"Barbie Rules"

Above are some glam shots of my Barbies. So I play with dolls,..sue me.

"ZZZZZZ..."

I still want to hibernate till spring. However I have so much to do. I have a month's worth of laundry backed up. What with the streets, and sidewalks literally knee deep in snow, and slush I can't get my shopping/laundry trolley to roll anywhere in that gooey mess.



If this is how winters are going to be I need to get something like they have in Alaska, and northern Canada. Basically it's a regular shopping trolley, but with skis attached.

They use this up there to move their little kids, and assorted stuff around. Maybe I should look that up online, and get a unit.

Lets see. I have 100lbs of stinky laundry, no food, two windows that need fixing. A returned mysterious leak in the bathroom, no places for guests to sit, no cable, and I still need to get that new coat to go with the new suit for that wedding that keeps getting pushed back. ...and I have to get a flu shot, and go back to the dentist.

Normal routine problems which btw I'm 'grateful' to have.

(I can tell you from experience this on the left ain't fun,..not even a little.)

I am grateful for my life, and all it's stupid problems. I'm grateful for all my pals that want me to quit whining, and get on with it. I'm grateful for my dear sister, and all my close pals that are keeping me alive whether I like it or not.

Btw I also need to get curtains, blinds, some sort of something for folks to crash onto when they come by. That, and another chest for my stuff. I even have a nice gift $card$ from Ikea.

Maybe I'll finally use it now that I feel safe, and secure enough about my new home.

I'm an emotional, and even cranky bastard, sorry, but I think this year may be a good one. I actually want to do things. I may be recovering from all the traumas of these past nearly five years.

High time too.

I'm as tired of living this noise as you are hearing about it.

Holy crap it's snowing again! I just looked out the window, and they're at it again. Oh wow. Okay I'm ordering that shopping ski trolley thing now!

Oh yeah I just remembered to tell you. I mapped out a tourist at home plan. A pal of mine used to do a show by that name.

"The Tourist at Home" It was a cool literary sort of thing.


These are folks from the Cartoon parallel universe visiting town. Btw, never call them "Toons". It's like the "N" word to them.

Anyway I'm going to pretend I'm from Phnom Penh or Northumberland, and act accordingly. Which is to say I'll actually look up at the tall buildings, and down at the steam coming out of the streets instead of ignoring them. That, and go on all the tourist stuff the City has.


It's one thing to live in a world capital. It's another to actually 'look' at it. Might be fun. Though I may have to learn Cambodian or English English to pass. I'll take snaps, and post them here when I do this.

Stay Tuned.

"At Work Tonight"

Radio WBAI, see links, is mostly empty in the evenings these days. Most hosts email their programs in. They produce them remotely either at home or a rented facility, and just mail'em in now. We're mostly automated these daze.

This is a change in local broadcast culture. At least for smaller networks.


There used to be a whole culture of interesting personalities, and assorted weirdos roaming the halls, and studios.

Just by bumping into each other all the time they created an amazing creative stew.

We have, or had walls crammed with awards that were the product of those creative collisions. Those were the days. Still I'm told all these empty chairs is progress. Perhaps, but for whom?

"This is getting to be a bad Habit"

"Snowed Under Saints"

I think the baby Jesus is a few feet under the ice. I guess he'll keep till spring.

"Another Blizzard"

January is all set to be the snowiest month in decades. At least for Emerald City, and the I-90 D.C. to Boston corridor. Yikes! Be careful what you wish for gang. We went near a decade with very warm winters.

Even a few with no snow at all.

We have made up for this. The Northeast has been getting hit with heavy snow, sleet or rain about once a week since Christmas. Did I mention temps hitting 10f, and below regularly.

Yesterday we had yet another blizzard. Tomorrow a few more inches, and they're telling us another blow-out next week.

This time I didn't go out into the teeth of the storm. I watched from my rear window, and fire-escape. Brooklyn is mostly piles of 19th, and early 20th century bricks, and bad plumbing.

Still how I love her!

These snaps are of the assorted back yards of my 'Hood.



You're seeing the yards of a Jewish Orthodox kindergarten, a Haitian deli, a retired cop, the new Gay couple that bought the house in the middle there, and my fire-escape.

Brooklyn.

Mr. Mouse, you may recall him from his editorial about the state of the Republic a few weeks ago. Anyway Mouse reports, and comments on our recent weather. He also orders lunch.



(The Sydneyland Snow Mouse.)




Mr. Mouse orders Chinese takeout.


Deleted Scenes.

"Harry Railroaded!"

Hi gang. I've been sleeping, and or rolling on the floor in agony for a week now. I had another dental emergency. Dammit I should just have them pull'em all out.

ARRRGG!

It hurt! Dear Nurse Pickles took me to Dr. Jeff our mutual dentist. He made everything better. Oh my what a day. Rev. Martin, and Nurse P. are my best pals. They have this idea that they want to keep me alive. ...imagine.

