I don't want to Blog

In Defense of the Federal Minimum Wage

2007-01-05T16:01:00.000-08:00

In an Op-ed article in the Washington Post of Thursday, George Will stated that rather than increasing the Federal Minimum wage, it should be abolished. His argument is porous at best and ridiculous at worst.

Firstly, he uses numbers to back his case. One numbers argument he poses is that of the 0.6% of Americans currently earning the minimum wage, a minority (20%) are in families with earnings below the poverty line. But fewer than 20% of Americans are not currently below the poverty line. Clearly, a disproportionate number of minimum wage earners are living below the poverty line. He also points out that 29 individual states have already raised their own minimum wage. An increase in the minimum wage is good enough for those 29 states but not for the other 21? Granted, as Will points out, different states have different costs of living, but by raising the floor nationally, the higher cost states will have more leeway to implement further increases down the road. And the lower cost states will continue to see worker benefits as a result of a stronger purchasing power.

Another argument posed by Will which indirectly refutes his overall argument relates to the elasticity of demand: as price goes up (in this case the price of labor) the demand goes down. He acknowledges that the smallest of increases will have negligible effect on labor numbers. But what he ignores are the few items which have inelastic demand. These are the things which, no matter the price fluctuations, demand will always be relatively unchanged. These are the things which are necessities which working families - no matter their relation to the poverty line - must have and the cost of which have risen dramatically since the Minimum Wage was last increased in 1997. Housing. Fuel. Insurance costs. In 1997, the average gas price was $1.10. Today, it is $2.29. That is an increase of 108%. Everyone is fully aware of the astronomical increase in the price of a home in the years after 9/11. Anyone living in Hurricane Alley knows the impact Global Warming - another supposed myth propagated by liberals - has had on home insurance prices. And health insurance prices haven't fared much better. At the very least, the Minimum Wage should track the costs of inelastic goods. Allowing the free market to dictate the minimum wage would only allow companies to see how many jobs they can force single parent wage earners into taking on.

Count my family among the 60% that Mr. Will points out as having a part time minimum wage earner with an over-all house hold income above $40,000. My wife and I are a young couple, recent home owners and part of the struggling middle class that, for 6 years now, has, at best, been ignored or, at worst, beaten down by President Bush's corporate- and wealthy-friendly fiscal policies. My income is sufficient to cover our fixed - or inelastic - costs while saving a little for our future. What my wife earns at her part-time job, which pays the Florida Minimum of $6.40 per hour, while attending college is our disposable income. An increase of $1 per hour would represent an additional $30 a week we can spend on books, movies or a dinner out. For a middle class family like mine, that level of increase is the real, physical equivalent of Bush's fanciful economy stimulation as a result of his beloved tax cuts to the wealthy. I have known wealthy people and my experience has been that, if you give wealthy people more wealth, that's simply more money they can save. However, if you give people who will likely never be independently wealthy just a modest increase in income, that's more money they can use to stimulate the economy through greater spending power - spending power that they actually exercise.

I suppose, though, in Mr. Will's arguments, we're living in the lap of luxury because my wife is actually earning more than the federal minimum wage. He makes it sound as though having some extra cash in your pocket is wasted on the likes of a student or a teen. He makes it sound as though that pocket money were better suited in the lofty accounts of the Waltons or the other owners and investors of the major corporations that see to it their hourly employees' earnings remain at or around the Federal Minimum. If only he could recognize the actual impact that cash can have for one of those middle class families.

Predictions for 2007

2006-12-28T16:25:00.000-08:00

Here are some thoughts looking forward into 2007.

- Jenn and I will complete the entry way to our house some time in the spring.
- We will have closet doors on all of the closets but none of them will be stained by the end of the year.
- Our bathrooms will still be ugly.
- We will have most of our pictures hung by February but Jenn will hate the way it looks and comment as much frequently.
- My brother will get furniture for his new house but not before Trina's first birthday party.
- Greta will finally be house trained early in 2007 but Elwood will still submissive pee on occasion and will bark at Blair no matter how many times he comes for a visit.
- Elwood and Greta will spend their first whole day without play fighting some time around July.
- Jenn and I take 3 separate trips to Disney World. One will be a day trip after which Jenn will declare that she never wants to do one of those again.
- I bowl a 250 game.
- The University of Pittsburgh basketball team will reach the Sweet 16 but bow out to a team with far less talent.
- The Pittsburgh Steelers will have another disappointing season. This time, it will be clearly the fault of their new head coach: Russ Grimm.
- The University of Miami rebounds by winning the ACC but gets shut out of the National Championship game due to low early season ranking and a late season loss.
- Pitt will taunt it's fans with excellent play all year after losing very early in the season only to crush our hopes again by losing their final 2 games.
- My fantasy football team will finish 3rd in the league and will lose in the Championship game.
- Grissom will leave CSI. The show will find a way to be good without him.
- Jack will save the day in 24. It will be his last season of carrying the show from start to finish.
- A Lindsay Lohan sex tape will be released.
- At least one famous socialite will die of an eating disorder.
- TomKat break up and the Kat part of the duo comes out with a scathing interview about Scientology.
- Bush's approval rating dips to 25% in some polls.
- Congress accomplishes nothing in way of oversight thanks to stall tactics of the Administration. At least one Administration official is indicted for failing to follow a court order.
- Another Administration official resigns and publicly lambastes the administration, and in particular the Village Idiot, for being inept and failing to listen to advice or recognizing the fact that it is headed down the wrong path in Iraq.
- Hillary Clinton and John McCain will end the year as the favorites for their parties' Presidential Nominations, but neither will actually win it. In both cases, it will be someone nobody is talking about right now. Hillary and Bill Clinton get a divorce in 2009.
- All of my friends will have a wonderful 2007!!!

How not to pick your Secretary of Defense

2006-12-18T17:38:00.000-08:00

The departure of Rumsfeld as the Secretary of Defense was a big huge love fest last week. The only think missing was Bush getting down on his knees and servicing the guy. But what was said about the man and the job he did by Cheney and the Village Idiot speaks volumes about why Rummy was probably a really crappy choice for the job in the first place. I'm not talking about the whole "hind sight is 20/20" thing here. I'm talking about Red flags as to why he was likely chosen in the first place that should have told people, "This guy will likely lead us in the most costly, senseless war in the history of the United States."

First and most obvious we have Cheney's comments describing Rummy as "his best boss, best friend, an 'ideal' public servant and 'the finest secretary of defense this nation has ever had.'" OK, stop laughing. I know, that last bit is so warped that you have to laugh to stop from crying. We all know that Bush has surrounded himself with close friends and political supporters regardless of back ground and experience (think Brownie as FEMA head). But it's one thing to hire some guy you have known for a while and trust to do a good job to paint your house. It's another thing to hire a former boss and "best friend" to be your Defense Secretary. I love my friends Blair and Eddie but the most they would get if I were President are speech writer and gambling advisor, respectively.

The Village Idiot's comments were far more subtle in their foreboding and far more obvious in their idiocy. I know, it's pretty tough to top calling this guy 'the finest secretary of defense this nation has ever had.' Here is what VI had to say: "Don Rumsfeld has been at my side from the moment I took office. We've been through war together. We walked amid the rubble of the broken Pentagon the day after September the 11th, 2001. He was with me when we planned the liberation of Afghanistan. We were in the Oval Office together the day I gave the order to remove Saddam Hussein from power. In these and countless other moments, I have seen Don Rumsfeld's character and his integrity. He has always ensured I had the best possible advice. . . . He spoke straight. It was easy to understand him." I know what your expression is right now. You're sitting there staring at the screen after having reread that last line about 5 times with your mouth open in shock shaking your head. This one isn't a laugh or you'll cry. You literally don't know if you should scream in disbelief, laugh hysterically or just stare at the screen. The third is the easiest.

Firstly, they haven't "been through a war together." That would suggest that they actually accomplished something and that the war of their own creation isn't still on-going. The appropriate statement is, "We've started a war together." You could probably make a case for, "We've occasionally discussed a war together," as the closest thing to the truth and the actual statement.

Next, do you think Bush can get through a speech without reminding everyone that he was President during 9/11? And at what point is the general public going to put 2 and 2 together and realize that HIS incompetencies partially allowed 9/11 and he has done nothing to bring the perpetrators to justice? I know every time I hear him reference it, I fume for these very reasons.

Next next, If Afghanistan is so liberated, why do we still have soldiers there? And why is the Taliban continuing to re-emerge and make significant headway in parts of the country? You could make this statement if you actually saw the mission through rather than starting a 2nd and completely unjustifiable war. The statement should read, "He was with me when I cut and run out of Afghanistan without seeing the job through and without bringing our attackers to justice." Plus, my version lets him bring up 9/11 again.

That next sentence is not something he should really be hanging his hat on. It only makes the sheep in the country wonder why Rummy is the one getting the boot if this whole Iraq thing was entirely the Village Idiot's decision. Maybe he should have had someone with half a brain or some level of understanding of the Middle East with him when he gave that order to invade Iraq. Unjustly.

The last bit is the doozy: "He spoke straight. It was easy to understand him." That's it? That's the qualifications you were looking for when it came time to pick your Secretary of Defense? I'd love to the the Monster job description on that one. Too bad Fred Rogers wasn't available, he would have been the perfect candidate. The Village Idiot is basically admitting that he has a hard time understanding complex ideas. I can just hear him now, "I like that Simpsons show. That Homer fella is really funny. I always understand what he's saying. That Lisa though, I don't like her. She uses big words. When I try to listen to her, my head hurts." I would like to officially throw my hat in the ring for Secretary of Defense with the following statement. I will now demonstrate my ability to speak straight and be easily understood:

"Mr. President. You are the worst President ever. You have ruined the office of the President worse than Scrappy Doo ruined Scooby Doo. People around the world hate America because of you. The Iraq war is a worse idea than New Coke and it is sure to have a similar ending: pulling the plug and everyone being mad that we had to go through this terrible part of history with no real reason why it had to happen. You suck."

Football vent

2006-12-14T16:09:00.000-08:00

It was decided around October that this football season never happened. It's been and absolutely BRUTAL year in every regard. Seriously, nothing has made sense to me and nothing has gone right. Actually, very little in this season has made sense to ANYONE this year.

We'll start with the big: the anomalies that are just terrorizing fans everywhere. It has never been this difficult to pick winners. Usually, if you pick the favorites, you're going to get 12 of the 16 games right on the weekend. If you get lucky and pick the right upsets, you win the office pool. This year, forget it. Of the weeks I've been paying attention to such things, there have been 2 where the Underdogs have won more games than the favorites including last week where the dogs won - outright - 10 of the 16 games on the schedule. THAT'S SICK!!! You remember the scene in Back to the Future 2 where Marty buys the sports almanac in the future and intends on using it to get rich in the present? Well, all he'd have to do is wait for a weekend like this past one, and he'd clear over $50,000 EASY by risking less than $5,000 on very reasonable bets. No red flags there. Just a guy getting lucky on deciding that this was the weekend he was going to throw a bunch of money on the underdogs. Parlay the money lines on all the dogs on the board and you're done. Easy money.

The stupid thing about all of these dogs winning is that there's only one team currently leading their division where, at the start of the season, every expert in football would have called you insane for picking them: New Orleans. That's it. The only other team leading their division that was a loser last year is Baltimore, but they were everyone's dark horse darling in the AFC because they improved an already good defense and got a good QB with something to prove. And really, the only 2 teams that a majority of people felt would contend this year that are stinking up the joint are the Steelers and Dolphins. Of course, those are my 2 favorite teams, but more on that later. So, with few surprises at the very top, that means when 2 garbage teams are playing, just bet the dog. Odds are pretty good you're going to win. In fact, if a decent team is a big favorite over a garbage team, it probably makes sense to bet the dog there, too. The only 2 teams that you have to stay away from in all scenarios this year are Tampa and Detroit. Otherwise, any team is a good bet.

Now, a review of my REAL football teams: they both stink. The Steelers are finally coming around, but they could have very easily been 11-2 right now. In fact, given their level of play during 90% of every game, it would hard to believe that they'd be anything worse than 9-4. That is, if you covered up all statistics related to turnovers. Once you see that, well, it becomes easy to see this team sitting at 6-7. The only 2 games the Steelers offense did not out-perform their opponent were Jacksonville and Baltimore. They were man handled in both of those games. Under no circumstances were they going to win those 2. But in every other game, you take out one of their multiple TO's, and the Steelers' likely win. You take out TWO of them (leaving them with still more than 1 in each and every case), and they definitely win. It wouldn't even be close. They've killed themselves all year by stupidity. I'm not sure if I should be hopeful in thinking that stupidity passes and they'll be better next year or mad that they blew a good chance to put forth a solid title defense. At the very least, I am definitely looking forward to their cake schedule next year. They'll probably only have one prime-time scheduled game, but whatever.

As for the Dolphins, well, they were just plain bad. Their offense was terrible. The defense was beatable. They've come on of late, but way too little way way too late. There's no way any one should look at the end of this season and say it bodes well for next season. That rationale was what caused people to be excited in the first place.

And lastly, the part that everyone will skip, my Fantasy teams. They were all worse than my real life teams. I had my worst season EVER. I had a monumentally bad season. I can't even begin to describe my disappointment. Fantasy Football is something I look forward to each and every year. This year, my hopes and dreams were summarily crushed. Last year, I was in 5 leagues and made the playoffs in 4 of them. The year before, I was in 6 and made it through to 3 playoffs (winning 1). This year? 0-5! YIKES!!! Very depressing. The Fantasy Football subplot is what really ruined this season for me. It was an on-going issue from the start of the season on and it never let up. The only thing that kept me even remotely interested in this year was the chance to go over to Eddie's and watch games with him. Who knows what I would have done if it were another season of watching the games solo. It's safe to assume that Jenn would have had very little problem getting me to go out somewhere on the weekends.

So, the season is coming to a merciful close. I have no idea what to expect from next year. Am I going to be as excited for the start of the season as I usually am? Probably. But I will definitely be a little bit more on the defensive. I'll certainly have my guard up. And I'm DEFINITELY going to do a lot more homework for the Fantasy Football.

Dogged

2006-12-13T17:09:00.000-08:00

Having a dog is a lot of work. Having 2 dogs is REALLY a lot of work. When one of those dogs decides, after nearly 2 weeks of perfect behavior, to start peeing where ever she wants whenever she wants with very little warning, well, let's just say those aren't your favorite moments.

I've never had a dog before, so when we adopted our first dog, Elwood, I knew I was in for a brand new experience. We set ourselves up for a very interesting experience by picking the most skittish dog at the pound. When we was in his cage, he wouldn't go anywhere near the front, remaining in the way back, as far out of sight as possible. It took him a couple weeks before Jenn and I were allowed to be in the same room together without upsetting him. And while he's a very different dog now than he was when we adopted him, he's still extremely wary of strangers and isn't afraid to let you know it. Visitors are greeted with non stop barking from a dog that won't go anywhere near them. And anyone that approaches to pet him while we're out on our walks will only end up petting our legs because Elwood will be hiding behind us like a 2 year old at a family reunion. But for all his issues, he's actually a very smart dog. He picks up rather quickly on the commands covered in the obedience class we attend. Any limitations in learning are a direct result of my lack of time to train him. He is super loving, too. If allowed, he would lick Jenn or I all night. His preferred spot to rest is wherever he can find a lap.

Then we got Greta. She was my pick as Jenn was the one that chose Elwood. I picked her based on the fact that, when she came into the viewing room, she was the only dog that came directly to us rather than sniffing around the room for something else and likely more interesting. As Jenn says, she is the most loving female dog she has ever seen. For the first week, she wouldn't tug on the leash the slightest bit. She would reserve all bodily functions (except for burps, which she does frequently) for outside. She also had to be sequestered from Elwood. That was fun. When we brought Elwood to the pound for the doggie meet and greet to make sure they would get along, the wrestled with each other for 10 minutes straight. No break. Just a ball of fur rolling around on the floor. They attempted to recreate the scene every time they would see each other in passing. And then she had her stitches removed and they were allowed to meet. And for 2 days straight, there was nothing but more rough housing. I swear it would have never stopped if we ourselves hadn't had enough and put an end to it. Thankfully, they've calmed down a bit now and have cut the play fighting to about 50 minutes of every hour. If we can have it down to 40 by Christmas, it will indeed be a Christmas miracle. Coincidently or not, the doggie introduction coincided with Greta starting to covertly tinkle inside whenever she had the opportunity. The opportunity would be, specifically, whenever no one was looking. It started when we noticed our kitchen mat was wet but neither of us had done any dishes. Then the mat by the door was wet and it wasn't raining. Then the bedroom carpet was wet when she had been kept separate for a little while. It's only been a month, but this has definitely been a struggle. It was over a week before we actually caught her doing it to where we could yell no at her and run her outside. We now have to take her out every couple hours "just in case". And even that isn't frequent enough as just yesterday she went on the floor - privately - after having been walked 20 minutes before. Other than that, she really is a wonderful dog. She likes giving affectionate head-butts. She LOVES everyone, no matter who. Just about everyone loves her, too. If she could talk, she'd probably ask for a pet squirrel for Christmas. Most importantly, her and Elwood are huge friends.

Oddly enough, that last bit is part of the problem with having 2 dogs. First of all, they're usually way more interested in each other than anything you're doing anymore. Elwood isn't quite as interested in lap time any more. And when you need to get one of them to do something, good luck. The other would much rather continue the Fight for Doggie Dominance. I'm hoping that this is a temporary phase. I mean how long can dogs bite each other's ears and legs before it just gets boring and it's time to move on to paying attention tot eh humans again? It is entertaining for a while, but eventually, you don't want to hear the pitter patter of little paws any more. The aftermath isn't all that fun, or snuggly, either: 2 slobbery dogs.

Clearly, there are things that need some getting used to. Seeing Jenn lose her cool with them makes me feel less like an ogre when I'm about ready to lock them both up in a cage forever. Overall, though, the dog owning experience is an extremely positive one. I still have a lot to learn as do they. I'm definitely looking forward to the day when the greet each other with a couple licks and sniffs and that's the extent of it. Even more so, I am anxious for the day when we can leave Greta alone in a room and her not leave any puddles behind. I understand way dog owners are so passionate about their pets. These are animals that have a lot of love to give. And it's extremely rewarding when they do give it.

Library for Dummies

2006-11-27T16:37:00.000-08:00

I just read a thing today in the Washington Post how The Village Idiot's minions intend to raise $500 million for the Idiot's library. It will be housed at SMU and will not only feature the library but will also be used to create a "think tank" where Idiot-friendly scholars are paid to write books and papers and opinions that speak favorably of the Idiot's "policies".

There are far too many obvious jokes to list here. But I'm going to try, damn it! I will list as many as I can come up with and you feel free to join in the fun.

- One cool thing about a library for a President with the Village Idiot's mental capacity: I bet it has a really great comic book section!
- Do you have to have documented proof that you burned at least 5 books making reference to evolution, global warming, or fossil fuel alternatives before you can be hired as a librarian at the Village Idiot's library.
- A THINK TANK for the VILLAGE IDIOT. The whole thing is a shallow end.
- We'll finally know the answer to the age old question: if everyone that visits a particular library is illiterate, do the books contain any words?
- Since it's the Village Idiot's think tank, shouldn't it more properly be called a think bowl? Or maybe think spoon?
- Over/under for pop-up books at the Village Idiot's library: 492. I'm taking the over.
- Only this President would need to pay people to continue to spin his "policies" AFTER he's President.
- Who would have thought it would cost $500 Million to relocate Fox News's headquarters to the campus of SMU?
- Any chance this library can get the same treatment the NCAA gave to SMU's athletic department?
- Why SMU? Did Liberty's campus not have the space and did heaven itself reject the idea?
- Has the opening of a library ever set thinking BACK 100 years?
- If you don't return one of your books on time to the Idiot's library, are you declared an enemy combatant? What techniques are at the librarians' disposal for retrieval of over due books?
- Given this administration's notoriety for secrecy, are there actually going to be enough documents to fill a library let alone a book?
- Invest in Glade stock now because sales of air-freshener in Dallas is going to go through the roof with the mountain of BS that's going to get piled up there.
- I'm not sure the librarians are going to be prepared for how much laughing there will be going on there. Intelligent people are bound to slip through the doors from time to time and it will be impossible not to laugh at the fiction being disseminated as facts there.
- I hope there's an interactive area where visitors can pretend to be the media. You get a chance to kiss the butt of a statue of the Village Idiot. You can ask an actor playing the Press Secretary a tough question and just watch him dance in response. And then on your way out, you're given a chance to copy, word for word, from a leaflet written by one of the members of the think spoon and see if you can get it printed as "news."
- In what section should we expect to find My Pet Goat?

I joke because otherwise, I'd want to cry. Seriously though, the dude spent less than that on his re-election. Wasn't that a big enough waste of money? Couldn't these idiots figure out something more important to do with it than memorialize and try to defend one of the most divisive Presidents ever. No? That's the best we can do? Pathetic. And I bet they call themselves Christians (People have used my father's religion against him in similar arguements, I figure I'm allowed once in a while, too!).

No Fun

2006-11-27T16:35:00.000-08:00

This is something I wrote and intended to post on the Wednseday before Turkey Day. But I forgot. For the record, the closet door installation went very smoothly. So here you go:

The least productive 5 hours of a person's work year has to be the 5 hours after lunch and before he goes home on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It's unrealistic to expect people to be able to concentrate on anything. Everyone's thinking about yummy food and a super long weekend. It's one of the things I miss the most about Sinclair: my manger understood such a concept. The culture at my current work is such that you get a threat of being fired if you try to forward an e-mail to your personal account. It's very different, very difficult to get used to and very unlikely to be letting people leave before 5 much less before 6.

Anyway, I decided that rather than sit around and not pretend to be busy, I'd write up a blog. It's by far the most productive thing I've done since I got back from lunch.

Stuff I'm thinking about that has nothing to do with work:

I can't wait to get home and se e my puppies. Elwood is so funny when I get home. He'll definitely be lying down on our bed. I'll walk in the room and his only reaction will be to roll over and offer up his belly for a good rubbing. I always comply. Our newest addition, Greta, will walk up and head butt you. Not hard or menacingly, but very gently and lovingly. It's best to sit on the floor as she approaches you with her head down so that you can really get full brunt of the love butt. She'll bury her head right in your chest. It's the best.

I bought closet doors for our bedroom (Greta is a serial chewer) and I'm extremely worried that they're going to be too big. I took measurements this morning and I measured them to be 4 feet, 10 inches. The door I got are 5 feet. The next smallest would have been 4 feet which would have just looked ridiculous. Of course there's a chance that I'm remembering incorrectly and instead of remembering that they were 2 inches shy of 5 feet, they might be 2 inches abover 4 feet. I'm really annoyed with myself for not writing the measurements down. But if I didn't get the doors today then it'd be another week before it'd be safe to brave the stores. I can't express how annoyed I am with this whole thing right now.

I'm looking forward to turkey and mildly concerned that I won't like the gravy that is being made. Dinner is being hosted by my brother's brother-in-law. It should be a good spread, but me and gravy go together like turkey and Thanksgiving.

I'm looking forward to going to Miami on Friday. Not sure what's on tap for the day, but I'm certain we'll have fun. If Jenn and I head down early enough, we'll get to go rollerblading. Even if we just sit around with Pamela an Blair it will be fun.

And I'm still thinking about the closet doors. Stupid doors!

HOORAY!!!!

2006-11-17T16:46:00.000-08:00

I'll be honest: I fully expected Republicans to hold onto both houses of Congress last week. I thought that the Republican establishment, and the President in particular, had far far too much to lose if Democrats won. For the past 6 years, the Village Idiot has been able to run the government amok unchecked and the prospect of a Congress that would actually put a little bite behind it's Oversight role has to scare him silly. The thought of the Idiot and his handlers having to actually assign some accountability to their actions makes me absolutely giddy. The Rebulitards can call it whatever they want - their favorite is The Blame Game - I'm ready to play. It's time the American people know exactly how an administration as incompetent as this one manages to produce fiasco after fiasco. I just hope before it's all said and done we have a few answers on the lead up to Iraq, the rebuilding of Iraq and the response to Katrina. And that these messes will lead to even more disclosure.

So that's the first thing that makes me happy about the events of last week. The next is the idea that the press might actually wake up a little bit. They've been just as culpable in allowing the Village Idiot to get a free pass. He's been serving them up 9/11 flavored Kool-aid for 5 years and they lap it up. They need to stop acting as amplifiers to the Administration's message and start actually setting the agenda of public discourse. They need to demand real answers to the questions they pose and filter through the emptiness that is provided. Somebody other than Jon Stewart and Helen Thomas needs to step up and expose the entire Administration as the deceitful fear-mongers that they are. The people deserve to know that, just like in FDR's time, there is nothing to fear but fear itself. And fear is exactly what the Village Idiot serves up.

Like most everyone else, I was also thrilled when Rummy got the axe. You have to scratch your head and wonder why they'd wait until AFTER the election. It's likely that that small of a gesture would have been enough to push either Montana or Virginia in the direction of the Republicans in the Senate. How the Village Idiot didn't recognize that is a mystery. Except that you have to think that maybe they've been drinking their own Kool-aid. More than likely, though, they were probably concerned that showing a slight sign of doubt would disenchant a few more of their base voters. You know, the one's that weren't already disenchanted by the page sex scandal and a total failure to push forward the conservative social agenda.

But here's the really startling thing about this election: 34% of Americans still approve of the job Bush is doing. Who are these people?!?! I mean, his approval rating should be around 5%. 1% from the people that control over 80% of the wealth in the US, and 4% from idiots that think a Mexican sneaking across the border is going to steal their job. That's it. Those are the only people that he can even pretend to give lip service to any more. The Village Idiot has either botched every attempt (or non-attempt) to appease his base or actively marginalized everyone else. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE!?!?!

A blog for Jenn

2006-11-06T16:27:00.000-08:00

Jenn recently said she doesn't read my blog anymore because it's about sports and politics all the time. Well, on the eve of the election, I'm going to blog about the excitement on the home front.

First, on Saturday this week, we get FURTATURE!!!! Thanks to be super duper generous brother we are getting a couch and an absolutely amazing patio set. If the patio set weren’t one of the nicest I’d ever seen, I’d be talking non-stop about how amazing the couch is. My bro and the fam are getting set to move into their nearly completed house and this Saturday is move out day. Unfortunately for them, move in day isn’t for a couple weeks, but they insist they’ll be OK. And not to sound selfish or nuthin, but Jenn and I are just way too excited about having a couch. Couldn’t be more excited, really. WE’RE GOING TO HAVE A COUCH!!!!

We had a very nice weekend. Blair and Pamela come over for a little birthday celebration for Jennifer (happy birthday on Tuesday, baby!!!!). It’s always nice having company over, especially the best of company. Jenn had her first day off without travel in a long long time. She was very pleased about that. She even got some school work done. Yay her!!

The previous weekend, we went to our Nations Capital for a wedding. It was for my college roommate Steve. The ceremonies were in beautiful gardens. The reception was much fun. That’s a wedding, for you. Good scenery. Good dancing. Good times.

Lastly, we’re going to be getting another addition to the family. The four legged variety, before you go getting ideas. Next weekend, we’re going to go back tot eh pound to find a friend for our dog Elwood. It’s time. He’s comfortable enough with us that we think it will be beneficial to him to have a friend. We’re going to look for someone a little (OK, a lot) more comfortable around strangers. We’re hoping she’ll be able to rub off on him in that regard.

Looky there! I love you, baby!

Not to beat a dead horse or anything...

2006-10-30T17:38:00.000-08:00

We need to swing the pendulum of power away from Bush next week. It has to happen. Under normal circumstances, I'd never say, "Just vote a party-line ballot." But these are not normal circumstances. No, these are desperate times and we all know what those call for. I had a conversation while at a wedding over the weekend with some staunchly Democratic folk and I realized how, in the good and evil times that the Village Idiot has wrought upon our great nation, those folks that I might in other times call not quite open-minded enough for my tastes, were clearly good and I enjoyed hearing their views. One of them spoke of participating the the Washington Caucus in 2004 as a member of the Kerry camp. Even in 2004, I would never have thought of actively rallying in any camp that included Kerry. Sure I voted for him and encouraged others to do the same. But I'm so fed up with the Village Idiot and his polarizing policies that I'd volunteer time for anybody who's stated mission is getting rid of Bush and his cronies.

Below are a couple of excerpts from a blog that runs on the Washington Post's website from a dude named Froomkin. He's awesome. It's like the Daily Show but with the jokes being actual facts that you have to laugh because if you didn't they'd make you cry. He's very passionate about having an open and responsive government and a vigilant media. As a result, he's passionately anit-Village Idiot, which makes him OK in my book. When I started reading him, his distaste for Bush was just that. Now, you can sense his seething. I suspect his blog has fed my ire to an extent. Anyway, his blog is call The White House Briefing. Any way, here's the first bit taken from George Will, the Classically Conservative (different from the modern neo-con) commentator. If the Republican strategy next week is to mobilize your base, and George Will is not part of the Conservative base, then I think we should be far more afraid of the people that the Republican party is pandering to.

*****
George F. Will writes for Newsweek: "In a recent interview with Vice President Cheney, Time magazine asked, 'If you had to take back any one thing you'd said about Iraq, what would it be?' Selecting from what one hopes is a very long list, Cheney replied: 'I thought that the elections that we went through in '05 would have had a bigger impact on the level of violence than they have . . . I thought we were over the hump in terms of violence. I think that was premature.'
"He thinks so? Clearly, and weirdly, he implies that the elections had some positive impact on the level of violence. Worse, in the full transcript of the interview posted online he said the big impact he expected from the elections 'hasn't happened yet.' 'Yet'? Doggedness can be admirable, but this is clinical.
"Anyway, what Cheney actually said 17 months ago was that the insurgency was in its 'last throes.' That was much stronger than saying we were 'over the hump' regarding violence. Beware of people who misquote themselves while purporting to display candor."
And this bit goes a bit deeper into the Village Idiot Polarization affect.
*****
And this bit goes a bit deeper into the Village Idiot Polarization affect.

*****

Ronald Brownstein writes in the Los Angeles Times: "Bush has absorbed his share of body blows from Democrats criticizing his management of the war. But tagging his rivals as the party of 'defeat' is nonetheless extraordinary language for a commander in chief to use in a political campaign.
"Other wartime presidents have been much more reluctant to argue that only their party was committed to success. . . .
"In 1942, the first election after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was ... emphatic about separating war and politics. Roosevelt spent much of that fall visiting defense facilities on a tour during which he barred press coverage and insisted on being accompanied by Republican as well as Democratic local officials. When the chairman of the Democratic National Committee suggested that a GOP takeover of the House would be bad for the country, Roosevelt publicly rebuked him.
"Even President Nixon displayed more restraint during the 1970 midterm election. Nixon barnstormed the country asking voters to elect members of Congress who would support his war policy. But he took pains to avoid claiming that only his party wanted to win. 'This is not a partisan issue,' Nixon declared that October at a rally for a Texas Republican Senate candidate named George H.W. Bush."
As a result of Bush's polarizing strategies, Brownstein writes, "he now looks less like the president of all the people than the champion of a single faction."
******

Lastly, I would like to add a bit more of my own thoughts. This is in regards to the phrase alluded to above that those of us are against the War in Iraq, which, as a reminder, has nothing to do with the War on Terror, want nothing more than to Cut and Run. For the record, I think Leaving Iraq entirely is every bit as bad an idea Staying the Course - something Bush has been preaching non-stop for 3 years in spite of the fact that he claims he's never said it at all. This is what we want: AN EXIT STRATEGY!!! Something that would indicate that there is some kind of plan to actually accomplish something while minimizing our losses. Anything that would say, "Hey, look, this is what we're trying to do and this is when we're going to try and have it done by." We as a nation have to agree to do the right thing. Our Village Idiot got us into this mess with, at best, no intentions at all, good or bad. I personally think the intentions were nothing but bad. But now that we're there, and it's our fault as a nation for electing and re-electing this moron, we have to do the right thing and that means we have to make sure the mess we created is stabilized and that there are safeguards in place to prevent it from becoming a mess when we leave. But what we need to see as a people is that there is some plan to achieve this goals, not the least of which is the "when we leave" part. That is not Cutting and Running, that's Having a Plan. And Having a Plan, compared to the first 3 years, is CLEARLY not Staying the Course. When you have a plan and the plan fails, people should be held accountable or at least reasonable examination behind the failure should happen. And of all of the short comings of this Administration, perhaps the one that I find most egregious and most disconcerting is the complete and utter lack of accountability. It reeks of people raised with privilege and without responsibility. It exemplifies the ego-centric, good vs evil, black and white, us vs the world policies that this fiasco of an administration runs on. And with no one taking responsibility, everyone is at fault. And that is why every singe Republican Congressman in completely responsible. You can't be an extremist and ask people to respect that these elections are local matters. You want black and white, you've got it: guilty by association.

Blog recommendation

2006-10-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

Jenn was doing a little research on the internet this week when she stumbled upon a totally random blog that I highly highly recommend. http://mccrumble.blogspot.com/

First of all, the way she found it was that she was doing a search for parasitologists, and that's what the guy that runs the blog does. A side story on this, Jenn was so amused that she called me at work about this blog. She told me that there was a crazy blog and that she found it by doing a search for parasitologist. I thought she said parapsychologist so I was infinitely more excited about the blog that I probably should have. A REAL LIFE GHOSTBUSTER BLOGGING!!!! How could that possibly not be a good thing? Needless to say, I was mildly upset when I found out what he really does. I’m certain parasites are absolutely fascinating. But really, they don’t hold a candle to Slimer.

Anyway, she found this blog. And it is good. The real fun starts around September 20. And you absolutely must read his off-shoot rouge blog. Jenn posts a comment on the Oct 20th posting and gets hit on by a Bulgarian. Ain’t the web cool!?!?!

Oh, and I suspect the big question would be why Jenn was searching for parasitologist on the internet. Well, I’ll just leave that to your imaginations.

3 More Weeks

2006-10-16T17:35:00.000-07:00

The next 3 weeks should be very very interesting. We have a grill now, so I'll get to reincorporate red meat into the regular meal cycle. The Steelers look like they're back on track for having a semi-successful defense of their Super Bowl title last year. I've made 2 huge trades in my Fantasy League which will either turn around a dreadful season or just continue to add insult to injury. Jenn and I are going to be going to Washington, DC, for a wedding. Jenn's never been to DC and it's one of my favorite places to visit as a tourist, so it will be interesting to see how she takes to it. Oh, and speaking of DC, it very well might be the last 3 weeks of a Republican Majority in the Senate and/or House.

