Scene and heard

I was dismayed to see this item on the news today. I immediately wrote a letter and sent it via Senator Kennedy’s website. I certainly hope this endorsement makes no difference to the final outcome. I actually think that if the election ends up being between McCain and Obama, I would have to work for the Republican. Even I wouldn’t have imagined that possible, but I would rather a Republican President who understands what war is, over a Democratic President whose bluster could doom the world the worst war ever. Honestly! The Allied invasion of Iraq has been the spur for a huge increase in Islamic fundamentalism and anti-Western hatred. It will be nothing in comparison to the bombing of Pakistan. NOTHING!

When writing the letter, I hadn’t even considered what would happen in my home country. There are already a lot of highly disenfranchised Muslim youth in Britain, France and Germany and that situation would be certain to worsen horribly. And what of countries that are majority Muslim and have growing numbers of radicalised youth? Might any of those be primed for a change at the helm? All we need is for someone who feels that he has to prove to Americans that having a Muslim father will not make him weak in his dealings with Islamic nations and who might over-compensate to make his point. I am genuinely scared.

Anyway, here is my letter:


Dear Senator Kennedy,

I am a British citizen and long time resident of the United States. I have always had the greatest respect for the great Kennedy name. Watching TV today, I was flabbergasted that you and other family members have endorsed Senator Obama for President. To be sure, there are things about this man that are very exciting. He would probably do wonderful things for race relations in this country. He is a superb and inspirational speaker. But all of that counts for naught because of one of his statements.

The most horrifically scary thing I have ever heard a Presidential candidate say, was Obama’s statement last August: “If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will." It was pandering to an element in this country who might be expected to vote Republican. The do now, think later set who speak with bluster but no brains about striking enemies.

If this were to happen, inevitably, both of my children would need to be drafted. India would be attacked so Britain would need to join in a war. Fundamentalists would cause chaos in Pakistan and almost certainly get hold of nuclear weapons, even if they didn’t take over that country. These weapons would be used. The result would make Afghanistan look like Disneyland. And yet you support this man! Am I being politically naïve in an American sense, to hope that you of all people would not support a man who would take the world into a cataclysmic nuclear war?

Certainly, Obama is the most charismatic candidate. He is also easily the most terrifying. And I can pretty much predict that Republicans will not be so forgiving of such a statement. He is the least electable of the 3 Democratic candidates because whereas this is the worst thing he has said, it is not the only stupid thing he has said. And all of his words will be used against him in a General Election. By all means, don’t support Senator Clinton. But there is a third candidate. One who is surely the most electable. Senator Edwards. I urge you to rethink your endorsement. Please!


http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0132206420070801


With kind regards and great concern,

Andy Capaloff

I am reading The Pillars Of The Earth, by Ken Follett. It actually came out in 1989, but as he has finally written a follow up, this book got back into the New York Times best sellers list and was recommended by the Oprah Book Club. (I peeled that sticker off, but some glue stubbornly remains!)

I will not review this book in any traditional manner, as I don’t wish to give away anything. I will note that it is long, at over 900 pages, and that there are passages of detail about architecture that are of varying interest. But the story remains fresh throughout, and the characters are superb, whether they are good or truly evil.

Last night, something happened to me that has never happened before. I went to bed, slept for about an hour and a half, then absolutely could not get back to sleep. It is certainly not the first time I have had a sleepless interlude, but this has never before been caused by a book! I laid there trying to think about anything to take my mind off of the passage I had just read. Thinking about women usually does the trick. I tried devising fantasy situations, but nothing worked. Finally, after close to an hour, I gave up. Red eyed, I grabbed the book and read for another hour until my eyes burned

This book is really, really good! Buy it or borrow it, but read it if you read at all.

Searches for Lypozene continue to make up a large proportion of hits on this blog. The TV Ad has changed since my last entry. It now makes the product seem highly affordable. But please don’t be fooled if you are tempted to try this product. It is no bargain.

