Death of Pork Barrel

God be with Sen. Byrd's family as they morn the loss of my favorite career politician.
OK, the rest of this post may sound like I'm dancing on his grave. I am not, but i am going to vent on his style of politics.....namely (and solely) to get reelected.
This guy was the poster child for why we need single term limits for ALL elected officials. That will never happen, but here is a great video tribute to the king of legislative earmarks:

BP Spills Coffee

Forbidden Doughnut....

A Seattle Seahawk's player was given a warning for entering "Top Pot" doughnuts @ 3 AM in the morning and taking some doughnuts. The Seahawk's player lives in the same building as the doughnut shop and just wandered in. At 3 AM he was probably coming home from a bar and had the munchies. Not really news except for the blurb:

"Top Pot recently signed an agreement with the Seahawks' stadium, Qwest Field, to sell doughnuts and coffee during NFL and Major League Soccer games."

This stinks of a marketing campaign not a crime blotter report.

Similar Names....Similar Fortunes???

This oil spill in the Gulf happened on the "Deepwater Horizon", does anyone remember the movie "Event Horizon". I don't think this will end well. Man that was a freaky movie, just thinking about it puts goose bumps on my skin.

Home Repair Caption Contest

The Godfather never claimed to be an appliance repair expert and here's photographic proof (from recent refrigerator in-line filter replacement). Sometimes home repair projects require creative installation options and maybe you can help us pick a caption for the photos below.......

• Yet another creative use for Duct Tape.
• Good thing the Godfather has a day job.
• Consigliere: "I was just kidding about my Duct Tape suggestion"
• No, alcohol was not a contributing factor to this solution.
• Consiglere: "I need new relatives :-)"

Please comment with your favorite and/or add your own captions.

My Mug on ESPN.com

Picture taken at a community volunteer event for Denver - UF alumni group a couple weeks ago.
(I am seated on ground in orange shirt on left side)
A good read on ESPN Page2 about Tebow and local Gators:
Tim Tebow's arrival excites Gator

The Media and Insert Current Administration Here

Since when is the current presidential administration responsible for all natural or manmade disasters and the aftermath?
Repeat after me......
George Bush was not responsible for 911.
George Bush was not responsible our current depression and the banking/mortgage collapse.
George Bush was not responsible for Katrina.
And yes, Obama is not responsible for the BP mess in LA.
Just because all of those events occurred durring their administrations does not make them complicit or the villain of the crisis/response.
The media's (and insert opposition party here) coverage of these horrific tragedies has become an unwatchable bunch zoo animals flinging feces at the fence (with public standing behind it - noses pressed).

Financial Reforms....

A commenter from another blog had these words of wisdom if Congress can pass a real financial reforms package, the one being debated right now from what I've read will not change anything that caused the present problems:

"Wall Street will whine uncontrollably about not having the ability to sell flaming bags of shit to gullible ‘investors’ "

That's funny. Try the game.(sorry about the commerical first)

Its not the heat, its the stupidity....

As a former Floridian I can understand how the heat and humidity can really get to you, but after reading this story I think the residents of Florida are starting to go nuts. I mean who in their right mind would chase after a Wendy's employee with a stun gun while your friend cheers you on just because they got your order wrong. This I think could only happen when the heat and humidity have steamed the brain to perfect al dente consistency.

60 Mins - Deepwater Horizon Blowout Causes

These two 60 Mins videos are very enlightening and shed much light on the cause of the BP disaster. This tragedy will be the focus of project management and critical decision making (Sway) case studies for years to come......

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Place your bets....

