Recently, Tim brought something disturbing to my attention.  It seems that The Redneck is being frequently visited by spam-bots.  At first I didn’t see the problem with this because I thought spam-bots were just the machines that work in the factory that produces that wonderfully tasty luncheon meat.  Then I found out that these particular ‘bots were the ones that produce that other kind of spam (or what I like to call tofu) the kind that no one in the whole blog-o-verse enjoys.

Most of the time these annoying little bastards just leave comments about how great amoxicillin is.  Lately, though, they seem to be getting a little smarter.  They are leaving what seem like legitimate comments like, “This is very good advice.  Thank-you.”  This way if I’m not paying close attention I think that they really did read the post and I will approve the comment.  As if that’s not bad enough, these robotic douche-bags are trying to usurp the identities of our Beer Buddies.  I’ve ran across comments that are supposedly written by; Canucklehead, Trade Show Display, Hari, Tammy, Absolutely True and Jean-Luc Picard.  I even found one that used Tim’s name, plus there are several by Harvey Bilchick, who is not actually a real person at all.  However, if I click on the back-link to their site, it becomes readily obvious that these “people” are not who they say they are.  They’re trying to trick me; but, like the saying goes, “I may have fallen off the beer and turnip wagon at night, but it wasn’t last night.”  I wise to you.   Now for any of our Beer Buddies who haven’t had their identities stolen all I can say is, just be patient I’m sure it will happen for you soon enough.

Unfortunately, I’m not really sure how to get rid of these damn, dirty tofu-bots.  If anyone has any suggestions, I’m all ears (which makes my face look really funny).  I will do my very best to weed out these impostors and continue to fight the good fight.  But first, it’s time for a nutrition break.  I’m having spam, spam, spam, spam, baked beans, spam, spam, spam and spam.

I always picture Gurus sitting on a bed of nails, playing some weird instrument to a dancing snake while a rope hangs in mid-air and a flying carpet carries a blue genie with hoop ear rings slowly by… yeah, I know. That is a Fakir, but that’s what I see in my head.

I know that isn’t an accurate representation of a guru, especially Steve, the Trade Show Guru. So, what does Steve do, if he doesn’t sit around all relaxed and such on a bed of nails playing music for poisonous reptiles?

By Day, Steve works for a company selling trade show displays.

By night, he dons his heroic cape of justice and fights crime in his fair city. And, in his spare time, he pursues his online ventures. Such as the Trade Show Guru, an interesting blog about all sorts of topics including trade shows, movie reviews, parenthood, and more. He also works on Pinnacle Displays, a web site about portable trade show displays.

As if that isn’t enough, Steve comments on quite a few blogs. He can be counted on for insightful, relevant and interesting comments. Here are just a few from this blog.

“reminds me of the Seinfeld where Kramer has a horse-drawn carriage and feeds the horse a gallon can of Beef-A-Reeno (he got a case of it at Costco and doesn’t know what to do with it). Anyway, based on what happened to the horse I would definitely rather sit on the horse than behind the horse!”

“PS. Please be sure to use a waterproof stamp on my envelope with the beer in it. I wouldn’t want the stamp coming off in the mail because the beer got the envelope wet.”

“You know I like reading this blog because of your video picks, but I can’t believe you’re condoning vandalism. Didn’t you see those bad girls spray-painting graffiti on the car? Am I the only person around here that believes in the law? Those girls need a spanking! Am I going to have to do that too? Well, if I must. I also saw them jumping on the bed, which everyone knows is a big no no. Looks like a double spanking!”

Steve has been all around an awesome visitor to the Redneck Bar and Grill, and he knows his Strange Brew. In light of this, we are sending him a complimentary beer basket, via Gmail. This one will have all the usual ingredients, such as ice cold Blue Beaver Beer, Sliced dried rhinoceros pizzle, and three fried beans. As a special treat, we managed to locate some extra hot Habanero jelly, since we know just how much Steve enjoys the spice of life. Thanks for visiting and drinking our beer, Steve!

