Friday morning: Let's start in the court system . . .

I have the day off, and alethea_eastrid has the car, so I will be here cooking, cleaning and posting.

You know I read a lot of newspapers, so I read a lot of court stories, many of which bother me.

Here we go:

1. Just a paragraph, but a guy is on trial for second-degree manslaughter because, while thinking he was shooting at a bear foraging for blueberries , he killed a guy -- picking blueberries. The rest is at the Rutland Herald, but this was all I needed. Lock him up. Oh, and charge the brother, too.

Police say Gilbert shot Bartlett in the shoulder, puncturing both his lungs. When he and his younger brother, Corey Gilbert, went to investigate after they heard Bartlett cry for help, the two brothers instead got into their pickup and fled and never called for emergency help.

2. This one's from the Glens Falls Post-Star . Have posted parts, but not all of it for space reasons. This one makes me feel icky on many levels.

FORT EDWARD -- The White Creek man who hit his pregnant girlfriend several times with an ax pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge Wednesday.

Prosecutors said they agreed to a plea deal, in part, because they were concerned about the victim's testimony in light of her continued support for her attacker.
He pleaded guilty to second-degree assault, admitting that he hit Ashleigh Farrell with an ax on May 20 in the Route 313 home the couple shared.

Felony charges of attempted second-degree murder and first-degree assault, both felonies, were dropped as part of the plea deal.

Farrell, who was 20 at the time, suffered head and back wounds after she was hit at least three times, but has since recovered.

In fact, Pedersen's lawyer, Brian Donohue, said he believed her recovery played a part in the decision to drop the weightier charges.
"There are no permanency to her injuries," he said. "Clearly it was not a case of attempted murder or assault in the first-degree."

He said Pedersen pleaded guilty because the second-degree assault charge would have been easier for prosecutors to prove.

Washington County District Attorney Kevin Kortright has said his office had concerns about what Farrell's testimony would be, in light of her support of Pedersen.

"She has been very supportive of the defense throughout these proceedings," Henley said.

Farrell was in court Wednesday and sat with Pedersen's mother during the proceedings. Farrell would not discuss the case afterward.
Pedersen confessed to Washington County emergency dispatchers when he called 911 to summon an ambulance for Farrell, then gave State Police a detailed written confession.

He told police that he had been arguing with Pedersen over her smoking cigarettes while pregnant, and "snapped" after she insulted him and said she was going to make their child "stupid."

3. It’s always someone else’s fault:

From The Boston Globe:

Former Boston police officer Robert "Kiko" Pulido says he was pumped full of steroids when he suggested to undercover agents in Atlantic City that he knew a good way to transport cocaine into Boston.
And when he bragged about a nonexistent 51-year-old brother doing federal time after being caught with 300 kilos of cocaine. And when he told them his 74-year-old mother could detect an undercover narcotics agent.

. . .

In the interview, Pulido's first public remarks since his arrest last year, he attempted to shift some of the blame for his crimes to his employer, the Boston Police Department. Pulido said he wished that Police Department officials had offered him substance-abuse treatment for steroids before he agreed to enlist the help of two fellow officers and guard a shipment of 140 kilograms of cocaine as part of the FBI sting.
"They knew it was an addiction for me, but they continued to let me patrol the streets," he said. "They didn't offer us any help, any counseling."

. . .

In the interview, Pulido's first public remarks since his arrest last year, he attempted to shift some of the blame for his crimes to his employer, the Boston Police Department. Pulido said he wished that Police Department officials had offered him substance-abuse treatment for steroids before he agreed to enlist the help of two fellow officers and guard a shipment of 140 kilograms of cocaine as part of the FBI sting.

"They knew it was an addiction for me, but they continued to let me patrol the streets," he said. "They didn't offer us any help, any counseling."

4. Crime-related, especially for goldsquare.

NPR tells us thieves can poach credit card numbers off in-store wireless systems.

Friday afternoon: Personal notes . . .

