Recently I happened to notice that the label in one of my favorite pair of jeans stated that they were made in Pakistan. I was shocked! I quickly went to my closet and looked at the inside labels on the rest of my Levi jeans, they were all made in some foreign country. How could this be? Blue jeans were invented here, Levi Strauss was an immigrant that started his original business in San Francisco and his now famous jeans were invented by him in 1873. I realize that their jeans are a worldwide favorite and it does make sense to manufacture them in other places beside the USA, but I do not sit well with them being imported into the USA from foreign lands.

Dammit, Levi jeans are an American institution and importing them is akin to importing apple pies from China (if they were, the pie tins would be lead lined). Now, I’m the kind of person that prefers my clothing labels to be sewn on the inside, I do not believe in sporting “prestige” labels for companies that manufacture the goods. I payed for them and I do not like the idea of being a walking billboard. But one label that I’ve never minded being displayed was the little red tab on the back pocket of my jeans, but now I don’t know whether I should be embarrased or ashamed to wear them.

I looked up the history of Levi Strauss and Company and they have a nice write up with a timeline of all the companies important events which you can read here “History of Levi’s“. The glaring omission is their move to manufacture overseas and import jeans into the USA. Apparently they’re ashamed of it to, it’s like a dirty little secret. Shame on you Levi’s, you’ll never be the same…

Hope you guys had a great holiday and have a happy new year!

Hope you guys have a great holiday week, and that Santa brings you lots and lots of goodies!!

Life has been rather mundane around here lately. There’s not much to report. Seems like all I do is sit at my desk and write code and edit web pages all day long. That’s a good thing but it does get boring at times! The exception was Jules coming to visit about 2 weeks ago, we spent most of a day touring New Orleans and the French Quarter. It was a lot of fun and even though I’ve seen every square inch of N.O. many times over it’s kind of cool to sort of see it through the eyes of someone that’s never been here.

We had the obligatory cafe au lait and beignets at the French Market in the morning then later we stopped and had lunch at the Desire Oyster Bar and Bistro in the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Bourbon St. The meal was quite good, I chose the Crawfish Etouffee and Jules ordered the Cajun Shrimp Alfredo. It was actually quite inexpensive, if you’re ever in town, you should check it out. Tres good! Anyone else coming to New Orleans, be sure to let me know and we can meet up too!

I got something rather interesting in the mail the other day, a notification from the local government that a sex offender has moved into my neighborhood, about two blocks away. Even has the guys photo on the card! I think this idea should be expanded to include ex-cons that were convicted of violent crimes, home invasions, domestic violence and burglaries as well. Wouldn’t you like to know that your neighbor was once a jailbird? Or would that be carrying it too far?

That’s about all I have folks, see I told you there was nothing to see here! LOL I’ll leave you with this cartoon that I thought was hilarious…

I joined a fitness center yesterday, yeah finally. My fat ass was threatening to take over the entire house. Apparently, sitting in front of a PC all day long is not conducive to good fitness. Who woulda thunk it? Actually, I could use losing about 15 maybe 20 pounds but it’s the exercise that I’m more concerned about. I get winded just watching other people exercise on TV. Now that’s bad.

I really like the place so far, it’s got a nice indoor swimming pool, a huge hot, bubbling whirlpool and sauna. And rows and rows of all manner of modern human torture exercise machines. Located in a nice modern building with private parking, trainers and a nice friendly staff less than a mile from home. I was lucky to find one that had escalators out front too. You know it’s swanky if it has escalators!! LOL

Here’s a couple of the trainers, a couple of really nice guys, but they have the strangest accents.

I did some starter workouts yesterday and now I’m just starting to feel the aches and pains. I’m looking forward to my next visit, maybe in a few weeks. Just kidding!!!! I’ll be going back later today for more fun.

In other news, the new house is great, I’m really enjoying the place. Unfortunately, I’m still not finished unpacking. I’ve got boxes that I haven’t even opened yet. Frankly, m’dear, I’ve just been too busy to give a damn. Blogs Gone Wild is doing fantastic and I’ve got a lot of new stuff in my portfolio and I’m working on lots more. I think I work too may hours, I really need to get out more!