What follows is a comment posted anonymously to my original entry, followed by my response. If you have any thoughts about buying this product, please read on.


Their new ad insinuates that you get a 30 day supply for $29.95. When I call to talk to them about it they say it only says a 30 day trial period. I rechecked and they are right. What they give you is 30 tablets and the directions are to take 1-2 tablets before each meal. That comes out to 6 tablets a day or 180 tablets a month.

Now here the catch; and there are two. First one is in the guarantee. It says you can return the bottles before 30 days for a refund; even if both bottles are empty. If one bottle is supposed to last a month how can they both be empty after 30 days when they are supposed to last for 60 days. They even try to scam you by putting you on a monthly auto billing of another bottle at a charge of $39.95 and I'm sure S & H on top.Oh I forget the false advertising of tagging another $1 on the $29.95 for a fuel charge when the ad clearly states that you will only be charged $29.95.

When you try to order Lypozene, they mention that you get a free bottle for another 30 supply, which again insinuates the 30 tablets is good for a month.

My final answer is; where is the government stepping in and going after these scam artists. Is this not the purpose of government, instead of them only being there to violate our rights. Seems the government only endorses and encourages illegal, immoral and fraudulent business. It's about time the people of this country wake up and stop this abuse.


My response:

Thanks for your comment, anon. The ad has changed since I posted this blog entry. They used to boast that their product is expensive, but works, so if you are serious about losing weight and all else has failed, you should try their product. I suppose this didn't achieve the desired results, as they now have this 'special offer'.You will notice that in small writing at the bottom of the screen, the results they actually claim are 3.86lbs average weight loss after 8 weeks. Naturally, although they tell you that you can achieve results without diet and exercise, the recommendation is that you combine these with the pills.

I just looked at the website, which is confusing. They show bottles with 30 tablets, but mention that if you take 6 tablets a day, a 60 count container will last you 10 days. Hmmm! Perhaps that is only the first month, when you buy one and get one free. Based upon the above comment suggesting that the price after the first order is $39.95 per bottle, plus shipping, the maximum dosage also known as the recommended dosage, would run you either $120 or $240 per month plus shipping. People, please! Spend the money of a gym membership and personal training sessions or a dietician before you spend this much money on chemicals.

You are absolutely right that con artists like these should face legal challenge. But as long as enough people are desperate enough to lose weight or make money, scammers like these people and Crazy Fox will continue to be there to unload their wallets of as much money as people are willing to be parted with - and the government will do nothing about it!

I have kept in misspellings. This is for anyone who thinks they get excited about their favourite sport or team. For at least the last 10 minutes, the entire crowd was singing “que sera sera, whatever will be will be, we're going to Wem-ber-ley, que sera sera” For those of you who don’t know, Wembley is the home of English football and it, not Yankee Stadium, is the most famous stadium in the world. Prior to that, their was constant loud chanting and singing of “When the Spurs go marching in”

This is a video taken at another, very much quieter match: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuMbrQ5oxJ8&feature=related

“my voice is ragged...was in Park Lane totally amazing night. the place was actually vibrating by the end. Incredible”
“One of the best for a long time. I have no voice left at all. And I never hugged so many randoms in my life! What a night!”
“Just got back. I have no voice but a very, very, very, happy heart!!”
“park lane block 32 was unreal the atmosphere was like nothing before
i thought the shelf was gonna fall down
celebration of the goals was so mentalwill never forget this night”
“How good was that atmosphere that last goal was unreal everyone was standing on their seats and then malbranque scored and everone was just hugging strangers what a night. I have lost my voice btw”
“just got back and f@ck me what a night , best game i've been to for atmosphere. voice totaly gone.”

A week after I was given notice, a colleague from my Banc of America Specialist days was also laid off. I don’t know too many people in the company, but if 2 of us are out, things are definitely bad and anyone whose assignment is ending must be very nervous right now.

