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There's a thriving operation in Ramona "Hire-a-Goat" which will send a crew of goats to clear your brush. Saturday was my 64th Birthday and I took my friend, Scott the oddsmaker, to Petco (better to give than receive). I got the best seats in the park one hour before the game but my druthers would have been on the dirt behind first. It was a huge crowd as Jair Jurgens who led the National League in ERA and was tied for first in Wins was pitching for Atlanta, Jurgens improved on both. Dan Uggla hit one about 450 feet especially hard to do as Scott who handicaps baseball said that the sea air at night slows the ball. Afterwards we went to one of the many real nice places in the nearby Gaslamp, I don't drink much but was glad to get out of there without leaving my wallet on the bar. I mentioned Scott before, he's "40" and all-around real good and I could tell that you women weren't very interested in him, that's showing disrespect for me saying that what I say is good is not. This Casey Anthony murder case has the TV Media off the charts. I don't know if she did it or not, people die all the time, so what. Andrea Yates did all 5 of hers and didn't receive such coverage (the oldest was "7" so maybe they drove her nuts). You TV Media are truly weak-minded and there is no hope. In Houston I went to the eclectic and very fine Menil Collection which has an entire building devoted to Cy Twombly. Edwin Twombly is a "83" and created his paintings from anything you might find in your garage, plaster, housepaint, glue, anything. Edwin Twombly was nicknamed Cy by his dad, Edwin Sr., who pitched for the White Sox, I find his art quite compelling but not really my thing, many appreciate it and the best of his fetch a few mil. Near the Menil is the Rothko Chapel which stuns many with its understated. I went to the Bush the Elder Presidential Library at Texas A&M in College Station, the most elaborate of all 12 although he was only a one-termer, it was quite impressive. Carter's doesn't amount to a hill of beans just like his presidency (when he heard that brother Billy had registered as a lobbyist for Libya that was the only time that anyone heard Jimmy take the Lord's Name in vain), he seemed like a nice guy but as one wit put it Nice Guys Don't Make the World Go Round. A&M is really a nice campus and their claim is that they're #1 in the Country for the amount spent to go there compared to Alumni's Lifetime Earnings, that's really good if true. I went inside their football stadium and basketball arena and just happened to walk in while the Texas A&M Women's Team was having their final practice before the NCAA Final 4, strangely I was the only one watching. It was a controlled halfcourt scrimmage with 2 boys on either side, Coach Gary Blair said we can't match Stanford's athleticism so for us to win we're going to have to do things right (they went on to beat Stanford and then Notre Dame for the NCAA National Championship). At the end of practice I came out of the stands and spoke to them for 15 minutes telling them you can't always get what you want but if you try sometimes you just might find you can get what you need, some shrugged and exchanged glances, I'd like to think that I had something to do with their championship season.

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The streets in San Diego have gotten worse yet and they've had this problem for 17 years. For this length of time the taxpayers have allowed the public employees to spend their tax money to line their own undeserved salaries and pensions instead of using it for infrastructure. The people of San Diego are just dumb and there is no hope. Double tough (a term I borrowed from John L. Smith who for many years has written a very good column for the "Las Vegas Review-Journal") Mormon Sheriff Ralph Lamb was Las Vegas' longest serving sheriff, 1961-1978, and was very instrumental in modernizing the police force as Las Vegas emerged from a city dominated by gangsters into the corporated-owned of today. In December, 1966 Ralph sent an officer to tell Johnny Rosselli, a well-known mobster, to come downtown for a conversation. Rosselli was thought to have previously made an arresting officer elsewhere to disappear. When the officer approached Rosselli at the Desert Inn Rosselli told him he wouldn't do this. Hearing this Ralph Lamb personally went to the D.I. where he found Rosselli sitting at a table with Moe Dalitz the owner of the D.I. and himself a big mobster. Ralph Lamb dragged Rosselli across the table by his necktie and then slapped him down in front of everybody then he arrested him. Rosselli made bail and left town for good, 10 years later he was founding in an oil drum in Miami Bay. On April 15 Ralph Lamb had a birthday and a belated Happy 84th to Ralph. When I was in Dallas I went to their very fine art museum and also the Elm St. where I thoroughly inspected "the grassy knoll." I had already been to the "Sixth Floor Museum" as this was where Lee Harvey Oswald had shot John Kennedy, they have it set up real interestingly even so far as duplicating the boxes Oswald used to shoot from. I had taken a cursory look at the grassy knoll previously but now looked it over really good. It's behind a WPA work from the 30's (with one on the other side of the street as well) and nobody could possibly have shot over it due to its height, the only opportunity to shoot from there would have been around either side a ridiculous concept. They could easily tell from the bullets' trajectory from where they were shot anyway.

