Dirty Tricks, 2018:

It could be worse, I suppose:

A neoconservative foreign policy group appeared to try and get audio recorded claiming erroneously that Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D-TX) Senate campaign was endorsed by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

The campaign appears to have not made it into production, and maybe never will, as the site where the group posted a call for voice actors took down the solicitation on the grounds that the script was clearly false.

Entertainment Question of the Weekend

See Stormy Daniels, or pass her up?:

Stormy Daniels’ Sacramento-area strip club appearance is on, and the porn star is drawing immense interest just as her tell-all memoir hits retailers.

“She has a special following because of her interaction with Donald Trump, and now, kind of the world,” said Mark Boyles, co-owner of Gold Club Centerfolds in Rancho Cordova, where she’s set to perform this weekend.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, will perform two back-to-back striptease shows this Friday and Saturday night, with showtimes commencing at 9 p.m. and midnight. Afterward, she’ll be available for “meet-and-greets” with patrons, who will be able take photos with her, Boyles said.

The Trump Administration Fans the Flames of Violence

Even as National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn represented the Turkish government, and it looks like one of its agents decided to pay a call today:

Police were called to Fethullah Gulen’s longtime home in the Pocono Mountains after a security guard fired a “warning shot in the air” around 8:30 a.m., according to a statement from the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values, a group that promotes Gulen’s philosophies.

The man, “who appeared to be armed, attempted to enter the retreat center,” and the guard responded by firing the shot, the statement said. No injuries were reported.

The Pig Race

Like the rat race.

Pencil In Playtime

Introducing My New Companion, Jasper

The first few hours with my new dog, Jasper. He is more independent than the rest of his siblings, and I hope he adjusts well to being away from them. He took the 40-mile drive down from Placerville well. He wandered the truck cab and spent time standing in my lap as I drove, but it was all good.

Jasper’s mystified by virtually everything. He watches every single thing I do and keeps me in sight. He doesn’t like being picked up and figured out that no one can get him if he sits under the kitchen table. He doesn’t like steps, but figured out the two steps into the bedroom.

Jasper’s personality is much closer to that of a Papillon than a Pomeranian. We took a brief walk in the back yard, the back alley, and a parking area. He peed on the concrete rather than the lawn, but thats good enough for now.

Minutes after retiring to bed, there was a sudden crash somewhere in the house. We all started searching for the origin of the sound, and Jasper joined in the hunt. Turned out a hanger failed, and the painting it supported fell to the floor. It was a weird fluke, but Jasper didn’t bark. For all Jasper knows, it’s the new normal.

Jen Broke The Rules And Took A Few Photos Of Me Performing in "Bye, Bye Birdie"

She even took a video, but I can't embed it.

Here Comes Rosa

Maybe Heavy Rains for the drought-stricken Colorado River Valley and Arizona.

Devin Nunes' Family Moved To Iowa More Than A Decade Ago

Very curious. The dairy-farmer family of Congressman Devin Nunes of Tulare, CA, moved to Iowa more than a decade ago:

So here’s the secret: The Nunes family dairy of political lore—the one where his brother and parents work—isn’t in California. It’s in Iowa. Devin; his brother, Anthony III; and his parents, Anthony Jr. and Toni Dian, sold their California farmland in 2006. Anthony Jr. and Toni Dian, who has also been the treasurer of every one of Devin’s campaigns since 2001, used their cash from the sale to buy a dairy eighteen hundred miles away in Sibley, a small town in northwest Iowa where they—as well as Anthony III, Devin’s only sibling, and his wife, Lori—have lived since 2007. Devin’s uncle Gerald still owns a dairy back in Tulare, which is presumably where The Wall Street Journal’s reporter talked to Devin, and Devin is an investor in a Napa Valley winery, Alpha Omega, but his immediate family’s farm—as well as his family—is long gone.

There’s nothing particularly strange about a congressman’s family moving. But what is strange is that the family has apparently tried to conceal the move from the public—for more than a decade. As far as I could tell, until late August, neither Nunes nor the local California press that covers him had ever publicly mentioned that his family dairy is no longer in Tulare.

