The Christmas Truce

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce

Click on the link to read one of the best stories of WWI.  I like to post this link at this time of year because it's a great story for the Season.

Creepy Christmas Commercial

Belk's, a Department Store chain that has a few locations here in Tennessee, has a new Christmas commercials with some creepy, almost incestuous overtones going on.  The whole commercial is done to the song "Santa Baby" and features a 5 year old "Diva in Training" looking like the perfect WASP child with hints of Jon Bennet Ramsey skipping down the stairs and wherever she passes festive holiday decorations appear (most likely bought a Belk's).  Her perfect WASP parents are in the kitchen beaming at their little baby Beauty Queen and a perfect WASP boy of about 7-8 is lounging on the floor near the Family's Christmas tree.   From the commercial you get the impression that the little boy is her brother, yet when Ms. Diva skips into the living room she gives the brother a wink and a nod which prompts him to go into the other room and bring her a gift of a stuffed animal hidden behind his back.  He approaches her, shuffling his feet like a nervous suitor.  She responds with a shy smile while the Parents seem to encourage this behavior from the kitchen.   I turned to my Wife and said "kind of creepy commercial there huh?"  She agreed, especially with the part about the brother acting like a suitor to his sister.    Can I ask, who the Hell greenlights these things?  Seriously, did they hire the only ad agency run by Pedophiles on Madison Ave or something?  It was very surrealistic and creepy.   It's also funny to see the utter desperation of the retail establishments this time of year.  The Christmas season has started already for those not paying attention.  Hell it started shortly before Halloween.   Nintendo is sure marketing the Hell out of the Wii this Christmas I noticed.  Half the commercials on TV last night were for the Wii and Wii related games and peripherals.    I've also notice that yet again WalMart is on a rampage to convince America that we can save sooo much money by shopping at their stores.   One of their latest commercials claims that Grandpa can afford a ticket to fly out and see the family during the Holidays because he shopped at WalMart.   Really?  Not with the prices the airlines charge, and the fact that the Grandpa in the commercial has a suitcase that needs checking.  They claim they have "unbeatable" prices on Wii and Wii games.  No you don't.  Nintendo Wii's have a MSRP of 199.99.  That's anywhere you buy one.....anywhere that's legitimate of course.  There's nothing "unbeatable" about that really.  Target charges that price, Best Buy does, etc.  You're not beating anyone when the manufacturer suggests a price....which is business legalese for "you will charge this much for our product in your store or we will sue you....".  It's not price fixing, but it is close.  Actually Game Stop will sell you one for 149.99 when you sell them back two "qualifying" used games.   Not sure what games qualify but I'm sure it's not that crappy "Block Party" game we have for the Wii.   Must remember to always check Amazon's user reviews before purchasing another game.  Anyway, here's to a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday to all.  Just remember, shop smart, and don't go into debt.

Movie, Book and TV Recommendations

Since our 15 year old Daughter decided to go Trick or Treating this year (hey why the Hell not...it's free candy!) the Wife and I decided to rent some movies and kick back at home relaxing.  We rented Halloween Favorite "Hocus Pocus".  It's a great, goofy movie and I discovered that the part of Thackery Binks, the boy from Colonial times who gets turned into a cat, was played by none other than Sean Murray...for you who are fans of NCIS, that's the actor that plays McGee.  Highly recommend it as well as "Nightmare Before Christmas".  You should also check out "Coraline".  It's a Tim Burton directed stop moton animation movie of a Children's story that Neil Gaiman wrote for his Daughter.  Creepy fun for all ages.   I rented "Donnie Darko" for myself.  Love this movie.  I had seen it before and had to see it again because it's one of those movies that requires multiple watchings to "get it".   Trippy movie about a teen with borderlin multiple personality disorder who can travel through time.  His nemesis is a 6 foot evil rabbit named Frank.   Told you it was weird.  Next up is an odd little straight to DVD movie we saw called "The Maiden Heist".  It stars Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken and Willam H Macy.  That cast right there made the Wife and I want to check it out.   It's about 3 Security Guards in a New York museum who each becomes obssessed with a particular piece of art.  They've been working there for 30+ years and they find themselves every day staring at their particular piece of art.  Two paintings and a sculpture.  Along comes this new Avant Garde Curator who wants to change the entire Museum from a classical one to a Modern Art showcase.  A Gallery in Copenhagen has agreed to buy all the pieces in the Museum.  This apalls the 3 gents and they plot to steal their particular piece of art in order to save it.  I won't tell you more as the details would ruin the movie.  It was a funny film, even the Daughter loved it. 

As for books, if you haven't already read it yet, pick up a copy of the two books that have become to be known as the "first action novels ever".  I'm talking about "The Odyssey" and "The Illiad" by some guy named Homer.... ;)  not Simpson, just some Greek guy.  Next on the list is "Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road" by Neil Peart.   It's a tale of finding oneself on a long distance Motorcycle journey from Canada, Across the US and down to Costa Rica and back.  Neil Peart, the Drummer from Rock Band "Rush" had two personal tragedies befall him in the space of 10 months.  His wife of 20+ years had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  Their only child, a 19 year old Daughter, died in a solo spin out crash after hitting some ice and then a few months later his Wife succumbed to her cancer.   These events would leave anyone a ruin.  He decided to set out on a journey to lose himself and hopefully find himself again along the way.  The man writes great lyrics and I'm dying to read this book. 

