]> http://greasy.com/jondude/index.html jondude's Blog en-us © 2008 Greasy.com All rights reserved. Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:41:48 GMT 30 http://greasy.com/jondude/camel_passport_.html It was a long time ago and I was a veteran and backpacking around the Mediterranean. We were a collective, of sorts - two Canadian girls, a German guy from Hamburg, a young Russian emigre from Paris, a German girl from Berlin, and myself. With the exception of Vassily the Russian, we had all met in Venice a few weeks before, where we crashed in a hostel. Vassily had been hiking with me since Marseilles. We were making our way through what was then Yugoslavia, down the Dalmatian coast, one ... Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:47:22 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/cramers_3-steps_.html Jim Cramer (CNBC-TV) presented his 3-step program last night for economic recovery. He said that tax cuts don't work for the mass of citizens. They do for the Wall Street old boy crowd, but not for you and me. All they do is exacerbate the deficit, because when your income is down you don't ask for a pay cut. He said there is a way to improve the economy and save the nation by: 1. Creating a Mortgage Resolution Trust 2. Eliminating ethanol as an energy source 3. Replacing oil and coal with ... Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:21:49 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/grimness_continues_.html I see and hear worry everywhere. The stock market is nosediving and is back under 10900 on the DJIA. The S&P will probably drop under 1200 today or tomorrow. GM announced it is ceasing its dividend and making more drastic cuts in output, models and laying off a bunch. IndyMac Bank in California went under. The fed took them over and reopened the bank yesterday, but the run on that bank continued. People lined up all day to withdraw their assets, and only a trickle got through the doors to ... Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:10:13 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/bucket_list_.html (Thanks to Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, for a wonderful funny motion picture.) Before I choke on my final breath, here's what I would like: 1. To see Machu Picchu and Cuzco in Peru. 2. To sail up the Nile on a Felucca and visit Luxor, the Valley of the Kings and Karnak Temple. 3. To visit Benares, in India. 4. To revisit Kyoto, Japan and stay overnight in my favorite Zen monastery, sleep freezing on a tatami mat and eat that wholesome cold rice. 5. To finish my historical novel of ep ... Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:04:30 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/oldest_blogger_dies_aged_108.html (BBC News) An Australian woman - reputed to be the world's oldest internet blogger - has died at the age of 108, officials say. Olive Riley had posted more than 70 entries about her life since she began her blog in February 2007. She shared her thoughts on modern life and experiences of living through the entire 20th Century, including two world wars and the Great Depression. In her final entry on 26 June, she described singing a happy song at her care home with nurses and a visitor. 'Keep ... Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:58:49 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/observation_69_.html A couple of "news" items: 1. A story in the Jerusalem Post says that Israeli air force planes have been practicing for their imminent attack on Iran's nuclear program using American air bases in Iraq. 2. The Pentagon firmly discredited the Jerusalem Post story today, declaring it bogus and without any shred of the truth. My observation: If I were in command of the US or Coalition air forces in Iraq and Israeli aircraft crossed the Iraqi border I would issue the order to engage them and sho ... Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:01:36 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/awoke_dizzy_.html I woke up this morning with the room reeling as if I had too much to drink. That isn't the case. Does anyone have any idea about what caused it? It was several hours ago. Now I can sort of feel the thing is still there, but it is background. If I suddenly turn or spin, it comes back for a while. I have no pain. Hmmm? I had some skewered steak with onion and pineapple chunks for dinner last night. Half a glass of red wine. Nothing else. Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:26:46 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/lee_iacocca_quotes_.html Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from it's death throes? He is now 82 years old and has a new book. Here are some excerpts: 'Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid ... Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:51:54 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/pie_squared_.html Strawberry Rhubarb. The dark stuff on the lattice crust is baked cinnamon. Johannes Adams faciebat. Wed, 9 Jul 2008 00:41:14 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/cjs_questions_from_looserobes.html 1. How "Young" Are You? A: I love hard rock and blues. I love corn dogs. I watch the Cartoon Network. 