happy new years

all night long

xmas - woody guthrie

xmas - woody guthrie
Originally uploaded by DarbyWheeler

Nate got a guitar from his aunt this xmas. I love how he gets really serious when he plays it. It is actually a ukulele.

rip

I have chilled many a night listening to the Oscar Peterson Trio.

ceremony

spidey sense

DJ Shadow is coming through Toronto soon, I am amped.

when Arnold leads the way?

When do car companies and our governments get serious about emissions?


Legal setback for Bush administration on vehicle emissions

The administration of George W. Bush suffered a legal setback here when a US federal appeals court ruled that government emission standards for light trucks and sport utility vehicles are not stringent enough.

The San Francisco-based federal appeals court ordered the Bush administration to tighten emission standards set for automobiles sold in the United States as quickly as possible, in response to a lawsuit filed by 11 states, including California, two cities and four environmental groups.

The plaintiffs especially noted that under the existing rules, thanks to a legal loophole, large 4x4 sports utility vehicles are allowed to pollute more than regular passenger cars. Car manufacturers have the widest profit margins in the sale of these popular vehicles.

California's Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger described the ruling as "another win for the environment and for consumers."

"Clearly, automobile companies have the capability to produce environmentally friendly cars," he said.

"Today's court ruling underscores the need for the federal government to step in and provide the extra push necessary to make these vehicles widespread."

California Attorney General Edmund Brown, himself a former governor, described the ruling as "a major victory and a stunning rebuke to the Bush administration and its failed energy policies."

Earlier Thursday Schwarzenegger was at the Los Angeles Auto Show, where he showcased environmentally friendly vehicles.

At the show "I saw first hand how automobile companies are harnessing new technologies to create cleaner and more fuel efficient cars," the former movie actor said.

Schwarzenegger and Brown, himself a former governor, on November 8 sued the US government to secure approval for the state's tough new proposals aimed at slashing vehicle greenhouse gas emissions.

California passed legislation in 2002 requiring automakers to reduce vehicle emissions by 30 percent by 2016. As many as 16 other US states have reportedly indicated they will adopt California's emissions levels.

However, for the law to take effect, California requires approval with a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency, which has so far not been forthcoming, despite a request having been filed in December 2005.

Analysts say the EPA and the Bush administration have dragged their feet over California's demands because of fears of the effect it may have on the struggling US auto industry.

Schwarzenegger has made the environment a key issue of his tenure, signing a historic bill in September 2006 that saw the state become the first in the US to impose limits on global warming gases.

Under the plan, California will aim to slash the state's carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent by the year 2020, a figure that Schwarzenegger has said is equivalent to removing 6.5 million vehicles from the road.

5 Neat Guys

to all my homies out there grindin'

is it bad to do this to your kid?

BTW - he told me if the kid across the street got more candy on Halloween he is retiring from the game. Hardcore.

the hawk's offspring

I don't blog much about work- but this one is funny. The Hawk is a character.

make money money

Is this guy still operating?

the first britney

I did not know DiMaggio but he does not seem a nutter to me- this is from 2005. Just buried. !

from www.scotsman.com

Joe DiMaggio died convinced JFK had Monroe killed
ANNETTE WITHERIDGE IN NEW YORK
HE WAS only married to Marilyn Monroe for nine turbulent months, but Joe DiMaggio, the reclusive US baseball legend, vowed he would never forgive the Kennedys for her death.

Now, four years after his own demise, the man immortalised by Simon and Garfunkel in the song Mrs Robinson appears to have his revenge.


A new book, written by his long-time lawyer and close companion Morris Engelberg, reveals he really did believe the Kennedy clan killed Monroe.

"They murdered the one person I loved," DiMaggio confided to Mr Engelberg.

Officially, Monroe, who allegedly enjoyed affairs with both John Kennedy, the US president, and his attorney general brother, Robert, committed suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills in 1962.

But rumours she was killed by the Kennedys because she knew too much about the political dynasty’s Mafia links and was threatening to go public to get back at Robert for dumping her have persisted ever since.

DiMaggio, who organised Monroe’s funeral and, for the next 20 years, had white roses delivered to her grave twice a week, refused to talk publicly about what he thought happened. However, he appears to have sanctioned his memoirs to come out after his death.

The Yankee Clipper, as he was known, claims to have read the Hollywood star’s diary after her death.

Monroe’s journal disappeared shortly afterwards but, according to the book DiMaggio: Setting the Record Straight, the star of The Seven Year Itch had apparently noted her conversations with Robert Kennedy about CIA plans to poison Fidel Castro with the aid of the Chicago gangster Sam Giancana, and the government’s investigation into union leader Jimmy Hoffa’s Mafia links.

