Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is pleased to report the following:

First in war. First in peace. First in the National League East bay-bee!

Woo hoo!

It is great to be on top of the NL East… If only for a day.

Go Nats!

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader’s friend, our favorite Boy Named Sous, has tagged him with a food meme. The theme is to share an “American peasant food” dish with everyone. The requirements of the dish be these: cheap, easy, and none too healthy.

Your Maximum Leader must admit that for some reason, this seems like a very tough request. But after some consideration, he decided to go with the first recipe that popped into his mind. This recipe doesn’t have a name, so far as your Maximum Leader knows. It is just a way to prepare bluefish. Now you might be saying “Oh, my Maximum Leader is having me buy fish…” Well, your Maximum Leader has never bought bluefish in his life. He always catches it himself. So if one is ignores the cost of operating a boat, this is pretty cheap. (And, of course, one’s boat doesn’t have to be very grand to go out and catch a fish… Even a bluefish.) Here goes…

Take one fillet (or more if you like) of bluefish and place it on a sheet of aluminum foil skin side down. Your aluminum foil should be big enough to make a “boat” around the fillet.

Apply a generous amount of lemon juice to the fillet.

Cover the flesh of the bluefish fillet with mayonnaise.

Cover the mayonnaise with grated parmesan cheese.

Sprinkle with “Old Bay” seasoning to taste (or none at all if you like).

Cook in 325 oven until fish is done (time will depend on the thickness of the fillet). Your Maximum Leader has also cooked this by making the “boat” of foil into a “tent” of foil and cooking it over indirect heat (a campfire - off to one side) and had it work out fine.

There you go. The oily bluefish is quite tasty when done up this way. Indeed, your Maximum Leader likes his bluefish cooked this way or smoked. Most other preparations are problematic because blue’s are quite oily and “fishy.”

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader doesn’t use as much vulgarity on this site as he ought to.

So says the Cuss-o-meter.

Your Maximum Leader’s bestest buddy apparently cusses a lot more on his blog.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader seems to be content to type away here without really having his writing mean anything. So to take a page from the Ye Olde Playbook D’Ellison… Here are some tunes that were just playing on your Maximum Leader’s iPod. For those of you who care, these are the last songs play from amongst the “Top Rated” songs on your Maximum Leader’s iPod. This give the little machine about 2000 songs to choose from…

1) You better you bet - The Who
2) So Lonely - The Police (which is an interesting random selection since Mrs Villain and the children are away right now)
3) God’s gonna cut you down - Johnny Cash
4) Crocodile Rock - Elton John
5) Tender is the Night - Jackson Browne (Is your Maximum Leader the only one who doesn’t hold Jackson smacking around Darryl Hannah against him? She strikes me as an annoying one who might need a smack.)
6) In the Ghetto (Alternate Take) - THE KING
7) Eye in the sky - The Alan Parsons Project (Which, your Maximum Leader is told is also the group putting a giant “laser” on the moon.)
8 ) Hip Hop Hooray! - Naughty by Nature
9) Cheatin’ - Gin Blossoms
10) You really got me - The Kinks
11) Big ole goofy world - John Prine
12) Within you without you - The Beatles
13) Pretty fly (for a white guy) - Offspring
14) Con ti partiro - Andrea Bocelli performing
15) More - The Sundays
16) Church - Lyle Lovett (Your Maximum Leader had a minister friend once who thought this song was funny, because he’d never give a long sermon if there was food on the line - which there always seemed to be after a baptist service in the summer in the south.)
17) Elvis is Everywhere - Mojo Nixon
18) New Dawn Coming - Cowboy Junkies
19) What’s the matter here - 10,000 Maniacs
20) Funky cold medina - Tone Loc
21) Rodeo - Aaron Copeland
22) Common disaster - Cowboy Junkies
23) St. Robinson in his cadillac dream - Counting Crows
24) Are you gonna go my way - Lenny Kravitz (the unplugged version)
25) Extraordinary Machine - Fiona Apple (Damn, your Maximum Leader loves this song. He’s not heard it for a while, and he’ll probably listen to it four or five times over the next few days.)

