Tuesday, August 31, 2004
pinions of buddy don: securin the city
bes news is how them protesters so far aint dun nun of the thangs we wuz warned they wuz a'gone do, lack gittin violent or closin down roads n bridges n tunnels. so far bout all they dun is march peaceful lack. tuck em four n a half hours to march past the garden day befor yesterdy. they wuz literly miles of folks marchin by, witch in sum papers they turnt into tens of thousands n in otherns twuz near half a million. twuz the mos folks ever cum out to protest at a cunventchun, so dont matter whut number ye put on it.
logick of them publicans wuz reveald by one of em cummin into the garden tuther day. local newsguy wuz thar to ast whuther she wuz a'scairt of bein in new york. no, she wuznt the lease bit scairt, but she wuz mad. why? on a counta how whenever they had that dimcrat cunventchun up in boston, them publicans dint protest atall. but she wuz mad at them dimcrats fer throwin such big protests agin bush. she wunderd how innybidy could vote fer a party that wood protest the cunventchun of tuther party.
ye mite could see her point. whar do them dimcrats git thar idees of freedum of speech or protest or assembly? reminds me of a lil survey they dun back in the sixties. they ast folks whut they thought bout sevrul of the amendments to the constitushun. thang wuz, over half the folks dint even recognize them amendments as amurkin. a good percent of em figgerd this stuff wuz frum the communist manifesto.
Monday, August 30, 2004
pinions of buddy don: welcum gop! here's whar ye kin git ye sum sangle malt scotch while yer in man hattan
now that the march is over, ye mite could wunder what thay is to do in town. i reckun folks has dun figgerd out witch broadway shows yer allowd to see n witch parties ye git to go to n fer that matter, most everthang ye need to know, but twoodnt sprize me ifn they dun fergot to tell ye whars the best places in town to git yer sangle malt scotch. tiz a oppertunty that ye orta not waste on a counta ye kin git bof the bes prices n bes see-leckshun rite thar in man hattan.
furst, let's mentchun the bes place to find yerself that mythical good sangle malt scotch fer about $20 (rtb standurd).
crossroads wines n spirits
bes place fer that is a likker store name of crossroads, witch heres a map fer how ye git thar n heres a pitcher of it:

tiz located down on 14th street near 6th avenue, witch fer folks frum outta town thay lacks to call thatn avenue of the amurkas, witch heres a pitcher of the sign that lets ye know yer nearby:

heres proof ye kin git a bottle of bowmore legend fer under $20:

corse, the real ackshun is inside, whar ye gut a good see-leckshun:

warehouse wines n spirits
i dun writ bout the nextn, witch thats warehouse wines n spirits. tiz located on braodway twixt 6th n 7th streets or one block west of astor place.
park avenue liquor shop
finely, fer them with money to spend that wonts to git the best see-leckshun of all, thays a famus place name of park avenue liquor, witch as ye kin see frum this here pitchers, tiz located on 41st n madison avenue:

ye kin even read about thisn in michael jackson's grate book, name of Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch. we tride to go by n git sum pitchers on saturdy, but wuz we ever sprized to find out twuz closed. i'm a'hopin they aint a'gone close fer the hole cunventchun, witch i doubt ifn they will. innywho, here's whut it looks lack when ye git closer:

corse, ifn ye git too close, yer a'gone face sum mitey temptayshun, witch ifn yer lucky, ye gonna give in toot:

corse, ye kin git crazy with yer co-lecktin. magine ifn ye wonted to co-leck all them macallans?

lease ye wood know whar to begin.
have a good time while yer in town. buy sum scotch to take home with ye, to remind ye jes how friendly this here town is.
keens chophouse
corse, ye could jes walk down the block frum the garden on 36th street till ye git to keens, whar ye kin see-leck frum a giant menu of sangle malt scotch, witch i dun writ bout keens here n here n here.
thar tiz, gop. hope ye enjoy yer trip. yall cum back real soon!
Friday, August 27, 2004
odd wurk of buddy don: wanderin out to the ole ball game
so tiz nice to git out to the ballpark n git that ole good time feelin. aint nuthin lack the grate pastchur of a ball field to remind ye of lots of the good thangs bout bein alive.
tiz also nice to see yer grown colleagues frum wurk turn into screamin fans. here's a cuple pitchers.
furst, a cuple of our players makin plans fer thar futchur:

nex pitcher is of a ackshun we gut to see too much: them padres gittin em a nuther hit:

