Not a lot, just enough to satisfy the palate:

I don’t have a problem with the bacon part of this - heck, I think I’ve eaten more bacon over the past month than I have in the last year - but the dairy part of it I think I’d skip.

In some ways you have to feel sorry for the Susan G. Komen Foundation - I mean, hell hath no fury like rabid, pro-dead baby feminists scorned - but it still comes down to the fact that a private corporation has the right to fund whatever organizations they want to. If the SGKF felt that Planned Parenthood was using their funding for abortions, they had every right to either withdraw that funding or dictate the terms by which it could continue. Instead, they folded like a cheap bridge table and will continue to support (at least in a limited way) PP, which means not a dime of support from me and lot of other people in the future. I can find better ways to support the fight against breast cancer than to help fund a vile death industry with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

This is what you get when you allow the same federal government agencies whose only interest is in retaining power to publish unemployment statistics. Perhaps it’s just anecdotal evidence, but my company has postponed the amount of new hiring they were planning for this year, and all I see around town is more small businesses failing without new ones replacing them. It’s bad out there, and if you want the real story just listen to those who are looking at the real numbers:

But right now there are some “bright spots” in the economy, and you are bound to run into family and friends that will repeat to you the nonsense that they are hearing on the television about how the economy is recovering. When they try to convince you that the economy is getting better, ask them these questions….

If the economy is getting better, then why did new home sales in the United States hit a brand new all-time record low during 2011?

If the economy is getting better, then why are there 6 million less jobs in America today than there were before the recession started?

If the economy is getting better, then why is the average duration of unemployment in this country close to an all-time record high?

If the economy is getting better, then why has the number of homeless female veterans more than doubled?

If the economy is getting better, then why has the number of Americans on food stamps increased by 3 million since this time last year and by more than 14 million since Barack Obama entered the White House?

If the economy is getting better, then why has the number of children living in poverty in America risen for four years in a row?

If the economy is getting better, then why is the percentage of Americans living in “extreme poverty” at an all-time high?

If the economy is getting better, then why is the Federal Housing Administration on the verge of a financial collapse?

If the economy is getting better, then why do only 23 percent of American companies plan to hire more employees in 2012?

If the economy is getting better, then why has the number of self-employed Americans fallen by more than 2 million since 2006?

If the economy is getting better, then why did an all-time record low percentage of U.S. teens have a job last summer?

If the economy is getting better, then why does median household income keep declining? Overall, median household income in the United States has declined by a total of 6.8% since December 2007 once you account for inflation.

The truth is far bleaker than the Obama administration would have you think. Just don’t expect the mainstream dino-media to start playing journalist and tell you the truth.

R.I.P. Ben Gazzara. I thought he was one fine actor - very edgy.

It’s time for the Red Sox to formally cut ties with Tim Wakefield so he can retire in good standing.

I’m cruising towards the end of week five in my “Six Week Cure For The Middle-Aged Middle” diet and y’all know about the weight loss (which, as of this morning, still stands at 15 lbs). But I was looking forward to my annual physical, not just to confirm that their digital scale matches my cheap analog version, but to see what other changes to my body chemistry might have occurred as a result of the diet. I’d read from the Amazon reviews and from other blogs about some truly miraculous results other people had experienced; I couldn’t help but wonder if I could add my name to that list.

At my appointment yesterday, the doc came in with a big smile on his face. He congratulated me for a hard year’s worth of work, and was astounded when I told him about doing nothing over the past year but starting my Eades’ diet exactly one month prior. “You’ve done all this in five weeks?”, he asked. It sounded incredible, but like they say in finance and sports, numbers don’t lie. Here are the changes in just one month:

* Weight: From 170 to 155
* Waist size: From 35 3/4 to 33 3/4
* Blood pressure: From 138 / 94 to 124 / 82

Here are the changes since my last physical exam:

* Cholestorol: From 210 to 155
* LDL cholesterol: From 140 to 83

My cholesterol / HDL ratio (a predictor of heart disease risk, where under 5 is considered good) turned in at a fantastic 2.8.

So there you have it, folks, the results are in. There’s little question that the Eades’ diet works. And if it can work for me, it can certainly work for anyone. I’m now well into my two-week maintenance period and feel a great deal of satisfaction at what I’ve been able to accomplish in such a short time. And the truth is, it hasn’t been all that hard, or even all that bad. Picking the right time of year to do it has helped, and I’ve really stuck to the Eades’ recommendations. While I have little doubt there will be ups and downs going forward, I have no desire to go back to 170 lbs and the dietary lifestyle I was living prior to the New Year.

The doc’s final words are those I’ll keep with me for inspiration over the coming year: “155-160 looks good on you. Keep it up.”