I had an interview for a contract in New York last Friday. It went well enough that the woman who interviewed me recommended me for a follow up with a colleague of hers. Unfortunately, that person is in Chicago on business all week and I don’t know if she will do the interview by phone. If not, I will have to wait until next week.

Also on Friday, I had a telephone interview for a job in Chicago. I confess to being very suspicious about the company though, as I really didn’t like the people I spoke with. I certainly won’t be bothered if nothing comes of that!

I have also had contacts with people in San Francisco and Amsterdam, with the latter showing some possibilities. They want to find out if ING have a role that fits me. Just before I came back to New York a tad under 3 years ago, I had been offered a contract with ING in Den Haag, but turned it down to come back here. If I am going to live anywhere other than London or New York, Amsterdam would have to be my first choice. It is an amazing city and the people are absolutely the coolest and friendliest I have ever met. I will write a follow up when I have something worth writing about.

Like everyone, I regret having lost contact with a number of people from my past. The thought just hit me that maybe, just maybe, if I list a few people on my blog, they might just see there name here if they search for themselves. So here goes, in chronological order:

Sandra. Last name unknown, but possibly McDowell. My Sister Jackie’s good friend and colleague from the Jewish Welfare Board, who I’d probably have married if just one of us hadn’t been so damned shy. Last I heard, she was in Australia.

Gary Brown. There are many Gary Browns, but only one that I’ve ever known. This one was born in Erie, PA. Last known to be in England.

Frank Marchese. There are a few of them also, but my friend Frank, who I truly miss, will know who I mean,

Ellen Shapiro. Another what if. What if I hadn’t moved back to England just after meeting her in Philadelphia? She moved to New York. We did see each other again when I returned, but lost contact when I was married.

Louise. Last name also unknown. When I moved from London to New York in 1984, ending up shortly thereafter in El Paso, I foolishly didn’t write. Sorry Lou.

James H Stewart III. Great friend and very funny guy from from El Paso. Some very fond and nutty memories!

Donna Fink. Great friend from my El Paso days. This is her maiden name.

Matt King, Jr. Also from El Paso. A cowboy boot loving Kentuckian who affectionately called me Scrotum Head, due to my then thick, curly hair. Folks from Kentucky don’t waste such names on people they don’t like!

Mary (Wellman) Jenkins. A funny and fun woman from New Orleans, whose driving I will never forget! Our last contact wasn’t good. I was with a crazy lady, long since gone from my life, who scared Mary off.

My East Brunswick assignment ended last Friday. It’s a good thing for me that the lines of communication at my employer’s head office somehow didn’t work. I got a call this morning that as my assignment was ending (they were a week late) and they don’t see much new business coming their way in the next 3 months, they put me on 2 weeks notice. I was told that they would call me if things change.

What I ascertained last week, was that even though they are negotiating with many companies for new contracts, the sub-prime credit crisis and fears of recession have caused companies to be reticent about signing on the dotted line for premium services. And the company is nothing, if not expensive!

This is a huge change in the market. The company was bought by EMC a few short months ago, and all were full of enthusiasm for prospects of a great future.

So where does that leave me? Certainly 2 weeks away from not getting paid. And I must be open to taking jobs outside of this area. I really don’t want to move again, but more than that, I don’t want to be out of work for any amount of time. I couldn’t afford to be!

It may not be all bad though. I posted my resume at lunchtime and within hours, I have been presented at one company in Chicago and another right here. I also received communication from a third head-hunter but was too late to get back to him. Maybe, just maybe, there are jobs out there. I will certainly post again when I get something. I have put out feelers in London and Amsterdam. I had hoped my travelling days were behind me, but flexibility may just be the key right now.

It is difficult to write too much about her. In truth, my Aunt was not here for a couple of years now. The old, very much smaller shell of what was once her, passed on the morning of New Year’s Day, leaving my Mother as, as she put it, “the last of the 6”. This was a reference to the fact that my Dad, his older Brother, his younger Sister and both of their spouses, are all gone now.