For TV Shows let me recommend "White Collar" on USA.  It's a story of an FBI Agent who is the only one to catch a slick, con man/forger who then gets him released to his custody in the hopes of using the crook to catch crooks just like him.  The chemistry between the main characters is great and makes the show fun to watch. 

The GOP's new motto.....

"When in Danger or in Doubt, run in circles, scream and shout!"
I have removed Adsense from this blog until the current Senatorial and Congressional elections are over....I will not allow any Political Party (even one I approve of) to advertise on my space.  Sorry, ain't happening.  Especially now that the Repubs are going apeshit trying to fill up the House and Senate with more assholes who don't give a crap about you and I.  Here's the Republican plan for Health Care Reform: 1. Don't get sick. 2. If you get sick, then die.  Until the Republicans actually start being a part of the solution and stop being a part of the problem, I will continue to do what I can to keep them from gaining any ground whatsoever.  So here's another hearty "Fuck You" to the Republicans.  Kiss my ass bitches and deal with the fact that any candidate you trot out for President in 2012 will be just as useless as McCain.  Run Palin...please......please please......the Democratic Party can find enough shit to bury her with in a 5 minute Google search.

Tennessee: Year Five

It's that time again; time for my annual update post about how my living in a Red State is working out.  Cathy and I will have been married a total of 6 years this January 2010, and we are still getting along just perfectly.  It's great being married to someone who is your friend, and I highly recommend that for every couple that is considering marriage.  If you aren't friends with that person then it makes the whole relationship a bit more challenging I think.  But enough philosophy for now, on to the update.

 

My oldest Step-Daughter Amanda is married now to a great guy named Drew.  He's a great Step-Dad to my Grandson Jaylin and he's a great Daddy to my 1 year old Granddaughter Haley.  Kevin, my Step-Son, is doing good too.  He's still plugging away in college and wants to attend a good Art School where he can learn sculpture (metal) and other things.  Livee, my youngest Step-Daughter, just turned 15 and I think I'm getting more and more grey hair.  Ah, Teenagers. 

 

No, the pond is still not done....I know it looked like we were going to get to it this year, but apparently this is the year of the Great Flood or something.  It has rained off and on all year long.  It's been nuts!  Of course finances aren't the greatest right now, just like everyone out there, and that is a big hindering factor.   It's also hard to find an electrician to come out and do minor residential jobs.  Most of them don't want to bother.  Cath and Drew and Amanda finished painting the dining room and primered the kitchen.  Hey all that horrible wallpaper is gone.  We are also starting to put aside cash to get the floors done.  We keep vacillating between laminate or just getting new carpet.   No one wants carpet in their houses anymore and it's become quite cheap to buy it and get in installed.  I believe Lowes and Home Depot both charge 39 bucks labor to carpet a whole house.  We like laminate/hardwood but have recently had discussions about not staying in that house forever but possibly moving out in a few years.  Look, the house was built in 1973 and it's age is starting to show.  It's a great starter house, but we're done with it.  The kitchen is small, and there is honestly no room to expand it without having to do some major remodeling of a large portion of the house.   We thought about moving the kitchen into the dining room but there's another huge cost....having to re-route water lines and electrical isn't cheap.  It would just be easier to let the value increase on this house for a few years then sell it and put that down on a newer one.  There are lots of new homes in the area and they will be well broken in by the time we are ready to sell ours (and besides Cath is a Realtor so she can probably find us a great deal). 

 

The Scion is paid for.  It's great to not have a car payment...okay to not have two car payments; we are still paying on Cath's Ford Focus....and it's also great to have a car that is paid for and only has 80K miles on it and still runs great.  We have another addition to the family...this one will probably be the last and will stay around for awhile.  No it's not a human child but another cat.  Milinky is her name.  Livee found her at school and brought her home.  She is quite a funny little cat but not the most graceful feline in the world.  Her and Diva Kitty Panther get along just fine.  Lot's of wrestling and chasing going on.  Keeps Panther young anyway.  Still have the same job, and no I'm not changing it for awhile.  We are doing just fine and a lot of the Pres' Stimulus money is going our way because of who our clients are. 

 

That's the report for this year, not much more to report.  Stay tuned for other developments in months to come.

They just aren't even trying anymore are they?

Not sure if you've noticed, but the price of gas is going up again.   What's the excuse this time?  We haven't had any hurricanes in the Gulf in awhile, no pipelines have exploded, it's not summer, so what's the excuse?  The excuse is the Dollar isn't doing well against other currencies.  Um...Oil Company Guys I've got news for you, the Dollar hasn't been doing good against other currencies for a long time now.  Do these guys even try to come up with legitimate excuses anymore?  Seriously, what the Hell.  The Dollar hasn't been doing well since the European Union formed and we went to war with Iraq.   The Euro has been kicking the Dollars pathetic ass since it was first minted.  Not sure how the dollar being weak against other currencies has anything to do with the price of gas.   Last week gas was 30 cents a gallon cheaper and the economic status of the Country and the value of the Dollar were the same as they are right now.   Why don't you Oil Company bastards just come out and tell us the real reason: we are being punished for buying more economical cars.  Plain and simple.  The Oil Companies aren't making their record profits lately because more and more SUV owners are getting rid of those gas guzzling pieces of crap and buying more fuel efficient cars, and the President is wanting to make it standard that all cars get 30+ miles to the gallon.  That will put a cramp in their style now won't it.  So to the Oil Companies I say "F**k You!!".   Here's hoping you go the way of the Dinosaur real soon.