At first, I was afraid…

January 3, 2014

I was petrified.

I thought for sure that I hadn’t even averaged one blog post per month in 2013.
As it turns out, I did 13 blog posts in 2013.  Isn’t that pathetic?

But where was I when I first heard that sweet sound of humility?
It came to my ears in the God damned loveliest melody…

Well, for sure, there will be at least two in 2014. This one and next week’s.
After that, we’ll see what happens. Archie may be going on a little trip…a journey.
And let the scenery sweeping by easily enter my body.

But enough about the future.  Let’s recap 2013.
Maybe we can do somewhat of a pictorial recap…Yes?

Let’s see, I got to hang with some protesters in Greece…

Student Protestors in Greece

Student Protesters in Greece

You know how I love protesters.

I got to The Vatican the day after they installed the new Pope.
Just think.  One day before, there were like a million people here.
This day, they were just taking down the TV cameras and putting the chairs away…

The Vatican

The Vatican

I made it to Turkey.  Loved Turkey, particularly Izmir.  I could live there.
Istanbul was awesome but just too much of a busy crazy city…

Turkey

Turkey

Did I mention that Greece was awesome?

Greece

Greece

Finally made it to Napa Valley. Drank my fair share of wine…

Napa Valley

Napa Valley

Hey, is that a Robert Graham shirt?  I love those.

One of my favorite days of 2013 was lunch with Adelaide Clemons at Willy Nick’s…

Adelaide Clemens

Don’t take that picture, Archie.

OK, well…sometimes I get my facts mixed up.  Let’s not dwell on that.

At some point, I revived my patriotism…

archie-flag

And spent some time in our nation’s capital.
They even let me this close to the White House…

whitehouse

And they let me get this  close to Senator Marco Rubio…

Senator Marco Rubio

Senator Marco Rubio

 Actually, I got to meet with a number of Republicans & Democrats.
The other people in the room couldn’t figure me out. I hammered them both.  Ha, ha!!!

Then, on advise from Barnsley and his favorite waitress…

I went home with a waitress, the way I always do.

I went home with a waitress, the way I always do.

I got rid of the BMW and returned to my cowboy roots…

archie-cowboyhat

Archie + Cowboy Hat

That is Cowboy roots…and Cowboy boots…

boots

Cowboy Boots

Hadn’t worn those puppies in like 30 years.

Now, I can sense a pickup truck in my near future. Giddy up!

But enough about that. 2013 was also a harsh year and I must mention…
A lot of cool people died in 2013.  I had one friend who died way too young and I wish I could have gotten to know her better. Just recently, one of my oldest friends and partner-in-crime from way back, back when the Mustang was white, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. You will be missed, Wayne.

So I raise a glass to all those who left us in 2013.
Wherever you are…don’t drink all the wine before I get there.

And to all us who are still among the living…
May you have a happy, prosperous, and stimulating 2014.

Stay tuned.  I feel a big blog post coming on for next week.
Of course, it could be the last one for a while…
So, Barnsley says I have to make it a good one.

Barns…  Have you seen Maria?

Barns?

OK, well.  I have to run for now.

Be good.  Be safe.

Be stiff… Oh, baby, be stiff.

WTF?

Peace out, dawgz!

– Arch

When I look around…

September 7, 2012

 …everybody always brings me down.

Well is it them or me, well I just can’t see,

but there ain’t no peace to be found.

I did a bit of traveling last week and, while I was out, I heard some whacky things had happened.  First someone told me that Clint Eastwood had made President O disappear.  Two thoughts ran through my head, first – I didn’t know Eastwood possessed such talents, and two – if he could make Obama disappear, why had he waited this long?  Hopefully he’ll disappear in November, all by himself.  Obviously Eastwood was using some new secret technology. I know we didn’t have this a few years back.  If we could make presidents disappear, there’s no way we would have put up with 8 years of Dubya.  Naturally, I was excited about this new technology.

Almost immediately someone let me know that I was way off base.  They explained to me that Dirty Harry hadn’t made the president disappear at all, he had just turned him into a chair.  Hmmm?   I didn’t like this at first.  I guess I was temporarily overlooking the value and genius of turning politicians into furniture.  I mean, anything that will turn something noisy and useless into something quiet and useful has to be valuable… Right?

