Classic American Hot Dog

Health concerns and changing taste have given the hot dog an identity crisis. People are pushing the limits for the definition of a classic hot dog. Avocados, olives, ketchup, provolone cheese, guacamole and even the dreaded mayonnaise have all found their way onto the dog. Even the main ingredient, the winnie can come from grass fed beef. There is just no limit to what people will do to their hot dogs.
July is national Hot Dog month and July 4th is my favorite time of the year to eat hot dogs. My version of the American classic is almost your standard dog although mine varies a little. How do you fix your dog? tle.

When I was 16

Any guy can be a father but not anyone can be a dad. I am lucky to have such a good man for a father. Not every son grows up with that kind of father. My dad has earned the love and respect of all his children as well as that of other people in the community. He is much smarter than I used to think he was and I always love talking to him. I hope he knows how much I love him and how much I appreciate the love, intellectual companionship and advice he has given me all my life.
When I was 16 I thought he was the dumbest man in the world only to find out I was the dumbest and he was the smartest. I don't think of him as much as I should but I sure look forward to spending time with him on Father's Day. He will not be on this earth forever but neither will I, a fact that I excepted long ago. The both of us have good and bad points but somehow we found a way to accept each other having our own kind of father son relationship.
Yes he brought home a pay check and probably took out the garbage, that's all I saw when I was 16. Today I see much more! Neither one of us feels resentful towards one another and we are both able to show appreciation and love for one another. That's all I could ever hope for on Father's Day.

I don't care if you bought every Monopoly game in LA . Paris you can't use another get out of jail free card.

Jail is no fun nor was it ever meant to be. If jail was like the Hilton Hotel no one would fear it or be threatened by it but jail is a living hell so most people do everything possible to avoid it. Good people don't need that threat, it's as simple as obey the law. Most people obey the law because it's the right thing to do but some seem to straddle the fence between right and wrong.
Paris was led from the court room screaming "Mom it's not right" begging her mother, the person who should have taught her right from wrong and the person who should have taught her the rules of life. Well it's too late now, the Justices System is settling the score. Not being a parent I really don't understand the pitfalls of maternal denial but I could drown in it as surly as a lot of parents do. If I were a parent I would teach my kids to look for a buoy of sanity and understanding, letting them know I would not throw them a lifesaver at the first sign of trouble. You can't be your kids best friend and teach them to love you at the same time. If parents don't teach their kids right from wrong the Justice System will and it will do it with out any love, tenderness or compassion.
The law is supposed to be for bad men and women but sometimes justice is blind or at least has a patch over one eye. It must have had a patch on both eyes the day it let Paris out of jail after only serving two days of an original forty five day sentence. OK, so she was having a hard time in jail. She did not like the food and her health was failing, SO WHAT? They should have hauled her ass off the the hospital in handcuffs and picked up take out on the way back to her tiny little cell. If she dose not like the food maybe she will lose a few pounds and will not have to start a diet in January like every other woman in America does. What is she complaining about? She isolated from other prisoners, she is not going to be beaten or have to fend off sexual advances. Her only legitimate complaint is that they took her i-pod away so now she can't dance to the music.
You will never be able to convince me she did not understand the terms of her probation, she just didn't give a rats ass. She figured she'd get away with it because of who she is. Paris has had every advantage one could ever image and yet she still chose not to exercise self restraint. Maybe she will learn a lesson from all of this and not see it as just twenty three days of time out. Most transformations come when people have a significant emotional event or challenges but if Ms. Hilton is just being a brat as I suspect, the experience of jail will just be one more risk that she seems to thrive on.
Life isn't fair but it's sure a lot fairer for rich people. Maybe I should fell sorry for her but I don't. She did not injure or kill anyone, she did not cause thousands of dollars of damage, she did not rob a bank or even steal someones identity. When you are guilty you deserve punishment, that's the right message to send to society. When the Judge ordered Paris back to jail it was a bad day for Paris but it was a good day for the Rule of Law.

I'm just a tin can and string kind of man

I am not sure what is more annoying: the obnoxious ring tones I hear when I am in public places or a 10 to 12 year old yapping away on a cell phone. Both need to be banished from the face of the earth.
All kids no matter what age use the manipulative tool when they want their first cell phone. But Mom! It will allow you to stay in touch with me while I am away from the house. Yeah right! Aside from school when is a 10-12 year old farther away from home than a couple houses up the street? Mom should do the same as my Mom did, step outside and yell. If a 10 year old is so far away that he or she can not hear their mother yell "it's time to eat" then that location should be off limits.
Everywhere I go these days I see kids with cell phones attached to their bags, backpacks and pants. I even saw a pre teen with a Spock phone stuck in his ear.
There are two possible reasons a 10-12 year old gets a cell phone. There is status, which is generally the reason the kids want the phone and the need to stay in touch, which is generally why the parents give the kid a phone. The latter is a legitimate reason but kids don't really see it that way. It's just a status to them. At 10 it's cell phones at 18 it's cars. When you see two 10 year olds with phones, they are not talking on the phone they are comparing ring tones and features of their phones.
The other day I was in my local grocery store when I saw two pre teens standing 15 feet apart and they were talking to each other on their cell phone. The tin-can-and string in me demanded I drive to the closest home improvement store, buy a cutting touch, then find the closest cell tower and cut the tower down. In my defence I told the tin-can-and string that life is getting more hectic and sometimes being able to communicate instantly is the only way to keep things flowing smoothly.
Too often parents offer up a cell phone for their own convenience. What ever the case, add it up and a cell phone for a pre teen is a bad call.

Happy birthday Sgt. Pepper

The Beatles released their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on June 1, 1967. Forty years ago today it was the summer of Love, LBJ was president and the first demonstrations of the Vietnam War had began. An once of marijuana (30 joints) cost $8 and a six pack of Miller beer cost 79 cents. All that beer and pot helped me learn the meaning of meditation so I was ready for the summer of Love. In a two month period the Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix and the Doors all released breakthrough albums which captured the psychedelic spirit of that summer but it was Sgt. Pepper that made me more aware of the world around me. The album's lyrics and pop art cover with all it's colors captivated me even before I took the rapper off of it. I can still remember buying the album and the anticipation of getting it home so I could listen to the music over and over again. People will always debate which Beatles album is the best but I think its a tie between Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Revolver. It's amazing how the Beatles music has held up over time. At 40 Sgt. Pepper should be as ancient as a 1920's Ragtime album but Sgt. Pepper seems to be ageless. Thank you Sgt. Pepper, you gave me my spirit and imagination.