as a welcome home present, my maid did a pretty bad job of cleaning my house

and my bank put a hold on any check i was to write over $100

sorry Wally Park, but thanks for the 9 days of parking and the wash, wax, and detail.

you can cash that check tomorrow.

swear.

it was so nice arriving at LAX and not have to wear gloves, hat, and scarf

however, the pics that fil took of nye are so good. pretty much every one. including the one above.

i especially like the one of raymi, pitt and willie nelson.

i’ll miss you great white north.

tomorrow: dmv, bank, and laundry. you call that a day off?

i could not have had a finer new years eve.

merci

on January 2, 2007

…my job is to make the trend on the graph continue to soar at ridiculous angles for LAist.

my hobby on the busblog is to write whatever the fuck i want to write whenever i feel like it doesnt get in the way of my job.

in the comments a few weeks ago someone asked in this blog what i was trying to prove over at LAist and why couldnt i spend a little more time writing the busblog and less time concerned about LAist. and it was a good question despite coming from one of our quasi competitors.

the only thing im trying to prove at LAist is that mr snoecks passion and robyn bells trust was not wasted on me. and im proving that the daily nexus never loses.

if i lose some of you as readers so be it, this blog has never ever tried to get the most readers. if i lose some ad dollars in the long run so be it i never wanted ads on here in the first place. and if i miss out on some hot babes because im spending too much time on the j.o.b. so be it theres so many hot babes in la that the only single men who arent getting any are the ones who arent asking for the sale.

and let me be the first to tell you that if you write a good enough blog you dont even have to ask for it half the time.

my resolutions for 2008? a similar ridiculous upward trend for the LA Times’ blogs (a feat that i believe will be easier than what i did at LAist)…

two LA Times blogs in the Technorati Top 500, right now we dont even have one in the Top 2000.

and four LA Times blogs in the Technorati Top 1000.

and i bet you there will be a return of traffic to the busblog in a manner that my bosses will be happy and comfortable with, if not stoked.

2007 was the year of the sellout, 2008 will be the year of the comeback.

and the busblog will remain ad-free, as God intended. the only exception will be ads for non profits.

and i will go back to linking more often. for example today on LAist Bob Thompson interviewed Buzz from the Melvins and he disses the Beastie Boys.

that id love to “remix” via youtube but their beta is rly alpha

yep

i teller that there are benefits for the illegal wiretapping and she refuses to see things the way of a real optimist. today reddit linked to this story that will hopefully make her see the light, and turn lemons into lemonade

or in this case Potatoes.

An old man lived alone in the country. He wanted to dig his potato garden but it was very hard work as the ground was hard. His only son Fred, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.

Dear Fred,
I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won’t be able to plant my potato garden this year. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over I know you would dig the plot for me.
Love,
Dad

A few days later he received a letter from his son.

Dear Dad,
For heaven’s sake, don’t dig up that garden! That’s where I buried the BODIES!
Love,
Fred

At 4am the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Dad,
Go ahead and plant the potatoes now. That’s the best I could do under the circumstances.
Love,
Fred

yr tax dollars at work

special guest duane + raymi

is that they dont tell the whole tale

for example this man above might seem like a bitter tourist whose wallet was stolen in the subway, whose date has left never to return, and whose mouth seems filled with chicken wings.

the truth however is his wallet was stolen on the way to the subway, his date left in a disgusted huff and texted Raymi with the filth that she was subjected to. but once she was told “tony was just kidding” she replied with “wait, tony PIERCE”? and returned with a big smile; an attitude adjustment that was far more reasonable for canada. and those are nachos hes grubbin on.

but then duane got herpes

but then general pitt had to explain (coatless in the cold, mind you) that it wasnt Real herpes

then the karaoke went down. one of the best was Michael Jihad – as the dj suggested

the politically correct college gals booed the host and his jokes but drank up anyway

the asian cop from halloween (who sang w/ the gorgeous twins) did a classic U2 number

raymi and duane patiently waited their turns as me and my cam got drunk

then pitt did a duet with one of the middle eastern ladies

a pogues holiday classic

when duane hit the stage people started heading towards the exits

so pitt jumped on stage to add a little air guitar color

the dj still wasnt impressed

when raymi was finally allowed to sing, all the girlies got up to snap their pics

the tourist was as impressed as anyone

tonight dinosaurs!

after church.

some of the above pix by px who has more here