Frustrating political crapola, new perfume and great little hats.

Before I busy myself with a pleasant domestic project — i.e., filling all the shakers for my new spice rack — I’d like to report that UPS just deposited a carton from Amazon on the front doorstep that’s technically big enough for a WASHING MACHINE. I’d probably rupture something if I tried to shlep this bad boy into the house by myself so I’ll have to wait until Sam gets home tonight. Holy crap.

In case this is your first visit to the Howdygram and you don’t know our position relative to this year’s presidential campaign, please allow me to make it perfectly clear.

On the same subject, for your possible amusement please check out the following video clip from “The Daily Show” starring Jon Stewart.

The good news is, I’ll officially be through writing about all this frustrating political crapola after Election Day. Thank you for putting up with me in the meantime. (Seriously.)

From our Spend It While You’ve Got It department, today’s exciting web purchases included two big bottles of discounted perfume from Fragrance.net and a variety of bulk spices and herbs from MySpiceSage.com. The aforementioned perfumes appear below.

I won’t bother posting all the spice photos because they look like little piles of sawdust. A sample appears below in the event you think I’m making this up.

Sam and I watched one of our favorite action movies last night, Northwest Passage (1940) starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Young and Walter Brennan with almost no teeth (see photo at right). It tells the true story of Rogers’ Rangers, a troop of fearless early American guerilla fighters during the French and Indian War. Stationed in New Hampshire, Spencer Tracy (as Robert Rogers) leads his gang of merry men into Canada to kill off the evil Abenaki Indians.

I wish I could figure out why this film isn’t better known, because it’s a big Technicolor hoo-hah from MGM that’s shot on location with gorgeous scenery, excellent performances, a lot of grisly (and authentic) history and great little hats. I’m especially impressed with the hats. No matter what happens to these dudes — crawling through swamps, slaughtering Indians, starving in the forest, marching hundreds of miles with shredded clothes and worn-out shoes, sleeping in trees or shlepping their canoes across mountains — NOT A SINGLE HAT IS LOST!

I might try to squeeze in a nice little nap before dinner. Thank you for reading this!