It's this last bit that is obviously the most interesting. In the lead up to this monumental shift - one that should have happened 2 years ago - it will be very interesting to see what the Republicans pull (or try to pull ) out of their hat in an effort to prevent what right now seems inevitable. They are going to go down kicking and screaming. And given the fact that their stale platitudes and fear/hate mongering have yet to drum up the required support from their once solid base, it would seem whatever they have in store is a real doozy. You can't put anything past them at this point. Not a single thing. I would believe absolutely anything from doctoring pictures to make all Democrats appear to have horns to buying out the non-Fox news sources and turning them all into little Fox outlets. The big question during the next 3 weeks for undecided voters is this: name one event over the past 6 years that would indicate that there is a single competent person in the Republican leadership?

Another thing to keep an eye on is how the Democrats will manage to blow one of the biggest sure things ever. The fact that they're not an overwhelming favorite to have solid majorities in both the House and Senate is startling. Only 35% of the country approves of the President. The Republican led Congress has been the President's BITCH for 6 year. Only 35% of the people in this country should even consider voting for a Republican this year. If you're a Republican, you're voting record is indefensible. And the the Democrats are so wishy-washy that they might not even be able to capitalize on that. They're like white guys going for a dunk: they look awkward doing it and you know there's a good chance that they'll blow it. Take the Foley thing for example: the Republicans would be using this in every single ad, they'd be on every single talk show bashing Democrats values, and they'd use it as a rallying cry to get out the vote. You get the sense that the Democrats are afraid to be labeled as players of dirty politics even if it means securing the win. It's so back asswards that the REPUBLICANS were the ones that went on the offensive saying that Democrats were the only ones that knew the truth all along and they waited until now to reveal the news!!! Well, let's hope the Democrats can pull through in spite of themselves like Woody Harrelson at the end of White Men Can't Jump.

Then, on the actually Voting Day itself, there are bound to be some extremely interesting turns of events throughout the day. Firstly, at least one race, and probably far more, will have a black cloud hovering over it as a result of some sense of election fraud. It will DEFINITLEY benefit a Republican. What is unknown is exactly how much National air time the situation will actually get. If it gets as much as the Ohio voting irregularities, then Republicans will have won back one or both Chambers of Congress and it will be clear that Democracy is dead in America. But if there's a big enough stink, which I hope there will be and there certainly should be, then there is hope. But it will be predicated on Democrats controlling the agenda and thereby the stream of news from Capitol Hill. If they don't do that, then they don't have control and we're all in trouble. On the day of the election, anyone who says they are voting for a Republican should be asked this question: are you voting for him based on what you THINK Republicans stand for and how they SHOULD vote or because of they're track record over the past 6 years? If it's based on perception, they need to face the reality and understand what has happened to the size of the government, it's spending and it's involvement in our day-to-day lives now compared to 6 years ago. They need to understand that there is absolutely NOTHING to indicate the next 2 or 6 years will be any different than the previous 2 or 6 years. The votes will be the same, the government will become more obtrusive and the constant threat of terror will become more real. If they are voting based on actual performance, then odds are pretty good they're part of the Religious Right and they are voting based on how their preacher tells them to vote. They have put as much thought into this decision as every other decision they make in their lives: none.

But what will be most interesting is the 2 years that follow. As much as the vote 2 years ago stood as a turning point where Americans could have taken back our Government and wrestled away the control from a group of people set on rigging the system to keep them in power in perpetuity, this vote stands as a chance to wake up the average American. The one that chugs along with no interest in the system thinking there is no way to change it. This is an opportunity to actually get the system back on track and in the middle of the road where it belongs. They call it the middle of the road for a reason: the road represents a path and a path is always a good thing. It's been swung far too right for far too long and we're stuck in a ditch. This is a chance to remind people how our government should function and that the forces that are currently in charge are nothing but bad news. It could be an exciting and invigorating 2 years. It might also be a scary and depressing 2 years. The people have to decide between having a clear path or being stuck in the ditch.

ALL..........THAT.........POLKA!!!!

2006-10-05T18:33:00.000-07:00

A funny thing happened on my way to sending an e-mail today. I was talking about the movies I had at home from Netflix and when the checker got to the part where I was mentioning Dr. Zhivagom it suggested Chicago for Zhivago and I almost clicked Change wihtout looking. My first thought was that that would have been confusing for the recipient. But then I took it one step futher: can you imagine the movie and how confusing THAT would be for the patrons? Dr. Chicago: A musical about cheating spouses getting away with murder set with the backdrop of Russian Revolution. "If you're good to Comrade, Comrade will be good to you!!!" If you haven't seen Chicago or know nothing about Zhivago, you probably don't find this remotely entertaining. But it absolutely cracks me up. So another contest: come up with the best line or song from Dr. Chicago. I've already taken 2, but I know you can all do better.

I have to comment on the Foley thing. I'm absolutely enthralled by the whole thing. And this from somebody who never really cared for Clinton but whole Lewinsky fiasco was a ridiculous witch hunt. The dude got a hummer. And we're supposed to be surprised? But this Foley dude was having cyber-sex with 16 year old boys. That's just a little weird. And it could just stop there, but the story builds and gets weirder and weirder. The Monica thing was a story of a guy getting a hummer and that was it. What he said or didn't say at the Grand Jury is frankly pointless. Yeah, he might have lied. But about getting a hummer froma chubby 22 year old intern. The Republicans have been covering up the fact that one amongst their ranks have been jerking off while chatting with 16 year olds. Which is worse? And the actual story started with some mildly disturbing e-mails. Then they got explicit and there was some salami slapping. Then it was all the alcohol's fault. Then he was molested by clergy and he was gay (which, by the way, was by far the least news worthy part of the entire saga). then he's jerking off when he should be voting on Iraq funds appropriations. AND THE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP KNEW!!!! And this ISN'T a story!?!?!? Good thing for the Republicans that Democrats will be completely incompitent in trying to capitalize on this.

What's grosser than gross?

2006-09-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

A bonus blog post that doesn't belong on teh same page as my last one. I went into the restroom at work today and there was a dude in one of the stalls in sitting at his feet was an opened container of Vaseline. Contest: WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT VASELINE DOING THERE?!?!? I'll declare a winner some time in the future.

Misunderstood Crazy Venezuelans

2006-09-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

I got the following forwarded to me:

Venezuela Dictator Vows To Bring Down U.S. Government Venezuela government is sole owner of Citgo gasoline company Venezuela Dictator Hugo Chavez has vowed to bring down the U.S. government. Chavez, president of Venezuela , told a TV audience : "Enough of imperialist aggression; we must tell the world: down with the U.S. empire. We have to bury imperialism this century." The guest on his television program, beamed across Venezuela , was Cindy Sheehan, the antiwar activist. Chavez recently had as his guest Harry Belafonte, who called President Bush "the greatest terrorist in the world." Chavez is pushing a socialist revolution and has a close alliance with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Regardless of your feelings about the war in Iraq , the issue here is that we have a socialist dictator vowing to bring down the government of the U.S.. And he is using our money to achieve his goal! The Venezuela go vernment, run by dictator Chavez, is the sole owner of Citgo gas company. Sales of products at Citgo stations, including 7Eleven, send money back to Chavez to help him in his vow to bring down our government. Take Action Please decide that you will not be shopping at a Citgo station. Why should U.S. citizens who love freedom be financing a dictator who has vowed to take down our government? Very important. Please forward this to your friends and family. Most of them don't know that Citgo is owned by the Venezuela government.

People should know me well enough by now that I'm not going to let something like that go by without commenting. Here was my reply:

So we're all clear: just because a guy is crazy and has some very odd and troubling political statements, that doesn't make him a dictator. He is an elected President just as, if not more validly, than our And just because he wants to end "imperialist aggression" doesn't mean he wants to bring down our government. Regardless of how misguided his tactics or how extreme his views are, the fact of the matter is that our actions in Iraq absolutely could be defined as imperialism (the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies).

Given that there had been zero acts of aggression, terrorist or otherwise, that originated from Iraq, it's agents or it's citizens, we as a people must reflect on this without the political spin of our governing party and look at the situation objectively. WHY DID THIS ATTACK FIRST HAPPEN? Yes, it may very well be a front on the "War on Terror" (why isn't Wes Craven in jail?), but that was of Bush's very own making for it was clearly not a front PRIOR to our invasion. Yes, Salaam was a very bad man, but again, he posed no credible threat and all conceivable intelligence suggesting otherwise has been at best questionable and usually summarily refuted. Given that, our invasion and destabilizing of the Iraqi government (regardless of how evil they were) can very easily be seen as nothing more than an act of Imperialism. And our torture of prisoners, and subsequent release of those prisoners without any charges ever being levied on them, could very well be described as a terrorist act.

Chavez is absolutely a nut and has ruined his credibility in the international community as a result of some of his comments. But you're kidding yourself if you think our President hasn't destroyed our credibility in the international community as a result of some of his actions. But that doesn't make Bush any more a dictator than Chavez. And as far as toppling governments, I believe Bush is 2-0 vs Chavez's 0-0. Only one of those 2 for Bush was provoked and warranted and it is a shame he didn't stay in that first country long enough to finish the job and actually hunt and bring down terrorist leaders.

I hope that as intelligent, free thinking people, we recognize what our government should and shouldn't be doing. I hope that we're able to see that unprovoked aggressive actions around the world will only bring more aggression directed at us. I hope that, regardless of the source of the sentiment, we understand that imperialism is not a good thing and should not be condoned or tolerated by our or any other government. I hope that we're able to distinguish between the rantings of a crazy men (whether they come from Chavez or Hussein) and the threats of a crazy man fully capable and willing to carry out those threats (bin Laden). And I hope in the future, our leaders will be able to make the same distinction.

Please vote in November and keep this in mind.

By the way: after Sundays thrashing of Fox News by Bill Clinton, I regret having never voted for him. My problem with him in the past was that he was never straight forward. Realizing that our current "president" is extremely straight forward and woefully misguided, I realize now and vagueries are much easier (on many different levels) to deal with than idiocy. Anyway, the Daily Show showed a clip of the question posed to Clinton followed by a question posed to Condi Rice on teh same day by Katie Couric. Let's just say that it's way easier to handle questions about what it's like to get asked out on a date when you're Secretary of State. The fact is, the question posed by the Republican Mouth Piece Fox News was extremely combative and could have been phrased in a plethora of different ways without being offensive and calling into question Clinton's attempts to capture Bin Laden. It's safe to say Bush, who has been every bit as lax or unwilling (and I don't think Clinton was either of these things) to capture bin Landen but Fox would NEVER ask him the same question in the same way. FUCK FOX!

Catch up

2006-09-21T17:36:00.000-07:00

Wow, there's only like a million things I've wanted to blog about in the 3 weeks since I last posted, but I've never really had a moment to sit down and do it. But here I am, waiting on others to get their crap together, so I have the time. And rather than give each topic it's due time, I'll just touch on each one momentarily.

First we got a dog. We adopted from the Humane Society here. He's a Plott Hound mutt. His name is Elwood (though he was originally Chance). He's 8 months old. He's pretty good with the accidents as he's only had 2 since arriving on Sunday - both in his crate. The on thing about him is that he's extremely skittish. He was very very shy at the pound, so Jenn took to him right away (she loves a challenge, especially with a dog [and a man, hee hee]). He's come out of his shell to a great extent, though he still has issues when Jenn and I are in the same room at the same time. He'll hide behind her and growl at me. Anyway, we're working through all that and I'm looking forward to getting him some obedience training.

Next, a friend of mine is going to Paris. The exchange rate is almost $1.30 for 1 Euro. That's insane. Frighteningly insane. When I went in November of 2001, the exchange rate was pretty darn close to 1 for 1. If anything it was like $0.95 for 1 Euro. That was in the aftermath of 9/11. That was one year into the Village Idiot's "Presidency". Now, we're 5 years into this 8 year National Mess and our economy is so bad that the Euro has increased in value by 25% to 30%. And no one's making a stink about this? No one's alarmed? How is the fact that our economy is entrenched in the shittier not a national story? How can all of the news out of the Idiot's office be sunny shiny happy and not a single person with a national voice call him on it? And it's not like we're talking about a developing or growing country here, people. We're talking about a currency based in the oldest modernly developed region in the world. Our currency should be flat with their's at all times. It's sick and insane.

FOOTBALL!!! 2 weeks of football have passed and not a peep from me. I know: sacrilege! Anyway, my Steelers stunk last week, so that was sad. But I'm fairly confident that, they will improve as the year goes on. Well, let's just say they have to because if they don't, then rumors of Bill Cower's departure are going to swirl through that team like a tornado in a trailer park. As for Fantasy Football. I had a horrible weekend in week 2 in all of my leagues. I won in the money league, but only because the team I played (ironically, my brother's), managed to be more incompetent than me. I'm really hoping that things will turn around.

On TV, I've got my TiVo up and running so I'm watching the Colbert Report and the Daily Show religiously again. I'm telling you, from June through August, when I was without those 2 shows, I really got out of touch with what was going on in government. Reading the paper doesn't provide enough context. In their fun way, they really frame everything nicely. And intelligently. I think that's why the kids (me included) love them so much. It's nice to be back in on things.

With everything else, the house has come light years. We've still got some boxes to empty, curtains to put up and a spare bedroom to paint, but everything urgent is done. I think it's fair to say we're taking a break. We had been going non-stop on the place for so long that it's good for the both of us to step back and just put that on the back burner. I'm sure we'll start up again in a couple weeks.

Jenn's doing better coping with work and classes, though it is definitely very difficult for her. I'm both impressed with what she's doing and getting done and proud that I get to be a part of it in some small way.

That's it for now. Hopefully I'll be more regular. No, not like THAT!!! Sicko.

Anti-Semantic

2006-08-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

The theme of today's blog is beating a home an idea like a dead horse.

For my part, I'm going to beat home the idea that our President is a complete and total idiot that brings absolutely nothing to the table of a free and democratic society. This is an idea I've been beating like a dead horse for quite some time. I even refer to Bush as the Village Idiot. The quagmire in Iraq is an absolute mockery of what a sound thinking, well intentioned and forward planning person would do in the Village Idiot's place. And while the public was about as fast as a dead horse in grasping this fact, they are coming around. Not only does the vast majority of Americans now agree that going into Iraq was a mistake, but (according to a recent poll that I read about in the paper this morning) 60% now feel our involvement in Iraq actually increases the likelihood of another torrorist attack here at home. And a record low percentage of people actually view Iraq as an actual front in our Global War on Terror (and Islam). These new numbers are only encouraging from the stand point that there is an election in November. Hopefully, a completely immeasurable and unknowable concept like "Moral Values" will not be the 3! deciding factor on who people vote for this time around.

In the mean time, the Idiot himself continues to beat his talking points on Iraq home like a dead horse. But only, he's far more classy in how he does it. He takes the dead horse, props it up and sprays some turtle wax on it, calling it a brand new horse. Forever, his talking point was "It's better to fight them there than here." This week, he unveiled the freshly cleaned dead horse: "If we leave, they're going to follow us home." The beauty of this one is that it further enforces another dead horse talking point that Bush is a lot more subtle in whipping: "Preserve my legacy and leave it for the next guy to figure out." Bush has set up Iraq to be an absolute no-win situation for his successor. If Democracy takes hold (which is unlikely in the long run, but possible in the short), Bush looks like a hero and a genius (of which he is neither). But if we pull out and chaos ensues (which is inevitable regardless of our presences there), he was right all along it's a good thing we stayed. Those are the only 2 options. This is part of the reason why I hate this President so much. We do not live in a black and white world and yet there isn't a single issue that can't be boiled down to one of 2 options for him. We absolute should pull out because we didn't belong there in the first place. There absolute will be chaos because we actively removed the only stabilizing force in the region. But there's a million reasons why each of these things happened. Democracy will not take hold because we removed Sadaam without cause. It will do so because it is what the people want and they fight for it themselves. A democracy absolutely must be earned. And chaos will not ensue because we're not there any more. Chaos will ensue because there are far too many forces at play in the region to simply boil down to bad and good guys: oil, religion, classes, human rights, education, basic services. All of these things impact the region and it's volatility. We are just another snake on the plane, Mother Fuckerer. We just happen to be a big Mother Fucking snake with a big box of band-aids and opposable thumbs.

And the last tie in to the dead horse theme is the fact that our President is about as useful as a dead horse in the middle of a desert. It's like the American People are the rider and they decided to let the dumb horse decide where to go. That horse took us into the desert. And we just said, "Hey this is where the horse wants to go so I'll just let him go. Foolishly, the American people actually thought the horse could get them out of the desert. Trusted that the horse knew where the water was. Figured the horse had a plan for finding food. Even if the horse is the famous Mr. Ed, that's still a dumb horse! Only the people that don't hear the horse talk know the real truth about the talking horse: IT'S STILL A FRIGGIN HORSE!!! The people's only hope for survival in that vast desert now is eating the carcass. I hope everyone gets hungry around November.

You're all wet

2006-08-11T18:51:00.000-07:00

After 9/11, it took about 2 years for flying to become even remotely palatable again. With the ridiculous lines at security and the demanded removal of all shoes regardless of whether they were moccasins or sandals and the constant bag checks, it was a horrific nightmare. But the process had actually become reasonable within the past couple years. Now we have the mess with the water bombers.

Before I continue, for those that don't know, I think all the security stuff is a way of perpetuating fear and forcing the standard sheep citizen to believe that we NEED the current administration to watch after them. Airport security is just the tip of the ice berg, literally. When journalists actually grow a spine and decide to go for a dive, people are shocked at how deep this ice berg goes. And it all goes on unchecked thanks to the culture of fear.

Now, with the current situation, I just don't buy this whole liq exp thing. Sure, they exist, but how are a bunch of terrorist looking people going to congregate on an airplane and put together the mechanism required for detonation without arousing any suspicion? It just wouldn't ever happen ever again. Period. Yes, it's unfortunate for the innocent and nice Middle Easterners, but it's a realistic by-product of the fear culture. And now you can't bring ANY beverages on board? Really? Have you seen the size of bev erages given on flights? I don't think I've been on a flight longer than 2 hours and not brought my own water. It's almost criminal to not allow you to bring on board a beverage.

And it's not like it's necessary. Make the person sample all liquid carry-ons. Do they die? No? They're clear. If you don't want to sample your hairspray, you check it. This whole thing is absurd.

On MSNBC last night, my aunt paused briefly on Keith Olberman's show. He hates O'Reily so I kind of like him and I'm interested in what he has to say. Then he says the following to a security specialist: for years now, people haven't been allowed to bring any beverages into stadiums, so how can the airlines justify their lax security all this time? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!? That was the must reeeeetarded thing I've every heard on talk TV, and I've seen my fair share of both Hannity and O'Reily. YOU CAN'T BRING IN BEVERAGES TO A BALL GAME BECAUSE THEY WANT THE REVENUE!!!!!!!!!! Sure they they will claim is it to keep out alcohol or so you don't chuck it and hurt someone. But we all know the real reason. Actually, at Dodger stadium, you can bring in any plastic bottle still sealed. That's just as reasonable a requirement as making people sample the beverage.

So now, the Village Idiot's international War on Terror gains credence because stadiums have been on the forefront of liquid explosive security measures and nobody's tried to blow one of them up yet. SEE!!! It's working at stadiums!!!! Olberman should have mentioned that movie theaters deserve just as much credit for their diligence.

Is it a good thing that these yahoos were caught? Absolutely. Should we be careful and not take our safety for granted? Definitely. Should we give up our right to bring water onto an airplane because of an isolated incident? Absolutely definitely not. They don't add up. It's not black and white like that. You've not been safer at a stadium because they've forced everyone to throw away outside beverages for the past 10 years. I can still get into stadiums without taking off my shoes. After the London subway incident, we didn't ban people from carrying bags on our public transportation. The obvious difference here is that the Federal Government can mandate security regulations on planes. Not on subways. Not at stadiums.

And saying things like stadiums have been safer than planes because we haven't been able to take beverages into those sites only gives ammunition to a lunatic every bit as dangerous to our freedoms as the terrorists.

Stuff we haven't done yet

2006-08-04T18:02:00.000-07:00

We've been in Florida for about 6 weeks now and there are several things I wanted to do once we arrived. Stuff that I always liked doing before that I thought Jenn might enjoy. And by no means is it stuff that I expected to do during the first 6 weeks or even the first 6 months. But stuff that I'd like to get around to doing and not end up being one of those things that is perpetually on the "we'll do that next weekend" list. Here's the list of some of that stuff, a description of it and whether we've done it yet or not.

FOOD:
Wings - My favorite wing place in Florida, Wing City, is no more. My second favorite, Wings Plus, is thriving and we have indeed been. Jenn didn't like it as much as I do. The good news is that there's one within delivery range from where we're moving. I'm not sure there's an establishment west of the Mississippi that can actually do wings.
Yesterdays - This is my favorite fancy restaurant in South Florida. It's right on the Intercoastal, which is a waterway that separates the beaches from the main land. They have the best cheesecake anywhere. They have an awesome Caesar Salad. Because it's spendy and fancy, we haven't gone yet. It's not going any where. I can wait for this one.
Hooters on the beach - It's one thing to go to Hooters. It's another thing to go to Hooters on the beach. I haven't even been to the beach with Jenn yet. We'll get there.
Have a good cheesesteak - this one was just for me. Check. That was out of the way the first night. I don't think you can get a good cheesesteak west of Pittsburgh.

SITES:
Viscaya - This is a turn of the century Spanish-style mansion built right on the water in Miami. It has a really cool garden in the back. The house is immense. It was actually used for the filming of Ace Ventura. Anyway, we haven't been yet. Again, this one isn't going anywhere. I'm certain we'll get there during one of our trips to visit Blair in Miami.
Pier 66 - It's a hotel on Ft. Lauderdale beach. The cool thing about it is that the top floor has a rotating bar. I figured, with FLL now being the Miami to Boynton mid-way point, we can meet up with our Miami friends there one of these weekends.
Disney day trip - When we get to Boynton, and it's only a 2 hour drive, I'm 100% certain this will happen. I'd like to do a short weekend trip soon-ish, too.
Everglades - Not something to do during the summer. For any reason.
Busch Gardens - This one is better as a day trip. I haven't even talked to her about this one yet. They have a new coaster. It's definitely better to wait until the summer crowds go away.

SPORTS:
Baseball - Been to my one Marlins game requirement. Can't wait for next year! Jenn didn't go. She hates baseball, but I thought she might go just for the fun company. I was wrong, but that's OK.
Bowling - Once we get settled in, I'm excited to be in a league with Eddie again. I'd be even more excited if Jenn agreed to be part of a mixed league!
Football - I want to go to a Dolphins game and a Hurricanes game this season. I'm not sure Jenn will want to do either one, but I'm hoping I can talk her into it.
HEY! IT'S ALMOST FOOTBALL SEASON!!!!! YAY!!!!!

OK, I'll admit it. This entire post was just a thinly veiled excuse to get a little more excited about the start of football season.

My life has a house (buyer)

2006-08-01T18:41:00.000-07:00

For anyone who cares, here's where we are with buying our house.

On the technical side - the stuff that actually matters from the stand point of, "if it doesn't get done, the deal falls through," - we've got 3 things actively going on.

1) Loan Application Documentation - We have just about everything that was requested of us. I have to reprint our bank statement from the previous period because the on-line print out I did doesn't show the numbers for each entry. They got cut off. Unfortunately, we have to use an on-line statement because Bank of America has California customers and the Rest of the US customers. If you leave California, you either need to close your California account and open a new ROUS account. Obviously, that's a problem for auto-pay bills and is a giant hassle in general. Except the banks in ROUS can't do anything but deposits and withdrawals for CA customers. Also, I'm waiting for 1 more 401K statement and we have to get Jennifer's. The loan guy says the 401K stuff probably won't enter into it.

2) Insurance - This one we have some time on. I thought we had had a HUGE development yesterday when we got a quote that was about $1000 less than what we were expecting. However, after receiving the written quote, I'm afraid that it might not cover any damage as a result of a hurricane. And while I hate to be accused of thinking negatively, there are just some risks I'm not willing to take. I'm in the process of trying to get other quotes, but it hasn't been easy. So many insurance companies won't do business in Florida that it's difficult to find even a broker than can help with coverage.

3) Home Owner's Association - We were given a 3 page application from the seller's broker for the home owner's association. It turns out the application is actually 16 pages. And we can't schedule a HOA approval interview until the application is done. This is the most annoying of the 3 because it just seems a tad silly. But, obviously it's an important step. And I suppose it's a good sign that the HOA actually takes some interest in who they let in. I've been assured by the realtor that once we jump through their hoops, we'll have no problems.

On the non-technical side, Jenn and I went furniture shopping this past weekend. We went to 5 places. 3 had nothing that really grabbed our attention. 1 had an awesome barstool and matching table set. And the other had multiple selections we really liked of everything else that we needed. Unfortunately, they also happened to offer the worst financing terms. we both believe, however, that we've done a relatively exhaustive search. Since we've found stuff we like, we're just going to go with that.

Now, we're in the process of picking paint colors. We have a general idea of the direction we want to go. The accent color in the main living room will be decided this weekend after we go curtain shopping, but we know what we're looking for. We have the primary color all but picked. We're pretty sure of what we're going to do with the spare bed room. We still have to figure out a master br color scheme and the accent for the spare. The bathrooms, although in dire need of help, we've put on hold for the time being. We'll get them painted this year, but maybe not this month. They need remodeling work and it may be worth while to do it all in one shot, which would mean delaying painting. Those are my thoughts not entirely confirmed by Jenn, but I think she might be on the same page.

That's where we're at right now. We continue to get way ahead of ourselves. And I know that everyone wants a football posting, but believe it or not, the home buying process has actually dwarfed the opening of training camps. But I have my 2nd fantasy draft in a week. That will help get me back in the swing of things!

OK, we're excited

2006-07-27T17:07:00.000-07:00

Jenn and I are unabashedly excited about having a contract on a house. And I have a confession to make: we're getting WAY ahead of ourselves. We can't help it though; it's so super duper exciting!!!

In my mass e-mail announcement, I said that I wouldn't be giving out any further details so as to avoid the wrath of the house closing gods (or something to that effect). Do you think going to Home Depot 2 days after your offer is accepted to get paint sample cards is going a little overboard? Yeah, me too. How about asking the realtor if we can go visit the place the following weekend for the express purpose of showing our parents the place but thinking in the back of my head that I should take the tape measure to get dimensions?

Worse yet, am I tempting the New Job gods by the simple act of buying a place before my first 90 days are up?

Probably. And I really scared the crap out of myself this morning when that nasty little thought entered my head.

I suspect this is an interesting little study in human behavior. We get excited about stuff. It's unavoidable. When something goes wrong, it's because we jinxed it. Well jinxing be damned! Jenn and I know just where the koy pond is going to go. And we have a very good idea on what colors to make the spare bedroom and the main living area. And we can't wait to shop for some furniture to fill the place up. And when should I tell Jenn that, since the cable is part of the Association fees, I'd like to get a TV for the spare bed room/computer room?

Lines

2006-07-25T17:33:00.000-07:00

President Bush exercised the first veto of his long and horrifically damaging presidency last week when he shot down a bill that would have allowed for Federal funding of stem cell research on embryos that were to be otherwise disposed of. His reasoning was that using embryos - even unwanted ones - for medical research crosses a moral line that he felt should be left un-crossed ( you know, unlike that moral line of preemptively attacking and over-throwing a sovereign government that poses no threat to our land or our people). Basically, he decided that medical research in curing many diseases and disorders - both physical and genetic - should suffer at the expense of allowing garbage collectors to have a few more medical waste bins to empty.

Obviously, the bigger picture is that he's in favor of saving embryos, regardless of their origins or viability as actually developing into a fetus, at all costs. That's fine. I can understand that stance even if I don't respect it. But the reality is that that stance is hampering medical advancement. The research is being done any way - in Europe and Asia and through private and state funding (thank you governator!!!). He and his blind Religious Right supporters are against this research from going forward, too. Quite frankly, I'm surprised the Pro-Life movement isn't a little more proactive in picketing research facilities that conduct the research on these unwanted embryos. And here's the next leap of logic which I think is quite frankly a small hop and not a leap at all: shouldn't the Village Idiot and his cohorts find any medical treatments that are developed as a direct result of stem cell research abhorrent and unnatural? Since they are partaking in actions which hinder these treatments from being developed, shouldn't they and their direct family members be denied these treatments?

I think so. Bush as drawn a line in the moral sand, as has been the trademark of his presidency. His previous lines have either attempted or succeeded in making us pay for Howard Stern (which, by the way, is better on Sirius than it has been on terrestrial radio in a long long time); preventing gay from having the rights of breeding citizens; and denying our enemies at war (his word, not ours) any rights at all, whether basic human or those supplied by the Geneva Convention. His entire platform is based on telling us what we can and cannot do. Well, why should he or his ilk reap the benefits derived from "immoral" means? He is constantly fighting for his morals to be everyone's laws. He'd like killing fetuses - and by logical extension embryos - to be illegal. So isn't receiving these ill-gotten treatments as bad as knowingly accepting money from a coke dealer and buying a car with it?

It's his line, not ours. I think it's only fair that everyone place their name in the books now and realize that their kids one day, if they should be unfortunate to fall out of a tree, won't be allowed the treatment that might help them walk again. You're defining the line for the great majority of us, so you have to live with the consequences, Mr. Village Idiot. You and everyone that holds that same line. And maybe, just maybe, having to sign that book would make them realize exactly how their holy rolling impacts the rest of us.

How to find a job by really trying...

2006-07-17T12:12:00.000-07:00

The following is a chronological detail of how I landed 3 job offers in the span of 2 days and how I decided which job to take. The string of events actually starts several month before when I initially applied for the jobs with Aetna and ScheduAll. The Aetna job, I was alerted to indirectly by my dad, who works for the company that used to own the division of Aetna I applied for (Aetna bought it earlier this year). The ScheduAll job I applied for through a Monster posting in April and I had been calling them weekly ever since. The Ocwen position, I had applied for through Monster the previous week.

Thursday, July 6: First thing in the morning, I start making my phone calls to the various employers with whom I had submitted a resume. I would make about 5 to 10 calls a day. Today, 2 of the companies were Ocwen and ScheduAll. I hadn’t gotten a call back from ScheduAll since May, but continued none-the-less. This time was different because the nice receptionist told me that the person I had been asking for was not in (found out later she’d left the company), but that I should speak with a Greg Dolan. I left him a message. ScheduAll is a niche software company that supplies scheduling software to the entertainment industry. The job was an Implementation Manager: doing start to finish implementations of the software for customers.

Then I left a message for the HR Manager at Ocwen, a sub-prime mortgage servicing company. She quickly called me back. She asked if I would be OK working in West Palm Beach, about 40 minutes north of where Jennifer and I are now. I told her that I’m keeping my options open. In reality, I applied for that job by mistake. I wasn’t going to apply for anything north of Boca Raton. She said that the hiring manager would like to speak to me on a conference call the next day, which I agreed to. I really was going to keep my options open, but made a mental note to pay more attention to the cities where these companies are.

Later that morning, I get a call from the manager at Aetna. I had had a phone interview with her in June when I was still in Fresno. She asked if I could come in that day for a face-to-face, which I was more than happy to do.

Shortly there after, Greg from ScheduAll calls me back and asks me to forward a new copy of my resume. A few minutes later he calls me and asks if I could do a phone interview on Friday. 2 phone interviews is a really busy Friday.

The Aetna interview goes very well, but they say they’re going to be conducting several more interviews the following week and that if I don’t hear from them by Friday, I should follow-up with HR henceforth. The job is basic Business Analyst stuff: problem solving systems issues, speaking with end-users to figure out what they want their systems to do, nothing thrilling. The atmosphere seems pretty corporate, but friendly (for corporate).

Friday, July 7: The ScheduAll phone interview is first. Greg and Stefan Neid are on the line. Greg is extremely personable and makes a joke along the lines of, “there are 2 8-foot tall, handsome men ready to conduct your interview.” I joke back something to the effect of, “Well, as long as I know none of us are going to be telling the truth today, I’ll be far more relaxed.” The phone interview goes well (basically, these things are just to hear you talk about your experiences first hand, because it’s a lot harder to fake it when talking that when writing a resume) and they invite me in for a face-to-face on Monday.

The Ocwen phone interview also goes well and they schedule an interview for Wednesday.

Monday, July 10: At the ScheduAll interview, I meet with 9 people in the span of 2 hours. They basically funnel people in and out of the room I’m sitting in. After the first 5 minutes, when it’s just one-on-one, a second person joins us. A little later, the original person leaves and is replaced by a new person. This sort of chair swapping continues for well over an hour. My head is spinning and I can’t remember who’s heard what stories. Most of the questions are similar, so the answers are as well. I eventually sit down with one of the big-wigs. At the end of it, Greg tells me he’ll call me the next day at 3. The atmosphere there is very casual – half the people I spoke with were wearing jeans. But you could tell from listening to them that they all work very hard and when it’s time for business, they get to it.

Tuesday, July 11: Around noon, an HR guy from Aetna calls to give me an offer. I tell him I have 2 other interviews but that I will get back to him later in the week.

3PM comes and no word from Greg. Jenn and I go out to make some more copies of my resume for my interviews the next day, and while in my e-mail account pulling up the resume, I see I have an e-mail from Stefan at ScheduAll. They would like to make me an offer and ask if I could stop by the next day early in the afternoon. I reply that my schedule is packed but that I could be there around noon through 1 or after 4:30. I ask him to call me with his preference.

Wednesday, July 12: The Ocwen interview goes well but runs WAY longer than the HR Manager had said it would. First, they had me take the Wunderlik test – the same test college prospects are given at the NFL combine. HR lady tells me I got a really high score but can’t say exactly what it was. The interview part runs to 11, which was the latest I was told I’d be done, but after that they ask me to take a couple tests on my Excel, Access and SQL knowledge. I told them I had to rearrange my afternoon schedule first but that it would be OK. No message from ScheduAll about coming in for the offer. Oh, and also, the Ocwen amanger mentions that the hours would be from 8:30 to 6:30

Later in the afternoon, the Ocwen HR person schedules a phone conversation with one of the VPs I’d be supporting. The role I interviewed for was with their analytics team creating reports and doing analysis for one of their groups. The phone interview will be Thursday afternoon.

Thursday, July 13: I call ScheduAll first thing and Stefan apologizes for not being available yesterday and for not contacting me. He asks that I come in that morning. Their offer is a tad smaller than the Aetna offer, but they promise to give me a review and readjust my salary in 6 months. I wasn’t’ entirely surprised by offer, mainly because they say that the system is really complex and not everyone they hire picks it up. I tell him that I’ll let him know tomorrow. I had told Ocwen that I had 2 offers and that I’d be making a decision on Friday, so they knew my situation.

The Ocwen phone conversation goes well and shortly after getting off the phone, the HR Manager calls and says they want to make an offer but they won’t know the actual value until the Friday. I ask her to please try and have that figured out by lunch.

