know in most cases i believe that "Reality TV" isn't....but i've been watching for awhile "Street Outlaws"...but IMHO i think that it's may be reality tv, but i know those guys are " Meshugener".[if you don't speak Yiddish there is a link to a Yiddish dictionary on the right] but i've added a link over on  the right for "Street Outlaws".

the weather over the last month or so has been 2 or 3 clear days, then 2 or 3 days with rain and or snow....since i don't drive anymore and it's hard  to impossible for me to get out in the rain or snow i've been watching the weather closely to pick days to walk...rain and or snow for the next two days, but woke up and the rumitiz was acting up and the legs, well they did reach from my hips to the floor, but can't say much more for them...did take a short walk to get things i might run out of, but probably shouldn't have...

the movie "Kingsmen" is playing on HBO, and admittedly i've only caught the last hour, twice, but what i did see, i'm not sure i'd what to waste the time to see it all, but i can see where it would appeal to those who like shooter video games...i thought i wasn't watching a movie but looking over someone's shoulder playing a video game...not my cup of tea ....but

went to my Sis's place for thanksgiving dinner yesterday, and i got thinking of family gatherings of the past....for a while i was the kid, the younger generation, but marriage, kids, for  the longest time we were the middle generation, and know with the passage of time i find myself in the older generation, the last generation, my elders in our extended family have all passed....at one time all our immediate family was close by, holiday meals were a house full....yesterday there were only 8 for dinner...family now is spread out hither and yon........

i used the term "meower" on a G+ community and no one seemed to know what i was talking about, although i wasn't there at the beginning of the internet, i guess i was online before all of the peeps on that  G+ community... went on line in '96 [ that's 1996, not 1796...despite what some peeps think i not that old] but my D went away to university..and i got a computer so we could email...but i soon found Usenet [basically what was called bulletin boards....kind of a early form of G+]...i posted to a bible board, a classical music board, a brain teaser board, a bible study board, a jewish board, and for the sake of this post 'rec.sport.golf'...and that's where my path crossed with the  meowers...they began as a bunch of bored Harvard law students...who took over a lame fan board, and decided to launch troll/flame attacks on what they decided were lame boards...and attracted a mixed bag of followers...a couple who decided to attack rec.sport.golf....i emailed and IMed the moderator of the board and we decided rather then to ban them, we'd pay them a visit, and retaliate...well in the end a truce was formed, although i would from time to time play with them, although i never went raiding with them..
[if your interested check out "The one true History of Meow" [link]]

i was watching a news forum and they asked the peeps their funny thanksgiving stories..and it reminded me of a story that i had to get in "the way back machine" [or if you prefer the "WABAC machine] to remember...i was ten...just short of my 11th birthday and my bro was about 10 months old...now the church we attended at the time had a morning service on Thanksgiving...mom was busy, at the same time trying to prep the turkey and get my brother ready for church... our kitchen had a double sink....the turkey thawing in one and my bother getting his morning bathe in the other....
two things:
1] i wished that i had a camera
2] i've given my bro flak about it for years...
[ to put a date on it, it was 1958]

i  just saw a TV ad, one of the funniest ads i've ever seen, also very true to life.....they showed a video with cats all dressed up in holiday garb...if fact one as a turkey...and the cats were not happy....i had cats for years and i can tell when they want to kill, at the end a text come up  "Help them forgive and forget"....and then you see the kicker...a well know brand of cat treats....what a gas....

i'm not sure whether i'm losing my mind [but there again there are peeps who would say i  never found it to begin with, or worse i never had a mind to find anyway] or am i just forgetful, they do say that with age your memory is the second thing that you lose[and i can't remember what the first thing was.] or am i just a creature of habit. who didn't grow up with computers...i never wear a watch...i'll be sitting here typing away madly...and look at my alarm clock for the time, some times the alarm clock is buried...and forget there's a time display on the task bar of my laptop..........oy vey........

so we finally got the first snow of the winter, well technically it's still autumn but  the lines get blurred in the North Country....it's still snowing but probably will not amount to more then maybe 3"...but with the temp in the 40s'F tomorrow and the 2 days after that in the 50s'F....won't stay around too long...

from the time i was knee high to a grasshopper, i was told by teachers, friends of my parents, and most of my friends, that i was nuttier than a fruit cake....now to be honest i always took it as a compliment but i could  tell by their tone of voice and their body language that's not exactly what they had in mind.
but here's my present problem...as i sit here written with a cold drink and munching on fruit cake, does that constitute cannibalism?
{ the mad one starts to run away, stops grabs the cold drink and the fruit cake, and walks away laughing, and happily munching fruit cake...can't help my self i like fruit cake}

i have a conundrum, on one hand i'd like to have more hits on my blogs, on the other hand i really do this for me...it's cathartic {(Gesundheit!)...........(hehe)}