Maybe I’ll go do something fun this weekend, just don’t know what. Anyway, I hope you guys have a fun filled weekend!! Laterz!!

WOW, I’ve been so busy lately! I’m in the middle of moving to a new house and I’m trying to help my parents get their house back in order from Katrina as much as I can. There’s one project that’s been totally kicking my ass and that is building the shed from hell. It’s a prefab plastic 7′ x 10′ unit manufactured by Rubbermaid. It was packaged in two oversized boxes and it’s intended to replace the one that Katrina blew to smithereens two years ago.

The instructions claimed 2 hours assembly time which has to be either a typo or an outright lie. It’s more like 2 hours per panel! And there’s about 14 panels. The strangest thing is this weird looking symbol that’s been slowly materializing on the side now that it’s nearly complete, not sure what it means though…

Blogs Gone Wild has been going really strong, I recently did a complete redesign of the site and it now runs on Wordpress and includes a blog for updates and site news. Something I had been wanting to do for a long time.

Free Blogger Skins has grown like crazy too, it now gets over 80,000 hits a month! It’s also in the Top 200 blogs listings on Technorati, that’s just crazy! I’ve also been doing some contract web work for a local company outside of Blogs Gone Wild, I would like to get more of that.

I just recently did another makeover for The Redneck Mommy, she wanted the conversion to Wordpress that I did for her a few months back converted again into a 3 column template. I think it came out great, if you’ve never read her, she’s awfully engaging and fun to read and very, very popular.You guys really should check her out.

Here’s a few more that I’ve completed lately as well, Randy Rainbow, Sportz Chicago and Jottings From Jersey

I’ll have more on my moving to a new house next week with pictures once I get all the utilities up and running and settled in a little bit. It’s a really cool house and I can’t wait to get in.

Finally, I’ll leave you guys with a joke that made me LMAO!

I have 2 dogs & I was buying a large bag of Pal at Big W and standing inline at the check out.

A woman behind me asked if I had a dog.

On impulse, I told her that no, I was starting The Pal Diet again although I probably shouldn’t because I’d ended up in the hospital last time, but that I’d lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IV’s in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pants pockets with Pal nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry & that the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again.

I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story, particularly a guy who was behind her.

Horrified, she asked if I’d ended up in the hospital in that condition because I had been poisoned. I told her no; it was because I’d been sitting in the street licking my balls and a car hit me.

I thought one guy was going to have a heart attack he was laughing so hard as he staggered out the door.

Stupid bitch… why else would I buy dog food??

Hope you guys have an ass kicking weekend! =)

Note: I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had much time to write anything new so you get a rerun of one of my favorite old posts. It was originally written the first time I visited Lisa in NYC back in February of 2006.

I’m really enjoying my stay in NYC and one of the best parts is getting to do a lot of walking around, going out to eat, seeing various sites, and people watching. People watching has always been one of my favorite pastimes. One thing I notice here is that more people than not seem to have a freekin’ iPod to listen to. Personally, I can’t imagine enjoying music by having to stuff tiny little speakers into my ears but that’s just me. Maybe it’s something you just have to get used to.

It’s amazing how many iPod variations are out there not to mention the bewildering selection of gadgets, gizmos, addons, and plug-ins available for the damn things. Everytime you go in an electronics store the very first display you see is all the crap they have available to sell you to make you part with your hard-earned money for more iPod doo-dads. Even with all of that I think they are missing the boat on a few possible iPod variations that make just as much sense as some of the silly crap already available.

Without too much effort I was able to come up with a few iPod variations of my own that I’m sure could make tons of money… or not! LOL

Above: I think they’re totally missing the boat on the highly lucrative pirate market. I call this version the iPatch PiratePod, a very exclusive niche marketing opportunity which is not only a perfect gift for your favorite pirate but also great for all your vision impaired one-eyed friends!!

