Yeah, Monday.
But before we get to the funny stuff, a little catharsis:
Go ahead: prove me wrong, I dare ya.
Okay, now we can try to find some funny shit to giggle about.
May as well post some of these before it becomes illegal:
Lastly:
For some beauty, this is someone named Rachel Hard Hurd Wood:
And one last reminder for the Commies:
…and last week you defrauded us of our vote.
At one point not long ago, I remember that we had a huge sofa that needed to be carried down the stairs — the only people around to do the job being me and the Son&Heir — and in discovering that I no longer had all the considerable strength I could once have brought to bear, the task was made tolerable only by the fact that the Son&Heir had grown up to be a strong man himself. It was a sobering moment, and for a while I was quite depressed. Then I thought about it, and realized that age was starting to have its way with me — I think I was sixty at that point — and trying to replicate feats of strength from my youth was not only pointless, but possibly quite dangerous: heart attacks among men of my age trying to do heavy lifting are not uncommon.
I could have gone two ways: hit the gym, manically try to build myself back up, or just accept the situation and realize the reality. I chose the latter, even though it was quite a blow to my self-esteem to come to terms with this new reality. No longer could I get into barroom brawls, no longer could I lift or just push heavy objects into place; my life (and more correctly my body) could no longer tolerate any of that strong-man stuff.
Nowadays everything’s all about “self-esteem” and “self-realization” and self-this and self-that. Hence the title of this post, which stays away from all the negative implications that have accrued to terms like “self-confidence” (boastful), “self-aware” (self-centered), and instead makes the case for being accepting of oneself and even more so, doing it gracefully.
Age does worse things to women.
While I agree that too much emphasis is placed on a woman’s appearance and especially her weight — and as Loyal Readers know, I lean more towards the “Nigella Lawson”-persuasion than the “Cameron Diaz” type — I think there is a great deal more to be said for women becoming what used to be known as “being comfortable in your own skin”: coming to terms with who you are, what can be changed by things like diet and exercise, and what can’t be changed because of genetic heritage and advancing age. It’s not a carte blanche to “letting oneself go” (another old expression) and becoming hideously bloated and sloth-like, but it does presume a more realistic attitude towards one’s appearance and capabilities.
No better example, I think, can be found than in the case of Kelly Brook, the one-time Page Three model. In her teens and twenties during the late 1990s, she was the very picture of “beauty” (as defined by, well, everyone):
Then came age, and two children, and by 2007 she’d got bigger:
…and into 2018: 
To me, that’s a lovely woman. In fact, “womanly” is the best way to describe her, and I cannot stress enough how attractive that is to me — how attractive that has always been to me — and I know that I am not alone in this.
Of course, a lot of people went to the Insult Dictionary, calling her “bloated”, a “whale” and all the other unpleasantness, and no doubt it hurt her a great deal.
But at some point, she got a grip on the situation, realized that what was being asked of her — staying with a sylph-like teenager’s body — was not only impossible but ridiculous, and she said so, plainly and quite succinctly.
Nowadays, she seems to have cut back a bit, but she’s still the same womanly size 12 woman she became:
Oh, I could go on (and on, and on, and on…) but I think you all get the point I’m trying to make.
What chance does a girl named Richenda Antoinette de Winterstein Gillespie have in the modern world?
Well, shorten her name to “Dana Gillespie”, hook her up with a whole bunch of rock stars and actors, and just let her natural talent as a singer do the rest. (Also her killer boobs, but we’ll get to that later). First, the music, which started off with a song that Donovan wrote for her:
And how she looked back then:
Andy Warhol (the cover of David Bowie’s song)
…and some old-time rock ‘n roll:
And now, the aforementioned boobs:
(album cover)
even “Cuddly Dudley” was smitten:
Killer quote:
“All three of us jumped into bed together, which may sound pretty outrageous but that’s how it was back then. There was nothing serious about it; it just felt like a good way to break the ice.”
I miss the good old days…
I have a confession to make. While I’ve hunted animals all over the world, the only one I’ve stayed away from (because cowardice) is the South African Cape buffalo. Other reasons: if you wound them, they will probably come after you — I believe that it’s the animal which has caused more professional hunters’ deaths than any other, and if I recall correctly, by a large margin.
