Notes From Northern California
D.M. Schwartz
- Location
- Fair Oaks, California, USA
- Birthday
- September 10
- Bio
- Architect, engineer, writer, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
To find my stories on the Web, search the Kindle Store or Google: "D.M. Schwartz."
MY RECENT POSTS
- Could Friday save the music
business?
May 06, 2011 04:25PM - I’m too sexy for my razor
March 08, 2011 10:58PM - My Friends, the Gun Nuts
January 10, 2011 01:00PM - True Grit Kicks Ass
January 05, 2011 01:27PM - Blue Balls for Christmas
December 23, 2010 06:11PM
MY RECENT COMMENTS
- “Thanks, Patricia. I
don't like the way a 3-day
beard
itches.”
March 09, 2011 01:05PM - “@ mary. Yes, the odds of
using a gun successfully to
defend
your home are far
le…”
January 10, 2011 10:25PM - “@ Elijah. Enough of
what? Guns? Drugs? Crazy
people?
Cheers,
David”
January 10, 2011 02:57PM - “@ Rwoo5g. I agree. Both
our drug laws and our gun laws
need
serious revisions.
I…”
January 10, 2011 01:53PM - “@ Robin. You won't be
disappointed.
@
scanner. Yeah, right up there
with Unforgive…”
January 05, 2011 02:38PM
D.M. Schwartz's Links
Could Friday save the music business?
(C) 2011 YouTube
By now, you’re probably one of the 130 million people who have watched Rebecca Black’s YouTube hit, “Friday.” Wherever you are on the critical spectrum, from “I can’t believe she had the nerve to post this” to “What a w
… Read full post »I’m too sexy for my razor
Image No-© 2011, D.M. Schwartz
I must have missed the memo; the one that said men only have to shave their faces every three days. But then, had I got the message I wouldn’t have been able to read it. As far as I can tell, Palestine is where
… Read full post »My Friends, the Gun Nuts
9mm Glock image © 2010 Slate.com
No matter how hard I tried and after hundreds of shells, I never hit a single skeet. My old high school friend and National Rifle Association instructor, Dave Litman didn’t give up on me. He figured maybe the shotgun recoil was affecting… Read full post »True Grit Kicks Ass
Image © 2010 Paramount USA Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross in True Grit
See this movie. OK, I’ll be specific. True Grit is a really great film, not just a great Western. If you’re expecting a typically quirky, ironic Coen Brothers piece of work, this ain’t it.… Read full post »Blue Balls for Christmas
Image copyright-free by D.M. Schwartz
I’ve always loved the bright metallic blue decorative balls on our Christmas tree. Never mind that I’m Jewish and my wife’s an ex-Catholic; our family enjoys celebrating the birthday of the world’s most popular Jew. And blue seem… Read full post »The Undead and the Unborn
© un-copyright 2010 D.M. Schwartz
I’ve noticed that a lot of people are obsessed with aborted fetuses and walking corpses. It’s difficult to make sense of these phenomena, but I think they’re related. My teenage sons like to shoot zombies with shotguns. The digi
… Read full post »
Photo copyright 2009, Chicago Tribune
You might have noticed a movie currently in theaters about a runaway train that can’t be stopped. Of course, being a Hollywood movie, there’s a happy ending to that story. I wish I could say the same about Sarah Palin’s unstoppab… Read full post »
Al-Qaeda Deluxe
The Brook Penthouse at The Claridge, London
"Suzanne!" Trevor the sous chef's yell barely overcame the racket of The Claridge's kitchen. “You bloody cow. Pick up the fucking phone." Suzanne dropped her knife on the wood board crowded with carrots and reached for the phone.… Read full post »
Where oh where is our “Magical Negro?”
Magical Negro montage © 2010 D.M. Schwartz
We know them well, our African-American movie heroes: Sidney Poitier, Morgan Freeman, Samuel Jackson, Will Smith, and many more. As Spike Lee said, they are our Magical Negroes, always ready to solve the white man’s problem of the day. N
… Read full post »Lipstick & Dipstick
(C)2010 The Village Voice
Some of you may know that the popular blog, Lipstick & Dipstick, by Gina Daggett and Kathy Belge is about cultural and personal issues as they pertain to gays and lesbians. I guess that means I owe an apology to those ladies for… Read full post »
Iran unveils flying boat piloted targets
Bavar 2 Deployed (C) 2010 CNN
Iran unveiled three squadrons of new flying boats on Tuesday, Iranian news agencies reported. The craft, dubbed the Bavar 2, is armed with a machine gun and carries surveillance cameras, according to a report from the Iranian Student News Agency.