Above: Here’s another variation that’s sure to please all you goofy hat wearers out there, with this modified version of the video iPod you could have a slide show running for everyone else to see with photos of your dog, your boyfriend or girlfriend, your favorite make out sessions, your totally boring vacation to the Grand Canyon or anything else that you want to show off. I call this iPod variation the iHat HairPod!

Above: Why not have your iPod do double duty, not just a music player! You could have this cool ass iPacer HeartPod implanted into your chest to make your heart beat to the music, from mellow, soothing mood music to heart pounding heavy metal, this iPod variation would be perfect for friends and family with a heart condition or everyday exercise junkies! Just think, having a heart attack could be very entertaining for both you and your would be rescuers!

Above: For the pooch that has everything! I call this one the iPaw PetPod, now your favorite dog or cat could show off their incredibly good taste by wearing one of these cool devices on their paw. Maybe running slide shows from the Westminster dog show, or just displaying a picture or two of their favorite feline or canine friends. This dog is being very stylish by showing off a picture of Lisa’s dog, Ally da Pup!!!

Above: This particular variation, iPax Tampods, would be perfect for the woman that loves to wear skin tight, skimpy clothing and has absolutely no place else to stick their iPod, or just hates to carry tampons around for emergency situations. Moving to the music would take on a whole new meaning!

Now all I need to do is find someone foolish smart enough to fund the manufacturing of these cool new iPods, maybe I could retire!

Which one is your fave?

I’m back home in New Orleans again and it sucks to be here! After driving around half the country and getting to hang out in Manhattan, N.O. seems so bland and unattractive. Bleah! Lisa just put up a new post about the trip that covers a lot of the details from Texas to New York so I’ll just touch on a few highlights. With photos!

The first leg back was through Arkansas, nothing to see here, so no photos! Memphis and Graceland are a different story though. I’ve never been a fan of Elvis in any way shape or form so I wasn’t all that thrilled about going. I mean come’on, anyone willing to sing a duet with Frank Sinatra is totally uncool in my book. That ain’t rock and roll! That’s too much like Pat Boone singing heavy metal cover songs. Yeah, that bad.

I actually enjoyed the tour quite a bit although the Graceland mansion was a lot smaller than I imagined. Out of respect for Elvis memory, they don’t let you tour the upstairs rooms! That’s total BS, the tour has all the charm of a carnival of tackyness yet they draw the line there. Whatever! We laughed the hardest at Elvis’ extremely tacky decor and this one item in particular. A white fur covered bed with a stereo system built into the overhead canopy. You have to wonder how many women took a ride on this thing! LOL Lisa seemed to think it was really cool though! I wish I had one of those myself!

Lying on the bed appeared to be a selection of Elvis’ sequined pajamas, even when he was asleep he was tacky!

The best part about the mansion tour was the trophy building out back on the grounds. It had tons of memorabilia on display, including gold and platinum records with plaques, many of his custom made outfits, old original movie posters from his many flicks and dozens of tv monitors running continous looped clips from his many tv performances thru the years. That was pretty impressive.

That night we went to the Rendezvous Restauarant for some Memphis style ribs that were finger licking good! The place was packed with people!

Then we walked down the alley to check out the world famous Peabody Hotel where they have a group of ducks that come down the elevator from the roof top and take a red carpet march to the lobby fountain twice a day. We were there too late for the duck walk but the lobby was insanely beautiful and very impressive! I found this photo below on the web that’s much nicer than the one I took. Look closely and you can see the ducks swimming in the fountain.

The next morning we drove up thru Nashville and on to Kentucky where we thoroughly enjoyed the mountain scenery. I didn’t take any photos here. Later on though in northern West Virginia we drove thru a mountain pass that had a very unusual rock formation that I just had to get photos. It doesn’t look all that impressive this small, so click on the image to get a larger view with the crescent moon shaped rock layers. Very striking in person, the scale of the pass that was cut thru the rock face is huge, it makes you feel so tiny when you look up at it.

