Wednesday, June 22, 2022

The Stuff That Falls Out

No, this is not a flashback/rerun of a post, but if it sounds familiar, you're right- I've used that title before.  That name works for random musings I come up that fill up my brain when I try to help out here at the Chant.  So here you go with some semi-eclectic thoughts I've had recently.  


I'll start of with Top Gun Maverick.  Mild spoilers ahead, so skip past the next 3 photos if you need.  Several folks have provided their reviews either here or on social media, and mine are essentially the same.  It's a great movie, partially because it didn't try to force any social justice or wokeness down our throats, just focusing on pure entertainment.  It was just a fun and exciting flick, that didn't try to be more than it is- no lessons for us, or trying to guilt us about the climate or our foreign policy, and didn't feel the need to force feed us positive images of specific demographics or life choices.  Sure, it was unrealistic with regards to training rules and some challenges with physics, and by that I mean them pulling so many G's as they're climbing out of that canyon, but it was really well done, and I am glad Tom Cruise is getting all the tickets sales that he is. It's apparently his highest grossing movie ever.  It also has a few laughs, but my only critique would be that there weren't enough memorable lines that we will quote for the next 3 decades.  One that made me chuckle though was Maverick saying "There will be GPS jamming, so the F-35s are out."  By the way, when they released the first trailer couple years back which showed a Tomcat flying over the snowy mountains, I guessed that he would be shot down and would have to steal a Tomcat.  It was fun to see that I was right.  I was planning on seeing it again this past weekend but I wanted to go to an IMAX screening.  Unfortunately, in its third weekend it has been relegated to the smaller screens now it seems. I tried to go IMAX the first weekend it was released but all the IMAX tickets were sold out for the times I was able to go.  It's playing on base next weekend so maybe I'll go then.  No IMAX, but good company. 

I-Bar on NASNI  Source

By the way, the bar featured in the movie, is not the actual World Famous I-Bar that inspired it.  They built a set on the beach on North Island and used many of the same plaques and mugs that are over in the I-Bar, but the production crew tore it down a few weeks after filming.  A friend of mine who lives next door to the real thing was able to get inside the set, which he said was amazing, wishing the I-Bar could have been moved in.  Anyhoo- it used to be the hangout for S-3 Viking guys, (and its courtyard was the site of my retirement), but has now been relegated to rotor heads.  Unfortunately a lot of our S-3 stuff went missing over the years.  Damn rotor-heads.



Has anybody seen 2000 mules? I've watched and read several reviews of it, but haven't plunked down the money.  Although it will just confirm what I already believe, that there really was fraud during the last election.  Or are we supposed to still believe the narrative that 2016 was stolen, and 2020 was completely on the up and up?  Whatever truths that documentary revealed, they'll never make it into the public record though as it would wreck our institution of pseudo-stability here in the US.  Was there enough fraud to change the outcome?  According to Dinesh D'Souza there is, but that's an ugly truth that will remain suppressed I expect, too many prominent people would be outed as officially corrupt and well deserving of jail.

Speaking of elections, it's my prediction that the Democrats will put Pete Buttigieg up as their candidate in 2024, assuming Biden can't.  Harris' campaign would be DOA.  I think they know there is no chance they can win, so they will put up a sacrificial lamb that checks some identity politic blocks.  They also know his loss will be more acceptable than a loss by any future/better candidates.  Lambs to the slaughter comes to mind.


Anybody know the going rate for bird seed? I recommend you invest in it based on how much my wife has been buying recently.  We have four bird seed containers on our back fence which seemed to have to be filled nearly twice a week. It's not the birds that seem to eat the most, although there are quite a few of them that visit regularly, but we have a mama squirrel and two babies that have learned where the feeding trough is and they are voracious. They have learned to use their paws to dig through the bird seed to find the better seeds like sunflower seeds, spilling a ton into the canyon and on to our side of the fence. Our corgi did not eat one night and I discovered why, as her waste was almost entirely bird seed.  She hasn't done that since, so I think she learned her lesson. 


Speaking of pets and going rates, is $90 about average for dog grooming and nail clipping? Freaking expensive if you ask me.  I don't spend that in a year on
my haircuts, although I do my own nails.  I guess there was some de-shedding done as well, or some other procedure that gets rid of all the loose undercoat.  If that keeps us from having gigantic dust bunnies for a month or so, maybe it's worth it.  In case you didn't know, Corgis shed like no other, and we have two of them.  I joke that we get another Corgi every week.  We have lint rollers in all of our cars and I have one at my desk as well.  We can't escape it. 


Is anyone else tired of the constant talk of the trans issue?  I don't know why the left has been co-opted by a small select group of folks that refuse to accept what truthful physicians say about it.  There's a very common-sense cartoon I found that compares how we treat anorexia and schizophrenia, yet accepts what is another mental disorder.  It's really sad that this issue, and nearly every social issue the left has taken on, seems to be rooted in a lack of factual evidence, and based solely on feelings and emotion.  Any discussion to the contrary is labeled as racist, intolerant, or filled with ad-homonyms.  It reminds me of the quote by Carl Sandburg:

“If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell.”