Thursday, August 26, 2004
job of buddy don: whut a grate place to wurk
whut a grate job!
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
good times of buddy don: back to keens
bes thang we discuverd bout the evenin? eight wurds: caol ila 12 year unchillfiltered single malt scotch. ye mite wonta git ye sum ifn ye kin find it. me n my irish frien dun gut us sum bottles on thar way to park avenue liquor store, witch tiz thonly one mentioned in michael jackson's book, Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch. (taint the michael jackson ye mite be thankin bout.)
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
pinions of buddy don: one-bit thankin
twuz the same with the mccain-feingold bill, witch he opposed befor he wuz forced to sign it. now hes a'braggin bout it lack twuz his own idee. when they ast him wood he condemn the add by them swift boat liars, he couldnt doot. twooda been too nuanced a posisshun fer him to take. twooda meant havin to thank bout whuther ads that lie should be condemnd rite along with ads that dont lie.
las nite i had me a dream whar i wuz allowed to look inside the brain of mr bush. mayhap on a counta how i wurk with cumputers, the inside of his brain wuz lack a computer ceptn fer one thang: thay wuz only one-bit. thats rite, jes one-bit.
whenever i woke up frum that dream, twuz natcherul to thank twuz only a dream. shorely our presdent kin unnerstand moren jes eethur-or thankin, rite? shorely he dont thank ever nayshun is eethur for us or agin us? shorely he kin see thays at lease sum other possbilties? shorely he kin tell the bein for us the way britain is duz a hole lot more fer us than bein for us the way them saudis is. but ifn ye jes gut one-bit to thank with, thays only two possibull choices: fer/agin.
so whenever it cum to them swift boat liars n the ads they showed in three states but wuz able to trick the librul media into showin on the networks sos everbidy in the cuntry kin see it -- shorely he could tell the differnts twixt them that lies n them that dont? but no, he couldnt. eethur thays all ok or thay aint. they wuz useful in 2000 whenever they wuz leadin the charge on gittin thangs to go his way in florida, witch thatn went by the name of the Bush-Cheney 2000, Inc-Recount Fund, witch ye kin read bout it sum by follerin that lank to kevin drum's site. twuznt no problem havin em then. but the bit has dun flipped: now thar all bad.
magine ifn mr bush could git im jes one more bit: then he wood be able to see four possibilties in sted of jes the two. magin ifn he had a nuff bits sos he could evaluate evidents n change his own mind before karl rove switches the bit sos he kin start supportin the thangs he wuz jes agin? why ye mite git to whar ye had ye a president that could see bof good n evil in places lack pakistan n saudi arabia n france.
corse, ye caint hardly blame mr bush fer his one-bit thankin. that thar elecktoral collidge forces almos ever sangle state into a one-bit deecishun bout which presidentchul candidate gits all thar elecktoral votes.
n corse, thars the media with thar bof sides now habits, witch theys willin to reduce thar news makin computer to jes one-bit whar everthang aint no more cumplex than eethur-or.
Monday, August 23, 2004
pinions of buddy don: bof sides now
so ye gut a organizayshun that (1) had a member of the bush re-selectkshun campain till he wuz smoked out a'claimin (2) that the nashunull recurd fer the past 35 years is rong n (3) tiz up to the person bein accused of lyin by folks with no real evidents to proov he aint lyin even tho (4) the claims of this swift boat vetruns group undermine ever medal ever won in viet nam but (5) they attack kerry fer betrayin viet nam era vets. taint no questcuh of whuther he wuz thar. tiz a questchun of some folks that cums along 35 years later with lies, but the press acks lack thar lies is wurth repeatin over n over agin on a counta whut? that thays folks dumb a nuff to bleeve such drivel? i reckun that mus be it.
innywho, tiz all the fashun to argue bout this. to doot, the press lack to ack lack them swift boat vetruns is jes lack moveon.org, witch ye wunder how that kin be since moveon.org is near four years old n gut its fundin frum loads of small donayshuns frum minny thousands of common folks while the swift boat vetruns only cum about on a counta sum rich bush supporters give em financin sos they kin attack kerry, even ifn they have to lie n go agin thar own record to doot.
ifn we wuz really gittin bof sides now, we wood be seein a comparison of kerrys war recurd n bushs war recurd. one of em disappeard fer four munths n caint find nobidy nowhar to proov he wuz still reportin fer duty. tuthern wuz in viet name fer four munths a'winnin medals n has his crew standin beside im n sevrul otherns as well. so witch duz the press thank is the issue?
taint no wunder why voters gits cynickull bout votin. even the truth aint sacred no more. ifn twuz, all them rite wing christchun types woodnt let sumbidy lie, even ifn twuz in thar behalf. they woodnt wont the support of liars. but they dont say nuthin n that lets ye know everthang ye need to know bout em.
aint nobidy that remembers jesus a'sayin by thar fruits ye shall know them? aint nobidy remembers how good dont cum frum evil ackshuns? aint nobidy remembers how tiz the devil thats the author of the lie? how kin ye do good usin the devils tools?
tiz clear from 3 john 1:11 -- "Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God."
Sunday, August 22, 2004
Saturday, August 21, 2004
pitchers of buddy don: story of a grate day in pitchers
twuz a beeyootiful mornin in man hattan:

i tuck the ferry over frum jersey, witch this is whut it looks lack when folks is gittin offn the ferry over in man hattan:

thays always plenty of folks everwhar:


ye kin see how everbidys a'totin n a'cartin n gittin reddy fer the day:

corse, ye gut yer securty everwhar ye turn:

after the long day at wurk, tiz nice to see this on yer horizon:

inside thay gut em lots of trayshurs, lack the lil bar . .

. . . n the large bar:

this heres my irish frien peruzin the sangle malt scotch menu:

this heres a lil closer view of that same menu, witch ifn ye click on it, ye kin see it bigger:

