A Sentence You Don't Want Yourself to Be Referred In

It's been a rough year for poor, soon-to-be-former Staten Island Congressman, Vito Fossella (R).

He was pulled over for DUI in VA last spring, but that's when his troubles really started. Asked by the cops where he was going, he said he was on his way to visit his sick daughter, nearby.

Problem...as far as everyone else knew, his family was up in New York.

Oops.

Vito was keeping a little snack in the cupboard.

His trial was yesterday.

Neither Mr. Fossella’s wife, Mary Pat Fossella, nor his mistress, Laura Fay, were in the courtroom.

In-Depth Coverage from the Plain Dealer

This week, Cuyahoga County goombas Jimmy Dimora and Frank Russo had their offices raided as part of a big corruption investigation. The FBI and the IRS, who had to bring agents from Pittsburgh with them, were involved.

It was the talk of the town...even on a day that Shrub had some events here that ruined the evening commute for people at my place of employment.

Anyway, with a story about corruption at that level going on, one would think that it would be the top story of the local paper of record, the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

It was.

And, as usual, the Plain Dealer delivers a crappy article in crappy fashion.

The story's linked off of the main PD page...good

It takes you to a 4-paragraph start to the article. Too much for a teaser, but shorter than what one would expect for a click....bad

Following the link, I find that the full article, including head- and by-line, does not even cover one scroll of the screen. And the article only told us what one could have guessed. Jimmy and Frankie defiantly returned to work today, they denied guilt and the local GOP organization wants them to step down. Gee, no shit, Sherlock....lazy reporting and bad web experience.

I think I just go to the PD's site to find stuff sure to tick me off.

Thankfully, they always deliver.

You're a Funny Guy!

The earlier post made me think of Goodfellas...but I could not find the exact scene I was looking for.

In its place, though, here's probably the most famous scene from this classic.

Hopefully I amuse you, too, though.

Richard Pryor on the Mafia

I remember vividly the first time I heard Richard Pryor do his 'working for the mafia' bit.

I had just picked up a compilation of his album releases, was listening to it in the coche on the way home and had to pull over because I was laughing so hard.

The man was a damned genius.

Leave it to the Plain Dealer

As both of my loyal readers know, I really have it out for the Plain Dealer.

If only it were made of softer paper, they might be able to lure me into a subscription so that I could get a fresh roll of toilet paper delivered to my doorstep every morning.

Anyway, August 19 has become one of my favorite days of the year.

Why, you ask?

Because it's the day after the Feast of the Assumption street fair/festival ends here in Cleveland. I live just a half block off of ground zero and while my block doesn't have an exceptional amount of riff-raff running around, it does congest the whole area.

I like it for a short time and I'm happy that it brings in some business for the neighborhood, but beyond that, I'm glad when the circus leaves town. The ground-shaking fireworks marked its end last night around 10:30 PM.

So this morning, I thought I would share a bit of it with folks and find a photo gallery online...since I was too lazy to shoot and upload any myself.

Our good friends at the asylum known as the Plain Dealer have one up, but this one, in particular, caught my eye.

No matter how devoted a Catholic one might be, is is at all appropriate to display an image of her, and draw attention to the Virgin....right above your crotch?


Anyway, the gallery is mostly from parade day and doesn't really show that, beyond a nice parade (that actually goes right in front of my house) the rest of it is just a regular old street fair with beer gardens and that famous Italian delicacy....Gyros.