This is the week that, for the folks out here in the Valley of the Sun, the PGA season truly gets underway. It’s the weekend of the Waste Management Open, the loudest event on tour. The weather promises to be absolutely gorgeous, and The Great White Shank will be planning on hitting the range for the first time this year in preparation for my upcoming Vegas weekend.

If ever there was a day that perfectly underscores why conservatives like yours truly are not sold on Mitt Romney as the GOP nominee, this was it. I mean, how tin-eared can one be?

Check out this video of a bunny herding sheep, it’s awesome!

Both Tracey’s and my W2s have arrived, meaning that tax season is upon us.

Sure, it took a little time for me to get used to Heidi Watney replacing Tina Cevasio on the Sox games over at NESN, but I came to enjoy Heidi and her work just as much. That little nod and smile with a shrug of her shoulders she used to do (I wonder if she practiced that?) always worked for me. Now Heidi’s been replaced by someone named Jenny Dell. Well, I don’t plan on giving my heart away that easily this time. Besides, I won’t be seeing her that much anyways - no Sox games on NESN this year due to our fiscal belt-tightening effort.

The other night while flipping through channels I came upon a Biography Channel biography of The Bee Gees, that iconic British group famous for their classic pop melodies, quivering harmonies, tender ballads, and smooth disco. Perhaps it’s because of their relative “lightness” when compared to, say, “serious” bands like the Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, etc., I’m not sure they’ve ever gotten their true due, but they’re one of the largest-selling acts in rock history (only Elvis, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney have outsold them to date).

While I hadn’t seriously listened to any of their music except for whatever might have come across the radio or supermarket speakers in recent years, hearing their story told with all of those great songs reminded me just how good these guys were. Without question they’d have a firm place in The Great White Shank’s top ten of all-time great bands. With that in mind, here are ten of my favorite Bee Gees tunes; if you have others feel free to chime in:

10. “Lonely Days” (1970). Not much of a tune, actually - at least compared to others in their catalog - but I always liked it.

9. “How Deep Is Your Love?” (1977). Another cut from “Saturday Night Fever”, perfect for slow dancing on the disco floor with that chick you hoped you could end up taking home, but never did.

8. “You Win Again” (1987). A great example of how the band could still churn out solid pop nearly twenty years after they broke upon the pop scene. A modern take on their classic ability to combine melody and great harmonies.

7. “Stayin’ Alive” (1977). I mean, how can any Bee Gees list not have this one from “Saturday Night Fever”?

6. “I’ve Just Got To Get A Message To You” (1968). I’ve always liked the beat of this song and its odd combination of lyric (about a man condemned to die) and jaunty arrangement.

5. “You Should Be Dancing” (1976). Hard-pounding disco and a monster hit that was played in and danced to in every club that year.

4. “Words” (1968). Love the piano throughout, the almost tentative start and the dramatic low notes. I equate this song with my “coming out” year of not just hearing music, but, thanks to The Beatles’ “Hey Jude”, listening to it for the first time.

3. “Run To Me” (1972). The last of the “old style” Bee Gees releases, a lovely ballad with great harmonies. When they would return nearly three years later, they’d sound like a different band.

2. “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?” (1971). Whenever I hear this song it brings me back to our last family vacation in 1971, driving to Niagrara Falls and Fort Ticonderoga and hearing my Mom singing the harmony in the chorus. Mom could always pick out the good harmonies!

1. “Nights On Broadway” (1975) - I remember when this came out, thinking how much of a departure it was from their traditional sound. A great rocker and the first sign they had exhanged one genre for another while still keeping intact their classic sound.

155. That’s the official reading from the Sunbeam scale in the bathroom that, just four weeks ago back on January 2nd, when I was about to embark on my “Six-Week Cure For The Middle-Aged Middle” diet, read 170. That’s 15 pounds in four weeks! During that time, I’ve seen various articles of clothing from t-shirts to shorts to long pants that once were either too snug to wear (or at least wear comfortably) slipped back into my daily rotation and testifying to the tightened midsection I could never have imagined possible in just four weeks’ time. I haven’t taken a Prilosec for acid reflux since New Year’s Day, and, while I’m still not sleeping as well as I did prior to starting out on the diet, I feel better both mentally and physically than I have in years. Today I’ll be going to my doctor to draw blood in anticipation of my annual physical; it will be interesting to see if I have seen any difference in my blood numbers from last year.

While the first two weeks of the Eades’ diet were tough - those three daily protein shakes regimen were definitely a wake-up call - the meal recipes were delicious, and I found myself adjusting easily to the dietary changes and not missing the alcohol and caffeine nearly as much as I thought I would. After that, for the next two weeks (the so-called “meat weeks”), the only part I didn’t like were the amino acid supplement tablets which were the biggest damned things I ever saw. After almost choking to dath on one of them, I just started smashing them into powder and taking them with a big glass of water.

