THE BIG QUESTIONS

It's only Monday and already those other bloggers are posing big questions on life, the universe, time, beds and lampshades. Blimey!

Richard

"Does this make my bum look big?"

Robert

Time for a change

Me

"Did Modest Mussorgsky blow his own trumpet?"

LOCKER ROOM

The perfume or fragrance industry has reached market saturation where any Tom, Dick or Harry can, if they have a 'name' or connections, scam potential users and generally followers with some other weird smelling shit. Think Kardashians here, or Trumps, sports stars  or the rich-lister offspring of celebrities and wealthy people around the world including in New Zealand.

Many brands and individuals are continually releasing new perfumes and colognes, leading to a feeling that the market is overcrowded and lacking unique offerings.
With so many available, it's difficult to find something truly unique or special, as many scents are similar or simply re-hashes of existing popular 'notes'.

Perhaps the 'notes' that differentiate could be part of the new brand like:

• Football players' colognes that have a whiff of jockstrap, armpit or general sweat
• Donald Trump cologne (yes he marketed one recently) that smells of dirty adult diapers and shit
• X-rated and adult film stars whose perfumes smell of sex
• Rock and Pop stars fragrances that smell of marijuana and teens' panties
• Actors whose deodorants smell of greasepaint and despair ...

... you can imagine the rest.

We've all seen many examples of this cashing in which is just ridiculous and I cannot work out why they continue. They are never successful in the long term but obviously make a bundle quickly in the short term duping naive followers to part with money they can ill afford to spend - which of course is why the orange idiot got involved with that, along with casinos, football teams, airlines, memorabilia, crypto-currency, bibles, sneakers, clothing, watches, jewellery etc.

What prompted this post was seeing advertisements for Jimmy Choo perfumes.

Jimmy Choo (contrived name no doubt) is a Malaysian fashion designer based in the United Kingdom. He co-founded Jimmy Choo Ltd, which became known for its handmade women's shoes and went on to market clothing, handbags and accessories. These, the shoes especially, incomprehensibly became 'must have' items for not only the rich-listers and well-heeled (excuse the pun) but for low income earners who can hardly afford rent, mortgages, public transport and food for their children but who just 'need' a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes! Go figure.

Well, now Jimmy Choo (the company that the namesake sold out to years ago) has released a perfume brand:

Admittedly the products are at the bargain end of the market - think The Warehouse, Farmers, Chemist Warehouse and K-Mart but .... even so, the asking prices are $50 to $200 plus for bottles of this generic shit.

I think the USP (unique selling point) should be the aroma of sweaty socks, bacteria, fungal infections, dirty feet and those other intriguing smells that are collectively known as 'locker room'. Ask Donald Trump. He knows all about that.

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MELVILLE CRUMP'S DAY

 It's cold. I checked the temperature thermostat and it's 16 degrees in the house at present. Brrr🥶.

I just turned on the heat pump in the lounge. I'll run it for half an hour to take the chill off.

I should go for a walk but I've just had a large breakfast so might hold off for an hour or so. Today will probably be a 'chore day' with me doing dusting, vacuuming, bathroom cleaning etc. The Old Girl has left instructions for me to 'keep on top of things and to keep the house looking presentable'. OK, I'll do that.

Dinner this evening in case you are wondering will be meatloaf, roast potatoes, roast pumpkin and some green vegetables.

I guess that you've guessed that it's a bit of a slow day up north. Fair enough but I'm not alone. Down south Richard's lamenting the fact that schoolgirls will be hiding their legs, Robert is still ghosting him, video referees are ruining sport and that his atheism rules him out from going to mass and working in the church shop.

Sad.

Oh well, he might want to brush up on his bible skills if things get too slow down there.

Proverbs 31:27

She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

BABYSITTING

I've got a visitor today - Lexy, my sister's golden retriever cross.

She's just a pup - a baby and Kathy asked me to babysit while they went to the rugby (Black Ferns vs Black Ferns IV and Maori All Blacks vs Scotland.

I didn't buy tickets for these matches as the weather forecast was for heavy rain so I bought a Sky Pass instead to watch these matches plus All Blacks vs France on TV today and this evening. As it turned out it's been a cracker day so the crowd (10,000 plus) will get their money-worth.