Its been said many times that the current Wall Street environment looks suspiciously like a casino. It turns out that at least one Wall Street firm, and my guess is several others probably due too, requires applicants to play a few hands of poker during their interview and if an applicant has no interest in poker its a red flag. These same people have most of our retirement savings. Now I gamble a couple times a year in Vegas or at local Indian Casinos where I vacation and in Central City/Blackhawk here in Colorado. I only gamble with what I can afford to lose. These days the Wall Street players are gambling with our money and its not money we can afford to lose. I don't know if investing in the stock market was ever safe to begin with as all things have risks, but it now seems to be downright hazardous to your retirement health. Somethings gone wrong with this system and its the American public who will pay the price, if they haven't already. The solution? I don't really have an answer, because as long as greed is rewarded and looked upon with favor there will always be someone willing to push it to the next level or circumvent new regulations.

New Backyard Art

Checkout slide show of art installed in backyard this weekend.
Some items for Door Co, some from Luann and one from Sam's.
(click on any image in this blog post for full screen slide show.)

Homeless Appreciation Day

The consigliore on Saturday "volunteered" to do some community service, I told him if its court ordered it can't be considered "volunteer" work, just kidding. He participated with his local college alumni association in the clean up of a park near Cherry Creek. I hope the local inhabitants, i.e. the homeless who live along Cherry Creek, appreciate his hard work.

He must not be doing too bad.

This is ridiculous. A small business owner supposedly had to shut his business down because of the bad economic times, but he has $5,500 to waste on a billboard? Something's not right here if you ask me.


From the article:
"Baker told the Buffalo News that the banks had refused to work with him and his brother Scott, according to the Washington Examiner. The men rented the billboard space for $5,500 a month ago, before they knew that the president would be visiting their town."

Glass Plug anyone.....

Here's a radical idea to solve the oil spill in the Gulf, don't laugh, I think we have to look at all the ideas. If this could create a giant glass plug underneath the seabed and cap the well I think we should look at it. Only knowledgeable nuclear scientists could tell us the potential problems but we've detonated nukes under the seas and underground before so there should be some data as to the effects and possible radiation concerns.

Blog Domain Change

No big deal here, but this blog now has a direct domain URL: http://www.brothersbasement.com/ or http://brothersbasement.com/
I previously set up a redirect to the blogspot.com URL (from the above links), but that is no longer necessary.
This change should be almost transparent to you, the faithful reader.
Additionally, the old blogspot.com URL will be redirected to the direct domain.
Happy blog reading!

Happy Mothers Day!!!

Maine?!?!?

Heard at Oxford Place earlier this week: "The news says the oil slick has already reached Maine!"
Me: Well, I'm no marine engineer (although I did stay at Holiday Inn Express), but I don't think that is possible. And I don't even claim to be a marine biologist like George from Seinfeld. To my knowledge, the slick has not even reached the Louisiana coast yet (and that is less than one hundred miles from the source). I am however, familiar with the Gulf Stream and think it flows between 5-10 mph. Most folks believe I drive that fast. Speaking of....I don't think I could drive a big ball of crude oil (another Seinfeld ref) from Gulf Coast to Maine (and smash it on the beach) in the time frame that you referenced. So, unless I know geography (aka maps) like the infamous Miss South Carolina contestant, I have to disagree with your assertion.
Cool blog entry on how to track actual slick with Google Earth.

Will blog for food.....

I would like to announce that this blog has received no freebies for positive reviews for any products whatsoever, however, we are open to the idea.

The Death of Cabbage

Today, I morn the loss of a good friend and fellow roommate.
After three (or four) good weeks with us and keeping me company in the kitchen, our good friend Wilson the Cabbage (Castaway Movie ref) bought the farm (get it? :-).....yes the great compost bin in the sky.
I am considering a proper burial (maybe near the Spritz memorial), but will have to be respectful of surviving roommate opinions. I am sure they are also sad (I think the Godfather may have claimed Wilson on the 2010 census form).
Cremation and scattering ashes over The Godfathers alpine tree collection is also a good option.
We all grieve in different ways. I chose to eat a garden salad in his honor.
I will miss him. Wilson had less personality (and a few less brain cells) than other roommate, Oreo, but I still appreciated (and will always remember) his friendship.