These People Must Be A Special Kind Of Stupid

   That's if you have an emergency. What I heard this morning on my local radio station decidedly was not. Seems people have been calling one of the bigger 9-1-1 call centres in the country, with non-emergency garbage.
   I damn near scalded myself by almost dropping my double-double in my lap while heading to the office when I heard these. Everything from someone calling 9-1-1 to request a replacement for a slice of pizza, 'cause there's wasn't fresh, to someone looking for help finding their glasses!
   And the number one gripe of the centres "top 10"list: People calling to report wi-fi isn't working at their local coffee shop. Oh, my fucking god! Bone-heads like this should be fined at least 100 dollars for making such calls. And if they tie up the system to the point where someone is seriously hurt or dies because the operator was dealing with John-Q idiot, then that person should face criminal charges!
   'Nuff said.

GUILTY!!!!!

   On all 5 charges, too. The jury in Luka Magnotta's trial took a few days, but found this piece of shit guilty of 1st degree murder and 4 other charges in the May 2012 killing and dismemberment of Chinese student Jun Lin. Those "other charges" included offering an indignity to a human being, publishing offensive material (mailing body parts to political offices in Ottawa and a school in B.C), and harassing the Prime Minister and other parliamentarians.
   And now, the Canadian taxpayer will have to cover the cist of his incarceration, likely to exceed 120 thousand dollars a year for at east 25 years. Luka will get "special" treatment, likely segregated away from other prisoners. After all (engage sarcasm button) we do have to keep him safe and sound, don't we. We can't allow other nasty prisoners to harm him, can we (disengage sarcasm button).
   This poor excuse for a human being will, in all likelihood, appeal the conviction and mandatory life with no parole for 25 years sentence to the Quebec Court of Appeal. And when they uphold it, the Supreme Court of Canada.
   Look. He ADMITTED  killing Lin, but said he should be found not guilty due to a mental disorder. Cry me a fucking river. It's just a fucking shame the spineless politicians we elect won't bring back the Death Penalty for assholes like Magnotta and others like him.
   It's just a shame officials can't put him in the prison cantina with other inmates, lock the doors and switch off the security cameras for 15 minutes or so. Let the prison justice system do what our namby-pamby system can't. Kill the fucker.
   And finally, a note to Jun Lin's parents, family and friends. Sorry if the translation is off a bit:
我觉得对不起大家，并希望在时间，你可以从这个可怕的打击，你的家人愈合。我希望谁做这林俊的腐烂的人在他的牢房永远的脂肪.
   'Nuff said

Facebook Users: A Rant

   I admit it. I have a profile. And like most of us, I use it to keep in touch with friends and relatives near, far and overseas. But I also think I'm going to be making changes to my friends list soon. And it's all down to what a lot of people post.
   Don't get me wrong, I post quite a bit of useless stuff on there myself. Hell! I even take quizzes others on my list have taken. And like most of them do most of the time, I lie my ass off when answering. Don't tell me you haven't taken a quiz, didn't like the answer you got when you put in as truthful as possible check marks in the relevant boxes, then went back and "tweaked" those same answers to get the result you did want. That's the one that usually gets posted.
   But that's not what got me thinking about "un-friending" people from my list. It's baby pictures and videos posted by the younger members of the circle I travel in. Yes, we all love our kids, and yes, we're all proud of what they do. But posting a picture or video every fucking day is going way over the top. You may think your kid is the cutest thing ever. A lot of people would likely agree. But there are others among us who disagree. True, your kid isn't Elephant Man ugly, but truth be told, it's just another kid.
   Why the need to post a new picture every day? And why share the ones you get through your friends on your profile page? I've seen posts (and I'm not making this up) where people put a fresh pic of John or Judy right next to the one they took the week or the day before saying "see how quickly my baby is growing up?". No. I don't see it. Maybe if you posted one pic a month I could. But on a weekly or daily basis, how the fuck am I supposed to tell the difference? And what do you say if you reply? Yeah! Thanks for posting a "before" picture. I'd never recognize John or Judy. They must have grown 1/100th of an inch and added 2 or 3 grams of weight since yesterday.
   Then, there's the videos. They usually run 15 seconds, with the caption "look what my kid did today". The video usually shows some brat shaking a toy or smeared with a cookie. I had to look at one 4 fucking times before I realized all the kid did was hiccup!
  And it's not parents either. It seems a lot of people are using facebook as a free ad service. I've seen realtors posting on facebook to get exposure. "Come see my new listing". All they're doing is peddling something up Shit Creek St that ain't sold in yonks.
   Shit, I've even seen stuff re-posted from other pages about getting in on that Yoga class before it's booked up. Give me a break, and go take out an ad rather than wasting my time reading it, and your time posting it.
   But maybe there's a simpler answer to this rant. Maybe, just maybe, I've turned into a crusty old fuck. Nah, that ain't it.
   Rant over.
   'Nuff said
  

