Cactus Pryor, humorist and long-time Austin radio and television personality.
Archive for August, 2011
Obit watch: August 30, 2011.
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011TMQ watch: August 30, 2011.
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011We are still a little worn out from the weekend, and can’t come up with anything clever to say. So let’s just jump right into this week’s TMQ after the jump…
Interlude.
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011The TMQ Watch for this week will probably be up early this evening.
In the meantime, we bring you something we picked up from the Onion A/V Club. No, it isn’t curable with penicillin.
Wire Inspire. Motivational posters based on “The Wire”.
Since we found this over the weekend, we find ourselves asking this question:
Civic corruption update.
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011A while back, I read Ian Flemming’s book Thrilling Cities
First up: the state Senate has rejected a bill that would have disincorporated the notoriously corrupt city of Vernon. This isn’t the end of the line: the city has agreed to some reforms, and is currently under investigation by the IRS. But it is a major setback for those of us who were hoping for a good disincorporation.
Meanwhile, back in Bell, former fiefdom of Robert “Ratso” Rizzo, it seems that the city issued $50 million in bonds a few years back. (I can’t tell if it was 2003 or 2004 from the LAT article.) The bonds were intended to pay for
Anyone want to take a guess on what’s happened?
Here’s the punchline: even though nothing was built, the money’s gone, and the city’s broke, the new city government still has to go through with the tax increases that were put into place to pay off the bonds.
Of course, the tax increase money is going to the bond holders, not into the general city government fund. And the city residents are upset that their taxes are being increased. But what’s the alternative, guys? Defaulting on the bonds, even if they were issued by a bunch of crooks, is just going to hurt you in the long run. Bell’s best bet at this point seems to be to return the unspent funds (about $20 million, per the LAT), and try to squeeze whatever they can out of Robert “Ratso” Rizzo and his cronies.
I have an odd sense of humor.
Monday, August 29th, 2011Sorry for the radio silence the past few days. Two reasons:
- There just hasn’t been that much to report. I understand there was an earthquake somewhere, and a hurricane in some other place? Other than that, I got nothing (well, except it hit 110 in Austin over the weekend).
- I’ve been running around Armadillocon 33 all weekend.
Content will, perhaps, resume soonish. In the meantime, here’s a picture I took Sunday morning, just because I happened to have the book with me at breakfast (I was expecting to be eating alone) and the juxtaposition amused me.
The book is Murder Behind the Badge: True Stories of Cops Who Kill
Barbecue update.
Wednesday, August 24th, 2011Per the Statesman, Sam’s BBQ in East Austin has reopened. You may (or may not) recall that Sam’s was one of the three places involved in the meat sting back in July.
The owner is quoted as saying he was able to get his health permit back because “the kind of meat involved in the sting isn’t what’s sold on his menu”. To which we say: ?!
TMQ watch: August 23, 2011.
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011This week: TMQ’s AFC preview, and this is the last time we’ll ever have to read about “Friday Night Lights”. After the jump…
For the record…
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011I have given up on the Cubs winning the World Series and paid Lawrence his $5.
However, I feel like I’ve gotten more than $5 out of entertainment out of our bet, so overall, I’m a winner.
More SDC updates.
Monday, August 22nd, 2011Added February and March 2011, did some small updates to May 2011.
Proud. Happy.
Monday, August 22nd, 2011So that this isn’t a total waste, I’ll throw in a bonus link by way of Borepatch: The Children’s Illustrated Clausewitz.
You know something?
Sunday, August 21st, 2011I didn’t have to use my AK. All in all, I’d have to say, it was a good day weekend.
I got up bright and early (by Saturday standards) and staggered down to the Saxet Gun Show, where I met up with the legendary Borepatch and some other folks. (I am leaving their names out because I want to protect their privacy. Yeah, yeah, that’s the ticket. It has nothing to do with me being a bad and evil person and forgetting their names. It is all about privacy protection. Just ask my wife, Morgan Fairchild.)
I don’t have much to add to Borepatch’s report. I only found one gun I really liked at the show (a Savage model 24, .22 LR over 20 gauge) and the owner was asking just $250, but I didn’t have that much cash on me, didn’t want to leave and find a bank, and…well, if it is there next month, maybe. This would be a good survival gun for the car.
Also, Borepatch is right about the number of approving comments that Sean Sorrentino’s Gunwalker t-shirt received. Borepatch and I discussed the idea of trying to sell them at gun shows, which is a very tempting idea indeed.
(While I was there, I met another gentleman who recognized me from my statement in Borepatch’s comments that I’d be wearing that shirt. It turns out he’s a regular reader of Borepatch’s blog, my blog, and the Saturday Dining Conspiracy pages. Personally, I thought reading both my blog and the SDC pages was an approved method of “enhanced interrogation” for prisoners at Gitmo, but hey, whatever gets you through the night. I was going to introduce him around, but I was on my way to see a man about a racehorse at the time, and when I came back, he was gone. Feel free to leave a comment, Mr. I’m Not Identifying You Here For “Privacy” Reasons.)
(I also saw one of the H&K .22 rimfire MP5 clones. It was going for around $600, as I predicted.)
After the gun show, I went down and paid off my layway at Tex-Guns, official purveyors of fine weapons to WCD. I now have a very nice Marlin 336 lever gun in .30-30: once I get some logistics worked out, and September 1st rolls around, this is going to sit in my car as my equivalent of a “patrol rifle”.
And then I went and had dinner with my mother and some friends at the Vivo on 620 at Lake Creek Parkway. The current chef, Paul Petersen, ran a place called the Little Texas Bistro in Buda; we ate there once, and it was one of the best meals I’ve ever had. Then he moved out to Marathon and worked at the Gage Hotel there for a while. Now he’s working at that Vivo, and hasn’t lost his touch. I had the”surf and turf”: one crabmeat enchilada and one brisket enchilada. It was one of the best meals I’ve had this year, and very reasonably priced.
(I did have some problems with Vivo, but none of them were with the cooking. They all stem from the current management’s decision to encourage an active singles/pick-up scene at Vivo. We were in a semi-private room, and towards the end of the meal, the music was loud enough that some of our party had to leave. Also, I’m not a prude, but when you’re taking your mother someplace, and there’s paintings of topless women everywhere, and a photo collage on the wall of the semi-private room featuring butts and other body parts, that’s a bit disconcerting.)
Today, of course, was the long threatened trip to the Snake Farm. I’m happy to say that everyone who went also came back, they all enjoyed themselves (from what I hear), and everyone who wanted one got a t-shirt. Or, as we like to say around here…
And much progress has been made on getting the Saturday Dining Conspiracy logs up to date. Which is comforting.
And Lawrence has put up some good photos from Worldcon, including a few of friends of mine I haven’t seen in a long time.
So, yeah, it has been a good weekend. How was yours?
(For those of you who don’t understand the “didn’t have to use my AK” reference, which is probably 99+% of my audience because you’re not fans, I suggest you go to your refrigerator and look at some Ice Cubes. (Warning! Adult subject matter!) Actually, I’m not a huge fan, either, but “It Was a Good Day” tickles my funny bone for some odd reason.)
Linky love.
Sunday, August 21st, 2011The Gun Blog Black List, an idea covered in awesome sauce and served with a side of fried awesome.