The left is quite adept at their only game- yelling like hell. 

It's not only the social issues, but clearly that ignorance with regards to their economic, energy, and immigration policies is what were having to deal with now- rising crime, runaway inflation, gas prices through the roof, and constant caravans of illegals coming to the border.  I just hope things aren't beyond saving by the time the next congress or administration can get to work.  Yeah, I'm pessimistic as heck, but I don't see a lot of silver in those linings.

Maybe I just need to have the positive outlook of our Veep.



 

These gas prices here in the "Golden" State have tamed me.  I haven't driven my Mustang over 75mph in over a week, relaxing in the slower lanes more often, and using cruise control when able.  I paid over $6 a gallon for regular last weekend!  Painful prices for sure, and it's just going to make everything else even more painful as fossils run our country.  I have no problem with EVs, but am not so naïve to think I'd be more environmentally friendly by doing so.  The lack of understanding of economics by our Administration with their energy policies, and the naiveite by the libs who push for an end to fossil fuels astounds me.  The seemingly endless rise of prices are clearly hurting a lot of folks, and something's gotta give.  While it's discretionary spending right now, voting left is definitely gonna give way this fall.  

While these gas prices are concerning, what I'm really worried about is Sarge reducing my pay here at the Chant!

Ok, enough spillage for today.  Sarge should be back in his regularly scheduled timeslot tomorrow.

Barry Alman Photo via FB



26 comments:

  1. The leftist problem we’re experiencing right now is,the fact that a majority of lefties have never had the tobacco juice beaten out of them.

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    1. Yes a little forced adversity would be helpful

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  2. That clip of the VP illustrates why she never won a Democratic Primary back when she ran for President. Those tree rats need to work for their food Tuna. Regular here in the Twin Cities is $4.75/gallon.

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    1. Yes, she was horrible in that presidential debate and couldn't even get through the California primary.

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  3. Tuna - Re: Squirrels. We have the same issue. The Ravishing Mrs. TB has taken to also throwing out sunflower seeds on the patio. The squirrels start there and only later (if at all) migrate to the bird feeder. It seems to help (although not, as you point out, with the pocket book).

    Top Gun II: Hmmm. Franchise movie generates millions of dollars based on a combination of nostalgia and (from what I hear) good movie making. Lead actor starts by thanking people for attending. One would think that the people that fund such movies (and want to see a return on their money) would take notice of this strange phenomenon.

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    1. You think? But the woke Hollywood types are so full of themselves and what they believe that they will continue their strange weird woke liberal communist ways.

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  4. Tuna, couple of suggestions regarding birds and pups. Birds-try https://www.rollerfeeder.com/live/
    Not a cheap fix, but drives the squirrels nuts (mentally). We've laughed while they've been dumped off, hanging upside down by one claw when the feeder turns on 'em, etc. Still doesn't solve the problem of the seed on the ground...our Labrador pulls the same stunt your Corgi did, but he doesn't learn and stays with it till "the runs" take over. Problem solved when the wild turkey hens discovered the spillings...now they are the clean up crew for all the spilled seed.
    As far as the pups...Labs are notorious shedders too. We have pretty good success with FURminator....Large dog deshedding option...one for small dogs is available too.
    Regards,
    Cletus Valvecore



    try FURminator..we use the large dog deshedding option. Works pretty good

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  5. Thanks cletus, sounds like good advice, if I could get my wife to stop caring more about the squirrels than the birds! She likes watching them all.

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    1. Tuna, believe me the squirrels won't give up and they'll be on the ground eating seed if the Corgi's don't hound 'em too much. Our Lab. can't cover the entire yard, so the squirrel waits till the coast is clear. 😀
      Cletus

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  6. Alright, I'm back at work after a glorious week and a half away, so, as you may well imagine, my morale ain't that great to begin with.

    Then I watch the video of our Vice-Idiot, er, I mean Vice-President, and morale plummets further. We are no longer being governed by adults, we are being led by a bunch of lunatics.

    In the USNI news today, I read this - "The Navy next week will host an open-source table-top wargame to experiment with how climate change could affect a future conflict, a service official said today." (Source) What the actual f**k is going on out there?

    Dear Lord, we are f**king doomed unless the electorate wakes up fast.

    OTOH, nice post Tuna.

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    1. The one thing I didn't put in there was the woke pronoun usage training the Navy has released. What the actual Frick is right. And thanks.

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  7. Methinks the old saw "The inmates are running the asylum" has become fact.

    Welcome back Sarge, your underpaid subs performed brilliantly.

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  8. Shedding dogs- try a Samoyed- white fluff everywhere, always!
    Squirrel problems- Even a Ninja warrior course won't stop those rascals- like this one:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFZFjoX2cGg

    John Blackshoe

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  9. Love that ninja course video.