Thursday night is very stressful and sleepless. I’m having a very difficult time weeding out either Aetna or ScheduAll so that I can do a 1-to-1 comparison with the Ocwen offer when I get it the next day. I am completely on the fence.

Friday, July 14: I call a ton of people and write several e-mails looking for thoughts on my dilemma. Most people are in favor of Aetna because it’s stable and offers up-ward mobility but there are enough that are in favor of ScheduAll – for it’s atmosphere and unique challenges – that I don’t know what to do. As the responses are still coming in, and as I was slowly leaning toward Aetna myself, Ocwen calls and asks if I could postpone my decision until Monday. She says they want to consider me for a managerial position, but I’d have to interview with the Director over that position. She says the interview would be Monday. I tell her I can’t delay my decision, and so she manages to set up the interview for 3:30 that day. With this twist, I decide that the playing field is definitely not level enough o do a fair comparison of 3 jobs, so one should be eliminated. I call ScheduAll to appraise them of the situation and to see if there’s anything they could do to up their offer at all. They step up big time and agree to wait until Monday for a decision.

Aetna is pretty much out.

The Ocwen interview goes very well. The managerial position is essentially the same role I had previously interviewed for but with a different division and with 2 reports in the US and 3 to 5 in India. They call shortly there after with the offer. The base salary is slightly more than ScheduAll but they mention there will be a very significant bonus on top of that, paid annually in February or March and based on my performance. As long as I do a good job, I get the bonus. If I do an exceptional job, my manager can increase my bonus at his discretion.

The Weekend, July 15-16: I flip flop all weekend between the 2 positions. The managerial position is almost too much to turn down, both experience and 4 wise. But the atmosphere and actual work at ScheduAll could actually turn out to be fun and exciting – a rare combo with an IT job. I know that both are going to require long hours, but a friend familiar with Ocwen informs me that they are infamous for their go-go-go attitude. Jenn and I take a look at homes in the neighborhoods that list for about our price range. Hollywood, where ScheduAll is, is nice and old-school South Florida. Boynton Beach, 15 minutes south of Ocwen, has more to pick from and is growing. The decision comes down to affordability and experience vs atmosphere and potentially fun work. The stress of not knowing is driving Jenn crazy. It actually ends up being something she says late on Sunday that turns the tide for good for me: she says she can understand wanting to be in a fun atmosphere, but there’s also something to be said for making a grown up decision. I’m going to want to have a family. I’m considering being a manager. Those are grown-up things to do, and there’s nothing wrong with being a grown-up from time to time.

Monday, July 17, 2006: First thing in the morning, the HR guy at Aetna calls. I tell him I had gotten 2 other offers and I decid3ed to take the one giving me managerial experience. I also e-mail the hiring manager to thank her for the opportunity.

I call Ocwen to find out how much of the bonus is based on my performance and how much is based on the company’s. My friend in the mortgage industry says that the target bonuses always have 2 component. I decide that, before I give my official answer, I should check into that. They say it’s 90% me. That’s all I had to hear.

I next call Greg at ScheduAll. It is one of if not the hardest calls I’ve ever had to make. Not fun at all. But he understands. He says it’s a small world and our paths may cross again. True enough. I wish them the best and I really do mean it. I miss them already, but within a few minutes I realize that I made the right decision. I made the tough decision. I then started looking only onward and getting excited about my new opportunity.

That's it?

2006-07-10T13:45:00.000-07:00

Jenn and I went to Miami this Sunday to hang out with some friends and it just so happened that the World Cup final was on (I don’t want any miscommunication here: we did not specifically go to Miami to watch the World Cup final). To be honest, I had little to no rooting interest in the final. The 2 teams I hate the most: Brazil (for their Yankee-ness) and Argentine (for their disgusting style of flop-ball) were long gone. I like the idea of the host country winning the whole thing just because I think those local fans have put forth the most energy, they should be rewarded. Plus, of all the individuals that I watched during the matches, Germany’s Klose was BY FAR the most fun to watch for me. But, alas, Germany lost in the semis. So, in spite of my blog from a couple weeks ago, I couldn’t really get excited about the final because I wasn’t all that excited either way about either of the team.

And then, at the very end of the game, the worst possible thing happened: penalty kicks. There were several games decided by penalty kicks during the knock out phase of the World Cup. Each time, it left a bad taste in my mouth, but I didn’t say anything. Then, to have the CHAMPION decided based on a facet of the game that is probably about 10% skill on goal keeper’s side, 10% skill on the kicker’s side and 80% luck on both sides, that’s just absurd. It’s the equivalent of having the NBA Champion decided on Free Throws after the first inning. The World Series champion decided by a Home Run Derby in baseball after the 12th inning. The Super Bowl Champion decided on Field Goals after the first OT. Those are all horribly stupid ideas that would make the actual championship feel cheap and supremely anti-climactic. And guess what: the World Cup is as big as those 3 events rolled into one!

Blair commented that the team that gets the ball first in OT is decided by a coin flip. True, but that team still has to play the game the way it’s been played for the course of the regular time. And after a playoff game went into OT a few years ago, ESPN did an analysis of whether the team that wins the coin flip has a decided advantage and they really don’t. If they don’t score on their first possession, they actually LOSE more often than they win. So the luck factor there is marginal.

He then said, “Those guys have been playing for 120 minutes. You want them to play even more!?” “FUCKIN’ A I want them to play even more!” They’re playing FUCKING SOCCER!!!! Not practicing penalty kicks. At the very least make it semi-interesting and have it decided on corner kicks. First team to 5 scores off of the set play of the corner kick wins. You try ends once the ball exits the goalie box. At least the corner kick is a standard part of the game. A very frequent and extremely exciting play. The penalty kick happens maybe once every 3rd or 4th game. And yes, in the middle of the game, a penalty kick extremely interesting and usually deserved BASED ON THE COURSE OF EVENTS IN THE GAME! Used as the tool to decide who wins THE WORLD FRIGGIN’ CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE BIGGEST SPORTING EVENT OF THE WORLD, it sucks. It just sucks. There’s nothing good to say about it.

If you’re worried about the players being too tired, award an extra substitution at the start of every OT period. After the first OT period, which is played for the full 30 minutes regardless if someone scores, you go to Sudden Death, or the Golden Goal as it used to be known. You’re telling me these players don’t dog it in the last 15 minutes of OT just praying to get to penalty kicks? PUH-LEASE! That’s how Italy beat Germany!

Until the penalty kick thing is changed, I can’t blame anyone for not wanting to watch the World Cup. Why would you vest any sort of time into a game that’s only going end with a friggin’ Home Run Derby? The WORLD was robbed.

With friends like his....

2006-07-07T11:53:00.000-07:00

Ken Lay, one of the bad guys from the whole Enron fiasco, died this week. There’s been a lot of commentary about his death. I don’t think I really need to pile onto it, but I don’t mind summarizing it. Basically, the reaction has been everything from:
“He’s getting off easy but more-so his family. The conviction will most likely be overturned. There will be very little the government will be able to do to retrieve assets now.”
To:
“He was the worst kind of villain: one that never recognized that what he did was egregiously wrong. He ruined millions of lives along the way and never took a shred of responsibility or did anything to rectify the situation, pleading innocence and displaying ignorance until the bitter end.”
For all the why’s and wherefore’s behind the later analysis, I HIGHLY recommend you rent the movie “The Smartest Guys in the Room.” It’s a documentary behind the downfall of Enron and it is by far the most shocking movie you will ever see. If your jaw manages to stay shut for more than 30 minutes into the movie, then it’s likely understanding basic business practices isn’t your thing (by the way: there is absolutely no shame in that. It is DEFINITELY a high-level business concept movie in some spots and I imagine it’s not the easiest thing to follow if that doesn’t float your boat.

To summarize: he was a bad dude.

But there’s one angle that I haven’t seen covered that I find most intriguing: where are his friends? Like the funerals of many villains, his will most likely be sparsely attended. But why? Most of his friends are still benefiting from an extremely corrupt energy concern (namely oil). He just happened to cross the line a little bit and didn’t have anyone to bail him out when he left his company in shambles. Of course, his sin wasn’t a faulty (actually, down right absurd) business plan and poor managerial skills. No, his was flying too close to the sun. He should have learned a little something from Iccarus, but instead he decided to run the fraudulently fastest growing company on Wall Street. That drew media attention, not a Saudi buy-out. But is that enough to warrant being abandoned by all your friends?

Of course, throughout that last paragraph, there was a thinly veiled theme: “Where’s the Village Idiot?” “President” Bush used to affectionately call Mr. Lay “Kenny Boy.” They were buddies. They hung out. Kenny Boy contributed heavily to Bush’s first Presidential campaign. If his daddy’s Supreme Court nominees weren’t enough to hand him his election, Kenny Boy’s money eventually would have. And yet the Village Idiot is no where to be found. Is Kenny Boy any different now than he was before. The only difference, really, is that at his death he was a CONVICTED felon, not just a regular felon. And he didn’t even kill anybody! I mean, I can see why OJ’s friends wouldn’t return too many tee-time invites.

So where’s the angle exploring what someone has to do to alienate all of his friends? What’s the non-rich guy equivalent? I mean, he didn’t do anything REMOTELY egregious as sleep with his buddy’s girlfriend/wife. Nothing he did was a personal affront to their friendship. So what does a regular guy have to do to alienate his friends? In some circles, I suspect coming out of the closet would do it, but that’s not really equivalent here. You’re not going to lose any friends if you file for bankruptcy, get laid off, or even if your Korner Kafe closes down because you made bad coffee. That’s a closer equivalent. Even better, I doubt your friends would run for the hills if you get caught embezzling from your company. They might show disappointment, but when you get out, you’re still the same person. I suspect they’d even check in on your wife while you’re locked up. They just might not pull out the fine silver when they have you over. That’s as close to the every-day guy equivalent. The every day guy isn’t going to rob a bank at gun point. I think that’s a good reason to drop a friend. But Kenny Boy didn’t use any guns. He didn’t make anyone buy into his feebly cooked books. All his friends, the higher ups, were in on the scam, so it’s not like he was stabbing the back of any of his close friends.

So here’s my lingering question: could the Village Idiot be as shitty a friend as he is a President?

JOB SEARCH PS: Things have REALLY picked up; to the point that I’ll have to do a completely separate posting with specifics. But I will say that I am very confident that I’ll have a couple offers within the next 2 weeks.

Why Americans Don't Like Soccer

2006-06-27T11:04:00.000-07:00

The World Cup is going on right now and I’m one of about 28 people in the US that are trying to watch as much of it as humanly possible. My dad asked why I was interested in the World Cup and I told him, “The entire world can’t be wrong.” Make no mistake, the World Cup matters more to just about every other country in the rest of the world than any single sporting event matters here in the states. The shots of fans at the World Cup make the well traveled Steelers’ fans (of which my brother and I are 2) look like amateurs. And I believe I am right: the entire world isn’t wrong.

Firstly, I disagree with the premise that Americans don’t like soccer. I don’t think they know anything about it, but that’s not the same thing as not liking it. To be honest, here in the United States, we aren’t given a chance to really understand professional soccer. Finding an MLS game on TV is more difficult than locating the NHL playoffs (which finished before anyone actually knew they started). But before I expand on the lack of exposure soccer gets, let’s look at the game itself.

Participation isn’t a problem in the US. Considering girls get to play with the boys, I wouldn’t be surprised if soccer were the most participated organized youth sports program in the country. So fundamentally, most parents know the rules. Certainly any kid who has played knows the basics. And enough kids play, that you can’t claim you don’t like it because you don’t understand it. Even a person who has never played any sport at any level can pick it up in about 1 minute: kick the ball in the goal, you can’t use your hands, you can’t knock people over if you’re not actually making a play on the ball. Sure there are other rules (like offsides), but that right there is all you need to know to be able to follow the action.

The biggest argument you hear is that there’s no scoring so it’s kind of dull. My feeling is that the lack of scoring actually makes it more intriguing. When a team actually gets a good scoring chance while attacking the goal, it’s absolutely enthralling. To watch the players position themselves as the series of events unfold is fascinating. Granted, most of the time, these developments finish with no pay-off, goal wise, but they’re certainly interesting to watch. I would say during the course of a match, there are just as many scoring chances in soccer as football. Obviously, the big difference is, they score far more often in football. But I think the non-stop action of the soccer game more than makes up for the differential in actual scores.

Another big argument is that soccer players are wusses because they’re flopping all over the place. This is one I can understand. I have a problem with this one. However, in most cases, I can understand and almost forgive it. You have to realize that soccer players run non-stop for 2 45-minute periods. That’s an insane amount of running, So if a guy twists a knee a little bit, it’s understandable that he’s going to milk it for a minute. I suspect all of the players on the pitch are appreciative. The problem becomes when a guy flops after barely being touched, if at all. This is egregious and frowned upon, even in soccer. You’ll hear the commentators give the guy a bit of a tongue lashing. And in reality, it doesn’t happen nearly as often as you might think. It’s annoying when it does happen, but no more so than, say, Nomar’s antics at the plate or a Peyton Manning interview.

I think the real reason soccer isn’t big in the US is because of the afore mentioned lack of exposure. As a kid, you’re playing soccer and it’s reasonable to say that, given half a chance, you’d watch some on TV. If it ever came on. Which it doesn’t. It just doesn’t get put on the tube. And that’s because it’s a bad format for the corporate big wigs. It’s 45+ straight minutes of action without any possible chance of cutting to commercials. That’s not a viable format for the networks, therefore, they’re more than happy to prevent any sort of ground swell of interest from the populous. There is absolutely no economic benefit to broadcasters to have them try and sell soccer. And the fact is, now, it’s going to have to overcome football, baseball or the NBA in order to gain mainstream acceptance. There’s absolutely no way that would ever happen without increased exposure. 40 years ago, soccer could have easily beat out football or the NBA for popularity in the US. All it would have needed was a league. The league that did form was 5-10 years too late and ended up folding. The basketball and football leagues had already been around for decades. People already had a rooting interest. Then TV started expanding sports coverage. And BOOM, we have sports #1 and #3 in popularity in the US. ESPN, had it partnered with the now defunct soccer league might have been able to get soccer that #3 spot, but no dice. For a time, Australian Rule football was more popular in the US than soccer.

Now we are a top rate nation with a second rate soccer team. That should eventually be enough to enable us to catch up with the other nations in quality of play. Eventually. But for now, I’ll just keep on rooting against Brazil (the Yankees of international football) and for England (because I am an unapologetic Anglo-phile).

PS Had a 2nd i-view with the consulting group today. It went amazingly well. I think I’d be a very good fit. I’ll have 1, may 2, more interviews before any sort of offer. So before July 4th for a job does not look realistic, but, if things continue to go well, I don’t see a problem with before the end of July.

Pick a Legacy

2006-06-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

2 very different but equally interesting things have happened in the past 2 weeks in regard to the environment. The first, which has gotten a lot of press time, is George Bush designating something like 100 square miles of ocean around a bunch of uninhabitable atolls in the Hawaiian Islands as National Parks. This is a fantastic move and quite frankly rather surprising coming from a President who, until now, had been trying to make certain that his lasting environmental legacy would be 2 things he hasn't been capable to do yet: open up the Alaskan wilderness to oil drilling and acknowledge the very real problems global warming present. One of those 2 he's tried to do and the other he probably won't ever try. Let's face reality with the Pacific Atolls situation for a second: they provide absolutely no strategic benefit to any corporations or government interest. Making such a move, while extremely commendable, is as easy and uncontroversial as deciding to not run over a puppy that strays into the middle of the road.

The other development, and far less covered in the press, was the narrow victory of the environmental concern in the Supreme Court which re-affirmed that the Clean Water Act of the 1970’s does establish a separate government entity to define what is meant by a waterway and not the Supreme Court. The vote was 5 to 4 with only Justice Kennedy of the “Conservative Bloc” siding with the dwindling and weak “Intelligent Bloc”. The 4 uber-scary conservatives, led by Scalia and Thomas with Alito and Roberts dutifully in tow, insisted that, in spite of the fact that it’s not stated anywhere in the law, that a body of water must be connected to a navigable waterway in order to be considered a waterway. Lakes would qualify but not desert run offs, and so on. The interesting note here is that one of the Liberal Justices made a note in his opinion that it is the Supreme Court’s job to interpret and the Constitution and laws passed, not re-write them. Basically, in his opinion, he warned of CONSERVATIVE Judicial Activism. With the people that the Village Idiot has appointed to the court, that’s EXACTLY what we’re going to be seeing for the next 20 years.

My question is this: which environmental victory is more telling of the kind of legacy that the Village Idiot is going to be leaving behind. I’m saying it’s the Supreme Court case. Not because it was something Bush actually did. In fact, I’d bet a zillion dollars that he would have been dead set against the ruling because it means less land is open for development. Firstly, it’s a HUGE victory because MAYBE, one of the 5 Conservative Bloc actually has a working brain. But more importantly, we get a view of EXACTLY what those 4 uber-Idiots are going to be doing as Conservative Activists. The mind-less right can continue to spew it’s talking points on how Activist Judges are out to fag-atize the United States with gay marriage and actively kill babies by performing abortions in their court-rooms, but why is a conservative judge writing clauses into laws any less scary? The Supreme Court case is more important because it’s a nice environmental victory now but is a sign of the losses to come. The Village Idiot’s environmental legacy will be felt in Supreme Court for years to come.

JOB SEARCH SIDE NOTE: Royal Caribbean interviewed and hired people for the 2 open positions they had while I was on the road. I’m supremely annoyed that they didn’t even bother to call me to see if I could make it for the interviews. I had a 2nd phone i-view with Citrix cancelled because they weren’t sure who they wanted to actually speak with me. And today, I had my first face-to-face with the consulting group, Auxis. They’re small with a very local flavor. The interview went very well and they definitely moved up a notch or 2 in packing order.

The Trip and Stuff

2006-06-19T09:54:00.000-07:00

Before I get into the details of the trip, I'll give a very brief update on the job search. I have many phone calls to make and will re-start my internet search today or tomorrow. The phone calls have to wait until after lunch, hence my time now to blog. As far as teh Solid Possibility List, you can take Royal Caribbean off. They conducted interviews and distributed offers while I was on the road. I'm less than pleased. I was supposed to have a second Citrix phone interview today but the HR person and the person I was supposed to interview with got all crossed up so it will be rescheduled. Again, not pleased. So far, not so good.

As for the trip, it went as well as a 45 hour cross-country journey could possibly go. We made excellent time thanks in large part to Jennifers complete and total lack of fear for the Red and Blue flashing lights. Until she gets pulled over for the first time, she's going to be our official distance driver. Along the way, we stopped at the Painted Desert/Petrified Forrest National Park. The sights were something else. Unfortunately, we're pretty sure we didn't see any of teh petrified trees. We couldn't get close enough to confirm any suspitions, however, the painted desert was pretty enough to make the stop worth while.

We also stopped in New Orleans briefly. Jenn wasn't a big fan. It's still one of my favorite places to go as this visit was far too breif to either add or detract from my previous experiences. But I will say this: before noon in June, it sure is one stinky place. That's something I hadn't noticed on my previous visit.

Other than that, we pretty much drove straight through. Considering a big chunk of the trip was Texas and North Florida, you can't really blame us. My mom and I were hping that the timing would have been such that we could stay over night in the Disney area. But alas, a 1 hour delay in Pensacola thanks to bridge construction squashed any hopes of that.

We got Jenn cards from Arizon, New Mexico and New Orleans. She already had Texas cards and the roads through Alabama and Mississippi were far to brief to warrant making special stops in the hopes that they'd have playing cards.

I hope everyone is well and look forward to being able to post some happy job-hunt news soon!

The Search

2006-06-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

Below is a listing of my current job prospects. I’ve put them in order of which ones I’d like to land the most. I’ve only listed ones which I’ve actually spoken with someone for more than 30 minutes. Since nobody really knows what I do and very few probably care, I’ll spare you most of the boring details of the actual job. At least now, you’ll all know sort of where I am in the search.

1) Royal Caribbean – I’ve had a 45 minute pre-screen phone interview. When I went to Florida in May, I had had a series of interviews for a different group that lasted 6 hours. They ended up picking someone else, but the hiring manager liked me and said she’d try to help find me another role. The current position in question was one I found on line. She spoke to that hiring manager and I suspect that helped me get the phone interview. If I get any further in the process, I’d have to do another 6 hour round of interviews at some point. Originally, the person I interviewed with expressed some desire to have the face-to-face stuff done this week or the next, but when I spoke to her on Friday, she said she was still doing phone interviews this week and suggested I call back next Friday if I do not hear from her before then. This is my first choice because it’s Royal friggin’ Caribbean! How cool would that be!?!?! And I really enjoy my full day there in May. Unfortunately, I’m not feeling too good about my chances after the follow up call on Friday. Fingers are crossed.
2) Citrix Systems – I had an hour long phone interview yesterday. I’ll be following up from the road next week to find out what the schedule is for face-to-face interview. I think the phone interview went very well. This is second for 2 reasons. The first is that Citrix is a ginormous IT company which is highly respected. It would look really good on a resume years down the road. The other reason is because the role is very different. It’s a brand new role so I’d get a chance to mold some of my responsibilities and duties. I like that.
3) Bluegreen Corp. – My brother’s brother-in-law works for this time share company. He showed my resume to the director of IT and she liked it a lot. She wants to meet with me when I get to South Florida. There isn’t a specific role that I’m aware of which she is considering me for at this point. I would say that’s the main reason why this wouldn’t be #2. I think it’d be kind of cool to work for a time share company. Yeah, 2 out of the top 3 are vacation related companies. That’s not an accident.
4) Auxis – This is a consulting company. I’ve spoken to the recruiter a couple times. Each time he says that he definitely wants to set up interviews for me and asks for my availability. Each time he says he’s going to check the availability of the managers and get back to me. I still don’t have an actual interview set up yet. I’ve already done the consulting thing so this one doesn’t have the crisp new smell that the other ones have. And let’s be honest: when Royal Caribbean is first on your list, something like consulting just doesn’t seem all that interesting. However, it’s a job and it would show future employers that I can in fact do the consulting thing and the first 3 years weren’t a fluke. This is another nice resume builder.

There you have it. With any luck, by the time I arrive in Florida, I’ll have at least 3 of these guys scheduled for interviews (please let one be Royal Caribbean, please let one be Royal Caribbean….

To be read before your next blood pressure exam:

2006-06-02T13:52:00.000-07:00

It's been a rough day for me today. They shut off our phone by accident (shouldn't have happened until June 12th) and they say they can't get us our DSL hook up until the 7th. They're working on getting it back up sooner, but I won't get word on that until later in the day. This is a big deal becasue I have a phone interview with Citrix on Monday and I have to prepare at some point on Sunday. Not much I can find out about Citrix without the internet. Well, from home, anyway. There's been other job search-related stuff, too. Some point early next week, I'll give a complete rundown of job search stuff.

But today, I just wanted to give everyone a link. If you remotely distrust our current Village Idiot (for those new to the blog, that would be Mr. President Bush) or worse yet have a loathing for him deep in the sub-cockals of your heart, this link is for you:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432334/was_the_2004_election_stolen

If you're indifferent about the Village Idiot but just like getting mad about stuff, then that link is definitely for you. If you LOVE conspiracy theories, especially ones that seem a little too coincidental to not be true, well, that link is for you as well. If you have a general distrust for our or any government, then you might want to click that link. If, on the other hand, you love Generalisimo Bush, you support the Constitutional amendment coming to vote soon which would ban gay marriage, you still think that if you're not with us then you're against us, or you belive Fox News to be the only source for unfiltered news, then, if you DON'T click that link, I will beat you over the head with my shoe becasue you need to wake the fuck up.

Any way, the article referenced by afformentioned and posted link is rather long but quite an interesting read. And since you won't hear about it through any normal channels, I figured it'd be worth while to direct everyone to it.

Baghdad Dubbya

2006-05-31T12:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes, yes. I’ve been a terrible, evil person for the past 2 months in neglecting my blog. I assure you that it was a temporary injunction brought on as a result of super-duper business on my part. I’ve been looking for a job and housing in South Florida for the past 2 months. The first month of my absence was due to the fact that, every time I decided I wanted to blog, I needed to rant about the job search, which has been a very tiring process. And I hadn’t told my work that I was leaving yet, so blogging about it, when I know a couple of my co-workers read this, would have been inappropriate. And the second month of that was mostly because I’ve been tying up all the loose ends here at work. But I think I have most of that out of the way at this point, so I have more time.

Today, I was propelled back on the blogging scene by an e-mail my dad forwarded me. It was from everyone’s favorite right-wing goon that my dad considers a friend and that is completely incapable of arguing using facts or ideas beyond, “no, what you said is wrong and while I have said nothing, I’m still right.” For back story, a few months ago I posted an exchange we had throughout the course of the day. Any way, below is a forward he sent to his mailing list of which my dad is a member (unfortunately for him):
***BEGIN
During World War II, the Japanese developed a way to try to demoralize the American forces. Psychological warfare experts developed a message they felt would work. They gave the script to their famous broadcaster “Tokyo Rose" and every day she would broadcast this same message packaged in different ways, hoping it would have a negative impact on American GI's morale. What was that demoralizing message? It had three main points:

1. Your President is lying to you.
2. This war is illegal.
3. You cannot win the war.

Does this sound familiar? Is it because Tokyo Reid, Tokyo Kennedy, Tokyo Pelosi, Tokyo Feingold, Tokyo Kerry and their ilk, have picked up the same message and are broadcasting it on Tokyo CNN, Tokyo ABC, Tokyo CBS, Tokyo NBC ... directly to our military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan?

The only difference is that they claim to support our troops before they demoralize them. Come to think of it, Tokyo Rose told our soldiers, sailors and marines she was on their side, too!
***END

OK, at first, I just thought this was stupid and pointless. But then I got to thinking about it and I got hopping mad. There are only about 100 different ways in which this is ridiculous, offensive and demeaning to free-thinking people around the world. About 80% of those revolve around comparing our current invasion and occupation of Iraq to our involvement in WWII. It’s so unthinkably vile and sickening, I can’t possibly cover every aspect that makes me wretch in my mouth.

Wow, so the only difference between WWII and Operation Iraqi Occupation and Oil Grab is that this time around, the people demoralizing our troops are from our own country. Let’s not actually broach the subject that our invasion this time around was COMPLETELY unjustifiable. Let’s not discuss the fact that our President IS lying to us (WMDs anyone?). What about the idea that our soldiers might be demoralized because they were given insufficient gear and troops to do the job correctly by the "brain" trust behind the war? What about the fact that there is no actual goal or mission in Iraq beyond staying the course and standing down when they stand up? What about the fact that our leaders condone torture but then leave the soldiers out to dry when the rest of the world finds out about it? None of this could possibly be demoralizing? How about the stop loss program? Our troops are all for that, eh?

The only historical comparisons that could be made between our involvement with WWII and Iraq are actually flipped. As my dad pointed out, much like Japan swooped in and took over the Philippines, so too did we take over Iraq. And as long as Japan was in one little island nation in the Pacific, they figured it’d be OK to hop around to all the other ones and take them over, too. Well, as long as we’re in Iraq, you know fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them here, we might just as well take care of Iran and Syria. Linking WWII to Iraq is not only disgusting, it’s dangerous and perhaps a little frightening.

So there you go. That’s all it takes to get me back in the blogoshpere. Rile me up and watch me go. In the months to come, we get to hear about the adventures of the move, the job search fun, settling into South Florida (hence forth SoFla) and just around the corner, the return of football season!!!!

Two-fer

2006-04-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

I have 2 little things that popped up randomly today that I wanted to write blogs on. I figured I might just as well do them both.

BLOG 1: Wanna Bet?

A bill currently being debated in a Committee in Congress is the “Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.” This act would make transferring money via credit card, checks or electronic transfer illegal while enabling law enforcement with tools to restrict access to the site completely. This is by far one of the most shocking and disturbing laws I’ve heard about in a long time. Just when you thought Republiturds couldn’t possibly get any Holier than Thou, it turns out at least a few of them recently had some extra Holy Water shoved up their asses.

I am hoping that this is merely an election year gimmick by certain members of Congress to reach out to their core constituencies: the Ultra-Conservative Christians that think being a good Christian is telling everybody else what the fuck to do and hating them in return if they don’t do it. That’s my hope. I’m fairly comfortable with the idea that this proposal has no legs. Besides the previously mentioned faux-Christians, this bill would also be heavily supported by Indian tribes with gaming interests. I can at least understand that. But I doubt they have enough pull to really sway passage one way or the other.

First off, of all the things that are illegal right now, the first 2 things I would legalize under government control would be sports gambling and poker (for those playing at home, things 3, 4 and 5 would be pot, prostitution and removing mattress tags). I understand the sentiment that government control would essentially lead to chaos and a certain doom of the program. I’m a little more optimistic than that. I think with proper regulation, these sorts of things would work. We’re not talking about drug benefits here. They would be relatively low maintenance operations.

Next, as most of you know, I love me some gambling, so I’m automatically biased on this one. But the question is this: what in the hell is on-line poker and sports betting doing to society that it must be stopped? Has there been a startling increase in on-line crime at homes where there is on-line gambling? Do homes that partake in on-line gambling attract other illegal activities like on-line prostitutes and on-line drugs? You see, there isn’t a single rationale other than some faux-Christians not thinking it’s virtuous so now we all have to be miserable and self-righteous. Again, Indian gamers supporting this, I get. I also understand, to a lesser degree, the idea that these sites aren’t being taxed, so the government is losing money. That’s a shame, but it’s not an excuse to kill the sites.

For the record, I understand that some people get in deep debt through the on-line gambling, but we still have alcohol and more people have more problems with that.

Lastly, any Representative that has ever supported a Lottery or Horse Racing in his home state and votes in favor of this obvious infringement on the privacy and rights of other Americans is a total and unbelievable hypocrite. Playing the Lotto is no less stupid or gambling than playing poker. Betting on horse races is no less risky or stupid than betting on a football game. And these are 2 heavily regulated gambling activities that do worlds of good for the states in which they are legal. You think people would stop playing poker if the government took 10 cents from every hand played? You think the poker halls wouldn’t still be able to take their piece? You think people wouldn’t place a bet on their favorite team if the government took 25 cent off that bet, along with the bookie’s standard vig? YOU’RE CRAZY if you don’t think any of those things wouldn’t work. And I feel bad for you if you don’t think that passage of this bill wouldn’t be yet another example of the faux-Christians trying to revert the United States pack to the 1950’s.

BLOG 2: Kids say the darndest things!

I got this from the White House Briefing on the Washingtonpost.com:
Dave Goldiner writes in the New York Daily News: "A new online poll conducted by Scholastic magazine says more than 80% of kids don't want to be the leader of the most powerful nation on Earth.
"Amazingly, that's a nearly total flip from 2004, when 75% of the elementary and middle school children did want to rule the roost from the White House. . . .
"Scholastic editors say they have no idea why kids' opinions have changed so dramatically about the nation's top job. They don't necessarily believe it is linked to President Bush's growing unpopularity."
So what’s going on there? If they don’t think it’s linked to the Village Idiots unpopularity, they’re not trying to figure out the problem very hard. Get on board the Paul Logic Train!
The Village Idiot’s approval rating is around 38%, which means 62% don’t think he’s doing a good job. Of the people that support him, and unbelievable majority are from his own party. The above survey is of young kids, who you would assume have relatively young parents. Common thought says you get more conservative as you get older. That means the parents of these kids are slightly more likely to disapprove of the job the president’s doing. These kids are going to hear their parents talk about what a complete buffoon the Village Idiot is. They are probably more likely to associate the buffoonery with the general term “The President” than realizing it is an isolated incident directly related to the Idiot we have in power now. They want their parents to be proud of them and certainly don’t want their parents to think they’re idiots. Therefore, they’re going to shy away from a job which their parents associate with an Idiot (actually THEE Idiot). BOOM! 80% of kids don’t’ want to be president. Factor in the 2004 numbers were likely inflated due to the fact that it was an election year, which is exciting and would glamorize the postion.

In reality, I think a fairer question would be to let the kids know in advance that they don’t necessarily have to be THIS president. In fact, it should definitely be discouraged.

Inside Inside Man

2006-03-31T12:49:00.000-08:00

One of my rules for Great Movies is, if I’m sitting around and randomly think about the movie several days later, and I suddenly realize something I didn’t pick up on immediately after seeing the movie, that’s a great movie. Friends, I’m here to tell you that Inside Man is a GREAT movie.

In this particular instance, I was sitting around on Wednesday and a commercial came on for it. So I started thinking about how much fun I had going to see it. And then, BAM, I realized that the title of the movie has at least 3 meanings that I can think of right now. I’m sure there are more. And the best part, by far, is that the most obvious meaning is probably the least applicable of the 3.

I was talking to my dad today and I mentioned that if he didn’t have plans for the weekend, he should definitely make time to see Inside Man. Turns out he’s already seen it. And he started about talking about stuff that he liked about it that I hadn’t even put in my top 5 favorite things about the movie. Specifically, he commented that he thought it was great that one of the main characters and one of the most serious, in this case Denzel, was also the source to most of the comic relief. See, that’s just cool, I hadn’t thought of that. But most good movies do that.

Plus, him saying that reinforced that fact that there actually are funny aspects to the movie, which bodes well for Jennifer’s eventual enjoyment of it.

The most impressive thing about this movie, which is something that Blair and I did talk about immediately afterward, is that it’s a Spike Lee movie. It’s not that it’s surprising that he could make a good movie. He’s made several great movies over the years. It’s that there’s absolutely no reason this movie wouldn’t have super broad appeal. I’m not sure I would have ever thought that he would make a movie with broad appeal. I’m not saying I didn’t think he could, I’m just saying that I didn’t think he would. I’m also not saying that I always thought he SHOULD. I can’t say that I think that now, even after seeing what a broad appeal Spike Lee Joint looks like. He didn’t have anything to prove to anyone. But I’m glad that he did.

I like seeing great movies. And seeing Inside Man made me very very happy.

The Neo-Con exchange

2006-03-23T12:51:00.000-08:00

Here's an exchange of e-mails I've had with a neo-con "friend" of my father's. The first reply was his in response to a funny list my dad had forwarded to a short list of people. As you can imagine with e-mail exchanges, you have to start at the bottom (which is the list) and read up. I figured, this would suffice as my ranting for the week. I'm in a very anit-Bush mood. Iv'e formatted it so you can see when the exchanges begin and end.

########## My most recent exchange. I suspect this will be the end.
Gee whiz, I look down at the bottom and I see this written BY YOU to my father: "So tell me as a good Christian and more, you are also in support of the opposition alternative to all that highlighted?" and went on to highlight portions of the e-mail he had sent that don't agree with your agenda. So how is using my father's religion as a weapon against him NOT personal?