(the mad one wonders off be for the German language police show up...but keeps watch for a black and white Porsche)

on one of the G+ communities i mostly lurk, but reply from time to time a peep posted a video clip which claimed to prove God without referring to the scriptures. basically the short version...someone made a cellphone, a plant is more complex then a cellphone therefore someone made the plant. it's an old argument from the 16th and 17th centuries..know as Deism, but that only gets you so far, in fact the Deists argued that God created the universe and walked away...and i'm sure the the ancient alien theorists would contend it was an alien presence in concert  with evolution,not God...the argument only gets you so far...peeps who believe in Theism not only believe in the creator God or gods, and that they are involved to a less or greater degree in universe and the people of the universe....
Christianity is monotheistic...one God who is both the creator and concerned about his people, but  you can only get to belief thru faith...not logic, not science, not empirical reasoning.

lovely from tomorrow morning thru monday morning we are under a lake effect snow warning...plus a high wind advisory.....why didn't  i fly south with the ducks and cranes

when the Bill of Rights was written over 200 years ago, and religious freedom was included, it was was intended to guard against the state church concept that most countries in europe had. that we know, but what we forget is that when they said religion, what they were thinking of was the christian religion, and although there were certainly separatist,there were few if any militant sects. now certainly most religions have a evangelistic approach, both the christian and islam faiths share this element. however how do we separate the faith from the aggressive militant sects...the extreme fundamentalist whether christian or muslim. without interfering with the faith of the rest of adherents,others who are not militant...without demonizing those who don't believe as the militants do.
Not an easy task,
but inflammatory rhetoric by those with a public voice, not only does no good, but does great harm...The threat is real...and all i hear from our leaders is rhetoric..political statements...not solutions...be there any....
it's time that those with a public voice, quit playing politics, put their heads together..and come up with  positive solutions.

have you ever noticed that if you see a Duluth Trading Co. ad on TV. that if they are advertising the men's clothing line all you every see is cartoons,, but if the it's the lady's line although they sometimes use cartoons, there are also always pics of real red blooded babes
( the mad one is confused (and if you believe that....))

don't get it twisted, the world must deal with the threat of ISIS...but if we think it is possible to destroy it , that's arrogant, we can with great difficulty defeat the adherents, but the ideology will remain
the allies defeated the 3rd Reich, but  Nazism still remains.
Osama Bin Laden is dead, but Al-Qaeda and the ideology still remains.
and the same with the Taliban they've been damaged but they and the ideology still remain
we must try stop ISIS for now with great difficulty, at great expense, and loss of life maybe, but the ideology will remain and could  resurface,
maybe we can control it, but it would be arrogant to think you can destroy the ideology.....history says differently.......
[the mad wanders off, being serious makes his head hurt]

didn't post yesterday, and i could claim a number of meaningless excuses,but the truth is my mind was in a fog yesterday, not the first time but definitely won't be the last...nothing to do but just veg out on those days

this is getting to be a real bore, Windows updates, again,...this time about 2&1/2 hours, at least this time for the first 2 hours or so i could still use the computer....but  i'm sure after the last updates the message said the next updates would be in 28 days...and that was less then 2 weeks ago.......
( the mad one's head hurts...he was never good at the "new math")
( update:actually it was 11 days)

i probably watch to much TV. but here's a question based on observation:
which ads show the most:
1) the one where drug companies push their new wonder drugs...
or
2) where law firms push you to sue the a fore mention drug companies over their old wonder drugs
(the mad one shakes his head.........and wanders off confused)

i've been up for 5 hours, took first walk in the realm for 3 days, cold but not raining was told it did snow last night but light and no after effects ( aka it didn't stick) stopped a few places, the cupboard was getting a little bare...that took about an hour...just looked at the clock and realized:
a) i haven't turned the boob box on yet (aka TV)
b) the drink i made when i got back all the ice is melted
c) all i've done is mess around on the net
posted to two of my blogs, messed with the layouts and templates on two, did some surfing for links and images...posted to G+...left some communities...joined others...
d) and forgot to eat
( the mad one be jamming)

i have come to the conclusion that i can't leave well enough alone, i play with words, play with my food, play dumb (hehe) and most definitely play with my blogs...have spent a large chunk of the morning added new posts, changing the background, adding gadgets, and rearranging the furniture..