Sill Selling 41 Years Later

   Pink Floyd's iconic "Dark Side Of The Moon" was released in 1973. It was #13 on the latest Billboard Top 200 Album list. Thanks to ultra cheap pricing on Google-Play. And the fact t's one of the greatest fucking albums of all time! The last time it entered the charts was in October 2011, when it was #12 after a re-issue. DSOTM has now spent a total of 889 weeks on the charts. That's a staggering 17 YEARS, and it's still a fucking good album!
   It's also proof (if any is needed) of the longevity of music from that era. The re-issues of Led Zeppelin's first 5 albums also peaked high on the charts. They're also over 40 years old.
   In fact, if I had to pick a Ratbag "Top5" albums they would be (in no particular order) Floyd's DSOTM, Zeppelin 4, Deep Purple Machine Head, the Beatles Sgt. Pepper and Sabbath's Paranoid.
   Yes, they're old. And yes, they're still relevant. Much more so than anything that little pus- bubble Justin Bieber has put out. Or most "rap stars" for that matter. Or a lot of today's "pop" singers. Lady Gaga comes to mind.
   Why? Because bands in the '70's could actually play the songs they recorded. Without lip-synching. Or canned "music". Or auto-tuning. They had something called "talent", which seems to be sadly lacking in the majority of the music industry today. Not saying there are no talented people out there. There are. Just few and far between.
   And my favorite line from DSOTM is the final one: "There is no dark side of the moon. As a matter of fact, it's all dark".
   Classic.
   'Nuff said.

Another Kardashian

   This time, Kourtney Kardashian has kalved, spitting our kid #3. Rhetorical question: Does the world really kare? I mean just today we've had hostage takings in Australia and Belgium. The world economy is going into the shitter over low oil process. And we hear about another member of the Kartrashian Klan?
   For that matter, why the fuck am I blogging about this?
   Oh, yeah. Just to show how fucking low the so-called "news" industry has sunk. I guess that's pretty self-explanatory, isn't it?
   'Nuff said.

Glad I Don't Follow Trends

   I'll get to the topic in a minute. First, I must apologize for the last of posts lately (the last one was November 26th). I can only say I've been busy lately, even working some weekends, which is not normal for me to have to do. But, we've been short staffed lately, and we all need to "pitch in" and do our part,.

   Now, to the topic of THIS post. I'm kind of a stay the course type of person, who doesn't "rock the boat" too much. Not that I haven't, and not that I'm what you call overly compliant. I do my thing, and do it very well. And if my hair's longer than most everyone else in the office, so what.
   But even I have my own personal line that I'll never cross, and the following are way over that line.
   First, there's beard baubles:

   And they are just what they look like. X-mas decorations stuck on a beard. To be fair, profits from the sale of these are going to charity, but honestly the fucking things would look better on a tree. I've had a full beard in the past, and I can honestly say the thought of taking mini decorations off the tree and attaching them to my bear never occurred..
   Then, there's the latest trend for the fairer sex:

   Yup! Dyed arm-pit hair. Maybe I AM old-fashioned, but this isn't exactly a sexy turn-on for me. Or a lot of guys for that matter. This new 'trend' apparently started in Seattle a few months back and, unfortunately, is catching on. Or so it seems to be. I just don't find it attractive.
   So, yeah. I guess I am a stay the course, don't rock the boat kind of guy after all.
   'Nuff said