Sneakeasy's Joint

BOO!!! It's Halloween

Ah the pitter patter of little, and sometimes not so little, feet scurring, sometimes apprehensively, sometimes boldly, up your walk, and onto your porch, and announcing themselves with charming little ditties that are one part greeting, one part request, one part begging, one part... well, what do YOU think that last part means? :-)

TRICK OR TREAT!
SMELL MY FEET!
GIVE ME SOMETHING GOOD TO EAT!

AND IF YOU WON'T,
I DON'T CARE!
I JUST WANT TO
PULL YOUR HAIR!!!

From the Animals to Zippy the Pinhead, and Harry Potter in between, the kids, and their teen and adult minders are decked out yet again for the annual ritual of driving around looking for that one house in the neighborhood that is brave, or wealthy, enough to pass out a Dept. Store worth of cavity makers in the Charity Event for the Dental Profession we know & love as HALLOWEEN. :-)

Actually the neighborhood I live in goes whole hog for this event. There are whole, or nearly whole, blocks of houses and yards decked out in scary scenes, with the residents getting into the spirit by dressing up, and entertaining and interacting with the kids in various ways, from the witch on her front porch to the nearly life size puppet PALM READER in its booth to "bodies" stuck under car wheels in the driveway, and smoke makers galore.

And the kids of the neighborhood, and outlying areas, as well, with parents in tow, flock to these streets for more that 3 hours of chills, thrills, laughter, and bags stuffed with loot.

I was walking down one street pulling a cart of cat food, and litter by one hand, and a storage container in the other, zigging and zagging around the crowd when I came upon a befuddled Father on a cell phone reporting to someone that he was lost and seemed to have misplaced the kids...

I raised up and waved my container at him yelling "Don't look at me! They're not in here!!" and got a funny look in return. :-)

As I passed a crowd near a park I warned them that the neighborhood squirrels were known to act strange on this night so be careful, and was rewarded by the kids looking warily into the darkeness of the park.:-)

I told another crowd to watch out for the neighborhood black cats. "Don't let one walk across your path" I said. I was rewarded by hearing a couple of kids ask their parents what I meant, and the parents trying to explain superstition as I walked away.:-)

The last time I dressed up for the occasion was when I was a Sweet 16 back in the year 1976.

My sisters needed someone to escort them the 10 blocks to a Girl Scout Party.

Jumping at this opportunity to play Big Brother, the Guardian of the Family Youngin's, yours truly did the only thing right for the occasion.

I borrowed a dress, bra, and high heels from my Mom, and a wig from a neighbor, then I stuffed the bra with enough newspaper to make them big enough to make Dolly Parton & Tammy Faye Baker envious, and stuck a sash across the front announcing MISS AMERICA 1976.

With my teen stubble, and full mustache, I'll have you know I was an absolute STUNNER! :-)

The journey undertaken was a smash, complete with frequent wolf whistles, stopped traffic at intersections, and more than 2 dozen proposals of marriage, half of them from someone sober, as I sashayed down the street.

We stopped off at the local Alta Dena Dairy, and my friends who worked there got into the spirit by hugging me, and swatting my behind as the captive audience in the drive-thru stared in horrified disbelief.

Needless to say, my sisters alternated between amusement and complete embarrasment, and you should have seen the look on the face of the lady who answered the door upon our arrival at the party. :-)

Nowadays when I show folks the photo I tell them that the young lady is my long lost twin sister. :-)

Despite the very rare nutjob with a razor, and rat poison, and the need for parents to no longer let the kids go out trick or treating alone ( thereby turning the evenings outing into a family event ) fun is had by all yet again, and that is as it should be.

The Religious Fanatics who want to sanitize the goings on, or outright ban them, can stuff it where the sun don't shine.

Let kids be kids. Heck, let the adults be kids, and dress up too, if they want. The time for grown up beliefs and activities will come soon enough.

World Champion California Angels!!!

What a game, and what a team!