2. What Person Most Influenced Your Life? A: Jack London, and/or my Father 3. What Five Words Best Sum Up How You See Yourself? A: Procrastination, imagination, confident, poor and observant. 4. What Would You Say Are Your Two Best Physical Features? A: Left hand, right foot. 5. If you could be granted one wish, what would it be? A: To have three more wishes granted. 6. Why Do You Blog? A: ... Tue, 8 Jul 2008 19:04:38 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/sunday_cats_.html Doobie a.k.a. 'Babydude' likes to help out when I am in the bathroom. The cubby top belongs to him. He will be two on Labor Day. Bunjii has rejoined us in the rest of the house (He was isolated in the guest room upstairs for 4 weeks during his recuperation from surgery.) He has claimed a shelf where I stack hand towels as his bathroom domain. Nobody will pester him there. Sun, 6 Jul 2008 20:28:33 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/bunjii_celebrates_independence.html I'mm FREE! I got outa the room TOday! Now I kaNN be One of the Guyz agin! Fri, 4 Jul 2008 20:05:44 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/boom_.html I know my history. Independence Day is celebrated here each July 4 to commemorate the day Will Smith blew up the alien mother ship and saved the planet Earth from those damn strange-looking interlopers with skulls like manta rays that vaporized LA and several other cities around the world. What a movie! Fireworks is the way we celebrate it. Until the first Independence Day we ignored fireworks. Fireworks was the plaything of the elite. French kings and queens gathered in their splendid par ... Fri, 4 Jul 2008 19:22:05 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/shashlik_.html Chunks of strip steak Red Onion Roma tomatoes Yellow & Orange bell peppers Stick with skewers and grill. Serve with a red wine. Fri, 4 Jul 2008 02:15:49 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/cat_hat_.html There once was a cat who begat a painting of things on a hat, but sadly it seems that the hat wouldn't fit 'cause his head was too fat. (Anyway, here are some pics of what the hat looked like before I sent it off to the Farm Bureau. For details on how to vote, go to http://www.jondude.com/art.htm and see the bottom left column. Voting should begin some time in August. Wed, 2 Jul 2008 21:50:22 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/painting_minus_frame_.html Autumn Poplars 01 8" high by 10" wide Framed but shown here without frame copyright 2008 by Jon L. Adams Acrylic on canvas www.jondude.com/art.htm (See it framed on previous post) My work is heavily textured with built-up paint and gesso. This is a very textural work. The varnish is matte. I include a Certificate of Authenticity with all paintings. $280 plus shipping Tue, 1 Jul 2008 21:56:45 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/autumn_poplars_painting_.html I am going to enter this one tomorrow or Thursday in the Seneca County Fair. I enjoy working on these small canvases. Tue, 1 Jul 2008 15:12:33 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/tuesday_ruby_baseball_.html There is a restaurant over in Findlay, a chain, that usurped their name from a Rolling Stones tune. Ruby Tuesdays is a pretty good place for lunch. When I take my Uncle Jim along on my monthly trip over to the "big" city (50,000 pop.) we lunch on his wallet. Usually we go to Cheddars, Olive Garden or some other sit-down joint like The Red Pig. This week Ruby Tuesdays had a coupon deal in the paper. I want to utilize it, because it will just about pay for a gallon of gasoline and it takes a ... Tue, 1 Jul 2008 12:31:53 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/twenty-five_.html 1- What is your favorite food? Scratch Macaroni & Cheese 2- Do you ever watch "Cash Cab"? No. 3- What do you think of Drew Carey as the new host of "The Price is Right?" Never watch it. 4- When it is really warm, do you ever walk around the house naked? No. 5- Are you a coffee drinker? Every waking moment. 6- Do you like reality shows? Absolutely not! 7- Enjoy being scared? I've been there and done that. 8- Of all the cities you have traveled to, what is your favorite? Venice or Florence, ... Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:41:11 GMT http://greasy.com/jondude/good_news_bunjii.html Here's the deal: Bunjii's tumor has been finally diagnosed, prognosed, stuck, needled, amplified, verified and categorized. It is not cancerous. Not even close. (Bunjii - left - with Satch and Rosebud) It is a kind of tumor that began appearing in felines and some dogs a few years ago. It appears rarely but in all circumstances it appears in the spot where pets were formerly inocculated by needle --- when vets would use combination injections. Those injections have been fading away since t ... Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:16:46 GMT