I do have some very happy memories of my Aunt, but she was not a happy person, so the thought lingers that death for her, was a release; or perhaps her body joining her already departed mind. And for my cousins, the mixed feelings: They have lost their Mom, but no longer have to endure the pain of visiting a woman who long since stopped knowing that they were her kids.

This picture shows her with my Mum, last June. She had visited me for my 50th birthday, and I wanted her to have the chance to say goodbye to her Sister-in-law.

I’m back on the web, looking for my next last love! And I am enjoying it no more than I did the last time. For me, the reason it is frustrating is that so many women say they want a romantic, honest, open man, but don’t respond to my emails. I have pretty much come to the conclusion that for most women, what they think they are looking for is just an abstract; a concept; and that when they find out that such a man may actually exist, they either disbelieve it or decide that is not really what they want after all. Or at least they are happy to go on wanting it but not getting it.

Perhaps my style of introduction isn’t correct. This usually involves touching on aspects of their profiles and being very honest about where I match up. I’d probably do better to bullshit my way through and be whatever I thought she wanted to read. But I don’t believe in facades, either in me or in a potential mate. Besides which, no middle aged woman would believe a sweet talking pack of lies, would she…. even if it was exactly what she wanted to hear and delivered by an adonis!

There are so many superwomen looking for men. They have such full lives; they travel the world on a whim. One wonders how they keep the jobs they are so very successful in. And almost every one of them is a fitness fanatic! A favourite criterion of theirs is that the man is a hard worker who loves his career. That counts me out as I work to live rather than the other way around. I certainly think most of them explode the myth that men are more superficial in their criteria for women than the other way around. And whereas I get my fair share of looks and smiles when I’m outdoors, I’m not a hunk and I’m not tall, so on paper, I don’t do as well as I do in person.

You would think that by the ages of 40 or 50 something, people would have learned enough from the fact that they are single still, to think they might need to change their patterns. But in this regard alas, whatever women think of men, they tend to the same levels of stupidity they label us with.

But it doesn’t do to get downhearted. Somewhere, she is out there. The exception and not the rule.

I am attaching the two articles I wrote on this subject two years ago.

‘Cyber Dating for the over 40’s’ is followed by ‘The pitfalls of cyber dating - A tongue in cheek look at the lies and pretensions’

http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=194025
http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=196930

A beautiful woman is being interviewed by Ryan Seacrest. After his first question, she gets up really close to him and rather seductively says: “Wow. Wow! Like a minty fresh snowstorm in heaven.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqwWB5lrZto

I saw this and immediately thought that was more my speed than the Axe and Tag commercials where men are completely ravished by sometimes more than one woman. Maybe this is a sign of my age.

I wrote about this commercial last February, by which time I was already sick of it. Today, I watched Fox Soccer Channel for several hours. I swear to you, every fucking commercial break, this came on! Can IDT be sued for harassment?

To briefly recap, this commercial features a dreadful bobbing-head blonde with a phony English accent that makes me cringe every time. Also featured is a clairvoyant Indian woman who is faking an Indian accent badly. She is calling her mother from her son’s soccer match to tell her about the goal her son has just scored. Amazingly, she has anticipated this and starts speaking moments after the goal has been scored, while the other parents are still cheering. Poor kid! He scores, all the other parents are cheering and his Mum is on the fucking phone! Sorry for swearing twice in the same entry, but this commercial really pisses me off!

Just so that you know, the cost of 2 cents a minute and a “low” 49 cent connection charge compares highly unfavourably with the VIP communications rate of 4 cents per minute and no connection charge. Unless, that is, your phone call lasts 25 minutes or more. But I’ll wager not too many international calls made on a cell phone last even near 25 minutes.