1. Very nice dinner yesterday. jenphalian can flat-out cook! It was great to spend time with her, lbitw and sideshownate.

2. I should have a truck on the road by Monday or Tuesday. It's a 1991 Ford Ranger with a 1986 Exlorer motor in it. It is what we called back in the day, a "$100 Pickup Truck. Of course, now it's a "$1,000 Pickup Truck." Still, it's gonan be fun, and it has a CD player. I think the truck will be named "Zathras." Either that or "Hotspur."

3. I am planning to go with vanity plates, most likely ST-LIAM, where the dash is the little map of New York that is used as a separator. That won over HENRY-V. New York lets you go to eight letters, but PELICAN was taken, as was TESSIE. I also considered DRPKCKS or GTBIGSEA. alethea_eastrid and I also went on a variety of other tangents.

4. As I said earlier, I made the decision to stay home and clean and stuff today. (A. took the car to work). Now I need to shut the computer off. ;)

5. I just realized I can make chicken soup. Cool.

6. I was looking for Thanksgiving Day football stories, and I stumbled onto the Greeley Tribune and a look back at Thanksgiving 100 years ago.

• President Theodore Roosevelt officially proclaimed Thursday, Nov. 28, as Thanksgiving Day. He said the American people should give thanks, because, "During the past year, we have been free from famine, from pestilence, from war. We are at peace with all the rest of mankind."
• Two old Confederate soldiers were in Greeley for Thanksgiving, both former Greeley residents who lived here for a few years after the Civil War. Both moved to other states, but Col. Billy Lee and Col. Redfern Darnell were in Greeley to discuss deals involving race horses and longhorn cattle.
• A local realty company advertised with a large swastika, long before the Nazis adopted the symbol. The advertisement read: "The Swastika is a sign of good fortune, and we have good fortune for you."
• You could buy 10 pounds of hand-rendered lard for just $1.25 at the Ninth Street Market. There were no grocery store advertisements for turkeys. In most cases, the people in town would buy a live turkey from a farmer, then prepare it themselves.
• However, the Poultry Raisers Association warned that you should not leave a freshly-killed turkey hanging outside for more than two weeks.

Friday afternoon . . . Fanboy stuff

The last post got too long . . .

1.  I have just finished “Valentine’s Resolve,” by E.E. Knight. It is the sixth book in the Vampire Earth series. It’s post-Apocalyptic, good-alien, bad-alien (same basic species) vampire/life sucker stuff.

I might the author at World Fantasy Con, and he’s very cool. He is an historian, and that shows.

My main comment is that it’s not that often that a later book in a series – in this case No. 6 – impresses me this much. He’s doing more than just telling the story here. Great stuff.

And he’s signed to put out at least three more.

The Vampire Earth website.

And he’s on LJ as eeknight.

2. I know some folks are going to see s00j tonight, but I want to go to Seattle to see here, especially because our friend cadhla – Seanan Maguire – will also be there. Seanan’s going to be the filk guest at Boskone.

http://community.livejournal.com/filk/252341.html

3.  Excellent interview with Nancy Pearl, about some science fiction and fantasy books. Read this.

4. I was looking for the link about Peter Jackson picking up the option for the first four books of the Temeraire series.

Instead, my friends at the New York Times have a full-bore profile on Temeraire author Naomi Novik.

Yes, it's a year-old link.

Sports commentary

I posted this over at SportsJournalists.com, and I know some of my readers like my sports stuff.

It's pretty esoteric, but you might be amused.

( Yes, I get picky sometimes, but I know what I need. )

Need Playstation advice . . .

I have always been behind the curve on video and computer games.

My new computers are usually to-of-the-line for maybe six months, then there are games I just cannot play.

OK, so maybe it's longer than that. I have played EverQuest, DungeonSeige and WoW.

I have  never bought a videogame sustem when it was the top of the line.

So the question is: Should I buy a PS 2?

We just can't justify the money that a PS 3, Wii or GameBox 360 would run.