I love how you discredit my arguments by simply saying they are rants and instantly *POOF* they are discredited. I do not call you a name. I call your argument narrow minded, pathetic and dismissive. And I then go on to explain why, through a practical example, your rebuttals are exactly those 3 things. If you had a single logical thought behind your argument, then perhaps your arguments wouldn't be dismissive. If you hadn't said that you define people by their organizational allegiances, then perhaps your arguments wouldn't be narrow minded. And it is my opinion that an argument that is both narrow minded and dismissive is pathetic (definition: Arousing or capable of arousing scornful pity).

You'll notice above that I defend my argument with a point by point analysis defending it. I could have just as easily followed your lead and said: "Clearly your reply is the typical neo-con rep style: label someone, create a flimsy straw man that fits that label and discredit them with flimsy platitudes and substanceless and unsupported rejection of the argument." But since my style is typically liberal, I much prefer the substance.

############ Neo-Con
Clearly your reply is the the typical liberal dem style: Revert to name-calling when the argument is lost...
The rest of your epistle borders on little more than mindless banter

Just as an aside; it wasn't me that started lobbing these barbs and besides, its never anything personal unless you make it be
A

############# ME
Again, that is narrow minded, pathetic and dismissive. I don't doubt that people make evaluations of me as a person on a day to day basis. But I certainly hope they are not concerned about the fact that I am a Steelers fan and then make a judgment about me based on my level of fandom. I am a Steelers fan and that is that. I AM (capitals intended) Paul Leland Britton IV. The fact that I am a Steelers fan should have absolutely nothing to do with how someone like me as a person. The moment I dismiss someone for being a Browns fan is the moment I let my Steelers' fandom define me. Then and only then can other's allow my fandom to define me.

I do not dismiss you because you are a Republican. I dismiss you because you use my father's religion as a weapon against him. I dismiss you because your arguments are faulty and misguided at best and spiteful and hurtful at worst. I dismiss you because you allow the fact that you are Republican to be and excuse to dismiss others for nothing more than the belief that our government should be held accountable for it's actions by the people.

########### Neo-Com
You confuse define with judge: You are judged by your actions; you are defined by your known belief systems and publicly-know alliances
Who are you kidding? We are judged everyday, all day and here again, by compliance with how one has allowed himself to be defined, not to mention cultural and societal mores and laws

############ Me. The Real Hypocite comment is a ref to some ridiculous article he had sent after my dad sent his list.
That is the most ridiculously narrow minded thing I've ever read: "you come to be defined by your publicly demonstrated alliances with organizations". People that I would consider my friends, people I think are worthy of my respect and admiration, people who I would consider honorable, would define me by my actions. The things I do on a day to day basis. The things I say and follow through on. It is far too easy to dismiss people simply because they are Democrats or French or members of Alanon. Oh, you're a Mormon? Then you must not realize that your a member of a cult and you must believe that you'll only get to heaven by having as many kids as humanly possible and your great-grandparents were polygamists. Wow, that's easy. It's absolutely pathetic and dismissive of you to "JUDGE" (your word, not mine) people based on meetings they may attend or votes they may cast. I obviously know a LOT more about being a Christian than you do because I know it is not MY job to be judging ANYONE. That is His.

Who's the Real Hypocrite now?

####### Neo-Con
I am! And proud to I should add
And what do you know about his religion? But yes, you come to be defined by your publicly demonstrated alliances with organizations that have clearly stated, well-known philosophic standards; that said, you tend to be judged by your level of compliance with them
Sorry...

####### My first reply. We had gone down this road before. He called me a devil at one point. That made me very proud.
It's wonderful to see that you're still are a good, card-carrying rep by continuing to use a person's religious beliefs as a weapon against him, should they vary in even the slightest bit as your own. Interesting that only your interpretation of His word is the only valid one.

###### Neo-Con's first reply. He had highlighted several points that might conflict with my father's Catholic beliefs.
Well Mr. Britton, clearly stated by a good, card-carrying dem
So tell me as a good christian and more, you are also in support of the opposition alternative to all that highlighted? Did you really read this before you sent it on?
The rest of it is pure rubbish

######### THE LIST THAT STARTED IT
What You Need To Believe To Be A Republican:
Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.

Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.

A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.

If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.

A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism. HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

A president lying about an extramarital affair is a impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.

Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

Supporting "Executive Privilege" for every Republican ever born, who will be born or who might be born (in perpetuity.)

What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.

Support hunters who shoot their friends and blame them for wearing orange vests similar to those worn by the quail.

Dancing Shoes are on

2006-03-15T13:12:00.000-08:00

Here is a little look at who I like in the NCAA tournament:

Atlanta Region: This is the land of Duke and Texas. A lot of people are saying that, if LSU gets by Syracuse, they should be able to beat Duke. I wish that were true. I HATE Duke, but I don’t see them losing that early. I think it will be Duke-Texas in the Elite 8, with Texas winning. I just can’t pick Duke to make the Final Four. It will never happen.

Upsets: I don’t see any that I like. Southern Illinois could beat West Virginia, but I don’t think that will happen. I actually think the Big East will go 8-0 in the first round. The Big East is so much better than every other conference.

Oakland Region: Pitt’s in this one, so you know where my allegiances lie. I’m filling out the bracket to have Pitt make it, but that’s my heart talking. In my head, I actually like Pitt vs UCLA in the Elite 8. UCLA is coached by Pitt’s former head coach, the guy who brought the program back to respectability: Ben Howland. I see him taking that UCLA team into the Final 4. Their half of the draw is kind of weak. A bunch of teams that either peaked early or are only factors at home.

Upsets: San Diego State will probably beat Indiana. They’re playing on all emotion after their coach declared he’s done at the end of the season. I see that emotion back-firing in the tournament.

Washington, D.C. Region: This one is UConn’s for the taking. They’ll face North Carolina in the Elite 8 and win in probably the best game of the whole tournament. This region features the most egregious seeding of the entire bracket and one of the worst seedings of all time with Tennessee as a #2. THEY SUCK! The SEC is totally over rated this year and they weren’t even the best team in that conference.

Upsets: This Region will be upset city. I like Utah St over Washington, George Mason over Michigan State and Seton Hall to beat both Witchita St. and Tennessee.

Minneapolis Region: This region has 2 of the 4 best Big East teams in it: Villanova and Georgetown. One of those 2 will move on to the Final 4 and wind up losing big to UConn. This region also features Florida so….

Upsets: …. I hope South Alabama beats Florida, but it won’t happen, unfortunately. What will happen is Wisconsin/Milwaukee over Oklahoma. Pacific might beat BC, too, but I’m not as sold on that one.

UConn will end up beating UCLA handily for the championship. And that’s OK. My rules for rooting in the NCAA Tournament:
1) For Pitt
2) For double digit seeds
3) Against Duke, Florida, FSU and Penn State
4) For the Big East
5) For the underdog

So according to that logic, if it can’t be Pitt and it can’t be some random 12 seed, as long as it ain’t Florida or Duke, I’ll enjoy the finale to the next 3 weeks.

Insanity is more like it...

2006-03-10T12:31:00.000-08:00

This is just a quick warning to those of you that still read this that the next couple blogs will most likely be dedicated to college basketball. During the regular College Basketball season, I am not much more than a casual observer. If a Pitt game is nationally televised, I'll watch as much of it as I can. I'll check the scores every day and the rankings every week. But then, as we reach March, I get an inflicted with a month long malady known as March Madness.

Pitt actually has a real solid team this year, so I might get a slightly worse case than in the past.

Although, back in college, I’d get it so bad that, the first Thursday and Friday of the tournament, I’d find myself laid up in bed missing some classes, stuck watching TV.

Like I said, this is a warning more than anything. Right now, we’re sort of getting the appetizers with the individual conferences having their Championship Tournaments. Pitt has reached the Semifinal of the Big East Tournament. I’m so excited at the prospect of them winning the Big East, I’m not sure what to say. The month of March in college basketball is a genuinely unique and special time of year for sports. With so many dynamics, so many teams involved, so many communities following the proceedings, so many implications with each and every game, I think it’s fair to say there isn’t anything else in sports like this past week and next week. Unfortunately, the best word I can come up with right now is NEAT!

On a side note, the ports deal fell through when the Dubai based company pulled out and said they’d sell the US assets off. Obviously, this saves the President a whole lot of embarrassment as it was becoming more and more likely that there would be legislation passed to block the deal. My feelings on the whole thing are mixed. First, I’d love to know what actually happened behind the scenes. The rubber stamp of the deal in the first place was yet another glaring example of cronyism in this pathetically inept White House. It was grossly negligent and short sighted. But the fact remains that, given a fair shake and handled properly, the deal probably would have been OK’ed. There’s little reason to think that an Arab company, even one owned by an Arab country, wouldn’t be fully capable of managing our ports. They’re not going to let terrorist who just so happened to be from their country sneak in to blow shit up. Make no mistake, Arabs love them some money. And the Arabs in control and with all the money love keeping their money to themselves and making more of it. It definitely serves their interests to have a populace which is uneducated and mad at everybody except for the people actually keeping them uneducated. As a direct result, they passively support their people blowin’ shit up, and quite possible NEED their people to be blowin’ shit up to keep the system propagating itself. However, they don’t want their people blowing THEIR shit up. And they sure don’t want anything they own or actively manage being directly implicated in the blowin’ up of shit anywhere. Therefore, you might actually say that an Arab run port in the US would less likely be entry site of shit used for blowin’ shit up. Don’t get me wrong: some of that money they’re making probably was donated to someone who then donated it to someone who made the shit for blowin’ shit up. But that wasn’t the argument against the deal. The fact is: rejecting the deal is definitely racist. It based entirely on the Fear which this administration has built its reputation on and was the sole reason for its re-election. And I’m against that. On the other hand, anything that makes the Village Idiot look like a bigger idiot, I’m in favor of. So I’m torn. I was happy to see the Idiot twist in the wind but I was sad to see Democrats use the Idiot’s own tactics in criticizing the deal.

And there’s nothing I can do to feel really good or really bad about the whole thing, so I guess I’m just glad it’s over.

Uncle Paul!

2006-03-02T12:33:00.000-08:00

My brother's wife had a little baby girl at 2AM today: Trina Elaine Britton. I'm an Uncle!!! Excitement abounds!!!

When I married Jenn, I became a de facto uncle to her niece and nephew. But that feels a lot different then actually being the uncle when the baby is born. I'll be a known entity from the very beginning, and I think that's kinda cool.

This raises a very interesting philosophical debate: what are the responsibilities of The Uncle? There are many types of Uncles. You have the Rich Uncle, the Crazy Uncle, the Fun Uncle, the Boring Uncle, the Quiet Uncle, the Dead-beat Uncle and on and on. I've always wanted to be the Fun Uncle. The Crazy Uncle would be an interesting role, but eventually, in order to be the Crazy Uncle, you have to teach your niece or nephew and important lesson on why it's not always good to be "crazy". And frankly, I don't like the ramifications of ending up in a Jamaican Jail over night. You might not always have as good of stories as the Crazy Uncle, but at least the kids are excited when you come around.

All along, I've held that the Fun Uncle has to be willing to buck authority, in this case, the Parents. That means you do things with the kids that the Parents disapprove of but won't get them into any real trouble. Basically, your goal is to annoy the Parents. That means, early on in the developmental stages, you're buying the kids toys that make a whole lotta noise. You drop the toy off, visit a while, show the kid how to use the toy and leave. What's more fun than that!?!? But Jenn steadfastly refuses to take part in any purchasing of noise making toys. There in lies the dilemma. I now have to completely alter my opinion of what a Fun Uncle does before the kid's old enough to attach things to the dog.

Right now, the only thing I can think of is always coming over cookies and making a huge mess with the kid's toys. The kid HAS to be allowed to have some cookies: they're from Uncle Paul! And leaving a mess in your wake is certainly amusing. The problem is that neither of those things has the lasting affect that a noisy toy has. You can't call on the phone the next day and hear the cacophony from the toy drum set in the background.

Obviously, I could not only help the kids buck authority, but buck authority myself and just get the darn noisy toys. That would get Jenn plenty mad. And remember, the goal is to be the Fun Uncle, NOT the Crazy Uncle.

For the time being, I'm just really excited to be just plain Uncle Paul. I've a few month before I have to start finalizing my plan...

Same Old Song

2006-02-23T12:26:00.000-08:00

I find myself with a dilemma: I have the time to blog but I really don’t have anything to blog about. It’s not quite the end of the month, so I can’t do a look back and look forward blog. I don’t have anything quirky going n and I haven’t seen a new movie in ages. I said I wouldn’t blog about the Steelers (and really, I don’t have anything new to say about them anyway other than I just got THE COOLEST Steelers shirt in the mail earlier this week). Obviously, I could always blog about something politic-y, but I was really hoping I could do something a little more up beat and less rantesqe.

There’s certainly plenty of material to rant about. Just today, in fact, the trail blazing state of South Dakota passed a law which would heavily fine any doctor performing any abortion except in cases when the fetus dies while the doctor is in the process of saving the mother’s life. The only reason for this law is to test the mettle of the new Village Idiot appointees to the Supreme Court to see just how far back they are willing to sling Civil Liberties in this country.

Obviously, I could go on for paragraph after paragraph on that one. Or how about the Village Idiot’s complete and total lack of effort in securing the ports of our country. The White House approved the take over of a company managing several major ports in the US by a state-run Arab country. And when I say White House, I literally mean White House. An entity other than Bush himself because he didn’t know anything about it until after the approval had been passed through. I can’t say I blame that entity however: I wouldn’t want that moron’s opinion on anything, either.

There are far greater implications with that one, but again, I think everyone’s had enough of those rants. Like the one I could do about the fact that our Vice President thinks that he’s not only above the law but above the news. If some rapper had shot a dude in the face on a hunting trip, does anyone think for one second that the cops wouldn’t be all over that one? Don’t even get me started on the fact that these geriatric assholes are hunting quail bred with little to no wings and stupid. Who even know that these “quailtards” even existed!?!?

But alas, that story is long gone and far to rand inducing to go off on. So I guess I don’t really have anything to blog about for today. Sorry.

A Rude Awakening

2006-02-14T12:27:00.000-08:00

Late last week, I awoke from a football-induced coma. I was pretty much dead to the world outside of the Steelers since Christmas. And let me tell you something, waking up was no picnic.

It turns out that we still have a Village Idiot President, his administration continues to flaunt it’s powers and now they are in the process of breaking more laws while maintaining an air of superiority and invincibility. I hadn’t watched a Daily show for almost 3 weeks. They were all there on Tivo, waiting for me. And boy, did they pound me over the head with the harsh realities.

I learned a very interesting lesson as a result of my stint in the coma: Joe Blow American doesn’t give a shit about what our administration is doing. They may hear about it in passing, but they do not give it the amount of consideration that is truly required to understand the implications. Joe Blow does not stop to think what might happen in the future if today, the Village Idiot and his droogs are listening in on phone calls from US Citizens to suspected terrorists. If this is the plan that we DO hear about, what else are they doing?

And what about the stories of college students being harassed by the Secret Service for checking out too many books on the watch list? Does Joe Blow American even hear about these stories? These aren’t the publicized stories because they’re far too complex for a sound bite. How many of these sort of stories did I not hear about in the past month and a half while I was on news sabbatical?

Bush’s Administration is built on a foundation of secrecy, lies, misinformation, spin, blind loyalty and lawlessness. These are not qualities that the Administration is trying to weed out. They are not qualities that the Village Idiot condemns. These are qualities that are promoted, if not needed, by this administration. If not adhered to stringently, a member of the Administration would quickly find himself on the outside looking in. Is Joe Blow aware of the fact that the Village Idiot will fire someone for raising even the slightest concern about any of his various illegal activities? Is he aware that multiple people lost there jobs for simply suggesting that Iraq would be more costly and time consuming that advertised by the Village Idiot and his droogs?

George W. Bush’s only positive accomplishment during his Presidency was boosting the sale of huge signs that say Mission Accomplished. And he did that almost 3 years ago. Since then, he has murdered over 2000 American servicemen without yet supplying a single justifiable cause. He has shit all over the Bill of Rights in so many ways it’s scary: through his judge nominees, through the Patriot Act, through the holding of enemy combatants, through the removal of public discourse regarding his policies, through threats to the press and through who knows how many other “essential weapons in the war on terror” that are nothing more than illegal tapping of US Citizens’ phones.

Seriously, come up with a single positive accomplishment since 9/11/01. Terrorist attacks have increased exponentially. The economy is growing at a rate slower than anyone could have thought possible. Our environment is being eroded. It’s sickening.

The worst part is, and this is the part that I realized only after coming out of the coma, there is absolutely nothing that will be done about it. If Bush walked into the New York Times, arrested the editor and personally assigned one of his droogs on the job, I think he could get away with it. There would be a little bit of a stink, but there would be absolutely, positively no consequences for his actions. This is my point: HE CAN DO ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING HE WANTS AND GET AWAY WITH IT. People might not like it. People might complain about it. But he can do ANYTHING and no one will hold him to task. I think one of the most important thing for people to do is to take responsibility for their actions. Not a single person in this administration ever needs to worry about this: they have a carte blanch.

The infuriating part is that there are provisions set up in our Constitution to prevent a Rouge Terrorist Leader (essentially, what Bush is) from taking over our country without the will of the people. Joe Blow is the people. And he doesn’t care.

Turn Out the Lights

2006-02-08T12:45:00.000-08:00

As the last team standing, the Steelers get to have the last say in everything for the next year. This is going to be the last thing I have to say about this season and football in general until, at the earliest, the draft. I know most of you aren’t going to miss it in the slightest. But whatever. The blog is meant for me to spout my thoughts, and during football season, football is very much at the front of my mind.

Firstly, I’m beginning to think that things like “your team has won the Super Bowl” aren’t the sort of things that “just hit you”. It’s not like jumping into a mountain lake and you come to an instant realization that you’re freezing. It’s more like just sitting in the warm sun on an autumn day with a jacket on. Slowly, the sun’s enough to heat you to the point where you say, “Hey, I’m kinda hot”. Over the past couple of day, it’s not an analogy to say that a nice warmness has crept up on me. It’s a very happy feeling. And I think this is the way it’s going to be for the next year.

Secondly, normally, after the season, I tend to back away from sports for a month or so and don’t come back until College Basketball reaches its post season. The reason isn’t that I don’t want to follow the college basketball regular season. It’s that I’ve been so mad about the end of the Steelers’ season that I don’t want to be reminded that it’s over. I took Monday off specifically to watch as much post-game shows and read as many on-line articles about the victorious Steelers as I could. After one day, I am 100% positive that, like seasons past, I will once again be stepping away for the next month. The media’s ranting about poor officiating during the Super Bowl didn’t ruin the victory for me by any means. But it did manage to make me a little mad that they’d try. So, like year’s past, I’m going to take a step back, avoid SportsCenter (except when I need a Pitt score), and put my focus elsewhere. Only this time, I’m stepping into the warm sun.

A final look back at the season wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging that the last 9 weeks (8 games and one bye week) have been one of the most exciting, fun, dramatic, heart stopping, and jumping-up-and-down-inducing 2 month periods I’ve ever had. It has been an absolute thrill. I don’t think another Steelers’ Super Bowl will be remotely as crazy of a trip. I just can’t imagine have 8 MUST WIN games in a row. It’s such a rare occurrence. What they did HAS NEVER happened before. So what I went through as a fan, no one else has ever gone through. For that reason alone, I can’t imagine there being a more memorable Steelers season. And to be honest, I’m not sure I’d want to go through that again. Once is enough. I think I’d like winning one where we’re the favorite. I want to know how New England felt last year. I think that would be every bit as gratifying yet a completely different experience. But I’m not sure that I will ever forget this season. In my little world, it really was and will likely be the best ever.

Lastly, I want to thank Jenn for putting up with my fanaticism. I know she doesn’t get it. I don’t get a lot of the things she does, so I suppose it’s even. But one thing I know for sure: other than trying to be a little calmer during the games, I know she’d never ask me to change, and that says quite a lot about her.

Early predictions for next year! Colts are going to drop to a 10-6 team after losing Edge and the Defense taking a giant step back, but still win the AFC South. New England is going to have to battle Miami for the East (they’ll both make the playoffs). Denver is going to be a beast in the regular season (if they sign T. O.) and the West is again going to beat each other up so badly that only the Division winning will make the playoffs. Pittsburgh will not be as good next year as they were this year in the post season. But everyone else is taking a step back, so they won’t have to play perfect to get to the Super Bowl again. Cincy is going to be much worse, but because they don’t play in the West, will squeak into the post season. Pittsburgh and Denver will have the byes. Denver still has Jake Plummer at QB, so they aren’t going very far. In the NFC, which will be improved next year, I like Washington a lot, Minnesota, Carolina, and Seattle as division winners and Dallas and Atlanta to be Wild Cards (San Fran will finish 8-8 and win the West in 2 years). It will be a Pittsburgh-Washington Super Bowl and the Steelers will repeat. This time, Big Ben proves the difference in the Super Bowl. He’s going to feel like he has a lot to prove next season. You think the rest of the league is looking forward to that!?!?!

HOLY SHIT! THE STEELERS WON THE SUPER BOWL!?!?!?

Numb

2006-02-05T21:33:00.000-08:00

The Steelers won the Super Bowl. I'm numb. I'm so happy, but probalby more relieved right noiw, just a couple hours after the game finished. WE're watching Ocean's 11, to sort of help wind us down (more me, than anyone I'm sure). But I'm fairly certain that I'll be sleeping just fine on my own tonight, with or without a wind-down.

I figured people might like an immediate reaction to the Steelers becoming World Champs, but really, I'm not sure it's sunk in yet. I'm taking the day off tomorrow to watch endless TV re-cap and supurlatives and to read the same on-line. Other than the euphoria immediately after the game, I'm not sure I'm going to fell anything beyond punch-drunk happy. I thought, before the game, that I would float on a cloud of glee for a while, but now I'm not so sure that's a realistic reaction. I've sunk in a lot to rooting for this team. However, while the experience by no means underwhealming, I think the slight twinge of relief may circumvent any "floating" side effects of teh ahppiness.

But I know one thing: the Steelers are World Champs. And I get to say that for 12 more months. And nothing can take taht away!

Oh my GOD! It's 12:57!!!

2006-01-31T12:59:00.000-08:00

The following are hypotheses on what life would be like in the 24 universe. Let’s face it: some strange shit happens there, and people’s lives would have to adapt to it.

Life beings at 21-
No one would ever let their children leave the house until they completed college. IT seems that anyone under the age of 21 in the 24 Universe is completely retard and lacks any modicum of common sense. They will merrily follow strange mountain men into their cabin of solitude. They will follow men dressed entirely in black, exiting a black utility van and carrying very large duffle bags into an airport. They’ll do just about anything to put themselves directly into the line of danger.

Who’s the blind rodent?-
Everyone everywhere would constantly wonder which person among them is secretly plotting to ruin everything. People at work would be wondering who is being paid by the competition to sabotage the project, deleting all the necessary files and cutting the power before you have a chance to hit save. Sport teams would have to wonder which one among them will grab the ball at an inopportune time and run in the opposite direction. We’re not just talking about people stabbing each other in the back. We’re talking about constantly trying to hash out who’s the mole, because they’re EVERYWHERE and could be ANYONE. The new guy, your lover, your wife, your best friend. Mole, mole, mole, mole. Eventually, job applications would have to be designed to specifically to hash out all potential moles. They’d contain questions like this:
Do you currently work for any of our competitors?
Have you ever worked for any of our competitors?
Is anyone giving you any money to take a job here?

Keeping the IT guy down-
OK, maybe this one is based on reality a little bit. If you work in the IT department in the 24 universe you are socially retarded and most likely very unpleasant to look at. Best case scenario: your mom is still willing to talk to you because outside of work, there’s no reason anyone else would. If you’re even remotely attractive, you either got the job because of your dad or you’re the mole.

Big Plus: NO TRAFFIC!!!-
The 24 Universe would be the greatest place in the world to commute. Need to get from downtown LA to Chatsworth in the middle of the day? No problem! That’ll be about a 20 minute drive. For a frame of reference, I used to live 15 minutes North of downtown and work 15 south of Chatsworth and my commute to work was 30 minutes in absolute peek conditions when the sun was out. The city planners in the 24 Universe have obviously come a very long way in highway design and traffic flow maintenance.

And you thought you hated insurance companies now-
Odds are pretty good that insurance rates everywhere in the United States are double to triple what they are in the regular universe, what with all the terrorist attacks. If Jack Bauer so much as visits your city, insurance rates instantly double. If you live in the same city as Jack Bauer and you actually manage to afford an insurance policy, you’re extremely wealthy. Also, odds are pretty good that you work for the insurance company and your job is to follow Jack around and process all the claims left in his wake. If you’re a close, personal friend of Jack Bauer, you are completely uninsurable.

Talk about watching the clock-
I think this would be the biggest thing you’d have to get used to. At about 10 minutes to the top of every hour of every day, you would have to brace yourself for mayhem. You just never know what could happen. The building your in could be taken over by terrorists, you could be driven right off the road by CTU agents on their way to something really important, you could discover that your cube mate is the mole. ANYTHING!!! You’d basically spend the first 45 minutes of every hour totally relaxed and calm, because, you know, nothing too major’s going to happen in the first 45 minutes. But then you’d have to start getting ready. Maybe call your insurance company to make sure you’ve still got coverage. Get in touch with loved ones to find out exactly where they are and what they’re doing. Best case scenario: an airport you’re nowhere near just got seized. The internet would crash every hour at 58 minutes past as people everywhere, once realizing they’re safe, would be hitting refresh on the home page of their news provider of choice to find out what catastrophe happened this hour. Worst case scenario: you’re a close and personal friend of some guy named Jack Bauer. Just seeing Jack Bauer walk down the street at 11:45 would be enough to cause pandemonium. People would be fleeing the area in droves. If you actually know the man, then odds are pretty good you own a bullet proof vest. And if you don’t, well, then you’re just waiting for your number to get called. You get accustomed to not taking any calls for the last 15 minutes and the first 5 minutes of every hour. You’re internal clock is probably so honed in, that at 55 minutes past every hour, you routinely find something to hide under.

UNRELATED SUPER BOWL THOUGHTS FOR THOSE THAT CARE:
There are 2 blogs that you must read: Chuck Klosterman and Nick Bakay. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed. Both are actually suitable for people that don’t give a damn about the game.

Worrisome thoughts

2006-01-27T13:04:00.000-08:00

This morning at about 4:30 AM, for the first time since last weekend’s AFC Championship game went final, I had a very terrible thought pop in my head: the Steelers might lose. Before that, the thought of losing didn’t even enter into the equation. I thought a lot about doing things to help make sure the Steelers didn’t lose, but I didn’t actually stop and think, “OK, so what if they do lose.” Needless to say, I didn’t sleep very comfortably for the remaining 1:20 I had left before the alarm was set to go off.

I’ve dealt with the Steelers losing in the Playoffs before. A lot before. Very recently, in fact. But it’s been 10 years since I had to deal with the Steelers losing the Super Bowl. I don’t remember the aftermath, but I do remember thinking that losing was an impossibility. It didn’t matter that they were dogs by 14: Pittsburgh does not lose championship games. This time, they’re favored by 4 and all I’ve though about for the past 8+ hours is, “I’m going to be a wreck if they lose.” And the terrible plays that lead to that loss keep passing through my imagination. Before this morning, all I had were visions of the Bus crashing into the end zone. Now I have visions of the secondary looking bewildered as Seattle completes another long gainer.

NOTE TO THE JINX GODS: AT THIS POINT, I AM ONLY QUOTING WHAT I HAVE READ, NOT WHAT I BELIEVE!

I’ve read in several articles, and heard a couple commentators say, that the Steelers feel like a team of Destiny. The Ravens had that feel in their run to the Super Bowl. The Patriots had it in their first run. The Rams had the entire year when they won it. And some of the things that have happened to the Steelers in the past 3 weeks have made some people say the Steelers have the D glow about them. Having people say that, before the actual game happens, scares the crap out of me. Seattle, a team in a city that hasn’t won a championship in eons, can lay claim to the “Destiny” tag every bit as much as the Steelers.

I think it’s obvious that I want nothing more than for the Steelers to win a Super Bowl. I just want to enjoy that feeling. Just be able to soak in the fact that I can be completely happy about a sports season for an entire year. If that happens, then I suppose it’s OK for me to get the disappointed feeling out of my system now.

The Power of Jinx

2006-01-23T12:26:00.000-08:00

The last time I had a Sports Illustrated subscription, I was in college. It was a free 6 month trial and I could renew at the end of the 6-months for an extra discount. I didn’t renew. It wasn’t because I didn’t like the magazine. It was because I was waiting.

Sports Illustrated offers specials about 6 or 7 times a year where you get a free gift of a commemorative book and some other thingy for the champion of the major sports. For example, Texas won the National Championship in football, and immediately after popped up the commercials: “Hey Texas fans! Get your commemorative book and football to remember your Longhorns 2006 National Championship!” While I have never said as much out loud, I decided that I would wait to get a Sports Illustrated subscription until the Steelers wont eh Super Bowl.

Since I made that decision, the Steelers have missed out on going to the Big Game 3 times. At one point, I almost got a subscription to remember the Miami Hurricanes winning a National Championship. I said to myself at the time, “No, don’t do it. The Steelers have a good team this year. Just wait.”

Here’s the problem: any good sports fan knows that you never talk about your team winning until they’ve won. So, I figured, since I never actually SAID, “I’m not buying a Sports Illustrated subscription until they win the Super Bowl,” I wasn’t jinxing anything. I mean, everybody who loves a team will let themselves THINK victorious thoughts. But speaking them… Let’s put it this way: last week, my brother called me to celebrate after the Steelers took position of the ball on Indianapolis’s 2 yard line with a 3 point lead and 1:40 left in the game. We hung up and Bettis immediately fumbled. Thankfully, the jinx wasn’t so bad that the Steelers lost. But the point is, you can’t help but think good things, but you darn well better know not to say them.

This current Steelers run has me wondering if thinking too much might not be a jinx. Just before the playoffs started, my dad gave me a subscription to Sports Illustrated as a gift. I’m not sure the reason for the gift: I imagine some kid knocked on his door peddling subscriptions so he could play at Disney World with his band. However, it might turn out to be the greatest gift I’ve ever gotten.

The Steelers are playing in their first Super Bowl in 10 years. I’m positive I have to end this posting now, and I’m a little worried that my next thoughts are going to ruin things for everyone in the Steeler Nation.

Bill Cower's Jaw Facts

2006-01-16T12:50:00.000-08:00

In homage to the brilliant web site chucknorrisfacts.com, I present to you a list of some facts about Bill Cower’s jaw. These were written mostly during the 1st half of the heart-stopping Steelers-Colts playoff game with the help of Blair, Jennifer and Uncle Ken. ENJOY!

- In order to exercise his jaw muscles, Bill Cower chews on steel.
- Bill Cower eats jawbreakers like they’re Skittles.
- People say Bill Cower has a diamond Jaw. Not because it’s made of diamonds, like a boxer who is said to have a glass chin. But because, when he chews on coal, he spits out diamonds.
- When the Steelers play a road game near an ocean, the Coast Guard has to adjust the tide tables to account for Bill Cower’s spit.
- The reason Bill Cower spits when he talks is because his jaw holds over a gallon of liquid.
- During the off season, Bill Cower works at an Alligator Show in Florida….as an alligator. This past summer, 4 Alligator wrestlers lost fingers to Bill Cower.
- The phone company is hoping that Bill Cower will retire soon. They would like to have their best ever cable cutter back.
- DNA results are conclusive: Bill Cower is a direct descendent of the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
- Bill Cower’s jaw is the missing link.
- During a family vacation to the Amazon jungle, a primitive tribe mistook Bill Cower for the god from which the Amazon River originates. They believe his spit to have medicinal qualities. During the hour or so Bill Spoke with the tribe, they were able to collect 137 gallons of healing spit.
- As a kid, Bill Cower had a job shoeing horses. He never had any tools, just his jaw.
- When Bill Cower is presenting game film, none of the players are willing to sit in the front row for fear of a jaw related injury. Also, if the meeting runs too long, they might end up below the high spit mark.
- Bill Cower doesn’t have air bags in his car. He has sand bags.
- Bill Cower considers George Washington a pussy. Wooden teeth? Pussy!
- Bill Cower has to have his titanium teeth caps replaced annually.
- Geologists have frequently used Bill Cower’s jaw to test theories on the pressure at the Earth’s core. He sometimes spits lava.
- Bridge designers had to engineer Bill Cower’s braces when he was a teenager.
- Bill Cower has to use arm extensions to help around the house. He can’t reach past his jaw.
- Bill Cower’s tongue is an interesting genetic adaptation. It is made of Teflon.
- Like the song, Bill Cower met his wife at a bus stop on a rainy day. He didn’t share his umbrella though. He used the umbrella, she used his chin.
- Bill Cower’s wife wears a helmet during sex. You learn after a couple concussions.

Drama of the Day

2006-01-11T13:04:00.000-08:00

Many of you are aware that I’m in a football suicide pool. This is a pool where you pick a single winner for an NFL game each week and you can only use each team twice (though most only let you re-use once) throughout the season. Usually, these things are over by around week 13 or 14. This year, with the bad teams being REALLY bad and there being a whole lot more of them, the pool I’m in has lasted into the Playoffs. 13 people are still alive, to be exact. This is unheard of. But alas, this is the situation I find myself in.

Last week, I, along with everyone else, picked the Patriots, so I can’t pick them again. This weekend, is a much more difficult chore. I have to choose between Seattle, a 9 point favorite, or Chicago, a 3 shaky 3 point favorite over a Carolina team that has looked really good the past 2 weeks (but really bad the week before that). Unfortunately, the decision isn’t quite as easy as it seems. If I take Seattle, I’m all but assured an opportunity to pick again. But then I will most likely be cornered into taking either Indy, which would be a great pick if Devner beats the Patriots but is a super gut wrenching pick if the Patriots win (which I think they will), or my Steelers, which is fine except if they lose in the Championship game, not only will that be the 5th time doing that under Cower, but they would have also lost me the chance at my share of $15,000.

Now if I take Chicago, there is a bonus side affect. Basically, I’d be the only team not taking either of the big favorites this weekend: Indy or Seattle. If they both lose and Chicago wins, I win $15,000 all alone. If they both win and Chicago wins, I can take either of the home teams in the Championship round, which will be a nice little advantage. Or I could end up with bupkiss.