I turned from FSC to a program I had recorded from Sundance and from there to Ovation, and on both was assaulted by another of my least favourite commercials, The New York Times Weekender, which has been playing since time immemorial and I first bitched about in the same blog entry as the IDT one last February. I wrote something more detailed and sarcastic - a tongue-in-cheek nightmare scenario - in September as they were then playing it every morning on BBC America.

My way of avoiding these when watching live remains that I put the TV on pause for a while and then play catch-up the next time the commercial comes on. But still, by the 15th or 20th time of doing this, it really gets old and annoying.

I have to prefix these two posts by saying that it is early days yet, and however I see things today, I would be surprised if everything appears in November, as it does today. I am certainly open to having my mind changed.

For November, Republicans are hoping that the Democrats nominate someone who is beatable, as their party is in a shambles now and they don’t appear to have much chance of beating a strong Democratic ticket.

Of the 3 leading Democrats:
Clinton is probably the smartest, but something about her is just really difficult to like. It may not be politically correct, but some people would vote against her because she is a woman. It never ceases to surprise me how many women hate ambitious women! She could still probably beat whoever came up against her, but only probably.

Obama is the most likeable and easily the most lightwieght. His lack of experience could count against him. Forget Iowa, there are states where his colour will count against him. And he occasionally says things that highlight his inexperience. Bomb Pakistan? Anyone with a kid at or approaching drafting age should be very nervous of talk like that. The result would make Afghanistan seem Disneyland! He would probably be the easiest one for the Republican dirty tricks people to undermine.

Edwards is also very likeable and he appears to be the one who, in a General Election, would be the most difficult for the Republicans to overcome. If nothing else, and forgive the honesty please, he is neither a Woman nor a Black Man, so people will need to find other excuses to vote against him. I had thought he was a clear number 3 - and he may still be. But the longer the campaign goes on, the more I like this guy. Very smart, very knowledgeable and he has a conscience.

Possible Democratic tickets? As there would be the potential to tie up the White House for 12-16 years, the choice of VP is particularly important this time. A potential successor must be the choice. This may actually work against Obama’s Presidential bid, if people think that far ahead, because he will be seen in need of a strong running mate, and that person might be too old to succeed him.

Obama/Clinton or Clinton/Obama: Too many reasons for bigots to vote against either version. Sorry to harp on about that, but it is an unfortunate truth.

Edwards strengthens both of the other two, both because of what he isn’t and because he is a Southerner.

Who would Edwards pick as running mate if he wins? The gut reaction is whoever comes second, but whereas I think Clinton would make a great veep, if a Democrat wins and is popular, the next new President would take office in 2017, at which point she will be 69 years old – very likely too old. The same goes for Bill Richardson. So for Edwards, it would be Obama or AN Other

Whatever happens, this looks like being the most interesting Presidential Campaign in many years – at least for Democrats. Things are looking rather bleak for Republicans. What a dismal field of candidates they have put forth!

Anyone reading this who has ever watched Graham Norton will know that this is a show that people who sing religious Christian songs with their hands in the air and their eyes closed might only watch to further their research about the moral decline of our society fulfilling prophecies of the end of our civilization, as we know it. I’m sure some might secretly enjoy it before they force their blood to boil so that they can more effectively spit their venom. For the most part, however, I don’t suppose too many religious Christians do watch Graham Norton, due to the fact that he is gay, the themes are adult and there is a lot of swearing.

So why, in a program where they did a spoof remake of 1970s German Porn, with an audience member playing the part of the Maintenance Man calling in on the obligatory two scantily clad women; why, I wonder, did Time Life advertise its Beautiful Worship CD? I can say with reasonable confidence that pretty much every penny spent on airing this commercial during this program, was a penny entirely wasted. Either that or there are even more hypocrites around than I had imagined!

Here are a couple of his telephone pranks to prove my point. First with Elton John and then with Cher:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7omUkVSYomU

http://youtube.com/watch?v=auqfqJ3fed8