So there you have it. The last 25 songs played off your Maximum Leader’s iPod.

Interesting huh?

No not really…

Your Maximum Leader wishes “Chick Habit” by April March had played. If only so Dead Sexy Sadie could read the song name and realize that her (and your) Maximum Leader rented the Grindhouse movies and watched them both last night. He promptly went to iTunes and bought the “Death Proof” soundtrack. He also went ahead and bought “Laisse Tomber Les Filles” by April March as well. (NB to The Big Hominid: It would be interesting to know if the lyrics to “Chick Habit” and “Laisse Tomber Les Filles” are even close. Your Maximum Leader’s pathetic-couldn’t-order-him-a-glass-of-wine-in-a-cafe French skilz tell him that they aren’t, but it would be interesting to know what the French says. Perhaps not interesting enough to have him Google the lyrics…)

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is, again, just phoning in a post. This time it is a video that a friend sent him. He posts it not because it is a reflection of his life, but because some elements of it are just so true.

Okay, the video is too wide for my center column. So clicky here for the video.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is hurting for content. Or more accurately, is hurting for time to write good content. So, as a cop out, he will just post this sorta funny joke that a friend sent in an email. It is likely that you’ve heard it before, but here goes:

A woman meets a man in a bar. They talk; they connect; they end up leaving together. They get back to his place, and as he shows her around his apartment. She notices that one wall of his bedroom is completely filled with soft, sweet, cuddly teddy bears.

There are three shelves in the bedroom, with hundreds and hundreds of cute, cuddly teddy bears carefully placed in rows, covering the entire wall! It was obvious that he had taken quite some time to lovingly arrange them and she was immediately touched by the amount of thought he had put into organizing the display. There were small bears all along the bottom shelf, medium-sized bears covering the length of the middle shelf, and huge, enormous bears running all the way along the top shelf.

She found it strange for an obviously masculine guy to have such a large collection of Teddy Bears. She is quite impressed by his sensitive side, but doesn’t mention this to him. They share a bottle of wine and continue talking and, after awhile, she finds herself thinking, “Oh my God! Maybe, this guy could be the one! Maybe he could be the future father of my children?”

She turns to him and kisses him lightly on the lips He responds warmly. They continue to kiss, the passion builds, and he romantically lifts her in his arms and carries her into his bedroom where they rip off each other’s clothes and make hot, steamy love. She is so overwhelmed that she responds with more passion, more creativity, more heat than she has ever known.

After an intense, explosive night of raw passion with this sensitive guy, they are lying there together in the afterglow. The woman rolls over, gently strokes his chest and asks coyly, “Well, how was it?” The guy gently smiles at her, strokes her cheek, looks deeply into her eyes, and says: “Help yourself to any prize from the middle shelf”

Okay, it made your Maximum Leader chuckle.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader saw this video over on Kevin’s site. It is awesome.

Looks like fun… If you are in the tank…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader wishes you all a Happy Easter.

He especially wishes Robbo a great Easter. You are an inspiration. Your Maximum Leader wishes he could join you as you finish crossing the Tiber.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader kept a small pad with him during his recent trip to Las Vegas. The purpose of this pad was to jot down random thoughts he had that might make a good blog post. Now, he’s just decided that the jottings themselves will be come the blog post… Here we go…

Ugly women with big fake boobs. There are many of them in Vegas.

Neon gives one’s skin an unhealthy look at night.

The Bellagio is showing it’s age. Although only 10 years old, it could use new carpets, fresh paint, and new upholstrey.

The casino ceiling in Mandalay Bay is too high to be comfortable - but probably helps in dispersing cigarette smoke.

Ashley Dupre is hot. But, she has a small tattoo that is distracting.