Obviously, I could end up with bupkiss no matter who I pick, but Chicago at least gives me a shot of getting it ALL for me. If I take Seattle and then the Colts/Steelers winner and still end up in the Super Bowl, I’m most likely going to be facing all if not most of the remaining 13 people. And in the Super Bowl, you have to pick against the spread and the total points. Top 2 picks of who covered the spread closest to the total points splits the $15,000. So to recap, my options are:
1) Pick Seattle and almost be certain to remain in the running for a 1 in 6 shot of splitting a $15,000 pot.

2) Pick Chicago and run the very real risk of getting the boot. But if I survive, I increase dramatically the likelihood of winning the whole shebang on my own.

The best part of the story is that this is the #1 concern in my life right now. In fact, as I mull the ramifications of either option in the back of my head on an almost non-stop basis, I realize that this is the #1 source of constant worry in my life in some time. Job issues have caused some stress lately, and far more stress in bouts, but I haven’t had a cloud hang over me like this in quite a while. Certainly not at all since shortly after settling into Fresno. When your top worry is football, I guess there are some folks that deserve a thank you for making the rest of your life relatively calm. THANK YOU, JENN!!!

But still, why did Chicago have to be playing CAROLINA!?!?!?! Why did the Giants and Tampa both have to shit the bed a week early!?!? WHY WHY WHY!?!?!

Review and Preview

2006-01-06T12:21:00.000-08:00

It's time to look back at December and look forward to January.

Sports: Sorry to all of you who don’t care, but this is the highlight. When the NFL Playoff are about to start, that trumps most news events.

The Steelers played very well in December, closing out the season with 4 wins in a row. Now they find themselves 4 wins from being Super Bowl Champs. Problem is that those are all going to be on the road. A very tough sell. I’m preparing my self now for a very sad Monday in January. However, if I’m writing this Review and Preview on February 3rd and it’s entirely about how super excited I am about the Steelers being in the Super Bowl, well, don’t be too surprised if that happens.

On the Fantasy football front, I lost the Championship game in my money league. Again. I won’t go into the agonizing details, but let’s just say I’m hoping that the Jacksonville Jaguars suffer a humiliating loss this weekend.

Food: My brother sent me some bottles of the greatest wing sauce in all the land. I couldn’t be more thrilled. Really. Not possible. It’s from a place called the Quakersteak and Lube originally in Sharon, PA. They’ve franchised and are all over PA, OH, and even have a store in WI and FL. Finding a good wing joint on the west coast is not an easy feat. So to have the sauce is like having a little slice of heaven. Only, I have no idea how to properly prepare this stuff. I’m afraid I’ll only have half a bottle left before I figure it out. I’m planning on trying again this Sunday. Blair, get ready for chicken and Steelers, bitch!

In January, I vow to eat a Cheesecake Factory meal (I’ve only had a couple slices of cheesecake so far) and buy a tube of cookie dough is the Steelers make it into the Super Bowl. I deserve a reward for the torture they’re sure to put me through this month.

Life in General: Christmas was really good, present wise. I got 2 of those plug-and-play video game things, one of which has Galaga on it (only my all time favorite game, bar none). You know what, Galaga being my all time favorite game probably warrants it’s own column. I’m giddy thinking about it. I also got cool Lego pens. And I’m pretty sure that Jenn really liked the presents I got her.

Around Christmas time, my car’s transmission went kaput. So Jenn and I spent the week between Christmas and New Years car shopping (that should have been a blog posting, but I was addicted to SuDoku that week, which probably led directly to me being burned out on it now). To make a long story short, we got a new Hyundai Elantra hatch-back. It’s a great car. It genuinely feels like a useful car, a huge step from me. And I even like the color! The actual buying of the car was a nightmare, but when is it not. It’s like it’s SUPPOSED to suck.

In January, Jenn and I will be heading to SoCal the weekend of the 21st. Austin and Leslie are throwing a karaoke party and we will probably be going to Disneyland. The Karaoke party is at the place where I proposed to Jenn. It should be both a hoot and a holler. I need to prepare for a couple new songs though and I’m wide open for suggestions. I typically like doing fun/cheese 80’s songs or classic rock. The song should be popular and if you can move to it, that’s a bonus (I might love the Beatles, but that doesn’t make a Beatles song a good karaoke song). Last time, I prepared to do St. Elmo’s Fire and they didn’t have that song, so keep in mind that song availability is an issue. To give you an idea of some of my standards: Margaritaville, Loser (which is right in my vocal range [which is to say I don’t sound totally sucky on that one, just relatively sucky]), Tainted Love, Love Shack (as a duet), I’m All Out of Love, Hold Me Now, You Can Call Me Al, You Shook Me (All Night Long), and Austin and I always do a duet of either Bohemian Rhapsody or Stairway to Heaven. And no, saying that you know that I’m gay because I sing I’m All Out of Love and Hold Me Now is not helpful.

P_ _ _ L _

2006-01-05T13:14:00.000-08:00

I like puzzles. All kind of puzzles make me happy. When I was a kid, my Aunt Pudgy called me Puzzle Paul because I loved to do puzzles and I loved even more to do them as quickly as possible. Now, I love logic puzzles. I frequently find myself addicted to certain games or puzzles.

For the past month, I’ve been absolutely enthralled with SuDoku puzzles. I would print out 2 different puzzles at work every day and do them during down time. The month of December is one long down time, so I had plenty of opportunity to do my daily SuDoku. Unlike many addicts, though, I frequently find that I grow tired of whatever puzzle is currently afflicting me. With the SuDoku, for instance, I began to realize that the easy ones were a little to easy to be very fun and, more often than not, the difficult ones could not be solved with pure logic. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s S.W.A.G.-ing (Stupid Wild Ass Guess) your way through life. So, I have soured on the Sudoku.

On Tuesday, when I got to work and decided I didn’t really feel much like playing SuDoku or regular Solitaire, I played my first ever game of Spider Solitaire. I LOVE Freecell, but it requires far too much concentration and it’s too difficult to play a single game 2 or 3 moves at a time and still expect to win. But at work, I can’t just stop what I’m doing completely to give my head a rest and play a game of Freecell. For awhile I was on regular Solitaire, Las Vegas scoring. I’d keep it open all day and see if I could finish up. After SuDoku for the past month, that just wasn’t going to cut it. So I tried out this Spider Solitaire which so many friends seem so enthralled with. Turns out, I love me some Spider Solitaire. It doesn’t require the concentration of Freecell, so I can leave a game alone for an hour on end without missing a beat, but it requires a bit more strategy than regular Solitaire.

We’ll see how long this lasts. With the Fantasy Football season over and the NFL Playoffs going bye-bye in a month, I’m going to have to have something to eat up some time throughout the day.

PS: THOUGHTS ON THE NFL PLAYOFFS
Obviously, I’m picking the Steelers to win it all. That’s my heart pick, probably not a reality pick. The reality pick is for a battle royale between the Colts and Patriots on January 22nd with the winner of that game to win the Super Bowl easily over the Seahawks. But the heart pick says that the Steelers are going to easily win this weekend at Cincy (that’s heart and reality). Then they squeak by a rusty Colts team that has just enough potential to be disrupted offensively (as exhibited by a slow start early in the year) that it gives hope to us that are rooting for a quality D. That makes January 22nd a Championship Game re-match, but this time in New England. This will be Big Ben’s break out game as a genuine top-notch QB. That or they go home. Either way, it’ll make for a fun weekend in SoCal!

No Fly Zone

2005-12-21T12:35:00.000-08:00

Flying isn’t fun any more. It hasn’t been fun since the days of being able to show up to the airport 30 minutes before take off and being assured a seat went the way of the dodo. At the time of September 11th, I was a consultant and flew on a weekly basis. I enjoyed it. I’d leave my house about an hour before my flight and I’d stroll onto the plane just as they were announcing boarding. After that, I’d have to leave 2 hours yearly and early just to feel safe about getting on the plane on time. Then a few months later, that idiot with the explosives in his shoes made people think that this was an actual threat and we were stuck with having to take our shoes off, too. The first time I was told to take my shoes off was the time I realized that I had to get a new job. There was no way I was going to be able to have a job that required I take my shoes off at the airport.

And now that some of the population is slowly regaining its sanity, you’d think it’d be better. You’d think that with more people realizing the government is only looking to control us with fear, not protect us, perhaps we wouldn’t let them get away with making us take our shoes off. You’d think that you would hear fewer interviews about these ridiculous hoops we have to jump through end in the phrase, “I don’t mind having to bend over and have my prostate examined because it makes me feel safer.” Well, you’d be wrong. It’s worse.

I read an article last week about the “No-Fly List”, one of The Village Idiot’s “indispensable tools” in the war on terror along with everyone’s favorite affront on the Bill of Rights, the Patriot Act, and illegal phone taps of private US citizens compliments of the NSA. Turns out no one has any clue as to how many names are on the list because absolutely no part of the list is accessible by the public. And if you happen to share the name of someone on the list, you don’t fly, period. And don’t find out you’re on the list until you actually show up to the airport. And to get clearance to fly, you have to contact the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and they’ll give you a letter saying you are probably OK to fly, BUT every time you go to the airport, you’re basically going to have to go through a monstrous hassle, with or without the letter. Why? Because there’s absolutely no way to have a name removed from the list.

I know what you’re thinking: “My name is Whitey Whitebread. There’s no way my name is on the list.” WRONG AGAIN!!! There are tens of thousands of requests currently filed with the NTSB from people looking to have their names cleared and the great majority of them are people with names no more ethnic than John Stevens. Babies are being turned away on an almost daily basis because their parents didn’t have the foresight to make sure the name they chose for their new born wasn’t on the list (not that they could have seen the list even if they did have the foresight).

I can’t even imagine if I was a consultant and it was my job to fly and my name were on the list. Basically, the government would be preventing me from doing my job because they’re too dumb or lazy or power-crazy or blind to know the difference between the dozens of Paul Brittons out there. But who would I be mad at? I mean, this is blatantly illegal. I can’t even imagine the argument saying that it isn’t. But are you mad at the Village Idiot and his minions for wielding that kind of power and using to excess? Are you mad at the Congressfolk that gave them these powers? Or are you mad at the Sheep that run around saying they like being treated like criminals because it makes them feel safe?

As much as I hate the Village Idiot and the Congressfolk right now, I’d have to blame the Sheep. THEY’RE the ones that voted these criminals back into power. THEY’RE the ones too stupid to recognize that you’re far less safe today than you were the morning of 9/11/01 as a direct result of the Village Idiot’s policies. THEY’RE the ones that are willing to allow these wretched freaks to completely demolish the principles our freedoms were built upon (and this is the fucking insanely ironic part of it all) IN THE NAME OF DEFENDING OUR FREEDOMS! The fact of the matter is, these Sheep are so ignorant, you could say you’re doing just about anything in the name of their safety and they’d get on board and believe you.

So flying isn’t fun any more because we have to tread through the dung of millions of sheep just to get to the airplane. The No-Fly List is just a symptom of a greater illness. But it all stinks. And I hope that enough people wake up in time to realize it before the next elections. It’s getting to the point where those of us who’ve been smelling that shit for 4 years now can barely breathe.

Cheesecakium peanutbuttercupia

2005-12-12T12:28:00.000-08:00

I like food. And of all the sub categories of food there are, I like the dessert sub-category the best. And of all the dessert classes there are, I like the Cake (cakiius) the most (with Cookies [cookenium] pulling in a very respectable 2nd). And the cake genus that holds a very special corner of my heart, due to the variety of species in the genus and the time and effort into creating a superior example, is the cheesecake.

For the record, my favorite favorite dessert is the Publix white cake with butter cream frosting (Publixea publixea).

Since I do love the cheesecake, it is worth mentioning that a Cheesecake Factory has opened in Fresno. The Cheesecake Factory knows how to make them some cheesecake. And they are all over the place with their offerings. For a year, while I lived in LA, I worked across the street from a Cheesecake Factory. This offered me numerous opportunities to sample their wares and figure out which cheesecake is the champion of them all. If cheesecakes were subject to Darwinian theories, which one’s characteristics would we find dominant in the cheesecake of 1,000,000 years from now. The answer: Adam’s Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple. If you don’t like the combination of chocolate and peanut butter in you desserts, too bad. Your lame ass will be weeded out in 1,000,000 years of evolutionary advancements any way, so bitch to someone else.

I’m not saying that the others aren’t good and that APBCFR is the best on every single level. I’m just saying that it has the overall best characteristics. I’m also a fan of the Godiva Chocolate cheesecake (the Fudge Ripple part could evolve into a Godiva Chocolate ripple). Their strawberry is awesome (if they still have it where the strawberries are in the cheesecake, not just on top). But strawberries and chocolate is great and peanut butter and chocolate is great, but strawberries and peanut butter and chocolate doesn’t work, so eventually the strawberry trait would become sort of an albino recessive gene where 1 out of every 100 cheesecake babies would end up being strawberry.

Their selection is insane and I’ve been the to Cheesecake Factory so many times and have known my favorite for so long that I don’t even bother ordering anything else any more. So you’re going to have to forgive me that I don’t go through the laundry list of their cheesecakes and rate them all. Figuring that out for yourself is a magical journey and I highly recommend it for everyone. However, just don’t be surprised when you find out that you’re disappointed that you didn’t just go and get the Adam’s Peanut Butter Cup.

Serious Radio

2005-12-07T12:34:00.000-08:00

The highlight of our road trip to San Fran this past weekend was definitely the Sirius Satellite Radio that I bought myself for Christmas the previous weekend. As of right now, it ranks in the top 10 purchases I’ve made in the past 5 years (for those that care, #1 was the washer and dryer). I love my Sirius radio.

First, the music stations are better than I expected. I never knew that radio could be so cool! The multitudinous formats are just phenomenal. You hop from the 80’s to the 70’s to today to old school rap. You know you’re going to find a song that you like. The only question is, “How long do you stick with that station before you turn?” Usually you wait until a song you don’t like, which usually takes 3 or 4 songs. But sometimes, a decent song is playing and you just know there’s something better elsewhere so you flip around. On the regular radio, if you find something even listenable, there’s no way you flip.

Next, is the commercials. The lack of commercials is like a little gift from God. The regular radio is almost intolerable with the length of the commercial breaks. I can’t even begin to imagine what listening to Howard will be like when the commercial break is less than 15 minutes long. Even without all the other stuff, no commercials makes it all worth while.

Of course, one of the things I love is the NFL Station. A station dedicated to the NFL: how can that be anything but great? I don’t listen to it as much as I would if I didn’t car pool with Jenn, but what I do listen to, I like. Good times!

Lastly, the main reason why I got Sirius was the impending arrival of Howard Stern. Every once and a while, I stop over and listen to the Howard Stern news. It’s actually kind of funny that he programs news about the Stern Universe. Because there are so many different personalities on the show, and if you listen to the show, you know each one of, it actually works. It’d be like someone making a radio show about you and your friends and you get to find out shit about your friends that you never knew or you get to find out what they do when they’re not hanging out with you or e-mailing you pictures of naked grannies peeing. Once the radio show moves over, I’m sure it’s going to be spectacular. It might lead to Jenn not wanting to car pool any more. But at least it will be funny.

There are some things which are annoying. Even a little interference (like driving under an over-pass) will interrupt reception if even for just a split second. Reception with the home kit is crap if the antenna isn’t outside and even then it can be spotty (that might just be a problem with where we live). You have to learn a new remote and learn it while driving, which isn’t necessarily the best of ideas. Also, Sirius doesn’t have a radio that you can walk around with, like XM has. I was really disappointed about that. Their version is like an MP3 player where you can record stuff for playing while you walk around later. If our i-Pod didn’t have hard drive problems early on, that last fact probably would have been enough to make me decide to just get my own i-Pod.

On the whole, though, Sirius is well worth it. It really make driving a much happier experience. The selection of programming is just too good to be ignored. I'll probalby never even turn to 70% of the channels and I bet many of those would have programming that I'd listen to. Now if I could only get Jenn to agree to a cross-country trip to really test this baby out.

ugh

2005-12-06T12:13:00.000-08:00

I don't know what else to say about the debacle that was the Steelers game on Sunday. After a less than stellar trip to San Francisco, I was in need of a little boost compliments of a strong showing by the Steelers on Sunday. Unfortunately, they didn't get the memo. The problem isn't so much that they lost: that part sucked, but that sort of disappointment only lasts about a week and I can deal with it. The problem isn’t so much the way they lost: they got beat (demolished, really) in every phase of the game and if it weren’t for Big Ben throwing in a few nice tosses, making the game at least appear interesting. The problem is now I’m forced to look ahead and realize that the Steelers have to win their last 4 games.

I commented on this last week: if the Steelers lost Sunday, they’d be hard pressed to make the playoffs. And now, the worst has happened. If they don’t win out, no playoffs. 2 years ago, when they had a pretty bad team, it wasn’t’ the worst thing ever when they missed the playoffs. They got a high draft pick and that turned into Big Ben. This year though, if they only lose one more game (which is likely, if they lose any), they’re going to wind up 10-6, out of the playoffs and with a barely mediocre draft pick.

Another problem with missing the playoffs this year is they actually have a good team. A potentially great team, really. For whatever reason, their offensive line has been playing like crap for a month or 2 now and their LB corps has been banged up just enough to be allowing dink and dunk passes to kill them. These were supposed to be strong areas.

So now I’m staring a very long and painful January in the face. When Denver or New England goes into Indy and completely manhandles the choke-artist Colts, I won’t be able to help but think, “That should be the Steelers doing that.”

They still have a chance though, and for that I am grateful. Doom and gloom can wait for another week. Right now I am just a little nervous (a step below cautiously optimistic). I’m only going to change my playoff predictions a little by swapping the Steelers and Bengals. The Steelers have the kind of team that can cause some damage in the playoffs from teh Wild Card spot, so we have that going for us, which is nice.

Backwards and Forwards

2005-11-30T12:29:00.000-08:00

Today, I'm trying an experiment. It's the last day of November, so I thought it might be fun to do a review of the past month and a peek forward to the next month. Let’s see how this works out.

Looking Back:
Life in General: November was a good month. Any month that features a trip to see the Steelers play, 2 separate turkey dinners, 2 free days off and a bonus day of football has got to be a good month. And it was. The only weird part was when Chris and Katie’s nephew Ollie came over to see my Star Wars Lego collection. It was abundantly clear that he was super excited to see the collection and I was probably, in his mind, the most accessible, if not coolest, adult he had ever met. I’m not sure how I felt about this. How will my kids feel about this when they’re 13-16. Not good times, I’m sure.

Sports: Steelers lost 2 games. Not good times there. Those same weekends, I lost my fantasy games in my money league. OUCH!!! Just painful all around. And since one of those losses came as recently as Monday, I’m just going to move on.

Movies: The best movie I saw this past month was Shopgirl. Just a wonderful wonderful movie. If you haven’t read the book (by Steve Martin), I highly recommend it. The movie’s just fine on its own, however.

And speaking of book movies, I also saw the Harry Potter movie. Eh. It was good. Not as good as the last one, but certainly better than the 1st 2. I was originally going to do a review, but I was under-whelmed. Rent it.

And I also saw Walk the Line, the Johnny Cash movie. If you saw Ray and liked it, this one is just as good. If you saw Ray and hated it, this one is just as bad. If you were indifferent to seeing Ray, then you’d most likely be indifferent to this one as well. There isn’t a whole heck of a lot different between the 2 movies, really.

Politics: W is still President and still an Idiot. More people recognize the fact that he’s an idiot than a year ago. But that doesn’t help the state of the country any.

Looking Forward:
Life in General: December holds a trip to San Fran (this weekend), a possible trip to SoCal including Disneyland (in 2 weeks), 2 more free days off, and another turkey dinner. Oh, and did I mention presents? Yeah, it should be a good month.

Sports: I am seriously concerned about the Steelers making the playoffs. They have to go 4-1 for the rest f the season to be guaranteed a spot. If they go 3-2, those 2 losses HAVE to be against 2 of the 3 NFC teams left on the schedule due to tie-breakers. Basically, if they don’t beat Cincy this weekend, they’re going to have to win out. Yikes!

On the Fantasy side, I need to get 1 more win to make the playoffs there. Not too tough, but what a crappy turn of events for the team with the most total points. I’ve just been real unlucky with my match-up.

As long as we’re here I’ll give you my NFL playoff predictions: AFC Division Winners – New England, Pittsburgh, Indy, Denver (only one is actually a race at this point); AFC Wild Card – Cincy and Jacksonville; NFC Division Winners – New York, Chicago, Carolina, Seattle; NFC Wild Card – Atlanta and Tampa.

Movies: KONG! I’m psyched about this movie and I’m the only one that I know that is. It’s just going to be great, me thinks. I have no problems with remakes like this when they are done well. Narnia looks like it’ll be good but nothing amazing. I’ll want to see it in the theater, though. Other theater flicks: The Producers, Munich, Syriana, Ice Harvest, Good Night and Good Luck. One that I bet I’ll miss but I wish I could see is Capote.

Politics: What can you say about the Village Idiot? You know he will manage to continue to marvel with his sheer stupidity.

THE COMFY CHAIR!!!

2005-11-16T12:24:00.000-08:00

This torture thing doesn’t seem to be going away. No, I’m not talking about the prospect of Tommy Maddox starting another game this weekend (Big Ben will play, that’s my gut talking). I’m talking about the embarrassing treatment of individuals in the custody of the US government. And here’s the worst part about it: of all the shitty things this administration’s done, I’m probably least concerned about this particular issue.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely in the “Torture is Bad, M’kay” corner. I would just like to think that people are equally worried about all the other things the Village Idiot has lied about.

Let’s assume that maybe 20% of the people in Gitmo are actually terrorists and know something. That’s probably a super high number, but you have to keep in mind that the sun shines on a monkey’s ass from time to time. I do believe that we should do whatever we can to get information out of those 20%. In those instances, I’m pro-torture. The problem is, there’s 80% of the time that these dumb asses are torturing people that have no idea what’s going on. I have absolutely no confidence in anybody involved in this regime recognizing the difference between those that know and those that don’t. Therefore, I have to be completely anti-torture. Breaking more eggs than necessary to make the omelet just makes for a shitty tasting omelet.

Right now, the administration has to deal with the fact that they’re caught on tape frying civilians in Falluja with white phosphorous. Not good times. They are obviously claiming that they used the stuff merely as a burning agent: clear our buildings and weed the bad guy out of the fox hole. Obviously, this is bull shit. They’re covered in a mountain of bullshit. And for whatever reason, this torture thing is what people keep latching on to. It’s probably because they actually do think that Americans are indeed better than everyone else – the age old reason why foreigners rightfully hate us. Part of being better than other people is WE DON’T TORTURE THE WRONG PEOPLE!!!

This is the 4th or 5th separate torture episode since the start of the Iraq war. It’s also possible people are latching onto the “We don’t torture” lie because evidence to the contrary continue to pop up every few months. There’s really only so many times that you can sell a lie as the truth.

The lie that I’m REALLY hoping people catch on to, because this is the one with some serious consequences, is the entire rationale behind the War in Iraq and the false pretenses that were sold to the Congressfolk that approved use of force. While this one’s not really sticking yet, we’re in the middle of the 2nd round on it. Round 1 was the Downing Street memo. Round 2 is this whole idea of Bush’s that war critics are trying to “Rewrite history” when Democratic Senators actually grow backbones and ask for a hearing on the subject. Actually, the critics are just asserting that you rewrote the intelligence.

My point is, while torture is bad, it’s probably not the worst thing this administration’s done nor is it the biggest lie they’ve told. The problem, from the stand point of someone who thinks the Village Idiot should be brought up on criminal charges, is that there really aren’t any repercussions if we ARE torturing people. We’ve already said that we are above the Geneva Contention. Other than a drop in poll numbers, there’s not a whole heck of a lot that will come of this. But it could be a seed of light that exposes all the other contemptuous crap he’s pulled.

I really hope the torturing stops because it’s wrong. But I hope the ire it has caused is just enough to spread like a wild fire.

>>An interesting side thought that I had after I finished this and re-read it with the title: the worst long term consequence of the Spanish Inquisition was that Spain drove out it’s middle class and it is only just now recovering from the ramifications of those actions, but the average person remembers it as a terrible time when torture was used on innocent people. Bush right now is killing the middle class with an abundance of domestic policies to protect the rich as teh expense of the middle class. Is it possible, 100 years from now, Americans will look back at the Village Idiot’s Presidency and chastise it for his torturing of innocent people while wondering where the middle class has gone?

Torn

2005-11-15T13:02:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, while watching the Steelers demolish, dominate, degrade, devour and decongest the Brownies of the mistake-on-the-lake, I had a dilemma. In my money league, one of my Wide Receivers is the Brown’s starter (and former Pitt player) Antonio Bryant. He’s my 2nd best WR, so not starting him wasn’t really an option. And worse yet, going into the game, I had a very slight lead and he had 3 guys going on Monday night.

Prior to the start of the game I predicted that the Steelers would be up by 20 in the 4th quarter and that my guy, Bryant (Pitt alum) would score a meaningless TD. Sure enough, it worked out exactly that way. I was subsequently chastised by my fellow football watchers for rooting for the hated Browns (and I probably did over-do my celebration quite a bit). This raises the unavoidable issue that all fans of football who also are fantasy nuts must face: how can you root for a guy playing against YOUR team. I am here to provide you with the answer.

Firstly, it is obviously ideal to avoid such dilemmas whenever possible. I will never start an opposing defense against my Steelers. It would be absolute heresy to root for Big Ben to throw an INT so I can get 2 more points. It’s usually a bad idea to start the QB going against YOUR team, so you try to pick up a replacement. Sometimes there isn’t a viable replacement, in which case, you hope you’re team’s up by 21 in the final quarter and your QB throws the meaningless TD at the end. You should never have to start the RB against YOUR team because if you know anything about fantasy football, you should have 2 other starters that you can plug into the line up.

This leaves WRs. They’re a tricky bunch. There are very few pure STUDS and because of that they are un-benchable. Bryant (Pitt guy) is far from a stud, but my philosophy at WR is not to carry many. One of my guys was hurt and I didn’t feel there was someone on the waiver wire of equal value for that week which constituted dropping my hurt guy. So I was stuck rooting for a late TD.

I admit that I got lucky. But the key to remember, and the second main point about rationalizing your fantasy team vs YOUR team, is that you’re rooting for an individual player. I was not rooting for the BROWNS TD. I was rooting for Bryant’s TD (Belitnikoff winner while at Pitt, by the way). There is a difference, and while it may not appear outwardly so, in my heart, I knew what I was excited about.

Obviously, had that TD cut the lead to less than 8, I would have been just as disconcerted and mad as the next Steelers fan. And because I’m rooting for such weird and random circumstances, I can understand why people would think I’m crazy or “dirty” for cheering a Brownies TD (when in fact as I just said, I was cheering a Bryant TD). I don’t blame people for giving me a hard time. But just remember I have 2 teams I’m rooting for every week and the one that is most important to me wears Black and Gold. I would never betray that.

A year too soon

2005-11-11T12:11:00.000-08:00

It's a shame that this is not an election year. Right now, the Village Idiot is floundering in the vat of bile, fear and lies that he created. The American people are FINALLY waking up and realizeing that the boogy man does not live in our closet. The boogy man, in fact, does not live in (or at least didn't before March 2003) Iraq. As any child of 10 will tell you: the boogy man does not exist, and saying he does does not make it so. Eventually, people figure this out.

Unfortunately for the United States, the general public is figuring this out either a year too late, if you consider we could have voted out the Village Idiot 12 months ago, or a year too soon, if you consider that the controling party of the government would have been susceptible to losing one of the chambers of Congress were we in an even numbered year. People have officially tired of being affraid and lied to. People also have very short memories, and I fear that 12 months might give the liars and criminals that run the White House and the Republican Party in general just enough time to find something else new and flashy to distract our attention.

There's hope now, though, and that's a good thing. A year ago today, I would have wondered if people would have ever woken up and recognized the monumental snow job the White House was giving them. Has there ever been a more fitting presidency to be run out of the White House: an administration that White Washes every thing to the point that they haven't said anything of substance since shortly after our initial foray into Afghanistan? But the people don't want that any more. They're starting to want the truth. And it's because the Village Idiot and his handlers have lied about soooo many other things, the people are starting to wonder just how far they'd go - how many lies they'd tell - to push their agenda of greed and wealth for a select few.

Finally, folks are taking a moment's break from shoveling down the daily dose of Fear and Loathing that the White House continually shoves down their throats to realizes they should be doing a lot more loathing and their fear may be misdirected. Don't get me wrong: there are bad people out there that would like nothing more than to do a major US city a whole lotta harm. But there are just as many people - white "Christian" people - here in our borders that can do just as much harm to the entire country. And they're running it. One of my favorite Village Idiot quotes came out this week. On the subject of torture he said something along the lines of, "We're detaining people that have knowledge of known terrorist attacks and we will do whatever we can to get that information out of them. And whatever we do, it is not torture." Essentially, he is saying that the United States military and Intelligence sets the moral agenda and definition of torture. Rape room = torture. Rape room, but with broom handles = not torture. Held captive in a small room with a pillowcase over your head in bullet riddled building in the Middle East by Muslims = torture. Held captive in a small room with a pillowcase over your head while forming naked man pyramids in the Middle East by Christians = not torture. You get the idea.

If the Village Idiot's controllers are dumb enough to think they will be able to get away with continuing to double talk and lie to teh people of the United States for the next 12 months, then there just may be a chance that Democrats can force out some of the rubber-stamp Bushbots in Congress. Unfortunately, they managed to dress up the pig once before and got him re-elected. If people were blinded by the flashiness of "Global War on Terror" and "Christian Values" once before, I fear they might be able to be similarly distracted once again. Today, no. But in 12 months, we can only hope not.

Therapy

2005-10-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

I'm an emotional guy. I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve. I have a very hard time consealing my emotions and I almost never even bother trying. Included with this part of my personality is the fact that I can sometimes seems a little bi-polar (at least, I would think I was bi-polar if I were watching me from the outside). I can be happy as a clam, something will happen that flips my mood right around, and after a very short time of being mad, I settle down rather quickly and I forget what got me angry. More often than not, what triggers the switch is some latent bad emotional trip flash back. For instance, in weeks when the Steelers lose, all be walkign along on Thursday and just randomly say "SHIT". Because some parsect of my mind just thought, "Why the fuck was Tommy Maddox still in the game in OT!?!?!"

Jennifer is a wonderful emotional stabilizer for me. These little bi-polar moments still startle her from tiem to time. Her knee-jerk reaction, when I say "SHIT" is to ask what's wrong, but she's begining to be able to answer the question herself before I say a word. She's far more helpful in times when I have a genuine (or genuine to me, anyway) reason to be pissed off or sad. Mainly, in these instances, because she knows how to make me smile. And since I wear my emotions on my sleeve, if I'm smiling, I'm probalby not thinking about stuff that's irking me.

However, Jenn's not always there. Or, if she's going through something that's dampening her spirits, she's not always going to be able to put that smile on my face. This week has been one of those times. She's been under the weather and I've been worried about her. South Florida has been a mess with the hurricane (my family and friends all seem to be OK, but my all time favorite resaurant in the entire universe never to be replaced by any thing no matter how yummy, fun or atmospheric, the Mai-Kai, had it's roof collapse). We are sans DVD player after my old one broke and the new one we bought never bothered to start working. I lost another heart breaker in my money fantasy league. Stuff's been weighing on me. I haven't been coping as well as I'd like.

And then I got sent this link: http://www.planetdan.net/pics/misc/georgie.htm

This is by far my most favorite discovery since I found out about Mr. Skin. In fact, in time, if it stays up and functional, I'd venture to say it could be the greatest discovery EVER. I could probably stare at this for an hour and not tire of it. I would pay $50 to have this has my screen saver. I would do anything to have the code for this particual little display so that I could save it to my computer and know that it will never go away or be taken down by some evil web master. I cannot possibly understate how this particular site was exactly what the doctor ordered at just the right moment.

Tattoo You

2005-10-19T12:16:00.000-07:00

Jennifer got a tottoo last night. She was very excited and a little nervous, but it turned out really really nice. For about 5 seconds I thought about enlarging my own, but thought better of it. I like that it's teeny-tiny. I do have ideas of what I'd do to enlarge it, but in the end, I think having it as it is work for me.

Jennifer's tattoo is a design of her very own. It's basicly a pair of little doodles that she used to do all the time when she was in school. I like the idea of going with something that is super personal to you. The guy doing the tatto asked what it meant before he started: he wanted to make sure it was something she was willing to have on her forever. When we got home she asked if she was going to have to answer that question all the time. I'm pretty sure the answer is yes. But if you get soemthing that is personally significant to you, it shouldn't be too difficult a question to answer.

The place she had it done was pretty much your standard tattoo joint. They had designs all over the walls and photo books. One of their photo book include a bunch of pictures that seem to have been taken at a motorcycle ralley. Included in that bunch were pics of random women wit their tops off. I'm just making an observation here. Remember, they were at a bike rally, so 7 our of every 9 breasts were not what I would consider "worth seeing." Or to put it another way: CHOO-CHOO!!!!

Some football thoughts: TOmmy Maddox is officially washed up. Steelers are going to have to seriously address the back-up QB spot in the off-season. Charlie Batch is old. They have Rod Rutherford (former Pitt guy) on the practice squad now. He's an interesting X-factor: threw TONS of yards and TD at Pitt but was in a pass crazy system. He's probably a system guy, which would mena not a good guy to have on your team if you're the Steelers, but every once and a while, the guy you think to be a system guy turns out to just be a good QB. It hink that's why Roethlisburger slipped: concerns he might be a system guy. Look how that's turned out. But the bottom line is, I can no longer feel content with our QB situation with Maddox as the #2 guy. Turns out we all had a false sense of security all year.

A very little mentioned plus from the Steelers game was the play of Ike Turner. He's been getting buzz all year, but I think he really controlled his side of the field last week. It was the first game I took notice of that. We might be good at corner for a few years now, which is something we haven't been in a long time.

Did I write Ike Turner? I meant Ike Taylor. Ooops.

Lastly, I lost in my money league this past week in spite of having 100 points (which is a lot). I'm one of 3 players averaging over 100 points a week in that league. I'm mildly pissed that I lost.

Just Another Blog Post

2005-10-13T12:24:00.000-07:00

I don't really have anything too exciting to report. And I have some time on my hands. So let's just prattle on in an extremely self-indulgent matter that would seem to indicate I feel my own little world is far more important than it really is (in actuallity, I know my own little world is EXTREMELY unimportant, but it is, after all, mine).

Firstly, I went to the Fresno County Fair and saw Average White Band open for Tower of Power. The highlight was the funnel cake. Even when I went and saw Weird Al Yankovich at the Orange County Fair, the highlight was the funnel cake. At the Minnesota State Fair, which is far more fun and interesting than any fair actually has a right to be, the highlight was still the funnel cake. I don't care what you do when you get to the fair, any fair, if the highlight for you ISN'T the funnel cake, then that just means you didn't get the funnel cake.