Lexy is a sweet natured little dog but, between naps is quite mischievous so I have to keep an eye on her. Lucky for me she seems to sleep a lot although Kathy said that she gets 'the zoomies' around 5PM. I'll take her for a walk before then, between the Black Ferns and the Maori All Black/Scotland game to tire her out I think.

How's your day going? I know that Richard is and will be watching the rugby but I guess that Robert sees it as idle-handed sinfulness. I imagine that he is especially incensed that women now play the game as well. They won't be going to his heaven.

WHAT'S THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN?

Donald Trump's initiated 'Big Beautiful Bill' (Democrats call it the 'Big Ugly Bill) narrowly passed in both the Senate and Congress yesterday underscoring how low USA has fallen in decency, empathy and commonsense.

The supporters of the bill and the republicans who voted for it will, in time regret their decision and no doubt many will pretend that they didn't vote for it nor agree with its content. Time will tell - especially next year in the mid-term voting.

Congressmen and Congresswomen who have nothing to fear are the 212 Democrats (all of them) and the two Republicans who voted against it. The warm glow they might receive from doing so though will be cooled by the likely disastrous fallout of the bill's provisions:

• the US will lift its debt ceiling  by $5 trillion.
• the country’s deficit will increase by $3.3 trillion 
• tens of billions will be poured into immigration enforcement making effectively turning USA into a police state similar to Germany in the 1930s
• massive tax cuts will be given to the rich and the super rich
• the middle class and the poor will be stripped of social benefits like Medicaid, food stamps and school meals to cover the increased costs and tax breaks
• 17 million people will lose health insurance cover

It is the greatest redistribution of wealth from the poor to the rich that the country has ever seen.

Countries have had governments overthrown for less.

THE GUARDIAN ON TRUMP'S BILL

 “What are the Republicans waiting for??? What are you trying to prove??? MAGA IS NOT HAPPY, AND IT’S COSTING YOU VOTES!!!”

        Donald Trump (Truth Social)

Those words, unintentionally with a double meaning, will bite him on his big orange bum soon.

IT'S UP TO ME THIS MORNING*

* Tomorrow morning really but I know that readers are starved of good reading material.

So, Richard is off on a sleepover. He's probably gone back to Wessex**. Inconsiderate of him really because he normally writes in the bog in the morning. Yes, I know, we'd be better off without his 'Nui (Wainuiomata) attempts at humour. Chloe did it much better and with nicer footwear.

He's ased me to write his morning post for him so here goes.

First up is a video of a song about making people laugh by a 70s rock band.

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Well, locally I am writing this blog to myself, now that Robert has disappeared again. Fortunately, I have many overseas readers.

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Well, that should meet my obligations. I don't want to show him up too much, poor old 3G guy! Most of us are now using 4 and even 5G and leaving him back in the dust.

** An in-joke there

FROM THE BEGINNING

That rude old guy down (and out?) in Waiunuiomata is telling everyone to fuck off. 

He then realised that he'll be left on his own though and, in the longer term won't like it

He might find that Eve isn't quite as he remembered her from the beginning.

YELLING AT CLOUDS

Look, I'm an old man - I admit it. I can't deny it as I'm 72 years old but that doesn't mean that I can't think for myself and, as shown in my previous posts, think for others especially my many numerous pair of readers.

I've mentioned the excellent US news channel MSNBC before and one of their great presenters and essayists Lawrence O'Donnell and, hopefully, the more enlightened (and less Catholic) of you have read and listened to what he and the other intelligent essayists have said.

For years now I've been struggling with the questions why Donald Trump has such a great following and why US Republican senators, congressmen and people in power cow-tow to him and vote on bills according to what the orange idiot has requested. It just doesn't make sense.

Now, surprisingly as it may seen - given the massive popularity of this blog - my opinions have not resonated with nor impacted on American political thinking. Go figure! Fortunately (for you readers) the said Lawrence O'Donnell shares my views as you will know if you've followed the links I provided before.

Tonight O'Donnell presented a great essay titled 'The Banality of Cruelty' and it is really worth watching. See here: 

O'Donnel sums up with the statement:

"He's not there!"

