Here's something I just came across on Yahoo news.  In the world of political advertising the lines between promotion, position, advocacy and just plain tawdry are getting ever more blurred.

 Yesterday's Super Bowl game saw some interesting ads.  One of the most popular was an ad by C… Read full post »

We’re all getting older but sometimes you think to yourself, Wow, I can’t be getting THAT old!  That’s what I thought this morning when two different short news stories caught my attention.

One was about actor Robert Heyges.  He played Juan Epste… Read full post »

 It’s taken me 2 months but that bird is finally gone.  Well not completely.  We’re having the last of the turkey noodle soup tonight with home made French bread and I’ve got a bunch of turkey stock that will last me several months.

But that damned… Read full post »

Bloomberg News just reported on an interview today with Warren Buffett.  He echoed his earlier sentiments about how the rich should be paying a higher rate of tax. 

While some may take it as a swipe at Mitt Romney, Buffett put himself in the same category.  Buffett said that the/… Read full post »

Once upon a time, in the later 1980’s, I lived and worked in the small city of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.  This town of 9,000 was the county seat of Door County which was, and still is, one of the largest destination tourism areas in the Midwest.  I ran the County’s Chamber/… Read full post »

Play this while you read—it’s one of my all time favorites:

Yes indeed, it’s all about the numbers.  Even as there are news reports today that there were fewer unemployment claims filed last week than any other week in several years.  But that doesn&rs/… Read full post »

My wife and I really enjoy TNT’s “Southland” (formerly on NBC which was stupid enough to cancel this well-written, well-cast, well-directed and well filmed show).

So, we we’ve been anticipating it’s “season premiere” which has been promoted on Facebook… Read full post »

About a month ago I did a post on my recent experience serving—albeit briefly—on a redevelopment committee for the City of Vista, CA where I live.  It was, to say the least, an interesting, although brief, experience.  If you recall, a month after I was appointed, the Cit/… Read full post »

Here we are, January 3, 2012.  It’s Iowa Caucus night.  It’s the night Republican contenders/wannabes/candidates have been anticipating for months now.  Regrettably the preening and posturing is just getting into high gear.

Most Americans, I think, wonder why the proc… Read full post »

I just got this video from a old friend of mine named Jon Lange.  Jon now runs the Y in Missoula, Montana in case any of you are from around there (then you could look him up because he's one of the all-time good guys).

Anyway he posted this video on… Read full post »

You can have your “Idol”.  You can have your “X-Factor”.  I’m a huge fan of NBC’s “The Sing Off”.  It’s the only performance show on TV that features vocal music in it’s pure form without histrionics and divas.

The 3^rd s/… Read full post »

 Just for fun today and to nudge you a little further into the spirit of Christmas.  If you don’t get a laugh out of this then there’s no hope. 

I’m salivating just thinking about the food in this post.  Last year I managed to photograph most of the dishes I made for Thanksgiving.  And quite frankly, I’m doing the same menu this year.

Start to finish it takes me about 7 hours.  I’ll start Wednesday night/… Read full post »

Many is the time when my wife and I have gotten to talking about our fathers and how interesting it would have been for the two of them to have met.  One was Hispanic from Kansas and the other was a farm boy from the hills of Kentucky.  Both of them/… Read full post »

Cheap Bastid has done enough Cheap Bastidly cooking and writing by now to be entitled to express an opinion or two. So that’s what I’m going to do today.

I’m going to take a swipe at ABC’s new food show “The Chew”, a cutsey play on “The View”, and take… Read full post »

A while back I wrote about one of my “big scores” at Costco—a year’s supply of Irish Spring. Now, I was going to say “dirt cheap” but that’s just too cheesy a pun to put into the context of shower soap, so I won’t say it.

Anyway, it’s been great… Read full post »

Just thought I'd pass on fun Halloween wishes.  I've got to work tonight so I'll miss all the goblins and ghosts and witches that come ringing our doorbell.  It's one of our favorite nights of the year seeing all the little ones anxiously expecting treats. 

 Here's the jack o' la… Read full post »

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has announced that it will file a suit in San Diego today claiming that orcas at Sea World in San Diego and Florida have been “enslaved for years and should be freed under the Constitution’s 13^th amendment” according to an article in the S/… Read full post »

Look, I don't read great literature.  I prefer to read books that entertain, and occasionally enlighten, in a mindless way that lets me escape.  I'd rather read a light novel than watch TV 95% of the time.

So when a blogger on OS recently did a post about favorite opening lines… Read full post »

“So why,” you might ask, “have you come up with such a derogatory term?”

“It’s simple”, would be my response.  “I just came across the most assholey piece of political crap that I’ve ever seen and I’m sick and tired of it… Read full post »

Remember the old saying “Think global; act local”?  I’ve always been a believer in that.  Take a look at what the world needs and then do something in your little corner of the world to make it happen.  Touch the lives of people who are your neighbors.  If we cou/… Read full post »

I love Coney Dogs—a hot dog swimming in an ooze of chili.  And I love Chicago Dogs—a concoction that’s a salad on a dog complete with iridescent green relish.  But now, I lust after Sonoran Dogs.

 What makes them so different from other “Dogs”?  One w… Read full post »

OK, so maybe this isn’t the most grave and compelling thing happening in the world right now.  But it gripes my butt. 

What the hell has happened with our ability to spell?  Have we gotten that lazy that we 1) don’t KNOW how to spell or 2)don’t bother to… Read full post »

(note: this is a repost for the Freshman Orientation Open Call originally written May 4, 1970, the 40th Anniversary of Kent State) 

May 4, 1970.  A spring day for a Freshman in college at the University of North Dakota.  I was 18 and enjoying being in college.  Then...the rep… Read full post »

Today, let’s talk a bit about bacon. 

Let’s talk about how damned expensive it’s gotten.  In the last year or so, it’s doubled.  Now I find this kind of interesting because other pork prices haven’t doubled.  Is that/… Read full post »