Friday, August 20, 2004
evenin plans of buddy don: dinner n scotch at keens
ifn only we dint half to wurk furst! but wurk we have n plenty of it. we been as busy as a hill of army ants a'lookin fer sumthin to eat lately. fer instunts, we jes about to finish buildin over 200 of them blue blackberry devices that everbidy in bankin has gut to have, witch this bunch is all fer our analysts, witch they dint used to be able to order em but thangs changed whenever folks gut to lookin a lil closer at week after nex n the rnc n gut to figgern how they dont wonta be in town ifn they kin hep it. thangs has been intents of late!
meanwhile i finely gut a book name of red cavalry by isaac babel that i orderd a long time ago, witch eric over at straight white guy recommended it. i caint hardly wait to read it. eric's a purty good riter his ownself, witch i recommend ye read his own ritin bout a lil battle he witnessed.
speakin of books, i jes finished a cuple i wood recommend to ye. thays bof by frank mccourt, witch thays memoirs of his life. furstns a book name of angelas ashes, witch tiz bout his time in ireland, witch he wuz born in amurka but his folks moved back to limerick whar he wuz razed in such poverty tiz hard to magine. the second is called tiz n it tells bout how he cum to amurka n gut bad jobs but wurked his way up till he gut a degree n started teachin in publick hi skools.
corse i found the topick verr innerestin on a counta how i been riting a long novel name of life n pinions of buddy don, hillbilly, witch tiz based on sum of the thangs i seen n dun in life only taint all spozed to be pure facks but a novel that ye kin make of thangs ye seen. whenever yer ritin fickshun, ye half to member that the way thangs really happens dont make fer good stories, so thays thangs ye kin change to make em a lil better. i been aimin at truth ruther than non-fickshun. thays a differnts.
innywho, one of minny thangs that dun impressd me bout these two books is how he tells on his ownself, witch by that i mean he tells thangs that mos folks mite druther hide, such as how even tho it hurt him a lot how his daddy lef his mama n his bruthers with nuthin n went off to england durin worl war two but dint send no money back on a counta how he drunk it all -- witch tiz hard a nuff -- but then he splains how he follerd in his daddys footsteps n dun sumthin simlar, tho he never fergut to take keer of his lil gurl. but he add mitts to minny a time whar he shoulda gone home to his wife n child but stayed out all nite liftin the glass till he couldnt stand up to vomit. i add mire his honesty n wont to match it, even tho thangs i gut lef to rite wont make me look good no how no way. but thays truth in em.
sides that, i aint gut no room to talk bout how frank mccourt lacked to go out a'drankin on a counta how me n miz bd caint hardly wait fer the day to be over sos we kin gather at keens n try to pick witch sangle malts we wood lack to drank. corse, we dint git a'started drankin till we wuz in our fifties n so far, we aint drunk a nuff at inny one time to git drunk. lease not yet n i hope we kin keep it thataway.
as ye kin see frum the pitcher of our colleckshun of whisky, we aint gut much room to talk bout