I think I have mentioned this in passing once or twice before, but in case you didn’t know I am an avid comic collector. My collection has been growing steadily since I was 14, which was…a couple of years ago.

A little while back I ran across a blog out there entitled, The Rundown. ManoDogs (aka Harris Lynn) has also been collecting for…a couple of years and he has developed some very interesting views on the industry. Anyone who is a collector should really go check it out.

Now; if it should happen that you are not so much into comics, The Rundown has a wide variety of other subjects to offer as well. If you’re one of those American Idol watching people (I swear I’m not judging your taste), you might enjoy the post about David Archeluta and what sort of crazy scheme his father has cooked up. If you should happen to enjoy reading about total strangers’ medical problems, Harris has that covered. There are also posts about online bingo and what’s going on with Ozzy these days, just to name a few.  Really, there’s something for everyone over there.

Getting back to the important part though, Harris and I have been having a very amusing discussion about all of the continuity issues that are causing so many problems for The X-Men and poor Spidey (i.e. One More Day). You should read the initial post and then all of our comments.

So I urge everyone, whether you’re a Fanboy/Girl or just looking for some well written thoughtful pieces go checkout The Rundown. I gave ManoDogs a case of Blue Beaver Beer; if you tell him that Ernie sent you, he just might be willing to share (better hurry, they’ll disappear faster than Nightcrawler being chased by an angry mob).

Well, it’s taken me a while to get around to this (the post writers strike t.v. shows have been starting to show up), but our Beer Buddy Canucklehead “memed” us a little while back. Apparently I’m supposed to come up with 8 random facts/habits about myself. Now just a little while ago I made a video after getting “tagged” on YouTube. In said video I presented Five Little Known Facts about myself, and I am certain that every last one of you has already watched that. So now I have to try and come up with 8 more. Geez, I don’t know if I’m that complex, but I’ll give it a try.
The rules:

1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.

2. People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.

3. At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names.

4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’ve been tagged, and to read your blog.

1) On the odd rare occasion when I’m not drinking Blue Beaver Beer, I enjoy various varieties of Big Rock Beer, Warthog is probably my favourite.

2) Whenever I’m at an ATM, I deliberately think about numbers that are not my real PIN, just in case any telepaths are scanning me.

3) A great number of people who have seen my videos on YouTube have been wondering about something; so now I will reveal the truth once and for all. I have never had implants, my breasts are real and they’re spectacular.

4) I kind of, sort of, almost, don’t really mind the song “Dirty” by Christina Aguilera. Now, some of you have probably lost all respect for me and will never read any of my posts again, but so what. I’m not scared to admit to this, it’s just one of those songs that gets into your head and won’t leave not matter how many brain cell you kill off with hard liquor. Plus, the video is awesome.

5) I don’t use the word “frak” nearly often enough.

6) I suffer from a mild case of online-xenophobia. On sites like Facebook, YouTube, Blogging Zoom, etc. I will almost never add someone as a friend unless they”introduce” themselves and add me first.

7) Ever since I was around 10 or so; whenever I eat an apple, I eat the entire thing (core and seeds) except for the stem. It’s good for you, try it sometime.

#8) I found this meme to be rather challenging. Not that there aren’t hundreds of things I could tell you about myself; but what can I reveal that won’t send you away screaming in terror and leave you haunted for the rest of your life. I just don’t feel that The Redneck is that sort of a blog bar.

There you have it. I feel so exposed now. So, whom shall I expose in turn? Well, definitely Gerri (Absolutely True), and Tammy (Mom Knows Everything), then Corrina (My Random Blog), Cindy (Beads and Beading), and I would be interested to know 8 facts about Hari (Hari’s Corner) and R.T. (Untwisted Vortex) and most certainly J.D. (I Do Things). And I’m short one, but it would probably necessitate me making a new friend in order to get an eighth.