I wonder if we could turn politician’s wives into furniture?   I could see turning Redhead of the Week, Elizabeth Harper Kucinich (34), wife of U.S. Congressman and former Democratic Presidential candidate, Dennis Kucinich (65), into a nice recliner.

Oh, she’s a politician too?  Perfect.  I’m thinking one of those recliners that has a cup holder, so I can have a beer while watching the new season of Sons of Anarchy on FX.  Yes/no?

That was a joke, Liz.  Call me.

Oh wait, my bad, I don’t date married women anymore.  Lunch?

Finally, I decided to watch the video clip myself and see what Mr. Eastwood had actually done.  The whole thing was actually a little surreal.  I mean, whether or not you like the Pubs or the Crats, you have to admit that there are a whole lot of brilliant minds at work behind the scenes and a whole bunch of these geniuses had to have agreed that this was a good idea.  It wasn’t.  It was stupid.  It was disrespectful and I expect more from those who want to run our country.

The really amazing thing to me was that during Super Bowl XXXVIII, when Justin Timberlake tore off a part of Janet Jackson’s clothing in the now famous wardrobe malfunction,  the network cut off the “exposure” in a half-second but this boob was allowed to stay on the air for over 12 minutes. Unbelievable!

Clint Eastwood = Boob

So, I really wanted to end this week’s installment there, leaving it short and sweet, but i have to ask the question…

How stupid do these politicians think that we are?

In as much as the mainstream media is tainted and you can hardly ever get an unbiased look at anything being reported, there is never any television programming that is more insulting to the intelligence of the American public than the broadcast of either the Republican National Convention or the Democratic Convention.

It’s amazing to me that every major network agrees to cover and broadcast countless hours of lies, bent and/or misguided truths, and just all out bullshit.  It’s so funny…  The commentators during the RNC told us that, according to the polls, Romney needed to appeal more to women.  Next thing you know, Ann Romney is out there yelling, “I love you women!”  Really?  Are there really women at home watching and going, “oh good… she loves me… I’m voting for them now”.  Really?

Then there was Elizabeth Warren, I actually like about 60% of what she’s all about but I can’t believe she brought up her Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  Yes, it may have been her idea but why didn’t Obama appoint her to run it?  Answer: Because Wall Street was scared to death of her and they pressured the white house to appoint someone else.  So, she got to create her bureau and she gives Obama credit for making it happen but, at the end of the day, it’s all bullshit.  Think about it…  What has the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau done for you?  You know, other than restrict your ability to do balance transfers.  That’s protection, baby…  Thanks!

I think my two favorite speakers were Bill Clinton and Marco Rubio.  Although I don’t agree with much of his politics, you gotta love Bill Clinton, and not just because of his cigar skills.  The guy is a great speaker.  I remember the first time I heard him speak and I remember think, “oh crap… this guy is going to be president”.  He’s still the most popular Democrat alive and I’d probably consider voting for him again.  Cheers, Bill.

But Hey…  Things are different now and Barrack Obama is no Bill Clinton.  And again, really?  Do you think that by hugging each other on camera, you’re going to make me think that you are in political alignment.  We’re just not that stupid.  The whole thing is insulting.

Marco Polo
One relatively fresh face to the game is Florida Senator Marco Rubio.  Unfortunately, like any other politician wanting to be successful, he had to align himself with one of the big two political parties and he chose to be a Republican.  So, to a certain degree, you should expect some of the usual Republican party platform from him.  But I see a guy who, like me, is way more concerned with making America great and would love to end the Democrats vs. Republicans bullshit that gridlocks our country and prevents us from moving forward.  I’ve been following this guy for a while.  He’s all about fiscal responsibility, having a balanced budget, protecting America’s credit rating, and making America better than we’ve ever been before.  I like this guy.  If you missed his speech at the RNC, I leave you with it…

Dude, be careful.  Do not drink Clint Eastwood’s water.

That’s all I have for today.

Peace

 – Arch