blog in question ( well all my blogs are questionable but ...) "Trollie Hangs Ten" (link)

i don't spend an inordinate amount of time on G+ but i have a few ideas how to improve it....one of your options is a button to add a " +1" to a post or comment with which you agree etc, i wish they also had a button to add a (-1) when it was inappropriate, rude, or just plain nonsense. except some peeps would see a whole bunch of minuses as a badge of honor. actually so would i depending on what community i posted to...it would not be the first time i "stirred the pot"

the forecast has changed again, they know predict more snow then they originally did, however with:
a) the ground isn't frozen yet
b) it is predicted to be in the 60'sF early next week
c) the chances of it sticking are slim to  none

( i realize that i just posted..but since this has nothing to do with the other..second post)
okay shoot me ( not literally). but i like watching the show "Pawn Stars"...although i sometimes refer to it as Pawn Whores...(oops)...but i get a charge out of peeps who think:
1)  that they can get retail price
2) that thing that the price peeps on E-Bay are asking is what it's worth
3) that just because their great, great, grandmother's 100 years old bra is worth 1000's when  it's not worth spit (okay so i exaggerate a bit)
4)or just because they say it's real doesn't make it so
5)or think they know more then the experts the guys call in

with the fact that it rained most of the day, and i didn't get out yesterday, and tomorrow's forecast is for rain most of the day and possible snow friday evening... i ordered delivery chinese food, but the weird thing is i call, said i "i would like to arrange for delivery" and the girl who answered said, my address...oy vey....now i will admit to ordering from the same place over the last 5 or so years many times...but not for the last 4 months or so...so the question is do they have caller id, or do i have a very unique voice that can be very recognizable ...been told that for years, i have a slightly higher pitch voice then most males...i am after all a high tenor...but it's the reason i've never done any obscene phone calls (well not the only reason...but it sounded good)....
( oh if you really need to know: a small order of boneless spare ribs, a pint of egg drop soup, and mushroom egg foo young.)
(if your ever in Watertown NY...2000-Chinese Restaurant-)

i was clashing sabers (well not literally) on G+, and the stream of logical fallacies was boggling my mind...so i went a surfing, and found a list of logical fallacies...though i did study formal logic in college...it was a few years ago (okay okay on the order of 45+ years ago)....when i found the listing i remembered a few i had forgotten, and they were being used against the community the posts were on..I realized that it made no sense  however to call the poster(s) on the fallacies...
( bye the bye you will find a link to the list over yonder...(on  the right)

if i see, read, or smell one more time i may barf (not literally) the reference to the exodus in the old testament as the crossing of the Red Sea.in scripture the words are Yam Suph meaning the Reed Sea (or literally " sea of reeds" or " sea of seaweed")...the Hebrew for red sea is totally different.....now it's true that Yam Suph does no longer exist, well that's not quite true, it's a dry lake bed,  blame the Suez canal for that...

NY State in it's overreaching ways has determined that Draft Kings et al are illegal gambling ( don't believe it check here) but there again in NYS off track betting is legal (see here) if you check the link you'll see the part where NYS gets a cut of the revenue. now get me, i don't use any of the a fore mentioned sites...neither the fan sites or OTB for that matter. so as an independent observer...i propose the following question:
Is the state banning Draft Kings et al because of harmful effects on us, the "proud citizens of good old NYS" or because they aren't getting a cut of the revenue?
( the mad one wanders off...humming to himself....)

( sound of a foghorn..dang i thought i had fixed the rant alert)
when discussing historical events i really wish peeps would consider the historical and cultural context of the period..rather then apply modern views, concepts, or cultural to a period where our views etc. did not exist, there's an old saying which applies here "we weren't there" (well maybe not that old...but i'm old and have said it for years)

could be an "interesting" end of the week, tomorrow may have rain early but starting Thursday (named for the Norse god Thor) for three days at this point the forecast is that it will rain 72 straight hours..(does anyone know how to build an ark, or a rowboat or have a Mae West life vest, i'd ask for Mae West but she's been gone for almost 35 years) but then the forecast has been wrong before.