So now I head into the last two weeks of the diet, which the Eades’ call the “maintenance weeks”. It’s during this time that, after two weeks of abolutely zero carbs, dairy product limited to the half-and-half I’d put in my two cups of morning half-regular / half-decaf coffee, minimal alcohol (two 4 oz. servings a week), and no veggies with sugars or starches, I start enacting my own plan based on their recommendations. In short, the last two weeks are designed to help you find that delicate balance between lifestyle and diet based on the lessons you have learned during the first four weeks. Just the fact I no longer have to take the leucine supplements is worth it!

I’ve thought a lot about where and how I go from here, and here will be my strategy from here on out:

1. No consumption of anything containing high-fructose corn syrup. I’ve already checked everything in my refrigerator and pantry, and tossed out anything containing the slightest amount of HFCS.

2. Restricting alcohol consumption to weekends only (Friday night through Sunday night), with four days of zero alcohol every week to maintain my liver balance and health. This I don’t consider much of a sacrifice at all, as I’ve come to truly enjoy and look forward to my club sodas on the rocks with a twist of lemon or lime.

3. Emphasis on foods with low carbs (no more than 60 grams a day) and eating organic as much as possible.

4. A drastic reduction in the nightly potatoes and rices, and sauces and gravies I used to enjoy regularly. Surprisingly, while I’ve missed my pastas and rice dishes, I’ve found that I enjoy a sliced tomato drizzled in olive oil along with some veggies either steamed or done on the stove top with olive oil just as enjoyable. There are some nice low-carb pasta options out there (the Dreamfields line is readily available at most supermarket chains), and, as long as you don’t go crazy you can find a pretty good balance there.

Considering that I was only looking to lose ten pounds and tighten up my midsection, the Eades’ diet has worked beyond my wildest dreams. Of course, I don’t think staying at 155 is a reasonable goal going forward (and to be honest, I would be ecstatic if a year from now I found myself stable somewhere around 160, give or take a pound or two), but I can’t wait to see what, if any, changes take place as I enter the final, maintenance weeks of my diet. Stay tuned.

A few notes and news to start the weekend off:

I’ve had this happen with one of our cats before, albeit in a car. Our cat Sparkle always found ways to get into places that were nearly impossible for her to get out of. One time that happened, she thanked me by puking all over me.

I guess this is where the saying, “if you can’t raise the bridge, lower the river” comes from. Yikes…

I have to agree with NRO’s Jonah Goldberg on this. I’m glad I never didn’t watch President Obama’s State Of The Union speech, I would have tossed my club soda and lemon right through the flat screen. He quotes the President and then nails him for his incredible hypocisy and misguidedness:

“This nation is great because we worked as a team. This nation is great because we get each other’s backs.”

No. Wrong. It is not so with America. This nation isn’t great because we work as a team with the president as our captain. America is great because America is free. It is great not because we put our self-interest aside, but because we have the right to pursue happiness.

I don’t blame the president for being exhausted with the mess and bother of democracy and politics, since he has proved so inadequate at coping with the demands of both. Nor do I think he truly seeks to impose martial virtues on America. But he does desperately want his opponents to shut up and march in place. And he seems to think this bilge will convince them to do so.

What I can’t forgive, however, is the way he tries to pass off his ideal of an America where everyone marches as one as a better America. It wouldn’t be America at all.

Oh yeah, like you “have the back” of anyone who happens to disagree with you and your destructive policies - we’re just racists out here, you know. But what should one expect from a so-called “genius” of a President whose goal for economic health includes this gem of wisdom:

“I laid out a blueprint for an economy that’s built to last, that has a firm foundation. Where we’re making stuff and selling stuff and moving it around and UPS drivers are dropping things off everywhere.”

Yeah, as long as that “stuff” is not black and gooey and leads this country to less dependence on foreign Middle East oil. In the spirit of AZ governor Jan Brewer, I’ve got a piece of advice for you, Mr. President: stuff it.

UPDATE: Replaced “foreign oil” with “Middle East oil” - after all, the Keystone pipeline would draw oil from Canada, and last I checked, Canada was a foreign country.

…says Cosmo the rabbit.

So I think I will.

Oh, but before I go, thank you,Governor Brewer! Someone needs to stand up for a state under repeated and concerted attack by the President and the Attorney General of this country. I wish the GOP in Washington woul show the same kind of fortitude.

It looks like last night might be the last sub-40 night the NWS is expecting for the rest of the winter here in the Valley of the Sun. The extended forecast says we may even hit 80 for the first time the weekend after this, and once it does that it starts the steady climb of the highs and lows for each day. I’ve got baby limes already starting on my tree, and the air yesterday had just a hint of sweetness, so Arizona spring can’t be far away.