"I… Read full post »
Execute Murderers?
Bodmin Gallows, England, 17th Century
A particularly awful home invasion and triple murder case is currently being tried in Connecticut. Allegedly, two men broke into the Petit’s home, knocked the husband unconscious with a baseball bat, tied him and his two daughters aged
… Read full post »Quit Your Damn Moping About Obama
Old Route 6 Median © 2010 scvresources
I’ve met a number of Liberals who will vote Democratic in the mid-term elections, but without any enthusiasm. The underlying sentiment seems to be, Obama disappointed us and deserves to be punished. That’s too bad. Republican victories… Read full post »
Is ‘Muslim’ the new ‘Gay’?
(C) 2010 Schwartz
My wife, Mary and I were discussing the recent Pew poll that revealed how many Americans think President Obama is a Muslim. Many, apparently. Mary said, “You know, what that poll really says is, people are using the word ‘Muslim’ like kids use… Read full post »
Why Iran Will Never Nuke Israel
Iran President Ahmadinejad (C) copyright 2010 Time
Lately, there’s been another round of blather about how Israel will preemptively attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, as they did Iraq’s and Syria’s. Supposedly, this is because a combination of Iran’s verbal th
… Read full post »Burquette Solves the Burka Problem
Copyright 2009 by ???
I am so tired of waiting for the French to figure out the Muslim veil thing that I’m offering the solution, free. You’d think a country renowned for fashion would have developed an acceptable frenchified Burka about five years ago. All the yelling
… Read full post »Israel's Rightists Screw the Pooch
Benjamin Netanyahu (C) 2009 Israeli Knesset
I have to say this every time I write about the Middle East: I'm a Zionist. I believe Israel is the homeland of the Jews. That doesn't mean I'm an apologist for the Israeli government; these days, more like a friendly… Read full post »
BP Attempts to Plug Well With Bankers
Release date: 28 May 2010
BP today provided an update on developments in the response to the MC252 oil well incident in the Gulf of Mexico.
Subsea efforts continue to focus on progressing options to stop the flow of oil from the well through interventions via the blow
… Read full post »Drawing of the Prophet Mohammed
Muhammad ibn Abd Allah
The above is an image of the original purchased in Qum, 1999, by Ingvild Flaskerud.
The text below the image is the shahada or profession of faith: "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is His messenger." The medallions in the upper corners contain the
… Read full post »West Bank Battle of the Wombs
I’m a Zionist and a supporter of the two or two-and-a-half state solution for Israel and Palestine (the half state being Gaza if Fatah and Hamas don’t bury the hatchet). Lately, I’ve become increasingly appalled by the actions of the current Israeli government. Every time I
… Read full post »Has Kagan Failed Herself?
Elena Kagan (C) 2009 Guardian UK
People who say Kagan's sexual orientation is not relevant to the vetting process for SCOTUS justice would be right, if she herself were honest about it. Refusing for decades to say or demonstrate anything on this topic does not indicate honesty. Rather,
… Read full post »Movie Review: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
© 2009 Stieg Larsson
This is a great movie—could be the best foreign film of 2010 and much better than most of what Hollywood cranks out. Interestingly, many Hollywood mainstream elements are present: death, grisly violence, a car chase, crash, plenty of explicit sex, Nazi… Read full post »
Israel at 62 -- the 2 ½-state solution
As an American Zionist, I’m used to defending Israel. Lately, that’s been getting more difficult to do because of the Palestinian problem. Instead of seeing the thriving, positive aspects of Israel, for too many people around the world the images of Israel are checkpoints, walls,
… Read full post »iPad, SchmyPad. What I really need is…
(C)2010 Apple
I’ve been reading the reviews and user comments about Apple’s iPad and I’m almost intrigued enough to buy one just so I can sort the gear out for myself. I said, almost. Five hundred bucks to satisfy my curiosity is a bit too steep, especially with… Read full post »
Rielle Was The Honey, But Who Set The Trap?
Sometimes I get bit by the conspiracy bug and my mind wanders into strange territory. Today, it occurred to me that Rielle Hunter’s meet-up with John Edwards was not entirely coincidence or an accident. Consider two names in their sordid (or romantic, if you prefer) history: Richard &l… Read full post »
Mark Budman
Kathy Riordan
Graham Sale
the stand-in
emma peel
JRDOG
Salon.com