Next, it's football season, as we are all well aware. And as such, I cannot write a blog post about nothing and NOT bring up football. The Steelers have me happy once again. The Monday night game was a good one. They almost had it taken away from them by the refs, but all ended happily. In Fantasy Football, I'm 4-1 in my Money League. I'm trying to work out a 4-team trade. It's interesting how these sort of things come about. You start talking to people and they start talking and before it's all done, you have 4 people involved in a trade. The porlem right now is, one of the key people in the trade, is getting cold feet and won't respond to any attempts to communicate with him. If that trade falls through, I will be very very upset because it would greatly help my team.

Married life has been good. Still not sure that there's too much different today than 1 month ago (other than Jenn being far less nervous about The Big Day). I like being married. Jenn knows how to put a smile on my face, which is a great thing.

For example, yesterday, driving home, I saw an accident. It was just a fender bender. It was so minor that Jenn didn't even see or hear it. But I saw it coming and saw it happen. That always unnerves me. I get very tense when I see an accident mainly because I can't help but think of all the crap that goes along with that sort of thing. And she instantly took my mind right off it. It's a good thing.

Lastly, I'd like to say goodbye to my Grandma Britton. She had been very sick for the past few months and she passed away Saturday morning. She hadnt' been the same since my Granddad died the morning of my high school graduation. He was pretty much the only thing that really made her happy. I'm not sure that she was ever meant to be alone for a month let alone 10+ years. But I'm going to remember her from when I was a kid and would go to her house during the summer and play cards with her. I'd drink Gatoraid, play cards and watch her Soaps with her. Those were my summer days before I turned 16 and got a job. I like to think that she was sad when the summer was over because I wouldn't be coming around any more. She never said as much, that's not just the way she was. But I know always enjoyed that time and it's hard for just one person to have fun when there's 2 of you in a room.

Goodbye Grandma. I love you very very much and will miss you. But I know you've wanted to be with Granddad, so it's better that you're happy.

Not All Bad

2005-10-06T12:53:00.000-07:00

Bush's recent Supreme Court Nominee is so blatantly cronyish, that even his allies are calling it such. She is by no means even the 10th or even 20th most qualified CONSERVATIVE, let alone person for the job. And while running the Texas Lottery is a lot more impressive than old Brownie's run as head of the Arabian Horse association, it still isn't enough to make her nomination pallatable. I just don't trust Bush any further than I can throw him (and with my bad knee, I shouldn't be throwing anyone). When he said, "Trust me," the day after the nomination, well needless to say, I'm worried that the Supreme Court will some day find a way to make everyone who doesn't vote Republican a non-citizen.

However, there is a silver lining in all of this: conservatives are rather pissed off, too. When Roberts was nominated, there was quite a bit of rumbling along the lines of, "This guy is relatively un-known. Sure he worked for Renquist and Reagan, but things he wrote at those jobs were for those people. What is HE like." This lady, Miers, is even MORE unknown. She's Walter Ambercrombie to Robert's Franco Harris by comparison. (for those lacking proper Steeler's history background, try she's Adalai Stevens to his FDR) And this is making the extreme right (the ones who are every bit the extremist as the terrorists we're supposedly fighting in Iraq but I fear far more while on my own soil) absolutely treasonous. It's one thing to rumble that you're not so sure about what The Village Idiot has gotten them into now. It's anotherthing to come out and say point blank that you doubt his judgement. And that's exactly what they're doing now.

I think with the FEMA fiasco as headed by Brownie, it's safe to say the Mr. and Mrs. Joe Lemming Bush Voter are finally getting a clue that he just might be a rather shitty judge of character. He has demostrated a willingness to risk the lives of Americans for the sake of advancing the career of a friend. Iraq and the Haliburton scams should have been enough to demostrate that he'll do the exact same thing to advance a friend's stock portfolio. The bottom line is, other's are catching on. Couple that with the fact that Miers might not make overturning Roe v. Wade her first order of business as a Supreme Court Justice, and you have a bunch of Whacko Right Wingers with their skivies in a bind.

An interesting side note on this was what I heard on Air America last night. Randi Rhodes said that Busha dn other neo-cons do not want Roe v Wade overturned because it's far too great a political weapon to pull out any time they need to roll out the Religious Right Zealot vote. An interesting thought. I'm not sure I totally agree, but it's still interesting to think about.

The point being, if something as mind-boggling as the Miers nomination can manage to piss off a few conservatives and shove a genuine wedge in the Right Wing Mind Control movement, then perhaps there really is a silver lining in every cloud.

Up to date

2005-09-27T12:49:00.000-07:00

This blog is an attempt to get everyone caught up on the past 2 weeks. Obviously, everyone reading knows that I'm now marrried. Thanks to everyone that was at the wedding for making it the most fun party I've ever attended. I can only hope everyone had 1/2 as much fun as I did. Just a total blast. A party with unlimited food and drink and all the music that I want to hear. Good times.

Jenn and I had a very nice week off after the wedding. Not so much a honeymoon as just some time for the 2 of us. On Friday, we went to Magic Mountain with Jana and Erika. It's official: 4 is the best number to do a park with. And if all 4 people are as awesomely cool as us 4, then all the better.

The time spent in Vegas around the wedding was AMAZING. I hadn't had that much fun in Vegas in a very very long time. My only complaint would be that Jenn wasn't into participating in all of the activities I deemed fun. But that's OK, becasue I got to do them any way. The Bachelor party was PERFECT. Booze, craps and titties. The perfect final evening to a life of a single guy. I look forward to going back to vegas again soon, but I'll always know that I will be participating in only 2 of those activities hence forth. That's what I want, too, but I'm glad I had a final hurah.

The gambling was only so-so. I won the couple sports bets I got in and I won at the craps table during the bachelor party, but I lost all that back plus a little the rest of the time. But I go to play craps with Eddie and Jason, and that's what I really wanted to do. Also, a side note here, Jenn shot for us one time and made what could have been a terrible and short night into a not so good and not too short night. ALWAYS let the woman shoot for the first time. I wish I had put more out on the table at the start of her roll rather than waiting to parlay it at the end. Sigh. But then you never know whent eh end of craps is until it actually ends.

Fantasy football report: after a perfect week 1 I went 3-3 in week 2 and 4-2 in week 3. I'm 3-0 in the money league, and that's the one that matters most. I'm 3-0 in one other leage, 2-1 in 3 and 1-2 in 1. I'm kind of sad about the 1-2 becasue that's my winners league (for people that won a league the previous year). Thems the breaks, I suppose.

Bush. Here is a rough quote from him that was on the Daily Show this morning from right before Rita hit land: "I'm going to keep a close eye on how the state (Texas) and local goverments communicate. It's very importnt for me to understand how they communicate and somethign I need to learn about." HE WAS THE FUCKING GOVERNOR OF TEXAS!!!! Before being elected President, is SOLE qualification was that he HAD BEEN THE FUCKING GOVERNOR OF TEXAS!!!!! And you're telling us NOW that you don't know how state and local governments communicate!?!?!? REALLY!?!??!?! And this the is asshole Village Idiot that the hoard of lemming morons in this country re-elected!?!?!? On any other day, this would have been a whole post. So he lucked out this time.

Anyway, I'm really happy and everything is going very well. I'm 31 today. Not sure what to make of that. I suppose you could go back to a year ago and read my blog then. Except, this time around, i know what to expect and I don't quite care as much. I've lost 7 pounds since then, so that's a plus. But to do that, I have salad for lunch everyday, which is a huge negative. OK, my birthday wish is for noeone here at my work to see the salad I"m begrudgingly eating for lunch and say, "Mmm that looks good." Becasue it's not. It's edible and it's healthy and that's it. It it most assuredly not good.

Did I mention that I'm really happy? Today is my best birthday ever becasue I have Jennifer!

Perfection

2005-09-13T12:48:00.000-07:00

As if I didn't have enought o be excited about. This past wekeend, I went a perfect 6-0 in all of my Fantasy Football leagues. I know that most of you are more shocked that I have SIX Fnatasy teams. I enjoy it. It entertains me. So leave me alone.

The best part about going 6-0: in 5 of my 6 leagues, the Tight End I had didn't even play. So I won even though i was short handed.

This is also a huge step for me becasue last year, I didn't even make the playoffs in 3 leagues I was in. I'm embarassed to admit it, but alas, it is true.

Obviously, it's still only week 1, but hey, it's just one more good thing I've got going on. With the wedding, the week off from work, Magic Mountain (with Erika [YAY]), the Steelers winning [and looking damn good while doing it]; there's no reason I can't be a little excited about my Fantasy Football teams.

Of course, the league that matters the most is my money league (5 of the 6 are free and relatively meaningless). I had a damn good week there. I was genuinely concerned about my WR corps, but I think everything is going to turn out OK. As long as Big Ben keeps chucking it to Randle EL all season, I'll be sitting real pretty. Also, Indy's defense going against Kyle Boller-esque QB's all season wouldn't hurt much, either.

This is my last post before the wedding. I can't wait to see you all there!!! It'll be a great time. I'm hoping to get as much group social time as possible. You should all have my cell phone number. No reason why you can't call me at any given moment to find out what I'm up to!

1 WEEK!!!

2005-09-09T12:52:00.000-07:00

We're down to the Final Week. 7 days from right now, Jenn and I will be going through our plans for Saturday while sitting in some bar with my folks in Vegas. I'll be wondering about what's in store for me for my bachelor party. We should have the marriage license and tux sitting in the room already. Jenn and I are both really really excited. I can't wait to see all my friends that have been such an important part of my life. I wish that more could attend, but obviously, given the diverse locations I've resided over the years, I doubt I could come up with a location that would ensure 100% attendance by all those that I wish could go.

I quick shout out to Steve and Ben, fellow members of the Axel Rose Trio at Sutherland in Pittsburgh. A nod to Brent, valedictorian and dork extraordinaire, who has a new job at UMass and a new baby to worry about. A hello to the various cousins taht won't be able to make the trip: all of us are at such exciting stages in our lives, it would be selfish of me to be disappointed that you're not going to come to Vegas just for me. Kevin and Chris in Orlando, no way would I expect a trip that far for a place neither of youw ould probalby care for all that much. And anyone else who I may have egregiously forgotten taht can't make it, thank you for continuing to be a part of my life and I know that your thoughts will send positive karma our way as Jenn and I enter this new stage.

Of course, I'd be lying if I said I weren't a little worried. From a marriage stand-point, I'm mostly worried about he food being good and the DJ not sucking. The food aspect is an issue becasue we didn't get to do a sampling before hand (but it will be a buffet, so I'm sure at least 70% of it will be fine, which is pretty much what you expect froma buffet). I'm sure the DJ will be fine. I mean how could you be a DJ in the city of Vegas and suck? I'm hopeful that everyone making the journey will have a good time and that I'll be able to devote suitable time with everyone. Obviously, people will recognize taht I've got other things going on, but I don't want anyone to feel left out or ignored. Out side of the festivities, I'm worried taht Jenn will get mad at me when Eddie comes calling for a little craps time and when I inevitably sneak off to catch some of the games on Sunday. It's Vegas, it's Sunday, it's the NFL, it's going to happen. Why kid ourselves.

Anyway, we're doing well and looking forward to the 17th!

On a side note, and completely unrelated, I'm also worried about the Steelers. Last year in training camp, not muchw as expected of them, but they provided flashes of goodness that made a fan think, "hey, this could be a good year." Well they looked very similar this year to last, except that the expectations are high, so now you feel like, "Yikes, this might be a LOOONG season." Tennessee will be a good test for them. But I digress: there will be plenty of time for football in 2 weeks.

Passing of a Friend

2005-09-02T12:54:00.000-07:00

I've been extremely lucky. I have never had a friend, or even close acquiantance, pass on too soon in life. I've had elderly relatives die, but that's to be expected. I suspect it's far easier to deal with the death of someone on his last legs than someonewith quite a bit of life left in him. However, I think I know how it feels to have a friend die unexpectedly and far too soon: that's how I feel about the events transpiring in New Orleans.

N.O. is one of my top 10 favorite cities (the list, in no order, is NYC, LA, Chicago, N.O., Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Paris, London, Sydney, Miami). I've been there twice: once when I was 15 and once, just 3 years ago, to see a Saints - Steelers game with my brother. You have to be of legal drinking age to fully appreciate N.O. The city itself is 50% party and 50% history. If you're walking down the street and you don't feel in the mood to either drink or spot and reflect on what may have happened on that spot 200 years ago, you're definitely on the wrong street. And now, it's gone.

I'm hoping not forever, too. I think it's safe to say that Bourbon Street will open up to nightly revelers again. There will be drinking on the streets and titties exposed in exchange for beads. But underlying all of that, now, will be the added layer of "Thousands of People Had Their Lives Irrevokably Changed Here." And I think that will change the vibe there significantly. On 9/11, in NYC, basically, 2 city blockes were destroyed. They still haven't re-built them. In N.O., an entire city has been destroyed. I'm not sure how a city can recover from that, fully.

There are a few underlying things here that make me mad:
1) I'm mad that Village Idiot's response (or lack there of) is being politicized. He f'ed up big time on this one. But he's f'ed up worse than this before, except now, it's affectd a city here at home rather than a country half way around the globe. He should be roundly and summarily villifiled for cutting budgets for levee maintenance, then not positioning relief effort in advance of the hurricane (he had 3 days to get ready once the storm passed through Florida), then flying out to San Diego for a fund raiser on Tuesday and finally for waiting until Wednesday before sending any Federal Forces for aid. It is all inexcusable and should be viewed as a general continuing failure of his administration. Unfortunately, it will just turn into a shouting match with the Left yelling about his idiocy and the right yelling that he did everything he could do. It's both a sham and a shame.
2) I'm mad that what will undoubtedly bring N.O. back to prominance will be the tourist industry. And as a result, I'm sure most of the rebuilding effort will end up having that touristy gleam and all of the history is essentially being washed away as the levees continue to fail. Part of the charm of N.O. is the grit. Will it still be that way?
3) I'm mad that N.O. will probably lose the Saitns as a direct result of this hurricane. I was hoping my bro and I could recreate our trip in 6 years when the Steelers return. And if any city was built to house a Super Bowl, it was N.O. (my favorite writer at ESPN says that the Super Bowl should be on a 3 city rotation od San Diego, Miami and N.O.). The NFL is infinitely more fun with the Saints in N.O. I just hope they stay there. Plus, knowing how much I love my football team, I feel so terrible for the fans there; as if they hadn't lost enough.

But really, it's very tragic and very sad and it just makes me sick. That sick feeling is what I think most resembles the feeling of losing a friend. N.O. was a great big friend and the entire country should be feeling just a little sick now that it's gone.

Interesting Future HP movie thoughts

2005-08-26T10:27:00.000-07:00

Joss Whedon, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame, was recently asked what it would take to get him to direct one of the Harry Potter movies (after Chris Columbus butchering the first 2, 3 and 4 both have different directors and an even different guy [with no movie experience {which scares the hell out of me because go look at what Fincher did with Alien 3}]). He said it would have to be after all the books come out. He hasn't seen any of the movies yet because Rowlings writes a better movie than anyone could ever make. So he won't see any of the movie until all the books come out. Once they're out, all they'd have to do is ask him to direct 7 and he'd do it.

Some personal notes on the Direction of the HP movies. Originally, the final 2 for the first movie were Columbus, who I hate, and Terry Gillium, who I worship. So you can imagine the disappointment I felt when Columbus was announced. Last weekend, we watched the 3 movies, and I can report that the 3rd one is so far above and beyond anything the first 2 could even dream about being, that it makes me cry to think what the first 2 COULD have been. Chacon (Director of #3) had fantastic vision for the movie and I wouldn't change a thing about it, but I still think that Gillium would have been the best thing for this series.

Obviously, he'd have to stick around to do all of them other wise the other ones would seem very odd and disjointed since he has such a unique look and feel. If he were to do JUST ONE of the HP books, 4, the one coming out in November, should have been it. It has enough new settings and doesn't introduce any uber-significant recurring characters (I won't include Voldemort because evil can take a different face from movie to movie and it won't matter too much) that it could stand alone in style very easily. Unfortunately, the movies done already, so that's out of the question. I wouldn't give him 5 because I don't think the source material is exciting enough for him. The 5th book, I feel, is the most dramatic, but not the most interesting or action packed. He could do 6, but by then, I think, what's the point.

I very much like the idea of Whedon. Even if I was never the biggest Buffy fan, his work has an unparalleled energy and a very unique vision. His ability to mix drama with the PERFECT blend of comic relief would most likely be a huge asset in a movie that will undoubtedly be very dark.

And in closing, I love parenthetical statements.

Hikey-panky

2005-08-25T12:35:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, Blair and I are going for a fun jaunt through the woods of Yosemite. We should return to Fresno some time in the evening. Should be a lot of fun.

It's been a while since I've been on a really good, long hike. This certainly qualifies. I'm most looking forward to the sights, being out in nature, dipping my feet in a crisp, clean stream. I'm least looking forward to what I'm going to smell like on Sunday.

Blair has the route planned. Originally, he had this crazy 50+ mile adventure planned that, if everything went perfect, we could finish before sundown on Sunday. Our plan now is, I think, a little more realistic. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll be able to get home in time for a BIG HUGE dinner at Claim Jumper, though I might be delusional there.

That's what's going on with me. Nothing too exciting, I know. I have been keeping myself extremely busy with reading the Harry Potter books over again (I still love the 4th book, which I finished yesterday and I hope I like the 5th more this time around) and doing multiple Fantasy Football Drafts. I have the same Tight End in every league that I've drafted in so far. I'm beginning to think that everyone else knows somethign that I don't.

Next weekend is a long weekend. I wonder what we can get planned for Monday...

One Month!!!

2005-08-17T12:46:00.000-07:00

We're a month away from the wedding date!!! HOORAY!! Jenn and I are both really excited. There are still a couple very small details to take care of. But we're pretty much ready for the day and can't wait. We've done enough wating already and we want the date to just get here already.

The total for reception attendees looks like it will be about 60. We have about 50 RSVP's with another 10 people who have assured me that they are in fact going. I think 60 is going to be a great number and everyon will have a lot of fun.

Blair is back in Fresno and it's nice to have him here. I think his being here makes me realize how much fun it is going to be to see EVERYONE in another month. I'm starting to tink that I should plan some additional side events (other than the bachelor party). My friend Eddie has already asked for some craps time, which I've told him I should be able to do while Jenn is getting her hair done on Saturday. My dad has been generous enough to offer to host a brunch buffet for everyone on Sunday. So you're all invited. We'll pass details on at the reception.

Otherwise, not too much else going on. Getting ready for football season. My political rampages have died down a bit thanks to my ability to rant vicariously through the folks at Air America. Yes, the buckle of the Bible Belt now has Air America. That's about all I can think of. YAY ONE MONTH!!!

One Life to Live

2005-08-15T12:56:00.000-07:00

The Village Idiot has sunk to new depths. On Sunday, he was returning from a 2 hour bike ride when a reporter asked him how he can take 2 hours to ride a bike but can't spend a few minutes with the woman camped out in front of his drive way. A woman whose son was killed while serving in Iraq. That would be one of thousands of sons and daughters who have died in Iraq or as a result of injuries sustained there. Bush's response on how he sets his priorities: "I've got my life to live."

WHAAAAA!?!?!?!?! Really? That's the best you can come up with? No wonder his handlers prevent him from ever having to deal with people that have contrarian points of view. I think if you were to list the Top 100 TERRIBLE answers to the question, "Why can you not spend 10 minutes with a woman whose son died in a war you manufactured," the answer he gave, "I have my life to live," would certainly fall in the top 10. It might fall between, "Becasue she hasn't said the magic word," and "Because she's married and I don't think I'd have much of a shot at getting in her pants."

The level of insensitivity and incompitance one would have to show to say that speaks volumes as to his level of idiocy.

The real reason he will most likely not meet with her is becasue the Iraqi invasion is unjustifiable and probably illeagal. He's not capable of providing actual answers to the questions she would pose. He could give talking points but those do not actually answer direct questions. He really has to handle such questions and when he does, nevere very well. That's obviously demostrated by his answer on Sunday.

If given the option to trade his life for the life of one soldier, I'm not sure a majority of people would be in favor of that, but I'd have to think there'd be at least 2: mine and Mrs. Sheehan.

Holden Me Down

2005-08-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of re-reading the Harry Potter books. I'm on book 3. There is only one other book with fewer than 1 picture per page that I've ever read more than once: Catch-22. So for me to re-read Harry Potter is a pretty big deal.

Reading has always come to me in spurts. As you may imagine, it takes quite a bit for a bok to hold my attention. When I was in high school I didn't read at all. When I was in college, the first couple years, I read quite a bit, but then I stopped. And then when I was working with Accenture, I read constantly (nothing better to do in an airport or on a plane).

As for what I read, I usually read books by recommendation only (with the off gambling related book being an exception). It's like a book needs to know the secret pass word to get on my shelves and only my friends know the password. I've had various people recommend various books. I will read absolutely anything recommended to me by my friend Brent for 2 reasons: he's read more books than anyone I know and he recommended Catch-22 to me. For the most part, at least since high school, I've enjoyed just about every book I've ever read.

This leads us to the topic of this post: the worst book I've ever read was Catcher in the Rye. I hate that book on so many levels. And I don't think I could trust a person who reads that book when he's not in school. I feel a little bad about saying that because a new guy at work is reading it right now. He seems nice enough, but reading that book (and the copy he has seems to indicate he's read it before) is a strike against that youw ill never be able to make up. Dennis Miller named his son Holden after the title character at which point I lost all respect for Dennis Miller (the rest of the world followed suit shortly there after once his HBO show started to tank at around season 4).

REASON 1 I HATE CATCHER IN THE RYE: The lead character is by far and away the least sympathetic literary character in the history of fiction (I say in the history of fiction becasue Biographies about Hitler would rank #1, pushing Holden Caufield to #2 in the entire history of literature). A person would have to go out of their way to deliberately write a character with less spine, less intrigue and less personality. When the pimp is beating him up, I was disappointed that the book continued. Had it ended with that scene, I would surely have honfder memories of it since it would have ended on a high note. But know, Holden goes on the torture us for another few chapters. I hate him.

REASON 2 I HATE CATHER IN THE RYE: It's supposed to be a coming of age story, but anyone as horrid as the title character doesn't deserve to live into adulthood. When the entire premise of a book is following lifeless child turn into a lifeless adult, you have problems. For a coming of age story to work, somewhere along the way you have to say to yourself, "I wonder what he'll be like as an adult." At no point should you say, "Why isn't this person dead yet?"

REASON 3 I HATE CATCHER IN THE RYE: Nothing happens. For a coming of age story, it's pretty light in the category of "Life Changing Events." Falling for a hooker and having the pimp kick your ass just doesn't quite cut it. Give us something, ANYTHING, that would support the statement, "Holden Caufield has learned an important life lesson from this event and will be wiser as a result." If all you can say is, "He knows better than to fall in love with a hooker now," I'm not buying it.

It's been a long time since I read the book, so I'm certain there are other reasons to hate it. Yes, it was nicely written. But sometimes my shit is nicely cylidrical.

If you insist on continuing to say, "But it's a coming of age story, " please see the Harry Potter books or A Prayer for Owen Meany for lessons on coming of age done right.

The Global Wretching about Euphamisms

2005-08-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't know, the Global War on Terror is officially over. And who do we have to thank for this? A brave Marine that found Osama in Pakistan? The Iraqi people who have stepped up and taken over the fight against insurgents? Nope. None other than the evil politicians that barage you with talking points and a constant caucaphony of evation and misinformation.

That's right, The Village Idiot's people have ended the War on Terror and have introduced us, the American People, to the Global Struggle Against Extremism. Basically, this is as big of a news event as any other re-branding within corporate America. Just like people with half a brain didn't give a crap about McDonalds changing their slogan from "We love to see you smile" to "I'm Lovin' It", those same people aren't buying this either: we recognize that it's just a powerful, soulless machine feeding uss the exact same garbage.

The best part about this particular re-branding, however, is that the hard line-religious right, conservatives that are behind Iraq, Terry Schiavo and the War Against the 1st Amendment, have placed themselves on the other side of the line now. Before, you could make an arguement that our invation of Iraq wasn't actually a terrorist act (terrorist want to spread fear, we wanted to spread our hands into Iraqi oil fields). However, it is far more difficutle to claim that they are not extremists. A majority of Americans were against Federal intervention in the Schivo fiasco; they were all for it. A majority of Americans want Roe v Wade to stand; they would ike nothing more than to see it end. And not, a majority of Americans recognize that Iraq was a mistake and we were misled in the reasoning behind it; they continue to re-brand our mission there.

They are political extremists. Forget the extremists on the other side: these people are a threat and affront to the average citizen. Their ascendancy into power has lead directly to the polerization of a nation. They have shown to use any means necessary to reach their own political ends. They will lie, fabricate and withhold any amount of information that is necessary. And here in the continental USA, I'm far more afraid of the consequences of those actions than I am afraid of the consequences of a car bombing in Iraq for the consequences on control information last far longer.

Harry Potter and the Snotty Kleenex

2005-07-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

WARNING WARNING WARNING!!!!

This blog has MAJOR spoilers about the goings on in the new Harry Potter book. If you have the book and haven't read it yet or are of the mind that you'll just wait for the movies, please do not read this post. This is basically for the 2 out of 5 people that read this that actually read the books.

A side note: if you have only seen the 3 movies that have been released so far, I recommend picking up the 4th book reading it, asking someone who read the 5th to tell you about the prophesy (the 5th is only OK and unnesecarily long) and then reading the 6th book.

Stop reading if you want to go to the 6th movie as a Half Blood Prince virgin.

SPOILERS BEGIN NOW!!!!

The 6th HP book, which I just finished on Saturday, is by far and away the best of the series. I loved the 3rd and 4th books, but this one is something that is really very special. It was the first time ever that I was reading a book, decided that I would stop reading once I finished the next chapter, but couldn't stop and decided I HAD to finish the book. Now I know what a book has to be like for me to actually say, "I can't put it down."

In the 6th book, Harry is learning about Voldemort's childhood through memories that Dumbledore is supplying. During the course we learn that V has used a very terrible curse which enables a wizzard to split his sould in 2 and store the other half in an object. Therefore, if the body is killed, the person lives on in this object and can be brought back to life. To do this, the wizzard must kill a person, however, becasue that act essentially fractures a person's soul. And V, we figure out, has SEVEN of these things spread out and hidden all around. Needless to sya, Dumbledore and HArry are determined to destroy these objects. As a resutl fo retreiving one, Dumbledore is severely injured, returns to Hogwarts to find that V's followers have infultrated the school and during the confrontation, Dumbledore is killed by none other than Professor Snape. The same Professor Snape that no one but D trusts.

On Ain't it Cool News, one of the folks on that web site called the Half Blood Prince J.K. Rowlings's own personal Empire Strikes Back. I think that assesment of this book is entirely, 100% accurate and fair. If you happen to been in the continuum of geekdom that LOVES both Star Wars and the Harry Potter books, learning of Dumbledore's death is every bit as shocking as learning about Darth Vader being Luke's father (oops, I forgot to mention that there's a Star Wars spoiler in here, too). The main difference being that if you're a female member of both groups, like my dear friend Erika, you probaly cried like a baby while reading the HP book (or if you're a male member, the room got a little dusty and your allergies were acting up a bit).

Before I read that bit from Ain't it Cool News, I had already started drawing the Star Wars similarities. They can't be ignored. On a mere plot level, this is the first Harry Potter book that basically sets up the plot for the next book: Harry needs to find these other bits of Voldemort's soul and destroy them. That's it. That's the plot of the next book. Just like you knew one of the main bit of plot of the movie after Empire would be the gang rescuing Han Solo. It had to happen. And since in both cases, the next installment is to be the last, you knew it was happening very soon.

Then you obviously have Dumbledore as the Obi Wan Kanobi figure. The key difference is that in the HP world, there's nothing to say that a wizzard can be more powerful in death than in life, as was the case of the Jedi and Obi Wan. But you KNOW that a character like this cannot die without the death serving a grander purpose. We don't know what the purpose is yet. It's not like Harry needed any additional reason to hate Snape and to want to seek revenge on Voldemort. So to say, "It was just to get Harry mad and to act," I don't feel is enough. A part of it could be that Harry could never realize his true potential while D was still alive becasue he'd always fall back on him for help. I can accept that as part of it, but alone, it is not sufficeint. What the reason behind his death is remains to be seen. I'll be very disappointed with Book 7 if there isn't one (I'll still love Book 6, though).

This raises the question f Snape as the Vader character, and to be more specific, can he redeem himself. First, on a very basic level, I reject the idea of Snape as Vader (which Jenn argued very well) mainly because Vader is the archetypal father in the Star Wars trilogy. There isn't any connection between Harry and Snape to make their relationship such that Harry would hate him but grow up to be like him. Plus, there is nothing in Snapes past which suggests that he was ever good. Pitiable, certainly, but not not unculpable and certainly not sypathetic. That leads to the final question of whether he can be redeemed. I don't think so nor do I want him to be. Dumbledore himself in the book said that murder is the most unforgivable act anyone can do. There are some making an arguement that he was sparing Malfoy from committing the act (V had given the task to him). But that's still inexcusable. You don't kill, period. And on top of that, I don't WANT him to be redeemed. To paraphrase Erika, "He's a shit. I hate him and I like hating him. And I don't want to see him turn out to be good after all." I'm fully capable to see Snape get killed in a final act to save Harry in some way. But that is not redemption. Vader got redemption by killing the Emperor. That is Harry's job here. If Snape does sacrafice himself, he is simply paying the price for the ill he has done. We're square, but he's still a shit.

I'm really looking forward to the next book. I can't even begin to think about what's in stopre becasue the means to the ends could be anything. You have to be prepared for anything. But I'm most looking forward to reading about Harry's celebration after he runs the gauntlet to kill Voldemort. The celebration, with Ron, Hermione and Ginny and all the Ewoks, will certainly be a big one!

Around the Horn

2005-07-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

There's quite a bit going on at the moment. Enough to make one's head spin. And unfortunately, I haven't been here to guide you all through it. I"m going to try to get back ona regular schedule in the coming weeks. We'll see how that goes. I know I ahve at least 2 for this week: this one, which will be another "Bit of Everything" and a Harry Potter blog. SO on with the show!

Let's open with politics. This Karl Rove/CIA Leak thing has really had legs. I'm quite surprised. I thought for sure that there wouldn't be enough to keep interest and the administration would do enough to prevent this from going anywhere. But the media is actually performing it's job: the watch-dog of elected officials for the people. I think it's got a little to do with the fact that one of their own is in jail right now and a little to do witht he fact that Rove is so entirely unlikeable. Anyway, I'm still not convinced that anythign will actually happen to Rove - no way Bush can bite the hand that feeds him - but I do think this will be another little item on the mountain heap of crap that Mr. Joe America will remember when the mid-term elections come. I don't think that the Religious yahoos will get the boot entirely, but they sure don't look very good right now.

I don't like the new Daily Show set. I fear that they're starting to take themselves a little too seriously. The couch was just enough to say, "we handle serious topics but in a way that people can be a little relaxed." The new set looks a little TOO much like an actual news show. But the show is still as good as always. The guests are getting better, too. I never really like when he has celebs on. I prefer the political guests. Int he past 2 weeks, he had 2 different double-interview segments with conservatives. One was Creepy Senetor Extraordinaire Rick Santorum out of my home state of PA. He has writen a book called It Takes a Family - an obvious dig on Hilary "I'll support any view as long as it advances me PERSONALLY" Clinton's book It Takes a Village. I imagine Rick would fear that the fags int he village would make all the little boys start worrying about interior decorating. A good segment. Jon was trying to explain that any family unit can produce a good child but Santorum maintained that the IDEAL is a man and a woman without actually providing and evidence or reason on why this would be the ideal. The other was some creep who wrote a book call 100 People Who Are Ruining America which included Barbara Striesand, Howard Stern and Al Franken. I'm sorry, but if you're going to claim that Al Franken and Howard Stern are ruining America, you HAVE to include Rush Limbaugh or you lose all credibility. He's responsible for disecting this nation into a bunch of mindless regurgitators of quotes (rather than a nation of engaged open-dialouge thinkers) as much as anybody. FORGET THE FACTS, LET'S TALK REGURGITATION!!! Jon's best point was, listing Babs when people like Rove and Novak are revealing National Secrets is taking the focus off of what actually matters just a bit.

The new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie is really good. Johnny Depp rocks!! He may be my favorite actor right now. And the movie is just fun and not ... Tim Burton-ish. I wish I could expand on that thought. There's a certain quality that some Burton films have that make me like them the first time I see them, but then realize taht as movies themselves, they are completely forgetable. See BAtman, Edward Scissors Hand and The Legend of Sleepy Hallow.

Lastly, THE WEDDING!!! Jenn and I are getting really excited. The tentative number is still right around 60, but we're STILL waiting on people to send their responses. Jenn had her Bridal Shower on Sunday, which by all accounts was fun and a success. Katie was an absolute rock star hero in playing host and the cake was really yummie. That's about the best I can do with first hand information. Things are falling into place, but some little things are still un-done and I either forget to do them every day or forget to get them in order. My memory with this stuff has been really bad. Jenn, when you read this, pull out a pad of paper and write down the following things: e-mail picture of the cake, fax/mail song list, confirm process with the chapel, confirm menu, confirm when money is due. There, now they'll get done.

What I did on my Summer Vacation

2005-07-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

OK, so I've been relatively quite on the Blogging front. You can't say I didn't warn you though, as I had predicted that my blogging would be reduced drastically once Fantasy Football sign-ups started. Welp, that's exactly what happened. But let me get you up to date on various goings on.

Firstly, on the Supreme Court vacancy, I've heard a lot of talk about the pluses and minuses of the departing O'Connor and a little talk about potential successors. The every evil Sean Hannity on Fox News claimed that Liberals were being two faced in praising O'Connor since in actuality we all hated her except for her stance on abortion. Well, I can say, as a middle of the road kind of guy that I am (though not always seem), for the reasons I stated in my previous blog, there was plenty to like. Obviously, I would have rather she NOT cast one of the votes that handed the 2000 election to Bush. An interesting caveat here: on all of the "major" issues that were decided by a single vote that went against the fascist right, it is always said that her vote was the "deciding vote". But you don't here that said when her vote went with her "party line". The fact is that Hannity and the other fascists hate her as much if not more than any pinko Liberal because technically, she never betrayed us. The thought for the day, of course is, who is REALLY more scared about her replacement. I'm totally freaked out, but I but the hard-line right wing is even more so. What if they get another traitor?

