End of That Lousy Old Year...Beginning of a New Year....

...and I have little to say about the details of all of this shit.


For years now, the thing that has disturbed me the most during this nightmare was less that the Bush people were/are bad, and more that such a huge portion of the population was game to embrace every lie and every concept dripping with racism or an idea that we might have to ch-ch-ch-change in order to fit into the new world order that we made ourselves. Call it lazy or the behavior of terrafied, uneducated masses, but the truth is that there is something in all of this that strikes a chord that, as a country that considers ourselves dominant in the world, our town and on our block, we like.

Its not that I have any unrealistic expectations for the possibilities forthcoming...but the way that the human, or at least American, condition was originally presented to me, as some form of striving to be better and form a more perfect union, either religiously or politically or just ethically, doesn't seem to have at any point made even a dent in the gusto with which Americans have exhibited their bold stupidity and actual enjoyment in the macho of so much of what has gone on. This leaves so many of us, (perhaps the other half, before the avalanche of post personal monetary loss realization, aka gas prices went up,) in a state of worry and apathy about the whole thing. Because what follows is more stupidity about how a new administration will fix this all up so that our lives will not be interrupted by any of those bothersome special reports or anything.... like having to actually look at the havoc that we are wreaking throughout the world. So long as I have my Doritos and my remote, I'm OK...you're OK...and fuck the rest of 'em out there!
Its a statement about where we are as beings, and as much as I can personally say that I knee jerk give to the needy and help people out, even on the mean streets of NYC, it doesn't seem like a navel staring awareness of charity beginning at home is gonna help us at all in the near future.

So, I guess that leads to my New Year.New Administration wish for re-regulation of everything; make us evil socialists and spread the wealth around again! Please! My second wish is for a total revamp of the American education system and a huge influx of money into teaching our children. My god, if we all spent some time at inner city schools and community centers we would be horrified at what is being taught and that lack of tools we have made available for teachers and social workers to do this most important job in the world! We have also managed to allow some very bad teachers and social workers to stay in their jobs.
Great teachers and professionals in the helping professions deserve all the support that we can give them, but one bad seed can destroy many lives. There has to be more realistic ways of policing the system that cares for our children and who gets to be involved in it, because Ive seen some pretty ass-backwards things happen recently, and its unclear to me why angry and mean people are allowed to work with the public; why do they want to? More on that to come as things unfold in my own long nightmare in the "system."

Making this plodding holiday season almost worth it was this gem from the morass of scum that is Morning Joe, courtesy of the sharp mind of Zbigniew Brzezinsky. It bears repeating even though its been posted and shown around for a few days now:



The way I see it is that Brzezinsky's statement goes out to not just Joe, but to a whole slew of pundits out there on TV and radio. And its not just the shocking lack of knowledge or deference to the experts that is so shocking, but its the attitude. As a longtime MSNBC viewer, I must say that I don't turn the network on until the Morning Joe program is off the air. I was disgusted at how Mika was treated by the Neanderthal boys on that show, and I felt like she bent herself quite a bit to fit into their mold and keep her position on the show as the "liberal," or whatever she is supposed to be. Hopefully, even with a neocon CEO, the sales of soap will direct the morning programming away from the insane fringe, just as has happened in the evening in a huge way.

So, New Years...well, the year is finished and that's a good thing. I'm very happy to see Bush on his way out, but I'm not very hopeful about what has to happen for there to be real change in this country. The reintroduction of ideals and decision making for the good of the whole may be more than spoiled Americans can take. But I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and let the cycle go round...maybe I can get some good dementia going before we swing back to the dark side.

Thanks to Jon Swift for his inclusion of my post on Petraeus and Westheusing in his year end wrap-up
where the bloggers,(that would be we,) decide what was our bestest post of the year. Since I feel like the issue of accountability is so important to the recovery of this country that I'm happy to dust this one off and have it see light again.

