This, That, The Other

I know I said I wouldn't be back until December, but I've got random things about which I feel like spouting off. Feel free to run away.

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Go visit HERE. I'm pretty sure you'll agree. And, if you do, show some guts and join the boycott. I have.

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In the election just past, medical use of marijuana was approved in Massachusetts.

(Orange = Legal For Recreational Use; Green = Medical Marijuana Legalized)

I voted for it. It passed by an overwhelming margin statewide and only two small communities in the entire state voted against it. Now, local city and town councils are trying to block dispensing of the drug in their neighborhoods. "Not in MY backyard!", they cry.

What is it with politicians in this state? Every time the people of The Commonwealth approve something via initiative petition and the voting process, they rise up on their hind legs and start bloviating about how the people may have spoken but caution must be taken because the people don't realize the consequences of what they've just said. Bull Shit. The people have spoken and what they said most clearly was that politicians should get the fuck out of the way on this.

Tell you what. Put it in my backyard - literally. Show me where to sign up and I'll run a dispensary from my house. Second option - point me toward the nearest politician so I can kick him in the balls.

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Notre Dame completed an undefeated regular season in college football and will be playing for the national championship on January 7th. I'm not particularly a huge Notre Dame fan, but I'm glad they'll be playing.

Over the past few years, it has become the trend for many sportswriters, prognosticators, and others with some access to the public ear, to preemptively crown teams participating in the SEC as the top college football teams in the nation, giving little regard to the worthiness of contenders from outside of that conference. Last year, the national championship was a rematch of a game played during the regular season in the SEC. Something of a self-fulfilling prophecy came about. An SEC team was guaranteed the crown, thus allowing the pundits to say, "See? An SEC team won! We were right! It IS the best conference!"

Now, I'm not so dense as to not see the fine quality of teams and players in that conference. Good football is played there on a regular basis. But it is also played elsewhere in the country, and I'm sick of good teams from other areas being given the short end of the stick.

I want nothing more than for Notre Dame (a team unaffiliated with any conference) to kick the ass of whichever SEC representative they end up playing on January 7th (either Georgia or Alabama, decided this coming weekend in a game between the two.) So, for now, I'm a huge Notre Dame fan.

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Lest you think I'm all about the negativity here, I'll mention that I have received fruitcake.

Some of you - the uneducated of palette - will still contend that I'm bringing up a negative. No, I'm not. Bad fruitcake is a miserable thing. Good fruitcake is a treasure. And I've received good fruitcake.

I've had TWO sources of fruitcake happiness: My Uncle Jim and My Good Friend Thimbelle.

(Actually, the cakes came with additional sender names attached - My Uncle John, in one instance, and The Wrench and The Twinkie, in the other, but I don't have links for them, so the other folks get the top billing.)

The fruitcake from Thimbelle (Collin Street) was actually four different fruitcakes, each in its own little tin. They weighed about a pound each, with four varying main fruitful ingredients, and they arrived before Thanksgiving and were thus Thanksgiving fruitcakes, mostly gobbled up (yes, gobbled) by the evening of that holiday. The fruitcake from my uncles (Assumption Abbey) was found on my doorstep last night, and while it remains uneaten it is also an exercise program. It weighs SEVEN POUNDS. I've been doing curls with it prior to eating it.

Thank you, folks, from the bottom of my heart (which will be sitting atop my humongous belly after I polish off the cakes.)

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I'm still pissed that the Boston Celtics traded Kendrick Perkins.

It happened a year ago, but I can't help it. Until such time as he retires, I'll remain pissed. I still believe they would have won at least one additional championship had he been around and healthy when they needed him in Game Seven of The Finals in 2010, and they might have won one last year, too, if he hadn't been traded. Why do people try to fix what wasn't broken?

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Knucklehead has lost over 100 pounds and is now planning to run a marathon. I get winded running to first base. Of course, if I lost 100 pounds, I'd... well, actually, that would leave me at 85 pounds and I don't suppose that would make me a better softball player. Anyway, what he's accomplished is magnificent. You should go to his place and congratulate him on becoming attractive again.

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While I think of it, I want to once again thank you folks who tried to help with Thanksgiving Comes First.

I really do fear we've passed the point of no return, though. I'm making a Kendrick Perkins face.

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I'll be back on December 3rd with the first of many holiday-themed re-runs. I can hear your heart beating with anticipatory glee. Try to remain calm.

Soon, with more better stuff (kind of.)