Thursday, August 19, 2004
pinions of buddy don: rootin fer the uniform
In newspaper interviews and a best-selling book, Larry Thurlow, who commanded a Navy Swift boat alongside Kerry in Vietnam, has strongly disputed Kerry's claim that the Massachusetts Democrat's boat came under fire during a mission in Viet Cong-controlled territory on March 13, 1969. Kerry won a Bronze Star for his actions that day.ifn thatn dont splain thangs a nuff fer ye, thays this story in the la times name of Veterans Battle over Truth that splains how them swift vote veterans [who will lie] fer truth couldnt cum up with no proof. on the contrairy:
But Thurlow's military records, portions of which were released yesterday to The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act, contain several references to "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire" directed at "all units" of the five-boat flotilla. Thurlow won his own Bronze Star that day, and the citation praises him for providing assistance to a damaged Swift boat "despite enemy bullets flying about him."
What military documentation exists and has been made public generally supports the view put forth by Kerry and most of his crewmates — that he acted courageously and came by his Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts honestly. This view of Kerry as war hero is supported by all but one of the surviving veterans who served with him on the two boats he commanded.whut bothers me bout all this is how it seems to me that at least one side in our divded cuntry dont keer bout whuther whut ye say is true, only ifn it heps thar side win. seems lack it dont even matter whuther thar side is doon inny good, they are a'gone support him, witch twuz innerestin to hear that coleman feller who gut in whenever paul wellstones plane went down splain bout why he had to support alan keyes even ifn he dint agree with much of innythang alan keyes bleeves on a counta how they need thar majority to rule n make thangs better. funny how they gut thar majority but thangs is gittin wurse.
None of the critics quoted in the ad actually served on the boats with Kerry. Some of them also have given contradictory accounts and offered conflicting recollections.
i wudnt never strong one side or tuther till i saw how them publicans wood stop at nuthin to git clinton, even ifn it meant closin the gummint (wudnt that sos we could have a balanced budget? now deficits dont matter?) or accusin the presdint of 'waggin the dog' whenever he wonted to attack osama bin laden. that gut me so disgusted to whar i caint brang myself to vote fer most inny publican.
sad fack is how folks will vote agin thar own intrests jes to support thar side, witch i call rootin fer the uniform. reason i call it this is how in the old days, when ye rooted fer a baseball team, ye could name the players n ye mite even could root fer the team on a counta how ye luved the players. now that ye gut free agency, seems lack thays a differnt baseball team wearin yer uniform ever year. tiz natcherul how ye wood root fer em, but thats only sports.
seems lack in makin votin choices, ye mite wonta cunsidder whuther the players on yer team or the pallsies they support make yer life n the cuntry's well-bein inny better.
i gut a real dose of how this wurks over the weekend. ever since i moved up to new york city back in 1985, i been givin mama a call ever sundy. tiz a way of keepin up with the hole fambly. this past weekend, we wuz discussin thangs. she wuz mad bout the intelligents fail-yers, speshly since daddy wuz a speshul agent with the fbi n wurked in securty all his life. innywho, she wonted to make the point that bad as them publicans are, bad as thar health care pallsies have hurt her, bad as thar tax pallsies have hurt her, aint no way she could vote agin em. so whenever a topick cums up, she tries to splain how the dimcrats is wurser than the publicans.
so the topick wuz intelligents n she gits to splainin thangs a'usin a aneckdote frum when daddy wuz in 'the bureau.' she sed she orta know since he wuz part of the intelligents worl n i give her credit fer havin a informed point of view. then she starts splainin how hoover wuz differnt n wurser whenever them dimcrats wuz in n how they give daddy a hardship transfer back to tennessee, but twuz fer jes a year. she wuz mad as could be bout it n a'gittin wound up a'tellin her story to proov how bad them dimcrats is at runnin u.s. intelligents.
i sed, 'but mama, twuz eisenhower wuz presdint in them days.' she wuz too wound up in her story to notice whut i had sed n anserd, 'eisenhower, whoever, the point is . . . ' n then she splaind how they dint git the hardship transfer increased past jes the one year n daddy dint have no choice but to leave the bureau in 1957. sumhow, this is spozed to show that ye caint trust the dimcrats with the white house. so my own mama is a'gone root fer them publicans on a counta she is rootin fer the uniform.
this kinda thang goes a long way to splainin how thonly voters that matters much is the swang voters on a counta they aint blindly votin fer no uniform: i reckon they must be deecidin who they gone vote fer by lookin at the person a'wearin it.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
pinions of buddy don: whut a dream i had
turnt out the earth couldnt really handle it. thay wuz strange weather: floods n earth quakes n volcanoes. purt soon, glaciers cum down frum the north n started pushin folks outta the cities. price of oil gut to whar nobidy could afford to use it fer much of nuthin.
lucky fer me n miz bd, we had tuck us a vacayshun to the smokey mountains down in our beloved tennessee. while we wuz a'hikin up in thar, a lil war gut a'goin. the middle east wuz still a open wound on the earths body n finely sumbidy deecided to solve the problem once n fer all with a nuclear weppon. once it gut a'goin, seem lack they must a been a'usin em all over the worl. twernt quite on the beach. but twuz a nuff to wipe out mos centers of populayshun. after that, couldnt nobidy keep the utilities a'runnin nor nuthin.
so thar we wuz, out in the wilderness with a few supplies. befor long, we run into a group of folk who had em a lil settlement n whenever they larnt we wuz educated, they ast us did we wonta join em n teach the children n try to rite up a histry of how the modern worl ended.
twuz a nitemare, but twernt all that differnt frum the nitemares i used to have back in the sixties when it seemd lack twuz jes a matter of time till the u.s. n u.s.s.r. fired off all them nuclear weppons they kep pointed at each other. back then, the enemy wuz a cuntry.
now tiz a bunch of folk we caint find n caint identify. thays loose nukes frum the former u.s.s.r. n thays loose material that wuznt guarded whenever we invaded iraq. lots of it wuz looted. who knows whar tiz now? back then, we had more importunt thangs to guard: iraqs oil facilities.
when i woke up, i felt a purr-verse moment of bof disappointment n relief. at lease in the dream, the dreaded, unthankabull thang had dun happend, the nitemare we been a'dreddin all our lives had dun finely cum true, endin the awe full suspense.