Finally Got A Newspaper

Sometimes the question is asked, how can we arrest the decline of newspapers?

My Sacramento Bee newspaper subscription ran out in March, and I was shocked at the doubling of rates, so I hesitated renewing. In the middle of May, I renewed my subscription, but for weekend delivery only, to moderate the cost.

And the paper was never delivered. Not once. Every weekend, when delivery inevitably failed, I either called their complaint line and left a voicemail, or sent an E-Mail. The Bee offers a redelivery option, and I opted for it, but since delivery or redelivery never happened, I eventually opted instead for them to credit my account. After awhile, I forgot about the subscription, and the account balance dwindled.

Today, September 30, 2018, and once again faced with no delivery, I sent a complaining E-Mail asking for them to credit my account. To my vast surprise, they actually redelivered the paper. For a newspaper subscription obtained in May, I finally received my first newspaper!

Saving newspapers is not a hopeless task, but first there has to be a willingness for newspapers to engage with the task. Nevertheless, there are rumors the Sacramento Bee will cease with a paper option altogether in a year or two. Of course, no one will ask the subscribers about their opinions about the matter.

Big Early Leaf Fall

Not sure I believe in portents, but I'm surprised by the size of the early leaf fall from the California Valley Oaks. Usually leaf fall starts early, in August, and then there's in a pause, before starting in earnest in late October, ending after Christmas. This year, though, there's no pause, just a sharp acceleration. An early winter? Climate change? Trump?

I Had A Second Theater Anxiety Dream

Several theater companies were going to stage a special performance of “West Side Story” together, and even though everyone knew their lines, the cast hadn’t rehearsed together, or indeed, hadn’t even met one another. One of my jobs was to open a manhole and pour volatile hydrocarbons down a pipe in order to heat the performance hall. I suddenly began to get a feeling of foreboding about this special performance.

Kavanaugh

Pretty interesting stuff. The GOP is committing slow-motion suicide, and doesn't even realize it.

Not Much Posting Of Late

"Better Call Saul" Season 4 has only two more episodes to air, and so I'm getting TWO books ready for release. A myriad of details!

Third Weekend of "Bye, Bye Birdie"

Good weekend (with the exception of Katherine's injury - the best of healing to her).

On Saturday evening, an errant thought crossed my mind as I prepared to come onstage. It proved my undoing.

I'm supposed to come downstage center, alone, and proclaim, "Harvey Johnson, I want you home this minute! Harvey!"

Instead, I said, "Howard ... Johnson, I want you home this minute! Harvey!"

I think I'll just go drown myself.....

Donating Furniture To Carr Fire Recovery

Pepper came by on Saturday, to relieve me of some of the household clutter.

Maybe in two weeks, I'll donate more. The best way to move things along.

Greenland Sharks Live A Long Time

Fountain of Youth under the icebergs:

Scientists have made a startling discovery where they have found a shark whose age was estimated to be at least 392 years. Yes, a Greenland shark has been found in the Arctic region and could very well be the oldest living vertebrate on the planet. The research is published in the journal Science.

The researchers have measured the creature and estimated that it could be born as early as 1505. Known to live in temperature less than -1 degree Celcius, these creatures can swim as deep as 7,200 feet and weigh more than a tonne.

Second Opinion

Spent yesterday getting a second opinion on E.'s health issue at Kaiser Permanente. She's waffling between minimal surgery and telling the surgeons where to insert their scalpels.

Theater Anxiety Dream

A common-enough theater anxiety dream, but first time I ever had it. Intermission started, so I went home, got into pajamas, and started watching TV. Suddenly remembered Act 2 should have already started, hurriedly dressed, and couldn’t recall any specifics about the opening scene except that it was supposed to start with my soaring solo performance of a song whose lyrics escaped me.

...

Here's the cheerleader anxiety dream....

Checking In On The Ted Cruz Campaign