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Carrie Underwood

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Thursbday I went to the Del Mar Fair which is always 5th or 6th largest in the country. I saw Randy Travis who I've always liked a lot and he gave a rousing hour and 45 minutes. Randy said there was a state trooper who was giving his friend a ride-a-long and he told him if you stay behind a driver long enough he's going to commit a violation and then you can give him a ticket. So the trooper tailed this one driver for 50 miles and the driver always stayed in the middle of the white lines and drove 5 miles under the speed limit. After this 50 miles the trooper told his friend that he was going to stop the driver to tell him how impressed he was with his driving, he pulls the guy over and says I just want to compliment you on how well you drove for such for a long distance and the driver replied when you're drunk you've got to be careful. Randy's "I Told You So" is one of my favorite songs and brought tears to my eyes. Trisha Yearwood had success recently with it but it's Randy's originally and more of a man's song. Back in Ohio they usually called it "Hillbilly" and I've always liked some of those tunes about woe and regret. I really enjoyed communing with all the farm animals, the horses, pigs, sheep and others they're so neat. I did this thing where I paid $30 and they put my little feets in a clear liquid and soaked them for 30 minutes. They put in this electroysis and by the time you're finished the liquid is the color of mud, not just me everybody. Some lady came past and said she had bought the system a year ago ($1300 including shipping) and that her family uses it once a month and that they really like it, I felt a lot better, it pulls the impurities out of your sweat glands and through the bottoms of your feet. All of our bodies are polluted and anything you can do for yours is appreciated. I was told this method has been around for 60 years. I also had a dynamite 30 minute backrub by one of these Oriental guys who are always at the Fair. He was strong and really put his elbows into me. There's 6 of these guys and while I had my face down and was getting this done I heard a teen-age girl say I'm going to have that guy picking his nose give me a massage.

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Having you people waiting for my offering like begging dogs makes me feel real important. In 2000 Joe Mauer was USA Today's Offensive Player of t he Year as a high school quarterback in St. Paul and in the Spring was USA Today's Baseball Player of the Year for 2001, a rare double. The 1st Player taken in the 2001 Baseball Draft by the Twins Joe has enjoyed a very good career as a catcher and hitter. Prior to the 2011 Season Joe Mauer signed a contract with the Twins for 8 years at $184 million that is $23 mil a year but has been on the Disabled List for most of the 2011 Season due to weak legs. The contract is guaranteed, the Twins are on the hook for that amount whether Mauer is hurt or not, catcher is a very demanding position and once the human body is torn down .....All the King's Horses and All the King's Men......I went from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, New Mexico where I stayed on Central Ave. which is the old Route 66. I went to the U. of New Mexico and went inside "the Pit" which is their basketball arena, it has a sunken floor. I also went inside their football stadium, it doesn't amount to much and used to be worse, 20 years ago it would only seat 20 thou. I then went to Isotopes Stadium where their AAA Baseball plays, a nice park. I went to the history museum, the natural history museum and their art museum, all were very enjoyable. As always when I'm in Albuquerque I went to the Rattlesnake Museum which boasts more species of venomous snakes than any museum in the world. I'm not much into snakes but think they're OK and it's very interesting. I saw a medium-sized rattler swallow for his weekly dinner a dead mouse, seemed to take 20 minutes, I watched at the beginning and at the end of this meal. As long as the mouse is fresh they'll eat it, the mice are killed humanely and frozen. Watching doesn't turn your stomach or anything. On May 5 I saw my Cleveland Indians play the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum with the Indians prevailing 4-3 in 12 innings. A beautiful day I could have watched 20 innings even though I had been up for 3 days. Pitching for the A's was Brett Anderson a left-hander and Brett pitched a very good 9 innings, he didn't get the W but also didn't get the L. When I go to a ballgame I always get a program, don't feel like I'm there without one and there were 20 questions relating to preferences and likes that were asked of Brett Anderson. One was which of your teammates would you give your blessing to for dating your sister, Nobody.