now that i'm awake, i hope we kin find us a better way.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
pinions of buddy don: fitin a tacktick
but gittin sumbidy to use a particlar tacktick depends on whut yer goal is n that will determine yer strategy. a tacktick is jes sumthin to hep yer strategy git ye to yer goal.
so whut we are really a'trine to do is to cunvince folks not to use the tacktick of terror attacks. since thats our own goal, seems lack twood make sense to look at the tackticks n strategy we been a'usin to reach our goal. n to do that, at sum point, ye have to look at what makes folks willin to use a tacktick lack terror. n that means, ye have to ast, whut is thar goal n how duz usin the tacktick of terror hep em reach thar goal?
so far, in my pinion, we aint willin to face inny hard ansers on thatn. mr bush lacks to say they hate folks thats free, but that dont make no sense. why wood i hate folks bein free over in a nuther part of the worl so much that i wood wonta kill em? wood i be trine to make em less free? in that case, woodnt i thank i wuz winnin ifn the cuntry i attacked cummenced to restricktin freedum? ifn we wuz to do that, then the terrsts wood be winnin. so when we make laws to restrick our rights, when we settle fer the idee that tiz ok to lock folks up without due process, that we kin take the wurd of the presdent over the laws by witch our nayhsun wuz founded, meanin that we ackcept rule of men over rule of law, witch that goes agin whut the foundin fathers wuz trine to set up, when we do that, then we are heppin them terrists make us less free.
corse, thats on the assumpshun that hatred of our freedum is whut motivates our enemies to use the tacktick of terror. whut if freedum-hatred wuznt the real goal? whut if they had em a differnt goal that they figgerd they could reach usin a strategy the included the tacktick of terror attacks? ifn we wuz a'gone cunvints em to quit usin it, woodnt we have to unnerstand whut thar real goal wuz?
we know osama bin laden wonted the us outta saudi arabia, so he has dun gut that goal. whut else could it be?
one thang is sartin, based on the histry of folks fitin terror in the past. it caint be dun with force. the main thang terrorism has goin fer it as a tacktick is that it gives the weaker party a way of strikin agin opponents thats much stronger. thats whut the ira used agin the english to grate effeck, even tho the english wuz by far the stronger party. thats whut the basque separtists used agin spain. tiz whut the palestinians uses agin the state of israel. in all three cases, overwhelming force has been used over n over agin, but that dint stop nuthin. thonly one that is stopped at the moment of them three is the english vs the ira, n thatn cum to a end by talkin over thar differntses n cummin to agreement on how to live with em.
we gut ourself in a bind over in iraq on a counta we claim to be attackin the terrists. we dun cum up with all kinda eggscuses bout why this is the rite place to attack em. even so, we find ourself in a spot whar the more force we use, the more folks we cunvints to use terror as a tacktick. the number of insurgents, accordin to a recent report in the ny times (Op-Chart; The State of Iraq: an Update -- no longer available, publised August 10, 2004), is goin up ever day. they estimated at the start that twuznt moren maybe 5,000 but now thar sayin tis easly 20,000. n the same report shows that forn fiters aint all that much of a facter.
seems lack we have to figger whut tiz that they wont ifn we really hope to have a chants to cunvints folks not to use the tacktick of terror. twont be done by shootin folks, bombin em, invadin a cuntry of folks lack em. all of that, as has dun been showed, jes stirs up the hornets nest n cunvintses more folks that terror is thonly tacktick they gut. so they keep on a'usin it n purty soon, folks that woodnt never cunsidder it seems to be gittin in on it.
part of the truble fer us is we are equipped to whup nayshun states in a war, one miltary agin tuthern. but taint a state we gut to go agin. the tackticks ye use fer fitin a state kin make yer war on terror go backwards on a counta how when ye bomb folks n have colaterull damage n all, ye git folks made a nuff to whar they wood blow themselves up jes to git back at ye, speshly in a cultchur known fer blood feuds.
tiz lack one of them chinese fanger puzzles whar the harder ye try to pull it off, the titer it stays on. force wont git yer fanger free.
the histry of the worl shows how force wont cunvints folks to quit a'usin the tacktick of terror. when ye git yer fanger in one of them chinese puzzles, ye larn after a while how ye gut to relax n coax it off. ye caint go strate at it with force.
sadly, the same is true whenever yer trine to git folks to quit usin terror. at sum point, ye gut to evaluate whut the enemy's goal is n how usin the tacktick of terror fits the stategy to achieve them goals. it dont mean ye have to give in, but ye gut to unnerstand.
corse, ye mite be accused of bein sensitive ifn ye do.
Monday, August 16, 2004
pinions of buddy don: thoughts on a scotch blend
thats the mane problem with sangle malt scotches: they kin git eggspensive. fer instunts, at that sangle malt scotch tastin we attended at keens las may, the sangle malt that got the mos votes frum the audients fer favert wuz lagavulin 16. twuz the favert fer me n miz bd also. we lacked the glenmorangie 18 verr well n twuz a bit o'luck how miz bd won her a bottle, witch we aint opened it yet n i wunder will we ever open it. we also been given a cuple gifts of scotch. my boss give us a bottle of tobermory 10 sumbidy had give him without knowin he dint keer fer the taste of scotch no how no way. we gut a bottle of macallan 18 frum my irish friend, witch he knows we luv sangle malt scotch even moren he n his wife duz. we gut a bottle of glenlivet 12 matured in french oak casks frum the last visiters to nyc. n we dun bought us a bottle here n there that we aint opened n tiz easy to see how a bidy could git to collecktin.
corse, the proof is in the tastin -- the nose, the taste, the finish, the balance -- n we luv it so much that we dun split our supplies twixt weekend malts -- talisker, laphroaig, ardbeg, ledaig n other such faverts -- n the weekday malts, yer cheaper varities, witch theys all good. sean connery is quoted as sayin sumthin lack, 'scotch straight up. any sangle malt'll do.' tiz a fack that sangle malt scotch is kindly lack sex. when tiz good tiz grate n when taint so good, tiz still purty grate. i lack to save the taste of scotch fer the weekend n durin the week lack as not i'll stick to jack daniels.
taint lack we drank verr much of innythang cummin frum famblies loded with alkyholicks. we purty much lack a shot in the evenin n mayhap a shot n a splash on a weekend evenin. we dont lack bein drunk, but we luv the taste n nose n feel of scotch that dont git ye sloppy.