Now, Jon's blog has been nominated for a Weblog award for best humor blog, (and its damned funny,) so click over there and show him some love! I'm not sure how to vote yet, but I can say that my choices would start with Driftglass as best individual and meander out from there...and though I'm seeing a few blogs I like, I don't like the setup over there in that the nominations depend on who can mobilize enough readers to vote for them, as opposed to an actual judgement of the writing and content....so, beyond the fact that Drifty has the best writing chops (and photoshop sensibility/skills) going in all of blogtopia, (show Skippy some love too!) try to avoid the Manolo Blahnick shoe blog etc...because it sorta brings things to a level that...well, I dunno...I guess that since I have a Parrot blog in the works, I shouldn't comment on anyone else's pet interests.


Check Skippy's year end wrap-up of year end wrap-ups and Jill's Round the Blogroll, which while it doesn't have Barack and Michelle at the top in lights as a dynamic duo, does cover a huge chunk of Christmas Past and Christmas future, and the upcoming Oscars; where to go for what?...its all there! All I can say is What she said!! which makes my life alot easier considering that I'm twirling 12 plates on sticks here as usual. speaking of which, here is the tiny runt baby which is seeming to have a possible leg problem as it gets bigger...oh well, I was aiming to keep this one anyway.


I'd like to give a special mention to the Sedervmaron, or visaversa, show for brightening up a pretty dreary end of the year...They broadcast from here daily at 3PM EST, but the show of the day is playing over and over up front and past shows are available. There is also a post show show and a chat...its a great show which, even though its web based is so well regarded that its retaining the web presence of Air America even in markets where the network is going off the radio! Does this tell the powers that be anything?...does this give anyone over there a clue? Does anyone even listen to AAR anymore?...nope...just watch or listen to maronvseder religiously with the growing crowd. Watch them and Rachel Maddow pull the network out of the toilet in the coming year! (if Rachel will even stay when her contract is up...of if AAR will even be able to afford her!)

Upcoming: Marc Maron will be performing his new show, Scorching the Earth, this weekend in NYC as follows:
Jan. 3 at 10PM at
The Green Room
in The Bleecker St. Theater
45 Bleecker St.
NY NY

Its pretty much about his divorce experience.

For Tickets go here.

This is the biggest baby lovebird...17 days old today!



And finally, in the department of what makes me happy, its been a bumper year for baby birds around here! I'm currently surrogate mom to two Moustache Parakeets and five baby lovebirds...not to mention the chirping coming from the Fire Finch nest...some of these are available for sale or adoption to new homes, so contact me if you're interested in having, what my son calls, a pet that is smarter than you!

Baby Lovebirds:
Born very spaced out, leaving me with quite a cute runt that I have been supplementing as you can see in his crop. Fear not, they often flop their heads over when they sleep, though this one has strange legs at this point...we'll see what happens now that he is with only one other baby in the nest box and Ive got the others in a brooder being fully hand fed.


Here is an older pic of the clutch:

Baby Moustache Parakeets are actually bigger than this now and have their moustache markings coming out...more pics to follow....maybe on the other blog.

Welcome little Spike to my family! He was one sick pup and it took alot to get him well, but he is quite a trooper and a scrappy little guy....I adore him!


Welcome to Phantom at Parrots & Co.. He is a cuddly, sweet Black Palm Cockatoo who is living at the store as of a few weeks ago. He is the new puppy!...and besides being a little spoiled and a bit of a character, he is very interesting, as birds go! That beak makes easy work of the hardest nuts.

This blue and gold baby is the sweetest, smartest bird. He needs a great home! He is talking and playing and is just sweet as all get out...I wishI had a bigger house because he would be with me if he could fit! Click on his picture to go to the Parrotco website and find out where he currently resides...come and meet him! He is a doll! We have had some good fun making messes with popped corn and apples...I don't usually go for these but this one is a big smush and a very smart character!

And finally to Q...who had a bit of a feather problem in the nest but is now the most beautiful cockatoo in the world, you should be living with me!!...you may be living with me...who knows how the world works? who stays, who goes?...this is a special, special bird and I doubt I will be posting a picture anytime soon because he is not available to just anyone....and maybe not available at all...Ill never get over how cool Q was as his Kojak baby self...totally naked and the sweetest thing! Just like a Purdue game hen with a crop full o' food!!


and to all a goodnight!