Rocky again and Ms. Illinois

So tonight was the first of several Christmas parties which I get to attend because of work. Yes, even though el supremo isn't in town, he's still ruining my diet through working with him. :-)

It was held at The Standard Club which is pretty close to where I first started working for Morningstar: the Monadnock Building. It's one of the few old school clubs still left in the city. Valet is included for the party. You must have your coat and bags coat checked downstairs when you first enter. Men must wear jackets. Very swank.

Here are some pictures from the Horwood, Marcus and Berk holiday party:




The stairway up to the party rooms. Very nicely appointed.












The mantel which I thought would make an interesting picture. It kind of did.













The big spread in a circle in the middle of the room. I can't even go into what all was being offered really. There was duck, prime rib, pasta, fish.....geesh, all sorts of stuff. And then wait staff were walking around with finger food. And of course there was free booze!!! 12 year old McCallan ESNM!!






And what party would be complete without Miss Illinois!! That's right, Katie Lorenz, Miss Illinois complete with tiara and sash and all. Naturally, I had to get my picture taken with her. Interestingly, she's not allowed to be photographed with food in her hands! Her handler made sure that she start to put it down. I told her I would hang on to it for her during the pic.

Interestingly, there are only three people in the country who know Katie's schedule for tomorrow and Katie is not one of them. Her handler, her handler's boss and the National Director are the only people who know her schedule due to crazy stalker-like people who might meet her at events and then follow her around even though they swore they wouldn't and really just had one too many whiskey and ginger ales......wait.........

So that was fun and T-Rex Timmy came out to meet me for a drink or two before the event closed down. Ricardo got too hammered this weekend and decided to tone back his drinking for a while. Nice.

Speaking of T-Rex, we had a double kill in eastern Basra last night!! Rats two and three of the most recent surge were taken out. Without the shrubs and ground cover, it's difficult to place the traps where the rats are willing to stop and nibble on the bait. I was twice successful last night though!! Whooo-hooo!!!


It's that time of year again. Schiesters make their into your home through television and radio. Good ol' Rocky Mozel of the International Star Registry is back at it schleppping his "name a star after a loved one" spiel. Again, this is a crock of shit. Rocky, nor anyone else short of The International Astronomical Union, can legitimately name a star after anyone. The fact that he files it "in copyright form" with the Library of Congress is just insane. Anyone can file any original document with the Library of Congress for a fee, I think it's $20. Big whoop. It doesn't prove anything. So save your $54. Rocky is a scammer who has skirted the law for years.

Things I'm grateful for:

#16 This amazing electronic age in which we live now that, among other things, renders most of the Seinfeld episode antics obsolete. Give those people a new iPhone and most of their story lines go away.
#17 That I've maintain many very good business relationships over the years.
#18 That orthotics already exist and that I have new ones for my shoes. Does wonders for my lower back, though my left foot still hurts every morning.