innywho, tuther day i wuz researchin scotches in genrul, figgern when me n miz bd kin mayhap take a tour of the distillries over thar in scotland. thays minny a site that covers scotches n i wuz a readin thisn, witch they have a site fer mos ever distillres, including lagavulin. whut i found so sprisin wuz this:
"Decanter" magazine compared the relationship of Lagavulin and Laphroaig on Islay with that of Cheval Blanc and Petrus in Bordeaux. In name at least Lagavulin must be Cheval Blanc as it contributes whisky to the White Horse blends and the animal decorates the distillery sign. At a glance the cream- painted distillery buildings could be an inn called the White Horse. The distillery's water arrives by way of a fast-flowing stream that no doubt picks up plenty of peat on the way. The maturation warehouses are battered by the sea and have their own jetty. When the seas are high, Lagavulin's outer walls are knee-high in salt water.i hadnt never give much thought to whut sangle malts git into yer scotch blends. i had noticed how them blends wuz a lot cheaper than yer sangle malts n a time or two me n miz bd has ordered dewars or johnny walker black label n they wuz ok. whenever i red bout how lagavulin is one of the mane ingredients in white horse scotch, i figgerd twood be wurth checkin how much it cost. much to my sprize, twuz only $16.99 fer a liter of it. yer lagavulin goes fer sumwhars twixt $50 - $70 fer a bottle cordin to whar ye buy it. so we wuz a lil less than hopeful bout that white horse. turnt out to be fine. mitey fine. taint quite lagavulin, but tiz a hole lot bettern jes 25% - 34% as good, witch thats the percentidge ye gut to pay. looks to me lack them blends deserves a bit more attenchun that we dun give em.
aint life grand? thays so much to discover, even after yer all growd up.
Friday, August 13, 2004
pinions of buddy don: thangs that make a hillbilly wunder
one man spent most of his furst forty years drankin n runnin one cumpny after a nuthern into the ground. tuthern spent the same time servin as prosecuter n senator. is this hypocriticull?
one of em sez
- he woodnt never use our troops as nayshun bilders, then sends em to bild nayshuns in afghanistan n iraq;
- sez he wont support a 9/11 commission, then duz support it;
- sez he wont testify befor the 9/11 commisshun but then sez he kin chat with em long as he kin have his veep thar n caint be recorded n caint nobidy take no notes;
- claims to be callin fer a era of personull responsibilty, then sez he kin chat with that thar 9/11 commisshun long as he kin have his veep thar n caint be recorded n caint nobidy take no notes;
- sez he wont support a homeland security dierecktor, then he duz;
- sez he wont allow his nashunull securty dierecktor to testify, then he duz;
- sez stem cells is livin humans n then sez tiz ok to use sum of em fer resurch (on the theory, i reckun, that taint as much of a sin to murder only a few times n not a lot);
- sez life begins at concepshun, but dont do nuthin to keep in vitro fertilizayshun frum bein allowd, witch thatn means deestruckshun fer hunderds of thousunds of unused fertilized zygotes;
- sez he dont wonta let gummint grow, then grows it with moren a million new fedrul jobs n a gigantick new medicare drugs benefit fedrul entitlement progrum
ole hillbilly gits to whar he caint hardly stand the hipockrussy of it all n wishes he could quit pain a tenchun toot. but then he wakes up n no matter whut he sed the day before, flip flops his ownself n starts readin the papers, hopin fer sumbidy to make him bleeve in the medya agin.
he orta know bettern that by now. the medya will serve thar owners.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
life of buddy don, chaptur 127: the group grows
ye mite wunder how ye could git a bunch of arrowgunt graduwait student woodbe riters together to whar they wonted to spend ever fridy evenin together, readin whutever they dun scribbled out in that week n twuz purt amazin. corse, thay wuz the occashunull fuss n fite, but twernt sumthin that happent all that often.
but the arrowgunts wuz thar frum the beginnin n how could it be otherwise? ifn ye wonta larn yerself how to do sumthin that aint easy, ye gut to bleeve ye kin doot n mayhap that ye kin doot as well as innybidy that ever has dunnit. ifn ye wonta play the peeano, then ye gut to bleeve ye kin even when ye caint. yer furst efforts wont sound lack much of nuthin, sartinly not lack nuthin good. but ye caint quit n ifn ye keep on tiz on a counta bleevin that sumwhars inside ye thars a peeano picker jes dyin to git his fangers limberd up rite to whar he kin play good a nuff that folks wonts to listn. same is true of riters. ye mite could thank how ritin wood be easy n i reckon thats whut makes so minny folks thank theys riters.
ifn ye dun much ritin, ye had to run into loads of folks that tells ye bout how theys riters but whenever ye ast to see sumthin they dun writ, twill be a story bout how they dont have nuthin reddy yet or how they still makin notes bout whut they a'gone rite sumday or even how they gut the hole story locked up in thar heds to whar ifn ye aint keerful, theyll make ye sit still till they dun tole ye ever idee they ever had bout whut they wonted to rite.
agin, ifn ye dun much ritin, ye dun larnt how taint near as easy as it looks. tiz one of the mane problems with mos innythang sumbidy duz well. stand up comicks look lack they jes sayin the furst thang the cums into thar heds only tiz always funny. ifn ye ever try it, ye find out that ye gut to have yer hed full befor ye start n ye gut to practiss how ye stand n how ye say mos innythang ye wonta make funny. grate ackters make it look lack they aint even acktin. same is true fer grate athletes n grate singers n yew name it.
ifn ye dun much ritin, ye know that one of the hardest thangs bout it is how ye gut to start over ever time ye wonta git the nex page writ. i member how mama used to say that the hardest thang bout washin the dishes is gittin up offn the couch. tiz a good line on a counta them dishes aint never as hard to wash as they seem to be befor ye git to the sink. but hard as washin dishes is to start, taint hard to cumplete. ritin is even harder to start n almost impossibull to cumplete. aint lack when ye finish with yer days ritin ye gut a cabnet full of clean flatware. at the end of a good day, ye lackly scribbled on a few pages that needs to be rewrit n then needs to be fit in with sumthin longer.
ifn ye dun much ritin, ye know tiz kindly lack climbin a mountin whar ye go up fer a while n then have to go back down to git to the nex slope n git a lil higher only ye caint hardly tell much bout how far ye dun cum. n bout the time ye thank yer a'gittin close, ye see the nex higher place n cum to find out ye gut to go down furst befor ye kin go up agin. ye could do that till ye give up without never gittin to the top. n thang is, thays plenty a mountin whar once ye dun clumb to the top, aint hardly no view fer the trees. thays minny a thang gits writ thataway n sumtimes tiz only tuther folks that kin tell how good whut ye writ wuz.
