And this one says: We are screwed.  So very screwed.

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…let me just say that at least I’m not a liberal scoundrel.  Pardon my redundancy.  Charles Krauthammer nails it:

Liberalism under siege is an ugly sight indeed. Just yesterday it was all hope and change and returning power to the people. But the people have proved so disappointing. Their recalcitrance has, in only 19 months, turned the predicted 40-year liberal ascendancy (James Carville) into a full retreat. Ah, the people, the little people, the small-town people, the “bitter” people, as Barack Obama in an unguarded moment once memorably called them, clinging “to guns or religion or” - this part is less remembered - “antipathy toward people who aren’t like them.”

Do yourself a favor and read the whole thing. 

And while we on the subject, I suggest this as well.

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Really had a most excellent birthday.  Duke and Ji Young came over for dinner with the baby Friday night.  Then we went out for darts.  Saturday night, Jim and YJ hosted a birthday bash at Dolce Vita.  Lots of good food, good friends, and darts!  Oh, I understand we did some drinking too.

Here’s a few pictures to help me remember…

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Another year older and deeper in debt…

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This is taking auto erotica to a whole new level:

A Cincinnati woman was simultaneously masturbating with a sex toy and watching a pornographic video while driving last week, according to cops who arrested her on assorted criminal charges.

Colondra Hamilton, 36, was pulled over last Tuesday evening in a traffic stop triggered when cops noticed she was driving a 2008 Pontiac with overly tinted windows.

That’s when officers noticed that Hamilton’s pants were unbuttoned. And she had a vibrator in her lap. Questioned by cops, Hamilton admitted to engaging in auto erotic manipulation, and revealed that she had also been watching a porno movie that was playing on the laptop of a friend in the passenger seat, according to an Elmwood Place Police Department report.

There’s a time and a place for everything I suppose, but doing the dildo trick, watching porn, AND driving simultaneously?  I mean really, was she on crack or something?

Hamilton was booked into the Hamilton County jail on a misdemeanor count of driving with “impaired alertness.” Hamilton was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia since cops found a “broken piece of crack pipe” in her purse.

Ok then.

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Talk about your summertime blues.  Obama’s “recovery summer” is driving the economy to unprecedented depths.  So bad people are talking about when Herbert Hoover ran things back in 1929.

How bad? The housing market’s worst-on-record June for new construction was followed by its worst-on-record July. In each case, the year-over-year decline from 2009, when what I have been calling the POR (Pelosi-Obama-Reid economy since the middle of 2008 supposedly hit its trough, was about 10%. In what are usually two of the best months of the year for builders, in a nation with almost 130 million housing units, construction began on barely over 100,000 new ones. That’s about 65% lower than the 1959-2007 average for the same two months.

An economist quoted by the Associated Press on August 19 described the construction situation for office buildings, malls, and hotels in three words: “Dead, dead, dead.”

Send in the clowns.

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…how the hell did this guy survive?

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In dart action last night, the Take it Easy boys from Dolce Vita put a hurtin’ on our neighbor bar Bless U 22-3.  The consensus was it was the most dominating victory in the long and illustrious his of TIE.

I’m sure the Sultans will be gunning for us when we next meet a Bless U as we definitely stung their pride a bit.  Especially because they played well enough to win quite a few of those legs but didn’t possess that intangible some call luck.

Duke had a great 2 week run in his return to the team.  I believe he had a 9-0 night in fact.  He’ll be on an airplane back to the States next Monday, but we still have the big birthday party/tourney coming up this Saturday…

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See I had every intention of getting back into a daily posting routine.  And wouldn’t you know it, yesterday my internet goes out and stays out all the day long.

So, instead of posting here, I finished season 2 of The Wire.  A great show by the way.  I also went to E-Mart (sorta a Korean Wal-Mart superstore kinda thing).  And since I was near the electronics market I picked up some DVDs for future enjoyment.

But hey, let me offer up something meaningful here for your consideration:

Words elude me, but this picture is just wrong.  In so many ways.

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A great time at Dolce Vita for Friday night darts last night.

I threw a ton-80, a 98-out, and an improbable double-17 double-15 combo to close out a one point victory in cricket.
Plus, I hit the early bird out jackpot by throwing a 24 out.  Good for a cool W114,000.