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  10. Tuna, with respect to the elections in 2024, if the Democrats are really on the outs, they will do anything to stay in power. If we even have elections in 2024, the Democrats will commit such fraud that they will proclaim a win even though the fraud is obvious. I am starting to move to the camp that believes the powers in D.C. will come up with some way to cancel the elections and just appoint Brandon's succesor. If they do that, then all hell will break loose.

    But to "win" in 2024, the Democrats are going to have to cheat in the 2022 elections to get a 2/3rds majority in Congress to accomplish their desires. So I don't know what they are planning this fall, but it will be nasty. I expect a lot of Republicans with double-digit polling leads going into this fall's elections will lose by double-digit "votes" in states or districts that are controlled to any extent by Democrats. I am in Chip Roy's district. Part of it falls in Travis County (Austin) Texas. I expect a lot of "votes" coming from that part of the district; even more "votes" than registered voters or maybe even adults of voting age. Knowing Democrats, they will come from other parts of Travis County to vote against Roy. BTW, I am not a big Chip Roy fan, voted for someone else in the primary, but he won the primary and I will vote for him because a vote for a Democrat is anathema to me.

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    1. I was especially thrilled the Cornyn voted for that red flag bill. Seriously thinking of writing a letter to him. Not sure if I'll vote for him, but will be looking at that option.
      I am pretty much in agreement with your assessment, Bill, much to my disgust in politics today.

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    2. Bill, that is very possible, if not likely, but I sort of wonder if they will be able to get away with it like they did in 20, because every ballot box and polling station is going to be watched like a hawk now, and any hijinks will be recorded in live streamed and live streamed.

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  11. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  12. ...(From way back in the post). The new "Top Gun" sounds like a great movie. In the tradition of the 1980's "Firefox" where you walked out happy and proud...

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    1. That is another great movie. I remember how I was full of adrenalin watching the flying scene with the Russian behind him.

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  13. Sounds like I really need to see the most recent Top Gun. Every reviewer I have read/heard has been very complimentary.

    Squirrels, red, grey and black, as well as their littler cousins the chipmunks, have been foiled at my birdfeeder for the first time ever. And it isn't anything I did. The folks who owned the place previously obviously liked to feed the birds also, given the 3 hangers embeded in the pine trees in the front yard. One is just out of fingerclaw reach, so I hung the birdseed feeder on that one, the one with the hummingbird on it is where I hang the hummers food, and I wrapped the chain to the suet feeder around the little hook facing the house. So far, so good. Although it is funny to watch them try to reach the long tube of birdseed. Now, if I could just keep the ants out of the hummingbird feeders, I would be very happy.

    While birdseed isn't cheap by any stretch, neither was getting my shelties groomed. Every 3 months they both went, got washed, combed out, and nails trimmed. It was about $90 apiece. Of course they looked just gorgeous, and I had NO dust bunnies running around the house for almost 2 weeks...so I figured it was a win/win. But the corgie/jack russell terrier mixes I lived with for about 18 months, while very "talkative" were also very...um...enthusiastic about showing how very much loved all the humans in the house were. I was over there this past Sunday for a nice visit, and was practically mugged as it has been a few weeks since I stopped by...I left covered in love, otherwise known as dog kisses and fur. I swear I brushed at least one dog's worth of fur off of me.
    Best 2 hours I have spent in a while.

    So far as gas prices go...it is running around $4.89-95 in upstate NY. It would have been over $5/gal for regular, but they dropped the state gas tax just in time, so the price dropped to 4.65 for about 48 hours, over Memorial Day, before climbing right back up. The gas tax is supposed to be capped until the end of the year...after which I forsee a LOT of pain at the pump. I called my oil guy and had him come fill up my heating tank now, instead of waiting until August. I am sure the price is only going to go up, and it's not like the oil will go bad just sitting in my tank instead of in the ground. Biden was very clear he was going to cut off all fossil fuels, and wanted $10/gal gas while he was campaigning. Of all the promises to keep, he had to pick THAT one. So now it is costing me about $50 a pop to fill my Chevy Trax---not a truck---a Trax---small, 4 cylinder car. And I wind up filling it about 3x a week thanks to doing my job. I am sooo very DONE with the current regime. I just have no words. Further, I just about choked when I saw the Energy Secretary, former MI governor, Jennifer Grantholm and Sen.Debbie Stabenow bragging about their new electric cars, and how they were just driving right by the gas station. My thought was "Yes, but can you afford to pay your electric bill now??!!!" After all, the current power grid is having a difficult time keeping the current electric stuff charged, never mind adding a bunch of EV's to the mix. Rolling blackouts just don't sound like fun to me.
    Blind on one hand, stupid on the other....just saying...

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    1. Sounds like we have similar experiences with birds and squirrels and dogs! My squirrel complaint falls on deaf ears with my wife, who is quite content with paying for seed so she can watch the wildlife. The birds hit other feeders so everybody is happy.

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    2. Anyone ever try caynne pepper mixed in with the bird seed? It doesn’t bother birds but is worth an hour of entertainment watching the tree rodents try to put the fire out in their mouths.—Dust here.

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