Eliot Spitzer isn’t going to be gettin’ any for a while… Even if he tries to pay for it.

There are many better things to do with $80 large.

Okay… Maybe there are a few things better to do with $80 large.

Drunk guys playing blackjack near you isn’t much fun if they are loud and obnoxious.

Foie Gras is sooooo damned tasty…

Foie Gras and bacon is damned close to heaven on a plate.

Is creme brulee out of fashion? You can’t find it anywhere.

Smoked salmon, capers, cream cheese, and red onion on a salt bagel is a good way to start your morning.

The Wynn is cool.

How much water does Vegas have? Is there really a future there?

Cab drivers in Vegas are more chatty than in other cities.

Why is it that although I’ve been staying up until midnight or 1 am, I can’t sleep past 5am?

Ceasar’s casino is better than Bellagio’s because they don’t use shuffling machines.

$5/hand single deck blackjack is fun.

Ben Bernake has the toughest job in the world right now.

I didn’t understand Keno until a waitress explained it to me. After understanding how it works, I find myself wagering $10 on six numbers for 5 games over breakfast. Is that the sign of a problem?

Barry Manilow doesn’t look 64.

Penn & Teller rock.

I don’t like eating at the Palms. The restaurants are okay, but priced like they are superb.

There are many hawt young things at the Palms.

Since I don’t like eating at the Palms, and I’m not big into the night life, is there a reason for me to go to the Palms ever again? Probably not.

I’m glad I bought new sneaks at Niketown. Walking everywhere is killing me.

These new sneaks are Da Bomb.

Sports books are fun, even if you don’t bet.

Putting $2 on Georgetown to win the whole deal… UNC and Kansas be damned!

Haven’t seen one person in the whole city wearing apparel of a sports team I give a damn about…

For your money, a Bentley is a better ride than a Maybach. The difference is the leather.

Sadly, I missed the all you can eat sushi at some place near the Hard Rock. I also didn’t go to Nobu - again… Damn…

Lobster omlettes seem just a little indulgent for breakfast. Just a little…

Saw Pete Rose in a memorabilia shop at Ceasar’s. He looked pathetic. I wasn’t going to spend $100 to get a signed ball and photo. Damn Pete Rose. Lousy bastard.

Glad to be going home…

There you have the thoughts… Some not even in third person…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has, over the past few days, been listening to the oral arguements given in DC vs. Heller. He’s also been reading the commentary from leading sites on the proceedings before the high court. The best and most interesting one (in a small digestible portion) is Randy Barnett’s.

As longtime readers know, your Maximum Leader has long believed that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms was an individual right. The reasons for this are contextual (in that the Bill of Rights is mostly concerned with the rights of individuals - and thus it stands to reason that the Second Amendment would also be an individual right), grammatical (how does one interpret those damned commas? Here is how…), as well as his understanding of the arguements put forth about the Amendment at the time of the Constitution’s ratification.

Anyhooo…

Your Maximum Leader, like so many gun nuts, has been aching for the high court to take a stand on the individual/collective right to keep and bear arms. Now, like so many gun nuts - of which he proudly counts himself in that number, he is going to have to lay in the bed he’s made up.

Far from believing that any particular finding in Heller is going to be “the final word” on this subject; your Maximum Leader is now wondering just how the gun control debate will change. Let it be known that your Maximum Leader is 75% confident that at least 5 justices on the court will find for the right to keep and bear arms as an individual right. It is possible that even 6 justices might find so. He further thinks that the DC gun ban will be struck down. But that is pretty much the extent of it. DC will, your Maximum Leader thinks, be able to tweak their gun ban and reinstate it in an acceptable form. (Probably registered handguns, with lengthy waiting periods and background checks, and trigger locks.) But he isn’t sure that an individual rights interpretation will do much to end - or even change the direction - of the gun control debate in the US. For the most part all individual rights are subject to some sort of “reasonable” restriction. Those restrictions are going to be fought about in court and legislatures. Unfortunately, more fighting will be done in courts than in legislatures.