Well that’s all for today kids, I have more to share in the next post that will be all about the New York part of the trip with more photos! Including meeting Evil Julie and a close encounter with Justin Timberlake! Hope you guys are having a great weekend!

We were so tired when we got in last night, I think we both just collapsed into comas. Ally da Pup was certainly elated to see NY again, she sure perked up when we got into familiar territory. Right after we we crossed the George Washington Bridge she sensed we were close to home and got very excited. She had a very miserable trip, she does not like riding in a car at all and seemed to be mad at us the entire trip. LOL Poor dog, probably believes the entire purpose of the trip was for no other reason than to torture her senseless.

I’ll just have time to post a few highlights and of course meeting fellow blogging buddies is on the top of the list. Meeting Jules at La Madeleine Cafe and Bakery for breakfast was very cool and fun. It was great finally meeting her after reading her blog for so long. We didn’t have nearly enough time to hang out! She is very sweet and funny, and a lot quieter than I expected, though I think she was a bit nervous. Unfortunately, I was still half asleep when we met, so I know I wasn’t very talkative, however, she and Lisa got along famously and I mostly let them do the talking while I absorbed as much caffeine and food as I could.

Anyone that reads Jules regularly knows how irreverent and fun she can be on her blog so you’ll have to read her post to find out what I mean. She did unzip her pants for us though! Woohoo! Of course you’ll have to read her take on that! A very nice post! Hugs Jules!

We drove across Arkansas (nothing to see here except porn shops and 18 wheelers LOL) to Memphis where we were able to snag some awesome barbecue at the Rendevous, a ribs joint made more famous in a John Grisham novel, The Firm, take a short tour of the Graceland Mansion (70’s tack fest LOL) and browse the incredibly beautiful lobby of the famous Peabody Hotel in downtown. That’s the place famous for the ducks marching to the fountain in the center of the lobby twice a day. Unfortuately we missed the duck march but still enjoyed the visit.

Moving on we passed thru Nashville again and on up thru Kentucky where we marveled at the beauty of the Blue Grass Parkway scenery. West Virginia was next, another beautiful state, where we met up with the one and only Nanner Peach. Nanner and I met once before when she made a trip thru New Orleans back in March 2005 and we had a blast day tripping around the French Quarter. This time we went out to eat dinner with her and her son Nate at one of her favorite restaurants. OMG, we were stuffed and the food was very good. Nate is fun and lively and a good looking young man, takes after his mom!

After dinner we all went over to Nanner’s newly refurbished home. It’s looking great and is coming along nicely, the repairs look nearly complete! If you read her blog, you know her home was nearly completely destroyed in a fire in which most of her cats died. Very, very sad. Nanner is very soft spoken and smiles a lot and has always been one of my favorite blogging friends. I think she has met more fellow bloggers than anybody, we were mentally going over her list and I’m sure we counted more than 20 people!

Now that we’re back in NY and had a good night’s sleep we’re up and about planning what we’ll be doing in Manhattan for the next few days before I fly back to N.O. on Thursday. We’re trying to plan a meeting with Evil Julie, even though I’ve been here a few times before, we haven’t gotten together yet. That should be a lot of fun! We’re also planning a trip to the Museum of Natural History in Central Park, I’ve always wanted to go there. I’m a big fan of natural and human history and I’m really looking forward to it.

That’s all for now! You’ll also want to read Lisa’s update on the trip right here. Although I do have a few photos to post, I’m going to wait till I get back to N.O. and write another post about that stuff!

Does killing time damage eternity? And just how much time can you kill before the damage is permanent?

Would the universe exist if there was no one here to see it?

People believe that without a God we would have no purpose for being. I wonder if God would have a purpose if there were no beings.

Does God have a sense of humor? If he does, I’ll bet he’s into slapstick, how else could you explain the Three Stooges?

Anyway, finally it looks like something is on the verge of happening with getting the house repaired from the Katrina damage. Count it folks, that’s almost exactly 2 years since the hurricane and the house is still a shambles. Engineering people have come out and given the official okey-dokey and most of the paperwork has been signed off. It’s going to be interesting to see this 2 story brick home being raised 3 feet off the ground.