What do we want to play?

Alethea is interested in DDR and Guitar Hero, both of which are available for PS 2 in their newest incarnations.

I want to play EA Sports games (espeecially NCAA Football, which is not available for PC), as well as some of the World War II games.

Again, also still being produced for PS 2, and there are a lot of older games I want to play, too.

Advice?

Friday evening: Yes, I got stuff done . . .

1. Welcome to s00j, who knows more of my friends than I do. ;)

2. I have "Squash with a Brown Sugar and Guiness Glaze" (tm), chicken stock ready to go into the freezer, and chicken soup in the making. Trash is bagged, and the litter box is clean.

3. From the Buffy Musical:

"If my heart could beat, it would break my chest."

-- Spike

4. Squee like a fanboy.

I sent a note to E.E. Knight, and after he asked my permission, this was in his LJ:

I don't often quote reader mail on the blog, unless I get something particularly over-the-top in disparagement of my abilities, but I liked this line from a fan letter:

Yeah, Valentine went on another "Big Adventure," but it added a great deal to the backstory. It was also actually a bit uplifting at the end. (You are getting soft).

I got such a chuckle out of that I had to call Chats over to let her take a look. I'm not going to name the person, but he's welcome to stop by and take credit.

So mine!

5. I would like to thank runeseer for this Questionable Content.

6. Thanks to mactavish for a link to the Flickr Uploader 3.0 beta test.

Music, music, music

I have a very long playlist on my Windows Media Player, and it's been rolling along all afternoon.

That's where the "Rest In Peace" quote came from.

One of the highlights is a live version of "The Dirty Glass," a duet between Kay Hanley and Ken Casey of the Dropkicks with DKM in the background.

Did I say Kay Hanley?



Yeah!

What else is on there?

A lot of Dropkicks and Great Big Sea, and a couple more from "Once More With Feeling"

"I've Got a Theory"

Xander:

 It could be witches
Some evil witches,
Which is ridiculous 
'cause witches they were
Persecuted Wicca good
and love the earth and
And women power,
And I’ll be over here

John Fogerty's "Centerfield" is on there,  as well as some songs from his new CD, and a good  bit of Jimmy Buffett "Live From Fenway Park." Bruce Springsteen sings a fair amount of Woody Guthrie on this one, there's some Grateful Dead, a few good Canadian bands, Toby Keith, James Keelaghan (check him out), Amnerica, Corb Lund, the Clancy Brothers, Heather Dale, and at least one song from "Rogue;s Gallery."

"A Drop of Nelson's Blood"

Oh, a drop of Nelson's blood wouldn't do us any harm (3x)
And we'll all hang on behind.

chorus:
So we'll roll the old chariot along
An' we'll roll the old chariot along.
So we'll roll the old chariot along
An' we'll all hang on behind!

Oh, a little mug o' beer wouldn't do us any harm etc.

Oh, a plate of Irish stew wouldn't do us any harm etc.

Oh a little slug of gin wouldn't do us any harm etc.

Oh a night upon the shore wouldn't do us any harm etc.

Oh a little drop of wine wouldn't do us any harm etc.

Oh, a nice fat cook wouldn't do us any harm etc.

Oh, a long spell in gaol wouldn't do us any harm etc.

Oh, a nice watch below wouldn't do us any harm etc.

Oh, a night with the gals wouldn't do us any harm etc.

The Whiskey Bards are on there a couple times, including

Cruiscin Lan

 Gra-ma-chree ma-cruiscin, slainte geal mavoorneen
Gra-machree ma cruiscin lan lan lan,
Oh! gramachree ma cruiscan lan

Funny, the Calontiri make it a drinking song.

Oh, and I love the fact that my parents listened to the Clancy Brothers, and evilnicola and I listen to them and the Dropkicks. (The two versions of "Johnny We Hardley Knew Ye" are amazing to listen to one after the other.)

[Deleting the mulch the Kakuru put here by putting her butt on the keyboard]