questions asked, answers questioned

or something

aham23: 5 or 3? which way did you go man?

those were girls clothes. i bought a churro, some bootleg dvds, a sparkley belt for the cougar, and a bike rack for my trunk.

adrienne: list me off three things in this world you are sure of.

my mother loves me, there is a God, the busblog will never end.

Ciavarro: Will I or won’t I pass out during the ceremony on September 6?

if i knew for certain that you would, i would consider making the hike up there. but i doubt it. italian men might be sensitive, but making the most important decision of your (schween’s) life is nothing to pass out over.

Sharp (Azreal Darkskies): What comic books did you grow up reading? Are you as excited for Dark Knight as I am?

Mad, Cracked, and Crazy – none of the superhero ones. I was the superhero, i didnt need comics. Jazzed about the Dark Knight? No. Christian Bale isnt my type of Batman. I didn’t mind the last one Batman Begins or whatever, but Michael Keaton was troubled and to me those are the best comic book heroes. Bale is too much a pretty boy. A poor man’s Tom Cruise.

xtx: Would you make lust to a Real Doll? (don’t lie….)

I’ve had enough real women who act like the Real Doll that i can honestly say no. I wouldnt mind having one lounging around the house to freak out guests, but i would not have relations with her.

tina: when weed doesnt work, f or be f’ed?

i can honestly say i have no f’ing idea what on earth you are talking about.

Steven Allen Adams: Should Jesse Jackson be honest and admit what we already know: that he’s jealous of Barack Obama?

it would be beautiful since many people didnt like Jesse even before the incident, and it would add a new dimension to his personality that some might not have seen: humility.

lily: how’s it like living in LA? do you encounter folks like masuimi max or henry rollins?

i love LA with all my heart. its not for everyone. but if you like running into stars then this is pretty much the only place that i can imagine you can do it and not even realize it. never heard of masuimi, but i just Google Imaged her ass and wowza. i had actually interviewed Rollins many many moons ago and drove him around Hollywood before he opened for Gwar. Great guy. super intense. very smart. but yes, if you live in hollywood or santa monica or malibu you will see stars all the time. (theyre just like us)

John: Is hell eternal?

if Heaven is, then Hell has to be. which is why i try to be as good as i can be. because id rather have eternal Paradise instead of eternal Damnation. a bad day on Earth is bad enough, let alone a bad year. i dont wanna know what eternal bad is all about.

pitt: wtf is with the jays and no offense? and this bs about firing our beer vendor for selling to a guy 3 years past the age of majority? did you know perry farrell is a play on the word “peripheral”?

canada has an odd relationship with booze. even more odd than we have in the states. you should be able to buy anywhere. and if you sell to someone OVER the age you should not be f’ed with. its too subjective to say that “oh he looked under 25”. and no i didnt know that about perry which means you win the prize. send me your address and i will have it in the mail to you shortly.

Krista: best question? Name your dream president and vice president. (worst question ever)

busblog/oceanaria 2016

4rilla: Thoughts on the Harden/Gaudin deal? How do you feel about the winning division of the All Star game having home field in the World Series? I know you like Shep and Kobe, have you seen this?

Harden might be injury prone. i dont care. its the thought that counts. and the Cubs are doing all the right things. im not sure why they didnt get CC instead but whatevs. we got the second best dude out there which is a ton better than what StL got (nada). i do like Shep, but not Kobe. im Team Shaq. for lyfe. and im not crazy about that poster. looks like he put the obama filter on it.

top photo of my backyard via cowicide, bottom photo of my vp by oceanaria

hey Tony did you know Trib head honcho Sam Zell wrote about you?

why yes i did. sam sent it out last week. i was gonna let it slide but i kept getting emails about it, so heres the part in his email where he listed off the two main journalists who are now bloggers on Top of the Ticket, and then me, then my boss, then the person who sells ads for the blog.

Here are a number of ways that your colleagues are advancing our company today:

Top of the Ticket, LA Times’ political blog, is now the 129 top-ranked blog in the world, and the third highest-ranked newspaper politics blog in the country, behind only The New York Time’s Caucus and Washington Post’s Trail, both of which are in the top 100. Top of the Ticket received 2.63 million page views in May alone. Even better, the LA Times ad team is now successfully selling ads tied to the Ticket as a worldwide Top 150 blog. Key Players: Andrew Malcolm, Don Frederick, Tony Pierce, Meredith Artley, Juliana Jaoudi

you can read the whole thing on the LA Times Pressman’s blog written by Ed Padgett who i hope to meet one of these days.

Speaking of The Ticket, Andy Malcolm has a pretty interesting interview with former Christian Coalition executive director Ralph Reed who had this to say about John McCain:

TOTT: What most surprised you about the outcome of the Republican primaries?

Reed: John McCain winning the nomination after essentially running out of money and laying off most of his staff in the summer of 2007 was amazing. His win in New Hampshire was a real Lazarus moment.

Lazarus? Wasn’t Lazarus brought back to life by Jesus? Is he saying that New Hampshire is Jesus? I’m so very confused. Or maybe that’s just a really miserable analogy.

Lazarus wasn’t sorta dead, or dying. He was dead! And had been dead for days! And Lazarus didn’t do anything to rise. It was the Son of God who fixed things. Simply by yelling. Rise, Lazarus! What on Earth does that have to do with McCain outlasting a Mormon hawk and a fundamentalist?

Anyways, Andy, Don, Meredith, Scott Martelle, and Diana Swartz deserve the credit for the Ticket’s great success. i just showed up at the right place at the right time. plus you gotta give props to all of them for actually trying some of the little tiny things that i suggested. you can have the best tips in the world but if the folks dont give em a shot theyre worthless.

one thing that has totally been rewarding about this job is that almost everyone will take suggestions and run with em. to me thats a huge part of professionalism and team work and two big reasons we will survive this terrible recession that is affecting lots of aspects of business and american life. the times is far more flexible and willing to change with the market forces than most people give it credit for being.