRY, YOUR DAY HAS PASSED  - OOOPS -- MY DAY HAS PASSED.  YOU'RE IN YOUR PRIME.




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CHENEY CAN FIX IT

state department is advising mubarak to go on a hunting vacation with dick cheney.

did  jimmy hoffa go hunting with dick cheney?

a remake of, "the ok corral", with sarah wtf palin and dick cheney is in the works.

rumor has it that vince foster went hunting with dick cheney.

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ITS GROUNDHOG DAY. 

the second best movie of all time after, pee wee's big adventure, was, groundhog day.  bill murray lives the same day over and over again 'til he gets it perfect.  it would be great if i could live selected days over again maybe five times to get them reasonably right.

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NCAA (MEN'S NOT WOMEN'S OR SHORT PEOPLE'S OR CHALLENGED PEOPLE'S) BASKETBALL

duke amazingly gets blown away by unranked st. john's.  you would think mike krzyzewski would know if there was any hanky-panky among his guys.  as i recall from ancient history the great coaches adolph rupp and nat holman, didn't know their guys were fixing games.  just sayin'

st. john's got one last place vote in ap poll, and no votes in coaches poll this week.

the great colorado buff's team disappeared from the polls.

YANKEE SPRING TRAINING COMING UP.

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i'm just checking out imus' take on the egypt situation.  his down to earth analysis is clear.  none of that high flyin' academic bs that is disseminated by other media sources.  two key points in the ultimate resolution are  the 1.5 billion in foreign aide and they don't want the palestinians in their country.  

the stock markets don't seem to be concerned either.  but since wall street always answers the question, "your money or your life?" with their money, all might be well, maybe.

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