Also going on is the recent revelation that Karl Rove (aka Jabba) may or may not have divulged the identity of an undercover CIA operative to a Time reporter. As much as I would LOVE for this story to pan out into something that makes the Village Idiot and his Puppet Master look foolish, I just don't see it going that way. The problem is that none of the notes that have leaked to the press suggest that he actually named a particular person or even referenced a person as being a CIA Operative. Yes, he alluded to it, but I think the bigger story is that someone from Camp Idiot actually said something of substance to a reporter. Really. We know nothing about the motives, plans, processes or daily activities of any aspect of the current administration. All we get insight to are talking points. No thought is involved in talking points and as a result no insight is provided. This administration systematically refuses to allow the people know how they are being served and governed. And no one asks the questions that would delve into this. It's how we ended up in Iraq, how there are still a large number of people that believe Iraq was involved in 9/11, how one half of the country believes we are liberators and the other half occupiers and how right-wing media can claim that the mainstream media is biased and only shows one side of the story without being called on the fact that there really is no side of most stories. The OFFICIAL WORD from the administration is so banal and so empty of thought that anyone who doesn't want to think about the bad that might be happening doesn't have to. They can be shielded from anything they want to ignore: reality, responsibility, reason, rights. The conservatives will continue to win elections as long as the majority of the voting public chooses to not want to think.

On the wedding front, all the small stuff is slowing falling into place. We've got a guest book and pens to sign it with. We've got an semi-official estimate count of attendees (we're looking at about 65 with several people still unaccounted for). We'll be ordering the wedding favors within the next week. It's really filling out to be a real wedding.

Anyway, sorry for jamming so much random stuff in this one. Once the fantasy drafts are over, I'll be a little more on target. Until then though, I suspect I'll continue to be a little disjointed. Unless of course something really sticks out as needing to be ranted about separately.

Playing well with others

2005-07-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, the ball is now in Bush's proverbial and literal court. Today, as you may have heard, Sandra Day O'Connor announcer her retirement from the Supreme Court. If you want detailed information about her, please read any one of a billion articles floating around on news sites. I can't really do her justice (2 puns in the first 3 sentences, not a good sign). To summarize, she's palyed a very important role in the past 25 years acting as a moderate, a sane voice, on a court that would otherwise be split even on left and right. For anyone who considers themselves a middle of the road kind of guy (or gal), as I do, her departure, when we have a whacko Village Idiot Right Wing Religious extemist in the White House is a very terrible thing.

I fear that Bush will try to push through someone that will tilt the highest court in the direction of Constitutional Conservatives that believe the Bill of Rights is largely a mistake andf can easily be ignored. This type of person would mean intrusion into our person lives as we have seen recently witht he Terry Schivo fiasco and could potentially see with an over-turn of Roe v Wade (more on this next week).

I do have to work, so I have to be brief. But the time to do something is now and there isn't a very big window to act. Click this link:
http://www.moveonpac.org/protectourrights?id=5730-3231921-fyRczsHweHktJ4_JMQt7rw&t=3
and be sure to let our congressfolk know that America is a melting pot which does not lean left or right but rather sits smack dab on the middle of the fence. There needs to be a calming influence on the court. If this weren't so important, I would have waited until I had more time to write a blog that supplies some semblance of coherent thoughts.

I hope everyone is well. Happy 4th!!!

Back-door Bolton

2005-06-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

I don't mean to imply with the title of this, that John Bolton, the Village Idiot's nominee for US Ambassador to the UN, enjoys a certain activity which would warrant someone to obtain the title Back-door Beauty. I have no idea of his preferences in that realm. I am only referring to recent mumbling that the Bush regime is thinking about using a back-door confirmation of Bolton as the UN Ambassador. If a President's nominee to just about anything has not received a vote and the Congress is in recess, then the President can give that person a "Recess Appointment". That person can hold the post (whatever post) for 17 months free of charge. I imagine the initial intent of the Recess Appointment was for situations where Congress was on an extended leave and something happened to a judge and someone, anyone, needed to fill that seat immediately. I do not believe that it was intended to give the President a Carte Blanche to insert whatever megalomaniac fascist short-fused nut-job into whatever post he wanted whenever he wanted.

If you can tell me why Back-door Appointment is so much more noble than using the filibuster to prevent these whackos from reaching positions of power, please let me know. I can't see. The whole point of a filabuster is because sometimes a minority believes so strongly in something that it needs it's voice to be heard. And in this case, there is information the White House is withholding about Bolton. There is enough reason to be suspicious of this creep to warrant wanting his entire background and history to receive full exposure. I think there are enough Republicans on the fence about this guy that knowing even the teensiest bit more about the depths he will sink to to prove his point right (whether it is or not), that having total disclosure isn't such a far-fetched request.

Bush claims that he's the right man for the job at the right time. That the American People are demanding reform in the UN. Funny, I don't hear those demands. I hear one of 2 opinions about the UN:
1) we need to get out and do our own business our own way and bomb whoever we want
2) the UN was right about a lack of evidence to invade Iraq. Maybe they know a thing or 2.
The rest of the country seems to be rather indifferent.

Bush claims the American People want the UN to show some accountability. That's funny, because I also hear the American people wanting a little accountability regarding the Iraq fiasco. God forbid someone acknowledge that we're entrenched in a mess every bit as dirty, duplicitous and treacherous as the "Oil for Food Program".

And if he really does want accountability in the UN, why won't he let Bolton stand accountable to his methods?

The overbearing question becomes is it worse to hold a double standard like Bush or to change opinions on a subject once all the information is in. Unfortunately, in November, people stated they obviously would rather have someone have 2 faces than 2 opinions.

Even More Street Related Updates!

2005-06-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

This time, we're getting out of the gutter and strolling down Sesame Street. It seems that Congress has taken the first official step towards killing the Leftist Propaganda machines that are Sesame Street, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Morning Edition and All Things Considered. The House sub-committee responsible for budgeting the Federal dollars that support PBS and NPR programming has recommended cutting funding to those institutions by 25% next year and eliminating all federal funding for them the following year.

Obviously, they are claiming non-partisan reasons. They say that those programs are "somewhere between need-to-have and nice-to-have.'' It seems this is the general feeling toward an independent media that all Republicans share. Yes, that sound you heard is our Democracy accompanying the Koran in a flush down the toilet.

PLEASE try to stop this. It isn't too late (in fact, an article I read said that the Senate would have to approve the budget, it would be very easy for a Senator to re-institute funding before a vote happens, and the Senate is historically more supportive of Public Broadcasting). I'm going to continue on with my rant in a second, but before I do, click here to send an e-mail, via Move-On.org, to congressfolk letting them know that you need your Big Bird fix and you want to make certain your kids will have the same opportunity.

Returning to the rant, it seems that the theory is that when the federal funding goes away there will be corporate funding that will take it's place. It's sort of a Bizzaro Supply Side Economics theory for charitable donations. And we all know how Supply Side Economics works in the real world. You know that job that you have that you haven't gotten a decent raise in more than 4 years and that fear that you have of losing your job because there aren't any new jobs to replace them? That's Supply Side Economics at work. If you don't know by know that rich people like to keep their money and NOT spend it (and certainly not give it away), no matter how much more money they have, then you will probably never learn.

The other laughable side to this (and only laughable because it's so surreal to think that these morons were VOTED FOR, it's easier to laugh than cry) is the Village Idiot President's ridiculous "No Child Left Behind" policy. Cutting funding for Sesame Street is basically saying that you're going to prevent children from being left behind by ensuring that they ALL start at ground zero with absolutely no educational basis to build on. Tabla Rasa. The really sad thing is that this is only going to hurt the poorest of children and the one's already at an educational disadvantage. For those kids, the ones that are allowed to watch Lion King 572 times in a row (great movie, not educational), whose parents take little to no initiative (either out of lack of funds or lack of interest) in getting them some early educational materials, Sesame Street is as close as they're going to get to Baby Einstein.

It just boggles my mind that they look at Sesame Street and they see political bias. It really is demonstrative of how scary far right the Republican powers that be have become when they see an ideologically middle-of-the-road program as a left wing threat. Your entire perception is frame by your basis of origin. And for the right, it just keeps getting further and further out there.

Update from the Gutter

2005-06-13T12:32:00.000-07:00

To update a previous story that I posted here at the beginning of May, t-Shirt Hell has brought back it's Worse than Hell line of shirts. Let's hear one for free speach: Hip hip HOORAY!!! Anyway, at the time, I said that any form of censorship, even if it is self imposed, is still sensorship and that is bad. I'm glad that the owner of the site agrees. Just to give you some idea of what Worse than Hell has in store for you, they have a new welcome back shirt: on the fron tit says "Dave Chapelle went to Africa" and on the back it says "One Down". IF that's not just wrong, Id on't kow what is.

That's all I have for today. I"m sure something will happen in the next day or 2 to sufficiently rattle my cage.

The Smiths: boring name, fun movie

2005-06-10T12:14:00.000-07:00

Jenn and I got to go see an advanced screening of Mr. and Mrs. Smith on Wednesday. It was very high on the list of movies I wanted to see this summer, but I was a little worried about it. It looked like it had tons of potential, but on the flip side, if not done properly, it would have sucked. That sort of distinction can be the difference between a wonderfully funny movie like Grosse Pointe Blank and a fun yet flawed movie like Hudson Hawk.

I was very relieved when it was far more the prior and far less the later.

I imagine at the pitch in some 20th Century Fox's big wig's office it was described as a cross between True Lies and Grosse Pointe Blank (for those that do not know, that is how all new movies are presented, by comparing them to 2 movies that already exist). But I liked this FAR more than True Lies (Brad and Angelina are better than Arnold and Jamie Lee in many many ways). It's not a stretch to call it in GPB's realm, although it isn't remotely as original. However, I think you can have a premise that has been done before in some form and still wind up with a good movie.

Action movies these days seem to be trying for one of 2 things, at least the one's I like: try to blow the mind off of people with the stunts (like Bourne Identity) or try to make them laugh (like Ocean's 11). Mr. and Mrs. Smith isn't as exciting as Bourne Identity nor is it as smart as Ocean's 11, but it's every bit as fun as both of them. Ocean's 11 has become my barometer for the action movie. I had more fun watching that movie than any movie I can remember in a very long time. Just smiling broadly from start to finish. And while the plot is far less intricate (the one "twist" in the movie was very obvious and not the least bit surprising), Smith still keeps me grinning the whole time. And the action scenes weren't the best I'd ever seen, but they were plenty to keep any one watching and excited.

OK, so the ending is a tad "Hollywood," but if you're expecting "realistic" or sad endings from a Hollywood action flick, odds are pretty good that you're not going to see this movie anyway.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith is one of those movies that, if it were a Wide Receiver in the NFL, you'd want on your team. They're not the fastest guy on the team, but their quickness is enough that you know they'll outrun most safeties. They're not the flashiest, but their hands are so solid that anything you throw at them, they'll bring down. They're never getting the long balls but when it's 3rd and 7, you know where the balls going to. There's nothing it does the best, but it's hard to argue consistency.

Speaking of football really quick, Yahoo's Fantasy Football started sign-ups today. YAY!!!!

Brief Wedding Update

2005-06-08T12:39:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we went to the jeweler to get our wedding bands done. We're having it done by the same guy who did Jenn's Engagement ring. Since the Engagement ring is different than most you'll find, it stands to reason that we have the bands done special, so the band doesn't stick out as being so different. My band will basically be a manly version of the original design. The guy doing the ring called it a more German version, which I found very funny.

To do the design, he had to take Jenn's ring. She had a hard time adjusting to that. She kept thinking she'd lost it. She's so adorable.

Also, we have a grand total of 26 people attending the reception. That is the official count of ONLY those responses we have in the form of a reply card. So that doesn't count relatives and friends we know that will be going but have yet to reply. Our early estimate was 70 people, and the responses we've been getting have been falling pretty much right on target with our expectations. If we get to 60 in July and are still expecting 20 or more responses back, I may use this space as a way to lobby against people going. But as we stand now, we're on target and we hope everyone that wants to come does so.

Told you it'd be brief.

Crossing over from the Dark Side

2005-06-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

Just so everyone doesn't get too used to frequent posts, I'm letting everyone know now that in about 2 to 3 weeks, once the Fantasy Football season starts to pick up a bit, my lunch time blogging will be reduced a bit. So enjoy it while it lasts.

I read an article on Michael Moore's web site that had me scratching my head. There have been dozens others like it since the start of the illegal war in Iraq. A story about a person who was pro-Bush, pro-blowing up Iraqi civilians, pro-defending our boarders that aren't threatened by the enemy we were attacking. That is they were pro all of these things until the one day when their child was tragically killed while in Iraq. This made them start questioning things like, "Hey, why are we there again?" And in every instance it leads to the blatantly obvious answer, "This is bull crap. We have no business being there."

I really feel bad for these people. I do. It's terrible that their children died for a lack of cause. But my problem is this: they never explain why they were so gullible in the first place. The guy in the article goes so far as to say that he doesn't care if people call him un-patriotic or un-American. Excuse me?!?!? I MIND AND I HAVEN'T HAD MY HEAD UP MY ASS FOR THE PAST 2 YEARS!!! It's absurd and ridiculous to call those of us that know the difference between political speak and truth un-patriotic and un-American. I much prefer un-ignorant and un-lemming-like.

Here's my point: I'm glad that there are more people being woken up to The Truth, but I'm equally, if not more, mad that it takes these people having a kid die to do it. Their entire anti-war discussion is based on self-interest and personal experience rather than any understanding of world politics, political motivation and ideology, and a true desire for peace and loving thy neighbor. Essentially, he is only against murder once someone HE knows is murdered. Otherwise, it's not a concern of his to know what's actually going on. It's like the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) principle of nuclear power plants as proposed by George Carlin.

The greater fear, and likely reality, is of course that the majority of the lemmings will continue to jump off the cliff because none of them will have a loved one (thankfully for them) die while in Iraq. There's the Truth just sitting there waiting to be discovered. Waiting to be listened to. But everyone chooses to ignore until it become convenient to do so. The most unfortunate aspect of this is that the Official Truth Disseminators of a Democracy, the media, are afraid to give the Truth a louder voice. For whatever reason. it may be that they don't want to be branded: be it "liberal", "un-patriotic", "un-American" or "un-cooperative". I don't know. But for those of us that know there are questions not being asked, what more can we do than continue to try to ask them in our own way? And we will take conversions from the Dark Side. I'd just prefer that they not get all the press coverage because they're still rookies at this whole Truth thing.

The Most Shocking Image of 2005

2005-06-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

I was innocently watching the Discovery Channel over the weekend, one of my 4 or 5 favorite Basic Cable channels, not thinking that after about 5 minutes of viewing I was about to be shocked and appalled to the point of nearly losing continence. A commercial came on advertising a show they were putting on call The Greatest Americans - standard fare during Basic Cable sweeps month. Again, I'm not thinking about having a seizure in about 20 seconds. They're flashing pictures and the voice over is saying things like, "Who's inspired us, who's made discoveries,..." Picture of Walt Disney (T-minus 3 seconds to heart attack). Picture of Neil Arstrong (2 seconds and counting). Picture of George Washington (1 more to blast of). Picture of VILLAGE IDIOT PRESIDENT GEORGE W. FRIGGIN' BUSH!!!!! I have about .5 seconds of shock before I erupt during whcih time I witness Abe Lincoln's picture flash on the screen immediately after the esteemed Village Idiot. I go Ballistic. Jenn has the where-with-all (after an initial screech of her own) to jump on my lap and immediately try to calm me down. It took a minute before I was able to utter a sound that resembled a word and a good 5 minutes before those words could be strung together in a coherent sentence. That sentence:

WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!?!?!

My first thought was that I needed to write the Discovery Channel a protest letter. An exept I had in my head was going to go something like this: "Why not include the images of Al Capone, Edward McArthy and Richard Nixon? Individuals who are equally adept at ruling by fear, using fear to acheive and sustain ill-gotten political power and manipulating the office of the President into a guilt-free get-out-of-jail-free pass to push forward one's own personal and political intiatives at an incalcuable cost (respectively). Each of these individual's acheivements were no less great."

I was also going to demand that they owe an apology to the families of the 1,700+ dead servicemen that lost their lives in Iraq, the thousands more that have been wounded and perminantly disabled, the hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis killed, wounded or homeless now, and the Florida voters who failed to have their votes counted in 2000.

This was stuff I was GOING to say. So I went to the web site to figure out where to send this rant. It so happened that there was a link the the show The Greatest Americans. And so I went there just to see what it was all about. They listed their "100 Greatest Americans" as well as the final cut to the "25 Greatest Americans". Welp, I looked at the list of 100 and I instantly realized that sending a letter to these people was useless and the country is SO ignorant that the battle is not worth fighting when the opponent is the Discovery Channel (whose motto is Entertain your Brain but hence forth will be Entertain the Mindless Masses). Not only was George Bush, Village Idiot on the list of 100, but BOTH his mom AND dad were. Not only was George Bush, Village Idiot on the elite list of 25. But RICHARD "I AM NOT A CROOK" NIXON WAS ON THE LIST OF 100!!!! He shouldn't be on a list of the Greatest 10,000 Americans. Hell, if I could list 1,000,000 Americans, just random folks I know on top of the famous ones that other people may have heard of, he'd not be on the list either. And if I included Fictional Characters on the list, and made it the list of 10,000,000 Americans, I'd verture to say he'd fall somewhere between Marmaduke and John Holmes.

Maybe the e-mail would ahve been worth while if Blair were around and we could have come up with a list of 100 famous Americans that more than 10% of the population would have heard of that were truly greater than the Bush clan. Coming up with the list against Nixon I could do in an instant. Woodward, Robert Redford, Berstein, Dustin Hoffman, Deep Throat and Hal Holbrook. There's 6 that weren't on Discovery Channel's list right off the top of my head without even trying. Obviously, they'd be on the Bush Clan list, too, but I'd want that list to be really impressive.

Oh God, Condaleeza Rice is on the 100 list, too.

Anyway, you can see, the list is far too ridiculous to even argue against with a simple diatribe. I'd need my own list. And that's a slightly more daunting task to take on alone without the help of a history guy like Blair. I can think up Louis Arstrong, Clara Barton, Florence Nightingale,

Jesus Christ! RUSH FUCKING LIMBAUGH IS ON THE LIST!!!

I'm getting more and more pissed off as I try to write a rationale blog about this. Why do I bother?!?! If Rush Limbaugh is on the list and Howard Stern is not, then we are lost as a country. It's sad to say but I really have lost a little hope for our future today. Because THIS is the list that We, The People, are presented with. And most of the Peolpe aren't going to realize that Limbaugh and Dr. Phil (I shit you not) being on the list and Edward R. Murrow not is a crime and a rotting of our freedom to think and our free press.

Deep Thoughts on Deep Throat

2005-06-03T12:58:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, one of my favorite movies not featuring Darth Vader or Indiana Jones was All the President's Men. I found it absolute fascinating. Prior to seeing it - I must have been 7 or 8 on my first viewing - my favorite President was Richard Nixon. He was President the year I was born, so he was my favorite. I had no idea what impeachment was and only a vague knowledge of the word "Watergate" with almost no connection to it whatsoever.

Then I saw the movie.

After that, I was far more pleased that 1974 was the same year Nixon left office than the fact that he was the President that year. I can't even begin to imagine what 1974 must have been like for my parents, the ultra liberals, Mr. and Mrs. Conscientious Objector. Within the first month, they find out that they're going to have a baby and to mark the time along, they get to follow the Watergate mess. Nixon resigned a month and a half before I was born, so technically, I spent the first 8 years of my life with the wrong favorite President: it should have been Ford.

By no rights should an 8 year old be all that enthralled by a movie like this, but I was. My favorite scene, by far without any doubt, was when Woodward is meeting with Deep Throat and Deep Throat is being vague again but Woodward insists that he needs specifics. Then the music gets all serious and Deep throat tell him that his life is in danger. Next shot is Woodward running into Berstein's place and cranking up some classical music and they start communicating ont he typewrite. Keep in mind that I'm still at the age where mom or dad have to read it for me because there's no way I'm keeping up. I would have to say it remains one of my most favorite 10 scenes in any movie all time.

And the best part of this was that IT WAS REAL!!! I could actually MEET Deep Throat. This was mind boggling to me. Movies weren't real. BUT THIS REALLY HAPPENED! And yes, today I understand that in "based on a true story" movies, they dramatize this. Now. But I didn't know this then, so as far as I knew, what was happening happened just as they said. To this day, I think of the events depicted in ATPM as occurring as shown in the movie. There is no suspension of disbelief required and there is no spoil-sport in the back of my head saying, "Sure, but you know it wasn't EXACTLY like this."

The only caveat to ATPM was that Deep Throat was real but we didn't know who he was. I've known since the first time I saw the movie that Woodward was going to keep this secret until the actual Deep Throat died because after the movie I must have asked my dad about 1 zillion questions. It's always been the one piece of the puzzle that was missing that probably helped keep my interest going.

When I was in college, Bill Bradlee, the Editor of the Post at the time of Watergate, came to Pitt to give a speech. You better believe that I was one of the first people there. There's not too much I actually remember of his talk. But there are 2 parts of the evening that stand out in my mind: someone in the audience asked who was Deep Throat (his answer being that he can't say yet) and that during the book signing portion, I got to ask what he thought of Jason Robards' portrayal of him in the movie. To be honest, I don't remember the answer exactly (he asked me what I thought and I said something, he more or less agreed and mentioned that he spent a day with him before filming), but just getting to ask the question was an absolute thrill for me.

So that brings us to Deep Throat revealing himself this week. To my surprise, it hasn't been remotely as anti-climactic as I had feared it would be. Maybe because all of the fascist conservatives are lambasting the guy for pointing out how crooked they are. His grandkid called him a hero, which he most certainly is. I think he's as close to a living Yoda as we can expect. I'm talking Yoda from Empire here, not the Yoda that kicks all kinds of ass in the recent trilogy. And now he's real.

I can't wait for the inevitable TV movie that pops up as a result of this. From what I've read, it seems like the guy lived a truly remarkable life. He was involved in spying at some level as far back as WWII. Some of the communication codes he used with Woodward he lifted from the Nazi's (Buchanan, Hannity and the rest should be at least a little amused about that). Just seems like a really cool guy to sit and listen to tell stories. I'll be reading each one of those as they come out over the coming weeks, to be sure.

And if he were to appear on a campus to give a talk somewhere to promote a new book, I'd be in the audience. I'd wait in line to have a book signed. And I'd ask him a question when I got in front of him. This time though, I don't think I'd ask, "What did you think of Hal Holbrook's performance as you." Nope. I'd ask a question that he'd absolutely, positively HAVE to have an opinion on one way or the other but I doubt anyone would be willing to ask. I'd have to ask, "So, what's it been like all these years to know that you were given a nick name based on a porno?"

Jon's Back!!!

2005-06-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

If you one reading this knows Jon Stewart or anyone even remotely connected or afiliated with the Dialy Show, please let them know that the loayal viewer cannot take 2 weeks without the Daily Show. It's just too much time to have to deal with the insanity of reality on our own. The Daily Show is a becon for all of us who have a hard time rationally dealing with the insanity and stupidity of the world in general and the current administration in particular.

I needed their reassuring satire during the past 2 weeks. I needed to make sense of a pact that Democrats made with Republicans basically saying, "We will let these 3 fascist corporate whore nut jobs through to the courts now and the other 4 fascist corporate whore nut jobs through later but if you even TRY to push through a fascist corporate whore nut job in the future that was actually a registered member of the neo-fascist movement or on the board of Enron, we may think about doing something about it then." I needed to understand why Tom DeLay can say his name is being disparaged on a TV show when the show refered to a right wing nut job that killed some judged would probalby be wearing a Tom DeLay shirt when the man said, after the Terri Schiavo fiasco, that he would be certain the judiciary would be held accountable. I need to shed some light on the hypocracy of a White House that condones the torture of "enemy combatants", that refuses to acknowledge ANY rites for these detaines and then turns around and gets steaming mad about a Newsweek article about soldier's treatment of the Koran and blasts a report from Amnisty International that condemns the White Houses actions that they can't deny their taking, their only defense being, "well, yeah, but the people making those accusations are are only the ones BEIGN tortured," all the while claiming to be a becon of freedom and a defender of democracy. Without the Daily Show all of these events, and many others, were far to much for me to comprehend. I can't even begin to wrap my mind around them.

So, thank you for coming back last night, Jon. I was beginning to think my TiVo was hiding something from me. Please don't take off 2 weeks at a time ever again.

Hypocracy Alert!!!! Last week I watched the movie Control Room (a MUST see for anyone that likes to get pissed off at our Village Idiot President and any one who supports him). Int eh movie, Rumsfeld was responding to a question posed to him early on in our illeagal occupation of Iraq about the treatment of our prisoners and he stated something along the lines of, "I expect them to be treated in accordance with the laws outlined in the Geneva Convention." This coming from the same administration that said that we don't need to follow the Geneva Convention because our enemy isn't fighting for a nation. The same administartion whose current Attourny General said that the Geneva Convetion was outdated. Let's ignore the fact that the "war" in Iraq is an illegal occupation and out troops, regreattably, probalby wouldn't be protected under the Geneva. ALL IN THE NAME OF STOPPING THE PROLIFERATION OF WMD's .... er.... um.... uh.... I mean.... ALL INT EH NAME OF PROLIFERATING DEMOCRACY (or the religious right's brand of democracy).

Listen to your Dad

2005-05-31T12:25:00.000-07:00

As an early Father's Day present to my dad, I'm dedicating the first line of this blog to him: you were right.

I'm not going to be specific, mainly because I only get an hour for luncha nd I don't think most people want to go through the list. But I've learned enough in my life time thus far to know that going forward, when my dad comes up with an idea for me to undertake, and I actually think it sounds like a good idea, then by gum, I'm going to give it a whilr. He's given me enough such suggestions in the past, nearly all of which were dismissed by me as being too difficult to persue with the passion necessary to be successful at (radio DJ, Sports play-by-play to name the 2 that I think about at least once a week). Frankly, I don't doubt that I could have been good at them, I just doubted (and still do) that I had the fortitude to persue them.

However, a couple weeks ago, he came to me with an idea which I just could dismiss: he suggested I draw a political cartoon. I couldn't, at the time, come up with a single reason why that wouldn't be a good idea. Well, I still think it's a good idea, it's just going to take a lot more work than I had initially thought.

Back in the day, I would doodle little cartoons like a champ. I even saved some excerpts from class notes through the years specifically because I didn't want to lose a doodle or 2. When you do something like that with the frequency that I did, well, you're doodles get to have a certain consistance to them. I'm not saying that I was good. But at the time, I certainly wasn't bad for a doodler and I suspect that would be sufficient for a fledgling cartoonist.

6 year's later and I'm WOEFULLY out of practice. I had a really funny idea for my first cartoon and I sat down over the weekend to draw it. I had a vision in my head on exactly how I wanted the characters (Village Idiot Bush and The Emperor) to look. Well, let's just say it' back to the drawing board for me. I need to spend a little more time on my doodling. Since I'm not a very naturally artistic person, being out of habit on doodling has taken what little faculties I may have once had and flushed them down the toilet.

But it's still a good idea. And I fully intend on getting it done. It's just going to take a tad longer to get a portfolio together than I had origially hoped. I'm going to have to get my doodling schwerve back on.

Put on your Dancing Shoes

2005-05-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been much by way of Wedding news of late, hence the lack of talk about it here. However, over the past week, a few things have happened.

First, we sent out what will probalby be the last of our invites. There were a couple folks that I had to get addresses from and was being a little lazy about.

Then, while I was in LA I bought an album at Ameoba Records, across the street from the ArcLight where I saw the digital projection of Star Wars on Friday. Ameoba Records, as many of you are aware, is only the greatest record store in the entire world. Anyway, the goal this time around was to pick up an album that had a song which Jenn and I had heard the very very tail end of in flipping through the channels one day. We hadn't been able to find the album anywhere else but we knew Ameoba would have it (they have everything). Anyway, now we have our wedding song.

It was kind of funny because when we both heard the bit of song we kind of knew that would be it. At the time it was like, "Hey, there's a good idea for our wedding song." Then we got the album and listened to the whole thing and both agreed that we really liked the song. A t that point, I figured it went unsaid that that would be the song. But then on Tusday Jenn meekly polled me over to the couch and played the song and asked (in her cute, shy style) "Can that be our wedding song." She's so adorable. I told her that I doesn't really have a good beat for dancing purposes but that I like the song so much and it really expresses how I feel that it has to be the song. And no, I will not reveal the title or artist. Jenn and I are going to play a game and see if Chris knows who it is after we dance to it.

Lastly, Jenn's shoes arrived yesterday. After much stress in finding a suitable pair locally and much trepidation in buying shoes on line, she finally sucked it up and bought a pair she foudn on line at a decent price. She loves the shoes and I have t admit that they are by for the coolest shoes that will ever grace a bride's feet. Her favorite part about them is that they can be worn after the wedding and I'd have to agree. I'm not sure if she wants to reveal the coolness of the shoes tot eh general public. IF she wants to describe them, I'll leave that for her to do as a comment to this post. I don't want to steal her thunder.

There's the wedding update. We still need to sit down and come up with a list of songs to be played and next month we're planning on getting our rings.

Review of the Sith

2005-05-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

Giving a review of the final Star Wars installment is a monumental, almost insurmountable, task. It's really too big for me, a devout and loyal fan who has learned the tenents of good and evil from the likes of Luke, Darth Vader, and most of all, Yoda. I loved the original Trilogy and now I love the whole Saga. I really did want to know te back story. It has to make for a good story, right? Well, nowthat it's over, I'm conflicted. Mainly becasue before I was OK that I never knew the back story. It was good enough for me to join Star Wars en media res, right smack dab in the middle fo the story. And it was OK that we never really knew EXACTLY what turned Vader. Becasue we got to see the back end of the character arch, where he experienced redemtion and for 15 years, that was enough. I mean really, do you think Shakespeare needed to actually write up the back story to Hamlet?

Now, I have to deal with the fact that this is my last Star Wars movie ever. This was a lot easier to deal with at 9. At 30, it seems too big.

But when it all boils down, I DID want to see this story told and am even more pleased that, from a story-telling and moie-making stand-point if not a galactic stand-point, it ended on a high note. This was a really good movie. Really and truely. And this time, I like it not just becasue it's a piece of the whole and I know there is more to come, as was the case with the much maligned Episodes1 and 2.

Things I liked:
- I liked that motivation for Anikin never changed. He never waivered in why he did anything that he ever did. He was consistant, which made the fall believable. I don't buy into some of the grumbles that the reason didn't seem to quite be enough. The scope of the Young Anikin character made it enough.
- I liked that Lucas was able to construct back stories for Obi Wan and Yoda that would explain actions 20 years later. Now you know what they've gone through and that makes their charachters in the Original Trilogy even richer.
- I liked that the Jedi weren't perfect and that there was a price they would eventually pay for their devotion to a religion and inability to see the person struggles that a follower of such a religion might experience. While religions provide excelent guideline to follow, a rigid following is not always possible in a hectic life. And the fact that they were unable to relate to Anakin personally is part of what drives him to the Dark Side. A rigid belief in ANYTHING can only lead to greater harm than good.
- Palpatine. A better character than you can even remotely realize in the Original Trilogy. IF anything, it's a shame the first 3 didn't do this character justice.
- I liked that I was completely uncomfortable for the final 1:30 of the movie. Every line broke my heart just a little more becasue all along, you knew exactly what was coming. I don't think I would have cared so much if Star Wars weren't a modern myth and you KNEW Vader would become Anakin again. The important thing about a myth is that you have to have the complete character arch.

I'm not going to come up with a similar list for the things I didn't like. Most of my complaints are minor and can be read in any review on teh Ain't It Cool News reviews (or any other review writen by a true Star Wars geek). However, there is one that I think warrants talking about that leaves me scratching my head: Naboo is still around. Why? How can you have a planet play such a vital role in the new trilogy and not even get a whisper of a mention in the Originals? Wouldn't it have been more powerful to have made Naboo Aldernane of Yavin? Wouldn't it have warranted at least a slight mention in passing? Don't you think it would have been a key part of the rebel alliance? Just makes me scratch my head and realize that the need for Jar Jar was officially ZERO.

I'm serious now, this is really difficult for me. My thoughts are all over the place. But for now, I guess this is the best I can do to relay my feelings. All of the little things are so wonderful. And it just FELT right the entire time I sat there. I think it's possible that you'd have to be a true fan to relate to my thoughts and if you're not a true fan then you're likely not going to get as much out of it.

Bush is too Stupid for the Sith

2005-05-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

There's an interesting sub-text to the Star Wars saga that is currently rattling a lot of cages and causing quite a clamor. I'm speaking of the transformation of a Republic, as the Star Wars Universe represents in Episode I, into a Totalitarian Empire, as we find young Skywalking living in Episode IV. The mumbling from some reviewers is that Lucas is taking a jab at Bush and his handling of National Security since 9/11 and more specifically our illeagal Iraqi invasion. Before I continue, for the best writen peice on this topic, just read the this link to the Wahshington Post. Now, if you're at all interested on my take on the subject, feel free to read on. My initial idea was to just plagerize this Post article, but I don't think CNN would put me on their fine "news" network for simple plagerism.

First and foremost, you have to realize that this story A) was written in the early 1970's and B) is archatypal. Bush was too stoned in the '70's to have any plans of any kind not related to potatoe chips however he is certainly not above repeating the mistakes of the past. What Lucas is attempting to convey is specifically how a self governed people can freely give up their government to a single individual. The key idea is that the majority of people cannot lose the power to an individual, but the certainly can give it away.

Next, you have to realize that in order to get from point B, which is the start of Episode I (released in 1999), to point A which is the start of Episode IV (released in 1977), there are certain checkpoints that must be crossed. This is the case whether you're examining the rise of the Third Reich, the rise of the Village Idiot, or the rise of Emperor Palpatine. Those checkpoints include (but ate clearly not limited to) a culture of fear, a governing body willing to exert itself outside it's domain in the interest of self preservation and a people willing to vote in the idiot. Obviously, I've only listed the 3 main check points that you common in the 3 examples I provided. There are other things needed that I believe are missing, and first and foremost among them is the lack of a populace willing to die for the cause of the Idiot. We're not willing to pay $2.50 for a tank of gas for him, you think this party is still going to be in office when they announce they're going to have to set up a draft!?!?!?

As an archetype, Star Wars is merely a cautionary tale for any group of people in any point in time in history. Obviously, the Me-centric general populace of the USA aren't going to figure it out forthemselves without seeing it up on the big screen and then have the dots connected for them by a semi-intelligent reviewer. I take issue with the idea that Star Wars is a politically motivated, snit-Bush film. Mainly because Palpatine would never be dumb enough to have a hoard of Lemmings chant his name and then turn around and say he's going to reform their social security. But also becasue I think that trivializes not only the scope of the film but the important checkpoint we find ourselves at in the course of American History.