And yes, I know I said CALIFORNIA and not Anaheim. This was for Gene Autry and the Angels of old. Eisner will have to wait and EARN his with a few more years of service. That is if he doesn't go ahead and sell the team first.

The best team won tonite, but to say the Angels, man for man, are the best team in both leagues IS a stretch.

They played with heart and skill when they needed to, and in a lengthy play-off format that is what it takes.

The Giants played their best, and deserve congrats for fighting to the last out.

WHAT A GAME!

As the beautiful lyrics of the ballad ( WE WILL, WE, WILL, ROCK YOU! ) as sung by the More (as in more than you can shake a stick at ) Men Drunkenacle Choir (still giddily hung over, it must be said) is heard raucusly in the backround, the Right Reverend Sneakeasy steps to the podium to address the congregation of believers...

CAN YOU DIG ITTT?? (In his best Shaq immitation)

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?? (In his best Al Michaels immitation)

KEEP HOPE ALIVE!! (In his best Jesse Jackson immitation)

YOU GOTTA BELIEVE!

Now get out there and cheer on the Angels!!

Oh, hi everyone, sorry I am just so jazzed by last night's game. :-)

I am exhausted as well.

I worked 7 1/2 hours friday night with only an early 15 min. break, and after getting home at 2am, got up at 5 to get back to work by 10.

TARGET was so busy yesterday it was as if everyone in Eagle Rock was doing their shopping before game time arrived. :-)

I was supposed to do Recovery for the first time, meaning I was to run around putting GO-Backs back on the shelf, and carry around a walkie-talkie so as to help out guests as needed, but ended up working a register most of the time.

When I got off at 5 I planned to go into Pasadena to watch the game at Hooters, but when I saw the crowd around the break room TV I dashed to the mall BOB'S BIG BOY, ordered take-out and dashed back.

That's how I ended up the only employee in the store to see the whole game, and gave updates to those going in and out on breaks and lunch. :-)

The game started out promising. As promising as being scoreless thru 4 can be. :-)

Then everthing went to hell in a handbasket and the GIANTS were ahead by 5-0, and things got steadily worse rather quickly as by the end of the 7th FOX seemed to have already crowned them the victors and were discussing MVP cadidates.

The mood in the break room of one of despair, and desperation.

Folks could barely muster a weak "Come on, team!"

As for me I was silently pleading with the spirit of Gene Autry to get up off his behind and DO SOMETHING!

The Rally Monkey was doing his thing and fans were doing their best to keep up appearances and cheer, cheer, cheer, but it didn't look good.

Then Spiezio hits his homer!

Word spreads around the store that there IS hope afterall, and a crowd gathers around all the TV'S in Electronics.

Someone coming into the store right then could be forgiven if they thought the mother of all sales promotions was taking place in that department.

The bottom of the 8th was glorious!

The 9th came and went and suddenly Troy Percival was the nice young man every Mother in Orange County wanted their sons to grow up to be like, and their daughters all to marry.

Pandemonium reigned!

I read todays LA TIMES, and the emotions of last night came back as i read Bill Plashcke's piece on the resucitation of a team everyone had all but gioven up for dead, and I laughed out loud at T.J. Simers piece on the "Rally Brat & His Day-care Handlers" ( I actually think munchkins in the dugout, and as batboys and girls is a good character and responsibility builder, but the adults need to pay more attention, and the media less. The practice is actually as old as the game itself, I think, so what's the big deal, FOX? )

Anyway, I'm about to fix some burgers and attempt to fix some fries and drink a cooler or 2 while sitting back and enjoying what ought to be a great ending to the baseball season.

Whatever happens, win or lose, this season, these playoffs, last night, can't be taken from the Comeback Kids, and us, their fans.

I don't have a monkey or anything to spank it with, but, if worse comes to worse, I do have 2 cats and can wave one or both around my head in a rally frenzie if the need arises (The boys are Angel fans too, and are willing to do what's needed for the cause, rest assured).;-)

ABOUT THAT ROAST......