Indeed, your Maximum Leader fears that this is one more issue that our elected representatives will be able to pawn off on the courts. They will likely want to wait to see how current laws are challenged before trying anything new. This can be a blessing to gun owners - in that new federal regulations are unlikely. (NB: They were unlikely before the Heller case, but are even less likely if the court holds for the individual right.) But by leaving the matter up to the courts, gun owners should be wary. Different circuits will have different holdings, and the whole pond of gun rights will get muddy very quickly.

So, if the case goes the way your Maximum Leader hopes it will, the news could be generally good. But there could be a gray lining to the silver cloud…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader wonders if anyone in America still has a working coal fired furnace in their home. Further, your Maximum Leader wonders if anyone has a coal stove in their home anymore.

When your Maximum Leader was very young he remember a neighbour having a small coal-fired stove in their parlor. He remembers the hissing sound the burning coal made. He also remembers the room as being very very warm. He can visualize the bucket of coal next to the stove and the small shovel hanging on the side of the bucket.

He remembers the coal as being very comforting.

So… Does anyone out there use coal to heat their house any more?

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is returned from a week in Vegas. Ah… Las Vegas… That city can bring out the worst in a person. Luckily, it did not bring out the worst in your Maximum Leader. He came home only about $50 down and with fun memories of seeing Penn & Teller and Barry Manilow. (Excursus: If you are a personal friend of your Maximum Leader and remember seeing a Penn & Teller show with him at the National Theater in DC at some point between 1990 and 1995 please let him know. He is sure that he saw the show with someone, but now can’t remember who…)

Anyhoo…

Your Maximum Leader is now a week behind at everything. That means he might need a day or two to catch up. This process is made worse by the fact that (once again) the Wee Villain is rife with pestilence. Over the past six weeks the Wee Villain has been afflicted with (in order): severe cold/border-line flu, strep throat, ear infection, full-blown flu, and now conjuctivitis. This is driving your Maximum Leader and Mrs Villain nuts.

Your Maximum Leader can’t commit to much blogging over the next few days, but he’ll give it the ole college try…

Carry on.

I’m sick and tired of all this liberal media bias and the government’s persecution of good solid conservatives.

Spitzer may have hired a prostitute, but he didn’t kill her like Ted Kennedy killed his girlfriend four decades ago.

Democrats may scream about Spitzer’s prostitute, but Senator Byrd was a member of the Klan.

Spitzer may have hired a prostitute, but at least he didn’t lie under oath like Bill Clinton.

What?

Spitzer’s a Democrat?

(/rabid conservative talk show host)

Never mind.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader realizes that the Crack Young Staff at the Hatemongers Quarterly may not be posting too often; but when they do it brings a smile to his face.

To wit: The Crack Young Staff dishes out television show character endorsements in their latest. Most are not a surprise. There was one surprise… Mr. Magoo. Your Maximum Leader would have never guessed as to his political leanings.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader isn’t dead. He is just having difficulty getting onto a computer to blog. As he mentioned a few short posts ago, computer time is becoming hard-to-get at the Villainschloss. So your Maximum Leader has been thinking up lots of great posts… And letting them wither on the vine that is his clouded brain. He had a few pithy comments to make about Hillary Clinton’s victories the other night… But now you’ve probably heard enough of that and are moving on.

Your Maximum Leader might try to post a few things tomorrow or over the weekend. But no guarantees. He owes Mrs. P. some decrees (which he hopes to work on tonight). And you shouldn’t expect to hear from (read?) your Maximum Leader next week. Why you may ask? Well don’t ask, just read the post title line again.

Yes, your Maximum Leader will be in Las Vegas next week. If you happen to be in the Las Vegas area next week, shoot your Maximum Leader an e-mail. He’ll try to meet you. Otherwise, just imagine what your Maximum Leader will be doing…

Carry on.