was reviewing my stats and noticed that my hit counter was at :13666. the mad one shakes in fear, Triskaidekaphobia together with the number of the antichrist.. run and hide ...run and hide...(hehe)....
when i played soccer in college for a couple of years wore the #13....asked for it...and as to 666...some of the greek manuscripts show the number as 616...
(truth is i'v always wanted to have an excuse to use triskaidekaphobia  is a post...but that's the trollie in me)

was wandering around the net looking for the origins for the names we use for days, 3 are based on roman myths, and the other 4 on norse myths...but in the process found a good site for researching mythology..have added a link on the right.

anyone who has read this blog at all, knows that:
a) i love to play with words
b) i like puns
c) and really love bad puns
therefore enjoy (or not) the following fishermen/fish jokes
1) did you hear about the two fisherman who fished only for the "halibut"
2) or the two fishermen from Finland, so any who two fish were watching them said one " don't let that fin-land-ya"(my since apologies to Jean Sibelius)
3) (lastly) did you hear about the two salmon who were swimming up stream to spawn, said one salmon to the other "dam"

i was watching a World War II movie an older one, called "36 Hours", but i missed a huge chunk of it because my sister called, calling to confirm my attendance at her annual Thanksgiving meal..but as it happens when we talk a 2 minute conversation can turn into a half an hour. but i watched the end and realized that TCM was showing one of my fav quirky movies tonight, "The Last of Sheila", has a great cast, from 1973.....it just started and i will be watching for the next couple of hours.

one of the cable channels (sorry i get satellite TV)...is running a bunch of the newer Bond films...some are with Pierce Brosnan as Bond...and although the 4 films with him as Bond are some of my favs...........he isn't my fav Bond....give me Sean Connery as Bond any day.

since i no longer drive, and i walk, so before i do i check the weather to check for walking conditions, now i found a bridge in the middle of retailers, and also my vet (okay my doctor)...so this morning i sallied forth on a great adventure (okay,okay, so i went out to pick up a few things).....i had to  dodge dragons (okay,okay, but have you seen those big SUV's)...because of weather there are days when walking is a problem, as was yesterday, some chew here, a jar of garlic pepper sauce there, here boiled eggs, there vegetable juice, garlic/pepper spice, steak sauce, and some apple hand pies.......every where something else......old McTrollie had a bridge ei ei oh...(hehe).
(call it paranoia but i hate to run out of things i use a lot.....was low on some of the items i bought today...but in 4 different stores...but thought i'd have fun describing the trip)
(besides i've been waiting along time to parody Old McDonald's Farm...)

as i write it's 49 days give or take until Christmas,  and yet many of the stories are bring out their Christmas stuff, and ads are already fill the airwaves, or is it cable waves, or satellite waves, on TV...
when i was a kid, you rarely saw any ads or Christmas displays until  the day after Thanksgiving...my question for today is...why in the retail market has Thanksgiving all but disappeared...?
so call me crazy (wouldn't be the first time) call me old fashion (well on that you'd be right) but it's because the only shops that make any money off Thanksgiving are food stores, and stores that sell wine and other spirits.......
Thanksgiving has always been a family day, a religious day...and apparently they can't sell that...make a profit there...more's the pity...
(sorry rant alarm still not operational)

just to explain my avatar...i was wandering around the net looking for some weird pics for one of my other blogs...and something in me on Google images typed in birds on skateboards...( okay by now you may have a hint of my strange mind) any who...i found this pic of a skateboarding budgie...and it reminded me an old feathered friend from years ago...the still missed Admiral Bird (okay it's a bad play on words,off of Admiral Byrd ) but then i love playing with words

why do i do it? why do i try to reason with peeps that are convinced that they have all the answers, and they are right?
maybe i know those peeps too well, i was one of them years ago...but i got better...i now realize that knowing the whole truth is not possible, but seeking the truth...that gives you purpose...
at one time i thought my best trait was arrogance, but with out going in to detail.....i finally came to the simple fact that i wasn't arrogant....i was just a dang fool..........
but if i learned one lesson in life is you can't help someone who doesn't think they need help...
so why do i try?

one of my avocations is military history, and particularly weapons, that's why if you scroll to the bottom of the page, you'll find a pic of a morning star mace...
(the mad one scratches his head, ah ha, that's the right tool to fix that dang rant alert)

on Google+ i will admit to lurking on communities that i might not agree with, but i don't go atrolling, i think you can't truly understand if you don't take an honest view of those with whom you disagree.how are you to learn  if you only listen to those who believe as you...
now don't get me wrong, i have no problem if a peep posts honest questions, but to go to a community that you don't agree with in an attack mode...that be trolling...and the MadTrollie knows trolling when he sees it
(apparently the RANT ALERT...is broken....the mad one wanders off looking for a hammer to fix it with)

there is an old saying "a watched pot never boils"...but i think it should be updated to "a watched windows update never loads"
and i've spent time trying to figure out what they changed and screwed up
i never thought i'd say this but there are times i wish i could go back to windows 95...