Go figure the odds of ME having a night like that.

Anyway, it is those occasional (and all too rare) moments of brilliance that keeps me coming back for more.

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I mean, you’d think I could manage some semblance of regular posting.  It’s not like I’ve only ever posted when I had something of interest to say, right?

Fact is I do start feeling guilty when I don’t take care of business here at LTG.  I’ve just been pretty much without motivation for anything lately accept sitting on my lazy ass.   As I’ve speculated on why that might be the best I’ve come up with is that the uncertainty of my future has left me more than a little disconcerted.  And when I get to feeling this way, I tend to retreat and ignore.  Tantamount to putting my hands over my ears and screaming LA LA LA! at the top of my voice.

Anyway, I make it sound worse than it is.  It’s not like sitting on my lazy ass doing nothing is all that bad.  Still, there are things to be done and decisions to be made and at some point I need to get on with the doing and deciding.

As folks who care know, last months trip to the Philippines was not exactly a disaster, but it didn’t go as planned either.  Not only did I not find a suitable place to live, I came away questioning whether I wanted to live there period.  Which kinda sorta undermined the dream I’d been pursuing for these past several years.

Upon my return from that ill-fated trip I had to postpone my retirement date and recalibrate my future plans.  It was more than a little embarassing seeing as how my farewell luncheon had been scheduled and my replacement had been selected.

January 2, 2011 is the new big day.  And no excuses, I will no doubt about it, unquestionably, effectuate my retirement on that date.  I really mean it this time.

What I am going to do and where I will be on January 3, 2011 remains to be seen. 

Stay tuned.

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Had a happy reunion with one of my dart mentors last night, Mike “Petro” Petrocelli.  As former President of the Seoul International Dart league he really helped make darts in Itaewon what it is today.  It was great to see him again, even if it was only for a one night stand.   He brought along a pretty good dart game as well, which was to be expected.

We were all happy to welcome Dave New back to Dolce Vita as well.  He’ll be here for the next three weeks or so and we are looking forward to as many nights of darts and beer as can be managed.

Speaking of which, Petro bought a keg for all the darters who turned out to get reacquainted.  And naturally, a blind draw doubles tournament broke out.  Had some interesting pairs drawn.  Alastair and Sammy, two excellent darters from the UK; two more outstanding players in Tom Randolph and Petro; and Dave New had me to carry.

We had some great games, but in the end Dave and I made it through the winners bracket.  Tom and Petro had a hard fought match with Alastair and Sammy for the right to play us for the championship.  And the boys from the mother country prevailed.

In the end it came down to a classic well played game of cricket with strategic pointing in a seesaw battle that ulitmately resulted in a win for Dave and me.  Damn, it was like old times, meaning fun times at the oche.

Next up, The Duke and lovely Ji Young are coming to town.  It’s shaping up to be a hot August!

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…but not today.

I don’t really have the Summertime Blues.  More the blahs.  Plus nothing much to say.

Did have a nice little dinner party Sunday.  And I’m enjoying darts again.

And it seems August is going to be a month of reunions.  Petro is in town tonight, Dave New flew in yesterday apparently, and Duke is expected this weekend.

Life is quiet, but good.

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Fascinating first hand account from General James Van Fleet of how Washington, DC policymakers undermined victory in Korea.

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So, I’m walking down the street in Itaewon tonight and I happen to notice a young Korean man wearing a T-shirt that says “an American classic” with a picture of a Jeep FC-170.  In fact, I think it was this very picture:

So, I mean this particular Jeep is kind of a rarity even in the USA.  It was not ever that popular and not many were made.  I guess that makes it a collectible.

Truth be told, I happen to own one myself:

Ok, so my version is rather small.  But still.

Anyway, the significance (for me) is that this was my father’s vehicle of choice when I was a small child.  Lot’s of memories of desert camping outings and Kern River adventures.

I’m guessing y’all might have figured out that the cab over configuration and the Jeep grille gave the vehicle our affectionate nickname of “Bullfrog”.

The brothers McCrarey and the Bullfrog….

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No, not mine.  Korea’s.  Came across this article in a 1944 issue of Life magazine and found the perspectives quite interesting.  Perhaps you will as well.

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…but I never went to school there.

Just sayin’.

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