Happy Thanksgiving 2008:

Those in attendance last night at our annual "Wednesday before Thanksgiving night out" (with founding members listed first) were Stubby, Dancer, Rosco, Chag, Hub, Heff & Cool Chief.

Can't say enough about the enjoyable conversation at the Chapeau and the fantastic Italian food for dinner.

Just a couple of things I would change:
Aroma emanating from the (men's) bathroom.
Brussel Sprouts in the antipasto.
The fact that Dancer and I know the head chef but he wasn't working that night.

Absolute Keepers:
Veal (so good it was stupid)
Red Wine (thanks to Hub)
Red sause for the pasta etc.
The help.

Always fun and eventful.

Hub is only 9 days from the due date of his #3. Good luck to you and the wife brother. Hope things go better than Stubby's "experience".

Happy Thanksgiving to all Jakers and their families.

With all due respect, I'm a much bigger idiot than you:

Dancer - depositing some Top-Flights into the Atlantic - The sea was angy that day my friends...

5 Jakers will be playing golf in the pre-Thanksgiving 3-Club Scramble tomorrow. It will be 35*F with wind chills probably in the single digits. What of it?

Rosco, Chag, Heff & Dancer will be one team and Squirrel (a.k.a. Joey Slippers) will be captaining his own squad.

All systems are at “go” for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving night out. Dinner is at 7pm but we’ll meet around 5pm at the Chapeau.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m beginning the process of slathering my entire body with the same grease mixture that the “Polarbear Club” uses when they go for their annual New Year’s swim.

USGA RULE CHANGES:

IN LARGE PART DUE TO THE UNFORTUNATE FACT THAT THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE HAS WON THE NOVEMBER 4, 2008 ELECTION, IT APPEARS THE USGA RULES CHANGE DOCUMENT IS NOW OFFICIAL AND READY FOR IMPLEMENTATION.

PGA HEADQUARTERS -- THE USGA WOULD LIKE TO INFORM ALL GOLFERS that there is a possibility of MAJOR rule changes to the game of golf which may occur soon after the November 4 election. This is only a preview as the complete rule book is being written now.

Here are some of the basic changes.

Golfers with handicaps:
- below 10 will have their green fees increase by 35%.
- between 11 and 18 will see no increase in green fees.
- above 18 will play for free and even get a stimulus check from the club/course played.

The $ amount put in for bets will be as follows:
- for handicaps below 10 an additional $10.
- between 11 and 18 no additional amount.
- above 18 you will receive the total amount in the pot and you do not even have to play.

The term "gimme putt" will be changed to "entitlement" and will be used as follows:
- handicaps below 10, no entitlements.
- handicaps above 11 to 17, entitlements for putter length putts.
- handicaps above 18, if on green, no need to ever putt, just pick it up.

These entitlements are intended to bring about fairness in scoring so that the final scores of all players will be about the same regardless of ability.

In addition, a player will be limited to a maximum of one birdie and/or six pars; any excess must be given to those fellow players who have not yet scored a birdie or par. Only after all players have received a birdie or par from the player making the birdie or par, can that player begin to count his score again. The current USGA handicap system will be used for the above purposes but the term "net score" will be available only for scoring those players with handicaps of 18 and above.

This is intended to "redistribute" the success of winning by making sure that in every competition the above-18 handicap players will post only "net score" against every other player's gross score. These new Rules are intended to CHANGE the game of golf. Golf must be about Fairness Only, it should have nothing to do with Ability.

Jake 18 Coordinators Announcement:

Dancer & Chag will be running Jake 18 this year.

Any formal questions, comments or concerns can be filed with headquarters.

This is how we roll...

Mitch Mitchell - Out the House

Mitch Mitchell, drummer for Hendrix, found dead.

This Aug. 21, 1967 file photo shows Noel Redding, left, Jimi Hendrix, center, and Mitch Mitchell, of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, at Heathrow airport in London. Authorities say Mitch Mitchell, drummer for the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience of the 1960s, has been found dead in his Portland, Ore. hotel room.

Chagz editorial comment:

Hendrix was the greatest guitar player of all time and it's not even close.

As Neil Young once said "there's nobody even in the same building with that guy".

11/26/08

Just a reminder that the Jakers are heading out for our traditional
"Wednesday Before Thanksgiving Extravaganza"

Perhaps meeting at the Chapeau for a couple of 'looseners' and making the jaunt to a local Eye-talian joint we know about.

Hope all Jakers can attend (well maybe not all - but I'm sure you're getting the sentiment)...

Send Lawyers Guns & Money:

Not only is this a fantastic song by the late Warren Zevon (a genius in my opinion), but it also sums up how I am feeling about the Republican Party 2 days after an historic election in which the people of this great land elected Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States (do you like the way I used the word ‘an’ correctly there before historic?).

In addition, the GOP lost seats in both houses of Congress further weakening its representation and causing conservatives everywhere to shake their heads in disgust and concern. Talk about being handed a shit sandwich!

Obama is now my President and I accept that. I respect him for the campaign that he ran. That said, its one thing to say it and certainly another thing to do it. We’re all watching starting now to see what he does, to see how high taxes will go up for average folks like the Jakers*. We’re waiting to see what happens to the healthcare system, Iraq, how we deal with terrorism in general and to see if he will be 'way left' or merely 'left of center'.

As for the Republicans, they need some help – they need all the help they can get. They need different message tellers. They need to somehow get people of all races and age groups informed and interested about why they are the better alternative. I don’t think Sarah is that person but she is perhaps one of them.

The shit has hit the fan…

* = excludes the Cool Chief who of course makes way over $250K and whose taxes will go through the roof in roughly 20 minutes.