Still, for many, it’s the dead of winter, so here’s a poem more in keeping with January, hope you like it:

“Clouded with snow
The cold winds blow,
And shrill on leafless bough
The robin with its burning breast
Alone sings now.

The rayless sun,
Day’s journey done,
Sheds its last ebbing light
On fields in leagues of beauty spread
Unearthly white.

Thick draws the dark,
And spark by spark,
The frost-fires kindle, and soon
Over that sea of frozen foam
Floats the white moon.”
- Walter de La Mare, Winter

Hat tip: egreenway.com

Three weeks down, three weeks to go on my six-week “Cure For The Middle-Aged Middle” diet, and the scale says I’ve lost three more pounds. I’m down to 157, making it thirteen so far, three over my goal of losing ten pounds. Obviously, I’m thrilled. I haven’t weighed less than 160 in I don’t know how long.

To tell you the truth, I was surprised to drop the additional pounds, as the past week (the first of the diet’s two “meat weeks”) has been filled with little more than chicken, beef, and pork in a variety of ways (soup, meatloaf, chili), plus eggs and a small amount of their recommended veggies cooked with a bit of olive oil. But, with the exception of Saturday (when, in the Lenten tradition of a Laetere Sunday, I permitted myself an additional glass of wine and - gasp! - a little bit of chocolate to reward myself for good behavior these past few weeks), I’ve stuck to the diet faithfully and haven’t found myself feeling wanting in any way.

While I haven’t noticed the additional weight loss, I have noticed additional, albeit small improvement in how my clothes fit. I have a Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville “The Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful” t-shirt that I had stopped wearing because I didn’t like my paunchy look in it; now I can wear it and it doesn’t even fit sung. Pants that used to require a little tug to fasten slip on easily. To me, that’s reward enough. I’m still craving wacky things like macaroni and cheese, cheese and crackers, beef enchiladas, and spaghetti and meatballs, but I tell myself my time will come when I can have these kinds of things in moderation.

So where to from here? Week four will be similar to the past week, with lots of meat meals with continued recommended exercises and vitamin supplements. Next week I plan a physical and blood test to see how various numbers might have improved along with the weight loss as I enter the final two weeks of the diet, which is setting up the maintenance program I plan on following after that. More on that when the time comes.

Bottom line: this diet has been an unqualified success, not so much because of the weight loss itself (which is important), but, more importantly, I’m learning how to eat better (and less) and what kinds of foods and food ingredients to avoid - for example, all refrigerator and pantry items containing high-fructose corn syrup have been tossed out, and when I go to the supermarket I’m actually reading labels. The recipes for this diet also have me cooking using different techniques than I have in the past, which has been interesting. It is definitely an eye-opener when it comes to my diet in the past and what I plan to keep on following going forward.

…it’s been more than three weeks since I’ve had a boat drink. Now THAT’S something to look forward to when I get to Vegas in less than three weeks!

Given that it looks like we’re free and clear here in the Valley of the Sun as far as near-freezing nights go, so this weekend will be spent doing outside chores and getting everything ready for the landscapers winter pruning in the next couple of weeks.

Glad frequent commenter Jana survived the severe storms and tornadoes that passed close to Louisville on Tuesday and Thursday. I remember when we lived there the worst severe storm we got was during the January 3 outbreak of 2000. It was weird watching the TV and the meterologist telling you exactly the cross streets and neighborhoods where the tornado was passing through.

I agree with the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham: I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Sox make a big move and trade third baseman Kevin Youkilis before the start of spring training. The Sox need to clear some salary in order to beef up their starting rotation, and he’s the player with the most value. Watch the Tigers, now that they’ve lost Victor Martinez for the year with a torn ACL.

The big political question of the day: how does Mitt Romney regain his stride? I don’t understand why he’s had so much trouble with the whole Bain Capital and tax return issues. There’s nothing wrong with turning his opponents’ arguments around by defending his success in life as a result of his hard work, primarily in the private sector. This primary season should have been a slam dunk for him, but he’s made a total mess of things. There’s a flaw there, not sure what it is. Still plenty of time for him to turn it around, though…

I’ll be surprised if Newt Gingrich’s latest surge lasts.

But Ron Paul I can see staying right to the end and becoming a major player at GOP convention. He’s going to have beaucoups chips to play before this is all over.

Have to agree with Mark Levin on this one: if the mainstream dino-media is going to probe into every nook and cranny about every GOP candidate’s history, I want them to do the same to Barack Obama. But I won’t hold my breath…

Was never much of a fan of Southwest Airlines, this story will make me even less so. Here’s an idea to save money: why not just eliminate seats altogether and have people stand while strapped against poles?

R.I.P. Etta James. She had a hard life, but what a voice. “At Last” is one of my all-time fave tunes of the doo-wop era.