Naked Chef, Eat Your Heart Out!!

{ Sneak does a Victory Dance in his kitchen, and the Cats head for the safety, and relative calm, of the bedroom }

I survived the first use of my year old Multi-Cooker. :-)

A 3.7 lb. Blade Roast, 2 cups diet coke, a couple of dashes of Thyme, and 2 1/2 hours later ( with a side dish of Microwaved Stew Veggies ) I'm in HEAVEN.

The meat just couldn't wait to get off the bones, and was absolutely delicious.

For my next Culinary tri..... scratch that, one miracle per day is all I'm capable of. :-)

Even the ANGELS getting their clocks cleaned tonite can't dampen my mood. :-)

1 Beer Can, 2 Beer Cans, 3 Beer Cans, 4!

... 5 BEER CANS, 6 BEER CANS, 7 BEER CANS, MORE!!

HIC!!

9 large Hefty Bags later yours truly is..... well, let me start back at the beginning. :-)

A couple of months ago one of the tennants at the group of 5 bungalows that I live at moved out leaving 20 bags of a combo of trash and empty beer cans.

Sensing profit, but not eager to dig in all in one day, I took 2 months to sort things out, and yesterday was finally ready to cash in.

So, what do I do?

Well, I grab 2 bags, saddle up my trusty bicycle and very delecately pedal 3 miles to the local recycling center.

I did this 3 times, a 4th time with 3 Garbage bags instead of 2.

It took 4 hours in all.

At 95 cents a pound I came away with $46.

Not too shabby if you ask me. :-)

Anyway, I spent a bit for a take home dinner to watch last nights game ( the less said about the performance of FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ the better ), and a bit more for breakfast this morning, and then traipsed off to the market for $26 worth of groceries.

Speaking of groceries....

Pray for me... I bought a 3.7 lb. roast, and am attempting to cook it in my multi-cooker as I type. :-)

Oh, and pray for the ANGELS!

It's 6-0 GIANTS in the 3rd.

ARCHIVES, SHMARCHIVES

As you may have noticed a month's worth of the archives are absent.

Apparently the powers that be at BLOGGER have been working on a new version of the program and since such problems will supposedly be a thing of the past once it's released they haven't bothered to fix the problem.

The good news is that apparently the missing archives are not truly missing, just absent without leave or something, and will re-appear eventually.

I'm glad because I am quite proud of alot of the stuff written during this period, and hope that if you, dear reader, missed them the first time, you will search them out when the archives are finally updated.

I'M BAAAACCCCKKKK....

Fighting a cold for 2 weeks is no fun, trust me.....

That, and the continuing job search has just plain tuckered me out.

My apologies to all my readers out there ( All 2 dozen of you! Come on, don't keep a secret, spread the word! ) who may have been going into withdrawals due to my absence.:-)

The good news is that I survived my opening 3 months at TARGET ( it was up on the 5th ) and got my raise ( 25 cents, and not 25% as the HR apparently misspoke on Orientation day )!

The Dept. Head is taking his time with calling us in for Evaluation, but I figure that since I'm still on the job the verdict must be reasonably favorable. :-)

I have continued to raise my SPEED SCORE week by week, and I'm quite pleased with myself over this, and I've begun to inquire into being cross-trained for other Depts. if it means more knowledge, and more hours.

You see, I like working at TARGET, and with the people I work with. It has always been an issue of not enough hours for me, and that's the only reason I've been looking elsewhere.

Working my way up at TARGET appeals to me, but being able to pay the rent and bills, and get munchies on a regular basis must take priority with me.

I took the drastic step of applying for FOOD STAMPS this week, and spent 4 hours waiting to be seen. If all goes well I'll have that to rely on by this time next month.

Also, I've finished a fascinating book I've been reading and will post a review in the next few days, and I plan on commenting on more of the websites in my LINKS in coming days as well.

One final note:

GO ANGELS!