tiz one of them odd thangs bout ritin n histry. minny of them we calls the grates wuznt recon eyesd during thar lifetimes. ye gut yer emily dickinson that dint publish but four poems durin her lifetime. ye gut yer kafka who ast his friend to burn everthang he had writ. ye gut yer faulkner that had gone near outta print till them french started a'readin im. even ifn yer grate, folks mite not give ye whut ye dun urnt, witch the way sully-prudhomme beat out leo tolstoy fer the furst nobel prize is purty good proof of that.
a nuther oddity bout riters is how they dont know witch of thar wurks wuz good n witchns wuznt. faulkner figgerd his best wurk wuz a fable. mark twain thought his joan of arc wuz the best. even marcel proust, the worls gratest novelist in my pinion, even he gut to doubtin whuther he wuz inny good n thays a famus moment when he let hisself git intimidated by andre gide a'winnin the prix goncourt n thankin how he had wasted his time a'ritin one of the worls gratest novels, rembrance of things past, witch he gut to thankin he had dun put in all the rong deetails.
so ifn ye git a room full of graduwait students who thanks they all a'gone win the nobel prize, ye kin speck a lot of arrowgunts n lots of folks thankin whut they dun writ wuz grate when twernt or wuz lousy when twuz good or even grate. heres a lil list of the main folks in the group by fall of 1981:
- henry mouffette. he bleevd he wuz so grate that his ritin wood start a litarairy movement. thang wuz, he jes had the one poem he had writ n even tho he hepped git the group a'goin, he only cum to the furst two meetins, witch he red us the same poem bof times. after than we never seen im at the group agin tho we did have lots of fun talkin bout how he wood git into long monologs bout the abyss, witch he pronounced it lack 'the abbess,' n how twuz all he could do to keep frum fallin in the abbess n givin way to deespair.
- kerry reed. the feller cum in a'splainin bout how grate he wuz. he wuznt a graduwait student, but he hung aroun em a nuff to whar he herd bout the group. he wonted to be the reincarnayshun of jack kerouac but lack henry, he had jes writ the one poem, witch his wuz a haiku n a dam goodn, but after he red it to us twice, he quit a'cummin.
- joseph cooper. speakin bout laffin, lack i dun mentchuned bout joe cooper, he writ stories so funny the group wood make im stop sos we could catch our breath. he wuz a graduwait student in the same class with us, but the group killt his graduwait career on a counta how he wood spend his week a'ritin a new story n woodnt do no class wurk. he quit skool sumtime in the summer n went to atlanta georgia to git im a job but thangs dint wurk out. one day he wuz back, a'knockin on our door n wunderin could he stay with us. we had a exter bedroom so we let im roll out his sleepin bag on it. he stayed with us mos of that quarter n writ more verr funny stories, but then he gut im a job drivin a airport limo. purt soon he dint cum to group no more n then he gut im a room over in alcoa n twuz the last we seen of im fer minny a year. but i run into one time on a airplane frum knoxvull to new york by way of atlanta n i ast him how his ritin wuz a'goin. he laffd n sed once he quit cummin to the group, he never writ nuthin else agin. he sed fack wuz, he dint really rite nuthin new once he gut outta grad skool. he sed he needed to be avoidin his real wurk befor he could git in the mood to rite n ever since he gut to drivin limos, thay wuznt no way to avoid it, sartinly not by sittin in the graduwait liberry pertended he wuz a'studyin whenever he wuz ritin a nuther verr funny story.
- alexis st johns. she wuz a beeyootiful gurl frum new orleans whar her mama had been a pure french creole n her daddy the deesendent of slaves. she wuz verr lite skinned n sum folks wood ast wuz she black behin her back, witch twuz a sign of jes how racist we all wuz in so minny ways, witch i dint really larn much bout how deep that problem went till i wuz a'teachin english over at knoxvull collidge. innywho, she had writ a novel that she sed wuz no good even ifn she did read the furst chaptur n we all thought twuz verr intimidatin, witch the best compliment a riter kin give ye is how he figgerd he wood quit ritin on a counta how he couldnt never rite nuthin as good as the riter he wuz a'complimentin. thang wuz, she never red us a nuther wurd but wood cum n sit by me ever fridy to whar everbidy wuz talkin bout wuz we havin a thang till finely emily ast her wuz she a'wontin to have a flang with her husbin, witch that wuz me n i wuz standin rite thar at a party a pickin out some crackers n cheese to eat n alexis had cum to grab my elbow n ast wuz thay innythang good to eat. after that party we never seen her agin n folks tole me i musta been thonly one that dint notice how she wuz sweet on me.
- sam johns. he wuz a graduwait student a'wurkin on his docktrut. he innerduced applause to the group whenever he herd me read a chaptur outta crap notes. when i gut to the end, he looked roun the room, held up his hands, n gut to clappin. twuz a bad moment in lots of ways on a counta after that, ye mite could thank the hole goal wuz to git folks to clap whenever ye quit readin fer the week. thang bout sam wuz he could mimick innythang frum a petrarchun sonnet to a raymond chandler hard boiled detective story to italo calvino, but he couldnt rite nuthin that wuznt no parody of sumthin else. thang wuz, he wuz rite funny, but he tuck offents ifn ye laffed.
- lauren stewart. she wuz marrd to billy stewart, witch he wuz the new york jew i tole ye bout back in chaptur 122, how the group wuz born. she writ poetry n wuz real shy bout it. sumtimes she wood read n ye couldnt hear nothin till ye insisted she speak up a bit to whar we could here. she wood try to pall gize befor readin, witch we dint allow no pall gies whenever a person wuz a'readin, but she wood always find a way to slip one in. thang is, thay wuznt nuthin to pall gize bout. yet i wood be willin to bet she aint never publishd nuthin n probly aint never tride to. we had to beg her to reed ever time n sumtimes, ye couldnt git her to read nuthin no how no way.
- jake dawes. he wuz a poet n a short story riter. he cum in fer the furst time whenever he herd bout the group after startin the graduwait program in the fall of 81. he wuz bout the mos arrowgunt of all only he had the good ritin to prove it. seem lack he wuz always in the group n he becum one of the main members. he gut to be bes friends with bud rankin, witch that wuz fine fer me.
- bud rankin. i dun writ a bit bout him. thang wuz, he started cummin to the group the secunt or third time it met. he red us sumthin so bad it led to the furst critic, billy stewart, sayin he lacked stories whar he could tell who wuz in it n whut wuz happenin n whar it all tuck place, witch that made everbidy laff n bud rankin turnt a shade of red ye dont see lessn sumbidys spillin blood. the nex week bud red us sumthin that mite coulda been wurse. ever week he wood brang sumthin new. seem lack he wuz trine to rite whutever faulkner wooda dun ifn he had tuck a lot of lsd n smoked a lot of theevil weed n tride to rite whilest he wuz a'doon it. but thang wuz, bud wood rite sumthin new ever week n i gut to whar i wood add mire how he gut bettern better.
