Author: Dick

If one clings long enough to some distinctive feature of their being and has the fortune, or misfortune, to live long enough then that person is likely to be found in the middle of the latest fad or trend. I bring that up noting some indications that the mustache is making a comeback.

As one who has had a mustache for probably 85-90 percent of his adult life, I must say that I never really knew that the mustache went away. But there particularly seems to be anticipation that mustaches will be the next big thing in our nation’s capital. Most of the Bushies were ‘stachless excepting John Bolton, who is just plain weird.

One wonders that if a true mustache fad comes about what will the ‘stache du jour look like? Will it be the hairy anarchy of Yosemite Sam? Or perhaps the cheesy porn-star look of Mark Spitz in his Olympic swimming champion days? And the biggest question of all: will this be a true egalitarian-type fad in which women with — what has long been plain pesky — upper lip hair finally crash through one of the true glass ceilings?

Oh my.

There is no telling, as my Daddy used to say. And there sure the hell isn’t.

 

My area of Southeast Texas was thrown into TV Chaos Land upon the stroke of midnight during which 2009 was ushered in like wiseguy at a Mob wedding.

It all started some while back when the longtime NBC affiliate KBTV-4 decided to become the local Fox affiliate. That touched off a big switch in which the ABC affiliate, KBMT-12 decided it wanted to both be the ABC affiliate and the NBC affiliate. If you can picture a mega car dealer: Abe Lincoln Mercury Mazda Kia BMW Toyota. Yeah, it’s like that.

Negotiations between area cable provider Time Warner (as in Time Warner Stinks Inc.) and KBMT went down to the wire as the carriage agreement between the so-called cable company and what was Channel 12 was set to expire at midnight.

But lo and behold, KBMT announced a last-minute agreement was made between the two parties. It somewhat makes sense, that is, if you have a program to follow it all:

***KBMT-NBC will be seen on Time Warner Cable Channel 14.

***KBMT Channel 12 will continue to be free over the air.

***SD SIGNAL: ABC ONLY: Channel 12

***HD SIGNAL: With antenna and converter box: ABC-12.1; NBC-12.2

***Direct TV: ABC-12: NBC-50

***Dish Network: ABC-12: NBC-To be determined

And don’t forget, of course, that KBTV-4 will be Fox 4 and that the current Fox affiliate in nearby Lake Charles, La., will is now “the U” (whatever that means) and will be showing reruns on cable channel 13, I suppose.

The problem with all this switching — except for all the obvious head-spinning confusion — is that I don’t think any of the TV stations with maybe the exception of the Fox switch. I also predict local news coverage will not be any better. Thank goodness I have a good book.

It’s almost 2009 in the East. It’s actually 2009 in the U.S. eastern time zone, come to mention it. I’m watching Anderson Cooper & Kathy Griffin on CNN with the volume turned down while listening to Queen + Paul Rodgers. Okay, they are a kick-ass combination (Queen + Paul Rodgers), Anderson & Kathy are pretty funny. Happy new year.

Oh, and the black eyed peas are pretty righteous as well. I think I will have another little taste along with a glass of California sparkling wine at the midnight hour in Texas to usher in good luck for ought-9. ‘appy new year.

Another one bites the dust.

Another one bites the dust.

And another one gone, and another one gone

Another one bites the dust

Hey, I’m gonna get you too

Another one bites the dust

It took the better part of 30 years for me to truly appreciate the rock band Queen. I must say though, I thought it a rather odd match up when former Free and Bad Company front man Paul Rodgers recently joined up to become Queen’s singer. The only reason I say that is that I never pictured Rodgers singing Freddie Mercury parts such as those in “Bohemian Rhapsody” or “Fat Bottomed Girls.” The fact that “We Will Rock You”/”We Are the Champions” has endured to the point of it being as prevalent during sporting events as “The Star-Spangled Banner” attests to Queen’s place in musical history.

But I didn’t intend to write a thesis on rock culture or Queen. I only used the band’s “Another One Bites the Dust” lyrics combined with the Father Time photo to introduce the subject of another year coming to an end. That year is 2008. Spoken it is “Two thousand eight” or “Two thousand and eight” or “Twenty O eight.” It seems like I heard Fox News do it the latter way and if indeed that is where I heard it, I hate to say it (because I don’t HEART Fox News), but the “Twenty O” is what I really prefer. The reason is continuity.

During the last century we spoke of “Nineteen ninety-nine” While our grandparents (mine at least) spoke of “Nineteen O nine” or even “Eighteen ninety-nine.” Nonetheless, we are we now burning through the years of the 21st century so I think we need to come to a consensus. All in favor say “Aye.”

Another year gone. An interesting year it was. The first black man was elected president. The economy is as screwed up as a football bat. Locally, here in Southeast Texas, we got bitch-slapped by Hurricane Ike right after a rainy tropical storm Edouard and the town practically emptied for Hurricane Gustav which missed us at least.

Personally, I had a relationship with a psycho that fortunately ended before any serious damage was done. I didn’t do nearly as much writing for dollars as I should have but vow to next year. And at this moment, the black eyed peas are cooking. This year the peas will be a Cajun style BEP with tasso used for seasoning as I was not going to pay $4 for ham hocks at the local Market Basket down the street.

Everyone judges for themselves how their year went and in which directions. Although I had some banking problems this morning caused by an unexpected hotel reservation using my credit card that I didn’t authorize, and this bank clerk really pissed me off and I made a scene to let her know that, I guess everything is okay for the moment at least.

I hope my friends and relatives who read this or even those I don’t know who read this will have a grand Twenty O nine or Two thousand nine, if they prefer. I think I am going to see if I can find some Queen + Paul Rodgers somewhere on this computer to listen to after I check the BEPs.