Odd thing is I'm still sleepy.

Maybe it's a stealth flu. I'm starting to have more overt symptoms. Cold sweats, aches, mild nausea dizziness the works. I have to go back to the dentist too. What I want is what I said in my last post a week ago.

Sleep till May.

Btw that's my Harry Potter,tm, electric train set there. I got it just before I lost my last house. I packed it away for the day I would have a new homey home. Well this March is my third anniversary at the new digs.

Wow, times flies when you're paying rent.

Anyway I finally unpacked the set,..nearly four years after I foolishly bought it. Alright if was an internet impulse purchase. Aw com'on who hasn't done this. Besides I didn't know I was going to be suddenly homeless back them!

Although maybe I should have.

Anyhow my current homey home is actually too small to set the whole thing up. ..well the dining room table is too small. It's "O" Gage, which is pretty big, as opposed to all them HO trains I set up just after I moved in.


Speaking of Home.

I'm finally feeling secure enough to start decorating. I've left things plain, and empty all this time. I had this fear I'd be on the streets again. I nolonger think that'll happen again so I might as well get comfy.

Now,..where can I get a stuffed moose head with a digital clock in it's mouth?

Humm, maybe if I tunnel into my next door neighbors living room I can set up my trains set there. Think they'd notice? Well it's that or get a dining room table that's three feet longer, and a foot, and a half wider.

Yeah I measured.

Okay I could put it all on the floor. There's plenty of room. However there's the problem of getting me back up again. Some sort of elaborate industrial wrench would be needed. I'm an somewhat aged hippie these daze.

Oh the things we do for our obsessions!

"ZZZZZZZZZ"

I'm always sleepy,..I think. All I do is work, and sleep. It's probably the lack of sunshine. It's having an effect like it does with bears, and lady bugs. I want to go to sleep till April,..no actually May sounds about right.

Then I wanna go to the beach, eat ice cream, and fantasize about naked people.

Oh how I miss hanging out to cute naked people of various genders, orientations, and more or less legal ages. Ah the 1980's a time of gleeful sensual mayhem. Everyone has a fun weird time in their lives the 80's were mine.

My family, and pals were still breathing, and I was in love,..imagine.

Blondie, and Michale Jackson was on the boom-box, interesting chemicals were up my nose, and my...eh, you gets the idea. "Always winter never Christmas." Yeah that C.S. Lewis had a way with words.

Oh that 80's Queer Bar music! These are my two favs.

"Crime, and Punishment"

It's really easy to end up in prison these days. Well prison or 72 hours in the local system as the heat calls it. All you have to do is not have the proper identification, and or tell the cop to stop harassing you.

That's two criminal counts right there that can get you 90 days if the judge is an asshole.

(Above is one of the African American ethnic Flags.)

In the context of the uniquely American "Culture of Incarceration" this is routine. How many Millions are in our Gulags?

Anyway I was in town listening to a speech by some commie nutjob where he was excusing violent criminals,..as opposed to you, and me who might get caught up in the system. He was excusing in particular Black men that are sent to prisons for violent crimes. Apparently they're political prisoners.

...keep your shorts on, hear me out.

Btw this is why I can't stand white Liberals or most white progressives. 100 years ago they excused our behavior that is the behavior of Negros by saying that we were like children so society should be patient with us.

Good grief.

Now they excuse the violence of our criminal class by calling them "political prisoners". Ways of life they'd 'never' tolerate among themselves is swell for us,...thanks.

In case you don't get it I'm Negro or whatever we're calling ourselves this week. I was raised poor/working class in a big city. Guess what, none of my family or friends ever went to prison or committed violent crimes.

Amazing, but true.

The people in this picture from the National Family Archives are very like the folks I grew up with. This even looks like one of my family snapshots. ..nice cake!

Like 99% of Black folks we just went to school, and or work, and tried to make lives for ourselves. You never see us on tv. We're not as interesting as deranged crackheads or mothers that put their babies into ovens.


Back to that speech,...I called out to my dear comrade on the stage in answer to his question,..."How can we keep Black men from going to prison?".

I yelled,..."Tell'em to stop committing crimes!"

As you can imagine this threw the bacon into the fire. There's a whole ideology in this country that sez that oppressed folks are not responsible for their personal actions. Basically your tough life and the heritage of slavery absolves you of any obligation to obey the law or respect other people.

I wish I was kidding.

There's this lady by name of Joy Leary a popular motivational speaker in political circles, and I'm sad to say even in mainstream Black media that sez we're all suffering from "Post Slavery Traumatic Shock"

Interesting concept, and I'd even buy some of it if she didn't then use it to exonerate the lot of us from any civil responsibilities. ...like obeying the law.

Oh my.

We are in such a mess. A nightmare based in generations of persecution, and economic privation. Hundreds of thousands of young Black guys are being sucked up by the vast American prison system, and we're out here saying in effect that's swell.