- bud duncan. folks lacked to call me bud by then on a counta how it made it seem lack i wuz all growd up. later on folks wood git on me fer thankin is wuz leader of the group only they had to add mitt i hadnt never sed i wuz. twuz jes sumthin bout the way i ackted. i reckun ye caint git much more arrowgunt than i wuz n mayhap i aint changed all that much since. innywho, folks wuz a lil intimidated by the fack that i had dun writ a hole novel. furst few meetins, i wood try to rite sumthin new n read it to the group, but after a lil while, i real eyesd how i dint have a nuff time, or lease i cunvintsed myself i dint, so i gut to readin frum crap notes. whenever we met, we wood git together round 7:30 n pass theevil weed n drank sum beer or wine or whutever. i wood be the one to ast who had brung em sunthin to read. i wood ast who wonted to go furst. after bud rankin had dun read, witch he almost always had to go furst on a counta how he wuz so nervus, then i wood ast who wonted to go nex. innybidy coulda dun the astin, but i wuz the one that dun it n then i wood end up readin last. twuz a blessin i wuz readin frum sumthin so long on a counta thay wuz meetins whar thonly other person with sumthin to read wuz bud rankin. so i could read a chaptur n ifn folks wonted more, i wood read a lil more. corse, fer new folks, we had to brang em up to date on the story so far, so it gut to whar billy stewart could give ye a grate lil sinopsus of the novel.
after that meetin, billy calld me n sed sumthin hadda be dun so i tole joe n he calld bud n bud tole jake n jake run into sam n splaint it to him n purty soon, six or seven of the reglars gut together over at the stewarts in south knoxvull n ast whut could we do to keep a good thing from gittin overgrown n goin bad. we lacked meetin at laurens on a counta twuz large n cumfy n rite thar in fort sanders. she lacked it too. but we had to figger sumthin. we mite start havin dues. or chargin at the door. or jes sayin after the 12th person gut in, nobidy else wood be allowd, but thang wuz how sam johns wuz generly bout 30 mints late n dint nobidy wonta keep him out.
so i cum up with a lil idee, witch twuz the kinda thang i dun that made folks thank i wuz the leader n then hate me fer it, but at the time, they figgerd twuz the purr feck solushun. my idee wuz that we wood move the group frum one reglars place to a nuther. we could deecide on the nite of a readin whar we wuz a'gone meet nex n only the folks that wuz attendin wood know. everbidy lacked the idee n thats whut we gut to doon. we dint take no vote. twuz jes deecided sum kinda way whar everbidy agreed befor they knew it.
when ye thank bout it, twuz the mos arrowgunt solushun we could git: only the insiders wood be in on whar we wuz a'gone meet. twuz a purrfeck fit fer a bunch of arrowgunt graduwait student woodbe riters.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
pinions of buddy don: losers wurds -- wooda coulda shoulda fonly
taint no big deal ifn such wurds is used bout sports on a counta sports dont really matter all that much. but when pall tishuns start usin em, ye kin bet they have a losin argument.
fer instunts, after the lousy jobs numbers cum out earlier this week, mr bush n tutherns amungst his folks wuz splainin that twuznt really bad but ifn twuz, twernt as bad as it coulda been n woulda been fonly the presdents purrfeck pallcies hadnt been used. heres a typicull eggzample frum the washington posts frunt page:
"Who knows what the economy would have looked like without the tax-cut packages?" asked Stephen Gallagher, chief economist at the investment firm S.G. Cowen & Co. "We might not be happy where we are, but it likely would have been much worse."this is a argument that opposes whuts real with the worl of losers wurds: 'wooda coulda shoulda fonly.' heres a translayshun:
tiz a fack the economy shoulda dun better, but it coulda been wurser n wooda been wurser fonly it hadnt been fer the pallsies we put in place n promissd wood wurk ceptn they dint lessn ye figger how much wurser thangs could wooda shoulda been fonly we had used inny pallsies but the verr ones we used.corse, ye kin translate most of whut the administrayshun sez bout iraq or terrist attacks into the same langwage.
but we aint gut time fer that over whar i wurk: we gut to git reddy fer the rnc, witch everbidy is doon thar bes to git outta town: my boss n his boss n his boss is all takin vacayshuns. fack is, i shoulda tuck one n coulda tuck one n wooda tuck one fonly i had noticed how folks is a'scairt that they caint be pertected proper lack durin the event on a counta thays a slew of folks that wonts to dissrup the cunventchun. but i caint hep but thank fonly they kin perteck us, witch miz bd lacks to point out that a point that begins with fonly aint verr lackly to punkchur nuthin! but i gut to hope they kin perteck us on a counta, i caint git no vacayshun fer that week now ...
i shoulda ...
i coulda ...
i wooda ...
fonly i had!
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
pinions of buddy don: ifn wishes wuz wings
i wish ifn we have a enemy that attacks us, we wood go after that enemy with everthang we gut, not git side-tracked n spend all our money n resorces attackin sumbidy that dint have nuthin to do with it.
i wish when we eggzamine the bes way to go we wood member the lessons we larn frum ever sport season we ever seen: offence is importunt, but defense wins champeenships.
i wish when we wonta brang a organizayshun that attacks us (lack al qaeda) to surrender that we woodnt make a miss take that gives em new recruitin possibilities so that even ifn we captchur thar leaders, they woodnt be able to replace em with plenty more.
i wish all the homeland securty money wuz spread round based on the threats in sted of bein used lack a entitlement program fer rural states, witch we're spending $5.03 per person in californy (whar thays minny a target fer a terrist) n $37.94 per person in wyoming.
i wish everbidy in the cuntry that spends 50% more per capita than any other cuntry in the worl on health care could afford health insurants.
i wish the cuntry that spends more per capita on health insurants than inny othern in the worl ranked higher than 37th in health care n could beat out cuntries lack colombia, chile, saudi arabia n sinagpore.
i wish whenever the presdint goes round splainin how we iz turnin the corner on the economy it woodnt mean we wuz goin round in circles that dont seem to be gittin nowhar.
i wish i could quit keerin bout all this pall ticks so much n could jes git up n rite on my novel everday.
pinions of buddy don: faith n hope vs fear n frustrayshun
Monday, August 09, 2004
obsesshuns of buddy don: whar to by yer sangle malt scotch in man hattan
here's the kinda cum-on they have in thar winder:
but the ackshun is inside:
a lil closer view:
ifn yer rich, ye kin git em to open this here cabnet:
here's a closer look:


