Giff's Calm Post

The Fun Continues.....

2009-03-19T11:17:00.002-04:00

I heaped praise on John Stewart and the Daily Show in my last blog for taking CNBC to task on how they covered the lead up to our financal mess.

Here's another take on the whole thing. From Joe Scarborough. Who is not a Stewart fan. Probably because Stewart digs up junk on Scarborough pretty regularly when he is turd farming.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-03-18/how-jon-stewart-went-bad/

The comments that follow are pretty entertaining too!!

Cramer vs. Stewart

2009-03-16T10:51:00.000-04:00

I don't know if you had a chance to catch any of the Comedy Central Smack-down of CNBC over the last 2 weeks.....but if you haven't, you should. Comedy Central http://www.thedailyshow.com/ has the whole series and there are tons of excerpts and postings on You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=john+stewart&aq=f too.

This was John Stewart's finest hour. finally giving some national exposure to the joke that our financial investment system has become. His assertion that there are 2 Wall Streets.....the one we all have our 401K monies invested in....and the other, behind the scenes - hedge fund and derivatives - Wall Street that was using all of our money to fund their 'games' was spot on.

I've brayed at Moody repeatedly over the years that Jim Cramer and CNBC's circus like approach to investing couldn't possibly be good for investors or the nation as a whole. To quote Stewart...."it's not a f*&%ing game". Unfortunately, too many people in powerful and influential positions thought it was.

I only hope that this helps the current administration restore proper regulations and integrity to the institutions of investment and finance.
And aren't we all breathing at least a little bit easier knowing that there won't be any talk of 'privatizing' Social Security any time soon? Could you imagine what a disaster THAT would have been?

Time Marches On

2009-02-23T14:01:00.002-05:00

Was back home (Ohio) last week to see my Dad. 88 and recovering from major surgery to deal with some circulatory issues.
It's very difficult to watch somebody who has been the person you've looked up to and the anchor of the family all these years struggling and in so much pain.
Certainly not an uncommon situation for us middle baby boomers, though.
The 5 of us have been able to keep it pretty lighthearted, and I think he appreciates that. But not as much as a good homecooked meal - after 50 days in the hospital!!
Most distressing part of the visit? Five middle aged siblings and spouses sitting around talking about our freakin' ailments, medications and benefits - or lack thereof!! Now THAT was distressing!

Women Drivers

2009-02-17T09:01:00.002-05:00

The parking lot sequence in this thing is hilarious. It's actually funnier if you turn off the god-awful, annoying music. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygtBxhFc24A

Sunday's Calm Post

2009-02-15T10:35:00.002-05:00

You become assaulted with bad news when you're in the news biz. So when something truly good happens, you tend to sit up and take notice.

A couple minutes here to pass along proper kudos to the truly good guys at P & R Service in S'ville. Have you ever taken your car to a mechanic and gotten out of there for $10? I have.

They've let me drive my car around after they've worked on it and then bring it back again and again until we solved the problem.

This time? Ed and Al were upfront about the fact that they found a problem with the new tires we just put on the Honda. Had they put the tire on the back and not told me about it....I never would have known....until the tires were rotated, probably. Instead they told me they knew there was a problem...and as soon as a new tire came in, they'd take care of it.

It does your heart good. These are tuly good people. Hats off, gentlemen!!

2009-02-13T14:27:00.002-05:00

We were talking about 'spring' things' this morning. Drove through my first skunk cloud this week. Pitchers and catchers report this weekend.....and isnt that one of the sweetest phrases of late winter?!

Got to talkin' about kayaking .... so I thought I'd share this place with you if you're into kayaking or canoeing. Liquid Therapy in Three Rivers. Great people.....beautiful rivers - several to choose from - it's just an excellent escape. Think spring!! You can thank me later.

http://www.liquidtherapypaddling.com/

2009-02-12T11:17:00.000-05:00

For those of you who have heard me talk about the Family Compound in Canada......this is the view out the front window at the cottage. That's Georgian Bay on a beautiful day in August with the wind out of the west.

Giff's Calm Post

2009-02-12T11:02:00.000-05:00

Saw something interesting on Napier Ave. on the way home from the station yesterday. Pickup in front of me had one of those Leer toppers on the back of it....and in the back window was a professionally lettered sign that read "In Loving Memory of........Somebody", don't remember the name.

Intriguing to me as I wondered if the truck itself was the tribute to this departed soul. Or perhaps the honoree was still IN the back of the truck.

Either way, I thought it an odd way to pay tribute to a loved one.
Gotta go. Lunch time.

Maiden voyage....

2009-02-10T15:11:00.000-05:00

Hmmmmmm.......so this is what blogging is all about. A written stream of consciousness that carries no gaurantees that anyone will read it. Or care about it. I feel so free. And bloated, for some reason.

My guiding principal for any future entries? No yelling, no spitting, wear pants.

I'll try to offer interesting tidbits that I have turned up in my daily activities....so if there's nothing here for weeks at a time.....you will have just had a peek behind the curtain at the Gifford household....there just ain't much goin' on there for the most part.

We'll see how she goes......but for now.....my cynical nature has me mentally aligned with the following borrowed (can't remember from where - might have been Patton Oswalt) assessment of the 'blogosphere'......."Blogging is To Literacy What Facebook is to @#$*ing".

Giff's Calm Post

The Fun Continues.....

Cramer vs. Stewart

More Calm Post - A Site for Skeptic's Eyes

Time Marches On

Women Drivers

Sunday's Calm Post

Giff's Calm Post

Maiden voyage....