That's fine because they 'had' to commit all those crimes. They even have a term for this insanity,.."Crimes of Survival".

Seems we have no choice, but to commit violent crimes. Funny I don't remember my Dad doing anything like that. None of my uncles neither,...even uncle you know who. Ya know the one none of us ever saw sober.

Yeah poverty, and crime are bed-mates. However I think this is the first time any political movement said that was a good thing or at least an acceptable thing.

Already this is giving me a headache. What would Dr. M.L.King say to this madness. That jerk on the stage also mentioned that drug abuse was also "understandable". Btw this is the major road to prison for young Blacks.

Yeah, yeah like they tell me I'm "incorrect" because my analysis is poisoned by middle class values. Ya know like not beating up an old lady for her welfare check so you can take the dough to get high.

Is it too late to sign up for that Mars colony thing, and leave this bizarre world behind. It's no wonder that so many rational Blacks have given up on that Black is wonderful or beautiful stuff, because it ain't,...yet.




Here's the deal. The big secret.

Negros are just folks. We're just people trying to live decent lives. That, and we really wish the skin-head nazi's, republicans, and well meaning commies would just go away, and leave us alone.

The End.

PS, If that "Slave Reparations" thing ever come around,..a big deal in black racist circles, anyway if the Feds decide to pay up for all that free labor, and suffering. I want my cut in real estate. 'Far as I know they ain't making anymore land. So as I see it I stand to make out pretty good with a few thousand acres,...of my choosing.

I'd also like a hand made, sky blue, 1929 Bugatti. That, and free petrol, and servicing for life. Throw in some tax free bonds, 50 million bucks worth sounds good, and we have a deal.




Till then it's back to work.

Stay Tuned.

But enuff of all this dreary static! Lets eat CREAM PUFFS!!

"Cheese!!!"

The first shipment of Government Cheese for unemployed Mice came in today. At last Cheese we can believe in!

I'm still waiting for them Gobbermint Salisbury steaks. Goes great with the Gobbermint mac'n cheese.

"Last Week's Fog"

"Fun with my Stuff"

I put a tiny toy battle ship,..don't ask, anyway I put the thing in a bowl. I left it on my window sill last night. It went down to 11 degrees f. with a screaming wind. Anyway this is what it looked like in about an hour.

Frozen solid.

I poured water on my sill as well to see it freeze on contact. It did. Ain't nature grand. We had a heatwave at sun up. It must have got up to 25f. or more. I had to put the air conditioner on.









These are some ww2 guys driving their Kübelwagen, German Jeep, on top of my snow bound rear window sill yesterday. Clearly I had too much time on my hands.

I had nothing to do so I was playing with my toys, and the weather. No I have not really grown up. I suspect that very few of us have. Also like most others I've gone into intellectual hibernation. Too much crap going down, and it's always snowing or sleeting.

I think we all need at least three 80 degree days,...No Humidity!!, that, and a bar-b-q, and a day at the beach. This would recharge our collective unconscious pretty good. See you at the beach.

"My Winter Dolls"

Okay so the little guys are a bit on the Queer side so sue me. Show me some dolls that ain't. I could tell ya stories about Ken. Anyway Shasha, and Eddie are swell kids, and are doing just fine thanks.

Shasha packs a loaded .38, and Eddie has his Dad's Marine bayonet so bullies beware!

"Fun with your Lights"

To pass the time, and keep my sanity I've been swinging, and photographing my Christmas lights. Fun for the whole collective! This has been approved by the Peoples Directorate of Giggles.

"From Here to There"

Here's some stuff from the subway. This is what ya use to get to that "Cold Damp Brooklyn" I go on about in the next post. The station pictured below used to smell of sewer gas. It did for decades. Then one happy day as if by magic it was all roses.



I don't know where they exported the interesting smells to I'm just glad they ain't here anymore. Okay our stuff ain't cute like the Moscow tube, but it get's ya where ya wanna go.

"IRT" The Inter-borough Rapid Transit Company was the private operator of the original underground New York City Subway line that opened in 1904.

Indeed when I was a little boy some of that original '04 rolling stock was still in service as work trains for track crews. Passenger cars from the 1920's/30's were still carrying folks in the 50's.

The MTA gets every drop of service out of it equipment!

"Cold, Damp, Brooklyn"

"Always Winter, but never Christmas."

I never thought I'd say it, but winter is a pain in the butt. One is always wet, cold, and late for the train. Problem is our other season around here is Heatwave.


On the one hand it's 12f with frozen slush on the other it's 105f with killer humidity. However on the other, "other hand", now that I think about it. We sort of have three or four days of Spring after the last blizzard, and before the first heatwave.

This is 'not' an exaggeration,..ask any Native grunt.

Still like I sez we have three daze of swell weather coming. Something to look forward too. Well that, and the Mermaid's Parade at Coney Island,...this year I'll go as a tuna sandwich!

"Uncle Sydney's Neighborhood", the slightly safer part.