Here’s a sample pic:
As the late Peter Capstick (who wasn’t killed by a buff) once said: “They look at you like you owe them money”, but while I would defer to his judgement in everything else, in this case he’s severely understated the case. Maybe that’s how they look at you when they’re in a good mood, but they’re so seldom in a good mood, who would know? Their look is not so much a glare as a challenge. In the above pic, which shows an old bull, please note that his bad mood may have been caused by the lions which left the scars on his back, and while they’ve healed, he hasn’t forgotten about it.
Small wonder that lions will almost always try for buffalo calves, because even when a cow gets into the picture to protect her calf, she won’t follow up the attack once the lions have given up on the calf and slouched off to find an old wildebeest or some other alternative. However, this is not the case with buffalo bulls, who will not quit until they’ve disemboweled a lion or two and stomped on the remains with their broad hooves. Lest anyone think I’m exaggerating, allow me to recount the tale of what happened to Doc Russia and Mr. Free Market on their last buffalo hunt. (As a point of interest, both men were using rifles chambered in .375 H&H, which is the absolute minimum.)
Mr. FM had bagged his buff the day before in a fairly short hunt, and now it was Doc’s turn. His luck was not as good as Mr. FM’s, and it took him a while to find a decent target. Eventually, the guide spotted a pair of young bulls grazing together, and Doc decided to take one, which he did.
To everyone’s astonishment, the other bull didn’t disappear off into the wilderness; oh no, he sauntered about a hundred-odd yards away, turned and watched his buddy die.
The dead buff was loaded up into the truck and back they all went to the hunting camp. I say “all”, because the surviving buff followed them all the way back to the camp. Clearly, he had mischief on his mind, and had the camp not been a large one, everyone involved might well have become the targets of his revenge.
What’s even more interesting was that they weren’t aware that he’d followed them — until the next day when they went out and saw his tracks leading from the death scene all the way back along the side of the road — but not on it — and they had no clue that he was there. (Despite their enormous size, Cape buffalo move through the bush like shadows.)
I told you all that so I could tell you this. The above pic is part of this article, which talks about the optimal cartridges for dangerous game.
You’ve probably heard it before, but it bears repeating here: cape buffalo are really, really big and really, really tough [and really, really mean — K]. As a point of reference, a big bull can weigh twice as much as a mature bull elk.
Buffalo have thick hides, dense muscles, and heavy bones that are known for defeating lightly constructed bullets. Since buffalo are often encountered at close range and in thick cover, the margin for error is very small and more than a few hunters have lost their lives (or spent time in a hospital) as a result of poor bullet performance.
Go ahead and read the rest of the article: it’s a good one. And even if you never hunt Cape buff, just tip your hat to the guys who have, and will in the future. There is no bigger (and potentially more-dangerous hunt) than this one.
Update: Mr. Free Market sent me a pic of his buff:
His rifle is a Blaser S2 double in .375 H&H, the scope is a Swarovski Z6i 1-6×24. Nothing but the best for His Lordship… and yes, it was a one-shot kill.
Your suggestions in Comments.
Here we go:
Well I can explain it. Once the count is over, the state closes the process and certifies the count, and no new ballots can be added post facto. Stopping the count allows for fresh bundles of ballots to be “found” so that they can be added when the count is restarted. As long as the ballots are dated prior to Election Day, everything is fine. Hence:
CHARGES OF MICHIGAN ELECTION FRAUD:
BREAKING: Michigan @USPS Whistleblower Details Directive From Superiors: Back-Date Late Mail-In-Ballots As Received November 3rd, 2020 So They Are Accepted
“Separate them from standard letter mail so they can hand stamp them with YESTERDAY’S DATE & put them through”#MailFraud pic.twitter.com/n7AcNwpq80
— James O’Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) November 5, 2020
Simple, when you know how.
Just so we’re all clear in the concept: VOTER FRAUD IS A FEDERAL CRIME. Which means that the F.B.I. will be called in to investigate.
You can all start laughing bitterly now.