Monroe met the Kennedys through Peter Lawford, their British brother-in-law, and is believed to have passed on Robert’s pillow talk to Frank Sinatra, who in turn reported to Giancana.

Engelberg and co-author Marv Schneider tell how Monroe spoke to DiMaggio’s son, Joe Jnr, on the night she died saying she wanted to set the record straight.

"She said she spoke with RFK [Robert Kennedy] three or four times a week and he told her about the work he was doing," the book reveals. "He mentioned which mobsters they were going after. Marilyn would pass on some of those tidbits to Sinatra, according to Joe Jnr."

DiMaggio shed no tears when the Kennedys were assassinated. According to the book, which contains a foreword by Henry Kissinger, DiMaggio believed "they got what they deserved".

DiMaggio, who was 84 when he died after a long battle with cancer, refused to shake Robert Kennedy’s hand when they met at New York’s Yankee Stadium. Just a few years before he died he agreed to go to the Kennedy Centre only if no member of the extended political family was there.

When Engelberg asked him why, DiMaggio responded: "What they did to me will never be forgotten."

DiMaggio was considered to be one of the greatest baseball players, but he hated the limelight and sports fans were stunned when he suddenly married Monroe in 1954. He was 39 and already retired, she was 27 and at the height of her fame.

They spent their honeymoon in Japan, where 100,000 US troops turned out to meet them. Afterwards, Monroe commented: "I have never heard so much cheering." DiMaggio replied knowingly: "I have."

Few were surprised when the couple split within nine months. He moved to Hollywood, Florida, and in later years, became estranged from his only son, Joe Jnr, and other family members.

Engelberg, his next door neighbour, came under attack in the months before the player’s death for appearing to control every aspect of DiMaggio’s life.

green onions

are an important part of any diet.


seconds....


desert....

never tired

hey lama

This is how I am feeling this morning.

september

September for me is usually like the "real beginning of a new year". Things start in September. I am usually amped in Sept. Not this one. My mind is a bit soft and gushy (ha!). I got a new lil man in the house, except he in not in the house, he is in the hospital. He is suppose to be coming home in 2 days!

I am not going to go postal, but I get it. I found myself this morning, after parking at the hospital giving a meter maid the dirtiest look. He had to have felt the, "eff you", I was sending him. I was 2 minutes late the day before and they ticketed me. Plus $2 get you like 20 minutes on a meter!!!!

I thought about the people who have a loved one in the hospital who have to drive and park and are maybe on a tight budget
(who isn't?). That made me shoot the look. Am I getting old for bitching about this, or just old for visiting a hospital.

Plus, Nate grew another head as you can see above. Now he thinks he is twice as smart as me.

More to this record.....

Bonds ball to be branded with an asterisk

Sep 26, 2007 08:26 AM
Associated Press

NEW YORK – The ball Barry Bonds hit for his record-breaking 756th home run will be branded with an asterisk and sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame, its owner said Wednesday.

Fashion designer Marc Ecko, who bought the ball in an online auction, set up a Web site for fans to vote on the ball's fate, and the decision to brand it won out over the other options, sending it to the museum unblemished or launching it into space.

"We're going to be working with the folks at the Hall of Fame," Ecko said on NBC's "Today" show.

Ecko, whom Bonds called "an idiot" last week, had the winning bid Sept. 15 in the online auction for the ball that Bonds hit Aug. 7 to break Hank Aaron's record of 755 home runs. The final selling price was $752,467 (U.S.), well above most predictions that assumed Bonds' status as a lightning rod for the steroids debate in baseball would depress the value.

The asterisk suggests that Bonds' record is tainted by alleged steroid use. The slugger has denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs. Fans brought signs with asterisks on them to ballparks as he neared Aaron's hallowed mark.

Hall of Fame president Dale Petroskey, also interviewed on the show, said accepting the ball did not mean the Hall endorses the viewpoint that Barry Bonds used drugs.

"We're happy to get it," he said. "We're a nonprofit history museum, so this ball wouldn't be coming to Cooperstown without Marc Ecko buying it from the fan who caught it."

The Giants announced Friday they will part with Bonds after this season, the seven-time NL MVP's 15th in San Francisco and 22nd in the majors.

the boss

The Boss has a new record soon- in celebration of his genius.

paper

Well- I was off for a week with a newborn, and came back to my desk looking like this.



These bastards did it. I heard they stayed til 9pm working on their masterpiece.



I thought whatever , I have work to do.

the dad i aspire to be

Some of the infamous sessions with Beach Boy dad, Murray Wilson.

little brother

Growin' Indeed
Nate got a little brother, Ben.