Now, as Bush's Republican cronies are in the process of reducing the power of the Senate, I would not be against someone pointing to Star Wars and saying, "Hey, this is the next step: some evil dude with Jame Earl Jones's voice running around putting the force strangle hold on people that disagree with him." That's OK because that's how you properly use and archetype. If only we had Yoda.

Look Ma! I'm on CNN!!!

2005-05-12T12:27:00.000-07:00

As reported yesterday on the Daily Show (acutlaly it may have been Tuesday because I watched 2 eps on my TiVo yesterday and I can't say for sure which one was which), CNN and MSNBC have added Blog Watch segments to their "news " programming. This is the most ridiculously absurd and disturbing developments in journalism since the right-wing take over of talk radio.

The thought that something I have to say about ANYTHING could possibly reach more than the 3 to 5 people that semi-regularly check my blog goes so far beyond bizzare, I don't even know what to say. I mean really, the whole idea of "news" is to present information to the public. And if you're not getting the correct information, you find a way to get it. That's it. And honestly nothing I have to say, regardless of the topic, is news worthy. NOTHING! Not a single word about my up coming wedding, my opinions on our Village Idiot President or my faunings over Star Wars. None of it equates to news.

And those are my thoughts on MY opinions. So you can imagine my thoughts on the opinions on the average troglodite that has access to the internet. I have a long standing saying, "Everyone's entitled to their own stupid opinion." Interestingly enough, in this current situation, the key phrase is THEIR OWN. I am not entitled to anyone elses stupid opinion. I've listened to enough sports talk shows to know taht the opinion of the common man is about as valuable as my belly button lint (and I have about as much of that as I do opinions).

Bottom line is, there is very little that a blogger is going to be able to come up with that constitutes as anything more than a stupid opinion. The heart of the matter, obviously, is that these "news" channels are about 5% news and 95% Opinions. The average news paper is actually the reverse of that. Obviously, news papers will have certain take on things and emphasize some stories over others, but at least it's not filled non-stop with morons like Hannity on Fox News sitting there and yelling at a cheerleader who was assaulted by an old man booster for girating too much and then filing a law suit against him (that is a true story). To prop these channels up under the guise of "news" is both immoral and dangerous. Fox News should be retitled Fox Right Wing Opinions. CNN could be CPON (Cable Pithy Observations Network). That's far more acurate. Oh, but then I suppose these channels would have to actually strive for accuracy in order to care.

Anyway, the point of this is that I'm going to strive to be featured on CNN. So please tell EVERYONE you know to visit my site. I'm certain the powers that be at CNN just look for the blogspots with high traffic and internet "buzz". If any of you have blogs, if you could all post weekly aside comments on how wonderful my blog is and how insightful into the world of politics I am and then post a link. I figure my opinion is just as stupid as the next guys and therefore, just as worthy to be adopted by the troglodites that have yet to figure out how to log onto the internet on their own.

Information Overload

2005-05-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

In the past week, the internet has been inundated with previews, reviews and general information about the new Start Wars movie, Revenge of the Sith. As 7 out of every 10 fo these articles say, "This is the one we've all been waiting for."

Obviously, I'm super duper excited about next Thursday, the official release date. I can't wait to see it. I've been a star Wars geek my whole life and this is basiclaly the culmination of all of that. The official pay off, I suppose.

Most of the reviews have been very very positive. The buzz before the reviews was actually very mixed. It seems the Uber-Geeks got their hand son a copy of the script and let's just say it made for a less-than-promising read. This shouldn't surprise any one really, considering that George Lucas is as bad at writing dialog as he is at directing people. But it had the drones of people that LOATHED the first 2 movies all in a bind. Thankfully, with the more recent buzz being positive, famous geeks all over that have seen the movie are praising it for at least holding a candle to the original trilogy. These are the people that hated the first 2 installments of the new trilogy.

I suppose the Uber-Geek would file me under the column of "Star Wars Apologist". I read one review that said something along the lines of "this is not the ultimate Star Wars movie, but it's very good." The fact that someone is going in looking for or wanting the "ultimate Star Wars movie" indicates that the Uber-Geek had entirely the wrong expectations coming in. And the other folks, the ones that were big fans of the first trilogy, hated the new ones but wouldn't ever utter the phrase "Star Wars apologist" have a right to be disappointed but really should give the first 2 a little more slack. Fact is, those moives were still better than 95% of what is made today. No, they were not better than the Lord of the Rings movies, and I suppose by all rights they should have been. But they really don't totally suck. They have flaws, they don't have the same look or feel but they are still part of the overall story. And my feeling is: until the story's done, cut them a little slack.

Anyway, my excitement for this release started about 2 years ago when my friend Jim and I sat down one afternoon and outlined exactly what we thought would be the story of the 3rd movie. Everyone knows what happens in chapters 1,2,4,5,and 6, so all you have to do is connect the dots and you figure out what must take place in Cahpter 3. One of the things which has been established in the character of Anakin is that he has SERIOUS female abandonment issues. Therefore, you know, since at some point his wife leaves him and he doesn't even know he has twins, she is the driving foce that pushes him over the edge. You see, all the annoying scenes between Anakin and Padme in Episode 2 were needed in order to provide motivating factors for his turn in Episode 3. Lucas did the same thing in Episode 4 with Luke. He was whiney and annoying but there was pay-off. The problem with Episode 2 is that the payoff wasn't immediate so the annoying just seemed annoying rather than meaningful.

So that was then. More recently, I started getting excited when the first Lego set for Sith came out. And trailers started popping up. Jenn will testify that on dozens of evenings I've spent 10-15 minutes bouncing up and down in front of my computer in pure geek ecstacy as I watched a new trailer. And now the marketing push has come along and obviously being pelted with a non-stop barrage of Star Wars has helped send my excitment to stratospheric levels. Much to Jenn's chargin, I've been getting my Star Wars fix by playing my Start Wars Lego computer game every chance I get. Pure joy!

And this year, I'm also getting my fix by reading the reviews. The previous 2 releases, I didn't read anything. For Episode 1 it was because I genuinely didn't know where to find it and for Ep 2 it was because I knew it would all be negative Uber-Geek bitching. But this time, I've read the reviews out of curiosity, because I'm certain that I'm now able to form my own, unadulterated opinion. And in closing, I will explain how my excitement prior to each movie has been different:

Episode 1: I was excited for the pure fact that I was going to get to see a new Star Wars movie. That's it. It could have been as bad as Cool World and I would have been happy. The best viewing of the movie I had was #3 (and I know to this day, Jim will agree with me on that). I think I saw it a few too many times and the flaws became even annoying for me. But after the first viewing, I was fully satisfied.

Episode 2: I was excited because I knew it couldn't be as bad as Episode 1. Not that I thought Ep 1 was bad, but I was able to rationalize that this is a 3 part series where the movies probalby would not be able to stand on their own, so Ep 2 would help in bolster Ep 1. And it was genuinely better. And there was a lot more to look forward to. And many of the mistakes from Ep 1 (though not all) were fixed. And I was fully satisfied.

Episode 3: I'm excited because the Uber-Geeks like it. And if Lucas has pleased the people who have felt betrayed up 'til now, then I KNOW I'm going to be doing a lot fo bouncing.

A Sad Day for the Gutter

2005-05-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

At the request of Jenn, I am dedicating today's blog to the passing of a website that was very near and dear to our hearts. tshirthell.com, the maker of some of the most disturbing and wrong clothing available in the world today, has ceased to offer it's Worse Than Hell line of shirts. Their standard offering, which includes the shirt I now own, OB/GYN Kanobi, and the one Jenn has, WWJD for a Klondike Bar, is still available as is their line of baby and toddler shirts, including my personal favorite, Hung like a 5 Year Old. However, based on the press release they posted on the site as of Monday, the owner of the site feels that the Worse Than Hell line goes to far.

And frankly, that's why the discontinuation of the line is so disappointing. Those of us that like shirts that say Jesus Did It for the Chicks will no longer have a nice little spot to visit and feel warm and fuzzy. In honesty, the worst part of it is the reasoning and the apology if they had offended any one. Well, DUH!!! Of course your'e going to offend people. But what's the harm in that? Enough of this tip-toeing around like a bunch of pansies. Self imposed censorship is still censorship. I'm not a big fan of the censorship.

Obviously, since it's safe to assume that they guy was making money, someone else willing to rasie the Banner of the Gutter will do so and take Worse than Hell's place. And if that portion of the site was actually a loser and there was no money to be had in it, then say that. There's nothing wrong with being a capitalist. But I suspect the degenerates will have a voice once again in the very near future. I'm just lazy and don't want to have to go looking for it all over again.

Dateline: Washington

2005-05-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

I just read my friend Blair's Blog. Many of the folks that read this blog read his, so a few things of note before I continue with mine. The biggest news is that Blair has a new post. His posting habit follow the cycles of the moon. When the moon is either full or new, a couple days later, h'll make a post. I suspect soon, we'll only get posts on days of lunar eclipses. Anyway, today, I would like to use my space to respond to his post. I know that there is a formal process in place in which to open a blog dialog: you post a response to the person's blog. However, in this case, I have more insight than the normal 2-4 sentence response and I didn't really have a topic but I had the time to post. So, I'm usurping Blair's topic for my own.

Quick summary: Blair is currently living in WVA, he's a Chicaggo Cubs fan but he's much closer to DC than Chi town so it's been easy for him to follow the goings on of the Nationals. As a result, he's become a secondary Nationals fan (like me and the Dolphins). Recently, there's buzz that one of the groups vying to buy the Nats is associated with W, our Village Idiot, who intends to buy the team off of them in an effort to position himself as the next Comish of Baseball. Blair states, and rightfully so, that he'd be a much better comish than the current joke.

While I actually do agree that W would be a better Comish then Selig, who is basically a puppet for the owners, I do not agree that he's the right man for the job. And I have reasons beyond the fact that he is currently our National Village Idiot and I hate him and if all were right in the world he'd be behind bars by the end of his current term. For some unknown reason, the man has an air of power about him and people (all of whom are either delusional or rich enough to buy me right now as their Life Time Pool Boy) actually listen to him and take what he says seriously. This is a problem with Selig. How can you take a man seriously when it takes him 7 years to institute a steroid policy (although in all fairness, he's only been trying for 2), then institutes a policy that is akin to giving an 8 y.o. time out for 15 minutes, and THEN tries to turn around 2 months later and institute a brand new policy which actually has some teeth. It's a classic ploy to be able to shift blame to the Players Union. Anyway, the point is the current comish is a joke and it has nothing to do with the fact that he seems to be a joke as a man. It's entirely because he's a former owner.

The commish of a sports league cannot have an agenda that can be easily swayed by one group or the other. He must be completely unbiased. He must be able to rationally establish policy which represents the best thing for the game, and in this case, the game is the owners, the players and the fans. If Village Idiot we made the Commish of MLB, he'd be Village Idiot Comish because his policy would constantly be swayed by the owners much like the current Jok Comish. The only difference would be that he'd have the support of the aforementioned delusional/rich people that happen to be fans of baseball. He would add credibility to the post by name only, not by action.

So, Paul, whould WOULD be a good Commish? Good question. There are a few people that I know about and I'm 100% certain there are dozens of others that I wouldn't know anything about (like anyone knew who Bart Giamatti was before he was the Comish that booted Pete Rose [FYI, he was the last good MLB Comish]). FIrst you have your media types: people who you have an amazing appreciation for the history of the game but don't come across as loathesome towards one group or another (like Mike Lupica against the fans and players or the black guy on PTI against the owners). There would be 3 good candidates from this pool: George Will, Peter Gammons and Bob Costas. Unfortunately, I don't think a media guy would ever let his name be included.

Next you then have to move to the realm of politics. From this group, you need to have someone that could get both side to understand the fiscal problems that face the game and accept tough compramises in order to get it so that Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Cincinatti or any other small market team might some day dream of winning a championship again. And no, Rudy Gulianni would not be a good cnadidate. Here, I'm thinking someone along the lines of a Howard Dean (who wouldn't be the least bit interested), McCain, Edwards, or some Midwestern Conservative Governor. Those guys in the Midwest don't take shit from any one. Key thing here though is that if you take a Republican, it would have to be someone that thinks that W has gone insane with the budget deficit thing. They'd have to go on record as saying, "our Village Idiot President is insane."

Lastly, you can look at the realm of entertainment. The problem here is, you can't have an actor, because he's going to side with the players. And you can't have an executive because he's going to side with the owners. You have to have a Director or maybe a Producer. Steven Speilburg would be a good Commish. Maybe Penny Marshall. Lorne Michaels.

Thanks for the topic, Blair! What I was going to talk about was the cool Star Wars Lego computer game I played all weekend. So instaed of interesting maybe 3 people, I would have an audience of one.

Is it football season yet?

2005-04-29T12:44:00.000-07:00

The NFL Draft was last week. I love the NFL Draft. I've actually been to 2 different ones while I was living in New York. However, I'm starting to think that maybe I should avoid them all together. Watching the NFL Draft is a special kind of torture. Just getting that little taste of somethig that I so fully enjoy just isn't right. Like back in the day, if I were in a particularly long dry spell with the ladies, I'd avoid watching Skinemax and the like becasue it would only frustrate me further. The NFL Draft is Skinemax. Here is this wonderful thing - football - and I know I'll get to enjoy the full experience of it again soon. But this little taste just makes the fact that it's not there more painfully obvious.

Sure other sports try to take it's place. The NBA picks up with it's post-season and baseball begins it interminably long season, but is Rosey Palm really a fair substitute for an actual companion. I think not.

Anyway, some woudl say that the Draft is an oasis or even the light at the end of the tunnel. And I guess I can see that view but I'm not buying it. For me, the absence doesn't get filled until I can sign up for my first Fantasy Football team. Then I have an actual activity which PROVES that the End Is Niegh.

So in an attempt to capture some of that magic, I pulled out the sheets from my Keeper league and made some notes on newly drafted prospects that might contribute to their teams - and my Fantasy Team - right away. That was fun for a while. But it only lasted an hour and the fact is, you can't go back to that in a week and tweek it at all because it's done. There isn't any more news. It's only 10 guys or so, so it's not like you can really nudge them up or down your rankings at all.

*sigh* It's almost May. In May, the final Episode of Star Wars will be released. That will be a pleasant distraction!

Editor's Note: the fact that I can write the above and have a woman willing to marry me is astounding and a true testiment to just how amazing a person she is.

She likes it!

2005-04-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

Just to kill the suspense and cut to the chase for those of you that are only interested in whether the wedding will still be in Vegas or if Jenn hated it so much that we're moving the ceremony to Reno, I am very happy to report that Jenn had a good time in Vegas this past weekend. Those of you who are frequent visitors here know that I was concerned because she hates crowds and gambling: 2 staples of the Vegas experience. However, she was able to see past those aspects of it and enjoy what it had to offer the shy non-gamer.

And now for the details for those of you that care.

The trip didn't get off on a very good foot. We arrived at exactly 2 for our appointment with the Catering Manager at Treasure Island. She seemed genuinely surprised to see us in spite of the fact that the week before I had called and told her I would be in town, would like to have my TASTING and was avaialble any time after 2. She said 2 would be fine and I said I was looking forward to the TASTING. Lo and Behold, we show up and she says that they only have tastings during meal-time hours, a little tid bit of info which would have been nice to know when I specifically asked to schedule our TASTING. And the fact that she was surprised to see us was an even bigger surprise to me because my name was prominantly displaying on the huge desk top calendar she has. Regardless, we went through and made our selections. To help promote our geocities site (www.geocities.com/tidoublegerpb4), I will ask you to visit there to see the menu (which I will not be getting around to posting until this weekend).

As we were leaving, my dad was sitting outside (he'll come into play in a moment). We quickly met with the chapel lady and Jenn picked a bouquet. She directed us to the photographer to get a price list. There was another couple meeting with the photographer so we all took a seat and waited. After a little while, we decided we didn't want to wait any more, at which point, Jenn adn I got up to leave and my dad got up to barge in on the other couple's appointment and get a price list. He, being as he is, got the price list and Jenn and I rather annoyed and embarassed. Welcome to the family, my love!

We then picked up the tuxedos for my brother's wedding, stopped for some food and got our room. At the room, Jenn and I discover that our neighbors were ritualistically torturing their small child. At least that's what it seemend like because the kid did not stop crying. We left the room to meet up for a little bit with my brother and when we came back the kid was STILL crying. We woke up in the morning a little before the family next door. We know this because as soon as they DID wake up, the torture began anew. Luckily for us, they checked out that day.

A side note on the rooms my brother and parents got: they tipped the check-in folks $20 when they arrived and they both got really nice suites. It didn't work when we were checking in. We suspect that it was becasue there was a line when we arrived and none when they got in the night before at midnight. But, for those of you interested, all it takes in twenty bucks and you might just get the suite. My brother even got the Rainman suite at Mandalay Bay. In Miami, that suite would sell as a condo for well over a million.

The next day before the wedding, Jenn and I checked out the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. A very neat thing to see. Jenn wasn't a fan of the crowds, but she loves acquariums enough to overlook that and truely enjoy herself. There were a couple of the smaller (and as a result more packed) tanks that she bypassed. We then strolled over to MGM to see the lions. Only 3 very small cubs were on display. They were absolutely adorable. Jenn was a little sad becasue she's not a fan of enclosing such big animals. But she could nto deny that they were in fact adorable.

Then the wedding, which was very nice. It was a smaller event than ours will be, so it was rather intimate. A good time was had by all. Jenn noticed that as we were arriving for the ceremony, they were still setting up the Reception tables. She's thorooughly worried that our event will be a total plannign nightmare and logistical disaster. I've insisted that she musn't worry, this is what they do and they know how to be ready when they need to be. I think some of my worrying is rubbing off on her.

The next day was buffet at the Bellagio. YAY!!!!! I LOVE BUFFETS!!! Jenn ate $5 worth of pancakes. I ate $40 worth of french toast bacon pancakes cheese blitzens roasted turkey prime rib breakfast pizza yogurt and mixed berries. It evened out. We walked back, at which point, we started collecting the escourt service cards being handed out by folks up and down the strip. Those of you who have walked any portion of the strip know exactly what I'm talking about. I've always been amused by this and Jenn shared my amusement to the point of wanting to collect them. Only 12 more and we would have had enought to make up a deck of cards. Jenn prefers looking at them like baseball cards. I think we got the rookie cards of Amber and Shun-Li. Right now, they're each worth $125 a visit. In 10 years, the value will be 1/4th that.

We then ran around collecting tuxedos to return to the Men's Warehouse (we had a car so we decided to be nice). After a little shopping around and getting the tuxes back, Jenn was tuckered out and I was ready to gamble. I played craps. Just ofr an hour. That was all the time I had but I was very pleased to have that hour. The table was extremely luke warm. I won't go into boring details for everyone, but I lost $50. I've lost $200 in 20 minutes before, so that's really not that bad. And I'm still up on my craps playing career. But it was fun. Those of you who want details can call me and I'd be more than happy to share.

We then went to see Zumanity, the new Cirque Du Soliel show at the New York New York. It's the first R rated Cirque show. It's very fun and very naughty. Old school Vegas with a splash of froo-froo. Boobies were prominantly involved. I was happy. We had amazing seats. Jenn genuinely loved the show. I was even more happy.

And then we went to sleep, woke up and drove home.

That's pretty much it. There were other small amusements. Jenn liked the cheap (both cost and quality) jewlery that was on sale everywhere. She was also shocked by the amount of cleavage on display. I explained that that was just one of the many things to love about Vegas.

I'm just glad we're still having our wedding there!

The 15 Blog

2005-04-12T12:45:00.000-07:00

OK, I have 3 times more time now than I did when I posted yesterday. But absolutley nothing more to report. So we'll see how this one turns out!

I have to call our Vegas Reps to set up food tasting for when Jenn and I are in town for my brother's wedding in 10 days. This might be one of the top 5 tings I'm looking forward to in the whole wedding process. It is by far and a way the # 1 thing I'm looking forward to that happens prior to the bachelor party. I have these wonderful expectations on what the tasting will entail. I realize that there's a chance that my expectations will be shattered and I will be highly disappointed. But I'll be gettting fed for free in Vegas, so even the worst out come is a free meal, and that's not so bad, is it?

One of my main lingering concerns about the planning is the cake. Treasure Island will do a cake, but both Jenn and I have an idea of what we want our cake to be like. I'm not entirely convinced that TI offers the service to stylize a cake like we'd want. And booking a DJ and venue from 400 miles away is one thing. Buying a cake from the same distance.... that's an entirely different kind of flying, all together.

My final Vegas excitement note is actually a bit of a downer: I kind of feel like I'm not going to be able to do ANY gambling when I'm there next week. Mainly, I'm talkign about craps. It requires a bit of time and a decent bank roll. Given Jenn hates gambling, I'm not sure I have the time. And given we're saving for a house, I KNOW I don't have the bank roll. Alas, it's one of the many things that makes the up coming trip very interesting. I genuinely have NO idea what to expect fromt eh trip as a whole. I think until the trip is actually over and I can report on the trip, how it went, and it's ramifications on OUR wedding weekend in 5 months, well, my mind is a whirl. Absolutely no reaction or outcome will surprise me.

My friends Austin and Leslie just got backf rom Paris and posted their pictures. It reminded me how AMAZING Paris is. Really one of the top 5 cities in the world (in my top 3).

The 5 Minute Blog

2005-04-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

Hey! I've got 5 minutes before I'm off for the day. That's far too little to start anything new. You can't play a game of hearts in 5 minutes, either. And I don't feel like i'd get the most out of web surfing for 5 minutes. So I figured I'd see what I could come up with for a blog post in 5 minutes.

And this is pretty much it, me talking about how I have 5 (3 minutes now) left in my day. We had a pretty nice weeknd. Went over Chris and Katies to help pack up their kitchen. Not to toot my own horn or anything,b tu I'm a really good packer. I make excellent use of the space provided ina box. That extends to trunk packing and closet packing. I'm dimensionally gifted.

Although, figure this one out: Jenn and I went over there to help them and yet I ended up paying for the pizza for lunch. What's up with that!?!? If they hadn't already made nice fancy dinners for us about 20 times int he past year already, I'd probalby feel like I"m owed one. This way, I figure I just made of 2 o the dozen or so they are owed.

Welp, it's going to take one minute for the computer to process this, so I"m off!

Come one, Come all!

2005-04-07T12:18:00.000-07:00

I'm very proud to announce that the last major on-slaught of invitations has been placed in the mail this morning. That means, if you are one of the 3 people reading this and you are are not the bride, then please let me know if you have not gotten an invitation in a week from now.

Mail is a lot quicker than I think it used to be. In all honesty, if you aven't gotten the invite by Tuesday, I'd say that there is a problem. An invitation got the the UK in as much time. There once was a day when you'd just assume everything took a week or longer. If you were mailing something from Fort Lauderdale to Miami and it took less than 6 days, you considered yourself the luckiest bastard alive.

I make my triumphant return to Vegas in 2 weeks for my brother's wedding. I'll get to put $ on a Steelers Super Bowl in '06. I'll get to play a little craps (emphasis on little). Jenn and I will be seeing a show with my folks. I'm hoping that it will be a good time. We're obviously going to be mixing in a little business witht he pleasure. I need to set up a meeting with our catering people for our wedding. Yummie food tasting fun!!! This is also a test run to see if Jenn actually likes Vegas. I see one fo 2 things happening on the drive home: she'll be super excited about our event or she won't believe that she actually gave the OK to have our wedding in Vegas. It's one or the other. That's what Vegas does: it has a very polarizing affect. There is no middle of the road with Vegas. I know off the bat, she'll never be as excited as the buffets as I am. That's one of my favorite parts of it. She doesn't eat nearly enough in a single sitting to EVER make a buffet worth the money spent on it. So I know going in, there's one strike. Strike two is that she's not into gambling, but there are countless people who love Vegas but don't gamble, so it's not a make or break part of the equation. Anyway, we'll see what she thinks in 2 weeks, I suppose.

Straight Pope-in'

2005-04-04T12:17:00.000-07:00

For those that do not know, I grew up in a very Catholic house. We went to church every week. I went to Catholic School through 5th grade. I was an alter boy until forever (absolutely no alter boy jokes will be appreciated in response to this posting). I even helped my dad teach his Confirmation CCD class (Confirmation is like being born again in the Catholic church, everyone does it in their early teens). I did this for 3 years while I was in high school.

I never particularly liked going to church. In fact, I down-right disliked it, but sometimes, it made me feel OK, on the rare occasion, there was a good story and there almost always was either a hot chick or a cute baby that I could watch that would provide enough stimuli for me to actually live through the service. It wasn't until I was helping with the class that I started to realize that not only did I not like going to church, I wasn't really sure what the purpose of going was for. I always tried to be a good person and I always tried to do my best towards others and for myself. Doesn't God know this? Isn't that enough? What's the point beyond that? And I know that it was these thoughts that eventually led me to where I am today: a non-believer.

I still consider myself spiritual, but enough hate and evil has been done in the name of religion that I cannot condone, acknowledge or even understand a single religion in existance today. None of their beliefs. Certainly none of their dogma. I see religion as a way of explaining things to people who feel they need to make sense of the world. People who need something more than, "Life is pretty strange sometimes, it's a truely remarkable thing and as long as you're nice to folks, you should end up witha rather fulfilling experience." all religion is, in my mind what I feel a fact, a mythology like any in teh history of man from Gilgamesh to Zues to Odin. And the fact that there constantly, throughout time, has been mythology is enoguh to me to mean that we are all interconected cosmically, somehow, but not enough to warrant founding countless clubs all claiming that their club is better than yours.

I could go on forever on this alone, but I think the jist of where I'm coming from is there. I can now move on to my thoughts on the Pope. I do want to say that, if religions were football teams, and they might just as well be (except you will rarely get blown up for rooting for a different football team), Catholicism is the Pittsburgh Steelers. They are my favorite. I understand them the most. And having the pope die is a lot like when Chuck Noll passes sometime down the road: the coach is dead, and though he doesnt coach MY team any more, he coached my team when they were loved the most.

Before I continue, I want to say taht John Paul II was an amazing, remarkable man. He did astonishign things for Eastern Europe. At no time did anything he ever said feel disingenuous or inconsistent. He, more than any other person I've ever heard of in my lifetime, was a true Christian. I believe that. And I think he would have been an even BETTER person had he not been tied to the Catholic church.

I had an interesting conversation with my friend Chris last night (a STAUNCH Catholic) about the Pope. He made the comment that religion acts as sort of a grounding point as a person moves along in their lives. And my rebuttle was, and I can't believe I thought of this on the spot was, "But the problem witht he Catholic curch is, most people would like to see that grounding influence move along with them." There are so many things going on in the world today that were not issues 1000 years ago, let alone 50 years ago, that in today's world, the dogma of the Catholic church actually causes more harm than good.

At the very basic level, there is the underlying subtlety of women STILL being second class citizens. It's ridiculous, it's worng and it has no place in any organization that people are tying their beliefs to. Part of this is "Tradition for the sake of Tradition." It gets to the point that people do things that they don't even know why they were done in the first place. There's no Biblical reason that priests can't be married (it was done in the Middle Ages becasue priests were leaving church lands to their children) just as there isn't a reason that a priest can't be a woman. But that's obvious and is mainly a mindset thing. But it's imortant becasue it probably doesn't help the causes of women in developing areas where the men are considered the center of the world.

Next, and I think this is far more egregious and dangerous, is the on-going stance of the church against birth control. The problem is, even in the poorest of countries, child mortality is dropping. And so the parishoners in those countries, where Catholic Law is far more likely to be followed, have far more children than they can reasonably support. This practice perpetuates keeping the standard of living for these people to a very bare minimum. I'm not saying that if they only had 2 kids rather than 8, they'd be taking the family for a trip to Disney World. But they'd probably be more likely to raise healthy children that would be able to find a better way of life for themselves. At least give them that chance.

Lastly is a related issue: the sanctity of life. I can actually understand the Pro-Life stance. I am against abortion as a form of birth control. But I would never try to prevent someone from making that choice. Religious beliefs should never guide other people's lives. The whole idea is that you be kind to others. Try to affect their lives through kindness and words and thought. But to set up barricades - be it physical, leagal or any other - that tries to dictate a person's life based on your own beliefs is wrong.

My favorite protest of the Iraqi conflict is What Would Jesus Bomb (a play on the whole WWJD thing). I think John Paul II always lived his life in the ideal that is behind WWJD. But you can't just take a man as the good in him. You have to take him as a whole. And the Pope is a man. And as a man, you have to ask, are all of teh tenants that he supported truely in the best interests of his followers? Obviously, you'd LIKE people to abstain. And you'd LIKE people to not fuck like bunnies, spawnign unwanted children. And you'd LIKE the clergy to not molest kids. But this is not reality and the church has done little if nothing to deal with reality.

I do consider the Village Idiot President a truely evil man, a bad guy in the strictest sense of a Hollywood Movie, because he professes to be a Christian and yet acts AGAINST all Christian ideals. This is not something the Pope has done ever at all! His is failure in omission. Mistakes where the lack of action led me away from the church and religion as a whole. I'm certain I'm not the only one, either. It certainly is human to not act when those actions are difficult. But God Danm, you have to love him for the actions he did take. He truely meant well and was a great man that achieved more than most people could ever dream. I think the Catholic church would do well to find an even more brave man for the next Pope.

Ceasar Chavez Day

2005-03-31T12:30:00.000-08:00

Jenn has today off for Ceasar Chavez Day. She's explained before that many of the people that help clear out the fields that her Endanger Species Recovery Program use to cultivate endngered native-Californian plants are migrant workers and the like. So I can see those folks getting the day off. But I think if SHE gets the day off, I should have the day off, too. I mean, the customers my company supplies labels to hire MANY MANY MANY migrant workers. I'm sure THEY have the day off. And since they're not working, the packing houses probably aren't packing fruit. So no one's labeling anything today. So I should be at home with my fiance doing dirty things in honor of the great man. That's just my feeling on the subject.

Another though, I wonder how they pcik which day Caesar Chavez Day is on. I'd like to think it's his birthday. But it'd be a shame if it weren't. As a by-product of my job, I know a lot more than anyone really should about the seasons of fresh fruit. And in California, we're in the middle of one of, if not the most, slow seasons for tree fruit. Apples are LONG done. Navel Oranges (the larger of our 2 main varieties) are winding down. Most Tangerine varieties are long done. Grapefruits are pretty much done. Stone fruit (peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots, and pluots) don't start for anouther 2-3 weeks. The only think going strong right now are Valencia Oranges. That's it. This is about as easya time as it gets for the migrant worker! And this is the time frame when they get a free day off!?!? GYPE!!!

And the Winner is....

2005-03-29T12:48:00.000-08:00

...one of Jennifer's cousins. In the officially unofficial race to get the wedding invitation response card back first, it was Jennifer's cousin by ... well ... I guess we don't know by how much until we get the second response. And even though she declined attendance, I think I like her. She must have looked at her calendar or saw it was in vegas, said, "Nope, not my scene, " and sent in her regrets. BOOM! It's int he mail just like that and we got it yesterday. That's a five day turn aroudn from when we mailed them on Thursday! FIVE DAYS!!! That's so impressive. I kinda wish she were going now so I could meet her.

Not too much else going on right now. Checking the mail for invites. I bowled a 222 a couple weeks ago witha 579 series. He cleaned the house over the weekend. It's as clean as it's been since we first moved in. Actually, Sunday before we started cleaning is when t was that clean. It's been a little sullied now, but it's still better than it was.

In other news, Jenn and I cancelled the movie channels on our Dish and signed up for Netflix. This is sucha great service, I should have signed up eons ago. We have well over 70 movies on our request list right now. The really cool thing is that the Distribution Center is in Bakersfield so when we place a move in the mail to when we get the next movie in our queue, it's just 2 days. That's even better than the 5 day turn around on the wedding response! I'd have to say that Netflix is one fot eh better innovations of the past 10 years. If you were to rate innovations on a scale of 1 to 10 where Paris Hilton's Career gets a 1 and HDTV gets a 10, I'd give Netflix a solid 9 (keeping in mind that TiVo has its own scale clocking in with a 28,360,195). It's the best thing to happen to DVD's since DVD's. DVD's themselves would tie HDTV with a 10.

That would actually be a fun blog, give ratings to top innovations of the past 10 years. Another time.

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter (yum candy)!

Barry's Day at the Beach

2005-03-24T12:36:00.000-08:00

I get the feeling that BArry Bonds had a recent trip to the beach. He went in the water, got knocked over by a wave and rustled around in the sand a little bit. I have this suspision because that sand then got firmly lodged in his vag.

Barry Bonds had a sandy vag earlier this week. He did a brief interview after finding out that his knee injury is going to keep him sidelined for at least 1/2 the season. During the interview, he indicated that the media is getting it's wish. They've finally worn him down. They've finally gotten to him. He's tired and he might take the whole year off because he feels beat. It's what the media has wanted to do and they've finally succeeded.

Hey Barry, you know that tired, beat up feeling you're having? That might, just maybe, be your body reacting to the fact that you're 41 and for the first time in 10 years, you're not taking steroids to recover from the daily grind of the physically draining MLB season. THAT'S what the roids do for you. All those polls asking people if they thought roids helped people hit home runs is irrelevant becasue that's not why Barry and others were taking them: it was to help with the recovery. He's tired becasue the wear and tear of 10 years is FINALLY catching up to his body.

He can blame the media if he wants. But either way - whether you think it's the media or the roids - he can only blame himself. Forever, he's felt he's been above the fans, above the media, above the other players and worst of all, above the game itself. I can think of no better end to his story than for him to come crashing down to reality. Better yet, it's when he's within a small stretch of the Home Run record. I can think of no one more deserving to have his career fall just short of his goal.

Keep in mind that he admitted that he was given a cream that he thought was flaxseed oil but then admitted that he believes it was steroids. That makes him either the Dumbest Player in Baseball or the Worst Liar in Baseball (at least Sosa knows to have his lawyer lie for him). As much as I'd hate to say it, I really don't think Barry is all that dumb, so it must be the later.

I'd like to think that after this experience, Barry would now appreciate things a little more. Maybe, be a little more careful next time he goes to the beach. But I doubt it. He'll continue to be the same prick that stands for no one but himself and blames everyone but himself.

***************

Completely unrelated side note:

I read a great article that added one more laayer to the insanity to the Congressional involvement in the Schiavo case: the people trashing the husband and bringing this whole thing about are the same people fighting so tirelessly for the sanctity of marriage. Again, it just goes to show that they will support any issue and any position that satisfies their Religious and Political ends. These people are evil. Yes, they are Barry Bonds evil.