it's weird sometimes i forget what i ate for breakfast, and sometimes i remember things that happened 50+ years ago. two guys i'd know all my life up to that point, Kurt,Billy and i all hayed for Bobby D.
he raised Black Angus cattle...
as an aside: 12 hour days, at a dollar an hour, but 3 square meals...but understand in '65 the minimum non farm wage was only 1.50/hr...and gas was 19 cents a gallon...
any way i got there early and Bobby and i checked out the hayloft...we always loaded from right to left....(just like reading Hebrew) and the right was almost full...so normally we'd load the center next.
one major problem...one of the female barn cats had recently had a litter of kittens, and was nesting with them in the center section..
three problems:
a) mother cat with kittens
b) feral cat
c)who was the alpha female
so we decided to load the left side first
so we decided to finish the right side
eat supper, and then move the conveyor to the left.
well the right side was full and we still had a few bales left, so Kurt grabbed one and started for the center section. said i "if i where you i won't"...... that's as far as i got...Kurt was wearing about 7 pounds of feral mother barn cat on his chest all 20 claws sunk to the hilt.
(as an aside i was checking out the aerial view of the old stumping grounds...and discovered the fields we used to hay...are now a golf course...i guess you really can't go back)

i was talking to a friend about the World Series, while they aren't exactly a Mets fan,they do root for any New York State team,if their favs aren't playing. and i mentioned to describe the way the Royals play at the bat. "hit 'em where they ain't"
when i was younger i didn't play a lot of baseball, but a lot of slow pitch softball. i heard the above quote, and that was always the way i played, often called a spray hitter, or a place hitter..a lot easy in slow pitch.
but i either never knew the source of the quote or just forgot...the whole quote was:
"keep your eye clear, and hit'em where they ain't"
attributed to Wee Willie Keeler.

i've been thinking of words...now that's a shocker...and the different between the denotation and the connotation of a word(s)....
denotation is simple what the word(s) mean(s)  based on roots
connotation on the other hand is subjective...arbitrary...or it means what you think it means...based on how you understand the context in which the word is used...

i was thinking (okay so i avoid it because it hurts but....)about catch phrases that people i know or knew tend or tended to repeat...
1) "my mommy told me i'd have days like this ....(pause)...but not every day!!!!!!"
2) "if someone insists that they know the TRUTH...it's absolutely pointless to try to confuse them with facts"
(and my absolute one comes from the dad of friend of mine in high school)
3)"i don't mind if someone calls me a polack that's what i'm....(pause)  but if they call me a (blank) polack then i get mad" (this came complete with clenched fist)(for the (blank) fill in your favorite cuss word)

as to my love of etymology, i studied when in college Konie Greek, and Biblical Hebrew, from a brilliant teacher who was an expert in the field of etymology...and although i am not fit to carry his briefcase,i still love the field...
(konie or common tongue of the classical period...as vulgate was the common tongue of latin)
(dang, sorry about the misspell has been corrected)
(wanted etymology got entomology useful  word with greek origins hardly the same)
(the mad one hangs his head in shame)

it should be obvious from my last post that i love etymology...actually the  etymology of etymology is interesting but i'll  let you figure that one out for yourself
however i used the term medieval..in my last post:
from the latin
medium (middle)
aevum (age)
english: middle ages....as a child it was the first word i learned to use to describe periods of history in different places...the first being europe...but there is something dark, about the word medieval..that appeals to the troll in me
(oh as to the absence of the latin police, they are still trying to get the mace dents out of their Vespas..)

( warning: i have against my better judgement allowed the latin police to return but at my insistence i have required them to leave the Fiat 500 at home...so if you encounter a horde of them riding Vespas...sorry)
it is common  practice to use the terms BC and AD when referring to dates, (i prefer BCE and CE...but that's just me)
in talking to a friend she told me that she was taught that AD...meant after death...a reference to the death of Christ....sorry but not so (not the first time i've heard that and probably not the last)....it comes from the latin phrase "in anno domini nostri" in english
"in the year of our lord"...aka the year of his birth...
in  brief they got the wrong date ...........most probably between  5 and 3 BCE (or if you prefer BC)
( the mad one gets off his high horse, after chasing away the latin police with a mace (the medieval weapon, not the modern spray))