August 24, 2007

• According to this morning's BBC news: Cuban leader Castro 'very well'.
• That's what they want you to think...
• Google News' first link is to Perez Hilton, so I have my doubts.
• I heard this a couple hours ago -- I doubt the lid could be kept on it this long...
• This just in: Francisco Franco is still dead. And now back to our regular monkeys.
• How about Zombie Reagan?
• Okay, so the blog claims that, because Castro is dead, South Florida Law Enforcement is on alert. An EOC (Emergency Operations Center) has been set-up and manned somewhere in Homestead. Im also told Local and State government agencies have food, bottled water, and other necessities - valued in the millions - stored and/or staged in Homestead at or near the EOC. Why would they need millions of dollars of food and bottled water stashed away? I don't think everyone is going to flee Cuba the moment Castro dies, and I don't think the exiles are going to start rioting, necessitating the closure of the shops, so... what the hell is this guy on about?
• Vote for Quid!
• Castro Dead: Cuban Vacation Resorts No Longer a Haven for Canadians Wishing To Avoid Americans
• Exactly my thought! Dang.
• Schroedinger's Castro.
• Cubans will finally seen in the US as no better than cigars from Brazil, the Philippines, Cameroon, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua or anything else.
• "anywhere else"
• Only if they stop making them. Cuban cigars were renowned long before Castro.
• I've had one. Dominicans are far better.
• Depends. I find the lesser brands tend to be a little hot and spicey. Something like a Romeo Y Julieta is just right... But a quality Dominican, like a Davidoff -- just as good.
• I think they all taste like cow shit.
• Yes, but there is gradation of flavor even in cow shit, my ignorant friend. And there is a world of difference between the herbaceous mouth feel of a good Jersey, and the vile, ribald, hay filtered fecundity of your common Holstein.
• Is that a Seinfeld reference, mct? All this story seems to indicate is that Perez Hilton is trying to be The New Matt Drudge... wait a minute, has anyone ever seen the two of them in the same place at the same time? Hmmm. Anyway, that gossip geek has been pushing this story for days, ever since somebody noticed a lot of Cuban military had been mobilized... when Hurricane Dean was approaching. I tend to support a contrarian theory, that Fidel was never really all that sick, he just wanted to retire from dictatorship and feared that if he did so voluntarily, there'd be unrest and his doofus brother couldn't handle the job. So, they went for big-time sympathy and the promise/threat that he would return to keep things cool. Of course, I could be wrong. But I'm not Perez Hilton throwing every rumor he WANTS to be true up on the web and repeatedly reminding us when one out of ten of them turns out to be right.
• "there is a world of difference between the herbaceous mouth feel of a good Jersey, and the vile, ribald, hay filtered fecundity of your common Holstein." LOL. I gotta remember that. It's right up there with the weedy buffalo ass.
• Nickdanger ftw.
• Having just spent the afternoon at the State Fair touring the barns, I must admit Nick knows his ... shit. May I interject a high note of goat/llama/alpaca* barn? I LOLed *Seriously, when I first read the headline, my world just got a bit wobbly there for a second. Whew, the Big Man gone?? He's, like, been there all MY life (or since I've been old enough to pay attention.) And I'm really OLD! Monkeys, let's assume this news is true. Start predicting. The alpaca people were SO cool. They let the grandkids lead the alpacas through the trail course they use to put the animals through their paces--bridge, three types of jumps, teeter board, log jam, etc. They loved it. We were *first* in line, and by the time the three were done, the line was out the building and down the walkway. good times
• It's now been nine hours since Skrik posted this, and still nothing official? Hm.
• Predictions? Short term: people in the States go more apeshit than in Cuba. Transition of power to Raul (more so). Cubans largely sit and wait. Long term: Dissolution, not collapse, of the Communist regime into a social-democratic state the U.S. is still not crazy about. Death throes of the Cuban-American power base in Florida, getting more and more crazy and demanding as their raison d'etre disappears, leaving them without any influence whatsoever. My guess, anyway.
• ¡Viva Fidel! This is not the first time the wacko Cubans in Miami have whipped themselves into a frenzy for nothing.
• Update: Raúl Castro has just announced his intention to run for US president as a Democrat. He has a plan for universal health care and reverse immigration.
• On the cigar thing: I've smoked a wide variety of Caribbean cigars, and I'd find the Cubans are on average about 20 to 30 percent better within a given price range.
• Oh come on, it's just a cigar, Dr Freud.
• State Fair, BlueHorse? Hope you ate something bad for you (but tasty) on a stick. I had a Scotch egg. It was.. well, kinda greasy and eggy and sausagey. But it was on as stick, so all was acceptable. Now the fried cheese curds, no stick to speak of, but man. Can't beat crispy salty chunks of lightly fried cheese. Fatty fair food + training for half marathon is also why the wife and I ran 10 miles the next day.
• How was the butter sculpture?
• The quality of any cigar when you judge it by it's nation of origin is going to be highly variable. There are bound to be both good and bad cigars from anywhere. Same thing with cars; i.e. don't judge all Italian cars from your broken down Fiat. My point is that American consumers covet Cuban cigars due to their paucity, not their actual quality. I've seen people spend way too much money on piss poor Cuban cigars in Tijuana just because they were Cuban, not because they were good.
• What were you doing in Tijuana, squid?
• Er, nothing... Besides, that man said he destroyed all the photos. Seriously, I've been traveling there for years. My parents had a small beach cabin in Rosarita back when the town consisted of a meat market, a fruit and vegetable market, a bakery, a tortilla factory and a hardware store. Oh, and the hotel. Good memories.
• Schroedinger's Castro.
• With déjà vu.
• I know. Just so good I had to say it twice.