The last game against the YANKEES was amazing, and while I picked the ANGELS to win the WORLD SERIES in 6, I didn't expect what's happened the last 2 games!

Another prediction: FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ is 5-0 in relief in the playoffs (1-0 in the series ) for the ANGELS, and based on that, and the possibility of him continuing to do well, and even getting ANOTHER win or 2, I won't be suprised if he gets the SERIES MVP.

A GIFT

A follow-up to last weeks ( scroll down to see OCT. 9TH ) discussion by my Uncle Paul Jennings Wells, Sr.

Who would have thought that Pearl Harbor and the Twin Towers, combined, could be any form of gift to us but, you know, I think they have given us a gift. A new bond ties together the living generations of Americans.

The shock wave that struck the World War 2 generation that sunday morning in 1941 has finally carried across the years to reach its children, and grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 brought a lot home to us all.

Not least of those things was a gift. The kind you find you are thankful for after a harrowing moment has passed.

Sept 11 caused many Americans to start to grasp what drove that generation to greatness. This year there is a viceral understanding.This can be felt, as a racing of the pulse, a blow to the stomach.

It can be appreciated, that moment of denial, when a surreal horror comes to life before your eyes; it can be felt in the slow burn when you pick yourself up and as reality dawns and you start to get mad.

Our World War 2 generation lived an epic that began in 1941. Until now most of the rest of Americans could only imagine the moment. Since Sept 11, the bombing of the USS Cole, and other evils that have happened causes us to know a little better.

In a way this discovery has been like finding a live coal burning in the ashes of a fire that was banked 60 years ago-- still hot enough, if it's tended, to make a raging fire again. 60 years down the road we may be able to put the legacy in perspective.

When we look back and see the events unfold as they did then we must see the corelation with what is happening today.

I really can not find any difference between Saddam and Hitler.

We had to stop Hitler and Japan then, and we must stop Saddam at any cost now.

This last terrorist attack, in Bali, only serves to show us what needs to be done.

Whatever Saddam has he will use against us. He did it to his own people, and he surely will use them against us. H must be stopped.

Our greatest mistake was helping Saddam when he needed us.

You know,even God,when he saw how evil this world that he created turned out to be, destroyed his creation. I feel very strongly that we can not allow this madman to do what he wants.

War appears to be the only thing he understands.

So be it.

One Bloggers View of Florida Debate

AN ORDINARY REPUBLICAN'S EYEVIEW OF THE RADIO DEBATE FOR GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA

Intelligent, and Humorous, Robert Elliott Should Have Been Cornered For An Interview Too!

I first noticed RoblogPolitics a few months ago, and somehow forgot to add it to my list of links until now.

I like the BLOGGERVERSE for the simple reason that I have access to the thoughts and activities of folks from all political persuasions, and whether I agree with everything they say, or not, MOST are well worth keeping up with.

Mr. Elliott & friend were in the audience to witness JEB BUSH debate a challenger for his office, and the resulting report is informative and extremely amusing.

Of Bus Rides and Bullets

Ride Home From Work Takes Weird and Frightening Turn

There I was minding my own business reading the paper in the back of the bus on the ride home tonite when BANG! something hit the window 3 seats in front of me on my side.

We all thought it was a rock at first, but once we stopped the bus and looked closer we saw an obvious bullet hole with rings and cracks in the plexiglas radiating outward from it.

It was either a BB or small caliber bullet because it didn't penetrate the thick plexiglas.

It being dark, no-one saw a thing.

I am pissed to say the least, so if you will pardon me a moment I wish to vent in the general direction of the City of Azusa, California, and a certain Moron out to get his or her jollies off tonite:

YER MAMA!!! MY CATS CAN WHIP YER ASS WITH 2 PAWS TIED BEHIND THEIR BACKS!!! ( Sneak bravely waves his middle finger from the relative safety of his front porch ).

There. I feel soooo much better after that, and am ready to go to bed.

I have to get up early to take the same route back to work. :-)