And neither should he be. He's a cunt and, probably all his miserable life has made other people around him suffer. In his current 'not giving a fuck' position, exacerbated by his power, he is making uncountable people suffer who would not have suffered if he'd never been there.

Which leads me to this clip of the excellent Zombies song 'She's Not There':

OK, OK, it's a stretch but I love this song. Anyway, the lyrics do suggest some connection to the orange fool and his idiocy with only some minor tweaks:

Well, no one told me about her (HIM), the way she lied
Well, no one told me about her (HIM), how many people cried
But it's too late to say you're sorry
How would I know, why should I care?
Please don't bother tryin' to find her (HIM)
She's (HE's) not there
Well, let me tell you 'bout the way she (HE) looked
The way she'd (HE'd) act and the colour of her (HIS) hair
Her (HIS) voice was soft and cool
Her (HIS)  eyes were clear and bright - (doubtful)
But she's (He's) not there
Well, no one told me about her (HIM), what could I do?
Well, no one told me about her (HIM), though they all knew
But it's too late to say you're sorry
How would I know, why should I care?
Please don't bother tryin' to find her (HIM)
She's (HE's) not there
Well, let me tell you 'bout the way she (HE) looked
The way she'd (HE'd) act and the colour of her (HIS) hair
Her (HIS) voice was soft and cool
Her (HIS) eyes were clear and bright (doubtful)
But she's (HE's) not there
But it's too late to say you're sorry
How would I know, why should I care?
Please don't bother tryin' to find her (HIM)
She's (HE's) not there
Well, let me tell you 'bout the way she (HE) looked
The way she'd (HE'd) act and the colour of her (HIS) hair
Her (HIS) voice was soft and cool
Her (HIS) eyes were clear and bright (doubtful)
But she's (HE's) not there

I'M A BIT TIDIER NOW

 

My fashionista Riccardo Testacoli advised that I should ask for a discount when having a haircut.

I did have a haircut this morning but before I could ask the question the hairdresser said that she would reduce the fee from $30 to $20 as I was a good customer.

I'm not sure what makes being a good customer - certainly not frequency as I last went to her in January. Maybe it's because there's not a lot of hair to cut and sweep up. Anyway, I'm happy and The Old Girl should be as well as the cut isn't as severe as The January one was.

ACCORDING TO INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 8601 TODAY IS THE THIRD DAY OF THE WEEK

First of all I want to acknowledge that Richard wrote a new post this morning.

OK, now that we've got that out of the way let's move on to more serious issues.

Milk.

I went to have my usual breakfast this morning - Weetbix with my All Bran/apple sauce/prune juice mixture and fresh milk. Imagine my consternation when I noticed that the best-before date on the milk is 2 July. That's today! While The Old Girl is not averse to using rotten old milk I don't like it. I'll have to go to the shops this morning for fresh supplies.

Robert's blog

It comes and goes like the tide or, to use a more accurate metaphor, the scum, flotsam, jetsam and other detritus that floats in with the tide. Fortunately all that disappears quickly. What's that about? Why bother?

Primitivo

I ordered a case (6-pack) of wine for the old girl yesterday (Masso Antico Primitivo 2023) because she likes primitivo and zinfandel only to be informed by her that she had ordered a six-pack of American zinfandel to be delivered! We will be awash in Italian and Italianesque wines for a while.

Haircut

Richard, in a blog comment, rather rudely suggested that I need a haircut so I'll get that done this morning on my 'milk run' :

Overweight

With The Old Girl being away and me being unsupervised I've been sneaking things into the supermarket trolley like potato chips, chocolate and cheesecake-type desserts. As a result I've gained a bit of weight. I've now started to use the stepping machine to see if I can cut this back before she gets back here. I normally use the rowing machine and the exercycle (because they are easier) and have left the stepping machine alone (because it's harder) but a couple of days ago I got into it. 10 minutes at the moment (before rowing) which I hope to build up to 15 or 20 minutes a day should do the trick.

Note to self

Get rid of the potato chips, chocolate, desserts and any other 'forbidden' things in the freezer before she gets home.

Weather

After a cracker day yesterday, today is a bit grey and dreary. After the 'milk run' I think I'll stay indoors, lounge about and try to avoid that junk food.