They claim that we can actually live in the house while it’s being done. Oh yeah, you know that’s going to be fun without any plumbing LOL Since it’s all under the foundation, it has to be disconnected during the raising. Hence, the FEMA trailer out front that has a shower and working fixtures… They claim the whole process will take less than 6 weeks, we shall see! I’ll definitely have photos!

I’ll be leaving in a few days to meet up with the lovely Lisa again for the return journey to NYC, more fun on the highway! I’m looking forward to it! This time I’ll be spending more time in Manhattan which is always fun. I love dining out there, we already have plans to revisit the Argentine restaurant we found. Unfortunately, my waistline is taking a serious beating! Gah!! I’ll definitely be on a serious diet when I get back, LOL.

Hope you guys are having a fun weekend!!

Well, I’m home again, after 1500 miles of driving from NYC to Texas and 2000 miles of flying , I am dead dog tired. First thing on the agenda was taking a nap! We had a great time though! This was my third trip flying up to New York to visit Lisa since we met thru our blogs nearly two years ago and every trip has been a helluva lot of fun. We found this small, but great restaurant that served Argentine cuisine in Manhattan and stuffed ourselves on delicious chorizo sausage and an amazing sampler of empanadas. Damn the food was so good, we will definitely be going back to that one!

We went downtown to meet a friend of Lisa’s at Harry’s Bar at the Helmsley Hotel and ended up passing thru Grand Central Station. Although I’ve been there before, years ago, it’s always awe inspiring to see it again. The inside of the terminal is so huge and cavernous with gigantic chandeliers and beautifully done marble work that you can’t help but feel overwhelmed by the scale of the place.

On the drive down, the high points were the beautiful mountain scenery in Virginia and Tennessee and a too short lunch stop in Nashville where we lucked out on finding a cool restaurant called Big River Brewing in the heart of the old town. It was directly across the street from the Hard Rock Cafe along the river front and the food was delicious!

Continuing on, just after crossing the Mississippi River into Arkansas, we were amazed at the number of 18 wheelers on the road. It seemed like there were 10 big rigs for every car we saw, causing me to remark that it seemed like everyone in Arkansas must drive one of these things. This got us to talking about about the ways of truckers and the type of life they lead on the road, away from home and I ended up telling Lisa a secret about one of the favorite pastimes of these guys when they’re driving.

Looking at the photo above, you can see that the driver has quite a vantage point for a nice view of the passenger’s seat in every car that passes them on their left on the highway. The next time you’re in the passenger seat on the interstate, look up at the driver as you pass a truck, you’ll notice that the driver will almost always be looking down at you as you pass. What they’re hoping for is a good view up the skirts of any female passengers. Of course, the best ones are pantiless and sitting somewhat carelessly thinking that no one can see anything. At the very least you might get a nice view of some very shapely legs or cleavage. I know this from personal experience, I drove a big truck for a short while some years ago and I can tell you that the view is much, much better than you might imagine.

Occasionally you run across a female passenger that knows this and takes full advantage of it by deliberately flashing the truck driver as they speed by. Hey, it can get monotonous driving for long hours and thousands of miles like those guys do, sometimes it’s the only entertainment they get!

Further on, we stopped and met Tish which was really cool! She is funny and witty and treated us to a great meal at a local, yet famous cafeteria called Bryce’s. Unfortunately we didn’t get to visit long, we still had quite a ways to go to get to Texas and I had an early morning flight back to New Orleans.

I did get to turn Lisa on to Waffle House food and waffles and Ally da Pup was a lot of fun to have along. Ally is very afraid of car travel though, poor thing had to be tranquilized most of the drive time but she seemed to enjoy the numerous rest stops and motel stays. We did our best to keep her occupied.

Anyway, I had a great time and now I need to get lots more sleep. I’m sure we’ll have more later, hope you guys stayed out of trouble! Have a great weekend!